Walking at the park

Yesterday, after some work with Joy's mom, Jacob stated pedaling this tricycle too! I'm so proud of them and really darn advanced!! Go them!!

Joy ordered her and I pedometers last week and they came on Saturday. Since then, we have been doing a lot of walking. We've been taking the boys to the metro parks and letting them walk on the paths. They have been enjoying the freedom of walking. Only holding hands when bikes come by or anything looks remotely dangerous. At some points they were holding each other's hands.

We have seen deer, birds, bugs, frogs, fish, and turtles on our walks. It's been really fun showing them to the boys and seeing them so interested in them. They were really excited about the frogs we saw at the Nature Realm.

I've been doing a new approach to bedtime. It includes not bringing my phone in when I put them to bed. When they were getting wild while I was trying to put them to bed, I stated playing movies on my phone to get them to settle. Instead, I've been trying to read to them. Letting them have books. We have also been "talking" about the day.

One hot topic we have been talking about was the train we saw at the park. They love trains!!

Forgot to mention, on the same night we saw the train, we all enjoyed laying down and rolling down a hill. We got so dizzy!! The boys loved it! Was so much fun!!



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Darn those molars!

Darn those molars. It appears the boys have molars sticking out. This has made the boys very comfortable during the last few days. They have had trouble eating. Jacob has had trouble sleeping. They both want to be held constantly. Poor little dudes.

Sleeping has still been pretty solid except Jacob waking up upset. With the exception of last night, the boys have been going to sleep on their own with a bottle at night.

Last night, Jacob had finished his bottle and got up in his crib pretty upset. Even trying to give him tylenol was a struggle.

At this point Jasper was awake and also bit upset, mostly because he wanted out of his crib.

After everything was taken care of. Joy and I switched off with reading from a Disney book. I rubbed Jasper's back because he became upset about being put to sleep.

After Joy read a couple stories, I took over and started reading more. After I read the Hunchback of Notre Dame I looked up and Jasper, Jacob, Joy, and our dog were all sleeping. I tapped Joy on the shoulder and we headed to bed.

Jacob had then woken up again around 4am quite upset again. After we couldn't get him to settle down, Joy picked him up and brought him to the couch.

I then took him and he fell asleep on me and I was able to take him back to his crib around 5am.

Jasper slept through it all like a champ. He moved around slightly at first but ever fully got up.

They both got up again around 8:30 and took a two hour nap at 11am.

We kept a pretty chill weekend. We had to cancel on going to my niece Sarah's graduation party. Even Joy wasn't feeling good. I got our cars an oil change and Joy fixed the window on our car.


- ps the pictures in this post and last were taken at the Nature Realm on memorial day.

Going to sleep on their own

This was our method to getting the boys to sleep:

We start with giving the
boys a bottle of milk in their cribs. Sometimes they would fall asleep during or after finishing their bottle.

If that fails, we bring them back out to the living room where we sit and watch tv until they fall asleep or get antsy.

If they get antsy, I take one of them and walk around with them and try to rock them to sleep. After the one I have falls asleep, I do the same to the other if they haven't fallen asleep with Joy.

This method worked pretty well. Heck, they were going to sleep at night now!

The problem is that the boys were so used to this method that it made it really hard for Joy to them down for a nap.

So this weekend, or actually Sunday we started working really hard to get them to go sleep on their own.

So we gave them bottles and walked out until we heard them freaking out.

Instead of grabbing them, we made them stay in the cribs and Joy and I sat on the floor. I read to them. Joy would play music for them and sing. Or We both would sit silently reading to ourselves. But we did let them leave their cribs.

Sometimes I would get them to sleep by simply reading to them. Jacob seemed to be the first one to pass out but seemed to take a bit longer for Jasper.

The first night they were both out by 2am, then next 1am, followed by 12am. The last two nights they have fallen asleep on their own around 9pm.

Also they have been taking their naps easier!!

Let's hope this sticks up because it's really nice that they can go to sleep on their own and at a decent time. Shortly before they were pushing bedtime to 12-1am.

The only thing is now seems the boys are going through something, teeth or effects from the 12 month shots. Jacob woke up last night and had a big hissy and took awhile to get him to go back to sleep. He seemed in pain or comfy so I held and brought him to the couch. He didn't like that either, however eventually he fell back asleep. A couple nights before Jasper seemed the same way.

Dudes Night In

Last night, it was just me and the boys. Our friend Heather came up from Texas to visit family and last night she and Joy went to the Indians game.

Joy had prepared food the boys and I and cleaned up the house. As soon as dinner was done the boys took all their toys out of their toy basket and spread them through the living room, hallway, and dining room.

The boys did not have much of a nap yesterday, so they both were tired. Jacob was clingy and wanted held.

I took Jacob in the kitchen with me while I was cleaning up and making coffee for the morning. I let him smell the beans. He opened his mouth really big. It was really cute.

Jasper was laying on his back on the living room rug, wiggling around. I watched with Jacob from the kitchen.

I then put Jacob on the rug and grabbed out their drum, toy piano, and blocks. We had a jam session that included that with singing and clapping. It is really amazing that they can match each others pitches and hold notes for an extended period of time.

After that was done, I read them several books. Sometimes they would pay attention, other times get upset that I wasn't giving them the books.

Bed time came and Jasper fell right asleep with his bottle in his crib.

Jacob stated crying and when I entered was holding an empty bottle. I took him to the living room and sat with him on the couch and watched Grindhouse. He quickly fell asleep.

I took him to crib to find the bottle he had's nipple was somewhat removed and his crib was covered in formula.

So now I had to successfully change sheets with Jacob in my arm and not wake him up. This was unsuccessful. Jacob was very unhappy.

I put him in his playpen with another bottle and changed his sheets. I brought him back to his crib, which he didn't fall sleep in. I brought him back to the couch with me where he fell asleep.

As I was taking him to crib again, Joy and Heather came home. This startled our dog and started barking at the door and acting like a madman because Heather was over. This woke up both boys.

Joy took Jasper and I had Jacob and we all watched Grindhouse till the boys fell asleep and both were successfully put in their cribs.

It was a fun night. Joy had fun on her outting despite it being cold and rainy. She had beer and peanuts, which is normally not a fan of. The Indians won!

We all slept good last night!!

Reading and the Nightly Rituals

I've been majoring lacking at reading to the boys. I've been thinking it's time to start really reading to the boys at night. I was reading to them a lot during Halloween time because it's my favorite holiday and I love spooky stories. 

We got a nightly ritual going on now. Around 9pm, I'll change their diapers and grab their bottles of milk. Then Joy and I will feed them a bottle while watching a movie with the lights off in the living room. I'll leave the lights on in the hallway to give some light. 

I've been doing this for awhile to kinda let the boys know it's bed time. A lot of times they will fall asleep while drinking from their bottles. However if that doesn't work, I'll hold one of them and rock him to sleep. After I get one to sleep, if Joy hasn't gotten who she had asleep, I'll take him and do the same. 

So, last I incorporated a story before diaper changes. I read to them "A Flea In The Ear," a story about gullible dog and fox that tricks him. 

The boys climbed on me as I sat on the floor. They enjoyed trying to grab the book. I would keep moving it out of their direction as they kept getting closer and continued to read.  

After I finished, I realized that it would be a good idea to start reading as a part of the nightly ritual. I talked to Joy afterwards and she agreed.