General Update from the Lazy Mom

Okay, August was quite a month for the Dangs. Matthew has now finally fully recovered from his palate surgery. After a few close calls of almost needing to take him into the ER for dehydration (kid did not want to drink anything), we finally discovered that Jamba Juice drizzled down through a straw was enough to keep the diapers saturated.

Arm restraints were not a popular item, and Matthew was smart enough to get out of them when he really wanted to get some freedom. But mostly, the diet of soft foods was very difficult, especially when his cousin and brother in the highchairs next to him are eating chicken nuggets and he was just eating soup. He is kinda a "need something to do with my hands" kinda kid, so it seemed that every meal would take over an hour and a half to get everyone nourished and cleaned...and sometimes we'd settle for just one or the other.

And if we decided that surgery and first trimester symptoms weren't enough, we decided to go TV free for August. A good experiment, and it resulted in a lot more family time and fewer dead brain cells.

Back to Matthew, now, he is back in action and just having the time of his life. Three molars have extended well into his mouth during the past few weeks, so we are done having food chopped and diced..."Lemme at the whole thing, Momma!"

And drinking is also back to normal...even taking a bottle again. Whew. What a relief. Still not sucking, but we'll get there.

He really is a huge eater. He will practically eat as much as I do...and that is saying something since I'm such a well-fed pregnant woman. Caleb is such a poor eater that I'm glad God made Matthew so much different, if not just for my own sanity's sake.

Matthew has also blossomed and grown so much in personality. The mellow laid back kid is finally learning how to defend his own turf. Having a three year old brother (almost) and a two year old cousin (almost) has made him a tough little cookie. For the first few weeks, he'd sit and helplessly watch every toy he had be confiscated by either Caleb or Colton, but now, he can fight his ground. Screaming, tantrums, crying, pulling, shoving...his new survival skills, I'm sure, but you can be assured that Momma isn't all that excited to have another so-talented toddler helping to turn up the chaos volume.

Overall, he and big brother are getting along fabulously. They are best pals and finally sharing the same room. Caleb is unable to comprehend having another baby come along. He really doesn't understand the whole pregnancy concept. Why would a baby be in my tummy when babies come from Vietnam?

Momma is fully, entirely, completely, exhaustively, overwhelmingly done with this morning (or evening) sickness and sleep-for-12-hours-a-day fatigue. Okay, I am done with it, but my body didn't get the memo. Despite the fact that the pregnancy calendar says I'm 3 weeks into my second trimester, my body is reveling in the first trimester symptoms. I'm so ready to be feeling better, but alas, I'm still here. And please, no one email me to tell me how you were nauseous and tired for the full 40 weeks. It may come as a surprise, but that doesn't make me feel any better.

Overall, though, God has been so good to us. It has been an intense summer. A new son, a new pregnancy, a new "career", surgery, etc. These were all wonderful things, but they have also been intense. Yet His Grace is sufficient, and we are so thankful for these blessings.

Photos

Well, sometime mid July we got some photos taken of the boys. I'm just finally getting around to posting them. I love these photos...and I'm sure I'll spend the rest of my life wondering how those cute little boys could grow up so fast.