Trevor Kicks 1 Habit, Starts Another

Trevor had been a sleepy time pacifier (schnulli) user. He gave up his daytime privileges ages ago...but now, he is night time pacifier free...yep, I said it....No more paci, schnulli, tout tout, binky or whatever else you want to call it....he is free, man...free...from that all too common baby habit! YEAH TREVOR!!

It was very late one night last week when T woke up with a pacifier emergency...these happen very frequently...and he just would not go back to sleep. In a rash 3.30 am decision making process, I decided his whole sleeping problem stemmed from his addiction to his schnulli. Of course, T has never slept well, mostly due to the fact that I never put him to bed still semi-awake like everyone tells you to do - I found that out much too late to do much about it.

Terry and I had tried it all...the Ferber method (during these phases, one of us would totally give in after hours and hours of hysterical crying), the various ways of soothing him to sleep, co-sleeping...if Trevor has one issue...it's his lack of deep sleep, through the night.

So...when Terry came in to see why Trevor was having such a fit, at 4.00 am, I told him I had taken away the schnulli and he wasn't getting it back. Terry was a little upset at my impulsive, solo, middle of the night decision making, but has agreed (reluctantly) that eventually it did have to go...

I feel that Trevor is getting more quality sleep now that the schnulli is gone, however, the going to bed process is still not as smooth as I think we would all like it. Terry said last night he wasn't convinced that Trevor is sleeping any better and may be sleeping not as well, but I think when Trev stops realizing what he is missing, things will roll along more sweetly. Afterall, it takes 21 days to break any habit and he has been without it at bedtime for only a few days now. I think he is doing really well, considering he went cold turkey...

And as one habit has phased out, another habit has begun...Trevor is drinking from his own little pirate mug. Yep...we are transitioning him off of the bottles and straight onto the real thing. Sure, he drinks his one juice a day from a sippy cup, but man, I'm talking the real thing here and today he took the cup by the sides and did it himself...a little bit was spilled, but he is definitely getting the hang of it.

It's funny, Trevor has these semi-circle nesting cup toy thingies and while he was playing with them today, he actually used one like a cup and drank from it! What a smart little guy - progressing super well and impressing us continually!!

Check back in a day or so....a milk moustache photo will be appearing soon!

This is what happens when Mommy get bored

We needed something to do...I have had this outfit forever and Trevor hasn't had the opportunity to wear it ~ so.... a photo shoot filled the need for dressing him up and occupying both of our attentions for a little while.

This is the first time I have done a shoot solo and Trevor wasn't as interested this time around - there was no Daddy to make noises, clap and create all kinds of nonsense Trevor tends to respond to. But with some persistence, we got it taken care of and accomplished.

I think I got a couple of sweet shots taken...maybe I should think about doing this professionally!! LOL!
Monday, April 16, 2007

A Conversation with Uncle Mishy

I had to include this series of photos...when I saw them, I could see that Mishy and Trevor were having some sort of deep conversation, talking about something the two of them would only ever know.

I found these photos so sweet, almost intimate and certainly moving...it's like you can actually SEE this discussion happening...like you are there with them, almost a part of it yourself. Fascinating!

Trevor LOVES Mishy and the feeling is quite mutual. These two are really cute together and are just, oh so sweet.

My First Easter

Boy was this a great day...I slept in late, because I was up for a while during the night and I ended up getting to sleep in Mommy & Daddy's bed - which is really cool.

While I was having breakfast, Mommy was going all around the house looking for something. Daddy wasn't sure what it was and Mommy just mumbling stuff like, "I know I have something around here somewhere..." but what was it?

And then, sure enough she came to me with this wacky thing she put on my head and Daddy started laughing and Mommy was all like, "Where's the camera?!" I hate it when they do stuff like this to me, but hey - what attention!!! I'm LOOOVIN' it. (I think she was trying to make up for the fact that she didn't dress me up in some crazy outfit, take lots of photos and then send them all over the world. Oh well...she had to have me in some kind of easter crazy...sigh)

So...after breakfast, I looked at my basket (which was the biggest one) and I had all sorts of goodies in there...I got a cell phone, lots of clothes, some "stuffed" peeps, books, games...all kinds of goodies (thanks Grandma & Grandpa G. and Meme & Grandpa H. and Mommy & Daddy) - I was very busy for the next couple of hours just checking everything out.

Mommy was really busy cooking up lots of food for dinner, so I got to spend lots of time playing and crawling and climbing all over Daddy. We have such a good time together - he makes me laugh a lot!!

Then Uncle Mishy and Auntie Claudia came over. They brought their son with them too, which is cool because I like him a lot but I don't get to see him very often. This year we got Auntie Claudia a tambourine for Easter. She said some time ago that she always wanted one, so I told Mommy that would make a nice gift for her. And for Uncle Mishy, Mommy and I found these really special beer glasses - one has all of the World Cup winners listed on it and on the other one has all of the football stadiums in Germany on it - we all thought those were really cool.

They brought me some surprises too! I got some special BIO food (peaches and pomegranate) and a couple of board books. They are really neat and interesting because they have all these drawings in them of different animals and fish and stuff and it has words in german so I can learn german words too! I am very interested in these books....they look so Super!

So we all ate and I put on my suit for our friends and we hung out outside because it was SO sunny and warm....Daddy even brought out my pack and play and my high chair. I got to eat outside for the first time. It was really fun!

But at the end of the day, I was so tired from all the activity and attention and fresh air...I fell right asleep and didn't make too much fuss for Daddy or Mommy.

This was a great day - super weather, super food, super friends. I am very lucky.

Sunday, April 8, 2007

No Bunnies or Chicks this Easter

Which I now think is just too bad. I had decided to take it easy on Trevor this holiday since he got the full blown stylings on Valentine's Day. Instead of any cute little bunny or chick suit, I got him a nice Easter Sunday suit.

Now do NOT get me wrong...he is still the cutest thing EVER! But how adorable would he have been dressed up as an Easter Bunny???

And the funny thing is a lot of you out there asked me what I was planning for him...I guess I caught you all off guard. Look how grown up and handsome and normal he is in this latest photo shoot....

Happy Easter...from little man Trevor.

Trevor's Horrible Terrible Very Bad WEEK

Well...it has been a very very very long week. Trevor was not getting any better. Thursday night was a total nightmare...asleep at 7pm, awake at 11pm, awake at 1.30am, awake at 4am...and not just awake...SCREAMING awake...you would have thought someone was trying to kill him...

So, Friday morning bright and early, I called the doctor again. I didn't want this to go through the weekend and get really bad and have that lead to a trip to the ER. So into the office we go. His ears - fine. Unfortunately, he had developed a very bad chest cold. Running nose like a faucet...cough like he had been smoking for 20 years...the restlessness and lack of sleep catching up to all of us....

So, we got new meds and by Saturday he was his old self again...cheery, smiling and cuddly...but AUGH! what a week.

Trevor's Horrible Terrible Very BAD Day

Well....we thought that Trevor would be feeling much better due to the meds that the doctor gave us...but it just seemed to not do too much. He was still pulling on the ears, not eating normally, runny nose, really cranky, clumbsy and irritable...and now had developed a cough. We kept our eyes peeled and a running track of symptoms in our heads.

While we were playing on the carpet, I noticed that the front of Trevor's hair did not get any attention yesterday at the salon. Christiana accomplished what she could do, but is bangs needed some cutting as it was hanging in his eyes. While he was fixated on JoJo's Circus, I grabbed my sewing scissors and started to do some trimming of my own. Sure, it's not perfect, and maybe not even any good, but at least now his hair is out of his eyes and looks a bit neater. We'll deal with the "styling" of hair later on.

Right now, we are just hoping that Trevor is on the mend and our nights get back to normal.

Trevor's Horrible Terrible Very Busy Day

So...on Trevor's 9 month anniversary of his birth, he got his hair cut. I was worried about his mood that morning, because we had a killer of an evening before. He was stuffed up, pulling on his ears, crying and crying and crying. Terry and I consulted the baby book and decided that after his hair cut we needed to take him in to the doctor's as we suspected he had an ear infection. At least, according to the book, that was what he had been acting like.

So...the morning was just great...out of bed in a good mood...had a good breakfast (although he wasn't too thrilled with his bottle) and we headed over to Sven's.

As they had just opened up, Trevor had all of our attention. Fortunately, Trevor, the ladies man, loved Christiana...super! She sized the situation up and we were all prepared - a teething biscuit, a bottle of juice, a jar of fruit, all his favorites - to bribe him into cooperation.

It worked initially, the bribes and such, but once she got going with the comb and the scissors nearing...Trevor wasn't so thrilled. He'd pull his head away. Okay, so we managed to make it work for a while, but then came the tears...

Sven and Christiana both agreed that they would stop, since continuing "would traumatize him and he won't want to come back." Good enough logic for me. She had managed to clear away the stray curls on the sides and got some of the top back cleaned up. We could deal with this.

After the hair cutting, it was time to go home for a nap and lunch and then off to the doctors. Trevor was still in good spirits, but had a very runny nose and kept pulling on his ears. She took a look and said the right was a bit red, but nothing too serious. She gave us a couple prescriptions and were told to keep an eye on him. If things seemed to be getting worse, we were to come back in. Cool.

So...armed with meds, we were good to go. Trevor was starting to get antsy at this point, maybe even a bit cranky. We got him home, gave him some meds, a nap and all was well in the world. For the moment.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Trevor's First Hair Cut