Life with 2 (Mostly) Happy Kids Aged 2 and Under

Life has become much happier in our household, with many thanks towards Ruth's much more content attitude.  In fact over the last month or so I have found that I actually have to remind myself that I can take Ruth places.  When she was so fussy all the time I just couldn't bear the thought of having her scream the entire time we were out.  That meant that no matter how appealing trips to the library or shopping (or the parks as the weather got better) sounded, I had no desire to drag a screaming infant with me.

So now our weeks are filled with trips to the library, walks to the park and fearless trips shopping.  I say fearless because despite having a fussy baby I still sometimes had to go shop and that was just no fun.  Now all these activities are generally fun (other than the expected problems that arise when you have a 9 months old and a 2 year old).

We try to go to the library 2-3 times a week and with their summer programming starting soon, that very well might become more frequent.  On some of the really hot days we've already had I have had no desire to sit at a park and roast with them, so a pre-naptime trip the library is just about perfect.  Then we often round out the evenings with walks around the block, I might wear Ruth or we might push her, while Samuel roams the sidewalks looking for anthills to destroy.

Trips to the park generally involve me trying to run.  I say trying to run because I have exercise induced asthma and have barely ran since before Samuel was born, so I am working from square zero.  That means I run as much as I feel able to without my lungs exploding and walk the rest.  I try to at least keep my walking pace up at least and so far my running will not be winning me any trophies, except for maybe a good effort one.

Lately it has just been quite entertaining to watch those two kids interact.  Samuel adores his sister and she in turn adores him.  Of course with him being 2, their playing together sometimes involves things that end with Ruth crying...  That's just how it goes!  But also with Samuel being 2 things sometimes end with him scraping his knee, so at least I know he isn't just causing trouble for his sister!

It has also been fun to watch their very different personalities and paths of development unfold.  For example, from the first day we started Samuel on solids (and we started earlier than I intended to just because he seemed eager for them) he would devour almost everything in his path.  He has always loved to eat.  Ruth on the other hand refused to eat solids for quite a while.  She simply had no interest and would only fuss about us trying to feed her if we persisted and didn't take her hint.  Well, last week I tried to feed her solids again and this time, she loved it!  Over the last week we have been slowly increasing the amount and types of food we feed her.  So far she loves butternut squash and bananas and really loves to self-feed (something Samuel outright refused to do until after his smash cake).

Ruth also got her first two teeth mid-May at about 8.5 months old.  She'll be 9 months old tomorrow, so it is about time she got teeth and started eating solids!  :-)

Our family with Grandma at a cousin's wedding in Nebraska.

The Last 3 Months

Hey World!  We're still here....  Though we have gotten quite busy!  I have not forgotten about posting, just all but forgotten about posting.  Once I give a quick drive by of what has been happening since the end of July I'm sure you'll understand!

I think we started August at a sprint.  Samuel had been sleeping through the night or waking only once in July, but a trip to Minnesota for a wedding, some diaper rash and 6 month shots all kind of stopped that I think.  It would not have been soo bad on his sleep, but once we were making progress I started teaching an online class.

To sum up my experience as an online teacher was that overall I really did enjoy it.  Now my first time doing it was rather trying...  During the second week I got Hand/Foot/Mouth Disease and doing anything with my hands and feet caused me pain.  I could not walk well, I could not change diapers and I definitely could not type.  I emailed (by that I mean pecking out the email with the least pained fingers) the class coordinator because of course this happened the weekend before Week 2 of an 8 week course.  Great way to start teaching, with a sub during the second week!

Needing a substitute teacher in my class really threw me off.  I was just starting to figure out what it was I was doing and then I was knocked out miserably sick.  So it took me a while to get my feet fully under me again and I pretty much was working the class at a sprint until the end.  Then throw in a parent that was difficult to work with and I was ecstatic for the class to be over.  Thankfully it was a rather unusual term and I know that.  It is not scaring me away from teaching online again.  I look forward to a (more than likely) better experience next go, but for my sanity I took this term off!

When I was sick we had to call in back up!  My poor husband was getting quite drained from taking care of Samuel (even though we nurse it really hurt my hands to latch him, so Ben even had to latch him for me so I could feed him), taking care of me and trying to keep up at work.  So we called my Mom after a few days of the misery and she really helped loosen up Ben's time and everyone was happier.

Of course the days she got here she comments, "So Samuel got a tooth!"  And I responded with something like, "Uh... Yeah...  He got a tooth!?!?!?"  With how the week was going we didn't even notice it sneak it.  We're guessing it came on August 22nd or 23rd, she noticed it on the 23rd.  About two weeks later he got his second tooth (so now he has two bottom front teeth).  Honestly the teething leading up to the teething actually cutting through wasn't that bad (this time around, we'll see what happens next time!).

We also started Samuel on solids.  First we did rice cereal for about 2 weeks, which he gobbled up.  Then we gave him oatmeal and he refused to have anything more to do with rice, because oatmeal is much tastier.  Then we gave him banana, which he loved.  Moved onto peas next, then sweet potato and then apple.  All of which he thought was the best thing invented since milk (have I ever mentioned Samuel's favorite activity in all the world is eating?).  Next we gave him avocado, which was definitely not a hit.  In fact he got VERY grumpy during the 2 days we tried to feed him some.  So we stopped and he instantly became happy again!  Then we did butternut squash, which he wasn't fond of by itself, but mixed with apples he thinks its just fabulous!  Finally we have introduced him to pears, which was also a hit.  I have zucchini and pumpkin waiting to be made into baby food, so those will be the next ones (I plan on getting the zucchini ready yet today for tomorrow, we'll see if that happens).  He's starting to get so many different foods that he doesn't zoom through what I make in less than a week now.

Of course he likes eating so much that I am going to ask his Doctor as his appointment on Wednesday about 3 meals a day instead of 2 and if we should start adding meats.  From when solids really started getting going (which I would say was when we did sweet potato first) he has really been packing on the weight.  Last week at Mommy and Me (did I say I go to a weekly play group with Samuel?) he weight 13# 9oz, but that was with his cloth diaper on, so he probably was just over 13# (not real sure how heavy the diaper is).  Wednesday we'll know his naked weight, then Thursday is Mommy and Me again, so I can get a rough estimate of the weight of the diaper.

Also at the end of September we made a trip back to Nebraska to visit Ben's Mom.  We were going to go on to Colorado and maybe Wyoming, but with how stressed I was between a son that wasn't sleeping and sprinting to keep up with my online class, we did a much shorter trip.  Hopefully we can do the longer trip soon, because I was definitely bummed to not do it all.

This weekend Samuel and I are heading to my cousin's son's baptism in Milwaukee then the following weekend we'll be doing Thanksgiving with my side of the family at our house, so I am headed into another busy month!  Also I am still working on my German I course that I will be teaching with the Wittenburg Academy starting the end of November.  It's an online classical Lutheran high school.  I'm very excited to be teaching with them!

Anyways I have a few more posts I want to write before I leave town for the weekend, so expect another post from me in the near future.  For now that is a quick run down of the last months' activities! Oh and we have really been working hard on Samuel's routine since my class has ended and since we have gotten him back on it, he has been ridiculously happy and a solid sleeper!