Parenting and Priorities

Hello from Fever-land. Jacob still has a fever...four days and counting. Yesterday I thought it broke when he woke up and his medicine had already worn off, but no...the fever came back by lunchtime. It stuck around all night, and Craig got welcomed home from his road trip with a little overnight time in Jacob's room. He was awake way too early this morning, and still had a fever, too. Craig and I had decided to split the day, and I set up a doctor's appointment for Jacob this morning. I wanted to take him yesterday, but didn't since I thought the fever broke...and by the time it was back, the office was closed again. I heard from daycare that a kid in the adjacent toddler room called in with strep this morning, so then I got really nervous that that was Jacob's problem as well. But no, no strep, which means we just have to wait this one out. Great.

On the bright side, Jacob's still been okay. As long as he's medicated, his mood is good and his energy is high. It's just when it wears off that he gets whiny and he's disturbingly warm to the touch. He was pretty good at church yesterday and did well on an outing to get my netbook (which I'm using right now!). He's been running up and down the living room like usual, so I guess that's good. His eating has been up and down, but hopefully he's getting enough somewhere in there.

Like I've mentioned many times before, the pull of work vs. child is a tough one. It's one thing when you don't need to be with your child, but would like to. But it's another when you have to be with your child and can't do the other things you need to. Obviously my priorities and my heart are with Jacob, but I do have responsibilities to the people I work with, and it's hard when I can't take care of those. There's only so much I can do remotely, particularly with Jacob running around, so it's hard when I'm at home. And with a husband that's insanely busy, it's that much harder. It's not his fault; it's just how it is. We both have a lot on our plates, and days like today make that quite apparent. We did a midday switch downtown, and my day has been all downhill from there.

Before I left I gave Craig instructions to give Jacob medicine after his doctor's appointment, then lunch around 11:45, so he'd be ready to go in time to come to the city for the switch. Well, that didn't happen. How much of it was because Craig's phone was ringing off the hook for work vs. just spending too much time playing, I don't know. But all I know is that at 1pm, I had a catnapping child who hadn't yet had lunch and was in no position for a real nap. He was asleep in Craig's car and woke up during the switch, which I knew would mean problems come naptime. We came home and had lunch (considerably later than he usually eats), and then I tried to get him to go down around 2pm, an hour later than his usual home nap time, and an hour and a half later than his daycare naptime. And he proceeded to stay awake for an extra hour, with the last quarter of that spent crying. Ugh. He fell asleep shortly thereafter, though, which is good and bad. He needed the nap, particularly because he was up so early, but he's still sleeping at 4:30, which means that we're going to have an awkward wakeup and/or a hard bedtime. Yuck.

I know that today was a disaster for both of us, and I know Craig does the best he can. But it killed me that he didn't follow my instructions because it made the rest of my day much harder. I didn't just give him those instructions for fun...they're all part of a master plan. I was equally frustrated when he called me confused about giving Jacob medicine, almost using a real spoon instead of a perfectly measured syringe. Really?! Since when do we do that? And even if the syringe wasn't enough of a hint, wouldn't the measured cups that came with the bottles be enough? It's hard, because I always feel like I have to micromanage and do everything myself, and it's moments like that that seem to confirm it...but it's a bit of a circular problem, isn't it? I don't trust him to take the time to learn the process, so I do it, but he never learns to do it himself because I always do it. Then he does it wrong when he does have to do it, and it all starts over. But I'm the one that takes the time to have a master plan, and he's often too busy to suck it all in...and truthfully, most of the time he doesn't need to because I've got it handled. I have all of these evenings and weekends solo with Jacob, so of course I'm more ingrained in the process. It's tough all around. And when Craig has a lot of things pulling at him, it's no wonder it's all hard to manage. I don't blame him--though I do think he could try a little harder at focusing on and remembering certain things--because I know he's in a tough spot.

Did anyone watch Parenthood on NBC last week? There was a storyline where Crosby, the father of a kid he didn't know about until the child was five and has now been involved with for year, was accused by his fiancee, the child's mom, of making her into the bad cop. He didn't want to push his son to clean his room, and eventually was on the hard end of things when he did have to stand firm. I could certainly relate, because I often feel that Craig gets the better side of our parenting setup, at least from Jacob's perspective. I'm the one that forces down medicine, holds firm to naptime, and does more of the pushing to clean up and eat meals. He gets to play more often, does some of the mealtime prodding, the occasional bedtime and half of the middle of the night wakeups, but in general he's more lenient. I think, again, that it's a lack of innate knowledge of the master plan...I'm always trying to think a couple steps ahead (or know from experience how things go), and he's acting more in the moment. It's a tough balance. Again, it's not his fault--it's lack of practice and too much on his mind (darn job of his). And when he does have time with Jacob, I'm sure the last thing he wants to do is get on his bad side.

This has probably gotten a little rambling, but I guess I needed to vent. It's just hard when we're out of our routine and having to make do here and there. Everything suffers. It's hard to prioritize effectively all around, and I'm sure it brings out the worst in all of us--our weaknesses and shortcomings. I've ended up pretty cranky today, even though Jacob did eventually nap and somehow the work will get done. But seriously, could this evil virus just go away and leave us alone?

Foiled!

One of the things that takes adjusting when you become a parent is that your life is no longer your own. Sure, you spend insane amounts of time doing things for your child--feeding them, rocking them, playing with them--and have to make lots of little adjustments, too. You need to get ready earlier because it always takes forever to get a baby/toddler dressed for outside, you need to build in more time for meals once your child self-feeds, and you need to build in time for naps and playing as much as you possibly can. Fortunately most of it doesn't happen all at once. Infants are all-consuming at times, yes, but you can usually put them in their seat and run errands while they nap, or multitask while they play in a bouncy seat, or whatever. Toddlers come with their own challenges, like needing a solid block of time for a good nap or needing to run off their boundless energy. But one thing that's always been among the toughest aspects for me is when your child's needs drastically change your plans. I find it hard to schedule errands in the evening because of our schedule, so usually my weekends are important for so many reasons. I need extra sleep, I need to run errands, I need to do things around the house, etc. I mentioned the other day that blocks of time on weekends are key because I can get a lot more done at once than doing a little here and there in the evenings. Jacob's nap time is especially important...yet here I sit blogging, but whatever :)

Anyway, this weekend Craig is on his first roadtrip of the season (Knighthawks opener is tonight in Minnesota), and I was planning on taking Jacob's to my parents for the weekend. My dad's birthday was yesterday (Happy Birthday, Dad!), so I figured it was good timing. We also didn't get to go there last weekend because I wasn't feeling great, so I was really looking forward to this weekend. Well, earlier in the week we noticed that Jacob's one ear was bright red. It was hot to the touch as well. The other one was totally fine, and he seemed just fine overall. I did some research on the internet and couldn't really find anything definitive. Some people have a recurring problem with it, with no official cause, and others said that their kids (mostly boys, go figure) get it sometimes too. Some did say that it happened when their kids got tired or when they were about to get a fever. Great. When I saw that his ear was still red on Thursday when I picked him up from daycare, I called the doctor. They said it was probably nothing as long as the ear wasn't swelled up. When I went to look, the ear wasn't red anymore. By bedtime, Jacob started feeling a little warm. I couldn't get much higher than a 99 on the thermometer, so I figured we'd see how he was in the morning. By morning it was the same and for the most part he seemed ok, so we sent him to daycare.

At 4pm I got a call that his temp was up to 102, so I had to leave work early to pick him up. Unfortunately, we had to go to Wegmans to pick up a couple essentials, so he had to suffer through that before we could go home. He had his moments but was generally fine. He ate his dinner well (who wouldn't with waffles?) and seemed okay until we got on the webcam with my parents. He started to get whiny and clingy during our chat, and pretty much stayed that way for the rest of the night. Around 7:30 I got him into his pjs and gave him some Tylenol. I was holding off on meds until bedtime because I only had Tylenol and didn't have Ibuprofen to overlap it with. I think the fever just started getting the best of him and he crashed. I let him fall asleep on me on the couch. I can't remember the last time he slept on me like that. Maybe last year when he was sick? It brought back memories of lots of chest sleeping naps back in the day, though. I let him sleep on me for a while but eventually took him up to his crib.

All was well until 1:30, his first wakeup. He wanted water, and I think that was when I gave him his next dose of Tylenol. I hoped that would get him through the night, but he was up around 3:30 wanting me to retrieve a lost stuffed animal that had fallen through the bars. At that time he started begging to come into bed with me, but I resisted. At 4am he woke up crying, and at that point I wanted to sleep, so in he came. Miraculously, he stopped talking fairly quickly and we both slept in until about 8:30, with a few brief wakeups from 7am on. Not bad. Unfortunately, he still had a fever this morning so the trip to Buffalo was out. His energy is good, though, so that's positive. I'm hoping the fever will break later today or early tomorrow. In the meantime, we did have to go back to Wegmans this morning (my doctor forgot to call in a prescription I needed today), so while we were there I got the Ibuprofen (he's now firmly into Children's medicines, rather than Infants), and I was able to bolster this morning's Tylenol with Ibuprofen to get him through his nap.

Since we're here all weekend I'm going to try to get down at least a sizable portion of the Christmas decorations and hopefully get some things done that I wouldn't have otherwise been able to do. I'd still rather be hanging out at my parents and letting Jacob entertain us all, but I'll have to make the best of it. It's just never easy when your child's issues get in the way of fun, particularly when they're sick. It's a lose-lose situation for everyone. So, while I work on avoiding having a pity party for myself, I hope everyone else has a good weekend :)

Randoms...

1) I am really tired today. Like, exhausted. I can hardly keep my eyes open at my desk. I'm not sure what the cause is. No, I'm pretty darn sure I'm not pregnant. I did have to wake up early this morning for an 8am doctor's appointment, which I'm sure didn't help. I'm certainly not getting enough sleep these days, dating back into the core of the holiday season. I did get some reasonable sleep here and there over my week off, but I suppose it just wasn't enough to catch up. I'm hoping I'm not coming down with something, and hoping even more it isn't something terrible, but it's probably just me not taking care of myself correctly. It's one of the ways parenthood screws with you, making you wonder just which one of the many, many options might be causing your latest ailment.

2) The aforementioned doctor's appointment was my annual visit to the OB/GYN. I only mention that because I find it funny that I still get warm fuzzies when I go there, thanks to all of those blissful pregnancy visits. I loved going there each month to get the latest update on the baby and hear the heartbeat, all without having to take off a stitch of clothing. Those visits in the final month or so were a tad less pleasant, but I suppose the stats on how much I was dilated/effaced kept those appointments interesting. But I really did enjoy that time a lot, enough to soften the blow of the annual visit. Incidentally, my doctor left the practice since last year, and since I wasn't really that attached to her, I'm sticking with the practice and need to pick a new doctor. Of course, I can't remember a darn thing about which doctors I liked when I had to see most of them during my prenatal visits. I do remember a couple that I didn't so much like (nothing major, just being picky), but between pregnancy brain and doctors coming in and out, it's taken me a lot of thinking to figure out which one I think I'm going to aim for next year. Of course, with any luck by the end of the year I'll get another chance to test out each one, since the practice purposely makes you see as many doctors as possible so you're familiar with whoever is on call when you deliver. Figures, then, that I ended up with one of two doctors I hadn't seen!

3) In case I forgot to mention it, Jacob has been pretty good lately. I know I mentioned that he was well-behaved around Kate, and I think I mentioned how nicely he played and snuggled when I wasn't feeling great on New Year's Day, but in general he's gone through a pretty good streak. It has still had its moments, of course, as he is still two, but as a whole he's been good. He's played nicely by himself, is at least manageable at mealtime, and doesn't constantly run away when I come to get him at daycare. He's put up a bit of a fight at bedtime ("Don't want Mommy to leave"), but shortly after the wail as I leave the room, he quiets right down and presumably falls asleep shortly thereafter. I haven't gotten any negative comments from daycare this week, though I've probably now jinxed that. I'm never sure whether time at home will make things better or worse. It might get him out of some bad habits, but screwing with his schedule is always a little dicey. Will he enjoy the time with us so much that he wants to behave better, or will he act out when he finally does have to go back to express his displeasure? Maybe he'll learn to appreciate the balance--his special time at home vs. the fun and engagement at daycare--or maybe he'll decide once and for all that he likes one better than the other. So far things seem to be going well, but we'll have to see if he slips back into old habits. In the meantime, though, it's been nice.

4) I'm hoping the next few months will fly by. I'm not trying to wish away precious moments, mind you, but lately time has really been flying and considering the next few months are the usually the most trying of the year, I'd like that trend to continue. If December can zoom by in a flash, why not January, February and March? I was thinking this morning how we really only have two months left of hardcore winter. Yes, it will still be cold and snowy in March, but at least by then we start to see peeks of spring--a few randomly warm days, less consistent snowfall and freezing temps--so there's hope on the horizon even if it does take two more months for good weather to come. We were so spoiled last year with summer weather (and leaves!) in April that I'm trying to keep my expectations low. The next few months also coincide with Craig's busiest time of year. The Knighthawks' season starts this weekend with his first roadtrip, and from there on out he's only got a couple off days here and there until late April. It's hard on Jacob and me, and even harder on Craig, so the sooner we can get past it, the better. And then it will be back to warm weather and more summer fun...

Finally, as your reward for surviving my random ramblings, here are a couple treats...

First, here's a picture of Jacob, asleep in his carseat on New Year's Eve. We put him in his pjs before we left the party, and just before we left, a partygoer handed out glow necklaces to all the kids. Jacob was playing with it in the car and put it on his head sometime before he fell asleep...and hence he became a sleeping little angel. A little angel with a mouth and fingers dyed orange from cheese puff dust, but an angel nonetheless.

And here is the crown jewel of things I captured with my camera over Christmas. As I mentioned, Kate was a little hesitant to get too close to Grandpa most of the time we were there, but the iPad broke some of the ice. As I mentioned, the iPad has an app that lets you make splashes in a fish pond and scare away the fish. I posted a picture of this a few days ago, but here's the video. It's pretty darn cute all around.

Doesn't get much better than that...

More Baby Musings

Over the holidays, I found out that two friends of mine who were pregnant at the same time I was are expecting again. I am beyond happy for them, of course, though ever so slightly bummed about the fact that I wanted to be pregnant right now and could have once again been pregnant with them and had TWO kids the same age as them. Of course, neither of them live here, nor do we see them a lot. But still, it would have been nice. There's also at least one of my Facebook friends that falls into this category as well. And I also know a handful of other pregnant women. It would have been fun to do the ride with them, but I guess I'll just have to hope someone wants to get pregnant later this year and do it with me, whenever it happens. Just won't be any of these women, I suppose! As I've mentioned previously, I'm actually pretty much at peace about the whole thing--though these revelations certainly tested that a bit--and I've still come to the conclusion that it's a good thing we're not heading toward an imminent baby #2 right now. There's plenty to keep us busy in the meantime. Part of me puts myself in their shoes, thinking about being pregnant, doing the planning, dealing with the physical stuff, and whatever else, all while running after a very active two year old. Oy. In the next year and a half or so, prior to the arrival of proposed baby #2, I would like to replace the carpeting in two bedrooms, take down the border in one bedroom, get Jacob potty trained, transition him to a big boy bed, and potentially paint one bedroom depending on the gender of baby #2. That is plenty to do, and that's just the big stuff. I do like the thought of Jacob being a little older and more aware of things (and more able to help!) by the time a sibling would arrive. We'll also need the time to work on getting him on board with the whole idea. Everytime we bring up a sibling, Jacob says he doesn't want one. Super. I guess the kid knows he has it good. I always worry about how things will go with two kids, when I often don't feel like I have enough to offer one. How do you divide time and attention? I was happy to read on another blog today about a mom who was worried about adding a third baby, and even though that third baby has been very, very sick, she still feels like adding children to their family has enhanced the loving environment for the existing children. I hope that's the case with us someday as well.

One other thing I wanted to do before baby #2 was take Jacob on a halfway decent vacation. Originally we were thinking something along the Disney lines, but after the time with John, Kristin, & Kate, I think Disney can wait and a trip to Portland might be fun. We can obviously add other destinations out that way as well, but I think it would be great to get the kids together again before they forget each other. It would also solve the issue that was lingering in the back of my mind--What happens if we don't go to Disney until I'm already pregnant? I can't go through another pregnant trip there...not only because it's very disappointing, but it's also sort of a waste. What's the point of going there and not riding the rides I really want to go on--again? The last time was fine, as we had no way of knowing that would be the case when we booked it. It also served as a lovely last hurrah. But to purposefully do it again? No way. So, flying to Portland seems like a much better option at this point, and we'll figure out Disney later. But it's a long year and so much can happen, so I'm trying not to plan too far ahead. Perhaps I'll just keep hoping that our office shot at the Mega Millions jackpot pans out and we can do both. Ha! In the meantime I'll just enjoy watching from afar as my fellow mommy friends go through it all again, and hopefully benefit from their experience of wrangling two at a time once it's my turn. See, the benefits are endless!

Back to the Grind...

From the moment I left my office shortly after lunchtime on December 23rd, I knew this day would come all too fast. And sure enough, here I am back at work on January 3rd, still wishing I was off and doing pretty much anything else besides catching up on work and running into the usual work-related problems. Ugh. But I will say that the 10 days didn't fly by quite as quickly as I expected. I mean, usually week-long vacations fly by in an instant, and when I'm driving into work on my first day back, it feels like I never had a break. Today it felt like I hadn't done it in a while, which was nice. Even still, it felt all too familiar. But I know that I packed a lot into my time off, and some of the lazy-ish days that we spent just hanging out at my parents' house with the Portland contingent probably made the time stretch a bit. Without constant plans, the days just moved at a consistent pace, rather than flying by like vacation days tend to. And feeling not-so-great on New Year's Day forced me to spend a good portion of that day doing next to nothing, so I'm sure that contributed as well.

Regardless of how much or how little time I spend away, it's never enough. Too little time and I'm desperate for more, and too much time and I start to get pretty contented with spending time with Jacob and being productive around the house. Or perhaps it's just that I start to be productive and realize the dozens of other projects I'd really like to work on, too. And I do realize that my time off was nothing like the life of a stay-at-home mom. I had all of our holiday fun at the beginning, lots of help for the middle, then a day of daycare and a day with Craig around, and then a couple days of mostly quiet time at home. I know that if I stayed at home every day, it would be a lot harder and I wouldn't have quite the same freedom and the opportunities to break it up like I did over the past week or so. However, I still maintain that I am made to be a part-time stay-at-home mom. Oh, to always know that the day after a workday was a day off...rather than always considering the weekend my next possible chance to do anything productive. It's not that I can't do things in the evening--I do--but it's hard to get everything going at the same time most of the time. To get uninterrupted time, things generally have to happen after Jacob's in bed, which is usually by 9ish. Then I need to have the energy to do it, and no other day-to-day tasks that monopolize my time, or even cut away at it in chunks...because before I know it, I'm left with a short period of time before bed, and there's no sense starting a big project then, lest I get too involved and stay up way too late. I know that stay-at-home moms don't have uninterrupted time during the day either, save for naptime (which is all too tempting to use for a mommy nap as well), but the mere physical proximity to the house itself has to increase the odds of getting something done, even if it is all of those little tasks that normally chip away at my evening block, like dishes, coupon cutting, or bill paying. And if those things are done, then at least I could do what I like with my evenings. But in the meantime, I stare at the insurmountable list of shows on our DVR and wonder when I'm going to have the time and patience to start putting away the Christmas stuff--which, incidentally, I'm getting the urge to do much earlier than usual. Normally I'm completely content leaving stuff up until at least mid-January, but for some reason (the desire to find all of Jacob's toys a permanent home, perhaps?), I'm pondering starting the great take-down sometime this week, given the time and energy to do it.

Jacob's drop-off went about as expected today. He didn't want to go to daycare. He wanted to stay home, play with his toys, and hang out with Mommy and Daddy. Who wouldn't? It was a bit of a struggle getting his coat on, and then he whined to be carried in once we got there. I practically made him chase me down the hall so I didn't have to carry him, and then he kept hugging me when it was time to go. I didn't hear any cries when I finally left, but he was distracted with trying to track down breakfast and I knew he'd probably be fine five minutes later no matter what. He did well on his one day there last week, so I hoped that would help him readjust a little more quickly as well. Still, it's never any fun to leave your child when they're begging you not to. Let's hope it means he'll be so happy to see us tonight that he'll be a complete angel. Ha.

While part of me was looking forward to getting back in the swing of things and having some sort of structure and schedule, not quite enough of me was there to make this an easy transition. I mean, yes, we will fall back into our old routine no problem, but part of me was really enjoying the time away from everything--work, daycare, schedules, etc. I know that I need a little structure, as evidenced by my inability to plan and cook decent dinners since we got back from Buffalo, but I was really enjoying having a lot of time to just relax and hang out. I guess I don't do nearly enough of it.

This year I mark my fifth anniversary at my job. That means that I now get four weeks of vacation each year. This year I actually only get 19.5 days because it's my anniversary year and the time is prorated based on my start date, but even still...that's a lot of time that I know could get used up quickly. However, I want to think long and hard about it and really find ways to utilize it in the best possible way for everyone involved...me, Jacob, Craig, and anyone else whose world I can better by being present at any given time. Whether it's actually taking those mental health days, or taking a real vacation, or just using a few for fun things I wouldn't normally get to do, I want to make the most of them. But sometimes having a day of nothing isn't such a bad thing. And now that I'm back to the daily grind, it sounds better than ever...

Christmas Rewind, Part 3

As I mentioned, even though we returned to Rochester on Tuesday night, it was not the end of our visit with John, Kristin, and Kate. They hopped in the car on Wednesday morning to come visit us and see the house. It made leaving on Tuesday so much easier! They arrived around lunch time and Jacob and I met them for lunch at a Rochester staple, Bill Gray's. Craig was working again, unfortunately. After lunch we headed back to the house and the kids went down for naps. It went a lot more smoothly than I anticipated, and it gave the adults some time to relax and chat. While the kids were sleeping, we got a visit from my Aunt Lynne, and later from Lori. The kids got in a good couple hours, and by the time they woke up, it was time for more company. My parents' friends, the Dohertys, arrived. You may remember them as the grandparents of Colin, Jacob's buddy who's a couple months younger and lives down near Philadelphia. We've had a good number of visits over the past couple years when they've been in town, the most recent back in April or so. It was quite a full house, which made me even more grateful for our gigantic living room. It's such a nice change of pace from our old one which filled up in about two seconds! While the adults chatted and watched, the kids had a little more time to enjoy one another. And thankfully, Jacob continued to share well. I was worried now that we'd be on "his turf" with all of his toys, but he did great. Here's Kate enjoying Jacob's Elmo phone, a Christmas gift from last year.
After all the company left we enjoyed a dinner of pizza, and then it was time to go. We tried to get some pictures of the kids together, and this is about as good as it got...

All in all, it was a great few days together, and I was sorry to see them end. After all, it may be a long time before we're all together again. I do hope we can find the time/money/courage to hop on a plane later this year (maybe in the fall?) to head out to Portland for a bit. I think it would be great to break up the period between now and their next trip east with a trip for us out west. We haven't been to Portland since 2006, and I'd love to go back, particularly now after seeing the kids together and getting to enjoy Kate in person now that she's, well, more of a person! The interactions were priceless and I hope they continue for any visits in the future.

On Thursday I made the tough decision to send Jacob to daycare. Originally we had been planning on doing that one day during the week so Craig and I could have a "date day", but Craig ended up having to work most of the week so that plan was out. However, the more I thought about it, the longer my to do list became. I decided that it would be best for all of us if he went to daycare and I could do the crazy running around that I needed to do. I figured that it would be a more fun day for Jacob to be able to play and see his friends, rather than being stuck in a stroller, shopping cart, or car seat all day. I also hoped it would make the transition on Monday a little easier, since he wouldn't have been totally removed from daycare for the entire holiday. We'll see how that goes tomorrow. I ended up being out and about for four hours or so. I stopped at Target (to buy a toy shelf), Babies 'R' Us (to look for a taller bathroom stool), Best Buy (to check their netbooks), the entire mall (with a number of stops in there, including one return, underwear shopping, and some bargain hunting), then DSW (I need new sneakers), Home Depot (a return, lightbulb recycling and a new furnace filter), Christmas Tree Shop (general post-Christmas curiosity), and Buy Buy Baby (the stool again). Even though I didn't buy a lot (just the stuff I needed, pretty much!), it felt like a very productive day. I also worked on getting our fall pictures sorted and printed. It was a great day, and I won't lie--it was nice to not have to worry about dragging Jacob through all those stops, getting him in and out of the car seat, or trying his patience if I spent a little extra time browsing. I also didn't have to worry about his nap. Sometimes, you just need a day like that.

Friday we had a pleasantly lazy day. We went out for Pizza Hut buffet for lunch (our weekday off staple), and had a lazy afternoon before I had to head out to the grocery store and restock our kitchen and buy things for various parties. We went to our friends' house for New Year's Eve for a kid-friendly party, and Jacob kept himself occupied playing with the other kids. Before we knew it it was later than we had planned on being there, and I desperately wanted to get Jacob home and in bed. He fell asleep in the car around 11:30 (ugh) and we made it home just in time for the countdown. We went to bed shortly thereafter, but I had a hard time sleeping as I wasn't feeling well. All week I had been incredibly nervous that we'd have a repeat of last year's new year's, where Jacob spent the day puking, so that made me extra nervous when I wasn't feeling well. I still think it was just the massive amount of food I ate at the party, rather than an illness. Dinner ended up being way later than anticipated, so it was tough to stay away from the snacks in the meantime. I think it just didn't settle quite right. Jacob woke up around 4am and showed no signs of going back to sleep, so we had little choice but to bring him in bed with us. However, that didn't help matters and I was feeling even worse by then, so I ended up sleeping in the guest room for the rest of the night. Jacob was up for at least two hours, and I'm not sure I went back to sleep until sometime in the morning, maybe around 7am. Craig had to work and I was originally planning to go to Buffalo for the day for a family party, but considering my lack of sleep and temperamental digestive system, I decided to stay home. I did take a few minutes to whip up the food I was planning on taking (no sense letting it rot here) so Aunt Lynne and Lori could take it, and later in the morning we got on the webcam to say good-bye to John, Kristin and Kate. I was hoping to get there before they left for the airport so we'd have a little more time, but no dice. Bummer.

Despite not feeling great, it wasn't a bad day. Jacob and I both took a long nap, and he spent a lot of time snuggling with me on the couch watching hockey. First a replay of the Winter Classic in Buffalo (which I explained to Jacob happened while he was still in my belly), then the Buffalo Sabres' Hall of Fame inductions, including the honoring of one of my old faves Alexander Mogilny (which I explained to Jacob made me feel old), and then this year's Winter Classic in Pittsburgh. The snuggles were great and it was nice to just have a pleasantly lazy day.

So that brings us to today. Craig's working (again) and it's been a usual Sunday. We got up for church and had our normal church difficulties. We did try sitting in church today, close to the musicians, since he seemed to like that on Christmas Eve. I warned Jacob that if he talked we'd have to leave, and shortly after the sermon started, he wouldn't shut up and we had to go to the other room. He was pretty upset, but I'm hoping he learned a lesson and will remember that if he wants to stay there, he has to keep quiet. Someday. Then we came home to play, eat lunch, and go down for nap. Jacob's been down for a little over an hour, and after he wakes up we'll start working our way toward tonight's Amerks' game. And then tomorrow our world goes back to normal...work, daycare, and no days off in sight. Boo. Still, I can't complain. We crammed an awful lot into the last 10 days or so. Next weekend marks Craig's first roadtrip of the lacrosse season, so we'll probably head to Buffalo for a bit to break up the time. I'm still trying to process that it's a new year, so I'm sure I'll have many thoughts to sort through here as the new year gets rolling. Stay tuned...

Christmas Rewind, Part 2

As if two days of gifts wasn't enough, Christmas Day held the most exciting treat of all, as my brother, his wife, and his daughter were coming to town for the first time in nearly a year and a half. The last time we saw them, Jacob was just over a year and Kate was nearing eight months. We couldn't wait to see how things went this time around now that the kids were that much more active and would notice each other that much more. However, they weren't coming in until Christmas night, so we still had some festivities to attend to beforehand.

We slept in a bit after our late night on Christmas Eve, and then headed to North Tonawanda. We made it shortly before Christmas dinner with some of my mom's family, which was delicious as usual. Jacob was excited to see my grandma's walker, which he calls a "Zamboni". He likes going for rides on it. Here he is in his new hockey jersey...
Jacob inhaled about four crescent rolls at dinner, and then discovered his love for this creamy, fruity dessert that my mom made. He downed that quickly but took time to pose for this picture with Daddy...

No word on whether that spoon position means he's eager to tackle the Binkley family tradition of spoon hanging :) After naptime, we headed off to my Uncle Jeff's for the annual Christmas chaos. Jacob exchanged presents with his big cousin Jaxon, who he adores. He unwrapped one gift that turned out to be a plastic blade for a goalie stick, and then was led by a string to a closet that contained the rest of his gift--a full size hockey stick. My cousin Todd (Jaxon's dad) and my Uncle Jeff headed to the workshop in the basement to cut the shaft down and use the cut portion as the shaft for the goalie blade. It worked out perfectly and Jacob was so excited!

He wasn't so excited that we couldn't use them in the house that night, but they will get a lot of use come spring, I bet!! My parents left the party after the adult exchange and came back with John, Kristin and Kate, which was a treat since we weren't sure how Kate would do after a day of travel and a house full of people. Everyone was happy to see them, though I think everyone was pretty considerate about giving them space so Kate could acclimate to everything. She ended up coloring in a room off to the side with cousin Jordan (Jaxon's younger sister). Jacob joined as well, but it became pretty obvious after a bit that he was getting tired, so we headed out. He conked out in the car and went down easily back at my parents' house. The adults had a little time to chill once the rest of the contingent came home and Kate went down, but we didn't last too long either!

Sunday morning we got up early to head off to church. Craig unfortunately had to head back to Rochester to work a hockey game, but the rest of us got out of the house on time and had a reasonably good church experience. The kids were a little antsy, but all things considered it went well. Jacob even went up for the Children's Sermon for the first time ever. My mom had guts taking him up there!

]

After church we got into gift opening. Two two-year-olds present a bit of a challenge, but it ended up being a lot of fun despite interspersed bits of toddler drama. Right away Jacob noticed a gift for him, a Nike basketball courtesy of the Portland contingent.

We started with stockings, and Kate was so cute with her chapstick, being sure to apply it every chance she got! Ahhh, this is why I need a girl :)

Jacob also got a cool jersey from his aunt, uncle and cousin, a cool Oregon State football jersey. As you might notice, he wore it for a good portion of the time we were there. I'll admit, it's pretty darn cool...even if it was covering up some of his cute new clothes!

The kids were tired, but we persevered and got the gifts opened. Jacob got a lot of cool stuff--more clothes, some little things, and his big gift--a real set of golf clubs! My parents really wanted to get them, and for now they're staying there. There's a driver, an iron and a putter, all in a cool bag, just like the grownups use! Jacob and Kate both enjoyed playing with them, and perhaps next year it will be Kate's turn!

Having both kids together again was a dream come true for my parents. Heck, my simple $6 gift of a mousepad with the kids' pictures on it brought my dad to tears! It was so neat to watch, and I tried to take in every minute of the fun. All of us were always on the lookout for photo opportunities, knowing that kids don't always cooperate for the posed shots and the candids might be our best shots. Here's a sweet shot while the kids were looking through a calendar of Kate pictures with my mom...

As a side note, I actually had another great shot of this scene, but I put in this one because I thought it was so funny that both kids were holding golf clubs at the time! And speaking of the golf clubs, here's another shot of Jacob (from the following day) showing his form :)

The rest of Sunday involved naps and a return visit by my mom's family for some interesting gifting. As my grandma has recently moved to a senior apartment, my mom has been diligently trying to sort through everything left in the house in preparation for cleaning it out and getting the house sold. As a result, she ended up putting together gift bags for everyone with items from the house. The kids' bags mostly had Beanie Babies from my grandma's expansive collection, and the adult bags had an assortment of notepads, utensils, ornaments, and other odds and ends. After the initial bag distribution, we all got to look through a box of additional items and pick and exchange until everyone was satisfied. It was different but fun!

Bedtime that night was a bit of a disaster. Kate needed some help to go down, and then once she was out, Jacob was loud enough at his bedtime to wake her up. Neither of them wanted to go to sleep, and it took quite a bit of time and lots of nervous glances at our dueling baby monitors before they were out. We had a rousing game of Balderdash afterward, which at least got us laughing again.

Monday morning we got the kids bundled up and headed out to play in the snow. Jacob hasn't done it very much (maybe not since last year), so he was a bit hesitant. But once he got out there, he warmed up to it a bit. Of course, each kid had a tough moment with their first taste (literally) of snow. Kate was running up and down the snowy sidewalk when she wiped out and fell face first into fluffy snow. Then Jacob went on a sled ride and Grandpa steered him into a bit of a hill that caused him to fall off the sled, again face first into snow. But after a minute of crying he was fine and took a liking to shoveling. I think he was excited to do something that his favorite book character, Brady Brady, does. Brady Brady plays hockey and has a rink in his backyard, which he has to shovel off. So, Jacob thought he was cool because he was shoveling like Brady Brady!

As a whole, we were thrilled about how the kids interacted. They both shared very well and were very nice to each other. Kate was pretty much enthralled with Jacob, always wondering where he was. She asked about him when we were sitting down to dinner, when she woke up, and apparently even said his name in her sleep! Too cute. It made the days we were there so much more fun and infinitely less stressful than they could have been if sharing or jealousy became a problem. After all, Jacob is used to having Grandma and Grandpa to himself, sleeping in the crib there, and generally being the center of the universe when we visit. But he shared the spotlight very well, much to my delight, and even slept well in the pack and play and ate meals without much drama. Here's a cute pic of them together, and in case you're wondering, that's Jacob's goalie helmet (that looks like a football helmet) that came with his hockey dress-up set. He likes putting it up on his head like goalies do when they take a water break.

One benefit of Jacob being so used to my parents is that I think his comfort with them was encouraging to Kate, who was understandably cautious. She sees my parents on the webcam quite often, but seeing them in person was a bit different. This picture below was a breakthrough moment, as both kids played with Grandpa on his iPad. Kids love this one fish application, where fish swim through a virtual pond and any touch on the screen creates a splash that scares the fish away. It was so cute, and hopefully one day I can post video of it.

After Monday naps, we headed off to Great Grandma Ellman's apartment for a visit. It was an eventful visit. We took the kids down the hall to the mailboxes, and they LOVED running down the halls. We also enjoyed seeing the birds in the mini-aviary they have (particularly because Kate let me hold her--and can I say what a big difference eight pounds make? Lifting a 30-pound child is starting to get hard), and had to corral the kids a bit on the way back because they were running and screaming like crazy! I will say, though, how sweet it was to see this one old man smile as he heard the screams, remarking that he hadn't heard that sound in a long time. Sigh.

Once back in the apartment, we got a halfway decent photo op when both kids sat on one of the Beanie Baby benches...and yes, Jacob is still wearing the jersey, still holding a hockey stick, and still wearing his winter gloves because he calls them his hockey gloves.

Kate got her turn on the "Zamboni" after seeing Jacob take a run. It was ridiculously cute!

And here's Jacob on Great Grandma's mobility chair, which was another favorite spot...
Craig came back from Rochester that night, and the four of us headed off for an evening of beverages with our cousins. It was nice to have some adult time, and even better that the kids slept beautifully after the disaster the night before.

Tuesday was our last day there, and we had the pleasure of a visit from Jacob's little friend Nora. You may remember her from Easter weekend, when she was such a good girl finding Easter eggs and sharing not only the eggs, but a number of her toys with Jacob. She is getting to be such a big girl, and it was fun to see the kids together again, now nine months older. Jacob and Nora had fun playing with this animated snowman my mom has (who, sadly, has lost his voice), and then moved on to this music-playing church in the living room. They liked tinkling the little bell in the steeple. We also found out that Nora's going to be a big sister!

Later in the day, Jacob's willingness to play with Grandpa once again gave Kate the courage to do so, and she loved getting this ride...
In the evening my parents brought up one of my brother's favorite toys, a ride-on toy named Ollie. John was particularly skilled at riding him, while other kids fell flat on their faces (me included, apparently). He could fly down the driveway no problem, despite the fact that any sort of tip forward sent Ollie and his occupant falling on their faces. Seriously, this toy would never be approved today. Kate took to him right away, sitting on him just like John did and rolling around the house like it was second nature. Amazing how genes work. Oh, and have I mentioned that Kate is the spitting image of my mom when she was that age? It's crazy. She looks a lot like John and is gaining more of Kristin's features (beyond the eyes, which she already has), but I can't get over how genetics work. It's one of the reasons I was so excited to have a niece or nephew on my side.
After dinner that night, we packed up and headed out. It was sad to leave, but I knew it would feel good to get back to our house. It had been a few busy days of living out of suitcases and sleeping on an air mattress, so it was a nice enticement to think of sleeping in our own beds! It probably helped that the whole crew was coming to visit us the next day, though! More on that in the next post...