Mouland Family: 8 Months as a Family of 4

Hi all!
Well we have now been a family of 4 for 8 months, and the fun is really beginning. Liam is full-on moving around the house. He does a combination army crawl-inchworm move that gets him around very effectively. Nothing is safe anymore! We have to keep the door closed to the basement, ensure there is nothing he shouldn't put in his mouth on the floor and poor Katie is forever trying to keep him out of her things. We continually tell her if she doesn't want him to have something she needs to pick it up off the floor and play with it at a table - a difficult lesson for her to learn. He is also rolling from back to front now so diaper changing is lots of extra fun! He has tried to get up the bottom stair but has not been able to figure that one out so has decided to leave it alone for now.
He LOVES his solid food - it will be cheaper to board my children then to feed them in a few years! Liam is eating his 3 meals a day and so far there is nothing he won't eat (Katie was like that too, and generally still does eat well and is not fussy but she DOES now have a mind of her own). He is enjoying all food groups and I am enjoying the fact that he is now eating what we eat at most meals, as long as it is blended up pretty well.
Liam & I are taking swimming lessons, which in themselves he enjoys, however the time is not good. The lessons start at 10am, and he usually goes down for a nap between 9:30 and 10, so by about 1/2 through the class he is a bear and then screams his head off in the locker room. I recall the same problem with Katie when she was a baby. I think we are going to discontinue them as frankly, who am I doing it for? If he is going to be a bear about it then what is the point - there is lots of time for us to do activities, and his sleep is more important. Sleep has been a challenge for him over the last couple weeks. We've had nights where he has woken multiple times, multiple nights in a row, screaming his head off. Thankfully that has passed, however he has gotten into a routine of being fed in the middle of the night as that was about the only way to settle him, and so now we are working on breaking that - not that I mind him feeding once at night, but not every 3 hours! Otherwise, he is happy, healthy and enjoyable. We love all his little noises and faces. We are also beginning to sign with him, which he sometimes responds to but understandably is not signing back to us yet.

Katie is LOVING playschool - she would go everyday if she could. And what a long way it has brought her memory and verbalization skills - not that she needed help to verbalize! The things that come out of her mouth are amazing sometimes! She has taken to crawling into bed with us once a week or so and we asked her why one morning, she said - "There are yellow monsters, with yellow eyes, scary feet and scary bums in my room"! But she does not come in at all upset! She told me in the car the other day that when she gets big like Daddy she is going to be a teacher too!
Dance class is a big hit as well - she is always practicing her tap steps and sitting "criss cross applesauce like Miss Christina". She and Bryan are going to do skating lessons together starting at the end of Oct until mid Dec, to get her ready for the outdoor season this winter.
She has made fabulous friends with our neighbour's little girl and they frequently have playdates together. It is funny to watch them, they are the best of friends, missing each other when they are not together, and the worst of enemies - fighting like cats and dogs when they are together, yet you have to tear them away from each other to take them home!

I have been super busy this month with 2 doula clients having had their babies. It has been wonderful to be a part of the birth journey again and reaffirms my plan to go back to uni to become a midwife. Bryan, my mom and brother and our neighbours have been so helpful watching the children while I am away. I have one more client who is due next week and then I will have a break until February. In regards to our own birth journey - Liam's birth story was published by a local publication - Birthing Magazine - in their fall issue. It was so exciting to see it in glossy, color, print, along with pictures. We are also working on Liam's birth video, editing, and copy-protecting it to sell to those in the local birth community as an up-to-date birthing video for educational purposes. Funny how Bryan didn't even want Liam's birth videoed at first and then right after he saw it said "all pregnant women should see this and then they wouldn't be afraid"!

Bryan is busy with school, he classroom is more like a "normal" classroon than ever this year with lots of learning and productivity happening. He is still running woodshop and playing hockey with the students on Fridays. He is back in full swing with ball hockey now, and has been asked to be a sub for an ice hockey team so some Fridays he gets double hockey in. We've sold our jeep and so now the garage is empty, Bryan is getting back out there, hopefully we'll have the rest of our baseboards up soon. He has agreed to NO projects for others this winter as our house is the priority.

Hunting season is upon us now and he is off for a week to Northern AB, as of Friday - "providing for the family". The children and I are heading to Grandma's for most of that week. When we return we have Katie's 3rd birthday - which seems to have become an all weekend event, but you do only have 1 a year! She is totally into the party this year and cannot wait - it will be a tea party, hats and all! Then Halloween!

Have a safe and happy month.
Love & Hugs,
Us!

Wow - 8 months!!