these days

The past couple of weeks have been very, very hard.  But also very good.  It makes me think of Charles Dickens' line, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."  I can relate.   Ever since Kyalo hit 18 months, we've hit some major bumps in the road.  I can't explain them, but I wonder if some of them have to do with getting a shot at that 18 month appointment.

Soon after getting a shot in the leg, his sleeping went totally haywire.  Granted, Kyalo's not ever been a good sleeper, but still, I felt like things were settling down and we were getting into a groove.  And suddenly, he was up a LOT.  And I just couldn't get him to sleep. He'd wake up, I'd nurse, put him in the crib, and he'd be up and screaming before I left the room.  And repeat.  And again.  This happened a couple of nights in a row, and it just left me utterly exhausted.  His glorious 2 1/2 hour naps (which true, didn't happen much) appear to be a thing of the past, and we're lucky to get a full hour in these days. 

Now, too, we're heading into the more treacherous territory of toddlerhood, and it is rearing its ugly head!  I need some discipline tips, stat!  So - lack of sleep + Kyalo's new (difficult? ugly? I'm not sure exactly what to call it) behavior = one cranky pants* mama! 

I am drained.  I love that I am still nursing Kyalo - and hope (and expect) to continue until he is two.  But I didn't think that it meant waking up multiple times a night for 18 MONTHS.  I have not had a solid 8 hours of sleep in so, so long.  I haven't even been away from Kyalo for more than a few hours in his entire life.  This is both something I'm grateful for (not going to work every day, for example) and longing for a night away. 

But, in the midst of this there are bright spots.  The best example is this.  On a Thursday afternoon, when I just wasn't sure how I was going to make it any more, a box arrived in the mail for us.  Turns out it was filled with children's books with an African (Kenyan, Tanzanian, Swahili) theme.  Many I had had my eye on a long time, one I had literally returned to the library that morning!  Also in the box were recipes and ingredients to make them!  This was additionally good timing because the dinner plan was blank.  I am not ashamed to say that I cried a little bit...I just felt so overwhelmed by my sense of helplessness, and then, a little ray of sunshine came through the mail.  It is another small (or huge) reminder of God's grace for us and that, no matter how hard this time will be, He will take care of us.

Kyalo loves the books.  The pictures are so beautiful he loves looking at them.  I love reading books peppered with Swahili (let's be honest - the simple phrases are about all I can manage, anyway; and the counting and alphabet book should ensure, at the very least, that I know my numbers and letters!).  Here's Kyalo happily reading Lala Salama before bed this week. 

Thanks Aunt Marg for such a beautiful book

{can you tell how the pictures are stunning?}

Something else that has turned out to be a blessing has been this.  One weekend when I was feeling especially down and out, I made the mistake of going into Pinterest, and stumbling into some parenting blogs.  It truly amazes me the kinds of things that parents think about to do with their kids.  I worry that Kyalo's going to get to school and kids are going to talk about the drawing, the obstacle courses, the crafts, etc, that their moms {or dads!} did with them, and Kyalo's going to say, "I played with rocks."  Poor kid, stuck with a non-crafty mom.  I went to be feeling discouraged about that, too.  But upon further reflection, realized I could do some of it!  If it involves kitchen stuff, of course.

So one morning I whipped up a {small} batch of oatmeal play dough -  made with simple ingredients I had on hand (flour + oatmeal + water + food color).  It didn't give us hours and hours of fun, but I'd say a solid 15 or so minutes, which was pretty good - Kyalo's never been good at playing for long stretches by himself, so this felt like a nice little break for me.

{I love that face!}

Another idea I got was to give him a "sensory bowl" filled with various size beans.  I was using dried beans that week, so kept some aside for him.  I gave him a bowl of beans with a whisk and other kitchen implements as well as some other bowls. Oh yes, it made a mess.  But it brought him a lot of joy, and kept him entertained for quite some time.  I could even get him to help me to pick the beans up! 

Fun and cheap.  Win-win.

Things are getting better again, though now Kyalo has a cold, so I don't think the sleep's ever going to get back on track!  :)

I'd welcome tips for things to do in these rockier times.  Activities to keep him busy?  Books/blogs on discipline that you can recommend? (I've picked up a couple from the library, but can imagine I'll need a lot more!)  Ideas to get my non-sleeping child to sleep? 

Ah, I know this is long. That's what happens when I vanish for two weeks.  Thanks for staying with me...

* phrase courtesy of Jenny Hunt :)

18 months

 October 3, 2012

22.9 pounds

30 1/2 inches

 shirt made by Erica!

For some reason, I find these half-year marks a big deal.  I feel like celebrating - we made it another six months! The days have been fun and hard lately because it is clear Kyalo is learning/experiencing/exploring so much, and at the same time he's exerting himself a lot more. And so, we enter the "terrible twos" which actually begin around now. Joy. 

Some examples:

- much more possessive of things (which may or may not actually be his)
- throwing his spoon and/or food on the floor all. the. time.  I fight a losing battle with the kitchen floor every day.  Who wants to come mop for me?
- hitting (me, for the most part)

Still even in the midst of these harder times, he is fun.  He still isn't talking much, but I really do think it is coming soon. . .and in the meantime he's very good at communicating.  He can follow simple directions.  This weekend I asked him to put his shoes away and he promptly scooped them up and put them in our hall closet.  He was quite proud of this and came back clapping.  He'll always have at least one person to cheer him on in life!  And then this morning, he was eating applesauce and it spilled, so I grabbed a rag and cleaned it up saying, "when you spill, you have to clean up."  Not long later he spilled again (without my realizing) and he got the cloth and was cleaning it up on his own.  Good boy!

But, tell him NOT to do something and that's another story. . .

I meant to mention last month that he's a real climber.  We can't leave chairs at the dining table or he'll be on the table in a flash.  He's non-stop activity and motion.  He loves music.  And he still loves rocks. dirt. sticks.  I was realizing a while ago that this is a kid who knows nothing in pop culture (Dora, Winnie the Pooh, Blues Clues, Sesame Street, etc.), but knows a lot about the outside world.  This weekend on one of our walks he was picking up handfuls of dirt and stuffing them down his shirt!  Maybe Winnie the Pooh isn't so bad after all?

See the boo-boo on his nose?  He fell, face first, onto the side walk.  Cried for a few minutes and then carried on.  Tough guy!

After the inside shots, we headed out into the rainy day for pictures and a walk.  Thanks to Grandma {as always} he was well prepared for a cool, wet day.

We started at the slide - where he liked splashing all the water around. Plus, the rain made the slide extra slippery!  After about 2 minutes in the backyard, we headed on walk down the street.  Kyalo can get out of the yard since the front gate doesn't close properly {boo} so we spend a lot of time walking the block.  Kyalo's quite comfortable to make himself at home wherever he is.  Especially if that place includes a yard of rocks!

there is no better birthday gift!

See? He's made himself right at home in one of our neighbor's front yard!  I sure hope no one minds.

please note the leaves in his hair, and the rock appropriately placed behind him.

Is it too soon to get him into The Boy Scouts?

I'm almost to the end here . . . I've started having him "help" me make things in the kitchen. This generally involves him dumping ingredients into a bowl and stirring.  But he loves to do it.  Plus then after I can give him an empty bowl and whisk and he'll play happily with that for a while.  On Sunday, he whipped up his first batch of pancakes.  As one of my aunts said, it is in his blood!

testing the batter

So there you have it.  Kyalo in all his 18 month glory!

We love him so.

apple picking

Fall is finally starting to come 'round these parts, and in an effort to explore more of the area where we live, and to make connections with Dexter's classmates, we went apple picking!  I had thought I'd never been apple picking before, until a friend reminded me that I went in kindergarten.  Seriously, who remembers those things?

We met up with Sirisha and her husband and daughter, and Seungah and her husband and daughter. (Side note: Kyalo's only friends here are girls!)  Sirisha is Indian, and Seungah is Korean, so it was a nice international mix.   It was fun to be on a farm. I'm always surprised by things. . .this time it was by how short the trees were. Shouldn't apple trees be tall?  Still, it was just the right size for little hands to do the picking!

 for some reason, I love pictures of Kyalo from behind

 and here, he looks like such a big kid!

After apple picking and a little rest at the picnic tables, we headed to the pumpkin patch, of course.

 and of course, Kyalo was more interested in DIRT

 Here he is, introducing Rua (13 months) to the joy that is dirt

 check out that sky!

our lil pumpkin

Still, the fun was not over.  There was still a hay ride through the farm, which was fun because we learned a lot about the 40-acre farm which is a Farmland Preservation Farm, meaning it will always and forever be a farm.  

Kyalo loved it. What he did NOT love, however, was the chicken.  This really surprised me, but when the farmer stopped us at the chicken coop and brought one out for all the children to pet, he really shied away from it.  Dashing my dreams of owning chickens some day!  I'm sure we'll get him to warm up to them . . .

This little cutie is Rua, Seungah's 13 month old daughter.  Happy girl!  She loved the hay. 

But I think Kyalo wins the prize for getting into the hay. . .

See those bumps on his forehead and cheek?  Mosquito bites!  And the bruise on his forehead?  That's from running into the wall during a game of chase with papa.

It was a great day. I really enjoyed getting to know a couple of Dexter's classmates. We ended the day with ginger tea at Sirisha's, and then we went out for Indian food with Sirisha and her family.  A perfect ending.  We have already planned an international dinner for the end of the moth where everyone brings something traditional from their culture.  One question: what should I bring?

fire chief in the house

I may have mentioned a few times that Kyalo likes to be outside.

No?

Well, you're in luck, because here I am to do it again!

Being outside is obviously a great thing...fresh air, expending energy, exploring, etc etc.  There's one problem.  Kyalo doesn't understand that a rainy day means spending the day at home in your sweats with a good book.  We had a day of rain last week and he was still clamoring at the door to go out. So, out we went. I finally had to drag him in when it basically became a down pour, and he looked like this:

Since he was soaked and basically covered in mud, into the bath he went.  And I was quickly searching for rain gear online (read: boots, jacket, pants), since a little rain isn't going to slow him down.   Winter is not too far away. . .but I think I'm mostly ready for that.

Then this weekend my parents were in town and stopped by a cute consignment shop in cute Montclair, where my mom scooped up this cute rain coat for $8.00

No, it wasn't raining this particular day, but we had to try it out.  Obviously!

 the chief and his assistant checking the neighborhood. . .

 . . .and the hydrant!

 

I feel safer knowing there's a fire chief right near by.  

And now we're ready for Halloween, too!

Win-win all around.

a grand weekend

I like it when our weekends include things that stray from the norm, and this weekend was full of them.  First, my parents came to visit. Yay.  They hadn't been here in a while, and I think the last times we were exploring NYC or jetting down to Baltimore.  Now that we're getting a little more settled here I wanted them to see our life and this area.  So the visit included trying out new restaurants, a trip to a local farmer's market, a lot of shopping {more on a good find in another post}, helping Dexter get a bike {Merry Christmas, dear}, and just generally enjoying each other and the spectacular weather.  After church on Sunday we walked to a little bagel shop for lunch.  I needed to get a few photos of them to prove they were here!

 {Kyalo found a stick! and we could not get him to put it down.  Dexter had to wrestle it from him when leaving}

 finally, some pictures with me in them!

{ready for church}

The park where we took the pictures was very pretty, but a little more shadowy than I would have liked.  Oh well, the memories aren't shadowy!  And just like that, off they headed to Massachusetts.  Instead of heading home ourselves, we hopped in the car and headed west a couple of hours through rolling country and farmland of Pennsylvania to see this girl:

Since the last time we saw Jenny was February in Kenya, we weren't going to let a little two hour drive get in the way of a chance to see her.  It was a short, but sweet visit.  I love reconnecting with friends, especially ones I knew in Kenya.  And seriously, the drive was pretty spectacular.  I don't know if you can really tell from the pictures, but the area was SO BEAUTIFUL.  Dexter's ready to hang up dentistry and go into farming.  I'll keep you posted on that.

 The lighting in PA was so awesome; I wish we had gotten a lot more pictures.  These will do, though.

{shadows}

I will live in hope for more impromptu, unexpected visits from friends to brighten our weekends!