Jad's first illness and snow trip #1

A couple of weeks ago, Sora developed a persistent cough and fever. Unfortunately, she passed it on to me and I, in turn, passed it on the Jad. The worst part was that Jad's illness peaked while we were away at our church snow trip. He had a fever and a horrible cough.. it was challenging since I was still recovering from my illness and Nik had to care for Kai and Sora. Fortunately, Nik almost always travels with meds, so we had Tylenol on hand, though Nik had to drive out to Target (an hour round trip) to purchase a humidifier. With Jad sick, I spent most of my time in our room with Jad, while Nik minded the kids. Kai and Sora were blissfully unaware of our struggles and enjoyed the snow and hanging out with church friends. All things considered, sleep wasn't horrible: Kai and Sora shared a queen bed (first time they had ever shared a bed!), Jad ended up co-sleeping with Nik and I since I was deathly afraid that Jad would aspirate and/or stop breathing in the middle of the night (irrational mommy fear, I know).

Not a lot of snow this year and it was icy, but good enough for the kids and snowball making

After a lot of coercing (i.e., yelling and threatening), kids x3 are asleep!

We don't give our kids tablets, but they usually find and watch someone else's screen

On our way to Tahoe, we stopped by the Jelly Belly factory. The kids have been asking about visting since the last time we went, so it was a mandatory stop (it's really just an excuse for the kids to eat a lot of candy).

The best family picture we could get: literally no kids are looking at the camera

Monkey and rooster

This President's Day, we hung out with church friends at the Children's Discovery Museum. The museum was a crowded madhouse filled with other parents and kids trying to find something to do on a Monday off. It was difficult to catch up with our friends, since we were mostly just trying to keep track of our own children.

I've managed have a few afternoon play dates with Jad. When I say "play date" it's mostly just me grabbing lunch and catching up with my friends with kids, but Jad is uncommonly social for a 3.5 month old and he actually interacts with other kids, smiling and babbling nonstop.

Jad was so excited to meet Austin, who's about the same age

Jad: "I love meeting big kids too!"

Jad continues to be a constant source of joy and sleep deprivation. After he got ill, it felt as if we were back to the sleepless nights of the newborn days since he was waking up every one to two hours. Thank goodness things have gotten better since and he's back to waking up only three times a night (I know it sounds horrible, but these things are relative). He always smiling and giggling, and I love his snorty laugh. I think Jad babbles more than his siblings, but I honestly don't remember if Kai or Sora babbled as much. Jad has also discovered his hands: he loves sucking on them and he's constantly reaching out to grab whatever's in reach.

Po Po always makes Jad laugh

I just registered Kai for kindergarten in the fall. It's hard to believe that Kai is almost five years old and that he'll be starting kindergarten soon! In preparation for kinder, he's started receiving homework from preschool. Getting him to focus can sometimes be a challenge and we're still trying to teach him to hold his pencil correctly.

Silly Kai-Kai

I asked Kai to help Sora get dressed in the morning and he actually helped! Amazing.

When Kai is working on his homework, Sora doesn't want to be left out of the fun, so she insists on working on worksheets while Kai is doing his homework (what nerds!). She continues to be precocious and for better or worse, she usually follows Kai's lead. It's cute when Kai and Sora engage in imaginary play together, right now a lot of their play has to do with the pups from Paw Patrol, since it's currently their favorite cartoon (we've gone from Thomas, to Octonauts, to Poli, to Blaze, and now to Ponies/Rescue Bots/Paw Patrol).

Going on a drive with her picnic

Because you need fishing hats when you're fishing...

Story time is better with a mask and cape

Perhaps it's related to having a new baby brother, but Kai and Sora have had some behavioral issues lately. Sora throws tantrums: she'll yell "no!", then stamp her foot or swat at things when you ask her to do something she doesn't want to do. Kai has been annoying his friends and won't stop even after we or his friends tell him to stop. Kai's teacher told me that Kai had been telling his friends that, "Mommy doesn't play with me anymore, she only plays with the baby." It was a reminder to Nik and me that we need to keep working on making each kid feel special in the midst of all the busyness.. just a few growing pains as we adjust to being a family of five.

Needless to say, the kids love Jad and don't hold it against him personally. They love making him smile and laugh, and I usually ask the kids to watch/entertain Jad while I scramble to grab the kids' things in the morning. Jad loves his Sophie the Giraffe, and the kids will squeak Sophie for Jad to makes him smile.

Sora: "Say 'cheese,' Jad!"

Mommy's little helpers

Sora's reading a book to Jad <3

Invariably, the best way to get a picture of our kids together is when they're reading a book. Our little nerds love books and are transfixed by stories, and they don't have the "glazed over" expression that they have when they're watching TV. Jad now joins in on the mix on occasion.