Eat your veggies.

Firstly, I must apologize for being a bloggin disappointment lately. I've been ill. And the common cold likes to hang around extra long in The Exhausted.

This post is about vegetables. And my immense pleasure in the fact that my children appear to enjoy them. I myself, am a fan of pretty much any vegetable that crosses my plate. Corey has less of a diverse palate, but enjoys the majority of them. And I'm proud to say, that despite Corey's not so veiled attempts at discouraging the consumption of brussel sprouts, Cole shoveled a few in the other night. Yay! I love brussel sprouts any way I can get them...steamed, boiled, roasted with olive oil and spices. Strange since I don't remember eating them at all growing up. Perhaps because of this fact, haha!

AND, I discovered the fact that Cole would eat those little green bundles of yum while shovelling pureed sweet potatoes into Parker.

Yay vegetables!


















Two points if you know who that guy is. :)

Toddler inspired musings

This child of mine, he may well break me yet. If ever there was a phase that makes you question your ability as a parent, it's the toddler years. I'm sure I'll say the same thing about many stages to come, but I currently fantasize about running screaming down the street as a form of release.

I've heard people say that 3 is harder than 2 as a stage. I would always secretly laugh at this thought, since Cole has been testing my limits since he was around a year old. I hereby eat my words, as I'm finding the older he gets, the more skills he acquires to test my sanity. At the ripe old age of 2.5 he tests me every minute of every day.

I find I need to be more present in my interactions with him to avoid nuclear level meltdowns. I need to keep it in the back of my mind that he needs to be offered choices every minute of every day. That he needs to be in control of as much as I can allow. If that means he's the one to turn on the bath water, wash the apple, throw the carrots in the pot, so be it. Problem is, as a grown woman I am pretty used to doing these things myself. Also, I cannot allow him to use the sharp knives or handle raw meat. I just can't. Tell that to him, though.

I definitely find if I involve him, he reacts much better to life. If I ask him to set the table, to carry the food there, to help clean up...he's all over it. If I tell him it's dinner time and that I would like him to sit down, I recieve a loudly screamed NO! If only I can remember every single moment to have him lead the way.

We have had recent tantrums over soap, hair clips, dining room chairs, his clothing, my clothing, Parker's clothing, bandaids on MY injuries, doors closing, doors opening, etc etc. Exhausting. Add to that the slew of aversive behaviours ranging from licking the front window or spitting into sunbeams to see the condensation fall, to rampant destruction of everything in his path.

I wonder when the age of reason will come to reward me for my efforts?

A Six Month (ish) comparison

I was looking through my Dropshots page today looking at pictures of Cole to compare him with Parker, who's nearing his half birthday (already!). I know I shouldn't compare, I know...but I do. Things I notice that are different are that Parker has teeth already (Cole was 7 months before his made an appearance)...Cole was much better at tummy time, and consequently was pushing up on his arms already and starting to push himself around...Cole's hair was starting to curl, while Parker's sticks straight up...Parker's eyes are blue and Cole's are black...

The most glaring difference, however, was this...

Cole:
































Parker:

Not sure if you can tell the difference from these pictures, but what strikes me most is the almost complete lack of eczema on Parker. He had a bit a while ago, which struck fear in my heart. I took dairy out of my diet in case he was developing an allergy like Cole has. It snuck back in, and Parker's skin cleared up anyway.

I know it's not a guarantee that Parker won't have the allergies Cole has (dairy, eggs and peanuts/peas), but it gives me hope. Every day I wish for Parker not to have to struggle with food. And I wish that Cole's will clear up. We'll know more about that in April.

I will...

...be a more patient mommy this week.

This is my mantra.

They're worth it.

Hey wow, chu doin?

Roughly translated from Cole-speak to English means "Hey cat, what are you doing?". I'm pretty sure the cat responded with "Hey kid, not much, just enjoying this sunbeam."

Might seem trivial to some, but Cole's language skills have been a little slow in developing. I try not to worry, especially since he's been busting out at least one new word a day lately. This does signify the longest intelligable sentence I've heard out of him though! Understandable stuff tends towards two word exclamations of "No, mine!" or "Cole eat!". Unintelligable stuff is plenty, he yammers at me constantly, and my response is usually "oh really?". His receptive language is great, he understands us perfectly and can execute any action we request (only if he wants to, of course...).

I'm glad to be seeing more progress with communication. I suppose the next stage of this will be me asking how I can get him to stop talking so much...

It really is the simple things in life...

Today, Cole and I raided our recycling bin and created an afternoon of fun! Why do I even bother buying him toys?

Behold, the ramp of DOOM! (Beware all ye cars that lurk at the bottom)















The line up waiting to experience the thrill:















The exit (Mater got some air, there!):















This went on all afternoon until he decided to deconstruct it. Wonder what we'll make tomorrow? That was fun!

Preschool?!?!!!??

Is it possible I'm almost the mother of a preschooler? I'm not ready!

Well, it seems like now's the time to register for preschools around here, so I did a google search on preschools in my area. There was one that sounded nice, and was the closest, so I called her first. Their director sounded like a wonderful lady! Very knowledgeable and answered all my questions satisfactorily! Corey and I will be chatting about it, but I think this will be the one we go with!

The program is actually geared for 2.5 year olds (they're registering any kid with a 3rd bday before Dec 2009 for September). So that answered my question about whether a kid turning three just before the school year is developmentally ready for preschool. She said she has seen more trouble with kids who have seperation issues (i.e. get sad when left) than those who are mad you're leaving him and that he can't make you stay (which might be Cole's category, LOL!). When I told her that he happily says "BYE!" and slams a door in my face when I drop him at grandmas, she laughed and said he should do fine! She told me that they start out with short lived activities (such as reading time) and work up to longer ones...what a reasonable way to do things! I cannot concieve of Cole actually sitting for a structured 15 minute reading time at this point!

As far as potty training (a big worry of mine given his refusal to even entertain the idea) she says they're fine in pull ups, but they are not licensed to change diapers, so I have to go change him if necessary. We don't live far, and the only biggie will be potentially waking Parker from a nap to go do it.

As far as allergies, she says they are able to work with us (her son has a nut allergy), and that we would probably need to send his snack to be on the safe side (which I would absolutely want to do anyway). If he turns out to outgrow the egg/dairy, they don't give nuts so it might be moot.

It's two hours a day, two days a week. I have the choice of morning or afternoon, but the morning is filling up apparently. I'm actually thinking afternoon might be easier to get to (9am is darned early for us to get out the door for, LOL!). I'll think on it.

I can't believe I'm arranging preschool already! So sad yet so excited! I know that six months is a long time at this age, but I can't believe this little guy is almost ready!

Day 48 and counting...

...since we've decided to suspend eating out or ordering food in. Six weeks since we resolved to cook all our meals at home and implement a budget on groceries. I am proud to say that we are doing very well! It's not that we can't afford the occasional indulgence, but when we took a long hard look at our goals regarding finances, the expense of a meal out is ridiculous in comparison to cooking at home.

Good thing I love to cook! Cleaning a fully used kitchen every day leaves a bit to be desired though.

I've also challenged myself to cook healthy meals, some on the cheap, some a little more extravagant. Salmon has made it in to our weekly menu (yum!), but so has pasta (whole wheat, at least).

Don't get me wrong, I'm railroaded by occasional cravings for Chicken McNuggets...and the detox process was just as hard on Cole as us, but our resolve remains strong. Poor Cole, yelling "FRIES!" every time we'd pass the Golden Arches, reaching his arms out as if he had lost his best friend. These days he merely points out that yes, fries do indeed live at McDs. And there they stay. Chicken breasts and Shake N Bake make great chicken nuggets at home! We had gotten into really bad food habits, and really had to ponder what we are teaching our children. Trips to the grocery store do not have to mean treats (for Mommy either!), drives on the weekend do not have to mean a drive thru...even for coffee (gasp!).

Corey is even packing a lunch. Now THAT'S progress! I'm super proud of us!

Teeth!

LOL, in my complete obsessive focus on making diapers, I forgot to mention this!















A full two months before Cole got his first teeth, Parker pushed his through on Friday! Thursday was by far, the worst day in the Fehrmann household in recent memory. This boy screamed from the moment he woke up until the moment he fell asleep, and he woke up with these bad boys! :) It's so hard to see when he's like this, he's normally such a cherubic and happy little soul

Cole dragged teething out for months...Parker got down to business. I'm slightly in mourning over the loss of my gummy-smiled baby, but second to the cuteness of gummy smiles is the wide cheesy grin of a baby with only his two bottom teeth!

Now to teach him not to chomp on me while nursing...

Look what I made!

Well, since venturing into this cloth diapering business, I've gone from reluctant to use anything but the All In One types, to using prefolds without too much trouble, to making my own fitted diapers! Yeah, I'm like that.

I've made two fitted diapers from this pattern so far:

http://www.ottobredesign.com/en/print/pdf/vaippa_en.pdf

I made the large size, given the large size of my baby, and it ended up huge! LOL! I also had trouble with the elastic (the blue bug one in the picture below). A couple of darts here and there have made it functional though. My second one (the puppy squares one) came out much better...smaller with better elastic. I think part of my trouble was not having a serger, and deciding to turn the fabric, so I lost some size in between the legs. I'll allow for a seam allowance next time. I also think I'm going to try to Frankenstein it into a pocket style, so I can take the insert out for easy drying. If anyone knows of any other patterns out there, please let me know! This is fun, and much cheaper than buying!





























Next project was making a fleece "soaker". Little shorts that will keep the moisture in. I have a ton of polar fleece, and can make a boat load of these if I wanted to. I used this pattern:

http://www.freewebs.com/kflorea/Soaker%20Patterns%20Improved.pdf

http://www.freewebs.com/kait_kayley/soaker%20instructionsbetter.pdf

I made the Large, since Parker's measurements were between the Large and Xtra Large sizes. I found it to be a little short in the back, so I think I'll increase the rise on the next pair I make!















I have also commissioned my knit-tastic sister Jessica to knit me a pair of wool covers...I sent her this pattern:

http://www.ottobredesign.com/en/print/pdf/wool_diaper_cover_en.pdf

How fun to be frugal! That was the biggest point to our decision to cloth diaper, after all! :)

Parker's got a fluffy butt!

...doo dah...doo dah...

Well, I've decided to start cloth diapering Parker, at least part time. The cost savings alone convinced us, plus our guilt over the landfills is somewhat assuaged! LOL!

I went out today and got two all in ones, one pocket diaper and 6 prefolds with a cover to start trying. He christened his first one with a poop pretty much immediately. Haha!

I'm kinda excited and pretty happy about it! First day was a success! I'm hoping to buy a few every month until I get enough that I can do a wash every 3 or so days.

Just thought I'd share!















A bum genius all in one:
















I'm thinking I might do cloth training pants for Cole instead of Pull Ups once the time comes. I think he might protest using something he thinks belongs to the baby. Once my wipes stash is close to up I think I might as well use cloth wipes too, if I'm doing the laundry anyway!

I hope I don't get all caught up in the cloth addiction plaguing so many people! ;)

Brotherly Love

I'll probably have a running post title called "Brotherly Love". I really want to foster the relationship between Cole and Parker. They are already drawn to each other, laugh at each other, watch each other...I want that to continue. One of the reasons I was happy to have the boys so close together was the hope that they would be close.

Now, I know that jealousy, rivalry, bickering and all out WWF style wrestling are things I have to anticipate in my future...but I am also hoping for collaberation, love, shennanigans and the ultimate guy to have their back as well.

My current task in the quest to foster a close relationship between the two is to allow for Cole to "help" with Parker. Sometimes it makes things take three times as long to happen...and for someone who is time focused, that's hard! Sometimes it means doing things out of routine, or outside our normal activities just to follow Cole's whims with Parker. I find if I let those things happen, he just gets more and more happy around his brother!

The current fun thing to do (in Cole's mind) is to put Parker in his Jolly Jumper. At least once a day when we go get Parker up from his nap, Cole drags the box out from Parker's closet and drops it at my feet in anticipation. Getting Parker into the contraption requires a degree in JollyJumper Physics, and a great deal of patience. Though Parker is always more than happy to follow along (as is the usual case). I need to supervise closely, as Cole gets a little overzealous with the bouncing, but it is so heartwarming to watch him help his brother jump up and down, and Parker laughing his chubby little butt off at the whole deal.

I wonder how this little brotherly experiment will go once Parker learns how to bounce himself, and decides he wants to be the pilot of his own bouncing destiny? Time will tell, I suppose!

The Carseat Shuffle

Well, the time has come for another carseat shuffle. As proud as I am of my boys and their superhuman size, one drawback is the constant shuffling of carseats. I suppose I could have bought Cole one of the super-dee-duper expensive ones to start with and could be saving myself the trouble, but I can't fight the frugal bug I have in me. I still think the way I'm doing it is the most economical, but involves said shuffling.

So, my wee Parker isn't so wee, and is soon going to outgrow the infant bucket. Fact is, I had already moved Cole from his by this point, simply because lugging the 20lb infant AND the bucket becomes a little backbreaking. For the moment though, I feel it's more convenient to keep Parker in the bucket. With Cole being so random, it's nice to be able to set the whole thing down safely in order to chase him, rather than clutch a still wobbly baby while herding a toddler.

I have decided to give Cole's current "up to 40lbs in child restraint" seat to Parker, and picked up an Apex 65 for Cole this weekend. This way I can keep him in the 5 point restraint until he's 65lbs, then the booster until 100lbs. Cole is starting to push that 40lb mark, and he is nowhere near ready for a booster, in my opinion. I will most likely do the same for Parker in a couple year's time.

So here I am, with not one, but TWO babies who are growing too fast and in need of a new way to keep them safe in my car. I, of course, have photo documented every carseat change so far, and while looking back in my archives, shed a couple of tears over how small Cole has looked in each of his new options. Even in this new one, he looks like a tiny little man.

Tonight, I don't know whether to sniffle over how big they look in their current carseats, or how small they'll look in their new ones. I suppose I'll have lots of experiences over time to ponder this conundrum of parenthood.

The New One

Sweet Parker...Mommy's little chub! 20lbs of four month old all smiles and rolls. This guy's pretty copacetic, he even came late. I think he's going to favour Corey in personality as much as in looks. He has an infectious laugh and smiles at the drop of a hat. He absolutely adores Cole, thinks he hung the moon! All he needs to do is look his way and Parker beams. And, like all my spawn, the minute Daddy comes home, Mommy is chopped liver. It's so sweet to watch Parker's face light up as Corey walks in the door. At four months old even!

His current trick is to heft his chubby self over in a roll from his back on to his tummy...then get mad about being on his tummy, since he hates it there. But, since he hasn't figured out how to roll from tummy to back yet, he lays there with his head on the ground, arms at his sides or trapped under him, yelling until someone rescues him. He'll figure it out eventually, his brother did the same thing.

So far he has blue eyes, which will be neat if he keeps them, being the only one in our little family here to have them. Soft fluffy down like hair...I can't tell yet if it's going to be curly like Cole's or not. I know I shouldn't compare, but I do.

I can't wait to watch him grow and build his relationship with his brother. I was sad to take away the "only" status from Cole, wondered if I was doing him a disservice, but now I am realizing that by bringing Parker into the world, I gave him the gift of Cole before he was even born! I think that raising brothers two years apart is going to be a wild and fulfilling ride!

Mommy loves you, sweet Pudge!

The First Born

Oh my son Cole. Two and a half years ago he was whirling and twirling in my stomach, trying to punch his way out. He arrived punctually on his due date, and has kept me running ever since. He was a spirited baby, and is now a spirited toddler. He likes things the way he likes them, and is not afraid to tell you exactly how he feels. His sense of humour is going to match his parents', I can tell. He's a bit of a turkey like his father and loves to tease. He has personality traits that will serve him well as an adult, but are supremely annoying in a toddler! (persistance, motivation, attention to detail, focus)

Cole loves pickles, Vinnie the cat, The Backyardigans and his Daddy. He has been an amazing older brother to Parker so far. He makes me proud! His current fun thing to do is run around like a maniac or spin in circles until he falls down laughing, in a pile on the floor. He especially loves it when you do these things with him!

Cole is very much a helper. He enjoys being in the middle of everything, witnessed by the curly little head always in the way as I try to get things done. He knows all of our routines, where things go and how to do things. I cannot hide a single thing from him. If I left him with a stool and an open dishwasher, no doubt he could put away all the dishes. Corey found an empty caramel corn package one day and Cole outed me by pointing to it and saying "Mommy!".

He is exhibiting crazy puzzle and sorting skills. I find the strangest things lined up, and if I look closely, I can discern a pattern...often colour related, but also sometimes size or shape, or even directional. If you add something to his line that is outside of his pattern, he yells at you and removes it. People keep telling me these are early math skills, but I'm just happy I don't turn around and find all the kitchen chairs balanced on the table.

He is growing so fast, and seems to be changing/maturing lately. As we were sitting down to dinner tonight I was struck by how very boyish he looked. He's quickly outgrowing babyhood, and that makes me alternately happy and sad. My greatest goal is to enhance his traits and honour his personality. Mommy loves you, little man!

Here I am!

Well, I believe it's time to try my hand at blogging! For the most part, I have very little to talk about outside of my children...but I find them fascinating, so you might as well! I hope to use this space to update friends and family on the shenanigans of my two wee boys!

I've been navel gazing lately about the fact that I am not merely parenting two young boys. In fact, I am raising two men. Two men who must eventually go out into the world, who must be self-sufficient, kind and strong. I need to harness their personalities, mold their experiences, guide their hearts. This is no mean task, and I hope that by writing about it, I can do better by them by being more present in their worlds. I hope to be their best Mom...because they deserve it!

Thanks for reading!