Naturally Optimistic

Well, the time has come. After 6 1/2 years (!?) Naturally Optimistic will be going private at the start of the new year. If you are interested in still reading my INCREDIBLY exciting posts & commenting on my cute children, email me & I will put you on the invite list. Like I said - it won't happen for another couple weeks, but there ya go. Time to make a change. I'm kind of sad because I've met some cool people - randomly - by having this blog....but the phase of putting all my stuff out there for everyone to read is over. Thanks!

So the sleeping thing (with August) went great for 3 nights in a row. Sleeping in chunks of 6+ hours (one time - all night!), sleeping in his own crib & settling himself down if he woke up. I was ecstatic. After 7+ months of not sleeping more than a couple hours at a time, this was awesome. But now the past two nights he's awakened within a couple hours (around 10;30 - just as I'm falling asleep) & it's harder to get him to go back to bed. Then he's up again around 2 or 2:30 - again hard to get him to go to sleep (in his crib) & then I usually end up sleeping with him. Which, when it's so chilly out, has additional benefits. He's a little heater! BUT - I would prefer to go back to the 3 GOOD nights of sleep. *sigh* I know this is a process, I know that we're heading in the right direction & I know it takes time. At least I also know that he is CAPABLE of sleeping all night.

August's tummy problems have almost completely abated! He hasn't been on meds now for over a month. Whohooo! He spits up far less & is in less pain, but he still does spit up (especially this past weekend. Wow). He's eating lots of solids these days - his favorites are anything orange - squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, but he also enjoys applesauce, green beans, pears & bananas. He doesn't like peas too much. He likes prunes okay which is good because the little guy is often constipated. I'm not sure the prunes are helping too much. He is so strong! He can stand (if we hold his hands), he is almost getting into crawling position. He rolls & scoots & slides everywhere! He is going to be very mobile, very soon. Time to really start babyproofing. Something that will be tough with a 3-year-old in the house who likes to leave little toys everywhere. Ay yi yi. He has been sleeping a lot better. In his own crib! He has taken several multiple hour naps &...

Dahlia had her birthday party yesterday (even though her birthday is tomorrow....). When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, she declared "Pink!" so we went with that. I threw in some Princesses & before we knew it, we had a very pink princess party! Just up her alley (sidenote: no matter how hard you try to 'shield' your kids from things like the DISNEY PRINCESSES...they will love them anyway. Hmph! Might as well go with the flow...) We had a small party this year with Grandparents only. 5 of the 6 Grandparents were in attendance (Roger wasn't feeling well & it was bitterly cold). We had pizza & veggies, cake & ice cream. She was wired from the moment she woke up & loved telling each guest who each & every princess was (on plates, napkins, etc). And the presents! She had so much fun - a Princess tunnel & "desk" with pictures to color; a new suitcase loaded with a Hello Kitty robe, undies & other assorted goodies; a...