Drew isms

Conversation from today:

D: "down!" (point at Ellie's crib)
L: "You want me to put Ellie down?"
D: "Yes." "Up."
L: "You want me to pick you up?"
D: "Yes." "apple"
L: "you want an apple?"
D: (big smile, nodding) "Yes!"
L: "I am glad we had this conversation!"

And in other, less endearing moments, he crawled on the dining room table to get to Ellie in her bouncy seat. When I told him to get down, he hid behind the the infant car seat which was also up there. And looked sheepish when I "found" him and made him get down.

In the bath he was using two toys and splashing water all over the place. I asked him to stop twice. We have a "three strikes and you are out" rule, so the third time I asked him to stop I touched his face and told him if he didn't stop I was going to take the toys away. He paused, sized me up, started grinning, and did exactly what he was doing, but vvvveeerrryyy slowly-- like I might not notice.

He lost the toys anyway.

And I laughed.

Stinker.

Various Updates

1. I am almost afraid to say this, but I think we may have broken Drew of the pacifier!  He has gone to sleep the last 4 nights without it in his crib or even asking for it.  I hesitate to celebrate yet, since Ellie has one and I know he will bring it up again, but after fighting through it for a week we aren't giving it back.

2.  I saw my boy getting older before my very eyes, but in the last few days the toddler "switch" flipped.  I knew we were there when instead of chatter over the monitor in the early morning, I started hearing "no... no.... no...."  Drew always used to want what we were drinking so we would pour some in his sippy cup-- now the ONLY thing that makes him happy is having the actual cup, the bigger the better.  And when I tried to discipline him for hitting me today, he just laughed.  Thank goodness he is generally pretty good and cute.

3. Drew's two newest words are "TV" and "remote."  Whoops.  He can also open up the iphone, find the picture icon, and scroll through the pictures.  He believes every screen is a touch screen, and can often be found touching the "NBC" icon on the bottom of the screen on the TV and telling us "uh oh" when nothing happens.

4. Ellie is still a doll- doing great with the sleeping, and tipping the scales at over 10 lbs!  She is an amazingly loud sleeper, so I'm thisclose to moving her to her own room.

The WRONG Choice

Not sure if I have mentioned it on here, but Drew has had somewhere upwards of a billion ear infections.  Apparently there is a genetic component to them, so Drew, when you read this in 15 years, go thank your father.

Anyway, I've gotten good at noticing the "signs" for Drew.  Many kids pull on their ears and sleep terribly.  Not my son.  He just starts oozing green from his eyes and nose.  I was seeing all that last weekend when we were in Houston, so I took him to the doctor when we got home.  She said he had the very, very beginnings of an ear infection in one ear.  She prescribed an antibiotic (his 4th in 5 months), but said we may be able to treat the eyes and ears and hold off on the meds to let his body fight off this early, easy infection.  Sounded good to me.

And it looked like it was working.  His eyes cleared up and we didn't see any more snot.  I was pretty happy with my decision.  Saturday the kid slept until 8AM.  I sent up a silent prayer of thanks for letting him do that on a weekend before I went to get him..... and realized he was burning up.

He was pretty puny all day Saturday, but I knew we had a big problem when he sat on the couch with me for almost 2 hours watching the Preakness and didn't even move.  Then we moved to my bed, where we watched even more TV and snuggled.  Drew is NOT a snugly kid. I was thankful to have a prescription to fill to get this under control.

He didn't want to take a bath, but went down normally that night.  Rob went up to check on him, touched his cheek, and he was burning up.  We woke up Drew, took his temp, and it was 104.2 in his ear and 103.3 rectally.  I went to call the doc while Rob commenced sponging him off with cold water.

The nurse call line at Seton Hospital agreed that this was probably just the infection, and said we didn't need to go to the ER unless it got to 105.  By Sunday morning his fever had come down and he was acting happier, but he still didn't want to eat.  Then we had a repeat performance on Sunday afternoon and evening- lots of cartoons in bed and a 103.3 degree fever.  He isn't running a fever as a write this, so I'm hoping the antibiotics have had time to kick in and we might be winning the battle against the ear infection.

So I have learned not to mess with Drew's ears.  Even though I would like to keep him off medicine if at all possible, if there is ANY sign of an infection we are going to fill that prescription and start it ASAP. The last couple of days have been rough!

Willpower

I snipped the end of Drew's pacifier today.

I have officially lost my mind.

But the pediatrician said it was easier to do before 18 months (hey, we are close) and I am up all night now anyway, so if he wakes me up crying tonight it won't really be any different.

When I gave it to him he took it right. back out of his mouth and said "uh oh" then asked for "more.". He knew it was broken.

It took him about 20 minutes to go to sleep tonight, which isn't too bad. But depending on how rough the next couple of days are, he may end up getting a good one back. I hope not, but mama can only handle so much crying....

Dear Mailman,

You remember last Wednesday when I opened the door holding a baby wearing a floral dress and you (a) asked if it was mine (??) and then(b) proclaimed her "a little boy" (?? Floral?  Dress?).  I was a little annoyed with you at that point.

But today, when you came to my door and RANG THE DOORBELL just minutes after both my kids fell asleep and woke them both up, well, you are taking your life into your own hands.  Exhausted mamas of two cannot be held responsible for what might happen next.

Lindsey

Ellie- One Month

Precious Ellie,

You are (over) one month old!  It is amazing how quickly the time has gone.

You are so very much like your brother.  I'm told you look alike (just like your daddy), although we are confused because you look very much like me as a baby.  So who knows what you will turn out looking like.  Right now you have olive skin (that won't change) and dark hair, so you resemble me more.  But Drew had dark hair when he was born, then it all fell out and came back blonde.  Your slate grey eyes are turning bluer now, so maybe they will stay that way.  You DEFINITELY have my fingers.  Your grandmother always says the first things she noticed when I was born was how long my fingers were.  It was the first thing I noticed about you as well.

You are a string bean just like your brother.  You are in the 75% for height, and the 25% for weight.  This causes all of your dresses to be mini-dresses and the bloomers slide right off.  I may have to invest in some leggings for you.

Not a fan of the big bow.

You will tolerate this one....

Our biggest accomplishment this month is keeping you from being squished by your brother.  Ellie, he adores you.  When he says your name it comes out more like "Ella," but he has "sister" down pretty well and will call you that.  If you are laying on the floor on a blanket, he will cuddle up next to you and tell you night-night.  He can scale the side of your pack-n-play so he can peak in on you.  He happily shares cups of water, pacifiers, and whatever else he has.  However, he has no concept of "gentle" or "don't touch her head."  So I do a lot of protecting you.  But I love seeing how much he loves you.

You fell right into our routine, as I am told second children tend to do.  We all wake up at 7- you included.  Even if you aren't hungry right then, you start to stir and come sit with us in the kitchen while we get your brother breakfast.  You will kick out and really SLEEP if you are in your bed in my room, but otherwise you are mostly awake.  So I have been lucky enough to be able to put you and Drew down at the same time twice a day, and you will usually sleep.  So I get 2-3 hours a day where I can do stuff around the house.  Thank you, love. 

You also sleep very well in MY bed.  My spot, specifically.

We've taken you to sit-down restaurants, church, MOPS and bible study-- places we didn't even ATTEMPT with Drew for months.  Last week I changed your diaper right as the sermon started, carried you in to the sanctuary, and you sat awake and listened to the ENTIRE sermon on Esther without so much as a peep.  I was impressed- your dad, however, sat on the edge of his seat the entire time, nervous that we would have to run from the room at any moment.

First Outing. Mexican Food. Naturally.

Sophie shows almost no interest in you and wasn't phased at all when we brought you home from the hospital.  I think she knows your brother and his crackers are her meal ticket, so she doesn't bother keeping up with you yet, but I'm sure the time is coming.  I do think she is used to that particular "infant cry" again.  The first couple of weeks we would find her in Drew's room every morning, presumably trying to get away from the cry.  But last night she got up with me to make bottles and feed you every time.  I bet it doesn't take long for a bond to develop there.

Anneliese Corrinne, we love you.  We can't wait to watch you grow up!

Mom and Dad

"I deed it!"

Drew's current favorite phrase is "I deed (did) it!" He uses that phrase for everything, including things he did not do.

I punch the remote and the TV comes on. "I deed it!"

I walk into a room and flip on the lights. "I deed it!"

But tonight, he did do it! The kid peed in the potty. And I think Rob and I actually scared him with our excessive celebration. Now I am scouring amazon for books about various creatures using the potty.

My how life has changed.

So, send me recs on potty books. Also, send me recs on "how to discipline a toddler" books. Someone's new favorite word is "No!"

Drew- 18 months

Sweet D,

These last couple of months have been CRAZY in terms of learning and speaking and exploring and generally being a boy.  I've sat down to write this post about 14 times, but I never finish it and by the time I go back you have done 15 new things that need to be recorded.  I was going to use this post and just update it, but I realize that two weeks have gone by, and it is woefully out of date.  So I'll start over.

The biggest thing that happened for you recently is becoming a big brother.  It was a rough start-- you weren't so sure you liked this new thing, and in fact cried when she did.  But you quickly learned to love her.  The voice and tone that you use when you tell her "hiiiiii" melts my heart.  You try to share you water and your cheerios and your paci, and as much as it scares me right now, I hope it sticks when you get older.  You want to lay with your sister on the floor and really want to hold her (I had a heart stopping moment where you tried to take her out of the swing).

"Hiiiiiiiii"

"Crying huh?  Need a paci?  I happen to have an extra on hand."

As much as you like your sister as a whole, you still have your moments when you realize that you want me to hold you, but my arms are occupied by your sister.  We taught you tell Sophie to "drop!" the ball when you want to throw it for her.  You have translated that and will not point at Ellie's swing or bouncy chair and ask me to "drop!" her so I can pick you up.  Cracks me up.
The doctor says you are ahead verbally (yay!  Because you are in the 10.98% for weight.... we need to be ahead somewhere!).  You have a ton of words, and seem to average about 1 new one a day.  Today it was "blueberries."  It came out sounding like "blu-blus" but I actually realized what you were asking for.  There are a lot of things you are trying to say to me, but I'm not figuring out yet.  You will repeat the exact same sounds several times and then start asking "please.... please.... please."  It makes me so sad that I can't figure out what you are asking for so politely.  I remember going through this with you a few months ago.

At this point in time, there is no place in our house that is safe from you.  You can climb chairs to get onto tables and counters.  You can climb the ottoman to get on our bed.  You are tall enough to swipe things from tables and counters and open doors.  One day while we were sleeping we put some toddler-proof door handle covers on.  For several days you pointed at them and said "uh-oh!," like it was a mistake that they were there-- let me assure you, it is not.  However you are also small enough to fit under your crib, behind toilets, and between the washer and dryer.  Literally, no place is safe.

I had to pull you out from under here.....

We bought you a potty right after Ellie was born because you were telling us when you had to go/went "boo-boo."  The first day it was scary.  Ever since then you LOVE it, to the point of not wanting to get in the bathtub some nights.  We have yet to have a successful attempt at pottying on the potty, but I assure you that when you do, your parents are going to make the biggest stinking deal of it ever.  Right now we are not trying to potty train at all, but the doctor said you would show interest between now and when you were two, so I guess I need to figure that out.

You are a mimic, and watch (and repeat) everything we do.  You brush your hair, talk on the "phone," type on your computer and even throw things away (nothing important....yet).  One day you watched me put medicine in the dog's ear-- and then did it too.

You want to eat everything we eat, and just as we eat it.  You have recently begun to like raw veggies when you can dip them in ranch dressing or hummus.  You love Mexican food (good man!).  You hate veggies in a solid form, but will ask for "eggies" that come in a squeeze packet. 

Yep, we let our kid eat queso with a knife for lunch.

Drew, you are my absolute sunshine.  You keep me laughing and guessing and challenged, and there is never a dull moment.  Watching you grow up is the highlight of my life.  Never change, little man.

Bad pic of mom 36.5 weeks pregnant, but I loved your face in this picture.

Love, Mom and Dad

This was just a practice, but your dad was so happy to finally take his boy to watch UT Football.

I am, in fact, still alive

Yes, I realize my last post was April 23rd. 

Having two kids has not killed me.  It has, however, given me very little time to sit down and write a blog.  Ellie has a witching hour that starts at 7 and lasts until 9:30 or 10.  I should note, Drew goes to bed at 7, so this is less than excellent timing.  So one of us has to hold her for 3 hours.  And several times this week Rob had conference calls at night, so I was holding her.  When she goes to sleep, I do to.  Then Drew wakes up around 6:45, and the day begins.

What I'm saying is there are about 45 minutes in my day where both kids are asleep and I'm not asleep as well (RIGHT NOW). 

I need to do a Drew- 18  month post (he is closer to 19 months at this point) and an Ellie- 1 month post (tomorrow).  Hopefully it happens sooner rather than later.  If you get lucky, I might even import a picture or two.  Maybe.