Phatty McPhoebes

What a crazy week! The forecast called for two big snowstorms this week and we got a dusting of snow once (pictured above is the view from our window) and a few drops of rain once. Scott has been learning how to perform all the different types of physical exams this week; one night he practiced reflexes on me and just about bruised every joint with his hammer (just kidding, he's a good doctor). Scott went skiing in Vermont yesterday for the first time this winter. He is heading to British Columbia next month for a ski trip with his brother, so he needed to freshen up on his mad skills.

I unpacked a few more boxes this week and tried to make Phoebe's bedroom look like a bedroom instead of a junk pile. I still have a ways to go before I post pictures on the blog. Our apartment still needs some work, but eventually I'll post a tour of our awesome place (we still love it!).

This little guy went to three museums in three days last week - with friends! It was winter vacation for the schools around here, so we made the most of our time. I'll admit that it was nice not having to rush out the door and make it to school by 9. Since Phoebe joined the family, it takes so much longer to get everyone dressed, fed, and in the car. Scott says we move "like a glacier." Phoebe had her four-month appointment. She is 10.5 lbs now, which is in the third percentile for her adjusted age (2.5 mos old) and not even on the chart for her real age. She's growing on a nice curve now and we hope she keeps it up! In addition to her normal routine of eating and sleeping, lately she wants to be entertained too. She has a really wimpy cry that she uses to get us to play with her. Phoebe endured another random Bruce Attack - this time while I was trying to unlock our car in a parking lot - but came out unscathed. Bruce, however, has to endure an entire seven days without watching a movie. It'll be a sad day at the library this week when we have to return unwatched movies.

Perhaps the most underrated event of the week was The Pickup of the Apnea Monitor. Phoebe "passed" her sleep study test (breathed all night like a big girl) and the doctor gave us permission to get rid of the monitor. I'm glad we had the monitor for those moments she forgot to breathe, but I'm glad to see it go. Phoebe is now 100% wireless. Yea!

A Milestone I Would Have Rather Avoided

Phoebe is now four months old and has changed quite a bit since birth. Her hair fell out and grew back a lighter color; when the sun shines on it, there is a hint of red (I've been trying not to get my hopes up, but I'm afraid they are). She has the cutest dimpled chin, thanks to Scott. She has been smiling a lot more and even laughed yesterday.
We still get a lot of comments from people who ask, "How old is she?" It's hard to tack an age on her because she's too small to be a four-month-old, but too bright-eyed and aware to be a two-month-old.
Bruce reached a milestone last week that I would have rather avoided altogether. He hit Phoebe.

I know siblings hit each other all the time (I do have plenty of brothers and sisters and have left a few dents in them - sorry Karyn!), but Bruce was being so good with her. I just didn't think it'd happen this soon, when she's so defenseless.

It happened on Sunday morning. I was making some phone calls and looking up phone numbers on my laptop. Scott was shaving. Bruce went from trying to get Scott's attention in the bathroom to trying to get my attention in the bedroom. It must not have been working. Phoebe was laying on the bed next to me. Bruce looked at me as I chatted on the phone, wound up and punched Phoebe in the gut while looking at me, and then started to run away when I got that crazy look in my eyes.
Amazingly, Phoebe didn't even cry. But I was furious (and that is a serious understatement). I'd just spent all night at the hospital with her for an overnight sleep test and didn't get much shut-eye myself with the nurse coming in to adjust Phoebe's electrodes occasionally. Seeing Phoebe tethered by about fifty cords made me think she was just a bit fragile. And then Bruce hit her.

I wrapped up my phone conversation in about two seconds and jumped up to grab Bruce, who had already high-tailed it to his room and was climbing into his bed. I picked him up, carried him to time-out, and gave him a solid yelling that echoed off the walls - something about "don't ever do that again" and "don't you ever hit your sister." That's about when Scott put the shaver down and rescued Bruce to a time-out chair in the bathroom. He emerged a half-hour later very apologetic and scared because - as he told Scott - "mom yelled in my ear."

This is the first time I've really raised my voice and yelled at Bruce, and the second time I can recall that I've ever yelled like that (the last time I yelled that loudly, it was at two guys who were beating each other up about 10 feet away from me, Bruce, and Bruce's friend; it's a long story, but we were trapped into watching these two guys just about kill each other). Scott has never heard me yell. He said he hopes he never hears that directed at him "because it's scary" (his words).

Beware the Mama Bear.

Bedtime

Ahhhh, bedtime. I love it. I turn into a creepy stalker and love to watch them sleep; they're so peaceful.
This little man was busy today. He built an airport out of Legos, played princesses, married two girlfriends at preschool, played bad guys, participated in a research study, read a stack of books, watched a library movie, danced for Phoebe, fed Phoebe, wrote his name on a few Valentines, wrote an email to Christian, played with the Bat-Cave, baked vegan double chocolate chip cookies, and called Grandma. Whew, must have been exhausting.

Borscht Night

Last night was our long-awaited Borscht Night; we'd been talking about having our Russian friends over for a big pot of soup for a long time. We made a big pot of borscht and everyone else brought a side dish. Scott served a church mission in Russia for two years and is fluent in Russian, so he has a group of friends and colleagues who are Russian or who lived there for missions or to teach English.
This lovely lady is a native. She must have slaved away in her kitchen all day to make homemade pelmeni, which is like ravioli filled with meat and cheese and such. She was happy to hold Phoebe pretty much all night to get her "baby fix." Funny story about this distinguished guest. This little man's parents moved into the apartment that we moved out of. He was born two weeks after Phoebe, and he was also six weeks early. We think there was something in the water there.

Lego Art by Bruce

Here is a scene that happens about a hundred times a day: Bruce builds some form of robot-alien-spaceship-rocket-shuttle thing and then brings it to me and shows it off. Sometimes if he sees the camera, he requests that he get a picture with his work of art.

Shameless Bragging

Yes, she is cute.

Got it!

And because someone doesn't want to be left out...

$24

I have all kinds of pictures to download, but have been too busy with other things. I like to post pictures with each post, but I've been procrastinating posting because of my laziness in hooking the camera up. You'll have to come back later for pictures, but here's proof that we still exist:

Scott had finals last week. This week he starts a new block of classes, including an "introduction to clinical medicine" where he will be working in the hospital a few times a week taking patient histories and such. He actually took this course during his PhD, but is taking it again as a refresher.

I've been busy with the daily grind: feeding Phoebe, running, feeding Phoebe, washing dishes, feeding Phoebe, writing about cameras, feeding Phoebe, building a marble track with Bruce, feeding Phoebe, hanging up a few pictures finally, feeding Phoebe, attempting grocery shopping at the most crowded store possible with two kids, feeding Phoebe.... Notice a trend? Phoebe is all of nine pounds now, but dipping on the growth chart so we're back to feeding her more frequently (and with no end in sight for the breastpump - bummer).

Bruce told me he's been playing "bad guys" at preschool. He and his friends capture the teacher and put her in jail. If she's not available, they capture other innocent kids. He's not always a total bad guy though. Bruce also plays "princesses" with his girlfriends. I asked if he was a prince and he said that he likes to be a princess and wear the dresses. Hmm. Sometimes Bruce randomly tells me that he loves me (yes, I'm lucky) and yesterday he added that he loved me as much as $24. Wow.

Phoebe is smiling now. It happens right after she's eaten and when she has a clean diaper, so the stars have to align and then it's still a flicker of a smile here and there. But it's definitely a smile. I haven't been able to capture it on camera yet. Soon though. Phoebe had a doctor's appointment last week. We were hoping to get rid of the apnea monitor once and for all at that appointment (the alarm hasn't gone off since a few days before Christmas), but it didn't turn out that way. She has to stay overnight at the hospital on a bunch of monitors before she can officially be rid of it. That hasn't been scheduled yet, but I'm hoping for sooner than later. In the meantime, I've completely given up on carrying the monitor around (to the grocery store, work, preschool, library, etc) and feel just fine hooking her up only at night.