Happy Halloween!

Snow / Gemma

This week, Daddy was in Colorado (Monday through late Friday) at another workshop, and Grandma Ruane/ Gemma came to stay with us to help with backup. We are glad she came!


We all have been rotating being sick, so having Grandma be around for backup was even more timely. This week, Kiana's immune system finally gave in and she got Aidan's cough. Fortunately, I took her to the doctor on Monday, she got on antibiotics on Thursday, and she already seems to be doing better, which is a good thing. By Thursday, I finally started turning a corner with my horrible cough, and didn't need Nyquil to sleep at night anymore (hooray). Aidan is doing a lot better than he was, but has a lagging cough, which I find frustrating. I'm looking forward to the delivery of a new humidifier for his room, which I'm hoping will help. Both kids are taking inhaler medicine to help, and I'm keeping track of antibiotics, inhalers, and ibuprofen (when needed) on a whiteboard, so I can keep track of who got what medicine when!!!


Having Grandma around was great. She tirelessly played "monster" for Aidan and his friends at the playground, sang "Itsy bitsy Spider" with Kiana (her FAVORITE song right now), and cooked meals. On Friday, she even took Aidan on a movie date: "Megamind" was playing at Aidan's big school (PS 187) next door at 7PM, and Aidan's friend Derek (from the second floor in our building who also goes to PS 187 in the afternoons) was going with his Grandma. So, the two boys ended up going on a double Grandma date! They both dressed up (Aidan as Batman and Derek as a dinosaur) and had fun: Aidan stayed awake till the end, and then passed out at 9PM at home, but Derek fell asleep in the middle of the movie and had to go home early. Kiana was happy to go to sleep without distractions. So everyone was happy!


Daddy came home on Saturday, and everyone was happy to have him back. The weather even celebrated by SNOWING (our first!) ALL DAY on Saturday!!! (In October! I can't believe it!) Alex and the kids were THRILLED, and even I admitted it was beautiful, though I can't believe the prediction of yet another winter coming already! We took the day to enjoy puttering around the house: we bought pumpkins and decorated them (Aidan designed the one with triangular features, and I made a "grandpa" pumpkin for Kiana, who is smitten with him); and I made tons of food: hash browns and ham for breakfast, home made chicken soup for lunch, pizza for dinner, mulled cider and (best of all) pumpkin mochi for dessert and snacking! It was fund to be homebodies for a little while together.


The big news since the last blog post for me is that I am going to have a job in the spring!! I am going to teach a class on at Hunter College starting in January as an Adjunct Professor. I am thrilled! It won't pay much, but I am looking forward to getting the teaching experience, building relationships, and transitioning into work more gradually when it would have been if it were all at once. It's wonderful!

Sick / Geppa

Everyone has been sick the last couple of weeks. Kiana and Aidan have been alternating getting different variations of viruses. And, this weekend, I am finally coming down with a cold myself! We are also hunting spiders in the house, since Kiana keeps getting bitten, and that is frustrating. :( The changing seasons are ushering in all sorts of difficulties!


This week, Alex was in San Antonio, Texas, for a workshop. Grandpa Ruane/ Geppa was our superhero and came down to stay with us the entire time for backup. He was wonderful! He scrubbed huge amounts of our house, and helped me go go through a lot of old stuff and either throw it out or get it ready to contribute to our church's monthly thrift sale. I am thrilled to get rid of junk!


Friday was Grandpa's birthday, and we celebrated with a low-key but fun day. We had a special breakfast (muffins, fruit-salad, Canadian bacon), and had brownies and ice cream after diner. The kids had also created a beautiful "Happy Birthday" card/sign, which we hung on the wall all day. It was nice!


On Saturday, Aidan did a make-up soccer practice at Inwood Hill park (he has skipped the last two because of being sick). It was a gorgeous, sunny day with blue skies and white fluffy clouds, and it was wonderful to be outside. Kiana had fun chasing ducks with Grandpa while I enjoyed watching Aidan work on passing, not bunching up around the ball, and scoring goals (lots!). For lunch, we had pastries from the Bread Alone truck. On our way home, we picked up fresh veggies and apple cider from the farmer's market. It was lovely!


On Sunday, we went to Aidan's friend Gage's birthday party in the park, in the morning. Then Grandpa went home. Now Kiana is napping while Aidan plays his "Cars" playstation game. After being up from 1-4AM last night (Kiana was up when Aidan got up, and while he went back to sleep, she decided it was time to party - aurgh! Grandpa was a huge help, but I'm still exhausted!), I'm ready for a nap, too. Daddy will get home before bedtime tonight, and we are all going to be happy to see him!

More school, work, & smiles

There have been a lot of work-till-midnight nights recently, even though both kids (as of Monday!) are now in school 8/9am-2:50/3:00PM. I've sent of three job applications and have more I am working on. I have a little breathing space this morning, so here's an update!


AIDAN
- Doing GREAT with going to two schools (daycare at Miss Nana's and pre-K at PS 187) every day. He LOVES pre-K with his teachers, Miss Dorothy and Miss Narcissa, especially lunch time and snack time, where he regularly is allowed to choose *chocolate milk* to drink, and often has hambergers and french fries to eat!
- Got sick with a virus over the weekend. Had a low fever but was totally cheerful. LOVED staying home with me Monday and Tuesday, where he (for the most part) let me work while he played "Cars" driving games on our Playstation and watched movies (Wall-E and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids).
- Is being INCREDIBLY sweet with Kiana. He talks to her in a high sing-song voice, laughs with her when she does silly things, and says thank you regularly when she gives him things (shoes, trash, toys that he doesn't want). It is really sweet to see them together.
- Has started back up with his soccer school, and loves it. The first day he went back, our babysitter Laurie took him, and she said that he kicked *7 goals*!! This is with him being in a 4-5 year old class, where no one else kicked any! He also seems to be loving being back in it (the summer swim break was a good thing, I think), so that is the best. (On the down side, soccer school is held in a place that seems to have TONS of spiders and mosquitos, and Aidan and Kiana have both gotten a ton of horrible bites after going there! :( )
- Is REALLY into superheros right now. His favorites are Batman, Spiderman, and "Kid Flash" - who, as far as I can tell, is a very, very fast kid superhero (based on the adult superhero, Flash) who he and his friend Tyler have made up! Aidan likes saying that he can go "Kid Flash fast!" (that means, SUPER super SUPER fast!)


KIANA
- Doing GREAT with daycare. Since Thursday last week, she hasn't even been crying when Alex drops her off anymore (YAY!!!!). This week, she started going 8/9AM-3PM, up from 8/9AM-1PM from before, and she immediately and it went without a hitch: she had her normal afternoon nap there for 1/5 hrs both days, and was cheerful when I picked her up at the later time. (YAY!)
- Doing AMAZING language right now. She signed "book" and "pooping" among other things this week, has been doing a lot of sounds that sound like the signs she is making too (e.g., she said "buh!" when she signed book), and generally is completely clear about getting her point across. I feel like we are already having conversations! It's great.
- LOVING art right now. She does a lot of art at school, and she regularly pulls out paper and markers at home to draw. We are trying to have her mostly draw on the paper, but she also loves drawing on the bottoms of her feet and on her forehead (agh!).
- Becoming a MONKEY. She is suddenly into climbing up on the kid chairs in Aidan's room, sitting on them, standing on them, climbing off of them, and pushing them down the hallway (very loud). She also is racing around on the play structures, going up and down the slides, and climbing up and down lots and lots of stairs. It's scary, but impressive. :)



FAMILY
- We went to the Catskills two weekends ago with Grandma/Gma and Grandpa/Gpa Ruane. Aidan raked their lawn with Daddy and LOVED jumping and hiding in the leaf pile! Kiana now acts like she, too, owns the place, and will not let Grandpa out of her sight for more than 2 minutes!
- This past weekend we went to the Medieval Festival in Fort Tryon. Alex bought Aidan got his first toy sword and shield, which is is thrilled to have. He told me that now he can be just like Wiglaf (from the Dragon Slayer books)!
- I have been working madly on job applications, and LOVING it.It's stress, but a wonderful I'm-working-on-my-own-work-using-my-brain-and-pursuing-my-own-dreams kind of stress. I am thrilled that the kids are doing well in increased external care, and am happier to see them when we are together. I think both they and Alex are happier because I am happier, so I am excited about this journey out of babyland and towards a world with greater balance for everyone. I know it will be an adventure, but it has already been one! This is just a new chapter, and I'm excited about the possibilities.