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!