It doesn't happen right on their first birthday. It happens in small increments over the second year of their lives. Their babyhood just slips away...so gradually that it doesn't register with you until have a quiet moment to think. Owen is going to be my last baby (barring no accidents) and its starting to hit me that a certain era of our lives is coming to an end. He's crawling and pulling up, but he can't stand on his own yet or walk. He's not saying much other than "Mama" and "Dada" but he did inform me the other morning that he had pooped by gesturing to his butt and saying, "Poopoo." He's completely off baby food and he will eat almost anything I put in front of him. He always wants whatever we have. Too bad Emmett won't do that. He's at the age where if we're eating it, he wants no part of it, with a few exceptions like steak and spaghetti.
Soon enough Owen will be walking and talking. He will eventually give up breastfeeding. Then he'll need to give up his crib and start sleeping in a bed. We've already put so much baby stuff in storage: the baby tub, the swing, the bouncer, the baby carrier carseat. We're keeping all of those things for now, probably to hand down to family. Its so bittersweet, because having my babies has been the greatest part of my whole life. But it has also been the hardest thing I have ever been through, and I am 99.9% certain that I never want to go through it again. Not even to try for a girl, because chances are we'd just have another boy, and I don't think I would be willing to go through it again even if having a girl was guaranteed.
I have to admit, in all honesty, that I have not kept as good records for Owen as I did for Emmett. I may have lost track of when some of his later teeth have come in. I'm not sure exactly what day he crawled for the first time (the video camera knows if I just check though). I'm sure there aren't as many pictures of Owen, and Emmett is in a lot of them. I guess that's just how it goes with the second child. But just as your first born holds a special place in your heart, so does your last born. Both of my boys will be my babies forever.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
The daily grind
Both boys are napping right now. Emmett had a dentist appointment this morning. There was a little bit of plaque on his teeth, so it seems I need to be brushing his teeth a little better. Right now we only do it at night, so I think we will start brushing in the morning too and see if that helps. Its difficult to brush someone else's teeth, because you can't tell if you're applying enough pressure sometimes. And he's much too young to do it well enough himself. So we'll work on that.
After the dentist we went to the playground at church as a reward for doing well at the dentist. I always forget that I can't reward him with ice cream because the fluoride they paint on his teeth has to set for 30 minutes before eating or drinking. Because we were out all morning, Owen didn't get a morning nap. So he went to sleep shortly after Emmett did, which was only about an hour earlier than he usually he does. He was a trooper. Usually he falls asleep in the car on the way home, but he didn't this time. I think he's growing out of that. In fact he may be starting to give up his morning nap. It seems way too early for that, he just started taking decent naps a few months ago. At least now he's sleeping through the night, until at least 6:00 in the morning. Sometimes he snoozes back to sleep on his own after that, sometimes he fusses and needs to nurse. After nursing sometimes he goes back to sleep, other times he doesn't. And quite frankly, 6:00 AM is earlier than I want to be up for the day. But I'd rather he sleep straight through until then and get up early, than wake up in the middle of the night.
Our dryer died last week. It had been gradually drying less and less well, taking longer and longer to dry a load. Then last Monday in the middle of a load I heard a bang and it just stopped. Went up to the laundry room and there was a burning smell, the electrical kind. So that was that. Bought a new one on Thursday and had it delivered today since we were at the beach all weekend. We bought the cheapest one we could find, because we really can't afford one right now at all. It had good reviews and we even know someone who had one and could vouch for it. So hopefully we don't regret the purchase. I'm trying it out right now. We have 7 days to return it if we don't like it, so I'm gonna use it like crazy this week to make sure I'm happy with it.
As I previously stated, we were at the beach over this past Memorial Day weekend. We had a great time. The weather was a little cooler than usual for this time of year, so we really only spent a few hours on Monday at the actual beach. But the weather was perfect for being outside. Spent a lot of time just sitting out on the deck relaxing, looking out over the waterway. The boys were entertained by their grandparents and great grandparents most of the time, and thanks to them Chris and I got to relax. And the highlight of the weekend for me was getting to go out on the jet skis that Chris's dad recently bought. I hadn't been on one since senior beach week the summer after I graduated high school, and I forgot how fun it is. I let Chris drive, I just hung on for dear life. It was a blast! The wind in our faces, occasional splashes of water, exhilarating. If you've never been on one, I highly recommend it. The weekend went by too fast as usual. The boys were both really good for the drive down to the beach, but the way back didn't go quite as well. When Owen is tired, sometimes he just peacefully drifts off to sleep in the car. Other times he screams and screams until he nearly makes himself sick and hoarse. Of course he decided to start screaming when we had nowhere to stop. When we finally did I sat in the car and fed him, we all went to the bathroom, and we got right back on the road. With a full tummy he went right off to sleep. Emmett was good both ways, especially with the help of the car DVD player Chris's parents got us for Christmas. As soon as we can turn Owen's seat around to face forward, he will be able to watch too. We did get Emmett a new booster seat before the trip so that we could move Owen into Emmett's old seat. He has outgrown his baby carrier car seat. Taking it out of the car for the final time made me a little sad. I can't believe we will be celebrating his first birthday in just over a month. His first year has gone by even faster than Emmett's did.
Owen still isn't crawling. I'm trying to focus on the positive, the fact that he is so much easier to handle when he's not mobile. By the time Emmett was Owen's age, just shy of 11 months, he was walking. I don't know if its anything I'm doing different, or if he's just different. They say some kids never really crawl, they just get up and walk. He's not pulling up either though, so I don't expect that to happen any time soon.
This post has been long enough, and who knows how long I will have until the boys wake up. Another post finished without interruption!
After the dentist we went to the playground at church as a reward for doing well at the dentist. I always forget that I can't reward him with ice cream because the fluoride they paint on his teeth has to set for 30 minutes before eating or drinking. Because we were out all morning, Owen didn't get a morning nap. So he went to sleep shortly after Emmett did, which was only about an hour earlier than he usually he does. He was a trooper. Usually he falls asleep in the car on the way home, but he didn't this time. I think he's growing out of that. In fact he may be starting to give up his morning nap. It seems way too early for that, he just started taking decent naps a few months ago. At least now he's sleeping through the night, until at least 6:00 in the morning. Sometimes he snoozes back to sleep on his own after that, sometimes he fusses and needs to nurse. After nursing sometimes he goes back to sleep, other times he doesn't. And quite frankly, 6:00 AM is earlier than I want to be up for the day. But I'd rather he sleep straight through until then and get up early, than wake up in the middle of the night.
Our dryer died last week. It had been gradually drying less and less well, taking longer and longer to dry a load. Then last Monday in the middle of a load I heard a bang and it just stopped. Went up to the laundry room and there was a burning smell, the electrical kind. So that was that. Bought a new one on Thursday and had it delivered today since we were at the beach all weekend. We bought the cheapest one we could find, because we really can't afford one right now at all. It had good reviews and we even know someone who had one and could vouch for it. So hopefully we don't regret the purchase. I'm trying it out right now. We have 7 days to return it if we don't like it, so I'm gonna use it like crazy this week to make sure I'm happy with it.
As I previously stated, we were at the beach over this past Memorial Day weekend. We had a great time. The weather was a little cooler than usual for this time of year, so we really only spent a few hours on Monday at the actual beach. But the weather was perfect for being outside. Spent a lot of time just sitting out on the deck relaxing, looking out over the waterway. The boys were entertained by their grandparents and great grandparents most of the time, and thanks to them Chris and I got to relax. And the highlight of the weekend for me was getting to go out on the jet skis that Chris's dad recently bought. I hadn't been on one since senior beach week the summer after I graduated high school, and I forgot how fun it is. I let Chris drive, I just hung on for dear life. It was a blast! The wind in our faces, occasional splashes of water, exhilarating. If you've never been on one, I highly recommend it. The weekend went by too fast as usual. The boys were both really good for the drive down to the beach, but the way back didn't go quite as well. When Owen is tired, sometimes he just peacefully drifts off to sleep in the car. Other times he screams and screams until he nearly makes himself sick and hoarse. Of course he decided to start screaming when we had nowhere to stop. When we finally did I sat in the car and fed him, we all went to the bathroom, and we got right back on the road. With a full tummy he went right off to sleep. Emmett was good both ways, especially with the help of the car DVD player Chris's parents got us for Christmas. As soon as we can turn Owen's seat around to face forward, he will be able to watch too. We did get Emmett a new booster seat before the trip so that we could move Owen into Emmett's old seat. He has outgrown his baby carrier car seat. Taking it out of the car for the final time made me a little sad. I can't believe we will be celebrating his first birthday in just over a month. His first year has gone by even faster than Emmett's did.
Owen still isn't crawling. I'm trying to focus on the positive, the fact that he is so much easier to handle when he's not mobile. By the time Emmett was Owen's age, just shy of 11 months, he was walking. I don't know if its anything I'm doing different, or if he's just different. They say some kids never really crawl, they just get up and walk. He's not pulling up either though, so I don't expect that to happen any time soon.
This post has been long enough, and who knows how long I will have until the boys wake up. Another post finished without interruption!
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