We're all home again. I'm trying to think positive and just be happy that we're home. It's just so hard when I have no clue if we'll be leaving in 2 days or 2 weeks! I tend to sit around and enjoy being able to sit around and do nothing while I'm at home, but that gets nothing done at home! It's a huge mess here, from coming and going, stuff half packed that I decided not to take with or didn't have time to put away. Half a basket of laundry from last week, folded but not put away because Dawson was sleeping at the time. Tons of clutter, which I really hope to start tackling tomorrow. I have a huge mountain of toys/suitcases/bags from coming home today that's not put away.
Stopped at my Grandma's house tonight on the way home. That was a lot of fun. I'm out of freezer space, so I'm keeping my breastmilk there so I can just pick it up on the way back again. When we got there, Dawson was very upset. He seemed to think I was dropping him off somewhere. He eventually realized I wasn't going anywhere and by the time we left, I had to carry him out kicking and screaming...literally!
We got an extra big dose of baby and toddler giggles today. I was throwing a ball up the stairs and Dawson was rolling it back down. Both the boys thought that was great. I've never heard Tyler laugh so much! He thought it was the funniest when it came right at him and I'd catch it right before it hit him.
Dawson is so cute. My Grandma has a clock on a side table in the living room. Dawson likes to trace the edge with his finger and Grandma used to say "round and round". So now everytime we go there he goes right to the clock and looks at her, expecting her to say it. Now he goes up to it and says "rou rou" himself, it's so cute! He'll also clap his hands and say "yay!" everytime I tell him "good job" for something!
Dawson has discovered a new way to run. He now gallops, it's so cute! He does this as often as he can remember, which is a lot. As long as he's not in too much of a hurry or concentrating on something else.
Being a typical 2 year old, Dawson is getting into everything and driving his mommy up the wall. He gets into the worst things when I'm nursing Tyler. Tonight I gave him applesauce for a snack before bed, thinking it'd keep him out of trouble. He didn't finish all of it and ended up dumping the bowl on the floor, which of course landed upside down. Not before dumking his hands in it and playing with all the papers, pens and other things on the table though.
The Ronald McDonald house is nice, it's a bit more child proof than the hotel. At least it has a locking bathroom door. It has a mini fridge though, which is right at his height, so he's opening and taking things out all the time. I usually put a suitcase in front of it, but then he climbs on it and gets into the things on the dresser! I can't win! I'm still staying ahead of his game though, I keep the suitcase unzipped so it's not sturdy enough to climb on, it just collapses when he kneels on it. I can't seem to keep him from dunking things into the toilet though, which is his new thing. Earlier he handed me a wet pink piece of paper. I thought maybe his sippy leaked. I threw it away and later noticed light pink drops on the toilet seat where the color had ran! Earlier today I found him sticking his head in the toilet! Thankfully he hadn't touched water or even went past the seat. I think parents should get an award for every year their child lives through!!
Dawson lost some skin off his forehead today. Poor boy got scared of a rolling dumpster inside the hospital today. They have a ton of construction going on so it's pretty crazy in there. He looked back and ran away from it, but still keeping an eye on the dumpster. He looked forward just in time to see the wall he was running into! The guy with the dumpster felt bad and thought Dawson handled that well. He really hit that wall hard but didn't cry very long at all. A little scraped up but it didn't bleed. Dawson often has a habit of not watching where he's running. He usually lucks out and misses things but barely!
He's doing great with his toddler bed. I close his door and he does sometimes fuss for a while, but he usually stays quiet and goes to bed when he's ready. Tonight I put him to bed and he just layed there and waited for the covers. Probably wouldn't have needed to close the door, I don't think he even got up! It's been a long day.
Tyler is being braver and doing more things. He leans way over to get something, even lowering himself to the floor from sitting if he wants something. He can correct himself when he starts to fall, he's really good at sitting now! He rarely ever falls over unless he's tired or upset. He's been laughing more and exploring new things. He will sit and examine a new thing for a good 5 minutes. He turns it over in his hands and occasionally will chew on it a bit but he doesn't as much as most babies I don't think. Right now he's beating a drum stick on the floor. He tries to imitate a lot, which I thought was pretty good for this age. You can tell he's trying to do it but doesn't have the coordination yet.
He's been getting up on hands and knees but not going anywhere. He doesn't hold the position long and hasn't even gotten his belly off the ground yet, but it's pretty cute. Now he's beaming at me because he figured out that it's easier to just beat the drum with his hand. He's so smart and he knows it. I'm in so much trouble when he becomes mobile! He has a lot of attitude and spunk for a little guy!
Dan and I are doing ok, it's frustrating not seeing each other much. Even when I'm home, if Tyler is here we hardly get anytime together because Tyler doesn't sleep well, so neither do we. So when we do get to talk, it's usually with a baby laying between us, nursing! How romantic. lol I've been trying to keep my patience and sanity but the boys definitely test that at every possible opportunity. It's way nicer when Tyler isn't on chemo and throwing up but it's still a challenge when he's feeling good because he's gotten so spoiled at the hospital and expects attention all the time. Of course they usually need me at the same time, making things more difficult. I try to keep positive but it's hard. This is all so stressful, I can't wait to return to somewhat normal and be home more often. The stress makes it harder to even deal with the normal things, let alone those bad days. So I've had very little motivation to clean and do other things. I'm really hoping tomorrow will be better though.
Moving today was a lot of work. They don't have babysitting, so I had to push the stroller and pull the wagon with stuff in it. That made for slow going. Plus Dawson threw a fit about going in and out, he just didn't get it. Then Tyler wanted to nurse for like an hour everytime he ate. He just likes the mommy time, I
think know he does it on purpose!! He'll stop, give me a big smile, start again, stop to touch my face, start again. Then when I think he's sleeping, or good to go, he fusses for more. If he even sees me pick up my breastpad, he makes it very clear that he's NOT done yet! Smart little bugger. I did get everything in my car and even had room to spare somehow! I learned that my big suitcase fits in the trunk with the stroller so that really saved me. I didn't like it in the backseat because I couldn't see very well for lane changes and stuff. That will really help for future trips. We're slowly perfecting this process. :)
I've been so bad about keeping up with this! I'm hoping to be better about it, at least I'm up to twice a month again! I'm hoping to keep it up more, especially since I'm home.
