Through the Rabbit Hole and Back Again

We have known for awhile.  We thought we were prepared.  But when you get there and see your child hug his Mr. Lamb and sit waiting to go into surgery, you realize that nothing, absolutely nothing can prepare you for the moment the nurses wheel your baby away from you through those double swinging doors.  It does not prepare you for the moment when your baby asks you why you can't come with him.  It does not prepare you to hold back your tears and feelings of absolute fear from your son when you tell him to listen to the nurses and doctors and that you will see him very soon.

Fortunately, there are moments of humor amidst the seriousness of the situation.  In the seemingly endless sixty minutes before the patients go into the operating room, our little man of steel was a fantastic trooper.  He was hungry, thirsty and in great need of a nap, but he sure did make the most out of a mask with vanilla cake flavor on it.  Personally I thought our little nook of the pre-op area smelled like a stinky rendition of one of those holiday body shower flavors at Bath and Body Works, but Baby O seemed to like it.

His choices of gas flavors were grape, strawberry, bubble gum or birthday cake.  He chose birthday cake.  In his mind, he thought they were asking him what he wanted when he went through those doors and having had not one bite to eat in the last 8 hours or so, he was fully expecting an actual birthday cake.

He came through like a champ, but was an absolute bear when he woke up and the birthday cake was not there.  He did however settle for a rainbow Popsicle and a sticker.

Although pretty disoriented and out of it for a few hours, the next day he was back to normal and obviously recovering well.

We are relieved and thankful.  Relieved because the build-up seemed extreme. I really thought we would never make it to the day of surgery.  Despite becoming a complete germophobe of a Mother for about a month, (no play dates, no jumpy place, just good old fun outdoors, right?), in the 6-8 weeks before, he weathered three colds, an infected lip (from a cut in a fall off his bike), an apparent allergic reaction what we believe was a poisonous plant (when he deconstructed the plant and touched his infected lip), and a black and swollen eye (from a tumble off his scooter) just a couple of days before hand.  After the last incident I decided that movie marathons were the only safe activity.

Now it's about recovery and movie marathons really are the only way to keep him from playing in the dirt or falling off his bike etc...Just a few more days of yet another viewing of Madagascar and Toy Story and he will be as good as new.  So thankful it went well and hopeful that this will be our only and last experience  visiting the surgeon's wing of the hospital.  Frankly, I don't think I'm cut out for it (pun not intended).

Deja Vu

It was the first sunny day in about a week, so I thought we would load up the stroller and bike and try to do about a half mile around our park and see how things went.  It was slow going and at times I wondered why I was so optimistic as to take the time to adorn myself in running clothes, but all in all it was good start.

Here is the enthusiasm before we began.  It probably took us just as long to get ready and load the car as it did to walk/run the entire route.

He got a lot of practice figuring out his brakes (about every two seconds).  This picture reminds me of this post from 2010.  He's not a speed demon yet, but he's got at least a year and a half to catch up and it was fun to see him really try out his new bike without his big brother telling him what to do.

I kept telling him to look where he was going in order to steer the bike and this is the end result after looking at a bird off in the distance.

Then came the hill.  He got a bit nervous when the bike started to drift backward.

Even after a few pushes, he decided that walking back to the car was his best bet.  It was certainly faster.

Proud of his efforts, but excited to get on with his day...such a big personality in a small package.  Gotta love it!

Little Helper

It's been a crazy week.  I'm writing all about it in a addition to another post that isn't just a cute kid picture or an update, but then this happened and I had to change direction for just a moment.

Baby O loves to help me in the kitchen.  This morning he requested pumpkin pancakes and pulled out the stool immediately.  I love moments like these in the midst of all the chaos that has been the last 48 hours.

From beginning to end.

Three

I've said it several times in the last year or so-Baby O is no longer a baby.  But he will always be our baby.  So for now, even though I have tossed around the idea of changing our pseudo-blog names, Baby O he will remain.  As usual, we celebrated as a family beginning from the moment we woke (which was early, because he woke up at least 4 times that night in what I believe was anticipation and excitement).

Tradition continues...I am still making the birthday cakes. They look pretty sad when compared to the store bought version, but it is so much fun trying to make these silly masterpieces.

Playing with his new 'Cranky' the crane and adding to his train collection.

Newbie O put on her pink party bow for the occasion and was able to watch all the festivities from the best seat in the house.

Hats off to the people who advertise for toys such as 'Dream Lites'.  This was by far the most requested item on Baby O's list and the most appreciated.  It is supposed to be the nightlight that 'turns your room into a starry sky'.  He told us he would not be scared of the dark anymore if he had one.  On night one of having his adored Dream Lite, he came running to our room at 2 am screaming bloody murder that he couldn't find it.  Come to find out, it had fallen off the bed.  Put that in your commercial Pillow Pets Corporation!

A letter to my youngest son on his third birthday:

Dear Baby O,

As I stated above, you are no longer a baby.  But as your Mom, it is so hard to let go of that little guy that entered our lives not so long ago.  You have grown and changed so much this year.  The baby fat is gone, the legs are longer and your feet at three are as big as your brother's were at four and a half years of age.  You are out of diapers, sleeping in your own bed and can carry on an amazingly complicated conversation with just about anyone.

You do everything with an energy and zeal that I admire.  You love your siblings with such fierce loyalty.  Just six months ago there was an incident where a boy was saying some mildly unkind things to your brother and you stood up in the middle of story hour and yelled, "Stop being rude to MY brother!, Be KIND you banshee head!"  You haven't had the chance to defend your sister just yet, but you enjoy playing with her toys and running over to where she is and having a conversation with her.  When we ask you what you have been talking about you usually respond with something along the lines of, "Miss Saucy Pants said I could play with her toys" or "She's fine, don't worry about her, she said she's not hungry".

You are equally mischievous, sassy and so darn cute at the same time.  It's hard not to laugh out loud at your responses to being disciplined.  It is quite a skill to be lovable and defiant at the same time and you have most definitely mastered it.  Imagining you being that way ten years from now is what helps me be consistent and keep a straight face.   I'm hoping these skills translate to being an independent thinker and a real people person when you are an adult and not the screaming meltdowns that occur currently in the time-out chair.

You may spend some time in the 'chair', but you are a great little helper.  You love to help me make meals or   vacuum the floor.  You especially enjoy helping Dad in the garage with various projects.  It slows us down a bit, but I think in a few years you are going to be quite the handy man.

This year has been full of changes with moving and a new addition to the family.  You have reminded us all to just relax, enjoy the moment and most of all, welcome it with enthusiasm and laughter.  I love you.  We love you and hope that three is even better than two.

Always yours and with all my love,

Mommy O

A Mother's Influence

You know you are spending a lot of time feeding your baby when your son drops everything, retrieves the boppy and hikes up his shirt in order to breastfeed his beloved Mr. Lamb.

Milestones

Large strides have been made this week.  It hasn't just been the general progress and growth, it seems as if every member of the family has reached a major milestone.


AMPHIBIANS O

Starting with the youngest and newest members of the household: Larry, Dr. Jean, and Buddy-our tadpoles.  Larry sprouted his two forelegs on Friday/Saturday, Dr. Jean almost has two hind legs and Buddy, well, not much is new with Buddy-but he seems to be surviving and that's got to count for something.

Observing the life of a tadpole has been great entertainment during mealtimes.


 

NEWBIE O -  HALF WAY THERE

Just had our 20 week check up on Thursday and once again, everything seems to be going great.  We were happy to learn that she has all her limbs, 10 fingers and toes and her head measurements are normal.  She is now the size of a 12 ounce soda can.

Here she is, fully cooperating and waving to everyone.

Here's me and Newbie O at exactly 20 weeks (this one is for you, Mom).  According to other people, I look great, but I know that's just what you are supposed to tell a pregnant lady.  If you told me I was on my way to looking like Bea Arthur-which is how I feel-I'd probably clobber you.  I would also like to add that I haven't completely given up on my platform shoes.  If you know me well, you know that I never leave home without them.  We'll see how long it lasts....

BABY O

Baby no longer.  For a child who climbed over baby gates before he could even walk, Baby O has never attempted to climb out of his crib.  Until last weekend.  We were under a bit of a time crunch, considering he needed to transition to a bed (without bars) by midsummer and this was just the push we needed.  For now we have just taken one wall off and will put him in a real bed in a couple of months.  He felt like he had won the lottery and the picture below shows him 'practicing' sleeping before the first night. 

We were anticipating at least a week of no sleep, but it went off without a hitch.  He wakes up every morning, gets out of his bed, slams his door shut, runs down the hall to our bedroom and proclaims (for all the world to hear), I got up all by myself!

Potty training is going better after a weekend of potty boot camp.  We switched to underwear during the day and are making more of an effort to get the ball rolling.  There have been a few accidents and mop-ups, but he has asked to go to the bathroom a couple of times.  Sometimes I wonder who is potty training who though...

BOY O AND THE MARBLE JAR

The marble jar has been going on since late October.  It has been a fantastic method to encourage good, responsible behavior and discourage other bad habits at the same time.  Daddy O and I got really tired of reminding Boy O time and time again to brush his teeth, put on lotion, make his bed, turn off his nightlight etc...

So, if he remembers to do these things without being told before school, he gets a marble for each chore in the Spiderman jar.  If we have to remind him-there is no punishment (no marble in the villain jar), but there is also no reward.  Sometimes good deeds that go above and beyond the call of duty are also cause for a Spiderman marble.

Behavior that warrants a marble in the Mysterio jar are lying, arguing, talking back, not being nice...you get the picture.  As you can see from the photo below, we are very lucky parents-we don' have too much trouble.  We told him that when he filled up the Spiderman jar he could choose a fun activity to do (within reason).

It took a few months but he finally filled it up!  And after much thought and debate, he decided he wanted to see a movie at the theater.  We went this past weekend to see the movie of his choice (3D of course) and we made sure to record our fun in the photo booth after the movie got out.

MOMMY AND DADDY O

We kind of bought a house.   I say 'kind of' because we still have about a week until we officially close, but it looks good.  Inspections went as expected, minor repairs are underway and we are incredibly excited to move in after Boy O finishes out the school year in this neighborhood.   I feel like we have been living in and out of boxes for the last eight months-I can't wait to have space for all of our things and find my bleeping bowls and cookbooks again.

To recover from such a big week, we are relaxing at home on Spring Break for the time being.  Not much to do except soak up the sunshine and walk to the park.  Not a bad way to spend the time... 

Valentine Party Number One

Valentine's Day starts today as far as we are concerned-party number one was for all the toddlers in the Mom's group that we are a part of.  Baby O and  I had a great time making our own valentines for the event and even Daddy O got into the swing of it by taping all the miniature masks onto the superhero blow pops (Boy O will be making his this weekend, so there will be a separate post on these homemade valentines).  Here he is in full craftiness mode trying out new techniques:

Besides the obvious benefits of being part of such a great group of Mom's is that we usually do all the messy stuff at the community center.  We do have to clean up the aftermath, but it is so nice not to worry about my table or furniture.  As you can imagine with 27 toddlers present-add in water colors, paints and frosting-the mess can be quite large.

What do you get when you turn your back to reach for your camera?  Lots and lots of sprinkles.

Exchanging valentines was lucrative!  At the moment Baby O is napping, but I have a very good feeling he won't be down for long...

Two

My baby turned to two today.  We celebrated as a family with Thomas cupcakes and whistles and finally, finally opened presents after nap time.  Baby O didn't seem to have too much trouble with the time line, but Boy O, MeMe and myself included were quite excited to see him open his gifts.  Thomas the train and the fully stocked fire station were immensely popular with both boys and they played for hours on end afterward. 

To my two year old son, who will always remain my baby:

Dear Baby O,

In the letter written to you on your first birthday, I was struck by the lack emotion from its author.  The weak attempts to describe you sound like an outline, a bare bones draft listing milestones or activities.  Not once did I mention my love for you or how much you mean to me.   That life would be empty without you.  And it truly would be.  Empty.

It has been such an unbelievable year.  Your father and I agree that we were so short-sighted in the beginning. By that we mean that we only thought of you as an infant, a baby-we had no idea that such a little guy like you could fill up an entire room on personality alone.  Your voice helps out a bit too.  Wink.

Just a few days after your first birthday, you took your first steps and our house (and everything in it) would never be the same. I think you may have only walked for a matter of days before you started running and believe me, you have only stopped to eat and sleep a few times here and there.  You always have somewhere to be and somewhere to go, sometimes you pause for a few seconds and I can see the wheels turning in your head-you always have a plan.  Most times that plan includes estimating just how long it will take Mom or Dad to get to you before you get into too much trouble, but it's a plan, nevertheless, and it usually works.

The words and phrases  you place together to form sentences or just to get your point across make each day new and interesting.  I love that you think everyone should receive and M & M every time they go potty (if you don't lock the door, he will come right on in and ask you if you need him to get you one from the kitchen), I love your obsession with Thomas the train, I love that you give yourself applause each and every time you take a sip from the 'big boy' cup and don't spill, I love that you insist on licking the frosting off of cupcakes....I could go on and on.

It is starting to sound like a list again doesn't it?  It IS hard not to reminisce or brag...Forget all the lists of milestones and cuteness, forget the all the poetry,  every time we look at you, YOU fill our hearts with love, happiness and laughter like no one else can.  I love you so much it hurts.

Your brother, father and I cannot imagine a life without you,
Love,
Mom

P. S. Here a few more pictures of the celebration

Bedtime Stories

I'm usually never in the right place at the right time, much less with my camera in tow.  Here are some rare pictures where the weather cooperated, the lighting was perfect, my camera was at the ready, and Baby O was too cute for words in his PJ's.

And while I'm on the subject of pajamas, I hope I don't jinx our sleeping schedule of late by mentioning a few bedtime stories...

Sleeping has been pretty doggone wonderful in the last couple of months.  I don't know if it's due to recent growth spurts, lack of teething, the addition of a warm blanket or what, but this kid has been sleeping through the night and is consistently taking a one hour morning nap and an hour and a half in the afternoon.  Hallelujah!  Previously, if Baby O got up at 3 am or later, there were three options:

1) Sleep with him in the guest bed (everyone gets some sleep in this scenario).  This was my preferred option.

2) Bring him into our bedroom to sleep (everyone except Mommy and Daddy O get some sleep)

3) Put him back in his crib (absolutely no one gets any sleep, including Boy O who is in an entirely different bedroom, and Mommy and Daddy O inevitably get into a lack-of-sleep induced argument about whose method of dealing with Baby O's wake ups are better)

I don't know how or when this occurred but when an early morning wake up takes place, it seems as if we are able to reason with him (is this possible with a 20 month old?  or is this just wishful thinking at 3:30 am?), place him back in his crib, no tears, and he even sleeps in!  Will it last?  Probably not, but a person can hope...

A conversation between Daddy O and Baby O is considerably shorter than an early morning conversation with me-somehow the dialogue with my toddler usually includes a trip to the fridge for milk and singing.  Apparently Daddy O just says that he is too tired to go downstairs etc... and Baby O says, Okay, and goes right back to sleep.  Am I a softy?  Yes, but either way, it seems to be working.

O Baby!

I know I shouldn't even refer to Baby O as a baby anymore, but I simply cannot imagine him as anything but my baby.  So Baby O he will stay until he can give me some ideas for a proper pseudonym. Hopefully that will take a few more years.

At 18 months old, I am loving this stage.  He is just too cute for words.  He is still into absolutely everything,  but I am no longer spending what seems like 98.9 percent of my time redirecting him.  I would estimate it at about 65 percent now.   He stops and pauses when he hears the words NO, and though the verbal cue doesn't always work, it has been a huge relief for my state of mind and I'm not completely on edge when we are in an unfamiliar place.  A firm 'no' seems to do the trick for now but as I look into the future, I am wondering what type of discipline is going to work for this active toddler.  A time-out carpet has really done the trick for Boy O, but every time Baby O passes it in the stairwell, he is extremely eager to stand on it or sit on it for an impressive amount of time-all the while smiling and laughing.  We might need to consult another form of behavioral instruction besides Supernanny. 

He has understood pretty much everything for a few months now and his vocabulary skills are growing exponentially from day to day. It's really amazing. Much time is spent at the end of each day going over what new words he has said and what words were put together.  The first time he put words together was when Daddy and Boy O were outside and he pulled on my leg and said, Me, sun. Me sun. Me sun.  I quickly realized he wanted to go outside.  I love being able to communicate!  Even if it is short-I can ask a question and he can tell me yes or no.  I guess I could have been more progressive and studied up on sign language like many other Moms I know, but I was just never good at being very consistent.  Or remembering the actual signs for that matter. Oh well.

Speaking of consistency, I've found that to be of utmost importance in potty training.  Baby O is doing very well Friday through Monday making it to the potty most of the time, but between Tuesday and Thursday when our schedule is busy and we are I am tired after swim lessons, I admit that I take a break from asking and taking the time to sit him on the potty.  Despite a mid week break he has begun to understand the concept and is asking several times a day to visit the bathroom.  The challenge we are running into now is that by the time we get to the bathroom and strip down, the moment has passed (luckily into the diaper) and the reward of flushing the toilet and waving bye-bye isn't as satisfying.

Baby O has graduated from our makeshift highchair to eating at the table with the rest of us.  We didn't gear up too much before Baby O came home last May, so we made due by strapping a portable booster/high chair on top of the high chair below as he was a tad too small for it at seven months old.  His size hasn't been the problem lately (our concern was for the welfare of the table), but it took me a while to find this great place mat which in theory should stay on the table with suction cups and give it some measure of protection from the inevitable banging.  It's only been in use for a couple of meals, but so far, so good.  He would much rather sit on a regular chair, but for right now, this is as close as it is going to get.

If I pull out the camera now and say smile this is his new look-I think it resembles much more of a grimace but cute nevertheless:

We have been taking sleep day by day for the last month or so.  I have come to the conclusion that several factors have contributed to the shortage of sleep.

1 & 2)  Since the first part of December, Baby O has cut eight new teeth.  Once the molars had popped through and teething took a brief hiatus in January, the canines made their grand entrance very soon after we had recovered from a horrendous cold (which also didn't help anyone in the sleep department).

3 & 4 & 5)  Me, myself and I.  I blame it on the hotel.  When we were traveling, I didn't want a repeat of the hotel scene that played itself out the night before the marathon.  So when Baby O started to cry in the middle of the night, I slept with him on the sleeper sofa in 2nd room of our suite.  At the time, this seemed like the perfect solution-most everyone got some measure of sleep.  When we arrived home and it was apparent a bad habit had taken hold, Daddy O was adamant about not giving in and I was just as adamant about not letting Baby O cry.   Daddy O kind of let me do my own thing-I mean who really wants to argue with a sleep deprived wife in the middle of the night? Under those circumstances, I will say that neither of us are very nice to one another at 2 am. 

After a couple of weeks we began to see a pattern.  If Daddy O put Baby O down at bedtime, there were no wake-ups.  If I put him down, there were several.  It was awful for everyone involved because after a week of no sleep, I'm not the nicest person at any time of day.   It continued....if Daddy O went to check on him, there was maybe three minutes of crying.  If I went to check on him, there would be at least an hour, at which I would give in and sleep with him in the guest bed.  Then he started to talk. I would go in to check on him and he would point to the bed and say, Again! Peese! Peese! Bed!

So Daddy O is doing most of the night time duty, not only for Baby O, but for me as well. As soon as he comes back into the room he has taken to holding my hand and telling me that it will all be okay. Whew.

I am happy to report that Baby O's last two canines have come in and Baby O has slept through the night without any Ibuprofen for almost a week. There have been a couple of hiccups here and there, but I am learning to not give Baby O any type of stimulation when I go to check on him. No cooing, singing, talking-just business. Check and change the diaper, give a little milk in his sippy cup and right back down. It is working if I stay consistent (I'm beginning to see a pattern here...), and I'll admit to having some sigh weak moments, but I'm learning...always learning.

Anyway...here are some more cute kid pictures...

Balance

We are all about balance this week.

New activities, new friends, new naptimes-we are making several minor changes and are subsequently trying to see how things go and find a new balance.  No one has taken this more literally than Baby O who is identifying with balance in its purest of forms.

                                                                   

The Deadlift

 We hit the pumpkin patch this past weekend with the boys and although I took at least a hundred pictures, this one made me laugh out loud.  I think Baby O has a good future in the deadlift-perfect technique at just 13 months.