Things I want to remember

Things I want to remember about this holiday season:

• M wearing his Santa hat to school every day for two weeks 
• M asking me to put a straw in Santa's milk so he wouldn't get any on his beard. And to make sure I left enough Nanaimo bars for Santa, his mother (yes M thinks Mrs. Clause is Santa's mom) and the elves. 
• D waking up at 4am on Christmas morning saying he was "so anxious" he couldn't sleep. Thankfully I managed to talk back into bed and he woke again at 6:30.
• Coming downstairs on Christmas morning to M jumping up and down (literally) while yelling "I am so excited, I am so excited!"
• D2 happily watching his brothers open present after present and smiling the whole time.
• M staring in wonder at the present he wanted but had forgotten to put on his list to Santa. How did he know?
• The love I feel for my family, my wonderful family of 5. We are so blessed to have each other. I love every moment we spend together. But this time of year it allows me to sit back and appreciate how lucky we are.

His day

Its his day. One year ago today I was snuggled in bed with my 18-hour old baby boy. Today he is one. This year has flow by in a blink. I tried to savour today. It was a quiet low key day. His party isn't until Sunday. We spend the day playing, snuggling, even napping together. But all of a sudden the day is done. Its bed time and I am overcome with emotion. Its going too fast, he is growing up. Each day, I love watching him grow, but I also feel melancholy for the loss of my baby, my boy.

D2, you are my last baby. I love your smiles and your determination. The way you grunt to us and we know exactly what you want. How you recline in my arms when you are ready to nurse. I want our baby days to continue. Don't be in a rush to grow up my little boy, and I won't rush you. I promise.

Yo, I'm still here

It has been months since I have written. Not that I didn't want to. I figure it's time for an update and I have 15 minutes till M's bus arrives. Here goes:

D2 had a nasty double ear infection. He started a fever on a Monday and by Thursday it was still going strong. We finally got in to see the doc on Saturday morning and he confirmed the ear infection and prescribed antibiotics. We started them on Saturday afternoon. By Sunday aft the fever was gone but D2 was covered in a rash. Not a super bad one but a rash non the less. A visit to the doc on Monday confirmed a possible reaction to the antibiotics (the rash wasn't bad enough to confirm a full on reaction). He was changed to a different kind and we went on our merry way. The next day the rash was gone and two days later D2 was back to his happy self.

I love D2's sitter. Thank you Karen for hooking me up with her. She is amazing. He went there twice last week and is going every day this week. I will be keeping him home with me for the last two weeks of my leave, and then its full on starting Jan 3rd. He is adjusting to her much faster than I (and she) thought he would. Yesterday he had his moments, but overall he ate, slept and played happily. He didn't even cry when I picked him up. It is such a relief!

M in is SK this year. We have him in Early French Immersion. We feel he is doing well, coming home and telling us the french words for things, counting in french. But it appears he isn't so keen to share his knowledge at school. The teacher says he refuses to participate to the point where she is concerned she can't assess his progress. I tried to bribe him to participate by promising him a new video game and he told me he has enough video games thanks! Hopefully he will come around soon.

D is having his own issues at school. We are going to begin the process of getting him assessed. I think he needs some expert help to figure out how to approach learning. The traditional model just isn't working for him. I am looking forward to getting the assessment going and moving forward. I know it will do a lot for D's self esteem. This year has been hard on him (and in turn on us).

That's all for now, time to go to the bus stop. I will give you some updates on myself soon. Take Care!