2 years, 3 months old
01-20-14
Barrett's new bed (for now) and family story time
01-21-14
Dad had to leave at 6:30 this morning so it was just me and this guy. He played so well by himself so I could get us out the door. Great morning!
01-22-14
Big boy gets his own backpack for our trip in 6 weeks!
01-23-14
All he wants to do these days is make a mess of his movies.
01-24-14
Funny face! (And a mandatory hair chop for Mom)
01-25-14
I love his little feet.
01-26-14
These two are best friends.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Monday, January 27, 2014
Home movies
2 years, 3 months old
I haven't posted some new videos lately, so why not…
Whatchu doing, Daddy? is one of my favorite phrases of his. The way he says it cracks me up.
I guess he thinks videotaping him means I get a time out.
For the record, I did not hit Daddy.
He's such a character.
I haven't posted some new videos lately, so why not…
Whatchu doing, Daddy? is one of my favorite phrases of his. The way he says it cracks me up.
I guess he thinks videotaping him means I get a time out.
For the record, I did not hit Daddy.
He's such a character.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
The (Dreaded) Bedtime
2 years, 3 months old
I mentioned quickly in some of my 365 pictures that we've been having a rough go of bedtime lately. Barrett climbed out of his bed for the first time on Jan 2. (Happy New Year!) Joe and I woke about 3am to a kid screaming outside our bedroom door. (Surpise!) Prior to this, he hadn't really even tried to climb out. There were times playing in his room that he tries to climb IN but he's always been in love with his crib that he's never had issues with being in it. It is probably my fault that it happened because I forgot to turn on his monitor that night. His room is on the complete opposite side of the house as our bedroom so if he was screaming for any amount of time, we would not have heard him.
We had hopes that this would be a one time thing and he would go back to sleeping just fine in his crib. Hahahahaha. I honestly forgot about it when we did bedtime that next night….until he came strolling out of his room about 5 minutes after we put him to bed (without an ounce of fight, either). This night happened to be a Friday and Aunt Allyson and Aunt Rachel were spending the night at our place. Liz had came over to join us and we were all doing a puzzle (exciting Friday night, huh?). Of course, we all died laughing and B just thought it was hilarious. We do a quick goodnight and Joe takes him back into bed. I run to get the video monitor (seriously best thing ever) and grab my phone to video because I know there is no way Barrett is staying in there when he now has a crowd of fans waiting in the living room. I thought I uploaded the video to youtube but apparently, I just added it to Facebook. I can't get it off Facebook so it's lost forever. Here is a video of Barrett getting out of his crib the next day after his nap. It was his very last sleep in it.
Since then, we've had nothing but fights when it comes to sleep. Not counting his first 6 months, Barrett has always been a wonderful sleeper. He has pretty much never fought us. He loves his crib. It's not unlike him to ask to go to bed. He never wanted to be rocked. Would easily put himself to sleep. 6:30pm on the dot was our sweet spot. It was amazing. We had plenty of time at night to get things done. This is not how it is anymore.
I'm writing this purely for records keeping because (as every other phase) this too shall pass. Now, if this was happening earlier in his life, I'd be going all dictator on him and making him do what I wanted. A certain two year old does not give a crap about what I want. We tried to continue the 6:30 bedtime for a few nights. We spent 2 hours fighting him for a few weeks straight. Joe and I would put him in his bed (converted from crib to toddler bed) and he would get up and run before we could hardly get the door shut. We made sure he had every stuffed animal. Every book he would ever want. I gave him a sippy of water which I had never done before that. Nothing could keep him in that stupid thing. We would shut the door and stand outside it, waiting for him to open the door, only to pick him up and put him right back in. Rinse, repeat, 200 times. It's exhausting. We also locked him in for a while. That really pissed him off so he screamed, yelled and pounded on the door. I felt comfortable doing this since we have a video monitor and could see his every move. You can only take so much screaming though before you just give up. After about a week of just non-stop fights and 10pm bedtimes, we gave up. Barrett won.
So where are we now? Bedtime has been moved to about 8pm in the hopes that B will be asleep by 8:30. In a perfect world, we could make this 7:30 but honestly, it's so much better than 9:30-10:00. I thought I was going to go freaking mental at the 10pm bedtimes. The only way this works is if all 3 of us (yes, I can't believe this is where my life has gone) lays in the spare bed until he sleeps. It Suuuuuucks. I would be kicking my butt if I knew this was how things were going to go down. The kid is such a dictator that only one of us (Joe or me) can't do bedtime. It must be both of us while he lays in the middle. Sigh….
Thankfully, it's getting better. At first, it was an hour of him flopping around before he would succumb to sleep. Then it was 45 minutes and eventually 20-30 minutes or less. Wake up time is all over the place. Anywhere from 4-7am. When he wakes, it's almost impossible to get him to go back to bed. This morning, he came into our room at 5am and he flopped and screamed and tantrumed on our floor while Joe and I ignored him until 6:15. Because of this early wake up, I was able to adjust his nap from 10:30-12:15. This meant that he was ready for bed at 6:30!!! It took him 10 minutes to fall asleep tonight (and is the only reason I'm able to write this now). So obviously, we're getting there.
After the first week, I told myself to stop stressing about it and just do what I had to do. I don't want to fight him for 2 hours every night. If that means I have to lay next to him for a bit to get him to sleep, then so be it. This too shall pass (please, oh please). I actually hated laying next to him at first but now it's kind of nice. The 3 of us are together a lot but it's not that often that all of us are relaxed and can just be together. We're usually busy doing 3 things at once. Now, we sing songs and I can smell his hair as he drifts off to sleep.
I'm going to miss this...
I mentioned quickly in some of my 365 pictures that we've been having a rough go of bedtime lately. Barrett climbed out of his bed for the first time on Jan 2. (Happy New Year!) Joe and I woke about 3am to a kid screaming outside our bedroom door. (Surpise!) Prior to this, he hadn't really even tried to climb out. There were times playing in his room that he tries to climb IN but he's always been in love with his crib that he's never had issues with being in it. It is probably my fault that it happened because I forgot to turn on his monitor that night. His room is on the complete opposite side of the house as our bedroom so if he was screaming for any amount of time, we would not have heard him.
We had hopes that this would be a one time thing and he would go back to sleeping just fine in his crib. Hahahahaha. I honestly forgot about it when we did bedtime that next night….until he came strolling out of his room about 5 minutes after we put him to bed (without an ounce of fight, either). This night happened to be a Friday and Aunt Allyson and Aunt Rachel were spending the night at our place. Liz had came over to join us and we were all doing a puzzle (exciting Friday night, huh?). Of course, we all died laughing and B just thought it was hilarious. We do a quick goodnight and Joe takes him back into bed. I run to get the video monitor (seriously best thing ever) and grab my phone to video because I know there is no way Barrett is staying in there when he now has a crowd of fans waiting in the living room. I thought I uploaded the video to youtube but apparently, I just added it to Facebook. I can't get it off Facebook so it's lost forever. Here is a video of Barrett getting out of his crib the next day after his nap. It was his very last sleep in it.
Since then, we've had nothing but fights when it comes to sleep. Not counting his first 6 months, Barrett has always been a wonderful sleeper. He has pretty much never fought us. He loves his crib. It's not unlike him to ask to go to bed. He never wanted to be rocked. Would easily put himself to sleep. 6:30pm on the dot was our sweet spot. It was amazing. We had plenty of time at night to get things done. This is not how it is anymore.
I'm writing this purely for records keeping because (as every other phase) this too shall pass. Now, if this was happening earlier in his life, I'd be going all dictator on him and making him do what I wanted. A certain two year old does not give a crap about what I want. We tried to continue the 6:30 bedtime for a few nights. We spent 2 hours fighting him for a few weeks straight. Joe and I would put him in his bed (converted from crib to toddler bed) and he would get up and run before we could hardly get the door shut. We made sure he had every stuffed animal. Every book he would ever want. I gave him a sippy of water which I had never done before that. Nothing could keep him in that stupid thing. We would shut the door and stand outside it, waiting for him to open the door, only to pick him up and put him right back in. Rinse, repeat, 200 times. It's exhausting. We also locked him in for a while. That really pissed him off so he screamed, yelled and pounded on the door. I felt comfortable doing this since we have a video monitor and could see his every move. You can only take so much screaming though before you just give up. After about a week of just non-stop fights and 10pm bedtimes, we gave up. Barrett won.
So where are we now? Bedtime has been moved to about 8pm in the hopes that B will be asleep by 8:30. In a perfect world, we could make this 7:30 but honestly, it's so much better than 9:30-10:00. I thought I was going to go freaking mental at the 10pm bedtimes. The only way this works is if all 3 of us (yes, I can't believe this is where my life has gone) lays in the spare bed until he sleeps. It Suuuuuucks. I would be kicking my butt if I knew this was how things were going to go down. The kid is such a dictator that only one of us (Joe or me) can't do bedtime. It must be both of us while he lays in the middle. Sigh….
Thankfully, it's getting better. At first, it was an hour of him flopping around before he would succumb to sleep. Then it was 45 minutes and eventually 20-30 minutes or less. Wake up time is all over the place. Anywhere from 4-7am. When he wakes, it's almost impossible to get him to go back to bed. This morning, he came into our room at 5am and he flopped and screamed and tantrumed on our floor while Joe and I ignored him until 6:15. Because of this early wake up, I was able to adjust his nap from 10:30-12:15. This meant that he was ready for bed at 6:30!!! It took him 10 minutes to fall asleep tonight (and is the only reason I'm able to write this now). So obviously, we're getting there.
After the first week, I told myself to stop stressing about it and just do what I had to do. I don't want to fight him for 2 hours every night. If that means I have to lay next to him for a bit to get him to sleep, then so be it. This too shall pass (please, oh please). I actually hated laying next to him at first but now it's kind of nice. The 3 of us are together a lot but it's not that often that all of us are relaxed and can just be together. We're usually busy doing 3 things at once. Now, we sing songs and I can smell his hair as he drifts off to sleep.
I'm going to miss this...
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Project 365: Week 3
2 years, 3 months old
01-13-14
Let this picture not fool you. Yes, this is his toddler bed. No, he did not fall asleep here on his own. ::Sigh::
01-14-14
Biker boy
01-15-14
Barrett's favorite book at the moment is "Trucks"
01-16-14
You know we do lots of golfing in this house. Putting is a different story. That's always a work in progress. (Apparently, doing it with only one shoe helps?)
01-17-14
Bath boys
01-18-14
This kid sometimes…
01-19-14
The mess maker
01-13-14
Let this picture not fool you. Yes, this is his toddler bed. No, he did not fall asleep here on his own. ::Sigh::
01-14-14
Biker boy
01-15-14
Barrett's favorite book at the moment is "Trucks"
01-16-14
You know we do lots of golfing in this house. Putting is a different story. That's always a work in progress. (Apparently, doing it with only one shoe helps?)
01-17-14
Bath boys
01-18-14
This kid sometimes…
01-19-14
The mess maker
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Christmas 2013
2 years, 3 months old
I'm obviously late wrapping this up but I want to make sure I write a little something about our holiday season, Barrett's third. I really didn't get out my camera much as you'll see. I did get a ton of video though.
We were able to spread out our celebrating quite a bit this year because of Christmas being in the middle of the week. Our first party was on the Saturday before Christmas over at the Maschings with friends and kids. It's our second annual and crazy to compare the kids with just a years difference. They certainly make us work for their picture. Next year, there will be another little one to add to the group (not from me!)
The next day, on Sunday, we had our party with the Gschwendtners (my moms family). It's really the only day of the year that all my aunts, uncles and cousins are together. We see everyone numerous times but there are always someone missing. I think it was after this that B was kind of over the whole present opening thing. I thought for sure he would love it this year but he really just wanted to go play. I think it would have been much better if the toys were actually opened but half the time, he didn't really "get" what it was that he was opening.
It was a really late night but we had to leave to head home from Pontiac because Joe and I had to work the next day. Such a buzzkill and reason #50684038 living away from family is for the birds.
Christmas Eve morning was when we decided to celebrate with the 3 of us and do Santa. I had the day off and Joe only had about an hour of work to do from home. Barrett's favorite thing was probably the balloons which didn't surprise me. It's an automatic toy! We've gotten good use out of his little table as it was just after Christmas that B started refusing to use his booster seat. He's been eating a number of meals at the table along with doing art. We packed up shortly before lunch to head back to Pontiac (yes, we were home for like 36 hours) in the hopes that B would take his nap on the drive. He used to always sleep in the car but that has gone by the wayside. He ended up not napping and didn't go down when we got to Grandma and Grandpa's either. We had a nice chill afternoon at the house and then did a big dinner and gifts with my siblings and parents. I think I opened most of Barrett's gifts because he was more interested in climbing on everyone's boxes. I'm pretty sure it was the same thing last year. :)
The big winners from Grandpa and Grandma was his bike and helmet. Aunt Rachel and Uncle Andy got him some new shades and the combo was funny.
Christmas morning we headed over to Grandma Rita's like always for a big breakfast and some time with Uncle Nate, Kristi and Uncle Travis. He got a play grill, some trucks, a motorcycle and a new wagon! It was a nice chill day which is great since we could easily be shuffling from house to house. That night we get together with the big Gschwendtner family with my Grandpa, his siblings and all the kids and grandkids and great grandkids. I think it was the 89th annual. We always get together at the parish hall at St Mary's and we have access to the basketball courts which is great for the kids. Barrett was loving it. I just let him run off on his own while we stayed in the hall and visited. It is so nice when they can do this on their own, plus the Dewald kids were perfect little babysitters!
Once again, we had to wrap that up and drive back home as we had to work the next day (another 36 hour trip!)
We had a family Christmas then on Sunday with Joe's dad, grandma and aunt and uncle (Yes, we were back in Pontiac again.) It was a chill afternoon since we just ordered pizza. Barrett got a new trampoline which was a big hit. He loved putting on a show. I didn't take any pictures (story of the holiday) but stole these from Joe's aunt who took a bunch.
Our last family Christmas was the following Sunday with Grandma Rita and all the Hendren's. Barrett LOVES playing with his cousins. Again, he's at the age where we can just let him do his thing and run around. There was a gross storm this day so we hurried through everything and we're only there about 2 hours. Of course, we were supposed to drive back home but the weather stranded us in town.
It certainly wasn't a boring holiday season but it wasn't all that crazy either. We were able to visit with all of our families which only happens about once a year. We are lucky that we have so many awesome people to celebrate with. Big families rule!
I'm obviously late wrapping this up but I want to make sure I write a little something about our holiday season, Barrett's third. I really didn't get out my camera much as you'll see. I did get a ton of video though.
We were able to spread out our celebrating quite a bit this year because of Christmas being in the middle of the week. Our first party was on the Saturday before Christmas over at the Maschings with friends and kids. It's our second annual and crazy to compare the kids with just a years difference. They certainly make us work for their picture. Next year, there will be another little one to add to the group (not from me!)
The next day, on Sunday, we had our party with the Gschwendtners (my moms family). It's really the only day of the year that all my aunts, uncles and cousins are together. We see everyone numerous times but there are always someone missing. I think it was after this that B was kind of over the whole present opening thing. I thought for sure he would love it this year but he really just wanted to go play. I think it would have been much better if the toys were actually opened but half the time, he didn't really "get" what it was that he was opening.
It was a really late night but we had to leave to head home from Pontiac because Joe and I had to work the next day. Such a buzzkill and reason #50684038 living away from family is for the birds.
Christmas Eve morning was when we decided to celebrate with the 3 of us and do Santa. I had the day off and Joe only had about an hour of work to do from home. Barrett's favorite thing was probably the balloons which didn't surprise me. It's an automatic toy! We've gotten good use out of his little table as it was just after Christmas that B started refusing to use his booster seat. He's been eating a number of meals at the table along with doing art. We packed up shortly before lunch to head back to Pontiac (yes, we were home for like 36 hours) in the hopes that B would take his nap on the drive. He used to always sleep in the car but that has gone by the wayside. He ended up not napping and didn't go down when we got to Grandma and Grandpa's either. We had a nice chill afternoon at the house and then did a big dinner and gifts with my siblings and parents. I think I opened most of Barrett's gifts because he was more interested in climbing on everyone's boxes. I'm pretty sure it was the same thing last year. :)
The big winners from Grandpa and Grandma was his bike and helmet. Aunt Rachel and Uncle Andy got him some new shades and the combo was funny.
Christmas morning we headed over to Grandma Rita's like always for a big breakfast and some time with Uncle Nate, Kristi and Uncle Travis. He got a play grill, some trucks, a motorcycle and a new wagon! It was a nice chill day which is great since we could easily be shuffling from house to house. That night we get together with the big Gschwendtner family with my Grandpa, his siblings and all the kids and grandkids and great grandkids. I think it was the 89th annual. We always get together at the parish hall at St Mary's and we have access to the basketball courts which is great for the kids. Barrett was loving it. I just let him run off on his own while we stayed in the hall and visited. It is so nice when they can do this on their own, plus the Dewald kids were perfect little babysitters!
Once again, we had to wrap that up and drive back home as we had to work the next day (another 36 hour trip!)
We had a family Christmas then on Sunday with Joe's dad, grandma and aunt and uncle (Yes, we were back in Pontiac again.) It was a chill afternoon since we just ordered pizza. Barrett got a new trampoline which was a big hit. He loved putting on a show. I didn't take any pictures (story of the holiday) but stole these from Joe's aunt who took a bunch.
Our last family Christmas was the following Sunday with Grandma Rita and all the Hendren's. Barrett LOVES playing with his cousins. Again, he's at the age where we can just let him do his thing and run around. There was a gross storm this day so we hurried through everything and we're only there about 2 hours. Of course, we were supposed to drive back home but the weather stranded us in town.
It certainly wasn't a boring holiday season but it wasn't all that crazy either. We were able to visit with all of our families which only happens about once a year. We are lucky that we have so many awesome people to celebrate with. Big families rule!
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Project 365: Week 2
2 years, 3 months old
I promise I'm going to get back to really blogging one of these days. Just need my kid to follow bedtime for a change.
01-06-14
Daddy is funny. (B does not have hops.)
01-07-14
Santa brought some bath crayons that we busted out tonight.
01-08-14
He looks tired, right? You'd think…except he refuses to GO TO BED.
01-09-14
I don't know what it is about this year but a light switch was hit and Barrett now wants to be a big boy. He has never protested sitting in his booster but all of the sudden he has to sit in a big chair. We've gotten insane use out of his new table and chairs.
01-10-14
I should just call this Project 365 - 52 because I'm sure to miss every Friday if I keep this up.
01-11-14
He had to pop a squat to play catch with Daddy.
01-12-14
We busted out the finger paints today!
I promise I'm going to get back to really blogging one of these days. Just need my kid to follow bedtime for a change.
01-06-14
Daddy is funny. (B does not have hops.)
01-07-14
Santa brought some bath crayons that we busted out tonight.
01-08-14
He looks tired, right? You'd think…except he refuses to GO TO BED.
01-09-14
I don't know what it is about this year but a light switch was hit and Barrett now wants to be a big boy. He has never protested sitting in his booster but all of the sudden he has to sit in a big chair. We've gotten insane use out of his new table and chairs.
01-10-14
I should just call this Project 365 - 52 because I'm sure to miss every Friday if I keep this up.
01-11-14
He had to pop a squat to play catch with Daddy.
01-12-14
We busted out the finger paints today!
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Project 365: Week 1
2 years, 3 months old
Week 1 and I'm already late posting. If a certain two year old would stay in his bed (instead of staying up until 10pm!!!!!), I could actually write. Updates soon.
2014 is starting off with a bang!
01-01-14
Barrett's very first pee on the potty (not counting daycare)! It's not in focus because Joe yelled at me quickly that he was peeing and I couldn't grab my camera fast enough.
01-02-14
Trying to climb INTO his bed. It should have foreshadowed as we would awake at 3am to a screaming child out our bedroom door who climbed OUT for the first time.
01-03-14
If B finds loose change, he yells "COINS" and "BANK" over and over again until we let him put them in his bank.
01-04-14
Cheap entertainment
01-05-14
Snowmagedon stranded us in Pontiac and I managed to get zero pictures.
Week 1 and I'm already late posting. If a certain two year old would stay in his bed (instead of staying up until 10pm!!!!!), I could actually write. Updates soon.
2014 is starting off with a bang!
01-01-14
Barrett's very first pee on the potty (not counting daycare)! It's not in focus because Joe yelled at me quickly that he was peeing and I couldn't grab my camera fast enough.
01-02-14
Trying to climb INTO his bed. It should have foreshadowed as we would awake at 3am to a screaming child out our bedroom door who climbed OUT for the first time.
01-03-14
If B finds loose change, he yells "COINS" and "BANK" over and over again until we let him put them in his bank.
01-04-14
Cheap entertainment
01-05-14
Snowmagedon stranded us in Pontiac and I managed to get zero pictures.
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