1. Snack time for the boys, 2. Hmmm. . . are there more?, 3. Mwah!, 4. Snuggle after big brother kiss, 5. Munching away on Scooby Snacks, 6. On big brother’s lap, 7. My kindergarten kid, 8. My turn on your lap!, 9. No more camera Mom
Let me go on the record and say that the canine teeth are evil little boogers when they decide to come in. I vaguely recall these teeth being the worst when NHL was little, but my memory was quickly restored thanks to JSL. The little guy has been an absolute mess the last week or so. He does not want to eat, prefers nursing (YES he is still nursing) more often, will not settle at night to sleep, and is up many times during the night.
Last night was particularly bad. He did not settle until we pulled out the Motrin and gave it to him. Of course it helped him to get to sleep initially, but did not last. JSL was up at least 3-4 times during the night. After the second time he was up howling, he ended up in our bed where we all seem to be able to sleep some.
Prior to these evil little teeth pushing their way into JSL’s mouth, getting him to sleep at night was fairly easy. He loved to snuggle up with his new silky blanket and a pillow. Thanks to a great giveaway on An Island Life we were introduced to Kennedy Grace Boutique on Etsy. Cathi’s baby blankets are absolutely amazing. JSL quickly declared the beautiful silky soft new blanket his. We had Cathi make it with our last name so either of the boys could use it. NHL gladly allowed JSL to have it since he is quite attached to his "squeaky" blanket buddies.
Thanks again to Kailani and Cathi for helping to make our non-teething night time routines so wonderful. I can not wait until these pesky teeth are in and JSL can go back to simply curling up with his silky blanket to have sweet dreams.
Do you remember where your children were the first time they walked multiple steps on their own? JSL started really toddling on his own in the last two weeks. It made me think back to when NHL took his first steps. We waited so long for that day to come that I recall where we were, what was going on, and exactly what the little guy was wearing.
We were visiting my brother and sister-in-law. NHL had just started physical therapy after qualifying through Early Intervention. He was diagnosed as having low muscle tone and was hyper flexible. In other words he could touch his nose to the floor while sitting and struggled just to have enough balance to stand, no less walk on his own.
We had no clue at the time that this was going on. He was our first born and we thought he was so close to walking for months. He could toddle holding simply a finger, but without it could not.
Just a few days after starting PT we went away for a weekend. All of the adults were talking when we suddenly noticed a little boy walk by us. We did many double takes and then hooted and hollered since NHL was indeed walking on his own. JL quickly went to get the camera to capture these first steps on his own. Before we knew it he went back down the hall on his own. Later that afternoon we went to the Fisher Price outlet store. My little guy walked in the store on his own, chanting Elmo when he saw all of the toys he wanted to go to.
Here are NHL’s first of many solo steps and relaxing on the couch in his Mickey Mouse PJ’s. These were taken July 6, 2005 when NHL was almost 23 months old.
We always joked that JSL would walk for the first time at Uncle I and Aunt M’s house. That was not to be in July when we visited. JSL did things on his own schedule and really started to perfect things this past week. By the end of the weekend visiting for Cousin S’s first birthday he had really picked up speed.
While gathering clothing from NHL to get ready for JSL I found a lot of summer items. Included in this were the Mickey Mouse PJ’s that NHL was wearing when he walked. I thought it was only fitting to take these with us this weekend to get some photos of JSL. These photos were taken September 14, 2008 as JSL turned 16 months old.
Now the adventure really begins as JSL is starting to chase after his big brother. . . . ah the memories!
Do you have an older sibling? I am the oldest in my family. I have to admit, I never really paid attention to how my little brother reacted to me when we were really young. As a mommy, I have been watching my little guy try to follow his big brother around. If NHL does something, JSL wants to do it.
A week before Labor Day the boys were outside. I asked JL to bring up NHL’s old push to ride Fisher Price bike to see if the little guy would like it. For some reason we could not get the push handle back on the bike. I told JL just to take it outside to see what JSL would do.
Sure enough he loved it. He was "walking" his bike all over the place. He did not stop moving for most of the time he was outside. He had a blast chasing after his big brother and daddy. There was a little problem, JSL had no real shoes at the time. At that point he was not really walking on his own, so he only had the soft bottom shoes. His froggy shoes were in rough shape anyway, so we just let him use those.
Two days later we went to the doctor for JSL’s 15 month visit. I asked the doctor if we should get him shoes since he was basically ready to walk. She said it was probably a good plan for when he’s outside, but for indoors it did not really matter. That night we packed up the boys and went to get some shoes. We bought NHL a pair of black tie shoes for the Jewish holidays and to have something other than sneakers. And below are JSL’s sneakers.
Labor Day weekend JSL finally started to walk around on his own. Since that time he has gotten better at balancing and can go for much longer distances, bend to get things, and turn around while walking. The problem has been he does not like to walk in his shoes. He was so used to walking with naked toes that the clunky nature of sneakers throws him off.
This weekend we took the sneakers back out again. This time we held his hand and he tolerated the shoes. Last night he was started to get a kick out of wearing them and walking around stores and things with an adult hand.
Today I figured out how to get him to nap in the afternoon. We arrived at school about a half hour before NHL was getting out. I parked the car down a side street and JSL and I walked to school. Thanks to the sidewalks we went all over the place. We walked and walked and walked. The smile on his face as he looked up to me while holding my hand was priceless. I promise, I will get a photo of that soon. When we got back home he was so exhausted he slept for almost two hours!
As previously mentioned, I just started to do a mandatory rest time in the afternoon. JSL is exhausted, but he will not settle in his own crib. This is partially our fault, but more or less thanks to sharing a room with his big brother. NHL goes to sleep slightly before JSL. We never wanted to put an awake JSL into his crib while NHL was already sleeping. Now 14 months old, trying to teach a little one new tricks is very tough. He screams and hoots and has full blown temper tantrums at the sight of his crib.
Thanks to this I had an idea. I wanted to try a rest time for both boys in their room. I figured if NHL was in the room reading/resting (not holding my breath about napping) perhaps JSL would settle and nap. It certainly could not hurt to try. I knew it would not work right away, but was hoping for the best.
Wednesday was my second try at this. JSL stopped screaming a lot faster. He stood up the entire time looking and watching NHL. Tuesday when I tried this he actually cried himself to sleep standing up. Unfortunately I did not get a photo since NHL heard me coming to the room and said something and woke up the little guy.
Back to this past Wednesday. After quite a long time I admitted defeat, for the day, and went into the room. This is what I was greeted with.
Clearly they were not giving in – stubborn little boys! Hmmm. . . I wonder where they get that from?!?!
I asked NHL if he would go into the crib to show JSL how to rest. He thought that was a fun idea and allowed me to put him into the crib. He was quite impressed with the job and quickly got to work.
Here is NHL being a positive role model to his little brother.
Now we just need to work on trying this out when they are both in their own bed/crib. Hopefully they will work with me on this. Tired cranky boys in the afternoon are no fun. When they have energy to play they are much more fun and do not fight. Yes, even at their age they get into arguements and have tantrums to each other. I will enjoy these while they last and do not involved wrestling and physcial additions to the mix.
The one nice part about no naps, both boys go to sleep quite easily at night. Check out how sweet and peaceful they are. Awwwwww!
