James Benjamin is 18 Months Old

JB is at that point where I feel silly speaking in months.  He's a year and a half.  A YEAR AND A HALF!  Every day that passes now, he is closer to 2 years old than 1 year old.  It's amazing how quickly it all goes by...

Even though I don't understand how the time has flown, I definitely see such big changes in JB day to day.  The way he processes things, reacts to things, understands things - it's really amazing.  Totally bias comment here, but he is such a smarty pants.  And funny!  And maybe definitely a little stinker!  A big concept that he has grasped this month is "teasing" - he will dangle food in front of Enda then snatch it away and laugh; he will act like he's going to kiss me then - at the last moment - shake his head and run away; he hides things from you and then - ta da! - reveals them.  He's figured out that life is funny and wants in on the joke.

At 18 months, JB absolutely loves:

• CARBS!  Any type of bread, muffin, pancake, cracker or chip will do.  He burns them off quickly, though - my skinny mini is long and lean at 22 lbs.
• Dipping food (in syrup, hummus, ketchup, etc)
• Freeze dried fruit (only the really expensive kind that you can find at Fresh Market)
• Books!  Still a big reader, and this month we will read the following over and over again: Curious George, Touch and Feel Baby Animals, Five Little Monkeys, his "I love my family" book (with pictures of all his family members), A Trip to the Zoo, Buenas Noches a Todos (the Going to Bed book in Spanish)
• Rocking at night while Mama sings to him (melts. my. heart.)
• Wrapping himself in a baby afghan before he goes to sleep
• Being outside, preferably at the park (and on the big kid slides and swings, NOT the baby ones)
• Climbing furniture (which we obviously discourage) and sliding off furniture (particular high things, like the bed - little daredevil)

JB will throw a fit if:

• His food is above room temperature
• His milk is below room temperature
• The bread is up too high for him to reach (which it now is, for very good reason!)
• You put him in the bathtub or shower (this just started - we need a solution to get this guy to love baths again!  And pronto!) 
• Mama isn't the one to get him out of bed in the morning (he's in an "all I want is Mama" phase right now)
• You ask him to talk or use his words.  JB still says zero words, but he is well aware we want him to talk and he'll talk when he's ready (which doesn't seem to be now) 

It's impossible to quantify how much we love this boy.  And we are so lucky that we are his parents.  When we collapse at night and say "where does he get all his energy"? we remind ourselves that, well, in a way, he's just like us! He's such a joy and I wouldn't change one thing about him.  

* photo credits go to our Gran Gran, Ben Kerr - he captured these precious faces during their visit this month, and I had to include them all!

Bumpdate - 16 Weeks with Baby Girl

How Far Along: 16+ weeks
Total Weight Gain (so far): 5 lbs

Sleeping: Only so-so, but less because of the pregnancy and more because of the furry children.  Once they wake me up (2 - 3 times a night), I have to potty.
Eating: Lots of smoothies and fruit.  Meat doesn't do much for me (except unhealthy meat, see below), and I'm still grossed out by bell peppers (after making a bell pepper dish around Week 8 and never recovering.)
Craving: Anything bad for me - fast food burgers, bacon sandwiches, pizza, tacos, BBQ, french fries, fried pies, etc.  When people say they craved salads during pregnancy I raise an eyebrow. The only type of salad I crave is one covered in full-fat ranch, Bac-os, shredded cheese and croutons.
Wearing: The maternity clothes have all been pulled out.  I don't know why I tried to resist them - sooo comfy and my belly is thankful that I pushed away my pride.
Feeling: Physically pretty good - just some stretching pains in my belly, and pretty tired and worn out by the afternoon. "Tummy issues" that require a daily prune juice/Metamucil cocktail.  Emotionally good, too.  I don't feel hormonal at all (hopefully my friends and family agree.)
Loving: The increase in confidence and decrease in fear and concern for this pregnancy; the growing belly; days without nausea - yea second trimester!  Also a huge fan of the couch by around 8PM
Missing: A good Pinot Noir.  It finally sounds good again.  I also miss running, especially with this lovely Spring weather!
Dealing With: The skin of a teenager.  With JB I had such flawless skin I could have been on a Neutrogena commercial.  Not so much now. My friend says baby girls try to steal their mama's beauty (and maybe I believe this…)


Best Moment(s) of the Month: Going public on the blog and Facebook; Finding out about a little GIRL* and telling our families; Being able to brush my teeth without dry heaving; people asking me if I'm pregnant (this actually doesn't bother me, although I always say "wow, you're a risk taker!" before confirming)
Worse Moment of the Month: Lots of belly pains (stretching, "gastro") that make me paranoid something is wrong (even when I know it's not); having to wait 4 weeks between doctor's appointments, without any baby kicks yet for constant reassurance
Looking Forward To: Feeling some movement!!  With JB I didn't feel anything until 22 weeks, so this statement may be repeated next month, too.  Also, ending my Lovenox shots in the belly (this week)

* I never shared how James and I found out about a little girl.  We had some advanced blood work done due to our history, which also provided gender.  When we went in for our 12 week appointment, we were not yet aligned on whether to find out by ourselves or with our family.  (Honestly James would wait until delivery day to find out, but that was sooooo not happening.)  I initially felt it was a girl, because I had been so much sicker this time around.  The NT scan made it look like something was in-between the legs, but the sonogram tech stated it might be the cord.  However, I convinced myself I had been wrong and that it would be a little brother for JB!

When the nurse walked in with our test results and a huge smile on her face, we yelled "DON'T TELL US THE GENDER, only the good news the he/she is healthy".  She said all looked great (huge blessing), then licked and sealed the envelope. She then stalked our doctor to warn her about our wishes before she came to see us.  The doctor played along to not reveal the gender, although she did slip that the test ruled out "things like Monosomy X" (which caused our third miscarriage, and only affects females).  I was back to being on the fence about gender…

We (and by "we" I mean James) casually said we should just wait to open, so we calmly ate lunch at our new fav Thai place with the envelope sitting on the table.  For real - I was dying from anticipation. The only thing that distracted me for a minute was my Pad See Ew.  Finally James suggested we order a coffee and open the envelope.  He took a first pass…and said nothing…I grabbed and looked…and saw nothing but stats and numbers and medical mumbo jumbo!  Obviously the test is not meant for a gender reveal (understandably), and there was no "It's a _____!" on the document.  Finally we saw "XX", drew upon our high school science classes, and figured it out:  GIRL!!!  :)  (Further review of the results did say "female fetus", which only confirmed.)

Cue lots of squealing and OHMYGOSHICANNOTBELIEVEIT's from both of us.  Honestly we would have done this for either gender, but mentally moving from "it" to "she" and thinking about all the wonderful things a daughter/sister brings is incredibly special. We are thrilled!  

First Trip to Urgent Care

(Don't worry - very minor and everyone is okay!)

Last Saturday was a great day, with a happy toddler who devoured countless sweet potato pancakes that morning, loved his swimming lessons, enjoyed a good amount of time running around outside, and slept a decent amount of time during his nap.  All was right with the world.

But when he woke up we noticed that his right eye was swollen and red.  JB also seemed to be bothered by it, rubbing and scratching and tearing up.  We went on a loooong walk to a park one neighborhood over, and it just got worse and worse.  Since the trees are blooming and allergies are starting to flare up for every resident in Atlanta, I chalked it up to that.  (Plus, the white of his eye was not red and there was no gunk - I obviously thought of pink eye but ruled it out.  My mother even suggested pink eye, but I wasn't convinced.)

We decided he was miserable enough to warrant some allergy meds (which my doctor said was fine last visit, since he seems to have inherited his parents sensitivity to pollen), but of course all the meds say "no" for under 2.  I figured a quick call into the nurse advice line was a good idea, and she calmly listened to my explanation of symptoms.  Then she hit me with "ma'am, this doesn't sound like allergies. Honestly I can't rule out periorbital cellulitis, which gets really bad, really fast".  She recommended urgent care, right away.

Hum.  Not good. Not how we anticipated spending our Saturday afternoon/evening. However, we were not going to be those parents who let their child potentially suffer something terrible.  Off we went!

"Urgent Care?  That sounds like a rocking Saturday night, Dad!"

Of course when we arrived JB was already on the mends. His eye looked better, he was energized by the new environment and plethora of toys, and proceeded to run around like a wild child.  Plus mouth every single thing he could get his hands on, ensuring that, if he didn't have an infection going in, he would definitely have one going out.

Yea germs!

Literally climbing the walls...

Fortunately the on-call doctor happened to be a pediatrician, who laughed when I said "we're afraid he has periorbital cellulitis".  He spent 2 seconds looking at JB's eye before he said "folks, he's got an early case of pink eye".

Hum.  This mama obviously has a little bit of learning to do when it comes to medical issues.

We left with a diagnosis, prescription, and a tired little guy.  Good news is that drops are already working and his eye (3 days later) looks perfect.  Bad news is that we still have 4 days to go, Lord have mercy. You definitely earn a special Motherhood badge when you wrestle a toddler three times a day for eye drops.

One urgent care trip down, hopefully very, very few to go over JB's lifetime.  (And if it's only for an easy case like pink eye , I'm good with that!)

Grammy + Gran Gran + Georgia

Our Grammy and Gran Gran (my parents) were with us all last week, so truthfully I spent part of the weekend totally bummed out that they were no longer in Georgia.   We had such a great time!  And I know all the 1:1 time with JB was so special to everyone.   

There was too much activity for a full recap here (Kerrs are the busiest people I know - this is where JB inherits it from!!), but I found some of my favorite pictures from the phone and camera to share.  I'll try not to get too misty-eyed as I type it all out…

Grammy went with us to music class, showing off her percussion skills.

Gran Gran brought new books, including a new Llama Llama (Red Pajama)...

…and a new Touch and Feel Baby Animals - two instant classics for JB.

The construction work next door (ohmygawdwilltheconstructioninourneighborhoodeverend!?!?!?) provided a lot of entertainment for the boys.  

Mother and I got talked out of Corned Beef and Cabbage on St. Patrick's Day by the boys, but that didn't mean we weren't in green!  Nor could the boys sway us from recreating a picture from last year.  Gotta take advantage of these moments - memories.  

2014 - was that only a year ago!?

Our big adventure of the week was the Georgia Aquarium.  Honestly a must see in Atlanta, and my parents had never been.   Nor had JB, and he was quite impressed.

I'd say his favorite creatures were the penguins. We could have spent days inside the penguin exhibit.

But he was not so sure about all the human creatures he was forced to pose with for a picture.  He could have done without those.

We had such a wonderful week!  We miss our Grammy and Gran Gran already!!  The only thing that makes it a little easier to deal: Grammy has a ticket to Georgia in May, and we have tickets to Texas in June.  As long as I see those on the calendar, I'm good.  :)

Rocking the Single Nap

I consider myself lucky that JB has been a pretty consistent sleeper all along.  Even though he didn't sleep through the night until 10 months old, at least he minimized the wake-up to 15 minutes once a night at 3AM.  He's now done the 7:30PM/8:00PM - 7:00AM for as long as I can remember, and I can count on one hand (actually, two fingers) how often he's woken up in the middle of the night and required our attention since 10 months.  EXACTLY TWICE, both times when we were in Texas.  Yes, we are lucky folks.

JB has always been a pretty good napper, too.  He's been rocking the two naps a day at 10AM and 2PM for…oh, I don't know…where is that baby book….oh, right, still not updated.  Let's go with "quite a while".  They aren't marathon naps, but decent.  The doctor warned me that most kiddos drop down to one nap between 15 and 18 months old, but I chose to ignore that.  Since JB's two speeds are "on" and "off", we needed that "off" position at least twice a day to survive.  :)

However, certain factors came into play and impacted the nap schedule.  First, this kid's dance card is super full during the week, but all his little friends are one-nappers and his playdates get cut short in the mornings. Second, JB started swimming lessons, and the lesson time I chose was 10:15AM.  Third, Nanny Y has found fun things to take JB to during the day (library, museums, etc) that start right at the morning nap time.  And, lastly, the past week or two his two naps have been nothing short of craptastic.  He's not sleepy at 10AM and it backs up the whole schedule.  He naps later and later meaning bedtime is rough at 7:30. A few days he slept only 20 minutes during both of his naps.  This results in a total cranky-pants toddler.

cranky pants JB

So the Sunday that Daylight Savings began, little JB woke up at 8AM EDT.  This was expected with the time change, and - as we saw it - and opportunity to capitalize on an already screwed up schedule.  We distracted him during the day, went out to lunch and kept him happy with grilled cheese, let him play with a phone on the car ride home, and plopped him in his bed for his first - and only - nap at 1PM.  AND HE SLEPT UNTIL 3:15!!  He was a little more sleepy than usual approaching 7PM, but overall did great all day long.  The transition had begun!

Since then, here's what we've been facing.  Definitely a transition, and we all know that transitions are no fun.  The first week looked like this:

• Monday (3/9) - woke up super happy at 7:30AM, napped from 12:00PM - 1:45PM, went to bed a little tired/cranky around 7:15PM
• Tuesday - woke up content at 7:00AM, napped from 12:00PM - 1:30PM (hum), was great until 6:40 and then had a complete meltdown. In bed by 7PM.
• Wednesday - woke up grumpy at 7:15AM, napped from 12:00PM - 1:30PM, had a cupcake for dinner at his friend's b-day party and was a wild child until 8:15PM.
• Thursday - woke up at 7:15AM, napped from 12:15PM - 2:35PM (getting there), asleep by 7:15PM
• Friday - woke up at 7:00AM, fell asleep in the car on the way home from a playdate with Nanny Y, slept from 12:15 - 3:15 (waking up in protest twice), then in bed by 7:30PM.
• Saturday - woke up at 6:00AM (whaaaaaaat?), nearly collapsed after swimming lessons but stayed awake till 12:30 (sleeping till 2:30), in bed by 7:00.
• Sunday - woke up at 6:15AM (whyyyyyy?), so sleepy after church so we did naps at 10AM and 2:30PM (he needed it), stayed up partying with the adults for my birthday until 9PM (!!!!)

By Week 2 I was convinced he was still ready for 1 nap a day, but realized this was going to take a bit longer than I thought.  The thousands of google articles I read assured me a tired toddler was par for the course and to stick with the strategies (and earlier bedtimes).  

• Monday (3/16) - woke up at 6:30AM (better), napped from 12:00 - 1:45PM (better), started falling apart in his bath at 6:45PM, cried himself to sleep around 7:00PM (so sad - he never does this!)
• Tuesday - woke up at 6:15AM (but played contently 'till 645), napped from 12:00 - 1:45PM, went to bed at 7:15PM without a lot of drama
• Wednesday - woke up at 6:15 but went back to sleep until 8AM!! Napped from 1 - 3PM, went to bed at 7:15PM 
• Thursday - woke up at 8AM again!  Napped 1 - 2:45PM, and in bed by 7PM.

I could probably keep tracking, but tracking can become quite addicting without a lot of benefit.  I can also make myself crazy with tracking (proof in point: I went through TWO Itzbeen timers with newborn JB!!)  If I were putting this into a status report I would say we're "on track".  I still think JB shows some signs of being tired at times, but then a lot of the time he seems perfectly fine and busy.  He has started to hate his baths, but I can't tell if that's associated with the nap or not (maybe just a phase??)  I probably could/should have moved bedtime to even earlier (6:30PM??), but it's so hard to do when that's your only time with your kiddo.  #workingmamaproblems

Overall, dropping to one nap has been relatively smooth. Won't say we're rocking it yet, but we're getting there.  :)

Celebrate Good Times

Last weekend involved a lot of celebrating.  The gorgeous weather meant lots of happy folks in Georgia, plus we had visitors arrive from Texas (YEA!)  I always love it when my parents are in town, and they're spending the entire week with us.  Then there were a few structured celebrations - a wedding shower for my future sister-in-law, and a birthday party for yours truly.  Good times.

The shower was beautiful, hosted by her family friends.  The food was delicious as well, and I didn't feel guilty about going back one or two (or three) times.  Deviled eggs and pimento cheeses sandwiches are some of my favorite things.

My mother-in-Law, Ms. Leron, looked lovely, as did all her friends.  This was a fun group of ladies to sit with at the shower.

And the bride-to-be also looked stunning!  I can't wait to see her in her wedding dress next May.  

My birthday was a lot of the same folks, plus my parents who had arrived by that time.  James, with my  Dad's help, fried some Georgia shrimp, and the sisters made a special cake at my request: Angel Food with 7-Minute Icing. (This was the cake my Mimi made for me every year as a child, so it brought back delicious memories.)  

Everyone spoiled me with sweet gifts - more accent plates for my china set; a set of wind chimes from Austin that both I (and JB) love; a custom made pillow; gift card to my favorite boutique; and a new work/travel bag from my sweet hubby (who did good, ladies).

The most special part of the night was the gift we gave to our family - the news of Baby #2's gender!!  We had found out at 12 weeks with some advanced maternal testing (due to my nearing "advanced" age, plus a not-so-good history), but we managed to keep it quiet for three weeks.  So the last present revealed the good news.  A LITTLE SISTER!!  :)

Couldn't be More Excited….

There is a lot to catch up on from a rather exciting weekend!  Swimming lessons, wedding showers, birthday parties, special visitors.  But I realize if I post pictures from the weekend, it might raise a lot of questions.  Well, because of this:

It IS what you think it is.  :)  It leads to a really big surprise that we are thrilled to announce on the blog.

Little James Benjamin will be promoted to BIG BROTHER in early September.  Our family is growing with a new little blessing, and we couldn't be more excited!!

(For the record, I am 15 weeks pregnant.  The bump above would suggest a little further along or perhaps triplets, but, no, my tummy just likes to show off.  This doesn't surprise me, as my baby bump with JB was beyond impressive.)

Poor Little Lupe

Lupe took a trip to the vet a few weeks ago, after some weird behavior (and misuse of the litterbox).  After traumatizing my child (who saw the white coat and thought "shots!") and traumatizing the Visa card (most expensive vet in the country), we learned that Lupe was "probably fine". These seemed like "behavioral issues" in response to getting a dog (um, 3 years ago) and having a child (again, 1.5 years ago).

Two traumatized patients

I got her this calming collar which has seemed to perk her spirits/calm her nerves, then thought nothing about it (the behavior stopped).  Until I got a call back from the vet a week later with the news from her blood work:  LUPE HAS HEARTWORMS.

First, cats rarely - if ever - get heart worms.  Of course I don't have her on prevention because, well, she's a cat, and completely indoors.  She sometimes lounges on the deck, but I didn't think about the risks of mosquitos.  Second, she's had the heart worm symptoms for many years - wheezing, coughing, snoring, etc.  The vet says the life of a heart worm is approximately 2 years, but I can't recall a time that Lupe breathed like a normal cat - it's been more like 10 years, not 2.  It makes me wonder when this all really began?  And, lastly, there is no treatment or cure (for a cat).  What they use for dogs with heart worms has very adverse side effects for a cat.  So we wait it out.

I honestly can't tell if I should be worried.  Both my DVM Vet and Dr. Google Vet confirm there is nothing to do but make them comfy, think positive, and hope they survive (???).  Both seem to think that she could live 10 more years or, as they put it online, "die a sudden death".

I am not sure if it's related to her newly diagnosed illness, but Lupe has become much more affectionate lately.  She sits with me on the couch, and sleeps on top of me in the bed.  (Considering the fact that Enda sleeps beside me, under the covers, in the bed, our Queen size bed is quite cramped.) I try to shield her from Enda's crazy antics, and James's harsh treatment.  Poor baby girl doesn't need the stress.  :(