The Midnight Blanket Dilemna

Oh it was a rough night for poor Peanut. I knew it was a night fraught with the possibility of disaster because he only had one nap yesterday and my boy needs two naps if he is going to sleep through the night. So a wake up was expected, but what was unexpected was that his diaper would leak and he would have pee all over himself, his pajamas, his sheets and yes, the worst case scenario - his blanket. So I changed him, cleaned him up while Papa Bear changed the sheets and then we looked at each other. Do we let him sleep on his own urine to let him have his blanket or do we hope he is too tired to notice it is missing? Well if you know me, you know that I could not go with the first option. So the blanket went immediately into the wash and a similar material blanket was put in the crib in hopes that it would help. I was rocking Peanut in my arms to help sooth him back down and he sits up in my arms and points imperiously at his crib. My boy loves his crib but when I put him in it instead of laying down he sees the new blanket, rears up, scoots backwards off it it and lets out a whimper. Oh how we need a second blanket in these situations!!! He eventually settled with a sippy cup of milk and about 6 binks to keep him company. When he was reunited with his blanket this morning it was adorable and heart warming. He threw himself down on the blanket, snuggled his face in and didn't let go of it for at least 30 minutes dragging it around the house with him. He is now napping happily with his blanket and we are hoping to avoid a midnight blanket dilemma for a while. Maybe next time I will just let him sleep on the blanket.....ugh, maybe not!

Little Man Performs

I have no words that adequately explain how much this video makes me laugh. The microphone was supposed to be a gift for Peanut but Little Man has really taken a shine to performing. I am so glad that we capture these moments to torture him with later. It doesn't get much more adorable in this house.

Peanut Steps

Peanut has been pulling up, cruising and using push objects to move across the room for quite some time. He can even stay in the standing position on his own for up to a minute but he hasn't gotten the courage to try lifting his roll filled legs to get going on his own. His feet are huge and the perfect walking platform but crawling is just so dang fast for him that he won't give walking a fair shake. This wasn't a problem for me through the winter. Little Man walked so early that it was nice to have a baby that was crawling for a longer time because there were less accidents and bumps and bruises. However, we are entering park season and it is so much easier to go to parks with upright children. So Papa Bear and I have been trying to encourage him to walk or at least try walking as much as possible. Until last night we hadn't found the right motivation...Papa Bear's coffee. What can I say, the kid loves coffee and chases Papa Bear around the house when he is drinking it to try and get a little taste. So we (without any shame) held that coffee cup up over his head, stood him on his feet and cheered for him. He took two little tiny Peanut steps, laughing the entire time. We were so excited and tried to get him to do it again and again. Unfortunately, coupled with a bit of exhaustion and the fact that he figured out we weren't really going to give him the coffee he just kept falling to the ground. But I loved those Peanut steps!!!

Because I love Peanut.....

Little Man has known for quite some time that we are expecting another baby. Even when he seems to be playing contentedly in the corner, he is listening to everything that goes on in a room so it wasn't something we could easily hide from him. He has taken quite an interest and asked many questions like "How did the baby get in your belly?" to which I immediately asked him to go ask Papa Bear! He also tries to peer in my belly button hoping to get to see the baby and likes to bring the baby toys and put them on my belly and declare he is a good big brother.

But one day I could tell something was bothering him. He didn't want to talk about the baby and seemed more introspective than usual. When he finally got it all together he looked at me and said "Mama, I don't want the new baby to come to our house." I was surprised because he had been so excited and had proclaimed the existence of the baby to the cable guy and anyone else that would listen. But I figured jealousy or something and wasn't overly worried. So I asked him why and he said "Because I love Peanut and I don't want a new baby brother, I want Peanut." Oh how my heart broke for him and soared at the same time. He thought that by having a new baby we were replacing our current baby. I explained that Peanut will be his little brother and the baby will be his baby brother or sister so we get to keep Peanut. His fears erased he slipped off the couch and went to play with his baby brother. My sweet Little Man never ceases to surprise me with the way that he thinks and learns. He really is a great big brother and this new baby will be just as blessed as Peanut.

Little Man, Peanut and Baby!

Today I am 12 weeks pregnant with our 3rd baby. I have written and rewritten this post in my head for the last 12 weeks. In fact, I haven't been able to post many stories these days because they all lead back in some way to my morning sickness or Little Man pronouncing to anyone who will listen that I have a baby in my belly. I was worried that I would lose the baby early since that has happened in the past. But this morning I had another sonogram and I got to see my baby clap and dance and move and it was amazing. What struck me as I watched the baby on the sonogram screen with tears in my eyes was how it just doesn't get old, seeing my baby that is only 2 inches long dancing and moving. It was awesome! I think I even whispered to myself about how even though I have done this before it feels brand new. Upon hearing my whispered confession the doctor looked at me and said, "that is how I know you were meant to be a mother". And I am, meant to be a mother that is. As much as abhor being pregnant and am not a pleasant pregnant woman to be around - well the end result is so worth it. So roll on October because we are excited for this new baby to join the family.

Just for the record my official due date is November 3rd but all my doctors are in agreement that due to Peanut's 9 pound 3 ounce birthweight at 36 weeks, this baby will probably be born in late October.

Any suggestions for a nickname for this baby - should be gender neutral if we pick one before he/she is born?

Peanut's Blankie

Peanut has a comfort item that he is attached too and it is adorable to see his daily reuniting with his blankie in his crib. It is like watching two long lost friends find each other (3 times a day). We didn't even know he was attached to it until I took it from his crib to wash and we endured 2 days of screaming at nap and bedtime. And even while enduring the screaming during nap and bedtime we didn't put two and two together to figure out that he was screaming for his long lost friend. We actually didn't figure it out until we took it from the wash and while folding laundry saw him launch himself at the blanket on the floor, bury his head right in it and close his eyes in heavenly delight. So now his blankie lives in his crib with his binkie and he isn't able to hide it around the house like he can with his binkies. We are searching the internet desperately for a second blankie to have a replacement to switch in and out during washing time or in case of losing it. No such luck yet, but I am not giving up. The cutest time with him and the blankie is at night when the boys are getting ready for bed. I will often sit in a chair in Little Man's room helping with pajamas and reading books. Now I put Peanut's blanket on my shoulder and he snuggles in and I can feel his whole body relax on me while I read to Little Man or chat with Papa Bear.

Oh and I caught Little Man stealing binkies from Peanut's crib and giving them to Peanut on the sly. So it seems that our Binky Thief has an accomplice. At least they are working together instead of fighting!!

Binky Thief

Peanut is sneaky, cute as pie, but sneaky too. And he uses his cuteness to get away with the sneakiness. We try to restrict his binky (pacifier) to be used only in his crib, the car and when he is sick. Once he turned 1, we really starting enforcing it. He doesn't need it during the day when he is playing and distracted even if he thinks he does. As I mentioned, he is sneaky. Occasionally he will pull a binky from my diaper bag and squirrel it away. We have a ton of binkys so we don't notice one going missing especially since his room is littered with them. (Seriously,we can find up to 10 in his room that he chucks out of his crib to get our attention when he doesn't want to be in his crib anymore.) So this morning we were all playing in the reading room and Peanut was acting very tired. I have no idea why he was so tired, he slept through the night, woke up a bit early (6:00) and we gave him a sippy cup and he went back to sleep for a while. So at 8:30 I just didn't think it should be nap time. Well I guess he didn't agree with me. He was crawling up into my lap and laying his head on me and I kept putting him back down to play. All of a sudden he got up, crawled over to the coffee table, laid down on his stomach, reached under the table, pulled out a bink, popped it in his mouth and laid his head down. I got the point, I also got his hiding place. Sneaky! Sneaky! So I gave in and put him down for an earlier nap than I had planned and sent Little Man on a Binky Hunt to see if we could spot Peanut's other hiding places. The kid is good. We found one in a shoe and one pushed into the corner of his tow truck. He is so darn cute about being sneaky that I can't even begrudge him the occasional bink!