Dana Daily

My car needed new brakes (to the tune of $823, I would later find out), so Seth and I stayed home today. We read a couple books, made towers with his stacking cups, and he took a long nap. We also went for a couple walks since temperatures were in the mid 60s. I bundled him up in a blanket and away we went. He's quite content to be pushed around the neighborhood in his stroller. There's no denying his toddler status now. He just looks like a little boy, instead of a baby. He's still so pleasant and easy. It still hits me sometimes that I'm not just a mom to two little girls, I have a son in the mix now too. Sal got home from work a little earlier than usual today so that he could run me to the mechanic, and then he came home and started dinner while I went to St. Ursula's to pick the girls up from choir. They're preparing for Easter Sunday. It's good to have everybody back under the same roof.

Last months antibiotics and drops during Seth's bout of RSV didn't work. He's still infected and now feeling the symptoms. I took him to the pediatrician yesterday for his 12 month well visit never anticipating that he was dealing with an ear infection. Ugh. Now he's on Omnicef and ear drops, neither of which he minds. I know we're very lucky that our biggest hurdle are these recurring infections, but my goodness. Fortunately cold season is almost over, and with each passing month he's getting a little bigger and a little older. He will outgrow these. To add insult to injury, he received three shots. The flu booster, polio, and something else, maybe HIB. He is 31" long and 21.8 pounds, in other words he's tall and skinny for his age. The doctor is pleased with his growth. He's also off formula and has no food restrictions. We need to transition from bottles to sippys, and this will come. I do always offer the sippy first, but he still like...

Seth's first birthday party came together quite nicely. We had beautiful weather for a February birthday, and even spent a little bit of time outside. The girls and I had made the bow tie napkins using instructions I found on Pinterest. They caught on quickly and folded the napkins while I pinched them together and added the lime green "tie." My parents brought pulled pork, my sister brought macaroni salad, and the girls had requested a fruit salad that I make. As a treat, Sal and I bought pop from a beer distributor that is made locally using a recipe from 1904. My dad said it tasted the way pop used to, and it's no wonder. Natrona Bottling  uses cane sugar as a sweetener, and dry ice is used in the carbonation process. Remember earlier this week we watched a Rick Sebak documentary about Pittsburgh? Red Ribbon Soda was featured, and gave us the idea to try it. We had the Pennsylvania Punch and Root Beer, both very good. Seth dove right into his cake and t...

Today shaped up better than I had initially been expecting, which is always awesome. Our day began at 5am when Seth woke us up crying. This is unusual for him so Sal went to check on him. He had thrown up in his crib; vomit is my worst nightmare. Fortunately it didn't look that bad, but he was gagging when I was trying to change him. I turned him over and the gagging stopped. I threw his sheets in the wash, and Sal laid him back down. He went back to sleep almost immediately. Sal did too. I laid awake waiting for the next episode, until I heard Emmy in the bathroom with diarrhea at 7. She said her stomach didn't otherwise hurt, but I was dreading the day. One kid vomiting, and another with her own set of tummy troubles. Sal was scheduled to be Alliance, OH for an honors band practice and performance. Doesn't it just about figure. Seth woke up again at 8, and seemed his usual self. We gave him some Pedialyte and kept his diet bland. It quickly became apparent that his ...

Because it's a pain to try to go back to September 1, 2015 to find this list, I'm copying it here so that we can keep adding to it. We've missed a couple months of recording what we've read to Seth, but still plenty of time to get 1000 in before he starts Kindergarten. 1. All Day Long with Jesus, by Matt Anderson 2. On the Night You Were Born, by Nancy Tillman 3. A Big Guy Took My Ball, by Mo Willems 4. Me and My Mom, by Alison Ritchie 5. Spot Goes to the Beach, by Eric Hill 6. One More Swim, by Caroline Pitcher and Jenny Jones 7. How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends, by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague 8. Oh, the Places You'll Go, by Dr. Seuss 9. Hic-Hic-Hiccup, by Warner Brothers Looney Tunes 10. Sid the Squid, Underwater Adventures, by N/A 11. Elmo Loves You, by Sarah Albee 12. Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods that Make My Day, by Jamie Lee Curtis 13. Baby Animals, Gyo Fujikawa 14. Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown 15. George and Martha Best...

Happy First Birthday, Buggy. I had planned to take a vacation day to spend it with Seth. I couldn't put either of the girls in daycare on their first birthdays either. I just wanted to hug and cuddle him all day long. In reality, he has no tolerance for that though. He's a busy boy with places to go and things to explore. As it turns out, we were all home. Steubenville was the first to close thanks to icy roads, and Hampton Township quickly followed. We didn't do anything special per se for Seth's birthday, but at least we got to spend it together. Seth had a great day. He napped well, and played hard. The girls had gotten Seth birthday gifts with gift cards that Sal's uncle gave them for Christmas. Emmy got him a ball within a ball which he really seemed to like. Sarah gave him stacking cups, and while he can't build a tower by himself, he loves knocking one over that's built for him. I thought the girls made excellent choices for Seth and I'm sur...

I had a hard time laying Seth down tonight, knowing that this was his last sleep as an 11 month old and as a baby. I am struggling with this. I miss feeling the excitement I had when the girls each turned a year. I looked forward to watching them grow and wondered about all the adventures they'd have. Now though, I know all of that comes in due time and I just want to enjoy Seth and keep him little, just for a little while longer. I'm not going to have another baby. Not ever. You spend years anticipating having children, you spend years knowing you could and probably will have another. . .and then you realize it's all behind you. I'm tearing up just thinking about that as I type this. As I sit here thinking about the last year, it all seems a blur. The nurse handed him to me and wheeled me into recovery. . .maybe not yesterday, but certainly not a year ago. And for as much as I say I loved his first year and it was by far the easiest of the three, which is true, I m...

Sal had an honors band thingy, yes, thingy, today in Alliance, Ohio so Seth and were home alone. He was playing on the floor, and I was on the couch nearby. I heard him giggling and looked down. He was having a grand old time playing in the pillows on the floor. It was a combination of hide and seek and tag, it appeared. I love that he plays so well independently when the girls aren't with us. Not many children would play alone at his age this well, let alone be able to transition fluidly between having siblings and not. I also love his innocence and unbridled shrieks and laughter. It's hard to believe this little kiddo will be one year old on Tuesday. He's been my joy this past year.

I don't like to wake Seth up in the morning so generally I start getting ready for work and then hopefully, he wakes up toward the end of my routine and I get him dressed. This morning things went a little awry. I was almost ready, but I had delayed making his bottles because I wanted to see if he'd take one that was half and half - half formula, half whole milk. (He had fought a straight whole milk bottle yesterday). He's on an antibiotic for the bronchiolitis and has to take it with food. I had changed his diaper and put a onesie on him, then buckled him into his high chair. I put some fruit on his tray, cantaloupe and honeydew, and went into the kitchen to start his grilled cheese for lunch and work on the bottles. When the grilled cheese was done, I cut it into small pieces and gave him a couple pieces. I wanted to make sure he was receptive to it before I sent it to daycare. I returned to the kitchen to finish the bottles and after a little bit I realized...

Sal and I knew we were taking a risk when we decided to take Seth to the free showing of National Parks Adventure  at the Omnimax Theater in Pittsburgh. It was from 7-8pm in the evening, the prime bedtime hour. We were right to be apprehensive. Seth was doing pretty well, quite and hanging in there until a scene about the redwoods and how thousands of acres were cut before they were a protected species. As pictures of the destruction seemingly fell from the big screen toward the audience, loud chopping noises filled the theater. Seth visibly jumped and his eyes grew big. He handled the first couple, but then he burst into tears and loud crying as it continued. Sal hightailed it out of the theater and I followed once I got our jackets, diaper bag, and carrier positioned in such a way that I could carry it out with minimal disturbance to the other patrons. The science center is close so it was no loss to us, in cost or travel time. We'll try again when he's older.

I kept Seth home from daycare again because he needs to be fever free for 24 hours before returning. Seth still had a fever yesterday afternoon, He has a bin of stuffed animals, and I caught him loving on this bear this afternoon. It's hard to tell but he has the bear's nose in his mouth, but he gave it lots of hugs too. We had a nice day together, and I wasn't sad to be able to stay in on this cold, snowy winter day. In just one week Seth will be a year old. Wow.

RSV and croup have been going around daycare, and it looks like Seth caught something. Since he's an older, vaccinated baby, he's probably gotten a lighter version of RSV. He started with a runny nose nose on Friday and by Sunday was a running a fever of 101.2. I decided to run him to the doctor first thing Monday morning. He was wheezing slightly and there is a ton of fluid in his ear, which I knew since they were draining. He was given a breathing treatment in the office, which did clear the wheezing. He was prescribed an antibiotic for whatever is attacking his lungs, and ear drops to prevent an infection. The official diagnosis is bronchiolitis, but that's a general term for his symptoms. Emmy had this one winter several times. Some kids are just more susceptible. After a dose of Augmentine and a good 3.5 hour nap, he was feeling much better. So much so, he wanted to help me unload the dishwasher. Since he's still running a fever this afternoon, he's going...

Sarah's latest project in third grade is as follows: Each student has been assigned an important American Hero or hero who has made a significant difference in history.  They are going to be writing a paper with four facts and two reasons their person is inspiring and for their poster they are to come up with at least three (3) more facts and at least three (3) pictures of their person.  They can use the Internet to access this information.  These posters can be elaborate or simple, in color or black and white - however you decide.  They will present them in class and answer questions from their peers.  I will be displaying the posters in the hallway. As you probably guessed from the title of this post, she was either assigned or chose Betsy Ross. This project is right up my alley, writing, history, and a little creativity. Sarah had been thinking along the same vein as me when she suggested creating a Betsy Ross flag poster. She put a lot of time into this o...

Since we just had family pictures done in November, I wanted to keep things simple and inexpensive so we just went to Target Portrait Studio, my first experience with them. I scheduled his pictures for first thing in the morning at 10am, hoping he'd be bright eyed and bushy tailed, and he pretty much was. I think he's coming down with something, but he played along nicely for the photographer. She only took 20 pictures, and we only liked three. One I absolutely loved, the last one she shot actually which I will post a later time. We were only allowed to choose two backgrounds, and I kept it simple since his outfit was kind of busy. I'm a little disappointed that she didn't take more time positioning him or composing the picture, but she works at Target and isn't a pro photographer so I don't think I was being realistic in my expectations. Also, we spent $20 on balloons and I felt like the photographer could have taken more time arranging them and...

Today's feature presentation was by Turner Dairy , which my kids said was "okay." I don't know, it looked cute to me. I mean, just look at this inflatable cow. Cute! I buy Turner Dairy occasionally, but I didn't realize they were local. The girls were far more excited about the pep rally in the afternoon, and the annual teacher versus student volleyball game. Emmy is on the far left in a flamingo type stance, but is actually getting ready to kick her leg forward as part of the "Piece by Pieces" routine. Sarah is second from right and will get a chance to introduce herself after the additional three kids in front of her take their turns. It's a cute, simple cheer that they perform during halftime. Here are a couple pictures from their day.

Today was mix-up day where the kids where outfits that don't match or don't really "go" together. For example, Emmy wore a tank maxi dress with a long sleeve shirt underneath. It's funny, I haven't had any trouble getting the girls out of bed this week. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History also visited the school with a presentation for the primary grades about dinosaurs. I wasn't sure what this would involve so I looked it up on the museum website: Ever wonder what it would be like to see a dinosaur in real life? Wonder no longer. We will bring our life-sized  Spinosaurus  to your location for a spectacular and educational stage show or for a public appearance. Our very own Dr. Dino guides you on your journey back to the Age of Dinosaurs as you hear and see this ferocious carnivore in action right in your own space. I don't know how into dinosaurs my kids are, but if the presentation was done well they would have loved it. The visuals ar...

Today the girls wore blue to honor the community service of volunteer firefighters. Firefighters from Hampton and Shaler are making an appearance at school, and were also invited to the ice cream social. One of the parishioners makes these cookies  in honor of Groundhog Day, and the girls were talking about them at dinner last night. It's a sweet tradition they look forward every year. One of my coworkers is running around in a groundhog cap, but I feel a little awkward asking for a picture.

To kick off Catholic Schools Week 2016, here are the second and third graders in their pajamas. Sarah is in the second row, smack in the middle wearing light pink stripes. Emmy is in the front row, second from left in light blue. When I was in Catholic school, this was a week we all looked forward to. There are fun events and themed days to celebrate. This is their favorite theme of the week, and my kids thought it was hilarious that they'd be going to choir practice after school in their pajamas. National Catholic Schools Week is the annual celebration of Catholic education in the US. It starts the last Sunday in January and runs all week.