6 shots, 3 appointments, Single Parent Night

Here I am, having a hearty bowl of soup which I made earlier in the day at 10:00 PM, finally able to relax after another busy day yet. Husband's still missing in action. At 7:30 pm, I finally sent him a txt message and his reply was "sorry, will be late tonight". Well, that changes the evening plan! That means I have to bathe them and do all the bedtime routine for all four kids.

I had a crazy day from the early hours. Saya again pulled off another sleepless night, waking up at 1:30, 4:30 and 7:30 am. Saya had a 6 mos well check at 9:40 am, so after packing Sean's lunch and seeing him off, I hopped on shower to go to the clinic. At the clinic, the nurse tells me that Saya can get the H1N1 Flu vaccine on top of the regular flu shot (along with other 3 shots) and if I bring my other kids in today, they can also get the Swine Flu vaccine. I knew that the particular vaccine is in short supply, so I took Saya home and brought the twins to the clinic immediately. I've decided to wait on Sean because he already has a Flu Shot appointment on 11/3 and he can get it then.

I quickly made pork and veggie soup for dinner while Amy fed lunch to the twins, filled out the forms I am supposed to bring for Sean's Social Group Therapy at 4 pm. After Sean came home, I buckled all four children onto my minivan and rushed to the therapy appointment. I drove around for 50 minutes while Sean was in therapy (Aly was screaming at the end), picked him up and drove home singing loudly so that the kids would stop crying. Dinner for kids went easier than normal as Sean was willing to eat eagerly and so was Noah. Those two are the pickiest eaters and struggle at dinner!

So, that was my day. I still have dishes to do, toys to pick up but I am saving them for Mike :-D

Saya's Stats:

18 lbs 14 ounces 90%

28 3/4 inches long - way off the chart

The nurse said that she is the tallest 6 months old she's ever seen~

Love Me Some Miso Soup

Alyson's favorite soup is Miso Soup. In this clip, she can be seen literally savoring the last drops from the bowl. Note her lower lip action under the bowl!

Little Sunshine in a rainy wold!

Saya loves to be in the jumperoo
Sean having some after school snacks

Happy-Go-Lucky Aly before her bath

Saya on her 6 months old birthday~

It's raining and raining every single day and it's the season when Seattelites question why and why we live in the wet and groomy universe when there is sunshine else where!? Do we live to work, or work to live?? What if we live in Hawaii and get to wear an aloha shirt everyday!? Aggahh!!! I need to remind myself over and over that there is sunshine above the thick gray clouds and that the rain makes everything green which is what I like about this place.

Rain or shine, my kids are pretty happy. They are used to the rain because to them this is very normal. I bought a pair of Hello Kitty rain boots for Aly and looking for a pair for Mr. Noah as well. They like to stomp around in the water paddle and their shoes do not repel water.

Since last week, Noah has started to go to a Family Co-op class at Kindering Center. I stay with him in the class and we get to spend some quality time with each other. Noah is an independent child and sometimes he gets "forgotten" because he plays nicely by himself. So, this is very good opportunity for us to spend time together. I've decided to enroll Alyson into My Gym class on Fridays so that she has a Mommy day as well. We went for a trial class last Friday and she loved it! She was running around everywhere, trying out equipments and toys. She was so excited, she did not want to sit still at the circle time. Wednesdays are Sean's Mommy day. He doesn't have school on Wednesdays, so we allocated his therapy appointments in the morning.

Saya had her 6 month birthday the day before yesterday. She is growing up so fast. I don't have much time to spend with her and I do feel bad about that. She is interested in her toys and do a fabulous job shaking them, eating them and making them soaking wet! She is a patient little one and I can tell that she is going to be a tough cookie.

Lastly, I am sick with cold but the kids are not. Sean had a little sniffle last weekend and I, of course, caught it. I have not had a decent sleep in months and my immune system is super low, I figure, and that is why I am sick and no one else is. I went to the pharmacy last night and asked the Pharmacist which medication I could take (since I am breastfeeding, I have to be careful) and he said basically none! Go figure, I have to ride this one out with no help.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!!

Today is Grandma's birthday and Sean sang a Happy Birthday song for her.
Thanks, Mom, for all your love and help!!
We love you~

Cannot keep the eyes open!

Finally!

I have not posted Saya's pictures lately and that is because every time I snap her photo, she closes her eyes. I have about 20 pictures of her with closed eyes! I tried to sneak up, make funny noises, tickle her etc... but she precisely closes her eyes at the right (?) moment. My other kids also went through this phase and they too have a shut eye collection under their file. One of those things make you laugh!

She's doing great with solid. I am contemplating on feeding her twice a day now because she still wakes up twice during the night. She's a big girl and maybe she needs more calories. She still refuses to take bottles, which is a bad news for me! Yesterday, Amy tried feeding her a bottle and she just would not have it. She is a very determined little girl it seems. When I came home, she was in a lot of hurry to nurse. I enjoy nursing her but it would be nice to have a break once in a while.

After School Play and Flight Museum

Sean with a bat hat he made at school
He wore it all afternoon and was proud of it!

Noah at the front door with pumpkins

Where are you flying to? -- at the flight museum

Noah boarded the plane, too!

Simulating the trip to Minneapolis

Aly and Sean on a helicopter

Aly on a kiddie plane

Checking out the displays

Sean the astronaut

Daddy, I had so much fun!

Last week was a fairly good week, much much better than what we expected. Sean had adopted to the new schedule, routine and environment pretty smoothly. I think the school program that he goes to is an excellent one and they really made the transition easy for him. The teacher called on Thursday and said that he had peed twice in the toilet, too, so we are very happy about that. Lunch is an issue as expected, but he is not starving so I will not worry about it. I pack him a lunch box every morning, but he only takes few bites out of them. The teacher said that he eats lots of snacks at the snack time, so that is when he's filling up.

Today, we took the kids to the Flight Museum in Renton. We wanted Sean to be comfortable in and around planes because Sean and Mike are going to Minneapolis in Nov to visit Grandma Pinky and Nana. We went to the museum when Jiji and Grandma were here last winter. This time, Sean was more interested in the display and enjoyed the kiddie area of the museum. There is a life-size plane on display which you can go inside and Sean was very excited to "board" the plane. He sat with Alyon and Daddy and was repeating "Sean's riding a plane!"

Whenever we let the kids walk around freely, we really have to keep them in our sight because they easily go off the radar. It can be scary especially when there are a lot of people. At the pumpkin patch the other day, we momentarily lost Alyson and she was found walking around the parking lot! When Saya joins the walker's club next year, things will be very interesting.

Saya Jumping

Saya loves to jump on the jumperoo!

More about Sean!

On the second day, Sean was all about smiles on the school bus!
Jack-0-lantern! Sean designed the one on the right

Showing off his rain boots

Just a quick post as I need to go to bed (terribly sleep deprived) but wanted to write that Sean really likes the school bus now and the whole school business. He talks about going to school all the time now and loves and loves the school bus! He also likes the fact that he comes home early so that he has more time to spend at home. The twins are normally napping when he comes home, so he gets to play with me for a while. Today was Wed so there was no school. Sean and I curved pumpkins in the garage while the twins napped. He even designed his own pumpkin! We had expected a little trouble due to the big change, but so far he is sailing through it.

Rainy Day Activities

The dreadful rainy season has started in the Pacific Northwest. As a family with four little children, it's not a good news. Kids no longer can run around the deck while I cook or explore front yard for a change of scenery. For the next 9 month or so, we'll have to be creative and use all the resources available to keep the kids occupied. Sean at the moment is into painting and he can last up to 30 minutes with it. Alyson also likes to paint, but 10 minutes is the maximum for her. They also like playdoughs but 30 mins is pushing their limited attention span! Noah would eat anything, so I am still hesitant to let him play with those. We'll have to do more craft activities, which is not my talent at all. But I will do anything to keep them from pulling all the spices out from the kitchen shelf, or banging drawers and cabinets simultaneously!! Rainy season's fun... rainy season's fun...

First Day of School

Waiting for school bus outside
Daddy explaining that we'll see him after school

Sean getting upset on the school bus

Sean panicking!!

Monday was Sean's first day of school. We have been prepping him emotionally going to school but we expected that the first day still would be uneasy for him. Daddy took Sean on last Thursday to meet the teacher (Miss Nia and Miss Sarah) and tour around the school and he seemed to like the idea. So, we were hopeful that he will have a good time at school.

While waiting for the school bus, he was talking about the school bus, asking where it is. It also was a garbage day so we heard many loud noises of the garbage trucks in the neighborhood and when the time was getting near, he started to get anxious. When the bus came, he was screaming for his dear life! Poor thing must have been terrified. We had to restrain him with the seat belt and he was just frantic. So the bus left with Sean very unhappy, but the bus driver, Julie, was very nice. She called me as soon as they arrived to school and said that Sean stopped screaming after turning the corner from our street.

When he came back home on the school bus, he looked quite happy. He was found happily sitting on the back of the bus (apparently, the bus driver had to go back and get him because they'd forgotten to board him on the bus) and smiled at me when I went on the bus to get him. I gave him a snack when he got home and he was very content and proud that he had gone to school all by himself. "Sean's a big boy!, ride school bus!" he was exclaiming!

Pumpkin Patch Kids

Sean playing on hay
Alyson exploring the pumpkin patch while Saya naps in the stroller in the background.

Sean could not decide which pumpkin to take home

Noah examining the scene

Sweet Aly

Twins were so excited to explore a field with hundreds of bright orange pumpkins!

With Mommy (grabbing all of the kids so they can be in the picture)

With Daddy

We adopted three pumpkins!

On Sunday, we took the kids to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins for this Halloween. We've decided to return to the pumpkin patch in Kirkland this year, too, because it is more convenient. It was a bright and sunny day with crisp blue sky, a perfect day to take a visit to the farm. It's relatively early in the season to acquire pumpkins and there were lots and lots of pretty pumpkins laying around asking us to take them home, not just the left over pumpkins we normally get near the end of Oct. It was such a treat to see the beautiful colors of the nature - the bluest blue sky, shiny orange of the pumpkins and the lively green of the field. Unfortunately, we forgot to insert the battery in the camera and were only able to take photos with our phones, so the photos do not show the true colors, but I think you can get the idea.

The first thing Sean said when we arrived there was that he wanted to see the scarecrow. We were surprised that he remembered it from last year because he was only 2 1/2 years old and we have not visited or talked about this place at all. This boy really has amazing memory!

It was Noah and Aly's second time, but of course they were still little last year. This time around, they were walking around and very much curious about the pumpkins. Saya was sleeping in the stroller and let us know when she was bored by squealing. I can only imagine what she will be doing next year!