Update

It's hardly real to me, but Jack will be 4 years old in one month and Violet will be six months old tomorrow. The days blur and they fly, and my babies are growing up while I'm racing to keep up with them.

We have been keeping ourselves very busy the last several weeks. I think our schedules have pretty much settled into what they're going to be for the foreseeable future. Jack has school and his appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we try to see our friends on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Getting together with friends has gotten a little tougher now that so many of us have school schedules to consider. And I always seem to forget that I also have a baby who ideally should have two naps a day.

Poor Violet, her schedule is still largely determined by Jack's activities. She doesn't often get to nap as long or as frequently as she would like. While I enjoy the break that Jack's preschool affords us in the mornings, it is amazing how quickly three hours can go. Usually, Violet is sleeping the entire time. This is nice, because I am basically child free for a few hours, but it also means we don't get the one-on-one time I was hoping to spend with her. And the afternoons get really tough. After we pick Jack up from preschool, we head over to his therapy appointments, which last 90 minutes on Tuesday and 60 minutes on Thursday. While the new school is closer to our house than our old one, it's still really not long enough for her to take a proper nap. Not to mention, she is in and out of the car a total of eight times on Jack's preschool days. By the fifth or sixth time, she is completely over it and unhappy. By the time we are finally home for good, she crashes for a long, late nap, which means that she goes down later for bedtime and doesn't sleep as well at night. We're still adjusting.

Jack is doing really well at preschool and in his therapy sessions. In fact, his speech and occupational therapists tell me that they think he may not need to go in for his individual sessions much longer. They say they want to transition his services over to a more consultative arrangement with his preschool teachers. I feel conflicted about this. On the one hand, it really would make my life much easier, logistically, if we didn't have to schlep him over to these appointments. However, there is a part of me that feels that he'll be missing out on something that he needs if I let them do this. I have a meeting with his teacher this upcoming week to try to get an idea of how he is doing in classes and to see what she thinks would be most beneficial for him.

In other news, Violet has been sitting up on her own for the past couple weeks. She's able to go for longer and longer before eventually falling over. It is so nice. I do feel a little bad that she's not getting as much tummy time as she probably should. She just hates it so much, and it's so hard to hear her cry when she's normally such a good-natured baby. And honestly, I'm really in no hurry for her to hit any of the mobility milestones, like rolling, scooting, or crawling. She does love to stand up while we are holding her, but she hasn't shown much interest in pulling herself up when she isn't standing. She is also a big fan of the Baby Bjorn. She doesn't sleep very well on the go, but she will sleep in the Bjorn if she's tired enough. It can get a little tough on my back, but it's nice to have it as a resource when we are out and about.

We will be starting her on solid foods in the next couple of days. Today, while we were out for brunch at Jack's favorite restaurant, Souplantation, I let her suck a little bit on my honeydew melon. It was her first taste of solid food, although all she really did was suck on the juice. At first, she got this expression on her face like, "What the heck is this??" But then she realized that it was pretty sweet after all, and she sucked on it for several minutes. I also tried to see if she would like any (really little pieces of) mashed up banana, but she just let that fall out of her mouth. I can't believe our little baby is old enough for solid foods already.

Sometimes I wish that life had a pause button so that I could stop, catch my breath, and really enjoy the wonder of my children at each age and stage before they go and change on me again.