Chop Chop

I've looked back at pictures of Zach when he was about 1.5, and regretted not getting his hair cut sooner; a mullet is just not a good look for a toddler. So when Charlie's hair started growing in the same way, wispy, long on top and in the back, I told myself I would not wait as long this time around. After taking a look at him in his high chair the other morning, I decided that was the day for his first haircut!

^ Before... yikes.

^ He was not thrilled with having the cape put on. But there's nothing like Elmo to distract a little boy.

^After: much better, and a much older-looking boy!

5th Birthday Celebration #2

On Zach's actual birthday, we headed to the Mall of America so he could ride the rides, a favorite activity of his. We met our friends Wendy, Chris, and Vincent so Zach could ride along with a buddy.

^The Wonder Pets ride looks awful - lifts them up and then drops them, bouncing them along the way down. Zach loves it, and thinks he's tough when he doesn't hang on. The bumper cars are always a favorite, of course, there's nothing our boy likes more than crashing into things.


^This little roller coaster is quite fun, even more so if you put your arms in the air! And Charlie got to go on his first ride, driving the trucks. It doesn't show in this picture, but he LOVED it.

In the afternoon Scott took Zach swimming, and then some friends came over for a little party (made even smaller when illness prevented 5 of our guests from attending!). Adam and Sylvia and the Rose family made it for dinner, cake, and some games.



^ Cake #2 was a cookie-dough blizzard cake, Zach's favorite treat. Charlie was also a fan (so was Sylvia, although the look on her face doesn't show it.)




We just played one game; the kids seemed hyped up enough on sugar and were having fun running around as they always do. What is this game we played, you ask? I have no idea what to call it, but you stuff a bunch of prizes inside a kleenex box, tie it to the kids' waists, and have them try to shake everything out. It's quite amusing, especially when Rosie has to give it a try to get all the treasures to come out.

5th birthday celebration #1

Our boy is five years old. And nothing made that sink in faster than watching him at his party on Friday. He had been telling me for months that he wanted to go to one of the local inflatable/bounce house places with some friends. When the time came to make official plans, he had narrowed the list of invites quite a bit, to three boys, one from each of the major areas of his life: Brett, his buddy from school; Payton, his buddy from the neighborhood, and Vincent, his buddy from our old ECFE days.

So off we went...

I didn't take a lot of pictures there, since it was oddly-dark and all the pictures ended up a tad blurry (my apologies for some of these, but the ones like the group shot I just had to include!). After the boys were worn out (and Payton took a little rest on the bench), we headed to our house:

Time for an Angry-Birds themed cookie cake and gift opening, and another cute group picture (l-r Payton, Brett, Zach & Vincent). And then, Zach discovered his dad had set up a scavenger hunt to find his big gift from us. The clues led him all over the house, until he found his way into the basement:

And then it was pinata time!

Looking at Zach in this pack of boys has just really made me realize how much he has grown. He has friends, friends he has picked on his own and likes for their own individual personalities. And they had a lot of fun celebrating his birthday!

5 years ago today

January 21st, 2007

At my 40-week doctor appointment on January 19th, the date was set for my “induction” (due to gestational diabetes) - Sunday, January 21st! We were told to call Methodist hospital that morning at 5:30 AM to confirm there hadn’t been an overnight baby boom, that we could come in at planned. Needless to say, despite knowing I’d need my strength, sleeping that night wasn’t easy, knowing we would finally meet our baby the next day!

Bright and early, I called and was given the green light to come in by 7 AM. After a stop at McDonald’s for breakfast for dad (no eating for mom), we were greeted by a nurse on the maternity ward with “this must be your first time – you’re smiling!”

After getting settled in my room and meeting our wonderful nurse (the first one!) Alyson, we found out I was dilated still right around 2 cm, and was about 60% effaced. Since the baby was pretty low, the doctor decided to use Cytotec rather than Pitocin, hoping that would be enough to get labor started. Around 9 am, they administered the Cytotec, and told us they’d check on me in about 2 hours! So we popped in a movie (The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks), and relaxed for a while.

I missed large portions of the movie, because to my surprise I was able to nap a little! But by 11:30 the possibility of sleep was long gone, as I was starting to feel some significant contractions. Despite all of that, when they checked me at 1:00 PM, I hadn’t progressed at all, besides that the baby had “dropped” a little lower. Disappointing, to say the least, that all those contractions hadn’t done their job.

However, about 45 minutes later, on my way back from the bathroom, my water broke! Alyson actually cheered when she heard the news, and said I was on my way now! She wasn’t kidding; an hour and a half later, I was feeling some very intense contractions. Despite that, I still hadn’t progressed much, so I gave in and called for the anesthesiologist – epidural time! Fortunately for me, he was nearby, and had me set up by about 4:15 PM. What a tremendous relief…
At the same time, the nurse noticed the baby’s heart rate was dropping, usually when I laid on my back or right side. They put me on oxygen and moved me to my left side, and that did the trick. They also checked me again and discovered I was now dilated about 3 cm, so at least some progress was being made.

(Dad would like to insert that around this time the Bears won the NFC Championship, and advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1985.)

In the meantime, the baby’s heartrate was still dropping intermittently, which the doctor indicated was just something to keep an eye on. But since my contractions were also slowing, they added Pitocin to my IV to keep things moving. A few minutes later I was at 7 cm and 100% effaced, and by 6:40 we had reached 8-9 cm and the baby was at “0 station” – so things were really moving! Dad ran to get some pizza before the cafeteria closed, and refrained from telling me how good it was since I still couldn’t eat (and didn’t really want to). :)

The doctor who was working that day, Doctor Sherron, was wonderful. She checked on me regularly, and sat down and talked to us about the baby’s heart rate dropping, and what might happen as things progressed. Without scaring us, she somehow managed to tell us that while there wasn’t cause for alarm, she did want to get the baby out as fast as possible. When I was ready she was only going to give me three contractions to push, I’d need an episiotomy, and she would use suction to help get the baby out more quickly. If I wasn’t able to get the baby out in those three contractions, we would have an emergency c-section. Despite those very scary words, Doctor Sherron was very reassuring and made us feel like we were in calm, capable hands.

At about 8:00 PM, I was fully dilated and ready to push, so the delivery table was brought into the room (and with it, a lot more nurses – there was quite the crowd!). I got a few practice pushes - my epidural was a little strong, so I had no feeling below the waist… the concept of pushing was a little vague - and then began the first of my three pushes. After that first one, the baby moved to the +2 station, so Doctor Sherron and the nurses were very encouraging – they actually cheered. On the third push, at 8:28 PM, out came our baby…

it’s a BOY!!!

Through our tears, we quickly agreed on the name we had at the top of our list – Zachary Scott – for our 7 lb, 5 oz, 20-inch long baby boy. He was finally here, and joy doesn’t seem like a big enough word for that moment.

(This blog did not yet exist in 2007; this was originally written for Zach's baby scrapbook)

2 things that made me smile today

#1: Charlie ran over to me, pointed to his behind region and said "boop." This isn't the first time he's done it, but I thought the other time might be a fluke. Nope - he had quite the full diaper both times. Since he's obviously choosing what words he's going to say, I'm happy that he picked a practical one!

#2: On our way to school this morning, Zach said "today is going to be the best day of the year." Part 1 of his birthday celebration is this afternoon... :)

21

As we plan Zach's birthday celebrations (yes, plural; I guess that's just how we roll around here), I can't help but think of another birthday coming up in three short months. Charlie is already approaching two! It seems impossible, but I guess when you know people with kids Charlie's age who already have newborns, you know your own kid isn't a baby anymore! (I think those people are a bit crazy, but that's a whole 'nother story).

So, to celebrate the big 21, here are a few Charlie tidbits:

When Zach was little, Scott started "smoochie-smoochie-ing" him. That involves making kissing noises as you slowly get closer, the noises faster, until you are smothering the child in kisses. Zach thought it was hilarious, and now Charlie does too. I couldn't stop smiling when I saw Charlie has learned how to do it; he'll often hold up his little froggie and start with those slow kissing noises...!

I may have mentioned in a previous post that Charlie loves to roar. He still does, and now nothing makes him laugh harder than when his dad pretends to be afraid of that roar. Over and over and over again.

Charlie is quite the climber, and he's still very proud of himself when he climbs up on the furniture. And maybe it's because he's short for his age, but Charlie is doing his best to show that he's not a little guy, that he can keep up with the big kids. He has mastered the fast food playlands in our area, he just needs a boost here and there from his big brother. And the two-story curly slide? No problem; he calmly turns on his belly and goes down feet first. Check him out in action at the local inflatable fun joint:

Oh, and if you're wondering, yes, Charlie is feeling better. Still not 100%, I would say, but hopefully we're on our way to better sleeping, eating, and waking (he's kinda crabby these days right after he gets up - wrong side of the bed too often!).

Mr. Charliebug has become quite specific in his demands for food. He lets us know he's hungry by doing the "more" sign, and often saying more (sounds like "mo") at the same time, and then pointing to the kitchen or his high chair. And now he points to the refrigerator, which usually means he wants yogurt. More troublesome are his pantry requests... when we play along it's quite the game of charades to determine which snack he is demanding at the particular time. Othertime he just goes in there himself and grabs what he wants, and then gets mad when we don't let him have it!

And lately he hasn't wanted to sit in his high chairs; he takes a few bites and then wants to sit on my lap and eat my food. So we pulled out the booster seat, thinking he'd feel like a big boy and happily eat. That worked... once.

So yes, still lots of pointing and head shaking for communication, although he has definitely mastered the word no. Other words I would consider mastered (meaning someone other than Scott or I could understand him) include car (cah), go, baby, ball, and dada. We can understand when he says Zach (story about that next), but I don't think anyone else would. Same with pooch, book, and mom. His animal noise repertoire continues to grow, but he often makes me laugh when he opens a book with a lot of pictures of animals and just starts excitedly making every single noise he knows.

Another thing (tradition?) Scott started with Zach was saying "goodnight Zach" to all the pictures of Zach hanging in our hallway on the way to bed. Since we are bad parents and the halllway is still full of pictures of just Zach, Scott has started this tradition with Charlie. He points from picture to picture saying "goodnight Zach, goodnight that Zach, goodnight that Zach," in this sort of guttural voice. And now that's how Charlie says Zach, anytime he sees a picture of him or the real thing. So we can mostly recognize that he's saying Zach by the tone of voice more than anything!

21 months old already... and ready for his first haircut!

A toast to 2012

As I look at our New Year's Eve pictures, particularly the one of the toast, I can think of many things I wish for 2012. That Zach loves kindergarten in the fall, that Charlie begins to talk more, and so on. But when I really think about it, about the past couple months and recent conversations with friends, this is my toast for 2012:

May 2012 be a year with the minimal amounts of runny noses, coughs, fevers, sore throats, rashes, and visits to urgent care.

May 2012 have no visits to an actual hospital; no dermabond, stitches, splints, or casts.

May 2012 find the above to be true not only for the four of us in our little family, but for all of our loved ones.

Cheers.

24 hours

We, like much of the country, have been having an unseasonably warm winter. It's been delightful; to go to the park in January is unheard of around here (yes, we do still live in Minnesota), but we've done it! Zach has even been able to use the Christmas presents we thought would be neglected or just used in the basement until spring - his scooter, baseball bat, and tee! We've all been doing our best to enjoy this little reprieve from our typical winter. Charlie even took a ride on Zach's trike:




What a difference 24 hours makes.

Yesterday afternoon we played outside in the sun, wearing sweatshirts. The boys jumped on the neighbors trampoline, and Zach played baseball with a neighbor while Charlie took the trike ride.

This afternoon we will remain indoors, watching the snow blow around like little tornadoes. This afternoon Charlie will do little but snuggle, because once again our littlest guy is sick. Sigh.

I've been a bit worried about Charlie for a while; he's had a cough and runny nose on and off since Thanksgiving, and just hasn't seemed 100% in those little ways (like not sleeping well). His cough and nose were definitely getting worse the last couple days, and I took one look at him this morning and thought - here we go again!

Expecting to get the old "it's a virus, you have to tough it out" diagnosis, I took Charlie to the doctor anyway. Glad I did - double ear infection and some sort of respiratory virus that was causing his airways to narrow. I got to experience my first nebulizer treatment, and am not really looking forward to the future ones. Trying to keep that mask on his nose and mouth turned into quite the wrestling match, and I'm not sure I could declare a winner. Our 23-pounder is a strong little boy!

So. Charlie gets "nebbed" every 4-8 hours for the respiratory bug, antibiotics for the ear infection, and Motrin for the pain. I think that means I get a glass of wine (or two or three) tonight, since Scott is on a rare business trip and I'm on my own with this fun!

Can we please rewind 24 hours???

The rest of our Christmas story

I don't have a lot of pictures from the rest of our Christmas visit in Montana. And the ones I do have tend to not include Charlie. Because who wants to see pictures of a miserable little boy??? Instead - check out the fun these guys were having - out on the swingset, blowing "smoke" in the hot tub under the stars... what a life!


Why was Charlie miserable? Well, a 103.6 degree fever and strep throat will do that to a kid. And being away from home when you're sick isn't fun for anyone, especially not a 1.5 year old. So we spent the last few days (especially before we figured out the fever was serious and made a run to urgent care) sleeping in short shifts and carrying Charlie everywhere we went. We did a lot of snuggling:


After he had the first dose of magic antibiotic elixir and some drugs for the pain, Charlie became himself (for a while) again. We were relieved, since that was about the same time Scott's older sister Kristin and her family arrived. The Charlie they'd seen to that point was not the Charlie we know! Our Charlie looks like this when he's "playing" Mario Kart with the big kids:


Take a good look at the boy in the green shirt, because unfortunately these are the only pictures I have of the boys' cousin Liam. We had a great time seeing Kristin, Tim, Aislyn and Liam - I wish I had the pictures to prove it!