Soccer Starting, Trip to Smale Park, and a Visit from the Clemons Family

Samantha: 51 Months, Week 1

Aedan: 15 Months, Week 4 (Week 69)

With Samantha starting preschool this week but Ben not yet starting classes, our schedule was still a bit more relaxed than what it will be come next week.  I decided to take the opportunity to do two last summer excursions on the days Samantha didn't have preschool since the weather was going to be nice.  On Tuesday I decided to take the kids to a splash pad and playground located in Hamilton.  I heard about it from some other moms and wanted to take the kids but hadn't gotten around to it yet.  We met another mom, Stephanie, and her son Isaac there as well so that way Samantha would at least have one other kid to play with.  We arrived around 10:30 and played on the playground for awhile.  Aedan was feeling better after being sick over the weekend, so he enjoyed getting out and playing more.  Shortly after Stephanie and Issac arrived, we got the kids dressed in their bathing suits and went into the splash pad area.  It had a button in the ground that you push to make the water spray, and it was really neat.  It had a lot of fun water features, even more than the other splash park we would visit when we lived in Bloomington.  Samantha and Isaac had a great time running around and getting soaking wet together.  There were a few other kids there that they played with as well.

Aedan, on the other hand, is never very sure about water.  He likes the idea of it, but he likes to get wet on his own terms, so he doesn't like sudden surprises spraying him or splashing him in the face.  He also has a hard time with other kids running around and accidentally splashing him.  Plus, he was still recovering from being sick and it was getting close to lunchtime which is his fussy time of the morning when he is hungry and tired.  All those circumstances made Aedan very clingy in the splash park area.  He kept wanting to play in the mud off the side of the splash pad where the water runs off, but I didn't want him to play in the mud because of obvious reasons, plus there were lots of wasps that were walking around in the mud as well.  Aedan has reached the point where he wants to do whatever he is told not to do, so he kept returning to the mud pits and would get grumpy when I moved him away.  I ended up wrapping Aedan in his towel and holding him most of the time we were there, which was okay because Samantha was still having a blast splashing and running around.

As it was approaching noon, the kids started to show signs of being done in the water.  Samantha wanted to just lay out her towel on the grass and lay down, so Isaac and Aedan copied her.  Aedan climbed onto Samantha's towel at one point when she had gotten up to do something else.  Well, Samantha didn't like that and wanted Aedan to get back on his own towel, so she proceeded to push him.  I gently warned her several times that she needed to stop and that it was okay for him to sit on her towel while she wasn't using it.  She would not let up and then started kicking him and pulling the towel out from underneath him.  I gave her multiple warnings, probably more than I should have, so then I told her it was time to go because of her behavior.  I sent her up to the picnic tables to start changing out of her bathing suit.  Well, she didn't want to leave so she had a meltdown which involved screaming, yelling at me, throwing her clothes, and trying to hit me.  It took me quite awhile of talking calmly and even ignoring her for awhile to get her to calm down.  She was tired and didn't want to leave, but her behavior didn't warrant us staying any longer.  It was one of those things that I just needed to follow through on, even though I was totally embarrassed that she was acting like that in front of our new friends.  Once she settled down, she was able to make rational decisions and got dressed by herself.  I had her apologize to Stephanie and Isaac, too.  It's so strange how we can be having a great day together and then all of a sudden her behavior can change so drastically.

Tuesday evening after dinner Daddy had another set of softball games, but Samantha, Aedan, and I stayed home due to Samantha's behavior last week when leaving the park.  We figured it would be best to send her a message that she won't get to do special things if she throws a fit when it's time to leave.  She was pretty upset about not being able to go watch Daddy, but it was a good night to play at home, have bath time, and get in bed at a decent time.

On Wednesday morning Daddy took Samantha off to preschool and then met me at the Miami Health Services office to be with Aedan while I got my blood drawn for the discount for the Healthy Miami Plan.  I was just planning on taking Aedan in with me, but it worked out much better for Daddy to hang out with him for a little while instead.  From there, I took Aedan to a play date with some other moms at the park by the TRI.  I also needed to stop by Kroger and pick up a few odds and ends, so I figured it wouldn't make much sense to drive all the way back home just to drive back again.  (Our house isn't that far away from Oxford, anywhere from 12-15 minutes depending on what area of town you're going to and how much traffic there might be, but sometimes that feels like a long drive to be doing multiple times a day.  It will be nice, if we end of staying in Oxford for a tenure track position, to get a house closer into town and be more centrally located.)  Anyways, Aedan had a good time playing with lots of other kids, and I enjoyed some adult interaction for a little while.  The weather was actually rather cool that morning as a cold front was moving in with some rain later that afternoon/evening.

It seems like Samantha is still getting used to being out all morning long, three days a week, for preschool.  It is really tiring her out, and she has been taking very good naps in the afternoon.  In fact, both kids fell asleep with me on Wednesday afternoon.  Aedan fell asleep as I rocked him, and Samantha fell asleep as I laid in the bed next to her.  It's so wonderful to have these precious, peaceful moments with my children (for it makes up for the times they are screaming and yelling at me, right?).

Wednesday night was Samantha's first soccer practice and Daddy's first time coaching soccer.  Once the semester starts he will just meet us at the soccer fields since he has class until 5:20 and practice starts at 5:30.  However, that day he came home to have dinner with us and help me get the kids ready.  We planned to eat by 4:45-5:00 so that way we could be ready and get to practice on time.  We cooked sausage patties on the grill, which our kids love, so that worked out well.  Sausage patties are one of the few things that Samantha will eat the entire thing without being prodded.

We all piled in the car again and went off to soccer practice.  Samantha was so excited to be wearing her new cleats, socks, and shin guards.  They had quite a few kids on the fields playing soccer, split into various teams.  At the first practice they rotated around stations, practicing various soccer skills like dribbling, kicking the ball around cones, and shooting goals.  You can tell there are definitely some kids who have a lot more experience playing soccer than Samantha does, but she had a great time and gave it good effort.  She really loved that Daddy was her coach.  (She even said, "Good night, Coach Daddy" when he was putting her to bed that night.)  Since Daddy was busy on the field with the kids, I was on Aedan duty.  That's one downside to having Ben coach rather than just being a spectator because now there's another thing that pulls the two of us apart rather than giving us time to spend together.  I brought our extra soccer ball for Aedan to play with because I knew he would want everyone else's ball, but that didn't seem to tempt him.  He just wanted to walk all over the field in the middle of practice, not understanding the white boundary lines.  Eventually I had to strap him in the stroller so he would stop trying to run away.  Here are some pictures and videos from Samantha's first soccer practice.

Toward the end of practice, dark clouds started rolling in.  It rained lightly for a little while, but practice continued even in the rain.  Ben told me that some of the kids started complaining about how they didn't like the rain so he turned it into something fun, saying, "Well, you know the good thing about the rain?  You get to do a rain dance!"  All the kids began dancing around in the rain, changing the mood from negative to positive.  My husband is so wonderful, such a trooper in coaching soccer, and also so good at making people, kids and adults alike, comfortable in a variety of situations.  A little while later we started hearing thunder in the distance so everyone started exiting the field.  We didn't make it to the car before the rain let loose from the sky, getting everyone soaking wet.  Besides for the rain, it was a great, successful first soccer practice.  We are looking forward to seeing Samantha grow in her athleticism through playing soccer, as well as feeling a sense of camaraderie by being part of a team.

Since Ben hadn't started teaching for the semester yet, he took the day off from working on campus on Thursday to do one more family day.  We decided to go downtown Cincinnati and visit Smale Park right along the riverfront.  We've seen it several times when walking around before going to a Reds game, but we never had the time to actually stop and enjoy the park.  There are many different fun areas for kids, like large fountains cascading down next to steps.

There is a playground there as well with not your typical playground equipment.  They had metal slides, but also climbing walls, rope bridges, this large blue sphere that played musical notes when banging on it in a certain way, rocks to climb up, as well as log steps.  It was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time exploring the playground that morning before it got busy and full of kids later in the day.

Under the bridge on the other side of the park were some other fun places to play.  There was a large keyboard on the ground that you stepped on and caused chimes to play up above you.  There was a large metal sculpture of a flying pig that kids could climb into.  You then pulled on ropes underneath to make the pig flap it's wings and move up and down.  Samantha rode in that for quite awhile.  One of Samantha and Aedan's favorite spots was this water area with different places where you could pump water out and then control the direction the water flowed.  Both kids ended up getting pretty wet playing in the water.  In fact, Aedan sat in the water and threw leaves into the pool of water over and over again.  We spent the longest here, letting the kids enjoy their time playing, and enjoying the beautiful weather and the Cincinnati skyline in the background.  I'm glad that we chose this to be our last excursion of the summer!

The carousel opened at 11:00, so we made our way to the building for the kids to take a ride.  Aedan doesn't look too thrilled in this picture, (this is just his face when it's getting closer to lunchtime and he's feeling hungry and tired), but he really did have a good time.

After the carousel, we walked a few blocks away to eat lunch at Panera.  It was one of the few non-sit-down restaurants around, and it is also a place we don't have nearby in Oxford.  It has gotten to the point now, however, that we have to order Aedan his own kid's meal.  In fact, sometimes he actually eats more than Samantha!  They both loved their mac and cheese and had worked up quite an appetite.

Before heading back home, we decided to go back to the Smale park, get the kids in their bathing suits, and let them play in the fountains.  They were a bit taller than what they're used to in Oxford, but the sun was shining brightly and the kids had a great time running around in the water and watching the water shoot up and down.

We had a great time together at the park that morning, but the kids were getting tired and we knew it was time to leave.  Aedan fell asleep in the car, but we had Samantha stay awake until we got home so she could nap in her bed.  Our friends Stephanie, Jim, and Isaac were coming over for dinner that night so that we could get to know them a little better and so that our husbands could meet, so were glad that our kids got good naps in that afternoon after having a fun morning of playing outside.

Our dinner with Stephanie, Jim, and Isaac went well.  When we have people over for dinner, we like to make something that we would never make when it's just our family.  On this occasion we made my family's lasagna recipe. It is super good, but makes a giant lasagna, way too much for our family of four to consume.  They came over around 5:30 and brought a salad to contribute to our dinner.  The kids ate like kids usually do, picking at their food and being coerced into eating enough to satisfy the parents.  Samantha ate the salad better than the lasagna, which is not surprising.  We had brownies and ice cream for dessert, and then just let the kids play while the adults talked and got to know each other more.  They just moved to town this summer so it was fun to learn more about their family.  Samantha and Isaac get along pretty well and had fun playing together.  However, when it was getting close to the time for them to leave, Samantha had another meltdown, throwing some Barbie horses she had brought outside with her, refusing to share with Aedan, and I told her to go inside and sit in her room until she could act calmly.  So then she was in her room screaming and crying, having a total meltdown again.  I joked with Stephanie afterwards saying that it must just be her that brings this behavior out in Samantha.  But no, in all seriousness, she has been doing this so much lately that it's hard to know what to do or how to discipline her in a way that's effective but also reduces the meltdown reaction that Samantha might have.

I feel like now that preschool has started and the semester is just around the corner, things are getting more hectic around here.  On Friday morning Samantha went to preschool with Daddy before Aedan even woke up for the day.  (The past couple mornings he has been waking up a little after 6:00, making noise for awhile, and then going back to sleep for awhile longer.)  Since Aedan woke up so late and we had a slow start to the morning, we left for Kroger later for grocery shopping, giving Aedan and I just enough time to go shopping, get back home and put everything away, before I had to make a picnic lunch for Samantha and Aedan and leave again.  We were doing a trial run for meeting Ben on campus so that I could continue going to Zumba on Friday afternoons.  It's quite the process, but I think it will work.  I bring Aedan along with lunch, meet Ben on campus around 11:50, he hops in the car, and I go to Zumba class.  Then, Ben picks Samantha up from preschool and gives the kids their lunch.  They just stayed at the TRI to eat lunch and played at the playground until it was time to come back and pick me up.  Ben and I switched again, so that he could go back to work in his office and I took the kids back home to put them down for naps.  It worked well, Samantha was very respectful and helpful, so it is definitely something we can still try to do.

That afternoon, this was delivered to our house: Ben's dissertation!  Printed and bound at 451 pages.  I opened the box and was filled with pride for my husband.  I had never seen it compiled all in one place, and it is a tremendous work.  He has accomplished so much in completing his Ph.D., and I couldn't be prouder.  Ben does not give himself enough credit for all the research, hours of work, thought, and effort he put into not only graduate school, but this dissertation, in addition to being and amazing husband and father.  I love you, Ben.

Friday night after our kids were in bed, Uncle Matthew, Aunt Christy, and Brielle arrived to visit for the weekend.  Originally they had planned to come last weekend, but with Aedan getting sick, they moved their plans to this weekend.  We were glad to have them, and Samantha was SO excited about seeing and playing with Brielle.

Our guests stayed in Aedan's room so that Brielle could use Aedan's crib, meaning that Aedan slept in our room for the weekend.  He went to sleep fine on Friday night, even though he was in a new place, but he woke up early on Saturday morning.  Samantha woke up before 7:00 as well, excited to see Brielle, Christy, and Matthew.  However, Brielle sleeps in until almost 9:00, so she had a long time to wait before she finally got to see her.  We told her there was no need for her to wake up early since they sleep in later than us, but that doesn't do much good for Samantha when she knows new people are in the house.

Even though we had a slow morning, we had plans to make a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo together.  The kids had a little time to play together while the adults got ready and we made our picnic lunch.

I had to include this next picture because it shows Aedan's feelings about having another baby around and having his sister's attention focused on someone else.  Aedan kept trying to get her attention, but she was busy playing with Brielle, leaving Aedan feeling dejected.  You an see his sad little face and slouched body language in this picture.

It was fun to see Aedan and Brielle play together.  The last time Brielle was here back in January, she was sitting up but not mobile at all.  However, this time she's crawling around, pulling up on things, and is very interactive.

We got to the zoo close to noon, and it was very busy.  We parked in a totally different place than we had ever been before since we arrived later in the day.  Since we came into the zoo at the back, we decided to ride the carousel first, giving Brielle her first carousel experience.  She enjoyed it for awhile, but then had enough and just hung out in her mommy's arms for the rest of the ride.

We walked around and saw a few animals before going to eat lunch.  We had a yummy lunch and Brielle and Aedan enjoyed sitting next to each other and even shared food with each other.

Our kids were still doing pretty well considering it was the middle of the afternoon, and they had woken up early that morning, so we decided to stay at the zoo most of the afternoon.  Here are some pictures from our day together.  We had a great time!  It was a fun way to spend the day, and we had gorgeous, sunny weather, too.

I had fun holding Brielle for awhile in the bird house, and she was pretty interested in watching the finches, penguins, and turtle move around.

Saturday evening we picked up pizza for dinner since we had just gotten home from the zoo and didn't feel like making anything.  Then, after dinner we took Matthew, Christy, and Brielle Uptown so we could let them try out some yummy Graeter's ice cream.  As we have been doing when we go out lately, we got Aedan his own kiddie sundae with vanilla ice cream and sprinkles, and he shared it with Brielle.  Samantha picked blue cotton candy ice cream and gobbled hers up.  Matthew got some kind of milkshake, whereas Christy tried the infamous buckeye ice cream.  I think they thought it was pretty good, too.  From there, we went back home and put our tired kiddos to sleep so that the adults could hang out and play a game of Ticket to Ride together.  We can always count on Matthew and Christy to play games with us when they visit.

Sunday morning we all went to church together and had lunch afterwards.  Ben and I made a new recipe for chicken tetrazzini in the crock pot.  However, our kids woke up pretty early that morning, especially Aedan, and he actually fell asleep in the car on the way home from church.  Usually when I get him out of his car seat he wakes up, but not this time.  He just laid his head down on my shoulder and went right back to sleep.  I sat down on the couch and let him sleep on my shoulder while Ben lovingly prepared the rest of our lunch.  It was nice to just sit and snuggle with my little sleepy boy.  After awhile he woke up, and I tried to put him in his high chair for lunch, but he was just too tired to eat.  He was refusing everything we tried to give him, so I decided to just take him upstairs and put him down for his nap.  He was glad to be going night-night, fell asleep in my arms, but woke up when I tried to lay him down.  Luckily, it didn't take him too long to calm back down again.

After lunch, when Samantha went down for her nap and Brielle finally fell asleep, Matthew, Christy, Ben, and I enjoyed time just hanging out, talking, and relaxing.  Christy and I were able to go through baby clothes she no longer needed for Brielle, as well as take the next batch of 12 month clothes to start using as she gets to be the right size.  We have SO many girl clothes that were given to us over the first few years of Samantha's life, so I am glad that we are able to share these clothes with my sister, helping her to save some money as well.  They have just been sitting in tubs in Upland, so someone might as well use them!

Once Brielle woke up from her nap, the Clemons family hit the road for their trek back to the Chicago area.  Our family had leftovers for dinner and in a spur of the moment decision, decided to go swimming at the REC since it is a free week.  We can't afford a membership to the REC just to use the pool, so we always take advantage of the free weeks and go several times throughout the week.  Samantha loves to swim, especially at this indoor pool where the water and air temperature is more controlled.  Aedan loved the idea of being able to walk around in the kiddie area that is just the right height for him.  Last time we came to this pool he wasn't walking yet.  However, he is at the point where he wants to walk everywhere and have his independence, yet he can't maneuver around in the pool well enough to avoid falling over.  Obviously, he doesn't enjoy falling face first into the water and getting a mouth full of water, but he doesn't understand that in order to avoid that, he has to let us hold his hand.  This battle back and forth made him kind of frustrated at the pool.  It's nice to go as a family and enjoy this time together playing in the water, even if Aedan isn't enjoying it the whole time.

Monday, August 24th, Ben started his second year of teaching at Miami University.  His schedule is pretty good this semester with no early morning classes, and his classes are either Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday, giving him Fridays off of teaching so that he can work on papers or applications.

Also on this Monday Samantha had preschool, and Andrea and I began our babysitting swap.  After dropping off our older kids at preschool, she took Aedan home with her, and I had the morning to myself.  It was SO nice, nicer than I thought it would be.  I appreciated the time alone in my home to get some laundry done and get caught up on my blog, as well as just have personal, introverted time.  I feel like now that I have kids I cherish my alone time more than I ever have before.  I won't always just go home, but I can take my morning off to do whatever I want: go out to breakfast with a friend, go shopping by myself, run errands, or even just get things done at home.  It will be nice to have this built in time to look forward to every week.

Plus, I knew that Aedan was having a blast at Bennett's house.  They had a great time playing together and spent most of the time outside since it was such a beautiful morning.

Bennett's family is raising chickens in their backyard, and Andrea said Aedan loved the chickens.  Apparently he was shocked to see them when she first opened the door, but then he smiled and really liked watching them.  That is not surprising to me because he is really into animals right now.  He particularly likes dogs, calling them "dug-dug," but really, he likes anything that moves around.  He loves to watch animals and try to pet them or chase them.

After meeting back up at the TRI and picking up Samantha and Aedan, we went back home for lunch.  Leftovers did not sound appealing to anyone, and mac and cheese takes a little too long to make on preschool days when we get home later, so we settled on quesadillas with pinto beans.  Samantha and Aedan LOVE quesadillas and beans.  I actually gave Aedan his own plate to have on his tray (the first time I've ever done that), and he loved having full access to all his food.  He has been getting really good at scooping up his own food with a spoon, and most of the time will use his left hand.  It seems like that is more natural to him, and oftentimes if he picks up his spoon or fork with his right hand, he will transfer it back to his left hand.  We will see if this hand preference continues as he gets older.  If he is left-handed, that would be kind of ironic since his middle name is Arthur, named after Donna's father, Aedan's great-grandfather.  Donna is left-handed, and I think I remember hearing that Arthur probably would have been left-handed too, if they would have let people use a "different" hand back then.  Anyways, they both devoured their lunch that day, and Aedan loved being able to dip his quesadilla in some sour cream.  (He only tried to eat the sour cream with his spoon a couple of times!)

Monday evening after dinner, Samantha and I went out to get our hair cut together.  We were both wanting to lighten up our hair by getting a few inches cut off.  Samantha's hair has been really tangled lately, and I hoped that shortening it some would help with that.  Plus, she will always ask if she can leave her hair down or just wear it in a headband, which really isn't an option when her hair is so long and thick.  She did a great job sitting still for the hair stylist and even got a sucker to eat when she was done and waiting for my hair cut to be done.  Here is my cute little girl and her new, shorter hair.  This picture was from a few days later, but you can compare it with the picture above to see how much she got cut off.  It's amazing to me that her curls always stick around!  I am always afraid every time we get her hair cut that the curls will be gone for good, but it seems that, at least for right now, they are here to stay.  And I think they look so good on her and suit her personality well.  So many moms comment to me on how great of hair Samantha has.  (I think she has the curly hair I always wanted when I was little.)  She is a beautiful girl, inside and out, curls or not, and I love her. :)

(Blog about August 18-24, 2015)

Last Week of Summer Fun, Aedan Gets Sick, and Samantha Starts Preschool

Samantha: 50 Months, Week 5

Aedan: 15 Months, Week 3 (Week 68)

Tuesday morning after Daddy went off to work, the kids and I decided to spend the morning at home just relaxing and taking it easy.  Samantha was pretty cranky on Monday, acting rather disrespectful when it was time to get ready for nap time.  She screamed, yelled, kicked, threw, and hit things.  I could tell she was tired from the weekend, needed to get caught up on her sleep and just have some downtime playing at home.  Like I've said before, I think she's more of an introvert than we think, and she needs some alone time after being around people for awhile so that she can regroup and re-energize herself.  The kids played at home, Aedan took a little morning nap, and I took advantage of our day at home to clean the house.

Then that evening after dinner Ben had his first softball game.  We decided to join him at the beginning so the kids could play on the playground and we could watch him play for a little while.  He had a game at 7:00 and at 9:00, so we drove separately so that I could just go home and put the kids to bed once we were done at the park.  Samantha sat on the bleachers and watched the game for awhile, cheering on her daddy.  Aedan enjoyed standing behind the fence right behind home plate so that he could watch the batters up close.

However, when it was time to go, Samantha had a meltdown.  She said she was going to say good-bye to Daddy, but then she disappeared.  I couldn't find her for awhile, looked around, and then finally found her sitting on the bleachers watching a different softball game in an adjacent field.  Then, she just started crying and carrying on because she didn't want to leave, because she would miss Daddy, and because she wanted to stay with him, even though she knew ahead of time that he was going to stay later than we were.  You know, just all the excuses kids make up to delay doing something they don't want to do.  She said she had to go potty, so we stopped there on the way out, and she was trying to yell at me and hit me.  We didn't get home until past 8:00, and I got the kids to bed as quickly as I could.  I don't know if we will try to go watch games at the park anymore after our experience that night.  Sometimes with Samantha's meltdowns lately, it's hard to be out close to bedtime because she just gets so overtired.  I've been telling people lately that four is way worse than 2.  I remember Samantha throwing tantrums when we had to leave places and during transition times when she was 2, but nothing like she is doing now with kicking and hitting things (usually not people, which is a good thing at least), yelling and screaming, and just totally irrational behavior.  It seems like nothing we do will diffuse the situation, not talking calmly to her, not speaking sternly, not putting her in time out.  Sometimes all I know to do is let her be by herself for a little while so she can calm down and can't be anywhere near me to try and hit me and yell at me.  We hope that this is just a phase and that it will be over soon.  Plus, we hope that she doesn't exhibit this behavior when she starts preschool next week.

Since this was our last full week of "summer" before preschool and the fall routine starts back up next week, I tried to take advantage of time to go fun places with the kids.  On Wednesday we decided to go back to a place called the Highfield Discovery Garden.  We went there with some preschool friends and moms back in the spring and had a great time, but that was really before Aedan could walk independently, so I figured he would really enjoy it this time.  They had a little program about dragonflies that we listened to for awhile, but Aedan was fidgety and Samantha was getting bored, so we decided to just go out and play on the large treehouse.  Aedan loved tagging along with his sister, following her up the rock steps, running around the platform on the outside of the treehouse, and even climbing all the way up to the top (with me spotting him from behind of course).  Under the tree there are also tunnels to climb in as well as a pretend cave area with pretend bats hanging from the ceiling.  Aedan really liked that part the best.  He pointed at the bats and just laughed and giggled at their silly faces.

Samantha's favorite part was probably this climbing structure that you can see in the video below.  It had spiders as part of the outside as footholds to help you climb up, then the kids would scoot around the outside before sliding down into the inside.  At first Samantha was a little afraid and wanted me to help her and be there for her if she needed me.  However, after trying it once, she realized that it was fun and not dangerous, so she continued climbing up and sliding down over and over again as Aedan and I explored other areas of the treehouse.

I eventually convinced Samantha to leave the climbing structure so that we could show Aedan the trains.  They have a small train station where you can push buttons to make lights flash or the train whistle blow.  All kids love this area.  However, Aedan quickly figured out that Samantha was hogging the button that made the train noise and he wanted to do that as well.  He came around to the right side of Samantha to try to reach the button, but she didn't want to share and pushed him with her elbow, slamming his head into the wooden wall beside him.  Of course, that made him cry and was an unnecessary response to sharing with her little brother, so Samantha got a time out for her behavior.  She responded well to the time out and did much better at sharing the rest of our morning together.

Here is a video of Aedan climbing up some stone steps.  He loved exploring and walking around on his own, with freedom to discover in a place that was safe and created for kids.

Samantha and Aedan played in the little tea house for awhile together.  Aedan kept trying to climb in the chairs to sit down like the big kids were doing.

After that we wandered over to the watering area where they had a pump for the kids to use to fill up buckets so that they could water the varieties of flowers around the garden.  Samantha really enjoyed this part, watering some of the flowers so much that the pots were almost overflowing.  Aedan, of course, wanted to take his turn watering as well.  He wants to do anything his big sister is doing.  At first I wasn't sure about letting him carry the buckets of water because I knew he would just dump them all over himself, but then I thought, "Why does it matter if he gets wet?"  I let him have at it.  He copied the other kids by hanging his bucket from the handle on the spout of the water pump, and then I helped him pump it up and down.  He then carried the bucket over to some flowers and attempted to water them, but he didn't know how to pour the bucket away from him so that most of the water went on the flowers.  Instead, he poured it towards himself, still trying to water, getting some of it on the ground, but most of it on his shorts and shoes. :)

We stopped playing and ate lunch at the picnic area before having more fun in the garden.  We walked down a pathway that we had never been on before and passed by this adorable fairy garden.  There were so many fairies tucked away in various places around the walled area as well as small houses outside the walls as well.  Samantha and I enjoyed standing together and pointing out all the fairies we saw.

I wanted to get a picture of my two kiddos together, and Samantha was very eager to get a picture with Aedan as you can tell by her smile in this picture.  Aedan, on the other hand, was getting sleepy and ready for a nap, so he wasn't in the mood to smile for a picture.  I still think it's a pretty cute one anyways.

After playing for a little longer, I decided it was time to get back home for nap time.  Aedan fell asleep as soon as we started driving.  It was only half an hour's drive to get back home, so I convinced Samantha to stay awake and wait to nap once we got back home.  We had Meet the Teacher night for Samantha's preschool that night, and she needed to take a good nap.

That evening after dinner we got ready to head over to the TRI for Meet the Teacher night.  Even though she was going to have the same teachers as last year, Miss Betsy and Miss Becky, I knew she would want to go and see her classroom and see some of her friends, old and new.  She was so excited to see her teachers, and we even let the kids play on the TRI playground for a little while after spending some time in the classroom playing.  Samantha is SO excited and ready for a new year of preschool and is so excited for going 3 days a week now: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9-12.  She also knows that kindergarten is coming next and sometimes will tell people that in a few weeks she will be in kindergarten.  I think this little girl is going to LOVE going to school. :)

Ben planned to take the day off from working at campus on Thursday so that we could take one last family trip to the zoo for the summer.  It was going to be another nice weather day, warm and sunny, but not too hot.  I have SO enjoyed having this time together this summer, and I am sad to see it end.  It's nice having Daddy involved in our every day activities.  This has been the first summer where we've really been able to do this since Ben is officially a doctor now and can have a bit more relaxed working schedule.

Our first stop was the elephants.  It was a fun day to come to the zoo, as the weather was warm but not too hot, so many of the animals were moving and active, making them much more interesting to watch.  It was also fun seeing the zoo through Aedan's eyes because he is noticing so much more about the world around him and thought the animals were just fascinating.  We even got to see one elephant splashing his trunk into the water and lifting it up to his mouth for a drink.

From there we saw the giraffes, the flamingos, and then the lions with their lion cubs.  It's hard to see too clearly because of the glare on the glass, but you can see all the lions laying in the shade.

We got to see the painted dogs and the pups swimming in the water, which the kids really thought was interesting.  Aedan was in his stroller and kept pointing at the dogs saying, "Dug, dug!"

Samantha really enjoyed watching the crazy meerkats last time we were at the zoo; however, at that time they were all kept inside their house because they were doing repairs on their exhibit, making them all pop up in the same place.  This time out in the exhibit, it was hard to spot the meerkats as they were hiding underneath the ground most of the time.  Samantha still enjoyed climbing inside the tunnel though.

We decided to take a train ride before lunch, but the line for the ride took longer than we thought it would, and both kids were tired and getting hungry.  Aedan wasn't in the mood to be held in the line and not be walking around, so he got quite upset for some time.  The zoo staff did bring a special bird around for those waiting in line to see while waiting, so that helped a little.

And here we are on the train, ready for our ride.  Aedan decided he wanted to sit on the seat on his own like a big boy.  He actually held onto the railing like that for most of the ride and loved looking around as the train moved down along the track.

Samantha always enjoys the train as well, and I think her favorite part is when we get to the duck pond area.  She loves seeing ducks everywhere she looks!  (I know this is an aside, but I think Samantha looks so beautiful and grown-up in this picture below.  She has gotten so much taller and her features are changing from like a toddler to like a little girl.)

After the train ride, we stopped for lunch and a bathroom break before walking through the bird house.  Aedan really liked being able to walk through the bird house, rather than ride in the stroller, as it had plastic chains hanging down in the doorways in order to prevent birds from flying out.  He loved pointing out the birds that he sees around our house, so it was pretty great to see so many birds in one place.

Then, we went to the petting zoo, another one of Samantha's favorite places.  She loves to get a brush to brush the goats.  She also usually tries to feed them any straw that she finds on the ground.  We haven't taken Aedan into the goat petting area before, but we figured we'd let him try it this time.  He thought it was great!  He got to pet them and brush them right along with the big kids.  Here is a picture and some really cute videos of our time with the goats.

After the kids got their fill of brushing the goats, we made our way over to the carousel.  Aedan was getting pretty tired at this point, but we figured we'd do any of the things he might find interesting before buckling him in the stroller, leaning him back, and letting him take a little nap.

We then went around the manatee exhibit and Jungle Trails.  Aedan fell asleep quickly and slept for about an hour or so in the stroller.  We were glad he decided to just pass out and get some sleep.  He didn't fall asleep at all in the car on the way to the zoo like we hoped he would, so he was definitely getting pretty tired.  We just figured we'd stay at the zoo for as long as everyone was being respectful and having fun.

Samantha and I went into Insect World together while Ben stayed outside with Aedan, and that's when he woke up.  It's amazing to me how much Samantha likes bugs.  Sometimes she more interested in these little creatures than in the larger, more impressive animals.

We got to see the gorillas, too, but Aedan was more interested in just getting out of the stroller and walking around.  He was distracted by the waterfall and both kids played near this drain in the ground, putting leaves and sticks down the holes.

We had a great day at the zoo together as a family.  It was not very crowded, giving us plenty of space to walk around and get up close to the animals.  The kids were in good moods and enjoyed themselves.  I love that we are so close to such a great zoo.

Friday morning we had plans for the day: Ben was going to work on campus, I was going to go grocery shopping with the kids, and then I was going to go to Zumba class.  Aunt Christy, Uncle Matthew, and Brielle had plans to come visit us for the weekend.  However, everything changed when Aedan woke up with a fever of 102.4.  As soon as I got him from his crib, I could tell he was burning up.  We gave him some Tylenol, but he was a sad, lethargic little guy with very little appetite.  Before it was even time to give Aedan another dose of Tylenol at 4 hours, I could tell he was starting to feel hot again.  His temperature was high again at 103.7, and it was then that I decided to call the doctor to get him in for an appointment.  Especially with it being a Friday, we didn't want to mess around and then have things get worse.  Ben ended up staying home from campus that day, which was good considering we were now dealing with a sick little guy.  The only appointment they had was at 1:40 in the afternoon, so Daddy cuddled with him upstairs in the rocking chair while we waited to leave.  You can just tell by looking at Aedan's eyes in this picture that he doesn't feel well.  He was lethargic, crying a lot, and wanted to be held all the time.  He wasn't interested in food or even drinking much of anything, which is definitely unlike him.  He even fell right asleep in Daddy's arms with Samantha sitting right next to him.

At the doctor's office, they did a routine exam checking Aedan's lungs, heart, looking in his eyes, ears, and throat.  They wanted to rule out the possibility of an ear infection, so the nurse practitioner looked pretty carefully in his ears.  His left ear had a lot of earwax in it, so she had to use a special tool to clean it out so that she could get a good look in his ear canal.  Aedan did not enjoy that process and cried pretty hard.  However, there was no sign of an ear infection.  The nurse checked his throat and said it looked a little red, but nothing that would alert her to any particular virus or infection.  She advised that we continue giving him Tylenol and Motrin, whichever we would prefer, to help with his fever and any discomfort he might be experiencing, saying that he probably just had a virus of some kind that was causing his fever and we would just have to let it run its course.

After nap time that afternoon, Daddy and Samantha ran an errand to Meijer to get more Tylenol since we were running low, and also to stock up on Annie's mac and cheese since it was 10 for $10.  It got Samantha out of the house, and I had time to hang out with Aedan for awhile.  He did not have a great nap that afternoon, waking up crying quite a bit, and not sleeping as long as he normally would, so you could tell his fever and overall feeling of malaise was making it hard for him to sleep.

Despite being under the weather, after getting some more medicine in his system, he had energy to play for a little while after his nap.  I like this first picture because it shows how Aedan sits a lot, with his ankles crossed.  He sits this way on the floor and even when he's eating in his high chair.

Every time he would stack a ring onto the wooden poles, he would turn back toward me, smile, and clap.

Recently, Aedan has enjoyed playing with this ball bouncing toy.  Samantha got it when she was a baby but never really enjoyed playing with it much.  Aedan, however, is a big fan of anything that has balls, especially when they bounce and play music.  He also discovered how to put the balls down the ramp through the spinning dinosaur rather than just dropping them in the top, so he thought that was pretty neat as well.

On Friday night, Aedan had a really rough time sleeping.  He woke up many, many times, too many for us to even keep track of.  He still had a fever and was clearly not feeling well.  Ben and I took turns getting up with him, and we gave him either Tylenol or Motrin every three hours on a rotating basis in an attempt to keep his fever down and make him more comfortable.  However, at times he was just inconsolable.  He screamed and cried more than he ever has before, and I felt so bad for him.  It's so hard when your child is sick and there's really nothing you can do to help them.

Ben and I got very little sleep that night and were really tired when it was time to get up and do another day.  Aedan was super clingy and even when out of his bed, he would just not stop crying.  He didn't want anything to eat or drink, and I was getting worried about him.  In fact, there were a couple times when I held him as he cried, and I cried tears for him as well.  Also, when we tried to give him breakfast that morning, we gave him bland foods like milk and cut up banana, which is usually his favorite.  However, when he put the banana in his mouth and it touched the back of his throat, he started screaming, crying, and writhing in pain.  He acted like his throat was really hurting him, and I tried to look in his mouth, but he really wouldn't let me get a good look.  I had a hard time believing there wasn't anything more going on with how much worse he was acting compared to the day before.

Our pediatrician has ill visit appointments on Saturday mornings, so we decided to call and get Aedan back in to the doctor.  Ben took him while I stayed home with Samantha.  Aedan was able to get in with our regular doctor, Dr. Buerk, which I was glad about because I was hoping for more answers than what I got from the nurse practitioner the day before.  Dr. Buerk looked in Aedan's throat and knew right away that had a virus called herpangina due to the ulcers in the back of his throat.  This is a common childhood illness, probably caught from another child's saliva in a public place somewhere, and it is characterized by these ulcers and a high fever.  She said it would last anywhere from three to six days, but there is no antibiotic to take for it since it is just a virus.  She encouraged us to continue giving him Tylenol and Motrin, whichever we preferred, and she also told us to give him things like pudding, yogurt, or even ice cream to eat and lots of milk to drink.  His throat wouldn't tolerate much else, and those foods would be easy on his throat while also giving him extra calories while he is not eating as much food for a few days.  I was glad to have an answer of what what making my little man be in such pain, but it was difficult to think about it lasting up to another five days before he was back to his normal self.

Since we had a sick little boy on our hands, we took it easy the rest of the weekend, playing at home, and trying our hardest to keep Aedan's germs away from Samantha so that she wouldn't catch what he had, too.  She did a good job of letting us know when Aedan put a toy in his mouth so that we could take it and wash it with soapy water.  Then, at the end of every day, Ben and I went around and sprayed or wiped down other toys in order to prevent this terrible virus from spreading.

Aedan wasn't much interested in food on Saturday or even into Sunday morning.  He had a better night's sleep on Saturday night, which was nice for Ben and me.  He was asleep by 8:00 on Saturday night and slept until after 10:00 a.m on Sunday.  He only woke up once during the night where I just had to rock him back to sleep.  We gave him ibuprofen before putting him down to bed, but none in the middle night.  This was a welcome relief compared to Friday night when we were giving him medicine every three hours and trying to console a screaming child in lots of pain, trying to give him something to drink since he was so thirsty, and not knowing what to do to help him.

Ben offered to stay home with Aedan on Sunday morning so that I could take Samantha to church.  Aedan's fever was pretty much gone at that point, but he still was not acting like himself and he still had the sores in his throat.  He was very sad looking still and wanted lots of cuddles with his daddy.  It's nice to get extra cuddles, but it's not the best way to get them!

Sunday evening we convinced Aedan to try a little more food, and he got some chocolate pudding and vanilla ice cream for dinner.  Samantha was a little jealous of his dinner compared to hers, but we were all just so excited that he was finally eating some and getting some calories in his little body.  The doctor reassured us that he would be fine, even if he didn't eat much for a few days.  She said he wouldn't get dehydrated since he wasn't throwing up and didn't have diarrhea, which would expel water from his body.  However, our little man is usually such a good eater that it was strange to see him refusing food.  (One thing he learned during this whole weekend event was how to shake his head, "No," when he didn't want something.)

Sunday night we made a quick family trip down to Colerain so we could get Samantha soccer cleats, socks, and a ball.  Her first practice was coming up on Wednesday, and we needed those things to get her prepared.  We figured it would be good to give Aedan a change of scenery, too, as he had been confined to the house most of the weekend except for little bits of time playing outside.

Going into the week of August 17 was very exciting in the life of Samantha.  She started preschool on Monday morning and was SO excited about it.  She loves preschool, loves her teachers, loves her friends, and loves to learn new things.  There were many friends that carried over from last year's Tuesday/Thursday preschool class, plus a few others she knew from various Oxford activities or OBF.  Samantha never gets ready more willingly in the morning than on days she has preschool.  Here are some pictures of Samantha on her first day of her second year of preschool at the TRI.  I just love these pictures of her.  She looks so big.  I can't believe that a year from now we will be sending our little girl off to Kindergarten.  Time flies so quickly, and I will miss having my little girl with me every day, even though I know this will be a great experience for her and she will learn and grow in so many ways this year.

I love this picture of Samantha with her teachers, Miss Betsy on the left and Miss Becky on the right.  Samantha is just beaming from ear to ear.  You can tell she is so thrilled to be back at preschool.  (I love you my little girl.  You are so precious to me, and I know that you will have a wonderful year at preschool.)

Daddy was able to take Samantha to preschool for her first day since his classes don't start up for another week.  That gave Aedan and I a more relaxing morning together.  Originally, we had plans to start a babysitting swap with the mom of a boy in Samantha's preschool class named Matteo.  We got together for a few playdates last year, and the mom, Andrea, mentioned the idea of doing a babysitting swap, having Aedan go over to their house to play with Bennett one day, and then having Bennett over to our house to play another day.  Doing that would give the boys a chance to play since they are very close in age, and it would also give us moms time to ourselves to get things done without a toddler in tow or even just to relax in our homes without kids to entertain or watch.  We were going to start on the first day of preschool, but with Aedan being under the weather and possibly contagious for a few more days, we postponed our babysitting swap until the following week.

Monday morning for breakfast, I got Aedan to eat a chocolate pudding.  (We discovered that he would eat things better if they were cold rather than room temperature.)  After that, I figured I would try giving him a banana to see what he could handle eating.  You could tell he was excited to finally be eating his favorite breakfast food again, and he didn't eat as much as he usually does, but eating it didn't make him writhe in pain like it did on Saturday morning.  I took this as a sign that his throat was finally starting to feel a little bit better, and I was glad to see him with more energy.  That morning when I changed his diaper I noticed his little hip bones sticking out because he had hardly eaten anything in a few days.  Anyways, I was glad to see that with every new day my little man was getting better and better. :)

(Blog about August 11-17, 2015)