Year in Review...

Stolen, as it is every year, from my sister-in-law...

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
Became a mommy of two!

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I never make resolutions, though I guess we did kind of resolve to get to church more regularly, and we made great strides toward that, though slacked off quite a bit after Simon was born. You know, sleep deprived and all...

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
I feel like everyone I know gave birth this past year. My sister-in-law, Mandy, Meghan, Beth, Jill, Leslie, Val, Jenn, Tracy... did I leave anyone out?

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Our kitty cat, Milo

5. What countries did you visit?
Sadly, none... I don't even think we managed the Epcot ones this past year.

7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
May 11th. :)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Blogging through labor! Well, that, and actually creating and birthing a healthy child. But I was pretty proud of the live blogging. ;)

9. What was your biggest failure?
Getting Ben's binky away from him... I'm such a softie. Now we're shooting for his fourth birthday.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Lots of puking, lots of acid reflux, a stomach virus that required a very painful shot at L&D, several colds and sinus infections... bleh.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Hrm... gotta go with the Baby Bjorn. It was a lifesaver!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Tom, who put up with me being pregnant again and was always at the ready to help with whatever he could after Simon was born.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
:X Several of you close to me can probably guess the answer to this one...

14. Where did most of your money go?
Retiling the bathroom, paying for the birth our new little one whose hospital bills were astronomical compared to the $11 we paid for our first child's birth.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Fooling people about whether Simon was a boy or a girl... ;) (for what it's worth, I've given it lots of thought, and I do think the next one will remain a secret as well)

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Elton John, "Blessed"

17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
much happier... it helps that I can eat without puking...that goes a long way toward happiness in my book

18. Thinner or fatter?
Thinner, given that I was four (five?) months pregnant this time last year!

19. Richer or poorer?
Probably unchanged... though my t-shirt shop did extremely well this year and enabled me to pay for some house projects I really wanted to do.

20. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Relishing my time with only one child. My GOSH my life was easy...

21. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Wiping off pee pee off of toilet seats... but I didn't really have a choice. ;)

22. How will you be spending Christmas?
Probably similar to this year, only Simon will be a little more aware of things next year.

23. Did you fall in love in 2007?
I did... with my second little boy.

24. Any one night stands?
Remind to just delete this stupid question next year.

25. What was your favorite TV program?
Lost, when it was on.... and House.

26. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
nah. Hate is too much work.

27. What was the best book you read?
Grace Eventually by Anne Lamott

28. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Regina Spektor

29. What did you want and get?
Another little boy/a little brother for Ben

30. What did you want and not get?
My Duck Shoes that I have asked for for the last five years or so...

31. What was your favorite film of this year?
Dan in Real Life

32. What did you do on your birthday?
I have NO idea... turned 30? Probably went out to eat...

33. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If I had managed to keep Simon's name/sex a secret from more people

34. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Bleh Maternity.

35. What kept you sane?
My blog archives so that I could keep reminding myself when various pregnancy things would end and how temporary pregnancy stuff and newborn phases are...

36. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
None

37. What political issue stirred you the most?
The insurance situation in this country just annoys me

38. Who did you miss?
I always miss people I've lost touch with

39. Who was the best new person you met?
Simon!

40. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007:
Two children (at least the ages mine are) really is ridiculously hard at times. Something has to give and it's usually my house cleanliness standards.

41. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Hey you, you're a child in my head
You haven't walked yet
Your first words have yet to be said
But I swear you'll be blessed

I know you're still just a dream
your eyes might be green
Or the bluest that I've ever seen
Anyway you'll be blessed

And you, you'll be blessed
You'll have the best
I promise you that
I'll pick a star from the sky
Pull your name from a hat
I promise you that, promise you that, promise you that
You'll be blessed

I need you before I'm too old
To have and to hold
To walk with you and watch you grow
And know that you're blessed

Neverending...

Based on the clinginess, the return to lack of sleeping, the protesting when being laid on his back, the poor eating, and the ridiculous amount of snot, I'd guess Simon now has another ear infection thanks to the week and a half of grossness that RSV brought us. The poor baby can't catch a break. It also occured to me the other day when I was pondering how quiet he is (while he does babble here and there, for the most part he is very, VERY quiet... I think unusually so for a 7-month old), that it probably has something to do with the fact that he has had two ears full of fluid for the past two months. Part of it is probably just his generally quiet personality, but I'm certain that not being able to hear well is a factor. :( And that makes me sad... this poor baby just thinks being sick is a way of life at this point.

I really want to get him the ear tubes a.s.a.p. because I saw how quickly they turned Ben around... no more constant snot! No more ear infections! No more antibiotics! And I don't think it's a coincidence at all that about two weeks after the tubes went in, he started talking nonstop and much more intelligibly. (prior to the tubes, some of his word pronunciations actually sounded like that of a deaf person)

But here the problem. Well, there are several, actually.
1) He can't get the tubes until he is healthy. We can't seem to get him healthy! He hasn't even been able to get his six-month vaccinations yet!

2) For the surgery he'd have to not have anything to eat past midnight the night before. He still wakes up to eat sometimes in the middle of the night. To NOT feed him then would mean hours of pitiful screaming.

3) He's so young. The tubes are only supposed to last a year or so (though Ben's are still in)... this means there's a HUGE likelihood we'd have to have it done more than once because he won't have grown out of the drainage issue by the time the first set of tubes fell out.

So much to ponder... I was doing some research and am wondering if prophylactic antibiotics aren't the way to go (apparently that is a popular option)... since he keeps getting the ear infections because it's cold and flu season and his brother keeps bringing things home, keeping him on constant antibioitics until spring might give him the change to get rid of the current infection and keep away new ones... just until he is a little older and we can do the tubes.

Anyone out there have any btdt experience with a young baby and constant ear infections? Ben was almost two when his started, so it was a different ballgame...

Is It, or Isn't It?

Both times I have given birth there has been one question that family members ask almost immediately after they find out all the vital statistics...

"Is the hair curly?!"

You see, my father's side of the family has a rather strong curly hair gene. (see my dad in Christmas pictures below to get an idea of what I am talking about if you don't know) My dad and all of his brothers have it, two of my cousins have it, my hair is fairly wavy (I straighten it) and my brother's is as well.

Ben fooled us for awhile because his baby hair was very fuzzy and as it grew out, it did curl up at the ends. But now, there is not a trace of a curl to be seen. His hair is as poker straight as it can possibly be. I would LOVE to have his hair... it would save me so much time in the mornings, and so much grief on humid days.

Fast forward to Simon. The little bit of hair he came out with looked curly while it was wet, before they cleaned him up. Then it sort of thinned out and was just blondish brown fuzz for awhile... now that it's growing in... well... see for yourself. I'm reserving judgement because, like I said, I was fooled by Ben!




And while I'm posting about my little guy and have a moment, I should quietly note that he has slept 12 hours for the past two nights. Ahhhh! I'll savor it as long as it lasts... because it's probably just a fleeting thing...

Also, is this not one of the cutest pictures of him EVER? It was one of those perfect accidental photographic moments...

Heh.

Benjamin was recounting Christmas to us and said that when he came down the stairs Christmas morning, he "mistletoed". I think this is the Christmas version of tip-toeing. ;)

Didn't See That One Coming!

I took Simon to Gymboree today (for the first time in WEEKS, thanks to various illnesses and school obligations).

As we got in the circle for the start of the class, I stood him up to look at one of the other babies. He was focused on her and then something silly the teacher was doing and I noticed he felt strangely stable, so I let go. And he STOOD there... for a good few seconds before I grabbed him because I expected him to just fall over. I have no idea how long he actually would have been able to stand there by himself!

Of course, I've been trying to get him to do it again all afternoon, because I'd swear I imagined it if the other mom hadn't seen it too. At home though, he's always cranning his neck around to look at Ben or something bright or shiny or trying to stoop back down to crawl around. I think the key was that he was focused on something that was straight in front of him.

I have to say, part of me hopes it was a huge fluke of him being just perfectly positioned or something because I did the math in my head and by the only baby skill timeline I have to go by (Ben), he could go from standing like that to taking steps in 2, 2-1/2 months... I suppose it could be a good thing because maybe it would cut down on the bumps to the head from him falling over like he does now...

...but life with two that can run from me? I'm just not sure I am ready for that...

Soooooo...

What's the big hit at your house?

It's actually really hard to tell what the favorite was here because Ben has bounced around all day between pretty much everything he got. There was a particulary amusing moment where he was dressed as a pirate, riding the Fisher Price Smart Cycle and jumping off every 15 seconds to go fix something with his tool set.

He won't even answer the question, "What was your favorite Christmas present?" He gets this overwhelmed look on his face and says, "Nevermind..."

It's actually easier to say what the big flop was... and THAT was most definitely the Leapster handheld game thing we gave him. Yeah, not only does it not work right, but Ben is just completely uninterested in it. And I can't blame him... I tried to play with it last night and it's just annoying and hard to use! It's going back to Amazon a.s.a.p and probably won't be returning.

Your turn! And if you can't answer for your kiddo, how about you? What was your favorite gift? I'm actually having trouble deciding that one myself... I got some really cool stuff this year... I think I'd have to say it's a tie between the
P-touch label maker my mom got me and the ice cream maker my brother and sister-in-law (mostly SIL, I'd guess) got me. And of course, there are the plethora of Yankee candles and ITunes cards which I can never have enough of!

The Annual Toy Purge Has Begun...

Most people who know me at all know I have a rather strict policy as far as how to deal with the influx of toys at Christmas and birthdays.

After reading this, you may decide I am officially insane, but here's the deal: however many toys come in, that same number of toys have to leave... by way of either being given to a charity or by getting stored in the attic. (toys have to earn this right though by passing my stringent Parental Annoyance Test)

Last night began phase I of the A.T.P. First, all new things get moved to their appropriate rooms where they will eventually live.

Today I am working on Phase II. During this phase, the new toys are incorporated into their respective play areas.

We have four places where toys are in our house these days.
-Bedrooms: Each of the boys have a few of their nicest toys (books, toys with tons of pieces like the K'nex Ben just got... d'oh, wooden toys and puzzles)

Living room: Our entertainment center houses another batch of toys. These are things like Legos and Lincoln Logs and other things with lots of pieces that I don't want to have strewn all over the main playroom. There are also some puzzles in here... quiet things we can all play with together on the main floor.

Playroom: A.K.A. the Baby Human Preschool: This is the hub of the toy insanity. I have managed to keep it relatively under control though, despite the best efforts of relatives to wall us in with toys. We have a toybox for the loose toys, a kitchen set that houses all the toy food/appliances/cups/bowls/pots/pans etc, two of those springy hampers, one of which has all costumes for dress up and the other with big cardboard building blocks, and a train table. Smaller things like cars/trains/Star Wars figures and art supplies are in labeled bins on a bookshelf. Ben has learned to appreciate the completely anal toy system almost as much as I have. I reserve some space on the floor for one or two bigger things... trucks, etc. There is also a closet for all the games and a few other bigger things that don't get played with on a regular basis, like the art easel...

Phase III is where the removed toys disappear to wherever their final destination is. Also during Phase III, I reevaluate the toys that are already in the attic with another round of the Parental Annoyance Test (this is a whole post that I 'll get later, btw) and possibly send some of them packing too. The Peekablocks may suffer this fate this year.

Am I ridiculously neurotic? Perhaps. But I figure I'm saving us a few hundred thousant dollars by doing all this... because otherwise? We'd have needed a new house two years ago with three extra rooms just to house all the STUFF.

Gah. I feel like I am in a neverending battle with STUFF.

Christmas: The Finale...

This morning was breakfast at our house with Grandmom, Poppy, Uncle Brandon and Aunt Debbie...
Ben was a little deer in the headlights at first and actually didn't want to have at the gifts, if you can believe that. He opened two things: his little yellow rain boots and yellow raincoat and then stopped completely for a half hour until our company arrived. Simon busied himself by crawling among the paper and bows and chasing down digital cameras.

The scene before chaos ensued...


The boys coming down the stairs


Deer meets headlights


Simon letting big brother help open his presents


Ben got his coffee maker! (and began playing barrista)


And we opened out Elf Shop gifts...
Simon got a figurine and a bath sponge


I got a spatula and knife


Tom got a screwdriver!


After that, it was off to Nanee and Paps for more gifts and dinner... :)

Among a great many other things... Ben got a clock from Uncle Taylor


And adoctor's costume (and a pirate costume) from Aunt Krystyna and Uncle Marc


Anastasia posed happily for lots of my flash-ridden pictures...



Simon got this fun little walker to keep at Nanee and Pap's and share with his cousin


And tried to eat more ornaments and digital cameras...


...before deciding again that his cousin looked mighty tasty...


Ben is now melting down in his room because he's "not tired." Simon fell asleep at 6:30, so goodness only knows what kind of night we will have... (sigh)

Merry Christmas to all... we here at the Baby Human house are looking forward to a quiet day after. :)

Christmas Part Deux...

Church was hm... interesting. For some reason, I assumed there would be Sunday school... oops, my bad. ;) There wasn't. I hadn't come prepared for such a scenario and Ben was none too pleased. Thankfully, his loud displeasure of the situation was mostly drowned out by the sea of other three-year-olds who were equally annoyed to have to sit in grown-up church. If you were sitting near our pew, you heard such charming things as:
"This church os BORING. I want to go to MY church (Sunday school)!"
"I don't want to sit here. I want to RUN!"
"I don't want to be at BORING church!"
"Make those church people stop TALKING!!!" (the sermon)

Yes, it was quite delightful. Although, there was some comic relief when he decided to sing along (loudly) to both Oh Come All Ye Faithful and Oh Holy Night with his own lyrics, which were comprised of everything he knows about the Christmas story.
"And the innkeeper.... no room!! Mary... Joseph! Baby Jeeeeeeeesus!!! Christ the Looooord!!!" A classic three-year-old moment... for sure. ;)

Then we went to Grandmom and Poppy's, where he was rewarded for his chuch behavior with truckloads of presents.

Here's a photodump from the evening...
Ben and his Aunt Debbie... the giver of "the bike" (see below)


The bike



Poppy and Simon


Uncle Brandon gave Simon the best toy EVER


Ben and his favorite thing so far next to The Bike... his toaster... but then again, he hasn't yet opened his coffee maker. ;)


My mom and I unintentionally dressed as twins...


Family pic


Yaya Joanie and her girls and their guys ;)


Simon and the most obnoxious toy in the history of all toys. Thanks Aunt Debbie! :P

Benjamin is 3-3/4! :)

Benjamin is three months away from four, which I can't believe. I am so glad I have kept up with these updates, (quarterly since he turned three), because looking back at his three-year update, or even 3-1/2, there are so many differences. Things he can do that he couldn't then... just in the last few months, I feel like he has morphed completely into a real life "big kid".

These days, as everyone knows, he has a bit of a clock passion. Thanks to this, he has learned to tell time. I think that's pretty darn cool for a three-year-old! He can also count by fives because of the five-minute incriments on the clock!

He has a wonderfully fun little imagination and one of his favorite things to do (has been for quite awhile), is to dress up. We have a rather large costume assortment in the playroom now, and some days, he'll go through six or seven different identities during the course of the day. Just this morning, he was an astronaut, a train conductor (he decided his bedroom closet combined with a beach chair was both his shuttle and his train), after that he was a storm trooper, Captain Underwear (see below) and then a green army guy from Toy Story. I only figured that last one out because I was laying on the floor playing with the baby and he started trying to pick me up, declaring that "a good soldier never leaves a man behind!"

Here's a good shot of one of the costumes from today... ;)


He's making good progress on learning to write his name and he is SO proud of himself when he makes a letter. This is one of those things that he wasn't interested in as recently as my last update... or even last MONTH, for that matter. He is definitely right-handed, btw. Have I mentioned that? Tom has changed his name to "Not Lefty" now, instead of Lefty.

One of my favorite things about this age is that he such a little PERSON. Not that he wasn't before, but he has such opinions and unique thoughts and likes and dislikes now. For instance, he used to wear whatever I wanted him to... now, he announces, "Not those pants, THESE pants." He has favorite shirts and things he HATES to put on... the same with toys. I love that he has his "treasures" now scattered around his room. If I dare move one of them or put it wher ehe can't find it, I'll hear about it for days. I just love his little treasures and even took pictures of some of them so I'll always remember what they were when he was three and three quaters. ;)

Spot: Spot is a spider plant I grew from a baby sprout at my office when I was working. I brought him home where he was nomadic for awhile until he found a comfy spot in Ben's window. Ben waters him almost everyday. I tried putting Spot elsewhere recently because I got tired of him being constantly knocked off the windowsill... Ben insisted I put him back.


Bear: Bear doesn't get a whole lot of attention, but he ALWAYS has to be on the bed. And he must must MUST not get mixed up with Simon's identical bear.


Books: Ben LOVES his books. He knows almost every one that is on this shelf and where to find it. He likes to keep three or four at a time in his bed at all times... the top shelf books are the favorites...


Froggy: Lovey extraordinaire. Froggy goes almost everywhere with us, even if he does not make an appearance outside of my bag. He is much loved and, by Velveteen Rabbit standards, definitely "real".


Epcot Flags: These used to be Tom's, until Ben claimed them when we cleaned out the office to make it Simon's room. I tried putting them back in the attic once... yeah, no dice. He loves them and knows what country each of them is from!


The alarm clock: There is a story behind why it's a Madeline clock... I'll tell it to you someday.... but for now, just know that this is one of his most prized posessions.


He also loves his lizard watch, which I didn't get a picture of...

He is so full of energy and is always on the go and/or talking nonstop. He is also such a sweet, sensitive little boy. He loves to snuggle and asks to often, which melts my heart. So funny that this little guy who is so active and rough and tumble still loves to cuddle up in my arms.

Of course, we have our moments. He can be quite challenging at times and lately there has been a lot of boundary testing. But it comes with the territory and we're just doing our best to be consistent.

He has gotten (thankfully) more and more "I'll do it myself!" since school has started. This is a welcome change particularly because he finally just goes to the potty on his own without needing help. He even turns on the light, cleans up (mostly), fixes his own pants and washes his hands. He recently figured out that he can get his own cup of water if he uses his stool in the downstairs bathroom, so he is drinking a LOT of water these days... ;)

He is so very NOT shy (something I will never understand) and will engage just about anyone in conversation... for the most part, he is quite the charmer. That is, until people realize he talks nonstop then they usually look to me for help. ;)

He loves school, and it has been so good for him. He looks forward to going everyday and most days I don't even get a goodbye as he darts off into his classroom. He talks about his friends there now and the things he does. I also love when something exciting happens at home or he comes up with something interesting he wants to talk to people about and he'll chatter excitedly on the way to school, saying, "I'll tell Mrs. Poe about my new clock!" or "I'll tell my friend Carly about how I went to Chick Fil A and played on the playground!"

Still adding to this post...but Christmas calls once again...

Christmas Part I...

Last night, we went, along with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and niece, to greatBabby and grandad's house. They were kind enough to accomodate our crowd last night because we both had crazy Christmas Eves going on... and it was nice, because instead of just blowing through to give/open presents and say a quick Merry Christmas, we actually spent a good deal of time just hanging out. :)

Here are a few pictures from our kick-off Christmas event...

Anastasia and Uncle Tom


Krystyna and her much-desired pizza peel!


Simey and his bow


Ben at home with the scooter from Babby. He has been riding it all over the living room since we put it together, BEGGING to go outside... (sigh)


Admiring Babby's really cool clock


Anastasia and her octopus from Babby


Ben collected all the bows


Anastasia and Babby (I had my camera on the wrong setting... drat)


Simon sitting on Babby's chair


Tonight is off to church with my family (once Tom gets off of work because YES, he is working today... how lame is that?!) and then to my parents' Christmas Eve party... back home to put the kiddos to bed and set up the presents for Christmas morning! :)

Mini High School Reunion...

PH folks, recognize these people? ;) I had forgotten how insanely TALL they both are... dang.

Bring it On.

The very last present has been wrapped and tied with a pretty red bow.

Tomorrow begins the holiday visiting.

To Christmas 2007, I say BRING. IT. ON.

In other news, I am meeting two friends from high school tomorrow morning for breakfast. It will be the first time I have seen one of them in six years and the first time I have seen the other one in four years! Any guesses on who they might be oh other-still-in-town high school friends of mine? :) I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to give you the answer tomorrow afternoon! ;)

The Simple Joys (And Frustrations) of Eating Gerber Banana Puffs

Haven't posted video of little dude in awhile... here he is tonight working on learning to pick up Puffs and actually get them to his mouth. Suffice to say, a lot of Puffs ended up on the floor.

Clicky the Pic :-)


p.s. the chimes you hear in the background are Ben looking at clock videos on YouTube... the kid can navigate YouTube like a pro. It's really quite funny! ;) And no, Simon doesn't choke at the end... that's his horrible cough!

Pictures from Yesterday...

Here's the little gift from Ben that his teacher brought by... isn't it sweet? :)




And some pics from the party/pageant:

Picking cookies

Ben and his cookie

The whole class... they are just too cute... :)

Ben and Carly, whose mother introduced Ben to her husband yesterday as her daughter's future husband. LOL! Well, our grandchildren will certainly be cute! :)

Red-eyed angels!