Things are Fine...Just Computer Probs

I’m sorry…I’ve had to take a few unwanted days off thanks to some continuing computer issues. For two days in a row I was in the midst of writing captivating entries when the computer would go on the fritz without warning and I’d lose it all. So, I’d get too mad to try again. Bummer.

But, we’ve made some changes and now I’m trying again. We’ll see. I can’t even remember the specifics of what I’ve missed updating you on. We’ve mostly been up to a lot of party prep. First, Easton got his birthday package from his Alabamaws…Thanks, Maws! He got some cool stuff including this little stuffed Pablo:

Then, Baby Deuce even got a package from Mimi and PaPaw but since Easton is dainty we put one of the things on him…check out the Fonz:

That night Eastie also got his 5th ever haircut. J did it again…the money we spent at the kids place wasn’t worth it…in our opinion Jason makes it look just as good. So, here he is doing a muscle pose after his buzz:


He continues to do GREAT in his new room. One time he woke up crying at1:30 because he couldn’t find his “Cuddles” (the name I gave the burp cloth he snuggles with). As soon as I gave it to him he was all better and went right back to sleep. Last night he woke up just before Jason and I went to bed and this time he was mad at the decorative sham being in his way (it was in a different spot than he’s been used to). Again, I moved it and he was just fine. He still calls for us when he wakes in the morning which I like. I want to keep it that way. I don’t like him knowing he can get up when it’s been time to sleep.

He gets in and out of his bed just fine when he’s playing and such but around sleep times he stays put like a good boy. I still can’t get over how easily the transition went. He loves playing in his new room. For the first time I leave him “unattended” while I shower now. He plays in his room or watches a program on our bed. Here he is “snowshoeing” in some of the totes that came with his new table and chairs:

(G-Ma, this is when Jason was on the phone with you)

He also helped us tidy up the house to get ready for his party guests:


Then he dressed for the upcoming Saints game (last night) while we headed out for some last minute party errands:

Yes, that is his Daddy’s hat but we still took him out in public wearing it. We got to come home to watch the Saints win their way to the NFC Championship game next week—that’s just one win away from the Superbowl, peeps. How exciting! Especially to a long-time Saints fan like J.

This morning (party day) we woke up to MORE SNOW! We didn’t even know it was coming but soon realized it would cause a cancellation or two. Last night one family cancelled due to a cold and this morning Uncle Jeff and Aunt Robin had to cancel because of the snow…it’s really bad where they live. But, we were still expecting a house full so we continued the preparations:

And Li’l E staying out of the way of the vacuuming.

Then we waited for the pals to arrive:

Easton did great with all the people: Baby John and parents, Max and parents, Rachel and her folks, plus Gramoo, Lauren, Grammy, and Grandpa John. One other RSVP’d family didn’t make it but we didn’t hear from them. Oh well. We were counting on those kinds of things happening. Now we have a TON of leftover food. I guess Jason will be bringing Elmo cupcakes to work tomorrow.

I’ll do more updating on the party later. I wanted to do this “practice run” with the blog to see if the computer issues might be fixed yet or not. I think NOT, actually…so, like I said, I’ll save that for another time…perhaps tonight? We shall see. Either way, things are fine here and sorry for those of you I scared without updating. More soon…

Quick Update

Wow...the third post today...is that a record for me?

Anyway, just hopping on to say that Easton is NOT anemic. I called the lab and his hematocrit was normal, as was his hemoglobin. I haven't heard from the doctor and I didn't ask the lab tech about any of his other lab results as I don't really know what she was checking for or why. Just thought some of you would want to know...

We'll See How Long I Have...

Easton is currently down for his first nap in the new room. It wasn't quite as easy as bedtime last night but still not too bad. He got a little sad and scared as we were preparing for naptime so I laid down on his bed next to him and rubbed his little head and patted his little back for a short time. Before he fell asleep I got up and kissed him on the head and told him, "night night" then I left. He cried a bit for a very short time (not even a minute) and before long I could hear him snoring so I went in to snap that picture. His sleep cycles are about 40 minutes long and occasionally he wakes up at that point, more often than not he'd go back to sleep but with the new room I'm not sure what I can expect just yet. We'll see.

His doctor's appointment this morning was pretty good. He weighed in at 22 pounds with clothes (no shoes) on. Of course that is still not on the charts at all. To be on the charts (3rd percentile) he'd have to be 23 pounds naked. To be "average" (49th percentile) he'd have to weigh 28 pounds. Oh well. He was 33.75 inches tall which puts him at the 29th percentile on the online chart I go to. His head was 18.25 which is 5th percentile. His height and head have always run right around those same percentiles so that's good that he continues to follow his own curve there. His head was the same size at his 18 month visit which she didn't say anything about but I realized later. Height-wise he's grown almost 2 inches (1.75) in the last 6 months. Not bad!

This doctor (one of the partners of our old beloved doctor) seemed a little more concerned about Easton's weight. I told her that he doesn't eat much but that he drinks quite a bit of milk. Then she told me that sometimes kids who drink a lot of cow's milk can become anemic and that affects their appetites. Well, despite his daily vitamin (which I'm not even sure contains iron) I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he was anemic. So, I agreed to have him checked for that and a couple other things she wanted to rule out which I forgot. But, that meant a blood draw and a urine sample. Poor dude. We had to head over to the hospital for the lab work and I got to tape a little wee bag over his willy. Then it was time for the blood. I sat with him on my lap and one hefty girl came over to hold his arm still while another gal did the poke. I got to hold him and his other arm away. He was not happy. Poor little fella kept saying, "All done! All done!" while they collected 3 vials! The hefty girl was like, "He's really pulling! Watch out! He's strong!" and coming from her that must really mean something as she had about 200 pounds on him. When they really were all done they brought him a little stuffed horse to keep. He stopped crying immediately and was like, "Oh...horse". They gave me a sterile cup to pour the wee in once he went and we went to go pick up Daddy for lunch. In the car Easton gave the new horse "sip" from his new cup (the sterile specimen jar) over and over. He did it for the camera when we got home:

And here's his little bandage from his poke:


We picked up Jason and Easton told him about his "owie" then we went to grab some lunch. I checked at the car to see if he'd peed yet but no, he hadn't, so instead of going back to the hospital we went home.

But, back to the appointment, Easton is doing everything he should be doing and more. The doctor was very impressed with him. However, he does still have a tiny umbilical hernia so we have to go back to that doctor and, of course, we never had his tear duct unclogged which they recommended at age 1. Oops. Anyhoo...we're looking at 2 surgeries, hoping to get them done at the same time if he indeed needs both. I've already scheduled an appointment with the general surgeon we saw when he was 7 months old or so. That'll be on this Tuesday the 16th. But, the soonest we can get in with an opthalmologist is April 2nd!!! How's that gonna work? I was really hoping to get this all done (surgery and all) much sooner than that. Eek! I guess it'll just have to be done with both boys in tow and then surgery...I can't see leaving one kid or the other. Yikes! I trust it'll work itself out but I'm still stressing a bit over the whole thing. Maybe he won't even need the umbilical hernia fixed and then we can potentially go elsewhere for the eye thing? I dunno...

This afteroon Easton and I will be going down to Children's Hosptial. It is the 2 year anniversary of the day he was admitted to that blessed, live-saving institution and so we're going to take those couple presents I bought before Christmas to donate plus we'll be bringing some doughnut holes or something to the NICU staff. I don't love setting foot in that place but we owe them so much...just feel we should do a little something. You know?

Anyway, after all that I think we can go back to yesterday. So, the nap was a disaster which made his portraits no good. He wasn't in a bad mood he was just Mr. Serious the whole time. She took 8 whole pictures, none of them a "winner" so we have a re-shoot scheduled for tomorrow morning when he's hopefully a little more in the mood to smile and pose.

We gave up on the pictures for the time being and instead went to buy Easton a step stool so he could get into and out of his new bed more easily. Then we were off to Chuck E. Cheese's. Easton had a blast. It was a good choice. We wisely got there before it got too busy and just let Easton do his thing. He liked riding the little rides...driving the bus was his favorite:




We played some games with him:


And he tried some of the bigger kid stuff too:


Quite shockingly he even ate a little bit of pizza!

When we got home he got a small scoop of ice cream with a few M&M's on top and 2 candles to blow out. Of course we sang to him too. Then it was time for the routine I already covered this morning. Wow.

I still want to share some Gymsters stuff from yesterday with you but this computer is currently not in a very cooperative mood so it'll have to wait till another time. But, this second post of the day should be more than enough to tide you over until then, right? :) Adios!

The Big Boy's First Night

Easton's first night in his big boy room could not have gone any better. Seriously, I don't think anyone who really knows him would've expected it to go like it did. I think it does help that all day we were prepping him and reminding him that, "Tonight you'll sleep in your big boy bed." He looked slightly apprehensive when we'd talk about it so again, I wasn't expecting it to go so darned well. He had no qualms about starting with his story in his new room. He didn't even try to go into "the nursery".

He and Daddy read his new, "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" while Daddy tapped the beat of the story on E's new tambourine. Fun!

Then it was off for his regular, fun, extra splashy bath and tooth brushing. Again, it was back into the new room for lotion and diapers and jammies...I think Jason and I found it a bit awkward but not Big E.


We said his prayers and Jason laid him on his new pillow. I said, "Daddy, Easton likes to sleep on his tummy" and so Easton rolled over and pretended to go to sleep:


Then Jason was like, "Okay, goodnight buddy" and was thinking we should just try to leave. I, on the other hand had been invisioning kneeling next to him patting him or even laying on his bed next to him. I had even changed from my jeans into some lounge pants anticipating spending a bunch of time in his room with him. But, since J was probably right I turned off his new lamp and headed out the door with J. Very briefly Easton asked, "Mama?" in a semi-concerned voice and I wanted to head back in but Jason wisely said, "Just give him a minute" Well, we never heard from him again! That was it! We never heard him call out or whimper or get up or anything (and trust me, I was listening!). He was so big and brave. I couldn't believe it. It actually made me quite sad that he didn't "need" me for this transition at all. I just was not expecting it to go well, let alone that well. I half-joked to J that, "It's like I don't even know my own son." What a super star!

Just before Jason and I went to bed we went in to peek at him. I just had to. We both got a little misty eyed looking at our boy looking so much older tucked into his new bed. He was still on his pillow and still under the covers. I half-expected him to be all wonky and upside down or something.

At about 4 this morning I heard Easton stir and murmur, "Mama" a few times but he wasn't fully awake and it lasted less than a minute. He went back to sleep until he woke up this morning at which point he called for me. I didn't know if he'd just get up or what but he called. Jason was still here too getting ready for work so we both went in to congratulate our big boy and tell him how proud we were of him and such. We really are so proud of him. Who knows if it'll continue that way or how naps and such will go but we got the biggest step under our belts already. Awesome!

I'll update more later with more from yesterday and then some from today. Easton has his 2 year well-child visit today even though he's not completely "well". If/when he naps I'll try to post some more but I wanted to get this up just in case and because I know some people will wonder how last night went. So there ya go!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Easton Kai!!!

Wow...he's 2. It seems like only yesterday that he was 1. Ha ha ha! We have had a very special day so far but let's first go back to yesterday when he was still one. Jason and I were quite nostalgic for the bedtime routine as it was the last time (hopefully/probably) that we'll be doing it in the nursery. Here's a few final shots of his last day as a 1 year old:




Isn't that one of Easton and Jason too sweet? There is also an adorable video to go along with it but right now it's too big to upload and I have limited abilities to shrink it (that I know of) on this laptop. So...it'll have to wait but it is so precious.

After Easton went to bed Jason and I put the final finishing touches on his new room (click here for the "tour") and I wrapped all his presents. I put them in his room in places that they'd kind of go...his Elmo coloring book went in a bin under his new table. His Elmo shirt and guitar jammies were in the closet. The books were on the bookshelf...get it? This morning he woke up at about 7:45 and both Jason and I went in to get him. Before long it was time for "the big reveal". Jason and I both went into the Big Boy Room and had him "play knock knock" on the door to come in. This way we could BOTH see his face when he entered AND we could set up the old camera to get this video.

Pretty great. Here's one of the first shots of our 2 year old. He's standing on his new bed.

And checking out his new table and chair set:

Hanging up his new Cars flashlight:


And checking out some of his new gifts from Mommy and Daddy, this is "The Little Engine That Could", a childhood must-have:

He also got "The Very Hungry Catepillar" (another classic) and "Hand Hand Fingers Thumb" which is a rhythmic book Easton enjoyed at Circle Time one day...very Seuss-like...Jason will enjoy reading it to him especially.

After all, our little dude is very rhythmic. That's why we got him a Band in a Box set:



I guess he needs a little help yet with the tambourine. :) But, he was too cute...while Jason and I were in our room getting ready for Gymsters and such Easton was playing in his new room. I saw him get out and play his triangle and then he pulled Tigger and Elmo off his bookshelf and set them in the chairs at his table. Very cute.

After we finally coaxed him into opening all his presents (the Band in the Box was the winner as we knew it would be) we headed downstairs for a special doughnut breakfast. He had a fancy Elmo balloon tied to his chair to greet him this morning:

Then he and Daddy did some tripping down memory lane with pictures from Easton's actual day of birth two years ago *sniff sniff*:


Before long we were off to Gymsters and I'll have pictures of that another time. Easton had a lot of fun with Daddy and I took pictures. The whole class sang to him thanks to his, "I'm 2 years old today" button he wore pinned to his shirt. We came home and had another fave: mac and cheese or "orange noodles" in Eastonese. He ate a ton while he watched a slideshow and movies from today on the laptop. Then it was time for his nap. I had always intended on today's nap being in the old room. Even so, it took a zillion years to get him down. It was not going well. He was exhausted on the way home from Gymsters but I knew with some lunch he'd be rearing to go again. He was. He's going to get a whole 45 minutes of naptime in before we have to wake him to go for his 2 year portrait. After that we're off to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time! Oh, 5 minutes till wake-up time so I gotta run. Thanks for all the birthday wishes so far: Auntie Jess, Gramoo, Kirsty, Kristin, and PawPaw...they make us all feel special and I know there's more to come. Stay tuned tomorrow for more...

One for One More Day

Tomorrow he turns two, can you believe it? Time goes by way too quickly. I always say that...anyway...We made quite a lot of progress on his room this weekend. It'll be done for the big reveal tomorrow. Yay! I just made up his little bed, how stinkin' cute will he be in this?


Okay, I'm kinda getting ahead of myself...let's back things up a bit here. First, that picture from the other day of him by Blitz's bowl with his pants down. I guess the picture is a little sketchy looking and may require a bit more of an explanation as my mom asked, "Is he a perv or does he think that's where he's supposed to pee?" Um, neither. He just likes to strip but often has a hard time getting cuffs over his feet. He also loves to watch Blitz eat and especially drink...so that's all it is. My 2 year old is not a perv. Goodness :)

And the other night at Lauren's dance recital was fun.

Easton loved it. I've never seen him so entertained for so long while sitting still. He loved the hats and the colors and would totally follow the dancers around the stage with his head and eyes. He was bummed when we made him leave at intermission. But, it was waaaay past his bedtime already. Even with skipping the routine he wasn't in bed till 9:15 that night. And of course he woke up at his normal 7:30. I keep expecting him to fall asleep in the car on those late nights but he never does any more. I guess he's over that. He was pretty much okay with less than his full night of sleep but on the way home we suspected he was getting sick and the next morning it was confirmed. Thanks, Children's Museum! Just in time for his birthday...a lovely cold. Yesterday (Sunday) he seemed mostly okay with it. Had some fun brushing Blitz in the morning:


And then I had the genius idea to ask if my mom and Lauren could come over after naptime to play with E while Jason and I did some work on his room. Luckily they were available and willing. I don't know what we would've done if they didn't come up. But, Jason and I really did work:



And how cute did this dresser turn out!?!?

'Cuse the flash their. I wanted to find a "before" picture of the old thing but those would be on the desk top and I, of course, am on the laptop and while the two 'puters can communicate, pictures aren't the speediest things to travel through the air like they would have to. Oh well.

Today Eastie seems like he's feeling a little worse. He's definitely crankier. Plus, he puked up a ton all over the kitchen floor this morning. His blue rhino was a victim of the "friendly fire". As soon as E was done yakking he said, "Oh no! Rhino!" We cleaned up the kitchen as best we could and said goodbye to the rhino. Then I made Easton have a bath so he wouldn't be too stinky today. He hurled all down his front all the way to his toes. Poor guy. But, his bath was fun...he got to have a bubble bath which is very rare:


I also made him brush his teeth for the breath factor:

Much better...Easton got to stay in for pretty much as long as he wanted which is also unusual. We usually have the time constraints of bedtime keeping the baths from being too long.

We headed out to do a couple of errands and he coughed so hard in the car that he yakked a little again. :( I gave him cold medicine before his nap so he would hopefully not have to cough so much. He still is coughing a lot but no puking in the bed...so far.

I'm looking to take it pretty easy as I've been working a little harder than usual the last few days and my ankles are swollen to prove it. I need to just keep sucking down the water like I am and put my feet up for a bit. Hopefully E's nap will be long enough to let me.

I'll try to pop on to blog tomorrow but you never know. Jason will be taking the day off to celebrate Easton's actual birthday (he did last year too...what a nice daddy!) We've got all kinds of fun stuff planned to make Easton feel really special...plus he's still got his party this weekend. I've had more RSVPs so if everyone comes that says they will (and when does that ever happen?) then we'll have quite the full house here on Sunday. Good thing the Saints play Saturday night. :) Okay, that's it...happy birthday eve to my little guy!

You'll have to forgive me for not posting yesterday...I don't even have a great excuse as Easton and I were home bound due to MORE SNOW! It wasn't as bad as our last time we were stranded at home. Easton was in a great mood and was really good all day long. He slept until 9:10!!! and then we did many many loads of laundry. Jason brought dinner home with him since we couldn't get out to the grocery store as planned. No big whoop.

Today Jason and I were awakened by the lovely sound of bulldozers backing up repeatedly. Beep beep beep! Argh. But Easton slept in till 8 and poor Jason went out to shovel the snow from yesterday. Then he had more work to do inside: painting the furniture for Easton's big boy room. He's been busy all day painting the bookshelf, the dresser, a mirror, a shelf for the wall, and the letters for his name for the wall. Instead of hanging around and telling Easton why he couldn't see Daddy we decided to first hop in a shower and then head out for some shopping and some returns. We made it to 3 of our 4 shops. J will continue to be busy so we'll go to another few places after naptime. Easton was getting a bit cranky while shopping. At Wal-Mart we were standing in the line for returns and he saw me take my sunglasses off my head. Well, he wanted them. I wouldn't let him have them and he got very loud and mad and hit me in the stomach. He's not been much of a hitter, espeically not in awhile. I tried to make him look at me to tell him we don't hit and such but he had his head thrown back making lots of noise. Finally I got his attention and he asked me, "Hug?" and I made him say sorry. Little toot.

Tonight Auntie Lauren has a dance recital so we're all going to go check that out. I'm excited...this is the first year she's been taking dance so I've never seen her before. I'm glad she's letting us come. I told Easton we were going and while we were rocking before his nap that was one of the things he kept talking about: "Ruh rah dance".

Well, I have a couple of pictures to share from the other day...on the day we went to the Children's Museum he only napped for an hour so I had to finish up my blog while he was awake. So, as I was sitting at the kitchen table adding my pictures I looked over to see this:



And then later...



Okay, I think I'll go have my daily Coke now. Happy Saturday!