Big News in the Hernandez House

This has nothing to do with this blog but I thought it was cute. Look at Caleb's face. He's saying, "Do you see what I have to deal with on a daily basis?!"

Most of you know that we have had a bit of trouble with Ethan sleeping over the last year. When he was moved to his big boy bed (sometime around last March) he slept in it with no problem for the first two weeks. Then he discovered that he could get out of bed and roam around the house. We fought with him for a month straight to get him to stay in bed. We were nice, we were mean, nothing worked...except falling asleep with him and then sneaking out later. Yes, we all know what a huge mistake that was but when you're sleep deprived and stressing about putting your child to sleep every night you'll do anything. So, last night Mondo decided that Ethan needed to try sleeping alone. I laughed at the thought but he was set on trying...mainly because at the end of February he will be putting both boys to bed alone every weekend while I am at work. It took about 30 minutes, very little whining, a few trips into the room, and his special tiger but he did it. He fell asleep on his own and slept all night!!! I must admit I was shocked. We also used the great art of peer pressure by telling him that all of his friends go to sleep on their own because they are big kids like him. Worked like a charm. Now I am totally prepared for him to get tired of going to sleep on his own and want us back. But for now I am going to cherish the one night that he did it and I actually got to see my husband for a few minutes before bed....with Caleb right next to us of course. :-) That's another story.

My Baby is 3 Years Old!

He's thinking, "Enough with the pictures. Can I have my cake?"

Note the cofused look on his icing covered face with the candles burning...we forgot to light them and sing happy birthday before we cut and served the cake...ooops!

Ahh, last year he only used his hands...now the big kid uses a fork...most of the time.

Cool projector...that has already provided lots of fun...as a flashlight. I'm working on showing him what it actually does.

Wow, a Spiderman training video. Now he's really a master web-slinger!

His super cute alligator shirt.

We gave him this the morning of his birthday. He still loves animals.

We also gave him a real guitar. He's been jamming every day.

It's so hard to believe that Ethan is already three. It really doesn't seem that long ago that he was wearing the tiny clothes that Caleb is now wearing. We had a kid party for him on his actual birthday (Saturday) then had another party at my mom's on Sunday. It was Spiderman themed all around and he had a great time. All week before his birthday he was saying, "Tomorrow's my birthday!" Any time I let him blow out a candle he would say, "Happy birthday to Ethan!" It is so cute to see him get excited. This year he was definitely more involved. He seems like a different child going from 2 to 3. He has grown in height, maturity, vocabulary, pretty much everything. Of course you do have to mature faster when you become a big brother! :-) He is still doing great with that too. Here are some of the cute sayings and other things he has been doing lately:

-abigator (alligator); cheeto (cheeta); jagwater (jaguar); fi-were (fire); chama-milk (chocolate milk); pacifi-were (pacifier)

-when Caleb cries he runs to me every time and says "uh oh, Caleb's cryin' "

- he helps give Caleb a bath by pouring water on his head

-when I tell him to give me another hug he gets irritated, throws his arms up in the air and says "I did!" and he won't give me another one

-he has mastered the sad face to get attention; he walks up to us slowly with his head hanging low, then looks up and says "I'm sad" so we will pick him up and love on him...works everytime!

-his newest game is "sock monster" where mommy looks like a fool running through the house with socks on her hands chasing him...he made up that game

-he likes to run in slow motion...hilarious!

-he now helps himself to chips out of the pantry and cokes in the fridge...good thing he can't open them

-those of you who know the theme song to the wonder pets....he made up some of his own lyrics: the part of the song where they would sing "It's an elephant, stuck in the mud, this is serious" he sang "Caleb-poo's, crying, this is serious." That was a day that Caleb was screaming on our way home. Another time he sang "It's cold, turn on the heater" to that same part of the song.

He's pretty fun to have around...when he's not in time out. :-)

Preschool Dad's Night

Mondo said he had lots of fun in those.

Cheese!

His two preschool teachers were in the kitchen so he spent a lot of time there.

Learning about magnets.

Fruit loop necklace...too cute!

Cookie decorating.

We won't discuss what that looks like...really...it's chocolate.

Yum!

He loves to paint.

He needs one of these rugs...anyone know where to get one?

Mondo and Ethan attended his preschool's "Dad's Night" last night and had a great time. There were several different stations to do different things with dad. I think Ethan enjoyed having alone time with Mondo and I know Mondo enjoyed his alone time with Ethan. Of course there isn't a picture of the two of them together from last night but Mondo did get a lot of cute ones of Ethan.

New Stuff

I added some new stuff over there on the left. There are some links to my friend's blogs if you want to check them out. It would appear that we have lots of free time with all of these blogs...but it's really just a lot of late nights or nap time when we should be sleeping! I also fixed the comments so that anyone can leave me a comment without having to create an account. Let me know if it doesn't work.

Look Who's One Month Old

He is smiling now.

He'll sleep in there for hours.

Still trying to get a big smile on camera. Look at that double chin!

He can hold his head up for short periods of time.

Crazy eyes, crazy hair!

Yes, my tiny baby is one month old. I was going to write an update about his Dr.'s appointment today but he didn't get seen! I'm so mad! I made sure the appointment was while Ethan was in school, I made other arrangements for Ethan to be picked up from school, I wasn't able to run errands, and I didn't have time to eat lunch...all for this appointment. I knew I hadn't received my insurance cards yet so I made sure that I wrote down our numbers so his claim could be processed. The woman at the front desk of the pedi office checked with the insurance and said that Caleb is not on the insurance (even though I know I had him added on) so I would need to call and verify that he is added. AND, I could not be seen today unless I wanted to pay out of pocket. How stupid would I be to pay out of pocket when I have insurance (unless he was sick, of course I would). But this was just a one month checkup that doesn't involve shots or labs. He might not even get a one month checkup because by the time I get this all sorted out it will be time for his two month appointment. UGH. So, I left the office in tears (darn hormones are still flowing I guess).

So, here's my nursing assessment of Caleb. He's doing great. He probably weighs around 10 pounds. He is eating like a champ. He can already smile and hold his head up and I swear he's thinking about rolling over. He tolerates tummy time a lot better than Ethan did. He's still a happy baby with a few crying spells now and then. But, hey, who doesn't feel like screaming every now and then...I know I do!

You Wanted Pictures...

Ethan eating celery like a Wonder Pet. Look, there's meat on his plate!

He didn't take a nap today so he fell asleep after his haircut...that's where he got the sucker.


The famous 4 week old bath at Nana's.

Ethan jamming to Oasis in Daddy's media room. You can barely see his red guitar. He was too busy to turn around.



Yes, for all you nursery nurses out there, he is sleeping on his tummy...but I was right next to him the whole time (and he slept so well)!

He still loves his brother.

Every time I go to put Caleb in the swing Ethan says "No, I hold him!"


Making smores at Will's house. Good thing Will had an extra "lion" jacket for Ethan to borrow since we came unprepared!


Yum, those are so good. Check out that Dr. Evil pinkie!

Chillin at Nana's house. That's a crushed ginger bread house in the wagon.

Playing peek-a-boo with Caleb. Good thing Ethan didn't realize that Caleb was clueless about the whole thing.

So, things are going well around here. Better than expected actually. As you can tell from the pictures Ethan still loves his little brother. He always tells me when Caleb is crying or dropped his pacifier. He always wants to hold him...usually at a bad time but we try to let him anyway. Being a mom of two is quite challenging already. Even the smallest things can stress me out. Here are a few senarios I have faced so far:

-I drove home from my mom's with Caleb screaming because he was hungry. When we got home I put him on the couch (still in the carseat screaming) and went to the garage to find Ethan because he wasn't coming. He was trying to drag his tricycle inside and threw a huge fit when I told him no. I literally had to drag him in screaming. I put him on the couch next to the other screamer and just stared at both of them realizing what a good idea it is to only have two children.

-Ethan always decides to use the potty or get into something he shouldn't while I'm feeding Caleb. So poor little Caleb gets put down and has to scream while I'm dealing with Ethan. And going #2 on the potty is quite an ordeal to clean up. Caleb is practicing his patience....not.

-I took Ethan to school for the first time last week with Caleb in tow. We woke up late, Ethan didn't want to take off his dinosaur pj's, he didn't want to put on his jacket, he didn't want to get in his carseat, and I had to drag Caleb around in 30 degree weather. If I had to threaten time out one more time that day I might have lost my mind. We were only 15 minutes late to school that day.

-Today I took Caleb with me to get Ethan's hair cut. We've taken Ethan to the same place since he's been getting haircuts so I knew they would want to see Ethan. I wasn't too worried about going alone since Caleb would sleep in the carseat the whole time. Ha, ha. Aren't I funny. He woke up about 3 minutes after we go there and was screaming for food. While I gave him a bottle (and we waited 15 minutes) Ethan ran wild. He went into everyone's area, behind the checkout counter, took magazines off the shelf, and shot everyone with spider webs. Good thing I go to church with the owner or we might not be welcome back.

I have many other stories like the ones above but I should get some sleep while I can. My 3 hour alarm clock, better known as Caleb, will be waking in about 2.5 hours.

I Love Breastfeeding...NOT!

I'm not going to say that I hate breastfeeding but I will say that I thoroughly do not enjoy it. Some of the many reasons are because it is still painful after a month, he still has trouble latching on, I still have to supplement him even if he nurses well, I feel tied down, I worry about if what I am eating is upsetting his tummy, he poos so much that he already had his first diaper rash. Here's the reasons to keep going...it's good for him...that's about it. I wonder what is wrong with me. All of my friends are so into it and talk about how much of a bonding experience it is and how they will be so sad when they have to stop. I didn't have that bonding experience. Don't get me wrong, I am very bonded to Caleb but it certainly isn't because of breastfeeding. So after a lot of stress, tears, and going back and forth about stopping, I decided to stop for my sanity. I lasted for one month which is about one month longer than I lasted with Ethan. Right now I'm still miserable because I'm so engorged and feel like I got a boob job. Mondo assures me that a boob job would be more painful but obvoiusly he doesn't know that pain I'm in. Everytime I start to wonder if I should try to breastfeed again or feel guilty for stopping I pray for peace about the whole situation and so far it's working. I've shed enough tears and felt enough guilt. It's time to move on. Caleb doesn't care what milk he drinks or where it comes from as long as he gets some type of food every 2-3 hours!