The Monteiro Family

1. Carter is HUGE! He wasn’t all that into eating solid foods when we first started but over the past week or so, he’s really gotten into it. He eats everything! And when the bowl is empty, he gets MAD. We are wondering if his internal “full meter” is broken. He has put on a ton of weight and is now about 19 pounds! Yikes!

2. This week was bad. I came down with a weird strain of strep and had to be put on a very strong antibiotic. So strong that for a week Carter had to survive on frozen breast milkand I had to pump and dump. Thank God for my huge frozen supply and thank God Carter went back to nursing like we had never stopped when I was finished with the meds.

3. Lauren was home sick most of the week. Turns out after 5 days of a high fever she came down with pneumonia. The 12th was her best day. She got to visit me at school (note the Sheehan School Visitor sticker) and make several phone calls to her favorite people while playing at home in her kitchen with Daddy.

4. Love the new food masher for things like banana and avocado that can’t really be mashed in advance and frozen.

5. When you’re sick, you get to eat a whole lot of kid friendly food, like chicken nuggets and french fries. At least they are whole wheat breaded chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries!

6. Did I mention that Carter LOVES to eat?

7. Is that a beautiful face or what?

8. This was a chaotic week as is evidenced by the mess all over the counter by the front door.

9. Lauren visited me at school today to bring me my laptop power cord that I had left at home. She even stayed for a story. She fits right in in Kindergarten!

10. My responsible girl loves to help clean up by putting her dirty dishes in the sink.

11. To add to the chaos of the week, the motherboard in our refrigerator died causing a fan not to work properly and the temperature to rise in te freezer. My handy hubby put a fan behind the fridge to keep things properly cool until the repair guy could come and fix it. Thankfully it was still under warranty!

12. He’s just such a happy baby!

When I think about what I would want for Mother’s Day I often think about brunch out at a nice restaurant with extended family and actually being able to enjoy my meal because my husband will handle the kids…or I think about spending the day getting a haircut, a mani/pedi, and a massage.

Well this year, I was still feeling so sick when Mother’s Day arrived that all I was dreaming about was spending the day resting and leaving meal prep, dishes, laundry, and kid entertainment to John. Well I must say, he delivered on this year’s Mother’s Day wish…and I got a card to boot!

Did he prepare 3 square meals for the kids? No, but Lauren was also still sick and wasn’t all that into eating so basic kid friendly food worked out just fine. Was the kitchen cleaned the way I would clean it? No, but the majority of the dishes were loaded and unloaded and were not backing up and I didn’t have to do any of the work. Was the laundry folded and put away properly? John’s was. Mine was put away a little disheveled but it was put away. The kids was washed and dry…I’ll get to putting it away at some point. Were the toys picked up? No, but I can live with clutter for a few days, at least it is not dirty.

The bottom line is, Johnny really stepped up when I needed him to. All of the housework may not have been done the way I would have done it and maybe not in the same timeline that I would have done it, but it got done plenty good enough. And he did it without needing to ask WHAT needed to be done, and without complaint. The kids were happy, rested, and fed. I got to rest. It was a great Mather’s Day. I consider myself SO lucky to have such a great husband. I don’t know that I would have been as patient and as understanding as he has been these past 5 days if the table was reversed. I owe him big time. Good thing his birthday and Father’s Day are both coming so he can get what he is due!

I’ve been fighting off a stuffy nose and dry throat for a week or two. Normally, this would be no big deal and my body would get rid of the cold before it turned into something nasty enough for me to actually take a day off work. In fact, I think every sick day I’ve taken for at least the past two and a half years have been to take care of a sick kid, not to take care of ME!

But this time, a series of several sleepless nights in a row due to Lauren having a cough and Carter just having a few bad nights while I was fighting off this cold have resulted in my getting full blown sick! And it couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

Yesterday and today are the 2 days that next year’s Kindergarten kids come to visit our classrooms with their parents. It is really not cool for one of the teacher’s to miss these days. Also, Johnny has some stuff going on at work that really needs to be finished up before his vacation next week. Well, Wednesday I had to leave early to get Lauren because she had a fever at school. Not just her usual monthly fever either. She also had my headache and sore throat. Thursday (yesterday) Johnny had to stay home with her while I dragged myself to work even though I felt like crap. I started to feel worse and worse during the Before School Program and finally, I called my principal and burst into tears as I asked to go home and appologized for missing an important day of school! I felt SO yucky, feverish, really bad headache, body aches, very sore throat…the whole 9 yards!

Well I stopped at my doctor for a throat culture (rapid strep test was negative) and then went home and went to bed! Thank God Johnny stayed home with us to take care of Lauren. I slept on and off all day and even with Tylenol and Advil, had a fever and headache all day and night. Johnny took Lauren to her doctor. She got a flu test which was also negative.

Well, after a good night sleep, we are both home again! Both still feeling pretty crappy. Both still fighting fevers with Tylenol and Advil. I still have a very sore throat as well. I really hope that we are both feeling better by tomorrow by I’m not holding my breath. I’d like to clean the house and air out all of the germs. And I’d like to enjoy my first Mother’s Day as a mom of 2. Wish us well please…I hope you are all feeling better than we are!

We have had so much fun this week and it is not even over yet!

Last weekend Lauren started a new gymnastics class at Quiggs School of Gymnastics here in Bellingham. She was certainly not the most coordinated kid in the class (she seems to be lacking in upper-body strength as well) but she had fun and wants to go back. It is very different from the free-for-all that was Gymboree. Here she needs to follow the teacher (whose name happens to be Lauren) and the routines which is much more structured than she is used to doing. Until she turns 3, John or I will do the class with her. After she turns 3, she will get to do the class on her own while we watch from the sidelines. I’m glad we started now so that by November, she will understand the rules and she should be more willing to go it alone! My littel girl is growing up!

Sunday we wandered the outlets with Addison and Leslie. We are so glad spring is finally here as we have missed our weekend walks through the outlets all winter. There are a lot of fun things to look at, not to mention yummy chocolate covered strawberries to eat and caramel apples to bring home for an evening snack.

Monday I got to spend the day with my kiddos. They are both not only so good about Target runs and grocery shopping, they actually seem to enjoy it! It was wonderful to be able to get these things done during the week so we are not so busy with errands on the weekends and can actually do something more fun as a family. I can’t wait for the summer for this to be our usual routine rather than the nice exception. Carrie and her girls came down in the afternoon. It was fun to get to hang with her. It seems so long since we have been able to do that. We took a trip to Whole Foods since she does not have one near her and then we had dinner together. It was a great time for me and Lauren loved having new big girls to play with. Carter was mesmerized by Carrie. Not surprising though. All babies love Carrie!

Tuesday and Wednesday the kids went to school. This week is the “Week of the Young Child” and there were some really cool activities going on at school that Lauren didn’t want to miss. Tuesday there was a storyteller that came with puppets. Following the show, the kids got to make sock puppets of their own to take home. There were also different “dress up” days each day and parents were invited to join their child’s class for Gerry the music guy which was fun for both of us. Gerry is Lauren’s favorite! While they were at school, I got a lots done at home, like countless loads of laundry and putting away winter clothes and bringing out the spring/summer stuff for the kids and me! I also put away a lot of baby stuff like the swing, bouncy seats, bassinet, and infant tub because Carter is getting too big for them. We are bringing out the bigger baby toys for him this weekend. He is getting so big! It was bitter sweet though….will we ever need those items again? Notice I’m not putting them up on Craig’s List just yet….there is still hope for #3 someday!

Today (Thursday) is Carter’s special day with Mama. Lauren went to school for “Princesses and Pirates” day. Carter even wore his pirate bandana this morning for the photo op. (Check out the pictures from this month, John has updated most of them and the rest I’ll have him update tonight.) Carter and I went to Starbucks (of course) and the pet store to get different food for Dorothy. Oh, did I mention, Lauren got a pet Betta fish last weekend as well? She named him Dorothy, after Elmo’s goldfish. Anyway, Carter has been trying more and more new foods, fruits and veggies and cereal. While he was not too crazy about them at first, he is really getting the hang of it now and seems to be enjoying most of what he is eating. He is up to 2 meals a day and his current favorite is bananas and rice cereal. This weekend, he will try green beans! I love having this chance to be home with just him for a day and to spend a lot of time playing together on the floor. He is sitting up so well and loves raching for and chewing on toys. He is so vocal too, laughing and cooing, and talking non-stop. I think he is trying to talk to the dolpins sometimes with the high pitched noises he makes! I’m trying to remember all the Gymboree song and games Lauren used to love as an infant. I’m sad I didn’t have the time alone with him to do baby Gymboree like I did with Lauren. I feel like I’m way behind with how much I have been able to sing and play with him. Oh, the reality of being second born and my needing to go back to work so much sooner this time around. Good thing his daycare teacher, Caitlin loves him so much. She does all those things with him that I can’t…

Tomorrow will be Lauren’s special day and she will get to spend it with Mama AND Daddy! Johnny is taking tomorrow off and after taking Carter to school, we are going to drive into Boston to take Lauren to Elmo Makes Music at the Agganis Arena at BU. The show is at 10:30 so hopefully we’ll be home in time for her nap! We have not told her yet where we are going so we hope she enjoys her surprise.

Saturday we are going to find a nice sandbox, water table, and slide for the backyard. Lauren loves the sandbox at school and I really want a few fun things for her to do outside in the nice weather. She has a new tricycle and a bat and ball with a T-stand and a swing and pool and hand-me-down picnic table from last summer so hopefully with these new additions, she will be all set for some fun backyard play for the spring and summer. And as Carter gets bigger, he should be able to join her in some of these things. She will also have her gymnastics class again on Saturday so maybe while I’m there with her, Johnny and Carter get get everything set up in the yard. The weather is supposed to be great this weekend!

Sunday it looks like we are going to check out the Southwick Zoo with Leslie and Addison. It is a little pricy for a morning out but I’ve heard great things about it and it is SO close to our house! Hopefully it will all work out. Check back after the weekend for all the updated pictures of our fun outings!