Multitasking

As part of my nightly routine with Keanan, I give him a bath in the kitchen (so I can keep an eye on Ellie and Charlie).  I’ve found I can also get a bunch of dishes washed.

This chunky monkey loves his bath!

Water beads

Although we’ve had an amazingly mild winter, we still suffer from a bit of cabin fever from time-to-time, so I was so happy to stumble upon this little beauties…water beads!  They start out tiny (maybe twice the size of a sesame seed); you soak them in water for 6-8 hours and they plump up into these fascinating little balls.  We all (the bigs, Damian and me) enjoyed playing with them.

No more burritos

Sweet Keanan has challenged us in every imaginable way when it comes to getting him to sleep.  He started as an amazing nighttime sleeper, but a terrible napper (30 minute snoozes don’t cut it when you’re a newborn), then his nighttime sleep fell apart too.  We tried absolutely everything until the only remaining option was to hire a professional…either a shrink for me or a sleep coach for Keanan.  We went with the latter.  Her name is Angel and I don’t know that she totally lives up to the name, but she has helped a lot.  The last major challenge was getting him out of the swaddle.  I had been putting Keanan in two swaddles – the first was truly a baby straightjacket – there was absolutely no way he could move his arms (ask Shiny Grandpa – it took him about 20 minutes just to figure out how to Keanan out of it) – and then, just for good measure, I put another swaddle on top of that.  So, needless to say, going cold turkey on the swaddle was a big deal.  But Keanan is doing great.  He figured out pretty quickly that being able to chew/suck on his hands and lovies, and sleep on his side or tummy was MUCH better than being in the straightjacket.  He’s still not sleeping through the night and he’s usually up for at least an hour in the middle of the night, but, sadly, that’s real progress.

His last nap as a burrito:

Comparison shots

I love comparing pictures of the kiddos…and I love that Keanan is such a blend of Ellie and Charlie.

 

(I can’t find a picture of Charlie in the same chair)

Our happy baby

Keanan is such a joy! He's perpetually overtired (because cat naps all day and then is up in the night), but you wouldn't guess it. He's all smiles and charm. Sweet boy!


And just like Charlie, he thinks Sissy is hilarious!

Keanan makes guacamole

Just to keep things interesting, we're trying something new with Keanan. Instead of starting him on solids by giving him pureed food, we're trying the baby-led weaning method, which basically means going straight to finger foods. The book said that the first several weeks (or even months) are more about fun and exploring than taking in any significant calories, and after our first attempt today, I can see that being the case. Of course, we didn't select the most holdable food to start with. Oh well, Keanan had fun checking it out.




And just like Ellie did when Charlie started eating solids, Charlie insisted in getting back in the highchair...

A big night

Last night was a big night – Damian and I got dressed up for a wedding (Kristin and Kevin’s) and Keanan was put to bed by one of his favorite people – our friend, Landy.  None of my babies has ever been put down by anyone other than me until they were well over a year old.  And as everyone could have anticipated, it was a MUCH bigger deal to me than it was to Keanan – he went straight to sleep with no fuss – but it’s a fun memory to have that Landy was his first nighttime babysitter.