A Calm Friday

The kiddos did great today.  Both of them slept decently.  Bubeaner had some talking-in-his-sleep incidents, but otherwise actually slept 13 hours.  That's impressive for him.  But he did sleep in the pack-and-play in our room.  But, as long as he (and us) sleeps through the night, we really don't care WHERE he sleeps so long as he sleeps.  Well, we might care if he is 12 and still sleeping in our bedroom.

Bubita did quite well too.  She did not sleep 12 hours but came pretty close.  She also did not sleep in her bassinet.  What is up with our children refusing to sleep in their beds?  Strange kiddos.  Or maybe just normal....

All that basically meant we had a pretty good, calm Friday.  It also helped that we really did not have any activities planned for today other than Bubeaner's dance & tumbling class.  We actually had some issues with the first part of the class.  Momma made the mistake of taking away the box of raisins, with the last three raisins, from Bubeaner right as we got off the car.  We may have just as well pinched the child for all the screaming and crying.  It was three raisins!  Bubeaner cried in class, refused to participate and at one point even attempted to play with the props.  That's a big No-No for coach Michelle.  We ended up just sitting outside the classroom watching everyone else have fun. 

In a strange way, it was a little reassuring that other little kids that are normally well behaved were having meltdowns too.  Misery likes company?  Or maybe just a reminder that kids are just kids and they sometimes have bad moments.  Bubeaner did participate in the second part of the class.  He did great.  In fact, he actually tried the balance beams several times along with jumping on the trampoline.  Bubeaner is light years away in his motor skills from when we started the class just a couple of months ago.  He even tried, TWICE, rolling on this huge wheel that forced him to do a somersault at the end!  Twice!  Did we mention he did it twice?!?

Well not to be outdone, Bubita decided to show off her mad skills on the walker.  She was doing great moving back per usual.  When suddenly she saw Momma and decided to follow her... moving FORWARD.  We thought it might have been a coincidence so Momma moved 90 degrees to the left and several steps back.  Bubita changed direction and took steps towards Momma again.  So just to make sure it was definitely NOT a coincidence, Momma once again moved 90 degrees to the left and several steps back.  Bubita did it again.  She now has enough coordination and strength to move herself in whichever direction she pleases.  Lord help us, the girl is MOBILE!

For now both little ones are sleeping.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be another enjoyable day.

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Every Where

Everything in moderation.  That is a good rule to live by all the time.  Wish we had thought of that before buying 70 pounds of pumpkins.  And it did not help matters that Momma decided it was too much pumpkin to just throw away.  So now, the house reeks (smell is too mild) of pumpkin.  But at least Bubeaner enjoyed helping out preparing them for and the seeds. 

Actually Bubeaner was not thrilled with scrapping the seeds and other gunk.  At one point he actually cried.  In this, he is his mother's son.  Momma was completely grossed out... and she had no problem dissecting a cat in school.  Bubeaner did stick around to supervise our work.  He did enjoy cleaning the seeds.  Well, Bubeaner mainly enjoyed playing with the water.  The best part was that he was helping out.  He loves helping out.  Immediately after, he enjoyed (and needed) a bath.

He was in a much better mood today.  It could be because he actually slept through the entire night!  We are not sure if it was because he slept in the crib or some other unknown factor.  We don't care.  He's sleeping again.  And as things work in our home, that means Bubita did not sleep last night.

Bubita is still doing great with her naps during the day.  However, last night for some reason she woke up at 1a and then again at 6a to eat.  We are hopeful that this may be due to a growth spurt.  She was still in a good mood during the day.  There are few things that really upset Bubita so long as she gets food when she wants.

And thankfully, most of our day was like that today.  Living with children, we are finding out, is like dealing with Texas weather; it changes drastically day by day.  It's never boring.

Deja Vu

So, we took two steps forward and now are taking one step back....

We tried Dr. Z's tips and they worked.  Bubita is taking several 1-1.5 hour naps during the day.  It's wonderful.  And Bubita slept longer, almost 13.5 hours, the last two nights too and in her bassinet!  Previously, she had to sleep in her stroller.  She's also been doing great eating more solid foods.  Bubita has been eating half a container of apple sauce.  She could probably eat the entire container if we let her.  We are starting her on other foods, a different one per week, next week.  We might start with homemade pumpkin or sweet potato puree; we have quite a bit of it at home.

Today was a pajamas day.

 That's usually code for 

not-a-good-day-lets-keep-them-in-pjs-and-hope-for-the-best. 

Of course, some how that inversely correlates with Bubeaner's digressing on almost every aspect.  He had been sleeping so well in his big boy bed, but the last few days Bubeaner has been waking up multiple times during the night crying or wanting to play.  Twice, someone (we rotated) had to sleep in the room with him.  Unfortunately that also meant that parents, along with Bubeaner, did not sleep well.  This makes for cranky parents and REALLY cranky Bubeaner.  He has been acting up a lot.

Boobers (aka Sandy) is the only one not having issues, yet.

Doesn't she look strikingly adorable?

We are not sure if it's directly related, but Bubeaner has also been eating less.  A lot less.  Even his favorites are not working.  Oh, he still eats but mainly one semi-decent meal a day only.  And we have been having to hound him to drink his water too.  Usually, he drinks about 2.5 sippy cups (20+ ounces) a day.  The last two days he may have had one sippy cup a day... maybe.  He has also been complaining of "ouchies" on his head and today his lower back too.  We are not sure if he is really in pain or if he's just using his new favorite word.  (This past week he has been using ouchie a lot any time he has hit himself, fallen, or even for things that cause him discomfort.  He also knows Momma thinks it's adorable when he says it.)  Sigh.

Don't let that cute face deceive you. 

We really wish children came with a manual and translation device really would be useful too.

For tonight, Bubita is sleeping back on her stroller after refusing to go to sleep at 6, 630, 7, 730, 8, 830...  and Bubeaner is back to sleeping in his crib.   Tomorrow we will see what happens.

DEJA VU
(Doesn't it look familiar?)

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The Wiggle Worm Strikes Back

"Ah, sister.  You were wise to keep her from me."

The stare down continues.  Who shall prevail?

A truce is declared.

Phew, that was hard work.

Love is a CHOICE!

Eight years ago Dad and Momma vowed to love, comfort, honor and keep each other, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and continually bestow upon each other our heart's deepest devotion, forsaking all others for as long as we both should live.

 2002

Moving into our first apartment

Since then, we have learned a deeper appreciation of the vows we spoke that day.  We understand them a little better.  We know we have a long way to go still.  We have also learned the importance of putting our marriage first not letting work, hobbies, other responsibilities, and yes, even our precious babies, from devoting special time to our marriage.  We've surrounded ourselves with other couples who help us grow in our marriage.  Because the most important thing we have learned in the last eight years is that LOVE IS A CHOICE!  And every day, we choose to love each other and live the vows we made years ago.

2007

Pre-Babies, enjoying the Irish countryside

And in the end, that is the best we can do for our children allowing them the opportunity to grow up in a family with both of their parents hopefully learning that it is a blessing to find a partner to walk along with you in this life.  But that marriage is a commitment that requires daily work and a conscious effort to love one another.
 

2010

We are grateful for the years we have faced together and look towards the time ahead of us grateful for the many blessings in our lives, for each other, for our children, and for our parents who taught us by example.

Fall's In The Air

We woke up to a nice cool fall day.  It actually helped speed us up this morning.  We were running a little behind getting to Bubita's 2-month appointment.  And that was before Momma realized both car seats had to be reinstalled after Coco's spa day (tune up and cleaning).  For some reason, it always takes twice as long to do it when we are in a hurry.

Someone is feeling a little left out perhaps? 

Dr. Z is going to fire us one day for being late.  We are hoping she's giving us a break since we used to be early when it was just Bubeaner.

Bubeaner did great today.  He was not scared, though he was not necessarily completely at ease with the nurses.  Bringing him in to the doctor's office when Bubita has the check ups has helped ease his anxiety about the place.  Today he even stayed in the room while Bubita got her vaccines, or her ouchies as Bubeaner called them; he was adorable and kissed her afterwards.

Still amazed he can fit his legs in the Bumbo.

Bubita is doing great.  Our little baby is not as little as we like to pretend.  She measures 25.5 inches in length; a little tall for her age since she's in the 95th percentile still.  But she has trimmed some of the extra weight, not that it's noticeable from the beautiful double chin, chubby cheeks and ticklish thunder thighs.  She's now almost 14 pounds putting her still above average in the 75th percentile.  Her noggin is still larger than most at 16.25 inches (75%) but not as large as Bubeaner's.  Everything else looked great: reflexes, eye contact, ears, nose, heart, throat, etc.  We were definitely able to confirm that two little bottom teeth are coming out.  We got a good view of them when she cried during her vaccines.

Ah, his father's son!

He must add salsa to everything.

Dr. Z gave us some tips on getting Bubita to take more naps during the day which we will try immediately.  She also gave the thumbs up on solid foods.  Bubita has already been taking 1/4 of a tablespoon of applesauce for almost a month with her Prilosec.  Now she can have 2-3 tablespoons once a day.  And we can start trying other foods!  Bubita is going to absolutely love it.  She complains every night  after she finishes her medicine.  It will also make it harder when we eat around her.  Bubita already makes us feel bad because she stares at our food and us eating during meals.  But she will probably already be upset with us because of the formula.  Dr. Z gave us some tips on getting Bubita used to drinking the formula hopefully allowing Dad and Momma to take a couple-only little break sometimes in the future.  She suggested we try combining a small amount of formula with breatmilk at least once a day slowly increasing the amount.  Dr. Z said that even if that did not work, Bubita would eventually give in and take the bottle if that was the only option.  We are still skeptical about this.

From her other symptoms, it appears that Bubita may just have some allergy issues rather than full out asthma.  Phew.  That means that for now we only have to worry about the lactate and soy allergies.  And this may be temporary just like Bubeaner who now enjoys eating cheese and yogurt every day, if not every meal.  (And who says God doesn't have a wicked sense of humor?)  This leads us to Bubita's BM problems of the last month.  Bubita now has normal BMs after trying the lactation consultant's suggestion of either pumping 5 minutes before nursing or starting nursing on the same side all day, alternating on the starting side every day rather than every feeding.  It appears she was getting not enough hind milk.  Of course, that still did not explain the green color.... at least it didn't until Dad caught Momma eating a chocolate bar last night and asked about the MILK chocolate she was ingesting!!!

Bubita being tormented tickled by her aunt.

About a month ago, about the time Bubita's problem started, Momma bought the candy for Bubeaner's birthday party and Halloween.  And since then she's been sneaking a piece of candy here and there.  For an intelligent woman who watches every ingredient of anything she puts in her mouth because of Bubita's allergies, this can only be explained as a brain fart.  Meme'Licia was nice and said it may just have been a subconscious block since Momma wanted chocolate.  Why couldn't the block have been over a nice blue cheese crumble on a steak instead.  Sigh.  So, Dr. Z was correct.  It was, in part, Momma's diet.  At least now we know and can address it.  For now no more chocolate for Momma, and hopefully no more problems for Bubita.

Bubita might have cared had she not been feeling poorly after her vaccines.  She gets a low grade fever and sleeps most of the day.  Poor munchkin.  We hate to see her unwell, but we do it hoping to prevent her even more problems.  This is also the reason we debated going to visit great aunt Raquel today.  But her sister great aunt Bani was in town visiting and she leaves tomorrow morning.  We don't know when we will be able to visit her so we made the 40-mile (60-90+ minutes, depending on traffic) drive.

 Now, this is the way to get love.

Bubita with aunt Raquel.

It's during these excursion that we remember how far away we actually now live.  But it was worth it to spend a little bit of time with them.  Bubeaner even behaved a little.  He entertained the aunts with his antics.  At one point he tried and finally succeed in seating himself in the Bumbo!  The boy has scrawny, but cute, legs.  And Bubita was in a pretty good mood too.  It did help that they had both had their baths before we left and were in their comfortable pajamas.  The nap on the way down probably did not hurt either.  Bubita napped for the entire 90 minutes.  Surprisingly it was not that difficult to leave; we were worried about Bubeaner having a meltdown and Bubita crying all the way back.  Bubita was asleep within minutes and Bubeaner was not far behind.  The transfer to their beds once we arrived was pretty easy too with minimal interruptions and problems.  Now, let's just hope for a restful and peaceful night's sleep for all.