Wordless Wednesday

Grrrrrr! Two year olds!!!

I'm going to lose it!  I think (and sometimes say) this every day!  Aaron is wearing me out!  He's so contrary all the time.  I guess this is the terrible twos.  I thought I'd get lucky and the phase would skip over us.  Nope!

I make waffles, he wants toast. I put his sandals on him; he wants to wear sneakers. I put him in the stroller; he wants to walk. I let him walk; he wants back in the stroller...uuuugggghhhhh!  He used to love taking a bath but the past few nights he's began and ended the bath in tears. When you try to take him out of the bath he whines, "Still washing".  But he's not washing anything.  During meals he says he's finished and then gets mad when you move his chair back so he can get down.  He'll whine, "Still eating".  But he's not eating anything.

I think maybe he's getting his second set of molars and that might be the cause of some of the crankiness.  I haven't checked yet, 'cause that will probably cause another meltdown.  I have to take Ethan to the pediatrician when he turns six months.  I'll ask the pediatrician about Aaron during that appointment.  She'll probably tell me what I already know but, it can't hurt.

I have a parenting book that I'm reading called Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood by Jim Fay and Charles Fay.  I'll review it when I'm finished.

Transitions

Right now, as I type, Aa is sleeping in his big boy bed!  Yippee! 

I'm excited and pleased.  His room is basically set up.  The walls are painted, the black-out shade is up, the valance is up and his name is on the wall. I can't take pics of the finished product until later.  I didn't think he'd sleep in there today.  I was fully prepared to put him to sleep in the crib as usual.  He asked to sleep in the big bed so I let him.  I told him that he was taking a nap and the nap could be in the bed or in the crib.  He pointed to the big boy bed that he was laying on and said, "This one". 

I got his pillow and blanket from the crib.  I began reading stories to him and he rolled about and fidgeted for a bit.  I asked him again where he wanted to sleep.  I reminded him two more times that he could sleep in the crib or the bed but he had to go to sleep.  I turned his music on and sat next to the bed for a minute or so.  He seemed distracted by my presence so I left. 

After, I left Ee work up from his nap.  I was praying that Ee didn't wake Aa up.  Aa was kicking his legs against the wall.  I just knew it wasn't going to work and Aa would have to go to sleep in his crib.  I changed Ee and rocked him back to sleep.  I checked on Aa and he was fast asleep!  Yes!

He likes it! He really really likes it!

We showed Aaron his new big boy room.  It was a hit!  He likes to climb on and off the bed.  He also climbs up on the headboard and says, "climbing, climbing"!  He lays down on the bed with his giant stuffed dog and pretends to sleep. 

We tried to get him to take a nap in there but it was a no-go.  I left the room and peeked in at him.  He was singing to himself and hanging half off the bed.  Then he saw me and came running out.  I chased him down and brought him back to bed.  I stayed with him for a little while before trying to leave again.  Two minutes after I shut the door he was baning on it calling, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommeeeeeee"!  We haven't installed the blinds yet so it was really bright.  I decided it would be best to just let him in the room to play and read, but continue taking naps and bedtime in his crib until the blinds are installed.

Wordless Wednesday

Photos from Aaron's Birthday

We decided it would be nice to take a trip to the Jacksonville Zoo. These are a couple of the pictures.

Aaron's Birth Story

I arrived at the hospital at 7am for a scheduled induction.  I was started on pitocin which was gradually increased to cause stronger contractions.  The doctor came in at 9:00 to break my water.  It hurt!  Actually breaking my water didn't hurt but he tried to stretch the cervix and that hurt!

I chose stadol to cope with the contractions after a few hours.  I used two of the breathing techniques that Marie taught us.  The second round of stadol was not as effective as the first.  The first round really took the edge off and I could be lazy with the breathing techniques.  The second round, however, I really had to concentrate on the breathing.  The breathing technique that I used the most was a good tool to use to concentrate but my throat became so sore that I didn't want to breath.  At one point I told Mark that I was having too many contractions and he laughed.  I said don't laugh and he said that I couldn't tell him stuff like that.

Not long after the second dose of stadol, maybe and hour, I chose to get an epidural.  I think I was about 4 centimeters dilated.  The anesthesiologist questioned me about my medical history.  I mentioned that I had been on baby aspirin for a clotting disorder.  She wanted to know what type so I told her a mutation of MTHFR.  She didn't know what that was and I couldn't explain it.  I was given the epidural anyway. 

After the epidural, I got sick.  I threw up enough to fill and emesis basin and a drink pitcher.  It was gross!  I didn't have anything to eat either, just ice hips and water.  I just laid in bed and watched TV and looked at the Electronic Fetal Monitor (EFM).  The EFM that was in my room wasn't working correctly.  Aaron's heart rate was reading in the 60's (not good) so the nurses kept moving the bands.  Then they inserted an intrauterine monitor.  Three different nurses tried to insert a fetal monitor into Aaron's scalp!   So when we was born he had three poke holes in his scalp.

I continued to labor but my cervix wouldn't dilate past 5cm.  I was given antibiotics since my water had been broken for more than 12 hours.  One of the nurses told me that the doctor had been called and would be coming in to do a c-section.  I didn't want a c-section but what are you gonna do?!  I was prepped and then wheeled to the OR.  While I was being taken to the OR , Mark went to get changed into his scrubs.  I was soooo tired  I was dozing off during the pre-op stuff.  While I was in the OR  I kept telling myself to stay awake so I wouldn't miss anything.  I didn't realize that the surgery had even been started.

I asked the anesthesiologist where my husband was and Mark came in a short time later.  I felt a lot of pressure.  Mark said that I said, "Whoa that's a lot of pressure!"  I don't remember that at all.  Then we heard a little cry.  Aaron was shown over the screen and was a cute little mess.  He was taken over to the bassinet to be cleaned.  Mark didn't want to cut the umbilical cord!

Aaron was brought over to me and I got to "hold" him on my chest.  I remember thinking, "Your cute! Where are your eyebrows?"  Then he was taken to the nursery.

Once I was back in my room Aaron was brought to me and placed skin-to-skin on my chest to warm him because his temperature was low.  I was sooo tired!  Aaron got warm and I was able to get some rest.  Even thought it was very late I was encouraged to breastfeed.  I was exhausted.  Probably the most tired I have ever been!  Eventually, the nurses took Aaron to the nursery and we were able to sleep.

Aaron weighed 6 pounds and 3 ounces.  He was 19.25 inches long.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AARON!!!!!

Today is Aaron's second birthday. I can't believe he's a two year old! We're not having a party, just cake and gifts. We bought him a basketball hoop, a water table and SpongeBob Square Pants pajamas. Tomorrow we're going to the zoo!


Here are a couple of pictures from today.

The Big Boy Room

As I mentioned in a previous post, we are planning to create The Big Boy Room. I'm still not finished clearing all of the junk out of the room but it's sooo hard to get anything done with two little ones around.

My sister agreed to let us store at her house the furniture that was mine during my single days. I really like the furniture and don't want to just drop it off at goodwill. Since she has extra space she can either store it for us or use in one of her spare rooms. It's a full size bed with a mattress that's practically brand new, a six-drawer dresser, two night stands, two lamps and two framed pictures. I wish we had another bedroom:(

I'm pretty sure we decided on paint. I couldn't figure out how to upload the paint swatches so you'll have to wait to see the finished product. The walls are going to be a Sterling Silver by Olympic Paints. It's a medium shade of grey-blue. I'd love to add a stripe 3/4 of the way up the wall. I hope that's not a lot of work for us (I mean Mark). The stripe will be a dark blue called Dragonfly also by Olympic Paints. I'd also like to add a grey stripe called Vintage Gray by Valspar. We of course aren't going to start painting until the furniture is moved.

I want the room to be well decorated but still childish and able to withstand two boys. There's a website http://babyroombio.weebly.com/boy-toddler.html that has help inspire my creativity. I'm not going to copy any of the rooms but it's nice to see what other people have done with children's rooms.

After debating between dinosaurs, airplanes and sports, we decided the theme will be sports. I found sports print sheets at Target for a nice price. I also found wall hooks and artwork at Target. I practically live at Target. I love that place! This is what one of the pictures that's going to be on the wall looks like.

The crib that Aaron is sleeping in is a convertible crib. I have spent a lot, probably too much time trying to decide whether on not to leave Aaron in his crib and buy a new one for Ethan. I surveyed moms on facebook, Thebump and at our playgroup. I was hoping to get some insight on when/how/why moms moved their kids to a bed. The responses were as varied as the moms and children themselves. Some kept kids in cribs until a certain age. Some parents moved a child when he/she started trying to climb out of the crib. Others moved the older child when a younger sibling came along. Basically, talking to other parents didn't help much.

We had a few scenarios to contemplate:
1.  Leave Aaron in his crib and buy Ethan a crib.
2.  Buy a toddler bed for Aaron and give the crib to Ethan
3.  Buy twin bunk beds.  Set up one twin bed or Aaron and store the other one for use in the future. Ethan would be in the crib.  When Ethan is ready to give up the crib he will get the other twin bed.  When both boys are old enough for bunk beds then we would stack the beds.

We chose option number 3.  I hope and pray that Aaron makes the transition smoothly.  I really don't want to mess up a good thing.  The "good thing" being Aaron's ability to sleep through the night.

As I write this I am having second thoughts.  Maybe I should buy a second crib?

I speak two languages (Thursday 13)

All mothers long to hear their child's first word. I'm pretty sure most moms want that first word to be 'mama'. Aaron spoke his first word at nine months and it wasn't 'mama'. It was 'dada'!!

From then on I would say 'mama' over and over and over in an attempt to get him to repeat it. He didn't say much more than 'dada' and other baby babbling sounds. I was told by pediatricians, magazines and books not to worry. All babies develop differently. I was told not to compare my baby to others. It's hard not to when going to play groups, church and library story time and listening to other mothers talk.

At Aaron's 1 year pediatrician appointment I asked the pediatrician again about Aaron's language skills. Half of me just new the doctor would say he needed to see a speech therapist. Instead I was told to read to him and talk to him. Well, I knew that! I was already doing that!

Around 15 or 16 months old Aaron had a word explosion. Initially, I kept a list of the words and I would add a word to the list each time he learned a new one. Now he speaks too many to count. He of course also speaks in short phrases. Here's a brief guide to my second language. I'll call it Aaronese.

1. Yilk - milk
2. bubbage - garbage
3. cuck - stuck
4. yo'hit - yogurt
5. nore - snore
6. fy warm - fire alarm
7. mumools - muscles
8. mammich - sandwich
9. go'bish - gold fish, as in the gold fish crackers
10. wamools - waffles
11. bink - pink
12. noonools - noodles
13. Eeesin - Ethan, his brother

Oh, and by the way, I had to wait until Aaron was about 22 months old for him to say 'Mummy'. I love it!

Gimme an 'A'

June 2008 brought Aaron into our world. He weighed 6lbs. 3oz. and was just incredibly cute! I had spent the whole pregnancy worried and stressed out but he was just perfect.

When we brought Aaron home from the hospital, I was the typical worried new mom. I remember walking into the house and thinking, "Okay, what do we do now?" I checked to make sure he was breathing frequently. I held him almost non-stop.

Fortunately, for us he was a fairly easy baby. Aaron cried when he was hungry or wet, or sleepy. I am forever grateful that we didn't have to deal with colic. What we did have to deal with is the fact that he didn't start sleeping through the night until he was about 10 months old!