Just a bit about BittyBoo

Just wanted to get a few things down on "paper" about what you are doing these days at nearly (gulp!) 11MO.  In no particular order:

• you are just about crawling on hands & knees, though you are fastest still doing your army crawl, just as your sis did
• when I hold you, you like to grip the back of my shirt by my shoulder & wrap your little fingers of the other hand around my the hand of the arm I am holding you with - so sweet!
• you slept. all. night. long. last night at Grammy & Grandpa Patterson's while Mommy & Daddy were at a wedding.  I now have a glimmer of hope that you will do OK overnight with w/o Mommy next weekend at Grandma & Grandpa's when Mommy, Daddy, & Dexter do our annual trip to Traverse City.  (But i am STILL apprehensive & sad about leaving you overnight for the first time!  SIGH.
• you are pulling up in your crib.  a milestone!  Butttttttt, it appears that you don't know how to get down.  Hmmmm ....  You do not like to take naps on weekends when Mommy (& Daddy) are home.  in fact, we just back up out of the crib.  ok, ok, we give, you win!!!  signing off to take a family trip to Lowe's.

I love you with all my heart, my little stinker!

Mommy

Recalling the Rhythm & Routine of Maternity Leave

This one goes out to both my babes, the BabyLady & the IttyBitty ...

I was nursing you to sleep tonight, as I always do BabyTait, & thinking back to our glory days: maternity leave.   It was the cuddling & closeness that brought that time to mind.  My leave with you was quite different than my leave with your sister, just because I had both of you to keep up with!  It's really hard being a SAWM.  I never truly feel like I am giving either of you enough of me, no matter what I do.  I constantly crave more time, more affection, more attention to you.  I often actually physically crave you guys - that is how much I love & how much I miss you when I am at work.

Oh how I miss our days of maternity leave ...

Quinn, you & I would wake up, get some coffee (for me, that is =p ), & head downstairs for the news & a marathon nursing session.  One (always you) or both (sometimes me, too) of us would drift back to sleep curled up & cuddled into the couch.  Rarely did we have any kind of agenda.  Mostly, sweet little YOU were my agenda.  And I was quite happy to spend my days just like that for nearly three months, until the cold reality of work set in.  (Mommy cried for three days prior to my return to work.  Leaving you to go back to work seemed like such an insurmountable feat.  I could scarcely wrap my head around how I would get myself together & out the door on time, let alone LEAVE my precious tiny BabyLady!  Augh, just recalling that time makes my heart ache.  And now, you are 2 1/2 years old.  Beautiful, vivacious, gregarious, precocious, perceptive, & downright hilarious.  You make me smile a million times every day.  Back to my leave for a moment, what I always want to hold onto is the closeness, the cuddling, & how I had the privilege of just pouring all of myself into you.  Just you.  Already it is difficult to recall how your little face looked at that time of our lives, though I stared at  you constantly & vigilantly.  Maybe it is MommyBrain, maybe it is just the passage of time, but it scares me & makes me really sad that it is already this difficult for me to recall.  (INSERT PIX OF ME HOLDING & CUDDLING A VERY YOUNG Q)

BabyTait, it was you who brought these memories rushing back to me tonight as we sat together in the rocker in your nursery, your warm little body pressed against me, your little hand opening & closing into a half-fist stroking my stomach & side so sweetly & lovingly.  I never want to forget your face as it is today (& was as a smaller baby) either.  (Thank goodness we take a lot of photos ... Now if I could only find the time to edit them ... ).  On my leave with you, I didn't really have the "luxury" of getting to sit around & cuddle all day.  I had a toddler to mother, too!!!  We had more of an agenda this time around.  Every morning, we'd get up, nurse you, get Quinn her "oat-me-meal" & fruit & milk.  After that we'd just hang out & play & cuddle & read for a bit until I got us all dressed for the day.  Mommy would try to get you guys (& Dexter) out for walks & to the park & sometimes to meet friends out.  Our quiet time was when Quinn was down for her afternoon nap.  It was then that you & I would sneak away into Mommy's room & curl up together to nurse & snooze on my bed (for at least half of Q's nap ... until my never-ending to do list tapped me on the shoulder).  That was sort of our time, just like Q's time with just me was when you napped.  I try really hard to have one on one time with each of you, but it's not easy.  Whatever child I am NOT with, I feel guilty about leaving - even if I am leaving you with your Daddy!!  Most of all, I want to always remember & cherish our Maternity Leave as a time of love, adjustment to being a family of 4, & endless cuddles & kisses & all of the things that you & Quinn do that Mommy's heart just soar. [INSERT SOME MAT LEAVE SHOTS OF US ALL - LIKE IN JAMMIES TOGETHER & SITTING ON COUCH, MY FAVE PLACE TO NURSE)

You two make me grin ear to ear with love, with pride, & with wonder that God somehow deemed Mommy worthy of not one, but TWO, beautiful, healthy, & amazing babies.  I still have not wrapped my head around that. You two are the biggest & best blessing I could ever imagine.

All my love to both of you for always,
Mommy

Hugs me
Goofy, giggly, ticklish
Mama, dada
Fast army crawler - accidental flip overs
Shrieks
Yogurt
Puffs
K beans
Very curious - dog food
Mamas boy - sleep, but don't want to go into too much detail to remember exhaustion & toll taking on me
Likes to t. I feed self

IttyBittyBabyTait is almost 8MO!!

This begs the rhetorical question: where has the time gone ? But seriously, where?? I can scarcely wrap my head around the idea that you are approaching 8 months ... I have also been meaning to write this post since you were 6MO. Time has clearly gotten away from me.

What can I say about you ? Where do I even begin ? You are one amazing little baby guy. You are very smiley, giggley, & are you ever a flirt!!! We quite often describe you as a flirt & a stinker. You kind of have your own agenda. You are very, very curious. When we hold you in our arms, you attempt to get your cute, chubby little mits on whatever we are holding. You like to "help". Anything is fair game from the craft beer we are sipping in to your medicine (Prevacid for reflux) to food to toys to mommy's coffee. Anything within arm's reach you go after. You really keep us on our toes!

You are an independent sitter, too! You sit so well all by yourself! Every so often you might topple over , particularly if you lean over too far or if you fall victim to your sister's efforts to push you over (hmm, I think she is a stinker , too!)

You are beginning to become mobile, too. When you are on the floor you are able to rotate around in a circle with your belly as the axis. You are trying soooo hard to push yourself forward on your tummy!! You can easily slide backward, pushing with your arms on your belly. But that isn't what my guy wants, he wants to go forward in pursuit of his toys ... & his sister ... & the cats ... & Dexter ... (there are so many interesting things in our house for an 8 month old!!)

Yesterday you demonstrated that you can clap ... For real & not just coincidentally! Oh my goodness, it was just sooooo sweet how innocently proud of yourself you were as Grandma Deuby, Daddy, Grandpa Deuby, & Mommy & Quinn cheered you on & clapped with you ! Such fun ! I just can't get over how sweet & innocent & lovable & cuddly & amazing you are!!

What else about you at this age ... Baby Taitadactyl. You can make lots of noise!! & you love to get our attention by doing so. So fun & so silly! ... You have quite the arm, too. Beyond grabbing after everything in your swath, you can toss a toy like nobody's business ! & far!

I can scarcely believe you are 8 MO. I want you to stop getting older & growing ... But I also love each new & stage for a multitude of reasons. Bittersweet is the best way to describe my feelings!

All my love for always ,
Mommy

Tait says Mama!!!

Dearest IttyBittyBabyTait -

I can't stop beaming.  You know why??  You can say "Mama"!!!!  At first, early this week, I thought it was a fluke.  But, then you said it again each morning while Mommy was changing your diaper.  And then yesterday when I came home from the gym ... & then when you were eating ... you get the idea.  =)  Mommy loves it!!!!  Not even 8MO & saying "Mamamamama" already!!  ... I love you SO much & I am SO proud to be your mama!!

All my love,
Mommy

Seven Months Old ...

& your personality is really shining through!  You are extremely curious, attempting to get your hands on whatever looks interesting in about a 2foot radius.  [insert pic fr doc where eating

Slept.All.Night.Long ... Wait, wha??!!!!

Nine-thirtyPM to 6AM.  That's 9:30PM - 6AM.  8.5 HOURS!!!!  In the event the title of this post wasn't a dead give-away, IttyBittyBabyTait, you slept all night long!!! ... And for 8+ hours!!  Woo-hoo!!  Can I get a woot-woot up in here!???  So proud of you!! ... A bit of background is in order, I feel.  This was the very first time you ever slept all night.  In fact, you managed to develop a sleep association with nursing that had you up at least 3, if not 6, times per night.  For the past 7.5 months (you are 7.5MO ... yawn).  Mommy was at my breaking point of exhaustion, frustration, lacking ingenuity & stick-to-itiveness in the middle of the night (resulting in me nursing you each & every time you woke up, thus perpetuating the sleep association of Mommy as Human Pacifier).  I physically, emotionally, & mentally could not take the drain of sleep deprivation any longer.  It was time to heed the advice of the pediatrician (advice your stubborn should have taken when it was offered, BUT I didn't want you to cry!).

So Mommy read up in Ferber's book on the Ferber Method of prolonged waiting to check & console the baby.  It goes a little something like this:

• Put the baby down to sleep drowsy, but awake, leave the room
• If baby cries/protests, let the baby cry for 5 mins.  
• Check on Baby & hang out for 1-2 mins.
• check, console w/o picking up, & get to new kids on the calendar.

Let me be the very first to say that the crying was AWFUL.  That was the whole reason I didn't want to start sleep training you!  First night = cried for 1.5 hours, second night = cried for 1 hour, third night= cried for 2 hours, fourth night = cried for 1 hour ... & then slept through!!!  You were JUST full of it this morning after all that consecutive sleep.  So silly, flirty, & crazy guy in your exersaucer.

We are ALL very excited & happy for you (& me ... Us).  It will be very interesting to see what tonight brings.  I will pump before bed just in case you sleep all night again!! Mmmmhhhhmm, & you have popped back up, you little stinker.  

Mommy loves you so SO so much, IttyBitty!!!

Proud of my BabyGuy,

love, 

Mommy