Hooray for Grandma Jo!

Our weekend started with a morning Easter Egg Hunt at a local middle school. I couldn't believe how many kids were there! When the starting signal sounded, it was a free-for-all.

Amanda knew what to do, and took off in a shot to start collecting eggs. But poor Eva was scared, intimidated by the vast amount of children scurrying around. When it was all over five minutes later, she only ended up with a few eggs in her basket. Despite a lack of eggs, she ended up with plenty of candy simply by scavenging the candy that was left on the ground. The whole thing was over in 5 minutes.

Amanda and Eva with their friend, Katelynn

After lunch, it was finally time to pick up Grandma Jo!! The entire family made the trip into Boston to the airport. Amanda, Eva and I hopped out and met her near the baggage carousel. We all greeted her with big hugs and Amanda even had watery eyes after her hug. ("Tears of joy," as she says.)

Grandma finally gets to hold Liam.

The girls couldn't wait to go upstairs and help Grandma unpack her suitcase, which was filled with gifts for the whole family. It was like Christmas all over again, minus the wrapping paper.


Liam received his quilt, made with love from Grandma Jo, full of beautiful browns and blues. It is absolutely gorgeous and I'm sure he will treasure it. (The girls have their respective quilts on their beds, which they proudly showed off. It is so neat to see how each one has different colors, truly unique.)

Liam already loves his comfy quilt.

Dave treated us to burgers on the grill, porterhouse steak, salads... and from Omi, a blueberry tart for dessert. We all snuggled on the couch before bedtime and watched a few of the infamous Lindsay Montages, and then it was time for some much needed ZZZZ's.

Now the girls are spending "special time" with Grandma - playing school, marching in a musical parade, reading Little House on the Prairie books and doing puzzles. Later today, we plan to go on a hike even though it's a bit on the chilly side.

I just heard Amanda say,"I like it when you're here, Grandma Jo. This is fun."

I echo those sentiments.

Liam's Physical

Liam did very well at his 2 month check-up yesterday, although he wasn't at all pleased about being there.

From the time I got him undressed to weigh/measure him, he screamed his little heart out. He briefly calmed down when the pediatrician and even smiled a little and cooed, but that was short-lived. As soon as the doctor began checking his eyes, ears and every other part, Liam's body became as stiff as a board and screamed until his face was bright red.

Then came the shots. One in each leg and then an oral Rotavirus syrup, which he was very reluctant to swallow.

But within 10 seconds of being held, he was back to his old, calm self.

His statistics kind of threw us for a loop because for the first time ever with ANY of our kids, his weight percentile was higher than his height! (Just barely, but still...) He is now 12 pounds, 1 ounce... a pound more than Eva was at this age, and a full 2 pounds more than Amanda. That puts him in the 60th percentile for weight.

He only grew half an inch since his last appointment, one month ago. He is 23 inches, or the 53rd percentile - right where the girls were at this age.

His head is still on the small side... 12th percentile.

It's so funny how the same genes can create such different results. With the girls, their height was always in the 80-90th percentile while their weight was closer to 40-50th percentile.

But he's a healthy little guy, no concerns or problems. His eczema has cleared up, other than a little bit on his upper chest, so that's good news.

Lately he has been chewing on his fists a lot. He actually prefers that over a pacifier and I wonder if this could be the beginning of teething. Amanda got her first tooth at 5 months old and was drooling heavily for months before that. (Sadly, I don't remember when Eva got her first tooth.. but I think I wrote it down somewhere.)

And now, I am going to finish my tea and wait for the kids to wake up. We are going to an Easter Egg Hunt this morning and then it's off to the airport to pick up Grandma Jo. She is arriving 5 hours earlier than I thought, a very nice surprise!

Two Months Old... and a Visit from Grandma Jo!

As hard as it is to believe, the calendar tells me that Liam is now 2 months old. It just doesn't seem possible. Tomorrow he has his 2 month physical and this is the one where he gets a bunch of immunizations. Ugh!

Last night, I somehow managed to get a great photo of the three kids together. Dave and I liked it so much that we walked with the entire family to CVS in order to print a copy immediately. It is now framed and sitting on top of my piano. It feels like a great accomplishment to have a shot of the three of them all together, everyone looking at the camera... and no crying or pouting!

Amanda (4 1/2); Eva (2 1/2); Liam (2 months)

In other news, we are all super excited about Grandma Jo's upcoming visit. We have been counting down the days each night as we tuck the kids into bed. Two more days and she'll be here! We have a long list of things we want to do while she's visiting - and hopefully the weather will cooperate!

Amanda wrote her own list of things she wanted to do with Grandma Jo.

Number 1 on Amanda's list was "Plaorawnd"or "Plagrawnd", depending on what that 4th letter is. I'm not sure if she meant "play around" or "playground", but I'm guessing there's not much difference between the two. She'd be happy with either one.

Number 2 on the list was "Dare Qwen". (In case you don't read the written language of a 4 year old, that translates into "Dairy Queen.") Also on the list was "USA", the gym we go to. (That's actually on my list of things to do too. I am really hoping I can coerce her to do Zumba with me on Monday morning! I think we'd have a lot of fun with that, not to mention burning off those Dairy Queen calories!)

Eva is looking forward to doing "puzzles and games" with Grandma. Really, she'd be happy doing anything as long as it means one on one time!

Both Amanda and Eva are also hoping that Mama and Daddy will go out on a date while Grandma is here. (Mama and Daddy are crossing our fingers for that too!) They have already decided that they want to watch a movie and eat popcorn with Grandma if she agrees to that.

In any case, I'm sure we'll have a great time just doing normal, everyday things. We haven't seen her since last July, so a visit is long overdue.

Happy Spring, everyone!

Our new pet

After the Robot workshop a few weeks ago, Dave decided to look for one of the Sony robotic dogs on Ebay.

He ended up purchasing a similar "breed" and it arrived the other day. The girls are treating it as if it is a real dog!

Meet our new pet, i-Cybie.

St. Patrick's Day.. and a new kitchen!

We finally made the decision to install cabinets and a sink in the barn. I cannot tell you how happy I am about this "improvement!!"


Dave will be hooking up the water and installing some new outlets this weekend, and then we're all set!! Hooray!

And I'm also including a photo of Liam on St. Patrick's Day. He is such a jolly, fun little guy these days! He is smiling, "talking" and has even come close to laughing a few times.

And, as you can see, he is putting on weight... especially in his thighs and chin. He's turning into a little roly-poly man.

Back to "Normal"

(Warning: This blog entry is long and involves a lot of milestones that I felt the need to record. I apologize if this is boring to most of you.)

Yesterday marked 6 weeks since Liam was born. The official ending of the "transition period" and the beginning of so-called "normal life." All restrictions are lifted after the 6 week recovery period, which meant I was finally able to return to the gym! I am most looking forward to resuming my Zumba class on Monday morning.

The other day, it dawned on me that for many mothers, the 6 week mark has a significantly different meaning. It often signals the return to work. Personally, I cannot imagine leaving Liam with a sitter for an entire day, much less an entire week. How can women be expected to get back in the saddle after such a short period? I feel so grateful that I have never had that sort of looming deadline.

My little man at 6 weeks old

As far as family life, I think we have settled back into "normal" pretty quickly. Each day gets a little better, although it all hinges on how well Liam slept the previous night! He seems to be in the habit of 3-4 hour stretches right now. Hopefully that will turn into 4-5 hour stretches soon!

Last night was probably the best night yet. Once he finally fell asleep around 10:00 pm, he didn't wake up for a feeding/diaper change until 2:30 am, and then went back to sleep again until 5:30 am. (The girls woke up at 5:45 am so their internal clocks must all be working in sync.) Only having to get up with him once during the night made a significant difference in my energy level today!

As far as Liam goes, his baby acne has gotten much better. I imagine he'll be back to "normal" by the end of this week. He is become more and more active, sometimes reaching out and grabbing at objects in front of him. He especially likes to grab onto hair, much to Amanda's disliking. Liam is also smiling and vocalizing more. It is fun to see the tiny changes from week to week. It is going by so fast though, and I need to remember to post blog entries so I will have some sort of record of it all! (I have not even purchased a baby book for Liam, so this blog might be all he gets!)

The girls continue to be good helpers, usually running to see who can bring me a diaper first. Eva is especially fond of sprinkling the baby powder on Liam during diaper changes. They both ask often if they can hold Liam. I have a million pictures of Amanda holding him, but until yesterday, didn't have any of Eva. (Probably because I'm too afraid she'll drop him if I am concentrating on the camera.) I managed to get a short video yesterday before she decided she'd had enough of "Mister Buddy", as she calls him.

"He's breathing on me..."

This morning Dave took Amanda and Eva on an outing to Nashua, New Hampshire for a robot-building workshop. It is an ongoing camp meant for older kids, but because one of Dave's co-workers runs it, he invited Dave to come and check it out. It was a special treat for the girls to spend some fun time with Daddy, followed by lunch at a Mexican restaurant.

Meanwhile, the little man and I went grocery shopping and thrift store shopping, searching for the elusive perfect-fitting jeans, which I am convinced do not exist for my body type! Liam slept through the whole excursion so it was almost like I was alone.

The peaceful morning allowed my mind a chance to rest, which is extremely rare these days. I find that if I don't have all three kids with me at any given time, I start to panic... thinking,"How many am I supposed to have with me?" Yesterday Amanda was at preschool, Eva was with Dave and Liam was in the car with me. At a stoplight I suddenly felt like I had forgotten someone because it was so quiet in the car. I guess it's a similar feeling to when you forget your watch!

Taken by Amanda

Since I am writing about general updates, I guess I should also include something about Amanda and Eva.

Eva had her first visit to the dentist last week! This was a monumental day for her and she couldn't wait to go. As soon as she was seated in the dentist's chair, she opened her mouth as wide as could be and just waited patiently for the hygienist to start. However, once the hygienist started poking around in Eva's mouth, she quickly clamped it shut! The promise of marshmallow fluoride was enough to coax her to open up again. However, she was very sensitive to the bright light shining down on her and had to wear a pair of big, bright pink sunglasses through the whole appointment. (I wish I had brought my camera for that.)

Amanda had her appointment too, which included having her first set of dental x-rays taken. Unfortunately they weren't able to get everything they needed because of Amanda's strong gag reflex. She tried hard though and was allowed to take not just one, but TWO prizes because she had been so patient.

Earlier this week, I registered Amanda for Kindergarten. She will have her hour long screening next month and boy, is she excited for that! (I told her she'll be meeting the teachers and playing all sorts of games, rather than using the word "tests.") All she talks about these days is Kindergarten... and riding the school bus.

The biggest news is that Amanda has been reading for the past few months now. It all started when she was at a doctor appointment and started picking out words in the book we were reading. Since then, I've been working more with her on phonics, rhyming and spelling... although I have to admit that it mostly her doing, not mine. She also loves to write her own books, a few of which I have saved.

It is positively amazing to sit next to her and listen to the expression she puts into her words. She knows question marks, exclamation points, quotation marks... and as of the other day, commas. It's really neat when Eva asks me to read a story to her and instead, Amanda will run up and say,"I'll read to you, Eva!" It is such a help to me. I love seeing them snuggled next to each other on the couch, with Eva patiently waiting as Amanda works her way through the words. Every now and then I'll hear Amanda say,"Trouble..." and that's my cue to help her out.

Amanda has been really interested in the Laura Ingalls Wilder children's books, after receiving one from my good friend. (Great book choice, Jenny!) Since then, I have been requesting additional books from the series at our local library.

Yesterday Amanda sat and read one of these books, "Sugar Snow", to me while I fed Liam. After she had made it three pages into the book with next to no help from me, she said,"Mama, I'm reading really good!" Then she suddenly closed the book, looked at the spine with a puzzled look on her face and exclaimed,"It's not even an 'Easy Reader!!" Of all the skills she has mastered, this is definitely the one I am most proud of.

I think that covers just about everything I had milling about in my head for the past few weeks. And now, back to "normal life." I have a cake baking in the oven, laundry in both the washer and dryer, dirty dishes in the sink and a baby who needs to be fed soon.

Life is good.