Randomness

A while ago, okay 2 weeks to be exact, but who's keeping track, Jen tagged me with 10 random things about me.

1. Yesterday I let Carter eat pizza for breakfast. No this isn't normal for me, but I'd rather let him eat the pizza then endure the temper tantrum that always follows the word "no". Maybe I'm weak, but I like to pick my battles, and yesterday breakfast wasn't one of them.

2. I played volleyball and was a cheerleader in high school.

3. I still weigh the same as I did the day I came home from the hospital with Carter. Anyone know where I can buy some will power?

4. I am allergic to grass. I have spring and summer allergies and grass is the worst of it I think. Well maybe the stupid cotton that falls from cottonwood trees, but I can't even sit in grass or not only do I sneeze and my eyes start to itch, but I'll break out as well.

5. Carter is still nursing but I've cut him back to just a few times a day. This has gone much smoother then I expected. I don't know how much longer he'll nurse for, but I've nursed 3 babies for a combined total of 5 years. There is just a part of me that is done.

6. I love flowers. If I could, I would buy hundreds of dollars worth and plant them all over the place.

7. A couple weeks ago we bought a king size bed. We have needed a new bed for awhile now and so we traded our old queen for something bigger and better. It's been the highlight of the month for sure. Maybe the year!

8. My feet are always cold. Well, unless it's 90 degrees and I'm outside, but as soon as I go into an air conditioned house my feet get cold again.

9. I have a big mouth. Not size, loudness. It got me in a lot of trouble growing up.

10. I have 2 sisters, no brothers. One is older and one younger. Kinda funny that I had all boys.

He Made My Day

Monte was a late talker. At 18 months he still wasn't saying anything, and even though I knew he should be talking, I didn't know enough to do anything about it. Of course everyone, including doctors, tell you that he is fine and that all kids do things at different times. At his 2 year check up when he still hadn't said anything, his doctor put me in contact with a speech therapist. We did speech therapy for a year, and by his 3rd birthday he was completely caught up.

Then I had Hunter. And holy moly is this how babies are supposed to talk? Several words by his first birthday? He was a little parrot at 18 months and by 2 was talking in complete sentences. It was like talking to a 4 year old. I loved just sitting with him on my lap and listening to him ramble on about nothing. About everything.

I say all this because by the time Carter's 1st birthday rolled around I was beginning to wonder. Is he like Monte? He's not even babbling the same way Hunter was. I even broke out the home movies to see Monte and Hunter at that age and I was very alarmed by how much he reminded me of Monte. Of course everyone told me I was paranoid, and looking for something that wasn't there. But I knew. I just knew.

When we went for Carter's 15 month check up he still wasn't saying anything so I told his doctor my concerns. He is ether more educated now, or maybe because I reminded him of Monte, he right away agreed that getting Carter tested was a good idea. Even if they said he was just fine, at least we had ruled it out, and we would know.

The therapist that came to our house said right away that yes, he would qualify. That it wasn't even so much that he didn't have any words yet, (Carter was 16 months at the time) as much as it was the fact that he didn't really even move his mouth correctly to form words. He didn't babble, he just kind of held his mouth open and made the same sound over and over.

Since the end of November we have had a speech therapist that comes to our house once a week. She is the sweetest thing and Carter just loves her. But he hasn't progressed by leaps and bounds like I had hoped. I guess I just thought that since he started speech earlier then his brother he would talk earlier too. But that just hasn't been the case.

We have made progress though. For one this little boy tries SO hard. And beginning sounds are coming along. He also makes a lot of animal sounds, which is absolutely adorable. He says hot, hat, bubble, uh-oh, and no. Or at least his version of these words. And he has about 30 signs that we all use and he knows well that help to communicate and lessen his frustration level.

Well, this morning I needed to run downstairs to grab something real quick. He was busy, so I didn't say anything first or he would want to come. As I was downstairs I could hear him walking around yelling "Da", which is what he says anytime he's looking for someone that has walked away. He wasn't upset, so I didn't yell back because I was on my way back upstairs anyway. But what I heard next brought me to tears. His "Da" had turned to "Mama". He was walking around saying "Mama"? "Mama"? He was calling me. Me! Mama!

I know he will talk. Even though at times I feel like he won't. But I am his mama and I can't help but worry. I can't even begin to tell you what his little mama did to me today. We all can't wait to hear our little ones say that first Mama. We look into their eyes and repeat it over and over when they are only 3 months old hoping that they will acknowledge us before their Daddy's. And it was well worth the almost 23 months I had to wait to hear it.

I'm So Blue

Hunter is on a field trip right now to the Zoo, and I am home. This makes me very sad.

I Love Lazy Mornings

Lets Recap

It was a good weekend, with a couple not so good moments. Friday night, great! Monte had a baseball game. The sky was dark, it was threatening rain, but held off until 5 minutes after we left the field. And his team had their first win of the season. Woo Hoo!

Saturday morning we got up and hurried out of the house. To the mall with 3 boys I went to exchange this pair of shoes for Hunter. I ordered them online only to find out that they run REALLY big. But lets hurry because we have to get to your hair cuts at noon.

Get to their hair cuts only to find she is running 30 minutes behind. And Carter, my normally calm (at least when we go out) child, decides he just can't help himself. He has to touch EverySingleThing on the shelves. He has to pick leaves and flowers from the geraniums her last client brought in. And he just HAS to scream at the top of his lungs when mama tells him no and removes him from the situation. I must have said 20 times, I will NEVER make the boys a hair cut at Carter's nap time again. But really, sometimes you just take the appointment when it's available. By the time we left I was sweaty, and crabby, and hungry, and needed a time out myself. Or maybe a drink. After a nice nap (Carter, I'm not that lucky) things were much better.

Sunday morning as I'm cutting a watermelon, I cut my thumb. Maybe tried to cut it off is really more accurate. I have NEVER cut myself like this before. I've nicked myself, but this time, if I went to the ER I'm sure they give me stitches. I was home alone with Hunter and Carter and they were eating breakfast. I'm standing with my hand bleeding into the sink, knowing it's bad but not wanting to freak Hunter out either. He was so sweet. He even brought me the box of band-aids before I could even ask him, and he kept asking if I was okay.

Long story short, after several band-aids and many hours I was still bleeding. Partly I'm sure because I was still using it, but really, I was trying not to. Any idea how hard it is NOT to use your thumb? So my outdoorsy, (clumsy himself) clever husband butterfly taped it shut, wrapped it in a very large band-aid and now I'm good to go. Really, no bleeding at all. Who needs those doctors, and their needle and thread.