Meltdown Mode

Shortly after I gave birth to Bear, Bubba started throwing lots of fits. My 85 year old neighbor told me that he was likely jealous that a lot of time, attention and focus was on his new brother. She advised me to not acknowledge or look at him when he starts to whine and throw a fit. I tried doing what she told me to do, it was hard for both of us. Bubba threw his toys at me while I was nursing his brother and I didn't acknowledge it. After about a day he realized that he wouldn't get attention by acting out and he stopped having meltdowns.

About a week or so ago the meltdowns began happening again, currently their are about 1-3 a day. I attribute these meltdowns largely to the fact that he is 2 1/2, testing his limits and at times jealous that all of the attention isn't on him.

Earlier this week while at story time Bubba had the biggest meltdown of his life. I'm praying he never has another one of this magnitude again. Most of the families at story time had already left. Two friends of mine from church were the only other people in the building.

I had just finished telling my friends about Bubba having meltdowns after Bear was born and what I did about it. Moments later Bubba started to get really frustrated with a toy, the toy was well loved and not working the way he wanted it to. I asked him to put it away so we could go home. He didn't listen and was quickly becoming more frustrated with the toy. When he handed me the toy for what was likely the 15th time to fix it, I opted to put it away instead of fixing it again. He flipped out. He fell to the floor in hysteria. He was kicking and screaming, he smacked his head into one of the bookshelves and then repeatedly hit his head on the floor (cement floor with a thin office carpet). He paused briefly walked over to where I was at this Bear and resumed his fit. It was then that I noticed the blood on his face. One of my friends took Bear while I tried to calm Bubba down enough to see where the blood was coming from-- his nose. This was the first bloody nose he has ever had and it took quite a bit to get it to stop. Not only did he get a bloody nose, he bruised his nose too.

I'm really glad Bubba was okay and that nobody else was there to witness the scene. One of my friends told me that I'm a good mom. She was impressed by how calm I was through the whole thing. She said she would have been yelling at her kids if they did that.

Being a mom can be rough at times but it is so rewarding. Tantrums and all I love my boys!

Bear At 4 Months

It is hard to believe that you are four months old already, Bear. For the most part you are a very chill baby. Up until a few weeks ago you HATED car rides and would cry almost the entire time we were in the car. I think you are finally getting used to the car and for the most part you are calm. You don't cry very much, usually it's if your tired, hungry or have a dirty diaper-- you know, the normal baby stuff.

Our photos started like this.

At four months old you are wearing size two diapers and twelve month clothes. Yep, you read that right twelve month clothes.

A darling Bubba wanted his photos taken too.

Sleep is hit and miss right now.

And then this happened...

You can roll on to your side, you have a great laugh and have recently discovered your hands and feet. You like to put your hands and feet in your mouth.

So we took some more photos without the belly badge.

To celebrate reaching four months old, we tried feeding you peas. You liked the peas you just weren't sure what to do with a spoon in your month.

We love you so much Bear and are glad you're part of our family!

A Field Trip To The Fire Station

Bubba currently loves all things trucks, tractors, cars and 4-wheelers. A few weeks ago I picked up a couple of books for him at a local consignment sale. One book is about trucks and the other book is about fire trucks and it has flaps that you can lift. We have read those two books nearly everyday, multiple times a day since I brought them home.

Recently my friend Jodie, who is a fire fighter at one of the nearby fire stations, suggested that I bring Bubba down to the fire station to see the fire trucks. I jumped at the invitation and today we went to the fire station.

When I was a little girl my grandpa worked as a fire fighter. When we would go visit my grandparents we would often make a special trip to the fire station to visit Grandpa. I have fond memories of touring the fire stations, climbing in the fire trucks, turning on the lights and sirens and honking the horn. Words can't explain how excited I was for Bubba to see a fire truck up close.

All morning I kept telling Bubba that we were going to go see fire trucks, but I'm not sure that he understood what I meant. When we arrived at the fire station he became shy and buried his face in between my butt cheeks-- I'm not sure why he does that, but he does.

Jodie took us out to see the fire trucks. Bubba refused to touch or put on her helmet. After a little coaxing I was able to get him to stand inside one of the trucks. And then he found an orange cone and that cone was the focus of his attention most of our visit.

Several of the other fire fighters came out to say hi. They showed Bubba the different compartments on the outside of the trucks, he enjoyed looking inside each one. They even put their masks on for him and he didn't bat an eye.

We'll have to take him back to the fire station again when he is a little older. I'm crossing my fingers that he will enjoy it more as he gets older. Thanks for letting us come and visit Jodie!

While Bubba was down for his nap today Bear was awake. I couldn't help but snap some photos of him. Enjoy!

Cute little baby feet! I love his little grin in this photo!

I really feel blessed to have these two sweet little boys in my life.