January

It's March 4th and I am just now back-blogging to January... I have got to make these things short and sweet so I can catch up and be more thorough going forward! Luckily (for my blogging) January was mainly composed of (1) illness and (2) skiing.

Regarding illnesess: Basically Tucker contracted croup around New Year's Eve, followed by a run of the mill cold he caught from Harrison (which transferred to mom and dad) and then on Harrison's birthday party day (February 2) another case of croup started up. We even had Auntie Chyna stay with us for almost a week in early Janurary as she recuperated from a pretty nasty kidney infection. Michael and I joked at one point we had an unholy trinity: one night Chyna woke me up at 2am in very serious need of medication when Harrison must have heard us and woke up crying which quickly evolved into wailing which in turn woke up the baby.

All the sleep training I had diligently worked so hard to provide for Tucker, which taught him to sleep through the night at ten weeks old, almost completely went out the window. We spent about six weeks getting up one to three times a night to rock the baby back to sleep and each time he would get over a cold, we would just barely get him to sleep through the night again when he would get another cold and the vicious cycle would start all over again. Lame. Super, super lame. Good news is this shakes out in late February and life gets better again.

Happiest sick baby ever (during the day anyway!)

As for skiing, Michael and Harrison started ski lessons on Sundays beginning January 6th. Teaching an almost four year old how to ski requires a great deal of patience on dad's part but since Michael is a veteren of the "Powder Pigs" program he knew what to expect and how to overcome major complaints such as cold,  fatigue and whining. Admittedly  the first half of the first lessons was pretty rough and Harrison wasn't the most willing and compliant participant but with enough hot chocolate, treats and positive coaching and praise by the end of the day he had almost caught up to the skill level of the rest of the class.

The next Sunday I received a call at home from dad telling me that Harrison was not only doing awesome but he was also the first kid in his class to get on the chair lift with his teacher John! Harrison was having a lot of fun and was willing to work hard and practice to pursue the sport. Dad was so, so proud.

These videos are from his second lesson day on January 13th:

Can't forget to add my Facebook post from January 27:

Impromptu trip up to Snoqualamie! By "impromptu" I mean I drove 75 minutes each way with a 5 month old to drop off the cooler of snacks and lunch that Michael Fein forgot to pack for Harrison's ski lesson. Well, at least One of us looked adorable bundled up in a bear beanie and fleece suit and we finally got to check out the powder pigs lodge! 

Lastly here is Tucker's five month old photo. While I may not take as many photos of Tucker or the kids in general as I did when Harrison was this age, I have diligently taken Tucker's monthly photos on time every month thus far. Harrison wanted to get in on the action (he usually isn't around when I take the photo) and couldn't wait to hold and pose with his brother. On his own, he ran into his room and grabbed his little blue armchair as he remembered we used it for the Christmas photos we had taken over three months earlier!

Note Tucker's ample chin(s), he is definitely a hefty kid, much more so than his brother ever was. Also the terms "chunk" and "tank" have been used to refer to this happy, healthy kid! His eyes are still blue, his hair still a dirty blonde.