“A short phase of long days”

Looks like the swaddling days are coming to a close.  It’s an important game to him, though.  He insists (via crying) that I swaddle him, or he won’t go to sleep.  As soon as I leave the room, he pulls his arms out, but he gets mad if I pull them out for him.  ….So I guess it doesn’t hurt anything if I always swaddle him loosely enough for him to escape?

Things I’ve heard around our house:

Caleb:  Hey, Mom, guess what.  Drakes sits beside me in class now, but my teacher said that if we keep being bad, she’s going to move Drake.  (Drake is our neighbor).

Me:  So does that mean you were not on orange today? (The best conduct grade of each day is orange, followed by blue and yellow).

Caleb:  Nope, I was on double orange!

Me:  How did that happen?

Caleb:  I got to move back to orange because I helped some kids with their book bags.

Caleb:  Mom, I really want to change my name.

Me:  Okay.  To what?    (Caleb regularly wants to change his name to various things).

Caleb:  Matthew.

Me:  Why Matthew?

Caleb:  because I told Matthew, “Hey, it would be cool if I changed my name to Matthew, and then we could both be Matthew,” and Matthew said that if I do that, we will be the bestest friends.

Caleb:  I’m going to ride my bike to school, with no training wheels, when I get gooder at it.

…..I think what I should actually be writing is children’s books.  I have LOADS of good material for it. Anyone want to be my illustrator?  Aunt Amy?

Now that Caleb is friends with Drake, and Drake also plays at the playground after school, Caleb is finally also excited about going to the park after school.  This week they cut down a tree that was dead, and the children have had a great time with it.  Yesterday when the boys got in the car, Caleb–with his face so hot it was bright red–proclaimed:

“Hey, Mom, we had some contests, and I got first place at like everything.  We did log rolling–I got first place.  We did log jumping–I got first place.  We did jump over the log–I got first place…..”

   Of course, after all that 100 degree Olympic activity, Caleb was WIPED OUT when it was time to go to AWANA…..so AWANA did not go so well for Caleb.  I think he actually hid under a table, put his hands over his face, and refused to say any verses.

   Joshua, on the other hand, did really well at awana.  He passed four sections–a record for us.  I think this is just the first year that we have a kid that’s really mature enough to handle late night awana.   The program is from 6:30-8:30, and it’s always been kind of a nightmare for us, but if Joshua can keep up the positive attitude, maybe this will be our year.  Alan said I shouldn’t take Caleb to the park on Wednesdays anymore.  I know he’s right, but boo fun for the rest of us.  : (  It would help if Caleb would sleep past 6am once in a while!

  Joshua is now riding his bike so well that we finally let him ride it to school today.  He was super excited about that.  Now he wants Alan to ride with him all the time, and for Alan I think this is like the light at the end of the tunnel that he has been waiting for for 7 years.  Boys are just more fun for dads, I think, when they are big enough to enjoy some of the same things that Daddy does.

   Joshua is doing much better with homework this year.  I don’t even have to sit and listen to him read.  He just grabs a Lego Ninjago book, and he’s happy.

    Caleb has also been doing well with reading because I have a computer program that allows him to read cute, animated books online.

    Daniel is happy with Preschool, so that’s exciting.  That boy is so happy-go-lucky.  He is so excited about preschool, which he calls  “School–Me!?” and “Playground time”.  You should see him wearing his little book bag and carrying Joshua’s little lunchbox.  I have got to make it to a store and buy him a lunchbox of his own!

   Today I did not go to the store with my preschool time.  This is my outing time because it’s the only time that I only have one child to contend with.  Instead, I went to a chiropractor appointment.  It’s a good thing my doc is baby-friendly because John David was a bit of a problem this morning.  His schedule was off today, and his last feeding had been a very poor one.  John David gets too excited about listening to his brothers now, and sometimes even when he’s hungry, he wants to lean up and look for and listen to his bros rather than drink his milk.

   I knew he would be hungry thanks to the poor morning feeding, so I pumped before I left–a solid 8 ounces, I was feeling pretty good about that.  But alas–he would have none of it.  He was starving, but he was holding his ground, milk from mommy and only mommy, no bottle!

…..Only I was pretty much empty……drat drat drat.

   ….So Candace, the office manager, ended up holding JD for me while I got my adjustment.  They were all very understanding.

   Afterwards, I sat in my car and fed JD whatever I had left.

   A baby that won’t take a bottle is not promising for my future.

JD had his 2 month well baby exam on Tuesday, and it was both good and bad.  His stats were impressive:  16 lb and 24 inches.  99% for weight and 63% for height.

  the bad:  Our pediatrician said that he is considered a “high risk” baby now, and if he gets sick I need to be sure to bring him in right away.  Do you know why he is “high risk”?  Three big brothers.

  Yes, we have been cracking down on hand washing and taking more baths.  Daniel has had 2 or 3 baths in the last 24 hours.

   She said I need to just keep breastfeeding, all the way through the winter.  I usually quit at 6ish months, but I guess this one will have to be the exception.

I think that means I won’t be fully feeling like my I am my own person for another year yet.  My friend Kelly said that this is a “short phase of long days”, and I thought that was a perfect description.  I just am going to have to cut myself some more slack on all the activities I like to be involved in, and give this short phase my best.  There will be other years for all those other things.