Oliver's first interview

I didn't start doing birthday interviews with Nadia and Ian until their third birthdays, but I decided to do one for Oliver starting with when he turned 2 1/2. Here's two minutes with Oliver! I'm on a roll with two videos two days in a row! I know this shows his counting skills are lagging behind, but in his defense the boy can do a 25 piece jigsaw puzzle by himself! I'll make sure he can count at least to ten by the time he turns three (considering his siblings could count to thirteen before they turned two).

This picture (at right) is of Nadia working on her first 300 piece jigsaw puzzle. It's a collage of six Frozen characters; she's almost finished it, and she's done almost all of it by herself. Oliver has attempted to help her, but I've been trying to convince him that he's not ready for a 300 piece puzzle yet (that was marked as being for ages 9+). The boy loves puzzles!

The picture below is of Ian doing school work this morning. He hasn't been doing much lately, but today he asked me to do school work and we did! He hasn't been playing the iPad lately either. He's been totally consumed by Legos! Today he did some handwriting, math, and reading. The picture is of him flipping "eggs" with a spatula. After he read a word correctly (all of the words have a "th" in them), he flipped the egg over with a spatula. He thought it was a lot of fun!

Insomniac

Can two year olds suffer from insomnia? On Thursday night (technically Friday morning) Oliver was up at least three times between 1-2 am, and he did a similar thing the next night only it happened a little earlier in the night. Saturday and Sunday he slept through the night, but both mornings he woke up having wet the bed. It's hard enough getting up one time to take him to the bathroom during the middle of the night because it takes me a long while to go back to sleep, but it's much harder when I have to get up multiple times. Maybe he has just as much trouble going back to sleep as I do? I don't turn the light on in the bathroom, and I try to do things as quickly as possible to make it easier for him to fall back asleep. The first several nights he woke up to go to the bathroom it was a once and done thing. Last night was the absolute worst. He woke up dry, but honestly I would have rather done a load of laundry this morning of his bedding and gotten more sleep. He was up FIVE times between 2:30-4:30 am. I took him to the bathroom the first time (and he did go), and the other four times I put him right back in bed. Ian also got up one of the first couple of times. After being up for two hours I finally fell back asleep and then Paul (in his sleep) accidentally hit me with his arm, and that woke me up again. Then Ian started coming to our bedroom (more than once) starting at 5:45. All this to say that I got almost no sleep from 2:30 am onward. Thankfully I went to bed at 9:30 last night, but I really prefer a lot more than five hours of sleep!

I cut Oliver off from fluids earlier this evening. The odd thing is that he had been waking up dry in his diaper for more than a week before I switched him to underwear, and hadn't been going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, so I know he *can* sleep through the night and wake up dry. Tonight I plan to be in bed by 9pm to try to get some more sleep. Paul thought it was because Oliver had a 3 hour nap yesterday, but he has taken that long of a nap plenty of other times without it causing him to get up in the middle of the night even once let alone five times. Today he only napped for 80 minutes. I woke up with a pounding headache, but I took a shower first thing and that took away my desire to take some pills for my headache. I hope and pray that someday these boys learn to sleep like their sister does. I actually have to wake her up sometimes because I think she's sleeping in longer than she should. That never happens with the boys!



I have taken several videos of the kids over the past six weeks, but I haven't uploaded any of them from the memory card. This afternoon I took one of Nadia playing one song on the piano. I just started teaching her again a few weeks ago. Oliver is fussing a bit in the background (asking me to take his picture, etc.), but still this shows where Nadia is at right now with her piano skills.

Three steps back

Oliver slept in underwear for the past fifteen nights. The first ten nights he never wet the bed, although his underwear was a little wet twice. Unfortunately over the past five nights he has wet the bed three times. The first time was on Thursday morning. He did fine the next two days, but the last two mornings he has wet the bed again. The most puzzling was yesterday morning. He woke up at 5:45, and I took him to the bathroom (his underwear was dry at this point) and then took him back to bed. I guess he didn't actually pee when I had him on the toilet because when he woke up at 6:45 his clothes and bedding were soaked. I thought from now on I will make sure he actually goes potty, if I take him to the bathroom before it's time to get up for the day. This morning when he woke up at 5:30, he had already wet the bed. It's frustrating considering he succeeded the first ten nights. I am very grateful for a working washing machine and dryer! The dryer was making a burning smell on Saturday night, but Paul was able to fix it yesterday thankfully. I bought the dryer 18 years ago, and I know it's not going to last forever, but I'm glad it didn't give up the ghost in the middle of night time potty training when I am doing laundry more often than usual! Ironically, I just donated all of the leftover diapers at church yesterday morning (some Parent's Choice that I had bought and some Pampers from the PICU). Hopefully he will get back on track with staying dry at night ASAP!

 He also had a slight regression with daytime training on Saturday because he peed in his pants while sitting on a chair. Both times he peed on a piece of furniture it was while he was using the iPad, so from now on he must go potty before using the iPad because evidently he gets so engrossed he ignores his need to go to the bathroom. The other time it was on the blue couch and the fabric can be unzipped from the cushion (and I washed it in the washing machine), but that couldn't be done with the cushion he peed on this time. Prior to this incident it had been more than a month since he had a #1 accident when he was awake.

The photos in this post were taken last Thursday afternoon during Oliver's nap. They were making Valentines for my parents with crayons melted by my griddle. This week we'll have to try a different heart themed craft to make Valentines for Paul's parents and for Daddy. Paul and I are looking forward to going out on a date on Friday night, and I already bought the kids their Valentine's Day presents (a puzzle for each of them).

Snowfest

After church and a stop at Dunkin Donuts for bagel sandwiches for lunch, we headed to RB Winter State Park for Snowfest. The kids had fun making snowman crafts, sledding, learning about animals that hibernate, and riding in a snowmobile. We spent about two hours there. I wish I had an action shot of Oliver coming down on the sled. He was laughing his little head off the whole way down!! Next time we'll bring sleds (someone let us borrow theirs for a little bit) and do a few more things that we could have done today such as watching the ice carving demonstration, snow shoeing, ice fishing, etc. Snowfest wore the kids out because all three of them fell asleep on the way home!

27-30 months old times three

Ian - 27 months old (March 2012)

1. Not that Nadia wasn't affectionate, but Ian really was the cuddler. Oliver really likes his hands to be held. He is more affectionate with strangers (doctors, nurses, etc.) than Ian was.

2. Nadia and Oliver were day and night potty trained. Ian was day time potty trained and was waking up dry sometimes. Oliver was the only one asking for privacy and the only one who managed to get poop ALL over the place, and he did it multiple times! Ugh! Nadia  and Oliver didn't care who took them to the bathroom. Ian preferred either Daddy or PopPop to take him if they were around.

3. Nadia's typical afternoon nap was 3 hours long. Ian's typical nap went from 30 minutes to 45-60 minutes over these three months. A few times his nap exceeded one hour, but it was never a full two hours long (much less 3 hours!). Oliver's typical nap is between 1.5-2 hours, but sometimes he does sleep for 2-3 hours like his big sister did.

4. Nadia was wearing 2T and some 3T clothing at this point. Ian was wearing size 24m/2T for everything except pants. He still was wearing size 18m pants. Oliver is wearing size 24m/2T for everything.

Nadia at 27 months (September 2010)

5. Nadia and Ian both were prone to asking people again and again and again "what's your name?". Ian became a lot friendlier during this time span, but Nadia was still far more of an extrovert than Ian or Oliver. I've never heard Oliver ask anyone what their name is. In December he started going up to strangers (always men) and asking (through body language) if he could sit on their laps. Ian would never have done something like that. Evidently there is one girl in his class at church who is crazy about him. Her dad told me that she talks about Oliver all the time!

6. Nadia was far more fixated on the day's schedule than Ian or Oliver. Their understanding of time and routines is not nearly as advanced as hers was at this age.

7. Ian made a LOT of progress with eating during this time span (he spent 4 weeks in the intensive feeding program when he was this age), but he was still light years behind where Nadia and Oliver were. Oliver wins the prize for the best eater in our family! Oliver also drinks far more water than his siblings ever have. Unfortunately he can now reach the water dispenser on the refrigerator. This was never a problem with the other two because they didn't like to drink water. Thankfully water doesn't make as much of a mess as milk does on the floor!

Oliver at 27 months old (November 2014)

8. The boys were more prone to running, hitting, pushing, throwing things, and playing rough house than Nadia was. Thankfully none of them ever went through a biting or hair pulling phase like many do. Oliver BY FAR has the worst temper of our three kids. He even threw a plate and broke it in a million pieces once! Oi vey!

9.Ian was more interested in animals and knew the names of more animals than Nadia or Oliver.

10. Ian cried a lot more than Nadia or Oliver.

11. Ian and Nadia both could count to 13 without any mistakes. Oliver can't count yet.

12. Nadia had more books memorized than Ian, and Ian had more books memorized than Oliver, but they all could sing the lyrics to many songs. Lately I've been trying to be more purposeful about reading books to Oliver that are on his level. It's so easy for me just to read books that are geared to his siblings.

Nadia - 30 months old (December 2010)

13. Nadia didn't mind getting messy. Ian went nuts if his clothes got wet. Oliver is not quite as dramatic as Ian, but he is more like Ian than Nadia in this regard. Both boys were more conscious of trying to stay clean and dry than Nadia was. Oliver loves washing his hands though, and Ian hated doing that.

14. Ian has far stronger opinions about what clothing, shoes, and socks he wore than Nadia or Oliver did. It also was a difficult transition for Ian to switch from pants to shorts, whereas this wasn't an issue for his siblings.

15. Nadia and Oliver were much braver than Ian, especially on the playground.

16. Nadia was much better at following instructions. She was doing gymanstics at this age whereas her brothers weren't ready for that at this age.

17. Ian showed more imagination in terms of coloring, Play-doh, and dressing dolls than his siblings were at this age.

18. Ian spent many more hours playing with Little People, cars, and the Fisher Price dollhouse than Nadia or Oliver ever have.

Ian at 30 months (June 2012)

19. Ian made the adjustment to a twin size bed at 29 months whereas we didn't have Nadia move from her crib until after she turned 30 months old. None of them had issues without falling out bed, but the transition definitely went more smoothly for Nadia, although who knows if Ian's would have been easier if the transition hadn't happened shortly before my hospital stays. Oliver made the transition at 28 months. He usually gets up once each night to go potty, which wasn't the case for his siblings when they were night time potty trained.

20. All three kids enjoyed puzzles, but Oliver asks to do them FAR more often than his siblings did. They were just doing peg puzzles at this age, and he can do 25 piece jigsaw puzzles on his own!

21. Ian's first time of going through a long separation from Mommy happened when he was 29 months old. I was in the hospital for 6 days, and there were longer periods of separation that summer during my 10 weeks of bed rest and Oliver's 4 week NICU stay. Nadia's first long separation from Mommy took place when she was 17 months old. I was in the hospital for 12 days that time. It was really hard for both of them although with Ian it showed up more when I came home. Oliver's first separation from me was only 47 hours long, and it took place when he was 29 months old. He handled it very easily since he was with his siblings and grandparents.

22. Nadia and Oliver loved swings from a very early age. Ian just started to enjoy swings around 30 months. He also became independent with going down slides at the same time (whereas Nadia and Oliver were going down on their own at a much younger age).

23. Ian slept in later in the morning than Nadia or Oliver did at this age. He usually slept until at least 7:00am, and he slept until 8:15am on a few occasions. Oliver is usually up sometime between 6-6:30 (and sometimes earlier than that).

24. Ian and Nadia were very healthy (if you don't count Ian's eosinophilic esophagitis). They only went to the Pediatrician for well visits. Oliver was in the PICU for four days due to RSV, asthma, and a collapsed lung at 28 months.

25. Nadia and Oliver liked Knoebels, but they never asked to go as often as Ian did. He was obsessed with the fire engine and whip.

2.5 Years Old!

Today is Oliver's half birthday! He will be three years old in just six months. Wow. Here are some ways he has changed over the past three months:

1. He now pronounces Nadia's name as "Naia" instead of "Nana." Ian and Nadia both pronounced the name Naia for awhile as well when they were toddlers.

2. Oliver has gone from 12 piece to 24 or 25 piece puzzles! He can usually do the 25 piece puzzles independently if they are in a frame. The ones that are just pieces in a box are a little harder for him, but he's still doing a great job. Nadia and Ian were about a year older than he is before they could do those puzzles. He asks to do puzzles several times a day.

3. He has gotten much better with his daytime potty training although he still has accidents now and then. The biggest changes would be that he now tells me more often when he needs to go and he's wearing underwear 24 hours a day now! Night time training him has been very easy (much easier than day time training him). The one negative change over the past three months is that sometimes when he has a #2 accident he now takes off his underwear and pants and creates a BIG disaster. YUCK!

4. Every time we pray, he says "me too" meaning he also wants to pray.

5. This boy LOVES to cook. He is far more interested in cooking than Nadia was at this age or Ian ever has been. No matter what I am cooking or baking, this boy wants to HELP!

6. He moved from a crib to a twin sized bed! It was a  little difficult at first, but now he stays in his bed when I put him down for his nap or at night (almost all the time anyhow). He loves it when all four of us give him a hug and kiss after he's tucked in bed.

7. Oliver loves to sing. The past few months his favorite songs have been "Jingle Bells" and the "Happy Birthday" song. We hear both of these songs MANY times a day.

8. He's finally making the transition from eating with his fingers to using utensils although he hasn't fully given up using his fingers yet.

9. He's not nearly as polite. He needs more reminders to say please and thank you than he did a few months ago, and he has unfortunately learned how to talk with a very rude tone of voice. The three phrases I would love for him to stop saying are "Go away!," "No Fair!." and "Stop It!." Ugh. He also somehow manages to say "No thank you" in a rude manner. The words sound polite, but the tone of voice cancels that out! The other bad habit he needs to break when it comes to talking is his prolific lying. The other two didn't have this issue at this age. Many times a day he tells me that something happened, and it actually didn't happen. I keep telling him that he needs to tell me the truth, but I don't think he comprehends what I mean yet.

10. Over the past month the length of his sentences has greatly increased. For example a few weeks ago he would have just said "shoes on" if he wanted me to help him get his shoes on. Now he would say "Mommy put my shoes on" or something close to that. He his also using a much wider variety of pronouns. Some of his favorite sentences right now are "I can't reach it" (often said when he's trying to get something I actually do not WANT him to be able to reach), "That hard me" (ex an iPad app or a 100 piece puzzle), and "that easy me" (ex. a puzzle he can do). Although he has said the words "cold" and "hot," he almost always uses the word "hot" to describe a temperature, even if he's describing something that's ice cold.

11. He had his second RSV/ asthma hospitalization, and this one included a stay in the PICU due to a collapsed lung. He now is taking Singulair once a day. He calls it "candy medicine." It must taste really good! He also receives the nebulizer when needed, which is more often than not.

12. I had planned on waiting until Oliver was three to let him start using the iPad, but I ended up letting him start use it a little in late December. I am amazed at how at the age of two he can use that thing so well! It was a big blessing during his hospitalization as there wasn't much he could do in that hospital crib. The downside is that we have many tantrums a day over the iPad because he wants to use it more than I will let him, and he also wants his turn to be much longer than I let him. I am sure in time he will handle it better, but it's unpleasant at the moment. I try to keep it hidden during as much of the day as possible. Nadia will have her turn during his nap, for example. His favorite app is a Toca Boca hair styling app that was geared for Christmas. You style a Santa Claus or a Christmas tree (grow the hair, cut it, color it, etc.).

13. The two stories he talks about ALL the time are The three little pigs and Santa Claus. I have NO idea how he became so interested in Santa. We watched the classic show once this December, and he had his picture taken with a few Santas. That's about it. He talks about Santa every day. Ian keeps telling Oliver that Santa isn't real, and I keep telling Ian that Oliver isn't able to distinguish between real and pretend yet. He also talks about the three little pigs and the wolf every day. It reminds me of Nadia and her fixation with Jonah when she was little. It was her favorite story, and yet she was terrified of whales. Oliver is the same way. He keeps saying how the wolf scares him and is always asking if a wolf is in our house, etc. We shall see how long this lasts!

Thankful Thursday

 Many times I think of things I want to include in my weekly post, and then I forget about them when I actually sit down to write the list. So some of these didn't happen just this past week, but are ones I forgot to mention in the past.

1. Ladies Bible study resumed on Tuesday morning! I thought it might be cancelled again, but the school district the church is in didn't have a two hour delay like many others did.

2. Oliver hasn't needed a breathing treatment during the night the past few days. I am SO glad he only had a cold this time (not RSV again) and that he doesn't need to go on a medication for reflux.

3. The doorknob to the basement door was getting harder and harder to use, and Paul replaced it a couple of weeks ago. These little repairs mean a lot to the kids and I! It's so nice to have a working doorknob again.

4. Oliver hasn't had any accidents in bed! Two times his underwear was a little bit wet, but he hasn't gotten his sheets wet.

5. Nadia's basketball team is such a great one for her to be on. They are so kind and encouraging! Paul has been working with her in the basement (practicing dribbling and such). Hopefully she'll continue to improve over the next six weeks!

6. I have been forgetting to mention how much I love my new vacuum. It's my first bagless one, and I must I say I find it very rewarding to dump out the canister each time I vacuum, It makes me certain I accomplished something! :)

7. A week or two ago I had taken the bags from the kids' hampers and set them at the top of the stairs, and I was planning to take them down with me in a few minutes to throw the dirty clothes in the washing machine. Before I got around to doing that, Nadia noticed the bags sitting there and assumed they were full of clean clothes and had taken hers to her bed. Thankfully I figured out what happened before she started putting her dirty clothes in her drawers, but this experience put a smile on my face that the kids are so well trained to put away their laundry! They have a long way to go in learning how to put the laundry away NEATLY in their drawers. All Oliver is responsible for putting away thus far is his underwear and socks. We start small!

8. Nadia was reading a picture book we own (Cranberry Thanksgiving), and she came down and asked me if we could make some cranberry bread using the recipe in the book. She told me that she had read the list of ingredients and thought we only needed to buy one ingredient (cranberries). So we bought a bag of fresh cranberries, and Oliver and Nadia helped me make the bread. The three of us have been enjoying the bread. It is very tasty, and not something I would have made if Nadia hadn't asked me to do so.

9. My parents brought up my old rocking chair in November. Oh how I love having this in my house. It was mine when I was a child. I love taking pictures of the kids while they are sitting in it (if you haven't already figured that out, ha ha).

10. My parents are planning to come up this afternoon and stay until about 11:30am on Saturday! They had planned to come two weeks ago but had to reschedule due to snow. We are so excited to spend some time with them! They are looking forward to seeing the kids' ice skating lesson this afternoon, self defense class tomorrow morning, and Nadia's basketball game on Saturday morning.

11. So far we haven't had any sewer problems despite the fact that I think two pairs of Oliver's underwear were flushed down the toilet. Thank you, Lord!!! Also, it has been six days since I've had to clean up a big poop disaster zone. Whew.

12. Paul received an invitation yesterday for a phone interview for a physical chemistry tenure track position at another college in PA. This is encouraging! It's also tempting. Pray for wisdom as to whether to sign a contract for a sure thing (Bucknell) or pursue other possibilities (which are not guaranteed to result in a job offer).

Wordless Wednesday

These two love to help me cook!

Making cranberry bread

Playing "Don't Spill the Beans" with Mommy during Oliver's nap

Missing underwear

Last night after Oliver went to the bathroom, I picked up his pants to put them back on only to discover that his underwear wasn't with his pants any more. We looked high and low and could not find his underwear. The only thing we can think of is that he flushed them down the toilet. I hope that isn't the case. Hopefully they will turn up one of these days. The thought that two pairs of his underwear might have been flushed through our pipes within three days is a scary thought. We are wishing we had been paying for that sewer insurance we get junk mail about all the time. So far everything is working fine. We are praying that will continue to be true! Just in case he did flush his underwear down the toilet, I have started putting his pants and underwear outside the bathroom door so that he doesn't have access to them while he's in the bathroom. Eventually he'll learn how to use the potty without completely removing his pants and underwear, but we aren't there yet. He got up early this morning (at 5:30 when Paul was headed downstairs to go to work), but he didn't wake up during the night to go to the bathroom, and he woke up dry.

Most schools (and even Bloomsburg University) had a snow day today, but Bucknell didn't. The last two snow storms (7 and 10 days ago) the snow was a very dry (light) snow. I really noticed the difference today when I shoveled the driveway. It took a LOT more work to shovel today than it did last Monday, especially the end of the driveway due to the snow piled up from the snow plow who did our street this morning (after Paul had left for work). The snow was great for packing, and I started to make a snow man, but the kids weren't interested. Then later in the day they decided they wanted to build one, but the temperature had dropped and the snow was back to being very very and there had been some freezing rain while we were inside so there was a layer of ice on top of the snow. This translated to no snow man today. The kids had fun playing while I shoveled. Nadia and Ian gave Westyn and Oliver rides in a wagon (on the street). Westyn and Oliver were both born in August 2012. Nadia had fun playing with Addi (who is two years younger than Nadia). The snow from last Monday hadn't melted so the depth was a challenge for Oliver. He couldn't walk through the snow without assistance.

Elsa's Birthday!

Many people will be participating in Super Bowl parties today. We don't have tv right now (except for Netflix) so we won't be watching the game, but we are having a birthday cake today! (As a side note, Paul and I are both hoping the Seahawks win because we both strongly dislike the Patriots.) For three weeks Nadia has been telling us that Elsa (the one shown in the picture at left) would be turning one year old on February 1, which happens to be my brother's birthday, but Uncle Maurice lives in Brazil so he can't join us for cake. The poor guy was stung more than 20 times on Friday by killer bees when taking his students outside (in Brazil). One of Yvonne's best friends in Maryland has often posted pictures of birthday cakes made to celebrate her youngest daughter's stuffed animals' birthdays. Bailey is also six years old. Seeing all those pictures gave me the idea that I could make a cake for "Elsa's" birthday. Nadia was SO excited when I bought the ingredients a few days ago, and she was elated when I said we could light a birthday candle. Why not? As Julie says (Bailey's mom), let her enjoy her childhood! The time will come all too quickly when she will see such a thing as being childish.

So instead of celebrating a football game today, we are celebrating the birthday of a doll. This doll goes with her just about everywhere. She even took her out in the snow once (which I quickly put a stop to once I discovered what was happening). Nadia told me recently that her four most prized possessions were #1 her Poland pillow that Paul got her in 2010, this Elsa doll (aside from the face the rest is soft so she likes sleeping with this one), her singing Elsa doll (bigger than this one but not soft), and her Elsa Barbie doll. Yes, three of her four most prized possessions are all Elsa dolls. I gave her the Barbie one for her birthday last summer (she ice skates), and Paul's parents gave her the other two (one at Christmas and one the weekend Paul and I went away). The Poland pillow has been her most prized possession for 4 1/2 years. We shall see how long the Elsa dolls remain her favorites!

The picture above is of three notes Nadia wrote recently. She gave me the love note on pink paper yesterday. Priceless. The one with the dates is the countdown she made on January 13 and every day (except yesterday) she would check off one number. It says at the top "Dolles drthba." She wrote her "b" and "d" backwards in the second word. Translation: Dollie's birthday. Nadia, Ian, and Oliver each had a turn blowing out the candle on Elsa's cake. Ian and Nadia both gave Elsa several gifts (some of their stuffed animals and toys). She "wrapped" the gifts in a Minnie Mouse blanket. After I put Oliver down for his nap, I turned on the monitor, and he was singing the Happy birthday song to Elsa in his bed! This doll is getting quite the royal treatment around here! :)

Nadia had her second basketball game yesterday. She took a few shots. One hit the net, and one actually hit the rim. She's getting closer! The other girl on her team (Claire) scored MANY baskets yesterday, but she is not a ball hog. Sometimes when Claire had an easy shot, she threw the basket to Nadia instead (even though she knew Nadia would not score). What a nice team! The boy on the other team that Nadia was paired up with when it came to playing defense was actually at her level (just as weak). Paul has been working with her in the basement on dribbling. Two games down and six to go before we switch gears back to soccer.

Nadia's shot!