Dirt and Finger Paint

As Cason is getting older, I'm trying to incorporate some arts and crafts along with other sensory activities.  It was starting to get boring sitting in the living room playing with the same toys every day, so I decided it was time to change things up a bit. 

There is a house being built down the street from us, so Cason and I walked down there and got some dirt to take home.  We took it out in the backyard and he dug right in. No pun intended! :)  He loved putting his hands in it and picking it up.  He also explored what would happen if he climbed into the tub.  At one point the tub tipped back and he fell backwards dumping all of the dirt on his tummy and face.  He just looked up and gave me a "what just happened" look.  After dusting him off and rinsing the dirt out of his mouth, eyes, and nose, he was right back to crawling inside.  For the next hour he sneezed dirt out of his nose!  

Later that day, we finger painted in the backyard.  This was his first time to finger paint and he wasn't too sure about touching the paint with his hands.  He was amused by the foam brush and mainly used it to spread the paint. 

Tasting the paint.

Time to clean up!

The finished product!

A Blessed Week

This week has been truly wonderful!  I got a lot accomplished and got to get together with some friends too.

Cason went to Mother's Day Out on Tuesday.  While he was there I stopped by Target for a couple things and then headed home to do things around the house.  I cleaned the bathrooms (including the showers/tubs ... often times I skip this b/c I don't like doing it), vacuumed, mopped the wood and tile floors, wiped down the stainless steal in the kitchen, dusted here and there, and got all of the clutter put away. It felt so good to have the house cleaned all at once.  After cleaning I got to shower and get ready all alone!  I even had time to paint my toe nails, which I've needed to do for a loooong time.  I love the time that I get to myself every Tuesday.  I left around 1:45 to go get Cason and when I got there, he immediately stopped playing and walked over to the door to see me.  I love that he's showing his affection.

On Wednesday, I went over to my friend Christina's neighborhood and we went on a walk with her, Riley, and her friend Joy.  We walked 3 miles!  It was a great change of scenery and I really enjoyed walking with other people and getting to talk.  I think we'll have to start walking with them more often! Cason liked it too because he and Riley (Christina's 1 year old daughter) got to look at each other and make noises together.

Thursday morning, I took Cason and Kona on a walk around our neighborhood.  We ventured outside the neighborhood and ended up walking 3 miles.  I was very impressed that Kona made it the whole way without giving up.  She was super tired when we got home!  Later that afternoon, we met Mary and her son Rich (2 years old) at the Frisco library.  Rich and Cason had fun looking at books.  Cason loved watching Rich play with the puppets and watching him walk around.  It was obvious that he was amazed at the things Rich could do.  We stayed about an hour and a half and then I headed over to Market Street to pick up some stuff for dinner.

Today, Friday, we went up to Prosper to walk with Katie and Jessica.  I am so thankful and blessed to be going on walks with my son and best friends of 17 years.   It still amazes me that we all live within 10 miles of each other.  How cool is it to think that back in 6th grade, God knew to bring us all together and literally give us a life long friendship!  On our walk today we went 2 miles.  Way to go Katie!! She is 38 weeks pregnant and didn't slow down once.  I seriously would have been plopped on my butt after the first mile back when I was preggo.  Since then I've kicked my lazy butt's butt though. :)

Tonight I am headed down to Waco to spend the weekend with my mom.  Dad is in Colorado with Auntie Carol and Auntie Linda.  I'm super excited to have a weekend away and thankful that AJ is such a good daddy!

K, well Cason is napping and I know he'll wake up at any moment so I better wrap it up so I don't run out of time and never finish this. :)

Teaching Cason to sleep and phasing out the bedtime bottle

OH my goodness! Seriously I cannot keep up with this Blog!  I don't know how these other moms do it.  I have a few friends that keep their Blog up so well and I LOVE reading them.  Maybe one day I'll at least update once a month.  Until then I'll keep doing this at super random times.

First off, I have to write about my recent struggle with Cason's sleeping ... yes, again.  (this blog is partially for my own benefit so that I can go back and remember things in the future, so I apologize if this gets boring).

He used to go to bed SO easily.  We'd do bath, pajamas, read, rock, have a bedtime bottle, and put him in his crib just as he was dozing off.  He'd roll over to his tummy, squirm around, get his knees up under him with his butt in the air and settle into a deep sleep.  Well, those days have been gone for almost a month!  Looking back I know exactly how we got off track.  A month ago he was turning 1 year old and I was going through some sadness about that.  I just wanted to cuddle him all that I could.  I love watching him sleep, so I'd let him fall asleep in my arms and I'd hold him for a little bit and stare at him.  There were a few nights that I sat there and cried as I looked at him and thought that his first year was already over.  I was in shock for a couple weeks and didn't want to accept it.  Also, around that time, AJ began putting him to bed several nights a week.  Cason had transitioned to formula around  11 months because my milk supply just didn't seem to be enough.  Anyway, AJ fell in love with bedtime and also loves holding Cason.  He also started letting Cason sleep in his arms for a little bit before putting him down.  As time went on, Cason began needing to be held longer and longer each night.  By that I mean that he'd wake up the second he felt us stand up to go to his crib.  We were having to hold him while he slept for a good 20 minutes before we could gently put him in his crib without waking up and crying.  Bedtime became a 45 minute or more ordeal.  I don't mean to complain, but at the end of the day as much as I love my sweet boy, I want bedtime to be over and done quickly.  I greatly look forward to my ME time and my time with AJ each night.  Cason's crazy bedtime habits spilled over to nap time too. I won't go into huge detail with that, but it's been challenging to get him to sleep in his crib during the day.  We are down to 1 nap that lasts 30 minutes on a good day.  God gave me a cat napper ... I'm convinced of it and I'm fine with that, but I just need some consistency and predictability here!

Anyway, we are now in the process of teaching Cason to fall asleep by himself and that means more crying it out (CIO). I never thought this was something I'd have to do over and over again.  This time I'm beating myself up because we are the ones to blame this time.  Not a vacation, not a developmental milestone, not a growth spurt ... no it was mommy and daddy that started a bad habit.  Last night he CIO for 32 minutes before falling asleep.  Today at his nap he CIO for 58 minutes, and at bedtime tonight he CIO for 17 minutes.

** Just a quick side note for those that may be thinking I just leave him to cry, I don't.  I go in to check on him and whisper "I love you" at different intervals that increase.**

I think we are having success, but I hope I didn't jinx it by saying that.

Also, right now we are working on eliminating the bedtime bottle.  I tried giving him cold milk and that did not go well!  So we started diluting the milk with water.

Night 1 - 5 oz. milk, 1 oz. water
Night 2 - 4 oz. milk, 2 oz. water
And so on ...

I'm really hoping that by the end of the week, he will be going to sleep without much crying and that he won't need his milk.  I am going to Waco to visit my mom this weekend (my first weekend trip alone since Cason was born!!!). My hope and prayer is that we can be over this hurdle before Friday because I want it to be easy for AJ while I'm gone.  I know he will stick to our plan and continue what I've been doing to implement these transitions for Cason, but it would be so much easier on both of us if Cason could jump this hurdle QUICKLY!

On another note ...

Who knew being a stay at home mommy would be so challenging!  I mean I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I have had to learn a lot over the past year.  Recently, I joined a stay at home moms group on babycenter.com and it has been a huge help for me.  It's a great way to talk to other moms at anytime and I've also enjoyed being able to offer some of my own advice to others.  I enrolled Cason in Mother's Day Out in hopes of meeting some other stay at home moms.  I also REALLY needed some time alone during the week.  Having 5 hours a week to get things done without interruptions is like having Christmas every Tuesday!  I'm incredibly thankful that I've been able to do that.  Meeting other moms through MDO didn't really pan out though.  Everyone drops their kids off and leaves.  I should have figured that.  So now I'm looking for other ways to meet some moms.  I may start a Bible study on Wednesdays, but I'm nervous to go alone. Plus I'm not sure I really want another commitment.

<< got side tracked while writing and am getting back to this post 2 hours later ... too tired to wrap this up with a proper ending.  ... I'm off to bed!>>

A Freeing Feeling

Cason struggled with his naps early this week.  He typically goes down around 9:00 ... simply because that's when I decided his naps would be ... all based on the "average" baby's schedule that I've read about online and in books.  After two days of not taking his naps like I thought he should and me getting teary out of frustration, I reached out to a friend so that I could vent and talk it through.  I am so thankful for the conversations that we've shared.  It was a reminder that all babies are different.  Even though this is something I've always known and is something I've told the parents in my classes (every kiddo is different and their reading skills progress at different rates), I've struggled to accept that Cason isn't that baby that will take multiple long naps each day.  He is happy with 1 or 2 30-45 minute naps. As I've started accepting this, the stress that I've felt is starting to melt away.

The past few days have also helped me to see something else that has probably been causing me anxiety about nap time and schedules.  Over the past 5 years, I have followed a strict daily schedule at work. Everyday began at the same time, the kids came into my classroom at the same time each day, I taught the same subject at the same time each day, ate lunch within the same 1 hour window each day, etc... For 5 years my days have had the most predictable schedule.  Until now, I didn't know just how much I depended on that schedule.  I didn't realize what a comfort it was for me.  Now that I am staying at home with Cason, a predictable schedule has been pulled right out from under me and I'm left to figure things out on my own.  For several days in a row he'll go down for a nap so easy around the same time.  The next day he'll resist that nap and when that happens I don't get to do what I was planning to do when he napped.  So that phone call I was hoping to make or that shower I was hoping to take ALONE ... not happening.  I'm slowly learning to be more flexible.  After teaching first grade, I considered myself to be a flexible person and I suppose I am.  There were countless times each week that I would have to change things up and stop what I was doing to put out fires.  But now I'm learning to be even more flexible and am learning to just go with the flow.  I had been living in the fear of creating bad habit with Cason.  I don't want to be a push over parent, spoil him, or get him into a habit that will be hard for him and I to break.  So I thought that meant following a schedule and sticking to it.  I'm learning that following a schedule with set times is not what he needs.  A daily routine that I am able to change up day to day is what he needs.  I'm thankful to be figuring this out and am praying that God will continue to help me be patient and to go with the flow. 

Mommy vs. Sleep Resistant (almost) 8 Month Old

Today was loooong, but good.  Now that we have been back home 5 days, I decided it was time to get down to business and get Cason back into his schedule/routine.  He has been resisting all naps when he's put in his crib, but is perfectly happy to sleep on me.  His night time sleep has been way off too.  So, I knew it was time for some serious sleep training. I made a phone call to Dr. Terry for guidance and reassurance and then headed into battle.  

He cried it out for 2 naps today ... break my heart.  The second nap was much better and he went to sleep in less than half the time of the first. 

Tonight he went to bed at 8:00 and ... crossing fingers, knocking on wood, holding my breath ... hasn't woken up since!  That's the first time he's gone to bed and stayed asleep since we've been back from Hawaii. I keep looking at my phone (video monitor) to make sure he's ok.  

Another new battle that Cason has decided to have is refusing to be spoon fed.  I gave him sweet potato puffs for the first time a few days ago and it seems that since then he's been refusing to eat. Today I diced some banana for him and he gobbled it up after previously spending 10 minutes refusing food from a spoon.  Looks like someone is ready for table food.  Of course he'd be ready for table food just shortly after I made and froze over a months worth of pureed baby food. haha!

If what they say is true, then we only have 2 more days of training to do.  I was hoping to have him back to 'normal' by Friday, but it's going to take a little longer.  AJ's parents will be getting here tomorrow to stay till Tuesday!!! They haven't seen Cason since they met him at Thanksgiving.  So, needless to say, we are all very excited. 

Attempting to Catch up

Well, obviously I am really bad about keeping up with my blog.  I had hoped that I could at least manage one post per month, especially since I stay at home.  You’d think I had the time.  The truth is, I do … I just am awful about following through on things like blogging, reading a book, writing a sentence per day in a diary,  working out (hahaha), taking walks a few times a week, or reading a simple devotional book like “Jesus Calling.”  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told myself, “ok, I’ll read it first thing every morning.”  But then things happen and the day gets away from me and by the time I have time, I’m too tired.  Sound familiar?  Maybe one of these days I’ll actually be able to follow through consistently on something I want to do.  I did give up Dr. Pepper 4.5 years ago.  Right now I’m working on giving up Sprite.  Probably shouldn’t have said that as I’ve probably now jinxed myself. Oh well! Whatever!  At least I can always play catch up on the blog, right?  So here comes a long post.  That is if I can actually finish it!

Cason turned 7 months old on March 20 … and I still haven’t taken his picture with his 7 month sticker. (such a slacker … I know) His second tooth has come in and I forgot when that actually happened.  Guess that means I’ll be making up a date in the baby book!

Last week were in Kauai, Hawaii! We had so much fun (minus the horrible sleep habits we created).  Can I just say that staying in a hotel with an infant SUCKS! It just does.  You see every time they wake up you have to be considerate of those in the rooms next door.  That means getting up and feeding or rocking him back to sleep.  After 3-4 times of doing this, you give in and just bring him back to bed with you.  Sleeping in an upright position gets old real quick! I do feel bad that we pretty much took his schedule and threw it out the window.  Add a 5 hour time difference in there too.  Poor guy did the best he could and I know it could have been worse.  We are now in the process of getting him back on schedule here at home.  The past 4 nights have been a little rough.  The 7:00 bedtime isn’t working out too well.  Last night he woke up at 7:30 and I decided to just let him get up for 2 hours and hang out with us.  He went down around 10:00 and slept 8 hours.  Praise the Lord!  So tonight we won’t do bedtime until around9:30.  Hopefully that will be a lot better.  I’ve definitely learned a few things about traveling across time zones and what Cason’s needs are when we do this.  I do need to brag on him for how AMAZING he was on the planes there and back.  We went from Dallas to Honolulu and then to Kauai … same thing on the way back (just backwards).  Every time a plane landed and we taxied into the gate, everyone around us went on and on about how good Cason was.  One man even said, "That baby was born to travel!" It was a total of 13-14 hours of travel time each way. Cason, you are a trooper!!! Thank you for being so good for Mommy and Daddy! 

Our trip happened to fall over Easter Sunday ... Mommy didn't realize Easter was so early when we planned the trip.  So, no church or cute Easter outfit on Cason's first Easter.  There also is not a cute Easter family photo.  But we do have some really cute Easter beach pictures of Cason. I'll post some later (they are on AJ's computer and I still need to move them over to mine). One really cool things that happened on Easter is that Cason started CRAWLING!!! 

That's it for now. If I don't wrap it up and click "publish" it may never happen! :)

Happy 6 Months ... WHAT!?

I have no clue how 6 months has already flown by.  Yesterday was a big day for our sweet Cason.  He turned 6 months old, went to his first read aloud at the library, had lunch at Best Thai with Daddy, went shopping with mommy, and had his 6 month check up (along with 3 shots)!

He is usually pretty good with shots, but combine it with a tooth that's trying to make it's way through and you get one CrAzY night!  It took him about an hour and a half to give in to sleep last night. Then he woke up at 3 random times.  He already had Tylenol, before bedtime, so I just nursed him to sleep each time.  When he woke up at 5:00, he cried and cried so AJ went to get him and we just brought him to bed with us.  Once he was up for the day and I wasn't so groggy, I noticed he seemed a bit warm.  Sure enough he had a small fever (100.7).  Nothing that a little more Tylenol and TLC couldn't take care of.  He was still a little fussy through the day and only took 2 thirty minute naps ... UGH.  When I put him to bed tonight, he fought sleep a little bit but gave in pretty quickly!  This fighting sleep at bedtime is new and I really hope this doesn't last long.  I'm thinking it's due to his 2 busy and fussy days.

The tiny dark spot on his gums that looks like a bubble is where his tooth is coming in. 

His check up went great!  Dr. Terry, whom we LOVE, said Cason is growing and developing perfectly.  She said it's time to go ahead and lower the crib to the lowest setting, time to start child proofing, and that he can start drinking water and learning to use a sippy cup.  I was so excited to give him a sippy cup and see him learn something new.  Thankfully, my cousin, Stephanie, passed down lots of sippy cups to us.  Cason looks like such a big boy attempting to drink out of it.  He does a good job of holding it and sucking, but has yet to understand that it needs to be tilted up in order to get the water.

Here's a little recap of the past month.

We went to Huffman (Houston area) to visit my dad's side of the family.  It was SO FUN to have the whole family together.  This is a picture of Grandmommie and Pop's GREAT-grandkids!  They would be so proud and happy.  We sure do miss them.

Story time at the library with Riley.

In the past couple weeks, Cason has started sitting up all by himself for several minutes at a time.  This has given him a new way to play, which I love.  I still put the Boppy behind him because he's a bit wobbly when he gets excited about something.

Cason has become more aware of the dogs and has fallen in love with Kona.  She's typically more interested in and tolerant of him than Bruiser is.  He smiles and laughs when she gives him kisses.  He reaches out to hold her fur and then leans in to her to put it in his mouth.  I then quickly interfere with that though.  Just the other day, when he was holding her fur, he got excited and bounced his hands up and down and ended up pulling out a chunk of her hair! Kona could care less, but we will need to start teaching Cason how to treat dogs nicely. His love for Kona is precious though and melts my heart.

Cason LOVES his daddy!  When AJ gets home, Cason smiles the second he sees him.  He loves it when AJ holds up in the air and then pulls him into his face and growls.  Cason thinks it's hilarious and lets out cute giggles.  He has a wonderful daddy that loves him very much.  I love watching them together and look forward to all the special daddy/son outings they'll have together.

A great day

Photo from Super Bowl Sunday

Today was a great day!  It started with Cason sleeping until 8:30 and me getting to shower and get completely ready before he woke up.  That's a big deal in my book. :)

After his morning nap we headed out to Costco and Market Street.  We had lots of fruits and veggies to buy, as it's time to make another month's worth of food for our big boy.  I absolutely love making his food for him.  Then, we came home and during Cason's second nap, I prepared for my first reading session with a super sweet first grade boy.  I was on cloud nine going through my teaching stuff and getting the supplies gathered for a reading assessment.  It's been over 8 months since I have had the opportunity to teach, so it was really special to do that today.  I'm excited and thankful that I will now get to fill the void of teaching reading.

Fast forward to dinnertime.  Cason had squash for the first time.  He gobbled it right up ... so he either really liked it or he was really hungry.  He hasn't made an "I don't like it" face with any food he's had.  I kinda thought squash might be the cause of a cute/disgusted face, but I was wrong.  Apparently he has no issues with a food that both mommy and daddy don't care for. 

AJ and I ate dinner after Cason was asleep and then AJ went to Kroger to pick up some ice cream while I cleaned up the kitchen and caught up with my brother on the phone.  We have started watching a new TV show called "The Following."  It's great!  Half way through it (DVRed of course), we decided to head to bed and finish it.  AJ of course had to sneak into Cason's room to give him a kiss.  I have never seen a man so in love with a tiny little baby.  It melts my heart!  Most nights I smile and relish in how sweet it is.  Other nights I cringe and hope to God that he doesn't wake Cason up.  Sometimes Cason is a light sleeper, so if Daddy's kisses wake little man up, Mommy gives in and goes in to feed him just to get him to fall back asleep.  I can't let him cry it out if we were the cause of him waking up. :)

I'm thankful for such a wonderful day and continuously feel very blessed to be staying at home with my sweet sweet boy!