The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

So, Aiden is still sleeping in his crib.  He hadn’t even attempted to climb out of it before Lucas was born and a lot of the things that I have read mention waiting until they are almost three (or climbing out of their crib) before it is necessary to transition to a toddler bed.   Well, Aiden has been climbing into his crib with the side down for about two months now and then last week he got in and out with the side down and back in with the side up.  I just kept wishing and hoping that he wouldn’t attempt climbing out for a bit longer (like maybe not until Lucas is sleeping through the night).  Well, unfortunately I did not get my wish because I put Aiden in his crib with the side up to have him “cool down” a bit and not two mins. later he comes waltzing out of his room looking very smug and proud of himself.  AGH!!!!  The side will likely come off of his crib tomorrow and we will turn it into a toddler bed.  I think I may just get a few gray hairs and go insane with all these changes coming so quickly.

So, I will try and make this quick as there are likely many things that I did in my childhood that Aiden is now doing but I would like to sight two examples at this time.  The first is licking EVERYTHING.  Honestly, I went through a phase where I licked people.  Yes, it is true (and while we are being honest, it was not in my early years but in my high school years and only those closest to me (family and friends) got to be on the receiving end of this little quirk of mine).  Thankfully I have grown out of it.  But I did not lick everything just certain people like I mentioned before.  Anyway, before Aiden was born Brandon mentioned that he would be upset if our son licked him and especially if I taught him to do so.  Imagine our surprise when Aiden started to lick us, unprompted and without any example from us.  It’s hard to be upset about something that simply occurred because of personality.  In fact, all I can do is shake my head and think about how there is no way to fathom the crazy ideas your children will come up with before (and while) you are a parent.

Anyway, the second thing is that this morning Brandon had his flip flops on so his toes were exposed.  Next thing he knows Aiden is laying on the floor on his belly and PULLING on the hairs on Brandon’s toes.  It was all I could do not to laugh right out loud.  As I was telling this story to my mom I mentioned how I had NEVER pulled on anyones toes hairs as a child (we had been talking about how I had gotten the child I deserved) and she said reminded me that one day when she was napping I toddled over (I was probably three) and pulled open her eye by the eyelashes saying, “Hello?  You awake?”  LOL.  I guess we are more alike then I realize.  I can only imagine what things Lucas and Aiden will come up with together.  Oh dear.

This morning when Brandon got Aiden out of his crib, Aiden pointed over to Lucas (who was asleep in his crib) and declared, “That’s my brother, I love my brother.”  Lucas will have no shortage of love coming his way.  🙂  I adore my boys.

Tonight Lucas was upset and I set him on the couch to grab something.  He had spit his binky out so Aiden went over and when I came back he was trying to put it back in Lucas’ mouth.  It made me smile to see that he was watching out for his brother.

Ahh so last week…It was our transition week.  This means that Brandon had training for the change from inbound calls to mostly outbound calls.  It also means that his schedule was noon-8:30 for five days and not what we had been used to nor was it his new schedule.  I was a bit apprehensive at the start of the week but we muddled through.  I am a little nervous about Brandon’s new schedule (3:30 p.m. to midnight) but I am sure that once we get the swing of things it will actually be semi decent.  I keep reminding myself that it means I will only be on my own with the kidlets for 6 waking hours of the day.  This is much less daunting the the 10-11 that I had been doing.  I am sad that Brandon won’t be here to help put the little ones to bed but we have at least sort of transitioned how we do things so that we don’t miss out on things like family prayer.  Learning to juggle two kids is definitely a challenge but I think we are getting the hang of it as a couple and also on our own when the other isn’t home.

On Monday and several other times this week, I have let Aiden have water play time at the sink.  He really likes it.  He prefers that I leave the water running but that wastes a lot of water so I only do that on occasion.

Tuesday our upstairs neighbors were back from their trip so Aiden was able to spend some time outside with the girls upstairs.  He enjoys being outside a lot more when he has some company.

Wednesday we had some fun with a horse costume that we got as a hand me down from a friend.  There will soon be a video of it on our other blog.  We also took Lucas for his two week appt. on Weds.  The doctor said that he looked really good and that he is very healthy.  His stats are height 21.5″ (75th percentile), weight 9 lbs. 12 oz. (90th percentile), head circumference 37 cm. (50th percentile).  For comparison Aiden was 20.5″ long, 8 lbs. 2 oz., and his head was 36.5 cm.  So Lucas is officially a chunk.  🙂  We were also glad to have Brandon home all day with us because it was his day off.

Here is Lucas sleeping on me and Brandon taking videos of Aiden.

On Thursday Aiden decided it was time to try going down the slide on his stomach.  I was not looking forward to the day when he decided going down on his bum was not for him.  But hey, every kid climbs up the slide and/or goes down it the “wrong” way eventually.  Right?  It was just a matter of time.

Friday I took Brandon to work and after nap time Aiden, Lucas, and I went to visit my aunt and uncle, we were glad for the diversion and they were kind and fed us dinner.  Aiden enjoyed playing in the toy room and Lucas pretty much slept the entirety of our visit (until we were eating just before we had to leave) and then he was quiet and alert.

Saturday Brandon had to work so instead of our usual family stuff I found myself trying to keep Aiden entertained.  We spent some time outside during which Aiden picked up some potato bugs and watched them crawl around for a good ten minutes.  He is getting to that stage where creepy, crawly things interest him and boy oh boy I am NOT excited about that.  Later in the evening I put in Mary Poppins, our video wasn’t fully rewound so it was at the part just before they clean up the nursery and when they started to clean Aiden was giggling and giggling.  It was a delight to watch him as he watched the show and giggled.  My dad also visited during Aiden’s nap time and got to hold Lucas a bit.  He was stopping by to drop off a joint birthday gift for Brandon and I.  A Wii!  🙂  Hooray!  Thanks again dad!

Sunday we decided to go to sacrament meeting at church (our first time back since Lucas was born) and things went fairly well.  I could tell that Aiden was a bit out of practice sitting for the entirety of sacrament but he did fairly well.  For dinner we made my cousin in law Emmy’s tasty chili as well as some cheese biscuits.  It was delicious and filling.  Thanks again for the recipe!

Ok, before I go I just have two other things to mention.  First is that in doing further research, I can not make this blog (wordpress) private.  I can password protect each individual entry but have not yet decided (or learned) if I can use the same password for all of the entries.  I also have not figured out if I can (or rather how to) password protect all of the past entires without doing it one by one (which would take awhile since I have 250+ posts).  So until then we will still be a public blog (poo).

Lastly, it seems like many of my friends and acquaintances are on a healthy diet kick lately and everyone wants me to try this thing or that thing as I venture toward eating  better and feeding my family better.  The thing is that in my opinion the way people eat doesn’t need to be taken to the extreme (ie. this fad diet or that fad diet, eliminating milk or other entire food categories all together) and that all things are good and necessary in moderation.  As I have heard people talk to each other and me about their dietary choices and suggestions one thing kept coming back to my mind, over and over, and that is the word of wisdom.  It tells us what our bodies need and how to eat.  I also feel that this is the thing I should follow as I look at my diet and my families diet.  I also feel that as we eat according to the guidelines given in the word of wisdom that we will be healthy.  The only trouble is that aside from the scriptures in Doctrine and Covenants explaining the word of wisdom itself, there is little to no info. on how to actually execute a diet and menus that follow those guidelines.  So, if anyone has any ideas on how to do so I would appreciate it.  In the meantime I am going to study the food pyramid website (because I realized today that it closely resembles the word of wisdom guidelines), try to eat less sweets, and try to get out more/be more active as a family.  🙂  Have a good week and thanks for reading!

Today Brandon sneezed with his head facing towards the floor and Aiden said, “Bless you on the floor.” We always say bless you whenever he sneezes so somehow he must have thought that a sneeze was a “bless you.” I have been giggling about it all day.

Today on Sesame Street Elmo and Telly monster were part of a skit where they were searching for Little Bo Peep’s missing cow.  Sesame street is on right before nap time so as Aiden laid in his crib before falling asleep he was talking about cows.  The most memorable thing he said is, “I don’t know where grandma Juju’s cow is.”   It made me grin and laugh inwardly when I overheard him say it.

So yesterday Aiden, Lucas and I were outside.  I was sitting in a chair holding Lucas when Aiden comes over, pokes Lucas in the tummy, and says, “You are trouble.”  I don’t think we have ever said it to Aiden, so who knows where it came from.  He does in fact seem to love his brother, always wanting to kiss, hold, or hug him.  I was a little shocked and saddened when he said it though.

Well, it looks like last week was a bit less eventful and crazy then the week before.  This is in part due to the fact that it is hard to do much of anything when your husband gets home at 7:30 at night and your oldest goes down at 9:00.  That time between his arrival home and bedtime is generally spent playing a little with the kids and helping with diapers.

I am trying to get back into the hang of remembering to take photos so that I can be sure to document these early days with Lucas and of course continue to document Aiden’s life.  Here are a few I got of Lucas on Tuesday.  Tuesday was also a rough day for Aiden, first he was scooting around in his high chair (which we have warned him not to do on many occasions) and he tipped over, banging his forehead into the table.  A little while later he was leaning back against the closed bathroom door and when I opened (not knowing of course that he was leaning on it) he fell back onto the floor bonking his head a second time.  Later just before nap he was scooting around on his fire engine and yes, tipped over backwards onto the floor.  Thankfully the last time he didn’t seem to have actually hit his head.  When it rains it pours where Aiden is concerned I guess.

Thursday Aiden finally learned how to ride his bike forward.  He still prefers to go backwards but he can go forward.  For video of his triumph go here.  While we are outside enjoying the weather Aiden will occasionally stick his head out the playhouse window and ask if I want a hamburger.  This game of “fast food restaurant” he learned from the girls who live upstairs.

Also on Thursday I managed to snap this shot of Lucas making a funny face and sometime between Wednesday and Thursday Lucas lost his umbilical cord.

Another thing I let Aiden do to pass the time was to play in the sink with the water.  As you will see in the video here Aiden really enjoyed it.  So much in fact that the floor was mostly soaked as was his clothing.  😉

We also had round two on bathing Lucas.  As you can see it went a little bit better then the first time.  I don’t know if was because I had the water warmer, he was sitting up more or just that his body temperature is kind of regulating so that he isn’t shivering all of the time but he certainly did not complain as much as the first time.

Friday while we were outside Aiden went inspecting for spiders.  😉  Friday evening we went to our ward pinewood derby.  Our car was way light and Aiden was getting antsy so we decided to head home early, but before we did we let Aiden run amuck in the gym.

Saturday was our grocery shopping day, which is a large task when you need to go two places and time it around newborn feedings, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and naps.

Sunday we stayed in.  RSV season is near it’s end (or recently ended) and we just didn’t want to take any chances these first few weeks with Lucas.  When we have run errands we have either stayed in the car with him or kept him covered up.  We do plan to attend sacrament next week and stake conference the week after, then it will be back to our usual three hours.  🙂  Aiden is missing nursery.  We ate  Chocolate and Strawberry Stuffed French Toast for breakfast (recipe below), we have had it many, many times since we discovered the recipe.  It is VERY delicious.  We did however find cutting a pocket into french bread difficult so we just spread the toppings on a piece of bread, top with another piece of bread, dip it into the egg mixture and fry it.  It is quick, easy, and very tasty.  We also substitute strawberry syrup for maple syrup (I don’t now, nor have I ever liked maple syrup).

• 4 slices French or Italian loaf (not a baguette) — 1-inch (2 cm) thick
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) cream cheese
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) strawberry jam
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) milk
• 2 tbsp. (30 mL) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. (5 mL) vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. (15 mL) butter
• powdered sugar for dusting
• maple syrup and fresh strawberries as accompaniment

Cooking Instructions

1. With a sharp knife, cut a pocket into the side of each slice of bread — cutting almost, but not quite all the way, to the edges. Spread the inside of each pocket with 1 tbsp. (15 mL) of the cream cheese, stuff with 1 tbsp. (15 mL) of the chocolate chips and spoon in 1 tbsp. (15 mL) of the strawberry jam. Depending on the size of the pocket and the slice of bread, you may not be able to use the full amount of stuffing ingredients — just play it by ear and use as much as will fit inside. Squash the bread closed to enclose the filling.
2. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla. Dip the stuffed bread slices into the egg mixture, turning to soak both sides evenly. Arrange on a plate.
3. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the stuffed bread to the pan and cook, turning each slice over several times to let it brown evenly and allow the heat to penetrate and melt the chocolate — about 5 or 6 minutes total. Dust lightly with icing sugar and serve with powdered sliced fresh strawberries and maple syrup.  Makes 2 servings.

In the afternoon I started another blog.  This one encourages reader participation.  To check it out and to submit your own entries go here.  We took it easy most of the rest of the day but went to visit my grandparents in the evening so that they could see Lucas and Aiden.  I tried to get a cute picture of the four of them but Aiden wouldn’t cooperate because he wanted to go, Go, GO!  🙂

We ended the evening eating at Chuck-A-Rama with my dad.  Thanks for dinner dad!

I am off to get a nap now while I can (Lucas miraculously went right to sleep after eating), thanks for reading!

So this morning when I was changing Aiden’s diaper he said, “Mommy beautiful.”  Then he repeated, “Mommy’s beautiful.”  It’s these little things that keep you from selling them to the gypsies when they are throwing a tantrum.  😉