Flying objects

Trent is into throwing toys. Two days ago he threw a toy and nearly hit Laine with it. In true Trent style, he started laughing.

It is only a matter of time before he starts throwing toys off the balcony.

If you...

If you build a tower of blocks, Trent will knock it down then nearly fall over himself as his laughs himself silly.

Wrestling

The kids learned how to wrestle with each other... on the couch. So it begins. (The good news is that they both find it very funny.)

100s of pictures

We just uploaded hundreds of pictures. Flip through a couple!

Laine's words

We are at the point where Laine's words are catching us off guard and, therefore, cracking us up.

Laine and Daddy were sitting at the table together during Laine's snack. Daddy took a drink from the glass of juice in front of him. "That's Mama's juice, Daddy!" That's right, Daddy! (Daddy always drinks the drinks that I am unable to finish. When I do get back to them, the glass is typically empty but Daddy denies drinking them. Now I have Laine patrolling my cups for me.)

Now imagine Laine walking with a cup to her mouth trying to sip every last drop in the cup. The cup also happens to make her voice sound like Darth Vader. Then she busts out, "Smmoootthhie!"

Laine has a Leap-Top that instructs her to press a letter button to hear the sound of an animal so that she can guess what it is. The instructions come on when you press a button that looks like a paw. This is what I hear from the kitchen: "Push a letter button to guess what animal it is. (Pause.) Push a- Push a- Push a- Push a letter button to guess what animal it is." Laine: "I did!"

Guess who...

...can climb stairs? (Glancing at Trent.)

Standing Tall

Yesterday Trent perfected his pull-up. Now he can reach and pull himself up on his feet with minimal effort. He has been able to do this for awhile but rarely ever did it. He has gained his confidence and now uses the skill to get into mischief.

We took the kids to a gourmet ice cream shop today in East Atlanta. Laine had blueberry and rose water ice cream. Mommy had Chai Tea ice cream. Daddy had Salted Caramel ice cream. And Trent had a nap. Once Laine finished her kid sized portion she wanted some of Mommy's. When she had a taste of Daddy's her face puckered up. We couldn't even trick her into tasting Daddy's again.

Teeth!

I stuck my finger in Trent's mouth in attempts to keep him quiet while we were out to eat at a new brew-pub in Atlanta (owned by Daddy's former boss). This is how I found out that Trent's bottom two teeth came in. Both of them. Sharp? Oh, you betcha! Were they there two nights ago? (Shaking head no.) Were there any signs that they were close to coming in two nights ago? (Shaking head no.) Are there any signs that the top two teeth are coming in? (Shaking head no.)

Herb Garden

We decided to take up the bulbs in the garden bed next to the entrance way to the house. The bulbs that I planted there did terribly and many were eaten by squirrels. We turned the bed into an herb garden.

I wanted signs to indicate what the herbs were. Not having a lot of money to spend, I was determined to make the signs myself. I turned to Etsy to get inspired. That yielded no results. I then went to Michael's. I left irritated but with an idea. (I found nothing there that even came close.)

Here is the final look:


I used several of the broken terra cotta pieces we had in the backyard. I purchased the paints from a kid's paint-by-number kit. Laine finger painted the pieces then I wrote the names. After a quick spray of clear paint for protection, TA-DA, Laine and Mommy's herb markers!!

Last night

This whole lack of sleep thing is messing with me. It is no secret that my alarm goes off at 2 AM every morning for me to get up and pump.

Last night I heard Trent stirring and I woke up. When I saw the clock it said 5 AM. I was pissed that my alarm never went off at 2. (Every once in a while the alarm doesn't go off. It is weird.) Since Trent has been stirring and waking up around 5 to 5:30 recently, I hauled myself out of bed and I grabbed the big bottles for my pumping session before he could fully wake up. I was expecting a lot more milk than usual since I was so late pumping.

As I started to pump I began to think that it was nice to have slept through the night. I even remember thinking, "So this is what it feels like to be rested." Honestly, it didn't feel any different but I convinced myself that it felt great. I could tell that Trent fell back asleep, so I started planning my morning and thinking of the things I could get done with an extra 30 minutes before going to work.

I noticed that I was not filling the bottles as quickly as I expected. It was odd. I attributed it to my production slowing down again. (I am only at 30 ounces a day now.) As I waited, I answered emails. Then I noticed something else, the clock on the computer. It said 1:45 AM. "Shit," I thought, "the computer's clock is all screwed up. I need to fix... wait a minute. Is that right?" I then checked the timestamp of the email I had just sent; 1:43 AM. Well, double shit!

Apparently the storm we had the previous night made the electricity go out long enough to reset the clock in the bedroom. For some reason it resets the clock and does not just blink 12:00 when the electricity goes out.

So there I was, convinced that I had slept through the night and was fully rested, yet I had gotten up before my alarm even went off. It was sad.

New Look & Being Mobile

When I went to pick up Trent from school today, I made him crawl to me. His teachers gasped as he crawled three feet and into my arms. Such a good little boy! They said that he had been on his knees a lot today and they thought that he would be crawling soon but didn't know that all he needed was a little encouragement.

At home, I made him crawl to me so that I could feed him dinner. After dinner he wanted to go back into the playroom so he could move around and grab stuff. Once Daddy came home we had Trent crawl to him. Needless to say, by the time bedtime came, Trent was completely absorbed in getting himself to where he wanted to be.

We were all playing in Laine's room right before the kids went to bed. You could tell that Trent was thinking, "Oh look, a book on the floor! I'm gonna go get it." Once he got there, "Oh there is a stuffed animal on the floor over there. I'm gonna go get it. Oh wait. Laine has something cool. I am going to get that instead." His crawling is not made up of smooth movements, but I think they will be by the end of the week.

When it actually came time to go to bed, Trent was NOT happy. He cried. He did not want to stop crawling. When Daddy explained that he would still have the skill tomorrow morning, he seemed to calm down.


Six months ago was Laine's first haircut. This past Sunday was Trent's. We just had to get his hair out of his face. He hair is so curly it looks shorter than it really is.

Summer Time!

We finally broke out the pool that Laine got for her birthday. Laine had a lot of fun putting the water in.




She wanted to go in right away. "Water!" she kept repeating over and over. We wanted the water to sit out for awhile to warm up. So we waited until after naptime. Once she was in she had a blast! Trent was still napping when Laine first got in, but he joined once he woke up.






Water babies!

Mr. Crawler

This evening Trent crawled... one foot. Every movement was purposeful and he was focusing a lot on what he was doing. I cheered and clapped. Laine heard the commotion, peered over the table and asked, "What Tren doing?" I responded, "Trent is crawling! Yay!" Trent smiled.

I was very impressed because he has not been feeling well and was extremely tired. Yet he still put forth the effort.

Mr. Rocks

It is only a matter of time. Trent is getting on his knees and rocking. He is getting better and better at it. This means that crawling is just around the corner.

Memorial Day Weekend

Wow, what a busy weekend. Saturday we went to a BBQ at the Bacons, where Trent got to hang with Ben and Otto. Three boys all within 7 months of age... oh my.

Monday we took the kids to the big rock... err... Stone Mountain. We took the gondola up to the summit. Here is Trent enjoying the view.



We all got to walk around on the top.




And we got to see the view. And quite a bit of smog! It was a smog alert day. We went outside anyway. (Whistling) That's downtown and midtown Atlanta to the left and Buckhead to the right. (Try to lean forward towards the screen and squint to see through the smog.)


Afterwards we had a picnic lunch at the children's play area. Check out that play structure!




We went home after lunch. It was hot and the kids were tired.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Laine!

Laine is now two! AAA, I AM OLD! (Why are you snickering mom?)

This means I can officially blame her behavior on her age and not on other things... like plain old stubbornness. I did get a "no" from her today when I told her to pick up her jacket. She put it on the ground when I wouldn't carry it for her. (I was already carrying my jacket, my work bag, their school bag, and Trent in the car seat.)

On the plus side she has been acting like a typical two year old for a couple months now so I am thinking that not much will change.

Have I mentioned that Trent and Laine love each other? Laine was taking a bath last night and I had Trent sitting up playing with blocks in the bathroom. Trent kept whining. I couldn't figure out why. He started lifting his arms, so I picked him up and put him on my lap. He very quickly leaned towards the tub, got a hold of the edge, then pulled himself up so that he could see Laine. The two of them then proceeded to giggle and laugh and exchange tub toys back and forth. It was amazingly cute.

Tonight was Trent's bath night and Laine was kind enough to get Trent's head all wet by dipping the washcloth in the water then holding it over his head. He didn't mind. He was busy playing with the tub toys that Laine given to him.

Aquarium

"Gree," "Grump/Papa," Dada, Mama, Laine, and Trent all went to the aquarium today. The kids had a blast. Even though they skipped their nap, there were no melt downs, no whining, and no back-talking.

Trent was in awe of the big fish. (Look at his face in the reflection.)




Laine was in love with the little fish. Her favorite room was the wave pool in the tropical reef exhibit.




She really likes the river otters. She called them water kitties. Well, her exact words were "meow water." We knew what she meant.



The touch pools were a big hit as well.

Excellent progress

To my surprise, Trent did not refuse to eat dinner. He even opened his mouth as the spoon came! I gave up on trying to feed him rice cereal. He decided that he likes oatmeal cereal with the fruit already in it. While I am not doing the traditional veggies before fruit... well hell... at least he ate something finally!

Trent now freely rolls from his front to his back and his back to his front. Couple that with his love of grabbing onto things, is the perfect recipe for baby wraps. Yup, he grabs onto the blanket he is on, rolls, and wraps it right around himself. He just leaves his little legs poking out. He finds this to be quite entertaining.

Momma (Fill in the blank)

Laine is a good person to remind you of all the things you need.

While getting ready this morning, Laine helped. "Momma shoes," was the first reminder. So, I put on my shoes. As I tried to leave the door, Laine pointed to the coat rack, "Momma jacket." Even though it was 70 degrees out (no need for a jacket) I grabbed it anyway and thanked her.

This evening, Laine mangled her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and said, "All done." She then pushed it over to me, "Momma eat."

Happy Easter

Laine came down the stairs this morning with her basket in hand. When she got close to the bottom, she saw the first egg. "Eeg!" she softly shouted as she picked it up and put it in her basket. She then turned and saw the next one. While running to it (there was no walking) she again said "Eeg!" From there it was, "Eeg, eeg, eeg, eeg," while running about. She needed help with most of the ones that were not hidden on the floor. I am using the term "hidden" loosely. With some verbal hints she got the rest.

After she was done, she brought her loot to the kitchen where she sat down and begain to investigate the contents. The Easter Bunny knows how health concious we are with our children (especially at the age they are now). Laine opened them one-by-one. Banana chips? Nope, put that egg aside. Sesame crackers? Nope, put that one aside. Jelly bean! Shove directly in mouth. Sesame crackers? Put it aside. Craisens? Eat two, put the rest aside. Jelly bean! Nom, nom, nom. Etc. There were four jelly beans in all and Laine didn't miss them.

We went to the Bacons for the afternoon where Laine had a backyard easter egg hunt. She had a blast.

And Trent? He was more than happy to bat around an egg or two. Also, he sat up without falling over once today! Yay!

Middle of the night posting

Hello neglected blog. There has been a flurry of activity here. I am writing this with no glasses on... so... cross your fingers. Also I am writing it in the middle of the night... so... better cross your fingers on both sets of your hands.

Trent hates eating soft food. I have been working on rice cereal ever since he was 5 months and he would spit it out. The doctor recommended starting with carrots or sweet potatoes. I have tried both of those (and apples too). Now I get a funny face while he spits it out. We've got daycare on it as well and Miss Betty is convinced that she will succeed. Apparently Trent is not the first baby Miss Betty has had to work with who refuses to eat.

Laine loves to play in the world of make believe. No, not Mr Roger's World of Make Believe, her own. She sits her two stuffed monkeys at the table and has them color. Yesterday she sat them on the potty and talked them through going pee. The little monkey gets fed lunch (and has to wear a bib). Friday night the big monkey had Laine's shoes on and we took him on a walk through the neighborhood. Laine obviously pushed the stroller.

The Easter Bunny is scheduled to arrive in the morning at some point. We fear that the cats will play with the eggs and hide them on us.

Trent is nearly almost sitting on his own. He just falls over from time to time.

Laine's words are clearer and she is doing a much better job of repeating back what you say. Oh, and she loves pointing out and saying zebra. A trip to the zoo may be in order.

For all the new moms out there...

Laine would like to show you how easy it is to pump at home. Just follow her step-by-step procedure and you will have milk for your little one in no time!

First, get all your equipment together.


Find a comfortable chair.


Ensure that your equipment is assembled correctly before beginning.


Be sure to stay hydrated while pumping.


This is how you pump your chest.


This is how you pump your belly button.


This is how you pump your knees.


And to ensure ultimate sucess, this is how you pump your sippy cup.


Now, who has questions?

Development Updates

As of last night, Trent can sit up on his own... for several minutes.

Have I mentioned that his fine motor skills have greatly improved? He will be playing video games in no time. He has mastered the pull-down monkey.

He will be 6 months next week. How he got to be 18 pounds, I don't know. When he falls asleep and becomes dead weight... damn, he is heavy!

Trent rolls to his tummy with ease. Rolling to his back? Not so much.

He will lean to get in your line-of-sight, then giggle when you make eye contact.

He loves to shake his rattles. He hates it when he accidentially hits his head with it though. (He takes full swings.)

Singing helps to calm him down. He really likes Simple Gifts.

Alright, time for me to go to bed again. More updates later.

Nursing is for sleeping

Tonight Trent took a bottle but refused the last ounce. As he sat in my lap (with his back leaning up against my left arm), he suddenly turned to me, lifted his left hand, opened his mouth, and threw his face into my left boob. (It was really funny to see.)

"Would you like something sweetheart?" I asked sarcastically. He proceeded to suckle my shirt and drool.

I let him nurse and he was sound asleep in less than 10 minutes.

Last night he did the exact opposite. He cried and refused to nurse. He was hungry and wanted a bottle. Apparently, nursing is for sleeping.

Wellow

A story from last Monday(ish):

Laine picks up a blue crayon and shows it to me. "Wellow," she says.

"No, that's blue."

"Bue," she says as she puts it down and picks up a red crayon. "Wellow."

"No, that's red."

"Wed," she says and puts it down. Next up is green. "Wellow."

"No, that's green. Here let me help." I dig in her crayon box and pull out the yellow crayon. "Here, this one is yellow."

Laine grabs it, smiles, and throws it into the air. "Wellow!"

Complete Roll

Trent rolled from his back to his front at daycare yesterday. (I missed it!!) He apparently celebrated his accomplishment by taking a two and a half hour nap on the floor on his belly.

On his side

When I went to pick up the kiddos at daycare today, Trent was asleep in his crib. He was on his side and one of his hands was holding into the rail. It was adorable.

Trent grabs onto everything. If he sees it, he has to grab it and hold it. He has not learned the letting go part yet. That will come with time... I hope.

Like Laine, he thrives on routine. Earlier this week Daddy was going to give him a bottle before bed and I was going to do Laine's nighttime routine. Trent fussed, refused the bottle, and refused to calm down. Daddy and I switched places and did our traditional routine. I began nursing Trent and he was asleep in less than five minutes. Apparently all he wanted was Mommy.

You know what? I wish I had the skill to eat in my sleep like Trent. He can be passed out and snoring, yet he is still able to drink from a bottle or nurse from me. Snore, snore, swallow, snore.

Laine's comment when she dropped her crayon box last week: "Oh, darn it."

I don't care if you...

Laine is smart. Therefore, you should not use sentences that begin with "I don't care if you." Daddy learned the hard way.

For example: "I don't care if you shove that peanut butter sandwich up your nose, just don't get your peanut butter hands in your hair." (Shaking head) Daddy had to clean an abundant amount of peanut butter off Laine's nose while all of us laughed in hysterics.

Laine now laughes at basic slap-stick humor. Whenever Curious George falls in the show, Laine busts out laughing.

Trent is able to grab objects now. Not with a fluid motion but at least he can get it after a couple of tries. Mommy really put this together when she was drinking a glass of milk when Trent was on her lap. Trent hit it and Mommy almost wore it.

Mr. Comedian

Trent's newest nickname is Mr. Comedian. He loves to laugh!

He apparently fell into a fit of laughter on Saturday night when our friend was changing his diaper. (Daddy and I went out to dinner to celebrate our 10 year anniversary and my birthday- both of which were last Tuesday.) It cracked her up, which only made him laugh more.

I'd say that it is easy to get Trent to laugh. You can ticke him. You can swing in and touch him nose-to-nose, say "Hi," then quickly disappear from sight. Or you can look at him and smile. All that is apparently hilarious to him.

Roll Over

Yesterday, Trent almost rolled over from his back to front twice. Had his arm been out of the way the first time, he would have made it. The second time, he got himself onto his side before he passed out for his nap.

Baby Shhh

I needed to get a diaper from Trent's room yesterday morning. Laine was with me and Trent was asleep in his crib in his room.

I wanted Laine to stay in the hallway but just incase she ended up coming in with me I said, "Alright, Laine, we have to be quiet. Trent is asleep."

Laine the said, "Baby shhh," which is what they have taught her at daycare when they are trying to get the kids quietly past the infant rooms.

I went in and Laine came in close behind me. She took one look at Trent in the crib and said (loudy), "Hi!" Poor Trent. He jumped so high it seemed as if he got a little air. Luckly for everyone, it didn't wake up.

Who is that baby?

When Trent went to bed last night, he was this big. (Putting hands out showing his length.) When he woke up this morning, he was this big. (Moving hands away from each other by two inches.)

He grew enough to notice the difference. This growth spurt also thinned his body out. I am sure he will pack on the pounds again just before his next spurt.

One More

We read several books to Laine before she goes to bed. At the conclusion of one she goes and gets another. Sometimes we tell her, "One more, Laine," while we hold up an index finger. She will then put up an index finger as well and says, "One" (pronounced "un"). She then goes and picks out 2-3 books that she carefully stacks into a pile to make it look like one book. This of course never works.

Tonight, she tried a different tactic. When Daddy was putting her to bed, he told her one more book. She came back with two. Holding up his index finger, Daddy said, "I said one more book. That is two." Laine, without missing a beat, then held up both of her index fingers. Ah, so the negotiating begins. This ends at age 3, right?

Over due post

Alright, good luck on me finding the time to upload the video noted below. I'll be lucky if it ever gets off the video camera.

You know what is weird? Pee. Yes, you read that right... pee! I spent the whole last 4 months of my pregnancy going to the bathroom. By the time I waddled back to my desk at work, it was time to go again. But now? Sometimes I am crawling into bed at night and think, "Did I pee today?" I guess that is what happens when liquid pours from your chest.

Trent and I are still trying to figure out this nursing thing. (I posted that I can nurse him now, right? Once or twice a day? If I neglected to mention that, now you know.) I must admit, nursing is quite awesome. Trent refused to nurse though when we had visitors. He would scream and I would cry. (It is very emotionally painful to be rejected by your child.) Two hours after the last of the visitors left, he spent an hour nursing. I didn't care that both of my legs fell asleep, I was EXCITED!

Laine is quite the talker. "I fell down!" "Curious George" "Juice please" "Dinosaur Train" "Baby cry" "Bye bye" "Baby sleep, shhh" She spent a good 5 minutes blabbling on about god only knows what and Trent (who was on Daddy's lap) turned to him with an expression that clearly said, "What the hell is she talking about?" He has the "what the hell is up with you" look down pat. It cracks us up!

We took down the tree while Laine was napping. When she got up, she didn't notice it was gone and was looking outside the window that it had been blocking. Daddy asked Laine where the tree was. She did a double-take and put out her arms indicating, "I don't know!" She looked very baffled and I had to show her that it was in the backyard.

Laine enjoys using the dust-pan and broom. I sweep dirt into piles. She says, "Oh no!" and uses her little brush to help brush it up (when infact she just spreads the pile out). If I sweep dirt into her dust pan, she goes running to the trash can in the kitchen to dump it out.

She also enjoys emptying the dryer into the laundry basket. She has even pushed the laundry basket from our room, to the dryer, emptied the dryer into the basket, then pushed the basket all the way back into our walk in closet. Good to know that she does not mind helping with household chores.

Everything is a cell phone to Laine. She has been caught putting the tv remote to her cheek then jibber-jabberring on and on while pacing the house. Hmm... who did she learn that from?

Trent is holding his head up with no issue. He follows us around with his eyes and head. He enjoys the jumper. Unfortunately his legs are not long enough to reach the floor. We have to put down a pillow or cookbook so that he can practice jumping. He doesn't really jump, but he does put all of his weight on his feet. He LOVES standing. He just has to work on that whole balance thing.

Trent will say "hi" back to you. It is cute. "Hi," you say. He says, "Ah." "Hi." "Ah." "Hi." "Ah." Of course he does it with a huge smile. Too cute.