15 month update

Off to the Dr we went yesterday for Alex's 15 month Dr appt. He is beginning to know now that he really does not like going there and gets all upset when he sits on the scale - its the least invasive thing they do but he freaks out! Still 22 lbs 7 oz - on two scales - so no weight gain since his Jan appt - but up a bit since his loss when he was sick so thats good. He is 31" tall - up an inch since last time as well and 47 cm head circumference - no change there either which is good - he has my wide head. Daddy has the same size around as me but his is deep rather than wide - pretty funny since he has spent the last 10 years making fun of my big head!

Alex did really well when the Dr came in and was perfect while he was listening to his lungs and heart and his lungs are clear - considering the hacking cough he has (an now I have too!) He even did really well with looking in his ears - something that has made him throw up in the past! No crying - the crying began for the shots - one in each leg - dTap and a pneumococcal one, the Hib has to wait because there is a shortage and he has already had 3 - one more and he is done - maybe at 18 months - and then no more shots until he is 4! WOO HOO.

Unfortunately the appt was during nap time so he was none too happy when we got home so he laid down for a bit - well I woke him up for dinner and then right back to sleep - until about 7 (his normal bedtime) and he was crazy naked baby until about 9! He was so funny bouncing of off his futon and me.

Dinner has not been the great experience it has been in the past - he is just not eating much - could be the cough - could be tired - who knows but I need to let it go and not push.

Special Care Nursery Reunion

Today we had a fun outing - we were invited to the Special Care Nursery Reunion - the hospital where Alex was born and spent the second week of his life at - invited all the Special Care kids for a morning of magic, snacks, free bike helmets and more. We got there about 11 and watched some magic and ran into some of the nurses who took care of alex and one of the babies that was there the same time as Alex!

I have to say that the nurses at both Childrens and in Special Care are amazing wonderful people who made the two weeks we were with them bearable. They were loving and warm and bright people who loved the babies. I was so happy to see one of the nurses especially - she took care of me right after Alex was born and he was taken to Childrens and held my hand as I cried. She taught me how to give Alex a bath and wash is hair when we came back a week later. I also saw the nurse who gave our breastfeeding class - about 2 weeks before Alex was born - although of all the people in the room I was due last - she was shocked to see me Christmas morning. She even recognized me from class that morning - she knew it was way to early to see us. They all remember Alex as "Rocky" - his first nickname - because he looked like Rocky Balboa after he lost the fight.

It was also such a nice day out today here that we went for lunch and ate outside - Alex has a fever again this afternoon and really did not eat much today. I think its teeth - I can see them coming and I cant imagine how painful it is!

Updates Updates

I think "Spring Break" has been busier than a normal week - I am exhausted! We started looking at houses again - one Saturday, one Sunday and 8 tomorrow. I met with someone at the bank and updated our finances to figure out what we can afford - scares the poop out of me buying a house. Yesterday I got my hair cut and Alex got to hang out with Auntie L - "the Great" - pretty funny being a great aunt in your 40's! He was a good boy and practiced his walking - I think that has been the biggest improvement over the past few weeks - he went from "Jello legs" to standing on his own for a few seconds - until he realizes you are not hanging on and then he laughs and falls over. He is letting us help him walk now too - which is a huge change from a few weeks ago where he wanted no help at all and did not want to even try walking. The OT and the "educator" were very excited today when they came to work with him. Sue, the OT, has not seen Alex in a month and between his hair cut and his new skills - cruising, squatting etc - she was very impressed!

In the toy bin is way better than out!

I love Eggos!

Tonight was pretty funny - he went from being a baby to a toddler in a moment. We were playing with some throw pillows and he grabbed one off the couch and threw it on the floor and "jumped"/flung himself on it and thought it was the funniest thing ever. So he kept picking it up and jumping on it - it was so cute but my baby was gone and a little boy was in his place!

Baby Yoga - downward facing dog pose

Angry that I wont pick him up and let him play with the camera - and he looks just like me, furrowed brow and all.

Not sure why I look medicated but Alex looks cute!

We're still here

Just been really busy this week. Parties last weekend and lots to do this week before my spring break - papers to grade - 23 of them to be exact and takes about 2 hours a piece! Alex is sick - again with some sort of virus causing a nasty cough and to top it off - I think he is teething again! He is MISERABLE!

I will update more later.

Big Boy Haircut

So I broke down today and took Alex for a big boy haircut. I could not handle the back and the weird lengths on top so off we went to a professional - paid way too much but honestly it was done in 5 minutes - good thing too he was not overly happy to be in the chair - but he was not screaming - mildly and sadly protesting was more like it. He woke up unhappy from his nap at daycare and looked none too happy when he and Daddy came into the shop.

As you can see some Cheerios and some rest time in the car on the way home made his day better. He looks like such a big boy! It could be shorter but for the first one it was enough!

What a fun weekend

Well the weekend went by too fast as usual but we were able to go outside and enjoy the warm weather both days. I did not have any grading to do this weekend (unlike next weekend when I will have 23 15 pages papers to grade :( ) so we decided to get out and about. On Saturday we headed down to the outlets - with an entire parkinglot full of other people and Chris put Alex in the backpack and we shopped for a few hours enjoying the fresh air while walking store to store. I got Alex some cute spring/summer stuff and then we headed to the mall to get Alex his first pair of big boy shoes! They are so cute! We stopped and got something to eat first as it was obvious we all had low blood sugar so we got a snack and then got NEW SHOES! What a big boy!



On Sunday we decided to go out to our favorite breakfast place down the road and get our favorite Apple Crisp Belgian waffle! YUM YUM. Alex was really good and enjoyed looking out the window at the pond while we ate. Then we walked over and fed the ducks our stale bread from the last week. Alex was really excited to see the ducks and they were pretty much on top of us. The geese were patient surprisingly and I am happy that the swans (there are at least 5) stayed behind the fence - they were picking up the other ducks and moving them to get the food - I am afraid of swans.

Then it was off to the grocery store - Alex loves the grocery store and smiles and waves at everyone. He was checking out a little girl who was riding in the cozy coupe model carriage but he is not big enough for that yet.

We spent some time playing with the blocks I put together that Auntie L and family got Alex for Christmas/bday! He loves the tube ones and loves knocking over the stacks. He is beginning to build his own towers out of things so I thought it was time we got the blocks out - and its a toy that does not make noise!!!!

Then it was out for a walk and I carried him around in the backpack - #1 I am out of shape and #2 an extra 30 lbs of kid and backpack really makes a difference with stamina but it was too nice out to stay inside.

Then Auntie J and Uncle M came for dinner! It was so nice to have company and other adult conversation. Alex loves to have new people to play with!

Milestones

Its Friday again - these short weeks throw me off schedule completely (not like I am complaining!) but once again it is Friday and Alex seems to have made some leaps this week - still no walking but he seems to have given up his baby cereal - he is a big boy now and feeds himself about 95% of the time finger foods. This week he has blown my mind with the volume of food he has eaten! He is well on his way to being moved up to the toddler room in daycare - 1) he eats finger foods independently, 2) this whole week - no bottle at daycare! He has used his cup to drink at least 10 oz of milk at daycare a day! 3) the one we have the most problems with is WALKING! He loves to walk around with his cart and the push toys at school but will NOT walk with me holding his hands - he turns into Jello! Or at daycare now he will stand but then thinks its too funny and falls over - small steps I guess.

Other things he started doing well this week - stacking things! We spent about 15 minutes tonight stacking all his jars of baby food that he took out of the butcher block. He did a good job too as long as I kept the lower ones from falling over.

Luckily he is babbling more and more and we are practicing in the car and at home. Our new EI educator starts next week and I am in the process of scheduling a hearing evaluation as well just to be sure he did not suffer hearing loss. Mine was not diagnosed until I was 5 but I seemed to do just fine. Sometimes I wonder if this whole EI thing is worth it. Alex does things in his own time and manner.

Yesterday was one of the other baby's birthdays - so today they had angel food cake and cantelope at daycare - Alex LOVED the cantelope - it was gone before they knew it and wondered if he just threw it on the floor - NOPE - ate it all as usual.

Last night he had some tortellini's for dinner with sauce - this was the result:

Sauce in on the face, hair, hands and clothes!

He may be blonde and blue eyed but he has Italian blood - He loves any kind of pasta - ravioli, tortellini, and he LOVES bread!

Drinking from the sippy cup after dinner - he now definitely prefers his milk over water!

Blog Love

the rules:1. admit that ONE thing you feel awful about involving being a mom. get it off your shoulders. once you've written it down, you are NO LONGER allowed to feel bad. it's over with, it's in the past. remember, you're a good mom!

Thanks Jen! You made my day!

I feel bad that I was unable to go full term with Alex. I have so much guilt about him being born early and not forcing my doctor to look me over when I thought things were going wrong. I think he could have avoided the breathing issues and the severe bruising he had.

2. to remind yourself that you ARE a good mom, list SEVEN things you love about your kids, you love doing with your kids, or that your kids love about you. these are the things to remind yourself of EVERY DAY that you rock!


1) I love that Alex chooses me over anyone else

2) I love his beautiful smiling blue eyes

3) I love the fact that he is so outgoing and generally happy that he is OK at daycare

4) I love that he is the "happy" baby at daycare

5) I love that Alex now feeds me instead of the other way around - he loves to share (germs included!)

6) I love slobbery baby kisses!

7) I love making him laugh by doing silly things - if only life stayed this simple!

New Link

If you look to the right you will see an new button added to my page - for Paperback Book Swap.com - I found the link on someone elses blog and thought - what a great way to cut my book budget - so I have been unloading all my books and getting some new ones for the cost of media mail shipping! I LOVE it - I have swapped 5 or 6 books so far and already received 2 I requested in the mail! Give it a try with the link!