She Called me Mama

She reached out to me and opened and closed her little starfish hands and said, "Mama!"

I was stunned. I thought it would take a very long time for MeiMei to know who was who and even to articulate the sounds, although her repertoire of gurgles and squeals has broadened as she has opened up to us. (Maybe it was just luck that she uttered those two syllables at that moment).

JieJie was very quick to say Mama, in a little babydoll voice, slapping my shoulder to wake me. She was nearly 15 months old when she came home. MeiMei will be 13 months tomorrow. Gradually, we are realizing just how much of a baby she is. For example, this weekend we had had to buy 2 infant car seats once we realized she does not hold up her head well enough to sit in the ones we used for JieJie.

MeiMei likes to experience life, including meals, with her whole body. She likes to pee as soon as her body is free of a diaper. She covered JieJie and me with a paste of sweet potatoes and carrots and tofu last night, occasionally, getting a handful somewhere near her mouth. So far, there seem to be no great skin benefits to root vegetables topically applied. Not the ideal way to feed kids, but we all were laughing and having so much fun it seemed a shame to clean up and consign the girls to the tub.

On Monday JieJie returns to afternoon pre-K and on Tuesday Daddy goes back to work, several days later than he had intended. The sense of being overwhelmed is rising. The house is knee-deep in toys and still-packed suitcases. It's not close to being completely child-proofed. I found a banana peel under the dining room table. The girls slept until nearly 7 today, which was great, but mom has a nasty post-China respiratory infection and Dad woke up with the same symptoms. The neighbors invited us to breakfast, and we never got around to responding properly.

Since we got home we have managed to get the kids out to the park or somewhere each day, but today, they are still not fully dressed. Neither are we, although I did spend a couple of hours wearing baby in a sling. I don't think that counts as dressed.

There is so much we need to do: Laundry, cooking a few things for the week, haircut for JieJie, install new car seats, pick up entire box of tissues MeiMei dismantled. (She likes to pretend to blow her nose). There are baby toys and boxesof books and signing videos to drag out of the attic, other toys to put into the attic so we can move around in the playroom, trash to empty, an ancient double stroller from a yard sale that needs repairing before I can take the two to the park on my own. The list seems endless.

I'm thrilled I will have 5 months at home with MeiMei before I return to work, but right now work seems much less daunting than being home. Moms have taken care of kids since time began. They have also kept their houses clean and cooked food. I know I can do it. I'm just not as organized or prepared as I would like to be. I miss seeing friends, I miss reading, I would love the time to do a crossword puzzle. But for now, I should be happy that adequate sleep is possible.

Last time I stayed home I was totally immersed in baby. I promised myself that this time I would get to the Y, and make time for some mental activity. But there are other things to tackle with 2 kids. JieJie has not been to the OT for a month to deal with her sensory issues, and we have not kept up with body brushing the way we should. We need to work that back into our schedule. We also need to find a way to approach potty training again with JieJie,who is now 4-and-a-half, and precocious in every other way but this one. We'll talk to the occupational therapist again about it and see if it's time to go to the counselor we discovered who has a daughter from China and has dealt with the potty aversion issue among other adjustments. JieJie needs her teeth cleaned, MeiMei needs her antibiotic dose for a skin infection, Daddy needs a shower, Mom needs to pick those tomatoes in the garden.

No wonder we have not gotten around to downloading and uploading photos!