2.) Have I mentioned to everyone how much I hate the age of 3 1/2? I really hate it. It's the worst. I'm so ready for Ben to be four. I don't want to sound too negative because there are always great things about every age, but can we just skip ahead a few months? The whining....it just kills me. And the meltdowns over the STUPIDEST things. And Abe is at an age where he is testing my limits as well. Sometimes, when they're both being whiny and frustrating, and I get that weird feeling that I know all of you moms can relate to..you know, that feeling where everything starts to sound far away and you can hear the blood rushing in your head, and you're just staring at your children as they scream and cry over something dumb like not being able to watch TV, or play with my cell phone...at those times I just want to slowly and calmly walk out the door, get in my car and drive far far away. Anyway, my reaction to Ben's issues has been to set even more limits, and I think it's actually working. I don't do anything for him that he can do himself. Period. Even if it's frustrating. He gets himself completely dressed in the morning, brushes his own teeth, gets his own glass of water, peels his own bananas, cuts up strawberries...I even let him cook over the stove with supervision. No matter how much he whines for me to help him, I don't give in. If he's taking too long to pick up his toys and Abe and I are ready to go outside, then we leave without him. If he chooses to not wear a heavy enough coat, and goes for a bike ride and discovers that he's freezing, then that's his (bad) choice. And you know what? There were a couple of days where Ben absolutely HATED this. He got very frustrated and wanted me to help him all the time. But I didn't give in, and now it's not an issue. He's a lot happier and there's a lot less whining. I mean, he is still driving me crazy, but I guess I feel that by giving him more autonomy I can absolve myself of some stress. Another thing that has helped is realizing that he has blood sugar issues and gets shaky if he doesn't eat enough protein. So I make sure to give him a high protein breakfast on school days (NO cereal) and mostly protein filled meals and snacks, with very little sugar. If he is acting erratically you can almost guarantee that food is the issue.
3.) Abe is slowly weaning. Last night I put him to bed without nursing for the first time, which means we're down to one (naptime) nursing session a day. It's fine. I'm ready and he doesn't seem to mind. I could nurse him for few more months and be fine with it, but truthfully, my body doesn't respond well to extended nursing. I weaned Ben at 15 months at the advice of my midwife, and Abe is that age right now. At first I felt a little bit of sadness about this time of my life being over, especially since I feel like Abe's babyhood has just flown by, but everything has to end. It's time.
4.) Lot's of exciting trips and vacations in our future! We're all flying out in March to visit Mimi and Poppy in Park City. Ben is going to go to ski school! I think he will love it, as long as he can get used to the cold. I think we're all pumped up about getting away and seeing some snow. Joel and I also have two little alone trips that we're planning. One to San Francisco in May for Joel's work, and another to see our friends in NYC in July. Of course, I'm already researching what restaurants we'll be visiting, and what I'll be wearing :) A work colleague of Joel's wants to take us out for a fancy schmancy dinner, so I think I'll just have to buy a new dress!
5.) Ben has started going to speech therapy once a week. We were aware that he was a little behind in the way he pronounced his words, but wanted to take a "wait and see" approach. A few months ago I started noticing that he was getting frustrated with himself and his mispronunciations, and that he was noticing that he says things the "wrong" way. And although he has a lot of friends and seems to be well liked at preschool, other kids were also pointing out the way he talks and having a little trouble understanding Ben when he speaks. About that time is when they had a hearing/speech screening at school, and of course Ben was flagged as a kid who needed further evaluation. We love his speech pathologist, Tracey. She is so kind and nurturing and Ben thinks of his sessions as playtime. He never lets me go back with him, I think because he thinks of Tracey as his special friend and NOT mommy's friend :) He even wanted to have his initial evaluation by himself, which I think is GREAT and probably helped Tracey get a more accurate representation of his language and speaking abilities, since he probably would not have talked as much with me around. So far he's doing well and shouldn't need too many more sessions.
Here's a cute pic of Abe to tide you over until I do a 15 month update for him :)
At times he'll stand on the step for a while, like he's debating whether or not to just start walking down them. At the last second, right when I'm starting to get a little worried, he always turns around and crawls backwards, as if to say "What! I don't know how to walk down these steps! Ya'll are crazy!"
