Walt's 2 month

We went to Walt's 2 month check up. It was very interesting to listen to the receptionists answer the phone as I was waiting to be seen. Almost every call was about flu shots or swine flu shots. Apparently because the government's been hitting swine flu vaccines so hard, they put the production of regular flu shots on hold so there's a major shortage. That seems pretty silly to me.

First of all, his stats were through the roof. She was totally shocked. Since birth he's doubled his weight (which she says doesn't normally happen till about 6 mo.) putting him in the 95% at 15 lbs. even. He's grown 3 1/2 inches and is now in the 80% at 24 in. long. His head circumference concerned her a little. I didn't write down what it was at birth, but it is now 16 in. (62%). Apparently it grew faster than it should. She wasn't too worried since his soft spot was not bulging from fluid and because I told her large heads are common in Matt's family. Plus his body's grown so much he'd look mighty funny with a tiny head on a huge body! I'm not concerned.

His stats are very similar to Dean's 2 month. He's 2 lbs heavier and 1/2 an inch shorter than Dean was. Pretty sure their heads were the same. Dean was at the top of the charts till 6 months and then he started thinning out and his growth slowed way down. It'll be interesting to see if Walt does the same.

A few anomalies: He has a herniated belly button, but she said they don't really worry about that till about 4 years since it often corrects itself. His urological issue has been resolved, but there is possibly some fluid there that shouldn't be. We just have to watch out and make sure he doesn't get a hernia down in his groin area. He favors one side of his head so we have to stretch his neck and try and get him on his tummy more to make sure he doesn't get a flat spot that would require a helmet. "Other than that he is perfect." (My doc.'s favorite phrase.)

He got his shots and has been a little fussier than normal, poor guy.

He's the perfect baby for me right now. He's pretty darned content the majority of the day if he has a full belly and enough sleep. I think Heavenly Father knew I needed a little break if I was going to have more kids! He's been cooing and occasionally gives us a little smile. His longest sleep stretch has been about 6 or 7 hours. Last night he slept from 7-midnight and then 12-4:45. That was pretty nice. He then slept until about 6:15, but I just pulled him in bed with me and got him to go back to sleep until 7:45. Not that I got to sleep in that late since Dean was up around 7. Anyway, I think he's just darling.

(He's sporting a 9 mo. outfit in these pictures!)

Cloth in action

Yesterday when I had Walt in cloth, Dean was a bit jealous that he had on an orange diaper. (Orange is his favorite color.) I told Dean I'd let him try it out today. He hated cloth the last time we tried, but he seemed just fine with these. I don' t know if it was the fact that he had to have what Walt had, or if it was more comfortable than the others, or both. I really WOULD save money if I got diapers they could BOTH use!! Definitely makes me consider it more seriously. After seeing how they fit on Dean, I decided Walt could wear them clipped down once. Isn't it amazing how cloth diapering has evolved?

Why do I want this to work?

Well, I can't remember if I've mentioned it here or not, but I have been contemplating cloth diapering Walt. I tried it with Dean awhile back and decided it wasn't for him, but I thought I'd try a different kind of diaper with Walt. I found an online shop based out of a town just north of us, and she allowed me to come to her house and look at anything I wanted. She was not LDS, but it turned out that her daughter (who was there with her 3 girls) was! They were both very helpful and accommodating.

Anyway, at the suggestion of the ladies who own the store, I decided to try Gro-baby diapers this time. It's an all-in-one(AIO) so it doesn't need a cover. It's pretty awesome because the inserts snap in. No stuffing pockets. You can reuse the cover for multiple inserts so while it looks more expensive than the other AIOs, it ends up being cheaper because you don't have to buy so many covers.

They have actually been quite easy and so far as cloth goes, they're pretty great. The velcro and soakers are much higher quality than even the bumGenious diapers I hear so many rave reviews about. I have a few concerns though.

• Walt's only 2 mo. and I already have the diaper on it's highest rise! These are supposed to be able to last until they're out of diapers essentially. I need to try it on Dean to get an idea if it could really work for an older toddler.
• While I didn't notice it (I constantly have pee, poo, and puke smell in my nostrils), Matt said Walt smelled a lot like pee when he got home from his week long travels.
  
• I have a harder time knowing if he's gone poo for some reason, so I always feel like I have to check and check.
• I find myself still wanting to use the disposables even though the cloth are not much harder. It means more work for me with laundry, but since I don't have to stuff pockets, I just have to remember to wash and dry them in a timely manner.

That last one makes me stop and think, "why do I want this to work?" That's hard for me to answer. The cost? Am I a trendy mom? Do I feel like I have something to prove, like cloth diapering means I'm a "better" mom or "better" member of the community? Are disposables really that bad? Is it to help save the environment? Is it the chemicals? Is it the thought of making them wear (essentially) a huge maxi pad all day every day when I can't stand using (and don't) one week a month?

I guess it's partially the expense of disposables and having to constantly go back to the store to buy more. But if I used these diapers I wouldn't save a whole lot of money unless I stick with the cloth beyond the time I introduce solids. That really would mean more work on my part. I am quite vain, I decided, since I cringe at the thought of putting my baby in a prefold with the practical plastic pants cover. That would be very economical, but I just can't bring myself to do it. The fitteds with covers seemed like a good option, but with covers it was just as expensive as AIOs and they're pretty bulky.

I did decided that I just have to do all or nothing. If I have the option to do both I'll pretty much just go the easier route. If I make up my mind that cloth are the "better" choice for me, I can get over my reservations and just do it.

I'll let you know when I decide.

"He looks just like..."

The last two years I have heard "Dean looks JUST like his dad!" over and over and over again. I have to admit that it occasionally irritates me when people say this, mainly because I hear it all the time. Plus, didn't I contribute anything to the kid? Ok, ok. I'll admit that Dean does look more like Matt.

Well, when Walt came out he definitely looked more like my family's newborn babies than Dean did, and I thought for sure people would take note of that fact. But from the moment I took him in public, I started hearing it all over again. "He looks JUST like Dean." or "He looks JUST like his dad!" Even at my 6 week apt. with my OB-GYN, the nurse who had never met Matt said, "He must look JUST like his daddy." Wha???? I have only had 2 people tell me that Walt looks more like me than Matt or Dean. Matt said it's just because he's a boy and to wait for a girl.

At 2 weeks I don't think they look very similar.

Walt is acutally only about 6 weeks in this picture, but Dean is 3 mo. When I saw this look on Walt's face it immediately reminded me of this pic. of Dean. It was the first time I thought, "hu. I guess they look kinda similar."

The boys are both about 2 mo. here. The older/chubbier Walt gets, the more they look like brothers to me.

So, while I think they look like brothers, I definitely don't think they're carbon copies of each other (or of Matt).

My big little boy

At not yet 2 months, he's already out grown the wraps we used with Dean until he was 3 months! I don't officially know how big he is, but I measured his and Dean's waists yesterday and Walt's is bigger! (Dean's always had a pretty trim tummy, though, even when his face was extra chubby.) He's a cute little chub, though.

That could have gone better

After Matt left this morning Dean, Walt and I headed to the eye doctor for a follow up. I tried out contacts last week (word to the wise, it can be relatively expensive to have a contact fitting and your insurance may not cover it! wish I would have known that before hand.) since I'm so sick of Dean ripping my glasses off my face or bending them improperly and nearly breaking them.

I haven't worn contacts exlusively since my senior year of high school. I've barely even worn them intermittently because my eyes just don't care much for them. Since I have astigmatism regular contacts don't fit quite right, plus, even in night and day (the easiest on the eyes), my eyes get really red by the end of the day. I tried toric (sp?) this time and they fit better, but my eyes still got really red and very tired by the end of the day.

I decided contacts were not for me so I started looking at frames since my prescription has changed a little. Luckily Walt slept most of the time because Dean was a handful and a half! You'd have thought I'd pumped him full of coffee and doughnuts for breakfast or something. He was all over. Opening cupboards, pulling down glasses, sitting in all the chairs he wasn't supposed to. I successfully distracted him for about 2 min. with a puzzle and a calculator and a succor, but he wasn't having any of it after that. At one point I put him on my lap and held him. He started screaming so I continued to hold him and covered his mouth. He started going ballistic. Walt woke up and started crying. I saw the lady helping me with my glasses glance up at the lady behind the counter with the, "poor lady, wish I could help" look. I was one of those moms with one of those kids. You know, the kind that you hope doesn't show up at your place of work. Luckily I wasn't screaming at him, though I did give him a little swat at one point and tried to make him have a time out sitting in a corner. That didn't prove very successful.

To make matters worse, I am one of the most indecisive people on the planet. I was able to narrow my choices down to two. Do I go for the one that's covered completely? Or do I go for one that I'll have to pay to get the flex ridge? Do I go for the regular lenses that are covered by insurance that will be thick and ugly, or do I go for the more expensive thin lenses that I'll have to pay for? By the time I got to that point, I couldn't concentrate because I had two crying kids, so I told them I'd just come back next week with my husband so he could help me decide. Ugh.

I let Dean play in the front of the car (something he begs to do multiple times a day) while nursed Walt in the parking lot so we could go straight to the store. I mean, not much else you can do when you're out of diapers and milk. They did ok at Target, but it was a shoddy shopping trip and when I got home I realised I forgot bread and a few other somewhat necessary items.

This afternoon after naps we're heading north of us to a woman's house who runs an online cloth diaper store. They keep their inventory at their house so she said I could come by and look before I buy. Walt just goes through diapers too fast. I'm spending about $10 every 3-4 days!! I use about 10-12 diapers a day for him. Since you can just throw diapers directly in the wash for exlusively breastfed babies, I think I'm going to make the switch at least until we introduce solids around 5 or 6 mo. Maybe I'll even stick with it with Walt after that. Who knows. Anyway, I hope that goes a little better than the doctor's visit this morning!

Communicating

I love that I am understanding more and more of what Dean has to say. It often surprises me what comes out of his mouth. He's started talking about things that happened months ago that he just now has words for.

Last week he started saying, "Airport. Airplane. Daddy trip." The last time Matt flew was in early July! (Though he's traveling again for work pretty soon. Blech.)

Another thing that surprised me was when he started talking about donuts. "More donuts." He even correctly identified a donut shop we've purchased from while driving by! We haven't gotten donuts since Easter when I was doing Messiah practices on Saturday mornings!

The first thing he told me this morning was, "Go friend's house. Ring her doorbell. Susie's Car." HA! He loooooves all of Susie's toys, most of all her car that someone pushes from behind.

And today he told me he needed to go to the bathroom. Without me prompting or asking him! Just out of the blue he said he needed to go. It wasn't a really convenient time since I was nursing Walt and trying to get Dean down for a nap, but I decided to try anyway. (Usually he just plays around in the bathroom and maybe gets a little dribble out since he often asks to go to the bathroom after he's gone in his diaper.) Anyway, he actually pooped on the potty again (this is his second time)! Woohoo. And after we got his diaper on again, he told me he needed to pee. I thought he was just stalling since he didn't want to go down for his nap. I was hesitant since we had just spent 10 min. in the bathroom, but I let him try anyway. And he peed a lot! So, yay for him telling me, and yay for me believing him and actually letting him go.

Oh, and he's in a parroting stage which can be pretty funny. (Though I have to watch out what I say!) Yesterday at the store he was trying to stand up in the cart and I told him to sit his booty on down. He then sat down and said, "Sit booty on down." It sounded so funny coming from his lips.

I really wouldn't mind

While I know it's sooooo Mormon cliche, I really wouldn't mind living in UT. Maybe not Provo (though I'm not entirely opposed to that), but somewhere in the general vicinity. Close enough that I could take my affordable yoga classes, go to performances, or take or audit a class at BYU. Close enough to go hike mountains. Close enough to be able to can peaches with my two sisters who ended up in the area after I left (story of my life!). I want to live near family so badly, and UT seems the most reasonable place of all of the locations of my siblings. In my family there are two kids (and my parents and grandparents) in AZ, two in UT, and two in NY. And then there's me here in TX, smack dab in the middle of the country, too far away to conveniently drive to anyone, all by my lonesome.

Too bad it's most likely never going to happen since Matt is so opposed to the idea. And he's the one who'd have to find a job that suits him. It really is too bad.

Christmas in September

Well, not really. Just booking flights and committing our time for Christmas today. Though I guess that is our Christmas gift to ourselves since it's more than we would have spent on a family gift. It will almost positively be our last Christmas spent with our parents. After October Dean is an adult according to the airlines, so we bought 3 tickets. We went with Southwest and it saved us over $450 (kept us under $1000)! The tickets were cheaper to begin, plus they don't charge for bags. The other airlines had as many or more stops/plane changes, so it was totally the way to go.

At least we won't have to try and keep Dean satisfied on our laps! I'm hoping by then he'll show some interest in watching tv/dvds and we'll buy a portable dvd player (are we the only people who don't have one of these by now? along with cell phones?) so he'll be occupied. But that is a long shot. And Matt doesn't want to buy a dvd player since he doesn't think it would help at all.

We'll have a nice long stay there. December 17th-January 4th! Hopefully the boys will be able to adjust and do well...

Tike Tech Stroller giveaway

I have to blog about this since I want one of these!!! Remember the Tike Tech CityX3 double stroller I want? Jolly Mom is giving one away. If only I can win this...!

Amazing what a month can do

I'm continually amazed at how quickly a child can change. When we brought Walt home from the hospital he was 6 lbs. 15 oz. Just 6 weeks later he is a whopping 12 lbs. He's gained just about 1 lb. per week!! He looks different every day. Most of his weight has gone to his face and belly, but his legs and arms are just now starting to chub up a bit. He still has his really blond hair, though I swear it has a little red in it when we're in natural light.

The best way to eat a steak

Matt made up some cheese steaks for dinner tonight. Honestly, this is by far the best way to eat a steak. I thought it was way better than the cheese steak we just got this week at a sandwich shop. The flavor was great, the meat (rib eye) was cooked perfectly, the onions and cheese (I had provolone, Matt had white American) were right on for me. YUM. He doesn't cook often, but when he does it's usually pretty darned good.

Old Time-y

I was trying to get some photos of how much Walt has chubbed up since birth and I forgot to turn on the flash for one. It totally looks like one of those old time photos of great, great grandparents as children. Cracked me up.

I love my job

Today was one of those days I just spent marveling at and enjoying the sounds and movements of my boys. I didn't feel stressed about getting my house clean, getting anything done, or any of those other practical things. I just enjoyed my kids and the things they do.

Dean was trying so hard to be a good and kind big brother today. He loves to "hold" Walt, and he's getting to be very gentle when helping Walt with his pacifier. I love that I understood everything he said today. He's getting to be a great communicator and it's so interesting to hear what he thinks about. I love his little voice and little face. I love when he says, "kiss it!" when he has an owie. He can play in the front of the car for hours at a time and protests every time I make him come in. He loves helping me cook, though that can be a little scary. The "chicken" (how he says kitchen) is a dangerous place! If we could go visit friends every day he would be in heaven. He's very adventurous and somewhat accident prone, so he has bruises and cuts all up and down his legs and arms. I hope no one turns me into social services! Last night he woke up with a fever and was up for about 2 1/2 hours because he thought it was morning. I eventually let him sleep in the toddler bed rather than his crib. I realized he was not going to go back to sleep with me in the room since he just wanted to tell me all about how daddy slept in his room on the floor with his flashlight (Matt went in first), etc. so I left him to cry. Luckily that only lasted another 10 min. or so. He slept in about 1/2 hour later than normal and since he wasn't in his crib, he just showed up in our room (rather than calling out for chocolate milk in his crib) when he woke up. It was very cute.

Walt continues to be a little champ. He's getting so big. Already 12 lbs and he seems so long! Right on track to being double his birth weight by his 2 month check up. He's starting to have a somewhat predictable sleep pattern. He goes to bed "for the night" around 8 and will sleep for 3-5 hours. After that he wakes up once or twice before 7. He's usually up from 7 am-8 or 9 and then sleeps a couple more hours and has a few more naps. He's been very portable and is generally content. He's still very grunty and noisy, but he doesn't cry that much. He is a little poop machine!! I'm once again considering cloth for him (at least for the first couple months while he's exclusively breast fed) since I go through diapers so darned fast. He's had a few moments where I swear he's had real smiles. So far he's been Dean's complete opposite in temperament and behavior.

It's a real adventure being a mom. I love it. I am so grateful we were able to overcome our fertility issues to have these two little guys. And though I am now consigned to having c-sections the rest of my child bearing years, I am sure we'll have more. It's tiring and trying at times; I rarely get a true "day of rest"; I get pooped on, peed on, thrown up on, and bled on, but it is so worth it.

09/09/09

I just had to create a quick post today because of the date.

So, I'm just letting you know that Dean went poop on the potty last Friday for the first time. We're doing the slow approach to potty training since he's still so little. Introduce the concept and then go with it at his pace. Sometimes it's really frustrating because he'll say he needs to go but then he'll get on and off the toilet tons of times without going at all. Sometimes I think it's just a ploy to get out of his diaper. He also really likes using toilet paper (I only give him 1 square at a time) and flushing the toilet. He's gone pee multiple times in his potty, but he's always seemed a little scared to poop. One problem I'm running into is that I'm also unsure of how to help him when I'm nursing. We're pretty close to switching to pull ups, but not quite there.

Also, I he did something quite hilarious during his bath tonight*. After we had washed his hair and body he was just playing with his toys. He then said, "need privacy, shut window" and pulled the shower curtain shut! hahahahaha. I loved it. Cracked me up. Matt doesn't really like the "family bathroom" and makes Dean leave telling him it's because he "needs privacy" when he's going to the bathroom and showering.

*It was his first bath in the "big bath" (the regular bathtub as opposed to his large baby/toddler bath). We've put off switching him over because it's so nice to be able to have him recline to wash his hair. He used to really freak out about hair washing (because he hates water in his ears), but we got this awesome little hat at Target that shields the eyes and ears a few weeks ago and hair washing has been sooo much better. So I figured he was ready, and he did fabulously.

Cleared for take off

I had my 6 week check up today and am cleared to exercise again. Woohoo! I have been searching and searching for a jogging stroller that I want. Everyone tells me to check Craigslist, and I have, but the pickin's are slim, and I honestly don't want to buy a semi-junky stroller on the cheap if I'm going to use it daily like I did with my single.

Recently I came across a brand new stroller (a 2010 model), Tike Tech CityX3. It has a lot of the same features as the $700 stroller I wanted (BOB duallie) but is only $415 new. Only problem is it is not technically a jogging stroller. The front wheel is a swivel lock wheel, but they have a new sport jogging stroller with a fixed wheel that is for "real" running. I jog about 3 mi., 5 days/wk at most. It's all on paved roads. I am torn because I really would like a swivel wheel for times that I'm just walking, but I don't know if it will hold up to my moderate jogging...

The review at babygizmo said they use it for jogging and even demonstrated it on a very rocky terrain, but they reiterate that Tike Tech doesn't advertise it as a jogging stroller.

Any thoughts from joggers (or non-joggers)? Anyone have a swivel lock stroller that you jog with?

Dear Cousin Large S

Dear Large S,

My mom said you asked for more videos of me, so here are a few.

This is me going to bed.


This is my shape clock.


I'm singing my ABC's all by myself.


This is my new vacuum my mom got at a yard sale. The batteries fall out a lot since it's missing the battery cover, but I love vacuuming anyway. It's right up there with mowing the lawn and fixing things with my tools.


This is me dancing to the music on my mom's computer before bed.


Sincerely, your cousin Dean

Family Meal Goal Follow-up

Today I check in on my one week goal of eating together as a family at the dinner table. If you've been following my side bar updates (which you probably haven't), we've done quite well.

The best thought out and executed meal was probably Monday's. The worst was the tilapia. We ran out of our Costco tilapia (and they didn't have any for sale the last time we went!) and made the mistake of buying some from Wal-mart. It was not nearly as good of quality and the taste and texture were sub par.

The results:
I have really, really enjoyed having earlier family dinners this week. It's nice to eat as a family. It's also really nice to eat earlier. I'm always hungry by that time anyway, and it allows me to get a lot of clean up done right after dinner while the dishes are fresh. That also made me feel like I had more of an evening after Dean went down. I also liked not having to cook and think of two meals. Matt wasn't that hungry a couple of the days, but he ate with us anyway and it wasn't that big of a deal. I think it's really going to help Dean, honestly. This is something I really hope I can continue for most days at least. Sure there might be days where it just doesn't happen like I want it, but that's life.

Monday: success! Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Braid, Cucumber and feta salad, fruit salad

Tuesday: On time! Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Wednesday: Timely. Tilapia, Baked Potatoes, Broccoli, Grapes

Thursday: success! Pasta-pizza and Zucchini

Friday: on time. Hard and double decker tacos

Saturday: on time but kinda cheated since Matt wasn't home. Dean and I ate together. Frozen chicken patties and fries with carrot sticks

Sunday: Failure to eat as a family. By the time we got home from church Matt hadn't eaten anything in 22 hours, so he needed something pronto. Dean went down for his nap and I had to feed Walt and we ended up napping. So Matt made himself lunch and wasn't hungry by the 5 pm dinner time. I gave Dean some left over bean and bacon soup (which he ate very well) and made vegetable stir-fry, spring rolls, and sticky rice for us after he went down for bed.

As a side note, I have to say I've finally figured out how to make good stirfry with minimal dishes! I used to create soooo many dishes with the prep and cooking of veggies, meat and sauce. Tonight I really only used my wok, 1 cutting board, and the rice maker!

Almost the ER

Well, we almost took Dean to the ER this morning. Just after he got out of bed he was climbing on his window sill to get a better look at a truck he thought he heard, stepped backward, and face planted on the ledge. He scraped up his chin where he busted it open before, cut his tongue on both sides (one side looked pretty gross), and nicked his nose and eye lid! I originally thought he just cut his tongue on the one side that didn't look as bad, so I didn't even tell Matt for about 20 min. It had stopped bleeding and he seemed fine, but after he tried drinking his milk it started bleeding again so I had another look. That's when I noticed the other side of his tongue looked even worse than the side I noticed first. I took him to Matt and he said we needed to get it checked out. I tried calling my Pediatrician, but they weren't open yet and the triage nurse was absolutely no help to me. So I called my Bishop who's an ENT and his wife said to take him into his office rather than the ER. That saved me $70 and a trip to the scary ER.

He just said to put Dean on a soft food diet today and let it heal itself. He said even if he put a stitch in, with all the movement Dean does with his tongue, it would probably fall out by tomorrow anyway. Luckily the tongue is a fairly quick healer. We tried giving him yogurt when we got home and that even hurt him. He was able to drink some Isagenix shake (I think because he was so hungry), but has had a hard time trying to drink his milk out of a sippy cup. Poor kid. But he doesn't learn. He was climbing all over the counter and table and standing on the edge of chairs right after we got home from the doctor's office!!