The past six weeks or so have been busy. Day to day life has taken on a new and tiring, but sustainable, pattern. Ezra has never nursed again (in reference to my last post). I also never did get my good grieving cry session in--I kept holding out hope--and eventually the passing of time has eased the stress and sorrow of the situation.
I don't know how some moms do it. Pump, feed, pump, feed, pump, feed, pump some more. It's an endless cycle that I am soooo tired of, and I've only been doing it for 6 weeks! However, I am determined to not throw in the towel just yet--I am striving toward the goal of his one year birthday before I wean him off of breastmilk. In the meantime, I am trying to enjoy a bit more of the freedom that comes from having a baby who doesn't need me around to eat before bedtime or whenever. Funny thing is, I feel more like a slave to my pump than I ever did to my baby! I have a love/hate relationship with that thing right now...
Moving on. In the last couple of weeks, I have been struck by how BIG my boys are getting. So old, so mature, so....funny. I hear myself coming out of Isaiah's lips more and more, when he says phrases like: "Mommy, you need be more careful!" (with a big frown) And, "Mommy, you need give me more space." (as he comes through with his stool in front of the bathroom vanity.) And, "No, Eh-ra, not for you. You not touch it."
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| Blackberry picking |
He is remarkably polite, and it seems like each week he needs less and less prompting--coming up with please, thank you, and clearing the table all on his own initiative.
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| Enjoy a sour apple from the local tree |
He is orderly. Things have a place, and should be in that place. On our way out the door to go somewhere he has been known to quickly run around the room throwing toys back into the toy box. "Need clean up, Mom!" Our emphasis early on in his life of cleaning up after we're done playing is
seriously paying off, even much more than I would ask. Sometimes he will come out from his nap, see the table if I was working on something, examine it with a frown, wave his hand over it, shake his head and say "Messy. Need clean up."...with a look of utter disgust. Yes, yes, dear one, Mommy will clean up her mess!
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| Daddy's days off are great! |
He is also very affectionate. "I need big hug" (usually said while crying) is his go-to response when upset, or when he gets in trouble. I frequently get big hugs with a kiss and "I miss-ed you Mom"...even when I'm sitting at the table next to him. His 'lots-of-kisses' bedtime routine for me is to gently hold my face with both of his hands, and kiss (very loudly) both ears, both cheeks, my chin, forehead, and lips. I will hold those sweet kisses in my heart forever.
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| Fun at a park with a water feature! |
He can count to 10, and knows the names of most of the letters in the alphabet. I was obsessing over his learning when he was 18-24 months, but now that he is at a good mental age to
actually really pick things up quickly, I am sorry to say that I have been quite lax in dedicated learning time as of late. It is a goal for the fall to start back up again--he is a sponge waiting for information!
He also has great hand-eye coordination and dexterity. He has impressive frisbee-throwing capabilities (the form! the distance! the coordination!), is so adept with a fork and spoon that he's basically ready for a formal table setting, and generally often leaves us looking at each other with mouths open--"Did you see what he just did?!?"--in an awed kind of way.
We think he is terrific. Can you tell? :)
And Ezra. He was our big newborn, long and very scrawny 4 month old, and now average...11 month old?! There is no way that he is almost one. No way! It feels like he should be 6 or 7 months old. Time has gone so quickly with my sweet boy #2.
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| We love to play with frisbees! |
First of all, it is amazing how different two children can be coming from the same parents and receiving the same parenting from them. I'm sure I will be pondering that the rest of my life.
Ezra is giving us the opportunity to hone our parenting skills. :) I do not want to compare my boys to each other their whole lives, but in so many ways he has been different than Isaiah that we keep needing to figure out a plan B--what worked with Isaiah in his first year of life has definitely not always gone over well with Ezra.
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| Playing "Peek-a-boo" with his book! |
Ezra is a charmer. I can not go anywhere these days without getting 3 or more people stopping to wave, smile, hold his hand, pinch his cheek, touch his hair, and go goo-goo-ga-ga over him. He soaks it all in and keeps encouraging them. If I had a dollar for all the times I've heard "what a beautiful baby" and "he's so cute" from strangers in the the store, I could probably go for a massage and full spa day. Of course, I completely agree with them!
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| I mean, look at this face! How cute is he?!! |
He is a chatterbox and noise maker. To sum it up - Ezra is LOUD. He loves small rooms with great acoustics because it highlights his excellent vocal abilities--seriously, he does. He typically cries at high volume..the level isn't actually based on the event, so it's not very reliable for telling how upset he is. A small thing like getting his diaper changed or getting out of the bathtub (*gasp*-- the torture!) can turn his happy chatter into full blood-curdling screams, which always makes me wonder what the people around us think we are doing to our child. Really people, he's fine. Really.
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| He was definitely exercising his vocal cords at the time this pictures was taken! |
With his noise though also comes large amounts of giggling and laughing. I remember him being 10 weeks old and laughing hysterically for minutes on the couch while Andrew did something-- I don't remember what it was, except that it wasn't that funny! And that we were amazed at how long he kept going! Baby laughter and giggles in an incredible mood booster. Seriously, have you ever tried to stay grumpy while watching a baby laugh or giggle? Try it. It doesn't work.
He loves adventure. Swinging, being tossed and thrown around, rides, loud machines, tunnels, animals, dirt...these are all good and happy things in his world. I can see 'throw-caution-to-the-wind' being part of his personality as he grows up.
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| 11 months old! |
Ezra loves music, and loves to dance.
Loves. Often when I put on music in the car, I'll look back and see him waving his arms, shaking his head, and bopping around to the music--there is so much joy on his face! Just yesterday he had been crying off and on for 20 or 30 minutes, super cranky, which is unusual for him. He generally snaps out of cranky times pretty quickly. I finally decided to put on some music because I just couldn't figure him out. Sure enough, he stared at the ipod dock for a little bit, starting bouncing on his toes...and wait for it....there's the smile! He turned into a content happy child within one song. Incredible.
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| Brother time at the piano. |
At 11 months old, he has 6 teeth, and is currently working on cutting his canines. He cruises around on furniture, and will happily walk around holding someone's hands. It's been really fun to see how Ezra, as a second child, picks things up faster by watching his big brother. Things like - how magnets work and where they go, where the doorknobs are and what they do,and how to drive Hot Wheel cars around making noises.
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| Watching his kitty play in the dirt - 11 months |
We feel so incredibly blessed that God has entrusted us with these sweet boys. Such a gift. Such a responsibility. Such a JOY.
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| Isaiah said, "I want hold Eh-ra on my lap". Little brother is getting big! |
What an incredible blessing these two are to us!
