Addison's ABC's

I have been meaning to post a video of Addison saying all her ABC's for a while now.  Here is the latest one of her reciting them....with tune too!  HA!  If you are wondering what she is looking at, she is watching me sign the letters; it helps her concentrate.

Celebrating 5 Months of Little Asher

Happy 5 Months to our goofy grinning Little Asher on March 27!  I am so behind on my blogging...I have not even done one for Christmas!!!!  I blame the tardiness of this blog on Addison's 2nd birthday, which was today.

The Stats

Weight:  He must be 18 lbs if I were guessing
Height:  26 inches at 4 months so 26.5 now maybe?
Head Circumference:  Who knows!
Overall:  This past month was pretty good overall.  He is really starting to get into the swing of the schedule, but if he is off schedule it can get ugly for several days after that.  Caleb is a bit manic; either ridiculously sweetly happy or SO upset.  He tries so hard to be good, sweet thing.

The Developments

Sleeping:  Napping at least 1.5 hours and the most I let him go is about 2.25 hours.  If he wakes up at 1.5 hours its usually because he was over tired and woke up to poop and cant resettle.  Sleeping fantastic at night and sleeping in later every morning.  Yay!  I am thankful Matthew and several of my veteran mom friends kept encouraging me to stick with babywise.  It PAYS OFF.  He takes a morning nap, afternoon nap and then 90% of the time an evening cat nap for about 45 minutes.

Routine:  HOORAY, we are 100% on the 4 hour schedule and sometimes even 4.5 with his first feeding about 8 am and his last about 7:30 or 8:00 pm depending on if we cat nap him.  We play that catnap by ear.  I will go into the details of his routine more next month.

Eating:  Still breastfeeding, yahoo!!!  I think I am going to be able to make it to a year with Caleb as I did Addison.  I have about 3 months worth frozen too so I hope I can make it a year; that is the ultimate goal but I take it day by day.  We started solids a few days after he turned 5 months because by my calculations he was eating 40 oz a day and starting to wake up for the dreamfeed.  We are only on day 4, so I will post about that more later.

Verbal:  He is trying to really make new noises with m's and b's and he is blowing raspberries every now and then.  It seems like he is being more intentional with his sounds now. He gets the most surprised look on his face when he makes noises sometimes.  I would actually say he is talking less than before, its like he is being more thoughtful.

Personality/Disposition:  Caleb, oh sweet Caleb...he is so sensitive.  I know I keep saying that, but its almost uncanny.  He absolutely loves Addison and really likes to be in all the action these days.  Our little Caleb is just as sweet as he can be, I think he is going to be even more compassionate than his big sister, if that is possible.  There is a certain curiosity about him that I look forward to watching develop.

Independence:  He is best at entertaining himself immediately after a meal because he is rested and has a full tummy.  As soon as he can sit up unsupported we will structure independent playtime into his day; independent playtime has been a gift on so many levels with Addison--mostly for HER.

Mobility:  Caleb has rolled both ways now but does not do it with any consistency.  He can sit unsupported for a few seconds but he is far from doing it for real.  It is so funny because Addison was sitting up unsupported no problem at his age.  Wow.  I had no idea that Addison was just early....at the time I thought it was all normal.

Teeth:  You can see his bottom two teeth under the gums, but they have not broken through.  He chews and drools constantly.

Dear Little Asher:  You are growing up so quickly.  That sweet smile of yours brightens even the gloomiest day and your bright big eyes are more beautiful than I could ever describe with words.  You are such an important part of this family and I hope you know how much we love you sweet boy.  You may be a tough baby but your giggles, grins and tickle spots makes us forget all that :)  Love, love, love!

Pictures and Videos

(March 2012)

A little slide show of Caleb's pictures for March, some are selected below too.

 Stylin in his polo; and who says boy clothes isnt fun?

Looks just like Daddy!

Heed what his shirt says...Caution Teething!

Sweet Siblings!

Big ole smiling boy!

Every kid loves Elmo!

Reading and Starfall on the Ipad =  one happy Grant Gang!

Green eyes!!

LOVE THEM!

She loves to give him kisses!

Sister wanted to join in on the monthly picture fun!

We call this the "Ah Goo Giggle Game"

Star fall

I love anything that is fun but yet teaches Addison along the way. She loves playing the star fall app on our iPad. We are very strict about its frequency of use and location she plays it. She must be sitting at the table strapped to her booster or in our lap on the couch. We do not allow her to roam with it, it's too expensive and we want the iPad to be a treat!

Anyways, this game has been great to build on her knowledge of the sounds letters make. Her grandma grant gave her the leap frog phonetics bus and Addison has learned her letter sounds from that....on her own during independent play time. This app just helps build on that foundation. Here Addison is matching the letters and if you listen carefully she sounds out the word.

Addison's Art

Bored with our usual routine, I decided to try a little educational art project with Addison. She loves coloring so I figured she would love gluing. Boy did she ever!!!

Among other things, we ave been teaching Addison about opposites ( up/down, stop/go, etc.). Using construction paper, i cut out l things which could be opposites: arrows (up/down), sun and moon (day/night), stop and go (green/red stop lights) and so on. I also cut out shapes in various colors of construction paper. Then I handed her the glue stick and she loved gluing and "pat, pat, patting" (she actually says that every time) the paper to get things to stick as well as naming the shape, color, opposite and even counting. It was so fun to watch her!!!

Look Who Is 4 Months!

Happy 4 Months to our Caleb Asher!

The Stats

• Weight: 17 lbs, 2.2 oz (83%)
• Height:  26ish inches (86%)
• Head Circumference: 16.75 inches (80%)
• Overall:  He looks healthy and happy to them.  The doctor said Caleb is most definitely teething and that she could see his tooth/teeth under the gums causing a little bump.  They also said we could start rice cereal now if we wanted to help his poop schedule even out as well as help with his reflux.  We have not talked about what we will do.

The Developments

• Sleeping:  Caleb is sleeping great at night and his naps are improving each day.  He has more days where he naps well than he does not now.  He is waking up slightly earlier than his official wake up time in the mornings, but I believe this is because is FINALLY pooping again.  He goes in the morning and has a hard time going back to sleep afterward.  Generally he talks for a while before getting fussy, but I cannot blame him for not wanting to sit in a wet and dirty diaper.  
• Routine:  He is on a 3.5 to 4 hour schedule with his day now targeting to begin at 8:00 am.  He was staying asleep until 8 am until about a week ago when he went from pooping once a week to five times a day.  Now his poop wakes him up a little early but we aim to leave him in bed until about 7:50-8:00 am. Of course he follows the eat/play/sleep cycle until bedtime (which occurs between 7:30 and 8:00) with about 1 hour and 45 minutes of wake time.  Once he can stay awake a little longer and stay happy I think he will be completely on a 4 hour schedule.  I am not in a hurry though.  I know he will be there soon enough, especially when we start solids.
• Eating:  Still nursing.  I take it day by day.  I have enough in the freezer to last a couple months so even if I quit now he would make it to 6 months at least on breastmilk.  I dont mind it so much and the only thing that keeps me going with it is knowing how sensitive his stomach is.
• Mobility:  Caleb is able to push all the way up with his arms straight and stay there for quite a while.  He started rolling over again today (2.27) and once he remembered how to do it, he did it several times; he was laughing so hard it rolled him over and it made him remember how!  The very early signs of rolling back to tummy are starting to pop up--looking WAY up and around when on his back.  And even as I type this he is trying to roll that way!  He can bare a little weight on his legs and his figuring out how to kinda bounce in his Baby Einstein jumper.
• Verbal:  "baba" and "mmm" are his favorite noises.  When left alone in a quiet room he really gets to talking...LOUD.
• Personality/Disposition:  He loves smiling, loves his sister and still loves to snuggle.  Stranger anxiety is rearing is ugly head the past few days so I do not think we will dodge separation anxiety; we certainly did not with Addison.  Caleb is very sensitive and temperamental.  Any tiny pain or discomfort and he will let you know.  I am not sure why, but he sure loves me.  All I have to do is look at him and he is nothing but smiles. 
• Independence:  Since he is used to all the noise and hussle and bustle of Addison he has moments when he wants to be entertained vs. entertaining himself.  It is all a work in progress.

Caleb:  I hope you will forgive your tired, brain power deprived, ignorant, easily frustrated and confused mom.  I hope most of all you will forgive me where I fall short and where I fail.  I am not perfect but I try my hardest to be the best mom I can to you.  You brighten my day with your smile and your big beautiful eyes.  I am thankful you have such a loving and caring big sister and a daddy who loves you so much.  Each day is filled with challenges that I never knew I would face and I hope with God's grace I overcome them WITH grace.