So Grant is finally potty trained and is in a big boy bed. There are a few things that just kicked these things into gear for me. First of all he kept taking off his pull up and wishing he could go potty instead of in his pull up and therefore peed in his bed. And when he was sick a few weeks ago he kept asking to go to bed instead of making him. For a while I knew if I worked hard enough at it Grant would be potty trained and in a big boy bed. But I'm lazy sometimes and I didn't want to be woken up all night by Grant and Carly and clean up pee from all the accidents. Grant was definitely all the way ready for both events to change in his life. It was a rough start for potty training. He was in the groove of getting 1 small treat for peeing in the potty and 2 for pooing. Also he was wearing pull ups all day and night. So what I did is I found a potty chart I liked online and laminated it with my clear tape. Then made little velcro stickers so that we could just reuse them all the time. He was quite upset when I first didn't allow him a treat every time he went potty but just stickers and he had to wear his underwear no matter what. Every hour I made him sit on the potty. After a week of 2 stickers and after 5 he got a treat and a video to watch I went down to 1 sticker and I stopped telling him to go potty every hour. He has now gone when he needed to with out me helping him and he accepts the 1 sticker per any potty time. He hasn't had an accident in a few days now! Victory! The thing is he was poo potty trained but never went pee because he could tolerate pee in his pull up while playing, I guess just not in the night.
The big boy bed. He has one, I mentioned in the summer, that we got one for him. Its a race car. He loves it. But there were some other things I had to put in place first. I got a digital plug in timer at Lowe's for $10 and plugged his lamp into it. And that now serves as his alarm clock. So the bed time rule is he can leave his room to go potty anytime he wants but for anything else he has to wait until his lamp turns on at 8am. So he basically comes out to go potty right after putting him to bed and then like clockwork, every morning at like 7:45am he goes pee and poo and back to his room until his lamp turns on. The first two nights of that he came out of his room early to play and had a fit about going back but since then he goes potty by himself unless he doesn't feel confident in wiping and we don't wake up in the night for him unless he wakes up crying from a dream or not being able to find his water. Conveniently it has only happened at the exact time Carly wakes up to be fed and Perry has been awesome enough to take care of him.
Carly is growing chunky and we have her 6 month appointment in a couple weeks. We have learned she loves sweet potato, carrots, avocados, bananas, oatmeal, prunes, and does not like rice cereal or squash. She has an allergic reaction to sweet potato unfortunately. And gets constipated so easily. We are still waiting for her constipation to go away, hence the prunes she loves. She learned to roll from her back to her belly a few days ago and Grant is so proud of her when she rolls over. She still would rather be held or played with rather than watching me do house work but it has to be done. Currently she is fighting the flu. She puked a bunch yesterday and I'm hoping that part is over. And I'm hoping she sleeps a lot today as well to fight it off. She has a regular napping schedule, one nap between 9-10 for 45 min to 2 and a half hours, one that starts between 12-2 and one that is between 3-5 depending on the length of the naps and what times she wakes up. The length of the nap depends on if the neighbors dog barks and wakes her or if she gets un-swaddled and scratches herself. She just loves to be swaddled. I'm not sure when I will kick the habit. Some babies need a pacifier, she just needs to be swaddled. I suppose I will swaddle her until about 9 months, when they say to stop indefinitely. After she naps she moves around so much she gets un-swaddled anyway so I don't think it limits her motor development at all. Plus it takes some muscles to get loose from that strait jacket! She is still very happy and loves to smile and gurgle.
At church yesterday, Carly showed me that she is growing up fast. She now has the developmental capabilities to get stranger anxiety. It was really funny to me because she has never acted this way before. I gave her to a Young Women in my ward and said that she might get hungry soon. Ten seconds later she was crying and the girl quickly gave her back to me. That's odd for my smiley little girl who loves everyone and everything. I just commented that she was probably hungry. Then later after being fed I laid her on a blanket on the floor. She was staring at my friend and sucking on her own fingers. My friend noticed the gaze and started to talk and smile at her. As soon as Carly noticed the girl was talking to her she put on her most sad face and began to cry. My goodness! lol. She is now scared of people I guess and will grow out of it soon but may need some time to warm up now instead of just instant friends.
Poor sweet Carly is cursed with most likely genetic eczema. I don't know who had eczema before me but I have had eczema my whole life. Grant got eczema starting at 4 months. It has slowly faded for him but it comes back if I don't lotion him after a very bubbly bath and he only takes those when he is really really dirty, like poop all over dirty. Anyway, back to Carly. Since she was born she has had severe eczema. I didn't know it was eczema and I waited until her 4 week appointment to do anything about it. Then I learned what it was and started lotioning her every morning and evening with aveeno baby eczema cream. It made it better but we had flare ups almost every other day. Her chin and cheeks would get so raw and reddish yellow from oozing skin. It looked painful and she seemed very uncomfortable. She would have mild flare ups on the rest of her body but the most irritated spots were on her cheeks and chin. We use dye free perfume free detergent. We use 100 % cotton clothing. My mom started to think it was a dietary problem. She thought maybe it was a dairy allergy seeing as my dairy problems got so bad during my pregnancy. I discussed it with her healthcare provider telling her the creams and steroids kept the problem at bay but never really eliminated the problem, other than her face; which always seemed bad. I asked about a dietary issue. We decided to start with the dairy thing. But then I decided I wanted to wait until after the holidays to eliminate all dairy including whey. Then I realized that Carly was given and has been using bibs and burp cloths, since birth, made by my very thoughtful cat loving cousin. We loved the cloths, bibs, nursing cover, and blanket and we love and want cats someday. We have used them since birth. But I thought that I should experiment since I was postponing the dairy experiment. Well after about 2 weeks of not using the bibs and burp cloths Carly has had no eczema on her face. So we can safely assume that although cats cannot cause eczema it can very well cause a flare up in a person who already has eczema so I think Carly is mildly allergic to cats. I'm really sad that we won't be able to use the bibs any more. They are way cute and we have the perfect number of bibs for our daily life. We won't rule out altogether a dairy problem. In fact I will probably still experiment for mine and Carly's sake whether or not dairy causes flare ups in both our eczemas. So it is bitter sweet, we have discovered something that will make Carly's life easier but will sadden us to not use the great gifts my cousin gave her.
So it is now the end of the most stressful, emotionally, physically, mentally straining semester/months of my life. Perry and I felt so burnt out by mid semester. We have also been the most poor. I know I'm not taking classes, but having a husband feeling stressed stresses me out. Plus having a baby doesn't help make things less stressful and a toddler can definitely increase the fatigue. But we are done with the semester and we made it through. Things can only go up from here. :) It had definitely stretched us and made us grow and know what we can handle as far as general life struggles go.
Snow. It's snowing thick white flakes as I type. Its sticking to the trees and every other surface around but I especially like how it dusts the trees white. I loved it as a kid. I loved to sled in it, ski in it, and snowboard in it. As an adult I learned to hate the snow what with our unreliable car, bad tires, and scary slippery encounters and accidents. I hate driving in the snow. I learned to hate cold weather when I lived in Rexburg, ID for a couple years. Now I live in snowy Utah. Its not as windy or cold here as in Rexburg. Now that I have kids I have had a desire to like snow again because I want to enjoy playing in the snow with my kids. Well as this season has begun I have grown more fond of seeing the snow out my window. It is truly beautiful. It is so bright and brilliant. So white. It reminds me of the Savior's countenance and what Heavenly Father and Jesus have been described as in scriptures to be so bright. Spiritual things aside, I am even eager to go sledding with Grant in it and teach Perry how to snowboard. So I have learned to possibly coexist in a snowy place and actually enjoy myself. I may just accept living somewhere with snow, whereas before when asked where we wanted to live someday I would respond, "Somewhere that doesn't snow." I just need to plan how I interact with the snow, bundle up of course, and never drive and run errands while it is snowing. A bit of planning can make me even love snow with out being frustrated by its existence.
Carly had her 4 month appointment. Now she turned 4 months about a week ago but her appointment was on Friday. She weighs 11 lbs 6 oz which is the 5-10 percentile range. She is 24 and 3/4 inches tall which is between the 50-75th percentile and her head circumference is 39.8 cm, which is between the 10-25th percentile. So she is still long and skinny. Her eczema on the other hand is her main problem. Her cute little legs and cheeks are so kissable but when her skin is clear of eczema it is soooo soft! I can't believe it so I want to kiss them more! So it makes me sad she has to deal with eczema. We cream her down with Cetaphyl and cortisone cream morning and night. The flares come in waves so she's not always exposed to the steroid. I know that its not good in the long run. Since there seems to be nothing external causing the rash the Dr. and I decided to explore dietary options. So the first thing they want me to do is cut dairy out of my diet. This is ironic since I couldn't have dairy at the end of my pregnancy and I'm now lactose intolerant and mildly allergic to dairy. So I decided that I will start that after the Holidays. Then I can cut everything including whey which can be found in certain margarines and a filler for other products such as bread. I just don't feel like reading every label for now. But yes after Christmas and New Years I will start that. The dr. said to do that for 2 weeks. If there's no improvement within a month then to come back to see her. Then we will continue down the line of foods, like soy and eggs and so on.
*I tried to insert a photo here but its just not working... ugh. sorry.*
So enough of the health issues. Carly continues to be a joy in our lives. She is so happy and smiley. She is just adorable. We love her so much. I used to hear stories of moms who just love their babies so much and love the alone time they get with them in the middle of the night. Well in my opinion I would rather sleep but when I happen to change her diaper in the middle of the night..maybe once a week and turn on the little night light she is so happy to see me! She just smiles and smiles and of course I try not to interact so that it doesn't cause a night-waking habit just to smile and play with me but she sure is cute! That is the only time I ever slightly enjoy waking in the middle of the night for her lol.
Some ear and eye candy of Carly laughing :)
And a video of Grant since we don't talk about him much due to Carly's being so cute.
So Mom and I are obsessed with DI. I think the rest of family enjoys it too but we were a little crazy over Thanksgiving weekend. We spent and hour and a half at the American Fork DI on Saturday and got a bunch of fun stuff and stocking stuffers for our little cheap gift exchange at Christmas. Then on Monday we went to the Provo DI. We got started at 1pm. I thought we would maybe spend an hour there. Lo and behold Carly slept for 2.5 hours (this NEVER happens) and then she woke to be nursed. After I nursed her, after being at DI for about 3 hours a cart comes out and there was an old looking Kitchenaid. What?! So I said, "Mom go snatch that Kitchenaid" since I was holding Carly. She was a little too slow so I went over there and tried to get it. It was too heavy but some guy eventually helped me and then my mom took over and got it from him.
We tried it out. It did not work. Then a seasoned DIer came over and started fiddling with the plug and then it did work! Oooh! It was $35. So I took it home so delighted by the find! Mom cleaned it all up and we researched it online. It is a K45 vintage model. Basically the first of its kind. I'm betting its about 50 years old. Then after she cleaned it up I plugged it in and it did not work! What the heck! I was really sad. My dad then got to work on it all day and going back and forth to the The Mending Shed in town and they have lots of parts and accessories for it. During the cleaning process I have unscrewed the two things on the side to clean around the screws. Apparently that was a key reason for why it wasn't working. My dad replaced the plug because it seemed that the plug was faulty. And the Mending Shed guy said that the part I took out needed to be put in just the right way or else it would not turn on the machine. Wow. Who would have thought. So it works and I made cookie dough and I'm so thankful that my dad did all that work on the machine! I have a Kitchenaid! I'm so happy. I have been oogling over kitchenaids and bosch mixers for a while now and thought I could never afford one until later in my life!
So as I posted on Facebook before, this is my Christmas present from Perry. So yay! I now have two vintage appliances: The kitchenaid mixer and the juicer. But after researching kitchenaid they didn't miss a beat in the capabilities of the machine. They thought of everything from a grain grinder to an ice cream maker. I doubt I'll buy those attachments but if my juicer dies someday I will consider the attachments.
Voila!
Plus I thought I would add some pictures of Grant at Vangogh to Playdoh this month.
In the nativity parade shaking bells and sporting the reindeer antlers.
So Carly is now 4 months today! Crazy. I can't say that time has flown by because it really has felt like 4 months from all the struggles of fatigue and her resisting naps and so on. She has lovely chunky cheeks and legs. So cute! Grant never had chunky anything.
I have also read a number of books. My favorite is "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby" by Marc Weissbluth, M.D. His methods are great because he caters to everyone and wants everyone to feel comfortable from cry it out method people to nurse to sleep people. Anyway, it has really helped Carly go to sleep much easier. It is no longer a battle and a stressful situation at every nap. Soon she should consolidate her naps but at this point she takes about 4-5 naps a day, each 45 min long.
The main reason for this post that Carly has reached one of her milestones. She has rolled over from her stomach to her back, about 3 times in a row and all caught on camera. She has yet to do it for Perry but at least I got it recorded. Also Grant was slightly jealous of her camera attention so I asked him to roll over for me too and I recorded it. Silly boy!
