Sick But Smart

D. is sick again with a nasty cold.  I had a feeling he was coming down with something yesterday because whenever he is getting sick, the bedtime routine is BAD.  Torturously bad meaning that while I'm trying to wash I.'s hair or comb it out or braid it, D. is being as naughty as he can be.  I call it the Pinball Gremlin routine because he literally goes from one thing he knows he's not supposed to do, to the next thing to the next thing and then repeats over and over again as I get more frustrated and sweaty.  Yesterday he went from opening drawers all the way to unrolling the toliet paper to opening up the toilet to pulling on the toliet flusher to messing with his sister's jewelry case, this last one on his tippy tippy toes.  Let me say this first, I have childproofed the cabinets in the bathroom but not the drawers because there isn't anything unsafe in the drawers; it's just that he keeps pulling them all the way out that I have a problem with.  Yes, I did get a toliet lock but it doesn't work with our toliet lid; it actually prevent the lid from closing so not too helpful there.  My solution last night to his antics was to park I. on top of the toliet so he couldn't open the lid and put her in charge of thwarting toliet flushing and jewelry case antics.  I, while combing through her hair which is for some reason snarling like crazy these days, would systematically balance on one leg while blocking drawers with my other leg and took the toliet paper off the roll to stop that annoyance.

Yet somehow he just continued getting into trouble, slipping on the rug leading to banging his head into the wall which erupted into howls at the top of his lungs.  Meanwhile, I. was lamenting loudly about all the negative aspects of having a little brother.  It almost got to be too much and all I wanted was to throw them both in their beds and collapse on the couch downstairs.  We made it through, albeit not as gracefully as I would have like and definitely a lot more sweatier.  So when he woke up crying last night and I could hear the congestion, I wasn't surprised.

On the smart side of things, D. continues to surprise me with things he understands.   I mean, he's only 15, almost 16 months old.  But all of a sudden he's doing sign language back to me - cat, dog, bird, airplane, more, please, frog.  Also, he likes to go outside on the patio to play and was gesturing to me that he wanted to go out there.  I was cleaning up the kitchen and I told him we would as soon as I went to the bathroom.  Well do you know that little guy immediately left the kitchen and went and opened the bathroom door for me and waited?  Lastly, I don't talk on the phone hardly at all when the kids are around because to be honest, it's usually just not worth the aggravation that typically ensues.  On Wednesdays, I talk to my mom while he's down for a nap and sometimes we're not done when it's time to get him up so he has seen my earpiece maybe once a week.  Yesterday he was rummaging through the diaper bag pockets, another one of his favorite activities, and discovered my earpiece.  He ran over to me with it in his hand and then stuck it in his ear.  This kid was alert and observant from the moment he came out so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Gotta run and get D. up and I. from school.  Also need to keep hydrating since I foresee a good possibility that it's going to be another sweaty bedtime hour.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had fun during Thanksgiving vacation.  We went to the Zoo but didn't see much and then headed to the Wild Animal Park the next day and enjoyed seeing various animals and a soft serve cone.  It was D.'s first time walking in the petting zoo and he went and gave each goat a head butt (kiss D. style) just as his sister did 6 years ago.  Head butts must be in our genetic double helix.

Thanksgiving Day went well - in the morning, I. and I baked pumpkin bread to take to Bubbi and Bobbi's house for breakfast while she was there for the long weekend and then made a side dish for Thanksgiving dinner.  Unfortunately V. was not feeling well at all and his back was killing him.  B. had to work so the girls couldn't make it down for the day, a first since V. and I have been together.  I made D. a full scale Thanksgiving plate with turkey, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie and he ate all of it.  Unbelievable!

I. stayed at Bubbi and Bobbi's house for the weekend, enjoying both a Legoland and Zoo visit while D. enjoyed his only child status for the weekend.  V. and I. took him to a park one day, out for linner another day and enjoyed a date night as well.  I swear if D. had been our first we would have had a second kid soon thereafter - he's that easy.

UNTIL...this morning I dropped the pre-morning 8:45am feeding.  I've been dropping a feeding about once a month since he turned a year.  Actually not because I really want to which makes it worse.  But because I've read that weaning after 18 months is not good developmentally and because V. may score on a week long trip to Puerto Rico (really, it had to be Puerto Rico?) in February if he makes all of his annual financial goals which is a big deal.  So I've been feeling a little under the gun.  This morning I cut out (I hate the term "cut out") D.'s morning nap nursing (8:40am) figuring that he had just had a good size morning nursing at 6:45am, so maybe it wouldn't be a big deal.  Well, it was for both of us.  We took I. to school and instead of coming home and nestling in the chair for a nursing and then nap, I read 2 books to him, swaddled him, sang to him and then put him down to sleep.  He looked up at me with this shocked look but remained silent until after I left the room and he realized I was gone.  Then he cried. By then I was already crying because things felt so incomplete, so not right.  Thankfully he cried for a little while and then went to sleep.

However, after we went grocery shopping this morning and I fed him lunch, he melted down, crying inconsolably and getting so angry at the sippy cup that I had to hide it away.  I gave up on eating lunch and we just did things that put him physically against me, snuggling and playing.  When it was time for afternoon nap, he was wiped out and when I nursed him, his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell asleep.  For him, I think it's more of a sucking thing than an emotional thing.  I truly hope that tomorrow will go a little better.

I's School Birthday Party

I. enjoyed her class birthday party at the YMCA. 

Festive birthday cake:

Daddy lighting the candles because D. was melting down due to no rest/nap the day before and Mommy was having to baby carry him while he took a mini 30 minute nap.  Normally not a big deal but Momma was suffering with sickness.

Most importantly is that I. had a really fun time.  No birthday meltdowns just pure happiness.

Afterwards, Uncle A. and his girlfriend A. came over for birthday gifts and fun since they couldn't make it to the family party.  Opening gifts and playing with them was a perfect end to the birthday weekend!

I.'s Family Birthday Party Memories

Pictures from I.'s family birthday party.  It was just my parents and D, V, and I but it was a good time nonetheless and pretty relaxed.  Good thing since I was sick and in agony with a strep throat kind of sore throat.

Momma and the birthday girl

Peek a boo!

Bubbi, I. and Bobbi

Momma's homemade cake

Ready to blow out 7 candles!

Maturing

I won't do the details and pictures on I.'s birthday party today because I am sicker than a dog today and there is still tomorrow's party to have.  But I did want to do a short blog because I realized something today.  Even though I was feeling so sick, I still felt joy while decorating this morning with I.  I was tired but I was still taking pleasure in climbing up chairs and counters hanging decorations and streamers as she was envisioning.  When she was opening her presents, I still felt such happiness watching her excitement.  And even tonight after the kids are in bed and I'm feeling like crap, I feel content.

So I realized that I have matured, not just as an adult which I did awhile ago, but as a parent.  First comes infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and then parenthood.  Parenthood maturity means that no matter what... I can be tired, sick, or worse but if I see my children truly happy and excited, I get caught up in that joy and leave whatever physical ailment behind.  That progress makes me happy.

I. Turns Seven

This day seven years ago, I became a mommy more specifically I.'s mommy.  What a special title to be blessed with...one that I always figured would happen but as the years ticked by, I wondered if it would ever would come about.

But thankfully it did and since that first time I held her, I have loved my baby girl.

During the middle of the night feedings with her, I would pray for all the things I wished for her and her life.  I may no longer have those nighttime feedings with her but I still pray for many of the same things for her along with some more specific things that she's working on.  She is a great kid and as we found out today at parent/teacher conferences, she is known for being kind to everyone at school and is well liked.

I'm having a hard time writing tonight because I am really feeling sick and I have been since Tuesday.  Every morning I wake up hoping that I will feel better only to make it to 9am and realize that I need to lie down while D. is napping if there is to be any hope of making it through until his afternoon nap.  There has been so much to do in preparation for I.'s birthday:  making cupcakes to take to I.'s class today, birthday cake and lunch baking for her party tomorrow and taking care of last minute details for her class party on Sunday.  All this with a brutal sore throat, exhaustion, earache, sneezing and dry cough.  Plus my oven isn't working properly causing baking disasters and extra cooking and aggravation the last 2 days and then of course the bracket holding the entire garage door assembly shirred off late this afternoon, leading to a hectic and exhausting bedtime session of me juggling the kids and calling for service (can't have an open garage door all weekend) while V. was seeing if he could fix it.  I've really got to go to bed early tonight and pray that I feel better, even just a little bit, so that I can enjoy I.'s family party tomorrow as much as possible.