The past year in review

Around a year ago, we got one of the biggest surprises of our lives. Surprise, Pregnant! We were due mid-October with our first little girl. It has been a bit of a roller coaster since then.

Baby Girl arrived late October at two weeks late. She had to be induced because she was quite comfortable right where she was. DH and I drove through a hurricane to get to the hospital when the doctor’s nurse called and said how soon can you get to the hospital to induce because we need to do this before the storm gets any worse. Then on the way, we got a couple more calls because they didn’t realize we live at least 45 min from the hospital in good traffic. Add heavy rains and wind and branches in the road and it takes a bit longer. Thankfully my parents had driven all the way out to our house two days before so they were able to stay with Handsome and Junior and we didn’t have to worry about finding a babysitter during the storm.

The induction didn’t take long and I got the fabulous epidural so I didn’t have to suffer the labor pains that I did with Junior. She was born about six or seven hours after the induction began. She was 7 pounds 14 oz, so right in the middle of the sizes of the boys and she was tall with long fingers and long toes. She has DH’s eyes and Handsome’s cheeks.

She has been a fabulous newborn. She has consistently slept in the NapNanny so I didn’t have to hold her for the first few months to sleep like I did with the boys. She does not have reflux and is pretty content in general. She despises being on her belly and tummy time is a chore. She did roll from her belly to her back two times a few days ago, but she doesn’t look eager to repeat it anytime soon. She loves to just lay on her back, chew on her fists and talk to anyone who is nearby. She absolutely adores her brothers. She can be crying and suddenly break into a smile if one of her brothers starts talking to her. She is not a thumb sucker, but will stick as many fingers in her mouth at once as she can. She started sleeping in six hour stretches around one or two weeks old. She did end up with a trip to the ER at around 11 weeks old because of wheezing and got a breathing treatment and came home with an inhaler. They said it was the same virus Junior had that just hits infants harder.

DH is now working in an ER. He seems to truly enjoy what he is doing. He works nights which messes up his sleeping cycles and makes it a bit hard to get anything done in the house.

Cleaning the house with a five year old, two year old and infant is a challenge – if not impossible. Fair warning if you ever decide to show up at my house: it’s not pretty.

Junior started preschool in a two and a half year old class in January (since he is now potty trained). It’s two days a week for almost three hours each time at the same school Handsome goes to. He loves it. He cried the first day but the teacher brought Handsome in to help calm him down and then he was fine for the rest of the day. Now he always asks when it is his day to go to school and gets very excited about the crafts they do each day. When I ask who he plays with he tells me it’s Sophia and Sam. He also tells me about the toys he gets to play with in great detail. Recently it’s a “bad guy cat with claws and a hat with a feather and a tail and ears and a sword!” I’m guessing it’s Puss and Boots. Junior is wearing size 4 clothes (only one size below Handsome) and is starting to outgrow them. His language seems to me to be way above his age and that combined with his size makes people assume he is older. I frequently get asked if Handsome and Junior are twins. Junior is extremely loving and extremely stubborn. He always wants to be with Handsome and loves to play with the older kids. His best friend appears to be CJ who is the little brother of a classmate of Handsome’s. CJ is about six months older than Handsome. Junior is a rough and tumble sort and I can almost guarantee he will end up being in some sport. I’m just going to hope it’s not football – I just can’t handle the head injuries there.

Handsome is just as loving and talkative and friendly as ever. As hyper as he can get at home, he seems to do great at school. His teachers always comment on how good a student he is and how he’s friends with everyone. He comes home with good grades and is learning way more than I ever did in Kindergarten. He can read basic books, add, subtract and even work with fractions. He still tells me “I don’t know,” when I ask him what he did at school, but then a few minutes later will start singing to himself whatever song they learned in school. He loves his little brother and his little sister and is a great help with both of them. We got a Wii around the time Baby Girl was born and now he always wants to play and loves anything to do with Mario. He was on his first soccer team this past fall and loved it. He managed to score at least one goal in every game he played and usually scored around 3 or 4. I still have no idea how he would manage to get into those big clumps of kids and end up with the ball running faster than everyone else and make it to the goal. His only problem was that he would get bored easily if he didn’t have the ball and end up watching the crowd instead and forget he was in a soccer game. Well, that, and he thought it was fun to fall, so he would get the ball, kick it hard, and then purposefully fall in the most theatrical manner he could think of. It was great entertainment for the crowd, but not so good soccer playing. Adding to the entertainment were the dances he would do after he scored a goal. I am looking forward to the next season with great excitement. Never a dull moment with that child. One night after his bath, I accidentally turned the water off before all the soap was off him, so instead of turn the whole shower back on, I just grabbed a cup and some water from the sink. I threw it at him and he started screaming because it was too cold. I couldn’t help but laugh and then he said, “Don’t ever do that again! It was too cold! Well, you can do it again because it makes you smile and I like when you smile.” And that is exactly his personality. He will do whatever he can to make those around him happy.

And that’s my synopsis of the past year. I’m exhausted and in desperate need of a bigger house, but I love my family and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Handsome's Christmas Program

Handsome had his Christmas program last week. DH couldn't go because he had his final exam the following morning. Yes, I was upset that he couldn't be there, but I understood why. He did pass his test and his class so I guess it was worth it.

Handsome has been singing his songs for two weeks now at home. He knew all the words, all the tunes and all the hand signs. When he got up there his memory turned into selective memory. He stood in the line with his classmates and stuck his thumb right in his mouth and left it there for the majority of the program. He would bob his head to the beat of the song and turn around to watch the kids singing behind him. When it got to his favorite parts of the songs, his entire demeanor changed. He took his thumb out of his mouth, smiled big and jumped when he was supposed to jump and did the biggest bow you ever did see. When his favorite part ended, the thumb went back in his mouth, he bobbed his head to the beat, and he watched his friends perform.

He said he had fun, so that's what really matters. I managed to video tape his performance while Junior was tied to me, so Handsome has been watching the video of it and singing the entire songs at home

The past few days

On Sunday I caught up on some of the household stuff I've been getting way behind on as a result of our crazy schedule. I did many loads of laundry, cleaned the backyard and brushed all the hair our dog is shedding off of him so that it doesn't end up on the carpet anymore. Handsome was kind enough to help me with everything.

In fact for the past few days both boys have been really attached to me. I'm assuming it's because I've had to work so much lately. Junior will cry if DH is holding him and stare me down no matter where I am in the room. He always wants to be near me. Daddy just isn't what he wants right now. I feel like I have about a two foot rope that is tied between my leg and Handsome's leg and as a result Handsome must ALWAYS be right under my feet. I can't even head to the ladies' room without both of them crying for me. I have to admit that I like being wanted/needed/loved so much. DH on the other hand is really getting his feelings hurt. I know this is only a phase and I do like to spread the love around, but I'll enjoy my snuggles and smiles while I can get them.

Anyway, back to Sunday. I gave Handsome a bath before his naptime because we were both all sorts of stinky from being out back. When he woke up from his nap, he felt warm. He had said his head hurt earlier in the day, but I attributed that to the eye issues that he as been having. We make him wear his eye patch and that forces his weak eye to work harder. I know I used to get headaches if I went between wearing glasses and not wearing glasses so I figured that is what happened. He has never complained of his head hurting before though. After his nap when he said his head hurt again, I decided to check his temperature. 102F He had a fever. Bummer. The only other fever he has ever had was during a bad cold he had when he was about eight months old.

I got him a wet rag for his forehead and we sat on the couch together as he just said he wanted to be held. We didn't have any children's tyelenol, but I didn't want to give it to him right away anyhow. He wasn't being lethargic and still wanted to go to the store, so it didn't seem to be bothering him too much. I know a fever helps kill the virus so I wanted to see how it would progress. If it got worse or if he still had it at bedtime, I would give him some tylenol. As it happened, by bedtime his fever had gone down to 99F and he didn't seem to notice it at all. What it did do was give us a peaceful bedtime which doesn't happen too frequently anymore.

Since he couldn't go to preschool the following morning, I decided to take him to get fitted for new glasses. He woke up fever free and we went to try on glasses. They had two varieties that I couldn't decide between: Miraflex and Flexon.

• Miraflex is plastic and virtually indestructable. It has no hinges and has a band that goes behind his head to make sure they stay on. I was afraid they would look like toy glasses and they would overwhelm his face. I was also afraid that his lashes would constantly hit the glasses. That used to happen to me as a kid and it drove me nuts.
• The Flexon glasses are metal frames that can be twisted and sat on and still return to the original shape. They look more like adult glasses and have a nose piece so that the glasses sit further from his eyes which means no lashes hitting the lens. I was afraid though that the nose piece would be a problem for if/when he falls. And the Flexon was about twice the price of the Miraflex.

I couldn't decide, so I called Mom to decide for me. LOL I'm weak, I admit. Anyway, she said to go for the Flexon because she is really concerned about the social aspect. She is afraid that the other kids would make fun of the other glasses and scar Handsome for life. So on that warning, I got the Flexon. I figure that since it is about to be winter, he will have less of an opportunity to be running around. And a few months from now, I may go ahead and buy the Miraflex as a backup and for the times that he wants to be more rough and tumble.

The glasses should be ready by Thursday and then will begin the adventure of making him wear his glasses full time. While I was buying the glasses I was talking to the woman who sells them - obviously. Anyway, she has been doing the same job for over 20 years. It was a family owned business. I told her about why Handsome needed glasses and she started telling me horror stories. Great, right? She told me about one little girl whose grandmother refused to patch her eye because the girl didn't like it and at 12 years old the girl lost sight in her weak eye. And then there is the story of a little boy whose parents didn't notice and so he didn't get treated. As a result he has a full blown lazy eye now. He can get glasses to help with his sight, but they are litearaly about an inch thick for that one eye and he still can't see clearly. Great. Now I'm worried that poor Handsome is going to end up blind in one eye.

Obviously since we were able to buy glasses on Monday morning, Handsome did not go to preschool. His random fever is completely gone now but he missed his class picture. :'( I was really looking forward to that. I emailed his teacher and she is going to get us a copy of it, but sadly Handsome won't be in the picture. DH took him to his school today to get his individual picture. We don't really need it since I take his picture obsessively, but I'm curious to see how he handles someone else taking his picture.

And now for Junior news.

On Saturday, Junior crawled to the coffee table and pulled himself up to standing so that he could grab something that was on the table. Oh yes, he pulled himself up. My five month old is pulling up to stand. I can't even believe it. My baby was supposed to stay a baby for a little while longer.

And for a little TMI - at least he'll think so when he is older and knows I blogged about it - he hasn't pooped in at least two weeks. The nurse said to give him a laxative. Eww. I went to buy some last night, but the container had already been opened. EWWWW. So we have to take it back. We're also going to buy some Mylicon to see if that helps because Ray massaged his belly yesterday and said Junior farted for about ten minutes straight after that. HAHAHA! I'm glad I wasn't there for that because man do his farts stink!

Junior is also blowing rasberries and saying "bababa" and chewing on his tongue. All very good signs that he is progressing like he should.

His six month appointment is next week.

And in me news.

I got everything done for work that I needed to! YAY!! Talk about a relief. Our house is so much less stresful now.

And in DH news.

He did not pass one of his exams and doesn't know how he did on the other, but he's not hopeful. I am so scared that he won't pass and get his nursing degree. He is so smart, but his school is so unhelpful. The one test that he didn't pass was because he could only miss one element and he missed three. One. And a passing grade on an exam is 78%. Please, Lord, let him pass. We have really struggled to get to this point.

And now that I have written a novel, I'm done. ;)

One week from today

One week from today, Handsome starts preschool.

Preschool.

My baby is starting preschool.

I know he will love it. He is so incredibly social and outgoing that he will love being able to spend that much time with a group of children his age. To him it will just be more people that he can try to impress. It may be scary for him at first since Mommy and Daddy won't be there, but I think he'll get over that quickly. Once he realizes that we will always come back for him, I think he will be fine.

Me on the other hand? How will I handle things? I thought I was going to do fine. I thought I knew that this was a good step for Handsome and was happy knowing I had made the right decision. I thought I had a handle on things. And then I saw my friends sending their children off to school. And just reading their stories I started to tear up. Yeah, I'm gonna cry. I have to hold it together long enough to let Handsome know that everything is fine and then I'm going to turn around and cry. I know this is good for him, but I also know that he is my baby and my baby is growing up. DH is going to laugh at me. He's going to be completely perplexed as to why I am crying. I don't think I could explain it to him if I wanted to. I don't think I can really explain it to myself. I'm sure I'll write a lot more on the day we meet his teachers and the day we drop him off at school and maybe by then I'll be able to verbalize why I'm so emotional about everything. I took two vacation days so that I could be there to meet his teachers and classmates and so that I could drop him off and pick him up on his very first day of preschool. I don't think I could have handled sitting at work and not being there with him for this.