8 week updates

*Our last 2-3 weeks have continued to be dominated by illness, including the hard fall of Katy, who missed 3 days of school (and should have missed four, if I had believed that she was really sick on the first day). But I am very happy to report that, at least for this very hour, everyone in the house is healthy. Most notably Anna, and I'm so relieved. *No jinxing, please*

*We have a snow day today. We had one a couple of weeks ago, and as soon as Brian walked in the door at the end of the day, I burst into tears about how exhausted I was, and I spent the evening looking at summer day camps and programs.  (kidding. kind of.)

*Anna is 8 weeks today! She is really changing, starting to look like one of our babies, and I see resemblance to her siblings all the time. After sleeping with us for over a week, she moved back into her bassinet (just in time for Katy to move into our bed for a few nights) and I've even put her to bed a few nights and come back downstairs. Which is a liberating feeling after keeping her up with me for so many weeks. She's moving into her 3-6 month clothes (Luke is moving into size 24 months as he approaches his 3rd birthday, the peanut), nursing well, still just napping wherever she can catch it, and is generally a "good baby." (Not that any baby is ever bad, but people always use the term "good baby.") Oh, and it is a strange feeling to get rid of the clothes that Luke and Anna outgrow. I'm in the habit of packing everything away and labeling boxes...it's somewhat freeing but also sad to toss them in the donate/garage sale bin.

*Sometime recently we let the kids watch Wheel of Fortune. The funny thing is that they LOVE it, even though Katy has only ever solved one puzzle before the contestants ("breakfast cereal"). Eventually Brian made up a home game of Wheel using a wipe-off board and a Twister spinner. We are playing it constantly...and it has morphed into a combo of Wheel and Hangman. The funny thing is when David creates the puzzle, because he usually only knows the first letter of any word, and the rest is all jarbled. It's quite a challenge to guess what he's trying to spell.

*David and Luke have really started playing together well - with bursts of fighting, of course. But it's fun to see, especially how much David enjoys the big brother role when Katy isn't around.

*I would consider Luke to be potty trained, but we've been having daily accidents lately. I think I remember all of the kids going through this type of set back after being trained for awhile. Just keep chugging along, cleaning it up, eventually it will stop. But man, it's messy.

*My mom started her new job this week. She is staying with Greg's daughter Mary who lives about 25 minutes from here (there no room at our inn).  She came over last night for an hour or so, and it was so surreal. My mom has NEVER walked through my door without a suitcase. And it was so weird for her to leave and say, "Okay, see you tomorrow!" The transition will be gradual as they are putting their house on the market and trying to buy a new one here. Greg is still back in Pittsburgh for awhile wrapping things up.

*Other stuff is starting to slow down. I finished Box Tops and the large part of my responsibility for scholarship committee. Girl Scouts is all planned for the rest of the year and cookies are 90% delivered. It was a tough decision, but we decided to stop doing Tae Kwon Do for now. It was so hard to get there after school twice a week with all 4 kids in tow, timing it around nursing, then keep control of Luke, there was no bathroom that I could get to without crossing the mat, and I couldn't start dinner prep until 5:15. By this time next year, David will be old enough that I can drop him off at 5pm in the big kids' class. That would be so much easier. The hard part, though, was that he was SO sad when I told him. But this spring we're not doing soccer - and both Katy and David are going to do a once a week Rock Climbing class. Then next fall they are looking forward to getting back to sports. There are so many great opportunities, and they are at an age when everything sounds fun to try. So I feel like we're in this stage of trying to figure out what they would like, what our family can handle, what's appropriate for their age and abilities, etc.

*Many of you are probably tired of hearing about this, but Katy's still having a hard time. I only mention it again because it weighs so heavily on my mind and is a daily struggle around here. What breaks my heart is how she talks about disliking school now, when she used to love it so much. How I long for the days that she skipped happily in the door! I've also been really disappointed with how the teacher has handled the situation, and it's been the first episode of being unhappy about school. I'm trying to figure out the balance between advocating for my child and becoming "that mom" that has a reputation in the school and none of the teachers want her kid in class. (Just to clarify, her unhappiness has nothing to do with the school itself, it's just leaving me that is difficult. Going to a different school would be the same problem - except that perhaps a different teacher might help us navigate it a little better.) Anyway, I'm going to try talking about it less, to see if that helps me not to worry about it so much.

*Coming this month...kindergarten registration, David's 5th birthday, spring break, and possibly a new venture for Easter. And hopefully some warm weather!! Please!