Cute kids in costumes :)

And a cute daddy with his adorable blonde haired look alike. <3 this man and all the ways he takes care of us.

Words, words, words

Now for something not quite as deep from me. I know, I have been serious huh? Well, that is life for me right now... kind of serious. BUT I have a whole lot of cuteness in my house so I will shift to my 18 month old blonde haired delicious Slobber Rocket.

He is a chatty little boy! His older brother did not hardly say a word until 2 years old. When he finally started talking it was like he had done it his whole life. But, many people were a bit worried that my oldest child had some issues with language before he finally started talking. Slobber Rocket, however, surprises people constantly with his verbal skills. You may doubt his age by looking at his tiny cute little self but when he opens his mouth... I get people saying "there is NO way he is as young as he looks". And they are right! ha.

What is this little crazy boy learning to say lately?

On top of many many words (100+ I would guess) he has started saying lots of phrases and short sentences.
"Go away Jadey!" talking to the dog. The boy knows what he wants
"I wanna eat"
"I want down"
"SIT DOWN Jade"
"I want donee" (that would be a donut)
"I see you"
"I gotta bat!"
"I throw ball!"
"Dink meeeeeeese" or... drink please
"Take a bath"
"SHOO WEE I tink" when I am changing his diaper and... he does, trust me.
"go outside"
"hot, hot, hot" when I put him into his car seat or when his food is too hot to eat (he is NOT a fan of hot food)

and my favorite "I lu you"

Sweet boy, Mama loves you too. I love watching you learn and develop. I love playing games with you and chasing you all over the house. I love your hugs and nursing you down to bed. I love your adventurous nature and when you sing in the car. I love the way you hug your brother and give him kisses and when you curl up on your daddy's lap. Little boy, you make big impact on our lives. I am so thankful for you.

Slobber Rocket Update

My little Slobber Rocket has been going to speech therapy for... 6? weeks now I think. He is doing okay. It is very slow going and his food choices are really limited still. He also takes forever to eat one meal because of various sensory issues he has with eating. Yesterday at speech we spent an hour and got 10 noodles (maybe), a bite of shredded chicken, a few bits of cheese, and a graham cracker with strawberry cream cheese on it down him. It took him 20 minutes to chew and swallow a bite of noodles with chicken. But we did get him to swallow it. The other foods I had he refused to eat but he touched them and even put the green beans into his mouth. He has overcome a major hurdle in kids with eating problems. He will touch food and he will sometimes put new foods into his mouth. So those are good things. He definitely has texture issues with food but we are discovering more and more that he has quite a few additional sensory problems that also affect eating. He over stuffs his mouth like crazy with things he can tolerate keeping in his mouth. He just doesn't register that there is anything in his mouth for some reason. He forgets to chew (again, he has no clue there is something in his mouth). He slobbers if he is overstimulated by a taste, smell or texture. So it takes me a crazy long time to feed him daily. I offer him a few bits of food at a time to make sure he doesn't over stuff his mouth and we practice chewing. I also often times have to give him something crunchy while food is still in his mouth to remind him to chew. He has improved greatly with the cup though! He is keeping most liquid in his mouth now unless he really dislikes it or is just playing with the cup.

He is likely going to be referred to an OT because of the sensory issues his speech therapist has noticed along with the fact that we can no longer bathe him without major major problems. He screams bloody murder through the whole torturous event. And honestly I can not figure out the best strategy to help. Our pediatrician suggested sponge baths for a while (which he doesn't mind being wiped with a cloth most of the time) but I am not sure if removing the submersion totally will help or hurt. I do try to encourage him to put his feet into the water and sometimes he will try and other days he screams and claws for me. He DID let our friend, T, put water on him at the pool the other day though. We already go 2-3 days between baths because it is such an ordeal and I wipe him down in between. He also has similar issues to sound that his big brother has but at 17 mos. it is hard to tell if it will be a long term problem like it has been for Super Muscles.

We are also trying to work with Early Intervention to get him into a nutritionist as well. His last doctors appointment went well. He has gained almost a lb in 2 mos and an inch in the same course of time. Which is great for him. He had all but flat lined, gaining maybe an oz or 2 between visits before I started infusing all of his food with healthy fats. At any rate, ped would like to see him gain another lb in the next 6 weeks. He is still only in the .5% for weight and 3% for height which is still small enough to be concerning. So the nutritionist can tell us how many additional calories he would need daily to gain a lb in 6 weeks. The problem: my insurance will not cover the consult and it is $300 for one. So L (speech therapist), is going to talk with some people she knows and see if they will take the early intervention waiver just for my sweet boy. Then we will have to get enrolled into the program. He already has a speech eval and documented feeding problems so we would need one more evaluation but it should be no problem to get him into the program. If this happens, any OT he would need would be done at our house which is a definite bonus.

Additional things we are working on is saving foods he likes until the end of his meal when he has decided he is full. It takes very little to make him full because he has learned that he hates most food so he is very easily satisfied. So we save some of his favorites for the end and try to make him "over eat" so we can stretch his tummy out a bit at each meal. Hopefully this will increase his appetite. And he is getting much better about more frequently drinking water between meals which also helps to stretch that tummy out before meal times.

So there you have it... my life right now is consumed with feeding my 1 year old. ha! But we are seeing some progress. I wish it would come faster so he could grow a bit more and we could have "normal" meals with him. Spending hours a day feeding a child is quite exhausting. Sometimes (or frequently actually) I let it go when we travel or are out or something and just let him eat what he will eat so I don't have to inconvenience everyone else or deal with "angry baby" having a mega meltdown because he doesn't want to touch or eat anything. But he is delicious and smart and playful and beautiful so I try not to focus on all the work we have to put into eating. I want to enjoy him and his sweet personality. Part of what makes his life a bit difficult (and mine by extension) is also something that makes him unique and special. I am just so thankful that it is something I have been tenacious about so that would get him help for this early and before he could develop even firmer habits and preferences. I sure do love this tiny blond haired, green eyed child of mine.

6 mos old...

It is hard to believe but my baby boy is now 6 months old. I am not quite sure where that time went. Slobber Rocket is now crawling, sitting up, getting from his knees to sitting or laying down to sitting. He also gets up on his hands and feet and moves around like that. He is not a great sleeper but neither was big brother until about age 1. So... I am trying not to get too frustrated. He eats all night long. Sometimes that makes for one tired mama. Everyone tells me how big he is but I still think he is a bit of a peanut. Just getting into size 3 mos. He is very grabby and feely too. He loves to snuggle and loves to grab, manipulate and feel things. He may be starting to teethe but I am not sure when those first teeth will poke through. He is gnawing on everything but has no signs of a tooth erupting just yet other than the slobber. He has very sensitive skin and most likely already has allergies (what a thing to inherit). But mostly he is fabulous and beautiful and fun to be around. Smiley and happy most of the time. Easy to calm... I am in love with him.

This weekend we are moving on to a big thing in the lives of babies... solids. First up: avocado mush thinned out with a little milk. Delish! I will be sure to take pictures for all to see! :)

And so it begins...

Hi, I am 23 and I am losing my hearing. Not a surprise to anyone who knows me. I have had ear infections my whole life and fluid basically camps behind my eardrums permenantly. I have very bad allergies that contribute to my ear issues. I recently saw my ent about my ears and there doesn't seem like there are many options to help me. It doesn't really matter though. I am accustomed to this and know that I will, in time, lose my hearing in my right ear and possibly both ears. Over the last year I have had significant hearing loss in my right ear. I am not angry about it or anything. Just life for me.

But, my baby is 4 mos old on Sunday and I just took him in for his first ear infection. I am okay with my own fate but I am really sad today that SR has an ear infection. An ear infection doesn't doom him to lifelong ear problems or anything but I often wonder if whatever is wrong with my ears is hereditary. Super Muscles didn't get his first ear infection until a month or so ago so I haven't really thought about it with him. SR also has a lot of ear wax that accumulates in his ears. I have noticed this and have talked to the ped about it but it was so bad today that the dr covering for our ped could not see one of his ear drums (we assume he has an ear infection in that ear too since he pulled his head back as soon as the dr touched his ear). So we have to keep an eye on that. Im going to ask the ped about it on the 8th when we go and see if his ears need to be irrigated (I have had this done in the past... I hated it but water hurts my ears very badly). Anyway, I guess I just wanted to share my frustration. Thankfully, we have a great ped, and I know he will make sure SR is taken care of.

Good news is, he should be feeling better in the next day or two and we may all return to sleeping okay again. Bad news is, refrigerated meds have to go on vacation with us. Good news is Daddy is 2 hrs from being home :) I miss him and look forward to him helping with the baby tonight.

Rolling over

Slobber Rocket has been rolling over for a long while now but we just only recently caught it on film. So for all the grandmas and uncles and basically family friends out there who haven't yet seen such feats of babyhood, here you are!

Spattering of pictures of small children for my momma

The Sweet Baby of the family...

Last but certainly not least in the introductions of my family members is my sweet baby boy. I think, for now, I am going to call him Slobber Rocket (SR) because that's what we call him when he gets all slobbery and a big tendril of slobber falls onto the floor or my hair... hmm. So Slobber Rocket is my 2nd son and a complete joy to our lives.

We planned this guy and wanted him very badly as opposed to being surprised that we were pregnant with Super Muscles. I found out before I even missed my period that I was pregnant (but I don't advise taking tests that early but I had *that* feeling) and from there on out I puked and puked and puked and puked some more for 16 weeks. I was convinced that he was a GIRL and at my 1st ultrasound they could not tell. No peep show for us. The tech thought he was a girl so I hung on to my fantasy until I had another ultrasound at 35 weeks and we saw very clearly that HE was definitely another BOY. I was not sad, I was immediately excited for SM to have a baby brother. And a true buddy to grow up with. Someone he could relate to and build a trusting strong relationship with.

So, SR was a bit more stubborn than his brother in his delivery. I was finally induced 11 days after my due date. I had a quick and fabulous drug free labor. Doula, Sarah, by our sides. Really it was not a bad 4 hrs as far as labors go I guess. We did have problems with SRs heart rate bottoming out. It wasn't too big of a deal until he was crowning though. His heart rate dropped to the low 60s. We tried the vacuum to get him out quicker but when his heart rate would not raise from the 60s, even between contractions... we knew we had to get him out FAST. So I was wheeled off for an emergency c-section. Put under and everything. Scary but worth it for my healthy, sweet 2nd son to be born safely. I didn't get to see him for 4 hours but I fell completely in love with him right away. He, too, snuggled right in and nursed and nursed (my kids like to eat, what can I say?).

So, Slobber Rocket is still pretty young. He is finally starting to give us glimpses of what his personality might be like. He seems more "verbal" than his brother was and smiles and laughs a lot more than Super Muscles did. Not quite as serious in nature. He is also very snugly. He loves to eat and he likes to be in the Mei tai. He is a decent sleeper. He does eat a lot at night but he goes right back to sleep. He is the worlds FASTEST nurser. He nurses to his belly's content in a matter of minutes. 5ish-10 (if he is being lazy). His fist is a delicacy these days and he loves to grab objects.

He gets super grins around his mommy, daddy and brother and he loves to flirt with the ladies. He is small like his bubby. Almost 4 mos old and still very squarely in 0-3 mos clothes. He does have big ole honkin' feet though. And he was born with incredibly short legs. They seem more in proportion now :) but they made me laugh for the first few days of his life.

I really can't wait to see what kind of person he turns into. I love seeing more of his personality revealed to us every day. I am thankful to God everyday that we got him out in time and that he is a healthy little boy. And I am blessed for all the lessons both of my sons have already taught me. I love them both so much and so does Mr. Wonderful.

So, that is my family. Next... I guess it is my turn.