No One Actually Marched

I would've liked it if they did. I like funny people. Well, we're back from our 10K walk...I never paid attention to the length of the March of Dimes walk beforehand. It was apparently 10K...did you know that's 6.2 miles?! No wonder my feet are a little sore. I'm so sadly out of shape. Easton did so awesome. He was so good and wore a little preemie sign on his stroller so he was noticed by lots of people. Some congratulated us, others asked questions...it was great to see how many people turned out for the cause.

The weather turned out to be perfect for our journey. Not too sunny, definitey not hot but once we got moving I was the perfect temperature and eventually had to take off my jacket. We got sprinkled just a tiny bit with rain but no one was complaining about it. I just couldn't believe how well E behaved nearly the whole time. He fussed a little at one point but we gave him some cheese snacks and took off his coat in case he was warm too. He had a little ballon that he held onto most of the way. Looking at the pictures now that we're home is amusing. He's got his little fist closed around the string in almost all of them. Tee hee. He loves balloons. As soon as we got there he started chanting, "ba ba ba". So we sought one out for him. Once we finally finished they had a bunch of free food and beverages. KMart hot dogs or Papa John's pizza. Yeah, we went with the pizza. Children's Hospital provided cookies and Pepsi gave away sodas. I love free stuff!

J listened to the NFL draft on his Walkman about halfway through the walk. Now I owe him a massage. I predicted the Saints wouldn't take Reggie Bush...that they'd trade him for more draft picks later. I was wrong. Bummer. Although, I might cite a little illegal insider info as J checks out sporting news daily and I usually just hear it from him. Oh well, I knew what I was getting into.

Easton is now fast asleep in his crib after a long morning of stroller and carseat sitting. J is watching the draft and I'm left to do my own thing. No complaints here!

Marching Tomorrow

Wow, we met our second March of Dimes goal and even exceeded it by $5!! So, tomorrow morning we'll be heading downtown to do our Walk America. Right now it is 36 degrees and rainy. I'm hoping for much friendlier condtions at this time tomorrow. Yuck!

Easton and I were planning a walk/playground trip with some of our playgroup pals but not in this weather. I'm considering taking him swimming (indoors) at the rec center after his nap this afternoon. We'll see. I had to go exchange his little swim diapers yesterday. I accidentally bought the pink Little Mermaid kind instead of the blue Nemos. Oops...we couldn't have that! Even if they do go under his trunks. I don't know if this is good or bad, but his little trunks from last year still fit. They're pretty cute so I'm glad about that, I just wish he wasn't so small sometimes. Last July...

Oh, he remembered his belly button trick! And, on a whim Jason quizzed him on hands, feet, and nose and he knew them all! I missed it! By the time I got there he was ready to move on although I did see him with his finger on his nose and saying "no" (for nose)!! I guess all those readings of "Where is Baby's Belly Button?" have paid off. Yay E!

Moving along...there is a new yogurt I have to recommend. Easton loves it too! It's the Yoplait Whips Chocolate Mousse Style yogurt. Delish! I'm not sure if it's really a "guilt-free" way to enjoy chocolate but its very yummy and Easton gobbles it up with me. Our favorite is probably chocolate cherry. Yum-O.

Easton is still being a pretty bad eater overall and yesterday he was a horrible sleeper. His nighttime sleep was his usual 10 hours or so. I'm very jealous of mom's with kids that sleep 12-13 hours at night. I wouldn't even mind too much if he woke up to nurse after 10 hours and went back to sleep. Sometimes he does but that's rarer and rarer, although I admit I always try it. :) His "nap" yesterday is what was so awful. I nursed him and then put him in his crib thinking he'd go right to sleep, but no, he played for 15-20 minutes before I went and laid him back down. That made him quite mad and he cried and cried for the whole 2 minutes we let him. Then I went in (and he had a big yucky boog from all the crying) and decided to rock him to sleep. It worked and I put him in his crib. He woke up screaming after 30 minutes! I tried 2 times of our 2 minute intervals to get him to go back down and the second time he was so upset he threw up! :( So, desperate, I rocked him again. Three times. Each time I stood up to put him in bed he'd screech until I sat back down to rock. The third time I fell asleep rocking him. I then tried to bring him to bed with me and we cuddled awhile but he was wide awake and soon got down to play with all the drawers. Sigh! It took him 30 minutes to finally go to sleep last night too. Luckily he's still asleep now, he nursed 2 hours ago but went back down...whew! Maybe he'll make it to 12 hours total today after all?

"Don't Lick the TV"

I actually overheard Jason saying that to Easton as I got dinner ready last night! People need to keep track of the hilarious things they've had to utter as parents, don't you think?

We have a new chair here at our house. Easton got a potty chair. I know, I know, he's very young. But, we're not trying to potty train him yet. Not at all. We're just getting him familiar with it. No pushing. No expectations. It's just, before his bath nearly every night he goes under the counter and often pees on the floor. Very interested in what he's doing. On several occasions he's woken up dry after his naps and once in the morning (after 14 hours!!), according to friends those would be perfect times to simply put him by (or on) his potty seat. He can make a stop there before baths if he wants to too. I was afraid having a potty around this early might backfire one day but Jason and some knowledgeable friends feel otherwise. Hey, I admit I'm not always right. Just usually ;) hee hee!

E learned a new trick yesterday too: it's "Where's your belly button?" We haven't really ever tried teaching him body parts like that. He just kept pulling on his little outie and I kept telling him "belly button". One time I swear he said, "bedday budday"! Anyway, several times through the course of the afternoon we'd "practice" and he'd usually do it if he wasn't busy doing something else. Easton has never been too eager to please. The little stinker. "He's his own person" as my mom would say. Anyhoo, we'll see if he remembers his "trick" once he wakes up today. Although I have to say I'm encouraged because he was interested in my bedday budday and then went to find his again.

We're hoping to go out to lunch with a friend for charity today but it was sort of last minute and I haven't heard back from her yet. If I don't hear from her J suggested coming to eat with him. Either way it gets us out of the house!

Let's Hear It for the Boys!

Since I'm a stay-at-home mom it's rather rare that my two boys are on their own. But, for my Mom's Night Out last night I knew I could leave and they'd be just fine. Jason is such an awesome and involved father that he doesn't need any "instructions" when I leave them...maybe just a "re-cap" (E just ate, I just changed him, I just woke him up...that sort of thing). While I was gone the boys played their favorite games, took a quick trip to the park, and did the whole bedtime routine to get Easton to bed at his usual time. I bet the other moms would be jealous if they knew how great I have it.

My MNO was fun. There were 6 of us and we snacked and enjoyed pomegranate margaritas. Yum! It was nice to get out with the girls for a few hours. Even on our night's off like that, we all still talk about our kids. Funny.

Jason is off today (yay!) and I'm planning to take Easton to Circle Time at the library again. He loves other kids and is just learning how to play "with" them rather than next to them. So fun!

Mom's Night Out

Yay! As sort of a last minute thing, some mommy friends and I are going out tonight. I'm looking forward to a little break but I love my life and my family so I don't really need to get away. It's just nice to connect with other moms sometimes, especially sans kids.

Easton is actually taking his second nap of the day which is unusual for him. Sometimes his short nighttime sleeps catch up with him and he's extra cranky leaving me no choice but to put him down early in the day and cross my fingers he'll nap again later. Luckily this doesn't happen all that often, I just wish the kid would sleep longer at night. Hopefully he'll be a good boy for Jason tonight but will still go to bed at a reasonable time. I am lucky to have such a supportive husband who works hard so I can stay home with The E, yet he understands that what I do is still "work" and encourages me to take breaks like these. He's the best! He even went in to work a little early this morning so he could leave a little early in time for me to meet the gals. Awww!

The view from E's window this morning. Brrr!

M-O-N-D-A-Y

Yuck...a freezing drizzle is currently falling from the sky. It's not supposed to get above 40 degrees today. Boo hoo! Not that we had any exciting plans. At least the weather was nice over the weekend. We had a lovely time at the Botanic Gardens on Saturday. Click here for a quick video. Bad Mommy that I am I didn't put any sunscreen on Easton hoping the stroller canopy would be enough for the short time we'd be there. But alas, he got a little color on his forearms. Oops. He doesn't even notice. I'll be better next time. I honestly know better...bad bad bad!

Saturday evening was our date night. It was fun to simply get out. My mom and sister are the only baby sitters Easton has ever had and he did great with them. Didn't eat much for them but that's nothing new. I called home between dinner and the movie and he was doing just fine. Yay! We didn't love the movie (V for Vendetta). We didn't even like it. I don't know how it got so many great reviews. Well, we're going against the common opinion and saying we didn't like it. I thought it was cheesy and was trying too hard in addition to being just plain boring. What a waste of $19. I can't believe movies these days are $9.50!! And, we thought we were seeing a matinee at 4:40. Matinees now end at 4. D'oh! Oh well. We did see a preview for United 93 which looks interesting to say the least. The next movie we'd probably be willing to spend nineteen bucks on will be next month's The Da Vinci Code. Tom Hanks, Ron Howard...both winners. Each of us read the book several months ago and really liked it. We're both looking forward to the movie.

After our movie we went to Rock Bottom Brewery for burgers. I wanted to try somewhere new but I also wanted to get back before Easton's bedtime and didn't want to wait too long at the other place. So we settled for Rock Bottom which was fine. But, I can't wait till our next date.

My sister spent the night with us Saturday night and we just hung out with her Sunday morning...once she woke up! Teenagers. I "made" her make us muffins as I'm hoping she'll learn how to cook and bake. She did well. Later we took my mom to her belated birthday dinner at the Macaroni Grill and so we could give my sister back. :) Jason ended up not joining us in lieu of hoping to work in the yard. We had a nice late lunch. I was too full to cook dinner and we put Easton to bed early. What a weekend.

Jason was trying to take a picture of me in my new fancy shirt. Easton didn't want him to. I guess he wants to be in all the pictures we take even though we have 292 pictures just this month and that doesn't include video.

Happy Earth Day

Okay, this might be lame to get so excited about but I have 2 new things in my "sidebar". The latest book I'm reading (recommended by my friend Maura) AND my super exciting slide show of collages. Thanks to Amanda for helping me get it in there in the first place and to Kim for making it run vertically. SO fun! Amanda and Kim are both really talented digital scrapbookers and run their latest layouts in their slideshows. Maybe someday I'll do that too. Right now it's just collages that took me all of 2 minutes to do.

The part I'm most proud of is putting the picture of the book in the sidebar AND then making it a link. I did that without help...not even J's help! He is still sleeping. As is E.

Today we are planning to head to the free day at the Botanic Gardens. Good way to "celebrate" Earth Day...plus it's free and it's supposed to be gorgey out today. Later on my mom and sister are coming over to E-sit so J and I can have a date. We're planning on going to see V for Vendetta then dinner somewhere TBD. :) We'll see though, last time they watched him he freaked out when they tried to put him in a highchair, granted they weren't at our house and it was an unfamiliar high chair. Hopefully he'll do fine here at home with them and we won't get called home mid-date. I'm sure they'll all be fine.

Graduation Day

Well, Easton got his very last Synagis shot today. That was his RSV shot and now he's all done forever. Yay! We're glad we were able to get the shots covered by insurance but it's still hard watching them jab a needle into your angel baby's thigh month after month. He's gotten one a month since November. Plus last winter too.

Once again he was scared of just being there. As soon as he saw Tammy (the nurse) he started crying. We weighed him and he's still just 18 1/2 pounds (darn!). Then the doctor came in to wash her hands and left, I guess just so she could say she "saw" him. Tammy followed with the shot. It's one of the more painful shots as it is a lot of liquid PLUS it goes directly into E's muscle whereas many other shots are just under the skin in the fatty tissue. Ouch. Last time he got shots he woke up the next day with a limp. Poor guy. Oh well, now we're done with shots till kindergarten! Unless, of course, we opt for flu shots. Who knows at this point? Although his last flu shot didn't even make him cry! He's one tough little dude.

After the appointment we went to dine with Jason as we usually do following doctor visits. We had originally talked about picnicking but Jason had a flat tire he needed fixed so we followed him over to the fix-it place and had BBQ at a restaurant nearby. It was delish and we still got to eat outside in the shade so it all worked out just fine. Easton is now having a nap and I'm doing my own thing!

The Maddest "Mad" Ever

Whoa! This morning Easton threw his biggest fit yet which we often call "having a mad". I was so glad Jason was home with us today as it looked like it was going to be a very rough, very long day. Anyway, after Easton woke up I brought him into our room to play like we usually do when we're all home. Before long he got SO mad at us so we put him down on the floor to have his tantrum. It lasted SO long. We're not sure exactly what to do about tantrums yet but at first we opted for "ignore". But, how long are we supposed to ignore it for? He kept going and going. Then, when we felt bad since he's still so young we tried to distract him and offered to pick him back up on the bed. He wanted nothing to do with either of us at that point. My goodness! Eventually I got down on the floor with him to try to distract him with playing and ended up just cuddling him as we walked around the room and looked out the window to calm down. It was crazy. We were wondering what happened to our regular child. Maybe when he bonked his head yesterday something came loose? More on this later.

Anyway, back to handling the tantrums. I got a book from the library and after thumbing through it we decided we like it's theory and we're going to Netflix the video of it. Then, if we need to later we'll get the book again. The theory is to basically think of your toddler as a caveman and communicate with them at their level rather than trying to talk to them like an older person, "No you can't have a cookie now...you don't want to ruin your dinner." Basically with this book's theory you'd say, "No No! Easton wants cookie NOW! blah blah blah" we're not sure what happens after that so that's why we need the movie, I think it has something to do with whispering. I don't know. *sigh* Until we get it I think we're gonna stick with our "ignore" mode. It's not working but it's the best we've got for now. I know the key is to be consistent but we have no real method yet. Once we learn that we'll be consistent. Well, we'll try. :)

Okay, so back to this head bonk...you see, yesterday E learned how to climb up onto his toy box. Lots of fun. He was SOOOO proud of himself. Click here for some video. At first he did okay without falling off and he seemed aware of the boundaries of the box and could climb down okay. Well, later on he got a little too sure of himself and one time he fell off the front, not too big of a deal, he got right back up. Then he started his stompy dance and one foot fell between the box and the wall and he went down, smacking his face on the lid on his way down. :( He didn't cry too long but his little cheek was warm and red all evening like he'd been slapped 'cross the face. Needless to say he didn't try climbing back up there again yesterday OR today. He did try the coffee table once but we're not allowing that since it's made of glass. On that note, after his recent (possible) electric shock he also doesn't play with the cords anymore. For now. Maybe he did learn.

Despite the rough start to the morning and our anticpation of a trying day ahead he was actually very good and we had a lot of fun today. He tried hummus today! Then, after his long nap we went on a walk and to a park to play. He went to town eating strawberries when we came back. Yay E! We love Daddy's days off!

We're Running Out of Time

The Easton Team March of Dimes Walk America is just 10 days away!! We reached our inital fundraising goal and have recently moved it up. Please consider donating to this amazing cause that helped save our little guy's life. If you're not wanting to re-live this experience just now don't read on...

The lyrics on this page are from a well-known song in the preemie community. It is by Mark Shultz, a Christian singer.

Just 15 months ago Easton was in Children's Hospital. He was born at 33 weeks and weighed just 3 pounds 14 ounces. At birth he seemed fine, just needed some time to grow and learn to eat. It was my health they were worrying about to start with. The next day, our world turned upside down. What had been the happiest days of our lives quickly turned into the worst. Easton was having more and more trouble breathing. His oxygen saturations were dropping as he worked harder and harder to breathe. Before long he needed help and the nurses worked to get him better. From my recovery room I heard his doctor paged "STAT to the NICU". Easton needed to be intubated and they were having a hard time, for some reason his little vocal cords were inflamed. They were having to give him artificial breaths and chest compressions, at one point there were 8 people in his room "working" to resuscitate him. Once they got the tube in to help him breathe they gave him a dose of medication called Surfactant. Surfactant research was funded by the March Of Dimes. Easton desperately needed this medicine as x-rays basically showed the little sacs in his lungs were sticking shut, collapsed on themselves. The Surfactant lubricated those sacs so they could open back up and oxygen could get in again. This is a very basic explanation as our little guy also developed a collapsed lung due to a hole that wasn't there at birth. They had to cut a hole in his chest and put a tube in so his lung would inflate again. Anyway, after they got him stabalized Jason and I said our goodbyes to him and the Flight for Life ground transport team took him away to Children's Hospital. He still didn't have a name yet. It wasn't until after he left that we decided on "Easton". He ended up being on a ventilator with the chest tube in place for 4 days. It was 5 days before I even got to hold my son for the first time.

Since that awful day Easton only got better, we had no setbacks to speak of after that. God has answered prayer after prayer and we do feel truly blessed by Him. We are of course grateful to the talented staff at both the hospitals we spent time in (29 nights!) and to MOD research. That is why we'll be walking on April 29th, and politely ask you support us in any way you can. Thanks for reading...next time it won't be so "heavy"! Click here to go to our Walk America site.

My Kid is a Genius...

Jason bought me a shirt when I was pregnant that said that. I know all parents believe their children are smart, that's good for a child's self esteem, isn't it? Easton does lots of seemingly intelligent things as he learns about the world. Today he did lots of "smart things" all in a row. I was impressed. We were playing in the backyard when I decided I didn't want him near the AC unit anymore. I just moved him away the first time. The second time I said sweetly, "If you go back there, we're going inside." He never went back, although I truly believe that was coincidence. Later, he decided he wanted to go back inside. He went to the fridge and smacked his lips at me and said, "Mmmm" (milk? yummy sounds? we don't know the official translation). He wanted his sippy out of there. Once he was refreshed he was starting to play in the kitchen but I said, "We have to take off our shoes." He actually listened to me instead of ignoring me like usual and continuing to play. Without any further prompting he then walked over to the laundry room door where we keep all the shoes and waited for me. We took off our shoes and I said, "Now we have to wash our hands." Then he surprised me by rubbing his hands together and heading towards the bathroom! When we were done I told him "let's go upstairs" whereupon he went straight up. After we were done up there we started heading down and he said, "duh". For down!

He's also started mocking Jason when he tells him "No no". It started yesterday at my mom's. Click here for the video. He says "Nuh nuh" and shakes his head. It is SO hard not to laugh and right now it's still funny anyway. So far he hasn't started doing it with me. He does other things with me...like his tantrums. Joy. I was loving that he hadn't learned the words "No!" or "Mine!" yet. One down, one to go I s'pose.

Despite his intelligent tendencies, our little Einstein is also a little confused these days. For instance, he calls us both "Mama" now. No idea what that's about. He used to call us both the proper names, then he switched to calling Jason "Baba". Now J is "Mama" too. What gives? Next thing you know he'll pick something else to call him. He also calls Blitz "doggie" which sounds more like "dada". But, it's the word he's always using for dog now. He used to say "tat" for cat. At least he's trying!


Jason finished the dresser yesterday and he buffed it tonight and we carried it up to our room. It's bigger than we thought it would be which is a good thing. We were joking that it has a "real presence" in the room. In order to carry it up we had to figure out something to contain and entertain Easton. We opted for the highchair (sans food...no eating unattended here) and a Baby Einstein DVD. He was SOOOO good. We were shocked as he had been throwing fits all evening and through dinner. TV often calms him...yikes!

Well, I'm off to rearrange some clothes in our new furniture...till next time!

Easton's 2nd Easter

Happy Easter to everyone! Easton woke up bright and early this morning, too early, so I tried bringing him into bed with me to catch a few more Z's but he wasn't into it. He must've known it was a special day. Luckily the Easter Bunny had already visited our home so we all headed down to see what he'd brought. Easton had a basket overstuffed with goodies: 2 plastic eggs filled with snacks, a chocolate bunny, a box of spring time graham cracker "bug bites", a box of cheddar bunnies, some Sponge Bob animal crackers, an Easter coloring book, a tiny pool for the backyard, a beach ball, 2 new Dr. Seuss books, and some finger paints. There was also 2 new cups but the ol' Easter Bunny left them in the dishwasher. When E saw the boxes of crackers he said, "Mmmmm mmmmm" and tried to get them open. He's never seen these particular boxes before, yet he knew they were food!

After going through his basket he went on an egg hunt. Just empty plastic eggs this year. He did pretty well hunting the eggs (that were "hiding" in obvious spots) then stashing them in his pail. He thought it was even better to take them out one by one and throw them, only to pick them back up to do it again. Boys! Click here for a not-so-short montage of E's egg fun.

We had brunch plans at my mom's so we all got ready and headed down to Gramoo's where Easton thankfully slept in the car for 20 minutes or so. I was dreading the meal if he didn't nap. We had a lovely breakfast though and hung out for a bit before heading back home. I sat in back with The E to keep him from falling asleep again. I wanted him taking his real nap once we got home. So, he's napping now, J's working on the furniture and I'm thinking about a rest myself. I was up too late to get up too early.

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday as well!

Ahhhh....Much Better!

Well, last night Easton slept awesome. Jason, on the other hand, woke after just 5 hours and was up for the day! Anyway...back to E--yesterday J asked if Easton usually slept well after his shots, and I answered that in the past he had. Looks like he's continuing with that streak. He went to bed at his usual 8:30 and slept straight through till 9 this morning. I don't think he's slept for that long a stretch since he was 10 months old or so (before our trip down south). His nap was shorter today but oh well.

Jason was off today and did some more work on finishing the dresser and started on the lawn: changing the oil in the mower, mowing, and watering by hand. It's too soon to turn the sprinklers back on, it still gets below freezing some nights.

While J was busy with that kind of stuff, Easton and I headed to the library to check out some new books. It just so happens we went at toddler "circle time" so there were lots of kiddos his age to play with. He can get overwhelmed in wild situations sometimes but he wasn't scared of anyone today! In the past, overzealous kids have made him cry and run to me or at the very least, back up really quickly. None of that today. However, he's young enough to where he doesn't really know how to play with anyone yet. He saw some kids having fun and walked up to them but then just kind of stood there and hoped they noticed him. They did and there were lots of smiles then E decided to move on. Two kids stayed later and played longer with Easton. One was a 2 year old named Isaiah and he was a local model. Fancy. The other was a 9 month old girl but E naturally prefered the older kid. It was so cute hearing a child pronounce Easton's name. "Eee-ton! Come play!" Awwww. We might go more regularly now that we know about it. We shall see. I now have a long list of summer reading so it'll be convenient to go once a week or so anyway.

Also, while at circle time, Easton pointed and said "dah-gah" and without thinking I just said, "No Daddy's at home." But, then I realized E calls Jason "Baba" and so I looked and he was pointing at a huge stuffed dog. He was saying "Doggie"! I'm surprised he was able to transfer the meaning from the actual dogs we see around the neighborhood and his small stuffed dogs to a huge red stuffed Clifford that can easily hold 3 kids at once. I was so proud. He's said doggie before when prompted but this was all on his own. He's getting so big! Another mom asked me how long he's been talking. I never really thought of his few words as talking (yet!) but it was fun to hear someone else think he could talk. Yay! He saw a globe on a shelf and called it "ball". He also picked out a book for himself. He saw it on a shelf and carried it around awhile then gave it to me. It's about the Muppet Babies. Too cute.

After dinner tonight (Pizza Hut...thank you Alabamaws!) we were finally able to let E out in the backyard to play. We had been needing the grass to be mowed to pick up some of the spare debris from rose bush pruning so he'd be safe. He had a blast out there. I can't wait for the grass to get green and soft and the plants to bloom again. We have a nice yard in the summer, it's the sad and sorry patio that makes us hate being back there. Easton doesn't care of course so we plan to let him play out there often. Summer here we come!

What a Night!

Ugh! Easton was up so much last night. That is really rare for him these days but as I was lying awake at 3:30 listening to him playing in his crib I think I came up with the reason: the medication I take for my increased homocysteine level can make it hard to sleep. Normally I take the first dose at breakfast but yesterday I forgot until the afternoon. Then, Easton actually nursed before bed and got the meds in his system. Normally I would've chalked his sleeplessness up to something else but he used to do the same thing before I started taking my second dose of it after he went to sleep. I can't believe I hadn't thought of it ahead of time...I probably should've skipped that first dose. Oh well.

We have Easton's 15 month well-baby appointment today. I'm sure I'll post about how it all goes.

UPDATE
Well, his appointment went well although he surprised me by "remembering" that he doesn't love that place. Once we got into the exam room he started fussing. Then the crinkly paper (which he used to enjoy) on the exam table really set him off into his "I hate this" mode. Poor guy. He cried all through being measured (30.5 inches which she said was 50%) and all through being weighed (18 lbs. 7.5 oz which she claimed was on the charts at 1st percentile). He didn't even want to stay on the scale. He was pushing his feet off the wall next to it. Eventually he calmed down and ran around the room opening all the drawers and doors while we waited for the doctor. I drew the line at re-opening the drawer full of speculums--who knew if they were dirty or clean? Yikes! Anyway, once he saw the doctor he decided he wanted to scream and cry at her too. She seemed surprised at his reaction as it might be a little early for these kinds of memories. Plus, he's always liked her in the past. Oh well. He got three shots today but now it looks like he's done with regular immunizations until his kindergarten visit! I know it'll be here before we know it, though.

After the appointment we drove up to have lunch with J like we do if we're nearby. We had a lovely lunch at Red Robin where Jason and Easton practiced their coloring. On the way home I tried to keep E awake yet happy so I fed him Cheerios one by one over the back of his carseat. I feel okay about it because at this point in his life it's highly unlikely that he'll choke on just one O. Now that we're home he's sound asleep...hopefully for awhile...I don't want another night like last night.

A shock or two

Well, I think Easton might've electrocuted himself slightly yesterday. Oops! I was in the kitchen washing my hands and he was in the family room. All of a sudden he started to cry like he was hurt. I went in and he looked fine but he had unplugged something from an outlet and the TV was halfway unplugged. It must've just popped him slightly. He recovered quickly. In the past he's only tried to unplug things while we're watching him. Almost like he's just testing us. The plugs are really the only things not Easton-proofed in that room but there's not much we can do about it. We're hoping he learned from it (yeah, right).

Another shocker was that we cut Easton's hair ourselves and he looks even cuter! I wouldn't have thought that was possible!

Actually, I tried doing it at first but he was not happy about it so J and I switched positions and I held him and tried comforting him while J ran the clippers over his head. J's the one with clipper experience anyway since that's how he gets his own hair cut. He did a really great job. Easton wasn't fighting or moving, he was just sad and clung to me. The clippers aren't that loud but nonetheless, he was scared of some part of the experience. We're so happy with the results and the fact that we'll save some money in the long run. If Easton was going to react like he did (crying) then I'm really glad we opted not to do it in public. Plus at home we had brownies to cheer him back up: bread and chocolate--what could be better? At least as far as E's concerned.

Clean up after the haircut wasn't too bad either with my super-duper Swiffer Sweep Vac. I love this thing for our non-carpeted areas. I highly recommend it. I like that it has a powerful little vaccuum but also has the Swiffer cloth attached to pick up things the vaccum doesn't: dust and cat hair. I bet I use it at least once a day. It is good at picking up Easton's kitchen messes after meals. There, how did you like my advertisement? I'm still having fun with learning to link to things...sorry! :)

Today J will be working on the dresser again and then we're off to the birthday gathering at my grandma's.

That's Colorado for You

Goodness, I should know not to be surprised by now but still...when the morning starts off so dreary with wind and wetness but you can play outside (click here for the video) with no coat in the afternoon...it's just a little strange but that's how Colorado weather always is.

J came home early from work yesterday which is always nice. We ate late lunches and then were too full for the dinner we had planned so we'll be eating it (baked ziti) on Monday instead. We like to try to plan out all our meals for the week but it's always SO hard so we don't mind if something carries over into the next week. Makes it easier to fill up our list.

For today, we originally had plans to go to a free concert by the Denver Philharmonic but it ended up interfering with the sacred nap time. We didn't want to mess with that. Plus, with all the rainy snow yesterday the garage door ended up dripping a tiny bit on the dresser Jason is finishing out there. Oops! So, he was wanting to work on fixing that as well. It should turn out okay. Easton would probably hate having to sit still for an hour long concert at this point anyway. Maybe next time. I have a friend that plays in the Denver Philharmonic, she'll keep me posted of more free shows.

I think once Jason is done working on the dresser this afternoon we'll head out to do a little shopping. We were thinking of buying some hair clippers and trying to maybe do Easton's first haircut ourselves before too long. Still not sure, but his hair is getting quite long! I don't think I could possibly make it look any more uneven, but you never know!

What Happened to Spring?

Ugh! Today is cold and snowy and windy. It is a perfect day to stay inside where it's warm and dry but alas we have to go get my oil changed 45 minutes away. Ack! Oh well, Easton usually doesn't mind being out and about. Maybe we'll do something else fun on our way home.

Things have been well around here. Jason was off yesterday and we ran a few errands as a family and J also started working on our new dresser. We're buying new bedroom furniture piece by piece and J sands and stains it himself. He did the nightstands back in January and did a really good job (especially for a first time!). I imagine the dresser will be even better. We can't wait to have the storage space. I'm not looking forward to having to help carry it up the stairs, though. It was pretty heavy just helping to unload it from the truck to the garage. Although the drawers were still in for that part.



We don't have much planned for this weekend. J will probably work more on the dresser. On Sunday we're heading to my grandma's for a birthday celebration for my mom. I ordered her gifts online but I don't think they'll be here in time so I must figure something else out. I hate when that happens. I'm usually such a good planner. Oh well.

Easton did not eat well at all yesterday AND he's starting to wean. I'm a little worried but I guess he knows what his own little body needs. It's not like he's waking up hungry in the night or anything. He is down to maybe 1.5-2 nursings a day. He doesn't nurse before bed most nights anymore. Though I have to say, I'm really proud to have made it as long as we did. Plus, I don't see the nursing we're still doing ending anytime soon but what do I know?

Well, I hear my little guy stirring so I'd better go. I hope we can stay warm out there today!

Spring is Coming!

It was another beautiful day here today. It was at least 70 degrees, probably warmer. I saw that it was overcast this morning and just assumed it was cold...oops! After Easton's nap though, it was so nice so we made a stop before heading to the grocery store. We went to Sonic for a snack and sat at one of their little picnic tables to eat our fries (NOT cooked in peanut oil) and a cherry limeade. But, E wigs out with carbonated beverages so he gave up after a few sips. He is so funny with those bubbly drinks: he gets the "rigors" (click here for a video). We gave him sparkling cider awhile ago--Jason wanted to see if it would make him burp--anyway, the carbonation seems to really catch him off guard and he'll do a little delayed shiver. He did the same thing with the cherry limeade today. Oh well--more for me!

After Sonic we headed to the Super Wal-Mart to do the marketing. I wear Easton in the Snugli while we shop. I still don't like for him to sit in a germy buggy, especially in cold and flu season still. He is SOOOO good, though, at the store and everyone comments on how cute and happy he is riding around in front like he does. I'm glad he likes it, unlike many of the other children you'll find at Wal-Mart...geesh!

After we got home I got Easton to snack on some string cheese with me. That's 2 days in a row now that he's had cheese!!! We just sat in front of the TV and ate our cheese and E drank his chocolate milk with a much lower chocolate to milk ratio than usual. He didn't even flinch! We had the Backyardigans on. It's a kids show that J and I like but E isn't too into. Not yet. But, I just had it on to make our cheese-eating seem less formal and it seemed to work. I hate that I occasionally feed my child in front of the TV but right now we go for what works--sometimes. We're anxious for him to reach 20 pounds so we can turn his carseat around. He gets frustrated back there sometimes, hopefully turning around will help, it'll definitely help keep the sun out of his eyes. The bright sunlight makes his eye with the clogged duct run more.

Well, speaking of frustration, E is still hitting. He got mad earlier today that he couldn't do something (not that I was forbidding it, he just wasn't physically able to do it). Anyway, he was mad that he couldn't do it and started hitting the wall and even himself a little. He'll hit whatever he can, I guess. He didn't hit me then, though. That's good, right? He did the same thing when we were out playing in the yard and I wouldn't let him go in the street. He threw one of his mini tantrums so I picked him up to bring him inside as we don't play in the street and that's the only place he wanted to be. When I picked him up he did the same hitting/pat thing to me and to himself. Crazy guy. Later he calmed down and we went back out to play and he didn't try to go in the street anymore. Probably just coincidence.

J came home while we were out playing and E ran over to his "Baba". E has switched to calling Jason that, even though he used to call him "Dada" just fine. J doesn't mind the nickname, though. I don't know if he's trying to say "Bubba" like we call him or maybe it's because "ba" is his favorite syllable. Who knows why he does what he does? After dinner Jason went to go play with some band guys and I did the bedtime routine all by myself. Easton is such a crazy splasher in the bath that it seriously looks like the bath-giver just got off Splash Mountain. I'm still waiting for my pants to dry. The floor gets soaked, too. At least he has fun and hopefully wears himself out to sleep better. He is waking even earlier lately despite the time change. Grrrr. Oh well.

I guess I'll stop again for tonight. I should catch up on my other "computing" while I have this time to myself. Till my next adventure in blogging...

My firstest blog ever!

Well, I guess now it's my turn to have an online blog. Many of my "online friends" have them so I want one too! If Easton is napping you'll usually find me reading or at the computer so this is just one more thing to do while I quietly wait for him to wake up.

We had a very nice weekend as a family. We did a little shopping and coincidentally all 3 of us got new shirts. My boys got a few other things as well.


On Saturday, April Fools Day, no one pulled any pranks...unless you count Easton waking up screaming at 12:15 a.m. We still have no idea what that was about and he went right back to sleep after that. Anyway, no April Foolin' going on around here which is good as I'm a poor sport and not usually a fan of practical jokes. We did pull out our Easter decorations, though, which basically means some egg and bunny candles in the bathrooms, a ton of stuffed bunnies on the loveseat, and a bucket full of festive small toys for Easton to disperse around the room. Oh, and bubbles! E got bunny bubbles in his basket last year and we blew some for him for the first time. He likes them and, of course, caled them "ba"s. Saturday evening was a little disappointing as far as LSU's Final Four performance goes. Oh well, I guess no one really even expected them to get as far as they did.

On Sunday Easton seemed to do just fine with the time change which is good...we'll see if it continues. We also went out to an early dinner with some friends. It was at a place called the Elephant Bar which is sort of jungle-y themed inside. Easton did great and was happy to see his buddy Max. At first we had them on opposite ends of the table but when our food came we moved them side by side. E kept reaching over to Max's highchair and trying to share goldfish. E would put them in Max's highchair seat. Too cute! The pictures all came out blurry, though. :(

Last night after E went to bed J and I did our own things. We're waiting for Netflix to send us the next Scrubs DVD. Anyway, J's been working on some new music and I opted to try Grey's Anatomy again. I'm still trying to get into the ever-so-popular show. I would love a "medical" drama to watch but so far it's not really working for me. I guess I'll keep trying for a few more episodes.

This weekend was also interesting as Easton has started hitting when he gets mad at us! Oh no! I guess we'll have to stop popping Blitz when he's bad. Or maybe kids just learn it anyway? To balance things out, last week he learned to give hugs. You say, "Hug?" and he'll come over and put his arms around you the best he can and put his little head on your chest or shoulder. It's too sweet. He's been being more cuddly lately on his own and we love it! He hadn't been much of a cuddler before that. We'll take what we can get!

I guess I should wrap up this LONG first entry as I hear Easton starting to protest being in his bed. Perhaps I take back what I said about the time change not affecting him. We'll see...