Motherhood: The Musical

Motherhood can be so clever sometimes. I have come up with some a number of songs to help [successfully] divert stressful situations with both of my children. I thought it might be a good idea to share them, lest I forget them!

The Night-Night Song. I came up with this when Elijah was less than a year old. Using the word "difficult" is an understatement in what it took to get him to sleep. He nursed, and then he had to be tightly swaddled, rocked, bounced, sung to, etc... before he would sleep. I got pretty bored with all the lullaby's I knew off hand, so I started making stuff up.

(Sung to the chorus of "This Land is Your Land")

It's time to go night-night

And go to sleep

And rest your eyes

And have sweet dreams

And when you wake up

I will be right here

It's time to go night-night

Elijah's Marching Band. Elijah found a mini-flag I had from high school when I was in Color Guard. When I explained it was for marching in a band, he wanted to do it. While marching around the house, he wanted a song.This isn't sung to any particular song, I don't think.

It's Elijah's marching band

With this big colorful flag

We go march! march! march!

And stomp! stomp! stomp!

All through the house

It's Elijah's marching band

With his big color flag

We go march! march! march!

And stomp! stomp! stomp!

It's Eliiiijah's Maaarrching Baaaaaand

YAH YAH YAH

A song that I've sang to Emily since she was a newborn is simply just her name over and over again. I don't know the name of the tune, or if it even has one. But I repeat her name and then spell it at the end. It gets her to stop crying every time and she knows her name now! I also have a similar song for Elijah. It's more of a chant, really. I just spell his name to a specific rhythm. It's been a lot of fun because he's already learning how to spell his name. The last little song I have is repeating "Thank you, you're welcome" to another tune I've heard somewhere before I think. This has been helpful in getting Elijah more familiar with manners. He can be extremely polite.

That's all I can think of at this time, though I am sure there are more.

In other news, I've been looking at preschools for Elijah! I call it play school to Elijah, because that's what Caillou, his favorite cartoon, calls preschool. I really want him to attend a Montessori preschool. They're a little more expensive but I find comfort at the thought of him being taught in an environment by someone who is educated and qualified; not inexperienced and babysitting for the 3.5 hours he's there. The entire family went out today, dropped off some of Elijah's clothes that are too small at a consignment shop, and then found Elijah a backpack! It's a Toy Story backpack, go figure. Without having television as an influence, or before even knowing what Toy Story was, this little boy fell in love with Buzz Lightyear. The only television I let Elijah watch is the Sprout channel, and Nick Jr. Both of those channels do not show commercials, except for Sprout, which only shows commercials about insurance, cleaning supplies, and Your Baby Can Read! Guess it just goes to show that boys will be boys. And Elijah is so good at being a boy!

So the other day Elijah is getting frustrated because he can't get his underwear back on after going potty. He's slamming them on the floor and says, "Come on, god dammit!" I froze and stared at him. "Elijah just said his first swear word" I thought to myself. Great. Now what? I bend down and get eye level with him and explain to him that what he just said is called a Bad Word. We're not allowed to say bad words, I don't like bad words, and I don't want him to say bad words. Then of course I have to remind the rest of the house, no swearing, please. Other advancements in vocabulary include using the word "I" instead of "me". So now he says, "I want" rather than, "Me want".

Emily is six months old now! Sheesh, when did that even happen? This girl has a seriously vibrant personally. She's incredibly chatty, playful, and ticklish. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before, but I can totally get her hair into a pony tail now. Time to go buy some adorable bows! That's Daddy's headset she has her hand. She's amazing with her hands. She can pass objects from hand to the next, pick up and put her nuk in her mouth, and finger at objects with her index finger and thumb. I just know she'll be crawling before too long. When sitting up she can lung forward, almost to her knees, but not quite yet. Still no teeth, but they'll be here any day! Emily's hair still sticks up, but it's starting to fall to one side. I'll miss those days of hair standing straight on top of her head!

Lavender, Raspberries, and Blueberries, Oh My!

It has been absolutely beautiful since July rolled around. A few typical Washington overcast days here and there, but mostly nice enough to spend a few hours outside each day. My Mom's yard is full of adventures; it's huge with multiple mature fruit trees and bushes. I've started making homemade soap and plan on using lavender buds in my recipes. With lavender being bountiful and plenty in my Mom's yard, I've been able to cut and dry my own! Elijah joined me in the yard when it was ready for the picking and looks at the "lam-en-er" with me.

Emily in tow, we then venture around the yard and check on all of the different foods growing. We planted cucumbers, beans, and lettuce two or three weeks ago and they're finally starting to sprout. The gardeners didn't seem to notice the markers in the dirt and trampled through the cucumbers and beans. Unfortunately the cucumbers didn't make it, but there were enough beans that we will still have three or four plants growing. After checking on our veggies we continue walking down to the raspberries (then the yellow plums, salmon berries, blue berries, apples, and another bush growing fruit though I'm not sure what it is). Oh the raspberries. Numerous raspberry bushes! We've gone on quite a few picking excursions already and every couple of days I go down to collect more. My Grandma and I made a batch of raspberry jam and I have been freezing the berries that I do collect to save for later. The sun has felt so nice during the days that I just want to be out there picking... well, almost. It'd be nice if the spiders took a mini vacation while I went picking. I know that gardening is something I want to do and the more I'm out there the easier it'll get being around bugs and spiders, but for now, preemptive slapping fits are in order.

On top of becoming more and more like an independent toddler, Elijah is acting out more from the emotional adjustment of having Daddy home. It's nothing too horrendous, but it is even more challenging to stay calm. He whines just about every time he opens his mouth, mouths off, is bossy and demanding. When he does something that warrants disciplinary action, a scream and waving hand usually compete with my telling him why he can't do what he's doing. This little tantrum in the picture is because the granola bar he was eating broke in half.

With Emily getting more alert and requiring more attention in different ways, and Josh being home and also taking more of my attention, it's understandable that Elijah is having these emotional outbursts for attention.

Yesterday we went to the store to get some fun summer time toys. Among those toys included a golf set, horse shoes, and gardening/beach shovels. Josh also bought a pool a few days ago when it was in the 90s outside. Never mind if the water is freezing, Elijah loves this thing. I'm glad it's been so nice outside because I want to be able to make fun things happen for Elijah; let him around and do boy things. I want to participate fully with him but it's not so easy with a 16 pound ham in one arm.

Speaking of Emily, she is five months old now, sitting up by herself, and getting more verbal! She looks me right in the eye and says with deliberation, "Mmmah mah mah mmbah". She can roll over both directions, reach for objects, pick up objects, pass objects to each hand, and of course, put them in her mouth as a reward for the fruits of her labor. She's such a momma's girl, too. If she cries while someone else is holding her, she looks at me when she is crying. She will spot me out in the room even if I don't say anything and will initiate eye contact with me. Smiling and laughing happen many times during the day and she thinks Elijah is the funniest thing ever. Even when he is doing something not so nice, like pushing his face into hers when she's trying to sit up, she will laugh when I pull him away and he starts shrieking in protest. Perhaps it's a taunting laugh.

My Chunky Monkey

I'm starting to look at preschools for Elijah now. With him 95% potty trained (working on staying dry at night), I feel that he is ready for the atmosphere preschool provides. He will be three years old in October (gosh, already?), so it is about that time! I told him he would be going to preschool soon and he asked me if would be able to ride the school bus. Nearly made me cry! He's growing up too fast. One night a few weeks ago I was holding up and rocking him we had this small exchange:

Elijah: Momma?

Me: Yes, Elijah?

Elijah: You love me?

Me: I love you more than anything, Elijah.

Elijah: That's good, Mommy.

He really is talking so much more now. His sentences are structured with more grammatical consistency as well. He comes up with the silliest things to say. I'll have to start writing them down!

Success!

Elijah has been peeing and pooping in the potty for roughly a week now! And he's going on his FIFTH night with out a cloth diaper!!! AND he has been sleeping in his own bed!!!!!

enter copious amounts of confetti, trumpet sounds, balloons, applause, cheering, and those little string pull-em-pop-it-thingees here>

When I ran out of disposable diapers last, I decided I was done buying them and if that meant him having to pee and poop in his underwear, so be it. Thankfully that hasn't happened too much. His first night without any diaper at all, was his idea. He made it through that first night completely dry! He actually had an accident last night, but it was the first one. I'm so completely proud of him. He has started stirring a few times and when he does I usually wake up (our beds are in the same room) and gently let him know it's time go potty. We're getting into the habit enough now where he doesn't protest and plops down, swaying sleepily with his eyes rolling back while he pees in his potty next to his bed. I get his pants up and put him back in bed without him hardly noticing. I have to be on constant alert, though, because he isn't quite to the point where he will tell me he has to go pee; he will just go if I'm not putting him on a potty every hour or so. With poop, he's great at telling me. I'm glad for that.

At least the floor is clean, right?

In other non-poop related news, Emily is trying her hardest to sit up whenever possible and is just thrilled whenever she is sitting up. Propping her up with pillows doesn't tickle her fancy usually; she has to be sitting while holding someone's hands so she can get a nice good glimpse of what is around her. Isn't her hair hilarious? Evidently mine used to do the same thing. I sent this picture to my Mom and when she showed it to someone they asked if I had rubbed a balloon on Emily's head to make her hair stand up like that. In case you're wondering, I did not do that. Her hair is just so feathery and fine that it simply won't lay against her head unless it is wet. Gosh, she is just so bright eyed and alert. She has to be facing outward when she's being held lest she miss something of visual interest. There is a big light fixture above the dining table that she will stare at for as long as anyone will hold her in front of it. And let's not forget her beloved cow that hangs in her car seat. She'll talk, smile, and laugh at the thing if she's content in her car seat.

Tomorrow we are going to an International Festival in the city. I know Elijah will have a great time because there will be so much directed at his age group for him to enjoy. Pictures to follow!

How Come?

A few weeks ago Elijah and I were having some lunch when I noticed an eyelash on his face. I told him to hold still while I carefully removed the eyelash and held it on my finger tip for him to see. "Think about Daddy" I told him; he paused for a moment and then smiled. "Now blow the eyelash off my finger!" He did so audibly by puffing out his cheeks and blowing out a huge rush of air with a few strings of spit. Elijah was very delighted upon the realization that he could "wish" on eyelashes and wanted to do it again. The next time an eyelash was discovered, it accidently fell from his finger and he became very upset. He quickly remedied this dilemma by picking his nose and wishing upon a booger. So now whenever there is an eyelash or a booger in question, he gets very quiet and whispers that he is thinking about Daddy before blowing it off his finger. Not that boogers come off of fingers easily, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Elijah has begun asking "Why", only he says "How come?" instead. I always knew that kids enjoyed playing the
Why Game, but now I realize that, for now, Elijah doesn't really expect an intelligent answer most of the time. Sometimes I know that he is actually interested in why he shouldn't do something, but other times I know he is just trying to get some wiggle room in which he can change my mind on the subject so he can get his way. Now the answer "Because I said so!" has quite a bit more meaning for me. I don't say that to him... yet. In other news, the potty strike rages on. Occasionally the potty has the privilege of experiencing Elijah's bodily functions, but not nearly as often as I'd like. Aren't those olive hands impressive? I didn't even tell him to do that; I think it's just part of being a child to put olives on the ends of fingers. Better than sticking his fingers in cat poop. Which he did do. He was digging around in the yard and unfortunately discovered some buried "treasure". This resulted in me telling him to extend his arm out in front of him as we marched inside to the nearest sink.

Speaking of treasure, Elijah had his first experience in a candy store.

His mouth was hanging open half the time as he hesitantly opened each plastic lid with thumb and forefinger, peering inside. I could practically hear his thoughts; "So this is where candy comes from. He was in awe of the gigantic suckers, and thankfully settled for one of the smaller 60 cent versions.

There is a small play area for children in the mall. I've always avoided it in the past because it's typically a madhouse. Not just madhouse in the sense that there are too many children there. More like, there are kids in there that are clearly too old to be running around in said area, knocking down the younger kids who are attempting to build confidence in their walking and climbing abilities. I met up with a friend who has a 19 month old daughter and thankfully all the little ones were age appropriate, so Elijah had a nice time warming up at his own pace. He's shy at first and isn't pushy like other younger children. He likes to explore with me with him. I love that.

Emily is pushing 15 pounds and she'll be three months old soon! She's a big 'un, for sure. My little love lump. She's got the biggest thighs and I can't keep my hands off of them. And I can't keep diapers over them. I use 100% unbleached cotton prefold cloth diapers on Emily, and started with size small. (I also use the snap fitted diapers, but as of now they're too small. At $70 for six diapers, I'm going to just wait until she thins out a bit instead of buying a bigger size.) The diapers I use quilts over each time that its dried, so buying a bigger size would result in difficulty with pinning. I had to buy the next size up and decided to buy cloth wipes as well. Why use disposable when I'm already washing cloth diapers anyway? I absolutely love these wipes. They are luxuriously soft to the touch and I look forward to wiping my little Em&Em's tush, no joke. I know that these wipes are gentle on her skin and chemical free. I purchased some bum cleaner and the ingredients are all natural. Guilt-free diapering, people. Do it! If you have kids, that is...

Emily is quite the curious little girl, and always has to be facing the action. I believe she'll be quite the social butterfly. She already is, as a matter of fact. Emily is extremely verbal and is constantly engaging her onlookers in conversation.

Her little noises have worked themselves into various vowel sounds. She works her mouth and tongue in different ways to produce different sounds. It's just adorable and fascinating. She is adorable and fascinating. She just wants to sit up and can even withstand her own weight on her feet. I love watching her wake up. She's just all smiles. It's inspiring, really. Waking up smiling, and ready for all of the experiences? Definitely something to be learned from that.

Nothing Bubbles Can't Fix

I love hearing Elijah say his and Emily's name. It comes out as "Ya-ya" and "Emmy". Elijah is pretty much speaking full sentences now. It's incredible how he went from 2-3 word sentence to 5+ word sentences in just a few short weeks. His personality is developing at full speed now and a sense of humor is working its way out. He loves to be silly, tell jokes (well, more like say things that he thinks are funny, like, "Mommy's mouth smells stinky" and then proceed to crack himself up), dance, and help out with anything and everything. One thing that he likes to help with is to call the cats in. There are three cats that live in my Mom's house; Tigger and Unjuy (pronounced yoon-jee) belong to my Mom, and Loki is mine. A few days ago Elijah was trying to call Unjuy in from outside.

"Yoooo-neeeeee!!"

No Unjuy. I told Elijah that Unjuy was probably upstairs sleeping in Grandma's room. Elijah thinks this over for a minute and then opens the door again and calls out:

"Mouuuse!!:

At this point me and my Grandma are laughing that Elijah was trying to call a mouse to the back door. But, unfortunately, Elijah knows that Unjuy brings mice home, frequently not alive. Elijah was getting frustrated at this point because there was no mouse coming to the door despite his efforts. My Grandma suggested he call for "Mickey". That wasn't such a good idea because Elijah proceeded to holler for Mickey Mouse before getting sad that Mickey Mouse wasn't coming to the door. Bless his heart.

It was nice enough one day last week that Elijah and I were able to go on the back deck to play with bubbles. He loves bubbles. Elijah does get rather aggravated at the lack of bubbles that emerge from his wand in his overly-excited attempts to blow the bubbles, so we bought a bubble machine. (Yes, his shirt is on backwards. Can't argue with a two year old when it comes to getting dressed.)

So with Emily sound asleep in her pack & play, Elijah and I danced, kicked, stomped, and clapped at bubbles. It quickly turned into a game of "I can get more bubbles than you", which was great fun. All I have to do to get Elijah to participate in anything is to compete with him. A simple "it's my turn" with a charge in the appropriate direction is usually enough. All of this being demonstrated brought on bouts of shrieking and laughing from Elijah. I think he knows how to "hi-ya" now after watching me karate chop a few bubbles. He found that amusing.

Emily has started giggling now. There were a few times that I was fairly sure that's what was happening but now I'm positive that's what's happening. I was able to record it on my phone so I do have some sort of documentation of it! Another amazing thing she has started doing is mimicking sounds! Sure, she was copying me when I raised my eyebrows, opened my mouth and stuck out my tongue, but when I (or anyone else) say's, "Hi" she will copy the sound back! Of course a smile, and/or gurgle of some sort will follow, too. Would it be safe to say that her first word was "Hi"?

She has bouts of excitement as well. Her legs get kicking and her arms flail as she takes a few sharp, excited, audible breaths. It's too cute. Emily was super excited over this little toy cow I was holding tonight. She wouldn't take her eyes off of it. Emily has some awesome focusing abilities. No matter which direction I moved this toy, she would follow it. She even knocked it out of my hand once. I know that she's too young to reach out and grab yet, but she certainly looked like she was trying! I love her hair. It's just too light weight to lay on her head, so it stands straight up. My hair did the same thing according to my baby pictures. I think it's pretty silly that both of our kids, as of now, have my hair (which is fine and thin, compared to my Husband's thick hair). Also, I have green eyes while my Husband has brown eyes. Elijah's eyes are starting to turn green (as opposed to the striking blue they were) I think, and Emily's are blue right now.

I can't believe she'll be two months on Sunday! She's such a big girl already. That's a six month outfit she's wearing in that picture. It is a little baggy on her, but not by much. Like I said, big girl. Big and healthy is how I do!

I think the potty strike might be lifted. The past few days Elijah has been using the potty. My Mother-in-law had an idea to give Elijah a "big boy" treat if he pooped in the potty at her house. Well, he did poop in the potty and Grandma Chris busted out some strawberry Pocky. Elijah had never seen nor tasted this before so he truly believes that only Big Boys can have this treat. He tried to share it with me, which was so sweet, but I told him I wasn't a big boy, so I couldn't have it. We have not used another diaper during the day since Sunday. And since he is determined to use the potty every time now, I stuck him back in cloth diapers at night without worrying about him pooping in them.

Elijah and I went to the store to get more big boy treats since the little box Grandma Chris gave to us wasn't going to last long and Elijah saw different flavors of Pocky and other delicious Japanese treats. So not only did we leave the store with more strawberry Pocky, we also had chocolate Pocky and Hello Kitty Strawberry Marshmallows. I didn't want to potty train using treats in the beginning because of the strange association with food as a reward. But I feel that it's different this time because Elijah knows now, compared to when he was first learning to use the potty, what he's doing when he decides to pee/poop in his diaper rather than the potty.

Plus I feel that this is a nice way to acknowledge him in "big boy" behaviors that are coinciding with him being a big brother. It allows me to give him positive reinforcement and attention in his big boy actions rather than giving him the same sort attention I give Emily when I'm changing her diaper. I think this is part of the reason he went on the potty strike in the first place. That and because Daddy had to go back to work.

In any case, way to go, Elijah! Rockin' the big boy status. (Though he'll always be my baby boy...)

Poop in the Potty, Poop goes in the Potty...

I really wish Elijah would go back to using the potty. Some headway has been made over the past week; he used the potty twice today. We pretty much started over with this potty business and as a result he's only interested in using his potty before bedtime. I suppose this is fine so long as he actually is keeping the potty in mind every so often. It's discussed every day that he's a big boy now and therefore needs to put his pee and poo in the potty. I've got my fingers crossed. I know that if he isn't back in underwear in the day time before Daddy comes home, he will be after. Elijah was thrilled to "pee like Dada" and I know he'll be just as enthusiastic after his homecoming.

Elijah, Emily, Great-Grandma, and I went to the preschool open gym on Wednesday. This was our third visit and it never fails to be a fantastic outlet for Elijah's pent up energy. The cold, windy, grey and generally lousy weather has not budged in some time thus preventing any outings... so Elijah (and myself) has been a little stir crazy being inside all the time. And while this place is indoors, there are other kids both younger and older than him running around and enjoying music while jumping on a huge stretch of trampoline, walking the balance beam and other gymnastic activities. Great-Grandma and I took turns watching Emily so Elijah could run wild. Elijah is absolutely fearless when it comes to partaking in these little festivities; he walked the balance beam that was a few feet up in the air! He was hold both my hands, of course, but the fact that he was even interested in it was exciting! When he reached the end he wanted to jump straight off so it's a wonderful thing that I had both of his hands to help him land safely.

Great-Grandma bought a strawberry-banana smoothie with whip cream and offered a sip to Elijah. This ended up being a mistake as after the smoothie was gone, he wouldn't let go of the cup because he wanted more. It was cute, yes, because he kept saying, "More, please" and had a whip cream-stache after finishing off the last drink, but getting him to throw the cup away wasn't fun. At this point the gym was closing up shop, he didn't want to leave, and was ready for a nap. Now I know he loves strawberry-banana smoothies with whip cream. Who doesn't? Well, I don't particularly like drinking them because I can't have dairy--but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy their taste!

Anyway, Elijah got a haircut today. As you can see in the picture, his hair was getting pretty long. Mike, the barber, was doing his best to quickly cut Elijah's hair while Elijah dodged, ducked, turned, and flinched. As a result his bangs are a little shorter than Mike cared for but I'm not bothered because Elijah's hair grows so fast that within a week and a half it won't look nearly as short. It truly is amazing how much older he looks after his hair has been cut. And he looks more like Daddy afterwards as well. We did some grocery shopping as well, with Great-Grandma's help, and purchased Rice Krispie treat fixings. Elijah decided he wanted red treats, but I wasn't sure how much food coloring to put in, so they turned out pink; like, hot pink! Ah well, I suppose they'll just have to be Easter treats! They were delicious! The night was topped off with a much needed bath for Emily, who promptly pooped after the fact, and everyone was in bed at a descent hour (not something that happens too often around here with all the excitement of Grandma's arrival home from work, usually after 6:00pm).

Emily is officially one month old!

It's pretty hard to believe that it has already been a month since I brought another human being into this world. She is such an amazing little girl. This picture was not taken today, it was actually taken on the 17th of February. But seeing as I'm in bed and not near my camera, a more recent photo just isn't going to make an appearance tonight. Nonetheless, it's an adorable picture. She loves to sleep on her belly, and will put her hands under her chin as the picture shows. Emily is already in three month clothing and has been for a week now. Isn't that something? She can follow movement of objects and faces with her eyes now and I swear the little smiles I've been seeing are real smiles and not just reflexes from gas. Though the heads-up was nice. She is quite the spitter. I've gotten used to having multiple receiving cloths handy. While mom was holding her tonight she spit up big time all down mom's front as she was handing Emily to me. Mom said, "Oh great, she spit up and it's running down between my boobs." I told her that happens to me on a daily basis. Good thing my nursing tank has a built-in shelf bra, right?

After a number of weeks of tripping over toys, dvd cases, empty tupperware containers, clothes (both dirty and clean, who can tell the difference when there is a two year old helping with laundry?), and other pleasantries, I decided I was going to make time to clean my room. Emily obliged and zonked out the bed while Elijah played the drums with a cylindrical pair of soft blocks while rocking out to Rammstein. When it came time to vacuum Elijah was most helpful in picking up every little piece of smashed Goldfish cracker and putting it in front of the vacuum cleaner saying, "Here, Mama. More?" He's the best helper, ever. Of course then he wanted to help vacuum and is just tall enough to where he can grab hold of the thing to push while I assist. He even grabbed ahold of the cord. So cute. 45 minute cat nap aside, we had a pleasant day. I know I contributed to this by reminding myself not to argue with a two year old, to parent with love, and to make sure that Elijah's needs are being met as well as mine. I decided to make the whole "potty strike" easier on myself and just stick Elijah back in the disposables I already owned. I'm not exactly proud of this but I was just done with cleaning toddler poop out of a cloth diaper. Not. Interested. If I can avoid belting out my frustrations in regards to a situation as simple as poop, I'm all for it.

Elijah decided he was going to sleep with grandma again. It was nice having him sleep with me last night; it's been so long since we followed through with a routine that ended with us (being me and Elijah) in the same bed at night. The past months have involved at least an hour of him bouncing from my bed to grandma's bed before staying put for the night. I don't approve of this, but I know that living here is difficult for him and nothing is staying consistent enough to resemble anything like a routine. I know he likes routine. He is like me when it comes to that; it's a control thing. It makes sense to me that he needs to satisfy his need for control in the absence of a consistent night time routine by deciding on his own who he will sleep with....even if it does take an hour. Or two. This is another terrific example of something I would argue with Elijah over. I had to stop and ask myself, "What would it look like not to participate in this behavior?" The answer was simple, stop contributing. I wasn't ignoring him, but I did stop asking him where he was going to sleep. It's time for bed, so we lay down. I don't discuss it or get angry. I ask him where he is going when he starts to leave and he tells me he is going to sleep with Grandma. We say goodnight and he goes to Grandma's room. And ya know, the running back and forth has minimized significantly. When I would demand that he stay with me, or that it's time to be done with the games, it was contributing attention to the game and giving Elijah something to respond to.

I miss the days of a night time routine. It's something that I respond well to, actually. Prior to Josh's deployment and moving in with my mom, Elijah was in bed by 8:00pm every single night. Living in a house where people are coming home between the hours of 5:30 and 7:30 at night makes getting to bed at a decent hour more of a challenge. I know it's not impossible, but I suppose I'd just rather wait until my mom is home for the night so I can get an extra set of hands to make it possible for me to catch my breath from running all day. And while my mom has a beautiful home, it's not ideal for small children and is fully equip with hardwood floors (great for slipping and knocking in beautiful, hard earned teeth, which happened to Elijah Christmas Eve), and a terrifying staircase that boasts about 15 hardwood steps straight up. Not to mention over ~3300 sq ft. of space. Not so easy to move about with a one month old and a bouncy toddler.

In the time it's taken me to finish this post, I have fed, changed, burped, swaddled, binkied, and rocked Emily. She is in and out of sleep and now on her belly lifting her head and looking back, rocking like she might roll over. Oh-no she di-n't. She better not, anyway. Rolling over at one month would be astounding. And something else, if she wants the pacifier so bad, why must she keep spitting the thing out? It lands in some crazy places. She'll be kicking and waving her arms frantically, crying out irritatedly because the pacifier is gone and some how it'll be above her head, or nearly six inches away from her. Maybe that's why she's attempting to roll over so early.