stand firm

"Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you."

1 Corinthians 15:58

Here is my little Dylan. Standing SO well. Standing FIRM! Daddy and I can't believe how well he's doing (probably just cause he's our "baby"). And we're so proud of our little man. He's experiencing more abilities and changing so much now that he's hit three months. This is when they start becoming MORE fun. Before he was in the precious 'ball of baby' stage where they just lay around and love (among other things). Now is when things start to become more action packed! He's hit the precious infant stage!

I was out with a girlfriend having coffee one night and we were talking about our babies (who are VERY close in age). We were talking about the babies milestones and what they're currently achieving. Dylan was right around 2 months at that time and had NO desire to stand. I was sharing that with her. She then said her baby had been standing for a little while now... I knew #1 - they are a month apart. #2 - I'm sure he's stubborn just like his brother (I mean they do have two of the most stubborn people I know as parents - so that'd make our kids double-stubborn, right?). #3 - I know all babies are totally different and can hit milestones at different times.

Well wouldn't you know as soon as I got home that night... all he wanted to do was STAND!! That little booger! Not only is he stubborn, he made mommy a liar! :) Guess I don't mind in this case. But that's all he wants to do now. Guess he got enough downtime the two months prior and is ready to see the world. So my baby is growing up. He's past the stage where he'll just lay. Now he wants to be upright, looking at everything! I can't blame him. There's a LOT to see. So as you can see in the picture above... "this brother is standing firm".

major patience

Tyler has been interested in the potty more recently. Right around 18 months he used the potty for the first time. That was also the last time for what seemed like FOREVER. I didn't want to force him and take the chance of turning the experience into something negative. Recently he's shown more interest in getting on the potty. So I've been letting him tell me when he needs to use the bathroom. Even if we're only there for him to sit and get used to the environment.

Last night Tyler mentioned he wanted to get on the potty so I escorted him to the bathroom. Nothing new, as stated above, because he's been getting on the potty but not doing anything. Well last night was different! YEP! He went potty in the big boy potty again! After about six months of "thinking about it" he finally did it! Daddy and I praised him like crazy knowing that it would help encourage him in the future.

But man! Talk about patience. You have to have some MAJOR patience as a parent. And the whole potty training thing is a good example of how important it is. Did I mention he took SIX MONTHS to use the potty for the second time? But it seems as though he's on the right track.

Changing his diapers isn't a big deal. It's the cut in our budget as a result of him being potty trained that would be AWESOME. Not having to buy him diapers would be nice. I know it's just around the corner - as long as he doesn't take six months again to use the potty. I'll just keep my hopes up and take it one day at a time! He's a smart kid. He'll get it down eventually.

the votes are in

I recently added a poll to my blog. The question was 'Who do you think Dylan resembles most?' The results are as follows:

70% said Daddy
10% said Mommy
20% said Tyler

I voted for strongest similarity to Tyler. I think I'm one of the few who remembers what Ty looked like as a baby. Strong similarities between the boys (as babies). So it excites me to know Dylan might change as drastically as Tyler has. I love surprises. Who knows which family member he might end up resembling!

So thank you for participating! It's always fun to get friends & family opinions. I love hearing from everyone. Check in periodically to participate in new polls.

sweet dreams

Tyler is now in a toddler bed because Daddy insisted he was ready for one. Well ever since he transitioned over to the toddler bed we've had to "fight" him to stay in bed & go to sleep when it's bed time. We've even had to go as far as putting up a child safety gate at his bedroom door. We put him down to sleep, he gets up, opens his door & calls out for us but knows good 'n' well it's time to sleep. So EVERYTIME we go in there, spank his butt (yes, we believe in discipline), put him back to bed & explain to him it's BED time.

Well I'm guessing he finally got tired of fighting us (on this particular subject). About an hour after we had put him down to bed last night we noticed his door was open. David and I went to his door, looked into his dark room and saw him there on the floor. Sprawled out and fast asleep. He had even taken the time to set up his pillow and blanket and grabbed his doggy. Hilarious! I had to get a picture.

rewards

I could never describe to someone the complexity of being a stay-at-home mommy. It's really a see for yourself kinda occupation. I LOVE what I do and choose to stay home with my kids, no one makes me. But man! I was never warned what a difficult job it can be at times... and we haven't even hit the teenage years. At times I feel like I've bitten off more then I can chew. My mom made it look SO easy. Not only did she make it look easy, she had ONLY good things to say about her occupation as "homemaker".

Well as a mother of two children, one two year old and a two month old, I'll be the one to tell you it's anything but easy. Oh, wait! There are occasions where things seem easier or more calm throughout our day. I call those periods of time "nap time". Although this chosen occupation of mine is anything but easy, I continue to love what I do.

Along with the intensity of this job comes vast and constant rewards. No, I'm not talking about chocolate, clothing (shoes), or even money. Those are things of the past (seen as how I choose to stay home & therefore forfeit my income). The rewards I'm talking about are seen in my children. I get to see my hard work payoff.

I have many examples to use, but just most recently is one about learning manners. My mother taught us great manners & I choose to instill the same in my children. The thing with children (or my child) is you have to tell them something about 500 times in order for them to understand. This can be very testing, discouraging and make your efforts seem unaccomplished. But just as you reach that point where you wanna throw in the rag cause you're tired of telling them something for the 499th time... they 'REWARD' you. This reward comes in all shapes and sizes but in fact at the PERFECT timing.

Now for the example...
I've been trying to teach Tyler to answer someone with "no thank you" if he doesn't want something instead of just plain "no". Not a big deal, I know... It just sounds nicer. Well at two years old the poor kid just learned thank you, & I have to go switch things up on him. I asked him to get up to the table for a snack and proceeded to ask him if he'd like one of his usual snacks to eat. Drummmm roll please..... "no thank you", he answers. Eureka! One mommy reward granted! And the pleasure of seeing my work payoff was great.

So a small step, I know! But I count every single one of them and I'm thankful for them ALL! My two year old has great manners (for a two year old). Don't get me wrong... he's only two and still working on them. But he's a pretty sharp tool... a bright crayon... if you know what I mean!

fairy dust (or dylan dust)

Our household is making headway! Mommy is now sleeping through the night (thanks to Dylan). So everyone is a little happier around here (know the saying "if momma ain't happy, nobody's happy). Well the saying is true for our household as well. Momma wasn't happy (with her sleep schedule anyway) till Dylan came and sprinkled his fairy dust on the lethargic situation.

Dylan's first time sleeping through the night was on Mother's Day. I thought that was pretty perfect! It was a one time shot; However, amazing to me... to finally sleep through the night. Over the last week and a half he's been sleeping through the night again. But it seems to have stuck this time. He doesn't seem to be sleeping during the days anymore or less (but that's not the important part). So another milestone reached! This is one of mommy's favorites!

This great phenomenon happened when we put Dylan to sleep in his car seat to help with some congestion drainage. I read that by placing a wedge under the crib mattress or putting baby in the car seat to sleep that the mucus would drain easier and baby would sleep better. When they're that small anything is worth a shot. Well the "how-to" book didn't also mention it'd get him to sleep through the night. HA! I love it. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. And these were big birds, like eagles or something.