Pictures

Check more out at:

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2486045015/a=5702183_5702183/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Chuck E Cheese

Sleep Deprivation

Its Saturday night, K and I just get settled down to watch a movie after putting the kids to bed and then.... wa, wa, waa, waa, waaaaa!, waaaaa!  little bit has decided that he is not going to continue sleeping.  I know that if I take 20 minutes and feed him he'll go back down, but I think he should be sleeping longer stretches at a time.  I make the decision to let K feed him a bottle - give him the enjoyment of feeding the baby and give myself a break.  The night goes on and he wakes up every 2.5 hours or so - it is SO tiring.  His last wakeup tends to be around 5am - makes it really difficult for me to get up since I know it will be 530 or later after I get to go back to sleep and its like what's the point of going back to sleep and the bed is SO comfy.  I go grab the baby and bring him into bed with me so he can eat and I can snooze, figuring just a morning snooze with mom won't turn into a habit.  Well, after last night, I'm not so sure - baby was back to his tricks waking every 2.5 hours and last wake up at 5am  - this time I decide to stay in his room.  I feed him for 25min - he eats and falls to sleep, and I put him back in bed and he starts crying loudly.  I swear the little bugger expected me to bring him in bed with me and was protesting.  K keeps telling me Sebastian is too young to be sleep trained - but I have a hard time believing a four month 16lb baby can't make it 6 hours without waking up (he did manage to do this for me once last week - so I know he has it in him, somewhere).  PJ was the same way, and I remember he wasn't sleeping through the night until he was 8months - but he was a bit on the light side, so my doctor advised me not to cut back on the feedings and even so, it took some major training to get him there.  Mazie wasn't so difficult.  (Of course the two have flip-flopped now they are older, PJ is the better sleeper and Mazie is my early riser).  So the question is to sleep train or not?  I may wait another month or so, but I could really use a solid night of sleep.

Escapee

My husband and I were watching some TV during naptime and we heard some noise from PJ and Mazie's room and what sounded like a child playing out of bed.  Kevin mentioned that this morning he found PJ on the steps to his bed and he said "I just sitting on the steps Da"... yeah right.  So I go upstairs and expect to catch PJ out of bed.  When I open the door who is staying right before me?  My little Mazie Rose - out of her crib, out of her sack and a big smile on her face.  I couldn't help but laugh.  PJ was still in bed and said "Mazie got out of her crib"  K and I have known that Mazie was ready for a big bed, but were trying to hold off because we weren't so sure she'd be as trainable to stay in bed as PJ.  Well, I guess she made the decision for us - down went her crib (and back into the babies room - who happens to be growing so quickly he was almost too big for the bassinet), and out came the twin for her.  After putting PJ and Mazie to bed tonight the first 45 min went well - no pitter patter of little feet (it helps that our living room is directly below the kids room) but then I hear PJ call out "Mazie out of her bed".  Kevin went up and gave her a good woopin' hoping to scare her into staying into her bed - I hope it works.  Sometimes its nice to have a tattle tale.

Puppy Love

I have a childless friend that I frequently talk to about my children and she often makes comparisons with my children’s behavior and training to that of her dog. She generally prefaces her statements, with “I know people hate it when I do this, but I had a similar issue with my dog….” In truth, her analogies don’t bother me at all. And actually, I have found children to be quite similar to dogs, up till as certain age, at which point, I would say they become better than dogs. Those of you that gasp in disbelief that I say this I suspect are either 1. Not animal lovers or 2. Have not fully looked at the similarities. Let’s start with newborns and babies – they would be akin to puppies – all newborns can do is cry, sleep, eat and crap – they haven’t learned any tricks and are more/less fully dependent on their mom/caregiver. Although this complete dependence quickly fades both baby and dog remain puppies for quite a bit. The puppy must be taught everything and much patience is required for training as are babies. Babies use diapers, puppies aren’t housebroken, puppies get into everything and require close watching, babies also require constant watching so as not to harm themselves or ones property, both babies and puppies are starting to learn “tricks” – such as how to sit, roll over, walk (walk on lease), learning the word “no” – in teaching these tricks we can use positive reinforcement – giving puppy or baby praise, a treat (biscuit, cookie, etc), negative reinforcement – letting a child continue to play with a new toy if he/she puts away the old toy (taking off the shock collar when the dog stops barking) or punishment – spanking or yelling at for doing wrong. Your puppy then becomes a dog as a child becomes a toddler. They can both do “tricks” on command, they are quick learners, and both can follow simple directions. At about age 4 (I am surmising, since I would say that none of my children are quite to this “Better than a dog” stage, although PJ is daily gaining ground) I would say the child begins to surpass the dog. The child starts to converse intelligently, learns to read and write, is more independent in dressing and feeding.


And in case you didn’t know, I used to have a dog, and I loved my dog, and I miss her greatly and I would love to get another dog. When I look at all the crumbs on the ground from my children’s meals, I think, the dog would clean that up.  But with three very young children I know now is not that time to get a dog. I don’t have the time or energy to look after a puppy and begin to train her. When I get the urge for another baby I will start looking at breeders – planning on having four legged fourth child, and hopefully by that time one of my children is begging for a dog, since I can’t “officially” get on until the kids want one. However, one of the benefits of being the Mama is convincing the kids that dogs are awesome and they need to tell their Da they want one.

For More Pictures

Having technical difficulties with snapfish and it won't publish to the blog so to see more of the pictures

Go to :

/http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2421210015/a=5702183_5702183/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Little Bit

K says Sebstian isn't much of a little bit - and compared to other babies his age, I suppose K is right - at his last doctor visit on Feb17 he weighed in at just under 16lbs, however compared to my other two kids he is a "Little Bit".  Sebastian, or Bastian (as pronounced by Mazie and PJ) is a happy little baby.  He enjoys being talked to and being played with.  Preston has fun reading books to him and Mazie loves to smother him with love.  Occasionally Mazie and PJ will be a bit rough with him, but he is a tough little guy and handles it well.  At 3.5+ months I still haven't seen him roll over in either direction and am not too sure that he can (there have been times when I put him in his bed and later picked him up and I couldn't remember if I had laid him down the same way I picked him up).  Sebastian generally likes to sleep on his stomach, although if he is being snuggled can be pursuaded to sleep on his back.  He likes to sit in his bouncy chair and try to bat the toys, and when lying under his play center he knows that he can make noise with his feet and move the "poles" and shake the toys hanging above him when he kicks.