Routine

Could it be? Could we be finally settling into a ROUTINE?

Ever since N was born, things in the way of routine have been a little outta whack...especially in the way of naps.

B is getting to the age where he can manage (sometimes) without a nap but then other times - like when we have exciting places to go such as..oh to see the Lion King 3D - he needs a nap.

N has never been much of a long napper or a napper at all. He's always way too interested in what his brother is doing. So much so that I sometimes have to ask B to leave the room while I'm feeding N.

WELL. I have perhaps found the solution to both dilemmas:

A short one hour nap in the afternoon takes the grumpies away from B and he still goes to bed easily at night by 8pm.

Two crib naps for N does the trick for him which has led to longer nighttime sleeps! He is so good for me these days allowing me to lay him in the crib awake and he happily rolls over himself and goes to sleep without protest.

Finding a routine that works for both children has been a real challenge since they both have such different needs. I constantly find it to be a balancing act to figure out what is in the best interest of each child individually, as well as for the family collectively. Also, sometimes all B needs is a little one on one time. He loves riding his bike with training wheels alongside dad on the rollerblades. He was also tickled that I took him out to see his first movie at the theatre on Friday. Another one of his favourites..sitting by the fire in the backyard with mom and dad and roasting marshmallows after little brother has gone to bed.

The Great Regression

So far so good! I'm happy to say that I'm getting the hang of this pumping on the go thing and would highly recommend the Avent hand pump for occasional pumping on the go.

I've been trying to pump every 3-4 hours while I'm away which means I don't have to pump much and it coincides with natural breaks like lunch, class breaks, etc. Thank god I'm not gone 5 days/week. Although I am able to pump a decent amount, it still isn't enough to fully cover the time I'm gone.

There seems to be a regression trend in my household this week. Yesterday N decided to go into formula acceptance regression. We thought we'd found one he'd eat after an unsuccessful run with an "allergy sensitive formula". After he had motored through the milk I left (as he usually does), my sister offered him formula. He became hysterical and refused to take any of the formula for the rest of the time I was away but happily ate some rice cereal. Luckily I've been pumping like mad and he shouldn't have to have the formula today while I'm away. I guess I'll have to try harder!

B is going through a bit of toilet training regression and has been having accidents all week at night and during the day. He was sleeping on his top bunk which he was thrilled about, however after a couple accidents, we've had to move him back to the bottom so he can make it to the bathroom in time in the middle of the night.

Nursing and "working"

So - I've returned back to my graduate studies program with nearly a full-time course load. N is 4 months old.

I'll give a bit of a brief history for me as this is my second time around being a somewhat "working mom" while nursing. B was the same age as N when I resumed my coursework after he was born. That being said... B did not need to have formula much at all until he stopped nursing when he was around 8 months old. With him I was only gone for two 5 hour time slots/week. Also, with B being a preemie we invested in a super duper double electric pump - the Medela - which I HIGHLY recommend to any moms that need to pump a lot or that have preemies that are not able to latch on effectively for the first while.

This past week was my first go at it and I hadn't yet gotten out the hand pump (Avent) I borrowed from a girlfriend so it was a couple of somewhat uncomfortable days followed by a slight dwindling of my supply. Also... N seems to pound back the milk I pump when it comes in a bottle so both days he motored on through all the milk I left (even my frozen supply). Since I feed on demand, it is hard for me to pump out large quantities. Consequently we were forced to supplement since I just wasn't producing enough when I pumped to meet his needs while I was away. With my own allergies, I didn't want to take any chances so we settled on a soy-based formula which doesn't seem to give him stomach troubles. He also started on rice cereal - just as his brother did when he was the same age.

I really wanted to hold back on starting his solids since B has so many allergies and I do as well. But when given the choice of a formula feeding or rice cereal I feel a little more comfortable with the cereal option. I just don't understand why there are so many fillers in baby formula. A girlfriend of mine weaned her daughter onto goat whey - when she was closer to a year though. I'm going to have to do a little more research on this one.

In the mean time... I have gotten the hand pump and cooler pack out for this week. I'll just have to find a quiet corner of the bathroom on my short breaks to keep the supply going!

10 Things About Boob Feeding

I thought this blog post was hilarious and very much true...man do I ever watch so many more tv shows that I ordinarily wouldn't have time to nor care to watch normally.

http://www.modgblog.com/2011/08/04/10-things-about-boob-feeding-that-only-im-going-to-tell-you-you-my-friend-are-welcome/

Nuturing Two Little Souls

Now that B is getting a little older and beginning to love and learn tremendously from new experiences - we try our hardest to diversify from the everyday schedule and let him try new experiences.

First was t-ball which they offered at the Montessori after the morning session. He "had a ball" playing. We also signed him up for soccer. Towards the end of the session, he told us that he didn't like soccer (we figure he was bored waiting around for kids to take their turn kicking the ball). Both my husband and I don't want to be those parents that forces their kids into pursuing activities they don't enjoy. We also don't want to "overschedule" our kids but at the same time, we want to be able to introduce them to new activities that they may really enjoy doing.We will not be registering him again for soccer unless he asks to go in the future. Instead... this Fall he will be going to a kindergym class - we'll see how it goes...maybe more his speed.

Since N has come along, I find myself conciously having to make an effort to focus attention on B's needs too since so much time is spent tending to the babe. In focusing on B's needs, N also gets to come along for the ride so it's a win-win. Here is a list of all the things we've been up to this summer so far:

- Playdates and many of them!

- Swimming in our 3ft deep "kiddie" pool in the backyard

- Water play in our water table

- Going to many playgrounds and splash pads

- Zoo trips

- A trip to the Science Centre

- Beach trips

- Birthday parties

- Fishing

- Swimming in the lake and jumping off the dock!

- Boat rides

- Tubing behind the boat (this was a daddy and B activity.. N didn't get to participate)

- Campfires

- Midieval Times (another daddy and B trip)

- A trip to Ontario Place..complete with GO Train ride

- Reading library books and rediscovering our own books

- Cruising the mall on rainy days and stopping for popcorn

- Hiking at local conservation areas

- Going for walks around the block with B on his scooter

- Playing lego together

B has also given up napping since N came along. He sometimes gets cranky around dinner time but no nap means no struggle at night to put him down and he goes around 7 instead of 9-10pm if he does nap. I'll take the crankiness!

I'd love to hear what others have been doing to busy themselves this summer with the little ones!

Blogging Hiatus

I've been trying to post my last post for the past 2 months. Between that and being incredibly busy with mommy stuff and moving... I finally got around to working through the computer glitch today. I'm back in the blogosphere!

7 Weeks

We had our last midwives appointment today, Nicholas and I,.. it was sad to think that this appointment marked "end" of my relationship with them atleast for awhile.

Nicholas weighed in at a whopping 11lbs 8oz.

Development-wise he is...

-Tracking objects

-Smiling

-Coo-ing

Other news...

-He grunts and has a lot of gas between 3-4am pretty much every morning

-Dislikes having anything on his head or being covered with a blanket while nursing

-Loves his baths

-Starting to have longer feeds and last longer between feeds. He was a compulsive snacker for awhile

-Will allow daddy to give him a bottle in mommy's absence. We did this with Brendan too when I could pump enough and it gave us a little freedom to miss a feeding.

Overall we're tired but good :)