2 hours has passed since I put William down for his first nap. He is still sleeping.
Yesterday, I tried the one nap day and it worked out fabulous!
Today - Day 2 - is working out perfect too!
Yippee! I am going to see how it goes for the next week.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monk-Monk can make it all better
Monk-Monk is Williams very best friend. I washed him yesterday, so he was MIA for the first part of the day. William gives him huge kisses about 30 times a day and wraps up with him when he sleeps. Therefore, the first nap of the day was just not the same without Monk-Monk - AKA William would not go to sleep till he was so tuckered out he just couldn't even keep his eyes open.
While he slept Monk-Monk was fully bathed, dried and he waited very patiently while William slept:
While he slept Monk-Monk was fully bathed, dried and he waited very patiently while William slept:
 Monk-Monk hanging out with mom and waiting. After William woke and ate his lunch, Monk-Monk decided it was a perfect time to come on out from the shadows and play with William. |
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| Going for a walk with Monk-Monk on a glorious day in the Pacific Northwest! |
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| Maybe today William's rash will get better, especially with Monk-Monk by his side. |
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Ouch!
William is a VERY easy child. Has been since the beginning.
He started sleeping through the night at 6 and a half weeks. I can sing a song when he is crying and he can stop and smile at me. He hasn't gotten sick and if he has, he didn't show any signs. He gets fussy when he has teeth moving, but I have never had to give him anything for the pain other than a chew toy.
Yes we have had ups and downs, but usually he is a good sport about it or it is over two seconds later.
A few weeks ago he got this little patch on his chin, next to his lip. I figured it was a few different things, which developed into this little patch: The pacifier (I increased use since it was the only time he wouldn't grind his teeth - yes - grind his teeth!), and drool from the 7th tooth coming in. I asked the doctor about it at the wellness exam, we had last week. He told me what I had originally suspected. He suggested a few things and so I started these things. Within a week William's rash turned into:
Yesterday, I dragging William back to the doctor. By this point his sleep was effected, he cries when some of his food touches his chin, he is warm at times (no fever, just warmer) and he was throwing tantrum after tantrum. He had enough!
The doctor took a look at it. Unfortunately I didn't leave the doctor's with a complete answer, but we are trying two separate things for my little guy - one on each side. One is for yeast and the other is for bacteria. I got home yesterday and washed/dried his face. I put one on each side and kept the area as dry as possible. I also decided to feed him some very mild food till this is cleared up.
At night I reapplied the creme/ointments and put my very sleepy boy to bed (only one nap - again). I started sanitizing everything and reorganizing the toys that are easy to clean for him to play with till this is over. Talk about a lot of work!!! I did this a two months ago, but I guess he has more toys now...
A few hours later he woke screaming! Very, very rare for him - last time he did this, his first front tooth had cut through and he ended up in our bed for the night. We fed him another bottle and got him calm enough to go back to sleep. He slept through the rest of night with a few whimpers here and there.
When he woke this morning I examined the two areas - no difference in appearance, but for the pain I can definitely tell he is feeling less of it - just can't figure out what side.
I expected to have one side obviously clearer than the other by the morning. The doctor told me that it will take a few days, but I am being SO very impatient! I can't stand seeing him so uncomfortable. Plus, there is a little spot I see about an inch a way from his right eye - ugh! It feels like it is never ending! I just need to relax and be patient, this will end soon.
At least he still has a smile on his face, dancing like crazy, exploring, and laughing till tears are running down his face. He is such a good sport and being so patient while I clean and treat his little face three times a day.
He started sleeping through the night at 6 and a half weeks. I can sing a song when he is crying and he can stop and smile at me. He hasn't gotten sick and if he has, he didn't show any signs. He gets fussy when he has teeth moving, but I have never had to give him anything for the pain other than a chew toy.
Yes we have had ups and downs, but usually he is a good sport about it or it is over two seconds later.
A few weeks ago he got this little patch on his chin, next to his lip. I figured it was a few different things, which developed into this little patch: The pacifier (I increased use since it was the only time he wouldn't grind his teeth - yes - grind his teeth!), and drool from the 7th tooth coming in. I asked the doctor about it at the wellness exam, we had last week. He told me what I had originally suspected. He suggested a few things and so I started these things. Within a week William's rash turned into:Yesterday, I dragging William back to the doctor. By this point his sleep was effected, he cries when some of his food touches his chin, he is warm at times (no fever, just warmer) and he was throwing tantrum after tantrum. He had enough!
The doctor took a look at it. Unfortunately I didn't leave the doctor's with a complete answer, but we are trying two separate things for my little guy - one on each side. One is for yeast and the other is for bacteria. I got home yesterday and washed/dried his face. I put one on each side and kept the area as dry as possible. I also decided to feed him some very mild food till this is cleared up.
At night I reapplied the creme/ointments and put my very sleepy boy to bed (only one nap - again). I started sanitizing everything and reorganizing the toys that are easy to clean for him to play with till this is over. Talk about a lot of work!!! I did this a two months ago, but I guess he has more toys now...
A few hours later he woke screaming! Very, very rare for him - last time he did this, his first front tooth had cut through and he ended up in our bed for the night. We fed him another bottle and got him calm enough to go back to sleep. He slept through the rest of night with a few whimpers here and there.
When he woke this morning I examined the two areas - no difference in appearance, but for the pain I can definitely tell he is feeling less of it - just can't figure out what side.
I expected to have one side obviously clearer than the other by the morning. The doctor told me that it will take a few days, but I am being SO very impatient! I can't stand seeing him so uncomfortable. Plus, there is a little spot I see about an inch a way from his right eye - ugh! It feels like it is never ending! I just need to relax and be patient, this will end soon.
At least he still has a smile on his face, dancing like crazy, exploring, and laughing till tears are running down his face. He is such a good sport and being so patient while I clean and treat his little face three times a day.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Two Naps or One?
Yesterday was a one nap day. Not because I scheduled it like that...
William had one nap, because he refused to take his second nap of the day. He woke from his first nap at 9:30 am (he gets up at 5 or 5:30 am). From 9:30 am to 5:30 pm he was awake. He was a pretty good sport until about 5 pm when he completely broke down into a part screaming / part gasping fit. He was in his crib for about 2 -3 hours playing.
Today we are on track for another one nap day... Right now he is playing in his crib with a few bits of whining here and there. He has been doing this for about 1 hour. He refuses me to rock him to sleep, which usually works when he is too tired to fall asleep on his own.
So when does a baby go from two to one nap a day?? I think it is too early for him, but his second nap of the day has become a shorter nap - 30 minutes or so. Or not at all - yesterday. From what I have read this is one of the first signs that William might be beginning the transition. I have also read that this transition can take a few months and during the transition he will go from 2 naps to 1 nap to 2 naps, etc. When he made the transition from 3 naps to 2 naps I recall (really was it that long ago that "I recall"?) the back and forth for a few months till he was on a solid 2 naps a day schedule.
I love my two one and a half hour long naps. I can get things done around the house, plus I can be a little bit more flexible. We will see. I will try a one nap day and see what happens. Another option is to move around the 2 naps a day schedule...
We will see.
And he finally sleeps - two naps today! Thank goodness!!! Or maybe not... I spoke too soon!
William had one nap, because he refused to take his second nap of the day. He woke from his first nap at 9:30 am (he gets up at 5 or 5:30 am). From 9:30 am to 5:30 pm he was awake. He was a pretty good sport until about 5 pm when he completely broke down into a part screaming / part gasping fit. He was in his crib for about 2 -3 hours playing.
Today we are on track for another one nap day... Right now he is playing in his crib with a few bits of whining here and there. He has been doing this for about 1 hour. He refuses me to rock him to sleep, which usually works when he is too tired to fall asleep on his own.
So when does a baby go from two to one nap a day?? I think it is too early for him, but his second nap of the day has become a shorter nap - 30 minutes or so. Or not at all - yesterday. From what I have read this is one of the first signs that William might be beginning the transition. I have also read that this transition can take a few months and during the transition he will go from 2 naps to 1 nap to 2 naps, etc. When he made the transition from 3 naps to 2 naps I recall (really was it that long ago that "I recall"?) the back and forth for a few months till he was on a solid 2 naps a day schedule.
I love my two one and a half hour long naps. I can get things done around the house, plus I can be a little bit more flexible. We will see. I will try a one nap day and see what happens. Another option is to move around the 2 naps a day schedule...
We will see.
And he finally sleeps - two naps today! Thank goodness!!! Or maybe not... I spoke too soon!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Chick then... Rooster? or Hen?
My big black roosters are growing up fast and everyone is crowing in the hen house (um... the rooster house). Each rooster has his own crow and to tell you the true I am fully enjoying hearing them through out the day.
The Rhode Island Red (Cook #2) was starting to looking like it might be a rooster - the comb was huge and starting to flop over and her beard was a lot bigger than Cooks... Being my escape artist, the darn thing kept getting into the other area, so I decided to make an area for just this hen or rooster.
Last week I headed out to the hen house to check on everyone and grab the eggs for the day. I was in the process of grabbing some food for everyone when in the corner of my eye I saw a TON of eggs! 7 to be exact! I just stood there pretty dumb founded until I realized that my little Cook #2 was a Hen - Yippee!!! And she laid 7 eggs in 24 hours!!! She had made a nest in the bail of straw, which is in her area. I felt like I could pick her up and hug her, but I wasn't in the mood for running around trying to grab her, so I wait till she was roosting later that night.
Ever since that day, she has laid at least an egg a day (sometimes 2!) - even better than Singer. Here is the one I found yesterday and here is my new producer:
Now for a name... Stay tuned.
The Rhode Island Red (Cook #2) was starting to looking like it might be a rooster - the comb was huge and starting to flop over and her beard was a lot bigger than Cooks... Being my escape artist, the darn thing kept getting into the other area, so I decided to make an area for just this hen or rooster.
Last week I headed out to the hen house to check on everyone and grab the eggs for the day. I was in the process of grabbing some food for everyone when in the corner of my eye I saw a TON of eggs! 7 to be exact! I just stood there pretty dumb founded until I realized that my little Cook #2 was a Hen - Yippee!!! And she laid 7 eggs in 24 hours!!! She had made a nest in the bail of straw, which is in her area. I felt like I could pick her up and hug her, but I wasn't in the mood for running around trying to grab her, so I wait till she was roosting later that night.
Ever since that day, she has laid at least an egg a day (sometimes 2!) - even better than Singer. Here is the one I found yesterday and here is my new producer:
Now for a name... Stay tuned.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
A Bowl of Fun
Where is William?
There you are!
Where might William be?
There he is!
William, where did you go???
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| Here I am silly mama! I have been here the whole time! |
It is amazing to me that we could play this game fifty million times a day and he just doesn't get sick of it!!!
And he could play it with anything, a corner of a wall, his Tag, a small block, a book... The list goes on and on.
I love the joy a child has for the simplest things!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Organizing a Messy Room
Remember my "Storage Room"?
Well I have been moving along with my list everyday. I realized while I was clearing everything that I work on a system. So I broke down my organizing into phases for this room:
Phase One:
Start and get organized... I began with going through all of my books. I find that if I am delaying something it most likely means it is going to take a lot of time, which is hard to come by with a small child of 10 months. Naps and when he went to bed was my only time to get my first major step done. I completed it in 3 naps - 1 and a half days! I was shocked and on a rolled, so I organized the room into do to tasks and wrote a list of 30 things to do. I took all my books to Village Books in Bellingham, WA and I got a pretty hefty credit to spend there. 1st Phase done - Yippee!
Phase Two:
Complete your to do list. Most of the items are small, some I need help with from my husband and there are a few which involve time. Going through photos is the biggest one and I am almost done! I have completed about 5 small ones. And in the process of completed a few others. This weekend I have my husband scheduled to follow me around with all of his tools in tow to complete a few tasks (I love you my sweet husband!). There is something so satisfying when marking a check next to an item on my to do list, especially when I mark it right before William wakes from his nap.
Phase Three:
Make the room your own. This one I have been kind of going along and doing this in small areas, but at the end of Phase Two, I will have a pretty open room (at least in front of the window). We have lots of ideas, but we are going to wait till is it done to get started on Phase Three.
Well I have been moving along with my list everyday. I realized while I was clearing everything that I work on a system. So I broke down my organizing into phases for this room:
Phase One:
Start and get organized... I began with going through all of my books. I find that if I am delaying something it most likely means it is going to take a lot of time, which is hard to come by with a small child of 10 months. Naps and when he went to bed was my only time to get my first major step done. I completed it in 3 naps - 1 and a half days! I was shocked and on a rolled, so I organized the room into do to tasks and wrote a list of 30 things to do. I took all my books to Village Books in Bellingham, WA and I got a pretty hefty credit to spend there. 1st Phase done - Yippee!
Phase Two:
Complete your to do list. Most of the items are small, some I need help with from my husband and there are a few which involve time. Going through photos is the biggest one and I am almost done! I have completed about 5 small ones. And in the process of completed a few others. This weekend I have my husband scheduled to follow me around with all of his tools in tow to complete a few tasks (I love you my sweet husband!). There is something so satisfying when marking a check next to an item on my to do list, especially when I mark it right before William wakes from his nap.
Phase Three:
Make the room your own. This one I have been kind of going along and doing this in small areas, but at the end of Phase Two, I will have a pretty open room (at least in front of the window). We have lots of ideas, but we are going to wait till is it done to get started on Phase Three.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Too Many Roosters in the Hen House
A few Sundays ago, my husband came into the house after putting up a new roost in our chicken house saying, "Well I found out who is crowing in the hen house..."
Lets back it up a moment. Last year I started out with 6 chicks (2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Barred Rocks, and 2 Buffed Orpingtons). We adopted a Rhode Island Red Rooster from my father-in-law and we were set, until the birds of prey and coyotes moved into the hen's 2 acre area during the winter. We lost 3 chickens in a span of 3 months, so I decided to get more chickens to replace the ones we had lost. In the end I ended up with 2 Jersey Black Giants, 2 Golden Wyandottes and 2 Rhode Island Red hens. We also had one "successful" hatching at the ranch - successful meaning it hatched, but the poor thing has a bent neck and toes. We sexed him - a rooster - another rooster... So we think if we did it right.
My old flock and new flock were introduced on the 15th of Aug. The transition went very well, but I do have some very distinct cliques:
The only one who has been interested in hanging out with Pros is The Lone Rider. I have found out that she loves the old place which she was in before the chicken house, so she has found every possible way to get to that location - very determined this one is.
The Misfits haven't gone outside or gotten off the ground. The Killer New Hens are fabulous, they have taken to the roost and 2 of them have each laid an egg.
A few weeks ago, we were out in the back field and we all heard a crow that was not our RIR rooster. I was a tad startled and went to the chicken house to find out who it was. Of course nobody crowed when I went in there. For the next few weeks we heard this great crow - a crow that sounded half like a turkey. We were able to determine that it was definitely coming from our chicken house.
Last weekend I was determined to get a new roost up for the chickens. The Jersey Giants were not interested in the current roost. My wonderful husband who helps me out with a big smile on his face went to put up the roast, came back with a shocked face and told me he figured out who has been crowing and it wasn't the rooster who was hatched here.
"It was one of your big black hens - uh actually roosters."
I stared at him in disbelief. "The Jersey Giants? One of them? Which one?" As he is telling me the story I am thinking to myself well if one is a Rooster then the other one is too - they look the both look the same!!
After waiting a few days, sure enough one of my two Jersey Giants crowed while I was feeding them. I started looking at all of the other new hens and realized I might just have another one. My Lone Ranger is looking a little like our RIR did when he was a little guy...
So far I have 3 roosters, possible 2 (one RIR and the other is Scrappy). We determined we will wait till the spring to find out what we will do with all of our roosters. Right now they are living just fine together, so we will see and I will update you all.
I think my hen house is turning into a rooster house.
Lets back it up a moment. Last year I started out with 6 chicks (2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Barred Rocks, and 2 Buffed Orpingtons). We adopted a Rhode Island Red Rooster from my father-in-law and we were set, until the birds of prey and coyotes moved into the hen's 2 acre area during the winter. We lost 3 chickens in a span of 3 months, so I decided to get more chickens to replace the ones we had lost. In the end I ended up with 2 Jersey Black Giants, 2 Golden Wyandottes and 2 Rhode Island Red hens. We also had one "successful" hatching at the ranch - successful meaning it hatched, but the poor thing has a bent neck and toes. We sexed him - a rooster - another rooster... So we think if we did it right.
My old flock and new flock were introduced on the 15th of Aug. The transition went very well, but I do have some very distinct cliques:
- Clique #1 are the Pros - RIR Rooster, 2 Buffed Orpingtons (Singer and Boss) and Barred Rock (Cotton Ball)
- Clique #2 are the Killer New Hens - one Rhode Island Red (Cook) and 2 Golden Wyandottes (Goldie, and Sage)
- Clique #3 are the Misfits - 2 Jersey Black Giants and Scrappy (born at the ranch)
- Clique #4 is the Lone Rider - one Rhode Island Red - Cook #2 for right now...
The only one who has been interested in hanging out with Pros is The Lone Rider. I have found out that she loves the old place which she was in before the chicken house, so she has found every possible way to get to that location - very determined this one is.
The Misfits haven't gone outside or gotten off the ground. The Killer New Hens are fabulous, they have taken to the roost and 2 of them have each laid an egg.
A few weeks ago, we were out in the back field and we all heard a crow that was not our RIR rooster. I was a tad startled and went to the chicken house to find out who it was. Of course nobody crowed when I went in there. For the next few weeks we heard this great crow - a crow that sounded half like a turkey. We were able to determine that it was definitely coming from our chicken house.
Last weekend I was determined to get a new roost up for the chickens. The Jersey Giants were not interested in the current roost. My wonderful husband who helps me out with a big smile on his face went to put up the roast, came back with a shocked face and told me he figured out who has been crowing and it wasn't the rooster who was hatched here.
"It was one of your big black hens - uh actually roosters."
I stared at him in disbelief. "The Jersey Giants? One of them? Which one?" As he is telling me the story I am thinking to myself well if one is a Rooster then the other one is too - they look the both look the same!!
After waiting a few days, sure enough one of my two Jersey Giants crowed while I was feeding them. I started looking at all of the other new hens and realized I might just have another one. My Lone Ranger is looking a little like our RIR did when he was a little guy...
So far I have 3 roosters, possible 2 (one RIR and the other is Scrappy). We determined we will wait till the spring to find out what we will do with all of our roosters. Right now they are living just fine together, so we will see and I will update you all.
I think my hen house is turning into a rooster house.
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