Beckett is ELEVEN months!

His eleventh month was full of lots of excitement with the Christmas holidays...good and bad excitement.

• While staying the night at a hotel in St. George, a nasty ear infection flared up and kept him awake and crying from about 12:30 to 4am. After Alex and I each took him for a drive, we decided it was ER time. Luckily, it was a quick trip, and we were back by 6am, Beckett with a nice dose of sleep-inducing pain medicine inside him. We all slept in until 10am. Thank you thick hotel curtains!
• Beckett met my Grandpa and Grandma Faylor for the first time.
  
• Beckett did awesome in the car, sleeping when he needed to and being content to play with toys or watch Hamilton when he was awake. It was only the last hour of our trip back that I had to crawl in the back to keep him happy.
• After an observation from my dad's wife, I started noticing how content Becks is to sit and play. Hamilton wasn't like that at all...I appreciate it in Beckett.
• He's starting to wrap his arms around my neck more. Melts my heart every time.
• Overly obsessed with my glasses, taking them off to be more specific.
• He's exhibiting a shorter fuse with Hamilton. He's still very forgiving and patient, but "yells" at Hamilton more and cries sooner than usual. Absolutely cannot blame him for this development.
• He scoots on his tummy backwards well. We've heard him fussing, only to discover he's pushed himself halfway under the couch. Poor thing. :)
• No crawling, no cruising, no standing while holding onto anything other than me. I'm trying to focus on being grateful for his little mobility, rather than worried about his development and, honestly, what other people think about him.

We did some rearranging to accommodate the Christmas tree, which led to a permanent chair cover/chair location change, so our photo shoot location is different. The boys are in some Jana Anderson pjs I got for a steal from Costco. I'm SUCH a sucker for jammies.

A pretty accurate photographic representation of the boys' personalities. Hamilton is being nuts, and Beckett is seeming to say, "Dude, chill. Mommy's trying to take our picture."


Is he so squeezable or what??


I love you little guy!

A Final Word on Potty Training

The potty training method I used was "3 days," so I'm satisfied with journaling those three days and not chronicling the longer "refinement" stage of potty training. We have had several accident-free ventures away from home, so I'm hopeful things are progressing well. Of course, I mostly have the sense that we've just been lucky. Maybe in a year I won't leave the house paranoid and steeled for disaster.

I can't close the blogging chapter on the subject, though, without sharing an amusing practice of Hamilton....

After he says, "I'm done," I ask, "Are you sure? Listen to your body. Is your peanut done?" Then Hamilton poses the question to his peanut, which then responds in a high-pitched voice, "Yes, sir. I'm done." It also thanks me for handing him any tissue and apologizes if any mess is created. Kind of goes against what you'd expect from a peanut personality...hope it's maintained through his teenage years.

Potty Training: Day 3

Well, today I figured out why "three days" is the magic number. It's because by the end of the third day, everyone is stir crazy and ready to get out and about again! This is actually important because it means you are willing to deal with "off site" accidents in order to escape home for a bit. All the "touchy feely" mommy stuff I've been feeling about spending so much time with Hamilton still exists...it just needs to breathe outside and watch his energy get expended not at Beckett's or my expense.

Highlights

• The particular potty training method I chose requires underwear all the time...even nights. First night: wet the bed (but didn't wake up). Second night: dry underwear! I'm not thinking this is a for sure thing every time, but at least I know it's possible.
• No accidents until noon.
  
• Had our first "fight" about going to the bathroom. I could tell he could go, but he refused, as he was totally focused on getting a mint. Promised him one if he went potty. Not supposed to bribe directly, but it was turning into a battle of wills, which Hamilton and I need NOT engage in.
• 1 bigger accident; 1 small accident.
• He's starting to repeat my constant "Don't forget to tell me if you need to go peepee or poopoo in the potty." And it's turning into an increasingly difficult tongue twister for me.
• Had the inevitable "do you have a peanut?" discussion. That happened in the morning, but it was one of the first things Hamilton talked to Alex about when he came home.

Lessons Learned

I realize, of course, that "potty training" isn't really over, but I'm proud of how far we've come. I'm really proud of myself for sticking to a program, especially one that goes against the normal routine of me and the boys. I hope it turns out to be the right move.

I thought today that it's been kind of nice having half as many diapers to change. Thinking also that I'll be saving some significant cash each month.

I am going to have to really plan ahead and schedule errands/activities to increase the odds of accident-free ventures. I'm kind of nervous about what to do with Beckett when H has to go to the bathroom. Luckily, he's still in his portable car seat (but that only lasts the next month). Well, I had very little idea of what to do with a newborn baby, and Hamilton has made it to 3, so I guess I'll figure it out.

Think happy thoughts of dry underwear and clean bathrooms for us.

Potty Training: Day 2

Why worry about being late on every other post? Just be "on time" when I can! I'm probably more on top of these posts because this potty training is all I'm doing with no grown-up communication.

Highlights

• went through about 1/3 of the underwear we did yesterday, which means he's increasingly making it to the potty without going at all beforehand.
• watched Monsters, Inc. together. He really only wanted to watch it if I stayed with him (sigh...so cute). This was also our sole TV for the day. I'm discovering that on "normal" days TV serves as my babysitter while I get stuff done...maybe I use it more than I need to.
  
• playing cars, games, pillow piles and so forth with Hamilton. He's so fun and has such a great imagination. One of my favorites was his naming a stuffed hippo "Silly Gilly Fruit Snack Guy." What?
• successfully handled/coped with a #2 accident. And remained consistent about NOT getting mad or frustrated at him. Miracles.
• breakfast crepes...easy to take the time on a day we're going nowhere. Not, of course, awesome for my chubbiness, but still...
  

Lessons Learned

• If I can handle and play with Hamilton from 8am-8pm without going outside of this house, that means I can and should do more playtime with him on regular days. I've been spending way too much time "getting through the day" rather than enjoying my time with him. That doesn't mean I'll quit the gym and forgo visiting with friends at the park or anything...just take advantage of my time as a stay-at-home mom more often.
• People need to make taller step stools for kids. I know H isn't that tall, but goodness.
• Alex misses a lot. :( Did keep H up a little longer, so Alex could see him and his big boy underwear for the first time.
  

Potty Training: Day 1

Yes, I have a bunch of posts that pre-date this one (Christmas, Utah Christmas, H's B-day, B's 11 months), but I'm having some picture downloading issues and have been short on time in general. Excuses, excuses. The latest excuse is that I'm doing the "3 Day Potty Training" method, which means that pretty much EVERY moment is spent right next to Hamilton. Today was Day 1.

Highlights:

*I had to run a couple errands in the morning, so I wasn't planning on transitioning to underwear/the potty until we got back. But Hamilton suddenly exclaimed, "I have to go poo poo!" He ran up the stairs to his little potty, went pee pee without going at all in his diaper (he often gets the terms switched), and didn't want to put his diaper back on. I wasn't crazy...so we at least did a pull-up for the errands.
*Hamilton's breakfast prayer: "I'm grateful for big boy underwear. Bless my potty training."
*Hamilton refused to wear anything other than his "big boy underwear." Luckily for him, we don't experience an actual winter here.
*Only 2 bigger accidents...none of them poop (whew! dreading that one).
*We didn't watch any TV. Yeah, I'm an awesome mom.
*Thanks to the sticker chart, I can see that he went pee pee in the potty 20 times today, including some poops as well (he earns toys for those trips). So that's where my time went...

Lessons learned:

*Moisturize my already dry hands often...LOTS of hand washing going on.
*Hard toddler potty wore on him by the end of the day...went and bought a soft seat to fit in regular toilet. Also purchased a step stool. And more stickers (totally underestimated potty trips).
*Must have caffeinated beverages on hand...tiring day with no chance to get one. Have a Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper to cover days 2 and 3. I'll quit eventually.
*I need to do chores, etc. before he gets up or after he goes to bed...no time when I'm on Potty Watch.
*Becks is awesome. He had multiple meals interrupted and was left alone and sad, so I could take H to the bathroom. He (no surprise) remained mostly in good spirits. Thanks, little guy.

Christmas Eve

Since Alex and I have been married, we have rotated Thanksgiving and Christmas between our families. We've had wonderful holidays with them, but we decided that this year, we'd start having Christmas at home. Hamilton is getting old enough that he'll start remembering traditions and anticipating Santa, so we wanted to start the Snyder-Spjute Christmas.

Merging Christmas traditions can be a little tricky. Alex and I almost had to hire a mediator when it came to Santa Claus (wrapped/unwrapped; one big gift/many gifts). However, one holiday tradition I had totally open was Christmas Eve. My dad's birthday is that day (He likes to say he's in the middle of the Big Three: Joseph Smith, Himself, and Jesus), so we always spent the 24th celebrating him, only returning to Christmas thoughts before bedtime when we'd read the Christmas story and maybe open some jammies. I loved it, especially as it paired nicely with my mom's New Year's Eve birthday. It would be a little weird, though, if we spent the day celebrating my dad without him around, so I readily hopped on board Alex's yummy family tradition: Swedish smorgasbord.

Alex made everything: cardamon bread, kohldorma, meatballs in gravy (think superior Ikea fare), potatoes, and corn pudding. We invited my grandmother for the day, which was lots of fun and made me feel like a grown-up.

Proud chef:



Beckett trying his first pickled herring (awwww!):


"Doodie" and her best pal Hamilton:


Hamilton and Beckett playing some silly blanket game:



After stuffing ourselves with Alex's food, we headed to the LA temple to see the lights and meet up with people from our ward. I guess it's an unofficial tradition for everyone. It was lovely, but mostly extra awesome because a week's worth of rain kept us indoors for too long. Hamilton really, really needs running around time. We took advantage. Probably not too reverent, but I think totally acceptable.




Ok, things did get a bit out of hand when Hamilton and Kieran combined forces....


but we managed to get a decent picture with an appropriate background for the season.