HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Well, so far I have NO pictures today. I haven't taken a single one even though E is in costume. I know I'll have plenty for you tomorrow. In lieu of my own photos I have other images for you today:

We had Gymsters this morning. Our last one of the session. Boo hoo :( Easton has a make-up tomorrow, though, from his time in the foot boot. Otherwise we're done and I wish we weren't. I'm gonna try to rustle up some extra money from somewhere. I'm sure I'll rifle through the couch cushions looking for a spare hundred someone might have lost. He does so well out of the house and he does really really well in the "class". He just loves it there and there's not a rowdy kid in the bunch on Tuesdays. Its mostly girls, you see. I'm not saying girls aren't rowdy--just ask all the boys I used to beat up in the 'hood as a tot. But, this particular group is great. Not too big...enough moms for me to chat with too.

Speaking of the moms...we had to miss out on the whole lunch/movie extravaganza. The movie started shortly after class so they were just going to grab Wendy's for lunch on their way to the flick. Uh, Wendy's? Can't tell you the last time I ate there. Blech. And then the movie required heading in the opposite direction from where we live. So we skipped it in order to nap instead. Too bad. I was tempted till I heard where they were going...movie locale-wise and "food"-wise. Easton's in need of a nap to gear up for Jason's work Halloween party. Fun. It'll be the last hour of "work". Jason is going as a hillbilly. Mullet and all.

I really think that'll do it for me. Be back tomorrow with pics. Trick or treat!

Halloween Eve

Zoinks! I took a day off blogging again. We had company...that's my excuse. Saturday after E's nap we went and met Lauren and Gramoo for an early dinner at Red Robin. Yum! Then we stole Lauren and kept her with us for the night. Easton friggin' adores her. He asked for her to carry him leaving the restaurant and such. Fine! Be that way! It's sweet, really. First we headed to Dave and Busters for some fun.

Easton attempting to play the "roll the ball" horse race game. His version involves pitching the ball so it lands on top of the plexiglass instead of rolling it up inside:


And doing a racing game:

He's in my "car"...Jason, Lauren, and I all attempted to play--E was on J's lap but my stupid game was broken. I was going a mere 35 mph when the other two were going 120. No fair! Granted, I did pick a Honda for my racer and the other two picked a speedy RX-7. Oh well. Easton liked driving too.

This is how much he loves his Aunt Lauren...he dropped my hand in order to hold hers instead:


And Jason being sentenced to the electric chair...I can't believe how many tickets it spit out at him after this:


Then as we were leaving D&B's Easton held hands with me and Lauren again. He likes for us to swing him but only he knows he's playing that "game". For instance, I didn't even have a grip on his hand...he was merely holding mine when all of a sudden he lifted up his feet. Goober. Once I knew we were "playing" I started to say, "One...two...three" but he'd still just pick up his feet whenever he felt like it.

He's fun. He enjoys having someone in the back seat with him:


And after we stopped for ice cream he resorted to some of his best persuasion techniques to get Lauren to share her cone. Pat pat pat...feel like sharing?


Enjoying his aunt some more...


Yesterday with the time change was a long day for E...up before 7 but that was still sleeping his normal amount of time. We expected it. Then he only napped for 45 minutes but it could've been the rousing game of UNO we had going on with Lauren downstairs. He was soooo ready for bed last night.

This morning he woke up at 6:30 so I hopped in the shower but he went back to sleep until 7:30 instead. Whew! We thought the brightness at such an early hour might wake him--and it appeared to--but he went back to sleep this time.

Today he and I went shopping. First I asked him to put on his shoes and I made a pit stop. I heard him clomp clomping towards me like this:

He always loves to wear our shoes.

Later we hit the Old Navy by our house. I wanted to exchange a top for Baby Deuce. My mom brought Deucie a cute little outfit yesterday and it's 3-6 month sized. Well, it's labeled that way. The pants look fine but the danged top fits Easton:

I know E is on the smaller side but I found that ridiculous. So we went searching for the 0-3 month version. Our Old Navy didn't have it but told me the mall we go to had 3. So, off we went. They actually had 0. Then they proceeded to tell me I could order it online to which I nicely said, "I'm not going to pay five dollars in shipping for a shirt that costs 7!" Especially since I came allllll the way up here thinking you had 3! So they arranged to waive the shipping fees for me and all is well. I can expect it in 7-10 days. Good thing we've got time :) But, all's well that ends well. We even found a few other things we "needed". For instance, remember those guitar jammies I bought for The E awhile back? He doesn't wear them yet (they're 2T size) but I bought a matching sleeper for Deuce. How cute will they be in matching jams? Love the thought.

After Old Navy was all figured out we went down to the play area. We ran into some fellow Kindermusikers. Darn! I was wearing my sporty new sweatsuit today and I wanted to wear it on Thursday to class and now I can't since I was "spotted". Maybe next week. The play area wasn't too crowded so no one beat Easton up although one 4-5 year old weirdo told me, "I think he went poop in his diapey." Uh...no he didn't...mind your own business, Mr. Poo on the Brain.

We were in need of a snack after all that so we shared a cinnamon soft pretzel and a cherry ice. Why do I let myself get those "ices"? I enjoy the first half of the beverage--I mean, who wouldn't like to sip a fruity slush? But, once you're done sucking up what you can you're left with a half cup of shaved ice bits tinted with color. Ours had a pinkish hue and yet I still felt obligated to try to suck up more icy strawfuls. It hardly had any flavor left! I don't love to eat ice with the rare exceptions of when I was anemic and suffering from pica (only ice!) or after my C-section. Easton gave up...smart kid. I struggled with the cup all the way home. Why do I do that to myself? Why?

Anyway, now we're home and I had a helluva time getting E down. He was very mad, first of all...I'm thinking it was from being tired. Then, once he calmed down and we rocked. He fell asleep and I layed him down. He burst right back up and cried, "rock rock!" So I gave in and we rocked again. Same thing happened but this time when I layed him down he stayed laying till I left. Then he sat up and cried. When I went back in after our "designated" amount of cry time he stood up crying, "All done! All done!" but I'm the mommy and I knew he wasn't. I patted him and left again. He cried again but went to sleep shortly thereafter. It'll probably be another 45 minuter. I'm desperately afraid he's on the verge of giving up napping. Eek! We'll see.

This afternoon we have to hit Sam's Club for a couple things, namely Easton's chocolate Carnation instant breakfast and then the library. I ordered a book but I ordered it to the wrong branch so I have to go pick it up at a different library than we're used to. Darn preggo brain! I'm sure I'll update at least a little tomorrow but have a Happy Halloween!

Boo at the Zoo

So, the doctor said that Easton's lungs sounded perfect (whew!) and that his ears looked clear too. She did, however, find his throat to be red and said we'd watch him for a few more days and if he wasn't improving she'd swab him for strep. She said strep is really uncommon in his age group so that's why she didn't just jump in for a culture. Fine with me. Easton was unbelievably good the whole time. Since he's getting to be a big boy now they had him stand on the big people scale. He stood perfectly still while they weighed him at a whole 21 pounds (clothes on). Then the nurse took his temp in his ear. He wasn't feverish there which always makes me feel like a moron seeing as how I was bringing him in for a "fever". :) Anyway, he liked having his temp taken because he loves things in his ears. He asked for "more". Silly. Then the doctor came in and he let her listen to his lungs and he sat so still and was super quiet. After that we sat him up on the exam table so she could look in his ears and throat with her light. She remarked how she couldn't believe he was acting so well..."usually at this age they protest everything and won't sit still". Again he was perfectly still while she inspected each ear and then when it was time for his throat I told him to say "Ahhh" and showed him to stick out his tongue and he did while she jumped in there with a tongue depressor gagging him (remember he's got that overreactive gag reflex). A tear from his "bad" eye (with the clogged tear duct requiring surgery) rolled down his cheek. :( She said, "Oh it looks red" and wanted to see it again and even though she'd just gagged him he still obliged and did it again. What a trooper! I doubt he'll do so well when we go for our flu shots on the 6th but I'll take what I can get.

Due to the illness we had to miss the My Gym Halloween party but today he and I went to "Boo at the Zoo". It was insanely crowded--I had to park at the museum and walk over. We had an okay time standing in candy lines and didn't pay much attention to the animals. But, that's the benefit of having a zoo pass...we can go again and again to check out the animals.

And enjoying a Kit Kat:


It took us about a year and a half to get home because the highway leading to our house was closed. Nice. I fed Easton "lunch" in the car and then we put him down for his nap as soon as we got home:


This afternoon we're meeting Gramoo and Lauren for some dinner and then Lauren will be staying the night with us. Guess that's about it...

Friday Update

Easton is still cranky and feverish today although the fever isn't as high the crankies are worse. :) I called the phone nurse and she told me that I needed to add a degree to his temp since I take it in his arm pit. So, yesterday that means his temp was nearing 103. I don't think his temp has even been 102 before. And just to prove that he "needed" both the Tylenol and Motrin his temp after his nap yesterday (plenty of time for the meds to kick in but not wear off) was still 100.3. This morning he's at 100.4 without meds and we've got a doctor's appointment after his nap this afternoon. That's all...

Now What Is It?

Okay, Easton's been slightly cranky all morning. I blamed it on not enough sleep like always. His appetite was lacking today as well but again, what's new? Right around lunchtime he started asking to go "night night" again. Huh?!?! What is with this kid? He kept saying, "rock rock" and "night night". So, I got him all ready for his nap, trying to get some lunch in him first, and then we settled in his chair to rock. I always nustle my cheek on his head and I noticed he was burning up. I said, "Easton should we take your temperature?" and he said, "Yeah." Then I said, "Are you sick?" and he said, "Yeah." As soon as I stuck the thermometer in his pit it was already reading 99.9 so things weren't looking good. It got up to 101.9. *sigh* I gave him a dose of both Motrin and Tylenol because just one med alone never works to bring his fever down and if he's cranky with his nearly 102 degree temp I like to try to bring it down for comfort's sake. Poor fella. Now I'm perplexed, of course, as to what might be up. He puked the one time yesterday--don't think that's it. He's never had a teething fever and I don't think he's teething anyway. The only thing I can think of is something new that has yet to reveal itself or something potentially serious from the 3 colds he's had recently piggybacked on top of one another. Ick. We cancelled our plans for the rest of today (swimming and Lauren visiting) and I'll watch him and perhaps think about taking him in to the doctor tomorrow. If he hadn't had the 3 colds, the last of which is still lingering a bit, then I wouldn't react like this over the fever. However, I'm always afraid of pneumonia and stuff with my little guy's "chronic lung disease". Stupid hole in his lung. Why'd they have to break my newborn? Anyway, keep the little dude in your thoughts for a speedy recovery.

Before all this happened today, look what we woke up to again:

I got a 7:30 phone call from the Kindermusik teacher cancelling class for today. It took poor Jason an hour and a half to get to work. Normally it's no more than 45 minutes. Eek!

Easton and I were able to linger over breakfast without Kindermusik but he wasn't too interested:

He ate a half of that mini pancake and 4 bites of banana. Plus a few sips of milk and a vitamin. His giant friend Max can eat 5 of those mini pancakes and 3 sausage links for his first breakfast. However, Max's dad is also nearly a foot taller than Easton's dad. Think that might have something to do with it?


I should've known something was "up" with poor Easton when he was all snuggly wanting to watch TV on the couch first thing. Then he got bored and told me he'd had a poo when he really hadn't. He was just looking for something to do, I guess. I hope he can get some quality rest during his nap. Blitz better keep his yap shut. Good thing it's snowing otherwise the neighbor dogs would be outside barking away too. Well, since we have nothing else going on for the time being that's gonna do it from me for today...ta ta!

ETA: So the little doodle woke up crying after not even an hour of sleeping. :( Not good enough so I rocked him and then laid him down and patted him and played with his ear till he fell back asleep which took quite awhile. He kept cracking an eye open to make sure I was still there.

Oh, and to clarify...he does not still have a hole in his lung, that healed while he was on the ventilator...but due to the hole, the "issues" and the ventilator forcing air into his lungs he now has "at risk" lungs.

What Do You Think of the Name Ralph?

No, not for Deuce. I'm thinking Easton's middle name should be changed to Ralph because...he ralphed again this morning. Poor guy, though. He woke up and he wanted to watch videos of himself on the computer. As we were doing that he just started heaving like he was about to hurl. He never did but he also didn't stop. I asked him if he wanted to go get a sip of water think he might have a fuzz or something in his throat making him feel gaggy. He wanted to so we went downstairs and he guzzled some water and was all better...for awhile. We went on to have some breakfast: blueberry smoothies and before he finished...blueberry smoothie yak again. Here he is enjoying the beverage before-hand. Notice how nicely his dino jammies coordinate with the new booster:


Anyway...back to a few days ago where we left off. Sorry I didn't blog yesterday, I thought I needed a nap instead. Easton disagreed and only slept for an hour himself. Oh well. I think I must've snoozed for a few minutes. So, let's start with Monday after blog/naptime. Easton stayed in his jammies all day but we had fun. He is one of my biggest reasons to smile and I spontaneously captured this shot as I gathered him in a hug:

He also helped with more laundry, this is him lugging a pillowcase upstairs while I have the rest of the sheets:

And here he is on the non-baby proofed side of the gate standing on his potty:


Then Tuesday? Hmmmm...oh yeah...in the morning we went to Gymsters. The session is almost over :( Easton was climbing up a slide and then slid down on his belly. Neither of us had previously noticed the little girl trying to climb up behind him so he took her out on his way down the slide. Oops. She was crying. Her mom was understanding (whew!) and that being the first time Easton had hurt someone I was pleased to see the utter concern on his face. Luckily she recoverd quickly.

Later we were playing somewhere nearby and a mom came up to me and just raved over how cute she thinks Easton is, "especially his face" and that he might have to be her daughter's boyfriend some day in the future. Cute. After class that mom invited us on a date. Well, not really but next week she and 2 other mom/daughter couples are planning lunch and then a movie with the tykes. A movie? With four toddlers? We'll see...I think we'll try lunch and then opt out of the movie in lieu of naptime but you never know.

He did great at Gymsters despite the slide accident. He loved hanging upsidedown on the bars with Miss Sara and Mr. Ken was helping them flip into the ball pit. Easton did it over and over and over which amused rather than annoyed Mr. Ken. My son is an adrenaline junkie.

After his hour nap we hung out and then got ready for our first swimming lesson. Here is Eastie packing his swim bag:


Jason met us at the rec center and took pictures and videos of the session. His turn to swim with E will be tomorrow. Easton was SOOOO cold but loved it anyway. He was shivering a bunch despite being in the water for less than half an hour. :( A lot of the children in the class were blue lipped and chattering. We asked about the temp (but it didn't feel cold to me). Anyway, it's the warmest of the two pools and they can't keep it any warmer for bacteria growth purposes. Oh well. Here is a fun video montage from last night's class.

The class doesn't end till 6:45 and then we had to dry off and change and then head home for dinner. Therefore, Easton was up about a half hour past his usual bedtime but no big whoop. He had fun eating with us. He's doing better with eating, maybe it's the fun newness of his booster? Whatever it is we know it won't last long.

Today I kept a close eye on E after the yakking to decide if he was sick or if it was a fluke puke. :) I decided it was the latter so we went up to Circle Time. We got there during the patting song and it was so crowded. Poor E had no where to sit. Today's stories were about owls. Afterwards they colored these:


Easton and I came back home, ate some lunch and now he's having his nap. This afternoon we must get groceries. There. Now you're all caught up. Until next time...

Dove Beauty Clip

Someone directed me to this on YouTube. Basically anyone can be a model if you can see everything they do to make a perfect image. Doesn't anyone know true beauty anymore?

Venting a Bit

Eek! I'm starting to have some "issues" with Blogger again. What'll I do if I can't blab to all of you? Especially as today I need to vent. First, guess what we heard at 6:20 this morning: Blackie! Dang dog was at it again...not for as long as before but still...not happy campers right now.

Also, at that birthday party yesterday I was bothered by someone asking about my birth plans. She wasn't really asking me in a way to make me defensive, yet I felt the need to defend our choices. I don't like that. This woman is a doula (basically a professional birth coach/assistant) so I can see how she would be curious. But as many of you realize, Jason and I have decided on another C-section for me and Deuce. First of all, my actual surgical experience was not at all negative...sure the circumstances surrounding Easton's birth weren't ideal but my actual surgery and recovery went just swimmingly. Second of all, there are risks with a VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean) that we're not really willing to take. Yes, C-sections are major surgery and that carries it's own risks, however, in my own personal experience I have never seen a C-section gone awry from surgical complications. I have, however, seen a uterine rupture (the "big risk" with VBACs) and the baby ended up dying. So, that does affect our decision as well. But, wait, there's more...

Okay, third of all, luckily (for me) I am not one of those women who base my worth as a woman on being able to push a baby out of my body. Sure, I feel a little bit like I missed out on ever experiencing labor or even a contraction but I don't personally feel like I've failed as a woman. That's good because I know there are many women out there to whom having a vaginal birth is very important. Like I said, I'm not one of them but to each her own. Seriously. Let's see... fourth of all, there's no guarantee that just because I'd try a vaginal birth that I'd succeed anyway. I think that'd be harder for me to take: the whole potential "failure" of it all, you know? And there's also no guarantees that I'll stay healthy this pregnancy, why add one more thing to be disappointed about? As in, I got sick again and missed out on a vaginal birth. No, I prefer just making this decision and knowing (and accepting) ahead of time the route our son will take to get out. And lastly (what, would this be "fifth of all"?), right now Deuce is breech anyway, granted there is plenty of time for him to turn to head down, but then again he might not making the whole vaginal vs. section discussion moo. I mean moot. :) Okay I'm done defending this choice for the time being since it wasn't even any of you faithful readers who asked in the first place. Sorry to vent to y'all but this blog is obviously a journal of sorts for me as well...

Onto less feisty things...Easton got a new booster seat. Bye bye highchair!

We wanted something we could easily take to my mom's or grandma's when we go for family gatherings--he used to have to sit either on our laps or in his stroller. Ick. Plus, it works out just fine that we can attach it to our regular chairs here at home and get the big ol' highchair out of the way till Deuce needs it. Yay! Easton is a big fan of it already and sat in it for his dinner snack last night. He enjoys it both with the tray:

Or without:

He does not enjoy bonking his head on the edge of the table while laughing at my antics:


What fun. He's getting bigger every day. Well, older anyway, not sure about bigger.

And, since I forgot to share the other day--Easton and I went exploring for kid stuff online and found noggin.com and pbskids.org and some fun stuff they have. He loved being on the computer and sat and typed and acted like he totally knew what he was doing.

He was very excited to see familiar characters on the screen and we even printed out a few blank coloring pages to do:

I tried teaching him to click the mouse but he was overly excited...maybe another time.

For now my little man is sleeping. He was soooo good this morning as I "had" to ignore him to spend some time making important phone calls. What a sweetie. I felt bad putting him down for a nap when he was being so sweet and fun. It took him awhile to settle down as we rocked and he kept smiling up at me and asking for kisses. Awwwwwww. I miss him already. Good thing he should be up soon. The sprinkler guy is coming to blow us out for the season. Toodaloo!

I Guess I Spoke Too Soon...

Well, great...we came downstairs after E's nap (and my blogging) on Friday to find Blitz yakked on the floor (and rug and chair). Grrrrreat...I think we're going to buy him the "sensitive stomach" formula food and mix it in with the other stuff till it's gone. If that doesn't work then I think we have to opt for the pricey blood testing. We'll just see. Easton is still puke-free though. Yay!

Blogger wouldn't let me on last night so y'all missed out on a days worth of what was sure to be hilarity. Not really. But I would've told you how both Easton and Jason slept in till 8 yesterday and then how we made a family trip to "The Mart" to look at the toy section. Easton started making his Christmas and birthday lists and I'm pretty sure I saw Santa taking notes. He is so fun in the toy department--no tantrum when we don't buy him anything...YET! I have pals that have to totally steer clear of that area of the store but E is really good about it so far.

After Wal-Marting I put Easton down for a nap and then headed off to lunch with an old college pal. It was nice catching up but sad that I don't see my childless pals as much as I used to or as much as I would if they had kids. When I walked up to the restaurant she said, "You're showing" and I thought, "Well, duh...I'm 21 weeks, you big goon" but then again, not one single friend of mine saw me during the whole 7 months of my last pregnancy so it must be weird to see me with a belly? Although, I must point out for my own sake that I'm not wearing maternity clothes yet. My belly is so high and styles are so low-waisted these days that I can still button my jeans just fine. I have worn a maternity shirt here or there but it's not like I "need" to. And I haven't broken out the maternity pants yet. I'm not even at the "rubber band trick" stage where you loop a hair tie through your button hole to keep your pants up. I think maternity clothes make me look even more pregnant than I am so for now I'm steering clear. Even so, I'm "showing" but we all already knew that, didn't we?

After my long lunch with my pal I came home for a bit before heading back out sans E (who only napped for 45 minutes) to take my mom and sister to the airport. Jason was on E duty for the evening. We thought he'd even end up flying solo for the bedtime routine but I made it home just in time to do it with them. Although, Jason was on his own for dinner with E and apparently Easton did great. Yay!

Easton slept in again till 8 this morning and then we headed out to IHOP for breakfast. It is not Jason's most favoritest place but he goes there for me. Insert "awwwww" here. Today's experience wasn't great but I did enjoy my food at least and Easton was a genius. He was coloring and held up a blue crayon and said, "Bwoo" and then held up the red crayon and said his version of red ("Bleh"). We were so impressed because it was unprompted and we hadn't been quizzing him before hand or anything. Then, thinking he was on a color-identifying roll we asked, "What color is this?" pointing to J's orange shirt and he said, "Bwoo." So we stopped. But still...

What else? Oh, after IHOP Easton and I went to another playgroup pal's 2nd birthday party. I thought Easton had lots of toys but not compared to this kid. Whoa! Easton enjoyed playing with his toy kitchen:

And with a punch balloon, you should've seen him go for awhile there:


Oh yeah, a couple of times this weekend Easton has sat on his potty for a bit. He spent about half an hour out of his diaper each time and would sit on the potty or stand in it or on it. Either way, he was close to the potty (his choice) but he never actually went potty. That's fine as we're still not trying to potty train but one day I saw him, um, straining and asked if he wanted to sit on the potty and he did. So we have. The second time he asked to sit on it. Again, we let him. He's not allowed on the rug or couches without a diaper, though. For now he either sits on the potty in the bathroom or we bring it down and he watches a program on TV while sitting:

Our goal is just for him to be familiar and comfortable with the potty by the time we actually start training (not till after Baby Deuce comes). He sees it mostly as a jungle gym/step stool but hey, at least he's not afraid of it and will even sit on it diaperless. Anyhoo...

I guess that's it from the weekend. While E naps J and I plan to start some Broncos and burgers. Mmmm. Oh, and real quick:

I stole this off someone else's blog. What fun! It says "Kristin" is the 397th most popular first name (it doesn't even specify for females and my mom did have a male student named Kristin). Our last name is 6050th most popular (tied with 50 others). Try it out if you want.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 3 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Tune in next time for another exciting "episode" of the Family Blog...

Deuce is Still Cooking Along...

We just got back from our 20 week OB visit. You know, those appointments really are kind of dumb. First they charged me money towards my delivery (yes, this stupid place makes you pay for your delivery up front), then they weighed me (up a pound since last visit 4 weeks ago), then they took my blood pressure (100/60), and then we sat there a bit till the doctor came in. She introduced herself as she was one we hadn't met, then she looked over my chart, measured my uterus (right on for 21 weeks), and listened to Deucildorf's heartbeat (150s still). She asked if we had questions (I asked if I was "supposed" to do the flu shot) and that was pretty much it. Easton really likes the heartbeat. When I lifted my shirt for the doppler Jason asked E, "What's in there?" and he said, "baby" and the doctor said, "Yeah!" and then to us, "How old is he?" (was she impressed or something? or perhaps that's my wishful thinking biasing the situation). Anyway, Easton heard the heartbeat and when she took the doppler off he kept signing, "more" and also imitated the sound with his mouth again. He likes to make sure his brother really is okay in there. :)

As far as the "that was pretty much it" part it wasn't everything: I have to repeat my wee-in-a-jug extravaganza. Whoop dee doo. While the first 24 hour urine I did came back "normal" it was still high-ish normal. In fact, the numerical value was nearly identical to the numerical value from my last pregnancy when I started showing preeclampsia symptoms on Christmas Eve at 31 weeks. Hmmmmm...well, so far no other symptoms. The blood pressures certainly aren't an issue yet and neither is swelling. We're keeping everything crossed and of course praying this continues. I'll do the "collecting" in the next few days and then I have to repeat it at least every 8 weeks. You can't say they're not being thorough.

We go back in a month for the next routine check and my first "growth scan" (an ultrasound to make sure Deuce is still growing on track). My appointment is actually on a Monday which sort of bums me out as I'll then be in my 25th week and not 24th like my mental plan says. I don't know why those kinds of things bother me but they do. They didn't have a Thursday appointment and they don't have a sonographer (ultrasound tech) on Fridays so I had to go to the following Monday and now my whole pregnancy will be thrown off by this stupid scheduling detail. :) Okay, I'm being slightly dramatic, so there!

Eastie and I took a self-portrait before we left. I told him to say "cheese" again:


He is a little prepster today in his collared shirt, khakis, and slicked down 'do:

Dashing, wouldn't you say?

And back to yesterday, I got some winning smiles captured on camera for the first time in a loooooong time (toddlers!!).


As Jason said when he saw this, you can't get much happier than this:

My, my...with those toofers he looks like such a little piranah (sp?). He is soooooo my child with that pointy chin. Jason and I each have prominent chins: mine is prominently sharp from the front like Easton's there and Jason's got a prominent chin from the side. We think Easton has both. Eek! Let's hope he doesn't go into politics as the cartoon caricatures they'd draw of him would exaggerate those.

Anyway, my boy and I had a fun afternoon yesterday climbing from chair to couch:

And then from couch to loveseat:


And then we did a little dancing:


At dinner he opened a package with a new book from his pal (that he met one time), Rachel:

It's called "Mealtimes" and my friend Jodi (Rachel's mom) thinks it'll help Easton be a better eater. Worth a shot.

I am happy to report that we've been puke-free for quite some time and the dogs are no longer waking us up in the mornings. Ahhhhh. Hasn't stopped Easton from waking before Jason leaves but sweet calls of, "Mama? Dada?" are much nicer than the annoying yap of Blackie.

Alrighty, I think that should wrap things up for Friday here. Enjoy your weekends!

Beyond His Years

Okay, so our little man and some of his untoddler-like behavior is getting even more odd. First, some basic tidbits:

At Gymsters, if a stray ball or two comes flying out of the ball pit he will stop whatever he's doing to go put it back. I love that he likes to pick things up, but geesh...let someone else (the parent of the kid that threw the ball) pick it up. :)

At the library yesterday another tot tried to grab his 3 books. The dad corrected the kid but then Easton went on to hand all 3 books to this kid. He likes sharing!

Also at the 'brary yesterday, a family had a little stack of books piled on the floor to check out later. Easton saw them from afar and went to put the books back in the bin where he thinks they belong. He just has to help clean up--even if they really meant to have them on the floor.

Well, this is the weirdest part (to us): yesterday Jason got home a little late from work, overtime plus snow traffic. Anyhoo, as soon as we finished dinner (7:00) Easton asked to go night night. While he doesn't really ever protest bedtime he has never asked to go to sleep. This kid would much rather play than show signs of even being tired. So, he asked to go night night and I said, "Really? You want to go night night?" and he said, "Yeah" and I said, "In your bed?" and he said, "bed". I just didn't believe him--I thought he was confused or something. So we stalled slightly by feeding the cat, getting stuff out of the dryer, etc and he still wanted to go night night...but he was being nice about it the whole time. I asked if he wanted to pick up toys (that's how the routine always starts) and he said, "Yeah" again. So we did. We put him to bed. He was happy about it all the whole time and didn't even act extra tired or anything. Very strange. Not many kids I know want to go to bed. I doubt if he'll ever do it again...but still... Even when I tried to prolong putting him to bed by giving him a longer than usual bath he told us when he was "all done" in the bath and got out. He took awhile falling asleep because he got a super long case of the hiccups (thanks to sparkling cider at dinner) but as soon as the hiccups stopped, and I mean as soon as, he was out.

So here is our little merry old soul after yesterday's nap:

And wiping his dog's nose (notice my festive Halloween sock?):


Today E woke up at 7:00 and got to see J for a bit before he left for work. I think both the boys really like when that happens. Especially after last night with J getting home late and E asking to go to bed. After J left we had some breakfast and got dressed. Here is Easton pointing to the new shirt he's wearing today. It says, "Just hand me the cookies and nobody gets hurt":

It was in the box of treats from the Maws. When I put it on him he said, "Cookie cookie cookie" which again surprised me as a.) he can't read and b.) he's never had or seen an Oreo which is the cookie type featured on the shirt.

We went to Kindermusik and E did well but seemed slightly less energetic than usual. The teacher had a slide whistle she was letting the kids help pull but he didn't really want to. He was almost afraid of it or something. Oh well. He got a small push again from my pal's kid but wasn't fazed. It's weird, after class we walked out with that kid and my pal and she's happy because "he only pushed once!" How different two points of view can be on the same incident, eh? Honestly Easton didn't care and kids will be kids but you still hate to see it happen to your own. Oh well.

After class we ran a few errands over in that area and then headed home for some lunch and laundry. Easton loves helping with that. If he hears me start the washer while he's in the other room he stands at the gate and says, "Mama! Help!" because he wants to help. He nearly always gets to help and today was no exception:


I love having a little buddy to make the chores more fun. A lot of times he gets in the way but he's happy. Just don't try folding laundry with him around. He's not such a good helper unless you want your stacks messed up and items thrown on the floor only to be picked back up by him.

Now he's napping and I still can't believe how that child can snore, especially since he's still pretty stuffy. He's one loud li'l dude. I guess that's all from me...adios!

Humpday Grumpday

For some odd reason my mood had really soured since I woke up. I woke up plenty cheerful, even emailed a few pals I hadn't talked to in awhile. But, after our morning out I was cranky. Hmmmm...

First we went to breakfast at ABC. It had been awhile since we'd been there and I'm in a huge breakfast food rut--nothing sounds good. Easton was loud but good. Then we went next door to Old Navy for browsing. Then next to that to Bed, Bath, and Beyond for plastic kitchen chair covers (ours are black fabric--not kid friendly!). After all that we hit up Circle Time and then Wal-Mart. By the time we got to Wal-Mart E was getting cranky. He was happy while trying to unbutton my coat to see "baby" or if I was tickling him under his chin but he was a grumpasaurus much of the rest of the trip. He was completely happy once we got back home...yet somehow that's when my mood started. Pbbbbbbbbt! I think I'll be better after his hopefully long nap (but since he didn't want lunch I think it'll be a short nap).

Okay, I was so wrong yesterday about the snow not sticking:


Dudes, you have all got to get seat warmers if you have this kind of weather. Jason was remarking how it's worth the entire price of the car to have that luxury. Ahhhhh. This was said on the way to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Easton wouldn't eat there either. Well, he did have a few bites of J's pancakes but he'd only take a bite if J said, "please?". Sometimes E would have to remind Jason. Silly. I ate all my dinner and even got dessert but only because they have Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream!!! The world's best ice cream! I soooo wish you could get that in stores here but you cannot. Only at Cracker Barrell or Carrabas. Phooey.

While we're back on yesterday I forgot to mention something about Gymsters: each session they do a "separation time" where the teachers watch the kids and the parents go wait by the door. This is for a length of a song. Yesterday's song was the Styx tune that appropriately begins, "Babe, I'm leaving..." ha ha ha! Anyway, Easton has never really noticed nor cared that I was "gone" (the kids can all still see us, we're just baby gated away). But yesterday as he was playing puzzles I watched him go, "Mama?" and look for me. When he found me I smiled and waved. He smiled and waved back and then continued working on the puzzles. Cute. I was proud.

Wanna hear more Easton funnies? Let's see...with his cold we keep old washcloths nearby to "boop" his runny nose. The other day he needed a boop and like a big boy went and got the cloth. I was on the loveseat. Jason said, "Bring it to mama" so E ran behind the loveseat and tossed it over the back to me. Technically he was doing was Daddy asked, he just wasn't around for me to use it on him. Hee hee!

And, the other day for some odd reason he smacked me on the arm. I said, "Do not hit Mama" so he switched his hand to a fist and did it that way instead--a punch. Oh my! It was too hard not to laugh at that. I made him go away from me for that but we were both laughing...not really the point of the "consequence" but oh well. He's really not a hitter anymore, I don't know what even prompted that episode.

Alrighty then, that's enough randomness from me. Off to explore You Tube for more fun vintage Sesame Street clips from MY youth. Seriously, you gotta love that show.