I Heart Sleep.

I really have the best of intentions, and then I blink, and 2 weeks has gone by. What craziness!

Life is great! I'm pretty much the happiest I can remember, even as I'm faced with these monstrous decisions as to what to do with my life. I can't believe how busy I am - I actually feel pretty bad that I don't have more time to spend with the kids these days. But really, they see my plenty. I just have to make sure that I get some quality time in each day with each child.

Speaking of those adorable kids... here's some updates:

Cohen -
Cohen is all hockey, all the time! He watches the highlights of every NHL game, plays hockey in our basement, and hockey on his video game, and when it's time for "real" hockey, he is probably the high scorer on his team. He writes out different "plays" in his notebooks, and talks about his favourite NHL stars as though he knows them personally. It's adorable, but I'll admit, there are some days that I just want hear him talk about something else. ANYTHING else! I keep thinking that it's a phase, but it's been about 5 months! I will admit, he is a good little hockey player, but I'm still harbouring hopes that he'll love music equally. Ha. Ha. Ha.
School-wise, he is doing fabulous. I can't believe how much he is reading, and now it's the math craziness! This little 6 year old can do multiplication. And he is constantly looking for "real life" math problems. The other day, for example, he asked me how old I was, and then informed me that he's 24 years younger than me, and did I know that 8 x 3 was 24? And that 2 + 4 was 8, which is kind of neat too, mom.

Huh. I'm pretty sure that my first grade math class was limited to 1+1. Kudos to his teacher!

Lili -
Lili is as bubbly as ever. We withdrew her from ballet for the rest of the year (those Saturday mornings were making neither of us happy, next year the class isn't until 10:45 or so, much easier). She recently started her art class, which is easily her favourite. Skating is going well, she is competing in her second competition this March, which has her very excited. I keep trying to tell her that there aren't any green medals, but she's not convinced.

We also took her out of preschool after Christmas... again. I suppose it's because we were so spoiled with Cohen's preschool, but I have just been completely unimpressed by the 3 preschools that Lili tried. For the amount that you pay (about $150 mth), I would expect the teachers to play a more active role in actually teaching the kids some things. I'm not talking multiplication, (nay, that is for the first grade, apparently!), but at least some skills when it comes to printing their names. How about some crafts that require some creativity? I also was very unhappy with the disorganization and lack of discipline in her last program. Sigh. Oh well, she is busy enough, honestly, she hasn't even mentioned it since we stopped going.

Violin is also going very well. She seems to have a knack for it, which makes my job easier. Of course, last week was tough - she dropped her violin, and it broke into pieces! It was partially my fault - I was trying to get it snuggled into her neck properly, and we both let go of it at the same time. She was hysterical!!!! I couldn't get her to calm down. She was convinced that she would never have the chance to play violin again.
Well, we took it in to be fixed, and they told us it would be anywhere from $200-$500. Gasp. Of course, as is the story of my life, I had only made the last payment on the violin a week prior. The good news is, they were able to fix it (and replace the strings, chin-rest, pegs, and a few other upgrades) and it only came to $200. Phew.

Time to get an area rug to practice on!

Luci!
Miss Luci is almost 9 months old. It actually HURTS my heart to say that - I am mourning so much the passing of these baby-days, knowing that she is my last. She has quit nursing - just refused, and that was that - which I desperately miss. She is days away from crawling, although she seems rather content to scoot around the hardwood on her butt. I'm fairly certain that we're in the final days of enjoying her toothless, gummy grin - the drool factor has increased lately, and she's chewing on her hand a lot.

She is such a happy baby - and I hear that from people all day long. She smiles at everyone, and never cries in public. In fact, she never really cries. And it's no fluke - it's just that we learned from our mistakes! The trick is sleep... and lots of it. From about the time she was 3-4 months, we've worked hard on her "sleep training". The very instant that we spot a sleep sign (rubbing eyes, yawn, even a little bit of crankiness), we scoop her up, place her in her crib, give her a soother, cover her with her blanket, and close the door. She is so used to this, that since 4 months she has known to just go to sleep. It's amazing to watch - as soon as that blanket goes on top of her, she snuggles into it, closes her eyes, and bam. She naps 3 or 4 times per day, usually for about 1.5-2 hours. And, she sleeps for 12 hours every night, from 8-8. Every once in a while she'll wake in the night (around 4 usually), but we give her a quick bottle and put her right back to bed. This probably only happens once a week.

I know. We're SO lucky. But really, it's not so much luck as experience, I swear! And I know things will change a little once the teeth really start coming... but for now, we're quite pleased! I will admit, I miss having her fall asleep in my arms, but...

So that's it for the kids! I'll have to update you all on the lives of the grown-ups later...