I feel like I haven’t blogged in forever! We are all doing well but are learning first hand how busy the school year makes you! I’ve always thought moms who wished for the summer and to have their kids home all day were nuts, but I’m starting to understand it more. Life is crazy during the school year!
I thought I would just use this blog entry to post a bunch of pictures that have been clogging up my phone and to recap what’s going on with each of us.
Myles:
Oh this baby! Is there any word other than “obsessed” to describe how we are with this baby? Because that is truly what we are! We love him so, so much! He is getting big and so much fun right now!
I love the baby-and-Mom time he and I get in the afternoons. Max is still sleeping and Makenna is still in school so he and I get to play and cuddle for about a hour. This is our time to sing silly songs and play games together. And he also took my phone one day and took a few selfies (like this one) of himself:
Haha, silly boy! I love his chubby cheeks though! I think it is physically impossible to pick up a chubby cheeked baby and NOT give them kisses! Impossible!!!
The big thing going on with Myles right now is his head problem. Myles has a very flat head and has had one since about 2 or 3 months old. His pediatrician told me not to worry about it; it was just cosmetic. But we kept him turned and rotated and tried to fix it naturally. Well at his six month appointment, the doctor all of a sudden WAS concerned about it and scheduled us to meet with a neurosurgeon and told us we would have to keep Myles in a helmet to fix the problem.
So one day a couple weeks ago I asked Austin to take off work and we found a babysitter for the two big kids and we went to downtown Detroit to the Children’s Hospital to meet with the neurosurgeon. By the way, that place is HUGE! I was so thankful Austin was with me because it was all just so overwhelming!
At our appointment the doctor took some pictures of Myles and said he was fine and should grow out of having a flat head. He said we would just continue to observe him for a few months (the problem has to be fixed before the baby is 15 months old, but it is fine to delay treatment until 10 months if you do have to go to a helmet). But in the meantime, during play time no more playing on his back!
Which means no more back scoot to get around the room! I think Myles is a little frustrated to no longer have his mobility, but he hasn’t seemed to mind staying off his back. He plays well on his tummy now, and he also sits up really well now so he has plenty to keep him occupied without being on his back. I don’t know if it is working or not (Austin thinks he is getting better), but I guess we shall see!
We have had several sleepless days and nights with this guy lately! That is because he is getting SIX new teeth in! He already has his bottom middle two in, but now he has two little top middle teeth through, two side middle teeth poking through, and the two bottom side gums swollen and ready to start getting the new teeth in. Poor little guy! He has been pretty whiney and unable to sleep, even while giving him Tylenol. For over a week straight he was up five times a night and not napping more than 45 minutes during the day. Mama was going crazy! I’m hoping he may be getting over it—he has only got up twice during the night for the past two nights. We are ready for this teething business to be over!
Myles is also finally rolling over now. I was getting really worried (although his pediatrician kept telling me he was fine)! He was going on to his sides with no problems, but he just wasn’t turning the rest of the way over! Well now he is a rolling machine, haha. I put him to bed, swaddled (which he still won’t let us put him to bed without), and on his back. He starts screaming and I go in and find him unswaddled, turned 180 and in the opposite corner of his crib, and on his tummy. He hates it but silly boy keeps doing it to himself!
Myles is also starting to have interests. : ) He really likes to go outside and sit with me on the front porch and watch the cars drive past.
He is becoming like the big kids—totally in love with his silly Daddy. : ) If Austin is in the room, Myles has eyes for no one else. He loves hanging out with Dad!
He is a big time toy kid (just like Max was). He loves to play with any and all toys and usually always has one in his little hands! Just yesterday another baby friend was over and he reached all the way over and snatched the other baby’s toy away! Little bully! But he LOVES toys!
He also still really loves his blankets (and even burp clothes!) and treats THEM like toys! He won’t even attempt sleep without his blankets!
He is eating like a champ lately. He has a baby yogurt for breakfast and then a baby food for lunch and dinner with some snacks in between. I’ve discovered the baby food in pouches and he LOVES drinking them right out of the pouch. Now when we attempt using a spoon he gets VERY impatient—skip the spoon and pour the food directly in my mouth people!
He nurses about every 3 hours now. Three hours feels like so much longer than 2 hours did for some reason! Now I don’t feel like I’m constantly nursing so I’m okay with it, haha.
So I think that’s about all that is going on with this big guy. He gets up in the morning, has his yogurt and gets changed, and then plays for a while before nursing. Then he is down for a nap for about a hour or hour and a half.
When he is up from his nap it is the same thing—lunch, change, play, nurse, nap again for a hour or hour and a half. This nap is his last nap for the day (we are already down to only two naps a day! I can’t believe it!). When he gets up this time he likes to play with mom and then go outside for a while to watch the cars pass by and then go to the bus stop to get Makenna.
Then he plays in his high chair (or watches the kids play outside) while I cook dinner. Then it is time for his own dinner, pjs, play with Daddy, and then bed time at about 7 or 8.
And that is life with this big, sweet guy lately!
… well, sweet until he throws one of his temper tantrums. Yes, my mild mannered baby can throw a big ole fit! Haha, step out of the way if you take a toy away from him or try to put him down for a nap! This guy will go nuts! : D
Max:
Max is doing better than I would have ever imagined with Makenna being at school every day. He has preschool three times a week and he LOVES preschool. On non-preschool days he fills his day watching TV and playing computer and I pad games (bad Mom, I know, I know…), playing outside and in his room (he is doing so much better now about playing on his own!), and following Mom and Baby Myles around. : ) He still gets REALLY bored without Makenna, but he is making it!
Max is back to wearing his eye patch a hour a day. We thought his lazy eye was all fixed, but when we went back to the doctor he said to start patching again. We are hoping when we go back for new glasses in December the doctor will tell us we really are all better this time!
Max is going through a phase right now where he WILL NOT eat! Everything I serve he just looks at it and says, “I don’t like that.” We make him try it and even though I KNOW he likes it he throws a big fit about it. You know how everyone says, “If they get hungry enough they WILL eat?” Yeah, apparently Max did not get that memo. He wakes up BAWLING because his tummy hurts because he is hungry, yet the kid STILL won’t eat! Honestly, I’m pretty sure he is eating only enough to stay alive right now… I am ready for this phase to end!
I am hoping, however, that his inquisitive little mind never ceases to want to learn everything! Every day he tells me something new that he has learned or figured out. He is such a little smartie!
Max is doing great in preschool. I have been impressed with how much he DOES know and how well behaved he actually is. He always sings and listens and participates along with our lessons. He loves his Learning Centers and does a great job working both independently and with the other kids. He is doing so, so well in school!
I had to take that picture the other day. Look at how much better even his handwriting is getting!
I also thought this was a fun picture. Now days when he draws, he also throws in a bunch of random letters. He is finally starting to show reading readiness and that he actually wants to learn! Teaching preschool is a lot of work for me, but honestly it is so worth it to see how much Max is blossoming in preschool!
And I think that is about it with our Max, boy! He continues to be loving, cuddly (he ALWAYS wants to sit in laps!), mischievous, and the biggest class clown around! That Max! : )
Makenna:
Makenna continues to love going to school every day. A Mom at the bus stop yesterday told me she had volunteered that day in Makenna’s classroom. She said, “I didn’t even know she was there until half way through! She is just so good! She sits down and does her work and is so quiet and good! She is like the model student!” That’s what I like to hear! : )
I’m not sure how much she is actually LEARNING book wise in school, but she is definitely enjoying herself. Every day she comes home full of news about friends—so and so had to go to the office today because they got hurt, so and so had a birthday today and brought a treat to school, so and so is teaching me how to do a cartwheel, so and so picked me to be their helper and do the calendar. She LOVES all the kids in her class and having so many new friends!
And I take it back, she IS learning some things. Her reading and math are both done independently on the computer at her own pace. She also does the same computer program at home every afternoon for her “homework.” She is currently working on second grade math and second grade reading.
She also comes home with other things she has learned—new poems, what to do in case of a fire, things she has learned in the media center, science class, art class, music class, PE… I am completely satisfied so far with Makenna’s education she is getting!
So she comes home from school at 4 and tells us about her day and puts everything away. Then she spends 30 minutes reading books and taking quizzes on the computer. Then she spends 30 more minutes doing her computer math work. After that I usually send her outside to play for a little while until dinner. Then she showers, reads her library book and plays with Daddy or the baby, and practices her stretching and splits for dance until bed time. Sometimes she even has time for one show on TV. Life is busy as a kindergartner! : )
Speaking of dance, Makenna is enjoying her new dance studio. Of course she misses her old dance class (and REALLY misses her old dance teacher and dancing with all her friends), but she is improving like crazy at this new studo. This dance teacher really works on technique and I am so impressed with how much Makenna is improving in such a short time! She doesn’t like that her new teacher is strict, but I told her I really like that because she pushes her to perfect her technique and really get better at dancing! Plus now she almost has her splits in all three ways!
And I think that is about all the news about Miss Makenna. She is loving school, doing great at home, and improving in dance. And that is her life right now!
And of course she continues being as girlie, prissy, and fashion conscious as ever. : ) She is SUCH a girl!
Austin:
Austin is back on podiatry this month. Last month he was on a rotation that had him back home at 4:30 every day. It was WONDERFUL! My hardest time of the day is between 4 and dinner time. The baby is whiney, I’m trying to cook dinner and supervise Makenna’s homework, and it is HARD—and last month Austin was home to help for that every day! So even though being on podiatry really isn’t THAT bad, compared to last month it seems like he is never home! Oh well, that’s life, right? When he is home, he is busy playing with the kids and helping me out so I don’t lose my sanity. : ) Oh, and he also just recently went to a conference in California and really enjoyed himself.
On the weekends he is busy trying to keep up with our never ending Fall leaves. Luckily my parents got him a leaf blower for Christmas last year, because man do we have a ton of leaves that ALWAYS need cleaning up!
Me:
Nothing new in my life, actually. I am pretty much always busy with Preschool stuff. I don’t consider myself a “working” mom, but honestly teaching preschool is like having a part time job! I teach three mornings a week, but then have to devote quite a bit of my time to prepping and preparing. But like I said earlier, TOTALLY worth it to have Max doing so well and learning so much!
Other than that, I’m definitely just staying busy as a mom! There always seems to be cleaning, laundry, or cooking to do! I start in the morning and I am usually still working on SOMETHING after the kids go to bed. Austin has been helping me out quite a bit by unloading the dishwasher or cleaning up after dinner, but there is still always something to do! I am also volunteering at Makenna’s school every other week (SO much fun!) and her Room Mom and in charge of her class parties. As the Halloween party is coming up, I’ve been super busy with that! And of course, as always, I’ve been putting way too much time and effort in my Primary lessons for the week (do 5 and 6 year olds REALLY care that everything is laminated? Probably not but their Type A teacher does!).
On Saturday, Austin was home so I left all three kids and went to a Relief Society activity. Oh man did I need that! It was so wonderful to get to be childless for just a little while and enjoy the company of other adults! Plus, I got to make this super cute wreath. : )
Sometimes a mom just really needs that adult conversation and crafting! : D
So there you go! That’s life and my phone is all cleared of pictures now!
