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Carter-

Big Boi bed
Things have improved, and devolved, (if that is at all possible) at the same time. Carter now does not take a full two hours+ to go to sleep, but we have changed our approach a little bit as well.

Initially, Carter made a game out of climbing out of his bed and running out. We would sit at the door, and tell him to get back into bed each time he got out. That worked for...actually-it just didn't work at all. But it was nice to pretend that it may work at some point.

Now we have two, count em, two gates on Carter's door. Making his room into a big version of a crib to keep him in. Amma and Papa were here the first night we did this. The compliant Carter that shows his head when visitors arrive was gone and replaced with screaming angry Carter. Screaming angry Carter took a long time to go to sleep that night, but we found success that he slept all night, (although waking for the day at 5:00) and didn't wake his brother.

Things have improved substantially since then. He does not scream at all, and although he is still awake at this post writing (just after 8:00) he is going to sleep soon me thinks.

Sometimes it is hard to adjust to change. If you had been sleeping somewhere for your entire life, and then one day someone said, "Change." You might stage a revolt as well. And this, really, was a mini revolt.

Talk, talk, talk
I don't think I can include all the words Carter has now. There are too many. What is the funniest is the marshmallow mouthness of the words, and how they all seep together. It makes me think about how difficult comprehension must be-and will be for some time.
e.g.
Maaawheyaiyou...why. = Mum, where are you. Why.
You really do need an urban dictionary.

Nolen

Rolling Over, Thank Dog.
Nolen is rolling like a pro. Thank the Northern Lights. He started about three weeks ago, and has not really stopped. Even tonight it was impossible to put his diaper on. He kept rolling away on me. His neck is so strong that he doesn't have problems holding it up any more either-this is a nice improvement. Nothing can be more jarring then being so happy for your child who rolls over, then to rush to his side after he slams his head down on the ground.

This rolling over victory has proven to be a sleep victory-which I predicted would help with the sleep issue. Now, when Nolen rolls over in his crib (which is almost immediately-he likes sleeping on his tummy or his side) we are not called in to un-capsize him.

Tooth you very much.
Nolen got his first tooth. I cried. Our last first, in a series of last firsts. You have heard it here, folks. No more Hokes. So, every first of Nolen's will be our last, and every first of Carter's may very well be the first. However, because they are so close in age, it is likely they will surpass each other with firsts eventually. For now though, Carter is safe with holding the prize for the first kid in our house to climb his dresser, pull out all his wipes, and get a mass of diapers out (while he was supposed to be sleeping, people!) and announce to me upon arrival after hearing these suspicious noises, "Stinky POO!"

Back to the tooth. I swear Nolen was so happy to have someone else discover his tooth. He had a look of utter glee on his face when I placed my hand in his mouth. With dancing eyes, he rubbed my finger over his gums where the new tooth had broken ground, and practically sliced a hole in my pinky.

Snuggle Puppy
Nolens is so snuggly. I think for now, he is more snuggly with me-we are going through a mom time (which with Carter he would switch back and forth with Matt and I who was his preferred parent at the time). I hope I never forget the feeling of him burrowing his face into my shoulder. Pulling his head up and giving me a gooey, sloppy baby kiss. I know these moments are still in time. I just don't want them to go away.

[sigh]

As you can see the adventures go on.

I will post some pictures and video soon.

We are heading to Gale Woods Farm on Friday if the weather is good. Some pictures from that will follow.

Big Boy Bed

A big boy bed - a major event in a man's life.



We'll post some pictures shortly (eventually?), but we picked up a new bed for Carter from Ikea. Very cool. Once he's a little older we can flip it over and turn it into a bunk bed deal. And it has a tent top on it, covered in stars.



Carter loves the new bed, but still not convinced that he wants to stay in it all night. We had some really rough nights at first - he would get up every minute (literally) and try to escape from his room. We spent a couple hours per night sitting by his door telling him to go back to bed when he poked his little head out. And then we would get a little visitor at 2am, 4am, and then 5am was pretty much time to get up for the day.



Obviously, not working. So - after a particularly treacherous night on Wednesday, we decided things must change.



So we started putting up the gate in his doorway - put up a little boundary for him. Less of a game with Mom and Dad, more of an immovable force that even toddler charm can't deal with.



Night one - he was a little (lot) upset at first when the gate went up. Had to use 2, in fact, to prevent him from slipping over or under. Checked on him frequently, eventually he crashed (in his bed!). and he slept. All night. No little visitors. slept all through the night, which he really hasn't done in about a month. Which gave us a good solid 5 hours of sleep before Nolen needed attention, which hasn't happened in a while either.



Next day - nap time. Zero problems. Gate up, sleepy time. Bed time, same deal. came to check out the gate once, then went back to bed and chatted himself to sleep.



So - there you have it. It's true what they say. Toddlers just crave boundaries.



Now that Nolen is settling down into some good sleep habits, and Carter seems to be stabilized again, perhaps we can start thinking about getting in some baby sitters at night again. Get out for the evening with friends? Crazy idea.