Taking A Break...

This past Friday was a very exciting ending to two weeks of Brian's swim lessons.  Ed was able to block the end of his day so he could make it to Brian's "graduation" which made both of them so happy!  

Brian really liked his instructor, Katie.  (I only wish I had thought to get her contact information!  Brian would LOVE to see her again as a babysitter!  Dang.)

The day of the last lesson we went out to buy flowers for her, at his request.  She was a really sweet girl!

I can't recommend these lessons enough.  I do believe it's a local program... but I'm sure you could find similar lessons in your area.  This program is called "Swim Fast" and we attended the lessons at Cabrini College.  They also hold lessons at West Chester University.  The next course is in May and I will definitely be signing Brian up for the next level!!

By the last day, he was jumping in... getting himself up above the water... turning himself over on his back... and "swimming" (on his back) the length of the pool.  It was amazing - and we were so, extraordinarily proud of him - especially because we know how scared he was!!  

Check it out...

The next day, I took Brian and Hope to a birthday party all afternoon!  Brian's friends - a set of brother/sister twins from his preschool - invited them to their house for a fun day of bouncing, singing and probably the fanciest and most delicious birthday cake I've ever had.  It was nice for him to see his friends... and I enjoyed hanging out with their wonderful Moms!  We all had such a great time!

That same day, we celebrated Hope's 35th week with us!  Shocking, I know...

...because it's all just whizzing by!

Recently, Hope had some struggles with sleeping.  She was waking up more... not napping... a little cranky.  Then I noticed, I'm sure not coincidentally, that she had a mini-explosion, developmentally!  And now, I'm sure not so coincidentally, she's sleeping more again.  It takes a lot out of a baby to hit these developmental milestones!  Suddenly she's more vocal - babbling different sounds all day long.

She's crawling on all fours.  It just "clicked!"  And boy, is she fast!!

She goes from laying to sitting up on her own and easily picks up toys to shake them, throw them, eat them... or just stare at them lovingly.

And, she's now feeding herself finger foods!  I think this is her most favorite activity of all.  

Watch...

I'm continuing to do her daily back massages up and down both sides of her spine.  I even put the little "puffs" in a jar for two days before I gave them to her!  She's doing great and her skin continues to improve.  I did notice that her little patches sprouted up when we were sitting on the side of the indoor pool watching Brian on Friday.  It was very steamy in there.  Guess what else I noticed?  A little curl on the back of her head!  I see that as a promising sign that Hope might inherit my curls!

I've received a lot of questions about this back massage - so I took a video.  It's not the best video, but I think you'll get the idea.  As you can see, she's awake.  She loves when I do this and is so calm.  Sometimes she gets up and crawls around - and I just follow her!  You have to work with what you have.  I don't stress about it - I just do my best.  I use a little glass jar - picture a tiny glass jelly jar that they give you in a hotel.  Or a tiny baby food jar.  I tuck it anywhere I can so it stays in place... and sometimes I just hand it to her to hold (or chew on).

Hope is such a sweet little girl.  We feel so lucky that we were blessed with yet another calm, peaceful child.

I can't stress enough how important it is to check with your doctor - or consult a NAET practitioner - if your child has severe food allergies.  This is not something you should just try on your own after reading our story or watching the video.  Please.  

**************************

I'm going to be taking a break from my journal for a little while.  I'm having a bit of a hard time and just want to take a step back.  I'll be fine - nothing to worry about.

 Tomorrow's "Share Yourself" is still scheduled to post... and it's possible I won't be able to stop myself from posting a cute photo here and there on the Facebook page or on Instagram.  But other than that... you won't be hearing much from me at all for a bit.  I also won't be replying to messages or questions.  Thank you for understanding and sending some positive thoughts my way.