Halloween Preparations

 Dear Nathan,
Just looking at all the pictures that I took, we've had a busy week! But before I start the reacap, I'd like to tell you that I am so proud of how gentle you have become with Hannah. The following pictures really portray how you are with her now.

 A week ago, I would not have trusted you to be in the same room with her if I wasn't close by. After some talking, practice and episodes of Ni Hao Kai Lan about being gentle, you have learned to be more gentle with Hannah. Yay!

So, I think you are ready for a more intense version of potty training. By "intense" I mean with bribes. A few days ago, we went to Target and you got to pick out your special undies. You were torn between a pack of Hello Kitty and Thomas undies, but ultimately, you picked the Thomas ones. On our way home you told me you wanted to look at them, so I gave the pack to you and when I opened the door once we were home to get you out, this is what I find...

A little boy covered in Thomas undies. 

 After washing them, you got to wear them the next day. To up the hype, I employed you as an underwear model for the afternoon. This may be one of my favorite shots.

 You came up with this one on your own.

 I'm pretty sure you are sick and tired of me asking you "Are your undies still dry?" It seems like in the morning, you are better at keeping the undies dry. But some days you go through 4-5 pairs in a couple of hours. I've been setting a timer for 20-30 minutes and making you go, but sometimes you have an accident 5 minutes after you get off of the potty. That can be frustrating. So I'm going to take a new approach. Gummy bears. I just bought a brand new bag and we will start after you get up from your nap.

Halloween is coming up in a few days. It's actually one of my favorite times of the year because you get to dress up and I love looking at all the adorable kids in costume running around. I was inspired by Pinterest to paint pumpkins. So, one fine afternoon, we went out on the back porch and painted pumpkins.

 Hannah was such a good girl and just quietly watched us create our masterpieces.

 And you decided that your pumpkins needed some glitter.

 Of course, more glitter ended up on your tummy than on the pumpkin...

 The final products.

On Saturday we attended our church's annual BBQ where you really fell in love with the accordion music that was playing. You threw a temper tantrum because we had to leave and you couldn't dance to polka music anymore. Who knew? (By the way, you are really into "The Gummy Bear Song" and "Gangnam Style." We had so much fun dancing last night that I think we are going to start a new tradition: post-dinner dance party...meanwhile, Hannah was looking at all of us like we were crazy!)

In the afternoon we went back to church and attended the fall festival. It's gotten huge this year, but other than it being hot, we actually had a great time because there were surprisingly almost no lines for the activities. You got to wear your Yoda had that your grandmother knit for you a few years ago. This is what it looked like on you when you received it.

 And look at it now.

Your shirt was made from a thrifted pillowcase, and the light saber is a glow stick inside a bubble wand. Hannah's costume is made from another pillowcase and the ears were made from a thrifted glove. I spent no more than $10 to make our costumes.

At the fall festival, there was a fire truck.

 And legos to play with...

 For a little while, Hannah was awake, but she was asleep for most of it.

 And then there were really cool trunks to get treats from.

 And then you and Daddy caught the last hayride of the day.

 For October, it was a little on the hot side, but we had lots of fun.

Oh, Nathan, I don't know why sometimes you get super hyper and crazy. This happened this weekend at our Chinese class. You got super active, played rough and cranky all at the same time. Poor daddy had to try to keep you from hurting the other kids and hold Hannah at the same time. I hope it was just a phase, but you need to start playing gently with other kids. There are times for rough play and times for gentle.

But most of the time you are pretty calm. You still love playing with your train set.

 And we still play games with our food.

 And this week you helped me make popcorn. You've asked for it 2 days in a row since then and I love how you imitate cookie monster when you eat it. I'm glad Teddy likes popcorn, otherwise we'd have a huge mess.

 Have I mentioned what a great helper you still are? When you want to help, you say "Help me." You really should be saying "Can I help you?"

Look at those strong muscles! 

Mommy went a bit overboard with the TP. 

 Well, that' about it for you this week. Oh yeah, I think your 2 year molars are coming in. A few days ago you were rubbing your gums with your fingers and you are drooling a lot more than usual. Let's see when they will officially pop through your gums.
****
Dear Hannah,
I can't believe how fast you continue to grow.

September 2014

October 2014

Your eyes are starting to turn more brown. They are still this gorgeous grayish brown color, but I'm sure in a few more weeks, they will look more like my dark brown eyes. 

 As far as sleep goes, you are going to bed for the night earlier each week. This week you have drifted off around 8-8:30. You wake for a dream feed around 11 and sleep till 2:30am; then you nurse, and sleep until around 5:30; nurse some more, and wake up for the day around 8 - 8:30. Morning naps are still sporadic, and then you take a 3 hour afternoon nap starting at around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Afterwards, you are pretty much awake until 8, but you are pretty fussy and are nursing for about half of that time.

I'm still glad that most of the time I can put you down drowsy and you will fall asleep on your own.

So cute!

I know I'm breaking so many rules as far as sleep set-up goes...no pillows or blankets are supposed to be in with the baby, but while she is wearing a harness, I can't swaddle her, so to keep her warm we put blankets on her, which she can't kick off anyways because of the harness. And the sleep positioner is actually a bath mat that I used to keep Nathan's head slightly elevated to keep him from getting too congested when he was sick. I find that Hannah sleeps better with it, so I'm keeping it. When she starts to become more mobile, I will take it out, but until then, it makes her feel cozy and secure.

We are getting more smiles out of you, especially when we make funny faces. You are liking tummy time a bit more than Nathan did when he was your age and you handle car rides like a pro. Thank you for being such a chill baby.

I'm getting through the day without having to take a nap, but I am pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I've also started to go to the gym. On Monday I went to a weight lifting class and am still sore from it. Today I went to a Zumba class. I have forgotten how much I enjoyed dancing.  I felt parts of me jiggle that I have never felt before, but I'm ok with that because that just comes with being a mom of 2 and I'm sure that in time those jiggles will become less noticeable.

Ok, this post has become quite long, but I'm happy that Grandparents come this weekend and I'm sure we will have lots of fun.

Until next week,
Mommy