Ezra is One!

Ezra is one today.  I’m gonna say it—this year flew by.  Well, parts of it did.  I never thought we would survive the first month.  Nursing difficulties until week 7, never really catching up on sleep after being awake for close to 36 hours by the time he was born, feeling absolutely zero connection to this creature that wanted to be constantly attached to me until he was right at one month old (no overwhelming feeling of love the moment I held him).  It was exhausting and hard.  But, we lived, my hormones eventually got their act together, and here we are 365 days later.

 So much has happened in the past year.  We moved halfway across the country, back to Virginia, when Ezra was 4 ½ months old.  A week of intense packing (so thankful my cousin was able to come out to be an invaluable extra set of hands, driving 1100 miles in 3 days.  Fun times.

While it wasn't what we were expecting, we were blessed that Fletcher was able to be home full time with us from mid-March until July 1^st.   Ezra and I were a little spoiled with that, and we’re still not used to him being at work all day. 

Ezra has grown like a weed.  He was never tiny, but here’s the year at a glance:

Birth: 8lbs 8.8oz, 20.5in

Discharge: 7lbs 13oz

2 weeks: 9lbs 0oz

8 weeks: 13lbs 10oz, 22.5in

4 months: 17lbs 8oz, 25.75in

6 months: 19lbs 3oz, 28in

9 months: 21lbs 4oz, 29in

12 months: 23lbs 6oz, 30.25in

And what’s going on now:

He’s eating 3 solid meals a day—loves avocado, peaches, chicken, pork chops, scrambled eggs, grits, green beans, corn on the cob, potato wedges, yogurt, cottage cheese, apples, spaghetti, and veggie chips.

He’s nursing an average of 8 times in 24 hours, including 1-3 times at night.  No plans to stop until he decides to wean himself.

He’s taking water from a straw cup.  I haven’t tried pumped milk in the cup, yet.

He’s cruising EVERYWHERE.  He’ll take a few steps between two people, or let go of a wall of the play yard and walk to another wall, usually falling into the other wall to stop himself.

He still loves to look at books and be read to.  He’s a cuddle bug and I like for him to stay that way as long as possible.

We love our baby boy.

When Everyone is Different But Nothing Has Changed

I’ll admit, I was nervous about the girls coming this weekend. Part of you thinks, “What if it’s awkward?” Out of our “group,” I’m the only one still in college. The rest of them are in, or at least have had post-grad job experience in what they want to do. They’re adults in the real world, and sometimes I feel like a kid stuck at school. So, yeah, I was concerned. But, the moment I get a call and in the middle I hear, “Ok, so we’re turning at the light,” I was pretty sure it was going to be a great weekend. And it was. It felt like almost every fall weekend from the last 4 years, except that everyone was in my living room. It was weird not going to Em & Chels’ apartment, since it was their place for 2 straight years. We talked about being adults and doing what you know God wants you to do. I realized that just because someone lives "2", 3, or 10 hours away, doesn’t mean they’re gone. I’m actually grateful for facebook and blogspot and text messaging, because we can keep up with each other and not worry about having an awkward run-in at homecoming or not having a clue where everyone ends up. After cultivating such a deep friendship with them for 4 years, yeah…it stinks that we don’t live 15 minutes apart anymore, and I don’t see them 3 or more times a week. But, we all knew there would be a day this would happen. Honestly, saying goodbye in May was much harder than saying goodbye when they left on Sunday. In May, part of me was wondering if we would actually see each other “soon.” Actually, part of me wondered if we would actually all be together again. (btw…if we could have coordinated kidnapping Kim, we totally would have…it was weird without her). Now that we know seeing each other is feasible, I’m actually feeling a little better than I have in a while. I know it’ll probably be once a semester, or even just once a year, that we’re “all together”, but that’s better than thinking “never.” And I have a feeling a certain person from Richmond is too in love with baseball (and weekends with baseball and hockey) to stay away too long. :)

Kicking Off the Summer

I actually have a summer job that I love. I’m working at the childcare center at home as an aide for a 6 yr old boy with Autism. It has been challenging, frustrating, draining, and absolutely amazing. Most of the kids in our class are accepting of him and try to help. And then there’s the 3 kids in the class who are absolute jerks and make me want to scream on an almost daily basis.

There are meltdowns, but we have a system that helps them dissipate. The kids know which seat is his and that he likes the middle swing and not to bring their Bakugan to school if they want to maintain a peaceful environment.

My first full day was yesterday, and it was a little weird, because it was just the two of us until the rest of the school kids got out for the day. Next week, it’ll just be us and the other kindergartners until about 1, and then it’s a full house until 6…true full class full days start Wednesday. The day went well, as much as he (and most children with autism) cling to their schedules and totally hate transitions.

I was able to meet the Preschool Special Ed teacher and talk to her while her kids and my kid watched Finding Nemo. We watched some of his other favorite movies, played with legos, and then it was naptime for the entire center. All of the lights were off for 2 ½ hours. It was awesome…it was quiet.

Next week we’re at the center, and then field trips kick off the week after that. Those should be fun. I ran into his teacher at the grocery store the other day, and we were able to talk about how he does during field trips, and I am thankful for the advice she gave.

It should be an interesting summer…but my profs were right…your classes teach you how to fill out paperwork…your classroom experiences teach you how to become a teacher.