1 week left!

Counting down our last week of vacation until school starts!

The Holidays were very fun for us. Random presents arrived and were opened earlier at various times in the week or so leading up to the bigger days. The kids made out like bandits, way more than I expected, and it was all good fun. Yesterday we did a Christmas dinner at Paula's with friends and family. We've taken many a cold walk outside to look at lights, and several excursions to the mall and such places to see decorations and merriment in the air.

Odin's sleeping has gotten a little better. The coin thing is working a bit more, and we're able to figure out what's bothering him some times. We occasionally let him sleep in our bed if he comes in the middle of the night, which is not really good for him developmentally (I guess), but we all sleep better. It even makes him sleep in, so he gets way more rest than usual. (He comes in our bed and sleeps 'til 8-ish, instead of getting himself up at 6:30-7 and being wide awake because he was afraid in his room.)

Freya is running now. And saying all kinds of things. She can say please, thank you, welcome, yes, that, boob, food, up, uh-oh, and all kinds of stuff. Her communication is really impressive; she can tell you what she wants, which thing she wants, if she likes something, etc. She's still eating a lot during the night, but we're starting to pump her full of way more solids to help. We've also noticed that she likes to be naked at night sometimes. Seems to be more comfortable. She even wants to have no diaper some of the time. We've noticed the covers aren't quite big enough; they sometimes leak, she can't walk very well, and they just seem to be uncomfortable. We're gonna shop for some new ones tomorrow.

Alyssa and I spent part of tonight looking at grad schools and post-bacc programs. She did well in her GRE and has selected four schools to send the scores to. I've found a post-bacc program at one of them that I'd be able to do, and another has requirements for their MA that I match, so I might be able to just go on and do that.

We'll be up in Portland next weekend seeing family, and spending this week just relaxing and getting a thing or two done and wrapped up before school.

Break

Winter break has gone pretty well for us. Mostly we've all just been hanging out. There's been a few projects we've caught up on, but mostly it's been relaxation.

Alyssa has her GRE test tomorrow, so she's studying for that like frantic. I know she'll do fine, and afterwards she'll really be on vacation.

Odin is still having a lot of trouble at night. We took him to his pediatrician and she gave us some answers. We've tried a tactic where we give Odin three nickels at bed time and he can pay us with one if he needs to get out of bed, including the middle of the night. If he makes it 'til morning with any nickels left over, he gets to save them in his bank towards getting a toy. It worked for a few nights, but now it has backfired on us and he thinks he can get more nickels out of his bank. He's scared to death and refuses to sleep. We're still looking for answers.

Freya is running around and talking like crazy. She never stops eating either, and the chocolate obsession is in full swing. She's finally over her cough, felt like it took forever.

Gifts have been leaking in from various relatives, so the kids have gotten to open a present or two. I like it this way; we get toys and such in strides, so there's cool stuff to play with in small amounts for a good while, rather than one big hoard on one day which wears off quickly.

Vacation

A week in to Winter Break and we're still relaxed. Mission successful so far.

Mostly we've just been hanging out at the house and taking trips out into the world, seeing things we don't see during the normal school term, like the mall, downtown, and parks and such.

We found a cute piano for Freya, made by a German company, and she absolutely loves it. We'll give it to her for the holidays. She's got two new molars now, so that explains the recent crankiness and lack of sleep. Poor girl.

Odin is still having trouble sleeping at night. He's too scared to go to bed and we always wake up with him in our bed, and he seems constantly tired. We're looking into it.

Alyssa managed to be approved for CEP (continuing education program), which means that she can take classes at the UO even though she has graduated (though we have to pay for it ourselves, rather than get financial aid). This is cool because she'll still get to study under Kyr and Stolet, and have access to the really awesome FMO studio to continue working on projects.

I've signed up for a class on Old Norse. A germanic studies professor I had last year for a class on Scandinavian Epic is trying to get his department to support him. Few universities teach Old Norse, and I was apparently on a list of students he held in esteem, so he emailed me and asked if I'd like to help. If he can get enough students, the department will make it a regular course. I already have a full class load, but I thought it'd be really fun (if irrelevant to my current degree anyway), so I signed up.

Another one bites the dust

Well, that's it, another term is over. I'm out of my last final right now and Alyssa will be out of hers any moment now. For me, it's nice to have all my finals on Monday because it's like getting an extra week of vacation. For Alyssa, this was her last undergraduate final. She'll graduate as soon as her professors grade her final work and clear her degree! I'm so proud of her; it's amazing what she's done, especially considering all the challenges she's faced over the last few years.

We're going to spend break doing the things we never do; relax, hang out, nothing. Break means more time with our kids (who suffer constantly at the expense of our classes - Alyssa wouldn't say so, but that's how I sometimes feel), more walks outside, less car use, less stress, more fun. Alyssa will have to take a GRE and apply to some graduate schools (which she'll have no problem getting into, according to her professors apparently), and I'll be reviewing Latin and Greek to prepare for the next term, but other than that, should be pretty laid back.

We're going to start Odin in a gymnastics class, and he's also asked to have more swim lessons so I think we'll be setting that up as well. He seems taller all of a sudden, which would explain the unending hunger lately. Freya has a bad cough at the moment, and she seems to be getting bigger as well. I think she's working on some teeth, but I can't tell for sure yet.