Time Warp

Here's the next prompt in the 30 Things My Kids Should Know About Me series.  It's a good one!  

I'm supposed to list ten things I would tell me 16 year old self.  I often think about this, along with things I would tell my 18 year old self, and my 20 year old self, and my 22 year old self.....because each passing season brings so much adventure and challenge along with it!  I am so proud of the things I've accomplished since I was 16, but holy cow....kids.  I had no idea what an amazing adventure and what a unique challenge parenthood would bring.  I'm still learning.  I'll always be learning because you guys keep me on my toes!  You are three beautifully different people and I have to re-learn how to live with you almost every day.  I would love to go visit myself during my first year in college and say, "HEY!  Pay attention to your relationship with this roommate, because you're going to have to figure this out MULTIPLE times in the future.  Good luck."

Anyway, here are the things I'd want my 16 year old self to know:

1.  Keep singing and keep writing.  They are your gifts.  Use them.
2.  Learn how to pray for real.  Supper time prayers and bedtime prayers and church prayers...they're all fine and good, but learn how to get low and let God in.  Learn how to open your heart and be still. 
3.  Be nice to your mom.  You need her more than you know right now, but you're REALLY going to need her down the road.
4.  Don't buy all the body image crap the media is trying to sell you.  And don't stand in the bathrooms at school trying to one-up your friends to see who can criticize themselves more.  Everyone in that bathroom is fishing for compliments, which means they're really fishing for self-esteem.  Here's the deal: you're totally good enough.  Just the way you are and just the way you end up being.
5.  Don't confuse fear with respect.  Respect your relationships, emotionally and physically.  Don't be afraid of them.  Learn to speak with dignity and conviction.  It is possible to be compassionate without being a pushover.  It's hard, but it's possible. 
6.  Pay attention in driver's ed classes.  You do not belong behind the wheel of a car.
7.  Lean on those girlfriends, especially Ann.  One day your daughters will run around together and it will blow your mind.
8.  It's okay to make mistakes, but be brave enough to own up to them and learn from them.  Don't run from them.  You're not perfect and no one expects you to be.  Listen to your parents and your teachers.  They are not your enemies, they are your lamp posts on a foggy highway.
9.  Your dreams and goals are worth it.  Work hard.
10.  Honey, let's talk about French class.  You need to work harder in French.  Work a LOT harder and become fluent.  You're going to need it in order to talk to your in-laws, and to teach your kids to speak their father's first language!

There you have it.  I think my 16 year old self already knew most of these things, deep down.  But #10 would have made her faint.  I am a lucky, lucky lady!

Albert: 2 Months

Friends, I've got something to say:

Albert is a totally awesome baby!  Here are his 2 month stats (a week and one day late, but whatever).

Height: 21.5 inches; 2nd %ile (no one knows how to accurately measure a newborn Fasciotto baby)
Weight: 10 lbs, 2 oz; 5th %ile (we're little.  It's fine)
Head circumference: 15.25 in.; 34th %ile (he and Margot have GIANT HEADS!)

Likes:  Mamas milk!  Napping in unsafe places and positions, his cow pull toy (especially in the car when the girls take turns pulling on it), faces and high pitched voices, songs, baths, snugly blankets.

Dislikes: sitting in a dirty diaper, being left alone, when Margot lays on top of him, tummy time, the first 30 seconds of a bath.

Greatest accomplishment:  The boy is SLEEPING IN HIS OWN BED!  He still wakes up twice a night to eat, but darn it, he went and jumped into that crib before I could say, "Waaaiiitt!!!  You're too little and I'll MISS YOU!!!!"  I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed sleeping right next to my baby, but the time has come and alas, he seems to love his crib every bit as much as his bassinet. 

Eating:  you know what?  I feed him whenever.  Not even "whenever he wants," just....whenever.

Sleeping:  His  nighttime sleep is getting pretty regular - nursing at 8:30, in bed around 9:00.  He wakes up between 12:00 and 1:00 for a feeding and again around 4:00 or 5:00.  Since moving to his crib, Sylvain has agreed to act as "Chief Soothing Consultant" if Albert wakes up before those times, but so far, he hasn't.  It's only been two nights, so here's hoping tonight goes as smoothly!  As for napping, I laugh in the face of naps because he's the third child, so he naps....whenever.  Today he had a good morning nap in the crib but the rest of the day he napped in his car seat or in his bassinet or in my arms.  Whatever.  He's fine.

Life with Albert:  Somehow he's the most popular AND the most overlooked member of our family!  The girls still love him to death, but the honeymoon phase is OVER and they are both competing for our attention in the most clever ways imaginable.  Sylvia (who hasn't bitten anyone since she was two years old) bites Margot multiple times a day.  And Margot wakes up from every nap crying and needing to "snuggle on couch" in order to calm down.  She also likes to bite Sylvia and pull her hair.  Because how else would you get an adult to scream your name, right??  Most days I feel like I've lost control of a three ring circus and the lions are eating the elephants while the clowns wait patiently in the crib...I mean, corner...until I can attend to them. But then there are the sweet moments: Margot says, "I wuv you Mommy," at bedtime in the middle of our song.  Sylvia shows Margot how to move her game piece in Candy Land and shows an INFINITE amount of patience while Margot tries to follow her directions. 

Sylvia smiles this amazing...proud...over-the-top-in-love...smile when I lay Albert next to her on her pillow.  This smile says, "Oh my gosh!  You're putting him in MY BED!  And he's HAPPY!  And I LOVE HIM SO MUCH OH MY GOSH THIS IS TOTALLY HAPPENING!!!!!"

There are so many small moments of my day that make this three kid gig AMAZING, but they are peppered in the middle of UTTER CHAOS....and exhaustion.  Lucky for me, these kids are cute and I already know that it gets better. 

Thank God for coffee and my amazing husband.

And grandparents.

And cute baby smiles.

And more coffee.