Another Overdue Update

Well, the kids are still taking swim lessons and still freaked out by the water. Ella did o.k. when I took her on Monday night to go swimming with me. She let me put her on her belly and on her back to swim as long as she was holding a long pink spaghetti noodle. I'm hoping this means she will get in the pool with the teacher tomorrow, but I'm not holding out any luck on that.

Benjamin also refused to go into the pool during class last week and didn't let go of Jon when they went on Wednesday night...though he did well the prior week in class and in pool time with papa.

Nicholas has had his first ear infection. He got a 103 temperature the other day. I took him to the doctor the next day and he has ear infections, so he started on antibiotics on Monday. He was throwing up last night - something that he and at least one of the teachers at school have.

Cute Stories:

the other day, I'm driving the kids home and I hear them say the following:

Ella: Benjamin, do you want to wear the pink things? (I think she is talking about the pink wannabe crocs).
Ben: ...
Ella: BENJAMIN! Do you want to wear the pink things? Yeah or no?
Benjamin: ELLA! Boys like to wear pink sometimes too!


Last night, I was cleaning up their room trying to find where Nicholas put his boots (turns out he put them in Jon's boots). Ella & Benjamin were out in the livingroom pretending to be mommy and baby. I hear one of them say "do you like your soda? I like my soda" and I was thinking they were pretending because they see Jon and I drink soda. Well, no, they found a coke bottle I had left in my lunch bag (I had forgotten about it) and they were pouring the coke into their sippy cups and their other cup and drinking it. I only came out when I heard Benjamin scream out "it's too full! I got it too full!" He put too much in his cup and it was spilling out. Ugh! Luckily, they did go to sleep in a somewhat peaceful manner (in comparison to other days).

Speaking of swimming, last week when I took Ella to swim, she was staring at the womean and little girls walking around - some of them in the nude. I told her it wasn't nice to stare. Later, after "swimming", we went back to the locker room to change and she apparently thought I was staring as she said "mommy, it isn't nice to stare".

Nicholas is sick again today so Jon is home with him. Benjamin also stayed home since his nose kept running and he needed a tissue constantly. He was going to keep Ella home, but she said she really wanted to go to school. I'm not sure right now if she went or not.

That's all for now. Hope everyone feels better soon and that Ben & Ella do very well in their swim class tomorrow!

Harry Potter & Blech

Last night around 9 p.m., my body decided that it didn't agree with something I ate and revolted. So I really didn't go to bed until about 2 and even then I was up every hour. Things seemed to finally quieting down this morning around 8 or 9. I still feel kinda gross but at least I was able to eat a little something and I am able to hold down some liquids.

Thankfully, I was feeling better since I had tickets to go the Harry Potter exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. It was an interesting exhibit. Seeing costumes worn by the actors and props from the movie. On the signs showing the proclamation of things banned had at the very bottom "blah blah blahblah blahablaha" etc. I pointed that out to Kelly who seemed amused by it, as was I. It was then pointed out to people nearby us. It was kinda funny seeing costumes worn during the first or second movies compared to later on - seeing how much the actors have grown over the years.

Soon, I hope to go see the movie.

Now I must go to bed since I had very little sleep last night and I am about to pass out.

Fun with Sunscreen Lotion

I put Ben & Ella down for a nap around 1:15 or so. I expect playing for a little while but eventually, they fall asleep. Not so much today. I would hear giggles, then screams, so I'd go check on them. Most times, it was because they were fighting over a toy or a doll. Well, one time, it wasn't that. Around 2:30 or so, I hear screaming and so I go check (all the while, I'm trying to take a little rest myself - I'm exhausted and not feeling so well). I open the door and see that they had found some sunscreen lotion (I think from one of our diaper bags/backpacks) and had smeared it all over themselves. It doesn't look like any got in the eye or mouth, but I suppose I don't know for sure. So I had to take them out and give them a bath, change the sheets of the one bed covered in lotion. After the bath, I tried to get them to take a nap again. It just wasn't happening today so they came out of their room about 3:15 for good. And no, I didn't take a picture though I should have.

Guess what they are doing now - napping. It is now 6:08 p.m. here and Ella started to fall asleep on the floor so I took her to her bed and then Benjamin (while screaming - he wanted to go outside). I'm going to have to wake them up soon so they will go to bed at a decent hour and have dinner at a decent hour unlike last night when they didn't have dinner until 8 b/c I wasn't feeling well, then Jon took them outside while dinner was baking. The kids insisted on walking, so he took them to the park and I had to go rescue him otherwise, they would have been at the park until they wanted to fall asleep and well, I don't think Jon would have liked to carry two sleepy toddlers all the way home while carrying an infant in a Bjorn. I stayed at home b/c I wasn't feeling so great. I think I'm not feeling well b/c of my incredible exhaustion not because of a bug. Nicholas has decided to go back to waking every 3-4 hours - he had been going 5-6 hours.

I really, really wish that I could have someone come help me one day a week so I can feel like I can take a nap - I feel as if I need to get things done while Nicholas naps (and the twins if they are here) because I can't get it done while they are awake. The person that helped us last time once a week (MIL) is for some unclear reason not able to come help or something. I don't know. I wish I knew what was going on there.

Anyway, that's all. I'm off to go make dinner and have it all ready by the time the twins get up, so they can eat, then go play outside for a while and then go to bed at a decent time. Contrary to what you may think, having them go to bed later does not mean that they will wake up later.

Actually, one last thing, what does one get their childcare provider/preschool teacher for childcare appreciation day (which is apparently tomorrow and my daycare is taking the day off - I do not remember them doing this last year but they said it is in their policy and I don't know where I put that).

Baby Talk

Well, Benjamin & Ella seem to be doing a lot better. I’m getting there myself. All of us still have a bit of a stuffy nose and a cough, but it doesn’t sound nearly as bad as it did over the weekend. Because of our sickness, I told my fellow support group members that we weren’t going to be able to make it to the playdate. It turns out (I would find out much later) that the playdate was cancelled because the host’s child was sick too.

I should mention that in one of my recent posts that I was worried about Ella weighing 16 pounds – it’s not so much that she’s 16 pounds that worries me but the fact that she was 16 pounds nearly 3 months ago that worries me. She didn’t gain anything. They have their 9 month checkup on the 14th, so I’m hoping she will have gained something on what she was at 6 months, even if it is only an ounce. She may end up being a stick like I was for a good 24 years of my life before my metabolism slowed way the hell down and I started to pack on that weight.

Benjamin, I know, is a big guy. 22 pounds for a nearly 9 month old – that’s a pretty good size.

In wonderful news, Ella has sorta made forward progress. And in the middle of the night, it hit me, holy crap, we really, really need to get some childproofing done. The way she made her forward progress last night was by getting up on her hands and feet and pushing herself forward. She did this twice. At one point, she even may have moved her right knee forward. I said “yay Ella!” She smiled up at me. Then, when she tried to do it again, she got frustrated and started to cry as if she couldn’t remember how she did it before. I may have distracted her, I guess. I have gotten Benjamin up on his hands and knees just once. And he didn’t stay there for too long. He has gotten a lot more interested in standing though. And one time, I was holding him up to stand and Ella was sitting and he kinda looked at her with this triumphant look on his face as if to tell her that mommy was holding him up to stand but not her.

Last night, while I was changing each baby’s diaper, they were not a happy bunch. It had been a long day, I guess. They were both crying and I tried to sing them songs to console them, but nothing was working. They were tired babies. At one point, they were crying, then they slowed down the crying a bit – in that slow crying period, they looked at each other as if to say “Should we continue?” “I think we should.” “O.K. Let’s do this.” And the crying continued. It was kinda cute.

When I went to go pick up the babies at the daycare, they were playing in the room designated for infants, and one of the daycare ladies to go help a mom with her child, and Ella cried at the daycare lady leaving the room. And I’m like “Ella, mommy is right here. Ella! Mommy is right here!” She then looked at me and continued on playing. Silly girl!

Benjamin has become quite the “drummer” in that he likes to hit stuff. The telephone toy at the daycare. The CD player toy we have at home (it’s not an actual CD player, but I have no idea what to call it).

Ella has started to dance from front to back like Benjamin has been doing. She still does the side to side, but I guess it was time to mix up her dancing styles. :-D

And to end, I actually got a comment from the author of the book I talked about. That was kinda surprising and cool. :-D