On the morning of Sunday November 11th, Luca tripped and fell into a still burning bonfire from the night before. Ashes went down his sleeve and burnt his arm. I stuck it in the cold river water right away, took him up to the house and put aloe on it again and again. It still blistered, but there were only small blisters from his wrist to his elbow. I covered it with non-petroleum jelly (some debate as to whether this helps or hinders) and nursed him for two hours while he slept. When He woke up, it looked a lot better so I knew he would be ok and be able to heal on his own. He did not act like it was hurting him any more, though I know from my own burns how much it must have hurt at first. But he never really cried too much. I covered it with aloe, calendula, anti-bacterial ointment and bandages every day after that for a week, and it is almost completely healed by this point. I wish I had pictures of the whole healing process, I'm so impressed with how well it healed and how QUICKLY!
He has started at least attempting to say EVERYTHING we say. He has added a couple animals sounds ("aka-dooooo!!" is a rooster) and will say "thank you" almost every time we say it. He also says "turkey", "cute", "mama", "papaw", and we made up a sign for watching videos of himself on the iPhone ("camera", while looking through a lens we make with our hand) which he learned after exactly ONE time of me modeling it for him. He also does a great fake laugh, to play along whenever we laugh.
We let him watch Mr. Rogers at my parent's house. I can't believe what an amazing program it is. The music has the most lovely original melodies, with whimsical lyrics that delight as well as teach. He effectively teaches all the values Ash and I hold dear, like self-compassion, emotional honesty, cooperation, love... I can't believe how much I'M getting out of watching this show. And there is VERY little editing and the pace is nice and slow... a touch slower than real life, which is also important to us. So far, this and live musical performances are all he has seen. It sure is nice to have something to entertain him for a few minutes, so I can eat with two hands.
At 12 months we experienced a period of easy sleep for Luca. He went to bed without any trouble and he was sleeping regularly for long stretches. But then his molars started coming in, and have taken their sweet time. He is back to waking every 2 hours at night, and nursing like a newborn during the day as well. It's exhausting, but Ash and I are taking turns doing the nighttime parenting now that he is old enough to not "need" nursing at night physically. We bought some herbal extracts for "calming kids" which works quite well. We also take turns sleeping in, in the mornings.
I feel I have really turned a corner, lately. This is day 6 of me feeling really happy. No depression, no anxiety, no stress, so self-hatred... I think it's a combination of some things I have been trying in therapy, my increasing comfort with being a mom, and my increasing ability to identify my needs and work to get them met. This past Wednesday, I looked at him and really FELT it for the first time... he's not a baby anymore. He's a little boy. And he is separate from me. This was a big deal for me, since most of my anxiety came from me absorbing any of his (perceived) suffering. I can also see a lot more how my struggle was feeding his difficult temperament.
Thanksgiving was so wonderful. My mom made some really great food, my dad built some really nice fires, and my brothers and sister and I played some really great music. Luca ate 3 or 4 helpings of thanksgiving dinner. I guess he just happened on be on a growth spurt day on that day, with such great food for him to eat!! Unfortunately, from all the talk going on he figured out the word "pie"pretty quickly. I don't let him have sugar, but luckily Mamaw had made Papaw a low-sugar pumpkin pie bars (made with honey and whole wheat flower). So I have been calling that "Luca's Pumpkin Pie", and he seems to buy it.
He keeps climbing under the end table and getting stuck in there.
He's really looking like you!
ReplyDeleteMy dad tells me that I face-planted hard on the sidewalk once when I was approximately Luca's age. My face was covered in scratches for about a day and a half, but then they were completely gone! It's amazing how fast little kids' bodies heal. I figure it must be a evolutionary thing.
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