February has been awesome. Great weather - when's the last time I could say that about FEBRUARY? I can't complain...we've been able to get out of the house and enjoy sunshine, fresh air, fairly mild temps & playgrounds!
My work life (schedule, on call, mandation, classes, stress, etc) is actually improving and I feel like we've been livin' it up this month! Speaking of classes & stress - our entire unit (attendings, residents, nurses) have been mandated to become certified in fetal monitoring. You know all those lines on the neverending strip of paper that prints out of the machine that is attached to the monitors on moms belly while in labor? Maybe you have no idea what I'm referring to, but all those lines and jibberish actually mean something and we, as nurses and docs, have to "read" the strips in order to know if mom & baby are healthy & happy...-ish...pretty much. Anyway, I took the certification exam after a long weekend of 12 hr days of work & mommy-ing...needless to say, I wasn't feeling up for the challenge at that particular time in life. There was no studying or prep...just a wonderful teacher from Seattle WA who came and delivered a kick a** 6 hr review course before the test that Monday. I went in with the mindset that if I don't know this stuff, perhaps I need a new career! Received my letter in the mail saturday telling me that I am, in fact, not the absent minded dummy that I thought I was after taking the exam. ;-) Sweet.
My kids have been great. We're coming into a really happy time frame here. Stella is emerging into this babbling, bashful, yet attention-seeking squeally baby. She smiles all day long! We've recently dubbed her the pterodactyl baby...for obvious reasons...she screeches like a pterodactyl!! It's the shrillest screechy scream I've ever heard and it mostly debuts when she's hungry and sees that the bowl of food is close, but not close enough to her tummy!!! :) She's awesome. My baby now and always will be. She loves food and is starting to pick up teeny tiny things (like carpet fuzz, etc!) and put it in her mouth. Finger foods aren't far away. She gobbles up baby Mum-mums (rice biscuit looking things) and I've started giving her frozen fruit puree cubes in her fresh fruit mesh feeder. This week I bought a variety of fruits & veggies to really start broadening her diet. Should be interesting - I bought kale, turnips, beets, blueberries, carrots, strawberries. She's pretty much just had greens & yellow/orange food. I've even seen some babyfood combos with chia seeds (high in DHA and some other good stuff) so I'm thinking about adding some of that. I have fun with the babyfood making - always funny to see what color her cheeks will be stained today. :) The vibrant colors from the fresh babyfood blow my mind.
Ava is growing in LEAPS & BOUNDS! I think she's at the height of the "why" asking stage. Oh Em Gee!!! My brain can't even keep up with her why's...lol. Our whole day is comprised of "why mommy?". I try to explain it all the best I can, but sometimes I'm like, "Ava, mommy's brain needs a break from thinking!" ha!! She so so so loves books. I can't read her enough books. She's also big into hearing random stories. After reading her a few books at bedtime she says, "ok momma, tell me a story" and we have to come up with the most random stories ever. Sometimes I'll tell her bible stories, or the 3 little pigs or something, but after awhile she wants to hear a "new" story and I have to make one up. More mommy brain power...lol :). The wheels turn so quickly in her little mind. Preschool is going really well. She loves learning. I've backed off on the "paperwork" learning and we just play, read, listen to music & sing songs. Although she has been asking me lately to tell her to find the shapes on old preschool papers I've printed off. We do paperwork type stuff for maybe 15 minutes at a time...then the attention span dwindles. She learns & retains so much through reading & musical play. We've added some little chores to her daily life as well. Just little things that make her feel accomplished like getting dressed, brushing teeth, making bed, brushing hair, clean up toys in bedroom every morning. I do them along with her and then she gets a sticker for her chart. I love watching her learn. It's one of the top reasons for my serious homeschooling consideration I've been bouncing around in my head lately. We're lucky to live in a mini metropolis with so many resources for homeschoolers at our fingertips. I'm just beginning to look into homeschooling co-ops & groups (there are so many around here!) and see if its something we could do. Even if just for a couple years. We'll see where this goes! We're always on some kind of adventure over here!
Some pics...
