National Breastfeeding Week Thoughts

 This week has been national breastfeeding week and I've been reading lots of posts from friends and family about it. It made me think a lot about things I wish more people talked about in relation to breastfeeding and things I wish I'd known starting my first breastfeeding journey. 

Going into my first birth, I listened and read a lot of things about birth along the lines of "your body knows how to birth" and "trust your body and baby to know what to do". I assumed breastfeeding had similar mantras attached to it. My body and baby were born to breastfeed and I just needed to sit back and not interfere with all the miraculously and inherently instinctual things my body and baby would do. This was not my experience. While, yes, a newborn baby instinctually looks to latch and suckle to sustain its life, it doesn't mean they all somehow know how to do it successfully. As a new mother, my body was eager to produce milk, I didn't instantly know what a good latch looked like or whether I was doing any part of it right. 

The first few weeks of breastfeeding all three of my babies has been H. A. R. D. and extremely painful. There are resources that will teach you about latches, tongue ties, and increasing supply, but none of them highlighted that it will (or at least was for me) be painful. Everything the lactation consultants or books I'd read emphasized that breastfeeding shouldn't hurt unless you're doing it incorrectly. Every time my baby latched that first week was like being in labor again and my post-birth nursing contractions have only gotten stronger with each subsequent child (NOT easier like I feel like they should). With my oldest,  one of my nipples got a terrible crack that just couldn't heal and I had to start exclusively pumping on that side . I found out about nipple shields and tried to start transitioning back to nursing on that side, but my baby preferred plastic by that point and was super offended if I offered just skin. It wasn't until he was four months that we finally got into exclusively breastfeeding and it wasn't awful anymore.

With my second, I felt like things were going to be a breeze. I had nursed Row for 18 months and felt like an expert. I knew what I was doing now. It was still so painful that first month. I went to the lactation consultants three times outside of the hospital unsure of what I was doing wrong and why it hurt. When she was six weeks old, I got a terrible mastitis infection and ended up in the hospital. We figured things out faster than with my first, sure, but it still wasn't what I'd call easy for that first bit. Also, I got mastitis again when she was 14 months old and ended up in the E.R. again because no one tells you bits like that either. Mastitis is not just a thing of those early days of engorgement and adjusting. It can come at you anytime you aren't getting enough water. 

My third was probably my easiest transition to breastfeeding. I had breastfed for a grand total of 3.5 years at this point and knew it was probably going to hurt a whole bunch at the start like it had with the others. It did, but I knew about when to expect the pain to pass. I wasn't afraid to openly nurse without a cover. I felt confident in our ability to be successful and journey on despite all the hard things that come along with nursing. I had a super supportive husband and breastfeeding wasn't foreign. 

Here I am a few weeks from starting another breastfeeding journey with 5.5 years of breastfeeding under my belt. I highlighted all the hard bits about it because I wish I'd known some of that going into it. The other side I wished I'd known is that it DOES get better. Suddenly, I was able to nurse anywhere, anytime without stress, pain or embarrassment. I loved nursing my babies in the end and they sure loved it too. I'm a huge supporter of breastfeeding and wish it was talked about so much more. There are these weird layers to it I wish I could banish from our society. Breasts are seen as sexual objects so it's "gross" or inappropriate to breastfeed your baby, when really that is the sole purpose of a female having breasts. The reasons attracting a male to them is that they are a signal that "hey, this potential mate could feed your offspring". It makes me SO angry that women are told to cover up when breastfeeding. It should be their choice to do so, but I think most wouldn't if we didn't have this stigma attached to it. Covering up adds another annoying thing to maneuver while trying to figure things out. My babies HATED having their faces covered and I don't blame them at all. 

Honestly, I think the hardest parts about breastfeeding, birthing and raising children come down to two  gaping holes in our culture. The first hole being that our culture does not revere women for being able to create and sustain life. At all. All parts of feminity, the things that ONLY women can do, are seen as a very unimportant and have so little respect attached to them. Fed is always, alway best. To all my friends who can't breastfeed or struggled or made the choice to not, I see you. This is in no way meant to shame you or feel bad. Society is already too good at shaming women and pitting them against one another. Man has figured out a way to not need a woman to sustain a life in the way of formula. It's a miraculous thing that no baby needs to die of starvation if a woman cannot produce milk and it always will be. Somewhere along the way though we stopped seeing the ability to breastfeed as something spectacular since you can just pop into the grocery store to find a replacement for breastmilk. We no longer have to search out another woman who could potentially feed our babies or do what too many of our ancestors did and say goodbye to a baby too early. Instead of marveling that a woman's body can somehow create a constant stream of nourishment for another human being, we've decided it's not really a big deal. Instead of finding a way to embrace all our sisters unable to breastfeed while simultaneously supporting and cheering on the other sisters who could breastfeed, we've turned things into sides or camps. Which leads into this other giant hole in our culture, we don't have a "normal" support system for women. 

Most cultures not only revere women for being women, but there are giant support networks for the gargantuan task of creating and raising a human being. Women are surrounded by female family members and friends who all lend their wisdom and expeiences of birth, breastfeeding, and child-rearing to the other mothers in their circle. Even more so than just having access to multiple resources of knowledge, these women have access to a constant flow of legitimate support. You slept 20 minutes last night cluster feeding your baby? Your aunt, sister, mother, female in-law of any nature is there to help. You can't get the baby to latch right without it hurting? There's multiple people in your home or on your street who can help you. All the messages sent to American women are "you should be able to do this on your own and recovery very quickly from giving birth". Maternity leave is generally 6 weeks long which sends a message loud and clear to everyone that by 6 weeks, your body and mind should have fully recovered and you should absolutely have nursing and taking care of your baby down. You shouldn't need any real help with anything a month and a half after having a baby. What an incredible lie we tell our women. We leave them alone, confused, overwhelmed, exhausted and in pain. No wonder we have an alarming amount of women who suffer with postpartum depression and anxiety. Sure, hormones have their role in creating PPD/PPA, but I firmly believe if women had more support after having children it wouldn't look like this in our country. Many women live away from family or their families aren't very supportive of breastfeeding so it falls entirely on the exhausted mother. When she struggles, she blames herself and feels ashamed that she can't handle it all. She has to give up things like breastfeeding for her mental sanity because there isn't enough support. People are kind of starting to wise up to the important role that husbands, if the woman has one, play in offering support to a new mom. Paternity leave was hardly a thing and is now finally starting to get some traction. Even with that, however, women are still in need of something that is so obviously missing. 

Reading all the posts this week has made me ache for my sisters who can't breastfeed and also feel like I'm not allowed to say "I did it!" because it might make them feel bad. I somehow managed to get through all the thrush, pumping, cracked and bleeding nipples, cluster feeding and I'm dang proud of it. Those first three months every single time were haaarrrd, but it was worth it and I'm so glad I pushed through. I had support from my husband, friends and family which I know a lot of people don't. I'm grateful everyday that I was able to nurse as long as I did. There is a narrative that if something is hard it can't simultaneously be beautiful. I've learned the bulk of my most valuable life lessons from experiencing hard things versus those that have been or come easily. I've learned what things are beautiful from having experienced the less beautiful parts of life. I'm grateful breastfeeding wasn't a breeze so I could learn what I'm capable of as a woman and what my body is capable of. I'm grateful it taught me what other women might be going through and ways I could legitimately help them while they slog through the fourth trimester. Here's a virtual nod to all those other moms out there working hard at breastfeeding, you got this.

Was still nursing almost 1-year-old Rowan in this picture and there was no way he was going to give it up at this point 

Little Lyra was the easiest baby even with all our breastfeeding hiccups in the first six weeks. She was THE hardest to wean two years later 

Rodrick was probably my best nurser so he gets a white star or something like that  

Life Updates April

 I haven't posted in such a long time and my brain so easily forgets the cute things these kids do. They grow so quickly and come out of their different phases before I can really cement their mannerisms.

I can't even believe how big Rowan is sometimes. He has gone through FOUR sizes of shoes since October and has the appetite of a teenage boy. His most recent wellness check said he was in the 98% for height which is mind boggling to me. He's never seemed insanely tall to me, but he's not messing around these days with growing up. He is just such a good kid. So good-hearted, responsible, kind and sweet. He is rocking the socks off of kindergarten and excelling in all subjects. I'm so proud of the person he is and is becoming. Sometimes, he'll go in the backyard to play by himself with a stick or some other random object and play forever. I have no idea what he's doing, but he sure does. It involves lots of moving around brandishing objects and fighting imaginary foes. Rowan is also doing remarkably well at Taekwando. He should be getting his yellow belt this next month and can hardly wait to move ahead. It takes a lot of memorization to excel and I am blown away at how quickly he seems to pick up the combinations and moves. He continues to be a sweet, gentle brother to his younger siblings. He's excited for this new brother to make his arrival and says the sweetest prayers over him. It's such a miraculous thing to see this almost 7-year-old boy who used to fit in my arms be so independent. He wakes up every morning, dresses himself, gets ready for school, and then spends all these hours away from me learning and growing. I get sad when I think about it sometimes, missing when his whole world revolved around being at home with me, but I also get emotional thinking about how amazed and proud I am of him for being so responsible and grown-up. He does not like doing chores and moves like a sloth when asked to do them, narrating every moment and highlighting how much he doesn't like doing his current task. This boy's mouth hardly ever stops moving. His instructor commented the other day that you never have to wonder what Rowan's thinking. He goes on and on and on in excessive detail about anything he's thinking about. He's always been such a talker. I remember when he was a baby/toddler and how he'd just babble all the time while driving or when waking up from a nap. I love seeing his faith in Jesus Christ grow and his desire to be like him. He blesses our family in such a profound and wonderful way. 

Lyra girl. Oh boy. This one is so funny. I can hardly keep up with her, but I am trying. She's going through the same reading book with me that I did with Rowan and doing a smashing good job. Each lesson takes about 20 minutes and that's about how long her attention span can handle. She's just so busy all the dang time. Her handwriting is absolutely perfect. Those fine motor skills of hers are top notch. She enjoys writing more than reading and loves to color, write notes, and even makes little paper dolls and paper dollhouses to play with. She's so creative and picks up on things so quickly. Lyra is very content playing by herself, but seeks out friends more than our other three. She likes to be "momma" to Rocky and they play really well together (most of the time). They're both pretty brutal with one another when they aren't getting along, but have a sweet relationship about 90% of the time. We put her in taekwando in hopes it would help her grow her focus, self-control, and discipline. It certainly is helping and her instructor is fantastic with her. Physically, she's a wonder and pretty much nothing can hold her back there. She and Rowan are both natural athletes and I love watching them learn more about each sport. She tries to instruct the other students during class a lot and makes sure to let her instructor know when she's doing a good job at teaching or offer some tips for improvement. Again, thankfully her instructor finds her funny instead of too much to handle. Lyra LOVES to clean. It's nothing short of a miracle. She'll proudly surprise me with an entire room in the house that she cleaned and organized. I love her spunk. It's hard sometimes to parent, but I admire it so much about her. She is never, ever afraid to go to bat with me over something and defends anyone she feels is being mistreated with the ferocity of a lion. Again, a little exhausting, but she's going to need that tenacity facing this crazy world. Lyra likes preschool despite us still not really knowing what goes on there for her. Her teacher has only positive things to say about her and says she is doing really well. She tells us wild stories all the time about school and I should have been more diligent about documenting them. I love her sweet and sour little self so much. I wish I could be half as cool as she is someday. 

Rodrick Royal is rockin being two. He is very extreme in his emotions as any good toddler should be. He tends to be very happy the majority of the time, but watch out when he's angry or sad. He loves big kids, but will randomly attack kids his age or younger while playing. It's exhausting to keep up with to keep him from brutalizing poor, innocent children. If a kid hits Rocky, I run over there real quick. Usually the parents are expecting my haste as a sign of how upset I am that something has happened to my kid, but they're dead wrong. I just need to get over to him before he finishes the fight. A little push or shove is not going to really hurt Rocky, but what Rocky does next is always a little terrifying. I think because Rowan and Lyra are generally effected so little by a push or hit from Rocky he doesn't understand completely how much he can really hurt a small person like him. He loves to read books, especially about superheroes or dinosaurs. I love that he reads books with me in a way my other kids absolutely did not. He also loves when I sing to him and the older two likewise did not like me to do that. He loves to insert his siblings and self into any book or song.  His current song choices are "Mean Old Witch", the monkey/alligator song, and the car and train song from Mother Goose Club (with various family members in every. single. song). He's our slowest talker which makes things hard for the both of us. He's talking more and more each week, but our other two were on full sentences by this age which made understanding one another so much easier. His pediatrician said they are seeing toddlers by the droves struggling with speech delays. A lot have been around people so much less and aren't picking up language from social settings and children learn a huge amount of how to speak from watching lips (which masks prevent). We had the option to be on an incredibly long wait list to see a speech therapist, but I'm very hopeful we will be able to get him to where he should be by just being more meaningful in our communication with him. He's so charming and sweet. He has dimples on both sides and has the most heart-melting smile (especially when saying sorry for something he shouldn't have done). I love this age on him so, so much. I love watching him follow his siblings around and imitating them. I'm also pretty lucky to get some one-on-one time with him five days a week. It makes me feel as if I can fully appreciate all the little things that make up his personality right now. I love how much joy he brings to our family and getting to know who Rocky boy is. 

The Tsunami

 I don't write on here very often anymore. I wish I did, but I usually opt to write in my journal instead when I'm feeling the urge to work through some feelings with writing. I have so many right now though that my hand would cramp if I wrote it all out and typing is much faster. 

I have been mentally struggling for awhile now. I'm sure many have with the type of year this has been, but mine started getting really bad October 2019. I'd for sure had bouts of depression in the past, but it never felt quite so heavy. I attribute part of it to trying to go on a very restrictive diet to, you know, lose all my baby weight ASAP. Bleh. I could and likely write another post about how angry I get over society's mind-numbing expectations and damaging beliefs on how women should look, be, find worth in themselves. This diet made me feel like a perpetual failure and the dark thoughts just took over. It got so, so bad. I wrote letters. I looked at dating apps to find my husband a potential replacement. I researched least traumatic ways for children to lose a parent. Luckily, I went to therapy and it helped a little. Time ultimately helped lessen the gaping mental wound I had. I started to do all the things I knew would help me. Exercising everyday, journaling, being more grateful, praying more, serving more. I think sometimes it can feel really confusing when I say I'm struggling with depression because there are so many days, moments, weeks where I genuinely feel so happy. The dark, sad feelings that sometimes take over seem so small and distant in those happy moments. It seems impossible that I'll ever feel THAT bad again. 

Have you ever seen the movie The Impossible? It's about a family of five vacationing in Thailand over Christmas during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. I would highly recommend watching it for a multitude of reasons. I've been thinking a lot about the scene when the wave first hits in relation to how I feel about my depression. Naomi Watts and her family are having a grand time swimming in this really nice resort. Completely happy despite some worries about Ewan McGregor's job when their vacation is over. They're sure it will work out and they can handle it. She's reading a book and a gust of wind blows one of her pages against these glass panels. Those glass panels to me are all the things I'm doing to keep my depression under control. The good things that really do help me be happy. If I were to huddle behind them, they would keep me dry from the occasional splashes of water life is sure to throw. Then, out of nowhere, this giant, black wave comes crashing down on them. Naomi Watts presses herself against these glass panels knowing it's certainly not going to keep her from being crushed by this wave, but it's all she's got. It's not strong enough to keep her from being ripped apart by this tsunami even if she'd spent a year making it the most durable glass in the world. She could have built a sturdy house of gratitude, exercise, therapy, and it still will be covered by this wave of destruction. 

Something I'm not ready to talk about started a new wave for me and it's hard, at times, to feel like I'll ever find the surface. The moment that changes things in the movie for Naomi Watts is hearing her son call out her name while he's getting dragged along this enormous current. That's how it feels for me too. Whenever I want to just cling to my palm tree and scream and maybe let go, I have three little voices calling out my name. The four people I love the most are what keeps me from letting go. It's not easy. I still have to walk around in unfamiliar territory with my chest cut open and a giant leg flap dangling about, but who else will make sure my family is okay? 

After it's faded a bit, I usually find a portion of myself grateful for that excruciating pain because it opens my eyes to how other people might be feeling. I am not unique in feeling like this. There are countless around me with hands that hang down and sorrow that the world can't see. However, this world is pretty dark right now. People hate one another. Such cold hearts. I have a medical condition that makes it really hard to wear a mask. I normally am effected very little by my disorder, but I've had it tested at the doctor's office and my O2 levels drop to the mid 80's when I'm wearing one. I could easily carry around a doctor's note excusing me from mask wearing, but no one cares about that, not really. I often let my nose out so I don't black out, but wow. Strangers, friends, family hate me for it. It's so painful to already have all these thoughts swirling about like dark mist whispering "maybe it's not a bad idea if you died" and then have others thinking or saying the same thing. I wish I was this incredibly resilient type. My husband is, thank goodness. One of us has to be. He's a fighter whereas I'm just..not. I don't know how to be like that either. I wish I was. When I'm meanest to myself, I throw that at my inner crumpled self over and over "what's wrong with you? Get up. Get up and fight. Why can't you just be different?!" I can fight for other people, that's so much easier. I can fight for my kids, my husband, friends, family, but myself. Woof. This isn't just about mask hatred, it's about that incredible palpable hatred and fear of one another. I generally believe people are good at heart, I do. Hearts seem to be getting harder though. 

I don't know exactly why I felt that I needed to write this. I have trouble sleeping these days and starting this helped some of those late hours go by quicker. I do have hope, even when my mind assures me it's not a realistic thing. When I can feel that hate in the world, from myself, the love of Christ feels stronger. I was reading in Ether the other day about the Jaredites and their journey. They spent a year getting slammed by waves and wind and only had a tiny amount of light for their long journey. Yet, they praised God during all this. The waves beat them to a better place even when I'm sure it felt too much to bear at moments. I have to believe it's getting me and all of us to a better place too

Sixth Sense- Rowboat is 6

 My firstborn is six-years-old. At times, it's felt like ages ago that I held his fresh, tiny body for the first time. How did this tall, bright, and tender-hearted child once fit completely on my chest? Other times, I feel like I just barely got to take him home from the hospital. Time is both my sweetest friend and most-despised enemy. 

Rowan at six is absolutely wonderful. He's incredibly patient with his two younger siblings who often use him as a trampoline, punching bag, and chair. He never really complains when they maul him, which is sweet to me. Rowan's thoughtfulness coupled with maturity is something special. Tonight, we told him to go upstairs and get ready for bed. He walked up without any further prompting, put his clothes in the dirty hamper, showered by himself, dressed himself, hung up his towel and brushed his teeth and additionally laid out pajamas for his little sister. It was the first time he's done that because I'm normally quick to lay out pajamas while they bathe/shower. He saw a need and filled it without any expectation of reward or encouragement to do so. He's so pure. 

Rowan is loving kindergarten. He thrives on routine and order which school is blessedly giving him. He enjoys his teacher and friends and especially learning. He loves math and is already a super reader. He's already a very bright kid and being one of the oldest now is only helping him feel capable and smart. In so many ways, he is such a beautifully easy child. He's obedient, kind, and respectful. The emotional outbursts of his younger years are fading as he learns to self-soothe and regulate big feelings. He occasionally has something he can't process, but he recovers quickly. 

His current interest list continues to keep switch/video games in first place. He also really enjoys sports/exercising. He started going to CrossFit kids while we were in Idaho and really loved it. He wanted to come with me on the weekends when I would work out and do his own workout. Now that we're back in Nebraska, he's started going to a kid class while we workout that teaches them whatever sport they wish. His first request was soccer and then volleyball, basketball, pickle ball, and football. He's always had a natural ability to do well in sports and I hope he keeps that with him as these next few years go by. I can't decide what he would like being enrolled in more and he gets too excited about all the options when I ask him. It makes me feel like he lives a more balanced life knowing he likes both video games and athletics. His favorite game to play is Minecraft with his dad and grandpa. It's pretty cute to watch. They'll pull up chairs close to the TV, facetime/or call Papa, and all play together for as long as time will allow. It makes me feel like he's a teenager already for some reason. He likes Pokemon, fighting robots with Dad/Rocky, making obstacle courses in the backyard, racing, daydreaming about flying, math, doing flips off the couch onto our mattress (ahhh please stop this), constantly trying to solve a rubik's cube and board games. 

Rowan continues to say "I love you, mom" and dad a lot. I love it, but he still seems to say it as a filler of silence sometimes. He also talks non-stop. He needs to explain things to me or anyone else in full detail. I wish I could focus better on his long descriptions, but catch myself saying "uhuh and really" a lot more than I'd like. It's easier to soak all of his words in when Lyra and Rocky are otherwise occupied which happens very rarely. He's so encouraging and loving to his siblings regardless. Lyra hasn't slept in her bed for an entire night since we got back. We have a sticker chart going and an excessive amount of promised prizes as motivation (Nothing is working btw). The FIRST thing ROWAN asks every morning is "Did Lyra do it? Did she sleep through the night?" He's so hopeful she succeeded. He'll tell her when she wakes up "You can do it tomorrow night, Lyra. Just do it." 

He eats mostly well at this age. He'll luckily eat a fairly broad spectrum of nourishing foods. His favorite "healthy" foods are cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, bell peppers, fresh peas (never cooked ones), apples, and grapes. He can eat an exorbitant amount of ice-cream for his size. While in Disneyworld, he got to eat a TRIPLE cone and he ate the entire thing somehow.  He still protests eating beans which makes life super un-fun for meal making since most of my favorite meals and ones everyone else will eat have beans in them. He loves sandwiches, is really into the concept of double-double hamburgers (he discovered this was a thing while eating at an In-n-Out in Utah), he doesn't like chick-fil-a food (probably because he's eaten there an excessive amount in his short-life span), and he continues to follow in GG Chocolate's footsteps by loving chocolate. He sleeps perfectly. Goes to bed without a fuss, sleeps through the night and wakes up between 6:30am-7:30am most mornings. I appreciate this about him a lot particularly because he was not an easy sleeper for the majority of his babyhood/toddlerhood. 

He continues to have an incredibly contagious and cute laugh. He laughs easily and is starting to understand jokes. Rowan's favorite people in the world are his extended family. He adores spending time with both sets of grandparents, aunts and uncles, second cousins and he loves his cousins so, so much. They're absolutely his best friends. It was an amazing 100 days of summer for him to be with family so often. It made me really wish we lived closer to our families knowing how much our kids thrived being surrounded by people who love them. 

I just really, really want to be like him. I wish I could be as gentle in my parenting as he can be in his brother-ing. I'm grateful for the gift that he is to our lives. We love him dearly and are grateful he's been with us these six years. 

Rodrick Royal is ONE

One year ago today I had the most beautiful baby boy. Oh how my heart jumps when it sees Rocky boy. I am completely besotted with him. He is pure joy in a tiny, squishy body. I'm addicted to him and his sweet personality. 

I'm not sure what his one-year stats are because corona virus means our appointment is pushed back until the craziness is over. He's our smallest still at this point though. He is in 12 months onesies, but the pants are usually too long so he has to wear 9 month pants. It's so strange having a baby so small. Both of the older two just tore through sizes. Despite starting crawling, climbing and standing so insanely early, he only just started constantly using walking as his main mode of transport this month. Honestly, this week has been big for him walking. I love watching those wobbly, chubby legs move his smiley self around. 

He can say a few words right now, mostly ones that start with the letter B. Ball (oh how he loves balls), baby, bye-bye, balloon, binky, Dada, Momma, Lyra and he calls Rowan Dada too. He can kind of say dog and gets SO excited when he sees any and every dog. He was signing a whole bunch last month, but once he started making more clear sounds, we both got lax with signing. He still uses all done, milk, open, drink, bird, dog and cold. All animals that are not a bird/chicken/dug, are dogs to him. I really should brush up more so I can expand his vocabulary for him.

He loves to go in Rowan and Lyra's room. They both have this little kid chairs that he sits on like a little King. It's pretty cute. He also loves to be part of the action with his sibs. His favorite game is still chase. I'll chase the big kids and hold Rocky facing-forward so he feels like he's running with them. He breathily giggles and kicks his legs back and forth a whole bunch. He's probably bonded with Lyra more over the last few months and spends more time playing with her than Row. I hope he'll jump right in their little pack as he gets older since it's mostly the Rowan and Lyra club right now. 

He has a highly nutritious palate (not). His favorite entrees include suckers, Cheeto puffs, applesauce, oranges, apples, cucumbers, blueberries, pizza bananas, Chick-fil-a nuggets, broccoli, water, suckers and suckers. We have not pushed vegetables enough with him and now, he just doesn't really want them. He'll eat the occasional green bean or sweet potato, but he really, really hates things that are squishy. He'll just drop them disgustedly out of his hand. In terms of nursing, he will either go a good portion of the day without it with the exception of nap time OR he'll kind of snack a bunch where he'll latch for a few seconds at a time then become distracted. This mostly happens when he was recently hurt. He likes to have me trace his hand when he nurses and he'll trace mine. He loves his binky so much. When I get him out of his crib in the morning or after nap, he'll have one in his mouth and one to two in each tiny fist. He arches and freaks out when I try and put them back in the crib even if I'm not taking the one out of his mouth. he also does this super cute lip smacking things when he wants a binky or to nurse. 

The kid is social. I see a lot of similarities in his personality to Lyra. He'll smile and chat with anyone that looks his way and has recently started to maneuver himself toward them now that he's more mobile. He loves other kids, babies and animals. He does this funny thing where he will ask for a drink, but then stick his hand in my cup to steal my ice. He also does this cute things where he lays his head down on the ground and just lays facedown for a minute or two. He'll also eat like that too if he drops something. No hands, just face. He will throw his head back when he laughs and it kills me. He loves being chased and will squeal with delight when I say "I'm going to get you!"

He sleeps pretty well right now. He sleeps through the night about 70 percent of the time, so I count him passing with a solid C+. We are still in the two nap cycle for the most part, but we just sort of take it as it comes. We don't follow a super rigid schedule which has it's pluses and minuses. Plus being less stress if things don't go according to plan, minuses include getting overtired.

I felt before he was born that he would be a happy, fun kind of person and he most certainly is. I couldn't love him more 

3.75 Lyra

My sweet Lyra is almost 4! Oh how I love my girl. She's so helpful and caring, wild and fun. Lyra has really turned a corner in listening and helpfully helping. She seems to enjoy having a baby brother a lot more these days and will play with him more often. She still will carry him to the other side of the room when he tries to play with her dollhouses, but she's gentle about it. She wants so desperately to help and I'm trying to give her more opportunities to do this without stressing so much about her accidentally strangling Rodrick or laying a wake of destruction. Lyra has always adored having an older brother and still does. She and Rowan are inseparable most days. They play together super well most of the time and are little side-kicks to one another. They're almost always better as a pair than separately. Rowan adds some reason and honesty to the mix so they aren't constantly getting into things they shouldn't. They do fight and WOOF, it kills me sometimes. I've discovered physically pulling them apart is an instant tempering of emotions whereas my previous method of shouting "STOP" a whole bunch was wildly ineffective.

She still has her wild side for sure. She gets more berserk and hyper the tireder she is and then she'll turn super violent once she passes over the hyper-stage of exhaustion. Like a cat violent. She'll suddenly slap you across the face and then hide away. When she gets really upset, she'll run out of the room to go find a place to calm down. It's actually pretty emotionally mature of her to do this without prompting and I'm grateful so came to it naturally. Speaking of things coming naturally, she really is easy in so many ways. Lyra can self-play with toys for HOURS. Uninterrupted hours of her just playing contentedly by herself. I'll join her sometimes, but she seems to enjoy her own creative time. 

Lyra is so social! It's just amazing to me how drawn to people she is and how much she enjoys being around them. The other day on our way in to church she saw a little friend of hers and started running after her in her little Elsa heels "Sunday! It's me! It's Lyra! You know me!" and then caught up with her. She also has a razor sharp memory for names of friends. We saw another friend on our way into a playgroup before the world ended, someone she sees every month or so and yelled out the window "Lydia! It's so nice to see you again!" She has ZERO fear of talking to people and often will beeline it anywhere there are people. We went to the park today and some older teenage boy were playing basketball. She zoomed off that direction, walked up to them and said "I want to play, friends!" I hustled her out of there real quick. She can be so incredibly endearing because of her friendliness, amiability, humor and kind-heart, but PLEASE exhibit some caution in life, child. 

Lyra is so smart and so busy. I bought a book from The Good and The Beautiful to do with her when I'm doing homeschool with Rowan. It's really cute and focuses on just learning the alphabet and numbers. She has a lot of trouble sitting still and simply doing the book for the sake of doing the book. I've had to be way more creative to get her to start to recognize letters. She's improving, but still has plenty of learning to do (don't we all). It's been a real learning experience for me to see how different my kids are in the way they absorb information. Rowan's always loved a good educational-geared game, but he also really thrives on check-boxes and prizes. He wants to go exactly in order in his book and do everything on the page to perfection. Lyra wants to color on whatever page she wants and if she doesn't care much for a game, walks away to play with something else. She's young, but Row was already getting into star charts and such at this age. A good illustration of their differences are the way they run and use their money. Whenever Lyra has even a little money in her money jar, she would like to go shopping at Target. Immediately. Rowan will hoard that money in there for years to fill it up to the top. When they run on the treadmill, Lyra will set it to 10 and sprint until she can't anymore. Rowan sets it to a 4 or 5 and makes sure he finishes exactly when he completes whatever number of laps he decided to do. Lyra also is a really gifted little singer. I hope to help her with this as she grows since I'm not. I'd also love to put her in gymnastics, but we've worried before about her spina bifida occlude. If she were to land on her back in a bad/weird way, it could be crippling for her potentially. It's hard to brush it off and let her pursue it (Because I think she could be SO good) when I know I'd just worry the further she went in the sport. 

Speaking of Target, this girl was born to shop. She LOVES it. She'll just throw any toy, purse, dress, make-up, shiny thing in the cart and ask me relentlessly for everything in the store. She has a really good eye for fashion too. I'm always a little impressed with how she owns her little style. Lyra is the girliest girl out there. She already has a multi-stage outing routine. She wants to put on all the make-up, paint her nails, wear high-heels, put some fancy shades on, accessorize. The only thing she really hates doing is her hair. It makes me sad because her hair is finally getting long enough to do more styles with, but she'll stare at me defiantly and pull it out the second I'm done. I think it hurts her a little so I can't really blame her. Her hair is still super fine and doesn't grow much on the top of her head. 

One of the things I love most about her is how she rubs my arms when I'm cuddling her or sad. She's just so tender and loving. She's had a nurturing soul since she was itty bitty. I try to realize often that all she wants from life is to be with me, play with me, cuddle me, talk with me. Her needing me shouldn't feel burdensome, but a privilege. My heart aches for the day she won't want me first. I don't want to regret not living fully in this precious time of her life with her. I can already feel time slipping  through my fingers like sand. Slow down please!I think often of Lyra's blessing day and how Mike and my Dad said she just smiled up at the ceiling like she was beaming at heaven the whole blessing. She is a special little girl, pleasant and charming and unique. I love that Heavenly Father sent this little spit-fire to me.

Lyra had so much fun at Disney! She loved the roller coasters the most and princesses second. She got this cute little makeover and it was a dream come true. She was being so goofy though and her fairy godmother had to ask for my assistance getting her to sit still more than once. eye roll.
Lyra had gone up to a cute little girl at Disney Springs a few days before our Magic Kingdom trip who had clearly been to the boutique and complimented her on her dress and makeup. The girl was so sweet and gave Lyra the make-up they send them home with. It changed Lyra's whole world to get make-up from someone. I told the girl she was a true princess because she was kind.

I love this picture so much! I know I should crop out the part of it being a screenshot, but I'm lazy and tired. I love how free she seems running barefoot in her cute cream dress with little pom-poms on it

She can love aggressively sometimes. This is her kissing, hugging and licking me a whole bunch the other day 

Rocky Road 10 months

Rodrick Royal is almost 1! It breaks my heart I haven't kept up on my journaling here about him. I've gone back so many times to compare the older two kids at their various stages based on the info I put in my blog and I won't have that with him.

He does so many sweet, adorable, perfect things that I never want to forget. He calls Mike AND Rowan Dada. It's so cute! He's starting to make sounds that are sooo close to the word. I'm pretty sure he said bird the other day and gets really close to saying fish. He signs open for everything under the sun. It's shocking how applicable it really is for so many different things. If you're going to learn one sign as a baby, open is a pretty good one. He signs milk, but sometimes just open (your shirt). All animals are either a bird or a dog right now. He is learning lots of signs everyday and it's so fun to see him get to interact back with us. Right now he consistently and correctly signs, milk, open, dog, bird, baby, book, binky, and sucker. He gets SO excited when he sees animal and whines constantly until he can touch them. We saw a squirrel the other day and he was determined to track that guy down and give him a big squeeze. Rocky loves babies. If he sees them, he needs to be by them and touching them and slobbering and clobbering them.

He's really close to full on walking. He can take a few steps at a time before falling down, but it's not his primary mode of transport yet. He's started to do this funny bear crawl because he doesn't want his knees to touch the floor, but he also can't balance perfectly yet to master walking. He's a pro at climbing and scarily can climb on all sorts of things. The other day, he pulled himself onto the top of the handle bar at chick-fil-a and clung there until I forced him to get down. He used to climb on to the top of our entryway desk until Mike smartly put up some netting to keep him from perching up there with his gift cards. Rocky loves to have a handful of plastic. Give him all the credit cards and gift cards and you've got a happy baby on your hands.

He loves to be part of the action with his siblings. If they're wrestling, he needs to be wrestling them too. He'll just crawl his little baby bum all over them and sit on their heads while they try to "gently" push him off. They honestly do a really good job with him and both usually crack up when he joins their fun. Rocky also looooves when I run with him after them. He'll kick his legs and laugh so hard. Lyra loved that too, but really loved when I'd have her sit on Rowan's shoulders or bop him on the head.

His soft, down-feather hair is so sweet. It grows like Lyra's. Nothing on top and so much on the back. Both could really rock a natural mullet.

I love my 10-month old little boy