Just One of Those Mom Days

Yesterday started out silly, looked like it might be a good day, but turned out to be one of those mom days instead. Brooklyn came at 7:30 and was sad for her mom to leave as soon as she got here. Alisha said that she had a rough night. I just took her upstairs and outside to let her say goodbye to her mom and she got happy quickly, so I thought she was going to be ok. Then we went back down and I laid her down so she could catch up on sleep. No complaints. Good, I thought to myself. However, Ollie decided to wake up 10 minutes later at 8 o'clock, an hour earlier than usual. He was cranky and with in minutes, the whole basement was awake. I got Oliver breakfast, changed and dressed. I changed Dex's diaper and asked Brian to dress him. He put the shorts on first and then instead of fixing it, he just snapped the onesie over the shorts so that Dexy looked like a bimbo, 80's aerobics instructor. I made him fix it. Then the fighting started. Brooklyn pinching Oliver, Oliver pulling Brooklyn's hair, toy stealing, pushing, whining. They both ended up in their poor choice spots - Brooklyn twice and Ollie 3 or 4 times. I decided that they needed to go outside. Since I had cleaned the little pool I got on the ball, put both kids in
swim diapers and trunks, sprayed them down with sunscreen, grabbed some balls and cups and took them out to the pool. They had a great time! They were splashing, dumping water, throwing the toys out, whatever they wanted and it didn't matter because we were outside. There was no fighting and I was so proud of myself for getting them outside. We went back in after about an hour, ate lunch and I put them down for naps. Good, I thought to myself. Not good. Ollie went down fine. Brooklyn tantrumned in her playpen for several minutes before she finally gave in. I nursed Dex one side and he fell asleep, but when I tried to lay him down, he woke up. Nursed the other side and just laid down next to him. He stayed asleep. Good, right? Wrong! Brooklyn woke up and started fussing after only 30 minutes of sleeping. I got her out, rocked her in the rocking chair and she fell back asleep. I just sat there with her for a while and everything seemed fine until Dex realized that I wasn't there anymore and he started fussing. Brooklyn was asleep so I went to put her back in her bed to get Dex. As soon as I laid her down she let out an ear shattering scream that abruptedly ended everyone's naps. I was suddenly surrounded by
crying! At this point I had had it! There had been so much fighting, whining, spitting, and crying that to have the naps cut short was the last straw. I gathered each crying child from their bed, plopped them all down on my bed and turned on Backyardigans. I just let them watch TV for the last hour and half until Brooklyn's parents came to get her. Hopefully today will be better. Ollie has already pulling a case of tools off the bed onto the floor and almost on his foot and Dex has already exploded out a diaper; all the way up his back and on my bed where he was laying. Oh, and Mom - I think it's me who needs something. I just don't know what. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon.

The Park and More

On Wednesday, the boys and I went for a walk in our double stoller. We walked around the neighborhood and ended up at the Midvale Park. The Midvale playground is, however, pretty lame if you're under the age of about 6. Ollie had more fun sitting under the playground dumping handfuls of sand or running around in the grass than he did on the actual playground. Dex ended up falling asleep on our way there and just slept in the stroller while we played. When we got back to our place of residence, Dexy was still sleeping, so I decided to clean out the kiddie pool I had picked up from a neighbor who was going to throw it away. I just let it sit there dirty all summer and fianlly got around to cleaning it. Turns out, that I quickly figured out why I had put it off for so long. As soon as I got the hose turned on I had a little helper. Ollie ended up all the way in the pool. He probably was hot from playing outside and I just let him play and then stripped him down when we were done.

This Week's Happenings

On Monday, we were suppose to go to the lake to go boating with Brian's family, but the weather forcast said that there were going to be thunderstorms that day. So, we went to Olive Garden with his mom and sisters instead. When Oliver had finished his fill of breadsticks, he started feeding what was left to his Dad. "Here Dad. Let me just shove this piece of breadstick all the way down your throat for you." Dex has just been acting more and more like a big baby and less and less like a new baby all the time. Here he is playing some more with toys and already working on rolling from back to tummy. Ollie is so big that he can even drink from a really big boy cup. Funny, cute boys!

The Infamous Yellow Tub

The bathroom in the basement that we live in is incredibly small. There's barely enough room for one person to be in there and there's no bathtub, just a small shower. So, we had to improvise. Ollie got washed in the sink for the first few weeks that we lived here, but he quickly got too big for our puss green, kitchen sink which is also smaller than average. Marie had this old, yellow tubberware bin that she didn't use anymore. There's cracks all over it, but I figured that it was better than nothing. I took it home, duct taped the cracks (ghetto, huh?), and turned it into our "bathtub." He sure has fun in it even though it's a little sad looking. But sadly, I think that he's starting to get too big for this too. And Dex is getting too big for our blue, baby tub. I guess that I'll just have to improvise again. Maybe this time I'll be able to work something out that will fit both of them otherwise the whole bathing routine will continue to be quite the lengthy process - fill Ollie's yellow tub, wash him, dry and dress him, dump his tub, get him in bed, fill Dexy's blue tub, wash him, dry and dress him, dump his tub, get him in bed - needless to say, it takes a while. But Oliver has loved his tub and we'll cherish the memories, even if I don't so much love it now!

More Firsts

Oliver is of course a pro at eating, but the other day when we finally all sat up to eat dinner together (we rearranged and put a table out in our living area that we can actually all fit around), even Dexter got to come. We put him in our softer booster that can recline and I gave him a toy because he's been starting to try to grab things. I didn't know if he would really play with it, but he did. First time playing with a toy! My babies are just both getting so big!

Another 1st For Dexy

A few days ago we got another first from Dexter. Brian was playing with him and he started laughing! Yay! I love when they laugh for the first time. Dexy has been so smiley and happy and it's seemed like there was always a laugh just on the tip of his tongue. He figured it out and it was so cute! What a precious boy!

A Few Long Nights

Before we even took the binkies away, we had a couple of long nights. The night we got back from our last hurrah in St. George, we were locked out of our basement. I had forgotten our key and our landlords weren't home. Since Rock 'n Roll Larry is in a band, they could have been at a gig and who knows when they would get home. It was already a little past bedtime because we had stopped in Lehi to celebrate Marie's b-day with her. So, we just hurried over to Grma and Grpa Bowles house. But our kids are the first grandkids on their side, so they didn't have a portable playpen at their house. I had to go buy one so that Oliver would have some where to sleep (they ended up buying it from me the next day so that it could stay at their house for future use - good idea!). He didn't go to bed until 10:30 that night. The next night we were back in our place, but he still had a rough night. He woke up every hour from bedtime at 8:30pm until 3:30 am and then every 2 hours until he woke up. The next night, Brian got home from Denver and I thought that maybe that would help him sleep, but no such luck. I tried everything I could think of: brought him a drink, turned the sleepy music back on, took his bee that he use to like to sleep with in to him and then back out, gave him tylenol thinking maybe his teeth were hurting, even changed his diaper and his damp jammie pants until morning came and he looked like this! We were both tired from so many rough nights and I just couldn't figure out what was wrong. Finally it came to me later that day. I had a stroke of mommy instinct genius - we had been traveling for 2 months and Oliver had been sleeping in...a pack 'n play not a crib! I got it! I went into his room, moved the crib out of the way, vaccumed up all the dead spiders while I was rearranging anyway, took the bassinet out of the playpen where Dex had been sleeping, and dragged it into Ollie's room. I made it all comfy with the "minkus" and his bear comforter and put all of his pillows and stuffed animals in there and that night he seemed excited to go to bed. I knew I had solved the problem and sure enough; that night he slept all night without a single peep! My mommy instinct was dead on, at least this time around anyway.

Dexy "Talking"

Dexter has recently been becoming quite vocal. He's starting to be a big time "talker." Here's a video of him chatting with me. It's a couple minutes long, so you don't have to watch the whole thing if you get bored. I just think that he's amazingly cute, so I didn't want to stop it until he was totally finished telling me what he had to say.

Binky Liberation Day!

Last week Alisha took Brooklyn (the little girl that I babysit) to a dentist. Their dentist told them that the binkies really need to go before the child is 18 months old or it can affect their teeth long term. So, Alisha cut up Brooklyn's binkies and had her help throw them away. Oliver will be 18 months old on September 4th. I've been thinking about taking his binkies away for a while, but didn't want to do it while Brian was in Denver and we were traveling all about this summer. No need to make extra trama. But, now the timing was right, especially since Brooklyn will show up Tuesday morning binky-less. Mom told me that Heather (we think) wrote one of her kids a story about them to help them get rid of something, so that's what I did. I wanted it to be kind of fun and special and I wanted him to be somewhat prepared. So, for several days I talked to Ollie about throwing away the binkies on Sunday. Then today, we went to the Bowles house for our usual Sunday night dinner where we had what I have been calling Oliver's "big boy" party. Just before we left and on the way there he had a binky in his mouth and one in each hand. He was saying his last goodbyes, I think. We ate dinner and let him play for a while. Then, I busted out the story that I made. We read the story with cute pictures of him as a baby with a binky and now as a big boy who doesn't need a binky to do fun, big boy things. Then we all walked outside with him to the big garbage. I held him up and started to throw away the binkies (we had several). He was reluctant to let go, but finally did with a little help. We closed the lid and everyone clapped and cheered for him. From then on, I tried to make it a fun, Ollie focused time. We ate cake, jumped on the trampoline, learned to play Ring Around the Rosies, played with cool toys, and even stayed to let him take a bath in a real bathtub (I just forgot to bring him jammies which is why he's only wearing a diaper in that one picture)! It turned out to be really fun and actually went pretty much just how I wanted it to go. And tonight when we got home, he went to bed without a binky like a champ! Just a couple of whimpers and that was it; no big fuss or loud crying. He handled it beautifully! I am so proud of my big boy!

Dexter's 1st Roll-over

Yesterday, August 13th, Dexter rolled over from his tummy to his back for the first time. I actually didn't see the first time, because I had laid him down on his tummy to go do something and when I got back to him, he was laying on his back. I did, however, witness and record the second monumental roll-over. I took a couple of pictures of him in the process, but then I switched to video to capture it on film. He is just getting so big. Only 3 months old and he's already rolled over. I'm so proud, *sniff *sniff!

Dexy Sleeping

Dexter likes to fall asleep all cuddled up, with his blanket even over his face. He gets very sweaty, but that's the way he likes it. However, he eventually gets sound asleep and too hot. Then he wants to be exactly opposite. He throws the blankets off and sprawls out. Got cool off some how, huh?

Ollie the Dog

Oliver loves dogs. When we are here in St. George, he even loves to play with Duckets who is a bigger dog than what he's use to (think Hodgie and Spanky). He loves dogs so much that sometimes he acts like a dog. We were outside on a walk and when we got back Ollie was thirsty and overheated as usual. But before I could get him a drink, he helped himself to a drink from the bowl of water that was out for Duckets. Mmmm, delicious!

Swimming

We are down again in St. George. Brian is still in Denver and I get lonely and depressed when I'm left alone in our brown, now spider infested, "cat-yack" basement. So, when I get the chance, I just come down to the sunshine to play with my family. This Saturday, August 8th, was Mountain America apprection day at Sand Hallow Aquatic Center and since Cristina works there, we got to go for free. Oliver's loves swimming and I didn't want to miss the chance, so Cristina and Derek let Ollie and I come with them to play. Jude and Dexter were sleeping, so they stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa. Knowing how crazy Ollie is, I put a life jacket on him and just let him tear off into the water. He LOVED it! He learned that he could float on his back and even liked it when we would pull him through the water by his life jacket. He also loved going down the big slide. He was having so much fun that he willingly gave me 'kisses.' It was lots of fun! I'm glad that we went.

Here's How it's Done

When I put Dexter down for some tummy time, Oliver often comes over and sits or lays by him. Over the last couple of days he has actually been laying down on his tummy with Dex. It's almost as if he's showing him how the whole tummy thing works. I guess that if you're the big brother, then that's your job - showing the little brother just how it's done!

Ollie Loves Dexy

Oliver loves Dexter so much! He is always trying to give him hugs and kisses. He goes over to Dex or climbs up on the couch and lays right next to him (sometimes too right next to him, but he means well). I'm so happy that Ollie is not only taking to Dex so well, but that he seems to even be excited about having a little brother. It's so sweet!

Mr. Cool

Since Brian is out of town, Hollianne and Angela came with us when we went to the doctor's office for Dexter's appointment on the 5th. Neither of them had to work that day and it was nice to have the extra help at the doctor's. On the way home, Oliver pulled Angela's sunglasses out of her purse, so she helped him put them on. He leaned back into his car seat and was acting totally chill! It didn't even bug him to be wearing such big sunglasses and when they fell down over his nose, he wanted them back on. Ollie - a totally, laid back dude!

They Grow Up So Fast

Oliver definitely thinks that he is a big, independent boy! Here he is watching the Backyardigans on the iPod and standing on his zebra toy. And he wasn't just watching or just standing. He was making sure to "operate" the iPod and was bouncing the zebra! He did fall off the zebra toy a few times, but kept getting right back on to do it again.

Beautiful Dexter

Dexter is such a sweet baby. And so big! Today he had a doctor's appointment where we found out that he weighs 15 lbs. 4 oz. and is a whopping 26 1/2 inches long. He is just barely 3 months old today! When Dr. Lash saw his height, he asked if it was correct. When I told him that I watched the nurse measure him and it was correct, his next question was, "Is there height in the family?" After I told him that Grandpa Bowles is 6 foot 4 it seemed to make more sense to him. Here is Dexy sporting a eurohawk styled for him by Hollianne. And it looks like I just might have myself a future thumb sucker! I love how he's cuddling with his burp cloth while he's figuring out exactly how this whole thumb sucking thing works. What a beautiful boy!