Random Tales From the Motherhood Trail

So I'm trying to potty train Elijah and Gabe at the same time. Oh joy. I have to tip my hat to you moms of twins and triplets or more. On the first really serious keep-them-at-home-and-naked-and-make-them-drink-too-much-water day of our adventure, I started with the method that had worked so magically with Nicholas. Potty presents!!! They each had their own basket full of goodies haphazardly wrapped in brightly colored tissue, and told them they could have one each time they went on the potty. As it turns out, this is the same day they both suddenly developed bladders of steel. I made them start drinking water, and kept them drinking, but when we went to sit . . . nada. I basically spent the first, oh, three hours of my day going up and down the hall putting kids on the potty every 10 minutes, and I have to tell ya, it's wayyy more exhausting than it sounds. Eventually, we went in, Elijah sat down first and "Hallelujah!" there was pee!!! Never thought I'd ever get that excited about a bodily fluid. So, after much excitement and celebratory high fives, Elijah gets down and Gabey gets on, and . . . nothing. Elijah, being the helper that he is (I'll have to have a whole separate post about this new phase), he says to his brother, "Gabey, you got to pwess you bewwy button! Dat make it go!" Alas, Gabey's button wasn't registering quite yet. He did get his first success shortly thereafter, and had only one accident that day. I ended the day very excited at the prospect of moving out of diapers. The next day I got them their first new underwear, which was a fun diversion for all of a day. Turns out I have to check the enthusiasm a bit.

It's been fun watching how Elijah's brain works. Whereas Nick, at the same stage thought "Cool, I get presents for going potty. I can do that." Elijah thought "JACKPOT!" He very quickly turned the training into a tool for aquiring new things. He would ask for a present for the slightest amount of production. He'd go for about a second and a half, and then give me this wide-eyed look and say "It stopped. Now I got to get a potty pwesent!" Then he'd go right back to the potty, and if it didn't happen, he'd say "I think I need some wa-ter" and go drink some more. I ran out of potty presents that day. I made an emergency shopping trip that night while they were in bed and bought every cheap toy from ever dollar store bin in the area. Nick's rewards lasted much longer, but he isn't the manipulator Elijah is turning out to be. Eventually we had to turn to M-n-Ms (thank you Godmommy!) They are cheaper and last longer, but Elijah is still doing his best to finagle as many M-n-Ms has he can. Gabe, on the other hand has pretty much decided it was fun for awhile , but now he's over it and may I have my diaper back please? ~~sigh~~

School started and Gabe still has to wear the diapers to school because he has no bowel control, but I sent the M-n-Ms and they will work with him there, and when he gets home, I make him run around sans britches. He will get there. It's just going to take a while longer. Elijah is basically there, he just needs to work on the bowel control. He has the pee mastered, but he's still working the M-n-Ms to the best of his ability. He also started saying, when he sits down and nothing happens immediately, "Just give it few seconds." Gee, I wonder where he learned that?

When they are both finally done, and I can cross diapers off my to do list forever, I am throwing one big party. Who wants to come?

Seven Years Ago Today

After months alternating between fear and anticipation, and 15 hours of labor, I met my miracle. He was born at 9:05 am, and weighed exactly seven pounds. Although he made it to 38 weeks and was a healthy weight, he still was whisked away from me before I could hold him. For seven hours, I had no idea what was happening with my baby boy. I was taken to my room, and my only distraction was news coverage of a massive fire that had broken out at the newly built Santana Row shopping complex. And a nurse aptly named Charity. Charity came and sat on my bed and wrapped her arms around me and just let me sob. She stayed with me for quite awhile, and came back often. She got me through the longest seven hours of my life. Finally, at 4:00 in the afternoon, I was able to go to the NICU and see my beautiful Gabriel George. His heart wasn't working properly and he couldn't keep his oxygen levels up. Over the next ten days, we met with cardiologists, and Gabe and I worked very very hard to establish nursing. Not easy when your baby is too tired to wake up and has the muscle tone of a rag doll, which is exactly how he felt when we held him. After ten days, we were allowed to take him home, along with several boxes of oxygen and extra cannulas. Seven months later he had surgery to repair his heart.

And now, seven years later, he is the most amazing little human I have ever known. He loves music and dance. He loves his brothers, and has a particularly tight bond with his baby brother. If I dare show up to pick him up from school without Elijah, the first words out of his mouth are "Mommy? Where zha-zha?" He has no shortage of self esteem. He is quite in love with himself, really. He will dance in front of the turned off TV and watch himself in the reflection all day long if I let him. This June he performed in his seventh recital.
He loves going to school, and is on the cusp of reading.

There really aren't words sufficient to describe the love we share. He is an amazing miracle and I am so grateful he is mine.
I am, without a doubt, the luckiest mom in the whole world.