Young Love

At 3 he knows how to stick up for his girl when she's being bullied on the playground by older kids (even if it is just running to Mommy to tell!).

Finally!!

Arianna is FINALLY crawling! Yes, at almost 10 months she decided to start crawling forward. I was on the computer and she started crawling towards me. Just this week she started sitting up from a laying down position, pulling herself up and cruising a little bit.

Today while we were waiting for Cam and Daddy to get ready to go to Emma's birthday party we went out into the yard and I took some pictures of her. I know...more pictures of Arianna. I can't help it! She's such a ham, she loves to have her picture taken! She doesn't take off on me yet so I'm going to take full advantage. If I only had known Cam would run when ever the camera came out I would have done the same with him!


She was all done with the hat...

Both kids had a blast at Emma's Nanna's pool. It was Arianna's first time in the pool and she LOVED it! She was splashing, kicking and screeching! She had absolutely no problem with the water getting in her face. I wish I could do a Water Babies class with her.

Cam did very well too especially with his ear plugs (we only lost three of them...sorry Cathy and Tom!) he kept them in while he was in the water. He used only the ring tube and wasn't afraid at all. The kids had so much fun that if this was our "forever house" I would have to try and convince Steve to get a pool...

Cam's Visit With Dr. Ferber

Sorry it took so long for me to post this. I know a few of you are stalking my blog waiting! A huge thank you to my Aunt who watched Arianna for us while we went. It would have been torture with the two of them!

A little bit about why we went to see Dr. Ferber for those that don't know. About 2 months ago Cam started waking up 8-10x per night. He would call out for Steve, asked to be covered up, ask Steve to lay down with him, ask for a drink of water, and some times just cry. It got to the point where I would have to be the one to go in because he wouldn't ask me to lay down with him. In the beginning I would cover him up, get him water, etc. Then the weeks went on and we stopped giving into his requests yet he continued to wake up. I would tell him it was time to sleep and I wasn't coming in there again. Some times it worked, some times it didn't. After about a month I broke out my copy of Ferber's book (if you don't have a copy and you're a parent...I suggest you RUN to the bookstore now and buy it) to see what I could do. I also wanted to try everything I could before we went to see Dr. Ferber so that he wouldn't re-iterate what was in the book and we waste a visit.

In the book he suggests putting him to bed about an hour after they usually fall asleep and to also limit his naps to 1.5-2 hours. Well, Cam wasn't falling asleep until 9:30-10ish and there was NO way we were keeping him up until 11 so we pushed his bed time until 10. It did help. It cut his wakings at night in half. But he was still waking. He was also waking in the morning a miserable grump. He would cry and throw tantrums for 10-20 minutes until he fully woke up or snapped out of it.

So, when we brought this up at his 3yr well visit in May (at that point it was very bad and had been going on for about 3w) his Pedi referred us to Ferber rather than tackle it himself!

Yesterday's visit went very well. Cam did amazingly well. I packed his backpack with toys and coloring books and it made all the difference in the world. He played with his trucks while we talked. He didn't like being weighed but it was fine since I had all that info from last month. He kinda freaked when we went into the room and he saw all the instruments but we kept telling him we were there to talk to the doctor and he wouldn't touch him. The visit started with Dr. Ferber's NP Maile (love the name, sounds like Miley). Actually, she ran the whole visit! She got a complete history: sleep schedule, daily schedule, sleep problems, eating habits, medical history, etc. That took awhile, probably about 30-40 minutes?? After she had everything she commented on how she thought Dr. Ferber would go with our "plan." She said he would probably recommend a stricter schedule (he's big into schedules but I'm also a scheduler so I was ok with it), a gate at the door (yeah, not gonna lie, I'm not ok with this one), and limiting his sleep (ummm, he's hardly sleeping as it is!). She paged him, then left the room to "brief" him.

About 5 minutes later they both came into the room. Since you're all wondering, yes it was like meeting a celebrity. I admit, I was a little star struck! He looks nothing like his Facebook picture. He is about my height, white hair and beard both very short in length and he has very blue eyes. He told us that we were doing a good job with Cam's sleeping since he went from waking 8-10x/night 2 months ago down to just 1-2x now. But that we just needed to "clean up a few things." He tried to explain the sticker chart to Cam but Cam wanted NOTHING to do with him! He wouldn't even look at him! That was a little embarrassing but he's 3. I'm sure he gets it all the time. Dr. Ferber quickly went over his plan of action then he left it up to Maile to write it all up and see us out. Total face time with Dr. Ferber? Less than 5 minutes!

For all you Mom's here is exactly what *the* Dr. Ferber suggested:

1. Fix Schedule by shortening his night
Bedtime: 9:30pm (go into his room at this point, not before, and begin stories)
Wake up: 6:00am (wake up no matter what happens at night. He is to start his day at this time every day)
Nap: 1 hour

2. At bedtime, go into his room at 9:30pm, read stories and leave. If he wakes up during the night do very little. Just check on him from the gate.

3. Put a gate on the doorway of his room. (they gave me a handout on how to do it. The reasoning is you basically turn the room into a "crib" and follow the Progressive Waiting Approach)

4. Once he's falling asleep quickly, sleeping through the night, always waking him in the morning, and taking a good nap, then start moving his bed time back or waking him later in the morning in 15 minute intervals. (9:15pm or 6:15am)

5. Try a sticker chart and reward him for sleeping through the night and not getting out of his bed.

They also gave us a few sleep charts to fill out and track his sleep so they can see it at his next appointment. I'm on board with everything except the gate. Cam doesn't get out of his bed in the middle of the night but he some times does right after we put him down. He plays the "I'm cold", "there's monsters coming" game. Dr. Ferber said the gate will stop that and it will force us not to be able to go into his room and "reward" him by calling out. When Cam calls out each time and we go into check on him we are essentially rewarding him for calling out. Cam is getting what he wants, which is a response from us. So the gate forms that barrier (much like the crib because parents cant physically get into the crib)and stops us from rewarding him. If Cam calls out at night we go to the gate and just say "its time to sleep Cam, good night" then leave. They also gave us the time chart for returning.

So, that was our visit. I'm glad we went. We were on the right track and I'm very hopeful by the time we go back in July that we won't have any more issues.

Lovey #2!

Arianna got her "duck" from Steve's co-workers and it was love at first sight! She takes it with her every where. It has a huge rip at the bottom so I emailed the company, Bunnies By The Bay to see where there are stores near us. I told them how she loves it and how we need a new one because it ripped. They quickly responded back saying it shouldn't rip like that and they would send me out a brand new one! SCORE!! Now that's customer service!

Arianna was very excited when she saw two ducks. Surprisingly she gravitated towards the brand new one. Well, maybe not surprisingly, she is my daughter! (I think she looks like me in this picture too...anyone else see it???)

Dr. Ferber Here We Come!

I just got a call from the Sleep Clinic. They have a cancellation for tomorrow and we can take it! They called last week but it was the day of and Steve wasn't able to leave work. I'm excited and nervous!

I haven't started a list of questions yet, I have to go with a list because I don't want to forget anything. So, do any of you Mom's have a question you'd like *the* Dr. Ferber to answer??

Getting Back On Track

It has been a long time since I've worked out regularly. The pregnancy with Arianna did a number on me and I am ready to get back on track. I have been making a monthly donation to a gym for a few years now but they do not have babysitting. Going at night when Steve gets home is just not practical. I'm exhausted! So, yesterday I joined Mama's Move for the summer. I'm hoping it will work out better for all of us. Cam can take a class by himself, I can go to a fitness class and Arianna can go to the "explorazone" for an hour. I can also go to a class with Arianna while Cam plays. Our membership also includes use of the indoor play area (the explorazone) so if it continues to rain everyday I can take him there so we're not stuck in the house. Next month they are going to open up a spa area and they'll be offering waxing and a few other things all while they watch the kids! I'm excited. I just hope I can make it through a class...

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Steve's birthday and we did what every man dreams of doing on his birthday...we had family pictures done! Cam did not surprise me, he was his usual unruly self. He was all over the place, wouldn't listen, and wouldn't sit still. The photographer was great she tried so hard. She did manage a few smiles and laughs from him. Of course in the pictures that he's smiling in, Arianna is not. Oh well, maybe some day!

After trying to get shots of him alone and with Arianna for 10 minutes I gave up. Steve took him to play on the escalator ("that kid is STILL on the escalator"...name that movie!)I didn't get any pictures of him alone. When they came back he saw that Arianna was posing and having some fun so he jumped in there to try and get her to laugh. That's when we got the only good pictures of the two of them. Luckily you cannot see his bright blue Crocs!Here are some of the pictures, minus the family one because Steve would kill me!





By the time it was over we were all exhausted. Unfortunately we had gone out to dinner to celebrate the night before. We could have used a beer after that!

Arianna's 9mth Well Visit

Well, she's consistently small.
weight: 16lbs 6oz (10th percentile)
height: 26 1/4" (10th percentile)
The only thing that seems to be growing at a steady pace is her head: 45.5cm...90th percentile!!

I was talking with the nurse about her shot schedule and I asked about the dreaded MMR. Cam got it at 15 months but a friend's babies got it at 12 months. The nurse said that most, if not all of the doctors in the practice wait until 15 months to give the MMR "when language is a bit more developed." I found this very interesting. The nurse continued to say that some people delay the shot up to 2yrs. I will be discussing the shot with the doctor at her 12 month appointment. Cameron had a horrible reaction to it and since Arianna is so much smaller I am leaning towards waiting.

We did discuss her overly sensitive gag reflex and the fact that she is still on all pureed foods. She cannot handle any bits or pieces of anything that is fed to her. If it is in stick form and she can control how much is in her mouth she is ok (as long as she doesn't break a piece off and choke). If she gets a piece of something on a spoon or even a cheerio/puff she gags and chokes. He was a little surprised because he said usually those with a sensitive gag reflex have trouble with purees and liquids. He said she would most likely grow out of it but to keep challenging her. He also checked her lungs to make sure she hasn't developed any pneumonia from aspirating any food. There was this incident last week with a Biter Biscuit...

I challenged her milk sensitivity with some yogurt before the appointment and she did fine. She wasn't irritable like she was as an infant. The doc said that was great and since there was no reaction she is not allergic to the milk proteins. Since the proteins in the yogurt are exactly the same as they are in milk she would have had a reaction. He said she could have had a problem with the milk sugars though. The active cultures in yogurt break down the milk sugars so if it is the milk sugars we could still have an issue. I am going to try and give her some milk around 10 months and see how she does. If there's an issue there's always soy milk (though she did have a problem with that...). But I honestly don't foresee any problems.

She says "mama" and he was surprised by that because it is the harder of the two words to say. I like to think it's because she's a mama's girl! She is very good at crawling around on her belly and she has started pulling up on things. She can get up on all fours but she has no desire to go forward. She'd much rather stand up. He said some babies bypass crawling and go straight to cruising. I am not going to encourage that!

New foods she's had this month: waffles, toast, mango, blueberries, kiwi, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, yogurt, zucchini, summer squash, whole wheat crackers.

New words: mama

He Cracks Me Up!

This morning I was getting Play-Doh ready for Cam. He was waiting patiently for me (a first) and he said,
"Arianna's too little for Play-Doh."
I said, "that's right. When she gets bigger she can play with us."
"When will she get bigger?"
"Well, when she grows."
"Why don't you put her in your garden?"
:o)

Experimenting

Lately I've been experimenting with different settings on my camera and trying to become more familiar with what they all mean and do. I really want to get a better lens but I should know more of the basics before I do. Here are some pictures from today.








And when I knew it was time to wrap it up!

Arianna and the Dandelion

Make Way For Ducklings!

Today I took the kids into Boston. I had just planned on going to MGH to visit but since it was so nice out I got adventurous and decided to take them to the Public Garden. As usual, we left late, then we hit traffic. Cam kept asking why there were so many cars and why they were stopped. So, Cam learned all about traffic. When we got close to the huge gas tank Cam said, "look Mommy, a jumper (moon walk thing) can I go in it, pleeeease?" I tried to explain to him that he couldn't jump in it that it was just a big container. "Ok Mommy, maybe when I'm bigger I can go in the jumper?" "Sure Cam, when you're bigger." It was a long ride to Boston!

Cam was very well behaved when we went to visit. My boss had chocolate and he was beyond thrilled! We stayed for a little bit then we were off. It was a beautiful day and I really missed being in town. Especially walking down Charles Street, which Cam calls, "the bumpy road" He's not a fan of all the bricks! I longed for a slice of from the Upper Crust but it's so not stroller friendly in there. Maybe next time.

As soon as we got to the Public Garden we visited the Make Way For Ducklings Ducks. Cam had fun going from duck to duck saying, "little, little, little" until he got to the Mother duck then he said, "bbbbigggg!"

I was very nervous the whole time about Cam running off on me so we didn't go too far. We did take a walk so he could feed the real ducks. On our way over we passed a Policeman on horseback. Cam was enthralled by the fact that a Policeman actually gets to ride a horse. It was the first time he's seen a horse close up too. When we got to the pond I was afraid Cam would go in the water so I told him that if he went into the water the Policeman would come over and yell at him because you weren't allowed to go in...a little white lie never hurt anyone right? All I could picture was him jumping in and me having to go in after him. Yuck. Cam had no problem feeding the ducks his lunch. Will this kid ever eat a meal?? He was running around screaming, "quack, quack, quack" flapping his arms like a bird. He was very entertaining to watch.
I guess I've been living in the country for too long because I forgot just how fearless these ducks are. At one point the ducks started forming a circle around Cam. I thought nothing of it. I was taking pictures of Arianna and giving Cam more of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich to feed them. Well, the next thing I know a male duck jumps up and bites at Cam's fingers to try and get the sandwich out of his hand! Cam jumped back and looked at me like "WTF just happened?" I told him to drop the sandwich and to get away from them! At that point it was like a mob! Cam surprisingly didn't cry, he just grabbed his hand and said "Mommy he bit me", then we both laughed about it. Then we got the hell outta there!

I know...you're all saying "only you."

Watch Out World...

she's on a mission! She isn't a fan of crawling though she has mastered going backwards. She LOVES to stand up though. She is a very determined baby girl! If she falls she screams and screams until I help her stand back up again. She can say "mama" now, it only took 8 1/2 months!

Cameron is so great with her. He finally interacts with her and it is so wonderful to see. Here he was putting the block on her head and saying "look she's a Princess!"