Halloween 2007

Well, practice must make perfect because when we arrived at Julie and Troy's church festival, he not only let me put the chaps on him, but I had to do it all in the parking lot. Maybe he was affected by the wonder of the sounds looming just beyond the cars. Or maybe it was because he realized just how incomplete his costume looked without the chaps. But probably it was because I told him he wouldn't get any candy if he didn't put them on since everyone wanted to see his whole cowboy outfit. (Looking back on it now, that would have been fine with me because our house and my body could do without this 10 pounds of candy we now possess. Oh, wicked hindsight and weak willpower!)

Reeves loved the festival and immediately found Preston, his superhero cousin. They played games and got prizes and roasted marshmallows and actually ate a hotdog. (This impressed me with Reeves because he'd already had a lollipop, and eating, in general, hasn't been a pleasant experience around here lately.) But of course, what true cowboy could resist the lure of the open range? All he needed was a horse to take him there and he was free. Luckily for Reeves, the church came prepared.

After the festival, we loaded up for the Goshen Tick or Treat Hay Ride. Bennett's feeding needs kept me off the hay ride for the first 30 minutes or so. I'll have to remember to thank him later. Then Judy drove me to meet the gang. We had superheroes, faireys, Terminators, Scooby Doo, and a couple of country bumpkins. Reeves got so much candy that his pumpkin was overflowing. He fell asleep on the ride home and fought me, semi-comatose, when I tried to put his jammies on, so I let him sleep in the jeans and shirt. I think he's still sticky. We had so much fun, and I'm happy to report that we have faced the Sugar Rush Monster in the face, and we have won.Before we went to bed last night, I took the pumpkin with all the candy in it and hid it in the top of the closet. Bryant asked me why I was doing that. Silly Daddy! I'll be sure to pull it out before my next girls' dinner and let you figure it out!! Let's jut say that, other than the lollipop his hairdresser gave him this morning, we have consumed no other candies on this, in CFS's words, PTTD. Well, at least, Reeves hasn't.

Practice Run

Next year I'll learn to practice the costume before Halloween Eve. I don't know what ignorant part of me thought that just because I had made parts of and pieced together this costume for him that he would be as excited about it as I was. Must have been the part that has never met The Terrible Two Year Old. Luckily, we were attempting to make a run at Fish or Treat the day before Halloween. He woke up from his nap happy. He let me undress him with pleasure and smiles all around. Then I tried to dress him in his costume and all hell broke loose. What!?! It's a cowboy costume for Pete's sake. He's been dancing around for two weeks saying, "Yee Haw!" He's been picking up anything that resembles a gun and pointing it with sounds of "Ptshaw, ptshaw!" Why won't he put on the costume, which, by the way is made up mostly of normal clothes. Finally, I got the jeans and the shirt on. Next came the boots which he insisted on donning himself. Fine. As long as they get on. Then I tried to put on the chaps, the chaps which I so lovingly handmade in anticipation of the costume contest that never was. You would have thought I was asking him to wrap himself in toxic chemicals. NOT THE CHAPS!! I'M MELTING!! So I gave up on them. (If having a two year old teaches you nothing else, it at least ensures that you know when to pick your battles.) Finally came the guns. Oh, how exciting! What little boy wouldn't want to strap a couple of guns on his waist, you wonder? Mine. That's the one who wouldn't. This shocked me beyond belief because as a young tomboy myself, I loved wearing my six shooters. Somehow, I was able to put on a pretty impressive sad face, and he gave in. Whoo-hoo! So we loaded up to head to the aquarium. Someone pulled into the perfect spot right in front of me, and I was ticked. But then, I realized it must have been divine intervention because at that moment, I looked up and saw that the line reached all the way to the street and there were droves of costume clad children still coming. We just kept right on going. I'll try lots of things, but two children by myself in that melee? I don't think so. Luckily, since I'd promised him candy and we'd been practicing "Trick or Treat" the whole way down, we were able to charm some Dum Dums out of Pops as a consolation prize. Good thing Gams and Pops thought the costume was cute even without the chaps!

That Smile

That's the smile that makes me smile. That's the smile with the single dimple on the right side. That's the smile that I can get sometimes and Daddy can get sometimes, but Reeves can get all the time. Just this afternoon, he climbed into my lap and squished Bennett's feet. I was certain they were broken. But that's the smile that followed, so I knew all was well. That's the smile that Bennett gives whenever Reeves walks past or whenever Bennett hears his voice. I love that he already loves his big brother. That's the smile that he has perfected. That's the smile that I am always after. I finally got it on film.

I Will Love Him and Feed Him and Pet Him and Name Him George

So maybe it could be said that we're not animal people. Not that we don't like pets, we do and really, really want a dog. It's just that we're not really in a place right now to have them, and it is apparently affecting our son. After spending the weekend at the Aminal Kingdom, some of Toad's animal rescue instincts must have rubbed off on Reeves. He and I were outside "working" in the yard this afternoon, and the bulk of his duties consisted of picking up the huge seed pods that that plummett from the magnolia tree every day/night/minute/second. (Honestly, my hatred of them rivals my hatred of their cohabitating leaves because when these things get run over, they stain the concrete.) Most of them have already been scavenged by the squirrels, but every once in a while, one makes a break for it on its own. These suicide pods are usually young and soft, almost fuzzy, like, say, a kitten or puppy. After throwing several of the big prickly ones on the burn pile, Reeves came upon this precious little thing. He immediately started petting it. "Awwwww, how cute," I thought, expecting him to then toss it onto the pile. Nope. I turn around again to find my son sliding his seed pod down the slide, then having it climb itself up the steps to slide down again. The pictures and the story fall terribly short of truly depicting what happened. He would hold it up to his face and coo at it. He would show it to me and want me to pet it. So we brought it in and wrapped it up in its blanket. I guess we're getting to the "uses his imagination" stage.
Hmmm... Come to think of it, maybe it's not a pet he's after, but a little baby of his own. If that's the case, I am very encouraged to know that he gently played with it on the slide. Maybe there's hope for Bennett yet.

Bennett at Two Months

Well, Bennett Boy, we've reached two months. I am still amazed that you have been with us that long. It seems like just yesterday I was trying to convince Daddy not to call the doctor because these evenly spaced periods of immense discomfort I was having were nothing more than gas pains. Not so. It was you, preparing to make your two week early entrance into the world. You must know that as an early bird, you are the only one to carry that torch in this family. Oh, I try to convince myself that I am one, but the sad truth is that I want to be one and am working hard to be one, and compared to the others in our little nucleus, I am one, but it is you who must be the one to drive this family to be on time. I know that's a big responsibility for such a little guy, but I have no doubt you can do it, and, much to your father's frustration, I will be there to help you every step of the way.

At two months, you are amazing your father and me. We have no guage for infants other than your older brother, and compared to him at this age, you are a monster. You have gained weight like a champ from the beginning. Other than a slight bout of a latching on problem, you have been a terrific nurser. You eat every 3 or 4 hours, except in the later afternoons, when you would be perfectly content to hang on to me non stop, although I think I can honestly say, "It's not you. It's me." Despite the fact that you eat voraciously, I don't think that you get quite as much as you do earlier in the day. To be fair, and to reveal a secret, as long as Daddy gets home early, I am perfectly content to sit there and snuggle with you for as long as it takes. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen, but I treasure those times when it does.

You have really started to turn on the charm in the past three weeks. You are very generous with your adorable smiles. It warms our hearts every time we see that dimple appear. Daddy and I both have to make fools of ourselves to get you to smile, but Reeves just has to look at you or pat you on the head or tummy to coax a smile and a coo from you. You are beginning to fall in love with your older brother, and I am so happy to see that. Reeves, likewise, loves you, although he doesn't always show it in the most gentle ways. But you're tough and seem to be able to handle his "loving you". He has started to help me burp you which is cute, and, as you are not an easy child to burp, I actually appreciate his help because, like your smiles, you will give it up for him much faster than you will for me or Daddy. He must have some special touch.

For the most part, you are a predictable baby. You only (mostly) cry when you are wet or hungry or tired. In a mixed blessing, you are often wet. I say this because, given my family's history with kidneys, I am so thankful to see yours working so well, but a lot of times, they work so well that your diaper can't contain their productivity. I can't count the number of times I have picked you up only to realize your entire backside is soaking wet. And of course, there are the times you prefer to empty yourself without the benefit of a diaper. It is quite an impressive fountain. Just this week you made it up and over your head onto the floor. Needless to say, we have been doing a lot of laundry around here.

We are still working on your sleeping through the night. Three nights ago, you gave me a blissful 6 and a half hours. I was so happy and nervous about it that I didn't even mention it to anyone for fear that it would not repeat itself. Well, I should have screamed it from the mountaintops because these last two nights have not been so quiet. But you're getting there, and I really feel that once we can get Reeves permanently into his Big Boy Bed and you into your crib, I will again know the feeling of being well rested.

We worked on getting you to hold you rattle this week. You did pretty well, and I think even realized that it was your arm movements that made it make noise. This lasted until you whapped yourself in the face with it. You weren't so interested in it after that. Thank heavens for your short term memory because we will be working on it again today.

You are pretty good at holding your head up and can go for almost a minute. We put you in the Bumbo seat. I think you liked it until the weight of your head exhausted you and you demanded to be out of it. I don't want to rush these precious early days, but it will be nice to be able to put you in that seat soon.

There's so much more to say, but my mind's awash with gushy feelings of love for you so I'm afraid if I go on, I'll just get too sappy, even for a mommy. In the weeks before your arrival, we were having so much fun with Reeves that I wondered how it could be possible to love someone else as much as we love him. I was dreading the first few sleep deprived months, but then you came, and my heart doubled in size. You are such a blessing to us. You have even made me love these first months, despite how hard they are. We love you so much and are so lucky to have you here with us.

Autumn?

I'm moving. It's October and it's supposd to be 86 degrees on Monday. This is ridiculous! I'm ready for fall! This happens every year. You'd think after 32 of them, I'd be used to it by now and accept it with some sort of impotent southern grace, but I don't. Every year I curse the humidity and elevated temperatures that accompany us long into October. If anyone needs me, I'll be amuck in the Pacific northwest, probably somewhere in Canada. I'm thinking Reeves will do great as a lumberjack, and Bennett will make a great hockey player.

The Mother of Invention

When your child is in one of his "Sunday Go To Church" outfits, and you forget to bring a bib, you make do with the next best thing. If only the life jacket had a little pouch at the bottom to catch the crumbs, it would be perfect. By the way, this stayed on for the rest of the day.

...Like Son

This is his new thing. He stands there with his hands on his hips, seemingly deep in thought. I thought he had gotten it from me because I catch myself standing like that all the time, but then I found this old picture and now I'm not so sure it's my genes he's showing off....

What a Day

Yesterday was one of those days that makes me so happy to be a mom. Reeves didn't have school, so we went to playgroup at the playground at Riverland Terrace. It was a nice cool, breezy day right on the river, and the shoes came off shortly after we got there. Reeves was in hog heaven because his current favorite person, Bose, was there. He is happy as a clam running around after Bose, trying to do all the things that this big 3 1/2 year old does. Whenever I mention playgroup, Reeves immediately breaks into a chorus of BOSEs and can't wait to see him. So, of course, this started the day off with a bang. In a bit, all the other chilluns got there. Their mommies had been JOGGING! I'm so impressed and hope to be a part of that once these inflatables go down some. Anyway, the morning was super fun, and Reeves even ate all of his lunch - quite an uncommon feat these days. To top it all off, Bennett slept in his carrier the whole time which gave me some time to take pictures.
When we got home, I fed Bennett, and Reeves played happily and quietly (relatively) with his trains. Bennett went down, then Reeves. He fussed some, but I went outside so I couldn't hear him. I was able to get another section of the fence completed and put in another post. I think this is a big part of making me feel like I have had a good day. If I can actually accomplish something at some point during the day, I find myself looking back, in the evening, with a wonderful sense of satisfaction. It's good for me; it's good for the boys; and it's good for Bryant because I am in a much better mood.
Reeves woke up from his nap in a really good mood. This doesn't happen too often. Usually it takes him a while to warm up to the fact that he is no longer asleep. Those 15 or 20 minutes are no fun around here, but yesterday we didn't have them. I now realize that in addition to my accomplishing something, Reeves had zero screaming fits yesterday. This was the most integral part of making yesterday such a great day. He was calm. He didn't scream when I reminded him that he couldn't throw balls in the house or told him it was time to go inside. It was pleasant, and both he and I loved it. The fact that Bennett slept and ate great definitley contributed to it. It was all around perfect.
And to top it all off, I went to my first PTO meeting. This meant that Bryant had both boys by himself for the gangrene hours. Luckily for him, Reeves continued his good behavior. Bennett, on the other hand, who had been quietly swinging when I left, apparently cranked up within about 5 minutes of my departure. Poor B! He gave him a bottle and tried to sooth him as much a he could, but sometimes, when they're this little, it seems like only a momma can do it. When I walked in, all I could do was laugh. There were cabinet doors open, the counter was covered with dinner's remnants and the day's mail, and there were toys and pillows all over the den floor. Reeves was playing, and B and B were in the recliner with the pacifier finally doing its job. I loved it. I loved that Reeves had continued to be good. I loved that Bennett was quiet. I loved that Bryant had gotten to have quality time with just him and his boys. And I loved that I didn't get mad that the house was a mess. This is a big step for me. I like things to be done my way - because, naturally, my way is the right way. But having two boys is teaching me to let some things go. I'm beginning to realize that just because Bryant doesn't do things exactly like I do, that that's OK. The result is, for the most part, the same, and that's the most important thing. I also realized that when you have as good a day as I had yesterday, it's easy to laugh when a tornado comes through your house because everyone's still alive and happy, and it's much better to be able to hug and kiss and tell your kids you're proud of them than focus on the messy negative.
Thanks, boys - all three of you - for such a perfect day.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Looks like we've made it through the roughest part. Bennett is doing much better today - no fever, and we're getting those sweet smiles again. It appears that he just has a stomach bug. I'm sure the nurse, on whose hand he poopied today, would concur. Of course, she had left the room to wash up when he peepeed on his own chart. Despite the copious amount of practice I've had at beating the stream, Bennett is still the pro and has no qualms about putting me back in my place. Needless to say, dehydration is, thankfully, not a problem.

The blood cultures still have a couple of days to go, but there has been no growth yet, so that's positive. Looks like this little one will be back to being dragged around in no time! Thanks for the prayers. They definitely work.

Big Band-Aids for Little Boys

Bennett woke up this morning with a 101 degree fever. Normally, not such a big deal, but he's only 6 weeks old, therefore, it is a big deal. I called his doctor'soffice, and they said to come in at 9:45. The nurse took his temp again when I got there, and it was 101.6. This is not good. They bagged his pee-pee to get a urine catch and drew blood to run tests. On a side note, I now know for certain that it is easier to get a sample from an infant boy than an infant girl. It may take longer, but it is definitely less traumatic on both mother and child. Both tests came back clean. The doctor suspects it is just something Bennett has picked up from his older brother. (Isn't it sweet that he is already sharing so well with his brother?) I hope so, but just in case, he sent me to the lab to have a blood culture drawn. Unfortunately for me, this is nothing new. Through pyloric stenosis and several allergy tests, I have become accustomed to seeing my children's veins be probed. Poor Bennett. He was not a happy child while it was being done, but I nursed him immediately afterward, and he seemed to be OK. We should get the results back in a couple of days. In the meantime, we have a follow-up appointment tomorrow, just to be sure he's doing OK. He's eating well, and each diaper is wet, so that's good. And we now know that he weighs 10 pounds, 2 ounces.
Update - He has had a couple of diarreahs and a huge throw up. Looks like it may be a stomach bug - hopefully. We'll know more tomorrow and over the next 72 hours as the blood culture grows. Keep Bennett in your prayers, and let's hope that this passes soon.

Adrenaline Junkie

This is apparently where my older child is happiest - in midair. He has no fear, except of being left alone to fall asleep in his big boy bed, but that's another post entirely. Reeves discovered he was able to "jump" off of things sometime last winter. He enjoyed it and would often decend from such heights as 6 inches. Of course, this was really more pseudo graceful falling rather than actual jumping. Then, just before he turned two, he masterd the act of jumping with two feet off the ground. (That's with both feet, Gams, not two vertical feet!) Oh the joy hopping around brought him. He was so proud of himself, and so were we. But now, now we have entered into a whole new realm, the world of really jumping OFF of things.
It began innocently enough when Jodie put this slide next to the pool for the children to slide in. True, it's not a huge slide, but the children, mostly 3, 4, and 5 year olds were perfectly content to climb the two steps up the back and slide down, on their bottoms, into the pool. Enter Reeves. First, he slides down it on his back, headfirst, into the pool. But that's not dangerous enough for him. He spent the rest of his time on the slide jumping from the top into the pool. And that's the only way he would do it. And he loved it. Did you know swimmies sometimes come off when a child launches himself into a pool? Well, they do. Not that Reeves cared. Thank heavens for Jodie and others to whom Reeves now owes his life. Turns out you don't just swim in a circle with only one swimmie; you actually start to sink.
Van told Bryant that he saw lots of stitches and broken bones in our future. There was nothing Bryant could but nod and agree because that statement is so true. Of course, I figured it would be a few years away. Reeves has other plans.
Tuesday at playgroup, I thought we were going to have to leave and go to the hospital. None of us saw how it started. We picked it up after he was already midair. Reeves jumped from the top of DuBose's slide. Just so you know, I'm 5'7". The top of the slide is at my eye level. Nancy saw him in the air twice. I only saw him just before he hit the ground, after he had bounced halfway down. He landed and started crying and holding his left arm. We all just knew he had broken it. How could he have not? He landed with his arm under him, but on top of a toy rake. He must have a pretty good guardian angel. I picked him up, hugged him, and tried to feel his arm for the break. Nothing, but even more telling was the fact that his cry didn't intensify while I was doing that. I am still in shock. He has a couple of pretty good bruises, but no broken bones. Thank heavens!
Maybe this has taught him. He hasn't tried it since then, but I know it's only a matter of time before the lure of a good freefall becomes too much for him, and he goes at it again. Danger Bair, that's our son!

One of Those Days

And what makes it so much worse is that it is absolutely gorgeous outside!
Reeves woke up at 6:30 this morning with 101 fever. Guess what? No school yet again for the boy! This then seriously throws a wrench into my plans for the day. My errands are whittled down to a couple of necessary things.
First, go to pick up color cartridge from free refill at Walgreens. Guess what? My cartridge failed! I am so disappointed. I think I have the one cartridge that must be ordered from Dell. Neither Mom nor I can find this stupid thing anywhere! I'll keep searching.
Second, stop by Neal's to pick up Reeves' crocs we left there. Guess what? No crocs on the porch. Not terribly disappointing, just one more thing I have to remember to do.
Third, go to grocery store to pick ingredients for Morgan's birthday dinner. (BTW, Happy 30th Birthday, Morgan!) Guess what? Purchase all ingredients for casserole, forget all ingredients for salad. Typical!
And finally, I feel like my throat is getting sore. Hopefully it will go away, but it would be just my luck if it didn't.
But, as bad as a mom's day may be, there is always that silver lining. Bennett gave me a solid 5 or 10 minutes of good, sweet smiles. If he had teeth, they would have beel shining. I got the dimple and all, and Reeves has been a super trooper all day and is at the tail end of at least a 3 hour nap, so I guess that makes up for it!

One Month Down

It occurred to me at some point this afternoon that Bennett is one month old today. These poor second children. I'm sure with Reeves I found this milestone so important that I probably marked it in some way other than casually remembering it halfway through the day.

The Gripewater seems to have done (to be doing) the trick. Bennett's fussiness is definitely due to gas bubbles. He eats almost every two hours in the late afternoon/evening, but I think that is because I don't produce as much later in the day. He has had a rash on his face and neck. It seems to be heat and hormone related. It flares up when he is hot and sometimes when he is eating. As such, I dispensed with the polycotton daygowns yesterday and dressed him in a onesie. It made a huge difference. He was able to stay cool, and the rash never got too bad. I suppose we'll just have to sacrifice fashion for the well being of the child!It seems silly to me to post about his one month a mere two days after his four week update, but honestly, there has actually been one achievement. He is smiling now when we get in his face and make silly, sweet sounds. I love this because it makes his dimple really show up. He only has one, and it's on his right side, and it's just the cutest thing when he gives us that cockeyed smile.

He continues to squirt me at almost every diaper change, although I'm getting better at it. There have been lots of loads of laundry done around here recently. Reeves thinks this is just one of the funniest things when he sees it. That's fine as long as he doesn't think it will be cute to follow suit. Not so cute in a two year old. So far so good.The brothers are still getting to know each other. Bennett is beginning to recognize Reeves' voice, and Reeves has become my real, live baby monitor. He hears Bennett wake up from his naps way before I do. So far, he's only accidentally landed on Bennett once or twice, and they were just glancing blows at that. For the most part, he is very sweet with his new brother.

I am trying to treasure this newborn state as much as possible, but there is definitely a part of me that looks forward to the day when these two will be able to play together. I am hesitant to use the phrase "I can't wait" because I can. Although, sleeping through the night will be a welcome milestone. This is such a special time in both of these boys' lives. I wish they could realize it as much as Bryant and I do.

Worst Idea of the Week

Returning home from Mt. Pleasant via 526 at 5:30 in the afternoon. While I find almost any amount of traffic frustrating, it is nearly unbearable with two fussing children in the heart of the gangrene hour. What was I thinking? Luckily, we all made it home in one piece with no lasting effects on any of us.

Bennett at 4 Weeks

Bennett turned 4 weeks old yesterday. Where has the time gone? He is still growing like a weed. I think he must be in the throes of his three/four week growth spurt. This child, who until Friday has really been quite easy going, started fussing on Friday and is only now quiet because he has worn himself out over the weekend. He was only truly content when he was nursing, and that was at least every two hours. Bryant could get him to be quiet some, but then he would pipe right back up. I would have been worried, but I remember this same thing with Reeves. Ah, the benefits of having already been through this once! However, part of it could be gas. He's not a great burper. Just in case, I bought my Gripewater today.

Bennett has already grown out of three or four outfits that I know Reeves wore till he was almost two months old. Right now, that's fine with me because our house is overrun with little boys' clothes, and the sooner he grows out of them, the sooner they get boxed away to make room in the drawers for more clothes.

Bennett's latest and most consistent trick has been to squirt me almost every time I change his diaper. So far today we've been through 3 outfits. When will I learn. Luckily for me, Reeves did not do a good job of training me in this aspect of motherhood. I can probably count on both hands the number if times he has done that in his two years. For some reason, with Bennett, I have this ridiculous confidence that I can get the new diaper on in time. I'm 0 for 4 today.

I'm Up

It's 5:45 in the morning, and I am wide awake. And it's not Bennett's fault. I fed him at 3:00. He is sleeping soundly. Bryant is sleeping. Reeves is sleeping. Not me. I want to sleep, but each time I close my eyes, I just toss and turn. I haven't slept since I fed Bennett, and now I'm afraid to go to sleep because it is almost time to feed him again. I have done laundry, gotten the coffee ready, straightened up. If it weren't for having to be quiet, this could be one of my most productive mornings. If the sun were up, I could be getting things done in the yard. But no, here I am updating the blog. I'll try to knock out a couple of thank you notes also.
I can't stand not being able to sleep, particularly right now, when sleep at our house is at such a premium. Luckily, Reeves has school tomorrow (today-in 3 hours), so I should be able to squeeze in a decent nap in the late morning while Bennett sleeps. But what to do between now and when the rest of the house awakens?

Time for Two

Unfortunately, Bryant doesn't get to spend a lot of one on one time with Bennett. With his work and other things and Bennett nursing, he is usually tapped to take care of Reeves as soon as he walks in the door. This, of course, is how things tend to be with two. Mommy handles the baby, and Daddy and the older child get some good bonding time. It works. But, there is still that sacred time, after Reeves goes to bed, and before we do, that Daddy and Bennett have their time to get to know each other. At the moment, this tends to be nothing more than snuggling on the sofa, but these are usually the sweetest times. Watching my husband with our children is one thing that always warms my heart. It seems to make any bad day better.

We will start Bennett on at least one bottle feeding a day next week. The last feeding of the night will be Bryant's. He is looking forward to it. I am too. And I imagine, if Bennett could tell us, he is also.

Just to Compare...

The first is Reeves, the second is Bennett. I can't believe how much fuller Bennett's face is, and he is a week or so younger in this picture.

Here they both are in their going home outfit. Oops, looks like we forgot the hat for Bennett. We'll just chalk that up to his being early.

This picture of Reeves is one of our favorites. Of course, he was just over a month old at that time. Bennett was two weeks old when his picture was taken. And the outfit is already tight on him!


So, maybe they don't look quite as much alike as I had originally thought, but I still don't think there is any doubt these two are brothers!