So, my poor second child....he is going to have to share everything. Clothes, toys, even this blog. So here is a post just for him.
I can't believe it has been 11 weeks already that he's joined our family. He has turned into quite the charmer. He smiles and laughs and the dimple on his left cheek deepens. Never thought I could love someone as much as his big brother, but he's oddly enough proven to me that I can.
I am curious to see how his personality evolves. He's already very different than Carter. A business nurser.....hungry, eat...not hungry, don't eat. Tired, sleep. He slept seven hours last night. He has been sleeping five hours plus for the last 4 weeks. How lucky are we? Both of my boys sleep for most of the night now. One started at 26 months and the other at 8 weeks. Go figure.
I have to go to work tomorrow for a few hours, so Wyatt is stuck with his papa. Papa isn't our favorite right now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that papa can successfully get a bottle into Wyatt if need be.....if not, well, we will nurse in the parking lot at work.
I am sure Wyatt thinks he's joined the funny farm....between getting whacked on the head by big brother (we have been hit-free for 1 week now) and having to try and sleep through the noise that always accompanies a 2-year old...I'm surprised he has yet to jump ship.
I'm writing this post in bed with Carter on my right and Wyatt on my left. Looks like papa has to squeeze into that little space between Carter and the bed rail. We've slept 4 to a bed on a number of nights since Wyatt has joined us. It feels good. It feels safe.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Nursing the both of you
I've been tandem nursing both of my boys for 11 weeks now. I will admit it, it hasn't been easy. Nursing a newborn and a two year old is tough. Tough on me and tough on Carter. He has to wait sometimes until Wyatt is finished. Sometimes he has to stop mid-nursing because mama has to deal with his baby brother. He hangs in pretty well unless he's really tired and then I feel like I'm nursing two newborns.
Carter's nursing now has a time limit. His marathon nursing sessions are usually centered around sleeping, but he sneaks a little nosh in here and there. A few weeks ago, I was asking him to wait because I was feeding Wyatt and "Wyatt is little". Carter looked at me and said, "Carter's little too". He's right, I sometimes forget that he's only two. He's so verbal and growing so fast, but he's still my little boy.
He's got a few tricks up his sleeve however. When Wyatt needs to nurse I will hear Carter say, "I will nurse the both of you, okay!". So cute, how can I resist? Or sometimes he will say "nurse on mama, just five minutes?". And tonight, my favorite: "Nurse on mama?" Oh Carter, I said, in a few minutes. He replied, "just wanna give it a try." Needless to say, he got to nurse.
He's still quite enamored of nursing and always asks to nurse in new places. The other day he asked to nurse at an office. There was a mural of animals and he said, "mama nurse here in the office with the animals looking at you". That would be nice, wouldn't it?
A few days ago he thought that nursing on the kitchen stool would be nice....we did, for just a few minutes, and mid-nursing he looked up and said conspiratorially, "nursing on the kitchen stool!".
My husband's cousin phrased it best when she said she felt bad that she hadn't had the privilege to tandem nurse her kids. That is exactly what this is...a privilege.
Carter's nursing now has a time limit. His marathon nursing sessions are usually centered around sleeping, but he sneaks a little nosh in here and there. A few weeks ago, I was asking him to wait because I was feeding Wyatt and "Wyatt is little". Carter looked at me and said, "Carter's little too". He's right, I sometimes forget that he's only two. He's so verbal and growing so fast, but he's still my little boy.
He's got a few tricks up his sleeve however. When Wyatt needs to nurse I will hear Carter say, "I will nurse the both of you, okay!". So cute, how can I resist? Or sometimes he will say "nurse on mama, just five minutes?". And tonight, my favorite: "Nurse on mama?" Oh Carter, I said, in a few minutes. He replied, "just wanna give it a try." Needless to say, he got to nurse.
He's still quite enamored of nursing and always asks to nurse in new places. The other day he asked to nurse at an office. There was a mural of animals and he said, "mama nurse here in the office with the animals looking at you". That would be nice, wouldn't it?
A few days ago he thought that nursing on the kitchen stool would be nice....we did, for just a few minutes, and mid-nursing he looked up and said conspiratorially, "nursing on the kitchen stool!".
My husband's cousin phrased it best when she said she felt bad that she hadn't had the privilege to tandem nurse her kids. That is exactly what this is...a privilege.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Bottom Balm and other Delicacies
Well, we called poison control for the second time in maybe 2 months. The first call was to determine whether or not a 2 year old brushing his teeth with Icy Hot would have any cause for concern. Other than the obvious burning mouth, it did not.
The second call was to determine if eating an entire jar of Bottom Balm was cause for concern. It also was not. Thank god for all natural diaper ointments! As it turns out, Carter had eaten the contents of the almost empty jar. I tasted it to see what was the appeal. It tasted bad, really bad. We asked Carter if it tasted good, he said no, not really. Go figure.
Most every morning Carter and I have gone for a walk....since we've moved to San Diego. I used to load him up in a carrier and off we'd go. Now Wyatt is in the carrier and Carter is in the stroller with a bowl of snacks..sometimes O's, sometimes pecans, they never make it too far without being dumped in the street or offered up to the neighbor's dogs. We lost a tomato once in the street. There were a lot of tears until mama convinced him that a hummingbird would come along to eat it. I had to think quick. There were probably more reasonable birds that I could have come up with, but I was under pressure.
I love our morning walks. It gives us a chance to talk about nature and get lots of insight into Carter's fascinating brain. He tried once to reach the moon, just raised his hand up and tried. I asked him if he could reach it? "No, too too far". We've learned that the black birds are crows and they yell "cah cah cah" and that the silly birds that wander through the neighbor's flower beds are peacocks and they yell "help help!". We've seen bees working and snails crawling and have made wishes on a number of dandelions. When noticing that a neighbor's bushes had been toilet papered one morning, Carter exclaimed, "a lot of paper towels".
We usually bring something on our walk, a pinwheel, caulk, a hat, three flashlights, sometimes all of these things come together....they slowly get passed back to mama until Carter's hands are empty and mine are full.
I am so grateful for the walks I've taken with Carter. I've learned a lot.
The second call was to determine if eating an entire jar of Bottom Balm was cause for concern. It also was not. Thank god for all natural diaper ointments! As it turns out, Carter had eaten the contents of the almost empty jar. I tasted it to see what was the appeal. It tasted bad, really bad. We asked Carter if it tasted good, he said no, not really. Go figure.
Most every morning Carter and I have gone for a walk....since we've moved to San Diego. I used to load him up in a carrier and off we'd go. Now Wyatt is in the carrier and Carter is in the stroller with a bowl of snacks..sometimes O's, sometimes pecans, they never make it too far without being dumped in the street or offered up to the neighbor's dogs. We lost a tomato once in the street. There were a lot of tears until mama convinced him that a hummingbird would come along to eat it. I had to think quick. There were probably more reasonable birds that I could have come up with, but I was under pressure.
I love our morning walks. It gives us a chance to talk about nature and get lots of insight into Carter's fascinating brain. He tried once to reach the moon, just raised his hand up and tried. I asked him if he could reach it? "No, too too far". We've learned that the black birds are crows and they yell "cah cah cah" and that the silly birds that wander through the neighbor's flower beds are peacocks and they yell "help help!". We've seen bees working and snails crawling and have made wishes on a number of dandelions. When noticing that a neighbor's bushes had been toilet papered one morning, Carter exclaimed, "a lot of paper towels".
We usually bring something on our walk, a pinwheel, caulk, a hat, three flashlights, sometimes all of these things come together....they slowly get passed back to mama until Carter's hands are empty and mine are full.
I am so grateful for the walks I've taken with Carter. I've learned a lot.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Carter - The Wonderful Twos
So, having a two year old is like being on a roller coaster. One minute, you are as enchanted as can be with their wily, sweet, funny 2 year old ways and the next minute you are planning your escape.
Carter has wholly embraced being two. And he's good at it. I think we've got it fairly easy for the most part, but boy can he shriek. I don't even know if it's a shriek. It's a shrill, piercing scream. I don't know why he does it. Maybe for attention, maybe for the pure joy of listening to himself. We caught him the other day shrieking at his reflection in the oven. What is so astounding is that this incredibly loud boy can run from the room with his hands over his ears complaining that the vacuum is too too loud.
Carter seems quite taken with Baby Wyatt. He talks to him in the sweetest baby voice using words we've never introduced...like couchy and socky. Overall, he's been quite sweet with his baby brother....we've only had a few head smacks and a couple of hand squeezes. I do think nursing both of them has helped ease the transition.
Wyatt gave me 2 big smiles today. Just after he woke up and I picked him up. Ahh, there's nothing better in the world than a baby smile.
Carter has wholly embraced being two. And he's good at it. I think we've got it fairly easy for the most part, but boy can he shriek. I don't even know if it's a shriek. It's a shrill, piercing scream. I don't know why he does it. Maybe for attention, maybe for the pure joy of listening to himself. We caught him the other day shrieking at his reflection in the oven. What is so astounding is that this incredibly loud boy can run from the room with his hands over his ears complaining that the vacuum is too too loud.
Carter seems quite taken with Baby Wyatt. He talks to him in the sweetest baby voice using words we've never introduced...like couchy and socky. Overall, he's been quite sweet with his baby brother....we've only had a few head smacks and a couple of hand squeezes. I do think nursing both of them has helped ease the transition.
Wyatt gave me 2 big smiles today. Just after he woke up and I picked him up. Ahh, there's nothing better in the world than a baby smile.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Wyatt Grey is here!
Wow, I really need to post more often, but with a 2 year old and a 3 week old, who knows when that will happen. Carter just turned two years old and had a nice party with a Thomas the Train cake. He LOVED it when everyone sang Happy Birthday and asked for more. So cute.
His baby brother, Wyatt Grey, arrived two days before Carter's birthday. They are 2 years minus 2 days apart. Here is Wyatt's birth story.
Wyatt Grey was born on 10/19 at 10/19am.....right around 9lbs. He's cute, a great nurser and hovering right around 10 lbs right now.We had planned a home birth with Vickii. At 32 weeks Wyatt went breech coinciding with, because of,or the other way around, major unprecedented bouts of anxiety and insomnia for me.
I/We tried it all....chiropractor, moxibustion, acupuncture, massages, slant board, heat, cold, music, flashlight, talking, pleading, crying, swimming/diving....ultrasound at 34 weeks to rule out abnormalities, and, at 37 weeks, a version to turn him at the hospital. Nothing, the little turkey wouldn't budge.I researched, discussed, and even spoke with a midwife who had her own vaginal breech homebirth. We decided we were committed to a homebirth, as we couldn't find an ob/gyn willing to do a hospital vaginal breech.
Then at 38 weeks, everyone involved had hesitations. I had a weird feeling that something wasn't right. We all agreed that maybe a c-section was best.I scheduled one at 39 weeks 2 days, as UCSD said they weren't going to allow minors on the maternity ward in the near future due to H1N1. I have a nursing, co-sleeping 2 year old and wanted him to have access to me.
So, we did it...the anticipation sucked (no other word to use). Having a planned c-s was surreal and crappy and all my plans went out the windowBut its done. I took tylenol after surgery for pain (and lots of good vitamins and minerals and arnica prior to and after surgery) and went home 2 days later. The ob/gyn said at the time of surgery that the cord was shorter than average. It took a lot of tugging, pulling, and a very bruised newborn thigh to get Wyatt out. There also went my plans of no vitamin K.
There it was, my second and probably last birth....going totally opposite of what we wanted.
Who knows what would have happened at home....he might have been fine, he may have done nothing and we would have transferred to a hospital safely, or things could have gone totally sideways with a very sad outcome for us.Nobody will ever know....just thought I'd share. But, we're co-sleeping, tandem nursing, cd'ing and loving our crazy Wyatt. Best we can do now, huh?
His baby brother, Wyatt Grey, arrived two days before Carter's birthday. They are 2 years minus 2 days apart. Here is Wyatt's birth story.
Wyatt Grey was born on 10/19 at 10/19am.....right around 9lbs. He's cute, a great nurser and hovering right around 10 lbs right now.We had planned a home birth with Vickii. At 32 weeks Wyatt went breech coinciding with, because of,or the other way around, major unprecedented bouts of anxiety and insomnia for me.
I/We tried it all....chiropractor, moxibustion, acupuncture, massages, slant board, heat, cold, music, flashlight, talking, pleading, crying, swimming/diving....ultrasound at 34 weeks to rule out abnormalities, and, at 37 weeks, a version to turn him at the hospital. Nothing, the little turkey wouldn't budge.I researched, discussed, and even spoke with a midwife who had her own vaginal breech homebirth. We decided we were committed to a homebirth, as we couldn't find an ob/gyn willing to do a hospital vaginal breech.
Then at 38 weeks, everyone involved had hesitations. I had a weird feeling that something wasn't right. We all agreed that maybe a c-section was best.I scheduled one at 39 weeks 2 days, as UCSD said they weren't going to allow minors on the maternity ward in the near future due to H1N1. I have a nursing, co-sleeping 2 year old and wanted him to have access to me.
So, we did it...the anticipation sucked (no other word to use). Having a planned c-s was surreal and crappy and all my plans went out the windowBut its done. I took tylenol after surgery for pain (and lots of good vitamins and minerals and arnica prior to and after surgery) and went home 2 days later. The ob/gyn said at the time of surgery that the cord was shorter than average. It took a lot of tugging, pulling, and a very bruised newborn thigh to get Wyatt out. There also went my plans of no vitamin K.
There it was, my second and probably last birth....going totally opposite of what we wanted.
Who knows what would have happened at home....he might have been fine, he may have done nothing and we would have transferred to a hospital safely, or things could have gone totally sideways with a very sad outcome for us.Nobody will ever know....just thought I'd share. But, we're co-sleeping, tandem nursing, cd'ing and loving our crazy Wyatt. Best we can do now, huh?
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Dirt and horse poop.
Dirt and horse poop...the two things that make a boy happy. We went to visit our horse today and took him a carrot. Well, by the time we got to the ranch, there was about half a carrot left and someone in the backseat was mumbling, "num num carrot".
So, we fed the horse his partial carrot and brushed him. And tried to feed him some grass, then dirt, and then a few small rocks. Concerto is too smart though and turned it all down.
We then went into the riding ring and played in the sand. Carter asked for a shovel to dig, but I explained to him that we can't dig holes in riding rings, as the horses might fall down. We then spent about 10 minutes running through the ring whinnying and yelling "slip in hole" and then falling down.
After that we sat down and filled our pant legs with dirt. We also found a nice dry piece of horse poop and practiced our throwing skills. Then fully satisfied with our outing, we pretended to eat the poop in front of mama, laughed, and then buried the manure. "Bye bye poop" were our parting words.
So, we fed the horse his partial carrot and brushed him. And tried to feed him some grass, then dirt, and then a few small rocks. Concerto is too smart though and turned it all down.
We then went into the riding ring and played in the sand. Carter asked for a shovel to dig, but I explained to him that we can't dig holes in riding rings, as the horses might fall down. We then spent about 10 minutes running through the ring whinnying and yelling "slip in hole" and then falling down.
After that we sat down and filled our pant legs with dirt. We also found a nice dry piece of horse poop and practiced our throwing skills. Then fully satisfied with our outing, we pretended to eat the poop in front of mama, laughed, and then buried the manure. "Bye bye poop" were our parting words.
Papa Boom Boom
No, this isn't the title of a disco song, it's what you will hear Carter saying about his papa. "Papa boom boom", "papa vvvvvvv", and "papa loud" all mean the same thing: papa is working around the house. We are still working on our fixer upper, which means that papa is always making noise!
He's either hammering (boom boom), drilling or vacuuming (vvvvv), and sometimes taking walls down (loud). Carter loves to help and although it delays projects, papa always gets Carter a drill to use. Yesterday they were both doing a bit of drywall texturing. Papa was texturing the drywall, while Carter was texturing the bucket and his knees.
While papa works, he listens to really loud music like Metallica or Kiss or some other bands that I don't really know. Carter LOVES it and always pauses in the doorway to violently shake his head up and down to the beat. Makes papa really proud.
He's either hammering (boom boom), drilling or vacuuming (vvvvv), and sometimes taking walls down (loud). Carter loves to help and although it delays projects, papa always gets Carter a drill to use. Yesterday they were both doing a bit of drywall texturing. Papa was texturing the drywall, while Carter was texturing the bucket and his knees.
While papa works, he listens to really loud music like Metallica or Kiss or some other bands that I don't really know. Carter LOVES it and always pauses in the doorway to violently shake his head up and down to the beat. Makes papa really proud.
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