Three Sick Girls

Three girls: during less sick times...

I thought I was sleep deprived until this week..
I thought my girls were whiny until this week...

I had read recently about the Enterovirus D68 making it's way through the United States, causing mild to severe cold-like symptoms, and sometimes respiratory symptoms leading to an unusually high rate of hospitalizations amongst children. I didn't think much about the article until my three girls came down with a fever on the same day!  S1's woke up Monday morning with the sniffles. By Monday night she was febrile, and very tired! S2 woke up from her afternoon nap on Tuesday with hot cheeks and a temperature of 38.4. I remember thinking how fortunate it was that the baby was so well and energetic...until bedtime when she was excessively cranky and hot!

Thank goodness for antipyretics! By Friday morning they had all recovered.

I no longer think my girls are excessively whiny...
I now appreciate the interrupted sleep that I normally get.
But most of all, I am thankful that the girls did not need to be hospitalized!

the sick week

Sucking her thumb

In their new Hello Kitty clothes

All five of us had just barely gotten over our cold of the month when our oldest started tossing her cookies. It began Wednesday at 2am and continued for 10 hours. My husband attended to her while I stayed with the baby.

On Wednesday, my husband worked from home. I try to limit screen time to 1 to 2 hours per week for our toddler, but we made an exception, and allowed our toddler to play with her iPad for a few hours on Wednesday. She hung out with her Papa, and I headed out with the younger two. After a 4 hour nap on Wednesday afternoon, our toddler was almost like new. But I found myself very anxious. Would the rest if the family get sick? I actually felt nauseous at the thought...

My husband felt nauseous as well. In the early hours of Wednesday, he was by our daughter's side while she vomited over a dozen times. When he did manage to sleep, he dreamed of her vomiting!

As I write these words, the rest of the family has somehow managed to stay relatively healthy. I found out while at work on Saturday that #2 had vomited once the evening before, but had since shown little signs of illness other than a decreased appetite...

Where our toddler picked up the bug remains a mystery. Was it the money she put in her mouth before depositing it in her piggy bank? Possibly. Was it something she ate? Unlikely as her middle sister ate the same food. Was it a book she touched at the public library on Tuesday? Maybe.

I  suppose we will never know. The important thing is that they are feeling better, and the baby has shown no signs of illness...

A Reprieve From Chaos-Mondays

Since my husband headed back to work after his paternity leave, Mondays have been my most difficult days. He is home on the week-end, and my mother helps me all week except for Mondays.

Just before my husband returned to work, I considered hiring help on Mondays. How could I possibly handle three kids under age four on my own? But on the other hand, how would I find reliable help for one day a week... most professional nannies want full-time work. I thought of university students who are sometimes off one day a week, but would they have sufficient experience with young children?

In the end I decided to try it on my own to see how I fared. Somehow, I survived. I start off every Monday by reminding Baby #1 that I am all alone with three kids, and that I need her to be a "super good girl". Not only is she usually well-behaved, but I often hear her repeating my words while speaking to Baby #2: "I am all alone with you two, so you have to be a good girl." Between feeds, I place the baby in a front carrier, where she readily falls asleep. After breakfast, we head out to the park, returning just before lunch. At around 13h, I put Baby #2 down for a two hour nap... and it is smooth sailing after that. I suspect that things will get a little tougher as the outdoor temperature drops...

Thanksgiving Monday provided a reprieve as my husband was off work! We didn't do anything out of the ordinary, but the extra help was certainly appreciated. We took turns sleeping in, and after feeding the baby, I took the older girls to a nearby park. We enjoyed 20C weather, in mid October! The rest of the day was a blur, but it was certainly a nice break. I look forward to more holiday Mondays!

enjoying her activity mat

How we got our Toddler to Give up her Pacifier

I was not very proud of the fact that until recently, our 31/2 year old toddler still regularly used a pacifier. She was clearly addicted. She would wake up in the middle of the night because her pacifier had fallen out. She would suck on it between meals, and in fact was without her pacifier only when we removed it from her as punishment. We let her suck her pacifier mostly because the alternative was listening to her whining and begging for a pacifier...

Then an idea occurred to me. My husband and I had been talking about getting the girls bunk beds for some time. We had been eyeing a model from Ikea. It is a very low-lying bunk bed, so low that the lower mattress rests directly on the floor (so our 11/2 year old would not get injured falling off), and the upper bunk is not too high either.  We recently received an Ikea catalogue in the mail, and I showed our toddler the photo of the beds. I asked her if she wanted one. She replied "Yes!, I will sleep on top, and my sister can sleep on the bottom." I replied that it was a good idea, but that once we got the bunk bed, she would not be allowed a pacifier "because girls and boys that are old enough for a bunk bed are too old for a pacifier."  She thought it over, and decided that she still wanted a bunk bed...

And so it was that last week-end, I picked one up from our local Ikea, and my husband and I (but mostly my husband) put it together. Not only do both girls love their bunk beds, but our toddler has now gone almost a week without a pacifier. In fact, their first night in their bunk beds was the first night ever that they both slept through the night!

Final score: Parents 2-Kids 0!

Before: 2 side-by-side beds

After: space-saving bunk beds

Enjoying their bunks!

Papa Returns to Work

Sleepy Smily Baby!

In a few days, Papa will return to work. After having him at home for the entire month of August, it will feel strange.

We had gotten into a nice routine:

I would remain in bed in the morning with the baby, while my husband woke up early with the older girls. He would play with them, feed them breakfast, and then clean up. The baby and I would be up shortly thereafter. After a nursing session, and a quick bite of my own, I would head to a park with the older girls while Papa stayed home with the baby. 

We would return from the park in time for lunch. After lunch, I would hang out with the baby. My husband would put our middle daughter down for a 2 hour nap. Then he and our oldest would go for a swim, or out for a bike ride or a walk. 

After dinner, Papa would get the girls ready for bed while the baby and I hung out some more, mostly nursing. The older girls were usually asleep by 20:30. The baby would stay up until about 22h, after which she would wake up every three hours for more milk.

On the occasion that the older girls would wake up in the middle of the night, my husband would attempt to return them quickly to the land if nod.

And so our routine is coming to an end. Why must fathers be in such a rush to return to work after a new baby's arrival? The kids were rather enjoying being at home with two parents!

Last Mini-Vacation

A Quebec-wide holiday this last Monday provided us with one last opportunity to get away without the kids before Brat #3's arrival.  My husband and I dropped the girls off at Grandma's on Saturday morning, and we returned two days later. We decided to go to Ottawa, one of our favourite Canadian cities. We stayed at a very nice centrally-located hotel. We visited with some of my husband's extended family, and a few of our friends. But mostly, we:

-relaxed

-had conversations about anything and everything except for the kids

-took leisurely strolls

-read 

-shopped

-went out for breakfast, lunch and dinner

-went to a movie

We also tried to:

-sleep in

After over three years of not sleeping in, this was harder than it seemed. We both woke up a little after 7am...

And finally, we tried to sleep through the night. Although I think my husband managed this feat, with the third baby's head pressing on my bladder, I was up far more often than I had hoped.

Overall, it was nice to get away, and we tried to appreciate every moment. In all likelihood, we will not be taking any breaks from our soon-to-be three kids for a very long time...

Meanwhile, the girls had a great time with Grandma and their Montreal-based aunt. They played in Grandma's backyard, went to multiple parks, ate healthy home-made meals, and danced and sang songs daily. They enjoyed themselves so much that when we went to pick them up, I do not think they recognized us!

Swimming in Grandma's backyard!

Climbing Grandma's safety gate!

Yay Victoria Day!

Although not called Victoria Day in Quebec, this last Monday was nonetheless a holiday for both my husband and I. And the first day we both had off in a number of months. It had been so long that I had forgotten what it was like to:

-sleep in
-go out for breakfast
-simultaneously share parenting duties for an entire day

I had the pleasure of sleeping in until 8AM. Although that might not be considered "sleeping in" by most, everything is relative. And it is far better than 6AM!

Next, we headed to our favourite kid-friendly breakfast restaurant, Chez Cora. An hour later, with our bellies full, we headed home. Out baby and my husband then napped for a good hour, while my toddler and I enjoyed an hour of arts and crafts.

After a quick at-home lunch, we headed to Grandma's house. There, our daughters enjoyed the company of their aunt and grandmother as my husband and I went in search of a larger house. We visited two brand new houses in the suburbs, and I found myself hoping that we would soon sell our small condo!

My husband was playing tennis from 16-18h, and so the girls and I decided to hang out in a nearby park. After about an hour, my toddler insisted that we join papa in a game of tennis. We mostly stayed in an adjoining empty court, where the girls enjoyed playing their very own brand of tennis:

Our toddler taking a water break

Our ball girl

After their adventure-filled day, the girls slept soundly. Thus allowing their parents to do the same. Long live the Queen!

What my Toddler got me for Mother's Day

My toddler picked out some lovely flowers from the local farmer's market for Mother's Day:

Not quite understanding the concept of Mother's Day, she wished me a Happy Birthday. It was very sweet.

What I wished my toddler got me for Mother's Day:

-the opportunity to sleep in
-no whining for a day
-no cleaning for a day
-no meal preparation for the day

As it happened, my girls were particularly whiny on Mother's Day. My husband astutely pointed out: They are reminding you that you are a mother!

Sharing Rooms

Laughing about something

Playing with her remote controlled car

It proved to be a three day experiment. Initially, this was far more than I had expected...

A few weeks ago, I asked my husband why our now 12-month old was still sleeping in our room...After all, she had a comfortable crib set up in her sister's room...Surely far more comfortable than the play-yard in our room?

So we decided to try room-sharing. The tricky part was waiting for our toddler to fall asleep before placing the baby in her crib, as I was sure that our noisy toddler would wake the baby up.  The first three nights were very similar...Our baby fell asleep with her father in our room. About a half an hour later, our toddler was asleep, allowing us to place the baby in her crib. We had a few hours of peace...then the baby woke up.  My husband rocked her back to sleep, and placed her back in the crib. She woke up once more on average. Our toddler, surprisingly, slept through this. She too woke up about once a night, but quickly fell asleep without disturbing her sister.

After the third relatively successful night, our toddler developed a fever, which I attributed to her 1-year vaccines. And for one week, she was cranky and slept poorly, so we returned her to our room. We have yet to retry our experiment. I suspect it will take up to a week for both girls to adjust to the new living conditions.

My husband is currently in sunny California, attending a work-related conference (or so her says). Perhaps upon his return, we will give it another try...

3rd Year Goals

Sharing a seat with her sister

Feeding her sister

Unbeknownst to her, we had set out some goals for our toddler's third year. In fact, they were things that we were hoping would be accomplished by her third birthday.

Firstly, we were hoping she would stop drinking from her bottle. This was one goal that she readily accomplished on her own. One morning, when she was around 2 1/2 years old, she refused to drink milk from her bottle. I thought that perhaps she was coming down with something...In fact, she had suddenly decided that she had outgrown her baby bottle!

Secondly, and probably most importantly, we were hoping she would sleep through the night. For several months now, unless she is sick, she wakes up only once. Usually anytime between 3 and 6 in the morning. Thankfully, she goes right back to sleep, and wakes up for good anytime between 7 and 8.

Thirdly, we were hoping she would be potty trained. She had shown some interest at around 18 months, then lost interest for another year. For about six months now, she has consistently been using either the potty or the toilet over 95% of the time. Occasionally she will have accidents during the night, but this is usually after we have forgotten to have her empty her bladder before bed. And occasionally she would refuse to use the potty. One day not too long ago, our stubborn daughter retained her urine for 8 hours until finally relenting!

The other day, I realized to what extent she understood the concept of potty training. She was playing with her dolls. She placed one on a play potty, and told her: "I have a very special surprise for you. But first you have to do a pee in the potty."

Lastly, we were hoping that our toddler would give up her pacifier. This, I think, will prove to be the hardest goal to accomplish. Just prior to turing three, we told our daughter that when she turned three, she would not be able to use her soother, as she would be a big girl. She seemed to understand, exclaiming "I am not three" even after she had turned three. We attempted to remove her pacifier shortly after her birthday. She managed to fall asleep that night, but then woke up countless times, and would simply not go back to sleep. She was so loud that she woke her sister up. Finally, exhausted, we relented, and gave her the dreaded soother. The next morning, I would discover that she had her first ear infection...so perhaps not the best time for the experiment. We are planning on experimenting again very soon, or perhaps even going cold turkey...Then just today, something very interesting occurred. She had been playing with her Mickey Mouse Application on her iPad. She then brought me her soother, saying," I don't need a soother, Mickey Mouse does not have one." So perhaps there is hope after all...

Switching Roles

Ever since her gastro-intestinal virus a few months ago, our baby had been waking up frequently at night, and nursing to her heart's content. At first, I did not mind as she had lost almost 1kg. Then she doubled her weight...But joking aside, I was starting to get very tired. During our recent trip to Cambridge, her nighttime wake-ups became even more frequent, to the tune of every 1-2 hours! A few days after our return, when she showed no sign of letting up her frequent middle-of-the-night nursing sessions, I decided that something needed to be done...

I came up with the idea of switching roles with my husband. He had been putting our toddler to sleep for quite some time, and going to her during her infrequent wake-ups. But curiously, he slept through all of our baby's wake-ups, even though she sleeps in our room...

So this last week was an experiment of sorts...My husband put our baby to sleep with a bottle, and offered her the next bottle around 12 hours later. When she woke up in the middle of the night, he would rock her back to sleep. She protested only slightly the first night (a few seconds), but seemed to realize very quickly that he had no milk on his person. She looked over at me a few times, but quickly fell asleep. The following night, and every night thereafter, her wake-ups became less frequent, and shorter in duration.

Last night was day 7 of the experiment, and she slept 10 hours in a row! For the very first time in her young life...Why had we not done this earlier? Why had we not tried this with our first child, instead of waiting until she did it on her own at age 2!?

My husband keeps reminding me that it was only one night, but I remain hopeful...

Mealtime with Froggy and Monkey

Chocolate cake frosting

New Shared Room: Tour

The girls' shared room is finally ready...We had some difficulty deciding on our toddler's twin-sized bed. Our toddler moves a lot in her sleep, so an upholstered bed was one of the criteria. Additionally, I had been looking for a single bed that could easily transform into a double bed, eventually allowing our girls to sleep side-by-side, but also freeing up floor space during the day. In the end, I settled on an upholstered bed with an optional trundle by Monte, the same company that made our glider.

For the time being, the shared room is hypothetical. The baby still sleeps in our room. Our toddler currently wakes up on average once per night, whereas our baby girl will wake up two to three times per night. By placing them in the same room, we would be courting disaster. I have no doubt that they will wake each other up, thereby further reducing the amount of sleep their parents enjoy!

Toddler bed returns to crib

Toy storage

Glider with photo of baby above

Can't decide which bed she would rather jump on!

I was afraid she might hit her head against the dresser, but she sticks to the other side 

Monthly baby photos next to sound system

And the most important part...Hello Kitty!

Waking Up

In matching owl pyjamas

Our toddler spent the first two years of her life preventing her mother and father from sleeping. And now she seems to have transferred her intentions onto her sister. Anytime she notices her little sister nodding off, whether in the car or at home, she tries to wake her up. Sometimes she makes screeching sounds, and other times she commands her sister "wake up".  "What are you doing?" I sometimes ask her. "I waking up my sister", she points out the obvious.

I have tried explaining to her that when she was a baby, she too needed to nap often, and that I wouldn't let anyone wake her up. When that didn't work, I promised her that as soon as her sister was asleep, I would put her down in her crib, and give her (my toddler) my full attention. Neither did this phase her. I tried turning on her iPad, and opening up her favourite App...to no avail, as she quickly lost interest.

The other day, the baby was so exhausted that she fell asleep, despite her sister's loud protests. I was then able to put her down, and as promised, give my toddler my full attention. I tried to explain that in the future, we could play together more often without the baby if she let me put her to sleep. The next day proved that she had not learned her lesson.

I suppose the one good thing that might come of this is that the baby will become a heavy sleeper...

Almost crawling...

7 Months Old

meal time

Turned 7 months old on September 11th
Weighs 9 kg, only 3 kg less than her big sister
Dislikes diaper changes, and tries to get away
Eats three solid meals a day, and gets very messy in the process
Can move forward on all fours, but I wouldn't yet call it crawling
Has gotten really attached to her mommy, and dislikes it when she leaves the room
Takes three naps per day, between 30 and 90 minutes each
Sprouted two more teeth, for a total of four, and will gladly bite your finger
Still hasn't figured out how to sleep through the night...

5 Months Old!

First Solid Meal

Turned 5 months old this week
Can roll back-to-front and front-to-back
Two bottom central incisors appeared 1 week ago
Has already started biting her mama while nursing
Just started solids, and loves oat cereal mixed with breast milk
Mama fed her solids before 6 months of age because for a few weeks, she had been waking up more often to feed
Loves solids, but is still waking up every few hours to feed!

Using her sister's new highchair

4 months-old

Being carried by mama

Turned 4 months old on June 11
Weighs almost 8 kg
Laughs a lot
Rolled-over from back to front 2 weeks ago
Favourite activity is watching her big sister
Loves looking at her image in the mirror
Slept 8 hours in a row the night of June 11th
Now if only she could keep that up, her mother would be very appreciative!

Sliding!

Back to Work

My two babies!

I think that my children know that I am heading back to work this week. I start on Saturday, and I will be working week-ends for an entire year (with the exception of a few vacations).

Both my girls have been acting up lately. Our toddler decided that she was done with her "independent phase". She no longer wants to fall asleep on her own, and she has also seemingly grown more attached to me over the last two weeks. Her preferred word is "mama"; she says it over and over again...at all hours of the day.

As for our calm baby, teething has led to more daytime outbursts. She had been sleeping 5 to 7 consecutive hours at night for over a month. However, this week, on at least 3 occasions, she decided to wake up every 2 to 4n hours. Whether or not her teeth were a contributing factor, I am uncertain.

These are a few of my hypotheses:

1. Our toddler has, after 3 months, become jealous of her little sister. She is competing for our attention the only way she knows how.

2. Our baby's incoming teeth have made her cranky during the day, and led to less restful nights.

3. Our baby is experiencing another growth spurt (despite her enormous proportions) and is waking up more often to feed.

4. Both my daughters know that I am heading back to work, and are acting up in defiance!

If the latter holds true, hopefully once the first few shifts are over with, my daughters will realize that I am still with them the majority of the week...and perhaps there will be a return to normalcy!

3 Months Old

Turned 3 months old on May 11th
Weighs 7.06 kg (over 15 pounds)
Measures 63 cm in length
Wears 6-9 month clothing
Smiles a lot
Rarely cries
Doesn't require a pacifier
Slept 7 hours in a row two nights ago for the first time!
Her mother returns to work 2 days per week in one month...
Now if she would only drink from a bottle, she would be the perfect baby!

Terrific Twos

Trying on her sister's clothing

Most parents fear the manifestation of their toddler's assertiveness, otherwise known as the Terrible Twos. While our toddler certainly is not lacking in displays of assertiveness, the Twos have brought a lot of positive changes with them.

A case in point, sleep. Not only has she started to sleep through the night more often than not, but she has also started falling asleep on her own. She no longer wants to share our bed, and she actually shoos us away from her room around nap time and bedtime with an adorable, but adamant "go". Her independence could not have come at a better time!

Speech is another area of vast improvement. While she hasn't stopped making sounds and pointing to communicate her needs, her vocabulary has grown exponentially in the last few months.

If we had known her sister's arrival would have led to all these positive changes, we would have had her a lot earlier!

Looking pretty in a hand-crocheted sweater

Magic

First time painting

As a new parent, there are many "magical moments". I thought I had experienced them all with my first daughter. It would take a lot to impress me the second time around.

And then just like that, our 7-week old proffered a perfectly magical moment. She fell asleep while nursing, as she often does. While still asleep she started hiccoughing. After about a minute, she hiccoughed so loudly that she startled herself awake!

Smiling!