Bobsled

They say to be an Olympian you need to start training when you’re young. Troy has got Brynna training for the 2028 Olympics. Not quite sure where we’ll find the next bobsled when she outgrows this one soon.

Fridge worthy

This picture Sevea colored was definitely fridge worthy. See if you can see why? Look closely.

Someone got a little distracted while writing her name. She didn’t really get why her dad and I thought it was funny. We know she’ll have a hard time with people misspelling her name in the future but never thought about this one, haha!!

Spring in our step

These two are ready for spring. They even have a little spring in their step.

Sleep baby sleep

Do you see those colors on the wall? Do they look familiar? Where might our baby be? Yes that is Brynna sleeping in her crib in Sevea’s room!!

We moved Brynna’s crib from our room to Sevea’s on Friday March 7th. In order to not push my luck I waited talking about this monumental occasion until I knew for sure it wasn’t a fluke. The crib moving isn’t a huge deal but the fact that we did this means we have a better sleeper on our hands.

I’m going to set the stage to let you know how drastically things have changed. Brynna learned to put herself to sleep at 4 months. Then teething and sickness got in the way and so she learned again at 6 months. At every nap and bedtime we’d lay her down and she’d fall asleep on her own. Sure there are times where she lets out a protest cry but it never lasts long and plenty of times we hear nothing from her. She napped pretty well. It was the nighttime sleep that was our biggest frustration. Ever since the teething/sickness that settled in between 4-5 months Brynna would not sleep longer than 3 hours at night. A good night for us looked like this:

Bedtime 6:30/7:00 Awake & Eat 9:30/10:00 Awake & Eat 12:30/1:00 Awake & Eat 3:30 Awake & Eat 5:30 Wake up time 6:30

She would eat and fall back asleep quickly. As in I was back in bed sometimes within 10 minutes. These nights we began to cherish and pray Brynna would give us a night like these. Instead most of our nights went a little more like this:

Bedtime 6:30/7:00 Awake & Eat 9:30/10:00 Rock 11:30 Awake & Eat 12:30/1:00 Rock 2:00 Awake & Eat 3:30 Awake & Eat 5:30 Rock until wake up time 6:30

We knew she was growing a dependence on us. We started spending more and more time in the rocking chair sleeping with her. We knew she needed to figure out how to put herself back to sleep without the help of us or from nursing to sleep. The only thing we didn’t know was if she was truly hungry. Since she started eating solids a lot better we took the advice of our doctor and started trying to see if she could go without. The week before we moved her crib we spent weaning her feeds in the middle of the night (the 12:30/1:00 & 3:30 ones). Dropping one by one. We ended up spending the entire night rocking her that week but we at least knew she could go without eating. Then came Friday night. We laid her in her crib that night at 7:00 with extra hugs and kisses expecting the worst. She had a little bit of a cold and coughed enough to wake herself up at 9:05 back to sleep by 9:07. Again at 9:09. This time I checked in on her after 5 minutes and back to sleep at 9:16. Total of 7 minutes of crying. That was the most she cried that night. I dream fed her at 10:00 and we heard from her at 1:30, 3:45, and then soft cries off and on from 5:05-5:30. I waited till she was asleep and fed her again at 5:40. She woke up for the day at 7:10. First night was a huge success especially considering how horrible her nights were before. We knew she was ready but she still surprised us at how well she did. That first night set the tone for good nights ever since. She now goes to sleep at 6:30/7:00, dream feed at 10:00 and then sleeps either till I dream feed her before I go to the gym at 5:30 or sleeps until 6:30ish. It is such a huge change. We’ll drop the dream feed at some point but for now we’re fine with the new schedule. She’s even dealt with two new teeth coming like a champ. She can even easily fall back asleep after mommy takes a picture of her and wakes her up with the flash!

Troy and I both wondered if this day would ever come. And now that it is here you would think we feel well rested. Not quite. I think we got so used to the little sleep that what we’re getting now makes us feel more tired. Our nights seem so short not seeing the clock so many times in the night. I do miss falling asleep on the couch almost nightly by 9:00. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining!

Cohen at 2 1/2 years old

Something new we experienced with Cohen was him having a 30 month visit with the doctor. I’m not sure if this is a new trend everywhere or just at our clinic in Shakopee. I like the change though. Especially since I can see how the visit can benefit those kids who might have been a little behind at the 24 month visit. We’re thankful because it gave us a chance to talk about Cohen and where he is at with his communication and other development areas. The doctor went ahead and referred us to Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) through Shakopee schools and a company called Capable Kids. ECFE was our top choice since it is free and they come to your home to work with the child as well as you. The only thing is that the child has to qualify so essentially we were hoping Cohen was “bad enough” to get help. The whole process to see if he qualified took about a month. The teachers came out and tested him in 5 different areas. It was really a neat experience for me to watch Cohen interact with the teachers. He did really well and I was surprised by some of the things he could do. The teachers learned very quickly that when he is done with something there is no getting him interested again. He is just done and nothing you can do about it. We had our results meeting on 3/20 as well as a trip to see an Ears, Nose, and Throat (ENT) doctor to check his hearing. We feel like he can hear us and weren’t necessarily concerned but he failed the hearing test that the nurse with ECFE gave him. The test checks for how sound bounces back from the ear drum which his wasn’t. She said it could have been fluid in his ears or the cold he had so off we went to find out for sure. At the ENT he passed one test and failed the same test the nurse gave him. The one he passed was actually a hearing test where he indicated if he could hear the technician. So it seems like he can hear. However there was still fluid in his ears. He did have a double ear infection from the bronchiolitis the kids got at his 2/18 check up. So we will go back on May 1st to have his ears rechecked to see if the fluid is still there and do the hearing tests again. If the fluid is still there it is likely he’ll get tubes. All of this could be a contributing factor to his communication delays. So back to our results meeting for ECFE. We got good news that Cohen does qualify for ECFE services. The range most kids fall in on their scale is –1 to 1. They provide services if the child scores –1.5 or lower. Cohen got a –1.6 so just sneaking below that mark. One surprising result was that Cohen also scored –2.4 on the adaptive portion. This includes things like dressing, feeding, toileting, sleeping : how he responds to various demands and normal daily living. It was a little surprising to us but a lot could be tied to his lack of communication. Some things we haven’t attempted (potty training) and others Cohen just gladly allows us to do for him. He’s a pretty laid back kid in some respects. He’ll receive help to improve on these areas until he turns 3. The next step for Cohen will then be preschool. In April/May it will be decided if he qualifies for free preschool. There is a good chance he will since he scored lower than –1.5 on two areas. Hard to imagine my little boy going to preschool but what a great opportunity if it works out.

So besides the communication situation what is our little boy up to at 2 1/2 years old?

In some ways he’s changed so much from the little boy we knew back in the summer/fall.

But in others ways he hasn’t changed at all. He is still very much a loveable little boy. He likes to be near people either by sitting close or cuddling in. He still finds the most comfort in sucking his thumb as well as his bunny and more recently his blanket as well. We used to be able to leave the blanket in the crib but now if bunny goes the blanket surely follows. He is still as picky as ever when it comes to food. The kid is surely not going hungry since he is still a healthy 30lbs 11oz (61%). He’s looking a little leaner due to his height jumping up some to 35.5 inches (42%). Hard to believe he is close to the middle of the pack for his height.

We’ve dealt with a horrible case of teething and are finally coming out on the other end. His molars just seemed to not want to come through fully and he constantly had his hands in his mouth. His attitude definitely showed he wasn’t a fan and there was little he wanted to do besides play on a phone or watch t.v. His love for these two things hasn’t ended but he does find joy in playing with toys again.

However just because he is playing with toys doesn’t mean his attitude has improved. Instead of just being crabby and irritable now he has entered the terrible two’s stage. This is a whole new experience for us as parents. Sevea skipped right through it. Not Cohen. He has attitude and very much shows us he is smart in many ways. If he doesn’t like something he will now often resort to throwing a fit and those fits sometimes include hitting. His victim most often happens to be Grayson. Enter frustration since Grayson loves to be dramatic about the whole situation. So not only do we deal with Cohen being mean but Grayson being dramatic about Cohen hitting him with a feather. Ok most of the time he has a right to be upset! The two of them just remind us that we were crazy for ever wanting them to be born close and that we were happy they were both boys, haha!! (They will grow out of this right?!?!?!)

Even though Cohen isn’t quite where he should be communication wise we have seen a HUGE improvement in him. Right around his 30 month check up he started saying more and more. The biggest difference in him is he will TRY to say things. Before no matter what we did he just would not try if he wasn’t interested. He gets really into certain things and it is fun to see. He was really excited about doors for a week. Every door we saw he’d say “a door” “a door”. He is a little funny in that he will often say “a” before most words.

I’m sure there is a lot about Cohen I’m forgetting but the one thing I know I can’t forget is how much this guy makes us smile each day. It is so hard to believe we’ve been blessed with 2 1/2 years already. Each day he becomes less and less my baby and more and more a little man. Can someone please make time stand still?

Tea party

We asked Sevea to play quietly in her room a few weekends ago since mom and dad needed a nap. And this was a nice surprise to wake up to.

Tea party. It seems like this is something Sevea should have already done. She loves to play pretend with her little barbies and dolls. But she has never had a tea party with just her and her dolls/stuffed animals. You always see kids having tea parties in the movies so this was a cute site to see.

Don’t you love her latest obsession? The Burger King crown! Might just have to twist my arm to get another chicken sandwich to get her a new one.

Brynna 7 month update

Sitting and eating…those are the two big things for Brynna this past month.

She started the month with pretty good strength to sit well with minimal assistance but she’d often still topple over to the sides or fall back. Thankfully with a pillow around her she didn’t mind much and would just practice getting up on her knees.

By the end of the month she’s sitting on her own. We still often put pillows around her or sit with our legs around her just because she still will topple over here or there but it is less and less. Mostly when she gets excited for a toy that isn’t really within her reach.

Oh and did you see that? Her first ponytail! I finally took the plunge and figured I’d get her used to getting her hair done. Boy does she look older with the ponytails…especially when you give her two!

She pulls off some crazy ponytail hair really well!

We started this month with Brynna still not taking to baby food. It was a HUGE struggle to get her to eat baby food. The doctor said go ahead and try table food. A couple days before her appointment we gave her some pancake. She loved it. We tried a graham cracker next. Success! Banana…yum-o! Then things kind of went downhill. She didn’t take to much else. So we just kept trying baby food and table food. Then something clicked half way through the month. We tried some homemade mac n cheese and she loved it. We tried mixed veggies. She loved it. So we just kept going. The doctor said to just feed her anything we are eating and so that’s what we have done. Chicken, lunch meat, hamburger, peas, green beans, broccoli, carrots, peaches, pears, pineapple, mandarin oranges. She loved it all. And so much more. No going back to baby food for her. And honestly we love this way of feeding her. So simple to just have her eat what we are eating (makes us think even more about what we’re having!!). We tried some applesauce the other day and she wasn’t a huge fan. I think it will just take her more time to like the texture so I’m really glad we decided to go the table food route.

With all the food she needs something to wash it all down. We’ve started offering her a sippy cup and she does really good with it. She gets how to drink out of it. Just the tipping it up to get the water is another thing.

This month was a good one for sure. Now that we have her eating more solids next month I hope we have better news on the sleep front. I don’t know what Troy or I will do with more than 2 or so uninterrupted hours of sleep!