Justification for calling Daddy

We heard Maddie calling a while after she had gone to bed, "Daddy, daaadeeeee..." So Ken went up to her room. I heard them going to the bathroom. A little while later Ken came back down laughing. She had said to him, "My bladder said 'I'm going to fill up and wake Maddie up and she will have to call Daddy.' I was sleeping but then my bladder was yelling in my ear."

A wee confession...

I have something I need to get off my chest. I confess that every day Maddie says or does something completely adorable, amazing, funny, intelligent...and I always say I will write it down and 90% of the time I don't. This makes me sad. She is growing up way too fast and I want to remember all these precious moments of her childhood. I am making an early New Year's resolution to keep a better "Maddie Moments" journal from this day forward. Oh and it goes without saying of course that I will do the same for Isaac!

Just a quick little update

We are all doing well. Thankfully we are now healthy. I ended up getting a random fever just for a day about a week and a half ago, but after that there have been no more health issues. And I really hope and pray it stays that way for a long while! Isaac is giving us a good night here and there to keep us happy and to give us hope. And of course he is smiling, babbling and being extremely cute. Hahaha! They sure know how to wrap themselves around our fingers! Maddie is amazing. It's so awesome to let yourself get lost in her world, it really is a fun place. Of course, sometimes I have to yank her back to reality! Supper time has really become quite the ordeal, but we have managed to come up with some creative solutions. Instead of her leaving the table to play in the living room, we now play at the table. I-Spy and other fun guessing games have become favorites. I am really looking forward to the Holidays, Maddie is very excited about Christmas! Next weekend we will decorate and put up our tree. Then we have a Santa visit, cookies to make, cards to send out and lots of cheer to spread around. It's pretty incredible that 2009 is nearing an end. But there's still lots of it left to enjoy!

Why it's all worth it...

We have been having a tough time lately. Me and Ken are tired. Tired is an understatement. We are exhausted. Isaac's sleep has taken a turn for the worst and it is spiralling out of control! I am pretty sure he is going through a growth spurt again, which is fine, but he has added to the mix some behavioural antics which are making putting him down to sleep impossible. He resists sleep even though he is exhausted, he kicks his little legs like crazy, refuses his soother, won't let me rock him or nurse him. So what can I do!? Then he starts crying like crazy. Then I go through all the above things again to just find something that works! He will eventually let me nurse him or rock him with his soother and he will eventually (sometimes after an hour or more!) go to sleep. Oh my. I am just so tired and being tired and dealing with a difficult non-sleeping baby makes for a not so patient mommy. But I am determined to help things make a turn for the best. Tonight I nursed him until he was full and then I put him in his crib and stayed there comforting him, stroking his head, rubbing his belly, popping his soother back in..all while he fussed and cried. Eventually he got so tired that he took the soother and started to drift off. He kept opening his eyes to check if I was still there and finally after about an hour he went to sleep. I know that by overstimulating him by trying everything in the book to settle him we were making it worse. He just wants to sleep and just needs help in realizing he can do it and that he wants to do it. I will continue, of course, to be there for him and comfort him, after all he is just a baby. But there is a time and a place for everything and waking up to eat and then not wanting to go back to sleep at 4am is a no-go in this house! Ahhh...in all honesty I had forgotten the dirty details of baby-sleep from Maddie's days as an infant. But it is all worth it. Just looking at what a beautiful little girl she's turned into makes me pull through and realize that these early life moments are so formative and important for little kiddos. This is the time when they create and form bonds and trust with their caregivers. And tonight Maddie melted my heart and reminded me why it's all worth it. We were talking about the new movie "The Blind Side" and Ken said something about the guy not having a home and not having a bed to sleep in. She looked quite shocked and asked why. I explained that some people don't have homes, don't have enough money to have a house or buy food...Then she turned to me and said, "Mommy, we can give them our money." We have never really talked about this with her, so for her to make that statement really shows she is such a caring little girl. Moments like that make you feel so proud as a parent. To heck with a few months of sleep deprivation, it will all be a romanticized baby memory in a few years time.

Unexpected visitor

In spite of my somewhat over the top hand washing and sanitizing, H1N1 came to visit. I got pretty sick on Sunday night, with a fever, the chills, body aches and a pretty bad cough. I isolated myself at night in Isaac's empty bedroom (he is sleeping in his crib in our room), on the tiniest of air mattresses to ride it out and hoped for the best. Luckily, Maddie and Isaac seemed to only get a cough, which is good. I still have a lingering couch, which is annoying me, but no longer contagious. Thank goodness, because I have the worst case of cabin fever! Today we finally ventured out. I took the kids to the grocery store (oh fun!) and then we came home to unload and then went right back out for a nice walk. Maddie came up with some pretty cute comments while at Superstore. When she saw all the Christmas stuff out, she said, "Christmas stuff already!" I must have said something like this the other day and she remembered and copied me! Then she helped me put everything we needed in the cart. She would ask, "What else do we need?" So I would show her and she insisted of getting off the shelf and putting it in the cart without help. And of course she wanted all the toys out on display. I told her we would have to make a list for Santa....I hate to think that the innocence of Maddie when it comes to gifts and Christmas may be about to change. But we are definitely going to continue our tradition of simple, uncomplicated Christmases, where it's about family time and not just about presents.

Well, I guess now I can say I survived the swine flu. All that hubbub around the vaccination and well, now I don't think we need it. I think it's way too weird that we had to get sick right when the vaccination clinics started. Interesting timing. Although I am sure if I tell my doc I am foregoing the shot he will still insist on us getting it. Well, vaccines are pretty ineffective for young children anyways so I don't see the point anymore and plus, we've already been exposed and have the real deal antibodies to this virus. Now I just hope we stay flu free for the rest of the winter!

One year ago...

One year ago today was the day I found out I was pregnant with our little Isaac. I can't believe a year has gone by already! I still remember that day like it was yesterday...one of the happiest days in my life. It's funny, I also remember the day I found out I was pregnant with Maddie very clearly. Just like the days they were born, those two dates will forever be in my memory because it was the point in our lives that we knew everything would be different and more wonderful!

H1N1

I have to admit that over the last few weeks I have been thinking a lot about the H1N1 virus. It's in the media, people are talking about it, and I read about it every day on the Internet and the forums I meander. It doesn't help that you hear about more and more people getting sick with it every day. Normally I don't worry too much about the flu. It is something that comes around every winter and unfortunately people get sick...us included. We got so sick last March that I still haven't forgotten how awful it was. Maddie ended up in the emerg, dehydrated and so lethargic it was scary to see her so limp. No mother wants to see her kids sick like that. I remember thinking I would have much rather she be running around driving me crazy, than just laying on the sofa and bed all day without energy to even take a drink. But, as much as the flu is a given with every winter, H1N1 has me a tad bit more worried. Especially when you hear about kids getting severely sick and sometimes dying. At the same time I'm hearing all this stuff about the vaccine and how it might not be 'safe'. And I'm also hearing about moms against vaccinating, for various reasons...mostly about the question of vaccine safety, that it's just another virus and/or our bodies are able to fight it if we practice a healthy lifestyle. As much as I also believe that our diet and lifestyle can have a huge impact on our health...something about this virus seems scary. Yes, it might just be another virus, but unlike chickenpox or some other 'well known' viruses which do not really change over time (or change very slowly), it is considered a flu virus, that means it has the potential and most likely will mutate quickly and potentially get worse. So, I'm faced with the decision of whether or not to vaccinate myself and my kiddos (well Maddie for now and Isaac when he's 6 months). I've also thought about the regular flu shot. Which unfortunately has fallen off people's radar, but it's still an important consideration. When you think about it though, both the regular flu and H1N1 vaccines are made the same way. The flu shot is made every year with the virus that's going around for that particular year, so really, this H1N1 vaccine was made just as quickly and in the same way as the other flu vaccines. Still, I can see why people, me included, might be a bit hesitant about it (I'm usually hesitant about the regular flu shot too!). But for now I'm 80% leaning towards vaccination...the rest of me is susceptible to those doubts about the vaccines safety and effectiveness...Oh, decisions, decisions...