Congratulations to my cousin, Pat Steadman, who just won a special election to become Colorado State Senator for District 31. The swearing-in ceremony is this coming Friday. Visit http://patsteadman.com for all the details.
We’re so proud of Pat, and know he’s going to do great things!
05/23/09 6:10 AM at 06:10am Neal Family Milestones
Happy Mother’s Day momma! We hope you have a great day.
Anna says:
Thank you mommy for all that you do for me. Thank you for playing with me, especially princesses. Thank you for letting me watch Diego and Dora and Ariel videos, and for helping me with my stretches.
Thanks for taking me to ride Doodle the horse, and to visit Susan and Lisa, and my friends at preschool and daycare (except that one boy I don’t like). Thank you for my baby brother — he’s not so bad even though I wish he was a sister. Thank you for taking me to Old McDonald’s and making me smoothies and for making sure the Big Bad Wolf doesn’t get me. Thank you for playing raincloud and for singing songs and reading books to me. And for giving me just one more hug every night. And a kiss. And a hug.
I love you momma. You are a very good momma.
Noah says:
Smile! SMILE! Gaaaaarrrr. Aggle, flaggle klabble. Snurp. Rumpy flappy. Gaaaaaa, brrrrrrrr. SMILE! SMILE!
(Momma! I love you momma! Thank you for boobies! And snuggles. And holding me when I’m tired. And boobies! Momma! Love! Love!)
Neal says:
What she said. And he said.
Thank you for being so damned amazing, hon. Thanks for keeping this ship afloat, for keeping the kids happy, putting up with me, and somehow managing not to go crazy(er) from all the stress and lack of sleep. I really don’t know how you do it.
You are an amazing momma. And we love you so very, very, very much!
05/10/09 5:00 AM at 05:00am Neal Children Milestones Parenting
Wow. What happened? It’s been a busy while of things here lately.
April was… filled with birthdays! Happy birthday dad! Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to Roby and Colin! Anna helped make cakes and blow out candles and open presents. Yeah cake!
Noah’s growing like a weed. Huge thunder thighs on the boy (check our pics on Flickr), but otherwise he’s just pretty large-ish like his sister was. Such a happy kid, though, full of smiles and smiles and more smiles. He generally behaves himself except right around Anna’s bedtime when he gets grumpy and starts to lose his little mind. Yeah, bedtimes are tough these days in the Enssle household!
Anna’s been doing well. She’s getting more and more used to Noah every day, and she’s even being really sweet and loving with him lately. (Though from time to time she does ask us when we’re going to get her a sister…). She’s pretty much adapted to preschool, and is doing well there, too. We just had her evaluation with the school district therapists and, contrary to our own expectations, we’re probably going to “mainstream” her and keep her at Burlington instead of Tiny Tim. The hope being that she’s enough of a social butterfly that she’ll work hard to emulate the other kids and what they’re all doing on the playground and in the classroom.
Meanwhile Tara’s been somehow managing to keep up with a sysiphean workload. She’s back to work part time, and balancing all the drama at work with Anna’s horseback riding, PT, OT, preschool, and daycare appointments. Oh, and the whole breastfeeding thing keeps her running on about 3-4 hours of sleep a night. I’d like to say I help out but it really seems like a drop in the bucket these days compared to her crazy schedule. (Thanks hon!)
Debbie joined us for a week, and it was wonderful. I think she had a great time with the grandkids, and she was an enormous help around the house. With her help we’ve finally got Noah’s room painted, curtains hung in the living room, some furniture re-arranged, and mostly caught up on laundry. Oh, and we ate well, too!
Work has been good for me. We’re busy! Very busy! Which is great in this economy, so I’m not complaining at all. Frankly, I’ve been spoiled of late, since Tara managed to let me sneak away for a couple days of camping and rock climbing with the guys from work, and then to a conference last week in Vegas. (‘Twas my first time in Vegas! Wow. It’s full of stars…). I owe her lots and lots of babysitting.
Max is annoyed at the dearth of lap real estate these days, but he’s getting by as best he can.
Well, enough said for now. Hopefully you’re all a little bit caught up. Really just the usual crazy insanity here.
05/9/09 6:25 AM at 06:25am Neal Babies Birthdays Children Family Parenting
We’ve been a little busy lately and have failed to post some of what’s been going on! Anna is now a big 3 year old, and has wasted no time in her desire to be a “big kid.” She wants to do everything that the “big kids” are doing. Today Neal took her sledding for the first time on a pretty big hill near our house. She did great sledding by herself and wanted to sled down the big hill just like the “big kids” were doing, which necessitated her climbing up that huge hill many times! Neal was really proud of her, and I’m sad that I missed it!!
Speaking of other big kids…we have a rather large baby in our house. Noah had his 2 month appointment a couple of weeks ago. The little man tipped the scales at 13 lbs (97+th percentile) and measured 23.5 inches in length (95th percentile)! What can we say…we have large children! Other than his size, he is healthy and doing well. As Neal posted recently, Noah has started smiling and talking a lot. He’s really such a happy baby. Anna’s 3 year appointment saw her measuring at 39 inches tall (95th percentile) and 33.5 lbs (75th percentile). She’s fallen off her growth curve a little in weight, but she had been sick the week prior to her appointment. We aren’t terribly concerned about it and neither is the doctor.
March was a very busy month for us. We did another round of constraint therapy with Anna down at Children’s Hospital. Anna was so cooperative with it all, and gained quite a bit of strength in her left hand/arm during this round. At about the same time, she transitioned from early intervention therapy services to therapy through the school district. She started district-based preschool the Tuesday after her birthday, and seems to like it. I guess I should say we *think* she likes it, but honestly she doesn’t like to talk too much about it, which makes Neal and me a little nervous. We’re also not sure how much “therapy” time she’s receiving and what the level of quality is. The other day I asked her if she’d seen one of her therapists that day, and Anna told me that she had and that they watched a movie. Huh? What’s the therapeutic value of a movie? Having been so incredibly hands-on during Anna’s therapy sessions in the past, not knowing what’s going on while she’s having therapy at school is more than a little frustrating for me. I’m thankful we are able to augment her district-based therapy services with private OT and PT sessions.
This week marks the end of my maternity leave. I’ve got mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I will very much miss my shadow that’s been with me 24-7 for the last 11 weeks. On the other hand, I’ve not had a moment to myself in 11 weeks, so work will be somewhat liberating. I feel less angst about leaving Noah at daycare than I did when I left Anna. Noah will be attending the same daycare as Anna, so the surroundings are familiar to us. We know the caregivers in the baby room (they took care of Anna when she was wee), and have a very good relationship with the center’s director. Still, it’s hard to leave your baby with others because no one can care for him like us. I hope his first day is not too stressful – I imagine mine will be.
03/30/09 1:08 PM at 01:08pm Tara Babies Birthdays Children Health Milestones Parenting Work
Happy birthday, dearest little one! Three years ago today you were born into this world.
I can’t even believe it. It seems like just yesterday. And it seems like ages ago, too. Granny and Papa are coming for a visit next week, and we’ll have a little party with family then.
But today you will open presents from your Grandad and smile.
Today Oma and Opa will come for brunch and give you hugs.
Today you will get to eat chocolate and “pinkalicious” ice cream.
Today we’ll take you out to Red Robin and get you a pink balloon.
Today your daddy and mommy will try their very best to make you laugh and giggle. Because that is the very best sound in the entire world.
Have a very happy birthday, my love!
And here’s wishing you many, many, many more.
Just a quick note to let folks know I just posted some new photos on the Flickr site, including a short movie of Mr. Noah smiling!
Oh, and Anna’s been doing just great with her new cast (which is very, very pink!). Seriously. We’re all amazed at her positive attitude and she’s getting some really good therapy done. Her new therapist said that the cast might just make it all simpler for her, in a way, by removing the constant conflict in her mind about which hand to use for each and every task.
03/7/09 6:21 AM at 06:21am Neal Babies Family Milestones Movies Photos
So it has been awhile since we last posted. Pretty much everyone in the house has been sick! Anna had a suspected case of pneumonia and Neal, Noah and I have had colds. We’ve been using hand sanitizer like crazy, but I’m not sure how effective it is when the preschooler is running around sneezing and coughing on everyone and everything. Anna has yet another cold that has turned her into a sloppy, runny-nosed, weepy-eyed monster. I feel so badly for her, but the whining does grate on the nerves after awhile. She’s so generously passed this most recent cold on to her father, who is battling it with copious amounts of vitamin c and coldeeze lozenges.
We took Noah in to the doctor shortly after his 5-week milestone to make sure that his cold hadn’t turned into something more serious (namely, pneumonia). He weighed in at 11 lbs. 13 oz! Looking at him, it is hard to believe he is only 7 weeks old. He’s now wearing some 3-6 month clothing! Anyway, his cold hadn’t turned into anything more serious, but it certainly has proved to be long-lived. He still has a stuffy nose 2 weeks later!
We’re starting another round of intensive constraint therapy for Anna this week. Starting today we’ll be wearing a cast on her right arm to encourage her to use her left. I know it sounds strange to say it, but we are actually looking forward to this session, as Anna’s been more and more stubborn about using her left hand. We think she is in need of a “cognitive reset” that the casting seems to provide. Unfortunately, she’ll be casted on her birthday again this year (we were in Alabama last year at this time).
Speaking of birthdays, Anna will be 3 this month! It is so hard for me to believe that 3 years have passed since she was born. Lately we’ve been looking at lots of pictures and videos of when Anna was Noah’s age (Anna’s been curious about what she was like when she was a baby), and that has been a true walk down memory lane. With her third birthday comes the end of our early intervention home therapy services. She’ll be receiving therapy through the school district now, and starts at our neighborhood preschool two days after her birthday. We’re hoping that she fits in there and enjoys her two mornings per week.
Other than those developments, things are pretty “normal” (if you call having zero control and limited sleep “normal”). We’re learned a few things:
We hope to post some pictures and videos in the near future. Noah is actually smiling now, which is such a joy to see.
03/4/09 2:12 PM at 02:12pm Tara Babies Children Family Health Milestones Parenting 1 comment
Mr. Noah is now just past his three-week-iversary. Doing well, doing all the things you’d expect a three-week-old boy to do (eating, pooping, having gas pains, sleeping during the day mostly and mostly not during the night, et cetera). I’ve just posted some new photos, including some from his first bath (!).
Tara and I are starting to get into a bit of a rhythm? Maybe? Well, okay maybe not. It’ll take awhile, I think. Thrice-weekly contributions of yummy delicious food from my co-workers are indeed helping, however. We weren’t great about cooking during the week with just one child, and with two it’s proving even more challenging. (Thanks Foraker!)
Meanwhile: I can’t believe I’m sick again? Not. Fair.
So Debbie left for home and hearth in Kansas on Thursday, leaving us all alone! Sniff!
It’s definitely been a bit of a challenge, trying to coordinate all the demands of a new baby with the needs and wants of a very demanding almost-three-year-old. Tara’s spent the last two days at home with both of them, and it’s been a little hard. But she’s learning. She says the trick is that you just have get over the fact that there will be moments when one of them (and sometimes both of them) are just going to be upset and screaming about the lack of immediate attention. Obviously, I’m completely terrified of the day when I’ll have to manage both of the little buggers all alone myself!
Work for me has been a challenge too, mainly because of the sleep deprivation. Anna’s been up in the middle of the night for at least an hour or two every night since we brought Noah home. She’s caught a new cold, and I’m taking her in to the doctor this morning to get her ears checked since an ear infection is often the culprit when she’s up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. That being said, we’re also willing to admit that it might just be a combination of a cold + the psychological impact of the new baby that’s making sleep even more of a scarce commodity that usual.
Thanks to Debbie and the folks at work, though, for helping to keep our freezer stocked with food. Not having to worry so much about what’s for dinner is a godsend, since it’s probably going to take us awhile to figure out a new rhythm!
01/31/09 7:46 AM at 07:46am Neal Babies Children Family Health Parenting 2 comments
Well, it’s back to work for me today. Boo. I’m really not sure I’m ready. I know Tara’s not ready for me to head back. But duty calls. We’ll have to see how things work with me running on only about four hours of sleep each night…
Meanwhile: Noah’s doing well. Working on getting his days and nights straight, but otherwise just doing the usual new baby things (i.e. sleeping, eating, eating, awake for 15 minutes, sleeping, eating, pooping, sleeping, eating, etc.). There are some new photos up on the Flickr site.
It was too snowy yesterday for us to get to Anna’s physical therapy appointment in the morning, and the riding center cancelled her hippotherapy because it was too cold (apparently even horses don’t like 7 degree weather!). So we spent the day hanging out with family.
Debbie’s been cooking up a storm before she leaves on Thursday, trying to stock our freezer. And the good folks at Foraker are chipping in too — at this rate we won’t have to cook anything until mid-March or so. Which is awesome, and for which we are exceedingly grateful!
Okay. Time for a quick nap before I have to hop in the shower and get ready to get Ms. Anna up and moving and off to daycare before I head in to work.
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