Short and sweet

Its been a long week! I will have to update when I have more energy. I am still sick :( This cough won't go away!

Tomorrow we have a big day- we are going to Tia Ana and Tio Rich's house all day to help with the garage sale and hang out! Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Larry will be there too.

I feel like I've packed everything but the kitchen sink. Because we're going to be over there all day, I'm bringing James' food, his playpen (for his nap), his booster seat, toys, books, stroller, etc.

I'll try to update tomorrow, in the meanwhile I did add some new pictures from Wednesday night when James and I were playing in the living room, playing peekaboo behind the curtains :)

Safe!

We had a scary afternoon. Jim was making dinner upstairs while James and I were playing downstairs in the basement. I wasn't watching TV or looking at the sky to know that it had suddenly become very black and windy. Jim came downstairs to tell me that there was a tornado in Coon Rapids and it was headed our way! Scary! It was just about dinner time so I knew James would be fussing for food. Jim stopped cooking dinner, turning off the burners/oven, and I scrambled to get some food together for James, while we waited it out in the basement. I grabbed some strawberries (messy), James' new veggie crackers, and some french fries that Jim had pulled out of the oven.

Jim also secured the deck furniture and the glass table. During the last storm we had the furniture blew away and it broke our table umbrella. Jim very smartly took the glass out of the table, turned the table upside down, and scooted the chairs against the house. (We later found the chairs had still blown up against the other side of the deck- strong wind!)

James was content to sit in the basement hallway (near the stairs, away from the windows), and eat his chips. We anxiously watched the news, hearing that the tornado touched down right by my school in Coon Rapids, and the storm was headed towards 242/Johnsville- which is on the other side of 65 from us! It was very scary hearing the wind but luckily it passed by us pretty quickly and we haven't seen any damage to our own house or others by us.

The storm went on to other areas, hitting Hugo. Those poor people there! Houses were destroyed, and a 2 year old was killed. I just can't imagine.

So James was a trooper. He was pretty good as long as he had food :) A little while later we did go upstairs and eat the dinner Jim had prepared (chicken parmesan sandwiches, with sauteed spinach, marinara, and mozzarella cheese, mmmm). It was a beautiful night afterwards. The sky was blue and bright, no sign of any storm just an hour earlier. James was a great baby, happily playing and was not crabby.

His Mama on the other hand... I'm still coughing and feeling somewhat miserable. I am just so tired of being sick! James will go to daycare like normal, I will go to work but if I don't have significant improvement I'm going to the doctor. A week of this hacking cough (worst in the middle of the night and morning) and grogginess is enough.

So we haven't done too much during this long holiday weekend. We didn't go anywhere fun (zoo), but James and Jim did get out every day for a long walk around the lake. I would stay home and enjoy the quiet.

Friday before a long weekend

It was a bit better today. James was a little crabby. Who am I kidding? He was a lot crabby. He did not nap well, waking up after only 50 minutes. I brought him downstairs and no matter what I did, he still cried. I cried. Really. James was very sweet and stopped crying to look at me. He stared at my face and was very curious.

I was just really overwhelmed by his noise and my frustration because I couldn't stop coughing. Also, I thought I had at least another hour of alone time before he woke up and I didn't get much time to relax besides the shower I took.

Jim was checking in on me often and was willing to come home early but I was fine. I just chalked up my frustration to one of those motherhood moments. I think all mothers feel frustrated and helpless at some point. (Honestly this wasn't my first time!)
James was very sweet again while playing with crayons, soon after the crying :) And then again with his Dada. See our videos below!

Weekend plans: Breakfast out tomorrow? Stopping by Tia Ana and Tio Rich's house. Not much else! Oh, we need to try out our Wii Fit!

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EI #4, Day 2

Update, Friday morning: We're staying home again today. I'm still coughing up some nasty $#*! and James woke up a bit crabby and with a strange swollen eye. We're supposed to call the doctor if James isn't feeling better by this afternoon. He's happily eating oatmeal and smiling occasionally, its me that's the most miserable.

Thursday's entry:

Day #2 was okay. I actually thought James was on the mend and going to be okay... until 4pm. He started crying and just wanted to be held. I did this but I had already started dinner so I did have to put him down every few minutes to keep cooking. James did not like this. I didn't enjoy it either.

Dinner. James only wanted fresh pineapple. He wouldn't eat anything else.

James cried while I did the dishes and Jim tried to play with him. He relaxed once he laid on his Dada's chest. Dozed. We woke him up to give him his bedtime medicine and change him to his pajamas.

So far James is sleeping peacefully.

I'm so sad that James isn't feeling well again. I thought the worst was over. He's such a good little boy- we want our happy baby back!!

Ear infection #4

More ear infections for Baby James. I stayed home sick today after suddenly becoming sick last night- I was shivering, horrible sore throat, bad headache. So I'm lying in bed today, miserable, and Sandra called at 11am. James was at daycare and he had a fever. His cheeks and ears were a bit red so she was going to give him some Tylenol and put him down for his nap. She was going to keep me updated.

I got on the phone with Jim and then the doctor, we made an appointment for 2:40, thinking that if it was an ear infection again we needed it addressed ASAP. So yeah, double ear infections. The doctor thought they looked particularly painful so she gave Jim the prescription for a higher dose antibiotic and gave him a prescription for ear drops that would give instant relief.

James actually seemed okay tonight. He ate well enough and was pretty content to sit with me, watching TV. He's usually pretty independent but tonight he sat close to me, reclining on my leg.

Well, wish us luck that tomorrow is a better day- both for me and for James. I'm assuming we're both staying home tomorrow since I'm still sick and James needs time to recover.

Weekend update

Finally some nice weather and a healthy household! Unfortunately I was away from my family all day on Saturday due to a work obligation, but Jim reported a very good day with James. After a hearty breakfast of oatmeal (entirely self-fed by James!), the boys went for a long, long walk around the lake. They stopped by Grandma Laura's house but she wasn't home. It was a beautiful day, hope she was out enjoying it!

We also had a scary storm on Saturday. The wind was so fierce that it blew our deck furniture away! The chairs pushed up against the railing, and the table flipped over! We were lucky that the glass did not break, but the umbrella blew away and broke. Jim braved the wind (once it was safer) and secured the glass and furniture. We were ready to grab James and run for the basement, but it never came to that.

Saturday night, despite all of James' activity, he had a restless night of sleep. It was a different kind of crying so Jim did check in on him at about 9pm and James had cried so hard that he threw up! Poor baby! We held him for a little while until he was calm and put him to bed. He slept well except for a few times in the middle of the night when he would wake up and cry. Each time he would fall asleep within a few minutes. So the whole family slept in until after 7am. We decided to skip the zoo and tend to our household. Jim built a baby gate for the deck- we can now enjoy the fresh air outside with James and not worry about him tumbling down the stairs. Yay for Dada!

I went through James' old clothes and decided to downsize the amount we have in storage. Tia Ana and Tio Rich have invited us to contribute to their garage sale at the end of May and so I'll be selling baby clothes and some other odds and ends. I felt very happy going through the clothing and remembering each outfit. James was the cutest baby! I remember at this time last year, Grandma Julie sent James a generous amount of summer clothing- all one piece shorts outfits. I loved them! Those were exciting times- James was just learning to crawl and sit up on his own.

This week: not too much! Weekend plans: None really :) Another attempt at the zoo?

18 month wellness appointment

ames is a healthy boy :) His ear infections have cleared up, he was happy and responsive to Dr. Kiel, and everything else checked out well. He's on track with his developmental skills too (stacking blocks, speaking 4-10 words, understanding simple directions, feeding himself with spoons/forks, imitating behavior).

His height is unchanged from his 15 month appointment. I *know* this is a mistake. James is obviously longer and heavier! The doctor seemed to think that maybe he wasn't measured accurately the last time. She said that at the 2 YEAR wellness check, if he doesn't have noticeable growth, THEN she would be worried. Right now he's in about the 60th percentile for weight/height.

We discussed his eating habits and were reassured that its all pretty normal. If we can get one "good" meal in him a day, that would be enough. He will have days where he refuses food and that's okay. We do need to cut out the snacking that we allow him to do. Each night when James whines for food, we had been giving him small amount of Cheerios. That will stop.

The not so nice part of the appointment yesterday was that James received his MMR shots- two shots in each of his chubby thighs. He screamed for only a few seconds at a time, and was comforted right away when I held him, but it was painful for us to watch. Even worse is seeing the sight of your own child's blood :( After that we had to head to the clinic's lab to get James' blood drawn (finger prick) for lead testing and hemoglobin. He cried a little at that but was immediately distracted with a puppy sticker.

James went to daycare later that morning and when I called at noon he was doing just fine. No crabbiness, no fever, nothing. He's a tough little kid :)

James was especially cute and affectionate last night. His Dada went to his usual Tuesday pool league night, so James and I played in the basement (away from food temptations). He insisted on sitting on my lap a lot and I was glad to hug and kiss him mucho.

Mother's Day

We had a great visit with Tia Ana and Tio Rich on Saturday. James never played so hard! He had four people to play with, and he impressed all of us with his golf skills and tumbling (I'll have to capture this on video soon). I don't think I've seen James have a better day/night. He was wonderfully well behaved, busy, and happy to hug and kiss his Tia and Tio!

Mother's Day was a wonderful, relaxing day. I was given many beautiful flowers (outside and inside the house!) from James and his Dada. It makes me very happy to see the bright colors.

We had Grandma Laura, Uncle Joe and Aunt Kathy over for dinner too to celebrate with Grandma Laura. She was very happy and surprised to see the pictures of James we had framed for her gift.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms and Grandmas reading this!

Please see the Baby Album "18 month portraits" to see just a few of our surprise portraits. We waited until Mother's Day to tell our families that we had a photographer come to our house a couple of weeks ago. Jessica is great! She took James' pictures at 3 months too. A link to her website is included in the "My Favorite Links" area of this babysite. She took so many great pictures, it was hard to narrow down my top 10. I couldn't put all of them on this babysite due to storage space.

Tomorrow we are headed to the doctor for James' 18 month wellness check. I'm sure we will get a report from the doctor that he is indeed healthy in every way!

Enjoy the short videos below! James is a busy boy!

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18 months!

I think we all should celebrate our half birthdays. We didn't do anything special for James today but we did wish him a happy half birthday this morning :) I don't try to pose him for pictures every month, and not even today. I tried to snap a few pictures as he played but he just doesn't sit still :)

James is still recovering from his ear infections and virus. He's still a bit crabby at times, throwing the not-so-fun tantrums, and refusing some foods by throwing them to the side. Tonight all he wanted was strawberries at dinner. And then constant snacking on cheerios before bedtime. We will keep trying other foods, of course.

Favorite food at 18 months: strawberries

Favorite toy: Plastic golf club & ball

Favorite book: Hola Jalapeno!

Favorite person: Dada

Favorite color: Orange? (he likes the orange Legos only)

Favorite TV show: Calliou on the Sprout channel (we're trying to cut down on TV)

Favorite routine: Washing hands & brushing teeth

Favorite word: No (not defiant, but a sweet sounding "Noooooo....")

Favorite comfort item: his Blankie

Favorite place, besides home: Sandra's Daycare :)

Daycare is fabulous. After James' illness, I knew he would be okay at daycare, its his favorite place to be. I knew it would cheer him up to be around the other kids, I think he misses them during the weekend. I love that Sandra updates me everyday on what James did during the day- the funny, the poops, the food he ate, anything and everything. We are still amazed at our good luck in finding Sandra.

Weekend plans: Tia Ana and Tio Rich are coming over on Saturday! We had to cancel last weekend because James was sick. Mother's Day is a mystery to me. We haven't made any plans yet.

Our most exciting plans are that we are headed to San Diego in June! We will visit Grandpa Frank and Grandma Julie, and James will meet his Great Grandparents. We're also looking forward to visiting the San Diego zoo, Legoland, and hitting the beach/water. Please wish us luck taking James on a plane for the first time. I am pretty nervous about this but I plan on being very, very prepared with distracting new toys and food.

Please see the rest of our babysite. There are lots of past journal entries and short videos in those journal entries. Enjoy!

Sunday sickness

James woke up a bit crabby but then had a pretty normal day. The sun was shining but it was pretty windy and cool, and with James newly recovered we chose to stick close to home. James kept himself busy watching too much TV, playing with his golf club, and following us around the house.

I don't know if its because James has been sick, but he is becoming pickier with his foods. He's refusing/ignoring the foods he's loved in the past (bananas?!) or tossing food over the side of his highchair tray. Oh, or he's squishing food or playing with it instead of eating it. Fun huh? When he's well we're definitely addressing the food tossing!

(Long pause) I just had to stop writing because James was crying. He's been doing that lately too. He'll sleep for an hour or two, and then cry. Within five minutes he'll go back to sleep, but my heart just stops thinking of the what if's. What if he's in pain (ear infection)? What if he dropped his blanket and I have to go back in there? What if he doesn't go back to sleep?! Well, we were lucky this time too. He's back asleep.

I have a long, hard day tomorrow. Two meetings, all day. Not pleasant meetings either. Ugh.

Saturday Sickness

9pm update: Video added below.

James amazed us by sleeping through the night. And not only that but he slept 12 1/2 hours! Its a new record. I think he may have slept more if I hadn't gone in to check on him, worried about his breathing. He had never slept that long and I was worried needlessly.

I was also surprised that he did NOT have a raging temperature, which has been the norm every other time he's had an ear infection. He was still warm, and obviously sick, but not desperately clingy or crying. The constant runny nose, the horrible cough, red puffy eyes, no appetite, and occasional crying/whimpering- all this made us call Tia Ana and Tio Rich to cancel our visit for today. We were disappointed but I didn't want Tia and Tio to get sick and we weren't sure what the day/night would bring us. Also, if it was the same virus that I had (before James), it wasn't pleasant!

Everything today was to make James happy and feel better. He was allowed to watch as much TV as he liked, I didn't push meat or vegies on him at lunchtime, Dada brought home the best present to cheer him up (a kid's golf club and ball!), and we held him and loved him as much as we could.

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I felt better about the TV after I realized that our cable system has kids' shows "On Demand". Brainybaby, Baby Genius, and lots of other educational snippets. Today we watched a 13 minute show teaching Toddlers/Kids how to golf! And another show was about underwater creatures. Some of the shows had classical music in the background that this Mama approved of :) So how handy that we can watch those shows whenever we want!

Come back later to view the "Golfing" video I took of James. I won't have time to upload it to onetruemedia before James wakes up from his nap. I spent a lot of his nap time in the shower. I was desperate to get the inevitable baby drool and snot off me! We have gone through many tissues yesterday and today but we think James has used Mama and Dada to wipe too!

Just in time for the weekend

Double ear infections. Ugh. Doctor confirmed this Friday afternoon, after I had to pick up James from daycare.

More later.