Berend: 15 Months

December 4, 2019 nk330Leave a comment

*This update will be short and sweet, because it’s VERY late. Andrew was deployed when Berend turned 15 months, and B was not sleeping great, so I had very little free time to work on things like blog updates.*

Hitting 12 months is a huge milestone in our house. We apparently only produce high needs boys, so the first year is a lot of work! But those months after the first birthday? Amazing! Don’t get me wrong… Berend is still very needy, clingy, and easily set off. But the start of communication, learning to walk, and all the curiosity is just so much fun. I love this stage SO much!

Age: 15 months on 15 August 2019
Weight: 24 lbs 5 oz
Height: 32.99 inches
Teeth: 14
Clothing Size: 18 months and 18-24 months
Diaper Size: size 4 and one size in cloth

Milestones: walking!!, putting things together (Easter eggs, caps on bottles, etc), throwing things, trying to comb his own hair, using utensils at the table, regularly signing “more,” “please,” and “all done” without much prompting

Likes: balls (throwing them, rolling them, kicking them), birds (and animals in general), being outside, walks in the stroller (finally!), playing at the park, playing at the play kitchen, baths, water play, digging in the dirt

Dislikes: car rides, having his diaper changed, having his teeth brushed, Mama walking away from him (even just to go to the bathroom or blow my nose)

Sleep: No major improvements with sleep. Berend dropped to one nap at 13 months, even though he probably wasn’t really ready. When we did our Midwest Road Trip 2019, he had several days where he dozed off in the morning with me, so I knew he still really needed 2 naps… but the fight wasn’t worth it. So we stuck it out with one nap.

Night sleep wasn’t great. I don’t track Berend’s sleep nearly as rigorously as I tracked Gerrit’s, so I can’t tell you any precise details, but by 15 months, Berend was nowhere near sleeping through the night. Waking every 2ish hours was very normal. I’m going to go out on a limb and blame some of the rough nights on teething, since Berend got EIGHT new teeth between his first birthday and 15 months.

Eating: Meh, food was hit or miss from 12-15 months. Breakfast was usually small: strawberries or blueberries with cereal (Cheerios or oatmeal squares) although he occasionally enjoyed pancakes or scrambled eggs. Berend usually just nibbled lunch. Dinner was usually fairly successful. Berend is not a big fan of meat, unlike his brother. He will chew meat, but he usually spits it back out. He likes roasted veggies (mostly carrots), most fruits, cheese, and pasta/rice. And he definitely has a sweet tooth. He always wants Gerrit’s fruit snacks, vanilla cupcake Goldfish, and cookies/candy.

Berend is still nursing all the time. On his picky days, I assume he’s nursing for food/drink, but a lot of the time, I think it’s mostly comfort. Especially at night.

Mommy Update: Well, when Berend turned 15 months old, we were just a few weeks into our first deployment. So I was tired, frazzled, and just generally stretched thin. But we also had a lot of family time leading up to the deployment, and that was wonderful.

Memorable Events: Toward the end of June, we started our road trip north to visit family & friends in the Midwest. We didn’t rush it, since both boys are high energy, and Berend hates car rides. We did not stop at fast food restaurants… sit-down meals were the way to go! And LOTS of stops at parks and playgrounds. Even though it takes longer, it’s a lot more enjoyable to take our sweet time, and the boys love it.

Our first stop was in the Madison, WI area, where we met up with a couple of friends from college. It was a pretty quick stop, and we were off to Shawano, WI to stay at Andrew’s grandparents’ cottage at the lake. Both of Andrew’s grandparents have passed away, but the family still owns the cottage, and it was important to us to bring the boys there.

After a couple of days at the cottage, we headed to my sister’s house. As well as lots of time playing with cousins and catching up with some friends from high school, we went out for conuts with Mimi & Papa! We also just walked around Two Rivers.

After that we took the car ferry over to Michigan for a few days! We got to visit with my grandmas, and the boys LOVED their time by the water.

On our way back to New Mexico, we stopped at Meramec Caverns in Missouri!

After we got back to New Mexico, we basically just tried to have a lot of family time before Andrew deployed. His parents came out to spend some time with us too. After he left, we basically went to every base event we could! The boys had their first Ferris wheel ride at Cannon Appreciation Day:

We had kind of a whirlwind summer, but it was really fun seeing Berend make that transition from baby to toddler. He got to meet LOTS of family and friends of his parents, he did his first big road trip, and he really started to show his personality!

Berend, happy 15 months! We love you to bits, and you are the perfect blend of sweet and sassy. You can ALWAYS make us smile, and we all love you so much.

Baby Update · Daily living · Holiday · Parenting · Travel

Berend: 8 Months

January 25, 2019January 25, 2019 nk3302 Comments

Happy 2019! Our new year started with illness… early on New Year’s Day, Gerrit started vomiting. We’re thinking it was a 24 hour bug, but it took him a few days to fully recover from it and get his appetite back. Right after that, he and Berend both started coughing and having a runny nose, which they passed on to me. We probably got a bug from being with family right after Christmas (several people weren’t feeling great). I always get nervous when one of my babies is sick, because there’s just not much you can do for a baby besides let a virus run its course. Thankfully, Berend didn’t seem to feel too bad.

Age: 8 months on 15 January 2019
Weight: about 21 lbs
Height: about 28.75″
Teeth: 2… with another coming soon
Clothing Size: 9-12 months and 12 months
Diaper Size: size 3 in disposable and one size in cloth
Milestones: army crawling, pulling up to standing, cruising around furniture, saying “baba,” developing his pincer grasp, standing unsupported for several seconds

Likes: being carried around, chewing on everything, playing with Gerrit, tickles, kisses, baths, eating food, grabbing peoples’ faces & hair, growling/grunting, head banging (he likes to bop his head into our heads or chests), and smooshing his face into my face

Berend wants to be involved in everything… which means he pretty much wants to be carried everywhere.

Chewing on a prize from a game at Christmas in Missouri

Berend terrorizing his big brother already.

Trying some French toast

Dislikes: getting his clothes or diaper changed, when Mama walks away, car rides, being told ‘no’, getting his sleep sack put on (he knows what comes next ha), bananas

I generally don’t take photos of Berend upset, but here’s one of us returning from our trip to Missouri. Holding his hand from the front seat helped a tiny bit.

Sleep: Fighting sleep continues! I don’t think we had any great nights this month, although Berend did have 4 days around Christmas where he slept in 2 hour stretches, and didn’t wake 5 minute after I put him back in his crib.

Berend handled sleeping in the Pack n Play pretty well while we were away from home. He didn’t sleep any worse than in his crib, but he didn’t sleep any better either.

Although Berend can’t/won’t stay asleep to save his life, he’s pretty consistent about going to sleep between 7:30 & 8:30 and waking between 7 & 7:30 for the day. Once in awhile we get an early morning, or he’ll surprise us and sleep until 8am, but he’s a pretty reliable alarm clock if you need to be up by 7:30. He sleeps roughly 12.25 hours a day.

Berend still takes 2-3 naps a day. Once in awhile we are surprised with a good nap day, and we’ll stretch his wake time so he can just have 2 naps. But most of the time he takes short naps (30-60 min) and ends up needing 3 naps. He’s getting increasingly difficult to get down for a third nap, so I suspect we’ll be dropping it completely by 9 months.

Eating: Berend continues to do well with breastfeeding. In the last 6 weeks or so, he has pretty much stopped choking during letdowns, started emptying the breast during feedings, and generally just made nursing fairly stress-free. He nurses every 2-3 hours during the day and all the time at night.

Berend continues to do well with solids too. He makes me nervous putting too much in his mouth sometimes, but he’s getting pretty good about maneuvering food around so he doesn’t gag too often. I think he still enjoys meat the most, but there’s not much he won’t eat. Sometimes it’s just hard to tell how much is actually getting consumed.

Mommy Update: I’m hanging in there! The holidays were a bit stressful, our trip to Missouri was a bit stressful… let’s just say I’m glad it’s January and things are getting back to normal.

It was really great for me to see my family after Christmas. The actual traveling to and from Missouri was not pleasant, but actually being with everyone was amazing. We all stay in touch pretty well through phone calls, texts, and social media, but nothing beats getting together as a family. I loved catching up with my sisters, playing card games with everyone, and watching Gerrit have so much fun with his cousins. It really makes me envy people who have their family nearby, and I tried to soak it all in as much as I could.

Memorable Events: It was a busy month! Berend got to see some Christmas lights at St. Bernard farms:

It was a drive through Christmas lights show, so Berend was not a fan, of course, haha. Since we were driving about 5 mph, I pulled him up into the front seat with me so we didn’t have to listen to him cry the whole time.

Berend got to experience his first matching family Christmas pajamas:

Andrew’s mom got us these, so we wore them on Christmas Eve! They were really cute, and it’s too bad the boys will outgrow them so quickly.

Berend’s first Christmas Eve… and both of my boys’ first sibling gift exchange! They got each other bath toys.

Berend also got his first Christmas Eve gift from Andrew and me: a Christmas book and new pajamas.

And then of course Berend celebrated his first Christmas!

The day after Christmas, we packed up for a road trip to Missouri. It was Berend’s first big trip since we moved to New Mexico when he was only 2 months old. He did slightly better than he did in July. We were all thrilled to be out of the car though! And then Berend got to meet a LOT of people for the first time: all of his aunts and uncles (other than his Aunt Becki), his four cousins, and one of his great grandmas.

Berend had a pretty uneventful first New Year’s Eve (we were on the road), but he sure looked cute!

Once we were back in New Mexico, we had a nice day and Berend enjoyed his first time swinging! He loved it, especially when Gerrit pushed him.

And last but not least, here is Berend’s January photo:

Berend, you are something else! The older you get, the more we see your stubborn, strong-willed personality. You are very vocal about what you don’t like and full of smiles and giggles when you’re happy. You push me to my limits with your sleep-fighting stamina, but then I see your sweet sleeping face, and all is forgiven. Everyone comments on your adorably big cheeks — they are irresistible! You constantly keep us on our toes, little bear, but we love you so very much.

Baby Update · Daily living · Parenting · Travel

Berend: 3 Months

August 19, 2018 nk330Leave a comment

This month was kind of a blur. Between moving and doing some solo parenting, Berend’s 3rd month was both hectic and very low key.

Age: 3 months on 15 August 2018
Weight: 14 lbs (our best estimate)
Height: 25.5″ (our best estimate)
Teeth: none
Clothing Size: 3-6 months & 6 months
Diaper Size: size 2 in disposable and one size in cloth
Milestones: He has discovered his hands and enjoys sucking on them, sleeping 6 hours straight (once), lots of new vocal sounds (including “mama!”), starting to grasp at toys, sitting supported (good neck control)

Likes: Sucking and mouthing anything he can get his mouth on, nursing to sleep and nursing to wake, watching Gerrit, watching the TV when he can see it, movement (being carried/bounced), his play mat, bath time, sitting supported, standing supported, walking supported

Berend loves watching Gerrit anytime he’s around:

Dislikes: Being tired, not having Mama’s undivided attention, diaper changes at night, not being able to get toys in his mouth, the car seat (including car rides and the stroller), being restricted by a baby carrier, sleeping long stretches

Getting comforted by Mama during our trip west because he hates the car seat

His face pretty much shows how he feels about stroller rides right now too

Sleeping: Berend is still sleeping swaddled in his bassinet for naps and nighttime. We’re nearing the end of his time in the bassinet, because he’s getting so long! We’ll see if we max out the 15 lb weight limit before we move him because of length.

All sleeping now pretty much takes place in our bedroom. Occasionally, he’ll finish a nap on my lap in the living room, but he can’t really fall asleep out there anymore. In the bedroom he gets swaddled and has white noise to help him fall asleep. This month he had some days that he got 15 hours of sleep and other days only 12! Overall he averaged about 14 hours a day.

Sleep honestly wasn’t great this month, besides that one night he had a 6 hour stretch. I think besides that, his longest stretch was only 3 hours. And most of the time it was more like 2 hours or less. Some nights he was easy to get back down to sleep after he nursed, and other times I had to try to get him back to sleep over and over again. The worst nights were during Leap 2. He was SO fussy during the day for those two weeks as well.

He took a LOT of catnaps. I tried putting him down earlier. I tried putting him down later. It was very hit or miss. By the time he turned 3 months, it seemed like an hour was his sweet spot for getting ready for a nap. Even then, sometimes he’d take an hour and a half nap, and other times he’d nap for 10 minutes! As much as I didn’t want to obsess over it… I obsessed over it. I just wanted the kid to nap! Napping made him much happier, and not napping made him very cranky. Evenings were pretty rough…he often wouldn’t nap well in the late afternoon, so evenings were scream fests while I tried to make/eat dinner with Gerrit. It was rough.

Eating: Berend still nurses for a very short amount of time (5 minutes or less) for the most part. He also still nurses every 1.5-2 hours most of the time. He’ll nurse longer when he’s nursing to sleep, so I often go ahead and let him do that. He’s much calmer and gulps less air then too when he’s sleepy. So for now he’s mostly nursing when he’s going down for a nap, going to bed, or during the night. Not ideal, but I’m okay with it.

Mommy Update: This was the month I was dreading! Not because it was the third month, but because Andrew was gone for most of it. Berend slept one 6 hour stretch shortly after he turned 2 months old, but once we moved into our new house (to the day), he started taking short catnaps and only sleeping 1-2 hours stretches at night. I was exhausted! But with Andrew and my mom here, I was able to get a nap most mornings. Once they both left, my exhaustion went to a whole new level. I dreaded nights, because my sleep was very broken. Throw in Gerrit coming in around 4 or 5am after wetting the bed, and then Berend getting up at 6am? I have no idea how much sleep I was actually getting.

Tired Mama = Crabby Mama. I definitely feel bad that I wasn’t at my best for my boys, and some days we were just in survival mode. My goals were to get a shower every other day, get some easy home cooked dinners on the table most days, and keep up with laundry. I pretty much succeeded haha. The rest of the house was a bit neglected.

The postpartum hormonal fun continues. This month is when the dreaded hair loss started. I’m pretty sure it didn’t start last time until Gerrit was 3 or 4 months old. This time it started when Berend was about 2-1/2 months old. Ugh, it grosses me out losing that much hair all the time! I’ve been breaking out a lot too. I feel like it’s been happening since I had Berend, and I just thought it would be going away by now. I feel like I’m 13 again!

With Andrew gone, I definitely had to get out of my comfort zone this month. I ran errands with both boys, including the commissary. This wouldn’t have been a big deal earlier, when Berend just chilled in the Moby wrap. But now he basically tries to escape the baby carrier, pushing himself sideways and leaning backwards the whole time. He’s ridiculous haha.

So I tried wearing him with the ring sling. And I pulled out the Ergo to see how he did with that. Still playing around with both of those, but I’m hoping to get the ring sling to work out since it’s the easiest to get on and off!

We also went out to some play dates on base. I wanted to get us out of the house, I wanted Gerrit to play with some kids his age, and I wanted to meet some moms. It’s a bit stressful getting two kids out of the house by myself, but it was worth it. Even though I’m an introvert and I enjoy alone time, it was really hard being home alone with two kids and no adult interaction for days at a time.

Memorable Events: Moving to New Mexico

Well, the drive from Arkansas to New Mexico was not very fun. The only time Berend wasn’t crying/screaming was when he was asleep. So when he was awake, we basically stopped every 10 minutes so I could calm him down. He would get to the point of crying where he’d sound like he stopped breathing — it freaked me out!

But we did make it to New Mexico. We spent a couple of days in TLF, then moved into our house on base. I’m excited to be staying in one place for a few years! This will be the house where Berend makes his first memories.

After we moved in, nothing too exciting happened though. We had unpacking and exploring to do. Minus two weeks, my mom was here to help out, which was SO appreciated with Andrew being gone.

Having Mimi around is the best! The extra pair of hands was really helpful, but I didn’t realize how much I missed having another adult to talk to. Plus my mom helps calm me down a bit. We all know I can be a bit high strung…

So there’s Berend’s 3rd month! Here’s his August photo:

As usual, Gerrit wanted to be involved too, and I never say no to a brother photo!

Berend, we adore your big happy smile! No matter how many 20 minute naps you take, your smile is irresistible, and I can’t help but smile back. I can already see that you are determined and feisty, and we can’t wait to see what new things you learn next month! We love you, little bear.