In the Closet and Out of the Carseat

Yesterday I set up the pack and play in our walk-in closet, which is in the master bathroom. Even though they were done with Nadia and Ian's light before it was time for Nadia's nap, they were still working in Paul's office, and sometimes they were very loud. They were almost done with Paul's office when it was time for Ian's 3rd nap, but his crib was piled with the contents of the closet (since the access to the attic is located in his closet); so he took his 3rd nap in Nadia's crib. He took his 1st nap in his crib before they arrived at 9am, and he took his 2nd nap on our bed. Today when I told Nadia it was time for her nap she surprised me by saying, "take nap in the closet." At first my instinct was to say "no," but I hadn't taken down the pack and play yet, so I thought why not. I realized a little later while mowing with Ian in the Snugli that the only problem was I wouldn't be able to take a shower when I got done mowing, as that would wake her up. So I made do with a sponge bath of sorts. I was very grateful it was only in the high 60's when I mowed (compared to 90 degrees when I last mowed 10 days ago). I still worked up a sweat since I was carrying a 16 1/2 lb sleeping baby in the Snugli while I mowed!

Ian has learned a trick that Nadia never did. He has on multiple occasions over the past few weeks unhooked the strap that goes across his chest when he's in his carseat! Although the bottom part is still locked in place, I am sure it's not nearly as safe with the top part unfastened. You'd think they'd design a carseat in such a way that a 6 month old couldn't unhook it, LOL! He's obviously not trying to do it, but he just loves grabbing and pulling on things! I guess it means I need to switch him out of the infant carseat. Usually the kids are both in my car so we can just use both carseats in my car for now, but probably at some point we need to buy two more carseats so we can have two in each car. Ian's will be facing the opposite direction for another 5.5 months. I haven't been carrying Ian around too much in the carrier; so I guess it won't be a big deal to switch. It makes me feel a little sad though - one of those "he's growing up too fast" moments!

Last night Ian slept from 7:45pm to 3:10am and then from 3:45 to 6:00. His first stretch wasn't as long as the previous night, but his second stretch was longer. If he hadn't gone to bed later, he would have gotten about the same amount of total sleep. Nadia woke up at 3:00am and was crying. I asked Paul to go put her on the potty, and sure enough that was why she was crying. She went to the bathroom and then eventually fell back asleep. She got up at 7:30 this morning whereas lately she's been getting up at 6:30 so she made up for the sleep she lost by sleeping in later. She's been waking up dry every morning so I'm going to have her sleep in underwear for the first time tonight. Unforunately the same can't be said for her naps the last two days. I think sleeping in the closet may have been part of the problem though (since I couldn't hear her if she said potty) so hopefully when she naps in her crib tomorrow she'll stay dry during her nap.

Let there be light! (and sleep!)

This morning an electrician and his 13 year old son came and installed ceiling lights in Ian and Nadia's bedrooms and a ceiling fan/light in Paul's office. I really don't know why it isn't standard when building a house to install at least a light in the ceiling of every bedroom. The house is about 10 years old, and our bedroom was the only one that had a ceiling fan/light. Paul will be the one to appreciate it the most as he's very particular about having a lot of light when he's reading. His office gets rather toasty; so I think the ceiling fan will also be appreciated.

Last night Ian slept almost 9 hours straight! YAHOO! I am very, very grateful that he's down to one feeding. Last night it was a very short one (4:10-4:30am), and he got up for the day a little before 6am. I'd say he slept about 10.5 hours total. I got a little more than 8 hours since I went to bed at 8:30pm.

Both kids are back to their normal selves today. Thank goodness! Yesterday was an exhausting day. It also helps that it's not raining today, and it's much more pleasant outside (it's been really hot).

Tonight is my last night of teaching on campus this summer. I'm giving a final exam on Thursday night, and then I don't plan to return to campus until August 30. YAHOO! I'll be teaching an online course for 6 weeks starting next week. In a little less than three weeks Paul will be heading to Poland. I'm not looking forward to that!

Birthday Cake!

First Birthday Cake (6/27/09)

Second Birthday Cake (6/27/10)

Yesterday we concluded Nadia's birthday celebration. Paul's parents and grandmother came up after church and had lunch with us while the kids were napping. I made pulled pork for the first time. It was a bit runny. I want to try another recipe since it's something we both like. Paul's mom brought some baked beans and the birthday cake that Millie had made. I also served chips and grapes. Nadia loved the frosting. She ate more cake last year. This year she used a fork instead of her fingers. She had a SUPER hard time falling asleep last night. Paul said he she didn't stay quiet until after 10pm! I think she is very sensitive to sugar. I gave the rest of the cake to the neighbors today so the temptation would be gone. I've noticed she has a hard time falling asleep when she eats sweets, and she had the cake in the late afternoon so it's not like we gave it to her right before she went to bed.

She was VERY cranky this morning. I am not sure if it was from the lack of sleep last night (she only slept about 8 hours) or constipation (because her mood got much  better after she went #2 on the potty in the afternoon), but it was a very long day. Both kids were out of sorts. The good news is that I got lots of snuggling time in with both kids as both of them wanted to be held ALL DAY. The bad news is that it's hard for me to snuggle with both at the same time so most of the day one of them was screaming. It was exhausting. I'm not sure what Ian's problem was - maybe he's teething? He did really well sleeping last night so that wasn't his problem. I think it was his best night ever. He slept almost 11 hours total! WOW! I nursed him from 3:15-3:45am, which was 8 hours after I had put him down (the 2nd time). He was only fed twice over a span of 12 hours, and the first of those two feedings was before I went to bed. I went to bed around 9pm so I slept 6 hours before the 3am feeding. I had a hard time falling back asleep, but I did sleep over 7 hours total. Tonight he didn't go down until 7:15 so I doubt he'll get 11 hours total, but I'm hoping his first stretch will again be at least 8 hours long.

I was hoping today would be day #10 in a row without any accidents, but for whatever bizzare reason she had two #1 accidents right beside the froggy potty on the linolium. I hadn't cleaned up an accident in weeks. I remembered how much I don't enjoy it. The good news was that she went #2 on a regular potty at our house for the first time. She also went #2 on the potty at church yesterday! YAY! She woke up dry again this morning so in the not so distant future I plan to have her start sleeping in underwear. Right now she's wearing underwear for about 13-14 hours straight and then wearing a pull-up overnight. Hopefully tomorrow will be an accident free day, and I'm hoping the next time we can reach double digits. Right now 9 accident free days in a row is her current record.

Nadia got two more birthday presents yesterday - a tricycle (which even has a bell) from Grandma and PopPop and a magnetic play book from Great Gram. She had fun with both new toys today. She wanted to show Gabby and Alexis her new bike. She spent some time playing with Paul outside once he came home from school (around 6pm). I got a coupon code from PictureMe studios for one more free 10x13 (only had to pay $4 for shipping) so I ordered one of a pose I hadn't ordered anything of while we were at the store. I am grateful we had so many good poses to pick between!

Photos and Rides!

After Ian had his nap we headed to the PictureMe studio at Walmart. I am happy to say that this photographer was much better meaning she was successful at getting Nadia to smile PLUS she was much quicker on the draw with snapping the photos AND she wasn't trying to get Nadia in this super particular pose (which were the problems we had on Thursday). The only downside was I spent WAY more money than I do at Sears. So I hope to find another photographer I like at Sears for Ian's next photos, and I'm hoping for our family Christmas photo (which would be the next time I'd take Nadia for a photo shoot) that we can go with Karen at the studio she switched to (as I was told she'd be back for the holidays). Of course part of the reason I spent so much money was because there were so many good poses to pick between! I figure that I used to take Nadia about every 3 months so in that sense I didn't spend any more money. I just spent 2-4 sessions worth at one time. Anyhow I really enjoy looking at pics of my kids around the house and in my office at work, so I am willing to splurge on this!

After we ate lunch at the McD's inside the Walmart, we headed to Knoebels. It took a bit longer as we didn't realize the town where the Walmart was located was having their 4th of July parade today. OOPS! We met Paul's parents there and spent a few hours at the park and then had pizza with them before heading back home. Ian was a trooper although he cried the last part of the ride home. It was a long day for the little guy! It was a hot day, but this park has lots of trees so we weren't too hot in the shade. Nadia's favorite ride is still the Kiddie Whip!

The only problem we encountered at the restaurant was that they didn't have any milk. We tried to get her to drink fruit punch, but she really wanted milk. And this was her birthday celebration so Paul drove a block down the road to McD's and brought her back some milk before they served our pizza. The waitress colored a special birthday (paper) plate for Nadia, which was sweet.

Nadia didn't have any accidents yesterday! She peed at the Walmart and at Knoebels. Yay for being able to use public toilets, LOL! She didn't go at the restaurant (she tried) and part of the way home she said she had to go. I stopped at a rest stop, but she didn't go there either. Thankfully she held it and went as soon as we got home. Whew. Saturday she woke up dry!

Friday night Ian got up twice (1am and 4am) so I decided last night to let him CIO if he woke up before 3am. He woke up at 1am and cried less than 5 minutes and then slept until 4am. That's much better as he went to bed at 7:15pm.

HURRY!

One thing I've learned through potty training is that there are a few words that Nadia can say (potty, peepee, and hurry for example) that make me drop everything and RUN. It's probably as effective as someone yelling "FIRE!" LOL! I don't drop Ian if I am holding him, but I do hastily put him down (which displeases him when I'm in the middle of nursing him). Monday I was making brownies and stopped so abruptly that I accidently dropped the spoon into the batter. Sunday I pulled the car over on the side of the highway so Paul could take her in the grass. Yesterday I was trimming fat off of pork and didn't even wash my hands first whereas normally I won't do anything until I wash my  hands after I've handled raw meat. Even though sometimes they are false alarms, I still feel my adrenaline kick in when I hear her say one of those words. It's a race to try to get her on the potty on time. The good news would be that outside of her crib she hasn't had any accidents for seven days. During those seven days she only had an accident during naptime one day (Thursday with Paul). Yesterday was the second day out of the last eight days that she pooped in the potty. That was cause for much rejoicing! She's using regular toilets for peeing, but her success with #2 yesterday was in the froggy potty. I think we need to stick with those for a bit longer for #2. Hopefully she won't have any accidents at Knoebels today!

A Grateful Heart

1. For the blessing of being a mom for the past two years. I've been a mom since June 2005, but it didn't seem real until my baby was finally in my arms. I am very thankful for Nadia! Yesterday at her 2 year check-up she weighed in at 29lbs 1.5oz which puts her at the 80th percentile. She's 33.5 inches tall (which I had already figured out based on the measuring stick at Knoebels as she was too short for the rides that you have to be at least 36 inches tall to ride), which puts her at the 45th percentile. Her head circumference (49 cm) was at the 85th percentile. Thankfully she didn't need any shots, and she she won't at her 3 year appointment either. YAY! The take home sheet included a list of anticipated developmental milestones that she should hit over the next year. She already can do several of them: follow simple directions, identify her gender, identify her age, knows at least 1 color, and uses plurals. I am not sure what they mean by "knows full name." If they mean first and last, yes she can already do that. If they mean first, middle, and last, nope I haven't worked on that with her yet. The other ones she's supposed to achieve by age 3 that she hasn't mastered yet are: copies circles, rides tricycle (pretty hard for her to master that since she hasn't had one yet), and broad jump. I think she'll master riding a tricycle by the end of the summer. She loved the scooter she got yesterday from Grandma and PopPop!

2. It was fun to celebrate Nadia's birthday yesterday. On Wednesday night I found myself so very excited with anticipation of celebrating her birthday. It felt like Christmas Eve. Paul blew up the large inflatable Larry (the Pirate). It was so fun to watch her open her presents yesterday. She got lots of books, some clothes, two puzzles, a scooter, a basketball hoop, etc. The ones she seemed to favor yesterday were what she calls "big Larry," the VeggieTales musical toothbrush I got her (see the third picture), and the scooter that Grandma and PopPop got her. She hasn't been able to try out the basketball hoop that my parents got her yet as it's not been fully assembled yet. We stopped and got McD's for lunch on the way home. I asked her what she wanted at McD's, and she kept saying "McDonald's milk!" (see the first picture) I am not sure what is special about their milk, but that's fine with me if that's what she likes best at McDs. :-) She ate chicken nuggets, fries, (see the second picture) and I shared an ice cream treat with her. When I came home from work, I gave her a little brownie as her birthday dessert. She'll get some cake tomorrow. Today she asked me to wear her "Bob shirt" that we gave her yesterday (see 4th and 5th pictures). She put her new sunglasses that the neighbors gave her on (upside down) before she ate breakfast this morning (6th picture).

3. I am grateful for my sweet boy! Of course Ian did get shots yesterday, but at least he'll get a break until his 12 month appointment (with the exception of possibly a flu shot). He weighed in at 16lb 5.5oz (on an empty belly - he was fed soon after being weighed) which put him at the 25th percentile (a big jump considering he was below 0 two months ago). They said he is 24.75 inches long (3rd percentile), and his head circumference (44 cm) jumped from 25th to 50th percentile. Hopefully his height will jump up the next time as his weight and head circumference have already. The one thing he can already do on the list of anticipated milestones by 9 months is stand holding on. If I put him by the little music table, he can hold on to it and stand by himself. We shall see about the other ones (say mama/dada, sit without support, crawl, etc.). Given how much he hates to be on his belly (and how much he spits up during tummy time), I am not sure when he's going to crawl. The doctor did say he has reflux (finally!), and said he could give an Rx, but he said Ian should outgrow it in the next couple of months. The nurse confirmed the reflux diagnosis as she said Ian responded to the oral Rotavirus immunization as all those with reflux do (whereas Nadia loved that stuff!). Sometimes I think it's good that Ian has too many outfits because he generally wears more than one a day. I don't change him every time he spits up, but I do when his outfit is just thoroughly drenched.

4. We made plans yesterday to get together with my sister and her family at Knoebels on July 2. They are going back to Turkey in a few weeks and won't be back for probably 2 years so I am glad we'll get to spend time with them one more time before they leave. We'll miss them!

5. I only have 2 nights left to teach on campus over the next 2 months (next Tuesday and Thursday). YAY! I've never taught an online course before; so we shall see how that goes over the following 6 weeks. Normally I don't have a hard time leaving for work, but I did yesterday because I wanted to be with Nadia all day on her birthday (albeit she was napping when I left for work) and felt Ian needed Mommy's comforting due to his shots.

6. I'm thankful Paul stayed home yesterday. I was able to leave the kids in the car (with him) when I stopped at the Post Office on the way to the doctor's office, it was sooo much easier to spend a little over an hour at the doctor's office with two little ones with two adults rather than by myself, he was able to unload the trunk at the recycling center on our way home, and I was able to go buy my new car during Nadia's nap. Yesterday morning he also helped me go through all the clothes in his dresser. We filled one garbage bag to take to the recycling center (they also have a thrift store) and put some that are still in good shape but are too small for him in the closet in case he loses weight at some point. All his new clothes now fit in his dresser. This was very exciting for me as Paul hates to part with stuff so to fill a large bag to donate was excellent!

7. I'm glad that it's easier to put Ian down for a nap. I no longer use milk to help him go down for his naps. Usually I just rock him a little in the glider. He is sleeping more at night although I'm still looking forward to the day when he'll sleep 10-12 hours straight at night. Right now he's in a pattern of sleeping from about 8pm-3am and again from about 4:00-5:30 or 5:45am. He's averaging 8-9 hours total. Since I often don't go to bed until 9pm and don't fall right back asleep at 4am, I am getting at the most 7 hours. That's not horrible, but it means I still feel tired. Once my class is over, I am going to try to start putting him to bed earlier, and I also need to go to bed earlier than 9pm until he gives up the 3am feeding. He's not waking at any other times so we haven't needed to let him cry. I'm also glad that he seems back to normal today. He definitely handles his shots better than Nadia did.

Two Years Old!!

Three Days Old

Three Months Old

Six Months Old

Nine Months Old

One Year Old

15 Months Old

18 Months Old

21 Months Old

2 Years Old

Nadia has learned so many skills over the past 2 years! A few recent ones would include drinking from a glass instead of a sippy cup, feeding herself with a fork and spoon (albeit that's still a messy process), learning to like drinking water, going to the bathroom on a regular toilet rather than her diaper or a child's size potty, singing many songs, whispering, counting from one to eleven perfectly, identifying some colors accurately (yellow, purple, and green), and drinking from a straw. I've tried to get a video of her counting, but she keeps deciding to show off her new skill of whispering while counting, which doesn't work too well for taking a video unless you can read her lips. :-)

These are a few of her favorite things:

Books - If you give a mouse a cookie, How do dinosaurs get well soon, and any Curious George, Clifford, Hermie & Wormie, or VeggieTale books. To illustrate how long her attention span is for being read to these days, she asks us to read the entire treasury of Clifford books that we own (which has 6 complete Clifford books in it). The book is more than an inch thick! I am thrilled that she loves books!!!

TV- She doesn't watch as much lately (thank goodness), but her favorite shows in rank order are VeggieTales, Curious George, Clifford, Sesame Street (Elmo in particular), and Martha Speaks. She pronounces most words correctly these days (even says "th" clearly such as when she says "Beth"), but for the last few months she pronounces TV as "TD."

Activities: being outside, going down slides, swinging, playing in her sandbox, riding rides, swimming, drawing with sidewalk chalk, painting, play-doh, coloring with crayons, being read to, singing and listening to music, watching tv, building with blocks, playing with Mr. Potato, rough house, playing with her kitchen, pushing her stroller, walking in Mommy or Daddy's shoes, saying "hi" to everyone she passes by while we're shopping, bubble baths, being tickled, being held, playing with any toy that Ian happens to be holding, and catching, throwing, and kicking a ball.

Foods: pretzels, Honey Nut Cheerios (with  milk for breakfast), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bagels, English muffins, Gushers, crackers, cheese, raisins, grapes, bananas, yogurt, macaroni and cheese, pizza, hamburgers, fries, pudding, ice cream, cookies, brownies, applesauce, Frosted Mini Wheats, egg salad, granola bars, popcorn, chips, and milk.

Phrases: "I'm coming," "Have it" (said in reference to whatever Ian is holding), "It's too heavy" (could also mean it's too big), "See ya," "It's okay," "Hi," "I need help," "hold you," (meaning hold me) and "good girl."

No Dice

The main thing on my agenda for today was to take Nadia and Ian to Sears for Nadia's 2 year portraits. The last time I had pictures taken just of her was 7 months ago. Her picture was taken at Sears with Ian 4 months ago. The last two appointments were with Karen. She told me last month at Ian's appointment that she was switching to a different studio. She recommended we make an appointment with Leah if we decided to stay at the same studio. I decided to try Leah once. Well I will make sure to avoid Leah in the future. She seemed irritated that we came early (even though the reminder email says to come 15 minutes early). She required me to stand off to the side so I couldn't help get Nadia to smile. She was giving Nadia instructions that were not appropriate for a child about to turn 2 years old. She took too long to take a picture, and she was waiting for these perfect poses (in terms of how Nadia positioned her hands, etc.) that just aren't going to happen in my opinion. I think Leah was frustrated with Nadia. I was frustrated with Leah. Nadia wasn't being difficult. True she wasn't smiling as easily as Ian smiles these days, but Leah also made almost no effort to get Nadia to smile. Leah is the manager of this studio. Go figure. Leah gave up and asked me to reschedule. I said I wouldn't be coming back here. I couldn't believe she gave up so quickly after all the efforts I took to get us ready and get to this appointment (baths, choosing outfits, choosing backgrounds, etc.). I had planned to have Nadia wear the pink dress for most of the photos - some with the hat and some with two barrettes in her hair. Then I planned to change her into a yellow dress and pigtails and have a couple of photos with Ian. The manager of the other store happened to be there, and she told me Karen isn't working there right now but will be back in a few months. I was sooo disappointed. I made an appointment at Walmart for this Saturday morning. I hope that works out. I plan to go to the other Sears studio in November if I can get an appointment with Karen. I hope so. She was really good. We left so hastily - since Leah said I should reschedule (even though no one was waiting in the studio after us and both kids were being well behaved), I didn't even see the pics that she took. From my brief glance when she was taking them, I think she got one good photo of Nadia standing beside the big number 2. I wish I had asked to see that picture as I might have gotten the $8 package of that photo. Oh well. Hopefully it will go well on Saturday. At least on a Saturday morning Paul can go with me. I wish my sister lived closer! I think I got a few pretty good pictures though.

The potty training update would be that everything is the same. She has had 5 accident free days in a row in terms of the hours she's not in her pjs (13-14 hours on average). She hasn't gone #2 on the potty in 6 days. She's doing it during the night. I'm hoping we have a break through on that soon. The sleep update for Ian would be that last night wasn't as good even though I still only got up with him once in the night. We never let him cry because he only woke up once, but he went to bed later and got up at 5:30am. I got at most 7 hours of sleep. Bah humbug.

Much Better

I went to bed at 7:30pm last night and got up at 6:15 this morning. I nursed Ian from 4:15-4:45am, but aside from a few trips to the bathroom and one trip to Ian's room to make sure he was really asleep (because I was in pain and leaking all over the place), I was in bed for about 10 hours! I had a hard time sleeping due to clogged ducts, but still I felt 5 million times better today than I did yesterday. I put Ian down around 6pm, and he woke up about 6:35pm. I fed him and put him back down at 7:15. He woke up and cried at 8 something or other and also again at 11 something or other. Both times we let him cry. I think he might have cried about 15 minutes total between the two episodes. I would have fed him any time after 1am, but he didn't make a peep between midnight and 4am. He got almost 11 hours of sleep last night! That's WAY more than usual. That was very good for me, and it has to also have been good for him. I'm hoping more sleep becomes the norm although I certainly don't plan to regularly go to bed that early!

Need to Sleep!

Yesterday all of Ian's naps were in someone's arms. The first two were in my arms during Sunday School and church, the third was in the Snugli while I mowed the lawn, and the fourth was in Paul's arms while he shopped in Borders. This meant it was very hard to get him to take his first nap in his crib this morning. After letting him cry 30 minutes (the longest I've ever let him cry it out), I nursed him to sleep. The second and fourth naps he cried about 10 minutes before he fell asleep. I rocked him to sleep before his third nap. I am trying to help him develop his self-soothing skills, but for a variety of reasons (some are logical such as that I don't want his crying to wake Nadia), I have a really hard time letting him cry. I would have thought it would be harder to let your firstborn CIO. I am surprised that it's harder for me to let him CIO than it was for me to let Nadia. When I hear him cry, my instinct is to go pick him up and comfort him. It doesn't help that when I do let him cry and then go get him, he looks so pitiful - cheeks bright red, tears and boogies smeared on his face and in his hair, etc.

As hard as it may be, I MUST start doing it at night. I am going to lose my sanity if I don't start getting more sleep. I can't believe I am still functioning given how little sleep I've gotten for over 6 months. Friday night and last night were particularly awful. Saturday night was bearable which is why I was able to mow on Sunday although I wasn't able to finish the whole lawn due to heat exhaustion (it was over 90 degrees out and I was carrying Ian). I usually mow on Saturday, but on Saturday I was dizzy and my head was throbbing so badly I thought I was going to throw up just from exhaustion. I felt the same way today. I was able to function better on Saturday night because a miracle occured in that there was a 45 minute overlap between Ian and Nadia's naps and then to make the miracle even better I was able to get Ian to fall back asleep on me for an additional 45 minutes. That 90 minute nap made the dizziness go away. Ian has been going at least 5 hours the first stretch, but I don't generally go down the same time as he does (although I often go down within 30 minutes of him if he goes down at 8pm or later). What made matters worse last night was that Nadia woke up at 12:30am because she had pooped in bed. I changed her at 12:45 but then insomnia kicked in and I was still awake when Ian woke up at 2am. I didn't get back to sleep until after I put him back down at 2:45am. His first stretch has been okay, but the problem has been that he gets up very frequently after that. I could handle one feeding a night, especially if I could go back to sleep right away. But to be up several times and have a hard time going back to sleep and then to have him start his day sooo early (lately he's been staying up for the day starting as early as 4:45am or today it was 5:30) just leaves me so exhausted. I don't even bother trying to take anything for the headaches. It doesn't help. I need SLEEP. I didn't nap yesterday due to mowing, but I did get a 45 minute nap today. I have to say though I didn't feel somewhat "sane" until 5pm today. Up until that point I just wanted to go to sleep or cry my eyes out. I would give a million dollars (not that I have that much money of course) to be able to sleep 9 hours in a row, especially if I could do it several nights in a row. My plan tonight is to go to bed by 7:30pm and only get up to feed Ian once between then and 6am. Hopefully I will remember how awful I feel during the day and not cave in when he's crying. If Nadia gets up in the night, I am sending Paul since changing her diaper cost me 90 minutes of sleep.

Nadia hasn't had an accident since Friday. She pees on the potty many times a day now. She's drinking a lot more water and milk and not holding it a ridiculous amount of hours any more. She can sit on the regular potty by herself as long as I help her get on it. Once she starts pooping more regularly on the potty (the last time she did that was Thursday), I am going to have her sleep in her underwear at night. She's not peeing during the night. If she doesn't poop during the night, she stays dry. So she's really close to being day and night potty trained. We just need to get her to poop on the potty more. I find it ironic that I am saying that as both in March and mid May #2 was going far better than #1.

During one of Ian's naps today I had her wear a Snow White costume I had bought on clearance after Halloween a few years ago at Walmart. She loved it. She asked for her princess book that my brother gave me last month. It's size 3T/4T so it's a little big for her, but she had fun wearing it.

Sometimes I get frustrated with myself for not being able to do more in a day, but then I think back on my day today and I did two loads of laundry (including folding and putting them away), made brownies (Paul's request this morning), made pancakes for Nadia and I for lunch (inspired by reading If you give a pig a pancake many times recently), did some dishes, and of course took care of my two little ones by myself until Paul got home at 6:10pm. I love being a mom, but I had no idea how utterly exhausted I would feel for months on end.

Happy Father's Day!

I am very grateful for my Dad, Paul's Dad, and Paul. Nadia and Ian are so very blessed to have such a great Dad, PopPop, and Grandpa! To celebrate Paul's special day, I had made 3 photo gifts and one photo card for him (and of course I found deals so I only paid shipping for each of them, lol). The two spiral notebooks and the pad of notepaper have pictures of Ian and Nadia on them, and they are two items that Paul uses for work. I also went to McD's this morning and got him 2 bacon, egg, and cheese bagels. His first choice would be Dunkin Donuts, but his second choice is McD's. Nadia also made him a card at church this morning.

Nadia is really doing a great job with potty training. I'm sure she'll still have an accident now and then, but she's mostly potty trained. If I put her on the toilet when she gets up in the morning, after she eats, and after her nap, she usually will immediately go. What a breakthrough! She also has transitioned to the regular potty. One of her little potties has been packed away in Ian's closet. I am keeping one in our bathroom in case she needs to use it while I am showering. She has been staying dry during her naps; so the last several days she's been staying in underwear for 12-14 hours straight. Since she peed twice before we went to church, I didn't even put a pull-up on over her underwear for our trip to church. We were at church 3 hours so I had her try to go before we left, and she succeeded! It was the first time she used a public toilet. YAY! At this point I will take some of the responsibility for any accidents she has because I think if I put her on the potty frequently enough, she won't have any #1 accidents. She also stayed dry last night! I think it won't be long before she's also night time potty trained. Way to go, Nadia! I am very glad that she has come so far in the last week with potty training.

Ian gained 7lb 1oz in exactly 2 months. His 4 month doctor appt was on 4/20, and today he weighs 16lb 7oz! Paul is going to go with me on Thursday to take the kids to their doctor appointments, what a relief! It will be Nadia's 2  year check-up, and Ian's 6 month check-up. I'm hoping since it's her birthday she won't need any shots that day. I know Ian will be getting shots. Paul often stays home on Thursdays because he watches the kids starting at 2:50 when I leave for work. Usually he stays in his office and does work until that point, but he's going to help out more this Thursday. I said since he did school work most of the vacation maybe he could take this Thursday as a "vacation" day.

Similarities and Differences (birth - 6 months)

I thought it would be nice to post a reflection every 6 months of some of the ways Ian and Nadia were the same and different during that age span. This will help me record some things I might otherwise forget to mention, and it's fun to reminisce back to when Nadia was this age.

1. Ian smiles more easily and laughs far more easily than Nadia did. It is sooooo easy to get Ian to laugh. For example, yesterday I was rubbing his bottom gum (it looks like his first 2 teeth will break through in the near future) and that got him laughing heartily!

2. Ian's diaper needs to be changed more often than Nadia's did or it will leak. He also poops way more than she did. Sometimes it seems like he's still in the newborn stage where every diaper is a wet and poopy diaper.

3. Ian likes sitting in the bouncer or high chair a lot more than Nadia did. Nadia liked the gym a lot more than Ian and by 6 months she was sitting independently on her gym. Nadia didn't have a bumbo or swing so I can't compare them in that regard. Ian hasn't been too crazy about the bumbo.

4. Nadia loved looking at the Take Along books while listening to the cd's. Ian enjoys it when I sing, but isn't as interested in the books or cd's.

5. Both were playing with toys and putting them in their mouths. Nadia had better skills with her hands such as taking the rings off the rock a stack toy.

6. Nadia rarely spit up. Ian spits up in large quantities All Day Long.

7. Both had brown hair at birth that fell out by about 4 months, and the new hair was blonde.

8. Neither like to eat solid foods at first. Nadia stopped making faces once I switched to fruits. Ian makes faces even with unsweetened applesauce. Nadia was faster at learning to eat solids. I need to buy some fruit baby food for Ian and hopefully find one that will get him interested.

9. Nadia learned to nurse without a shield before she turned 1 month old. Ian was on the shield until he turned 4 months old. In the beginning I had to wake Ian to feed him during the night. I never had to do that with Nadia. Nadia started to show a preference for the bottle over nursing by 5 1/2 months and weaned herself off me about a month later. Ian still loves to nurse, and he also drinks a fair amount by bottle. Nadia's weight gain was fairly steady from 2 weeks to 6 months old whereas Ian's was very slow the first 4 months and then very rapid the next 2 months. They both weighed 16lbs at 6 months.

10. Ian is a grabber. Nadia didn't grab my hair constantly like Ian does. He takes my earrings out, grabs my bracelet, and even holds the sheet with his right hand when he's sleeping in his crib.

11. Nadia was sleeping better at night at 6 months than Ian, but I also had been doing sleep training earlier with her. I would have thought it would be harder to do CIO with your firstborn, but for whatever reason it's harder for me this time. The good news is that CIO usually only equates to 5-15 minutes with Ian whereas it lasted MUCH longer with Nadia.

12. Nadia was taking 3 naps a day whereas Ian has been taking 4 naps a day. Ian has started to transition to 3 naps. For a long time Nadia's naps were 45 minutes long although they were longer than that by 6 months. Ian's naps were 30 minutes long for a long time, and they are just now getting longer.

13. Ian sweats far more easily than Nadia (or Paul or I).

14. Ian is more active than Nadia was in terms of his arms and legs being in constant motion. Nadia was more "talkative" than Ian has been thus far.

15. Nadia started sucking her thumb right before she turned 4 months old. She never liked a pacifier. Ian liked the pacifier for the first 4 months. He occasionally sucks his hand, but thus far he's not a thumb sucker (which is fine by me as I am not looking forward to breaking Nadia of that habit).

NOTE: The first 2 pics are of Nadia and Ian at birth, and the second 2 are of Nadia and Ian at 6 months.

P.S. I never said thank you to those who responded to my hpt post. I really appreciated knowing I am not alone albeit none of you said you saved 7 hpts from one pregnancy, lol. A couple of days ago I went through the 7 hpts from 2009 and threw away 3 of them. I kept 12dpo, 14dpo, 16dpo, and 18dpo. My first Beta was 19dpo, and so 18dpo was the last day I tested (even though I still had 3 more hpts as I had purchased a lot of 10 hpts on eBay). I plan to put these 4 away in my box of keepsakes (which is where I think I put the ones I saved from prior years).