I was still on maternity leave for the first few weeks of May. It seems like I've been back to work forever already, but it hasn't even been a month quite yet. I would never have realized that if I hadn't been writing this post!
Here is my little milk drunk baby. I remember being so proud of myself on this day. So far Ava has far exceeded her brothers in number of weeks breastfed. At this point I don't see why we won't make it the full 12 months (and possibly beyond). She loves it, I love it. And the only real issue we've encountered so far is that she is reluctant to take the bottle (any tips on that are appreciated!)
I stepped up the game with Mac's preschooling. I used to just do focused activities here and there as I found the time in our day, but not only has having a third child required a more stringent routine the fact that he's now 3 motivated me to get serious. We still aren't completely certain whether we'll be sending our children to school or if we will homeschool, but for now, we are taking steps to make it a scheduled part of our routine so that we are sure the work is always getting done.
In May, I also got more and more confident taking the kids out by myself. For the first month or so, I would have my mom meet me places so that she could help with the kids while I shopped, ran an errand or just took them to the park. As I got better at breastfeeding and just more confident juggling all 3 kids, it was nice to be able to go and come when I wished without having to arrange for back-up!
The kids and I even went on daily walks. Mac loved going to Starbucks to get "coffee" with me.
I started incorporating Ava into the boys' bath/bedtime routine. She bathes in her own tub, but does so right along side her brothers. She is just beginning to settle for bed earlier than before, however.
For Mother's Day my mom and I took the kids to story time and then to the park for a picnic and play. Mac gave my mom a run for her money for sure. It was a nice time though and freed us up for festivities with my mother in law the next day. Her birthday landed on Mother's Day this year so we had a special birthday/Mother's Day bbq for her. Aaron bought her lobster tails at Whole Foods as part of her Birthday/Mother's Day gift.
Aaron had a crazy bicycle accident in May as well. He refused to let me take pictures of his injuries, but he had road rash all along his back along his left shoulder, he had scrapes in his scalp and a large knot on his head, he also had a bruise on his hip which is still not entirely gone away (and it's been about 3 weeks now). I'm also fairly certain he had a concussion, but he refused to be seen by a doctor. I'm not sure if all men are this way, but Mexican men sure hate to see the doctor!
I was really sorry that he got hurt so badly, but I was actually glad that he had the experience. I know he cares for our children, but he tends to be a bit more daring with them than I am. He's been annoyed with me in the past when I refused to let him take Mac out in the bike trailer without a helmet or when I've insisted he strap him in. He's famous for saying, "He'll be alright, don't baby him!" But some things are out of our control and I think he learned a hard lesson that day!
We had a bbq at our place with Aaron's cousin and his kids. Mac loves his cousins so he had a great time playing with them in the man made lake we live on.
Ava is spending more time awake during the day (hence she goes to bed progressively earlier as the weeks go on). I have been having so much fun photographing her while she is awake. I think she's so pretty. Everyone tells me she looks like me, but I don't see it. I think she resembles my dad a little still, but she definitely has her own look.
The boys got a belated birthday gift from on of Aaron's childhood friends. I think I was as excited about it as they were. When I opened the package I could see that it was a Thomas the Train tent, but Mac didn't realize what it was other than the fact that it was Thomas. I was so excited for him to play in it that I could not wait to get it open to set it up. I felt so dorky, but I'm totally a mom. Makes me happy to see my kids happy and I knew that it was going to make him very happy! He slept in it that night.
I took Mac and Ava for their well-checks in May. I feared that Mac would get vaccines and then hate the doctor from then on, but he didn't need any. He's covered until next year. He did get to have his blood pressure taken (a new addition to the evaluation checklist) and he also had an eye exam!
He was so cute during the appointment. His nurse (she's been with our pediatrician since Mac's first appointment at 5 days old) prepped him for the b/p check by asking him to think of something that makes him happy. He looked confused, so I asked "Son, what makes you happy?" He answered, " Towels!"
Then his nurse prepped him for his eye exam by telling him he was going to get to wear a pirate patch. He loved that and started talking about Jake and the Neverland Pirates. He hasn't watched that show in over a year, but he remembers it and was excited to pretend he was a pirate like them.
He passed his eye exam with flying colors and was very proud of himself. I was proud too.
Miss Ava did well also. She is sitting pretty on the growth charts (she's still on the pre-term charts for a bit longer) but still falls in the average range on the term babies as well.
She got a set of vaccines and handled them like a champ. She tends to be a diva so I was prepared for breath holding, vomiting, gagging cries, but she did fine. She got upset, obviously, but settled as soon as she was back in my arms and nursing. I always hold off on feeding the kids until they have their vaccines and she was pretty hungry by then so it was perfect.
We went to dinner with my parents immediately after the kids' appointments that day and she slept like a log through most of it.
Adrian was a bit more emotional this last month. He feels high and low emotions to the extreme. He's either perfectly happy or devastatingly upset (or totally neutral actually). I can't figure him out. I sure to love him though.
He's been having so much fun going when we go out to play after dinner. There is a field of grass in our community that he loves to trot around in.
It's also really cute to watch him start to develop a vocabulary. He really wants to communicate. He just isn't quite getting out the words he needs, but he sure is trying. Lately he began pointing to the sky (like Mac used to) when he hears airplanes and he exclaims "Coo Coo!" He also says "coo coo" when he plays with their toy trains, so I'm not sure if there is some correlation there.
Just the other day he began saying "Ah-ode" (or something similar) as he covers his mouth. This is him trying to say "all aboard" like Mac does when he is playing trains. Mac cups his hand around his mouth the way one would to project their voice and this is what Adrian thinks he's doing when he covers his mouth.
Though I'm back to work as of last month, I still get lots of time with the kids. I get off work at 3 p.m., work from home once a week and get to come home on my lunch break everyday. This situation is ideal, so I was not too upset when I came back to work. In fact I didn't even cry that first day.
That's all for now!
I love this post! I love the pic of your 3 kiddos in the back of the car and of you at Target. You are such an awesome mom!
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