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Trials and Tribulations...
Well, after much soul searching and discussion, we decided to take the next steps toward responsible parenthood. We bought a booster seat. Caleb Zakai has hated his highchair for a good couple of months now, so we’ve been letting him sit in a “big people” chair ~ sometimes on a phone book, sometimes not, depending on his preference. The problem we were running into was that he had the freedom to hop up and down from the table as his little heart desired. And that heart desired many, MANY ups and downs for each and every meal. So in an effort to bring our mealtimes some peace, I bought a booster that has a seat belt. Not only does he get strapped into it, but it straps to the chair, so even if he rocks and bucks, that sucker isn’t going anywhere. It’s going to take a while to get him completely used to it, since he got used to freedom, but I have high hopes for more controlled mealtimes. The hilarity is this: the DAY I bought the booster, we were out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. We weren’t able to keep him in that booster chair, and he hammered his tiny little forehead on the table so hard that it rattled every dish on the surface, scaring every adult in the place. I grabbed him and administered the usual medicinal smooches, not knowing exactly where he was hit. As I rocked him and tried to stop his cries, I happened to pull him back to give more kisses. I gasped – not kidding. In between his eyes was already turning purple and swelling to the kind of dimensions usually only seen in cheesy sci-fi shows. I was so shocked that I didn’t know what to do. So Jonathan kicked into Super-Dad mode. He hauled Caleb across his lap, grabbed some ice with napkins, and kept it firmly pressed against the lump. And I saw my son, who fights any kind of ministrations to his face, succumb to the authority that was his father. We ended up getting our food to go, because Jonathan didn’t want to deal with eating there when Caleb was in such a wretched mood. (We had gone to the zoo that afternoon, a first. Generally we go first thing in the morning when it’s cool, and then he has naptime to rest. But it was supposed to be cool that afternoon ~ of course, only before and after our trip. Grr.) It turns out that Jonathan was totally freaked out, even though he looked calm as all get out. I still can’t believe that he was having a hard time, because he was so awesome under pressure! So I think Caleb and I are going to make him a t-shirt. I don’t know. Anyway, please see how Jonathan channeled his frustration. Kind of creepy, but not as creepy as Caleb looked the next morning with his ginormous unicorn bump on his head!
Thursday!
Well, the ultrasound went fabulously and terribly at the same time. The wonderful part was this: Gavi is still a boy. I know that sounds ludicrous, but I was really, really nervous that they had misread the ultrasound earlier, and I would be totally unprepared for a girl! But no worries on that account. The awful part was that Caleb screamed the whole time! He’s never been to the doctor with me. By coincidence, his Grandma F had him for the first appointment when I started staying home with him, and his Grandma G had him for the second! So this was my first time taking him along, and oh BOY was it not fun! Luckily, this was JUST an appointment for the ultrasound, so we didn’t have to face any doctors with Caleb acting like a howler monkey! Anyway, Gavi isn’t any bigger than he should be, but the tech did crack up that she could understand why I was in constant pain. Even though Gavi is getting bigger and should be slowing down a little bit in that tiny space, she had a tough time keeping track of him on her scope because he moved so much and so fast! I said, “Tell me about it!” Caleb didn’t seem particularly impressed to see his baby brother on television, but really, when you think your mom is being tortured, who cares about what’s on the tube!? My Dad got home on Monday night! Caleb and I trekked up super early on Tuesday to see him. All the way up, I was praying that Caleb would remember Grandpa because my Papa was so tired that I didn’t want him to be disappointed at his reception. I don’t know if God answered my prayers or if they were totally unnecessary, but it was like there had been no separation. Caleb ran straight to Grandpa and ignored everyone else for the duration. (Until Meggie got there with Dakota, at which point, Caleb’s affections were split!) Then yesterday, Caleb and I jaunted over to Miss Carie’s house, where we joined her, Dave and T-Bone (aka: Tiny) in the pool! I can’t tell you how marvelous it was to have not only a private pool, but to have it fenced in so I didn’t have to jump out of the pool every time Caleb wanted to explore. Plus, the puppy came into the water, which Caleb thought was the coolest thing ever. She has her own raft, which Caleb cuddled up with her in, and they just floated around for a long time. As for me, I got to relax a little because he was so well entertained, have an adult conversation with a friend that I think is the bees knees, and wore my little bug out. He slept for almost TWO HOURS when we got home! It’s almost worth becoming wealthy just to get our own pool. Nah. Tonight is our celebration dinner with Auntie Alisa and UNCLE CHRIS! Yes, it’s official ~ or at least almost. They're not married, but Jonathan and I decided over a year ago that the second those two cats were engaged, Chris gets uncle status. It’s been really hard to remember not to call him Uncle for the last little while. I’m looking forward to grilling them for all the details! Today, Caleb and I are taking it easy, though. It’s the first day in forever that I promised him we wouldn’t leave the house. And the weather is so glorious that he’s been able to play outside with the door open so I had time to get stuff done! But now it’s lunch time, so I gotta jam. Happy Day!
Crockpots, Contractions and Co-Sleeping
Yay, Jonny Fashbaugh’s home! Hooray for our family! He didn’t get in until super-duper late on Saturday night, and then he and I stayed up even later catching up. It made for a rather rude awakening on Sunday morning! We had planned on playing hooky, counting on the lack of sleep and the fact that we had friends coming over for lunch pretty early in the day. Luckily, I had prepared the majority of Sunday’s lunch on Saturday night after Caleb went to bed! I made crockpot lasagna ~ don’t knock it, it’s delish! I also made a german chocolate mousse pie, one of my favorites growing up, and it still holds as fabulous today! Then when Kevin and Christina were ready for lunch, all I had to do was make the garlic bread and the salad, and we were good to go! Their little Jasmine is such a cutie! She seems SO teeny to me, but I know that Gavi will be smaller. It’s a weird thought that he’ll actually be HALF her size. Anyway, it got me even more excited for the fact that my little guy will be here soon! When Kevin and Christina left, I went to do our weekly shopping. (Thanks to thegrocerygame.com, I have to do my shopping between Sunday and Tuesday. Since this is going to be an uber-busy week, I decided to get it done early.) Actually, Jonathan was going to go out and do it, but Caleb threw SUCH a hissy-fit when Jonathan said good-bye that we decided they should have some time together! When I got home, I was feeling sick, hot, dehydrated, and I was having superbad contractions. Finally, at seven-thirty, I went and laid down, hoping that they would stop – they did. But Caleb came into the bedroom with me, so we played and read for the half hour before he should have gone to bed. When Jonathan joined us at eight, he wanted to cuddle and tickle the little boy, too. But we didn’t count on the fact that Jonathan and I were totally exhausted, and both fell asleep probably before Caleb did. Which meant that he stayed in bed with us until after 1:30. It shouldn’t have been so bad, but that kid is a dang cuddly sleeper. At one point, he had his head in my neck and his feet on Jonny’s head, and he was cooing “Daddy, Daddy!” Then he would sprawl over my head and fall asleep that way. I wish I’d had a camera handy! Caleb and I are on the way to the doc this morning to get another ultrasound, then I thought we’d hit the Cherry Creek Mall. I need Caleb to be able to run around, but I can’t handle the zoo today. I need air conditioning. Two quickies: first of all, Caleb has really taken to the baby-doll that was a joke from the people at my work. They had a fake baby shower for me three years before Caleb was born due to an April Fool’s Day joke in which I had proclaimed my pregnancy. Anyway, he’ll sometimes cuddle the “bay-bee” as he calls her, and on Friday afternoon, he insisted that she take a shower with him. I didn’t want to make an issue over it, so I stripped her down, and he took her with him. When they were done, I wrapped each of them in a towel, and he held her in hers, and actually re-wrapped the towel when he almost dropped her. I really do think he’s going to be a marvelous big brother! Also, he’s very consistent in saying “bless you” when someone sneezes. Or coughs. Or makes any noise that even remotely resembles one of the two of those. He is so precious! And his manners are really starting to come through. “Thank you” is the toughest one for him right now, but he’s trying. Please has completely become a part of his everyday vocab, to the point that I get really irritated because he says it so much in a whiny voice. We’re still working on that!
Saturday Relaxing!
This morning we went to the Parker Water Park with Jodi and Jaxson! I'm really not sure what it's called, but it's this charming little neighborhood place that has both ginormous water slides and a wonderful area for little ones where they can climb up stairs, go down little slides, shoot water cannons and do any assortment of super fun things. It's the kind of place I would have loved to have around as a kid ~ and my favorite sort of place now! Of course, Caleb and Jaxson just realllllllly liked the stairs. Not kidding. Jodi made a joke about getting our workout in just following them around. I was feeling fine while we were there, but when I came home and rested, getting back up was a little painful in the glutes! Nice! Anyway, this was the first time the boys have gotten together in a while, and it was fun at the very end to see them bonding and playing together. The unfortunate thing is that they were bonding by running away from their moms. No wonder juvenile delinquents have such close relationships! It's FUN to be rebellious! Oh, and I had my first almost spanking in anger incident, too. Caleb is generally really good about holding hands in the parking lot, but after we left Jodi and Jaxson today and went to our car, he broke free and ran around the car next to ours. The thing that made me the most angry wasn't that he didn't respond to my "danger voice," but that he laughed when I went to grab him. He was making a game out of disobedience, and it set me off. I grabbed him off his feet and carried him to the car. I gave him one big swat and explained in a firm voice that we hold hands in the parking lot. But it was the first time that I've really had to fight down that desire to whup the tar out of him. Anyway, on a lighter note, I wish we could go to the water park every day! He had so much more fun than he does at the pool, and he's been sleeping for ALMOST TWO HOURS! I had time to crack the spine of my new Harry Potter book, take a nap, write a grocery list, and sit down to blog! (I'm through chapter four of Harry. LOVING IT! It's a testament to how tired I am and how crazy things are when Jon is gone that I'm doing anything other than devouring it. The most recent one came out while I was still pregnant with Caleb, so this is the first one I'm reading as a parent. I just had to give up on the idea of having it read this weekend. The sacrifices one makes as a grown up!) Oh, and a movie recommendation I have to make! You guys know that I don't consume movies the way I used to, and frankly, some of them that I do get to see really bore me. But this one warrants an adults-only shout out: Thank You For Smoking. I don't really know anything about the politics of the people who made it or the man who wrote it, but it definitely was well-made and laugh-out-loud hilarious. Poor little Katie Holmes is now two for two in crap roles last year as far as I'm concerned. She was the least entertaining part of both this and Batman Begins, but worse than that, she was kind of distractingly bad. I think she's just too young or something. Okay, I think my bug is awake! Running to finish out the day with him in hopes that I'll be able to stay awake tonight to read more Harry!
Caleb Zakai Pics!
 Look at me, figuring out how to add pics to my blog! I will add some more later, but I've got a sweet little boy who is clamoring to type on the 'puter, and I can't do two things at once. Happy almost Friday!
Joys and Ironies
This past Saturday, I took Caleb to The Children’s Museum. (Side note: I’m seriously kicking myself that I didn’t have a camera, but we’re going again next week, so I should get some shots at that point.) The irony is this: when Caleb and I are at home alone together, he needs to be with me every minute of every day. Right now, for instance, even though he was playing happily with his barn one minute ago, the second I got out of his line of sight, he flipped out and followed me ~ and is again torturing the fish. However, when we’re out in public and I need him to stay near me, I’m his least favorite person in the universe. Anyway, we had SO much fun! I did have a few tiny cardiac infarctions because of the sheer amount of time that I didn’t have visual contact with him. There are so many fun places for kids to run, crawl, climb, hide and play that if I’d had about three more sets of eyes I would have felt much calmer about being there. But it was a wonderful way to wear him out! He actually lasted about three and a half hours, which was ninety minutes longer than I’d anticipated. However, he hadn’t had a snack or a drink in that long ~ and nor had pregnant and needy mommy. It made for a relatively cranky afternoon for both of us! Let’s see ~ Grandma G came and took him away from me on Sunday afternoon. Jonathan is in Chicago, so this was a wonderful opportunity for me to have some ME TIME. Guess what? I don’t want me time anymore. How pathetic is that? I was so gosh darn LONELY! Me time = lonely time. Ugh, I better watch what I say or I’ll never get me time again. I had planned on seeing a couple of movies, reading and taking baths galore. Instead, I read a couple books, saw Harry Potter, and spent the rest of my me time nursing a nauseating headache because I hadn’t used my eyes that much for reading and movie-ing in years. Also, part of the reason is that I saw Harry Potter at Imax in 3-D, so I think my old eyes are just getting a little testy. (But the movie rocked, right? At least I got to see it before it hit video!) We had Caleb’s pictures taken at Portrait Innovations again, and again, I am blown away by how wonderful their work is. Caleb was uber-clingy and spent more of our time on my lap than with the photographer. It kind of made me laugh, since he’s becoming such a ham and even has three or four fake smiles for pictures now. But they did an awesome job, and I’ll be getting both real photos and e-mailed versions out in the near future! While we were waiting for the photos to be developed, Mom and I took Caleb to Bounce! It’s one of those places with the giant inflatable castles and slides and things. It took him a while to warm up to it, but then there was a little guy named Isaac – only 15 months old – that was watching him, and you know what a performer he is! Then there was another little guy who was three years old, and he took Caleb under his wing. It was SO much fun! I can’t wait to take him again! He was SO BOLD! He climbed up the fifteen or so steps to the biggest slide in the place, and came down it all without prompting from me! Again, the lack of camera is causing me to just kick myself. Jonathan has the digital in Chicago, but I could have gotten a disposable or something! Anyway, it was only three dollars, and Caleb ran and jumped for almost an hour and a half before we had to go pickup the developed portraits. It was SO much fun! Next time, I think we’ll go before his nap time to see if we can’t get him to sleep a little longer than an hour! On Tuesday night, my mom and Caleb were sitting together eating some ice cream. Caleb had his little spoon and had just finished up the bowl of ice cream when he jabbed his spoon in for refills – on the sour cream that was sitting at the table. My mom started trying to stop him, and I, nasty old mom that I am, said to let it happen. Would you believe that he LOVED it?! Hardly a missed beat. We gotta get on the road now! We’re going to visit Miss Terra and Dean! I can’t wait to see pregnant Terra again. She’s one of those “glowing” pregnant women. And I don’t hate her at all, I promise. In one more piece of news, my Dad will be home so soon. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for his safety and sanity. It’s been a long road without him – especially for my poor Momma – but we know that what he’s doing is important, and we’re so proud of him we could cry. Praise God for the people who protect our country and our freedoms at the expense of their own comforts and happinesses!
Wednesday Warblings...
Yes. I sing. It's truly a blessing that my son appreciates it, because otherwise, I would foist my wretched, wretched voice on the unsuspecting public. (And they just don't deserve it!) Caleb is showing the fish his stuffed animals right now. It's adorable. He'll hold up the alligator, then the monkey, then the lion. The fish aren't terribly excited about it, but my son is undaunted. Grandma Fashbaugh went home yesterday. It was a wonderful visit, and Caleb definitely had a rough time re-adjusting to the fact that it was just the two of us again. It was so much fun spending time with not only Mom but Alisa and Chris. (Okay, Caleb now has a hanger in his mouth with the hook end caught in his cheek. The fish probably think he's threatening them. Yup, they seem to be more attentive to the stuffed animals now.) Jonny Fashbaugh is getting ready to go on a long-ish trip to Chicago. This is the first overnight trip he's been on since I stopped working, and I think it's going to make it a lot easier! At least I'm not dreading it like I was before. I'll miss him madly, but it does rather make it honeymoon-ish when he comes back! I was just thinking this morning that I'm really enjoying Gavi's pregnancy now more than I did Caleb's at this point. First of all, there's the total life makeover - I'm not a loan processor looking forward to the birth of my first child that I'll have to take to daycare, I'm a STAY AT HOME MOM with the greatest kid in the universe anticipating the minute I get to meet my second son and spend every hour of his first few years with him! At this point in my first pregnancy, I was totally flipped out about money. Now, our financial situation is far worse, but I'm not worried. Last time, I didn't know if I could possibly be a good mom. Now I know I'm a kickass mom, and I'm just praying that the grace God has extended for Caleb Z will be multiplied tenfold to be able to handle two munchies. Two years ago, I was flipped out about all the STUFF we needed, and even with all the stuff we had, could we provide for this little boy the way he needed? This time, I know that anything we lack isn't overly necessary. As long as I've got diapers, wipes, and INFANT TYLENOL I can handle any other shortfall. Caleb's first canine FINALLY cut through. All four of them have been threatening to pop out for the last two months. His little gums get all swollen and red around those areas, he gets a fever, and has trouble sleeping for days at a time, then all symptoms disappear ~ only to be recycled a week later. He found a pacifier in the bottom of his toybox I was cleaning out and started chewing on it like there was no tomorrow. I finally SAW it yesterday, but can't feel the other three. Godspeed, little canines. Yesterday he also cleared out half of the bottom shelf of our pantry and crawled up into the space he cleared. Dangit if Jonny didn't have the camera at work though. Ugh. If I could have had a picture of it, I would have been so happy! Of course, I still haven't picked up the last few things he put on the floor. All in good time. He's a TOTAL car and truck freak! I'm getting suck a kick out of it! Grandma G bought him monster trucks that he's been playing with obsessively. And yesterday afternoon, we had to get our grocery shopping done even though my bug was a crankbait, so I bought him a matchbox car. A real one. A nice blue one with thick wheels that enabled me to finish not only my shopping, but occupied him long enough for me to unload said groceries! Okay, little man is now scrubbing the fish tank with a stuffed animal. I'd best jet...
Happy FRIED-DAY!
Ohmigoodness, the time is starting to fly! How glorious for a seven plus month pregnant lady in the middle of a heat wave! Part of the credit has to go to our absolutely insane schedule, and part of it must be given to our delicious little pool. Caleb and I will literally spend an hour or two there every afternoon, and the time just jets out the window. I'm not really anxious for time to go fast, you understand. But my whiny side says that the last two months of pregnancy would be a lot more fun in the middle of the winter. Yay! Grandma Fashbaugh just flew into town to see Caleb ~ and the rest of us, I guess. Sorry Jonathan, Alisa, Chris and self! We're all taking kind of a backseat. But that's okay - it gives the four of us time to play Monopoly whilst the little one monopolizes Grandma. (Cheesy, cheesy, cheesy, but I'm really not getting much sleep.) Between trips to the pool, trips to the zoo, and all the shopping we've been doing for Jonny Fashbaugh's birthday, the week is just about gone. It was really fun to have Jonathan home on the 4 th of July. We took the whole crew over to Dale and Peggy's house for the 146 th annual Maple Independence Day party! We've only been to three, but it's been fun every year. Oh, Caleb got Mousies as his very own pet. They may not remain, so I'm not getting overly attached, but he's awfully excited. He has two mice, Fred and Sniffles. First of all, Fred keeps attacking Sniffles, so I'm not sure that natural selection will allow them both to stay. (We made sure to get two males so that we didn't start our breeding program again, which is brilliant, but I think there might be territory issues.) And second of all, Amanda (Mommy) is so stinking allergic to the darn things that I might not allow them to bring my boy joy for long. They're both adorable, and Caleb will just sit and watch them for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time. He's probably traumatizing them pretty badly, since he likes to "share" his matchbox cars with them by running them along the tank. (Two little mice are in a twenty gallon long tank. Nice life if you can get it.) I keep thinking of Ralph S Mouse, which was a wonderful story, but if one of these bad boys started driving Caleb's car, I'd stomp first and hate myself later. Beverly Cleary worked for me as a child, but I'm in the adult reality now, and anthropomorphic animals just freak me out a bit. How terrible! I'm becoming a woman with no imagination! I've got two more minutes to finish up, so I just want to send a shout out to all my people out there who have made this transition to full time mom a better experience! People who call and e-mail encouragement, people who come visit and play with us, and people who tell me how awful the working world is that make me grateful for my new position. Those are the people I'm thanking God for these days. I hope you are all blessed as you have been a blessing...
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Sorry I couldn't help but laugh! Too funny especially Jon's embellishing of it! You know with boys you just have to get used to the bumps. Ok, maybe not get used to...but at some point I think they just become a part of life.