Big Beezy

I had just put Peyton down for the night.  It is much later than she normally sleeps, but we turned off the lights and let her roll around.  Dave was in the kitchen, and I was on the computer.  Suddenly, I heard this high-pitched  but muffled scream.  I went over to the crib, and she was face down in the crib, with her arms under her.  Normally, this is how she will sleep, but she was crying.  I picked her up, and she started crying even louder, with tears streaming down her cheeks.  Dave came in to ask what happened, since he had heard the cry also.  I’m not sure, but either she scared herself somehow or was suffocating in the facedown position.  Man, that was a little scary.  She’s happy now, but only because she’s watching me type now.

This year for the 4th, we decided to hang around home.  I was wondering where we were going to watch fireworks, then remembered Brandon isn’t so much a fan.  He chimed in and said, “Mostly, I don’t like the loud fireworks.  They hurt my ears.”
We’re supposed to go to a BBQ tomorrow.
Today, we went bowling with the Chang’s and the Brown’s.  Actually, only three-quarters of our family went, since Dave was working.  He gets Monday off instead.  So, I got lots of help from the other families to coordinate the two kids.  Peyton was a little scared of the Chang’s when we first got to the bowling alley, but when she realized they weren’t going to bite, she was okay.  Brandon and I went to go get shoes and just for kicks I asked if they had his size.  They did!  He was outfitted with his own shoes.  They even matched his shirt, which was the closest he had to a bowling shirt.  After only bowling 2 frames, Brandon wanted to sit out.   I realized it was because he was more interested in Logan’s toys.  Brandon tried to give Logan a hug, but Logan would have none of that, and promptly shook his head in disapproval.  It was good for Brandon to learn that not everyone would like one of his hugs.  The two friends did have a great time on the blanket that Bonnie had brought.  It was perfect.  Once we got rid of the bumpers, we were able to have a real game.  Otherwise, the first game of Brandon’s was a tainted score.  Peyton fell asleep after being passed around to whomever was not up to bowl.   As soon as we put her in the stroller, she was out.  Brandon wanted to start bowling after he had his fill of Logan’s cars.  Only problem was that it was in the middle of my game.  So we played another game to let him try the bowling contraption that helped steer the ball.  It’s like a ramp for the ball to go down.  Towards the end, Brandon was getting a little restless, so it was time to head out.  We went home, had a quick lunch, and everyone went down for a nap.  Well, Peyton must have fallen asleep at some point in the crib, because she was still up when I laid down for a nap.  I had fed her and changed her and then left her to her own devices because I was pooped.  The only time I can take a nap is when Brandon is napping.  He ended up sleeping for over 2 hours!  Dave had come home in the meantime to a quiet, sleeping family.  All and all, a great way to start the weekend.  I didn’t really take any other pictures than in the beginning, but here they are:

Peyton is 6 months old today and
-Sleeping through the night
-Eating cereal, peas and carrots
-Rolling around to get to what she wants
-Props up on all fours and rocks, attempting to crawl
-Can almost sit up by herself, still supports herself with one arm
-Laughing and “talking” to us
-Happier around strangers
-Loves her crib
-Grabs at toys and swings them around
-One tooth is coming out on the bottom

We’ve moved on to carrots!  Peas went over pretty well.  Peyton finished the last half of the jar today, and she still was grunting, thrusting her neck forward, trying to attack the spoon.  I only had a jar of carrrots, so voila, we went with that.  So far, Peyton’s never met a food she doesn’t like!  She licked that up and was satisfied.  Have to plan the rest of the menu for later this week.  The plan is to stick with jarred foods for a couple of months, then grind up my own stuff after I know she’s ok with most of it.

So I read on the Chang’s blog that they had an unwelcomed visitor show up in their laundry room.  Today, I was giving Brandon a bath.  I had just lifted him out of the tub, and he was facing towards the toilet.  Suddenly, he tapped me on the shoulder, and after I turned my head, he pointed at this creature walking around the rim of his potty seat.  I screamed.  I screamed, and I screamed, and I screamed.  Dave came in running.  Brandon didn’t make a peep, then when Dave came in, he started whining.  We both pointed to the thing, and then I picked Brandon up and left.  I think I got a little scared because of Dave’s face.  Luckily the lobster, I mean cockroach, was near the toilet.  Nothing a couple of flushes wouldn’t take care of.  Hopefully that was the scout and we won’t be seeing any more of his kind around here.

I didn’t know when Peyton’s last meal had been, but I fed her some peas and cereal.  She was kicking her legs and grunting each time I put the spoon down to scoop some more.  She lunged for the cereal with each spoonful.  She gulped up that which I had prepared, so I decided to go make her some more.  She has improved since starting peas last Thursday.  She started by about a 50% accuracy; today she’s about 90% accurate, with only a few spoonfuls around her face.  With the second bowlful of peas and cereal, she started to slow down.  Eventually, with just about a spoonful left, she stopped and gave a big sigh.  It was our turn to eat, so I left her in the chair.  I was afraid if I moved her, stuff would come up.  So I let her hang in the chair, in a semi-reclined position, a la Al Bundy minus the hand in the crotch.  She sat in the high chair for about 20 minutes zoning out, watching us eat. 

The other day, Brandon passed by Peyton’s crib while she was in it, and looked in adnd said, “I love you, squirmy thing.”  Waaay better than sticking his grubby hands in the crib and giving her a squeeze.
Yesterday, on our way to find something to eat for dinner, Brandon started laughing out loud in the backseat.  We realized that he was trying to make Peyton laugh.  Only Peyton wasn’t having it at that moment.  She started to cry.  He didn’t get that she was upset with him, and laughed even louder.  This scared her and she started crying some more.  Dave was chuckling, and so was I.  It was just a preview of something along the lines that we can expect in a few more years.  Peyton: “Mom, Brandon’s looking at me.” Brandon: “No I’m not.” Peyton: “Moooom!”  Haha…just like when I was younger with my brother

I have vowed to always answer Brandon’s questions up front.  It’s a game I play (although he doesn’t know it) - so that I don’t end up with “because I said so” or “I don’t know” and to satisfy his quest for knowledge.  Today, he asked me a tough question - why he couldn’t go to school, after being asked to leave on Tuesday for misbehavior.  He has been spending the last two days with my mom and Peyton.  When it first happened, I felt comfortable telling him he couldn’t go to school because of what he had done.  But three days’ out, it no longer makes sense to me.  So I answered, “Because.”  He looked at me and said, “Because is not an answer, Mommy.”  Maybe he is too smart for the junior teachers at school.

We had a work dinner tonight which meant Dave had “Daddy duty”.  He even ventured out on a walk to dinner (braver than I am, that’s for sure).  He pushed the two of them to dinner and said he got lots of looks from the other restaurant patrons.  He said one lady in particular kept her eye on him, watching him take care of the two of them.  He fed Peyton, while helping Brandon with his food.  Mighty impressive.  When I got home, as soon as I turned the key in the door, Brandon let me know he was still awake.  “Mommy, can I have a hug?”  I rushed in to give him a hug; my arms were cool from being outside.  Brandon was toasty, and as I gave him a hug, he was warming me up, while I cooled him down.  Peyton was also up, waiting for her last feeding.  As I was feeding her, Dave brought me Brandon’s fortune.  He said he told Brandon to put it in his pocket to take home, but he dropped part of his cookie on the floor trying to do so.  He gave Dave a sad face, but Dave shared part of his cookie with him.  This is Brandon’s fortune: “You will bring sunshine into someone’s life.”  I think he does that every time he smiles

In all of Brandon’s feisty-ness, we’ve found somewhat of a silver lining tonight.  Dave started Brandon’s bath, then started doing his own errands in the bathroom by cleaning the toilet.  Later, he moved to another room and left a playful Brandon in the tub.  (Gasp, I know, never leave a kid in the tub by himself.)  Luckily, our place is small, and I can hear his noise.  When it was too quiet, I’d shout out, “Brandon.”  To which he’d respond, “Huh, Mommy?”  After 5-6 times of me calling his name (because he was too quiet), he asked, “Why are you calling me?”  I told him I just wanted to be sure he was ok.   “Mommy, I’m ok.”  Dave and I were talking, and Dave said we should just leave him alone and let him play.  Usually we rush through a bath to get him to bed.  So, play he did.  Finally, Dave told Brandon he had one more minute.  Then Dave told him that he needed to keep the water in the tub.  Brandon said, “Yes, I will do that.”  This is something we have not heard in about 3 weeks.  No snide teenager remark, no tantrums, nothing.  It’s like music to our ears.  As we were savoring the moment, Brandon said, “Daddy, are you coming to get me?  I think it’s been a minute.”  And now they are quietly reading together.  Is it possible that peace has been restored?