Monday Morning

The weekend was calm. And after a couple of chaotic weeks I was craving some calm. A girl can only take so much, ya know? Now that school is back and the weekdays are entirely spoken for, the weekend has once again risen to superstar status. Which simply means I actually know what day it is! 

After spending the last 6 years at home with the twins it is quite the transition to have them in school full time. Oscar complained again this morning about how LONG his school day is and I had no quick rebuttal to smooth it over. He's right. The day IS long. Which is just another reason for us to make the most of the weekends. 

Our weekend involved juggling, Micah's first flag football game, pizza night, hosting an all boy sleepover, a peach pie made by Maija, frozen yogurt with LaVrene, a trip to Game Stop for Finn, the idea that I might actually go to yoga (and even though I didn't at least it was a possibility) and movie night with Micah. Poor Ruari was promised a trip to the mall that never happened, so I totally owe her one night this week....

Remind me that as soon as this one wakes up I am going to cut his hair! 

Oscar had a rough morning on Saturday and had to be sent to his room to calm down. Naturally he wasn't very happy about this and I could hear him howling the whole way there from where I was changing loads in the laundry room. A little while later I was folding towels in the hallway when suddenly I heard Sidhe giggling from inside his room followed by the soft murmuring of their voices and additional giggles. It was perhaps my favorite moment from the entire weekend; hearing her laugh, listening to them play a game that I couldn't see.

There you have it, a quick weekend recap on this sunny Monday morning. I've got a savory scone, some chocolate milk and a cat to keep me company while the baby naps. As he left for work this morning Brendan said, "hey, have a good day, try to enjoy it. It's a pretty good life".....

He's right. I've been wallowing lately, feeling like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. We are dealing with some difficult stuff, some big stuff, but at the end of the day it is not the end of the world and it doesn't have to be so heavy. I don't have to carry it alone. We're incredibly blessed and we're doing the best we can. We're going to work it out, we're going to be just fine, even on days when we're in our pajamas by 5pm (cough, yesterday). 

359 Days Old

In less than one week Oisín is going to celebrate his first birthday. I can't believe how fast this first year has flown by and just how much he has changed in such a short amount of time. 

I've been slacking lately on the updates, so I thought I'd take a minute to just jot down a few notes about this little guy and who he is right now because I know he's just going to keep trucking right along and will be totally different once again a year from now, heck, even a month from now!

So, Oisín at 11+ months:

*Has finally been night weaned and is adjusting really well. Last night he went to bed at 8pm and I didn't hear him until around 5:30am and even then he didn't cry or fuss just hung out in his little crib for a while until I went and got him at around 6am! 

*He sleeps in the living room (gasp!). Don't judge, it's just the way it is right now. He has a crib in our room and that is where he usually gets laid down at bedtime (and is where he takes all his naps) but every night I transfer him to his crib in the living room at around 9 or 10pm. We do have a craft room upstairs which will eventually have to be converted into an actual bedroom, but for now this is just what works for us. And you know what they say about that, right?

*He's a belly sleeper 110% and usually grumbles about bedtime and nap time, but doesn't complain for too long and quickly scrunches up onto his belly with his little butt in the air and settles right in to sleep. Despite me buying him a variety of sleep lovies, soft bunnies, plush blankies, etc, he has no interest in any of them and has not attached to an object in any way. Baby Beluga is his favorite song. He takes two naps a day, the morning nap is his long one and now with the other kids in school it is my window of opportunity during the day to carve out some space for myself.

*He isn't much of a cuddle bug. I'm lucky he's still nursing so I get plenty of chances to snuggle him while he nurses, but otherwise he's on the go.

*There are 16 teeth in his little mouth now. SIXTEEN. Enough said.

*While I was very slow to start with solids, we are way past that tentative stage. He is pretty much offered anything that we are eating and has a very healthy appetite.

*It's breast milk or water around here for him and he still has trouble with his cup (probably because I don't offer it enough?) I just found out he loves drinking from a straw.

*Words of choice are only "Dog" (daw) and "MaMa", everything else is conveyed with lots of enthusiastic pointing, gesturing and yelling followed by lots of smiling and giggling when he realizes he's gotten his point across. He can sign "more", but it's rather begrudgingly. 

*No walking yet, he can stand unassisted and walk with the Little Tikes grocery cart, but is just not the slightest bit interested in trying it solo. I'm totally fine with this!

*Instead he speed crawls everywhere. It is the cutest thing to hear, the thwack-thwacking of his knees and hands as he pitter patters around the house, especially in speed mode.

*He just started giving kisses. And sticks his lower lip out quite intentionally before leaning in to plant one on ya.

*ADORES his older brothers and sisters, every single one of them. He seriously thinks they are the coolest ever. Even cooler than the cat. Although sometimes Saoirse wants to hug him a little bit too much and he gets sort of nervous about this. She loves him, but I think it has been hard on her to relinquish her role as the baby of the family. Not too hard though and luckily she has the twins just ahead of her who she is always trying to catch up with.

*Hmmmmm, what else? His hair is turning light light brown. He loves being outside and usually asks to go outside before he even has breakfast. He's wild in the bath but hates getting his hair washed. If you accidentally leave the bathroom door open he can tell from 2 rooms away and makes a beeline. He loves to stand next to the tub and push all the shampoo bottles over the edge. Still in cloth diapers. Still just as adorable as ever. Still loved more and more each day.

I can't wait to bake this little boy a big birthday cake and continue to watch him grow and learn and shine!

Wordless Wednesday One Day Late

I love this little lady more than I could ever tell you.

No More Tears

 Here we are midway through the third week of school and it's already starting to feel sort of "normal". Saoirse hasn't cried once this week and so I took the opportunity to get a few pictures of her in the classroom this morning.

 I'm pretty sure it's safe to say she is adjusting quite well.



Which is a tremendous relief for us both as I no longer have to second guess my decision to transfer her which allows me free time to obsess about other things, but at least I can let go of some of that good old fashioned mom guilt in the process.



Nuala and Oscar are also settling into the school year and have a beautiful room and amazing teachers.

 

And after three years with Miss Ellie and the incredible staff at Children's Workshop (pictured below, spring 2013) I am so happy/relieved/delighted/thrilled beyond belief that Highland is turning out to be a wonderful fit for our family. Miss Ellie set the bar incredibly high.

As I'm sure you can imagine we've had kids in school now for over a decade and have learned a lot over the years. Some lessons have been glaringly obvious while others have been learned the hard way. We have kids attending 6 different schools this year and they all come with their strengths and their weaknesses. And even though I've got a decade under my belt I'm still learning as we go, which is actually a good thing, right?

This one promised me a full blown photo shoot to showcase her lovely new do, which the whole world is absolutely head over heels with,  but for now a quick sneak peek will have to suffice. It was raining on us this morning when I took this shot and spiky short hair is no friend of the rain! Seriously though, who is this young lady? The universe knew what it was doing when it shared her with me and with the rest of the world. She's pretty amazing.

Night Weaning

The baby was up a million trillion bajillion times last night. Seriously, a GAZILLION times.

I decided last week that I was ready to night wean him. He's still been nursing two, three, maybe four times a night for a while now and I'm tired. I'm ready to sleep again.

Even though we are coming up on his first birthday (what the heck?!) I didn't use that as a guideline, like "Oh look, you're one now, awwww shucks, no more midnight milk for you....". No, it's just one of those things that happens naturally when you as a parent are finally ready to make a change. I assure you he would have been perfectly happy to keep nursing through the night for as long as I kept serving.

And that first night was torture, he was so sad when I simply patted his back at 3am instead of getting him out of the crib. Sad and a little bit angry. And it must be a little confusing because when I finally relent by 5am (that's the earliest we're back in business) it's still dark out and so in his little mind he can't decipher any difference between 3am and 5am since they both look exactly the same from where he lays his head, from where he rises.

Still, I'm hopeful that he'll just naturally fall into a longer sleep cycle now that there is no incentive to wake up multiple times a night and I'm just waiting patiently during the transition because I know a decent night of sleep is right around the corner. I can practically taste it.

Saoirse got a haircut this weekend and you guys, it is so flipping cute. I need to take a picture of the back which is all short and wedgie and messy and adorable. She keeps walking around telling Finn he doesn't even recognize her and he keeps asking her who she is. It is the sweetest dialogue you could ever wish to overhear. He is just wonderful.

And here I sit with my pumpkin latte (totally breaking the rules like a rebel) on a chilly Monday morning, looking through yet another batch of summer photos thinking about how tomorrow I need to make actual plans that do not involve being lazy all morning.

I might need some sleep, some decent sleep, before that can actually happen. Crossing my fingers.