Close Vegas Retreat

Fargo = Close Vegas

Sadly we have not had a chance to gamble in Fargo like we have in the past, but we are here with Derek, Sonya, Jackson, and Kate. I will be posting pictures etc. later, as well as stories to boot.

"All through the night...."

I know I am not tempting any baby gods by writing this. We are going to Fargo on Friday, and Nolen's routine/schedule will likely be jostled around at that point. So-even if I write here, on this blog that we put Nolen down to sleep last night at 7:00, and he slept until 4:00 without needing a feeding...I won't be tempting anyone to not make it happen again.

Honestly, there is no such thing as baby gods out there anyway. What really happens is that your baby will do behaviour "a", once, maybe twice in a row. However, they are still learning, so they won't keep doing it in the desired (or undesired) way every time after that one point. They are not robots. Sleeping through the night, eating with a spoon, waving goodbye, these are all progressions. They take time.

That being said. It sure was nice to sleep until 4:00. I got 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep (actually, that is a lie-Nolen got up at some point in the night, which woke me up, but he wasn't crying...he was more squwack-cooing, and didn't need me). This morning when Nolen got up at 7:00, I fed him immediately. Matt commented that I had just "Dropped to the floor right there, stopped what I was doing and fed the boy." Kinda. I really was aching and wanted to feed him right away. Why wait and move to the living room?

Now, the slumbering baby slumbers. [sigh] Hopefully we will get out today and enjoy some nice weather with our friend Barb and Baby Margo (5 weeks old). We may even see Jill and Baby Asher (14 weeks old) as well. Who knows what this wonderful well slept day holds.

Must go now, and put the awake baby back to sleep.

A Conversation with Carter

The following is a reenactment of a conversation with Carter. Please don't get dizzy with the subject changes. Such is life in the head of a toddler.
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"Hi Carter!"

"Hi," (wave of the hand follows)

"Ng-a,ng-a,ng-a? Ng-a,ng-a,ng-a!" (I would like to do some colouring, please!)

"Can you say please?"

"Ng-a,ng-a,ng-a? Ng-a,ng-a,ng-a!"

"Can you say please?"

"Peese" (Eyes brighten and Carter runs to the fridge)

"Teese!?" (cheese!?)

"No, we aren't having cheese right now. How about some water?"

"Ie" (and a nodding of head up and down decidedly) (Ice [the need for ice in the water has gotten so, that Matt and I need a code word for ice...have you ever tried spelling I-C-E? Sounds like ICE doesn't it? Damn English language!])

"OK, here is your water, you put the ice in yourself like a big boy."

"Co. brrrrr." (shaking of head back and forth, stomping of feet excitedly)

"Hi Baby No-No-No-den!" (Carter sits with his I-C-Ee water in front of Nolen shaking it and visiting with his brother)

"coo. nga." (Hi Carter, I love you. Get in my face again! I love to see you close up)

"Carter, what does the kitty say?"

"KIT-ee, KIT-ee!" (Kitty, Kitty)

"Yes, what does the kitty say?"

"New, New, New" (meow, meow, meow)

"What does a puppy say?"

"Pup, pup", "Ooof, ooof, ooof" (Dog, dog, woof, woof, woof)

"What about three singing pigs?" (See book reference here)

"LA, la, la"

"Mane-na" (Magnet)

"Yes, that is a magnet"

"Papa Mane-na" (Papa's Magnet [Dad left his magnet from his car here this weekend, a Canadian "Support our Troops" magnet. Carter loves it. I think it was meant for our new car, but Carter loves pointing out Papa's magnet. AND Papa's coffee cup that he used while he was here as well. It is odd the things that get stuck in his brain])

"That's right, that's Papa's Magnet from his car. Carter, say High School for Dad."

"Hi Schoo"

"Awesome dude. Good job."

"Mama? Let-uh, let-uh" (Mum, light, light)

"Yes that is the light."

"MATT!? MATT?! Where are you? Where did your father go Carter?"

"Da, Why-a-ou? Why-a-ou?"

"Oh there you are, feeding the fish."

"Hi ish!"

"OK Carter, it is time for your nap. Time for some sleeps. Lets go upstairs and change that poopy diaper, and go to bed."

"Poo"

"Yup, let's change your poopy diaper and go to bed."

"Nye, nye."

Wayne in Dump Truck

Ahh, Carter. So cute. This morning I discovered poor Wayne all curled up and stuck in the back of Carter's new dump truck (thanks Amma and Papa). When I asked him about it, and pulled Wayne out he picked Wayne up and kissed him on the nose. He then let me kiss Wayne, then brought Wayne to Nolen to kiss as well.

What a good big brother...so cute and loving. Now who knows what Wayne was doing in the back of the truck, but regardless-he is always loved.

I'll give you something to cry about...

Today was Nolen's 2 month check up, and the stats are in:

Weight - 16lb 9oz
Length - 24 1/2 inches
Head Circ - 16 inches

All of these numbers safely place Nolen in the 97% in all areas. At this age, Carter weighed 13lb 9oz- so Nolen does seem to have a lead on his brother, but he also seems to like to eat a little more.

Carter at 2 months already got the "He sure doesn't miss any meals!", and "He better be a football player when he gets older." comments. I guess this is what Nolen has to look forward to until...well, Carter is still getting it, so who knows when it stops. Maybe it doesn't. Can't you imagine, Carter and Nolen, 20+ years old in a job interview, and the interviewer saying, "You have all the experience and education you need for this job, in fact you are overqualified. But, I can't help but thinking, aren't you better suited to playing football? I mean, you really aren't missing any meals! Just look at cha! You're huge. You must be a lot to lug around."

Nolen also got four shots today, and cried real tears for the first time in his life, real tears. Although I was not a wreck like I was when Carter got his first shots, I shed a few tears for the poor little man. When the nurse approached him with the needles (she is one of my favorite nurses because she is so fast with the shots, and she is great with the kids) she was so happy to have him smiling for her. What a difficult job, making children cry all day. It must be like being a dentist. Anyway, Nolen is smiling away at the nurse, and cooing his butt off. After the first shot he was less then impressed with the nurse, and the flirtation ended abruptly. His face got all red, and he tried so hard to cry, but really could not get a sound out until the third shot was in his left thigh. After 2 minutes of solid crying, and a lost attempt to eat/sooth with some milk, Nolen buried his head in my shoulder and fell fast asleep.

I came up with a theory at this time-while my child was sleeping on my shoulder. I always thought that doctors visits were best scheduled when the baby is supposed to be awake (if they are doing what they are supposed to do! Which does not always happen as smoothly as you plan) However, after todays visit, I suspect this is not the case. Doctors visits are best scheduled just on the cusp of sleepy times. This way, when the painful shots are administered, sleep has no option but to take you. What can be better then escaping pain with a slumber, after a nip of some milk, and a hug from your parents? If you are 2 months old...nothin' on this harsh cruel earth.

My son, the Masochist.

"Ow, be careful!" I have literally just finished saying this to Carter.

Carter's new thing. Hurting himself. He will intentionally hit himself softly on the head on the stair rail, or if you are lucky he will knock his head against yours. It is all in play-learning how hurt feels I think. He will do these things to himself-oh so softly-and then look at you and say "ow".

To me it just defies logic. Why? Why would you do this?

He also likes to pretend with his (well-MY old cabbage patch kids) dolls that they have hurt themselves. He just finished banging Toby Dinah's head on the railing, and then throwing her down the stairs. That act actually caused an "Ow" and an "Oh, oh".

We are going to have to stop referring to the dolls as babies, as I don't want to cause confusion with Nolen. Nolen is a baby, Toby Dinah and Luther are DOLLS! I really don't want to see my toddler catapulting my newborn down the stairs, or slamming anything against his head, eyes or anything else for that matter.

However, for the record, here is some footage of them playing together today...nicely.



Poor Carter does not understand that Nolen can't really play with him yet. When Nolen can, let's just hope they share this well!

It is so quiet here

All week last week Carter was at home. And I have to say, it was crazy-but we all lived to tell the tale. I approached the week with much trepidation, but in the end it was unnecessary. I had several play dates set up, and we got out of the house every day-I think that helped.


By Friday, Grandma and Grandpa Heinrichs were here (or Mama as Carter calls them)-and he had all the attention in the world.


Today, Nolen is soooooo tired. I have had a hard time rousing him.


See?

 
 
  

Sleeping part deux.

I know I just posted about sleeping being a boring subject and all, and really-it is. I thought I would also put out our most recent, well, Nolen's most recent, sleeping accomplishment.

He seems to sleep a very long lag in the evening after being put to bed, then will go in 3-4 hour spurts after that until 5:00. After which point he is full of gas, ready to fill his pants or something. From 5:00 on, he is awake on and off, and usually pretty fussy (which is out of character for him completely). The other night, however, I fed him at 6:00, and he went down for bed at 6:45. After this point, he did not rise to eat until 1:30 am. NICE. 7 hours. He has since to do this, but I hoping at some point we can extend the times after 12:00 to 4-5 hours, and we can be back in the sleeping business. If this can happen for the most part by the time I am back at work, even better.

However, since he is starting daycare (a big change, never good for sleeping), and will be changing from many, many naps a day, to two longer naps with a little cat nap after daycare...who knows what the heck night times will look like. Alls I know is, thank dog Matt and I are fair skinned-that way we always look tired because the skin under our eyes is so fair (however, I think I have more of that going on then Matt does!)

I guess this is to say, when the babies are at this age where all they do is sleep, poop and eat (with an occasional smile and coo thrown in there) it is hard not to get all wrapped up with the sleep part (eating and poop...that is another post!)

The Biters Three

At daycare Carter hangs with just about everyone...it is hard not to when there are 9 kids who are mulling around in the same area. However, there are two kids that are very close to Carter's age; Sohpie, and Cullen (or Collin, we are not sure what on earth the kid's name is...darn Minnesota marshmellow mouths!).

A few weeks ago, Sohpie bit Carter. Not enough to break the skin...just a little blue bruise on his arm. Then a few weeks later, Cullen/Collin bit Sophie...Kharma is a bitch. However, two weeks ago, Carter bit Cullen/Collin and broke the skin. Eeek...what does that "I'm sorry my child is feasting on your child" card look like? THEN, the other day, Carter bit Sophie.

Now, the first bite we were sure was due to Carter being poorly slept, teething, and just the age-because he isn't really a biter as of late. However, this second incedent has me a little concerned. I hope my kid doesn't turn into the biter.

Honestly, I think the situation is more this. It is like in Heathers...the peer pressure is just too much. Once one person starts biting, they all go at it.

Well, maybe that isn't it either.