Snippets

• I think I've lost my blogging mojo. It's been kind of a down time for me. Down as in "blah", not as in "not busy." Because the busyness seems neverending . . . just like winter.
  
  I think the cold weather and lack of sunshine has caught up with me. Last year at this time, we were basking in the Flordia warmth, and that two weeks really helped me make it through to May. This year, not so much.
  
  Kyle and I were thinking about planning a last minute vacation to escape the snow for a while, but we looked at a map and there's no destination in the continental US that is warm enough right now to justify the expense of three plane tickets. I need sunshine.
  
  
• I've lost my picture-taking mojo, as well. I've managed to take monthly pictures of Ben and little else. I've had several people (as well as a few friends) line up sessions for the spring, so I'm thinking that will give me the kick start that I need.
  
  
• I just googled the word "mojo" to make sure I was using it correctly. Don't do that . . . you'll pull up a lot of weird stuff. So forgive me if I'm not using it correctly.
  
  
• Ben is so close to scooting himself around. Twice now, he's pulled himself to an object, and because of that, I've purposely been placing toys just barely out of his reach to entice him. As I typed that, I realized how antagonistic that sounds. He usually gets up on his arms, and starts to pull himself toward it, but inadvertently flips himself over before he actually gets there. He's laughing and talking more and tries to mimic some of the sounds we make . . . if I can get my act together this week, I'll try and post video.
  
  He's getting closer to sitting unsupported, but still tips a lot. We play a game (one that I remember playing A LOT with Jack) where I sit him up on the bed and just let him topple over and tickle him when he comes crashing down. I know it doesn't sound like it, but it is so much fun. There's very little that I wouldn't do to hear that little chuckle.
  
  I started a post last week about how I was worried about Ben because he stopped babbling or making ANY noises other than crying . . . the day after his 4 month shots. But the very next day, he started again. I think the congestion he's had over the last month has made it harder for him to babble. He's been chattering and squealing away since then!
  
  Even though there have been times in the last 4 1/2 months in which I've wondered if a second child would bring my demise (something which will have an entire post devoted to it someday), Bennett is the one who has kept me sane. Holding him, cuddling with him, playing with him, rocking him . . . sometimes I think that I need him as much as he needs me.
  
  
• Jack cracks me up every day. I need to remember to re-post some of my twitter updates here, so that I can remember the funny things he says. The other day, Jack asked Kyle where God lives, so Kyle was teaching him the word "omnipresent." Later that day, I was quizzing him and asked, "Where does God live?" He thought for a second and said, "God is Obama President." Last week during our 4th - 6th grade retreat at camp, he did me proud when the speaker asked if anyone knew what the word "emmanuel" means. My two year old said, "God with us!" I wish I could have been there to hear it myself!
  
  Right now, he's mildly obsessed with King Nebuchadnezzar and why on earth someone would ever throw people into a fiery furnace. On Sunday night, we had an interesting talk about the danger of worshiping golden statues and what kinds of "statues" we might have . . . he doesn't really get it, but I hope that it's planting seeds that we'll be able to talk about when he's older.
  
  We've been doing these tracing and coloring books that I got on clearance at Target last fall and I'm so amazed at how well he does with them. We do a page or two a day, which is just about what his attention span can handle.
  
  Even on the frustrating days (and there are frustrating days) I continue to be amazed that I get to be his mom.
  
  
  
  
• Breastfeeding is well . . . I take it one day at a time. Thanks to Megan, and the gigantic bottle of fenugreek she sent, I smell like an IHOP, but my milk supply is holding on. I really want to make it to at least 6 months, but I've accepted that I might not. To be completely honest, I'm not really enjoying it as much as I did with Jack. It likely has to do with the fact that I can't just sit down and enjoy that time with Ben as much as I could when Jack was a baby, because I'm usually trying to keep Jack entertained a the same time. And Ben is SO easily distracted, so feeding him is a little more painful and takes way longer when Jack's there. I do enjoy it more when Kyle's home and can keep Jack in a different room. I'm not sure why I'm holding on to this so tightly . . . maybe because this is likely my last time to breastfeed? I don't know.
  
  
• It occurred to me this week that I haven't finished an entire book since before Ben was born. I'm going to go work on that . . .