Sleep tales

Today I was putting Jocelyn down for a nap at a friend's house who recently had surgery so I could clean her house for a bit during naptime. Jocelyn didn't think this was a great idea and vocally expressed as much. I went in to comfort her and she quickly snuggled into my shoulder, she then pulled back so she was sitting up on my lap. I asked her if she was ready to go night night. Her face instantly turned upside down and she quickly rushed to lay back down on my shoulder. It was clear  that she knew exactly what I had said and that she didn't want mama to leave her. This little episode reminded me of a few other random things about Jocelyn's sleep.

- She doesn't consistently sleep through the night, but she has gotten much better since her birthday. Up until then, she was faithfully waking up once a night, if not two or three times. Since then, she has only woken up once by herself and twice when a sibling cried in the middle of the night. One time, she woke up really really early, and I was able to just go in and rub her face and comfort her and she fell back asleep. The other times, I do take advantage of the opportunity to cuddle her, feed her, and give our little peanut a few extra calories.

- She isn't super attached to any "sleep special thing" yet, but she has grabbed for her swaddle blanket a few times and we did find pink bunny a few days ago and have started giving that to her in bed again. (I'm a big fan of special things when it comes to sleeping - makes sleeping in random places like the car or stroller or stranger's - family's - homes much easier.)

- She takes much better naps in her own crib than in anyone else's home - even if it is dark and quiet. But she will usually give up and sleep other places, just not as long or as easily. She likes her crib, although she usually sleeps in it sideways so that her head is touching the crib back and her feet are touching the crib rails. Doesn't look very comfortable.

- If she falls asleep in the car before naptime, she will usually let me carry her quietly in and lay her down in bed. This was a total shock - and absolute blessing - to me.

- She is currently napping twice a day - from about 10:00 - noon (sometimes longer if I let her, even 9:30 - 12:30 on some days). And then about 2:00 - 4:00 (sometimes later, almost 5:00). Bedtime varies based on the day of the week, but it is anywhere from 7:45 - 9:00 (those late days are hard for her), and she is consistently awake at least by 7:30, sometimes as early as 6:45.

- Sharing a room with three kids is going pretty well in regards to sleep. With preschool and no naps, M&M fall asleep really really quickly at night. The smoothest nights are ones where they read their story, pray, and get tucked in all before Jocelyn comes into the room. If they have a few minutes to calm down in the dark room before she comes in, they will often have already fallen asleep. If the room is already quiet, Jocelyn will wave goodnight to the parent who isn't holding her, happily blow a kiss, and snuggle into bed without much fuss. However, if there is any delay to the quiet room, she sometimes really fights laying down and can scream for 20 minutes or more. M&M are very willing to sleep through this crying! (And she can sleep through their nose in the middle of the night or early morning about 50% of the time.)

- She sleeps with equal frequency on back or belly.

- I always want to watch her sleeping - but she is a super light sleeper so I'm usually scared to check on her.

There are my random naptime comments about Jociegirl's sleep patterns. Thankfully she is sleeping right now :)



She hadn't napped at church that morning and fell asleep on way home. She stayed asleep as I carried her inside, laid her on the bed while I changed, carried her back to car, and drove to the birthday party that afternoon. She was zonked.

Early Theologians

Mackenna: "Are there two Gods?"
Me: "No. Why do you ask?"
Mackenna: "Because God prays."

Amazing conversation about the trinity ensues....Wowzers.

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Micah: "Hey, Dad, some people say that God shines. So, do you think that maybe God is the sun?"

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ONE!

Dear Baby Girl,
You are ONE! I can't believe it. I would ask where the year has gone, but as I looked through pictures today, I was amazed at just how much we have done this year. It has been a really good year. You are such a good baby, a sweet girl, a precious gift from God. I have loved having you as my sidekick. It is rare for you to not be content just being with me, being carried wherever the two of us need to go. We have been to Indiana together by ourselves twice this year, and with the family twice also. We have been to Disney probably five or six times, plus the beach, Georgia, Orange Park, strawberry picking, baseball games, the farm, 4th of July Parades, the park, and much more. I'm so glad that we had you as a part of our year.

Sometimes it blows my mind to think about the fact that you aren't always going to be a baby - that you are going to grow up and say funny things, and learn to read, and talk to me about life and go shopping with me. We are going to have a relationship. You are my forever daughter - not my forever baby. As great as this year was - and it has been such a rush - so full of new and exciting things to discover - I know that the best days are yet to come in our relationship. I am just so thankful for the gift of you.

Here are a few highlights from this month -

- You learned to do "so big" and raise your hands up when we ask "How big is Jocelyn?" You don't love love to perform, but you will happily do this for us if we catch you in the right mood. You are pretty proud of yourself about this.



- You are typically pretty happy in the church nursery, although I still feel like you have probably been in there less than 10 times in this whole year. You won't typically take a morning nap while there, but if I give you enough food you will usually happily play with toys and eat snacks through both services without me having to get paged. One Sunday, a nice lady from church stayed through both services because you had fallen asleep in her arms after she rocked you, and she didn't want to disturb you.

- Very early into this month you figured out how to stand up without pulling up on anything and then stand alone, unassisted for a little while. You just kept getting better and better at this throughout the month until you decided to "eat" most of your birthday cake standing up tonight.



- A couple of days after figuring out the standing thing, you learned to push your walker toy around the family green room.



- While we were at Disney, you took your first steps while holding onto Dad's hands, even doing it while holding onto just one hand. This quickly became one of your favorite things. You love to get down and walk. Mackenna will actually walk around the room with you like this. It makes you seem so old to me.



- You haven't taken your own steps yet, but there was one night a week and a half ago where you were so so close. We aren't rushing you, but we could tell you were close, and Dad and I were both there that night, so we were hoping it would be the night. Dad did see you take a pivot step tonight on your birthday. We know it is soon!

- You still happily give kisses. If I ask you for a kiss, sometimes you will blow one, but sometimes you will crawl over to me from wherever you are in the room and give me a real one. Dad, Micah, and me are the usual recipients of your kisses. You have also figured out how to smack or make fish faces while giving kisses. Too too cute.

- You have added "please" to your list of signs. You also are getting better and better at mimicking the syllable sounds, saying "uh-duh" when we say "all done" and consistently saying "muh" when doing the sign for "more" (which is still just clapping for you). - You learned to push the button on the ball popper toy to start the air and music - and you love to do it, either while sitting or standing.

- You have been waking up more at night to eat - 85% of the time you get up at least once, maybe 20% you get up twice - 12 or 1ish and then again at 5 or 6ish. The cutest part of this - if Dad takes you back to bed when you are done snacking, you will wave bye to me at the door, sometimes even blowing a kiss. You will consistently start to wave bye bye before naptime or nighttime if you are ready to be laid down.

- You love to mimic back and forth with people. You played back and forth with Micah one day in the car for a long time - blowing raspberries, clapping hand on mouth and saying "oh-oh-oh-oh", playing peekaboo. It was fun for me to listen to. I love it when you really get along with your siblings who love you but don't always express it very well.

- You have become pretty vocal when your siblings get too close. This used to be well founded because they were always too close or taking your toys, but now you start squawking before they even have a chance to do those things. I keep saying you are a sensitive soul. You have got to figure out how to not take it quite so personally when you are told no or don't get to play with what you were hoping to play with. I have a feeling this is a little window into the Jocelyn we will see more of in the coming months.

- This next picture speaks for itself. You are not a fan of being closed in.



- You have figured out how to climb up into chairs. Also, while in Indiana you figured out how to climb the stairs (only falling down a couple once). You also showed yourself to be a little daredevil when you got onto a rocking horse and stood up while rocking instead of sitting.



- You had a successful trip to Indiana to "help" Aunt Christa with baby Patrick. You did okay on both plane rides - you got your own seat on each flight and that helped a ton. You really just wanted to stand up and show off the whole time. You didn't sleep very well there at night, but you did take two good naps most days. You really loved to stand up at night and cry for me probably 3 or 4 times every night! Thankfully, since we have been home, your naps have been even longer and you have only woken up once a night. You seemed to love seeing your cousins. You would interact very cutely with Maggie - smiling huge when you saw her and laughing back and forth with her, and you really loved the calm way that Audra took care of you and played with you.



- You may be daytime weaning, but you have nursed more since we've been back in Florida than you did in Indiana. We'll see. You are a good eater and still love finger foods and whatever we're eating. It is nice to round out your diet with breast milk, but morning and night would be fine with me too. You definitely have an opinion on this - you are quick to tell me "all done" if you don't think it is the time for "num nums." We have your one year check up on Monday - we'll see about your weight and if you have caught up with your big sister at a year or not.

- Tonight we celebrated our first year with you. We had Aunt Marcia and Uncle Bruce over, and one other family from church. We ate mashed potatoes, chicken and noodles, green beans, and rolls. You got so excited when we put you in your highchair. You seemed to approve of the menu and just ate happily the whole time. I enjoyed cooking a meal for you that I knew you would like, and that was also probably the same meal that I ate for my first birthday. We sang to you and did cake outside. You enjoyed playing with the cake and tasting a little of it - but you really managed to stay quite clean and didn't eat a ton. You sure were cute though as you stood up big and tall on your blanket. You really loved the balloons behind you - probably more than the cake. You were in a good mood though - pretty calm - but definitely a "you" mood. You enjoyed opening presents and tearing the paper, especially the tissue paper. You had LOTS of help from Mackenna and Micah, and Dad too. You got some pretty awesome toys that I'm excited for you to wake up tomorrow and play with. It was a special night - low key and special - just like you.



I know I say it a lot, but I am so very thankful for you. You just fit right into our lives, exactly where you belong. I feel like you are really becomming you - both in the way you look and act. I know this last year was full of changes, but I know from experience that this next year is really going to be a ride. Right now you are still my baby, next year you will be my big toddler girl. I am ready - to take it one day at a time, to count every blessing, to kiss you a lot, to tell you I love you, to soak in every snuggle, to read to you, talk to you, pray for you, rock you, hold you, and I guess let you go as you learn to walk and run into this year of being one. I love you very very very much.

Your Mama

She'll never be "Zero" again!

Did they grow a year in the week I was gone?

Things I have heard my kids say in the 9 hours I have been home from Indiana...

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Mackenna, after hearing someone say to "relax" on the TV: "Relax is not something that kids like to do."

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Micah, coming in the front door: "Mom, do you know what that pile is? That's my pile of random stuff."

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Me: "Did you go to the Dr. yesterday, Micah?"
Micah: "Oh, yeah, you mean the 'pick your nose appt'." (Referring to the ENT)

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Micah, while talking to me about a day that I didn't buy him a shirt at the mall: "...do you remember the day of our Disney World adventure when we took a break at the mall..."

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Dad, after the kids had asked me a lot what I had brought them back from my trip: "Are you happy to see your mom or just see the stuff?"
Both of them: "We like both."

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Micah: "You got two shirts for both of us; that means you got four shirts!"

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(lest you would think that I think he is a math genius or something...)
Micah, reading the sign 11:20 on something: "Look it says 'one-dee-one two zero'."

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Micah: "Jocelyn is the best baby in the whole world."
Mackenna: "That's not nice to the other babies."
Micah: "Well, Jocelyn is the best baby, but I won't tell other babies or else they would know that they weren't best."

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Micah: "This is the best popcorn in the whole world."
Mackenna: "That's not nice to the other popcorn."
(hmm...see a pattern here?)

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Micah: "You are the best mommy in the whole wide world. We have a wide earth. That means it is the widest planet. That means it is the biggest planet.
Me: "Well, the earth is not actually the biggest planet."
Micah: "Which one is? Let's look it up on the ipad."

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Mackenna: "I'm tired. Will you carry me inside?"
Micah: "Me too."
Me: "I'm tired too. Who is going to carry me inside?"
Mackenna: "We can't carry you. You are much bigger than us."
Micah: "And MUCH MUCH heavier."

My Sweet Cheeks

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Mackenna: "Micah kissed me."
Me: "Oh that's okay; you like kisses."
Mackenna, with horror and emphasis: "I don't want kisses from boys. They're diskusking."

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Mackenna, getting out of my bed after snuggling this morning, and realizing that I wasn't following her: "Mom, I want someone to come with me."
Me: "I'm coming sweetie; I'm just slow."
Mackenna: "But you're not slow when you make food."

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Mackenna, said with such energy and enthusiasm I can't even explain: "Mom, we have Sprite. Mom, you have Sprite. Sprite is GREEEAAAAT!"

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(In a conversation before I was going to go visit my sister)
Mackenna: "I miss Elliana."

Me: "I know, friends are pretty great. You know, a great thing about family, is that for a long time, Jocelyn will never move away from you."

"No, she is a part of our family....But someday, when she grows up, she'll move away and become a mommy."

"Well, hopefully she'll become a wife and then a mommy. We pray that you'll love Jesus by that point and want to do things the way he commands."

"And you'll be a grandma."

"I know, I can't wait. That's the whole reason I became a mommy was to be a grandma."

"But you'll have wrinkles."

"That's okay. Because you know what the wrinkles mean? They mean that I lived a happy life."

"No, they mean you are old."

Micah Man says....

Micah: "Mom, I know why God gave our bodies bones.....to hold up our skin. If we didn't have bones our body would be all flat."

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Micah, while we were driving on US 19: "They are building a new bridge. I think the other one must have broke."
Me: "No, they are making bigger so more cars can drive on it."
Micah: "Oh, like how our small straws didn't drink very much smoothie so we needed to get bigger straws so we could drink more."

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It is like I can almost hear his brain growing and figuring out more things and making more connections. Here is my little big guy winning his third straight game of "I spy race."

(I only had to delay myself the slightest bit...he was so fast.)

How did she get this big?

Me, at dinner tonight: "Mackenna, you are smart, and beautiful, and funny."

Mackenna: "I want to be cool."

She then changed her mind.

"No, I don't want to be cool."

Disney Day

We took advantage of the holiday and went over to Disney on Monday. Here are a couple of highlights...

- Driving through Tampa at 7:30 AM on a Monday and having it feel like a ghost town.

- Soarin' is always a highlight for me. Love it. I seriously duck with the golf ball comes flying at me. I love that I can now share this big kid ride with my kiddos. And I love that Micah talks my ear off the whole time. "Mom, that's like my aircraft carrier." "No, that's not a plane. That's a jet." I always take the opportunity after that ride to talk about what a beautiful world God made for us to enjoy. Seriously. California kicks Florida's butt.

- My kids love the Epcot ball ride; so much that Micah made up a song. "I love the Epcot ball, the Epcot Ball, I love the Epcot ball." Great stuff there. While riding it this time, Curt was talking to him about who made the people. Micah responded that God did, and Curt was talking to him about it all. Micah told him, "Dad, you know a lot of stuff." Curt told him that he learned a lot of it at school. Micah said, "no, you learned it at church." Not a bad place to learn stuff.

- The carousel was a pretty huge hit this time. Jocelyn clearly loved it - all smiles and giggles and scrunchy faces. Micah and Mackenna were naming their horses and grinning from ear to ear.



- Micah's favorite part of the day was "all of it."



- Mackenna decided to be brave this time and ride the Junior coaster back by Dumbo. As you can see from the first picture, she was scared on the ride...but she came off running to me and announcing, "It was fun!" "I want to go again!" I was so proud of her!



- I love pulling into Disney and how excited they get about everything there - the signs, the roads, the parking lot. So great.

- There was one moment where the two older kids were actually talking and putting the other person first. It was beautiful. We were going to do the Monsters show and the Buzz ride. Micah asked Mackenna which ride she would "prefer" to do first. He then told me that Mackenna preferred the Monster show, so we should do that first. Precious.



- So they have re-done the Dumbo ride. I knew this, and we had gone on part of it, but now the whole thing is open. We walked into line and a lady checked us into a computer, like at a restaurant. They gave us a pager and then our kids were able to go play in an indoor playplace! While "in line!" It was amazing, and air conditioned, and big, and great! We were then paged when it was our time to ride. Awesome.

- Another awesome - while there, Jocelyn decided to be willing to take a few steps while we were holding first two hands and then just one hand. I think, although she had been a super baby all day, she was really happy to be out of the stroller or Ergo - even if it meant having to walk instead of get down and crawl. So fun!

 

- We ended up staying for the light parade, because they really wanted to and there wasn't a good reason not to. We got good seats fairly easily...or so we thought. Little did we realize that a group of adults was going to stand in the front row right by the rope, just to the left of us. So even though we had the front row by the rope, our kids couldn't see what was coming because the people just down from us were twice their size. We weren't sure how to handle this...but we ended up just putting the kids on our shoulders and letting them watch from there. I felt rude. It wasn't the best parade etiquette, but our lovely neighbors didn't leave us a lot of choice. As you can see below, Micah and Jocelyn were asleep before even getting out of the park, and then Jocelyn woke up on on the monorail and came to me while Mackenna took her spot in the stroller, they were both asleep before we got to the van. Quiet ride home!