Otherwise, we had a great month. My son and my daughter are four pounds and five inches apart. His doctor told me that he's easily in the top three healthiest babies in her practice. Which is good, because Ella is really giving us a run for our money lately. I don't know what switched, but this child has had chronic ear infections since April. At least two a month, so we tend to be at the doctor's office every other week. We've become real familiar with Dr. Tammy lately. Almost to the point that I can call and say "Ella has an ear infection" and she's almost willing to just call the meds in... but unfortunately, she has standards, and has us come in to make sure anyway. We've stopped giving Ella cow's milk to see if it's going to help us, but otherwise, I'm afraid a trip to the ENT is in our future, which just makes me so sick and so sad. This has been a really trying time for me as a Mother, because Ella was completely healthy for the first 15 months of her life. Head colds were the sickest she ever got, and these days, she's still perfectly healthy, but every other week (2 weeks if we get really lucky,) she comes up to my lap and says "Uh oh Ears." And is running a fever the next day. Fortunately, our doctor is great to see us on the docket and call us straight back. Ella gets weighed, measured, and evaluated in about 5 minutes. We are hopeful and prayerful that she is nearly done with this season, because Mama has had about enough of it all. It makes me wish that I had been more consistent with pumping and giving her that daily cup of antibodies. But there's no time in life for shoulda, woulda, coulda, as my grandmother says.
Adam Jace continues to be the sweetest little cherub in the land. On his worst day, my biggest complaint is how often he nurses. Though he's kind of a monster, so I guess he's not totally to blame there. Growing babies need lots of nourishment. We tried our first bit of solids and it was violently rejected. Since then, we've tried again every three days, and the child refuses. Ella was pretty great about trying new things until I had to wean her, and that's when she went on a 10 month eating strike. Adam won't try things at all. He must get it from his father. I've tried the multi-assortments, just fruit, just vegetables, homemade, homemade with mostly breastmilk and teeny bit of baby food mixed in... I've tried it all. He will not have it. ONE day, I gave him a small bite of my mashed potatoes, and he loved it, and ate most of my bowl. But never did it again, and has refused them since. So, that's our current hurdle with Adam right now. At seven months old, he's still exclusively breastfed, and Dr. Tammy says that's okay for now. He's still growing and he's still gaining weight, so he's getting what he needs. I figure if we can survive the giant hunger strike of 2014 from Ella, we can handle this. He is the master crawler, the champion of pulling up on just about anything, and last night, stood on his own for about seven seconds. And I took that really, really hard. In a super depressing confession, becoming a mother has made me aware of the fact that this life is so short. And as I'm exiting the "baby phase" of my life, sometimes it makes me feel like these are the "best days of our lives" and they're running out faster than I want them to. We are exhausted and worn down, but our lives are so full of joy, and so full of laughter. I would trade sleep every night for the rest of my life if I could stay in this moment. Truth be told, raising children (potty trained, sleeping through the night, eats the food on their plate children) scares me. I kind of look forward to the teenage years, not because I'm crazy about raging hormones, but because I believe that's when I'll really hit my stride with my kids. God has given me great peace about raising them from thirteen on, but from five to twelve, I hyperventilate. Especially if the state keeps up with common core, because stoopid. It's so far over my head that I can't even discuss it without a meltdown. Anyway, all this to say that Adam is a giant man-baby, and I'm practically pushing him down when he tries to advance into toddlerhood.
Ella remains the firecracker I describe every other month. Between months six and seven, she really started mimicking and repeating things back to us. We're finally beginning to communicate with each other using our words, and I'm exuberant about it. Like, the wars are becoming less and less frequent because she finally understands what I'm saying to her. And since she associates saying "Sorry" with something she's done wrong, instead of spanking herself, she yells "SORRY SORRY SORRY!" and runs upstairs. It's one of those things that will probably infuriate me someday, but it makes me laugh hysterically right now. The big news with Ella this month is that we got her enrolled in Mother's Day Out at Stonegate. This was a really hard decision for me as a Mom, because I genuinely love being at home with my kids. I love watching their little minds work and being there for the victories and disasters that mold our days. Unfortunately, since I leave home maybe twice a week, Ella is rapidly turning into a hermit, and that's not a character trait that I love in a two year old. Okay wait, I need to revise my statement again. Ella loves to leave the house. She usually brings me her shoes at least once a day and says "Ready, set, Go!" By hermit, I mean Ella doesn't like to interact with people, and that's the part of me that I didn't want to pass on. At playdates with other kids, she usually just sits next to me or plays by herself. She doesn't respond well to strangers, which isn't really a bad thing, but when it's family members and we're two years into it and she still cries when they talk to her, it's time for an intervention. The sole purpose of Ella being in Mother's Day Out is to allow her to develop social skills. It isn't to pawn her off on someone else twice a week. And I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing that Adam gets some one-on-one time with Mom that doesn't involve nursing.
The other big milestone that I've noticed this month is that the kids are really starting to interact well and play together. Now that Adam can chase her, wherever I find Ella, I usually also find Adam. Sometimes this is nice, like when they quietly play with puzzles for forty minutes. Sometimes this is not nice, like when I find Adam with a grape in his mouth during snack time for Ella. Sometimes this is precious, like when Ella makes Adam laugh for fifteen minutes straight by playing the kazoo. Sometimes this is infuriating, like when Ella tries to pick Adam up on the tile floor and fails. Sometimes I hear the screams and don't even care what happens, I just round the corner and yell "ALL I WANT TO DO TODAY IS SCRUB DRIED CHEESE OFF OF THESE DISHES!!!" And when I hear giggles, I always turn the recorder on before I find them. Sometimes I dread what I'm walking in on, but it's usually something that I'm thrilled to have video forever. They truly love each other, and they truly are building a relationship that I think is going to be so tight and so unwavering. And that's what I prayed for the entire pregnancy. I initially prayed for a girl, because I wanted Ella to have a sister, but I knew deep down that he was a boy from the very beginning. So once I confirmed my suspicions, I prayed that they would be the very best of friends. That they would be there for each other, and look out for each other. That someday when I'm not around, they would have the other. And I still pray those things every day. I'm seeing little peeks at the Lord answering those prayers already, and I love it. Today was Ella's first day at Mother's Day Out, and sweet Adam crawled all over the house looking for her. It was so heartwarming, and so sad. It's so humbling to see new definitions of love through my kids. Adam has three great loves in his life, and two of them provide nourishment for him. The other is his sister. His eyes sparkle and shimmer when she walks into the room, and her expression always lights up. If this keeps up, Adam and I both might need an intervention when she starts Kindergarten.
I think that's most of the big stuff. My Dad whisked me away to San Antonio last weekend (hence the late blog) and it did wonderful things for my soul. At least once a year, we try to see a broadway show. We've seen Wicked several times by now, so we both agreed to try something different. It was between "The Phantom of the Opera," "Beauty and the Beast," and "The Little Mermaid." Since I've seen Beauty and he's seen the Phantom, we mutually agreed to give "The Little Mermaid" a chance, and I'm SO GLAD we did. This is the first production that I've been truly awed by in terms of lights and effects and magic tricks. The colors and costumes are phenomenal, and I would see it again in a heart beat. If any of you are wondering if it's worth taking your girl, DO IT. Don't hesitate... but only if you can teach them proper theater etiquette, because while wonderful, it was also extremely loud from the little girl's incessant talking. I'm already so excited for whatever we choose to see next year, mostly because it means going back to San Antonio. Have you ever been to a city that just makes you feel alive? San Antonio has always been that city for me. There's something about it that I'll always love. Walking through the streets of downtown gave me glimmers of the dreams I used to be bold enough to dream (Like that I would live in a loft in a busy city, or that I would write a novel looking out into the streets of downtown San Antonio, or that I would someday raise my family in Texas Hill Country.) Those dreams may seem like little dreams, but sometimes the little ones are the hardest ones to chase down. I believe that at some point in my life, I'll live in San Antonio or it's surrounding cities, but my hair may be gray and the novel might be a journal entry. I'll take it anyway.
That's it! See ya next month!
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