Okay – I’m a bad, bad blogger! I apologize for not posting any updates on Ilya’s progress. Between adjusting to our new lives as parents to a FABULOUS little boy, internet issues, severe storms, power outages and being sick (yes, I’m sick AGAIN.. this is really getting old), I’ve been slacking on anything blog/email/Yahoo group related. But I do have good news to share with Ilya’s fans.
SLEEPING
Little Man has been doing great sleep wise. We put him to bed between 7:30-8pm, preferably closer to 7:30 but some days it takes a little while to get him to fall asleep. Except for his first night home, he has been sleeping straight through the night all the way until 6am-6:30am. This morning he slept in until 6:45! The schedule we received from the orphanage said his sleep time was 7:30pm-6:30am so we’re doing pretty well at sticking with that.
The orphanage also told us that he had naps from 9am-11:30am and 2pm-4pm. He typically is ready for a nap at 9am, and most days he wakes up between 10:30-10:45am. We’re really struggling with afternoon naps though. Yesterday he didn’t take on at all, and every other day it has been pretty dramatic trying to get him peaceful enough to fall asleep. Eventually he does but I feel so bad for him because you can tell he needs the nap but he fights the sleep so much.
Once he is to sleep, whether at night or for naps, nothing much can wake him up. We have had some pretty severe storms in our area almost every night this past week, and thought for sure the thunder claps or golfball size hail pounding on the skylights would be scary enough to wake him since we were startled awake more than once. Little man slept through all of it like a champ though.
Oh, and one of my favorite Ilya moments is watching him wake up. This boy wakes up so darn happy and gets the cutest little smile on his face, and laughs...it’s a wonderful, beautiful sound that I absolutely cherish!
EATING
Ilya’s a little chow hound! I love his mealtime because he gets so excited. We were not allowed to feed Ilya at the orphanage, so the first time we did was at the apartment in Moscow. I’ll never forget those first couple feedings because Little Man was so…robotic. His little fists would ball up, he’d sit so rigid in his booster seat, he wouldn’t make eye contact, wouldn’t kick his feet, nothing. It was totally emotionless for him. Now, however, all we need to do is sit him in his highchair and he knows it’s time for fun! His feet start kicking, he bounces up & down in his seat, his little hands wave in the air, claps his hands, and the melody of Ilya sounds starts full force. We’re trying to get good video of mealtime to share with everyone because the sounds he comes up with are hilarious.
We are, however, having trouble getting him to drink liquids. He loves juice but will not drink water, milk or formula. He does like Pediasure though, which is better than nothing. But we’d still like to get him accustomed to milk/formula as soon as possible. Any tips are GREATLY appreciated.
OUR PETS
SLEEPING
Little Man has been doing great sleep wise. We put him to bed between 7:30-8pm, preferably closer to 7:30 but some days it takes a little while to get him to fall asleep. Except for his first night home, he has been sleeping straight through the night all the way until 6am-6:30am. This morning he slept in until 6:45! The schedule we received from the orphanage said his sleep time was 7:30pm-6:30am so we’re doing pretty well at sticking with that.
The orphanage also told us that he had naps from 9am-11:30am and 2pm-4pm. He typically is ready for a nap at 9am, and most days he wakes up between 10:30-10:45am. We’re really struggling with afternoon naps though. Yesterday he didn’t take on at all, and every other day it has been pretty dramatic trying to get him peaceful enough to fall asleep. Eventually he does but I feel so bad for him because you can tell he needs the nap but he fights the sleep so much.
Once he is to sleep, whether at night or for naps, nothing much can wake him up. We have had some pretty severe storms in our area almost every night this past week, and thought for sure the thunder claps or golfball size hail pounding on the skylights would be scary enough to wake him since we were startled awake more than once. Little man slept through all of it like a champ though.
Oh, and one of my favorite Ilya moments is watching him wake up. This boy wakes up so darn happy and gets the cutest little smile on his face, and laughs...it’s a wonderful, beautiful sound that I absolutely cherish!
EATING
Ilya’s a little chow hound! I love his mealtime because he gets so excited. We were not allowed to feed Ilya at the orphanage, so the first time we did was at the apartment in Moscow. I’ll never forget those first couple feedings because Little Man was so…robotic. His little fists would ball up, he’d sit so rigid in his booster seat, he wouldn’t make eye contact, wouldn’t kick his feet, nothing. It was totally emotionless for him. Now, however, all we need to do is sit him in his highchair and he knows it’s time for fun! His feet start kicking, he bounces up & down in his seat, his little hands wave in the air, claps his hands, and the melody of Ilya sounds starts full force. We’re trying to get good video of mealtime to share with everyone because the sounds he comes up with are hilarious.
We are, however, having trouble getting him to drink liquids. He loves juice but will not drink water, milk or formula. He does like Pediasure though, which is better than nothing. But we’d still like to get him accustomed to milk/formula as soon as possible. Any tips are GREATLY appreciated.
OUR PETS
All of our pets adore Ilya! Even Ivan (our cat who has been in hiding for 13 years when anyone but me is in the house) journeys out of some nook or cranny to say hello to Ilya. Ilya is absolutely fascinated by both cats & loves to follow them around. Each day with the dogs is better than the day before. Bailey & Bandit love Ilya and are very protective of him. He is now reaching out to pet them, he is used to their barking and the noises they make when we play with them. He really enjoys watching me throw things for the dogs to chase and laughs as they run by him to fetch things. Since our dogs are so large, 135 lbs & 90 lbs, they are only allowed to run around when Ilya is safely tucked away into his “gated community” (see photo below), or safely in someone’s arms/lap. When I say they’re only allowed to run around at certain times, that means that they know when their playtime is, and they know when it’s time to be calm. Honestly, I don’t they’d run with him close to them anyway since they’re both so protective.
This is Bandit checking in on Ilya's Gated Community to make sure all is well!
BATH TIME!
Ilya still loves taking baths and is really starting to have fun now. He kicks his feet, splashes, and makes a great mess for us to clean up. We hesitantly tried a bubble bath a few nights ago. I say hesitantly because of the experience Rob & Dede had with their son when they first tried this. At first Ilya was a little unsure of the bubbles sticking to him but it took no time at all to discover how fun it was!
CHANGING CLOTHES
For whatever reason, changing Ilya’s clothes seems very traumatic for him. Especially when something has to go over his head to take off or put on. He has horrible crying fits that are thankfully getting less frequent and less dramatic, but are still worrisome nonetheless. We can’t figure out why this is such a stressful thing for him and are working at making it a more peaceful time. Like I said, it’s getting better but it’s still not great.
BONDING/ATTACHMENT
BONDING/ATTACHMENT
I think we continue to do well in this area. Ilya still makes great eye contact, mimics facial expressions, touches our facial features during feeding and quiet time (getting ready for sleep). He looks for us when we’re not in the same room, he gives hugs, pats our backs when we hold him. Norm’s mom lives with us and she & Ilya are attaching very well also. Admittedly there are times when it seems that Ilya prefers her over one of us, but it’s difficult to tell if this is typical toddler behavior or something we should be mindful of. Sometimes he doesn’t want to leave her to come to one of us. Less frequently he will not want to leave one of us to see her. So again, not sure if this is typical behavior or not but if you have advice to pass on, please do so!
LIKES & DISLIKES
LIKES & DISLIKES
It will be easier to list Ilya’s dislikes than likes, since he seems to like just about everything! Besides the whole clothing issue, the one thing he does not like at all is being told “no”. Realistically though, who does?! Ilya’s biggest love seems to be music. When we’re alone, he & I dance together to ABC’s, Old McDonald & other children’s tunes. We laugh, sing, dance, clap our hands and just have a grand ol’ time. As I said in an earlier post, when I dance I sadly bear a resemblance Elaine on Seinfeld, which is why this is done with only Ilya & the dogs watching. None of them can talk to pass along how dorky I am! Ilya loves it though so we’ll continue this daily special time together.
Okay, I’ve taken enough of your time. I have lots of other pictures to share, but Blogger is protesting uploading them now because of the crazy storms. I'll try again tomorrow. I promise to do better at posting now that we have survived the first week. I gotta tell ya - - this mommy thing is pretty cool! Pretty cool indeed.
Okay, I’ve taken enough of your time. I have lots of other pictures to share, but Blogger is protesting uploading them now because of the crazy storms. I'll try again tomorrow. I promise to do better at posting now that we have survived the first week. I gotta tell ya - - this mommy thing is pretty cool! Pretty cool indeed.
6 comments:
You are so blessed with a wonderful sleeper! Please don't take that for granted!!! :) S is only a few days older than Ilya and quickly made a transition to one long 3 hour nap versus 2 naps shortly after we got home. We do it after lunch, and he is pretty tired by then.
Also, S was not interested in liquids hardly at all for the first 4-6 weeks and is just now starting to drink a lot-mainly apple juice. We've had issues with formula, etc., too and pretty much offer formula (Enfamil Next Step) and Pediasure and let him choose. Sometimes he doesn't want either, but we offer them frequently since he needs the nourishment and calories.
Also, we've had similar issues with changing clothes and him getting upset.
It is amazing how similar a few of these things are between our 2 little guys, but I guess the fact that they are the same age may have alot to do with it.
It sounds like he is really doing great! He is just precious, and I know you are a very proud mommy!
Karyn,
Try mixing the formula little by little into juice. For example, if you're using the powdered kind, just mix maybe one scoop per 8 ounces of juice and mix it up. That way, it will still taste sweet to him, the calories probably won't hurt at this point, and he can get used to the taste. Our formula is not very good, have you ever smelled the stuff? Anyway, this is what I did. I mixed formula (one scoop to start, then two, etc.) with the baby Gerber juices, I think the banana worked best because it was really sweet and the same color that I was going for with the formula. Gradually, as he would take the formula mixed in juice, I started to dilute the juice with a little water, and then eventually got to all water and formula. This took about three weeks to do, so don't get in a hurry. If he balks at the one scoop, go down to a half scoop, you get the picture. This worked really well for a non-formula lover and to wean my youngest from nursing when he WOULD NOT take a bottle... I mean would NOT!
Also, on the grandma thing, I would really just say that as long as you or Norm are the only ones providing for his needs (clothing, food, bedtime, etc.) then I wouldn't worry TOO much yet about the bonding. Make sure you are the ONLY ones feeding, bottle, and rocking/soothing him. This is where you could get into trouble. If he falls and gets hurt, if he runs to Grammy, make sure she doesn't pick him up, let him know that it's YOU that will be there to comfort him. He'll get the picture. Honestly, all my kids would periodically prefer any grandparent over either of us, but that's because grandparents have time and no rules! Just draw some clear boundaries for these first few months of things that she is "there for" and things that only Mommy and Daddy can do. Any lap time, reading, singing, rocking, etc. should only be done by you. If Grams wants to read him a book, I would have him sitting in his high-chair, on the floor next to her, or somewhere where it's not a bonding activity as much as just an entertainment activity.
I hope that helps. I hope I wasn't sounding like a know-it-all, but I've been there with so much of this stuff and the only way I got through it was advice from those who traveled before me. Some things work, some don't, just keep your chin up, you'll find what works for your little guy and then you'll be able to share that with someone else down the road! :)
Thanks for the message on my blog! I'll be counting on you this week!
Ondrea
Thanks so much for the update ! It is great to hear things are going so well.
One suggestion- the kids drink a liquid yougurt at the baby home called "kefir". You might try to find kefir at the supermarket, or try the Danimals drinkable yogurt- at least you'll be getting some dairy into him!
So here is our experience so far. We're giving Eli the toddler (next step) formula. He likes it at room temperature and also a little thicker. We mix 3 scoops of formula to 5 1/2 oz of water instead of 6 oz of water. We were giving the bottle after meals, like at nap times and before bed, but he wasn't drinking enough because he was full from eating. Now we give him the bottle first, before he eats, and he drinks more, because he's hungry. I wait about an hour and then feed him his meal, which he eats. We really want him to have the formula because of the extra vitamins.
He also got upset having his clothes changed. Now I change them while he is lying down, as if he were a much younger baby. This is how he was dressed in the orphanage.
Ilya may be getting ready to transition to just one nap/day. Eli still takes 2, but they are short, just an hour each. I put him down at 1:30, because by 2 he was too tired. Soon he will be just be taking one/day in the afternoon. I know it's a relief that he's sleeping through the night. Eli does too, and it's wonderful!
Sounds like things are going well so far. Can't wait to see more pictures. He's such a cutie!
So happy to hear you are loving Mommyhood - it is great isn't it?
Jax is drinking whole organic milk and loves it, but only warm. Perhaps try warming the liquids.
As for naps, Jax also moved to one long nap after a few weeks home. I had to "keep him up" in the AM because of Luca's Pre-K schedule,but he now naps from 1-3 (sometimes 4) in the afternoon, goes to sleep earlier (7:30) and sleeps until 7:30AM.
We had similar issues with changing too. Jax did not like things going over his head. I started singing to him while I dressed him and that helped a lot.
Ilya sounds like he is doing so well! Enjoy!
K and M Man -
So happy for you, have been following your journey with you through your blog. Welcome to the exciting, trying, uplifting, emotional, etc. world of parenting!
On the sleeping, be aware that you are very blessed that he sleeps so well and so much. Pam and I had a great time with that with Julia, but Jacob is more than 7 months old now and still wakes up 3-5 times a night. Enjoy your sleep!
On the clothing, there are some clothes that have a lot of snaps at the shoulders. You may want to try to look out for those because if you can unsnap a lot of buttons before pulling it over his head maybe that will be less scary because it won't be as tight when you pull it over his head.
On how he acts with you v. Norm's Mom, I know that can be really hard. From what I've seen (Julia is 2 1/2 now) kids go through phases where they can sometimes seem to favor one person over another for a while. It is incredibly hard I know but don't take it personally, it has nothing to do with you or what he feels about you. Just try and look at it this way - it's a major blessing that he has so many loving and caring people's laps to choose from!
On the liquids thing sometimes for some reason the bottle you use makes a huge difference. Some kids just don't like some of the bottles out there. You may have to keep trying a few different bottles/nipples until you find one that works.
On the "no" thing - watch out! You think it's bad now wait until he's an official toddler (last night Julia got out of bed a dozen times before I finally convinced her to listen to my "no")
Most of all, ENJOY this well earned and hard fought wonderful part of your lives together!
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