Brush our teeth

We started brushing Cale's teeth when he turned 1. We usually help him brush as he loves to just suck on the toothbrush and eat all the toothpaste. He cracks me up! He doesn't like when we actually brush his teeth though. I think he is getting a little more used to it as time goes on. Here is a pic of him doing his version of brushing his teeth or sucking on the toothbrush-he cracks us up!

Throw in the towel

This week has been rough for me. I've been in a rut to be honest. I am not feeling well, am exhausted all the time and struggling with being a mommy and just want to take that hat off sometimes and have a break. I love Cale dearly and he melts my heart, this just hasn't been the best of weeks. It mostly has to do with sleeping. Cale is not sleeping through the night yet again and to be honest it makes me feel like a failure as a mommy-like what am I doing wrong, what do we need to change so that he will sleep through the night. He has had an ear infection and has been cutting teeth, but now I don't think any of that is going on and he just isn't sleeping well. I tried letting him cry it out last night and after 20 minutes the 2nd time he had woken up for the night, I couldn't take it anymore. Once I or Jeff goes in, he is fine. I just think that I need a few nights of good sleep and honestly to be spending more time in prayer for patience and how to love on this child. I think part of the problem is I have been lacking in God time lately, I still pray, but haven't been reading the Bible, devotional, or anything that is going to nuture my spiritual part of me. Maybe that's why I am struggling so much this week and just feeling blah about a lot of stuff. It's just nice to be able to write/vent my feelings here. For those of you that read, thanks for listening.

Dentist

Cale went to the dentist for the 1st time yesterday. He went to a pediatric dentist because our dentist doesn't see kids until they are 2 1/2. Jeff took him and said he was fascinated by the waiting area and the room. The waiting area was a forest and the room was like he was in the ocean. The dentist cleaned and flossed his teeth. She said his teeth look great! We have been brushing his teeth since he was 1, which he dislikes greatly, unless he is holding the toothbrush-which he then just sucks on and sucks the toothpaste off of. The dentist said just to keep it up 2 times a day even if he didn't like it. I am sure someday he will get used to it. Sometimes I let him brush my teeth with a different toothbrush. He got a balloon from the dentist and was fascinated with it last night! He played with that thing forever. We got some video of it so I will try to post it this week.

I tried to post some pictures of the waiting area and the room, but it didn't work. The link is
www.kiddiedentist.com. If you go there and click on explore our office you can see the rooms-they are really cool!

And it begins again

Cale has not been sleeping well for the past few nights and has had a runny nose. Poor guy. I see a top back tooth popping through-I think that is the culprit of what's causing him not to feel good. I will be so glad when this whole teething process is done. It seems to be a few days or weeks of sleeping well and then we go right back to square one it feels like with another tooth! I am really missing sleep today.

Being Selfless

Sometimes I so do not succeed in being selfless. Having a kid has really taught me about this word. But honestly there are times that I still want to be selfish-I want to sleep in, I don't want to change diapers for a day, I want to veg on the couch all day or take a nap for as long as I want. But with a little one running around, that makes it hard to do. This weekend I struggled a lot with not wanting to do something for myself. Jeff worked almost all weekend (which was great-he is an amazing man and I am so thankful for the work he does and for supporting our family), so that means I had little man all weekend. So on top of that and cleaning the house and just trying to keep up, I didn't do much for me. I didn't even have time to read for 15 minutes, I was too worn out. I think Saturday night was the worst, I just wanted to throw a pity party for myself. Sometimes it's just hard to find the balance, make time for you. I wouldn't change being a mom for the world, I just wish I could figure out the balance-I think you try to figure out the balance for the rest of your life though! Any thoughts moms out there?

Walk, Walk, Walk

New pictures

It's been a while since I posted some new pictures of Cale. So here you go. He's into everything and has figured out not just how to shuffle his legs when walking, but how to pick them up and actually place 1 foot in front of the other. He loves to snack on cheerios and raisins, loves his dogs, loves to close and open drawers and doors, and is actually getting into a drama stage. I thought they didn't start that until around 2, but I was sadly mistaken. It's actually kind of funny. If something doesn't go his way he does this dramatic cry sometime even throwing his head back of falling on the ground for extra flair. It's hard not to laugh! He's really starting to mimic hand and body motions too which is pretty cool-except for the fact that he shakes his head no and really seems to know what it means!

Ear infection!

Let me just start by saying that ear infections STINK! We are so blessed that Cale went almost 14 months without one, but many last weekend was not so much fun at all. And poor Cale felt miserable with a high fever, runny nose, irritability and not being able to sleep. 3 nights of almost no sleep and 3 days of no naps just about did this momma in! Thank goodness it is over and Cale is feeling back to himself. I seriously was ready to throw in the towel, admit defeat and run away by Sunday. Or course I would never actually do that, but isn't it amazing how as parents we sometimes just get so overwhelmed and exhausted that we have moments where we think parenting stinks. I guess that's just part of life. Then a few days later I feel guilty for even feeling that way, but it's just me being honest. There are days like last weekend, that I just don't like being a parent. And then on days like that I think are we crazy enough to want another one someday? It's hard enough with 1! But then you remember that these moments are fleeting and the joyous ones far outweigh the not joyous ones! I truly am thankful for Cale who blesses, even in the times when this parenting thing is not so easy and really hard. Let's hope we don't get anymore ear infections for a while!