January 2010 Archives
Sarah refuses to admit she is sick. But she doesn't nap anymore and she doesn't leave fruit snacks un-eaten. Poor little girl. I feel especially bad for her because Henry is also sick and he is in the Baby Hawk a lot which means I can't hold her like she wants me to. At least Craig is back from gas-trials and can help in the evenings and Anna is finally starting to feel better.
I set Henry down on the floor near where Sarah is standing and he made his way all the way around the kitchen table going backwards (he is on the other side of the table there with Anna in the picture above)! I think he has started to realize his potential here because he never backed into a chair or a wall but made all the turns very nicely. We are definitely stepping up the fun-factor here soon! Yay Henry!
I ended up taking the kids in to the doctor this morning because Anna still has a fever, Sarah has it, and I think Henry's coming down with it (he sounds a little congested in his chest). Henry was supposed to go in this week for his six-month check-up but since he was sick they won't do his vaccinations until next week.
Here are the kids stats:
Anna (4 years 10 months)
-Height 108.4 cm (42.7 inches)
-Weight 17.3 kg (38.1 lbs)
Sarah (2 years almost 8 months)
-Height 92.7 cm (36.5 inches)
-Weight 14.4 kg (31.7 lbs)
Henry (6 months)
-Height 70.8 cm (27.9 inches)
-Weight 9.2 kg (20.3 lbs)
The girls were super-excited to get a box from Anita filled with Valentine's candy and these cute sweaters.
Anna & Sarah thought it was fun to have Henry join them at the little table for hippopotamus pie.
Sarah is starting to get sick now, too, so I can now just hope Henry & I don't get what Anna started! Craig should be home tomorrow though so at least I won't be on my own much longer.
Henry slept from 6:30 PM until 7:15 AM and the best part is that I went to bed at 9! I honestly don't think it will happen again soon but it sure was nice. The girls had given me many random nights like this by six months and this is the first time ever for Henry.
Henry especially likes his Eric Carle books.
Sarah's owl (I cut, she glued).
(I also cut Anna's pieces, at her request.)
I got in on the action, too, and did this butterfly.
The girls & I really enjoyed this project and I was so pleased with the results that I framed them and hung them up (mine will go into the trash soon). I drew each piece on tracing paper and then the girls laid the tracing paper cut-outs on the colored papers so I would know where to cut/which colors to use. Anna isn't feeling well today (slight fever & a cough) so this just about all we got accomplished today. Craig is on gas-trials until Wednesday so I hope Sarah, Henry, & I don't get it, too!
I found a cool art web site so I got the girls started today on some Eric Carle-inspired art. We'll see what they come up with tomorrow!
His hair is not at all red, I realize it looks like it might be in this picture. He is definitely blond!
Henry is six months old! He can suddenly sit for long stretches (I think 8 minutes is his current record). He is generally happy and loves to watch his sisters whenever they are in the room.
The only food that I can get him to eat so far is pumpkin-sweet potato. I don't think I'll be able to find that in the US so I hope he likes just plain US-style sweet potato, too! Not that solids have helped his night-sleep anyway so it's kind of feeling pointless to keep pushing it just now, maybe I'll wait another few weeks and try again (or maybe just wait until we get to Texas).
I can't seem to control this rash on his neck so I'll see if there is anything else we can do when I take him in this week for his vaccinations. I use the cream we got earlier this month maybe every 36 hours and it seems like that is too often/regular to be using hydrocortisone for me. I am looking forward to seeing how much he weighs when we go in!
Henry is moving backwards a lot. It doesn't seem very intentional yet but I don't remember even Sarah moving around the apartment like this at this age! He also moves around a ton in his crib which neither girl did. Things could get exciting around here really soon! I've already been reminding the girls to keep tiny things and things they don't want to get drooled on up off of the floor and out of Henry's reach.
We started our morning with a science experiment.
Sarah is measuring the fish with fish-crackers for a letter F activity (confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com)
Anna is working on graphs in her math workbook.
Sarah sorted my (small) button collection by color.
And then made a button rainbow (white on the ends for clouds)—I think I got this from confessionsofahomeschooler, too.
Sarah learned about the letters F & R this week.
Playing "minivan." Sarah is in the "way-back."
Now Sarah gets a turn driving with the cat-pillow steering wheel.
Note three separate drool streams coming down his chin.
His new fleece bib: let's see if it helps keep that rash away.
Henry tried oatmeal, applesauce, pumpkin, and avocado in the past week and didn't seem to care for any of it (he seemed like all of it the first time it was offered but not after that). Also since we started the solids he has started waking up an additional time to eat in the night. That wasn't how that was supposed to work! So, we're going to back off and try again in another week or two and see if we have more success with something else (sweet potato maybe?).
He has been a little fussy lately and I wonder if he's working on those first teeth (I don't see or feel anything there but he's not talking so it's my best guess).
Trying to get a paperclip out of the water without touching it.
Could she be more excited about this?
Sarah is always eying Anna's math book and today she wanted to get out her tracing book when Anna was working in her workbook.
They have been playing some pretty elaborate games lately. I think this involved a doctor's visit for the poor animals.
Sarah likes to sit at the table with Anna & me when we do her reading and math lessons. Sometimes she likes to color and other times she wants an "activity" to do. This week I decided to give her two days of learning about a letter (so I could have some focus when coming up with her activity!). We did H & S this week and she can now tell you what sounds those two letters make.
Our neighbors came back from Norway yesterday and we got to meet baby Gunvor for the first time. She is eight weeks and didn't seem that much shorter than Henry but she is light as a feather compared to him! Henry grabbed her shirt and held on tight. She doesn't move yet and Henry only rolls to the left (both front to back and back to front) so they can safely share a blanket for now as long as we put Henry more than one roll's distance away from her.
Every night I am still surprised when I look out and see the church in town still has their Christmas lights on. I made Anna nervous that one night we'll look out and they won't be on so she convinced Craig to go out in the cold and get this picture. The large glow toward the back & left is the shipyard.
The cream from the doctor was like a miracle cure for Henry's rash: two applications and the rash is gone! And now he's rolling from back to tummy and suddenly able to sit up for minutes at a time. He doesn't seem to like the oatmeal as much as we originally thought though; I'm not sure how much he has actually ingested. I might try giving him some pumpkin tomorrow to see if he likes that any more.
Henry is starting to push up on his arms already!
Henry has a rash on his neck and chin from constant drooling (I swear I thought Sarah was a drooler but that was only because I hadn't met Henry yet!) and it isn't going away with my attempts at treating it. Worried it would turn into a yeast infection, I took him in the pediatrician. He prescribed a cream that was part hydrocortisone and part clotrimizole and said it is not yeast. Here's hoping this cream does the trick!
We also decided to get Henry started on solids tonight because he seems like he is ready. He really seemed to like it!
Sarah is super into rhyming right now and loves to sing the "Name Game" song (Sarah Sarah bo-bera, banana-fana-fo fera...) and says stuff like, "I want to be in your arms your arms your barms."
Henry fell asleep on the way home from lunch with Craig and rather than wake him up to put him down for a nap I decided to take the girls to the Lotte Mart play area (45 minute drive). He woke up by the time we got there so it was all just as well that we were out and about. The girls, however, did not want to play in the play area as it was pretty busy with kids. So, we went to the Daiso section (Japanese discount store) and got a few little things then packed up and went home. The kids were all great at the store as they have been each time I've gone out with all three.
I took the girls to the play area at Home Plus today because it has been too cold to go to the playground with Henry. They had a lot of fun but only when it was them and two other girls who were pretty tame. Two little boys came and Anna & Sarah got a little less enthusiastic about being there. This is actually a place where I can drop them off and do my shopping if I want but based on today only they aren't quite ready for it (Sarah anyway). We might check out the D-Cube play area next week.
A house for more private reading with her friends.
Anna and Sarah have been on a coloring spree since November.
Anna wanted to sit with Henry on the couch and I really have no idea what Sarah was doing here (she wouldn't explain herself).
Today was our first day of school at home for this semester. OIS and Playschool don't start again until next week but I thought it would be best to just get going here to start and set some new routines. I started daily (Monday through Thursday) reading lessons with Anna last week and am adding daily math this week. We will also do a science experiment this week. Next week I might add something else or we might just keep it at those three things for now. I'm also reading chapter books to Anna at night (we're reading Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary now) and some longer fairy tales to the girls during the day. The girls are always coloring or drawing and Anna is always writing notes or stories.
The big thing is that I felt like I never saw Anna when she was going to OIS because she was gone five days per week from 8:30-2:45 and she is only four years old. She has learned a lot in Miss Susan's class and that made the decision difficult. What made it easier was that she still got super upset at drop-off and came home tired and grumpy after being at school all day. She also has not made a whole lot of social progress (she does not talk at school to her teacher or her friends) and I wonder if taking a semester off will allow her to forget that she had previously decided that she "doesn't talk at school." If we end up in Texas for the 2010-2011 school year I may also consider continuing homeschooling since that is also a full day for Kindergartners (this is billed as a positive thing).
I've dropped Sarah's enrollment at Playschool down to two days per week but will probably drop it down to one day or none at all. I think it will be hard to convince her to go when Anna is at home but I'd like them each to have something away from home for a few hours per week (Anna started ballet again today so she's going to that twice per week for one hour each time).
So far we've done our schoolwork when Henry goes down for his morning nap and it only takes ten or twenty minutes. Sarah listens in and colors or plays nearby during this time and sometimes I have a little something for her to do and sometimes not (one day this week I had her match pictures of the insides of fruits to the outsides of fruits while I worked with Anna on something else). I think it will be wonderful to spend more time with Anna at this age and to let her have more time to be a kid.
Craig took the girls on a tour of the shipyard today. No pictures allowed there but they liked seeing the massive ships and equipment there.
Sarah wanted her bag of books & animals on her lap when we got going. I convinced her to put it down on the floor and I would hand her things as she wanted them.
The car ferry coming in to the dock.
Henry in his convertible seat.
Henry & I joined Craig and the girls upstairs for a bit.
They loved looking out the window and seeing the other ships, islands, and birds outside.
Four trucks full of seafood. We were parked right in front of the truck with the blue cab.
Anna & Henry at Au Bon Pain (yes, really!)
The ice skating rink at the mall.
It was really hard to get us through this tiny door with everyone fighting to get on or off the ice. They were not polite and I had to yell at several people to not knock Anna & Sarah down.
There we are hugging the wall!
Henry and I have not been off of Geoje Island since we went to Seoul for his passport (I'm not counting Lotte Mart since that's barely off of the island) so it felt like a great adventure today taking the car ferry and going to Shinsegae Mall to take the girls ice skating. We had talked about doing that in July but they don't carry Craig's size at the skate shop and I was too pregnant to go so now seemed like a good time. If we had known that Craig & Henry could have gone into the area with us it would have been a much better experience though.
The girls and boy split up and we hoped that Henry could take a nap in his stroller. It took forever for me to find and adjust the helmets for the girls, get a locker for our shoes, get the skates on everyone, wobble to the ice, and then get onto the ice. Sarah's skates were much too big for her so she had a harder time than Anna but she had a good attitude and laughed every time she fell instead of getting frustrated. It would have been much better if I could have left one girl with Craig while I did a lap around the ice with the other girl and then switched girls every couple of laps or so. If we go back we will try it that way. The girls both said the best part of ice skating was when it was time for the zamboni to come and the ice rink guy picked them up and skated them to the carpeted area. (!)
We had fun and we were all glad we went. Henry did not nap as well in the car or stroller as we thought he would but he was still easy-going. I think he enjoyed getting out and seeing some new stuff. Also I was happy to find that there was a nursing room at the mall near the restrooms so I didn't have to go back to the car or into a bathroom stall (I'm not 100% sure of the breastfeeding laws here but I know I have never seen anyone doing it and I am under the impression that Korean moms are more into formula-feeding than breastfeeding—I could be wrong about that though).
Henry drools a LOT. Anna spit up when she was little and I thought Sarah drooled a lot. I have to double-bib Henry and often his shirt is still soaked underneath when I take off the bibs for his nap. So, today I cut up a terry cloth baby towel and made three double-thick bibs to try and help with the laundry situation (since I double-bib him I have half as many bibs available which means I need to wash them faster). I don't know how well these are going to hold up but they turned out better than I thought they would. Just don't look too closely. The important thing to remember here is that they are keeping drool off of his shirt and chest because he is starting to get a bit of a rash from it constantly being wet around his neck and chest. Poor little guy.
2009 Highlights:
- Henry's arrival on July 24!
- Brian & Anita visiting in March.
- Trips to Colorado (March), Busan (July), and Seoul (August)
- Having my mom here in July & August and Anita here in August & September
- Watching Sarah be a loving BIG sister
- Anna's love for Henry and her nurturing instinct
- Anna & Sarah becoming closer and having more fun together
- Witnessing Henry's milestones
What We're Looking Forward to in 2010:
- Watching Henry's personality come through more and witnessing more milestones
- Watching Anna & Sarah grow and learn
- Finding out where we're moving to and when (and then getting there and settling in)
- Planning a vacation after we know where and when we're moving (and then taking the vacation)!