I feel like I'm a broken record, so perhaps that is part of why I haven't blogged lately. How many times can I say, "I'm busy," "I'm tired," "I'm stressed," etc. Thankfully I'm not feeling quite as stressed lately. I realize that I need to make choices about what can or cannot get done in my life right now. And more importantly I need to refocus my attitude/expectations about this stage of my life with two little ones.
All of the cliches that people say about the time flying and the kids growing so fast are true. I have certain things that need to get done each day/week, but I want my priority to be the time with my kids. They are such a precious gift and I want to enjoy them and soak up these moments. Only God knows if we will have more children and I am so grateful for these two blessings.
I have been praying for some families who are going through difficult times with their young children, and that helps me appreciate even more the precious gift of life. As I have mentioned, baby Riley is still going through a long, slow recovery. She (and her twin brother) will turn one in just a few days. Please pray that her family is given the strength they need to help her recover.
I recently learned about a high school friend who's baby had been very sick since birth. He passed away at just 9 months old. It was her first child and I cannot even imagine going through something like that. We haven't kept in touch for many years, but I still sent her a Mass card. I simply can't imagine the grief.
Another family I know will have the funeral for their son tomorrow. He was just 14 months old and suffered from SMA. His amazing family lovingly cared for him knowing that his life expectancy was uncertain. They used this blog to write letters to him and have touched so many lives. I'm sorry for all the sad news in this post, but it has definitely helped me keep perspective.
So what else is going on around here?? Obviously it's Lent. My Lenten goals this year are rather small and simple, but I figured that was all I could actually accomplish. Both kids wake-up times have been unpredictable, but I'm really trying to have at least a little prayer time in the morning. I'm happy if I can get through the daily readings and the Magnificat reflection. I'm also praying the Memorare daily for my friend J in my women's prayer group who is taking her grad school comps next month. And I have a couple of simple fasts and acts of charity as part of my Lenten offering.
It's my busy time of year because of the play I direct at school. This year we are doing Annie, Jr and I'm really excited because I love that show. We are in the middle of auditions and hopefully the cast will fall into place. It's one of the hardest parts of being the director, especially since we cast all 60 students in 7th and 8th grade.
Both Tommy and Molly continue to grow and change. We decided on a preschool for Tommy to attend in the fall. I'm so excited that I had hold myself back from immediately buying him a backpack and lunchbox. :) He will go two mornings a week and I know it will be good for him. We have not officially started potty training, but it just sorta happened that he started pooping in his little potty last week. It's adorable how proud he is of himself. I guess he's ready!
Molly is now 6 months old. She is such a happy sweet girl. And she's a big girl! I can't wait to see her stats at her upcoming doctor appointment. She's currently wearing 9-12 months clothes. :)
We are making some progress with her physical therapy, but she still has some work to do. Thankfully her torticollis and flat head are seemingly gone. But she still has not yet rolled over. It's hard to know if it's related to her other issues or if it's because she didn't get enough tummy time early on. Her neck/back muscles have gotten stronger, but for some reason she doesn't push up on her arms. Hopefully she will continue to get stronger and make progress.
Molly has been a great sleeper, for the most part. She loves to be swaddled and we have been laying her down awake since about 4 months old. Usually she will fall asleep quickly/easily as long as we have timed it right. :) Recently though she has been getting out of the swaddle and wakes herself up in the middle of the night. Those of you that swaddle your kids... how long did you swaddle? And did you have to do sleep-training (cry-it-out) to transition out of it? I have the worst memory and can't remember when we stopped swaddling Tommy. I think it was probably around 5-6 months. Thanks for any advice!
I'm coming out of the woodwork here, but I just wanted to let you know that my youngest is 14 months and still has to be swaddled to fall asleep :) If that is what helps her to fall asleep easily, I say go for it; they'll outgrow it eventually. There is a really wonderful product called a Woombie that we used for several months. It's a long tube with a zipper that keeps them swaddled all night long. I can't recommend it enough.
ReplyDeleteI know the family that your mentioned - with the boy who just passed away with SMA. Unfortunately, I can't make it to the funeral. So sad.
ReplyDeleteWe only swaddled C for a few months.... I tried the cry it out method and it didn't work very well. He naps in our bed now and sleeps through the night in his crib. Sorry I can't be of help here!
Awesome photos of your little sweeties!! :)
So sad about those families going through tough times. It brings me back into perspective in my life. Things have been rough here, but NOT bad compared to what these families are enduring.
ReplyDeleteAs far as swaddling. We cut it cold turkey at 6 months. Both our kids has a hard time at first. Bella learned to sleep without it after 2-3 days and did great. Isaiah has many underlying issues that affect his sleep, so I don't think swaddling or unswaddling really mattered much. He didn't really sleep anyway. In fact, not until 13 months did he sleep through the night. We could not use cry it out with him because of his Sensory Processing Disorder. He eventually just started sleeping through the night (miracle I think).
Hopefully Molly will catch up on the rolling. She is only 6 months so not too big of a deal yet. Isaiah didn't roll until almost 7 months (I think). He is so far behind, but his weekly therapy is helping so much. I am sure Molly's PT is the best thing for her right now. Early intervention is amazing!
Love the photos of the kids! SO cute!!
She is precious...love her dress. We stopped the swaddle at 4months. It was June and just too hot. It took him about 2 weeks to adjust...yes, we let him CIO and in no time, he was used to it. Good Luck.
ReplyDeleteO my goodness Miss Molly is darling!
ReplyDeleteGlad to read a post from you... I am sure you are super busy.
My sister's youngest had both plagiocephaly and torticollis.
She had a lot of PT and ended up wearing a helmet for a while. It was all worth it and she has a perfect head now and no problems remaining from it. It sounds like you are getting Molly all the right help. I bet she will roll over any day now.
I swaddled my kids until they could get out of it on their own... and then maybe a little bit longer.... but usually around 6 months I think.
At 6 months of age we sleep trained them using the CIO method described in "Healthy Sleep, Happy Child". (Which is not like a crazy, screaming CIO method. I found it to be pretty mild.) It worked like a charm and they each slept through the night at 6 months old. Jack did have to be re-sleep trained periodically b/c of his reflux causing sleep issues but it was nothing too difficult.
Have a great weekend!
ADORABLE photos!!!
ReplyDeleteMy nephew didn't start crawling til 11 months (Luke crawled at 7 months) and I know my nephew was a late roller-over. He was just a content baby. You might mention it to the PT, but I wouldn't be too worried.
Good luck with the play!!!
We swaddled Jackson for the first couple of months but he managed to get his arms out every time! We laughed about it, but he really liked to have his arms free. We stopped swaddling him soon after that. There are times when we put Jackson down and he goes right to sleep, and there are other times when he cries for a few minutes and then drifts off. A couple times he woke up in the middle of the night and it took almost 20 minutes of crying before he went back to sleep. If we pick him up, it takes longer for him to get back to sleep, so we found letting him cry works best.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about needing to get things done and wanting to soak everything in. I think we are too hard on ourselves sometimes (I'm saying that more for me right now, lol). I'd like to think that at the end of our lives we'd be happier knowing we snuggled a little bit more, sat on the couch and gazed at our children and left the floors crumb covered.
ReplyDeleteLOVE the pic of M in the Valentine's onesie!
Isaac didn't roll until after he started crawling (at 8 1/2 months)! He did it once or twice at 3 or 4 months, but just didn't seem to have any interest in trying it again. He was on target with everything else and his doctor wasn't worried, so I didn't worry.
ReplyDeleteWe stopped swaddling Isaac at 9 months, because it didn't seem to be helping him sleep through the night, although it did calm him overall. He still falls asleep with his arms tucked down at his sides, though :)