February in Review -- Hearts Full, Learning to Play...

February was a big "learning" month for all of us... In our house, dress up play is a regular occurance...

...LM shows SC the Art of Dress Up Play...
...And he shows her "Planned" Drama...
(read between the lines if you will --- but let's just say Mama is having to learn some new moves and strategies for the frequency and intensity of "unplanned" drama that has come up...)

As always, SC is quick to be by LM's side, watching what he is doing and wanting to be a part of it somehow... Tho admittedly, LM is still learning how to include her, and let's just say in February, he wasn't all that into including her... Sigh.

Also learning to get along are our SC and our puppy, Ashton, who is just amazing...

...SC and Ashton "Horsing" Around...

Tho admittedly Mama is also now needing to learn how to watch out for him... I get that everyone is feeling a tad "displaced"... And find it funny even the dog is acting up more... Seriously. It is not an unusual scene for me to have 1 child on me, another child clamoring for me (or on me) and the dog sneaking his nose in to dig a tissue or napkin out of my pocket while I have no hands free to guard them... Funny puppy...

...My Little Carnie...

On this particular day, LM and I were playing "Carnival" -- he is big into "Do you have a ticket for this ride?" ... Suddenly, he says to me "Wait a minute mom".. Mind you, he had already decided that as the "gate keeper" of the "Rides" in our play room, he needed to be almost fully stripped down. So when he took off into the kitchen, I half expected a full monty to be returning... However, I had told him that I didn't have any tickets.. and Instead, he returned with a bunch of receipts he had seen on the counter, tucked into his panties and then he started handing them out, saying "Here ya go, folks, now you can all go on the rides a lot of times! Ticket Please! Thank you, enjoy the ride" -- and then he would "waive" me onto the "ride" (which was also made up)... Such a creative lil soul!

...More Dress Up Play...

February also found us all relatively sick, unfortunately...It was a true example of "rotating" infectious disease now matter how much I scrubbed and vacuumed and changed sheets...I learned how to care for 2 kids while being beyond overtired (1-2 hours/sleep /night was a "good" night of sleep) and having chronic sinusitis and terrible migraines (hence the total hiatus from many things in life including this blog, but I needed to get back to the blog as this is our children's "memoir".. of course publishing it into annual books is another story)...Anyway, In addition to cold and respiratory flu season, the GI bug hit... which left LM disinterested in eating for days.... Finally I went and picked up a few "key" ingredients that I suspected would kick start him... potato chips (check, first round offered, accepted, gobbled down), bacon (check, first round offered, accepted, gobbled down), and red raspberries (what? huh?)... yup, it's true...

.... Accepted, Played "LM Raspberry Hands", and then Gobbled down...

With all his stomach stuff before we figured out the hpylori, serious reflux, and food allergies, somehow I discovered he loves red and black raspberries... I hadn't gotten them in a while so suspected he would jump for it.... I love those "unexpected" great heartwarming moments... this one was watching his joy and creativity in eating them! :)

Among the unexpected pleasures... watching my man with our kids... He is so great and has been really fantastic... 2 really does MORE than double all the work (which I heard but wasn't really understanding until I was living it)... I am thankful every single day that Jeff is the kind of guy who comes home from work and immediately jumps in with the kids... and they adore him... admittedly SC has had some issues loving Papa while Mama is visually present, but she has and she loves him... Smiling and bouncing up and down saying "d-d-d-d" and waving when he walks in the door from work... I secretly think that LM also has added love because Papa CAN pick them both up... LM has had a lot of "leg paralysis" (ie; "I can't walk" syndrome) that has been physically and emotionally taxing -- he doesn't get that I simply, physically, cannot carry the 2 of them...together they are more than half my weight.. But Papa can hold and carry the 2 of them, so he gets extra bonus points.. :)

...Papa Rocks!!...

February also brought us a visitor -- Granddad Pete came into town!! It was great because we finally have a place for guests to sleep -- or at least to lay down and pretend they are trying to sleep since February was also a non sleeping month here in our house -- Both kids were having a really really awful time sleeping... And that is putting it mildly... But we had fun and are glad GD Pete came to play!! (and hopeful he was able to catch up on sleep and kick the cold we surely shared with him when he got home!)

...Hello GD Pete, says SC...

Their first meeting...

...LM loves reading, hanging with GDPete...

Granddad Pete even taught him how to play "The Lady Bug" game... to which LM still says "oh, no, now this is a real problem" which i KNOW he learned from Granddad because I was sitting in the kitchen listening and smiling the whole time they were playing and heard Granddad "acting" through the game to keep him interested, several times saying those very same words...

...Neither rain, nor snow, nor freezing cold weather...

...Playground Fun is Found with Granddad Pete..

Our family is outdoors as much as possible...

...SC Struts her Stuff...

LM started in his very first "extra" activity in February -- "Soccer Gymnastics" with his buddy Jake... He loved it the first day and overall continues to like it once he gets there...

...proud soccer boy...

..So into soccer that first day he wanted to wear his soccer clothes to bed...

...First Trail Ride...

We went back to our old house, pulled out the bike and roller blades, and took SC on her first ride on the trail... She wasn't convinced but we know over time she'll come to love it as much as our LM does! he was SOO excited to be back out on Papa's bike!!

..."It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere"...
...Learning to Smile together and be siblings...

Dear LM -- I am so proud of your efforts and I fully understand how hard all of this is for you... You went from being 1 of a large group of kids in your baby home, and worked hard to learn how to be an "only" child in our home... For more than 2 1/2 years, you were with me or Papa and sometimes (thank you Gamma!) Gamma and CoCo...but bottom line was you were always with family until we started pre-school in earnest this year... You were and relished in being the center of our universe... I miss having you to myself, too.. And I am an adult who not only "got the memo" about having more kids, I co-wrote it with your Papa.... So if I miss all the 1:1 time we got, surely you must miss it 100 fold... We love you so much and watching you struggle more emotionally makes us sad... But we know you can do this... We watch as you learn to play with your sister, and we know you can do it... we know how important siblings are as we really value our siblings... And I pray every single day many many times that, together, we will all find the strength and fortitude to see you and your sister become the best of buddies... As you read this in years to come, please know how much we love you... and how we truly hope that you look back and find that bringing your sister into our lives enriched ALL of our lives... And that, like we love our siblings (your uncles and aunts), you will love your sibling and she will be a great friend...and that you two will be lifelong supporters of one another... Thank you for trying and working so hard... We love you!

Dear SC -- it is incredible how much you have changed!! You were a "shell shocked" but adorable baby just 2 months ago... You amaze us with your ability to "watch, learn, and do"... You think the world of your brother and try to do all the things he does... You are trying very hard to learn how to walk so you can keep up with everyone... Your smile and belly laugh warm our lives... We can't believe our good fortune. We love you!!