Firemen

I was all set to post today about some of our favorite recipes we have made since we (I) started weight watchers, or to post about moms and selfishness (oxymoron), but instead, I thought I'd tell you about the crazy day I had and post some more awesome photos by Jordann Tomasek Photography...

So, I know this is going to jinx it (but frankly, I'm not hoping it will happen again anyways), but Brody slept through the night last night.  Not that 8 hours crap that "sleep experts" (whoever they are) call sleeping through the night.  Like actually from 6:30 until 6 am without waking once.  We've tried EVERYTHING under the sun to get this kid to sleep, literally.  If you recall, I read every sleep book on the market with Kayla.  Nothing worked with Brody.  Nothing even made the slightest dent towards longer sleep stretches.  He would wake up every 2 hours or so after 1 am (sometimes earlier).  Every night.  No matter what.

So last week, I decided to try dream feeding and to give it an entire week before giving up and marking it a failure as well.  5 days made no difference.  2 nights ago, we decided to move Brody's bedtime up 30 minutes (like earlier, because despite common sense, sleep books will all tell you to move bedtime earlier if you want them to sleep later/longer.)  He was starting to become unbearably fussy between the hours of 4 and 6 pm.  So last night, something must have clicked.  Or maybe Justin and I are so exhausted that we didn't hear him screaming (unlikely).  No matter, he slept awesome.

So today, with renewed energy, I took the kids to work for a visit after Brody's first nap of the day.  On our way home, Brody was kinda fussy and starting to fade fast.  Even though he was likely asleep for a bit, I decided to try to transfer him from the car seat to the crib so he would get a better nap in.  Miraculously, this worked like a charm.  So I made Kayla and I lunch prior to her nap time.

Fast forward 20-25 minutes and the fire alarm starts going off in our condo building.  WTF.  You are kidding me right??  So, a little flustered (and in shorts and a t-shirt), I run to check on Brody.  Still passed the eff out.  Seriously.  I run back to the living area and Kayla is just looking at me wide eyed, while the alarms are blaring...bleep...bleep...BLEEP...BLEEEEEEPPP.  So I decide to look out into the hallway to determine the best course of action.  Because when you are a mom, you realize that if there isn't a fire, waking the baby is really non negotiable.

No one in the hallway, but I can smell some smoke...almost like someone burned some food.  I run back to check on Brody...still sleeping.  Check on Kayla...still confused.  Check the hallway again, two ladies are out asking what is going on and it seems they both decide to evacuate.  Well damn, do I really have to wake up Brody.

Go back inside, Kayla is now crying because she is scared shitless.  I get her out of the booster seat, tell her it's going to be ok and I need her to put on her shoes as I run to get Brody.  She screams and follows after me.

I tell her it's ok again and I help her put on her shirt (yes she took it off), I throw on my jeans and shoes and get her rain boots on her.  I check the hallway again to see if there is any progression of smoke or smell or anything.  None.

Honestly, my mind is very torn at this point.  Waking up the baby who is finally sleeping better seems like it needs to be a last resort.  But being a mom, I decide that I should probably evacuate with my kids because otherwise Justin will be pissed if he loses his wife and kids because I wanted the baby to keep sleeping better safe than sorry.  So I tell Kayla to grab her blanket while I get Brody and his blanket to keep him warm outside.  I sweep Kayla up into my arms, grab my purse, keys and phone and run down the stairs to get outside.

Five seconds after I get outside where there are a bunch of trunks and firemen and residents all over, one fireman says, "Ok you can all go back inside now if you want."

Me, "SERIOUSLY!?!?!"  One lady laughed at me because I said that out loud.  I chatted for a minute with another mom who said there was definitely smoke on the 3rd floor in the hallways.  I ran back upstairs and put Kayla down (she was still whimpering) and ran to put Brody back down in his crib in hopes he would go back to sleep.

Meanwhile, Kayla says to me, "Kayla sleep too."  Um...ok.  You don't have to twist my arm.  So after potty time, books and signing, Kayla is asleep, Brody has miraculously fallen BACK asleep and I'm free to eat lunch and enjoy some quiet time.  But not before Kayla made sure I knew the situation was "scary" a million times.

Definitely a weird last 24 hours...

Kayla is 2!! (An a month now...)

So we celebrated Kayla's 2nd birthday last month.  Seriously, where did the time go???

Looking back, I wish I would have taken my own pictures of her like I do monthly photos of them, but I didn't think about it.  So today's post will be filled with a few pictures from her birthday party and the completely lovely pictures taken by a friend Jordann Tomasek Photography.  She took our maternity/family photos before Brody was born.

So Kayla's 2 year update:

Height:  3 feet (What?!?  She's 3 feet tall :))  (94th percentile)

Weight: 24 lbs 9 oz (43rd percentile)

Head Circumference: 49.5 cm (95th percentile)

Physical Milestones:  Kayla is still pretty ahead of the curve, but I feel like at this point it's hard to pick out the little things she is able to do.  We've been working on jumping for a few months.  She's not great at actually leaving the floor, but she's getting there.  She is very aware of her body and the motions she can make.  She's a little bit like a monkey, copying everything.  I'm surprised she doesn't actually participate in dance class a little more.  She just really likes to observe, though there are a few points where she likes to partake.

Fine Motor:  Kayla has started coloring/drawing a lot.  She will often draw a scribble and say, "Mommy" like she has written "mommy" on the paper.  At least she understands the idea of writing.  She is excellent with a fork and spoon and she loves to try to "cut" her food at dinner like Mommy and Daddy do for her.

Verbal skills:  Kayla's speaking exploded around 20 months or so.  She loves to speak in long full sentences, even if sometimes the tense or the personal pronouns are the wrong ones to use.  And just like the physical things, she loves to repeat EVERYTHING you say.  I have to admit, she's said a couple swear words out loud repeating after Justin and I, but we've come to the conclusion that ignoring her when she repeats them works wonders.  She doesn't know what she is saying and because we aren't swearing all the time around her, she doesn't think much of it and never repeats them.  The only one she tends to use correctly is "crap."  I'd like to blame my mom for that one, but I'm sure I say it too.  Because like I said, Kayla only repeats and uses the words she hears frequently.

Potty Training:  Since day 2 of potty training, Kayla has been a rockstar for the most part.  She hardly had any accidents for the first month or so.  Then she had a double ear infection and another ear infection a month later and she was having a lot of accidents which I was blaming on the antibiotics.  She has a hard time at daycare as well, I think because she's too busy playing.  But even if we put her in a pullup while we are out and about, she always tells me when she has to go, and sometimes more often than she really needs to go.  Last night, she insisted on wearing underwear to bed.  No accidents, but she was up a couple times going to the bathroom.  Hopefully she'll manage soon since she usually makes it all night in a diaper without peeing.

Temperament:  Terrible twos have kind of set in with us.  We still aren't sleeping well (mostly thanks to Brody) so I'm having a hard time having enough patience with her some days.  I try to keep my cool, but sometimes it's hard because she is screaming about ridiculous things.  We are using a version of counting to 3 for discipline which is actually working pretty well with her.  She's really testing my limits with pushing/pulling/kicking her brother lately which ends up in her sitting in her room in time out for 2 minutes.  She screams, but I have to say she listens to me and stays there for the whole two minutes.  I try to limit the amount I put her in time out though.

Kayla's birthday party was pretty low key, as both kids had been sick for about 3 months straight and frankly, I didn't want to get other kiddos sick.  And I set out invites a little late, so it was basically my immediate family, Justin's parents and us.  My grandparents came as well and one little friend for Kayla.  I still feel pretty guilty about this, but she seemed to not mind.  And she loves all her new toys.  And my menu from Skinny Taste was a big hit.  :)

I really can't believe how quickly my little girl is growing up.  It seems like just yesterday we found out we were pregnant.  But I love watching her grow and learn and change, despite the temper tantrums.  She is mostly sugar and spice and very little salty and sour.  :)

I love you more than you will ever know Kayla Marie.

Pampy and Brody

How many Moms does it take to feed a baby?

The birthday girl :)

Her hair is out of control and she never leaves anything in it...she even pulls out the pigtails quite often.

Opening presents is serious business

Kayla's friend M.

Balloons are the most fun

New bike!

And helmet!

Cake...after Kayla fingered it.

Nini and Brody

She really wasn't a fan of the cake or the blowing out the candles...

Professional Photos :)

  I have more of Brody and a few cute family photos, but this post is about Kayla, so maybe I'll show those off in another post. :)

4 Month Update

So Brody turned 4 months old over a month ago now.  (And Kayla turned 2 about a week later...post coming soon.)  Sorry for the blog silence, but here's where I've been.  Hunting for house in Buffalo Grove, hunting for houses in Arlington Heights, hunting for houses in Mount Prospect, hunting for houses...ok you get it.  More on that coming up as well.  For now, here's what I can remember about Brody from 3-4 months. :)

Weight: 16 lbs 9.3 ounces (71%), he's shrinking. :)

Length: 26.5" (94%)

Head Circumference: 43 cm (87%)

Physical Milestones:  He started rolling very easily from his back to his tummy around this time.  He's also a rockstar at tummy time.  I honestly cannot remember either of my kids having that newborn floppy head...maybe if they came on time...  He really is a fan of tummy time and refuses to roll from tummy to back pretty much at all.  He also refuses to sleep on his tummy however, which poses a sleeping problem...

Eating:  He eats about 5 times during the day and then usually once at night.  We had a rough time with nursing while he was stuffy and he's been sick pretty much all of December and January so that's fun. 

Sleeping:  Sleeping is still very rough.  I've come to the conclusion both my kids are bad sleepers because they are too busy being over achievers in the physical milestone department.  Brody usually wakes up 2-3 times at night, but I refuse to feed him more than once.  His gas does seem to be getting a little bit better and gradually he started sleeping a bit better and he isn't always waking up crying in pain, so that's really nice.  The doctor gave us a prescription for a reflux med, thinking maybe the reflux was causing the gas pain.  We'll see if that helps (since I'm trying to write this from the 4 month time frame, I can tell you it doesn't. :))

Eventually he'll sleep, it's just hard to take it while it's been going on for this long.  His naps are actually getting pretty good.  He usually takes at least 1 good nap a day (longer than 1 hour) and often takes 2.  He's on a semi schedule with some flexibility for feeding and sleeping.  We're thinking about starting some solids but I'm not sure he is fully ready yet, so we are holding off for a couple weeks.  

Here are some photos I took this month.  It's nearly impossible to take his photos while Kayla is awake, but at least I get some fun outtakes. :)

Outtakes:

Tender moment?  Or perfect photo of slapping?

No idea...

I can't pull this hair off...

This picture cracks me up.  To most, it looks like Kayla said something funny and Brody's hitting her on the back like they are laughing together.  To me, it looks like a foreshadowing of the future when he is bigger than her since he is about to smack her. :)

"Kisses"