Breakthroughs and Journaling

Wednesday Quinn woke up way too early to go potty. So, as per his sleep rules (more on that in a different post), he went potty and got back in bed to wait for his music (alarm clock). I set the alarm clock for 7:00 - an entire two hours later. And the little guy fell back asleep. Once his music came on he announced, "Mommy, my music is on. Come and dance with me." Only the word "come" had a very pronounced K-sound in the beginning because that is one of the sounds he's working on in speech. Anyway, so there I was dancing with my boy in the middle of the room to a version of "Go to sleep" given to us from the hospital. And I started thinking, he's not going to want to dance with me every morning and this is so perfect - him holding my hands, us moving to the music and singing together. So I also thought I should start journaling about things like this in a real journal. You know, one of those that you actually write in, with a pen. I do keep up with scrapbooks for both Liam and Quinn and a family one and do some kick ass journaling in there, if I do say so myself. But I thought it would be nice to have a journal upstairs that I could write in whenever the mood struck me. And that day at work I got a present from my Secret Santa. A Journal. A Very Pretty Journal with a C on the cover.
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Today Liam had a breakthrough. I dropped off Quinn at speech and since he's there for an entire hour Mike was going to pick him up after work. Liam and I headed over to the mall. In the past, Liam has only survived mall trips with nursing and being carried in either the front carrier or the sling. As soon as we entered the mall Liam started screaming/crying. And I thought, please just let me visit 1 of the 5 stores I wanted to get to. The other four can wait or I can send Mike out at night for those things. So...to calm him down (and perhaps warm him up - it was cold out there) we nursed a little. 10 minutes later he was ready to go. I buckled him in the stroller, played with him for awhile in there, and raced to Hallmark. Store one done and Liam was still content in his stroller. Okay...let's try the second stop - the post office. Success! 80 stamps later I was feeling pretty lucky and decided to try the third - KBToys for some hotwheels for Quinn. Success! After that I decided that the other two would take some time and decision making and I did not want to push my luck. So we started heading toward the exit. And Liam start fussing - just a bit. I bundled him up, got him in the car, and he cried for about 5 minutes before falling asleep. I can say this was the best trip to the mall Liam has had so far - and all in the stroller. He did give everyone who tried to talk to him a dirty look and I had to be sure to be right there so he could see me, but that's my boy.
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Mike made some chicken soup the other night - it was delicious and still is. We have plenty of leftovers which has made lunches delicious and nutritious.
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I've had two kids go home sick with the stomach flu this past week and quite a few more who just don't come to school. That and everyone else is coughing and sneezing. So I thought I should do a round of Airborne. Only I had to check with my doctor because I'm nursing (and every thing says to check with your doctor if you're nursing or pregnant) and he said I cannot take it. Ugh. So, I've been doing an insane amount of handwashing, wiping tables and toys with Clorox, and spraying doorknobs and lockers with Lysol.