Jul
01
2012Teeth.
The girls were slightly grouchy, bit me more often, and then POP! a tooth. We didn’t even use teething gel until they cut their first molars. I kind of snorted at everyone who drugged the mess out of their kids on everything from pain meds to teething tablets to amber necklaces.
Confession: I’ve been doing a drug cocktail with the boy for 48 hours… and now I ordered an amber necklace.
Apparently his teeth hurt so bad that I’m experiencing my first nursing strike. Wednesday he didn’t eat from 1 until 9pm (to be fair… he was also recovering from the stomach flu). Thursday he didn’t eat from 3-9pm. Today was trending to be the same. I’d be fine with that… but he screams pathetically for like 2 hours of that time, then cries himself to sleep, and then I wake him to nurse. All that screaming (and crawling after me where ever I go) is way more that I can handle (+ two year old twins).
Today required drastic measures. I borrowed a pump.
And the 8 month old got his first bottle.
I know he was relieved. And I sort of was. At least from the screaming.
But I was sad that he had to have a bottle at all. (Self-righteous humility-struggler that I am.) Oh, and I hate pumping. Hate it.
So I had a talk with the boy and said I’d only pump the dinner time feed for him… and help him through the other three with well-timed drowsy feeds (during which he will nurse).
But I do believe he liked that bottle… just… a… little… too… much.
Don’t you think?
Jul
01
2012I just did it.
I sold all of my Bum Genius 3.0s on Craigslist.
There’s two years of love on those diapers and they all needed new Velcro. So as the girls began to potty train, I began to pull off the Velcro on the BG’s with the intention of sending them in to get snaps put on them.
Aerie was still in cloth diapers, Bronwyn was in underwear, and Sedryn was wearing a disposable/cloth combo platter. I called Julia while at Babies R Us and asked her if the size medium gDiaper would fit the girls as “naptime” pants so I could send the BG’s in to get resnapped. She said no. But she would gladly send me a supply of size Medium gDiapers for the boy to wear in the meantime.
For three months I hated them. I was trying to use my BG inserts and they just didn’t fit right. All I had was leaks, leaks, and more leaks.
Then Angela gave me a stack of newborn sized prefolds and on a whim one day I stuffed that into my gDiaper cover.
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| gDiapers aren’t nearly as bulky as BGs! |
It was love at first stuff… or something. The cotton prefold mean he hasn’t had a single diaper rash and if I ever needed more, they’re super cheap! It also meant I didn’t have to carry a huge diaper bag just to fit 3 ginormous pocket diapers if I wanted to be out for more than 4 hours. I could simply stuff a couple cotton prefolds in a purse along with an extra gPant in case of poop.
So I sold my BGs on Craigslist. And I’m ordering a set of size Large gDiaper with the proceeds.
And I couldn’t be happier with the decision.
Neither could this handsome gDiaper boy 🙂
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| (Don’t be jealous… that hair just keeps getting cooler!) |
Jun
20
2012
Sedryn boy, you think you are hysterical. You’ve spent most of the month rolling/scooting around on the floor laughing at yourself. It cracks me up! And you love making me laugh and smile. I think you may be the first true extrovert in this family. So now we’re a family that does parties, corny jokes, and invites tons of people over because of you. Okay… not yet… but I’m feeling it in the very near future!
You’re sick right now. Fever, sneezy, coughing, tooth-almost popped through miserable sick. It’s so very sad. So I’m postponing your rocking chair picture for a day or two until your fever breaks and then I’ll add it here. Oh, but I’ve been enjoying my snuggles from my busy little boy. Such a sweet little treasure those snuggles are!
You are most definitely mobile now. There’s no denying it any longer. You’ve mastered an army crawl scoot, but for the last week I’m always catching you up on all four rocking and giving it all a try. You love moving. And chewing. And grabbing things from your sisters. And anything that makes noise. The tiny piano and the girls Little People Zoo are your favorites.
Speaking of sisters, you enjoy trying to play with them. Or at least just being near them. Yesterday they were pig piling you on the bed and you were just eating up all that physical affection. Well, until you had enough. They were putting 60+ lbs of wiggly toddler on top of you. I’m still surprised you smiled and enjoyed it at all! (you were on the bed… good shock absorber. But when you’re older feel free to blame all mental deficiencies on me allowing this to occur.)
Oh, but what I love most about you is that winning grin. Whenever you see me after nap or as I walk into the room, you just grin. You’ve even started scooting over to me. It just melts me. All the time. Boy, are you going to be trouble when you get a bit older!
May
19
2012
Oh, Sedryn, a few days ago I just started to weep over your beautiful joyful face.
You’re an easy baby with some very rough spots (namely sleep predictability… which isn’t entirely your fault…), but you were a surprise.
A surprise that we didn’t want in the timing that God chose to give you to us.
I must confess: I’ve spent the better part of the year since you were conceived not sure if I really wanted you.
I’m not saying I didn’t love you because you’re very easy to love 🙂
But you were given to me to purge some very specific and very deep set sins in my heart. Sins I don’t like facing and, as you’re so young, it’s easy to make you the scapegoat for the mess I create.
But, Sedryn, you’re an unbelievably beautiful joy. One I’ve often taken for granted. I apologize.
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That said, let me tell you about who you’ve become this month.
I keep telling your daddy that you’re going to become a soccer-playing engineer. Here’s why:
You still absolutely adore your feet. You eat them. You kick things with them. You rub ankles together. You use them to push you across the room (yes, you’re mobile… I’m in denial). And craziest of all, you’ll actually pick things up with your feet. It’s ridiculous!
You are very attuned to detail. Even more so than Aeralind was. Especially when it comes to all things edible (or your perception of edible). You scoot across the floor in search of fabric bits, tracked in leaves, and anything paper. You pick it up. Study it. Gnaw on it… for hours. I pulled a leaf out of your mouth a whole hour after we left the house one day. Still intact. This makes me slightly better at keeping up with vacuuming 🙂 But it’s funny how you ignore all the big toys and go for those tiny bits.
We started you on solids this last month. For about 8 days you hated them. And then one night at shepherding group, in desperate attempt to eat my own dinner before having to feed you, I started giving you some sweet potato chunks off my plate. Chili powder encrusted sweet potato bites. You LOVED it. You loved real flavor and you loved the texture. You tolerate spoon feeding, but what you really want is to be able to feed yourself real food. Here’s hoping your pincher grasp catches up to your culinary desires in the next month!
The other thing that makes me laugh is how much you want to move. Like I said, I’m in denial that you’re moving at all! But you will not sit. You have the muscle tone to do so; I’ve seen you sit up through the restraints in your car seat, a feat the girls never managed! Yet, you have no desire to sit at all! If I sit you down to practice, you’ll immediately face plant and roll/scoot/snake slither to the nearest object of desire. This movement focus is astounding and must be very boyish! Even Aeralind, who crawled earliest, spent less time moving and more time practicing her rocking until she mastered the skill. You don’t seem to care about the skill/art of moving at all, as long as you’re doing it every waking moment!
Apr
20
2012
I’m a little sad that this boy is 6 months now. His first year is half over! Yet at the same time I’m super excited. The hard part of the first year is finished. And the super FUN parts are just starting!
I’m so excited to report that he’s finally sleeping 8+ hours at night. Wa-hoo! He gets up at 6:30 (an early riser like daddy) and takes about 3 1.5 hour naps. This momma is super excited about finding our groove.
Sedryn is still obsessed with his toes. Only now he can reach them too so they’re even more exciting than rubbing his little ankles together endlessly.
He’s also no longer petrified of his sisters. He’ll grab stuff from them or let them lay on top of him with no complaint. Suddenly, he’s even started smiling at him when they acknowledge him. Ofcourse, when they do acknowledge him, most of the time their shrieking something like “Baby, KICK me!” or “Baby, douch me!” Pour guy, even with innocent intentions he’s already being accused of crimes.
The girls were late laugh-ers and Sedryn will be too. When we tickle him or blow raspberries on his tummy or bulldoze him… all we get are bemused looks and lots of exhuberant grunting. Boy, can this kid grunt! It makes us laugh so hard.
I love you, Sedryn Boy! I’m glad you’ve been given to us.
