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October 2011
October 6, 2011
It seems impossible to update you on everything that's happened since my last post. Suffice it to say, it's been an incredibly busy - and often difficult - time. At the drop of a hat, I flew out of state to see my brother, who had an acute form of leukemia, and was at his bedside while he died. I was gone for a week. My mother in law, thankfully, took both kids for that week. Anastasia was fine, but Zane had never been away from me for more than a few hours. He did okay, but when I returned home, he was clingy and cried if I even left the room.
Almost immediately upon my return, Anastasia started school. She is repeating kindergarten at the charter school (which I call "assisted home schooling," since most of the schoolwork is done at home) in our town. Her testing was fine at the end of last year, but working with her was a nightmare. I started this year with her by saying, "If you argue with me constantly and make everyone's life around you miserable while you do school work, we will take you out of this school." This, combined with added maturity, has - so far - made this school year far more pleasant. I think she's finally just ready to go to school.
We've also had to put a new roof on our house, have had two broken down vehicles, and I've been canning up a storm. Whew! Now it's nearly Zane's birthday. It's so hard to believe he's almost 3.
Anastasia is still struggling with sleep. She's now on Clonodine, which is used primarily as a blood pressure medication, but is also used for a wide variety of other problems. It sounds scary; I know. But the doctor assures me they've been using this drug for children for quite some time. We started her with just a quarter of a pill, but now she's on 1/2 a pill. It works better than taking nothing, but unfortunately not as good as the herbs that worked so well for her earlier in the year. Although Anastasia's body got used to those herbs and they stopped working, I still have hope that a few months down the line we can try them again and they will work.
Zane has proven he is capable of being potty trained. For example, when he was staying with his grandma, he held his poop for days because he didn't want anyone but mama changing his diaper. But he is very resistant. He will now sit on a potty seat with his clothes on, at least. I keep telling him that he must use the potty after he turns 3 - that this is the rule. But he keeps telling me, "No, no, not me!"
One positive from his visit with Grandma is that he's talking much more. In fact, he went from speaking a few words to us here and there to speaking 6 word sentences on a regular basis!
The girl loves cheese.
Enjoying the last of summer's berries.
Tid-Bits:
* Miss A. to me (talking about birds): "If
they aren't married, how can they have a baby?"
* Miss A., as she tried to teach Zane colors: "I'm homeschooling
Zane."
* Miss A. now has two girls that come to play at our house; they live
just down the street. The youngest is not quite 5 - and Zane has a huge
crush on her. She thinks he's cute (as in, "he's a cute baby") and says
so, which makes Zane blush like crazy. He also rushes to help her with
everything. Too cute, indeed.
* When Anastasia and Zane stayed at Grandma and
Grandpa's, Anastasia played little mother. (Actually, she does that a
lot at home, too.) She insisted on putting him to bed, but needed some
of Grandma's help because "I can't lift him up into bed!"
* Little Zane likes order. He is frequently found sorting his toys into
categories and putting them in neat lines. So it was no surprise when he
looked at the kitchen floor the other day and said, "The floor is
yucky!"
Left: Zane wet from playing in a mud puddle. Right: Anastasia's first day of school.
October 17, 2011
Today my little boy turns 3.
We chose a heavy equipment theme for his birthday, and for the first time, he was delighted with it all. I don't think it's incorrect to say he hated his first birthday. And he wasn't too sure about his second birthday, either. But this year, he was really excited. He dictated some of how he wanted the house decorated, thrilled while I blew up balloons, and screamed a little when I brought out the dump truck pinata. He liked his cake - although he hasn't eaten any of the cake itself. He recognized the wheels as donuts and ate 3 1/2 of the 4. And watching him open presents was a blast. He dug right in and ripped up the wrapping paper (or, once, stuck his whole head into a gift bag to retrieve the gift at the bottom) and squealed with delight at every toy. He was less enthusiastic about the clothes - although he really loved his new rain boots.
He very cheerfully gave every gift giver a hug and a thank you, too.
Later in the day, showing off his quirky sense of humor, I said, "Hello, birthday boy!" And he replied, "I not birthday boy. I cowboy!"
He is finally starting to like the idea of being big. A few days ago, his Daddy said something about "the little people" and Zane replied, "I big!" However, Zane still won't admit he's 3. I'm quite certain this is because we've told him that when he's 3, he must use the potty.
This morning, I sat him on the potty with him kicking and screaming. Zane does not like change.
Anastasia made us proud at her brother's party, too. She tried to be her brother's helper, and only wistfully held on to one of his toys (some art supplies) for a few moments.
And all this brings me to an announcement: This is my last post on this website. As regular readers know, I've found it difficult to keep up with posts since Zane's birth and - even more so - since Anastasia began kindergarten. The time has come to stop posting. HOWEVER, I will keep this website up and running. I know many people who love preemies continue to discover this site and find hope and useful information here. I even want to find time to polish up the site - for example, to make the site easier to navigate, and perhaps add some more information on certain topics like sleep.
But it seems fitting to end posting now. I began this blog as a hopeful, first time mommy. And now I end it as the mommy of two beautiful children who provide us with so much hope for the future. Thank you for following us along this amazing journey.
October 20, 2011
After 6 years of updates - often made while sleep deprived or stressed - it was time to give this website an overhaul. Since some immediate changes were needed, I've posted many of the most popular pages today; the rest of the pages will come over the next month or two.
I hope you enjoy the new format and find it easier to read and navigate. If you do run across glitches or typos, I encourage you to email me. I appreciate all comments!