Matti likes to spell his name. Especially on his Leap Pad. Matti R. So proud of him. He's definitely at the stage where he wants to be in control of everything. It's a hard stage but were getting through it. At dinner, he said, "mommy, I apologize. Sorry I keep spitting." it was so sweet. & so are his "I love you, mommy" that come out of nowhere.
Josiah has been crying a lot lately. I'm certain separation anxiety has arrived. It peaks at 8 months for boys. Ding! Right on time. He cries like he's physically hurting. Poor thing. Weird thing is once in a while, he stops after about 5 mins and starts entertaining himself. This is a slight improvement. He also prefers to sleep on his stomach. This makes the little night routine we had somewhat difficult. He still needs a hand on me though. Right now, it's on my shoulder. He also isn't wanting his bottle lately (I think teething related) and gets frustrated nursing. :( Oh! He scoots around now on his stomach. He likes to crawl over me like an obstacle. Tonight, he managed to bite my arm. He has two bottom
teeth and they hurt!
Jason's cousin is in town with her two boys. They are such happy little boys. We've been visiting grandma's since they've been here. Boys have so much energy! We went to the beach on Saturday and it was a good time. Josiah loved it. He kept digging in the sand and loved watching it fall from his hands. Can't wait for more beach trips. We did almost get taken out by a fishing line. That was scary! No one got hurt thanks to the guy cutting his line.
One of my girls is getting married tomorrow and I'm sad I can't be there. She's having a destination wedding in Jamaica. I'm so happy for her and glad to see her so happy. I do wish I could be there for her. She will be on my mind all day tomorrow. She was one of my maid of honors! Excited for her new chapter in life.
Jason's been working on his car. It looks really good. I will never get that boy away from his love of cars. It makes me happy seeing him do those things. I miss him though!
My parents are on vacation. They're gone for 12 days and they deserve every single day. It sounds like they're having a good time. Tomorrow they will be on a cruise ship. I can't wait til we go on our vacation. It will be to the Poconos. First time for all of us :)
4.24.2012
4.17.2012
On the go
Josiah has been doing so much lately. He turned 8 months on the ninth of this month. He wasn't really moving around too much. He sat up and rolled when he felt like it. He'd rather cry than reach for his toy. Since last week, he's been non stop! He scoots around on he's stomach. He pushes up onto all fours and starts rocking. I remember matti crawling shortly after that stage. He's pulling up on things but still unsteady. He goes from a seated position to all fours. Just overall been very active! At church on Sunday, he started clapping! I didn't notice until matti pointed it out. He's so cute! He finds it so funny and laughs at himself. He is just so happy with his new find. He misses half the time but he loves it. He can also do close open which is a Filipino thing haha. You sing a little tune and he opens and closes his hands. He has been responding to signs like more and all done. He doesn't do it yet...although when he wants more food, he opens and closes his hands lol. If you ask him if he all done (sign and verbal) and he's not, he will blow raspberries. If you ask if he wants more (sign and verbal), and he is full, he will blow raspberries. So, he's still using raspberries to show his dislike of things. I'm excited cause this is the start of one of my favorite baby stages. I love every stage but this stage is fun. They are learning and exploring and their personality really shows. Anyway, amber necklace is on day 3 and I'll wait on that update. Have a great day!
4.14.2012
Here we go!
Today is Day 1 with Josiah's Baltic Amber Teething necklace. I may sound like a loon but I've heard lots of good things about them. I wanted one for matti but he was a good teether. Josiah is taking it a little harder. I will update in the future. I will elaborate on it more later on as well.
3.02.2012
Busy doing....nothing, but everything too.
Josiah is soon to be 7 months. He's growing just great & is learning so much so fast. He is the baby to flash a smile to whoever is paying attention to him at that time. He rolls from back to front now and he sits up on his own. We have pillows to catch him when he timbers, but for the most part, he is going solo. :) He's still not much of a sleeper....both at night and during the day. I'm pretty sure he's teething so I'm sure that doesn't help with his sleeping patterns. Soon enough he will crawl which is exciting yet at the same time sad because he's not a baby baby anymore. He eats baby food now and he enjoys it for the most part. I'm toying with the idea of making his food for him. It doesn't seem like it would be too complicated.
Matti. This boy challenges me every single day. He's got such a strong opinion and he wants it heard. Loud & clear! He has his moments but it's not his fault. He's learning and we're learning. No one has a book on parenting. ;) Other than that, he's a normal little kid. He loves his trains, movies, and talking. Talking, talking and more talking. He really never stops, but the things that come out of his mouth sometimes is just too funny. He is a little shy when he is around people at first, but after a while, he warms up and becomes best friends with you, haha. He'll be going into school this coming school year, and I'm mentally preparing myself. I can't imagine him walking the hallways, having his backpack, riding the school bus (I'm debating on that one), and just being away from me. When did he grow up?
We are waiting to move into my parents old house. AKA the house I grew up in. We're really excited. & by waiting, I mean, we can move in now if we wanted to, but we want to fix it up before we do. We've painted, cleaned the floors, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned & cleaned some more! Jason decided he pretty much wanted to replace everything in the master bath. As soon as that's finished, we're good to go. So soon! At least before March 16th I believe. We have a meeting at our house, haha. Jason moved to nights so we're getting used to that schedule. I feel like it's a better fit for us. I love having Jake home in the mornings. :)
Random thought. You know that quote, "It takes a village to raise a child." Well, I certainly can see how that can apply. I can definitely see it when you're in a community like FCJ. Everyone has their influences and kind of looks out for the child. I'm glad my boys will have that growing up because I think my brother & I only gained from my parents being in a community. They also will have amazing role models to look up just like I do. On the side of it, I can also can see how it can be seen as untrue. I think that it (village raising a child) can only be true if the parents' rules are followed rather than overstepped or ignored. When that happens, I feel that the child gets confused since the parents say one thing and the "village" says the opposite. Of course, the child will choose the one who has the answer he or she wants. It can be a good thing, but I definitely see how it can be a bad thing as well. Either way, I appreciate our little village, in a way, because I know they will have more of a positive effect on my boys.
So yea, that's what's going on. I know there's a lot more but I don't have too much time. Until next time.
Matti. This boy challenges me every single day. He's got such a strong opinion and he wants it heard. Loud & clear! He has his moments but it's not his fault. He's learning and we're learning. No one has a book on parenting. ;) Other than that, he's a normal little kid. He loves his trains, movies, and talking. Talking, talking and more talking. He really never stops, but the things that come out of his mouth sometimes is just too funny. He is a little shy when he is around people at first, but after a while, he warms up and becomes best friends with you, haha. He'll be going into school this coming school year, and I'm mentally preparing myself. I can't imagine him walking the hallways, having his backpack, riding the school bus (I'm debating on that one), and just being away from me. When did he grow up?
We are waiting to move into my parents old house. AKA the house I grew up in. We're really excited. & by waiting, I mean, we can move in now if we wanted to, but we want to fix it up before we do. We've painted, cleaned the floors, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned & cleaned some more! Jason decided he pretty much wanted to replace everything in the master bath. As soon as that's finished, we're good to go. So soon! At least before March 16th I believe. We have a meeting at our house, haha. Jason moved to nights so we're getting used to that schedule. I feel like it's a better fit for us. I love having Jake home in the mornings. :)
Random thought. You know that quote, "It takes a village to raise a child." Well, I certainly can see how that can apply. I can definitely see it when you're in a community like FCJ. Everyone has their influences and kind of looks out for the child. I'm glad my boys will have that growing up because I think my brother & I only gained from my parents being in a community. They also will have amazing role models to look up just like I do. On the side of it, I can also can see how it can be seen as untrue. I think that it (village raising a child) can only be true if the parents' rules are followed rather than overstepped or ignored. When that happens, I feel that the child gets confused since the parents say one thing and the "village" says the opposite. Of course, the child will choose the one who has the answer he or she wants. It can be a good thing, but I definitely see how it can be a bad thing as well. Either way, I appreciate our little village, in a way, because I know they will have more of a positive effect on my boys.
So yea, that's what's going on. I know there's a lot more but I don't have too much time. Until next time.
12.14.2011
J-man
Josiah is now 4 months old. He does so much already that I'm so happy. Happy because he is considered a preemie and most times, they do things later than full term babies. Some of these things he's been doing for the past month or two, but I don't have that written anywhere.
His favorite thing to do is talk! Matti talks so much and I think it's rubbed off on Josiah. It's the cutest thing. He lights up when he sees his older brother and is all smiles and giggles when it comes to him. If you put your hand over his mouth, he will say, "ahh" and wait for you to move your hand to make a noise. I noticed that if you sing "Close, Open" to him, he will try to close & open his hand. He likes to mimic people and is just so eager to try things. He likes to stand and he will do so with outstretched arm. Think of the Jesus statue in Rio, haha. He grabs for everything. Toys, hair, hands, ceiling fans, etc. Whatever he sees, he'll reach for it. Last month, he rolled over from front to back! He usually does it right after he wakes up. If I try to do it during the day, he doesn't really do it. When he's on his back, he can get to his side, but he can't go to his belly just yet. He always wants to sit up. So he's been hanging out in his Bumbo seat or in the Boppy with a blanket around him. He pulls his head up when he's reclining because he just wants to sit. He's so observant and will track something in the room or focus on one thing to see what it does. This boy is sooo strong & he's so smart.
We started supplementing, but I'm not ready to talk about it just yet. I'm still very upset about it and hopefully one day I'll be able to write something out without being so nasty about it. I tried and I'm just very bitter.
Things are getting better. Short naps can be taken in his bouncer. He'll entertain himself for about 20 minutes before wanting to be picked up. I am able to put him down when I need to. Slowly but surely, it's getting better.
Today, he fell asleep on my lap. I just kept him there because he was just too cute to put down. I started doing things on the computer and I looked down at one point to find him wide awake looking at me. Big brown eyes looking right at me & once I saw him, he flashed a big smile. I love it.
His favorite thing to do is talk! Matti talks so much and I think it's rubbed off on Josiah. It's the cutest thing. He lights up when he sees his older brother and is all smiles and giggles when it comes to him. If you put your hand over his mouth, he will say, "ahh" and wait for you to move your hand to make a noise. I noticed that if you sing "Close, Open" to him, he will try to close & open his hand. He likes to mimic people and is just so eager to try things. He likes to stand and he will do so with outstretched arm. Think of the Jesus statue in Rio, haha. He grabs for everything. Toys, hair, hands, ceiling fans, etc. Whatever he sees, he'll reach for it. Last month, he rolled over from front to back! He usually does it right after he wakes up. If I try to do it during the day, he doesn't really do it. When he's on his back, he can get to his side, but he can't go to his belly just yet. He always wants to sit up. So he's been hanging out in his Bumbo seat or in the Boppy with a blanket around him. He pulls his head up when he's reclining because he just wants to sit. He's so observant and will track something in the room or focus on one thing to see what it does. This boy is sooo strong & he's so smart.
We started supplementing, but I'm not ready to talk about it just yet. I'm still very upset about it and hopefully one day I'll be able to write something out without being so nasty about it. I tried and I'm just very bitter.
Things are getting better. Short naps can be taken in his bouncer. He'll entertain himself for about 20 minutes before wanting to be picked up. I am able to put him down when I need to. Slowly but surely, it's getting better.
Today, he fell asleep on my lap. I just kept him there because he was just too cute to put down. I started doing things on the computer and I looked down at one point to find him wide awake looking at me. Big brown eyes looking right at me & once I saw him, he flashed a big smile. I love it.
11.10.2011
family first
I haven't really gone online to do much of anything in the past week or so. I had to deal with things and had to decide if I wanted to keep putting my life out there. Right now I stand at, "Take it or leave it. This is our life."
I've also been trying to figure out something to make my days easier since Josiah is a much much different baby than Matti was. Not to compare or anything. Matti was a very easy baby and Josiah is not easy, but challenging. I thought it'd be a breeze a second time around, but boy was I wrong. So with him being 3 months, I really wanted to figure out how to "function" as a mom to both boys and help more in the house. It's been so unbelievably hard. Josiah is just a challenging/high needs baby. Which is NOT a bad thing. I was really about to go insane before I read about it and now I'm doing better knowing I'm not doing anything wrong.
I wondered if he was acting this way because he is all breastfed and if something is wrong with me or what we're doing. I'll just rundown a list of the things.
1. He refuses to be put down. There are times when we can get away with it. Usually about 10 minutes or less. You can get more out of it if you are in his face talking to him. Not that I want to be away from my baby. I just need time to myself to take care of Matti who is potty training. & he has other needs. I need to do laundry. Our room hasn't been picked up because I'll get to it eventually. So what. I also have my needs too. We put him in a swing. On his play mat. A papa san. Car seat. Propped up to a seating position. He will not have it. & yes, you can tell me to let him cry a little. I'm not the type to come running at my baby at the first peep that he makes. I give him time to calm down, but THERE IS NO CALMING DOWN. It gets progressively louder and louder. So we hold him. I hold him. A lot. Am I spoiling him? No. There's no way to spoil a baby before a year old. He's only 3 months old. He was held constantly in my belly. Babies long for what was familiar. There's a reason he is crying and I give him his time and it doesn't work. When Josiah wants something, he wants it right there & then. He's not manipulative (he's ONLY 3 months old. He is still learning a lot. He's just started to laugh? Manipulative? No. I don't like when babies are called these things because they are so innocent! Another piece of advice. Get a carrier. Got one & I love it. Josiah loves it too.....on certain days. For the past few days, he's HATED it. Those days are tough. Today, he's sleeping very content in it. That's why I'm able to write all this out. I can hope & pray that this is a Moby day.
2. Very unpredictable. He's either super happy or he's just not having it. I call it "not in the mood." Most times he'll start out happy at some degree. It can go either way after about 5 minutes. It doesn't mean that I tiptoe with him. It just means that I can't run on a schedule no matter what. Which makes set times (church, dinner dates, etc) a little difficult. We're learning to manage. People have asked me how we're doing. & ironically, I've been saying, "we're adjusting/figuring it out." I thought it was just having two kids. In reality, I just have two different babies. Josiah does make the days interesting since we never know what's going to happen. Also, like I mentioned before, some days he loves one thing (Moby) and the next, he wants nothing to do with it. He used to love being swaddled, but that worked for 3 days.
3. He doesn't take a pacifier. Or know how to soothe himself. Matti loved the pacifier and he was able to soothe himself from the start. Josiah is completely opposite. The pacifier pisses him off to no end & self soothing? What's that? haha. We're trying white noise & it semi worked yesterday. Again, refer to #2 about that. You know how he does soothe? By nursing.
4. He craves to be touched. If he happens to get put down, you need to be in his face or touching some part of his body. As soon as he feels that, he stops. He doesn't like feeling alone. He doesn't like not seeing anyone around him. He needs a warm body next to him. Constantly. Here's where the wrap comes in handy. This is why he wants to be held all the time. This is a reason why we co-sleep. If we didn't, we all wouldn't be sleeping. I have a bassinet in the room and it's just there. We attempt to put him there once in a while hoping it's the day that he will stay in it. We haven't found that day yet. At least we're getting some sleep. It doesn't help that at naptime I have to lay down with the boys because I'd rather be doing chores that need to caught up on. Or even just shower. One day.
5. He nurses all the time. He nurses to eat. He nurses to soothe. He nurses for comfort. He nurses just to do it. Once he's done eating, he will play for a little bit. After about 45 minutes, he gets bored and nothing will stop him from fussing until he is nursing. I see him starting to fall asleep & in an attempt to get to sleep without nursing, I try to take him off. Sometimes it works, but most times it doesn't. We start the process over. Next thing you know, I'm sitting there with a baby knocked out but very attached to me. If I try to take him off, he will wake up immediately. If not, in five minutes. IF & a very BIG IF, I manage to get him in the swing, he will stay asleep for at the most 5 minutes. & back on the breast he goes. He doesn't take a pacifier & like I said, it makes him so upset. You can only distract him so much before the only way to stop him is to nurse him.
That's just some points. some things I combined together. Motherhood with Matti just came so naturally and I thought it would be the same. I thought I was doing something wrong but I'm glad to know that there are other moms who are going through the same thing. There's a reason why they say every baby is different. & I've seen it at the extremes. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I know sooner or later, it will get better and we'll figure it out.
I've also been trying to figure out something to make my days easier since Josiah is a much much different baby than Matti was. Not to compare or anything. Matti was a very easy baby and Josiah is not easy, but challenging. I thought it'd be a breeze a second time around, but boy was I wrong. So with him being 3 months, I really wanted to figure out how to "function" as a mom to both boys and help more in the house. It's been so unbelievably hard. Josiah is just a challenging/high needs baby. Which is NOT a bad thing. I was really about to go insane before I read about it and now I'm doing better knowing I'm not doing anything wrong.
I wondered if he was acting this way because he is all breastfed and if something is wrong with me or what we're doing. I'll just rundown a list of the things.
1. He refuses to be put down. There are times when we can get away with it. Usually about 10 minutes or less. You can get more out of it if you are in his face talking to him. Not that I want to be away from my baby. I just need time to myself to take care of Matti who is potty training. & he has other needs. I need to do laundry. Our room hasn't been picked up because I'll get to it eventually. So what. I also have my needs too. We put him in a swing. On his play mat. A papa san. Car seat. Propped up to a seating position. He will not have it. & yes, you can tell me to let him cry a little. I'm not the type to come running at my baby at the first peep that he makes. I give him time to calm down, but THERE IS NO CALMING DOWN. It gets progressively louder and louder. So we hold him. I hold him. A lot. Am I spoiling him? No. There's no way to spoil a baby before a year old. He's only 3 months old. He was held constantly in my belly. Babies long for what was familiar. There's a reason he is crying and I give him his time and it doesn't work. When Josiah wants something, he wants it right there & then. He's not manipulative (he's ONLY 3 months old. He is still learning a lot. He's just started to laugh? Manipulative? No. I don't like when babies are called these things because they are so innocent! Another piece of advice. Get a carrier. Got one & I love it. Josiah loves it too.....on certain days. For the past few days, he's HATED it. Those days are tough. Today, he's sleeping very content in it. That's why I'm able to write all this out. I can hope & pray that this is a Moby day.
2. Very unpredictable. He's either super happy or he's just not having it. I call it "not in the mood." Most times he'll start out happy at some degree. It can go either way after about 5 minutes. It doesn't mean that I tiptoe with him. It just means that I can't run on a schedule no matter what. Which makes set times (church, dinner dates, etc) a little difficult. We're learning to manage. People have asked me how we're doing. & ironically, I've been saying, "we're adjusting/figuring it out." I thought it was just having two kids. In reality, I just have two different babies. Josiah does make the days interesting since we never know what's going to happen. Also, like I mentioned before, some days he loves one thing (Moby) and the next, he wants nothing to do with it. He used to love being swaddled, but that worked for 3 days.
3. He doesn't take a pacifier. Or know how to soothe himself. Matti loved the pacifier and he was able to soothe himself from the start. Josiah is completely opposite. The pacifier pisses him off to no end & self soothing? What's that? haha. We're trying white noise & it semi worked yesterday. Again, refer to #2 about that. You know how he does soothe? By nursing.
4. He craves to be touched. If he happens to get put down, you need to be in his face or touching some part of his body. As soon as he feels that, he stops. He doesn't like feeling alone. He doesn't like not seeing anyone around him. He needs a warm body next to him. Constantly. Here's where the wrap comes in handy. This is why he wants to be held all the time. This is a reason why we co-sleep. If we didn't, we all wouldn't be sleeping. I have a bassinet in the room and it's just there. We attempt to put him there once in a while hoping it's the day that he will stay in it. We haven't found that day yet. At least we're getting some sleep. It doesn't help that at naptime I have to lay down with the boys because I'd rather be doing chores that need to caught up on. Or even just shower. One day.
5. He nurses all the time. He nurses to eat. He nurses to soothe. He nurses for comfort. He nurses just to do it. Once he's done eating, he will play for a little bit. After about 45 minutes, he gets bored and nothing will stop him from fussing until he is nursing. I see him starting to fall asleep & in an attempt to get to sleep without nursing, I try to take him off. Sometimes it works, but most times it doesn't. We start the process over. Next thing you know, I'm sitting there with a baby knocked out but very attached to me. If I try to take him off, he will wake up immediately. If not, in five minutes. IF & a very BIG IF, I manage to get him in the swing, he will stay asleep for at the most 5 minutes. & back on the breast he goes. He doesn't take a pacifier & like I said, it makes him so upset. You can only distract him so much before the only way to stop him is to nurse him.
That's just some points. some things I combined together. Motherhood with Matti just came so naturally and I thought it would be the same. I thought I was doing something wrong but I'm glad to know that there are other moms who are going through the same thing. There's a reason why they say every baby is different. & I've seen it at the extremes. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I know sooner or later, it will get better and we'll figure it out.
11.06.2011
I promise to fight for you because you are my boys.
I will be brave for you even when I'm terrified.
I will love you always.
I will be mean at times but that's only because you need boundaries.
I really only do that because I love you.
I will do everything I can to protect you.
Sometimes I have to let you hurt but the pain will go away I promise.
I will cry with you.
Please don't break hearts.
I will always have time to hear you out. There is no 'just because' since that isn't fair.
We will always be fair but that doesn't mean you will get everything you ask for.
We will butt heads, I'm sure if it, and we will not go to bed without it being resolved.
After God, family comes first.
We will go to church together every Sunday & spend the day together. Trust me on this...it works.
Promise to try your absolute best in everything & that will be enough.
Don't give up so easily.
Never be afraid to cone to me.
I will sit with you when you do homework...if you ask me to. But I will always check it.
There will be a time when you will not like me, I just hope you will know that i still love you then.
I am your mother. You are my boys. My love for you is like nothing else.
I will be brave for you even when I'm terrified.
I will love you always.
I will be mean at times but that's only because you need boundaries.
I really only do that because I love you.
I will do everything I can to protect you.
Sometimes I have to let you hurt but the pain will go away I promise.
I will cry with you.
Please don't break hearts.
I will always have time to hear you out. There is no 'just because' since that isn't fair.
We will always be fair but that doesn't mean you will get everything you ask for.
We will butt heads, I'm sure if it, and we will not go to bed without it being resolved.
After God, family comes first.
We will go to church together every Sunday & spend the day together. Trust me on this...it works.
Promise to try your absolute best in everything & that will be enough.
Don't give up so easily.
Never be afraid to cone to me.
I will sit with you when you do homework...if you ask me to. But I will always check it.
There will be a time when you will not like me, I just hope you will know that i still love you then.
I am your mother. You are my boys. My love for you is like nothing else.
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