This month I want to celebrate new beginnings.
I don't know if it was the influx of toys from Christmas, or spending a week at Charlie's brother's impeccably clean house, or my semi-annual urge to purge, but we spent New Year's Day and several days since, doing a massive overhaul on our house. We did a lot of reorganizing, not to mention brought an entire van load of things to Goodwill, and gave away a closetful of baby things to some friends who are expecting their first this Spring. We're far from done, but still have some motivation so hopefully we'll get to the rest of the closets sometime soon! And when it comes to upkeep, we're doing our best to follow my grandfather's advice - don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today. Isn't that everyone's grandfather's advice? It feels good to de-clutter some, and I like starting the new year off being able to breathe a little easier!
Charlie and I celebrated our eleventh, that's right eleventh anniversary this month! We had our neighbor come over to watch our sleeping babes and we hit up the casino with a little Christmas cash! We had such a good time, and it was the best gift ever to be able to spend a night out and not ever think twice about having fun with each other. We hadn't been on a date since the night before Abby was born, so this was long overdue, and I'm excited that now that the kiddos are both sleeping well at night, this might become a regular thing for us!
Probably the biggest "new beginning" for us though is that since Abby dropped her morning nap we've been able to add some new events to our weekly routine. On Mondays, we drive to the bigger library in Norman for the story time there. There's lots of fun group toys to play with, and the librarians are so dynamic! Because of all the kids there, it's really difficult for Bruce to sit still, but we're trying our best! On Tuesdays, we still are attending the story time at the little library in Noble and that's been great for Bruce. The same four or five kids come every week, so we're starting to get comfortable. On Wednesdays, we've started going to an Oklahoma Parents As Teachers (OPAT) play group time at the Education Building just down the street from our house. It's a pretty small and simple program, but it's good for us to get out of the house for a bit and have Bruce interact with other kids his age. On Thursdays we brave Walmart. And that's all I have to say about that. Then on Fridays, we go to a prayer meeting at our church's office building. Bruce enjoys playing with the other kids there, and Abby is trying really hard to be courageous while I leave her in the childcare room for the hour. We've had one successful week where I haven't had to retrieve her - that's progress, right?
 |
| sitting in the front row usually helps! |
Abby is doing pretty well with adjusting to one nap, but she's still really tired in the mornings and often takes a mini-snooze in the car. The best part of it all, is that she's sleeping for two hours in the afternoon! Hallelujah! Now if she could just start sleeping in past 5:30 in the mornings...
While we're on the topic of sleep, we've entered new territory with Bruce, too. We're still having Bruce attempt a nap every day, but there are many days when he just rests* in his bed for an hour. It's disappointing, as I love the down time, but I guess all good things must come to an end eventually. The bigger news though, is that after spending a year and a half in the pack n play, Bruce is officially sleeping in his big boy bed! Towards the beginning of the month for some reason Bruce decided to start climbing out of his pack n play and come out running and giggling into the living room over and over again. After a few days of that, we started an incentive program with him, where if he stayed in his bed he would earn a sticker, and after five stickers we'd get a toy at the dollar store. I didn't expect it to go so well, but we went ten straight days where he didn't get out of his bed once, either at nap time or bedtime. It was awesome! It was then that we decided to make the push for the real bed. We wanted it to be on his terms, but we strongly encouraged** him to let us put the pack n play away. It's been a few weeks, and he's done such a great job with it! There have been maybe three or four times when he hasn't stayed in bed, but it's been so great - I can't complain!
*by "rest" I mean that he flip flops around in his bed, stands on his head with his legs crawling up the walls, sneaks books off his shelf, buries himself under pillows, sings loudly, and does any variety of activities... in the dark, by himself.
**by "strongly encouraged" I of course mean that we bribed him. Big time. With this Craig's List steal of a deal:
The sleep chart was working so well that we decided to start another sticker chart with Bruce to begin paying him for chores. He's not super enthusiastic all the time, but he earns a nickel every time he helps out with things like feeding the animals, clearing off dishes from the table, helping with switching laundry loads, etc. It's been a fun way to try to start teaching him about earning, saving and spending money, and after a month of saving he was able to buy a little tin spyglass!
Some other new beginnings around our house involve the way our kiddos play these days.
I don't know if it's coincidental or not, but ever since we came back from Louisiana, Bruce has been enjoying spending time playing by himself in his room. Most of the time, Bruce likes to have an adult interact with him while he's playing, so this has been a nice shift. He's also starting playing more with figurines, especially Playmobil characters, and I love listening to him talk out loud with them while he plays by himself.
There have been several fun changes in the way Abby plays, too. She's much more purposeful with her toys and it's so entertaining to watch her in action. She loves her little stroller and gives Lovies rides all over the house, making sure they're situated just right before taking off down the hallway. She likes to attempt to dress (or undress, mainly) her babies (or the cats), and wash them with towels (or socks), and she concentrates really hard trying to figure out the "right" way to play with different toys. She would love to play pirates with Bruce all day, but that can get complicated. We're working on sibling harmony. She's incredibly independent, and often times let's you know with assertive grunts that she does not need you to help her play. She still loves to sit in laps, but on her terms. The game we're enjoying most lately is "monster chase" - she'll put a little finger puppet monster on her finger and squeal as she chases you around the house. Sometimes it's with a snake. She's getting even more proficient at climbing, if that's even possible, and has started trying to run a little bit, which is adorable. She loves being outside, any chance she can get, and is super helpful at finding everyone's shoes and bringing them to the right person when she thinks it's time to head out. She isn't saying any words yet, but it's obvious she's understanding language and will follow just about any verbal command you give her. Or defiantly do the exact opposite, depending on her mood...
 |
| Abby's really into everything needing a hat these days, too... |
 |
| helping Bruce get his socks on |
Oh, and we have a family cheer now. Sort of. I tell people all the time that they're "the best" and I guess Bruce caught on to that. One day at lunch he looked over at me and said, "Mama, you're the best!" So I said, "No, you're the best!" He caught on quickly to the game and we bantered back and forth a couple of times before I finally caved and said, "Okay, I'm the best." Then continued with, "I'm the best mama, and you're the best boy, and together we make the best team!" Bruce got such a kick out of that that he initiates it all the time now, and we include all the family members that are present. Super corny, but it's fun.
Other Highlights from the month:
Our friends, the French Family, stayed a night with us on their way home from holiday travels! A tradition now four Christmas' old, we enjoyed seeing Dan, Leslie, Liam and their new addition - Baby Rhys!
After living in this town for nearly eleven years, we finally found our way down to the river. The weather has been so back and forth this month, but on one not-so-cold afternoon we took a stroll down along the Canadian. We may have trespassed on some land to get there, but we enjoyed ourselves without incident.
Abby cut SIX teeth all at the same time this month. Wowza, that was rough. I shouldn't complain though because in a weaker moment I actually think I might have prayed for this to happen. Only eight more to go!
 |
| sometimes when new teeth are coming in, everyone needs a little ice cream... |
 |
| and donuts... |
 |
| and brownies... |
 |
| ... to survive |
We had a fun snow day! There wasn't much snow, but it was the right kind for a snowman - or in our house, a snow pirate! Who then later turned into a furry snow beast as the snow melted away.
Despite the snow, we did have some really nice days, too! And we enjoyed every bit of outdoor time that we could!
 |
| "When I pull on this lever Mama, you will fall down a giant trapdoor!" |
 |
| hide and seek |
 |
| a whole new meaning to "garden tea party" - their idea! |
And when it was too cold to play outside, I attempted to orchestrate some projects with both kids. Usually a disaster, but eventually this will get easier, right?
Or found other indoor activities!
 |
| Natural History Museum |
 |
| Home Depot Kids Craft day |
Abby's been enjoying blasting music on the radio lately, so we've tried to make space for some family dance parties, too! Here's our current favorite song to jump around to - numa numa cats - I highly recommending you listening to it!
 |
| *not Bruce's actual xray... but his did look similar... |
If you know Bruce, you know that he loves tiny things. And that he collects "treasures." Which means usually, his treasures are tiny. And yes, sometimes his tiny treasures could potentially be dangerous, but we've always felt confident that whatever Bruce plays with, he plays safely with. BUT accidents do happen, right? Right. And one such accident happened this week...
 |
| height and weight |
Bruce was playing with a small nail, and... it was in his mouth... and... oops... he accidentally swallowed it. Even though I didn't know what was going on at the time, I was right there when it happened, and thankfully he was willing to communicate to me what had happened! We rushed to the ER, got an x-ray, and then were sent to the specialty children's hospital in Oklahoma City. We were so fortunate that Charlie was in town and able to meet me at the hospital, and that a neighbor was able to stay at our house after I put Abby down for the night, and that I made it back up to the City right before they had to put the IV in for Bruce, and that Charlie was able to take some time off from work the next day without too much stress, and that Charlie's mom was available to come down and be an extra set of hands - we felt a lot of God's favor in all of the details.
 |
| initial vitals check |
 |
| waiting for our room |
The nail had already made it to his stomach, so an easy removal was not an option. The doctors decided to have Bruce admitted to monitor him overnight, and scheduled a repeat x-ray for the morning. I stayed with Bruce, and after a restless night being tangled up together in monitor wires and IV tubes, and hourly vitals checks and belly poking, morning came quickly. After the x-ray, and some waiting, they brought us down to the surgery holding room. No one was really forthcoming with details, and all I knew was the surgical procedure had been scheduled. We waited for over an hour, and then the doctor came out to tell us that after reviewing the x-ray, they determined the nail had entered into his intestinal tract, and so the best course of action was to let it pass "naturally." No surgery!
 |
| hanging out in surgery holding room |
 |
| coming back from the surgery holding room |
 |
| waiting to be discharged |
 |
| still waiting... |
 |
| coming home |
And what a month!
No comments:
Post a Comment