One Year of Lessons

Now that it's been a whole year there are a few things that I learned from him in addition to what I gained from Hailey.

To start, off his name is: Baby! Even though Robert is one years old now we still call him Baby or Baby Robert. Only when he needs to listen and do what I say right now do I call him Robert. (So far there is no shortening of his name)

1) Second baby's pregnancy, labor, birth and recovery is easier and quicker.

2) Nursing is a special time and he was a happier baby when he was nursing. (It seems like he has been sick ever since he quit at 10 months. Currently he has a sore throat and two major boo-boos.)

3) Boys are in constant motion and hates to be pinned down for diaper or clothes change.

4) Robert would go naked all day everyday if it was up to him.

5) To fix a yeast infection use Lotrimin (the fungus foot cream) and put diaper rash cream on top.

6) Medicine and Robert just doesn't work out (He had an ear infection for 4 weeks, tried two different medicines and got horrible diaper rashes with both. It was a very trying time for us)

7) Even though I love both my kids it is a challenge to give attention to both.

8) Robert loves books especially the Book of Mormon (he loves turning the pages and hates when we take it away from him)

9) Robert is a very happy boy and laughs easily.

10) Robert's loves special attention and loves to cuddle especially when he doesn't feel good.

11) Robert is a mom's boy.

12) Robert is a better and a messier eater.

13) Don't rush him!!! He will go play on his own time. If he is pushed then he will scream bloody murder.

14) His favorite game is peek-a-boo and he favorite places to play is in Hailey's crib, Tub, and in the tunnel at the mall.

15) The most important thing I've learned is that Robert is a very special, sweet boy and is a blessing to this family.

Sibling Love

It has been a big adjustment for Hailey since Robert was born. I find it hard to balance my attention between them. Hailey is more fussy because she sees that when Robert cries he gets attention. Unless Robert is taking her toys she pretty much ignores him.

All of that makes this video very special. Nathan told Hailey to help Robert walk. She she took his hand and they walked around the kitchen. Of course, I didn't get to my camera in time and it took some persuading to have her do it again.

I think she wanted to play ring around the rosies with him which is why she fell down. She wanted to look at the video after we took it and just laughs and laughs when they fall down.

Silly Hailey

I love my baby girl and sometimes she says very funny things or has an entertaining logic.
My sister-in-law, Kim made pretty towels for Hailey and Robert. I love these towels because she used the matching hand towel and sewed on a hood for it. It makes it a lot easier to have the kids keep the towel on.

Hailey apparently likes them too and whenever she has it on she says "Like Mary". (As a big family we acted out the story of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. Click here to see pictures.) Hailey thinks she looks like Mary in her towel. Also Hailey would say that Robert is "Like Joseph" in his towel.

I was trying to take a good picture of her playing with Robert in the bookshelf and this is what I got instead. Silly Hailey.

We were running errand this day and we had Chloe with us all day, so Hailey didn't get her nap. She also had a little running nose and wasn't feeling her best. After Chloe's dad came and took Chloe home, Hailey wanted to read on the couch with a blanket and a pillow.

Poor Girl was asleep in seconds.

Funny Hailey Conversions:

Crying: I'm driving home from the gym and Hailey is non-stop whining. So after five minutes I used my best mommy voice and called her name to convey that she should stop.

Hailey: Mommy no. Mommy no.

(I turned off the radio to hear what she's saying)

Mom: Mommy no what, Hailey?

Hailey: Mommy no cry. He-He cry now. He-He cry a lot.

Mom: What? (not sure if I heard her) Hailey cry now?

Hailey: He-He cry now. He-He cry a lot.

(trying to think fast about how to get the desired response)

Mom: How about Hailey cry in crib. That's where we cry, in our cribs.

Hailey: No! He-HE cry car. He-He cry car!

And she continued to cry the whole way home.

I also hit a bird on this trip back to the house. Lucky the only thing left on my car from the bird is a white streak on the windshield and hood. (I don't know what I would do if the bird was stuck on my car.)

Nap Time Story:

Today (March 10th) I put the kids down at 12:15, right after lunch, for their naps. I expect them to be in there until 3:00pm since that's when Chloe comes. Robert is generally good about sleeping the whole time and Hailey plays for the first hour then sleeps the rest of the time. However, today they just didn't sleep.

I heard them talking or fussy every now and then. Around 2:00pm they are just laughing and laughing. So I just chuckled at the situation and continued what I was doing. There was no way I was going to get them out, they were happy. About 20 minutes later, I hear their door open and Robert whining got louder. Oh no! If I go up to shut the door, then their nap time was definitely over. So I decided to ignore it since I was in the middle of something. Then I heard the door shut. Well, that was odd. Their door does not stay partial open it's either all the way open or completely shut. (I think the door is at a slight angle which causes that to happen). Then I hear little pitter-patter upstairs since the boards squeak. Okay, it was time to figure out what was going on. So I go to the stairs and Hailey is at the very top.

Hailey: "I did it myself"

Mom: "You're out of bed"

Hailey "Did it myself, myself" "Rocking chair. Out of crib. Myself!"

She is just beaming on her accomplishment and Robert is screaming because he was left alone. So I went upstairs to meet her and I discover that she needs a diaper change. While I changed her she keeps telling me how she's a big girl and did it all by herself by using the rocking chair and falling on her head. (the back of the rocking chair was next to her crib, so she must have fallen on her head in the seat part of the rocking chair.) When we came downstairs, she also decided that she deserves candy for all that she did.

Also I go over our schedule most days with Hailey to encourage her to eat or nap. We (1)eat lunch, (2)take nap, (3)Chloe comes. Hailey repeats this to me every time she's done with her nap or she jumps up and down in her crib saying "Chloe's here! Chloe's here!"

Pretty Tutus

For Christmas, my sister Kerstin made her nieces pretty blue tutus.
Here's a quick video of the girls (mainly Kyra and Addy but Hailey's twirls in for a little bit) twirling with their dad (my brother Ryan)

But of course the only time they sat still for a picture was with the TV on.
Here's Hailey cheesing for the camera.

With the extra tulle that Kerstin had, she made lamby a tutu also.

Thank you Kerstin! Hailey enjoys dressing up and nothing is complete without lamby.

Hailey's Kitchen

This is Hailey's Kitchen. She loves playing with it and giving food to everyone. For Christmas she got a toaster and a hand mixer to add to her kitchen.
The beloved lamby is ready for her lunch that Hailey made for her.

Hailey covered the cupcake with a bowl and then took it off to show lamby.

Hailey also has a chef's hat which she calls her goofy hat. We recently added some play food to her collection which has been a big hit.

8 months

One day at my mother in law's house, I decided I wanted baby pictures of Nathan. I was curious about what he looked like as a baby and who looks like him the most. I found a picture of him trying to stand up with only a diaper on. Later on, I found Hailey and I in the same position.

So here we are all around 8 months.

Audrey
Nathan

Hailey
Robert

Big Changes

So, I've had a very difficult week and a half. It all started at my WIC appointment when I was told my baby fell of his growth curve. Robert weighed 18 lbs and I was happy about that. It took Hailey 15 or 16 months to get to that weight. The WIC lady told me I need to add another meal to our schedule and that I shouldn't cut back on nursing him.

(*Quick Side Note: For this semester we have a sweet little girl, Chloe coming to our house after school for two hours everyday. She is in second grade and we love having her over. However, this still makes my afternoons busy so I stopped nursing Robert in the afternoon. Really it's only a three hour span and that's a normal schedule for babies. This is also supposed to help him eat a dinner and drink juice from a bottle. Also after Christmas he got his two front teeth and they hurt me while nursing.*)

I was a bit bummed because feeding my kids solids is a pain and if they won't eat they won't eat. The only thing that Robert would eat well is yogurt, up to this point. So I went to the store got him more finger food and PediSure. For the next day or two I tried really hard to offer him more food and I think a good portion actually went in.

We continued our pattern about feeding him dinner, having both kids take a bath, and then I nurse Robert to sleep. Wednesday night Robert was just throwing a fit so I tried to nurse him to help calm him down and he wouldn't eat. So I ran down stairs got him PediSure and he guzzled that down. I thought maybe since he's happier he'll nurse now but he wouldn't. I cried for an hour after because I was not sure what to do. Nursing was the main way I could interact with him. He nursed about 8 times a day for the past ten months. I didn't know what else to do with him. The way Nathan looks at how I felt was that it is like hating your job but still trying your best, and then being fired all of a sudden. I knew we were going to quit soon but I was the one who was supposed to say when.

Here's my big dilemma: Robert is 10 months old. He is not supposed to drink whole milk or PediSure until he is a year old. Also I don't want him to get stuck on formula when we have to change it again in two months. Also with formula he would need a bottle since we have to measure out the water amount. He is doing a good job with his sippy cups I don't want to get him stuck on a bottle.

Decision: We'll do PediSure and whole milk.

Robert reaction: He only likes PediSure.

The next night he started crying an hour after we put him down for bed. He doesn't do that. When I checked on him, he had a very harsh chest cough and was burning up. I raised his crib on a slant, put the humidifier on, and gave him meds. The next few days all he did was cry and sleep a lot. More sleeping then crying thank goodness. And of course he had diarrhea (I think it might have been from the whole milk), and so I had to change sheets a lot.

I think it was on Tuesday we I noticed that three teeth popped through. So now he has three teeth on top and four on bottom. I definitely don't want to nurse him with that many teeth.

Wednesday I was sick of the house and Robert seemed better so we all went to the mall's play area. Robert threw up once just a little. Hailey just found a friend there so we stayed a little longer. Then Robert really started throwing up. (About 4 times (all over me) before we could get Hailey's coat and shoes on.) Then Thursday afternoon Robert cried for two hours in my arms while Hailey was trying to take her nap. I had Nate come home at 4:00pm to help after that. Then Friday morning again he cried for two hours. I thought he was getting better because he was less congested. But I was done with this so we went to the doctor's. Robert has an ear infection. Also I checked his weight and he lost about 8 oz in less then 2 weeks. I asked the doctor about my milk/formula age dilemma and he told me to do formula.

Follow up: That night we gave him one dose of his prescription and he has been happy since. We are giving him formula now but he won't take it unless it has a little bit of PediSure with it. We have a follow up appointment with the doctor in two weeks. I hope he'll weigh more by then.

Also all my hormones levels are back to normal and I can go back to the gym on Tuesday. I'm excited about these changes but it was a tough transition.