Big Mac - 2 Month Appointment

Today we went to Mac's (who I'm holding right now and typing with one hand, so this will be short) 2 month appointment.

Updates:

• Weight - 15lbs, 10 oz - >95th percentile (I'm not sure if the greater than sign means odd the charts or what).
• Height - 23 inches - 50th percentile
• Mac has an ear infection (he's had a cold now for a couple of weeks). 
• Vaccines weren't fun, but were much better than they were with Cash.
• I really like our new pediatrician, Dr. T. 

 Here is Mr. Chunky-Mac.

Here is sleepy Mac.

The Dentist!

Today was Cash's first visit to a dentist.

The dentist office was awesome and he never once asked to go home.  

In the lobby there were a ton of fun toys, including an awesome kitchen.

The dental hygienist cleaned his teeth and he only fussed  for a couple of seconds towards the end of the cleaning.  She said his teeth and gums look great, but that we should probably start trying to floss (with a little floss picky thing) in the next couple of months. 

While we waited for the dentist, Buttin drew a picture of pregnant me and Cash thought it was pretty funny.

The dentist  (we'll call him Dr. Groovy) came in and counted Cub's teeth and gave him a little fluoride treatment.  Cub got a little impatient towards the end of the fluoride.  Dr. Groovy said that Cash's huge amount of saliva (drool) production was actually really good for his teeth health - so he might not win a lot of girlfriends with his drool, but he'll have healthy teeth.  Dr. Groovy also reiterated that Cub's teeth were pretty crowded in his mouth and that we should try flossing soon.

Overall it was a really good first trip to the dentist.  I was proud of Cub and he got a bouncy ball from the dentist as a prize.  

Brave Boy

For all my worry yesterday, Cash was beyond brave today when having his adenoids removed.

This morning he woke up (right around 6:00) and asked for his "cookies".  I told him we could eat later and he never asked for food or milk or water again (until after surgery).  We played and watched dump truck videos for about 45 minutes before heading to the hospital.

The hospital check-in process was quick and efficient and Cub was hamming it up for the doctors and nurses.

 He went back to the operating room holding the anesthesiologist's hand and never once looked back at us. 

The doctor came out to visit us in the waiting room about 15 minutes later and said Cash's adenoids were HUGE.  Cash woke up about 15 minutes later and we went back in the recovery room to comfort him (this was the only time he was NOT happy).  He cried for quite a while in the recovery room.  The nurse said that the dizzy feeling is strange and little kids just cry because they don't understand the sensation.  After about 30 minutes of crying, the nurse suggested we leave because sometimes little kids feel trapped and just want to get home.  She was right (she wasn't just trying to get rid of us).  As soon as we got outside - the crying stopped.  He was still a little groggy on the car ride home, but no tears.

When we got home he laid around for about 30 minutes and then got up and started dancing.  Here he is resting with Buttin. 

Miss Hannah came over to stay with Cash around 10:30 and he didn't even notice that I left.

Miss Hannah said Cash fell asleep in the chair once and fell asleep while at the park swinging a couple of times, but he didn't take a real nap.  Here he is asleep in the swing  - it's pretty cute (but looks pretty uncomfortable).

And So It Begins

I have a feeling that for next few months updates on Cub will be comprised of two things.

1. Poop - as in, Cub pooped for the first time in the toilet at school today!  I'm not sure when he'll do this again (hopefully before he's 16), but he was very proud of himself today - so proud he didn't want to flush it.
2. Words - as in, Cub said his first sentence (kind of) today and as parents we couldn't be more proud - "No! Mine!".  

Things haven't really improved much at work, so instead of dwelling on it - I'll just post pictures of Cub.

Our neighbor gave us a few grapefruits. Cash thought they were balls.  I told him, "Cash we eat grapefruit." and so here he is trying to eat it.

He's not really a fan of grapefruit peel (but who is?).

Here's a little picture of me (I brushed my hair today) and Cub.

Happy Birthday to Mormor!

Little Fender Bender

Yesterday Cub and I got into our first car accident together (pretty crappy first).

We were rear-ended by a girl in her early 20s.  It was one of those rush-hour traffic things were everyone suddenly stops, except she didn't stop. I jumped out of the car to check on Cub and he was just sitting in his car seat, smiling at me.  I don't think he even realized anything had happened (except that we stopped and his music stopped). 

The poor girl's front hood was pretty dented, but my little swamp wagon of a SUV just had a couple bumper scratches.  No harm, no foul.  I got her information, but she was just so scared.  She told me she had just got her car fixed after she hit a deer.  

Cub just wanted to get back on the road and listen to his music (speaking of which, I really need to find him some new music). 

Cub spent this afternoon trying to make me more nervous at the park than I was driving. 

Here is "little nervous". 

Here is "very nervous".

A Little Haircut

Today we went to Sharkey's for Cub's first approved haircut. 

Sharkey's has a ton of stuff to keep children occupied.  At first, he wasn't having anything to do with the haircut experience (not the car chair, balloons or the tv), but then I put him in my lap and from then on, he was pretty happy.  By the time it was over, he had found a bunch of toys and didn't want to leave. 

Here's a little before, during and after.

The day before - so sad about the shaggy state of his hairdo.

During - happy. 

After - so happy, he's posing.  

I know.  She didn't cut very much.  I wouldn't let her - it's baby steps for this mama. 

First Airplane Ride

Tomorrow Cub will take his first trip on an airplane.

We're going visit Gigi, Nana and a bunch of other family and friends in the Texas panhandle. Buttin was born and raised in the small town of Memphis, Texas - the website cracks me up, check out the little shooting cowboy thing at the top of the page.

Anyway, it'll be a pretty short trip but you'd think I've packed for an African safari with a side excursion to Europe.  You just never know what you might need with a toddler.  I've packed - milk, bottles, cups, sippy cups, breast pump, day diapers, night diapers, wipes, clothes, sunscreen, baby Advil,books, teethers, toys, cds, clothes, brush, cold snacks, room temperature snacks, sweet snacks, salty snacks (yes - lots of snacks), spoon, fork, copy of birth certificate, car seat, nap mat and blanket - AND that stuff is really just for Cub.  That doesn't include Buttin and my stuff. 

We also bought two dozen Tiff Treat's cookies to bribe the people sitting next to us on the plane in the event that Cub decides to throw a fit. 

I'm still probably not prepared for everything - but they have stores, even in small towns like Memphis, Texas.

Also, if I don't blog during the next couple of days it's because we're traveling, but I'll return to blogging shortly. 

Here's a little picture of Cub playing outside today.  Is it just me or are his teeth looking a little pointy?

Milestones

Cub has been working on a few milestones in the past couple of days.

1.   WALKING - he's taken his first couple baby steps.  Today, he took a few very deliberate baby steps while holding his truck.

2.   EATING - I joke that I'll still be pureeing his food when he's sixteen.  The boy has serious issues with eating food in a non-liquefied form.  Today, I'm pretty sure he ate a tater tot.  Who knew he just wanted his first food to be fried?

Tonight we also got "first soap in the eyes", not a very fun milestone, but little Cub healed quickly from the trauma.

Snooki Go Squash - Squash!

Yesterday Cub was treated to a two course meal (cereal AND squash).

He's really getting the hang of it and Gigi LOVED feeding him.

Some Lessons - Cub's First ER Visit

On Sunday morning, we took Cash cub to the ER.

Lesson One: Trust your instincts (at home).

We knew something was wrong when Cash looked like this:

Sunday morning Cash woke up around 5 AM (which is too early for him). I knew he wasn't feeling great, so I tried to feed him in bed so we could both fall back to sleep. He wasn't interested in eating, but he was VERY tired. He'd fall asleep on his back (not typical for him) and then wake up 5 minutes later fussy-crying like he was uncomfortable. After about 2- 3 minutes of this fussy-crying (it was pretty pathetic as far as crying goes), he would pass out asleep. He fell asleep when I was wiping his nose, he fell asleep sitting up - I really just thought he was exhausted from his persistent cold. Buttin and I just tried to make him comfortable.

At about 7 AM, we decided to get him ready for the day. This is when we turned on the lights and noticed how pale and white he looked. I knew instantly something was very wrong.

First, I called my mother. She said we should call our pediatric on-call line. I called that number and was placed on hold. I handed that phone to Buttin (who was holding cub) while I called our insurance company nurse line. Our insurance company nurse said to go to the ER.

Lesson Two: Trust Your Instincts (in the hospital).

We arrived at the ER around 8 AM. There was no one else around. I guess if you're going to get sick, do it early on a Sunday morning.

We saw a nurse pretty quickly and all Cash's vitals were good (also, no fever). The nurse's first thought was that he was probably dehydrated. As soon as I heard this, I was pretty convinced that's all it was and that after some fluids our little boy would be back to his playful, pink-cheeked self.

They put in an IV. I suppose this is usually quite an ordeal for some small babies (they sometimes have to restrain them), but Cash was so out of it he barely made a peep.

This is poor little Cub with his arm all stretch out (it had to be taped to a board to keep him from bending it):

It felt like FOREVER until we saw a doctor, but when we finally did he said it was probably dehydration, but that they wanted to run tests (cha-ching!). They took blood, urine in this ridiculous looking pee bag (I wonder how they do it for little girls), did a chest xray and a head CT. Everything came back good (again, I was pretty confident it was dehydration). The doctor came back in and said it was probably dehydration (it can happen very quickly for babies), but he wanted to rule out meningitis. My gut reaction was oh, hell, no. Buttin didn't immediately understand that "ruling out meningitis" meant a lumbar puncture. I called my mother and told her that I thought this was too extreme of a test at this point, (especially considering he had no fever) she agreed. We declined the test.

At this point, the doctor said we were going to be transferred to Dell Children's Hospital and that the transport team was coming to get him (this was about 1 PM).

Here is the picture that made Buttin and Dadoo (my dad) shed some tears:

Here is little cub inside the ambulance (they didn't run the siren).


Lesson Three: Be (even more) Grateful

Dell Children's Hospital was wonderful. We were immediately taken to a private room with a shower, desk area and uncomfortable pull-out couch.

We saw several nurses and a resident within about 10 minutes. Everyone was pretty sure that Cub was dehydrated. He had already started to pep up a little from the fluids he received in the ER.

We we saw the doctor (she also has a six month old), she was so sweet and thoughtful and spent quite a bit of time with us. She mentioned that there was no need for a lumbar puncture and if she had been in my position, she would have made the same choice (see lesson two). She was quite sure it was just dehydration.

Even though our son was "just dehydrated", all the nurses and doctors and staff treated us like we were very important. I'm sure they have quite a lot of experience with nervous parents.

On Sunday night, I went to find the vending machines (I needed a candy bar and Buttin needed a Dr. Pepper). While I was walking through the halls, I was hit with the sobering thought that all the rooms were filled with other sick children and other nervous parents. I KNEW our son was going to be OK, but for some of these parents, their child's recovery would take much longer. I was instantly even more grateful for our child's health, our own health, our friends & family.

By Monday morning (after a very, very sleepless night for Buttin and me), Cash was smiling and feeling better:

We saw a team of doctors and they were hopefully we'd get to go home that night or the next morning.

At noon, he was taken off of the IV fluids and was keeping down boob juice and Pedialyte (which he loves) and then at four o'clock we got the news that we could go home!

It's not a great picture, but here are Cash (IV free) and Buttin smiling while we waited for our discharge paperwork.From now on, I will try to complain less about my lack of sleep because our son has strong lungs and can cry out for me at night. Not every parent is this lucky and Buttin and I are truly fortunate.

A Little Sick BUT Still Swimming & Smiling

An illness has been going around Graby's school.

He's had a mild cold for pretty much half of his life so I didn't really think this recent sniffle was cause for concern.

Cub slept last night from 7 PM - 6:45 AM, but I have no idea how because he had about 10 metric ton-gallons of snot in his nose, on his face, on his pjs, in his hair and on his bed when he woke up this morning.

He was pretty happy when he woke up, ate a quick snack and watched some TV while I finished getting ready for work. Around 7:30, I fed him again and he felt REALLY warm. I've always heard that I will know when he has a fever. I stuck the thermometer up his butt (he didn't really complain because I gave him a container of butt paste to chew on) and it said 100.2. This is a low fever and even the doctor's paperwork says not to call unless it's 101, so I wasn't too concerned.

I called Buttin and he said just to stay at home.

He seemed a little more clingy and while I was feeding him (at 7:30), he almost fell back asleep. At 8:15 he fell back asleep for 2.5 hours (very unusual)!

I was supposed to host my mama's group today, but another mama volunteered since Cub wasn't feeling so well.

Even with his minor illness, we went swimming (the water helps with the snot drainage) This is not a great picture of him, but you can kind of see how he's starting to crawl. He can really scootch in the pool and on some surfaces.


I can tell he's a little off, but he's still a super happy kid.

Oh Daddy, Peas!

Sweet potato was kind of a bust. Even after six days Cub was still making some pretty bad faces and gagging a little. It was time to move on to something new (we'll come back to sweet potato another time).

This one is for my dad, the Dadoo!

Avocado!

Cub's first food.

I'm not sure how much avocado he actually ate and he made some serious faces, but he did seem to enjoy making a mess and eating the plastic container.

Change Of Plans

I was planning to devote my entire post today to running.

However, the weather was so nice and the cub was so happy that I decided to take a bunch of pictures and make a little photo essay of our day (with a little running thrown in) instead.

This morning I woke up not sweating and the air conditioner was not running. My first thought was that the (going on 6 months now) postpartum hormones had finally left my body. To my surprise, a cold front (a real one) had come in and it was a chilly 58 degrees outside. I wasn't able to run this morning (sad face) because cub slept in till 7:15 (happy face) after having been awake from 2:30 AM - 4:00 AM (sad face). It's still somewhat difficult to plan my morning runs because his schedule is still so wacky, but I didn't wake up in a puddle of my own sweat and I got a total of 7 hours of sleep and it was chilly outside so I knew this was going to be a good day.

I had to dress cub in REAL clothes (including socks) today. I made a mental note to buy him more stretchy pants. He has about 1500 onesies (although only 1 - long sleeved onesie) and two pairs of pants. He looks so freaking cute (a common theme for today) and he was in love with his socks:

After a good morning at work (no pictures from work because there was no cub at work), I went to pick up Graby. He was fast asleep in his little school bed, so I had to take another picture:

I waited at his school and played with some of the babies while cub slept for another 20 minutes. When I put him in his car seat to go home I noticed how blue his eyes look (kind of the way mine do) wearing his blue shirt, so I had to take a picture:

We got home and went immediately outside to play. Our new object of the day was a spoon (as you can tell - it was a BIG success):

Just for good measure, here's another picture of him playing outside and looking happy:


After about an hour outside, it was time for some for a snack and a nap. I didn't take a picture of him napping, but trust me - he was cute.

When he woke up - I decided TO GO FOR OUR FIRST RUN IN THE JOGGING STROLLER. It was only about 80 degrees (the temperature I think it was when I went for a run on Sunday morning at 6:30).

We went for a short 1.5 mile jog. I'm kind of an arm flapper when I run, so having to keep my hands on the stroller while running was a little awkward at first. I discovered that when going straight I only need to keep one hand on the stroller, leaving the other arm free to flail about. I'm sure my free arm slightly overcompensated and I probably looked a little silly, but it felt wonderful to go for a run in such beautiful weather. Cub really seemed to enjoy it too. He just looked around and ate his toy.

Here's a picture of the two of us (with a close up of cub's foot) post-run:

Here's a cute picture of cub post-run:


We came inside and cooled off (I actually DID break a sweat during the short run). Since I had my exercise, it was time for cub to have his - so he played around in his jumperoo.

After some additional playtime, a bath and dinner - cub is now in bed asleep. I'm not going to risk flash photography on this one, so again you'll just have to trust me that he's very cute.

I know this ended up being just another post with a ton of pictures of the kiddo, but it really was such a beautiful day and he really was in such a great mood that I really had to change my post topic and share (I know that's a lot of REALLYs).

About Last Night

So . . .last night was our first night with a babysitter.

This is how I felt about leaving cub.


I left Lauren (very sweet, wonderful babysitter) with pages of instructions. I was mercilessly teased (by my friend Liz) for my detailed notes, (You can find Liz's parenting tips in the comments section of this post.) but I wanted Lauren to be prepared.

Let's back up a little . . .

Yesterday afternoon wasn't a great one for little cub. He was tired, clingy and cranky. My theories as to why he was so cranky:

1. He could sense that I was a little uneasy;
2. His cold (the one he's had on and off for two months) was back with a vengeance,
   
3. He wasn't wearing his teething necklace (I forgot it at school); and/or
   
4. He was tired (the night before he was up for about 1.5 hours in the middle of the night).
   

Buttin thought #3 was hilarious.

He took many small naps in the afternoon and by 5:50 he was tired and ready for his bath, dinner and bed. I was putting him to bed when I heard Lauren walk through the door at 6:15. He was fast asleep when I left the two of them around 6:35.

I went to meet my friends Liz & Jonathan for a 7:00 Wall Street (cookie review to come shortly) and I was planning to be home by 10:00.

Here's what was supposed to happen: Cash was supposed to stay asleep. Lauren was supposed to watch TV (or read, eat pizza, sew, play with the cats, bake cookies - whatever she wanted to do).

The few nights before last, Cash had been waking up around 8:00 needing a little back patting (so I left that factoid in her instructions), but the night before he had slept from 6:30 - 3:30 straight, so my hope was that Lauren and Cash would never see each other.

Here's what did happen (as best I could piece together from Lauren):

• Cash woke up around 8:00 (not a huge surprise and I left Lauren with multiple things to try if this happened).
• Apparently, back patting was making him angry and hysterics were performed.
  
• Lauren picked Cash up to comfort him (as per the instruction manual) and he got better.
• She tried to put him back down again and AGAIN he would start to cry.
• Next she tried to feed him (sometimes if he's so tired at dinner time he doesn't eat as much as he should and wakes up and needs a snack - I provided a warm bottle in the event that this occurred). He wasn't eating.
  
• The he started farting.
  
• She thought he might have pooed, and I left instructions that if he had a blowout (although he never poos at night) to change his diaper (Liz found this particular instruction to be hilarious/obvious) and so she did.
  
• She danced around with him in the living room and then tried to put him back down in his bed, he cried.
• She walked outside with him to calm him back down and then tried to put him to bed, more crying.
  
• Next she tried to feed him again, no luck.
• At this point, I think she just figured it wasn't worth the back and forth and just walked around the living room with him and the two of them watched True Blood.
  
• When I walked through the door at 9:30, I was greeted by two pairs of eyes and a big smile from cub.
  

Lauren said that he had been very smiley and happy since about 9:00, but that there was some difficulty earlier in the evening. I felt so bad for Lauren and poor, tired Cash.

As soon as Lauren left, I gave Cash the magic boob and he was out within 5 minutes . . . for about an hour.

I was prepared for what was coming . . . when he's overtired he DOES NOT sleep well.

He was awake at 10:30, at 12:45, at 3:00 (I noticed he was soaking wet - I forgot to show Lauren how to use the cloth diapers and so she put it on backwards. His pjs were soaked with pee. I wonder what Liz's parenting manual would say about pee-soaked pjs?), at 5:15 and then he took a nap in my lap from 6:45 - 8:30.

I have no idea why cub wouldn't go back to sleep with Lauren. Maybe he wasn't feeling well, maybe he missed me or maybe it was because he hadn't been wearing his amber necklace all afternoon (that's my vote).

We will try a babysitter again (actually MorMor will be here on Thursday and Friday night) and I just hope Lauren is willing to try again.

It's Time

I'll admit it - I've been a little babysitter hesitant.

It's not that I don't trust other people with Cash, it's just I don't trust other people with Cash.

I'm kidding (kind of).

We've only ever left cub with MorMor & Gigi and their monthly visits usually allow Buttin and me to have one night out together every month. That's been good for us. Buttin and I actually enjoy nights at home together, on the couch with some sushi take out.

Well, tomorrow night is going to be our first night with a babysitter. Buttin will be at Fantastic Fest and I'll be going to see a movie with Liz & Jonathan (so our first night with a sitter and we won't even be together - go figure). I thought just going out for a movie would make for a good first try with a babysitter - that way, if anything happens I'm not very far away and going to see a movie is not really a major event.

Cash's first babysitter is a very nice woman, Lauren. Liz & I met Lauren when we volunteered for the The First Tee last year. She is very sweet and has a ton of experience with children. Hopefully, Cash will be asleep the entire time and she'll just spend time with our animals.

Wish me (and her) luck!

Now here is one happy baby:

Good News/Bad News

Good News: Cub can roll from his tummy to his back.

Bad News: Cub cannot roll back.

Cub learned his new trick in the middle of the night (last night). Trouble is that when he gets to his back - he thinks- oh crap, how do I get back - and then flails around like a dying bug waiting for me to come and roll him back onto his tummy (wow, how many times can I use the word "back"?)

I tried explaining to him that if he just wouldn't roll over in the first place, we would not have this issue. He didn't listen. Instead he practiced his new trick about 15 times last night.

Here is Mr. One-Way Roller waiting for a swim:

Another First

This afternoon Cash and I spent time with Aunt Liz & Uncle Jonathan. We had a great time taking naps, watching TV and playing around with the animals.

Cash man got his first tattoo - here he is showing it off with L & J.