Dead Mall Country Music 2014

My New Year's Resolution is to blog on this site more, so stay tuned for updates on Sweet P and his big brothers.  In the meantime, here is a playlist of some of our favorite tunes from the past year that Brian put together (the boys especially like Track 2!). Hope it adds a little flavor to your holiday season! 

Listen on Spotify:  2014 Dead Mall Country Music

1. Anything Goes:  Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga

2. Uptown Funk:  Mark Ronson feat Bruno Mars 

3. Jealous (I Ain't With It):  Chromeo

4. minipops 67 {120.2}[source field mix]: Aphex Twin

5. The Party Line:  Belle and Sebastian 

6. Never Say Never:  Basement Jaxx

7. Gust of Wind: Pharrell Williams 

8. I'm Not the Only One:  Sam Smith feat ASAP Rocky

9. Break Your Heart Right Back: Ariana Grande feat Childish Gambino

10. Blow (remix): Beyonce feat Pharrell Williams

11. Back in the Tall Grass:  Future Islands 

12. No Rest of the Wicked: Lykke Li

13. Digital Witness: St. Vincent

14. Something From Nothing: Foo Fighters

15. New York City: Lenny Kravitz

16. Jackie and Wilson: Hozier

17. Bad Self Portraits: Lake Street Dive

18. 11 O'Clock Friday Night: Hamilton Leithauser 

  

Los Muchachos

I haven't posted since July and things have definitely become a lot busier around here! Here's the latest on all of us:

James:
- Started preschool at St. Lucas. He is in Mrs. Feliciano's Green Bird class and LOVES it!
- Has been mostly potty trained since my last post in July! A few accidents here and there (usually when he's too busy playing) but has 95% graduated from diapers and pull-ups!
- Such a talkative little guy. Our favorite time is at dinner when we can talk about our day and recap all the fun things he did. It's amazing how much his vocabulary has expanded in the last year. I feel like we were just recently counting the words he could say on our hands. Now he has such a sophisticated vocabulary and is super easy to understand. Some of my favorites are, "Can I have some privacy?" when he needs to go potty, or when he starts a sentence by saying, "Actually"
- He is starting to pack on a few pounds now that he's back at Ms. GG's house around other kids. His sitter tells me some of the things he eats for lunch that he would NEVER touch in the past: brussels sprouts and pork chops to name a few! We have the world's best sitter for our boys!
- My mom (and occasionally dad) watch the boys on Tuesdays and Thursdays and take James to preschool and pick him up on those days. We all envisioned James kicking and screaming when Noni Mary left him, but to our shock and amazement, he just says, "bye Noni" and runs in to play.
- Still loves trains. One of his favorite things to do is get a whole bunch of trains and go under a blanket, "tunnel" as he calls it and make believe.
- LOVES books! We take him to the library every week and read every night at bed time.
- He's starting to really make connections between letters and words. He's known his letters for a while now, but now he'll see signs and ask me what it says. He's always shouting out letters he sees when he's in the car. Makes the reading specialist in me grin ear-to-ear!
- About a month ago he was drawing on paper and I could hear him saying some letters. I looked down and he had written the following letters: F, E, J, K, M, and O...completely legible!

We have to be a lot more careful these days with Henry on the changing table now that he's a roller!

Henry:
- They say you can tell a child's temperament from an early age. Henry was practically born smiling and continues to be the most laid back, happy baby ever! I can barely think of a time where he has been overly fussy or difficult in any way.
- Now has his two bottom teeth (they came in right at 7 months)
- Stopped swaddling at night (right at 7 months) and the second we "unwrapped" him, he rolled over onto his tummy and has slept that way ever since!
- Still takes 3 naps a day (two naps ranging from 1-2 hours, and a late afternoon nap from 5-6 p.m. I think he's outgrowing that one though. I'll miss it because it was just enough time to get dinner ready.
- Can roll over, push up and rock back in forth on his knees, can sit unassisted, and can almost go from belly back to sitting position. I think it's only a matter of weeks before he is crawling.
- Babbles and drools excessively. He is always wearing a bib and saying, "maaa maaa maaa maaa" He loves his mama!
- Eating 2 solid meals a day and about 5 bottles of formula a day
- Although he is 7 months, most of his clothes are between 9-12 months. He's a big boy! He's not fat, but has enough chub and is super long!
- His bedtime is 7 p.m. pretty much on the dot. At bedtime he takes a bath, has a bottle and we lay him down under his light up mobile. He's asleep within minutes and doesn't wake until 6:45 - 7:00 a.m. We've been blessed with 2 great sleepers! Thank God. I'm a hot mess without at least 7 hours a night!

A rare photo of the two boys together at Eckerts Apple Orchard. Henry may be 2.5 years younger than James, but he's already half his size.

Mr. Handsome

James (same outfit) @ 10 months

Henry @ 7 months

Baby James

Oh, how time flies!

i want to do it MY BIG BOY SELF!

We couldn't be any prouder of our big boy James. He has recently achieved so many amazingly independent accomplishments! First and foremost...he is potty trained (well, almost!). Brian and I decided to wait until the hottest week of the summer so that we had a good excuse to stay indoors with a naked toddler for nearly a week straight. For the past 6 months or so we have talked up the potty, but James had zero interest. He even refused to sit on the little potty chair that I bought almost 2 years ago. Then, day #1 of potty training came. We set up a little potty station fully equipped with books, movies, towels, toys, etc. It must have been a pretty inviting place because James proceeded to sit on his potty all day. He watched a few movies, caught up on some reading, and shocked us when he peed on the potty! The next day was even more surprising when he would be busy playing downstairs or in his room and suddenly announce, "I have to pee!" We sprinted like Olympic Gold Medalists to the potty chair to make sure he made it in time---and he did! Toward the end of the day (and almost 24 hours of no #2) I was beginning to think that he would be one of those boys who refuses to go poo on the potty. NOPE! He pooped like a champ at the end of day #2 and had a blast flushing it down the toilet. James even picks up the little bucket, carries it into the bathroom, dumps it out, rinses it in the sink (sort of, I help here with bleach and what-not), turns on the water, pumps out the soap, washes and dries his hands, and puts the little bucket back into the toilet all by his "BIG BOY SELF!" Which by the way is his new favorite thing to say! Although we still put on a diaper during bed time and nap, he has been super successful (a few accidents here and there). We even left the house sans diaper to go to Target. No accidents. The little guy always amazes us.
James at his 3rd birthday party sporting the cool new skates he got from Aunt Susie and Uncle Steve.

And of course we can't leave out little Henry. He has had some big accomplishments too!

• Sleeping "through the night" 7-5:30 (feed and back down until 7:00)
• Started eating solids: rice cereal, peaches, prunes, squash, carrots, green beans (he hated those!)
• Can roll now from tummy to back and back to tummy
• Laughs out loud (especially at James)
• Still one of the most laid back babies of all time
• BIG boy (at his 4 month appointment he was 83rd % for length!)
• Started seeing a chiropractor once a week for cranial sacral therapy to help with head flatness. I think I figured out why both of my kids have had this. I read online that women who are induced are more likely to have (boys especially) babies with flattened heads. It is a result of quick labor (which both of mine were--James 7 hours, Henry 3 hours) which causes head trauma. Hopefully we can fix Henry. We've been doing positional therapy and seeing the chiropractor. We did see a plastic surgeon too who would prescribe a helmet, but they thought he was mild and could benefit from repositioning. We go back to them in 2 weeks to get his head remeasured. We most likely won't do the helmet for him though...he sweats way too much for that.
• Starting to transition more and more from breast milk to formula. I don't want to pump when I go back to work so he will be a formula baby for the second half of his first year.

Nakee Time

Henry at 4 months

James at 4 months (wearing the get-up aunt Sarah got him in Hawaii)

Diaper party!

Ahhh...summer vacation is finally here! Actually, I feel like a slacker since I only worked a total of 12 days after coming off a three month maternity leave. I definitely timed the birth of Henry right. Our little guy is changing and growing so much! Today I spent some time packing away all of the NB-3 month clothing and pulled out all the 6 month clothing. Henry is so much bigger than James was at this age so we are moving through clothes quickly. I've definitely gotten into a nice groove with the kids. Sometimes I feel like I could be a stay at home mom, but I'm probably going to be okay with a change of pace this August. Right now our day is really predictable. I wake up with Henry first around 7:00 a.m. He goes back down for his morning nap exactly one hour after waking, and that's when James wakes up. We have time to play outside, clean up for the day and hang out, and then Henry wakes up again. We've been going to the park a lot or taking little trips to downtown Kirkwood to hit up the farmer's market, library and train station, and then we head home for lunch and afternoon naps. Henry goes down from 1-4:30 and James' nap is from 2-5:00. So during that window I get some pretty good pool time in! I never thought I would be able to get them both napping at the same time!


Here are some Henry updates:
- teething and drooling like crazy
- 2 naps per day (2.5 hours in the morning, 3.5 in the afternoon)
- Goes to bed at 8:00 p.m. and sleeps until 6:00 a.m., I feed him and he goes back to sleep for another hour!
- Has consistently slept through the night now for a week...knock on wood!
- Still breastfeeding
- Able to roll from belly to back
- Smiles all the time and has recently started laughing!
- Wearing 6 month clothing
- Loves watching everything James does
- Can reach out and grab toys
- Has some flatness on the back of his head...hoping we don't need to see the helmet specialist like we did with James : (

And big boy James:
- A vocabulary explosion has erupted.
- Speaks in complete sentences and understands everything we tell him.
- Loves books and can easily predict words in the books by using rhyming clues or pictures.
- Still loves trains more than anything else.
- Sleeping great! 11-12 hours at night, 3 hour afternoon nap
- Still has NEVER attempted to get out of his big boy bed. We put him to bed with lots of trains and when he wakes up he will play quietly with them and when he's ready he'll call for me and say he wants to get up.
- We still struggle with him eating, but with threats and lots of encouragement he eats most meals.
- Can easily navigate the iPad. When I need a shower I will just give James the iPad and he will cue up a movie on Netflix all by himself!!!!
- He has gotten a lot taller in the last few months, but still is pretty small next to his peers.
- Excellent memory! He and daddy play the memory game all the time and he is really good at it.
- Just a sweet, easy going kid! I got really lucky with this one. We rarely have to raise our voices at James. He does mostly everything we ask him to do and says please and thank you.
- He is extremely shy at first with other kids and adults. His thing now is to become a train when he meets new people. It comes off really weird when he does it. He'll close his eyes and make a gutteral train sound that makes him appear more mentally challenged than anything.

Where is the time going???

Henry wasn't really in the mood for his 3 month picture today. I couldn't get him to smile. Heck, I can barely get him to bend! He is always very stiff! I don't know what the hand it about??? Power to the People!

I couldn't resist putting him into James' camping chair.

Again, this is about the best shot I could get from these two that day. Henry is stiff as a board, and James insisted on bringing "Salty" the train with him.

Henry wearing James' "Easter bonnet" (hey I don't have any girls so this is the best I can get!!)

Mother's Day family pic. This one actually turned out pretty good! James is wearing his Easter outfit again. Some say he looks a bit like a used car salesman. I would agree.

4 generations all together. From left we have Aunt Maureen, GG Shirley, Me, Henry, my mom, and James.

Chubby cheeks!

Aunt Maureen bought James Kermie at Build a Bear. It's the same size as Henry!

Easter morning...James found his Easter basket while Henry watches him play.

The Easter Baby

This is James at the same age. He doesn't look as stiff, but he does look stunned. Maybe it's because we dressed him like a pumpkin.

This has been a very busy month! I went back to work this week which went just as well as I had expected it to. It's amazing how much more relaxed I am about all the things that stressed me out to no end with James. It felt good to be at work again with my coworkers and seeing the kids at school also brought a big smile to my face. My substitute planned a little welcome back to work party for me with donuts, pretty flowers and a balloon. I came back at the perfect time of year too...everyone is just relaxed and riding out the last 2 weeks of school.

Henry turned 3 months old this week as well. He continues to be a pretty easy baby, but definitely is starting to teethe these days. It started with drool, and now we have gnawing on fingers, waking up more frequently from naps and even at night. He has been back to waking up twice a night now for over a week. I'm so tired, but it's nothing I can't handle. We have been giving him some Infant Tylenol and that definitely helps. He seems too little to already be teething, but I remember James starting around this age as well, and he had two teeth by the time he was five months old. Other updates on Henry:
- Smiles all the time and has even started laughing a little
- Smiles most when he hears his big brother
- Can reach out and grab objects above him
- Rolls from tummy to back
- Can stand on his legs for extended time (JUST like James at that age)
- Takes several small naps a day and one long late afternoon nap
- Takes a cat nap every day from 6:00 - 6:45 p.m. (which is precisely when we sit down for dinner so that makes life sooooo easy!)
- Goes to bed between 7:30-8:00 and will usually sleep until 5 a.m. (but with teething he has been waking around 3:00 a.m.), but will sleep until 7:30 a.m.

Updates on Mr. James:
James seems remarkably grown up to us nowadays. He is such a sweet, smart and calm little guy. He has totally adjusted to having Henry around now. Every now and then he'll go over and tickle Henry or bring him toys. Generally, he is too busy for Henry playing with trains. Wednesdays are a really fun day for James. First we go to "preschool" at the Magic House, followed by a visit to the Kirkwood Farmer's Market for some watermelon, then the local library (we borrow 7 books a week and two videos), and end with the local train station where we occasionally watch a freight car rumble by. He still loves books and has really enjoyed the variety we can choose from at the library. Unfortunately, James is starting to outgrow his naps. I don't remember the last time he napped for me. He will nap at the sitter's house, however. The good thing is that he will play for 2 hours in his pack n' play. This "quiet time" helps me get things done or take a minute to lay down, but by the evening he's pretty much toast, but in a way it's kinda nice to have him down by 7:30 rather than 8:30. Since I'm going to bed around 9:00 I at least get a little down time without the kids.

2 Month Check-Up

Where have the last two months gone? Oh, I know...into about 600 diapers, 392 feedings, 280 hours of lost sleep for mom, 25 baths, all for one tiny little creature! Lucky for him he is super cute otherwise I'd have to ship him. Ha ha ha! Henry had a clean bill of health at his 2 month check up this week. Here's the stats:
- 11 pounds, 8 ounces (4 more pounds since birth) 50th percentile
- 23.75 inches (3.75 inches since birth) 65th percentile
- Sleeps about 5 hours on average at night with several small naps throughout the day
- Now is sleeping in his crib at night
- We are attempting to end the swinging nap (this is a challenge!)
- Smiles frequently and coos
- Can raise head and look all around when on his tummy for about 10 minute stretches
- Likes to kick his legs while lying on his back
- Favorite thing to look (besides mom) is a collage of baby announcements above the changing table

So sleep is still of course the issue for me these days. We had one night where Henry slept 7 straight hours, but unfortunately, that was an isolated experience. I continue to be very sleep deprived and haven't felt at all energetic this week. Hopefully we can get this sleep thing worked out better in the next 4 weeks before I return to work. I looked at my blog post from James at this age and he was sleeping 9 hours through the night. Not sure what that was all about. James has always been a very good sleeper. He rarely wakes at night and usually sleeps about 11 hours straight and still takes a 2 hour (nap or "rest") during the day. My pediatrician said that if your first is a good sleeper, then your second should be too. Keeping my fingers crossed that she's right!

Never a Dull Moment

Henry is so strong. James loves spending time with him. He's going to be such a great big brother!
Captured a few of Henry's little smiles today! He is smiling and cooing all the time now.
Henry is the sweetest, most content little baby in the world. He rarely cries. Sources say that this is exactly how Brian was as a baby. His grandma used to beg him to cry just so she could know what it sounded like.
I see so much of my late grandma Doris in Henry's little mouth.
We had such a blast with Sandy and Bill here. James has been asking where Noni and Papa went for a week now.
Noni and the boys.
I was even able to get out and get a much needed haircut and highlight while the Riches were here.
Henry is already getting big. Poor little James better start beefing up!

Our little man, Henry, will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. I really can't remember what life was like before him. Things are definitely still crazy, but we all seem to be getting the hang of things a little better now. Henry is now sleeping about 5-6 hours through the night, waking just once to eat and then going right back down. He still sleeps a lot. I would say at least 18 hours a day. When he is awake he is a great little eater, burper and just loves being help upright so he can take it all in. He is remarkably strong and is growing so fast. He is wearing 3 month clothing at this point. You can feel the little fat roles hanging over his diaper. James was always so little so this is fun having a chunky baby. I go back to work on May 9--only a little over 4 weeks left of maternity leave. I can't complain much though because I go back with 2 weeks of school remaining and then a whole summer vacation. I made the painful decision to go back to work full time next year. Even though it is full time, I'm very very excited about my new position. I will be working 1/2 time as a reading specialist, and 1/2 time as a reading assistant. Both jobs I have held in the past and both jobs are in my specialty area of reading. I'm so relieved to not be going back to the classroom...too much extra work for me at this point in my life! My job next year will be challenging, but it is much more low key. I don't have grades, parents to deal with, discipline issues, homework, or nearly the amount of planning that a classroom position would require. This is a great job for a working mom. James and Henry will go back next year to the awesome babysitter I am so blessed to have, and two days a week my mom and dad will watch the boys. I'm so lucky! James will go to preschool at St. Lucas on Tuesdays and Thursdays (the days my parents have him) so he will have a very exciting year.

James is extremely smart. His knowledge and memory amaze me. His vocabulary is exploding. Not only does he speak in complete sentences, he is able to use pronouns and proper tenses when speaking. I rarely have to correct him. He still is in love with trains. Every night we read a few books but then he just wants to hear stories of trains taking him and Henry on adventures. We tell him the stories and he lights up. Then we kiss him goodnight and he goes to bed with his favorite trains all tucked in a row under his blankets. Even though I'm bone tired most days, I wouldn't trade this precious time. It is all such an amazing blessing!