Hi everyone,
When we brought Willow home from the hospital, we were basically house-bound for awhile, afraid to take her anywhere for fear of germs. It's been very different with Seda! Now that those first hazy, sleep-deprived and sore (me) weeks are over (mostly), we've actually been getting out and about! I feel like if we didn't, I might go insane, what with the eternal winter and all. Josh is still off work (did I even mention that he was off work?); he got a few days in working for my dad doing some plumbing in their new house, and worked for Chad a few days too. Those days, I was on my own with the girls, and it was hard, I won't lie. But mostly, we've all been home (Willow has Little Huskies on Mondays and Tuesdays).
After a gymnastics session failed miserably a few months ago (Willow didn't want to participate), I decided to try again with a dance class. This time, she loves it! It's pretty funny; I spend most of the class laughing. The little girls are so cute. This photo's not the greatest, but you get the idea. Willow's the one in red.
A little more about Willow, since we've been talking a lot about Seda...I also realized I didn't do a "Willow update" on her birthday post like I used to.
How to describe Willow at age 4...hm. Willow is definitely a little girl now, not a toddler by any means. She has just recently started to really test boundaries, putting us to the test, discipline-wise. I read 3 or 4 discipline books when she was about 2, but I don't think I really needed any of that info until now. A 4-year-old's naughtiness is much more sophisticated than a 2-year-old's. Josh and I confer a lot to try to make sure we are being consistent and back each other up, and also that we are not being too harsh. "Gentle discipline" is a term you hear a lot in attachment parenting circles, but I am not sure what it really means. I guess we're figuring out our own methods as we go. If one of us is getting too angry, we try to "tag team" and relieve that person. We've learned not to criticize the other's methods in front of Willow. It is a constant challenge but I think we are improving all the time.
That said, she is also the sweetest girl, and is really funny. She really does love her baby sister, and makes up lullabies to sing to Seda when she is crying.
Willow loves to draw and color, and is pretty darn good at it. She is learning letter sounds at the moment and can write many letters. She still loves to sing, and makes up her own songs. Often they are about rainbows, horses, mountains, clouds, things like that. She does like to dress up; her favorite outfit is this party dress my mom got for her. She's wear it every day if she could.
Some of Willow's favorite foods are spaghetti, cereal, yogurt, carrots...and chocolate. She is not so attached to Elmo, Da or any other specific animal anymore but she loves her little pillow. She loves being read to - we read many stories every day. That is my quick summary of Willow. :)
We've been taking advantage of the endless winter and still trying to get outside. We brought Willow skiing again the other day, and Seda came along too.
She made a snowman with Daddy.
Here is a snowman her class at school made (with a little help from the teacher of course). Willow actually has her back to the camera (she's the one in the light green jacket), but I love this picture. Can you believe it was taken on April 8? (Actually, today is April 23 and we have just as much snow as we did then, if not more).
Here's Josh, Willow and Scout hiking at Maasto Hiito. I was behind them with Seda.
My preemie mom club got together at Andi's house one day. It was the first time we got together with the kids, since Mary joined. So it was the first time we all met her son Grey. He's the one on the left. What a cutie. These kids were all 25 or 26-weekers. We had a ton of fun by the way. After a while, we put the kids in front of a movie and took a hot tub!
Willow and I (and Seda) have been frequenting story time at the library, which is just a short walk away.
Two weekends ago, we all got out for live music - twice! First we went and saw our friend Lucas play at a bar in Houghton. Yes, we brought two kids to the bar. It was cool though. It was really early, and very chill (the photo makes it seem like no one was there, but there were actually some people there).
The next day we went to the "dam jam", which was a fundraiser concert for the Keweenaw Land Trust. There were many different musicians playing. It was fun, although got pretty crowded at the end.
We went out to Scott and Sharon's house to meet Jari. He's the one who was not visible in the "baby in, baby out" photo from my last post, Now, he is here!
So that's what we've been up to, along with a lot of hanging out around the house. Seda is 6 weeks old now. She is doing a lot of smiling lately, and just in the past 2 days we've heard some cooing. Fun stuff. Nursing is going well. Too well, really. Every time I feed her, the boob that I'm not using leaks like crazy, which makes it a little harder to nurse in public, though I do it. At home, I use a bottle to collect the milk from the other boob. I'm accumulating a nice freezer stash this way (though I have no plans to end up with two chest freezers full this time!).
We've also been trying to get her started on bottles. Josh has been giving her one a day. We've had mixed results.
Well, I have to go and pick up Willow...gotta run! Here are a few more photos to leave you with.
