Math

Millions of wonderful details of life + one very forgetful me = some desire (however inconsistent) to keep blogging. So here I am.


Yesterday we were driving in the car. This is where lots of L's thinking happens. I can't remember what we were talking about counting, but L said, "Mom, if you don't feel like counting all the numbers you can count by two's."
I didn't remember talking to him about this, so I quizzed him, "Oh yeah? How do you do that?"
"Like this: 2... 4... 6... 8... 10!"
"Wow, L!" I said, "That's awesome!"
"If you don't feel like counting by two's," he continued, "you can count by three's."
"Yes, I guess you could!" I replied, thinking that I never count by three's because three's are tricky.
Of his own volition, L begins, "3... 6... 9... 12..."
At this point, I was freaking out about L's awesomeness! I couldn't believe what he was doing. I'm sure it was because I gave him a great reaction, but he kept going to 48. Two or three times, he was one off, and I gave him a little higher or lower clue, but STILL! This kid is destined to be a mathematician or an engineer. It's amazing to see how his brain works!

My cup of tea

The sniffles began with J. I soon began sneezing, and not long later, L's sleeves had long wet streaks where he'd wiped his nose on them. And so here I am, nursing colds and babies.

Little J. Such a sweetheart. He seems to be in a better mood than he was the first day or two of his cold. Quick to smile and giggle and give slobbery kisses. Suddenly grabbing at toys and water glasses. Gnawing relentlessly on any fingers that are within reach - most often his own, but sometimes mine or L's. Thanks to Daddy being around on the weekend to play Legos with L, J and I have had several long nursing naps - 2 or more hours of just lounging and resting; J so content to be near me.

Sweet L. He is darling. He has so much energy. And these long days inside are hard on him. His heart is so pure. Tonight, during Family Home Evening, we listened to a song called "Scripture Power" and tried to learn all the words to it. He was rolling the exercise ball around, bouncing on it, and running all around it. I thought there was no way he was absorbing anything from our efforts at memorizing this song. But lo and behold, he knew the song at the end of the few minutes we spent and he answered a few questions as we talked about the meaning of the song. We talked about the power that comes from reading the Word of God every day, and when I asked if he'd rather read before bedtime with Daddy or in the morning with Mommy, he shouted, "Both!"

He doesn't really like to pray, but when we do convince him to take a turn, he always thanks Heavenly Father for "all the things, even the houses" and "all the people, except for the bad guys." The other night, he and I were laying in his bed, and he was not the least bit tired. Somehow we got to talking about spiritual things, and after a while, he snuggled up close and whispered in my ear, "Does Heavenly Father love the bad guys?" I had to chuckle. It's all about the police and the bad guys around here! I gave him my answer that Heavenly Father even loves bad guys because they're His children too, and it makes Him sad when they choose to do bad things. L fell silent, and after a moment I asked, "Do you have any other questions?" He answered, "Sure I do!" And then he proceeded to ask me what would happen if there were 149 ice cream cones on a cowboy riding backwards on an elephant. Actually, I can't remember exactly what it was, but it was something that random and out there. And I know that it involved a large number of ice cream cones. I love that boy.

Tonight, I snuggled him to sleep, and then slipped out once he was out to come relax and drink my lemon and honey tea, to soothe my throat. As soon as I sat down with it, I heard him calling for me. He asked where I had gone, and I told him about my tea. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he said, "You forgot my peppermint tea, Mommy! I needed some peppermint tea earlier, and you forgot!" I told him I could go make him some, and he protested, "But I already brushed my teeth!" I told him we'd figure that out, and said I'd be right back with the tea. Just as I suspected, he was asleep when I returned.

I bent down and gave him a kiss on his soft, cool cheek and I was overcome with love for him. Does he know that I feel that way about him? I'm sure he doesn't realize the extent of it. But I hope that he at least has some idea - even in those moments when I can't drop everything to play Legos for the millionth time today!

Brothers

These boys are cute and they really love each other. J is really starting to light up when he sees L, and L loves making him giggle!

Hmm.... I was just thinking that L hadn't licked J in a long time..... here's photographic proof that the licking is alive and well!

J is SO HUGE! At his 4 month check up on 12-31, he weighed 19 lbs. 15 oz. which is more than a pound above the 98th percentile line on the growth charts. L weighed 11 lbs. 1 oz. at four months (probably 10th percentile), so this little chunky monkey is really throwing me for a loop! The sleepers you see in him in these pictures are size 12 months. The legs are a little long, but other than that, they fit perfectly. J is about half L's weight right now.

J is a full-fledged thumb-sucker now. The first picture above is an action shot - he's making the "Get in my mouth!" face, and his hand is moving at lightning speed. Second shot is the aftermath. Woohoo! I think it's adorable and I don't mind it one little bit when he awakens from a nap, finds his thumb and is back to sleep before I can get to his room to pick him up. Love that. L sucked his middle and ring fingers, and he stopped as soon as his teeth came in, so who knows what J will do. Even if he continues for a while, I don't mind. He'll break the habit eventually!

I don't know why, I just thought the picture above was adorable. Same eyes - they're their Daddy's alright!

I love the way J stares at L. It's so adorable!

J already takes his fair share of big brother abuse. L loves to lay on J's tummy and let J grab his hair, and J doesn't seem to mind. Also adorable. Love these two!

And baby smiles. You're welcome!

And we bought a house...

We've been casually looking for a house off and on for the last couple of years. We've looked at houses that are full of mold (and I mean FULL). We've looked at houses that were really tiny. We've looked at houses that needed a total renovation, just to make them livable. And then we looked at a few houses that were nice, but out of our price range. It seemed like it would be a miracle to find something we liked in our price range. We took a break when J was born. Then, I ran into our realtor in the grocery store one day and I hopped online later that day to check out what was on the market. Cue: our miracle.

There wasn't much on the market, in fact, there was only one house I thought was even remotely interesting. I sent our realtor an email to ask her to set up a showing, and my email included this line: "Wonder what's wrong with it!"

Turns out the answer is, Nothing we couldn't handle. And so, five weeks later, after what had to have been the most painless house-buying process ever, we signed some papers and walked away with the keys to our new house.

It was just one week before Christmas, but thanks to the ward Christmas party, I had some decorations all set for the house! I felt so festive, at least I did before I set foot inside! Inside, it was utter chaos. We closed on the 17th, moved in on the 20th, continued moving in on the 21st and 22nd, and then escaped to my parents' house on the 23rd to celebrate Christmas.

Here's the one picture of the inside that I have. It's crazy in here! I am at the point where I don't want to unpack any more boxes, because I don't know where to put anything! It's not that there's not enough space - there's PLENTY of space! 1000 square feet more than our condo! It's just a different configuration, and it will take me a little while to figure it out.

Since I don't have any pictures of my own, I'll share a few of the listing pictures.

Here it is in daylight. I am currently eating crow about hating split entry houses. It's not so bad! :)

The kitchen's on our list of someday changes to make, but it's great for now. I love how bright and sunny it is. I need my sunshine, and I definitely get more of it here. The seller put in new appliances, counters, and sink/faucet, so that's nice.  There's a weird gap between those two upper cabinets above the dishwasher, where they had hung some strange metal mail holder tray. Very inconvenient location for mail, so I think they just hung something that fit in that strange space. And there are places where there obviously used to be cabinets, but who knows what happened to them. I could use a little more room though, so I might add some open shelving in those spots, or maybe get a freestanding pantry.

The bathroom is the best possible version of original, in my opinion. No pepto-bismol pink here, just black and white. I can handle that.

Downstairs there's a nice big family room. If you want to know what it looks like right now, just picture half of the floor covered in Legos, and the other half, in boxes. I'm not exaggerating. A coat of paint will brighten this up considerably. Don't ask me how I'm going to paint at this stage of my life. I'm currently praying about that one.

Back upstairs, there's the living and dining room. That wall you see on the right side of the first picture in this set is the wall of the kitchen. As I drive down the street at night and creepily stare in my new neighbors' windows, I see that this wall has been removed in some of their houses. This makes me very happy. One of these days, we'll knock it down, and open the whole thing up.

Oh, hi, Wall! We were just talking about you. Don't be offended that we want to knock you down. It's not you, it's me!

Here's the LR/DR view from the other direction. The front door is out of view on the left of this picture, and the windows look out on the backyard. So the kitchen is at the front of the house. I'd never seen a split entry laid out like this, but I really like it. The doorway you see on the left is the hallway back to the bedrooms and bathroom.

And thus concludes our out-of-order picture tour of the new house. Not pictured: the bedrooms - all decent sized with white walls and hardwood floors, except for the basement bedroom which has wood paneling and the original orange berber carpet; storage area - some houses like this have a one car garage, but ours has storage instead - future Man Cave; laundry room - cinder block walls and a laundry chute, which conveniently shoots laundry over the laundry basket and behind the water heater; and another bathroom.

The house is in excellent shape. It's been really well maintained, so hopefully we won't mess that up! We left closing feeling a little bit like we did when we left the hospital with newborn L - that feeling of disbelief that they're actually going to let you leave and learn by trial and error what the heck you're doing!

The house's main quirk is that the lot backs right up to a high school, so during the fall, we'll be serenaded by the marching band. But they went to Nationals this year, so at least it's a GOOD marching band! Let's hope it stays that way for many years to come. So far, proximity to the school hasn't been an issue at all. The middle school is also close - about a block away - so if we still live here when our kids reach that age (and we plan to) I will be so happy not to have to shuttle them around for all their activities. They'll be able to run home for a snack before practice or meet me out back when they forget their homework. The schools are excellent - the best in our area - so that's fortunate. And the church is super close too. We timed it last Sunday. From our driveway to "our spot" in the front row at church - 3 minutes and 30 seconds. It's about a one minute drive, and then two and a half minutes of corralling L into the building ;)

Wow - are you still here?! Apparently I have a lot to say on this topic. Don't worry, I'm wrapping up. I just want to record how blessed we feel. Everything just worked out so perfectly, there's no doubt that Heavenly Father had a hand in it. Even in all the chaos, with boxes piled up in corners, and toys strewn about because they don't really have a place yet, and shopping bags of food on the floor because my pots and pans and bowls filled up the cupboards already, even when I look around and feel overwhelmed by all the work ahead, I see the sunshine streaming through the windows, and know that our little family is in the right place. Our place.

Quotes

"Did you have fun riding your bike?"  "Just for a short period of time."

During our Family Home Evening this week, we made a little manger out of popsicle sticks and talked about doing nice things for each other to put a little piece of "hay" in the manger to make it nice and soft for the baby Jesus. L was so excited about our project, he was practically jumping up and down. In his excitement, he yelled, "Everybody knows the Church is true! And I know it too!" This is significant because he generally acts as though he'd rather be anywhere but Church on Sunday mornings! :)

On a related note, "Mom, I think bad guys don't know the Church is true, and they might even try to destroy it!"

Everything lately is about toots. "Baby J has evil toots..... whatever THAT means!"

"I'm not too tired for Legos!"

"I'm not too sick for ice cream!"

L has basically no interest in learning to read. He is, however, very into math. "Mom, does one plus two plus two make five?" and "Dad, I think that 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 makes 20."

Chiropractic Care for Infants

Today, after our third trip to the chiropractor for J, I posted on Facebook:

"We are now two for two on fussy babies turned normal/easy with gentle chiropractic care. Highly recommend!"

A friend asked me to elaborate, and I've got way too much to say to respond in a facebook comment, so it ends up here! I hope my experiences will help my friend, and any others who are struggling with fussy babies. I had no experience with chiropractic care before I tried it with L, and I would have like to have read all about someone's experience, so I'm going to go into great detail. Feel free to skim!

When L was born, he was "sunny side up" (occiput posterior), and at some point during pushing - or maybe slowly throughout... the details are fuzzy! - the doctor manually rotated L's head, so that he was facing the right direction (occiput anterior).

L woke up from the sleepy newborn phase at 3 weeks, and he was none too happy about it. Apart from times when he was nursing, he was rarely awake and content, and he had a terrible time getting to sleep. I would rock him for hours and sing the same three songs on repeat, because I was too sleep-deprived to remember the words to any other songs. He cried hysterically and often, but usually I was able to soothe him within ten or twenty minutes, only to have him start up crying again, either spontaneously or when I changed his position, a few minutes later. Because he wasn't crying nonstop for several hours, the pediatrician told me it sounded like a mild case of colic. In hindsight, I should have paid closer attention to the triggers of the crying, but I was too exhausted to put it all together.

Colic is supposed to get better by three months, so I anxiously awaited that day. The crying, however, continued, and I began looking for a solution. When Lincoln was almost four months old, I came across a study that concluded that 95% of colicky babies who are not helped by other means (gripe water, gas drops, etc.) are helped by chiropractic care. The average length of crying per day was 6 hours before the treatments and 3 hours after. (I must have read a detailed summary of the study somewhere, but the abstract can be found here.)

That was enough for me. I decided it was worth a shot. I got a recommendation from a friend and made an appointment with Dr. Mears of Edmond, OK. Dr. Mears was as gentle as could be. He had me lay down on my back on the table, with L face down on my chest, and then he adjusted L with his pinky fingers. L slept through the whole thing, and he didn't sleep through anything, so I knew it must not be hurting him. It was so gentle I thought it was probably not going to be effective. Dr. Mears said that the vertebrae in his neck felt out of place, which confirmed my suspicions of a birth injury.

After the first appointment, L got even fussier - which I had not imagined possible! However, I'd heard that it could get worse before it got better, so I was willing to give it another try. We went back a few days later, and after that second appointment, he was like a different baby. So much more content! We continued adjustments once or twice weekly for a couple of weeks, but before long, I knew he felt so much better that I didn't feel like we needed to continue adjustments.

J's birth was nothing like L's so I didn't expect that he'd need chiropractic adjustments. He rotated himself into the right position, so I wasn't worried about his neck. He was an easy-going baby. He slept for long stretches in his crib, able to soothe himself when he roused. Then all of a sudden around 5 weeks, he changed. He only wanted to sleep on me. I could lay him down, but after about 5 minutes, he'd wake up, crying inconsolably. I tried everything - white noise, swaddling, the swing, the bouncer, the car, the car seat on the dryer, silence, commotion, one of my shirts in his crib, etc. Nothing helped. This was especially hard on L. In addition to the stress of having to hold J every minute of the day, I had to keep up with L, who was feeling so neglected that he was determined to make me blow up. After several days of me bursting into tears as M walked through the door, M suggested the chiropractor. M said he'd noticed a couple of times that J was fussing and then began to cry harder (as if in pain) when M picked him up. I hadn't noticed this, but the mere mention of it was enough for me to call and make an appointment.

I used Broadneck Chiropractic for myself when I was pregnant, and knew that they specialize in pregnant women and infants, so I felt very comfortable taking J to them. Their method of care is a little bit different, which I expected. Having seen a couple of different chiropractors for myself, I've learned that each one has a completely different way of assessing the body and implementing treatment. Dr. Carrie uses a thermal scan to figure out what is going on in the spine, because small changes in temperature can indicate a problem. They rolled the scanner up J's back, and it showed a thermal spike in his neck. She held him over her lap, and used an activator on its gentlest setting along his spine. Then she used her fingers to gently massage certain places on his neck and head. She showed me some simple massage techniques to use a couple of times a day to relieve the pressure on his spine.

J's first appointment was on a Friday. He was his normal fussy self all that day, and on Saturday, also pretty fussy. I didn't notice that it was worse, like I had with L, just the usual. Then on Sunday, J slept almost the entire day (and night). He had a few periods of alert time, but he was content. There was still crying, but it was explainable crying - hungry, tired, diaper change, burp. That stuff is much easier to deal with - it's the unexplained crying that we want to reduce. Monday and Tuesday, J was awake more and similarly content. He had long periods of time where he was happy to lie on a blanket and wiggle around while we were nearby - something he would not have done the previous week. After two more adjustments, he is still doing great. Lots of happy awake time. On the sleep front, he sleeps in his crib again, and I don't have to use any tricks to make it happen. He is also able to settle himself when he rouses, just like he did before. I feel like the treatment has been very effective. I'm not going to take him back until I see he needs it again.

It's clear to me that something happened that hurt him (maybe a big brother?), and he was in pain. He was crying and needy because he was uncomfortable, not because he was working the system or because I was doing anything wrong. And as soon as this gentle treatment made him feel more comfortable in his new little body, he didn't need me nearly as much, which is good for the whole family!

If you are considering chiropractic care for your baby, Yay! I hope it works as well for your baby as it has for mine! A word of warning though: Not all chiropractors are gentle! I learned that one the hard way. When L was a baby, I once took him to a chiropractor who was closer to our home to avoid the long drive to Dr. Mears. I was HORRIFIED as I watched the chiropractor yank my 4-month-old's head from side to side. I scooped him up off the table and walked out the door, never to return. In fact, I took him to Dr. Mears the next day to make sure the other guy hadn't done any damage.

So before you make an appointment, ask to speak with the chiropractor, and ask this question:

What is your approach to treating infants?

Words you want to hear: 

G E N T L E

fingertips

massage

activator on lowest setting 

...and probably other things I don't know about

The point is to talk with them so that you're comfortable with the care your child will receive. You can even ask that the chiropractor demonstrate their techniques on your arm, so you can feel and be comfortable with the amount of pressure that they'll be using. Be smarter than I was - I got lucky with our first chiropractor, but because I was too timid to ask, I didn't know beforehand that he was going to be great.

Have I answered all your questions? Feel free to ask more, and I'll answer in the comments, and/or edit the post to reflect your suggestions.

Adventures in Family Home Evening

Rushed through dinner so we could go to the pumpkin patch and pick out a pumpkin.
Piled in the car.
Drove to the pumpkin patch.
Found pumpkin patch closed.
Heard crying from the back seat (from both children).
Averted crisis by visiting Rita's Italian Ice.
Ordered kids' size raspberry ice with chocolate custard and rainbow sprinkles.
Paid $3.81.
Drove home.
Sang I am a Child of God.
L prayed and thanked Heavenly Father for our furniture, our books, our carpet, and our ceiling fan.
L rearranged the assignment board and told us he had a lesson for us.

"It starts with a B and an N, and there's a 6 and a 3. 4 plus 5 makes what? 6?"

Profound stuff, right there. 

M gave the real lesson, which was about Heavenly Father's pattern of calling prophets in every day and age. We're working our way through Preach My Gospel.
L got out the exercise ball, a No. 10 can of diced onions, and a dixie cup maraca (with rice inside), so we could play "band".
Sang lots of songs, while playing our "instruments".
Talked about buying a piano.
Laid J down in his crib, since he was sound asleep.
Snuggled and tickled L while singing silly songs.
Sang "Lonely" at L's request four or five times while he giggled uncontrollably.
Said "Welcome back, L! I missed you!"
Exchanged knowing glances with M, while L said, "I didn't go anywhere, Mom!" The old L was back today - Hooray!