Now it's July

 The gym is going well.  I'm mostly enjoying it. I do BodyPump 3-4 times a week.  It's like circuit training that turns into cardio.  Sometimes I do yoga.  The other thing I usually do is the treadmill.  I do an hour, either slow (2.8ish mph) with a 6.5% incline, or 3.8-4mph with a 1% incline.  I generally get to t he gym 5-6 days a week.  Now that the kids are home, it's been more difficult.  On days that Aaron goes into the office, I get up really early, so I can get it done before he goes to work.  On days he's home I can usually go whenever.

At the very beginning of the summer, both kids did swimming lessons.  Bronwyn started Summer school a couple weeks ago, and had this past week off.  I've been doing school type stuff with Bertram as well.  He has a workbook, we do spelling, flashcards, paragraph formation etc. He doesn't mind it too much.  He did a science camp last week in the afternoon. 
(The first day, I drove over to the community center.  And we looked on the schedule of classes but didn't see the science class.  So we went to the lobby and asked where it was.  It took a little bit of looking, but they found the science camp, which was at the other community center, right near our house.  Bertram was freaking out because he's an anxious kid, and like me, hates to be late.  He was going on the whole way there.  Then started in with "Does this make you feel stupid mom?  I'm not calling you stupid, but do you feel stupid?"  We made our way back across town, and went to pull into the parking lot.  But the parking lot was closed off, for painting.  We drove around to the front, which has a horseshoe driveway with no parking.  But we parked there anyway, because we were already 10 minutes late at that point.  Oh, and Bron was with me too.  And she and Bert spent the time that he wasn't worrying, fighting over a toy.)
He enjoyed science camp.  This week he had Minecraft camp in the mornings.  He enjoyed that a lot too, and had a lot to tell me everyday when class was done.

 Since Bron was off school this week, we enrolled her in another week of swimming lessons.  She is doing way better than last year.  She would barely get in the water.  Now she'll get in, and blow bubbles and practice kicking.  Bertram moved up a level in his class.  But he is overly confident in the water.  He doesn't swim nearly as well and he thinks.  Bronwyn is still overly cautious, but gaining ground.  The both have one more week of lessons the last week before school starts again.  

We were expecting Bronwyn to go to the same school as Bertram, and had enrolled her there.  But after an IEP meeting about her transitioning, it was decided that she would have better access to services at a different school.  (There are not enough RSP teachers at Bertram's school to allow for the hours she needs.  And they'd have to pull her from class to work on things (called "pull out").  At the other school, the RSP teacher will be able to help her while she's in class ("push in").  The other school is rated highly, and is our other neighbourhood school.  (The two schools are just about equidistant from the house).  That's all good.  The intention is that once she is used to a classroom with a lot of kids, she'll transition back to Bertram's school.  They think this process with take one school year or less.  The other school has uniforms, which isn't a huge deal, I started stocking up.  The real sticking point is that the two school start and end within 5 minutes of each other.  Right now, Aaron is working from home three days a week.  Those days, he can help out getting one kid to and from school   The other days my in-laws will help out, or someone will likely be late.  Not sure how to swing the afternoons on the days my in laws can't help.  But I guess I'll figure that out when the time comes.

In a week and a half we fly to  Virginia to spend time with Nana and Papa (and aunts, second cousins, etc)  I'm very nervous about flying with the kids.  Last time we flew, Bron was a year old.  She didn't have any of the ASD stuff that she has now.  And noises is one of her big things.  Planes are loud.  The bathroom especially is loud, and she's only been potty trained since January.  The other thing I'm worried about is flight cancelations.  There are been tons of cancelations this summer, And while getting stuck on one end or the other wouldn't be the worst thing, getting stuck at a layover would be pretty bad.  And I'm thinking about all the extra stuff I have to bring in the carry on.  A change of clothes for everyone, things to entertain them, a ton of snacks. I realized last time I flew, I only need my phone and a sudoku book.  But, on the plus side, I got the TSA pre-check so we won't have as long a line at security.

I have a bad memory

I want to write all about our trip to Virginia, but I don't have my daily journal in front of me, so I probably won't remember enough details.

The flight out was good.  The kids both did very well.  We only had 55 minutes to make our connection in Chicago (well, less.  It was 55 minutes til the next plane left).  So I had to hustle Bertie across the airport.  We had a long way between gates.  The second flight was pretty bumpy.  And of course, on that one, he needed to go to the bathroom 3 times.  (Three times in 2 hours.)  I felt bad for him though.  He really needed to poop.  And it was when it was bumpy and the flight attendant was serving drinks.  I push the call button, and she moved for us, but it was just a little too late (just a skid mark, but he never has accidents). 

My mom has a port-a-crib for Bronwyn (in the room where I was sleeping) and a twin bed for Bertram.  Bronwyn slept well overall, especially after I moved her crib into the walk in closet.  She was sleeping for 8-9 hours a night!  Bertram did so-so.  Every night at bed time, he would start a chorus of "I want to go home".  He was really sad, and I felt very sad for him.  We gave him melatonin most nights, to help him settle.  Once he was asleep, he did fairly well.  But he did wake up early quite a bit.

While we were there, I started and stopped eating wheat.  It seems to be what is upsetting Bron.  She gets rashy and gassy.  (Being wheat free is really annoying.)  So I found different gluten-free things to eat.

The weather was dreary for most of the trip.  Drizzle, rain, and a lot of cold.  So we didn't get outside as much as I would have liked.  Usually we do a lot of walking, but hardly did any this time.

We got to see my Nanny a couple of times, and two of my aunts.  We did a fair amount of shopping.  I got to hang out with my sister a lot, and see her new house(I can't believe my little sister is a homeowner).

Aaron flew out after a week to hang out too.  We took Bertram to the trampoline park one day.  I am very out of shape.  He had fun, but he's still not jumping. 

The flights home were fine.  We had to get up at 4am, but other than that there were no issues.  Both kids did fairly well.  Bertie slept for an hour or 2.  He had a small melt down, but he's 3 and a half, and sitting still that long is no fun.

Since we've been home, his sleep patterns haven't been very good.  He's very tired and will be asleep by 8 every night, but he'll wake up between 5-6 and not go back to sleep.  Then he is really tired throughout the day, but won't nap.  And then is a really grump.  Hopefully, he'll get back into the rhythm soon.

Bronwyn is 4 months old today.  She is sleeping 7-9 hours at night, and naps throughout the day (not really on any schedule yet).  She rolls over both ways.  She likes sitting in the bumbo seat, and holds her head up well.  She pushes up onto her arms when laying on her tummy.  She loves smiling.  She doesn't laugh much (only Rebecca has made her laugh so far).  She doesn't vocalize much either.  She loves sucking on her fingers, or thumb.  Her eyes are starting to become a grey/brown/green.  I think she looks more like me, at least for now.  She is still a great nurser.  And I'll probably wait until 6 months to start introducing food (unless she really shows interest earlier).

Bertram has gotten really interested in maps.  He loves geography.  He can name all the states and most (or all) the capitals.  He knows some of the countries/continents, and oceans.  He also likes the solar system.  He knows all the planets, some of the moons, and some dwarf planets.  He knows a lot of sight words, but isn't sounding out words yet.  He watches a lot of youtube videos about these subjects.  He likes Phineas and Ferb, SpongeBob, and Teen Titans Go.  (Though, we really only watch Phineas and Ferb regularly).  He loves reading, and we go to the library every two or three weeks.  He still can't really say "S" sounds.  (Mississippi sound like Mi-i-i-ppi).  He likes a lot of different foods, lately he's been into cheeseburgers and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  He loves Bronwyn, and being a big brother.

I have to say, as hard as it is sometimes, I really love being these kids mom.  I think about a third sometimes (already).  And, I'd love to have another.  But I think two might be our number.  Our house is fairly small, and there is a lot of expense that comes with a third (bigger car, traveling gets harder and costlier).  Plus, I worry about Bronwyn becoming a middle child.  As a middle child, I can say it's not a great place in the birth order.  However, I love my little sister, and can't imagine how things would be without her.  It's still up in the air, and there is time to decide.  But that's where I'm at currently. 

Waiting to get on the plane

Rebecca loves baby snuggles

Blurry, fashion baby

Bertram and Rami

The night no kids wanted to sleep

Bertram and Nana

Reading

Four generations (all ladies)

Four generations

Bronwyn's fuzzy head

Bertie fell asleep across my lap, and Bron was nursing

Another cute outfit

I love them.

Vacation etc

The trip to Virginia was somewhat awful.  We left SFO on time at 1pm.  We flew to Charlotte, NC.  But when our plane arrived, the airport was closed due to a huge storm.  So we circled around in the air for 45 minutes.  Then we were finally cleared to land, but because no one could move during the storm, there was a huge cluster-fuck of planes clamoring for gates.  So we sat on the tarmac for another 45+ minutes.  Some of the passengers were getting rude, because it was totally the flight attendants fault (eye roll).  We had been checking our flight to Richmond and it had been delayed (as all the flights had), but it wasn't delayed long enough.  Even if we had landed before it left, it was across the airport from where we came in.  Aaron talked to a gate agent, who confirmed the flight had left.  We had two options (I think it was 11:30pm at this point) either try to get on a flight to Norfolk (about 90 minutes away from my mom's house), or wait til 7:30 the next morning.  I made the unilateral decision that we would go to Norfolk.  If we didn't have Bertie, I would have said we could spend the night in the airport.  But we would need to find a hotel, a way there, spend money, likely have Bertie not sleep, not have our clothes, possibly run out of diapers, etc.  The plane to Norfolk was already boarding, but was only 10 gates away, so we ran, and got there.  In total, we spent 10 minutes in the actual airport.  (I should mention was Bertie was great.  He slept a bit, and was overall a good traveler).  We got into Norfolk around 1am.  Our suitcases, of course, didn't show up.  We talked to the American Airlines agents, and they said they would show up at Richmond on the next flight (8:30 the next morning).  Then we waited.  It was close to 2 before my mom and stepdad got there (even with him speeding some).  Aaron was unhappy, Bertie was having fun running around the abandoned baggage claim.  Bertie fell asleep in the car on the way to their house.  We arrived at 3:30am.  Bertram refused to sleep in him crib, so we put him in bed with us.  But he didn't sleep.  I took him out of bed close to 4:30, and we went downstairs.  I couldn't get the cable to work.  Around 5 we walked across the yard to the other house.  (My mom and stepdad were originally neighbours.  She moved into his house, and my older sister lives in what was my mom's house).  We turned on the tv, and watched cartoons.  I was exhausted, of course, but Bertie was going strong.  I think my mom and stepdad got up around 5:45.  I think around 8:30 (24 hours awake), I went back to the first house (where Aaron, and my dad (who had arrived a little before we did, and why my mom was so late getting to Norfolk) were sleeping).  I crashed for 2.5 hours.  Bertie finally fell asleep at 9:30 and slept til 12:30.

My mom bought a crib to replace her pack n play.  After the Florida Incident I told her the pack n play was not going to cut it.  That night we went to put him to bed, and the crib mattress was a little high.  He started panicking, and promptly fell out of the crib.  So after lowering it, Aaron and I camped out on the floor until he fell asleep.  After a couple nights of this, I got permission from his pediatrician to give him melatonin and benedryl.  That is like a roofie for babies!  He went to bed so easily.  We did that for 2 nights (as recommended), and then didn't have issue after that.

My little sister was sharing the room with Bertie.  She was staying over for the week prior to her wedding, so she and I could spend time together and also to get wedding stuff done.  The night before her wedding, she and Aaron swapped, and she slept with me, and he slept in Bertie's room.

The day after we arrived, my mom's friend Genie arrived (she lives in CA too, but more central than we do).  She is a level one badass.  She gets things done, and is a wedding expert.  Plus she's fun and funny.

On Thursday night there was a huge storm.  Lots of thunder, lightning and wind.  It seemed like a bad storm, but not terrible.  We didn't lose power, but the cable/internet went out.  We drove around the next morning to run wedding errands, and found lots of places had no power, roads were closed due to downed trees, and there was some flooding.  Yet, somehow, everything for the wedding was ok.  The venue didn't lose power, and didn't have any tree damage.  Her caterers ran on generators to make the food.  The hair salon had no power, but came to the venue for styling.  And the nail salon still had power.  (Many places only got power back yesterday).

The wedding was beautiful.  I cried like a baby.  My mom cried, my dad cried, the groom cried.  It was a moving day.  It wasn't too hot, it didn't rain, no one got too drunk.  Unfortunately, we had to leave before anything too fun happened, because we have a two-year-old.  We left after dinner, but missed the toasts, dancing, cake, and sparkler send off.  I got to read my dad's toast, it was awesome.

Now my sister and brother in law are in Aruba.  It's weird because it'll be the longest I've gone without talking to her.

Aaron and Genie went home this morning (on the same flight).  My dad goes home tomorrow mid-day.  Bertie and I have til next Tuesday.

I want to say I love how my family gets along.  My mom and dad get along way better now.  And my dad and stepdad get along too.  My dad said (more than once) that he didn't realized how much he missed talking with my mom's mom.  

Vacation in Virginia

We're about halfway through our trip. :-(

The flights: We flew from San Jose to Boston to Richmond.  We (Bertie and I, Aaron stayed home) had a red eye to Boston.  Bertie did pretty well, he slept most of the flight.  Follow passengers commented on how well he did.  (Our flight was only 2/3 full, so the middle seat in our row was empty).  He was awake when we got to Boston.  I changed him, and there was a little playground right by the bathroom, so he got to play for a few minutes.  He loved looking out the windows at the planes and trucks. The flight to Richmond was really empty, there were maybe 20 people in a 96 seat plane.  We had a lot of room, which was good, because he would not sit still.

Sleep: Mr Bertram has not been sleeping very well.  He's having separation anxiety about sleeping in an unfirmilar place.  I've been waiting in the room while he falls asleep, which seems to help.  He's been napping in the car, or on one of us (me, my sister, nana or papa).  This morning my sister came and took Bertie at 7am, so I could sleep.  (Happy mothers day!)

What we've been up to: Lots of visiting, and just hanging out.  We went to see Nanny, aunt Debbie, uncle Martin, (cousin) Abigail, and her hubby Nick.  We're going to see the other Pace's tomorrow.  Rebecca stayed at my mom's house all week so we could hang out.  We've been having a lot of fun.  My mom bought a paddle pool for Bertie, he's used it almost every day.  He loves it!  Today Rebecca and I went to Duck Donuts.  All the donuts are made to order: meaning the fry them when you order, and do the toppings right them.  I got Bertie a plain glazed, and I had maple bacon. O.M.G.  It was the BEST donut I've ever had!  After that we went to her apartment to use the pool.  It wasn't super hot, and the pool was a little cool.  But Bertie had so much fun.  He is a water baby.

Boy and the boy napping

Bubbles and the paddle pool.

Fun at the pool

So happy

Sitting in his own seat, like a big boy.

Watching the planes and trucks

Duck Donuts!

Baby on a Plane (and more)

On Tuesday, Bertie and I flew out to Virginia to visit family.  I was a little nervous, since it was just him and I.  Aaron dropped us off at the Airport.  Bertie and I went through the Family Security line, which was much shorter.  There was only a metal detector there, no scanner.  (I was wearing Bertie in the Moby).  Aaron joked before dropping me off that they'd need to make sure Bertie wasn't a bomb.  But they actually do!  Anyone who walked through with a child in arms got a hand swab for excelerant.  And they tested the breast milk I brought in a bottle too.  But we had no issues there, I repacked our backpack, and we wandered off.  We had some time before the flight, so we walked around a little.

I was really surprised that people traveling with small kids don't get to board first.  They used to... We we boarded last.  I think we may have actually been the last people on the plane.  We sat in the last row, and the middle seat was open!  We were able to stretch out a bit.  Bertie did well, he fussed a little on take off, but was good the rest of the time.  The flight attendant get him a set of wings (pin), just like in the old days.  The main problem with that flight was there were no changing tables!  I had to try to balance him on the toilet lid, it wasn't easy.

When we got to Chicago we had about two hours.  We did a lot of walking.  I talked to him a lot, telling him all the things around us.  I bought a very expensive, very soggy sandwich.  Then our flight was delayed, so we walked some more.  When we got back from our walk it was time to board.  Bertie was fussy for the whole flight.  We nursed a lot, but it didn't help much.  That flight had a changing table, but we didn't need to use it.

There were a lot of times I could have used an extra set of hands, but I managed.  I even got to play with my phone and read a bit.  

We were met at the airport by mom, Rebecca, and Glenn.  My mom was able to borrow all the baby things we needed; I didn't need to haul the car seat or stroller.

Today was a hard day.  Bertie didn't really nap at all.  So he was very fussy, and bedtime was a nightmare.  I think it was all my fault really.  I had way too much diet coke today.  He was so tired, and fell asleep briefly a couple of times.  I put him to bed, and he immediately started to wail.  I let him cry for 20 minutes, and then went in.  Soothed him, and put his back to bed.  He cried again.  I left him for 15 minutes.  I went in again, we walked, we rocked, we sang.  I spent 20 minutes with him, he was calm, he was sleepy, I put him back down, and once again he screamed.  I texted my mom (she was at the other house, next door) and said I didn't know what to do.  She came over, and rocked, and talked, and soothed.  And still he cried.  So we three got in the car at 10:20pm at drove to the store.  We got baby Tylenol and Gripe Water, and a teething ring.  After having the meds, he was settling down, so we tried again to put him down.  Success!  He was still awake for another 10 or 15 minutes, but he was quiet and smiley.

Originally, I'd planned to spend the night at my sister's apartment tomorrow night, so we could binge watch Orange is the New Black.  But after tonight, I'm not sure I want to risk it.  

I little time out.

My sister, Jessica, has come for her annual visit.  So we've been doing a lot of day trips with dad.  We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium last week.  Today we went to the San Francisco Zoo.  Thursday we're going back to the city to go to the California Academy of Sciences, and Sutro Baths.  It's been a lot of fun.  Bertie's come with us, of course, but he's too young to notice any of it.  I keep hoping something will catch his eye.  Mostly it's my dad and me hanging out, since Jess ventures out on her own.  I've been enjoying the one-on-one time, since we don't hang out a lot, for whatever reason.

I've been trying to work harder at trying to get back into shape.  Counting calories, exercising and getting all my steps in.  I'm still eating over 2000 calories a day, but I'm burning more than I'm taking in.  I started the Bikini Body Mommy Challenge this week.  It's a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout.  It's hard, but it's good, since it's only 20 minutes a day.  It alternates cardio days and strength days.  And I'm making sure I'm getting in 10k+ steps every day (except Sundays, I usually don't get all the steps).  Most days I get 12k-ish.

Julius has become a bad cat as of late.  He's been spraying/peeing in the house.  So he's going to be a mostly outside cat.  We're tried all sorts of other solutions.  But the final straw was him peeing in Bertie's crib.  He seems to like being outside.  And Aaron talked to the vet about it, as long as we keep up his shots and flea meds, he should be ok.

Bertie has been doing well lately.  He's been doing well at sleeping, and even slept through the night one night last week. He hasn't done it since, but he usually will sleep in two sets of 5 hours each.  He's still great at nursing.  He's started smiling a little bit more, which is really fun.  And some cooing sounds are starting.  Aaron and I take turns bathing with him.  Bertram loves baths, and he's surprisingly buoyant.   We're still cloth diapering, but at night he wears paper.  He was starting to get rashy from being wet for so long.

I really love staying at home (which I knew I would).  It's a great balance of work and fun, routine and free time.  The house is pretty clean (most days), I stay on top of the laundry, and there is less stress.  I don't need to be in bed by any specific time, if I'm up more in the night (which hasn't been an issue lately) it's not a big deal.  If he's having a fussy day we can snuggle.  (Though, those days are stressful, because having a baby cry non-stop is so hard).

Bertie and I (and Aaron) have our plane tickets to go to Virginia.  Bertie and I are flying out by ourselves, Aaron comes part way through the trip, and we all fly home together.  I made sure we had very long layovers, and we're sitting in the late row on every flight.  Plus my mom is borrowing a car seat, so we don't need to lug one through the airport.  I'm excited, and a little nervous about how he'll handle the flights.

I need to pump and go to bed.