Now A Family of *gulp* Six.

I know I should do a better job of recording Charlie's little sweet nothings, so that's today's post. Except I really have to bullet-point it. One Liners: Charlie, after this song it's naptime. Charlie, do you know what time it is? "Um... hide & seek?" You can have one cookie. "One at a time?" Funny words or phrases: "Mugot" instead of forgot "Actually, no." But really, the funniest thing he does at the age of 3 is try to control his little world. He likes to tell Doug and I how to sit or lay down with him. He orders us what songs to sing at bedtime. He is also fighting for independence - we regularly hear "I'll do it myself!" He is putting his pants on but still gets tangled in his shirts. And when it comes to toys, it's anything with wheels or wings - planes, trains, & automobiles. He is really sweet too, and shows affection we never got from Roman. I finally had to ask another mom if it was normal for ...

I love that Army phrase. "Situation normal: all *$&@ up." That's pretty much life here at the VE household. While on a day to day basis everything is just fine, our kind of "fine" is much different than most people's. We've been tracking Roman's probable bipolar on a calendar and have found a definite peak & valley cycle. Now that we expect things on certain days, I think overall his larger rages are happening less and less frequently. So our weeks generally look like this: Sunday: Emotional meltdown or rage. The buildup of fun/less structure. He will end up needing to be helped to calm down. Monday: Very emotional, typically anger; occasionally needs help; still coming down from weekend. Tuesday: Good day. Wednesday: Emotional, cries easily. This is his "low" day. Thursday: Good day. Friday: Good day. Beginning to ramp up for "high" weekend. Saturday: Will have a short and quick "high" in the a.m. which we can...

I am proudly a lefty. In fact, I am dominantly left-handed - it is uncomfortable for me to do most things with my right hand. And one of the great things about having a biological child is that he's a lefty too! Charlie showed off his dominant hand very early on when he first started grabbing at spoons. Life is hard for us, sure - but it is pretty awesome to be left-handed. I thought of this today, though, as I flipped over the paper towel roll for the umpteenth time - do righties have any idea what it's like to live in their world? Here are the things I encounter: Notebook spirals digging into my hand/arm can openers operated with my weak hand had to train myself to use the computer mouse on the right the number pad on a keyboard is always on the right the paper towel always has to be flipped - it's on a vertical holder and I want the loose end on the left, whereas Doug wants it on the right I put cards in envelopes upside down and backward I change diapers opposite of Dou...