Wicked weather

The boys and I just returned from an emergency trip to the basement for the second time this week. The tornado sirens went off about thirty minutes ago - right after Sage finally fell asleep. This is our second year in the city and I had never heard the sirens until this week. The boys don't mind though because then they get to play with all the annoying toys that have been banished to the basement playroom. And, they love to play with the flashlight. I don't mind either because I had time to do a little organizing of the storage room. Only challenge - carrying Rosco's big body down the steps. For whatever reason, she won't go down our basement steps. Thankfully though, we're all safe and Rosco goes back up the steps by herself.

Sage the Skip

Skip is the name of the class that Sage is in for his first round of swimming lessons. Last night was the first class. Since Sage has been in the pool at the YMCA several times, he was eager to jump in even though we had to wait a few minutes for class to start.

While we were waiting, we chatted with some of the other skips and their parents. Skips are kids 6 to 36 months and parents must be with the kids. One little girl, Isabella, arrived with her mom, two sets of grandparents, a digital camera, an underwater camera, and a video camera - quite the entourage for a 30 minute swimming lesson. I felt a twinge of guilt for not even bringing a camera. Oops!

At 5:15, Sage practically dove out of my arms as we entered the pool. Everyone introduced themselves and the girl skips heavily outnumbered the boy skips 7 to 3. Sage practiced kicking as he laid across a noodle while trying to "swim" to a floating toy. We got into a big circle and Sage promptly showed off his bubble-blowing skills - everyone laughed and the teacher was very impressed because our next skill was...blowing bubbles. Many of the skips were afraid to put their faces in the water, but not Sage. He dove right in! As the class continued, we sang songs and played games bouncing in the water, kicking, splashing, and blowing bubbles.

Suddenly, everyone started to quiet down and look towards Isabella and her mom. I had to wipe water out of my eyes to see the vomit that was spreading through the water. Poor Isabella had puked! A lifeguard blew his whistle and the pool was evacuated all because of baby Isabella. I felt bad for her especially since she had the paparazzi following her.

By the time the lifeguards got the pool cleaned up, our class time was over. End of swimming - day 1. The good news is, Sage definitely learned something. Later, during his bath, Sage practiced his bubble blowing skills. Too cute! Maybe next time, I'll take a camera.

Rub-a-dub-dub,

two babies in a tub. Sage and Kai share their first bath.




Now that Kai can sit up on his own, he might be bathed more often. =) Poor kid!

updated likes/dislikes

Please scroll down the right side to see updated likes/dislikes for the boys

I always smile when I see the vacuum thing for Sage. He is still so fascinated by the vacuum - especially the new one. There was only one person more excited than I was to finally bring home a Dyson - Sage. He still shouts "wow!" everytime I roll it out and "yea!" when I crank up the power. He loves to follow me around "helping" as he holds the cord.

A bittersweet moment

Kai's sleep training has been successful. He still requires a little comforting when you put him down. But, then, he falls asleep and stays asleep until he's hungry.

Last night, I put Kai to bed and comforted him for a couple seconds. I stood over the side of his crib and looked down at my precious baby boy and felt a twinge of saddness. I felt sad that Kai is growing up so quickly and that he no longer needs his mommy to fall asleep. It's just amazing that seven and a half months ago, Jared and I held Kai's tiny little four pound body in our hands as he was fed through a tube every two hours. Now, he's five times that size, eating like a little piggy, and sleeping up to seven hours at a time.

Easter 2010

The boys and I had a very busy day on Saturday. First, we drove out to Warrenton to visit with my side of the family. We had a mini-egg hunt inside (it was too windy to go out). Noah found all the eggs while Sage played with Noah's toys. We had a great meal and visited with Granny and PaPa. We found out some exciting news (to be revealed later) and headed off to our next destination - Festus.

It took a LONG time to get from Warrenton to Festus. Sage slept. Kai did not. He fussed the entire time. I was able to keep him calm most of the time by reaching back and stroking his cheek. Once we hit the Festus city limits, though, Kai was full-out screaming! Poor baby just hates being in the car seat - still. When we finally got John and Kelly's house, Kai was all sweaty, but immediately calmed down and acted like the happiest baby ever.

Sage had a great time playing with all of his cousins' toys - especially the train table and the drum set. Once again, though, he really had no interest in hunting for eggs. He found two eggs and that was enough for him.

The ride home was the worst! Both boys screamed nearly the whole time. I even stopped twice to calm them down only for them to start screaming again as soon as we got back on the road. So, here we are - Kai screaming, Sage whining and holding his ears, and me trying to concentrate on the road while my blood pressure is rising and my exhaustion is overwhelming. What to do? I turned the radio up loud enough to drown out the cries coming from the backseat - I hesitated to do this because I thought it would make it worse. Five minutes later - silence. Both boys finally fell asleep. Good night!!!

The only good thing to come out of Saturday night being so rough was that Sage and Kai both slept until 9am on Sunday. By then, it was too late to go to church. So, we had a lazy day at the house. We even had a family nap in the afternoon - Jared and Sage on one couch, me and Kai on the other. It was a delightful way to spend the day.

Another fish

I took Kai for his first swim tonight at the rec plex. Every other time I wanted to take him, he was sleeping. So, tonight, he finally had his turn and he LOVED it! He squealed with delight the entire time. Kai did really well and had the hang of the kicking part. I can't wait until Sage and Kai can both swim without me holding onto them the whole time though - my biceps were aching by the time we got out.

That's okay though, it was a good workout for me too. I'm trying to win the "biggest loser" contest at work and am only 2 pounds away from where I was when I got pregnant with Sage two years ago. The other weekend, I put on jeans I haven't worn in over two years!

On a sidenote, another example of why I believe Sage may grow up to be a structural engineer. The last time Sage and I went swimming, he spent most of the time not on the slide, but under the slide. He was fascinated by the screws, valves, pumps, and pipes.

Perspective

Noah had another round of tests today to see if his cancer has come back. Great news - it hasn't!

In contrast, I recently found out a long time friend has cancer. Laura and I used to work together at the movie theater many years ago. She is a fantastic person and I'm so glad that we have recently reconnected through our babies. Laura has a little boy that is just a little bit older than Sage. Please keep Laura in your prayers as she continues her battle. You can read about her experience on her blog at http://winsteadremission.wordpress.com.

In addition, Sarah (my wonderful sister-in-law) is celebrating another year of remission from breast cancer by participating in the Komen Race for the Cure on June 12th. I've joined her team "Rapper's Pink Angels" to "race" for a cure. Please check out her website if you'd like to join the team or donate to the cause.
http://www.komenstlouis.org/site/TR/Race/General?pg=team&fr_id=1060&team_id=21261


All of this puts things in perspective for me. Although I'm tired from taking care of two busy baby boys, I'm incredibly grateful. Grateful to have two busy, yet healthy, baby boys. Grateful for long-time friends to share funny stories about busy baby boys. Grateful for family like my healthy, adorable nephew and my beautiful, inspiring sister-in-law.