Swelling

We are currently in a state of craziness. I feel like I need to find a place for the dry erase board so I can keep track of Nate's medicines...What you say? Why is Nate on medicines (plural!) Yesterday I noticed his hand was red and swollen. He didn't seem much bothered by it, so I called my Mom (it was after 5) sadly she was at Happy Hour with her friends and didn't hear her cell. (HI MOM!) Have I mentioned we don't have Dr's here yet? And, we are currently on Cobra from Eric's old job, so I don't really know what his plan will be for the new job, and didn't want to hassle with getting a Dr to find the new plan doesn't like that Dr! So, I have procrastinated, so unlike me. LOL! ;)
Oh yes, back the swollen hand. Of course, I don't know why the hand is swelling, I assume it is from a bug bite, but I notice a brown spot in the hand so I call a Dr's office here, but not thinking I tell her we are not a patient so she told me I had to do some stuff before I they can give me advice. I then called the nurse from the old practice, who tells me basically not to worry about it, if after 4 days he is still swollen, then he needs to be seen. I do nothing, since well, that is the kind of Mom I am, its time for dinner, Eric isn't home yet. So we start eating dinner.
Eric gets home, we talk about the hand, he wants to start giving meds, its not bothering Nate in the least and it doesn't appear to be swelling anymore, I think its best not to overreact and not give drugs when they are not needed. But, I decided to appease Eric and ask the opinion of the Mom of 6 kids across the street...(her husband is a radiologist and I think he thought I wanted his opinion, but I really wanted hers, how can he help me!? He's not a pediatrician!) The neighbor and husband think not to worry, but maybe give tylenol to see if that helps any, and they send me home with some. So we give Nate some Tylenol and put him to bed.
Today, we get up and the hand appears to have swollen a little more, but that brown spot on his hand, really his wrist, seems to be bigger and now I notice that it is bumpy and has a little drop of clear liquid on that area, oh and it is hard to the touch. This is when I think he needs to be seen, so I call our nurse from our insurance. After about 30 min of questioning she thinks he needs to be seen, she recommends urgent care. I decide to go through the rigmarole of the getting a patient ID and seeing the peditrician I have heard about. (Urgent care with 2 children 1 coming up on naptime, no thank you!) The Dr's office has an appt available before naptime and in 30min, so we rush over there and get him seen. The office was nice, the people where nice and I liked that the floors in the exam room where linoleum instead of carpet! The Dr suspects it is a bug bite, but he is having an allergic reaction and that it is possibly infected. She wants me to keep a careful eye on it because an infection in someone so young can move pretty quickly. If it looks worse tomorrow he has to be seen and if it doesn't start looking better by Friday he has to be seen. Blech! Sadly, he has to be on antibiotics 4/day and benadryl every 6hrs. Talk about figuring out a schedule. The antibiotics are every 4 hrs and benadryl every 6! Fortunately I don't have to wake him up for either.
Did I mention he also got in a bottom molar, and the hand he chews on for that is the swollen hand. Plus when we got home from dr's office picking up meds, Gwen kindly hit him with the car door so now his head also has a swollen bump! Lovely! I know how to party. Also, the meds say can cause headache or dizziness how am I supposed to figure that out? Hopefully he doesn't have any adverse reactions, I think this is the first time either of my kids has had antibiotics. Oh and the little man is up to 23.5lbs! Almost 1lb from his 12 month, although they weigh the kids fully clothed. And the hand swelling has not appeared to affect him adversely, read: he is still getting into everything!

Things around here are starting to get into a routine. I don't know if it is good or bad, but it is a routine nonetheless. We have most of the boxes taken care of, although there are somethings I am missing, that I would like to find, but they aren't emergencies. The house isn't too bad and we love having the yard. Gwen seems to not want to leave the house, which is strange, she used to always want to go places. We have been watching Sesame Street, but we have run out of taped episodes (we are not getting cable and haven't purchased an antenna yet.) The other day we met some Moms at a local museum that has free entrance for Durham residents during certain times. It was packed, but we all really enjoyed it, I think we will go back on the free days, there was a lot to see that we missed! The funny thing was Nate attached himself to a little girl who was not much younger then him (a month) and kept trying to kiss her. Seriously, so funny, that boy, trouble! The Mom and I just laughed, the little girl likes her own personal space, I have heard her freak out when other kids are too close, so she must like Nate ok. I didn't get a chance to take any pictures.
In other news, I have some weight to lose, no surprise there...we all know I didn't lose the weight after Gwen and I have 5 lbs to lose from Nate. My problem is that the normal "easy" fixes that people talk about, I already do. I don't drink sodas, I exercise, I hardly sit down during the day, but I do probably eat more than I should. It is the quantity of food that I eat is probably the problem. Plus, Gwen wants to eat CONSTANTLY, I am not kidding, it seems like at least every hour she is trying to get me to feed her. Any time I try to eat a piece of fruit it gets confiscated by a kid. So my fruit/vegetable count is hard to judge.
Both kids took naps yesterday afternoon, it was lovely, not just because they napped, but because I think they really needed it and are now more caught up, so there has been less whining and crankiness. YAY! I have given up and making Nate do 1 nap, we will just suffer through the 2 nap thing until he is ready to give it up one of his naps on his own. I just have to be more vigilant about the schedule. Oh, I have forgotten to mention, Nate has been getting in his molars. Sadly, I did not notice, all the moving I thought he was being cranky because of that, oops! Mother of the year, right here. ;) I know, we have had a lot going on. So, he has his top 2 molars completely in, his bottom 2 we are still waiting on. I hope when the finish coming in he will start eating a variety of foods again!

Happy Birthday, NATE!

Well, we knew it would happen, Nate would eventually turn 1! And that he did. I think that turning a year old is a momentous occasion, not always for the kid, but for the parent, it is hard work getting through the first year, there are huge milestones and things to deal with, where you are convinced that you will never make it through, but we did, and we went from this... too this: Here's a picture of him first thing this morning...look already happy! Excited to start the day. He is definitely the happiest baby that I have ever birthed...I know you think that is not saying much, but seriously, it is one thing that almost everyone comments on, how happy he is.
So how has Nate changed in the last year. Well, he's walking! And man you better watch out because when he makes up his mind to get you, well he is going to get you. Although it is quite funny, because I don't think his steering is up to par yet, I took a video of him today (that i will hopefully download tomorrow) that shows that he wanted to come to me, but just kind of turned and didn't know what to do!

I have learned that I can't just put him down now, I have to put him down near the toys, so he can have something in his hand to walk with, he doesn't like to be toyless.

Nate "talks" also. He jibbers and jabbers and cares on. He says "hi" alot. He really likes it when people say it back. He is doing some signing also. He really seems to like it when you try to talk to him or communicate with him and he does know what you are saying. I have had to start telling him no and he will now walk away...it only took 1-2 days of positive reinforcement and much cheering!

You might be able to tell he now has 8 teeth, 4 top, 4 bottom. He LOVES to eat, and I am pretty sure he would eat all day. He is getting a little fussier about it, but he never really complains and he still prefers to eat himself, at this point I don't think he has any allergies. I also started him on a sippy cup of water. He is still nursing, several times a day. I am not convinced he is actually wants to nurse, I think he enjoys the quiet time with me, he often chats with me instead of eats.

I know, this is not of Nate, but I was trying to get a picture of all of us, and well, I am not so good with the self portrait.

Nate is sleeping pretty well, but our schedule is crazy right now with all these showings. He is sleeping from about 7p (ish) to 3:30 nursing and then waking up for the day between 6:30-7:30. Although I have been so busy with the moving stuff, I think I often sleep through when he actually wakes up because he just chats to himself when he wakes up (see previous paragraph on happy baby!...I mean toddler!) He naps 1-2 times a day depending on how often I can get them in.

He is in this very generous phase where he wants to feed me what he is eating. I remember the books talking about that, it is a sign of something I don't remember. I am more than willing to let him feed my because I think it is so sweet. Although really I wouldn't mind if he had a little less food in his mouth. Sometimes he does tease me and eat it himself, he gets a big kick out of that.

Nate adores his sister. I think he knows how to push her buttons and although I am not encouraging it, I definitely think it is something that he should do to her, because well frankly she has been taken advantage of by her for a while. He loves chasing after her and squeals with delight. I know the fighting phase will start soon, but I am definitely enjoying the adoration phase.

Now onto the cake slideshow. As expected Nate enjoyed the cake, dug right in, no questions asked. Several of my pictures wouldn't upload correctly, I don't know why. Also, I think the godfather got some good pictures. One day I will hopefully hit him up for those pictures.

update, bullet style

There is a lot going on, a lot I would like to document, but I don't have much time these days. Also missing the cord for the camera, so there won't be any pictures for a while!

• Nate took 5 steps today! He has been taking steps for a while, but that is the first time he tried to do more than one and maybe was conscious of what he was doing. There was much cheering and celebrating!
  
• We are cleaning out and packing. What we didn't realize is that we haven't emptied the file cabinet in months, we have a stack of papers to toss that I can not believe! Seriously, do I still need my utility bills from CA? I think not!
• We are doing the community yard sale, this is the first time we have done a yard sale and are selling stuff at rock bottom prices, ok maybe not, but we are selling stuff that doesn't fit into the next house.
• Nate is not yet sleeping through the night, but he will put himself back to sleep if something disturbs his slumber...which means if I hear him in the middle of the night I don't have to get him right away, he will put himself back to sleep. He has been sleeping to 5/6am. Nursing and then going back to sleep.
• Nate LOVES corn...and corn on the cob, you would think it is the greatest thing he has ever seen! He gets so excited and eats it all up...Gwen on the other hand, tasted the corn on the cob, still doesn't really like it, but she tried it, with no prompting, actually asked for it! YAY!
• I do not love the house that we have put an offer on, but there are several things I am excited about:

1. Although the house is smaller it is on one floor, this excites me because less space to clean, but means that when a child is crying in their room, I will be able to hear it.
2. Although I don't like that the front door is on the side and so therefore a side door, I will likely be able to open it during the day and still have privacy but be able to have a breeze.
3. The washer and dryer will be more accessible during the day...it is nice that laundry is upstairs by the bedrooms, it is a pain to get to during the day with the kids around...someone little man tries to eat the edge of the washer (it is a front loader) and will NOT be distracted from his target!
4. A YARD! small that it is, it is our own space

• We have a lot of packing to do. I have almost finished the kitchen of non-essentials, things we can live without for a while...I hope no one visits that wants coffee!
• Gwen is starting to remember her letters and recognize them, if she thinks there is a reward involved.
• I love having Eric home, but I am looking forward to doing some deprogramming, I kind of feel like he is cramping my style. This will likely be a time we look back on fondly and say remember when you were unemployed and we could run to the store and pretend like we only had one kid...do you remember that, it was lovely?
• Gwen is T-2 months from 3!
• Nate is T-1 month to 1!!!!!
• We have yet to finalize the details of the move...do you know crazy this makes me?!?!?
• We have yet to find out if we will get the loan...this does not drive me crazy, it makes me nervous!
• I have been reading a book that discusses interpersonal relationships and how to deal, it is fascinating to me and I hope that I am able to learn from it.
• Nate appears to be getting in 3 teeth, 3! That seems bizarre to me, shouldn't teeth come in pairs, this will bring his grand total to 7, 4 on top, 3 on bottom.

Off to get more stuff done on the house. We know how to live it up!

No name

We have been incredibly busy around here. I mean super busy, we have put an offer down on a house, thanks to my Mom she watched the kids while Eric and I looked at houses and we found a house. We put down an offer, haggled and have a contract. Now we have to secure a loan and figure out what to do around here. My Mother also packed up the house, and would have gotten a lot more done, if we had more paper and boxes, and we had a lot. Fortunately today I got a lead on more (free) paper and we will just keep going back to the liquor store and the grocery store until we get enough boxes to continue packing.
So now we are catching up around here, Nate is causing some havoc to my sleep schedule. I am tired, it is all his fault. He is waking up and not settling, well I am done! I don't know if he needs to start sleeping through the night, but I am tired of this and that is usually all it takes to start training. Nate is such an eater during the day, I don't know that he needs the night time eating, we will see how it goes! I might be up late again tonight writing blog posts. Don't hold your breath, I will likely be upstairs reading while he is screaming/crying. I forgot to mention Nate now has 3 more teeth, 2 on the top, 1 on the bottom, do you think that explains the chewing on anything and everything!?
Gwen, well I think she is suffering from a lack of sleep I think, acting not quite herself, tomorrow she WILL be going down for a nap. Remarkably both Gwen and Nate were both very good on the trip (baring that incident where Nate decided not to sleep at night, see sleep training!) we were very proud of them. I am sure Grandma enjoyed her quality time with them while Eric and I were gone...no meddling parents to bother with. Grandma could teach Gwen wonderful things, like "Nate's got a Mullet" (which I contend that he doesn't, but I guess I will have to take a picture and then upload it.)
Ok, well that is a small update, maybe one day I will upload pictures again. But I don't know if you can count on that being anytime soon!

Walkers

When Gwen wanted to start walking I purchased walkers, to help her along. We have pulled them out for Nate. This picture was taken almost month ago. He now pulls up on that it and plays with the rolly parts and laughs. He also chews on it, because really, is there anything he doesn't chew on? I am thinking even though he just got his front 2 teeth in, (one today, one last Thursday!!!) he will still probably chew on everything in sight!

Gwen not to be out done, tries to use the walker all the time! I am still working on her sharing techniques. She always tells me that "baby Nate doesn't want it", when she ripped it out of his hands, Nate as of yet doesn't care, but it annoys me that she says, "he does not want it", I am trying to explain to her she means she does not want Nate to have it. Maybe by the time she is 25 will we get her to understand.

Thank you, hon!

I made it through NaBloPoMo and I won a prize! Is it rude for me to post that, I hope not, because as I have said before I never win anything, so it is super exciting to win this year. Some of my posts were pretty close to the wire! But it is done and I have a year under my belt, so maybe next year I can write less crap and more thrilling entries! Please, don't hold your breath though, I don't know if I can keep that promise.
In thrilling Nate related news, tooth #2 has made its appearance. So probably by Christmas he will have 2 front teeth and now he has made our Christmas cards look out of date. Blast him! I guess he is still our cute sweet baby! Our cute sweet baby who I had to go buy 12mon clothes for, he is starting to grow out of his 6-9mon clothes. I was lulled into this false sense that Nate's growth had started to slow down, but then I remembered I didn't buy him any 3-6mon clothes, so he has been in 6-9 mon clothes for a while. But, now he has some of cute as can be 12mon clothes, if I do say so myself.
Gwen has some hilarious phrases now. Every time I do something for her she says "thank you hon" (or honey, depending on her mood). She also mostly calls me Melanie when we are at home instead of Mom, I thought that she would be a teenager before that happens. She also says "I never..." usually eat, sleep or whatever I ask her to do. She says it with such authority it is hilarious.

The tooth

I wanted to get a picture of the tooth for Eric since he is not here. But, it is just barely cracked the surface first I got this picture, and I realize that picture is too far away.
Then I got this picture...if you see that bubble in his mouth, if you blow it up and look real close you can see a white speck/tooth. But you've got to believe you can see it.

This is pretty much what Nate wants to do. Well, chewing and drooling, don't forget the drooling.

A new day

Today I was going to post from my backlog of pictures, but something more exciting is going on here...baby Nate's first tooth has finally decided to make an appearance! I will try to take a picture of it, but I can't make any promises. Gwen's but looks much improved to me, I am hoping that we don't have any incidents to make it worse...like forgetting to mention that she pooped! Baby Nate I have noticed, likes to poop when he is wearing overalls...I don't know why, it just seems like he always has blow-outs in them. I know, you probably really didn't want to know, but darn it, you read my website, this is what goes on.
Eric, the godfather and the best man (groom-to-be) have left for their road trip and last I heard they were in NY, but they won't be in NY for long so I suspect they are in CT. I hope that means they are making good time, the first "leg" of the journey is a 10 hr drive. Gwen, Nate and I seem to be surviving, but I do wonder where I left the eggplant in the store. I had it in my hand, I weighed it and have no idea where it went after that, strange. I am hoping this is not some kind of indicator for how things are going to go for me the next couple of days. Currently I am debating whether I should attempt the double bath time, them in the tub together. I am thinking it might not be the best idea since Gwen's butt condition could make her a pain, but we will see how brave I get!

DUH!

I guess I should have to say, that just because you are a second time Mom and just because it was a short 2 yrs ago since my older child was this age, doesn't make me any smarter. Part of that might be sleep deprivation, although I am pretty sure I am not sleep deprived, really. I might be getting up a little more than usual, but I have finally gotten to the bottom of the what is bothering baby Nate! Can we say teething!? DUH! (do you see the drool?)

So, yesterday I was in a panic becuase poor baby Nate had a stuffy nose, I was confused though because he didn't seem to have any other symptoms of a cold, he wasn't feverish, didn't really act like he didn't feel well, just was stuffy. (the bulb unfortunately got some good use, and crazy enough, he didn't really seem to mind, after he got used to it! FYI not a good thing to try in the dark at 2am). Today he seemed fine. Yesterday when I dropped him of at my friend's house for swim class he was fine, but by the time I got back he had apparently been crying for 30 minutes, but when I put him in the car with his chew toy he stopped crying and was fine when we got home. Strange. But it wasn't until this morning that I put it all together, maybe he is teething. And we checked his mouth and low and behold it looks like 2 of his bottom teeth are trying to make their way through his gums. Huh! Wish I would have thought of that before. So, let us hope that when this teething bout is done he starts sleeping better again!
This weekend we finally made it to build-a-bear to make baby Nate's bear, except we decided on a turtle. He just doesn't seem like the bear type. Gwen seemed a little overwhelmed and grabbed herself a doll to stuff as soon as we got there...unfortunately for her we did not get it for her, she does not need another doll! She wouldn't help stuff the turtle, which let's face it the loudness of that stuffing machine is a little dauting! But, she did pick out the heart to put in, and now has his own heartbeat turtle...which for those of you that think that we knew the baby's sex but didn't tell you, should I mention we did Gwen's bear ahead of time and put her name write on the "birth certificate", but had we known Nate was going to be a boy we would have done the same thing. More excitment this week, baby Nate is able to sit in the high chair and "join" us for dinner. We have not started solids, although I am sure that at tomorrow's Dr's appt they will talk to me about it, but I don't think we are going to start him yet, especially with the teething. Probably next month when he is a little older!
Today when I was attending to Nate upstairs I heard some strange noises and this is what I found! I am still not quite clear how she got in there, but following this picture is a video snippet of what my day is like with Gwen.

Next we bring you our post nap "routine". As I have said previously Nate is usually awake when I get Gwen from her nap, Gwen likes for Nate to come into her crib with her and talk to him about stuff. She gets real mad when I tell her time is up, it is time for Nate's nap and I am going to put him in his own crib. She gets over it though.