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Friday, January 21, 2011

Update

This week was a bit of everything....

John has been very interested in potty training.  He wants to sit on his little green Ikea potty all day... all day...alllll daaaayy.  We don't have a bathroom on the first floor, so by the time we get upstairs to use it we usually have an accident.  To solve this, we have a little green Ikea potty in the living room.  To be honest, this was not my preferred potty training method.  I wish he would learn to just go to the bathroom in the bathroom!  It really saves a step from the green potty to the regular toilet.  Ryan and I are entertaining the idea of turning Stephen's room into our (temporary) play room.  Then, during the day John can be right next to the bathroom. John doesn't care which potty he is on, he just wants to be on a potty.  :)
We will see how all of this continues to pan out...
John has been regressing with his sleeping lately.  He was sleeping about 12 hours during the night with a 2-3 hour nap.  This week I was lucky if he took a 1 hour nap and he was waking up during the night 3-4 times.  Hmm, I would love for this to just simply go back to how it used to be! ;) haha

Stephen had a bit of a rough week.  : / 
My worst nightmare came true, he rolled off our bed.  Luckily, (and I can't stress that enough) we sold our very tall headboard and just had our mattress on the box spring, laying on the floor.  He cried for a couple minutes, and then just wanted to nurse.  I cried for ... a loong time, called Children's Hospital, iced it and then stayed up watching him for 6 hours.  Oh man, I felt terrible, to say the least.  By the next morning you could barely see where he "bonked" Oy, vey!
He has the little red rough knees!!  The true sign of a baby learning to crawl! SJ has been getting up on all fours and doing major rock sessions.  It is bitter sweet to see him becoming mobile-- exciting to watch him hit his next milestone, but so sad to not have a bitty baby in the house. :)
Stephen did break through his 5th tooth!  He is obsessed with grinding his teeth.  Ryan and I think that is one of the worst sounds... but Stephen thinks it is one of the best sounds. lol He is so proud of getting a reaction out of Ryan and I.

During dinner, Stephen has been wanting to be a part of all the action! We moved John to a real chair, which is proving quite difficult.  His little body is just pretty little for the big chairs.  However, Stephen is loving sitting in John's old chair.  He is reaching for all the plates, cups, silverware, and anything John tries to sneak into his reach/mouth.



Today I took the boys back to the Dr ...again. We had them re-run their blood work and listen to their coughs that are still in full swing.
John weighed 27lbs! :)
The Dr was worried because John is wheezing and she thinks his airways seemed tight and constricted.  Now he is on Albuterol 3x daily and Pulmicort 2x daily.  She also put him on an antibiotic for 10 days for his sinus infection.
Stephen weighed 18lbs! :)
The Dr said Stephen is in the same boat with his breathing.  He is also doing a neb of Albuterol 3x daily and Pulmicort 1x daily.  And an antibiotic for 10 days... sinus infection. 
Stephen's hemoglobin has been low the last couple of draws, so we are watching that as well as his high platelet count. 
( I realize this is boring for you all to read... I just want to have it "on record") :)
Oh, I am dieing to whip these windows open and let these germs fly!!! I guess tonight is not the night to do this because today's high was 1 degree! Brrr...

Pre-School

Our school search begins!

As John is sitting here playing with his flashcards of "Minnesotan Animals" and Stephen is playing with plastic farm animals, I am in the beginning stages of our search for the boys (future) school.  Ryan and I are really looking forward to this process of choosing where best suits our boys!  We realize there are many options out there and want to be sure we do our homework.  I am pretty well versed in what a pre-school classroom should look and feel like, so I am confident we will find a great place for JR and SJ to start their school careers at! :) 
We are looking for a pre-school that will love, nurture, and celebrate being 3, 4, and (finally) 5 years old.  It is important to us that they are treated as (young) children, but not babies.  We want them to get plenty of fresh air, taught how to be a part of a group and connect with Jesus.
Some things we want them to know coming out of pre-school:
*Numbers
*Colors
*Shapes
*Letters
*Songs
Etc...
Life is about balance and too much of a good thing.... just isn't right either! :) 
Play, Laugh Grow ... I can't think of who 'coined' this phrase, but every time I hear it I think, this should sum up your pre-school years!

Places we are planning to visit:
Country Day, Mendota Heights, (January 27th @ 9:15a)
St. Kate's, St. Paul
Waldorf, Maplewood (January 21nd @ 9:30a)
House of Hope, St. Paul
Dodge Nature Center, West St. Paul
St. Mark's, St. Paul

These are in no order, just ones we would like to look at.  We know there will be pluses and minuses to each of them.  There will be places we would feel most comfortable at... but at the end of the day, it is about where John will do best, and where Stephen will do best.  It's all about you boys!! :D

Tomorrow begins our search.... Waldorf 9:30a-12  ... We will let you know what we think!

I would LOVE feedback on where you sent your kids. What you liked about the program or any advice you have! :)

Sunday, January 16, 2011

John's Baby, ELMO

I have some picture's that are actually from Christmas, but I still want to share them. 
Since I do a lot of caring for baby Stephen, John has a lot of time to care for his baby, Elmo.  John likes to feed Elmo a bottle while I nurse Stephen, he gives Elmo a tootsie, he rocks Elmo, reads to Elmo, and the list goes on. 
Some of my favorite stories that my parents tell me about my childhood are the ones of me caring for all my dollies.  I love hearing about how I "nursed" them, dressed them, bathed them and so forth.  I really cared for those dolls as if they were real.  I believe this teaches children the gift of compassion, how to care for another, and be nurturing (just to name a few).  These are very practical things, I know.  But important! :)  John, you are a very sweet boy, I love when my daily routines rub off on you! : *

Elmo, having "tootise time" 

John was holding Elmo, so Elmo wouldn't cry.

Again...


Here is John's picture from tonight!  He is starting to learn to to SMILE for the camera! :D
Love you John!

Stephen Joseph is on all fours!!!

Yikes! It is time once again to double check my "baby-proofing"

Today, I caught Stephen up on all fours a couple times.  He happily will do a little rock back and fourth and then go back to the tummy time.  Stephen is a very strong baby, he knows what he wants and will do what he needs to make it happen.  If he sees a toy across the room, he will get it....by any means necessary... rolling, scooting, batting at it, he means business.
 I just can't believe he is in the beginning stages of crawling!! *tear*
By the time I got the camera out, he was not so happy!  I was a tad late on feeding him his "bedtime snack" because Grandma and Papa came to visit!! :D 

Stephen, playing with our doctor kit, and beginning to get a bit ticked off at me flashing my camera at him!
Ok, this looks worse then it really was!  I was trying to get a picture of him on all fours, rocking... but we were not jiving! Sooo, Grandma was going to prop him up and then get back so I could snap a picture....  well, it looks like he was not very fond of our plan!! D:

Stephen eating his FIRST snack before bed! It went pretty well, he seems to really like it.  After the "apple wheel" was gone, all he did for about an hour was grind his front 4 (almost 5) teeth. Ahh!! Nails on a chalkboard!
Thanks Aunt Terri for all of the Gerber treats! :D