The Proud Big Sister

Adelyn is the sweetest & proudest big sister in the whole world! Before Caiden was born I wasn't too worried about how she would adjust to her new role but I have been surprised and very thankful for how well she's done. She has not shown any jealousy about the time or attention Caiden gets and really just loves him so much. For the first three months Caiden got introduced to anyone who even turned their head in Adelyn's direction. She talks to him in a baby voice, wants to hold & kiss him, help change his diaper, and says "he's so sweet and lovin". In the beginning she really wished she could feed him. She would tell me "one day I'm going to be a mommy and have special milk in my 'pimples' too". I was a little nervous about how much curiosity and explanation would be necessary during diaper changes. I got off pretty easy in the beginning - "mommy, what's that boo boo on his bottom?" she would ask. I just told her that's what makes him a boy and amazingly enough she didn't ask anymore questions. Of course since then there has been further discussion...

The biggest set back we've had with Adelyn is that she's had quite a bit of separation anxiety since Caiden was born. I think it's due to how quickly we left to go to the hospital, had the baby and none of it went the way we'd talked about. Adelyn came to the hospital the day Caiden was born just to see me (he was still in the transitional nursery) and when she was leaving she told Matt "daddy, I'm reluctant to leave without you & mommy". She's doing a lot better now though. Life is feeling more secure I guess.

I had signed her up earlier in the year to take a Big Sister Class for 3 year olds in August before he was born. Even though Caiden was already 9 days old on the day we'd signed up for I still decided to take her and I'm so glad I did!

First we watched an informational video. After the video the nurse held up a picture of a real newborn, pointed to the belly button and asked "does anyone know what this is?" Adelyn raised her hand and called out "the umbilical cord!" The teacher's mouth dropped open. She was definitely not expecting to get an answer, much less the correct one from a 2 year old with perfect pronunciation!

Then they talked about how to hold, feed & burp the baby.

 

She also made this onesie for Caiden. I know you're so surprised to see that it has a  train on it.

What a lucky boy Caiden is to have such a sweet big sister!

Merry Christmas!

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas & that you're life is filled with the hope, peace, love & joy we have because of Jesus' birth!

Caideny Caiden

To say that I'm behind on blogging would just be silly. I have about 6 months of blog posts I could write and no intention of getting "caught up". There are some though that I really don't want to miss and this is one of them...

Our sweet little Caiden is 4 months old and I really can not believe it! The time has certainly flown by and I've been wanting to write a post to remember him during these first few months.

The first 5 weeks were not exactly fun. As I look back I realize that I should have known he was coming. But I didn't and it really took me off guard. I also realize now that Caiden was just as unhappy about his early arrival as I was. He would usually go 2 1/2 to 3 hours between feedings during the day time but at night he wanted to eat every 2 hours. And he was not one to nurse back to sleep. He had to be held and rocked and I spent more than one night sleeping in the rocker in his room instead of my bed. He would stick his little nose as far into the crook of my neck as he could get it. It was sweet that he wanted to get  as close to me as possible. He would and still does hook his arm over mine and hold on tight. Whenever he would eat he would hold his little fists right next to his cheeks and go to town. If I did something he didn't approve of, like interfere with his attempts to eat while sleeping, he would grunt at me. I was really surprised by his cry because it sounded so mad and he didn't have to work up to it. He would just wake up mad. And then September 2nd arrived...

That was his official due date and once we hit that, it was like someone flipped a switch. It wasn't that everything changed at once but he did start going 3 hours at night between feedings. I finally started to think maybe it was just sleep deprivation and not post pardum depression that I'd been suffering from. His cry started changing into more of a disgruntled vocal expression of his current state, he grunted at me less and over all just started mellowing out. Today he is such a happy, content, and truly easy baby. He loves to talk and smile at me, laughs at Adelyn, and watches Matt like a hawk. Because he was 5 weeks early he has an adjusted age for hitting developmental milestones. He didn't really start smiling at me until around 10 weeks (5 weeks adjusted) and he just started "playing" with his activity mat about a couple weeks ago (17 weeks/12 weeks adjusted). We went to his 4 month check up yesterday. He weighed in at 14 lbs. 14 oz. and 26" long. The pediatrician didn't think he was really 5 weeks behind developmentally and was really impressed by how social he is. 

A few other things - he is a cuddler and I just love it! The point of tummy time was completely lost on him for the first 8 weeks. If I needed to guarantee a little extra sleep out of him, I'd put him on his tummy in the pack & play. Worked like a charm. He was really hairy when he was born. On his arms & back. He even had side burns. But it's all fallen out now. He is a happy spitter. He is all boy! Stinky gas. Stinky diapers. Stinky! Sometimes he laughs while passing gas. He's been known to poop on the changing pad. (Adelyn never did that) And he had the most amazing ability to pee out of his diaper and get everything around him wet without ever getting the diaper wet. How this is possible I do not know. Thankfully we've grown out of this ability. He is a great napper but thinks the 4 am milk tastes the very best. He has gone 9 hours at night (once). That's what I'm asking for for Christmas - sleep. He has lots of nick names (mostly from Adelyn): bud, wittle bud, buddy, Caideny Caiden, buddy boy, little mister. He brings so much joy and delight to all of our lives and I can't imagine our family with out him. Caiden, you have captured my heart & I'm so blessed to be your mommy!