Settling in

We are all settling into the new routine. It still seems very busy but it is manageable and so far things are running smoothly. Hats off to those of you that do this 5 days a week.

Work is going really well. I still haven’t got over the novelty of having 8 hours to myself. Having to concentrate on something is actually enjoyable and then getting paid is a bonus. Going into the office that first week was pretty tiring. I picked a great week to start with company massage day and company lunch falling on the days I was in. Sitting in a massage chair at work gave me plenty of time to reflect on just how different life is in downtown Toronto. One day a week is definitely enough for me. Last week I hit company bagel breakfast day. I forgot how enjoyable eating is when you’re at work. Again, I’m glad I’m at home away from temptation for most of the week!

All three girls are adjusting really well to daycare. I have worked everything so that the girls still go to preschool 3 days a week. Claire is there 3 full days and from all reports is happy, but not eating or napping much. Nothing shocking there although it is nice to have someone who understands my frustration. There are 2 other little girls there part time who are around Claire’s age which is really nice.

Emma and Leah are doing well. They are growing up before our eyes and ready for school. We are probably going to keep them in preschool this summer just to keep things smooth for September. Emma has been quite defiant lately and she can be a challenge. She’s picked up some nasty habits like flat out refusing to do things and saying she won’t when you press her, sticking her tongue out at us, and the topper - saying na na na na boo boo. Man it’s grating. We are on top of it but it is very challenging to not lose my temper sometimes. It’s also nice to see that she can push my buttons when I thought no one would ever reach Leah status. Leah is happy go lucky these days. She is still highly emotional but now she just says she’s upset, or frustrated, or sad. She’s on top of all her emotions and she keeps us all informed. It’s hard not to laugh when she says things like “This is terrible. I’m upset at you.” Thankfully her happy times are just as intense.

They are fighting more these days like friends rather than siblings and I suspect some of it is stuff they pick up from school. One of them saying that they are bigger can send the other into a state of disaster or start them screaming that no, they are bigger. Again it is grating. They are also very kind to each other and Claire. They genuinely do things now to make the other one happy like sharing clothes. Even Leah gives up her favourite things and lets Emma borrow them.

Emma’s dress and hair obsession has reached a new high. Every day she tries to weasle her way into a dress. It kills me. I don’t understand how she doesn’t see that she looks way cuter in jeans and a sweatshirt. For the most part we are indulging her but I am going to have to start being more selective about what makes its way into her closet. Sorry Emma - you outgrew all the dresses…

We are now fully entrenched in the Disney vault and their imaginations have been captivated. They are always role playing and making up stories. Claire is always included either as Lucifer from Cinderella or Flounder from The Little Mermaid. I’m pretty sure she actually responds to both names. The old Disney movies are interesting. It amazes me how a movie like Bambi, which is mostly music, ever captivated children. It is a pretty telling sign of how far thngs have progressed (or maybe regressed). Yeah, not a big fan of Disney. Oh I almost forgot, the girls now want to go to Cinderella’s castle. They’ve told me it’s in Florida near Granny and Grandpa’s house. Maybe in a few years.

Until next time,
Evil Stepmother

 

Claire - 15 months

Hair:
Getting longer at the back. Now that we are outside in the sun you can really see the red still.

Teeth:
She added two top molars this month. Now when she smiles you notice the gum spaces rather than the teeth.

Sleep:
We are still making progress. We are consistently at one bottle in the night now and we had three consecutive nights of no bottles which was exciting. The bottle warmer we were using broke over Easter so she now gets cold milk. She drinks much less now.

We had no 2 hour night parties this month which was really nice. She is consistently getting up before 7 now but that makes getting her fed and ready more relaxing in the mornings.

She had three weeks of not having to drive her sisters to school and she napped much better. Without sisters she would nap after lunch. She is still an extremely light napper which causes me all sorts of frustration with Leah and Emma and trying to make them be quiet.

Getting Around:
She can now bend down with ease and is much more balanced. She likes to dance and walk around in circles. She also likes to run away when she knows it’s time to get her shoes or coat on. We have spent some time outside over the past week and I think it’s going to be a challenging summer. The backyard is not level and I think it will take awhile for her to master the slopes that all end in the fence. She definitely can’t roam free yet.

Yesterday she managed to get on the couch for the first time. She stood right up and started jumping on the back. I think her sisters had a breakthrough moment about Claire doing stuff she sees them doing and why I tell them to knock it off. She also likes stairs and the few times I have tested her she has turned around and tried to go down on her stomach (an improvement from just walking down them…).

Things she’s saying:
A week with just Claire and we realized how much she can actually say. And it’s not like the girls talk for her, She’s just so involved in keeping up with them that she doesn’t have time to talk. She’s also started saying NOOO NOOO NOOO when she’s upset and tonight she said NO MOMMY NO NO NO MOMMY when I put her in the stroller to leave the park. She can also say cookie, thank you (dank q), shoe, cheese and nose. She will repeat the first few letters of the alphabet if you sing them to her one by one.

Eating:
She is doing really well this month. She has her favourites (bread, cheese, yogurt, sweet potatoes) but she is more and more willing to try new things. She eats up fruit no problem which is nice. Some days she does really well and some days she throws everything on the floor.

I am trying really hard to get her on a cup but she refuses to drink out of a straw cup. She can get the milk/water into her mouth but then she lets it dribble out of her mouth rather than drinking it. She has one of those nuby straw cups and she does a little better with that one. Standard sippy cups also get dribbled. She’s being a monkey. I haven’t pushed too hard since I knew I was going back to work. We will have to get tougher soon.

Stats:
She had her shots yesterday. She was just over 21lbs and just over 29inches. She really enjoyed the waiting room and danced and went around the room smiling at everyone. As soon as we were in the room she started screaming and then she turned it up a notch for the doctor and then went crazy when she got the needles. She recovered though. Leah and Emma were with us getting a preview of what’s in store for them at 4 years. There’s been a lot of talk about needles this week.

Fun things she’s doing this month
-actively colouring which involves taking the lids off the marker, scribbling, giggling at herself,and putting the lid back on and choosing a new marker
-stealing the keys and trying to get the key in the door
-trying her best to open the basement door (she’s tall enough now)
-talking on the phone rather than just trying to press all the buttons
-Silly smile. I have to get this on video. She scunches up her face in a silly smile and you can’t help but laugh.
-Trying to dress herself.
-putting John’s gloves on
-putting our shoes on
-bringing me stuff from the drawer

Personality:
She’s still pretty easy going although we do see her temper now and then. She’s done well so far at adjusting to being in someone else’s care 3 days a week but we’re only 2 days in so we’ll see how she does this month. She is a funny little girl and she has a good sense of humour if that is possible at 15 months. She’s just silly and funny and she definitely knows it.

She had a week without her sisters this month and I think they missed her more than she missed them. She was much more needy to us that week. When they came home she squealed and let them hug and kiss her and it was pretty cute.

That’s all I can think of. I have to take some pictures!

I almost forgot - Claire’s 15 month day was extra special because our friends Coby and Carrie’s son Spencer was born. Those Lamarche boys better not be trouble in 15 years

 

Back to work

On April 16th it will be 4 years since I was taken off work to incubate. I had 7 weeks to myself and then my new job began. It has been the most challenging job I have ever had. I’m not sure I was truly meant to be a stay at home mom but I wanted the best for them and when the girls were preemies, and Claire was an infant, that was me. My idea of what it was all about was not at all what it turned out to be…and I knew it wasn’t all donuts and Oprah. I have reached levels of frustration I never thought possible before I had three little ones. I have dreamed about quitting and getting a day job but then I’d come back to reality and realize we weren’t ready and that my ‘work’ was finally paying off in ways I could actually see and believe for myself.

I was also lacking on ideas on what I wanted to do when I went back to work which didn’t help. I have no desire to do what I used to do. I just don’t think it would work with our family. I needed a job I could do from home or close to home and I wanted to work part time, be home at a decent time and most of all not mess up the girls’ lives because I couldn’t hack staying at home with them. Pretty big dreams.

So back in January I started a part time technical writing course. I figured it could be a career that could work for me with my experience. The plan was for me to do the course over the next year and then look for a job that met as much of my criteria as possible. And then a job fell in my lap, with all my criteria. I would be stupid to turn it down.

I start tomorrow. It’s three days a week and very flexible. I will work from home 2 days and go into Toronto on the third. The girls are going to go to the neighbour (who I have been watching watch kids for nearly 3 years now). On the days I work at home I will continue to take Leah and Emma to preschool. The other two days a week I will be home with them.

I am really excited about this. I feel a bit guilty about how excited about it I am but then I think that this will make me a better parent. I need a break and I truly believe all three of them will be fine without me - particularly because home care allows them to stay together. If I didn’t believe that I wouldn’t do it. John’s parents are here this week so I can focus on my first week and not worry about how the girls are adjusting. The true test starts next week.

 I have a whole different perspective going back into the working world - particularly since my job will have to end when I’m back on mom duty. I really hope I like it.

 

14 months, 20 days

Claire didn’t eat in the night last night. First time she’s done that since birth! She did wake up once in the night but I managed to settle her. She was restless after 6am but I wouldn’t give in to being tired and we got up and she had toast and fruit.

It’s progress but I’m not silly enough to think it’s going to be the end of waking up in the night for food.

From the pictures you can probably tell we spent Easter in Windsor at John’s parents. John, Claire and I left on Sunday. Leah and Emmaspent the week with Nana and Papa and will be back in time for school this afternoon. We’ve talked to them everyday on the phone and they definitely do not miss us. They’ve had a packed social calendar with lots of visiting, a trip to a restaurant geared towards kids and tea parties, and Grandparents that played along with their 10th birthday and made them a cake!

Back in Oakville things have been very peaceful. John took Wednesday off and we ploughed through some list items. Claire has been really enjoyable. People keep on asking me if she misses her sisters…while I think she’ll be thrilled to see them, I don’t think she is missing them all that much. She has been following us around a lot more. It’s been nice to have a week with just her.

 

The month in pictures…

March Break Snow storm (we can see grass now!)

St Patrick’s Day

Emma is all about making silly faces when she sees the camera.

Blowing (and catching) kisses

Closing their eyes and waiting for the egg hunt to start.

Silly faced family

The beloved Jeff and Stevie

Buds

Claire on Bert

Easter bath

Trying out their flowergirl dresses. Yes, they were all over this.

Bunny Claire

Bunny Emma

Bunny Leah

Claire trying out Leah’s bed

 

Claire - 14 months

Late as usual.

Hair:
Getting longer. Still pretty straight. Not as red.

Teeth:
No more.

Eating:
She spent most of her 13th month sick so the eating was pretty dismal. We thought we’d reached a new low when she’d only drink milk and eat bread. Then she got the flu and went off absolutely everything for a few days. She definitely lost weight - just not in her cheeks!

Sleeping:
She had a hard time sleeping with her cold and then she had a hard time sleeping through the dry heaving. It was a rough month on the sleep front but it settled down near the end. She started going longer at night and we had the first of one bottle nights.

She is going to bed after 7 and sleeping in her crib (in our room) until we go into bed. She is a ridiculously light sleeper and she wakes up most nights when we come to bed. When she was taking 2 bottles she would take one at around 11 and then another around 4. She then settled in to going back to sleep without milk and getting her bottle at around 1am. We had a couple more up for 2 hours in the middle of the night stupidity which makes us both very hesitant to even attempt to try and get her to sleep without milk. It is encouraging that she is making progress.

She gets up around 7am. Usually she wakes up (with the rest of us) when her sisters hop out of bed and come looking for someone to get them breakfast and turn on the tv.

Napping is still inconsistent. She usually only naps for about 1 hour a day. She was not so good at napping in the car.

Getting around:
This month she started walking. She hardly ever crawls anymore and she is getting quicker by the day. She also loves climbing - especially the stools we have for the girls in the bathroom. Her favourite is getting up at the counter, finding a toothbrush and brushing her teeth (yes, it is no mystery to me how the flu spread like wildfire around our house).

I am finding her walking the hardest adjustment we’ve had yet. The girls were 17 and 18 months before they walked and they knew how to listen. Claire does not listen and she could care less if you walk off without her. Combine that with her stubborn nature and we’ve had a few screeches of anger when she’s been picked up. Picking up the girls from school is much more challenging now wich Claire in tow.

Fun things she’s doing:
-running away giggling when you come after her
-waving her finger and saying no no no no
-sticking her tongue in and out over and over again and giggling
-finding stuff we ask her to get
-pointing to things she remembers in her book
-playing more with Emma and Leah as an actual participant
-refusing to drink out of a straw cup/nuby cup/sippy cup
-kissing and hugging us
-colouring and drawing when I let her. She can get the lids off the crayola markers no problem.
-throwing a ball
-getting everyone’s shoes from the front door and putting them on
-helping me get her dressed by giving me her arms etc. Trying to put clothes on herself (socks/shirts).
-she’s added a couple new dance moves now that she can walk
-riding the ride on toys/fillnig up the shopping cart (we have another hoarder…)

Personality:
She continues to be very easy going. She adapts well to new situations and new people. She is happiest when there are other kids around.

She is still very stubborn and we have seen her temper when we take stuff away. She can do the going limp and screaming thing and I just gently put her on the floor and walk away. She is also very persistent and will do things over and over again even though you tell her to knock it off.

She’s still very sweet and a big Mom suck which is nice for me. She has perfected MOMMY as well as the whiny tone. I can start to see what it’s goign to be like once she really gets in on the action with her sisters. We will be busy!

 

The internet barf curse

I’m almost scared to write about this.

 It’s been a long week. After my last post Claire barfed some more…and then some more. By morning she was laying in bed (beside John who was now puking) staring at the ceiling. I called the doctor and took her in just to be sure. He checked her for all the awful things that could be wrong with her and said as long as I could get her to perk up and drink she’d be fine.

Slowly throughout the week everyone recovered. Leah was back at school on Wednesday and Claire was able to go into nursery on Thursday. Call me a bad mother but I enjoyed having two hours off from her. She’s learned how to really hug with this illness and has also turned the MAAAAMMMMMMMIIIII calling up a notch.

I admit we let out guard down. I was out last night and when I walked in the door John was running up the stairs and I could hear Claire crying through the monitor. I took my coat off and got upstairs just in time for her to Stand by Me barf in John’s face. Poor thing although John has a really hard time with vomit and I did start laughing at one point because he had a chunk in his eyebrow. As payback, Claire proceeded to overflow her diaper on me. I should just get a biohazard sticker for our front door.

She started dryheaving about 15 mins later and I thought for sure she was taking another turn but she fell asleep and stayed that way for 5 hours. She woke up fine and has been fine all day. We were full of dread in the night. We dropped the 3 of them off with Drew and Jen yesterday and went to the movies. On the way home (4:30pm) Emma fell asleep. She did not wake up and we put her to bed. She got up at 7am this morning. I thought for sure she was going to start throwing up again but she’d fine.

So there’s our week. It was great. I will always remember it.

 

Barfarama

So for the first time in a long time I was sick all by myself. Yesterday I threw up, slept, and threw up some more. I pretended I was better so John could go to basketball and then passed out again the minute he came home.

I woke up this morning feeling 75% better and had time to wash my face before Claire’s stomach emptied on our bed. She had a rough day and threw up (dry heaved) every 30 mins until 3:30pm. I got a bottle into her at 5 and was thinking we were in the clear until she threw up again at 8pm. She is sleeping now but I have decided to hold off on showering until morning because I don’t think she’s done.

Claire was not the first to puke in our bed. This all started late last week when Emma walked into our room, said she didn’t feel well and barfed all over our duvet. She rallied the next day but then spent the better part of Saturday asleep.

Leah was on a downhill spiral yesterday and I kept her home from preschool today. She’s puked twice so far. She can’t seem to work out getting to the toilet which is unfortunate. On the plus side, John now knows we own a mini carpet cleaner!

On a side note it is very interesting bringing only one of your children to school and saying the other one most likely has the flu and won’t be attending today. Emma had a great time without Leah and told her all about her day. Leah told her how she’d thrown up and how it had been yellow…her favourite colour!

Hopefully the worst is behind us now and that for John’s sake this is a girl thing.

 

…and she’s up

Sometime after 5pm last night Claire decided she wanted to walk. For 2 hours she walked, fell down, got back up again, and walked some more. She even kept on walking when I got the camera out. Here is what all the video looks like from my previous attempts to catch her in action…

 

You can tell by the next video that she’s no rookie at this walking thing. Her arms are down - I think she was just too stubborn to be caught on video doing the wobbly arms up monster walk.

 I got the date wrong in the video. I am so tired. Claire is sick and all three girls have been getting up ridiculously early. Kathleen was up for the weekend and Emma and Leah got a kick out of having their very own teacher. Yesterday was the first ever Family Day holiday so thankfully this week is a short one for John.

And here’s one of Emma making her laugh…

 

Claire - 13 months

I need to go back and see how long I did this with the girls. All things need to be equal even though I am fed up writing updates.

Hair:
Getting longer at the back. Mullet material for sure.

Teeth:
She got two molars on the bottom this month. They caused her some pain and gave her a nasty rash on her bum.

Eating:
Slowly getting better. She’s added cheese to one of her favourites. Bread is the ultimate and she would eat it all day long. She likes trying out the snacks at Costco.

She also really likes something (like corn) one day and the next day she throws it on the floor in disgust. She is very methodical about putting stuff on the floor and once she starts there is nothing you can do to convince her that everything doesn’t belong on the floor.

I am still giving her formula since I don’t think she eats enough other stuff to be well balanced quite yet. She gets about 1/2 formula, 1/2 homo milk. We give her straw cups/sippy cups/nuby straw cups but she’s not all that interested in drinking unless it’s in a bottle.

I take back the eating delayed comment - we’ll just call it stubborn now. I mean she eats her meals with her sisters…what was I expecting?

Sleeping:
Right after her first birthday my mom and I put our second crib up in our room. For the most part Claire lets you know when she wakes up but she was getting quick and it was inevitable that she fall out of the bed.

So she adjusted fine to spending the first part of her night in her crib. She still falls asleep in my arms (oh well…there’s only one of her) but she doesn’t suffer from the “nice try thinking you can sneakily put me in my crib asleep” freakouts anymore and goes in no problem. She usually wakes a couple of times for her soother and then when she’s hungry. Yes, I know at 13 months she shouldn’t be hungry but she won’t eat enough during the day so she’s up at least once in the night for food. I try and settle her as much as I can but you just know when you are creeping into milk or no milk I’m going to be up for 2 hours territory. That is not a happy time and we try to avoid it. So I would say for half the month she had 1 bottle and for the other half two. The progress is slow.

Napping is still all over the place. We have stuff at all different times throughout the week so it really depends on the day. Napping can be rough for tag along Claire.

Things she’s saying:
She continues to chat away. She likes looking at pictures and always points and says baby then smiles because she’s so proud of herself. She’s started saying cat (Emma and Leah’s first word) and she says it just like they used to. She says Ahhh boooo alot but I have yet to figure out what it means.

Getting around:
No, Claire is not walking. She can walk though but (I’m not kidding) she gets down on her knees everytime we get out the camera. The other day I was sitting at the kitchen table and all of a sudden she walked from the tv room into the living room. She walks in between furniture and along the wall but she doesn’t want to walk full time.

Her balance is getting very good and she’s very careful (and determined). She can get in and out of our shower and she is constantly trying to climb up the stools the girls use in the bathroom to reach the sink. She is pretty steady.

Fun things she’s doing this month:
-pointing at things and talking away about what she’s pointing at. She can get pretty animated.
-when she finds something soft she lays down and pretends to sleep then looks up at you and giggles. She can do this one over and over again.
-Opening the freezer and the bottom of the stove and taking stuff out.
-Opening the drawers that aren’t magnet locked
-putting her legs up so I can slide a diaper under her, putting her legs out so I can put her tights on, putting her arms out when I put her coat on (and her chin up when I zip it)
-crawling to the door and saying bye to John every morning
-when you read her a book she will crawl up in your lap and plunk her bum down

Personality:
Nothing new. She got bit this month in nursery and it didn’t phase her. She’s really easy going unless she’s tired. She is getting harder to deal with when she’s tired and she can get pretty grumpy.

We are also starting to see some temper when you take stuff away from her. Apparently she hasn’t figured out it doesn’t work in our house!

I just read Emma and Leah’s 13 month update and Claire is a bit like both her sisters. John was out tonight and at bedtime I was telling the girls they had to be good for me so I could get Claire to settle. Somehow we started talking about how it was when they were both the same age as Claire. Emma thought it was really funny to think about having 2 babies like Claire - she started thinking about feeding them and trying to get them to bed etc. It was a funny conversation.

Some kid tried to eat me

Up to no good.