My Junior Flu Fighter

Here is my shot victim sporting his Jr. Flu Fighter sticker badge and showing off his coloring book. He did pretty well with the flu shot today. He did cry for a sec but forgot all about it as the nurse gave him his sticker and coloring book. They didn't give me any of that and I had TWO shots. I'm glad they helped him feel better.

Our morning today didn't start till 8:30....NICE! Then we raced to get Easton dressed and some milk in him in time for Kindermusik. We had a "substitute" today so the class was a little less organzied and actually less fun but oh well. She'll be subbing again the week after Thanksgiving too. Makes me appreciate Miss Kristin even more. Glad she'll be back.

After Kindermusik was the drive to Boulder and the shot, then lunch with Jason. Easton's lunch consisted of some of Jason's chips which he decided all on his own to dip in my cinnamon roll icing. He ate chip after chip with his icing dip. Crazy. Like most tots he just loves the dipping. One time he dipped graham crackers in ranch dressing. Eew. But, if he wants to eat it then by all means, kiddo...dip away!

We came home just a bit ago and Eastie ran around like a mad man for a bit and is now napping. I cut the rocking silliness down to just 8-ish minutes today and put him in his crib. He went right to sleep. I guess maybe it's the rocking he doesn't "need" anymore? I dunno...

Oh, and back to yesterday...we had a fun playdate with Lilly. As predicted Easton did love her kitchen. He made muffins in the oven and tried and tried to turn on the sink to get water to come out. Then they sat at a kid sized table and had a tea party with her pink and purple princess dishes. I guess I've never really seen him do any imaginative play yet and all it took was a little prompting to get him pouring, sipping, and stirring tea. They even ate a few raisins off the tea set's spoons. It was pretty cute. I didn't take any pictures, though...sorry.

On our drive home from Lilly's we continued with our ABC's. Easton only calls them "ABs" But, for a couple of days now I'll have him repeat each letter after me while we drive in the car. He likes it but he refuses to say K, Q, or W. He won't even try. When I got to W yesterday he told me, "nope" but still did X, Y, and Z. What a goober. My favorite letter he says right now is S. It reminds me of the way he pronounces 'ummus and bus. Too cute. Lucky for me he says "S" for both F and S. It's harder because we're in the car and he can't see my mouth. We'll work on 'em.

Tonight is swimming again (with J) and then I've got a "One Dish Supper" in the Crock Pot...chicken and stuffing. So far all the recipes I've tried out of "Fix It and Forget It" have been winners so I'm hoping this one will be a hit too.

Sorry for the relatively boring post today. Guess I don't have as much to say as usual. Maybe I need a nap? I'll go read my new book and see what happens...

It Has Been One Whole Year...

...since our little superstar started walking. We're talking about walking as a means of getting from here to there, not the day he took his first step or anything. He actually had taken his very first step back on September 30th and built up to maybe 3-4 steps between pieces of furniture, etc until November 15, 2005:



What a big day...he was only 10 months old! And, if you adjust for his prematurity then he was only equal to 8 and a half months! Quite early. We weren't ready for it that early. Oh well. You can click the "Same Time Last Year" link for a video from his first few walks caught on camera. Wow. I'm sure with such an active big brother Deucie will be the type to sit around and simply watch, not bothering to do much on his own till much later. We'll see, though. Easton has never been the type to be very still...the physical milestones all happened quite early with him. That's probably why he's so underweight...burning off more calories than he can consume. Don't you wish we all had that problem?

Okay, well enough reminiscing and onto yesterday. Swimming was fun last night. The pool felt warmer to all us adults than normal yet the kids were still shivering. It didn't help that last night was "underwater night" as far as the "practice skill" was concerned. I dunked Easton 3 times and he did super but got a little clingy in the water. I'm not sure if it was from the dunking or the cold. He was the one that wanted to dunk the 2nd and 3rd times, though. Then he did some sliding on a little mini slide. He liked that pretty well.

We were a little late with dinner again, of course, despite the Crock Pot usage. As I was getting his blanket ready I noticed a small crime scene in his crib:

Not sure what the CSI folks would have to say but it's strange. His lip is a little bleedy from biting it the other day but otherwise I don't know where this is coming from. Dab dab dab all over the sheet and rail there. Bizarre, no? Oh well, 'cause Easton went right to sleep last night. I was quite glad about that.

This morning we got ready, here is Easton with his new blue water bottle. When I brush his hair in the mornings he usually asks for water. I guess he wants to look his best? Anyway, I bought this 50 cent bottle to keep water in and he likes it. With his hair being on the longer side right now he's often got quite a case of bed head goin' on. So, the water helps us keep him looking sharp:

He'll probably be getting his first professional cut very soon. He's already had 3 cuts by Daddy with the clippers but I want it a little longer this winter, I think. As long as he looks okay, that is.

Anyhoo, after getting ready we headed out to Target for a new $1 toaster. I broke his other one yesterday. I dropped it on the floor as I was trying to hand it to him and it was all bus' up. Oops. He handled it very well though when I told him he couldn't play with it and I had to throw it in the trash. Good thing it was cheap. We went straight to Circle Time from Target and he did better than last week. He did all the motions to the songs and such all on his own and he didn't sit for the first story so well but we managed. He really liked the second story, a Dr. Seuss book. We picked up a new book for him and some new ones for me and set off for Wal-Mart. The Toys for Tots guy accosted us on our way out. I promised him we'd help out after Thanksgiving. Actually, I've been planning for awhile for Easton to pick out a few things and then I think we'll donate them to Children's Hospital for the kids that will be stuck there on Christmas. It's a real program so I know they can use some stuff. I think charity is important and I've always wanted to set examples for my kids as well. We also don't like for the boys to have too many toys so our plans have always been to donate old stuff when you get new stuff. In E's case right now he's simply donating to his baby brother but it's a start.

He went down for his nap even better than yesterday although our 15 minutes of rocking was still pretty crazy. I peeked in at him to see if he was asleep yet and found him on his back:

Awwwww...the little dude never sleeps on his back anymore so I had to snap a picture. In fact, as I was leaving his room the floor creaked and he woke up and looked at me and rolled onto his tummy. I really wish he was willing to nap with me sometimes. He just looks so cuddly. I'll just have to take naps with Baby Deucie when I'm able. I always loved that with Baby Easton.

When he wakes up we're going over to play at Lilly's house. We went to her 2nd birthday party a few weeks back. I'm excited they invited us to play. I hear she's got a pink kitchen set and I think Easton likes kitchens. And now he can make toast.

Tomorrow after Kindermusik we have to go get his flu shot. :( I'm not looking forward to it for him at all. It gets harder and harder the older he gets and the more I know and love him. Boo hoo. Hopefully we'll be able to dine with Daddy afterwards to make up for the sore leg. Till then...

Dada Obsession

Lately Easton mentions "Dada" allllllll day. Sometimes it's understandable, like he'll show me his book about Jesus and tell me "Dada" as in "Dad reads this to me." Or he'll brush his teeth and say it because normally Jason is the one to brush teeth with him at night. Sometimes it makes no sense: we saw balloons tied to a stop sign and he said, "Balloon. Dada." It is cute but quite goofy. He's always asking to watch movies of "Dada Eastie" on the computer as well. Then, he gets all excited when he hears J come home but then has been acting a little shy at first. Very strange...like he's built him up so much in his head? I dunno. Yesterday was the first time Jason didn't see Easton all day. J was sad about it so he made sure to look at all the pictures from the day to catch up. He worked late and then played music with someone till after E's bedtime. They're not going to get much time together today either because of swimming and it's my night in the pool. Poor guys.

Speaking of bedtime, last night he didn't fall asleep until 8:45--that's an hour after his "normal" bedtime. He ended up napping sort of late in the day and I knew he wouldn't be ready for sleep at the usual time so I shot for a half hour late. Even so he laid in there till 8:45. I had to go in once because he wouldn't stop calling for me. He's not sad when he does it, it's more of a "Mama? Hey I'm in here." So I go in to give more kisses and pats and tell him night night again. I had to do that the night before last too. I'm telling you, with these sleep issues I'm not sure how much longer this napping gig is gonna last. Then, to top it off he was a crankster when he woke up again from yesterday's nap:

Refusing to come down the stairs:

Still not wanting to come all the way down:


Easton finally cheered up when he got to play with his new toaster. At Kindermusik they sing a song about toast and "popping" up when it's done. Easton enjoys it. At class the teacher had a mini toaster that you could make "pop" too and she said they were in the Dollar Spot at Target so we got one. Easton loves loves loves it:
"Toast toast I like it a lot. Toast toast time to..."

"...POP"


While he was occupied with his toaster I turned on Oprah. I never ever watch her but I'd heard on the radio that they were doing a cool "baby language" segment so I flipped it on. Easton even stopped popping toast to watch it with me. He was riveted:

Seriously the second he heard the babies crying he was glued to the tube. The crying made him feel a little uncomfortable, I think, because he came to sit on my lap. It was really interesting. You can check out the link on the Secret Language of Babies. Jason watched it from TiVo once he got home and found it interesting too. We'll have to remember it all (just 5 "words") once the new baby comes along. Pretty cool.

Today has been okay so far. Easton made some scary faces at me this morning:

And read about Jesus some more:

He's got such a Jesus fire under him right now. It's really awesome. He's going to be getting his first Bible soon.

We went to Gymsters this morning and it was fun as usual. The woman that always annoys me touched my belly today. I think she's the first non-family to do so. I'm not a fan. I would think I wouldn't mind so much but apparently I do. Most people tend to respect a preggo's personal space these days but not everyone. She said the exact same thing to me she said last time, "Oh, you've popped!" and this time it was accompanied by the belly pat. I put my own hand on my belly and then turned to watch what Easton was doing. She also asked me twice just today how I was feeling. She needs some new material.

Easton was a big boy at Gymsters. They did an activity with a football and he followed right along with the teacher without any help from me this time. The only thing he didn't "get" was when she'd say, "Can you do it with the other foot?" or whatever and he'd continue with the same part. I'm really glad we were able to do this second session. I really feel like he benefits with the exception of all the germies. Again, oh well. I can't worry about everything. Oh! That reminds me, I heard a great quote yesterday: "Worrying is like a rocking chair--it gives you something to do but won't get you anywhere." Good point, but it's still not going to keep me from being me (a worrier). I still liked the quote. I hadn't heard it before.

Naptime today wasn't quite as big of a struggle but it still wasn't what I was getting used to. Always changin'. That's life with E. Keeps me on my toes, that's for sure.

Okey dokey, I think that oughta do it for now. Happy trails!

2 Days to Cover

We should start by going back to yesterday (Sunday). Jason wanted to take us out for breakfast. I realized how much we've been eating out lately but I still can't complain. It's one of my favorite "pastimes". So, we got Easton up and nekkid but warm in our bed.
Hey, no peeking! I'm exposed!

We had a pretty good breakfast. I ordered Bananas Foster French Toast but was a bit let down once it arrived. I still ate it all and Easton helped. After that it was time to head home to play.

Wearing Daddy's hat:


Making kissy faces:


Before long it was time for football and Easton's nap. First he had some hummus. He pronounces it so cute. It sounds just perfect but without the "h"...'ummus. I think it's one of the cutest words he says. Needless to say, he still enjoys the 'ummus. What a great snack for him!


He has been giving me a bit of grief lately before his naps. It's really just that he's being silly. Too silly. He won't calm down while we rock so sometimes he gets put into his bed before he's really "ready" but he's doing okay. It can be pretty frustrating though. Nights he does okay still. He had a shortish nap yesterday and woke up in the worst mood. It was rough. Lots of crying and complaining before he finally snapped out of it. Then we could go back to enjoying our football simulcast:
Which channel is Elmo on?


Today E's been in a great mood once again. We did some shopping this morning browsing for some stocking stuffers for E and I got him his first chocolate advent calendar for the month of December. Mmmm. I always had one when I was young so I want to pass the "tradition" along. It's a fun one: chocolate first thing when you wake up! I'll have to keep it where he can't reach it to eat them all at once like my sister Lauren did one year. Boy was that a funny mess. She said her imaginary friend did it yet somehow the proof was on her own face. Good times.

Once we finished up our shopping we came back home for a 'ummus lunch and naptime. Easton had a tough time going down again. I feel bad. I really don't know how much longer he'll keep up with naps. I know I say that a lot but it's something that worries me with a new baby coming. Not much I can do though. Here is E today, you can see how unruly his hair is getting and how he bit his lip (his lower left) yesterday. It's a little fat and bloody today. Almost looks like a cold sore. Ick.


Now that he's asleep I think I'll do some online browsing of my own before my back starts hurting too much and I have to change activities. The one-sided back spasms are a new joy with this pregnancy. Last time it was my tailbone. Hey, at least I'm still pregnant! And on that note...adios!

Viability!!!

We've reached 24 weeks today which is BIG. It's the day when our li'l babe has reached an acceptable (to me) level of viability. Yay! They're saving babies earlier and earlier these days but it's maybe not always a good idea...of course if actually faced with it I might make a totally different decision. However, over 40% of babies born at 24 weeks have a great chance of surviving into adulthood with no severe disabilities. Amazing. And now we're there which, given our history, is a good place to be. Of course we'd like to keep going for 15 more weeks or so, but exciting nonetheless.

Also, now that we've reached 24 weeks we need to come up with a bit of a plan. The hospital where Easton was born and where we hope to deliver again doesn't really do deliveries before 30 weeks (if they can help it). And, even if we were 30 weeks Jason and I are still a little bit hesitant to go back there should our baby be a preemie needing interventions again. Easton was born normal and healthy (for a 33-weeker) and hole-less. Somehow one of their interventions (we'll never know which) caused the pneumothorax (the hole in his lung) which made him need to be on the ventilator with a tube sticking out of his chest wall and transferred away and such. We don't want to do that again. So, I think the "plan" is even if we have to deliver before 34 weeks we'd find somewhere else. The problem then becomes: where the heck do we go? Our insurance has changed their contracts and I can no longer go to the hospital where my perinatologist delivers, even though I can still see him in his office. Dumb, huh? We don't know what the best hospital would be for our baby and that's what we want. Boulder (where E was born) is great for families and minor NICU issues but not where you want to be in the event of a crisis...especially like the crisis we had before. God was totally watching over us because we really lucked out (if you can see the "positives" in the situation): by the grace of God there just happened to be a neonatologist visiting from Children's Hospital that day. He often came on Mondays to see the NICU kids. Jason recalls that the moment that doctor (Dr. Rosenberg) took over was really a turning point in Easton's resusciatation. He really did figure out what was wrong with Easton (the pneumo) and at that point they were able to get him stable for transfer to Children's. Lucky lucky lucky. Thank you, Jesus. Our own doctor and the neonatal nurse practicioner were doing their best but it wasn't enough. So, since they don't have all the expert resources 24/7 that a bigger hospital might have, we need to look elsewhere in the event it becomes an issue again.

Anyhoo, at our appointment on the 20th we plan to talk to the doctor about it a little bit. I also have a friend who is an L&D nurse in the area and I'll have to ask her where they'd send their micropreemies. All good things to know just in case. Please know we're not counting on anything happening, Jason and I just know enough now to be realistic about it all. We're still thinking quite positive.

Let's see...onto non-pregnancy things...Easton slept in till 8 this morning which is always great. The dogs don't get let out as early on weekends either...typically. So, we were able to sleep till 8 too. Yay. We went and did a bit of furniture shopping and then Easton and I shared some Noodles before his nap. Just like with our oatmeal bowl the other day, I simply set the bowl between the two of us so we could each dig in.
Sharing...

Spearing...

Salivating...


Jason enjoyed leftover chicken tacos from last night. I have made quite a few winning dishes lately. My crock pot beef the other night was quite yummy as was my homemade pico de gallo to go with our tacos. Mmmmm. Too bad it involves so much chopping. Otherwise I might make it more often. Anyway, we have no other plans for the day other than some LSU tonight. Saints and Broncos play at the same time tomorrow so we may (sadly) have 2 TVs going in the living room at once. We shall see.

TGIF

Hope everyone is enjoying their Friday. When you don't work outside the home, the days of the week seem to lose a little of their meaning but Fridays are fun because it means J will be home with us for the weekend. Even he was looking forward to "playing a lot" with E now that the weekend's here.

Swimming last night went okay. On the way there Jason made a call to his dad to wish him a happy birthday. Easton started off the call with a, "Happy day/Hap burday" greeting (he practiced during the day) and a "PaPaw". Pretty special. Then it was time to get in the water with Daddy. Jason dunked him one time but Eastie wasn't a fan. He cried for a bit and it made him more timid for other normally fun water activities. He didn't want J to throw him up in the air anymore and he didn't want to slide. So, they practiced blowing bubbles instead. Oh well.
After swimming we fed Easton a litte and got him ready for bed before coming down to eat dinner just the two of us. We enjoyed a delish beef slow cooker recipe while watching Survivor. It's nice to have meals at home without E every once in awhile.

Easton got up bright and early today. It's very strange to me how he can consistently go to bed at the same time yet wake up at such differing hours. Yesterday it was 8:30...today about 6:40. He's been in a super mood all day though so I don't mind so much. It's when he's a crank pot that his early rising really gets to me.

We met our pals Max and Susannah for breakfast at Cracker Barrell. Easton was willing to wear his new hat:

I think part of his problem with the hat might be wearing it when his coat is on too. Then his chin gets all crowded with the velcro strap and the coat zipper. Still not sure, though.

Easton did great at breakfast and ate quite a lot of Max's pancake. Easton is such a copy cat though, I'm learning. At the table if Max was chewing on a straw then Easton wanted to chew on a straw. If Max licked the wall, Easton wanted to lick the wall. Mommy did not let him lick the wall. He needs to learn how to stay strong despite peer pressure, you know. It continued once they came over to our house to play. If Max leaned on the coffee table, so did E. I've noticed him do some similar things at Kindermusik like putting stuff in his mouth just because he sees other kids doing it. I guess he's just trying to fit in and participate in what he views the current "activity" to be. As the oldest son, however, he'll learn to be more of a leader than a follower I'm thinking. Kids!

I didn't take any pics while Max was here but I did snap these two of Easton before his nap after Maxers left:


So far Easton continues to be a "good nice sharer" when it comes to his toys. Let's hope it continues.

We have no big plans for the weekend. Probably just football, football, and more football as usual. And hummus is our football snack this week. Hope Eastie still likes it. He used to.

I think you're all caught up once again so until next time...

Baby Boom

After Kindermusik today a woman came up to me and said she counted 5 of us preggos in the class. There's only, like, 10-12 people to begin with. Sheesh. Ignorant me had only noticed myself, the one due this month, and the one who brings her 3 week old newborn to the class. Then, the silly lady that brought it all up asked how far along I was. I told her "23 and a half weeks." She said, "Oh, you're just a little behind me...I'm due March 3rd." Well, I'm due March 3 so she is confused on her weeks. Jason pointed out that no one else is such a stickler for dates as me. Still, you'd think pregnant women could get close. We're usually worse than kids counting down to Christmas.

On the drive home from class we were at a stoplight and from my SUV vantage point I looked down into the car next to me. The woman passenger was in labor. Fun! Well, not for her just yet. But, I've never seen that in a car before. Like a movie, Jason said.

I tried for the last hour and a half to take a nap. I'm getting ugly black circles under my eyes. However, I could not fall asleep and if I was close there was always some sound to wake me up: truck brakes, Blackie, Easton coughing. We have a white noise machine but it definitely doesn't drown out Blackie and I feel I should still be able to hear Easton too. Oh well, at least Eastie is now pushing hour 2 of his nap. I expect I'll hear from him any second.

He slept until 8:30 today and we woke up and rushed to Kindermusik. When we first got there he was feeling shy and instead of sitting on my lap for our bouncing song he layed back on me. Then he warmed up. Later in the class the teacher said, "Should we do our rocking song?" and Easton said, "Yeah!!" He loves the rocking time song she used to play. We listen to it in the car now when he asks for it and I've recently started singing it at our own pre-sleep rocking times. However, today she used a new rocking song and it came on and Easton kept saying, "No....no" as in "This song you've chosen is new and different and I'd prefer it if you play the rocking song I know." Poor guy. I played the right one for him when we drove home.

He is not eating at all yet today. I hate this. He is going to float away at swimming tonight.

Sorry I have no pictures...I was trying to nap, you know. I'll catch you up soon.

Our Wildlife Experience

E's nap yesterday ended up being only an hour long. So, since he was up by 1:30 we had lots of time to kill I decided to check out that Free Day at the "Wildlife Experience". I was really glad we took advantage as it is truly a "free day only" kind of place. Even if Easton was older I wouldn't spend money to go there. It has no actual wildlife (which I pretty much knew) but more of a museum with a mere 3 exhibits. One was about bats and it was kind of dark and made Easton nervous at first. Then they had some of the same kinds of displays of animal mannequins that you'd see at a museum. And you couldn't take photos. Easton's favorite part of the whole place was their "Discovery Den" which they claim is geared towards 6-12 year olds. Easton loved it anyway. He liked putting balls in the spout you can see below (way up high) and helping to create an avalanche of snow balls.

He also acted like he knew what he was doing and that he could read and all at this little podium game:

And then they had a little area where you could do crafty kinds of things so here he is getting ready to color:

Then he decided markers were better for this particular project and utilized those to color this fancy rhino. When you fold it in half and glue on a piece of yarn for a tail it makes a lovely standing rhino centerpiece which now resides on our kitchen table:

He enjoyed fruit snacks, goldfish, and juice on our very long traffic-ridden ride home. Then he began singing along with the radio. This is a newish thing for him. He'll usually participate with his Kindermusik CD we often play in the car. But, of course I get tired of it and turned on the regular ol' radio. You might notice I have a video playing in my sidebar again and that is Easton's latest favorite. He likes to sing the "Hey hey hey hey" parts. Too cute. He'll just pick up on random words in a song and sing it. I'll hear him in the backseat belting out a "Meeeeeee" or something similar. Very amusing. Anyway, I looked back at him to laugh at his "hey hey hey heyyyyyyyy" and found him like this (notice the smoggy downtown Denver skyline above his head?):


After our lame trip to the sorry excuse for an "experience" we had to get ready for swimming. As we were leaving Easton found a fruit snack in his carseat and ate it. But, he choked and gagged and puked on it. In my hand. Great. I had him halfway in his carseat and needed to somehow run inside to wash my hands. Not pretty. But swimming was fun. I dunked him under the water one time and he did super. He was shivery cold again. He wasn't like that when he swam with Jason...what's up with that? Jason had burgers waiting when E and I came home from swimming and then it was the mad rush to get E to bed semi-close to on time.

E was back to his normalish 7:30 wake up time today and we spent much of our first hour watching movies with Daddy in them on the computer. He was really missing his pops. Cute. Then it was down to breakfast which was oatmeal. I made a bowl and set it between me and The E and we each dug our own spoons in and fed ourselves. Good times. Then E felt like being silly:


Before long it was off to Circle Time. My kid just will not sit still for the stories anymore. Good thing she breaks it up with songs and poems and such. He likes those parts. Today she had a big ol' box with a "door" cut into the side and invited the kids to play around with it. Easton really like that, of course. We stayed for a very long time playing with the box and just a handful of other tots. One kid yelled, "Don't come in!" in Easton's face and Eastie jumped at the sudden exclamation :( but the mom quickly stepped in and the other kid was all ready to share again, "Come in please" he said. You have to see this particular kid. He looks like a giant baby. A very babyish face, very short and quite chubby. Apparently he is 28-29 months old (Easton is almost 22 months). Anyway, he is the most verbal child I have ever seen. He sounds like a much bigger kid with the words he uses and his pronunciation and imagination. I am always impressed with him. Till he yelled at Eastie but I guess that happens with kids. We all forgive him.

We came home and had some lunch and, just like at a restaurant, we colored until our food was hot:

I have decided blue is Easton's favorite color. Its the one he tends to go for first and its a color he knows correctly every single time. Anyway, once the food was hot we enjoyed:

And now he's down for a nap. Just for fun I made a video yesterday. Click here.

That'll do it for today, pals. Have a good one!

I've Been Shot!

Oy, dudes, this flu shot site hurts. Now I'm gonna feel really bad when Easton gets his. It just feels bruised. I'm such a complainer lately.

Alrighty, well Easton is already seeming healthier. His cough is WAAAAAY less frequent and his nose hasn't run since Sunday. Being the bad person that I am I took him to Gymsters today anyway just to make sure to expose everyone. Okay, not really, but if his nose wasn't running and he's really not coughing and he's certainly not feverish then I think I'm just like the other parents. Maybe better. He had fun today. They set up some monkey bars over the ball pit so he could hang up there and then drop in. Way fun! He loved it. I really like how this place rearranges their stuff every week. It makes it seem new each time, yet still familiar like kids like.

Eastie slept till 8 today again. Yay! Then he did his morning routine. Okay, it's not really his routine but today he did brush his teeth:

And he also worked on preventing unsightly neck sweat:

He appears to have his pits confused with his neck/shoulder area. He always puts his thermometer at his neck like that too instead of under his arm. We'll have to work on that one.

Oh, and here I grow again:

That's from today. It is a maternity shirt but I'm still buttoning up my regular jeans under there. Not sure how much longer that'll last but it's still working for now. Good thing because I HATE my maternity jeans. They never stay up. I must've ordered 'em too big. But hey, I thought I'd go overdue...oops, silly me!

When we got home from Gymsters today Easton kept asking to go night night again. This is just getting too weird. He did that the other night too. Today he only ate 3 bites of lunch or so and in between each bite he tried to head upstairs. Sheesh. I hope he knows what his little body needs but one would think he would need to eat occasionally. He ate 3 bites of his pancake this morning and refused everything else. Feeding him is challenging to say the least. Because he doesn't eat and is so underweight I often feel like I'm failing him. I just don't believe in forcing food in him...that can't be good either. He does grow and he sleeps through the night...all good indicators that things are on track. We'll see what our new to-be-determined doctor thinks about his weight. Teresa *sniff*sniff* wasn't ever too concerned about his size.

I'm not sure what we'll be up to this afternoon. It's a free day at this one place I've been wanting to check out but it's a bit of a trek so we'll see. We've got swimming tonight but J won't make it. They're having a work party to celebrate the launch of Live Local (or whatever they call it). Other than that I think you're all up to date. Happy voting!

Oh, and I changed the same time last year video and pic. It's from E's first trip to the beach (in Alabama) when he was 10 months old. And, check out this funny ticker:

In early pregnancy it says things like, "I've already got more brain cells than Paris Hilton". Tee hee!

Go Live

Well, Jason's been hard at work at Microsoft for this:

Virtual Earth 3-D. How very nifty. The first "installment" of these fancy maps went public today. Katie Couric's CBS Evening News even touched on it tonight (click on that for the link to the story and such). How way cool is that? The former CEO of Vexcel (what is now part of Microsoft) was featured. Jason's pointing out his "six degrees" here: he knows John (the CEO guy), John knows the guy that interviewed him, the interviewer knows Katie Couric, and Katie Couric knows just about everyone. See...J's practically famous! :)

It'll be really cool once word gets out to people to try MSN's version of maps as opposed to something like Google Earth (which J pitched in with at his previous job). However, after the story aired on CBS tonight I headed to the computer to check it out at http://local.live.com and I can't get a durn thing to happen. Let's just hope it's because it's already so immensely popular and NOT that it's some pathetically slow page or something. Anyway, I urge you to check it out if/when you can. Jason is a part of it all!! In fact, part of his job is deciding exactly which areas of a city to include. Pretty cool...a neighboorhood missing? J's decision! Super cool Las Vegas views? J! Neato toledo.

And now that I'm done shamelessly plugging my hubby I just have to say that today was a near perfect day for me and The E. Seriously, as a parent this was the kind of day you dream of. A tot that sleeps in till after 8:30, behaves super well all day without fits or tantrums or pushing the limits, he was funny and smart and sweet and cuddly, took a 2 hour nap, and went to bed at bedtime without a fuss. He minded his mama all day. Who could ask for more? I just wish he wasn't sick and that he was willing to eat today but at least he was nice about not eating. What a super day to be his parent. Anyway, that, my friends, is what I'll leave you with tonight as tomorrow is another day and I have no idea what's in store. Nighty night!