Are all kids like this or are ours just extra surreal

I've made mention before how our oldest daughter has a habit of saying quirky things and is ahead of schedule academically. Our second daughter is the adventurer and party girl. Our new son is so new it is hard to say (but he is big, very alert, and very happy). Today it hit me how very surreal it can be to live with these little people. The only thing special about today was that we received a visit from Granny, Grandpa, and Great-Granny. Perhaps that made the kids more of everything in their excitement.

The visit itself was mostly play and talk. The kids were revelling in being so loved. They were also bouncing off the walls. At one point, child number one decided to play the game of being the baby. She would play on her brother's playmat with dangly things, then bring a toy bottle to someone to feed her (she doesn't actually drink milk). So we'd hoist her up on a lap and "feed" her a bottle. Then sit her back up to burp her. She would say "BRAAAP!" Then we would do it again or she would go back to playing on the playmat. Then at one point she did the sign for "more" in baby sign language and verbally asked for more. That surprised me. I do actually own a book about baby sign language. But I didn't remember actually teaching her anything from it and we didn't use it when she was a baby. Later when asked, she said that she learned it from us. If so it was in a passing comment about the book Mommy bought. Wow, teaching the baby will be easier with the girls doing it too.

I don't think Rhiannon did anything unusual at that time, But earlier this week while the girls were playing and I was in and out of the room doing chores, I walked in and saw her behind the sofa happily sitting on the window sill. She was in so tight that I couldn't just lift her out. I had to move the sofa out of the way some before lifting. Tonight she did the same thing in another room. This time she realized that she was stuck and called for help. In this case she was stuck between a futon armrest and the fencing that keeps the kids out of my husband's musical instruments.

Our little boy just made points with Great-Granny by being happy and laughing for her (the first time I think, A nice little "Heh-heh-heh").

When the visit was over, child number two decided that she was going home with the grandparents. She wanted to walk them out to the car and get in the car with them and go to their house. At the same time my husband was checking the mail at the mailbox and discovered a very important piece of mail. It was exactly the thing needed to make her forget about her attempt to leave home for greener pastures. Thank you Auntie Jean (yes, I know you're reading this). It was a birthday card for my husband, which when opened played Johnny Cash singing "Ring of Fire" (note: the cover showed a round birthday cake with candles in a circle). this fascinated our two year old and her Daddy took advantage of the good timing to tell her to take it inside to show Mommy. Now I grew up in a house where hearing Johnny Cash singing was a common occurence. However, my husband's tastes, while varied, tend to run more toward classical and opera. The next two hours were a bit trying for both of us while the girls took turns opening and closing the card to hear the song. At one point, during a Mariachi sounding segment, child number one pipes up "Here comes the fire truck!" Needless to say we both lost it. Then a few minutes later she spontaneously composed a poem about birthdays that I wish I remembered enough to write down. It was clearly something she was making up as she doing it. She managed four or five rhymed phrases that were all on topic and didn't wander strangely like her stories normally do. She was practically rapping. The only time that I remember her being exposed to rap music was when she was less than a year old at our old apartment building.

Add to all of this, my husband told me that she told him a story when I was out getting groceries this morning. she titled it "Chickens in the mood." Now to most adults "in the mood" phrased in this way makes them think that something not G rated is being talked about. So he suddenly paid attention to her story this time to make sure that she hadn't picked up something somewhere that she shouldn't have. He decided that it was PG rated. It was a long wandering story (as most of hers are) where, among other things, a chicken and a rooster were walking along holding hands.

Oh yeah, one more thing for the day. This morning I put on the original Fantasia movie for the kids to watch while I did some cross-stitch. Child number one provided us with an audio commentary for the entire movie. The only time she didn't talk was when the narrator was doing his bit. That's a long movie. She can be a pretty long-winded kid.

Auntie Jean, did you realize when you sent the card that it would teach the song "Ring of Fire" to the kids. Child number one was playing it on a kazoo. Child number two was singing the words. It is definitely surreal to hear a two-year old singing "Ring of Fire."

Diapers and bodily functions

The title of this post should be fair warning to those of you who don't want to hear about bodily functions. I have a four year old, a two year old and a not quite three month old baby. My life is filled with bodily functions and I am not going to be apologetic about it.

I thought that I ought to give an update about the cloth diaper situation. I have started using cloth diapers finally. We decided to use disposables until child number three grew into his 3-6 month clothes. This saved me from washing out huge numbers of poopy diapers for my newborn. Now that he is pooping only once or twice a day, that is a much more manageable amount. All is going well. It isn't nearly as convenient as disposables, but not as inconvenient as I first imagined. I went for prefold diapers and diaper covers. I can see why people would like to go for "All-in-ones" (which is as convenient as a disposable), since replacing the diaper inside the cover is sometimes annoying. the nice thick diapers that I use are a little difficult to dry thoroughly in my dryer, so I have to run them through twice. We use the disposables when we go out, but even then, I will leave the cloth diapers on if we go out for a short errand. I suspect that I will go back to disposables briefly when he hits the teething diarhea stage. We are doing the cloth diapers more to stretch our finances than to make an environmental statement.

This summer I plan to work with child number two a little more with potty training this summer. She currently uses pull ups and sometimes tells me "I got poop." Sometimes she does sometimes she doesn't. She is aware of what is going on in her pants, so she might be receptive to some extra attention to get it in the potty.

Child number one has been my tough to potty train child. I think that I can confidently say that she is now potty trained. She takes herself to the bathroom when she needs to and does the whole process herself. I have to remind her that it has been a long time occasionally or insist she use the toilet before we go somewhere. But, otherwise it has been all her responsibility and she does it. She hasn't had an accident in a long time. The last time was when we were visiting grandparents and she hated stopping the play long enough to use the toilet. She was just over excited and distracted with extra fun. I think what finally did the trick was her own desire to do things herself. She hit an age where she wants to do everything that she possibly can, on her own. She was getting annoyed by being told when to use the potty and wanted to do it herself. So we finally gave it a trial after she was consistent enough and it worked. She also had incentive from earning rewards for long term success. She is extremely independent minded and it shows in the potty training, too. Now if we can get her to stop coming out of the bathroom with her pants down.

Well, baby is crying so I need to stop here. I'll do a homeschool update soon.

I exist on Amazon.com

Do you ever type your own name in a search to see if by chance something comes up? A friend of my brother just published his first book, and I searched his name on Amazon to find it. I found it ,by the way, "A Quest for respect" by Robert Worley. If you like fiction drawn from military history, you might buy it and let me know what you think. I'm more into straight history personally and not the military area of it.

Anyway, my husband had me search on his name, and we found listings for someone with a similar name. Then, on a whim I typed a search on my maiden name. WOW! I found myself. I used to work as a college librarian. One of the professors who writes lots of books, listed me among many of my co-workers in his acknowledgements. It wasn't someone who shares the same name. It was me. WOW! That was really cool. Yeah, I know it's just the acknowledgements. It's not like I wrote a book. But, it still made me feel famous for a minute.

Now I guess I'll just have to go back to my mundane life of making meals, changing diapers and not letting any of us run out of clean clothes. Anybody else want to put me in their acknowledgements page? Anyone... Anyone...

Fascinating workings of a two year old brain

I was much amused by child number two today. She decided at one point a little before lunch that it was time to play games. The little party girl loves games. Now two year olds don't play at cards or board games. Those aren't simple enough. But that doesn't mean that they don't play games at all. They just think outside the box compared to us adults. She has always been a big fan of "Peek a Boo," which she refers to as "Boo Boo game." Hide and Seek has been a recent addition to her repetoire. She can also appreciate "Chase." Today she introduced me to some new games. In addition to "Tickle fight" (in which she chases her sister to tickle her) and "Feet fight" (in which the two of them kick at each other under the table during meals), she decided to play many new games today. There was "Dance game" (in which one lifts one's hands above one's head and twirls while on tippy toes). Next came "Hopping game" (in which one jumps around. In one variation the player says "Ribbet!"). My particular favorite today was the "Cat in the Hat game" (in which the player turns until dizzy and falls down while saying "All the things fall." Maybe it's a variation on "Ring around the Rosie.") Later this evening she was in a gaming mood again and played the "Potty time game" (in which she turned a bucket of Mr. Potato Head parts into a potty seat and pretended to sit on the potty. Then she stood up saying "I peed" and then clapped, yelled "Yea!!," and then did a little happy dance.

I think you could call anything a game and that girl would find a way to have fun with it. She is definitely a party girl.

Maybe we adults are too serious about the things in our lives. I have more fun doing things my daughters way and enjoying the moments of the day more. Maybe the dishes would be more fun if I played the "wash the dishes game." Then there's the "feed the baby game" or the "sweep the floor game." I would still be doing the same things, but they could be fun because they are a game. It is all attitude you see. I distinctly remember the first time my Mom let me wash the dishes. I was not much older than child number one. I had to stand on a chair to wash them at the sink. I got the kitchen a gloriously wet mess and I think it took me about two hours, but I loved it and would beg her to let me do it again. I don't remember exactly when I stopped thinking of it as a game, but I know that was when the joy of it left me and it became one of my chores.

Swamped in the little things

OK... So it's been a while. As the title says, I've been swamped with little things that are all important. Little people are important and I've now got three of them to look after. That is going fairly well. The oldest two can usually play together without killing each other when I need to look after the third. The baby is easy going enough that he can play on his playmat while I do dishes, cook, or do homeschooling with the girls. However, there are other little things that have added to the general chaos like finding time to do our taxes and finally, today, take all three kids to the post office with me to mail them. I think it brightens people's days to see me out with all three kids. For some it is nostalgia. For some it is "thank God I'm not her."

I also have to update our financial records to find out if we are still breaking even. I haven't touched them since before the baby was born. Then there is the fact that I can't wedge anything more in the filing cabinet. That needs thinning out of unneeded items (haven't done that in about two years). I can't paint with my oldest daughter until I clean a much used counter so we have a place to dry paintings. We sort of got roped into doing some stuff at a Easter play day at our church when we have sooo much work to in the backyard.

The backyard construction zone is now at the form building stage in preparation for creating actual walkways and a patio. Since my husband is doing this in his almost non-existent free time, it'll take a while. I find it hard to be patient at times and not begrudge time to good causes every now and then.

With the kids, the most recent thing is that our oldest has lost two more teeth. This time they were not symetrical. Her right front tooth on top and a left slightly to the side tooth on the bottom came out on the same day. She now has a really fun jack-o-lantern style smile.

Life is feeling full. And, although the baby is allowing a little more sleep lately, I feel like I'm playing a ridiculously big job of catch-up. I also have trouble thinking clearly during allergy season. So if this post seems a little disjointed, that is why. Allergens are little things, too.

Dance class

I promised a post about child number one's dance class. It is a Parks and Recreation Department sponsored pre-ballet class for 3-5 year olds. You sign up for it on a monthly basis. One afternoon a week for four weeks. The classes themselves are 45 minutes long. Standard dress (not explained to you beforehand however) is leotards, tights, and ballet shoes. To make my life easier, I've arranged a play-date for child number two to coincide with the class so I only have to deal with the four-year old and the baby at the dance class. Those are the technical details.

The first day of class we show up early and there is another class in session already. I had trouble convincing my daughter that it wasn't her class and that she had to wait. When it was time for her class a new teacher arrives and acts like the students know what they need to do at the start of class. I go to talk to the teacher, since I have a new student for her and realize that all the other little girls are dressed in dance clothes like they knew ahead of time what they were supposed to wear. I found out that this is actually a substitute for the regular teacher who is out sick and my daughter just needs to take off her shoes and dance in her socks for this class.

It seemed to go well at first considering that child number one was so hyped up she was literally bouncing everywhere. She kept forgetting to listen to the teacher because she was just so excited to be in a dance class. This however was fairly common among the girls (about 15 in number). One girl in particular was a more extreme case, and I probably would not have enrolled her in the class if she were my child. She was more interested in running around the room than participating in any of the class. But, maybe her parents are trying to teach her to focus better. The reason I mention her comes up later. They were practicing ballet moves to music with simple routines where they changed the activity about every five minutes. They also threw in some modern dance moves including the chicken dance of all things. It looked to me that about a two thirds of the girls knew what they were doing and a third knew it well enough that they looked like they had done it a lot. It dawned on me that I had assumed that the class was a beginning class and then they move on. In actuality, the students are signed up month after month so that this is actually a small segment of a long term class. The students move on after the teacher tells the parent that they are both the right age and are ready for the next level class.

My daughter's experience was marred on that first day when she was paired up with the little girl who just wanted to run wild. The other girl didn't want to hold hands like she was supposed to and broke free to run around. My daughter couldn't cope with this strange situation and was chasing the other little girl trying to get her back until she crumpled into tears and the teacher's assistants had to help her find me in the crowd of parents. She was horribly distraught that she had lost her partner. It took a while to calm her down and refocus her attention on the class, the fact that they were not doing partners anymore, and that she could still do the class. She went back to it and was doing OK until something happened between her and the other girl (her former partner) that made her cry again and have to come back to me. She calmed down and was finally able to finish the class. I noticed that the other girl's parents had taken their daughter home early. I had thought that my daughter had learned a few things and enjoyed the actual dancing, but the only thing she could talk about later was that she lost her partner.

The second dance class went better. This time my daughter was in the proper dance attire. The regular teacher was there. She started the class with introductions. She was much more take-charge and knew how to handle the loose cannon child (yes the other little girl was back, my daughter's nemesis). This time there was no partner time to upset things. But, my child did have to come for consoling at one point when she was told to get to the back of a line, when she thought she was next. Other than that there were no problems and she was practicing dance moves with the rest.

The third dance class has been the best so far. My daughter didn't need any consoling. She paid attention to the teacher more. She was distracted less. The teacher told me that she is improving each time (which I have seen). The teacher suggested work at pointing the toe more and a goal for my daughter is to learn to move gracefully. From my observation, my daughter tends to move quickly and with jerky motion. If she slowed down some, the motions could be smoothed out and made graceful.

The fourth class will be next Tuesday. I've begun to think that this class (which was a reward for improvement with potty times) is a good thing that needs to be continued--both because my daughter is showing definite interest in dance, and because it will help her learn not only dance but listening skills, focus, repetitive practice, balance, graceful motions, and exercise. However, I've been delaying rejoining my MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group since it occurs on the same day of the week. Whereas dance class is good for my oldest daughter, MOPS is good for me and both daughters. It has age-appropriate christian preschool-style playtime which is good for them. But, since I am carting around a now six week old baby, one big event a day is hard enough to manage. I am going to rejoin the MOPS group after this fourth and final class, because I see a greater good in it. But, I am also considering doing the dance class some more when MOPS isn't in session. And once the baby is older I may consider two big events in a day as manageable again.

Life is getting better

OK, it's been a while since I last posted. I've been busy with disasters. Well... little disasters. The same day child number one was supposed to start her new dance class, the person who was going to watch child number two, called to say she had two kids with high fevers. I woke up that morning with pink eye (not caught from anyone else, just spontaneous as a result of allergy problems). On the way to get medicine for my eyes (with three kids in tow), the front passenger window decided it wanted to slide mysteriously down into the door and hide from all the world. That was just one day. We got through it and child number one still got to go to dance class. We have since got the window repaired. We have had a lot of days like that in the past few weeks.

I'm feeling better now. The rain seems to be gone for a while, so we can get outside to walk every now and then. I still have the allergies, but they are toned down a bit since I can take some medicine for them now. Today we have the dance class again. No disasters have happened so far today. The trickiest part of the schedule is getting child number three's feedings to line up just right for our comings and goings.

I'm beginning to feel like being the mother of three kids is going OK. And, maybe, just maybe I'll be a good mom who can get dinner in the crock pot too. Our fruit trees are blooming. Our new grass seed is planted (my husband decided that the back lawn needed to be redone). We are just about ready to put in new pathways and a patio in our backyard. It feels like we are getting things accomplished again. Now I just have to find time to do the taxes.

The homeschooling is going well, although very casually. It is mainly reading, reading, reading, and more reading. Child number one is reading very well. She reads to herself in the bathroom (which has helped the potty times). She reads to her sister. She has any adult available read to her. In fact she has been reading some of this as I write it. Child number two has decided that she likes reading too. She also wants to be read to a lot. Besides that, there is lots of art work, crayons, colored pencils, pens, scissors, tape, drawing paper, construction paper, and all the things that you can make from them. We sometimes branch out and do some play dough time. I'm thinking that I may soon figure out how to get the easel out and get painting back into the schedule. However, that requires cleaning a counter so there is a place to dry the paintings. The girls are getting better about playing together and the oldest one is getting more independent. She is wanting to do a lot more things on her own (also a help with potty times). I can see now why people like to space their kids out a little more than we have. Having an older child is a big help when you have an infant. Today we all sat down together to entertain the baby while he was on his play mat. The girls are certainly learning about babies.

I am wanting to get the homeschooling a little more structured into our daily routines though. It isn't for the kids' sake, it is for my own. Clutter and chaos drive me nuts. I have come to terms with the fact that I can't have my entire life in order at once, but I like to try to have a few areas orderly so that I can function. It helps if those areas are the ones that we deal with every day. So far, after the baby's arrival, we have mealtimes, sleeptimes, and laundry somewhat in order. Now, I'm trying to get schooltime and shopping trips more manageable. I have come to the conclusion that we can't do a walk on the same day that we need to go somewhere. There is only so much flexibility in a five week old's schedule. Incidently, some of the neighbors have commented that we look like a parade when we are out for a walk. I don't doubt it what with the oldest child in a tricycle, the next in line in a jogging stroller, and the youngest in a front carrier on mommy. I look forward to the day when the youngest can go in the double stroller. It is hot and awkward to deal with the baby carriers.

Well, that's a lengthy post to make up for the time since the last one. Maybe, I'll describe the dance classes in the next one. They are noteworthy.

I want another cookie

Child number three is now three weeks old and life isn't feeling quite so bleak and sleepless. We still want more sleep, but he is now waking up only once during the night. The girls are adjusting to the new baby driven routine as well. Since, I'm not breastfeeding anymore and will soon stop pumping breastmilk, my mind has been turning to that age-old new mom concern: I need to drop twenty pounds and get my muscle tone back before I can fit in my old pants.

Yeah, I know new Mom's aren't supposed to diet, but neither do they need to eat like a horse if they aren't breastfeeding. Exercise is good, but I'm supposed to keep it fairly light in the beginning as I work back up to my old strength. Besides, It's the rainy season and I have to take three kids (4 years and younger) with me wherever I go. That doesn't make exercise a terribly convenient activity.

I'm being good. I only started to try to limit my portions at mealtimes and stop eating before I'm completely full. I'm eating dessert at fewer meals. I do get out and walk with the kids when the weather is good (even if it is just running an errand at a local store). I've also been doing some simple and easy muscle toning exercises before bed. I seem to recall from prior experience, that it took at least two months to get back into some of my larger pants and skirts. It is hard to wait for the slow progress. In the meantime, after another long day I find that I want another cookie.

Ahh... newborns....toddlers....preschoolers...

OK... It's two weeks tomorrow since our little baby boy was born. Babies do create a lot of upheaval. On the whole, it has gone well. It is also a bit grueling. My husband and I have lost more sleep than we would like. But, we are getting more sleep than many new parents. We have a good sized baby who sometimes sleeps 4-5 hours at a stretch. We know enough to count our blessings. The girls like their new brother (of course he mostly eats and sleeps right now). But there have been some problems, too. A few days after getting home from the hospital, baby boy stopped eating well. That was about the time my milk came in all the way so we figure that it was related. After struggling for a few days to get him to eat, we were concerned and took him to the doctor. He had lost nearly a pound and a half. That's a scary thing for a newborn. Thankfully, the problem only seems to be an eating issue and he is recovering his weight quickly now that we have started feeding him from a bottle.

Then, just as that problem was getting solved, our two year old came down with some unknown virus that had her with fevers, sneezes and coughs. So, we are now dividing our labor. Daddy takes the baby and Mommy takes the two year old. The four year old has been having to fend for herself a bit more, but Mommy is dealing with her too. We are also doing a lot of hand washing to try to minimize any spread of this thing. So far, only the four year old has come down with it and it seems to be a milder version. the two year old seems to be improving, too. She didn't have any fever today as far as I could tell. She is also acting more like herself and playing more. When she was in the middle of it, she just wanted Mommy to hold her.

So, with all of this happening, it is hard to get a handle on what is normal, what is new because of the baby, and what is just new. Tonight, for instance, the older kids have been getting up out of bed every five minutes. In the two year-old's case, I know it was because she had an extra long nap today. In the four year-old's case she is suddenly claiming to be scared of the dark. I have noticed that she has been talking about things being scary more in the last few weeks. But, I can't say this is a baby thing. I think it is just that she is getting older and she is starting to key into more of what is happening around her, noticing things that are scary and remembering them more. She also suddenly decided that she wanted shorter hair. We gave her a 24 hour waiting period before we gave in to her wish to make sure it was something she really wanted. Her Daddy is mourning the loss of his girl's long hair. I gave her a chin length bob (just like her two year old sister's) and it looks quite cute.

Next monday starts life with my husband going back to work. I hope the kids are markedly improved by then or my life will be very difficult. I haven't done much in the way of homeschooling during the last couple of weeks, but yet I see that our daughter has been learning anyway. She has definitely been learning about babies and how one takes care of them. She has been reading to herself a good bit and drawing a lot. I've noticed some new things in her drawings and she is gaining even more coordination so that she can use her scissors fairly well and is well on her way to mastering tape. She has started to help her sister some as well. She will draw pictures for her sister to color. She will help her dress in princess clothes if Mommy or Daddy isn't available for that. She brings her sister tissues when she cries and needs a wipe (sometimes when she caused her sister to cry).

The two year old has been learning a lot, too. She is talking a lot now. She is forming more complete sentences than she did just a few weeks ago. I still have trouble understanding a few of her words because of her pronunciation, but can usually figure it out if I catch the context. In some ways she is more advanced in some ways than her sister was at that age (she is more independent, more social and more active). In others she is a little behind (Her sister knew her alphabet, numbers, shapes, and 50 states by shape at age two which is just a little freaky), but still well within normal for a kid her age. She has just recently gotten interested in puzzles, books and drawing. She has been hooked on the Baby Einstein video about shapes and has nearly mastered them (the difference between a rectangle and a square doesn't seem to register with her yet, but circles and triangles are easily identified).

So, although no official homeschooling has been happening, I am satisfied that the girls are still learning. But, we will need to get back into the routine soon. Also, the oldest girl has made progress with her potty training to the point that she has earned rewards for major accomplishments. These rewards will have to be worked into the schedule too since they are special classes. So far she has earned a dance class, an art class, and swim lessons. But, she still has yet to earn the trip to the zoo. It mystifies me how a child can learn to poop in the toilet, pee in the toilet, do the whole bathroom routine by herself, and yet still not be able to tell someone that she needs to go use a toilet. We consider it a major accomplishment that she has had only one accident in the last three weeks. But, we are still telling her to use the potty at certain times. When she complains about not wanting to be interrupted, I remind her that I will stop telling her to use the potty when she starts telling me when she needs to use it. I'm hoping she will develop the habit of no accidents to the point where she no longer is willing to endure accidents should they come.

All in all, it has been a busy two weeks. We are tired. The house is a mess. The family is somewhat presentable. I am recovering nicely. If I had a few days to enjoy some stability of routine, I might feel like being a mother of three isn't so bad. Well, that's a long post to make up for two weeks silence. Goodnight.

New baby arrived safely

Hello all! Baby number three arrived on Saturday and all went well. He is a hefty fellow at 9 pounds and 7.5 ounces. He is still super sleepy all of the time, so we haven't gotten a good idea of his personality yet. Both girls seem to be happy about their new brother. The younger one however is more animated though. She wants to help hold him. She likes to look at him and give him kisses. She also gets very upset when he cries and tells me that he needs a tissue. Both girls missed Mommy when I was in the hospital. The younger one had to plaster herself to me for about 15 minutes straight when they visited me in the hospital. She finally was lured away by her older sister who had discovered that the room divider were fun to play hide and seek in.

I am recovering nicely. I think I am actually doing better this time around, compared to the previous two times. But, I am not back to normal. I will be going to bed as early as possible for a while. Our oldest child will be having very little to do for her homeschooling for the near future. But, she will be learning a lot about babies. Now that the kids are in bed, I think I will wrap things up before the baby's bedtime feeding and get ready for my sleep for the night. Goodnight.

Very small bit of news

I made my last prenatal appointment after all. the bottom line is that if the baby doesn't come by next Wednesday morning, I am scheduled for an induced labor. Having a timeline, makes the waiting a little more bearable for me.

Stubborn babies

Well, it is looking more and more like this baby is going to be like his sisters... stubborn. Unless something changes today, this kid is holding out for a February birthday. My first child was 10 days late. The second, who was also predicted to come early, was two days late. I'm still hoping for slightly early if not punctual for this one. I have had at least two false alarms where the contractions got going and just before we decided to go on in to the hospital, they went away completely for a day or two. I'm starting to think of things I'd like to tell my doctor (but probably won't). I know that the time is short. This baby will come out soon. I'm just really, really tired of waiting. On the bright side, my sinus problems have nearly cleared up. I've even been able to smell a couple of times recently. Being able to breath properly during hard labor will be much appreciated. We'll see if I post again before the birth. My next prenatal appointment is scheduled for Friday. I hope I get to miss it.

Odd things encountered while waiting

I'm still here waiting for a baby to decide to be born. But in the meantime, I thought that I'd share something that made me laugh. Our oldest daughter (4) gave her younger sister (2) a timeout today. It was while I was down for a nap, so I heard it from the grandparents. Child number one was getting frustrated with her sister knocking over a town that she had made. This kept happening until she gave her sister an annoyed look, pointed her arm to the corner, and told her "you get a timeout." Whereupon, little sister dutifully grabbed a kid sized chair, moved it to the appropriate corner sat in it and happily said "timeout." Child number two sat in said chair for a very short time and then announced "all done." It is amazing what a two year old picks up from watching her older sister get punished.

Another thing that amused my husband and me had to do with some potty time success our oldest has been having lately. This child has been fighting pooping in the potty for the longest time, but for some unknown reason lately, she has been successful if given a book to read on the potty about once a day. We have now had eight days of successes. While this was still a new thing this week, Mommy mentions to Daddy at the dinner table that child number one had a successful poop in the potty. So Daddy, in an effort to be supportive and encouraging asks, "So tell me the story of this successful potty time" (expecting Mommy to give bland details). Instead, child number one launches in with "Once upon a time..." whereupon Mommy and Daddy start giggling. She continued on telling a very elaborate story of kids, animals, and dancers pooping, giving lots of circumstances and contexts. Her very sincere rendition, and an utter lack of self consciousness right there at the dinner table, just worked like a battering ram to any pretentions we might have tried to have on the occasion and we just laughed and laughed as the story kept going and getting better and better. We now refer to it as the "Lays of the Potty Times".

As for my health, my sinus problems are still lingering as I am waiting for the baby to be born. However, I seem to be improving slightly. I noticed for instance that I was able to sing some at church today. I have noticed the phenomenon before with colds, that if I can get to the point where I can sing, the singing seems to help the medicine move the gunk out. Do you suppose anyone has done a study on the efficacy of singing in curing sinus problems? My guess is that the singing vibrates the sinuses and loosens things up.

These are a few of the oddities I have encountered this week to lighten my mood. I think I may be getting hysterical at times with all the waiting. My family is accusing me of laughing way too much over really simple things. I think I am just open to the absurdities of life a little more now. I saw a seagull eating fast food garbage in a parking lot this morning and wondered to myself, was the bag there first or did the bird chase off the previous owner, like in Hitchcock's "The Birds"? My husband told me that sometimes you need to unthink the thinkable, and that thought needed to be unthunk.

That's all for now. Hopefully, the next time I post the baby will be on the outside where he belongs.

Waiting...and waiting...and waiting...

I like to think of myself as a patient person. People tell me that I'm a patient person. But, there are times I go through (like now), when I know that I'm not really patient. At least that I'm not patient down to the core. My new baby's due date is February 3rd. I and my medical advisers don't think the baby will wait that long to make his appearance. That's less than two weeks and yet I don't want to have to wait any longer than right now. Both of my older children went past their due dates, so you would think that I would have a handle on the fact that babies can wait past my comfort levels. I have also been fighting cold/sinus problems for 4-5 weeks now which wears me down though I have felt a very slight improvement that gives me hope for better days soon. But what bugs me the most is that Saturday night the contractions were starting to get closer and stronger, all day Sunday and Monday morning they were going strong, but then faded away by Monday night. Today I had very few contractions at all (less than normal even). Sunday I felt like the baby is coming soon. Now, I feel like I did a month ago (except bigger and slower). It is very frustrating and it wears on my patience.

I am reminded of quotes from the Bible that refer to unexpected or sudden events as when labor pains come on a woman. It is unpredictable. You can expect it soon and still be surprised. I always feel like God is giving me another lesson on patience when I find myself in such circumstances. I am not sure that we ever get too secure in our virtues that God doesn't have to give us a refresher course from time to time. So, I'll try to accept the wait as a lesson to learn (especially since I have to wait anyway).

In the meantime, our kids are enjoying time with Grandparents and doing their best to get away with everything while Mommy is big and slow. Child number one is only having light schoolwork right now since Mommy's energy levels are still low. Child number two is learning how to talk very fast. The two girls even have the occaisional conversation with each other. Child number one is making some headway with potty training. She still doesn't want to ask for potty times, but at least we are getting her to do most of the routine herself and discovering ways to encourage her to get the poop in the potty (it involves having books to read while she waits). Child number two is mastering stacking and is finally showing interest in puzzles and being read to. However, she is also a party girl who is always on the lookout for a new game. I had to discourage her from playing the "paper game," as she calls it, in the bathroom. We suspect it involves unwinding the toilet paper, thus the discouragement. However, in mentioning this within her older sister's hearing, I realized later that it doesn't take much to give the older one ideas. I had to correct the older sister later who did make a mound of toilet paper citing the "paper game" as her inspiration. On the whole, our two girls get along well, and they seem to take turns sharing ideas of fun things to do and copy from one another.

Well, that is all that I have for tonight. I will go back to waiting (and trying to get a few things done while I can).

On the cusp of change

Now that I am beginning to feel better, it is time for another blog post. It has been evident to me today that we are on the cusp of change as a family in many different ways. Yeah, the baby is coming soon. That'll be a major change for us all of course, but it is a familiar upheaval to Mommy and Daddy at least. Child number one seems to be much calmer about that one, also (maybe because she's starting to enjoy her time with her sister? Who knows?) It will be a shock for child number two. Hopefully not too bad, since she seems to like babies in general.

Beyond the obvious new family addition coming, I've noticed some other things too. Child number one has been a little more in touch with the world around her than usual. She has quite an imagination and has lots of fun in her own little world in her head. So, this is noteworthy. She still comes up with funny statements that we love to giggle at. Tonight, Daddy mentioned having "shoo'd" one of the cats out of our bedroom. She seemed to mistake the verb for shoot and asked him if he used a cannon. Daddy also tossed a knit hat at her the other day and she said "Daddy, you hit my brow." She has an amazing vocabulary for a four year old. In her homeschooling, we have only one more day of work on her phonics lessons and then we can change gears a little. We will shift to concentrating on having lots of reading time and some writing practice. That will help her get a better grasp of the phonics that she has been learning. I also want to get more Bible reading as a daily thing. That will help when the baby comes, too, if most of her schoolwork is reading so just about any adult available can do it with her, and Mommy is freed up to take care of herself and the baby for a while.

Child number two has been changing before our eyes too. She is picking up language fast now. She can talk in sentences (although short ones). She understands so much of what we say and responds in words we didn't know she knew yet. When she was playing a game with her uncle (involving her being spun in a box) and her uncle was done, she happily stated "Daddy's turn!" The other day she saw one of our cats lie down on the floor and she said "Cat sleepy." On top of that, she has started telling us when she wants a potty time. Half the time it is a delaying tactic on her part, but the other half she needs a diaper change and it is obvious that it is recent. That gives me hope that she won't be as hard to potty train as her sister. She has started to count, stack legos and blocks as high as she can reach, and has shown some interest in drawing. We saw that kind of behavior with her older sister, but until recently this one hadn't been very interested. She has also been wanting to be read to more. This is noteworthy, because up until now she has been our active energizer bunny who couldn't stop long enough to get through even a short book. She is also turning into quite the jokester. She has learned how to make funny faces for entertainment, she calls just about any fun activity a game, and tonight she spent about 10 minutes in the car saying "AAOOOOGAHH!!" and then giggling over and over.

So, it is looking like things are happening on just about all fronts with the kids. Mommy and Daddy are pretty much the same (except Daddy just mentioned that Mommy is going to be losing a bunch of weight any day now). Though somehow, I get the feeling that our family is about to go through some substantial changes in the near future (family dynamics, maturity levels, intellectual abilities, attention spans) so that although the faces are the same, the experience as a family will be different.

Chaos is here before the new baby... uh oh...

Well, half of us are well and the other half of us are improving, so I'll come back for an update. Mommy and child number two seem to have a tougher time recovering from illness. Child number one must have inherited her Daddy's immune system.

I am at 3 1/2 weeks till my due date. At my last appointment, I was told that the baby is in position and just waiting for labor to start. My parents have come to help out, so maybe I have a better chance of getting well before the baby comes. As a result of the household of illness, however, I haven't had much energy to do the last preparations to get ready for the coming baby. Unless, the baby comes early, I think we will be able to get things done eventually.

It is a good thing that I'm improving in health, my oldest was starting to run wild since she was feeling better than the rest of us. I've been having to reign her back in to civilized and polite behavior. It is frustrating to have to retrain and discipline every time a bump in the road of life comes up, but I suppose that is normal for all kids. They like to know where the boundaries are. Child number two is still sick, cranky, and taking full advantage. I suspect that the new baby will be a tough transition for her this time. It'll be tough to retrain her into a new routine in enough time. Yet it must be done. The baby shouldn't have to suffer, because bigger sister is extra demanding lately.

So, with child number three on the way, chaos is still trying to make a foothold in our household.

Sick day

Well, it had to happen on the week that was going to be hardest. I and the kids came down with a cold. My husband usually is last to feel any symptoms and usually fights them off with spicy food and Zicam. So, a tough week became tougher. Ah well.... I remember a bout of the flu earlier this year well enough that this cold is a minor misery. But, being miserable myself, while feeling barely mobile from my pregnancy, and having two clingy, demanding kids, it just feels tougher than I would like to deal with. Thankfully, my husband has only one more workday this week. I guess the bright side of this is that we should be over the cold by the time the baby comes. I have just one more month to go according to the due date. People keep trying to cheer me up by saying that the baby will come early, but so far my kids have all come after the due date. My hopes are simply for a punctual child. I probably won't post much more until health returns to the household. Good night.

Christmas chaos brings New Year's clean up

It is something I noticed long ago. Christmas presents tend to cover the house once opened and it takes extreme effort to put things in new places. With young children the problem intensifies because they are constantly wanting to pull out a new toy to play with. With our two year old the attention span between one toy and the next is approximately a minute, so the room becomes cluttered again very quickly. So over the next day or so, I will wage a war to bring order to the chaos once again. It's time to sort through the old toys to see what needs to be put away for later, what needs to be put in the bedroom, what needs to be in the living room, and how to consolidate everything into new orderly places. The two year old will still want to pull everything out to play with, but at least she won't have all of it in one spot to tempt her constantly. The tree will be coming down tonight and we can move the furniture back to its normal locations. We have to achieve some kind of order by the weekend so that I don't go crazy next week when my husband goes back to work.

I have definitely entered the "Ugh! How long can I carry around this child before he decides to come out" stage. I realize that it isn't time yet. We have five more weeks. But, I can't chase after the kids like I used to. I can barely get the normal household chores done (and only the most desperately needed at that). I tire out every few minutes and I need naps more than the kids do. So next week will feel like a marathon. My husband will be back at work and my parents won't arrive to help out until the following week. I will have to get the kids back to a normal (non-holiday) routine after they have been thoroughly spoiled. I also have to find baby sitters for while I go to two appointments that week. On the plus side, I'll be so busy it will go by quickly.

So, it is vital that I bring order to the chaos this week. Clutter affects my moods and makes me cranky and depressed. If I feel like the house is in order, I will be able to make it through the tough spots easier. After all... if Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

The Ballet and the importance of field trips

Since we are homeschooling, one thing we are trying to do is arrange various field trips for our daughter. It is tricky getting good age-appropriate ones for a four year old. However, when our daughter started getting hooked on anything ballet, we thought it would be good to go see the Nutcracker this Christmas. She was able to see her first ballet this evening, and her imagination is going to be full of it for some time to come. It was a very nice production and very magical to the eyes of a four year old. We were a little worried that she would freak out during the applause since she usually does. However, we talked about it before hand and she actually clapped some herself a few times. When she didn't, she at least refrained from going into the screaming tantrum she usually goes for. One thing we forgot about was the type of seats you find in auditoriums like that. She is a little light for those seats that flip up. One of us had to hold it down for her so she didn't get swallowed up. Overall, it was a great experience for her and an enjoyable one for us.

She has been wanting to be a dancer and dances to just about any music, so showing her what it really looks like seemed to be a good thing to us. It also helped that she is already familiar with the music thanks to Disney's Fantasia. I guess the next step will be a preschool level dance class (once she masters the potty training). That will be where the rubber meets the road. Will our headstrong daughter take instruction on how to do something? Or will she insist on doing things her own way and therefore lose any benefit a class could give her? I'm not sure which way she will go. I can see her doing well, because it is something she loves. But, I can also see the possibility that her lazy side will decide that it is too much work. We would love for her to put in the work and do well at dancing, but it is still extra-curricular as far as we are concerned. If she tries it and then decides against it we will let her stop, but only if she has put in the required work for that class series. With her personality, we will have to work extra-hard to instill disciplined habits.

We would also love it if our kids learned a musical instrument and developed their art skills. They will need some kind of sport, martial art, gymnastics or dance to get in the physical education aspect of schooling(a walk in the neighborhood is a nice start, but doesn't do enough in the long run). We think we have the basics of reading, writing and arithmatic covered OK. My husband's strong point is music, literature, and science. My strong point is history, theology and research. That covers a wide range of topics, so we keep coming up with wish lists of other things we would like to teach our kids to put the icing on the cake so to speak. One thing we still have to decide is languages other than English (should we do modern languages or classical languages for example). Should we require the musical instrument instruction or be satisfied with some other type of music instruction should they not be interested when we think they should be? (So far they love it when Daddy brings out the harp for them to play on). So, we get off onto tangents thinking about the future schooling of our kids from time to time. We have to bring ourselves back to reality by reminding ourselves that our oldest child is just four. We have time to work it all out. If we keep our education goals in mind, we will do just fine.

So, for a four year old, field trips that expose her to new and interesting things are a good thing. We are going to try to do something once a month. January we are thinking of a snow trip (since we are fairly close to some nice snowy mountains). What better way to introduce the concepts of seasons, weather, and even some basic physics than sliding down a snowy hill. Mommy will need family or friend volunteers to go with Daddy and the kids for that one. Too close to my due date to be heading into the mountains. We haven't figured out February's trip yet, but I suspect it will be the visit to the hospital to meet child number three (and lots of discussions about babies and families). Once things are growing again in spring we were thinking of a visit to a farm (seasons again, animals, crops, and the way we get our food). Sometime in summer, we could do a beach trip (seasons, oceans, different geography). I'm not sure she's ready for the local fire station yet. We may save that one for next year. One other thing that the field trips are good for is to get us adults out of our routines and do something adventurous.

Life's surprises

Just when things seem to be going smoothly and I'm tempted to be complacent, something comes up to throw me off balance again. This morning my picture perfect pregnancy had a hiccup of sorts. Bleeding that shouldn't have been there. Turns out everything is fine. We just need to be on the lookout for any further problems. It also changes our plans to go out of town for the holidays. After my previous pregnancy ending in a miscarriage, I was constantly second guessing and worrying early in this one. Once the baby started kicking like crazy, I stopped being such a worrier. This was more what I was accustomed to in my pregnancies. Now I find myself tempted to start worrying again. I suppose that this is where faith comes in. Without knowing what is going on, without knowing what is coming in the future, we just have to trust God to take us from point A to point B whether that involves good or bad. It is hard to do sometimes (especially for a planner and control freak like myself), but there is also a comfort in it. And I have seen prayers make a difference in many different ways, so I'll be trying that therapy every time I'm tempted to worry again.