Well, the past 2-3 weeks have been disease-filled weeks for us. :) Three weeks ago Jakub had a bad chest cold with a cough that just kept getting worse and worse. He had to stay home from school, but was still feeling well otherwise and full of energy. The weather was still snowy and very cold so it was difficult for him to stay inside all day, every day. Then the doctor finally started him on some antibiotics when she felt his chest was compromised and possibly starting a little pneumonia. After one day on them he was so much better... and then on day two he began to have chicken pox. I wasn't even sure that's what it was at first since in the U.S. we don't have much experience seeing them anymore in children. I thought maybe he had a bug bite under his arm... and maybe that bug somehow got him on his spine a couple of times a few hours later...but then there was no way that bug was eating away everywhere without my finding it. :) Of course after a few hours that Saturday it was clear what was going on. Josh happened to be out of town that entire day and evening and for a moment I felt panicked since Sofia had been getting lots of brother's kisses before I knew what was going on. Thankfully, Jakub handled them like a dream and Sofia has yet to receive them. We've said lots of prayers that she won't since she's still a little young for them and at greater risk for high fevers. Jakub never had fever with his. He didn't even scratch at them the first two days and I thought we were going to get by with a light case. Nope. His worst moment was the night of day 3. He woke up and couldn't stop scratching and crying. The next morning I got some cream from the pharmacy and he was fine after that with little scratching. All that to say, that's all we've been doing the past few weeks- taking care of these two kids and Jakub constantly being ill with something. It's been so hard for him not to love all over his sister in the mean time.
Thankfully, our weather is now beautiful and sunny EVERY day. Praise God! Yesterday and today it's been 70-80F. Wow! It's like summer already. Jakub is well now and back at school, Sofia has remained healthy, and I've been cleaning and airing this house out like crazy. Prayerfully the long winter of snow and illness is behind us and we can have better and calmer days now.
A couple of new or fun things he's doing right now:
- Learning to write his name. He can write every letter, but doesn't put them in the correct order yet.
- Recognizes all letters and can sound a few out in words when reading.
- Singing many songs now by heart- the best ones are the praises to God. It melts my heart. His favorites are: I love you with the love of the Lord, Tento je den (this is the day that the Lord has made), Jesus loves me, Jesus loves the little children, and Blue skies and rainbows.
- He LOVES to be outside in this beautiful weather and playing soccer is his favorite thing to do. When I picked him up yesterday from school he was outside playing with older boys at school and their male teacher. His teacher said he didn't want to play on the slide and swings with his own class. He asked to be with the "big boys" and play soccer. :)
- He's imagining a lot and telling lots of stories or making up games to play with his cars. Playing with his cars and trains is still his favorite thing to do inside. Lightning McQueen is still "the best and fastest auto" to play with and is almost always in his hands at home.
- He says sweet things like: "I miss you when I'm at skolka." "Sofia, you are so beautiful and I love you!" "Mom, that's a pretty shirt."
- He also gets angry very quickly right now if something upsets him. His face turns red and he gets flustered. We're working on that and going to his room to be alone seems to help him calm down the best... if he'll stay there and not be so angry he wants to remain near us and yell at us. I'm not sure where all of that pent-up frustration is coming from... maybe it's just a phase. We're trying to help him find good habits for calming down and expressing himself differently or with words better.
- He likes to learn about everything, to know how things work, to know what rules to follow, to be right, to be stubborn in his "rightness", and he wants to be "a big man" soon. :)
- He can brush his teeth completely by himself and does a good job. He also wipes himself after using the restroom now and is so proud of himself when he's completely self-sufficient. He's growing up so quickly!
This sweet girl is doing well, overall, and growing like crazy. Just yesterday I had to pack up a huge bag full of her newborn, 0-3, and 3mo clothes. Some of the 3mo ones still fit, but also the 3-6mo ones are working now. She has a long torso like Jakub did, and like I do. It's hard to get shirts and tops to snap down over her belly and diaper. :) She's also got some very adorable and chunky thighs that make smaller 3mo pants or zip-up onesies nearly impossible to wear. Jake was the same way. I don't mind at all. I love a big, healthy baby. The past couple of weeks we've seen her become a little more gassy and having problems with some of her feedings and the time immediately following them. Thankfully, a good friend of mine knew a great lactation specialist and they both came to my home last night to work with me and Sofia and help us figure out and correct a couple of things. Last night was the most peaceful night we've had with her in a week. Hopefully we'll have many more to come now. She just needs lots of help with the burps and hiccups and some better feeding positions. The specialist was so calm with her- definitely a baby whisperer. :) Sofia loved her and smiled and giggled at her a lot. The lady has had five children of her own, I guess she should know what she's doing. :)
A few things about her right now:
- I weighed her myself and think she's somewhere around 6.5-7 kilo or 14-15lbs. A little bigger than Jake at this age by a couple of weeks. I think she's 57cm or around 22.5 inches. We'll see at the doctor in 2 weeks when we go for her 3mo check-up.
- The past 4 nights she's eaten for the last time around 830-9pm and then gone to bed around 10 or 1030 depending on how long it takes to get the burps and gas out, and slept until 5 or 6am. She also goes back to bed after the morning feeding and sleeps around 3 1/2 - 4 hours before the next feeding. I'll take it.
- She's still usually only awake 1 1/2 hours before wanting to sleep again. She doesn't get to play much since we're still working on gas and hiccups a lot after feeding, but she's content through it all and doesn't cry much at all during the day.
- She's started laughing just a little at Josh when he makes funny faces and noises. She still loves something about his hair. :)
That's it for now. I hope to get a lot more pictures downloaded soon and put on here. We had family pictures taken at Jake's school 2 weeks ago and should get those back soon. I also took some of Sofia for fun the other day and I'll work on putting those up as well.
_Sofia+2+months.jpg)
