Graham has a nurse that comes out to check up on him every 3 months or so. This is part of being discharged from the NICU, that way they can catch any potential issues before they become major issues. I think I am going to ask that we don't have to see her anymore. She comes out here with a chart and if Graham hasn't accomplished the tasks on her chart, she puts a big "F" next to that skill and says "Fail". First of all, Graham was 6 weeks early - you can't expect him to do things that a 9 month old would be doing when he's really only 7 1/2 months old (since preemies develop on track with when they would have been born instead of their actual birth date). Secondly, my son didn't FAIL to do anything. He just hasn't learned how to do it yet, but he will, in his own good time. You can't expect him to pick up a blanket to grab a toy underneath it when he hasn't learned how to use his pincer (finger/thumb) grip yet, for cryin' out loud!
That being said: Graham started crawling on Sunday! He looks so tiny and cute, crawling all around the house, chasing Gabriel and driving him insane! And the week before, he started being able to finger feed himself! That means that we can have cheerios now! yes! Another store-bought food that Graham is NOT allergic to! Its incredible! And, to top all this off, yesterday Troy went into the family room and turned around to me in the kitchen and asked "where is Graham?" I gave him a look like "that's not funny" and said "I just set him down, he's right there" when I came in the room, he was STANDING while holding onto one of the toys. It was too cute, and also too weird. He is way too tiny to be standing up!! Take THAT NICU nurse!
He had his 9 month check up today and here are the numbers: weight 17 lbs, height 26.75". That puts him in the 5th percentile so he's a tiny little guy, but he's healthy and proportional. It is a far cry from Gabriel, who at this age was pushing 26 pounds. We had already turned Gabriel's car seat to forward facing by now because he had outgrown it, and his legs were kicking the back of his seat. The rule is supposed to be 20 pounds AND 1 year of age before they can be forward-facing; we're wondering if Graham will even be 20 pounds by the time he's 1, or if he will have to wait. Maybe we can just put a bunch of clothes on him to pad the scales...
It is time for me to say good night, but not before I tell the latest, most hilarious stories of my kids:
Every night before he goes to bed, Gabriel cleans up his toys. He has the option of having a good attitude and doing it nicely with mommy's and daddy's help, or he can have a bad attitude and do it all by himself. Last night as he was cleaning up, he looks at me and says "mommy - these are Graham's toys. Gabriel didn't play with them. Not fair. Gabriel not pick up" I agreed- "You're right... Graham got those toys out, I will clean those up." How smart is he??
Today, we were playing nicely in the family room, Gabriel had his new train set out, and Graham was entertained by something silly, when he noticed the trains. Gabriel kept trying to keep his brother away from his train set and I heard what I am sure will be the theme to the rest of my life "that's mine! No Graham! Mommy! Graham touches my trains!" I intervened with "Gabriel, why dont' you move your trains into the playroom so Graham can't get them?" "OK" A few minutes later, I notice that Gabriel's relocation has not escaped his brother's attention. Off Graham goes into the playroom. I watch over the back of the couch to see what will happen. "Graham! No! That's mine! Here, you can play with a boat." I am so proud, Gabriel solved it all on his own! No screaming or anything! Ah. Life is good.
PS - dinner tonight was bbq chicken sandwiches from the crockpot, and I made the buns myself! Look out, Betty Crocker!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Is it over yet??
Wow. Let me just take a deep cleansing breath. As I bid farewell to 2008 and am bracing myself for 2009 - a year in which I will be the mother of a 1 year old AND a 3 year old and take our first BIG family vacation with just us and the boys - I am put in mind of our Sunday School lesson from this past week. We were asked three questions:
1. What are some of the blessings of 2008?
2. What was an unexpected blessing of 2008?
3. What is something from 2008 that you need to put behind you in order to prepare for 2009?
Here were my answers:
1. Too many to list, but I can try. My health, my children, Troy, Graham's birth, hospitals, nurses and doctors (we saw a lot of them this year), health insurance, family and friends, sales, our church family, playgroup, gas prices dropping, working from home...
2. Well, our biggest surprise this year was Graham's birth - not Graham himself, we knew he was coming in August of '07, but just the circumstances around his birth. It really seemed like nothing was going right, and I was getting so frustrated. Then one day, as I was scrubbing up to go into the NICU to see my baby, one of the nurses said "I am so sorry that he is here" and it just stopped me for a second. I know her thought was that she was sorry that we were experiencing all that we were, and that she wished that we were able to go home with a happy, healthy little guy, but I just looked at her and said "I'm not, the doctors are here, and he needs help. I'm glad he's able to get it." A realization that I made recently was that even 100 years ago, neither Gabriel nor I would have survived his birth - he was turned around and his cord was around his neck; and had it not been for the wonderful health care professionals in our country, Graham would not have survived long after his birth. I am thankful to be an American, to live in a place where of course they would take him to the NICU and be able to care for him until I could take him home. Where they would make accomodations for me to stay in the hospital until my baby could come home with me, and where the nurses cared so much for us that they genuinely were sad that they had to care for us because of our situation.
3. Is a bit personal, and I don't think I'll share it on here, but it is great food for thought. What have you been holding onto that you should let go of so that you can start your New Year on the right foot? Jealousy? Anger? Frustration? Past hurts? Control issues? I think I can say yes to all of those myself. In a very poignant moment, our Sunday School teacher had us write all these things down and nail them onto a huge cross in the middle of our Sunday School room. I don't have to worry about carrying all that nonsense around and being burdened by it any more. He did what I will never be able to do - get rid of those sins and make me a perfect child of God.
1. What are some of the blessings of 2008?
2. What was an unexpected blessing of 2008?
3. What is something from 2008 that you need to put behind you in order to prepare for 2009?
Here were my answers:
1. Too many to list, but I can try. My health, my children, Troy, Graham's birth, hospitals, nurses and doctors (we saw a lot of them this year), health insurance, family and friends, sales, our church family, playgroup, gas prices dropping, working from home...
2. Well, our biggest surprise this year was Graham's birth - not Graham himself, we knew he was coming in August of '07, but just the circumstances around his birth. It really seemed like nothing was going right, and I was getting so frustrated. Then one day, as I was scrubbing up to go into the NICU to see my baby, one of the nurses said "I am so sorry that he is here" and it just stopped me for a second. I know her thought was that she was sorry that we were experiencing all that we were, and that she wished that we were able to go home with a happy, healthy little guy, but I just looked at her and said "I'm not, the doctors are here, and he needs help. I'm glad he's able to get it." A realization that I made recently was that even 100 years ago, neither Gabriel nor I would have survived his birth - he was turned around and his cord was around his neck; and had it not been for the wonderful health care professionals in our country, Graham would not have survived long after his birth. I am thankful to be an American, to live in a place where of course they would take him to the NICU and be able to care for him until I could take him home. Where they would make accomodations for me to stay in the hospital until my baby could come home with me, and where the nurses cared so much for us that they genuinely were sad that they had to care for us because of our situation.
3. Is a bit personal, and I don't think I'll share it on here, but it is great food for thought. What have you been holding onto that you should let go of so that you can start your New Year on the right foot? Jealousy? Anger? Frustration? Past hurts? Control issues? I think I can say yes to all of those myself. In a very poignant moment, our Sunday School teacher had us write all these things down and nail them onto a huge cross in the middle of our Sunday School room. I don't have to worry about carrying all that nonsense around and being burdened by it any more. He did what I will never be able to do - get rid of those sins and make me a perfect child of God.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Random Chatter
I can't believe that it is December 20th already. Where has the year gone?? I am enjoying a few minutes to myself before I go and join Troy in an Xbox game of Gears of War 2 and kick some alien butt, and I am trying to think what all happened in the last 12 months. It is all just a blur! Graham was born, and then Gabriel turned 2 and then it seems like here we are in December! Ha ha, 'mom mind' - I can't think of anything but the kids! Okay, here is a genuine effort to talk about something else:
...
...
...
Just kidding! I can think of something, I swear... give me a minute...
OKAY! here it is: So, my TV broke down in August (so sad! as it was a 57" and you just don't run out and replace those!) so we have been without TV since then. It was in a repair shop, and after they told me that I was stupid, and then cussed Troy out on the phone AFTER having out TV in their shop for 3 months and not doing anything to it or ordering parts, we had it returned. Then it was picked up by someone else, who was able to fix it 2 weeks later. Just as they turned it on to check it before returning it to us, a picture tube blew. FYI there are 4 of these in the TV, and it was going to cost $400 to repair this one that broke. Then he told me, "um... Mrs. Coleman? I'm sorry to tell you but the other three are about to go, too..." Cha-ching! $1600 just for those tubes, on top of the $600 for the labor they already put into the thing... so $2200 to get our old TV back? No way. Troy and I said, almost unanimously, "keep it". We moved the old TV into the family room, hooked it up to the satellite and hello! We have channels! We had only been able to watch movies on this one before, but now that it is on the satellite, we can change channels! It is wonderful. We are supposed to be getting the house ready for my parents to arrive tomorrow afternoon for a visit, and here we are staring at this thing like we had never seen a 'moving picture' before. Troy and I just started laughing. I was thinking "ug! Look. Picture. Move. Big magic. Good." Gabriel wanted to go outside to play, which we did, but not before I said "No. Inside. Good. Outside. Bad!" Ha ha! So, the house is a mess, the kids are asleep (perfect time to pick up the house) and what are we doing? vegging out infront of the magic box in the family room. Too funny.
I did break that up with reading some today though - it has started to get a little more calm around the house now that Graham is able to play with Gabriel more and more. I had started reading The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan a few years ago, and am happy to say that in the past few months, I have finished the 3rd and started the 4th book! Yes! Only 9 more to go! (Can you believe there are 13 books in this series? And sadly, the author died shortly before completing the last book!) So, I have been caught up in the adventures of Rand, Perrin, Mat, Egwene, Elayne, Nynaeve, Lan, Moiraine, Aviendha, Gaul, Faile and the others. If you are into the fantasy novels, you should definitely check these out. But be careful. They're addictive! Troy wanted to name Graham (before we had picked out his real name) 'Rand', I agreed and for awhile, he was going to be Rand Allan Coleman. He was also pushing for the name Joiya for a girl, but now that I know that she is one of the 'bad guys' I don't think that will ever happen.
I am trying to get together our Christmas newsletter - can you believe that Christmas is only 4 days away and I still have some newsletters to send out? Talk about being behind the ball! I had to go out today to ship off a Christmas gift, too! It was funny, I also bought a book of stamps, and the girl asked me "do you want nutcrackers or Madonna and Child?" My first thought was "why on earth would I want Madonna on my Christmas stamps? That's just weird!"
Well, I think I have relaxed sufficiently for now, and so off I go to defend earth as Dom, a Gear who is looking for his wife Maria, which the Locust (aliens) have abducted along with hundreds of others. But there is something more sinister behind these simple abductions... and I am about to uncover their evil plot...
...
...
...
Just kidding! I can think of something, I swear... give me a minute...
OKAY! here it is: So, my TV broke down in August (so sad! as it was a 57" and you just don't run out and replace those!) so we have been without TV since then. It was in a repair shop, and after they told me that I was stupid, and then cussed Troy out on the phone AFTER having out TV in their shop for 3 months and not doing anything to it or ordering parts, we had it returned. Then it was picked up by someone else, who was able to fix it 2 weeks later. Just as they turned it on to check it before returning it to us, a picture tube blew. FYI there are 4 of these in the TV, and it was going to cost $400 to repair this one that broke. Then he told me, "um... Mrs. Coleman? I'm sorry to tell you but the other three are about to go, too..." Cha-ching! $1600 just for those tubes, on top of the $600 for the labor they already put into the thing... so $2200 to get our old TV back? No way. Troy and I said, almost unanimously, "keep it". We moved the old TV into the family room, hooked it up to the satellite and hello! We have channels! We had only been able to watch movies on this one before, but now that it is on the satellite, we can change channels! It is wonderful. We are supposed to be getting the house ready for my parents to arrive tomorrow afternoon for a visit, and here we are staring at this thing like we had never seen a 'moving picture' before. Troy and I just started laughing. I was thinking "ug! Look. Picture. Move. Big magic. Good." Gabriel wanted to go outside to play, which we did, but not before I said "No. Inside. Good. Outside. Bad!" Ha ha! So, the house is a mess, the kids are asleep (perfect time to pick up the house) and what are we doing? vegging out infront of the magic box in the family room. Too funny.
I did break that up with reading some today though - it has started to get a little more calm around the house now that Graham is able to play with Gabriel more and more. I had started reading The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan a few years ago, and am happy to say that in the past few months, I have finished the 3rd and started the 4th book! Yes! Only 9 more to go! (Can you believe there are 13 books in this series? And sadly, the author died shortly before completing the last book!) So, I have been caught up in the adventures of Rand, Perrin, Mat, Egwene, Elayne, Nynaeve, Lan, Moiraine, Aviendha, Gaul, Faile and the others. If you are into the fantasy novels, you should definitely check these out. But be careful. They're addictive! Troy wanted to name Graham (before we had picked out his real name) 'Rand', I agreed and for awhile, he was going to be Rand Allan Coleman. He was also pushing for the name Joiya for a girl, but now that I know that she is one of the 'bad guys' I don't think that will ever happen.
I am trying to get together our Christmas newsletter - can you believe that Christmas is only 4 days away and I still have some newsletters to send out? Talk about being behind the ball! I had to go out today to ship off a Christmas gift, too! It was funny, I also bought a book of stamps, and the girl asked me "do you want nutcrackers or Madonna and Child?" My first thought was "why on earth would I want Madonna on my Christmas stamps? That's just weird!"
Well, I think I have relaxed sufficiently for now, and so off I go to defend earth as Dom, a Gear who is looking for his wife Maria, which the Locust (aliens) have abducted along with hundreds of others. But there is something more sinister behind these simple abductions... and I am about to uncover their evil plot...
Thanksgiving Revisited
It was great! we had so much fun! There were horses and llamas to feed carrots to, a lake with ducks, it snowed on Thanksgiving day just as we were sitting down for lunch - you couldn't have asked for a more perfect vacation! The boys were great on the trip there and back - I never had to go sit in the back seat even! They were perfectly content to play back there by themselves, in fact, we didn't even turn the DVD player on until we were about an hour away from Tucson on the way home! It was amazing, and has completely given me hope that our family vacation to San Diego in the spring will go smoothly! We are planning on being out there for a few days and hitting the zoo, the beach and Sea World. Although - I can't decide between Sea World and the Aquarium. Tough call, but I have some time to think about it, I guess.
HOLD THE PHONE!!
He did it! Gabriel finally said "mommy"! I have been waiting 2 years (and change) to hear that word, and it finally happened! And it was a legitimate "mommy", not our rendition of the word, where Troy and I have to act as interpreters or anything, it was there! For those of you not up on this little quirk in our lives, Gabriel has never said the 'm' sound. It was always a 'b'. The cow says 'boo', and can he have 'bore' 'bilk' please? 'Bo?' Ok. It was cute, and endearing and all that, but I was tired of it! I wanted to hear my son call me mommy more than anything in the world. It happened as we were rushing to Target for yet another thing we forgot before heading to the White Mountains for Thanksgiving. I had Graham in the cart, and Gabriel and Troy were walking a ways behind me when I hear "mommy! Wait!" I kept going, because I didn't hear "bobby! wait!" which is what I am used to. Then it registered - that was Gabriel's voice! No way! So, being the naturally trusting and caring mother that I am, I ignored him to see if he would do it again! And he did. I will be honest - I started crying right there in Target. People were looking at me like I was insane (probably the same look on your face as you're reading this?) but it doesn't matter. My son said my name, and it was awesome!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Practice Thanksgiving
Our church had an early Thanksgiving Dinner together last night. It was a lot of fun - probably around 150 people showed up. We figured this would be a good dry-run to see how the boys tolerated the feast. Graham has been grumpy all day long, so it would appear that even the tiny bit of dairy that I had (a spoonful of mashed potatoes, stuffing and roll) was too much. Good information to have before we head off for the mountains - far away from any of Graham's varied specialists. Gabriel only ate a roll. He took bites and sniffs of everything else, but bread is his big deal right now. Oh, and a brownie. Figures. He is the anti-Atkin's kid. But, hey, its Thanksgiving, I don't care what he eats, so long as he is having fun.
I probably won't be able to post too much in the next few days. We're leaving Wednesday morning for the White Mountains in a Coleman Caravan (an Expedition and 2 minivans) and won't be coming back to Tucson until Sunday morning. Hopefully everything goes smoothly- we've never taken both boys on a road trip before - this is going to be interesting. We're staying on a ranch with Troy's family, and *gasp* they don't have Wi-Fi! How will we function without the magic of the internet? Luckily, we're bringing our portable DVD player, so Gabriel will still be able to watch Thomas the Tank Engine. We're not totally techno-addicted, although my mom thinks that I have been in the city for far too long. I told her about the wagon we're getting the boys for Christmas. It has an awning (essential in Arizona, if I may say), seatbelts and cupholders. She thinks I have gone completely yuppy.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I probably won't be able to post too much in the next few days. We're leaving Wednesday morning for the White Mountains in a Coleman Caravan (an Expedition and 2 minivans) and won't be coming back to Tucson until Sunday morning. Hopefully everything goes smoothly- we've never taken both boys on a road trip before - this is going to be interesting. We're staying on a ranch with Troy's family, and *gasp* they don't have Wi-Fi! How will we function without the magic of the internet? Luckily, we're bringing our portable DVD player, so Gabriel will still be able to watch Thomas the Tank Engine. We're not totally techno-addicted, although my mom thinks that I have been in the city for far too long. I told her about the wagon we're getting the boys for Christmas. It has an awning (essential in Arizona, if I may say), seatbelts and cupholders. She thinks I have gone completely yuppy.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Why Boys Are Cool (cont.)
11. Spitting is a sport, and can be done secretively after mom has specifically said "no spitting"
12. They tell it like it is - "Abby-dog, P U! You stink!"
13. They like to make faces for everything.
14. Anything can 'roll' when the proper amount of force is applied.
15. They don't let girls push them around (at least, mine don't!)
16. Gallantry starts early - Gabriel opens the door and tells me how pretty I look already!
17. Again, they tell it like it is - this bears repeating, simply because in the car the other day, Gabriel said "Mommy, stop talking!"
12. They tell it like it is - "Abby-dog, P U! You stink!"
13. They like to make faces for everything.
14. Anything can 'roll' when the proper amount of force is applied.
15. They don't let girls push them around (at least, mine don't!)
16. Gallantry starts early - Gabriel opens the door and tells me how pretty I look already!
17. Again, they tell it like it is - this bears repeating, simply because in the car the other day, Gabriel said "Mommy, stop talking!"
Friday, November 21, 2008
Firsts
Okay, I have been remiss in informing everyone on all kinds of things that are going on. So here we go:
Graham rolled over - October 1st, 2008
Graham said "dada" - October 7, 2008
Graham's first tooth - October 9, 2008
Gabriel said "mommy" - October 8, 2008
Gabriel's first dentist appointment - October 27, 2008
Graham first fed himself - October 15, 2008
These are some 'second firsts' for me - this hasn't happened since I was in middle school!
Jessi bought a pair of size 8 jeans - October 15, 2008
Jessi has to return them to get a size 6 - October 22, 2008!!!
More wonderful news - Gabriel had an allergy test done on Monday (that was a horrible experience, I don't want to talk about) where they tested him for indoor and food allergies. Since everything came back negative, they think that he has something called 'cough variant asthma' (this isn't the wonderful news part) which would explain why he seems to constantly have a cold or cough. Apparently in this kind of asthma, he wouldn't have an asthma attack, he gets a cough or cold-like symptoms. So, he is now on Singulair, and we are hoping that he starts to get better soon. The wonderful part was that he seems to have inherited NONE of the family food allergies! The concern there was a nut allergy (from me) so he was not going to be allowed to have peanut butter or other nut products until he was 4. To celebrate, Troy bought some Nutter Butter cookies to share with him, and a few days later, Gabriel and I shared an apple with peanut butter. He loves it!
We are ecstatic around here!
Graham rolled over - October 1st, 2008
Graham said "dada" - October 7, 2008
Graham's first tooth - October 9, 2008
Gabriel said "mommy" - October 8, 2008
Gabriel's first dentist appointment - October 27, 2008
Graham first fed himself - October 15, 2008
These are some 'second firsts' for me - this hasn't happened since I was in middle school!
Jessi bought a pair of size 8 jeans - October 15, 2008
Jessi has to return them to get a size 6 - October 22, 2008!!!
More wonderful news - Gabriel had an allergy test done on Monday (that was a horrible experience, I don't want to talk about) where they tested him for indoor and food allergies. Since everything came back negative, they think that he has something called 'cough variant asthma' (this isn't the wonderful news part) which would explain why he seems to constantly have a cold or cough. Apparently in this kind of asthma, he wouldn't have an asthma attack, he gets a cough or cold-like symptoms. So, he is now on Singulair, and we are hoping that he starts to get better soon. The wonderful part was that he seems to have inherited NONE of the family food allergies! The concern there was a nut allergy (from me) so he was not going to be allowed to have peanut butter or other nut products until he was 4. To celebrate, Troy bought some Nutter Butter cookies to share with him, and a few days later, Gabriel and I shared an apple with peanut butter. He loves it!
We are ecstatic around here!
Spontaneity Lives!
Drudge drudge drudge... dishes... laundry... housework... wiping noses... find the missing puzzle piece... not the blue cup - the orange one!... REPEAT
Is that what life has come down to? Sometimes it definitely feels like it. Of course, since its my life, you have to throw in the emergency room visits with sick babies; special-order meals with no dairy/soy (for me), no veggies for the most part (for Troy), no meat (for Gabriel - he's on a very random red meat strike...) and no dairy, soy or rice flour (for Graham); TV problems and car problems and that's it.
Well not the other day! I was wonderfully surprised when Troy came in the room and said "babe, do you want to go take a shower?" Wait. 'Wonderfully surprised'? How bad did I look? I know there were probably banana handprints on my shirt, and who-knows-what in my hair, but geez! I just kind of blinked and looked at him. After a pause he says "I thought we would go out tonight. To the Melting Pot." YES! The BEST night-out you could ask for! No kids; the restaurant is on the other side of town, at LEAST 45 minutes away from our side of town; low-lighting; fondue! What could be better? Excitedly I ran into the bathroom, showered, did my hair and makeup - that would be twice in one month for me on that - has to be a record! Packed up the kids and took them to grandma's and grandpa's house. As we are headed to restaurant, I realized, 'wait! I can't have cheese, or chocolate, or bread... and no soybean oil... what am I going to eat??!' After silently stressing about it, I finally asked Troy, who admitted that it had completely slipped his mind, too. We discussed changing plans, and I just wanted to die. This is a huge deal for us - the restaurant is so expensive, but we were on our way! How awful would I feel if we couldn't go, just because of me?? The solution: a little bit won't hurt him! And off we go! Happily, it didn't affect Graham at all. He was a little bit grumpy, but we are chalking that up to the fact that his first tooth came in the next day.
We had a great time - and I enjoyed everything. But I did learn one important lesson. When you have gone six months with a strict, no-dairy diet, and then you suddenly throw a cheese fondue course in... it will turn your stomach! We have discovered that I can handle cheese cooked into something (or sprinkled on something, like chili or tacos) but not by itself. Interesting turn of events from my usual, 'I think I'll have a cracker with my cheese' way of life.
Is that what life has come down to? Sometimes it definitely feels like it. Of course, since its my life, you have to throw in the emergency room visits with sick babies; special-order meals with no dairy/soy (for me), no veggies for the most part (for Troy), no meat (for Gabriel - he's on a very random red meat strike...) and no dairy, soy or rice flour (for Graham); TV problems and car problems and that's it.
Well not the other day! I was wonderfully surprised when Troy came in the room and said "babe, do you want to go take a shower?" Wait. 'Wonderfully surprised'? How bad did I look? I know there were probably banana handprints on my shirt, and who-knows-what in my hair, but geez! I just kind of blinked and looked at him. After a pause he says "I thought we would go out tonight. To the Melting Pot." YES! The BEST night-out you could ask for! No kids; the restaurant is on the other side of town, at LEAST 45 minutes away from our side of town; low-lighting; fondue! What could be better? Excitedly I ran into the bathroom, showered, did my hair and makeup - that would be twice in one month for me on that - has to be a record! Packed up the kids and took them to grandma's and grandpa's house. As we are headed to restaurant, I realized, 'wait! I can't have cheese, or chocolate, or bread... and no soybean oil... what am I going to eat??!' After silently stressing about it, I finally asked Troy, who admitted that it had completely slipped his mind, too. We discussed changing plans, and I just wanted to die. This is a huge deal for us - the restaurant is so expensive, but we were on our way! How awful would I feel if we couldn't go, just because of me?? The solution: a little bit won't hurt him! And off we go! Happily, it didn't affect Graham at all. He was a little bit grumpy, but we are chalking that up to the fact that his first tooth came in the next day.
We had a great time - and I enjoyed everything. But I did learn one important lesson. When you have gone six months with a strict, no-dairy diet, and then you suddenly throw a cheese fondue course in... it will turn your stomach! We have discovered that I can handle cheese cooked into something (or sprinkled on something, like chili or tacos) but not by itself. Interesting turn of events from my usual, 'I think I'll have a cracker with my cheese' way of life.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The Helpful Brother
Have I said how much I love my boys lately? If not, let me say it now: I LOVE MY BOYS! They are amazing, and I am so blessed to be their mommy!
Gabriel has moved from being the jealous/possessive toddler to being 'the helpful brother'. Thus the name of this post.
There are several stories I could tell you about Gabriel and Graham, this is one of my favorites:
Graham and I were doing 'tummy time' on the floor in his room when Gabriel came in from playing with his cars. "Come on, Greb (the closest spelling to how he says 'Graham') "let's play 'gets you' (tag)" and off he goes. A minute of silence, punctuated by Graham's grunts as he kicks on the floor, and then Gabriel returns, exasperated. "Greb... come on. Play gets you with Gabriel." Off again, only to return. "GREB!" (this is the point where I intervened.) "Gabriel, Graham is too small to play gets you - he can't walk, he's trying to crawl." "Oh, Ok. Here Greb - Gabriel shows you how." Gabriel gets down on all fours and crawls a step or two. "OK, now let's go, Greb!" and he goes crawling out the room.
Another time: Graham is playing with one of those baby pianos on the floor. Gabriel wanted to play with it, and I told him that was fine, but they had to play together and share the piano. After a few minutes, I heard the random plunkings that can only be Graham's compositions turn into something more planned and intentional - signalling that Graham was no longer in control of the piano. When I came into the room Gabriel had turned the piano around so that the keys were facing him, and Graham had to be satisfied with the boring back of the piano. "Gabriel..." I started, when he interrupted with "I'm just showing him how it works. See, Greb?" Plunk, plunk plunk.
The cutest has to be when Gabriel reads to Graham, though. Graham has a book called "Baby Plays Pat-Pat" where it has pictures of different things, and encourages the baby to 'pat-pat the penguin' etc. After the first time reading it to both of the boys, Gabriel grabs the book and reads it again like this: "oooh! What do we see? We see a swan! Pat-pat the swan! Good job, Greb! Oooh! what do we see? We see a snowman! Pat-pat the snowman!" Now Gabriel has taken to reading all of his books to his brother. I've included pictures of them doing this to the slideshow.
Enjoy!
Gabriel has moved from being the jealous/possessive toddler to being 'the helpful brother'. Thus the name of this post.
There are several stories I could tell you about Gabriel and Graham, this is one of my favorites:
Graham and I were doing 'tummy time' on the floor in his room when Gabriel came in from playing with his cars. "Come on, Greb (the closest spelling to how he says 'Graham') "let's play 'gets you' (tag)" and off he goes. A minute of silence, punctuated by Graham's grunts as he kicks on the floor, and then Gabriel returns, exasperated. "Greb... come on. Play gets you with Gabriel." Off again, only to return. "GREB!" (this is the point where I intervened.) "Gabriel, Graham is too small to play gets you - he can't walk, he's trying to crawl." "Oh, Ok. Here Greb - Gabriel shows you how." Gabriel gets down on all fours and crawls a step or two. "OK, now let's go, Greb!" and he goes crawling out the room.
Another time: Graham is playing with one of those baby pianos on the floor. Gabriel wanted to play with it, and I told him that was fine, but they had to play together and share the piano. After a few minutes, I heard the random plunkings that can only be Graham's compositions turn into something more planned and intentional - signalling that Graham was no longer in control of the piano. When I came into the room Gabriel had turned the piano around so that the keys were facing him, and Graham had to be satisfied with the boring back of the piano. "Gabriel..." I started, when he interrupted with "I'm just showing him how it works. See, Greb?" Plunk, plunk plunk.
The cutest has to be when Gabriel reads to Graham, though. Graham has a book called "Baby Plays Pat-Pat" where it has pictures of different things, and encourages the baby to 'pat-pat the penguin' etc. After the first time reading it to both of the boys, Gabriel grabs the book and reads it again like this: "oooh! What do we see? We see a swan! Pat-pat the swan! Good job, Greb! Oooh! what do we see? We see a snowman! Pat-pat the snowman!" Now Gabriel has taken to reading all of his books to his brother. I've included pictures of them doing this to the slideshow.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Sounds of the Sea Shore
You always hear that babies who listen to Mozart or Beethoven are going to be geniuses. I agree that there is a lot gained by listening to the classical composers, and have to say that when I was little, my mom would tune my radio to the classical station, and I would just soak up that music. I still love it! But, Gabriel has a very complex personality, and he would get bored listneing to that all the time. After trying several lullaby/night time CDs for him to listen to, he finally settled on a CD that is music mixed with sounds of whales, waves, ducks, etc. He loves this CD - in fact, it takes him forever to fall asleep if it is not turned on. Graham - in true form - is very mellow. He doesn't care if there is music on or not, or what is playing. You can plunk him down in his crib and he might fuss for about 20 seconds, and then he is out. So this is what I am listening to right now - Gabriel's whale CD coming through the monitor, mixed with some snores from Gabriel and some stuffy nose sounds from Graham. Right now, I think this is what heaven must be like! A completely messy house, weird whale music blaring through a tinny-sounding baby monitor, mixing with the satisfied snores and snuffles of two precious little boys who have completely exhausted themselves playing all morning.
There is an hilarious story that goes along with Gabriel's CD, though - that I hope you enjoy. One night, my friend Ellen babysat Gabriel for Troy and I, after Gabriel had gone to bed. When we got home, Gabriel was up, watching TV with Ellen. After I put him back in his bed, I asked what happened, and Ellen told me this: she was watching a movie, when she kept hearing these weird sounds - that sounded kind of like someone being sick and groaning. Concerned (thankfully!) she got up and ran into Gabriel's room. But as soon as she got there, the sound stopped, so she went back to her movie. After a few more times of this, Gabriel finally just woke up and Ellen couldn't get him back to sleep. She explained to me that he hadn't been making any weird noises since then, so she wasn't worried. Then she heard it again coming in on the monitor. Troy and I started laughing. I apologized to Ellen and said "That isn't Gabriel, that is a humpback whale sounding". Poor Ellen, I should have warned her about the whales!
There is an hilarious story that goes along with Gabriel's CD, though - that I hope you enjoy. One night, my friend Ellen babysat Gabriel for Troy and I, after Gabriel had gone to bed. When we got home, Gabriel was up, watching TV with Ellen. After I put him back in his bed, I asked what happened, and Ellen told me this: she was watching a movie, when she kept hearing these weird sounds - that sounded kind of like someone being sick and groaning. Concerned (thankfully!) she got up and ran into Gabriel's room. But as soon as she got there, the sound stopped, so she went back to her movie. After a few more times of this, Gabriel finally just woke up and Ellen couldn't get him back to sleep. She explained to me that he hadn't been making any weird noises since then, so she wasn't worried. Then she heard it again coming in on the monitor. Troy and I started laughing. I apologized to Ellen and said "That isn't Gabriel, that is a humpback whale sounding". Poor Ellen, I should have warned her about the whales!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Why I LOVE Having 2 Boys (pt. 1)
I frequently get comments about the fact that I am the mother of boys. Sometimes they are positive (or at least neutral) comments, but frequently they are negative. I have never understood this! You'll hear things like "oh, you've got two BOYS" and then people look at me with something akin to both disgust and pity at the same time. I feel like shouting at the top of my lungs "YES! I have two boys!"
Before my kids were born, I thought I wanted a boy and a girl. One of each, and that way all of my child-rearing desires would be fulfilled. I would have a little girl that I could dress up, and she would have an older brother who was into sports and would look after her. While I think that parents are happy with whatever gender they have in their children, let me just take a minute to list some of the great things about boys.
1. Mom is the only girl that is not 'gross'.
2. Even a balloon is a weapon, when used properly.
3. Think the dog is safe when she's asleep? Think again!
4. Camo pants look too cool on 2 boys!
5. I get to rough-house with them
6. ... and then tell them they have to be gentle with me - I'm a girl!
7. Nobody is cooler than their (big or little) brother
8. They're very honest and tell you things like "I've got boogers"
9. ... then hand them to you
10. They make the best sound effects*
* It is a well-known fact that girls cannot make good sound effects. I thought this was a learned trait, but I want to put that theory to rest. Gabriel started making sound effects at about 7 months old. His cars said 'vroom' when he would roll them. And as he matures, so do the sound effects!
As time passes, I will add more and more reasons why boys rule, but that is my list for now.
Before my kids were born, I thought I wanted a boy and a girl. One of each, and that way all of my child-rearing desires would be fulfilled. I would have a little girl that I could dress up, and she would have an older brother who was into sports and would look after her. While I think that parents are happy with whatever gender they have in their children, let me just take a minute to list some of the great things about boys.
1. Mom is the only girl that is not 'gross'.
2. Even a balloon is a weapon, when used properly.
3. Think the dog is safe when she's asleep? Think again!
4. Camo pants look too cool on 2 boys!
5. I get to rough-house with them
6. ... and then tell them they have to be gentle with me - I'm a girl!
7. Nobody is cooler than their (big or little) brother
8. They're very honest and tell you things like "I've got boogers"
9. ... then hand them to you
10. They make the best sound effects*
* It is a well-known fact that girls cannot make good sound effects. I thought this was a learned trait, but I want to put that theory to rest. Gabriel started making sound effects at about 7 months old. His cars said 'vroom' when he would roll them. And as he matures, so do the sound effects!
As time passes, I will add more and more reasons why boys rule, but that is my list for now.
1st and 3rd Halloween
This Friday was Graham's First Halloween, and Gabriel's Third. That still blows my mind. Both of them are growing too fast for me... Gabriel is 2 - where did the time go?? i think that with expecting Graham and being so caught up in all of his medical difficulties, I have really pushed all of Gabriel's accomplisments to the back burner. I have to be honest that I suffer with terrible guilt over this. He is amazing, and I never want him to think that he isn't. The things that he can do, and the concepts that he is able to grasp and then communicate to us are overwhelming. Our bedtime routine for him has been - brush teeth, go potty, put on lotion, put on jammies, a story, a song, and go to sleep. A few weeks ago this stopped working. He just kept getting out of bed, and would get so upset when we put him back in. Finally one night, I just sat back and looked at him and said "son, what do you want?". He gave me a look that I will never forget. He blinked and said "more love". All he wanted was for us to cuddle him a little bit more before bedtime (which have done since that night) and he lays down and goes right to sleep. I would just get caught up in hearing his brother crying, and knowing that he was ready to go to sleep to, and I was anxious to reach my goal of both kids being in bed for the night - that I forgot that Gabriel is two, and he just wants more love. My husband and I talked about this yesterday and have decided to make a concentrated effort to spend more time with Gabriel - not just sitting around time, or 'paralell' time - but actual, energetic, 'excited-to-be-with-you' time. That said, I'm going to go play cars - eventhough I know that means I'm going to get the car with three wheels, and the dent in the door - I am excited to go!
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