James and I laughed and said we should title this entry “The Dark Blog”. It’s been a while since I have had the time to write, but once you read this entry you will understand why. This summer has been the definition of “CHAOS”. James and I were confident we could handle the stress of three kids close in age. We may have been wrong…
We thought that summer time would be the perfect time to have our third baby so that James would be around to help. We did not anticipate that the lack of routine would throw Casey and Julia into a tailspin. They have both been whining, fighting, and overall fairly disagreeable. It has been very hard for James and I to handle. It makes us cranky and when the kids don’t listen, scream at us, scream at each other, don’t eat, hit each other, then we start yelling at them and it all gets very unpleasant. We are frustrated about how to handle the situation, as the kids don’t seem to respond to our attempts at discipline and we don’t know why the change has happened. I truly believe the lack of routine has gotten to them, and on top of the fact that we have bought this new house that we are trying to work on. James and I are torn every single day between trying to make progress on our “to do list” and entertaining the kids. We try to strike a balance but it is not enough for the kids. Especially with how much we entertain them at home on a usual basis.
So with all that said, you add Molly into the mix. And, as fate would have it, we were the lucky people who get to experience the dreaded colic not once, but twice. Fortunately Molly is much easier to soothe than Julia was, but she still cries a lot and requires a lot of personal attention and holding and what not. You can’t just put her down on a play mat and work around the house. She has been eating every three hours but I am trying to move her to every four as of yesterday. She’s been alright at night, we rarely have an awful night and she’ll sleep in 3-4 hour clips. The news in that department is that I have had mastitis twice in the last two weeks. The second time I don’t think I have ever been so sick as I was this weekend. I had a fever of 103.5 and lost about 10 pounds sweating (seriously) over four days. Because of that I decided to slowly start weaning and last night gave Julia her first bottle of formula. She had her bottle at 8pm and did not wake up until 3am. I nursed her and she went back to sleep until 8am. Whoa!! So we are trying out a new routine and I am going to drop a feeding every 5-7 days or so. We’ll see how it goes. Molly is a very lovable baby despite the colic. She started cooing a few days ago and is becoming very alert. She looks around with her big eyes and it is nice to see changes like that. She had had baby acne when she turned 2.5 weeks but it went away. Sometimes she gets red bumps on her body when it is very hot and sticky, but they go away when things are cooler.
Of course the news on JJ and Casey is not all negative. We have had good times this summer and the girls are doing well. They both seem to be getting bigger and have tans. Casey is getting more and more into using her imagination. She makes up words to songs and creates stories in her head. She gives everything names now and likes playing games that involve pretend. This week she has been packing bags to go to Martha’s Vineyard. She and James pack, and have tickets, they push strollers to the couch and then ride the ferry.
Julia is changing too. Her hair is getting longer which changes her look. Did I ever write that she has chipped one of her front two teeth? It is a riot and fits her personality perfectly. She is using 4 words strung together more and more and has begun to use “I” in the correct way lately, which is impressive since it took Casey a long time to figure out and she spoke much more by this time. She eats very well, tries lots of stuff and when she is hungry will pound food. She has started to really have a capability to memorize songs and books. Sometimes she walks around with her fingers crossed on both hands which is bizarre. We had to call poison control for the second time in her 21 months of life when she started eating the comet under the sink. Nothing came of it. She must not have eaten a lot. Julia is working on her toilet training. We keep her nakey as much as we can and most times she successfully tells us when she needs to use the toilet for pee pee or poo poo. She has accidents, especially if she is wearing clothes but no diaper. But she is doing well with it.
So the combination of all this is a lot for us to handle. I feel incredibly fortunate that I have such a strong relationship with James and that he is such a wonderful partner. We get tired, frustrated and totally worn down by the kids pretty much every day. It is hard to take and I can’t imagine getting through it alone.