The Rest of July

Recently, it seems like big sister K has become more needy.  Things she was willing to do when she was younger no longer holds true these days.  She always needs either M or myself to stay/play with her and she won't go anywhere in the house unless one of us went with her (i.e., to the bathroom, to get something from her room, etc).  Drop-off at daycare in the mornings has been unpredictable; at least half the times in a given week, she would break down crying as I am about to leave for work.  I feel like she is regressing emotionally, and through no change in routine at home.  Hopefully this is only a phase that she will grow out of soon.

Baby M started holding the bottle on his own at home last week (apparently, he's been doing it at daycare for a while now) and can clap his hands.  It's amazing seeing the different things he can do each day.  I was also told by his caregivers that he started scaling the book shelf at daycare on Friday.  Oh boy!

We went to play mini-golf at the Branchburg Family Golf Center last Saturday.  It was the first time we took big sister K (and baby M, obviously), and she had a blast... her baby brother, not so much since he was strapped to daddy the entire time.

Big sister K has been voluntarily praying before we eat dinner (we always ask her to choose who will be praying).  In addition to the regular items she thanks God for (i.e., the food; keeping us safe and healthy; mommy, daddy, big sister K, and baby M), she's also been adding her own twist to it.  Last Sunday, she gave thanks to God for letting her play with her cousins Jonah and Mebrat (we drove out to Chinatown and they accompanied her to the park).  When I told her she forgot about her cousin Elijah, she wanted to pray again and this time included Elijah.  Earlier this week, she thanked God for the outdoor concert we attended in our town, yesterday it was the swimming class she went to, and tonight, she thanked God for baby M waking up and sleeping and mommy (I said she prays for things on her own, I never said I always understood what it was).  Despite the periodic incoherent phrases and the grammatical errors, I am very proud of my little girl for extending her prayers all on her own.

We started giving puffs to baby M to eat for the first time today.  Can you tell he's enjoying it?  Given the option, this boy would be downing the food we eat rather than slurping the mush (a.k.a. baby food) we give him.  He stares and salivates every time he sees us put food in our mouth.  M has already given him bananas (real bananas) to try and he loves it.

Here's big sister K practicing her writing.  I love her pose with the crossing of the legs.

Me and my babies:

 

Mid-July Update

Baby M turned eight months a few days ago.  He's been busy crawling all over the place and is building up his leg muscles by standing now.  He can pull himself up while holding on to something and there's been a few occasions where he's taken a step or two, so I'm sure he will be cruising (and maybe even walking) in no time.

Earlier this week, baby M came down with a fever while at daycare.  I had to leave work early to pick him up.  He was in the nurse's office when I got there, and the second he saw me walk through the door, his face lit up, he grinned from cheek to cheek, and he instantly started crawling towards me.  At that moment, my heart totally melted.  No words could describe the love I felt and the emotions that ran through me.

Baby M's fever lingered into the evening; we eventually gave him ibuprofen to ease his discomfort and help him sleep better.  He couldn't go back to daycare the next day even though his fever went away (since their policy is to be 24 hours fever-free before returning), so he ended up spending his 8-month birthday at home with daddy.  I suspect teething is the cause of his illness.  Baby M has had a terrible runny nose for a few days now, along with phlegm in his throat that he can't seem to get rid of (which caused him to throw up several times after eating).  We've had to clean up more vomit these past few days than I care to remember.

Going back to two weeks ago... we made a late trip to Sesame Place on July 4th in the 90+ degree weather.  We got there around 4pm and only stayed for a few hours.  Big sister K and I enjoyed playing in the water while M and baby M tried to stay cool indoors where there was air conditioning.  We left before the evening parade started and stopped by Olive Garden for dinner.  On our way home, baby M started crying up a storm.  One thing I've come to realize - my boy does not like being stuck in the car when it is dark.  Every time we've had to drive home at night, he starts crying non-stop throughout the car ride, then five minutes before we get to our destination, he falls asleep.  I've grown accustomed to it (though that's not necessarily a good thing) and fortunately, big sister K can sleep through the noise.  Still, it's no fun hearing a baby scream for 45 minutes straight (or for an hour and a half if we're going home from my brother's place in midtown Manhattan).  Someone suggested I get a night light (or something similar) for the car.  Any other suggestions to spare our ears?

My Little Crawler

Baby M started crawling for the first time last Friday (6/22).  I was enticing him to move forward by placing a toy in front of him, and to my surprise, it worked!  Then last night, he pulled himself up into a standing position by grabbing onto the edge of his crib.  My baby's been keeping busy!  He's also been keeping mommy and daddy busy!  A few nights ago, he pulled a placemat from off the table where his baby food was sitting and the glass jar went shattering across the kitchen floor.  SIGH!  I can see this one causing havoc wherever he goes already.

I was running late for work yesterday and rushing to get out of the house.  As I was about to put the two munchkins in the car, big sister K insisted on taking a picture with her little brother.  I am so glad I acquiesced, otherwise I would never have been able to capture the photo below.  I think this was God's way of telling me to calm down and focus on what's important in my life.

My Little Drummer

Maybe I should've started big sister K on drum lessons instead of piano lessons.  We left some recent purchases of toilet tissue in the foyer, and big sister K took it upon herself to line them up side-by-side and pretend they're a drum set (kids' imagination... gotta love it!).  What's ironic is if you look at the video below, there's a box holding an actual drum set on the left-hand side.  We bought it for big sister K weeks ago (will be her birthday present in a few months time) and never put it away.  We're lucky big sister K hasn't noticed the box and started asking about it.

My apologies for the shakiness in the video.  I was holding baby M while filming and trying to prevent him from snatching the camera.

Play Date at Sesame

Call us crazy, but MH and I took big sister K and NH (her son) to Sesame Place on Thursday in 100 degree weather.  I had already taken the day off and we scheduled the trip weeks ago, so we went as planned and dropped the little siblings off at daycare that morning before heading out.  Despite the heat, the kids had a great time and didn't want to leave.

Baby M's First Sick Visit

Baby M had his first sick visit to the doctor this past Monday.  Over the weekend, he developed a fever and threw up a couple of times.  My poor baby was up the whole night going into Saturday (as were M and I).  The acetaminophen we gave him did little to relieve his fever and M ended up making a trip to Walgreen's at 3am to pick up some ibuprofen.  Baby M finally got a good four hours of sleep at 4am once the medicine kicked in (also probably because he as exhausted from all the crying).

Our plans to enjoy Saturday as a family went by the wayside as we were forced to divide and conquer: I stayed home with baby M while M kept big sister K entertained outdoors, where they spent the late afternoon at the North Brunswick Youth Sports Festival.  Baby M was able to sleep through the night on Saturday for the most part, but still woke up cranky and refused to eat.  We canceled our trip to Chinatown and postponed Father's Day celebration with my parents to the following Sunday.

The pediatrician diagnosed baby M with coxsackie virus (also known as hand, foot, and mouth disease).  He painted a very bleak picture for M, saying the fever could spike up even higher, the vomiting and loss of appetite could continue, and the infection may last anywhere from 3-10 days.  Fortunately, baby M was fever-free after Sunday and was able to hold down his milk (though he didn't eat much).  He probably could have gone back to daycare on Tuesday, but we kept him home another day just as a precaution since we didn't want him getting any of the other babies sick.

Good Night Baby M

As big sister K was getting ready to go to sleep tonight, this is the conversation that followed (our typical bedtime routine for the most part):

Me: Good night K.  Jo tao*.
K: Good night mommy. Jo tao.
M: Good night K. Buenos noches*.
K: Good night daddy. Buenos noches.
[Pause]
K: But I didn't say good night to baby.
Me: Baby is already sleeping.  How about you say good morning to him tomorrow instead?
[Big sister K gives me a sad face.]
Me: Okay.  Come on.
[We go into baby M's room and stand by his crib, where he is sound asleep.]
K: (whispers) Good night baby.
[Big sister K walks back to her room and goes to bed.]

*Translation: "Jo tao" means "good night" in Chinese and "buenos noches" means "good night" in Spanish.

Big Sister K's First Haircut

We took big sister K for her very first haircut on Saturday (I've always cut her bangs at home prior to that).  Since M was planning on getting a haircut anyway, we decided to make it a family trip and have his barber cut big sister K's hair (the barber supposedly cut children's hair as well).  Let me tell you, that was a BIG mistake... and I mean HUGE.  Big sister K's bangs were cut so choppy, short, and uneven that it was irreparable (and the barber had the nerve to criticize my attempt as hairdresser!).  My only consolation is that big sister K's hair will eventually grow back and that she is still cute no matter what her hair looks like (sorry, that's motherly pride for you).  I took some before and during pictures of the cut, but was too traumatized and upset to take any after pictures.