Updates....

What a boring title....but it's the best I could come up with. Truthfully, to be posting at all is amazing to me. Ours days are even busier with a toddler around the house. But somehow he manages to keep us better scheduled than before he arrived in our family. Maybe it's because his routine IS so scheduled, and so we work our schooling etc. etc. all around that. Or maybe it's because I do not have time to get on the computer during the day any longer, except perhaps at nap time. So, we are accomplishing much more throughout our day... whatever it is... it's working for us.

The only thing that is not working at all is my ability to keep the house neat. Notice I didn't say clean... I am not a clean freak by any means. You will find dust when you come to my house, on just about everything. I consider it a furniture protectant. The floors are not sparkling, and the piano keys seriously need to be wiped. Please don't even look in my bathrooms, especially the boys... it's scary even for me.

I'm definitely not the type of mom who puts cleaning ahead of quality time with the kiddos. (Well, only when company is coming, and then everyone gets to pitch in!) But I am a neat and organized freak of sorts. I like things to be de-cluttered and put away.... And let me tell you, that is sooo not happening here in our house. Yes, it is driving me nuts! Unfortunately it is spreading and I can't seem to stem the tide. There is only one room in the house that is clutter free and that would be the playroom of all things! Yes the one we use everyday! But we clean it up everyday too! With the help of Barney's clean up song, even ds3 is beginning to learn how to help. But the rest of the house from the garage, kitchen, dining room, homeschool room, living room, bathrooms and bedrooms, is a disaster! I wonder if we all sang the clean up song as a family if those rooms would magically become de-cluttered. I'm trying to picture our family singing in our kitchen with a big purple dinosaur... ... not happening.

Anyway, aside from that... things are going pretty smooth. I'm hoping to get a handle on the chaos this weekend with Chris's help. Ds3 is doing well. He does have a bit of eczema on his face, but I think that is from licking above his lips and causing the skin to dry out. I have to figure out how to kick that habit and be more vigilant about putting on his lotion. He is eating very well, and breakfast continues to be his best meal. He loves his breakfast foods! This week we tried pancakes and french toast. Both were huge hits, and were served with one egg and a whole banana as well. The little guy can eat! But he also knows when he is full and will push his plate away. So that is a good thing too. (Wish Mama was good at doing that!)

We are working with him on some basic developmental things. Like the sounds that farm animals make. He is starting to get the sounds, and saying a few of them. He sings in babble and I'm sure a little Russian too, which I have started to record on video. I want to remember how cute he is doing it! He loves music, and he loves his Baby Einstein video. We have a few of them but the Farm one continues to be his favorite. He will run to the couch and climb up and sit waiting for it to start when he sees the DVD go in! We try to watch it only once a day, but the repetitiveness is good for him. Plus it's reinforced in his See and Say, and the Fisher Price Barn with the animals as well. We play with it also daily.

He has also learned the sign for "More". He will actually say the word and sign it as well. But we aren't sure if he understands what it means. When I taught it to him I was feeding him Gerber Puffs (a real treat, and limited because he would eat the whole thing if he could!) So, at dinner when I asked him to sign more for more rice, he was all frustrated because the Gerber Puffs weren't coming out of the pantry!! lol! I was all proud trying to show Chris, and he was like... "Um.....That's great Jackie.... " :-) That was last night. This evening we had rice again and he signed more. He kept pointing at the table, and we thought he was pointing across the table at the pantry for the Gerber Puffs). Finally I said to Chris maybe he wants the rice. He didn't think so, but gave him a plain bowl without chicken. Yep, that's what he wanted! He ate almost the whole thing! So maybe he IS getting it! We'll keep working with him on it.

He is bonding with both Chris and I.... He says Dada, but still refuses to say Mama. Tonight when he and I went to the grocery store, he was so upset when Chris went back into the house! He did not want Daddy to leave! One good thing is that he is definitely shy of strangers. Men or women. If they try to talk to him he will turn his head and give me a hug. Very good for attachment that is for sure, though I feel sorry for my friends who might like a big smile! (Sorry Nekey!)

Overall, he is doing pretty well. The tantrums are fewer and I am learning to speak even softer than I already do, and tell him to be patient. I think he is learning to trust us more, with the whole bedtime sleeping and waking and our days together as a family. He loves to run and give hugs to everyone including the boys. That is so fun to see! Next week is his first Doctor's visit, so I should know more after that. Like I mentioned he is not even on the charts for height and weight, and we know we have speech issues to work on as well. Hopefully the doctor will have a game plan and we can continue working on it!

Time to get my big kiddos in bed!