Raising A Boy

Raising a boy is hard. Partly because I'm not one myself. I don't always understand Jack's thought process, his wiring so to speak. He is so much like me which ironically makes it even more challenging. I catch myself thinking, 'Hmmm...I wouldn't do that' or 'I wouldn't have done that as a child'. Then I remember...he's a boy. A vivacious, curious, on the go, emotional boy.

I have a neighbor who has three young boys. Bless her and all of the other women I know who raised 3 boys, including my dear mother in- law. When I'm around my neighbor's boys, I always marvel at their manners and good attitude towards life. I compliment her on her "boy raising" skills and I think...I want Jack to be just like that. But how?

I question the way I raise Jack daily. Am I doing this right? Am I teaching him how to have self control? Am I fostering good values and morals? Is he focused enough? I wonder daily and on more than one occasion, is this normal boy behavior? And if something doesn't seem right, I answer myself with 'he's just a 2 year old boy'.

But, I don't think that's right. And it doesn't seem to satisfy my concerns. I need to understand him, I need to understand boys. I need to know this is "normal". If he's only two and I feel so unsure, imagine what I will feel like when he's 12....16...even 20.

I imagine this is how most parents feel, no matter the gender. But, if you have a boy, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about. It's just different, certainly challenging, and even scary at times.

I have no problem with a challenge. I think I enjoy a challenge and on many occasions, Jack is just that. A gift from God kind of challenge.

I adore that boy. I know he was meant for me and I was meant for him. He fulfills my life in so many ways. He will always be my little boy. He will always be my first child. And he is bound to keep me young while keeping me on my toes at the same time. I just want to make sure that I am giving him the guidance he deserves.

Jack and I saw that same neighbor with her three boys today. Again, I was so impressed. I had to ask, "how do you do it?". She was so honest about the challenges, the fears, and the uncertainty of raising boys. She graciously shared one of her favorite "boy raising" books with me.

I am an avid reader. It use to be for pleasure, but since the addition of Jack and Maggie into my life it has become more informational. I jumped on the opportunity to learn more about raising a boy. So tonight I'll hunker down for some good knowledge based reading, say a little prayer for my Jack, and start tomorrow fresh...ready for another day of 'raising a boy'.

Such a boy...

Birthday Bonanza

Is is just me or does everybody have a birthday in the Spring? Okay, obviously not, but it sure does feel that way lately. In a good way though...a busy way too. Jack spent his weekend birthday party hopping. He had a blast and was nothing short of exhausted by Sunday evening. It was good practice for he and Sophia's 3rd next weekend!

We started Saturday with Miller's big day. The little man turned 3! I can hardly believe how big he's gotten. I remember when he and Jack were just wee little ones tackling each other at the park before they could even crawl. My how time has flown.

Sunday was another big day, this time a 3rd birthday for one of Jack's classmates. More running around and another tired little boy...we were both happy with the out come of that one.

Saturday

Miller's party was at The Jump Zone. My cautious 2 year old did little jumping and a lot of climbing. He'd make it to the the top of the stairs and have a change of heart. I thought with Sophia in tow it would give him the courage to see it through. Well...

...not so. Sophia is off and, Jack, well, he is still on the stairs. No problem he wore himself out regardless--that's quite a trek up that ladder, especially if you do it 100 times.

Jack had the honor of enjoying his Curious George cupcake right next to the Birthday boy. What a treat! Happy Birthday Miller!

Sunday

Sitting around the "red circle" lasted about 2 minutes and then the wild rumpus began at Lila's Birthday party!

Jack carried these two balls nearly everywhere he went. And if you had asked him why?, he would have replied, "blue and yellow-my two favorite colors". Well, duh?

More sweet treats! Jack strategically picked this seat between his two favorite sweethearts. Reese's mom told me that Reese has decided she wants to marry Jack--so sweet!

One last energy burning activity--the zip line. And if you're thinking Jack can't be that cautious if he tried this...just check out his facial expression!

The Four Hour Fight

I'm in the process of moving Maggie to her 4 hour schedule. She's ready...I know she is. I say that with 100% confidence. But, she's fighting me on it.

Surprisingly, the big fight comes with the sleeping not the eating. She's a sleeper, nothing to complain about there. But, when you make the shift to 4 feeds a day, there also has to be a shift with wake time and naps. We are going from 4 naps a day...3 full naps with a pretty long catnap in the evening to 2 full naps and 1 catnap. She doesn't like it.

But, that's where I come in. When I made the decision to start this endeavor, I knew she wouldn't take easily to the shift and consolidation in sleeping. So that's why I've made a very gradual attempt at the change. We are talking very gradual. Like 15 minutes added to her wake time every 4 days.

The first 2 days of that four day stretch are rough. She fusses, whines, won't even let me put her down during that extra 15 minutes. It's a side of her I've never seen before and I really don't care to see after this is over. So you can imagine when time is up, I throw her in her crib, not really, but let's just say I'm extremely ready to put her down. The third day of the stretch is better and by the fourth day, she's pretty much got it. Then we start all over with another four days of adding 15 more minutes...exhausting I tell you, for both her and me.

I'm hoping we are fully there right around the time she turns 5 months, maybe even a short bit before. Even with the sleep fight on her part, I know this is the right thing for her. I know my baby and I know it's time. She just needs a little coaxing and guidance, or maybe it's considered more of a push. Regardless, I haven't questioned myself on the timing. I just remind myself that she is a different baby than Jack, so we have to go about this transformation, well differently,... and much... much... slower.

Celebrating Bradley Elisabeth

Another spring baby, another celebration. This time we got together to welcome Bradley Elisabeth, Karen's newest addition. We all met for a sweet luncheon at The Swan Coach House located in the History Center. It was the perfect venue on a perfect day. The first day of Spring could not have been any more Spring like. After a delicious lunch we treated ourselves to pink pettifores. Congratulations Karen! We can't wait to meet the new precious bundle of pink!

The girls...Allison, Erica, Cristina, Beth, Donna, Me, and Karen. Only two of us there were not pregnant! I told you there were lots of Spring babies on the way! It's crazy to think that Maggie will be in the same grade as most of these gal's babies that haven't even arrived yet!

Another cute shower favor that I found on Etsy. And no, it's not a sachet as Erica originally thought:) It might be a bit awkward to be reminded of Karen's baby when we looked in our lingerie drawer. It's actually wild flower seeds in that pouch. I plan on taking Jack outside with me to plant them...we'll see what pops up!

Who said baby girls had to wear pink? Isn't this little red dress precious? If Bradley Elisabeth looks anything like Karen's first baby girl, she is sure to be a doll in this dress.

More cute goodies, this time green and pink! Can you guess who this is from? Yes me, I thought the colors might give it away...my fave baby girl colors! And I didn't even notice until I was posting this picture, that the monogram lady left off Elisabeth...oops! Sorry about that Karen! At least she will be in the privacy of her own bathroom when she uses the hooded towel!

Celebrating Matthew Charles

Have I mentioned that there about 6 spring and summer babies on their way? Well, let the celebrations begin...

Erin's sweet Matthew Charles is on his way and set to arrive the first week in April. We sprinkled Erin with some baby blue goodies and lots of love on Saturday morning. Absolutely precious gifts...it almost made me miss having a baby boy! I can't wait to meet that sweet bundle in a few weeks!

I just loved the invites. I am so in to green right now, pair that with the baby blue and I thought they had a very classy look.

I had so much fun picking out the favors (that was my job). How cute are these elephant cookies? I got them from a bakery on Etsy....she did a great job matching them to the invites.

But alas, my favorite was the cake! It too was a great match to the invites and even more important, super yummy!

Like I said, Matthew received lots of sweet blue gifts (this not being one of them:) Just kidding...there is actually a very entertaining story behind this gift, so I just had to post the picture! It's one of those "you had to be there" kind of things.

The "Mommy to Be" and the hostesses. I have to brag here that these girls were the absolute easiest to plan a "sprinkle" with...so fun!

Next weekend?...Karen's baby luncheon...where we will celebrate another spring baby...this time a girl!

My Maggie: 4 Months

My littlest angel turned 4 months old today. And she is just that...an angel or possibly a cherub (check out her stats at the bottom). I would like to give you some grandiose update on her, but not too much has changed in the past month. A few tweaks here and there, but nothing more. So here is what the fourth month looks like so far...

Eating

This is probably where I've seen the biggest change, although I'm thinking it's temporary. My once efficient eater has turned into a dwaddler (is that word?). I can't decide if it's that she's eating more, eating less, becoming more social, or a combo. A feeding that use to take 10 minutes has doubled and sometimes even more. We're talking about 20 minutes on average and it doesn't matter if she's nursing or taking a bottle. She loiters a bit, tries to look around, catches my eye and gives me a giant smile, and even talks. This is all new to me, Jack was soooo focused on his meal that we never had this issue. I'm assuming it's just a stage, as is everything with little ones. We will see..

When Maggie does take a bottle, she averages between 6-8 ounces. Very few of her meals come from a bottle, hence the reason I'm so unsure of the cause behind her new eating habits.

She still eats every 3-31/2 hours. However, I am wondering if she is nearing a 4 hour schedule. If so we will do it gradually and maybe have a long term goal of 5 months or so before we get there. Does anyone remember when you went to a 4 hour schedule? I feel like she hasn't made too big of a stride in the wake time department so it may be a bit premature to be thinking about it. But, then again maybe that's the answer to the long feeds.

Activity

Speaking of wake time...this is where I've seen the smallest change. Including feeding, her wake time before her morning nap is only about 50 minutes. During the day, she does goes a bit longer, more like 60 minutes. That's up about 5-10 minutes from last month. Call me nuts, but if I put her down for a nap at those optimal wake times she sleeps "like a baby". If we miss it, even by a minute, it's not too big of a deal, but it either takes her longer to fall asleep or she cuts her nap time shorter. Again, really no big deal in the scheme of things.

The big deal is if she misses a nap! Her sleep habits seem to be very similar to both Jack and me...she needs sleep and DOESN'T like to miss it (we learned that at church this weekend). Neither myself or Jack are very flexible when it comes to sleep. I suppose it all has it's pros and cons. But, back to the subject at hand, this section is suppose to be about her activity, not sleep, so let me get back on track.

What she does for fun hasn't changed all that much either. She still loves her jungle animal bouncy seat, cooing with Mommy, bath time, reading books, and watching Jack...from a very comfortable distance. Her newest activity is mirror time. She smiles and wiggles away. I can't tell if she's looking at me or the baby in mirror. Whatever it is, it excites her. And it is, oh so, precious to watch.

I must also take this opportunity to note her favorite person...me! I want to record this because I know one day that will change. It pangs me to think of that day, but I'm not too naive to admit it will happen. I just might be her favorite "activity". Actually, I know I am. She is happiest in my arms or by my side. And if that isn't possible (the car for example), she loves my voice. We can spend an entire wake time doing nothing but being together and we are both so content with it. Poor Daddy and Jack run a very far 2nd. Again, I know this isn't forever, so I soak up my Mags every chance I can.

I can also tell you what she does NOT consider fun. Maggie has made it very clear that she is not a fan of the car seat. I think it's more the fact that she can't see me or interact with anyone rather than the seat itself. And her second dislike--getting out of the tub. This is basically the only time of day that I can count on her to cry, or actually wail. It is not pretty.

Sleeping

Everything is still sweet dreams in this arena. My Magpie is still taking 4 naps a day, one of which is an evening catnap of about 45 min. The other naps range from 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I still have to wake her from most of them, not as often as in the first 3 months of her life, but always the morning nap. If she does wake on her own from a nap, I would never know. She sweetly plays in her crib and coos and goos while waiting for me. When I peer over her crib rail she always greets me with a warm smile, kicking legs, and flailing arms. Mmmm...she is heaven!

Her bedtime is still 7:30-7:45ish. She precedes her bedtime feed with a bath around 7:15ish (depending on what time we can Jack out of the tub) and then we are off for pj's and a feeding. She dozes right off, thankfully without tears as of last month. We don't hear from her again until 7:15-7:45ish. Again, thank God for the thumb..for now anyway! I have to admit, I am a tiny bit worried about that thumb...it is slowly becoming more than just a bed time habit...oh no!

We do still swaddle her...both arms out though. It's more of a Velcro blanket than anything and it serves as a great nap/bed time cue. I swear her eyes get droopy when we start swaddling her up--she just knows. I'm thinking we will ditch the swaddle when the weather gets warmer or she grows out of it...whatever comes first.

A New look

Since little has changed with her routine I thought I would note some physical changes.

*We had her 4 month Doctor's appointment this week. This is how she measured up...
Weight: 14 lbs 3 Oz 75th percentile
Length: 25 inches 75th percentile


*Maggie's eyes continue to get bigger and brighter every day. One day those eyes are going to melt some one's heart and I have a feeling Daddy's will be the first.

*Her legs are super chubby...yum! She has rolls from top to bottom. Talk about a bathing challenge.

*She has hair and I am loving it! She seems to be getting a teeny tiny bit more with each day. Jack didn't have this much hair until he was 18 months old! I actually put a bow in it the other night when we went to dinner...just because I could. I still haven't figured out what color it is or will be. Some days it looks really dark and others more blonde. I'm thinking it's going to be a mousy brown, regardless I love having a baby girl with hair!

*She's a drooler...big time! This just started this month. I guess God figured since he spared me the spit up I needed some sort of liquid. The good news is all of those precious bibs and burp cloths we got are now coming in handy!

*Her feet are still tiny and her toes look like little sausages. The funny part is her second toe, on both feet, is longer than her big toe. Ha! If the old saying is true..she is sure to be the head of her household one day!

So that's my Maggie at 4 months. Like I said, very few changes and I find that to be a good thing. We adore her and absolutely could not imagine this family without her.

From Sun To Snow

I seriously could not get him back inside today...