Aedan: 38 Months, Week 1
Getting back home from a two and a half week vacation was definitely a transition for everyone in the family. I think we were all more tired out than we thought we were, not realizing our fatigue until we were home and not running around all day. Since we had just gotten back on Monday night, we spent Tuesday, which also happened to be the 4th of July, getting more settled, putting clothes away (which were clean, thankfully, after doing our laundry in Upland), and going grocery shopping since we had no food to eat in the house. However, I was not feeling great. My stomach was really bothering me, causing me to use the bathroom much more than I would have liked. It didn't seem to be something anyone else was dealing with, so I assumed to picked up a stomach bug somehow, or that it could just be another one of those bothersome pregnancy symptoms. Also, it was becoming harder for me to sleep comfortably and as a result, my back was hurting more during the day.
Aedan was definitely tired and needing to catch up on sleep. We had Samantha nap that afternoon so that we would have the option of taking her to see the fireworks that night. However, we decided that it wouldn't be good to keep Aedan out that late, especially since the fireworks don't start until about 10:15 up here since it stays light out so late. Plus, it seemed like Aedan was starting to develop the same stomach bug I had, so we thought it was best that he and I just went home to get to bed and rest. Our little town puts on a 4th of July parade down the main street downtown. We went last year, and even though it was much different from 4th of July parades we've been to in the past, the kids liked it because they could catch candy that was thrown from the floats. Here we are at the parade, waiting for it to start, singing songs to pass the time, and eagerly awaiting candy to be thrown.
After doing sparklers, we went back in the house so I could start getting Aedan ready for bed, and then Daddy and Samantha left to go to the fireworks. We figured she was old enough to be able to handle it. They shoot the fireworks off over the river separating the United States and Canada. This is a small enough town that it is never too difficult to find a good seat. The fireworks didn't start until about 10:15, and I could hear them and see the tops of them from our back porch. Our puppy, Izzy, didn't seem to be upset by the noise too much, which was good. We didn't know how she would react. Our old dog, Roscoe, always had a hard time on the 4th of July, mostly because of the flashing lights of the fireworks. Aedan took quite a while falling asleep that night, but it still was much earlier than what would have happened if he had stayed out for the fireworks as well. We were all still recovering and adjusting to a new normal after vacation, and catching up on sleep was a priority.
Especially since Aedan was doing such a good job going potty while we were on vacation, we definitely wanted to transition to underwear pretty soon and call him officially potty trained. However, it seemed that Aedan caught the stomach bug from me, and I didn't think that would be fair to take his diapers away when he couldn't control himself when he needed to go. We decided there was no reason to push it, so we were going to wait until his stomach issue was resolved. However, with how well he had been doing, I thought he would be fairly easy to potty train, especially since he already recognized the feeling before he needed to go and was able to hold it until he got to a potty. He was really excited about wearing big boy underwear, and we even took him to the store to let him pick some new underwear. He choose Spiderman and Super Hero designs, and he couldn't wait to get them all out and look at them when we got home.
While we were gone our neighbor offered to water our flowers and hydrangea bush for us. We didn't want it to die while we were gone, and I was excited to see what it looked like when we returned. It had gotten so much bigger and had these beautiful blooms on it. I love hydrangeas, and it's so fun having our own house that we can gradually make our own. The front is really taking shape as far as planting and weeding goes. Now, we need to work more on the back yard, clean up some of the weeds and maybe even use the little garden area sectioned off by wood to plant a vegetable garden next summer. I don't know much about gardening, but it's fun to learn, and it's fun to watch the fruit of your labor grow.
Jen
Since we really had been gone most of the summer, we decided to take advantage of the summer concert in the park on Wednesday night. We brought our lawn chairs and sat in the back, near the sidewalk, so the kids could get up and dance whenever they wanted to without bothering or knocking into the people around them. It was a classic rock band, so not exactly the most exciting music to them, but we hadn't been to the concerts in the park yet this year, and they love just going to hang out, play, and dance.
Samantha did not have tee-ball on Tuesday night because it was the 4th of July, so she was really looking forward to Thursday night. They were having pictures taken, and it was also a game. Samantha and I got to the field a little early so we could get her a team shirt and hat, and also figure out what picture package we wanted to order. She ended up on the Angels with a red t-shirt and hat. Samantha did a great job playing that evening. Ben helped out coaching some and trying to organize the chaos of little kids running around the field and batting. For each inning, they let each player have a turn at bat until they hit the ball, then they just moved around one base at a time, running all the way home once it was the last batter. There were some kids that didn't seem very into it that would just sit down in the field and ask when the game was going to be over, and then others that were very into it and wanted to be in the pitcher's position every time because they got the ball hit to them most often. Samantha put her best effort into it, had a great attitude, did a really great job, and she was enjoying herself, which is all we could ask for in her first experience playing tee-ball. Here are some pictures and videos from her first game that evening.
We hadn't done too much since arriving back home. We were getting things done around the house, Ben went back to work on campus, and the kids were just enjoying playing together at home. However, I wanted to do some things with the kids, take them someplace fun to get out of the house, like either a playground or the Point Iroquois Lighthouse. However, they just didn't seem to want to go anywhere on Friday morning. They were being a little whiny and cranky, so we just stayed home. I got some things done around the house, like taking clothes that no longer fit Aedan out of his closet and packing them in a bin, but I felt sad and took it way too personally that the kids didn't want to go anywhere with me. It was a bit difficult getting back into life here, the kids getting used to just having each other, and having them learn how to feel bored and entertain themselves again. While on vacation there was always someone to talk to or play with, but now that we are back home and have things to do around the house, we can't always sit and play with them. However, it was also difficult for me to not just fall back into feeling lonely again. Sometimes I enjoy vacation just so I can be surrounded by people as well; it's not just the kids and me all the time. Being with the kids great, don't get me wrong, I love that I can stay home with them, but I was just reminded again that we are still in a new town where we don't quite know anyone, don't have many connections, and are still trying to get acquainted with in some ways.
One thing we wanted to do over the summer was get the kids more comfortable riding their bikes: Aedan riding faster and more confidently on his bike with training wheels that he got for his birthday, and Samantha working on riding without training wheels. So on Friday night we went to the parking lot near our house with the kids to give them a wide open space to practice. After fixing a few kinks with Samantha's handle bars being crooked and raising her seat some, the kids were doing a pretty good job. Aedan was going pretty fast up and down the parking lot, finally realizing how much fast he can go than on his tricycle. Ben was walking with Samantha to help her balance on her bike, since it's a bit difficult for me to do that with my growing tummy. She has some problem with not leaning to one side or the other, and as she is with any new thing, she feels very nervous which then makes it difficult for her to just try it and go for it. I know there are a lot of kids her age who can ride a bike without training wheels, so I want to encourage her to try it without being too pushy and turning her off from it. She has never been as confident when trying new physical skills, so we worked on it for just a little while that evening. There were a few seconds where Ben was able to let go and Samantha would pedal off on her own for awhile. It's definitely something we will keep working on as the summer progresses.
Aedan's tummy issues seemed to have resolved as well, so we decided to start doing our "official" potty training on Saturday morning. He was very excited, and he even wanted to pick out his underwear for the next morning. We planned on loosely following the three day method that we used with Samantha as well, but we would not try to go without the pull-ups at nap time or bed time, although really most times he is dry anyways, so we probably could have have gotten rid of those as well. We figured we would wait for success during the day, and then follow a similar routine as we did with Samantha where once he stays dry for two weeks in a row, we will get rid of the pull-ups for nap time and same thing for bed time. With Samantha, she was only two and she was not as far along as Aedan is with training already. Aedan was already so good at telling us when he had to go potty, so we expected that part of the training to be easier than with Samantha because her training was more about recognizing that feeling and getting to the potty on time. Here is Aedan on Saturday morning wearing big boy underwear for the first time. He was so excited and proud!
We spent the morning hanging out at home, letting Aedan get used to wearing underwear, and just spending time together. At one point Samantha and Aedan were downstairs playing, and Samantha was working hard on this picture. The only thing I helped her with was spelling the word Liberty. She is pretty obsessed with Gus Grissom and the Liberty Bell 7. She knows the story well, as you can tell in this picture, and she loves learning about space. In fact, we got a whole bunch of books at the library this past week about space and astronauts. While Aedan was busy playing with the trains and toys, Samantha was just sitting at a table reading her space books. Not just flipping the pages and looking at the pictures, but actually reading the books "in her head" as she would say. She talks excitedly about working for NASA some day, not as an astronaut because that would be too dangerous, but as an engineer in some capacity to help people travel to different planets in space.
Aedan did really well with potty training that day. He only had one random accident all morning, and I think that was just because he got too busy playing with Samantha in her room and forgot that he was wearing underwear. He was standing at the foot of her bed and peed his pants, so we had to change his clothes, clean him off, and clean the carpet. However, compared to the multitude of accidents Samantha had on her first day of potty training, he was doing extremely well. We were proud of him and every time he went potty, the potty fairy would come to leave him a few Skittles for going pee and a Dum-Dum sucker for going poop. Like I said before, we put him in pull-ups when he sleeps, but he has stayed dry pretty much every morning lately. It was just like he decided to figure it out and start going in the potty, without much pressure from us.
That afternoon we decided to go over to Canada to go swimming in the community center pool. We thought that it was open in the evenings like it was during the school year, but it actually only had open swim from 1-3, which is not the best timing for us with Aedan napping. However, we decided to get lunch at Stackburger and go swimming anyways. The water at the pool is so nice and warm, and the kids were so excited to swim and play. They actually did better that afternoon than they did when we went in the evening and it was closer to bed time. Samantha and Daddy went down the slide over and over again. Aedan loved playing in the zero depth pool with all the toys, floating around on the rafts, and getting more and more comfortable in the water. He is taking after his sister and has very little fear of the water. We ended up swimming for over two hours, and the kids probably could have stayed even longer. However, we decided to head back home and ended up getting caught in some back-up on the bridge getting back into the United States.
Aedan ended up falling asleep in the car fifteen minutes before we got back home so we decided to just let him keep napping in the car until he woke up. It was in the lower 70s, I left the car door open, and I went back to check on him every five minutes or so. Samantha helped me out in the back yard to sweep up the patio area so that I could work on getting rid of the weeds that grew while we were gone. She was a huge help to me, and Aedan got a good nap in that afternoon.
Here are the kids sitting on the couch together watching a show together that afternoon. Izzy had to join them as well. Most of the time they love having her around, even though she likes to try and steal their snacks and Aedan's Happy Bear.
Samantha, in particular, has enjoyed Izzy a lot lately. She plays with her all the time, and Izzy loves the attention. It has been so fun to see the kids with Izzy, so different than our experience with Roscoe. They love her, and she loves them. In fact, they ask quite often if they will be able to keep her forever. Samantha will hug Izzy and say she is the best puppy ever.
Some of the best times are the simple moments. For example, after bath time Sunday night, the kids were sitting in Aedan's room in his glider chair, and Samantha was reading a space book to Aedan. He loves it when Sissy reads to him. We have two precious little kids.
Monday morning the kids and I did our weekly shopping trip together before my 30 week appointment. Ben stayed home to work so that he could stay with the kids while I went to my appointment. It was another short one where she told me my blood work for the glucose test came out good, and I was still right on track. In fact, the nurse told me that I had only gained nine pounds since my first appointment which made me feel happy. From here on out, most people say it is normal to gain about a pound a week, which would mean I'd only gain a total of 19 or 20 pounds during my whole pregnancy. With Samantha I gained about 40 pounds, and I can't remember exactly how much I gained with Aedan. I know it was less than Samantha, but definitely more than twenty pounds. I am not necessarily intending to keep my weight gain down, although I'm sure that will be better for me in the long run, especially when getting back to my pre-baby weight after this little guy is born. Having two kids already definitely keeps me busier this time around during pregnancy, which I'm sure makes a difference. Plus, I started off at a lower, healthier weight to begin with. Anyways, my appointment went well, everything is on track, and I go back again in two weeks. Time just keeps moving along, and this baby boy will be here before I know it. Ten weeks left!
Ben is a very sweet and thoughtful husband, and later that Monday afternoon he took Samantha to Meijer to grab a couple things and decided to let her pick out some flowers for me as well. She picked out beautiful flowers and was proud to show them to me when she got back home.
(Blog about July 4-10, 2017)
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