A Year & a Half

Aria is a year and a half young already. In 6 months we'll be celebrating her turning 2. It's hard to wrap my head around it. I definitely notice with my kids when they start to reach 18 months, their personality comes out even more and they learn things faster. It's like overnight they go from a 1 year old still looking at the world and taking it in, trying to interact, to 18 months and they're in full swing of copying everything they see, thinking they can do everything everyone else can, and interacting with the world around them rather than sitting on the sidelines. Aria understands a lot more when we talk to her now too and responds. I know soon enough we'll be having actual conversations.

Weight: 23 lbs 4 oz (58%)
Height: 33.5 inches (98%)

Aria has doubled (at least) her vocabulary. I can't even remember and list all the words she says now. She is stringing them together into 2-worded sentences too:
Let's Go!
It's/Ball Mine. (She's become very possessive over things. We hear this out of her mouth the most.)
It's cold.
It's hot.
It's stuck.
Mommy? Where'd go?
There ya'go!
All clean.
What's that?
Bye Bye, Cali/doggie.
No. Don't Want.
No. Stop it.
Sorry.


I just love how excited Aria can get over things. When I'm making the kid's dinner and am ready to bring the dishes to their little table, I say: Ok, let's go eat at the table. Aria will start running to her chair and plop down. -even if she had spent the last 5 minutes crying while trying to get me to hold her.
She's obsessed with the kiddie pool and water table on the deck. She'll bring over her sandals and once they're on, she'll say: Pool! (sounds more like: Pooh) We went to the community pool for a once a month free day, Aria went in with me and was so relaxed. She even tried to put her mouth in the water on her own. But after I totally dunked her head under, she wasn't so fearless.
Though Aria still likes to protest and show her independence with saying No, she has learned to shake her head Yes.
Aria can point to the following body parts when asked, and say a few of them as well:
Nose, Mouth, tongue, feet, toes, fingers, belly, butt, eyes, ears (though she calls her ears eyes because Frederic is teaching her to say ear in french (oreille) and she's getting the sounds mixed up.).

Aria started waking up at 4am like Luc used to do around this age. At first we thought it was teething since her canines came in early and right after the next. But her molars aren't showing anything yet, so I thought it had to be something else. I've adjusted her pjs and air vent in her room since she's so fussy being the right temperature when she sleeps.  That still didn't help. Unlike Luc, she won't go to sleep in her crib if we come in and lay on the floor. She wants to be picked up, and still doesn't fall back asleep most times. Sometimes she was hungry and wanted a fruit/veggie pouch. So Frederic and I thought to push back dinner a half hour to an hour later, eating at 6pm instead. I was also reading on how many hours of sleep at this age Aria should be getting, and how long, realistically, she should be sleeping through the night and also adjusted. We've pushed back bedtime to lights out at 7:30pm and so far it seems to have helped. She's woken at 2am because she lost her pacifier, but when I give her one she goes right back to sleep. Then she's either awake at 5:30 or I have to wake her up just before 6am. I've also added the crocheted blanket my aunt made her to her crib. I think it gives her a little more comfort. Fingers crossed this continues to help...I am one tired Mommy.

Finally, Answers

We had Luc's first Allergy/Asthma specialist appointment yesterday. Dr. Silber was so nice, great with Luc, and gave us the information we needed and have been craving for the last year.
After hacking out the details of Luc's health from the last year, listing medications, and ideas we have for triggers, Luc was tested for allergies (indoor and outdoor).
My poor little guy. He climbed up onto the chair expecting nothing bad (we told him what would happen but since neither of us have ever had testing done, we couldn't tell Luc exactly what it felt like.). The nurse started writing up and down his arms with different letters. Then the scratching began. Luc's put on a brave face, but after the first few he realized they kinda hurt, and was fighting back tears. The nurse said to squeeze her hand and he started to. But we had to start counting down until the last one so he wouldn't cry. Then the 15 minutes of waiting.
Within 5 minutes we noticed redness and a bump around a few that we remembered what was marked. And yup, our fears for the things he's allergic to came true: Dogs, cats, and a little guinea pigs. :-(
On the good side, he's not allergic to pollen, grass, weeds, etc ...yet.
One the bad side, since Cali is part of the family, she's not going anywhere. And since we don't want Luc to have any attacks, under any circumstances, for now, at his age, he'll continue doing treatments once a day (twice when he's sick). When he gets older he can get the medicine in an inhaler puffer. Since Cali won't be around for another 5 years, it's not worth Luc going through allergy shots to build his tolerance of her.
Poor Cali and Luc- they've been buddies since the beginning.

I have mixed feelings now. I'm scared. Knowing Luc does have asthma, knowing something could trigger an attack that could be life-threatening. But there was also some comfort after leaving the doctor's office. I have my own experience with asthma (and my Dad), so I know the symptoms (as does my Mom) and I know how it feels, so we can relate to Luc, notice the symptoms right away, and help him. Also having a daily plan for maintenance medicine makes me feel better that we'll prevent attacks, especially when he's sick and the seem to hit him the worst.
My biggest fear is traveling to Belgium. The doctor gave us an inhaler with a puffer for Luc that's more portable than the nebulizer machine (plus worrying about outlet and voltage conversion, besides it weighing so much!). But it's meant for kids a little older and requires a little more effort than just sitting and breathing with a mask on. So we will have to train Luc how to use it and practice (without medicine) way before we leave for the trip.

Luc's Last Day of P3

Luc finished his first year of school.
On the last day of school, the parents were invited to come along and watch them go through parts of their daily routine, play special games outside on the playground, have lunch picnic style on the floor with beach towels, and watch the kids get their "diploma". Mrs. McClean made a nice slideshow of photos of the kids from the whole year.
This school year has gone by so fast. I feel bad in a way because Luc missed a chunk of days because of his asthma or being sick. But even with that said, how has a whole year come to a close?

One school year down, 14 to go!

First Day of School vs. Last Day of School:

 After the morning routine of learning about today's weather, date, and Jesus story time, the kids went outside to play. Since it was the last day of school, there were special games for them to participate in.

Luc got to "walk across the stage" to get his Preschool 3 diploma:

As did his Friends:

Kira

Ella

 

Singing "Down By the Bay..."

And Luc's goodbye to Mrs. McClean:

She always understood his silly eyes

A Visit from Matt

Matt came to visit us during Memorial Day weekend. Jackie had to work at the hospital during the weekend, so she was unable to come along. :-( We missed her.
As soon as Matt arrived, Aria reached up her arms to let him hold her. As long as I wasn't around, she wouldn't mind being with him...or if he had his iPad out with a Disney game playing on it, then she would contently sit in his lap and try to play with Luc.

Saturday, a few hours after Matt arrived, we decided to go to a winery in Mt. Airy. The weather the rest of the weekend was chances of storms. Since Saturday was clear and hot, we chose to take advantage of it. We visited Black Ankle Vineyards. After a little tasting, we bought a bottle, found a tree that provided shade outside, and let the kids play with the soccer balls.

Sunday, we chose to take a chance on the chance of storms in the afternoon and visited Elk Run Winery in Mt. Airy. This time Grandma came along too. Grandpa and Uncle Dave came over later for a BBQ (which had to be cooked during heavy rains). When we got back from the winery (which also had room to kick soccer balls around), the kids jumped in the kiddie pool on the deck, in the light rain, to cool off.

Me helping train Luc's soccer skills

Monday the kids played in the pool again and after lunch we went to Arundel Mills. We came home to chill out on the deck while the kids played in the water some more.
It was so nice being able to stay outside all weekend- between the wineries or just hanging out on the deck, it was almost like I was on vacation. And I even got started on my tan!

17 Months Along

Aria's Favorite Things:

Dogs
Minnie Mouse
Shoes
Flowers
Singing
Saying: No, Mine
Helping to clean or put things away
Wiping the table with a napkin
Spinning around in circles
Being tickled
Going outside
Playing in/with water

Trying New Things:

Aria has tried some non-edible things lately:
-Play doh (but really, who hasn't?)
-dirt from the planters
-flowers, leaves, stems
-kids paint (yellow and blue)

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The last canine finally poked through. Total teeth: 16!
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Luc is 4.5 years old

I cannot believe in 6 more months I will have a 5-year old. That seems like a big milestone (even though he'll start kindergarten the following year), I feel old.

At 4.5 years old, Luc is 32 pounds and about 39 inches tall.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A train engineer

Luc isn't really into Mickey Mouse anymore (though Aria is!) and he's even mentioned that he's grown out of the Mickey theme in his bedroom. So since Frederic and I finished the 1,000-piece train puzzle back in November (Finally framed it 2 weeks ago) and hung it up in his room, we all decided to redecorate his room in trains.
We will use some of the signs my mom made for his train-themed 3rd birthday party, as well as get some new wall decals.

This is the glow in the dark puzzle we finished:
This will be the bedding (the train track on the outside):

Mother's Day 2016

The longer I'm a mother and experience the next stages in Luc's life and adding Aria to the game, I wonder how the heck My mom did it. Sometimes I feel like I live in pure insanity, that I can never keep up, and every day I mess something up or there's something I could've done better. My mom made it seem so simple and easy. I remember her praying for patience at times when my brother and I were driving her nuts, but she always found it. I pray for it, take a deep breath, and I'm still not calm. Parenting brings out the best and worst in me. The worst, I do not like to see in myself. And that's where they are forcing me to better myself so I can be a better Mom to them each new day.

Sometimes I just sit on the floor with the kids and when they're off playing, I stare at them. It boggles my mind when I stop the world from spinning for a minute and realize I have two little kids. They often drive me nuts. But I also feel so loved by each of them. I feel like I could never be alone in this life because they are a part of me. They are marvelous kids, and I'm so lucky they are mine.

Whenever I'm feeling defeated by the world, that I'm just not good enough or can't possibly improve, I look at these babies and find strength from somewhere deep down inside myself that makes me keep going, work on my faults, pray for forgiveness, and at least try my damnedest to be better tomorrow.








  I love them so much it takes my breath away, makes me tear up, and shakes my heart.

This year was the best Mother's Day yet. We celebrated with our parents and Uncle Dave the day before at our house, on the new decking, with a BBQ. So Sunday was a relaxed day with the kids and Frederic. Even though Aria was up quite a lot in the middle of the night, she slept until 7am. Luc came into our room while I pretended to still be asleep and climbed into bed next to me. He laid there until 7am. Frederic got up with both of them so I could stay in bed. Then at 8, they came up with the presents and a cup of coffee.
Luc made me something in school and had Frederic hide it in his trunk for a week so I couldn't peak (even though it was wrapped by the teachers). The teachers had marked off "I <3 YOU" in painters tape on a canvas, and Luc painted it with orange and teal. I love it, of course!
Frederic got me lots of loose tea from Teavana, a tin, and a glass mug that brews the loose tea in it. Yum!
We went for a walk/bike ride around the block a few times. Then we took our bikes to the big playground where our neighbors were heading too, until lunchtime. After Aria's nap, we went to Tutti Frutti for forzen yogurt. The rest of the afternoon was chill, with evening baths, then bedtime. After Luc was in bed, Frederic went out to get sushi for dinner. The weather was awesome (which is nice after 2 weeks of rain!). Perfect day!