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

A day in our lives

With Iris now 7 months old and Felix 3.5, I wanted to write down our daily schedule to see how much it changes over the years. On a typical weekday, I get up at 6, get ready, and wake Iris at 6:20. Nick gets Felix up, dressed, and fed, then we're usually out the door by 6:35. I feed Iris at the daycare while I drop the kids off. I'm back again to nurse her at around 9:45 and 12:45 (love these times!). I say hi to Felix in his classroom if they're not busy. I leave work at 3:30 and nurse Iris again before taking the kids home. For a while, we play or watch a tv show (Top Gear lately) until Felix gets bored or distracted. Then it's time for dinner, when I eat mine quickly so I can feed Iris (or save mine until after she's done). Usually by the time we're all done eating and cleaning up, it's 6:15. We spend a little more time playing, then I put Iris to bed starting around 6:50, and Nick puts Felix to bed around 7. We finally get them both down around 7:45. Nick and I then can watch a show or two before heading to bed ourselves. Wake up the next day and repeat!

Iris has entered that stage where she feels so much bigger when I hold her in my arms, but she still looks little when sitting by herself on the floor. :o) She's starting to figure out how to move herself more every day. If you leave her sitting by herself and she's in the right mood, she'll eventually topple and start rolling around. She's starting to get her butt up in the air - maybe she'll be crawling in a few weeks! She also is very keen on pulling herself up if you hold out your fingers, though she's very wobbly. Iris is eating like a champion. We've introduced most of the veggies, a few fruits, and now some protein into her diet. She gets baby cereal for breakfast, mashed bananas for lunch, and I've been trying to mix up her dinners with veggie combos and baby cereal. Iris is also very vocal these days. She babbles away, and has such a funny laugh. She also pumps her arms and sounds like a monkey when she gets excited about something. Here's Iris's funny laugh:

Felix has really been getting into the show Top Gear and playing with his Legos. It's funny to hear him test cars with the show's hosts in the basement. This morning, he told me he wants to "drive Jeremy's Ferrari." He's got good taste! However, he's being very stubborn at the moment. When he makes up his mind about something, no other offer or choice will do. Case in point: he has been insisting on eating two Easter eggs' worth of candy in a sitting, while we're limiting him to one. Oh no, you'll get a tantrum with just one. Ugh. I'll be glad when the candy is gone (yeah, yeah, if I gave him two, it would be gone sooner...a Catch-22 of parenting).

My health hasn't been the greatest in the past week. I found I've developed what may be an ulcer (blood tests have ruled out other stuff and since I'm not back at 100% yet, it's likely not just a stomach flu). That's made things painful and annoying, to say the least. I'm hoping the prescriptions I've been given start having a positive effect soon!

Felix: 3.5 yrs & Iris: 7 mos

6 months old?!

The latest in a series of "where the heck did the time go?!" moments, Iris is suddenly 6 months old. 26 weeks. Half a year.

She had her 6-month check-up yesterday. 13 lb 8 oz (10%-ile), 26" (61%-ile). She got her vaccines and everything looks good!

We started her on some oatmeal cereal last week, which she seems to enjoy. She grabs my hand and pulls on it to get the spoon to her mouth. The first time she was fed, she seemed a bit skeptical, but immediately caught on (see pictures below). She had peas for the first time last night. Much less impressed with those.

She's been doing fantastic on her tummy time. Set her on her back and she almost immediately turns to her side and over on her tummy. Her teacher at daycare informed me that she surprised herself last week by managing to propel herself forward for a toy. I have a feeling my immobile baby won't stay that way for long. Her big milestone recently is sitting. We didn't use the Boppy at all for her at home, but she's able to sit up for minutes without toppling over. (For comparison, Felix was over 6 months old before he was able to sit up for 30 seconds at a time.) Must be those strong abs of hers. She's also made a big leap in "talking". She goes on big streaks where she practices her B, F, and V sounds (like in the video below). I think it's cute, but I'm a little biased. :o)

Felix's imagination has been going wild. He is a firm believer in monsters, ghosts, Spiderman, Santa Claus, and Bigfoots (yes, plural). He believes any cloud in the sky could spawn a tornado. He believes Mr. Noodle is creepy (we may have planted the seed on that one). He believes shooting is an acceptable way to deal with naughty things (argh!). And above all, he believes that he is the Master of the house. We've been struggling a bit to correct this notion reasonably. (Man, 3 year olds are incredibly egocentric!) He has tantrums when he doesn't get his way or when we make unreasonable requests (like asking him to try to use the potty). This is a phase that can end, and soon! He does do an excellent job of sharing, though, and we've tried to get him involved in meal preparation, which he enjoys. We're trying to wean him off the notion that treats are a necessary part of his daily food intake. We're making some progress - he'll ask for oranges and apples instead, which we are happy to give.

On the home front, we seem to be getting our reality check for the short, mild winter we had last year. We've been cooped up inside too long, and it shows. We're all constantly sick and crabby. The sooner the snow melts and we can get back outside, the better! But alas, there always seems to be snow in the forecast just when things are starting to look promising for a good thaw.

We have made a change for the better, though. I never really thought it possible, but we cut our cable on the 22nd and went internet-only. We rarely watched anything but sporting events live, and realized that the majority of the shows we recorded were available the next day online somewhere anyway. So, we got a Roku (better picture quality and access to many 'channels'), bought a lifetime subscription to Playon (easy access to most of the channels we watch including sports channels), signed up for Amazon Prime in addition to our Netflix and Hulu access, hooked up a pair of rabbit ears for the local channels and we're good to go! Last weekend was our first big test... and we got through it just fine! No more mindless TV on in the background. Now we have to be more conscious of what we put on. We have a TED Talk channel, on which we watched several interesting, short talks (Nick's already hooked). We've added several science shows to our queues to share with Felix. And to top it off, the Roku model we got has a built-in Angry Birds game that even Felix can play. It's also making us go old-school more often, like when we listened to a Badger basketball game on the radio a few nights ago.

Under the category of "what the?!", I learned that the video I posted on YouTube of Felix singing Bruder Jakob/Frere Jacque back when he was a little over 2 years old (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPPk-aRFOak) has had over 1,135 views, with over half in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. That's pretty cool!

And finally, because it's just so darn cute... a picture Iris's teacher took of her at daycare. Happy Friday!

Felix: 3.5 yrs & Iris: 6 mos