Leave is SO Overrated!

Little Love Bug has had a variety of doctor appointments since he was born. On Sunday he came down with a little cough, by Wednesday it got worse. Mommy took him to the doc on Wednesday and she couldn't hear anything. But by Friday, it was worse and he still had a low grade fever. Back to the doc we went and then off to get a chest x-ray. Diagnosis: pneumonia. We're grateful we caught it early enough that he didn't have to go to the hospital. His follow-up is next Friday morning. Mommy is out of sick leave and credit...glad we weren't planning on a vacation this year!

On a lighter note, last weekend Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Matt and Cool Aunt Carol came to visit for Grandpa's birthday. We caught Roo sneaking some birthday cake!

Those Humans....They're so Easy to Fool....

It's not often that Baxter gets an entire blog post about him.....until he proved that maybe he really is smarter than the average dog.

Baxter has a habit, one that we really really love, of barking at things that go past the house. He'll bark at the little old lady walking her dog, or the parents strolling their baby down the street, or the kids walking outside....you get the idea. We usually go to the door to see what he's barking at, it gets him to stop barking, and sometimes it's quite entertaining to see the object that sets off his bark. A lot of times, he's barking at nothing...noises can cause a bark too.

So yesterday, Baxter decided to bark. Roo and mommy went to the door to see what he was barking at. We looked and didn't see anything...not a second later, we turned around and there he was eating Roo's pizza.

Yeah, premeditated barking to thief the pizza......hmmm.....old dog, new trick!

Awww....

So mommy missed it, but dada said when he brought the kids to the sitter yesterday, Roo held Love Bug's hand the whole way!

Sillines!

Roo is such a funny little guy. He was chasing Baxter around the house the other night and when he finally got tired he said 'and fall' and fell to the ground. Falling and boo boos are his big thing now. He gets very excited when someone shows him a boo boo. The other night he said 'dada need a boo boo?' Then proceeded to squeeze his cheeks as hard as possible!Roo has dropped his afternoon nap on weekends. He's actually much less grumpy without it and it frees up the entire day to do things; it's nice! However, he still gets a little tired and needs a break now and then. On this day he chose Love Bug's swing as his resting location. And as we all recall, Roo was very addicted to the swing when he was an infant.....we didn't let him stay in it for long, would hate to have to break that habit again!

Love Bug rolled from back to tummy yesterday for the first time. We're very excited for him! He is such a happy little guy and loves playing on the floor. Mommy caught him trying to go fishing for his toy the other day! He was trying so hard to catch it in his mouth!The boys birthday presents came early this year. Mommy had a coupon and we wanted to get the boys a playset. Roo loves to slide so we thought it was time to get him his very own big boy slide. So Dada spent the entire weekend putting together the playset and it looks great. The slide is so much fun, mommy can't wait for it to warm up so she can go on it more. Roo loves it and actually closes his eyes when he starts to go down. This should make for a fun filled summer! Now all we need is the sun and some warm weather!

Playtime Fun!

We've been having lots of fun the last few weeks just playing. The weather is totally confusing, we're not sure if it's winter or spring on any given day; but that doesn't matter, we're all having a good time just playing around.

4 Months Old

Wow, it's hard to believe that Love Bug turned 4 months old today! He's such a good baby and doing exciting new things every day. He's getting pretty good at grabbing his feet with his hands and loves sucking on his hands now. He's as happy as can be, and considering all the issues with his skin, we're pretty amazed that he's so laid back. He's been waking up happy and chatty in the mornings and always greets us with great big smiles when we pick him up from the sitters. And he loves watching his brother and dog run around the house and play...we're pretty sure he can't wait to join them.

Happy 4 months Love Bug!

Blame it on the Groundhog!

So just a couple of weeks ago we were enjoying the spring time warmth and going for strolls around the neighborhood. It was nice, no jacket, boots or gloves required. But then the silly groundhog had to declare 6 more weeks of winter. We got some great snow last night into today and best of all we got the day off of work.....mommy must have done enough laundry to satisfy mother nature....laundry is like adult homework!We tried to get Roo to play outside first thing this morning. He would have nothing of it. He hated having to put on boots and of course argued about putting on his heavy winter coat and hat. And lets not even talk about his mittens. So he went outside with mommy for just a few minutes and then quickly returned inside for some hot cocoa.Later, dada went outside to shovel the driveway and somehow mommy was able to get Roo all dressed for outside, mittens and all (though mommy cheated and let him wear his fleece instead of his heavy winter coat). He wasn't so sure about the snow at first and he didn't like that he couldn't actually hold things very well with the mittens on. Eventually the mittens came off and he proceeded to be daddy's little helper and helped shovel the driveway and had lots of fun in the snow.Love Bug also got a chance to see the snow. He hung out with mommy for a few minutes and enjoyed looking around at the pretty trees and watching dada and Roo shovel.
It was great having an extra day to play with the kiddos. And for Baxter, what a special treat it is for him when it snows. He is definitely a snow dog and loves every moment of playing outside in the snow, having snow shoveled on him, and eating the snow. Now that we've enjoyed the snow, we're ready for the warm weather.

Bananas for Baxter

Whew......the past 4 weeks have been tough. Love Bug has always had some cradle cap and a crusty ear. Well it all got worse and he broke out with eczema head to toe. Then he started waking up every 2 hours at night because he was so itchy. Poor little guy. So off the the pediatricians office we went and then began our experimenting with different bath and body products. Well, after going to the pediatrician almost every week since he turned 3 months old and eliminating dairy from mommy's diet we thought, oh no, he's allergic to Baxter.

So last Monday we took Baxter to the kennel. We cleaned the house from top to bottom. Had Stanley Steamer clean the carpet and couches. And then guess what....the next day Love Bug broke out again. What could it be? So mommy eliminated eggs, chocolate and nuts (the dairy free granola bars had all sorts of nuts in them). We also made an appointment with a pediatric allergist.

Today we took Love Bug to the allergist. He was so good. Everyone in the office was also incredibly nice. His appointment went really well. They were actually able to do a skin test to see what he's allergic to.

The results: milk, clams, almonds (remember the granola bars), and bananas!

Bananas? Really, that's so odd. But we now know not to give him bananas, which also happen to be a very common first food. And did you know bananas can be related to a latex allergy? We're going to ask about that at his next appt.

Roo loves bananas, has one every single morning when we leave the house. We'll have to worry about how we'll manage that later on. For now he can keep eating his bananas.

And Baxter, we're going to pick him up from the kennel tomorrow. Hopefully he enjoyed his all expenses paid vacation.

Oh, and if you happen upon this blog and wonder what skin products have worked best for the eczema, because it really is a battle of trial and error...we've found that applying either Vaseline or Aquaphor Ointment and then putting on the cortisone/Eucerin mix has worked very well for the itching and healing. We're using Cetaphil for his soap/shampoo.

Welcome home B, we missed you!

3 Months and 2 1/2 and a Pet Named Pet

Love Bug just turned 3 months old this week. It's hard to believe how fast he's growing. And Roo turns 2 1/2 next week. It's hard to believe that earlier this year we were worried about how much he was talking...now he's talking up a storm and his words are so much more understandable.

Love Bug decided to go through a growth spurt this last week. It's been a bit rough for mommy because he likes to eat his extra at night instead of during the day. In fact the sitter said that he doesn't eat much at all during the day. He seems to eat less than Roo did when he was a baby, but still at 3 months he's starting to wear his 6-9 month clothes!

Love Bug has also hit a few milestones. Not only does he smile all the time, he talks up a storm and he laughs now too. He can hold his hands together and even do little baby push ups. You wouldn't believe that even just last week he would only be happy on his tummy for a few moments, now he doesn't mind being on his tummy for a few minutes. Soon enough he'll be rolling over.

Love Bug is still spending his nights in the swing. Mommy tried him in the crib last night and he did ok for his first stretch of sleep but couldn't fall back to sleep after he got up. Tonight mommy decided that she's too tired to even attempt the crib. Maybe when he's 4 months old!

Roo also appears to have gone through a growth spurt. He looks taller and a bit leaner..this would probably explain all the eating the past couple of weeks. Roo has also started to show a lot more affection towards his little brother. He makes sure to give him a big hug and kiss every night before bed. He hugs are great too, they come with him saying awwwwww......

Roo also got a new pet, a male beta that he named Pet. Mommy and daddy got it for him while we were out and about skipping work one day. We called Uncle Matt to get help with a name. We all decided Nemo would be a good name....easy to say because it sounds like Elmo. But, Roo had other ideas and likes to call him Pet.

We also finally made the trip up to see Grandma and Grandpa. We had a good visit and the boys got to see their Bubbie (Great Grandma). When Roo woke up the next morning the first thing he said was "where's Uncle Matt?" We're pretty sure Uncle Matt is his favorite person! It also occurred to us the other day that Love Bug is going to look up to Roo.............