Sydney Crawling (2.25 years and 8 months)

Sydney started crawling forwards last week! And as soon as she learned to crawl forwards she has not stopped. She wants to be on the go all the time. She is also very determined to be standing up. I think she really wants to walk too. Now we are in trouble. With Sydney crawling everywhere I can't leave her alone even for a minute. She can crawl fast too. I turn my head for a second and she is off getting into something. We now have the blankets down by our living room step so if she does go off of it she won't hit her head. Soon it will be time for baby gates again. Austin is not going to be happy about that.

Sydney also started eating food last week finally. It is so exciting because she opens her mouth and loves it. It is so easy to feed her now. She eats 3 meals a day with us. I am so happy. I was worried something was wrong. Brian said he knew everything was fine and she was just not ready yet. She also likes to fed herself foods. She eats puffs, cheerios, pancakes, and peas. It is so much fun to watch her eat. She loves her baby food too. She even ate some green beans. She likes vegetables a lot. It is such a relief for me.

Sydney is developing a schedule now too. She eats around 5 am and goes back to sleep until around 8 am. Then she will have breakfast at the table. Breakfast is usually baby cereal and either pancakes or cheerios. Then she will take about a 2 hour morning nap. Around noon we will eat lunch where she eats a fruit or vegetable baby food.

Austin usually eats left overs from dinner or a sandwich. He likes peanut butter and cheese sandwiches. He always has a fruit and yogurt. Austin goes down for nap around 1 pm. Sydney usually goes to nap around 2 pm. Then we eat dinner around 5:30 pm once Brian get home from work. When it is nice outside we go for a walk around 6:30 pm. Austin goes to sleep around 8:15-8:30 pm. Sydney goes to bed around 9 pm. We are loving the weather now that it is getting nice out. We really enjoy our time outside and our walks. Austin likes it too. He enjoys his snack in the stroller and tells us what he sees. He talks in 4-5 words sentences now. We can understand almost everything he says. Something funny he says is "In the chicken". He means "in the kitchen" but for whatever reason he calls the kitchen the chicken. It is cute.

 

Sydney says baba, mama, and duh duh. I stopped pumping at work last week too. It was sad for me. I can't believe how well breast feeding is going. But I told Melissa I would give her my pump so I need to stop. Plus I am busy at work so not pumping at work will be better for me. My breasts were uncomfortable but not as bad as when I stopped with Austin. With Austin I was pumping way more than I needed. The hard part is when I am home with her she really doesn't want a bottle from me. I don't know if its because she is teething or what but she has been cranky the past few days. I need to make sure I produce less milk during the day because on the days I work if I don't pump I will be miserable. I am really trying not to breast feed her during the day but I have given in a few times because I can't listen to her scream. For the most part though she gets formula.

 I have no idea when and how I am going to stop nursing her. I am worried about that. It will probably be really ugly. I am hoping that she will just no longer want to do it but I am not so sure. When she is around a year old I am going to have to stop. I think that is an appropriate time to give it up. She falls asleep on me every night and I put her in her crib. I need to stop that but I am just not there yet. Again I don't like listening to her scream. I know that Sydney is my last baby and I am cherishing all the baby time I can get. They grow up way too fast.

 I can't believe how big and independent Austin is already. It makes me sad. Our next big thing is we are going to move Austin into a toddler bed. He is growing up and needs to be in a toddler bed. We will be doing that in the next few weeks. It is sad because after that Austin will never be in a crib again. Brian and I were talking about all the things he will never do again like drink a bottle or be in a crib. Soon he will never were diapers. It is amazing how fast time goes by with kids. I will never pump again and before I know it I will never breastfeed again.

 As I am writing this I am so sad. I am so grateful that we were blessed with two little perfect angels. They are our world and we enjoy every second of it because before we know it they will be adults themselves. Brian is really great at taking pictures and videos of them. Brian just finished making our cruise video.  It was only 1 month ago, but the kids have already changed since then noticeably. I am so grateful that Brian does that and is good at it. This weekend is the consignment sale and Prom for our daycare. I am also sad I am getting rid of all my baby stuff. I am either selling it or giving it to Melissa. But I am looking forward to all the exciting things to come with Austin and Sydney. I know its going to be a fun adventure.

Happy Easter (2.2 years and 7.5 months)

On Easter weekend, we went to an Easter egg hunt at our local park. It was outside. The weather was pretty nice. Sunny and around 50. I just carried Sydney in a wearable carrier. Austin had a basket and was excited to go get eggs. He found Easter eggs at school so he knew exactly what to do. The Easter Bunny arrived by a fire truck. Austin liked the fire truck too. When the egg hunt started, Austin went and found the eggs. It was so cute. We just let him do his thing. He got about a dozen eggs.

 Austin is back in swim class so he goes swimming every Saturday morning too. Austin is a good swimmer. He is starting to use a water noodle. He likes it. It so neat to watch him. I have watched him swim now for a year and half and he has learned and grown so much. He is great at jumping in the pool. He does well with his kicks too. On Easter Sunday, Brian hid some eggs outside. Austin went and found them. Austin really liked it because he put one egg on the basketball hoop so Austin got to climb on the ladder. Austin likes the ladder. Later in the day, Austin and Sydney got their Easter baskets. Austin got some stickers, yard gloves, and chocolate animal crackers. Sydney got some teething toys. Then Meemaw and Papa came over. They had Easter baskets for them too. They got a ton of stuff. Austin got a mickey mouse wagon that he loves. They got some cookies, a fire truck, gold fish crackers, and stamps. Sydney got more baby toys to put in her mouth and a cute pink bunny. They had a really good Easter.

Sydney is crawling backwards but not forwards. She gets herself stuck under things (the bed, the couch, etc) and she can't figure out how to move forwards to escape.  Instead her struggles take her further backwards and more stuck. It is kind of funny. I don't remember Austin ever really crawling backwards. Sydney loves to do it. She is starting to eat some baby food. Nothing significant yet. We have tried giving her baby bottles to play with while eating along with spoons. Distraction does help. Also she does like to be in control so finger foods work better than forcing her to eat baby food.

My work schedule has changed. I now work every other Wednesday, then every Thursday and Friday. It is not ideal but we are making it work. On my three day weeks, I am tired.  I have so much house work to catch up on after working that stretch - lots of laundry and cleaning up. I am amazed how much housework there is when I have a baby and toddler in the house. Austin is always getting into something and making a mess. Sydney has baby bottles that need cleaned and she has lots of poopy explosions so I have to wash them to ensure no stains stay. She usually goes though 2-3 outfits a day. We are excited for spring to be here so we can spend more time outside. We love it outside and our evening walks. We have missed them. Hopefully the weather will be get and stay nice soon.

Austin goes to the Dentist

Austin had his first trip to the dentist. Our pediatrician recommended that at age 2 kids start going to the dentist regularly.  We did not know what to expect with him.  We have a great dentist and the office reassured me that they would only do what he would allow.  We dropped Sydney off at Meemaw's house.  Then Brian, Austin, and I went to the dentist.

They had a bean bag chair for him.  He sat in it while I got my teeth cleaned.  He did not move.  Then it was his turn.  He got up in the dentist chair without any issues.  He let the dentist clean his teeth and kept his mouth open for them.  Austin was so good.  They even flossed his teeth.  Austin is use to flossing with Brian so he liked that.

Austin is such a good boy. He was so good at the dentist office.

On a side note, all the pictures were taken with my cell phone.  I forgot the camera on this very important day.  I am terrible about the camera.  Luckily Brian is much better with the camera.  I am busy worrying about if both kids have food, drink, clothes, and diapers when we leave.  I am suppose to have a camera in my purse but somehow it was not in there.