I think I need to update...

Well, I posted a link to my blog on Kelly's Korner, who did a posting about mom's with only children. The traffic on my blog has increased from this, so I'm doing as others have done---giving a quick update about our little family.

My husband and I have one child, Jackson. He's our only child and, as much as I'd love to have more, I just don't think that's going to happen. Jackson was the result of 4 attempts at IVF (that translates to 9 implanted embryos before his!). He was born in December 2009. A year ago (when Jackson was just 9 months old), I got pregnant "the old fashioned way," but had a miscarriage at about 9 weeks. We tried like rabbits to get pregnant again on our own for months after that, but had no success. This past summer, we went through the process of implanting our one remaining frozen embryo, but that was also not successful.

In August, after our failed attempt, we decided enough was enough. My husband did not want to try IVF again, and while I'll always have hope that something will happen naturally, I'm not really counting on that.

And so we are 3.

Now come the challenges of raising an only child. I'm trying to find all the positives I can in just having one, but that initial disappointment is still in me, the one that says, "You're JUST having one." I always dreamed of more (at least one more), so it's been quite an adjustment. I worry most about giving Jackson everything he needs (emotionally as well as socially, etc). Do I worry too much? Probably, but he's my everything and I want him to grow up to be a good person. I mean, who doesn't want that for their child?

And so here we go. Please comment if you have an only child, and if you have a blog, and if you know everything there is to know about what it takes to raise a well-adjusted child. HAHA...ok, that third part isn't necessary, but I will follow along on the journey of others' who might know a thing or two about this stuff.

Enjoy!

USE WORDS!

Jackson's vocabulary is building, but at a snail's pace. Some words are pretty clear: up, duck, doggie, hot, etc., while others are still very muddled: Elmo, down, done, and a few others. I'm afraid he's gotten into a habit of saying things a certain way, making it difficult for him to change the pronunciation. For instance, with Elmo, he can produce the sounds El- and -mo, but putting them together doesn't register in his little brain, and it comes out Ohhhhh (with a really funny face!). It's sad sometimes to see him trying SO HARD.

I will give him a ton of credit for trying more and more. He still asks "Das" when he wants to know what something is, though he does that with words he already knows, and I'll call him on it by saying, "You know what that is!" Usually then, he'll say the word.

PATIENCE. I'm learning patience.

The tantrums are still coming, too. I've been reading (mostly online) about how to handle those, and it's not easy! Sometimes, he has a real mean streak in him. I can only hope that improvements in his speaking will help these subside.

We're going trick or treating on Monday! We'll be going just around our street (which is a circle). I've met most of the neighbors so those are the houses we'll go to. Paul is taking the day off (a comp day for some extra hours he put in a few weeks ago) so we'll be videotaping the whole experience. I'm so excited! Someone came to our door last year with a little girl who was out for the first time, and the parents were so cute with their cameras and videos!

Jackson's birthday party plans are in the works! I'm a little obsessed about it, I know, but he's my baby! We're having an Elmo-theme with tons of Elmo decorations, and a few little surprises. I have a friend who makes AMAZING cakes---she did his last year and I'll have her do this year's as well. I don't know what she'll do but I'm going to leave it up to her to be creative. Food-wise, we're still working on the details, but likely we'll have it catered from somewhere around here. With almost 30 people coming (including kids), I'm not going to be in any mood to cook. Shoot...I can barely cook for the 3 of us most of the time! HA!

Happy Halloween!

Turning a corner?

In the past couple of days, we've seen a change in Jackson's speech. For so long now, he's asked the same question: "Das?" We can only figure it means, "What's this/that?" Sometimes, I don't think it's always a question but a statement as well. He asks/states it also when we know he knows what something is. Anyway, he's starting to repeat what we tell him something is. Yesterday, he came up with a fake pie (from some new toys from a neighbor), and I told him it was pie. He repeated it! I was pretty shocked, since all we've gotten up to this point is silence after that question. He's not quite at the point where I can ask him what something is and he'll tell me, but repeating is a good first step!

His words are still quite jumbled. I worked with him one day to get him to say Elmo (his favorite character). He can say both syllables separately, but together he doesn't even get one of them right. It's just a jumbled mess that comes from his perfect little lips. I don't really understand how there can be such a disconnect from his brain to his mouth. Maybe it's putting 2 syllables together that's hard? I just don't know, and it's as frustrating for me as it is him sometimes.

I feel like some progress has been made here though, and hope that it's the start of many more words to come! If you read this, please don't EVER tell me that I'm not going to want him to talk once he starts. Nothing could be further from the truth.