I have ordered both of their cakes but am yet to begin gift purchases, decorations, and invitations. I'm mainly concerned about Matthew's since I've done most of the planning already for Tommy's. We were also thinking about renting a sports car for one of the weekends to drive around in for Tommy's bday. Not sure if we are going to do that but it sounds fun!
As for Matthew's party...it's a "crab" theme. I love beach decor so this is going to be really cute. Haven't decided what all to do as of yet. I had some things in mind, it's just finding the time to finish it all. I was hoping things would be easier at Matthew's age, but instead, I find myself chasing him around about all day. :)
So what all's been going on???
Matthew is approaching 11 months. I can't believe it! Time surely has passed us by this past year. Doesn't seem real! It seems like just a couple of weeks ago I was in the hospital giving birth to him. Makes me so sad that most of the "baby" days are gone and he's almost a toddler. I find myself pinning things on Pinterest which relate to newborns. Does that mean I'm ready for another baby...why YES I am, however, I would like to wait and re-visit this thought when Matthew is a little older. I surely don't want him to be the middle child that is always left out. Took me 7 years to have this perfect little boy, I want to spend as much time w/ him as I can. I recently had a conversation w/ Gabe about the age difference between Tommy and Matthew. I was saying how I wish Tommy had a sibling closer to his age and why shouldn't we give Matthew that opportunity. Gabe is on board 100% and is ready for another little one when I am.
What has Matthew been up to? He's a busy busy baby. He crawls all over the place and fast!!! He has cut his 2 bottom incisors. His smile is adorable w/ those 2 bottom teeth. He has also been standing for a few seconds at a time without any assistance. I keep waiting for that first step which I have a feeling he's going to take pretty soon. He's finally interested in baby food. He has a wide variety of foods that I give him and I also give him the same things we eat....that are baby approved of course. I still find that sweet potatoes are his favorite and he seems fond of about all fruits, especially the orange/banana. He also eats grits and LOVES mashed potatoes. He's going to be a meat and potatoes boy for sure. He's had a tad of constipation problems w/ the foods and does quite a bit of grunting before having a dirty diaper. He laid on my chest earlier today and just grunted and grunted. I changed that diaper, laid him in his crib for a nap and heard him grunting again. Yep, another dirty diaper. That's one thing I don't miss about actual food...those nasty, smelly diapers! I'm still nursing and I'm extremely proud of myself. It takes great dedication and hard work to nurse a baby. I actually enjoy it and when I do decide to give him milk, juice, water etc. instead, it's going to break my heart but I can't nurse forever. I'm someone ready to get back to being myself, yet I will miss that time between us.
Some of his likes....baths. He LOVES taking a bath and playing w/ his bath toys. It's so adorable! He could stay in the bath all night if you'd let him. He also likes to crawl around everywhere and open cabinet doors. We need to get the cabinet locks but I am constantly watching him so nothing is going to happen. He also likes to crawl all over the couch in which I don't like because I'm constantly having to pull him back to me so he doesn't fall off. He likes playing peek a boo or any fun game such as that. He falls asleep when I sing to him and enjoys being rocked. He also enjoys Tommy playing with him. That's when he cackles the most. I love it!!!!
His dislikes.....He recently has discovered a great dislike for his exersaucer, his pack and play and car seat. I know these are mainly because he's crawling and thinks he's a big boy now and doesn't like to be confined. I will say that even though he's not extremely fond of his crib, he does go down for naps fairly well. He definitely sleeps better in his crib when it's nap time. I've been working on getting him on a "crib" schedule. Every day he goes in there for his nap before we get Tommy from school. I STILL haven't transitioned him to the crib at night. They say the highest risk for SIDS is up to a year old so I just can't bring myself to put him in there. I wouldn't get a wink of sleep! So as of right now, he sleeps in his daddy's arms and has done that now for quite a while. He's safe...I don't care what anyone says. Tommy slept in Gabe's arms from the time he was a teeny tiny baby until I finally got him in his crib which was around a year.
We did have a speed bump in the scheduling process last weekend. We decided to take the boys to the beach and this was right when Matthew had gotten pretty good about taking a nap in his crib. Our trip was very relaxing. We took the boys, Skittles and HALO. Went down Thursday night, the beach on Friday and the skate park as well as going to the Original Benjamin's so Tommy could have crab legs. Saturday it rained all day so we did a little shopping and just relaxed the rest of the time and Sunday we came home.
One of the reasons I really needed this relaxing trip is because a couple of weeks ago, Matthew had this crying spell for a few days. I'm still not sure what it was. I took him to his pediatrician and she couldn't find anything wrong and suggested it could be that he's cutting teeth. She believes his top 2 teeth will cut through soon. I ended up taking a cotton swab, dabbing it in Benadryl and rubbing on his gums as well as administering Tylenol. He was on that for a couple of days and is fine now. I'm not a huge believer in medicating when it's not necessary so he doesn't get any of that unless he's clearly in some pain. I still haven't felt his 2 top teeth....I check everyday.
What's Tommy been up to? Oh goodness....this boy is going through some hard emotions. He cries A LOT and seems so angry. He's openly told me he's jealous of Matthew so I NEVER leave Matthew alone w/ Tommy. I do believe Tommy would pinch him or do something so that Matthew would cry, however, I don't believe he would do anything severe. Who knows though! It's really frustrating to me because I love both of my boys, they both mean the world to me but I get so angry with Tommy when he acts out. I HATE jealousy!!!! It's just not pretty on anyone! Tommy is also struggling at school w/ his math homework. He did go a few days without whining or arguing but we are back to where we were. He yells, tells his dad and I how he hates us and wishes we were dead. This is NOT my son!!! Tommy is still very caring and sweet, don't get me wrong, but he now has these emotions that I don't know how to deal with. I'm not use to this what so ever. He's always been so good at home until he turned 8, then things began to take a 180. I understand being jealous of Matthew, but that's no excuse for his bad behavior. Matthew has gotten to where he gets mad if Tommy picks him up. He can sense Tommy isn't fond of him even though I have to say, they were awfully cute playing today. Usually when Matthew firsts sees Tommy such as in the morning or after school, he gives Tommy HUGE smiles and then Tommy starts his mess and Matthew's attitude changes towards him. Really makes me sad because Tommy doesn't understand that Matthew has no clue what right and wrong is. He doesn't understand jealousy, all he understands is that he's happy to see his big brother and big brother is mean to him. I don't like it at all! Every single day has became so emotionally draining that I have no clue what to do at this point. I've tried taking things away, spankings, restriction, his Dr.....NOTHING is working! I've been consistent and Tommy just laughs at me. A lot of parents that I've talked to say it's not just jealousy, it's their age. That they've had boys that have went through similar stages and that around 12 it gets better. Guess we'll see. I just know that I love Tommy with my entire heart and I hate to see him battling all these emotions all the time. He's still that sweet lil boy when it's just me and him. I wish I could have that all the time because that's MY Tommy....kind, sweet, sensitive and loves his momma. I find myself being very dismissive towards him such as he tries to show me something or tell me something and I say ok...but haven't heard a word he has said or seen what he was trying to show me. I don't want to be that parent! The one that never acknowledges their child. I've always been so dedicated to him and since having Matthew, things are so different. I know it will get easier but it really does break my heart that I can't dedicate more time to Tommy. Matthew has just about all of my time right now. I keep it in the back of my head that things will get easier and I will be able to put more focus back into Tommy.
Tommy's 10 year old birthday is this month. Man, that's hard to type...or say without choking up. Man....If I only knew how time would fly once he began school. This year is a blur. It doesn't seem like June should be right around the corner for his 4th grade graduation. I will have a 5th grader next year???? His little days are gone!!!! I cry every single year around his birthday and I know this year is going to be pretty hard, possibly even harder than any of the previous birthdays since he's now going to be in the double digits. I still see taking him to pre-k and him calling one of his teachers Mrs. Splenda when her name was Mrs. Glenda and he would come home saying this little boy in his class was named Ant, when his name was Gant. I can still feel that tiny hand in mine walking him to kindergarten every single day and helping a lot in his kindergarten and 1st grade and how he would cry when I would leave. Those days are over and what I wouldn't do to have them all back again. This is the first time I've really had the chance to sit and think about his little days since Matthew has been born. They both are growing up so quickly. I'm not ready for either of them to grow so fast.
As for this weekend, we have a 5K race we are going on and we are dedicating some time to yard clean up. I want the yard to look nice for Matthew's party. I don't plan on having a ton of people, just my closest friends/family and their children which most are older but that's ok. Matthew won't know the difference. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment