Tomorrow is the Day & Fall Break

Miles had fall break yesterday and today. I had planned to go back to work yesterday, since Monday was a holiday, but decided to prolong it one more day and hang out with Miles. I decided to take Carson to daycare for a few hours on Monday to try to ease into it. With Miles, I just took him for a full day on my first day back and it was pretty traumatic and overwhelming. We gave Carson a bath, put on some yummy baby lotion, and dressed him in one of his cutest sleepers. We have to make sure everyone loves him and wants to hold him a lot :)

This is his teacher Mrs. Kristen. I am very excited about her. She is a great communicator and seems to be a perfect mix of structure and go with the flow. I took this picture and the ones of his daycare below two weeks ago at orientation, but never got around to blogging about them.

This is his room. The blue mat in the middle of the room is fill with water for tummy time.

Soon his picture and footprints will be added to the wall with his friends. So far, there are all boys in his room. A girl is starting in a couple weeks. The daycare is in a Christian school that goes all the way from 2 years to 12th grade. This is the first year that they have accepted infants, so kids are still joining in.

The hallways for the younger kids are all designed with a theme...the ice cream shop, the grocery store, and Carson's room is the Pet Shop. There are others but I can't think of them. I need to take a picture of the hallways b/c they are very impressive.

Carson's crib is the second from the left along this wall. I told her I was nervous b/c he cannot stand to be on his back. We wedge him on his side to sleep at night. He doesn't even like to be held on his back. They have to lay babies on their backs in their cribs. Also, they can't swaddle, so we've been working hard to break him of that during the day. No more swaddling during the day...check. Sleeping on his back...not so much.

So on Monday, Miles and I dropped Carson off with Mrs. Kristen for a half of a day. I really didn't want to leave him, but I knew he would be well taken care of. I wasn't sure how he would do, but I knew that they would do everything in their power to see that he had a good day. Miles, on the other hand, was not so sure. As soon as we walked away, he started tearing up and his lip was quivering. I just put my arm around him and fought back my own tears as not to make it any worse. When we got to the car, he lost it. He kept saying, "Why do we have to leave him?" I asked if he missed him or if he was worried about him. He said, "Both." It was so sad to see his little heart break, but it was also incredible to see how much he loves Carson.

After finally calming Miles down, we did a little shopping. First up, Dick's, where we ended up putting and only buying Big League Chew.

Next, he tried on some clothes and had a dance party in the dressing room.

He also had a gift card from our good friend, Ms. Mitsie, that he spent at Toys R Us. He was so excited about it. He came home, read the directions, and put it together all by himself. It's already provided hours of entertainment.

After our running around, we went bowling. I decided to try to do something fun for his fall break. Something as little as bowling equals a beach trip in his mind. 

When I told him the night before that the two of us were going bowling, he was ecstatic.

Darrin decided to take a quick break from work and join us, which made Miles and I very happy.

 

It was fun to spend time with Miles while Carson was at daycare. I think Miles needed it, and I really enjoyed it too. I think we will always try to have some one on one time with both kids. 

 

We ran into one of my college friends while we were there. He and Miles played some arcade games together after bowling.

I received two texts from Mrs. Kristen during our day. They set up a rock and play just for him after I told her at orientation that he really liked ours. I thought that was the sweetest thing. He seemed to like theirs too!

 

I was really happy to get the second picture of him asleep in his crib. I really tried hard to work with him so that he wouldn't be too difficult for them. What a relief to see that he had a great first day.

 

We picked Carson up and went home. Everyone, including me, was worn out.

Today, Miles and I had appointments at the eye doctor. Miles was disappointed with his 20/20 vision b/c he wanted glasses. On the contrary, I was very happy that my vision had not changed :)

Then, we took Carson to get a few immunizations. We spread our shots out so he doesn't have to get so many at one time, which means we have to go more often. Even though it wasn't an office visit, she weighed him for me. He weighed just over 12lbs! For reference, I looked up to see how much Miles weighed at 3 months. He weighed 15lbs. I can see such a difference in Carson since we switched him to soy formula and got his stomach straightened out. He's eating on schedule and finishing bottles. I don't love that he's on soy formula, but I do love that I can absolutely tell how much better he feels.  

I've savored the snuggles a little more today. I am terribly sad about leaving Carson tomorrow. I'm also sad about not picking Miles up in car line and getting to do stuff with him in the afternoon. It's bittersweet, b/c I do love my job and my co-workers. I enjoy working. I love having a routine and spending time with adults every day! With that said, my stomach is in knots tonight. I remember Miles' first day of daycare vividly and I have often referred to that day as one of the worst days of my life. I also remember that I was fine the very next day, but somehow that memory just isn't helping tonight. I think the biggest thing is the anticipation about how I am going to feel with I drop him off. I expect a big ugly cry and then some fun times at work. 

Carson will be 3 months tomorrow. I stayed home for 9 weeks with Miles. The day he started daycare, he was ready. He began sleeping through the night the weekend before and was in a great routine. I have been worried about Carson b/c he's been so much different than Miles and much harder to establish any sort of routine with. I attribute most of that to being a preemie, but it might also just be that he's different. I'm so glad that I've been able to stay home for 13 weeks with Carson. Since he was in the NICU for 3 weeks, I've actually had about the same amount of time with him as I did with Miles. I think Carson is ready now. His routine is established. He's much less of a cat napper and he's sleeping better at night. He still gets up once during the night, but he goes back to sleep without a fight. Miles has my heart b/c he's our first born. Carson has my heart b/c he's the baby. He is absolutely precious and I know those daycare teachers are going to love him to pieces.

Weekend Wrap Up

I think I say this every Sunday night, but this is going to be a quick one. Momma is tired. First of all, last Thursday, we celebrated our 15 year anniversary and my 40th birthday. As any good parent would do, we celebrated by watching Miles' baseball game and then let him play with some of his friends for a while after the game.

Darrin surprised me with a Happy Anni-birth-ery banner when we got home. I was very surprised and impressed by his creativity and effort.

He also asked one of his players to make a cake. She is very creative, so I thought she designed it, but he came up with it by himself...with the help from Pinterest.

When I walked in the bathroom that night, I found one of the best gifts I've ever received, if not the best. It was all the reasons he loves me.

Three of my favorites were:

I'm always on him about spending time with me. Some would call it nagging. I remind him though that it's a good thing that I want to hang out with him. That's why I liked the last one so much.

Darrin had away games this weekend, so I packed the boys up and we went to visit my mom for the weekend. We used to go to her house a lot more often, but it seems like school and sports have changed that. And sometimes, we are so busy during the week that it's hard to be away from our house over the weekend. Carson was game day ready.

My niece bought these shirts for the boys before Carson was born. They were finally able to wear them this weekend.

Carson was so good while we were at my mom's house. He stayed on his schedule so well and just chilled most of the time. I don't know if he's better now b/c he's getting older or if it's b/c the new formula, but he is so much better now. I made a major mistake and left Carson's Rock & Play at my mom's house. Thank goodness she's coming up this week.  I borrowed one from a friend in the meantime. Hers doesn't vibrate like Carson's does, but it will definitely help.

My niece, Sarah, cut Miles hair on Saturday.

She didn't have to do much b/c he wants to be able to flip it to the side. I'm all for him trying new things. I like to see this confidence, which I haven't always been able to see in him.

Carson got plenty of attention this weekend, and Miles got his share too.

The weather was beautiful. We went for a walk and hung out on the swing for a while.

Carson was able to meet my Aunt Margie for the first time. She's special to me, so I'm glad she got to love on him.

We wrapped up the weekend with a bonfire with our small group. It's fall break for our schools, so most small groups didn't meet. Since we have missed a few nights after having Carson, we decided to just have everyone over to hang out.

It was a fun weekend, but I'm completely exhausted. Carson is going to daycare tomorrow for a half day, so that's weighing on my mind too. I start back to work on Wednesday. We are easing into daycare by sending him for a little while tomorrow. Miles' first day was traumatic and I'm just trying to avoid a repeat. I know he will be fine, but I will certainly miss him. Time to feed him and get some rest. Good night all & have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday

Weekend Wrap Up

I think this little guy gained a pound or two just this weekend. Seriously, he is getting so big.

We are still working on sleep training. He is so much better than he was, but not anywhere close to where Miles was at this point. Again, he was a preemie and that changes things. He doesn't have the unexplainable  crying spells anymore and his schedule is far more predictable than it was. I think that's enough progress until he starts daycare in a week and a half.

It's always nice to see him in a deep sleep when I look at the monitor.

When he refuses to sleep in his crib, he will often sleep in his rock & play. I've been talking with a friend about this option and she thinks it is perfectly fine and won't mess up his sleep patterns for life. She did it with hers and they are all good sleepers now. I would prefer to be strict about the crib, but he demands flexibility so I'll settle for adhering to the schedule first and then work on where he sleeps.

My mom spent the weekend with us. She and Miles painted pumpkins on Saturday. Miles has been waiting for her to come b/c this is just her thing.

Carson spent some time doing what he loves, kicking around on his activity mat.

It was parents' weekend at Union, so many of the volleyball families were in town for the two matches. What a supportive group of parents. The girls lost on Friday night after putting up a good fight. Saturday, they upset a ranked opponent. It was such a fun, yet very stressful, game to watch. So proud of hubby & his team.

 

Saturday night, Darrin went to bed at 8:30pm and I stayed up until almost midnight talking to my mom. We find ourselves doing that when she's in town. Sunday night, I went to bed at 9pm, so Darrin and I both had one night of really good, continuous sleep this weekend.

After church on Sunday, we all went to the ball park to work with Miles.

Darrin was completely exhausted from the busy work week and two games over the weekend. Sunday is his only day to rest, but it is also his only day to spend time with his boys. 

I'm so thankful that he recognizes how much they need him and chooses their needs over his own.

Carson was perfectly content to sleep in his car seat in the dug out while we played. And, he was safe from the occasional wild throw :)

Miles lost his first tooth this morning. He has been waiting for this day for so long. His friends started loosing their teeth 2 years ago. He just put his tooth until his pillow and went to bed. He said he doesn't believe in the tooth fairy and doesn't think anything will be under his pillow in the morning. I could tell that he was secretly very hopeful that the tooth fairy does exist. I guess we'll see!

This is my last full week with Carson before I go back to work next Wednesday. It is very bittersweet. I'm planning on some extra snuggles all week long. Have a great week, everyone!