After lots of feeding and adjustments and the introduction of formula into our lives, Ethan has surpassed his birth weight! Our trip to the pediatrician early last week revealed that one little boy was still quite lazy and even though eating for 1 HOUR AND A HALF still was not eating enough. We have been supplementing with formula every other feeding time and on Friday, he was 8lbs 11oz. Yeah! He continues to need a little more help settling down than Elias ever did, but thanks to our friends the sLing and the sWing (easily confused in conversation...I led my mom to think for a second that I had taken Ethan to church in the swing, when I meant sling!) we are doing okay...
Elias continues to give us a run for our money (as if it has ever been easy) with lots of non-compliance and very disrespectful talking. He's fine as long as we don't require anything of him, like pottying, coming to meal times, going somewhere, or anything else he doesn't want to do. There is quite a lot of verbal abuse on his part, usually yelling and ending in a "I don't love you." We have received LOADS of advice, including ignoring, but this is becoming increasingly difficult. Christopher stays pretty calm, but it's me who is grieving the loss of my sweet little boy and eventually loses it. He has some really great moments...he is so tender and sweet with his little brother and remains constantly concerned about his needs.
We realize this is his way of dealing with his life being flipped upside down in the last couple of months. So, our strategies have been to discipline with losing priviledges and rewarding with good ones when he uses nice and loving words and is "quick to obey." We try to listen to him and validate his feelings when he says he is mad or when he begins to scream because we have asked him to potty, or something equally unreasonable to him. PRAY FOR US. It would be nice to tip the balance between good and bad days again.
In general, things are well here. We spent a day with the other Ammon family and I got to meet my nephew!!!!! It was fun beyond words to have all our children together. Pictures to come soon...
My mom will be here this week as Christopher heads to the coast for a pre-Stay-at-home-Dad trip. We are looking forward to a week of fun with Nana!
3 comments:
Yay for Ethan's weight gain! I will most definitely be praying for you guys and Elias. I so feel your pain, but I think my fuse would be a good deal shorter than it already is if I were taking care of an infant, too!
I love that Elias is bonding with Ethan. So sweet!
So happy for Ethan's weight gain! I know that it was a lot of hard work on your part.
Definitely praying for you and Christopher and Elias' little heart. I pray that God will give you the wisdom and patience you need to make it through the day--one minute at a time!
sweet sweet baby Ethan! Glad to hear things are going better with eating and weight gain! Wish I were closer to love on your sweet boys!
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