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9 months, and 33 months

Vivienne will turn 9 months old tomorrow. On Tuesday, Jonathan will be oh, lemme do some math here…33 months. I still just say he’s “two” when people ask how old he is. I suppose I could throw on that “three quarters”!

Vivienne is growing so well. She goes in to the doctor at the end of the month for a checkup, so I don’t know her stats. She’s filling out her 18m clothing and some 24m clothing works, but she can also cram into some 12m sweaters and things.

I’m starting up with cloth diapers part-time again just for the cost savings. I don’t *love* cloth diapers. I don’t love any type of diaper. I’m over diapers. Go in the potty already, kids! But she has a long way to go before that happens, so we might as well save whatever money we can.

She’s now in size 6 diapers, as the 5s were getting to be a really tight squeeze and I’d often break tabs when trying to stretch it around her :/. So bummer, because there are fewer diapers as you go up in size, but for the same price. Johnny moved up to size 6 as well, though I think he could probably stay in 5s for awhile actually. Good grief.

She crawl-runs sometimes. I can’t believe the speed she has. She keeps on cruising around furniture and sometimes she lets go and just stands there. Last week or so, she let go of the ottoman and lifted both arms above her head, like “look at me!”. Couldn’t believe it. Did it right in front of my grandma.

She can stand on her own for 5-10 seconds with pretty good balance, but she doesn’t seem to feel comfortable with that right now. She realizes she’s not being supported by anything, and then she slowly lowers herself to the ground. She’s anti-bonk, I guess. She’s starting to push around Johnny’s big ride-on train and walking behind it.

I don’t know if we’ll see her start to walk on her own soon or not. She may wait until she has more confidence. I don’t know. What’s the rush, anyway? It will be nice for her to be able to stand and walk along though, rather than carrying her everywhere. Heavy lil thing.

She’s eating solids much better now. I know there are some really young babies who can handle solids fine, but for her it took quite awhile. She still gags sometimes but it’s less common. She doesn’t seem to like being fed mush, though. She starts yelling. I think she likes to do it herself, so we’ve been giving her soft things and she just gets what she can in her mouth.

Still no teeth yet, so it’s pretty funny to watch her mush things around with her little jaw.

She’s such a smiley, happy baby and when she meets someone new, she’s often happy to see them — that is, unless they try to hold her right away. Viv is now at the separation anxiety stage and she may not want to be in unfamiliar arms. It’ll pass.

I’m working on the “nurse” baby sign with her. She’s starting to get the motion so when she does it, I nurse immediately to help her make that connection. I do the sign just before and right when I begin to feed her and maybe soon enough it’ll be a lasting connection. Once she gets that, I’ll probably add a few others, such as “eat” and “drink” (other than nursing) and who knows what else.

She’s been waking up a lot in the past few nights. I think it might be a growth spurt or something, maybe teething? Seems like she usually sleeps most of the night, but I’m not really sure because it seems like at least one kid is up during the night. Hopefully we’ll start to get into a new routine in our house and everyone will sleep better.

Mr. Johnny is just a hoot. The other day, out of nowhere, he tells Shane, “I am a sweetheart.” Yep! He’s enjoying new opportunities to play with other little kids. We’ve been going to park meetups, and there are kids at my Bible study and we might join MOPS.

He’s been having a hard time following directions lately. It’s pure disobedience, I think, rather than a lack of hearing or lack of understanding. Gotta nip that one in the bud.

We aren’t working really hard on the potty-training stuff right now, but we are sort of. He understands peeing in the potty and needs reminders to go, and that’s great! Still working up the confidence to do the other thing on the potty. He goes and hides to do that instead. Ugh. I really hope we can get him to do that on the toilet soon. Gross.

He seems to have a pretty good sense of direction when we’re out driving and can recognize the routes I usually take. If I turn somewhere else, he immediately wants to know what’s up. He recognizes our street from a little ways away and knows where his house is (that’s important!) and his great-grandma’s house, and various stores and where Shane works and Trader Joe’s and on and on. I hope that later, it’ll translate to a good sense of direction in general.

He’d been giving up his nap lately, but that usually meant bad behavior later in the evening. I decided that I can’t just have him up all the ding dong day without a quiet time. I need a little break too. So we’re having an enforced quiet hour where he can be in his room and reading books or playing quietly. I don’t care if he falls asleep, though he certainly can. He just has to be in there, and quiet. Vivienne is napping now in her room, which is why I finally have time to do a little blogging.

And now, I’m on to other things while it’s quiet hour. Adios!

Babywearing then and now (baby 1 vs. baby 2)

By “then” I mean wearing Jonathan, and “now” I mean Vivienne.

With Johnny, I tried six types of carriers. Ultimately, I looooved my Baby K’tan. So much. He loved it, too. He would get excited any time he saw me pull it out. I wore the kid a lot. A lot. We were cozy in it and his weight was well-distributed.

Around 12+ months or so, I bought a used Ergo. So many people raved and I thought I’d need something more structured as he got larger, and also something that Shane could comfortable use. Johnny and I tried it a handful of times but neither of us liked it. I couldn’t get a comfortable fit and he just preferred the K’tan and let me know that.

So I put it back in the box and saved it for later. I thought maybe if I tried it again with a younger baby, maybe that would work better. And if it didn’t work for my next baby, I’d sell it.

With Vivienne, I started her in the K’tan. I even bought another color for variety and so I could have a spare! But I didn’t wear her nearly as much in the earlier months and I’m not entirely sure why. She didn’t seem to like it quite as much.

I got out my Ergo to give that a whirl and we did have more luck. I think she could see better out of it earlier on and liked that.It also held her in a different way and less snugly and she seems to prefer it.

I like it this time around because it distributes her weight much better for me. Vivienne is a big girl and is shaped differently than her brother was at this age. The Ergo supports her better, and also is more comfortable for me.

I’m still keeping my K’tans. Still love ‘em to bits. When she’s a little older I will try her in it again, in case her longer length helps even it out. Or I could do the hip carry. I love how versatile the K’tan is!

All that to say, babywearing can vary among a mother’s own children, and it certainly varies mom-to-mom. Keep experimenting with types of carriers and holds until you find something that works. It’s great to borrow and try something rather than buy ‘em, but good slings usually hold their resale value.

This time around, we use strollers a lot more. We have a double Jeep umbrella stroller and the kids sit side-by-side. They love it! Johnny especially. And he hold his sister’s hand when she gets squirmy. The thing is so wide that we barely get through doorways, but it is handy to have when I need both kids to be seated somewhere and contained, like if I have an appointment or something of the sort.

Used our single umbrella stroller just a handful of times with Jonathan.

Her name

(Note: This post was mostly in draft form since January. I probably should publish it now!)

We spent a long time looking at name lists, tossing names back and forth, trying them out and whatnot. A lot of hours, seriously. Most of my pregnancy. We had a much easier time naming our son.

But a person’s name is something that they’ll have for their whole life (probably) and it’s not something to be taken lightly.

So here’s how we chose Vivienne Elise’s name. We so truly hope she loves it.

Back when I was pregnant with Jonathan (but before we knew he was a boy), I happened across the name “Vivienne” on a message board. I thought it was beautiful, feminine and classic. A name that would be great for a little girl and an adult.

I originally thought going with the more common American spelling “Vivian” would be better. I thought people would be able to spell it a little easier. But then I realized that people really can’t spell names anyway, so why not choose a spelling we like? “Vivienne” is the French spelling and it can have a slightly different pronunciation, with more of an emphasis on the ending syllable and maybe mashing it into 2 syllables. Like: viv-YEN, I think I’ve seen it phonetically spelled.

We say it the standard American way and also call her Viv, Vivie (Viv-EE), Vivie-girl, etc.

Jonathan is an easy-to-spell name, so I thought. But we’ve seen it Jonathon and Johnathan and Johnathon, so whatever.

And then in July 2008, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt named one of their twins Vivienne. And I was MAD. I was so worried that Vivian/Vivienne would go the way of Isabella and become superduper popular in a short time. Or that by naming my child that, people would associate her with the Brangelina twin.

My anger was short-lived when we found out in August 2008 that we were having a boy.

I filed the girl name away for potential future use, though.

In the summer of 2010 when we found out we were having a little girl, I instantly wasn’t sure about her being a Vivian. Didn’t know if the name would work for her or if we’d need another.

We tossed around a variety of names, and had another one as a front-runner for awhile: Jocelyn. It was a pretty name and we could call her Josie for short. But Jocelyn sounds and looks a lot like Jonathan, and I didn’t think I could handle a Josie and a Johnny. Sometimes I accidentally call my son “Julie” if I was just around or speaking with or thinking about my sister of the same name. So yeah, the more different the names sound and look, the better.

Plus, I didn’t want to get boxed in on similar-sounding names for a potential third baby.

We did test out ‘Jocelyn’ on the girl in my belly for awhile, but it just fell out of favor for us. That just wasn’t her name.

Another girl name we sorta liked but won’t use is Evelyn. Pretty, classic name. It’s really moving up the popularity charts right now, and that’s fine. I just didn’t 100% love it for our baby. I didn’t like Eve or Evie as nicknames, and since those sorta sound like Viv/Vivie, we won’t use it if we have another girl.

Vivian/Vivienne came back into the picture. Shane polled a few coworkers and some loved it, and some were like, “That sounds like an old lady.” Shane was a little worried about that last part.

It kind of IS an old lady, classic name. So what? Those names are in style now.

In a way, the Brangelina twin might help make the name a little more common, and that could be a good thing, in Shane’s eyes.

In the United States, the Vivian spelling was #164 in 2009, on an upward climb. The Vivienne spelling entered the chart in 2009 at #532. Vivienne was #428 for 2010 and Vivian was #158. Hundred-point jump on our spelling in just a year.

The name means “lively” or “alive,” depending on which source you consult.

Her middle name also posed a challenge. We wanted something that flowed well between her first and last, something that was pretty and feminine, and something we just plain liked. I was being drawn toward names that meant “compassion,” “benevolence,” and “mercy.” Couldn’t find a name that really fit the bill though.

Turns out, Vivienne was born at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh. Maybe that’s where the Mercy connection came into play.

Elise was the front runner out of all of the options we tossed together, with Shane strongly favoring it and myself liking it but liking other options equally. I liked “Louise” thinking that Vivie-Lou would be too adorable for words, but Shane wasn’t really on board.

Baby name books say that Elise is a derivative of Elizabeth, meaning “my God is a vow.” Also French.

We are about as French as the Coneheads.

The babe is 8 months old now. I think she is totally a Vivie. She knows her name and perks up whenever Johnny calls her from across a room and charges toward him. Or she could be playing with a toy with her back to me and I could start talking, but she won’t turn until I say “Vivienne!” and then she grins and comes over.

I’ve realized that I don’t care so much about popular names or if names are on the rise. Every time I hear about another baby Jonathan, I’m happy! I think “Oh yay, someone else is using that wonderful name” and I don’t feel grumpy about it at all. Jonathan is such a timeless name, anyway. Same goes for whenever I hear of another Vivienne/Vivian. I think it’s nice to hear it on others.

If I happen to love a baby name in the top 10, I’m going to use it. Besides, a top-ten name doesn’t mean it’s going to be excessively common. The #1 girl name in Indiana last year was Emma and 454 babies were given that name. That’s it. I don’t know how many were born total, but really it’s not that much. The #100 baby name in Indiana was tied with Maci/Sofia/Kayla. Only 66 girls each had that name.

So what if Vivienne comes across another Vivienne who is around the same age? That’s life. She might even think it’s kinda neat.

Sit down, baby!

Some point recently, Vivienne thought it would be a good idea to pull herself to a stand. The first time she did it, she used our Mega Block table as support. I was startled at the sight.

I guess she thought that was pretty clever. She’s kept at it and now is regularly pulling up in her playpen and along the couch or rocking chair. Or baby gate.

Her crawling speed has increased substantially.

There’s really no stopping her now.

I don’t know if she’s wanting to practice standing or what, but it has been harder to get her to take naps lately. She just wants to stand and yell at me.

I put her in her car seat and put her back in the bedroom. That did the trick and she finally fell asleep without a fuss. Not sure what that’s all about. Babies can be so strange.

She’s still not eating solids all that well. The soft things such as apple sauce or runny rice cereal she sort of chokes down, but mostly spits out. Those dissolveable puff cereal things give her a lot of problems and she usually needs rescued. As in, she’s not breathing and cannot cough, so she needs infant CPR. Good grief. She’ll get it eventually.

In the pic, I had just given her some apple sauce and she got it all over her shirt, so I took it off and went to get a clean one and there she was.

July 18

Today I had the privilege of meeting Susan and her children, Hans and Gretchen, and her parents! Susan’s old blog was the very first I had read. I had wondered if I’d ever have a chance to meet her (she lives in Connecticut now) but she just happened to be passing through Indianapolis to see relatives along a big road trip. I’m glad I was along their route, and I’m glad she took the time to squeeze us in for a visit!

Our little boys are both sweet little blondies and I think they had fun at the mall playground. Our little girls are both busy crawlers and seemed to enjoy looking at one another and trying to grab each other’s faces. Heh. Such a sweet family!

I also recently got a chance to meet Joanna, Elliott and Josh. Joanna lives and works a little ways north of me and we got together over a lunch hour. I hope we can get together again soon!

A little before that, I got to see Ashley, Savannah and Paul while they were in Indiana. Can’t remember if I mentioned it here, but I met Ashley for the first time when she was in Pittsburgh. Ashley is pretty well-traveled and it lucks out that I’m in some of her travel paths.

I LOVE that I’ve been able to meet some of my blogging buddies. I guess it’s like modern-day pen pals, with keeping in touch and stuff. Everyone’s online persona seems to be really reflected in reality (that is to say, they are all nice, down-to-earth ladies!) and it’s fun hanging out, even if we only have a short time to do so.

Hope to keep on meeting more blogging pals.

In other news, my running is progressing much slower than I had anticipated. I figured my main weakness was cardio stamina. I was wrong. That is a weakness, but my main weakness right now is my muscular strength. I went to a running specialty store to talk with some of the staff about my issues and to get some new running shoes.

My stride is very poor (I was already aware of this — it’s nothing like what it was in high school) and it seems to be because my muscles are so out of shape. So that’s basically what caused my sharp knee pain in recent runs — lousy form.

I need to work on building my overall strength and gradually build a running base so not to injure myself. I was cautioned to NOT work on speed in any way until I really establish that base. That’s going to be a challenge, because in the past I did like to work on speed. I liked to just get the run over with as fast as possible, and also beat my times.

So I’m not going to get a wristwatch for awhile yet. And I already can tell you that my 5K time later this month is going to be absurd. That’s ok. I might even walk parts of it. I’ll just listen to my body and try and cooperate.

It’s frustrating to realize that I’m in worse shape than I thought.