1. Sleep deprived. I have been up since 2:30 in the morning. I didn't get back to sleep until 6 and then was woken at 7:30 by the kids. Henry had major gas last night (you should have heard the air that was coming out of that kid) and it was preventing him from sleeping which meant that I couldn't sleep either.

We are nearing the 2 month mark; this is when I tend to have my own melt-down. It hasn't happened yet, and I hope it doesn't happen. The sleep deprivation for 6 weeks is definitely starting to take it's toll on both me and Dennis. The other day, I fell asleep at Adoration. The other night, Dennis fell asleep on the couch at 8:30. Later that night, when it was his turn to be up with Henry at midnight, I couldn't get him to wake up enough to take the baby. He was sitting up but would keep falling asleep when I was trying to talk to him. Every time he woke up, he would ask how long the wire should be. If you are wondering what that is supposed to mean, don't worry. It doesn't mean anything because he was talking in his sleep. So I took the baby for that feeding.

Yes, we have tried just about everything. Gas drops, swaddling, co-sleeping, keeping him up more during the day, or letting him catch up on sleep so he doesn't get over-tired. Everything! We just have to wait it out.

It will get easier.
....Right?


2. What I should mention as a positive note is that Henry is a swing-baby. He is our first swing baby! Anna liked the swing too, but she liked that hammock thing that we have downstairs that hangs from the ceiling that you had to swing back and forth. You had to sit there and push it back and forth and she liked to be pushed high! Henry, on the other hand, likes the traditional baby swing going at a slow pace. We've learned that he does not like the bouncy seat or to be bounced around when going to sleep. (With the other kids, you had to do sort of a jig to put them to sleep.) Nope, this kid likes to be lulled to sleep, and when things get really bad, we just let him sleep in the swing all day. Eventually we bring him in our room to sleep in the bassinet because I don't want him to get too used to the swing and never sleep on his back again. Not only that, but it's hard to keep the kids from waking him up when he sleeps in the swing.

So at least we have the swing, and it seems to work, for the most part.


3.. We are actually on the ball this year and already have the kids enrolled for school for next year. (I usually don't get around to this until nearly summer.) Lucy and Luke have been accepted for the new charter school in Cologne and I have not even seen the school yet. I know, it's a little backwards to enroll your kids before getting the tour...but I missed the Open House because I got the dates mixed up. Then I learned through one of Dennis's friends who is on the school board, that the open enrollment for entering the lottery was going to end the next day. I decided to just enroll them, and we will take the tour next week. If I have any big objections to the school, someone else can always take our place.
I'm excited to go on the tour next week.


4. We also took a tour at The World Learning Center here in town. This school was originally kept in mind for Lucy and Luke, but when we toured the school, Max kept coming to mind. It seemed like it would be a good fit for him.
We nearly missed that tour too--that was the day it snowed for maybe the second time this year, and as Dennis was plowing our driveway, he had the kids out with him. He put Anna in his truck to keep her safe, and she ended up locking herself in with his keys in the car. (He had the truck running to keep it heated.) So much for keeping her safe! So for the next half hour, he was trying to get her out and a police car happened to be driving by and the cop saw Dennis trying to break into the truck. So he stopped to help Dennis jimmy the lock and Anna was out within minutes. We made it to the tour but we were ten minutes late.

5. Anyway, we arrived to the school and the first thing I noticed were two doors of different sizes. Guess how I figured that out? Yes, of course, I wasn't watching were I was going and picked the door that was about a foot shorter than the other door and nearly took my own head off. I am still wondering why they have two different doors like that.

The tour went well. We sat in two different classrooms and observed and two little girls asked us if we would like a tour of the classroom. So we let them take us around and I noticed that while the teacher was working with a small group, that the rest of the class was working independently on their work. (Except for the two girls giving us a tour.)

For their "gym class" they just simply play outside and do their own thing; sometimes they all walk over to the nearby park and play at the playground, other times football games will be played, or else they go over to the Community Center and have the choice of either swimming or skating.
I had seen this school have their recess time before and many times I would see kids hanging from the trees. At Lucy's school, if anyone runs on the sidewalk during recess, they are not permitted to play anymore. But at this school, it wasn't until this year that the kids were banned from climbing the trees! The principal said nonchalantly, "yeah, our insurance freaked out when they found out about that, so we can't let the kids hang from the trees anymore." 

There was a time for questions with the principal after the tour; it was just me and Dennis and another mom who was touring the school. I asked all my questions, and the other mom said she didnt' have any questions but just wanted to comment on how much she loved the school and how she was hopeful that her boy could go. And then she started crying. I was beginning to wonder if she was a hired actress to encourage doubtful parents to sign their kids up. 

6. Max seems to be interested lately in making friends and becoming more outgoing. For his birthday, he wants to invite one of the neighborhood kids over. And for his therapy at Fraser, he will be meeting his new friend that his therapist is going to introduce him to. He's pretty nervous about that part; making the effort to be friends with someone else. I hate to see him nervous, he gets locked up and his face turns red. I'm noticing this self-consciousness more and more as he gets older. I wish I could just give him the confidence that he's needing right now.

7. We're also continuing to prepare Max for his First Communion this year. I sometimes wonder how much he's learning, how much he's really comprehending. He still acts bored during mass and doesn't seem to know or understand what is going on during the consecration. He will give the correct answer during our catechism classes but then ask me, "when will I get to eat 'the bread'?" And he will ask if it tastes good. When I correct him and tell him that we're receiving Jesus in the bread, he will act surprised and say, "That's Jesus?!" And just when I think we've made some headway, it's back to square one again.
One time recently, he nearly received Holy Communion. He was behind me in line for Communion and was supposed to be keeping his arms crossed to receive a blessing, but he had let his arms go lax without my knowing it.  When I received Communion, I heard the minister say, "the Body of Christ" and then heard Max say, "Amen."
It was like time went into slow motion and I said, "Noooooo!", whipped around and slapped my hand over Max's mouth just as he opened it to receive the Host. Yes, I probably over-reacted, but it was all reflex, and yes, I did manage to embarrass myself in front of everybody. Everyone in the first and second pew in the church were staring at us--or me, I should say,---the Eucharistic Minister was smiling at me and Max--that little devil--snickered at me.

I heard him snickering behind me all the way back to our pew.

But, it made an impression on him. He now understands that he is not ready to receive Holy Communion yet. He asked me that day, "But when will I get to receive the Bread?" And I said, "Max, the day you stop calling Holy Communion 'bread' is the day I will not slap my hand over your mouth."

I am really looking forward to that day. In the meantime, we're working hard on learning. And praying for understanding, or maybe I should say, for belief.

And now, I'm going to try to catch a little nap. Two-thirty in the morning is just too early.