Why No Blog Updates?

There haven't been any blog updates in over a month. So much has been going on and it just wasn't going to happen. So here's the latest.

1. We've declared Roo to be the messiest eater; just like Uncle Matt when he was younger. Roo is very proud of this honor. When I cleaned the car out, his side was much much messier than Bug's.

2. Bug is too short for the potty. Bug is fully potty trained except at night. Most mornings Bug wakes up totally dry. I have to help him on and off of the toilet each time. No biggie at home, major yuck in a public bathroom. He's so short that he really needs his shoes and pants off to be able to go. We'll have to start stretching him so he can go potty more easily.

3. Roo has asthma. This was really hard for us to come to terms with. After coughing since October and being on oral steroids 3 different times, a useless trip to the allergist and great help from our ped, we met with an awesome pulmonologist who has us on the right track. It was heartbreaking hearing Roo cough each night when he went to bed and not being able to stop it. The prednisolone helped but that's in no way a long term solution. He's doing so much better now and it seems to only be mild asthma, which is good. If you had told me earlier this year that Roo would have any medical issues, I'd have told you you were insane. But, he's got a great supporting family history that somehow skipped me, and so he's got asthma. He's so much happier now and doesn't mind taking the medicine at all.

4. Bug loves soccer. He's been to soccer on and off this entire fall at the field house. He loves it.

5. Roo is doing great with swimming. He loves swim lessons or "swim school" as he calls it. He seems to naturally be able to swim more than his ability for some other sports. He's excited to continue swim lessons.

6. The kids had their holiday musical at school. Bug's class was adorable and he sang along. I had high hopes that Roo would sing but alas he stood there and looked pained the entire time. When asked why he didn't sing, he said that he doesn't like singing, mind you you can find him singing all the time at home!

7. Both boys are doing well at school and enjoying the change. Bug adjusted great and got all check pluses on his little report card. He's ready to move up to the next class, which is good and sad. We really love his teachers and his buddy Logan is in his class. But he really absorbs everything he's taught so moving up will be good. Roo's report card was good as well and he's really enjoying school. The change has been great for him and he is thriving with the structure.

8. Roo's playing basketball. He just started smart start basketball and he looked super cute the first night in his new basketball shoes. Daddy said they had a lot of fun.

9. We have taught the kids well. They know on Sunday's to say "Go Patriots!"

10. I'm sure there are things I forgot but this is it for now!

Post Nap Hair

Bug cranked out a 4 hour nap before we woke him up yesterday. He didn't take a nap on Saturday after soccer, which usually wears him out. He went down around 2 and I finally woke him up at 6. He went to bed around 7:30 and still slept about 12 hours last night. Here area few pics of his hair. And GO PATRIOTS!!!

Swaddle Me

Recently Bug has been asking me to carry him like a baby. Not only that, he likes to lay his blankey out on the floor or bed and make it perfectly flat and then lay it in. He puts his legs straight out and arms on his tummy and then my job is to swaddle him in his blankey and carry him like a baby. To be honest, I love it! He's out little baby and they grow up so fast, so if he wants extra baby cuddle time, we'll take it while it lasts! Only problem we're running into is that tall Roo who is also much heavier than Bug also wants to be carried like a baby! Gotta love these kids!

Happy Birthday Party...A Sideways Picture Posting

We celebrated Bug's birthday on Saturday with family and a few of the kids friends. We lucked out and had great weather. The party was a bit smaller than we've had at previous birthday parties but it was the perfect size the boys had a blast. Bug's best friend L that he's known since they were born was there in addition to L's sister K who is Roo's best friend. Connor was also there and all of the kids had a blast playing together.

Before everyone arrived the boys had a riot of a good time driving their vehicles around in the back yard and crashing into each other and if you're Bug, into trees!

Once all the boys friends got there they played outside.

Eventually we had the kids eat dinner and then it was birthday cake time. Bug loved his blue airplane cake!

After the kids finished their cake it was present time. Bug loved all the Transformers he got and Roo was amazed every time Bug got another Transformer. Aunt Linda and Daddy spent a lot of time transforming! And Bug figured out the best technique for opening gift bags!

Bug also got other great gifts, like the InnoTab from Grandma and Grandpa, the space station from Grammy and Pop Pop, the very cool talking dinos from Uncle Matt and the balance bicycle and helmet from Mommy and Daddy.

But I think his favorite gift of all was the scooter he got from the Bloobs. He spent the rest of the evening riding his scooter around with his helmet on, only to take breaks to make sure nobody played with his new toys!

And how cute are Bug and L playing under the desk!

Oh, and did you notice that he wore his new Transformers pajamas the entire day!

Don't Blow Out My Candles!

Last night we celebrated Bug's 3rd birthday. I made cupcakes for him to take to school and made a mini cake with the extra batter. When we got home from school I asked Bug if he wanted spaghetti night or cake for dinner. Cake was it, shocker I know!

We all sang happy birthday and Roo blew out the candles. Bug was not a happy camper. So we sang happy birthday again and Bug blew out his candles.

Roo wanted to give him his gift on his birthday, so he opened his gift from Roo and was delighted that it was a big Optimus Prime. Mommy and Daddy gave him Transformers pajamas and he wore them the rest of the night.

Happy Birthday to our sweet Love Bug!

Happy 3rd Birthday Love Bug!

Wow, it's hard to believe that our sweet little Love Bug is 3 today! Happy 3rd Birthday Bug, we love you!

Ear Tubes

This morning Bug had a new set of ear tubes put in. His first set lasted well over a year and made a huge difference so after his second ear infection in his right ear, which seems to be the problematic ear, we decided on a second set of tubes. When I was asking our pediatrician whether or not she recommended them, she didn't even let me finish the sentence and said definitely yes unless we want to see here once a month this winter.

We got up early and got ready and got Bug up and headed to the surgery center. We got there and they took us back almost immediately. We had several different nurses come in and review what was going to happen, confirm who he was and confirm his various allergies. The doc arrived a few minutes late, this time as expected since he was late last time too, and they took him back for surgery. Fifteen minutes later he was back and a few minutes later they went over the discharge papers and we headed home.

I think we left the house at 630 and were back by 830!

They said everything went smoothly and that he definitely fought them when they were trying to put him under. That's our Bug!

When he came out of surgery and back to us he was really calm and wanted his balloon the nurse made for him, so they had to go back and get that. After that we headed home.

He's napping now and has been for about 3 hours. When he wakes up we'll have to do something fun before Roo and Daddy get back home!

It's always good to get surgery over with, no matter how short it is, it's still disconcerting when your child is having anesthesia.

Adventures in Potty Training....

Bug is starting to get more interested in the potty. When he was at the sitters we discussed having him start potty training and I was going to send pull ups for him but as soon as we decided to send him to school we decided to hold off. We knew that potty training was a big part of what the kids would learn in the 2's room. After his first week he started coming home with lots of stamps on his hands. Turns out Bug is very motivated by stamps and was doing great going pee in the potty. He started to occassionally want to pee in the potty at home too, which was great. I went and got him a pack of Buzz Lightyear underwear, to which he responded "I wear diapers." Hmm.....so he's continuing to do great peeing in the potty, waking up from most naps dry and showing even more interest at home. The school asked that I bring in pull ups for him since he was doing so well. I pulled a few out of the pack to save for at home. Doesn't look like he's used any from the pack at school or home and we're still getting the same "I wear diapers answer."

Peeing in the potty is great but getting him to poop in the potty, now that would be awesome! I've been asking him for a while now to poop in the potty and over the weekend he tried a few times but relented that "it's so hard," to poop in the potty.

On Sunday the kids were brushing their teeth and getting dressed and Bug proudly walked in with a towel in his hand. What was that I was looking at, was that what I really thought that was? Yes indeed, Bug was so relaxed brushing his teeth on their red stool that he pooped on the stool while brushing his teeth! Too cute and he was so proud. We told him that he was doing great and to try to get it in the potty the next time.

Yesterday morning while we were getting ready for work, the kids were in the bathroom brushing their teeth. I noticed that Bug was hiding behind the shower curtain and asked him to try to poop in the potty if he needed to go poop. He took off his diaper and I helped him on the potty and he pooped on the potty! We were all very proud of him, even bubba Roo.

It's funny, Bug insisted on wiping himself, though I made sure he was clean after his effort as opposed to Roo who for the longest time insisted that we wipe him. It'll be nice to have 2 potty trained kids in the house, but we're not rushing Bug into underwear or pull ups, he'll eventually tackle that part when he's ready.

Pumpkin Time at School

The kids preschool enjoys making pumpkining as I like to call it fun for the kids. Roo's class went on a field trip to Belvedere Plantation to go pumpkin picking and Bug's class did pumpkin picking in the field at the school. Both classes went on a tractor ride at the school as well.

Roo's field trip to Belvedere got cancelled when it was originally schedule be luckily there was enough time left in pumpkin season to go on the field trip the following week. We had a blast on the field trip and spent the rest of the day hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa.

Bug's class picked pumpkins together in the field at school and once I scan the picture, I'll post the picture of him picking his pumpkin. He was really proud and happy and seemed to have a great time with his friends.

The school has pictures of all the kids on the tractor, I'll have to see if I can scan those in as well. All in all though, they're having a great fall and loads of fun at school!

Mom of the Year-NOT!

Yesterday Bug and I were at Wegman's doing our weekly grocery shopping and getting everything we needed for Uncle Matt's Oktoberfest birthday party. Bug is my grocery shopping buddy, he's a lot of fun to bring along and is usually really good the entire shopping trip. He always gets something when he comes with me and we just have a nice time together. Bug usually likes to spend a portion of the shopping trip in the lower basket of the cart before he moves to the seat by where I'm pushing the cart where he'll usually lay his head down and rest.

Yesterday he was trying something new and was stacking his yogurts in the bottom portion of the cart while he was sitting there. He was very excited about his stacking and so was I. As we were walking down the beer isle to find the Paulner Oktoberfest for Uncle Matt, Bug stood up in the cart. I immediately told him to sit and stopped the cart to go over to sit him down. Before I even stepped to the side to go to him, he flipped off the back of the cart and landed head first on the back of his head on the floor. It was horrible.

A Wegman's employee witnessed the whole thing and rushed over to help me. Luckily, Bug didn't even have a bump. He was definitely not at all happy about it and I was able to calm him down by tucking him into my shoulder and holding him closely and snugly. The store took an accident report and gave us ice and asked if there was anything else we needed. Bug wouldn't let me put the ice on his head or even touch it and kept asking to go home. I asked them if I could pick up my groceries later and they stored my cart in the beer fridge.

I called Daddy on the way home to tell him what happened and started to cry. Bug said not to cry and said "I am so sorry."

When we got home, Bug walked up the stairs and happily told Daddy that he banged his head on the floor. After Daddy checked him out, he was super excited to tell Roo what happened. He told Roo and Roo told him "don't worry, I'll take you to the hospital whenever you want." These boys are a riot. I felt like puking the whole time because it was just such a terrible fall and I kept reliving it in my head.

I did have to go back to the store and pick up the groceries and finish the grocery shopping. Whew, what a stressful day!

Potty Time for Bug

Bug has been getting interested in the potty recently. He's really enjoying going potty using the little baby potty before he gets into the bath. On occasion he'll ask to go at other times. We're not putty any pressure on him. Roo didn't potty train until he was 3 1/2 but he did it all at once, day and night and very rarely had an accident; I can probably count on one hand the number of accidents he's had. Bug has a long way to go before he'll be night time potty trained since he still goes to bed with a cup of milk. So, we'll go with the flow. The daycare he's starting at focuses on potty training in their 2 year old room, so hopefully it'll really build his confidence and interest and he'll want to wear the cool Buzz Lightyear underwear we got him!

First Busy Fall

This fall will be a little different than our autumn's of the past. We have scheduled ourselves to be pretty busy. Roo started at his new preschool last week and has enjoyed it so far, they start their actual preschool portion of the day this week. I'm hoping he continues to build on what he learned last year and gets even more confident with his hand writing. Oh, and that he includes the number 13 when he counts.

We also have both boys in sports. Roo is in soccer for the first time in a couple of years and is on his friend Connor's soccer team. So far he really enjoys it. His practices are on Thursday's with games on Saturday mornings.

I took Bug to Roo's last practice and couldn't keep him off the field. The only soccer available to kids under 3 is the tots soccer at the field house. So I signed him up and he had his first session this past Saturday. He loved it! He absolutely loves kicking and dribbling the ball and had fun participating in each of the different activities. The kids were all worn out by the end and I thought for sure he wanted to go home but instead wanted to continue with our normal Saturday trip to Wegman's. He took a good nap that afternoon!

And today Roo had his first swim lesson. He was so funny in the car on the way there asking me to stay with him the entire time because he's shy. We got there and they were put into groups based on their swimming ability so he and one other little girl were with one instructor and life guard. I left and exercised a little and then came back his his instructor nodded to me that he was doing great. He was so happy, smile on his face the entire time he was in the pool. It was great and hopefully it'll continue to go well!

I'm excited for our busy fall, it's great to have the kids learning new things and participating in group activities. Stay tuned for pictures from these fun times!

Little Superheros

A picture from earlier this summer!

Food Allergy and Fever

If I haven't mentioned it on here before, we've been trying to figure out Bug's random fevers for a while now. He had some last summer and then they seemed to go away after Baxter moved out. He started getting them again this summer, especially when we were in Maine and many evenings after playing outside. After lots of blood work and our pediatrician consulting with our food allergist at Hopkins, the answer is as we suspected and hoped for....yes, some food allergy kids get random fevers, especially in the evening and no, they're not sick. This was great news and we're excited to have an answer.

Fever Me a Vacation

The title pretty much sums it up. We went to see Owl's Head Light on Friday morning and after we got home Bug just started crying in the car. I laid down with him on the couch and could feel him getting warmer and warmer. We both dozed off a bit and I have to say it was amazing dozing off with a great ocean view. When we woke up he was burning up and had a fever. We gave him Motrin and later that day when he woke up from his nap his fever was 104.3. Nice! So we called the ped's office that we saw in Rockland earlier that week and they saw us immediately. Shocker, no other symptoms but the fever. The doc was great though, said to give him a call anytime, day or night, if we needed anything. We alternated Tylenol and Motrin through the night and he woke up fever free the next morning. We have an idea that this is similar to last year when he got high fevers every 6 weeks or so which seemed to go away a few months after Baxter moving out. We're going to follow-up with his ped this week. For as bad as he was feeling, he did really well on the trip home!

Eye Boo Boo #1

yes, that means there's an eye boo boo #2.

Bug was fighting back when Roo was antagonizing him and scratched him in the eye. The ped's office was able to get him into the eye doctor and the doc did a good eye exam and said it's just a scratch and that it would be better the next day. It was. The best part of the eye doctor was when the doctor showed Roo all the different pictures and then made them smaller and smaller. One picture was a hand, Roo called it a cow. The doc said, let's call it a hand. When we were leaving, the doc said, great job Roo, lets clap our cows....gotta love a doc with a sense of humor.

Bug woke up from his nap yesterday and his right eye is really red in the white portion of his eyeball near his nose. It looks like it's spreading a bit but it doesn't seem to be bothering him. I talked to the pharmacist and the nurses line today and will either take him to a local ped where we are or if we can't get in we'll go to the "doc in a box." Either way, we'd be happier with it being looked at. Our top two guesses of what may have happened are that he's allergic to Miss Sassy the cat at Grammie's or possibly the Maine state bird, aka the black fly. Hopefully it's allergy and not any sort of infection. I'm trying not to think that this is karma for him scratching Roo.

Karma Is...

I meant to post this 2 weeks ago when this happened because it was perfect karma for a 2 year old. Bug had a lollipop and was having a temper tantrum about something. During his tantrum, his lollipop got stuck in his hair. How's that for karma!

**no hair was lost in the lollipop removal process

Snuggle Time

Every morning, Bug wakes up early. He's usually up before 0600, sometimes way too early like 0400 but on a good day is 0530. When he wakes up he stands on the end of his bed and cries until I hear him and come and get him. I'm not quite sure why he cries and have thought about telling him to start yelling for us to come. I'd rather wake up to his 2 year old yelling voice than crying. Anyway, I got in his room and get him and turn off his noise, yes he still sleeps with white noise, maybe another thing we need to work on. He hand me both of his blankies, his B doggie, his cup and makes sure he has a good nuk. I throw the blankies over my shoulder and once I pick him up he snuggles into my shoulder. I take him into our bedroom and put him down on the bed and he runs over and says good morning to daddy and gives him a kiss. While he's doing that, I fill his cup up with his morning coffee; his soy milk supplement, really...but you'd think it's his morning coffee. I open the doors to our armoire and daddy turns on Disney Junior. I get back in bed and bug usually snuggles in with me. He lays his head on my chest and I wrap my arms around him and sometimes hold one of his feet; when he's in a foot holding mood, we'll even switch which foot I'm holding. On a good day, he'll lay there for a long while and daddy and I will usually fall back to sleep. I've caught Bug falling back to sleep once in a while but when he startles awake, he gets a bit antsy, so it's usually better for him to stay awake. Buzz Lightyear sleeps in our room on a pile of pillows. Somewhere along the way in the morning Bug will ask for Buzz, so daddy gets Buzz and we resume snuggle positions. At some point Bug will switch and lay on daddy and I'll cover him with his blankets. During the week, Timmy Time is on a 0530, though sometimes they change the programming which gets confusing. When Timmy Time is over, Bug always says he wants more and I'll say to him we'll see what's on next, and the quiet time usually continues. This may very well be my favorite part of the entire day. We do our best to not rush through this time and sleep or relax and enjoy it as much as possible. There's really no better way to start your day! And on the weekends, sometimes we'll get a bonus....Roo!! Roo sleeps in....for those of you without kids, that means as late as 0830 but 0730 is pretty normal for him. Family snuggle time is awesome, I wouldn't trade it for anything, a good consolation prize for the early rising!!

We Love our Mama!

Buggie Likes to Dance