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Wednesday, August 5, 2009
break-through weekend
After taking care of both of the kids it was inevitable that I was going to get sick. (Thankfully Tyler didn't.) Last Friday I had a temp of 102.6 — fever, chills, body aches, sore throat — the whole 9 yards. I forced myself to go to work for a little bit but just couldn't make it. Tyler came home with the kids and Amelia said, "Mommy, I have to apologize to you....I'm sorry I got you sick" and gave me the biggest hug. This was a step in the right direction. She even took a nap at school!
My mom came in town that night and got to spend some time with the kids. She gave Oliver a bath for me and put him to bed and she sang with Amelia as they watched The Sound of Music. It was a really nice night.
Tyler and I were afraid to get too relaxed, not knowing if Amelia was going to come at us again with her behavioral issues. That night I thanked Amelia for being such a good girl. She crawled into bed and told me, "See Mom, I brought Good Amelia Grace back. I told you I would."
That child is just too smart for her own good.
The rest of the weekend went wonderfully! She took 3-hour long naps, slept great at night, was a good listener, and was very helpful all weekend. She was a little strange though — she didn't want to go outside to play, refused to go to the park and didn't want to ride her bike — all of her favorite things to do. She said she just wanted to sit on the couch and listen to music. So we did. On Sunday evening we made dinner and took it to the park — she had fun afterall.
My mom came in town that night and got to spend some time with the kids. She gave Oliver a bath for me and put him to bed and she sang with Amelia as they watched The Sound of Music. It was a really nice night.
Tyler and I were afraid to get too relaxed, not knowing if Amelia was going to come at us again with her behavioral issues. That night I thanked Amelia for being such a good girl. She crawled into bed and told me, "See Mom, I brought Good Amelia Grace back. I told you I would."
That child is just too smart for her own good.
The rest of the weekend went wonderfully! She took 3-hour long naps, slept great at night, was a good listener, and was very helpful all weekend. She was a little strange though — she didn't want to go outside to play, refused to go to the park and didn't want to ride her bike — all of her favorite things to do. She said she just wanted to sit on the couch and listen to music. So we did. On Sunday evening we made dinner and took it to the park — she had fun afterall.
Bad attitude
It started with Amelia acting out, not napping at school and being a genuinely bad kid. Even the teachers at school were telling us that they felt sorry for us. Then 4am one morning Amelia wakes up screaming, "I can't breathe." She felt like she was on fire. She had a temp of 102 and was coughing uncontrollably. I took Oliver to school that day and stayed with Amelia. Typically when she's sick she just wants to sit on the couch and cuddle. THIS TIME WAS DIFFERENT. She was a PUNK! As her cough worsened so did her attitude. So what's a parent to do? Give in. And so, within reason, we did. BIG MISTAKE. That child knows how to take advantage of you and any situation. You give her an inch and she takes 10 miles!
That same weekend Oliver came down with a fever too. And then a rash. Turns out he had Roseola ... and so did a handful of other kids in his classroom. By the time the rash comes out he's no longer contagious. He did really well the whole time actually. He didn't eat as much as normal but he was still my happy baby.
Amelia stayed home from school a few more days. Her fever broke but she didn't look the greatest and her cough was awful. And she was becoming more difficult to handle. Nothing made this child happy. Nothing. You can imagine the tension in our house that week — we weren't very pleasant to be around. She wasn't sleeping which meant we weren't sleeping. I gave in one night and put her in bed with me. She was up every 45 minutes. It was miserable.
When she finally went back to school she was misbehaving there too — more than usual. Tyler and I even discussed possibly needing to call a therapist...for her AND us.
She was so terrible some nights that she was going to bed at 6:30 — and without dinner. We felt like failures.
Then one night as I was putting her to bed I explained to her that mommy and daddy were very sad and that we missed our Good Amelia Grace. That we were tired of seeing Bad Amelia Grace. That we used to have so much fun with Good Amelia Grace and we hoped that one day she'd come back. That little stinker sat up in bed and said, "I can bring her back. I can bring Good Amelia Grace back, mommy." and leaned over and gave me a hug. Damn she's good.
That same weekend Oliver came down with a fever too. And then a rash. Turns out he had Roseola ... and so did a handful of other kids in his classroom. By the time the rash comes out he's no longer contagious. He did really well the whole time actually. He didn't eat as much as normal but he was still my happy baby.
Amelia stayed home from school a few more days. Her fever broke but she didn't look the greatest and her cough was awful. And she was becoming more difficult to handle. Nothing made this child happy. Nothing. You can imagine the tension in our house that week — we weren't very pleasant to be around. She wasn't sleeping which meant we weren't sleeping. I gave in one night and put her in bed with me. She was up every 45 minutes. It was miserable.
When she finally went back to school she was misbehaving there too — more than usual. Tyler and I even discussed possibly needing to call a therapist...for her AND us.
She was so terrible some nights that she was going to bed at 6:30 — and without dinner. We felt like failures.
Then one night as I was putting her to bed I explained to her that mommy and daddy were very sad and that we missed our Good Amelia Grace. That we were tired of seeing Bad Amelia Grace. That we used to have so much fun with Good Amelia Grace and we hoped that one day she'd come back. That little stinker sat up in bed and said, "I can bring her back. I can bring Good Amelia Grace back, mommy." and leaned over and gave me a hug. Damn she's good.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
"You can't pull your head off your body. It's attached."
Actual sentence said by Amelia this morning to Tyler as he drove her to school.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Ash Cave
The weekend brought us beautiful fall-like weather! We just had to take advantage of it so we took off early Saturday morning and headed to Hocking Hills for a little hike in nature. It was nice to be out of the concrete jungle and into the fresh air.
The little thing up above in the pink pants is Amelia...she was headed off on her own nature walk.
The week in review...
When he's well rested he LOVES to kick around on his jungle playmat.
First of all, yes, he is laying on a pink swaddle. It was his sister's. I see no reason to buy another one just because it's pink. He will never know the difference!________________________________
We officially made it through our first week with mom and dad both at work. All in all it wasn't so bad. Oliver seems to be adjusting rather well at daycare and Amelia loves being the big sister who gets to check on lil' brother twice a day!
Oliver is still struggling with all the loud noises in his classroom and has trouble sleeping for long periods of time, but he seems rather happy nonetheless.
Oliver is officially on a nighttime schedule! I take him to his room around 6:45 and he's usually asleep by 7:30 and wakes up around 5 or 6 am but then goes right back to bed after he's fed. Some nights he'll wake up at 3:45 though...those seem to be the nights that he didn't get a good day of napping. The more rested he is during the day, the better he sleeps at night.
Daddy swimming with his little girl at Granny's pool.
Daddy and Oliver at Hoggy's. Notice the grip Ollie has on dad's finger — it's just the sweetest.
The kids with Nanny on her 80th birthday!Tuesday, July 14, 2009
I feel like Wonder Woman
DAYCARE: Today was Oliver's first day at daycare. It was easier than with Amelia but only because I already knew the teachers and was comfortable with how it would all go. I still called 4 times just to check in on him — he actually took 3 naps and ate like a champ! Only once had he taken all 4 ounces of a bottle for me and today he took three 4-ounce bottles. I'm guessing food was his comfort today.
THE PHONE CALL: Around 2pm Tyler called and he was headed home with a nasty case of food poisoning. I knew that most likely meant I'd have to do our nightly routine without the help of Tyler (and that's a lot because Tyler does half, if not more, of the daily duties — I couldn't ask for a better partner.)
THE PICK-UP: I got the kids at school and thankfully they were both in great moods, that is until I told Amelia that she couldn't take her blankie home with her because that was her school blanket. I even made up a story that after all the kids and grown-ups go home and the lights are turned off all the blankets got up and had a dance party and if she took her blankie home her poor blanket would have to miss the party. She didn't care — until I got both kids settled in the car and then she decided she felt bad that her blankie would have to miss the party and she wanted to take her back inside. It was too late though.
THE HOME FRONT: I made Amelia dinner and let her watch Annie as she ate, I played with Oliver, cleaned up his spit-up, washed all the bottles from the day, cleaned up the kitchen, took the kids outside so I could grill the pork chops I had marinating all day, played catch with Amelia as Ollie sat in his bouncy chair, took the kids inside, wrapped up my pork chop, took Oliver to his room to feed him and put him to bed, got Amelia grapes and a treat for being such a good girl and helpful big sister, gave her a bath, brushed her teeth, read her stories, said prayers and put her to bed. I then ate my pork chop standing at the kitchen counter; put the grill away.
It was a great feeling knowing that I could do our evening rush by myself, if need be. I know that for most moms this is their typical evening and they never get the help I do. It also made me realize, even more, just how lucky I am to have Tyler.
THE PHONE CALL: Around 2pm Tyler called and he was headed home with a nasty case of food poisoning. I knew that most likely meant I'd have to do our nightly routine without the help of Tyler (and that's a lot because Tyler does half, if not more, of the daily duties — I couldn't ask for a better partner.)
THE PICK-UP: I got the kids at school and thankfully they were both in great moods, that is until I told Amelia that she couldn't take her blankie home with her because that was her school blanket. I even made up a story that after all the kids and grown-ups go home and the lights are turned off all the blankets got up and had a dance party and if she took her blankie home her poor blanket would have to miss the party. She didn't care — until I got both kids settled in the car and then she decided she felt bad that her blankie would have to miss the party and she wanted to take her back inside. It was too late though.
THE HOME FRONT: I made Amelia dinner and let her watch Annie as she ate, I played with Oliver, cleaned up his spit-up, washed all the bottles from the day, cleaned up the kitchen, took the kids outside so I could grill the pork chops I had marinating all day, played catch with Amelia as Ollie sat in his bouncy chair, took the kids inside, wrapped up my pork chop, took Oliver to his room to feed him and put him to bed, got Amelia grapes and a treat for being such a good girl and helpful big sister, gave her a bath, brushed her teeth, read her stories, said prayers and put her to bed. I then ate my pork chop standing at the kitchen counter; put the grill away.
It was a great feeling knowing that I could do our evening rush by myself, if need be. I know that for most moms this is their typical evening and they never get the help I do. It also made me realize, even more, just how lucky I am to have Tyler.
Monday, July 13, 2009
We made it through
Today wasn't as bad as I thought it might be...probably because Oliver got to stay home with his Granny. Tomorrow will be the true test — it's Oliver's first day at daycare, or school as we call it for Amelia. He'll be at the same school as Amelia 3 days a week.
It's supposed to be easier with the second baby, and I guess it sort of is, but there's a certain uneasyness leaving your 3-month-old with someone other than family. Amelia promises that she'll check in on Oliver during the day though. And I am sure I will be calling at least 4 times to check in also.
It's supposed to be easier with the second baby, and I guess it sort of is, but there's a certain uneasyness leaving your 3-month-old with someone other than family. Amelia promises that she'll check in on Oliver during the day though. And I am sure I will be calling at least 4 times to check in also.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Back to work
I can't believe it. My maternity leave is up and I'm back to work tomorrow! I can't stand the thought of not being with my kids all day long. I don't really mind my work/job/office and I like most of my coworkers, it's just that I've grown really attached to being able to do more with my kids and running errands, getting stuff done around the house. Things were running smoothly (for the most part) and now we've got to figure this all out...again! Wish us luck.
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