Pests

Okay, so this has nothing to do with either of the little P's, but it's interesting (read: gross) nonetheless. Yesterday, I noticed that a few of the leaves were dying on the grapevine outside our kitchen window, but I didn't think much of it. When Gus came home, he noticed it, too-- but looked more closely than I had. And he discovered this:

After doing a little research, we found out that they are called (appropriately enough) "Grapeleaf Skeletonizers." They turn into these spooky black moths that I have seen a few times in the house recently. And these little caterpillars are ALL OVER all of our grapevines! YUCK!! And they are apparently pretty hard to get rid of, though they do respond to a type of bacteria known as BT, which is supposedly sold at gardening stores. Guess we'll find out this weekend!

On a less gross (and completely unrelated note), I have to brag about Nikos for a minute. Thanks to his increased TV watching since Maya arrived, he can now correctly identify and name the following animals: puma, chinchilla ("sinsilla"), condor ("condo"), tapir, and pygmy marmoset ("mar-set"). He went through the whole repertoire this morning while watching "Go Diego Go." While I'm not a huge fan of kids watching TV, it has been a huge lifesaver when I am trying to nurse Maya while simultaneously keeping Nikos out of trouble. And hey, it's educational-- I doubt there are that many kids who could correctly identify a tapir before age two, haha!

Maya's First Date

Well, first PLAYdate, anyway!

To be honest, I know very few people around here who have young kids. And I know even fewer people who have infants. In fact, I know one person. Gus' coworker and his wife had their son about six weeks before we had Maya. We'd been talking for a while about getting together, but today was the day! Candace brought her son, Keaton, over for lunch and to play. It was so cute to see the little ones together, even though they didn't really seem to care too much one way or another. And Nikos was pleased as punch to have someone else to show off for when he got home from daycare. Anyway, here are the pictures of Maya and her new friend, Keaton! So cute!

Lesson 2

Today was swim lesson number two, and Maya and I decided to tag along and see how it went. Nikos had SUCH a good time! He moved all around in the water, kicked his little legs like a champ, and would squeal my name with glee whenever he looked up to see me standing poolside. :) Really, it was adorable. I am thinking that these lessons were an excellent investment, for sure!

Anyway, I didn't have my camera with me, but I did take some pictures with my cell phone. I apologize for the terrible quality, but at least it gives you some idea of what the lesson was like! (oh, and there were several lessons going on in the pool at the same time... not everyone in the picture was part of his lesson, but all the lessons were for infants/toddlers!)



(Proof that Maya was there, too!)

Success!

This afternoon, Nikos attended his first-ever swim class with his daddy! And LOVED it! Strangely enough, our child has not been the biggest fan of water and/or getting wet in general. I say "strangely," since both Gus and I are comfortable in the water, did swim team for years, etc. At any rate, I thought that swim lessons would be a good idea to help him get more comfortable in the water, and our local YMCA offers 12 sessions at a reasonable price for kids ages 6 months to 3 years. Plus, it provided some excellent father-son bonding time.

Well, we fully expected him to hate the lessons, at least at first. My parents even predicted (and I agreed) that he would be fine up until it was time to get into the water, at which point he'd start crying and saying "All done! Bye bye! All done!" This would be par for the course for the little guy. But nope-- he had a great time! There were about 7 or 8 kids in the class, most around his age or a little older. They sang songs together and did different movements in the pool. Gus reported that Nikos' favorite part of the lesson was when they sang "The Hokey Pokey" and lifted the kids up in the air. And his favorite part of the whole experience was the very end, when the kids were allowed to jump off the edge of the pool and into the water-- which he did over and over and over again! Who knew??? Anyway, they picked up pizza on the way home (as a special treat), and I debriefed him as he ate. He was in "one-word answer mode," but it was still cute. He is totally excited to go again on Wednesday! :)


And, just because I think it's cute, check out his YMCA card! hehe!!

Ready to Roll?

Well, not quite. But her neck sure is getting a lot stronger, and if this video is any indication, she'll probably be rolling soon. And even if she doesn't, the video is still cute! :) (My only wish is that Gus would have turned off the TV... oh well!)

Afternoon at the Mall

We went to the mall this afternoon, partly just to get out and do something as a family, and partly because it was too hot to go to the park! Nikos "built" a stuffed dog at Build-A-Bear Workshop, complete with a red hat (he's really into hats lately, and made a beeline for this one). He was REALLY into the $30 stuffed car, but we opted to leave that one there. :P After that, we went to the pet store, where Nikos was thrilled to see puppies, kitties, birds, bunnies, and guinea pigs. And then we hit the nearby play area where they had (*gasp!*) a toy CAR! Can you tell someone likes cars? Finally, on our way out, he had to sit on one more "car" outside of Sears. hehe! Maya was with us, of course, and she did her usual peaceful-observation-thing. :)

Cuties

Just a few pics from this morning... I love this one I got of Maya smiling-- I just wish I hadn't cut off her other arm! This is what happens when you grab the camera really quickly and take a picture without looking through the viewfinder!
And some of my boy, hard at work on his coloring. He insisted that Bear sit at the table, too, and even made sure he had his own crayon. And when that wasn't enough, he decided to share a seat with him. He loves his Bear!

Fetus Friends

For the first time in a LONG time, Nikos played with Owen today! Remember back in the day, when my coworker (Kori) and I were pregnant at the same time? Well, here are the little boys. What a difference a year (and then some) makes, huh? Owen is 4 months older, but outweighs Nikos by at least 10 pounds. My little peanut!



Anyway, today was fun! Kori and Owen came over, along with our other coworker, Angie (who happened to be the one who bought the matching shirts the boys are sporting in the top picture! Thanks, Angie!!). We sat around and drank virgin margaritas on the patio as the boys played and Maya chilled in her carseat. It was fun to catch up on all the work-related "gossip" (if you could call it that), but I am really not looking forward to the summer ending in only a few short weeks. I am so not ready to go back to work!!

Schedules and Routines

Ever since Maya hit the two-month point, I've been making an effort to really start getting her on a schedule. "They" say that up until two months, anything goes... but from that point on, habits (especially bad ones!) begin to solidify. At any rate, I am pleased to report that she is a total dream when it comes to schedules and routines! Schedule-wise, she typically wakes up between 6:30 and 7:00am, the same time as her brother (yay for that!). Throughout the day, she is usually awake for 1.5-2 hours at a time, and goes 3 hours between feedings. Her final nap is almost always from 5:15 to 6:00pm, after which we get started on her bedtime routine. I nurse her at 6, play with both kids in the living room for a bit, give her a bath at 6:45, read her a story in her bedroom, nurse her one more time, and then put her down in her crib with her pacifier at around 7:15. We usually have to return once or twice to put the paci back in her mouth as she falls asleep, but she is usually out for good within 15-20 minutes! In a word: AMAZING! She sleeps through until around 3:30am, usually, when she has a quick feeding and then goes right back to sleep. That's right, she regularly gives us a solid 8-hour chunk of sleep! It's awesome!! (for comparison, Nikos was going 4-6 hours MAX at the same age)

Anyway, it's amazing how quickly she has adapted to the whole schedule thing, and how well it aligns with her brother's schedule. Awesome, awesome, awesome!!!

Poop, etc.

Consider yourself warned that this post is about poop!

And with that in mind, check out the picture I just took. The only reason I took it was because it reminded me of this picture that I posted of Nikos when he was not even two months old yet.

Ironically, I took the picture of Nikos because I was at my wit's end with the bag of Pampers Baby Dry diapers that we had been using. They leaked every single time! But nowadays, that is my very favorite brand for him, and they are all he wears. Maybe the smaller sizes just didn't fit him quite right? Who knows! All I know is that my sweet baby girl managed a pretty impressive blowout using the more expensive Pampers variety today. Way to go, kiddo! Needless to say, that onesie is currently soaking in the bathroom and Maya is sound asleep. Pooping like that takes a lot out of you (literally)! :P

In non-poop-related news, I achieved a new Mommy Milestone today! I woke up feeling inspired to go to the supermarket, and to take both kids with me. They have both been to the store with me before, but never at the same time! I won't lie-- I was terrified of taking them both, for lots of reasons. But I did it! And it went just fine! I have been studying other moms lately, looking at how they managed two little ones, so I had a plan. Nikos sat in the seat of the cart, as usual, and I placed Maya's carseat sideways across the main portion of the cart (allowing me to put groceries underneath her). It was definitely more complicated than usual, and Nikos put up a fight (he wanted to walk, not ride in the cart-- not an option!). But in the end, we were successful. And now I know that I can do it if I have to (though I still prefer to go solo or with just one kid-- much easier!). Yay!

And on a completely random side note... Yesterday morning, Nikos was playing with his blocks in the living room as I was cleaning up the kitchen. I heard him saying something to himself, quietly, but I couldn't quite believe my ears. So I walked over to where he was. Sure enough, he was counting his blocks... in Spanish!!!!! ("Uno... dos... tres... cuatro... cinco...") He only knows up to five, but I still could NOT believe it. And on Friday night, he asked Gus for more eggs... in Greek! I know they are sponges at this age, but seriously?? This is nuts! SO COOL!

Random Pictures

Since both kiddos are napping right now (yay!) I thought I'd share a few recent pics. Recent, meaning from yesterday and today. First, check out all these teeth!!! (Ignore the grape in his mouth)

Looking serious is hard when you have drool on your chin...

Maracas, anyone?

This is how he left Bear (his lovey) yesterday morning when he went to daycare

Loving his baby sister

Mwah!

100% Better!

After a so-so day yesterday, Maya went to sleep at about 7:45 last night (early for her!). And she slept until about 7:15 this morning!! Eleven-and-a-half hours of uninterrupted sleep, woohoo! And when she did wake up, she was happy and seemed to go right back to her usual schedule (3 hours between feedings, awake for about an hour and a half after each one, etc.). Her spots even seem to be fading already. Hallelujah!! I'm so glad to have my happy baby girl back! :)

See Spot Sit.

Well, if this isn't Roseola, then I'll be a monkey's uncle. The fever is completely gone, and she is covered with tiny red spots (everywhere but her face). She even seems a little happier, and I've been able to coax some smiles out of her! But take a look for yourself... And compare these pictures to the ones I took of Nikos when he had it last October!

Antibiotics = Not Fun

Well, it turns out that antibiotics aren't Maya's friend. Our poor baby girl seems to have a pretty sensitive stomach, which means she ends up throwing up almost immediately after I give her the medicine (resulting in lots of dirty laundry, sigh...). Which sort of defeats the purpose, since I doubt she is actually keeping any of it down. Luckily, the pediatrician will be calling this morning to let me know the results of the blood culture, and we may be able to discontinue the antibiotics entirely. And if not, then I'm going to ask her to prescribe a different medication. Because this just sucks!!

The good news is that her fever is gone, she's still wetting plenty of diapers, and she had a big poop this morning (TMI, I know). She's cranky, but I have a feeling that may be related to the antibiotics and an upset tummy. Fingers crossed that the blood culture comes back clear and we can get over this bug ASAP!


**UPDATE: The tests came back normal, so no more antibiotics! HOORAY!!!

Pictures

First, a picture of our little sickie this morning... Last night was better (not great). And though she definitely seems to be on the mend, she is still not back her to happy, smiley self. I'm hoping the great nap she is currently taking will help with that!

And a few pictures of our boy, who thinks it's ever-so-fun to walk around in our shoes. He especially likes my flip-flops, I think because he is pretty mobile in them. Daddy's work boots are another story, haha!


(and yes, he has a very droopy diaper in the first pic. He was resisting a diaper change because he wanted to play with shoes. What a nut!)

Maya Update

So... Last night didn't go so well. Maya was up pretty much the entire night, even though she was in bed with us. She was very warm to the touch, even with regular doses of Tylenol, and her fever spiked to 102.4! Really, really high for someone so tiny! Needless to say, we went to see the doctor first thing this morning. She looked great-- her ears were fine, no congestion, etc.-- so the pediatrician ordered some tests to see if there might be a bacterial cause to the fever (as opposed to a virus, which just has to run its course). So I experienced two "firsts" today-- a urine sample collection and a blood draw on my baby girl. And both were just as awful as you'd expect! To do the urine collection, the nurse had to insert a catheter into Maya's bladder. The blood draw was pretty standard (same as an adult, only lying down) but was heart-wrenching. She hated every second of both tests, and I don't blame her!

After the testing was complete, we went back to see the doctor again to go over the results. Her bloodwork came back clear, but there were some white blood cells in the urine sample-- which could indicate some sort of infection. The doctor prescribed antibiotics, just to be on the safe side, and we will start those at dinnertime tonight. There is also a blood culture that is in progress, but we won't know those results for several days. All things considered, she probably just has the virus that Nikos had a few days ago-- but the doctor wanted to play it safe, since she is so young.

Anyway, that's where we are right now. After being gone all morning, Maya seems happy to be home and is sound asleep in her car seat. Maybe this means I'll actually get to take a shower today? (and believe me, I need it!)

**ANOTHER UPDATE: I think it's Roseola!! I don't know why it didn't even occur to me, but everything seems to fit. I was staring at Maya a little while ago as she snoozed in her bouncy seat, and noticed the faintest of red spots appearing all over her arms and legs. They definitely weren't there this morning. And they look EXACTLY like the rash Nikos had when he had Roseola. The symptoms of Roseola? High fever for a few days, followed by a spotty, painless rash. Sounds about right to me, what do you think? The good news is that the rash appears when the fever finally breaks, and she should be feeling better really soon. YAY for Dr. Mom! :)

Poor Baby :(

So Maya hasn't been eating too much today, being sick and all. But this evening, she finally seemed "into" it-- yay! Or so I thought. She ate. And ate. And ate. And ate. And when I set her down in my lap for a minute, she decided to spit up... and spit up... and spit up... Technically, I guess she was throwing up (since it was a lot). It was projectile, and it kept on coming until I was literally sitting in a pool of milk. Gus ran to get a towel to hold her in while I extricated myself from the recliner, stripped out of my saturated clothes, and ran to the shower to rinse my legs. And then it was straight into the bath for her. It was in her hair, her ears, her nose-- EVERYWHERE! My poor, poor baby. I think she was hungry, but her tummy was upset (probably from the fever). Either that or she was just sucking for comfort, but didn't really want to eat. The good news is that she feels a lot cooler now, and is sleeping peacefully in her swing.

But wow... that was quite an "Exorcist" moment. At least it wasn't pea-soup green. I am really hoping she is feeling better tomorrow morning, or off to the pediatrician we will go. :(

An Interesting Day

Today started off with a bang. Right at midnight, our sweet baby girl decided to wake up crying. And since she normally sleeps through the night (yay!), we knew something was up. Sure enough, she felt warm. We gave her some Tylenol, then brought her into bed with us for the rest of the night. Since then, she has spent most of the day sleeping, waking only for brief unhappy periods to eat and get doses of Tylenol. Her fever isn't too high-- right around 100-- but she is not a happy camper. Poor baby girl!!

The reason, though, that we're not too worried just yet is because Nikos seemed to have the same thing yesterday. A sudden, unexplained fever and general sleepiness. He even fell asleep in Gus' lap while sitting on the couch--something he NEVER does unless he's not feeling well. But, he woke up today and was 100% better. So we're thinking Maya will probably be feeling better tomorrow, too. We hope so, anyway!

On the flip side, we got to visit with Bryce and Aditi today! They're back in town for two weeks visiting family and friends, so that was really nice. They moved to Texas after their wedding last summer, so it had been quite a while since they had seen Nikos. And they'd never met Maya, obviously! Nikos was in fine form, talking and laughing and just generally being silly. They brought pizza, which meant that Nikos instantly loved them. After we ate lunch, we played outside while Maya napped in the swing (her M.O. for the day, unfortunately). It was really nice to catch up with them, and I would like to officially declare that they need to move back here once Bryce is done with grad school. Because that is how it should be!

Anyhow... It has been both a good and a bad day. I just hope our baby girl is feeling better, and soon!

And for the record, this was Nikos yesterday:

And here he is today, playing with Daddy's headphones after breakfast this morning:

Day at the Zoo

Today, we met up with our good friends Mike and Steph, who were down visiting from L.A. When we last saw them in May, we made plans to get together and go to the zoo in July-- which is what we did today! Nikos had a great time, though he wanted to walk around on his own quite a bit (which is both good and bad... he likes to run willy-nilly with no particular regard to where he's going!). However, he enjoyed the elephants and llamas (as always), and was a little scared by a close encounter with a polar bear who dove into the water right in front of us. He liked the gorillas, too, but was more fascinated by all the waterfalls and ponds in their exhibit. And his favorite part was the petting zoo, where he actually went and touched the goats all on his own for the first time (no prompting!). He didn't want to leave, but it was naptime... and he conked out within minutes of getting into the car. Anyway, here are a few pictures from today's adventure!




Finally, a picture with Mike and Steph!
And yes, our sweet baby girl was there, too! She was perfectly content in the stroller, either snoozing or looking around quietly the entire time. And her feeding schedule worked out perfectly today- she was hungry right at noon, when we were all sitting down to eat, anyway! Hooray!

Maya's 2 Month Stats

So we just got back from Maya's 2 month checkup, and she did really well! She was happy pretty much the entire time, cooing and smiling at our pediatrician (who was just eating it up-- our doctor is so sweet!). She was not a fan of the three shots she had to get, but she recovered really quickly and then promptly conked out in her carseat. The pediatrician says she's doing great-- she even commented on how alert she was, and how well she was tracking objects. But the BEST part of the visit was the weigh-in at the beginning, which I have been looking forward to for a while! Remember that Maya weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz and was 19 inches long when she was born. Well, check out today's stats! drumroll please...

13 pounds, 4 ounces (85th percentile)
24 inches long (95th percentile)
Can I just say how ecstatic these numbers make me???? :) For comparison, Nikos was 12 pounds, 12 ounces and 23.5 inches at his 2 month appointment-- and started out a pound and a half heavier when he was born! So I'm feeling like a pretty successful breastfeeding mom right now.

Way to grow, kiddo!! :)

Caught on Film

First, my oldest chatterbox, who has shown us lately that he really does know how to count! He now counts perfectly up to ten, even touching/pointing to objects as he counts. After ten, though, it all falls apart. His counting usually goes something like this: "One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... ten... ten... ten... seven... ten..." haha! Anyway, I recorded him counting his strawberries this morning. He only got to five before he was distracted by his NutriGrain bar and the desire to have a fork, but you get the point!


Next up is chatterbox #2, who is starting to express herself so much more these days with coos and gurgles. Again, this video isn't the best example of it, but it's a sample of her cute baby noises nonetheless! (okay, mostly she's just smiling... but it's cute nonetheless!) It's so funny this time around-- I think her voice sounds a lot like Nikos', and I feel like I can really hear her "talking" when she makes her baby noises. She is such an adorable little conversationalist! :)

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a lovely afternoon/evening! We had a few friends over for a barbecue, so we spent most of the day outside on the back porch. Nikos was in seventh heaven once our friends arrived with their five-year-old daughter, Taylor. The two of them played on the slide, threw balls around, and drew all over the patio with sidewalk chalk.


Nikos was even happy to sit in a "big boy" chair at our patio table for his dinner of hot dog and fruit salad... I really can't believe he can sit at a regular table now to eat. He really IS a big boy!

And finally, a photo of Miss Maya, who was content to sit in her bouncy seat and watch everyone having a good time. The only time she fussed at all was when she was hungry, and that was easily remedied!


Now, everyone has gone home and we're relaxing and enjoying the nice evening breeze. No fireworks for us this year-- maybe in a few years when the kids are older. But all in all, this was a very nice and relaxing holiday. Happy Birthday, America! :)

Note to Self:

Leaving the toddler alone with crayons for two minutes while you take the recycling outside is not a good idea. Coloring on paper is fun, but coloring on walls and mirrors is even better! Good thing these are washable crayons...


I was able to get it all off, thank goodness... But the crayons are now under lock and key. :)