Andrew is 1!

Poor second child. He turned 1 on May ninth & I am just now getting around to blogging about him.

There is a reason it has taken me so long to write about Andrew...it is because he is a wild man. He is the type of child that if he was your first, you would wonder if you really want any more. I am more exhausted now than I think I have ever been. We have experience with 2 kids - we had 2 foster boys before Dylan was born, then we had 2 different little boys while Dylan was little, so we know how to handle 2...Andrew is just difficult.

Andrew is a constant ball of movement & energy. He never stops & rarely slows down. He is a man on a mission. Unfortunately, his "mission" usually involves destroying something or getting into something he shouldn't. If he's not getting into the dog food, he's trying to play in the toilet or garbage. If not one of those, he is finding paper or small toys to try to eat. He torments our poor dog, bangs on the tv, hangs on everyone's legs, & whines. If he's not whining, he's yelling very loudly. 

He is 13 months old & still doesn't sleep through the night. He is up at least once to eat & sometimes another time because he can't seem to find his own paci in the night. He wants to be bounced and patted to sleep. He also seems to be teething a lot (he currently has 5 teeth), so there is a lot of whining going on at our house just due to that. 

We've been doing this since he came home from the hospital almost a year ago...we are exhausted. We keep hoping that maybe he will outgrow some of his "difficultness." I kept thinking, "When he sits, then..." or "When he crawls, then..." That has not been the case. The crawling has just resulted in him being able to be underfoot faster & makes him a lot quicker to get to things he shouldn't have. 

And while I say all that, I can't imagine what things would be like without him. He is a good snuggler. He gives sweet (sloppy!) baby kisses & pats your back when you pick him up. Dylan loves him & Andrew ADORES Dylan. They are such fun buddies. Andrew has quite the way with the people & is a big charmer & flirt. He is definitely good at being the adorable baby. He's pretty cute, which is helpful when you are also a big stinker. 

We have been working with Andrew on words & signs, hoping that some communication will help curb the constant screaming that he insists on right now. So far, this is where we are:

Words Andrew knows:
- Bye-bye
- Casey (Day-see)

- Baba (Bottle)

- Bubby or something similar (Refers to Dylan - we call him brother a lot)

- Dada & Mama (used, but rarely. I'm still not convinced he knows that I am Mama)

- Signs "all done" "more" "hi" "bye-bye"

We are working on signing eat, thank you, & milk. 

So now, at the end of this blog posting, I wonder what to make of all of it. We love Andrew, but his personality is a little much sometimes. He is wonderfully sweet...unless he's trying to bite your legs like a baby chihuahua. He's fun...until that fun shows up at 5 am. He's cute...except when he's screaming constantly. 

I have seen a marked improvement in his communication over the last few weeks & I am hoping that will make a difference in him. He is getting better about playing with toys instead of just crying for someone to hold him all the time. I have to keep reminding myself that he's only 13 months old. He will outgrow most of this stuff quick enough & will be a huge 5 year old like Dylan is. It's just hard to remember that when you are in the midst of sleepless nights & overwhelmingly long days, teething & spit-up, diapers & laundry. 

Mamas with young kids: You are doing great. Keep pushing through & loving those little ones, even when it's hard. Remember that with God's help, you can get through those hard days!

Mamas with grown kids: Encourage a young mama today. Not "They grow so fast! You'll miss all of this when they are grown!" That is probably very true, but in the middle of it, not always so helpful. Something more like, "You are doing a great job!" or "Keep up the good work!" or even a hug with a "You can do this!" We Mamas of young kids need all the encouragement we can get!