AfterMath Brain Dump

For those that read the last post - HUGE thanks. I didn't intend to be so complain-y ..Guess I had more on my mind than I thought I had dealt with. I promise you, We had a BLAST! It really is the most magical place on Earth. Yes, I totally buy into that Hook, Line and Sinker.


To answer some questions that were asked. Or to give clarification on some stuff

• I am not at all against Juice or Milk. I struggle getting 12oz of Formula in MT a day still. He will drink 2 sippy cups full of water. I am trying to get him to drink formula out of the sippy. He HATES the formula or hates the bottle. I am not able to figure out which it is. I have switched formulas a few times to see if that would help us any - But it doesn't. So, I am hesitant to push the Juice issue until I feel I can get enough nutrients in him liquid wise. I did put Milk in the sippy today for breakfast. It went over like a lead balloon. I will keep trying little at a time.
• I try to be wise with MT's food selections. I am not at all bothered if he is offered different types of food normally. We try to live a very real, very balanced lifestyle. Including our Diets. We try to live out the moderation's theory.
• YES, Does this Kid look like his Father or What ?!?!
• I am not at all or ever will be opposed to holding/rocking/insert whatever verb to get MT to sleep. These days are few and far between. My child was held,nursed, soothed to sleep for the most part of the first 5 -6 months. Then all of a sudden, He decided that he would like to be put down to sleep. He tends to get uncomfortable when trying to be held/rocked to sleep. I obliged.
• My "sickness" has stepped into high gear over the last 2 days and seems to last all day. It is brought on by the thought of drinking water.
• I personally want to hug every one of you that commented on what a lovely family I have. Gushing, Thank you so much. * and those that included that I didn't look so bad either .. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. I am having a very hard time with the extra 18lbs that snuck up on me .... My mid- section is so bloated and poofy. It happened SO very Quickly this time. I was able to ease into it last time. I am not eased at all ... it was more like ...... BAM! I was wearing Mat. Clothes in those pictures. It just feels weird Since I didn't do Mat clothes until 17-19 weeks last time.
• I am Planning a birthday part for a 1 yr old ..... This.Floors.me. *what time was everyone's party at? I am trying to figure out what time to have the party. I rented a park shelter right acrossed from the playground.
• I am trying to figure out how to re-decorate the ye ole blog. When I get bored this weekend, I am going to see what I come up with.

Dr. Dr., Gimme the News

So - Appointment #4 in 15 days. What do we know:

• I asked if we could just go ahead and do our 9 month well baby visit even though I wouldn't necessarily say I had a well baby.?! Instead of keeping my appointment for the 31st. She agreed to go ahead. He weighs 20lbs! This is an improvement because over the span of the Dr's appointments he had lost 3 lbs. But Managed to gain 2 back. This put him in the 45%. His height is at 28.5 inches - 30%. Head is 45 in in the 40%. Pretty consistent to his last set of stats. A few more inches and I will have to give up the infant Carrier. It's just so much more convenient for me.
• We discussed his hatred for formula again. Her cry is for me to get more formula/liquids in him. I have NO IDEA how to do this. I barely get 12-15 oz. She wants at least 20oz ... I asked about the next step formulas. She said if it was cheaper option, try them. It doesn't have all the same vitamins but it really isn't that much of a difference. I wasn't going for the cheaper approach. I was going to just try something different and see if that would help. She does not want me to introduce regular whole milk yet ... She also didn't like that we introduced yogurt to him at 6 months - When it was suggested to us by the other Dr in the practice .... I dunno. I have never put anything else but bm and formula in his bottles - Have you tried anything in the bottles?
• The eczema has gotten better in some spots, worse in others. She thinks we are doing a good job
• She does not think the screams"things I am referring to as ni.ght terrors" are related to his meds. It could be, "but it's very rare. It could be from the sickness, It could be his age and development" Night Terrors can start as early as 9 months. She begged me to continue the meds for 6 more days.
• His ears are clearing up. Not cleared up all the way. The nose drainage is related to the ears she thinks. There is no fluid in the lungs. I asked if I could let him sleep in an upright position in the swing or carseat because he cannot breathe - she said yes. She preferred the carseat
• Must.Learn.to.Use.Sippy.Cup .. Insert laugh here. I am trying

Since changing the time the med is administered, the Night terrors happen in the late afternoon nap or midnight. The past 2 nights, It's been Midnight. I am getting used to them. It's just a phase right?!

Foods:

• I have added black beans (Huge new Fav), re fried beans w cheese melted over them, cut/peeled grapes, going to try chick peas soon.

Last weekend, the weather has been supremely gorgeous! So we have been taking advantage of it:

We put up a baby gate to keep said lil one out of cat food/litter box. Little did we know the stupid cats would not figure out how to jump over it .... took a week for them to figure this out ... OY!

I feel like there is more I wanted to jot down/remember but my mind these isn't working so well.

House Keeping

Due to surgery, We were alittle behind for our 6 month appointment. So, Today at 2 days shy of turning 7 months, We went for his 6 month check up.


The nurse today was not one that I had every seen and quite honestly, I was not thrilled with her. I may not be great at math, but I understand it's need to be exact. With that said, She measured MT poorly. I give her credit that one variable was not her fault. MT has been trying to do crunches (sit-ups) for about 2 weeks now. If he falls over or lays on his back, he tries to sit straight up. It's hilarious to watch, but Not good for getting an exact measurement. So basically, I asked if she could re-do it with him laying flat because he was not straight, he was all scrunched up. She told me that is really wasn't that important and that it's hard to get baby measurements... I was ticked off because, to me, It is important. I wanted to make sure we were still meeting the car seat requirements and for the records. We have been having some eating concerns and I wanted to make sure that his height/weight ratio were not of any concerns for the dr.. So to me, the measurements were very important . But It's over now and I can't do anything about it.

Height: 26.75 inches (i measure him at 28+ inches), Weight: exactly 18 lbs.

Our eating situation: He has had lots of problems eating that I now realize has been credited to all these teeth coming in all at once. He has been pretty (extremely) cranky and I have only been able to get about 4-5oz at a time in him for about a week now. He is doing about 4oz of solids 2 (sometimes 3) times a day. He is doing much better on solids than in the past. We have added yogurt, avocado, and broccoli into the mix. He really seems to enjoy the yogurt.

The dr wants me to try to give him yogurt in the morning. I haven't been able to get any solids in him before noon. I have tried numerous times but he is just not interested. I haven't tried in well over 3 weeks. So next week, I will try yogurt in the am. His bm/formula intake is between 16-21 oz. I offer and offer and I can not get that recommended 24-30 oz in him at all. This is why I was so interested on getting his measurements exact. The dr was not at all concerned and said that if I notice him not gaining any more weight we will worry then. He has only gained 2.75 lbs since his 4 month check up ... She still says it is nothing to be worried with ...

After We came home from the Dr, I was feeding MT solids. I discovered that the poor kid has 2 more teeth coming in. (one already broke through and i missed it-the other is sprouting up now) That makes a total of 6 teeth coming in all at once. (this is why I have been slow to comment and blog for the past few days, sorry i am very behind - he has been clingy... good lord clingy, and just in pain.- Here is why

So that is 4 on top coming in along with the 2 more on the bottom. He is not quite 7 months old yet! and all these teeth ... This will make a total of 8 teeth

As for carseats, I did buy a new carseat. It was our gift to me for christmas. I went with this one. A baby website I frequent had it on sale for the same price as the round a bout, so I ordered it. It was the cheapest option at the time.

My head is spinning, I think that is all I wanted to document ... I will catch up with everyone after I tackle the kitchen and the laundry .. Here is something because you made it through the whole post:

6 months

Little Late but .. Have I mentioned that I have a 6 month old ... Where does the time go?

Things note worthy:

• MT thoroughly enjoys standing. He likes to hold onto your fingers, or his bouncy chair, etc and rock from foot to foot (side to side). He could do this for hours. He gets weary but insists on still trying.
• We had a bedtime routine down. A week before I went back to work, He decided he would demand a new bedtime routine that resembles chaos ... Just to keep us guessing. I was told that from 4-6 months they can develop a new sleep routine .... I guess we are one of those statistics? But We will make it work. It's not that terrible, So far once we get him to sleep, he will sleep for about 7-10 hours .. So I am not complaining at all. It just was one more thing that I was not expecting.
• He can fully sit on his own and pull himself up on things.
• He rocks the exersaucer back and forth until it looks like it is totally going to tip over ...
• He is finally eating solids pretty much every day. This still seems very complicated to me. I am still trying to figure out when is best to feed him the solids and still get the amount of liquid intake. I don't know why this is so tricky for me. (still no cereal, he hates it and just spits it all out ..every bite, Even if I mix something that he likes in it)
• The MT that was holding his bottle pretty much all the time a few months ago, has decided that I should hold all his bottles. Unless he wants to use it as a chew toy
• We have days were I can just lay him down for a nap and he will just close his eyes and go to sleep. Then I have days that require alot of tears before sleeping is involved. Since MT was little, we would place a blanket over him while holding him. Like one may do if they are breastfeeding. Well, this is something that he has grown accustom to. He sleeps with a blanket covering his head. In fact, If i want him to take a nap , I have to place a blanket over his head and most days, he instantly closes his eyes. (please - no stories and don't judge me and yes I understand) I do get lots of disapproving looks and comments but Sleep is needed and sleep we will get.
• He has quite the temper. He will let you know about it. Loudly. I am actually worried about this trait as he gets older. I will mostly deal with this situation when we are able to understand each other.
• He is pretty demanding. Maybe all babies are. He hates tummy time still. I can maybe muster up 5 mins here and there but only If I am (or someone else) is down on the floor with him. If not you will get to see his temper in all it's glory. If he decides he just wants to be held, Nothing else will do. Until You can distract him with something else. Am I learning him or Is he learning me ... ?!? Then, we have days like today where he never cried at all, except refusing to go to sleep tonight.
• He is reaching for people when/if he wants to be held and held by a particular person.He started doing this a few weeks ago
• I beleive he is getting his top tooth already. He already has 2 bottom ones, but it looks like the top tooth is busting through. He is drooling like a flowing fountain
• His hair is a weird two tone color. It has seemed to lighten up on top. Sometimes is looks blonde, other times it looks reddish still. The back is still like a reddish brown ... Weird. But it is hair and we will take it. His long beautiful eyelashes are red though ... So who knows what will happen
• He knows when to ham it up already. He loves to coo and jabber when being the center of attention. And he actually seems to know when he is the center of attention ...It's bizarre.
• He has started getting spooked by strangers. Which i still do not understand why strangers try to get up in babies spaces ... But he has freaked out on a few ... Hope they learned their lesson ;)
• He loves pirate voices, Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh Matey.
• It seems like things are easier now. It seems that most days go by smoothly and more things get accomplished. Controlled chaos comes to mind.

I am sure I forgot things that I meant to document. *i may come back and add to the list just for longevity. Life here is good .. regardless of all the frustrating anxiety driven posts. We are enjoying life more than ever. My MIL came over today with her youngest kids and we went to a winter festival. It was actually one of the better visits we have ever had. It was only for a day and they left after we were all done. I consider that a win/win.

Giving Thanks ... Yum

I made our own Babyfood. It's the easiest thing ever. I went to the fresh market and bought 1 lb of green beans, a sweet potato, figi apples and bananas. I went to my parents house (because they have a chopper I wanted to try) and put the sweet potato in the oven for 40mins-ish. Boiled/steamed the green beans and apples w/some cinnamon. I did use this website suggestion and I did store them in ice cube trays and put them in the freezer. All in all, took about 2 hours from start to finish and I have tons of food. I spent $5. Here is my estimations so if you try it at home, you won't have too much foods to process. Loosely Based on 1 ice cube slot = 1 oz. A banana = 8oz, Sweet potato (average size) and 1 oz of breast milk = 12 oz, 3 figi apples and a tablespoon of water = 8 oz, 1 lb of fresh green beans and 1 oz of breast milk = 12 oz


apples


green beans


sweet potatoes


alittle elf.....

My freezer is stocked. We gave MT 1 cube of green beans and 1 cube of banana today mixed together. He absolutely loved it. My dad let him taste the applesauce yesterday also... boy did he tear that up! This solid foods seems to be going .. BUT Good Gracious... THE poop. Solid poops are disgusting ..OH MY WORD. ...It's awful. .... Oh tangent ....

Giving Thanks. Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. I think it is because our family and friends get together and spend the day eating, talking and just enjoying each other. Christmas tends to be so hectic and on the go and "presents" orientated. I never seem to enjoy - scratch that ..no one seems to enjoy the process of christmas like we do for thanksgiving.

Plus, for Years now,I have longed to be able to watch the parade with my child. Iknow that this year he may not "watch it" but in years to come, I hope that he will be just as excited about the parade as I am every year. This year, I have tons and tons to be thankful for. I want to stop and recognize It. I am thankful for this blog and the readers behind the blogs. Thank you for expanding my life. Blogging has allowed me to open myself up, feel like there are others out there that somehow understand me, relate to me and want to see me survive this rollercoaster ride of life. I am not a touchy person irl ..but by blogging it has allowed to me to explore myself and expand as a person. I am thankful for each and every one of you ...Commentors or Not... Thank you for this opportunity and friendship.

5.5

5 and 1/2 months has come and gone. MT is thriving. He is growing. He is unbelievable wonderful, healthy and happy. We have tried to add veggies to his daily food intake. So far, so good. We were doing sweet potatoes and now we have added Green Beans to the mix. He seems to love green beans more than the sweet potato, or he is happy for a new taste. (to those who have a food processor, I would like one for Christmas but I want one that is big enough but not huge and take up alot of space, any suggestions? I am still just making our own foods) I thought about the gadget that is all inclusive but decided against it because of it's limitations. I assume I will only have to puree the food for about 3 more months or less ..So i would like to have something that is not limited for myself..I think .... mini Cuisinart..do they work ..or there is an 11 cup one ...Help ... input please)

I am still not coordinated enough to leave the house before noon most days, but it can be done if need be and it is getting better. I require a shower before I can leave the house .. It's a understood rule of mine. I am still just trying to learn to get up and shower before MT wakes up. (wish I could take a shower at night but My hair just needs a shower in the morning and I just like my sleep alittle too much.)

Having MT has brought to the surface some (most) areas of my character/personality that are selfish .... and I am having to work through them. (see above about shower/sleep) This is another reason E and I sometimes have some fightin' words, ughmm I mean differences.

Friday night, E and I had a huge disagreement. Of course, It was over chores, duties, housework nonsense. Everyone seems to fight over this issue at least once in their lifetime. (be it with a roommate, parent, spouse, sign. other, child, etc.)

I mentioned (uhmmm in a yelling voice - just being honest) to E that I needed him to step it up a bit. Remember, I told you he was sick and it felt like an eternity that he was sick for.... Well, It was grating on my nerves. Yes .. You think, Have a lil compassion for the guy, Seriously ... and I should have. I had some, but it was running low and filling up with my selfishness. ..... I was tired, I was PMSing, I was doing double duty w/ providing care for both him and MT. I just got back from being gone a week with MT by myself. MT (well we all were) trying to adjust from vacation. MT had been fussy like something fierce this week. Basically, MT was replaced with the screaming banshee again ...( i know now it was because of teething) He now has another tooth bud popping up. I am now starting to recognize his signs for teething. The tooth is right next to the one that just popped up a few weeks ago. He was up/awake ... and fussy .... and drooling ..... and just plain miserable. Nothing consoled him, except holding him and loving on him. (sometimes bfing) Even that had it's moments. This is the first week (since he started sleeping through the night) that we have been unable to get him in the bed by no later than 8:30pm. Bed time for him this week has been around 11pm. and only then because of exhaustion from crying or being miserable, he finally just wore himself out .... So teething for us is ROUGH .... I know that not everyone has such a hard time with this teething thing, but MT sure seems to just absolutely not tolerate it at all.

Combine all of this and I have been squeezed and pressed until the selfishness just rises to the surface and leaks out all over .... and usually lands right smack dab in the middle of my husband's lap .... And once again .... this is what he dealt with Friday night. He is so gracious too .. He does not at all get hot about it. He just lets me finish my rant/vent session. He calmly deals with the situation, diffuses the bomb, per say .. and then just loves on me some.... It's really the opposite of what I would do if some lunatic was yelling and fighting with me .... but none the less, He just takes one for the team ... and I love him so much through his actions and reactions. It makes it extremely hard to be/stay mad at him. He truly doesn't have a mean spirited bone in his body .... He knows he needs to offer to help out more. He knows that he was requiring alittle too much of my sympathy and time. He and I know he is sorry. He tries very hard.... and I need to give him credit for that. This has been the first time that he has been sick since MT was born. I consider this a milestone.... We made it through. ... Yes there was yelling and fighting, but we are all still here and accounted for ... and Loved

Ob-La-Di

It's been over a week since I posted. I have been busy being busy. If that makes sense.

The Return of that pesky Aunt was .... pretty intense. I think that is what mostly led my feelings of being too overwhelmed,angry and upset to discuss the topic of family planning with my sister. (it was a few days before the Aunt showed herself) .. I am not sure if it was as pretty hard period or if I just forgot what they were like. Either way ... Not fun but it's over now and I am curious to see if/when it returns. I am wondering if the pcos is going to keep me guessing. I have a rx of met back. I have not taken it yet. I am still bfing and my dr made it pretty clear that I was not to take it while bf-ing because it has not been studied enough in her opinion... Any thoughts?

Solids- We have stopped and started solids more times than anyone I know. MT hates cereal. (and it locks him up) I am wondering if he is like me and has "texture" issues. I have texture issues. I hate Jello, pudding, oatmeal, custard, rice pudding, some types of lettuce, cream of wheat etc .. All because of texture issues. So after 3 weeks of no solids, I went back to trying cereal again .... again he hated it ..I decided to bake a sweet potato and mushed it up with breastmilk and fed him that. He loved it. So for 3 days we did sweet potatoes 2 times a day.. about 1 oz total a day.

2 Nights ago, MT woke up in the middle of the night screaming. This was his first time waking up in the middle of the night since he was 5 weeks old. I had no idea what to do. It was uncharacteristic. (please don't hate me for writing that) I patted his lil tummy and tried to get him to stop crying at first w/o picking him up. Well after about 3 mins of trying that method, It was obviously not working. I picked him up and he did not immediately stop crying, but the crying was not in high alert like it was before. I put him on my shoulder and just walked around bouncing him and he finally went back to sleep after 20/30 mins so I laid him back down. He slept pretty good the rest of the night.

Last night, I decided to try jarred carrots since he seemed to enjoy sweet potatoes. About 2 hours after he ate them, and had just got a bath, he threw them all up. All over ....I am not sure what happened there really. I checked to see if he had a fever .. no, fussy ..Yes, miserable ....Yes, flailing in pain..yes, arching his back ... yes, farting up a storm ....Yes... MT has a bout of gas. He has never had gas that caused him pain before So once again, I wasn't prepared. He is also teething pretty bad again.. Drool is flowing like a fountain again the past few days .... and everything goes straight into his mouth to be gnawed on. MT was up WAY past his bedtime last night, obviously .. He slept til 9 this morning. All seems fine now. He has ate his bottles, I did skip the lunch time solids .. Maybe he just is not ready for that yet..... Maybe it was a fluke thing and he caught the bug my husband had ...

E has been sick for what seems like a constant 2 weeks for me ... But in reality just has been about 8 days ... It started the day of my sister's weekend. He was so ill that he didn't actually attend most of my sisters wedding. Which left me passing MT off to family members while I completed my matron duties. (making sure marriage license got signed and in the car, packing her car with food for her travel, and packing stuff from her apartment that didn't get moved earlier because she actually returned to a different city after the honeymoon) ..It was a busy day. Then We returned home and E wasn't feeling great and always tired ..then managed to get the flu ..... So it was a constant taking care of 2 people .My patience's were running SO thin .. I was exhausted and dealing with AF.

But It's a new day, things are looking up ... and i have this to make my days much brighter:

The Return

Thank you for the compliments about the wedding - We had a blast.

BUT now - back to reality ... UGHHhhhh..

Laundry is stacked to the ceiling ..... MT thinks he should be held all the time. (product of being on vacation and everyone passing him around like a football and providing him lots of entertainment)

But the worst part ... I am finally having my first "real" period. I say real because I have been having this period for longer than 1 day. The other periods were more like spotting for a few hours. Last week I thought I had a cyst. I had that weird pressure-y/pinchy feeling Like I remember cysts being. I have been complaining about backache for a few days now, yesterday it was really awful. Enough to warrant med's and sleep. I thought I had pulled a muscle. I went to the bathroom and discovered the return of the Aunt no one wants ... and Today..OH today .. Well, It is just like I remember .... UGH the bloating and pain ..I am off to take a hot shower.

Anyone have or ever use one of these?

This and That

*has anyone else had trouble with reader and leaving comments on b.logger? It seems that for 2 days now, My comments were being eaten and reader would not display new blog entries ...

We had MT's 4th month appoint. today. He is weighing in at 15lbs 14oz. (70th percentile) and measuring almost 26 inches tall. (70th percentile). He has chaffing underneath his neck crease (fatroll) that we are applying diaper rash cream on in hopes that will clear it up and that it is not fungal. Our Dr also suggested that we start him on baby cereal after she evaluated him. I have been very unsure about how i feel about this for a while now. But after a good discussion with her, I feel that it will be a good learning experience for MT. So in the next week, we will be adding, most likely, cereal to his diet. I am excited to see how he likes it and how much we are able to keep in his mouth. She told me to try and give him cereal once a day for a week. She first suggested at night to help him sleep better- but he is a good sleeper at night so I think I may try mid morning. If all goes well after the first week, we will add in veggies for dinner the next week. After veggies go well, then we will add fruit next. I think this is going to get messy, fun and adventurous. E is insistent that I invest in a spill mat to put underneath the high chair since we can't put the high chair in the kitchen. Tomorrow will be rounding up all the necessities: spoons, bowls, spill mat, cereal, a good food processor. AND a video camera. I want to be able to have someone video tape it for entertainment purposes. She did tell me that I could expect MT's liquid intake to possibly decrease a bit as we begin to experiment. We will see. While we are on this topic, Anyone have a good food processor? I would like to be able to grind/mash/puree my own steamed veggies and fruits for him. (i am not sure how practical this is but it doesn't seem too challenging in my mom's group) I am, curious to see how this new additive of food will change our loose schedule that we do have going on. (MT still takes naps relatively at the same time every day give or take 45 - 60 mins)

Did I mentioned that MT rolled over? I believe it was on the 8th. He rolled from tummy to back. I was soo very proud of him. E was home to see it. Of course, we made him do it a few more times to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. He did it at my parent’s house this weekend. He definitely has that locked down. He also has started to notice food, my food, his bottle and seems to understand what it's function is. He gets extremely excited when he sees us coming with his bottle. Recognition has been a fun thing for me. I just adore watching him discover things. He definitely knows that I am the lady that provides for him. His eyes will follow or find me and the sound of my voice if some one else has him. He has also found out that he can squeal very loudly.

I am not sure I blogged about this - If I have just disregard my scattered brain. I left the house the other weekend going to grab lunch with some friends. My hair felt like I had overgeled (so a word) it. I do not use gel. I could not figure out what I had done ..... Uhm it was conditioner. I put conditioner in my hair in the shower and did not rinse it out .... See I have it "all together".....

This past week my brain has been so unbelievably foggy. I realized this a few days ago (after the blogger meeting actually). It has been MONTHS ( 4 to be exact) since I was able to sit at a table and have a conversation that was not about poopy diapers and stained clothes or feeding/nap schedules. I felt alittle lost. It was so weird. I realize now that I sat there acting a little weird and silent. I don't know what it is. Exhaustion maybe ... probably. We had an extremely jam packed weekend and E worked.

Speaking of exhaustion, E works 12 hour days. He works a pretty weird schedule 3 on 2 off, 2 on 3 off. What this means is that he leaves the house before the sun is up and returns home after the sun has set. So for about 13-14 ish hours on the days he works, It's all me. I am by no means complaining. We knew this was how it was going to be. The execution of this has been a little (ok, alot) more draining than the notion was. On the days where he works, he has been walking in the door and helping with the last feeding (or bath then the last feeding depending on when he arrives) and bedtime. We have really tried to stick to a bedtime ritual and have maintained this for about 2 months now. I have found that I need this more than MT does. 12-14 hours being the sole provider and still doing the middle of the night pumping was really starting to take a toll on me. I was breaking the when baby naps, you nap rule. I was trying to get a few things accomplished when MT was down. Sometimes, things just have to be done. The last few nights, I have given up that 2am pump. I think, this contributed to me feeling and acting like a zombie.

*so I apologize to the girls this week. If I seem a touch out of it .. I was and am. but I enjoyed it with all my heart. It was so nice to be able to do something like that. I wish we lived closer to do it more often. I really soaked up the atmosphere. I think I realized that I do need more adult interaction.