April

These two play so well together!

A homemade drum set.

Lip meets gravel:(

Self feeding fun!

"Mommy!  I caught a lizard!"

Helping daddy.  Her barbie flashlight came in handy!

Jaxon is getting more interested in books!  His favorite book is Thomas the Train.

A singing princess.

Snuggles before bed!

Sierra has been practicing her "underwater" skills.

I took about 30 percent of the normal amount of pictures I usually take this month.  I don't have enough hands for a camera!  Jaxon is on the move and into everything!  Sierra was very obedient and less independent which meant that she was stuck to me like glue and rarely out of eyesight.  Jaxon on the other hand requires LOTS of reminding to NOT open the cupboards, go up the stairs by himself, play with the cat food, play with the toilet, etc, etc.  He loves to be held and cuddled but is very good at entertaining himself with toys (or things other than toys) for a long time.  This means that when I hear his cars quit banging against the wall, the blocks not being flung around, I run to find out where he has gone.  It's a whole different ball game with child #2!

Jaxon still isn't saying much.  He prefers to grunt and whine:)  Both of those can sometimes mean no and sometimes mean yes.  He is very good at getting his point across, and we communicate pretty well without words which is probably one of the reasons he doesn't like to use them.  He can say quite a few words but he is not at all the conversationalist that is sister was/is. He has started pointing to his eyes and nose this month and can say both body parts well.  He says up, down, eat, yes, all of the basics.   He is starting to really enjoy books and I love to see him come at me with a book and start backing up to find my lap.  I remember the same little backward shimmy from Sierra.

As Jaxon is getting more and more mobile there are definitely more clashes between the siblings because Sierra is bossy and expects to be dominate, but Jaxon doesn't take her bossing.  He lets her have it.  Really for the most part, I am pretty blessed because my two littles get a long pretty great.  Sierra continues to be a wonderful big sister and makes me very proud. 

Sierra has started struggling with allergies this year.  As a toddler she would always sneeze when smelling flowers but once she put the flower down was fine.  This year she has a really itchy nose, it runs if we go outside, she's constantly sneezing, and is congested pretty much every day.  That might not sound like a big deal, but it is EVERY day!  We will have to see how the rest of spring and summer go, but I might take her to an allergy specialist to get some more information.

Sierra is really enjoying art projects right now of any kind.  She writes her name without any help and is getting good at writing most letters.  Numbers still are trickier for her.  She still loves to sing and has sang some solos at church!  I am still constantly awed at her outgoing personality!  She also started sleeping in a little all of  a sudden.  After her strep throat she was really behind on her sleep and she slept in for several days.  I kept thinking that she would go back to her 5am wake up time, but she is consistently sleeping until at least 6 sometimes 630.  Isn't that pathetic that that is sleeping in?  Jaxon on the other hand is still a 5am riser.  Now that she is sleeping a little longer we also had a few days without an afternoon nap.  Evenings on those days are scary.  I was hoping she'd sleep in even longer if she skipped her nap, but that hasn't happened.  I realize the time is coming when she will be done with napping, so I'm trying to be grateful of the 30 minutes to 1 hour of nap-overlap (on a good day!) that I have to myself.  

Jesse has been back to work all month without any hospitalizations.  He has a follow up appointment next month at OHSU with the gastro team.  I'm still having a hard time feeling secure at all right now.  Every time Jesse has a restless night I lay awake wondering if we'll be right back in the ER.  Sometimes if the phone rings at an abnormal time during the day I have to force myself to breathe because I'm hoping he's not calling to say he's headed to the hospital.  I'm tired of sickness.  And I'm terrified of it too.  Every time the kids get sick I panic.  I can't handle it.  I'm ready to move on and maybe after Jesse's appointment next month we'll get some good news and we can put the last 8 months behind us!