Tar doggies

Since we don't allow Boss and Hank up on the new couch and Boss can't seem to get up on Dellaina's big girl bed easily, especially when he's sleepy, they tend to spend the days (especially with me home all day) up on our bed. So, when we come to bed, they have already staked their claim. Greg refuses to "disturb" them and he'll just lay down on my side of the bed, if it's more available, so that when I come to bed, I get to be the bad guy and have to move all 3 of them!

I don't mind them sleeping with us (most of the time), but ultimately, it is our bed and I'm going to get a little sliver of it and some freaking covers! I've trained Hank fairly well to know when I pat the bed and call him, he'll inch around somewhat. He used to growl if you tried to move him and still does on occasion, but he's gotten better after a few stern talkings to! He's long and lanky, but he can curl up in this tight little ball. He's just such a snuggler, we call him our Snuggle Buddy, because he's ready to curl up in the bed whenever you are. For the longest time, Boss slept with us, but then we say he became our teenager and he would no longer sleep with us, but prefer the guest bed, couch, even his crate or the landing - 3 was getting to be a crowd after all, and 4 is quite "cozy." But again since we've taken away several of his preferred places, he has come flopping back. Boss, is just so big and bulky, he's like this rock and he doesn't really slither or contort like Hank does, which sometimes allows Hank to be molded into a more comfortable position for sleeping (for me). Hank also has a skill where he can make himself feel so heavy - it's like the more you push on him, the more he throws his weight against you and refuses to be moved. He can throw himself down so quickly and he'll just try so hard to melt down into the bed and usually does a good job of it. So, at night when I'm trying to find a spot to stick my feet between them and stretch out or turn over and I try pushing, I feel like I'm fighting with the Tar Baby and the more I push or pull the less I'm able to accomplish. And the Tar Doggies (and their daddy) don't say nothin' and just keep on sleepin' and snorin'.

Transistions

I got up and took both Dellaina & Wyatt to day care this morning. I didn't set the alarm, or stress too much about getting up by a certain time, figuring one of them would wake me up, but it was nearly 9:00 before we did! I was nursing him at 5:25, so normally, it'd be 2 hours and he'd be up again, especially since he didn't nurse well, after going all night long (did I mention he's going 7 hours between feedings through the night?! He doesn't necessarily go to sleep for 7 hours, because it might take him an hour or so to fully get settled after the last feeding, but once he's out, it's a good 4-5 hour stretch most of the time! If only I was taking full advantage of it and going to sleep when he does) and I got up and pumped afterwards. I contemplated staying up and doing some work and making sure we got up on time, but decided I needed the sleep and the point of taking him to day care was so I could come home and do work, so why do it during sleep time?! So, we're up and he's nursing at 9:10 and takes a while and I take a while between sides to gather things up, which means by the time we get to the day care, it's already been over an hour since he last ate! Somehow, I've got to time it so that he's eaten just before I drop him off. It's so tricky. They were watching a movie in Dellaina's room, so she was happy to go right in. Then, I went in to take Wyatt.

Whew, it was a little harder than I anticipated it would be. Especially after being rushed into it yesterday, I didn't have a lot of processing time to think about leaving Wyatt in someone else's care. It felt a little more like a babysitting thing for just a little bit. But this morning's drop off hit me because it's going to be his normal routine. I'm no longer going to be the person that holds him the most during the day. Or feeds him. Or talks to him. Hopefully, all those things will still happen without me, but it's still hard to accept the transition when you are not going to be the person actually tending to them. I can only hope that he thrives in their care like Dellaina has and soaks up all of the knowledge and socialization skills and really embraces and enjoys it. He seemed so small compared to the other kids there, even though he's getting bigger to us everyday. Hopefully, he'll have a good core group of friends like Dellaina as well to move up through the ranks with.

I've been wanting to comment on some of the changes in Wyatt, so this seems like a good post to do that in:

*his eyelashes have grown in; nice and long and curved beautifully.

*his little eyes get red when he gets really sleepy - like the skin on the edge of the lids, not his actual eyeball. Kind of like a dark circle look that signifies a lack of sleep. It's very endearing to me to know he's so exhausted and about to be so content sleeping peacefully.

*he continues to scratch his little face and nose despite my continued efforts to keep his nails clipped.

*his constant pooping has indeed transitions to big blow outs less frequently.

*his scalp is still flaky and I'm a picker, so it's so hard for me not to constantly brush/scrape at it or mess with the little white pimples babies get.

*He's definitely focusing so much more and really starting to smile and laugh and coo more. The doctor was talking about how it's sad and unfair that just as they start to get fun and entertaining/interactive, that's when mom's have to go back to work. it's oh so true. *sigh.

The house is still a wreck - I still need to unpack from Christmas, pack up all of the Christmas decorations, do some laundry, write the Thank Yous, etc. but it's been too long and I really need to go pick up little Wyatt now and make sure he's making it ok without me. One of those double edge swords - you want to be needed, but want them to be able to survive and function without you all the time. It's going to be tricky deciding if I pick up Dellaina, too. If I just get Wyatt, we might still get a nap in before Dellaina & Daddy get home. . hmmm.

2.3 - Doctor

Dellaina's 2 year check up was today. I was up most of the night getting my work done so I didn't have to take Wyatt to day care all day long, but I did take him for a couple hours while I took Dellaina to the doctor and then the grocery store. She did pretty well talking about going and not freaking out until we went back to the room with the nurse and were getting undressed and weighing. She did calm down and just had spikes of emotional moments, but all in all, it was much better than previous visits. The hardest part is she gets through it so well and thinks we are "all done" and she's playing and happy and then we have to get the shots that just reinforce to her why the doctor is bad. She screamed and cried, but we made it. She's a big girl and is very rational about most things. She did want her Boppy when we got in the car from day care, but then when we got back in from the doctor she said, "Boppy, tomorrow" and accepted that she wasn't getting it now. We'll see how she handles not getting it tomorrow either. [Note: everytime I go to take her picture these days she comments about going to stand in front of the tree, like that's the spot you get your picture taken!]

Her head is still in the 99 percentile at 51cm! Her weight is 28.5 pounds (71st percentile) and height is 35 inches (79th percentile). The lady measured her height again because it had changed so much since she was last measured and decided she'd done it wrong and knocked off 3/4 of an inch.

We made a quick trip to the store and then went to pick up Wyatt. It's a lot more of a procedure to get Dellaina out, get in to pick him up and then get him, all of the stuff and her back out to the car. I'm exhausted. We saw Aden's family with his new baby brother, Wyatt (did I ever post that story? When we told the day care Wyatt's name they informed us that was the name Aden's parents had already picked out and apparently announced they were going to use! How odd! We liked the name because we didn't know anyone other than Wyatt Earp with the name. And then, Sheryl Crow had to go and adopt a baby this summer and name him Wyatt, so we knew the name would spike in popularity. We kind of felt bad for "taking" the name, but we had been sitting on it for 2 years - if Dellaina had been a boy, she, too, would have been Wyatt. And I was also just relieved that (1) We had been first! and (2) I hadn't known they were planning to use it - it might have affected our decision or added some guilt or something.) Anyway, the other Wyatt (who's last name is oddly similar as well!) was a preemie I think and he's very little. We laughed about how much more work was involved with getting the 2 in the car.

When we got home Dellaina ate and played and then while Wyatt was sleeping, we went outside and rode her tricycle around the driveway. At first, she didn't want me helping her, but when she couldn't go anywhere on her own, she decided it was more fun with me helping and commanded "go faster!" and liked going near the leaf pile. She wanted to go up the hill and ended up walking up it after we'd put up the bike and were trying to get back inside. She and Daddy are doing her bath now, Wyatt is sleeping and I need to work on some Thank Yous.

Dear Family

and friends if you are around and in a position to make it happen: I would really like to get a picture of all 4 of us together as a family. The only ones we have are 2 months old from the hospital when Wyatt was born!! Great that we have those, but it's past time to update! I've tried to mention this out loud to several different people on several different occasions, but it still hasn't seemed to come together. I need help remembering, organizing and making it happen. please. thank you.

Merry Merry

We started our own little family tradition with reading The Night Before Christmas last night as a family on the couch. And Greg & I were up late getting things put together and set up just so for the big reveal this morning. Thankfully, we were able to sleep in some this morning, too, so that was nice. Greg video taped Dellaina coming into the room to see her new activity table and toys Santa left her. And going through the stockings. It was a nice moment to be home and just be us. She had a big time playing with her new ABC and magnetic fish puzzles. Granny & Granpa arrived a little later, followed by Andrea & Blake. They brought all of their Christmas with them, not just ours, so it was quite the haul by the time we finished unloading all of the presents!

We were attempting our first Turkey and dressing and had prepared the turkey last night (after being sure to thaw it in the fridge for several days - it's such a production!) and Greg had gotten up at 5 to put it in the oven to make sure it was done. I had complained to mom that I didn't get her dressing at Thanksgiving (because she couldn't find her recipe books, so I found it in one of mine she'd given me afterwards) and so I wanted it for Christmas, but we had a fabulous roast instead of the turkey and dressing route this year, and her response was classic: "you have the recipe." Touche. Guess I'll try my hand at it; it'd never occurred to me before oddly enough. However, having never done it before, I neglected to think about the fact that I'd have to bake the cornbread first and there were several steps in the process before getting to the cooking for 45 minutes part, so I was a little late getting started, but it all worked out well. Once we got that in the oven, we commenced the big Present Opening of 2007. Dellaina had quite a stack and unfortunately, we were pushing her nap time, so she started getting tired, distracted, uninterested and perhaps a wee bit cranky at times, but we had a big time nonetheless. Lots of great new clothes for both her and Wyatt and some fun new toys that she's really enjoyed playing with all night. We've had several tea parties and cooking and playing with play-doh. We got her a microphone set that also has a camera you hook up to the TV so she can watch herself. That was quite amusing when she's delirious and mesmerized. She'd walk out of the frame and exclaim, "where's Dellaina?!" then she'd duck out of it repeatedly, intentionally, cackling and getting loopy. Highly entertaining. She also got a little tricycle from us that has the tall bar where an adult can help steer and push (so smart to make these things tall and comfortable for adults, so you don't have to bend over and push all the time!). Greg & I both now have lots of shopping spree cash and gift cards to sustain us for a while and extend the holiday a little longer! I'm very excited about getting a few new clothes.

The meal turned out really well, I think and we had a nice time together. Andrea & Blake headed back for another round with his family and Granny & Granpa hung around for awhile. Dellaina did eventually go down for her nap (without mentioning her Boppy - even if she did scream about having to lay down) and I even snuck one in, which was wonderful to catch up from last night (even if I'm blowing it tonight with work, blogs and writing Thank Yous). We had a nice little family evening this evening as she played with her new toys and Wyatt gorged himself. All in all, we had a very Merry and blessed holiday and hope you all did as well. Santa says it best: "Happy Christmas to all. . and to all a good night!"

Merry

After Dellaina's birthday party, Grandaddy took Boss and Hank back with him to the lake and I got Dellaina, Wyatt & I packed up. Mammie stayed to ride down to the lake with us. She even drove and it was so nice and relaxing after the party. . for the first 1/2 of the trip since Dellaina passed out within 5 minutes of the house and Wyatt was out as well. He woke up ready to eat, so I spent the 2nd half of the trip in the back, sitting on a box (why did we get the 2 captain's chairs and not the bench seat option?) having to feed him a bottle and hold his pacifier in and entertain Dellaina, who woke up as well. All in all it wasn't a bad trip and it was nice to arrive at the lake and see Mema, who was happy to hold Wyatt whenever someone got ready to put him down. Aunt Anita (dad's younger sister), Uncle Wade, Dallen, John & Grant all arrived that night as well. Dellaina had a big time playing. Greg had a very quiet and lonely night by himself at home, but rode down with Emily & Daniel early Sunday morning - who decided they couldn't be the only ones not to be there for Christmas (we had originally said we weren't going down, but it worked out and seemed better to be able to see everyone together and they were planning to go down after Christmas). Kathy (dad's older sister) & Johnny arrived late that afternoon, followed by Tina, Frank, Jim, Ali, Aiden, Garris and then Doug & Morgan. We had a great meal and fun opening presents, despite (or because of?) the chaos of so many people and dogs and giddiness. (Emily now also undersands the torture of spending time with my family when you can't join in consuming the free-flowing alcohol!) There was even a little game at the end that was entertaining. We had our traditional puzzle to put together as well. I was glad we decided to make the trip and be a part of it all. We got up Monday morning and started loading up, but it was still nearly noon before we managed to pull out - Emily riding with me and the kiddos and Daniel riding with Greg and the dogs. Emily drove in case I had to do the back seat jumping again, but it worked out that we listened to the new CD of kids songs sung by the St. John's Children's Choir (even though some of it didn't sound like kids' voices or odd, like things were digitally distorted) from Doug & Morgan the whole way home and were all very entertained. We got to go in and see the new tile in the bathrooms at Emily & Daniel's and Dellaina chased Marble around for a few moments before we headed home to get ready for Santa Claus and officially start the Boppy battle.

All Done Boppy

Dellaina is now 2 and we've been preparing her for when she turns two, she'll be a big girl and we'll be all done with her Boppy (pacifier). At times, she accepts that really well, at least in theory, when we were talking about it (and she had one in her mouth) and there have even been a few times she would tell us she was all done and take it out and put it down theatrically. Those moments gave me great hope. But, I decided, even though her birthday was Saturday, I wasn't willing to break her of the habit on the 2 hour car ride to and from the lakehouse. We'd just wait until we had a stretch of days at home to get rid of them all and be consistent and not have to travel until hopefully after we've successfully quit. So, today was the big day. Merry Christmas, we're denying you something you covet!

We got back from the lake and even she agreed, willingly, we were "all done. no more Boppy." But, then, when it came time for her nap, which she resisted as well, it was a different story. I had tucked her in and she hadn't even mentioned it, but Greg was going to go back upstairs to pet on her and talk to her because she was screaming and calling for her "Boppy" and we had a brief discussion about allowing her to have one to sleep or if we cut it all out cold turkey and we decided we should just bite the bullet and cut it out completely - really less confusion and less torture and reminders of it for other times as well. Why stretch out the battle?

Greg came back down teary-eyed and made me cry. I hadn't really thought about how monumental it really is and how much we're asking her to give up - her comfort source for the past two years. She's such a big girl and it's a big moment in her growing up and that's hard. But we know it's also good and she doesn't really need it. She goes all day at school without it and most of the time she does just fine, it's just a mental thing. Plus, it makes her drool and with her snotty nose it's hard to breathe, etc. so it will help not to have it plugging things up for her.

Her new Sit n' Spin helped distract her after her nap when she was crying for it again.

I had a moment of panic when she came over to the rocker where I was holding Wyatt and she reaches for his pacifier, but she was just being her usual helpful sweet Big sister self and trying to put it back in his mouth for him and never even batted an eye, twitched or begged for hers (then). Whew! One more hurdle cleared.

She's been crying at bedtime lately, but thankfully, she hasn't asked for her Boppy the past two nights.

I'm anxious about what Granny will say tomorrow if Dellaina has a meltdown and wants her Boppy, because we need to be strong. She doesn't need it, she'll be fine, we just have to get through these first few initial moments of her realizing they are really all gone. Granny wants to take her some over the holidays, but until we break her of this, I don't think we can trust to send her off just yet! She'd have one in her mouth before they got to the top of the driveway, I bet! Can't make her cry! ;) Really, though, it's because it's not fair to ask anyone else to deny her or go through it and be the bad guy. But, I'm fully confident once she's over this initial break, it will be fine. I had a friend tell me it took them 3 days for things like weaning off the bottle, weaning off the pacifier and even potty training! So, we'll see.

I just remembered she has a doctor's appointment Wednesday. That's going to be quite the challenge without her Boppy. hell.

2.2

Dellaina's second 2nd birthday party happened on her actual birthday: December 22. A mere 2 years ago at 2:34PM she was born. I won't go into the dramatic birthing story/ordeal, even though, I think it's tradition in my family to recite the labor and birthing story on your birthday every year. But, I will say hearing, "It's a girl" and her first cries were two of the most joyous moments in my life. She has been such a blessing and amazes us daily.

I'll mostly do some picture highlights and try to keep this brief. . since Santa is on his way and all and I need to get to bed. . .

But a few other highlights included:

*Mama & Dellaina in our almost-matching party dresses. I hadn't fully planned it that way, just knew what I wanted her to wear and I wanted an excuse to wear my new dress I was denied wearing out before. The shot I had of the full dress came out blurry, so oh well, no one really gets to weigh in on how young it is and if it's wrong for an almost-29 year old to wear it.

*She had a big time opening presents. She even opened her cards like the presents - ripping them wide open. She'd get one open and play with it and we'd try to move her onto the next one, but it would take some coaxing. And she went back to several toys throughout the process. But, she was not interested in opening clothes. Her first box had a sweater in it and she could not have turned around from it any faster like, "that's nice, where are my toys?!" I think the clothes are more of a present for me at this point, because I enjoy dressing her up so much! Many of her toys took several adults scrambling to assemble them so she could play, but she was also very helpful in the process.

*She loved her Little People playground set from Aunt Andrea & Uncle Blake. She has a big time making the people "ride the airplanes" or "swings" [Ferris wheel] and naming them. I'm not sure what to think about the fact that I end up being the clown a lot. Another big hit was the Sit n' Spin from Uncle D & Aunt Owee that they had to hunt all over creation for. It took a little bit to teach her how to work it, but she I was impressed that she could spin it pretty quickly, really, it was just teaching her how to position her legs that was the tricky part. It's really cute, and plays music or has a little "Simon Says" game (that kind of scares her at the moment) but it seems to be smaller than the ones we had growing up. I'm not sure if it's the perspective of being smaller myself, but we really think we remember being able to sit 2 people on it at a time and this one seems much smaller. Thankfully, Uncle D did point out it could be turned off, but she already knows how to flip it over and turn it on! Mammie & Grandaddy got her very own suitcase, complete with initials (which we broke in already going to the lake). Granny & Granpa had 3 gifts: building blocks (in a bag, so she takes them out and puts them back over and over, occasionally saying she's building a "snowman" or even "mama" but mostly repeatedly emptying and refilling the bag), color and wash pony and clothes. She got a great Mrs. Potato Head set with lots of accessories and I was very excited about some stickers I found for her walls for her Big Girl room. We went up and put them on the walls after the party and she had a big time with it. Thankfully, they are easily removable and restickable, so I let her put them all in one spot (like she does on herself) and then went back and spread them out later. I think it turned out really cute and added just enough little touch to peak her interest. She was even saying All Done to her hippo, lion and giraffe tonight, so I think she's catching on.

*The final present was from uncle Garris and came in a Crispex cereal box. It had a lion's head sticking out of the top and when she caught sight of that as she was handed the box to open, she flung it down, panicked and ran to me! We managed to convince her it was ok before she had a meltdown, so disaster averted. We got the tube of Safari animals opened and she's had a big time playing with them. Very methodically taking them out of one container and putting them in another. And then transferring them back into the original container. We think it's her father's OCD cleaning trait rearing it's head that makes all of her toys become a game of just emptying and putting back.

*Again, she had a Princess crown shaped pull apart cupcake cake with chocolate AND nilla cupcakes. However, I think it will be remembered as the birthday we had The Finger cake. *sigh. I tried.

2.1

We had Dellaina's birthday party at Purple Hands on Thursday, because I wanted to be sure all of her friends would be there. She'd been talking it up for so long, I didn't want to risk them taking off early for the holidays on Friday. Greg took both Thursday and Friday off in the hopes of getting things accomplished in the yard and around the house (found out reluctantly that the days are filled up with running around, shopping and baking cookies and school obligations and before you know it, the day is over!) The party was scheduled for the 2:15 snack time, after everyone had woken up. Georgia and Carrie were going to combine their classes to have 2 teachers helping and I also requested that, if possibly, Aden, Caden, Hannah, Tess and Kalie be able to come over to attend from P1. So, there was a room full and it was fairly chaotic. One girl cried [loudly] the whole time and Ethan kept bothering Jordan who would then cry. We tried to help as best we could, distributing food and washing kids up as they finished. I think Dellaina was excited and kept talking about her "chocolate and nilla cupcakes. 1.2!" They played Happy Birthday on repeat and she'd clap and say Yea! at the end every time! She pitched a fit when we wouldn't let her have another cupcake, but got over it eventually. mostly. Thankfully, Wyatt slept through most of it as well in his carrier in one of the cribs.

I never did post about the fiasco of trying to order her cake, but basically I had to go to 2 Publix stores before I found someone helpful and willing to work with me and when I told her the lady at the other Publix had told me they could only make cakes that were in the book she replied, "that's a bunch of crap. That's coming from an uncreative person that's too lazy and shouldn't have our job!" I thought, well! She takes a lot of pride in her job and I found that uplifting. Anyway, I was able to get a Brownie bite pull apart cake that's supposed to be a Princess crown shape. I guess I was expecting it to be pink and the picture I had drawn and shown only had the 3 middle prongs, but at least she tried, which was way more than the other lady was willing to do. She even helped me come up with the Brownie bites, because I was looking for the mini cupcakes, but they claim they don't actually make them at the bakery, they have them pre-packaged and shipped in. But, I know I've had real Publix mini ones before. oh well. It all worked out.

I had attempted to get some party favors and party hats, but they were surprisingly hard to find. I did find some Tiaras for the girls at the dollar store. Dellaina cried when I blew the party horns in the beginning. All in all, it was a lot of build up and we were exhausted after it was over with, but I think Dellaina enjoyed it. Although, I think she also expected it to happen again the next day at Purple Hands! Thankfully, they were having a Christmas party the next day, so maybe she got her "more cupcakes" or at least something close.