Baby Songs

Griffin and I have a bit of a new nighttime routine.  Lately, he has been WIRED before bed and is literally bouncing off of the walls.  So, in order to try to get him to calm down a little before bed, I have been laying down with him in his bed and asking him if he wants me to sing him songs.  Specifically, I ask if he'd like me to sing him a "baby song;"  this, to Griff, means a lullaby.  And it's been working like a charm!  He gets calm, lays next to me and says "yes, peez."  And if my head is not on the pillow he will pat the pillow next to his head and pull my head toward it.  And while I sing him his "baby song" he watches me intently with a little smile on his face the entire time.  And when the song is over he smiles wider and asks "one more time" (which sounds so sweet as "one mo tym?").  It melts my heart every time I hear that, and as a result, we generally go through a LOT of "baby songs."  Sometimes we make them up, and he specifically likes any baby song that I insert his name into, often requesting "baby song with GiGi in it."  

Griffin is so full of imagination and joy that it is unbelievable.  Today, when he woke up, he proclaimed that he was a "hippo po mas."  Before I had left for work, he had been a snake, a hippo, a whale, a "roar" (dinosaur, tiger or lion, pick your pleasure), a dog, a giraffe/hippo who likes chocolate milk, and a cat.  And I hear from Ms. Ashley that he has also been crawling around like an animal AND that he pooped on the potty today like an animal!  (I know this sounds odd, as animals specifically DON'T poop on the potty, but we have been having some difficulty for some time now with poopy on the potty...so we insist to Griff that hippos, whales, doggies, cats, giraffes, baby ducks, chicks, snakes, cows, and horses poop on the potty so he must, too!).

I can't wait to spend my weekend with my silly shape-changing animal and his little brother.  I can't help but wonder how Duncan is going to make us laugh when he's a little older.  If Griffin's imagination is any indication, we are in for some fun!

Preacher

Last night as the Atkinsons were leaving we were out on the porch and couldn't help but notice a pretty HUGE praying mantis on the side of the house.  Since Griff was already in bed we decided to house the bug for the night so he could check it out in the morning...thus we named him Preacher (he is a praying mantis after all), and put him in a container with some leaves and water.  And today after Ben got home (I was honestly too creeped out by this bug to handle show-n-tell on my own) Griff got to check him out.  And, the boy that he is, he loved it.  And when G was done checking out Mr. Preacher, we let him go right where we found him...which Griff wasn't very happy about, but we told him Preacher guards our house.  He wasn't satisfied with that, but we distracted him...

Videos at the bottom.  :)  Griff absolutely LOVES to see animals eat, so that was his favorite part.  Eat, bug, eat more, eat!

As you can see, Ben let Preacher crawl ALL over him...

Back home

Bye Bye!  Thanks for the lesson...

Go Bears!

Just a cute couple pics of Dunc and Griff in their jerseys!  By the way, Dunc's jersey is a 6-12 months and I could barely get it over his bottom.  That's right - he pretty much skipped the 3-6 month size...which made me super pleased as I had just revamped his drawers with the 3-6 month clothing supply...he is growing like a WEED.  But, with that is starting to come a little bit more predictability.  Dunc is really loving his crib (hallelujah) and is sleeping for some good chunks in it for daytime naps.  At night, he is still getting up a couple of times to eat, but has been known to give us a 4 hour stretch, and even a 4.5 hour stretch once.  So, we are getting there.  Slowly but surely he is sleeping better for us.  And I am loving it.  Sleep + Zantac = a happy Duncan, which, in turn, equals a happy mama!

Species

Thanks to our recent addition to the family (no, not Duncan -- the iPad), Griffin now differentiates between species of animals.  Today he picked up his killer whale (previously known of course only as "whale") and proclaimed it was an "ORCA whale." 

And the next time a Quetzal lands in our yard, you betcha he will know that by name, too (guess it gets kind of hard for the app-makers to think of animals that begin with "Q")....

If Duncan Can't Use It...

Griff apparently thinks he can!

Congrats Matt & Ashley!

 We had a fun weekend...Gma Cathy and Great Gma Lea came up, Matt and Ashley got married, and Ben and I had a (whole) night out!  We had an awesome time at the wedding...it was nice to be able to have some adult time...and now the boys and I are getting ready for a week without Ben (who is in San Francisco this week).  Sounds like he's going to be gone quite a bit in the next few weeks so let's hope my two little men make it easy on their mama!

Mr & Mrs!

Waiting for the wedding to start..wedding was during naptime so Griff didn't make much of the ceremony and instead (according to Daddy) attempted to knock Mary off of her pedestal as well as [allegedly] thought about throwing rock through a stained glass window.  Let's just say Griff soon went home to the grandmas!  :)

On the way to the reception

Overserved?  Perhaps.  But we were dancing machines!  Had such a great time with a fun group of people.

And just a cute pic of Griff and Ben earlier this week.  Griff saw Ben in his hat and requested his own "like Dad."



Duncan is Two Months Old!

 Well...my baby is officially two months old!  We saw our (new) pediatrician this week...and let me tell you, I'm pretty positive that the staff at our ped's office aren't big fans of me because I BUGGED them incessantly so I could get in with the ped I wanted - who wasn't taking new patients.  Well, there's a reason she was booked...because she is really great.  Finally!  A pediatrician that I click with.  I'm incredibly pleased.  And, because life with  Duncan has been...trying...it was an appointment that I was waiting for.  For starters, she speculated that Duncan suffered from "silent reflux."  And she told us to try baby Zantac for a couple of weeks to see if it helped at all...and I never want to jinx any baby behavior (sleeping through the night...sleeping at all...liking new foods...I was always careful at bragging about any of that with Griff - it is kind of like saying that traffic isn't bad, and then you run into the major jam!)...BUT - since we started the Zantac, D has been a different baby.  Before, honestly, when he wasn't sleeping he was fussing a lot of the time.  Now?  We get periods of happiness!  Smiles! Giggles! Coos!  I am loving it. 

Dr. Collins also noticed that Duncan preferred to look to one side and that he had a little flat spot.  So, her edicts were: no more swing, no more bouncy, no sleeping on back, and no swaddling.  I think Julie said it best when I told her this: "Um, does she know he's a baby?"  Ha!  Thus since Monday, we have dismantled the swing, put away the bouncy, and D has been sleeping in his crib on his side (getting him to stay that way is a challenge, to say the least).  But I am happy to report that he is adapting to those sudden and drastic changes pretty well.  Mom and Dad are having a little harder time...just figuring out where D should hang out when we need to get things done while he is awake...but we are managing.  His doc actually wanted us to see a physical therapist, too...and today was our first PT appointment.  She gave us some stretches and ideas, and praised us for being proactive in tackling this early.  Her take was that his neck is a little tighter on one side, possibly from his reflux and also likely because he was such a big boy and was cramped in utero.  We are going to meet with her weekly, but she assured me that she thinks our PT run will be short.  I have to admit that after the appointment with the doc earlier this week, I was upset; after today's appointment, however, I feel much better.  The therapist actually said a lot of pediatricians wouldn't have even noticed - and I'm glad ours did.



                   

                                   Our two month photo shoot started out with some grumpies...but got a little better :)

 





We don't leave him like this for long..and not unattended...but he's pretty darn cute curled up in there.  :)



Update on Baby Duck Box...

And this morning...G walked out of his room with his Baby Duck Box...and it had contents...his precious "baby" (what he calls his blankie).  "My baby IN baby duck box, Mom."  :)

Baby Duck Box

So...Griff still loves baby ducks ("gucks").  Tonight when we were hopping into his bed for our bedtime routine I noticed that there was a little something unusual in his bed...a formula box.  I asked him about it and was told, as if I were an idiot, "it's my baby duck box." Silly Mommy!  Guess I hadn't really paid much attention to the baby duck on the front of the box but apparently Griff did.  And I'd given Ben credit for taking it off the counter to the recycling...nope, Griff had stashed it away in his bed for later.  I thought it was cute, and then I tried to take it downstairs with me when G requested "light OFF!"  but Griff would have none of it.  Thus, as I type this he is upstairs sleeping with...among other favorites...his baby duck box.



Silly Boys

Just wanted to post some cute pics of the boys....

We are [finally] getting some smiles from sweet Duncan here and there, which in turns makes us smile :)

And Griffin's new "feat?"  Climbing into the pack n play in one fell swoop...there is really no climbing involved...he just catapults himself over the side.

Once he gets in, he proclaims he is going "nigh nigh" and covers himself up.  Getting out, however, is not quite so easy and generally involves our assistance. 

Very proud of himself.  And at first we thought it was quite funny...now I think the novelty has worn off for us, G-man.  :)

Mini Vaca

The boys, Ashley and I took a mini-vaca the week before I headed back to work.  We had hit the Brookfield Zoo, which was a lot of fun...but Griff decided, since he is a pretty big animal fan, that we should go to ANOTHER zoo in the same week.  So we headed to Milwaukee for a couple of days and had some hotel fun and had a great time at the Milwaukee Zoo - by far our favorite zoo.  The animals were all out and were all active.  And we were able to see so many of them up close & personal.  We had a fantastic time and Griff talked about it for days.

\

 Duncan and Momma being silly

 "Hi, elephants!"

Clearly a favorite!  :) Griff saw hippos both in and outside, and was able to convince the inside hippo not to be scared to swim.  He called it "GG's hippo".

 Up close and personal with this ROAR!

 Baby chicks...close to his fav baby DUCKS ("gucks").  When you're older I will tell you about my discussion with the zookeeper when I tried to convince her to let you hold one of the chicks, Griff.  I will not type it here...a bit disturbing.  :)

 Outside HEEPOS!

 The three of us



 Out to eat.  Griff sat down and proclaimed "MULK!" to the waiter.  He's a boy who knows what he wants.

He loved the hotel set-up too.  Muffins and Cars 2.  This is the life.

My Littlest



This is a very common sight in our house.  :)





And now for a little Duncan blog-love!  My littlest man is sure giving us a run for our money.  Gone are the days where Dunc only cried when hungry...now my baby cries - well, I don't know, maybe just to hear himself.  He does not really love the swing.  Nor does he love pacis.  Bouncy seat?  Sometimes.  Stroller?  Very infrequently these days.  Being held?  Yep, 75% of the time he's cool with that unless he is really mad.  Then, nothing really helps.  I have pulled out the Baby Bjorn and in the evenings when it is just me and the kiddos D is frequently in it...cause I need hands to take care of his big brother.  We have switched formulas.  It's pretty much the same.  He does not like to go very long between feedings...3 hours during the day if he is in a good mood, 2 hours if he is not.  And at night there is no predictability.  Let's just say Ben is out of town this week, and this morning I could not find my wallet...I asked Ashley if she had seen it.  She said she sure had - it was in the pantry on the shelf.  Um, okay.  Sleep deprivation perhaps??  I think maybe so.  And he's only got a few more days until mommy goes back to work...so, please, please D...sleep for momma!  I'm really hoping that the magic "light switch" goes off soon and the fussiness at least subsides...or maybe we will be able to figure out how to soothe him.  But he's just so darn cute that it is hard to stay frustrated for too long.  He's even pretty adorable when he is crying!  So, when you're older and read this, Duncan, please remember to call your mother.  I deserve it!  :)