A Conversation

This morning:

Caiden: What are you doing Mama?
Me: I need to take a shower. I'm stinky.
Caiden: You have poops?!*
Me: (laughing) No Caiden, I don't have poops. I just need to take a shower and get clean.

*Whenever Caiden has poops, I tell him we need to change his diaper cuz he's stinky. Hence the connection. :)

Ezra At 6 Months - A Whole Half Year!

My goodness I can't believe my littlest guy is 6 months old now!  In my eyes, that is quite the milestone because it seems like so many great new things start happening at that age! I'll get to those highlights in just a bit. Oh, and this time I *did* keep a draft post to keep track of what he's been up to so that I'm not scratching my head trying to remember!

Ezra had his 6 month appointment on Wednesday and is doing wonderfully! He is still quite tall for his age, and his weight is starting to flatten out a little bit. When Caiden was this age, he had actually lost a little weight, so in comparing the two, this is where Ezra starts to be noticeably different when compared to Caiden in the height/weight stats. Comparing the two, they'd be within a 1/4 inch of each other in height, but Ezra is 2 lbs heavier than when Caiden was 6 mos old.

Here are the stats from the doctor visit:
Weight: 18lbs, 9oz (up 1lb 12oz from his 4 month appt) which puts him in the 50-75%.
Height: 28in (up one inch since December) - that keeps him in the 95%!
Head: 17.5 inches

On to the highlights!

• I think the hardest part about this month was helping Ezra get through his first ear infection. The poor guy really struggled with the discomfort, and after his ear infection cleared up, he caught another little cold that had him coughing and a little congested. Poor guy!! We also found out he really really did not like taking his medicine for the ear infection. He would screw his face up, purse his lips real tight, and when I did get it in, totally gag on it. Introducing solids is gonna be...interesting. :P 
• So...sleep. My "favorite" topic. I wrote a little bit about his ear infection last month, but didn't realize the true implications of his being sick until a little later. And that is how badly it messed up his sleep habits. His naps recovered well, but the nighttime sleep was a nightmare. He reverted back to waking up 2-3 times a night, and bedtime has been a complete struggle. Only these last few days have we seemed to figure out a new pattern that seems to be showing some improved results. He's been starting his days more routinely around 6:45am, which causes his afternoon nap to end before 3pm. That requires a 3rd short nap around 5pm, and then bedtime within 90 min of waking up. I am so thankful that this has thus far translated into much better overnight sleep - only waking up once sometime between 11:30pm and 2am. I'm sure this will all change again, but I'm enjoying it while I can! Ok, enough about this obsessive topic!
• Ezra has been blowing raspberries! We were doing it back and forth to each other and it was just the cutest thing!!
• He has "found" his toes/feet and likes to grab them and chew on 'em. Sometimes he pulls his own sock off in the attempt to get at his feet! I love watching him nom on his toes!


 
• Another thing he does that I love is the way he looks back to check in on you when you are talking. He'll be sitting on my lap chewing on his fingers or a toy, and while I am talking he will pause in his chewing and look up at me as if to make sure that it really is me. Then he grins and goes back to what he was doing before. :)
• I absolutely adore the way he nestles his head into the crook of my arm when he is falling asleep. It just melts my heart the way he snuggles in like that.
• Ezra is becoming ever more proficient in reaching for and grabbing various toys. And of course everything goes right into his mouth for chewing!
• He really loves watching/seeing other babies. He even lights up when he see pictures of babies in books! 
• We got him a Johnny Jumper and so far he seems to dig it!

• He's been working real hard on sitting up, and like his brother did, seems to have just about mastered it by his 6 month mark. He still needs some pillow propping to help him stay balanced, but he is doing really well staying up!


• As I mentioned in a recent post, we are doing a great job getting out of the house more frequently since the boys' naps are lining up much better! I just have to be really prepared/organized to maximize our time window, but it makes a world of difference!
  
• And finally, what I'd consider to be the biggest milestone for this month, Ezra has started solids! Last night he tried avocado for the first time. After some initial gagging and surprise at the new taste, he decided he LOVED it and could hardly get enough! He ate probably about 1-2 Tbsps.
  
  
  
  
  The original video of his first bites got corrupted, but here is some footage of him gobbling it up!

I think that about covers it for this month. Have fun checking out all the updated photos of both Ezra and Caiden!

Two heads are better than one!

Watching big brother Caiden

Caiden Cuteness

So lately a lot of my entries have been chronicling Ezra's updates and milestones, and I really haven't done a great job of doing something similar for Caiden. There is so much that he says and/or does on a near daily basis that has me cracking up or making sure I share the story with B. I don't know why I haven't thought to start blogging them too! Tonight I have two little stories (well, actually I'm gonna sneak a 3rd snippet in) to share. :)

Since Caiden is such an avid reader, I thought it would be great to set up a little reading nook in his bedroom. He has his monogrammed chair, bear rug, bookcase, end table and reading lamp all set up. I had wondered how well he'd take to it and/or if the newness would wear off and he'd lose interest in sitting up there. Well, I needn't have worried! Nearly every day Caiden will take himself upstairs, grab his paci and blankie and settle himself into his chair and read his books. Sometimes he'll hang out up there for 30-45 min at a time!! On some occasions, he'll even turn on his radio which is tuned (by his preference) to the classical music station. I absolutely love it!!

Another thing Caiden has been really into these days is imaginative play. Besides all the garbage truck/landfill play, he also loves The Lion King and Toy Story. He hasn't seen The Lion King movie yet, but we have 4 or 5 books that are all variations of the story in the movie. He has also inherited all of my stuffed animals - Nala, Simba, Timon and Pumbaa. He will carry the animals all around the house and loves to play with them. I showed him a couple video clips of two popular songs from the movie, and well, I'll let you see and hear for yourself. :)

Video Of Caiden Singing

 But the bigger obsession is with Toy Story. He started seeing little clips of the movie at the play area where he hangs out while I grocery shop. One afternoon on the way home from the store, he started talking about "Buzzbee" and "The Scary Man." It took me quite awhile to figure out he was talking about Buzz Lightyear and his nemesis from Toy Story 2! Caiden LOVES "Buzzbee" and talks about him all the time. Buzz hangs out with him, flies around the house, saves him from The Scary Man, and even holds his hand while going up the stairs. It is the cutest dang thing to watch him running around the house with his imaginary friend!! Some days we pretend that The Scary Man is coming to get us and run around the house hiding from him. I just love watching his imagination grow! We also decided it would be a good opportunity to do our very first Family Movie. This is an especially big deal because we allow Caiden to watch very little TV. So last Sunday, B, Caiden and I settled down to watch Toy Story (the original) together while Ezra napped. It was so much fun watching a movie together with Caiden - esp. one where he is already so in love with the characters! Next up will be Toy Story 2, and for his birthday we're giving him Toy Story 3. Thanks Uncle Rob for letting us borrow TS 1 & 2!!

The last little story I have to share happened tonight. Poor kid was having a really hard time with a poop. When he finally got through it (and all the discomfort it was causing him), he proclaimed the poop to be a "nice guy!" Then he and daddy proceeded to discuss how the poop didn't mean to give him owies before, and that when "he" (the poop) finally got out it didn't hurt so bad. I nearly peed my pants in the kitchen (trying desperately to be quiet) laughing so hard while eavesdropping on their conversation! So many of the things he comes up with just crack me up!!

A Good Week

I love Fridays. Not for just the usual end of the week joy they bring, but because Fridays around here are particularly cool. For one, B usually works the whole day from home which often frees me up to run errands sans kids. Fridays are also when Caiden goes to his Sparrows class at The Nest. It is a class geared toward 2.5-3 year olds and lasts for 2 hours. I get to drop him off there, and he goes to class with other kids ON HIS OWN. :D This is also a drop off and play facility, so I let him stay and play after class for an extra two hours which he LOVES! By the time Caiden is tired out and ready for pick up, it is his nap time for the afternoon. For me, it's a nice break to only have take care of Ezra for most of the day, and it allows for Ezra and me to also get some extra bonding time which I really enjoy.

Aside from Happy Fridays, I am pleased to report that this has actually been a pretty good week. :) We got out every day this week which is a BIG FRICKING DEAL! There have been many weeks where we have only gotten out of the house on grocery day, and those make for long trying weeks. But this week we went to the Orange Blossom Society on Monday, The Village Bean on Tuesday and met up with friends Ashely & baby Atticus, Costco on Wednesday, grocery shopping on Thursday, and Friday was the usual schedule I described above. And what made this week even MORE awesome was that the boys' nap schedules lined up beautifully all week. Ezra had good morning naps, and then they both napped at the same time every day this week in the afternoons. I LOVED having the time to myself to work, read, rest, catch up on blogging, emails, etc. It's amazing how much a good week can do for one's peace of mind. :) I know better than to expect this to be the norm every week, but it sure is nice to see that it can happen and probably will with more frequency over time.

I'm looking forward to a fun weekend starting with Fringe Friday & strawberry milkshakes with B. Saturday night I'm going out for a girls' night which promises to be lots of good fun. :) Hope you had a great week and are looking forward to a fun relaxing weekend!