Well Children

Silas - age 1

Weight: 25.78 lbs - 86.62%
Height: 29.75"  - 49.6%
Head 18.9 in - 89.55%

Crawling fast, pulls himself up, mama, dada, ca (cat), uh oh (when he throws something on the floor). Loves his food - eats everything we put in front of him. Loves balls more than anything.

Skadi - age 7

Height: 45.75" - 16.3%
And since she is getting older, I am not going to post her weight. But it is commensurate with the height.
She is losing pace and I am trying not to be worried. She is a poor eater with lots of tummy aches that we have seen numerous doctors for. Even though she did not test positive for the celiac screen or for wheat allergy, we are trying gluten free for awhile. This has to show Skadi's desparation to resolve the issues as she is a baked goods junky. She gets this from me, I am positive.

Comparisons:

Skadi age 1:
Length - 29.75" - 75th percentile
Weight - 25 lbs, 2 oz - 95th percentile
Head 45 cm
Leif age 1:
Weight 23 lbs 12.5 oz (33%)
Height 30.25" (55%)
Head 47 cm

Skadi and Silas are still tracking well together. Silas just a touch heavier then Skadi. What surprises me is that Leif had a half inch on Silas at this point, but was nearly 6 lbs lighter! Bean pole. Still is.

Busy busy bees

Well life is definitely busier as a mom of three. I love my blog - keeping it, going back and reading the past. And I want to stay on top of it, but my time. I have none.

I have a tough transition this week. To that of a non-nursing mom. I have always loved nursing my kids. When we thought we wouldn't get to have another baby after Skadi I mourned the fact that when I weaned her I hadn't really thought or commemorated in my own mind, "the last time I am nursing". And I regretted that at the time.

This time around I am wondering if that wasn't the better option? Now it is marked. Now the last nursing session (unless something goes very awry) is going to be tomorrow.

I am headed out Monday morning at the crack of dawn to get on an airplane where I will be gone all week to Tennessee. Yay. Not. Honestly I am most looking forward to sitting in the hotel working and catching up on things, uninterrupted.

That means that the last time I nurse Silas will either be Sunday afternoon or Monday early morning.

He has been weaning - only nursing once during the day and if he wakes at night. I don't have much milk at all. But making this final step going cold turkey has me panicking a little!

I can't stand pumping on travel. I have done it for a number of trips and I am really done. I am not hauling the big pump as I need to haul enough crap along on this trip. So I am taking the hand pump only. And after 5 days I fully expect that there will be nothing left when I get back.

And Silas will certainly have let it go.

Nursing hasn't been as easy this time around. Supply issues, cracked and bleeding nipples, you name it. Things I never struggled with before.

But still... he's my last! The last baby I will nurse.

There will be tears.

But next Friday all will be good and we will have moved on.

All about the baby

I keep writing posts that never make it to being published. Various reasons – spilling too much, that post sounds braggy, just plain too busy and then the post seems old. I know it doesn’t count that I intend to post.

 

Maybe if I stick with the kid topic I will be better? I posted so much about the older two kids early in their development. Silas is becoming totally the third kid.

 

All About Silas:

 

The big boy is just shy of one year old. Where has this last year gone? Seriously I feel as though I have blinked and he is suddenly a year old. I keep saying it. Must stop blinking.

 

He likes…

 

Silas is my ball kid. He loves balls. His favorite is a junior sized basketball. But he is starting to get dangerous with it as he hefts it over his head and shows that he can put some distance behind that ball and that his aim isn’t too bad. He loves his ball popper, his purple ball he can grip with one hand (and whip at someone walking by). The kid will rock at dodgeball. (If they play that anymore.) Silas will sit and throw a ball back and forth with you for as long as you are willing. When he goes to daycare there is a mad scramble for a ball to give him to distract him so I can walk out. It will be very interesting to see if he grows up to be a natural athlete.

 

Food. Silas also likes food. Pasta especially. Pizza too. He is an amazing eater and will eat most everything we put in front of him. I think Leif was like that. Skadi was not and we still struggle with getting her to even try a small tiny taste of things. Silas loves blueberries and grapefruit especially. This past weekend he ate an entire grapefruit. Not a half. A whole grapefruit. In one sitting. He is vocal when he wants more of something. Screams. Screams until he gets more. We are working on signing for “more” and “done”. This was a huge hit with my older two. Silas just prefers to scream so far.

 

His brother and sister. Truly thinks they are saints. Which is difficult because they can be serious turkeys and Silas just beams at them like the antics they came up with are the most wonderful notions ever. A common refrain in the house is, “but mom, Silas likes it!” One of Silas’ favorite things to do is sit on his riding toy and have the kids push him around the living room. And around. And around. What you thought 113 times was enough? He is screaming because he wants you to push more. They are usually quite willing, so it works out for all involved.

 

And what he likes MOST of all? His dad. Dada. Heaven forbid that AB come home from work and then leave again (like if he needs to go to the store) because Silas will scream until he returns. AB can do no wrong. He squeals “DADA!” when AB walks in the door. He squeals “DADA!” when AB walks by the room. Basically he squeals “DADA!” nearly all the time.

 

Silas also likes the cat. Or “ca”. He loves to go in and feed “ca”. But he also calls Skadi’s hamster “ca”. Interestingly enough, Freya is not a “ca”.

Have you noted that Mama has not been mentioned? Yeah. Me too. 

 

Silas has 8 teeth and is working on four molars. Fun for all. He crawls and pulls himself up on things. Cruises a bit along the couch and such. No standing by himself yet and no walking. Why would he walk when everyone hauls him around?

 

Containment is not his thing. At all. It is ok if he is in the backpack out for a walk. But similar with my other kids, the stroller is evil. And once the food disappears in front of him, the high chair – it is evil too. Going to listen to his brother’s first piano recital = torture of the purest sort. With the other two kids we didn’t have much to attend to outside of them as they were little. But the kids have their big music performance coming up for school. And that would be misery with Silas. Hello babysitter. Finding that we are leaving Silas with a sitter a lot more than the other two kids saw a sitter at this age.

 

Daycare has been up and down. We loved the two lead infant teachers. Then one was fired. Unjustly IMO. Thanks to one of those Nazi first time moms who thinks that her child is the only one in the room and deserves one on one attention all the time. We picked up the fired teacher as a nanny and enjoyed that for a week. Then she got a new job she couldn’t refuse and I couldn't match (benefits), so I scrambled back to daycare and begged for our position back. And yes, it all worked out. And Silas got to stay in the first infant room with the little babies because his teacher loves him so. (Or so they tell me… I always wonder if it is because I am a real pain in the ass parent and none of the other teachers wants to deal with me?) Anyways, she loves Silas and wanted him in her room until he was one. I said sure and hoped a tiny bit that she would keep him until he was 5. But she said no. Regardless, we will make the move to the toddler room in a few weeks. Then two months after that we will make the move down the road to the Montessori school that has siphoned away so much of our money for the last decade.

 

At nearly one year old the other difference between Silas and my other two is weaning. Skadi would have nursed for a few years if I would have let her. She weaned at 16 months – actually I should say that I weaned her. Leif was 13 months. So I guess I am not terribly far off with Silas as compared with Leif. But I was a serious cow with the other two. Production queen. I could have had triplets! Not so this time around and we have had to supplement Silas with formula since Christmas. I suspect my age, but the nursing just has not come easily this time around for some reason. It is good I had such a good experience with the other two, because I can totally understand why some moms cave and quit. But I have been determined to make it to a year. I have struggled with cracked nipples, lack of production, inability to pump acceptable amounts, bottle rejection… it hasn’t been easy. But I will make it to one year. Then I will moan and sob about my last baby.

 

It is all bittersweet though. When things have gone well with nursing, I love it. I love those tender moments. But the issues I have had to work through this time around actually have me feeling not so terribly sad to see the nursing go by the wayside. And hey, I am REALLY looking forward to wearing a normal bra again. But there will be tears as I realize I am nursing my babies for the last time ever.