Reading

Since bringing Cecie home, reading with Simon has fallen on the back burner. This is not something I'm proud of; it's just what happened. For the past few days I've been trying to focus more on him in hopes that a little more attention from mom will reduce some of his attention seeking at school, and reading books to him is a really easy way to do this (even if I have to tend to Cecilia at the same time).

So we're back on the book train.

Something I've been meaning to blog about for a while is that Simon has this weird habit of forcing one specific reading position on us. It looks something like this:

Notice his head is under Bryan's chin. This has been a requirement for Simon since little on...he just loves to have Mom or Dad's chin resting on top of his head while we read to him. If I try to put my head to the side of his, he will always take his head and move it under my chin. Every time.

I'm writing in the present tense, but really it's become a thing of the past very recently. This position is just not feasible anymore. We can't get quite comfortable with him on my lap and he is forced to sit next to me. I normally don't spend too much time feeling sad about him getting older, but sometimes it's just unavoidable.

I can no longer read to my son while he's on my lap, and I can definitely no longer do it with his big old head resting under my chin. This little quirk of his is no longer a thing. I'm going to go cry now. Or maybe go snuggle with him...

Results

Thank you everyone for taking the time to comment or call or text with your opinions on the spelling of Cecilia's nickname. It really helped Bryan and I make our final decision (okay, okay...Bryan was very much just along for the ride on this one). I think the reason I needed votes was because I didn't really love either of them....

Enter Cecie :)

Mistakes

Pretty much since bringing Cecie home Simon has been having trouble in school on and off. He's pretty much pushed every button he can think of from general attention seeking to spitting to bothering other kids to not listening.

For a while it was working well when he knew he wouldn't get to do anything fun in the afternoon if he misbehaved, including no friends and no tv. Conversely if he was a good boy, we would always make a point of doing something fun in the afternoon. The positive effect this was having seems to have worn off, though.

He's been pushing buttons at home as well. I just erased all of my examples because they are A) better off forgotten and B) are embarrassingly naughty so I prefer not to share all of them. To top it off, here was my conversation with him after I found out about his less than stellar day at school:

Me: Did you spit at school today?
Simon: Uh huh.
Me: Was that a good choice?
Simon: {Said awfully cheerily} No it was not a good choice. I just made a mistake; everyone makes mistakes, right mumma?


Right. If it's a mistake that makes it okay. I forgot. This is one small of what I'm talking about when I say he has an answer for everything.

So now what? Maybe he needs more attention at home. Maybe new rewards and consequences. Maybe it's a stage. Maybe all of the above...all I know is we'll keep trying and hope to see some positive changes that stick.

I was serious about those votes....

I requested votes. I did not receive many votes. Please vote:

Cece or Cici?!

This is important, people! :)

How Big is Cecilia?

SOOOOOO BIG.

Today we had Cece's two month check up. She is really almost three months, but Dr. Solberg felt it was more important to see his sister in Singapore over Cici's real two month birthday so this appointment got delayed by three weeks. I wonder what these stats would have looked like a few weeks go? I'm guessing they would still indicate she's a big girl!

Weight: 14 lbs 11 oz (97.56%)
Height: 24.75" (96.49%)
Head: 42 cm (95.14%)

The bottom line is that she's growing and perfectly proportional :)

{CC just doesn't look like a real name so I'm trying out Cece and Cici...votes?}

--

Bath time has never been my favorite. I don't know what it is, but there's something about a slippery floppy baby that just never appealed to me. Even as Simon got older I still never looked forward to bath time for whatever reason. You can see why it suits me just fine that Cece's hair shouldn't be washed more than about once a week right now, but soon enough bath time is going to equal hair time which is going to equal hours of time...oy.

So a routine has been born. Every Thursday night Cici is going to get a bath followed by Mom or Dad combing and playing with her hair. Eventually this is going to turn into a much bigger deal, so for now we will enjoy the ease of it and later on we will enjoy the challenge :)

I know I'm biased, but that face is beautiful...and have you ever seen a baby with hair like that?

I love that it looks like we are waving to each other :)

She looks a little dazed from the bathing experience.

Happy!

Feelin' All Misty Eyed

It's funny to think that 2 months and 2 days ago I was walking around the Betty Brinn Children's Museum with Simon on his 4th birthday, clueless about the call that would come in the 4 o'clock hour later that day.

There were a bunch of little African American girls there that morning and I remember checking out their hair wondering how in the world I would ever braid like that one day and wondering if my daughter would look like any of them. It's funny that sometimes I will see a little AA girl now and wonder if Baby Girl will look like that. Then I remember that Baby Girl has a name now and while I don't know what she will look like as a 2 or 3 or 4 year old, I know what she looks like at this very moment. The thought that all the waiting and wondering is now a living, breathing thing still makes me all misty eyed.

Something else that's been making me feel nice and sappy inside is that my best friend from 7th grade had her baby on Sunday. A perfect little baby girl. It's amazing to me that after almost two decades of friendship we still see each other often, we have babies just a couple of months apart and those babies are now "God Sisters." We chose her husband to be Cecilia's Godfather and they chose yours truly to be their baby's Godmother (insert huge smile here). The thought that we have such good friends in them and so many others is a beautiful thing!

They are both super excited about having to take a picture together.

Just fine.

Read this blog post. You will laugh...out loud...I promise.

There is one line that really isn't funny at all, but I'm copying it here because I want you to read it and imprint it in your brain if you find yourself feeling guilty about your choices or questioning how good of a parent you are or thinking you might not be doing things exactly right...

"Are you a good person? Then your baby is going to be just fine." :)

A fifth and a first Easter

The above is how Simon stayed entertained while waiting for his eggs to color. Below is how he stayed entertained while waiting for Easter dinner up in Appleton...

Yes, he was really stuck and when the cat started walking towards him he started frantically yelling for help. Being the good mom that I am I went for my camera before going to his rescue (but don't worry, Bryan went to him right away).

Here are some more from our Easter weekend:

Hunting for eggs at the Annual Hermus Front Yard Easter Egg Hunt.

Love little socks like this. So fun having a little girl :)

Is my Easter basket behind the curtain?

Is it under the Pack n Play?

Nope, it's inside it!

Love this face.

All About Adoption

The other day we were driving in the car and this was my conversation with Simon:

Simon - {Sadly} I don't want to be a birth father...
Me - What do you mean?
Simon - {Upset and teary now} I don't want to be a birth father because then I won't be able to live with you anymore...

This is a very abbreviated version of our exchange, but you get the idea. He was very upset about being a birth father someday and very much associated it with not living with his family. It was SO INTERESTING to hear him articulate what he thought a birth father was - someone who didn't live with their family. It's amazing what he has picked up on. It makes me wonder if we should really try to explain things better to him but it's very difficult. He understands so much, but so little at the same time. I don't know what to really do about this one except assure him right now that we love him (and his sister) very much and we'll always be a family.

There has got to be a book on this.

--

We got a beautiful letter from Cecilia's birth mother this week. She had a lot to say about God, how she is using her faith to get through this time and how she so badly wants to turn her life around. It was well written with beautiful penmanship; I hope this letter was the first of many. Whenever I think about it I just go back to the thought that Cecilia has two mommas who love her in their own unique ways and that makes her a lucky little girl.

I pray she sees it that way someday.

--

Part of what took me so long to jump on the adoption train was this: "How could I love another person as much as I love Simon? Wouldn't it be that much harder if it weren't my biological child?" Well, I'm here to tell you folks that that was pure nonsense. Now I wonder if I would have another child (through any route) if I'd love that one as much as I love the two I have now :)

I'm so glad we finally did jump on the adoption train and found our way to this beautiful baby...I think we are all better for it.

Today

Today I got up an hour before both of my kids. Normally they are my alarm clock, but today I felt like getting up early.

Today my kitchen is as destroyed as it's ever been. Just ask my sister who popped in last night...she actually laughed!

Today I have a lot of work to do for Run Like a Mother and Fleet Feet.

Today is an Easter Parade at Simon's school and I'm hoping I don't forget my camera.

Today I HAVE to fill out some paperwork for my adoption agency. I think I've been putting it off partially in defiance that I have to fill out monthly reports about my daughter. Not sound reasoning, I know.

Today I want to add a few more words to the list of words Simon says funny: beehock is peacock; stampeling is stapling. I also never want to forget the way he says, "What did you say?" when he just plain doesn't understand what you're talking about.

Today I need to make some returns, make some purchases, send out thank you cards and catch up on laundry.

Today my mom is helping out with the kids so I can really address everything I need to do today with a free mind and free arms. Thanks, Mom :)

2 months, 2 days

Today our little peanut is 2 months and 2 days old. How that happened, I'm not entirely sure.

I wish I could give some stats from her 2 month check up, but her doctor is in Singapore visiting his sister so we have to wait a couple of weeks for official numbers. I can give some other updates, though...

-She is getting stronger every day. She can generally hold her head up fine, but is still a little wobbly sometimes depending on how you are holding her.

-She started generally sleeping through the night about a week and a half ago. In that week and a half we've had 8-10 hour stretches, but a couple nights in there she got up somewhere in the middle. Learning to sleep is a skill I suppose so I fully expect every night to be a little different for a while. And then once we see a real pattern emerge, maybe it will be a stuffy nose, ear infection, teeth or just plain loneliness that will change things up again. I will just keep enjoying any rest I get and hope it continues!

-She licks her fist like a lollipop any chance she gets.

-She is cooing and smiling all the time now, which I absolutely LOVE. She loves to stare at clocks and light fixtures and flirt with them. It's like she's sharing a private joke with these things, which just makes us laugh.

-Her curls are starting to tighten up and get a little more unruly. They are still quite soft but I can tell it's changing a little. Supposedly I need to start putting a little olive oil in her hair and making finger coils so both she and her hair get used to being manhandled...hairstyling will be a huge part of both our lives one day soon!

-Her hands no longer match the color of mine like they did when she was born. I'm regretful that I never took a direct picture of our hands together right away. It'd be interesting to look back and see how much they've changed in 2 short months (they are now the same deep brown as the rest of her).

-She doesn't love or hate the nuk. It helps her to calm down in a moment of anger, but she doesn't use it most of the day.

-Naps are unpredictable. This morning she slept from 9 to 11 which was nice; I wonder if that will become routine. I'm scared of being a slave to naps again...while I always cherished nap time, it's going to hard to have one napping and one not in the afternoons.

-She eats 4-6 oz at a time. We regularly offer 6 oz because so often she will pound the whole thing, but just as often she is bored after 4.

-She is bright eyed, happy and gorgeous. I can't believe how lucky we got...