Meeting Baby Lilia

M finally became a big cousin this week. Jennifer, Aaron's twin sister, had her little girl on Monday. M was waiting anxiously for 2 days since the hospital didn't allow children in the labor OR mother/baby areas. So, finally, today he got to meet baby Lilia. He was very excited and wanted to hold her right away. He watched as she slept and stated several times to "wake up". When she was finally awake, he waited patiently on the couch to hold her. When we "handed" her to him, he immediately leaned in for a big kiss. It was incredibly sweet. He was very gentle and loving and you could see the joy in his face. He held her another time too. He was having a hard time understanding why she sleeps so much and why she couldn't do certain things (like hold the balloons he brought over to her). All in all he seemed to really enjoy having a baby around and being the "big" kid. I asked him if he would like to be a big brother and have a baby that lives with us and he gave a big yes. I asked if he would want a boy or girl... he said boy, sorry Lilia, I am sure it is nothing personal. :)

Oh, and for the record... he did NOT bite the baby! :)

Pictures will be posted soon.

Some fun

Gift of Sign

I have not been spending as much time with M on his sign language, but this article has hardened my committment. It is such a wonderful gift to him and to the world he lives in if he can communicate through sign as a child and an adult. I intend to continue teaching him, learning with him, and encouraging him to learn on his own as he gets older. The article is good, but the video is what really got to me.

http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/03/19/1844254.aspx

Small Blessings

Last night we took M to Chick-Fil-A for family night before going to Gymboree. There was a balloon artist there, which thrilled him. M and I walked up and talked about what he wanted. When it was our turn I saw that there was a paper on the table that asked you to point to what you wanted. I quickly realized that the artist was deaf and had found this great way for the kids to communicate. But... I was thrilled when my 2 year old was able to use this gentleman's language to communicate! M signed "doogy please" and then "thank you". It really warmed my heart and I realized that we are giving M a real gift by teaching him sign language. The man seemed pleased and signed "You're welcome" with a big smile.

Maddox rocking Guitar Hero

You wish you had moves like this!

M's first valentine and other fun stories

A few fun stories.... today we made M's valentine's gifts. When we were done, we took one with a few cupcakes next door to give to his special valentine, Gracie. She answered the door and he handed her the treats. She quietly took them and turned and walked away. Her daddy encouraged her to say thank you, which she politely did and then her mommy encouraged her to give him a hug. This, of course, made M turn and run. He does hug her on occasion, but only after a few hours of warming up. It was really cute to watch!!

Earlier in the day we had been getting ready and lost daddy... again. So, I am calling out "Aaron". Next thing I know, M is following me calling "Aa-on". too cute.

We had a great evening together and watched Lady and the Tramp. After the movie, M wanted me to read a book. I told him I couldn't cause I didn't have a light (we had the house in total darkness for the movie). Without missing a beat, he got up, climbed up on the mantle, and switched on the light... looked at me and said "Book!!".

M speech update

Maddox was recently evaluated for his speech again and actually didn't qualify for services anymore. But they think he would still benefit so he will be continuing. He is also going to be evaluated by the school system because First Steps ends at 3 years old. If he qualifies, he could end up going to preschool 4 days a week at the elementary next door. I am actually pretty excited about that. We think it could be really great for him.

His speech does continue to improve and advance. He has been creating a version of charades recently... he doesn't say "tray", but when he wants to eat on his tray on the couch, he signs "trailer"... sounds similar, right? If he is talking about "sheriff" from the movie Cars, he will sign "share". We think it is pretty darn ingenious. He is also putting more words together in phrases. We are really proud of him and feel pretty confident that he will be caught up by kindergarten. That is our goal.

Visiting Tennessee

We went to Tennessee this weekend to visit our good friends, Tara and Brett, and their two gorgeous kids, Miles and Macey. The last time we were there, Miles was almost 3 and Macey had just been born. Maddox had a blast with Miles. It was the first time we have seen him so actively playing with a little kid like this. He was chasing him, tickling him, and playing follow the leader. They had a total blast! We went to Nashville and M got to see sting rays that acted like dogs... no seriously! They begged for food just like dogs do! He also rode a carousel and ate a TON of candy! After Tennessee we drove to Cincinatti and stayed in a hotel. Then, today, we went to the Newport Aquarium. M seemed to really like it, for the most part. He mainly wanted to see Nemo and Dory. :-) He really liked the alligators, who were surprisingly active. I think his favorite was the shark tank. I think the only thing he didn't like what not having any control over the animals. He wanted the shark and ray to play, but they wouldn't and he was fairly disapointed. For anyone that is into aquariums, none hold up to the Atlanta one, so we will definitely take M there when he is a bit older. We were very proud of Maddox on this trip. He was in the car for about a total of 13 hours in 3 days and did wonderfully! And he was really well behaved at Tara's. I think we will be going on road trips more often now that he is older and seems to enjoy it!

Sick little guy

Maddox has been very sick for the past week. It has been miserable! He woke up last Tues night (after being totally normal all day) and got sick 12 times... every 15 minutes!! It was awful to see! He didn't understand what was happening to him and obviously felt horrible. For the next week he would be lethargic and cuddly almost the whole time. Occassionally he would show signs of improvement, but then would get sick again. We are taking him to the doctor today, and of course he seems GREATLY improved now. But, with the way this has been going, if we don't take him, he will get sick again tonight.
I had fears that as soon as he totally weaned he would get sick and I would feel guilty... and sure enough! I have hated not having the breastmilk as a fall back. He has never been sick like this (most he has had was head stuff), but I still liked knowing that he was getting something that was easily digested, safe, and full of everything he needed. This time, I have been so nervous about dehydration, him not eating, etc. This was bound to happen eventually, whenever he did decide to wean, but I hate that my worries came true. For the most part he hasn't asked to nurse at all, until last night. He asked and cried. I couldn't even give in because it has been so long now. I felt bad for that, but held him extra tight and he finally stopped crying.
So, it has been a VERY long week. I am anxious to get back into the office and back to a normal routine. Now, I will be waiting for Aaron to recover too, but then we will hopefully be a healthy family again.

My new site

I am very excited to announce that I have created a new website for breastfeeding... http://breastfeedindy.com. Aaron sent me a message today telling me about a great site that makes it easy to create a social network site. So, I chose to play with the software and came up with this site. It is focused on women in the Indy area that are interested in breastfeeding; an extention of the mother support groups that are out there. I have invited many of the women I know, but hope that word gets out and more join. I am so passionate about this cause and I want to do all I can!! This is something that brings a lot of joy to me.

2yo reasoning

At dinner tonight M was taking pieces of bread and putting the cheese dip on them on his plate. He had run out of bread and gave me the "what now?" look. I pointed to one piece and said "Here, just put some more on this one". He looked at it, grabbed a scoop of dip, and then proceeded to grab the peice of bread and flip it over. You could see on his face that he really thought he had figured out a secret. He put the dip on it, oblivious to the glob that had fallen off the other side and very proud of himself.

He is coming up with tons of new words daily. Today he told me "acey.. acey... pay" - Gracie play. He wanted our neighbor's daughter to come play with him. "unt ack" - fruit snack. "Mama poopoo" - him after we explain that it is not nice to lie when he ask him if he has a dirty diaper. Also, now when we tell him something, or correct him, he always follows up with an acknowleding, "Oooh".