Two Months with Maggie

She is my "little sweetheart," dad's "big girl," and Henry's "baby."

Last Thursday marked two months since Maggie has been here with our family. It feels like she has been with us forever. Henry still adores her and hugs and kisses her several times throughout the day. He loves to lay his head on hers, touch her face, and give her kisses. And he never, ever hits her. He is so good about keeping his anger directed towards anyone but her.

Maggie is a happy baby girl, giving us lots of coos and smiles. I love her noises and her smiles. She is looking more and more like a Holmes girl in a Gibson body. She has my long fingers and toes and is measuring in the 99th percentile for height and 54th percentile for weight. Maggie is long and lean. She is as bald as can be with the exception of her "old man hair" which is dark in color. Her hair goes from ear to ear in the back of her head. Her dark, blue eyes remind me of Henry's at this stage and her eye lashes are dark. We love the dimple in her chin and anticipate dimpled chins be a defining mark of our family. So far we all have one.

Maggie is a really good baby. And by good I mean good at sleeping. We are usually getting a five to six hour stretch between feedings at night, giving me some much needed sleep. I'm a wreck with little sleep and am so grateful for how well she is sleeping at night. We even had a seven hour stretch one night. Maggie is also good when she is awake. She's content to lay on her play mat or in her swing and gracefully takes brother's physical affection, even when it becomes a little rough.

We are so grateful for her spirit in our home and the added measure of love and joy she brings with her.

A Gift

Henry is at a difficult stage right now. Our mornings usually consist of a tantrum. So do our afternoons. He cries, throws himself on the floor, looks at me, and keeps crying. I ask what he wants and when I don't get an answer, I ignore him. After awhile, he usually finds and snuggles with his blanket, talks (in jibberish) with his happy tone of voice, and moves on with his morning (or afternoon).

I've been wondering what is wrong with him, what is wrong with me, what is wrong with us. Not just because of the tantrums, but in general: something seems different. Maybe I'm too busy worrying about why he isn't talking (in English) as much as he should be. Is he feeling like I don't love him? He has so much fun with dad every single day--why not with me? What happened to my happy, easy-going, content baby? What has happened with our relationship?

Last night I said to Brendon, "Is it bad that I miss my 15-month-old Henry?" Within a couple hours of saying that, I read this article ("A View of Birth from an Infertile Womb"), written by a friend in my book club group.

Now I know.

Love him more. Worry less. Be more grateful for him, as he is. 

I know not everything is going to be easy and "perfect" after this spark of much-needed inspiration. I know the tantrum will most likely come tomorrow morning...and probably in the afternoon, too. But it is more important for me to love that little boy than to worry about how he talks or wish he was something he isn't or worry what others think of me or him. Find the positive moments throughout the day and dwell on those. Find opportunities to express my love with time and affection.

After all, "(he is) a gift so special it would never be repeated or imitated. A miraculous gift."

Two Months with Dad

We haven't exactly had a solid two months with dad home, but looking back on life since Maggie sure feels like dad was home a lot to help ease the transition to our new life. I've already mentioned that Brendon has been a saint--a laundry-folding, babysitting, helping hand saint--and Henry would agree that life with dad at home is grande.

Brendon had some interviews and was out of town here and there and he did an ER rotation during the past two months, but his schedule has allowed me to sleep as needed and Henry to have the playmate he needs so badly. We love dad beyond words.

During our time with dad, we mostly stayed cooped up inside playing with toys, eating dinner together, watching movies, and enjoying "Sister." Despite being cooped up most of the time, Dad & Henry made an outing for Henry's first time playing in the snow. Henry now loves to eat snow, even when there is only a small amount on the grass, making it extra clean. Henry eats dirt, though, so he could care less. Dad & Henry also enjoyed sledding together.

We ventured outside to go to Chuck E Cheese one day. Henry rode on one ride. We set him inside a car and, despite the fun he seemed to have, he didn't care to do it again. We spent the rest of the time trying to convince him to ride this or play that. He thought the dragon ride was a real dragon (we've been watching "How to Train Your Dragon" these days). When I showed him that the dragon was nice by petting him, Henry reached out his hand, touched the dragon, quickly retracted his hand, and hugged me tightly. He mostly enjoyed watching all the kids play on the rides. Dad played basketball to use up the tokens we cashed in and we all left happy with a crazy straw and two packages of smarties.

Now we are back to real life. Dad works from 7 am to 5:30 pm and we are happily staying inside (at least I am), playing with toys and friends to keep us busy. Henry has been a sleeping champ yesterday and today, making both mom and Henry happy people.