So this is an awkward double-post. I typed up a Thankful Thursday last week, but forgot to actually post it. So... first half is that Thankful Thursday post, second half is just a "Lately" post from the weekend, etc.
1. A smooth preschool transition! This is the first week that Aunty Ashleigh hasn't been at preschool for the kids. We have been mentally preparing them for this change for many weeks now, and apparently we did a good job! Dominic was encouraging Emilia all morning before school, "Aunty Ashleigh won't be there, but I'll be there with you!" then Emilia responds, "It might feel a bit funny with no Aunty Ashleigh." and Dom answers, "Ya, but we can still play!" (HOORAY FOR PREP!!!).
Drop off went off without a hitch, and apparently they both had truly excellent days. They both played, and interacted with more people, talked more, etc. I think the transition to starting preschool without Aunty Ashleigh would have been super challenging, but now that she has succeeded in making it a safe place for them, they were clearly ready to go out on their own!
Emilia talked nonstop at dinner about all the things they did, what their friends did, what their teachers did, etc. She kept saying, "One more thing about preschool!... *shares a story about one girl being sad because she got bonked, so Emilia pretending to bonk her own head to make her friend feel better*" Like are you kidding me?! So sweet and makes us so proud!
2. Sherlock seems okay. He had a bit of a flare up one day with his stomach issues and we were really worried we'd have to get him back on the expensive stomach repairing meds for another round. Luckily it appears we dodged that bullet this time! We caught the signs and symptoms really early, and with some pepcid, slight change in diet, and a day of rest with no walk, he was back to his regular self within 36 hours! Rolling around, pestering us to chase him and play with him, and intensely staring as he sees us putting socks on, anticipating a walk. Whew!
3. Frozen Yoga. I have some friends who I know have done Frozen Yoga with their kids, but I don't remember who or when I heard about it. I was just going through the notes in my phone the other day and found I had written it down. I decided to put it on Sunday morning while Dave was out and let me tell you, Dom jumped right in there! He was super into it, copying most of the poses. I couldn't keep up with the second move because of my erm... physical limitations. Emilia mostly watched, but I think if/when we do it again she may get a little more involved. Super cute and Dom was in a great mood for the next hour afterwards!
4. Learning the Enneagram. I am a 1 with a 9 wing. David is a 4 with a 5 wing. If you know the Enneagram, you know why I am so passionate about it! It has helped significantly with communication/understanding between Dave and I. I have learned things about myself that I did not know at all. I always thought I was pretty self-aware, but one major difference is learning about how I process anger. I always thought it was really hard to make me angry. Apparently I get angry, and I just suppress and stuff down those "negative" emotions and they bubble over in little ways like irritability for example (Dave would tell you I am NEVER irrational or irritable and nit-picky! Haha...). Now if I catch myself in one of "those" moods, I am able to sit down later on and start thinking, "Okay... so I was incredibly irritable and every little thing was driving me crazy and making me snarky earlier. What's really going on here?" And then I am able to discuss it with Dave and move past it instead of stuffing it down continually until I blow up and actually get angry!
With my 1-ness of suppressing anger, comes my 9 wing which is non-confrontational, and known as the "peacemaker". Thus, it is hard to make me really angry and not be able to suppress it. I'm learning that it's okay and healthy to express those emotions, but I don't like to. It feels like I don't have control, and like I'm letting these emotions get the better of me, when I prefer to be a highly logical, objective, "good" person.
For the record, the 4's are known to be highly emotional, and their emotions and need to be unique basically drive their existence. Once again, Dave and I being polar opposites becomes a theme haha!
Lately...
Last week I was outside with the kids sit-ervising while they had a picnic snack. After their snack I casually asked Dom if he'd like to try his pedal bike again (he hasn't tried since his birthday). He said, "No!........... yes." We helmeted him up and got him going! He is still very much learning the coordination of pedaling, so he requires help from us holding him up. He also hasn't quite understood that if he stops pedaling he has to put his feet down, but we're okay helping out to promote success at this point. He's rather sensitive to failure, so whatever we can do to encourage him! He is verrrrrry proud of himself for giving it a good go, and I think by the end of spring he'll be flying around!
Since Dom has adopted the big bike officially, that means Emilia gets the strider! We had previously bought a helmet for Dom that ended up being too small, so Emilia inherited that as well. She was absolutely tickled and equally proud of herself for trying out this strider. We took about 15 minutes to make a lap around the complex, but she is a determined little girl.
We had an incredible sunrise Thursday morning last week.
I'm suddenly feeling nesting pressure as two sisters are due this week! I think sometimes I forget that I'm still 4 weeks behind them. But then I am reminded that sometimes babies come early, so I better get my stuff together! We set up the bassinet to make sure we knew how, and we set up the big girl crib and put it in Dom's room to create a smoother transition for room-sharing than suddenly moving her to a bottom bunk under Dom's bed when Emilia's been used to her cozy mini-crib her whole life. This week my goal is to get our hospital bag prepped/packed.
Saturday morning I had to pick something up from a Marketplace purchase and it happened to be right by Noel Booth in Langley. At the last second I asked Dave if he and the kids wanted to come too and we could take Sherlock swimming! It was a chaotic "load up the car" few minutes, but we got there! Dom thought to bring a bucket and shovel, and asked for his muddy buddy because it would be good for the beach. Good thing someone's thinking! It was great. The kids had fun, and we haven't been out with the 5 of us in a long time, so the fresh air and sunshine was magnificent.
At 4pm there was a hockey game (I am LOVING all these early games!), so Dom set up his "court" in the living room, got his Canucks shirt on, and got ready for his big moment. During the anthem he asked me to sing along, and I just unmuted it for him instead. He stood at "centre ice" with his stick just like the players, and then when the camera panned to the bench, he ran over to the ottoman and sat down to be a player on the bench watching. I can't even with how cute he is. During the game we had our stereotypical boy, playing hockey and cheering and pressing his "goal horn" (there's a website with a button for each team that plays their goal horn/song). We also had our stereotypical girl - Emilia ran upstairs and brought down her Elsa dress, asked me to put a braid in her hair, and ran around the kitchen singing Frozen songs by herself for a solid 20 minutes. These kids! <3
In the evening Dave and I ordered some sushi to have a mini-date, and then did a Zoom call with my family to play some games. We played some "truth comes out" or something game from the Ellen Degeneres "Psych" app. We just played the free version, but plan to upgrade to get some more questions in the deck. I thought it was pretty funny haha. Our family loves to poke fun at each other and ourselves though :)
On Sunday Dave was at church, so I watched some of the service while the kids sat with me and then went to their rice buckets. It was mom's birthday, so we headed to see Oma and Opa at 11 for some cake and to wish her a happy birthday. When we got home I crashed. I am getting my iron checked this week again, but oh my goodness. I just cannot function properly right now. I'm taking iron supplements every day, but maybe I need to up my dose? Or maybe this is just my life now, I don't know. It pains me how much I can't get done because my body just won't let me. I can't work out, I have to nap (which almost always ends up being 60-90 minutes), I don't get work or chores done during quiet time, and I am struggling all day every day.
I'm starting maternity leave on April 1st, and to be honest I'm actually nervous about having this baby and NOT working. Work is my retreat. I get to go into the office 10 hours a week, and be a grown up, with no interruptions from children, no bouncing around or guilt about all my responsibilities. I can focus on my priorities around work, use my brain, and feel productive. I'm quite anxious about this luxury being taken away from me. This is so the opposite of what many people say leading up to mat leave, and the opposite of what I've said both other times, where I was counting down and literally had a paper chain in my office to see the date get closer haha. I am still going to be working a bit during maternity leave and claiming my hours with the CRA, but it will be from home unless I take the baby into the office with me. I'm nervous about what the next year looks like balancing work and home life. I wish I just wanted to take a break from work and focus on home life, but I need both for my mental health! I'd rather take a break from home life to do some work right now haha!
Anyway, that's my mental health vent for the day :)
No comments:
Post a Comment