Pediatrician times two

When Nadia had her three year well child doctor appointment, it was a joint appointment with Ian, who was having his 18 month appointment. Nadia's four year well child appointment had been scheduled for the first week of July this summer, but it had to be rescheduled due to my health issues. I waited until Oliver and I were home from the hospital to call and reschedule her appointment. I made it a joint appointment with Oliver's 2 month check-up. At her three year check-up, she weighed 34lbs (80th percentile) and was 36 inches tall (26th percentile). Today (4.3 years old), she was 40lbs (75th percentile) and 40 inches tall (39th percentile). She passed her vision and hearing screenings. I have been told that it will be important for Oliver's sake that everyone gets the flu shot this year so Nadia had the flu mist in her nose for the first time. She'll get some shots at her 5 year check-up. I'm going to have Ian get the flu mist when Oliver has his first Synagis injection next month (to protect him from RSV). The only questions I had to say "no" to regarding Nadia's development were skipping and drawing (they asked if she could draw a triangle, square, and a stick figure). I have tried to encourage her to draw, but she just isn't interested (yet). Ian enjoys drawing. I had tried to work on skipping many months ago, but I totally forgot about working on that skill lately. We'll try to master that before she turns five. The doctor said she's allowed to have 7.5ml of Tylenol or ibuprofen.

The pediatrician was very pleased with Oliver's weight gain, and this wasn't the same pediatrician who saw him 3 weeks ago! He's not gaining weight quite as quickly as Nadia was at this stage, but he's definitely gaining faster than Ian was. I am thrilled that the doctors are so happy. It's such a big relief!!! His belly wasn't full and his diaper wasn't soaked like it was the last two times he was weighed at that office. They said he weighed 5lb 11oz compared to 4lb 14.5 three weeks ago. I feel confident Oliver will hit 6lbs next week. They said he is 18.5 inches long. His height and weight are not even on the chart (less than 0 percentile). His head circumference (35cm) is less than 1 percentile, but he is on the chart with that measurement. He had 3 shots and one oral immunization (rotavirus). Naturally he cried; I tried to nusre him while he got his shots as others had recommended that to me. I can't really say if it helped or not. He still cried. At least I felt like I was doing something to try to help, and it also spared me from seeing his eyes when he was stabbed. I am not sure if immunizations are harder on moms or babies? Emotionally I think they're harder on moms. The doctor said he's allowed to have 1ml of Tylenol although I didn't give him any today since recent studies have shown it weakens the effectiveness of the immunizations.

He is still very small, but he's definitely growing. I am starting to have him wear some newborn size clothing. I recently ordered a newborn size pram for him on eBay. I had a 0-3 month size one from Ian, and I had purchased a 3-6 month sized one for Oliver at a yard sale in May. The newborn size pram still seems very large for him, but it's definitely closer to the right size than the 0-3 month sized one. I asked the doctor if I should gradually reduce how much expressed milk I put in his bottles. He agreed that we could do that since Oliver has had a few weeks of sustained weight gain. The doctor thinks that will do the trick in terms of getting Oliver to nurse longer and thus get all he needs by nursing. So over the next few weeks I really want to work on getting him off the shield and the bottle. It's going to be a bit stressful for me, but if we succeed, I will be very grateful. I am so very ready to stop pumping, and considering the pace we are going through the supply in the freezer, I think we'd have to start using some formula in a few weeks if we were still supplmenting by bottle. Please pray that Oliver will do what is necessary and that my body will respond and produce enough milk that the bottles won't be necessary any more. I know my body was producing plenty in the NICU, but I'm guessing my supply is probably down a bit since I've drastically cut back on how many hours a day I spend pumping.

The last two nights were rough ones. He spent almost the entire night in my arms both times. The good news is that I am getting better at sleeping with him in my arms. I'm still hoping to get him back to sleeping in his crib as soon as possible.

This evening Nadia went on a date with her Daddy. They went to see The Enchantment Theatre Company's production of the Velveteen Rabbit. Cookies and milk were served (at no charge) prior to the 60 minute show (but they didn't get there in time to take part in those). As you can see from the picture, I let Nadia get all dressed up. I enjoy dressing her up, and she enjoys getting dressed up. I love my boys oh so very much, but let me tell you if I had only boys I would really, really have missed not being able to dress a little girl up. Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to have one girl and two boys!!!

In other parts of my world, our neighbor's house sold in less than one week! This is very encouraging to me, especially seeing the price they had their house listed at. I know in some parts of the country the real estate market took a beating over the past 4 years, but I'm hoping we will do okay when we sell our house. Also, Paul is really in high gear with submitting applications. He plans to submit some this weekend! One more was posted today (NJ) that he is going to submit an application for (bringing the total to 8). On Tuesday (this week) he submitted his final article to his advisor for her input, and then on Wednesday he went back to working on job applications. His plan is to start writing his introduction for his dissertation on Monday, which is why he wants to wrap up his job application efforts (for now) this weekend. It's a bit tricky to juggle finishing this degree and applying for jobs at the same time. He can't get a job without also finishing the degree, but to just finish the degree and not have a job would be pointless (and certainly our family needs at least one income plus health insurance).

34 Months Old

Two months from today Ian will turn three years old. My mom suggested I should introduce cake to him before then so that maybe there will be a chance he'll eat cake at his birthday for the first time (didn't happen at his first or second birthdays although cake was offered both times). I need to figure a way to make a cake for him that doesn't contain any egg or milk products, and I agree I need to offer it to him long before December 12. If it turns out he doesn't like cake, we can give the birthday boy cookies as he certainly loves those! His favorite foods right now are toast (Italian bread with jelly on it), cookies, Ritz crackers, chocolate animal crackers, dry cereal, applesauce, and coconut milk yogurt. He also has been eating (not by choice) bananas, grapes, pears, peaches, cream of wheat, bologna, hot dogs, peas, carrots, creamed corn, and green beans. He has been drinking water and Elecare in adult size cups. He still could stand a lot of improvement with his ability to use a spoon (so messy!), and he really fights me on feeding himself. Meals would involve a LOT less crying, fussing, and screaming if I just fed him everything myself.

He's been waking up dry on average 5 out of 7 days, and he's had 2 poopy diapers over the past 3 weeks. Using 2 diapers a week isn't bad. I guess for now we'll take this slow approach to night-time training for Ian. It helps that he's eating more solid food and drinking less EleCare. He's definitely put on weight over the past few months. I no longer need to worry about him not weighing enough. He's been healthier than Nadia over the past few weeks, but still he has had reason to learn how to "cough in your elbow." He really likes his privacy when he goes to the bathroom, and when he has to go #2 he sits on the potty for a LONG time (for some reason he wants to sit there for a long time after he's done pooping). He's still not very happy about having his hair brushed, nails clipped, face washed, or hair cut.

We are working on teaching Ian to be obedient. He is by nature far less compliant than Nadia. Sometimes we feel like he's getting punished All The Time. It's not fun for Paul or I. We never experienced this with Nadia. I'm not sure if it's a difference between girls/boys or just a personality difference. Some specifics we are working with him are to #1 do what we ask him to do right away (his tendency is to totally ignore us when we ask him to do something), #2 not to cry/scream/fuss during meals, #3 not to hit or push Nadia, and #4 not to grab things from Nadia.

Ian has a very sweet nature. He absolutely adores Oliver. Ian still loves to snuggle although I've definitely noticed a change in him in that regard due to my extended absence this summer. Thankfully he still asks me every day for some affection. Today he said, "Mommy will you sit in the pink chair with me and snuggle?" Of course!!!! Other times he'll say, "Mommy, I need a hug." And he's definitely still in the stage of thinking that a kiss will cure any ailment. I dread the day when my kids no longer want kisses for their boo boos!!!

He usually asks me to read one of the "How does a dinousaur" books before his nap. His naps are often 1-2 hours long. His attention span for listening to books has dramatically increased. He can now sit through even a 90+ page book in one sitting. He still is prone to making big messes, but actually I have noticed some improvement in that regard. Lately I've required him to clean up (or at least help clean up) the messes he makes. He absolutely loves to tackle Daddy. A quilt my former handbell choir director gave me when I was pregnant with Nadia is something he uses  when he's rough housing with Daddy. He LOVES that blanket for whatever reason. In his bed he sometimes sleeps with his head on the pillow, but many times he sleeps with his head facing toward the foot of the bed. He almost always has a few toys in his hands, and I do mean ALL the time. Lately those have usually been trains from his train table. Tigger (from Winnie the Pooh), Ariel, and Eric (from The Little Mermaid) are his favorite little figurines, and he often has one of those in his hands as well. He loves bubble baths. He'd take one every day if I let him although I have to remind him many times not to splash so much as otherwise all the water ends up on the floor rather than in the bathtub. His favorite thing to do at the playground is to go on the swings, particularly if I walk in front of the kids so they can kick me (my dad used to do that with myself and my siblings when we were little). His favorite two tv shows right now are "Super Why" and "Backyardigans." He loves anything that involves pirates!

He really enjoys singing. I am impressed with his ability to sing on pitch and to remember the lyrics to many, many songs. I need to record a video of him singing some songs! He and Nadia love to chase each other around the house. Much laughter ensues! Sometimes when I am working with Nadia on something and she is stumped, he will jump in and assist her. Recently I was working with her on counting. She was stuck at 22. He said 23. She again had a long pause, which led him to say 24. I haven't started working with him on memory verses although I started with Nadia when she was younger than he is now. I need to start doing that with him! He has gotten much friendlier and more outgoing over the past few months. It was no problem whatsoever for me to leave him at Sheri's house this morning when I took Nadia and Oliver to the doctor.

He's wearing size 3T pajamas, shirts, and sweaters. He's wearing size 24m/2T pants. The waist has to be narrow or adjustable. He's wearing size 7 or 7.5 shoes. His favorite shoes right now are a pair of size 7.5 Buzz Lightyear sneakers. His favorite shirts feature either Lightning McQueen or Thomas the Train.

OT times two

Ian's occupational therapy appointments take place in our home on Thursdays. Supposedly they are to start at 11:45. I say supposedly because she's usually about 30 minutes late. Those will be ending soon because you outgrow the program when you turn 3 years old. Oliver had one OT screening in the NICU. This morning at 10:00 Oliver had his first follow-up OT appointment at the hospital. She saw some improvements with him since that time. She said he is right on target for his corrected age (1 week old). Since he's been home for 5 weeks, to me it feels as if he's 5 weeks rather than 9 weeks old. She said he hasn't reached the typical 2 week old accomplishments much less 2 months old, but she said that they only judge him by his corrected age, which would be 8 days old. His next appointment will be in 2-3 months. She's not expecting that he will qualify for services in the home. That would be awesome! Her suggestions for me were to help him with his head control, eye contact, and hands together at midline.

On the way to his appointment, I dropped Ian and Nadia off at Sheri's house (friend from church). The kids were having so much fun that they didn't want to leave when I came back to pick them up on my way home. She's also going to watch Ian tomorrow morning when I take Nadia and Oliver for their 4 year/ 2 month check-ups. I am very grateful for her assistance! Another happy moment today was when Nadia learned how to buckle her own seatbelt. Woohoo!

The other thing that encouraged me today was that Paul (completely of his own initiative) decided to expand his radius a little regarding his job search. One of the tenure track positions (in VA) starts in January!!!! Wow!!! Another position (in WV) starts as a visiting professor position in January and is then a tenure track opening in the fall. I was very discouraged last Friday when he didn't meet the deadline for his first application, especially as he thought that was where he had the best chance of success (of the first three he had decided to apply to). Up until today he hadn't spoken of applying for any positions that would start in January. At the moment I think he's planning to apply for 3 positions in PA, 1 in NY, 1 in WV, 1 in VA, and possibly 1 in RI. In terms of the weather, VA sounds the most appealing to me, but we shall see where we end up.

Wish List

Some are truly just "wishful thinking":

1. I wish there was a way to buy clothes that had shorter (long) sleeves. This isn't an issue in the summer, but when it's time to wear long sleeve clothes, I have this problem. The size that fits Nadia and Ian in terms of the length of their torso is not the size that fits in terms of the length of the sleeves. Because I don't want their bellies to be hanging out, I have to roll their sleeves. I am very grateful for pants with an adjustable waist as otherwise size 24m/2T pants wouldn't fit Ian yet (even though he's almost 3).

2. I wish there was a pizza restaurant that had drive-thru. Our favorite pizza place is within close walking distance of where Nadia has ballet. Yesterday I put the large double stroller in the van (the one I usually only use for going to the park) as I thought I could carry Oliver in the Weego and put the pizza boxes on the top (canopy) part of the stroller with Ian in the stroller while Nadia was in her class. This plan did work, but it was exhausting getting 2 large pizzas from the restaurant to the van especially as the restaurant has steps (no ramp). Maybe this will force me to learn to make pizza from scratch. It might be easier than picking up pizzas that someone else made. It would definitely be cheaper.

Some I am going to try to make reality:

1. Thus far in 2012 I have paid for only one haircut, and that was on February 3rd. In April I got a free haircut at the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey, and Wendy cut my hair at the hospital in July. Normally I get my hair cut about every 7-8 weeks at a salon. I really, really want a haircut. I am going to call and make an appointment for one in the evening or on Saturday. I have been trying so hard not to make any demands on Paul's time due to his lengthy to do list, but my hair is driving me crazy.

2. On Saturday we spent one hour at the mall while the Prius was serviced at Sears (very long overdue oil change and tire rotation - the car also suffered during my time of bed rest). Ian sat on different rides while Nadia and I enjoyed a treat from Dairy Queen (using a coupon of course), but I did also do a little bit of shopping for the kids at Sears. It was the first time I bought something in a mall in five months. I am by no means a shopaholic, but that brief bit of shopping did heighten my desire to shop the clearance racks and consignment shops. It was fun to let the kids help pick out a new shirt. I'd love to have a little kid free shopping time or just take Oliver with me.

3. I'd love to go on a date with Paul. It's been 5 months since our last date.

4. Mow the lawn. This happened today! I was going to do it last night when Paul came home from school, but I forgot that it gets dark much earlier these days, and Paul hasn't been getting home until 7pm most nights lately. I took the baby monitor out with me (and used earbuds so I could hear Oliver breathing over the lawn mower) and mowed while Oliver and Ian napped and Nadia was in her room playing (quiet time). I almost finished before Oliver woke up. I finished during his next nap while Nadia and Ian played in the fenced in area. The grass really needed mowing. I also trimmed a few hedges (with regular clippers not the new one). There's a LOT more work to be done outside, but I made progress. Our neighbor probably appreciates it because they just put their house on the market this week.

5. I am thankful that Ian has learned to chew. I now wish he would learn to eat without fussing and crying. It's utterly exhausting. If I were to cave in and feed him myself, meals would be a million times more peaceful, but he is almost 3 years old and needs to learn to feed himself. For whatever reason, he doesn't like to do it. Nadia is doing a bit better, but she also cries a lot during some meals. Thankfully she recently learned she likes peas as well as tuna noodle casserole. Progress. Meals are definitely the least favorite part of my day.

Some I'm praying about:

1. I wish I would know that Paul will have an income and health insurance for the family starting in January before I resign from my position. I really want to stay at home with my three kids, but part of me thinks I should teach another semester. I wish there was a post doc or adjunct position he could start in January.

2. I also am praying for a tenure track job offer for him that would start next fall. He hasn't submitted any applications yet. Have I mentioned before that being a procrastinator and a perfectionist is a deadly combination? These next 2 months are going to be really stressful for us. I am also worried about whether he'll meet the deadline to defend his dissertation in early December. I am trying to cast my cares and pray about these worries as stressing myself out does no one any good.

3. I wish Oliver would sleep better at night. This morning I had to wake him up at 11am, and I absolutely could not get him to stay awake even until noon. I usually keep him up longer that that after feedings during the day. He fell asleep lying on his back in the gym. I picked him up and was bouncing him on my knee and doing various things to wake him up. Wasn't happening. He was totally out of it. It seemed SO ironic because at night it's the opposite. I work so very hard to get him to go to sleep. Paul helped me out at 10:30pm so I did get 6 hours of sleep last night plus a little more while he was sleeping on me. I have been trying so hard the last 5 weeks to make the days and nights different. I only have a nightlight on in his room during the night. I stick to the eat, awake, sleep rotation during the day. During the day I change his diaper before every feeding. I change his diaper only every other feeding during the night. The good news is that he *can* sleep in his bed. It's nice that it's so easy during the day. I can even put him down awake during the day.

Finally

I wish I could say that I finally got a good night's sleep last night. Alas, even though I went to bed at 8:15pm and got up at 6:00am, I still only got about 5.5 hours of sleep. If I had gone to bed at 7:45pm and Nadia didn't keep me up for awhile due to a coughing fit that lead to her throwing up, I would have been able to sleep for 7 hours. Oliver's stretches of sleep in the night used to be 2-3 hours long. They were as short as 45 minutes last night. Motherhood can certainly be very exhausting at times! Today I was finally able to tackle the basement. It has been on my mental to do list since we came home on September 2, but other things kept taking priority. Let me tell you the basement was an utter disaster. It really, really, really bothered me every time I had to go down there and get something. During one of Oliver's naps, I took Nadia and Ian down with me. They were happy to come because there are toys stored down there (some that are geared for under the age of 2 and others just because we don't have room for them upstairs).  Even though they were making a mess (pulling toys off the shelves), I was able to accomplish quite a bit. I am not saying everything is perfectly organized down there now, but I will say it's 1,000 times better than it was yesterday. When the boys had their afternoon nap and Nadia was having her quiet time, I went down and put away the toys they had strewn over the floor. I am so relieved that I won't feel like screaming the next time I go down to retrieve something like say a jar of applesauce. It takes time to get the house back in shape after 14 weeks of bed rest and hospitalizations, especially when you're caring for 3 little ones and not getting much sleep.

It does crack me up at times as to how Paul and I view things so differently. A few weeks ago on the way home from Ian's feeding appointment, I stopped at Sears and picked up a gas powered hedge trimmer Paul had ordered while Oliver was in the NICU. It stayed in the back of the van for a few days, and then Paul brought it in and put it *drumroll, please* on the dining room table. I realize it was still in its box, and we rarely eat in that room, but in my opinion a hedge trimmer has no business being in a formal dining room. As soon as I saw where it had been placed, I moved it to the garage, and then a few days later I moved it to our shed in the backyard with our other lawn equipment. One other example would be where to put his hoodie. He used to put in on the back of a kitchen chair when he came home at night. I'd then hang it in the coat closet. So he started hanging on a dining room chair instead. I continued to then hang it in the coat closet until he expressed annoyance that I was doing this. I guess Paul doesn't like coat closets. Well the other four members of the family won;t be using a chair for our outerwear.

1 + 2 + 3

One television plus two 1:00 football games (Giants and Steelers) plus three children ages four and under made for a zany three hours in our house yesterday afternoon. During the previous weeks our teams weren't playing at the same time. There are many times that Nadia plays independently for long periods of time, or Nadia and Ian will play together. Yesterday Nadia chose to stay near us and ask a million times if the game was over because I promised to finish reading an abridged version of the Chronicles of Narnia after the game was over. My game went down to the wire. We won the game with a field goal as the time expired. One nice thing about only having one tv is that we were all together. In the past Paul would watch the game in our bedroom if both our games were on at the same time. To add to the craziness, I was also chatting on the phone with my Dad (fellow Steeler fan) throughout the game. It's our tradition to enjoy the games together even though we're 3.5 hours apart. I havven't been watching any tv aside from Steeler football so I did really want to watch my game. Paul still watches Netflix dvd's as well as the news each evening. I'm not ready to sacrifice sleep for the tv, which means I probably won't watch much of the game on Thursday nught.

Last night was a tough one for me. It's harder for me to handle the sleep deprivation since I am sick. At 3:30am I asked Paul to help as I had been up since 1:50 (and also had been up at 11:15). I only got 5.5 hours of sleep last night. Ironically, he was sleeping too long this morning. I had to wake him up at 11:00am. I did get a little nap, which helped. My nap would have been 45minutes long if Nadia had cooperated as that was the overlap between Oliver and Ian's naps. I'm planning to go to bed at 8pm tonight. Hopefully I'll get more sleep! Tomorrow I have an 8am dentist appt. It will be my first for 2012 as I didn't make it to my appointment on May 30 due to being in the hospital. It's amazing to me to think that the last time I was at the dentist I wasn't even pregnant, and now I already have a 2 month old at home.

 

2 Months Old

Dear Oliver,

You are my sweet little doll baby, and today you turned two months old. If you came on your due date, you'd be four days old. When I hold you, I feel like I'm holding a small doll, although you are certainly growing as you now weigh 5lb 9oz! Over the past five days you gained four ounces so you are staying pretty close to the one ounce a day goal. In the NICU your head fit within just the palm of my hand. Now my entire hand is used to hold your sweet head. You still wear preemie size clothing. I never bought Pampers diapers for your siblings, but I've been using Pampers preemie diapers for you. Later this month I'll switch to Luvs newborn size diapers. Some preemie clothing is starting to get too short for you, and some preemie clothing is still too big for you mainly due to your tiny little waist. You did wear a newborn size onesie for the first time today. Your little waist also translates to some poop escaping your diaper a few times a week.

You are so, so loved. When your siblings came home from the hospital, they were loved by two people - their parents. When you came home, you had four people showering their adoration and love on you all throughout the day. Your siblings talk to you and ask to hold you all day long. I took them to the mall yesterday to get Paul's car's oil changed, and the whole time we were there they both kept talking about you and asking why I hadn't brought you along. I pray that they will always love you as much as they do now, and I pray that some day you will love them in return. Your journey into our arms was a difficult one for our whole family, but now that we have been together at home as a family of five for exactly five weeks, we can't imagine life without you!

You look just like your big sister. For now your hair is brown, and your eyes are blue. You stick out your tongue like your big brother. Many people have referred to your long fingers as "piano fingers." You suck your thumb like your big sister. You spit up more than Nadia did and a lot less than Ian did. Your umbilical hernia is much worse than your siblings experienced. You have a blocked tear duct in your right eye. You're still on oxygen, but you are no longer taking the two medications you've been on for almost all your life.

 You make lots of little noises while you sleep. Your siblings think you're crying, and your daddy thinks you're about to wake up, but Mommy knows you're just making your little sounds. You go to sleep pretty easily during the day. Aside from when you sleep in the Weego when I'm walking to the playground, I try to have you always sleep in your crib. You are held most of the time when you're awake. You definitely are a much better sleeper (at this stage anyhow) than either of your siblings. The longest stretch you go at night is 3 hours, but that's about as long as you should sleep since you still need to nurse many times a day to gain weight. After you nurse, I give you a bottle. I'm hoping over the next month to wean you off the shield and also the bottle. It's very hard to get you to burp at times, and sometimes at night it takes up to 2 hours to get you back to sleep. I'm hoping to cut that time down so I can get more sleep. We look forward to getting to know you more and more over the coming months and years. You are such a precious gift to our family!

Pledge of Allegiance

Runaway Shopping Cart!

Yesterday I took all three kids grocery shopping with me for the first time. Over the last few weeks I've gone shopping when Paul was home (evening or weekend) and have only taken one or two kids with me. We left shortly after Oliver fell asleep and this venture was short enough that he slept until we returned home. Many times he wakes up when I put him back in the car bed and screams the whole way home. It's heartbreaking to hear him cry so I was very glad that he didn't wake up until I took him out of the car bed to go back in our house. The trip went smoothly, but that was only due to the intervention of a "good Samaritan." After parking the van, I went and got a shopping cart and brought it back to the van. I put Ian in the front of the cart and pushed the cart up against the van. Nadia climbed out and was standing right beside the cart. I told her to stay right there. Then I went in the back row of the minivan (I really dislike climbing back there) and got Oliver. I was sitting in Nadia's booster seat (middle row) putting Oliver in the Weego when I saw the shopping cart start to move. I screamed and wanted to jump out of the van to stop it, but I hadn't moved Oliver's oxygen yet. I had to go in the back seat to grab his oxygen (since he was attached to it) before I could exit the van. At that point the shopping cart had traveled too far (the parking lot is not level so they were gaining speed going a little bit downhill) for me to be able to catch up with it. Thankfully another woman who was putting groceries into her car near us saw Nadia and Ian careening through the parking lot and ran and caught their cart. They enjoyed their ride. I thought it was going to be a very expensive grocery trip if I had to pay the damages our cart did to whatever vehicle the cart collided with. I was ever so grateful for this woman's help. What happened was Nadia had climbed on the front of the cart (was standing on it) and that was what caused the cart to move. Now I know to put Oliver in the Weego first and then go get the shopping cart. The reason I did it the other way around was because it's challenging for me to lift Ian up while Oliver is in the Weego.

As I think you can tell, I love being a mom. One of the more challenging things about motherhood is that you don't get any sick days. I had a fever yesterday and ached All Over. As the day went on my fever went higher to the point I had the chills. It was challening to take care of three little ones with a fever, splitting headache, etc. To top it off, Paul left before the kids got up and he got home after they were in bed. I was on my own with them for 14 hours. I went to bed at 8pm under a blanket, comforter, sheet, and quilt. My fever broke sometime during the night.

This week one of the things I worked on teaching Nadia was the Pledge. I'll post a video of her saying it this morning.

Thankful Thursday

1. Oliver slept in his crib the past two nights!!! WOOOHOO! Last night between the hours of 9pm and 6:30am he slept about 7 hours total (in between feedings). That translates to me getting MUCH more sleep than I have been getting lately. I actually think that he (at 8 weeks old anyhow) is our best sleeper of the three kids. We're in a good groove at the moment. He definitely does better with taking his naps upstairs rather than in the pack n play downstairs. I only did it the other way because of the large oxygen tank, but we're down to small tanks anyhow (the large ones are empty) so it's no extra hassle to take him upstairs. It's also MUCH easier on my back for me to change his diaper upstairs. It hurt me so badly to change it while he was in the pack n play. The longer naps during the day (longer than Nadia or Ian took) also help me to get more housework done and have more time to spend with Nadia and Ian as they get less time with me than usual due to the time I spend nursing, pumping, bottle feeding, and burping Oliver every day.

2. Ian is also doing well with sleeping in his bed. He seems to be over this "fear of the dark" that he had for awhile recently. His naps vary in length, but now it seems to be a case of he naps for as long as his body needs to sleep. A 30-45 minute nap is rare these days, but still it happens from time to time. On Tuesday night he slept 13 hours (until 9am!) so a short nap on Wednesday was fine by me. Most days his nap seems to be from 1-2 hours long with 60-90 minutes being the norm. My first born son can finaly take a decent nap. It took 2.5 years to get to this point, but we are now there! Putting him to bed at night and also down at naps is back to being no big deal. Whew. Of course on the day I type this he doesn't take a nap at all, which has never happened over the past month. I decided to let him have a quiet time in his room. I don't think today will become the norm.

3. I "gave up" on working on night time potty training and then last week he woke up dry 5 out 7 mornings. This week he has woken up dry 3 out of 5 days thus far, and one of the mornings he woke up with a wet diaper he had a later than usual dinner and then slept 13 hours straight so it would have been a miracle to stay dry in that scenario. I haven't been putting underwear on under his diapers. Maybe I should try that again? I am confused, but I am pleased that he's only using a couple of diapers a week now. It's progress, right?

4. Paul is in the process of submitting four applications for tenure track jobs for next fall in chemistry. One application is due tomorrow. Three of the positions are in PA, and one is in NY. Four professors agreed to write him letters of recommendation (two from PSU, one from Poland, and one from South Carolina). After the application is submitted tomorrow, he has to get back on track with submitting his article to the Journal of Physical Chemistry and also finish his dissertation so that he can defend it in early December. He had a presentation on campus on Tuesday that went well. To say that Paul has a lot on his plate right now would be an understatement. He got a letter last week saying he's up for jury duty. Hopefully that won't happen until January as he's way too busy right now for jury duty! I'm very grateful that he has started to apply for jobs. I am praying for a job for him in January as well as in August. It's easy to get stressed about both of us being unemployed. I have to keep reminding myself that God is in control!

5. I got word this week that I'll be getting the almost $300 I overpaid toward our health insurance in July back in my next paycheck (in 2 weeks). I also found out I am able to use two more paid leave days this week (sick family leave). My unpaid leave starts on Monday (which means my next paycheck is potentially my last one ever from this university if I actually do resign).

6. Nadia still loves Cubbies. Ian also wanted to go with her, which pleased and surprised me. He's too young as he won't be 3 until December 12. He'll start next September.

7. Nadia is doing SOOO much better at ballet than she did last year.

8. We haven't had any doctor appointments this week! I worried on Monday that Oliver had pink eye because his right eye was red and puffy for a few hours, but it's much better now. I hurt my left eye on Tuesday night. I slammed my eye into a metal pole (the handle for Oliver's large oxygen tank). I will say eyes are far more resilient than I ever would have guessed. I thought I might never see out of that eye again. Part of my eyeball is still red. The impact knocked the contact right out of my eye. I haven't put one back in since then. Yesterday a sharp pain would come everytime I turned my eye to the left. Today the pain has been a lot less. Nadia was so worried on Tuesday when I said I thought I needed to see a doctor. She thought that meant I'd be away from home for days again. I tried to reassure her that if I went to the doctor I full expected to come back home that night. I am very grateful that I didn't do any serious damage to my eye.

9. The weather has been so pretty this week. We've gone to the playground three of the last four days.

10. It has now been a full week since Oliver had a bad nursing day. It *seems* those days are behind us. Now to figure out how to get him to the point where I don't need to give him a bottle of pumped milk after I nurse him. I'm also grateful that he gained 11.5 ounces over a period of 14 days. It's not totally up to the ideal standard of one ounce a day, but it's pretty close. He's not gaining weight as quickly as Nadia did at this age, but he's gaining weight much faster than Ian did at this age.

11. On Tuesday when I weighed myself I saw I had lost 4 pounds over the previous 11 days. I would be even more excited about this if it weren't for the fact that over the previous 4 weeks before that I had gained 7 lbs. When I set my goal of losing 15 lbs I didn't know I had gained 7 lbs. I'd like to lose 20 more pounds altogether, but I don't expect that I'll keep losing it this quickly. I'll be happy if I lose 5 pounds a month.