Crying It Out

I decided tonight was the night. I knew it was coming....I was actually planning on doing it two weeks from tonight. But, I took Easton upstairs for our nightly ritual of me laying down with him on our bed while he nurses himself to sleep and then very carefully moving him to his bed. But he didn't fall asleep this time so I decided to just get it over with. He screamed for 10 or 15 minutes and then went to sleep. It was the same with Zachary when we did this at around the same age....then when he woke up in the middle of the night and we wouldn't take him out of his room, he cried for 2 or 3 hours until he fell asleep - which made Brady start crying and Brendan had to go in and sleep with him the rest of the night. I'm hoping that's not the case with Easton. Either way, it will be a long night!

9 Months Old!!!

Sweet Baby Easton, I can't believe you're already 9 months old! Here's what you've been up to lately:

• You are wearing 12M and 6-12M clothes but I think you'll be growing out of those soon
• You're wearing a size 4 diaper - the same size as Zachy!
• You're still army crawling all over the place. I'm beginning to wonder if army crawling hinders "real" crawling? You get up on all 4's and rock back and forth but I think you've decided it's just faster to drag yourself along on your tummy. Maybe your arms aren't strong enough to support your big 'ole body!
• You weigh 22.35 pounds. The only reason I know your weight is b/c we had a lovely trip to the ER the other night for x-rays looking for some missing matchbox car wheels. Still don't know where they are but I don't think you swallowed them. We'll find out how long you are at your 9M check-up. Your doctor's taking lots of time off for some reason so we won't be going in for that appointment until you're 9.5 months. Doesn't he know that this totally screws up the baby book stats?
• You're pulling yourself up which makes me very nervous. I don't know if it's considered cruising yet but you're really, really close!
• You're into everything - still - hence the trip to the ER.
• I think you really liked Christmas. It was a little overwhelming for you but you seemed to really like all the presents. I'll have to post pictures of that soon.
• You went through a stretch of about a week of sleeping through the night until your Daddy mentioned it and jinxed it - ever since then you've been waking up twice a night.
• You like vanilla and banana yogurt, most fruits and sweet potatoes. You're still eating puffs and Baby Mum Mums but the Baby Goldfish are still a little too much for you.
• You still can't quite figure out how the sippy cup works
• You seem to like to watch Mickey Mouse and Blues Clues and you're quite the little dancer
• You love your brothers and your Daddy.....I'm still hanging onto the hope that you'll be a Momma's boy
• You've started going through a tiny bit of a bashful stage but you're very good at letting other people hold you - when Zachary was your age, he wouldn't let anyone hold him!
• We actually saw the same doctor and nurse that were in the ER the night you started throwing up blood so it was nice to be able to thank the doctor (who we thought was crazy and overreacting at the time) for saving your life. They were amazed with how big you are!
• You're the sweetest thing on this planet and we love you so much we can hardly stand it!

Now, let's see....how about Zachary James:

• You will be TWO YEARS OLD on Thursday! I can't believe it!
• I think you have started a tiny bit of the terrible two's. You've got quite the attitude lately but it's so hard to get mad at you b/c you're so stinkin' cute!
• You weigh 26.5 pounds
• Your two-year check-up is in two weeks so we'll get your official stats then. I think you're shrinking, though!
• You're still wearing a lot of 18-24 month clothes but you can wear a few 2T things
• You're a talking machine - it's hard to understand half of what you say but you sure seem passionate about whatever it is!
• I think your favorite words right now are 'no' and 'mine'
• You found your Crocs in your closet so that obsession has started again
• You love cows, Mickey Mouse and cars
• You still have the sweetest little voice and I love to listen to you talk....especially when you say, "wuv you"!

Now, let's see about that Brady Boy:

• You'll be 4 next month - I cannot believe it!
• Still no luck with the potty training. I'm trying to talk it up as being a big privilege of turning 4 but I really doubt that will work. Something has to happen soon b/c the size 7 diapers are getting too small and that's the biggest size I can find!
• You're mainly wearing 5T clothes and a size 11 shoe
• You're getting really good at dressing yourself
• Your memory is scary - so good
• You're such the negotiator - I think you'll be a lawyer. You like to negotiate with Zachy when he has a toy that you want.
• You absolutely loved and understood Christmas this year. You knew that it was Baby Jesus' birthday and you were so good at not even trying to open the presents until Christmas morning.
• You did GREAT when we went to see Santa - we were so proud of you!
• We're taking you to the doctor this week to see if you're "tongue tied" which may be part of your speech delay....if so, you may need a little surgery to fix it. Poor Pumpkin!
• I'm hoping that you'll be growing out of the terrible, whiney 3's soon....just in time for Zachy to start!
• You're a gentle giant and we love you to pieces! You've come so far in the 3 years since we brought you home!!!!