* Sausage doesn't have cancer! Probably. They can't rule it out completely, but there are no obvious signs per his recent tests. Yay! So he probably has irritable bowel disease, which makes his tummy very sensitive and requires us to change his diet to some very expensive cat food. I'm so happy, though. So happy.
* Today Clark dropped a toy and on his own he said "uh-oh!" Awesome, Clarky! He did it about 3 more times, so it wasn't a fluke. My little smarty pants. I'm just hoping that it isn't some kind of unfortunate foreshadowing that his first real word (where he has given actual meaning to a specific sound) is "uh-oh."
* The kids' mom has decided that she thinks she knows who Susannah's biological father is. Despite the fact that the kids have been in foster care for over 18 months, despite the fact that Case Manager has asked her repeatedly for the names of any potential fathers, and despite saying in court that she doesn't know who the father is, NOW she thinks she knows, right before the TPR hearing is scheduled. Unbelievable. I'm going to be SO upset if this delays the hearing.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Crazy Days
These last few days have been crazycakes. We took the kids to visit our families over the weekend, which is always wonderful and fun and also a tremendous amount of work. Also, while we were out of town there was a flurry of emails bouncing around from Case Manager, Guardian Ad Litem, and the attorney for the State (all of which I was cc'd on) regarding the kids' mom and some very bad decisions that she's been making lately. Drama, drama, drama! She's in a bad place right now and definitely not able to take care of small children. I really hope that the judge can see that during the upcoming TPR hearing.
Between the road trip with four toddlers, the babymama drama, some set backs that we've encountered with the house, and the trouble with my cat, I'm completely and utterly exhausted. I've got nothing. I'm a zombie.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Shit Day
Today sucked. Elise was a monster all day long, just whining and throwing fits and being defiant. She bit Clark's finger so hard that over 5 hours later he still has a mark. I can't believe she didn't break the skin.
On top of that, my sick boy cat (Sausage) is sick again. He has to go to the vet tomorrow and get an x-ray of his abdomen. Maybe and ultrasound, too. And depending on what they find, who knows what else.
So, as much as today sucked, tomorrow will probably be even worse. But I'm in such an awful mood that I can't even properly mentally prepare myself for it. I dropped a peach slice on the floor tonight while I was getting dinner ready and I totally overreacted and yelled, "Aaaaaah, GODDDDDDDDDDDDD!" Which then made Elise and Henry and Georgia all start asking, "What happen?" "What you mad of?""What happen Mommy?" And I was like, "Life! Life happened! Grrrrrr!" The kids were totally confused. "Life happen Mommy? You okay? You life happen?" You'll understand eventually, kids.
On top of that, my sick boy cat (Sausage) is sick again. He has to go to the vet tomorrow and get an x-ray of his abdomen. Maybe and ultrasound, too. And depending on what they find, who knows what else.
So, as much as today sucked, tomorrow will probably be even worse. But I'm in such an awful mood that I can't even properly mentally prepare myself for it. I dropped a peach slice on the floor tonight while I was getting dinner ready and I totally overreacted and yelled, "Aaaaaah, GODDDDDDDDDDDDD!" Which then made Elise and Henry and Georgia all start asking, "What happen?" "What you mad of?""What happen Mommy?" And I was like, "Life! Life happened! Grrrrrr!" The kids were totally confused. "Life happen Mommy? You okay? You life happen?" You'll understand eventually, kids.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Status Updates
* Clark's newest food: broccoli. He seemed to like it.
* Elise's newest saying: pee pee teepee. That's my fault. I was capitalizing on her poo poo igloo, so I told her to tell her daddy "pee pee teepee." Now she won't stop saying it.
* Repairs in the boys' bedroom: done! Everything has been painted, patched, and organized. Whew! Next room in the house that we'll work on is the girls' bedroom.
* Crappiest thing to happen lately: someone tried to burglarize my car. Someone opened up my car and rifled through everything in the middle of the night a few days ago. Ha, ha, Sucker! All I keep in my car is baby wipes, a phone charger, and some Weird Al Yankovic cassette tapes. Nothing was taken. Apparently the criminal isn't into musical parodies set to polka music. Or maybe the criminal just doesn't have a cassette player anymore. Anyhow, some of our neighbors did get stuff taken from their cars. I heard someone saying, "... iPod, my iPhone..." to the cops.
* Elise's newest saying: pee pee teepee. That's my fault. I was capitalizing on her poo poo igloo, so I told her to tell her daddy "pee pee teepee." Now she won't stop saying it.
* Repairs in the boys' bedroom: done! Everything has been painted, patched, and organized. Whew! Next room in the house that we'll work on is the girls' bedroom.
* Crappiest thing to happen lately: someone tried to burglarize my car. Someone opened up my car and rifled through everything in the middle of the night a few days ago. Ha, ha, Sucker! All I keep in my car is baby wipes, a phone charger, and some Weird Al Yankovic cassette tapes. Nothing was taken. Apparently the criminal isn't into musical parodies set to polka music. Or maybe the criminal just doesn't have a cassette player anymore. Anyhow, some of our neighbors did get stuff taken from their cars. I heard someone saying, "... iPod, my iPhone..." to the cops.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Clarky the Giant
Clark had his 9 month check up today. He was 30.5 inches long (98th percentile) and weighed 22 lbs 8 oz (85th percentile). He's thinning out a bit, but he's no teensy weensy.
I still can't figure out how the hugeness happened. I'll tell you what, though-- he's going to be carrying ME before long, as he's destroying my back with all of his sweet baby chubbiness. I hope Santa brings him a wagon for Christmas. One big enough for me to curl into the fetal position while I ride in it, so that Clark can tote me around until I recover from the pregnancy and the first year of his life.
I still can't figure out how the hugeness happened. I'll tell you what, though-- he's going to be carrying ME before long, as he's destroying my back with all of his sweet baby chubbiness. I hope Santa brings him a wagon for Christmas. One big enough for me to curl into the fetal position while I ride in it, so that Clark can tote me around until I recover from the pregnancy and the first year of his life.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Baby Allison
This weekend I got to see baby Allison for the first time. Allison is Henry and Georgia's new baby sister, you'll remember. Henry and Georgia get to see Allison every week during visitation with their mom, but Husband, Elise, Clark, and I hadn't met her before. She's so little and cute! And so much hair! Holy cow, so much hair. Soft hair, like fluffy lamb's wool.
Not that this means anything... but she looks NOTHING like her sisters. Georgia, Eve, and Allison all have the same father, as far as we know. Georgia and Eve definitely resemble each other but Allison looks very different than they do. At least right now she does. Maybe we'll see more of a resemblance as she grows. Georgia and Eve looked alike as soon as Eve was born, but Allison has very different features-- her nose and her mouth aren't the same shape as Georgia's and Eve's.
Allison is precious. New babies are so scrunched-up and helpless looking. I'd almost forgotten what babies are like before they start moving around and getting interesting. They just sit there, waiting for hugs and kisses. I'm glad we all got to see baby Allison while she is still a teeny weeny.
Not that this means anything... but she looks NOTHING like her sisters. Georgia, Eve, and Allison all have the same father, as far as we know. Georgia and Eve definitely resemble each other but Allison looks very different than they do. At least right now she does. Maybe we'll see more of a resemblance as she grows. Georgia and Eve looked alike as soon as Eve was born, but Allison has very different features-- her nose and her mouth aren't the same shape as Georgia's and Eve's.
Allison is precious. New babies are so scrunched-up and helpless looking. I'd almost forgotten what babies are like before they start moving around and getting interesting. They just sit there, waiting for hugs and kisses. I'm glad we all got to see baby Allison while she is still a teeny weeny.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
I Swear To Tell the Truth, the Whole Truth...
I got a subpoena today commanding me to appear and testify at the TPR hearing next month. I knew it was coming. Still, it's weird to have a strange guy knock on your door in the middle of the day, have him identify himself as an "officer of the court," and then hand you an order to appear somewhere on a certain day and time. A fine how-do-you-do while four kids are screaming at you that they want their lunch and don't care if the Queen of England is knocking at the door, they're hungry goddammit (at least that's what I think they were trying to say).
The TPR hearing should be interesting. The kids' mom keeps making really poor decisions. Really poor. But they aren't the kind of things that are definitely going to make a judge say "this is just too much." It's obvious to everyone who is actively involved in the case (the foster parents, the case manager, the supervisors at the visitation center where the kids have weekly visits with their mom, etc.) that the kids' mom just isn't capable of adequately parenting her children. Not even one child, let alone five. I just hope that the attorney can put together a strong enough case and show concrete evidence to back up what everyone else's gut feelings are telling them.
The TPR hearing should be interesting. The kids' mom keeps making really poor decisions. Really poor. But they aren't the kind of things that are definitely going to make a judge say "this is just too much." It's obvious to everyone who is actively involved in the case (the foster parents, the case manager, the supervisors at the visitation center where the kids have weekly visits with their mom, etc.) that the kids' mom just isn't capable of adequately parenting her children. Not even one child, let alone five. I just hope that the attorney can put together a strong enough case and show concrete evidence to back up what everyone else's gut feelings are telling them.
Friday, July 20, 2012
House
When Husband and I bought our house over 7 years ago, we had no thoughts of children (singular or plural) or which school district the house would be located in. In fact, I can't believe we still live in this city at all. But here we are, and now that we have two small children and maybe the opportunity to adopt two more, all I think about is having enough space for our growing family and making sure that the kids go to good schools.
Husband and I want to move eventually so that we can be closer to our parents and siblings. We tried selling our house, but that didn't work out... so it's time for plan B. Set the house on fire.
Just kidding. We have four cats and if all four cats managed to miraculously survive the fire, that might raise some suspicions. That's probably not the only good reason for not setting my house on fire, but it's the only one I can think of right now.
So instead of committing arson, it's time to light a fire under my own butt and get this house fixed up as quickly as possible.Then we can rent it out, or maybe try to sell it again at a higher price (depending on the market). We have SO much work to do. Holy cow.
Husband and I tried to figure out where to start (aside from small obvious repairs that we can easily see as we walk around the house) and we decided to get a wood destroying organism inspection and make sure that the structure of the house is sound. The inspection came back pretty good. No termites! Yay! We need to replace a little bit of wood around some windows because of water damage, but nothing too crazy.
Even though it's probably totally do-able to fix those windows, we are definitely hiring a handyman. Husband and I replaced an entire window by ourselves once, and holy shit, I am never, ever, ever, ever doing that again. It is worth whatever it costs to pay someone else to deal with that crap on my behalf. I'm not talking about a pane of glass, I mean we replaced the whole window and it took us all day, about 5 trips to the home repairs supply store, and many hurt feelings. So we'll just hire a handyman.
After that, we need to replace our kitchen cabinets, about half of the flooring in the house, paint all of the walls... But I'm in it to win it. We're going to do this. It will look awesome and then right when my house is beautiful and highly functional, I will pack up all of my stuff and move far, far away.
Husband and I want to move eventually so that we can be closer to our parents and siblings. We tried selling our house, but that didn't work out... so it's time for plan B. Set the house on fire.
Just kidding. We have four cats and if all four cats managed to miraculously survive the fire, that might raise some suspicions. That's probably not the only good reason for not setting my house on fire, but it's the only one I can think of right now.
So instead of committing arson, it's time to light a fire under my own butt and get this house fixed up as quickly as possible.Then we can rent it out, or maybe try to sell it again at a higher price (depending on the market). We have SO much work to do. Holy cow.
Husband and I tried to figure out where to start (aside from small obvious repairs that we can easily see as we walk around the house) and we decided to get a wood destroying organism inspection and make sure that the structure of the house is sound. The inspection came back pretty good. No termites! Yay! We need to replace a little bit of wood around some windows because of water damage, but nothing too crazy.
Even though it's probably totally do-able to fix those windows, we are definitely hiring a handyman. Husband and I replaced an entire window by ourselves once, and holy shit, I am never, ever, ever, ever doing that again. It is worth whatever it costs to pay someone else to deal with that crap on my behalf. I'm not talking about a pane of glass, I mean we replaced the whole window and it took us all day, about 5 trips to the home repairs supply store, and many hurt feelings. So we'll just hire a handyman.
After that, we need to replace our kitchen cabinets, about half of the flooring in the house, paint all of the walls... But I'm in it to win it. We're going to do this. It will look awesome and then right when my house is beautiful and highly functional, I will pack up all of my stuff and move far, far away.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Fill 'er Up!
Today around 11am Elise said, "Mommy? I not full. I empty. I want peanut butter jelly."
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Clark Is Taking a Stand
Today Clark pulled up on Georgia's toddler bed. He was holding on to the foot-board, smiling at me. And then he just lets go and drops his hands to his sides. And stands there. And stands there. And stands there. Then he casually raises a hand and holds on again. So nonchalant. Well played, Clark.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Stuff-- Whatever I Can Think Of
* Elise and Henry were playing together last night, pretending that a box was a boat and then that it was a bed. Now that Henry's speech has improved, they can really talk to each other now. They were playing games and using their imagination-- it was pretty awesome.
* Even Georgia's speech is getting better, now that she's in speech therapy, too. Georgia and Henry have simpler conversations than Elise and Henry do, but they still talk to each other. For example, tonight Henry went running across the house and Georgia yelled, "Stop running!" Henry replied, "I want running!" and Georgia smiled, shook her finger, and said, "No!" Stuff like that.
* Clark thinks that Henry is the bees knees. Henry will jump and run around, make faces, dance, and yell in order to entertain Clark. And Clark just eats it up. He laughs and laughs and follows Henry around, waiting for more. Henry likes making the baby laugh.
* Clark had strawberry a few days ago. I sliced it up and put it in one of those little mesh bag thingies with a handle-- you know, the thing that lets babies kind of strain their own food through the mesh while they hold onto the handle and chew on the bag. It's called a "fresh food feeder." Anyway, Clark bit into the strawberry and the tartness of the juice made him wrinkle his nose, shake his head no, and do a wiggly little dance in his seat, all at the same time. But he went back for more.
* Even Georgia's speech is getting better, now that she's in speech therapy, too. Georgia and Henry have simpler conversations than Elise and Henry do, but they still talk to each other. For example, tonight Henry went running across the house and Georgia yelled, "Stop running!" Henry replied, "I want running!" and Georgia smiled, shook her finger, and said, "No!" Stuff like that.
* Clark thinks that Henry is the bees knees. Henry will jump and run around, make faces, dance, and yell in order to entertain Clark. And Clark just eats it up. He laughs and laughs and follows Henry around, waiting for more. Henry likes making the baby laugh.
* Clark had strawberry a few days ago. I sliced it up and put it in one of those little mesh bag thingies with a handle-- you know, the thing that lets babies kind of strain their own food through the mesh while they hold onto the handle and chew on the bag. It's called a "fresh food feeder." Anyway, Clark bit into the strawberry and the tartness of the juice made him wrinkle his nose, shake his head no, and do a wiggly little dance in his seat, all at the same time. But he went back for more.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Henry Can Hear! (And Other News)
Henry had his post-op checkup with his ear/nose/throat doctor today. It went well. His ears looked good and he passed his hearing test! He can officially hear "within normal limits" in both ears! Yay!
Other news:
* Elise had a fever today. 102.5 under her arm. Yikes! Tylenol helped reduce it, though, so I think we just have to ride this out. Georgia was sick about a week ago and she had a mild fever, so maybe it hit Elise harder than Georgia.
* Clark does a lot of crawling on his hands and knees now. He only flattens down to an army crawl when he really wants to move fast.
* Clark loves standing up and scooting around the edge of furniture. He even moved from one piece of furniture to another today. He didn't really do any unsupported steps in order to move to the other piece of furniture, but it was a big stretch for his little arms to grab onto that next piece. Good job, little guy!
Other news:
* Elise had a fever today. 102.5 under her arm. Yikes! Tylenol helped reduce it, though, so I think we just have to ride this out. Georgia was sick about a week ago and she had a mild fever, so maybe it hit Elise harder than Georgia.
* Clark does a lot of crawling on his hands and knees now. He only flattens down to an army crawl when he really wants to move fast.
* Clark loves standing up and scooting around the edge of furniture. He even moved from one piece of furniture to another today. He didn't really do any unsupported steps in order to move to the other piece of furniture, but it was a big stretch for his little arms to grab onto that next piece. Good job, little guy!
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Keeping Busy
We've been busy lately-- doing home repairs, contract work to earn a little bit of extra money, and gearing up for the TPR hearing next month. Today seems like a blur. All I can clearly remember is doing Georgia's hair this morning and Elise talking about poo-poo igloos all day long.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Psycho Elisey
The other day Elise walked up to Georgia and said, "I have a present for you." Then she grabbed Georgia's stomach with one hand and squeezed until Georgia cried out in pain.
Yikes!
Yikes!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Elisey-isms
As Elise's vocabulary grows and grows she makes the cutest mistakes.
tennis shoes = antenna shoes
ponytails = pointy tails
And instead of calling Dora the Explorer's monkey friend Boots, she calls him "Poops."
tennis shoes = antenna shoes
ponytails = pointy tails
And instead of calling Dora the Explorer's monkey friend Boots, she calls him "Poops."
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
First Big Booboo
Clark got his first major owie today. He was pulling up on something and fell and hit his chin on the way down, scraping up the inside of his lip with his two bottom teeth, and then biting into his upper gums. Lots of blood. It sucked. My poor Bubba.
Other Clark news:
* He can sit himself up now. If you lay him down on the floor, he can get himself into a sitting position. He's been doing this for a few days.
* Today he was in a crawling position on his hands and knees and then raised his knees up off the floor so that only his hands and feet were on the ground. Like two sides of a triangle. Or, if you know your yoga moves, like downward dog.
* Clark had peaches the other day. Unimpressed.
* Clark says "Daddy" now. It's unmistakable. Daddy.
Other Clark news:
* He can sit himself up now. If you lay him down on the floor, he can get himself into a sitting position. He's been doing this for a few days.
* Today he was in a crawling position on his hands and knees and then raised his knees up off the floor so that only his hands and feet were on the ground. Like two sides of a triangle. Or, if you know your yoga moves, like downward dog.
* Clark had peaches the other day. Unimpressed.
* Clark says "Daddy" now. It's unmistakable. Daddy.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
The Sweetest Babies
I have the sweetest babies ever.
Because Henry has trouble recalling words, he was referred to a neurologist. The neurologist ordered an EEG.
Henry, Elise, Clark, and I all went to the neurologist's office for the test. To perform the test, a nurse first put little globs of goo all around Henry's head. On top of the goo, she put dots of waxy stuff. Then little wires were stuck into the wax. There was no pain or even discomfort, but Henry was a little bit anxious about a strange lady feeling all over his head and Elise could sense his stress. She took his hand and said, "It okay. It no hurt. They not hurt you. It okay. I here. I right here, Henry. It okay."
Aaack. So cute.
Henry had to sit still for about 20 minutes while the little wires worked their magic, so the nurse turned on a TV for him to watch. Henry asked that Elise sit next to him, so she climbed onto the reclining exam table and laid back in the seat with him, his arm around her shoulder and their heads resting against each other for 20 minutes straight.
I love those guys.
Because Henry has trouble recalling words, he was referred to a neurologist. The neurologist ordered an EEG.
Henry, Elise, Clark, and I all went to the neurologist's office for the test. To perform the test, a nurse first put little globs of goo all around Henry's head. On top of the goo, she put dots of waxy stuff. Then little wires were stuck into the wax. There was no pain or even discomfort, but Henry was a little bit anxious about a strange lady feeling all over his head and Elise could sense his stress. She took his hand and said, "It okay. It no hurt. They not hurt you. It okay. I here. I right here, Henry. It okay."
Aaack. So cute.
Henry had to sit still for about 20 minutes while the little wires worked their magic, so the nurse turned on a TV for him to watch. Henry asked that Elise sit next to him, so she climbed onto the reclining exam table and laid back in the seat with him, his arm around her shoulder and their heads resting against each other for 20 minutes straight.
I love those guys.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Clark Explosion
Clark must have had a growth spurt last night. All of a sudden none of his 12 month onesies or 12 month jammies fit him anymore. I was phasing him into 18 month clothes because some of his outfits were starting to get a little bit tight. But today there was just no stuffing him into anything that was size 12 month that had to span the length of his torso. My big baby.
Today some random guy in a shopping center parking lot remarked "Ohhhh, BIG boy!" as I got Clark out of the car. Yes. Yes he is.
Clark has been getting up on his hands and knees a lot now. If he wants to crawl fast, he flattens out and army crawls. But he's taken a few tentative "steps" on his hands and knees over the past couple of days.
What else? Oh, Clark had cheese for the first time a few days ago. Not a fan. He'll eat it, but not happily. As soon as he sees me holding the cheese, he starts shaking his head "no." He shakes his head until I actually shove the cheese into his mouth, then he makes a stink face while he eats it. Every bite. But he hasn't spit the cheese out or refused to open his mouth to eat it. He just makes a big show of how much he dislikes it.
Today some random guy in a shopping center parking lot remarked "Ohhhh, BIG boy!" as I got Clark out of the car. Yes. Yes he is.
Clark has been getting up on his hands and knees a lot now. If he wants to crawl fast, he flattens out and army crawls. But he's taken a few tentative "steps" on his hands and knees over the past couple of days.
What else? Oh, Clark had cheese for the first time a few days ago. Not a fan. He'll eat it, but not happily. As soon as he sees me holding the cheese, he starts shaking his head "no." He shakes his head until I actually shove the cheese into his mouth, then he makes a stink face while he eats it. Every bite. But he hasn't spit the cheese out or refused to open his mouth to eat it. He just makes a big show of how much he dislikes it.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Off the Market
Ugh. We've officially taken our house off the market. We got an offer on it a little while ago but the bank wouldn't accept it and blah blah blah. It's been a long, crappy experience.
Our plan now is to fix up the house a bit and then see if we can rent it out in a year or so. We've been working on the boys' bedroom first because it seemed like the easiest place to start for some reason. We've been going through all of the toys and the clothes and the boxes of stuff in the closet. We also painted the closet door this weekend. Little stuff, but stuff that needs to get done.
I'm so disappointed that we won't be able to move anytime soon.
Okay... Elise is in her room right now whining, "I hurt my noggin! I hurt my noggin!" Better go check it out...
Our plan now is to fix up the house a bit and then see if we can rent it out in a year or so. We've been working on the boys' bedroom first because it seemed like the easiest place to start for some reason. We've been going through all of the toys and the clothes and the boxes of stuff in the closet. We also painted the closet door this weekend. Little stuff, but stuff that needs to get done.
I'm so disappointed that we won't be able to move anytime soon.
Okay... Elise is in her room right now whining, "I hurt my noggin! I hurt my noggin!" Better go check it out...
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Spiders and Trains
Henry's scribblings are really starting to look like... something. They look more deliberate. Lots of circles and straight lines. He always says he's drawing either a spider or a train. The spiders actually kind of look like spiders-- circles with lines radiating out of the sides. The spider may have six legs or twenty legs, but it's always the same basic shape. There are often eyes in the middle of the big circle, too. I love that Henry has found another way to communicate. My little artist!
Friday, July 6, 2012
Drunkello
Today I made Elise a sock puppet from a mismatched sock. Nothing fancy. Some buttons for eyes and a little bit of cotton stuffed in the toe to give the nose some shape.
"What his name?"
"I don't know Elise. You name him. What's his name?"
"Um... Drunkello."
Okay. Drunkello it is.
"What his name?"
"I don't know Elise. You name him. What's his name?"
"Um... Drunkello."
Okay. Drunkello it is.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Clark Updates
Clark is 9 months old. Wowzers. That happened so fast.
He weighs 23 lbs now. Clark's weight gain is not only slowing down, but he's not at the tippy top of the growth charts anymore. He's around the 84th percentile for weight. Still my chubby cubby, though. Old ladies are always pinching his thighs and his cheeks, saying things like, "Gimme some of that sugar," or "Look at you, big boy!" or "Oh, I LOVE big babies!" He's a granny magnet.
Clark FINALLY got up on his hands and knees today. Two times I caught him like that, rocking his body back and forth.
Also, he's constantly shaking his head back and forth as if to say "no no no" lately. Clark will do it in imitation of someone, but he also does it spontaneously. He is especially fond of shaking his head if he sees someone coming at him with a tissue to wipe his nose or a paper towel to wipe his mouth. Clever baby.
He weighs 23 lbs now. Clark's weight gain is not only slowing down, but he's not at the tippy top of the growth charts anymore. He's around the 84th percentile for weight. Still my chubby cubby, though. Old ladies are always pinching his thighs and his cheeks, saying things like, "Gimme some of that sugar," or "Look at you, big boy!" or "Oh, I LOVE big babies!" He's a granny magnet.
Clark FINALLY got up on his hands and knees today. Two times I caught him like that, rocking his body back and forth.
Also, he's constantly shaking his head back and forth as if to say "no no no" lately. Clark will do it in imitation of someone, but he also does it spontaneously. He is especially fond of shaking his head if he sees someone coming at him with a tissue to wipe his nose or a paper towel to wipe his mouth. Clever baby.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Firecracker Firecracker Boom Boom Boom
Who would have guessed that my sweet little Elisey, conceived 3 years ago today on the Fourth of July, would be afraid of fireworks?
Happy 4th!
Happy 4th!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
Back To Sleep Training
I have been terrible at sleep training Clark. Terrible. He stays in our bed all night long. He wakes up every two hours or so. He's almost 9 months old! He should be sleeping through the night in his own bed. Ugh.
Okay. Time to put my foot down. My goal is no nursing at night because then he'll sleep longer. But I have to start small. No nursing between 11pm and 3am. That's my current short-term goal. Clark will wake up and cry and cry, but I WILL NOT nurse him. Then eventually he will get the picture and start sleeping longer. Stop using my boob as a pacifier. Once I get him sleeping for longer stretches, then I'll start putting him back into his bassinet. Yes. That is my plan. I will be strong. I will get through this. Clark and I will both be happier for it.
Less sleep now = more sleep later. Less sleep now = more sleep later. Less sleep now = more sleep later...
Okay. Time to put my foot down. My goal is no nursing at night because then he'll sleep longer. But I have to start small. No nursing between 11pm and 3am. That's my current short-term goal. Clark will wake up and cry and cry, but I WILL NOT nurse him. Then eventually he will get the picture and start sleeping longer. Stop using my boob as a pacifier. Once I get him sleeping for longer stretches, then I'll start putting him back into his bassinet. Yes. That is my plan. I will be strong. I will get through this. Clark and I will both be happier for it.
Less sleep now = more sleep later. Less sleep now = more sleep later. Less sleep now = more sleep later...
Sunday, July 1, 2012
It's Birthday Every Day
All three of the big kids are obsessed with birthdays lately. They constantly sing the birthday song and announce, "It my birthday!" about 5 times a day. By my estimate Henry is roughly 127 years old now and the girls are in their late 80s.
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