Month 2

I’m feeling really proud that I’m posting once a month. I hope this will continue. Feel free to affirm the hell outta me about this, if you want.

Angus’ birthday isn’t the sole reason for posting, but it’s a good reminder that we’ve managed to make it through another month of keeping two kids alive and surviving as a family of four. So, why not use the excuse?

Ergo . . .

Yesterday, Angus hit two months!

As you can see, he’s up to 7 lbs 11 oz, which is 2 lbs in a month, and almost double his birth weight (and way more than double his lowest weight.) It also makes him about the size of an average newborn.

It’s weird to see him and feel like he’s HUGE and also know that HUGE 2 month old Angus = average sized just born baby. I’m sure it will continue to be weird for us, and I know that for folks who had much earlier and smaller preemies, it’s an even bigger contrast.

He also decided to pull out the real, big, social smiles yesterday, and upped his cooing quoitiant as well!

He’s meeting all of the other anticipated milestones, albeit a few weeks later than usual, which is to be expected. The ped is slightly worried about his muscle tone, so she’s referred him to a physical therapist for an evaluation. But, he continues to gain weight and meet or exceed expectations! And, he’s finally sturdy enough that we don’t feel like he’s made of glass!

Ansel continues to love school, and we’ve added in swim lessons 2x/week and gymnastics 1x/week. We decided to buy a membership to the YMCA in part so we could get him into these activities (all the classes are included with membership) and also get some dedicated time to ourselves for walking/bike riding/whatever. We even splurged for the “child watch’ which allows us some child care for Ansel so we can use the facilities too. So far, we’ve made it to all of the toddler’s classes but 0 activities for the moms. Gotta work on that.

Ansel really enjoys both of the activities, though he struggles with the direction following and waiting involved. But, this is partially the impetus for getting him in classes – to help him gain some of those skills. He’s getting better each week and seems to really appreciate the patterns in the classes.

PS – this is what he picked out to wear last week and wouldn’t take any of it off for gymnastics class later on. May my child always choose the glitter leggings. May he also always be this sassy.

Sibling relations continue to be terrifying and adorable, simultaneously. We cannot leave Ansel alone in a room with Angus because he will find his soft spot and push on it, or drop a train on his head, or . . .you know, almost anything well meaning but likely to get in the way of Project Keep Kids Alive. This, of course, makes getting anything besides child care a little difficult, but mostly works out ok. Ansel still loves Tiny and wants to hold him, or sing to him, or comfort him when he cries. He also steals the wubbanub pacifier out of Angus’ mouth and hides it near the toilet, so . . .win some, lose some.

Ansel has deepened his love for Minnie Mouse recently, and has taken to dragging around the very large stuffed Minnie toy we got him for xmas last year. (Yellow train has taken a back seat, though is still in rotation) He likes taking her to the park, tucking her in bed with him, and brushing her teeth. He dug out the Minnie ears from our trip to Disney and has been wearing them around the house frequently, usually along with his red white and blue tutu. He frequently makes us wear costumes as well.

We have been trying to explain Halloween to him and while I’m not sure he really gets it (mostly he loves ‘pumpums’ and ‘skeleons’) he has finally expressed a desire to dress as Mickey or maybe Minnie . . .seems to change with the day and circumstance. He also assigned the rest of us identities from the gang (I was also assigned Minnie, L got Pluto and Gus is Goofy) so I guess we are committed to it now. I’m making him a red tutu with Minnie Mouse trim and we’ll have some red shorts in waiting in case he decides he’d rather go with Mickey.

We took Ansel to be evaluated for development two weeks ago, since his verbal skills continue to track behind most of his peers. He talks, A LOT, but is very difficult to understand and frequently uses ‘jargon’ or gibberish instead of discernable sounds. The free early intervention folks were lovely, and told us that while he is indeed behind in his communication (receptive communication is fine, he just struggles to make sounds) he’s not far enough behind to qualify for services. So, we are looking into seeing a speech therapist through our insurance to help him get a little boost. Of course, the day after the intervention he started saying more words more clearly . . .that’s the way things go, right? They also recommended having his ears and adenoids checked, even though he’s never had an ear infection (#knockonwood #blessed) – apparently there can be liquid in the ear without infection? Anyway, it could be why he attempts speech but isn’t understandable. So, we’ll see.

L’s seroma is finally closed. It took almost exactly two weeks, but as of today she has been released from the wound clinic and her incision is healed! Last week she was hooked up to a PICO device which meant she couldn’t shower for 7 days (torture. showering is like the only humanity you have as a new, nursing parent) BUT it really seems to have done the job. It is, essentially, a vacuum to suck out the ongoing blood and liquid to help heal the wound. And, when she took it off today, it was in fact healed. Hooray!

I started back to work two days a week a few weeks ago. So far, I’m working from a coffee shop down the street once a week and then coming to the office on another day. My brain is foggy and sticky, and it’s a challenge to be here when, like last night, sleep was in short supply. But, it also feels good to be back to doing what I love and feeling connected to the outside world. We are working on figuring out ways for L to get this too, despite the fact that she doesn’t have a job to return to (although she has started the process of looking again and there’s a great opportunity SO CLOSE . . .!)

We are headed into birthday/holiday season! Next week I’ll be 36, on the downward slope to 40. In November, L bests me by turning 37. Then we roll onto Thanksgiving (our besties from denver are coming to stay with us for the week!!!!!) and Xmas in Indiana (more on our decision to make this xmas our last one travelling in a later post) And rain. I think it’s probably going to start raining soon.

And so, we roll along. Another month down . . .