News

Good: Ian is now sleeping until 6am. Our neighbor who had a baby in early June stopped by on Friday to give us some cucumbers from her garden (yum - I love cucumbers!). I asked her how her daughter was doing with sleeping, and when she told me that she sleeps from 9:30pm to 6:30am without waking up, I decided enough was enough with Ian. That night when he woke up at 4:30am, I let him cry. He eventually fell back asleep and woke up again a little before 6am. I got him then. The last two nights he's slept from about 8pm to 6am. I should have done this a long time ago! If by some miracle we do have a third child, please remind me of this if I am tempted to keep getting up in the night to feed a 7 month old. I should be able to get 9 hours of sleep on a regular basis again if I go to bed at 9pm. PTL!!!

Bad: My right eardrum broke last night. Saturday morning I woke up with a fever, sore throat, and slight earache. I figured I had an ear infection, but I thought I could wait until Monday to see a doctor for an antibiotic. In the middle of the night on Saturday night the pain got much worse. I contemplated going to the ER yesterday, but I ended up deciding to wait. Wrong choice! Paul gave me several treatments of salt water down my nose (which is something I hate having done to me!!!), but this wasn't enough to prevent my eardrum from rupturing during the night last night. I am seeing an ENT this afternoon. I am in a lot of pain (so I still haven't gotten 9 hours of sleep), and I can't hear very well At All. Both of my eardrums are made of skin grafts. Those surgeries were done about 25 years ago as my eardrums didn't heal after they had ruptured. I am praying they will heal this time, and I'm hoping the doctor can do something or give me something to ease the pain.

Good: Sarah wasn't available, but the neighbor was available to watch the kids today. Paul has a paper due today. The kids are taking their naps in their own beds, and I'm nursing Ian, but otherwise they're staying with the neighbors for most of the day.

Good: Nadia has broken her previous record in terms of how long she's gone without an accident! Her record had been a little shy of 4 full days. She's now gone more than 5 days as her last accident was at 6am on Wednesday morning. YAHOOO!

Good: Paul is home!! Nadia keeps saying "Daddy is here!" It is so good to have him home. I haven't looked at his pictures yet, but I do plan to post some from his time in Poland. I'm glad he won't be traveling without us again until September 2011 when he'll be at a conference in Italy. Maybe we can join him for that trip? That would be nice! :-)

25 Months Old

I know at some point I should stop keeping track of how many months old Nadia is, but I haven't gotten to that point yet. Am I weird? Here are some ways that Nadia has changed over the past month:

1. She's come a long way with potty training. She now consistently tells me when she needs to use the bathroom, and the past 3 days going #2 has become much simpler. We used to make MANY trips to the potty trying to go #2. The last 3 days it's been no big deal. Whew. She's averaging 2 accidents a week - always in her crib. I'm hoping over the next month that they become more and more infrequent. She's been wearing underwear 24 hours a day for 3.5 weeks so I think she's doing a great job!

2. She has a new favorite food - cereal bars. I hadn't bought any in a long time, but they were on sale plus I had a coupon so I bought some for myself. I haven't eaten any of them as Nadia loves them!

3. She's gotten really good at drinking from a glass. I even let her drink milk from a glass without wearing a bib! Now if I could get her to drink more water....

4. Her coloring skills have improved. She colors far more of the page and many times tries to use the right color (ex. colors George brown or Larry green).

5. Her vocabulary increases every day, and her sentences are getting longer and longer as well. She also can sing more and more of the words of quite a few songs.  We had our first argument of sorts a couple of days ago. We were driving home and had to stop and wait for a train. I said "it's a train." Nadia said "it's a truck!" I said "No, it's a train." Nadia continued to respond "It's a truck!" I changed the subject as I wasn't going to argue with her about it. I guess she knows more than Mommy at 24 months old, LOL!

Grandparents are Great!

Nadia has really missed her Daddy. The last time she saw him was last Friday night, and she won't see him until Sunday morning (8.5 days later). Thankfully Paul's parents were here last Sunday and are coming up again tomorrow, and my mom was here from Tuesday afternoon until about 12pm today. It definitely has helped distract her some from missing her Daddy. I have missed him as well I wasn't even able to talk to him on Tuesday or Wednesday. That was tough! Today he toured Auschwitz. I can't wait until tomorrow night when I'll see him again! After my mom left, I mowed the lawn while Nadia was napping. My mom took this picture right before she left. He slept almost the whole time that I mowed the lawn.

Wednesday we checked out the thrift store connected with the recycling center that I've been taking things to lately. I will probably buy books there in the future, but I doubt I'll shop there for clothes, shoes, or toys. That night we went to Bonanza for dinner. The kids were great! Thursday we visited a consignment shop that just sells clothing, shoes, and toys for infants and toddlers. I was trying to determine whether to shop their in the future and also whether to sell things there or not. I found that the quality was much better than the thrift store. The prices (without any discounts) were higher than yard sales and the clearance racks. The prices with discounts (for example the summer clothing was 75% off) were excellent.  While there I bought Ian his first pair of sneakers, Nadia her first pair of slippers plus a pair of snowboots and a fall dress for Nadia. I would have shopped more, but Nadia had to go to the bathroom. Kudos to her because she held it until we got home where she promptly went #1 and #2 on the toilet. Good job, Miss Nadia! She's now averaging 2 accidents a week (always in her crib).

Before going to the consignment shop, we went to Toys R Us. I hadn't been there in over a year. We bought two new swings for the swingset. I went to the hardware store this morning and bought what I needed to install the swings, and they are already up on the swingset! We also bought a spare "doggie" - Nadia's beloved stuffed animal, just in case that one is ever lost (or becomes too bedraggled), and we got her some fingerpaint, fingerpaint paper, and a smock. I think she'll have fun with those! My mom was impressed with how much her coloring skills have improved over the past month.

Nadia was rather upset when she woke up from her nap today since Grandma and Daddy were both gone. I let her watch VeggieTales even though that is usually reserved as a reward for going #2 on the potty. I also decided to take the kids to McD's for dinner. It was the first time I put Ian in a highchair at a restaurant. Nadia enjoyed her happy meal, and I enjoyed my fish filet sandwich and real fruit smoothie.

Playdate

Yesterday afternoon Paul's parents came up to spend several hours with us. They watched Ian while Nadia napped and I mowed the lawn. I had decided I can't carry Ian while mowing any more unless I purchase another babywearing device. He's getting too heavy for the Snugli. Well technically he's not too big for it, but it's getting very hard on my body. I am very open to suggestions on what to use to carry a heavier baby. It needs to be something simple that I could put him in it when I'm home by myself. I can't picture putting him on my back when I'm by myself for example. Maybe I should try the Ultimate Baby Wrap again. I wish I was better at using that one. Given it was over 90 degrees, I was hot enough pushing the lawn mower without having a 17 lb baby strapped to me. I am glad his sitting abilities are improving as soon he should be able to sit in a shopping cart. That means I'll need to go grocery shopping elsewhere though as where I usually go the carts can only hold one child, and Nadia definitely still needs to be in the cart.

This morning when Nadia came downstairs she announced "Daddy at school. Grandma at school." It was hard not to laugh! I guess "school" in her mind means they aren't here. She didn't cry about Daddy being gone today, but she was very clingy. Daddy has been her favorite person lately, but right now I am back in the number one spot.

This afternoon my friend, Donna, and her granddaughter, Olivia, came over for a couple of hours. Olivia is 18 days older than Nadia. Neither girl is very fond of sharing. Hopefully a year from now Nadia will be better at sharing. She's going to be getting more practice at it when Ian become mobile. Nadia's favorite word this afternoon was "my" as in "that's my car, that's my marker, etc." I am glad she had this playdate. I think I need to invite people with kids her age over more often so that she gets more experience playing with other children, plus it's also great for me to get some adult interaction as well! :-)

I am very grateful for Skype. Paul doesn't have Internet access in his hotel room. If he did, we could chat for free, but it's only costing me 1.7 cents a minute to call the phone in room 219. I called him twice yesterday and twice today via Skype. He said his presentation went well, and he always underestimates his abilities in situations like that. So if he said it went well, it definitely went well. Yahoo for Paul! He said he was overdressed. Well unless he loses weight, he'll need this suit again in the future. He had pierogies for dinner tonight. There are several Polish dishes that are popular in this area of Pennsylvania, and that's one of them. Another night this week he'll be having dinner down in a salt mine. That should be a unique experience!

Fly a Kite

I break into song at random moments. Sometimes when it's time to leave the house I start singing "Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height..." Well today when I wanted to go to the grocery store I said "let's go," and Nadia replied "fly a kite." Boy did that crack me up and also reminded me once again that little ears are paying attention to everything I say (or sing as the case may be). It's a good reminder to be oh so very careful little mouth what you say!

Here are two of Nadia's favorite expressions:
1. "it's okay" - this strikes fear in my heart at times because she says this when something bad happens. It's the response she's wanting to hear me say. It usually means I need to go clean up something like spilled milk. When I know it was purely an accident on her part, I do usually repeat back the two words she's longing to hear.

2. "I need a hug" - I prayed while pregnant with Nadia that she would be an affectionate, cuddly sort of child. The Lord answered my prayers! I honestly forgot to pray about that while I was pregnant with Ian, but from what I can tell thus far, he also is going to be a child who can't get enough snuggles. I love that they both love to cuddle and be hugged!

Daddy left last night. We survived day one without him. If everything goes as planned we'll have at least one person spend at least a little bit of time with us every day over the next seven days. I think the diversion of grandparents and such will be a big blessing as Nadia definitely misses Daddy. Many times today she asked for him - she said she needed a hug from Daddy, she wanted to show Daddy what she called her "big poop" after she used the potty (I am thinking he doesn't mind that he missed out on that, LOL), etc. I found myself getting rather emotional every time I thought of going 8 days without seeing him. Hopefully the company will be a distraction for me too, LOL! I think I did pretty well today considering I was a single parent for the day. In addition to watching the kids I listed 3 items on eBay, shopped at the grocery store and CVS, and made a batch of blueberry muffins.

He can do it!

Just like it's a bit subjective when to declare "he's walking" since it's a gradual process from the first steps until the toddler is exclusively walking, it's a bit subjective when to declare he can sit independently. I made that declaration regarding Ian two days ago; although he does still topple over from time to time, he can now sit independently for several minutes at a time. It's been nice to sit him down and go tend to Nadia for a few minutes.

He's also been VERY obsessed with his feet lately. He loves to play with them when I'm changing his diaper, I find him lying on his back playing with them when I go get him out of his crib, etc.

Nadia has been VERY obsessed with Daddy lately. The last two days she has been crying and asking for him while he's been at school. I am really, really dreading being separated from Paul for the next 8 days. We've never been separated that long since we've been married, and Nadia has certainly never gone that long without seeing him. If she has a hard time waiting until 6pm to see him, it's going to be super hard to not see him for 8 days. Please pray for us! She won't see him again until July 25th. He's leaving tonight.

Unplanned Medical Appointments

Yesterday Ian started to have a lot of white discharge out of his right eye. I called the pediatrician's office, and they said I should bring Ian in this morning. His eye was clear from the time he woke up until his first nap, so I called and cancelled the appointment. After his first nap it started oozing again, and it got worse and worse as the day went on and spread to the other eye. I called the doctor's office back, and I was given a 3:20 appointment.

After making that call, my dad called to tell me that my brother had been in a car accident. My dad was on his way to the hospital. My mom, who is in Chicago visiting my sister, called me with an update while I was at the Pediatrician's office, but I didn't answer because they don't like you to use your cell phone there. I called back after I left the office and was relieved to find out that the scan didn't reveal any internal problems. What a relief!

The Pediatrician said Ian has an infection. He said normally it starts as an ear infection or strep throat before moving to the eyes. I picked up his Amoxicillin on the way home. Nadia had it before, and she thought it tasted GREAT. Ian doesn't like to consume anything other than milk. It was all being ejected so I ended up mixing it in a bottle. Of course some still came up later when he chucked, but there's nothing I can do about that.  Ian also has a really runny nose and a little cough. Paul and I have runny noses, sore throats, fevers, etc. Nadia is feeling back to normal. Please pray that all four of us will be healthy soon!

Tomorrow I am teaching my class in a synchronous fashion from 8-10am and 5-7pm plus I'll have office hours from 10-11am and 7-8pm. It's the only day that will be like that during this session. Beth is coming over to babysit from 8-10, and Paul will be home by 5pm as I can't teach via my laptop and watch the kids at the same time. I've never taught with Wimba before. I hope it goes smoothly!

Surgery and Shopping

I took Ian to his long awaited urologist appointment. The doctor and resident both said that Ian does need surgery for his hypospadias. They said it would become a problem when I tried to potty train him (because he would have great difficulty aiming accurately), and it could also cause infertility. Although it's really strange to be thinking about infertility in reference to a 7 month old, after what we've been through, I certainly don't want to stand in the way of helping prevent that! They said it will be an outpatient surgery that will take 60-90 minutes. They will circumcise him and use the skin in the reconstruction process. He'll be given liquid codeine afterward and have a catheter stitched to him for 1-2 weeks. Poor guy. I am not looking forward to it, but I'm glad he'll be too young to remember it.

On the way back to Sarah's I stopped at Walmart and picked up a few other items and then picked up Nadia. She had been at Sarah's for 4 hours (slept 2 of those), and she was NOT happy to see me. She didn't want to leave! She enjoyed playing with the other girls, especially Abby (age 4). Unfortunately she had two accidents yesterday. She did break her previous record of 56 hours by going 91 hours without having an accident. Hopefully that record will be broken this week!

Blueberries and a Date

Saturday we went to the Blueberry Festival the town about 1/2 mile from our house was having. We didn't eat any blueberries, but we three enjoyed having pulled pork and french fries. Nadia enjoyed the dog shaped balloon the clown made for her, until she accidently popped it that is.

Saturday I tackled another project on my to do list - organizing the garage. There were a few boxes out there that we had never unpacked since we moved here (Sept 2008). They had things like motor oil, cleaning supplies, bug spray, and such in them. After I put the stuff in other places (shed, basement, laundry cabinets, etc.), I swept the garage floor. It looks much better and now I'm not worried about the kids getting into something that might hurt them if they're in the garage. This also meant there is now room for Nadia's scooter, tricycle, and plasma car in the garage. I'm thinking in the winter when Paul is at school I could pull my car out into the driveway and she could ride her trike in our 2 car garage. The next project on my to do list regarding the house is to organize the basement. To that end, we bought a shelving unit for the basement on Saturday at Target.

Sunday afternoon we went on a date. I guess it was a date. It was very utilitarian in nature. Paul's parents came up and watched the kids so we could go shopping. We used two $10 coupons at Famous Footwear to buy two pairs of shoes of Nadia that were on clearance. She loved the Disney princess sneakers we got her because they light up when she walks. She had a blast walking around the family room in them. We bought a few odds and ends at Target. We spent the bulk of our trip buying Paul a suit at JCP. It cost more than my wedding dress, even though we bought items that were 50% off and then used a 15% off coupon on top of that. I should mention that I paid $99 for my wedding dress (original price was over $500). He needed a suit for Poland, and the one he had doesn't fit any more. I like seeing him all dressed up, and I won't even get to see him in this suit since I'm not going to Poland. Well some day he'll have another occasion to wear it, and maybe I'll be present when that happens. Our last stop was to buy a grill at Sears. We got a lot accomplished in a little over 2 hours. Now Paul needs to assemble the shelving unit and the grill. Paul's parents took our old grill back in their truck. The recycling center would have taken it, but we don't have a vehicle big enough to get it there. When we got back, I made spaghetti and meatballs for the 5 of us. Nadia loved it! She had it for lunch and dinner again today at her request! She makes quite a mess though. I gave the kids a bath after lunch because spaghetti was even in her hair.

Paul stayed home today because he had a rough night (throwing up from coughing, etc.). Unfortunately Nadia seemed worse today. I made a trip to CVS this morning for cough medicine for Paul and Kleenex with lotion for all four of us. I've had a bit of a fever yesterday and today. Moms don't get sick days. Paul slept in really late and took a few naps in between working in his office. I got a short nap while both kids were napping, but otherwise my day went as usual with caring for two sick kiddos, doing housework, and grading for my online course. I'm hoping all four of us feel better soon and that we didn't pass our germs on to Paul's parents yesterday!

7 Months Old!

Some ways Ian has changed in the past month:

1. He gained 1.5lbs as he now weighs 17.25lbs, which puts him at the 28th percentile!  Size 3-6 month pants now fit him (they were too long in the past). He mostly wears size 6-9 month clothing as he is in the pictures in this post. The ones in the brown outfit were taken on Saturday, and the blue outfit photos were taken today.

2. He's getting much closer to being able to sit independently. He's at least a month behind his sister in this regard.

3. When he wakes up, he rolls over onto his back. This means he's usually happily looking at his mobile when I go up to get him out of his crib. Previously he was always upset when I'd go get him even though I'd go as soon as I realized he had awakened.

4. He's enjoying playing with toys even more although he's still not a fan of the gym. He will play with toys while he's in the highchair, his swing, or the bouncer. He is so strong he pulls the toys off of the bouncer and regularly pulls the cow so that it makes music. The gloworm his Aunt Millie got him for Christmas is one of his favorite toys.

5. He's gotten a little better at eating solid food although he's still lagging far behind where Nadia was at this stage. He much prefers milk over anything that's served on a spoon! I'm grateful though that unlike his sister he still loves to nurse. It's so wonderful to have nursing not be a stressful thing any more now that he's gaining weight nicely, off the shield, and nurses very easily.

6. He still laughs and smiles very easily, and he's becoming more and more verbal. He also loves to blow raspberries, lol!

7. He adores his sister. If I have to compete with her for his attention, I will always lose. If she gives him any attention whatsoever, he laughs a deep belly laugh.

8. He's gotten a little better about tummy time, but he still doesn't like it very much.

9. He discovered his feet! I was wondering when he'd start playing with them. He finally has done so.

10. His blonde hair came in quite nicely over the past month.

11. He's doing much better with sleeping at night. That wasn't the case last night when I let him cry at 4:30am because I had already fed him from 3:15-3:45, but the previous two nights he had slept through the night without any feedings - YAY!

12. His naps have gotten a bit longer. The average is now 45 minutes, and sometimes they are 1 hour long whereas a month ago the average was 30 minutes.