34 - Playing Catch-Up

A lot has happened in the past week and a half. We have gone to 2 birthday parties (though for 4 different birthdays). We introduced Connor to the "Johnny Jump-Up". Katie learned to use chopsticks (I was being sneaky about getting her to eat). Connor had an appointment with the opthamologist. Katie had a bowling field trip. I tried to put Connor's crib together only to find that the headboard has a crack in it, so we are waiting on a replacement. Connor has been introduced to a bunch of new foods. So far his favorites are Pears, Green Beans, and Sweet Potatoes. Not in that order :) The food or the events.

She even used the chopsticks for her rice. Only problem was that she wanted to eat everything with chopsticks after that. She even took them to bed with her one night.

2/22/08 Next up was our bowling field trip with her Kindergarten class. As you can see by the shoes, she is an old pro at bowling. She did pretty good overall. However, it was PAINFUL sitting there waiting for the ball to make it all the way down the lane. The kids had a pretty good time. I let Katie use the old camera to take pictures, so of course her friends also used the camera. Good thing they did!! Katie's friend Jaclyn took the picture of Katie and I, not bad huh! Toward the end the kids were more interested in playing with each other than bowling. We would tell them it was their turn, they would toss a ball and run before it got halfway down the lane. Katie and Jaclyn spent a lot of time chasing each other, and Toya (Jaclyn's Mom) and I spent a lot of time threatening them with the teacher taking away points. They did not really care, they were having a blast. Empty threats anyway ...

2/23/08 Then it was the Crawford Birthday Extravaganza!! Anna Catherine, Jackson, and Chloe were all born so close together that they were able to combine them all. Katie was so excited about seeing all her friends. As usual we were late, but we were able to spend a lot of time with our friends. Katie loved being in the gym with the basketball court (maybe she will take after me!) and her favorite thing of all ... the pinata! I wish we lived closer to the Crawfords and the Bergerons!

2/25/08 Two days later was Lucas's Birthday Party at Incredible Pizza. We were a little late, of course, but not too bad. The funny thing was that Lucas had all girls at his party! That little boy is a ladies man already! You can see why though. Fun was had by all ... cruddy toys were bought with tickets ... one tooth was lost! Katie even hit the bonus on one game, winning 250 tickets!! October lost her second tooth in the bounce room. Not real sure whether it came out naturally or was bumped out forcefully. She was such a big girl though, and a few minutes later she was ready to play again.

2/27/08 Opthamologist. We have been noticing that Connor's pupils are not dilating correctly. Or to be precise, his right pupil is not dilating. We have noticed it before, but when the pediatrician did not mention it at his 2 month check-up I thought it must just be normal baby eye development. We had his 4 month check-up and I brought it up when the doctor was checking his eyes, and he referred us to a specialist. She checked his eyes out, and tried to dilate the eyes with drops. Even with the drops the eye did not dialte all the way.

So, we are looking at what might be Horner's Syndrome. What is that you might ask ... I sure as heck did not know. There is a long nerve that controls eye dilation. It starts in the brain, goes down the spine and back up and around the shoulder to the eyes. Why in the world would it be that long? Who knows!! But, if something happens anywhere along this nerve it can cause the pupils not to dilate correctly. I have done some online research, but have really learned nothing more than that yet. The doctor is supposed to consult with his pediatrician and the urologist (his enlarged kidneys may be affecting it) and get back to us. I don't know what it is about our kids. At 4 months something major has to happen. Katie is diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes - which turn s out to be this extremely rare form called "monogenic" where she is like the 15th in the country to be found with it. THANKS MOM FOR FORWARDING THAT ARTICLE! Now Connor is looking at some syndrome we have never heard of, and I have no clue what the results and outcomes might be. Guess it is just what you have to go through when your children are in every other way perfect! Connor is the sweetest, happiest baby! There is no way he can smile at you without you smiling back. He also has the best baby kisses ever, and don't forget that sweet sweet neck sugar. Even his poots are the most adorable thing I have ever heard. But maybe I am biased :)
And, totally proud of my Katie!! She got perfect 5's all month long at school. 5 is the best behavior score you can get! We are definitely going to have to come up with a good reward for Katie! Now if I could just get her to be that good at home ...

33 - Connor's 4 month check-up

Our little chunk monkey is up to 17 pounds 3 ounces!! He is 25 inches long, with an inch of head circumference per pound. He is doing great, just a bit chunky ... okay, more than a bit. He is enjoying eating, though he is still quite partial to mommy feedings (and I must admit, I prefer them myself). He did get his first real round of shots today. We held off on them at 2 months because of the RSV, but we have not had any more problems with that so we decided to go ahead and get him vaccinated. Lucky us, he is one of those babies that responds to shots by SLEEPING! YAY ME!

32 - Belated Valentine's Day

A little bit late, but better late than never. We had a nice calm Valentine's Day. A little chocolate, lots of kisses for everyone, and a shiny red balloon for Katie (though I think Connor loves it more). We are not big Valentine's people. I am not into flowers and jewelry, so we usually just celebrate with a card. The main thing is to make sure that everyone knows they are loved, and we try to do that everyday.
Happy Valentine's Day from The Jackson 4!

31: Katie's First Dance Picture

Aren't they adorable?!?! I love those two so much! I just wish I could have been there. I know they need Daddy/Daughter time, but I am stingy! I like to have her around me ... even when she is driving me nuts!

30: Makin' T-shrts and Eatin' Carrots

Katie finally convinced me to break into this "3 in 1 fabric paint. fashion studio" thing that I found on clearance at WalMart. Then I had to search for a t-shirt I was willing to let her paint. We found a winner and she set to work. Of course, I did help her when she asked. There are a few things that she told me to draw for her: red star, I helped with "Tom" and writing the Plain White T's. And added an airplane and flowers to the top after this pic was taken. In case you did not know, Tom is the lead singer of the Plain White T's and Katie is in love with him. She says that they are going to play her birthday party (and for free) because they are her best friends. Thanks "iCarly" for her newest infatuation!! grrrr!

Connor was FOUR MONTHS OLD on the 12th!! We celebrated by introducing him to carrots. He was not impressed at all. In fact, I am pretty sure that he considered them a form of torture. His face was priceless! He did enjoy them much more when I tried them again on the 13th.

What is this? Something new?

Ewwww, WHAT WAS THAT NASTY STUFF!!!

I cannot believe you would do that to me!

NOTHING is getting in these lips!

Ewwwwwwwwwww, still not good MOM!

And then Katie convinced me to let her make another shirt ... it is still not finished.

And, I can't forget!! This was Katie's first year for filling out Valentine's!! Daddy took her to the store and she picked out a box of Hello Kitty and a box of Spongebob. You put the word "sticker" on front of anything and it is a must have for her. She ended up filling out mostly Hello Kitty, but she did throw a few Spongebob in for variety. They were not writing specific names on them just to make it easier. I just wish it was not so frustrating to sit there while she writes her name 27 times, in 27 different ways! Nuts!!

29: Shake, Rattle, and Drool

Connor discovered how to shake his rattle on Sunday. It did not do much to distract him though. We were having lunch at Ruby Tuesday's and he was screaming and crying. He refused a bottle, but he was so upset I even broke through my "no whipping it out in public" hang-up to try to breastfeed him. That was a no go, too. I think he was offended at being covered by a blanket. We were able to calm him down for a few moments at a time. Enough to eat and pay. He seemed to enjoy us shaking his rattle for him, so we let him hold it ... and he shook it himself. However, amusing himself was not nearly as fun as having all of us try to make him happy. The real kicker though was this ... we left Ruby Tuesday's and headed across the street to Sam's Club ... and he fell asleep. He slept through Sam's Club and most of the ride home. Little Stinker!

28: Congo Line

Just a little video Chip caught on his cellphone at the dance.

and Ring Around the Rosie

27: Father/Daughter Dance

Katie had a great time at the Father/Daughter Dance ... Chip on the other hand said that he felt a little left out. Katie would dance with him for a short time, then when her friends would start to run around she was off to play with them. Apparently she was following her friend Jaclyn around, copying her every move, right down to falling on the ground at the same time. Neither one of them was very forthcoming on the details. I did not expect much considering one was a 5 year old and the other a man ... Still I would have loved to hear about all the little details. Guess I should get used to it since the details will get sketchier and sketchier as she gets older. Hopefully I will have a few years of full disclosure.

26: The Dress

First off, we are all fine. The tornadoes seem to have gone to the east and west of us. We got a little rain and wind, but thankfully that was it. Katie did have fun hanging out in the closet though. Is it just the novelty of it being clean?
After school today we went shopping for Katie's very first dance dress. This Friday is the Father/Daughter Dance at her school and she is SO EXCITED!! We started off at Marshall's, but they had nothing on the racks. Well, nothing I liked. Katie on the other hand likes everything. Her first choice was a white flower girl type dress. She had already asked that her dress be white, and her shoes ... and her GLOVES! Then she found this red dress. It was hideous!! It was a bad shade of red with a slight handkerchief hem of red tulle. Oh, it was garish! And she loved it. She was almost in tears when I told her I would not buy it. She did finally agree not to get it after I pointed out that she could not wear white shoes. So, we walked out of Marshall's without a dress (though of course not empty-handed). We ran in Shoe Carnival, which was very disappointing. Then we headed back to the mall area (yes, I still refuse to call that mess a mall). We decided to hit JCPenney just in case. The girls 4-6x section was sparse. We checked in the bigger girs section and THERE IT WAS.
She fell in love with this dress. I am not entirely sure why. She said the skirt is soft, like it was the most wonderful thing in the world. And it is black (no luck on the white dress) which is more her style. And the top is a bit glittery. It is a size 7, and will need a slight adjustment on the shoulders, but she loves it. She was very proud of picking it out herself! This is probably also the first time that she has actually tried on a piece of clothing in a store. She did not want to take it off, but I made her (bad Mommy). Then next door to Payless where she found some glittery pink shoes - the dress has a pink flower on the top. And we were finally done! Connor was very patient through most of this experience, but by the end he was hungry and wanting to be held. Katie picked Abner's for dinner, so we had chicken while Connor got some yummy rice cereal.

And tonight for a treat, I made an old family favorite. I have not made this in forever, but it is so delicious. I just have to keep myself from getting addicted and wanting to make it every couple days. Jiffy yellow cake and hot chocolate sauce. I guess it does not have to be a Jiffy cake, but it is the perfect size since it only makes one layer. The sauce is pure sugar ... 1 cup of sugar, 1 tbsp cocoa, 1 tbsp butter, about 1/4th cup of milk - stir it all up and heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring constantly so you don't scorch the sugar, and a little vanilla flavoring (I just use the cap). So very yummy, and so very comforting on a cold night.

25

Instead of coming up with witty or fitting titles I am just going to number them. Sad how low that number is, but it will climb.
Last night we had our first tea party in who knows how long. I am not even sure why the idea popped in Katie's head, but once she has an idea there is no letting go. So, I pulled out some tea party stuff and got us all set up. Our wonderful spread of Cheez-its, brownie squares, grapes, and apple slices.

All Katie really wants is to pour the tea. Kids have more fun just transferring liquid. She loves pouring her drinks into different containers, playing with cups and buckets in the bath and the shower, and just generally doing anything that involves a high probability of spilling. She is definitely getting better at it, but I hold my breath everytime anyway.
Friday I finally gave up on Chip actually helping me get Connor's room ready to be painted, so I did it myself. It took all day ... well, until about 4 am the next day ... but it is done. I also have the carpet cleaned, and I just need to get the crib put together and we are in business.

Connor has been sleeping better the past three nights. I finally gave in and decided to give him cereal. He was just nursing and nursing and nursing like he was starving. After eating cereal the first night he actually slept for 5.5 hours!! And then he did wake up a few times for feedings but went right back to sleep. It was the closest thing I have had to a good nights sleep in what seems like FOREVER! Hopefully this is a trend that will continue. Maybe when he is in his own room it will be easier as well. Less noise and activity going on around him.
Connor is getting better at holding his huge melon up during tummy time. He has to have some strong neck muscles to support that adorable noggin of his!!

Katie's class started a little reading challenge type thing last week. Ech week they send home a little book that she has to read to us for 4 days. By the fourth day last week she was pretty darn good at reading her first book! I am so proud of her. Chip and I are huge readers and it is exciting to see her starting to read for herself. Not that it will stop us from reading her bedtime stories (which she admitted she was afraid would happen). I have also tried making up little books of our own as well for her to work with. She tends to want to cut them up when she is done with them though.