Athan's Ninth Month

Three quarters of the way through the first year. Where has the time gone?

As we coach Athan on crawling and walking, I keep thinking to myself maybe I would rather not teach him these milestones just yet. I know he is not content to sit in one spot anymore, but he will really be discontent once he gets that taste of freedom. He has continued to get stronger and stronger, closer to both types of mobility, but still not yet moving on his own. He does roll around more and can scoot on his bottom.

Sweet Athan really is engaging to people and draws so much attention with his beautiful smile. It's fun to hear people comment on how happy and beautiful he is, instead of just his size. Yes, I know I am carrying around a heavy baby- you don't have to point that out to me! We enjoy his babbles and delightful kicks and bounces when he is happy. I think he holds the record for longest time happy in the bouncy seat at the church nursery. When he is really excited, he will tighten up his entire body and grit his gums together. Love it! He babbles "ma, ma," which I love even if he may not know exactly what he is saying. One day Hudson asked, "is he saying mama?!" He also says "ha, ha, ha" when he is happy.

He keeps eating more and more foods. We've added lunch and started progressing to chunkier foods. I use baby food only about half of the time now. It's fun to get to serve him something similar to what we are eating.

Night sleep is making a general positive progression, even though he STILL doesn't sleep through the night. This month, many of his afternoon naps weren't longer than 45 minutes, which has confused us, but he is old enough now just to get through the rest of the day okay even if he's nap wasn't long. So thankful for that! He also has really improved on drifting off to sleep while drowsy.

Athan's interests are not so much in baby toys anymore. Rattles may be fun for younger babes, but Athan is moving on up! He prefers to play with anything that belongs to Hudson (big brother is handling this pretty well) or is something he's not supposed to play with. He is often lunging after cords or strings of all kinds.

Love our little A!

Letters, We Get Letters!

What fun we have been having with letters at our house! A few months ago we taught Hudson how to recognize and then write the letter h- "one line up & one little hill" for the small one, and "two lines up with a bridge across" did the trick. Hudson's interest in letters has developed on its own. I have always heard and believed that reading comes naturally for a child given the right environment, and it's fun to see that take place now.

He can now recognize all the letters in his name, and write most of them. He loves to write on the marker boards at the youth house. Another fun development is seeing him take interest in silly word play. He enjoys changing words around and coming up with his own take on words. He is so talkative and loves to engage in conversation with adults. We have now started to work on polite interruptions and turn taking in conversation. Jay's parents were here recently, and said that Jay was just as talkative as a young child, so that must be where he gets it! :)

Here is a video of him "reading" Panda Bear, Panda Bear by Eric Carle.

What a Man...

Undoubtably, I don't mention my fabulous husband enough on my blog as I ramble on and on about our wonderful children, so this blog is just about him!

Now that we are in the process of selling our home, it's fun to look back at all the changes that we have made. Thanks to Jay's hard work, skill, and ocassional recruitment of cheap labor (you know who you are!), he has updated this house and transformed it into the perfect home for our family. We will certainly miss living in this special place.

Thank you, Jay, for all you do to take care of our family!

Athan's Eighth Month

We've now had the wonderful privledge of knowing our little Athan for 8 full months. Here's are our thoughts for this month...

We'll start with the fun we've been having. Athan loves games of repeating funny noises and faces. Echoing a loud inhale noise after Athan always makes him smile, sticking tongues out is another favorite. I love to hear him babble (mostly "wah-wah"). With his legs growing stronger, he likes to jump while being held up. Crawling may be on the horizon, but we still have some work to do. Athan will often lunge forward to reach objects he desires, but still destains being on his tummy. We're trying hard to convince him that good things come from spending time on his belly. On the other hand, I'm in no hurry for him to get mobile. I'm just as content as he is to be stationary.

Big sleep news: Athan is now sharing a room with Hudson and finally moved out of Mom and Dad's room! What a huge answer to prayer. We were so anxious about Athan waking Hudson up and vice versa. This has hardly been the case. They have been great roommates. Hudson is incredibly selfless and complies so well with being quiet for Athan when he goes to bed after Athan is already asleep. Also, after months of confined arms, Athan has finally experiences arm freedom! We stopped swaddling his arms and started using a sleep sack instead. We're still not completely done with the Miracle Blanket though as we do swaddle his body (we're creatures of habit and terrified of sleep regression!). A funny thing about the arms- probably because he had his arms held down for so long, he really does not know what to do with them now when he's tired. He is a painful face grabber, so we still end up holding his arms down on his side. We're still waiting for that magical morning when we realize that Athan has slept through the night. In the mean time, I don't mind those cuddly middle of the night feedings too much, as long as he goes back to sleep right away.

We've also started eating breakfast now. Cereal and a fruit/vegetable twice a day is something Athan looks forward too. He is so aware of food and wants it whenever we are eating. I don't think the little guy could open his mouth any wider as he waits for his bites.

He continues to be passionate about his pacifier (a shared trait for both our boys). Athan has had a strange journey with his pacifier, being almost ambivalent about it as a newborn. Since traveling at Christmas though, he really wants it often now. I try to limit his use of it, but do appreciate how it calms him whenever he gets upset or agitated. Now that he stays awake longer he does seem to need it a little more often. I'm okay with that. Even though he has grown so much, he still is, after all, our little baby!

Our Days...and a little Hudson love

Sleepy Hudson watching George...notice his Maroon jersey

Rocking my big little bundle, Athan, to sleep

Hudson in his other uniform, his favorite footie PJs, playing with Tow Mater

I enjoy tracking what our days look like, so here's what a typical day looks like for us right now. Now that Athan can stay awake longer (2.5, then 3, then 3.5 hours), we have much more freedom and activity.

Athan's usually awake first, then Hudson, and it's between 7 and 8. We all eat breakfast together (some days Jay is home and reads a daily Psalm to us), and then get the boys dressed. To start the day, I encourage Hudson to play alone in his room, while I keep Athan with me and do my "jobs" around the house. Athan naps something like 9:30-10:30. That is a special time for me and Hudson. He even knows it as "Mommy/Hudson special time." We usually sit at the table and do some activity- cutting, drawing, games (or just play whatever he wants) and have a snack. I love that time. After Athan wakes up and eats, we try to head out. We take a walk, go to the park, or venture to the library.

Then it's lunch time. Jay tries to come home two days a week, and our friend Sarah comes over on Wednesdays. After lunch, it's puzzles, books, and bed for Hudson, then eat and bed for Athan. Hudson usually wakes first, and we cuddle up on the couch while watching Curious George (gotta love that little monkey!). Then Athan wakes up as well around 4:00. By this point in the day, I feel like we're in the home stretch!

Jay is usually home around 5:30, and he plays with the boys while I make dinner. It's been dinner at 6:30 for years now. I actually feel guilty if I get dinner on the table at 6:33 (my own pressure, not my wonderful husband's!). Jay cleans the dishes, and by this time Athan starts to feel fussy. I bathe him, feed him, and then Jay puts him to bed. One ritual we enjoy now is gathering together before Athan goes to sleep. We all sit near the rocking chair next to his crib and discuss our "favorite part of the day," and Jay prays for the boys. Hudson gets a little longer to play before bath, a puzzle, books, and bed.

While Athan's changes are much more apparent, Hudson continues to grow and learn new things as well. His literacy skills are multiplying rapidly. He can recognize h's ("one line up, and one little hill") and has memorized several books (In the Snow, Firehouse, and parts of Curious George.) He enjoys "reading" them to us. He has parts to most of his books memorized and will correct you if they are misread. On the other hand, there are still 2 words that he just cannot say, and I love that. He says "firnana" for banana, and "firdult" for adult. He's also much more independent in dressing himself, which means asking for his football jersey and Lighting McQueen light-up shoes daily. He faithfully takes his plate to the kitchen sink, puts his shoes and jacket away when coming inside, and puts his toys away when changing activities. He does actually hear me! Currently, Hudson's favorite play activities are firemen (trucks or actual dress up), still loving the CARS guys, trains, football, soccer, drums, and this animal candyland-type game my mom got him.

I mentioned walks above. A big change in our family is that Hudson is now an actual walker. Ever since we got our dog Bailey, Jay and I looked forward to our daily walk after work. When Hudson was born, he just got added to that. Now the walks have changed, and poor Bailey and even Jay are often not included. When it's just me and the boys, it's so nice for Hudson to walk next to me, and we play lots of looking/nature games.

My blessings are so apparent to me right now. I love this precious time with my boys, and am grateful for the priviledge of caring for them myself.

Athan's Seventh Month

Maybe I should have been more creative in coming up with titles for Athan's monthly development. But this far into his first year I'm not changing it...

Here are the Athan changes and firsts this past month:

Athan combined the art of strength and balance enough to become an official "sitter" this month. We still keep an extra pillow behind him when we walk away, or Hudson often volunteers to be Athan's pillow when he is sitting on his own. He enjoys the view and activities this new position brings.

He also started real solid foods: peas, sweet potatoes, pears, prunes, and squash have been his first tastes. And, no, I'm not a super mom like both of my sisters who make it themselves. I opt for jarred food instead.

A first I wish he didn't achieve recently was his first real sickness. RSV and an ear infection slowed us down for awhile. We thanked God that neither were very severe. Breathing treatments and lots of medicine helped him to recover.

In the way of our daily routine, we moved to just 2 naps a day. I expected this to come much later, as it did for Hudson, but Athan seemed ready to make the change as he can stay awake longer now. He would have difficulty falling asleep for his third nap, awake alert in the middle of the night, and many days that late nap was coming at an awkward time (5:30ish). This has moved his bed time up earlier on some days. Most of the time it's somewhere between 7:30 and 8:00.

I must say I wasn't too sad about reaching the half year milestone, but now that he's on the other side of it, I'm not liking this as much. I don't want this stage to be over so soon! He is such a sweet, happy baby and loves to smile at people. He is my little cuddler. I never would have thought that we would still swaddle him! When he gets tired, he just wants to nuzzle in close and keeps turning his head until you get him situated just right. He loves his big brother and strains his head to watch what Hudson (or Bailey) does. We adore our baby A!

Preschool Wise

I recently read Ezzo and Bucknam's On Becoming Preschool Wise, and here's my take on the book.

What I liked about it:

* The respect for and understanding of children. Ezzo and Bucknam recommend teaching your children the why of expected behavior. They state, "positive development takes place when parents build into their child's conscience the reason why 'right is right' and 'wrong is wrong.' " I've always been a fan of that way of thinking.

* The emphasis on positive discipline and language. The author's place a great emphasis on training and expectations, not just correction.

* The recognition of child development and cognition, which lead to reasonable expectations. The authors explain that around 3 years of age "your child's intellect is sufficiently developed to the extent that he is ready to receive the why of moral training." Before that parents should understand that their job is really about guiding outward behavior only.

Not so crazy about these things:

* The book felt a bit gimicky- they referenced the others book in their series way too much. At one point I just laughed out loud as Ezzo and Bucknam listed about 10 adjectives describing children whose parents follow the "wise" series. Not only does this sound boastful, it sets people like me up for high expectations of their children and eventual frustration when your children aren't perfect.

* Schedules and routines as described in the book are good things to think about, but too structured for me. Although I love structure and schedules, I don't need more pressure put on us. Much of our day is already set with sleeping and eating times, but I like to let the rest of our play time just loosely happen. (That said, I was challenged to try to teach Hudson how to play with his toys for a longer amount of time in order to get him to a more creative, productive type of play. I agree not all play has the same benefits- random, chaotic play is not as valuable as working with one toy for a longer period of time.)

* Many of the examples were vague or even irrelevant (a story about a 6 and 8 year old- what was that about?). In the second appendix I did find an answer to this that satisfied me. The authors described (through a really strange fairy tale story) the way that parents should approach disciplining their children. They state,

"take whatever you believe about life and turn these values into goals. Let the goals determine your training priorities, and use methods that facilitate your goals while meeting your child's needs." I probably should have read that part first because I appreciated how they said it was really up to each family to decide what was most important to them in guiding their children.

Overall, I did find it to be a valuable read and a useful tool in considering how I parent my preschooler. I rolled my eyes a few times, but was glad I persevered in reading it. We've already implemented their ideas about children's interruptions and, as I said, helping Hudson have more productive, creative play by suggesting he start the day with time in his room alone with his toys.

Thus far, my favorite parenting books have been The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg and Making the Terrible Twos Terrific by John Rosemond, but this one is probably second tier. There are not nearly as many books available for preschoolers as there are for babies, so I was thankful for it for that reason at least.

http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Preschool-Wise-Preschoolers-ebook/dp/B003WUYRDG/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2