Backlog

I have lots of catching up to do- it's been such a hard winter of endless illnesses and sleep deprivation. Tucson trip blogpost coming soon!

A Post Written by Super Daddy

It has become apparent to me that I’ve inherited super powers, only bestowed upon those that become parents. Sort of like joining a secret club. I could not have imagined having these powers before my son was born. Now that I have a daughter as well it only increases my status as a super hero. What makes this so, you say? Below is a partial list of my abilities (I cannot reveal all; that might get me kicked out of the Super club)

1) I can fart in public and get away with it. That’s right, while holding either or better yet, both of my kids, I can tear it up and NO ONE is going to say anything to me (except maybe my wife, but she’s part of the club too).

2) I can make a pbj… while holding a kid in each arm, one that acts like an octopus climbing to the top of my head and the other kicking her legs watching that octopus-boy! I can even spread the peanut butter evenly, as my mastery of this skill allows me to take my time.

A note from the editor.... check out the photos below to see this skill in various stages of development. :)

3) I can eat square pretzels into the letters L, C, U, and P. Sort of like food sculpting with your teeth. Not impressed? You try it, and try it under pressure after you hear “Eat this one into a C and then an L, daddy!”. I laugh at you mere mortals just crunching away uncontrollably as I attempt to interpret the entire alphabet in baked salty snack form.

At some point in the future I may reveal more, but I think that’s enough for now.

Auntie Laila's Blankets

Lucas and Sophie each have a special extra-soft blanket made by their Auntie Laila. We use these blankets more than any other that we have because they're the perfect size and perfect warmth for this time of year plus they're so soft the kids love to wrap up in them!

In the Thick of It

So my last blog entry was prematurely positive about us all getting healthier. Thank goodness Lucas is better- I had forgotten what a sweet and cute and fun and happy kid he is when he isn't sick! Sophie has been sick for 2 weeks now. Vomiting mucus and coughing so intensely she can barely take a breath between hacks. She can't sleep unless she's completely upright and in the Moby wrap. I took her to the Dr. today and he said he heard bronchial sounds, whatever that means. He's an osteopath (which I think is cool) so he gave her a homeopathic thing to take every two hours and if she isnt' better in 48 hours we'll start antibiotics.

So here's the part I wanted to write down in the blog to remember the tough infant time and remind myself I don't want to do this again when the itch for a 3rd baby gets a hold of me! A snapshot of the last 24 hours:

Last night, Sophie is coughing like crazy while she tosses and turns (we bring her into our room when she's sick). She can't find that sweet spot and after a minute starts crying and hacking and crying. I get up and suction the mucus out of her nose and then do a fast bouncing walk around our bedroom for the next 30 minutes to get her to settle. She falls asleep, I transfer her to the bed, we sleep 90 minutes. She wakes up snorting and coughing again. I attempt to nurse her to sleep in a sitting position, but she sounds like a panting bulldog with a cold. Then she vomits the feed exorcist style over my shoulder while I pat her back. She doesnt' feel any better. I throw a prefold diaper cloth over the vomit but don't feel like cleaning it up in the middle of the night. It can wait til morning. We repeat this pattern (only one more vomit though) all night. At one point her crying wakes Lucas so Laith goes in there to sleep with him but he's so tired that he's wired and doesn't fall back asleep for 3 hours!

The next morning Laith comes downstairs looking pale and pastey and exhausted and heads to work. I just wear Sophie in the Moby most of the day, letting her sleep when she's tired. My back and shoulders are killing me. Lucas is a little frustrated I can't play with him on the floor or hold him too. At the end of the day, Laith is at a meeting for parents of preschoolers because they're shutting down Lucas' school and we need to find a new place for him to go next fall. I'm attempting to put Sophie down for the night and she has just nursed to sleep. I'm about to transfer her to the bed. Lucas is feeling very non-independent and decides to wet his pants while he stands in place in his room. Then he starts yelling for me to help clean him up. Sophie wakes and starts crying. I go into Lucas' room and see two wet footprints on the floor. I tell him to take off his own wet pants and put on new underwear and wash his hands. I throw another cloth prefold diaper over the pee spot and notice that I haven't yet cleaned up the puke spots in our room from last night. Now we've got white cloth landmines all over our house. Awesome. I'm so tired I don't care. I'll clean those spots tomorrow. :)

A day in the Life in February

Sick Haus

All 4 of us got the plague these past 2 weeks. Laith was the first to fall, then Lucas, and then Sophie and I at the same time. The kids had it the worst- since they can't blow their noses or take any medications except for baby tylenol or ibuprofen. Lucas got a prize package of a 103 degree fever, watery-eyes, mucus-spigot nose, and incessant coughing. Soon it was Sophie's turn. She was coughing so much that she couldn't sleep and had to be held upright for all three of her 90 min naps and most of the night. And we're not talking sleeping upright on one of us while we dozed in a rocker. No, she needed us to pace and bounce with deep knee bends. There's nothing like some good sweaty exercise at 2am while you yourself have a fever and body aches! Also, she was feeding so poorly that she was hunger-crying and I was getting engorged. At it's worst, Laith and I took turns tending to each kid over a period of 4 nights- it felt like military boot camp in the sleep department. Then finally yesterday Lucas woke up cheerful and energetic, my congestion and headache started going away, and Sophie vomited big chunks of mucus out of her body and proceded to hungrily nurse for 40 minutes straight and then conked out and slept like a rock for a record-breaking 3 hour nap. So glad to all be on the mend!

Sophie Session: 4 months

Height: 24.5 inches

Weight: 14 pounds 2 oz

Clothing size: 6 months

Wow, the books aren't kidding when they call the first 3 months of a baby's life the 4th trimester. This past month Sophie has gone from a bundled-up, easily-startled papoose to a vibrant, curious, kicky baby girl of the world! So many changes to report in the past 30 days! She reaches for and successfully grasps ring toys and our noses, rolls from back to front, is starting to explore using her voice, laughed her first big belly laugh at her brother, has either started teething or just flipped the switch on her drool-maker and is intense about gnawing on things, and can sit independently for 10-ish seconds propped on her hands. Her personality is still as it always was from fetus-hood (mellow, docile and sweet), but she is just so much more alert and fun! Looking forward to the next month, Sophie!

Quotes from Lucas

"I need to put warm Mommy hands on my feelings because I hurt my feelings"

"Don't say 'potty', Mommy. I'm a big boy now. You can say 'toilet'."

While looking downwards with frowny face: "I wished I could be brown and tall but instead I'm tan and small."

Upon seeing some cauliflower on his dinner plate: "I don't care for this, Mommy. Thank you though!" Hmmm. Hard to argue when you say it so nicely like that, Lucas!

Lucas has been sick and developed a hoarse voice. From out of nowhere on the drive to school he informed me: "I'm running low on power. That's why my voice sounds like this."

Dad's Visit From Guam!

My Dad had a business trip to San Francisco and since he'd be only a 4-5 hour flight away instead of halfway around the world, he booked a flight to come visit us directly after his meetings in CA! We were so happy to have him here, show him around C-ville, and introduce him to Sophie. Lucas enjoyed playing with Granddad- and continued the fun by piling every single one of his toys on top of his jet-lagged playmate when he fell asleep on the floor! It's still quite cold outside and Sophie is still a carseat-crier, so we didn't do a whole lot of touring around (especially because there's not as much to do here in Jan and Feb), but it was nice to have some downtime and relax around the house too! Thanks for coming out to see us, Dad! It was great to spend time with you!

A Day in the Life in January

This was taken in the beginning of the month when her reflux was still so bad that she often had to sleep like this. Thank goodness it's under control now with medication and diet (no casein/dairy). Wearing her CUTE onesie from Aunt Chris (Jill's mom). I like this color on her!

Sophie started teething at the end of the month... SO not fair that she's too young to be able to hold her own teether! Poor Sophie!

But she's not too young for her first motorcycle ride!!

We've been going to the downtown pedestrian mall a lot- and this time was a little too late in the evening for our nap-skipping baby lion.

And Lucas isn't too big for Sophie's infant seat! :)

I've also been taking Lucas to Chick-Fil-A about once a week. We go straight from preschool to lunch. We like it because it's been soooo cold outside and they have an indoor playscape.

Lucas loves his dress-up costumes! Today I have a doggie.

Lion Cub's Den

3 kinds of sweet

1. Our reindeer cupcakes

2. Lucas and Daddy on a Saturday morning

3. Lucas loving Sophie

Sophie Session: 3 months

alternately titled: watch the baby lose her dark hair!

Height: 23", 30th percentile

Weight: 13 lbs 3 oz, 75th percentile... Love those chubby thighs!

Likes:

Reaching for and grabbing her ring toys on her bouncy seat

Engaging us in smile fests

Dislikes:

Her continuing reflux, apnea, coughing, hiccups, gassiness

Being kept awake when it's nap time

Hi Baby!

Horton New Year!

Karen and Matt came to visit over the new year and we rang it in in style- asleep! Ha ha.

It was so awesome to get to see Karen yet again in just 2 months time. I love living closer to her. With it being cold and a little humid/drizzly, and Sophie having a penchant for carseat-crying, we didn't really do a whole lot of activities but we still had a great time hanging out, relaxing, and enjoying the time off work.

Matt spent all day cooking a traditional New Years meal of black eyed peas, pork and collard greens- which I had never had before and was admittedly unexcited about, but in the hands of a Horton, turned out so amazingly delicious! I never was a pork fan until I ate the meal Matt made; and the black eyed peas were so good that I added the leftovers to breakfast tacos and turkey sandwiches for the next week!

That day we went for a short hike near Carter Mountain. It was so nice to get out into the lovely Virginia nature that I loved so much and missed while in TX.

This week Sophie also successfully reached for and grabbed the elusive bouncy seat rings for the first time! She was so happy with herself! Karen caught it on camera!

She also took our first picture of us as a family of 4. I can't believe we didn't get a picture of all of us together until now!

The next day we hit the downtown pedestrian mall. Karen and I walked there (just a mile away) and met the guys who drove because we needed a back up transportation plan in case it rained. Most of the stores were closed except for the icecream shop. (!) But it was still nice to walk around.

Thanks for making the drive out here, Karen and Matt! Looking forward to seeing you again soon!