Life is Too Busy

I was such a diligent blogger when Max was a baby and already Mike is suffering the effects of a house with two children.

My transition back to work was no where near as smooth this time around. I returned to work on Halloween. I was not ready. Mike was only 10 weeks old, such a drastic difference from Max who was 16 weeks old. And then I only worked for 7 weeks and spent the next three months at home again. This time around I got a brief two weeks for winter break and was back to the grind again in January. Fortunately Mike did not have colic and is an overall good-natured baby.

So I figured I'd do an update here for each of the family. We'll go from youngest to oldest. :D

Mike

• He can roll over from his back to his front in both directions with relative ease. He does not understand how to roll onto his back again. I've been told that this is unusual for a baby to master back to front first. Both of my boys did this though.
• He has found his toes. And he has also found that he is flexible enough to put them into his mouth. This provides hours of entertainment for him as well as big brother who thinks the concept of eating "toe jam" is HILARIOUS.
• He has been babbling up a baby talk storm. He has said the words "daddy" and "hi" in that babble and Kendall assures me that he's REALLY saying daddy. I'm not buying it. 24 weeks is a little too young for him to be using words.
• We've been having a problem with baby cereal. For a good stretch of time Mike was doing just fine with his twice a day cereal. Then we started adding formula to his diet (I'm just not producing enough now that I'm back to work and pumping) and suddenly he was projectile vomiting the cereal. We've started making some changes and seem to have him back on it at least once a day.
• Tried peas. He hated them. Max loved them. Just goes to show you that all babies really ARE different. May try green beans this week. Kendall thinks we may have to bribe him with fruits first. I know, a big no-no. We'll see.
• Drooling/teething like crazy
• Smiles a LOT. Such a happy little guy. Makes me feel good when I go get him.
• Total mama's boy right now. I hold him and he calms almost immediately. Also makes me feel good. :)
• Not sleeping through the night. Every 3 hours he's up to eat. UGH. So not what we had with Max.

Max

• Obsessed with his "wiener" and the wieners of all other people, animals and super heros. He likes to point out the anatomy of just about anything he can. While it's funny in private (no pun intended!) it's not so great when he shouts about it in public.
• Potty training, oh how I loathe thee. At home we can't get him to do anything regularly. He's telling us he has to pee when he wakes up in the morning and right before bed. Any other time he just does it in the diaper or Pull-Up. Poop is getting better. He gets a reward for poop now. He's always so proud of what he plops in the toilet. I'm not pushing him though. He'll do it when he's ready. If there's one thing I've learned, you can't rush potty training. They'll do it when they're ready, boy or girl.
• He still loves horses and has branched out into all zoo animals. He will set all of them up together along with a set of dinosaurs and some Hot Wheels. His imagination astounds me.
• Recently drew his first "family" picture. With actual stick figures. It was adorable. He even included Grandma and Charlie. It was great. I saved it. :D
• Max really is a great big brother. I have to give him credit. He's barely 3 and he has incredible patience and incredible love for his little brother. I'm amazed at his adoration for Mike. He plays games with him, comforts him when he cried and shares his toys with an ease I never could have imagined. And Mike loves him as well. It's so wonderful to see my baby's face light up at the sight of his big brother.
• He has a firm grasp now of letters and numbers. We practice them almost daily, whether it be with flash cards or just spotting words in the store or books or on his toys. Sometimes I forget that he's only 3.

Lisa

• Loving the new building we moved in to over winter break. So new and clean and technology that allows me to do so many new things.
• Hating many other aspects of my job right now. The district has to cut 14 million dollars over two years because of reduced funding from the state (thanks Kaisch!). On top of that the community voted no on the levy. I blame the district for dropping the ball and not sharing about the cuts from the state. We will go up on the ballot again in August. Hopefully with more information for the community. This, however, means there will be major staffing cuts. Some rumors say 20 teachers. Some say more. Because I don't have tenure (you have to have a masters degree and I don't) I am potentially at risk to get RIFed. I have seniority in the district, but not within my department.
• Still trying to decide if I REALLY want a third child. When I see Max and Mike play I think how great it would be to see them all grow up together. When I'm up at 1am feeding a baby, I think how OVER I am this whole baby phase. It's exhausting! Some people say 3 is no different that 2. Some people say the exact opposite. I still have a few months to decide but ultimately I'd like to make a decision one way or the other over the summer.
• I am really into reading dystopian novels right now. And I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas and I am borrowing tons of library books. I love it! I don't ever have to remember to return the book. The Kindle does it for me. Very nice.

Kendall

• His health has been a roller coaster since the fall. Major breathing issues led him to go back on steroids in October and November. We switched docs and got some new ideas and recommendations and he has been doing a lot better and is off the steroids again. Still don't have any answers as to what is causing his breathing issues but hope to do some allergy testing soon.
• His job has been VERY busy. It's that time of year though. We're hoping to get a small bonus check from last year. This is the last year we will have to write a check to the other partners to pay off his portion of the practice. I am VERY excited at the idea of finally pulling in some extra cash at the end of 2013.
• I have been encouraging him to read more. So far I've gotten him to read two books in just December and January and I have a new one for him for February.
• I'm always amazed at how helpful of a husband Kendall is. He is a very hands-on dad. He loses his temper some times, but don't we all? And I'm just grateful that he's willing to take the boys with him sometimes and give me some alone time. Or that we trade off chores and if I make dinner I know he'll clean up. Parenting really is a partnership. I can't imagine doing it without him.

Whew! Okay, I'm done! :D