The Zoe and Silas Show

1/31/13: Zoe was tired and full of tantrums at bedtime tonight. She didn't want to get washed up or go potty. After Derek wrangled her onto the toilet she said, "I need a hug" and then proceeded to cooperate with the rest of the bedtime routine ("I'm a good cooperator!!!").  We implemented " responsibility charts " this week and working for small rewards seems to be pretty motivating for them (although more so for Zoe than Silas). One of their seven daily responsibilities is getting ready for bed, so she must have decided that she wanted to meet her goal for the day. More on the charts soon!

1/30/13: S&Z have been playing with their lacing boards a lot lately. They call it their "knitting", and they hand us pieces of string saying it's a scarf they made. Considering how much I've been knitting lately, I guess it's not surprising! As of last night Derek is officially sick now as well, although he still held down the fort solo this morning so that I could go back to work. We had a pretty quiet evening after I got home, mostly spent working on another puzzle that Vanessa and the boys gave the kids for Christmas. It's looking like Silas can probably go to school tomorrow, but Zoe will be home another day. She has gone to school 1 day in the last 3 weeks. I'm sure Silas will be happy to go back after missing 2 entire weeks!

Two new additions for the refrigerator.

1/29/13: No school again today. I found S&Z in their bedroom at one point sitting next to the baby stroller which they had covered with a bedsheet because the "baby is sleeping". I guess they were reading the baby bedtime stories (which just happened to be "Good Night Minnesota" and "Good Night Boston"!). Vanessa and the kids gave S&Z this awesome Melissa & Doug alphabet puzzle for Christmas. At least I feel like they're still playing educational games even though they are missing so much school. They are pros with their alphabet now and have gotten really good at sounding out what letter many words start with. Games like this certainly help!

1/28/13: Another day, another virus. Zoe was seen by Dr. R. today. She had to wear this mask for 45 minutes while we waited in a waiting room now devoid of all toys and books (probably due to crazy germs). Her ears are clear and it looks like she somehow got a different strain of the flu than the one she had 2-1/2 weeks ago. How is that even possible, in a human who WAS VACCINATED in October??!! Apparently I was immune to the first strain but not to this one. Ugh. Aside from low-grade fevers, being extra needy, mom home sick, more missed days of school, and hacking coughs, things are pretty normal around here. Inspired by a picture posted on FB, we did some color mixing tonight when Julia left. I found this simple color wheel online , and we got to mixing. Zoe started with yellow + red = orange and Silas worked on red + blue = purple.  Intro to color mixing wouldn't be complete without yellow + blue = green.   It was a s uper fun and simple activity

1/27/13: Antibiotics are working on bringing our smiley little boy back.  I need to get me some of those. Derek had to call in sick again today so he and his sous chef made stromboli for dinner.

1/27/13: Once Silas puts his hands behind his head we joke that he has assumed the sleep position. He's been napping very well recently because he is still sick sick sick. I took him to the pediatrician on Saturday morning because we were going on 8 days of a fever + he had also developed a hacking, croup-y sounding cough. He has a double ear infection courtesy of haemophilus influenzae . This is all after his flu resolved on its own, probably around day 5. Hopefully the z-pack will work some magic! Zoe has what was thought to be viral conjunctivitis. When I mentioned this to Dr. R she said that with the presence of h. influenza in her environment that we're probably dealing with a bacterial infection. She gave us a prescription for eye drops which need to be given 3x/day, 2 drops in each eye. Those of you who know and love Zoe can imagine how fun that has been! Thankfully we were both home on Sat. because we had to pin her down for the first treatment. She

1/25/13: Building an ice cream drive-thru window. "What'cho want today, Mommy?" Notice their matching pajamas, which are hand-me-downs from Eugenia's girls. We've had them in the rotation for a long time now. Last night was the first time, however, that Zoe intentionally selected the same pj's as Silas and kept saying "we match, we match!".  Today was the most Silas has played since last weekend. Fingers crossed that he is on the upswing!

1/24/13: Silas on day 5 of the flu. I tried to bring Zoe to school but they sent us home for a suspected case of conjunctivitis. Considering they have been home for the better part of two weeks they are hanging in pretty well. Us, not so much.

1/23/13: Zoe showing her "mad" face (but she really just looks so darn cute in her snowman pajamas and polka dot slippers!).

1/22/13: I normally get the kids up at 7:30, but Silas woke up at 4am and started a conversation with Zoe so all 3 of us were up for a bit early this morning. There was a 90% chance that Derek would keep Zoe home from school since Silas was sick, so I decided to let the sleeping beauties rest a little later. I peeked in at 7:50 and they were sound asleep. I decided to let them sleep in - Derek texted me when they woke up at 8:15. It was only the second time ever that I didn't see them in the morning before going to work! They were upset when they discovered I wasn't there, so we had a quick phone chat when I got off the bus :)

1/21/13: Tonight we made birthday cards for my Grandpa H. who turns 90 this week. Silas  slept through the night last night in the new bed until 8am and woke up with no fever,  but before nap it was close to 100 and after nap it was 103 again. This morning he played and seemed to be getting back to himself but b y the time we were making cards he was hunkered down on the couch,  completely miserable again. Below is a video of a funny conversation I had with Zoe while she made the card. Zoe is having a very tough time with Silas getting so much attention since he's been sick. This is what she looked like for most of the evening. Fun times around here.

1/20/13: Checking out their new beds !

Silas has had a fever since yesterday morning, so it seems that he did not escape the flu bullet after all. Ibuprofen is barely putting a dent in his 103+ degree fever and he has not perked up today at all. He watched a few cartoons in our bed while Derek assembled the kids' new beds this morning. He was so sick that he didn't even want to help or watch. He melted down at lunch and ended up letting us put him down for his nap 45 minutes early. He was down for 3 hours but called me in there at least 10 times, just delirious and needing a hug or help blowing his nose. This is what he has looked like most of the day. This flu has been misery for all of us, even though Derek and I have not gotten it. This is definitely the worst sickness we have weathered with the kids. I'm sure Derek was happy to go to work this afternoon. He's exhausted like the rest of us but at least he can watch the football game in peace tonight. I'm relieved that tomorrow is a holiday so th

1/19/13: When I went into the kids' room this morning I found Silas in Zoe's crib, because he "needed to straighten the picture". Then he proceeded to climb back into his own crib. Their beds arrive on Tuesday so I am anticipating that it will be a week of sleeping adjustments. In other routine-related news, Zoe now gets herself into her pull-up and pj's every night before bed!

1/18/13: Zoe frequently asks for "a hug and a kiss" these days. We are only too happy to oblige. After an awesome dinner at a local Indian restaurant last night we went home and had some ice cream. The kids were so good at dinner that they definitely deserved a special treat!

1/17/13: Music time!

1/16/13: Julia has spoken a mix of spanish and english to S&Z since she started taking care of them at 4 months. They are now showing a real interest in learning spanish words for things. Tonight they were making - and practicing saying - "sopa de pollo" - chicken soup :) This is the second picture I've recently gotten of S&Z side by side with these goofy smiles. I often set a timer in order to signal that it's time to wash up and get ready for bed. When Grandpa Dave was here Silas figured out that he loves watching the clock app on the iPad. Now he asks me to use the timer on my iPad instead of my phone, and they crack themselves up laughing each time the "marimba" alarm sounds.

1/15/13: I was very thankful to have Julia take over as nursemaid for a couple of hours this afternoon. Silas wanted in on the Ta-ta snuggles too!  Zoe is still pushing a fever of 104. This is the worst sickness I can remember either of them ever having. I called the pediatrician on-call last night who said there's really nothing that can be done. She told me signs to watch for of dehydration or pneumonia. She is drinking and eating okay. She perks up when the ibuprofen kicks in, and then crashes again when it wears off. Silas woke up around 7:00 and tried to rouse Zoe. She must have been pretty listless because he started calling "ZOE NEEDS MEDICINE! ZOE NEEDS MEDICINE!". So sweet.  This afternoon was day 4 of a high fever for Zoe so I'm really hoping we're nearing the end.  I still have a head cold and am exhausted, but I need to go back to work tomorrow.  

1/14/13: Zoe was 103.5 this morning when she woke up at 6:15, but eventually she perked up after a bath and ibuprofen. I'm home sick now too (hopefully just a cold and not the flu). Derek made us red smoothies for lunch. I'm exhausted so I laid down when Julia came this afternoon. Not sure if the exhaustion and body aches are from playing nursemaid to a miserable, demanding 3-year-old all weekend, or a precursor to something more insidious. Either way, me & Z are over it. Bless Silas' heart, he has remained healthy and is being his goofy, happy self most of the time. He did want in on some snuggles after Julia left tonight, though :) I'm staying home again tomorrow and we'll probably take Zoe to the pediatrician since we're going on day 4.

1/13/13: We have watched an obscene amount of TV in order to survive this weekend. Silas brought home Happy Birthday balloons last night from the family party because it is Grandma D's birthday today. They carried the balloons around the house all day today, and clutched onto them while watching (re-watching in Zoe's case) "A Bug's Life". Waking up to a table full of Christmas gifts definitely made our little sickie feel a lot better first thing this morning :) Happy birthday, Grandma!! 

Zoe is very sick today with what is probably the flu . Silas ran errands with Derek this morning and he was so sweet to bring Zoe home a surprise. A Twix is the perfect choice for twins! Unfortunately Zoe and I had to miss the final family Christmas celebration tonight. While Derek and Silas went to Plymouth to see all the cousins, she and I had lots of snuggles and TV and rest. Her fever was 102.7 when it was time for her last dose of ibuprofen before bed. I'm praying the medicine works quickly.