She's On The Move!

Still reeling from her new-found ability to sit unassisted for longer than a few seconds, Ophelia has been perfecting a new skill...

CRAWLING!

I can hardly believe baby guurl is on the move!

She had been getting around in circles pretty well for the past few weeks but I noticed this week that rather than crying when she couldn't reach something she wanted, she seemed to be moving herself around to get things! I have been watching with fascination as she's been figuring out this crawling thing.

I started placing things she liked just a little bit out of her reach and watching her inch forward to get them. A few days ago, I put her down and went to another room briefly. When I came back, she was on the other side of the living room!

 She's working on a pseudo commando crawl, pulling herself with her arms, while at the same time, pushing with her toes. It's pretty awesome to watch. I haven't taken any pictures yet but will hopefully get on it soon.

I can tell she is rapidly gaining strength. Seems like it won't be long until she's pulling herself up on things and walking around them.Yikes! Baby guuurl is growing up so quickly.

Our Family In Krakow

Last month was had the opportunity to spend a week in Krakow, Poland, with Darren's parents. It was a beautiful city with a tragic history. 

We ate lots of typical food and learned about the culture and history through doing walking tours and daytrips to Auschwitz and the Salt Mines. One of our favourite things to do, though, was to spend time in the main square. Sebby found "Goliath's head" and had a ball playing in it! We didn't see even one playground in the city but it didn't matter. He would probably have happily played there all day every day if we'd have been up for it! 

Ophelia missed sleeping in her cot but still enjoyed her time in Poland as well. She found being in the carrier all day a bit challenging but her smiles brightened people's days wherever we went!

Here's a picture of all four of us taken near "Goliath's head"!
 
When we go back to Canada, we'll miss being able to hop on a plane for another European adventure at every opportunity (holiday!).

Our Imaginative Two Year Old

 Sebby is growing up so fast. We can't believe he's already almost two and a half.

He's becoming so imaginative and has a great time making up new games to play. I left out an empty box this afternoon and he put it on his head and said he was a robot. He pretends that he's swimming in the sea under the covers in his bed. He sits under the table and pretends it's a boat. But his favourite things to imagine these days are giants and dragons!

A few months ago, a friend posted a chart that shared some hints on how to discipline less by understanding your children's behaviour. For Sebby's personality type, it suggested making sure he had physical outlets, fun and adventure in his life. 

When we were on holiday in France over Easter, Darren had the idea that Sebby would enjoy our vacation more if we made each day into an imaginary adventure. 

It worked! 

(Thank you Child Whisperer!)

We started listening for bells (because that means that the giants are waking up) and looking for clock towers (because that is where giants live). It was a great strategy that kept Sebby excited and happy while at the same time allowed us to see the things that we wanted to see (churches, Roman ruins...all places where giants could be hanging out!).

 

In Krakow, we found Goliath's head!!!

Now that we're home, he still loves looking for dragons, giants, trolls and other imaginary creatures! He runs down the street shouting, "Goliath, are you in there?" and he looks for swords (sticks) that he can fight giants with. He would rather run than go on his scooter now because that way he can have a sword in hand.

 

He's gotten his face painted twice now and finds the whole process very amusing. He can't stop looking at himself in the mirror! 

Most recently he was a tiger. So cute!

He still loves to read.

The Jesus Storybook Bible (especially David and Goliath!) and 

The Land Long Ago (about a dragon!) are his current favourites. He and Daddy can spend a whole hour in his room reading books.

Daddy taught him a rhyme about tying shoelaces and he's eager to learn, although he still needs help. He can put his wellies on by himself, though!

Lately, every day has been filled with fun and imagination. I love standing in the doorway of his room and watching him play. Sometimes he sings to himself, which is more talk singing at this point but it is pretty adorable. 

Of course, sometimes there are tears, like when he trips because he's running so fast or when he's having a hard time sharing toys with a friend, but he's generally a very pleasant little guy. 

Having a two year old sure is a lot of fun!

Baby Guuurl

It’s been fun to watch Ophelia grow as she begins interacting more and more with the world around her. At 7 months, she loves putting things into her mouth and is growing in her accuracy in doing so. She grabs at whatever is in sight and definitely recognizes the sight of food, which she is always excited about. She kicks her feet and makes noise when she really wants of likes something. For example, when she sees me filling up the bathtub or holding food or in church when the music starts playing.

Lately, she's been enjoying spending more time with Daddy. She even enjoys when he lifts her in the air now...as long as he doesn't toss her up! 

She is a great eater and it’s been fun having her join us for meals. I often give her food off my plate unless it’s too hard (she only has two bottom teeth) or too spicy. Some of her favourite things to eat are pears, apples, mangoes, avocados, carrots, grapes and courgette.

She is quite vocal and often chats happily in conversation with us. She perks up when she hears music and loves when anyone is singing.

 

She does well playing by herself on the floor, reaching for things and rolling over to get them. She isn’t crawling yet, just shouting or crying for help when a toy gets pushed out of her reach.

She also has a keen interest in whatever her big brother is doing, she finds him pretty interesting! She wants to read (or eat!) all the books he reads, play with all the toys he plays with an check out all the clothes he wears (her fave is his starry rain coat!). She also likes when his friends come over to play because they also give her hugs and kisses.

Sebby calls her “baby guurl” or “pretty girl” or sometimes by her name, “Ophelia” and he likes interpreting for us what she’s saying. He will yell “it’s OK baby guuurl” from the other room when he hears her crying and is usually happy to help pass toys to her when I’m busy. He likes to help change her nappies and help pick her up after her naps. His job is turning off the white noise maker and he gets upset if I do it before makes it into the room.

They sometimes play together on the floor while I'm cooking or getting ready in the mornings.

He is a typical older brother though, too. Now that Ophelia is old enough to touch his things, he doesn't like it. He sometimes quickly snatches them away from her. Or if he sees her doing something that “isn’t allowed”, he’s very quick to tell her no. 

 

But he’s protective of her when others are around and rushes in to give her more hugs the minute someone else wants a little cuddle from her. 

 We love our baby guurl!

More Progress On The Potty Front

Since my last post about Sebby using the potty, he has continued to make great progress. 

When we are at home he tells me when he is about to poo almost every time! If we rush to the potty quickly enough, it all gets into the potty. If we've forgotten to bring the potty into the room with us or he's wearing a diaper or underwear, only some of the poo tends to make it into the potty. However, this is a huge improvement and we are thrilled!

I have learned a few tricks that seem to work for Sebby:

1. Going bottomless!

A totally bottomless Sebby gets more pee & poo in the potty.

2. Potty in sight at all times

Bringing the potty into the room where he can see it helps him get to it in time. (He now tells me as he is about to pee or poo, which is far better than after he has done it or as he is doing it.)

3. Momma in sight at all times

Obviously this isn't realistic, especially because I need to get things done around the flat and can't be watching him constantly. However, sometimes when I leave him alone, he sometimes pees on the floor. He sometimes tells me when I come back in the room or if I ask him about the puddle.

4. Potty time

If I ask if he has to use the potty he will almost always so no. So if it's been awhile since he's gone, I just tell him that it's time to sit on the potty. He sometimes resists but usually will pee, even if it's just a little. I know that if he leaves it too long in between and I'm in and out of the room he's playing in, he'll miss getting there on time.

***

I'm really encouraged by Sebby's progress and he is proud of himself too. He now dumps the potty into the toilet himself every time and says "bye pee, bye poo" as he puts it into the toilet. 

The plan was to keep on practicing in the house till he's getting to the potty almost every time then  venture out sans diaper. However, today when we were at the botanics, he said he wanted to pee. So I sat him on the toilet. He didn't pee. We left and walked towards home and then he said he needed to pee again. So we returned to the botanics and I set him on the toilet again. Again, he didn't pee. I didn't put his diaper back on and told him to let me know if he needed to pee. We arrived home an hour and a half later with dry trousers. Probably just lucky...

Chatty

Love this girl and her chat.

It's non-stop these days!

Proud Parent Moments

Sunday we had a day of milestones for the Lung children. I wanted to blog about it that night but alas, I was tired and went to sleep soon after cleaning up after my sleeping children so I didn't get around to it.

Let's begin with Ophela...
 
 It all started late last week when Ophelia learned to stick out her tongue. By Sunday morning, she realized that she could also spit. She thought it was hilarious and did it off and on throughout the church service and the rest of the day. We thought it was cute too until at naptime when she spit and cooed for about a half hour before settling to sleep. At bedtime, she was even more fascinated by her abilities, staying awake hours past bedtime spitting and chatting. Finally, I fed her again then left her in bed spitting and eventually she fell asleep.

Unfortunately, over the past few days, these newfound abilities have really messed up Ophelia's sleep as she no longer wants to leave the soother in her mouth at naptime. She would much rather spit and make noises so this makes her incredibly motivated to pick the soother out of her mouth. She feels torn, though, because the minute she pulls the soother out, she gets upset and wishes she had it back in. Then once I help her put it back in, her hand is on it like a magnet, pulling it back out again.

I'm a bit at a loss about how I'm going to get her to nap in bed if she keeps this up. She's exhausted and has been mostly nursing to sleep while we've been out and about. This afternoon she was up about 5 hours...WAY too long for a 4 month old! I tried putting her down for a nap but after an hour in the room with her spitting the soother out and returning it to her mouth, I gave up and brought her back out to the living room.

I'm hoping the novelty of this new trick wears off soon or I'm going to have to find a new naptime strategy.

Now on to Sebby...
 

Over the past few weeks, I've been letting Sebby go without a diaper in the house so that he could practice using the potty more often. I'm not sure if he had more hits or misses but I do see progress. He almost always tells me when he is in the process of doing a poo or right after he finishes. He also really wants to wear underwear instead of diapers, last night he even wanted to wear them to bed! I told him that he can stop wearing diapers at night once he wakes up with dry diapers in the mornings.

Sunday afternoon he was playing in his room while I cooked dinner. He'd been quiet for awhile so I went to check on him and make sure he hadn't peed on the carpet in his room. Just then he ran to his potty and sat down. I asked him if he had to pee and he didn't say anything. A few minutes later he stood up and said, "WOW Momma. Poo!"

I was sooo excited! Not only did I not mention the potty but that was the first time that he has ever done a full poo in the potty!

He kept looking at it in the potty and marveling.

I even took pictures. Ha ha! 
Darren says no one would want to see it.

Comment if you want me to post a picture.