The little girl that made me a momma is 3

Last weekend was G's third birthday. This is both welcomed and shocking. I "can't believe how big she is" but I also can't believe it's "only" been three years.

I can totally remember life before her, and in some ways my husband and I yearn for those years....because ya'll know being a parent is just tough, especially when they are so demanding of your time and energy....marriages are forever changed by kids. But in way more ways, we are so blessed, lucky, and happy to have her in our life.

This past year was such a huge one of growth for her.

First, she made potty training seem like it was like learning to fly without wings. OMG it was so hard. I'm sure you remember all of those blog posts....
But, she did it, we did it, it was a team effort. No accidents since last summer. Just today she wiped her own bottom for the first time & I had no clue! I was down turning on laundry (I knew she had gone to the bathroom) and when I got upstairs she was flushing! I mean...#cool. Can't wait for that journey with J....not.

Second, she went from barely saying words to telling stories, singing songs, pretending, having a vocabulary of probably thousands of words (who's really sitting there counting?), "reading" books, etc.... She is an individual person with all of these emotions, feelings, thoughts, ideas.... I love it. Seriously, I cannot believe she was in my belly just 3 years and 1 week ago. And then for her first 6 months of life she was TOTALLY dependent on me and my milk (God's provision, of course). I kept that little person alive...and now she is thriving. It's so miraculous.

Third, she started sleeping in her 'toddler' bed. She'll probably sleep in that thing for years...she's so petite, I don't know why we'd need to buy a "big kid" bed until she'll too long for it....that won't be until she's probably 6.

Fourth, she started "writing" and "drawing." She's pretty good at tracing letters, but only a few are distinguishable on their own. She draws pictures of stick people, with huge heads of course. She is pretty darn good at coloring within lines, and she can "cut" and use glue.

Fifth, gross motor wise, she's all there. skipping, hopping, dancing, etc...

Her personality is in full force, and it's all her. She's got 90% me and 10% my husband. I told him the other night, what did he expect since he "let me stay home and raise her myself." HAHA... he gets a good deal of quality time with her, though, and plays with her more than most working fathers do. I'm really proud of the effort he takes to be present in her life. I really don't feel like she is lacking in that department, which is good, because I wouldn't accept any less from him. Girls need their fathers. Her relationship with him will have more of an impact on her life than any other human relationship, in my opinion. Yes, her relationship with me or with her brother are very important....it's just my belief that a girl and her father is the relationship where she solidifies her self confidence in "male" subjects (not that I can't model that, it's just my belief that her relationship with her dad solidifies it), where she learns appropriate respect to demand from future love interests, and where she comes to respect or not respect her self worth.

To summarize G at 3---

Favorite;
food-- oatmeal with blueberries is a solid choice, she'd love to eat junky food all the time (like chicken nuggets) but that doesn't happen. She is pretty picky with meat. She likes cereal, eggs, carbs anything (pancakes, muffins, etc...)
song-- ABC song
color-- red
book--currently it's this 5 story collection of Bernstein Bears, but she loves just about any book you give her
show-- daniel tiger and super why
clothing item-- comfy pants
drink-- juice (but she only gets that at breakfast)
snack-- happy family anything, annie's homegrown cookies, fruit, yogurt
friend-- Levi
activity-- doing school cards or pages, she also enjoys playing "big kid" things with us without J around (like jigsaw puzzles, candy land, match game, doll house....)

She doesn't really nap these days, about 2/7 days she takes a nap, other than that it's "quiet time"
She sleeps about 10 hours over night. She takes showers every other day with our help.

least ideal attributes; TANTRUMS, duh. She gets REALLY set in her ways and won't change her mind for anything. Independence....but that's both good and bad. I want her to be independent, so I don't want to "break her of that" but it can be REALLY challenging
best attributes; she's a great helper, a really good big sister, aims to please, for her age is pretty reasonable, she minds me fairly well in public, she's cautious and observative, has a really good attention span

Basically she's really awesome but can throw the biggest fit you've ever seen. It's a passionate person problem. I'm the same way. Still.

For her third birthday I hand crafted a Daniel Tiger theme (thanks to PBS parents for the free printables)

The latest happenings

Basically my kids have been sick in some form or fashion since the middle of October...so that's been....awesome.

stomach flu
runny nose
cold
flu
rsv

hoorah!

I've been sick twice (I started the stomach bug in early October and had a cold or the flu over Thanksgiving), and my husband once. The kids just can't seem to get out from under it. We've had brief periods of health, and I use that term lightly, but 85% of this winter has been confined to our home with snot rags, sick juice, and TV. Ugh.

I know that it's "good" for the immune system to be boosted, and we are "due" because last winter there was one round of colds after the birthday party / baptism weekend, but that was all since we were homebound. I tried to be relatively homebound this year, but I guess you either are or you aren't because going to target doesn't count as being homebound and clorox wipe or not, there's millions of germs floating around that store and anywhere else we went....even if it wasn't some indoor play center. Heck, maybe those woulda been cleaner.

My life looks like this;
 
Run. Cook. Wipe noses and butts. Breastfeed. Watch TV. Work (I worked 50+ hours this month! money FTW!!!!). Attempt to visit friends, but generally lose on that due to illness. Attempt to go on a date but that hasn't happened due to illness. Go grocery shopping. Go to church when we aren't sick. Attend a few meetings. Go to the doctor. Oh, and I went to the dentist once. Woooooo!

Since I last updated you we celebrated my husband's birthday. That was nice, though it was supposed to be nicer with the date night attempt I mentioned above that still hasn't happened. Such is the life of a parent. He also kind of got hurt running and trying to be a general badass by beating my on our 9 mile training run. It's been almost 2 weeks since he last ran and I'm starting to worry he won't be prepared for the marathon. I really don't want to run alone...

G has gone through periods of awesome behavior and then crappy behavior. I'd like to think I'm doing a rockstar job of rolling with the punches, and have only really yelled once in MONTHS, so that's cool. I credit Daniel Tiger, The Orange Rhino Blog post I read, internal motivation that I don't want to model bad behavior and GOD above through prayer and intervention. Sometimes you just have to kill 'em with kindness and that's what I've been trying to do. We do discipline, but try to do all things with love. We are Christians, ya' know.
I also read St. Gianna's book (seen here Saint Gianna Molla: Wife, Mother, Doctor). Even if you aren't Catholic, it has a great message of being a better wife, mother, human....My husband has been reading it too, very motivating.
So back to G. Well, she's working on handwriting, because I feel like once she can write, at least a little bit, official homeschooling will begin. I'm beginning to feel more and more out of place with 'preschool' conversations because she's not going anywhere and won't be. I wish people wouldn't judge me for that. She'll be socialized just fine, thanks. I'm not crazy. I asked her today if she wanted me to be or teacher or someone else and she said me, so there's that :-)
She does want to go to a "school" / "somewhere else" for school, so I guess I'll have to work on that one.

She didn't used to get confused with "b" and "d" but out of no where she has started to. And also "6" and "9"

celebrating her besties birthday

She totally used to know those apart....maybe she's got dyslexia, or has too much swimming around her brain nowadays. I don't want to diagnose her since I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure she has sensory issues and may even be on the ASD, but not nearly enough for treatment. Especially since it is such a broad spectrum (I think nearly any kid could fall on it KWIM?). She's definitely not a truly typical kid though, but we've known that since she was a baby. Even my mom pointed out how quirky she is when G was only like 8 months old or something. Basically I am her mom, and I see her all the time. I also see a lot of other kids her age, and I know she's not like them in weird ways. Not that I think that's bad, and I'm certainly not seeking out treatment, because I think she has to develop her own personality and learn to manage her quirks. If there was something debilitative, sure, but in my opinion, there's not. What quirks you might ask.... well she's just extreme on so many things. OCD like, emotional overload like, extremely amazing memory....IDK I can't explain it, she's generally a sweet preschooler just weird, in an okay way. I love her to the end of the universe and back though. She is beautiful and makes me feel so happy.
Wow...got on a tangent there.

sick faces:-(

So J... he's doing really well despite his sicknesses. He's walking a lot at home these days, but not 100% of the time, and not when we are out and about for me to go get him some stride right shoes. That is on my to do list though. I can't wait for spring to get here so we can all go play in the yard together. Last spring was kind of a wash, because he had to be held when we were outside, and that's not as fun!
He has some "words." He'll say (in his own baby speak way) "bite"(which my husband unfortunately started him on as meaning "more food") "all done" "bath" "bed" "momma" "dadda" "ahh" (maybe G's name??) "bye" and "yeah"
He's getting a bit of an attention span FINALLY. He will read books for a little bit, and even has a few favorites (Sesame Street Nighty Night and a Colors slide-the-door book). He's not too interested in G's shows yet aside from the songs, and easily gets bored with toys (and moves between them quickly). He loves musical things and kid songs. He tries to write/color, but still tries to put them in his mouth, so it's a supervised activity only. He likes turning light switches, pushing buttons (like on the food processor), and being as "helpful" as I'll let him. He is OBSESSED with the dishwasher. He has sat on the potty a few times, but never gone (it was just because it's sitting right there next to the tub). He LOVES his blankey but doesn't have a lovey other than that. He's much more of a climber than G ever was, and he's much more curious (Whereas she was more likely to size things up from afar, he must try it to find out). He's still sitting rear facing, still nursing over night, and still my baby boy. I wouldn't change that for the world. XOXO.

J is ONE! Chondradysplasia Punctata is mild.

I blogged way more through G's first year of life, but that is just the nature of being a new SAHM...you need to vent more, you are less certain, you have more time.


J hasn't been shorted in any way, shape, or form; aside from less face time on this blog...and I do not think that's a bad thing.

He's doing so amazingly well. He is super smart, super funny, and super sweet. He's a really happy and friendly boy. He wants to be the center of attention and is very investigative. He wants to be BIG really bad, and just the other day he climbed into the toy basket. I have no idea how! He's been known to get into the pantry and pull out cereal too. His latest mischief is climbing into G's bed and reaching onto her night stand to get whatever he can reach. (throws hands up, I can't win!)

As a one year old, J is;

• about 21 pounds and a bit under 29" -- he's in 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers when he wears a disposable.
• he has 4 top teeth and 3 bottom teeth (working on the other 1 for the past month now - boooo)
• He sleeps from about 9 pm to 6 am ish, eats, and back to bed until around 9 am ish
• He sleeps with a blanky, but doesn't really have a lovey, nor does he suck his thumb.
• He is nursing before nap, before bed, once overnight, and 1-2 other times.
• He eats BLD and a snack usually
• His favorite foods are cheese (but we think he's sensitive to dairy), puffs/rice cakes, pears, shredded chicken, and peeled/sliced grapes.
• His favorite toy is MY PHONE (that is a no no) or G's fan and music box and shoes (all no no's), so his favorite 'allowed' toy is the Elmo music thing, or stacking cups. That about sums him up--music and investigation. I wonder if he'll be "left brained" as he grows up. 
• For early Christmas from my in laws, he got a baby "computer" and he LOVES IT.
• No favorite show, he doesn't care about the TV, unless it's the remote, then he's totally into that.
• His favorite person is momma :-) :-) but he loves almost anyone as long as he's in a good mood. He's started pushing G away if I am hugging/snuggling her, so that's developmental but still sad.
• When daddy sings 'row row row your boat,' he tries to sing along. He has also tried to say "I love you," in baby speak, of course. Speaking of daddy, he's trying to teach J the parts of the body and sometimes J gets it right, but not all the time ;-)
• He says "upp uppp uppp" and "nananana" and "dadadada" and a few other correct sound references. I'm counting dada as his first word and up as his first non family word.
• He has hit all developmental milestones, including making 2-3 block towers! We are so blessed.

He vocalizes some, points all the time, creeps along walls/furniture, has taken a few steps, crawls really fast, can go up stairs if we let him, opens flaps in flap books, turns pages in real books, turns the light switch on/off if you hold him up, swipes up/around on my iPhone, climbs up into G's toddler bed, and he has the most mischievous grin. He is a handsome little boy and totally knows it.

I cannot say enough good things about him, but he isn't perfect. I just have a grounded perspective when it comes to him being clingy sometimes, or screaming sometimes.... I'm so much more comfortable in my motherhood than I was with G, but she's benefiting from that now and we are all just chugging along :-)

 

 

  

Dear J,

You are so special and our lives are forever changed by your entrance into our family. You give the sweetest snuggles and brightest grins. I cannot wait to see what you become, I know it will be something amazing. Never forget how we are your biggest fans, and never stop loving your sister. She is the best friend you'll ever have. She gives you 'hugs, and kisses, and pats' every day. She lets you pull her hair, steal her toys, and sings you songs. She loves you beyond belief, and as your mom, I am so blessed to get to watch the two of you together. Happy Birthday Baby Boy, you have made me a better person.

-Momma

Nine Months Old baby J

Having a nine month old baby boy sure is fun! He's into everything, makes everyone happy, keeps me on my toes for sure.

 J is very curious. He wants to see what everyone is doing, and likes getting into the action himself. He's feeding himself, army crawling (maybe it'd be better described as crocodile crawling lol), pulling-up on almost everything (except his crib, which is weird, because that's the first place G pulled up, but his crib is taller), clapping and waving, and just being a generally awesome little man. He plays peek a boo by pulling covers up and down, he can find some hidden things when shown them first. He can put things in and take them out. He's trying to mimic some motions, so maybe signing a few things might be in his future. He likes anything with a screen, which is a sign of the times, eh.

He is super into G's fan, cords of any kind, bathrooms, doors and door stops, and shoes-especially flip flops. Sounds like a puppy to me, LOL - of course I stop him from getting those things and so that probably increases his interest in them.

He eats 3 meals a day plus nurses about 5 times a day. He sleeps from about 8:15 pm - 5:30 am, nurses, and sleeps again from 6ish until about 9 am.... give or take, usually. He takes a nap from around 1:30 pm until 4 pm. Yeah, he's a one nap baby already. And I thought G was an early 1-napper.... though I did kind of push J into one nap so that our life opened up in the morning a bit.

J eat peeled/cut grapes, bananas, peaches, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, shredded meat, bell peppers, squash/zucchini, puffs, yogurt bites, pumpkin, and cheerios. He's tried lots of other things, but that's what he eats fairly frequently. He loves food and feeding himself.

He kind of drinks expressed milk from a sippy, with a lot of help and a lot of it spills, but this is helpful for getting through mass. I can't nurse under a cover because he pulls it off, so nursing discretely through mass isn't an option.

He's taken several tumbles because he's really top heavy, so when he pulls up on something and then tries to creep along or transfer between objects, he falls. I can't be right next to him every second...so long story short he topples over and cries. :-( Oh well, part of being a kid, right?

Then there's G who has pulled him over on accident a few times. She has just tried to help him "walk" but it ends up being her pulling him down since he can't walk. We've had a few talks about just letting him be....

She's a super awesome big sister, seriously, I've never seen a better one. She loves on him, plays with him, helps get his food, and takes care of him as much as a 2.5 year old can. Not that I put that on her really, but she's got a maternal instinct.

J is doing really well as far as CDPX1 (chondradysplasia punctata) is concerned, at least in my non-medical opinion. He seems to hear well, but we'll have his hearing checked pretty soon. He may or may not hear exactly right though, only time and monitoring will tell there. He seems to see well too, but again, we'll keep an eye on it ;-) His breathing is fine. He snores sometimes and makes odd sounds, but mostly does great. Let's all pray he stays healthy and avoids serious illness this Fall. His bones are the main thing, and we won't have x-rays again until December when he's almost 1. His torso and head seem to make up most of his body, so I think his legs are shorter than normal, which is why I think he's so top heavy....but he's only 9 months old ;-) so we'll see what happens in the future.

I'll update his height and weight tomorrow after his appointment. He's got two teeth on bottom and 4 about ready to bust through on the top.

Love you baby boy!!

Eight month + J-man

A few days late--j is now 8 months old!!

I went back and read G's 8 month post, and they are only a little alike. I wrote how she was the happiest baby around...but man I feel like J just knocks that out of the water. Maybe I'm forgetting since G can be temperamental these days, though she's not too bad. 

J takes one nap a day, which is kind of crazy, because I thought G transitioned early (11 months), but I kind of forced it on J....because I want the kids to sleep at the same time. He also sleeps about 12 hours at night (eating 1 or 2 times, though he's slept through a total of two times). So his total sleep is around 14 hours. 

He has eaten just about any kind of baby food around, loves puffs (duh) and Cheerios, and has had real pieces of cooked carrots, peach, banana, sweet potato and halved peas. He also had cherries, blueberries, and lemons in the mesh feeder. Once he's done with these pouches we have, I don't really want to buy more--just move on up to finger feeding or learning off a fork. By 10 months G could eat off a fork, so we'll see.

He's had breast milk from a sippy cup because its hard to nurse him at church and the timing was such I figured he'd want to nurse this past Sunday (err,Saturday  night)...so I pumped and brought the cup. I had to hold it for him & go slow since its much faster, but he drank it and was captivated. He hasn't been keen on bottles ever since he got off them after the NICU when I pumped more. I hate pumping. So I doubt this sippy cup thing takes off.

He is lightening fast at army crawling. And loves exploring, investigating, finding any cord possible, opening cabinets G never even tried to open until she was two... Crazy! (Though I wrote she loved exploring too, J just takes it to a new level)

Oh, and the first place he ever pulled to standing? The fireplace. Fantastic. Haha. I've got my work cut out for me with this one. He's since pulled up in G's rocking chair, and his learning table that we put the legs on now! Pretty exciting stuff around here.

He adores G and is also a big mommas boy--but thoroughly enjoys when daddy comes home. He seemed to miss him while my husband was away on business last week. Duh, we all did.

J can now; smile, roll, sit, clap, wave, eat, pick up small-ish things and bring to mouth, work age appropriate (and some advanced) toys, play peekaboo (moving the blanket on his own!), recognize his name and "no!", swing, army crawl, pull-up, laugh, make babble noises, and investigate. Take that mutated X chromosome!!

Love me some baby boy!!

He's in 9-12 and some 12-18 month clothes, weighs around 19.5-20 pounds and is 27 inches long. (Home measurements). He has 2 teeth.

Half Birthday Boy

J is six months old and is doing great. He had his well child check 3 days early, and at it he weighed 17 pounds 2.5 ounces and was 26.25 inches long. His head his staying steady ay 99%, which was 18.1" around. I think that his huge head makes him look a lot bigger than he is. People comment on how big of a baby he is, but his length and height actually hover around 50% for kids his age...which means he is very average. No teeth yet, plenty of hair (he had a hair cut by me!).



about to topple over!



My sweet boy is a rolling fool. He squirms in circles, and has gotten himself into his crib rails or the end of his bed, but doesn't crawl 'for real.' He has kind of sat up, but usually just topples over. He loves books and tries to turn the pages! He also enjoys gnawing them...typical baby.

He rattles toys, rakes things in, recognizes family members, rolls over, transfer things from hands, grabs on toes (or boy parts at diaper changes...eeeek), loves mirrors and music. He's also started some stranger fear...like when my mom showed up this week, he smiled at first, then got kind of freaked out and cried when she got up close. He got used to her and it was fine later on. I think his favorite person is G...they are too freakin' cute together. So glad they have each other.

J has had bananas, green beans, carrots, and blueberry banana puree. The bananas were the only "real food," the rest have been jarred or pouches. He loves food and eating :-)

We'll keep solids as introductory for a while, and stick to nursing for nutrients. He's so great at it :-)

Sleep wise, he has good and tough days. Last night he actually slept amazing, 8.5 hours, eat, then another 2.5 hours. That was awesome. Other nights he'll be up every 3-4 hours. He is solidly on two naps now, so it means he's following in G's footsteps of transitioning early...so I expect to see him on one nap before December. That's both a good and bad thing. Good because then we'll have all morning to do stuff again without worrying about nap times, but it's bad because I lose that time to get stuff done or play alone with G.... oh well life moves at light speed!

I cannot believe how big he is getting. He's SO sweet, cuddly, and smiley. I don't want that to ever change....maybe it won't ;-)

adorable nose, thanks cdpx1

"Good Job Booooooy" "It's fine" and other fun things

Recently I commented to a friend that I have generally good days, with bad moments mixed in. I really can't stress that enough to new parents of two. Focus on the little fun and happy things, move past the annoying, trying, and tough things. Keep telling yourself that this too shall pass. Honestly, before we all know it, we will be our parents' ages and potentially have own grand kids. I hope you all realize how truly blessed and happy I feel to have my two awesome kids AND get to stay home with them. I marvel at G a lot, and get frustrated with her a little. I snuggle, kiss, and praise J tons, and get annoyed with his lack of sleep only sometimes. Life is what you make it, and more often than not, I really try to make it stress-free, happy, and memorable.

So onto a few fun, adorable things I hope I never forget;

G has started saying "it's fine" or "they're fine" or "I'm fine." I'll tell her we need to wash her hands and she'll say, "they're fine!" HA or I'll ask how J is doing on his play mat while I clean up after breakfast and she'll say "he fine" cracks me up.

She's interested in the house maintenance we have going on. She kept asking what the "guys" (her word for the painters) were doing to the house, so I told her that they were making it pretty. So now she goes around saying, "guys....outside....house....pretty!" wish I could get it on video (I originally typed tape...hilarious) for you all.

Because she's had some MAJOR potty successes lately (thank you JESUS! literally, I have prayed about this tons), we've had lots of "GOOD JOBS!!" around here and some major dance parties (#2 in the potty!!)--so G has had lots of excitement bubble over to other parts of our day to day life. Recently J rolled over, as he has done about 500 times a day since it becoming a regular thing last week, and G said, "Good job boooooyyy!!!" and patted him on the back and then clapped very loudly. Too bad you can't read the excitement with which she said it, but suffice it to say, we had an awesome day yesterday and her squeals just make life so beautiful.

Church with G has been going really well lately. I think she's finally got it; she truly seems to understand that Jesus and God love her. She knows we pray at church (and before meals/bed/etc), so we have to be quiet and listen. She absolutely adores the music, so we always sit near the choir area, about 3 rows from the front. It's the way to go. J has be awesome too. He just loves to people watch. He doesn't nap in church. Or anywhere, just about, but he's just silly like that.
Mass as a family is so nice these days, and it's how it is supposed to be. I recently read a blog post somewhere about how parents who 'split' up going to mass at different times have it all wrong. I couldn't agree more. We have never done that and I don't ever plan to. Mass is for the family, splitting it up, using the nursery or cry room definitely sends the wrong message. Sure, it's stressful sometimes, and we've had our fair share of poor behavior...but muster through. It's worth it, even if at the time you think you're getting nothing out of it, you're showing your kids that church is non-negotiable and that in your family, we praise God together.

G loves strawberry jam, but who doesn't. So for lunch I put some jam and peanut butter on her plate with a multigrain tortilla. I told her she could use the pb&j as a dip for the tortilla. I look over and she's got the whole spoonful of peanut butter and is stuffing it into her mouth by itself. Don't worry, and she washed it down with some milk. I was cracking up on the inside.

One of my favorite things as a stay at home mom is getting to give her choices throughout the day and see which she chooses. I think its super fun to watch her personality blossom. Her "favorites" change regularly, as kids are apt to do. "G, do you want eggs, oatmeal, or cereal for breakfast" This morning it was eggs, yesterday it was oatmeal, the day before it was cereal. She's got the rotation figured out I guess. Yesterday her favorite color was orange, but the day before it was purple. One thing that seems constant, though, is that when you ask what her favorite thing to do is, she'll usually say drawing.

I've been working with her for a while on a pencil grip. She's gotten pretty awesome at it, and yesterday I was watching her write/draw and she kept readjusting the pencil to get the grip right. SO PROUD!

For a 26 month old, her writing is fantastic! Everything pretty much looks like Ms or rough attempts at Ds or Gs--so mostly just scribbles--but she is totally getting there. She's really proud of herself too, because you can sure bet that I shower her with hugs and kisses when she attempts to do anything well.

As I mentioned above, J is a rolling fool. So happy about his milestone, but it's certainly affected his sleeping habits. Just a few nights ago he had to figure out how to sleep on his belly because he kept rolling--perhaps unintentionally? I feel bad for the kid, but I can't go in there every 5 seconds to roll him onto his back again. Just like his sister, he's got to learn to sleep on his belly if he's going to keep rolling. It was hard with G, but she eventually got it, and slept better than on her back. Hope that's what happens with J too. He took a two hour nap yesterday, on his belly, sooooo hooray!

He loves going to gymnastics almost as much as G does. G's class is on Saturday's because I didn't want to worry about what to do with J. But on Wednesday they have open gym, so we've been going to that too. I put J in the Gemini and walk around helping G practice her skills follow G around. This baby is a major, major people watcher. Can't get enough of the activity. Maybe it's because for the first 3 months of his life, we pretty much stayed in our house.

I'm doing better and better myself. Each day brings its own set of challenges, but when I look at how hard it was recovering from the traumatic surgery/birth, I'm so proud of where I am today. Sure, I'm not nearly where I planned to be weight / physical shape wise, but I had no clue J's birth would go down like that. I just want to be able to move right, take care of my kids without hurting, and feel generally positive about myself. I've got the first two down, but the last one is tough. I hate how I look in clothes that aren't the standard mom-uniform (you know, yoga pants and t-shirts), but then the other day I had a realization.

I have the entire rest of my life to get back into a size 8-10, but my kids will only be this age once
It was such a big break through for me. Yes, I hate having extra tummy weight hanging on, and I certainly don't like how I look in jeans anymore, let alone a swim suit, but as the kids grow, they'll require a bit less of my attention, and I can work out more regularly. I just gave birth 4 months ago. It took a while, but I've finally realized that I have to cut myself a little slack.

But I do love running, and it's beautiful outside today, so we are going for a job after nap time :-) and we went for a walk sans-stroller before nap time. I love spring!

On a final note, potty training has improved so much since I last wrote about it, but it is by no means perfect. G had an accident free day yesterday and initiated using the potty all by herself. Very proud of that, but had an accident right away this morning. Win some, lose some. She's gotten much more relaxed, and I'm not pulling my hair out any more. J's sleep training is also two steps forward, one step back...but like I said in the beginning.... this to shall pass.


Right?

J at 4 months

Just a quick little update about the cutest nosed member of our family,

J is 4 months old now, and very very alert. He's super into watching his big sister, or any kid for that matter. He has rolled both front to back (3/17) and back to front (4/8). He does mini-push ups. He grabs for toys. He loves gnawing on things, so much so that we wonder if he's teething.
J does not like to nap, or at least he's great a faking like he hates it. He sleeps pretty good at night--usually a 7-8 hour stretch, eat, sleep for another 2 hours or if I'm lucky, longer.

He's gone for several chariot rides, and as long as he's fed, changed, and cozy...drifts right to sleep. Same for the car.

He's had a few play dates, now that we're out of flu season...though they've really just been for big sister, G.

He still nurses like a champ, and I'd say he does that about 5 times during the day, 2-3 times at night.

J had his 4 month well child check yesterday and weighed in at 14 pounds, 13 ounces. He was 25.5 inches tall, and his head is 17.5" inches around. That puts him around 39% for weight, 60% for height, and 99% for head. These are incredible stats for someone with CDPX1. We are so blessed that he's growing and hitting milestones. We haven't heard back on his bloodwork that's supposed to identify where exactly his genetic mutation/deletion is...I'm getting a bit antsy on that. I plan to call by the end of the week, though I know our counselor will call as soon as she hears something...