Posted by: ppernick | June 4, 2008

What's the date??

It’s been way too long since my last post.  It’s just been…well.  Toddler + Infant + new house + full time work = how much time have i lost?!  As I think of stuff, I’ll post (or at least try to), but at least here’s something to catch up on.

Toddler Time / Simeon Stuff
Simeon is an amazing big brother.  Unfortunately, I haven’t had the camera at the right time.  He shares toys, tickles her, plays with her (gently i must add).  Amazing.  I know there will come a day when he wants to send her back, but i’ll enjoy what i’ve got for now.

Infant Info / Caitlyn Corner
At Caitlyn’s current rate, Simeon will be wanting to send her back sooner rather than later.  A few days after returning from Kansas, Caitlyn started rolling from back to belly.  Within the last week or so, she’s started rolling from belly to back.  As soon as she’s moving and she get grab his stuff…uh oh.

Other Caitlyn firsts…first laugh was a week before our Kansas trip.  And, having refused a bottle, she’s now drinking from a sippy cup.

Family Fun
Well, not sure if it’s ‘fun’.  But the family is moving.  We bought a house down the street and we’re trying to finish getting out of the old house in time for some renters of our old house.  Then, this october/november, my brother-in-law and his (soon-to-be) wife will move out here. yay!

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Posted in Caitlyn, Development, House, Simeon

Posted by: ppernick | April 16, 2008

Simeon Cuteness

On my way up from my last daycare feeding of the day, the teacher at the front desk shared a very amusing Simeon story. A few of the kids appeared to be racing towards the front door on their way outside to the playground. Simeon got to the door first, turned around, pumped his fists in the air and yelled “yay!”

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Posted in Daycare, Simeon

Posted by: ppernick | April 16, 2008

Daycare day 1 child 2

Caitlyn started daycare on Monday. Well…temporarily anyway. We had a couple gaps in her care and the daycare had an open part-time spot. For the next couple weeks, she goes to the center Mon, Tue and Wed and then stays with me in the office Th and Fri. Then we go to Kansas for a week and then she goes back to the daycare on the same schedule for 2 more weeks before Ari’s mom comes in.

Leaving her was a bit difficult, but I do go downstairs every 2-3 hours to feed her. Having done this before and knowing I’d be seeing her a lot during the day this was a much easier drop-off than Simeon’s first day.

And…thankfully we were on the same feeding schedule. Yesterday and today I would get a phone call or email saying she was hungry just as I was heading down to feed her. Yay!

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Posted in Caitlyn, Daycare

Posted by: ppernick | April 15, 2008

Can anything else go wrong today?

Er…well…the answer to that is yes.  So, the appropriate question is ‘What else can go wrong today?’

Day started at 3am when Caitlyn woke up hungry.  Since she was still in her dress from Sunday, I decided to change her to appropriate bedtime clothing along with changing her diaper before feeding her.  She had a dirty diaper, but I didn’t realize how loose until I felt it on my hand.  After finding some paper towels and cleaning up, I discover she has since gotten her onesie wet.  In the meantime, she’s crying so much that Ari wakes up and I’m worried (though I don’t need to be) that Simeon will wake up too.

6am-ish:  I wake up and look at the clock.  It says 6:01 and I immediately wake Ari.  Alarm wasn’t set.  He quickly dresses and runs downstairs only to discover all the other clocks say 6:45am.  He’s missed his bus.

The rest of the morning at home:  Simeon isn’t listening to me AT ALL and winds up in timeout twice before we leave for daycare.  Also before leaving the house I discover his ball (which is practically the only toy he plays with in the backyard) is completely deflated – I quickly find the hole.

I know something else happened before I walked into my office for work, but it has since escaped me.  So, I was asking the above question as I went up the elevator.

Oh…right…that would be it…it was my first day back to work from maternity leave.  *sigh*

Thankfully the rest of the day was busy but much better.

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Posted in Parenting

Posted by: ppernick | April 4, 2008

Insomnia

IMG_3458*sigh*  Murphy’s Law in effect.

Crawled into bed around 10pm with Caitlyn since she wasn’t ready to go down in the pack and play.  Whenever one of the kids sleeps in bed with us (especially at Caitlyn’s age) I don’t sleep well.  I know I tried and failed at some point to transfer her to the pack and play.  Finally managed a successful attempt around 1am.  Then around 1:30, just as I’m on the verge of falling asleep again, Simeon comes into the room.  I get him back down quite painlessly.

So on a usual night…the kids tag team and Caitlyn would wake back up just as I’m crawling into bed, followed by Simeon when Caitlyn’s back down.  Meanwhile, I’m doing anything I can to stay awake enough to get them to sleep again.

Wouldn’t it figure that the one night neither child wakes up again until 5:30 or 6 I can’t sleep!  I think I managed 2 hours of unrestful sleep.  I’ll bet anything things go back to normal tonite. 

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Posted in Sleep

Posted by: ppernick | March 25, 2008

Baby Naming

Last weekend[1] Caitlyn’s hebrew name was officially announced at a baby naming ceremony at our synagogue.  Tsilia Asya.  Tsilia is in memory of Ari’s paternal grandmother (Carol) and Asya is in memory of Ari’s maternal grandfather (Asa).  The ceremony brought in family from both sides and it was nice to see everybody and spend time with them all. 

The ceremony also highlighted the cycle of life.  Although our little girl’s life is just beginning, we learned of the passing of an uncle on Ari’s side of the family.   Uncle H suffered a stroke a few weeks ago and fell into a coma. He never regained consciousness and passed away the Wednesday before the naming.  With Ari’s parents already on their way to Seattle, his brother adjusted his schedule to attend the funeral and represent the family.

My thoughts and condolences go out to Ari’s relatives.

At the same time I look at my two children.  I see their precious faces and bright eyes.  I can only hope that they live long, happy and healthy lives and that I’m around long enough to see much of it as well.

[1] Apparently this didn’t get posted last week. :s

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Posted in Caitlyn, Celebration, Family

Posted by: ppernick | March 8, 2008

Big Brother

Generally, when I drop off and pick up Simeon from daycare I leave Caitlyn with whoever is at the front.  This way I don’t have to carry around the bulky carseat and I can give Simeon my full attention.

Yesterday, when I went to pick him up he was playing outside when I got there.  Having been seen, I greeted him before going inside to sign out, grab Bear, and pick up anything in his mail box.  As usual, I left Caitlyn with the lady at the front and started to head to his classroom.  Rather than just following, Simeon tried to pull the carseat along with us.  He didn’t seem very happy that we were leaving Caitlyn behind.  I edged a bit more around the corner, and Simeon appeared quite torn what to do.  Stay up front with Caitlyn or come back to the classroom with Mommy.

In the end, he came back to the classroom.  When we returned to the front, he immediately tried to pick up the carseat and take it with him.

I’m sure there will come a time when he asks if we can send her back, but in the meantime I’m really happy with how he’s handling big brother status.

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Posted in Caitlyn, Simeon

Posted by: ppernick | March 7, 2008

family updates

I don’t usually feel as mature as I think should be at this age, but there are definitely signs I’m growing up.  First was marriage and home ownership.  Then came Simeon.  More recently was the minivan and Caitlyn.  And now…synagogue membership.  This past weekend, Ari and I met with a guy at the synagogue to pretty much make it official.  I wonder what’s next… 

Simeon Stuff
Recently, a bunch of kids from Simeon’s daycare room moved up to the next class.  The daycare apparently thought transitioning him would be too much with a new sister and kept him back.  I wish they’d let Ari and me make that decision.  He’s now the oldest kid in his class and (IMO) definitely ready for the next challenge that the Red Room would offer.  Plus, he’s no longer with most of the kids he’s been with since starting at this daycare – I would have preferred to keep him with his friends than with his current teachers. Unfortunately, the next class is completely full (as are all the classes it seems).  I’ve spoken to the daycare staff and I’m waiting for the next opportunity for him to move up.  At least he’s now spending some time with the Red Room when classes start consolidating at the end of the day.  Last week, rather than racing past me to get his coat, he actually puts away what he’s playing with and then runs to me.

Caitlyn’s Corner
Caitlyn has recently been sleeping well at night.  She goes down between 930-10, wakes around 2am, but that’s about it until 5 or 6 and actually goes back to sleep once fed.  At first, she required sleeping in bed with us to get any sleep at night.  Last couple nights she’s actually been ok in the pack ‘n play.  Here’s hoping it isn’t just a growth spurt that’s causing this behavior.

Tegan Time and Maggie Moments
After long neglect, Ari and I (with help from Ari’s mom) got Tegan to a vet.  Results of the initial blood work prompted the vet to say she’d never seen blood this perfect in a 17 year-old cat – princess Tegan definitely has a good life for the most part.  Surgery removed a cyst on her neck and a number of bad teeth.  The animal hospital staff were quite impressed with her post-surgery recovery.  They were expecting an old, tired cat to wake up from anesthesia only to find an old, very pissed off cat ready to draw blood. :)  We’ve been attempting to keep up with her medication (specifically her eye ointment) and got her some wet cat food – easier for her to eat.  Her follow-up appointment last week was completed with a comment from the vet: "She’s like a completely different cat."  They also noted that they don’t think she’s blind in either eye as a different doctor suspected. 

I did recently discover signs of a territory dispute between cats.  Little shreds of beige rug in our bathroom point towards Maggie.  Stains appearing on the bath mat would normally be suspicious if I hadn’t caught Tegan preparing to use it as a litter box the other day.  Obviously on purpose as she immediately returned to the mat and started preparations again after I interrupted the process and carried her to her litter box…twice.

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Posted in Caitlyn, Family, Maggie, Simeon, Synagogue, Tegan

Posted by: ppernick | March 5, 2008

stuff to share

Dinner tonite came together really well.  Halibut and capers, cous cous and ginger carrots.  All cooked and ready for serving within half-an-hour. A good sign when your son not only eats some chicken and pasta, but then doesn’t stop eating the cous cous and carrots.  Even better is when your husband, done with his dinner, sneaks a bit off your son’s plate.

—-

Bought a double stroller over the weekend courtesy of Craigslist.  Worked out well today for a walk to the coffee shop and back – with time allowed for Simeon to play.  Got home just as it started to sprinkle.

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Simeon’s vocabulary is really increasing.  He’s doing great with two and three word sentences.  Phrases like ‘this way!’ and ‘more rice’ then corrected to include please when requested.

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I should go weigh Caitlyn…she’s definitely growing and its another month before her next doctor visit.

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Simeon is such a good big brother.  Asks to hold Caitlyn. Tries to give her a pacifier. Rocks her when she’s in the carseat.  Even helped me carry her in the carseat to the car from daycare yesterday.

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I know there’s more, but that’s what I can think of right now.

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Posted in Caitlyn, Development, Food, Simeon

Posted by: ppernick | February 27, 2008

First day solo

On the one hand, Sunday was my first solo day – mother-in-law left late Saturday night and Ari was biking Chilly Hilly all day Sunday.  However, my friend D came over with her son J. So I wasn’t totally alone, which I am completely grateful for.

Then, Monday, Simeon went to daycare.

So we’re now at Tuesday – just me and 2 kids.  I at least managed to survive to get to the good part.

The hard parts:

  • Early morning and long night – Caitlyn must have thought it was daytime.  Woke at 1:30 and didn’t go back down for any length of time until about 5am or later.  Simeon came in the room his usual time – around 630.
  • Library – Took Simeon for storytime but wish I’d realized I didn’t have to go into the library for it.  Aside from chasing him around the library carrying Caitlyn in a carseat, he was NOT happy when I took him out to the storytime area.
  • Naptime – Simeon was falling asleep as we pulled into the garage.  Quick lunch and easy nap…right?  After waking and feeding Caitlyn and letting Simeon watch Sesame Street during that…I thought I’d manage a decent nap.  Until I found myself still fighting Simeon 1.5 hours later.  Then, once he managed to go down, Caitlyn woke up.  She then managed to stay up for about 2.5 hours (Simeon napped for 2 hours).

The good:

  • Potty training – Seems Simeon knows what the toilet is for.  In an effort to avoid nap, Simeon claimed he needed to poop and wanted to sit on the potty.  I bit twice – wanting to encourage that behavior.  And he did in fact sit on the potty longer than he usually does.
  • Potty training (part 2) – Ari took him up for a bath tonite and as we usually do before a bath, offered the potty.  He peed on the potty!!  Woohoo!
  • Day/Night correction? – Caitlyn was up a lot today.  2.5 hours in the afternoon and then another couple hours at night.  Here’s hoping I actually get to sleep tonite.
  • Playdate – Ran into a neighbor walking with her kids this afternoon and it sounds like we’re getting together next week.  Apparently the Issaquah Community Center sets up a gym and lets toddlers run loose for $1.
  • Dinner – tried a new recipe for dinner.  Parmesean encrusted Halibut with Ginger carrots.  Simeon actually loved the carrots and Ari and I both liked the fish as well.  Quick, easy and definitely repeatable.

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Posted in Caitlyn, Parenting, Simeon

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