Love of Books

I love finding my children like this...
I'm usually a little jealous that I'm not doing the same!:)

Auntie Heather's Visit

We always have some much fun when Heather comes to town! Heather and I were able to get away for a whole day of shopping kid-free! But the kids are pretty convinced that the reason for her trip up is them!:) I try not to leave all the entertaining to her, but my children make it clear they don't want me! And I admit that having the focus shifted off me for awhile is awful nice!

Reading Together

Love Caedmon's arm around Carys

Auntie Heather's Visit

Heather came up on a Friday evening and left Sunday night, so it was a quick visit, but we packed a lot in!

Heather is my shopping buddy...we're actually bad for each other. I was in the mood to shop and since I'd just received my first paycheck and with starting my Moka job soon, I needed some new clothes. Now, I've made do with what I have and I'm always fully clothed.:) But I haven't had a job that I've needed to look presentable for in a long time and I haven't bought new clothes since before my kids...and bodies change after children. :)

Corey wasn't able to watch the children, so we braved shopping with BOTH of them! It went fairly well, with a couple melt downs by Carys. Caedmon was, for the most part, happy to tag along with Heather, playing hide and seek in Goodwill and hanging out in the dressing rooms with her in Kohls. He especially enjoyed the mall with the carousel and playground.

We left shortly after 9am and didn't get home till 4pm. It was definitely a long day, but fun!

There is always time for a book!
Caedmon was being especially cuddly.

Start 'Em Early

So far Carys enjoys the taste of books more than anything, but hopefully she'll have a love for reading like her brother and parents do!:)

An Introduction to Books

We finally gave Carys a cloth book the other day when she was losing it because she wanted the book Caedmon and I were reading. I didn't think that started this early! But she's the second child and I can already tell she's going to be a handful to keep up with as she tries to keep up with her big brother!

When I found Caedmon's first picture with a book, I realized we gave a book to him a lot earlier. Oops. I've just started giving her toys to play with as well. You'd think I'd be more on top of things this time around...guess not.

wow, look at this cool thing!

this is great mom!

Truth be told, I think she's more interested in putting it in her mouth!

Caedmon was just over 2 months old
when first introduced, thanks to Aunt Lori!:)
He loved looking at the pictures!

Spending Time with Daddy

Carys now enjoys "reading" along with Caedmon, but Caedmon isn't so sure about this little intrusion. She seems to find more amusement out of grabbing at and eating the book than listening to the story being read.:)

Quality Time

More Gifts:)

Our sweet friends at the Moka sent home gifts for our children! The Giving Tree for Caedmon and Belly Button Book for Carys. They're both great books and Caedmon enjoyed the time spent with dad.

I love what they wrote in the front of the book for Caedmon:

"Always take care of your sister like the tree takes care of the boy"

Entertaining Himself

Auntie Keesha's in Town

Family Visiting

Corey's brother is in the Navy and hasn't been home for 2 1/2 years. He finally got some time off and came up from SC this week. But he's up at the parents, so they all came over to visit yesterday since I'm not traveling these days. Caedmon took awhile to warm up to all the people here, especially since they arrived while he was taking his nap.

He warmed up to Anthony's girlfriend pretty quickly, asking her for "up," and taking her books to read to him. Anthony was pretty jealous, but he finally got Caedmon to play and read with him as well. :)

We enjoyed the time spent with all - it was especially nice that Anthony was able to spend the night when they decided to use our car for the next few days.

Caedmon found someone to hold him.:)

We found out that Nanna has the entire Cat in the Hat memorized!

Anthony finally found a book to lure Caedmon over - he could care less about the book as a whole, but there's a fish on just about every page and he's obsessed with fish right now!:)

A New Way to Read Together

I guess it's great fun to sit on Dada!:)

=

Monday Fun

Corey has the day off on Monday and we had a friend up visiting, so we decided to take off to Petoskey for the morning/early afternoon.

It was lovely! I love hanging out in coffee shops and bookstores! Granted, it's not quite like it used to be, as I try to keep track of my son...but still a good time!:)

Contemplating his next move...:)

walking to the coffee shop and lunch
sitting in a chair like a big boy

enjoying a smoothie with mama and dada
(no, that's not coffee in front of him)

Caedmon and Church:)

Our church is in the very beginning stages of starting up and therefore we have no nursery. The first couple Sundays after moving up here, I spent my time trying to hold Caedmon and keep him happy, which lasted about half of the service. Then I had to take him out. It was so frustrating! I kept thinking that going to church was pointless if I had to spend the majority of my time in the basement with my son.

I finally had this great idea - lock Caedmon into the row with chairs on either end and bring books and toys for him to play with. It worked great! He didn't mind the limitation as long as he didn't have to sit in my lap for the duration. It has worked out great for us! A little while ago, another family started attending and left their young sons at home for the first few weeks they attended. The first week they brought their sons, a lady in our congregation ran downstairs and brought up a kids' picnic table with coloring books and puzzles and placed it in the back for them.

I love that this family feels comfortable coming with their sons and no one stresses over the little noise that's made!

One of the little boys enjoys coming over to our row and hanging out with Caedmon. I captured one of these sweet moments.

A Car Ride

Caedmon has become worse at riding in the car. He doesn't go to sleep unless it's nap time and I think he gets bored, so he fusses at us a lot of the time.:/ We were on our way to Gaylord this night and he wasn't too happy about it. The book only last so long.

Looking thrilled...

Boy, the book doesn't even look exciting!

Reading With Dada

Caedmon has always loved his books, but would only sit through a very select through when we read to him. Lately though, he's been bringing books to us to read to him, and sitting through the whole thing...for the most part.:)

Good Books

I've been meaning to post about a couple of good books recommended to me. Here's what I've gotten out of them.

1) Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo

Thanks to Koryn, who recommended this book on a past post. I already had this book, but hadn't read it.
I think it has good ideas, but over the past week or so, I've stopped stressing about not parenting exactly like they suggest. I think there are definitely good and wise principals to follow, but every family is different and I think there must always be some flexibility for what works best for you.
The author's advice for a good night's sleep revolves around a fairly strict daily routine of feedings. Everyday, feedings are supposed to happen about the same time. I think routine is good for the baby, and we do have a skeleton routine, but everyday is a little bit different according to when he first gets up and what's going on in the day. I thought perhaps if we didn't buckle down and become real strict with the times of his feeding, we wouldn't get results at night. But I've calmed down. I think consistency is the key.


2) Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron

This book is wonderful if you want to make your own baby food and if you're in to nutrition. It's a wonderful reference book! The author assumes you know nothing about cooking and gives much detail about how to cook all kinds of foods. It's cheaper and healthier. She claims her children have never once been sick eating her "super baby food diet." Her kids complain about never getting to stay home from school like other kids 'cause they never get sick, so every once in a while, they play hooky.:)
I'm not sure I'll follow every ingredient suggestion for a meal, such as wheat germ, brewer's yeast, kale... but it's been a great reference for when to feed what and how to make and freeze the food.

I haven't finished reading either book, but continue to pick up both as references.

Reading in the Bathtub