Observations

Observation #1: I haven't blogged in so long I don't know how long it's been.

#2: It is possible for your back to swell when it's injured. Just ask RR.

#3: Mary Lane ER has the shortest wait times... probably in the country.

#4: If you need to drive 35 mph in a 50 zone, you probably shouldn't be driving

#5: Said ER offers a 10% discount if you pay at time of visit.

#6: There are some really dark stretches of road out here... just right for Steve Kind novels

#7: You can use Big Y turkey coupons at Stop and Shop.... this means like $4 for a 19 lb turkey

#8: I'm trying to decide what to make for ERP for his birthday, but we're celebrating together this year... so does that mean I need to cook on my birthday?

#9: Even with his haircut super short everyone still thinks ERP is a girl

#10: TT is the world's biggest cuddle bug

#11: Everyone in the ER thinks RR is really tall for his age... if only they knew how big his feet where as well

#12: Sometimes your armpits get sore when you're really over due to nurse a child



and to conclude.... RR is fine, "just" soft tissue damage to his back... from him falling off his bed and catching his back on the wooden rail while trying to get ERP to come see him

TT at 5

TT at five years old....

is full of feelings. All of his feelings are larger than life. He is a super cuddle-love-bug. He tells me at least ten times a day that I am "his best mom". And he constantly tells me how much he likes me. When he sees his friends he loves to hug them. Great, big, bear-hugs. He loves life. He loves everything. His toys. His brothers. His friends. He gets mad, on occasion. But he is more likely to cry than to get mad. He is a crier. He has always been a crier. Although they tell me at school he doesn't cry.

Now some of my favorites from the last year....

Now... about TT.... he is big into wearing capes and costumes. He cannot wait to take his friends to Six Flags and gets them all capes. I don't recall RR every loving to dress up like TT. When TT was 3 his favorite color was red, then this last year it was blue. He's decided now that he's 5 his favorite color is green. He loves Angry Birds. Like he needs to watch the cartoons every chance he gets. He is still a big dude, at 62.5 lbs and 48.75". He wears a size 8. He loves playing video games... he gets that from his RR. He also loves playing play-doh and coloring. His favorite game is probably "dress up and act silly and see how long I can get ERP to follow me around while we play with swords and guns". Many days he tells you his name is Batman, although someday's he's a Robin. Biggest boy move lately... he is done with Duplos and has moved on to the dreaded-foot-killer-little-Legos.

Happy belated 5th birthday TT. Mommy loves you!!

18 Months!

A few days ago the baby, aka ERP, turned 18 months.

How did that happen?

Oh I know. I blinked.

Don't blink.

Ever.


I often forget that he is not a baby anymore, but rather a toddler.

This also leads me to forget that TT isn't a toddler anymore, but rather a preschooler.

And when did that happen?

And don't even get me started on the biggest boy, and his hairy upper lip and deep baritone singing voice.

Anyhow, I digress....

ERP is still a little squirt. I call him Bird. Husband calls him Mouse. He has his 18 month check-up next week and he may finally weigh 20 lbs. He is certainly going through a growth spurt these days.

He may look a lot like TT and have some of RR's mannerisms, but he is certainly not his brothers. He has broken the mold in every way possible. From his blue eyes and curly hair, to his temper and all of those teeth. He is one tooth shy of having all of his first set of molars, and then on to cutting his eye teeth.

And that temper I mentioned. Oh the temper. He pitches the biggest fits. He bites toys and furniture. He turns beat red. He throws things. He just gets so mad. It takes all of mine and Husband's strength not to laugh at his over the top pint size melt downs.

He is still nursing. Which is another post in itself. I recall being so happy with reaching this milestone with TT. These days nursing is the same as breathing. It just happens.

ERP has a total disgust for getting wet. And as we found out the other day, when we went to the park; he also hates sand. Really hates sand. As in "clean my hands every time it touches me" hates sand. He should be a ball of fun at the beach this summer.

So the water thing. He hates it. Unless it's the dogs dish, a small puddle or his water table. Water he has to get into. Forget it. When he has to be bathed, it's a two person job. One to hold him down and the other to wash him. He totally looses his shit. Seriously. And he tries to escape from the water like it was on fire. He will scale you like a cat climbing a tree to get away from a dog.

Actually he tries to climb me a lot. He is without a doubt a "worn child". He is also a mama's boy. He likes Husband enough, until I'm around. When I am around, everyone else if chop liver... assuming you don't like chop liver.

Food. Food is all over the place. Some days he's eats, and eats a variety of stuff. Other days he turns his nose up at everything.

He's all about doing what his brothers do. He loves hanging out with them. He likes RR to take him for walks in the stroller, and he loves playing play-doh and coloring with TT.

But he doesn't plenty his brother's never did. He climbs. Oh, he climbs. On everything. He likes to stand on chairs. He races from one side of the couch to the other. And it's not like we endorse these activities; they happen in a blink of an eye. He certainly keeps us on our toes.

And for everyone that ask - how's he's sleeping? He's not. We'll just leave it at that.

And now... the photos.

Player Ranking

This evening TT and I are talking at bedtime. All snuggled down in his bed. Surrounded by his favorite toys. We've just finished doing some good old fashioned playing with his brothers.

And he says to me: Mom, Daddy is my favorite player one?
So I ask: Who is your favorite player two?
TT: Ray-Ray
Me: Player three?
TT: Uncle Freddy
Me: Four?
TT: Eu-jemm
Me: What favorite player am I?
TT: Sixteen.

What????!!!

4 Years

A little while back, TT turned 4 years old.

Four.

What is he up to -

About 58 lbs and 46-inches. About the same size as RR, when RR was six.

His favorite color is RED. Red everything. Especially sneakers. He will only wear red sneakers. And red shirts and sweatshirts.

He is fully daytime potty trained. No worries about night time and nap training now. He'll get there at some point.

He is a funny guy. And his has this lisp. Such a cute little lisp. Some of my favorite TT sayings from this past year include "holy wack-a-mol-ee" instead of "holy guacamole", and "seriously?" Which with his little voice is so sweet.

As of lately he loves everything RR loves. He idolizes his big brother. Currently Legos, little Legos and Lego guys. Which make me so nervous, since ERP loves everything TT loves.

TT is a "go go go" kind of guy. He is always on the move. He has been super in love with the snow and the winter. Frozen was his favorite movie for the longest time this year. He watched it daily. Multiple times a day if you let him. Playing "snowballs" and sledding in the yard were big winter hits for him. In the summer he wanted to play in the pool as much as he could. He loves being outside.

Most importantly this year we were able to get him to give up his pacifier.  Woo Hoo!!!

He is funny to watch - being the middle child. Trapped between wanting to be big like RR, who is much older than him; and wanting to be little like ERP. Most days he seems to waffle between the two extremes, and we need to remind him it's "OK" to be "medium".

In fact he loves most things. He is a big giant snugly "Teddy bear".

Repeat After Me

This evening for prayers TT wanted me to repeat after him. Usually he repeats after me.  We've been working on the Hail Mary.  TT's version is a little more stream on conciseness.

He says...

Harry Mary
For the love of pumpkins
Player two
and the footballs
All of the footballs
And in Jesus Christ
We don't say that
For ever and ever footballs
Amen

TT-isms

Here are a couple of TT-isms from today. I swear this kid is all about the "one liners" some days.

~ Both of these happened during church this morning.

After hearing the priest say "Jesus Christ".
TT says as loud as possible in a very quiet church.
"Jesus Christ??? We don't say Jesus Christ"

Deacon says "Brother and Sisters"
TT says "Where are my sisters?"

~ Yesterday TT started being obsessed with having salad for dinner. This was a step for him. He loves veggies, and salad dressings, but he normally doesn't like lettuce. Last night he has a salad with dinner, and to no one's surprise he doesn't eat the lettuce. Tonight he asks for salad with dinner again. And again I oblige. Tonight instead he starts pulling out all of the lettuce and asks me:
"Who put these leaves in my salad?"

Littlest Scout

I think I've mentioned it a time or two, I am RR's Cub Scout leader. A thankless job it is. Counting the days till he crosses over into Boy Scouts. I had sworn I wouldn't turn into that person, but I did.  Thankfully I have made some very awesome friends in the process.  Friends make it worth it. Seeing your child enjoying himself makes it worth it.

Seeing more than one child enjoying it - that's the added bonus.

There are 7 years between RR and TT. And as such TT thinks everything about RR is the best. His toys, his games, his friends, the Cub Scouts.

When the boys come over to the house for a meeting TT runs around and yells "my scouts, my scouts, my scouts are here."

TT liked to actively "participate" in the meeting. He sits at the table and colors on paper when the boys are doing a table activity. If we are building something, Husband helps him out on the side.

Just this past week the scouts were over and we had a rather calm and seated meeting, reviewing details for their Arrow of Light Award.

So the big boys are standing up one by one and showing the Boy Scout sign and reciting the Boy Scout oath. Once they were done I went to move on to the next exercise and TT reminds me I missed him. So he stands up, like the big boys, fixes his fingers just to and says "and all of the pumpkins are outside and it was the very best snowman forever and ever."

Such a cutie!!  He sure will "his scouts" in February when they cross over and I am no longer their leader.

A Boy and His Sack

"Back to sleep" is the slogan used these days to remind parents to lay their baby on their back when they go to sleep.  It is often embroidered on the front of sleep sacks - fleece, usually arm-less, bags for baby to sleep in.

Like any good parents, when TT was small, Husband and I invested in many, many sleep sacks.  We had blue ones, white ones, yellow ones.  As he got older and bigger we bought bigger and bigger sleep sacks.

The last sleep sack we ever bought him, around his first birthday; was a size XL or 18 months.  It is designed for children 35 to 40 inches and up to 36 lbs.  These days TT is around 44 inches and 50 lbs.

As TT grew, this sleep sack grew with him. Walking around in it he stretched it.

Then one day it got a small hole in the bottom corner.  He would fiddle with it while falling asleep.

And so, the hole got bigger and bigger.

Then one day I hole was so big he could fit a leg in it.  This made walking around in "sack" much easier.

Then one day, the hole was so big, both legs fit through it.

Now when he wakes-up, sack is bunched up around his stomach.  It looks like a deranged vest. A dingy, despite nearly being washed every other day, deranged vest.

But he loves it.

Just like his older brother loves his blanket.

Remembering Today: 3.5 years

This afternoon I came home from the office early; I had to be at church at in the evening.  When I first came home all three of the boys where napping, so I showered and was relaxing with a snack when TT came down the stairs.

He waddles over to me, wearing his sleep sack, and pats my upper chest.  He looks at me, with his still very sleepy, big hazel eyes and requests "boobies".

"OK", I tell him "Go climb in the chair."

Minutes later we are nursing.  I'm running my fingers through his thick blonde hair.  His legs are draped over the other side of the chair, and he is softly kicking them.

About five minutes later he looks up at me.  "Empty? Other side?"

I tell him... sorry... no.... we need to save the other side for ERP - Jee-mee as TT calls him.

TT cries, for about 5 seconds... I tell him we can cuddle instead.  So we sit and rock, cuddle and talk.  I rub his hair, he holds my other hands.

My middle boy is 3.5 years old today. This is a day, a moment with him, I want to remember.

At 3.5 years TT is a very sweet little boy.  His speech is improving every day, we can hold short conversations these days.  Although, he still has the tendency to just jibber-jabber and no one can understand him.

He is pretty close to being daytime potty trained. Now we just need to get him to keep his undies on after he's gone to the bathroom.

By at home measurements he is around 44.5 inches tall and about 52 lbs. He is wearing a size 6 husky pants, a size 6/7 shirt, size 7 PJs and a size 13 shoe.

Surprisingly he is a pretty picky eater. He loves any form of fruit, except pineapple. For veggies he loves peas, carrots and green beans.  Baked beans are a new favorite food. He is not a big fan of meat.  Chicken has to be in the nugget form, preferably from McDs. He doesn't eat any form of beef or ham or turkey.  His seafood intake is limited to fish sticks. He will eat hotdogs, when he is in the mood. Meatballs are a favorite, but he picks around hamburger in spaghetti with meatsauce. He would live off Cheerios, watermelon and "peanut butter toast sandwiches" if you let him.  And chocolate milk. He is becoming a serious chocolate junkie. Guess he gets that from his mama.

Right now he is on a Donald Duck and Chip & Dale cartoon spree. His favorite books are anything with Pete the Cat in it. He loves play-doh, painting, coloring, and stickers.

His current favorite song is "Teddy Bear" by Elvis. I must get him dancing to this on video.

Daily he needs to "go for a ride in the car"... his day is not complete without a ride someplace. Once in the car he typically asks to go to the library or church.  But in the end he doesn't care if all you do is drive him around the block. Funny, because he cried and cried in cars for the longest time.

Oh and his latest saying: Wait a minute second.

Love you baby!!  Happy three and a half years!!

Surprise!

No, I am not pregnant.  I wrote this blog post, then read it and read the title and all I could imagine is everyone thinking we were expecting based on the title.  

TT is my "sleeper".  Don't get my wrong RR is a great sleeper, always has been.  But with RR also came night-terrors and sleepwalking.  And ERP is still figuring out this whole "sleep at night" thing.  TT on the other hand sleeps 11 hours a night and naps for 2 or 3 or even 4 hours a day.  Hey... he's a big guy and needs the sleep to grow.

So yeah, TT is my good sleeper.

Last night, I went upstairs and checked on RR; it was a little before 11pm.  I turned off his computer and his lights, then went to brush my teeth before checking on TT.  While taking my vitamins I think I hear TT.  I stop and listen, start opening the bottle again, and stop and listen again.  I decide I must be hearing the TV downstairs.

Then I open TT's bedroom door.

All the lights are on.  It's as bright as day.

And there is TT, standing in his sleep sack - caught mid-step - on his way back to his bed - clutching his ABC book.

He looks at me - surprise!!

I look at him - surprise!!

And he starts crying.  It was so adorable, and sweet and sad at the same time.  Husband came to see what was going on.

So I sat in the rocking chair, and offered to read his ABC book.  He read it, through the tears... and was done crying before the end.

He was shocked.  He had been caught.

Then we nursed and off to bed again he went.

What a sweetie... this time.  It happens again I am sure I will not find it so cute and sweet and innocent.

7 Months

I feel like ever since ERP hit the 6 month mark we've been rolling down hill... getting closer and closer to 1 year.

So ERP turns 7 months today!!  And what an eventful month between 6 months and 7 months for the kiddo.  He has really mastered sitting on his own, and loves to stands.  Stands holding on to anything and everything.  Food is his new best friend.  He loves to eat all types of foods.

We had his baptism, and he cried.  But you see ERP is a sympathy crier; if someone around him cries, he feels the need to as well.  Which is super extra double annoying at home since TT is a crier in general.  And RR has the tendency to over react.  But there was a wee tiny baby also being baptized and he was crying, really crying, so ERP felt the need to do the same.  Once that baby left the church ERP stopped crying.  He's a sensitive fellow.

We had his belated 6 month check-up and he was 15 lbs. 1 ounce - in a wet diaper and with a full belly.  He is a little peanut.  He is by far my smallest little guy.

The last day of being 6 months ended with a bang.  Literally.  RR was in charge of him while Husband and I made dinner.  RR left ERP on the couch to get a pacifier and ERP went tumbling off.  He caught an ear pretty good and it's all banged up, but he's OK - once he started nursing he was fine.  RR on the other hand, he took it pretty bad.  I don't think he'll make that mistake again.

ERP is stilling rocking the size 2 diapers when he wears disposables.  He's barely in a size 6 month clothing.  And I think we might finally be moving the straps up on his carseat in the next week or so.

Things from this month I don't want to forget about:
~ The first time he ate watermelon - boy did it make he excited
~ His first ice cream cone
~ His laugh and smile when you toss him about your head
~ Snuggling on the bed, with him tucked in the crook of my arm watching TV - this is him being the ultimate pocket baby
~ How when he gets excited he kicks both of his legs at the same time - they go all the way up and all the way down
~ He moves his arms the same way when excited
~ The way his hair sticks up when he gets food in it and how it stays that way, no matter how much you clean it
~ The way he looked on his baptism, all in white with his special sweater on
~ The way he rolls around on the floor - eager to chew on some plastic Thomas train track

10 Step

TT is a creature of habit.  He lives by his little rituals.  And bedtime is no exception.  Personally I blame the "experts" as they say establishing a bedtime routine is suppose to be helpful in getting to bed and staying in bed and sleeping.

First we read a story.

Then he nurses and we sing a song.  Actually, we sing all of the following songs (don't worry they probably take longer to read than to sing) - The Wheels on the Bus (my version), Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sleep, Friar Jacques, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Rock a Bye Baby, Skidamrinky-dink, and "Colors" (a song by me).

After that he climbs into bed; we were in the rocker for all the reading and singing.

Then comes the 10 Step Kiss process - how did I get myself into this.

At each stage I need to say what number we are at.

1 - cover him with his beige baby blanket with the giraffe design
2 - cover him with his green baby blanket with the monkey design
3 - pull up his sheet
4 - pull up his blanket - have no mind if it's 120F in his room
5 - kiss him on his forehead 5 times
6 - kiss the right cheek
7 - kiss the left check
8 - kiss on the lips making a kissing sound
9 - kiss his glowing seahorse toy
10 -  kiss his glowing glow-worm toy, aka "baby"
and then kiss his stuffed puppy "for good luck".

Books

TT is all about books these days.  He loves to have stories read to him; and sometimes he'll even let Gene listen in on the fun.

So what are the 3 year old's favorite books these days:

#1 Favorite by far is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  The original.

After that it's a toss up amongst a number of Dr. Suess books - Oh the Places You'll Go, And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street, and The Foot Book.

Sometimes he will request I read the book we call "colors" over and over again.  I have no idea what is it really named, but it counts 1 through 10 and has a different color for each number.  I find this book terribly dull, but not as dull as the Brainy Baby ABC book he often insists on reading.

Then some days he is really into looking at baby faces and we'll read very simple, 6 page books which feature lots of baby faces - like Peek a Boo Baby, Good Morning Baby, What Does Baby Need, and Baby Plays.  He often insists that many of the newborns we see photos of in these books are ERP.

I'm glad my boys love their books - I just wish I got to chose what we read more often.

The Best Laid Plans

Something happened the other day that didn't get documented on this here blog.

TT turned 3 on Saturday the 15th.

Turning 3 is a BIG deal for him.  It marked his graduation from Early Intervention (a birth to 3 program) and his entrance into preschool.

TT was very much looking forward to having a Mickey Mouse party.  Him and I would sit at the computer and look at "Mickey Party" as he would say.  He loved looking at the cakes, and decorations, and all that fun Mickey stuff.

I ordered him a Mickey Mouse birthday shirt off etsy.  I paid a little extra to have it shipped express to arrive in time for his party on the 15th.  Husband and I were totally psyched, we could celebrate his birthday on his birthday.  

Pirate Mickey - it doesn't get better in his eyes.

TT's last day of play-school, through Early Intervention, was the Thursday before his birthday (he only went once a week).  I had planned on making Mickey Mouse cupcakes.  They were going to be super cute - with Oreos with ears and red shorts.  I made the cupcakes on Tuesday with plans to frost them on Wednesday.

By 6pm Wednesday night the schools were closed on Thursday due to the snow.  ggrrr!!!

No last day of play-school for TT.  (And how am I going to get my Girl Scout cookies now.)

That was OK, we still had his party coming in a couple of days.

And then.... they started calling for MORE snow on Saturday (the 15th and party day).

TT started looking really green around the gills.  He had sick eyes.

Husband had been sick for the last week.

Then I seemed to lose all strength and motivation.

Husband and I talked and decided to move TT's party to next weekend.

Saturday, his birthday; started with me taking myself to urgent care.  I hadn't slept the night before my throat hurt so bad.

What a crummy birthday it was turning out to be for TT.

I wasn't going to let my boy down - granted he didn't even realize it was his birthday and his party had been moved, but still.

So after taking the first round of antibiotics and some pain pills I decided I was making him a Mickey cake.  My boy was having some sort of celebration to mark the day.  Husband got his one present out of the basement and set-up while he was napping.  It was a play kitchen.  We had plans to get him food and stuff to go with it while he was at play-school on Thursday, but yup the snow stopped that.

I made one of his favorites for dinner.  But he didn't eat much, he wasn't feeling well.

He did however enjoy his cake.

2 Months

ERP is now two months old.  Every day he loses a little more of "the infant look"; and is starting to look and sound more like a baby.  His cry has changed and we can tell his different cries apart - I'm hungry, I'm bored, I'm tired, I'm wet.

He is loosing his hair and it's growing back in at the same time.  Some days the new hair growth looks blonde, other days a dark red and still other days it looks black; which is the color of the hair falling out.

His eyes are still a very dark and deep blue.  The other day I was looking at them and I swear there were the clearest blue.  I really hope and pray he has blue eyes, but they will most likely be hazel like both of his brothers.

ERP is still nursing all the time.  Some nights are better than others, but that's to be expected.  He is however starting to fall into a predictable daytime routine and  nap schedule is forming.  I expect him to be on some sort of self set schedule, by the time he's three months old (knock on wood).

We've started cloth diapering for him.  Some of TT's smallest diapers can be used when folded over a dozen times so I did buy a handful of newborn size diapers.  Honestly, I was getting sick and tired of buying diapers.  Those things are expensive.  When he does were the 'sposies he is wearing a size two, but that's because they were out of the size ones.  He is still wearing 0-3 month clothing.

Things I don't want to forget from this last month:
How the thick long hair on the nap of his neck is hanging on and not falling out
How the stork bite he has back there comes and goes
How he started says "ahh" around 6 weeks of age
The smiles.  I love those smiles.  They melt my heart and now I am crying just thinking about them.
How happy he is.  All.  The. Time.
How TT runs over to him and says "huggies" and gives him the biggest bear hugs
How RR asks to hold him
How much bigger he looks in his swing all of a sudden
How happy (happier) he is when he lays in his pack and play and watches the bear mobile
How he kicks his legs out of joy
How when he is mad and crying, he kicks his right leg, and only his right leg