5 months

Mommy's cozy arms have been replaced by

Tickle Me Elmo

Fast asleep after Elmo wore her out

Watching the sunlight bounce around on her blanket

Scrunchy faced smile

So Big!

Just for comparison, Aidan at 5 months

Aubrey hit the 5 month marker on Thursday and we celebrated by doing....nothing. We got groceries and that was the only time we made it out of the house that day. The weather has been gorgeous, but the mosquitoes. OYE! They are vicious little bloodsuckers. They have even invaded the house, sneaking in every time we (quickly) open and close the door to let Roxie in/out. Both Aidan and Aubrey have bug bites galore and we haven't even played outside. We met Aidan's friend, Adelyn, at a new park with a little splash pad area on Friday. Lest anyone get malaria or West Nile, I doused the kids in bug spray/sunscreen. (yes, I know we don't have malaria in MN) Thankfully the park must have sprayed because once we got to the playground we didn't see any more mosquitoes.

Besides that short outing, we spent most of our time indoors this week. I was trying to enjoy each day since it was my last week before works starts again on Monday. As each day passed I got a little more nauseous, to the point where I could hardly eat dinner on Thursday night. It's not that I mind leaving Aidan and Aubrey; I know they are in Kyle's capable hands. It's the thought of facing little hooligans that spit and bite and kick and don't listen for the majority of the day. To top it off, my school didn't make AYP (annual yearly progress in accordance with NCLB) for the third year in a row. What does that mean? It means lots more work and many more meetings in addition to already stressful days. I'm already taking deep breaths to relieve stress just thinking about it. I'm glad I can drink wine this year. The upside of going back to work? Clothes shopping.

We're back from The Land of Lincoln (aka: IL, for those of you that don't know state nicknames) ;) The trip down and back were marginally better than the trip to Madison in July. Aubrey screamed a little less and slept a little more, which allowed me to keep my sanity. You get pretty good at tuning out the high-pitched, maximum-volume scream of a 5 month old. Aidan was, again, very well behaved. Sesame Street dvd's are the key to a happy 2 year old.

Our visit to Nana and Poppa's house was jam-packed with fun. We spent Friday in the pool, relaxing, and getting to know Baby Reese. She is a "fiery little redhead" as Poppa likes to say. I think Kali is going to have her hands full with that one. I can't wait to hear the stories when she's a teenager! Aubrey has also been nicknamed. She is now known as "Smiley". We were fortunate enough to see lots of friends and family on this trip, and every single person commented on what a happy baby Aubrey is. The word everyone used was "content". Aubrey is a content little baby (minus car rides) and I am thankful every day that she is not high-strung. I already have a whirlwind of a 2-year-old to deal with, I'm not sure my poor brain could take a baby that screamed and demanded attention 24/7.

Other highlights from the trip included the riding lawnmower, swimming, and Kali's baby shower. Aidan would have stayed on the riding lawnmower night and day if we had let him. We had to pry him off of it by saying it needed to take naps and go to sleep at night because it was so tired from all of the rides it had been giving him. He accepted that and let it take "naps", but when he thought it had "slept" enough, he wanted to get right back on it. My parents probably went through at least two tanks of gas giving Aidan rides around the yard and up and down the street. Poppa also bought Aidan a life jacket so he could show off his new swimming skills. Unfortunately, Aidan's attention span in the pool can be measured in nanoseconds. Aidan would swim for a little bit, then get out, and you guessed it, play on the lawnmower. Aubrey was a much better companion in the pool. She was happy to just sit in the little car and float around the pool. (and chew on its steering wheel)

Kali's baby shower was a success, which Aidan will attest to. He ate at least 10 brownies. I am not exaggerating. I gave him one, and he "snuck" the rest. I put that in quotations because my mom's friends were watching him do it and they thought it was hilarious. Thankfully he did not throw up or have a sore tummy. Kali and Reese got lots of great presents and now have a well-stocked library of fantastic books to read as Reese gets older.

We'll see Nana and Poppa again in a few weeks when they come up to stay with the kids while Kyle and I attend a wedding in northern Wisconsin. I have a busy week planned for us, as it's my last week of stay-at-home-mommyhood. Back to work on Monday. :( We got our new fridge today, I've got a massage and facial tomorrow, we have a play date on Thursday at the splash park, and I think we'll hit the zoo on Friday, not to mention the MN State Fair begins this week. When am I going to find time to gorge myself on all that delicious fair food? Maybe Saturday or Sunday?

Work

I had my first job when I was 14. Fifteen years later, I'm still hard at work, just getting paid more. I started a slow re-introduction to work yesterday by teaching the first part of an eight hour training session in my district. I must say, it felt nice. I love teaching, but because of my clientele during the school year, (kids with emotional and behavioral disorders) I get precious little time to do the "traditional" teaching of academics. Most of the time I'm just trying to teach them how to behave so they can sit in a class for 15 minutes without disrupting everyone. Teaching 25 interested and motivated adults was invigorating. So many of them came up to me when the session was over to tell me how useful the information was, that it was exactly what they'd hoped it would be. I wish my kids at school would say that!

The second half of the training is on Thursday morning, then the kids and I are headed down to Nana and Poppa's house for the weekend. Kali and Reese's baby shower is on Saturday, and Aidan has been counting the weeks until we go. "See Baby Reese, twoooooo weeks!" "See Nana and Poppa, onnnnne week." "See Kali and Reese, threeeee days, Tuesday, Wednesday, THURSDAY!" In case you couldn't tell by how I was writing, he drags out the time to convey his excitement. I'm not sure if he's more excited by the fact that we're going to see everyone, or that he gets to watch movies on the way down. He's been talking about both equally. :) I've mentally prepared myself for six hours of a screaming infant. I was proactive by scheduling a massage for the Wednesday after we get back. Just because I know the screaming is going to happen, doesn't mean I'm going to like it. My back is going to be all knotted up with tension and I'm going to want to scream. I'll just tell myself "deep breaths, deep breaths" and hope we can get there without me losing my mind. I'll let you know how that works...

The Name Game

A few weeks ago at swimming lessons, the instructor was going over pool/water safety tips. One that I hadn't thought of was teaching your child mommy and daddy's first names, in case they get lost and need to tell the lifeguard. I thought to myself, "Aidan's 2, he won't understand that we have first names, we're just "Mommy and Daddy". Then I got to thinking, with his impulsivity and lightning speed, it's probably not a bad idea to teach him our names.

I told him that mommy's first name was Courtney and Daddy's first name was Kyle. He thought it was hilarious! All week long he has been saying "Mommy's name Courtney, Daddy's name Kyle" and giggling his head off.

After putting him in his car seat and starting the car on Monday, I hear "Turn on the fan, Courtney." That's Mommy to you little mister! He's also been heard saying things like "Need to clean up, Kyle". It makes me laugh every time he uses our first names, which he does at really random time. I think he gets a kick out of it, too.

Daddy's shoes, a dinosaur sticker for using the potty, and a purple broom.
That's quite the outfit!

4 Months Old

4 month stats:
height: 25.8 inches...92nd %-ile
weight: 14 lbs 9 oz...66th %-ile
head: 16.5 inches...72nd %-ile


Aubrey's outfit comes to us courtesy of Grandma Michele, who has been saving it for decades. It was made by her grandma, which means Aubrey is wearing a dress made by her great-great-grandma. Pretty cool. Unfortunately I didn't have any sleeveless white shirts to put under it, so you'll see the pink top she was wearing popping through. I'm going to try to find a white top to put under it and take some more pictures.

We made our way back to the doctor's office this week for Aubrey's 4 month check-up. All is well with Aubrey, although she does not handle her shots as well as Aidan did. I don't remember Aidan ever having a reaction, and Aubrey has a red welt on each leg plus she had a low-grade fever the day after her shots. Nothing major, just enough to make her feel a little "off", which led to a screaming meltdown while Aidan and I were at swimming lessons. The instructor was nice enough to swim with Aidan while I went to the childcare area to calm Aubrey down. When I got back everyone commented on what a good job he had done while I was gone. Maybe the "no whining in the pool" talk before swim lessons had a positive effect.

Note to self: Remember to have the "no whining" talk again next week before swim lessons.