So many changes

This is the puppy I write about below. She's already found a home and a name: Chloe.

I'm trying to keep this blog going because changes are happening so fast around our house I forget things VERY quickly.

We moved Gabriel's bed into the playroom Sunday and he seems ok with sleeping in there until Joel gets a little older and less loud. Joel is a VERY loud crier and we were convinced that Gabriel would be bothered during late or overnight feedings and diaper changes. Joel seems to be adjusting pretty well to his crib from the bassinet. I checked on both of them several times Sunday night but graduated to only once last night. I still hope to have them in one room eventually, even though it's nice for them to each have their own space. But that means we lose our office/future spare room.

Gabriel has hit some kind of developmental phase. All of a sudden he can put on his shoes and socks, pull up his pants, zip up his coat and all sorts of things he couldn't (or didn't have the confidence for) a month ago. We are also making small headway with potty training. We have him sitting in there with no diaper on 5 or 6 times a day whereas before he refused to take his diaper off. We're hoping the idea of actually going in the potty chair will kick in eventually. All of this was thanks to the enticement of truck stickers that he gets to put on a poster every time he sits. His speech has all of a sudden gotten so much better. He is pronouncing everything clearly and slowly and we don't ever have trouble understanding him now. We've decided against more therapy for now.

As hard as parenting is, it is the only thing I've ever done in my life that gives me a sense that what I do every day really matters. When Gabriel looks up at me with a huge smile on his face and says, "I did it, Mama" after pulling up his pants by himself, it makes me feel so proud and happy I could burst. No job has ever or will ever give me such a sense of accomplishment. It's the reason I find the energy to get up and do it all again the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. It's something I strive to be not just good at, but great at. If someone were to start giving grades for parenting, I would want exemplary marks.

But I digress. Joel is starting to reach out for everything we put in front of him, and can grab all kinds of things. The hardest thing I'm dealing with now with him is tummy time. I basically didn't think to put him on his tummy for the first two months of his life, and so we've been having five minute tummy time sessions to get his neck and back strong enough to hold up that ginormous head of his. He HATES tummy time. If we make if five minutes twice a day, that's a pretty good day. But it's helping because he can now hold his head at 45 degrees for a minute or so.

We are all having allergy issues. I took the boys outside yesterday afternoon for an hour, and all three of us have sneezy, runny noses this morning. Jav was already having trouble. But I refuse to stay inside because of it. We will fight through spring! I'm going to start my second antibiotic to get rid of yet another sinus infection. I'm also going to call an EENT specialist to see if I qualify for sinus laser surgery.

I survived my first time with Jav away last week. He had a work trip for two nights in Houston, and we came out of it pretty well. The trick is to give the boys their baths before dinner. After dinner Gabriel is hyper and Joel is just a cranky mess. The hardest thing was trying to get Gabriel to bed peacefully even though Joel was screaming here and there. We were all very happy to see Daddy/Jav when he got back!

And we have been tempted by a ridiculously cute Rottweiler puppy even though to take on a puppy right now would be certifiably crazy. This little female puppy wandered into my neighbor's yard Sunday and he's trying to either find the owner or someone who wants her. She is very calm and could possibly be full-blooded. I wish I had never seen her, not just because of the cute factor and guilt if he gives up and takes her to a shelter, but because I think she is exactly what we would be looking for once Molly can't be a good guard dog anymore. But Molly has a few good years left, we hope, and I just don't have any more energy to devote to dealing with, walking, and training a puppy right now. Plus Bones would probably kill us all in our beds if we brought any more new beings into our house for awhile!