6.5 Months
For the past couple of months, the last few weeks especially, I was experiencing all the symptoms that point to menopause. Menopause! I finally buckled down and went to the doctor after reading that my body might be low on estrogen. I have everything working against me, really. I had a c-section, had gestational diabetes, and I’m breastfeeding... it’s like the trifecta. Turns out that I just have baby blues again. For some reason, my mind just likes to point all the emotions at Aldo and what comes out is boiling hot anger. Ugh. The cure: sunshine, exercise, drink more water and reducing stress. Ha! Better said than done, and what’s worse is hardly anyone believes you unless they have experienced postpartum depression or are a doctor. Nobody really shows the mom going through it empathy.
Also, I had low Vitamin D. The next few days I walked 3 miles to and from the school with the whole family, mowed the lawn, etc. and the weather was sooo nice. I really had been longing for it. Now the weather is back down to the 60s. I love Spring, but I don’t think I’ve longed for summer so much.
Nayelli has been rolling over a ton. She ends up sleeping on her belly when I check on her at night and in the morning. She says, “Mama”. Starting to be more intentional with it. But really the way she gets my attention is reaching out her arms or screaming bloody murder - like you think she just pinched or scratched herself, but really she pooped and wants out of it. She love, love, loves Bandit. They have this special relationship where she grabs his whiskers and he licks her legs. Everyone asks if she’s teething. Hey everybody, she’s been sucking on her fists, fingers, and wanting food since she was 3 months old. She’s been teething. The doctor said at her last visit in mid-April that she’s got some time still before her bottom two teeth pop through. I checked today; they’re definitely closer. Soon my tatas will know.
Mila has grown up in so many ways, it’s funny, exciting, surprising, and sad all at once. First, she’s finally potty trained. She likes a sip of water before bed, unlike Luke who only wanted milk, and so you have to make her go to the bathroom even if she resists. Her figure... I swear... she looks just like me, and yet she’s sooo stinking cute. She likes Paw Patrol, Lion Guard, Barbie, Trolls, PJ Mask, Spider-Man, Power Rangers, dinosaurs, purses, princesses, shoes, cooking in her fake kitchen, and watching YouTube Kids (which she calls “Ipod”). The girl is non-stop talkative. Or singing. Or dancing and moving. Nayelli will always be entertained. What’s funny is how sometimes I’ll be riding in the car with someone (like my mom) and I can totally ignore it, and the other person can’t. I wish I could share all the funny, clever things she says. Recently, she’s added the words, “of course,” to her vocabulary. She talks to herself a lot (as you can imagine), and so one day she was doing it and held up one finger and said, “of course”. Hilarious and perfect timing. That girl will do amazing things. Aldo and I honestly have our hands full; Luke is a genius, so having these two younger sisters that pick up things quick.... crazy to think about what they’re going to do/accomplish.
Ideas for future parents of girls:
Mila is now at the age where she tells me what hairdo she wants. Also, she has never had a haircut yet. I’m so sad that this might be the year it happens. Anyway, “look like Elsa” means one braid. “Puppy tail” means a regular pony tail, “puppy ears” means pig-tails, and “princess hair” can be any form of braid or pretty bow, clip, etc. So obviously we got these ideas from when Mila was Skye on Halloween from Paw Patrol.And it stuck. My recommendation is that you use what you can, use what they know to explain things or help them make sense of their world, and just do it in their own time. Today Mila said, AGAIN, and with emphasis, that she wants to go to school.
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7 Months
See how I can start on something, be interrupted, and come right back? It only took me a few weeks...
1 - Nayelli’s teeth popped through a couple of days ago. Unlike the others she didn’t drool a ton WHILE popping through. She didn’t bite me a lot. She didn’t need tons of Orajel. She was fussy ONE day. Interesting... And also, it was the bottom left, right, and top right.
2 - Mila finally opened up the makeup. The real makeup. I can get her to be quiet, but only if I let her put on 5 different colors of real lipstick, pink eyeshadow on her chin and now foundation on her cheeks. She loves it. *Ask to see her “makeup tutorials”.
3 - I never even made it to Luke.
I hate how once they’re in school, I can’t tell you much about the milestones. He’s still smart. Still wants to be involved in paleontology. Doesn’t care about girls right now (or at least won’t bring it up to me...). He has friends. I asked him the other day if he’s popular, or everyone’s friend, or nerdy. He said he’s just popular with his friends but he thinks they’re all a little nerdy.
Today Aldo is about working on insurance. Yesterday he made calls and now he is out and about at appointments in Topeka, Olathe, and Kansas City. (I wish it were more localized.) His goal is to make $10K but if he makes $8K, he’ll put in his two weeks. He seems to think that he’ll pay us back, start a business fund, and pay for our trip to Germany in one swoop. Can your life change in less than a week? Also that brings up Germany. I’ve been looking into it. It’s been my hope to travel abroad again. Although after some research, I’m a little scared to go to Germany. I don’t know the language and the culture doesn’t seem as appealing as Spain.
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This is just ridiculous. Why can’t I finish a basic post?
1 - Nayelli now screams like a firecracker going off. I figured out that sometimes it’s just the ending to her singing Pat-A-Cake (the “throw it in the pan” part). You can tell because she’ll make the hand gestures. Like she trying to figure out how to “roll it up”.
2 - Mila likes fake cooking in her fake kitchen. I remembered that cooking together was something good for this age to do, so for Bandit’s first birthday the kids and I made homemade puppy treats. Mila made peanut butter, banana, and Greek yogurt in an ice cube tray. I should tell you that I hate the smell of Greek yogurt and Mila ate half the banana. So when it cane time for her to scoop it into the tray from the mixer, she got some on herself and cried about being messy. So then I had to do it and keep the gags to myself because of the stale smell.
Luke made baked doggie cookies out of pumpkin, eggs, peanut butter, and wheat flower. We rolled it out and used bone and party hat cookie cutters too. Luke tried one and said it was gross because it had no taste. I think for humans all it needed was sugar...?
3 - Luke’s last week of school is coming up. Why do they even make kids go this last week if they’re already sending home books and telling the kids that this and that subject are over (I.e. Science & Social Studies)? This month he’s done MAP testing, then went to the park, went on a limo ride to Pizza Studio, and this next week they have a Splash and Dash.
4 - Nayelli’s dedication is tomorrow. So I really need to go to sleep now, because we’re out of Children’s Church, but I still need to have the lesson laid out for our sub, which is a LAB day (full of very hands-on stuff).
Annnnd, I made posole today for the very first time alllllmost by myself. It was an experience! Remind me later to elaborate!
Finally, the end.
