My Sweet Sweet Boy

Gavin has not taken a nap for several days now. We send him to his room for a couple of hours, and he spends the time playing but we're ok with that. As long as he stays in there (except to use the bathroom) then it's just time away from the business of life. We all get a little time alone to keep us sane. Gavin is much easier to handle if he has napped, but oh well, he's getting older and will eventually give them up altogether.

As we were driving home from Brittney's house today, we were talking about what we were going to do when we got there, and it included going down for a nap. All of a sudden, he had this burst of what sounded like a combination of deep sadness and fear all at once. He cried out "If I close my eyes, I can't see Sweatshirt Bear!" and instantly had huge tears flowing. I almost started to cry too. Sweatshirt Bear has been his beast friend for over a year now and they take very good care of each other. I tried a few different approaches including talking about how if he holds on to him in a big hug while he's sleeping, he will still know he's there. He can "see" him with his hands. Maybe he can even see him in his dreams. When it was time to go to bed, he was still crying on and off about it, so I just let him know that all he has to do is stay in his room. If he wants to play like normal, that's fine. As I'm writing this, he seems to be trying to go to sleep. He's laying in his "nest" (an area in his closet that he decided to sleep in lately) and working hard at sleeping. He has been rubbing his eyes all day, so hopefully sleep will eventually win out.
What a sweet boy to be so concerned that he won't be able to see his friend. As frustrating as he is at this age, he sure lights up my day.

Obviously by my posts, I am most at peace when my babies are sleeping! I love them so much for sure, but I need as many breaks as I can get, and nap time is my best bet. On that note, both are in bed, and I am hungry. I took the picture last night because the "nest" makes me laugh. Sweatshirt Bear is facing away from us with the red sweatshirt on (that's how Gavin came up with his name).

Well, there's a problem uploading the picture, so I'll try again later...

Woo Hoo!

I can't believe my eyes, but Justin finally flipped from his tummy back to his back. He has been sleeping on his tummy for a couple of weeks now and waking up really mad because he's stuck. I saw him sound asleep on his belly a few minutes ago, and now he's awake and on his back. He's not laying there screaming, he's just looking around. I love it! I'm so thankful for the web cam too, otherwise I would never get to see this stuff.

A heart high

Justin doesn't fall asleep on my shoulder much anymore when I put him to bed. It used to be that he would fall asleep while he was nursing and rest on my shoulder for a couple of minutes before I laid him down. Lately he has been awake, but it has still been a very special time between us. We are both quiet and we spend a couple of minutes smiling and just looking at each other when he's done eating. For some reason, tonight he fell asleep like he used to. He kept his eyes closed when I switched him to the other side and was completely passed out when he finally finished. He even came off the boob without me even having to break the suction with my finger. I put him on my shoulder and just felt his body relax against mine. I listened to his little sleep noises and smiled when he would occasionally make the suction motions with his mouth. It was so blissful, I had a really hard time putting him down. He's growing up so fast I know that the days of him sleeping in my arms regularly are quickly coming to an end.

I just about floated down the stairs and when I got to the living room, I saw another lovely sight. Gavin was sleeping on Cole's lap. I can honestly say that has only happened 2 or 3 times in the last year. I took a couple of pictures and tried to get him up. If I hadn't had to struggle with Sweatshirt Bear and Blankie, I'm not sure Gavin would have woken up when I picked him up. He was so out of it that he barely opened his eyes, and seemed to fall back to sleep in my arms. I took him up and did his normal bedtime routine. He was so relaxed and wonderful, I just couldn't believe it. He was so crazy heavy, but I didn't care. My "little" boy was in my arms asleep. So rare and so wonderful. A heart high for sure.

The value of alone time

Yesterday was rough. Gavin and I were butting heads all day and it was hard on both of us. I knew that he wasn't getting the stimulation and physical outlet that he needed, but we were busy with other things and he just never got the one on one time from me. I headed off to work and that was that.

This morning I got up when Cole left and took a shower right away. I came down and got a couple of things done, in addition to just hanging out with some coffee. I knew I was up early, but I didn't really think about just how early it was. Our coffee maker stays on for 2 hours, then automatically shuts off. In the first picture you can see the time, and that the little light is off. It had just turned off, so that means that I was up brewing coffee at 5:30. That was well after my shower! Good for me, especially since I went to bed at 11 or so.

My attitude is much better this morning. I am trying to be more relaxed and just going with it. The second picture is our pretty predictable morning routine, except that Gavin usually helps make the coffee, but obviously that was already done. This time he just helped with the waffles.

I really enjoyed my time alone and need to drag myself out of bed early more often. We all benefit!

Oh come on, I'm only 32!

Can you believe how many pills are in that picture? The 2 little ones are my birth control and my thryoid pill. I started having to take the thyroid one when I was pregant, so I don't know if I'll get off of it or not. I still take a prenatal vitamin since I'm breastfeeding. I also have a raging sinus infection, so I am on 2 honker antibiotic pills, twice a day for 14 days. The 2 reddish looking ones are the Ibuprofen I need to keep my head from trobbing right off my body. I also use a teapot looking thing (neti pot) to clean out my sinuses daily, and a steroid nasal spray (not pictured because it's in the bathroom). The nasal spray is very helpful in reducing the inflammation in my sinuses and helping me to feel a lot better. I used to give that many pills to my patients in the hospital. When did I start taking so many??? I'm only 32 years old!!!

Would you please put it away?

Gavin has been getting better and better at going potty on the toilet. He spends most of his days in underwear, which is so unbelievably cute! When he pulls them back up, he tends to do it crooked. Sometimes not everything is put away completely and I have to help him a little. I must say, I have really cracked up when he comes around the corner and says "Mom, I need a little help with this" and I can see what the problem is-there's a little someone poking out to say "hello". Well, it was cute when it wasn't on purpose. He just put his underwear on for the day and was working hard to get "it" to hang back out. I gently told him that we wear underwear to keep things contained and put away, but he really wanted to have it out. Nice. I told him that he needs to leave it in the underwear, or I'll make him wear pants. That was the end of that. At least he has underwear on today. The other day he didn't have any on and I would catch him "exploring" the area. Boys. Hmmm. There's a fine line between shaming him and explaining what is proper in front of others. I'm not ready for this!!!

Naturally, I have decided not to include a picture with this one, even though it would be insanely funny :-)