{PSA: to whoever has been anonymously commenting regarding our dog: Sierra is fine and well. She was living with my in-laws for the month after Toby's birth but is back home with us now. She is still big. Still shedding, although is doing so outside now, thankfully. She probably doesn't get as much attention as she needs, but I try to walk her or get her to the dog park when I can! She turned 6 in January and has mellowed into a nice family dog. While the hair is bothering me, we are glad summer is here so she can be outdoors more where she is most happy!}
It has been 2 months since Toby joined our family and we are pretty much settled into a rhythm (as much as we can be before something new pops up, as it inevitably does).
Everything is going pretty well overall. Minus the weather. This pseudo-spring is really getting me down. I mean, as I type this, there is a super swell snow storm going on outside (how was that for alliteration?!). I mean, so much snow for the middle of April. And not just a one-and-done dump, but like, two days of continual precipitation (snow or freezing water junk) flowing from the heavens.
I am a little grumpy about this, I'll admit. I mean, I really
Okay, I'm going to stop that train before it crashes. Back to life going pretty well overall. It is true. We are making it. Some days feel like survival mode, but not all of them. Some days there is minimal disobedience from Asher, there is contented laying by Toby, there is productivity by me.
*Side note: that previous section about weather was written a few weeks ago and it was soooo miserable. But now the forecast is high 60s to mid-70s and it is glorious. Like seriously I am loving it and I feel like my spirits are lifted and my outlook is grand! (Yes, that is how much warmth and sunshine impact me!)
The Tobes is one growing baby. I mean, he is pretty much fully in 3 month clothes, and could potentially be out of them before he is 3 months if he keeps up this rate of growth. He isn't too chunky right now, but he is loooong. Which is opposite of Asher, who was (and still kind of is) a bit lower percentile in terms of height. Toby also sleeps a lot, and eats a lot, which makes me think he is in kind of one continual growth spurt. He used to be pretty fussy in the evenings but that leveled out and now he is mostly pleasant all day. At night he is sleeping 5-7 hour lengths of time (usually 9-4 and then wakes up again around 8). And when we put him in his bassinet at night, he is awake and just lays there until he drifts peacefully off to sleep. It feels like a dream that I know won't last and so I can hardly enjoy it, because it may be over any day. So I'm trying to appreciate it and the sleep, for now.
Asher is expanding his vocabulary daily and has an incredible memory. I will take credit for that, since it is probably my genes which gave him that fun ability. But I'm talking names of random things in books that he heard once or twice (Umpire, octagon, Diplodocus, motor-grader etc...). All the verses of random songs (It is Well, All Things Bright and Beautiful, 10,000 Reasons, Drops in the Ocean, The Greatest Showman soundtrack and all his slugs and bugs songs). Things that happened days or weeks ago (Things he did with my mom when she came to visit, places we drive past that he will recognize from an outing). It is kind of crazy. And must have been what I was like as a child.
He was struggling with naptime a while ago...Like refused to stay in his room, wouldn't fall asleep for like two hours, and then was super grumpy. It was a fight every day. We tried everything...until we discovered
We had another problem that needed solving and decided to kill two birds with one stone. I was bound and determined to be a minimal-screen-time kind of parent. But what ended up happening was I had a 2-year-old who begged for video time a lot, and then threw a fit whenever we had to shut it off. It was miserable. There were times I wanted to let him watch a video, but dreaded the ending of the time and how hard it was for both of us. So I decided that maybe we should have daily screen-time for about 15-20 minutes. It would be often enough that hopefully he wouldn't freak about it being done...but seldom enough that it didn't take over our days.
Tying back in to naptime incentives, we decided to make that video time a reward for going down for a nap with no fussing and no coming out of his room til his little clock light turns green. It has worked remarkably well. We do give him a few warnings if he seems like he is going to come out of his room, but for the most part he stays in and earns the video time! Now that he gets it more regularly, he doesn't seem to throw as big of a fit when it's time to be done, because he knows he will get it again tomorrow if he has a good nap. Toss in letting him push the power button off and setting a timer, and he really does well with a limited video time.
Ash is also just so stinkin' cute these days. The things he says, phrases he repeats...I'm loving this stage. He wants to pray for someone specific every night. Often it is someone who just so happens to have something "bigger" happening (sickness, travel, relationship problems, struggles at work etc...) and he has no idea, and just comes up with their name out of nowhere. It is really sweet and makes me think he has some kind of sense of who needs prayer. Neat way of seeing the Spirit working.
I am totally blanking on other things he says right now, but I'll write another post about his phrases again soon.
I'll post a few pictures of recent-ish happenings:
Asher had a nasty cough that worried me...bordered on sounding like whooping cough. So I took him into Urgent Care. They had a sign posted that if you had a cough you had to wear these little masks, and they had Disney ones for kids. He was a little hesitant until I told him I would wear one too. Then he loved it. And wore it the rest of the day.
(He didn't have whooping cough...just croup. He had that horrid cough for almost 3 weeks after his 1-3 day contagious period at the beginning. not fun)
I love this boy and his expressions.
Asher is very into drawing dots on his easel. He is precise (note the tongue), and likes to use all the colors. He has now expanded to bigger blobs (he says they are chips), and lines.
My dad came to visit us to meet Toby and spend some time together. My mom was on another little trip and so it worked out for him to come while she was gone. We had so much fun in those two days he was here. He is such a great Papa and loves on us so well.
Due to being out of the water most of the winter season, Asher was a little apprehensive at first to swim, but Papa won him right over and pretty soon they were splashing and jumping and doing all kinds of fun pool things!
At our first bonfire of the season! Toby ended up being happier than he looks here. And Asher is a blur because he is always moving...
These are updated side-by-side pictures of Toby and Asher at 1 month old.
Toby is on the left, Asher on the right
People keep saying how much the look the same, but I mainly see the distinct differences.
I mean, they have similar facial expressions sometimes but Asher leans more to Ben's side and Toby leans more to my side.
This was taken on my birthday morning. Both boys cuddled up with me in bed as Ben was leaving for work. Couldn't think of a better way to start 29!
1 comment:
Thank you for the Sierra update.
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