Kindergarten Registration

Yesterday, we took James to his new school to get registered for kindergarten. We took his list of needed items (birth certificate, deed, shot record) and were in and out in less than 15 minutes. 

James' main concern was wanting to go play with other kids at school. When he found out that we were confined to the front lobby of the school, he was upset.  But after we got some celebratory ice cream, he felt much better. 

At James' request, we went back to daycare and picked his baby brother up early. Then we came home and had a Cinco de Mayo pool party. Overall, a sucessful day. 

The spokesman

In the last few days, James has started speaking for his brother.  He's often given us his interpretations of Logan's cries, but now he's telling us exactly what Logan is saying.
Last night, Logan said "Baa" as we were trying to feed him, and James looked at us and said, "I think Baby Logan says no."  Adam and I cracked up, Logan was saying no, because he was definitely done with dinner at that point.
Then this morning, as I was walking downstairs with the boys I said,  "I love you guys" to which James responded, "We love you, too".
I love that James is a great big brother, he's caring and loves to hug and kiss his baby.  Lately, he's been a bit impatient with Logan, running him over, rather than walking around him and we've been working on saying, "excuse me, Logan" while walking around.  Sharing is actually getting easier, especially now that Logan joins in the playing, rather than just chewing on the shared toy in question.
Our James is an outgoing sort of kid, which should make life increasingly interesting in the years to come.

James quotes

Three year olds say all kind of silly things.  Here are some examples.

"When you pee on the potty, it gives you poopy power in your butt."  Apparently peeing makes you have to poop also.

"We will give the bird some eggs and they will hatch and the baby birdies with be awwwww so cute."  James was discussing a ceramic bird we have on our dining room table.  It has a little nest, but no eggs.

"Its okay, I am here, baby brother." Said to a crying Logan in the bath tub.

"Her is grumpy at me!"  James was very dismayed that Sassy batted at him.  He was rather close to her face.

"I will not play in my room."  James tells me this every night as I tuck him into bed.  

Toy Clean Out

I love cleaning out toys.  No, I really, really love it.  We have far more than our boys will ever play with in one day and since Logan has been playing the last few months, we have baby toys and big boy toys out. all over the living room.
Today, we cleaned out some of the baby toys that Logan doesn't play with anymore, since he's almost one, he think he's a big kid and should just play with brother's toys.  So Adam cleaned out a big pile o' toys.  I looked at them and broke into tears as I started to put them into a big, black trash bag.  My baby is getting so big!  Both my babies are getting so big.  Adam laughed at me and told me I was crazy, then James looked over and asked, "Why are you crying, Mom?"
I told him that he and Logan are getting so big and even though its silly, it makes Mom sad sometimes.  I told him soon he won't need me at all!  Without taking a beat, James looks at me and says, "Soon me and Baby Logan and Dad will leave you here!"
He was very excited about it.  I'm not sure where they're going, but Mom isn't included!  Maybe I should just look forward to the peace and quiet!

He's fussy

In the last few weeks, I've noticed James and Logan's relationship developing in a new way.  They seem like they really get each other more often than not and when Logan is getting fussy or grumpy, James will usually fill in the gaps for his parents, who obviously know nothing.  If I'm making Logan a bottle, James will chime in with "He's hungry, that's why he's fussy."  If Logan wants a toy, but James refuses to give it up, James will let me know that "Him wants to eat my big boy toy."  These kinds of comments happen all the time now and sometimes when I am clueless as to why my usually grinning baby is a bit fussy, I ask James.  His guess can't be any worse than mine, right?

This morning, both boys were up earlier than usual.  James watched a few cartoons and Logan played on the floor while I got ready.  When James' cartoon was over, I left the news on.  James wanted another show, but I told him we didn't have time.  This is the reason cartoons are usually not a part of the morning routine, but I made an exception today.  Logan wanted to be picked up during my last mad rush around the house to get out the door and was loudly letting me know he was displeased with me.  Then James walks up to me and says, "Mom, Baby Logan is fussy because he doesn't like the news."

They're getting so big

They're getting so big.  That seems like a pretty obvious statement, my boys are getting big.  Especially Logan, who thinks he should be walking and talking and doing all the things big brother is doing.  And especially James, who does preschool time with Rhonda now and learns so much everyday.

Logan

My baby still only has two teeth.  He has an infectious smile.  He crawls, pulls up, cruises around holding onto furniture, and looks for trouble ("adventure") everywhere he goes.  Logan wants to be by brother's side, all the time.  He wants to explore.  He loves to eat and wants to eat anything you might be eating.  He uses his pincer grasp like a pro, never having one second of trouble with it.  I never really thought "Baby Led Weaning" was realistic, until Logan showed us that he can pick up and eat just about anything.

Logan gave me 8 months as a momma's boy, but in the last couple of weeks has realized how awesome his father is.  Aside from bedtime, when he is all mom's, Logan wants to be with dad.  James gave me zero time as momma's boy, so I should relish the time I had with Logan being all mine (I do realize how silly I sound!).  Then there's the time before males took over my house and my whole existence.  I say that half kidding and half knowing that in some ways my life will revolve around cleaning up these boys' messes for quite some time.  

James

My big boy picks up on everything these days.  He knows when you're talking about him or repeating something he said.  He knows with one look when he can get away with something or not.  And he's always, always testing his boundaries.  James has an occasional accident, but is coming to the end of potty training.  He's funny, sweet and sensitive.  James started his first unit at preschool, "Me and my family" which explores themes on family, friends, pets, and feelings.  Now he tells me that I'm his friend.  Its pretty cute.  He likes to start sentences with "Guess what?".
James loves to be a big brother, with one exception.  He gets terribly upset when Logan messes with his line of toys.  Whether they are cars or trains or animals, James wants his toys lined up.  Little Brother would rather play Godzilla (like James before him) and mess the line up or chew on toys.  When Logan does this, we remind James that he can fix his line and that he should show Logan what he's doing.  James is good about explaining what each toy is and taking them gently from his brother.  But, I can only imagine the trouble these two will get in down the road.

I am trying to be more present.  Always trying.  Always reminding myself to put down the phone or the iPad and turn off the television.  Its not easy.  In trying to be more present, I am reminding myself that these boys growing is a good thing.  I shouldn't let my heart get so weary over their baby-ness wearing off.  That is a struggle for me.  While I love working and know that working is in the cards for me, sometimes I am overwhelmed with the sadness that I am missing out on the boys during the day.  Again, I am trying to shift my thinking to look at the positives and enjoy the time that I have, but some days I am just Debbie Downer.
On September 25th, Logan has his 9 month check up, so we'll see exactly how big he is then.  

Okay, I'm here still

Hi, I'm Chelsea and I've gotten over myself.  Really I've just managed to find my motivation again.  For work, going to the gym, and now for writing here.  The last few weeks have been full of some stress for me and the family, but it seems some of it has eased and some of it has resurfaced.  Ebb and flow, I suppose.  But the way we deal with challenges ultimately makes us the people that we are.  And while I can pout and wallow and sleep instead of working out, I really don't want to choose that life.  So here we are!
As I mentioned before, James and Logan had their 3 year and 6 month check ups.  James was 33 lbs and 38 3/4 inches tall.  Logan was almost 18 lbs (2 ounces shy) and 26.5 inches!  They are some big boys, James was in the 80th percentile for height and 60th for weight, since he's constantly moving.  And Logan was in the 75th percentile for both height and weight.  I love their doctor and tolerate his nurse.  Logan also received another round of shots, which had no effect on his whatsoever.  When James used to get shots, he'd be grumpy and sleep a ton and fuss.  Logan has an "ehhh, whatever" kind of attitude.  I'm lucky to have two pretty laid back children.
Part of the stress and worry that I was facing was due to Logan's genetic testing.  I carry a faulty gene that can lead to Becker muscular dystrophy in boys.  My brother and cousin are affected by it.  While its a fairly mild form of MD, I was still worried and felt that because James is not affected that Logan would obviously have it. But he doesn't.  His testing came back totally normal, there is no deletion on his DMD gene.  When Adam and I listened to the voice mail and heard the good news, we both looked at each other and vowed no more children.  Rolling the dice twice was enough and I cannot imagine the stress I would feel, worrying about passing my bad gene onto a third child.
Daycare was closed last week, Rhonda was on vacation and the boys were home for 9 long days.  The days actually weren't that long and Adam took care of them most of the time.  We were lucky that Jackie was able to stay with them on Tuesday and Thursday was a holiday for everyone.  I remember last summer thinking that I couldn't wait for Rhonda to be open again, but this year it wasn't as bad.  We stuck to our schedule and everyone came out alive.
Three is an interesting age.  James is smart enough to know what he wants and remembers enough to call you out if you don't follow through on something.  He knows how to use the potty and clean up afterwards, but won't tell you he needs to go.  He throws a tantrum like a champ and cuddles like a sweetheart just moments later.  His sense of humor is ridiculous and he feels some jealousy over the baby at times.  For instance, last night I was feeding Logan and James walked over and put his head on my leg.  Logan finished up his bottle and James asked to sit with me.  I asked him if it was okay if Logan sat with us too.  James said, "No, put Logan on the floor."  So I set Logan down with some toys and James climbed up and snuggled me tightly.  Then he looked up and said "I lub you."  I told him I loved him too and he smiled and we sat together for a few minutes.  He's pretty cute.

Brotherly Love

James loves his baby brother and its quite obvious that Logan is just as enraptured with James.  While James is pretty hands off with Logan, he does help buckle his car seat, get diapers, and make bottles ("Two scoops, Mom!").  Before bed, James gives baby a hug and kiss and says good night.  He makes sure to be quiet if Logan is falling asleep and likes to whisper, "Good night, Baby Logan".  When he's awake, Logan smiles at James nonstop, reaches for him, and occasionally tries to grab whatever extremity might be available.  James always says that Logan is trying to tickle him.
This morning, I was making my coffee while the boys were in the living room.  Logan was rolling around on the floor when I left, but when I got back James was with him.  They were laying on their tummies, facing each other.  As I walked in the room, I notice that James had grabbed Logan's hand.  He looked up at me and said, "Mom, we're holding hands!"  James was so excited about it and Logan had a huge grin.  I know there will be jealousies, problems with sharing, and fights, but I really love seeing my boys so happy together.  It  also helps that if James is in the room, Logan is probably not screaming for me and I can make my coffee a little bit more quickly!

Two feet

Most work days, I get the boys and myself ready and out of the house by 7:00 am.  Its a crazy, hectic morning, but I think I've gotten pretty good at it in the last 2 months.  I get Logan fed, ready, and in his car seat before I even go into James' room.

This morning, I got my big boy up and we picked out his clothes (cargo shorts and a red M&M's t-shirt from Grandma Dee Dee).  Then I sat on the floor and he came over to sit with me and get his morning snuggles.  These are occasionally the only snuggles I get all day, because let's face it - he's a man on the move.  Then James looked at me very seriously and said "I got two feet!"  Then he looked at me and said, just as seriously, "You got two feet too!  And pink toes!"

I looked at him incredulously and said "No way!  That's so cool!"  He grinned at me and we proceeded to get him dressed.   I really do love mornings with my guys, even if they are a bit hurried!

Big brother

I feel like I haven't been updating on James very much lately, so I will take some time to give an update on the big brother.
Everyday, James amazes me with his wit and intellect.  I know I'm his mom, so I'm supposed to think he's smart and extraordinary, but maybe other's think that too?  Rhonda always tells me that James is pretty mature for his age.  He's very clear when he speaks and lets you know exactly what he wants.
James loves going to daycare and loves that Baby Logan goes with him.  When he was sick a few weeks ago and I kept him home, but sent the baby to daycare, you would have thought the world had ended.  James is a helpful big brother, but doesn't get overly involved.  He likes to help pick out Logan's clothes and buckle him into the car seat.  He likes to kiss the baby and show him toys that he's playing with.  I have a feeling things are going to get dicey soon, as Logan begins to move around more.
James is still fluctuating between wanting to be a big boy and wanting to be a baby and I can certainly see why.  Being a baby is kind of awesome, you hang out in a diaper and get fed and snuggled.  But we try to remind James of all the perks of being a big boy - eating marshmallow cereal (Lucky Charms to the rest of the world) and playing outside are his favorites right now.
We've let up on potty training James for now.  He's obviously not ready and I'd rather not cause him too much psychological damage at such an early age.  We'll try again in a few weeks and see if he's more receptive too it.  Summer is coming and we're hoping some naked time will help with potty training.
Even though he's a busy kid, always running around and making a mess, James is such a good boy.  He amazes me everyday, just when I feel especially fed up with "threenage" attitude, he'll come over and ask mom for a hug.  He's always been an affectionate kid and will still sit in my lap to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings.
So that's James right now, just a few weeks shy of being three years old.  I can hardly believe it!

The new routine

Things have been going well around our house!  This week has been a bit hectic, trying to get myself and the boys out the door, but I've really made an effort to do as much as possible the night before.  I pick out my clothes, James' clothes, change Logan into his outfit for the next day (Is that bad?  I mean, he just hangs out in a sleeper all day, so why not get him into it the night before...), make lunches, and take a shower.  I feel like I'm superwoman every time I get to work on time!
So far, Logan loves daycare.  Rhonda has enjoyed having a little guy to cuddle and Logan loves to look at all the new sights.  The kids are certainly keeping him entertained and James has only been a little jealous of the other kids paying attention to his baby brother.  James has done well, he's regressing a bit, but nothing too terrible.  He really likes to be the baby and who can blame him.  But he's gotten no time outs all week and has been very helpful for Rhonda.  Maybe one day he will want to be helpful for mom and dad and actually use the potty, but that's another story.
Logan's been sleeping really well, he gets so tired during the day and fights sleep, but by the time he gets home and eats (and eats again) he is ready for bed.  Over the weekend we made it a priority to get him in bed by 8:30 pm and that time frame is slowly moving forward (which is the goal).  James has always been in bed asleep by 7:30 pm and Logan is following suit nicely.  He's been sleeping longer stretches too (probably due to the 8 ounces he's been eating between 5 pm and 7 pm) which is really wonderful.
I've been making a huge effort with going to the gym and am so happy with our routine these days.  I can only hope it will continue and that my motivation will as well.

N-E MORE

James has a new buzz word - anymore.  Although the way he says it is more like N-E MORE.  I know kids often do this thing where they choose a word and use it to death.
James uses the word often and usually its to exert his own will.  He will not do something anymore, as though he's been doing it for so long that he can't fathom doing it again.
Some examples, you say?
"I not use a spoon ANYMORE." (Side bar: He tested his mother on the spoon thing on the wrong day, choosing instead to eat his blueberry applesauce with his fingers.  "I use fingers, mommy."  That evening he did NOT watch Dora the Explorer OR play with the iPad.  In fact, I told him it was fine with me if he didn't do either ANYMORE.)
"I not go to Rhonda's ANYMORE."
"I not wear a coat ANYMORE."
You see where I'm going with this.  He's a character and he wants to do what he wants to do.  Join the club, kiddo.  While I think I will be happy when this anymore phase ends, maybe I should see what his next word is before making that decision.

Me Too!

We love to read to James.  He gets 3 or 4 stories every night before bed, to help settle him down and to let him know its time for SLEEP.  Some people suggest a bath during the bedtime routine, but James' skin gets so dry in the winter that a bath every night is a terrible idea.  Because I've always loved to read, I love story time, almost as much as I love bed time!
One of our favorite authors in Mercer Mayer, who writes the Little Critter books.  I loved Little Critter as a kid and I definitely do now.  We try to read stories that might tie into our lives a bit, lately those have been books about sharing, siblings, and GOING TO BED.  Me Too is about Little Critter and his little sister, who wants to do everything that he wants to do.  Little Critter has to be patient, share, and help his little sister and in the end she shares with him too.  Its a good story for someone who is getting a sibling soon.  We also have The New Baby and Just Me and My Little Brother.
The funny thing is that since we started reading this book, James wants to do everything "too".  No matter what Adam or I are doing, James will tell us that he wants to do it too.  The really funny part of this is the way James says "too" as though he's really amazed that he just so happens to be doing the same thing mom or dad.  But sometimes it doesn't work out for him.  On Sunday, Adam went to the football game and James was none to pleased about it.  He wanted to hang out with dad (Can you blame him? Mom is large and moody and probably laid around the house most of the day).  He repeatedly asked "Where is daddy?" and I told him "Daddy is at the football game, he'll be home later."  To which James responded "Me go to football game too!"
If you're eating dinner, James will let you know that he's eating dinner too.  If you're walking upstairs, James is going too.  And if mom is complaining about her back hurting, James' back is hurting too.  He's a very sympathetic little guy.

The Big Boy Room

Last night, James slept in his twin bed in his big boy room.  He didn't make a big deal when Adam put him to bed.  He went down at 7:15 for about 10 hours.  He's been waking up so early lately, I am hopeful that he gets back to his 7 AM wake ups some day.  That might be wishful thinking, as he's been on this schedule for a couple of weeks now.  Either way, I'm proud of James for being such an adaptable big boy!  He didn't even fall out of the bed or come wake us up in the middle of the night!  In fact, he cries for us to come get him out of his bed, even though he could do it on his own, which is kind of silly.  But I will take that over middle of the night visits.
So it looks like James will be sleeping in there from now on.  Adam put some of his work clothes in the nursery closet for now, but I'm going to make some space for him in mine.  I'm not using my closet right now anyway because all of my maternity clothes are in a tub by one of the dressers.  Its very classy.  I think I'm going to put some of my very littlest clothes in storage and that should free up some space.  One day, maybe I'll even fit into them again.  That might be more wishful thinking.
Moving the rest of James' things into the big boy room will check off a bunch of items on my "Stuff to do before the baby comes" list.  Luckily, that's not a lot, since he doesn't spend a lot of time in there, just his toy box and the rest of his clothes from the closet.  We do need to move a chest out of the big boy room.  It came from Adam's grandmother (against my wishes!) and is VERY heavy. It would probably kill any child that got stuck in it.  That's not even an exaggeration.  Adam can't move it on his own and I am unable to help at this point.  If we ask his dad for help, I am sure we will just get a guilt trip for not keeping the damn thing, so we'll see who we can sucker into helping move it.

26 weeks

Another week has flown by and the baby is now the size of a head of lettuce.  Last week was cauliflower, so I guess the bigger baby gets, the more like a vegetable he becomes!  I meant to update the blog more this week, James has been doing lots of entertaining things, but I have been really exhausted most days.  While I am still sleeping well, day to day activities have started to tire me out more and more.  Even just hemming and hanging James' new curtains really took it out of me.  I am trying to remember not to push myself too hard, but to maintain some level of activity.  Its a fine line to walk, especially when I would rather take a nap!  Baby has been kicking up a storm lately!  He likes to let me know his opinion through his kicks, for instance I know that he doesn't like when my waist band is too tight and he's not a fan of Mexican food.  Something about this little guy tells me he's not as laid back as his older brother, but we will see!
As you may have noticed, I haven't mentioned baby's name on the blog yet.  He has a name, but I always feel weird about putting it out there (on the blog, facebook, etc.) before he's out in the world.  You could ask me his name and I'd definitely tell you, so my logic is probably flawed.  We did the same with James, partially to make sure when he came out he looked like a James.  Again, my logic was flawed, as I saw him for all of 30 seconds before he was taken to the NICU.  But Adam (who was able to see him sooner than I was) assured me that he was a James.  I'm sure it was easier to tell me that than it would have been to pick another name, but we'll go with it.
James is still preparing to be a big brother.  Hopefully this weekend we will move him into his big boy bedroom.  He likes the room, but I am a bit worried he may fall out of bed.  The new room is directly over our living room, so if that happens, we will quickly hear about it.  We have been trying to explain to James that his baby brother (brudder in 2 year old speak) is in mommy's tummy.  He calls his little brother "cute" a lot, but I have a feeling he's not really going to connect the dots until the baby is here.  Last night he kicked me in the stomach while we were playing on the couch, not hard, but enough that it hurt.  I told him that he might hurt baby brother and he promptly apologized with a "Sorry, baby brudder!".  James is also still convinced we should name the baby "Applesauce".  I wish I fully understood the things going on in his head, he has quite the imagination.
This weekend should be fairly calm, as we have nothing planned.  I'm thankful for times where we can enjoy James while he is still an only child!

James who?

I have not been keeping up well lately with posting about James!  Poor first child, he's being ignored already.  But such is life, I usually think about something I want to blog about and by the time I get around to doing it, I have no idea what my idea was.  But such is life, I will keep tabs on my crazy, running toddler when I can.
James is growing up so quickly.  He talks up a storm and most of the time we can understand him.  He puts together sentences well and I really enjoy talking to him.  He comes up with the most hilarious observations and questions, stuff that as adults we never even think of.  The other day, he broke two of his blocks apart and asked me "Mom, what happened to the blocks?"  Okay, I suppose it was more "Mom, what happened blocks?" but I tend to fill in the blanks for him.  He likes to "break" things over and over, just to ask mom or dad or fix it.  He will point out all kinds of vehicles when in the car, big truck and motorcycle being his favorite.
Yesterday, towards the end of James' nap, we got a huge thunderstorm.  The thunder was pounding and James was a bit freaked out by it.  Usually by the time we get a storm, James is asleep in bed and it would take a lot more than some thunder to wake him up.  He wanted to be held during the storm, but Adam explained that it was just thunder.  After that, every big noise, thunder or not, that James heard was "Big thunder!".  When Adam braved the rain to take Mac out, James stood by the door "No walk, Dad, big thunder!"  Actually, telling Adam not to walk Mac is another one of James' catch phrases right now, along with "No work, Dad."  I know that speaking more is a normal part of development, but I can't help but think my boy is a genius.
Anyway, I could go on and on about how smart and wonderful I think my boy is.  I'm so excited for him to start the preschool curriculum at daycare next week.  He'll be doing "Mother Goose Time" with the big kids and I know he's going to have so much fun.

Appointment update

Well, I'm a little late, but here is the update from my appointment with the OB on Monday (14 weeks, 3 days).  I have gained 3 more pounds, so I'm up about 6 or 7 total, which isn't really bad at the moment.  My BMI is already "high" according to them, so I'm hoping there isn't confusion with the insurance, like with James.  Basically, high BMI is my tertiary diagnosis (after diabetes and pregnancy), so with James my insurance denied a bunch of claims because they don't pay for weight loss programs.  I am not trying to lose weight, obviously.  So they had to recode and rebill a bunch of stuff, which was eventually paid.  Hopefully that isn't an issue this time.  Everything else looks fine, blood pressure, etc.  My blood sugars are starting to creep up, as is expected with the second trimester, so we're monitoring my sugars carefully and increasing my insulin doses every few days.  The doctor attempted to find the baby's heart rate with a doplar, but could only get it for a second or two.  So off to the ultrasound room we went.  I'm glad that going to the Perinatal Center means that there is all this equipment available.  Then again, if you sneeze funny during a high risk pregnancy, they do an ultrasound.  The baby's heart rate was a rapid 173, which is a good thing.  James' was always down between 140 and 150, which isn't unusual, just a difference between the two.  Adam, of course, asked the doctor if she could see any little boy or girl parts.  She took a look, but the baby wasn't being super cooperative, tummy down and back rounded, kind of like a little kitten!  Anyway, the doctor said "maybe a boy" but didn't want to give the odds anymore than 50/50.  If the baby was tummy up, waving its little legs, we would have had a better shot.  But at least we asked and got to see the little peanut for a few extra minutes while the doctor checked things out.
I am trying not to totally freak out at the thought of two little boys.  When I talked to Adam about it later in the day, I was in the throws of some hormonal craziness, I was pretty upset, but I really feel like we dodged a bullet with James not having Becker Muscular Dystropy.  The thought of going through the testing, etc. with another little boy makes my heart ache, but I have to get over it.  What's done is done and I can't change the little baby inside me, nor would I want to.  Part of me really thought I could will this child into being a girl, but we will see, it is still a possibility!
The only other thing of note from this appointment was that I will be going to see a neurologist.  I've been having migraine type headaches for the last couple of weeks and the doctor would like to get them under control before I get farther along.  Obviously, my comfort is a big part of that, but headaches are also the big indicator of pre-eclampsia.  Since I had severe pre-e with James, they would go into emergency mode pretty quickly if I was beyond 24 or so weeks and having a headache.  If we get things under control with the migraines now, we'll have a better indicator for high blood pressure later.  So I go to see a neurologist on August 6 and we'll get things sorted out.
On August 13, we will go have our monthly follow up with the OB and have our anatomy ultrasound done.  Since James is getting his eyes dilated that morning, just a few minutes away from the hospital, he will be joining us for the appointment, so hopefully he is in a cooperative mood!

Catching up

WHEW!  What a week it has been!  I haven't updated in a while because the last week has been a bit crazy for us!  But now we are back on track and back into our regularly scheduled programming.  A ton has been going on, James went for his 2 year check up, I survived 3 days with my coworkers at a conference, Adam worked from home 2 days, and James cut his first second year molar!  It has been CRAZY.
On Tuesday, the 19th, James was scheduled for his physical at 5 PM.  Hindsight tells me this was a stupid time to make an appointment, but it meant that I wouldn't miss any work.  If it had worked out, it would have put us at the doctor's squarely during dinner time.  Luckily, the pediatrician's office called me around 11 AM and told me that James would need blood work, but the lab closes at 4 PM.  They asked that we come in early, so I got off around 3 PM and picked my little guy up from daycare.  James is doing well, meeting almost all of his milestones and growing like a weed.  He is currently 35 inches tall and weighs 26.5 pounds.  This puts him in the 90th and 43rd percentiles respectively.  Although, they're still adjusting him for 35 weeks gestation, which seems silly, since he was the world's largest "preemie".  We're very happy with his weight, even though he's much lower in percentile than height.  A lot of information out there points to better adult weight if one is smaller as a child, who knows how accurate that is, but it takes some worry away for the time being.  James got his blood drawn like a champ and we have heard back that his lead test was totally normal.  Now for the truly annoying part of the story - somehow James' CBC was not done and we have to go back for another blood draw this week.  When I figure out who to give a piece of my mind to, I am certainly going to, because to make a 2 year old receive another stick is pretty ridiculous in my book.  Also, James received his hepatitis A vaccine and is now up to date with shots until he goes to school!  From now on, we'll see the doctor once a year for check ups, I told Dr. Chander that we would miss seeing him so much, which is why we decided to have another baby.  He laughed at me and told me he'd see us in December, after the new babe arrives.
Regarding the conference I attended in Ocean City - was I ever glad to be home.  Forced social interaction with my coworkers is not really high on my list of fun stuff to do and I am not great at the small talk aspect of things.  Also, I am truly amazed that adults can act so not adult in the presence of an open bar.  Part of me was glad that my pregnancy took all drinking out of the equation for me.  All in all, it wasn't the worst way to spend 3 days, but again, I was happy to be home.
Other than that, life plugs along.  As I mentioned, James cut his first second year molar and has been having a bit of pain from the whole experience.  This has made him a bit clingier than usual, but he usually settles down after some ibuprofen.  I will be so happy once this whole teething adventure is over, but we are getting close.  Then again, we'll have another little one to start all over with!

Two years ago...

With James' second birthday right around the corner, its really hard not to think "2 years ago..." all the time.  But that's really all I've been doing lately, reminiscing on two years ago and how much life has changed and how lucky I am to have a brilliant, funny, adorable little boy.  A brilliant, funny, adorable, and often TAXING almost two year old...  This age is hilarious and exhausting simultaneously.
Over the weekend it was two years from the time time that I was put on bedrest for the 6 week duration of my pregnancy.  I felt so scared and worried and stressed at the time.  My doctor told me that I only really needed partial bedrest, but that she would put in the paperwork so I could stay home from work.  I remember leaving the appointment, getting in the car, and calling my mom in an absolute fit of tears.  I'm sure she loved that one, but you know, what are mom's for, even when you're 27 and hugely pregnant.  Funny enough, she also had an appointment with our doctor that day (yea, we share a GYN, for the added bonding experience!  ha!) so she came to the hospital early and listened to me blubber.  Funny enough, almost all my stress was about work, I wasn't really worried about James at that point.  He never moved during non-stress testing (as he should have...) so they did an ultrasound twice a week and saw the little guy moving around in there.  I like to think that he knew his momma would rather see him than feel him kicking for those 30 minutes.  Once he even waved at us on the screen, sort of like "ha ha, I'm in here and I won't move just because you want me to!"   James was always active at night, which accounted for his napping during testing.
I wish I could sum up the stress I was feeling in that very moment, most was very irrational, but I was so upset and scared.  I knew that I would be leaving my job for a new position shortly after my maternity leave ended and that I wasn't as caught up at work as I wanted to be and I really just didn't know what to do with myself.  But I pulled it together and listened to my mom's advice.  The next day I went to work, packed up my desk as though I was not coming back at all, told them I was going on bedrest, and went home.  Actually, I think I stopped by Wendy's for a Frostie on the way home, but that was that.
Flash forward two years, if someone told me I got to stay home from work and rest, I think I would hug them and do a happy dance, but oh how two years can change a person.  The rest of my last week without a child was pretty uneventful.  I went to both doctor's 2 or 3 times and I went to see a movie with Adam and my girlfriends Jackie and Sarah.
All of it seems like a long time ago, but also like it was yesterday.