The Baylor Family Blog

This past Saturday, we celebrated our four year anniversary together as a family. Our first stop was an early breakfast at Egg and I. Both kids did amazingly well at the restaurant, making us realize that early morning just might be the best time of day for our family to go out to eat!

Next, we went home for Abi’s morning nap. Eli had a blast helping Matt do a few things around the house, while I packed up for our next adventure.

Once Abi woke up, we drove to one of our favorite parks in town, America the Beautiful Park, so our kids could play in this fountain:

Thrilled by the sight of water, Eli hit the ground running at full speed!

Abi, however, wasn’t too sure about her surroundings.

Daddy and Eli gave her a slow introduction to the water.

Before long, both siblings were having a blast sitting and splashing in the water.

Abi even was brave enough to crawl in the water on her tummy like her big brother!

Have I mentioned, lately, how much Eli LOVES to play in water?

We made it home just in time to feed both kids and put them down for their afternoon naps. Matt and I enjoyed some down time together, accomplishing little. It was a treat!

After naps, we made a quick run to Sam’s Club, enjoying some yummy samples and finding some great deals in the clearance section. I love clearance!

Our day ended with dinner at some friends’ home. What a great way to complete a wonderful day!

What have we been up to lately? A lot and a little at the same time. Our days seem very busy, but most of our days are filled with the normal mundane routine. So if you are up for a long read…continue, otherwise you might want to skip this post!!

A couple weeks ago, we introduced pears to Abi. A couple days of eating pears led to a night where she was up almost ever 20 minutes. Not fun at all. Exhaustion is an understatement when you have a two year old who doesn’t stop for a second. We know we aren’t dealing with an allergy now, but Abi was definitely uncomfortable. We just aren’t sure why. So we took a couple weeks off again. We just started her on baby food again. I’m only giving her 1-2 tablespoons a day, and I’m mixing her food with prune juice. I’m also rotating and mixing foods. The doctors have no clue what is going on with her, so we are just trying to be creative and continue with trial and error. Despite having similar issues with Eli, the road is definitely different this time around with Abi. There are days I break down in tears of frustration, but overall, Matt and I are trying to not let the stress get under our skin and to continue taking everything a day at a time.

A couple weekends ago, Matt, Eli and Poppy (Matt’s Dad) headed up into the mountains for a weekend of camping. Despite bringing the camera, Matt didn’t take any pictures! This was Eli’s first camping trip. From what I hear, Eli had a great time throwing rocks in the creek, riding a chair lift in Breckenridge, eating and playing in Poppy’s camera, and getting really dirty!  He typically has a hard time sleeping in new places, so we weren’t sure how nap time and night time would go. It also didn’t help that it was rainy and cold. Eli got some sleep the first night, but didn’t nap so well the next day. The three decided to pack up and come home Saturday evening. Overall, I would say that Eli’s first camping trip experience was positive. But Matt isn’t ready to do it again for quite a while!! Haha!

During her two week break from baby food and while the guys were camping, I  decided to start putting  Abi through “boot camp.” She is now 7 months old and is often up multiple times during the night for multiple reasons. She no longer has a pacifier and has learned to fall asleep without one. So we are no longer up during the night to give her a pacifier (yea!!). She is no longer swaddled, so we are no longer up during the night re-swaddling her (yea!!). She is now on a bit of a schedule during the day, making our days a little more predictable. She typically naps around 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. On good days, her naps are 1.5-2 hours. She sometimes take a catnap in the evening. Her bedtime is between 7-8 p.m. She is also learning to cry herself back to sleep without needing to be fed. She is stubborn and determined, making it much harder than we imagined to teach her better sleep habits. But, I think we are on the right track. Though we definitely have a little ways to go, still. And to my delight, she has slept through the night once so far! I just hope that will become more the norm!!

Eli is doing amazing with his speech therapy! We started out having weekly visits, which decreased to every other week, and no we are down to monthly visits. His speech therapy recently re-assessed him, and Eli’s receptive speech is at a 34 month level and his expressive speech is at a 35 month level. (Eli is just under 30 months). Thus, he is slightly ahead! He is speaking in 5-6+word sentences, saying 3-syllable words and so much more! We are enjoying having a little boy who uses words so well!

Matt and I celebrated 4 years of marriage on August 20. Its crazy how much has changed in four years. We bought a house just after we were married (I won’t go into all the word we’ve put into the house!). We were pregnant on our first anniversary, had a 5-month old (Eli) on our second anniversary, pregnant on our third anniversary, and had a 7-month old (Abi) and a 2 year old (Eli) on our fourth anniversary! We had a babysitter come over to watch the kids and headed out on a date. Just after we had ordered our dinner, we received a call from the babysitter saying Abi wouldn’t calm down. So we got our dinner to go and came home. Abi calmed right down as soon as I picked her up.

Separation anxiety has begun with our little girl. I was frustrated and having a pity party for a few days. Eli’s separation anxiety just about did me in. And it lasted f-o-r-e-v-e-r. So I was thinking how we wouldn’t get to sit in church together or go out on date nights or go to a Bible study or have a MOPS morning without kids and on and on. I totally expected to get called out of church on Sunday morning. But to my suprise, the nursery worker said Abi had her best morning yet with them. So I’m not having a pity party anymore. I won’t be shocked if she continues to have some problems. But the fact that Abi lasted a full hour in the nursery renewed my hope a little bit

Abi has been on the move for over a month now. She has gotten herself into the sitting position a couple times on her own. She usually can only sit for a few moments before tumbling over. She is also getting up on her hands and knees and rocking…crawling is not far away at all.

Sibling time is getting more and more interesting. Eli thinks all toys are his. Abi is curious and can get to anything on the floor now. So I hear a lot of “Abi don’t touch this!” and “Abi no play with this.” Let the lessons in sharing begin (or continue, I should say) for the two-year old in this house! I’m also having to teach Eli to put his milk sippy cup up high when he is done so Abi doesn’t suck on  it (especially because she does have a milk allergy)! Life is definitely more interesting these days. There are blissful moments and tear-filled moments, sometimes back to back!

For some strange reason, Eli developed a fear of playing in the backyard last week. Getting his shoes on and getting out the door involved multiple full-fledged temper tantrums. With lots of love and firmness, he seems to be doing much better. He especially loves to ride his tricycle around the shed with Abi following behind in her car.

These pictures may very well serve as blackmail in the future. But, yes, Eli has developed a keen interest in Abi’s shoes. Not wanting to be left out of the excitement, Eli needed a few pictures of his own, you know, wearing girly shoes. To make things more interesting, Abi’s shoes were indeed a few sizes too small for him.

“Is pink my color?”

“I think I can, I think I can…make these shoes fit!”

“These shoes might take some getting used to…”

“How do girls walk in these things?”

You see, little Abi never wore shoes until this day.
So proper introductions are a must.

Abi, meet Shoes. Shoes, meet Abi.

But poor Abi had no idea what shoes are for.
Of course, we gave her little guidance.
But these pictures show her thought process.

First Idea: Shoes are for eating!

Conclusion: Amazingly, Elecare tastes better.

***

Second Idea: Shoes are an easy access toy to play with.

Conclusion: Though convenient, I’m not sure I can hold this position for too long.

***

Third Idea: Maybe shoes will make rolling over easier!

Conclusion: Possibly, but they are too tempting to eat while rolling over.
Thus not helping the whole process.

***

Fourth Idea: Perhaps they will help me crawl!

Conclusion: Maybe, but I miss looking at the treasures on my feet.
When I keep looking back to see them, I don’t move forward well.

***

Fifth Idea: Shoes might help me jump in my bouncer!

Conclusion: They do, but it seems like there must be more to do with them.

***

Sixth Idea: Shoes are for walking.
Daddy has been wanting to teach me to walk, anyway.
So I might as well have my first lesson…

Conclusion: I did it! Shoes are for walking!
And walking is soo much fun!!
With the help of my daddy, of course!

Overall Conclusion: Abi really likes shoes!

Once upon a time, this little boy slept in this crib.
Then he got bigger and didn’t need a crib anymore.

Shortly after, this little girl took over the crib.

One day, both the little boy and little girl woke up from their naps at the same time.
So the little boy wanted to visit his sister in the crib to show her all the fascinating toys within.

The little girl enjoyed the visit from her brother very much.
In fact, she thought the visit was so fun, she couldn’t stop laughing!

Then the little boy willingly held the little girl and posed for a picture for their mommy.
How nice.

Just after this picture was taken, the little boy pushed his sister away, thus ending the crib visit.
Both ended up in tears.
But it was fun while it lasted.

The End.

–Landscaping: Matt has been working tirelessly digging up all of weed-filled  rock and replacing it was sod! It has been a TON of work, but it looks so great now!

–Allergy Testing: I brought Abi in for allergy skin testing last week. She did not react to any of the skin pricks, indicating no allergies! Though disappointed not to have answers, I’m sooo glad she doesn’t have severe allergies!

–Blood Draw: Because allergy skin testing isn’t always accurate, the allergist wanted Abi to get some lab work done. On Friday, we received a call informing us that Abi’s blood tested positive for a cow’s milk allergy. Everything else tested negative.

–Concrete: Surprised with a low bid from a contractor due to the slow economy, we were able to get a new bigger stamped concrete patio, including concrete around our shed and a sidewalk from the front yard into the back. I had no idea how much work went into concrete, and I am so glad we did not attempt this project by ourselves!

–Riding Bikes: With a new bigger patio, Eli has been mastering riding his tricycle around the shed. He still doesn’t use the peddles much, but he has been having lots of fun on his bike!

–Teaching Abi to Crawl: Abi is scooting short distances on the floor. When she wants something further away, she rolls to it. She has the upper body strength to crawl, but her legs haven’t quite caught on, yet!

–Fighing off Sickness: Three of the four of us are fighting off a nasty cold. Somehow Abi has remained healthy. I have no idea how, but I hope she remains healthy!

–Hiking: Last weekend, we took our first hike since Abi’s been born. We decided to go on a short hike at a nearby park, Palmer Park. I forgot the camera, so I don’t have any pictures. Eli walked some and rode in the backpack some. He tends to want to stop and pick up every rock or stick he sees, so it makes for a slow hike! But it sure is fun watching his curiosity. Matt, Eli and Poppy took a hike the weekend before, too.

–Feeding Abi:  After four days on oatmeal, Abi was up crying about every 20 minutes during the night. It was a nightmare of a night! She was so uncomfortable and there was nothing we could do.  We stopped the oatmeal and gave her medicine for a couple days to help her bowels start working better. The allergy testing is showing no allergy to oats, so we aren’t sure why she was so miserable. We took a little break from food, but introduced some pureed pears to her tonight. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens…

–Sorting Clothes: Both of our kids are growing like weeds! Both seemed to have grown quite a bit since the start of summer, which means packing up clothes that don’t fit and filling the drawers with clothes that do fit! Abi has grown into 6-9 month clothes, and Eli is starting to sport 3T now! Before I know it, I’ll be needing to fill their drawers with warmer clothes for fall!

–Eating Outside: We purchased a picnic table to add to our new bigger patio. It has been fun having the option to eat outside and enjoy the lovely Colorado summer evenings!

–Working: I have continued to work one weekend a month doing home care nursing. I enjoy being a professional a couple days a month, while the kids get to enjoy some special daddy time.

–Sucking on Construction Workers: One of Abi’s favorite things to suck on is Eli’s Little People construction workers. And she often wakes up babbling to the stuffed sheep and monkey in her crib.

–Pool Party: We had 6 moms and a total of 10 kids over last week for a pool party in the backyard! Eli loves having “friends” over to play and had a blast! Abi ended up sleeping through most of the fun!

–Friends: From girls nights out to guys nights out to having friends over for dinner, we have enjoyed the pleasure of friends!