Week-a-roo...

So glad tomorrow is Friday.  It's been a terribly long week.  I am not complaining- just "p.m.s.ing"  :)  I think that may be one of my new sayings.  I like it.  And I am bringing back "as if!"  Hahaha!

Common Desk, the coworking company my brother has started up in Deep Ellum, is having their open house tomorrow!  Nick has been busting his bottom all week- well really all year, but especially all week, and Clay has been pulling some late nighters helping him- which means me and the kids have been fending for ourselves... well, Clay has snuck home here and there to help put Lola down because I have been wimpy p.m.s.ing and he is my hero.  But tonight all hands on deck, which meant no Clay.  Lola goes down great for him, not so great for anyone else.  The girl LOVES to talk, loves to play, loves to squirm- so bedtime doesn't agree with her little heart.  After she watched an ENTIRE movie (and I know good and well she was tired) she still seemed wide awake.  I wanted so badly to spank her bottom and tell her "what's wrong with you child?  why can't you sleep?  I dream about sleeping all day! You have the world's most comfortable mattress and coziest room- how could you not be asleep within two seconds?!?!"  BUT I had a proud moment and a "I'm-the-fun-parent-moment..." When I popped open her door to find her with two small dolls "talking" to each other- she quickly laid back down and I whispered "come here..." She looked very puzzled and worried but I just kept telling her to follow me. Curiosity got the best of her and she jumped out of bed and exclaimed "what are weeeeeee doing momma?"  I popped her some popcorn and had a mini movie night in the den.  Oliver was up, I was baking for the open house, and she was clearly not going to bed quite yet- so why not let her have some fun and me not stress about her not closing her eyes. After an hour or so- both kids seemed ready for bed. I gave Oliver a bottle after tucking Lola in- and Lola fell asleep on her own.  Praises to her.  Seriously.  So proud she pulled that off.  And Oliver- amazing- I laid him down in his crib- not a peep- and about twenty-five minutes later he was sleeping soundly.  Never whimpered.  I never thought this night would come and after a week and a half of crying it out, it has arrived.  I have no idea when it will happen again- and as I have learned- things are forever changing with kiddos.  Still is so cool.  And every time he sleeps in his crib, I get all giddy and proud.  It's sooo weird seeing MY baby sleep in a crib.  I love it.  Makes life so much easier.  Maybe moms that didn't have their first child sleep within them for 2.5 years don't understand how nice crib sleeping is, or maybe they do?  When Oliver wakes up in the middle of the night I really am not tempted to put him in my bed, but when Lola does- I do want to snuggle with her.  She's such a snuggler.  

So Oliver has seriously had more doctor appointments in his first 6 months than I have had in my whole life.  We finally had our cranial-facial appointment, which I believe I have left y'all in the dark on this one.  He was diagnosed with a sub mucous cleft palate by a pediatrician.  Then our pediatrician checked and said he could not say he had one, but he has the split uvula which is a sign that he could have one and then an ENT said he did not have one.  So- we were referred to the cranial facial team at Children's.  In a way, I would have been relieved if he did have it, because it would answer why he has such a weak suck.  Yet the doctor couldn't say if he did or didn't.  At Oliver's age, if they don't fully corporate it can be hard to see it and harder to properly document it.  He did say that if he does have one, he feels like it isn't a contributing factor to his sucking difficulties.  So one more thing we can cross of the list.  His feeding therapy has been going okay.  Trying to be optimistic, yet not seeing the point I guess.  They want to change his suck and bottle, but he finally adapted a way that works for him and he'll only be on a bottle for 6 more months tops hopefully so I say just let him suck his own way.  He's gaining weight doing it his way.  She is also wanting to just make sure it's a delay or weakness that isn't related to anything else.  He gets a physical therapy evaluation to make sure there are no other weaknesses or delays present.  Honestly- as much as my sweet boy has endured the first several months of life- I feel like he is just now really enjoying life.  He seems to be progressing tremendously at this point.  He is being a rock star.  The only time things are pretty hard- is when the reflux isn't under control.  Reflux is a real monster, it is.  He haves hives daily and we think it's the reflux meds, but they are finally working and I don't want to change them- doctor seemed to leave it up to me.  Back to sleeping- I can't believe he fell asleep tonight without one cry or any fighting.  :)

Lola had school today and she cracks me up.  This morning I heard Oliver just a little after 7 so got up.  Clay made him a bottle and when he peaked in to check on Lola in bed, she was on the floor quietly playing barbies.  Now how long had she been up?  No telling.  She seems to have it figured out when to come out of her room to say good morning and when not to.  When we were getting ready for school, she put on her new skirt and asked me very seriously if I thought her friends would like her new skirt?  I assured her they would.  As soon I picked her up this afternoon, she couldn't wait to tell me how much her friends LOVED her new skirt.  Hehehe- she loves compliments!

She has been pretend playing a whole lot and her imagination seems pretty wild.  Sometimes I am just not in the mood to pretend play, but it really doesn't matter.  She doesn't let you off the hook. Nope.  No sir.  She will get you to play along one way or another and before you know it, you are the queen disguised as an old woman giving Lola Snow White an apple.  Or saying "who's there" to her 'Knock, Knock' jokes that never make any sense, or you're the mean stepsister, or person who gives us medicine (pharmacist), or you are the train, or Baby Sawyer's babysitter- the list goes on and on... :)  The great thing about her- no matter what we are pretending and/or really doing- it's always sweet and show cases her heart of gold.  Today at Target, she kept standing up in the buggy so I repeatedly asked her to stay sitting on her bottom and warned her the next time she stood up, she would get a spanking.  So when she stood up, I popped her thigh one time.  She started to rub it and said as she fought back the tears "that really hurt momma."  I told her spankings wouldn't be spankings if they didn't hurt and that's why it's important to listen the first few times... lol.  She told me she really needed something cold on it to make it feel better and I insisted it would feel better real soon- that I had gotten plenty of spankings as a kid too.  On her way home, she was just talking away to me and Ollie bear and she was happy to inform me her spanking felt much, much better.  I like that she talks about her feelings and different things.  Lola, always talk to me about your feelings.  I may not always say what you want to hear, say anything right for that matter, but I will always love and not judge.  Just listen and love.  Same goes to you Oliver.  I can't wait to see how your personality keeps developing.

Okay- I could always go on and on about my babies- but I seriously need to go to bed while I can!!

:) Natalie