Rebekah Joy - 32 Months

Rebekah is offering me some mud hearts during our pool / take apart the garden mud day!

Sleeping - Her naps have been starting at 2 and she is sleeping all the way to 4.  No more diapers at naps or nighttime.  We told her if she went a week with no accidents then she could wear panties for both and she did! 

Eating - I ended up having to buy skim milk at one point this month and she hated it.  She told me she didn't like the taste I could empathize because I remember not liking it when my parents switched to skim as well.  Because it worked once, she has used that same rational several more times for why she hasn't been finishing her milk.  Unfortunately for her, the commissary has been well stocked of 2% milk since then :)

Play - LOVES her Octopus, Kangaroo, and her bears.  I still rotate her stuffed animals along with other toys.  Still loves puzzles!  She really has started enjoying "cooking" in her kitchen more and is very intent on making sure there is Orange Juice for her husband as well as giving me some for mine.  It is darling.

Skills - Rebekah knows all her colors and green has always liked the color green but it is becoming much more obsessive these days."I love geen because I love geen"  Also, I am hearing a lot of "I would like two because I am two." Two of everything. That started just following Faith's birthday so I am sure Faith turning 4 had something to do with it. We'll see how long our green and two obsessions last :)
This month she started really cutting.  I bought her some self-opening scissors several months ago to get some practice and while she liked them, they don't really cut anything.  This month I gave her a real pair of scissors and she LOVES them.  She asks to cut fabric constantly.

Random Thoughts - Reminding Faith that "honeycombs are like a honeycomb" following some correction Faith recieved.  That was her take on Proverbs 16:24, pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones.  Also reminding Faith after we lost power in the middle of the night during some rough weather that "God is always with us".  She believed it and was unaffected by the loss of power or the thunderstorms that rolled through all night.

"What after?"  Rebekah constantly wants to know what is going to happen next.  I usually have to lay the whole day out at breakfast and even then still get the question of "what after bed?"

Grace AnneMarie - 7 Months

Grace continues to be a happy, well adjusted baby who loves life and constantly has a smile on her face.

 

Sleeping - Still doing well on a 4 hour schedule.  I've been able to push nap times back a little bit so they are starting around 9:45 and 1:45 now.  I've experimented with the carseat, swing (not on), and bed and she does better in her carseat for most naps so that is where she stays and will sleep for 2 hours at each nap.  In the afternoon if she wakes up and makes a diaper for me then there is no going back to sleep but she is usually happy after I change her.  She dropped her 3rd nap about midway through May and it was a pretty cold turkey drop.  One night she just screamed her whole nap and for the next 4 successive nights I tried putting her down for it with the same results, so that was it, now we're at 2 naps!  I introduced a lovey blanket this month and by the end of the month she was really excited to see it at each nap and bedtime so she is starting to associate it with sleep.  Nighttime sleep is still going well with interruptions around 5am but she usually goes back to sleep after a few minutes of talking/singing :)

 

Eating - Starting on her 6 month anniversary life got sweeter for her in that she was introduced to fruit.  She has yet to really take to avocado which was the first one I tried.  Bananas have been a good one but pears were a very hard sell and only toward the end of the month was she beginning to enjoy them.  Applesauce is always a good one :)  Nursing continues as before with no real changes.

 

Skills - Everyday she sits up better and better and rarely has a fall.  She is talking and singing much more now.  Not yet imitating us when we speak but it is coming.  If she wants something she brings it right to her mouth.  There have been a few occasions this month when my "no" alone stopped her from touching a forbidden object (but on the other times, the had press was used).  She loves her little crinkle books and teething rings.  Solo play is not going that great.  She is totally fine playing by herself when she is out in the living room or something even if no one else is around but the moment I close the door to her room while she is in their playing the waterworks begin.  I know from experience that this will end but I won't allow it to go on as long as I did with her older sister and more drastic measures will be taken earlier if needed but I am hoping she figures it out on her own.  There have been a few successful days this month so I am hopeful. 

 

Her Schedule -

0800 - Wake up, nurse, 2oz fruit & cereal

0900 - Outside

0945 - Nap until noon

1200 - Wake up, nurse, 2oz veggie

1300 - Solo play, Mama time

1345 - Nap until 4

1600 - Nurse

1800 - 2 oz veggie, 2oz fruit

1930 - Nurse or bottle + bottle of expressed milk from former DF time

2000 - Bedtime!