Sitting up

Nicholas is pretty much able to sit up all on his own now. He is getting even closer to crawling too. Any day now, I'm sure.

The twins are very good at their puzzles. I just got them a new puzzle at this sale I went to over the weekend that will help them tell time and learn to recognize numbers. They seem to be enjoying the puzzle part of it. They are able to recognize some letters too - Benjamin more so than Ella. They can count to 10.

Pics of the kids at www.flickr.com/photos/heathercim.

Just a short post today!

Book Club - "It Sucked and Then I Cried"

I've finally decided to get back into the online book club and this month they were discussing "It Sucked and Then I Cried" by Heather Armstrong aka Dooce.

First of all, I loved this book. Her writing style and humor are great!

Now onto the questions...

Heather obviously has a very distinctive writing style that comes across in both her blog and her book. What do you think has made Heather such a famous blogger? Her writing style, honesty, or something else? Do you write with the same passion and honesty that Heather does?

I definitely think it's her writing style and humor, like I said above. :-D She has a way of talking about serious subjects with humor that it's hard not to want to read the next entry or the next chapter. I definitely don't write the same way she does. I just am not that good of a writer, nor do I have the wit she does. I do sometimes wish I could write with as much honesty as she does, but I'm afraid of what those I know who are reading would say. I don't think some would realize that I'm just venting sometimes and I just need to get it out. Although, I could just as easily take things personally too.

One of the main reasons why I was interested in this book was that she was going to address her issues of postpartum depression, which I struggled through with both my children. I found her frank style dealing with this issue very helpful and I could relate to her distress. Have you or some one you know dealt with PPD or depression? How did the author’s experience resonate with you?

I've known people who have dealt with PPD, read books about it, and have gone through a minor bit of it myself. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really through it even now. Her experience was definitely different from mine though. I didn't feel like it was strong enough to need medication for a long time, and when I did think it could help, I only was on a minor dose and for the most part, I think that helped me. I do wish I would have written about it more to get those feelings out there as she did. I think that would have helped tremendously, but I just could never find the time. Reading her talk about it made me think I should have tried harder.

The author's blog is well-known for her biting sense of humor, interspersed with expressions of deep emotion toward her children and husband. Although there was plenty of humor, I found the book to be much heavier on emotion than I expected based on reading her blog. On your own blog, how much emotion do you express? Is that more or less than you tend to express in real life?

I just to write more emotional pieces before we were pregnant. Since then, I've become the "mommy blogger". I don't seem to write about the times that I'm having a hard time with things anymore because no one wants to hear that from someone who was able to get pregnant from IVF and then have a surprise pregnancy! However, I think there are things post-pregnancy that would be good to write about - i.e., PPD.

I don't think, however, I could go to the level of honesty that she expresses. With her and Brooke Shields - they were so open about how they were feeling - even the bad parts. I guess I was too afraid to admit that there were times that I had some of the feelings that they expressed in their books/blog (of course, I kinda just did).

The author talks about how she imagined her future children before becoming pregnant:

When you're childless and young and hopeful, you have this idea of what your children are going to be like, and you make mental notes when you see other kids in public. You say to yourself, "My kid will be cute like that," or "My kid won't ever throw a tantrum in public like that little demon." I had always envisioned a sweet little princess who looked just like me sitting quietly in a high chair, her pressed velvet petticoat creased perfectly as she sat and waited to be handed things in a timely manner. And then you grow up and have kids and realize that YOU HAVE NO SAY...

Before starting to try to conceive, how did you imagine your future children? If you now have children, how did your expectations fit reality?

I guess I did have this vision in my head of how parenting was going to be like - that my children won't misbehave in public. That I'd be able to control them and they would listen and understand when I needed them to behave. While at the same time, I rationally knew that I was going to have times that this wouldn't be the case. After all, my sister has 4 kids. I was a teenager when my brothers were first born (or close to it), so I knew what was reality. But you still think things are going to be different for you - but it turns out, my children will have breakdowns in public and they will not sit quietly at the restaurant table the whole time until it is ready to go. People used to say our children were well-behaved - well, that was before they turned 2.


Hop along to another stop on this blog tour by visiting the main list at Stirrup Queens (http://stirrup-queens.com). You can also sign up for the next book on this online book club: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I got my copy today!

The Cuteness that Melts My Heart

Earlier today, we are at the park. At one point, Benjamin came down the slide and ran toward me to give me a hug. :-D He then started running away, but turned around about halfway to the slide to blow me a kiss. :-D :-D :-D

How cute is that? It just makes my heart melt, it's so cute.


In other news, Nicholas is doing the get-up-on-hand-and-knees-and-push-both-knees-forward-then-fall-down crawl. It's gets him around to where he wants to go. There is no containing him in one spot for too long.

The other day, Ella said "I love you" to Jon (there might have been a little prompting) - I don't know if he actually heard it though.

Earlier, Ella insisted on taking a shower with me even though she hates the water falling down on her head.

Nicholas has pretty much had a lot of the fruits and veggies. He seems to like squash and applesauce the most.

Benjamin is very, very good at puzzles. We have a u.s. map puzzle that he has absolutely no problems with. He knows Indiana only because we thought we had lost it for about a week or so. Currently, he is asking "where did Indiana go?" I need more challenging things for him. Ella is doing better at the puzzles too.

About 1 1/2 weeks ago or so, we saw that Nicholas has his first tooth popping through!

How?

How did it get to be over a month since I last posted? I used to be such a good blogger. I was so much better at it after the twins. I'm not even a good blog reader anymore. I'm sure people have written lots that I haven't seen yet - including my own husband.

Well, now, Nicholas is 7 months old. He is a little chatterbox sometimes - including at 3 a.m. as he was last night as we changed a stinky diaper. He will say dada as well as mooommmmmm - I'm not sure if he knows what those mean, but he is saying those sounds. However, he did say "mommmmm" one day and reached toward me, so maybe he does know that means me. He also says other sounds too.

He is doing a little army crawl, as well as a crawl that involves one foot - a little 3 legged crawl - sort of. He is eating all sorts of solid foods - veggies and fruits. He has slept through the night only a handful of times - I hope he gets better at it soon. I'm tired.

As for the twins, they are acting like 2 year olds. Ella really, really likes to be more independent and pick out her own clothes and not have a lid on her sippy cup, but when it comes to potty training - she has only done that a few times. I think last night I might have gotten to her to realize a little bit that going in the potty will help it so she doesn't have a sore bottom. Hopefully, that works - diapers are expensive for 3 kids.

Benjamin & Ella both like to be the teacher. Ella taught Benjamin how to jump and climb up certain playground equipment, while Benjamin teaches Ella how to put a puzzle together (though sometimes Ella doesn't want to be the student and will yell at Benjamin). Ella also likes to teach Nicholas - telling him that Jon is papa and also lifting up her foot and say "baby, this a foot, a foot, baby!" She still calls him baby or baby guy or baby dude. Benjamin will say Nicholas (Nichas).

One day we went to church and they had a bouncy house for the kids. Ella wasn't sure about it at first and sat inside the house while everyone jumped around her, but she eventually starting jumping along with the other kids. Benjamin definitely wasn't sure about it and observed from my lap on the lawn. When Jon came out from helping clean up, he decided to go in there and Ella told him what to do and he started having fun. They really liked it - I'm thinking their 3rd birthday should be at a bouncy place.

This weekend, Nicholas and I are going to do the Heart Walk - I hope the weather cooperates for us! Also, this past weekend I was a seller in the local multiples group's sale and made a bit of money. I didn't sell everything though. I'll probably participate again at the next sale. As a seller, you get to buy stuff first, so that was really helpful as I got some Halloween costumes and a single jogging stroller that I'll be using this weekend. The twins would not stay in their stroller the whole time, so it is just going to be me and Nicholas.

I started a book club and we have had one meeting so far - I think it's going to be fun! I can't think of anything else going on right now.

Well, I'll write again here again soon as I'm involved in a book club online this month so I'll be writing about that soon.

Happy 1/2 birthday, Nicholas!

Today, Nicholas turns 6 months! Where did the time go? My little guy is a busy little guy. He's pushing himself up really far on his hands and trying to get onto those knees. The other day he got onto his feet and did a little pushup and moved himself over a few inches. He has no problem with letting you know when he's displeased about not being held. This little guy LOVES to be held. This morning, I had to leave so I put him into his crib and said goodbye while Jon was finishing up his shower. Well, he cried out that I was going to leave him - on his 6 month birthday too! Rude!

Ella goes between calling him "baby dude" or "baby guy" (I will call him my little dude or my little guy). She loves to tickle him and most of the time he'll tolerate it. Benjamin will say "Nickas" sometimes, but will also just call him baby or mommy's baby. He isn't as affectionate toward Nicholas as Ella is, but I think Ella just wants to be the little mommy. She had a tight grip on her baby doll last night as we put her to bed.

Nicholas has said things that sound like "ma" (and once, he reached toward me as he said it) and he will imitate certain sounds too - sort of like a cooing gurgling sound. He will get very excited when he knows he's going to be picked up. He likes to kick out his legs and arms to show that excitement.

Tonight, we'll start him on solids so be sure to check my flickr page for pics of that messy fun! I'm excited for this to happen. He'll still get breast milk for as long as I can make it (I'd like to give him breast milk until he turns a year, but my supply is dwindling so we'll see if that happens - considering trying a herb to help produce more).

Tomorrow, we take him to his 6 month checkup so stats to be posted as soon as I have time to do so. :-D

Happy 1/2 birthday, my handsome little dude. Mommy loves you so very, very much. And so do your siblings (human and feline) and your papa. I look forward to our next 6 months together as you learn to crawl, walk and talk. May your teething go smoothly.

Baby Guy

Some other things going on are:

Nicholas - will grab at his car seat toy with his feet and his hands and play with it. It's quite cute. He's also saying a sound that sounds like "hi" and "ma". I'm choosing to believe he's saying those things and knows what they mean. :-D

oh, and speaking of the Heather Armstrong book - she also said that her daughter used to scratch at the sheet on the bed to let her know when she was awake - Nicholas does that too. I kinda wish he would stop - that really isn't a pleasant sound. She also talked about having to put her baby under general anesthesia for a MRI - we have to put Nicholas under general too when he has his circumcision done when he's 9 months old. We have to wait until this age due to a minor issue. Anyway, I'm not looking forward to it. I don't want to see him knocked out like that at only 9 months old (well, anytime really).

Ella - Will call Nicholas "baby guy" - I'm certain she got this from me saying "Hi my little guy!" and well, I guess she likes baby guy better than little guy. She just loves to play with Nicholas. She also likes to play with Benjamin and I will find them cracking each other up over various things. Tonight, it was walking with crouching position (Ella started this because she dumped water on herself on the way home from a party).It's cute now that Ella will say her own name and Ben's name. This morning, Benjamin was wrestling with Ella and Ella said "Ben, no. Stop Ben." Cuteness. I love hearing them say each other's names and their own!

Benjamin - tonight, while Ella was screaming because she dumped water all over herself in the car, I told her to calm down and that we'd be home soon. Well, then Benjamin decided he would also tell Ella to calm down ("Ella, calm down. Ella! Calm down!" - Ha!). Benjamin is repeating A LOT of what we say. A LOT. Jon told me last night, he said "dammit" and well, guess who repeated that? I can't remember why Jon said that, but he did.

DELICIOUS!

I'm reading "I Screamed and Then I Cried" by Heather Armstrong. In the book, she was talking about her daughter just loving her hands and sucking on them like they were the best things in the whole world and if she went to get her daughter changed, she wouldn't like that too much then she would be super excited when the hands could make a come back. Well, I bring this up, because that is Nicholas. He LOVES his hands. He can't stand to be separated from them. He will double thumb it sometimes or stuff his whole hand into his mouth. They are just that delicious.

Speaking of delicious, we went blueberry picking this morning. We told the twins to put the blueberries in the bucket and while they did that sometimes, most of the time, they just would pick them and stuff them into their mouths. Delicious! We wondered if we should have weighed Ben & Ella before and after to make sure the farm got what they deserved to be paid. Benjamin also liked picking up the sawdust or beauty bark or whatever it was and squishing it together in his hands. Super awesome! Then he would rub whatever was left on his hands onto his shirt. I believe he also shared with Ella the joy of the sawdust.

After blueberry picking, we went to lunch then off to meet my aunt before they went to a Mariner's game. My aunt drove over with her grandson (14) and her friend and her friend's granddaughter (also 14). They're from Spokane. We may or may not see them tomorrow as well before they head back. It was nice to see one of my relatives over on my side of the state!

After that, we went to a friend's surprise birthday party. We didn't stay too long though because with all of this, the kids were getting a bit cranky (and well, the parents were getting a bit tired as well).

Children & Books & Breastfeeding

Right now, I'm going through my old posts to see what Ben & Ella were doing when they were 6 months and up as I haven't filled in the baby book in quite some time. It's interesting to compare with Nicholas. He's been flipping over on his belly from his back for a while now and it seems Ben & Ella took a bit longer - maybe because they were born early.

Anyway, I noticed that I used to blog all the time with Ben & Ella and what they were up to, but lately, I've been bad about it and since I may need this information later when I'm filling out baby books for them and for Nicholas, I probably should try to write more just for that reason if no other.

So here's another update on my kids:

Nicholas - gets very excited when he sees someone he likes. He flaps his arms and kicks his legs, much like I remember Benjamin doing. He likes to say things, but he seems like he's more into moving forward on physical stuff than talking (kind of like Ella). This morning, though, it really sounded like he was saying mama. I wished Jon was around to see if it sounded like that to him.

Nicholas can flip over both ways, but does it more from back to belly and I'll find him sleeping on his belly these days. It's probably alright, but I still feel the need to flip him back over. I guess I'm paranoid after a coworker's friend lost her 3 month old most likely due to SIDS. He gets onto his knees sometimes, but not too often. He LOVES to be held and stand while someone holds him. I'm starting to work on him sitting up on his own. I put him down the other day and he just sort fell forward (not really fell, but moved, I guess).

Benjamin & Ella - picking up so many new words each day that I can't even keep track anymore. Both of them have said garage. Benjamin told us the other day what sound Jon's coffee maker makes. He can say everyone's names though he laughs when you ask him to say his own name. Ella said her own name for the first time yesterday (at least, it was the first time I heard her say it). Their bedtime is still a bit of party time, but lately, they've liked being on our bed for a while. This seems to calm them down enough to bring them to their own beds to go to bed. They also like to come on our bed and do a bit of wrestling - one will be lying down on the bed and the other one will do a body slam - they think this is hilarious - I do not since most of the time, I'm on the bed with Nicholas nursing him. Though I can't help but smile when they crack each other up so much. Last night, they were also putting their heads together and finding that fun. I wondered if they found that fun since in the womb they had their heads together?

The daycare told me the other day that Benjamin knows his colors (which I knew) and his shapes (which I didn't). I wonder what other stuff he does that I don't know about. Same with Ella and Nicholas. It's hard being a working mom sometimes...a lot, actually.

Speaking of, I'm reading this book now called "The Other Mother" by Gwendolen Gross. It's an o.k. book so far, but the author (so far) makes it seem like she agrees with the SAHM character that working moms are horrible and why would they leave their children like that? The working mom character is feeling all guilty for leaving her kid (as I do), but unlike myself, it seems she doesn't have to work, she chooses to. One of the characters said in the book, why have kids if you can't afford them or take care of them or something along those lines? All I can say to that right now is ugh! Anyway, I'll see how the rest of the book turns out. I still have another 100 pages or so to go.

And on a final topic - breastfeeding. I feel as if my supply is dwindling - it seems I'm pumping less and less these days. My goal is to give Nicholas breast milk exclusively until he's a year old - this is going to be hard, I think. I still feed him when I get home and in the middle of the night if he wants, but pumping in the morning (as he's not up usually when I leave) and twice at work. I hope that I can hold on until he's a year. I made it to 6 months with the twins, but I guess, I feel as if I should do better at it this time.