Mo-mo

Mo-mo is Willow's pacifier. I can't wait to be rid of it!

She became attached to it at 15 months when she weaned. I don't think she was ready to wean, and picked the paci from her toy box where up until then it had been for her dolls. Oooops. From that day on, mo-mo is not just a pacifier, but a lovey. Her favorite toy. Someone to talk to.

Willow in July 2010, with the original Mo-mo

She only used it to sleep until a few months back when I was too busy to take it away from her first thing in the morning. Amazingly, mo-mo lost his charm over the day. I thought I'd found a solution. So I let her have mo-mo all day long (except when we were out). Wow, did that ever backfire. She became more attached than ever and we've had a hard time getting back to using mo-mo only to sleep.

Today was the first non-mo-mo day. In the morning we made a little bed for mo-mo. We got mo-mo a blanket. We closed up mo-mo's bed box, and put him to sleep. A bit of whining, but I'd say a success. Willow was very excited to wake mo-mo up this evening before she went to bed.

Sometimes I don't even see Mo-mo anymore, and it ruins some nice shots.

So what's the next step? I have no idea. I'm going to stick to the no mo-mo during waking hours and hope that decreases her dependence. In the meantime, I'll have to think of a little game we can play to keep mo-mo busy at nap time and night time too.

Oh- and the name, Mo-mo? I don't know where it came from exactly. There was a sesame street doll at Willow's daycare (my sisters place) that had a pacifier. The doll would say "ma-ma" when the pacifier came out of it's mouth. I think Willow thought it was saying "more-more" and she started saying that when she wanted her pacifier. "More-more" sounded like "Mo-mo" at the time, so I just went with it.

Wordless Wednesday (ice cream! edition)

Sleep

This is my whiny post about sleep.

I haven't slept a full night since well before Willow was born, thanks to pregnancy nausea and heartburn. As an infant, Willow woke hourly, until about 8 months. As she was finally waking less, we moved. To this day, she has slept through the night- oh, about 10 times.

The first time she slept through was the first night we had Toby home. Or, we were all just so tired from the previous nights labour & delivery that we didn't hear her crying. Sometime in the spring, around her 2nd birthday she began sleeping through a couple of times a week. The other days she woke 2-4 times. This progress only lasted a few weeks and we're back to the 2-4 wake ups every night. Lately, she wakes telling me she has to pee. Wanting to encourage night-time potty training I get her to the potty and she sits there. And doesn't pee. Last night I waited 30 minutes before carrying her kicking and screaming back to bed.

Toby has been a completely different sleeper, right from birth. I'm so glad, because it confirms to me that I didn't do anything wrong with Willow. It's just how she is. Or, as I'll get to in a minute- she suffered from acid reflux and I just didn't know there was something that could be done.

Toby slept through the night around 8 weeks. For one glorious month, I was only getting up a couple of times a night, with one kid. At 3 months his waking increased dramatically- 6 or more times a night. After hearing from our family doctor and naturopath that he had acid reflux I brought him to a chiropractor who helped improve his sleep almost immediately. He slept through the night again at 6 months.

For the last 2 weeks Toby's naps have been short, and nights have been rough. He wakes just a couple of hours after bedtime, and doesn't fall back to sleep easily. At first I thought it was the 8 month growth spurt, but it seems to be going on too long. Tooth #5 may also be bugging him. I am hoping the chiropractor can help him (and me) out this week. I am so tired.

I really don't know how to explain how tired I am. Before having kids, I needed about 10 hours of sleep to feel good. Now, a good day is about 4-5 broken hours. If I get 3 hours in a row I feel like a million bucks. And when both kids sleep well, I still don't sleep good. I toss and turn, like I forget how to sleep. I'm just not used to long stretches of sleep- my body isn't either. I wake up with a sore back from laying down too long.

Whah waah waah, I know. I've got really great kids so it shouldn't matter how much sleep I'm losing. I'll make it up later, right? I just wish I had more patience when I'm tired. I feel so guilty for being annoyed by the attention Willow needs, or frustrated at Toby's crying. All because I'm so tired. My sister was a sleeper like Willow. My mom tells me I have about 4 more years before I feel rested again.

Yawn. I'm so darn tired. Did I say that already?

A few more sweet photos of Toby sleeping. If you're wondering why I'm not posting any of Willow- it's because SHE NEVER SLEPT. I'm not kidding. And in those brief moments she did sleep I wouldn't dream of getting a camera out and waking her up.

Toby sleeping on his Birth Day.

Toby napping well, 1 month old.

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Toby sleeping through Christmas.

Toby asleep in the swing, 4 months.

OK, I lied. There are TWO photos of Willow sleeping. Here she is, on her Birth Day.

Willow catching a quick nap on the couch.

The reason you haven't seen many blog posts from me lately is because of the sleep funk we're in. Hopefully it's over soon.

Yawn.

Wordless Wednesday (sweet sleepy boy edition)

Wordless Wednesday (berries! edition)

What they're saying, July 2011

Willow: "Where arrrrrrrrrreeee yoooooouuuu?", she says singy-songy to people and things. If we're heading to the park, she'll say, "Park, where arrrrrrrrreeee yoooouuuu?". On Saturday we went to the farmer's market, "Farmer's market, where arrrrreeee yoooouuu?".

She loves labelling things as mommy ones, baby ones, daddy ones etc. by their size. If something is really big, its a daddy one. She's added the grandmas too- grammie ones, and gram gram ones. When she draws (or asks me to draw for her) she asks for a baby kitty, a daddy kitty, a grammie kitty.....

Willow is using her imagination much more now and she talks to herself or her dolls about different things. Usually things that are going on or happened recently. It's interesting to get a glimpse of her inner dialogue.


Toby: Lately, it's Mom, mama, mam etc. He's not calling me just yet- just making noise. But I respond to it, so it's just a matter of time.

His friend Ila has taught him to growl I think- he's making growly noises while banging on his toys or driving his car around.

There is a lot of new noises coming from Toby. He's experimenting with the sounds he can make and get reactions from. He's great playing independently with his toys, making goo goo gaa gaa, blowing raspberries, making long drawn out tones. Super cute.

Wordless Wednesday ("Toby the Turtle" jammies edition)

Teeth!

Toby has 4 teeth. All in four weeks. A much easier teether than Willow, thank goodness! First one came just a week shy of his seven month birthday. Number two came two weeks later and the next two within the following two weeks. Whew.


Other news:
Willow has two 2-year molars coming through too. We've got a happy house right now!

Toby is pulling himself up. He uses toys, the couch, me. Still not crawling, but he gets around pretty good by pushing himself backwards, or doing a little sit-belly flop-sit-belly flop routine. I can't believe how fast he gets around a room!


Willow no longer says "I", instead it's "My". I have a hard time explaining to her how to use pronouns properly, so I just try to speak correctly myself. She'll get it eventually.

Toby has been sleeping through the night since he got over his last cold (about 3 weeks). Naps are going well too, 2 hours in the morning, 1 hour in the afternoon. About 10 hours at night. He's been getting so much sleep he was up until 11pm a couple of days last week. This is quite a shock to my system - so much that I'm having a hard time falling asleep. I still get up with Willow once or twice, and I'm having a really hard time. I think I need to write an entire post about sleep deprivation - that to come.

Potty training has been pretty much smooth sailing since day 2.... and finally Willow is starting to get up from bed to pee. It happens within the hour of going to bed and is a huge pain to take her diaper off, but I'll encourage it. She's in a diaper just for naps (wakes up dry about 1/2 the time) and at night. I can't wait until she's diaper free!

We've had some nice hot summer weather here and have been taking advantage of the deck. We spend alot of time out there, blowing bubbles, in the pool, enjoying meals and playing with 'bouncy bouncy' balls. Willow likes to spray my herb garden and potted plants with the spray bottle. Keeps her busy.