Melissa's Baby Shower (2 years 1 month and 6 months)

This past weekend was Melissa's baby shower.  I have been planning that for over 2 months now.  It seemed like any free moment was spent working on that.  It was worth it though.  It turned out beautifully.  Melissa enjoyed it so that is all that matters.

Melissa, my mother in law, and Jonathan's mom came up Friday night.  Carol stayed with us so she could see the kids.  They got in Friday around 7 pm.  In the morning, we all went down to set up for the shower.  Brian was nice and stayed though the shower so he could take pictures of it.  Sydney also stayed though the entire shower too.  Austin was there in the beginning.  He helped setup.  He liked throwing trash away for us which was helpful.  Then after we ate he went with Papa to McDonald's and played.  Austin and Sydney were so good during the shower.  I was so happy.

Sydney got a little fussy because she was tired.  Brian had her face the wall in her car seat and she fell asleep within minutes.  It was impressive.  Brian got a lot of good pictures.  I was so happy everything turned out nicely.  We had breakfast.  Then we played some games.  We played word scramble.  Then Melissa's best friend and her mom set up a Customize for Camden station.  People could make onesies and bibs for him.  It was so cool.  Then we made babies out of play doh.  People seemed to enjoy the games we had.  Melissa got a lot of really nice things too.  Overall it was great.

Brian caught Melissa making a funny face that made it look like she was crying.  He sent it to Jonathan and said that Melissa was holding up good until we starting opening up gifts.  Since pregnancy has her a bit emotional, it was believable that a breakdown may have occurred.  It didn't though, but Brian had Jonathan thinking it had.

Austin has chosen names for both of his grandmas now.  Austin can't say "G" words yet.  So he calls my mom Meemaw and Brian's mom Nana.  Nana got to spend some time with Austin and Sydney.  Austin enjoyed having Nana read to him.  Austin is really into his books right now.  It's cute because he knows the stories so well he can basically read them too.  Last night, he read Goodnight Gorillia to us.  He leaves out a lot of words, but you can tell that he's still thinking them even though he can't articulate all of them.  It was so sweet.     Before story time, we do circle time like they do in school.  There is a little song they sing which is  "You have a name, I have a name, now tell me what is your name?"  Austin can say his first and last name.  He really likes doing that. We also often go around patting our knees and saying, "Me, me, me, me, me, me, Mommy!"  Austin does it with his name when it's his turn.  They do that at school too.

Austin is a talking machine now.  His communication skills are great.  It is so much fun to talk with him.  He can tell us what he wants.  He doesn't always get what he wants but he can definitely tell us.  One thing he says is "pushy" which means come here.  He also still loves to say "Upies"  which is "up please".  He can now tell us what what hurts.  Like today he fell off his step ladder while I was changing Sydney.  I did not see what happened and after he was done crying I asked him what hurt and he said his back.  I was impressed with that.  He was okay after his fall too.

I have settled into a good routine.  I believe as time goes by things get easier.  Early on some days I could not wait for nap time   Now it seems to get here so quickly.  I enjoy playing with them and all the time I have with them.  They are so precious.  Right now Austin loves to play with his play doh.  We can easily spend 30-45 minutes playing with that.  That is a long time for a toddler.  Austin also enjoys playing with his bus while Sydney plays with the little people plane.  They play very well together.  Almost everyday Sydney and I watch Austin make baskets downstairs.  For the wintertime, we brought in his basketball hoop.  He really likes playing basketball and he's good at it.  That reminds me I need to take a video of that.

We have lots of videos of the kids.  Pictures and videos are really important to us.  They will only be this little for a short period of time and we want to cherish all these memories and be able to look back on them.  I am lucky that Brian is so good with the camera.  He has two really nice cameras.  He takes all the kids pictures. We realized early on that its not worth going to the photo studio.  Brian can take way better pictures at home and on the kids schedule.  Sometimes they don't want their pictures taken and I couldn't imagine trying to schedule a photo shoot at a studio around their happy times.  Austin will say "cheese" if he wants his picture taken or he will say "no pictures" if he doesn't.  It's so cute.

I can't believe Sydney will be 6 months tomorrow.  The time has went by so fast.  She can sit up now.  She really doesn't even fall over unless Austin pushes her over.  She is working on crawling but hasn't yet.  It will be soon though.  She can stand on her feet too with assistance for balance.  She weighs 15 pounds.  When Austin was 6 months he weighed 21 pounds.  I find that interesting.  It is nice because she did not go though her clothes as quickly as Austin did.

At school, Austin and Sydney had a valentine's day party.  Both Brian and I left work early so we could attend.  There was a flurry of activity in Austin's room since all the kids are mobile.  We spent some time in Sydney's room too, but eventually just brought her to Austin's room.  Some of the older kids really liked her and started playing with her there too for the party.  Austin and Sydney both had a lot of fun.  It's really nice to get to see them at daycare like this.  Normally we just see them briefly during drop off and pick up, so spending more time in their room with their teachers and friends is nice.

I joined the preschool parents club in our community.  They have a consignment sale every year and I really wanted to sell our baby things this year.  Plus it is nice to meet new people and have activities for the kids to do.  Last week, they had a field trip to Chick-fil-A.  So Austin and I went.  It was a lot of fun.  We toured the place with about 12 other moms and kids.  Austin got to color pictures.  He got a balloon and made an ice cream cone.  It was a fun morning out with him.  I really enjoyed my morning with Austin.

In 3 weeks, we will be on a cruise.  I am excited and nervous about it.  I am interested to see how Sydney travels.  Austin we know is a good traveler.  I hope Sydney is too.  She is an easy going baby but we are hoping for no illnesses or any issues.  It will be excellent family time and that is what I am looking forward too.  Now I just need to get everything organized for it.

Austin locks himself in bathroom (2.0 years and 5 months)

The weather was really warm for a few days.  We took advantage of that.  Austin loves it outside so anytime we can be outside we are.  Brian and I enjoy our evening walks.  When the weather is nice, we walk every night.  Austin sits in his stroller and chills out too.  It is wonderful.  We got to go on two evening walks last week.

Last Tuesday night, Austin was getting ready for bed.  We had been busy playing outside and it was a little past his bedtime.  Austin was upstairs with Brian getting ready for bed.  Brian went into Austin's room to get his stool when Austin ran into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.  We think Austin thought he was not going to get to brush his teeth, so he made sure he was in the bathroom.  Brian went to open the door and the door was blocked so we could not get in.  There are drawers next to the door and one the the drawers was left opened.  Austin must have bumped it to open it even more and it blocked the door from opening at all.  There were no lights on in the bathroom either since Austin had just ran in there suddenly on his own.  I started to freak out inside.  Sydney started crying so I went downstairs and got her.  Brian was extremely calm and kept asking Austin to close the drawer.  Austin was not talking for the first 20-30 seconds so Brian was nervous what Austin was doing.  Then Austin started talking.  He was probably in there for about 4-5 minutes before we finally got in.  Somehow Austin bumped or closed the drawer just enough for Brian to get the door past it and we made it in there.  It was so scary!  Austin started to cry towards the end too.  But he really did a great job.  Austin thought Brian had locked him in there so he was mad at him for a little bit.  After some tender loving care, all was better.

Things have been going well.  Austin is a talking machine.  He will repeat anything you say so we are careful what we say.  He is full of energy and always getting into something.  He really like Play Doh.  We will play with that for an hour or so on my days off.  He pretends to make pasta and "Daddy" sandwiches (Brian has a sandwich for lunch every day and Austin will sometimes help me make it).  It is cute.  He is also good at making baskets with the basketball.  Austin knows all of his colors.  He is starting to count.  He really knows 7,8,9 in that order.  His favorite number is 2.  He loves saying that whether or not it works to his advantage (Do you want five cookies?  No, two!)

Sydney is rolling all over the place.  She loves to grab things now.  Brian had the camera taking pictures and she was holding on the the flash.  When she gets her diaper changed she doesn't like to sit still anymore either.  She doesn't move like Austin but she can definitely squirm around.  She loves her chew book and play ball.  She spends a lot of time in her exersaucer and with her activity mats.  She also enjoys playing kitchen with Austin.   They play together very well.

Since Austin has reached toddler hood he likes to really test the limits.  Brian and I are usually laid back but he knows how to push our buttons at times.  We went to the library and got some books on communication and discipline.  Rising a child is so important.  We want to do the very best we can so we are educating ourselves on it.  Hopefully it will work.  I don't like all is his whining and tantrums   I know it's part of growing up but perhaps we can minimize them.  If so, I will be very happy.

I am surprised how well breastfeeding is going for me.  I would have never thought it would go as well as it is.  I am not sure what I am going to do coming up.  Sydney will start eating solids soon.  My goal was to make it until 6 months and I did that.  Breastfeeding is so much easier than bottles though.  There is no washing of bottles or wasting any milk.  It's perfect.  I hate washing all the bottles!  Especially the Avent ones!  They seem so much harder than the Medela ones to wash.  Plus because I pump with Medela ones I have twice as many bottles to wash.  I don't like pumping and I am considering giving up pumping at work.  That would mean she would get formula during the days.  I would still hope to nurse in the morning and nights.  I guess we will see how it goes.  When Sydney starts cereal though, she will get it mixed with formula.  I am not going to pump extra for her cereal.

Austin is now up from nap.  It is playtime!

Happy Birthday Austin (2.0 years and 5 months)

The weekend before Austin's birthday was really busy.  On Saturday morning, we went with our friends and their 18 month old son to the Children's Museum.  Austin had fun playing in the museum.  He liked climbing up the farm house stairs and putting vegetables down the barn stack.  He also liked pretending to ride a bus.  Austin loves buses.  Austin also enjoyed playing in grocery store.  It was a fun morning.

Then we came home and Austin took a nap.  Meemaw (that is what Austin calls my mom) and Papa came and picked up Austin after nap  because they were taking him out for his birthday.  They took him to Chick Fil A for dinner.  He loves the playground at Chick Fil A.  Then he went to Walmart to pick out a gift.  He got a bulldozer.  He spent the night at their house too.  While Austin was doing that we went to pick up Austin's birthday cake.  Brian's cousin Lauren makes amazing cakes.  She made him a bus cake for his birthday since he loves buses.  It turned out so well.  

It's weird when Austin is not home.  Our house is so quite.  We miss him.  But we know Austin is having so much fun with Meemaw and Papa.  In the morning it is nice because we don't have to get up at 6:31 am.  That is what time his clock turns yellow and what time he gets up every morning.  We bought him a toddler alarm clock that changes color when it's time to get up.  It prevents him from getting up crazy early and thinking it is morning.  Austin rarely ever isn't awake and ready for it to go off.  Every morning we hear the jumping  up and down on his bed and the joyful shouts "Yellow!  Clock yellow!"

Sunday was Austin's birthday party.  Before the party, we had an uninvited guest that drove though our front yard!  I was feeding Sydney on the couch and Brian was taking a shower and we heard a loud bang.  We did not think much of it.  A little while later we saw a policeman across the street.  We noticed their mailbox had been hit.  Brian decided to look at our outside security cameras to see what happened.  We have cameras outside for security and to watch the kids.  Brian was very surprised when he watched the video back.  A car was driving very fast, crashed into our neighbors mailbox, though our yard, and kept on going.  It was very scary to watch.  Austin is out there all the time.  We live on a quite street that doesn't take you anywhere.  We get very little traffic so we don't think much about allowing Austin near the street (with us of course).  That made a us realize we need to be extra careful with the kids.  The police ended up taking a copy of the footage and were able to use it to track down the car and driver.

 We had a small party this year.  Meemaw, Papa, and Great Grandfather came over.  Birthdays are so important for kids.  It symbolizes so much.  I was so excited for Austin's birthday.  I wanted him to have a great party.  We had lasagna, salad, and bread for dinner.  

We wanted to get Austin's reaction to his bus cake on video.  So we had the video camera on when we showed him the cake.  The first thing Austin did was put his hands into it.  He messed up the cake just like that.  We couldn't believe it because we did not even get one picture of the cake yet.  That was a parent failure!  I was a little upset but there was nothing we could do now.   Luckily Brian still got some good pictures of Austin with his cake and we exploited the undamaged side.

Austin opened his presents.  Austin got a track with cars from Grandma and Grandpa.  Auntie Melissa and Uncle Bear got Austin some PJ's.  Then we sang happy birthday and had some cake.  Austin liked his cake a lot.  It was so much fun!  

Tuesday was his actual birthday.  I work on Tuesdays so he went to school.  I arranged for pizza to be dropped off at school for his class and we brought in some cupcakes.  I went and picked them up at school like a normally do.  I had already got Austin and I was in getting Sydney when Austin said "Daddy".  I was like Austin you are confused.  Daddy is not here.  Then I turned around and Brian was there.  He came to get Austin on his birthday too!  It was so nice!  

We came home and had dinner.  Then we gave Austin our gift to him.  We got him a kids size small table and chairs.  Brian and Austin put it together.  Austin loved it.  It was funny because when he went to sit at the table he made sure Sydney sat in one chair and Austin sat in the other.  Within a few days, the second chair got reserved for his Mickey Mouse doll instead.  Only Mickey can sit at his table with him now.  Sydney's not really big enough to use it, but we'll certainly need another 2 chairs to complete the set so both kids have a seat and room for a friend (stuffed or real).

Tuesday night, Brian, Austin, Sydney, and I all had left over cake and sang happy birthday to Austin.  Austin likes the happy birthday song.  Austin had a great birthday!

On Friday night we took Austin to a Cavs game.  Meemaw and Papa watched Sydney.  Austin hadn't been to a Cavs game since he was 3 months old.  Austin enjoys watching it on TV so we thought we would take him.  We sat in our seats for the first quarter.  We were impressed with that.  Then we walked around.  Austin made a sign.  Then he got tattoos on his hands.  He got his picture taken too in a photo booth.  He also ran up to life size pictures of the players and moondog to get photos with too.  We also took him the the gift shop.  He liked playing with a foam finger and a basketball.  There was a Moondog hat that he liked so we got him that too.  We had a lot of fun with him.  Next we'll have to bring Sydney.  We originally had planned to take both of them to this game, but we realized that we'd be largely paralyzed to do anything if we had to work around Austin's interest/disinterest and Sydney's feeding schedule.  When she gets a little older, we'll bring them both to a game.

Extra Time with the Kids (23.75 months and 4.75 months)

Last Tuesday, Austin woke up at 4:30 am crying.  Something was wrong but we did not know what.  He could not tell us what was wrong.  He only wanted me (which is very unusual for him).  We thought his stomach was upset.  He would not lay back down in his crib.  He really wanted out of his crib.  By 5:30 am we just let him get up and go downstairs.  He was still crying and wanted to be held (exclusively held while you were standing too).  That is difficult these days since he weighs 31 pounds.  We try to let him lay on the couch but he again only wanted to be up.

Why does this always happen on days I have to work?  It is a terrible feeling because we never know what to do.  Finally I got him to calm down by letting me rock him in the chair.  Then Sydney needed to be fed.  Brian held her as long as possible and even took her into the bathroom with him while he got ready for work.  Once he was done, he brought Sydney downstairs and I nursed her while rocking Austin.  I have learned to be quite the multi-tasker these days.

Then Austin wanted his Daddy. Brian carried him for a while and he finally relaxed on the couch with him.  We decided I would take Sydney to daycare and then go to work.  Hopefully Austin would feel better and Brian would take him to school.  Soon after I left Austin got up and wanted to be held again in the kitchen.  Even Brian can't hold him for long periods of time.  So Brian thought that maybe his car seat would work since he really wanted to sit up.  He asked Austin if he wanted to go for a car ride and Austin surprisingly said "yes" and was eager to get his coat and shoes on.  Brian drove around the neighborhood for 2 hours with Austin.  At first Austin was so excited because he got to see lots of buses.  He loves buses.  Then finally Austin fell asleep and Brian kept on driving.  Then he took Austin home and fed him breakfast. Austin told Brian his ear hurt.  Austin was pointing more towards his upper back molars though on the side of his head, so Brian thought it was his teeth.  It made sense since 2 year molars come in around this time.  After breakfast Austin seemed better so Brian took Austin to school.

I picked the kids up after work and when I was putting Austin in his car seat I noticed lots of drainage coming out of his right ear.  I knew right away he had an ear infection.  This is his first infection since getting tubes placed back in the summer.  I called the doctor and got the dosage information and started the ear drops.  We could not believe it took us so long to figure out what was wrong with Austin.  After all we are not new parents anymore and Austin even told us his ear hurts but we did not think of an ear infection since he hasn't had one since his tubes.  My oh my!

On Thursday, I was off work because I had to work the weekend.   It was my day to spend with Austin.  I was so excited for that.  We took Sydney to school.  We came home and played outside. Then we got ready to go to the pharmacy and then Chick Fil A for lunch.  We got to Chick Fil A and Austin ate some of his lunch and then we went to play on the playground.  He likes the playground there.  He then had a poopy diaper.  I did not bring in the diaper bag because he never has a diaper at this time.  So we then had to run to the car, get the diaper bag, change his diaper, then go back to playing.  Austin then finished all of his lunch too.  On the way out, Austin even got a balloon.  He likes balloons.  We came home and Austin took a nap.  After nap, we played outside for another hour.  Austin and I had a great day together.

It made me think of the days before Sydney was born.  When I could play outside with Austin for hours.  It was so easy with just him.  I did not realized that at the time, but it was.  Now with both of them, it is harder.  I love it though.  I can't take Austin out in the cold with Sydney so usually Brian does it after he gets home.  Next winter though, I will be able to take both of them out.  They will love playing together.  I love having Austin and Sydney and they keep us so busy.

On Friday while I was at work, I got a phone call from daycare saying Sydney was not eating and she was having diarrhea.  They wanted us to come and get her.  I called the doctor and got an appointment.  Brian left work a little early and went and picked her up and took her to the doctor.  Thankfully the doctor said she was fine.  I was so worried.  I feared they would hospitalize her for dehydration but he said she was not dehydrated.  I was so happy.  The weather was nice so after I got home we all went for a walk around the block.  I only worked two days last week and both days the kids were sick and Brian ended up going in late or leaving early to help out.  The poor timing is almost unbelievable.

Brian was home all weekend with the kids alone.  I had to work.  That meant Brian had to get up at 6:30 am so I could go to work.  He usually gets to sleep in on the weekends.  He got to spend a lot of quality time with them.  The weather was unseasonably warm so all the snow melted and he got to play outside with them and got some good pictures. They had a good weekend together!

Today is my day with Sydney.  It reminds me of my maternity leave.  We did not leave the house other than taking Austin to school.  We played and cuddled all day.  It was nice.  Now its time to go get Austin.  I have missed him!

Happy New Year (23.5 months and 4.5 months)

Brian was off from Christmas eve until January 2nd. It was so nice for him to be home. We got to spend some quality family time together. Austin really enjoyed having him home too. I had to work some of those days so Brian was home with the kids. Being at home with both of them can be challenging at times.  It is really hard when they both need you at the same time.  Luckily that doesn't happen often but when it does it makes you feel bad.  I think Brian enjoyed his time with the kids.

Over break we took Sydney to get her Passport.  We have decided that we are going on a cruise in March.  We went back and forth about if we really wanted to travel with both of them being so young but we figured we should give it a try.  Travelling with Austin usually went well.  We learned from our experiences and enjoyed the time together.   We know there could be some challenges but  we don't want to stay home forever so we might as well start now.  Our cruise leaves out of New York (same one as we did last year).  We will be gone for 7 days.  We are going alone.  We tried to get people to come with us but no one could.

Also during break, I promised Austin donuts.  There is a new Dunkin Donuts by our house.  Every time we pass it, Austin says "doughnuts".  So I told him we would go over Christmas break.  We took him there and bought the donuts back home.  We let him eat an entire doughnut.   He really liked it.

We did not do anything for New Years. We had some appetizers for dinner and put the kids to bed like usual. I fell asleep on the couch but woke up before midnight. We watched the ball drop together and then I went back to bed. I worked New Years Day. After work, we went down to my parents for Pork and Sauerkraut.

Last night we were talking to Grandma B on the phone and Austin was drawing with markers. Austin was mumbling letters and we noticed that some of them were letters in his name.  So Brian asked him to spell his name and... he did it. We could not believe it!  He is not even two yet and can spell his name. Sydney did not want to be out done so last night she decided to roll from her back to her tummy in her crib. They are growing up so fast.

Today we took Austin to the pediatric pulmonologist. We wanted a second opinion about Austin having asthma. The doctor took her time with us and got a detailed history of Austin. It is still unclear if Austin really has asthma but we are going to treat it as such for now. Austin is borderline of really having that diagnosis. She believes he will likely outgrow it anyways but its best to treat him proactively for now. So we will be starting the Pulimcort aerosols but only once a day until April. Hopefully Austin will not have anymore wheezing episodes since we will be giving this medication daily. However if he does we have all the medication at home to treat an acute attack.

I really hope this is the last of Austin's illnesses.  Even though they have been minor relative to some major medical conditions it seems like Austin has been though a lot.  Poor little guy.  He is a trooper though.  I think it bothers us more than it bothers him.