New Year = New Beginnings

Well, things our way have been ok...not great, but ok. Jacob is dealing w/ being scared a lot now. I know it's just his age. He freaks out if he realizes he's alone. I can tell him that I'm going to go get something from the bedroom and I'll be right back. He will say "OK" and as soon as I'm out of his sight, he FREAKS. This has actually gotten somewhat better, but is still present. He never really went through seperation anxiety when he was younger, so maybe that's what this is. All in all, he's still a good boy. He's just a normal 4 year old full of energy and life. He's a spaz most of the time, but again, I'm pretty sure that's normal for his age. Something new that he's doing is waking up at night again (if it's not one, it's the other....I guess I'll sleep again....someday). He had started coming in ~ 5:30, and since it was so close to normal time to get up (and I'd been up so many time w/ Jordyn and was exhausted), I'd just let him get in bed w/ us. Well, I guess he decided that was a good idea. So, the time started getting earlier and earlier (like 1:30). I don't mind him sleeping w/ us really, but I don't exactly sleep well with him kicking me, grinding his teeth and coughing in my face. So, finally, I have been walking him back to his bed. The first night he cried, but since then, he just lets me walk him back to bed. Sometimes we do this twice a night...but at least it's quick. So, that's our next thing to tackle...getting him to stay in bed all night again (he did it last night!!)

Jordyn is doing a lot better. We did some sleep training w/ her. I'm soooooo not a CIO (cry it out) person and I was trying the method that we used w/ Jacob, which is sitting beside her crib so that she knew we were there. Then, each night, you move further and further away. So, the first night, she cried for 45 min. The second night she cried for 30. After a few more nights, Kyle was taking his turn with her. After 5 min, he came out and said, "well, if she's gonna cry with me sitting there, I may as well not sit there". I couldn't stand it and gonna go sit by her and he basically put his foot down and said, "SIT! She is fine. She is not hungry. She is not dirty. She is safe. It won't kill her to cry". She was asleep in 5 minutes. I hate it when he is right! So, basically what worked for Jacob didn't with Jordyn. Now we put her in her crib wide awake and 90% of the time she doesn't even whimper. Even for naps, which btw, she is now doing better too. So, I have to acknowledge that Kyle does know what he's doing (sometimes).

Jordyn is now 9-1/2 months old. She has 7 teeth! She is still not crawling (which I'm perfectly fine with!), however, she can scoot and roll pretty much wherever she wants. She's a very happy, content little girl and she absolutely LOVES Jacob. And he loves to make her laugh. It's awesome to watch! I guess I'm done with breastfeeding. I got the stomach flu over Christmas and I didn't pump or nurse for a full 24 hours. Since that time, I could basically only pump 1/2oz. Plus, Jordyn started sleeping better w/ a bottle at night. I am still nursing her maybe once per day, in the evening, but she really seems very uninterested. I must admit, it's been nice to not have to pack my pump to work, but I do miss feeding her. She is now all about table food. She doesn't want much to do w/ baby foods, so I pretty much feed her off of my plate. She seems to have gotten over her rash (which the pedi thought was a milk intolerance early on) and so far, she's done fantastic w/ LOTS of different foods.