On the Mend...we thought..?!

Just a little insight into the last week...

He's practicing going into the medical field after all of our visits to the hospital & ER...


Staples came out today, looking good, but he threw up again tonight, so we're still not quite sure WHAT'S going on after the isolated puking Tues. night?!?! Ack.

Eat your heart out Betty, err, BOB (?) CROCKER??

After seeing Mama in the kitchen, B is at the point where he REALLY REALLY wants to help cook. SO we did. :) After mentioning blueberry pancakes, as a feeler, he told me to "follow him" and dragged me over to our pantry to remind me where the pancake mix was...on the top shelf of our TALL pantry, behind the sugar...and he pointed it right out. That began his first entre into the "culinary" world...


Aside from occasionally getting a BIT too close w/ the spatula ("Momma, need that YELLOW spatula!") because he wanted to flip the pancakes on the skillet (UMM, NO!), he did really well & fun was had by all!! :)



Our FABULOUS result:


Yum!!

The Resiliency of Kids...

At the beginning of the week, this is where we were...thank HEAVEN for pediatric kids' medical staff, as we got great treatment after he was admitted Sun. for the worst case of croup he's had yet. I never thought my baby would stay in one place for 24 hours straight...but he barely moved from this bed and 23 of those 24 hours, I was wrapped up with him. Poor little guy.

As you can see from the video below, taken this a.m., he IS doing better, though...we went for a check-up w/ the Dr. this a.m. to confirm the meds that he's on in hopes we don't have such a siege again, and to check up on his lungs. Aside from a nasty, lingering cough, he actually is getting his energy back along w/ his appetite, so we're encouraged...fingers crossed!!

On the Trike...

I've taken several pix of him on his little trike, courtesy of Aunt Melissa, but haven't taken video. Though he'd rather I PUSH him than actually push the pedals by himself, he CAN get it moving...we're working on it. I can't help it, though ~ he's still darn cute!! :)

We Heart Playdough!!!

Again, per Auntie M's request ~ I was going to grab the camera but then I remembered, M, and he was too darn cute to NOT document this SOMEHOW. Reasons why we LOVE playdough #418 ~ he literally was fixated on this for 30+ min. (which is saying a LOT for a 2 yr old!) and was only deterred because I NEEDED to get to the grocery store...he LOVES it, esp. w/ the cookie cutters!! FABULOUSO!



ENJOY!!

Elmo, Crafts & more...

HOW am I so behind?!?! The past few weeks have been a BLUR...but we've had fun with Elmo in our own suite, included a random pix of an Easter craft he brought home from the sitters, but loved his face & love that he does fun stuff like that!

Now we just have to figure out why he keeps heaving and we'll be good!!

By Popular Request II

Auntie M, eat your heart out...this makes me :) and he does it FREQUENTLY...the song, for context, is a Disney reference, two monkeys named Ooh and Aah who come on before his much-loved Little Einsteins...

JUMP!

So, by popular request, we have more video. The first 40 sec. are the ones I'd hoped to capture (his new acquisition ~ jumping w/ BOTH feet off the ground), then he was just cute & chatty so I kept rolling. Enjoy, Auntie M & thanks for the feedback!!

The Growing Chatter...

I've been musing on this one & wanted to share it for the greater ponderings, I suppose. Had I never had a child, I would never have truly appreciated the ABSOLUTE miracle of language acquisition. It's one thing to read it in a textbook (and I have). It's an absolute OTHER thing to witness it, first-hand, and fathom the minutia of changes that have to occur for all the pieces to fall into place when they're supposed to. I'm telling you ~ there aren't words to aptly describe it, but I delight in it each day as I'm chatting with B.

His current milestone is the inclusion of linking/helping/"being" verbs, call them what you may. All of a sudden, within the past week (or two?), I hear: "My diaper is NOT wet." "I am NOT tired yet." "B would like a fruit snack PLEASE." "ARE YOU TIRED? Need to go to beddie?" over the monitor as he wakes up: "MOMMA, where AAAAAAAARRRRREEEEE YOUUUUUU?" "Mom, are you making DINNER? What ARE you making for dinner???" Unreal.

What kicked me also was when the questions started, so did the little vocal lilt. As a fluent speaker, I'm never cognizantly aware of raising my voice at the punctuation mark that denotes I'm asking a question; I just do. Furthermore, raising your voice isn't something that we explicitly TEACH when we're teaching our kids to talk; well, I didn't! :) Yet, he has this little toddler lilt, almost sing-songy, and it's unmistakeably going to be a question when it pops out of his mouth. UNBELIEVABLE.

Just to WATCH how language unfolds is a joy & a miracle. Yes, I'm an education/psychology nerd @ heart, I can't help that it fascinates me, but how can it NOT?!

Ha ~ his next language step is a funny one. He's got personal pronouns. He just can't yet associate them gender-appropriately. :) Today at the park, he repeatedly talked about his little friend, M, who he will tell you as a girl, and said: "Momma, his shirt is pretty." Explaining that one as the six-yr old girl pushed his swing was a different matter, but it'll all come soon enough!

DUCKS

Though I've mentioned it fleetingly in the past, I have to devote an entire entry to the phenomenon that's rocking our house. That would be ~ DUCKS. B LOVES ducks. He has for quite some time after his very early ducks akin to those found in Bath & Body:



to one of his newest acquisitions, "Cutie" as he dubbed him, an early Easter gift:


to his now, much beloved [I'd say favorite] "Sunlight" duck, who goes with him EVERYWHERE, including his crib. I pondered the extreme loyalty & love for such creatures @ 1:30 this morning as I balanced on my hips on the front rails of his crib, to reach over & THROUGH the back rails of his crib (up against the wall), to retrieve said duck from the floor, where he inevitably falls during the course of B's sleeping. (Mind you: This one's only 1 1/2" tall, so retrieving a mini-size duck who's ONLY that big @ 1:30 a.m., while balancing on one's pelvis is more of a feat than what it might sound!!) :) But, he loves him.

Sunlight:


I just have to shake my head, though, at the things these little people fall in love with that we absorb in due time. Makes me laugh. If I counted all of the ducks in our house, I'm sure we'd have at LEAST two dozen (and that might be a GROSS underestimation), including his assortment of rubber ducks, fire ducks, etc. I laughed even harder when, the other day, he found Easter socks I'd purchased QUITE awhile ago, then tucked away & forgot I'd even gotten them for Easter. I hear, "THESE SOCKS HAVE DUCKS!" Needless to say, they were on the feet in 3 min. or less:


SO, there ya have 'em. I want to get a picture of ALL of the ducks, just for posterity's sake, but now you know the truth: my little man loves ducks!