baby schedule

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

At 11 weeks old, Greyson is now sleeping about 7-8  hours a night and our life has dramatically changed for the better now that we get a solid night's sleep!  We were very fortunate to receive a great book & good advice (thank you Fiores!) before Grey was born.  Katie gifted me the book On Becoming Babywise which was really aligned with all of the feelings I have towards starting a family.  For example, we believe and want Greyson to know/feel that he has joined our family....he didn't start it.  The book's main theme lies around how to give your child the gift of sleep.  Some people agree with putting babies on a schedule; others don't...but if you're interested in how we do things here...this is how we roll.

7am Mealtime
Waketime:  playing/talking/swing
Naptime (1.5 - 2 hours)

10am Mealtime
Waketime:  bouncy chair with music/reading books
Naptime (1.5 hours)

1pm Mealtime
Waketime:  tummy time, dancing with mum
Naptime (1.5 hours)

4pm Mealtime
Waketime: walk with Bullet, talking/playing
Naptime (1 - 1.5 hours)

7pm Mealtime
Waketime:  playing/talking, Skype, reading books, bath
Naptime (1.5 hours)

10pm Mealtime
Bedtime until 7am

Since Grey is almost 3 months, over the course of the next few weeks, we'll be moving the 10pm feeding up and up until Grey is getting his last feeding at around 8:30pm and then sleeping through the night.  At this point now, I take him to his crib while he's awake and lay him down for his nap.  We have a sound machine in his room that I put on and he goes to sleep on his own with little or no whining.  It seems like he takes a lot of naps, but he's only 3 months old!  It takes a lot of work to do all the growing he's been doing.  As he gets older, his naps will become longer but fewer. 

If he doesn't wake up on his own for food, I wake him up (the shock!) and he smiles his little head off at seeing me.  I can't say that this will work for everyone, I only know it works for us and we have a very happy baby.  I think a happy baby comes from being well fed and well rested<3


For mommas-to-be:  I would definitely reccommend On Becoming Babywise.  I had no idea on schedules for eating, sleeping, or staying awake.  It was really helpful to have some type of guidelines.  We don't follow everything that the books says exclusively, but it has made a lot of sense out of our lives since the babe.

You may have noticed that in our schedule for waketime there isn't any mention of television.  That's because we haven't introduced Greyson to any tv.  At first it was out of habit because Brandon and I just don't really watch tv...the only tv I watch is generally on Hulu and that's while Grey is eating or sleeping so he doesnt' watch it.  When Grey was about 9 weeks old it suddenly dawned on us that we've never intentionally sat him in front of the tv for a children's program (or to watch whatever we have on either).  So at that point it felt like we were taking a stance against tv.  I did some googling about it (duh) and the world is undecided about the effects that tv has on babies.  I do think there seems to be something creepy about little kids sitting with their mouths open staring at the tv screen...or parents who claim they "can't pull their kids away from the tv"...(um, hello- YOU ARE the parent!??!)  I think people need to decide for themselves.  Grey is super talkative and interactive already and we feel like maybe it has something to do with the no tv?  maybe.  In any case, we aren't really taking a side, but for now Grey isn't a tv-watching kid....just yet, anyway.

11week old playtime

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

This is the wild type of "playing" that we get to enjoy with an 11week old living in our house.  Playing includes lots of repetition and funny noises.

Lawn Make-over

We were very lucky to enlist the help of the men in our families over Grey's baptism weekend to give our lawn a make-over.  Brandon has been dying to get our front flowerbeds taken care of and boy did we ever!
Our old (front) lawn's landscaping was BORING and made Brandon crazy with the rocks.  B worked on stripping the rocks out of the frontbed and then over the Baptism weekend, all the guys helped rip&tear the plants out of there, re-plant our new stuff, and mulch the entire thing.  Of course it was super sunny and about million degrees that day too.  Thank you so much, Rudy, Dad, Jordan, and Ryan!! 


old front lawn


new front lawn



We also purchased hanging baskets from Frank's Farmer's Market on Sterretania and they're beautiful.  so there.


Over the past week, Brandon has been hard at work at ripping up our back yard to make way for a flowerbed along the house.  This new bed serves two purposes; a) it will be easier to mow and b) to pretty up our backyard.  He dug up all the sod (ugh) and I even get in on the helping of laying the mulch.  We've re-planted some bushes from the front yard to the back bed and we'll be getting some mums to fill in the middle part soon. 

old back lawn




new back flowerbed





A Daddy kind of weekend

Since it was Brandon's first father's day, I wanted the whole weekend to be filled with activities that Brandon loves to do.

So, we got up early on Saturday and got everything and everyone together to go fishing at Presque Isle.  Everyone includes Brandon, me, Grey, AND Bullet.  We stopped at the Forte's to pick up Baby Kev and then we were off to the lake.  The plan was for Brandon and Kev to wade into the bay to fish while I take Bullet and Grey for a walk.  Lo and behold, the warm, sunny weather had just about the entire population of Erie out walking/rollerblading/biking on the paths.  Bullet was super excited about every single person (or animal) that we passed, so to keep him distracted so as not to bark, or sniff, or jump on others; we had to jog past each person that came near us while walking.  Unfortunately, I wore sandals so by the end of our 4 mile walk/jog, my feet had the majority of the skin missing.  Some man that passed us commented, "Mom at work" and I was like, no kidding.

After that, we went out to the Perry Monument so that the guys could try to catch at least one fish!!  We tied Bully to a tree and Grey and I sat on a blanket while the guys fished.  Bullet barked his head off at every cast, which was about every 5 seconds since the guys were fly-fishing.  Overall, it was a crazy event, but worth it for the daddy.


Brandon is a big wing lover, so for his first father's day, so later that evening, we traveled the hour and 45 minutes to visit the birthplace of wings (and the location of the victor in the wings showdown on Food Wars).  The wings were definitely worth the trip!  Greyson was an angel child the whole trip.  We love the daddy<3





Which tickles most?

Monday, June 21, 2010

My mom used to play this game with us when I was a little girl.  "Which tickles most?" she'd ask and then proceed to tickle the most ticklish spots until I'd be howling in laughter.  Of course I couldn't resist playing with Grey. 



His little throaty chortle is to die for.  Goodness, I love this baby.

Happy Father's Day!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Brandon and I are so lucky to have the dads we have; they are strong, decent, caring, and hardworking men that have taught us everything from how to use a hammer to teaching us that cheaters never win and winners never win without practice and hardwork.  They are still teaching us (yea, we may still need help with getting that toilet to stop leaking!)  And now they will be the best male role models for our son; he will learn so much from you two.  We love you.  forever.

---------------------------
Brandon,
I could never say how lucky I feel that you are the father of our child.  I love watching you play and laugh with Greyson and I know it will only get better and more fun for the both of you as he gets older.  Thank you for hugging and kissing him even though he is a boy.  He will always have that love from his dad in his heart; even when he gets too big (or "too cool") for hugs and kisses from you.  They say that the best thing a dad can do for his kids is to love their mother...you certainly have that covered.  I feel your love all around me and that makes me a better mother.  You are a great dad.  Thank you for our sweet baby.
i love you.
yours,
tab

Need a pick-me-up?

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

the sun, the sand, a tired Bullet...

This past weekend, we decided to go for a walk at Presque Isle as a family for the sole reason that it was sunny and Saturday.  Granted, we could've been doing lots of work at the house...but instead we took advantage of the beautiful weather and spent it all together:)


We drove all the way past the Perry Monument before we parked since this would be Bullet's first full immersion into society (our neighborhood walks don't really count).  We were taking a pretty big jump into socialization- there were walkers, bikers, rollerbladers, motorcyclists, and other dogs.  Bullet did pretty good, considering all of the stimulation.  We walked 3 miles in total and Bullet was completely pooped on the way back to the truck.  He was literally stopping mid-stride and sitting in the shade.  HAH!  We pulled out his water dish mulitple times and he just layed on the ground and drank out of it.  Poor baby.


Bullet also got to show off his swimming skills in the lagoon.  He did a good job, but was afraid of the geese.
 

Greyson thoroughly enjoyed the walk; aka he slept the entire time.

Greyson's Baptism

Our little baby was baptized on June 6th at Holy Cross church in Fairview.  It was beautiful mass and he was fairly behaved...hahah, he screamed on the top of his lungs when Father Scott poured the water over his head...but he's a baby, so what did we expect?  We had lots of visitors come to watch our little baby in church, including the grandparents of course:)



Uncle Jonny & Aunt Uch; the godparents



Since almost everyone had to travel in for the baptism, we had a little "pre-party" at our house the night before and made massive amounts of food on the grill...and then ate it all. 

Celebrated Aunt Kitty's 25th birthday

...and at 11pm that night, I was icing Greyson's baptism cake.  I made it and I think my Lisa's gram would have been pretty proud:)

That night, we had a ridiculous thunderstorm/wind storm and woke up to our backyard in shambles.  Our recently purchased tent was destroyed and the grill tipped over!  It wasn't too bad of a clean-up before we headed to church - and we are definitely not complaining....Girard was touched by a legit tornado (!!)


Greyson Rudy, we are so proud of you; even if you did scream outright in church.  Congratulations on losing your original sin:)  hehhe.

Greyson does Johnstown

Pittsburgh Airport to pick up Aunt Uch- she's back from her semester abroad in Scotland!  


Meet Aunt Uch for the first time!


Sleepover at Gma Studer's house for her birthday while mum&dad took Aunt Uch out for her 21st birthday! 


Meeting the Studer family at great grammar's house


Meeting the Adams/Uzelac family at Abba & Poppa's house


very long/busy weekend- but worth it.
(you can click on the collages to view it larger)

welcome to our new blog?

If you are frequent reader of our blog, you may have noticed a few new things.  As a promotor of all things fantastic and helpful- I'm going to let you all in on a few secrets:)

a) eblogger has added some new design templates to the site and since I have zero experience in html or working free blog template sites...the new design templates were super easy and cute.  So team studer has finally taken a stepped away from the blah and into the hurrah...?  I'd like to think so

b) Our new header collage was so easily made with the use of Picasa.  which is made from Google and is a free download.  I have been trying to get a collage made to put as our main picture for seriously like 4 months.  Then I heard about Picasa and it took me all of 10 minutes to get that one together.  Picasa also has this crazy, awesome face recognition feature that you can tag frequently seen faces from your pictures (on your computer) and if you want, it will find all of the Brandon faces...or Greyson faces.  It is addicting and kind of hilarious to see your face (and all of the hilarious facial expressions) fifty million times in a row. I love it!

c) Label searches (see the right column) I have been trying to label my posts so that they are easier to find.  This goes out to especially the Grandmas, who I know only really want to read posts about Greyson.  If that's the case, just click on the "greyson" or "baby studer" (from before he was born) to filter the blog to only those posts. 

Hope you like the changes as much as we do!  Thanks for following us and keeping up with our lives<3

April & May Kindness

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Our April kindness was to plant a tree to honor our new baby and Earth day.  With all the excitement in April (ie. having a baby!) we just got to finishing up our April task this week!  We were holding off until we could re-landscape our front flowerbed (pics to follow).


Hooray for Greyson, Spring, and Mother Earth!

This is the second year in a row that we have done the Studer Scholarship for Conemaugh Valley as our May kindness.  We both graduated from Conemaugh Valley in 2001 and 2003 (high school sweethearts! hehhe).  When we got married, we decided that we wanted to be able to give something back to Valley because it had given us so much- that is where we grew up, where we met all our friends, and most importantly where we met each other. Thus was born the Studer Scholarship to honor students who are positively influencing the school and/or Valley students. We want to thank all participants who completed an essay for our scholarship. It was truly inspiring to read about what they have done and the positive mark they will leave on the school. Through college and our own traveling, we have found that those that inspire us most are the people that are affecting the world around them in a positive way by doing what they love most. What the world needs, especially now, are people who are doing what they love. It was in this spirit that we were able to choose a winner this year; it was very difficult, but we were especially inspired to read about the way in which this student has found a way to encourage and support other students and underclassmen by doing what she loves best. Our winner this year for the Studer Scholarship is Taylor Gruss.

Congrats to all the Valley seniors- keep trying your best!!

The 5 Senses: Parenthood Edition

Monday, June 7, 2010

Becoming parents has changed quite a bit for us.  Our social lives and sleeping habits have taken a turn for the almost non-existent and our eating habits have taken a turn for massive cereal consumption...but that's neither here nor there.  What has been hilarious to note is the change in the way we use our five senses now that we have a little person in our house.  For the most part, we used to use our five senses for pleasurable reason; listening to music; watching reality tv, eating steak and tiramisu...and now with the addition of our little babe, the five senses have become more of survival tools than anything else.  See below for elaboration...

Sight is our best defense in protecting Greyson from any harm; real or made up.  From examining the length of his fingernails to the color of his poo; it is all about observation.  The sight of his little grin is what gets us through the sleepless nights.  As if our own view of his every move isn't enough; we've backed all these visual memories up with photos.  There's a whole lot of staring, gawking, and creepily peeking over the crib railing going on over here.

Our hearing has gotten better since the addition to our family.  Before Greyson, I couldn't have the tv turned up loud enough and now I can hear it at volume 4 while Grey is napping.  We can both hear the difference between a cry from hunger and a cry for cuddling.  We listen for music that has new sounds to introduce to Grey; we've recently discovered he likes the sound of horns in music (like in Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash).

Taste has become a delicacy in our lives now.  With all the pb&j and cereal we've been eating- getting a taste of "real food" is like a little gift.  Chicken and rice never tasted so good.  We talk about the things we don't like to eat (Brandon - tomatoes, me- ribs) and try to guess if Grey will take after one of us.  We'd like for him to be more than just a "chicken nuggets and buttered noodles" kid at restaurants.  We can hardly wait for him to know what anything besides bmilk tastes like.  How exciting life will be then!

The way things feel has become an obsession around here.   "The baby's skin is so soft," "That carpet is too scratchy," "Pet Bullet, he's nice," "I think that tag is itching him," "Oooh, that blankie is soft."  Yes...that is how we talk now.  Since he's still so teeny, touching things is about the only playing we can do so far since he can't hold his head up yet.  Its funny to think how much we take touching for granted; not since I was a teenager holding Brandon's hand for the first time have I made such a big deal over the sense of touch. 

Smell is the big one...actually, I think smell is always the big one.  It never gets old.  The sense of smell is the one that holds the most memories (I think I heard that somewhere).  On the survival side of it, we lift the baby up to smell if he needs diaper change and to be honest I don't know how many shirts I've smelled in the past few weeks to decide whether or not they have 'too much spit up on it' to change.  But we've also come to appreciate smells too- we've started announcing to Greyson when a new smell comes along to him for the first time...like the other day on the drive to Johnstown with the windows down, "Greyson, that's what cow poop smells like."

If nothing else, our little Greybaby has blown fresh air into our awareness of the five senses.  Now every sound, smell, sight, taste, and touch are rediscovered because it is the first time for our little guy, so its kind of new again to us too.  Suddenly, the smell of a skunk outside is more to our family than just gross...its actually pretty exciting:)

The Greyson Book Review: Piggley's Colorful World

At 2 months (tomorrow),  Greyson gives Piggley's Colorful World two enthusiastic thumbs up.  Just watch & listen to how much he loves those crazy farm animals talking about colors.



hahhahaha