Sorry, I've been busy with a new Mom Chat site that I created. :) If you are interested in joining, we have 30 members already and I'd love it if some of my "real life" friends joined up, too (Jackie is already there!!). Email me and I'll send you the link. I've belonged to a few of these sites over the years and I can't even count all the times I've received advice, support, friendship, product reviews, parenting tips, etc. from the wonderful ladies I met. It's a awesome resource!! The last site I belonged to is going to start charging a fee to belong, so I decided to branch off and create my own. It was surprisingly easy to do. :)
Anywho, after that plug ;-) on to other news!
Jillian is crawling!! She started creeping earlier in the week on her belly, kind of an army crawl. Then late in the week she started getting up on hands and knees and kind of rocking back and forth, then lunging herself forward. LOL! Yesterday she actually took a few "steps." I think she sees Matt running around and wants a piece of that, too, because she gets so frustrated when she can't get to where she wants to go.
Poor Matt, though. Several times this week all I heard was, "No no Bebe Pix! NO!!" because she had wiggled over and was taking his train tracks apart. LOL! I have a feeling things are going to get very interesting between the two of them pretty soon. I may need to get a long gate to separate Matt's toys from Jillian's more age-appropriate toys.
Matt gave up his pacifier on his birthday. He was only allowed to have it in his crib for naps and bedtime, but we have been wanting to wean him off of that, as well, for a while now. So Mark made an impromptu decision the day of his birthday and told Matt that he was a big boy now and didn't need it. Matt surprisingly didn't make a fuss and went right to sleep. For about a week Mark and I were ecstatic that it was so easy and we were wondering why we didn't do it sooner.
It was too easy. One week to the day after we took the pacifier away, Matt's sleep went to hell. Now every time the baby wakes up in the night, Matt wakes up and starts screaming. And he gets so upset now whenever he hears the baby cry, regardless of day or night. He'll start throwing a fit (literally) and yelling, "Bebe cry, Mumma, bebe cryin' Mum, bebe cryyyyyyy!!" I think since we took his favorite security object away (even though he still has his blankie) he's feeling a little lost.
I'm hoping this is just a horrible, horrible phase because nap time has become extremely stressful. Jillian takes an hour and a half nap in the morning. You can put her in her crib wide awake on her back now and she'll fuss/talk to herself for a few minutes and then roll over and go to sleep. She'd probably do the same for her afternoon nap around 1:00, except that Matt goes down for his nap at the same time and the minute he hears so much as a peep come from the next room, the fit begins, which, of course, sets the baby off. So I spend almost an hour every day running between the two rooms trying to calm them both down enough to go to sleep. And then Jillian will only take a 45 minute nap in the afternoon anyway so the minute she's awake, Matt's awake. And this is the kid that used to take a 3 hour nap in the afternoon.
You have no idea how tempted I am to give him the stupid pacifier back. ;-)
Of course, we discovered last week, that through all of this, the poor kid is cutting three molars. Here we are, giving Jillian extra cuddles and patience and even Tylenol, for goodness sake, because she's teething and it didn't even dawn on me to look in Matt's mouth. But after another middle-of-the-night scream fest, on a whim I stuck my finger in Matt's mouth and he had not one, but three molars poking through. His gums are all swollen and tender. Poor kid!! It broke my heart! Ever since he's been complaining of "Boo boo mouf, mumma! Medicine!" hehe!! So that could partly explain his behavior, too.
Oh, one more thing about Jillian. She's finally outgrown her infant seat. The weight limit is 20 pounds, and she's only about 15, but the height limit is 26" and she was 25 1/4" at her last appointment. And she's definitely going through a growth spurt right now, so it's time for a new seat. I have my eye on a Britax that goes up to 65 lbs so that she can use it for a long time. I plan on keeping her and Matt in 5 point restraint seats for as long as possible. I've heard too many nightmare stories of children being put in regular belt-positioning booster seats too early.
On the home front, Mark's basement "Man Town" is almost finished. He made a bar with a ceramic tile, finished the walls, ceiling, lighting, other electrical, baseboards, stairs, finish work, etc. All that needs to be done is baseboard heat (which he's installing today), prime and paint the walls, and carpet. Then we're going to go shopping for furniture and a TV. I can't wait for that room to be done, and I know Mark is ready for it to be done, too. But he did an amazing job doing all the work himself and I can't wait to post pictures of the finished product. You'll be blown away. :)
We had Cyr Lumber come Friday and talk to us about a quote for renovating our kitchen and dining room. Right now both rooms are pretty small and there's a wall in between with a "window" into the next room - pretty common 1980's style Gambrel house. And the dining room is wasted space because it's SO formal (we inherited the furniture from Mark's parents after they moved) that it's not practical for everyday use with two young children, know what I mean? So this'll be an amazing change for us.
We're going to have that wall removed and make a large eat-in kitchen.
So basically, what the people from Cyr Lumber proposed was: both rooms will be gutted, we'll get new appliances, new cabinets, new countertops, new floors... I'll get pantry cabinets against one wall, the kitchen door will be moved a few feet to where the window is now and there will be a window put in where the china cabinet is now. The window over the sink will be moved a few feet so that the sink can be moved further away from the stove. There will be a two-tiered island with a cooktop and a breakfast bar... and I'll have double ovens. I'll have a TON more cabinet space and counter space... I cannot wait!!
Here are some before pictures... what they don't show is that the cabinets are literally falling off the walls/off the hinges, and doesn't really show how small the spaces are:
The existing kitchen:
The existing dining room:
There will be a new window where the china cabinet is now:
This wall will be removed to make way for an island:
The door will be moved over a few feet to where this window is now:
Anywho, after that plug ;-) on to other news!
Jillian is crawling!! She started creeping earlier in the week on her belly, kind of an army crawl. Then late in the week she started getting up on hands and knees and kind of rocking back and forth, then lunging herself forward. LOL! Yesterday she actually took a few "steps." I think she sees Matt running around and wants a piece of that, too, because she gets so frustrated when she can't get to where she wants to go.
Poor Matt, though. Several times this week all I heard was, "No no Bebe Pix! NO!!" because she had wiggled over and was taking his train tracks apart. LOL! I have a feeling things are going to get very interesting between the two of them pretty soon. I may need to get a long gate to separate Matt's toys from Jillian's more age-appropriate toys.
Matt gave up his pacifier on his birthday. He was only allowed to have it in his crib for naps and bedtime, but we have been wanting to wean him off of that, as well, for a while now. So Mark made an impromptu decision the day of his birthday and told Matt that he was a big boy now and didn't need it. Matt surprisingly didn't make a fuss and went right to sleep. For about a week Mark and I were ecstatic that it was so easy and we were wondering why we didn't do it sooner.
It was too easy. One week to the day after we took the pacifier away, Matt's sleep went to hell. Now every time the baby wakes up in the night, Matt wakes up and starts screaming. And he gets so upset now whenever he hears the baby cry, regardless of day or night. He'll start throwing a fit (literally) and yelling, "Bebe cry, Mumma, bebe cryin' Mum, bebe cryyyyyyy!!" I think since we took his favorite security object away (even though he still has his blankie) he's feeling a little lost.
I'm hoping this is just a horrible, horrible phase because nap time has become extremely stressful. Jillian takes an hour and a half nap in the morning. You can put her in her crib wide awake on her back now and she'll fuss/talk to herself for a few minutes and then roll over and go to sleep. She'd probably do the same for her afternoon nap around 1:00, except that Matt goes down for his nap at the same time and the minute he hears so much as a peep come from the next room, the fit begins, which, of course, sets the baby off. So I spend almost an hour every day running between the two rooms trying to calm them both down enough to go to sleep. And then Jillian will only take a 45 minute nap in the afternoon anyway so the minute she's awake, Matt's awake. And this is the kid that used to take a 3 hour nap in the afternoon.
You have no idea how tempted I am to give him the stupid pacifier back. ;-)
Of course, we discovered last week, that through all of this, the poor kid is cutting three molars. Here we are, giving Jillian extra cuddles and patience and even Tylenol, for goodness sake, because she's teething and it didn't even dawn on me to look in Matt's mouth. But after another middle-of-the-night scream fest, on a whim I stuck my finger in Matt's mouth and he had not one, but three molars poking through. His gums are all swollen and tender. Poor kid!! It broke my heart! Ever since he's been complaining of "Boo boo mouf, mumma! Medicine!" hehe!! So that could partly explain his behavior, too.
Oh, one more thing about Jillian. She's finally outgrown her infant seat. The weight limit is 20 pounds, and she's only about 15, but the height limit is 26" and she was 25 1/4" at her last appointment. And she's definitely going through a growth spurt right now, so it's time for a new seat. I have my eye on a Britax that goes up to 65 lbs so that she can use it for a long time. I plan on keeping her and Matt in 5 point restraint seats for as long as possible. I've heard too many nightmare stories of children being put in regular belt-positioning booster seats too early.
On the home front, Mark's basement "Man Town" is almost finished. He made a bar with a ceramic tile, finished the walls, ceiling, lighting, other electrical, baseboards, stairs, finish work, etc. All that needs to be done is baseboard heat (which he's installing today), prime and paint the walls, and carpet. Then we're going to go shopping for furniture and a TV. I can't wait for that room to be done, and I know Mark is ready for it to be done, too. But he did an amazing job doing all the work himself and I can't wait to post pictures of the finished product. You'll be blown away. :)
We had Cyr Lumber come Friday and talk to us about a quote for renovating our kitchen and dining room. Right now both rooms are pretty small and there's a wall in between with a "window" into the next room - pretty common 1980's style Gambrel house. And the dining room is wasted space because it's SO formal (we inherited the furniture from Mark's parents after they moved) that it's not practical for everyday use with two young children, know what I mean? So this'll be an amazing change for us.
We're going to have that wall removed and make a large eat-in kitchen.
So basically, what the people from Cyr Lumber proposed was: both rooms will be gutted, we'll get new appliances, new cabinets, new countertops, new floors... I'll get pantry cabinets against one wall, the kitchen door will be moved a few feet to where the window is now and there will be a window put in where the china cabinet is now. The window over the sink will be moved a few feet so that the sink can be moved further away from the stove. There will be a two-tiered island with a cooktop and a breakfast bar... and I'll have double ovens. I'll have a TON more cabinet space and counter space... I cannot wait!!
Here are some before pictures... what they don't show is that the cabinets are literally falling off the walls/off the hinges, and doesn't really show how small the spaces are:
The existing kitchen:
The existing dining room:
There will be a new window where the china cabinet is now:
This wall will be removed to make way for an island:
The door will be moved over a few feet to where this window is now:
4 comments:
I am excited for you and the renovations! Your new kitched sounds similar to ours. Although I don't envy the construction phase, it will be SO worth it. You are going to LOVE having an island and Matt is going to love sitting at it;)
...sounds like "Man Town" needs to host the Super Bowl this year!
I was just reading about this problem in one of the parenting mags (older child waking up when younger cries)...anyway they suggest some sort of white noise device in the older child's room. (CD/fan/humidifier etc.) to drown out the cries. Sounded good to me. We use that trick when putting Ian down at other peoples house so he is not distracted by everything else around him. Our pack and play actually has these nature sounds. It seems to help.
Keep us posted on the construction. Can't wait to see it all.
Wow - sounds like a huge undertaking! Good luck - can't wait to see it (and Man Town).
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