Closing out January.

I can't believe January is almost over.  This is a long, probably boring post, that I wanted to write so that I would know what happened this month.  I forget where my car keys are on an hourly basis, there's no way I'd remember what my kids were doing in one month!

This month has been busy.  Things are changing a lot around here, and although I'm not quite sure what direction we're all headed in, I'm starting to see more of the picture and feeling a little more together.  Some days though, I still feel like I'm completely lost in unmapped territory.  

I started selling cloth diapers in my Etsy shop this month.  I love the diapers, and those that have bought them seem to like them too.  I'm starting to stress about it though...I need to just love what I do and not do it for other reasons, and sometimes that's hard.  I'm hoping to keep selling them, but I'll see how they do for the next few months. 

On Monday, Small Fry turns three years old.  He's definitely the troublemaker of the bunch.  He knows it too.  But he has the biggest heart, and when he stops for a second (and it's only a second), he'll give you the biggest kiss or hug and tell you that he loves you.  Then he's off again, like a hummingbird stopping to sip nectar, Small Fry never stops flapping his wings. 

We took the Light Rail downtown on MLK day to see hubby at his restaurant.  I was a little nervous to travel the entire length of the Light Rail with just me and the three kids, but they did surprisingly well.  (Small Fry was VERY excited, and even sat the whole time).  I wore Split Pea in the Ergo, and even nursed him on the way there.  The Monkey played with my camera (which was nerve wracking), and took this picture of me wearing Split Pea:

Split Pea is growing well (finally).  He outgrew the weight of our kitchen scale, so I know he's more than 11 lbs, just not sure how much more.  At his 4 month check-up (on January 7th), he weighed 10 lbs. 13 oz.  Tiny, but at least he'd grown.  And both the endocrinologist and pediatrician were very pleased with his progress.  We've upped his growth hormone dose, and kept his hydrocortisone dose the same.  We'll recheck his levels in March, right before we see the endocrinologist again.  For now, his thyroid is high (in a good range, not too high!), and he may even be producing a little of his own testosterone. 

He loves being on his tummy, can roll from tummy to back, but not the other way.  He has started grabbing toys, and loves to chew on his hands.  Not a big fan of the binky, but uses it to fall asleep.  Spends lots of time in the jumparoo watching the craziness around him.  We started him on solids (sort of) a few days ago, and it was successful in that he ate it.  I'm in no big hurry though, so he's had some oatmeal and a little bit of pears and a little bit of sweet potatoes.  

The one thing Split Pea is NOT good at is sleeping.  He's slept in 3-hour spurts (at the most) every night since he was born.  He likes to eat, and wakes up ravenous.  We had slowly started to move him out of our room, or at least just out of our bed, hoping to improve his sleeping habits.  He slept okay in the bassinet in our room, but still did better with complete silence.  So a few days ago, I started having him nap in the crib.  He did well with that, and so I started having him sleep in his own crib.  The first night was a bust, he woke up every three hours, then wouldn't go back to sleep.  But last night, something happened and he slept from 9pm to 5:30 am!!!  He even stayed asleep when I slipped in (way late) to give him his midnight meds. 

We'll see how tonight goes.  I'm hoping for more of the same, but I say it's a fluke until it happens three times in a row. 

As for the Monkey, he's started to grow quite an attitude.  He is so smart, kind, loving and thoughtful, but boy oh boy, he has one big sense of entitlement.  Part of it I feel incredibly guilty for, as I have a horrible shopping habit, and I'm afraid my excitement over new stuff has really rubbed off on him.  But I'm working hard to change it in both of us and learn to appreciate what we have so I can teach that value to him.

We found out last week that he's been accepted into our district magnet school for kindergarten next year.  This is what we had absolutely hoped for and all of us are really excited.  I know it means I'm going to have to be really involved in school, and that scares me a lot.  I get really intimidated being around other parents who aren't my friends, but classmates of the boys.  I just feel small and not worthy, and afraid I'll embarrass myself around people I don't know.  But that's my own issue (a big one I've carried around for years), and going to a school where parent involvement is a big deal will definitely challenge my social phobias, hopefully resulting in a positive change. 

That's about it here in our house.  I tried to get a picture of the boys wearing their new superhero shirts (Small Fry picked them out for everyone...the Monkey's is also a Batman shirt), but this was as good as it got.  Three kids under 5 are hard to photograph.  Now I get why you pay a professional.