So Thankful

I thought I'd assemble all my thankfulness into one post for easy reading. Here are the things I've been thankful for in November.

I'm thankful for...
November 1 - Mittens (it was cold walking around on a site visit!) and my paycheck (woo, payday!)
2 - ABC televising the Badger-Hawkeye game so we cable-less folk could watch it at home.
3 - Nick's desire to do more cooking that has taken some pressure off me, especially because Iris has been very clingy lately. Also, Nick doing most of the raking.
4 - Having a former mentor happy to start mentoring me in a new area (in this case, picking up stained glass as a hobby).
5 - Daycare teachers who are patiently able to deal with Felix when he's having a rough day (or week), and parents who make a brief visit to lighten up a dreary day.
6 - Felix having a better day and still being sweet and innocent (I asked him what kind of flower he would like to be and he answered "pink rose").
7 - The kids being well-behaved for me when Nick came home late. And for Iris saying "baa" at the end of Moo Baa Lalala just like Felix did at her age ("It's quiet now. What do you say?")
8 - Job flexibility that allows me to come home from work early and get a lot done without the kids around.
9 - Badger home games, tailgating, and visiting with friends.
10 - Not having lots to do when both kids are under the weather.
11 - Having an all-too-rare time playing and laughing all together in the basement. Getting smiles from both kids in their daycare pictures.
12 - Having a job where I can take off easily if a kid gets sick, like Iris did this afternoon.
13 - The beautiful sunrise and sunset I saw going to and leaving work. Having an easy but busy day.
13/14 - The NoseFrida, without which Iris wouldn't have slept at all last night. And my strong stomach to use it.
14 - The Doctor Who mini-episode that was released today! Iris not having to come home early from daycare, because I had a lot to do at work today. Cough drops which soothe my sore throat.
15 - A few hours to myself and this sunset when I picked up the kids:

16 - A nice, quiet day when the weather was lousy and everyone was a bit under the weather. The Badger victory.
17 - Getting no more than a little hail during a tornado watch. Play dates for Felix with his friend Lucas.
18 - Nick finding a decent replacement car. The kids behaving for when when Nick was gone all evening. Iris going to bed nicely (even getting annoyed if I stick around in her room too long).
19 - Having the ability to take a walk and not freeze (yet), and being able to hide unwrapped presents for the kids under our bed in plain view.
20 - Earning some easy overtime (some of it while reading a book at a coffee shop :o), and making it home safely.
21 - Nick's new car (a used Ford Fusion), the great big Thanksgiving lunch at work, and Iris being in the best mood in which she's been in quite a while.
22 - The bit of snow we got melting quickly, getting a lot done at home, and The Magic School Bus keeping Felix entertained while learning.
23 - Getting our Christmas decorations up quickly inside and out, but not spending too much time outside. A peaceful moment that included fresh Chex Mix, a crackling fire, the Badger game on the radio, and the kids napping.
24 - Being able to spend an hour at the Children's Museum this morning and becoming members. It's a stretch, but not losing to the Vikings...
25 - My car making it through the first of the crappy winter-weather drives without being hit. Hot homemade hard apple cider.
26 - Long chats with good friends far away and the technology that makes the distance disappear.
27 - A place close by that serves breakfast when I forget mine at home.
28 - Iris having the ability to eat so much her tummy was taut. Getting to see lots of family on Thanksgiving day.
29 - Iris saying W ("daiu") as one of her first dozen-odd words, recognizing the Badger W and Bucky everywhere. The kids getting lots of 1-on-1 time with their Nana.
30 - Seeing lots more family. Surviving all the drives. The good weather we had all three days.

November was a good month. We opened the month with Nick recently starting his new job and ended with a road trip over three days to visit both sides of our family.

Iris has become very adept at telling us what she wants. Just shy of 15 months old, she says cracker, water, ball, please, and hat regularly and unprompted. She signs more and please, and has started doing thank you as well. If you ask her which book she wants, she will stab at it with her hand. Although sometimes she follows this up by pushing it away as though she can't stand the sight of it. Her favorite books at the moment are Go Badgers! (yay! - she points to all Bucky and Ws she sees), Moo Baa Lalala, and her Care Bear books.

Felix has turned a corner, so to speak. He hasn't had very many potty accidents since he returned to daycare full time. Nick wakes him up in the middle of the night to go, to get him in the habit there as well. His behavior has improved also. He's got a sticker chart at daycare that he started on 11/6. So far, he's only had two days where he didn't earn a sticker. Not too shabby.

Felix: 4 yrs & Iris: 14 mos

Happy Halloween!

Near the end of October, Nick started his new job at Hill, Glowacki, Jaeger and Hughes (his headshot coming soon) and has so far LOVED every minute of it. He likes it so much he's willing to stay until almost 6 on a Friday! ;o) His firm does a lot of estate planning and trust work, especially related to special needs and medicaid. I like that the firm's location down in the Willy St/Atwood area will give us a chance to meet up for lunch at restaurants I've always wanted to try. I'm still amazed how everything worked out. A doubter I no more shall be!

Nick's new job has meant that Iris has gone back to daycare. The first few days were rough, but we've had over a week of me leaving without any tears from Iris. It helps that Felix has been eating his breakfast with her in the 1-year-old room, as opposed to in the main drop-off room. At home, she has developed an unfortunate game where she will smile and shriek at you to get a response. She's getting a handle on her body parts, but if you ask her where any facial feature but her tongue is, she points to her ears. She is learning animal sounds. According to her, a cow says "bao". Or maybe she's just trying to say "cow". We're getting to that stage where she is saying words, but we haven't learned to translate them yet. She is also a graham cracker fiend. Nick jokes that there's a reason "crack" is part of the word... She definitely seems addicted. She knows where they are kept in the pantry, and if the door is closed, she will whine and frantically do her version of the signs for more and please (wiping both hands across her belly). Deny her a cracker, and it's tantrum-time!

Felix has been his usual challenging-and-confounding self. He'll do something well for a few days straight, and then suddenly go back to square one. It's been frustrating. "Stop" and "quiet down" are meaningless to him. He doesn't believe anything we tell him (I expected this more from a teenage girl, not a four-year-old boy...), but believes everything his buddies at daycare tell him. At least he's developed quite a liking for "The Magic School Bus", so he's getting some educational information. There are also times when he's super sweet and thoughtful, so we know he has it in him! He spent the weekend recently with Nana and Grandpa, and came home full of stories, which, if you know Felix, can go on for an awfully long time. :o)

Both kids started swimming lessons last week. This is Felix's third session and Iris's first. She seemed to like it a lot, but I think the chilly water got to her by the end of the half hour.

The kids had a fun Halloween. We still aren't doing very much for it (just carved a few pumpkins), but Felix has got it down pat. Felix was Iron Patriot from Iron Man 3 (his choice) and Iris was a flower. I realized too late that I didn't have a bucket for Iris, so I got the idea to be a gardener to her flower and carry a clean watering can. Iris was very unsure about the whole dress-up-and-go-to-neighbor's-houses-on-a-rainy-night thing. It rained all morning except a period that allowed the kids to trick-or-treat at daycare, then rained all afternoon into the evening. We got a grand total of 13 trick-or-treaters at our house. We don't typically get a lot, but this was way below average.

Felix: 4 yrs & Iris: 14 mos

Hallelujah!

Things are very happy right now in our household. It's a huge change over the past 6 months. Why? Because Nick accepted an associate attorney position with a small estate planning (etc.) firm in Madison! Our saga began back in April, when my diagnosis of an ulcer was the catalyst to Nick looking for a career outside the financial industry. We spent the summer riding a roller coaster of emotion as he got very far along the interview process for a banking job in Green Bay. It went weeks between contacts with recruiter or hiring manager, and after three in-person interviews and 2.5 months, the process ended disappointingly last month. Two weeks later, he applied for the attorney job, and after 12 days and two interviews, they offered him the job. The suddenness of it all has been wonderful. And, we don't have to move!

With this change, hopefully things will return to a level of normalcy at our house. The kids will both go back to daycare full time. We'll have to see how they adjust. I think Felix will do well with the return; he needs the structure he hasn't been able to get at home. Iris will hopefully remember her good buddy with whom she will be reunited. She might have a tougher time, since she's also going through some separation anxiety and does not follow the daycare nap schedule. But again, it will be good for her to get some socialization once more.

In the past month and a half, we've tried to make the best of things. We've enjoyed the days with perfect weather. We've learned what it's like to be in football season without cable. We've said goodbye to an old family friend. We've watched our good friends and neighbors prepare to move far away. We've celebrated a wedding and friends. We've made jelly from our own apples. And Cassie has gotten us plenty of free beer.

Felix, oh Felix. He's been saying some funny and some disturbing things lately. He said to me, "a long, long time ago when I was 3..." the other day. It made me laugh. He refers to going to spend the weekend with Nana and Grandpa this past June as "last year when I was 3". It is interesting to watch him develop a concept of time. On the flip side, while I was away for a work trip this week, he got out the chalk and drew "a dead rabbit that was shot by a poison gun." Egads. Coupled with his aggression at times, I'm not sure if this is normal 4-year-old behavior. I'll have to do some research. We've also been working on a token system in our house - having Felix earn tokens for good behavior or successful bathroom trips (still...), which he could cash in for TV shows or treats. Some success there.

My little monkey is everywhere these days. Climbing up, down, all around, bumping her head as she goes. Silly peanut. She spends her days looking at her pile of books, and bringing them to you so you can read them to her. I like that. I don't like that she also feels the great urge to pull everything down and/or out of drawers, cabinets, shelves, etc.

She's not saying too many recognizable words yet. She'll say "Oh" for Cheerios, "wawa" for water, and "eye/I" for everything else, it seems. Animal picture on the wall? "Eye/I!" Picture of the letter I and an iris in her room? "Eye/I!" Her picture on the fridge? "Eye/I!" Not sure what she's actually trying to say. She mostly grunts or whines at us until she gets what she wants. We have taught her a few signs, like please, more and all done. She'll use them occasionally.

I'm still riding the high of Nick's new job. I hope this feeling lasts for a while. :o)

Felix: 4 yrs & Iris: 13 mos

Iris is 1! 4K! Adventures!

Would you believe that a whole year has passed since Iris was born? I guess so, because there she is, being all one-year-old. What a wonderful year it's been, welcoming her into our family, watching her grow and learn and develop her own personality. She's bright, busy, and quick to giggle. I love our little peanut!

Iris has learned a few new tricks, as you can see in this video taken on her birthday. You can hear her say her own name right at the end. :o) She just learned how to do that.

Now for the really where-has-the-time-gone part, Felix started 4K today. He was so excited to get dressed up, take his new school supplies and backpack, and be with the "big kids" down at the end of the hall at his day care. He'll be learning more and we're really excited about this for him.

It's been a while since I posted, but since then, we've been up to Rapids and Green Bay a couple times, and went to a wedding with the kids (who loved dancing). We also got our pictures taken with Bucky Badger and trophies. This past weekend, we took the kids to the Badger game (Iris napped during it), had family over for Iris's birthday party (thanks again, everyone!), and took the kids to the airport to watch the planes.

Hopefully we'll have more news to post soon, but I figured it was time for a little update.

Felix: 4 yrs & Iris: 12 mos

One Small Step... For Iris

Look out, world, Iris has taken her first steps! We were visiting friends on 6/29 who have a mobile 15-month-old Iris's height. Little Abby showed Iris that if Abby could do it, Iris can do it, too! She surprised me by a) standing longer than she had before and b) taking two steps toward me. I was going to dismiss it as a fluke, but she attempted a few more steps before the night was over. It's been two weeks since, and she's cruising more, but hasn't taken many more steps yet. Slow and steady, I suppose. She's getting steadier on her feet, and has taken at most four steps at one time. We're so proud of her! I wish I could get a good recording of her laugh now - it's adorable.

She's also started crawling up stairs. I tried to get her to do it a few times, but she had no interest. Then on Tuesday, she went after Cricket and crawled up a few steps. Later that evening, Nick and I were dealing with Felix upstairs, leaving Iris momentarily in the basement. She apparently didn't like this, because she was halfway up the stairs when Nick went back to get her a minute later. Lesson to us - don't expect your kid can't do something just because you haven't witnessed it yet. And now, it's a game with her. She starts crawling up, waiting for someone to "get her". We're trying to get her to come back down on her own safely, but she's not interested yet.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Felix is now 4 years old! My little boy is growing up so quickly. Four years ago, our little Wiggle surprised us by coming into the world two weeks early. He's turning into an intelligent, energetic, creative, happy, thoughtful, wonderful boy and big brother. We had a nice birthday for him last Friday, taking him out to dinner and then over to the Allen Centennial Gardens on campus to look at the pretty flowers. This past Sunday, we had a birthday party for him with family and a few close friends. He got a whole slew of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys, among other great presents, which have made him a very happy Felix.

Nick's taken some time off lately to stay home with the kids. It's been a nice change, allowing both kids to bond with him.

Felix through the years, for comparison. :o)

Felix: 4 yrs & Iris: 10 mos

You Take the Good, You Take the Bad

I have been putting off on posting this blog entry because I hoped to have good news for our family to share. Alas, it has not been forthcoming, but we can only hope. But oh, the waiting. The interminable waiting. Everything is a wait when you know something is coming, but have no control over how soon it arrives. You think this always being the case would have had our species evolve with more patience. Or maybe we were patient once and technology has changed us for the worse. Now I just sit here and wait... How will it end? I don't know; it's a mystery. What is this "good news"? Also a mystery ;o).

But in the meantime, I have Nick. We have two amazing children. We're all healthy. We have a great support system. We have a house and working cars. We have great neighbors. I have a job with a flexible schedule. Sometimes when things get rough, it's nice to be reminded that the good outweighs the bad.

Iris is everywhere these days. She's a speedy-spider of a crawler, and crawls right to something and stands up. She's just starting to cruise, too. Walking's not too far behind! Speaking of moving, Iris moved up to a new daycare room at the beginning of the month. She was the oldest baby among the eight in the baby rooms, and the only one who was really mobile. The daycare decided to make a transitional room, and now she, a girl who just turned 1, and a little boy who's two weeks younger than her are all together. And Iris is still the most mobile baby. She's also gotten her first tooth, and just cut her second a few days ago! Well ahead of Felix, who didn't get his until he was over 12 months old. She's been a little fussy and clingy at times, but it hasn't been too bad.

Things have been going along as usual with Felix: amazing and challenging. We spent a Sunday morning recently with friends at the zoo. Felix doesn't get to see his former daycare buddies Alana and Lucas very often, so it was nice to have a group outing. It was hilarious to see the three of them form their own little gang and run around the zoo. Here's a video of the three of them discussing the crocodile.

On the down side, he's been having accidents and acting out often. It may be because he wants more attention, but that's hard for us when all he does is play roughly and make loud explosion/shooting noises which we've asked him to tone down. Parenting is a work in progress... He also doesn't like it when Iris goes after his toys. We knew it would happen sooner or later! He does lover her very much, and has named both of the little crocheted owls I made for him "Iris".

Nick wrote a beautiful story about Felix giving him a blanket.

Even though he's growing older, Felix still has some interesting pronunciations. This is more for my memory than anything. :o)

• "Passessenger"
• "Croutom" (crouton)
• "Constraction" (construction)
• "Cuvvy" (cubby)
• "Security garden" (guard)
• "Saturan" (Saturn)
• "Octimus Prime" (Optimus Prime)
• "Light Saver" (light saber)
• "Pulferiser" (pulveriser)
• And even though he just did it once, "caramel" (carousel)
• Calling cars mixed up names, like insisting there is such a thing as a "Prius Camry".

Felix: 3.5 yrs & Iris: 9 mos

Hooray for May

We finally have emerged from winter into spring (albeit a pretty damp one). It's been nice to finally get outside a bit. Felix has been very enthusiastic about it, especially with his new bike and helmet. He and the two other kids in the circle his age have formed their own little gang, and it's been quite entertaining watching them interact. Last year, they kinda-sorta played together, but this year, they're gung-ho. Recently, we took the kids to the park and learned Iris gets a kick out of the baby swings. :o)

Felix loves being outside

Iris's first time in the grass

My little mad scientist

Felix has been an enigma lately. He'll do something super sweet, like giving Nick one of his soft blankets to comfort him, but then he's back to hitting and having tantrums. He and his classmates have a sticker chart at daycare to reward good behavior, and it was working for a bit, so we tried doing the same to have him stay in bed and fall asleep (instead of getting up several times for no good reason). This worked for a week or so, and all of a sudden, he's back to having rough days and bad behavior. I wish I understood how to consistently motivate him. He is still completely into cars. He now shouts out any car logo he sees while we're driving. He doesn't know them all, and hasn't quite grasped the concept of makes and models (insisting there is a "Prius Camry" and a "BMW Camry"), but he's getting better. We still play "orange car", which keeps him occupied on the short ride home. I'm hoping his interest in reading the makes and models on cars will jump start his interest in reading, too. Wishful thinking?

Oh, Iris! She figured out how to crawl on April 29th (a day shy of 8 months old) and has been steadily getting more adept at it. She still loves bouncing, but now she prefers to try to stand up and test her legs out herself. I don't know how much longer it will be before she starts cruising - she's still a little wobbly. She's also developed a bit of a temper when she doesn't get what she wants, and has been known to snatch things away from other babies at daycare. Uh-oh, she might be turning into trouble! Her teacher at daycare has figured out that Iris has an association between her cell phone and me (Miss Nancy has her phone out -> Mama's coming soon! Aww. :o). She's eating well (though she's still on purees and hasn't shown much interest in chunkier foods yet), and it looks like a tooth might be making its appearance in the next month or so. Knock on wood, her sleeping well at night will continue.

Things have been improving at home. My health has gotten better (I can drink wine again! Woo!), and things are looking up overall. I just celebrated another birthday and splurged on a sonic screwdriver for myself (11's if you are interested ;o). Can't wait to get it in the mail tomorrow and hide it immediately so Felix doesn't break it!

Felix: 3.5 yrs & Iris: 8 mos