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January 2010
January 15, 2010
I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I can barely keep up with my responsibilities these days!
Melatonin still seems to work well for Anastasia. It's not a magic bullet, but it does help. She doesn't seem to be waking up at night anymore, and if I give her the Melatonin several nights in a row, she's like a totally different kid: more lively, much more happy, hungrier, and without circles under her eyes. Sometimes, the first night I take her off the Melatonin, she's instantly back to her grumpiness. Other times, it takes a few days. I need to discuss this with our pediatrician, since the nurse told me to only give the Miss Melatonin "as needed." I guess after a while your body gets used to it, and you require larger and larger doses.
Zane continues to thrive. He's going through a very shy phase, where he will bury his face in me if he's around anyone he doesn't know well. He toddles everywhere - except outdoors. Not sure what that's about.
Anastasia proudly wearing a matching outfit with her dolly. Zane, proud to finally be able to ride his zebra.
A few funnies:
Several days back, Zane was babbling in baby language and my hubby said, "Zane, you know how to talk. Use your words." Zane instantly replied, chagrinned, "I do!" A few days after that, my hubby said, "Zane, I need to change your butt." Zane replied, "Daddy, you need to change my butt." So he can talk when he wants to...he just chooses to whine and cry most of the time :)
Two days ago, Anastasia was slowly (oh so slowly!) eating some French toast style bread sticks when she looked down at her plate and exclaimed, "Where's my breakfast?!" Her brother had snuck the food off her plate and was eating it.
Anastasia overheard me telling my hubby about a time in my life when I so wished I had a husband and children of my own. She replied, "That's why you were born, Daddy!"
Miss A., upon eating the last of the Christmas
cookies: "I love eating; it's my favorite part of Christmas!" (That made
my jaw drop; usually she tells us she doesn't like eating...But she
does love cookies.)
Zane loves to sit in boxes. Anastasia (looking far too grown up!) in a dress up costume.
Zane feeding himself with a spoon for the first time. (Mostly, though, he finds it too much trouble and prefers Mommy to feed him.) Anastasia looking pouty, wearing a Christmas-package bow in her hair.
January 20, 2010
The day after I posted last, Melatonin began failing us. Anastasia has been up during the night for several nights; I upped her dose a wee bit, and that seemed to help, but I can't keep upping it so frequently. (There is a risk of seizure if the dose is too high.) I'm thankful Miss A. has a delayed yearly physical with her pediatrician at the end of the month.
I'm also closely examining how we've dealt with discipline in this house. I'm reading Have a New Kid by Friday, and so far, I'm impressed. It focuses on our main concern: If Anastasia is back talking, disrespectful, and disobedient now, how much worse will she be later? We need to nip this in the bud! The premise of the book is that if your kids are misbehaving, it's likely they are reacting (instead of responding) to your own behavior. Ouch. The author says that if you implement his strategy, your kid will be well behaved within five days. I haven't finished the book yet, but I'll let you know if his ideas pan out!
We've officially ended our sequestered period (begun last spring, due to H1N1). Last Friday, we went to library time; poor Miss A. was so excited. How we've missed the library! It was fun to see how vastly improved her social skills are now, too. She wasn't overly shy with the man who reads the books (she used to practically curl up into a little ball when he so much as looked at her), she answered his questions politely and clearly when he talked to her, and in general she was far less shy. She does still have a tendency to gravitate toward the boys, though. She was sitting next to a boy of about three, and gradually placed her hand on his shoulder. He didn't complain, although he twitched his shoulder. Pretty soon, Anastasia had her arm around his shoulders; he didn't quite know how to react! Later, I saw Anastasia stand in front of a boy with her arms on his shoulders. He, being younger than her, stood, dumbfounded. When she moved her face right up to his, I thought she was going to kiss him (!), but instead she gave him a long hug.
Zane enjoyed library time, too, although he's become very shy and clingy when he's around people he doesn't know. He also refuses to walk anywhere that's unfamiliar, whether it be the grass in the backyard, the sidewalk...or the library. He was pretty excited when he realized the library was full of books, though. Thank goodness, he's beginning to enjoy sitting down with a good book :)
Today, I was praising God for the first sign of spring's coming: a single crocus right in front of our living room window. I called Anastasia over to see it and she said, "It's so nice to have flowers again, Mommy!" Then she paused and said, "But hey! We haven't had snow yet!" (I kept telling her we don't always get snow, but as far back and she can remember, we've had it each winter.)
Feeding Zane has become a real chore. He wants to feed himself, but doesn't quite have the ability to spoon food into his mouth very well. I place a bowl on his tray and give him a spoon, and usually I can spoon-feed him a single jar of baby food. The rest of his meal, he insists on being finger food. That's pretty limiting, since he's still not a great chewer! And have I mentioned that he still won't hold his own bottle (although he does fine with a sippy cup of water or juice)? He's also resisting having milk in a cup. The boy doesn't like change!
Last night, however, I offered Zane some broccoli and cauliflower from our meal, which he devoured. Then I offered him some well-cooked noodles. He made lots of happy "mmm" noises, then said, "I like that, Mom." Sometimes he'll also say "thank you" when I give him food or change his diaper. But mostly he still grunts and cries. :D