Category — Family stuff

In the past few months, both of my children have changed so drastically that it’s hard to believe.

My daughter started Kindergarten this year and my son is now in preschool. These were huge changes for the kids and a big change for me as well.

I was happy that my kids were getting a chance to play and interact with other children their age, but I was also sad when I realized how quickly it all happened.

My son is learning how to talk better every day and new words are always popping out of his mouth. The days of him saying things like “strawbies” instead of “strawberries” or “ladybuggy” instead of “ladybug” are over. My daughter can’t curl up in my lap like she used to because she’s getting so big.

They always say that “children grow up fast so you better enjoy them while you can”, but they were wrong. They don’t just grow up fast. They mature with lightning speed! Don’t just treasure each smile or each hug. Treasure every single second, even the ones where they’re screaming their heads off in the grocery store.

Take lots of pictures and videos. Save their drawings and crafts. Squeeze in as many hugs and kisses and cheek pinches as they’ll allow, even if they’re sleeping, because no matter how many you manage to get in each day, it’ll never be enough. And don’t ever let anyone tell you you’re spoiling your baby if you hold them too much. You can never hold them enough!

Every stage your baby goes through since they’re born has its ups and downs, but the ups always make the downs worth it.

I’ve been having trouble getting my kids to eat spinach so I thought I’d try something different today. Normally I add baby spinach to sandwiches (like egg salad or salmon sandwiches) but they always pick it out. Today, I made spaghetti and threw in a bag of baby spinach while boiling the spaghetti.

After it was cooked, I tossed it with some pasta sauce and served it to my little unsuspecting kidlets.

They both ate every last morsel, spinach and all!

When they were finished, I told them they just ate a bunch of spinach. I made sure to mention that spinach makes you “big and strong like daddy” so they were perfectly happy with that.

So if you’re looking for a way to slip some spinach into your kid’s diet, try boiling it with some pasta next time.

My daughter received the Barbie and the Diamond Castle DVD as a gift so we’ve been watching it quite a bit in the last couple weeks.

Normally these kinds of movies are hard for me to watch with my kids because they make me groan, but this one is actually good. It’s even funny!

Now I find that I walk around the house singing the songs in the movie at the top of my lungs. My daughter was singing one of them this morning and when she finished the last note as loud as she could, my 3 year old son says “Brabo Morgan, brabo!”.

My son recently woke in the middle of the night with croup cough. Normally I would have been extremely alarmed but I had experienced croup cough with my daughter a few years ago so I recognized the sound at once.

Croup cough has a very distinct sound when your child coughs. It sounds like a bark. Some say it sounds like a seal barking, but since I’ve never heard a seal bark, I’m going to say it sounds like an old dog! Or maybe even a cat coughing up a hairball. Either way, it’s not pleasant.

Croup cough is fairly common in young kids. My daughter was not quite one year old when she had it. My son has just turned three and this was the first time he ever had it.

When I first heard him coughing, I checked on him first and was scared to see that he could hardly breathe. My daughter was prescribed all kinds of medication and had to be on a breathing machine so I was worried for my son. However, it was about 2 a.m. and I wasn’t able to take him to the doctor so I hoped Vicks VapoRub would suffice until the morning.

I rubbed a bit of Vicks on the sides of his neck and at the base of his throat, just above his chest. He was instantly quiet. I was amazed how quickly and effectively it worked. I went back to bed and didn’t hear another peep out of him.

The next day he had almost no signs at all that he had croup cough. I got lucky this time. He was back to his usual cute and trouble-making self. My daughter was a lot younger and was extremely fussy for at least a week.

Croup cough can come and go very quickly, but it can also become serious so if you’re at all worried about your child, take them to your physician. If they’re having a lot of difficulty breathing you may need to take them straight to the emergency room. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

It was a birthday weekend here at the Germsheid residence. Unfortunately, I came down with something pretty nasty and was really sick all week, so when the weekend came, I thought my son’s 3rd birthday was Saturday when it was really Sunday.

It all worked out in the end and we had a nice, quiet little birthday party for him with a few family members and a delicious Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake! I found it a bit funny that the cake was decorated with American decorations when we live in Canada, but oh well.

When I look at these birthday pictures, I’m amazed at how far we’ve come. It doesn’t seem like that long ago when that little bum turned sideways the day I was induced into labour and I had to have an emergency cesarean section. Now he’s getting so big I can barely lift him without having heart palpitations.

Birthday #3 didn’t involve too much “cake-face”. Ice cream cakes are notoriously messy but I’m pretty impressed that we didn’t end up with more of a sloppy mess. Birthday #1 was a bit dirtier.

Birthday #2 was somewhere in the middle.

We didn’t do anything big or fancy, but we enjoyed it all the same. Having a small get-together like we did makes it special for us since we like to spend time with close family.

A new bed was a pretty exciting gift for him and he’s now spent two nights in a big boy bed instead of a crib. The transition could not have been easier. I must say though that he was equally excited about the Curious George gitchies I bought him – so if you’re looking for a gift idea for a little boy, buy him some underwear!