Kindergarten and crawling

Oh, what I wouldn't do to have 10 more hours in a day. Nobody told me (or at least I wasn't listenening when they did) that having two children would be so much more work than having one. I just can't seem to get a thing done around the house these days! But on the bright side, having two children means twice as many hugs and wayyyy more giggles around here. So I'm ok with that.

Can you believe that Maks is already eight months old? And our sweet girl Kaylin is almost four years old and is preparing to start Junion Kindergarten in just a few months. Kaylin has been to her new school several times for some fun orientation visits and she is more than ready to be a "big kid." She is writing her own name now, dressing herself and is practicing her address. I know she's going to love school and I can't wait to watch her development and imagination take leaps and bounds. She also loves being a big sister, although since Maks started crawling and grabbing her toys away from her, she may feel differently.

Maks is, well, he's definitely a little boy. We like to call him determined, for lack of a better term. About a week after he learned to roll over he was up on his knees trying to move forward--mainly in an effort to reach his big sister's toys. Within a few weeks he mastered crawling and about a week after that skill was ticked off his to-do list he decided he needed to stand up and see the world from a new vantage point. So he's now standing at the furniture and cautiously cruising around. And no one is happier about this than Maks. Once he gets himself up on the couch or TV stand, his face just lights up. And as you can see from his smiley mug in the photo above, that's quite a marvelous sight to behold! Really, it's not hard to get Maks to smile. All he needs is a woman (any woman will do) in the grocery store chatting to him and his smile spreads from ear to ear. He's also loving his solid foods, his favourite of which seems to be Cheerios. We often find him under the kitchen table nibbling on the ones that got away during his last meal. Gross, I know, but it gives me a few more minutes to tidy up and get ready for his next adventure in foodland.

So there you have it. Life here is busy but fun, crazy but always entertaining.

The yellow flowers

Being a mom is really hard, I'm finding out. It's physically demanding, mentally exhausting, and emotionally challenging. I suppose it will always be that way. From the minute those labour pains started to the day I die, it has been and will always be that way, to some degree or another.

That's not to say motherhood isn't wonderful. It's sort of like growing a garden. You put your heart and soul into it, you work hard at it, you love it and tend to it. And some days you are rewarded with beautiful blossoms that you can stand back and marvel at, proud that you actually grew something so lovely. And other days you do nothing but hunch and strain over that garden, pulling weed after weed, battling with the garden that seemed like such a great idea back in the spring. At the end of the day you are exhausted. But overall, you love gardening and would never give it up.

It's the same with children. You want to give your children so much, as much as you possibly can. You love them, care for them, nurture them in so many ways. And most days their shining faces just light up your day. And you think that this is really all you need in life. But there are moments, difficult moments, that make you question yourself and your decision to be a parent. At the end of the day you are exhausted, but you love being a mother with your whole being and could never dream of another life.

It's Mother's Day and I got the most lovely gift from Kaylin this afternoon--a beautiful bouquet of dandylions she picked from our neighbour's boulevard. While the rest of us see weeds, my little girl sees pretty yellow flowers. And for the first time, I saw pretty yellow flowers too.

Happy Mother's Day.

Stare all you want

26 Reasons Why It's Wonderful to Have Kids

Word on the street (literally, I heard this out on my street) is that Brian's recent post on what it's like to have kids has frightened a few people who have yet to have children of their own. So, in an effort to calm any prospective parents out there, I'd like to offer a slightly sunnier view of parenthood. Trust me, it ain't all bad. It's actually quite lovely most days.

26 Reasons Why It's Wonderful to Have Kids

1. To you, your own children's giggles are the most musical, heavenly sound on earth.
   
2. Seeing the world through fresh and innocent eyes. Why DO geese honk? I don't know Kaylin, but I'll look into it for you.
   
3. Kids' clothes are just so darned adorable, especially fresh out of the dryer when they're all warm and clean.
   
4. Tiny toes and fingers...even if those tiny Maks toes are often sweaty and smelly and always have navy blue lint between them.
   
5. Babies are never mean or spiteful, like many adults can be. They'll never cut you off in traffic or be rude to you on the phone. Babies are nice people to be around.
6. Kids are always ready to dance with you, whenever the mood strikes.
7. Kids' TV shows--though seemingly annoying at first--can be quite fun to watch.
8. One word: hugs.
9. There is so much cool baby and kids' gear out there, and although it can get pricey you can always justify buying it by (inappropriately) equating expensive baby gear with better parenting.
10. Toothless baby grins are hilarious. Much funnier, and less creepy, than toothless great-grandfather grins.
11. When you have kids you finally get to find out exactly how little sleep you can function on. And you're always surprised at how little that actually is.
12. You get to enjoy lots of coffee! (See #11 above.)
13. Holding your sleeping baby for just ten minutes can bring you as much calm and internal peace as a whole hour of overpriced yoga. And you don't need to squeeze into tight pants to do it.
    
14. The pride you feel when your preschooler writes her name for the first time is ten times the pride you felt earning your own university degree.
15. Having kids gives you an excuse to colour with crayons and finger paint.
16. Cooking for your children exposes all the holes in your own diet. Not until I had kids did I discover that I rarely eat vegetables before 5pm.
17. Though waking up with the kids at the crack of dawn is hard some days, you get to see the most glorious sunrises--and with your favourite little people by your side.
18. You become desensitized to handling all sorts of bodily fluids. (I think this is a good thing.)
19. Babies laugh at almost anything. They make you believe you are actually funny.
20. Childbirth really is a mind-blowing miracle.
21. You have an excuse to eat macaroni and cheese at least once a week.
22. If your kids are cute they usually distract people's attention towards them and away from your worn clothes and messy "I-didn't-have-time-for-a-shower-because-the-kids-were-up-at-dawn" hair.
23. Babies don't seem to mind if you kiss them all day long, or at least they can't yet form the words of complaint.
24. You get to experience new "firsts" every single day, from big ones like first steps to little ones like a first taste of cotton candy--all magical in their own right.
25. As long as your kids are safe and healthy, the rest of your problems seem managable and somewhat small.
26. Hearing your baby say "I love you" makes your heart burst out of your chest. And there is no better feeling in the world.
    

This is all I have time for

Brian is (again) hassling me to update my blog, but who has time anymore? Some days I forget to pee, I'm so busy. But of course I'm more than happy to share some recent pictures of the kiddies with you so you can at least witness the amazing rate at which my children grow. Do they all grow so fast? Sad, isn't it?

Here are some of my favourite moments and pictures from the past few months.


Some of Maks' first smiles, from early December. Look at all the hair he had back then!

Maks and Kaylin sharing some special sibling time.


Daddy making Maks smile.

Kaylin wearing her Pepe's glasses.

Pepe rocking his grandson to sleep at Christmas.
Kaylin, anxiously awaiting the start of her first ballet class.

Kaylin doing her "princess walk" in ballet class.
I love this picture of Kaylin, running with her scarf -- being her free and happy self.


Daddy holding his little man.
Maks, in mid-February, hanging out in his sister's bed. Notice how much hair he's lost!


The one and only Maksimo!

The "reality" behind Kaylin and Maks

We tried, we really did. Brian and I really do like traditional, normal names for kids, but in the end we have chosen two somewhat unusual names. It's hard to walk that fine line of common names vs. very unique and unusual names. But I think we did ok. And hopefully our kids won't be teased too much.

So just how did we come up with "Kaylin" and "Maks" you ask? Well, I'll be honest: I've named my children after reality TV personalities. It's sad but true. It's not that I'm a reality-TV junkie or anything (OK, maybe I am), it just turns out that there are a LOT of reality TV shows out there and I happen to have heard two names I love from two of them.

Here is the original "Kaylin":

She was a contestant on America's Next Top Model when I was pregnant and I liked both her and her name. Apparently so did Brian, so we went with it. Her name is actually spelled "Kahlen" and I wanted to use the spelling "Kalen" with our baby. But Brian filled out the paperwork right after the delivery (while I was slightly incapacitated) and chose the spelling he preferred -- "Kaylin" -- which, looking back, was a perfect decision. Unfortunately, Kaylin gets called Katelyn a lot, but I'm ok with that. I love her name and is suits her to a T.


Now, here is the original "Maks":

This is Maksim Chmerkovskiy, or "Maks" for short, and he's a dancer on Dancing With the Stars. But let me get one thing straight--I do NOT watch this show (ok, I've seen it a few times, but I don't watch regularly, I swear). I was channel surfing one night, early in my second pregnancy when I saw the name "Maks" underneath this man's picture and fell immediately in love--with the name, not the man. I have a thing for the letter "K", can you tell? Anyway, while I'm not a fan of the name "Max," I do love "Maks". I think it's the Eastern European sound of it. "Maksim" is not only a Russian name but also Hungarian, and since I am 1/2 Hungarian on my dad's side, I thought this was even more appropriate. I never thought Brian would go for it, but I guess I argued my case well because in the end we went with "Maks" and not "Tiberius," which was Brian's first choice. Eek.

So there you have it...Kaylin and Maks. Two unique names inspired by reality television. And a sad comment on my common choice of leisure activity. I really must get outside more.

Life with Maks

As you can see, it's been over a month since I last posted. It's not because I have nothing to say about life with our expanded clan. In fact, it's because of our expanded clan that I haven't had the opportunity to post--life is just far too busy these days. Who would have thunk that having two kids would be so, um, what's the word....challenging? I won't bore you with the details. Many of you have more children and busier lives than me. But for those of you without children, let me sum it up by saying that there are days where I don't have time (or maybe I just don't remember the importance of this simple act) to pee. I have gone over 8 hours without doing so. Then again, maybe I'm just turning into a camel.

So, what is Maks like you ask?? He's pretty wonderful, not that I'm biased. He's what you'd call a "good baby" who cries maybe less than a total of 20 minutes per day. Grunting is another story. Maks has a whole symphony of grunts and groans that he graces us with throughout the day. He sounds like a cross between a goat, a cat and a squeaky door.

He's also a very VERY hungry baby. I seem to be nursing him every 1-2 hours. It may be just life's cruel way of giving me what I want though. During Maks' first few days we had a lot of breastfeeding problems to the point that he was drinking expressed milk by bottle only. I was heartbroken, fearing he would never nurse again. I thought I had lost him to the bottle and was willing to do anything to "get him back." I'm happy to report that ten minutes with an amazing lactation consultant was all it took. Maks has been nursing...and nursing and nursing and nursing...ever since. So I really can't complain. This is what I wanted and I'm thrilled that the bottles are back in the closet.

My days are generally spent parked on our sofa with a nursing pillow on my lap. Which would be fine if this were my first baby and I could watch movies all day long. But poor Kaylin is getting the short end of this stick. She too is relegated to the living room, forced to play by herself while mommy feeds Maks. We do get to play "Eye Spy" a lot, and she has her fill of cartoons throughout the day. But I feel a lot of guilt about how her life has been temporarily altered and I cherish my alone time with her much more now. Thankfully, she loves her baby brother (a little too much actually. I'm not sure Maks appreciates all the kisses and hugs she gives him) and is only slightly annoyed that mommy can't play with her as much.

Life will get easier, this much I know. In the meantime, I am enjoying my little man Maks and feel blessed that our perfect little family has gotten just a little more perfect.