Peek A Boo!

 Love this boy more than I ever imagined possible.

The pharmacy knows me all too well.

And these are the days of our lives.... :)

Took my baby boy BACK to the doc this morning.  We have ANOTHER ear infection - in both ears again.  2nd double ear infection in 1 month.  Here's the story:  Feb 3rd - Ethan is diagnosed w/ double ear infection when I took him in for a strange rash on his back and chest.  Feb 17th - took him back to the doc for follow up appt - doc said his ears looked "better" but still "dull" - but ear infection is gone.  Tuesday night (Feb 22) - Ethan went to bed fine - but around 800p, he started screaming... on and off - not really able to calm down despite rocking, holding, feeding, baby orajel, teething tablets, IBU, warming the room, burping, etc etc.... for 3 hours!  Ryan and I were stumped at what was wrong w/ him but kept assuming it was his teeth since he was obviously in some pain!  Finally, around 1100pm - he fell asleep on my shoulder and slept for about 2-3 hours, woke crying again, etc - we did this all night.  Then, Wed - he seemed happy and fine.  I noticed a little weird fluid in his ears but it was just a little and I thought maybe he was just waxy.  He slept perfect Wed night.  Thursday - a little fussy and at one point, I noticed a 100degree fever.  Then, around noon - I saw a LOT of fluid coming out of his ear!  I went and got a baby q-tip and it filled the q-tip.  It was a clear-yellowish color and I saw that he had this gross yellow crusty stuff all over the inside of his left ear.  I called Ryan and he googled it and said it could have been from his ear infection before... Being the worry wart mom that I am, I made an appt for the doc for this morning.  Sure enough - doc saw an ear infection and said his little ear drum in his left side had a tiny healing hole in his ear drum.... Likely, he burst his ear drum on Tuesday night and that's why he was soooooo upset.  Until it "bursts" they go through a TON of pain and once it does, it's so much relief.  He said that the probable reason for Ethan's 2 back-to-back ear infections is from all the spitting up!!!  So now, I'm thinking that had I not taken him off the Prevacid for those few days, this wouldn't have happened!  CRAP!  Anyway, the doc put him on a different type of antiobiotic than the other doc did last time (Last time he was on Amoxicillin/Augmentin and this time he's on Omnicef/Cefdinir)- he said this one is less likely to cause the diarrhea.  He also prescribed some ear drops to give Ethan twice per day in the ear that had the burst ear drum.  The medicines in the picture are all medicines Ethan is CURRENTLY taking! My poor guy - he hasn't really NOT had something going on w/ him for more than a few weeks of his entire life.  Yet, he's still so happy almost all the time!  What a trooper!

My BIG Boy!

My handsome boy is really growing up! He makes me smile about 10000 times a day! I absolutely love just watching him when he doesn't know I'm watching - he's so incredible. I know every mom thinks that their child is amazing and I'm no exception. Jackson is a true LOVING child. He is actually quite sensitive too. He wants happiness all around him and really cares if people are upset. He is definitely a Daddy's Boy when Daddy is around... but if not, he's all momma's! :) He is extremely helpful and LOVES when I ask him to help me. He is so good with Ethan and asks about him when he's not around. He is truly so fun and happy and energetic. He loves everyone he comes into contact with and has quite possibly the most beautiful smile I have ever seen. They always tell you that when you have a child, it's a different kind of love than you could imagine... I don't think I understood just what those feelings would look like... but when I look at my sweet boy, I think my heart might explode with how much I love this child. I hope and pray that time will slow down and give me more of a chance to really soak him in. He's just incredible... even with yogurt all over himself. :-)

Playdate with Calliope!!!

Yesterday, my friend Nicole came over with her baby girl Calliope!  Baby CC is only 6 days younger than Ethan and totally showing him up!  She's been sitting alone for awhile and can go from the belly to sitting AND is totally crawling!!  She's totally precious and adorable and we love when Ethan gets to have playdates too!  So glad you guys came over!  :-)

 And my friend Katie came over to see the kiddos!

Aren't they precious!?

well, maybe not!

So this picture says it all! I talked to the doc about taking Ethan off the Prevacid so as of last Thursday, he was off.... Well, as of today - Tuesday - he's back on. :) It's ok though! I wanted to give it a try and I totally learned that he still needs it. He never really stopped spitting up but since we got off the medicine, he's been spitting up a lot more - quite a bit more. Plus, he's had 2 huge meltdowns, for ultimately no reason! The meltdowns were so bad that it took a LONG time to calm him down - and in the end, I just had to lay him down and shut the door. I think maybe he was just in some pain... Other than that, he's been eating SOOOO much better! He is putting down between 24-28 oz/day!!! That's SO incredible for Ethan! AND - it's not a fight for him to eat, at all! Loving it. I haven't started back on the regular baby food yet - doc said he may just not be ready and that's ok too! He's still sleeping like a pro! I usually put him down about 700p - 730p and he is usually quiet all night long! He wakes about 700am - 800am in the morning. He will occasionally wake up around 500am and lay there and play with the 11 paci's in his bed and cry for a minute or two and then go back to sleep! He is days away from crawling... he's on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth and then scoots. He is so super duper happy! He's in LOVE with his big brother and the kitties! He is just total perfection. :)

Tidmouth Sheds

So Jackson has a lot of trains... and sadly, he usually like them to all be scattered all over his train table... So I convinced him to make a special spot for all the trains that he doesn't use or isn't playing with at the time!  See below - we call this Tidmouth Sheds (where the trains sleep).  :-)

Big Smiles!

We L*O*V*E Lisa!

I truly have the greatest friends/neighbors!  I really really do!  I think one thing I love the most about our 4-pack gang is that we truly do love each others' kids like they are our own.  I'm so thankful!

I took these cute pics of Lisa with the boys recently... They make me smile.

I love how cute he looks in these shades - and he is always sticking his tongue out!  So funny!

This is Holiday's bike but Jackson wanted to ride... This is his first attempt on a bike like this.

Thanks Lisa.  We love you.

Rolley Poley.

We are honestly days away from officially crawling.  He literally goes all over the place!  He rolls and rolls and goes and goes... he's so curious!  I've started really trying to make sure all the "small" stuff is out of Jackson's reach so they don't land on the floor... It's scary to think that maybe Jackson would drop something small and Ethan would put it in his mouth so I have to be ON POINT watching these little guys! 

I'm not ready AT ALL for him to be mobile... Where did my baby go!?

Today's Findings.... :)

This morning was our scheduled follow up appt for Ethan - to check on his ears and rash.  We called and added Jackson to the visit just to make sure there wasn't a bladder infection.  So we were there for two grueling hours... Jackson was a trooper!  He woke up this morning "clean and dry!" and got his lemonade.  I bragged and bragged on him and he was so proud of himself.  He peed in a cup at the doctor's office and thought that was pretty darn cool.  Turns out he does NOT have a bladder infection.  There are few possible causes the doc said.  1 - the most likely cause - is that he is holding it so much during the day that he is tightening his little muscles so much from holding it... then when he falls into that deep sleep (esp when he hasn't had a nap) he releases that and oops... The other possibilities were that he may be reacting to not getting as much attention (since Ethan had his infection and was getting more of my attention than normal)...and that he's just still learning (which is definitely true! he's only been potty trained for 4 mos).  So since Ryan and I are in agreement that we are not going to put pull-ups on him whatsoever (we decided that when we started potty training him in the beginning) - we decided to try to keep Jackson encouraged and not push any guilt or punishment or discipline on him.  He is still learning and I'm CONVINCED that he is not doing this deliberately.  We are going to take the fluids away a little earlier than before and really encourage frequent potty trips - rather than holding it during the day.  Most importantly, I want Jackson to be proud of the progress he HAS made and encourage more good and positive behavior.  He is probably the sweetest, kindest and most loving little almost-3-year-old that I've ever seen in my life and I'm SOOOOO thankful that God has trusted me to take care of him and guide him in the right direction.  I know the potty training thing is a learning process for a long time and that's what life is all about - learning as we go.  :) 

On Ethan:  ear infection has mostly cleared up... he still had some "dull" irritation but doc said it just looks like ears that are almost finished healing.... he prescribed some claritin-type medicine that we use for Ethan since we can't seem to get rid of the congestion, running nose, excema and possibly even that weird rash that still comes and goes.  He said there's a possiblity he is allergic to dust mites and maybe we should get a hypo allergenic mattress cover for Ethan's crib - also there is a CHANCE he may be allergic to the cats.  I pray that's not the case but my mom wanted me to ask - Doc said he is still too small to check on that- not til he's 3 can we know for sure.. hopefully everything will clear up on it's own and that's not the case. 

Progress Report:  My little nearly 7 mo old weighs in at a whopping 18 pounds!!!  I can believe it - he's almost too heavy to carry in the car seat now!  It almost feels like my arm is breaking!  Doc said I can take him off the Prevacid and see if he seems ok and if so, I can keep him off it.  That's great news to me because I'm not a fan of my kids being on antibiotics - esp this long.  He also said if I feel so inclined, I can attempt to try Ethan on another type of formula (he's currently on Similac Sensitive) that IS milk based - just to see if it's ok.  I am going to get off the Prevacid first - give it a month and if that's ok, we'll try moving to a regular formula.  Can't move too fast!  Lastly on Ethan - he said that if Ethan is throwing up every time he eats solid food w/ a spoon (like he is), then he may not be ready for solid foods and that that's OK!!  So we're going to hold off til he officially turns 7 mos and try again.  Jackson - well, this little dude FINALLY went over the 30 pound mark!!!  He's actually eating better than he ever has and seems to have a better appetite that he's had in the past.  He is SUCH a little blabber mouth - wonder where he gets that.  :)

On that note, I'm saying good night.

Frustration is the name of THIS game.

So it began last Tuesday night.  One week and 2 days ago. 

Jackson has been potty trained officially since Thanksgiving.  Everyone always seemed so surprised that in all of our potty training obstacles, one thing we never dealt with - not even once - was Jackson peeing in his bed.  That is until last Tuesday night. I had tried to lay Jackson down for a nap at 130p - mistake cuz he not only laid up there awake talking to himself in his bed but he never napped whatsoever and finally I gave up and let him come out and play. The next morning, Ryan went up to get him and he actually had peed in the bed!  We thought that was odd and ok since he's still learning how this whole potty on the toilet thing goes... so we dismissed it as something that was inevitable to happen.  However, it happened again on Wednesday night.... AND Thursday night!!  All three times he hadn't gotten a very good nap. Oh and on Wednesday night, I told him if he peed in his bed again, he would only get to drink water and milk all day (he loves lemonade so much - and usually drinks it all day). So then Thursday morning (Ryan was in Palm Beach), I went up and asked him if his bed was "clean and dry" (a phrase we use all the time) - and he said no.  So I changed the sheets again and this time (I'm aggravated by now) I told him that Thomas and Percy and James were very sad and were crying cuz he got them wet and icky.  Well, that made him cry.  I kind of felt bad - but come on!  He hasn't EVER done this - I'm thinking WHAT IS GOING ON!?  I only gave him water/milk all day. So he hated it and barely drank anything all day. I put him to bed - which is usually his daddy. More pee on Friday morning. So Friday, I made sure he got a GREAT nap and again gave him only water and milk. Before I put him to bed, we talked about it a LOT and explained that he absolutely has to keep his bed clean and dry so that thomas, james and percy would be happy and not be sad by him getting them wet and icky.  I really stressed it over and over again.... The next morning, CLEAN!  Saturday morning, CLEAN again!  He was so happy to have lemonade on Saturday and Sunday!  Then, Daddy came home on Sunday.  Daddy bragged and bragged on him for keeping his bed clean and dry.  I chalked up the whole thing to poor naps and getting too sleepy at night that he didn't realize what he was doing.  Well, Daddy put Jackson to bed on Sunday night.  Monday morning, Jackson woke at 600am and went to the gate at his door, yelled for us and peed standing there on floor before we could get upstairs to get him to the potty.  We didn't get onto him about it since he was trying to get our attention... probably couldn't hold it anymore.

Last night:  Ryan put Jackson to bed.  Just like every night, we monitor how much liquid Jackson gets before bed and had cut him off around 630pm...  At midnight, I noticed Jackson was whiny and saw on the monitor that he was doing "downward facing dog" in his bed!  So Ry went up there to check and I heard him say "oh no jackson, your bed is wet and icky."  So we changed the sheets and scolded him a little... He went back to sleep.  500am:  He is crying in his bed.  Went up - he had peed in the bed AGAIN!!!  When he finally woke up the final time at 830am, he seemed geniunely surprised that he had wet the bed earlier.... When I went up, he had a big smile and said "mommy, my sheets are clean and dry."  I had to show him the dirty sheets we still had on the floor and he just seemed like he didn't remember or understand.  We are officially stumped.  I think something is wrong. I have an appt tomorrow for him to get checked for a bladder infection.  He tends to "hold it" a LOT during the day because he's so happy playing w/ his trains he doesn't want to stop and go pee... sometimes, I just see him walking around his train table doing what we call "the pee pee dance" so I make him stop and go w/ me to the bathroom. I actually pray that that is what it is.  I have no idea how to discipline for this or not discipline.  I just don't want to start punishing him if he can't help it.  More to come on this.

The countdown to crawling!

ethan is so close to crawling... besides jackson, he's the busiest little boy i've ever seen!  he just recently started doing "plank" so i know it's really close!  time to start watching what falls on the floor and pull out all of jackson's toys that are not appropriate for ethan!

we're days away!!!

Happy Valentine's Day from Jackson and Ethan!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

My Valentine's Day was spent being SUPER productive - probably my most productive Mother's Day Out day thus far!  I actually can't believe how much I got crammed into 4 1/2 hours!  When we got home, Jackson wanted to look at his Valentines and I let him have 2 pieces of candy.  He chose 2 suckers, of course and felt like the happiest kid around.

I love this pic cuz Ethan is like, what the heck is that!?

 

 I wish this pic didn't come out overexposed cuz I really love it.  :)

 Ethan's First Valentine's Day!

LOOOOOOVE that smile.

Snow Blanket

Well, we got covered with snow again.  This time, there was no getting out of it.  It was DEEP.  I've never, in my life, seen this much snow in Northwest Arkansas.  Crazy.  Anyway, Ryan was itching to get out and play in it since he can't stand being "stuck" anywhere.  So when we opened the door, this is what we saw....

 That's a lot of snow!

Ryan made his way into the middle of the driveway!

We opened the garage and Jackson thought this "snow wall" was totally cool!

Ethan wanted in on the fun too... poor guy was so bundled up, he could barely move.
 Yep, super deep.

Ryan made a "track" for Jackson.

 My sweet warm bundle.

 Yep - this was the beginning of his "snow jump."

 Silly boy.

 

We sat him in his carseat so he could watch the fun... He didn't care for it much.

Is it bad that I'm SOOOO ready for Spring!?