Sickness Update

While Viv is definitely feeling better, aside from a short hacking fit each morning, I just got back from urgent care where I was diagnosed with a sinus infection and infections in both ears!  I am looking forward to nose spray, ear drops and a Z-Pak in my immediate future.  Fun!  And just in time for the long weekend.  Hope you all have a safe Labor Day!

Two Sickies

Of course Vivian caught a cold during her second week of daycare and of course I caught it from her. This ALWAYS happens.  Anytime Audrey would get sick from school, I would get it too.  Bill, on the other hand, is never sick.  Ever.  Anyway, I noticed that Vivian's eyes started to get goopy midweek and then the teachers at daycare said she was really spitting up a lot and having an upset tummy. By the weekend, I developed a really bad sore throat which has now turned into a nasty cold just hanging out in my sinuses.  My face hurts.  Viv now has a stuffy nose that I have to keep clearing with the aspirator and a slight cough.  I'm hoping it doesn't turn into anything worse - or gets passed to Audrey because we all know Bill is safe - and that we both are on the mend soon!

Nighttime Routine

Every night while putting Audrey to bed, Bill and I each give her a big hug and a kiss.  If either of those elements is missing or Audrey doesn't feel like something done well enough, she won't go to bed until it's right.  She's even stayed awake a few times when Bill has had late nights just to be able to see him and get her hug and kiss.  Once Vivian was born, Audrey immediately included Vivian in the nightly ritual but with a slight variation.  Every night, Audrey gives Vivian a kiss, a modified hug which is basically Audrey laying her head on Vivian and then runs her hand over Vivian's hair. 

We're not sure where she got the idea but it stuck and it's the cutest thing to see.  I'm thoroughly enjoying watching Audrey grow into such a caring and loving little girl.  She is truly so kind that I just want to bottle her up and keep her this way forever!  I love my girls!!

Yeah, Daddy, Why?

Last night when I was making dinner, I heard a little voice from the hallway ask "Daddy, why do you pee like that?" followed by a few moments of silence and the sound of the bathroom door shutting.  Oh the things they have to learn!  LOL 

Mr. Freeze

We went to Toledo for a night last week to visit my family and a trip home wouldn't be complete without a stop in at the local ice cream shop, Mr. Freeze!  I've been going there since they opened over 20 years ago and I always crave their Shamrock Sundae in the summertime.  I think it's fun that my own kids can now go to my childhood haunt and start to build their own yummy memories.  It's just a walk up place so there is definitely a lack of seating.  No bother to Audrey, however, who took matters into her own hands and plunked right down on the ground!

 Vivian, just you wait, you're going to love the ice cream too one day.

Viv's First Week at Daycare

We're halfway through my first week back to work and Vivian's first week at daycare.  I was a mess when I dropped her off on Monday.  They didn't have her personal drawer ready (and still don't which is making me mad now), I didn't know I needed special bottle labels and overall, I just felt like the infant room was disorganized and totally chaotic (and still do).  After leaving daycare, I just sat in my car and cried.  I noticed that I had missed a call from Bill and called him back through my tears.  When he answered, I started to say "I just dropped her...." but then just sobbed.  He thought I meant that I had literally dropped Vivian on the ground!  Of course I was saying that I just dropped her off at daycare but wasn't able to get it out fast enough.  Per Bill's advice, I'm going to give it the rest of the week and then talk with the center's director if I'm still not happy with how things are going.  The Ohio ratio is 5 babies to 1 adult which I think is crazy.  In Iowa, it was 4:1 which is only slightly better but our daycare always had an extra person (or at least I remember it that way).  Here, it seems there are only ever 2 adults and a bazillion crying, screaming kids.  I'm just not comfortable with that.  I don't know, we'll see.  I'm probably just overreacting.  Vivian couldn't care less.  She seems happy plus she gets to see Audrey during the day.  Audrey's class passes by the infant room a few times a day when they head outside to play.  I've heard from a few different teachers now about Audrey peeking in or them holding Vivian up to the window for Audrey to see her.  Picturing that makes me smile.  Audrey had actually told me that she visited Vivian yesterday and said she wasn't crying.  :)  One benefit, for me at least, is that Vivian is not sleeping as much there as she was at home so for the past 3 nights, she's slept 8+ hours straight!  She hasn't gotten up before 6:30 which is great for me.  I'm hoping this will be the norm now.  It literally took months for me to be okay with sending Audrey to daycare but hopefully I'll come around faster with Vivian.  Although to be honest, I'm still not really okay with it.  Aside from the socialization and education (and some free time for mommy!), I would much rather them be home with me than at school everyday.  They'll have enough school time from K-college to last them a lifetime.  I hate that their whole childhoods will be spent in school.  It just seems cruel.  But, until we're independently wealthy (or someone finally finishes his training), I don't see this changing anytime soon.  I just have to hope they'll forgive me one day....and that I can forgive myself.  Yes, I'm being dramatic but I think I'm allowed a free pass this week, afterall, I'm going through snuggly baby withdrawal.  My work desk and computer don't snuggle nearly as well!  :)

Audrey Update & Sunbutter

I chatted with the doctor about Audrey's tonsils and weight when I took Viv in for her 2 month appointment.  They aren't going to take any further action right now on the tonsils because they don't seem to be causing any real problems.  The criteria for a tonsilectomy is if the child has 5 cases of strep throat within one year, has sleep apnea or other documented issues directly stemming from the tonsils.  From what I can tell, Audrey is a heavy breather at night with some snoring but I don't think she's a candidate otherwise.  Hopefully she'll end up like Bill - just a person with big tonsils!  We stopped the nose spray because it didn't seem to be working.  I tried to get another pic but Audrey wouldn't stop moving so they all turned out blurry.  If her tonsils have shrunk, it's not noticable anyway. 

Regarding her weight, the doc said that Audrey is only in the 3rd percentile but as long as we focus on getting her to eat good fats and proteins, she'll just check her again at her 3 year appointment.  I know that Audrey is up to 25 pounds so that's a good sign.  She's been eating like a horse too - corn on the cob (she'll eat a whole one!), BBQ ribs, spaghetti with meat sauce, chicken drumettes and, a new item in our arsenal, sunflower seed butter - aka Sunbutter. 

I am really bummed that Audrey can't eat peanut butter.  I feel like she's missing out on a major childhood food so I wanted to find an alternative.  I knew that using another nut butter was risky due to the chance of peanut cross contamination so I looked to see what else was available.  With soy butter or Sunbutter as the other options, I didn't hesitate to go with Sunbutter.  Imagine stuffing your mouth full of sunflower seeds and having it be SUPER sticky - that's pretty much what it tastes like.  It's actually really good and surprisngly, even stickier than peanut butter and with the same amount of protein and fat per serving.  Audrey seems to really like it so I think we've hit the jackpot.  She'll be tested again when she turns 3 to see if she's still allergic to peanuts so until then, Sunbutter and jelly sandwiches it is!  I'm also selfishly excited because we have a number of recipes that call for peanut butter that I pretty much wrote off.  I'm anxious to subsitute the Sunbutter and see if it works.

Our Fabulous Staycation!

Bill took a week off at the end of July to spend time with his girls before my maternity leave ended and we had such a good time!  Originally we had planned on taking a short trip somewhere but decided that we didn't want to subject Vivian to a long car ride and opted to do a local staycation instead.  Bill was supposed to round on his patients the Saturday and Sunday mornings prior to starting vacation.  Instead, vacation actually started on Friday.  I had just picked up Audrey from daycare, was sitting in the car watching our garage door go up and was beyond shocked to see Bill's car already there.  You have to understand, this NEVER happens.  In fact, I'm always a little hopeful that he'll be home early but had told myself a few weeks prior to let the dream go.  I was SO excited!  Not only was he home early, he told me that he wasn't going to have to go in over the weekend afterall!  YAY!  Seriously, I was so happy it was ridiculous.

On that Saturday, friends of ours from Bill's Northwestern days were in town with their two young children and came over for a visit.  Audrey was having fun playing with her new playmates and I was excited to hang out with other adults!  :)  We went to one of our favorite ice cream stores which became a theme throughout the vacation.

On Monday, in the sweltering heat, we hit the zoo.  It was "free day" so it was very crowded.  The last time we went to the zoo we ran out of time and didn't get to see the primates so we started there first.  We also saw elephants, giraffes, an ostrich, zebras and these two HUGE turtles. 

 They kissed!

On Tuesday we went to the Science Center and Audrey had a blast.  It was "free day" here too and insanely crowded.  Audrey didn't care though, she ran around from exhibit to exhibit and was very hands on....so was Bill.  :)

 And this was Vivian....

And here was our attempt at a family photo....

Thankfully someone finally came over and asked if they could take it for us! 

On Wednesday, Bill was the lucky recipient of a ticket to the Bridgestone Golf Invitational practice round down in Akron.  He said it was crazy to walk around and literally be within feet of the pros - Phil Mickelson, Zach Johnson, Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, etc.  Here's a pic of Tiger teeing off.  (He's really hard to see.)

On Thursday, we headed to Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania.  Audrey loves the beach so we knew this would be a really fun day for her.  Here was our setup:

 And this was Vivian.....do you see a theme?

When Audrey and I were getting out of the water she said, "Thank you". I said, "For what?" and she said, "For taking care of me." How sweet is that??

I had to feed Vivian so I gathered her up and headed back to the car while Audrey and Bill stayed behind to play a little longer.  I didn't know it at the time but Audrey was calling after me.  By the end of the video, I'm out of sight and she asks, "Where are you?"

 

We wrapped up the week doing random chores around the house.  We finished Audrey's Big Girl room - a post on that to follow soon - ate a lot more ice cream and just enjoyed being together.  I was very sad when the week came to an end but am looking forward to our next staycation.

Vivian is 2 Months Old!

I've been really bad at posting any pictures of Vivian so I thought I would post a bunch along with her 2 month stats.  She weighs 10lbs 5oz (10-15th percentile) and is 21.75" long (15-25th percentile).  By comparison (I know, I know, we're not supposed to compare!), Audrey was only 8lbs 14oz and 20" long.  I really hope Vivian doesn't grow up to drawf her older sister!  She's also "talking" and smiling a lot, especially when she's up on her changing table for some reason.  Audrey loved hanging out there too and making her cooing sounds, which at the time we thought was odd.  I guess it's normal in this family.  Her checkup didn't turn up anything suspicious so we'll see the doctor again at 4 months.  Here's a quick look back at the last two months. 

Hanging out with Grandpa!

At the doctors - I love the personal touch:

I know it shouldn't but this one makes me laugh.  The juxtaposition of their expresssions is too much!

 Posing on her two month birthday:

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Audrey saw her first rainbow the other day.  As you can see it's only a partial one and she immediately asked where the rest of it was!  We finally found the other side of it far off in the distance.  :)

Something Wrong with the Bed?

Every night before going to bed, Bill and I check on the girls.  This is how we found Audrey last night.  She can't be comfortable!