Gerrit is Two!

September 22, 2017 nk3301 Comment

As we are approaching Gerrit’s 3rd birthday, I decided to go back and look at his 2nd birthday update. And realized I never published it! Oops. Well, here it is, more for me to look back on than anything, haha.

How are we celebrating another birthday for our baby already?!

Age: 2 years old on 27 Oct 2016
Weight: 27.5 lbs
Height: 35.25 inches
Teeth: 16
Clothing Size: 24 months & 2T
Diaper Size: size 4
Milestones: 2 word phrases, counting to 3 (and 3-2-1), recognizes and can say all basic colors, building (and demolishing) towers,

Sleeping: We’ve actually come a long way in the sleep department! Especially after dealing with the 18 month sleep regression. Eesh. We definitely have bad nights here and there (where he wakes after only 2 hours and fights me about going back in his crib), but most nights he only wakes twice. I usually bring him to bed with me around 4 or 5 in the morning, so any “wakings” after that are hardly wakings. He still is not sleeping through the night, but he usually has at least one long stretch of sleep.

Gerrit is pretty good about taking a nap every day. Sometimes he fights it a bit, but I can count on one hand the days he has completely just not had a nap. He’s good about taking a solid 2-hour nap each day for the most part, so the days he takes a short nap really throw me off!

Gerrit sleeps about 11-12 hours every day. Factor out that 2-hour nap, and that leaves me 9-10 hours a night. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like getting up at 6AM. So bedtime usually happens between 9 and 10PM. Probably a bit late for the average toddler, but I feel like most toddlers also sleep more than my little crazy. Maybe someday when he stops napping completely I’ll be able to do an earlier bedtime.

Eating

Toddler diets are so annoying. I feel like Gerrit eats well for a few days, then takes a week off to digest or something. I get so excited when he eats well, then I pretend I’m not bothered when he throws his plastic plate across the room the next night. On a good day Gerrit enjoys meat, eggs, fruit, broccoli, quinoa (and try not to smile when you hear his little voice say “keen-wah!”), cheese, snacks (Goldfish, animal crackers, pretzels), yogurt, and desserts when I make them. On a bad day, I give him whatever he requests. But I can always count on him to eat spaghetti & meatballs on Wednesday nights.

Breastfeeding continues! Getting to 2 years of breastfeeding was my last goal, and I’m very proud to have nursed Gerrit for this long. He loves nursing. He nurses when he’s hungry, when he’s thirsty, when he’s upset, when he’s tired, when he’s bored… honestly it seems like it’s all the times some days. He also loves nursing to sleep. On bad nights (teething), he is up every 1-2 hours to nurse back to sleep. On good nights, Gerrit is only up once or twice to nurse back to sleep. He also likes to nurse right after he wakes up. Like I said… all the time! I just posted about our start to night weaning, so we’ll see how that continues.

One thing that I rarely do now is nurse in public. It’s not necessary, really, since Gerrit isn’t dependent on it for food/drink. If we are stuck somewhere (like an event we aren’t leaving for an hour or more) and Gerrit is having a meltdown, I will sometimes find a quiet place to let him nurse for a bit to calm down. But I usually tell him that he can’t nurse until we get home. When he’s in a decent mood, he’s happily appeased by a little snack and his water instead.

I’m venturing into lesser known territory here with breastfeeding a toddler. I will try to do updates as we continue and wean, because I know I’m so interested in it myself! And if YOU have tips on weaning after 2, please share! This is hard for me, since I’m not at the “I’m so sick of nursing!!” stage yet.

Mommy Update: Overall good! From 18 months to turning 2, Gerrit has definitely become more “sassy” for lack of a better word. And it’s definitely trying sometimes. But I’m also slowly getting back into “my” things: scrapbooking, crocheting, blogging, etc. The more independent Gerrit gets, the more I start to feel like myself again. I feel like that’s not a “nice” way to put it, but becoming a mom really alters your sense of self.

I know I mentioned trying to lose weight in Gerrit’s 18 month update. Over the summer I worked out here and there, but mostly just tried eating healthier. The number on the scale didn’t really change at all. Around the time that Andrew graduated from OTS, I looked into the 21 Day Fix. I decided that I wanted to try it out, and Andrew was on board with with it, so I went ahead with it! It took me awhile to actually get started with it. I wanted to try it when we were moving (silly me), but Andrew convinced me to wait until we were settled and I could actually cook for myself! Since I started, I’ve lost 10 pounds! I am hoping to get back into sharing some recipes with all of you soon.

Likes & Dislikes: Gerrit still likes a lot of the same things. He still enjoys helping us and having a task to complete. We have no child locks on cupboards in this house, and Gerrit likes to help himself to the washrags under the kitchen sink to clean up any messes he makes. We can also trust him to only put things in the trash now, so he’s happy to throw things away for us. Gerrit helps pick up his toys and books now, although we still have to prompt him to do it most of the time. He loves helping me put clothes into the washer, move the clothes to the dryer, and empty the dryer. He’s also really helpful with putting groceries away. You can see that he really enjoys being a helpful member of the family!

I think his favorite thing is still being outside. He loves being out there no matter how hot or cold it is, especially if he can find water to make mud somewhere. Most of the time when he comes inside he needs a whole new outfit because he’s covered in dirt and/or water.
Gerrit likes to watch his shows. I caved with the whole “no screen time” thing around 18 months or so, I think. And when Andrew left for OTS, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood saved my sanity. I’m not proud of the amount of TV Gerrit watches, but when you’re doing the bulk of the parenting because your husband is away or training, you need a break sometimes. Gerrit’s current favorites are The Stinky & Dirty Show on Amazon, Octonauts, DinoTrux on Netflix, and anything with monster trucks (we find a fair amount on YouTube). TV time is generally a time when he relaxes, and he actually learns things from the shows too!

Gerrit dislikes coming in the house, getting his diaper changed, and going to sleep. I really try to always give him warnings before a transition (“Okay, we’re going to leave the park after you go down the slide.”), but even that isn’t enough sometimes. If he has it in his head that he NEEDS to stay at the park, he will have a tantrum regardless. I also try to give him options like getting to choose the diaper he gets changed into (they’re all different designs & colors since we use cloth), choosing how we do things (we can go home from the park on your bike or I can carry you), and choosing the order we do things (you can wash your hands first or I can take your shoes off first). This usually helps keep the tantrums at bay. If he’s tired or hungry, all bets are off!

Memorable Events: Oh gosh, May through October was full of events and changes! What a whirlwind summer. Well, May & June were pretty calm. I don’t think anything too exciting happened then.

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My mom came to visit in July, just as Andrew was leaving for Officer Training School in Alabama. It was nice to have her with us to ease that transition! Gerrit and I were really sad to see her go, but we only had a few weeks between her visit and our big road trip to Michigan in August.

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Driving to Michigan from North Carolina was a 2-day trip and my first time tackling a road trip with Gerrit by myself. I was very nervous about it! Thankfully, there were no big issues. We had a great time visiting with family and friends (although Gerrit, as usual, did not sleep great away from home).

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By the time we got home, we didn’t have much time to unpack and repack for our drive to Alabama to see Andrew/Dada graduate from OTS! My mom came with for this road trip, which I was very thankful for! It was a lot of traveling in a short amount of time for Gerrit, so it was nice to have the extra pair of hands.

After the graduation festivities were over, Andrew had to travel straight to Texas to report at his training base. My mom, Gerrit, and I went back to North Carolina. And then we started prepping to pack! Andrew flew back to North Carolina to deal with the move, and soon we were back in the car and driving to Del Rio, TX.

We opted to rent a house on base since pilot training is only about a year long, and most people recommended living on base due to the long hours of training. One big perk for Gerrit of living on base was the abundance of playgrounds within walking distance! He loved it and wanted to go all the time!

We did not do a birthday party for Gerrit this year for a couple of reasons. 1) Andrew was away in Colorado for training, and 2) we were still getting settled in our new home! When Andrew came home, I made Gerrit a birthday cake and he opened presents with us. It was really low-key, but I think we all enjoyed it!

Happy 2nd birthday, Gerrit! You are such an amazing and fun little guy, and we love watching you discover the world and learn new things. We love you so much, Gerrit!

Daily living · Parenting

Night Weaning: Week 1

December 15, 2016 nk3304 Comments

For those that know me, you know I’ve recently passed the 2 year mark of breastfeeding. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’m afraid the hardest part is ahead of me: weaning. I decided that the first thing to tackle was night weaning. Gerrit has never truly slept completely through the night, and I blame a lot of that on his dependency on nursing to sleep.

I purposely started our night weaning journey on a Friday night: I wanted two mornings where I could sleep in if needed. Andrew hasn’t started pilot training yet, so usually his schedule is fairly free. But he is occasionally called in to do something in the mornings, and I wanted a weekend where I could count on sleep if I needed it!

Night #1

I didn’t give Gerrit a lot of warning about weaning. I honestly didn’t see the point. Telling him about it a week or days in advance would be meaningless since it wasn’t affecting him immediately. So the day of night #1, I talked to him a little about how we were going to let “booboos” rest at night. I told him that he could have booboos at bedtime, but then no more until the sun came up. He said “okay” to it, but I knew it would be a different story around midnight!

I nursed Gerrit to sleep and put him in his crib around 10pm. He first woke up just before midnight (almost 2 hours of sleep). I nervously went to him wearing a cotton t-shirt (instead of a stretchy top or a nursing top). As expected, he got upset when I didn’t immediately give him the breast. He started out crying and saying, “Booboos! Pease, Mama! One booboo!” Ah, it broke my heart to have to keep telling him no. I just kept repeating, “No, booboos in the morning” or “Booboos when the sun comes up.” From wake time to being back to sleep, it took an hour. Not terrible, right?

After that he slept from 12:50 until 5:15! I brought him to bed with me then and let him nurse, and he got up for the day at 8:25. Not a bad first night.

Night #2

This night started earlier (thank goodness) at 9:55. Again, he only slept for an hour and 45 minutes and was up at 11:45. When he woke up, it was basically a repeat of Night #1. He cried, asking for “booboos,” and I repeatedly told him he could have them in the morning. Gerrit let me rock him to sleep without nursing which is a first! He fell asleep just under an hour after he woke up.

Gerrit slept from 12:40 until 5:05! I ended up just bringing him to bed with me then and letting him nurse. He woke up for the day at 7:40. A little low on total sleep, but not too bad!

Night #3

So Gerrit’s nap this day was off. He slept for an hour and 15 minutes, and woke up crying. Usually when he wakes up upset, it means he’s still tired. So I brought him to my bed to snuggle for a bit. He nursed and ended up falling back to sleep for a whole hour! Honestly, I was shocked! Gerrit rarely goes back to sleep when he wakes early from a nap.

That night, he went to bed even earlier than normal: 9:35PM! That is a great bedtime in this house. I swear, Gerrit is as much a night owl as I am! Anyway, after I got him to bed, he was up at 11:50 (just over 2 hours later). And this night he was not so upset about me not nursing… he was MAD! He ended up pointing at his crib, saying, “Bed!” So I put him back in his crib. Gerrit let me rub his back for a few minutes, then said, “Bye, Momma.” So I walked toward his door. He started crying a bit, so I walked back over to rub his back. He fell asleep that way, only 30 minutes after I first went in to him. Progress!

…and then he was up 15 minutes later. I managed to calm him down just by rubbing his back again, and then he slept until 5:10! At that point, again, I brought him to bed to nurse and sleep, and he slpet until 8:15.

Night #4

I had high hopes this night! I nursed Gerrit to sleep and put him in his crib at 10:10. He slept longer than usual, making it to 1:55 (just under 4 hours). I was able to calm him fairly quickly, and he was back to sleep at 2:10. He only slept for 2 hours though, and I brought him to bed with me at 4:10 where he nursed and slept until 7:30.

Night #5

I nursed Gerrit to sleep and got him into his crib at 9:55. He woke up at 12:25, and I was able to calm him fairly quickly. He was back to sleep in 5 minutes without nursing! He slept another 2.5 hours, and I brought him to bed around 3AM. I feel like I should have pushed him further, but I was tired and didn’t want to deal with it.

Night #6

So around Night #4 or #5, Andrew noticed that Gerrit’s bottom 2-year-old molars were coming through. Ughhhh…. Could I have picked a worse time to night wean?! For those who don’t know our history, pain medicine has little affect on Gerrit. During the day when he’s teething, you would have no idea except he wants to gnaw on things more often. At night he’s up all the time. Give him Tylenol… same thing. The pain relievers don’t seem to give him enough relief to sleep longer, so we just skip them now. Back to night weaning…

Gerrit went to bed earlier again (9:35), but he only slept an hour! He let me calm him down really quickly and was back to sleep by 10:45. He woke up a little over 3 hours later at 2:05. Again, I was able to calm him down just by rocking him and rubbing his back. He slept from 2:15-4:35. At that point, I just brought him to bed with me and let him nurse and sleep until he woke at 7:40.

Night #7

The end of the first week! And it started out great: he slept from 9:45 until 2:15! It took him awhile to get back to sleep though. I was in his room for half an hour, rocking him, rubbing his back in his crib… he eventually was back to sleep around 2:45. He slept for just over 2 hours then, and I brought him to bed around 5AM to sleep for another 3 hours.

Overall, I think Week 1 of night weaning went well! The first 2 nights were the worst, but Gerrit caught on pretty quickly to the new routine. It’s hard to say if it’s helping though: it feels like he is okay with not nursing, but he still wants me there to comfort him back to sleep. I was hoping not nursing would mean a start at self-soothing, but I’m afraid I will need to wean him from ME completely. 😦

Daily living · Travel

Life Lately: Summer 2016

September 15, 2016 nk3301 Comment

I have seriously sucked at blogging this summer! I think my last big post was when Gerrit turned 18 months old… and that was back in May. Wow. So here’s my attempt to catch people up on what has been going on this summer before I go into more detail on things (if I have time).

Summer in North Carolina is hot and humid. I knew we would be outside a lot more this summer compared to last summer, since Gerrit isn’t a baby this summer. He is a very busy toddler who loves to be outdoors! We spent lots of time in the backyard checking out Andrew’s garden, playing in the dirt/mud/water, playing on the slide, drawing with chalk on the patio, and checking out any bugs we came across. Our patio is pretty well shaded in the afternoon, so most outside time happened after Gerrit’s afternoon nap and before dinner.

This particular patch of dirt became "The Mud Hole" — This particular patch of dirt became “The Mud Hole”

The day after the 4th of July, Andrew left for Officer Training School in Montgomery, AL. My mom spent the first couple of weeks of his training with us to ease the transition, but it was hard when she left. July was a pretty quiet month for us as we got used to life without Dada for awhile.

In August, I decided to take on driving from North Carolina up to Michigan for the annual family reunion on my dad’s side of the family. This was a big deal for me because 1) I had never done a road trip with just Gerrit & me before, and 2) Gerrit is usually not a very happy traveler. And I wasn’t sleeping well at night (ahem, Gerrit), so I was worried about actually making it to our destination without falling asleep at the wheel! Needless to say, we survived: North Carolina to Ohio, Ohio to Michigan, Michigan to Wisconsin, Wisconsin to Ohio, and Ohio back to North Carolina. Nice little tour of the Midwest… which I will blog more about soon!

We got back from our Tour de Midwest, had a week at home, then repacked and headed for Alabama for Andrew’s graduation from OTS! Thankfully, my mom came with for this trip. And it was a much shorter drive (one day instead of two). We loved seeing Andrew/Dada as well as Andrew’s parents, had a great time celebrating Andrew becoming an officer, and saw some friends as well! Again, a more detailed post on all of this to come.

Now here we are, mid-September, and we are preparing to move! I’m hoping I will have downtime here and there to get back into blogging, since this is a pretty exciting time for our family. Stay tuned for posts about our summer travels, our move, and our new home in TEXAS! ❤