Faith 14 Months

Faith's

Faith's sleep schedule, and mine has been very interrupted over the last couple of weeks. When we got back from our Pismo Beach trip we temporarily moved in with Nanny to help her through the holidays. Faith bounced back and forth between sleeping in the crib in our room to sleeping in the pack n play in Bryce's room. When she was with us, she'd wake up at some point in the middle of the night and would not go back to sleep. I'd bring her to bed with us and she'd insist on nursing ever couple of hours. When she was in the room with Bryce she would often wake up around 3 or 4 and not go back to sleep, even if we let her cry for an extended period of time. Again, when I'd finally get up and bring her back to our bed she'd want to nurse on and off. While I know this was a bad habit to get into it seemed easier than allowing her to cry and wake the whole house up. Once we move back home again, I'll have to let her cry it out for a few nights to get back into a good routine.

Often when Bryce and I eat breakfast Faith isn't all that interested. I'm not sure if she just doesn't like breakfast foods that much, isn't hungry first thing, or if she is full from nursing when she wakes up. However, since we've been staying with Nanny, she'd eat a little of the breakfast I give her and then later in the morning, when Nanny would eat she would insist on getting in her lap and sharing her cereal. It became their morning ritual. After a few mornings of this Nanny wised up and starting pouring herself a larger bowl to accommodate Faith's demands. Other than her two breakfasts, her eating pattern hasn't changed much. She'll still eat just about anything and nurses 4 times a days, not including the middle of the night. When she is finished eating she doesn't just tell you she is finished (she signs this). Instead she rubs her filthy hands in her hair and throws every crumb on her tray to the floor. It is always a big ordeal to clean up after her.

Lately she has been going through another Mommy Phase. She wants me all the time. She walks around saying Mama, Mama a gazillion times. While I love that she wants me, it can also become a little much. If I get up before Nathan and leave her with him she screams and throws a huge tantrum until her brings her to me or until I'm finished in the shower.

Faith gets into more things than Bryce or my niece and nephews ever did. She is so busy and she loves to go right for the things that are off limits. She is constantly digging through Nanny's desk drawers, emptying out the pantry, removing all the Tupperware from the cupboard, and pulling out all the sandwiches bags from the drawer. When you tell her no, she looks at you and keeps doing it. When you remove her, she throws a fit. She can be a real handful.

Bryce 3 Years 5 Months

Bryce is still loving school. Most of the time he still tells me that he plays with Dax and Garrett. I'm encouraging him to play with other kids too. While I haven't personally observed these kids, from what Bryce tells me they don't always play nice and often have "potty talk." He still doesn't like to do a lot of the art work because he doesn't want to get his hands dirty.

Bryce is doing so well with his letters and sounds. When he is in the right mood, he can tell you the name and sound of just about every letter. He can also string a couple of sounds together. Unfortunately, even though he knows these things, he doesn't like to sit down and practice. I realize he is really young still, but I would love it if I could teach him even more. I'm trying to come up with fun ways to keep him interested.

Bryce's behavior has improved a little. He has been having less time-outs over the past couple of weeks.

Sometimes out of the blue Bryce will bring up Pawka and tell me that he is really sad because he misses him, but happy because he is in heaven with Jesus. He asks a lot of questions about heaven and who will get to go and when. He also reminds us that Nanny really misses Pawka too, and that we need to give her extra loves because Pawka isn't here anymore.

Bryce is totally obsessed with Toy Story. We got him Toy Story 2 on DVD and he wants to watch it all the time. He rarely plays with his Car movie cars and hasn't watched the movie in weeks. He is sure that Santa is going to bring him all the characters from Toy Story. He also still likes Peter Pan, but this too has taken a backseat to Toy Story.