Christmas is just around the corner, although I am a little stunned at just how fast it’s snuck up. I think school not finishing until the 21st contributed to the turn-around-and-smack-there-is-a-holiday feeling that I’ve got, but there you go and here we are.
My Christmas shopping is done and we’re not planning on leaving the house again until sometime after the holiday insanity is over. We’ve (rather selfishly) told our families that we are no-way-no-how going anywhere with the children this Christmas day and that everyone is welcome to come to us. I’m just not prepared to deal with tired, over-excited children in someone elses house.
What’s been nice though is the couple of weeks of smooth sailing we’ve had. Sure, my body hasn’t quite cottoned on to the fact that I am no longer pregnant and my uterus is still feeling annoying and sure, I’m puking more than I would like, but it’s only three and a half weeks. It will calm down eventually. Hopefully.
But there are good things happening.
I was gifted a kitchenaid from the ever lovely Stephen who won one in a food photography competition and thought I might like it. Once I’d stopped being struck dumb by his generosity, I was able to accept it, while quietly falling apart in excitement.
This meant that I was able to pass my stand mixer on to Catherine, who is an amazing baker (she did my wedding cake) and didn’t have a stand mixer of her own. She tells me that she’s in the process of setting up a facebook page, so I’ll link you all up once it’s live.
Frogpondsrock came up with an idea and the Internet pulled together and organised Annie an iPad. The Internet is amazing.
Amy has grown a huge amount this year and jeans that I didn’t think would fit her for another year, she is wearing now. Her phobia of flying things (beetles, bees, insects) continues, but that is mostly manageable. She can recognise all the letters of the alphabet and can write her name. She can also copy any word you write down, but she cannot read yet. Phonics are not her thing, so we’re looking into flash cards for teaching her words by sight. I seem to remember that that is how I learned to read, by sheer memory.
We have no doubt that Amy’s memory is spectacular and so this is probably the easiest way to move forward with helping her to read. She remains hugely interested in any and all electronic devices. We thought about buying her a Nintendo for Christmas, but decided against it because Isaac would have demanded one also and we’re not convinced that he is ready. It is in the works for her birthday in September now.
As well as growing inches and seeming to get very big in her manner, Amy’s joints have gotten bendier and I’m having to relocate her ribs more often than I would like. She complains a bit of leg pain and we’re managing that with massage, heat and panadol as necessary. She is very hypermobile and I worry about her. We’re aiming to start swimming with her in the New Year, in order to help her build some muscle tone.
Isaac went through a tough phase for a few months. We had near daily meltdowns and his stimming got worse. He stopped eating anything except warm milk and dry cereal and ended up hospitalised for a flu that knocked him for six. But we’ve come out of the other side of that phase now and he is talking more and has also grown inches! In hindsight, the tough patch was a large developmental leap and I am loving watching him chatter with Amy and learn new things like a sponge. He is also very electronics focused, which can provide excellent bribery at times, but can also make him scream blue murder.
Toilet training has started, but his various medical and sensory issues make this harder than it should be. Intensive therapy starts in the new year and we’re hopeful that we can get his digestive system functioning in some sort of order by then. If not, we’ll be stomping our feet and demanding referrals to doctors who deal with gut issues and hoping that we can find some answers.
He will be three in three weeks and I cannot fathom where the time has gone. The days are long, but the years are certainly short. I expected that we would have another baby on the way by now, but alas, my body refuses to co-operate.
This is the first Christmas since 2007 that I’ve not felt the spectre of death hanging over us, so I’m trying to make the most of it. I miss Nan terribly, but feel like we can celebrate this year without feeling the wind whistling through the gaping hole that her death left. The terrible thing about death is that it’s so final and nothing can bring them back, or change the reality that death inflicts upon you.
Both children are old enough this year to ease the ache a little, even knowing that the kids won’t remember her, and that she won’t get to see them grow up. That is the hardest bit I suspect.
But like I said, there are good things happening and after the chaos of the weeks surrounding our wedding, it’s nice to find a semblance of peace. The New Year is going to be busy, and I am really looking forward to it. I’ll be starting Clomid in January and hopefully I’ll be able to announce a pregnancy early in the year.
So, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and festive holidays to all of you. Thank you for sticking with me this year and for reading Sleepless Nights and supporting us.
