Understanding Simi/Being Four

When Simi was in the hospital for his open heart surgery, after the surgery, every small procedure was a really big deal. For example, each time the nurse took out a line, I rejoiced because it meant that he was improving and was one step closer to going home.

Simi didn't see it the same way I did. To him, getting a line out meant pain. It was a BIG DEAL. He fought and cried and did everything he could to prevent the nurse from removing lines, band-aids, etc.

On the day he was released from the hospital, the nurse removed the last IV line from the back of his hand. I explained to Simi what the nurse was about to do and he cried in sheer terror. He told me that he didn't want them to remove the line and preferred that it stay in forever.

When I (Liz) was in the hospital yesterday for the version, the first thing the nurses did was take blood and insert an IV line. I'm terrified of needles, so this is a big deal to me. When the version was cancelled, my first thought was that I had a needle for no reason at all. That's a BIG DEAL.

When it came time for me to leave, the nurse moved to remove the IV line. I wanted to cry. Instead, I asked her if we could keep it in because sometime soon I'd be back to have the baby, and I'd need it then. Wouldn't it save them time, I reasoned, if the line was already in? I would rather that line stay in forever than have the nurse remove it. Nothing doing; the line came out.

I now know how Simi felt...

Waiting for Baby

Just before my mum passed away (in 1999), I read a book in an attempt to prepare myself for the inevitable. In the book, the authors talked about how people died in the same way they lived - according to their personalities. Each chapter was a story about a different person and their end of life experience. And true to form, my mum passed away in a manner very appropriate to her personality.

I have a theory: I think people are born according to their personalities too.

In utero, Baby Sister has A LOT of personality. I'm very interested in meeting her and getting to know her and learn of the kind of person she is. Her birth is already very different from her two brothers.

A few weeks ago we learned she's transverse. That means that she's laying sideways in utero. By this point, she should be vertex, or head down. She's moving a lot - going from side-to-side - and avoiding that middle at all costs. Each time the doctor does an ultrasound, her head is either on the left or on the right. How does she do that without going to the middle?

We also learned that Baby Sister responds well to verbal threats.

Yesterday, we had an attempt to manually move her to the correct position. About 15 minutes prior to the version, the resident did an ultrasound to check her position: head left, body across, and legs and arms dangling. Doctor comes in to perform the version and checks the position via ultrasound: head center, body up - perfect vertex position. Version cancelled.

What a teaser!

These next few weeks are going to be interesting ones in terms of what Baby Sister will do. And the next 18+ years will be a blast with her in our lives if she continues the same personality she has in utero.

Pressies!

Yesterday was another wonderful Christmas. In the morning, the boys woke up in their matching pajamas -- and we went downstairs to see if Santa had arrived during the night. Sure 'nough, there were presents under the tree!

Last year, Asher (who was 1 at the time) was a bit too young to enjoy presents. This year, the two of them dug into their pressies and had a blast!

Want to know the favorite toy for both of them? The Hess fire truck.

Simi and Asher are a bit luckier than most kids because we celebrate Hannukah too. That means they get pressies for Hannukah too! Lucky kids!

To all our cyber-friends, we hope this holiday season brings you happiness, joy, and love. And we hope all your dreams for 2006 come true.

Happy Holidays!

To all our friends and family who read this blog: we'd like to wish you a very wonderful holiday and a happy and healthy new year.

While I wish that I could put, as a new year's resolution, that I'd do a better job at more individual communication, with baby #3 nearly here I'm sure that resolution would never hold up. So please understand when you don't get those personal phone calls or visits that you once did receive.

Fat Boy

Last year, we worked really hard to get a one pound weight gain on Simi. That's right - after us practically stuffing food in his mouth and feeding him Ben & Jerry's ice cream (which has the highest fat content in ice cream) nearly every night, last year Simi gained a whopping one pound. Although his height was in the 50th percentile for his age, his weight was below the 5th percentile. His weight was one of the reasons we wanted to fix his heart defect sooner rather than later.

With the hole in Simi's heart, his body had to work harder, which burned more calories, which caused him to be skinny.

Now, less than 3 months post surgery, Simi has gained 4 pounds. Can you believe it? He's gained four pounds in less than three months. Without us stuffing him at every meal or force-feeding him ice cream, the kid has gained over 12% of his total body weight in such a short timeframe. In fact, he's gained more in the last two months than he has in the last two years combined!

He now has a little bit of meat on his bones. And when he's sitting down and he bends over, he has a teeny tiny little bit of a belly.

Woo hoo!

The Best Present

It's been very busy around here, as it probably is at your home too, what with getting ready for the holidays and all. And I think we're not playing our "you better be good or you'll get coal" card, because the boys have been SUPER rambunctious lately. Good golly, they are WOUND UP!

Today was a holiday party at Simi's classroom. It was great fun. Simi's teachers surprised each set of parents with a present that they helped the children make. It's a calendar. Each month the picture of the month is some sort of hand-print with a relevant theme for the month. It's one of the best gifts I've ever received and I want to keep it forever. One day, when Simi's all grown up, I'll pull out this old calendar and we'll marvel at how small his hand once was...

But for right now, I'll just marvel at how BIG his handprint is, because it used to be much smaller...

Growing Up

Asher's developments are coming fast and furious lately. Seems like every day he loses a bit more of his "baby-ness" and gains a bit more of "boy-ness".

I love to hear him having conversations with Simi. I love to see him get so excited about things, like Bob-the-Builder legos and pooping in the potty. I love to have conversations with him about the latest movie he saw or what he did at school today.

Yet, at the same time, it seems like he's growing up too fast. I wish I could slow it down a little and savor the bit of "baby time" I have left with him.

Best Friends

As Asher gets more "kid-like" and less "baby-like", he and Simi are getting closer and closer. Right now, I'd say they are "Best Friends". They truly love each other, love playing with each other, and love, well, simply "being" with each other. They're so supportive of each other, cheering each other on through potty training, etc.

As a parent, it's one of the sweetest things on the planet: to hear them having a conversation and watch them playing together.

I hope it lasts their life-time.

Me too!

Simi just resumed soccer class this week. He has soccer class once a week after school. So one parent takes Simi to soccer while the other one picks up Asher and takes him home.

On the way home, Asher continually asked where Simi was. " At soccer practice", came the standard reply. "I want to go to soccer practice too", Asher constantly said.

When we got home, Asher went straight to the plastic golf club and soccer ball and started to hit the soccer ball around with the golf club. "See, I play soccer too", he said.

The Star Chart

To give Simi some encouragement, we got a "star chart". That means that we write down things he should do and when he does them, he gets a star. When he accumulates a total of five stars, he gets to go to the dollar store and pick out a present. Simi's thrilled.

Asher wanted to get in the game too, so we added his name to the star chart even though he's a bit young for it. No matter; he's now eagerly doing whatever it is on his star chart so that he, too, can get stars.

We thought of putting Baby Sister's name on the chart with one activity: being born. But then we thought she's likely to zoom out of her comfortable location in the quest of obtaining a star.

The result is amazing. Both boys are moving right along and getting stars like crazy.

Sure beats nagging.

Update

We haven't updated in awhile; it's been tremendously busy around here lately...

Remember when we were in Boston and the boys shared a bed? Good golly, they slept great. Then they came home and slept in separate rooms and slept terribly. I think they missed each other.

At bed time, each one, individually, would ask to sleep in the other's bed. One night we decided to try it. We moved Asher's bed into Simi's room.

The end result? They're thrilled. They love sleeping in the same room. They love the company. And we all sleep a lot better at night.