Only Child Syndrome

I'm beginning to think that O&O suffer from only child syndrome, although slightly different than those children out there that are actually an only-child.  Here's how.

Olivia would like to be an only child.  Her nap today was a little late, so when she was happy at regular 7:30 bedtime, I put Owen to bed and let her stay up.  She was the happiest baby ever.  She loved on me and Mimi, she explored the play room, she played with all of the toys (without them being taken away by brother!).  I have always thought this is also why she gets up first in the mornings.  She likes the cuddle time. 

Owen thinks he is an only child. To him, Olivia is just another prop.  Today, apparently, he used a block as a hammer and beat her on the head.  Why, you ask?  Because Owen likes to beat things with blocks.  Owen crawls over Olivia like she is just another toy in his way.  Owen rarely sits still, so cuddle time is not an objective of his.

Now, don't get me wrong - they interact with each other, and laugh when the other one laughs, and cry when the other one cries.  I hope someday they will be best friends.  But, clearly, they don't understand the relationship just yet!

Happy weekend everyone!  We are looking forward to a calm one at home.

Long weekend

We had a long weekend, but not just because it was president's day.  We road tripped down to Oklahoma City to attend a funeral for my uncle Tim.  He passed away on Thursday.  I know it was for the wrong reason, but it was good to see all the Schmidts again.  I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed seeing the twins, other than possibly the family that had the room next to ours.  O&O didn't exactly adjust well to life on the road. It's hard for them to know it's time to go to sleep when there is still so much going on in the one room we all share.  I guess we'll have to get a suite next time so they have their own room that can stay quiet and dark so they know it's time to sleep.  Or we could all just sleep 14 hours a day. I know Lindsay could probably pull it off, I would probably go insane from too much sleep. To top the weekend off, they cried the last 90 minutes of the trip, and Owen threw up all over about a mile from home. I guess this is what parenting is all about.

Before bedtime

We had a pretty good, warm weekend. Olivia had kind of a rough day on Sunday, but that's because Owen tried to rip her face off.  Literally he grabbed her nose and started pulling.  We're working on nice touches.  Olivia will now crawl a few feet at a time.  It's nice that she's wading into it slowly, gives us more time to prepare to chase two of them down all the time.  Owen is chatting syllables nonstop.  We babble back and he loves it.  

This weekend I was supposed to be figuring out how to use our new cameras and laptops at work.  The camera part I've got down, but the laptop doesn't work, so I can't post any of the video I shot.  I hope to have some high quality stuff up here before too long, so keep looking for that.  

Have a good week, here are some pictures.  

This is the kind of shenanigans that usually goes on before bedtime.  Owen is mid-babble here, not angry, just looks that way.  Olivia enjoys it.

The other side

Seriously?

More babbling

Two kind of smiles.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

We traded babies for basketball tickets today!  Yea, what a deal?!  My parents gave us tickets to the KU-ISU game, and they watched the babies.  We had a great time, even if it was a blowout.  And it seems like Owen, Olivia, Mimi and Papa had a great time as well.

It's been impossible to get both babies to sit still in a picture lately, but here they are in their game day gear!

If you look closely, you'll see Owen's first tooth.

Sleep Training Mom and Dad

Olivia quit sleeping through the night months ago - sometime before thanksgiving.  She wakes up, takes a full bottle, and goes straight back to sleep.  The Pedatician said that as long as she takes a full bottle, then she's probably hungry and we can keep feeding her.  But, she also pointed out that she's eating plenty, and she doesn't need the nutrition. 

Last Tuesday, she woke up 3 times and took 3 bottles.  We'd had enough.  She does not need to eat every 3 hours!  So Wednesday night, we settled in for a long few nights of sleep training.  She woke up for the first time at 10:30 that night.  I went in every 5 minutes, told her I loved her and gave her a binkie and a pat on the back.  Then I left the room.  I did that for an hour and a half until she finally fell asleep and went to bed thinking there is no way I could do that the next time she woke up, or I'd never make it to work the next morning!  She slept the rest of the night without a sound. 

And she slept the 5 nights after that.  Occasionally I hear her wake up, but she goes back to sleep within minutes.  So it seems to me that we were the problem and not her!?  Could she have been sleeping all night this entire time?  We'll never know.  But what we know now is that we've had 5 nights of 10 hours of sleep from Olivia (with a few wakeups from Owen - but he's teething, and he rarely ever wakes in the night). 

I hope I didn't jinx it by blogging!  We are loving our sleep again!

Bathtime Giggles

Bath time from Justin Schmidt on Vimeo.

2011: Year of the Baby

But not for us!

On January 10th, this little one arrived to my best friend Ryan!  Can't wait to eventually meet Caroline Theresa Kokemor.

On April 27th, Mini Manners is expected!  We can't wait to meet our new nephew.  Stay tuned for pictures from Erica's baby shower in a few weeks,

And on September 4th, Miss Lola Bakalar will get a little brother or sister! We found out last month when Lola wore an adorable Big Sisters Rock t-shirt to Sunday family dinner. Here are the 3 kids watching Baby Einstein that day.


Jan. 2011 from Sandra Kokoruda on Vimeo.

I am sure that is just the beginning!  Justin's cousins Megan and Andrew Shoaf also have a little one on the way, and so do my cousins Patrick and Susana Kokoruda!  I am sure we will have many more pregnancies pop up for friends and family this year as well. 

Owen and Olivia are looking forward to all of the new friends!

Naps, part 2

They actually slept until about 4:45. So, at least that was good! Here are some pictures from our snow day! According to weather.com, we have 13-14 inches!

I am sorry to say that most of these pictures were taken right after dinner, when apparently my kids are covered in food. Awesome, right? But who wouldn't want to be stuck at home with these 2 cuties?

Naps

In the midst of a blizzard here. Justin is off at work (probably for 24 hours!). I am lucky to be able to work from home. That would be much easier if the babies napped better. Here's how it went today:

2:00 Bottles for both
2:05 Olivia takes 3 oz, too tired to eat, goes to sleep
2:10 Owen goes to bed and plays
2:15 Olivia hungry, takes 3 oz, goes to sleep
3:00 Owen still playing in bed, I've heard his crib tv start at least 5 times
3:00 I change Owen's diaper, he finishes his bottle, fakes sleep for a few minutes, then turns on his crib tv
3:10 Olivia hungry, takes 3 oz, goes to sleep (see a pattern?)
3:20 Owen quiet. I don't dare go check to see if he's asleep!

Clearly, I need to force feed Olivia a giant bottle in order for her to nap. Any suggestions for a very playful active boy?

I'll update later with the actual length of naps!