Our Big Boy

I am so proud of Micah. I feel like we can say now that he is potty trained! He wears "big boy" underwear all day except for naps. I even heard him today in the bathroom by himself. Upon checking on him, I discovered him, pants down, and sitting on the potty! We still wear a diaper at night, and he insists on making a poopy in it, but as far as I am concerned, we are through the hard part. He makes no complaints about wearing underwear, going pee pee in the potty or keeping it in the bathroom. He even cleans his potty when he is done (that's my boy!) Am I happy that Micah is going potty and getting more independent? Yes, that is what he is supposed to do. However, I am sad that it is going by so quickly.

Power Outage

Last night, a huge wind storm blew threw and left us without power for about five hours. It is a bit interesting to take care of children with no power. Thankfully, we had already eaten dinner, so we just did lots of puzzles, plugged the iPod into Micah's new frog player, and tried to carry on as usual. I bought a lantern a long time ago (one of those fluorescent, battery operated, camping ones) just in case we ever had a power outage. I am glad I am such a planner/worrier, because that thing allowed us to somewhat keep our sanity (it lit up the whole room.) I think the boys had fun taking a bath by lantern light. My favorite part: a long hot bath with candles and a good book. Oh, and also when Micah tiptoed into our room asking to get in our bed because he didn't have a night light! I must admit Matt and I have been waiting for the night when he would do this. How fun to snuggle with your sweet baby in your bed and sing and pray and read stories. Micah laughed for a good ten minutes about getting tickled while kissing Dada's "beard" (yes, he was a bit delirious) It was our first slumber party! I can't say we were sad though when the power popped back on amidst our fun, and Micah got to go back to his own room to sleep!

Crawling Backwards, Playing Ball, and Standing

Owen has gotten pretty efficient at crawling backwards. He has figured out how to sit himself back up, so this is how it usually goes: flip on his belly, push backwards, sit back up, and then start again until he finds himself under the couch! It is quite funny to watch. He also loves standing these days. We will put him against the wall and he will stand laughing and clapping his hands (also a fairly new trick.) until he lunges forward into our arms. Every day brings something new, and we can't believe how fast the time is going.

Visit from the Comptons

Last weekend, Katie and Ben Compton, along with their soon to be one year old daughter Campbell, came for a visit. It was so fun to spend some quality time with them because our lives have been so busy these past few months that we have hardly seen them at all. We all promised it wouldn't be so long between visits next time, especially since we are much closer now (they recently moved to Birmingham.) We really had a pretty restful weekend. Katie and I hit up some sales during Saturday morning nap, and we went out to eat a couple of times. Other than that, we just hung out and played some games. The kids had fun playing together, and after Micah warmed up to our guests, he had fun doing tackles with Uncle Bomp and putting puzzles together with Aunt Katie.

Owen and Toys

Owen loves toys. I think it is so funny because Micah liked toys okay, but he much preferred buttons, music, and anything that looked "adult." Owen has very strong attachments to his toys. He gets so excited when we go to the playroom in the morning and has a blast moving from toy to toy. At bedtime, when it is time to say night night to his stand up toy, he gets so sad. He cries real tears because he wants to stay and play so bad. Never mind that he is so exhausted he can barely stand up! Here are a few pictures of him and his many toys.

Potty Training

Well, I have not had a post in several days. There are a few reasons for this. One, Matt has only been working 3 days a week since we moved here, and this week he has worked every day. I realized that I have gotten used to having two weekends. One to relax and one to "get things done." I never hesitated to get Micah out and about running errands back in Memphis, but finding a time when I know both boys will be up for it, and then actually getting them both out of the car and in and out of places is much more difficult than it was back when there was just one baby. It is just a longer process, and I only have about an hour window when both boys are awake and fed. I know I will get used to it, it just takes time. I don't mind staying home, but the winter months can be so gloomy, and until we can play outside again, we just get a little stir crazy. All that to say, this week I have been running errands during the afternoon nap (when I usually post on the blog, and other "fun" activities) because Matt is usually home by then. Also, we are in the process of potty training Micah, and what a process it has been. Micah is very resistant to change. We know this, and put a lot of thought into the potty training process. We knew the hard part would be to get him to actually wear the big boy pants instead of diapers. Diapers is all he has known, and they are a comfort to him: predictable. He wets the diaper, we change it, and he gets a clean new one. We had a few tears, but soon he was into the new routine: wake up, change clothes, and put on "spider man." Next, we had to get him to actually go potty on the potty. We spent a couple of days on the potty (which I swore wouldn't leave the bathroom) for hours. Nothing would come. I started brainstorming. By the way, as a side note, don't ever say "we won't do that with our children" because in desperate times, you probably will! First, I thought "he has to feel a great urge if this is going to work," so I gave him the biggest sippy cup we own filled with full strength sweet tea. Yep, you guessed it, he downed it and asked for more. So I filled it up again. Then I thought, maybe we should put his potty in the play room and put on a movie, so he won't get so bored and psyched out just sitting and thinking about going potty. This was hard for me because originally I said no baby potties; that seems so gross. I just thought we would use the kind that sit on the real toilet, but like I said, desperate times call for desperate measures. So here we are with our deluxe baby potty with all the bells and whistles (it even sings when you go) sitting in the middle of our den! Can you get any more gross? So after all the tea, poor Micah couldn't hold it any more and, being the rule lover that he is, wasn't about to pee pee in spider man. I put him on the potty, and he lost it. He began crying alligator tears saying "Micah is so sad." Talk about break a Mama's heart. I tied to get him to tell me why he was so scared/sad about using the potty. Another side note: I think it is so beneficial as parents to really study your child. Know what makes them tick. I am really into personalities because I feel like if you love somebody, you will really try to "know" them and understand where they are coming from, so you can love them better. This by the way, is a part of my personality! Anyway, I know Micah has a hard time telling us what is wrong, but that doesn't stop him from wanting us to fix it. So I began prodding trying to discover why my poor baby was "so sad." After what seemed like forever, I finally got out of him that he thought it was dirty and didn't want to make a "big mess." Poor guy, what have I done to him? I promise I never said the potty was gross in front of him, but I guess he just liked the fact of folding his mess neatly in the diaper and throwing it in the trash. I guess some traits are inherited! Oh, it was a rough couple of days convincing him how clean it is to go in the potty instead of a diaper, but I feel like we have reached some success. Yesterday, he told me every time he felt the urge to go get the potty, and he actually went in record time (five times!) He was so proud of himself, and we went to get a special treat: a United States of America puzzle. He is in the process of learning the capitals and where all the states are located. I am so proud of our little guy. Potty training is very hard for him, and he is learning so quickly. Now, if we can just convince him that making a poo poo in the potty is not gross. Ugghh, maybe we can switch to the one that fits over the big toilet for that?!

Reading with Mama and taking a Big Boy Bath

Nine Months

I took Owen to the pediatrician today for his nine month well baby check-up, and he is one healthy little boy. He weighs 18 pounds 8 ounces (20%) and is 27 3/4 inches (35%) and his head is on the large side at 18 1/4 (80%). We were a little surprised because he looks so much fuller than we remember Micah being, but actually weighs less. The doctor seemed a little concerned that his numbers had dropped so much since last time, but after looking at Micah's chart, we realized he had done the same thing. Babies become more active during this time, and I guess we just make skinny boys! The doctor did confirm what we had guessed: that Owen has an allergy to the protein in milk (different from lactose intolerance). The good news is this type of allergy is usually outgrown by 18 months, the bad news is that Mama can't have anything that is made with cow's milk. I talked to him about weening Owen and he said that continuing to breastfeed would actually be best for him in this situation. I have had mixed feelings over this since I came to the conclusion last week that I needed to cut out my favorite foods: chocolate, cheese (especially the cheese dip at our favorite Mexican restaurant, ice cream, mayo, yogurt, and the list goes on.) First I thought no way, I can't do this, not this late in the game, we can just try to find a formula that he will take. Then I realized that I am not quite finished nursing him. I enjoy the time I get to spend with him and I am just not ready yet. THEN I realized these are both extremely selfish, so I started thinking about what would be best for my baby. It is hard because as you mom's know, we give up everything for our children and to think of sacrificing something else made me a little angry. So I prayed, Lord help me do what is best for Owen, whether that be weening or cutting milk from my diet. Help me not consider myself first this time. I have been cow's milk free for five days now, and Owen is sleeping 10 hours straight at night with no screaming and balling up. He has detoxed with several (I mean like 20!) poopy diapers that he had been unable to have and I feel great! I have been forced to cook healthy meals (lots of fruits and veggies) and it has spurned me (and Matt) on to exercise (which I hadn't gotten back into after Owen was born). Thank you Lord for answering our prayers. And it seems as though Owen is safe to eat soy, so I have tried vanilla soy milk, and it actually tastes great with some Reese's puffs cereal for dessert. Also, he will be able to ween to soy milk in a few months and escape the foul tasting/smelling soy formula. Aside from his allergy, Owen is doing great. His verbal skills are great (he is saying Mama, Dada, no no, ya ya for Ellie and mmmm for Micah). He can clap his hands, wave, play peek a boo, scoot on his bottom, crawl backward a few feet, and can almost pull up. He is a little delayed in crawling, but that is not such a bad thing for me! Micah didn't crawl until 10 months and we weren't sure he ever would. My boys just don't love being on their tummies. As far as table foods go, we were encouraged to switch to all table foods. He recommended pancakes (made with soy milk), pasta (we tried that for lunch and Owen loved it!), all fruits and veggies chopped small, but big enough so he could pick them up, and even some soy cheese. This is good news to us because baby food is expensive and Owen prefers table food anyway. He did give one good tip that I thought I would pass along: using a pizza cutter for chopping: much faster than a knife and fork. Speaking of food, I better run and make dinner!

Cute Outfit

We were having an unusually warm day today, and as Micah was pointing out a picture that was now in a different place, I thought "what a great day for that outfit." Thanks to our good friends, the Brown's, our boys have always had at least a couple of stylish polo outfits. This one is absolutely adorable. We remembered getting some great pictures of Micah in it, so we got Owen all dressed and ready for the camera. Owen is so fun to take pictures of because he loves smiling for the camera. He will really ham it up with lots of big grins. I posted a picture of Micah in the outfit as well (the last one) just for a quick comparison on the looks. Micah was nine months here as well.

Jesus Loves Me

Micah

Micah

Well, I have not posted a specific update about Micah in quite a while, and since our first baby is "not a yittle baby anymore," and actually growing into a full out boy, I figured I should jot some things down. Be forewarned, this post might contain some bragging on the part of Mama, but what's a blog for if you can't tell everyone how proud you are of your children? Matt and I feel like we went through the "terrible two's" with Micah around the age of 15-26 months. Micah has always been pretty mild tempered and never threw many fits (at least not the kind with kicking, screaming, head banging, etc.) but he was very quirky, orderly/ritualistic and failure to do things exactly the way he liked them would result in lots of tears that took a lot of patience. The hard part was he couldn't communicate what he wanted, so it was always a guessing game for us. I have no problem with his rituals (you should see all the "night night friends" we have in their proper order before bed) because I am like that too, we just wanted some help from him as to what he wanted. Micah will now often correct us or put things away when they are out of place, and he always notices if I have done some rearranging or cleaning. He told me one day "good work Mama clean the stairs" because he could tell that the rails were shiny. Just today he reminded Matt to take off his shoes and then he proceeded to put them in the right bin by the door. I do absolutely love this part of Micah's personality because I like things done a certain way and things in a certain order too. It will be/is nice to have such a great helper.

Anyway, we have been just absolutely blown away the past few months by our little boy. Now that he has better language skills, he can ask us for what he wants. He has learned the Bible verse well "Do all things without complaining and disputing." We started teaching him that from the time he was old enough to oppose us with his attitude (circa 9 months) and even though he still tries manipulation sometimes, the Holy Spirit has really worked in his heart to accept the rules his parents give without screaming or crying. By the way, as a side note: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work" Never underestimate the power of God's word on your children, even babies. The Holy Spirit can and will speak to your child through God's word. We try to use Scripture as much as possible with our children for this very reason. Ginger Plowman has a good resource called "Wise Words for Moms" if you feel incompetent (as I do) to just throw out a Bible verse for every misbehavior. She also has a verse of encouragement so that our children will not become discouraged at the pointing out of their sin. Micah loves to tell us "the good news is: Jesus died on the cross for my sins!" Micah has also taken his role as big brother pretty seriously. Although we see flashes of anger every once in while when Owen isn't playing with a toy the "right" way (there is that quirkiness), for the most part he has accepted Owen as one of us, more than that, he knows he belongs and doesn't want to leave him out of anything. Don't get me wrong, he still loves morning nap time so that we can do things that are hard when Owen is awake (like play Memory, crazy eights, play dough, etc.) Another thing Matt and I have noticed is how smart Micah is. We could always tell he was "a thinker" and even coined the phrase "the thinking face" when he was a baby (he always had this expression that seemed as though he was always trying to figure everything out). He loves to learn and lately can't get enough of it. It started with letters and learning capitals and lower cases, but that wasn't enough; he had to know what these were for. He began spelling numerous words. Matt made a spelling list for Micah, and it now has over 250 words on it. Matt also taught him phonics, and now he literally picks up books and reads. I am amazed by this because my job before I had Micah, I was a tutor/teacher. Micah can read on a Kindergarten level at age 2 1/2. The crazy thing is, we don't push him; he figures most of it out on his own. We put him in bed at night, and sometimes until midnight he is reading books, saying his ABC's frontwards and backwards (with and without the sound they make,) spelling his way to ten, counting backwards from 20 and trying to figure out why it is eleven and twelve instead of "0ne teen" and "two teen." It will be interesting to see where he goes from here. I know Matt can't wait to teach him to play chess! I love to have Micah help me in the kitchen because of his cleanliness and organizational skills. I taught him to put the silverware up from the dishwasher (after I do the knives of course!), and he loves to help scoop and pour when we make cookies.

I just wanted to share a tiny piece of out sweet little boy and hopefully guard our memories by writing some of them down. It is crazy the little details that you forget, and it can be very frustrating, at least for me. I love this time and don't want to forget a minute of it.