Day 7

We are closing out our first week staying around town/home. Ashton's school announced earlier this week that they are closed until at least April 10. I'm guessing even longer. We'll see how bad Houston gets hit by the virus. So we have at least three more weeks of this.

Today, we did our weekly chores and then I took Ashton to pick out countertops for our bathroom. They played with neighbors again. We are trying diligently to just stay around the house. Last week, I was more adventurous but as the numbers rise, I feel more obligated to stay home. Now we will only go out for piano lessons (as long as they keep going) and the grocery store.

Lydia at 2 Months

Weight: 13.5 lbs. Clearly the pumping/bottle is working. She's now four pounds more than birth weight. Weighs the same as Tanner at 2 months but started a pound heavier at birth.

Height: 23 inches, shorter than I thought. But we'll see if she has a growth spurt in the next few weeks to catch up

Clothing Size: 0-3 months for maybe another week. Some things are getting tight. I should probably move her up before the contractor starts on our bathroom so I don't have to find a box of clothes while they're working.

Daily Schedule: Lydia seems to be a good napper/sleeper. She falls asleep easily and stays asleep for naps. I can't remember when the 45 minute naps start like our other kids did but so far, she isn't showing signs of that. She's awake for about an hour and then naps for 1-3 hours. At night, she's up once, maybe twice and goes right back to sleep after eating a few ounces. She doesn't have a set wake up time or bedtime and I'm grateful I can let her sleep until whenever. With no school, we don't have to rush off anywhere in the morning.

Special Outings: With the quarantine, she hasn't really gone anywhere special now.

Firsts: Smile is definitely there. Slept through the night (9-7am) one time too. She also met Grandma Wilcox and Papa and Nana.

Eating: She continues to take a bottle like a champ. Lydia eats about 4-5 ounces every 3-4ish hours. And about 2-3 ounces at night.

Sibling love: Gemma is probably Lydia's biggest fan. Gemma loves to see if Lydia has bubbles in her mouth. Gemma often goes around saying, "Oh Lydia." Gemma wishes she could feed Lydia and claims, "I DO IT!" Ashton and Tanner can't wait for Lydia to laugh and interact more with them. But they still enjoy seeing Lydia and checking on her.


Monthly Pictures:

My terrible attempt at a smiling picture while holding her.

Day 5 and 6

March 19
We hung out around the house again today. We had our bathroom contractor come out for a while to drop off materials and go over our design again. Our bathroom remodel starts next Monday.

March 20
Lydia had her two month old check up that morning so I took her to that. I asked the doctor how worried I should be. His response matched exactly what I've been thinking. With Lydia (and the other kids), our bigger concern is still getting the flu or RSV. Especially for Lydia.

Joseph did "school" with Ashton while I was gone and caught up on her Spanish studies. It's fun to see how much she really knows and can read. Her teacher told me to challenge her some in math because she can do all the requirements. So we've had fun coming up with math activities.

Joseph took the big kids to pick up school lunch again while Lydia napped. We played outside with the neighbor kids again in the afternoon. Until they tell us otherwise, we will keep doing that. I figure it's the same kids every day so there's minimal risk, right?

Day 4

March 18
We decided to actually stay home today. When my parents came to visit, we spent time getting our front garden beds done. We got one done and needed to do the other. We spent the day working on this project. With a newborn plus 3 more kids, a house project seems to take forever. But we're at a spot right now where that's not such a bad thing. We can really slow down and take our time as we have no where to go. We got all the plastic and mulch laid down. The last step is to go get the plants.

The kids played with the neighborhood kids again for most of the morning. We did venture out and pick up school lunch at the drive-thru location. The kids thought this was super cool since they got chocolate milk. I think we'll try and go once a week or so as an outing.

For school, Ashton continued working on her work from her teacher. She's writing a spring break book in Spanish and then did her math program in Spanish. I am very grateful that Joseph speaks Spanish. I don't think I could keep up with her Spanish as I would need to rely on Google Translate.

Later that night, the big kids and I went for a neighborhood walk. It was a beautiful night out and we couldn't pass on that. We found the helicopter/spinner leaves and the kids played with those for a long time.

 

Day 3

March 17
We spent the morning at a park again with some friends. It was wonderful to get outside and run some energy off. The kids played nicely and enjoyed their time.

Ashton's teacher sent a week's worth of lesson plans today. She did math in Spanish for a while and then worked on her spring break book in Spanish.

We used our playdough to work on math skills and played subtraction SMASH. Then, we designed new bugs with Gemma and Tanner.

After naps, the kids played and Joseph took them to the store to get mulch. He also cleaned the church quickly. One of his callings is to manage church clean up. It didn't happen last Saturday with all the changes so we had to run up and empty trash quickly.

Quaranti-cation Day 2

Monday, March 16

Joseph took the morning off after a crazy weekend of work. He stayed home with a sleeping Lydia while I took the three big kids to a park with another family. The kids got to play and get some energy out while socializing with some kids.

We had lunch and naptime as normal. Ashton worked on her learning workbook again and had quiet time. I got my work done for the day.

I made some word family activities with Legos and worked on those with Ashton. She enjoyed making up sentences with the different words and learning about word families.

It rained in the late afternoon but that didn't stop the kids from playing outside.

Quaranti-cation Day 1

I'm starting our "quaranti-cation" on March 15. Ashton had spring break last week and the schools cancelled one more week. I am doubtful it will only last a week. I'm mentally preparing myself for a month or more of this. With Church cancelled too, our kids are feeling the effects of this event. Thankfully, we visit parks frequently and for now, that can continue. I have seen Italy shut down parks as well so I am praying it does not come to that.

Today is Sunday, March 15. We had church at home this morning. The kids did very well at staying reverent. Joseph blessed the sacrament for us and I am even more grateful to have a priesthood holder in our home. I taught a primary lesson and led singing time (we played Hot and Cold, an oldie but a goodie).

After "church," the kids played with some neighbor kids. Some people may say that's a "no-no" on Sundays but we feel okay with it. They always play nice outdoor games and have a good time.

As our typical Sunday routine goes, Ashton and Joseph played the Wii during nap time. Then, Joseph got called into work again. He left for a few hours while we played at a park. Then we finished the night with our traditional movie night of watching Frozen 2.

Doing a little "GoNoodle" that Ashton does at school

Lydia is oblivious to all the changes. I'm grateful the risk of her catching the flu or RSV is probably less because of all the changes.

I got these books for summer for Ashton and Tanner. But with all the adjustments, I pulled them out early. Ashton couldn't wait to do a few pages. She wants to learn how to tell time.