Teresa's Third Week: 4/22/11

Well, our weekend got off to an awful start. In addition to the cold Elizabeth and Felicity had gotten, Cecilia got a stomach bug and spent Saturday and Sunday throwing up. By Saturday night, Teresa and I had the cold as well. So by Sunday morning, we had James with his almost 3 week enduring cough/congestion, Cecilia with her stomach bug, and Elizabeth, Teresa and I with colds. Fortunately, Felicity seemed pretty much all better but, needless to say, none of us made it to Church. James was healthy enough to go, but being Palm Sunday, leaving me sick with a sick newborn, sick 1 year old and vomiting 3 year old for an hour and a half was just not a good idea.

So Sunday was spent resting as much as was humanly possible. And it was good we did. By the end of Sunday Cecilia seemed to be feeling better wanting to play with Felicity. Teresa wanted to sleep so much she cut her nursing about in half. (You women may have some appreciation for how my night was when a baby who was nursing a lot suddenly just wants to sleep!) But I made sure she nursed at least every couple or few hours.

Teresa also seems to defy the "rules" about baby diapers. Everything says they should have a dirty diaper for about every feeding. Not her. She won't hear of that. She likes to do 1 every day or every other day and, you may well imagine, just how much she fills said diapers. Good thing Monday was laundry day. :) Unfortunately, with her cold, Teresa couldn't nap well Monday and I got behind on my laundry day. Poor little angel, she has such a tiny button nose and yet it was giving her so much trouble! Fortunately she did nap well on Tuesday and I was able to finish all the laundry, clean up the living room a bit, do the dishes, etc.

Wednesday her cold forced her awake a bit earlier than usual but she napped well in the morning. So well I was able to clean the kitchen counters, microwave, stove, sink, and floor. My mom came for a brief visit and got to hold Teresa and I also managed to wrap almost all of the girls' Easter presents.

Thursday I switched Teresa from the disposable diapers to the cloth diapers. I'm kindof learning as I go, but so far I'm adjusting to the cloth diapers pretty well. Teresa hasn't seemed to notice there is a difference. I'll probably do a separate post on the cloth diapering later. We also went out to eat for the first time with all four girls. Teresa slept through most of the meal but Elizabeth seemed to really struggle with the idea of sitting still. Then when James took her to the car, Cecilia began melting down about "missing daddy" and refused to calm down or sit down. Sufficed to say we will begin emphasizing obedience and listening and the like more. I think the laid back way things have been the last few weeks have sent a couple of girls the wrong message.

Friday I gave Teresa her weekly bath. (Babies this young really don't need baths, but small things like clean tushies and clean behind the ears or around the neck can benefit from a nice cleaning and I like to keep baths a familiarity.) Just for fun, I also weighed her. She was 9 pounds 4 ounces. That is 12 ounces more than 8 days ago. She is supposed to average a 5 to 7 ounce gain per week. Check. Plus, considering she only really dirties a diaper once every day or other day, it is nice to know it isn't because she isn't getting enough. Clearly its going in. And this helps account for the adorable double chin she gained in the last week.

By Friday Elizabeth's nose had slowed down, so she at least seems to be recovering. Teresa and I are still battling the congestion. Hopefully it will clear up soon. There is just only so much you can do for a newborn with a cold.

After such a miserable weekend and with so many of us sick, I wasn't worried about schoolwork at all but Monday morning Cecilia wanted to do her reading lesson. And she got so into it, when the story for the lesson turned out only to be part 1, she asked to do the next lesson as well. Per her request, she reread both lessons Tuesday. Wednesday she read another two lessons and, while she skipped Thursday, reread them again on Friday. At this rate she will finish the book before we move. Good thing I've been looking into which books come next.

Teresa seems to have three names. James, Cecilia and I call her "Teresa," Felicity calls her "Resa," and Elizabeth calls her "Sa."

Wishing you a very Blessed Tridium and Holy Pascale Sunday!!!