March is Changeable

How could anyone ever get upset at this little cherub?
(Spoiler: I'm about to admit that I've done it.)

Parenting Woes
This month, our weather had not been very consistent: a week of sunny warmth, followed by a week of rain, followed by a week of hot, hot sun -- or at least that's what the weather tells us to expect next week. This reflects fairly well the temperament of the little man, as well.

He was sick for about a week. I took him to the doctor yesterday and she gave us a breathing machine. Since having a child (one who is sick way too often especially), I have come to the realization that the medical field is overly enthusiastic about "fixing" things that probably ought to be left to themselves. For example, around six months, the kiddo got bronchialitis (or something) and they gave us a prescription to go get suctioned out at the hospital. We went once and it cleared him out really well. However, they advised us to come back every morning and every night! We thought that did not make financial sense and clearly it wasn't that effective if we were supposed to go that often. We weren't sorry to have gone once, but we thought their advice to come two times a day was ridiculous. Though I took the machine they gave us, I suspect it's a very similar device. If they would just tell me, "Hey, there isn't anything we can do. It's just going to take two weeks for this to pass," I would be okay with that. I just go to the doctor in case he does have something that can be fixed quickly with medication.

Anyway, the kiddo did seem to be healthier yesterday before we actually made it to his appointment, with just lingering wheeziness and coughing. However, he had an early dose of what must be the "Terrible Twos" and I HATED it! Sadly, this little phase has carried over to today. It involves hitting and biting and throwing tantrums to get his way. I am not certain how to deal with this. I sometimes lose my temper (because I don't like to be bitten) and I dislike feeling out of control. That's not to say that I've actually done anything serious, but I end up yelling at him and being rougher with him and I just recognize that all in all it is NOT effective. I feel ridiculous losing my temper with a child of this age, but gosh darn it, I admit that I do. What's a mother to do?! Normally, my little boy is so mellow, pleasant, and even obedient, so it always exhausts me when his temperament seems to change so suddenly.

Help put a smile back on my face with any advice you can muster-- PLEASE!

In Other News
There are a lot of other events going on in our lives in the upcoming future. This next weekend we are celebrating Easter, of course. I long for good traditions for holidays, especially Easter, which religiously-speaking is THE most important holiday of the year when you think about it. I'm not very good at doing them, but I absolutely love the idea of great traditions. I have a great friend who is amazing at doing holidays right. I would like to be more like her. Leading up to this Easter, we did our Family Home Evening lesson out of the Primary manual on Easter and talked about resurrection. Obviously, not a concept that the kid's going to quite get yet since he has no idea even about death, but I still felt pleased with ourselves for focusing on the religious meaning of Easter. We are also planning on sending him on an Easter egg hunt because, hey, it's fun. It's yet to be determined what the little plastic eggs will actually contain.

Also, we will be attending General Conference this weekend for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love General Conference. The leaders of our church speak with inspiration and power and give us simple, clear doctrines to live by. They teach us from the scriptures and they testify of Jesus Christ. We hear from a prophet, called of God, just as in olden days like Adam, Noah, or Isaiah. And we hear from apostles, just as Jesus Christ organized upon the earth when he lived here. We also hear from female leaders who direct the Relief Society, Young Womens program, and Primary (for children) of our church. These are some pretty incredible people. The more often I hear them, the more I love and admire them.

Then, soon after, the kiddo and I will be heading to visit the families in good ol' Wisconsin. I hate to be apart from Patrick and we have rarely been apart in the entirety of our marriage (about three days being the extent of it). However, another of our friends will be leaving her husband for a bit too, so the men-folk have plans to study for school and play Wii.

When we get back, I am hosting a baby shower for a friend. I am so lucky to have great people who are helping me pull it together. So we will have a pretty busy next month. I'm sure there will be updates to follow, although I recognize that I am slackerish about it lately.

Um... Goodbye, February

Before our mystery dinner date.

I have slacked off on posting recently. I don't have an internet connection during most of the day, so that's part of the reason. This is mostly an apology to my grandma, who I suspect is the person who cares the most.

Anyway, February has been a busy month for us. It's so short it just flies by! This month Patrick and I went on a date outside of our usual Friday-night date rotation. We went to a mystery dinner date that my mom got us tickets to for Christmas. We enjoyed the company at our table and loved going out together. And we also knew that the kiddo was in the best of hands with our friends Timi and Eddie.

I also baked my first loaves of bread ever. It was sort of on my "list of things to do before I die." I was at a Relief Society meeting at our church with two friends where a friend of mine was teaching us how to make homemade bread. I told the two friends at my table that I would like to learn to bake bread before I die, and one of my friends exclaimed, "Oh, Keegan, don't wait that long! Let's bake bread before March." And we got together and did it. So there's one thing off my list, and now I plan to do it pretty regularly.

The kiddo helping my friend mix her dough.

My dough before I split it in two, and two of my bread-baking buddies.

Also, the kiddo used his kiddy toilet. Both times it was a fluke, but that's the beginning of learning right? It's nice because he is interested in it and he has now used it successfully, so as he gains the control he needs, I'm hoping these experiences will help encourage him in the process. I haven't read anything about potty training, so I don't really know what I'm "supposed" to be doing, and I'm just making things up as I go along. I'll let you all know how that goes as we progress.

I also made a funny discovery this month. I am always eager to help people, but I have realized recently that it takes someone else to help me to help someone. A good deal of the time, the help people need requires that I find someone to watch the kiddo, so it has amused me to be eager to help and then to be in need of help myself. Seems a bit ironic. Fortunately, I have some awesome friends who are very supportive and tolerant of my enthusiasm even though it makes more work for them.

I have also gone for lots of walks. I have two friends who recently had babies and I have enjoyed going with them and remembering what a life-saver it was for me to go walking with my friend Libby when I was a new mom. Sometimes when I am waiting for my friends or on days that they don't make it, I just go to Colonial Williamsburg and watch the kiddo run around. It's great because there are often people there (but at this season it certainly isn't crowded), and cars aren't allowed on the streets, so it's a very open place to run around and there are lots of things to notice and talk about.

And now we are concluding the month with me being sick. I am staying home from church at this very moment because I feel lousy. I already took a nap and I expect Patrick and the kiddo home any minute. The great thing about being sick is that it has made me grateful for all the things I can normally do and all the help I get, especially from Patrick. He has been so patient this weekend and lent lots of extra help watching the kiddo so I could rest. This will be the first time Patrick has ever gone as a solo parent to church, I think. And we both know it is not an easy thing because the kiddo is on a sort of nap schedule now that involves sleeping right around the time church is starting, but I am so grateful that they both went so I could lay in bed for the morning and sleep, as well as the fact that it's the best place to be, of course.

That's my not-very-exciting update on our lives this month. Though it wasn't riddled with laughs and entertainment, you can be assured that we are doing well and feeling happy.

Dad and the boy at the top of the slide.

My two favorite people in the world!