Thursday, February 26, 2009

Can you see it coming?



















Dorian is definitely a toddler.

Dori's World Continued...

We have been so interested in making everything in our house accessible for Dorian. We've been reading books on Montessori methods and have been incredibly inspired. We went to Ikea last week-end and bought a couple new items of furniture for Dori. We also hung up pictures in his room at his level. James bought a little light that attaches to the wall by Dori's bed - he can turn it on and off himself. He has also learned how to turn the lamp in his room on and off. He is so clever. Have a look at his re-arranged room...





And his new kitchen table and chair - gone is the highchair! The cardboard underneath is temporary; we want to get one of those plastic floor covers to go under his table (anyone know where to buy one?)
A few bonus pictures of the cutie feeding himself!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

So cute!!!!!!! We have been closing the door to Dorian's bedroom and letting him put himself to sleep for naps and bedtime. It is getting easier and easier...less crying...less time to get to sleep. Tonight he cried for a couple minutes, then we just heard his music box. I went in about 15 minutes later to check on him and cover him with his blanket. He was asleep on his bed with "Goodnight Moon" open and his arm around it. It was so sweet!!!! He loves reading. It was just so adorable to think he pulled his favorite book off his shelf and read himself to sleep (and then cuddled it).

God I love that boy!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Sick AGAIN?!

Poor kid. He is sick again. Kids really are germ bags/sponges. They get everything! He has a fever of 101, nasty, productive cough and swollen sinuses. He is also very cuddly at the moment. It is sweet and sad at the same time.

Not to be selfish but I really hope James and I don't catch this one. I have 1 month left to complete my two classes and have already missed close to 1/3 of the days I've been scheduled to work at the accounting firm. James is stressing left, right and center on all the various projects he has to complete for websites, Tempest, computer issues at the complex and teaching lessons in addition to caring for Dorian when I'm at work/studying/unavailable. He has been working nonstop for the past 4 days and I wish he would take a break already. It's not a good time for us to get sick again! Lots of hand washing. Lots of zinc. Lots of praying...or something like that.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Dorian's World

It's been awhile since I posted pictures of Dorian's "things." I bought some lovely African things for his room in London at Camden Market. We bought a lot of new items for him at the White Elephant Sale last month. You may recall we bought most of our baby items there last year. It's this awesome sale the Oakland Museum puts on every year - incredible secondhand items for dirt cheap. This year's finds for Dorian included:

wooden table & chair
easle/chalkboard
legos
art supplies
magnets for the fridge
wooden ABC tool & math tool
books, lots of books
potty training toilet (we plan to train him in May when James returns from tour, right before I hopefully start school and when Dori is 18 months old)

We moved his room around when we returned from England. We broke down the crib and he now sleeps on the mattress on the floor. We put up the tent set his Nanna and Granta bought him for Christmas. We made sure everything was at this level. The whole room is completely safe for him. Actually, the whole house is. We were inspired by our friends Kate and Nathalie who did the same for their children (it's the Montessori way), so we've pretty much had it completely safe for him since he started crawling around.

We have started "locking" him in his room for naps and nighttime (only done this at night tonight). We're trying to get him to fall asleep on his own in his room. He now naps for 3 hours in his room! He sometimes plays a bit first, and turns his music machine on and off quite frequently. We're going to buy him his own little CD/radio player soon so he can learn how to use a real one. He loves music so much. He does cry himself to sleep quite often, but he can do it. Today for his nap, he fell asleep curled up in a ball by the door. It was very sweet. But tonight, he managed to get himself into his bed! He cried for almost an hour and was at the door for much of that hour, but he got into bed to sleep!!! He is getting so much better at sleeping! We're going to be there really soon. And his development has been amazing the past month. He is so grown-up.

Have a look at his world (the tidiness is not just me - he does put his books, crayons and blocks away and we're working on the rest).










A trip around his room...








Dori currently loves...

Feeding himself with utensils.
Drawing.
Sitting at his new (secondhand - $8!) table - he can even get on to and out of the chair himself, even though it's still a bit big for him.
Playing in his new playhouse - it was a team effort. Kelly brought the box home from work; James cut out the door and windows. We plan to help Dorian decorate it next week-end.
Bye for now, folks!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Fabulous Day

Dorian slept wonderfully last night! Down at 7pm - even put himself to sleep. I lay next to him but he didn't need cuddles or anything. He just slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep. He slept until around 12 or so, then came out of his room and climbed into bed with me. Okay, I had to pull him up into bed but he's so close to being able to climbing in...then I won't need to wake up at all during the night. He fell right back asleep as soon as he got into bed with us. Then he slept straight through until just before 6am. A little early, but we'll take it!

I let James sleep in this morning and fed Dori breakfast and played with him for about an hour. As soon as there was a break in the heavy rain we've been having, I took Dorian on a very long walk and to two sessions of Gymboree. By the time we returned home, it was lunchtime. The three of us ate together which was nice - we haven't been able to do much of this lately. Dori's lunch was followed by an unusual midday bath - he insists on feeding himself right now, which we think is a very good thing, but it does mean mealtimes are very, VERY messy. He got chocolate ice cream EVERYWHERE. Yes, even there. I don't know how he managed to do it. After his bath, James got him down for his nap and he slept for THREE hours, uninterrupted!!!! Maybe we should do a bath before nap time every day? Nah, it was more likely the previous night's sleep (remember, sleep begets sleep!)

Then we took him to our friend Renee's house so she could watch him while James and I interviewed at a preschool from 4:30-6:30 (more on that another time). Apparently, Dori was great. The other toddler, Rowan, wasn't too happy with Dori trying to play with all his toys but Dor was a champ and took the bullying like a pro. Then we came home, fed him dinner, and James put him to bed so I could try to get a bit of schoolwork done today. It took longer this evening. James said Dori kept being close to falling asleep so he would get up to leave the bedroom and would find Dorian just behind him, practically sleepwalking (or "sleep following") him. He did this a few times before finally Dori stayed asleep in his bed around 8pm. Fingers crossed! We seem to be having more good nights than bad now (last night was definitely the best yet).

I had the best day with Dorian because I was rested and he was rested. I love days like these. Love them! I feel renewed. I love being a mom! Boy, motherhood brings out the bipolar streak, doesn't it?

Just look at our happy, rested, little chocolate-loving guy (what's not to love?):