Audri had her first doctor’s appointment last week and it couldn’t have gone any better.  Of course, I say that, but I’m not the one who was jabbed in the legs six times to be immunized.  Nor did I have to part with three vials of blood.  The whole experience took a lot out of Audri, and for her efforts, we rewarded her with a gigantic Elmo balloon.  She now walks around saying, “El-moooooooo!”

I’d say Audri’s learned about 20 words since she’s been home; and she now says “Audri” and can say a cute version of Mr. Na’s name.  I can see her working very hard to learn how to form her mouth for each word.  She studies us intently, so we exaggerate every syllable of each word–which is probably why she says, “El-mooooooo”!

The doctor didn’t seem overly concerned with Audri’s delays.  We agreed that it’s too soon to stick her in some sort of therapy because of the tremendous progress she’s made in just two short months.  Once she’s home for six months, we’ll flesh out a plan if need be.  Right now, our strategy seems to work: fill her little tank with food, love, and encouragement.  It’s already paid off in that she’s gained four pounds, grown a half inch, her head’s grown a half inch and she can say words like “El-moooooo”!

In my short two-month tenure as a mother of two, I’ve finally discovered what many parents have long told me:  having two children is a lot different than having one.  It’s twice the work and it takes twice the effort, and despite your good intentions of playing the role of diplomat, the two siblings will not instantly bond or become best friends.

My children couldn’t be more different than one another–which is fine since one of our family tenets is to celebrate our diversity.  But because we each have strong personalities, there’s a constant clashing between Na and La, that Pa and I tend to get worked up about.  It’s normal stuff, too, like jealousy or protection of one’s possessions or personal space.  Mr. Na has long been an only-child, and this is his first foray into sibling equality.  It hasn’t been easy for him.

So, in addition to cleaning up after two small children constantly, and satisfying the needs of an extra person, I have to play peacekeeper, on top of the difficult challenge of taking care of a post-institutionalized child who never learned how to form a solid attachment to anyone, or learn how to play with toys, and never got enough food, and was never encouraged to talk.  These tasks make my days pretty draining.  And just when I seemed to have somewhat of a handle on the chaos, Pa leaves to attend several meetings in Europe for 12 days.

Pa’s business trips are nothing new.  In fact, if anything, his travel has been reduced over the last year, due to the economy.  Before Na started elementary school, we were lucky enough to accompany Pa to a few European destinations; but even when he was in kindergarten last year, I had the entire day to myself.  This year, I have zero time to myself, and even after 8 intensive hours with La, I have to devote time and energy to Na when he gets home.  By 9 p.m., after the kids are in bed, I’m spent.  I’ve gotten into the habit, now, of getting up at 6:00 a.m. every day, just so I can have a little time to myself before the chaos begins.

This last week has been pretty rough on me, and I couldn’t imagine raising two spirited children by myself.  Yet somehow, I manage to get out of bed every morning feeling recharged and ready to face the day.  I greet my children with smiles and kisses and genuine enthusiasm because I am happy to see them.  I love them and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.  Just like learning the ropes of raising one child, the two-child household is still new to me and I have to navigate through choppy waters before I have a grip on things. We do what we can because we love what we do.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to put my armor on so I can go to battle.

Time is flying.  Little Miss La La has been with us for six weeks now!  We’ve had our ups and downs, but mostly, ups!  It’s so hard because she still can’t communicate with us and she’s frustrated…we can see it when she clenches her jaw and makes little fists in both hands.  But she’s understanding a fair amount of English.  We can tell her to go and get her toothbrush, even if we’re in another room.  We also tell her to close the door and turn on the fan when she’s getting ready for bed.

The hardest part, I think, is that we really can’t seem to put her on ant sort of “schedule”.  She doesn’t like napping but if she doesn’t take a nap, by 4 p.m., she’s extremely cranky.  Sometimes she’ll want to take a mid-morning nap…or sometimes she’ll scream her little head off in her bed, instead of getting any downtime at all.

But I think a lot of her sleepiness is because she’s growing.  She’s already gained four pounds in the six weeks she’s been home; and she has learned some English (she can say “bye” and “Scoutie”–our dog, and “yeah” and “ok” and “hi” and “”ow!”) and she’s actually playing with toys and learning from Mr. Na by watching him…this is why, I think, she prefers Hot Wheels and Monster Trucks over dolls!

La’s a hearty eater.  She enjoys veggies like broccoli, tomatoes, peas and carrots.  She’ll try anything once and if she likes it, she’ll stick with it.  If not, she quickly asks for something else.  She’s great at pointing to tell us what she wants.  I’d say her favorite food right now is soynut butter sandwiches!  She goes postively ga-ga over them!

I try not to take her out too much to overstimulate her, but I have taken her to a local indoor pool because she loves playing in the water.  She also loves playing at the park–but she prefers laying face down on the grass to smell and feel it  instead of playing in a sandbox or go down on the slide or swings.

She and I are bonding very nicely since I’m the one home all day with her.  She recognizes that Pa is her Pa and Peter is her brother and I am her Ma…but we’ve noticed that when strangers come over, her inclination is to be picked up and held by them.  We seem to think it’s the whole multiple caregiver thing—she still thinks someone is going to come and relieve me from my duty.  We’ve had to coach our friends not to pick her up…and if she asks for it, they need to say, “There’s your mama” or “There’s your papa.”  but stuff like that goes away over time.

For now, we’ll just keep motoring on!  This is the fun part!