One baby, two baby...old baby? New baby?

Now that just sounds terrible, doesn't it?

Month four Check In:

It was easy. In the beginning. Yes, back in the good old days when the NICU nurses did everything for me and/or Ben was home all day and even grandma's ran aplenty. Well, the first week of November I was on my own. It's of course less easy but not as bad as I bought it might be. Gavin is a piece of cake it's just Jaxen with his fits that sometimes make things difficult. Although there are times when I'm carrying them BOTH around because they are BOTH crying. These kids are breaking my back (again!) 

I have to say though that Gavin is a real chill man. (Smiling at me before even two months old! Sleeping 4-5hr stretches by 2.5m old, then 7-10hour straight through by 3.5 months) Thank. The. Stars. Don't get me wrong, he still has all the annoying habits most babies have like a constantly variable schedule and being unable to do anything for himself. Luckily I haven't had to co-sleep in bed with him like i did Jaxen. That's was rough and uncomfortable for me but it was what Jaxen needed so I had to make the sacrifice. Gavin's been fine sleeping in the bassinet across the room from us. A NICU bonus, I guess. Or I hear that most babies do that just fine... We're still planning on moving him to his room somewhere around 6 months. Possibly sooner if he keeps up excellent sleep! Oh, but then there's that SIDS thing...raarg. The chances drastically decrease at 4 months but well...*SHRUG* (that's my default parenting  setting)

Meanwhile Jaxen is chattering up a storm. He's always had lots to say but now we can understand most of it. He's very interested in learning new words/phrases and loves his word books, flash cards and watching lawn mowers on YouTube (obsessed). He's grown quite accepting and compassionate with his lil bro and I am very proud of him for that. I feel like he may be starting to mellow out now that we've crossed the 2.5 year line. Signs are still subtle but I'm a believer. He is really a sweet man under there. Perhaps even a sensitive one like myself so I've gone through great pains to show him compassion even in the depths of his toddler fits. Instead of yelling, time out or locking him away in his room we go sit alone together someplace quiet and calm down. It's harder to do it this way and it doesn't always seem like its effective in that moment (it is!) but I have a super long history of doing everything the hard way so whatevs. The other new thing we've done with Jaxen is switch him to pullups in hopes of getting the potty training thing underway. I have to register him for preschool in a week or two for next fall so I am REALLY hoping we can get that accomplished before then! We don't make him sit on the potty still but we definitely talk about it more and encourage him to try sitting on it. He's gone pee twice (a couple weeks ago we caught half a poo in there too) but the connection is still not there. In fact, he's still in denial about diaper changes in general so I don't think he's ready to make a full blown effort just yet.

We had a busy thanksgiving with everyone visiting but it was nice to have the extra help. Jaxen had an absolute blast with his aunts and uncles! They really ran the energy out of him! THANKS GUYS! Gavin got to meet his GGs for the first time too! Even though I was fretting about having everyone it worked out great and good times were had by all. Christmas was quiet and a little difficult for me on account of Ben being down for the count but we were up to our ears in presents, so much so that it took from 9am-3pm to open them all! Gavin also got to meet his cousins Ethan and Emily as well as his Aunt Martha and Uncle Zack. When he wasn't snoozing, he was busy charming everyone with his devilishly handsome grin.

And now a growth and cuteness update from Gavin:

See you in May for Jaxen's big THREE YEARS OLD UPDATE!

~*~*~*My BIGGEST BaaaaBEE Turns THREE*~*~*~

The Happy THREE YEARS Jaxen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't even believe it.
But I will say that every year he gets older.

Here is my sweet lil' man...

...who is now registered for preschool in the Fall!!!!!! (Fingers crossed we can potty train him by then!) I guess most moms get sad about this but I'm suuuuuper happy...but not for the terrible reason you're thinking of. Yes it will make things easier to have him out of the house a couple hours most of the week but really I'm excited that he's growing up and becoming a real person. That's why I had kids. Definitely not for the love of babies. I could do without that whole 12 months.

   Second week in February was a big deal for us as I finally initiated bottle termination. I offered him a small (2-3oz) sippy cup of sugar free chocolate milk OR the bottle. He took the chocolate milk. Then we put him down and he got upset about not getting a bottle so we reiterated the choice HE made and there was a 60s period of crying when we left the room. Then all was quiet.

    By the end of the month we'd jumped right into potty training. We still use a pull-up when we go out but he's had many successful #1s and #2s all initiated on his own. He tends to like privacy so we just leave him in the bathroom with some books and he does all the work! The main challenge is going at the playground. 85% of his accidents occur there.

    Right before our FL trip at the end of March we bought a tent for J to sleep in so we don't have to pack the crib everywhere. I was suuuuuuper nervous but he loves it and does great with it! He also has done several nap times in underpants! We haven't tackled night time in underpants...maybe later. We haven't had an accident since FL!

    Our vacation was fun (if your name is Jaxen or Gavin) but exhausting for us. Still, the exhaustion is worth the experience for them. After an accident free underpants plane ride we arrived at our hotel in Naples. There we had a good visit with GG and Gpa Ron. It took Jaxen a few days to see the value in going to the beach but by the time we met up with his buddy Luca at Siesta, the two were beachin' it like pros! It sure was nice to be just 1000 ft walk from the beach! At the end of the week we drove back down to Gma & pop pops house where we met up with uncle Ryan & aunt Kasey for some splashy fun times in gma's pool. We also did one last beach day at GG and Gpa Ron's beach club. By then Jaxen was even brave enough to get in the ocean!

   A big birthday surprise for Jaxen this year. A swing set!!! Not just any swing set. One could LIVE out of this thing. We couldn't have built it without the help of Gpa Paul. Thanks so much for your help!! We had a nice family birthday party with cousin Georgia the weekend of his birthday and then another coming up next weekend with friends & cake. Cake-friends...mmmm....

Gavin's 8m update:

We skipped our 6m check up because at the 4m one doc said (and I quote),"babies that look this good really don't need to come in every two months." Yep. That's how I make 'em. Just shy of month five I started seeing white shadows in Gavin's mouth and I spent weeks hoping I was wrong but no. One week before he hit five months his nap schedule got all funky (night sleep too) and his poor little guns all swollen and red. A week before the 6m mark one bottom tooth emerged! I'm hoping this is the reason he's gone from great sleeper 10-7 (1feeding) to 10-530 (2-3 feedings). I want my great sleeper back!!!!!!!!!!        

(っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ

    We also started some solids around 5.5m because of his wanting to face plant in my food all the time. Bone broth worked well, so did banana and apple sauce but not so much avocado. That caused throwing up all night long.

    By 7 months, this guy is still on his crappy sleep schedule. He's hard to put down and when I finally do get him down he's up 4-6x a night instead of once. I experimented with an earlier bedtime because I keep hearing about how everyone else's baby sleeps better that way but it just doesn't work. On the bright side he's doing great with solids; coconut cream, chicken/swt tato, chicken/Apple/strawberry, applesauce, assorted pre-made baby food combos...I don't think he likes banana anymore though and avocado is hit or miss. He's been SUCH a good eater that we're down to nursing before both naps, bedtime and twice (2am&6am-ish) overnight. I am contemplating weaning soon and I'll be revisiting my Jaxen blogs about it to refresh my memory. I'm pretty sure I started on the day feedings and cut out 1/2 a serving every 2-3weeks.

    The last week in April was the last straw with this crappy sleeping thing! I started turning off the monitor for short stretches and/or not going in if its within an hour of having just been in there. He's sleeping better AND if he does wake it's 10min max of fussing before falling back asleep. It's working! 

    At the ~9 month check up he met and exceeded some of the milestones they ask about. Aside from dealing with his first real sickness (just a boggery head cold), dr B says he looks great! He's now eating a ton of solids (pretty much anything as long as it's not cold) and because of this my supply is waaaaay down. So much so that I can no longer nurse him to sleep, it requires a few minutes of rocking before I can put him down for nap/night. If I can get him to like the coconut formula (hit or miss in the past) and remedy this pooping issue (dehydration) I won't feel so bad about quitting early. Call it second child syndrome...whatever...I just don't have the patience this time around. Not after 4 rounds of mastitis and milk blisters every other week (not an over exaggeration.)