The Tegens: February 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Make it Stop!!!

Don't worry...my title doesn't mean I'm losing my mind (yet) or talking about screaming or crying. It's about poop. Yesterday brought bathroom news about the first one, and today brings news about the second one! So, as some of you know, Tommy is a multiday pooper, as I call it. He doesn't poop for multiple days (haha)...no, he just spaces them out...he's busy using all the rest to chunk up. So, anyways, I had an appointment this morning (after a especially fussy night...ugh) at the WIC office for weight checks for Tommy and myself, a visit with the nutritionist, and the usual stuff they have us do. I was able to duck in and talk with their lactation consultant (different one from the ladies I see over at Best Beginnings)--figured a pair of fresh eyes might have some different suggestions/help for our latching troubles. While in there, I mentioned Tommy's pooping habits, or lack thereof, and wouldn't you know he made a liar out of me. All of a sudden we heard--as Lance would put it--the thunder down under. :) I quickly got my shirt all settled, as I had been feeding him, and made my way over to the restroom. I waited a minute before taking the diaper off just to try and make sure he was done. Yeah, didn't wait nearly long enough. [The following is kinda gross] It just kept pouring from his poor little tushie like soft serve. It was ridiculous. I ran through all the wipes in the diaper bag and had resorted to wetting paper towels to clean things. Twice I had him all cleaned up and the show started back up...like I said, RIDICULOUS. I was so tempted to just put him in the sink and wash him down, but being that this was a public restroom and one in the county health department...yeah, wasn't gonna do that. Oh, and while I'm busy manning the pooper, he decides to pee all over his head...yeah, it was a skillful pee...twice. I just had to laugh. Biggest poop ever and it wasn't even the longest period between poops (only 7 days as opposed to his record 9--that poop wasn't anywhere near this big). Another mom and her little girl who was probably about 2 or 3 came in to use the bathroom and the little girl made a point to yell, "poop!" It smelled pretty foul in there after we were done...oops. Whatcha gonna do? As I was typing this, he had another smaller poo. We figure in another month or so things will regulate themselves out. So, anyways, that was my excitement for the morning. Maddy is now napping and Tommy has finally got his post-feed doze on as well, so I am going to try and nap. :) I love naps.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Potty Time!

I had all these random things I wanted to write about today, but now it's 11 pm and I can't remember half of them. I just finally was able to put Tommy down for a minute...I figure I have about 10 minutes until he starts screaming again. No pictures today. The camera is still in the compartment on the stroller which is in the car which would require me going outside which is not happening right now. Oh well...I'll get it out tomorrow--I hope.

So, I bought Maddy a little potty chair the other day. She's been showing more and more signs of potty training readiness, so I figured we throw a chair in the mix and see how that works. She wants to use it so badly! She tells me she's pooped after the fact and then wants to sit on it. She's done so 3 or 4 times, but has yet to pee or otherwise in it. She actually asks to go sit on it pretty frequently. I haven't just let her do so yet because of Tommy's frequent feedings, but I think I'll need to try to get her going next week--do the whole sit on it every hour thing and see if she's really ready. I think I'll also invest in either a box of pull ups or a couple pair of training pants...haven't decided yet.

Well, I was wrong on the 10 minutes...gotta run. Just had to share the potty training stuff, though. I'm curious to see how she does once we really get started! It would be nice to knock out half of our diaper expenses!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Keeping it Real

Pictures first, ranting second. :)

Maddy is my hairdresser.

Love this face :)

Ridiculous amount of stuff carried home from Sam's

When I don't get my way...

This is time out...

I've been perusing other mommy blogs as of late (you know, during my vast amounts of free time...) and wish I had the guts to be as real and brutally honest as some are. Well, one blogger in particular (http://thehowertons.blogspot.com/2010/02/keeping-it-real-nobody-puts-baby-in.html) set out to encourage others to share a moment/moments that weren't one of the prettier, more polished rubies we work so hard to share with everyone. Well, in the spirit of keeping it real, and in response to a series of especially rough days, I've decided to go for it.

Maddy is too smart for her own good. She knows things...like what to do get my attention when I'm nursing Tommy: climb up chairs to stand on the table, jump on the couch, climb under and onto the end tables, climb up bookshelves, push furniture away from walls, pull every clothes item she can out of drawers, and find any power cord she can to wrap around her body, to name a few. Today was the creme de la creme, however. So, we've found that "time out" has been the most effective form of discipline thus far...well, she earned herself a place there this morning. After being in there for a bit longer than usual, I finally put Tommy down to get her out (time out is currently in the pack and play away from all toys and books). She had unzipped her jammies and taken off her diaper. It was awesome. At least there wasn't any poop...and she didn't pee in the pack and play. I was so upset, but it was almost laughable.

Everyone is so sweet and tells us how adorable and cute she is...and I won't disagree with that, but, man! If you only knew what stunts she pulls at home--oh, and she doesn't discriminate between mommy and daddy--although she does seem to know that certain things work better for either one.

On the flip side of this being too smart, she is communicating so much more! She is combining words like crazy--way ahead of the curve. I like to pull out one of my language assessments typically used in therapy (PLS for my fellow speechies :0) ) to see where she's at...definitely in the upper percentiles! One of her newer words is "hole." I was eating a donut this morning, and she pointed at it and proudly declared, "hole!" It was pretty darn cute.

She's going through another picky/reduced appetite phase--that's not so fun. Very frustrating for Lance and I, but she's healthy. I think she would just subsist on bananas if we let her. Good news is that I hear you can...lol.

Tommy is doing well. He's a borderline colicky guy though...either that or a "high needs" baby, as I've heard it called. Either way, he definitely has a fussy period that starts about 5ish every evening and goes until about 11 pm. He wants to be held 24/7. He is not all about sleeping alone. While we aren't all about the "family bed" idea, we have been letting him sleep with one of us...mostly me...on the couch nightly. I know its nuts, but its the only way that we get any sleep right now. He's starting to go 3 hours between feedings at night, so perhaps we'll revisit the bassinet soon. I know some people are all about Ferber and the Babywise stuff, but that just isn't for us. --And you can't argue with cuddling up with the little chunker! :) He has his 2 month check up on March 1. I'm anxious to see where he is with weight and height. Nursing has improved, but I'm still always fretting over my milk supply--I just have a hard time trusting in it despite his clear intake via weight. He's starting to become more alert and interactive when he's not fussing :) He's getting better neck control and likes to look around--and smile! He has these little smiling bouts that last for a couple minutes here and there throughout the day. I feel like I have to drop all else and really soak them up to help sustain the rough patches when he fusses inconsolably. It's worth it!

Balancing the two kiddos has proven to be the toughest job I could have ever imagined. While we have talked about #3 already, I can tell you one thing...there will SURELY be more than 16.5 months between Tommy and he/she. :)

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Catching up

So, life has been very different! Not lots of time to post on here for one :) Here are a handful of pictures from the past 7 weeks (well, save the last couple actually, these go through the 21st of Jan)...I can't believe Tommy has been with us that long already! He is gaining weight well--we call him our little chub-a-lub :) He is already in the 90th percentile for weight!??! Maddy loves her little brother very much and is adjusting to the new routines as well as can be expected for a little 18-month old. She had her 18 month check up last week. She is doing well--starting to get that height--80th percentile! She got the last of her shots until she starts for school--she was so proud of her bandaids :) Anyways, enjoy these--I need to dump the camera soon so I can get the most recent ones added the next time I find a free few moments :) Oh, and the pics go from most recent to old.

If only she knew how much I had to use these for her!