Christmas

Things here are good - tree is down, presents are put away and Thomas is still cute! He has had another language explosion just in the past few days and has a whole lot to say.....all the time. He is constantly talking about "my have idea"; "Mommy, Daddy, come see" and "I want food right now." In fact, "right now" is a new favorite of his - though not really one of ours. We are working on getting rid of it "right now" - hahahaha!

We had a good visit to Columbia for Christmas and are really glad that he finally got better while we were there. By Christmas Eve he was back to his very pleasant self and started to eat and sleep a lot more as well. He had fun building a Gingerbread house with Gammie and Pop, he read lots of books and played with lots of toys. Tom and I actually go to go out to lunch alone and then Santa was good to all of us!

Any day now

I'm hopeful this round of illness moves along a little faster than it has been. Fever was better yesterday until the evening, but has been around all day today. We're keeping it controlled with Tylenol and Motrin. After nap today it was about 102... took a little while to come down, but then he had a great late afternoon. He had more energy, a better mood and ate more than he has in almost a week. It was great to see our sweet little boy feeling better - hopefully we'll have some more of that again tomorrow. We need it- now Tom and I both have this cold and need to clean the house and pack for our trip to Columbia on Tuesday morning.

On another note bordering on giving too much information..... While we're thankful for the discovery of antibiotics and how they seem to cure his ear infection, 8 dirty diapers in one day is entirely too much.

All I want for Christmas...

......is a healthy little boy. Yucky cold lingers, terrible cough all day and night, can only sleep well propped up on Mommy......and today - a fever. Taking no chances after our last experience, we went to the pediatrician. Yep - another ear infection and another round of antibiotics.

Come on Santa, really?

Brunch

We went to a playgroup brunch today. There was a kids' table and then a lovely table for the adults. Six kids and ten adults....whew! It was great fun and as you can see ....the kids were so good!

Santa

Well, the idea of Santa sounded good and Rudolph is pretty cool, but the actual experience he wasn't so sure about. LOL!

Reflection

We have a few friends who have recently had babies. This afternoon we took some goody bags to them and checked out the new additions. One baby is a little over 2 weeks old and one is 5 days old. They are both very cute and very sweet. Thomas was great with both of them and told us later they were good babies. Our visit made me reflect a little bit on how he's changed - it's hard to remember he was ever this small.



And we're lucky he's turned out to be so great!

We did want him to talk

We did want him to talk.....and we still do.....just perhaps fewer instances of screaming "Nnnnnnnnnooooooooooo"!

Thomas is doing great transitioning back to school after a week off. They made Israeli cous cous today for snack, and apparently he loved it. I guess Tom and I will have to learn as well :-) He wasn't, however, a fan of the vegetable soup they made yesterday.

Other that that, he's talking all the time, he asks for "cuddletime" with Mommy after bath (to which I happily oblige) and he's funny. He tells us that too - he says, "My be funny." He's also quite two at times.....refusing to eat, having tantrums when he doesn't get his way and turning his head to not look at me when he's mad. We're learning to be patient, ignore and remember that he's two :)

The other day he wanted me to lift him up to the ceiling and I told him I wasn't sure I could do that - maybe only Daddy could. He looked at me with all seriousness and said, "Mommy, try!" It's a sad day that the toddler is using my words against me!

Happy Thanksgiving

We're thankful for each other and thankful for you!

Just dip us in Purell

Lots of icky coughing and congestion 'round here! Tom has a sinus infection and is on antibiotics..... we hope he's the only one who will get this sick. The 3rd one of Thomas' little friends (and also a classmate at preschool) has been diagnosed with pneumonia. It's running rampant through these little ones. Thomas' cough is pretty minor right now, but we are becoming experts at what to look for!

In happier news, we enjoyed our visit with Lila for dinner yesterday....we empathize she was here in Atlanta for work and not still sightseeing in Ireland :-)

Play Doh!

Big fun with Play Doh.....we had a great time making pancakes, soup, biscuits and who knows what else? Such a cutie pie!

Lantern Walk

We had our Latern Walk at Thomas' school last night. We met in his classroom, had a story and some songs. We then took a walk (on the path they had made for us with candles in bags) in the park with our lanterns. It was very cute and sweet. We then went back to his classroom for a snack. Thomas had a good time and was very excited to see his little friends.

End of the antibiotic

Two more doses of this wretched antibiotic. The doctor warned us that the diapers would be bad during the antibiotic time, but oh boy......poor Thomas. One night he couldn't even sit in the bathtub his little bottom was so red and sore. He has eaten so much yogurt over the past few days, and I can't imagine if this is supposed to help what it might be like without it. One more day, one more day, one more day. We go back next week for a check up to make sure the ears are all clear.

He is still loving school and really looks forward to going - we are so thankful. One of his teachers quit, but the one who has really been the mainstay and who we all love is still there. She's great and deserves a raise. This Saturday evening we have a Lantern Walk. The kids made lanterns and we meet at 6:00 in the classroom for a snack, songs, and then we all take a walk with their lanterns. Very cute.

In great news for me, when I put him down for his nap today Thomas said, "Mommy?" I said, "Yes?" He said, "Love you Mommy." Oh boy.....there's nothing like that!

Doing Well

Thomas is still doing well.....the antibiotics are working fine and he hasn't had to take Tylenol or Motrin since Friday. He really hates the antibiotic....it's pretty gross. It's this thick liquid that apparently tastes awful. Tom took it back to CVS to have them put some flavor in it (someone told us they could do that). Even with the flavoring, it's no good. In the morning, he gets a big glass of juice after he takes it and at night he gets two little cookies. Bribery works just fine thank you!

Ahhhh.......

Antibiotics + Motrin = sleeping through the night FINALLY! Well, he lost his rabbit one the floor at one point and I had to go retrieve it, but we won't really count that. Nobody was up with a fever, or crying, or worried.

We have a much happier little boy this morning.

Sick

Ear infection in both ears.

Need I say more?

Thanks Trent and Amber!

This was the first few minutes after having this Birthday gift put together. Not much later he was drawing circles on the chalk board on the other side. The crayons are a part of a gift from Carol and they are triangular, which he now loves holding on the tip and spinning. This new game is just as much fun as drawing pictures. [This was before the 4 day (and counting) fever.]

Halloween in the Sick Room

Well, we are still quarantined around here. When the Tylenol or Motrin wears off, the fever goes back up. Yuck! We're headed back to the doctor in the morning if the night continues this same way.

We had a good visit with Thomas' Grandmommy and Granddaddy. Thomas is still saying, "Bye Bye Grandmommy, Bye Bye Grandaddy."

In happier news, Thomas felt better for a good part of the evening on Halloween so we dressed him up in his costume and took pictures.

SNOT

So, in 6 weeks of school here's what we've had:

A cold
A stomach bug
A broken leg
A mystery virus causing a high fever
Another cold he woke up with today

I mean, really? These little ones are just petri dishes disguised as cute toddlers.

Bring on the hand sanitizer!

Big Boy

We had our 2 year check up yesterday - still tall for his age and about average for weight. Thomas did great - no tears at all; not even when he had to get a shot! We talked about what comes next for him - the dreaded potty training and getting rid of the crib.

We've been thinking about the move from crib to bed and were considering Christmas break a good time since we'd both be around a lot. We already had a toddler bed for him in the attic ready for whenever we were ready to move him. After our appointment yesterday we decided why not just try it out - we figured if it didn't work, no harm-no foul. Thomas slept like a champ last night and at naptime today. He also helped pick out his new comforter today and is very proud of his big boy bed!

Our friends won a contest for HGTV and will be on the show Curb Appeal. They won a $20,000 makeover for their yard and their house was painted. The Big Reveal was this afternoon and we went to their house for the taping. Thomas found one of their dog's balls and was more thrilled with that than anything else for a while.

Happy Birthday little boy!

Yo dance dance

A great moment of play with a birthday present.

A party

Whew - Eight 2 year olds with chocolate cupcakes. We must really love our kids!

Uncle Bob's Farm

Hayrides, pumpkins, roosters, chickens, goats, corn maze......what a great Saturday morning!

We went about 45 minutes south of Atlanta to Uncle Bob's Farm. We had such a great time there - we saw honeybees at work, took a long hayride through the farm, walked in the corn maze, chased geese and ate lunch at picnic tables. And now......it's time for his nap (any maybe ours!).

Preschool

After a rough few weeks, things are beginning to settle down. Today, for the first time since we started, Thomas had no tears during school. He was excited to go (Thursday is bread baking day), he was very brave and cute when he said goodbye to me this morning, and when I picked him up he was covered head to do in flour and bread dough.

.....and exhale.........

Talking up a Storm

A few of my favorite sentences this week:

Mommy dropped grape.
Daddy park car driveway.
No Daddy...... Mommy go. Bye bye (as he waves me away to fix dinner)
Cock a doodle doo! (says Brewster the Rooster)

Much fun!

A Rough Transition

So we're back at school this week after being out all last week. Yesterday was no good- they called me at noon to come get him because he was inconsolable. Today, he cried a whole bunch. His teacher said it was a rough day, but he pulled it all together near the end and was doing great when I picked him up. We'll see what tomorrow brings....

Deep breaths, deep breaths, deep breaths.

Videos

Playgroup

One of the little ones in our playgroup turned 2 yesterday. We actually got them all together for a picture.....we had to be in it because there was no way that we could keep this group still that long!



Glasses were a favorite for them all at the birthday party.....right after they finished the chocolate cupcakes. Whew.....it was loud in that house!

Wee Walker

So we had our orthopedist appointment today. It's apparently a difficult thing to read a toddler xray...their bones are still a lot of cartilage. Anyway, they let us know the fracture is not bad (in fact they are disagreeing about where it is!) and let us get a walker instead of a cast! Wahoo.....it comes off at bath and bed and as soon as he can walk easily with shoes on again, he can stop wearing it. He's already a pro at walking in it and strutted around playgroup today as we celebrated a 2 year birthday for one of his friends.

Oops

Thomas fell while playing yesterday. We thought it was just a sprain, because he was still limping around today while he was barefoot....but then he couldn't walk when he had shoes on because it hurt. The pediatrician wanted us to go to the ER just to be sure. Turns out it's broken . He's in a fiberglass splint right now and we have to go see an orthopedist as soon as we can get an appointment. He's not allowed to walk until we get the cast. Bah!

23 months old

Pretty cute, even for someone who woke me up at 5:50 AM!

Lunchbox

Thomas loves his lunchbox and sometimes just carries it around!

Quick update

So, despite our preparation, Thomas did fine last night. We ready again tonight just in case!

Thomas couldn't go to school today - entirely too much snot flying around from all the sneezing and they really frown on that (imagine!). Hopefully he can go tomorrow.

His mood is great even though he can't really breathe! It's amazing.

Come on now, Really?

So, things have been improving. Thomas is napping better, he is feeling more independent and we were gearing up for a really good week at preschool starting again tomorrow. And then....BLAM! The cold from...well, let's keep this family friendly.

His nap today was taken propped up in my arms so he could breathe - he was soooo miserable when laying down - coughing and choking and just couldn't breathe.

He lasted asleep about an hour tonight before the same thing happened. We suctioned out his nose, wiped his face, put some Vick's on his chest and back in the crib he went.

We've set up the guest bed with all the necessary supplies ready to take turns in a night of "sleeping" holding a little boy upright.

Be ready for bleary eyed posts coming soon.

Worth way more than a dime!

Last weekend we were at a toy store and they had an old fashioned ride - put a dime in and instant kid fun!

Ahhh......a successful day.

Thomas was very happy to go to school today. He carried his lunchbox to the car and was happily chatting away about school. He waved to everyone as we walked to the building and then we entered the door to school. The tears began. After putting on his socks (they don't wear shoes in the classroom), I handed him off to one of his teachers, still crying. When I picked him up, they let me know that he stopped crying soon after I left and did GREAT all day long. When I picked him up, all the kids were noticeably happier. We do a goodbye circle and song everyday at pick up. That was much more fun today!

We're a much more relaxed family tonight!

2nd day of school

Thomas was a sad, crying, slobbering mess the whole time he was there.

We try again tomorrow.

Maybe.

1st day of school

Today was Thomas' first day of preschool. He was very excited to go and he carried his lunchbox to the classroom....very cute! He had a good morning, a rougher afternoon (more tears and wanting mommy) and...oops fell off his chair at snack and busted his bottom lip. He's an expert at sticking it out to show you his boo-boo. At his school there is a good bye circle every afternoon. All the parents come in and hold our kids and we all sing a short little goodbye song. It's a nice way to end his day there. His teachers seem nice and so far we are happy with what we see. They are great about all this separation anxiety and have some good advice for us all....apparently they are surprised when it doesn't happen at this stage in toddlerhood!

His sleep is going a little better. Still pretty short naps, but at least there's not been any more screaming the last few days. He's gone down much more easily and overall his sleep is better. We'll see what happens over the next week or so.

Good grief!

A mixed bag - Thomas was up at 5:40 this morning, but stayed in his crib until 6:40 when he started crying for "Daddymama". He did better at both naptime and bedtime - little bits of crying, but no hysterics. He fell asleep quickly both times because he's exhausted. Short naps continue....he's going to have permanent dark circles under his sad little eyes. He still won't let us out of his sight -

On a happy note, we were at a store today that had a horse ride - the old fashioned kind that you put a dime in and let the kid ride. He loved it! We had to do it twice while he grinned.....too cute!

It'll pass....it'll pass.....it'll pass

Another day of screaming when we put him in the crib for a nap. "Daddymama Daddymama, up up up, please". He first fell asleep sitting up, but that only lasted about 5 minutes. He finally settled down after 45 minutes of this when I went in and rubbed his back for a second and told him to take a nap. Of course, true to form, he only slept for 45 minutes.

He won't let us out of his sight for a minute. If we leave the room, here he comes right after us or he stays put yelling for us. "Daddy, Daddy, Mommy-me, Mommy-me" (he can't always get mommy consistently....sometimes mommy, sometimes mama-me, and sometimes mommy-me)

At bedtime tonight, he started crying we we started to put on his pajamas. He wanted to hug his bear Bentley, so we brought him over, we all told Bentley good night and then we put him to bed on the table where he sleeps. Thomas then went into his crib fine and fell asleep with no tears. Who knows if one has anything to do with the other?

Though he's totally sleep deprived, has terrible dark circles under his eyes and we are confused by all this, he's completely darling and charming much of the time. He saw a football balloon in Kroger today and yelled, "Football!!" much to the delight of the man standing behind us!

Toddler Sale begins soon

Awake at 2:25 AM for a while
Awake for the day at 6:25 AM

Clearance Sale begins soon.

We're trying to watch football....

Ahhh.... the strong willed toddler. He was determined at bedtime tonight that we wouldn't leave him. Crying, mad, temper tantrum, etc. when we told him good night and left his room. That fun lasted about 10 or 15 minutes and then he decided that he wasn't going to cry, but he wasn't going to sleep. He sat up in the middle of his crib and refused to lay down. He has no idea we watch all of this on the video monitor....he just knows he's mad. It's now 1 hour and 25 minutes later and he's still sitting there. Every once in a while he starts to topple over because he's falling asleep. But, no.....he shakes his head and sits back up.

Did I mention we're trying to watch a football game?

More Sleep Drama

Are you kidding me? So after the sleep debacle the other night, we were eager to see what was happening next. Thomas took a great nap yesterday, though he had dark circles under his eyes all day. We had his preschool parent meeting last night so he had a babysitter. He apparently only cried for us once. After the babysitter left, he got in the tub and had the beginning of what turned out to be a stupendous meltdown that lasted all the way through his bath and pajamas. We finally got him calmed down and through a book. The little boys was so exhausted he was just over it all. Into the crib he went and was asleep in 15 minutes - a new record! He then proceeded to sleep 11 solid hours! Beautiful.

Today had been fun, played with some friends at the Playroom then home for lunch and toys before nap. No problems - changed clothes, read some books, into the crib he went. I went to get the monitor so I could take it with me in the office while I worked.......and the crying began. I had to go in every few minutes so he wouldn't throw up, he was hitting himself, he was hysterical. Finally I stood at his crib and he fell asleep. 42 very short minutes later he's crying again. I went back, stood at the crib for almost 20 minutes and he went back to sleep. He just wanted me there. Hopefully this is a one time thing....I'm not going back to the days where we help him get to sleep....I gotta work!

Who knows what adventures this night brings?

It's been a while

We are soooooooo tired today! Thomas took a terrible nap yesterday so he went to bed a little early. No problem! Well, when we checked on him as we were going to bed, he sat straight up and looked at us. Oops. He went back to sleep in a few minutes. At 2:45 am he was hysterically crying and calling for me. So, I went in, rocked him for a minute or two, calmed him down and he went back in the crib. Took forever, but finally went back to sleep. No problem (except of course I am wide awake)! At 6:00 am we had a repeat performance, but this time he just came to bed with us. Not all that comfortable, but we all slept a few more minutes before the day had to get started.

I'm hoping for a better day and I may need to sleep when he naps.


ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Tiger Woods, Go Cocks, Daddymama

These are his favorite sayings today. He gets going really fast and they all kind of go together....it's a little bit funny.

Daddy home?

I bet you can't guess how many times I hear that every day? It used to be cute!

Cutie pie

I love this picture.....we rode the train at the zoo about a week or so ago and I took this pic with my phone. Thomas is talking like crazy these days.....he repeats everything we say! Gotta be careful now :-)

A New Babysitter

Our excellent, wonderful, oh so fantastic babysitter's last day was Monday. She is starting her student teaching and will have a baby in November. Alas, that means Thomas has to have a new babysitter and I have to adjust to someone new. Our new babysitter started today. They seemed to do fine and Thomas came home with only one skinned knee for their efforts! We'll see what Friday brings :-)

Dear neighbors, you may not know.

Dear Neighbors,

You may not know, but we have a son who is not quite 2. You may not know much of what that means, but one thing you should know is that he takes a nap every afternoon. He's not a great sleeper and it has to be very very quiet for him to nap well. We have a sound machine to help, but it doesn't block out everything. We're not sure why you feel the need to yell in all of your communication, but it would be great if between 2:00 and 4:00 you moved yourself away from his window. You may not know just how obnoxious it is when you don't.

You may not know that he starts preschool soon and we're adjusting his schedule. He's having a hard time and is a little bit sleep deprived. Because of that, it's really important that he naps as long as possible. You may not know, but one hour just doesn't do it for him or for us. I wonder if we bring him to you whiny and clingy you may know. You may not know, but today his very bad nap is your fault.

So neighbors, you may not know, but we're not big fans of yours right now.

Be quiet!

Sincerely,

The parents of a cranky toddler

A Couple of cute ones!

Every night, as a part of the bedtime routine, Thomas puts away the toys, gets mostly undressed, and then we go "into the bathroom" to brush teeth. This begins the game of "I've escaped!"




After the Kickball emergency room visit, Grandmommy, Granddaddy, and Daddy drove back to Florida. Along the way they stopped for dinner and they couldn't resist the roadside tractor vendor. When Daddy got back home, he put the tractor out for Thomas to find in the morning. We think he liked it.

New pics of cute boys

We had a great time at my high school reunion. It was nice to see so many familiar faces!
Cousin Drew also stayed at Gammy and Pop's house for the weekend. Thomas loved loved loved hanging out with him!

Kickball is no joke

So Thomas engaged his Grandmommy in a little game of kickball this morning. 6 stitches later, we know that kickball is dangerous. Nope - the wee one doesn't have stitches, but Grandmommy spent a few hours in the ER today and has an outstanding black eye to show for her efforts.

Busy, busy, busy

So after Thursday's success, we decided to celebrate. Thomas and I went to the pool on Friday for the morning. We spent about 2 1/2 hours there.....we even ate lunch pool side. The pool we went to is a zero entry pool and only gets about 3 feet deep in the two swimming lanes. There is a huge curved part that is starts at 0 and gets only to about 2 feet deep. The kids can walk around and play with no worries. Fridays are Mommy and Me or Daddy and Me days - no one over the age of 5 is admitted. It turns out that 4 other kids from our playgroup had the same idea - we all spent the morning together.

The weekend has been fun and busy as usual. Last night, however, things began to change. The coughing started soon after Thomas went to bed and lasted throughout the night. The runny nose started today. There's so much sneezing all over this house we may never get it decontaminated! The plan for the afternoon is a trip to Kroger for clorox wipes, hand sanitizer refill and kleenex. So, moral of the story is....playgroup is fun, but snot is gross.

Hmm.....could be the title of my bestseller!

Whew! A better day

Thomas teared up in the car when he realized we were going to camp. I almost did too! We got to school and he was fine, but started crying when we got to the door. His original teacher (from the first 2 weeks) was in the classroom and she swooped right in and distracted him. I called a while later to see if he was okay and he was doing fine. When I picked him up this afternoon they said a few tears, but a great day overall. In fact, he ate all his lunch and was trying to steal crackers from the kid next to him. They had to give him some goldfish he was so hungry! Too bad this was the last day- hahahaha. He's currently in napland and all is well.

Tears....his and mine!

So today was going to be better for Thomas at camp. He was excited to go, he wanted to carry his lunchbox, we laughed all the way to school. And then, 2 steps before the door of the classroom......BAM......the tears began. I had to pry him off my legs and try to sound chipper as I headed for the door. That was a terrible, horrible, awful feeling. I called after about 30 minutes to make sure he had settled down. They said he was okay, but was looking really tired. I knew he was up before 6:30 today, so I told them I'd come pick him up 30 or 45 minutes early. I didn't hear anything else from them. When I picked him up, he started crying as soon as he saw me. Apparently he again cried on and off while he was in the classroom, and anytime another kid cried, he did too. He did better on the playground. He was sighing and sniffling all the way home. When we got home, I checked his lunch and found out he didn't eat much. We finished that up and tried to wind down a little bit. He kept leaning against me, saying, "home", "home" and then smiling at me. Good grief....I gotta do this again on Thursday?

Sent home from Camp

A new milestone - sent home from camp before he's even 2 years old. Apparently today was not a good day. I got a call about noon that Thomas had been crying on and off for a while, only wanted to sit in his teacher's lap, wouldn't do the art project and was at that time refusing to eat lunch. Whew.... what a change. He loves camp- when I tell him it's camp day, he walks to the door, grabs for his bookbag and says, "Bye". He must feel pretty yucky to give up anytime at that fun place ;-)

He's been super tired all the time the last couple of days - he's up early, or sleeps really late (which means he was up in the night), he's not napping very long and he's been kinda cranky. Our guess is that after all these new teeth get in, we'll go back to normal - whatever the heck that is - hahahaha! Thomas heads back to camp next week - hopefully it'll be a better time for him! After that his Grandmommy and Grandaddy come to visit and then we head to Columbia for some time with Gammie and Pop. We'll be in spoiled rotten detox for a week after all that- LOL!

Commercial material?

Thanks to Tom for getting this video edited and ready to post ;-) When we went to see my parents they taught Thomas a mosquito commercial they used to see at the drive in.....a mosquito tells everyone the product doesn't work... as he dies. Thomas thinks it's a hoot and is guaranteed to perform whenever we say it!

Two new teeth!

So the teeth are on the move again. Thomas woke up with some new teeth today.....that might explain his terrible sleep the last few days and the follow up marathon snooze until 7:30 this fine AM.

Botanical Gardens

We took Thomas to the Botanical Gardens today (can I get an Amen for Tom's summer vacation?). We had a great time and are seriously considering joining. They have a Children's Garden that is outstanding and Thomas had a ball. He especially loved the slides.

Going up up up



And down........



Posing on a dinosaur's back



In other news, Thomas is getting new teeth. These teeth, much like every single other one he has ever grown may NNNNNEEEEEVVVVVVEEEEERRRRR get here. They will, however, significantly shorten naps and cause early morning awakenings. These are not good things in my humble opinion. Did I mention that Tom's summer vacation is happening right now (can I get an AMEN?) so at least we can tag team him!

Happy Fourth!

Bentley

We went to Columbia for a few days and Thomas got a new bear from Gammie. After some snooze time in the car on the way back home he asked for Bentley. Some pics I took with my phone.

A few cute videos of late. Evidence that he's really becoming a little boy (or at least a toddler).

A new toy, thanks to a friend at school. Hopefully, we'll someday have something there for him to mow. He's eager.

Usually we post pretty cute fun moments. Here's one where he was pretty mad, at one thing after another.

And the other end of the emotional spectrum.

Serious work

Thomas has discovered the joy of screwdrivers - and he's serious!

Some recent pics and camp day 2

It was much easier to drop Thomas off for camp today. He, of course, waves and says bye and is across the room playing before I get out the door! I'm really glad he likes it there.

Here are some recent pics:

Helping Daddy sweep up


Playing in the water because he was covered in dirt


Getting stripped down outside!


Playing outside is hot work!


The art he brought home from camp today.