nighttime ritual breakdown cont'd...

For my avid blog readers....Update:

• Last night was better (as I bellied up to the bar and drowned myself in a Mexican Margarita with a girls night out) as Brad dealt with Sam's 20 minute scream down in bed.
• Tonight...we're almost there and things are going okay. Brad is having a boys night out tonight and it's all me.
• I'm starting to say my prayers....

Nighttime ritual Breakdowns

We're not sure what happened, but, it's getting very very frustrating. Sam has decided to be a terror from about 5:00 p.m. until bed. Bed time has turned into TERROR time around here. We let Sam SCREAM it out last night for 2+ hours and he would NOT settle down. Finally around 10:25 I couldn't listen to him anymore. I gave in and took him in bed with us. It took him a long time to settle down and he really didn't want me to touch him as he was as stiff as a board and very sensitive. He also did NOT want anything to do with his pacifier (which is SO NOT him). He finally fell asleep around 10:45. As soon as he drifted off I caried him back in his room.

I really hope this is not what turning 2 is all about. This pattern he is presenting to us has been in place for the past 3 nights and it just can NOT continue. I'm frustrated, Brad's frustrated and so is Sam. When I went in his room to get him after his screaming attack, his whole body was shaking, his pajama tops were soaked with tears and he could hardly breathe. It broke my heart. We went through this phase with him when he was 7 months old. We would "let him scream it out" and he would NEVER fall asleep. He ended up throwing up from crying so hard or he would turn different shades of purple and gasp for air after 2 hours.

I did discuss this with the doctor and she told me that the "scream it out" method isn't for every child. She told me it wasn't worth it if he screams for the FULL 2 hours. As I laid there last night trying to calm down tears rolled down my face as I wonder, "am I doing the right thing?". But....this has to end. I don't have the patience for this anymore. Then I wonder, "is he sick? are his 2 year molars coming in?" I just don't know. Or then I think, "Am I giving him enough attention during the day?" HELP

Let's hope child protection does not show up at my door this morning as we probably woke up the entire condo community last night....

Help arrived

Playing make believe with all the trucks!

Being home alone while Brad was away was quite a challenge this time. I had to call in reinforcements to Great Grandma Trudy who spent a few days with us. Sam was spoiled to death as ALL she did was focus on him and keeping him occupied so I could maintain my cool. WOW, did they have fun. Great Grandma Trudy really now understands the beauty of my life and really really helped me out a TON. Needless to say, we all survived.

Generations apart

10 weeks = SMILES

Matthew Joseph 10 weeks old already!

Hiking in Port

"Mommy, boats!"

All bundled up in WI fall weather!

The boys and I have been enjoying some fall like weather in Port. We've bundled up and headed out to the marina and wow have I accomplished to get Sam exhausted! He's having a blast playing on the swings and watching all the boats and looking for fish!

Here are the pictures from our hikes!

More Sticks!

Sticks

Love

Matthew LOVES his great grandma Trudy.
Looking at this picture brings a tear to my eye. 84 years apart. It's such a special gift for Matthew to have such a loving great grandma.

They almost have their hands folded the same way! (tear)

Our baby is growing...

Matthew is already 2 months old! Today we had our 2 month check up at the doctor. For the record, here are the results:

Weight: 11 lbs. 5 oz (45%)
Length: 23 1/2" (75%)
Head: 39 in diamater (25%)

So, basically, we're all over the board with %'s. But the main part is: Matthew is healthy!

Along with a good doctors visit, we had our first shots. Poor little Matthew had 4 shots with 5 immunizations. He did okay, as Sam looked at him with GREAT fear. But, having Sam come along with us has made him very very excited to see the doctor, which she loves and I don't have to deal with a screaming toddler every time we visit her. And...to prove Sam's love for visiting the doctor, when we came home and ate lunch, Sam accidentaly bumped his head on the table and he started screaming (non the less, very dramatic) and behind all his tears he looked at me and said: "Ice" "doctor?" I asked him if he wanted to go to the doctor and he said "YES, Shoes, Car"! And, then decided to have another tantrum because I wasn't going to take him to the doctor to look at his "hurt" head.

I have to say that Matthew's well baby doctors visits are nothing like Sams. When Sam was born I had a list of questions every time we went. I view Matthew's appointments more of a "friendly" visit after she drills me with all the "well baby" questions. Maybe it's because I have to bring Sam with me? Or maybe it's just because the 2nd time around is that much more easy and we are old pros? Whatever it may be, it's okay, it's just so different.

Enjoy the shots of our 2 month old!

Playtime!

Happy Sweet innocent couple!

Matthew finally gets to meet his southern girlfriend, Taylor!

They are only 4 weeks apart to the day!

Can you already feel the love?

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Do you see 29 candles on his cake?

Ha Brad!!! Now you're as OLD as I am!

Eating "Happy Cake" with daddy!

Way to go Papa Stan!

Congratulations Papa Stan on winning the Southeast Wisconsin State Assembly District #23 DEMOCRAT primary election! We knew you could do it!
Click here to see the election results

Fuzz?

On the carpet, on blankets, in socks; fuzz is a very important part of Sams day and we're trying to understand why. Sam LOVES to eat fuzz and it grosses me out. He will sit for minutes pulling fuzz out of somewhere only to eat it. He LOVES to eat FUZZ? Sometimes I think he searches for fuzz when he is hungry. This morning I pulled his pacifier out of his mouth and he had fuzz crusted to the nipple and when I showed him how GROSS this was, he insisted that I leave the fuzz on the nipple as he shoved it back in his mouth. YUCK! Sometimes he will have so much fuzz in his mouth that he will gag on it. YUCK.

The beauty of this gross habit is once he accomplishes pulling fuzz out of an object, he rewards himself with great enthusiasm as he claps his hands and proclaims, "YEAH Fuzz!!!!". Now, I would think the texture of fuzz would be a complete turn off, but obviously I'm completely incorrect.

Again, this is a phase that will pass, but WHY Fuzz?

We're STARTING to smile!!!!

It's really hard to capture his little smile, BUT, I am documenting that Matthew is definately starting to smile and get excited when he hears our voices and sees our faces. It just reminds us that he is getting older every day and we're so happy that he is happy!

A cold day at the Zoo!

Brotherly tummy time

Unsuccessful tummy time

Attack of the Vaseline

It was completely my fault...I left it out after a diaper change, but the cover was on. However, Samuel Lewis finds great joy digging in the jar of vaseline and smearing it over anything he can get his little hands on. Today it was rather humorous...it was hard to not laugh at him, but I needed him to realize that this wasn't funny, and it was a rather serious naughty moment. It wasn't only on the ottoman like last time, it was all over his right side of his head. He had it CAKED on as if it were a styling gel in giant dollops. When he came to find me (in the bathroom) oh did he know he was going to get in trouble. The look of, "mommy, I did something wrong" was clearly obvious across his face. I did have to take a picture of the moment, but the picture doesn't really justify the actual picture. It took us 3 baths to finally get most of the vaseline out of his hair. Samuel decided to act on this rather naughty behavior minutes before daddy came home to witness the rather voluntary attack of the Vaseline.

The Gymini

Little chair or BIG boy?

8 weeks old!

Brad and I are not convinced our boys look alike anymore, but then we stumble across a picture like this...this is ALL Sam! Kind of funny how it all works.

Mommy and her boys

Happy Birthday Mimi!

We hope you have a great birthday!

Thank you for having us over for the afternoon yesterday!

Have a good day today and we'll see you soon!!

First Family Trip to the Shopping Mall

It was finally time, we headed to Mayfair Mall with the boys. Matthew was just fed and Sam woke up from his 2 hour nap. The diaper bag was all ready and we had both strollers in the van. We made it to the mall with no whinning or crying. We parked at the Fields lower entrance. We were able to get a few things that we needed very quickly. Soon it was 5pm and Sam was getting hungry, luckily we were at a mall that had a pizza place in the food court. Near the end of dinner Matthew wanted his milk. So I fed him as Erin ran with Sam around the food court talking to anyone that would listen. Eventually Sam came back with a bag of cookies that he begged Erin to get. During this time, there were announcements indicating the mall is closing and Fields will be open till 9 which was fine as we parked on that side of the mall. So we thought we were just fine...Until Erin noticed one gate closing the walkway from the food court to the mall. So I grabbed the stroller for Matthew as I was still feeding him in my arms, and Erin got Sam's as she followed behind him. Again, as he talked with everyone in sight. We got thru the first gate, but when we made it to Fields the gate to the store was closing and that is when thought we would lose Sam. He almost made it under the gate as it was closing, and the employee just looked at us and said the first floor entrance is open that we should use that. So Erin and I then had to head downstairs, which our only option was to take the escalator, with 2 kids, and 2 empty strollers. The employee offered to help me with the larger one as we went down and behind me was Erin barely holding on to Sam as she was also holding the other stroller. Once we made it safely downstairs, the Mayfair Cop approached me and said 'in the future I should not use the escalator.' I looked at him and said 'that was not an option at 6pm when the all the gates were in place and Fields closed the top entrance where we were.' Meanwhile Matthew is still drinking his bottle. The cop then said to Erin that he wished he had Sam's energy as he was trying to be nice to her. When we finally made it back to the van we were so relieved that it was over.

Teplin Family Update!

Samuel: Sam will be turning 2 in October, which is right around the corner. And, it's safe to say, he is showing all his signs of a 2 year old:). He weighs: 28lbs and he will not sit still for me to get a height. His life in the past few weeks has definately changed, and he is adapting everyday as he is faced with a new challenge presented by his brother needing his mommy and daddy's attention. He is learning that if mommy is busy, he can easily find things to ask her for that are not in arms reach. We're trying to teach Sam the word "wait", but it's a constant day to day challenge. His love for trucks and animals tops his list of favorites. He is also enjoying every ounce of Wisconsin Summer. Eating corn on the cob, going to all the parks in the city, visiting the Zoo with friends and socializing with all of his friends has made this summer fun! We visited the State Fair and he had a blast, mainly because once again, animals are his favorite. I often get demands to "sit down" and "play animals". In his little mind he has an idea of how I'm supposed to play animals, and I just have not caught on yet...