Hippity Hoppity, Easter's On Its Way

We are looking forward to celebrating Easter this weekend!  We'll have some firsts (Easter egg hunt), some seconds (JB's second Easter service at our church), and some usuals (lunch at Brio, now a tradition nearly 8 years running.)

Speaking of traditions - JB visited the Easter Bunny last weekend.  The previous year was such a pleasant experience for all, with a content baby sitting in the fancy-schmancy Easter Bunny's arms (at Phipps).    This year was pretty darn hilarious for us, with the Easter Bunny of the People (at Perimeter Mall) and one young toddler who just couldn't even...

(My brother says he's probably crying because of his outfit.  Could be - it's very challenging to pull off something so precious.)

Let me be clear and honest - I absolutely adore these.  LOOOOOOVE the screaming baby.  I will be sad when he puts on a cheesy smile!

I do not remember ever sitting on an Easter Bunny's lap (nor do I recall pictures?)  James seems to have an Easter Bunny picture every year starting at age 2.  I will save that one for next year, as I love the side-by-side comparison.  But, until then, I wanted to share some pictures of James' 1979 Easter (when he was the exact same age as JB.)

As Maury would say:  "James Sasser, you are DEFINITELY the father".  Look at him - James and JB look like twinsies!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter with your families.  

First Swimming Lessons

JB started swimming lessons last month, and so far so good!  Considering the fact that he has refused baths and showers the past three weeks (and by "refused" I mean kicks and screams and clings and totally loses it), I'm quite surprised how much he likes the pool.

This is totally a Daddy-led activity. It will be a while before they can bond over other things that James wants to introduce - hunting, fishing, golf clubs, etc - but this they can do this together.   A big thanks to James in advance for letting me post these pictures of the two of them.  :)

I hesitate to call these "lessons" as JB is hardly learning how to swim. The class is mostly about being comfortable with the water and getting your face wet (which 90% of the kiddos in the class still hate).  From the sidelines, I am always cracking up when they sing "If you're happy and you know it put your ears in the water."  None of the kids are happy with that part of the song.

Now blowing bubbles in the water they like.

They also practice getting in and out of the pool.  Look, I can barely do that successfully, so I cut JB a lot of slack that he still needs Dad to hoist him in and out.

From there they practice jumping in.  I'd rather they skip this whole part because I'm quite okay with JB not knowing how to jump in a pool!!

He particularly likes the part where he and Dad glide through the water.  Except when water gets in his face.  He's not such a fan of water in the face.

But his favorite part of the whole class is when they get out the plastic balls and pails - all boy, this one.

We're so happy that JB enjoys the water.  Hopefully over the next several years he'll gain some good stroke skills, too.  Plus, it guarantees that this boy is clean once a week!  Hopefully all that chlorine washes off a lot of germs. :)

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.  :)