Tyler's 6 months!

Yep, Tyler is already 6 months.  Sniff, sniff.  I'm so blessed that I can be with him at home and see him grow everyday. He's so amazing and is eager to see and learn new things.  At his 6 month appointment he weighed 18 pounds and was 28 inches tall.  I'm like, seriously!  Just for the record, I'm not over feeding him or anything and this kid is super active, so I really have no idea how he is so big.  He's in the 75th percentile for weight and height and is in the 85th for his head circumference.  He wears 12 month clothes and I've already pulled out Hunter's 18 month box of old clothes.  It's actually kinda hard finding clothes that will fit him from Hunter's old stuff because he's so much bigger in the waist and legs.  Hunter was (and still is) so skinny so I'm really just trying to find onesies to fit him because they fit him best. He is just about crawling. He army crawls everywhere and pushes to get up and rocks some but just hasn't quite figured it out yet.  Hunter makes a big gasp every time he gets up to try and crawl because he knows that's what he's trying to do so Hunter will get on all fours and show him how to do it.  It's so cute.  Then I think to myself that Tyler is going to explore all of Hunter's toys and then I'll have another challenge to get through because Hunter really isn't into sharing these days.  Sigh.  

Let's talk about Tyler's sleeping....or how he doesn't sleep!  He sleeps but he wakes several times during the night. It has to be teething.  When I put him down to sleep around 6:30 for his bedtime, he will wake around mid night wanting to eat.  Then another 3 hours the same thing and then another 3 hours later.  Yeah, I'm pretty pooped these days.  Especially, now that I'm working I can't even think about taking a nap.  Also, I weened Tyler.  It wasn't so much me, it was him.  During the day he would only BF in his room because of all the distractions so on the weekends when I would need to take care of both the boys or at night when Sean works, I would have to take him there every time to eat and it got frustrating for all of us.  So it got to the point that I would pump and feed him a bottle and he would drink that bottle anywhere!  I did that for awhile then it was like double-dutying feeding him to have to pump and then feed. He BF at night with no problems and we did that for awhile until I was pretty much dried up so we have been on formula.  He had no problems which I knew he wouldn't and we are all happier now.  My big relief is the whole bedtime routine is much easier with both the boys.  I didn't have to take Tyler in his room to BF him while Hunter would be alone watching Mickey Mouse Club in the living room for a little while or coming in Tyler's room distracting him and then not eat and me convincing Hunter to be quiet and bring books or something in there to do until we were done.  Now Tyler and Hunter drink both their milks at the same time after bath time and I get to have them both right next to me! What a relief!  Seriously.  It got pretty hard.  I part of me does feel a little guilty for not sticking it out longer with the whole BF thing because I BF Hunter until he was 10 months but at least I made it to 6 months with Tyler and he is definitely a healthy boy.  No problems in that area.  LOL.  So back to Tyler's sleeping.....after talking to his pediatrician about how much he should be sleeping at night with him eating 3 meals a day and milk throughout the day, it was time to do the old "cry it out method".  Now I'm not one of those parent's who lets their baby CIO for 2 hours or anything like that so a few days ago, I tried it to see how he would do for one of his nap times (btw, I would just put him in his swing for naps) and he CIO for about 20 minutes so that was nothing.  Then, before, for his whole bedtime routine, I would just put him in the swing and then move him to his crib before I went to bed and that always worked fine.  Now, he is in his crib after the whole routine and he CIO about the same time the other night and slept til about 1 am and then I fed him a big bottle and he didn't wake until 5 am.  So we are making progress already and that's how it's pretty much been for the past few nights.  I'm not complaining that bad because Hunter didn't sleep through the night until he was 8 months old so I'm thinking in a couple more months he won't be making a peep.  Wishful thinking. =) Here's some photos that I took of him one day.  Not the best because he didn't take that great of a nap that day.  We'll take more when I have his brother around to make him laugh. 

"Can I help you?"

"Hey mommy!"

I love his little mannerisms..

"Oh geez, mom..another one!"

Also, remember how I told you that I was doing the whole weight loss thing and gave myself 2 months?   Well, I've only lost 6 pounds and some pre-preggo clothes are starting to fit more but I still have a long way to go.  Plus, now, that I'm not BF anymore, I'm on a strict diet. In fact, Sean is dieting too.  He cut out soda (which is a huge deal for him) and I have literally cut out everything...hahaa...no, my big thing is carbs so I cut that out.  Sean and I eat grilled chicken, salads and vegetables for dinner every night and we have cut out all sugar.  I'm going to extend this weight loss thing for another 2 months because I feel like I can officially try now that I'm not BF anymore so I'll show you the before and after photo 2 months from now.

Hunter's language...

Hunter is just about 2.5 years old and now that he talking more his personality has really started to really show.  He is really starting to crack us up now.  Here are some of the things that he says to us on a daily basis to us:

1).  He used to say "more" very clearly but now that he is in this bilingual school he says "mas" which means more. On top of that he has "more" and "mine" mixed up too for some reason (English form).  So whenever he wants "more" of something he will say, "mine" and then when I correct him and ask, do you mean "more" he will quickly respond and say "Mas"!  Its so funny.  Another Spanish word that he throws out there all the time is "agua" and to him "agua" means milk and water.  So I always have to double check with him for which one he wants and either go to the fridge for the milk or to our water cooler for water because it doesn't just mean "water" to him.  Just an FYI, when our bilingual friends come over and speak to him in Spanish and ask him to do things he knows exactly what they are saying and he goes and does it.  We are very impressed that he knows so much Spanish already!

2).  There's a park right in the beginning of our neighborhood, so every time we leave and enter it, he always screams, "P-a-r-tttt"....so recently, we've been correcting him and telling him that its, "Par-kkk" but when we tell him that we really stress the "kuh-kuh" part so now when he repeats it back to us he says, "Part---ku-ku-ku".  LOL.

3).  At times when we are outside and Millie wants to play, I have Hunter go find her ball so that he can throw it to her.  Well, sometimes Millie just starts running all around Hunter because she's excited and wants him to play with her and Hunter for whatever reason hates it.. So he will yell at her and tell her to "Go away, Meh"...So once Millie goes away, Hunter then goes and finds her ball and will run around her and pretty much tease her with it.  Which I have to tell Hunter that isn't nice.  

4). Hunter is always telling us to sit down.  We've had to correct that one too because it used to come out as, "sh-it down, daddy"..hahaha!  So now its more of a "Seeet down, daddy". Ohhh, my silly boy. 

5). Also, for whatever reason, Hunter doesn't say, "yes" but rather "okay".  One morning, I had brought him to school after him being home from a stomach virus that I thought went away.  Sure enough, when he sat down at his little table to eat breakfast with his buddies, he puked everywhere.  LOL.  So I took him into their bathroom there and cleaned him up before we went home and I told him that, "its okay and asked if he wanted to go home (I was going to bring him back home regardless of his answer)..he replied very loudly with relief that I asked him, "Home? Ohhhkay, Hunter go home".  It was so cute and I'll never forget that. 

These are just a few that I jotted down the other day.  I'm sure there are so many more.  I captured this video (its actually 2 clips, same conversation) of Hunter talking to Sean on the phone while he was at work one day.  Which by the way, he just started having conversations with him and whoever else calls on the house phone. He also gets confused with the house phone versus my cell phone when we call his grandparents because we usually just FaceTime with them so he thinks that the house phone does the same thing when he talks on it.  He will pull the house phone from his ear and hold it up to something that he thinks they can see.  Its so funny.  

He cracks me up.  I'm looking forward to more and more hilarious words and conversations that we will have with him.  He's growing up so fast!

Tyler is 5 months old!

It's been awhile since I've done an update on Tyler and how he's been doing.   He just turned 5 months old and yes, still growing like a weed!  He mostly wears 9 month clothes but occasionally I put on a 12 month onsie that does fit him but that's just because I haven't done his laundry and that's all I can find to put on him =).  He has been eating solid food for about 3 weeks now.  I mix his fruits and veggies with his cereal and he really likes that.  Plus I think it stretches those little jars of food for him to have 2 meals instead of one from it.  I remember Hunter not really liking cereal at all and would only want bananas, sweet potatoes or apples to eat.  So far, Tyler has eaten sweet potatoes, squash, apples, pears and peaches.  He loves all of them....not that I didn't think that he would. He's is going to be my little eater. I really hope he isn't super picky like Hunter was and is now.  He eats twice a day (morning and night).  I feed his little belly up right before bedtime so that he will sleep 7-8 hours for me.  Currently, he is not sleeping those 7-8 hours straight because I believe he has another tooth coming in.  He's been waking me up every 2 hours the past couple nights.  Yeah, I'm exhausted. I forgot this whole teething thing can do that to ya! Anyway, he has started to push his body up with his arms and does 360's and rolls all over the place on the floor.  I've had to pretty much limit his tummy times out in the den where the big rug is because he rolls so far and all over the place that while he is in the living room he ends up on the tile in a flash and I'm afraid of him banging his head hard on the tile. I know I've said this before in previous posts but I'll say it again: He absolutely loves Hunter.  He does not take his eyes off of him if he is in the room.  He cracks up at him when he is nearby and loves when Hunter plays with his cars or his choo choo's near him.  He stares as if he is contemplating how he is going to grab one of those cars or the choo choo's to play with him.  It's so cute and it really melts my heart.  I know one day Hunter is going to pitch a fit when Tyler is able to actually crawl over to them and grab it but we will just have to cross that bridge when we get to it.  Ha!

Yummy!

This kid loves to jump.  He also in the phase of everything needing to be in his in mouth!

Hunter is such a funny little boy.  He sings the ABC song everywhere!  He is obsessed with his firetruck that he pushes everywhere outside.  He's had that thing since he was a baby and learned to walk from it and since then has really made that his favorite outdoor toy.  He loves for us to push one of his other toys around with him in the yard and loves to quickly turn his firetruck around and crash into us.  He is so anxious to get back in our pool.  The water is still cold but we keep telling him that in a couple more months it will be warm again.  We do have a little pool for him that we have him jump and splash in because its warm all the time so that helps.  He loves to come home from school and play in it.  I guess that is a perk from living in South Florida.   It's 80 degrees here everyday.  We did have a little cold spell a few weeks ago but I think that's it for our "winter time".  Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.  Hunter has just recently realized that he's the big brother and that he is important for Tyler so he does really well with hanging out with Tyler while I need to make dinner or be on the phone with something.  He will go to him and smile and dance in front of him and it makes him laugh.  He's so sweet to him.

"Frie-tuck"

Hunter loves the chicken nuggets at Chik-Fil-A so at least this is one meal that I know he will eat =). He loves to dip them in "ket-chee"

I'm busy as usual. I know everyone thinks that if you are a SAHM that you just get to kick back and just do laundry and take care of kids which looks like a "piece of cake" (I thought so too before I become one) but I feel like I'm almost busier!  I do work from home now.  I want to say roughly 4 hours a day (in between Tyler's nap times) and take care of Tyler who has become quite a handful.  Hunter does go to school full time which I get up every morning to drop him off by 8 am, then when I get back to the house, Tyler usually wants to play for a little bit and then he goes down for a 30-45 min nap  and this is when I jump on the elliptical machine.  Then during nap times and when he is quiet I am working.  I do like how I'm on a routine. Not just with the kids but with myself and back to working.  I'm starting to feel that balance back in my life.  For awhile there, it was JUST KIDS.  Not that taking care of my babies isn't what I wanted but when you come from working a full time job with a stressful commute I have to admit it took some adjusting to.  We also go to Palm Beach where my boss's office is and I'm able to take Ty.  So he comes to work with me.  I just let him play in the Pack N Play and bring food and a bunch of toys and he's content.    Plus, on top of being a mom, I'm a wife too!  LOL.  That means making dinner every night! What!?  Yep, if my husband is making the dough, I need to make him dinner that night if he's home. I'm happy to do it though.  I used to cook alot and get really into making some yummy stuff before we had kids and now I have a little more time to plan and make something that looks like it came straight out of Top Chef. Not sure that it tastes just like it came out of Top Chef but I try.  The Crock Pot has been my best friend.  I love making the meat/protein in there and then I make everything else with it later.  It saves lots of time and its so good!!! 

My little assistant at work =)

We are going to have some family come in over the next several months and we are looking forward to it.  Sean's brother and sister out in California and Washington are coming at the end of March and then in May my mom, brother and his wife will be here.  While they are here, Tyler is going to be baptized.  Matt and Jessica will be his Godparents.  I'm so excited! Hunter was baptized during the same Memorial Day weekend as Tyler will be.  I'm planning on Tyler wearing the same outfit that Hunter did.  It's a 12 month size and was a little big on Hunter when he wore it when he was 8 months so I'm hoping Tyler will be able to fit in it.  Hopefully, he will be crawling by then and  thin out a little. We'll shall see.... Also, in April we are planning another trip to Disney.  My mom is going to meet us in Orlando and we are going to see one of my good friends', Shell that I've known since high school along with her family. We're so excited!!!

My babies.  Just love them to pieces.

It's 2014!

So far 2014 has been going pretty well.  Tyler is thriving every day and can't believe he is going to be 5 months very soon.  He sits up (almost unsupported) and is really becoming aware of his world. Remember how I told you how much of a sleeper he is...well, not so much. He gets his usual morning nap and now only takes one nap in the afternoon (opposed to 2).  He is so intrigued into playing and wanting to be learning more in his new world that he could care less so by the time 6:30 pm comes around he is pooped.  I try and feed him cereal around that time so that he has an extra full belly but if he falls asleep in his bouncer while Hunter is getting a bath then I'm like oh well.  On average, with or without the cereal he will sleep in his crib about 7 hours.  Then when he wakes in the middle of the night I bring him back in the bed with us.  I know that soon I need to break this habit but I really enjoy this.  I tell Sean all the time that if this is our last baby, that I'm going to enjoy every bit of him!  Haha.  He doesn't mind but he does ask me every now and then how long its gonna last and I just tell him when I'm ready I will keep him in his crib all night. Haha. It's so funny how from having Hunter I was so adamant about him not being in the bed and creating a habit to now where I'm just a bit more relaxed about it. I'm almost there but not quite yet.  Tyler and Hunter are both doing really great together.  They love each other so much.  It makes my heart melt every time I see some sort of interaction between them.  Here is a video that I ended up catching the end of Tyler cracking up at Hunter running back and forth across the room. I'm sure you all are like me, by the time I catch them doing something, its almost too late.  I'm always ready just seems like I'm 2 minutes too late! 

I have also started working at a job from home.  It wasn't absolutely necessary for me to do this but someone from my former firm asked me to help her with some job recruiting for her own agency where I could do it part time and remotely.  So of course, I said why not?!  I was actually getting to the point of wanting to do "something" not just to make an income but something where I was feeling like I was important or contributing to society in someway.  I know. It's been a little hard adjusting from working full time to being home now so now that I have been officially off "maternity leave", I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do and I found it!  On top of this, I had to make a decision and put Hunter back in school full time instead of the part time that he was going every week.  It was tough for me and I felt pretty guilty because that was the whole point of me not going back to work so that I could be with the boys but honestly,  Hunter does very well in school.  I was realizing that the days that he was there (part time) that he was coming home and listening to me very well and also he was eating more there than he was at home. Hunter is such a picky eater and when I would come to pick him up the teachers would brag about him eating so well (like green beans and carrots!!!) where I was like no way!! He doesn't even touch them at home.  After learning about him doing so well there, I realized that it was "OK" for me to have him there full time and then I can just go pick him up around 3:30.  Plus, after I talked to his director at his school she convinced me that leaving him a couple more hours than what I did before wasn't so bad because he takes a nap for 2.5 hours during that time.  Sean is still working as much as he can because I'm working strictly off commission but at the same time everything seems to be balancing perfectly.  At the same time, I am still grateful to be home and have flexibility with my children and would not trade this for anything.  I am so happy that I am able to be close to them (even if Hunter is up the street in school) and be able to work at the same time whereas before I felt so trapped and had zero flexibility.

I meant to write about this is my last blog but Marley has decided to move onto another home.  I knew it was a matter of time because he started coming home for dinner less and less.  I do feel bad because I feel like I failed as a pet owner but at the same time, I'm relieved.  It's a lot with 2 kids and 2 pets.  Millie is pretty high maintenance herself but she was my first "baby" so I am not ever complaining about her and plus she is really great with the boys. Anyway, so we just have Millie now.  From time to time, Hunter will casually mention the "kitty" and we just tell him that he is at a new home and he is okay. We will miss him and glad that he is happier with a new family that can give him more attention that we could (that's what makes me sad).

Sean bought me an Elliptical machine for Christmas and I'm working out like crazy to lose the rest of this baby weight.  I have taken a Before photo and I'm giving myself a 2 months to lose this weight.  It's so hard when you breastfeed because I feel starving all the time or at least in my case but I'm determined to lose the rest of this weight and will keep you guys posted.  So in 2 months, you will see the Before and After photo.

Here's a couple more photos of the boys that Sean took while watching them one day while I needed to go train for my new job.  So cute.  

Another "Paci" photo where Hunter needed to have his too.  

Tyler gives great head massages..  =)