A Day in the New Life

Jonas, Abby and I spent a wonderful day together yesterday. They both had to see their pediatrician in Toronto - Jonas to check his weight and do an ADHD and med review, and Abby for her first immunizations. It went really well, although Abby might debate that if she could talk.  ;)

When we left the doctor's office, we walked out into a beautiful Spring day. The kind of day I've been waiting for for months. The kind of day where we could get outside and enjoy what Mother Nature has to offer. So, we had a quick lunch and then headed home to hit one of our local bike trails for some exercise in the fresh air and sunshine.

While Jonas got his bike, I loaded the jogging stroller with Abby, a diaper bag, a bottle of formula for Abby, a bottle of water for us, an extra blanket and our jackets. It took a little longer than we've become accustomed to, but eventually we were off!

WEEEEE!!!

The trail was soaked (but not completely swamped) and there were still snowy patches, but the birds were chirping and the sun was shining.  Jonas climbed a tree, we found all kinds of treasures, picked up some garbage, collected some tinder for our next campfire, threw sticks into the hugest puddle either of us has ever seen, stopped at the park for a while, let Abby feel the sunlight on her face without any barriers between them for the first time ever, and generally enjoyed a wonderful afternoon together.

 

 

 

After dinner, we settled into an evening that was a mish-mash of predictable and unexpected. Here's a quick recap:

The Night After

8:00 pm - Jonas gets ready for bed
8:01 pm - Jonas comes to me in a panic because he can't find Teddy
8:03 pm - we realize that we lost Teddy on our walk
8:04 pm - Jonas and I get our boots and coats on, grab our flashlights, get in the Jeep and head out on a Search and Rescue mission
8:13 pm  - We see Teddy at the trail head
8:13.01 pm - Boy and Bear are reunited
8:14 pm - We get back in the Jeep and head for home
8:15 pm - I laugh when, as he apologizes to Teddy for being left out in the cold dark night all by himself, Jonas says "I'm sorry Mumm-ah lost you." 

I'm not sure why it was my fault, but thankfully, we moms seem to come with built-in GPS system
that tracks every item that ever comes into the lives of our children (and spouses)
All I can say is "PHEW!!!!!!!"

8:18 pm -  We arrive back home and start Jonas & Teddy's bedtime routine a second time
8:47 pm - I kiss Jonas good night and head back downstairs 

8:48 pm  - I relieve Steve from a crabby Abby and Steve attempts to fix the household computers, which have decided that they hate me
9:27 pm - Steve declares the computers fixed and relieves me from a crabby Abby
9:45 pm - I give up on what I'm, trying to do on the computer and go for a bath
10:15 pm - I rejoin Steve and Abby on the living room couch to watch a movie
11:00 pm - Abby is asleep but my headache is now screaming instead of whispering so I go to bed
1:01 am - Steve puts Abby in her cradle and cuddles up with me
1:01.01am - I bolt upright, trying not scream, because my loving husband is like an ice cube
1:04 am - Steve and I finally get spooned nicely and drift off to sleep
3:20 am - Abby starts to stir so I start the "SHH!" + rocking + bottle routine
3:45 am - Jonas wakes up and crawls into our bed with Steve
4:00 am - Abby is not buying what I'm selling and Jonas and Steve are both snoring. There's no room in my bed for me anyway so I take Abby downstairs to continue the "SHH!" + snuggle + bottle routine
4:47 am - Everyone is asleep but me and my headache is back.

CHEERS!

Washing off the Blood Spatter

It's been an exhausting 8 weeks. Life with a newborn and a 9 year old boy with ADHD is wonderful but REALLY tiring. She's sleeping better but still on a newborn schedule, and Jonas has had a rough week at school. I've hit the invisible wall that all parents of newborns come to. I tried to phone it in on Jonas last night and it came back to bite me in the butt.

After falling into bed for a few hours of much needed sleep, while Steve took his usual late night feeding shift, I awoke to the sound of Jonas crying in the hallway at 12:26am. Without turning the lights on, I asked what was wrong. He said "A chair fell on me." He was sobbing and, since there is no chair anywhere near where he was sleeping, I assumed that he had just had a nightmare. He said his lip hurt so, trying to keep my eyes closed and at least pretend I was still sleeping, I suggested that he get a glass of water. (A cure all remedy from my own childhood.)

Then he said "It makes the blood taste worse."

Wait. What? Blood? Blood!

Queue the instantaneous alert status.

Did you know that kids' faces bleed a lot when they're cut? I forgot for a moment. I actually, truthfully considered that he might have had a run-in with some Freddy Kruger-like creature from the netherworld.

Long, blood-spatter story cut short, he somehow managed to scratch his cheek and lip while pretend camping' on his bedroom floor in his sleeping bag. In retrospect, Freddy Kruger is low on the suspect list. More likely it was his finger nail, the sleeping bag zipper, the handle on his crank flashlight or his cat.

Regardless of the culprit, he's going to tell the kids at school "You should see the other guy!" That ought to put a damper on the bullying.

Cheers!

Easter Road Trips

Easter is right around the corner. This year, that means some road trips for us. We opted out of travelling at Christmastime, so we're hitting the road to see family over the next three weekends. It's a chance for Abby to meet her sister, as well as more of her aunts, uncles and cousins. Of course, Jonas, Steve and I are looking forward to seeing everyone too, especially Tasha.

One of the things I love most about these trips is seeing my nieces and nephews. They grow so much between visits. Seeing it happen through pictures on Facebook is great, but it doesn't compare to seeing them in person. My nephew's logic, my niece's charm or the whit of a teenager, for instance, just can't be conveyed in pictures. After all, pictures are meant to preserve memories, not make them.

Of course, we all do the best we can. Between jobs and kids, there aren't enough hours for our day to day routines. Despite our best intentions, we find ourselves letting more time pass between calls and visits than we want. This holiday is another chance for us to make some those memories together and I can't wait. Cheers!

Wordless Wednesday: The Illusion of Sleep

Seven Weeks Already?!

As week seven of Abby's life draws to a close, I thought I'd check in to let you know that we're doing pretty well. Life with this newborn isn't complicated, it's just exhausting. It sort of feels like one really long day. She's feeding every two or three hours and hasn't mastered the art of putting herself to sleep unless she's in her car or vibrating seat. She likes her soother but is still learning how to use her fingers, so she needs help when she wants it but it isn't in her mouth already. She's generally a happy baby, and is working on her gorgeous smile, but her days seem to start at 3am and she has a seriously fussy period every night from about 5:30pmish until 8:30pmish. This all makes for lots of fits and starts of sleep during the night, and results in a very tired mom and dad. 

 

Jonas has been on March Break this week, and we've been mixing having fun with working on his history project for school. Much to his chagrin, he woke up on day one of the break with the Chicken Pox, so we've been mostly cooped up inside. We are going to end the week on a couple of highs though, before we clamp down this weekend to finish up his project and get him ready to give his presentation on Monday. He left yesterday morning for a sleepover at his best friend's house and Steve is going to take him out for a boys night at the movies tonight. He was almost literally bouncing off the walls in anticipation. I can't wait to hear all about it later today.

I'm sure it's going to be non-stop action around here when Jonas gets home. I have to admit that I'm not keeping up with him as well as I'd like to these days. Just like Abby is struggling to get herself to sleep, so to am I. One sage piece of wisdom that's given to every new mom is to "sleep when the baby sleeps". I haven't mastered this. I seem to get my second wind just as she settles into sleep and I am not inclined to let her cry it out, especially when the boys have to get up for school and work in the morning. I'm working on it, and am doing well to steal a little time for myself in the tub every night. Steve has been great about taking over the evening shift so that I can shift gears for a little while, and I am truly blessed to be in this with him.

 

Cheers!

Edited to correct the grammatical mistakes of the sleep deprived. ;)