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June 17, 2004
This week's entry is a little odd, but I wanted to give Jacob a glimpse of how I keep in touch with family right now. My mom's extended family and all my favorite cousins are up in Indiana, a 5 hour drive away, and they've only gotten to see Jake 3 times, which breaks my heart. My cousin Kimmy and I write each other frequent letters about our kids, partially to make sure we keep a family connection, partially as moral support. Kimmy has always been more like a sister to me than my own sisters, and she's such an amazing person. I can be so real with her, and she understands and never judges. She's my mom's brother Steve's daughter -- mom and Steve are the oldest of 8 kids, and they're 11 months apart. Some people call that "Irish twins," I call it my grandmother not being very smart! ;o) Kim's the 2nd oldest, and oldest girl, of Steve's 10 kids. Yes, that's right, TEN. Then after thinking she and her husband were infertile, they proceeded to have 3 kids in 3.5 years. Her middle son had partial hearing loss that wasn't diagnosed until after he was 1, and he has developmental problems that have yet to be clearly diagnosed. He's a beautiful, happy little boy. When she mentions Cole, that's her brother Nathan's baby who was born 14 weeks premature last August. Anyway, this is her latest letter to me, and my reply to her.
Dear Jen,
I just can't seem to keep up with anything right now. Life is just so hectic anymore.
Isaiah has speech and developmental therapy twice a week. We are teaching him sign language. He can sign "more," "open," "shut," and "all done" so far. He still isn't talking, but he babbles sometimes. He had his 2 year checkup and he still isn't catching up. He is learning, but he is staying about 9 months behind his age group. Dr. Laughlin said he believes Isaiah is autistic, but he has to wait for the Riley Developmental evaluation which is on June 23rd before he can decide what else we need to do. Isaiah is in need of everyone's prayers. If he isn't autistic, he definitely does have some sort of learning disabilities which will make life more difficult for him. We love him and want what's best for him. He is a solid size 3 now and is able to wear 4 & 5 t-shirts. He isn't the least interested in potty training. Dr. Laughlin said he may not be until 3 or even 4 years old. He weighs 38 pounds and is 35 inches tall. He wears a size 8-8.5 shoe.
Courtney weighs 34 pounds and is 37 inches tall and wears an 8-8.5 shoe. She wears a 4-5 in most clothes. Aaron wears 9-12 months, weighs 19 pounds and is 27 inches tall. He wears a size 3 shoe. Go ahead and pass me the extra clothes you have, Aaron will be able to wear them by springtime at this rate. Whatever I can't use, I'm sure Cole can. He weighs a couple pounds less than Aaron and is a couple inches shorter.
Courtney has quite an independent spirit. She speaks her mind a lot and gets into a lot of mischief. She enjoys learning and wants to do everything the "big guys" do. [Kim's younger siblings] She copies anything she sees them do.
Aaron is a pretty happy guy. He is crawling, sitting, and can say ba-ba, ma, ball, and Andrew -- he really can! He can whistle, too -- it's the cutest thing I've ever seen. He simply can't stand baby food. He'll try to eat everything I eat, but complains when I give him baby food. He loves Cheerios, too.
The lady I baby-sit for is pregnant and said she is taking Jan-Mar. off for maternity leave. It will be nice to have the time to my own family, but finances will be extremely tight. I can't go back to work because we need Isaiah's insurance for his therapy sessions. They cost $2,000 a month. His Hoosier Healthwise and First Steps pay for it in full, otherwise we wouldn't be able to do it and he really needs it.
Laura will be having surgery this month to fix her problem. She and Nate will be able to have another baby later next year after everything has a chance to heal.
Hopefully we can get together soon. I miss seeing you all. Maybe we can work something out later. Well, I could write on and on but I need to go take care of some crying babies.
I love you all,
Kim
Hey Kim --
I got your letter today -- I'm going to be a good friend and write you back right away (for once!!!)
You have so much on your plate right now. I really admire you for how well you handle it all. Growing up the oldest girl of so many kids threw you so much responsibility so soon, then 3 kids so fast and all your family issues to deal with . . . I think you should be declared a saint!!!
You're so lucky to have your 3 kids, even as hectic as they make your life. Lou is so set on not having any more kids -- he thinks I should be thankful he stuck around to help me raise this one! Why do I have such horrible taste in men? I think I got that from Grandma. ;o)
Jake doesn't talk much, either. He learns new words at a consistant pace, and lets us know what he wants, but he prefers gestures and grunts to communicate rather than words! I figure he'll grow out of it. ;o) Or grow INTO talking, I don't know. I DID discover today that Jake can match a pitch -- which you know makes me very happy! I was singing a song to him and he wanted me to do it again and again and he sang the 1st word on the exact pitch I'd been on, several times! Yay! His daddy is basically tone deaf, so I was hoping he'd take after me in that department!!!
I think Jake's about 35 inches tall and a little over 30 pounds. He wears size 3T shirts and 2T shorts (big torso, small butt, and normal legs. ;o) His head's huge, but he looks normal and proportionate. His hat says "4 - 8 years" and it's snug. He runs so fast and throws balls -- even full-size basketballs -- so well. He climbs up the slide himself and can go down himself if we let him. He's not afraid of anything.
Well, I take that back. He's afraid of little girls. We're working on that with playdates and talking to him about being a friend (which I know is probably over his head but kids understand more than we think!), but I don't think he would get an "A" in "plays well with others. ;o)
Courtney sounds a lot like I used to be -- independent, speaking her mind, loving to learn. Give her pretend schoolwork to do and tasks to make her feel important. And remember that sometimes when she talks back she's not trying to be defiant, just trying to grow up and figure things out.
Thanks for the pictures of Cole -- I haven't heard from Nate and Laura in a while. I'm so glad to see Cole is getting big (and even a little chunky!) What a big change from where he started!!!
I'm hoping to have pictures for you soon, but this month is tight so I don't have $ right now to get them printed. My digital camera is great because I can take tons of pictures and see how they turn out, then print them when it's convienent.
I'll figure out a way to come up sometime this summer -- it's mostly a money issue. I know we're coming up for Thanksgiving, but I don't want to wait until then to see you. Thanksgiving is such a hectic time anyway -- we hardly get to sit and talk. Maybe I can also plan to come see you next January for my birthday? We'll see.
I feel like I'm still trying to get into the groove of being an adult and being a mom. Keeping a house clean & a car maintained & the checkbook balanced & the kid healthy and happy is complicated!
If I had all the money in the world I'd come visit you all the time and buy stuff for the kids. I hate not having money. Sometimes I feel like I'm NEVER going to have my student loans paid off. I'm working hard to get in a good place with what little I have -- that means no new clothes, fun trips, fun anything. I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. ;o) Oh well, we have great kids and God's grace, so we should count our blessings!
I love you! Hugs and kissses to the kids.
Jen
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