Jessica Kelso

Maybe this two kid thing isn’t so bad! I mean, I’ve yet to figure out how to take care of them both and keep my house clean or go anywhere with them both outside of the house. . . but I think that will come with time. I am at least managing to keep up with laundry (including cloth diapers for 2 kids!), get dinner cooked, sometimes bathe myself, and chase around a hyper 19 month old. . . so I am calling it a success. T has been so good lately! I don’t know if it’s because of the behavior analyst that worked with him a couple of times, or if he really just loves being home with us, but his behavior and attitude  has really changed. He’s talking SO much more which I think has helped. He says “peeeese” (please) to everything because he’s learning it gets him what he wants. Any question you ask him is answered with nooo.  This morning as he was begging for my breakfast after he already ate his he said banana and thank you. He’s been calling Milo by his name instead of just dog. He is also big into saying more which sounds kinda like “mo”.

We found out from the behavior analyst that the director at the daycare thought T might have been “slow”. What? Why wouldn’t she mention this little fact to his PARENTS? That was so upsetting to hear. The way the BA talked though, he was a totally different kid at school than he is at home. He played by himself and hardly talked at all. The only time he interacted with kids was when they came over to him and tried to take away his toys – which usually resulted in him biting. He’s had a couple of bites since he’s been home – but I really think with these last teeth coming through and being able to use his words more, we will start to notice a difference soon. He’s such a sweet boy and has been a lot of fun. He loves to “hurt” himself and run up to me to kiss it all better. I can’t tell you how many times a day I have to do that, although he isn’t really hurt. He has a cold right now and LOVES blowing his nose. If he even sees a tissue, he starts blowing so I have to give him one. We’ve gone through a ridiculous amount of tissues the past couple of days.

We’re all pretty sick right now. T started it and passed it down to me and Nola. I can deal but I have felt so bad for my sweet girl. She sounds so congested and has this little cough that is the saddest thing you’ve ever heard. I haven’t slept well because I panic at every little cough. She’s still my happy girl despite the sickness though, and it blows me away. I figure if she can be that happy while sick, I can suck it up and do the same!

One of these days, I will actually post about something other than my kids. One day.

I doubt I’ll be posting again before this weekend, so I hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Dear Nola,

I think I may start every letter out with “I can’t believe you’re  ____  months already” because I really can’t. Time is flying by and you’re changing on a daily basis. Our conversations are the best part of my day. It doesn’t matter what I say to you, as long as it’s in a sweet voice with a happy face you give me the biggest smiles and loudest coo’s ever. You’ve even got dimples! Precious little dimples on each cheek. You love to be held while sleeping, and a lot of the time you’ll wake up when laid down…so you take quite a few cat naps throughout the day. I’m more than okay with it since I want to hold you all day anyway! You still sleep 6-8 hour stretches at night without a problem, so we’re all getting plenty of rest. Thanks for that, sweet P.

When you aren’t being held and I’m playing with your brother, you are always so content. I don’t hear a peep out of you until it’s time to eat, or you just want to talk. You’re such a happy little thing!

You’ve attended two Christmas parties this month and you were such a good girl! The first one was just a dinner and you slept through most of it. The second one you were awake for half of it and everyone couldn’t get enough of you. I don’t blame them really. Promise me you’ll stay this sweet forever! We all enjoyed your first Thanksgiving this month as well. You got to meet so many great aunts and cousins. . . they couldn’t get enough of you!

You have no real schedule that I’ve noticed yet but you always seem to go with the flow so I don’t mind. You want to nurse every 2-3 hours and that’s usually the most you demand. You absolutely love the light up star on your play gym. I lay you under it and you just start kicking and giggling away.

Your head control always blows people away. You’ve wanted to be a big girl since day one…but I really wish you’d slow down! Today at your two month check up you weighed 12lbs (75th percentile) and you were 22 3/4 inches tall (55th percentile). Tonight your daddy was mentioning how much drool you had and decided to feel your gums for any teeth and sure enough you have one coming in on the top in the very front! Not only could he feel it but you had quite a few tears when he touched it. I can’t believe you are already getting a tooth! Slow down, baby girl. Let’s not rush this whole growing up thing.

You love to be swaddled and you love bath time. You love to sit and watch your brother run around the house, and I think deep down you can’t wait to be doing the same thing with him. You two are going to have so much fun together. You caught the cold that we’ve all had and today while I was suctioning out your nose, you moved and that stupid aspirator went too far up. We both cried, and I felt so bad. I’ll get better at it…I promise.

So thankful for you, Nola girl.

Love, Mama

I have floors that need to be mopped and carpet that needs to be vacuumed but all of the laundry is done, the bathrooms are clean, and the dishes are in the dishwasher. T is at daycare and I haven’t gotten a call to pick him up yet. Nola is actually asleep in her bassinet. I’m allowing myself some time to actually sit at the computer and write – instead of using the internet on my phone while I’m nursing Nola like I usually do. I’m eating a peppermint patty and am trying to not think about anything except this moment and how nice it is.

It really is the small things, isn’t it?

Take this picture. Kevin reading a book to Nola and her face looking so intense like she’s really understanding everything he says. So simple yet every time I look at it, I melt just a little inside.

T got kicked out of his daycare (tomorrow is his last day) due to his biting and part of me wants to get really upset at the daycare center and how they’ve handled things despite us trying so hard to help him with this problem. Then a part of me wonders if it happened for a reason and maybe he’s meant to be home with me right now. With still nursing Nola every 2-3 hours and T wanting my 100% attention all of the time, I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to handle them both. I feel horrible saying it – but I’ve got to be honest with myself. T is such a good kid – when he has your attention – but when it comes to playing by himself, he’s yet to learn how to do that. We have a behavior analyst that is going to start working with him, so I’m looking forward to learning some ways to deal with his biting (and tantrums, and hitting, and not playing alone!) I know a lot of this is normal behavior for his age and normal behavior for everything he’s been through, but I don’t want to accept that. I want him to be a good kid and play well with others. We’re not giving up on him. Despite the issues we’ve been having, he has been really really funny lately and he makes us smile so much. One of my most favorite things is cuddling up with him in his pj’s reading a book and rocking him before bed. He’s go go go until that point and that’s the only time he gives cuddles these days. It’s the best.

My sweet P is growing up so fast and it makes me want to cry on a daily basis! I’ve started putting her newborn clothes away and I. Can’t. Handle. It! She is getting SO fun though. She will smile at anyone and anything. Her owl mobile, the fan, the star light on her play gym are some of her favorites. She will be 8 weeks old on Sunday. I know I’ve said it before, but she really is a dream baby. I didn’t know they came so sweet.

Well she’s awake and I need to get both of us ready for our small group’s Christmas party tonight. This may be my last post for a while. . . wish me luck!