Thankful!

Feeling very thankful for awesome family! We had a great trip home for Thanksgiving. Three Thanksgiving dinners, three nights out with friends, two baby showers, and one baby-free day date = happy us!!

Now I finally feel like we can get ready for Blake. WHEWWW. Time to get busy cleaning out that super messy guest bedroom and filling it up with a crib, rocking chair, new rug, and bookcase. Oh, and washing baby clothes! I've really got my work cut out for me. But first things first - getting ready for Logan's 2nd birthday party this weekend! Hurray! :)

And this concludes my post about a whole lot of nothing.

Catching up

Hmm. I have been quite the unblogger lately! Oops.

This past weekend was a little crazy - lots of ups and downs. A memorial for my friend's sweet little boy that passed away, a pretty afternoon wedding, an awesome night grilling out brats & games with friends, and a super fun 2nd birthday party for Miss Ava!

Daniel is gone this week, traveling in Central Florida again. Sigh. I'm super tired of this every other week thing, but thank goodness this is the second to last time he will be traveling until January (thanks to me hitting the 36 week mark in early December). Sometimes I feel like I am a military wife, just one who's deployments are spread out throughout the entire year rather than a six month absence. Ugh. I really try my hardest not to complain too much, but maybe it's just that the more pregnant I get the harder it is to have him gone for a week at a time, or maybe it's just that after two years of this I am SO ready for us to have a "normal" schedule. Grr.

Ok well that's really all I wanted to vent about :) now that it's almost mid way through November I've got to get started on my Christmas shopping and baby prep! I am so unready - no nursery, no crib, and haven't washed any of the baby clothes!

a little encouragement goes a long way!

Logan was SUCH a tough baby, but I never once thought to google his personality traits or even think that there would be books written about tough babies. It wasn't until he was about 18 months old that I even heard the term "high needs" or "spirited" children, but once I read the descriptions I knew that the entire book had basically been written about Logan! It's so comforting sometimes to know that other people go through the same things when it seems like so many others have the textbook "good" babies/toddlers.

Found this on the Fussy Baby website, and just thought it was interesting. It is such an accurate description of Logan as a baby, and now Logan as a toddler.

Spirited Child Characteristics

Babies

• Want to be held all the time.
• Doesn’t schedule well for eating, and toilet habits.
• Cries for no “apparent” reason.
• Reacts strongly against sleep training.
• Won’t stay for long in carriers that are not attached to parents.
• Gets bored very easily.

Toddlers and Preschoolers

• Smart - won’t play with toys, mostly real items.
• Every day is unpredictable.
• Mood swings occur in minutes.
• Wakes up generally unhappy most times from naps and night sleep.
• Experiences early night terrors and many night awakenings. They are restless sleepers.
• Severe separation anxiety occurs, often lasting from age one to age five.
• Goes through most daily requirements such as getting dressed, car-seat buckling, transitions, diaper changing, meals, bath, tooth-brushing, with difficulty and opposition.
• Clings in new situations and with strange people.
• Wants to do everything themselves. The child is very self-directed and is “The Boss”!
• Child is not easily distractible.
• Child has violent, intense tantrums that may last for at least an hour. Tantrums may include screaming, crying, head-banging, vomiting, hitting, and an almost catatonic state where the child can’t hear, respond or listen to calming influences.
• Child is very active during play and sleep
• Often a picky eater.
• The child still requires a lot of attention and physical contact during night-time and day

The baby characteristics are pretty much spot on to how Logan was as an infant, and the toddler characteristics are pretty darn close as well...minus the night awakenings and intense tantrums (so far, at least). He is an awesome night sleeper once he goes down, and so far his tantrums have been limited to 10-15 minute all-out bawling episodes during which there can be no calming him down but just patience until he stops.

I also discovered this little article by Dr. Sears on high needs children, and it has really encouraged me! I love love love Logan's personality most days, but on the tougher days he really can give me a run for my money. On those days it's helpful to remember what high needs/spirited toddlers grow into:

INFANT	TODDLER-CHILD	TEEN-ADULT
alert intense draining demanding cries impressively loud unconsolable supersensitive high-touch	busy high-strung exhausting spunky energetic stubborn impatient strong-willed obstinate discerning challenging expressive tantrum-prone interesting tender huggable	enthusiastic deep passionate resourceful dominating opinionated determined persistent insightful fair sociable compassionate empathetic caring affectionate

Whew!! I'll take those traits as a teen/adult :) As for now, I'll just have to remember to embrace and appreciate every since one of those toddler/child traits! And know that I'm probably just getting exactly what I put my parents through - my mother says I was a lot like him as a kid ;)

links:
http://www.thefussybabysite.com/causes/characteristics-of-the-spirited-child/
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/fussy-baby/high-need-baby/changing-personality-profile-high-need-child-grows

6 months down, 3 to go!

I feel like my To-Do list before baby gets here just keeps getting longer and longer, and I keep getting more and more tired. I remember this one myth...oh yeah, that my energy would perk up during the second trimester! hah! That was a lie! Things have been definitely going downhill in the energy direction. Boo :(

Random jumble of thoughts

I think we might be going through a growth spurt over here! :) Somebody weighed a whopping 23 pounds on the scale this morning (and that is a big deal for my non-grower over here!) and has finally outgrown several pairs of 12 month shorts and pajamas. Woohoo!! That means shopping time for this mama :) I do love shopping for toddler clothes! Everything looks cute on them.

He has been a little ham lately. I know I say this all the time, but I really do love seeing their little personalities develop. He's starting to talk a little bit more; mostly babble still but some is starting to a least resemble what he's talking about. Yesterday he said "shoes" clear as day! Still nothing to write home about since he's not as advanced in talking as some of his buddies, but any progress is good over here.

In typical boy fashion, he already loves bugs and animals. His favorite neighborhood cat passed away, but luckily a new little cat has been coming around (and this one is even friendlier!), and he has a newly found love for all frogs, bugs, and ants. Lucky me...hopefully he won't want any of these as pets some day.

Since Mickey Mouse has been his newest obsession lately, I've been leaning towards putting together a Mickey costume for him for Halloween. Mickey even comes to bed with him now! Nothing will ever replace Cow, but Mickey comes pretty close.