Always Something

I cannot tell you how often Eli gets hurt.  He can seriously get hurt anywhere....running down the sidewalk to the pool...running across the backyard to our neighbor's house...sleeping in his bed (he banged his head on the headboard)...the list goes on and on.  He has fallen so many times in the backyard because he runs in his Crocs that now he's only allowed to go out in his sneakers most of the time.  And every time I let him out the back door, I always say, "No running."  I know he's going to eventually run, but I just need him to slow down at least in the beginning.

Well, the other day, I was sitting on the sofa nursing and I didn't see him run out the back door.  Needless to say, 2 minutes later, I heard his screams.  B was outside so he witnessed the whole thing and brought him inside after the incident.  Eli had tripped on the border surrounding our play structure.  It would've been fine if he had landed face first in the pea gravel....but then that wouldn't be a true "Eli incident."  He HAD to trip and hit his mouth on a kiddie lawn chair that was sitting on top of the pea gravel.

The poor guy had a huge swollen lip!  Luckily, he didn't knock out a front tooth and he didn't split his lip open.  But look at the damage!

The minute I saw it, I almost started crying.  It pained me to see him in such pain!  Poor boy!

Luckily, the next day the swelling had gone down tremendously. 

By the next day, he had this lip injury, 3 scrapes on his knee, and he fell down the stairs on the way to bed.  I really hope this is a phase and that he won't be so accident-prone forever.

The First Month

Has it really been a month?!?  I'm definitely living life in a daze.  Ahhhhh...life with a newborn.  I really feel like all I do is nurse, change diapers, and hold the baby.  Luckily, my mom, aunt, and A are here to help lighten the load.  My mom wakes up in the mornings to help me feed the older kids and get them ready for school.  She's also been an extra set of arms to hold to the baby when my own arms feel like they're going to break off of my body.  My aunt has been cooking non-stop since she got here.  If she's not in the kitchen prepping and cooking, she's on our back patio taking a much-needed break.  A has been entertaining the other kids by taking them on outings and playing with them at home.

This is really a dream team for me and I'm thankful to have them.  What would I do without these people?  I probably wouldn't be eating anything nutritious...Elina would be late for school...and the other kids would spend their entire days watching TV.  Sadly, my mom and aunt are leaving this weekend, so we'll see what next week brings.  I'm...kinda...scared!  It's going to be a rough adjustment.

Eulee's been doing pretty ok for the most part.  After the first few rough nights, we got her to switch her days and nights to coincide with real days and nights.  But the nights feel like a roller coaster ride.  Sometimes she only wakes up 2 times...with a long 3 hour stretch from 11pm-2am, which is actually pretty awesome.  Then there are nights she wakes up 3 times...which means we are zombies the next morning.  It's amazing how that extra wake-up time makes such a big difference in how your body feels.  There have been 2 nights where she actually had a 4 hour stretch...but we can't celebrate those quite yet.

Eulee has also gotten pretty good at crying.  Wow.  The girl knows how to scream and wail.  Her face turns all red and it sounds like she can't catch her breath sometimes.  So, essentially, she has definitely become a Kim kid.  Sometimes she's inconsolable, but it doesn't seem nearly as bad as the other kids.  She's usually alert and quiet for 15 minutes after a feeding...then after that she likes to cry about things.  I think she's just a fussy baby, not necessarily colicky.  We still have a few weeks though (when the crying is supposed to peak at 6 weeks), so we'll keep you posted on that.  (Cross your fingers!)

Besides crying, Eulee also makes other noises.  She loves to make piggy-grunting noises.  I'm still trying to figure out how she does that...it really sounds like a pig.  And Eulee also started cooing, which sounds so cute.

Initially, she wasn't that great of a napper because we weren't swaddling her during the daytime.  She would sleep lightly, so any little sound seemed to wake her.  Since she didn't sleep as heavily during the day, it was very difficult to put her down.  She only enjoyed napping in someone's arms.  Nice for her, but not nice for us.  I wasn't swaddling her during the day because I didn't want her to sleep too heavily during the day, but then I realized she's just a fussy baby who needs to be swaddled in order to sleep at all.

Needless to say, Eulee loves to be held...all the time.  She loves to be held and rocked and bounced on our yoga ball.  Who can blame her though?  Who wouldn't want all of those things??  Look at all the love she's gotten already...

Another thing she really enjoys is bathtime.  She looks so relaxed whenever she gets a bath...and the minute we get her out of the tub, she cries.

Eulee also developed baby acne after 2 weeks.  She's the only one of our kids who's had it.  It looked pretty awful, but now it's starting to subside.

It's just amazing how quickly Eulee is growing.  She already looks and feels bigger.  She's already 9.5 pounds and 21 inches now.

We celebrated Eulee's 1month with a yummy Cold Stone ice cream cake...Cookie Dough Delirium!  Delicious!!

(Doesn't Eulee look like a baby boy in the picture above???)

So....how are my other kids doing?  Well, first of all, none of them seem to want to spend time with me anymore.  Who could really blame them though?  All I do is hold the baby, nurse the baby, and ask them to be careful and quiet.  Hmmmmm...I don't like spending time with myself either.  A has been taking them to do lots of fun things lately, so they definitely prefer her company over mine.

For the most part, Eli and Elina are doing ok with the changes.  Evie, on the other hand, has really been affected by everything.  During Eulee's 2nd and 3rd weeks, she was becoming quite a nightmare.  She would throws tantrums...which were actually amusing to watch (with the feet kicking and the body wiggling), but got irritating after awhile.  She wouldn't eat well at the table and wouldn't sit still.  Meals are definitely less enjoyable now.  She stopped staying dry at night and for naps.  She was also talking back a little more than I  liked.  Doesn't Evie sound like such a joy??  In all honesty, I was about to rip my hair out.  It's been really hard but I can't blame her.  There are a ton of visitors around...a new baby who cries a lot and gets lots of attention...a tired mom who doesn't spend as much time with her...it's a lot for a 2 year old.  The other kids never acted out like this, so this is all new to us.  I just need to remember to stay calm and to be consistent.  Definitely easier said than done.  Wish us luck!

So between Eulee needing to be held, Evie's new tantrums and attitude, nighttime feedings, and Elina's school stuff, it's been virtually impossible to get lots of things done around here...let alone post on the blog.  =(  I'm just glad this is the last time we need to go through all of this.  Plus, this phase will pass quickly...although it doesn't seem like it will at 4 in the morning.  We'll see how the next few weeks go!

Happy 1 month, Eulee!

First Weeks of School

The kids have been in school for 3 weeks now and things have been going pretty smoothly.  I just can't believe that Elina started 2nd grade this year.  Where has the time gone??  (FYI, in the picture below, she has the 2 fingers up to signify 2nd grade...it's not the typical Asian pose that she's copying.)

Honestly, I was most worried about Elina, going from a teeny tiny school (DS) to a public school (LSE).  The public school we're zoned for is actually small when compared to the newer elementary schools because it's an older school.  Even though it's smaller, it's still WAY bigger than DS.  When we went to meet Elina's new teacher, Elina was so nervous and shy.  She couldn't believe how big her school looked.  Poor thing.

For the first few days of school, Elina didn't offer up as much information after school.  I had to really ask specific questions to get any kind of answer.  The biggest thing she had to tell me was about a "big, big, big rule."  Then she proceeded to tell me, "Mommy, we're not allowed to talk in class unless the teacher calls on us....we can't talk one bit!"  This was shocking news to her because at DS they don't emphasize silence as much as public schools do because the classrooms are smaller in size and there are 2 teachers in each class.  I asked Elina to imagine what would happen if all 20 kids in her class decided to talk whenever they wanted to.  Then she said, "Oh, then we wouldn't be able to hear the teacher."  Elina's been getting used to all the rules at school.  It's different, but they don't bother her too much because she's a pretty good kid at school anyway.

Everyday Elina comes home to report "bad news" and "good news," which are basically the worst and best things about her day at school.  Elina's also been making friends with some girls and some boys in the class.  Luckily, our next door neighbor's daughter is also in Elina's class, so that helps a lot, too.  Elina's also learning to buy hot lunch at school a few times each week...which is a relief to me.  Elina also said that her favorite time of day is recess...of course!

It's cute though because Elina tells her new friends about her old school, DS.  She tells them that it's a magical place...where you can find treasures in the Fairy Garden...and get a treat from the office.  Now her new friends all want to visit DS.  It's true that DS was certainly a magical place that we all miss.

Eli is in Pre-K for half a day on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  He loves his new classroom and teachers!  Most of the kids in his class are from his class last year, which is nice.  His best friend, RM, is also in the class.  He even has a class pet, a guinea pig named Penny.

He's definitely having fun at school...he gives it a thumbs up!