My Little Turkey is Two

Gobble Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving, all!
I am grateful for so many things, and though I would love to list them all, I fear that post would get too lengthy to enjoy.  So I'm going to concentrate this time on ONE very special blessing to me:

Carter Paul Stavenger, whose 2nd birthday just happens to be TODAY!

Due ON Thanksgiving in 2011, that little turkey decided to make me wait a full five days more before making his appearance at a whopping 9 lbs 12 oz.

He came into the world crying, and seemingly didn't STOP crying for a good 6 months.  (He did, but my memory has logged that time period as one lonnnnnnng, painful scream).  Of course, we didn't realize until month three that he was in a great deal of pain due to Congenital Pediatric Glaucoma.  After a series of surgeries and treatments, his pain was lessened and a long physical and emotional recovery for us all ensued.

I'm kind of embarrassed to say that while I loved Carter,  I had a hard time liking him.  He sucked up every ounce of energy I had, with nothing in return.  I held him for virtually an entire year and I was exhausted.  I felt depleted, not just as a mommy, but as a person.  Friends drifted away because I couldn't dedicate time to them.  And I didn't see any END to the misery...just phase after unpleasant phase, each with its own set of challenges.

And then...

We altered his diet a bit, and he started sleeping through the night!  Not consistently, but enough that I could get a few hours here and there.  It was improvement!  His eyes began to register normal pressures, and we could tell he wasn't in pain any longer.  He started wearing some darling little glasses and the "how did you know he needed glasses?" question became a regular part of my life.  I started looking at him through non-sleep-deprived glasses myself, and began to enjoy being with him for the first time.

And now as he turns two, God is rewarding me in full for the investment of love I poured into him as a newborn.  He has done what I didn't think was possible- surpassed the cuddliness of his sister!  My frequent kisses and snuggles are surely his way of saying "thank you, Mommy".  My heart is full.

If I could freeze time, I would.  This age is so precious.  So curious, so innocent, so pure and sweet.  Though he's not a baby anymore, he will ALWAYS be my baby.  Happy, happy birthday to Mommy's little boy. 

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.  -Philippians 1:3

My Brain Hurts.

I was really smart back in college.

Seriously.  I look at old college notebooks and think, "Wow.  I used to know all this stuff."

One of the classes that I took was an Elementary Mathematics course.  Sounds like cake, right?  It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life.  The bulk of the course addressed mathematical proofs, deductive arguments for mathematical statements.  For example, do two even numbers always add up to an even number?  If so, PROVE IT.  Oh, and you're not allowed to use numbers.  It's breaking concrete concepts into their simplest abstract terms, in which "simplest" involved a couple reams of paper.  It was awful.  I don't miss college at ALL.

I live with a three year old.  And with that being said, some days I feel like I'm living in that math class.  I wish I could record five minutes of my life.  (Parents of three-year-olds already know how this video would play out.)  In that five minutes, you would hear every form of question possible....twice:  Who, what, when, where, how, could I, may I, can we, will we, are there, why, Why, WHYYY??! 

The constant barrage of questions (cute, at first, then progressively painful) has me on my toes ALL DAY.  My goal with every answer: to minimize the amount of follow-up questions that are sure to follow.  I've learned from the early days of this curiosity surfacing that ONE question can become a twenty-minute conversation.  So, when the questions come, my brain attempts to quickly process the simplest and most concrete answer possible.  I've patted myself on the back a few times, thinking there is NO POSSIBLE WAY she could ask another question after THAT brilliant answer.  Wrong.  To a three-year-old dead-set on asking a question, ANY question, "WHY?" will always work. 

Kendall and Carter were particularly unruly yesterday, so I did what any Mom-on-the-fringe would do:  strapped them into their carseats and headed to Starbucks.  As expected, I got my ten minute break from their sibling harassment.  What I didn't expect was ten SOLID MINUTES of questions from the backseat.  After receiving my coffee from the barista in the drive-thru, the questions continued. 
"Mommy, why did the man not say hi to me?" "He was busy, honey."
"Oh, but did he see me?" "I don't think so."
"Mommy, why couldn't he see me?" "He was helping other people, sweetie."
(See how polite and patient I'm being??)
"Oh.  But are the other people getting coffee?"
"Yes, this is a coffee store."
"Mommy, why are we going this way?"
"Because this is the way home, Kendall."
"Oh.  But why are we going home?"
 (Beware:  Mommy loses her cool here...)
"KENDALL!!  STOP ASKING MOMMY QUESTIONS PLEASE!"

"Oh.  But, why?"
"Why Mommy?  Why do you want me to stop asking you questions?"

Face-palm.