Fever Fever

The girls and I arrived safely at our warm destination.  It feels amazing to not wear a coat!  When we stepped outside I could hardly believe that the air was actually hot and muggy.  Amazing.  We’ve spent time outside, which is a rare treat these days.

Unfortunately, the day before we left BQ started coughing.  I feared it was the beginning of something and it was.  On the plane ride down she was so out of it, which was almost helpful!  Does that sound awful?  That I would prefer a sick child for travel?  Let’s just say it takes the intensity level down a notch.  Yesterday, which was our first full day, the poor thing was miserable.  We went to the beach and she had absolutely no energy.  Luckily she still managed to have fun and took a three hour nap after the outing.  She is feeling much better this morning.

Mole, on the other hand, is not.  She began coughing yesterday and had a hard time settling down to sleep last night, as she was running a fever.  She’s been okay today, but I can tell she’s hurting.  We managed to go to a really cool zoo this morning, so at least we are still enjoying the trip.  Hopefully sweet Mole will turn the corner soon and be back to making crazy sounds, busting out her dance moves, and general cuteness.

On another note, it’s been almost a week and I’m still not feeling engorged.  I’m hoping I dodged the bullet, but you never know!  Molé is still not into drinking milk, so I am pumping her full of yogurt, cheese, and any other dairy products within reach.  Hopefully she’ll get into it soon.  She loves water, so at least she’s not going to shrivel up and float away.

Here’s hoping BQ, who is currently having a mini fiesta during naptime, doesn’t wake up her poor sister who is napping beside her!

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Wean-ed?

I have been so fortunate to be able to breastfeed our girls.  It has truly been a highlight of being a mom.  It was the one thing, in a sea of challenges and struggles as a mom, that has been blissfully simple.  I am beyond grateful.  

BQ nursed well from the start and stopped two days after her first birthday.  She was a slow nurser in the beginning, lingering and sucking for what felt like hours!  Nursing was her comfort, her safe place, and her source of food.  As she grew older, she nursed less for comfort and more for nourishment and eventually came to transition away completely on her own.  It was such a great experience and I always hoped for the same with our other kids.

Along comes my sweet Molé.  Like her sister, she was a great nurser from the beginning.  No soreness, no latching issues, not even a dab of expensive nipple cream.  Not only that, she was SO fast!  As a newborn she would take ten minutes max per side and by about 6 weeks she was down to 5 minutes per side.  It was a gift to have a baby eat so quickly when there is a toddler to be wrangled!  She never nursed for comfort, she was all business.  If she was hungry, great.  If not, don’t even think about it. 

I started to slowly cut back on her feedings at about 9 months, thinking that I would aim for a similar “weaning timeline.”  Last week we were transitioning to about 2 feedings a day, but they were very short and I could tell not very satisfying.  I figured that I could drag it out for another 3 weeks until her 1st birthday.  Well, that is not to be.  It has been almost 48 hours since she cut me off.  That’s right, cold turkey.  Let’s just say I am feeling a bit top heavy!!  In many ways I am so grateful for the timing and that she is ready, but in other ways I just want to sob.  Realizing that it is over is a mixture of emotions, for me.  I guess I just didn’t think that would be the last time.  But it was.  

My baby is growing up.

Speaking of, both of my babies are now waking up.  How do they do that?  No lag, no grace period, dual wake-ups.  C’est la vie!

Almost forgot…

My hubby reminded me that I forgot another great line from yesterday and that not only is BQ starting to talk like me, but totally got the “purchase presentation” gene from me as well. And, well, he’s right.  Not only do I do it after going somewhere like the mall, but I also do it with groceries.  I literally pull him away from whatever he is doing to show him condiments or bath products depending on the day.  Every guy’s fantasy right here, baby.

Anyway, BQ and Daddy have been playing with these two plastic donuts from her play food.  One has brown icing and the other pink.  Matt is usually assigned the pink one, go figure.  At the store, we purchased a sassy pair of pink capri pants and this is what happened when she showed those to Daddy.

“Ooh, look at these ones.  They’re totally rosado.  Daddy, I think you like the rosado donut.  Yah, you like it,” she exclaimed without pause, breath, or allowance for disagreement.

So not only is she doing my “totally” and “way,” but Spanglish too.  Could it be that I am just cooler than I thought and she can’t help but emulate me?  Not in this life, but hey, it’s a thought.

Mini Me

For those of you who know me, I guess you could say that often my vocabulary is, well, different.  I am a big fan of nicknames, abbreviated words, Spanglish, and word combos.

Evidently, so is BQ.  

We are going to visit my brother someplace warm this week, and we needed to get some new duds for BQ, since she currently doesn’t have anything for weather above freezing.  We had a good time picking out some new things and she really seemed to enjoy the process.  She carried that excitement through to her purchase presentation for Daddy.

Picture if you will my sweet husband being woken up at 4:20 p.m. after a nap before heading back to work at 6:30 p.m.  While he’s still groggy in bed, BQ begins the magical moment.

“Daddy, did you see my new shirt?  It’s way cute,” she brings said shirt in and then runs back to the living room for more.

“Ooh, this one’s totally cute.  It’s L-bizzle,” flashes shirt and again goes back for more.

By this point, my sweet husband is laughing and looking at me, his crazy wife.  I guess because I seem to have passed along my passion for the words “totally” and “way.”  Or could it be because his almost 3 year old daughter used the term “L-bizzle” to refer to a shirt in her favorite color, light blue?  Who knows.  All I can say though is that L-bizzle rocks and BQ is going to reach new levels of cuteness in her fab new ensembles.

Curious George and “The Man”

As BQ sat watching Curious George this morning it occurred to me that of the two main characters of this show, George being one, the other is simply named “The Man.”  Wouldn’t you think after so much time together the relationship would move forward to more than just, “Me Monkey, You Man?”  I mean, I just saw this monkey bowl a perfect strike after rolling a ball down the street.  You’d think he could come up with a more personal title for his roommate.

Why?

So lately BQ, like most normal almost 3 year olds I assume, is OBSESSED with asking “why.”  Doesn’t matter if the question is even logical, it’s asked.  Example as follows…

“Hey BQ, what do you want for breakfast,” I ask.

“Probably, a yogurt tube,” she responds followed by…”Why.”

“I don’t know, sweetie, that’s just what you picked,” I answer hoping to stop the thread.

“Cause I like it?  Why,” she continues on.

I find myself then beginning to think things like, “Because of its fruity goodness, perhaps the creaminess is more than you can resist…and stop.  Then I think of the answer to end all questions (or so I think)

“I don’t know, BQ.  Why do you think you picked it.”

“Cause I like it.  Yah.  Why?”

And on and on and on.  The hard thing is trying to find the balance between wanting to stuff 5 thousand pounds of cotton in my ears versus wanting to nurture and cultivate her thirst for knowledge.  If only she would move onto another question.  Maybe even a question that involved more than one word?  Alas, I guess I am destined to be living in the land of “why.”

Welcome?

Wow, so here goes.  I’ve thought about doing this for quite some time, but finally now have the nerve.  I wanted to create a space where I could share my ideas, vent, and engage in dialogue about this process called motherhood.  I invite you to leave comments, your own thoughts, and experiences as I would love to hear them as well.  

I haven’t been a mom for very long and the only kids I’ve ever tried raising are my own.  Basically that means I have limited experience.  But, I do have my experience, and that is what I plan on sharing.  

So, here goes…