April 2013

No longer content to lie in the bouncinette - he strains forward
until he manages to get in a sitting position.

Enjoying the swing

Caleb started sitting unsupported and eating solids at the beginning of this month, and now as the month closes he has started to get up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. Sometime in the month he worked out how to roll from his tummy to his back (by sticking his bottom up in the air), and so now has enough arsenal of movement to get around the floor a bit. He was very keen to start eating (though only 4 1/2 months! Must be a boy thing?), sitting at the table screaming at us while we ate until we gave him food, so is now having solids at dinner time with us. He gets very messy. The floor gets very messy. And the table/highchair gets very messy. But he is very fun to watch eating - he gets quite frenzied about getting the spoon/food in his mouth!

Still keep pillows around him for the eventual tipping over

The girls busy colouring

Sarah has had a sudden jump in independence in the last couple of weeks. She can now dress herself (even if some things go on backwards). She's stopped wetting her knickers all the time, and can change them herself when needed. And she can put her straps on in her car seat. At the beginning of the month these were all "I can't!"s whenever we prompted her to try, and at some point she decided to try and succeeded! It makes life that little bit easier for me. Sarah has been inseparable from a novelty toothbrush Little Grandma (my mum) sent over - it goes everywhere with her. Until it was lost at playgroup this week. After one day without it we went and found a replacement at the shops (thankfully we found one exactly the same!)

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The girls now share a 'booster seat' at meal times. They'll often put their arms around each
other for a hug - it's very cute :)

Abigail has started drawing pictures. She used to just colour and scribble or try drawing letters, but now I find pictures she's drawn. I love finding them and then getting her to tell me about them.

And she has started using more colours than just brown (which was her favourite colour for a while - everything was coloured brown!). Abigail is now at the stage where she will listen to longer stories, and so Jonathan has been reading her a shortened version of Heidi - a chapter each day when he gets home from work - which she has seemed to really enjoy.

Abigail's first drawing (I thought Jon must have done it!) - on the far left is Cinderella
and the smaller people are children Cinderellas

Jon and I have started learning some card games this month. So far we have learnt to play Gin Rummy, Cribbage and Canasta. Gin Rummy is probably the most played so far. Canasta would be better with 3 or 4 players. A lot of our evenings have been spent playing cards together. Now we just have to build up our board game stash, and we'll have plenty of game options for when family and friends come over. We have found playing games with people is a good way to get conversations happening and relationships growing, and I am looking forward to having games nights with the kids as they grow older (I tried Snakes and Ladders with the girls this week but they're not grasping the concept yet).

Playing cards like mummy and daddy

Jonathan has been quite busy at work this month; his plate is kept full. And he has a couple of big gigs over the next two weekends, so a busy time for him at the moment. 

I had a growing need to clean my blinds this month. It's been one of those jobs that I haven't done because venetian blinds are such a pain to clean. And then I found out that you can detach them from the window, take them outside on the trampoline and scrub and hose them down. Once I had the blinds clean, the windows and frames had to be done too. My windows and blinds are now so clean looking it gives me much joy :) I also finally got out to Wynumm last Saturday for a second-hand shopping spree (Caleb accompanied me). 

God has been teaching me a lot this month. Big lessons. I've learnt that I am not the only mother who struggles. And that experiencing the doldrums isn't the same as depression. And that this time of Jon and my life is intense - we have 3 young children close together. These realisations seem simple and fairly obvious but they have been hugely freeing for me. It has been incredible - this month has been full of conversations with family and friends, links shared on Facebook, and articles in my blog feed about these things.

For the days when the doldrums strike (my older sister, Johanna, helped me see the difference between discouragement and depression - that terminology clarification was immensely helpful), I knew I had to have a plan for getting out of them and printed myself out a plan of action for such times. Then a week later, my friend Ruth posted a link to this article, which summed up what I had learnt in a very helpful way. 

For the days that felt pointless and lacking in purpose, I knew I needed to look at the bigger picture of raising my children and to not get stuck in the day to day stuff - I am raising children, not just keeping house. There is always character to work on, skills to teach, education to impart, and relationships to build. I felt the need to plot out some of these bigger goals - and then the next MOPS session happened to be on planning the 'destination' for our families and setting long-term family goals.

For the days that are trying with their constant barrage of needs, noise, messes and demands (......children), I  need to relax and enjoy (and forget my to-do list). This is a season that will be over before I know it, and I don't want to miss the joys and opportunities that it holds. I want to enjoy my children now. I have suddenly come across so many articles about doing just that and how to do it better. 

I started the month asking God why He kept sending me hard days (all the while knowing that He'd keep sending them until I learnt to deal with them in a godly way). I come to the end of the month feeling very enriched and better armed. That's not to say I'm not going to fail at times, but I do hope that in the days ahead I will go from 'strength to strength', and when that Day comes He will say to me, "Well done, good and faithful servant".