Closing out April

 Adrian

I wonder how long I will keep him at the beginning of my blog posts...I think it's still so new he is here, and other people I talk to do as well when they ask how old he is and then tell me how good I'm looking for him only being 2.5 months! I'm getting enough sleep, able to cook and take care of my family, keep the house clean for the most part, do my chores, plant the garden planters, and plan to start doing more soon! We are getting a puppy this week, the girls will be starting gymnastics for the month of May, and we are going to finish out Claire's school year next month. Springtime always gives me more energy and Adrian sleeping longer at night and during his naps makes my day easier. He eats more often than I'd like so I'm looking for strategies to get him to fill his tummy when I do feed him, and looking forward to supplementing with real foods in the future. 

Claire

I kept her home from school this week and we did a lot of homework that I picked up from her teacher so she wouldn't be too far behind. It was a slight learning curve for me to know how much I should help her with her worksheets, but fun to see how she could answer when she had the right amount of guidance. Apparently, they started learning how to tell time on an analog clock this week and I'm sure the teacher taught it much better than I did! Hopefully, she's not stunted and behind now because of my lack of talent...regardless, she had fun doing some ABCmouse and getting to play with her sister all week. Still working on that responsibility checklist and getting them to clean up on their own because I'm starting to feel really naggy. 

Shay

It was a bummer we couldn't even go to the library or park because I didn't want to get anyone else they would encounter sick. Luckily, they have enough toys to keep them busy, especially since at least 80% of them are up in the closet because they don't clean them up! The hardest part was remembering to keep them from touching Adrian, but by the end of the week I had checked their skin and they looked so much better. On Saturday, there was an exciting Primary activity that I was happy they got to go to after being cooped up so long. I noticed that Shay still needs practice sitting and listening during a lesson format class because she would rather get up and dance around in her own little world. 

Getting Sick

 Adrian

I still think he sleeps a lot but I guess he's not that old yet, and he likes little naps while he eats instead of taking real long naps. The only time he has a long nap is first thing in the morning which is nice so I can get my workouts in. Most of the time I try to get him to nap in his bassinet and I feel successful most of the time, but then the rest of the day he will be awake as soon as I try to move him from me to the bed and then get mad at me and stay awake. I got him to hold on to a little piece of the game and we were all excited because he held onto it for a good 10 minutes, not playing just holding but I'm always looking for the mile stones. And we always notice when he is getting stronger and can hold his head up so much better and stand on his own feet even though he needs help balancing! He kicks and wiggles so much during awake time and we get so many smiles and almost giggles these days. 

Claire

Most of this week was good but we saw some red spots on start to form on her and then scab so we kept her home from school on Thursday and then when the spots formed on her hands and feet and now we won't be going back to school this next week either. Hand, foot and mouth lasts for a while and I don't want anyone at school to get it from her since Shay already caught it and we are trying to make sure Adrian doesn't. When I called apparently they've had a few other kids called out for it so she's not the only one that got it and we will get some homework from her teacher for her to work on here at home. Her reading is getting very impressive and can do full new books with only a little help! I'm surprised at how many words she knows and can guess on her own just by trying to sound them out.  

Shay

Since she was sick too I've been reteaching them both to wash their hands often, after bathroom, before meals, and they don't get to hold Adrian right now. Luckily they can still play with each other and I have the take a bath every day and wash their bodies since there's nothing else I can do! Now every day feels like the weekend to them and its going to be a long week. We did have Chris's friend come visit us and they made him play a bunch of games with them. I was working on planters to start a raised garden along the back of our house while they played with their new friend and Chris watch Adrian. They are finished except for protecting them from the elements and then we can plant seeds together and watch them grow. She was a big helper with the yard this week because we were spreading new grass seed and top soil for the year to get beautiful green grass.

2 Months already

 Adrian

I can't get enough of my little happy man sometimes, I didn't know how much I've missed the cute sounds that babies make and earning their smiles. Of course, we still get some days where he cries way too much and fights going to sleep, but the happy moments are wonderful. I feel like he hasn't been as cuddly recently because every time I hold him he wants to look around, but yesterday he cuddled and slept on me again which made me happy. He is growing like a weed! He eats so much more than I remember Claire and Shay and will have fun when he starts eating real food because I think he will be excited. We go for walks in the evening when he gets restless and Chris is home playing with the girls and sometimes he falls asleep. Most of the time he is still staying up way too late in my opinion and doesn't go down for the night until almost 9pm, but he has started to sleep longer. We need to get family pictures soon since I haven't done baby pictures with him yet...I need to get some while he's still so cute!

Claire

There was a picture day this week for getting a class picture and make-up pictures for people who need it so we made her extra cute. She also had a glow party on Friday that the class had earned that Claire loved and brought home stuff from it to share with Shay. There was a picture sent from her teacher but Claire was hiding behind someone so I couldn't see her except the top of her head. This week I've been trying to teach them how to be responsible without having me nag them to clean up and eat their food all the time so we've been trying a chart. They earn check marks for completing the responsibility and frowny faces if they don't because they didn't really care there wasn't a check mark I added the frowns. This week wasn't great to begin with, but they got better and I didn't have to nag or threaten to hide toys as much. I hope we can keep it up and they will start taking care of their stuff. She is very happy she can carry Adrian now, and she likes to pretend she is able to play chess because she is getting older.

Shay

When Claire had a picture day, Shay was a little jealous and I had the bright idea to have a picture day here at home with our camera and her toys. We played school by collecting everyone upstairs on the couch, I was the teacher and she had computer time playing ABC Mouse, she practiced the homework writing her name and the alphabet from memory, and then she had recess. When my camera was charged enough it was picture time and she went first, then because Adrian woke up, I let her take pictures of her toys. She had a small stomach bug for a day just like Claire had last week and luckily it didn't last long, but she isn't as good as the responsibilities without being reminded. She is helpful in other ways though! Shay officially loves cats more than dogs and has expressed wanting a cat instead...I guess it makes sense because they were playing cats, but I think it's true. Shay always likes to join in on pictures if I'm getting on of Claire she has to get one with her or copy her. 

Hello April

Adrian

Wow, he is getting so awake and interactive! He has cute noises and such cute, bright eyes when he is looking at us, and the best smile that he is practicing more often. We have fun play times and the girls like to join him when he is doing tummy time. They still ask to hold him and pick out cloths for him, and Shay said to me today that she wishes he would play with them. Soon enough he will be trying to steal their toys and bugging them I'm sure, but I like that they are excited for him to be their brother. He is getting to a more normal schedule and takes naps at the same time most days as long as we are home and he doesn't get to be asleep in his car seat at the store. He sleeps really well in his car seat after getting home from somewhere or even just after a walk to the park!

Claire

Claire had two sick days this week because her throat was hurting and luckily it seems to already be gone so she will be good to go back this week. We had some lazy days to help her hydrate and feel better, and because it was rainy and icky outside so we couldn't get out much. Luckily today was really nice so we could go to the park between sessions of conference. I had to use a bike to hurry back as soon as we got home because Claire left her toy there and she would have been heart broken to have lost it since it was a pretty fan she just barely got from DI when we went on Friday. We had friends over yesterday for the afternoon and evening sessions of conference and the kids had fun playing with their friends. I felt bad that we don't have a play room for the toys to be in, most are still up in a closet because the girls still can't understand how to pick up after themselves without me having to ask. We all had pizza and still don't have enough chairs for everyone, but the adults are at least able to sit on the couch and it worked out. 

Shay

I am really enjoying seeing progress when I have her practice saying words. Now she knows how to put sounds together without interjecting a sound that shouldn't be there I can help her say words and hopefully she will remember them for the future. Still a lot to learn but I'm going to focus on making it easier for people to understand her so when she is at school other kids will accept her. She still has angry tendencies if something isn't going her way, but she quickly says sorry or if she is upset she goes to her room to calm down. I think it will continue to get better as she is able to express herself and I'm working on getting her to tell Claire to stop instead of resulting in hitting. They were very helpful this past week when we worked out in the yard getting ready to plant trees! We bought some yesterday and now have to wait until the gallons of water we got over the past two days to soak into the ground better so we can plant them. Chris is excited to make our lawn look beautiful for summer time and has a new friend who is giving him advice.