7/27/06 We've had a very busy last couple of days. We've seen several doctors (ear infections again, never went away again - had to get shots... again, also scheduled surgery for tubes for next month) and learned several new things!
So , ok I know it's the epitome of laziness, but we got a clapper for our bedroom nightstand lamps. I'm pregnant ok? Gimme a break, it's harder and harder to roll over and reach to turn out the light. Anyway, the clapper also works if you knock on our headboard. Lucas discovered this the other day, and now, everytime he gets the chance, he knocks twice on our headboard and then whips his head around to watch my lamp. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, but he gets the biggest kick out of it. He also has learned the sign language sign for night night, so he tells us when he's sleepy and wants to get ready for bed. He has developed an obsession with trucks and cars, and gets VERY excited everytime he sees a truck. He's working on the sign for truck, and is able to point out every truck and car in every book we own.
Sophia has learned to click her tongue, and she walks around clicking it all the time. She too is obsessed with books and we spend the majority of the day reading now. I think it may be getting close to time to get some library cards, since we have worn out almost every single book we own. As we were leaving the doctor's office this morning, some geese flew overhead, and I said, "Listen guys, GEESE!". Sophia looked right at me and said, "Geese?". Of course, I flipped out and said, "Yeah! GEEEEEESE!" So all day, she has been walking around talking about geese. Sometimes it comes out like Geeth, but it's still a new word!
As for me and the new baby, we are having a little "family party" tomorrow. I will be 24 weeks and 5 days pregnant with this pregnancy tomorrow, which was when my tiny munchkin triplets were born with the last pregnancy. It's hard to imagine that this is only how far I got last time. The good news is, yesterday, I was officially discharged from my high risk OB because everything is looking so good and they are very optimistic that this will be a "normal" pregnancy. Go team! Keep us in your prayers that we can go full term this time (we won't know what to do with ourselves!)
7/24/06 (You'll have to excuse the extended entry today, but, well, it's been an eventful day). I'm writing this, hoping that those of you out there who are mothers will get a kick out of my day, because, well you've probably been there....
Let me start with.... THEY FINALLY SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT AGAIN IN THEIR OWN ROOM! Although this probably seems like it's not a big deal since they are 19 months, let me assure you that it is. We were getting up 4-8 times a night during the last 2 weeks with these horrible ear infections that wouldn't go away. So at 5:45AM this morning when Lucas finally started crying, Will and I thought, Hey, not too bad. Usually we would bring him/ them into bed with us for the last hour of sleep, but since Soph had an eye appt. scheduled for 12:30 (wait, interjection.... The doctor's office had to reschedule her appt. while we were out of town in May, and they picked 12:30PM. I must have been insane not to realize that is directly in the middle of naptime and reschedule immediately, but I didn't. Cut me some slack, it's been a little hectic around here!). Anyway, I decided to let them stay awake from 5:30 on, hoping they would take an early nap before the appt. Well, they did in fact get fussy, but refused to take a nap. So I figured I would throw them in the car at 10:30 (it's 35-45 min. drive to the doctor) and hopefully they would get a nap in still. Oh they did.... for about 30 minutes (which by the way, is NOT enough). They woke up around 11:15, so I pulled into a parking lot and tried to entertain them with toys and the lunchable that I brought (wow, I thought ahead!). No, they weren't having it. We finished the drive to the doctor and I decided to get them out, change them in the office, and try to feed them in there. As I went to get Soph out, I realized that her diaper had not just leaked, but had SOAKED through her shorts. I went to pull her emergency outfit out of the diaper bag, and of course, I bought a new diaper bag this weekend and figured I would wash the emergency stuff while it was being transferred. It being Monday, the emergency stash was still in the washer. GRRRR..... So we go into the office, Soph in a Tshirt and diaper, and check in. The kids STILL refuse to eat, but have no problem THROWING all the toys and fussing (go figure). So, since the office building is built around a circle, we walk... and walk... and walk. Let me give you a visual. Two screaming (1 half naked) children, one visably pregnant and tired mama, a stroller, and a giant new diaper bag going around and around and around.....
Well, we get in the appt. and things go well until the doctor tries to talk to me at the end, during which both babies refuse any toys/food/drinks and insist on screaming and arching their backs while I desperately try to listen to the doctor while battling them to get into the stroller. She must have thought we were something else. They fuss all the way to the car, after which they refuse to get in their seats. But, the kicker is, after i got in and turned on the Raffi CD, they started laughing, both of them. I'm not sure if they were laughing AT me, or just found the song humorous, but I was about beside myself. And to top off this lovely afternoon, as I was trying to get them in the car the very first time to go to the appt., I broke my pointer fingernail on my left hand (I'm left handed, so the finger I use MOST), so it kept getting caught on EVERYTHING... just one more little nuisance...
And then I remember back to all those days I dreamt about being a mother, and couldn't wait to have kids and how wonderful it would be.... Ever have those days when you wonder "WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?????"
However, before I get too crazy, they took a nap when we got home and the peaceful look on their gorgeous faces helped. Maybe it didn't make the day all worth it, but it did remind me that I have precious children and that hopefully, tomorrow will be better.
7/22/06 We actually had to go back and get a second shot of antibiotics the next day, HOWEVER Lucas and Soph seem to be feeling better, finally. They were actually laughing and playing yesterday. I told Will it made it want to cry since I hadn't heard the pure laughter in a while. Mostly just fussing and not feeling well. We're still working on getting them to sleep better, but we are getting more sleep each night, and are feeling a bit more rested each day. I'll start taking pictures again now that they are feeling better, they were just so grumpy all the time this week!
We like to watch the Ellen Show and we dance with Ellen. Well, sometimes in her monologues, Ellen says, "How daaaare you!" in this funny voice. Lucas was doing something crazy the other day and I pointed my finger at him and said it like Ellen does. Lucas then proceeded to wag both his little index fingers at me and say, "Da Da DA!" He got such a reaction that he does it all the time now. It's WAY cute!
Soph LOVES to have her hair brushed and will sit for 10-15 minutes at a time as long as I am brushing or playing with her hair. Sometimes she will start to get up, and I'll say, "all done?" and she will turn back around and sit down again for more. Little miss priss, loves to be beautiful!
We're working hard on jumping, spinning round and round, and coloring with crayons this week. They really seem to love it, and I'm sure wax is somewhere in the food pyramid... vegetable maybe?
7/19/06 So we set up the consult for ear tubes, however, apparantly it was not soon enough. We went back to the doctor this morning after three sleepless nights and found out that the ear infections from last week are not gone. SO, Lucas and Soph had to get antibiotic shots again, and if they aren't better by tomorrow afternoon, we have to go back again and get another. POOR BABIES! and poor mama and dada who are exhausted too.
Lucas now loves to dance in circles. He turns "round and round and round and round..." He thinks it is really funny. He also likes to look at books with us, and will point to an object and say, "uh uh uh" until we tell him the word for it. If he knows the word, he will laugh when we say it. If not, he will keep pointing at it and "asking" us to repeat it. Then he will come back to it later and laugh when we say it.
Sophia loves to dress up and will wear anything "out of the ordinary" she can come up with. It is not uncommon to find her with dada's hat on her head, or a towel draped over her shoulders like she is a queen or something. She's really getting the hang of saying "my turn", even though Lucas doesn't always honor that. It's funny to see them say my turn back and forth, and then neither one gives in. They still think that if they say it, it will automatically be their turn no matter what. Oh well, the first lessons of sharing I guess.
7/14/06 Lucas and Sophia are finally feeling better; Lucas is breathing easier and both are sleeping better and less fussy. Lucas has figured out how to cross his fingers, and he loves to "tell us" alla bout it. He will run up to either Will or me and shove his little twisted fingers in our face, and then proceed with, "uh uh uh uh." Like he's telling us how they got that way. He does it over and over again.
Sophia's new favorite game at mealtime is to hold the spoon out like she's going to give it to us, and then as soon as we reach for it, she pulls it back in to her chest and gives us her little devilish grin. She's thinks it's hysterical. Both kids are working on jumping, and it's so cute. They will start bouncing up and down, bending their knees, then one foot will start hopping off the ground. They haven't quite got the "launching" down yet, so they haven't made clearance, unless of course they are on something bouncy like the couch or beds.
As for me, I've gotten the slow down from the OB, so I'm only supposed to pick them up as needed, and no heavy housecleaning (oh darn...) or picking up other heavy things. Oh well, it's time for more self-sufficient toddlers!
7/11/06 And the answer is... No, it doesn't ever end. Last night, Lucas started wheezing in the middle of the night and Will had to sleep sitting up with him so he could breathe. Sophia was up most of the night too, tossing and turning, so I didn't get any sleep either. I took Lucas (and Soph for the ride) to the doctor this morning because his nebulizer didn't seem to be clearing his breathing, and they added an additional medication to his nebulizer and put him on steroids for a week to open up his breathing. He also has ear infections (AGAIN!) so he had to get a shot. Turns out Sophia also has ear infections (AGAIN) so we are calling to get a consult about tubes for their ears. GRRRR.... We're hoping for some sleep tonight since they should be exhausted with little naps and feeling yucky.
In the mean time, Lucas runs around chasing Sophia (and everyone else) with his tickle fingers extended. Sophia has perfected the art of "plopping" on her bean bag, and she practices many times daily. She walks up to the bag, throws her arms up and her head back, and just falls into the bean bag. Sounds like bedtime in the living room, so i'm logging off with hopes of sleep for everyone....
7/10/06 We spent the last few days in Chicago for Grandpa John's funeral, which was beautiful and very sad. They babies got a chance to play with their cousin Maydee who was born two months after they were. I think Maydee was a little overwhelmed by our guys. She is pretty quiet and reserved, and well, Lucas and Soph just AREN'T! But they still had fun and played fairly nicely together.
Soph is starting to run now and learned how to SCREAM from Maydee. She wails at the top of her lungs both when she's happy and upset. She is very friendly and waves at everyone, and we're pretty sure she ate her weight in food at TGI Friday's last night at dinner. She is making all sorts of sounds, so we're pretty sure that words aren't too far off now.
Lucas learned how to snap his fingers (ok, he can't really make the sound, but he puts both hands up and makes the snapping motion). He also is trying so hard to get words out. He drags us all over and points at things and says (uh uh uh!). He signs a lot and most of the time, gets his point across.
We had an adventurous day yesterday. Sometime during the day, the A/C went out. Will and I noticed at about 1PM that the house felt warm (86 degrees warm!). It was about 95 degrees outside, and sunny, so the house eventually got up to 89 degrees. We took the babies and went shopping, and then out to eat. When we got home, we all pretty much stripped down. We fed the babies ice cream and ice chips (also rubbed them down with ice chips, which they loved). Then, when it got unbearable, we got in the pool. Will sprayed the hose on the mist setting, they they had so much fun running in and out of the mist. They went to bed with cool bodies, and, thank goodness, the A/C is getting fixed today! I don't know how much longer I could handle it!
I'm off to my 22 week appointment for the new baby! Have a great one and check for new pictures (hopefully this evening or tomorrow!)
7/3/06 We're really starting to communicate now! They both use sign language to tell us "More", "All done", "no no no" and "My turn". Lucas has found a towel that is now his favorite thing to drag around, and Sophia has really taken to wearing hats alot of the time (although not hair rubber bands). We've been having a GREAT time with Nana and Papa George so check out the pictures!
We will be making a trip to Chicago tomorrow, as Will's stepfather passed away last night. Please keep the Gockley family in your prayers as we all mourn this loss, especially Will's mom.
Posted by our3babies
at 10:15 PM CDT
