When It Rains in Washington...

...it pours at my house.

My brother is filing for divorce from his wife. Because I am a good and loving sister, he has moved in with us. Temporarily. But, in the meantime, we have a new roommate...which has caused Bryce to become almost unbearable the last few days. He is SO excited that Uncle Frog is here that he is constantly chattering, constantly asking him to play, to watch him, to do something with him, not listening, and just generally driving me slowly to insanity.

Abbie also senses something's different, so she's gone back to fussiness in the evenings...though I must say, for the most part, she is giving me more rest at night...she's dropped 1-2 feedings most nights, so that lends me at least one 5-6 hour stretch of sleep each night. Hallelujah!

Brett's late nights are creeping up on us again...which means we'll have to have another chat soon....before I get too hostile and go on strike for the umteenth time. :)

I almost can't wait to go back to work. Huh. Never thought I'd say that.

Te Amo

Bryce has been asking me how to say words in Spanish and sign language. So far, the words he's curious about are words I know. I love you, yes and no, mommy/daddy, baby, etc. When I ask him a question, he usually signs yes or no now. So cute! He has also started making up his own signs as he sees fit. He's actually not very far off the mark most of the time. Last night before I left for praise band practice he ran to the door and signed "I love you" and said "te amo". He's so darned smart, sometimes it's scary! :)

Abbie is now 2 months old. She just started powering down 5-6 oz bottles and is going longer stretches at night...I sense a full night's sleep may be on the horizon for both of us. Woohoo!

Nice Weekend

I'm slowly but surely getting the hang of this "two kids" thing. Abbie is beginning to settle into a routine (she eats at about the same time every day give or take 1/2 hour, which makes it easier for my schedule), and Bryce as usual is uber patient with me. He has begun voicing his needs very strongly (and sometimes rudely) though, so that's my cue that I need to pay more attention to him. There were a few times this weekend that I told Abbie she needed to "wait" because I was spending time with her brother...I made a point to make a big deal about it, so Bryce knew that Abbie was taking a back seat to him for a change. It was cute to watch his chest puff out. :) But, he's a great big brother, and is always wanting to hold her or help me when I'm doing something with her.

I found a great preschool activity book in my travels this weekend, so I bought Bryce a pencil box, new crayons and extra large pencils (the ones I remember using in first grade) and told him today that we're going to start "home preschool" tomorrow. He is TOTALLY excited and wanted to start today. But, I really want him to treat it like a mini-school session, so I'm making him wait until tomorrow and we'll do a little bit every day through the week. There are neat "field trip" activity ideas and a good book list too, so we'll probably hit up the library at some point this week too to pick up some of the books on the list. I'm secretly hoping that this will be a way for Bryce and I to spend some good quality time with each other every day, doing something that is both fun and will help him be ready for Kindergarten next year. I just need to remember not to force the issue when he's not into it and get creative on those days. Also, since he and Abbie will be going to a lady's home who does not have a preschool curriculum (she's a very sweet stay at home mama who is not breaking our bank by caring for our kids!), I'm hoping to take the remainder of the workbook to her house for Bryce to finish up with her during the day when I have to go back to work.

Bryce started his swimming lessons last week too. He really enjoys it, though he has a hard time with putting his face in the water. It will all come in time!