And just like that...

Ben has officially stopped nursing.

About a month ago, Ben always asked for milk before bed.

About 2 or 3 weeks ago, Ben had a choice before he went to bed: milk or books. He usually chose milk, so I nursed him. I could tell he was getting ready to wean because he would spend about 10 minutes "nursing" while smacking me in the face and frog kicking the arm of the rocking chair and trying to talk to me. He didn't always nurse on both sides either. After nursing, Kevin read him books and he went to bed.

Then about a week and a half ago I just asked him if he wanted to read books with me. He nodded his head yes, and didn't ask for milk. We read books, then Kevin read him books, and that was that.

I thought I'd still be producing enough to make things a little uncomfortable, but nope! Our weaning process was so gradual there haven't been any moments of discomfort.

I am so happy that I was able to let Ben decide when to stop. I don't have to feel guilty for cutting him off, because it ended on his own terms.

I'm grateful for all of those hours we spent so close together. In time, he won't remember ever nursing, but I believe the bond we created will last a lifetime.

Ben: 18 months

Ben is 1 and a half already! 

Ben's newest words:
Blankie = "Geeky" :)
Where did it go? = "Go" with the palms of his hands facing up
Moo
Pig snorts
Water = "wawa"
ummmmm (when he's thinking)
please = "meeeee," in addition to the sign
help = "ow"
baby = "beebee"
mine
ni-night
No (sometimes it's a very adamant, shall I say...snotty?...tone)
out = "ow"
more = "mo"
cracker = "kaka"

He's shown a little bit of interest in potty training. For now, we occasionally ask him if he wants to sit on his frog potty. Sometimes he says no, but sometimes he says yes. He peed in it one time a couple of weeks ago. He hates getting his diaper changed, so I'm hoping he's willing to be potty trained early :) He definitely knows what the potty is for, so we'll see!

Ben loves going for walks and bike rides (he rides in the Burley). If we're going for a walk, he makes sure we don't forget Rocket! He likes going to the parks and going down slides and swinging and doing whatever Colin is doing.

He also loves to wrestle. If he's in the mood to roughhouse, he'll bring you into his room, point to the floor and say "down." At that time, you are to either lie on the floor, or sit on the floor and he'll push you over. Then he'll climb all over you and spit in your face and jump on you. Good times.

Unfortunately, he's battling an ear infection again. Summer is supposed to be sick-free! He's had quite a few ear infections (about 6) in the last year, so if he gets another I'll probably make an appointment with an ENT to discuss our options. I'm hoping to avoid tubes, although I hear they're wonderful.

His current favorite books are The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Ten Little Ladybugs, and a touch-and-feel animal book. He still nurses before bed, but only for a few minutes. Then we read books, and Kevin reads books. Truthfully, he can be kind of a challenge when he nurses. He hits me, pokes me, sticks his finger in my mouth, frog kicks his legs against the arm of the chair, and talks to me instead of nurse, so his interest is waning. I still love the time with him, but many nights I've told him that I'm not going to give him milk anymore if he isn't nice to me. Ideally, I still want him to decide when he's done, so it'll be interesting to see when he'll quit. I can be gone at his bedtime and he'll go to sleep without me, and my body doesn't care either.

Knowing that Ben loves the water, hopefully we'll be able to go swimming a lot this summer and let him be a little fishy. He loves his baths, and even lays his head back and "floats" in the bathtub (with my hand under his head of course). He's so relaxed when he's floating, which I think is pretty cool.

Pediatrician Appointments

This afternoon Colin had his 4 year well check and Ben had his 18 month well check.

Colin:
Weight: 40 lbs (81 %ile)....holding steady at the 80th
Height: 41.5" (3' 5.5") (69 %ile)....3.5 inches taller since June 2012

Everything looked good :) Per my audiologist's recommendation, I had Dr. C. send in a referral to the audiology department to get Colin's hearing test done so we have a baseline to refer to in the future.

Ben:
Weight: 32 lbs 13 oz (100+ %ile)....holding steady around this weight for about 6 months now.
Height: 33.75" (2' 9.75") (88 %ile)...grew 1.25 inches since March

Another healthy boy. Dr. C. noticed that Ben's front tooth is chipped a little bit. I hadn't noticed. How horrible is that? He said there's a 50/50 chance it will turn black and die. Awesome. Let's hope we're in the "good" half, shall we? Dr. C. has this "trick" that he does. He turns on his light and has his little patients "blow it out" while he flips the switch. Ben watched Colin do it, so when Dr. C. told him to blow it out, he did. And then he let out the best belly laugh. Dr. C. said it's so fun to see an 18 month old interact like that.

Then it was shot time. Ben I wasn't worried about. He cries when he gets poked, and then I pick him up and give him a hug and he's fine. Colin, on the other hand, is a bit more dramatic and hadn't had a shot since he was two. When I told him he had to get a shot, he immediately closed up. I put him on the table and he crawled all over me to get up, but eventually we pinned him down and got it done. He clung to me for a little while before we could leave, but the rest of the night he was fine.

We made things happier by going to McDonald's for supper. A rare treat, so we went all out and Colin and I got a chocolate shake to share :)

The worst part of these appointments is getting those two to be QUIET while Dr. C. and I are talking. I should have learned my lesson by now and do the appointments separately. That would be a lot more productive. We're both distracted and the boys go nuts. Ben opens the door and runs away, Colin is (trying to get attention?) loud, etc. Not cool. Someone remind me in December not to bring Colin with us, okay?

Debt: 90%!

We paid off our 4th credit card! Now we only have 1 left, with a balance of about $3000. It WILL be paid off in August. With my summer school checks and the payment we already pay towards it, it will GONE. That is going to feel so great!

It's still so hard to imagine our past life when we owed $35000 to our credit cards and now we're only down to a measly $3000. And soon...$0.

I look forward to my next debt update, when I'll be screaming it from the rooftops and doing a little jig :)

Preschool Woes

I had this vision that Colin would go to preschool in the district I teach in (Somerset). I'd drop him off at Sandy's house in the morning and then he'd go to school with his buddy Rece from daycare in the afternoon. I started talking to him about where "his school" was and how he'd be going there with Rece. He was finally getting excited. We open enrolled him. I thought we were a shoe-in. We got denied. All 81 applicants got denied. The superintendent is not likely to change his mind. Apparently there's not enough space for us. Way to go me, counting my chickens before they're hatched.

I'm super sad about it. I don't want him going to school in New Richmond. The district just doesn't impress me. I think back to my days as a substitute teacher and when I worked at the teen center at the Y and how I wasn't impressed. I'm not impressed that we weren't sent any information about registering for preschool. I'm not impressed that we weren't sent any information about early childhood screening. There's just so much that gets me fired up about it.

I will fill out the papers to appeal, hoping it works.
I've got the principal on my side, who says he doesn't understand why. He said there were only 3 preschool applicants. He said he'd talk to the superintendent and see what he can do.
I asked Kevin to talk to a friend/co-worker/"boss"-type person, who is also the school board president to ask him what we can do.

Just in case those don't work, we need alternative plans.
1) He doesn't go to preschool. He stays at Sandy's full time. Not a fan--I want him to have a nice transition year before he goes to kindergarten all day.
2) He goes to preschool in New Richmond at our church. I really want him to go to Sandy's for the other half of the day though, so I'm not sure how we'd figure out transportation there. It's a 30 minute round-trip gig every day.
3) Sell the house this summer (if even possible. Good lord...we'd have to get on that like, yesterday) and find a place to rent in Somerset, then save money for a down payment on a house.

Sucks when a vision disintegrates at your feet. Sucks. :(

Ben: 17 months

A long awaited Ben update!!!
Benny is 17 months old now. Already! He's saying a bunch of words like:
ball (bah)
toys (/t/)
car (gah)
bubbles (buhbuh)
light (ight)
bowl (bo)
deer (dee)
on
up
please (signs it)
eat/drink (signs it by pointing to his cheek)
ick (/ccckkk/)
done (signs it by waving his hand)
hi
hello
bye bye
dada
mama

He's constantly in the fridge looking for snacks. He takes after his brother in that aspect.

Ben is Colin's little buddy. They get along pretty well. Of course there's a squabble here and there, but for the most part they play very well together. Oh...except for when Ben doesn't get his way and bites Colin. Yep, Ben is a biter if he's having a bad day.

He has proven to be a water baby. He loves taking a bath and lying on his belly in the tub, getting bubbles all over himself and kicking and rolling around. I'm excited to take him swimming this summer to see how he likes the water this year. Last year he was pretty chill in his floating chair. I'm sure this summer will be much different!

Ben's sleeping through the night pretty well now that his 2 month long ear infection is over. It's such a nice change. He's a great (but flexible) sleeper. I can lay him down in his bed at nap time and after he fusses for about 15 seconds, he'll go right to sleep. He still nurses at night for about 10 minutes and then he gets a book and takes it to Kevin and they rock and read.

He gets a lot of compliments when we're out and about how cute he is. Must be his little man walk or his squishy cheeks and belly or his little smile. I'm not sure what it is, but we'll take it!

He got a haircut this month. No more mop top. I loved his curls but his hair was getting a little out of control so I cut it.

This month was also punctuated with the fact that he almost impaled his eyeball with a low-sitting branch on a bush. It's so scary to think it could have been much, much worse.

He still hasn't gained much weight. He's still 32 lbs and some change. He's gotten a bit taller and his belly doesn't hang over his pants anymore. He's toning up with all of the moving he does :) He does like to be chased, with his hands behind his back protecting his sides from being tickled.

Ben LOVES art. He loves to color and loves to play with Play-Doh.

I love (most) ages we've gone through, but Ben's age is so fun because he's so busy, he's learning words, and learning how to be more independent. We shall see what this month brings. It'll be fun, I'm sure!

Colin's birthday

I have a 4 year old. Can you believe it? This little man will be going to preschool in 4 months! How did that happen!?!

Colin had a great birthday. We got him a bigger bike (16") for his big day. Not that he could ride it because there was snow outside (ugh). Now that we've had a week without snow, he was able to put some miles on it though. It's a tad big, and since it doesn't have training wheels, either Kevin or I have to hold onto it while he hops on. Then he cruises off, and he's getting the hang of his dismount now. I love watching him ride his bike.

 The day after his birthday was a Friday and Kevin and I took the day off of work to spend the day with the boys. Colin wanted to go to Skyzone, an indoor trampoline park. We had a lot of fun. It was Kevin's first time, and Colin had fun showing him everything. His favorite is definitely the foam pit :) After getting some energy out, we had lunch at McDonald's.

On Saturday, we had the big birthday bash. Colin chose a Jake and the Neverland Pirates party.

My coworker made the cake. I made the sail, and the figurines were from the store.

He got a great variety of presents. Games, building toys, some artsy gifts, etc. The day after his party he spent a bit of time playing with each of his presents.

 Always entertained by a singing card...

 

Happy birthday Bud! We hope you had a great day. We look forward to what 4 is going to bring us. We're sure you'll continue to keep us on our toes and amaze us every day with your creativity and imagination!