Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween

I missed the festivities, being in California at a conference, but the kids seemed to have a good time. Son enjoyed trick-or-treating with Grammy for a few houses and then was ready to come home and eat some of the candy. Daughter pretty much wanted to put candy in the basket, then take it out again. Over and over again. She did taste her first candy bar and immediately signed for more.



For those that don't remember, Son insisted on dressing as 'Dem Bones. It would have been cool to have him memorize and recite the verses, but I didn't think of it soon enough.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

There's Hope!

First Daughter slept last night from around 8:30 pm to 7:30 am with only one time when I had to go in to comfort her (and she was asleep again in just a few minutes)!

It was the first time she went to sleep without nursing and took hardly any time at all. She cried a little, but not much. In fact, much less than I was thinking. I had been dreading this night. To be honest, I'm almost disappointed. It's hard not to think she doesn't miss it as much as I do. She did ask to nurse by signing today, though, so I know she's still thinking about it. (Speaking of signing, First Daughter obviously signed "please" a number of times today. I love that!)

It was impossible to just sit back and do nothing while First Daughter was crying so much, so last Thursday we instituted a few changes. She seemed to have an upset stomach (given that she vomited on two different nights, neither time when she'd been crying long enough to have caused it). So we thought we'd attack some likely culprits:

1. We cut back on her dairy. At first we cut it all out, but quickly added back yogurt. Two of my nieces have had trouble with dairy, and I've heard it's common, so it seemed a good place to start.

2. We eliminated strawberries. She seemed to get a little red on her face where the juice rubbed (irritation, not just fruit juice) and had eaten them both evenings she vomited...we think.

3. We've been cutting and mashing her food more. She seemed to like it in big chunks, but we thought maybe it was too much for her stomach. She's eating it just fine in smaller pieces, though she gets a little impatient now that it takes longer to get it on her tray.

It's impossible to say if these have had anything to do with her sleeping better, but it was nice to feel like we had a plan. I'm praying she sleeps well tonight, but especially this coming week while I'm away on business. I had a weekend as a single parent and didn't really enjoy it. I imagine it'll be a lot harder for Kansas Dad this coming week.

Especially since he caught Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease from First Daughter. That's right. She's better, returning to day care on Tuesday, but he caught it. All the doctors and nurses said the adults have already had it and won't get sick...but they were wrong.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Halloween Treats


I have to be away for Halloween this year. It's not a holiday I care much about, but I do love seeing my kids dressed up. So yesterday, First Son and I decorated some cupcakes. (He lasted for about five, then ate one and asked for a second the rest of the time I was decorating.) Today, I dressed the kids in their costumes and we delivered them to some of our neighbors. One of them even gave First Son some Halloween candy. (On a side note, do you remember trick-or-treating when we were kids? We'd get one, maybe two, tiny candy bars. Now they toss a whole handful. As if anyone needs that much candy in the house. Kansas Dad is under strict orders to have nearly all the candy in his office or already distributed to his students before I arrive back home.)

Friday, October 26, 2007

The Last Time

I just nursed First Daughter for the last time, as she fell asleep tonight. She's 13 months old, but it's still hard to realize that phase in our lives is over. I'm pretty sure we would have continued if I didn't have a business trip next week. I already miss that quiet time together in the dark.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Home, Home on the Range

We currently do not live out on the range, though we do have hopes of moving there someday. But we are here in Kansas so I decided to take a bit of our state song for the blog title. It's better than our state slogan, which was once (are you ready for it?) Land of Ahhs.

Our state motto is much better: "Ad astra per aspera" (Latin for "To the stars through adversity"). As a bit of Kansas history (you'll get some on this blog), Kansas has had three astronauts. Why, you may ask, didn't I use the state motto somehow in the blog title? Because First Son likes the song and doesn't yet know Latin. Yet.

In the Beginning

There was one blog, "authored" by my son. Then we had a daughter, and I started a new blog. Both of these were geared toward family and friends who knew us and wanted to see how we were doing with the click of a mouse - and we wanted to share. Recently, though, I've started considering privacy issues and the potential for someone to see too much into our lives. I know, it's unlikely some nefarious person will swoop in to destroy all we hold dear, but it did seem I could take some small precautions.

So, after due consideration, I'm starting a new blog. A no-name blog. It seemed easier than going through three years of posts to erase names and other identifying information. You'll hear and see the exploits of First Son and First Daughter. Sometimes you may even read news of Mama and Dada (eventually to become Mom and Dad, I'm sure, but I so love to hear my little ones say "Mama").

For those of you who've been following along for the past three years, you can still read the old blogs. I'm just going to hide them to all except those that are invited and log in. Send me an email if you haven't already heard from me.