Joe has been really busy at work as he started new classes and responsibilities are getting redistributed. He's been doing a great job of trying to balance everything and give me some much needed "me" time. He continues to be the zen baby master to Bear and the adventure king to Z. He's been pretty stressed, but I hope as we settle into a routine that he can get in some yoga or something to help with that. Send him love.
I have been a hot mess. Oh my gosh. A coffee dependent hot mess! But, my students are great for the most part so far and I'm really liking teaching English 100. I'm hoping that I might get to repeat this schedule in the spring. It's hard since I go straight from my second class to pick up the kids, so I don't really have much time to get grading or planning done at school, which means I have to work it in at home. But, I am still liking the schedule overall and I'm thankful to have it.
We started off the school year with a bang, aka having to bring a feverish Z into work with us on the first day of classes. Z lulled me into a false sense of security by quietly watching Frozen while eating snacks in his stroller for a good 35 minutes before he suddenly decided to scream hysterically right as I was in the middle of taking attendance. I had to take him into the hallway to calm down and then hold him the rest of my class. He then calmed for a bit when I took him back to my office to pump breast milk for Bear, but again abruptly fell apart, causing my neighbor to think I was sobbing in my office. She started knocking on my door, anxiously asking if I was okay or needed help. Ten minutes later, the pump was put away and Z was dancing in puddles.
This was a Wednesday. His fever broke that evening and he was fine on Friday. I was dizzy, confused and shaking, but I thought it was just severe exhaustion from barely sleeping for two days. NOPE! I had gotten sick too. Ever since I got pregnant with Bear, my immune system has been in the toilet. What seemed to mildly bother Z for 24 hours completely destroyed me for three days. Bear also spiked a fever for not even a full day and was fine. I look back and am not entirely certain how I taught my classes that day, but I did.
So, that was our start to the school year. At the same time as trying to sort out work, both kids were having some adjustment pains at daycare.
Bear was refusing to eat, which was really stressful. After the first weekish I discovered I have high lipase in my breast milk which means it develops a soapy taste after it has been expressed unless I scald it to disable the protein. Some babies don't care. Bear does. Which meant I had to toss my freezer stash that I had so painstakingly assembled. I cried. A lot.
After we corrected that, Bear would deign to eat one ounce and that was it. He was crabby and hungry while he was there and would completely freak out when I came to get him because he wanted to nurse NOW, which was not an option since Z needed to get home for a nap, which meant Bear would scream hysterically in the car on the way home and while I got Z down for his nap. Not fun. Finally, after trying four different kinds of bottles unsuccessfully, I tried giving Bear a sippy cup instead and that did the trick. Now he is a happy guy who naps, eats and plays while at daycare and is not a ravenous ball of rage when I pick him up.
I was just breathing a sigh of relief over that when I was notified that Z had been exhibiting anxiety and frustration at times and they wanted permission to try some therapy methods to help him cope. Of course my red alert worry alarms went wild, because I'm apparently completely insane now that I have children. In the end, we tried one method and that seems to be working, so now I just have to get over my own fears/prejudices/anxieties about the stigma of "therapy" and everything will be fine.
We all think his frustrations are mainly stemming from not being able to verbally communicate, so on that note, I took the leap and had Z evaluated for Early Intervention this month. I was scared and anxious about this as well (are you sensing a theme? I mean, seriously, I wonder what my blood pressure has been like this month) but the people at EI could not possibly be more caring and helpful. I have a lot more to say about that so I will make it a separate post.
We also had fun! I promise! Apple picking, hanging with friends, going to parks, playing new games, having cook outs with our new grill, etc. I do hope October will offer a bit of a reprieve though.
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