December 2011

already tuckered out after 1/2 hour of opening presents

Henry with cousin Courtney

silly Beans with cousin Hayley

building the gingerbread house (which later fell over)

Henry and I (Christmas at the farm)

new jammies and sitting up very well now

Christmas was a whirlwind of excitement. On our little Christmas on the 23rd, Henry, Leon and I were hanging out in our bedroom waiting for Clara to get up. Pretty soon we heard her heavy footsteps stop in front of the tree, and then we heard her running toward our room. She was carrying a great big Rapunzel coloring book with a big smile on her face, exclaiming “Look what Santa brought me!” Lake City was a fast trip but lots of fun packed in. We attended 4 Christmases back home and I think by the last one, we were ready to relax and move on. Clara enjoyed opening her gifts, but surprisingly she’s not the type of kid that rips open presents and screams when she sees what she gets. She loves all her new clothes and toys, especially the Disney Princess CD (she plays the Rapunzel song over and over on “Repeat” until we can’t take it anymore).

Clara stayed in Lake City for the 5 days after we returned back to Des Moines. We enjoyed our alone time with Henry and were shocked to find that he’s much more vocal without big sister to stare at! We had our ceilings scraped, retextured, and painted while she was gone. Leon installed new tracklights in the back hallway and a new box light in the kitchen. It looks pretty awesome. I’m so lucky to have a handy hubby. My parents brought Clara back for New Year’s Eve and spent the night so I could enjoy a few hours out on the town. I spent part of the time at Cara’s neighbor’s annual party playing Skit Skat. The other part I spent at Baru at the end of Leon’s shift so we could ring in the New Year together. Henry woke up with 2 new top front teeth. Clara had been begging to take a bath with Henry (I think she wants a playmate), so on the 1st I put them in together. You would have thought it was Christmas all over again. Henry squealed the entire time, smiling and watching big sis. Clara “washed” him “because he’s (s)tinky!” It was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

Along with wonderful Christmas gifts came double eye infections for both kids. Not sure where they picked it up from, but it was so bad that Clara had to miss preschool this week. Henry got it a day later. And this morning I believe I woke up with the start of it. Trying to get eye drops in both kids’ eyes 4x a day is a challenge.

Leon and I have been talking a lot about our job opportunities for next year. If the management position at Baru 66 is still available, he is planning on taking it while giving me the chance to stay home. We’ve carefully considered every angle, and although we’re crazy in some ways (giving up family insurance, taking a possible paycut, him working more hours, me going stir crazy being at home with 2 children) we feel it’s the right thing to do at this point. Leon has finally landed an opportunity to pursue his passion in food with a reputable owner of the top fine-restaurant in the area, and my dream of trying out the stay-at-home mom thing is becoming a reality. I’m excited and terrified at the same time!

Donuts with Santa, Urbandale Parks & Rec

pouring sprinkles on a cookie at Santa Brunch

Henry's baptism 11/27/11

Clara is such a good big sister

Henry is budding 2 new teeth and has developed a nasty habit of biting me the past 2 nights. It only happens when he’s not hungry but acts like he wants to eat. Otherwise he is the happiest baby ever! We’ve introduced Stage 1 solids and he seems to like it. At his 6 months appointment last week he weighed 21 lbs 12 oz and 28 inches long! He’s a BIG boy with the chunkiest thighs I have ever seen. And he’s the most ticklish kid, laughing at the slightest hint of a tickle. He is content to sit up now on the floor, or in his bouncy seat or excersaucer. If he wants attention, he’ll whine until I look at him. Then he’s all smiles. In spite of the occasional bite, I still enjoy nursing him as much as I did before. He often stares at me, and once in a while he will break into the biggest smile that melts my heart. The cutest part is that he “massages” my chest while he eats, like a cat. I’m still pumping on my lunch break at school, and thoroughly enjoy the weekends when I don’t have to pump at all. He is a pretty easy baby. I can nurse him and lay him down at 8:00 every night and in goes the thumb and the little blue blanket that Clara gave him goes over his head and he goes right to sleep, not waking again until I get him up at 6:00 to feed him in the mornings. Weekends he usually sleeps in until 7:00 or 7:30. Clara’s nights are off and on, often waking 2-3 times a night. There’s nothing like being woken up to a toddler in your face in the middle of the night. Thankfully one of us has to walk her back to bed and she goes right back to sleep.

Grandma Jane came to visit for a couple days last week and Clara was in heaven. They baked and decorated sugar cookies in Christmas shapes. You could tell which cookies Clara decorated because they had about 4 inches of frosting and sprinkles on them!

It’s been a long month of waiting for Christmas, and now it’s finally here. Clara was tired of waiting and started carrying Christmas books back down to the basement, stating that Christmas was over. It’s only December 22, but Santa is coming tonight to our house. Tomorrow morning we will experience Christmas once again through the eyes of a child. I can hardly wait!

Clara posing with "Clara" from The Nutcracker

sleepover with Eli

Last weekend was fun-filled for Clara and me. As she says, “It’s a girl’s day!” Saturday morning we went to IPTV in Johnston to see a pre-screening of the Curious George movie that airs later this week. They had juice boxes, water bottles, and Goldfish crackers to snack on during the show. Dan Wardell was there signing autographs. She saw him and said, “Hey, he’s on my tv!” Sunday afternoon she and I went to the Urbandale Library to see a shortened performance and read aloud to The Nutcracker, put on my the Des Moines Ballet. She sat silent and in awe of the beautiful little girls dressed in “princess dresses”, the toy soldiers, and the mice. She liked it so much that she wanted to stay for the second performance. The story and dances only took about 10 minutes, but she got to meet all the dancers and get her picture taken with some of them.

after Henry's bath

first sled ride

Clara's snowman

2 teeth

November 9 was the first snow of the season, and Clara was very excited. They built a snowman whom Clara named “Snowman Blue Flyer” and made snow angels. The white stuff didn’t stick around very long because the next few days were in the upper 50′s.

One of the pictures above captured Henry’s first 2 teeth. Although adorable and exciting, he’s used them more than once to bite me while nursing. They are sharp little things! Twice when I’ve screamed out loud in pain, I looked down at him only to find him smiling at me.

Eli came over to spend the night last night. I made popcorn and M&M’s and made a snuggle nest on the floor to watch “Tangled”. This morning Eli and Clara helped me make monkey bread. They played so well together and it was fun to see them interact in such an imaginative way.

This next week is parent-teacher conferences, which means long days and nights, one of which I won’t even see Henry because he goes to bed so early. It also makes for long days/nights for Leon, and I’m sure he’ll be looking for any excuse to get out of the house once I’m home. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving at Cara’s house. The night before Thanksgiving, Clara and I are attending “Disney on Ice: Treasure Trove”. I showed her a youtube clip of the show and she danced around with excitement when she spotted Eugene & Rapunzel. Hopefully she will be able to sit still throughout the show because I know I’ll enjoy it just as much as she does!

Race for the Cure 10/22/11

NPR twins

sitting by Rapunzel

pumpkin carving

Little Monster

Pumpkin Patch at Center Grove Orchard

feeding her baby

The day after Henry sprouted tooth #1, came tooth #2! They are his front bottom teeth (I don’t know the correct terms) and they are pointy. One came in a bit crooked, and we don’t know whether that matters or not. Clara visited the dentist again last week and did great. He told her she does a good job brushing.

This past weekend was the Komen Breast Cancer Walk. Mom, Cara, Aunt Carolyn, the kids, and I all walked the mile. We almost missed it because we couldn’t find the start and couldn’t figure out how to cross the street while avoiding all the runners/walkers. We finally found the line of walkers and pushed our way in the middle of it. My mom was my age (35) when she was diagnosed, and it put it in perspective now that I have my own kids. She was proud to wear her pink survivor hat and walk through the survivor lane and accept pink roses being handed out.

Today was costume day for Clara’s preschool Halloween party. She arrived in her Cinderella outfit and was so excited to see Rapunzel and Tinkerbell. Leon thinks she thought the little girl dressed up as Rapunzel was the REAL Rapunzel, and rushed to sit down beside her. It’s days like this that I wish I was the one to take her to preschool and snap cute pictures of her and all her little friends. Leon did a good job of that and even took a short video of her class all dressed up.

Mealtimes have been a bit of a challenge with Clara lately. We didn’t want to believe everyone when they told us she would go through weird food phases, but it seems it’s true. All of a sudden she dislikes milk, and tonight was a battle of the wills/stubborness. She refused to drink her milk, and we told her that she couldn’t get out of her highchair until she drank it. So there she sat, for over 45 minutes, begging to be let down. Leon and I finished dinner and she still sat. We cleared the table and began kitchen cleanup, and there she sat. Pretty soon we hear, “I am NOT drinking my milk because I put a bugar in it!” We thought she was joking and told her that’s too bad that you have to drink milk you put a bugar in. She kept screaming, “I’m NOT drinking bugar milk!” Finally I picked up her glass of milk and looked in the bottom. Sure enough, there sat a nice round bugar. I fished it out with a spoon, showed it to her (she insisted), and Leon gave her a silly straw to suck down her milk. I asked her later what she was going to remember to do next mealtime, thinking she would say, “Drink all my milk”. But she replied solemnly, “Not put a bugar in my milk.”

Clara spent the weekend in Lake City and camped with Grandma Jane and Papa Nick Saturday night. It sounds like she had a blast with her cousins with a campfire and night hike. Leon and I got some much needed stuff done, mostly cleaning for me and processing tomatoes and baking bread for Leon. Henry has been gnawing on my fingers and whatever else he can get his hands on, and when I felt in his mouth today, he had popped a tooth! At 4 1/2 months old, he is 3 months ahead of Clara’s first tooth. It worries me a little bit as far as nursing him…it will be a first for me!

Clara's new playground that she calls the "castle"

all smiles in Clara's "boat" and Henry's excersaucer

Clara riding Snip

sleeping in the bathtub (where she can't see the smoke detector); she even used the plug

I got a text at school today from Leon stating, “The boy just rolled over!” He had just returned from dropping Clara off at preschool and was on the floor talking to Henry about how pretty soon he’d be crawling and then his life would get a lot more difficult. Then Henry pushed up and gave him a big smile, then rolled over to his back. Of course, he didn’t want to perform for mommy tonight, so I haven’t seen it yet. It will probably be weeks before he does it again. At least we know he can do it. We were starting to wonder if he was only going to stick his thumb in his mouth and fall asleep when placed on his tummy. He is babbling a TON now and has a sort of growl-giggle that makes us all laugh.

Clara came home from preschool singing “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall”…and another one that sounds like “Olla olla Anna” but I can’t figure out what she’s saying. The theme is nursery rhymes, so maybe it’s one I haven’t heard of. Another Clara-ism I forgot to mention last time I blogged was that she sometimes gets jealous when I pick up Henry, hold him, feed him, talk to him, etc. One night she was frustrated that I was feeding Henry at the dinner table instead of coloring with her and yelled, “Feed ME with your boob, Mommy!” And there was the day she told me she needed nut powder for her butt. I made sure Leon knew what he had taught her, and prayed she didn’t say it at preschool. I think we may have solved the smoke detector problem: Clara picked out some stickers to “decorate” the smoke detector with and covered up the “eye” as she calls it (the light that blinks when it’s testing or going off). She seems pretty pleased with the princess stickers that she helped put up there and there was no fighting it at bedtime.

Last weekend I took the kids home by myself while Leon stayed back to work. We packed in a lot of activities, including Clara’s first pee-wee barrel racing on Sydney’s horse Snip, Brody’s 8th birthday party, and riding in the combine with Papa Nick. The weather has been amazing this fall and is perfect for all the outdoor things we love to do.

Clara's first day at Plymouth Preschool

Bumbo seat

brother & sister

I can’t believe it’s been 2 months since my last post. Time flies so quickly now that I am back in school. I don’t have a lot of free time on my hands to blog. A lot has happened these past 2 months. Clara started preschool 2 afternoons a week. She loves it and comes home singing little songs she learned and is able to tell us about the activities she did that day (although some of them, we are sure, are made up). Leon enjoys his alone time with Henry on those days, often catching up on baking or shopping. Henry’s ear infection came back about a month after his first one. I had to take him to the Urgent Care Clinic on a Friday night at 8:30 to have it checked out. He was put on amoxicyllin again, but I could tell that although he wasn’t fussy anymore, the infection hadn’t completely cleared up. A day after he went off that medicine he screamed inconsolably for 2 1/2 hours while I rocked him and cried along with him. The doctor said the next morning that it was indeed the infection again, and we are trying a different medicine. It is a helpless feeling when you know your baby is in pain and you can’t do a thing to help him. The worst part was the whimpering for the last 15 minutes-he was exhausted and just wanted to sleep but was so uncomfortable.

Other than the ear problems, we are adjusting well to being a family of four. There are plenty more good days than bad, and we are thoroughly enjoying watching Clara blossom in school and Henry growing like a weed. He is babbling all the time now, much to Clara’s pleasure. When she talks to him, he just gives her the biggest smile and “talks” to her. I really hope they continue to love each other as much as they do now. He enjoys his bath every night and is learning to kick his legs. He hasn’t tried to roll over yet, and we’re not sure he is aware that he has hands, but he is grasping and reaching for toys hanging on his activity mat. He has put himself on a nice eating and sleeping schedule, eating only one 5 ounce bottle while I’m at school, which leaves me to nurse him the other 3-4 times a day. I must admit, my absolute favorite time of the day is his 6am feeding. I never thought I would enjoy hearing my alarm go off at 5:30 so I could shower and feed him. He is so snuggly and sweet that sometimes I lose track of time. I miss my family so much during the day, and I constantly think about what they are doing at that moment.

I’m taking the kids home to Lake City this weekend by myself for their cousin Brody and Leon’s birthday party. Leon has to work at the restaurant so he can’t attend his own party. But such is the life we’ve chosen for now…

Clara-isms: She still says “tandy torn” for candy corn and asks for it every once in a while after going in the potty; loves to sing “5 Little Monkeys” from preschool (says “nap” for “snap” that monkey right out of that tree!); favorite song is the healing song from “Tangled” movie (Flowers gleam and glow…); said “upside over” for upside down up until just recently; loves to help make and eat “tookies” (cookies); loves to walk under the interstate at Colby Park; stopped to pee in the “jungle” (woodsy area) at Colby Park and peed all over her legs/feet; HATES to hear loud flushing toilets (like in McDonald’s); still freaked out by smoke detectors, even though she knows they keep us safe;

thumb sucker

Heritage Carousel

splashing around

2 month smile

The heat and humidity finally broke, at least for one day. So we took advantage and went to Union Park to the Heritage Carousel, splash park, and then to Stam Chocolaterie for gelato.

The other morning Henry woke up at 7:00 screaming. Usually if I nurse or hold him, he stops crying immediately. But this time he was inconsolable. He threw up a ton of mucus, and after 2 hours his screams turned into painful, hoarse whimpers. I laid him on his tummy to see if he’d fall asleep. Leon came in the room shortly after that, rolled him over and a bunch of liquid dribbled out of his left ear over his cheek. I had noticed a bad odor the night before coming out of that ear, and a lot of ear wax, but we just assumed it was dirty and cleaned it out. The doctor said it was very rare for an infant this young to have an ear infection, and being breast fed it’s even more rare. So we’re crossing our fingers that it’s not a persistent problem. After a round of ear drops and amoxicyllin, he seems to be feeling much better. 

Last night while Leon worked, I met Cara & the family at the Pizza Ranch where Quentin works now. After dinner, we all went back to Cara’s house and let all the neighborhood kids play outside. Clara had a blast jumping on the trampoline and riding on the electric toy car. Henry was pretty content laying on his belly, sucking his thumb the whole time. He is perfectly happy when he is sucking his thumb, but he can only find it when he’s laying face down. We’re hoping in the next few weeks he’ll be more coordinated to find his thumb while laying on his back or in his car seat. I don’t think he would be as nearly the fussy baby that he is now. 

smiles!

bowling

Henry had his 2 month appointment yesterday, and the nurse had to weigh him twice to confirm a whopping 14 lbs 15 oz. He is so chunky, weighing 2 1/2 lbs more than Clara at this age. All else seems to be going well, and hopefully his reflux will improve after switching to PrevAcid yesterday. He had 3 shots and was extremely fussy the rest of the day. Mom watched the kids while Leon helped me arrange my classroom. I think she was more than happy to pass a crying Henry off by the time we got home! Clara went home with her and will return on Saturday. She has called us 5 times on my mom’s phone just to “talk” for a few minutes, usually asking, “Whatchoo doin?” It’s really quiet here without her, and we’re enjoying our alone time with Henry. Too bad this heat wave is really cramping our style. We can hardly do anything outdoors except one of us being out with Clara for short periods of time. We took her bowling last week for the first time. She made it 7 frames before showing signs of boredom–a breakthrough!

Leon & I are getting the home improvement bug again, contemplating a new refrigerator, as well as kitchen flooring and ceiling texture in the back half of the house. Are we crazy to do this with young children and me heading back to school in 2 weeks? As long as it’s not just Leon taking it all on, I think we will be okay. It’s a never-ending process at W.I.P.E. estates!