The weather this week has been hovering close to 80 every day. My daffodils are open. My lilacs are leafing out. Our grass will need mowing before we know it (especially if we get the rain they're talking about for next week). It's hard to believe it's March! We have spent at least a little time every night outside.
Monday the kids had their 2-year and Kindergarten check-ups. Annaliese's stats: 36 inches tall (94 %ile) and 32 pounds 10 oz (96%ile). She is such a big girl in more ways than one. The doctor said she had never seen her ears look so good, which was great to hear. Of course now, almost a week after the appointment, she's got a runny nose and is congested... Ian's stats: 45 inches tall (88%ile) and 48 pounds (87 %ile). He's fallen a bit from the last year, but we figure that's because he's busy burning all his energy off. He's a tall, skinny guy. He had to get three shot and finger poke- his tonsils are enlarged so they were checking for infection, but he got the A-OK to go to kindergarten next year (gulp).
After the doctor, we got to babysit Walter for the night. We headed to the park first. Everyone went down the slides a few times, but Annaliese preferred to play on the swings and Ian in the sand.
The rest of the week we stuck to our yard, playing outside every single day.
It sounds like the temperatures this next week will be between 60-70 degrees. Perfect for getting stuff done inside and outside the house while home on spring break.
The weather this weekend has been fantastic; temperature in the 70s, cool breeze, and no humidity. Why couldn't it be like this every day? So we spent some time outside, lots of it on Marlena and Noah's new patio. Otherwise it was blowing bubbles and riding bikes outside. Annaliese wants to do whatever Ian is doing, so she tried to blow her own bubbles (she could put the wand in the bottle, but not blow the bubbles). She was also able to move her bike, but going back, not forward.
Annaliese is definitely my daughter. Darrin brought home ice cream on Thursday as a reward for Ian doing such a great job jumping off the diving board. Annaliese wanted some, too. She opened her mouth the widest I've ever seen- her eyes almost bugged out- and when it wasn't there fast enough there was lots of screaming and trying to get out of her chair to get closer. She sure enjoyed each bite she got.
When it was too hot outside (I HATE humidity) the kids played inside, and I got some layouts done. My goal is to finish Ian's baby book (finally) by the end of the summer, so some of these pictures are pretty old.
Ian and I on the Warnecke scale.
Annaliese and I on the Warnecke scale.
Ian at the St. Olaf Fire Dept before his 2nd Birthday.
The weather has been gross the last two days, near or over the triple digits, so the cooler temps and cold breeze was welcome this afternoon after nap time. We headed outside and she was such a cutie and I just had to share. She had her 15-month checkup last week and she was 31.75 inches tall (87 %ile) and 23 pounds and 13 ounces (66 %ile)). The doctor pointed out that it was a jump from her 12 month stats, which would explain why I thought her 12 month clothes were getting small on her and she just started wearing them!
From all accounts, Annaliese was a perfect patient today during her surgery to get tubes in her ears. We left home bright and early at 7. I'm usually just crawling out of bed at that time, but not today. After quickly dropping Ian off at preschool, we headed to Children's Hospital. Shortly after, we met Sue our nurse and changed Annaliese into her hospital sleeper (she was too small for their gowns).
They gave us the run down of how things would go that day, and then we headed to the play room to kill time. There were two other boys in there, both older than her, and they seemed to flock to us when we got in there. They followed Annaliese wherever she went. She spent her time between the drums and the keyboard, which makes the percussionist in me hopeful for the future.
Sue called us back to the room and administered Annaliese some dopamine to help ease the fear of separation. She said it could knock her out or make her giggly. Instead, it made her very chatty and lovey. She liked to pretend her pop bead was a phone, putting it up to her ear an saying, "Hello" followed by lots more babble we don't understand yet. As Dr. Edmunds came in to get her for surgery, Annaliese gave her a kiss. If this is any indication as to what may happen when she has alcohol in her system, then we'll really need to watch out with how easily she shares kisses.
About forty minutes later, she was back in our room. Dr. Edmunds said she was a very good baby. Never cried at all. Was giving lots of kisses to of all them back in surgery. Even the surgical nurse who came in later talked about what a sweetheart and snuggler she was. She also returned with a bear she got to keep.
The biggest thing we had to deal with after the surgery was her hunger. She hadn't eaten since supper the night before (16 hours ago) and so was very hungry. The little bit of diluted juice they gave her wasn't enough to tide her over, but they were fearful of nausea if they gave her too much. Eventually her crying won out and she got more to drink and animal crackers to eat. The dot was to indicate Dr. Edmunds had come in and checked her out before the surgery. There was a bit of drainage from her ear; some fluid was blending in with the ear drum and they couldn't see it until they were in there.
We had to wait awhile to leave, as they had to continually get her blood pressure and heart rate before they'd discharge us. I really just wanted to get her home and snuggle with her.
When we got home, though, she wasn't in a snugly mood. You really wouldn't even had known she had surgery today the way she was playing and crawling around. She even stood for a bit without holding on to anything, which is a new occurrence (our theory is she was a bit behind in this skill because all the ear problems were throwing off her equilibrium). Before we had left the hospital, the nurses gave her a birthday balloon and she found a way to get tangled up in it.
And tonight, following a 4.5 hour nap, she was nothing but a happy girl all night long. She loved the toast, grapes, and ham balls she got for her birthday supper, and ended the night crawling around the living room getting into everything Ian was trying to keep away from her.
So all-in-all, not a great way to spend one's birthday, but hopefully it will make this following year even more enjoyable for her than her first year, or hopefully at least a lot healthier.
Annaliese had a doctor's appointment today, a combined one-year well baby with a pre-op appointment. Bright and early tomorrow, her first birthday, she gets tubes put into her ears (I know, wonderful birthday present). At her appointment today, she was once again congested. She also hadn't gained much weight since her last appointment and she's off her curve. Granted it's still the 53rd percentile, but she used to be in the 70s. The pediatrician is hoping that the tubes will make her feel better, and then hopefully she'll pick back up weight wise and stuff. Probably doesn't help that the antibiotics give her lots of diarrhea... Her height measurement was right along the curve at 29.5 inches (67%ile).
The birthday party yesterday must have worn them out because they both took three hour naps. They may have slept all night if we had left them. Ian had refused to take a nap, though he clearly needed one. So we just left him in his room under the guise he needed quiet time. Went in three hours later and found him not asleep in his bed, but in his reading nook:
Life since Thanksgiving has been chaotic. It has been a time filled with sickness (hence no posts). Amongst the four of us we've had the flu, viral diarrhea, ear infection, severe colds, and lost voice. As this weekend comes to a close, we're all just trying to rest up and be healthy for the holiday season.
Since Thanksgiving, Ian has performed in two Christmas performances. I'm pretty sure he preferred the show at preschool over the one at church. It was a bit long waiting for the older kids to do all their lines, so Ian took a seat during part of it. He and Zach, who's four days older than Ian, were the only three-year-olds, so I think everyone just let it slide. We thought it was great that he didn't cry. He actually missed the part where he sings the most because he had to go to the restroom. He sang the whole time during his preschool program, though I swear I caught him a few times making eyes at the girl next to him.
We also saw Santa. Ian was very impatient in line, but we thankfully averted a public tantrum. He was very serious during his time with Santa. Annaliese, however, didn't want anything to do with him. She started screaming instantly, and we never got a picture with both Ian and Santa looking at the camera.
Annaliese had her nine-month birthday and doctor's check-up. She was 28.5 inches tall and 20 pounds 8 ounces. We've moved her up to the convertible car seat, because she only had .5 inches to go before she would meet the height limit. I was concerned at her appointment with the fact she wasn't interested in standing, but that all changed when we got home and Darrin hauled out the leap frog table that we had for Ian. She may have leaned on it a lot in the beginning, but she's doing pretty good with it now. It's so cute when the music plays, because she'll bop her head around and dance with it. She's also crawling like crazy and can get pretty much anywhere
Ian's imagination runs wild now and it's so cute listening and watching him. He wears his Buzz costume and pretends Eeyore is Bullseye (the horse in the movie Toy Story), galloping with him around the room. Darrin also rolled him up in a quilt, saying he was a hot dog, but Ian turned it into being inside Santa's sack instead. He also just loves to help around the house, helping me tonight work on Christmas presents for his teachers.
A few videos tonight to make up for my lack of posts lately.
Ian reading "Three Silly Billies" The three billy goats are trying to cross the troll bridge, but they don't have $1 for the troll, so as other characters cross (3 bears, Little Red, Jack) they hop into the goats' car "pool" and eventually sweep the troll away when they drain their pool. Ian's picked that book for bedtime the last 4 nights, and decided to read it to us instead:
Ian loves preschool. Every night he asks, "When I wake up, it's preschool?" If the answer's yes, his response is usually, "Yeah, I'm so excited!" If not, there are quite often tears. He's gotten sick of us asking about it when we pick him up, saying he doesn't want to talk about it, even though that's all Darrin and I want to know about- what he does while he's away from us. He has started Sunday school now, too. The teacher commented on how quiet he speaks. I told her just to wait a few weeks. At both places, the teachers have commented on what a model he is for the other students, which makes my teacher-loving heart burst.
Annaliese is mobile. She doesn't opt for the traditional crawl, instead exerting more energy to do the army crawl. She's proficient enough at it to get into her brother's things now, which doesn't make Ian the happiest. He is, however, very willing to share with her when he's sure the toy is a safe one for her. We definitely have to keep a more vigilant eye on her than we did Ian- there weren't any small toys around for us to even worry about with him.
She had her 6-month check-up two weeks ago. She was 27.25 inches and 17 pounds 11 ounces. While there they discovered she had an ear infection, the 2nd of her life. We had to go back to the doctor just 5 days later because she wasn't acting like herself. Her ears hadn't cleared up, so they prescribed a stronger antibiotic. She still doesn't seem like herself, but between her ears, her two teeth that are coming in, the new foods she's trying, and the congestion in her chest, I just have no idea what's the problem. We just might be making another trip by the end of the week, as her pediatrician wanted to see her again if her congestion doesn't get any better. She does have two teeth on the bottom, and LOVES her food. So far, she's had peas, green beans, squash, and peaches, all homemade by me. She'd probably have sampled a lot more if we were using the store bought kind, but she has to wait for me to make them first.
Annaliese is now obsessed with her toes:
She had her 4-month checkup last Friday and she looks fabulous. 26 inches long and 15 pounds 11.5 ounces means she's big for her age (around 90%ile for both), but not as big as Ian was. I looked back and he was 18 pounds 7 ounces and 26 3/4 inches, so he was even more a chunker than she is. She's growing too fast- I hope she doesn't move up a size of clothes before the fall, I really don't want to have to buy the next size until she needs long sleeves. I guess the weather could just stay hot, because then she doesn't need any clothes...
