Peter is 5 months old (and one week)!

At Peter's last doctor appointment he was 16 lbs, 3 oz (66th %) and 28 inches tall (98th %). The dr. was not concerned that he hasn't gained much wieght since a month ago, and recommended not starting solid foods yet, except for maybe rice cereal in the evening to see if it will help him sleep better at night.

He is now rolling over from his tummy to his back, and does so almost as soon as you lay him down on his tummy. He is almost rolling back to his tummy, but gets his arm stuck under him and can't get all the way. He enjoys the exersaucer we are borrowing from friends and no longer spends much time in the swing. He has "velcro fingers" and grabs onto anything that is within his reach. He's definitely found his voice. He squeals in delight and screams in anger. Thankfully we hear more of the first and less of the latter. His "tired sound" is still a groaning sigh.

Unfortunately things in the sleeping department have gone steadily downhill. He has gone from taking mostly short naps (less than one hour) but having 4-5 longer naps (more than an hour) each week to having no naps that are longer than one hour. At all. They average 30-40 minutes. He does this about 3 times a day and really needs a fourth nap otherwise he is super cranky by bedtime. At night he has gone from occassinally sleeping all night after the dream feed and occassionally waking up, to always waking up during the middle of the night and not going back to sleep unless he has eaten. He has also started waking up before his dreamfeed or right at the time I usually feed him. It seems like he's waking earlier and earlier in the morning, too.

Now, most people when they hear that Peter takes short naps will say to me "maybe he just doesn't need much sleep". I've considered that and have even tried to accept that. I've considered every possibility and I think I've tried everything I have heard of to encourage longer naps. Nothing has helped and things have only gotten worse. If it continues this way he won't be taking any naps and will soon be sleeping less in a 24 hour period than I do. I think he currently sleeps less than Cora does, or maybe the same amount! But the problem that I am having with just accepting that he is a short napper is that it is effecting his personality/mood. Since the day he was born he has had a sunny disposition and has been easy going. Along with this downward spiral in his sleep habits I am seeing his mood become more cloudy and cranky. My prayer is that this is a phase that he will soon move out of on his own and that he will not become so chronically overtired that it has any long-term affects on him. Please also pray with me. I am honestly frustrated by this and concerned for my little boy.


A note of praise: a while back I asked for your prayers regarding Peter's impetigo. Within a week of asking for prayer the rash cleared up quickly and almost completely. We have to keep an eye on those areas of his face because it seems sensitive and the Dr. thinks it's a little bit of excema. Thank you for praying with us!
Also - sweet Gidget has the green light to start rehabilitating her foot and using it to walk a little bit!

Cora: 3

So I don't forget, and for those of you who don't see Cora often in person, here's a little glimpse of our 3 year old little girl.

Cora has a vivid imagination. She is able to self-entertain quite well. Anything she has access to develops it's own voice, name and personality - silverware, pencils, etc. talk to each other and "walk" around interacting.

Cora still loves to read and be read to. The library is our friend. She sits well for entire books and turns pages when I say "beep" if my hands are busy holding or feeding Peter. She asks lots of questions about the pictures in new books, but also is able to listen really well to stories with few pictures and lots of words. The other day I was looking for an excerpt from C.S. Lewis' "The Horse and his Boy" from the Chronicles of Narnia to read at bible study. Cora came over and said, "Mama, can you read?" So I started reading it to her out loud. After a couple pages (only one had a simple picture) I stopped, but she asked me to keep going! I think this is another tribute to her imagination.

Cora enjoys music, dancing, and singing. Her dancing often looks like galloping in a circle with occasional spins. She's also discovered the joy of twirling dresses.

Cora is finally taking interest in learning how to ride a bike. She's not a super high-energy kid so often she gets on her bike, pedals about 10 feet and then stops to watch all the other neighborhood kids riding around. She seems to like her scooter more.

Cora is starting to learn her colors. In the past she didn't seem interested, but now she will ask me what color something is. She consistently identifies blue and pink correctly; still working on the rest! She seems to have no interest in learning to write her name or other letters of the alphabet. She will point at numbers or letters and knows that they are numbers or letters, but if I try to help her distinguish between them she doesn't seem to care. She can count into the teens and say the alphabet.

Cora is getting very good at dressing herself. She knows to put the tag in the back and can get most of her clothes on by herself. She definitely can take her clothes off and often asks to be "in her tummy", which means wearing just underwear or pants but no shirt. She loves to be barefoot and takes off socks any chance she gets. She often asks to play outside barefoot lately, even though it's still only in the 40's.

Cora communicates very well. She understands and follows directions well (although she often needs reminders...) She can express herself well and other people often comment on how she knows what she wants and knows how to ask for it. Some of her pronunciation is unclear: words that start with "st" lose the "s" sound. Story is "tory" for example. Lately I've been pretending i don't understand and say "What's a tory?" Then she stops and say "S-tory". I've noticed some self-correction happening as a result of this.

Cora fluctuates between confidence and shyness. She is obviously interested in other kids her age. When we see kids at a park or something she will often eventually play with them, although she is sensitive to kids who seem to play rough or be rude. (Not that she doesn't have her rough or rude moments herself.)

Cora is starting to pay more attention to Peter. Now that he reacts to her with smiles or little chuckles, she likes to do things to make him smile. Otherwise she isn't too concerned with him. She will tell me sometimes that he's grumpy, or hungry, or tired.

Cora is a sweet girl. She has a little bit of a bossy streak, perhaps from being the first-born. In her tender moments she will hold our faces in her hands and say something like "you're so special to me in the whole wide world" and then give a sweet kiss.

Some recent quotes:
Today I got impatient with Gidget who was being ornery and stubborn. Cora said, "It's ok mommy, Gidget's just a dog. She doesn't know..."

Recently when I was having an emotional moment she told me "Come play play-doh with me. It will make your heart feel better." Three-year-old wisdom.

Cora's First Real Haircut

Before:

During:

After:

On Being Frugal: Communion Croutons

I love croutons. But aren't they expensive and go so quickly? Solution: homemade croutons from leftover communion bread!

Last month after communion at church I discovered that the leftover bread (sometimes still in loaves, sometimes already cut) either gets thrown away or fed to the birds, literally. So today, after communion, I swallowed my pride and asked one of the elders if there were plans for the left over bread and if not, if I could have it.

If you've never made homemade croutons before, give it a try. Any kind of bread will work. Just cut it up into crouton-sized pieces (choose how big or small you want them). I use a scissors, rather than a knife; and don't worry about uniformity.

Spread a layer of bread cubes on a baking sheet. I like to drizzle the bread cubes lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake at about 200 degrees for a long time. I don't go higher than 250 because they seem to burn rather than turn golden brown. Stir it every so often to check on how they are doing and do a taste test. Choose how well done you want them; just make sure they are baked enough that there isn't moisture left in the bread to turn moldy later on.

Store them in a ziplock bag. Add to soups or salads, or as a casserole topping. Let me know if you have tried other seasonings. Someday I'd like to try it with ranch dressing mix or something else...

So many things

There are so many things I've been wanting to write about, but life lately is zooming on ahead of me and I feel like I'm spending most of my days coughing and waving it's dust away from my face. Very little is getting accomplished lately. Is life going to always be this way?

Blessings and Praises:
Celebrating Brad and Mom Bierma's birthdaysand getting to make and eat Turtle Cheesecake
A successful first New Life Church Middle School Winter Retreat (with First Presbyterian Middle School)
Bring Gidget home from Wyoming after surgery and recuperation for a torn ligament: it's very humbling to be the recipients of such generosity! Thank you John and Melinda!
A snowy hike-date for Brad and I
Our friends brought home their adopted son from Ethiopia (I'm waiting to post a picture till I know it's OK)

Cora and Peter - Peter is now acknowledging Cora's attention with smiles and gurgles. She loves to make him smile and then says "Mama, he's smiling at me!" or "He's talking to me!" It's sweet.

Petitions (Prayers we're believing God to answer):
Sleep: Our little boy, Peter, can't seem to consistently sleep well at night. He'll have a couple good nights and then a stretch of nights where he wakes up and can't fall back asleep. And, while on the topic of sleep, he is only taking a few very short naps each day and it seems to be catching up with him. I don't know how to help him sleep longer - I've tried all sorts of things; so I'm praying he'll figure it out soon and praying for patience and serenity until then since it really makes me anxious.

Rashes: Peter has had impetigo - 4 areas on his face - for almost a month now. Cream and antibiotics don't seem to be helping much. He also has some diaper-area issues that aren't healing well, despite following doctor's orders.

Thanks for checking in with us! Hope you are well, too!