Kojo’s Taking Steps and Saying “Mama”!

This weekend I noticed that he was saying “Mmmmaammmaa” when he wanted me, crawling up my leg. OMG, soooo freaking cute! He definitely is speaking much earlier than Kwabena and Ohene did. It took forever for either of them to call me Mama. But I guess Kojo hears it so frequently (at least, he hears “Mommy”) that it makes no wonder that he has learned to say it, too. So sweet!

He definitely prefers Mommy. He cries for me when he hears my voice when I come home, and he whimpers when Kwasi takes him out of my arms. He’s so sweeeetttt!

I love when I am nursing him on my bed (only at night, since he doesn’t have much desire for it during the day), and he pulls off because he doesn’t want it, and he pulls off and gives me the cutest, sweetest smile! He steals my heart 🙂

He’s got 4 teeth now: 2 on the bottom, one fulling in up top (or, almost), and another one that’s popped through on the top front. I’ll have to post a pic of it here.

UGH…I”m so behind in everything! Here are some updates:

On August 23rd, we went to Ocean City for the day. It almost didn’t happen (at least, as a family), because Kwasi almost bailed on us–excuses about work and this and that. But thankfull, I was able to convince him to come, and we had a nice time! The kids loved running from the waves. And Kojo enjoyed crawling through the sand. Ohene was so funny. He enjoyed himself, but he kept saying, “Mommy, I don’t like this place. I want to go home. It’s too messy. I want to go to another playground.” HAHAHA. Very cute.

Kwabena’s begun first grade! His teacher is Mrs. Parks, a young blonde who, hopefully, will be good. He’s completed his first week, and this is week #2. He’s actually come home with “Caught Being Good” behavior reports saying that he has a great day! I’m very proud of him 🙂 And the work he’s doing looks good.

This kid….LOL…He’s definitely my fiesty kid. He’s further behind Kwabena in the academics, but in the sassiness and independence and street smarts, he far outshines Kwabena. OH! Last night was so funny! So, he’s potty trained now, although the other night, when I reprimanded him for peeing on the floor, he went upstairs and POOPED on the rug! Unheard of, since he’s been going to the potty on his own, consistently, for the last week. Prior to that, he was still having accidents, but now, he will actually just go and poop in the potty. We took away pull-ups at night, because he was waking up dry. We make sure he pees before he goes to bed, too. So last night, he was peeing, and while peeing, he was waving his penis from side to side. Then he said, “I like to do THIS, Mommy.” Too funny! When I asked him why, he said, “Because it’s fun!” Ahhh…the joys of having a penis, I guess. LOL

Kwabena has been working on addition, like 2 + ? = 20. He’s definitely getting it and able to solve math problems a little easier. I think he will be doing more of that math further in the school year, but why not get him into it now? Better yet, I think some of that math workbook that Nana Ba gave him was for 2nd grade and 3rd grade math.

 Ohene is working on numbers, and learning shapes. He still wants to say, “1-2-4” no matter how much you tell him it’s “1-2-3,” although I think he’s getting it more. He’s also working on recognizing and getting right his shapes, and drawing them. He knows all of his colors just fine.

And Kojo is working on walking! 🙂

Not too much up with him! He’s doing a leadership program through his job, which I think will be helpful for him. He does have concerns about what the future holds, in terms of how to secure our future, but that’s just what men do–they worry about how to take care of their family. I think about it, too. Where do I see my life, my career headed? How can I be sure that we can provide for our kids now, and in the future?

I’m still blogging, and cluttering up the garage with furniture for my Thrift Diving blog! 🙂 Kwasi is sooo patient, but I think if I pull one more thing into the garage, he’s going to kill me. LOL. I promised him the other day as we cleaned out the garage, that I wouldn’t buy one more piece of furniture until I get all those other projects done and cleared out. So, I better get my ass in gear!

Ugh….I wish I could get organized. I feel so disjointed when it comes to tryinng to raise a family, manage a household, and still be “Serena” and do the activities that I get life satisfaction from. This morning we all rushed around, trying to get lunches packed, the kitchen cleaned, the kids dressed, etc. And it was so chaotic, that I know there’s a better, more organized, structured way. I could pack lunch the night before. Do the cleaning the night before. Pick out the kids clothes the night before. Etc. etc. But I feel like I have so little time already in the evening–why do I want to spend it up trying to prepare for the NEXT day?? I want to use my evenings to blog, to work on my website, to work on projects, etc. I don’t want to sweep floors, fold laundry, do dishes, blah, blah, blah.

Am I just being stupid, and selfish?

I’m tired of seeing articles that encourage, “Oh, you’re a good mom! Don’t worry that the house isn’t clean, that the dishes are piled up, that the clean laundry is littered all over the floor! You’re doing a great job anyways!!”

Really??

It feels like false praise for moms that suck at being moms. Surely not all moms are June Cleavers. But surely there are moms who are 10 x more organized than me. Moms who wash and fold AND put away laundry. Why do I have such a hard time doing that, consistently, so that it’s not pure chaos?

Point is, I could be doing a better job. And I need to organize my time so that I can get those things done, AND still be able to do the things that bring my joy on a personal level, like blogging and painting.

And poor Ohene has been making comments when I say that I am going here….or there….and that I’ll be right back: “No, Mommy, don’t go. You’re not going to come back. You’re going to go to New York.” Or he will say, “No, Mommy, don’t go. You’re not going to come back. You’re going to go to go see How to Train Your Dragon.” (I don’t know where he got that other thing, other than the fact that we went to see How to Train Your Dragon at the Verizon Center last month, but I don’t know what that has to do with him feeling like I’m not coming back.). But the fact is, he’s craving more of MOMMY TIME, and I’m so busy taking care of 3 kids (just feeding them and cleaning UP after them). And then factor in that I still like my “me time” of going to Happy Hour occasionally, or getting away to the store when Kwasi comes home in the evenings from the shop on the weekends.

Am I bad mom who’s son feels like I’m never around??

If my kids were going to give me a grade, what grade would they give me? I feel like I probably deserve a big fat “C.” I need to work on that.

Well, what a transition into this announcement: I’m going to Hawaii in December! This trip was actually planned 2 years ago, when my friend Kristen, from my BabyCenter moms group, invited me to spend time with her and a group of other girls, to celebrate her 40th birthday. Um, hell yeah! And now the time has come. I’ve just bought my ticket, for super cheap, using my new Alaska Air credit card (only cost $470 round trip). I’ll leave December 5th, layover in Seattle for a night, continue out the next morning, and arrive in Kona, Hawaii that afternoon. Kristen is providing the housing, via her timeshare. And then I’ll leave Hawaii Dec. 11th, layover in Seattle again, and fly back into Baltimore. EXCITED!!!

Other than that, nothing much is coming up. I think we’re maybe trying to throw a party in a few weeks! But tentatively scheduling…..

More later! 🙂

Serena