Ada is developing at a ferocious rate. Since last Wednesday, she has learned to clap her hands and is now officially mobile, doing the commando crawl around the house. At 7 1/2 months she is even (heaven help me) trying to pull herself up. It just feels too sudden and too fast for her to be doing these things! Where's my baby girl going?
Here Ada proves that diamonds are a girl's best friend as she crawls for my ring.
Ada is also proving to be quite the party animal, preferring to socialize rather than take naps. Liam, at this age, had two naps a day lasting anywhere from 2 -3 hours. Ada, on the other hand, has only one nap a day that lasts 2 or 3 hours (yesterday her nap was only 1 1/2 hours long!!) This leaves me wondering if she might cut out her naps even earlier than Liam did. If that's the case, you can bet we won't be having any more kids for a long, long time. I'm exhausted from trying to keep up with the two I have.
Ada is now a seasoned pro at sitting up. Her favourite pastime is to sit in front of our toy bin, taking toys out one by one, looking them over and then tasting them before finally moving on to the next toy.
Here she looking pretty in the midst of the toys that have been strewn all over the floor.
I've wryly concluded that I would be a much better mother if Liam would only nap...and not get up before 7 in the morning. The combination of early risings and long days without naps can be miserable. Most mornings go well, but around 3pm, things kind of get crazy around here. At that time of the day, Liam frequently bursts into tears over the smallest of things and often becomes very defiant. More often than not, I find it hard to keep my cool and miss my opportunity to gently train Liam in a godly fashion.
Thankfully, I recently read a copy of Dr. Kevin Leman's book Bringing Up Kids Without Tearing Them Down which has really helped to calm things down around the house. It's given me some strategies to use with Liam so that we aren't constantly in a battle of wills. Dr. Leman is refreshingly practical and simple in his approach to child rearing and his book is one that I'm sure I'll read again and again.
Sometimes motherhood feels like a broken record because you're doing the same things day after day. Other days motherhood feels like a marathon race; you just hope to have the endurance to make it to the end. Some days you feel like a failure and other days like the best mom in the world. At any rate, I'm glad I have two snugamuffins like Liam and Ada and a great dad like Nialle along for the ride with me.
4 comments:
Ada and Liam are such dolls. Considering the amount of sleep those two get by on, I can hardly believe that they are your kids.
And I have noticed that the techniques you are learning from the book seem very effective.
For the record, girl, you are doing a wonderful job in raising those two little ones. You are a fantastic mom!
Thanks for the encouragement, Mom! Of course, it doesn't hurt to have a good role model such as yourself when it comes to raising kids.
I concur with Grandma Farm. These two sweeties are the most blessed babes in the world to have such a wonderful mom.
a proud grandma
You are indeed blessed, Ness...with your 2 little ones and with Nialle as their daddy. I would also include (as I'm sure you would) your 2 mothers - good examples of godly moms.
Kevin Lehman's books are very helpful. I used "How to talk so your kids will listen" when mine were little. Glad you have found one of his books from which to learn.
The period of time that the little ones are cranky...just when you need to be thinking about getting supper....I used to call that "the Arsenic Hour" (or more) Don't worry, this too will pass and believe it or not, you'll forget all about it. (mostly)
You are the best mommy Liam and Ada could ever have - all the time!
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