And a Happy New Year...

A friend recently shared this poem by e.e. cummings. It is just beautiful. I have a feeling the poet wrote this to a love interest, but when I read it I think not only of Andy but of Gus and Cleo, too. It's so lovely and melancholy. Two of my favorite things.

Happy Holidays to you all. Here's to a 2009 full of peace, love, togetherness, good health, glad tidings, and new, wonderful things.

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart)

i am never without it (anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet)

i want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true) and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

-e.e. cummings

Update on the pukes and all that

So the night of my last post was terrible...and it's only gotten marginally better since then.

(Warning: I'm going to complain for a bit here but then I'll move on)

The night of my last post I got crazy sick with the same stomach flu the kids had and was up pretty much all night. Not fun...I repeat, NOT FUN. The next day I sent Gus to daycare b/c he was feeling better, but kept C. home with me b/c she was still pukey. Since that night I've felt better, but I haven't been getting much sleep b/c now Cleo has decided that although she feels better, she only wants to sleep for about 2-3 hours at a time, at best. And this is after I've bragged to all who can listen about how well she sleeps. She has been an amazing sleeper since she was about 4 weeks old, but I guess I'm being punished for talking about it out loud...it's only happened for the past three nights, but it's torturing me, b/c I was so accustomed to getting a full night's sleep. I pray to every god in the universe that she returns to her fabulous 10-12 hour sleep stretches very soon. I hope it is just because she is super hungry (i guess i would be hungry, too, if i had pooped and/or puked up everything for four days straight).

Oh, I forgot to throw in the 2+ hour doctor's appointment we went to on Tuesday. It took forever only to have the pediatrician tell us to "ride it out." I guess I'm glad we didn't have to medicate, but it's a bitch to hear that after waiting for so long. So many kids were in the waiting room, and Gus can only play with the few toys there and look at the fish in the tank a billion times before he goes crazy. It was not fun, and then b/c we got home super late, Gus would not nap. Ugh, remembering that day makes my head spin.

Fast forward to today...it's Thursday and although I'm exhausted, I think we're on the mend from the stomach crud. Andy has been out of town all week (did I mention that? that has added to my anxiety and whatnot...) and he returns tomorrow night. He feels terrible for being gone while we've been sick, but it's not his fault (obviously) and it's just the way it works sometimes. Although we do have a running joke that every time he goes out of town something like this happens. He was on a trip when I ended up in the emergency room twice (was that last year or the year before? time flies...) for the still unknown headache issues I had (was it a migraine? was it menigitis? they didn't do a spinal tap so we will never know, but i put my bets on a 2-day migraine b/c no one else in the house had issues). But I digress!

Today on my lunch break I was able to finish up a lot of shopping, so that feels good. I went to get my nephew a few albums for Christmas (he's getting a record player for Christmas), and I realized I hadn't shopped for LP's in so long (it used to be a fave pasttime of ours when we lived in Chicago). So I had to pick up a few for us! I grabbed Johnny Cash's Christmas album, a Queen album and an Elvis album from the 1970's. I'm psyched to put them on the player tonight. I think Gus will definitely dig the Elvis stuff, as he's really been getting into dance parties in our living room! God bless him for loving to dance, b/c we all know I do...

More later!

ek

'Tis the season to be pukey

So Cleo has been puking since last Thursday (about once a day, except for Friday). Gus sat down to eat a snack yesterday and immediately threw up in his bowl. My stomach has been a little funky for the last day, so I think we are officially suffering from some type of bug. We thought Cleo's throw up was simply a spitup issue, but I actually saw her do it this morning (in the carseat, getting ready to go to daycare), so now I know it's actually some nasty barf-o-rama. Poor girl. She cannot be gaining any weight these days. Before the pukes started she suffered from some diarrhea spell that is still somewhat lingering (Gus also caught that for a few days last week). So between changing about 3-6 diapers a day for the both of them (sometimes more for Cleo) and cleaning up puke, I'm super sick of the nasties, no pun intended.

Other than all that, the weekend was actually very nice. As Gus would tell you, we took the car to the car wash (the automatic car wash, and it scares Gus when it starts, so he has to hold someone's hand while we go through, but then he likes it and talks about it for days); Gus went to look at trains in North Lawrence with Andy (their new fave dad/son activity); and we drove around last night to look at Christmas lights (there was a neighborhood in West Lawrence that was AMAZING...almost all the neighbors joined together and strung white lights from tree to tree, across the street, so it was a huge maze of lights everywhere...so awesome. Even Andy and I "oooohed" and "aaaaahed" on that one). We also went to our friend's holiday party and exchanged White Elephant gifts. Andy got a COPS video on VHS and I received the 1994 Genius III version of Trivial Pursuit (both immediately went into our Goodwill bin...). Our friends all "adopted" a family this year and bought them all kinds of Christmas gifts, so that always feels very good.

Andy travels to Missouri and Texas this week, returning on Friday night. I wish he didn't have to travel so close to the holidays, but he just picked up new accounts in Texas so he needs to see those folks. We will go to my parents in B-game on Christmas day and then travel to Iowa probably a day later, staying for about a week. I think Gus and Eli (our nephew who lives in Alabama) will have a blast this year since they are both two. One year really will make a difference. Last year they were still pretty unsure of each other.

Gotta go...I think Gus just had another diaper blow out. Fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, here's a fun photo of Cleo and her friend, Zeke (he's about 1.5 months younger). He tried to make a move on Miss C. and she wasn't having any of it, as you can see.

Holiday photo outtakes (rejects)

Which photo is the winner this year for our holiday card? Who knows...we'll most likely go through yet another photo "session" tomorrow, since we couldn't find a winner out of the first two sessions! But we did get some fun outtakes, so enjoy! Oh, and more photos are updated on our flickr account.

Gus and Cleo and Charlie the Cat

The meltdown begins

My favorite photo...this is when Cleo's head started spinning!

Gus is out (and yes, he was holding Cleo up!)

Take two: second photo session (new outfits even!) and it was rocky from the start

Can you tell Gus isn't loving this experience?

This was near the end...now I know what parents go through trying to get the perfect photo!

Gobble Gobble, Part II

We're so hungry, we're all going a little crazy

Lindsey and Anthony after eating

Lucy


Pop and Cleo

Rob and Tira and Gus and I

Crazy Awesome Kerry

Poor Cleo doesn't feel so good

We had a great Thanksgiving at my parents. It was a really nice group: myself, Andy, the kids, Anthony, Lindsey, Kerry and Mom and Dad. Oh, and Lucy the dog. We all had such a great time together. My friend from high school, Rob, dropped by with his daughter, Tira. I haven't seen Rob for years and years, so it was really wonderful to see him and meet Tira. Unfortunately little Miss Cleo has been kinda sick all day, so we've had to watch her. I'm going to take her to the doctor tomorrow morning. She wasn't her cheery self today, which made me feel sad. But hopefully it is just a simple virus or something. More later...

Gobble Gobble

Cleo had her 4-month appointment yesterday. She was a little smaller than I thought she would be, but she's healthy and that's what counts. She's 13 lbs. 7 oz. = 45% for weight. She's 23.5" (even though I measured her at home and she was closer to 24") = 21% height. Her head is in the 10% for head circ. So she's still a short little chunk. She's so different than Gus was. I compared his 4-month stats and he was just over 18 lbs. and was 26" long. He has always been a pretty sturdy little guy. Cleo is just a little petite thing, but she has some chunky thighs! They are amazing...love chunky baby thighs. She had more immunization shots, and the doctor was able to fix one of her plugged eye ducts. We already noticed this morning that the one he fixed looks so much better. I hope he can unplug the other one at her 6-month appointment. When she cried at the doctor's office, Gus kept saying "It's ok, Keee-oo." Then later at home yesterday, she was lying on her playmat and Gus went up to her, got on his knees, put his hands around her little head, and gave her a kiss. It was so cute I almost teared up. I love seeing them interact. I hope Gus is Cleo's hero forever and ever, and I can tell already that Gus is so protective of his little sister and just adores her. It's what we had hoped for when we decided to have kids close in age. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there will be moments where the sibling love isn't overflowing, but it's the good stuff I'll focus on now!

Thanksgiving tomorrow! We're heading to Burlingame for the big day. Anthony and Lindsey and Kerry are coming, so that will be super fun. Kerry is coming tonight to spend the night with us. I rarely get to see her anymore, so that should be fun. I think Gus will have so much fun w/ both aunts and with "Uncle Tony." I'll post photos from the day, if I remember to take some...

I went on our annual shopping trip with the sisters and Mom last Sunday. I took Cleo so I could nurse her. BTW, the Nordstrom's bathrooms are amazing for nursing moms. Amazing...I was a little nervous about finding a comfortable place to feed her in Oak Park Mall, but Shana recommended Nordstrom's and it was perfect. They actually have a really nice sitting room just off the main bathroom for moms to feed their babes, complete with a comfy couch, some chairs, etc...and very private. I did meet another mom who was changing her kid's diaper. Her two girls were Sally and Annie. Sally was hilarious...she was five years old and just stared at me while I nursed Cleo. The mom said, "Sorry, you have an audience!" but it just made me laugh. Sally told me she thought Cleo was "the cutest baby in the world" (perhaps a bit of an exaggeration but so cute). She then said that she just loved my wedding rings. I love what 5-year olds say...so weird and fun! It reminded me of some of the great stories my friend, Marisa (who is an art teacher), tells us about her students. Anyway...the mom was so cool. We talked quite a bit about having kids and how completely sleep-deprived and whacked out you are for the first 6 months to a year...she was really nice. Fun times in the Nordstrom's bathroom! But Cleo did so well that day, and we all bought some fun clothes and shoes.

I'm trying to figure out when I might wean Cleo from nursing. It's going really well, and we are still supplementing with some formula, but I keep nursing b/c, well, it works and it's pretty easy now. But I'm tiring of pumping at work and I think I might be ready to stop when she is 5 months old or so. She turns 5 months on Dec. 22, so we'll see what happens then. I definitely won't go over 6 months. I can tell she's in the early stages of teething, and I'm not going to go down that road.

Ok, enough of this long post. More after the holiday! Have a great day full of food and drink and all that jazz.

ek

Kiddos

My new fave photo of Cleo

Here is a video of the babes. It's funny b/c Gus loves to push her in the swing, but it tends to scare Cleo. Ha!

They are so fun these days and Gus is really starting to interact more with Cleo. Cleo follows him around the room with her eyes, never really losing sight of her big brother. When she gets upset, Gus says "It's ok, Keeee-o" and pats her on the head.

Cleo has rolled over from her back to her belly at daycare and has almost done it for us, too. She really likes sitting in her Bumbo seat (thanks, Kelly!) and loves being on her back, just hanging out. Gus is talking up a storm, saying things like "That's cool..." (my personal fave!) and "Look, a peeeacccceee car!" (means "police car").

A few new photos posted on our Flickr site...

p.s. Sorry for the annoying narrative with this video. I always sound borderline insane on these things.