The Bot-Bot (this one belongs to his cousin Kenzie)
Sunday, May 30, 2010
What a weekend. Friday afternoon we found out Cale had another ear infection...which I had been suspecting for days. I'm getting pretty good at predicting specific sicknesses based on his behavior. Clingy to the point of wanting to be held constantly + whiney for no apparent reason + no appetite even on foods normally devoured + Dalebert transformation= ear infection for Cale. Also, the doctor said his infection had made his throat very red and sore plus he has 2 molars and a canine coming in. Nothing like good news to start a weekend! Saturday morning I had a garage sale at my brother and sister-in-law's house. Carl and I had to get up at 5:00 that morning which was brutal for a Saturday. Carl had to take our trailor full of stuff over and I stayed with Cale until he got back. Then, I headed over at about 6:00. Wouldn't you know the one time I have something, besides Cale, that forces me to get up early on a Saturday, Cale decides to sleep in. I mean like, unheard of, 8:00 late. I think he's slept until 8:00 maybe twice in his life and those times were a result of hours of wakefulness and screaming in the night. Oh, to sleep until 8:00. What was that like? How did that feel? It's a distant memory. No bags under my eyes, no, so sleepy I have to go to bed by 9:00. Oh, 8:00, maybe we'll meet again one day. I can dream.
The garage sale was pretty successful. We got rid of all of our big things and what little things were left we took to Marva. So, now we actually have room to park in our garage. You see some strange things at garage sales. A truckful of women...er...men...er...men wanting to be women and actually doing an okay job of playing the part, pulled up. It actually took me a few seconds to realize that they weren't just sweet older ladies. I guess taking horomone supplements can work wonders, if you wanna call it that. I knew they all looked rather...how do I describe it, amazon-ish, and a little unattractive at that. But, it wasn't until I started the conversation, that I knew. All in all, they were very friendly and actually contributed to my garage sale success. Yep, they're now the owners of a white bedspread that reminded one of them of Germany and some baby clothes and stuffed animals for their grandchildren.
I'm so glad to have that garage sale over. It's been hanging over my head each and every time I went into the garage. Cale is glad to have more room to play and drive his little cozy coupe around. I'm telling you, that kid manages to cause more trouble! He loves to sit on Carl's new lawn mower, aka tractor, and somehow he managed to turn the key just enough that the whole battery is dead now.
And mealtime, don't even get me started. Who knew toddlers were so hard to feed? Cale's eating situation is the worst now. He wants junk and more junk and it's hard to not give in. He knows where the cookies are and everytime I open the pantry he says "cookie" and doesn't stop. Literally he does-not-stop, until I give in shamefully and he gets one. Same goes for cheese and Coke. Everytime Carl or I have any Coke, Cale begs and begs for a drink. Forget water, milk, juice...he has a one track mind. He's also been very intersted in our coffee. We keep telling him it's hot (he's obsessed with things being hot and if something is even remotely warm he says "hot" and spits it out) Well, finally I got the idea to let him try some, knowing he would absolutely hate it. I mean, coffee is an acquired taste. It took me months to finally start liking it and probably a year before I trained myself to drink it black. So, one evening after my coffee had sufficiently cooled, past the point that I would even consider drinking it, I offered Cale a drink. I waited for the "yucky" face. I waited for it to be spit out. Instead, he said, "poffee" and tried to get more. I should've known. Now, not only does he ask for Coke but also "poffee".
He doesn't want to drink out of a sippy cup either. I've spent a small fortune on cups for him. I've tried every cup imaginable. My cabinet looks like the toddler cup section of Wal-Mart. We've got tractor sippy cups, sippy cups with handles, Mickey Mouse cups, cups with straws, short cups, tall cups, cups that resemble "big people" cups with straws,...you name it. Ever since I took his special "bot, bot" away...he barely drinks. Now I didn't take it away from him because he loves it, it just had a soft nipple that he was chewing through. And that cup is 7 bucks! We had already gone through 4. So, after toying with the idea for a few weeks, I finally threw the "bot bots" in the trash. I figured that after a few days Cale would adjust. I mean, it's just a cup. He can learn to love another, right? Cale's been an angry smurf ever since. He went from drinking about 30 ounces of milk/day to maybe 10 ounces. It worries me a little, but everyone keeps telling me that he'll drink when he's hungry. I don't think they know Cale. He's the most stubborn little boy ever. He's holding out and I think he still believes he'll win...but I'm not giving in. Even if most mornings when I walk in his room, the cup is lying outside the crib where he chunked it, and still pretty much full of the milk I put in it the night before. I'm telling you, he's so strong willed. I hope we're strong enough for him!
The garage sale was pretty successful. We got rid of all of our big things and what little things were left we took to Marva. So, now we actually have room to park in our garage. You see some strange things at garage sales. A truckful of women...er...men...er...men wanting to be women and actually doing an okay job of playing the part, pulled up. It actually took me a few seconds to realize that they weren't just sweet older ladies. I guess taking horomone supplements can work wonders, if you wanna call it that. I knew they all looked rather...how do I describe it, amazon-ish, and a little unattractive at that. But, it wasn't until I started the conversation, that I knew. All in all, they were very friendly and actually contributed to my garage sale success. Yep, they're now the owners of a white bedspread that reminded one of them of Germany and some baby clothes and stuffed animals for their grandchildren.
I'm so glad to have that garage sale over. It's been hanging over my head each and every time I went into the garage. Cale is glad to have more room to play and drive his little cozy coupe around. I'm telling you, that kid manages to cause more trouble! He loves to sit on Carl's new lawn mower, aka tractor, and somehow he managed to turn the key just enough that the whole battery is dead now.
And mealtime, don't even get me started. Who knew toddlers were so hard to feed? Cale's eating situation is the worst now. He wants junk and more junk and it's hard to not give in. He knows where the cookies are and everytime I open the pantry he says "cookie" and doesn't stop. Literally he does-not-stop, until I give in shamefully and he gets one. Same goes for cheese and Coke. Everytime Carl or I have any Coke, Cale begs and begs for a drink. Forget water, milk, juice...he has a one track mind. He's also been very intersted in our coffee. We keep telling him it's hot (he's obsessed with things being hot and if something is even remotely warm he says "hot" and spits it out) Well, finally I got the idea to let him try some, knowing he would absolutely hate it. I mean, coffee is an acquired taste. It took me months to finally start liking it and probably a year before I trained myself to drink it black. So, one evening after my coffee had sufficiently cooled, past the point that I would even consider drinking it, I offered Cale a drink. I waited for the "yucky" face. I waited for it to be spit out. Instead, he said, "poffee" and tried to get more. I should've known. Now, not only does he ask for Coke but also "poffee".
He doesn't want to drink out of a sippy cup either. I've spent a small fortune on cups for him. I've tried every cup imaginable. My cabinet looks like the toddler cup section of Wal-Mart. We've got tractor sippy cups, sippy cups with handles, Mickey Mouse cups, cups with straws, short cups, tall cups, cups that resemble "big people" cups with straws,...you name it. Ever since I took his special "bot, bot" away...he barely drinks. Now I didn't take it away from him because he loves it, it just had a soft nipple that he was chewing through. And that cup is 7 bucks! We had already gone through 4. So, after toying with the idea for a few weeks, I finally threw the "bot bots" in the trash. I figured that after a few days Cale would adjust. I mean, it's just a cup. He can learn to love another, right? Cale's been an angry smurf ever since. He went from drinking about 30 ounces of milk/day to maybe 10 ounces. It worries me a little, but everyone keeps telling me that he'll drink when he's hungry. I don't think they know Cale. He's the most stubborn little boy ever. He's holding out and I think he still believes he'll win...but I'm not giving in. Even if most mornings when I walk in his room, the cup is lying outside the crib where he chunked it, and still pretty much full of the milk I put in it the night before. I'm telling you, he's so strong willed. I hope we're strong enough for him!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Making Memories
This weekend, we decided to take Cale on his first trip to Silver Dollar City. Carl and I both loved this place as kids and were excited for Cale to experience it. We also took along our neice who is in 6th grade. We were excited about the small trip, but dreading the actual drive. Cale has a bad track record for car rides over 20 minutes. Amazingly, he really did really well. It helped a lot that he had a buddy in the back seat to entertain him. We finally made it to Branson at about 8:30Friday night. Cale really just got fussy the last 30 minutes of the trip and once he saw the Branson lights...he was mesmerized.
So, we found our hotel and unloaded our stuff. Then, Carl and Shelby decided to leave Cale and I behind for some go-cart riding. That meant that I was stuck trying to get Cale to bed! Last time we went to Branson and stayed in a hotel we ended up leaving at 2:00 in the morning because Cale wouldn't stop screaming. So, needless to say I was a little nervous about the sleep situation. Cale has never been a baby that will sleep in the bed with us. I don't know if it's because we never put him in our bed when he was little or what. But, we've tried and tried on nights when he was really fussy but he won't even come close to sleeping. So, after a bath (actually a shower holding Cale and trying to wash my hair at the same time), I reluctantly put Cale in his pack-n-play, turned out the lights, climbed into bed, and waited. It only took about 20 seconds for the wailing to begin. It went on and on and I could feel Cale staring at me the whole time as he stood in his pack-n-play. I tried to hide under the covers and be as still as possible, but he knew I was there and he was not happy about it! After about 30 minutes of screaming, Cale finally started to quiet down. Just as I was saying a thank-you prayer, I heard it. The sound of the door handle turning. Yep, wouldn't you know it. Carl and Shelby arrived at the exact moment Cale was almost asleep. So, he ended up crying off and on until 11:30 (latest he's ever been to sleep). But, he sleep from then until 6:00, so even though that wasn't as much sleep as he really needed, we made it through. It could've been worse, much worse!
Saturday morning, after a breakfast at Denny's and a stroll through Branson Landing, we headed to Silver Dollar City. Cale loved every minute of it. From the shuttle ride over on the "bus" (he loves buses) to his first 'ride' on the frogs, he was such a happy boy. I can honestly say he never really fussed in the park and even took a 45 minute nap in his stroller. Besides the nap, Cale didn't want to spend too much time in his stroller which meant that Carl and I took turns toting him our our hips across the park...which was exhausting. But it was worth it. It was a wonderful day and we made great memories that we will never forget.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Home Sweet Home
It's been a crazy couple of weeks, but we're finally moved in. We actually moved over a week ago, but things are just now starting to slow down a little. We're so glad to be in our new house. We love being in the semi-country, yet close to town. We love not having neighbors beside us, in front of us, and behind us. We love the lightning bug show we see each night here on Crow Mountain. It's the craziest thing. There are more lightning bugs here than we've ever seen before (and we both grew up in the country). Cale will go crazy when he gets a little bigger.
We were a little nervous about Cale's reaction to the new house. Being the little explorer that he is, we knew he would love checking everything out. But, we weren't sure how the "sleeping" situation would go in his new room. The first few nights went surprisingly well. He actually asked to go "night-night" while pointing to the crib and went to sleep without a peep. He was so glad to see his old crib again, believe it or not. But, all good things must come to an end. On about the fourth night, "Dalebert" made his first appearance. Guess it just took him awhile to find the new address! Cale woke up crying, well...screaming actually. Very loudly. Like, baby monitor off-bedroom doors shut-all-the-way-across-the-house-but-still-audible loud. So, I dragged myself out of bed, armed with the only ammunition that ever seems to be effective with Cale (milk) and I headed into the baby warzone. But to my surprise (horror, actually) this time milk didn't work. Rocking him didn't work. Nothing worked. He didn't want me to touch him, but didn't want me to put him down. Finally after 20 mintues of trying I did what I think is one of the hardest things a mother as to do. I put Cale back in his crib, screaming, and headed back to bed. After about twenty more minutes of crying he finally stopped. And I finally got some rest. This same scenario repeated the next night, except that after I went back to bed...Cale never fell back to sleep. That was the night Carl and I were awoken by something hitting against our door and the sound of baby babble. We couldn't believe he actually did it. We had dreaded this day for quite some time. He successfully managed to climb out of his crib (without injuring himself at least). This was at about 2:30 in the morning. We finally got him to fall asleep again, after an hour of screaming, cartoon watching, and Tylenol.
Thankfully Cale hasn't climbed out of his crib again but he has continued to scream unconsolably in the middle of the night. I've been starting to dread each night. Carl was able to get some free medical advice from Cale's pediatrician on Friday. When Carl described Cale's behavior, the doctor immediately said Cale is having night terrors. Who knew kids this little could have night terrors? We only thought he was easily adjusting to the new house! The past 2 nights we've been trying the advice of Cale's doctor. About 2-3 hours after putting Cale to bed, we go in and wake him up a little so that he'll start a new sleep cycle and hopefully bypass the night terror. Surprisingly we've been night-terror free for 2 nights now.
I think Dalebert is trying to help us experience every possible part of parenthood. Kids bring something new and different each and every day. You never know what the next day, or night, will hold with a little one.
We were a little nervous about Cale's reaction to the new house. Being the little explorer that he is, we knew he would love checking everything out. But, we weren't sure how the "sleeping" situation would go in his new room. The first few nights went surprisingly well. He actually asked to go "night-night" while pointing to the crib and went to sleep without a peep. He was so glad to see his old crib again, believe it or not. But, all good things must come to an end. On about the fourth night, "Dalebert" made his first appearance. Guess it just took him awhile to find the new address! Cale woke up crying, well...screaming actually. Very loudly. Like, baby monitor off-bedroom doors shut-all-the-way-across-the-house-but-still-audible loud. So, I dragged myself out of bed, armed with the only ammunition that ever seems to be effective with Cale (milk) and I headed into the baby warzone. But to my surprise (horror, actually) this time milk didn't work. Rocking him didn't work. Nothing worked. He didn't want me to touch him, but didn't want me to put him down. Finally after 20 mintues of trying I did what I think is one of the hardest things a mother as to do. I put Cale back in his crib, screaming, and headed back to bed. After about twenty more minutes of crying he finally stopped. And I finally got some rest. This same scenario repeated the next night, except that after I went back to bed...Cale never fell back to sleep. That was the night Carl and I were awoken by something hitting against our door and the sound of baby babble. We couldn't believe he actually did it. We had dreaded this day for quite some time. He successfully managed to climb out of his crib (without injuring himself at least). This was at about 2:30 in the morning. We finally got him to fall asleep again, after an hour of screaming, cartoon watching, and Tylenol.
Thankfully Cale hasn't climbed out of his crib again but he has continued to scream unconsolably in the middle of the night. I've been starting to dread each night. Carl was able to get some free medical advice from Cale's pediatrician on Friday. When Carl described Cale's behavior, the doctor immediately said Cale is having night terrors. Who knew kids this little could have night terrors? We only thought he was easily adjusting to the new house! The past 2 nights we've been trying the advice of Cale's doctor. About 2-3 hours after putting Cale to bed, we go in and wake him up a little so that he'll start a new sleep cycle and hopefully bypass the night terror. Surprisingly we've been night-terror free for 2 nights now.
I think Dalebert is trying to help us experience every possible part of parenthood. Kids bring something new and different each and every day. You never know what the next day, or night, will hold with a little one.
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