Pandemic Flu checklist

So all this talk about swine flu makes me a little nervous. I'm certainly not panicking and I hope that in a few months, we'll just be saying "swine what? Oh yeah, I remember that scare." But just in case, I want to be aware of where we are right now and what our family can do to prepare. Here's a good general checklist about a pandemic flu that I found interesting. 

http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/preparedness/pandemicflu.aspx

Of course, these are good views on the subject too:

http://www.theonion.com/content/amvo/swine_flu_epidemic_hits_u_s

Great list of FAQs from CNN about the subject.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/30/ep.swine.flu.questions.answers/index.html

Not sure why I think anyone is going to use my blog to research Swine Flu. I think its more of a way for me to organize my thoughts. Ignore this post (as well as any others) at will.

Good stuff

Several good things have happened lately. I'm not sure exactly which are causes, effects, or coincidences. In no particular order:

*I started counting calories.

*I lost 10 pounds.

*Adam starting sleeping somewhat better some nights.

*Adam's naps have formed a somewhat predictable schedule.

*Spring arrived, bringing green grass, new leaves and sandals.

*After a combination of clear rules, involving Laura, my relaxing, and letting Adam fuss for 5 seconds to fall asleep, Adam's naps are going much much better.

*I have made a big effort to increase the percentage of fruits and vegetables in my daily diet. And greatly reduce the refined flours and sugars. 

*Laura's attitude has been very positive most of the time.

*I have figured out that, at these ages, I enjoy parenting each child individually as much as possible and their nap schedules happen to make that possible for much of the day. 

*Did I mention spring arrived?

tricycle

While buying something else from craigslist.org, I saw that they had a tricycle in their garage too and I asked if it was for sale. It was! Laura now has a real tricycle. It is way way too big, and I wouldn't have gotten it if I could go back and do it again, but here we are. The first time she rode it, she turned it over 3 times. But since then it seems like she has made it a personal goal to figure it out. She rides it 2-3 times daily and is getting very good at it. She likes to carry stuff on the back, so I'm thinking about fashioning some sort of basket on the back or front. Don't ask about the safety glasses; I don't really have a good explanation for those. She thought it sounded like a good idea at the time.

Moose

I knitted this rabbit for Laura's Easter basket this year. It was super easy and quick. I fretted about the ears being too big, but Kim and Jim kept reassuring me: "She'll love it" "It's cute" "She'll like it just because her mommy made it". So, Laura pulled it out of her basket and said "Oh! A moose!"

he-man

how many push-ups can you do???

cheap entertainment

OK, here I go, embarrassing myself again. 

We have 2 kinds of high chairs, a bouncy seat, a bumpo chair, an exer-saucer, an inside swing, 2 slings, a wrap, a mei tai, a backpack, a crib, a playpen, and an outside swing. And here is where my baby ends up:

In the laundry basket. Its great. He can't fall down, lose his toy, eat dirt...(in my lame defense:  all, except one sling and the backpack, are borrowed, hand-me-down, homemade, or thrift store/garage sale)

Of course, the big one likes it too:

giant

Here's a picture of our ridiculously long son.

less diapers (not diaper-less), weight loss, indian food,

Laura has been taking naps soooo nicely lately. no fuss, no playing, no whining. AND, its been without her diaper. Very exciting. 

I cooked a real meal the other night. With a recipe and everything! I tried 3 new dishes - all indian food. They were pretty successful, actually 2 were delicious. Dal (split peas) with curry sauce, Black-eyed peas in a coconut milk curry sauce and a tangy coleslaw. The slaw OK, but the other 2 were great. it felt good to cook again. Of course last night, we just had leftovers and tonight was spaghetti again, so its not a habit again or anything, but maybe someday. Here's the recipes http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/06/and-then-i-moved-into-the-refrigerator

I have lost 8 pounds in 2 weeks. I started counting calories using this website http://caloriecount.about.com

I added some to my goal since I'm nursing and apparently, all I needed was some self control because it seems to be working well. I hope it continues.

The wrap

My friend Michelle lent me her wrap when Adam was born. It is so wonderful. About 12 feet of soft, beautiful material that you can 'wrap' around you in various ways to make spots for your baby.  I know I've put pictures of it on here before, but here are a few more. Aunt Kim even wore it last week and I really thought I got a picture, but now I can't find it. 

Painting the house (with water)

The weather has oscillated between beautiful and windy/cold the last few weeks. On one of the beautiful days, Michelle and Odin spent the morning with us and used up almost my entire arsenal of outdoor activities. Sandbox, playhouse, wheelbarrows, easter eggs, water painting, outside snack. Guess I could have pulled out the bubbles and chalk, but we were pretty well beat by then. It was a fantastic morning and exactly what Michelle and I needed (a break). Odin and Laura are at a great age to play together and it is super cute to watch them having conversations and playing. 

Jack and Jill

The newest babies in our household were born. We (I) named them Jack and Jill.

Sitting

Look at me. I can sit!!!

(I'm also scooting forward centimeters at a time, but my mom refuses to admit it.)

Bva - part Deux

Trust me, Adam saying "bva" over and over isn't near as cute when he wakes you up every 2 hours at night to tell you again and again and again! OK, maybe someday I'll think its cute, but not quite yet.

Bva

Learning consonants

Laura's Easters

2006

2007

2008

2009

Easter at home

We had a nice Easter weekend. The weather was beautiful and we really enjoyed having Kim here. Laura and Adam each got one small Easter basket and Laura only had received 4 M&Ms, so no major sugar rush! And she doesn't know any better yet, so she was really excited to see that candy. We've had a few egg hunts, although they were all inside because Laura didn't want to take off her dress to play outside. All in all, a great time!

We went to my cousin's house for Easter dinner and Laura had a great time on the trampoline. I never would have expected her to be this brave, but she had no hesitation. 
Love this picture, even though you can't see her face.
I would have had some great pictures of the girls jumping if I had thought to put the lens through a hole in the net. Oh well, next time!

Easter movie

fluff

We've been taking family walks around the neighborhood every night. Laura in the wagon, Adam in the wrap. And I've been keeping track of my calories and finally starting to lose weight. 

Adam sat in the high chair for lunch and dinner today. He looks so big! He was pretty content to just chew on the side of the chair. Pretty content to just chew on anything within reach. He's a drool machine. 

Eggs!

Kim spent a long weekend with us and we had a great time. She and Laura took and adventure on Friday, we watched some movies, dyed Easter eggs, grilled out on the deck, and went to our cousin's house for Easter dinner. Thanks for coming Kim! We had lots of fun! Here are some pictures of the eggs.

We colored them with crayons first. It was a family affair. I think Kim wins for the prettiest and Jim wins for the most creative. 
Laura wins for the cutest!

We used natural dyes, and I wouldn't recommend blueberries. It doesn't exactly turn out blue, more like dark gray. But the turmeric turned a nice yellow and the beets made an OK pink. I hope I remember to check this next year so I will remember what worked and didn't. We had about the same results last year, but I forgot and repeated the beets for barely acceptable results. The ones pictured are the eggs we had remaining after playing a game at our cousin's house. Everyone gets an egg. You tap the pointy end of your egg with someone else's and only one will break. Then you find someone else to tap with. The last unbroken egg wins. We played this last year too, so I guess its becoming our tradition. 

happy morning

I spent about 30 minutes laying in bed this morning listening to my happy kids make happy sounds. Laura was singing and Adam was cooing. What a nice way to wake up.

help me

ok, any moms with more than one kid, I need some advice. What to do with the older one while putting the baby down for a nap? One solution is to put the baby down awake, but I'm pretty sure I missed the boat on that one and we usually nurse until he falls asleep. After that, he's really very easy to lay down in his crib. The trouble is that Laura really wants to be around us. She tries to be quiet, but she's 3! I've tried getting her set up with TV, a book, a snack, playdough, etc. but she inevitably ends up crying for me to come back or coming up to find us while I'm nursing him.  I end up mad at her and yelling, she cries more, and he wakes up, never to sleep again. He will fall asleep in a carrier on me, but I can't do that all the time and he won't sleep for nearly as long as in his crib. The other day, Jim took Laura on an adventure and Adam slept for 4 hours in his crib, so I know he can do it and wants to do it. But what to do with Laura? Should I just relax and let him sleep when or where he gets it? Or set some serious ground rules for her while I'm putting him down? I feel like I'm constantly worried about his sleep. This is definitely our biggest source of stress during the day. Any advice would be great.

dreams

A sad commentary on the next generation...

Laura woke up with a bad dream. When Jim went in her room, she said she had dreamed that rays (i.e. stingrays) were eating her. Then she said she wanted to have her own ray to scare away the bad rays. And it should have a button on it to change it into a shark or a tiger to scare away the sharks and tigers too. Jim said "OK" and came back to bed. About an hour later, she woke up again and told Jim that the batteries in her ray were dead and would he help her change them?

Sunday musings

This says C A T if you look really closely. Actually A C T, but you get the idea.
We took out the summer stuff last night and woke up to this.
Doesn't she look OLD!!!

The "whys" are reaching a dangerous point. Not sure if I can take it much longer

It recently occurred to me that my mom doesn't live here and nobody else is going to pick that ____ up, so I had better stop being lazy and pick it up, wash it, fold it...

egg update

The momma bird laid another egg in the nest, so I guess we didn't scare her off. Or maybe it's the Easter Bunny?

just a few

Adam's found a new toy and he loves it.
He can sit pretty well now. You have to keep an eye on him to avoid the inevitable face plant, though.
Don't forget to look at who's peeking out at the bottom. And check out the Adam drool on Jim's shirt.
I went to remove the winter wreath from the porch and found that we had a little surprise! A tiny white egg. Guess we'll keep the winter wreath for a while longer. I hope we didn't scare off the momma. Laura is pretty excited to keep an eye out for the baby to hatch.