How can it be a month already

I know how a month can go by so fast - we've been SO busy! I have LOADS of pics on the camera, hoping to get them up here Monday!

What has the past month brought? I was gone to Pennsylvania Aug 8 - 12, so the boys had fun everyday with Chantelle (our neighbours daughter who babysat for us). There was no problems that I heard about, and both kids liked to eat crackers all day! aiaiai

Then home for a week - Landon went to daycamp again, and this time there were no illnesses contracted which was great. He sure enjoyed himself, and didn't complain too much when I dropped him off. I have to admit, those afternoons with Landon at camp and Arlan napping were dreamy!

Aug 20 we flew to Toronto - stayed a week and came home Aug 28. Liz & Rob kept the boys while John and I traveled on to Montreal for a wedding (which was actually 1.5 hours north of Montreal). The wedding was a LOT of fun, and it was so great to get out and see John's friends without the kidlets.
Then back to TO for the week. We had a lot of fun - swimming several times, we drove to Niagara Falls one day, we went to the Canadian National Exhibition and the kids went on rides ALL day -- so much FUN! It really was a great week. (except when Landon got bit by a yellowjacket ... that wasn't fun for him, right under his nose poor kid!)

Then home again to all the stuff I hadn't been getting to this past month, and here we are Sept long weekend already! It's been an incredible summer - so many great memories and visits! But I'm glad to stay home for a couple of weeks as well :-)

Watch for some pics to come...

PS - John took Landon's training wheels off of his bike today, and he zooms along the back path like nobody's business! How did he get so big??

PPS - And Arlan climbs out of his crib like a pro too ... started the week before Toronto. He actually dive-bombs out of it into the lazy-boy recliner sitting beside the crib. This morning I woke up to patting on my head "Mommy, I up now!" at 6:50 am :-/ Big boy bed coming right up ...

Arlan's Birthday

Arlan turned TWO on June 18!! I can hardly believe that my baby is running around, jumping off of everything, speaking in sentences, and generally causing as much mischief as humanly possible! We had a small party for him with Grandma and Grandpa (who made it up here despite the extreme flooding and highway washed out near the SK/AB border!), and our neighbour Trevor with his twins Evan and Dara. It was nice. I had fun decorating his cake, and he enjoyed all of his presents. Lucky kid! He particularly enjoyed the race cars from Dara and Evan, the "fridge phonics" toy from mom & dad, and the chair from grandma and grandpa. All of them have already received a lot of use!!

I finally made his 2-year check-up appointment, it'll be July 8, so I'll have stats then!

Arlan stats

Arlan got his 1 year shots on June 24. He was 22 pounds, 30" long (a bit heavier, a bit shorter (??) than the previous weeks appointment with the doc). He was pretty miserable the following day - due to the shots (fever) and he caught Landon's cold too. But neither bothered him much after that, little trooper!

8 MONTHS!!

My little Arlan is ALREADY 8 months old! So hard to believe!!

Here are some pics I took tonight. I love the cocked eyebrow picture - too funny! Can't believe I caught that expression so well :-)
Landon and Arlan play together sometimes. Mostly it's Arlan trying to maneuvre over to Landon, and watching Landon's antics (I am SO in for it!!). But every now and again Landon will play back ... tonight he was "tickling" Arlan's tummy saying "snuggly baby!". The tickling can get pretty rough, so I do have to watch, but so far Arlan just absolutely loves it!! LOL

So I just kept snapping photos as Arlan skootled himself around the bedroom tonight. We will be putting gates up very shortly as he is SO close to crawling. you can see that knee is getting under him, and he can get up on all 4's for brief periods already. Soon (too soon!!) he will figure it all out, and then ... *sigh* makes me want to cry :-( My little baby is growing too quickly ... Of course, maybe all this growing will have him sleeping through the night sometime soon - and I guess I am looking forward to THAT development!!

Is it teeth?

Poor Arlan. He's been sleeping SO well, but the past several nights he's been waking about 2 am ... I've been feeding him, he goes back to sleep. I'm not liking the 'extra' feed overnight, but last night when I just ignored him (for only 10 minutes or so) he just cried harder and harder so I fed him.
Now tonight he woke up at 10!! He hasn't woken in the evening hours for SO long! He was asleep ~6:30, but that's not unusually early for him. I tried just giving him a soother, but he really cried HARD! When I did go and pick him up he was so sad :-( He nursed, and I put him down, and I think he's back to sleep (haven't heard anything for about 15 minutes or so).

Now he is nursing when he wakes, but I think it's more soothing than anything. I'm almost wondering if his teething is starting to kick in? He's 7 months with no sign of teeth popping through yet, but this is the exact time when Landon REALLY fussed (Grandm and Grandpa will remember it well....) and about 2 weeks later his first tooth came out. So maybe that's what coming up with Arlan?
Either that or maybe an illness? He was crying so hard tonight, he was hiccupping and trying to nurse :-( He's such a sweetheart ...I hate to see him cry so hard. Hopefully these additional wakings will not continue though ... we'll have to see.

Arlan's starting to explore...

Arlan is fulling exploring his world these days -- well, he's exploring the living room floor anyways. It's so cute to watch. Before he'd by on his tummy, playing with and noticing the toys that were within reach (i.e. right beside him). But now he rolls onto his tummy and is noticing the toys that are on other side of the room. Now mostly, these toys are Landon's, so they are VERY interesting!! LOL
So I have been trying to teach Landon how to know if Arlan can have a toy or not, by using the toilet paper tube trick. Landon thinks that's quite fun, although I'm not sure he really 'gets' what I'm telling him. But for the most part I just tell him that Arlan can't have his trucks, and he's happy with that. We'll see how it goes once Arlan starts to crawl.
And Landon is still flipping out when Arlan squawks, I'm curious to see his reaction when Arlan starts to crawl. Because I'm pretty sure Arlan will be crawling straight for Landon once he gets it all figured out!
Every time Landon comes into view, Arlan follows his every move and has a big smiler on his face. He has started to try to talk to Landon too. Of course, Landon jabbers a mile a minute, but if he's ever quiet, Arlan looks at him "Ah Goo!" as if to say "Hey, why so quiet? You're entertaining me!"

So I'm getting ready to put the gates up and do a full-fledged housecleaning top to bottom in the upcoming days. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm afraid it's coming sooner than later. Maybe, just maybe, the rolling thing will occupy Arlan's learning curve for awhile, and he'll hold off on crawling for a month or two? Of course with rolling I'll still have to get some cleaning done, but it'll take him longer to fully explore the house I'm thinking (hoping).

And it's supposed to get cold here again for the next few days. Our run of wonderful weather is coming to a halt. It's been so nice - take the boys outside after lunch, no ski pants, some days just a sweatshirt for Landon, Arlan all happy hanging out in the car seat. Mommy muttering and swearing while she chips ice off the sidewalk (how bloody thick can it actually get!!).
Oh well, with the colder weather, maybe I'll get more organized in the house? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ok, until next time...

Arlan is SEVEN months old!

And look at the trouble we're in for!! He's been working so hard at crawling ... He rolls around all the time when playing -- to his tummy to reach a toy, to his back to play with it, back to his tummy, spin to reach another toy, over to his back again. He is maneuvering enough to get himself in some tight spots every now and again -- against the leg of the swing, up against the wall.

When I think back, Landon rolled from back to tummy for the first time when he was almost 8 months ... Arlan's likely to be crawling by then. But Arlan doesn't jump anywhere near as much as Landon did. I think he's more of the curious one (he'll rip the stuff out of the cupboards for SURE), where Landon was more of the 'doer'. Landon crawled, or walked, or jump, for the sheer "Look what I can do!" factor. Arlan I think will be more of the "Look what I just figured out!" type.

And he's determined ... if he wants something, he WANTS it. Don't try to take it away, or keep it from him! Little stinker bug. And I can't believe he's wearing the same clothes Landon wore at a year! LOL He's got longer legs relative to Landon's that's for sure! Landon was always a size behind in pants it seemed, where with Arlan pants are too short on him altogether too quickly.

This look on his face says it all "I'm gonna be a TROUBLE-MAKER!" aiaiaiai And worse, he'll get away with it because he's SO FRICKIN' CUTE!!!!!

Weights and Measures...

I took Arlan in for his 6 month shots this morning. He was SUCH a trooper - not even a squawk for the first needle, and only about 15 seconds of tears with the second. I opted out of the flu shot for him, for a few reasons: he would need a booster in 1 month to be fully protected, and by then we are less than 6 weeks away from the 'end' of flu season; plus the rest of us are vaccinated already so we are less likely to bring it home to him; and since I'm still breastfeeding he still gets protection from me as well. So only 2 needles for him today, and no more until he's 1 YAY!

How does Arlan measure up? He's 18 pounds, 10 ounces (gained 1 lb, 3 oz in past 4 weeks -- that's almost 5 oz a week!) and 27" tall (same as last month). That puts him at 75th percentile for height, 50th for weight. He's a chunky monkey, but would be even moreso if he wasn't so 'tall' :-) The solids are serving him well I guess.

All other areas he's fine. Head shape is fine, she couldn't check his hips (like the doc couldn't) as he kept pushing back on her. There's no sleeping issues, no feeding issues, all's well with the little smiler -- just what I like.

Arlan rolls over!

Arlan rolled over from his back to his tummy for the first time today. We were downstairs cleaning up toys (so that you could walk without stepping on something ... and I mean that LITERALLY!!! aiaiaiai). Arlan was on his back having fun ... but he loves to play on his tummy SO much that he just rolled on over by himself. Then he kept right on playing.
He LOVES to play on his tummy - preferring that to his back for the most part, unless he's quite tired. His favourite right now is to be on his tummy on the play-blanket Grandma made, batting balls around with his hands (the play-blanket is perfect as it has a 'stuffed edge' so the balls are less likely to roll away -- by 'stuffed' I mean there's quilting sown into the edge of the blanket, making it about 1.5" high).

We've also been able to feed Arlan more 'stuff' lately. He likes sweet potatoes, and butternut squash. Today he even ate some apples, although he wasn't particularly excited about the oatmeal at that time (first time he ever wasn't gung-ho for oatmeal). He has been sleeping funny all day too ... hope it's not teeth bugging him, although I keep waiting for that day when they do start to come in. I'm very curious (anxious) to see how he reacts. Landon was bad for the first one, and for the week he got 6 at once, but other than that teething wasn't too big a deal for him. I wonder what Arlan will react like?
Anyways, he's having a 3rd nap right now, as he had short naps earlier in the day. Likely means a bit later of a night for him, but really ... 7 or 7:30 still isn't THAT late!! LOL This kid amazes me every day with his going to bed at night - it's a lesson everyone else in this house sure could learn ;-)

Hips are just fine :-)

We saw the doc this morning, and the x-ray results for Arlan's hips show that he is just fine. The doc checked for clicking again, and there isn't any. So our little monkey is good good good.
Landon's excited, I bought him the Wall-E movie after the doc appt. Well, I really liked the movie too, and so we're going to watch it together ... plus we'll take it to Grandma's house this weekend and he can watch with her too.
I also bought Landon a second bed rail -- we are hoping to move his bed more to the middle of his room so we'll need a rail on both sides. It's just too darned drafty under that window! Although Landon has been cold enough to actually sleep UNDER blankets these past weeks ... but I'll still prefer the bed away from the window.

That's it, that's all, until we get back from Saskie ...

Pics of Arlan ...

Here are some pics -- I was noticing we haven't posted any for awhile.
First we have Arlan playing in the Jumperoo. While he does like this thing, he isn't as enamoured as Landon was...but he will play in there for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. He likes the music part, and being upright. But he really doesn't jump too much ... yet.

Arlan is learning to roll around to play. Many times I put him on the play mat one way, to find him switched completely around within a few minutes. Particularly to get to his favourite toy of the day, which recently has been the rainbow (seen in the background), and this sea horse in the picture.

Arlan finds dad's watch to be quite interesting too. This is a toy that Landon played with plenty at this age, and Arlan has now discovered it as well. I was trying to capture his look of concentration, but the darned kid kept looking up and smiling!! LOL

And here's a pic of Arlan on his first walk facing front in the stroller. It was a windy yucky day, so we didn't last long at the park. But I've since taken him on several more walks like this, and he likes being able to check everything out. Makes the stroller a bit lighter too, which mom likes :-)

My little men :-)

Arlan is such a little smiler ... this pic was taken this afternoon just after he woke up. He's usually a bit grumpy when he first wakes up, but very quickly he starts smiling like this and doesn't stop until he's ready for his next snooze!
He's also getting more used to the exersaucer. He grabs at some of the toys and drools all over the place ... good times. This pic makes me think "Yeah, just one minute, I'll be right with you!"

And here's Landon -- wanted me to take a picture of him with monkey. So cute.
He helped mommy make some muffins the other night ... mostly he delights in sticking his hand in the dry ingredients -- probably just to hear me say 'Get you hands outta there!' repeatedely. But the muffins did turn out well :-)



We've had a fairly good week. The boys went to Heidi's Monday night when I played volleyball. Arlan went to sleep SO well, then woke up at 10:30 and I'm sure he was thinking "who are you and WHERE's my MOM!". Actually he didn't fuss and cry too much, but when I got there and was holding him, he was staring at Heidi like she was an alien!! too funny. It took Landon quite awhile to settle in with Heidi's boys - he was scared of Jackson who is 1. Jackson would squawk and Landon would cower ... poor kid. Heidi did a great job of settling Landon in, and since Arlan went down before I left I don't think she had too much difficulty :-/ She offered to watch them again in a couple of weeks, so it couldn't have been that bad.

Other than that, we've been sticking close to home. I haven't done a very good job of putting Arlan into his room for naps. I did a few times, but slacked off today :-/ Last night he had a ton of trouble getting back to sleep after initially going to sleep at 7. I think the night before had thrown him off -- it was midnight before I got him back home and in bed after Heidi's. So he slept with mom ... I was worried he was getting sick, as Landon has a cold and I have a sniffly nose and scratchy throat. But he slept well after ~midnight, waking to eat at 3 and not again until 7 or so. *shrug* Tonight he cried for about 15 minutes and went to sleep - and is doing well in there still. So I don't know ...

We're getting ready for our road trip back to Sk ... leaving Friday noon-ish. I have a baby repositioning class for Arlan's flat head, then we leave. Hopefully the trip goes smoothly, and hopefully Arlan sleeps well while we travel and while we're visiting. I think at the farm he will be in the cmpt room for sleeping (?) - that will be his first nights not in the room with me!! Either that, or he and I will have to sleep downstairs, leaving John and Landon upstairs? We'll figure it out when we get there I guess *shrug*

Anyways ... that's really about it. Just wanted to get some pics up here. Don't know if I'll post again before our travels ... but will try to post quickly while we're in Sask. If not - well, we're back the 17 :-D

and again, Landon amazes me :-)

Last night it was pretty warm in our house, since we had beautiful record-breaking temps here yesterday (up to 27'!). We put Landon to bed in some nice new pj's that are light-weight, but he was still too hot. So when I went to check on him, he asked me for his 'white bed'. Then he says "blue bed too hot". LOL He wanted his white sheets on his bed, the blue sheets are fleece and so were obviously too hot for last night! Crazy kid - makes me giggle. So I changed his sheets for him. It must've helped because he did eventually fall asleep, but not before cooling off a bit more by taking his pj pants off! Thankfully he left his diaper on...

Landon's been a bit better on the potty front. We aren't pushing him, we just give him the choice to wear gotch, diaper-gotch (pull-ups), or diapers, or to run around naked while in the house. When he chooses naked, he's done a pretty good job of going pee on the potty. Let's just say there's been no accidents (I just jinxed it, didn't I?). And last night he peed in the toilet before bed ... standing up just like daddy! He pulled the stool over and was quite proud of himself :-) So that's promising. He's not too keen on the gotch these days, I think the accidents he had turned him off for now. But naked is ok while we're at home, so we'll go with it. I think I'll take a potty along for our Sask roadtrip too ... again we won't be pushing him, but if he's interested I don't want to be caught unprepared!

Arlan's doing well. So cute! He is going to bed better, but has started waking an additional time. The good news is this wake-up happens before I go to sleep, the bad news is that he still wakes up twice more overnight :-/ I'm stll managing to get 6 or 7 hours though, in small chunks maybe, but I'm getting some sleep. His naps are getting a bit better too ... yesterday he had a 2 hour nap in the morning (!!), I think because he slept so poorly the night before :-/ Today he was back to his 45 minute snooze, and is grumpy now, but I guess I'll have to make do.

ummmm, that's about it really. We're hoping to start priming the basement tonight (well, John's going to be priming ... his first foray into painting!). Then next week I'm hoping to pick out flooring and wall colours so that we can start painting when we come back from Sask. oh yeah, and John's going to build the sauna when we get back too. But it's moving along...

Anyways, that's the news from here. Until next time....

First night of volleyball...

I'm a bit stiff today after playing volleyball last night for the first time in almost a year. But it was so much fun - definitely worth it ;-) I think John had a fairly good night with the boys, Arlan showed off his lungs again, but now that we know he'll pretty much settle down for the night by 8 we can both just get through that crying when it happens and things go much more smoothly. It's good, because we've also learned that Arlan drinks 6 oz before going to bed ... so now I know how much milk to have here for John on those nights (or for someone else should he have another sitter).

Of course, leaving the house to get to volleyball was interesting ... isn't it always? I'd just pumped and was trying to put the milk in the fridge and wash everything up quickly before I changed and raced out the door. Arlan's kind of fussing like he likes to do shortly after 6 (needs some quiet time, maybe not a nap, but some cuddles for sure), so John has him. I look over and Landon's walking through the living room with his diaper hanging around one ankle ... leaving turds in his wake!!! It wasn't too bad, just added another element to my trying to get out the door!! LOL
And of course gas prices have gone down, and I had to fill up before going to v'ball too, so I wasn't sure I'd ever get there, but I did :-)

Tonight Landon didn't have poops in a diaper hanging off his ankle. Tonight he pooped right in the tub. I figured it was coming, he hadn't pooped all day, and he was in the tub giggling because he was 'making farters'. I was nursing Arlan to sleep for the night (of course) and I hear "MOM!! Big Deal! Big Deal!!" I knew what that meant. I walk in the bathroom and Landon is standing on one foot with the other on the edge of the tub, and he's in a panic! LOL Poor kid. So we got that all cleaned up and for the second day in a row Landon got to flush his poop down the toilet :-)
Landon has also peed on the toilet before bed that past two nights, and has been wanting his diaper off more and more. If we could just get him to remember to tell us he has to pee during the day we'd be well on our way. But *shrug* Tonight when I was getting him ready for bed he asked to pee on the toilet, so that's a good sign I think. We'll just keep plugging away (and apparently cleaning up poop!).

Arlan's adorable - so cute. Smiling and talking and cooing. I love his curly curly hair, and his big eyes, and his big smiles and little giggles. It's nice to be over those trying early weeks, now that he's 3 months I am better able to figure out what he wants, what works and doesn't work to calm him, etc. That and I've been getting nice naps with him in the afternoon again (does wonders for my outlook!).

Exciting news ... our neighbours had their twins yesterday! YAY Dara (6 lbs, 1 oz), and Evan (6 lbs, 7 oz). I hear she's doing well... it was a c-section so she won't be home until at least Friday. I'm so excited, can hardly wait to meet the little ones :-D

That's the news from here today .... until next time!

Three Months - ALREADY!!

Arlan is three months old today. I cannot believe how quickly time is going. With Landon I was always looking forward -- to when he'd bath in a big tub, start cereals, sit on his own, etc etc. With Arlan I just want time to stand still a little bit ... all those things will come I know, so I just want to enjoy his littleness :-) *sigh* (yes I'm sucky today ... even Landon was pushing me away at bedtime because I was too mushy!! LOL).

So we went to the doc today to get Arlan checked out (regular check-up). He's healthy and well. I forgot to ask about his 'flat' head, mostly because it's not that flat anymore. I'm signed up for one of the repositioning classes in October, but I think it's a waste of my time. I wanted to ask the doc about his head and if he agreed we didn't need to take the class I'd cancel out. But now I guess I'll just go :-/ Can't hurt I guess ... and if I get there and they tell me we don't have a problem, so be it, I'll leave early!

The only thing with Arlan is this runny eye. It's his left eye - it's been watering for close to a week. The doc figures it's a blocked tear duct (just like the nurse when I called HealthLink when it first watered at 3 weeks). This is the third time it's flared up, but it could've flared up because of this cold he's had (complete with runny nose). So I'm supposed to massage his tear duct every day as long as it's watery. Hopefully the remnants of his cold disappears soon, and the blocked duct along with it.

Stats: Arlan is 14 pounds, 1 ounce; and 24" tall. This is just above the 50th percentile for both measurements.

Landon is 32 1/2 pounds, and 38" tall. He is at the 75th percentile for both measurements, just like he's been pretty much his whole life.

Tomorrow I will spend getting ready to go to Medicine Hat on Saturday. I am SO looking forward to a night out!! We are all going, John and the boys will spend the night with Dave and the boys at Judy's while I go out with the girls for Tilly's stagette.

Hopefully Arlan and Landon behave well for daddy ... I don't think Landon will be much problem, he'll be so busy playing with Ryder he won't even notice I'm gone (hopefully!). And I've got some milk pumped for Arlan, hope it's enough (there's some ready-mixed formula just in case as well) ... and I hope he does well sleeping in the playpen. The good news is it's only one night, so no matter what happens it'll be short-lived. It's our 'practise' run for a trip to Sask in October!!

Because I'm going out, I had to go and buy some clothes that fit tonight :-/ I found a couple of pairs of pants, but not too many tops that I liked. Limited shopping though as I find it WAY too hard to shop with both boys so I had to go after Arlan went to sleep, which meant I just went to Reitmans by my house. Ah well ... at least I got something so I won't have to wear a nursing top!! LOL

That's the post for today. Until next time.....

Loving the exersaucer

Well, at least tolerating it!!

This is a picture of Arlan's first time in the exersaucer ... He's still in there actually, just a cooing and gooing and drooling all over it. Pretty darned cute I think. Also a good way to keep him upright (for that flat head thing).

We're having a good day. I had to have some bloodwork done this morning - we waited for almost 2 hours at the clinic! Ugh. Luckily I was smart enough to take Landon shopping while we waited (I was number 150, they were serving 113 when I got there) ... he got a new 'monster' truck and a story book to keep him occupied. Arlan was good as usual, had a snooze (that 45 minute cat-nap), and then sat on my knee and watched Landon play.

John finished dry-walling the basement last night. Tonight our mudder/taper is coming and should get started! YAY I can't wait til he's done ... I'm going to CLEAN my house top to bottom to get rid of this flipping drywall dust. Yuck!

That's the quick post for this afternoon ... I'm off to mop my floors while Landon's still snoozing ...

Arlan had a big day :-)

Arlan realized this morning, for the very first time, that he has FEET! We were hanging out in bed (b/c I was too tired to get up yet) and all of a sudden he saw his little feet wiggling around. How fascinating! He watched them for several minutes, while John and I watched Arlan watching his feet :-)
Then he was playing on the playmat and grabbed the little octopus. This is a big accomplishment for him too - he hadn't yet actually grabbed a toy (he's been batting at the hanging toys, but no grabbing). He hung on for dear life, all the while checking out the baby in the mirror hanging there. heh heh

One thing I can't seem to figure out with him is his issue after baths. Arlan loves his bath, he's smiling and cooing and talking the entire time. Then when I pull him out he screams ... sorry to say it ... like a little girl! You know ... that high-pitched, OMG you're killing me kind of scream. I have no idea why. One night he didn't, I don't know what I did differently. *shaking head* If anyone has any ideas, let me know. I've tried not washing his hair, washing his hair, carrying him facing out and facing in when I take him to get dressed, longer and shorter bathtimes, different types of towels... Tomorrow I will try no soap at all to see if that is bothering him. *shrug* Once we get him dressed, he usually calms right down, and then we get him ready for bed (nursing and off to bed). He responds so well to the bath otherwise, always ready for bed afterwards too so I want to keep it as part of his bedtime ritual (unlike Landon where the bath always got him revved up :-/ ). I'll just keep trying, but I might stick some earplugs in for future baths.

It is pretty cute when I pull him out of the bath (before the screaming starts). He has discovered that baby in the mirror too. So I just hold him standing up while he smiles and talks to that other baby. Cracks me up. I just love watching him learn all of these things. Soon he'll sit in the Bumbo longer and then I'll put him in front of our mirror for awhile and he can goo and gurgle to his heart's content!

We sure had a sleepy day today (must've been all of Arlan's learning). Me and the boys all slept for the entire afternoon!! Arlan went to sleep ~1:30. Landon went to bed at 2:30, fell asleep around 3. Arlan woke up at 2:30, so I crawled into bed with him to nurse him back to sleep. I fell asleep with him, and we all got up at 6:00!!!!!!! That was despite John working in the basement and making gawd-awful noises too. We must've been sleepy is all I can say.

It was nice to have Arlan sleep that long. He hasn't been napping as long in the afternoons these days ... I think he's transferred that afternoon sleep to the evenings, as he's been going to bed earlier for me. Can't have it all, right? But he is falling asleep on his own for his naps and at bedtime, which I like. He even had his morning nap in the crib yesterday (usually we're out at the park or whatever in the mornings). His afternoon nap is in the bassinet, and today most of it was in bed with me (he was soooo sweet, snuggled right up to mommy!). Then he usually has a cat-nap right around the time we're eating supper, lately that's been in the swing.
After supper we bathe him, listen to him scream, nurse him and he goes to bed. He wakes up twice overnight to eat ... usually 5 hours between meals (i.e. if he nursed at 7:30, then he wakes ~12 or 12:30, then again at 5 or so). And we've been waking up for the day at 8, which isn't too bad. He's happy when he wakes up in the mornings now (before he used to wake up cranky and hungry, it was a rude awakening for this mama, let me tell you!), so we have nice morning times before Landon wakes up. Of course, Landon still keeps rock-star hours (I'm putting him to bed when I post this), but it does give me a chance to have one-on-one time with both boys throughout the day. Hopefully we'll get Landon's schedule moved up a bit too, now that mom is out of bed in the mornings :-/ Heh heh

Anyways, that's enough about sleep -- what a sleepy day! LOL Until next time...

Of course, Arlan's amazing too :-D

our little munchkin is growing and learning so much! He can sit up in his Bumbo already, although he doesn't enjoy it for too long yet. He's also learned to blow 'spit bubbles' -- there are some in this pic, but don't know if you can see them.

Right now his favourite is on the play mat, looking at himself in the mirror. Landon loved the octopus, Arlan loves the mirror. If he's fussing, that's the place that will calm him down. Sometimes he'll be squawking when you put him on there, then he catches site of himself and calms right down - cracks me up.

Arlan also loves his bouncy chair. He checks out the little bears that hang on it (or the shapes on the bouncy chair upstairs), and coos and talks. He has been talking lots - telling plenty of stories. He smiles all the time for mommy too. When he wakes up I go in to get him and once he sees me his whole face lights up and he squirms and puts his hands to his mouth. I love it!

I think he may be a thumb-sucker some day if he ever finds it. He always puts his hands to his mouth, and will even push the soother out to get his fingers in there. But when he's falling asleep he still likes the soother (likely because I swaddle him so he can't get his hands to his mouth!! lol).

Speaking of swaddling - he's learning to sleep with his arms out. Not by my design, but because he gets his arms out himself. Last night he had his arms out within an hour of going to sleep for the night, and he slept like that for 4 more hours. But when I tried to leave one arm out of the swaddle when putting him down for a nap yesterday it was unsuccessful. So I'll still swaddle him to put him down for now, he'll have to keep working his arms free himself ... for a week or two more anyways :-)

And I think his flat little head is rounding out ... we haven't attended a positioning class or anything, I think it's just rounding out because he's moving his head around on his own when he's sleeping, plus he's spending more time upright with us while playing, or moving his head around on his own while playing. So I don't know if I'll worry about going to any classes anyways (they're full at this point, so I may not have a choice). We'll see what the doc says at his 3-month check-up on the 18, but I just don't think it's going to be a concern.

Anyways, that's the news for the second amazing Keller-baby :-)

We survived the shots...

Arlan is a trooper, making it through his shots. He sure bellered though, and for those that have heard how strong his lungs are, you know just how loud he was!!! Afterwards, I was nursing him and the nurse sat beside us to review some information...he gave her quite the look -- like "YOU are the mean one! Back away...back away very slowly...keeping your hands where I can see them!!" Heh heh
But he hasn't had a bad reaction so far. We were advised to give him Tylenol every 4 hours for the first 24 hours due to Landon's history of febrile seizures. But last night Arlan slept so well that I didn't wake him for Tylenol -- he went for 8 hours between doses and was none the worse for wear because of it. I did check him several times while he was sleeping, but he had no fever at all so I wasn't worried. And tonight he has no fever either, so unless he gets one shortly I won't give him Tylenol before bed at all.

Stats: He's 13 pounds, 3 ounces, and 23 5/8" long (weird b/c at his 6 week check the nurse measured him as 24"....I think she must've read her tape wrong :-/). So he is growing just as he should...~ 1 ounce a day.
He nurses a lot faster than Landon did, finishing a side in ~10 mins or less, so it's good to see such solid weight gain. And if he could sleep as well as he did last night every night, we'd all be better-rested!!! LOL I am giving him simethicone again to help him fart easier in the hoped he'll wake less often overnight...hopefully it helps. I asked the nurse yesterday...simethicone isn't absorbed at all so it's very safe to use; and it certainly does seem to help.
Oh yeah ... he has a flat head on one side, and his right ear is slightly forward on his head :-/ He's always had the flat head...I think from being squished in the womb. But the nurse was concerned and suggested we take a 'positioning class' to help his head round out. Of course the classes are all full -- must be lots of kids with mis-shaped heads out there. It's called positional plagiocephaly, and if not corrected the shape could become permanent. I'm not overly concerned at this point as Arlan is starting to sleep more on the other side of his head, and he's spending more and more time upright or with his head in varying positions when he's playing. His neck is getting a lot stronger too, so he can turn his head easier. But I guess it's something we'll have to watch. After Landon's perfectly round head this seems a weird problem to have :-/ Hopefully it rounds out...otherwise they'll want him to wear a helmet ... at $3000 each!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways...that's the news on Arlan today. He's pretty precious, and I'm proud of how well he screamed at the nurse for poking him (and for how quickly he stopped crying afterwards too).

Two Months Old!!

Hard to believe our little Arlan is already two months old!! He is such a smiler and a talker (see previous post for pics). He really communicates more than I remember Landon doing at this age (I try hard not to compare the two, but I just can't help it!), but he's less physical (no jumping yet!). But Arlan can hold his head up pretty well now, and likes to look around. He's awake for longer stretches, so he's getting more playing in. He's liking the play mat regularly (often he fusses until put down on there, then he's happy). He's so-so for the swing, likes his bouncy chair, and thankfully likes the stroller / car seat as he's spent plenty of time in there these past few days.

He's nursing like a good little gobbler -- usually waking only once overnight. He goes to sleep between 8:30 and 9:30 most nights (sometimes a bit earlier, sometimes a bit later), and loves to have a bath before bedtime (again, so different from Landon!). He wakes between 2 and 4 for his mid-night snack, and sleeps until about 8, give or take half an hour. So I'm getting pretty good amounts of sleep which is a blessing. Thankfully Landon is such a good sleeper - once he's out for the night we seldom hear from him until morning, so I don't have to worry about him at all - again usually (don't want to jinx that!!).

Weight-wise, Arlan is 12 pounds, 8 ounces ... 4 pounds over birth weight! So he's right on time and growing like a pro. Must be all that nursing going on all day. He's a bit more regular for nursing, but not yet routine. He's good when we go out though - usually nursing very well while we're in various places. It's when we're at home that he nibbles more, but I think that's because I'm maybe nursing when I should be trying to put him to sleep (whereas when we're out, the stroller puts him to sleep). Ah well....As long as he's happy!

So that's the 2-month stats for little baby Arlan. He is pretty adorable, and we are enjoying our time with him as he starts to communicate more :-) I just can't believe that he's two months already!!!! aiaiaiaiai They do grow too quickly :-/