Desperate times...

I am convinced that teething happens during an age most don't remember because it's just too traumatic (for all parties involved).  The other night Emory woke around midnight screaming.  We tried everything to get him back to sleep, but at a certain point all parents recognize the cry of no return.  Pointless.  

So we decided to get him up, try some Orajel, maybe a teething tablet or two and give him a few minutes.  Also, when it comes to Emory, naked toddler is usually always a happy one.  Phillip stripped him down and let him go!  

Here's how we killed some time:


Cutting molars from Kristin Harris on Vimeo.

(...and we realize that we will never win any awards for parents of the year, but we accomplished the goal at hand!) 

Happy (cold) Monday!  

 Kristin

August: A Series of Uh-Ohs!

I still have to get back to blogging about the rest of our Savannah trip from July, but I thought a quick rundown of August would suffice for now.  Sweet boy certainly had his fair share of ups and downs.  I'm proud to say that we are learning how to survive parenting the rough and tumble type very well!

First, I started experimenting with art.  I bought Emory these markers months ago.  Our first several attempts with them were less than stellar.  He's slowly coming around.  Sometimes we decorate paper.  Other times we go for the clothes, the face, the high chair, the dogs, you know anything that is grossly inappropriate.  I thought since we were on an art kick that I could give this Pinterest project a go.  Everything seemed pretty harmless: flour, water, food coloring.  What could possibly go wrong?  (P.S. - The potential answers for this question are endless!)

It was all fun and games...

until someone got his hand dirty.  You see, our child has a mild case of his mama's OCD.

I still can't bring myself to throw his first true "artwork" away.  I am thinking that a cute cut out and frame may hold it as a keepsake for Phillip and I to cherish.  It's the small things that remind you how much they've grown in such a short period of time.

Around the same time as mine and Emory's exploration into the world of art was occurring, he and Daddy began a new game all their own.  I "fondly" refer to it as Phillip's daily attempt at killing me via heart attack.  Boys are rough...and wild...and apparently never outgrow this phase!  I'm not accustomed to this in any manner.  I am learning that Emory seldom wants a sweet hug; instead, he much prefers being scared from around the corner and tackled into a tickle coma.  He and Phillip try everything in the books.  Swing upside down.  How high can he go?  Flip over the couch.  Let's hope both feet are there to catch us.  Tackle the dogs?  Thank the Lord they have the patience of Job!  

One particular morning, Phillip was letting Emory stand on the couch to put his hat on.  I wasn't in the room, but Phillip said he stepped back and before any type of intervention could occur my son's forehead had a rendezvous with the corner of our coffee table.  It could be the pregnancy hormones, but I lost it when I saw his little noggin.  We also learned that he isn't compliant when it comes to first aid.  Phillip tried countless times over the next hour to hold ice to his head...to no avail.  I didn't leave the house for several days for fear that anyone who saw us would call DSS immediately.  

Bless him!

Lastly, and certainly not nearly as traumatic as a near concussion, was Emory's new set of sidewalk chalk.  He's never really been into it, but it's a nice chance for us to get outside for a few minutes.  I went shopping and found a pack of 20 Crayola chalks for a whole dollar!  Heck yes!  There are so many more color options than the last pack too. 

Since most of August was spent trying to cut molars and two bottom teeth, we had one fussing little man on our hands more often than not.  Feeding him has been an uphill battle (to say the very least).  Most of the time being outside or playing in the bath does the trick though!  I stripped him down, sprayed him down (gotta love the South and our mosquito plague), and headed out the door!  

At first, I had a captive audience.

Then someone realized that the chalk will shatter into lots of fun pieces if he threw it down hard enough.

Everyone knows that the XY chromosome and destruction go hand in hand!

To hide the evidence of his massacre, Emory decided to try to conceal all of his broken pieces in the grass along the sidewalk.  Mason wanted to help by attempting to eat said evidence.  (These two are a dynamic duo that are certain to wreak havoc in my life for many years to come.)

I'll post about some of our other outings in August once I wrap up July.  I just thought these would amuse you for now!  It's almost Fall and college football is in full swing!!!  Go Tigers!

 Kristin

Life's better in the buff!

...or at least that's Emory's recent fixation.  It's no secret that most tots are content to be in diapers alone.  Emory's always been a great sleeper, but it seems he sleeps even better with limited clothing.  

This past week has been ROUGH when it comes to night time sleep and even the occasional daytime nap.  It's not a matter of having an unwilling participant; instead our problem is leaky diapers.  Nap time is only 2 to 3 hours max, and we always use Pampers Baby Dry.  According to the box, this diaper should adequately suffice for 12 hours of coverage.  Apparently, they are testing these bad boys out on someone that needs my son's bladder!  

We have had 4 straight nights of leaking out EVEN AFTER changing Emory around 2 or 3 AM every morning (a plan we began implementing several weeks ago when we noticed diapers getting too bulky by morning).  Since Emory doesn't go to bed until 11 we thought it would work best since Phillip gets home about 1:30 AM.  He could do a quick change on his way to bed and problem solved, right?  WRONG!  Every day, same story.  He sleeps until 10 or 11 AM every morning, but still THE BOX SAYS 12 HOURS!  We've even had a few failed nap times this past week (none lasting more than 2.5 hours). 

Phillip and I had a discussion about this during dinner last night.  Phillip ventured out and bought Huggies Overnights in a size 6 (Emory's long, so the size 5s work for day but I read that we should try a bigger size if the absorbency wasn't working).  This would certainly solve our problem.  We waited anxiously for bedtime to roll around to implement Project Clean Crib Sheet!

Perhaps it should be apparent from the fact that I am blogging at 3:30 AM this did not go as planned!  We decided to do the normal 2 AM diaper change.  I was grabbing a water out of the kitchen when I hear Phillip say, "OH YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"  Phillip isn't one to excite easily, so I promptly enter the room to find Emory standing in his crib...just as naked as a jay bird (and not one bit phased by his immodest appearance).  

Poor kid was so incredibly disoriented.  Normally when we wake him he stays fairly groggy and goes back to sleep with ease.  He had ruined the new crib sheet and mattress protector by this escape from his diaper prison.  I grabbed him and threw him in the bath while Phillip kindly changed the sheets for the THIRD TIME today.  

Phillip didn't know that Emory had recently started grabbing at his diaper trying to figure the tabs out.  I never let him sleep in just a diaper anymore due to this behavior.  Phillip was still ignorant of this minor detail (my fault).  So Emory, being left to his own devices, escaped his confinement and slept blissfully in the nude (and thankfully on his stomach) until we interrupted what was sure to be an interesting morning surprise.

After his bath, we dressed him in footy pajamas and put him back in bed.  That lasted a whole hour.  Now I'm sitting on a couch with a toddler that is so far past his expiration he can't see straight.  Here's to hoping Little Bear will calm him down enough to put back in bed within the next 30 minutes.  He doesn't realize it, but this is not helping Mama's insomnia.  

Blissful buffing to you and yours! 
 
Kristin

Summer Travel: Savannah (Days 1 & 2)

At the beginning of July, we decided to take a trip when my best friend and her husband came in from California.  I was so excited to spend some time away from home just hanging out, but good grief someone turned the thermostat to "HOT as Hades" in the South.  The weather in Wilmington was perfect, so I was really hopeful that Savannah would be comparable. 

We headed down on the 4th.  The apartment we rented was right on Bay Street, so we were in the middle of everything.  Almost every restaurant you could imagine was within a block or two and the river was right across the street.  Every morning the cargo carriers woke me up with their horns (imagine a MAC truck at the head of your bed blowing its horn).  Phillip found this hilarious.  

When we got there we decided to try to have dinner on the river and watch the fireworks since it was July 4th.  Dinner didn't go quite as smoothly as we had hoped, but we finally ate around 9.  Unfortunately, fireworks started at 9:30 so we missed most of them, but Emory and I caught a few towards the end of our meal.  

Can you tell it was a bit warm?

He was a good sport about everything as long as he was on the go.

Our second day down we decided to walk around the visit a few of the places we enjoyed on our last trip.  Our first stop was The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist:

 

 

 

Emory was more than amused with keys in the cathedral, which suited us just fine since the place echos a bit. 

One of my favorite historic houses (currently a B&B) in Savannah, the Hamilton Turner House.

In case you were wondering how hot it was check out Little Man.  Quite roasty toasty.

Leopold's Ice Cream phone booth. 

Sandra's turn.

This place has the best ice cream in Savannah.  Poor Sandra and Steven, Phillip made them visit this place at least 4 times. 

Kristin

Battle of Wills

Oh toddlerdom!  How I love and how I hate thee.  

On one hand, I love watching Emory learn and play.  His serious infant personality has given way to a little silly, rambunctious, LOUD toddler.  Being a toddler is the best example of living life to its fullest that I have ever seen.  Laughing is from the belly.  Running requires the entire body.  Learning is part of everything and it's everywhere.  Amazement abounds!

Do you see that face?  That's THE ONE.  Want to know what he's doing when I see this?  Something he shouldn't...and he knows it.  This is the face I get when Emory is waiting to see if I'll stop and reprimand what just happened.  

To be honest, I see it entirely too much lately.  Emory has hit a phase where he throws things when he's frustrated.  Granted, I am thankful that he hasn't hit the biting phase that many of my friends' tots are trying to overcome.  BUT I have to say that this is beyond annoying most days.  

Usually the projectile objects occur immediately following Emory not getting his way.  If it's me telling him that there's no more milk, there goes the sippy cup.  If it's telling him "careful" when banging a toy on a coffee table, there goes the toy.  Sometimes we even get to stroll through Target for diapers.  Heavens help us if he sees yogurt bites and I don't have any on hand because the all-important paci is going airborne!  

The resulting/impending tantrum face post-throw.

If at all possible, we have been really intentional about stopping whatever is going on at the moment and correcting this behavior.  We always make Emory pick the doomed object up and place it where it belongs, BUT he knows he shouldn't do it in the first place.  If he refuses, we pick it up and then place him in time out.  This is going strong for almost a month now.  Something has to give.  Right? 

I will say that our son is teaching me a lot about how God feels towards me when I sin.  I know I shouldn't do certain things but for some reason I still do.  Thankfully, I have a forgiving Father that loves me despite my transgressions (being a parent made this lesson overly clear to me in a way that has been beyond profound).  

Here's to correcting our child in a loving way...and praying for the grace to do it without losing my mind. ;-)

Kristin