Cayden 8 Month Update

Today is the day! Can you believe it?  ...not the fact that I've kept a second child alive for eight months, but that this blog post is making it up on the actual day!  Yeah. Be impressed. And just so you know, I actually got two things done today.

Without further delays, here's the man of the hour:

 

• He's got two little teeth in there! Do you see them?  Worked awfully hard for those suckers.
• Eating lots of foods.  Baby foods, from the fruitbowl, from mom's plate..whatever is easiest at any given meal.  2nd child probs.
•  Plays peek-a-boo with sister (video to follow!) and giggles excessively.

 

• Naps twice a day. Up for 3-4 hours after each nap.
• As for the night sleep, I don't want to talk about it.  But if you see me running errands, please don't comment on my mismatched shoes and frazzled hair.  And feel free to buy me a coffee :)
• Favorite toy?  His sister's princess castle. Makin' his dad proud!  This is a legit castle, Cayden uses it to pull himself up towards the standing position & it sings songs. What's not to love?
    
  • See those hairs?  They are about  one-hundred-thousand times longer than his sister's hair was at that age.  I'm pretty sure our little guy is going to need a haircut before his sissy.
  • Cayden is moving EVERYWHERE. He rolls, scoots backwards and makes his way around a room by sitting, flopping to his stomach, then returning to the sitting position - pretty much most difficult way imaginable to get from point A to point B.  Not crawling yet, but getting close!
  • I have no idea why these bullet points look different than the ones above. #techchallenged
    
    That about sums up the updates of our little guys!  He is still such a joy, we are incredibly in love & so grateful for this little treasure.

40 Days TV Free

"Ipad Bues Cues". Mama interpretation - Ipad Blues Clues. 

We've always done pretty good at limiting TV time around the house but recently we discovered Amazon Prime Instant Video. Perfect for small group...and car rides..and when mom needs to clean, or cook, feed baby or relax..  You get the idea. Things got out of hand fast. Especially in the final stretch of this brutal winter.

It had to come to a stop and Lent seemed like the perfect timing. The first few days were rough, we had to erase apps from the Ipad, both our phones, and unplug the TV.  Who knew it was surrounding us so much!? Not only were there big changes for Addie, but Bryan and I sat down to relax at 9 last week and we didn't turn Parenthood on.  

We are only a week into this adjustment. But honestly, it has been amazing. 

Our sweet Addie is more focused in her playing. Sounds silly, right?  But she'd never really sit and watch a movie, we'd have the TV on while she played puzzles, hung out with her doll, read books or colored pictures. Now she is completely focused in what she is doing. And she is getting more one on one attention. This has been hard in some respects, I've had to be more disciplined in saving chores for nap times or encouraging Addie to "help" and being willing for the chores to take twice as long.  But it has been so great for Addie's development and for our relationship.

I expected this to be good for Addie, but I didn't expect it to be as good & hard for Bryan and I.  Who knew we had fallen into the routine of 9PM TV time?  Now that it isn't an option we are doing some evening work, getting into better conversations, and not necessarily staying up as late.  It has been good for our marriage and good for us individually.

I don't know what happened on the Bachelor Monday night...its actually kind of driving me nuts. And we are falling further and further behind in the movies we've seen - Redbox ones are even too new for us to recognize!  But we are loving it. Most of the time.

Confessions - 

Monday Bryan had an important phone call at 5. I ran to Aldi "quick", only to get stuck in line behind a family of 46 people (I've never been great at counting). In our frazzled state, I told Bryan to throw a movie in for Addie. She was sure to stay quiet for the 5-10 minutes she'd be without close supervision.  I got home and tiptoed by Bryan upstairs...Addie wasn't even watching the movie, she was causing trouble.  TV backfire!

Last night, I had a moment of weakness.  We sat down around 9, wiped from a wild two weeks and I just wanted to veg out. I didn't want to read, didn't want to work, didn't want to talk. Just wanted to be entertained. My willing husband was quick to oblige to my request for some entertainment. We even had the Ipad out. I was humming Parenthood's theme song and joining them at their candlelit backyard table. Thankfully our angelic son stopped us in our tracks, waking up after just 10 minutes of sleep.  Saved by the  Bell  Baby! 

So, if you find yourself in a funk or just wanting to do more with your evenings. Try a TV (or even screen, gasp!) fast. Its a great way to challenge yourself, break out of the norm, and it is super helpful for honing in on the things that really matter.  Besides, you can always read about what happened on The Bachelor in the check out line at Target :)

Cayden 7 Month Update

A quick update on our little man!  At 7  months Cayden:

• Loves baths
• Eats cereal without too many faces, but is very expressive when we try to work in fruits and veggies
• Adores his sister
• Has started saying "mamamama" when hungry 
• Does a "crazy dance" when tired (consists of throwing this head around and wiggling his whole body)
• Starting to be less comfortable with strangers
• Scoots backwards when attempting to crawl
• Sleeps on his tummy
• Started sleeping 11 hours overnight, just getting up once to eat (Hallelujah!)
• Got his first nasty cold, that turned into RSV (poor guy)
• Loves being sung too, especially the alphabet since that is what is sister is into right now
• Is still squeezing into 9 month clothes
• Snuggles after naps and before bed
• Often goes from sitting to being on his tummy
• Enjoys being around other babies and watching animals

100% boy

Everything goes right.to.the.mouth.

Bath-time - a favorite around these parts

In the tent in the living room

Enjoying the zoo!