Another Bully "Attack"!

Dang it, Easton was terrorized by another bully this morning. :( We went to the mall's play area and as soon as we got there some young punk came up and slapped E across the back of the head. Easton didn't mind (pain-wise) but seemed a little curious and turned around to see who did that. Well then, the big stupid-head smacked Easton in the face! I was looking and looking to see what parent was supposed to be watching this child and found no one. Easton and I moved away to a bully-free zone. Later I watched the big dumb bully smacking around a little crawling kid a couple of times. Finally the grandma who was there with Big Bully came and said, "What are you doing?" to the bully and that was it. Sometimes I wish there was someone a little more "in charge" at those places. Sheesh. Easton didin't seem phazed by any of it, thank goodness. I just hate when he gets knocked around, you know? He was just standing there minding his own business, happy to get a chance to run around and play. Poor guy. I know it's part of life and part of growing up, it just sucks at the same time.

Easton, on the other hand, is behaving much better these days although we finally got the "Happiest Toddler on the Block" DVD from the library. We haven't watched it yet. I know "tantrum season" will likely last through the toddler years so it'll be nice to at least see what some of these techniques are. We must be doing something a little bit right because he's having fewer tantrums than before. Whew.

Guess what? Yankee Candle is having a 12 tarts for $12 sale this weekend (starting today through Monday) so we went to pick up some more tarts. With September literally around the corner we wanted to check out some of the more seasonal scents: Harvest, Spiced Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie, Autumn Leaves, and a Halloweeny one called "Tricky". Fun. Easton still enjoyed sniffing right along with me. We actually "re-tarted" the other day with the Pineapple Citrus Easton picked out and we're enjoying it. It's kind of coconutty/pina colada-y which the name did not imply. It is much more pleasant than the Cherry Lemonade perfumey stench we had before. We were in desperate need of a re-tarting (that's my made up word, if you couldn't tell). Anyway, we're happy just tarting along, I'm glad I got into the whole thing.

At the mall we also exchanged a maternity top I bought recently. I bought yet another chocolate brown item of clothing but decided I had enough brown stuff so we exchanged it for a lovely greenish hue instead. I'm still not "officially" in maternity clothes just yet but it won't be long, I'm sure.

And in other news, you may have noticed I changed my book. I'm now reading classy Jenny McCarthy's "Baby Laughs" just for some humor. I read all the official pregnancy books last time and am just looking for a smile or two this time around. But, speaking of "classy" I do have to admit I've taught Easton how to burp. Not Jason--this is all me. He fakes them from time to time and can now do it on command...see the video later. I'm a bad mom. And lady. :)

What else? What else? Since fall is coming and the weather is already cooling off around here, Easton got his first pair of slippers:

Isn't he cute? He really likes "La La" (don't know why he insits on calling Elmo that, oh well!). He didn't love wearing his slippers at first today but I put them on him again and he ran all around. I guess they take some getting used to. I also made a video this morning of E being E. There is one from last night thrown in there too. I threw them all together very hastily so you would only have to click once. Nothing is too exciting. The video from last night is Easton cleaning off a spot of his blood from the couch. Something or other happened to his toe (we don't know what) and he's been bleeding on and off from it. He saw Jason cleaning up and jumped in to help. Sweet. The rest is from this morning. Me and him hanging out at breakfast. Click here and then enjoy the rest of your day.

"Greetings..."

As many of you know, Jason and I met online and today is the anniversary of our first online chat 3 years ago. We "met" in a Yahoo Colorado chatroom and he sent me an instant message saying, "Greetings!". The rest is history. Before I responded to his greeting, however, I had to check out his profile pic. This is what I saw:

This is the picture he saw:

What fun. We found we had so much in common and by the end of the chat session Jason had given me his phone number. I had to go out on a date with someone else though, that's why the chat ended. Hee hee. Good times.

So, last night I was able to talk Jason into going out to eat yet again. I was craving a baked potato so we went to Black Eyed Pea so I could get a veggie plate. Yum! Easton was a pretty good eater at the restaurant but he did the strangest thing: he loves to "dip" things and while eating a graham cracker, he asked to dip it in J's ranch dressing. Eew! He did it again and again and kept eating. That's stranger than a pregnant woman, no? Ick.

Today Easton and I had a busy morning. First we tried to go to the bank, but it wasn't open yet. Oops. So, we went to ABC for breakfast instead. Then we went to check out a free trial gym class at a little place called My Gym. We checked out a "Gymsters" (isn't that a cute name?) class and E had a blast. It was a really cool kids gym with a ball pit and trampolines and tumbling mats and things to climb on and slide down. What fun! I don't know that we'll be able to swing a class though. :( First of all, it's a bit of a drive. But, it's also pricey yet again. The classes end up being $15 a session plus you have to pay a "one time family membership fee" of fifty bucks or something. Darn. He had so much fun though so I wish we could do it, we're going to check out a few more free trial classes at other places and see what we think. Someone asked, "Is this his first time here? He's brave!" Yup, that's my stunt man.

After Gymsters we had to go to Boulder to drop off my 24 hour urine jug and get my blood drawn. Man, collecting 24 hours worth of wee when you're pregnant and peeing all the time is a pain. Plus, you have to keep it cool--good thing we've got the outdoor fridge. Icky. Last time I did this it was winter and I could just keep it in the garage. For last night I rigged up this very fancy bucket filled with ice packs to hold my jug. It was nice. After the labs we of course hooked up with Jason for smoothies. Now Easton has been laying in his bed for 45 minutes or so but he's not sleeping. Ugh! He slept in the car after Gymsters for, like, 10 minutes. I wouldn't think that would affect him like this. Oh, poo! Hopefully he'll "decide" to drift off soon. So much for wearing him out like I thought I was.

Alright, well I'll leave you with just one video of E from last night's bath. He has this new thing where he likes to lay down completely in the water. So here's a quick video of him "swimming". I'd better go see if I can get him to take his nap. Adios!

ETA: Ohhhhhhh! I hate it when I do this to him: I went in to check on him non-napping and I asked, "Do you not want to go night-night?" to which he pointed at his diaper and said, "Deh". I knew right away what he meant: he'd had a poo. Well, of course he couldn't sleep with a big ol' log in his drawers. So, I took care of it, re-rocked my cuddly boy and we're trying again. He's whining a bit but he sounds SO tired so I think he'll be out soon. Okay, bye again!

Happy Birthday, Wren!

Easton's 2nd cousin, Wren, turns 1 year old today. I just wanted to have this here on the off chance Britten has time to stop by!

Anyway...since I answered my "tagging" yesterday I didn't really get to review my reunion weekend. It was very strange and crazy. The weekend kicked off with "A Walk Down Memory Lane". Sounds fun enough: our senior slide show in the auditorium followed by a chance to roam the halls. Turns out the "senior" slide show was really about 10 trays of slides of the 2 groups of "popular" kids. And it went all the way back to their elementary school days and included mostly non-school related things like trips they took together, parties they had, and them posing with their dates (each other, of course) before school dances. Ugh. It was horrible and so unfair. Not that I really needed to see myself in a picture but seeing someone other than those 15 kids would've been nice. Plus they're all still in touch, couldn't they have watched that danged show at one of their own houses? Sheesh. The only thing that made the trip worth it was having breakfast first with Tonya and Kelli--girls I've been friends with since elementary school! Kelli and I have been "friends" since we were 2! She grew up across the street from my grandparents so I would play with her when we visited, before we moved to Aurora. Anyway...the slide show was quite lame and so very long. I sat in the back row and whispered with Kelli and Tonya. Felt a lot like high school again.

After the slideshow Kelli and I were still having dilemmas over what to wear. Apparently "everyone" was going to be super casual for the night's event...that was the rumor anyway. So, Kelli and I headed to the mall but then rethought our original choices and after debating the options we decided to simply go with our dressier wardrobe plans. Turns out we were both glad we did.

Okay, so after the mall trip I headed back home and we took this picture of Easton in his jammies in the car:


Later Jason and I both got ready for the reunion dinner downtown. My mom and Lauren came to E-sit as usual and we headed on down to Denver. I'm so glad I still have my two close girlfriends and their husbands. Mostly we hung close together and gossiped about everyone. Man, some people did not age well (it's only been 10 years!!) while others looked exactly the same. There were a few surprises thrown in too, as in: "Who in the heck is that?" Apparently I am one of the ones that looked exactly the same ("but your hair seems darker and I remember you being taller"), yet many people were glancing at my name tag nonetheless. Hmph. It's quite amusing how some people still didn't talk to me, just like high school. I didn't talk to them either, I s'pose. Other people were way friendly...I guess maybe they didn't remember if we were close in high school or not. Whatever. It was fun to see people and hear what they're up to. I really wish more people would have come.

Here's me after the event in my fancy get-up:

The dress was a maternity dress and I thought my bump was very obvious but still no one asked if I was pregnant or when I was due...maybe they just assumed? I dunno...

Sunday was another full day for us Setzers. First we went to the "family" portion of reunion weekend. A picnic at a park with all the kids and some dogs and a couple of parents stopped by too. It was very strange to see some of my classmates as parents now. And it was fun to show Easton off. When you have your kids playing side by side on the playground the popular group all of a sudden finds it easier to talk to you. Which was fun, actually.

After the picnic (which I was sans Kelli and Tonya--eek!), we went over to Tonya's house for a huge BBQ/housewarming party. Kelli was there too. Easton had a mere half hour nap in the car on the way there. Needless to say, we didn't get to stay too long at the BBQ...Easton just wasn't in the mood to mingle. So we made the long drive home. I miss my girl friends, I don't see them enough.

Yesterday (Monday) Baby John was with his grandparents so I didn't have to watch him. He is here today, however, and is being a sleepy head which is fine with me. It gave Easton and I a little time to try our first "craft".

I bought a few foam craft kits that you just glue together. I, of course, didn't expect E do be able to do much with it, but it didn't go quite as well as I had hoped. However, I think I've learned what to do next time (we have some Halloween kits waiting for October). Mostly I glued the pieces together and tried to keep E from grabbing the glue and kept having to fish the foam pieces out of our paper bag "placemat". Oh well. When it was done I was trying to take a picture and Easton pulled off part of it. I fixed it and then went to take some more pictures while holding Easton back and he was so mad at me. He was trying his hardest to kick the thing over. Ugh. It was actually hard not to laugh but he ended up throwing such a fit over it all that I quickly got over my amusement at the situation. Next time we'll try it at the table with E in his highchair. But alas, here is what we/I made:

It is on the fancy display shelf in Easton's room now.

Oh, and here's a picture of E and Baby John...John is just learning to sit.


And here's a sweet picture of Easton after I told him at lunch there was a baby in my tummy:

As you can see, my stomach is enormous from my point of view. Eek! Why am I even sharing this picture? Oh well. At 13 weeks now "they" say the baby weighs about an ounce as does the placenta. I have technically lost weight since getting pregnant but you wouldn't know it from this belly shot, would you?

Before I wrap this all up I'm going to share movie after movie with you. It's been a while. This is one from the other day. It makes both my head and my butt hurt but E did it repeatedly. Click here. The next video shows Easton being a little confused but Jason and I just love it. So I decided to share...it's from the day we went to the zoo. Click here. The next one is also from that day, Easton just loves to dance now. If we're hanging out he'll ask, "Deh?" and that means dance. So we put on some music and step to it. Click here. Here's yet another video of him being sweetly confused. He wants to say "Go" but J's asking him to say, "fly". So he's confused and just ready to play! Click here. And the final video of the day is from the other night when Easton found part of his bedtime story particularly amusing. Who knows why? But, he kept asking Jason to repeat it and with that addictive little giggle he gets his way. Click here.

Alright, so that really is all for today...I'm being quite chatty lately, aren't I? Oh well. Tune in next time...

I was tagged!

I guess "tagging" is a blogging thing. Sort of like those e-mail forwards. Anyway, I was tagged by Kirsty and so here I go. Someone tagged her (Amanda) and then you answer the questions and tag other people and they answer 'em too. Here goes nothing...

1. If you could build a house anywhere, where would it be? Hmmm, well, I like living in Colorado but maybe for another house we'd choose Maui.

2. What's your favorite article of clothing? Long length sweats, ahhhhh.

3. Favorite physical feature of the opposite sex? Eyes, I think.

4. What's the last CD that you bought? Gosh...I haven't bought myself a CD in years but the last songs I downloaded were from the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack :)

5. Where's your favorite place to be? Home home home.

6. Where is your least favorite place to be? Any public place Easton decides to have a tantrum becomes my least favorite place to be.

7. What's your favorite place to be massaged? Ahhh, head and neck...although when I'm pregnant it's very low on my back. Mmmmmm.

8. Strong in mind or strong in body? Seeing as how I'm not too strong in body I sure hope I'm stronger in mind.

9. What time do you wake up in the morning? Whenever Easton does, usually.

10. What is your favorite kitchen appliance? Strange question...maybe the microwave?

11. What makes you really angry? Really angry? Not much. I hate when I get hit or kicked in the nose, that always makes me mad. But, trust me, there's plenty of things that annoy me--that's easy to do.

12. If you could play any instrument, what would it be? I wouldn't mind improving on my guitar skills--Yankee Doodle doesn't really count as "playing", does it?

13. Favorite color? Purple!

14. Which do you prefer...sports car or SUV? SUV of those two choices, but really I prefer a sensible sedan that gets great gas mileage.

15. Do you believe in an afterlife? Yes, I'm a Christian.

16. Favorite children's book? Right now E and I both enjoy Mercer Mayer's "The New Baby"

17. What is your favorite season? Summer! Although I'm ready for it to be over, I think. I'm getting excited for fall tart scents and then Christmas for some odd reason.

18. What is your least favorite household chore? So hard to choose which I loathe the most...maybe cleaning the tubs/showers. It's too hard.

19. If you could have one super power, what would it be? A super power, eh? I can tell you it wouldn't be the ability to fly. I wouldn't mind some of Harry Potter's tricks, though.

20. If you have a tattoo, what is it? I don't have a tattoo, but I do have a gold heart with a diamond piercing my belly button.

21. Can you juggle? I can juggle scarves or Kleenexes or things that float slowly through the air.

22. The one person from your past that you wish you could go back and talk to? I guess my great grandma, Violet, who passed away 2.5 years ago.

23. What's your favorite day? Friday...gotta love the start to the weekend.

24. What's in the trunk of your car? The stroller, the Snugli, and my old license plates.

25. Which do you prefer, sushi or hamburger? I'm not even brave enough to try sushi so I'll have to say hamburger.

I guess it's now my turn to "tag" someone and since I have such few blogging buddies that haven't already been tagged I'll just tag my favoritest cousin-in-law, Britten. Your turn, Britty.

If Anyone Cares...

So, even though we weren't really thinking the new baby might have some chromosomal "issues" our tests results just confirmed that...for the most part. Here's the details:

For Down's Syndrome, further (and invasive) testing would be recommended if your risk comes back as 1/220 (they consider that a positive screen, although in medicine "positive" often is really "negative"--as in a bad thing...anyhoo). Based on simply my age, my risk for carrying a baby with Down's syndrome is 1/640, however our screen came back with only a 1/9700 chance of Down's. Super. Moving on...with Trisomy 18 a "positive" result with a "need" for further testing would be 1/100. Based on my age my risk was 1/2200 (already quite small). Yet our screen results came back with a "less than 1/10,000 chance" of Trisomy 18. While some people feel these tests are valuable and important, I don't. They only "catch" about 80-83% of babies with these two "abnormalities". What's the use in that? Anyway...we would never have gotten this test done at all if it weren't for the correlations to preeclampsia/IUGR that my perinatologist can see. However, I have no idea what my numbers mean for that. I guess I will have to call back since the nurse only left a message. Either way, it's nice to hear that some lab experts think my baby is just fine. I think it is too.

We had a regular OB appointment today. BP is still staying nice and low. It was only, like, 92/60 or something similarly low. We did get to see one of my favorite docs. She was there for Easton's delivery. I guess she was out in the hall reading over my chart before she came in and she didn't know my last name from working with me, but once she saw all my details about Easton's pregnancy and such she came busting in with: "I know this person!" and gave me a big hug and congratulations. She is actually pregnant with her 4th. She is 4 weeks ahead of us and Jason commented how, "well you probably won't be there for our next delivery" to which she looked a little skeptical yet hopeful that I wouldn't deliver before her. I think she mentioned something about me behaving myself...:) Yeah, like I had something to do with it. Sheesh. :) We did get to hear the heartbeat again. That is always a reassuring sound. She didn't break out the timer to count the heart rate or anything but commented that it sounded good and 150s. Perfect. Being proactive as they are this time around they also sent me home with some lovely brown jugs to collect a "24 hour urine". Ick. I had to do that twice when pregnant with E. Women with preeclampsia "spill" protein into their urine...not a good sign. So, they're doing a test already just to see where I'm at. I'm going to save the collecting for next week when I'm home-bound. I don't want to be lugging the jug around with me at my reunion this weekend. They're also ordering some of the preeclampsia/HELLP syndrome labs to get a baseline for me on those as well. I hadn't heard a mention of any of these tests prior to today but they all sound like a good idea to me. Man, these high risk pregnancies sure are different than last time around. I just have to say, that annoying as it can sometimes be, I'm glad they're being careful with me and Deucie. Apparently I scared these docs pretty good last time...and they've seen a lot so that's saying something.

Anyway, on to some less medical things...what else? what else? Oh...we changed our "tart" this week. We're trying "Cherry Lemonade". It makes me miss our previous scent. The cherry lemonade is a little too pungent for me and doesn't smell anything like cherry or lemonade. Oh well...you live, you learn. Note to self: no more cherry lemonade tarts.

Oh! I took Eastie to the zoo yesterday. It had been a LONG time since we'd been. So, we were due for a trip and the weather was perfect. Nice cloud cover, a pleasant breeze. Plus there were zero crowds. School must be officially back in session and field trip season is over. Easton did very well and paid more attention to the animals than he ever has before. I think the limited crowds helped with that. We were able to get closer than in the past and there was less people-watching to distract him. He enjoyed all the animals, especially the penguins and monkeys. However, once I gave him his juice box he was all done paying attention to the animals. He only wanted to play with the juice box from then on and put the little mini straw in and out of the straw hole. Ugh. At least he's coordinated enough to do that little trick. Repeatedly.

Then, last night he decided he only needed 10 hours of sleep yet again so at 6:30 we hear, "Mama! Mama!" Oh well. Our appointment was in Boulder at 9:15 so we needed to get moving eventually anyway. I bought him a special toy to have at doctor's appointments only. That way we hope to keep it feeling a little more "new" and "fresh" as he tends to get bored of many other toys. It's a travel MagnaDoodle and he enjoyed scribbling. I had to go down to the lab after my appointment for a quick blood draw and I didn't have his stroller. Instead I sat him on the floor next to me with his MagnaDoodle and he stayed right there "coloring" like a good boy. After the lab I took him out to breakfast. I had been fasting for my bloodwork and was too hungry to make it back home so we stopped at my very favorite Boulder breakfast establishment and Easton was very good and we enjoyed a lovely breakfast as we often do. Jason joined us for the OB part of the appointment which is always nice.

Easton didn't seem too surprised to see J walk in to the office. He had already had plenty of time with him this morning. I brought E into our room while J showered. Easton likes to knock on the door when Jason is in there. When J finally (according to E's point of view) came out, Easton was super cute and walked Jason right over to his underwear drawer, opened it, and pulled out a pair to give Jason to cover up with. His memory, not to mention his "problem solving skills", can really astonish us at times. Where did this little genius come from?

Okay, now plenty of pictures for those of you that have tuned in this far in:

Eastie practicing being a big brother...


Easton eating banana chunks with his new Bob the Builder fork...



Easton being silly and putting his leg through his basketball hoop... (he does this all the time)


A few zoo pics...




Did you notice the infamous juice box? Ugh.

And playing last night before bed: He's got the whole world in his hands...


That's all from me. Ha! "All"...I say that like I haven't written much. Oh well, you know me by now!

Peri 'Pointment

Just a quick update after our appointment with the perinatologist. It went well. Baby Deuce was very active and bouncing off the uterine walls and bonking itself in the head with its hand. Silly. It's the strangest thing to not be able to feel ANY of it, but actually see what's going on. Looking at Deuce, it looks just like Easton did at that age: bony and active. So, of course I still feel like it's a boy simply because he was. Who knows. Jason was really excited to see this ultrasound. When I was pregnant with Easton I worked on L&D and could do my own "just for fun" ultrasounds on the unit so I saw him plenty at this gestation. Jason wasn't so lucky and he only saw the "way-too-early" ultrasound where the "baby" looks like a seahorse or the later "starting-to-get-cramped" ultrasounds where the kid can't move quite like it can now. So, anyway, he enjoyed it and I did too.

Deuce's heartrate was 158--what do the old wives tales say about that? We could actually hear it too which is always so fun. I doubt we'll hear it at Friday's regular appointment. Although it is possible.

We met with a different peri(natologist) than planned simply because the original guy was tied up with something. Fine. So another doc came in and then another, just to make sure we were being seen by someone. Gotta love that. We really liked the woman we saw today. She explained a bunch of stuff and the plan from here on out. I'm supposed to go back to the peri for an 18 week "big" ultrasound. Then, starting after that I'll go for monthly ultrasounds to check the baby's growth. It's the placenta that is the issue with preeclampsia and the growth and well-being of the baby is a good indication of the placenta's health so that's why they do that. We might hold out till 24 weeks to start the monthlies, but we'll see. If we want I can alternate between the peri and the regular OB for the growth check ultrasounds. Again, we'll see.

Also, I'm to continue my baby aspirin and perscription megadoses of folic acid and B vitamins for now, depending on today's blood test results we might decide to go to a more heavy duty blood thinner (Lovenox). I hope not, it's an injection and I'd much rather take a pill every day than that, but I'll do whatever I have to do, you know? I should get the results of the blood tests by next Monday at the latest.

The ultrasound part of the "screening" looked great. No indication of a problem or Down's syndrome with that so we're happy there, of course. It's not a great indicator, the blood tests are better so we'll just be waiting but for some reason I'm not all that nervous....YET. :)

Okay, I told J this would be a quick update as he's downstairs entertaining The E. Easton grabbed the ultrasound photos today and said "Bee bee" (baby) which is way cute, no? He even climbed back up to get ahold of them while J was calling, "Easton, NO!" from the bathroom :) Hope that's a good enough update but here's some pics, just incase...the first one you can see the profile of the head and a little arm and hand jutting out at a 90 degree angle. The head is on the right, Georgette :) In the second pic, it's just a profile shot. What a cutie, eh?

Back to Sub-Headings

BUH-BYE 1ST TRIMESTER
So on Saturday I welcomed myself into the second trimester. Yippee! We're cruising right along now, aren't we? A few might consider the second trimester starting at 13 weeks but heck, the 12 week marker is when "many women actually start feeling better from extreme tiredness and nausea" and it's when the placenta starts to take over the production of hormones. Fun, right? Baby Deuce is supposedly about 3.5 inches now which is weird because this morning--my belly got smaller. Huh?!? Of course that's just something else for me to worry about. Luckily we have our ultrasound and appointment with the perinatologist tomorrow. I'm admittedly a little nervous about it all so keep us in your thoughts. Yesterday I had a horrible headache that wouldn't go away with Tylenol and it had me a little worried as well. Headaches can indicate high blood pressure among other things. Thankfully it went away with sleep last night.

SPEAKING OF PREGNANCY
So, while we're still on the subject of pregnancy, Jason and I did the "ring test" on Saturday just for fun. I'm SO not a believer in this kind of stuff but we did it anyway. We didn't really do any of those old wives tales when I was pregnant with Easton but for kicks we tried the ol' "supsend-your-wedding-ring-from-a-string-and-hold-it-still-over-your-pregnant-belly-and-watch-for-the-direction-it-'spontaneously'-moves" test. :) So, armed with my ring dangling from a piece of waxed dental floss I layed on the bed and J and I took turns holding the ring. Of about 5 tries, each time it said "girl". Hmmmm. Fun to think about at least.

BACK TO FRIDAY
So, here's some pics from Friday. I can't really remember what all we did. Oh wait, yes I can. First, Easton woke up from his nap a little cranky so to cheer him up I put Blitz in with him.

It worked he was all happy again and gave Blitz a hug when they got out.

Then we went downstairs to have a "naah" and I just had to get a shot of my little dude's head peeking over the table.


That night, Jason decided he was feeling "social" and wanted to invite Baby John's parents out to dinner. So we did and they were able to make it. We went to "George Bush's favorite Chinese restaurant". Their menu claims he loves their Peking duck and orders it to eat aboard Air Force One. It was salty as Chinese food usually is. But we had a nice time. It is strange for J to be feeling so social but we went with it.

Easton learned a couple of new things. First, he came up to me, pointed at his crotch (lovely, eh?) and said, "pee pee". What?!?! So, we went into the bathroom and it turns out he wanted for me to go but whatever...he's obviously starting to understand a few things. I got a video of him saying it and pointing but I had to prompt him for the video. Click here. He also proved that he knows what an elephant says. We don't really know when or where he learned this but he's been pointing at and picking up his elephants making a sound similar to the one we make for elephant. Click here for that one. Easton was also my laundry helper. He always likes to help me throw things in so he didn't really learn it on Friday. It was the first time I did a video of it, though. Click here. We have fun, me and The E. And J, of course, when he's here. Which brings us to...

SUPER SOCIAL SETZERS

Saturday was our go, go, go day. After Easton's nap we drove to the foothills for Max's parents' wedding. Easton didn't want to be quiet for the quaint outdoor ceremony so he and J walked through the parking lot while I watched the vows. They did acknowledge their son Max and Susannah blew him a kiss to which he threw his sippy. Hee hee! Then it was on to the reception. They had a very long cocktail hour with hors d'oeuvres that weren't exactly suitable for preggos or toddlers. Oh well. Finally we were able to sit and eat and Easton did really well considering how very bored he must've been. At long last they opened up the dance floor and Easton was rearing to go!

He was out there having a ball. He doesn't exactly have the best rhythm but he brought all his best moves out. His little toddler pal Ciarnan was dancing around near him too. It was pretty cute to watch. We have some video but I guess we didn't get all the cutest parts. Oh well. It was really fun to see some of the older girls that we don't even know ask him to join in. He wasn't sure what to think of all of it at first but then he couldn't get enough. Click here and here for the vids. We decided to leave just as they were bring out the dessert buffet (darn!) because we had to make it to that BBQ.

Pregnant women are the best designated drivers. Jason was free to imbibe and knew that I'd be able to get us to the next shindig just fine. The best part was me changing clothes as I drove. I was very safe, trust me. Anyway, after busting all those moves we really thought, and sort of hoped, Easton would nap in the car but he didn't. It was okay though. We made it to the BBQ just as all the food was ready. Perfect.

Easton entertained himself with all the really cool toys these people had. Nylon tunnels to crawl through. An "E" sized playhouse with pots to bang and doors to open and close. The coolest part was the bounce house so Easton got to try that out for the first time as well.


To get out of the bounce house there was a bit of a slide type thing. Well, Easton apparently hadn't figured that part out yet and came rolling down to land on the grass. It was so funny and he was fine. Popped right back up and kept on going. More than a few people got a kick out of seeing him do that. We let him play independently for quite some time without hovering around like we usually do. We knew he'd be relatively safe in that yard and that others were around. Poor Jason had been doing most of the "baby wrangling" all day. At one point we heard Easton cry and J went to check it out. He asked the host's daughter what happened and with her German accent she told him, "I do not know, he just started crying" but then a little boy volunteered that he was trying to crawl out of the mini playhouse's window or something and fell. The story is not all that interesting, I know, but because it was the first time we really just let him play like that and then he got "hurt" the "investigating" part of the injury was new. Jason came to tell me about it and said, "Well, word on the street is...." which I found HI-larious.

Anyway, this weekend was the first time we've been so lax about our kid, and we're pretty lax compared to some people we know. But it's also rare that we're in these kinds of settings where you don't have to be so wary of strangers and dangers. It was also the first time anyone under the age of about 15 had picked up Easton. Here's the BBQ host's daughter. She adores Easton for some reason.


SUNDAY
Well, yesterday was me feeling mostly crappy. I'm beginning to wonder if my super busy "feeling great" days preceed my icky days. So far that's how the pattern goes. So I was nauseaus all day then that horrible headache. I was in bed by 8:30 but Jason rubbed my head and we chatted then it was lights out for me by 9:15, even with me going to bed early these days 9:15 is unheard of. Plus I'd had a 2 hour nap. Crazy. We didn't leave the house all day. Easton and I stayed in our P.J.'s all day even. J at least mowed the lawn, showered, and dressed.

Easton's newest words? Pee pee, baby, milk, and corn. So, instead of just signing milk and baby he also can say them now. Yay! Oh, and in the bath last night he lined up a few toys on the side of the tub and then started pointing at each one to "count" them. He said, "Two, two, two". And it sounds curiously like the French pronunciation of the word. He'll learn. I just thought him trying was cute.

TODAY
Mr. Reflux (aka Baby John) is here today. His parents don't have him medicated anymore which means bad things for my laundry loads. I casually mentioned it to his dad last week but I doubt anything will change. Ick. Oh well. The money is paying for our fancy classes. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

Both boys are currently napping and I'm trying to catch you all up on our weekend. Tomorrow I won't have Baby John and my mom will be coming to hang out with Easton in the afternoon so J and I can head to the perinatologist in Denver. I'll keep you posted as always. Stay tuned...

Chocolate Mole

No, I'm not referring to some fancy recipe, I'm talking about walking through the mall and then the library with a dot of chocolate on my chin: a "mole". How embarassing! Easton and I went to the mall after naptime yesterday. I wanted to get on the whole "tart" bandwagon. So I did. The people at the store really sold me on it the day before so I thought about it and with a cashed birthday check I went and bought myself an electric wax potpourri burner (I like the idea better than using tea light candles, thanks to the sales people)

and some wax potpourri "tarts" to kick things off...

What fun! We picked out some summery type scents, although I'm looking forward to some more "seasonal" tarts for the fall and then winter. Mmmmm. Our house smells delightful since yesterday. Our first tart choice was Sugar Cane and Vanilla. Yum. We also bought a cherry lemonade, some berry smell, and Easton picked out a pineapple citrus. He's very cute in the store. He'll point and point and go, "Mmmm! Mmmm!" until I give it to him to sniff. So, that's how he picked out the pineapple citrus.

After tarting we decided to skip the crowded play area in lieu of a stop by the pet store. Easton didn't love it as much as he has in the past but it was kind of boring...most everything was sleeping. To be polite, though, he faked a few laughs. He's such a gentleman. Just before we left someone got a dog out and when the pet store worker handed it to the customer, Easton saw and then he held out both of his arms for one too. So, the nice customer crouched down with the doggie to Easton's stroller and let him give the "duh duh" a pat pat pat. Then we went to get some cookies and that is when I "grew" my mole. D'oh!

As we walked the mall and munched I had this bright idea for Easton to make the new baby a Build-a-Bear. However, even if we wait till much closer to the birth or even right after the birth, I'm not sure if he'd be old enough to really get it. You know? I just know that this new baby will be dealing with a lot of hand-me-downs (especially because I think it's another boy, but I was sure E was a girl so that's not saying much). Anyway, I wanted Easton to get to do something special and then for new baby to have something special. I also want for the new baby to give Easton a special present but I'm at a complete loss for what that should be. Why am I rambling about all this? I don't know!

Easton is really taking off in the communication department. He's learned 2 new words a day for the last 2 days. It's very exciting, let's see, 2 days ago he learned, "go!" and "pasta". Yesterday he learned "Blitz" and "dip". He already began using another new word today although I can't remember what it is. He needs to use it correctly more than once for us to "count" it as a new word. Just because he repeats something (which he is finally starting to do) we don't necessarily add it to his vocab list. Plus hardly anyone else would be able to understand him. For example, we were strolling through Wal-Mart today and he told me, "Geh guh". That means cookie. So we bought ginger snaps. They are too crunchy. I'm having buyer's remorse. We had some yummy softer ones at Max's house once. I wish I bought that kind.

Speaking of Max, tomorrow is his parent's wedding. We'll be heading to that and hopefully E can get in a nap beforehand. Or at least on the way. Yikes! After the wedding we're going to one of J's co-workers "end of summer" barbeque. This is such a social month for us. Good thing I'm finally feeling mostly better these days. I did have to take a Zofran yesterday. And the evenings can still be rough.

Alrighty, I guess I'll go watch some Grey's Anatomy DVD while E naps. Toodles!

Woo Hoo! It's My 100th Blog Post!!

Who knew I could say so much about so little? Anyway, it's a big post number-wise but I don't even have pics for you for today. Oh well.

Yesterday our mall trip went well. Easton was a very good boy for the shopping part of the trip and then was happy to get to play. It was SOOOO crowded but he didn't care too much. At first it was kind of sad because he just climbed on and off this stupid squishy rock thing that no one else was paying attention to. Then, he got over the crowds and moved on to play on some of the cooler stuff. He does much better around rambunctious types now. He used to get scared. Now he's learning from them. I swear, at one point he was standing on top of a dinosaur just yelling complete gibberish at no one in particular because it seemed like the thing to do. He cracks me up. He was also running and then falling down on purpose. I have no idea why but it was quite amusing as well. With all the crowds it was hard to get around but he managed. At one point a little girl asked me, "Could you please move him?" and I was like, "He'll move in a minute." Just because he's little doesn't mean he doesn't get a turn too, ya know? I was polite and the girl was polite and Easton did indeed move but he's not as coordinated as the bigger tykes. She needed to wait her turn, I decided. Oh and guess what: While we were playing we ran into a girl from the morning's Kindermusik class. I think it was a sign because...

We get to take the Kindermusik class!! Yay! The more I thought about it the more I wanted Easton to do it. So, since I'm making some cash-o-la from watching Baby John I can use it to pay for the class. Yippee! Now I just have to figure out which day of the week...Wednesdays at 10 or Thursdays at 9? Hmmmm... I don't want it to interfere with Circle Time at the library either. Gosh, "all" these scheduling issues and he's not even 2. What'll happen with school and sports and other fancy lessons?!?!...eek! Plus we'll have more than one kid! Ack! What am I getting us into? Okay, I'm not really freaking out about it. I'm just goofing around. He loves being out of the house so I'm glad we can do something fancy. I mean, it's so expensive so it must be good right? :)

Yesterday was such a full day. As you've heard we did the mall but we also went to the grocery store for some corn. Mmmm. And then after dinner we did a family walk with playing at the park. It was a busy busy day compared to my activity levels lately. I liked it. I thought Easton might be a good sleeper last night but even with the early-ish bedtime he didn't quite make it to 11 hours. Oh well. We enjoyed a quiet morning at home in our jammies and I'm not sure just yet what the afternoon has in store for us. Probably nothing since we did it all yesterday. Either way, I'm sure I'll keep you up to date on the latest adventures. I always do. :)

Almost Need 2 Posts

Well, I just feel like there's a lot to say, but then again, there's always a lot to say if you ask me--and no one did. But, I'll share anyway.

So, after naptime yesterday Easton ate a banana like a big boy. He hasn't eaten bananas in months but saw me having some on my cereal the day before and has been on a "nana kick" again. Fine with me. He also likes to climb up into the regular "big people" chairs in the kitchen. He's fun. Here's his snack.


Then we were playing while we waited for Baby John's dad to come. I had the front door open (we have a glass "storm door" too) and my little skinny mini can nearly squeeze in between the two doors!

If he could close it completely I bet he would. Darn little fingers just keep getting in the way.

Once Baby John left, E and I decided to hit Target. I was hoping to find a maternity bathing suit for our future lessons but no such luck. I did buy a casual dress I might wear to my high school reunion but we'll see. I don't know how dressed up people will be. I got very casual zoris (what we call flip flops around here) to really "dress down" but I still don't know. I'm really not loving that I'm in the "is she pregnant or is she just fat?" stage. Then it's embarassing that I'm not even that far along yet but still look pregnant. My mom, an expert "finesser/stretcher" of the truth, agrees that maybe I should say the baby is coming in February. Which is hopefully true, it certainly won't be coming in March and I really hope it's no earlier than February. Although, we'll see if ol' Honest K (ummm...me) can do it. I'm usually honset to a fault.

As we were checking out at Target Easton decided to have a tantrum. He was holding on to a package of magnetic shopping lists for me to buy and he "dropped" it on the ground. Not sure if he meant to do it or not I handed it back to him. Well, when he threw it again I wouldn't give it back...duh! This made him very mad and he started shrieking "Ma ma ma ma ma!" but, I can't stop being a good parent simply because we're in public, no matter how much he's embarassing me. I really don't want him to learn to get his way in the check-out aisle by embarassing me. So, I ignored it until he threw his head back. Because he was sitting in the cart's seat his head hit the metal and that made him cry even harder. But, now because he was in pain I couldn't ignore him anymore. So, I picked him up and told him, "I'm sorry you hurt your head. That's why we can't get so angry." He got over it but I still was embarassed. However, I was also mildly embarassed when he was being a good boy at Wal-Mart the other day and shouting "Bye Bye!" to everyone we saw. Everyone played along though, thank goodness which was nice. I was only embarassed by the volume of his voice. I just can't win, can I?

At home he had some fruit and cheese and waffles for dinner. There was a pesky fly in our house that I was chasing and Easton found it quite entertaining. Click here for a video. Then J got home, and quick as a cat, he got the fly. Phew. Then we took this video of E. You may notice his eye with the clogged tear duct is all infected again. Eew. I started his antEYEbiotics (hee hee) this morning. He doesn't like the drops, of course, so luckily I'm still the boss. I think.

Last night Jason and Easton did their usual rough housing. They are so cute and Easton just thrives with all the crazy playing. Their games usually involve lots of pillows, balls, and tossing E all around. It's fun to just watch.


E had the slightly early bedtime again last night and then did almost 12 hours of sleeping once again. Yippee! When he woke up we had a small snack here at home and then he got dressed and we had a busy morning. We hit the bank, then ABC for a real breakfast, then over to our Kindermusik class, and then the library.

The music class was fun and I wish we could afford it but it looks unlikely. Darn. Easton seemed to enjoy it. I really liked watching him play percussion instruments and stomp around the room like an elephant. He was pretty well behaved, too. He whined at the teacher when she burst into song at the beginning of the class but he got over it quickly. I think it just caught him off guard. Then, they'd all get an instrument or scarf out of a bucket and he'd do it and then line back up by himself to put them away when they were done. I was proud. I would love to see him do some more of these social classes but maybe some that are a little more in our price range. The kids that were in the class the whole "semester" really seemed to get a lot out of it. They knew all the animals and their sounds pretty well. Easton hardly knows any but I guess that's my fault. The teacher didn't take my "free trial class" coupon so maybe we'll just travel around the area hitting up all the other free classes too. :)

So, after finally stopping by the library we came home for lunch and Easton was already looking beat. But, I did get a video of him pointing at himself saying, "me" and then saying "please". Click here.

He's been communicating better already. He's got a few new words too, some of the ones from the last week or so are: cookie, please, blue, Big Bird, Elmo (la la), and hello (which is la la or Heh la). He signs "potty" too when one of us goes into the bathroom. Hopefully it will come in handy before too long. Every night before his bath he goes and sits on his potty. Well, really he sits in it. He sits on the rim and puts his little feet in the bowl. He's never gone actual potty in the potty but one time he stood next to it and peed on the floor. I guess that's something? He loves the "go pee pee on your potty" part of his routine. He and J read a story, he puts his clothes in the closet hamper, gets his diaper removed, and then brings his sippy into the bathroom where I'm filling the bath. He'll hand me the sippy and then go under the counter where we keep his potty. First he likes to close the door to the bathroom. Then, he goes to the potty for a moment before coming to me for the bath. He's so fun. I love that he has such a routine because that's how I am too.

Well, he's down for his nap but our busy day isn't over. We're going to head back out to the mall to find a wedding present for this weekend's wedding. I'm sure we'll hit up their play area too. What a day, what a day!

Whole Package

Easton got a fun package from his Maws yesterday. He likes surprises. We like to wait till Daddy gets home before we open those kinds of things so until then he mostly stood on it and tried to reach high-up places. Goober. Oh, and Thank You, Maws!!!



Last night we put him to bed slightly early and he slept nearly 12 hours. Woo hoo! He's been in a pretty good mood since the weekend anyway but I'm still excited. I'm sure it was a fluke thing but oh well. Here's a cute bath video from last night. He was dumping cups of water on his head and face and it would make him act all silly.

Tomorrow we're going to check out a free Kindermusik class. They're kind of pricey if we were to sign up so we really want to try it out and see what we think before we even consider shelling out that kind of moolah. Their fall classes start mid-September and I'm just looking for more stuff to do assuming I'll be feeling better by then and also wanting to make the most of the time I have left with "just E". We're hoping to do parent/tot swimming lessons again too. We never got into the summer class we were wait-listed for. Hopefully it will work out for the fall. It will be evening classes so Jason will be able to do them with us too. It's 2 nights a week so we're thinking one night will be me in the pool and the other night will be J.

I'm also hoping Baby John's parents find alternate care for him soon. They've been looking and found a center that he's on the 6 month waiting list for. Yikes! But, his mom says they're looking for something in between too. They've known about my pregnancy for awhile and knew we'd want for me to stop watching Baby John shortly after getting pregnant thanks to my history. He's a very easy baby but some days (like today) I just wanted to stay in bed rather than get up and shower. And today Easton would have let me! Oh well. It's still nice having the extra cash.

Okay, thanks to Easton's long night sleep last night he's having trouble falling asleep for his nap. He's in there making silly sounds. I'd better go re-rock him or something to help him along. Adios amigos!

Tons of Pictures from Our Weekend

Well, our weekend was pretty fun like we thought. Jason's pal arrived Friday evening and jumped right in with Easton (he's got 2 of his own kids). He was nicer than we are and let E play with his fancy phone and climb all over him and his stuff. Easton warms up very quickly to someone like that. :)

Saturday we headed on a drive up to Boulder to show Corey around. We stopped at Boulder Falls:




After Boulder Falls we hit the Pearl Street Mall. We bought Easton a inflatable globe "ba". You know, so he can start learning the countries and stuff. Then he and I shared a cherry shave ice. Mmmmmm.


When we came home both Easton and I had naps and then it was time to get ready for E's first baseball game. We drove down in seperate cars so I could get E home if he needed to leave. We made it till the 7th inning stretch!

He did fairly well at the game. We sat through the first 3 innings not really watching much of the game but he was behaving pretty well for being stuck on our laps. He went through my purse, ate some snacks, played with the wet wipe package, people watched...you know...toddler stuff. In the 4th and 5th innings we tried hitting the playground at the field but it was SOOO crowded--duh! So, instead we got some ice cream and let Easton walk around a bit.

He was very good when we came back to our seats. He really enjoyed watching the kids behind us eat nachos and enormous lollipops.

Corey was willing to hang on to him a bit too:

He was even eating dry cereal out of E's hand at the game! Oh, and Corey took this pic:


So during a rousing rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in the 7th inning we decided to head for home. J walked us to the car and then we dropped him back off at the gates with his ticket stub and hand stamp to get back in. Here's a crooked pic a stranger offered to take of us:

And here's my boys in front of the Coors Field entrance. For some reason J was making crazy faces for pictures all night. Very unlike him.


On Sunday Jason opted out of his $4 rock pile tickets in favor of hanging out at home with us in the A/C. It turned out costing us way more than the four bucks because he ordered NFL Sunday ticket for cable this season. Pricey. He'll be happy, though. Plus we now have ALL the movie channels for the duration of football season. Great! Like I wasn't watching enough TV already. While Easton took an almost 4 hour nap we started watching "Wedding Crashers"...the beginnning--where it's still funny and not so serious. It was during the movie when I realized just how long E had been asleep and I decided I needed to wake him up. He had a hard time falling asleep last night thanks to the XL nap. Oh well.

He's about to hit hour #3 of today's nap too. I expect to hear him call, "Mama!" any second, though...he's been rolling into the sides of the crib so he's stirring at least. Baby John is here too and is on Nap #2 himself.

My nausea has been so much more manageable these past few days. Ahhhhhh. I'm kind of regretting filling the prescription last week like I did. Those meds are thirty (yes, 30!) bucks a pill!!! Thank God for insurance, no matter how crappy ours currently is. If we didn't have insurance it would cost me $1200 every two weeks or so. When Jason heard that he asked if they carried air sickness bags instead. Ha ha ha!

Okay, gotta go, my little man is waiting!

It's Friday!

I love the weekend because it means Jason will be home with us. It'll be a little different this weekend since his pal will be in town but we're still looking forward to having J home. On Saturday we're taking Easton to his first baseball game: Cubs vs. Rockies. It was a Father's Day gift. Sort of. I had to spill the beans a little early because that's also why Cory is coming to town: for the games. Jason doubts E will make it past 3 innings. He may be right. Luckily J is going to the game Sunday too without us so hopefully he can actually enjoy seeing his Cubs a bit more.

Easton slept pretty well last night. Instead of his usual 10-10 1/2 hours he's been doing as of late he slept 11 1/2. You'd think that would have been the answer to all my problems but no. He was quite a handful this morning as we were attempting to get dressed and then to go downstairs. He was much better (as usual) once we left the house. Where did we go, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. First we hit the ABC. (That's the abbreviation for the coffee shop we now frequent where I get my ham and cheese 'croissanwich'.) While we were there E threatened to break down but he held it together and we had a nice breakfast. For some reason he really likes it there. And the people watching. More so than at other restaurants...maybe because it's less crowded? Anyway...one man there asked me, "How old is he?" and I told him "19 months." Then, usually people say something like, "He's so cute." "Wow, his eyelashes are amazing." "Are his eyes green?" or "Isn't he small for 19 months?" But, this guy, his response was, "He's cool." Huh?!? He is certainly cool, I just thought it was funny that some 40-ish dude would say so. Hee hee!

Anyway, after ABC we went up to Boulder to refill my nausea meds and have smoothies with J. My nausea has been extremely minimal lately...I haven't even been taking the meds. I, of course, worry slightly as the nausea is a good sign things are progressing well. But, it has been going on awhile and we're 11 weeks tomorrow so maybe it's slowing down? God, I hope so! It could just be I'm having a good couple of days.

Because I was feeling so much better yesterday we were able to run to the mall. We went to one of the sketchier malls because I heard they had a great play area. They do but it's a rough crowd to go through in order to get there. Then they have a security guard sitting outside the entrance which is slightly reassuring yet somewhat scary. I guess he's there to keep the "big kids" out and remind everyone to remove their shoes, etc. Whatever the reason, Easton had a blast and it wasn't crowded at all. Of course I took lots of pictures, wanna see?




Using his head...

Proud of his success...


If you hadn't noticed, I'm really not doing his online "album" anymore. I guess I'll just put the good ones up here on the blog. I'm too lazy these days to do both. Sorry. :)

Oh, and I did some videos yesterday too. I was pleased to see how "big" and brave my boy could be when given the chance. Usually the playgrounds are too crowded to really let him run amuck. But this "equipment" is soft and squishy and not too high off the ground so I just let him do his thing. Click here for one. And then click here for the other. Instead of saying, "hello" it seems he thinks the word is "la la". So that's what he's doing. And, notice the bear in the video? All by himself he climbed up to the top and stood on the tippy top of the bear's head! One time when he was getting down he was kind of dangling from the nose (the bear's nose) and he barely bumped his lip and it split open again from the previous injury. He didn't care about the bump but I made him stop playing so we could dab at his lip and he got really mad so we called it a day at that point.

Alrighty then, speaking of "really mad" I think maybe my definition of "tantrum" might be different than, say, my mom's definition. I was asking her techniques for dealing with tantrums and she says neither me or my sisters really had any. Maybe a time or two at the grocery store but they were short lived with a firm, "Stop." or whatever. Hmmmm. She thinks Easton may just be so precocious that he's hitting his "terrible twos" early. That could be, but this all still needs to be addressed. Perhaps a toddler version of a tantrum is different from an older kid tantrum, actually I'm sure they're different, but I still find it amazing that my sisters and I didn't have them. Well, mostly it's amazing that I didn't have them. Maybe that's one thing we forget as we get older?...like we forget the pain of childbirth (well, other people do...I didn't have those pains) or I forget how dreadful morning sickness really is when I'm not pregnant. Anyway...I digress. My definition of "tantrum": Easton throws his head back or throws himself into a laying position and then cries loudly and screams. Sometimes he hits or kicks or stomps. He almost can't even listen when he's that mad. I guess I mean "hear"...he certainly doesn't listen. My mother-in-law brought up finding some stuff online. Duh! Why didn't I think to start there? So, off I go to do some googling. Oops, I should use MSN now that J's a Microsoft man, eh? Either way...gotta search! Have a nice weekend!

E.T.A (edited to add). Golly, I should've known Dr. Sears would have some good tips. I should always ask myself: W.W.D.S.D? You know: what would Dr. Sears do? It also seems Dr. Sears believes children like E (strong willed and also high needs as infants) are more prone to tantrums. Ummmmm, yeah!!! And then to empathize with frustration tantrums (I usually do) but not with the manipulative tantrums. Gotcha! Wow...should've thought to check in with Dr. S all along. Most of what he says are what we already do but it's nice to see we're doing it mostly right for some reassurance plus, it's nice to confirm that it is indeed normal toddler behavior (and not a reflection of our parenting--whew!). I doubt it'll end any time soon and I'm still willing to hear what anyone else has to say! Okay, bye again!