Aedan in His Own Room & A Case of Colds

Samantha: 39 Months, Week 1
Aedan: Week 17

After my last post, I realized that I forgot to talk about Monday, August 18, so we'll pick up there.  Daddy was off to work in the morning, just like usual, but when he got out to his car, it wouldn't start.  He tried jumping it, but that didn't seem to work either.  So, I contacted people through the Oxford Moms group on Facebook to see if anyone had recommendations for good repair shops in town.  Moms responded right away, and one even offered up her husband to come over to our place to look at it, see what it might be, and save us some money from having it towed and repaired.  Instead of going to campus, Daddy worked from home while the rest of us hung out and played.

i have been trying to give Aedan tummy time as much as I can so he can work on lifting himself up on his forearms, and eventually learn how to roll over.  He hasn't taken too much interest in it yet, but I'm sure it'll come soon enough.  I looked back at when Samantha was 17 weeks old, and she had just rolled over for the first time, so I'm sure it'll be any time now.  Samantha had to join Aedan for tummy time.

I am continuing to lay Aedan down in his crib for nap time, and I always wrap him up in his swaddle wrap.  However, this is what I usually find when I get him once he's woken up.  He always busts his left arm out, no matter how tightly I seem to wrap him.  It doesn't seem to bother him, though, for he wakes up all smiles and giggles.

Both kids took really good naps on Monday.  They were both really tired, and Samantha went to sleep right away without any fight.  When she woke up, she wrapped herself up in a blanket, pretending to be Elsa, and wanted me to take her picture.

Since we discovered that the Saturn just had a problem with the battery, we decided to go out that evening to replace it.  Daddy and Samantha went to the store to get it replaced.  Aedan and I left home a little later to meet them at Skyline Chili for dinner.  He fell asleep in the car on the way there, so we just waited in the parking lot, letting him sleep a little bit longer until Daddy and Samantha arrived.  After dinner we let Samantha play in the park across the street, in the fountains, and, of course, climb on the cannon.

On Monday night we tried Aedan in his own room in his crib again.  We figured even though it didn't work a week or so ago, maybe it work if we tried it again.  It seemed like we were bothering him more and more, making him wake and stir when we came in the room or whenever we talked (and he was bothering us more and more with grunts and noises throughout the night).  However, the first night was terrible.  I think he was up six times throughout the night.  I got tired of having to go in his room to settle him back down, so I ended up bringing him back into our room, and he spent the rest of the night in the pack and play.


Tuesday was a big deal in our household because it was Samantha's first day of preschool!  We signed her up for the Tuesday/Thursday class at the TRI, which is the local parks and recreation department.  Her teachers' names are Miss Betsy and Miss Becky, and she was SO excited to start preschool.  She couldn't believe that she was finally old enough for preschool.  She did a great job getting up and ready that morning without whining or complaining.  I was able to get some cute pictures of her before we left for her very first day.

 She was a pretty proud little girl that day, singing in the car on the way there.

Here she is standing outside her preschool building.  We got there early, giving us plenty of time to go in and use the restroom before entering her classroom and greeting her teachers.

It was a little strange dropping Samantha off, knowing that she wouldn't be with me for the next three hours, but I am so thrilled for her to have this experience.  Her teachers seem to be great, kind, caring ladies, and there are only seven other kids in her class.  I like that the class size is small so that Samantha can get more individualized attention.  There were several other kids that cried that morning, but there were no tears from our little extrovert.  She went right in and started playing with toys.  In fact, as I was on my way out with Aedan, she ran up to me exclaiming, "Look they have the same people like at the libary!"  I think she will get along at preschool just fine. :)

While Samantha was at preschool, Aedan and I ran some errands and went grocery shopping, something much easier to do with just one kid that you can strap into a baby carrier.  Our shopping trip went well, even though it took longer than normal since I have to find where everything is located at a different Kroger.  Aedan looked around for quite some time as we walked around the store.  Several older women commented to me on how cute Aedan was or how they wished they had baby carriers like that when they raised their babies.  It's funny how much more people interact with you in a smaller town.  I kind of like it.  You're not just another nameless face.  People actually notice the people around them.

Aedan fell asleep towards the end of our shopping trip and fell back asleep again in the car on the way home.  We got home just in time to get the groceries put away, I nursed Aedan and changed him, and then we were off to pick Samantha up from preschool.

She had a wonderful morning at preschool and didn't want to leave.  They were playing on the playground at the end of their day, and it was hard to convince Samantha to come with me.  I'm glad that she has this time away from home to learn and grow, to make friends and to broaden her horizons some.

Another benefit of Samantha attending preschool is that I think it will tire her out, making nap time better, at least on some days.  Both kids took a little work to get to sleep on Tuesday, but in the end took nice, good naps.  Here they are all happy and well-rested that afternoon.

Samantha has really enjoyed helping us around the house lately.  She will want to help make dinner or put things in the recycling bin or even feed Roscoe his dinner.  Well, on Tuesday she was helping Daddy bring in the recycling bin and wanted to carry it all by herself.  However, the whole way up the driveway she grunted and groaned, "Uhh, uhh,"  She only made it halfway up the driveway, stopped, and said to Ben, "Daddy, can you please help me?  This is too strong for me."  She says some pretty funny things sometimes. :)

To celebrate Samantha's first day of preschool, we got some ice cream together that evening.  We went to Orange Leaf to get some frozen yogurt.  It is one of the few ice cream places in Oxford, and even though it's a chain, we had never tried it before.  Samantha was a fan.  She particularly liked being able to choose her own toppings.

Then that night when Daddy had her go potty before bed, she started asking him a long line of questions, "Will Daddy die some day?  Will you go to heaven?  Will Mommy die?  Will Samantha die?  Will Samantha go to heaven?"  To which Daddy replied, "If you love Jesus and if you say thank you for dying on the cross for your sins, then yes."  So she stopped right there and then, and said, "Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins."  So we can mark the date of August 19, 2014, as when Samantha first prayed a simple preschool prayer of accepting Jesus' payment for her sins.  I don't know how much of it really sinks into her soul, but I love that she is asking these probing questions already.  I love that she is interested in learning about Jesus.  And I love that she is so open to talking about it with us and asking us questions.  Ahh, to have childlike faith.  It's so precious.

We weren't sure whether or not to try Aedan in his own room again on Tuesday night because didn't want another bad night.  However, I'm glad we did because it was a success!  He woke up twice to nurse and then went right back to sleep.  Ben made the comment that he thought to himself, "Yay!  He won't be sleeping in our room until he's fifteen!"  Hopefully this is turning a new page, and we can continue having him sleep in his own room.  I think it provides more restful nights for all involved.

Even though Aedan slept really well Tuesday night, Ben and I were awoken by some really bad storms.  Luckily, our children didn't seem to notice even though he and I were awake until all the heavy wind, rain, lightning, and thunder let up.  We woke up in the morning to find that the storm had blown down Samantha's play house and had blown her pool way across the road in the front bushes of the house across the street.  What a crazy storm!

Wednesday we went to the library again, even though story time doesn't start back up again for another couple weeks.  Samantha had fun playing and reading books while Aedan enjoyed watching all commotion and listening to some books read as well.

Both kids took good naps again on Wednesday afternoon.  (I have been so lucky with nap time going well lately, giving me a much needed respite in the afternoon.) In fact, Samantha was so tired that she was actually laying in bed when I came out from putting Aedan down.  I was very glad that napping happened that day because we had a long night ahead of us of being around people.  There was a new faculty dinner at the president's house and families were invited as well.  When we first got there it was just a time of mingling, and they had tables with drinks.  Samantha got to drink lemonade out of a fancy glass, and she thought it was the coolest thing in the world.  She kept saying, "I really like this lemonade.  I've never had lemonade before."  She found some other kids to run around and play with out on the lawn until dinner was ready.  We were a little nervous about how dinner would go because they had tables set up with white tablecloths and napkins and glass water cups.  However, Samantha did a nice job drinking out of her glass carefully, and Aedan just hung out in his car seat watching all the grown ups eat.  After serving dessert and having all the new faculty go around and introduce themselves, it was almost 8:00 and Aedan was starting to get fussy, wanting to nurse and go to bed.  So we decided to head out for the night, and that's when I noticed that Aedan's nose was running.  He had caught a cold from somewhere and little did I know that this would be the beginning of a two week long stuffy nose and cough.

After the later night on Wednesday, both kids slept in really late on Thursday morning.  It was kind of nice because Ben and I got up at our usual time so we had a little breakfast date all by ourselves that morning, with time to sit and chat and drink our coffee together.  In fact, we had to go in and wake up Samantha a little after 8:00 so that we could get her ready for preschool.  She was so out of it that she didn't even notice us come in the room.

Aedan had a really good night as well and slept in until 8:30.  However, I was a little concerned that Samantha slept for so long, for when she sleeps that long it usually means that she's not feeling well and her body is trying to fight something off.  I took her temperature just to be safe, and she had a slight temperature, but not enough where we felt like we had to keep her home from preschool.  Since Daddy hadn't started classes yet he offered to take her to preschool that morning, and I stayed home with Aedan.  It was a rainy, dreary day, a perfect day to stay inside and play.

It was strange being at the house with just Aedan.  It was very relaxing, very quiet and peaceful.  Once he started acting sleepy, I rocked him to sleep.  He took a good morning nap in his crib without being wrapped up.  I just had to get a few pictures of my sleepy guy who's looking bigger and bigger every day.

In fact, I actually had to wake Aedan up so that we could stop by Kroger really quick before picking Samantha up from preschool.  I could tell he was still feeling pretty congested and under the weather, and it was such a cloudy, rainy day, so I ended up just leaving him in his pajamas.  Here is my little shopping buddy that morning.  Isn't he just the cutest thing ever?

With both kids having colds, their bodies were trying to recover so they both took really long afternoon naps on Thursday.  Samantha slept for 3 1/2 hours, and Aedan slept for 2 1/2 hours.  It was so strange to have them sleeping for so long, but really nice for me because I got a lot of downtime to relax, work on my blog, and get some things done around the house.

After having our crock pot chicken and corn enchiladas for dinner that night, we just relaxed in the house and watched Frozen together before bath time and bed time.  Every once in awhile vegging out is just what everyone needs.  Silly colds.  It's always so sad to see little kids sick.  They just don't know how to cope as well, and there's only so much you can do besides lie low and get as much rest as possible, waiting for the cold to pass.

Friday was another rainy day, and I decided we could try out the Hefner Zoology Museum that is on the Miami campus.  Samantha was really excited that we were going to a museum, and I warned her ahead of time that it would be small, that it wouldn't be like the Children's Museum in Indianapolis, but she didn't quite understand.  In fact, on the way there, she made a comment about sleeping in the car on the way there, like she was thinking we'd be in the car for a long time like when we would go to Indianapolis from Bloomington rather than just driving fifteen minutes to campus.  It was cute though.  The museum had a gallery area with many animals that were "stuffed."  Then they had a play area with a large pretend bird's nest and log as different habitats for animals to live in, along with stuffed animals to play with, and dress-up animal costumes.  Luckily, there was another little girl there, and Samantha and her hit it off right away, playing together for a pretty long time.  It was nice that there was a playmate for Samantha, otherwise this little museum would definitely not have been so interesting.  It was fun to try out, and it definitely is a good place to go on a rainy day, but I'm not quite so sure it's worth dealing with parking and walking across campus with two kids just for this little museum.

Samantha continued getting more grumpy and cranky and the day went on, once again acting like she didn't feel very well.  They both went to sleep pretty quickly at nap time and were both so tired.  Poor little children and the silly colds that are making them feel crummy and cranky.

After only napping for about forty-five minutes, Samantha woke up crying.  I went in her room to settle her back down, and she complained about her ear hurting.  I thought that was strange to complain about that and wondered if maybe she'd developed an ear infection or something like that from her head cold.  Especially with it being a Friday afternoon, I didn't want to mess around with her not feeling well and then be stuck in the weekend where it's harder to get into seeing a doctor.  I called several places to see if we could get in, but since our insurance doesn't start until September 1st, there really was nowhere we could go unless we wanted to go to the ER.  Then, I went back in to talk to Samantha and she said that her ear didn't really hurt, that she was making it up, so who knows why she was complaining about her ear in the first place.  I tried to get her to go back to sleep and get more rest because she was clearly tired and not feeling well, but her chance for a nap was over with all that drama.  Then, Aedan woke up screaming and crying from his nap.  So, needless to say, it was a very dramatic afternoon with the kids.  I think most of it stemmed from still battling colds, but it was frustrating for me to deal with as a mom.  Sometimes dealing with two kids is difficult enough without having both those kids under the weather.  I hope they get better soon, both for their sake and mine.

Saturday was another day of hanging out at home and relaxing together as a family, getting some good rest for kids and parents, and good times with our little ones.  He may be full of snot, but he sure is still full of smiles as well!

Plus, Samantha helped Daddy make a yummy pasta dinner that night.  She did a great job helping to squeeze the tomatoes for the sauce.  She was wearing a white shirt, so of course she had to take it off to do her job in the kitchen.  She even helped make the bread that you can see in the background.  It's nice to be able to let her help out in the kitchen.  I think it's so important for her to learn some cooking/baking skills, and I'm glad she's so willing to help at such a young age.

After having a long week of many nights of not very good sleep, Aedan finally had a good night on Saturday night.  He woke up around 1:30 to nurse and made a few noises throughout the night, but nothing we had to go in his room for.  Then he woke up again at around 6:00 to nurse and fell back asleep until 8:30 when we had to start getting ready for church.  It's amazing how a good night's sleep can make a day so much better.

However, just as we were getting ready to leave, I was brushing my teeth, and Ben was carrying Aedan down the stairs, followed by Samantha.  Then all of a sudden I hear loud thuds, Ben frantically calling, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!," followed by Samantha's cries.  She wasn't paying attention enough and tumbled head over feet from about halfway down the stairs, face planting once she reached the landing.  Luckily she was okay, just had a bump and bruise on her forehead.  Here's our little girl ready for church, bruise and all.

Samantha actually couldn't wait to tell people at church about her bruise, so clearly she wasn't feeling too much pain from it.  Since Aedan slept in for longer Sunday morning and I was able to nurse him before we left for church, we were able to take him to the nursery and he stayed in there the whole time without me needing to come get him to nurse him or because he was getting fussy.  It was the first time Ben and I have been able to enjoy a whole church service together since before Aedan was born.  It was really nice, and Aedan got so worn out from his fun at church that he fell right asleep in his car seat on our way home.

(Do you see how big he is getting?  Do you see how much he is filling out his car seat?  He is such a wonderful little boy.  It's hard to believe he's almost four months old!)

Sunday night we had a family night out of going to the pool in the evening after dinner, figuring it would be our last time at the pool for the season.  However, Samantha was trying to dump water on my head and fell, scraping her knee and hand.  It certainly was not the best day for her as far as injuries go.  Then on the way home from the pool, Samantha was keeping Aedan amused in the backseat of the car, making him laugh and smile from ear to ear.  We said that she is his toy to which she replied, "I'm not his toy, I'm his friend."  Aww...she's such a sweetie with her little brother.  I hope they always stay good friends.

We have very interesting conversations with Samantha in the car and on the way to church that day, Samantha was talking about wanting three children when she grows up.  But then she asked, "But who will I marry to?"  Then she thought of Aedan and asked, "Will Aedan still be called Aedan when he gets older?"  It's interesting how much she's thinking about and asking questions about what will happen when she gets older.  It's interesting to see how she processes things.

Monday was just a precious day together while Daddy started his first day of classes.  Aedan took a good nap in his crib that morning while Samantha and I got some quality Mommy/Daughter play time.  It's nice when I can devote one on one attention to her like that.  She really enjoys it when we come into her play room and play with her.  Once Aedan woke up, we went out to the park to play for just a little while since it was a pretty hot day outside.  On the way to the park Samantha was talking about going to heaven and asked if God rides in the clouds.  She also asked if there's a toilet in heaven, and said, "God wouldn't like it if I peed on his lap."  I couldn't help but burst out laughing after that statement.  I'm sure God smiled then, too.  :)

The day continued on really well with a good afternoon of napping.  In fact, Samantha fell asleep with me in the room.  She only slept for an hour and fifteen minutes, but she woke up happy and refreshed, so that's all that really matters.  Aedan slept for two hours and forty-five minutes.  I actually ended up leaving his left arm out of his wrap, since he always busts it out immediately anyways.  It didn't seem to bother him having his arm free.  He was still fighting a bit of a cold, but had a good, solid nap.  Samantha and I got to cuddle on the couch and watch Cinderella since she took a nap, and since Aedan was still sleeping, we had some more bonding time together.

That night we took advantage of the hot weather and let Samantha play in the baby pool for awhile.  We then got both kids bathed and ready for bed.  Samantha came into Aedan's room and sat with Aedan and me as we read stories together.  Daddy put Samantha to bed, and I put Aedan to bed, like we usually do.  But I got an extra special treat that night because in addition to nursing and cuddling Aedan to sleep, since his left arm is not wrapped up anymore, he fell asleep holding my finger in his firm grip.  So sweet, and so precious, a wonderful way to end a busy day.