So I officially suck at bloging...I have such great intentions, but just never get motivated to follow through. Anyway, here's my Anya update....she's now 5-1/2 (!) and getting ready for first grade. At this moment, she's hiking Bushkill Falls with Pap Pap and her friend Michael. She went home with my parents Thursday night for her "vacation" with Grandma and Pap Pap. She's been so excited about this all summer and that excitement is carrying through the visit. My mom told me that she woke up the first morning practically running in circles with a stupid grin on her face because she was just so happy to be there.
Why wouldn't she? She's got the undivided attention of 2 grandparents and one uncle...and 4 (yes,4) rather large dogs, too! She picked up with her Pocono buddy as if it hadn't been an entire year since they spent a week chasing dogs and hunting worms and slugs together. He joined them on their cave tour yesterday and he and Anya then spent some time trying to catch minnows in a creek. I'm so happy that she enjoys this trip- it's great for everyone! And hopefully next year Baz will be ready for his turn. (And FTR, Anya kept saying that she wanted him to go with her next year rather than each having their own weeks. AND she's told my parents that she misses him!)
I also wanted to note the first dream that Anya has mentioned to me- well, at least in detail. And I've already forgotten some of those details (bad mommy)....this was a potty convo- we were at her friend Dominic's party just before she was to leave with my parents and she needed a potty break and insisted I come with her. No biggie- potty time is hardly private in our house, so I tagged along with her. Whilst peeing, she starts to tell me that she's afraid of stairs. And this is because she had a dream where she was at Nana and Dada's house and started falling down the stairs. I can't remember what else she told me at this point, but the point is that she had had a dream that stuck with her.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Lorelei
Rory is 10 months and 1 day old today....she's been wearing 12 month clothes for a couple of months already.....every person who sees her lately (now that it's warm and she's usually wearing shorts or a dress) asks if they can squeeze her thighs. I usually let them because they really are irresistable thighs! After such peanuts, it's so strange to me to see the rolls on her. She's been working on trying to walk...she's been cruising for quite a while and I'm happy that she hasn't put it together, but I do think it'll be any day now that we'll be chasing after her.
Her spitting up has practically stopped....probably as her intake of solids increased. She loves food...the baby food in jars is a game to her....how much can she wear! She wants to eat whatever we're eating, so I usually indulge her and just cut it up as small as I can. This does make packing up for work hard because I don't know what to pack for her....I'm working on that one! I made scrambled eggs with onion, tomato, and cheese last weekend and she inhaled it! I couldn't believe how much she ate!
She's been doing peek-a-boo lately, too...but instead of covering her eyes, she covers her ears and you get to see the dimples on her elbows- heavenly! She loves clapping her hands, particularly when "We will rock you" comes on. This is Baz's favorite song of the moment and I like putting it on because it makes all the kids happy.
I still maintain that Lorelei is the easiest baby of the bunch....she still wakes once or twice during the night usually (she has slept through on occasion!), but she goes down for the night and naps like a dream. After a bottle, I put her down, wave goodbye, and leave the room and she plays for a few minutes, then goes to sleep. Baz did this too, but Anya took HOURS to get to sleep. I remember sitting outside her room in a kitchen chair forever to make sure she stayed in bed. Or going in to her in the nursery time after time after time when she would cry and cry and cry- that was painful for all of us!
Lorelei is also easy when it comes to naps, or lack thereof. She typically takes 2 naps now- one for 1 hour and one for 2 hours, but if she misses one, she's fine. Maybe a little fussy, but still all smiles and easygoing. She'll even take a nap in the stroller sometimes! She did this at Mike and Jen's on Sunday....we got there around 2, so she still had a nap to take and sure enough- sometime around 5, I plopped her in the stroller with a bottle and she fell asleep.
I'm pretty sure she's up to 8 teeth now. This is notable because at 10 months, neither of the other 2 kids had any teeth. She's got a few words....mama, dada, wow, and uh-oh. uh oh was a surprise....a couple of weeks ago, Sue was over and sitting next to L and said uh oh when she fell or dropped something. Rory repeated it, but it sounded much too perfect, so we chalked it up to coincidence. However, the rest of the day she kept repeating uh oh, uh oh, uh oh....over and over and over!
That's all I can think of now about Rory-bug, but I'm going to try realllllly hard to update here more often with the little cutenesses that happen every day.
Like when I go in to her in the morning and her face lights up! She always pulls herself up as quickly as possible and grabs onto me so tightly- pure delight! I love how she buries her face in my chest- just for a hug, as if she can't get close enough. Ahhhhhhhh...how am I going to make it through the years between when my kids are babies and they have babies for me to hold and care for?????
Her spitting up has practically stopped....probably as her intake of solids increased. She loves food...the baby food in jars is a game to her....how much can she wear! She wants to eat whatever we're eating, so I usually indulge her and just cut it up as small as I can. This does make packing up for work hard because I don't know what to pack for her....I'm working on that one! I made scrambled eggs with onion, tomato, and cheese last weekend and she inhaled it! I couldn't believe how much she ate!
She's been doing peek-a-boo lately, too...but instead of covering her eyes, she covers her ears and you get to see the dimples on her elbows- heavenly! She loves clapping her hands, particularly when "We will rock you" comes on. This is Baz's favorite song of the moment and I like putting it on because it makes all the kids happy.
I still maintain that Lorelei is the easiest baby of the bunch....she still wakes once or twice during the night usually (she has slept through on occasion!), but she goes down for the night and naps like a dream. After a bottle, I put her down, wave goodbye, and leave the room and she plays for a few minutes, then goes to sleep. Baz did this too, but Anya took HOURS to get to sleep. I remember sitting outside her room in a kitchen chair forever to make sure she stayed in bed. Or going in to her in the nursery time after time after time when she would cry and cry and cry- that was painful for all of us!
Lorelei is also easy when it comes to naps, or lack thereof. She typically takes 2 naps now- one for 1 hour and one for 2 hours, but if she misses one, she's fine. Maybe a little fussy, but still all smiles and easygoing. She'll even take a nap in the stroller sometimes! She did this at Mike and Jen's on Sunday....we got there around 2, so she still had a nap to take and sure enough- sometime around 5, I plopped her in the stroller with a bottle and she fell asleep.
I'm pretty sure she's up to 8 teeth now. This is notable because at 10 months, neither of the other 2 kids had any teeth. She's got a few words....mama, dada, wow, and uh-oh. uh oh was a surprise....a couple of weeks ago, Sue was over and sitting next to L and said uh oh when she fell or dropped something. Rory repeated it, but it sounded much too perfect, so we chalked it up to coincidence. However, the rest of the day she kept repeating uh oh, uh oh, uh oh....over and over and over!
That's all I can think of now about Rory-bug, but I'm going to try realllllly hard to update here more often with the little cutenesses that happen every day.
Like when I go in to her in the morning and her face lights up! She always pulls herself up as quickly as possible and grabs onto me so tightly- pure delight! I love how she buries her face in my chest- just for a hug, as if she can't get close enough. Ahhhhhhhh...how am I going to make it through the years between when my kids are babies and they have babies for me to hold and care for?????
Once a month
So it appears that my posts are coming out about once a month or so, which I really hate. Every day, so many things happen that I know will be gone from my memory shortly after they occur, but I just can't seem to motivate to actually write them down at the end of the day. Here's my attempt to catch up to today :)
Today was a particularly challenging day for my mothering skills....it started last night, really....George let the big kids stay up late for movie night, which usually ends badly. Firstly, I spend most of the day anticipating that hour or two during which time I am just me....I can sit, sip a beer, surf the web, and maybe sorta listen to some stupid tv show. When the kids stay up late, I'm still on duty so I can't relax and that day just runs into the next. This happened last night....it was only a couple of hours into all 3 kids being asleep that one after the other they started waking up. Which meant that I kept waking up with them. Add in that George was swimming an open water swim this morning and set the alarm for 3:45, so my sleep time was limited to begin with.
During one of Lorelei's wakeups, Anya heard me and asked for some water. As I kissed her forehead, my lips nearly caught on fire, which was not a good sign. Always the optimist, I hoped that she was just hot from wearing flannel pj's and sleeping under her comforter, but of course this was not the case.
When she woke up in the morning, she started complaining of a headache and upset belly. I was still hoping it was just a headache (strangely accompanied by a fever of 100.6) and gave her Motrin. Which came right back up...... So back to our barfing setup of bucket, big towel, and cool washcloth we went. I swear, Anya will be the most experienced barfer in her class! She's been in pretty good spirits, but the poor thing spent the entire day laying on the couch sleeping.
So now I realized that I would have to occupy and entertain 2 smaller and very energetic kids all day. Without using the pool! Of course, Baz was changed into his swimsuit by 8am and ready to go! Lorelei had been the first to rise around 6am and went down for a nap around 7:30, which helped me tend to Anya. Luckily, Baz was ok with a movie during this time, but once Lorelei was up, he insisted on going outside.
Anya had gone to sleep then, so I opened up the hot tub for Baz and took a chair out on the porch so I could sit while L toddled around. It was not ideal for her because the ground was still wet and the boards are pretty rough, so a splinter in the making, but as it turned out she did fine. She got wet and dirty, but still had fun. Baz only lasted in the tub for a short time (yay!), then moved on to his water table.
Things got a little hairy for a couple of hours then, as Anya still felt crappy and anything she tried to put down came back up. Baz was full of energy and tried to stir up trouble with both of his sisters. Lorelei just acted like a curious infant and got into everything she possibly could.
I was so happy when lunchtime came around....Baz and Lorelei finished their soup. Baz had a "hupcake" that he had made yesterday with Grandma and Pap Pap (and by had, I mean licked the icing off). And then I accomplished the impossible....I got all 3 kids to nap at the same time!!!! Holy cow- I hit the mother load! Of course, I had to wrestle with the voices inside my head that told me to pop in a Turbo Jam and exercise, but I convinced them that my body needed rest more than more work, so I spent a little time just laying down- heaven!
Anya was the first up and we spent a little time just sitting together quietly, which was nice. She's such a trooper when she's sick....she lets me know when she REALLY needs me and when she can wait a few, she does. She tried eating some chicken noodle soup then and I actually thought it would stay down, but a few hours later, it did come right back up.
Once the other kids woke up, I knew I had the hardest part of the day ahead of me, but I had some plans.....Baz had already asked for Toy Story 2 before his nap and he still wanted to watch it. That worked ok- I kept feeding L different toys to keep her occupied and she was ok. By 3:30-4, the natives were getting restless....I broke out the play doh and that kept them going while I made dinner.....finally, George made it home and we had dinner. Baz had about 3 helpings of pasta and meatballs- yippee!!! Anya tried a piece of pasta, which went poorly, but I'm glad she tried I suppose.
After bathing Lorelei and Baz and putting them down, I'm finally sitting down writing all of this monotony down. Of course, I've left out the cute/funny things....I've already forgotten them!
Today was a particularly challenging day for my mothering skills....it started last night, really....George let the big kids stay up late for movie night, which usually ends badly. Firstly, I spend most of the day anticipating that hour or two during which time I am just me....I can sit, sip a beer, surf the web, and maybe sorta listen to some stupid tv show. When the kids stay up late, I'm still on duty so I can't relax and that day just runs into the next. This happened last night....it was only a couple of hours into all 3 kids being asleep that one after the other they started waking up. Which meant that I kept waking up with them. Add in that George was swimming an open water swim this morning and set the alarm for 3:45, so my sleep time was limited to begin with.
During one of Lorelei's wakeups, Anya heard me and asked for some water. As I kissed her forehead, my lips nearly caught on fire, which was not a good sign. Always the optimist, I hoped that she was just hot from wearing flannel pj's and sleeping under her comforter, but of course this was not the case.
When she woke up in the morning, she started complaining of a headache and upset belly. I was still hoping it was just a headache (strangely accompanied by a fever of 100.6) and gave her Motrin. Which came right back up...... So back to our barfing setup of bucket, big towel, and cool washcloth we went. I swear, Anya will be the most experienced barfer in her class! She's been in pretty good spirits, but the poor thing spent the entire day laying on the couch sleeping.
So now I realized that I would have to occupy and entertain 2 smaller and very energetic kids all day. Without using the pool! Of course, Baz was changed into his swimsuit by 8am and ready to go! Lorelei had been the first to rise around 6am and went down for a nap around 7:30, which helped me tend to Anya. Luckily, Baz was ok with a movie during this time, but once Lorelei was up, he insisted on going outside.
Anya had gone to sleep then, so I opened up the hot tub for Baz and took a chair out on the porch so I could sit while L toddled around. It was not ideal for her because the ground was still wet and the boards are pretty rough, so a splinter in the making, but as it turned out she did fine. She got wet and dirty, but still had fun. Baz only lasted in the tub for a short time (yay!), then moved on to his water table.
Things got a little hairy for a couple of hours then, as Anya still felt crappy and anything she tried to put down came back up. Baz was full of energy and tried to stir up trouble with both of his sisters. Lorelei just acted like a curious infant and got into everything she possibly could.
I was so happy when lunchtime came around....Baz and Lorelei finished their soup. Baz had a "hupcake" that he had made yesterday with Grandma and Pap Pap (and by had, I mean licked the icing off). And then I accomplished the impossible....I got all 3 kids to nap at the same time!!!! Holy cow- I hit the mother load! Of course, I had to wrestle with the voices inside my head that told me to pop in a Turbo Jam and exercise, but I convinced them that my body needed rest more than more work, so I spent a little time just laying down- heaven!
Anya was the first up and we spent a little time just sitting together quietly, which was nice. She's such a trooper when she's sick....she lets me know when she REALLY needs me and when she can wait a few, she does. She tried eating some chicken noodle soup then and I actually thought it would stay down, but a few hours later, it did come right back up.
Once the other kids woke up, I knew I had the hardest part of the day ahead of me, but I had some plans.....Baz had already asked for Toy Story 2 before his nap and he still wanted to watch it. That worked ok- I kept feeding L different toys to keep her occupied and she was ok. By 3:30-4, the natives were getting restless....I broke out the play doh and that kept them going while I made dinner.....finally, George made it home and we had dinner. Baz had about 3 helpings of pasta and meatballs- yippee!!! Anya tried a piece of pasta, which went poorly, but I'm glad she tried I suppose.
After bathing Lorelei and Baz and putting them down, I'm finally sitting down writing all of this monotony down. Of course, I've left out the cute/funny things....I've already forgotten them!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Quickie
I'm going to try to make it a regular part of my day to blog just a little tidbit or two so I don't lose all of the cute (and not-so-cute) our kids do daily. Putting it here *might* just make me stick to it a bit!
I'm sitting her now caged in the family room as it thunders and lightenings outside....Anya is snoring next to me on the couch. I got a call from the school nurse Wed that she had vomitted and was still feeling yucky. First, I'm happy that it's Wed and I'm not working- that would have been really hard if I were at work! So I wake L up from her nap (she had stayed up all morning as our house was cleaned, so I was eager for her to sleep!), throw on some clothes and scurry off to the school. Get into the nurses office and there's Anya sitting on her litle cot covered in a blue blanket. She didn't look TOO sick, but she did barf, so we headed home. At first I hoped that it would be a one-time thing (as I usually do) and of course, here we are 2 days later and she's still puking.
I'm so sad for her that she's missing her last few days of kindy...not a HUGE deal in the big scheme, but I still remember how fun the last few days of school were- everyone is excited for summer and no real work is done. In fact, she had her graduation last week, so they've just been doing "projects" since then. Getting over it now....
So as my barfing, crying kiddo sits next to me, the other two are entertaining each other. Baz was lying on his belly as Lorelei tries to climb on his back. Now, he's playing with the Sit-n-Spin as she tries to join in....this one's not the safest- I may have to intervene. A few minutes ago, he was playing fetch with her and her toys...she was happy to crawl across the floor to retrieve the toy he had thrown. It's a treat having them entertain each other!
Now if I could just get Anya to drink a little more "gator juice"... and to call the school to tell them she can't come....
I'm sitting her now caged in the family room as it thunders and lightenings outside....Anya is snoring next to me on the couch. I got a call from the school nurse Wed that she had vomitted and was still feeling yucky. First, I'm happy that it's Wed and I'm not working- that would have been really hard if I were at work! So I wake L up from her nap (she had stayed up all morning as our house was cleaned, so I was eager for her to sleep!), throw on some clothes and scurry off to the school. Get into the nurses office and there's Anya sitting on her litle cot covered in a blue blanket. She didn't look TOO sick, but she did barf, so we headed home. At first I hoped that it would be a one-time thing (as I usually do) and of course, here we are 2 days later and she's still puking.
I'm so sad for her that she's missing her last few days of kindy...not a HUGE deal in the big scheme, but I still remember how fun the last few days of school were- everyone is excited for summer and no real work is done. In fact, she had her graduation last week, so they've just been doing "projects" since then. Getting over it now....
So as my barfing, crying kiddo sits next to me, the other two are entertaining each other. Baz was lying on his belly as Lorelei tries to climb on his back. Now, he's playing with the Sit-n-Spin as she tries to join in....this one's not the safest- I may have to intervene. A few minutes ago, he was playing fetch with her and her toys...she was happy to crawl across the floor to retrieve the toy he had thrown. It's a treat having them entertain each other!
Now if I could just get Anya to drink a little more "gator juice"... and to call the school to tell them she can't come....
Friday, May 1, 2009
Now for the girls.....
Anya is rapidly approaching the end of kindergarten- eek!!!!! She's doing well with reading when she pays attention. She's recognizing more and more words by sight and sounding the rest of the words out more and more easily. She gets frustrated because her friend Olivia is much better than she is, but Olivia barely missed the cutoff last year, so she turned 6 about a month after Anya turned 5. She's had a whole extra year to practice and learn! I know that doesn't make Anya feel better, but I'm happy she's progressing so she can become an avid reader like mommy (was, prior to kids) and daddy.
Lorelei just keeps growing and growing. She now has 2 teeth (bottom center) and loves her solid meals. It appears that she's doing the same thing Baz did, which is only eating well for mommy. Everyone else tells me that she has little or no interest, but when I'm holding the spoon it's a gaping wide mouth. No worries, though- she's maintaining her 90-95th percentile for height and weight so clearly she's gaining. At 7 months, she's easliy sitting unsupported and can sometimes even get herself there. She's scooting all over the floor, but only army crawling so far. She can get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth, but she hasn't figured out how to move that way yet (thankfully!). She's still the happies and most easygoing baby ever....she rarely cries and when she does, it's easy to calm her down. She's always aware of who is in the room and watches them until they make eye contact with her. And once they do, the smiles and giggles begin. She loves doing "so big" and clapping and being sung to. It's so hard to believe that she's going to turn into a tantrum-throwing 2 and 3 year old!
Anya is rapidly approaching the end of kindergarten- eek!!!!! She's doing well with reading when she pays attention. She's recognizing more and more words by sight and sounding the rest of the words out more and more easily. She gets frustrated because her friend Olivia is much better than she is, but Olivia barely missed the cutoff last year, so she turned 6 about a month after Anya turned 5. She's had a whole extra year to practice and learn! I know that doesn't make Anya feel better, but I'm happy she's progressing so she can become an avid reader like mommy (was, prior to kids) and daddy.
Lorelei just keeps growing and growing. She now has 2 teeth (bottom center) and loves her solid meals. It appears that she's doing the same thing Baz did, which is only eating well for mommy. Everyone else tells me that she has little or no interest, but when I'm holding the spoon it's a gaping wide mouth. No worries, though- she's maintaining her 90-95th percentile for height and weight so clearly she's gaining. At 7 months, she's easliy sitting unsupported and can sometimes even get herself there. She's scooting all over the floor, but only army crawling so far. She can get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth, but she hasn't figured out how to move that way yet (thankfully!). She's still the happies and most easygoing baby ever....she rarely cries and when she does, it's easy to calm her down. She's always aware of who is in the room and watches them until they make eye contact with her. And once they do, the smiles and giggles begin. She loves doing "so big" and clapping and being sung to. It's so hard to believe that she's going to turn into a tantrum-throwing 2 and 3 year old!
First, a little update to my previous post....after less than a week of repeating his name 3 letters at a time, Baz can spell his whole first name!!! He's not getting it perfect each time yet, but about every 3rd time he gets it!!! Now to teach him how to write it.....no big hurry there though.
And I also forgot to mention his safety campaign.....it started with the bike helmet he received for his birthday. For a couple of days after he first got the helmet, he insisted on wearing it EVERYWHERE. He's also focusing on my driving....if I dare take one of my hands off the wheel, he asks me to put it back. He also puts up a "stop" hand when we approach Colleen's garage door. I have to wait patiently with him until the door stops moving and then we can go in. What a little protector!!!
And I also forgot to mention his safety campaign.....it started with the bike helmet he received for his birthday. For a couple of days after he first got the helmet, he insisted on wearing it EVERYWHERE. He's also focusing on my driving....if I dare take one of my hands off the wheel, he asks me to put it back. He also puts up a "stop" hand when we approach Colleen's garage door. I have to wait patiently with him until the door stops moving and then we can go in. What a little protector!!!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
April
So it appears my blogging is down to twice a month, but I'm going to try reeeeeally hard to do more. Really, the kids are doing incredibly cute (and sometimes not-so-cute) things all the time and I think "I'll have to remember to blog that" and then it's gone...boo, hiss momma!!!! I can already hear one of my two nappers moving around, so this post might be fairly short, but I'm gonna try!!!
Our little man is now 3 *sniff, sniff* How did that happen? It's still truly amazing to see each of them grow and learn and turn into people. He is quite the character, too....his 3 year old brain is teaching him how to throw tantrums and test his boundaries, but his easygoing nature makes them mercifully short (yay!) He does the "fling your whole body to the ground and cry" move often, but as soon as he hears "we're going" or "here's a cookie", it's all over. And I rarely get past 1-2 and have to follow through with a TO or taking a toy away....he's a great listener!! I've decided to get started on teaching him how to spell his name....poor kid INSISTS that his name is Baz or Bazzy (when I clarify- what is your WHOLE name :) )and that won't fly in school. So for the past 2-3 days when we're driving or having downtime, I'll have him repeat SEB- AST-IAN and today he's starting to do some of it solo! I do feel bad for giving him such a long name to learn, but think of all the letters he'll know!
It's also cute to see how kids mix up sounds and words that they can't quite understand. Baz's current ones are "I'm are" instead of I am and Nilla wipers (wafers). I think he's gotten telephone parrot truck straightened out, but it was cute when he said it!
He's become quite the diligent big brother....Colleen tells me how protective he is of Lorelei when she's there with him. I love to see my kids looking out for each other I hope it continues!!!!
Baz is still a picky eater....if it isn't disguised as a chicken nugget or meatball, he's not going there. Luckily, homemade nuggets and balls usually sneak under his radar, so he does get some nutrition! Oh, and he does love broccoli and cauliflower, so I try to have those fairly frequently.
OK- my computer time is up....stay tuned for updates on the girls when I get a chance!!!
Our little man is now 3 *sniff, sniff* How did that happen? It's still truly amazing to see each of them grow and learn and turn into people. He is quite the character, too....his 3 year old brain is teaching him how to throw tantrums and test his boundaries, but his easygoing nature makes them mercifully short (yay!) He does the "fling your whole body to the ground and cry" move often, but as soon as he hears "we're going" or "here's a cookie", it's all over. And I rarely get past 1-2 and have to follow through with a TO or taking a toy away....he's a great listener!! I've decided to get started on teaching him how to spell his name....poor kid INSISTS that his name is Baz or Bazzy (when I clarify- what is your WHOLE name :) )and that won't fly in school. So for the past 2-3 days when we're driving or having downtime, I'll have him repeat SEB- AST-IAN and today he's starting to do some of it solo! I do feel bad for giving him such a long name to learn, but think of all the letters he'll know!
It's also cute to see how kids mix up sounds and words that they can't quite understand. Baz's current ones are "I'm are" instead of I am and Nilla wipers (wafers). I think he's gotten telephone parrot truck straightened out, but it was cute when he said it!
He's become quite the diligent big brother....Colleen tells me how protective he is of Lorelei when she's there with him. I love to see my kids looking out for each other I hope it continues!!!!
Baz is still a picky eater....if it isn't disguised as a chicken nugget or meatball, he's not going there. Luckily, homemade nuggets and balls usually sneak under his radar, so he does get some nutrition! Oh, and he does love broccoli and cauliflower, so I try to have those fairly frequently.
OK- my computer time is up....stay tuned for updates on the girls when I get a chance!!!
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