Jingle Bells

More for posterity's sake - a video of Sophia singing Jingle Bells. Note - this is well after Christmas, but she just loves the song (she learned it this season) and will randomly start singing it.
Enjoy!

Germs, Germs and more Germs

Thinking we were getting off easy with Sophia's quick bout of norovirus, we clearly jinxed ourselves. As you've probably read, the flu season has been out of control here in Boston and the Ahouse house fell victim...

It all started with me - a bad cold or something, but I was knocked on my butt, but, as a mother, I had my obligatory 18 hours of rest/recovery on the weekend before resuming normal duties...As a side note, I found this hysterical blog depicting life as a sick mom in a family of sickies...

Tuesday night, Dave came home from work feeling less than stellar. Honestly, the sound of a grown man puking is about the worst thing I've ever heard. I'm often shocked that he doesn't wake up our entire building with the sound. But I digress...around 4am, I hear Theo crying, which he never does unless there is physical pain involved. Upon checking in, the poor little guy was a hot water bottle - 103 fever. After taking his helmet off and feeding/snuggling for awhile, he fell back asleep.

Too sick to smile...but I look tough!

Luckily, Sophia was untouched and I happily sent her over to our nanny share buddies for the day to avoid too many germs. Poor Theo and Dave were miserable on the couch all day and I was just working to disinfect everything.

On Thursday, I took Theo in for a flu test and he tested positive. I brought Sophia up for a test as well (I told her she was going to have a really cool nose-picking experience!) and she was negative. Both she and I got our shots - better late than never, I guess. Theo was prescribed Tamiflu suspension, which, we quickly learned, was in high demand all over the city.
Finally, at 7:30 that night, after calling about 10 different pharmacies, the Target in Watertown had it. So, with Dave still down for the count, I trucked the kids out there to pick it up. Poor Theo puked up his first batch- I can't blame him. The frothiness and smell were enough to do a healthy person in.

Luckily, it started working and he turned the corner (after a brief stint with another 103+ fever and a concerned midnight call to the doctor) on Friday morning. Dave rebounded as well. Sophia was still looking good. Below - a moment of happiness! 

But sadly, whether from the germs in the house or after effects of the shot, Sophia turned into a hot mess. No fever, just a cold beyond everything. Which led to about a week of not sleeping for anyone (up every hour to have nose blown or need a snuggle or to move the blankets just so...sigh...)
So we're now recovering and hoping to shake this soon. Germs germs go away, don't come back for another day!

Happy New Year

It's been awhile since I've blogged - since last year!
It was amazing to have a full two weeks off with the kids. I'll admit, I was nervous about being a full-time SAHM for that time. There are definitely days when work is a sanctuary. But we all survived and filled our time up with good playdates and visits with friends.

Unfortunately, we did get hit with the norovirus (aka the puking bug). While Sophia is the only one who had it, we all got to take part in it. I don't actually wish it on my worst enemy.

Luckily it was fairly quick moving and she recovered in time for our annual New Year's Day pilgrimage to see the flag raising on Prospect Hill. Here are the munchkins bundled up for the event!

Real life resumed the next day with work and school in full swing. Little did we know that more germs were to follow....

The stash...

Because I was home for almost the entire 1st year with Sophia, any pumping I did was purely for convenience - a bottle before bed or when I when out. I was diligent about pumping in order to keep up my supply, but I knew that I could always just feed her if I needed to and there wouldn't be an issue.

With Theo, it was different from the get-go. I was back at work 2 weeks after having him, so pumping started very very early. I was convinced I had a low supply, so I started in on Fenugreek and eating lots of oatmeal. I soon realized that it helped a lot, but that I was also producing what I needed too as he was still so young and not taking a ton at one time.

Even through my delayed maternity, I still kept up a rigorous pumping schedule so I could stockpile milk in the basement deep freezer. There is something gratifying about seeing the ounces accumulating (and equally demoralizing when they don't.) Luckily, I was able to make some good headway and accumulate quite a few ounces so that when I went back to work it wouldn't be session to session coverage.

I had always planned to breastfeed through a year, as I did with Sophia. But I wasn't sure with the almost full-time pumping if I'd be able to make it. I also knew that I would introduce cow's milk at some point in his 11th month (as I was clear there was no dairy allergy - this child lives on yogurt & cheese and anything else you'll give him). The introduction of cow's milk a little early would also give me some wiggle room on the pumping. I was currently pumping 4-5x/day to cover his feedings. (2 of those pumps were at work, 1 was before work and 2 were dinner/before bedtime.)

Over the Christmas break, one thing I checked off my list was taking stock of what was downstairs ounce-wise. I pulled all the bags and counted. And counted. And counted some more. 97 bags. 6 ounces each bag. Basically I was looking at almost 600 ounces of liquid gold!!

I was amazed, gratified, and frankly, really damn proud of myself. After some quick calculations, I realized I could begin dropping to 3 pumps/day (ahh - the time this frees up is amazing - trying to facilitate breakfast for both kids while pumping concurrently...it's a sight no one needs to see.)

The pressure is off and I can slowly whittle down my stash and know that little man is covered with mama's goodness. I'll happily keep breastfeeding him past 1 (our morning time together is so precious to me) but I am thrilled to have the end in site with the pump.

Update on the Kids - part 2 - Theo

Somehow, my little man has been around for 10 months now. It's pretty amazing how much he has grown and how much his personality is starting to develop.
Some highlights:

• After months of backing into things, he has learned his own "creative" method of crawling forward. He is now fully mobile and getting into everything, including Sophia's toys. Should be a really interesting next 6 months. 
• He has 1.5 teeth (going on 4!) the bottom left tooth came through earlier this month, with the right one about to break any day now (poor guy). He is handling it like a trooper though. 
• Food - there isn't anything he won't eat. While he's not great at actually feeding himself (he'll pick things up but generally just flings it) he has yet to refuse anything we've offered - from his packets of food through stuff off our plate. Avocado is one his favorites as well as Grandma's applesauce, yogurt, turkey, cheese, sweet potato, scrambled eggs, tzatki sauce and bread. 
• Sounds - he makes lots of Dadada & mamamama and lights up when we come into the room. He also has quite a lot to "say" when he's in the mood. So very cute. 
• Personality - he is coming into such a little personality. He makes eye contact very well and will smile at new people, then duck his head shyly when they start to talk to him. But he just bats those big blue eyes...He also is fully into playing - with his toys or Sophia's. He can sit and play by himself for quite some time. But he makes it known that he's unhappy if we leave him for a few moments to go to another room. At least now, with his mobility, he's able to follow along. 
• He's pulling up on tables & chairs, though not able to get to standing just yet. 
• Anything Sophia does is entertaining - the crazier, the better. He'll just laugh his butt off at her shenanigans...I'm in for it! 

Theo is by far the happiest, snuggliest little guy. He's easy going and still a great sleeper & eater. We're so lucky to get to see his smiling face every day!

Catching up on the kids - Part 1 - Sophia

I love quiet vacation time - it gives me a chance to write a full catch up on the kids.

First day of pre-school

Sophia is now well-ensconced into pre-school. I managed to miss the first week. When I signed up, I was under the impression it started in January (they run on the city school-schedule). My neighbor came up the Monday night after it started and asked how Sophia liked it. I promptly freaked out and then figured out how we'd get a new routine going starting the next morning. We haven't looked back since (well, maybe for one day, which she missed because of crazy snotty sickness, which she passed on to Theo - collateral damage of pre-school).

I think she likes it - she's making artwork, theoretically making some friends and has been reprimanded for trying to steal the Minnie Mouse doll seven (7) times in one day. (Yup - they check her backpack before she leaves every day...sigh.)

Her vocab is huge and she's big into the question phase now. It's really entertaining and not all that grating, yet. She has a cute way of asking that isn't just incessant why's...I pray the phrasing stays there, because just hearing the "why" will likely drive me batty!
She had her 3 year check up and got a clean bill of health - she's growing tall and gaining weight appropriately. The doctor is thrilled at the variety of foods she eats and that I manage to keep her seated for most of the meal.

We're working on taking the kids out more for meals so we can work on some restaurant etiquette. Little steps.
Here's her helping to feed Theo though - she's such a loving big sister.

 My little Ham:

That's the update for now. More to come again soon. 

The hardest week...

I've always felt like I had a pretty good balance when it came to working, kids, home and personal. And in general, I do. The busier I am, the more productive I feel and that I'm living.
But every now and then, that pace catches up to me and kicks my ass.

There was a week in early December where we were all just flat out - holiday time, work was busy with late nights, friends and family stuff. The usual end of year insanity. Throw in some new germs from pre-school, a teething baby and whatever else for a full dose of breakdown. Sick, in bed, and just down for the count for a full day.

Yup- it caught up to me. I was exhausted, feeling completely at my wits end, and probably all in all, not particularly pleasant to be around. I have always knew it was hard being a full-time working mom, but I felt like I had it easier than some - a phenomenal nanny, super supportive and helpful husband, great neighbors, flexible work time. And I do. But man oh man was I humbled.

There is not really a moral to this story. I will likely run head first into this again next year, as I always do, but hopefully I'll have a little more foresight and not over-schedule myself to the point of exhaustion. Maybe, just maybe I'll learn...