Ty & Wes Time: Trying to Sit Up, ?Growth Spurt, OCD Painting, Accident-Free Day, ?Separation Anxiety, Thrift Store Nightmare & "Snickers Eat Poop"

Wes: 15 Weeks Old

Ty: 2 Years, 4 Months & 3 Weeks Old

Last Friday we had our big outing and hit up the grocery store. One thing I did notice on Friday was that Wes is really trying to sit up. He leans forward in the bouncer and he leans forward when he is sitting on the Boppy! He seems like he is going to fall right over, because he is leaning so hard! It is very cute. Some sleeping issues happened last Friday. On a good note, Ty took a 3 hour nap and I actually had to wake him up, so we could get to the grocery store before sundown! I was so impressed. He was super cranky when I woke him up, though. There is a reason why you are never supposed to wake a kid up! Then I totally jinxed myself on Friday night. Right before bed I was thinking to myself, “I can’t remember the last time that Westin woke up during the night. I am so lucky.” I didn’t say it out loud, but it didn’t matter! Wes woke up at 3 AM and 5 AM! I had to work the next day, too. It must be a growth spurt! He has woken up at 5 AM a couple of times this week, but has been able to go right back to sleep. Hopefully this phase doesn’t last long!

Just before he tried to sit up!

On Sabbath I worked and the boys stayed at home…but they made it to church by themselves for the first time! Sonia did come over to help take them, but Heath got the boys fed, changed, and out the door by himself! Fun times! Heath told me the cutest story about Ty. At Sabbath School, for their craft, the kids were finger painting a picture of a tree. Heath said that all the kids were going crazy, getting their hands all mucked up and just destroying those pictures of the tree. And then there was Ty. First of all, he did not like the paint on his hands (he doesn’t like sand or anything on his hands… he always says, “sticky”) and then he very carefully, used the right colors (without having to be told) in the right spots on the tree – but with only a small amount so that it did not get too messy!! (= I took a picture of it because it was so cute! What can I say? OCD. At church, they passed out daffodils for the children’s story and Heath told Ty to give one to me when I got home from work. Fast forward nearly 8 hours later and what did Ty do as soon as I came through the door? “Mama, Mama…come! Flower Mama!” Heath couldn’t believe it, since he had said it only once and it was hours and hours ago. That kid is like an elephant…he does not forget anything! Wes did pretty good, but was a bit fussy with the bottle again. It is really hit or miss with the bottle – there seems to be no rhyme or reason with it.

Ty's work of art

On Sunday I headed off to work again while the boys chilled at home. They did make it out of the house and went to a couple of stores – which I know, is a major ordeal! What also is major is that my husband actually ran the dishwasher on Sunday! That is a huge improvement! (= I was very proud of him for that. I wasn’t very proud of Ty when I heard that he had had many potty accidents with Daddy. In fact, one of the times they were making supper and Ty was sitting on one of the bar stools and just said, “Pee on stool” and proceeded to make a puddle on the stool. They had JUST gone to the bathroom and Heath couldn’t believe it. I know what the issue is. When Ty is with Daddy (or Noni), it’s a novelty and he just wants to play like crazy and will not stop to go potty. Mama is not as much fun, so he does better with the potty training with me!

Ty & Wes photo shoot

Look how sweetly Ty is holding Wes!

And then... "Look at me when I'm talking to you, boy!"

I proved the theory to myself and after all the accidents with Daddy the day before…Monday turned out to be Ty’s first full accident-free day!!!! So exciting! I knew he could do it. He had been so close before, but because of his issues with poop… it just hasn’t happened. So proud of him! What did not make me proud was him needing 2 timeouts before lunch. The first one was because Westin was sleeping in his crib and Ty kept taking this loud, obnoxious truck toy into Westin’s room, trying to wake him up. I told him not to, and, of course, he did. So after the timeout I said, “Why were you in timeout?” He didn’t miss a beat and said, “Westy…sleep…truck.” Impressive. The second timeout was because he kept slamming one of our cabinet doors over and over again. I told him not to and he ignored me. I asked him why he was in timeout and he said, “Door…shut…boom.” You can’t tell me he doesn’t know what he is doing wrong! Ty did another cute thing on Monday. At breakfast, I had cut up a waffle for him and he started going berserk. He kept saying, “Woks…woks…woks” and pointing to the counter. I could not for the life of me figure out what he was saying. I finally helped him down and asked him to show me what he wanted and he went right to the silverware drawer and got a fork! He wanted to eat the waffle pieces with a fork! Woks=forks! Westy woke up at the 45 minute mark twice during his naps, but at least I could get him back to sleep for another 40 minutes or so. I’m getting nervous that he will be doing 30-45 minute naps like Ty always did. He usually does 1 hour to 1 ½ hour for his naps and I would hate to see them cut short!

Story time on Monday night

On Tuesday Wes was super cranky all day. It was very frustrating, especially when it was laundry day and I was doing a million loads. He cried nearly all day long. Now, he is usually the happiest baby on the block, so I was not used to this at all. He is totally acting like he has separation anxiety. If I am right there with him, touching his hands (etc), he is good as gold. If I get up and get out of his line of sight, he gets petrified and starts howling. I looked it up and it says that separation anxiety usually does not start until 6-7 months. Well, this obviously makes sense because Westin is so advanced…that it HAS to be separation anxiety! (= Ty did a few funny things on Tuesday. First of all, he tried to pull a fast one on me. I was pumping and I look over and Ty had the iPad and was putting one of his videos on. I gave him “the look,” like “What are you doing? I’m not nursing Westin.” His response was, “Nurse…nurse!” I had to laugh, but I had to break the news to him that pumping is not the same as nursing! Another funny thing he did was when we were sharing a cookie after lunch. It is a shamrock cookie (for St. Patrick’s Day) and we had taken a couple of bites. All of a sudden he shrieked, “Mickey cookie!” And the way we had bitten bites off of the shamrock cookie – it did have the shape of Mickey ears! I thought that was pretty smart. What also was smart was when Ty was helping me unload the dishwasher. Ty handed me a big plate and said, “Daddy plate”, then he handed me another big plate and said, “Mama plate.” Then he handed me a small plate and said, “Ty plate!” Then I picked up the ladle from the dishwasher and asked him what it was and he said, “Soup!” And then he picked up the glass dish that I give him yogurt in and he said, “Ty yogurt.” He doesn’t miss much!

Not at all cranky!

Ty loaded up my empty laundry basket with a bunch of toys and pushed it all around

On Wednesday it was back to work for me. Westy gave Noni a bit of trouble with the bottles, especially his afternoon one…but they got it done. I wonder if Noni has started Ty on his new favorite word - “Oopsie!” He says it nonstop now! I know Heath and I don’t say it, so I think I’ll have to listen to see if Noni says it!

How could this angelic little baby give anyone trouble with a bottle?

On Thursday, first thing in the morning, Ty cracked me up. Heath had made dinner the night before and had left about 3 pots/pans on the stove for me to clean up in the morning (What a guy). Ty pointed to the stove and said, “Uh-oh. Daddy...stove…pan…mess!” I busted a gut and texted that right to Heath. Ty totally called you out on that one, Heath! (= The rest of the day was pretty much a nightmare. I met my Mom, Shannon, and Finley at the children’s thrift store that we love in Laconia. I was 20 minutes late because I had to mess with the car seats and Ty needed the bathroom like twice right before we left – so I started off in a mood because I hate being late. To top it all off, I needed to nurse Wes right when we got there. My sister came out and picked up Ty to bring him in the store while I nursed Wes in the car. About 10 minutes later, I get a call that Ty had peed his pants. Perfect. I finished up with Westin and my Mom brought out a wet Ty to the car. I did a complete change and sat him on the portable potty and he went some more. We were in the store and I am not exaggerating, I had to rush to the bathroom with Ty 3 more times while we were there. One of the times we didn’t get the winkie aimed down well enough and we splashed the back of his pants a bit with pee. I decided to roll with that. Then, after we had JUST been in the bathroom 5 minutes before, he peed his pants again. I was dumbfounded. He just doesn’t do this. What was going on? I had only brought 1 change of pants/underwear, so I didn’t have anything else. He never does this. It was so bad that Mom asked, “Do you think he has Diabetes?” I really don’t, so I think this was just a fluke. A very, very frustrating fluke. I turned to my mother and sister (who always get after me for being a homebody) and said, “And this is why I never leave the house.” So I was forced to buy a pair of pants for Ty (thank goodness they were only $1) and he went commando all the way home. He peed AGAIN on his portable potty before getting in the car after we had left the thrift store too. We were supposed to go to another thrift store but we were all so traumatized from that ordeal that we went right home. What a fiasco. I was completely gun shy after that and brought 3 pairs of pants and underwear to the Mexican restaurant that night. But, of course, he didn’t have 1 accident. We went with my parents and Adam and had a good time. Wes slept the entire meal and freaked me out that he wouldn’t go to sleep that night, but he went right down without a problem. When we got home, I was nursing Westin upstairs and Ty, Heath & Adam were downstairs. All of a sudden, Ty yelled, “Potty…potty!” And the next thing I know, I hear a major commotion. Ty had not made it and had started to have an accident in his pants and when Heath pulled his underwear down, a piece of poop fell out and Snickers grabbed it in her mouth and ran off – thinking she had gotten a big treat!!!! Heath had to fight with Snickers to get it out of her mouth! Gross! But he finally got it! Ty came up the stairs and told me, “Mama…Snickers eat poop!” He has repeated that phrase many, many times now! In fact, he recently had another accident with poop and Ty yelled, “Snickers…snickers!” He wanted her to come to get it! (= Well, that’s it! Have a good week!

Ty going crazy at the thrift store - he could have cared less that he peed his pants!