I am behind on all things blog. I haven't written MJ's 5-year post. Or Teddy's 10 month post. Having these hang over my head has prevented me from posting at all. Here are some tidbits from our life right now.
MJ is in the habit of asking very probing questions right now. What is the last number? Where did the first people come from? How are ribbons made? (Not so much that last one.) I have mentioned before on here how much her non-stop chatter gets to me. However, the other night she stayed at a friends house and I totally missed it. It was nice to spend some time with Greta and Teddy, but I missed having conversations. I missed my buddy.
For the past couple of months, MJ has been napping daily. Considering she stopped napping at 3 1/2, this is quite a change. Previously I felt that so many of her behavior issues were because she's tired all the time, and if she just slept in she would act better. Although she never succeeded in sleeping in, now that she naps she is such a great kid, all the time. Granted, she's often up until 9 (or even later!) but the tradeoff is a well behaved and pleasant child. With her napping, that means I often have a triple-nap happening, and I have even come to rely on that afternoon nap for myself. It has totally messed with my sleep schedule, though, and I don't even know what a normal sleep schedule would look like for me anymore.
G is so very 2. She still screams when she wants to frustrate me, but she is also so resourceful. Rather than ask if she can have something when she thinks we'll say no, instead she climbs into the cupboard and just gets it for herself. Although she regularly whacks her brother, she also has started to share with him. She frequently goes out of her way to make sure he has a toy, or a snack, and will even fish things out of his mouth that he feels compelled to chew on. Tonight she got herself some cereal, and then shared it with her brother. I didn't understand what was funny but they were laughing hysterically. It was such a bonding moment.
Although G likes her brother, she adores her sister. When MJ spent the night at her friends, G was at a total loss what to do with herself. The girls play together constantly. Although there is fighting, it is always short lived and quickly resolved, usually with minimal violence. A favorite game is MJ on a horse pulling G in some basket, or a line of baskets that are a "train" or something similar. Another fave is MJ sitting and calling for G to bring her things; sometimes it's tea for her sick baby, sometimes it's biscuits for the queen, who knows. Sometimes even G devises the game, usually something simpler like "steal the baby doll and run away as fast as you can", but they are both entertained and take turns.
And then there's baby Teddy. He is called "baby" so often that he really just learned his name. G has a tough time saying "Teddy" so we tend to all call him "baby". He is still crawling, though I continue to think he'll be walking soon. He pulls up on everything, all the time. He will let go and stand for 10 seconds or so. And he will use walker toys for short distances. I can't help but wonder if he's making sure he's extra steady, knowing Greta will probably knock him down once he starts walking. Although it will be nice to not keep my floors so clean (not that they're that clean), he's so darn cute when he's crawling. He points his hands inward, very gorilla like, and books it across the floor. He crawls over to me to be cuddled, then squirms to get down and see what his sisters are doing. Lots of babbling, "dada's" and "baba's" and "mama's", all of which don't mean anything yet. I thought he waved at me and said "hi" last week, but he hasn't repeated it.
As for sleep, he's finally doing some of it. Through sheer force, borne of fatigue, he's finally sleeping through the night. He tends to wake up at 5:00, though, or a little before, ready to start the day. 5:00 is early. Especially given my wonky sleep. He usually gets a catnap in the morning, then a long nap when the girls sleep at about 1:00. Many days that long nap is mostly on me, which I can't say I mind. I love snuggling with him, and it seems to help, but has definitely become a habit for both of us.
All in all, times are good. Winter has hit. I can tell it's going to be a long one. With MJ's school getting out at 11:00, but most things not opening until 10:00, I'm already feeling pent up. And it's been about a week.
Here's hoping sleep settles in. The baby sleeps. And sleep....
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