Rice Cereal

I couldn't find Y cut nips this weekend so we scrapped cereal in the bottle and went straight to the spoon. Its definitely helping w/ his reflux and I admit being pretty impressed with how much of it he's actually managing to swallow. I was pretty skeptical about starting him this young but I guess I need to give Bunky more credit. Here are the pics of his first "dinner".

Oh...and for the record...I did remember a bib about half way thru :) Must remember bibs 100% of the time...note how wet his shirt is from a constant stream of drool and vomit. sigh....

Happy 1/3 Year Birthday Patrick!

I can't believe Bunky is 4m old already! There is nothing like a baby to make a whole chunk of time disappear like magic. He started off his thirdofayear birthday by waking up every hour from 11:30pm until 4:30am. Momma is a bit wrecked and glad no party is scheduled for this mini-big event :)

Last night Patrick had his 4m well visit. As I suspected Patrick is headed into tiny territory. He's 24 3/4" and 13lbs13oz. So, that is 50% for height and 10% for weight.

Appt went fairly well. Doc was concerned about the gank in his lungs/throat and his wheezing/coughing and initially suggested we needed albuterol but then he hacked up a big loogie and cleared himself and she changed her mind and wants us to do cereal instead. She thinks his reflux is exacerbating his cold symptoms and so if we can keep the milk down it will improve. I'm much more open to that then another Rx so that was good. He also threw up on cue for her when she asked how the reflux was these days. LMAO!

I decided to go ahead w/ his vax yesterday despite his cold symptoms. He's had no fever and I do not see a symptom free day in our future...at least not until next spring so I figured we might as well get them over with. What a rough, cranky night. Hopefully he'll get some sleep today because otherwise Jenelle is in for it.

And I will do my best to never bring Nattie to another appt. She wasn't bad but she was into everything. She was on top of the doc while P was being examined. She was scared of the shots. She was interrupting and asking questions while I was trying to talk to the doc. It was a total PIA. She was doing a good job following directions but as soon as some new thing got started she was off and in the middle of it again. Since she can't sit still on a good day asking her to stuff her curiosity down and sit nicely in a chair is a pretty tall order. So, in future, she's not on the invite list!

Virginia and bugs....I wannna gooooo hoooomeee!

Since moving here I've discovered a few insects that I had never seen before, never wanted to see, and hope never to see again. The latest came this morning when I 'discovered' what Cicada's look like.

Lets begin with last winter....

1) the giant cockroach -
habitat: my bathroom at work.
Size: 1-1.5" in length
Color: Light brown.
EWWW factor - high! Very high!

2) The Black Widow Spider
Habitat: outside (thankyougod!) near the trash can
size: slightly larger than a quarter
Color: this needs no explanation
EWWWW factor - none
EEEEK factor - extremely high!

3) The Cicada
Habitat: outside (whew!)
size: about 2" long and 3/4 wide (fat bastards!)
Color: mine was a medium brown but apparently this varies
EWWW factor - not too bad...sort of looks like owl vomit from a few feet away
EEEEK factor - none really
Annoying factor - Seriously high! No windows open in the summer even if its cool enough because they never shut the hell up.

I realize this is not the best picture but I took it with my cell phone which required me to hold my hand about 1" away from it and I was not exactly steady while waiting for this 'unknown' insect to jump on me. Apparently they don't do anything of the sort but at the time I did not know that. So, excuse the shaky handed blur factor.

And yes, this small picture is pretty much true to size. Ick, eh?

Lovey & Bunky - cell phone pics

Over the weekend.....and today!

We traded in our clunker for a new car. The truck had more problems then we could shake a stick at and was borderline dangerous and this was definitely a lifetime opportunity to get $4500 for that POS. So, its done. Gone. Adios truck. Hola Toyota Camry. Its a lovely car and while I did not win the battle to pay cash we at least got a 0% finance deal and I plan to pay the thing off with our next tax return. What Jame does not understand is that I need another monthly bill like I need a hole in my head. And on a more sentimental note....there goes another piece of my Dad. If he were still alive there is no way he'd still be driving that truck. But it was his, and now its gone....another thing. sigh.

I ripped my garden out. Ticked me right off that I had to do it but there was really no other choice. Ever since I went back to work I've had 0 time for it and it showed. I had gone out yesterday afternoon (the first day below 90* in a few weeks) to straighten things out and realized it was too far gone. Not to mention, after the discovery of the black widow I'm freaked out about spiders. So, adios garden. I'm hoping to plant some garlic and onion this fall and maybe next summer there will be more time for my 1 remaining hobby. I can't believe I now have 0 hobbies. Jeezum.

And today Patrick had his first taste of formula. He got a half & half bottle for lunch about an hour ago. According to Jenelle he drank it right down without noticing it might've tasted different and at last check most of it was still in his tiny refluxing stomach. Hopefully it will pass thru his sensitive little system w/out incident and I can feel comfortable weaning him in another couple of months. If not I'll contemplate poking my eyes out and then get over it and resign myself to pumping for the next 8 months.

This picture made me think....

I've decided that I'm going to try to do these picture comparisons monthly(ish). Patrick's personality is really starting to blossom. Its really fascinating to me to watch him follow Natalie's growth curve and to see how much they look alike while their personalities diverge.

My Bunky!

I head over to the daycare every afternoon to feed Patrick. I know this isn't the best quality picture but this is the face that greeted me this afternoon! *love*

Updates and pictures

Its been a busy couple of weeks/weekends. Here are some pictures to prove it :)

Natalie in front of a very cool sand sculpture at the Science Museum's shark exhibit.

My current favorite picture of Bunky. Look at those gorgeous smiling eyes!

Definitely one of the coolest pictures I've ever taken. Also the Science Museum. Nat & Kay blowing a huge bubble!

After the POP!

And in very big news! Patrick has joined Natalie at the table. He has great head/neck control and is definitely happier!

Lovey was extremely pleased that Patrick could join her!

Look at that cuteness!

Kids say the darndest things....

Yesterday at the pool Nattie was in "why" mode. Everything was why. I was definitely starting to lose my mind with the explanations and justifications. I get to the point where I don't care anymore if its making her brilliant...I just want her to stop asking me why. Then she said this....

"Mommy, see that lifeguard? He's got a tatto on his arm. It's an A for Natalie on his arm. Do you think it will wash off in his tubby tonight?"

I can't express how hard I laughed. Then he asked what she was curious about so I told him. He assured her that it wouldn't wash off in the tubby. She seemed satisfied with that and moved on to a new topic.

I'd also like to note that it wasn't an A for Natalie on his arm. It was an N. So, now she recognizes B (for boy, baby, etc), N (for Natalie), K (for Kate & kite), M (for Mommy) & P (for Patrick)....of course, she calls them all A!

Pictures

4th of July - brave Nattie gets up close & personal


Kaylie gets comfy!



Sharing some smiles!

My two favorite fella's

Nekkie booty shakin' w/ Mom's shoes and new vest.

Fashionista!

Natalie's first rainbow.

8/7/09 - sweet babies at 6am. Making my morning start out perfectly!

This weekend!

After the sleeplessness that was last week I knew this weekend wasn't going to be easy. Friday night was fine but Sat a.m. Patrick woke up at 5 to eat...I fed him and went immediately to work. Worked to make up time from his pedi appt and then ran to the grocery store, Target and BJ's. Scooted home at 15 above the speed limit and gave Jame a 3 hour nap so that he could enjoy his Red Sox game in Baltimore. He left, I parented solo (and badly I might add - do you ever realize you're acting like a giant a-hole to your kids but just can't seem to stop???) for the remainder of the day and was even too tired for a glass of wine after the monkey's went to bed. He got home safely at 2am but I was up every hour between 11pm and 6am so I might as well not have slept at all. P has a cold (just a regular one this time - finger's crossed) and was having a hard time breathing. Jame got up at 10am but went right to work on a big project for his class that was due today so I kept on keeping on. It is now 5pm and I'm getting my first break since 5am yesterday. About 20 minutes ago Nattie drew the picture of me that I have uploaded. Its 1) an amazing picture with a head, facial features, hair, arms, legs, etc...and 2) it also is a perfect, visual description of what I feel like right now. I can't stop laughing!