Gimme a chance.....

Today Jacob reminded me of an important lesson. It's so easy for me to be very cautious with the kids and jump to their rescue prematurely. I remind myself that sometimes you have to fall (physically or otherwise) to grow - to reach your full potential.

Late this afternoon I took the kids outside to enjoy the longer day and sort of sunny weather. Jacob and Lauren were riding their scooters in our driveway around a pattern they created with orange cones. All innocent enough, except Jacob is a daredevil and a whiz on his scooter. As he whipped around on a curve, he splatted to the ground. I ran to him to see if he was OK and he looked up at me from the ground and said "Mom, gimme a chance to shake it off." Well said, son. So, I backed up and he shook it off successfully and was on his way. Not a tear was shed and my tough little man reminded me that I need to give all of them enough room to prove what they are capable of.

In my last post I neglected to mention a huge improvement for us - Taylor is sleeping better again! Finally, she is healthy and sleep has returned to a manageable routine. She still wakes up a 3-4 times a night for her binky, but this I can handle. Eventually we'll have to move past this too, but I'm thankful for the relatively better sleep for all of us. She also has mostly transitioned to one nap a day, instead of two. This helps a bit to plan her day - unfortunately they're still pretty short naps - an hour usually. So, by 7pm she is wiped out. It works out OK, because we can cuddle her and put her to bed, and then cuddle the big kids and put them to bed. 7-8pm is like one big assembly line of PJ's, snack/bottle, stories/cuddles, and finally sleep...ahhh.

Taylor is also doing better at her therapy. Susan has noticed that her tight muscles are much looser now and it really does seem like her sickness (or being over-tired) causes her to revert to her tightened state. We're really hoping for a stretch of health so she can keep making progress. Today, she practiced weight-bearing on all fours. It was awesome to see her in a crawling position - although she is supported. Susan is a resourceful genius - she placed a rolled up towel under Taylor's armpits and held each end of the towel while Taylor was on all-fours. She could help Taylor balance her weight that way. We'll work to get her more comfortable to put progressively more weight on her hands. It's really exciting to start working on a new trick.

I thought I would share pictures that I took tonight - isn't she looking so big? Jacob was my entertainment for her of course - he can make her laugh so quickly. You can't see her teeth, but we'll try to capture those once they get a bit larger;)

We have TEETH!!

We are so excited!! We hit a big milestone yesterday – Taylor has her first teeth! The bottom two in the center just broke through her gums – hurray!! We were beginning to wonder if we would need to invest in false teeth. David found them and was so excited. He ran to the rest of us and we all did a happy dance for Taylor, accompanied by a chant “Taylor has teeth, Taylor has teeth!!!” We talked about it after the kids went to bed and agreed it was so exciting because it indicates that she is growing. She has been such a baby in appearance and people are really surprised to learn that she is 19 months old. I only share her age if asked because some people are polite about it (oh, she’s a cute little one) and some are just too curious for my preference. Someone this week-end was pressing me on her size, physical skills, etc. until I finally just said “she has a neurological issue and is delayed”. I don’t mind talking about it to friends/family/polite people, but I’m not a huge fan of nosiness that doesn’t seem well-intentioned, just nosy.

Anyway, we’ve also felt that we’ve been on a bit of a plateau due to ear infections/bad sleep, so we’re choosing to see her new teeth as a sign of progress on the horizon – and far more important than new chompers. We are so ready for her to make more progress with her physical skills, but as always, patience is the name of the game. She has had a few fun wins lately – my personal favorite – she was laying down while I changed her diaper and she reached behind her head and picked up her binky off the floor. The binky has been the source of many sleepless nights, so if she could perfect this skill, we would all be thrilled. It is a fine motor skill, so it was exciting to see her do it. She also has her smiles back – she really didn’t feel well for weeks, so it is so fun to see her grin again. Her face just lights up. She also is doing well drinking thick fluid out of cup – not a sippee cup, but the real deal. She hasn’t done well with a sippee cup, but she has done great with a regular cup. At school, she she’s experimented with a watered-down smoothie and she loves it. We still have a lot of progress to make on the food front, but this is good progress. We’ll be thrilled to get rid of bottles and formula!

My pop culture reference of the day is expressing my disappointment in Obama and his disparaging comment about the Special Olympics on The Tonight Show. He was discussing his poor bowling skills and said it was so bad it was like the Special Olympics. As a savvy, elected leader, I couldn’t believe he made such an offensive statement about some of our most defenseless citizens. As a PR professional, I was amazed at the blunder and as Taylor’s mom, I was very disappointed. He did provide a great teaching moment – for some reason, we have (thankfully) become more sensitive about other minorities – whether they be racial, sexual preference, gender, etc. – yet somehow, it’s still sort of OK to poke fun at the disabled community. I don’t want to be overly soapbox, but I do think this community deserves the same respect as anyone else. Shame on any public figures that don’t immediately recognize this – off-handed jokes do offend and we should set a higher standard for ourselves and the next generation of children that we’re raising. One of my goals for Lauren, Jacob and Taylor is that they are kind, respectful and sensitively aware of others that are different (but still wonderful) – and thankful for their blessings. I’m certain I won’t teach this perfectly, but I think it’s one of my most important jobs as their mom.

Romance and sleepless nights

Don't worry....this catchy little title doesn't refer to David and I:)

I'm loving my little kiddos - they are just too funny for words. Lauren is hysterical right now. Last night she "borrowed" my lip gloss to make kisses on a piece of paper. She disappeared for a bit and I assumed she was making a lovely card for David or I. Nope - later that night she showed me a piece of paper with her kisses all over it and the writing "Roman I love you Lauren". Her first real-life love letter for her kindergarten boyfriend - I couldn't believe it. David was more surprised than I was!! I tried to explain how it wasn't really appropriate for her to make a letter like this at her age and had to answer all kinds of questions, poorly, I'm afraid. Then, today I hear Jacob asking Lauren if she "fell in love" with Roman like he "fell in love" with Abby - his little girlfriend that he never sees. Seriously? How old are these kids? I think we need to put High School Musical on hiatus. I asked them what it meant to "fall in love" and they said it just meant you got married someday. I guess that is innocent enough.

Besides way too much romance amongst the kids, we are suffering from severe sleep deprivation. It was a long week-end for David with poor Grandma Doreen and I was to hold up more of the fort at home - including getting up with Taylor her 10+ times a night and whatever kid rolled out of bed at 6:15am (typically one of them does). Taylor has been struggling with ear infections for months now and her sleep continues to spiral downward. We feel bad for her because we know they're painful, particularly at night - but holy cow, we're tired. Yesterday we were walking zombies and so ready for a good night sleep. But....Lauren walks into our room around 11pm and says, "my ear hurts bad!" She and I moved to three different beds over the next 3 hours - watched 3 TV shows to distract her from the pain, and finally fell asleep on separate couches in our living room. She was propped up with pillows, but did finally sleep. So today, I took her to her doctor's office and yep, ear infection. David took Taylor at about the same time to her doctor and her ears are getting much better from her current round of medicine. We thought she surely was still suffering to sleep that poorly, but nope, we've just fallen off the wagon again. That gal is determined to party through the night. At least we know her ears are finally getting better and we'll have to re-visit sleep-training. We're really hoping tonight goes better.

I thought I would post a few pics of the kids playing with Taylor recently. They both love her so much and love taking care of her. She's a lucky little gal to be surrounded by so much love. She repays them in return with her smiles and giggles.

Grandma Doreen, ear infections and St. Theresa

Oh, we've been busy bee's lately. I feel terrible that I haven't written more lately, but as you'll see, we've had a lot going on. I'll start with the sad news first - David's dear Grandma Doreen passed away tonight and he's gone over to spend time with his dad. Doreen was such a firecracker and full of personality - when I first met her 15 years ago we could talk forever about the latest hot actor or best movie. She loved kids and Taylor grinned and grinned at her this Christmas when she wouldn't acknowledge anyone else. She came over to our house to celebrate the Gurry family's February birthdays a few weeks ago and in typical Doreen style, wore a skirt, hose and jewelry. She was a stylish lady and loved looking her best. Sadly she's been in very poor health for awhile and a stroke one week ago essentially took her life. She passed away today but never regained consciousness after her stroke. Please send a prayer of thanks for 87 well-lived years with Grandma Doreen.

Lauren summed it up well though - she said she was sad that Grandy Doreen is sick but won't Grandy be so excited to see her husband in heaven? I like to think she's up in heaven already dancing up a storm - one of my fondest memories is of David's grandma's dancing at our wedding reception almost 10 years ago - having a blast in West Plains, Missouri.

David has spent a lot of time at the hospital and with his Dad this week and this Monday follows two crazy week-ends. This past week-end, David had an important work event (at a lovely resort) in Santa Barbara so after much deliberation, we decided to go to it as planned since we didn't know how long Doreen might hang in there. The quick 30 hour trip was even quicker than planned as we heard from David's dad after we'd been at the resort for about 20 minutes that the end was near. So, we found a flight back and got home about 2am Friday night. Taylor and I were up at 6am, so Saturday was a bit of a blur. I was happy to have the week-end with the kids and we had a fun time playing. I was particularly happy to be with them since the week-end before I was away on a girl's trip!!.....

In Scottsdale, Arizona with my mom and two sister's. It's the first girl's trip we've done since any of us have had kids and we had a great time. We sat by the pool, walked around Scottsdale, shopped, and went to a Desert Botanical Garden. We talked, laughed, ate and drank and had a really special time. Best of all, my little baby sister told us she is expecting her first kid - hurray! Shawna and Jess so deserve this gift and they will be wonderful parents. Early blog readers will remember that Shawna is a physical therapist with kids and I've always been amazed at her special gift with children. She's been a huge help with Taylor's situation and I can't wait to be a new aunt! And, this is my parent's first local grandbaby, so I'm thrilled for all of them. It will be extra sweet to see my new niece or nephew when I go home to Missouri. So, life comes full circle doesn't it?

Amidst the craziness of travel, we continue to roll along in our normal routine. The past few weeks have been slightly anxious with Taylor, as her therapy has not gone well. Her muscles have been tighter again in her upper body and Susan has been worried about "regression". She also has been fussier than normal in therapy and really hasn't enjoyed it. Just as I was getting worried, I noticed her tugging on her ear in the middle of last week. It hadn't occurred to me that she might still have her ear infections because we'd just finished the nasty round of augmentin two days before and that stuff always kicks it. But, unbelievably, it didn't work this time. I took her back to Dr. Spector and she still had double ear infections - and bad ones. We have a new round of antiobiotics and we really hope this stuff works. The poor kid has basically had double ear infections for the past two months. No wonder she doesn't feel like working out. It's a mixed blessing - on one hand, I'm so sorry she's still sick - on the other hand, I'm thrilled there is a reason her therapy isn't going great. Hurray for "small" problems instead of big concerns.....

I also reached a proud milestone last week. For the first time, I left Taylor alone in her "preschool" setting. There is a high student/teacher ratio (about 1:2) and most of the parent's leave for at least a portion of the 90 minute class. I have been reluctant to leave Taylor since she still doesn't catch herself if she tips over and it's hard for me to trust that other's will watch her as closely as I do. There is a great physical therapist in the class, Christy, who I really like and she had encouraged me to leave Taylor for some of the class. It's good to be encouraged to help her reach normal developmental milestones (like separation) and not focus on the areas we're behind. So, after she'd played for a bit I left her with Christy and went behind the 2-way glass (so I could watch her and she couldn't see me). She did great and I was very proud - of both of us:)

So, this is what we've been up to. I'm hoping to get back to a normal writing routine - I've missed it! Between kids, travel, work, sleepless nights due to ear infections, and life, it's been a little nuts but we're settling in. David's mom sent a beautiful prayer today that I thought I would leave you with - I didn't grow up Catholic so I'm not as familiar with the saint's, but I think this St. Theresa has a really pretty prayer....one that I will remember.

St. Theresa's Prayer:"May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us."

Week-end update

We had a great week-end! I can't believe it's already March and spring is on the way. Spring tends to come late to Seattle, but there flowers beginning to bloom and we've had a few warmer days. The kids are so excited for summer already.

We just had a blast this week-end, although the kids were wiped out tonight. Friday night we had dinner with several friends (three other couples) and all of the kids (except Taylor and another baby) stayed down the street at one of the other homes with babysitters. We didn't pick them up until 10:30 - very rare for us - but we had a great time and they did too. David actually wondered if Jacob might fall asleep, but of course when we got there, he was the most wired of the bunch. He was literally vibrating with energy. On the way home, I asked him how many treats he had and he honestally answered 6 cookies and a bowl of ice cream. The boy was in absolute heaven. Lauren - the rule follower - said she only had 4 cookies. We try to limit sugar to a degree, so they couldn't even believe it. They had a great time, but unfortunately were up at 6:30 the next morning. Taylor is our easy sleeper on the go - she slept in a playpen from 8pm until we left, barely woke up and went back to sleep in her crib. Good baby!

Saturday morning, their Grandma Mary came over to watch them for a few hours while David and I went to a funeral (one of his best friend's from high school lost his mom). Aunt Shannon and the cousins came over too, so more fun was had by all. Taylor has finally progressed from her clingy, separation anxiety phase and it's so nice. It's much easier to leave her and much easier on the caretaker too! Of course, nothing like a funeral to make you feel so sorry for the pain and sadness of others, and to count your blessings. We're so grateful that we have all of our parents and know what a gift it is. Saturday night, I went to a baby shower for our dear friends that are expecting identical twin girls! David manned the troops at home - I thought for sure he would have them in bed at 7pm, but nope -he had 2 other dad's over and their kids (their wives were also out on the town). 3 dads, 8 kids - sounds like a movie waiting to happen, doesn't it? Needless to say, the kids played, played and played some more this week-end. Taylor also had a friend Saturday night - another little girl about her age came to play and Taylor had fun watching Fiona walk and share her toys. I so can't wait for Taylor to be able to join in too, but I trust that they'll be chasing each other someday.

Today was a rest day - we went to church and I didn't teach Sunday school today and was able to enjoy the service. We relaxed this afternoon and just had a nice time. Jacob was craving some mommy time so we had a date late this afternoon. He loves to get dressed up, choose an outfit for me, and have a date - just like daddy. Today he chose black pants, a pink sweater, and enough large costume jewelry to outfit a Christmas tree. I wear it all with pride - I know he won't be content with me as a date forever, so I'm soaking it up while I can.

Unfortunately poor Taylor has another ear infection - sigh. Like our other two kids, I've gotten good at noticing her ear infection signs. Lauren would wake up many times at night, Jacob would get a fever, and Taylor stops eating - food and the bottle. So we went to the doctor Friday morning and double ear infection. She's back on the hard-core medicine that wrecks her stomach so she's had bad tummy troubles all week-end. She's been in reasonably good spirits though and will be A-OK. We'll go back in 3 weeks to get her ears checked - hopefully we're not in the ear tube category yet. As much as we don't like the ear infections and medicine for her, we really don't want to have to do surgery on her. Jacob has had them twice, but was much bigger. Taylor is still a peanut - at eighteen months, she is only 18 pounds. We're not supposed to work on fattening her up because she's proportional height and weight. But she's not on the chart unfortunately. I have an appointment scheduled for May with the endocrinologist to get her hormonal levels checked. I unpacked the next storage bin of Lauren's clothes for her (18-24 months) and they look absolutely huge. Some of her current stuff is getting tight, but these clothes look really big. Her style is largely leggings/shirts with all of her therapy, so I think I need to stock up on these for her (not a lot of time for cute outfits - but she can wear a bow barrette in her hair now!).

We're grateful for a great week-end together. Lots of great family time and we're happy campers!