Merrily, merrily, merrily...

Gabi’s been home for 2 months today.  That’s all?  Seriously, could this transition have been any easier?  (Not that I felt that way about 7 weeks ago when Boy wouldn’t sleep.)

We’ve had a very busy month since the last time I’ve posted.  We’ve had Gavriel evaluated by Early Intervention, we’ve moved into our new home, and Jim spent some quality time praying to the porcelain goddess while in extreme pain only to find out he has pancreatitis.

The pancreatitis we’re dealing with.  It’s acute, not chronic at this point, so we’re treating it with a diet change.  MUCH easier said than done for my man who loves his junk food.  He’s got a date with his daughter in white in about 20 years though, and since I know he won’t break that date for anything, bring on the dietary restrictions baby!

The EI appointment for Gabi was wonderful.  We had an OT, PT, and speech therapist come over and spend about 2 hours with him just playing and evaluating him.  He totally rocked the fine motor skills and the cognitive processing areas.  He barely qualifies for speech, but we’re going to pursue it anyway because we can, and he did qualify for therapy in the gross motor areas. 

As per my last post, he continues to grow by leaps and bounds.  He just turned 14 months.  He can go from a sit to a squat to standing up, all by himself.  He even took two steps all by himself, completely unprompted the other night!  He’ll be walking in no time.  This is AMAZING coming from a child who could barely keep himself sitting up just 2 months ago.

Gav is now sleeping through the night from 8:30pm to a little before 7am.  Can I get a woo hoo!  Mama’s loving the extra sleep.

He has also gone from eating puréed foods to eating table foods straight off my plate.  He still only has 6 teeth, so of course if the dinner offering is a little tough, I do have to grind that up a bit, but for the most part, he can navigate it all on his own.  And he’s not throwing his food as much either!  Yay!

His tolerance to food continues to grow.  A friend told me that infants need to be offered a food at least 6 times before I can fully reject it as a “dislike.”  Taste, texture, temperature and more all play into whether a new food is appealing, and as he becomes more and more oral sensory stimulated, things he didn’t prefer aren’t as objectionable as they once were.  So true!

Attachment?  Phffft!  This boy adores us as much as we adore him!  (I realize adoration isn’t a measure of attachment.)  Seriously though, hardly any attachment issues at all.  As I mentioned in my opening paragraph, this transition has been so amazingly easy it’s hard to believe it’s only been 2 months.  We all just fit.  We click.  It just is.  We’re the JimJenGigiGabi entity.  (And lest this seems like a rose colored glasses and smoke blowing view used purely as a surface distraction to cover the unpleasantries lurking below, I promise I’m being as real now as I was as we struggled through attachment issues with Gigi that first year.)

But back to the adoration piece, the cutest thing in the world is when I pick him up after being gone for a bit and he’ll grab my head/neck right below my ears and pull my face towards him and give me the biggest, mushiest, smooshiest open mouth baby kiss ever.  (My lips are actually smashed against his teeth that’s how exuberant he is, but who’s complaining?)

That’s not to say it’s all motherhood and apple pie.  Oh wait- it is motherhood.  Well that explains it.  Gab-star, my Rock-star, has his fussy moments, his unreasonable moments, his screechy demanding moments, his “I just want to be held while you stand up” moments, his “I’m hungry but I don’t want to eat that” moments.  He’s a baby being thrust into toddlerhood without the benefit of full communication and full mobility.  He’d tell me he just get’s frustrated.  I’d say he gets crabby.  We’re probably both right.

How many times can I say, “Gigi and Gabs get along marvelously” without getting boring?  They do.  We love it.  Of course there are quibbles, but Gav is learning to stand up for himself which is actually pretty funny to watch.  She says, “Gimme back…!” and he screws up his face and squeals in return just as loudly as they both pull on the poor object in opposite directions.

Gigi just keeps getting more and more beautiful.  She’s really growing up, both physically and in terms of maturity and independence.  Having a little brother and sharing mom and dad’s attention (and help) has forced some of this.  I think it’s a very beneficial thing.  There was quite a bit of push-pull in her behavior towards me the first month Gav was home, but that too has settled out.

Now all we’re waiting on is some warm sunshine and 75 degree weather to round out the “merrily!”  Bring on spring!  Ok, ok, it’s still only February in the north.