9 months, 1 week old!

Still sick!  We took you back to the doctor and it turns out that your ear infection hadn't improved at all.  Dr. Bennett felt it would be best to give you a shot (another first :-(  ) of concentrated antibiotics to help give you a boost towards healing.  You tolerated it well and actually cried less than you usually do when we give you the oral antibiotics (which you HATE!).  I am glad that Dr. Bennett is so kind and understanding, but I would really rather that we didn't have to see him for a while!

Mostly, right now, we are just stuck at home trying to get you guys well (daddy has a very bad ear infection and built up pressure as well!)!  However, you are becoming quite good at the stairs and are loving chasing your brother around more and more!  You love to dance with us and your funny personality is really starting to shine!

(scary pic of mama- but YOU are cute!)

You are cruising along the furniture now like a champ and even stand by yourself a little bit!  You love to jabber also!

We love you more than you can imagine Brutus Beefcake!

9 months old!

Man- another rough week buddy!  This past Friday we ended up having to take you to the ER at 2:00 am because you had been screaming for hours and even when we would finally get you to sleep you just wouldn't stay out.  So we called Nana and Papa to come over and scoop up your brother and we reaced you to the ER.

After much hassle (apparently the fact that you were born at home completely dumbfounded them!) they finally came to the conclusion that you had an ear infection.  The debate then arose over how they should treat you because we haven't vaccinated you (an informed decision) and in this doctor's opinion you would then need to be treated more aggressively... for your ears.  What?!  Ummm... last I heard there wasn't a vaccine for ear infections, thank you very much!

When examining you he also stopped in his tracks upon pulling your drawers down because apparently he had never seen a cloth diaper before and thought you were wearing a hip brace!  Okay, so I kinda laughed at that one!  But seriously, it was ridiculous!

At about 4:30am I finally interrupted him and asked if any of this was pertinent to our current situation... your ears... so that we could go home!  We went and got your antibiotics (another first :-(  ) and headed home to sleep at last.

By Saturday your brother had a full blown ear infection as well and daddy and I spent the next two days battling your fevers with lots of luke warm baths and Motrin until we could get in to see Dr. Bennett.  He confirmed that you both had double ear infections by that point and that the antibiotics were suitable but not extra-crazy as the other doctor said they needed to be.  He assured us that the other doctor was just trying to make us feel bad and that vaccines have no bearing on ear infections!  Case closed!

Luckily daddy stayed home from work to help with you boys because between the two of you we are full-time on call!  Lots of work and your fevers still rage.  Poor guys!  We love you so much and hope you get all better soon!

8 Months & 3 Weeks Old!

Well, it has been an eventful week, to say the least!  First of all, we made our family's first official trip to minor emergency for an injury and you were the injured!  You were standing up next to our folded up travel swing and plopped backwards onto your bum, pulling it down with you... into your face.  At first I thought it didn't hit you that hard and you were just fussing like normal- then I saw the blood.  The copious amounts of blood streaming out of your mouth and all over your PJs!  Needless to say, I freaked a little bit and couldn't get ahold of any other family member to help calm my nerves and possibly come over and help assess the situation.

About a half an hour after said accident you father finally arrived home but had to leave again right away to go deliver a tool to a guy who was driving in from out of town just to buy it from him, but at least he took your brother while I hauled you off to minor emergency.  All in all, it was probably a good thing that he wasn't home when it happened anyway because when he saw your continued bleeding (which was minimal compared to the initial 10 minutes and caused mostly from your rubbing your face and tearing the wound back open... repeatedly) he got a bit pail and assured me that I was the one to handle the injury!

Luckily they got us in pretty quickly at the clinic and reassured me that your teeth were fine and your mouth would heal fairly quickly without stitches.  The doctor discovered that you had impacted your teeth and were actually bleeding out around them, but the teeth appeared to still be okay.  Through the blood the doctor also thought that your teeth had gone into your lip, but as we found out yesterday at a different doctor appointment for your brother (who has croup) you actually tore your frenulum (that little piece of skin between your gums and your lip- you have one under your tongue too).  Erg... just the thought of it makes me cringe.  The doctor said that yours was pretty think to begin with and probably would have torn at some point anyway, but assured us that now that it has happened it is out of the way and won't happen again.  Phew... at least you are okay and seem to be no worse for wear.

Other than that we have been trying to spend some time outside and enjoy our beautiful weather.  You tend to want to put everything in your mouth which is a challenge, however.  The other day when I repeatedly removed the dirt from your hands you looked straight out me and then proceeded to put your entire mouth down onto the porch.  Lovely.  Despite it's challenges, it is good for all of us to get outside and soak up some sun and fresh air!

SO I caved the other day and bought some real baby food.  I vowed that I wasn't going to do that with you, but life has been so chaotic lately that I just picked up a couple of (organic) jars to try).

You're not diggin' it!

These faces are priceless however!

Here is your brother's reaction (after asking if he could have some- we reassured him that if you didn't like it he definitely wouldn't!).

You love your finger foods but this mush was apparently just too much for you!  I think we will be going a different direction with the solids from here on out!

Pitiful.

("why are you doing this to me mom?!")

Oh, and did I mention that you now weigh 21 pounds?!?!  AND are wearing the sleepers that your brother wore when he was nearly 2, running around and "helping" us paint the basement during our remodel?!  It is just nuts how different the two of you are!

8 Months & 2 Weeks old!

It's official, you are now sitting at the big table with the family for meals and you couldn't be more thrilled! You just happily snack on your cheerios, or rice puff, or whatever small bits of dinner we give you, suck on you sippy (and still manage to soak yourself) and jabber away!  You just love it and it makes dinner time so much more peaceful for the rest of us (especially mama!)!

You continue to love your baths with your big bro!  Although sometimes things do get a little crazy, you are a good sport and do well at tolerating the occasional splash in the face or daring gulp of water!  In fact, you seem to think it will be a good idea to stick your mouth under the running faucet for a quick drink, however so far I have thwarted your plans!

Oh, and your hair is finally filling back in in the back!  Everyone has been mentioning lately how lighter it has gotten (which is true) but I just keep thinking how much older you look!  You are fiesty and fun and we love you!

8 Month & 1 Week Old!

You are so talkative!  You even started talking in your sleep the other morning!  Daddy and I love to see how you study our mouths when we talk and think that most likely you will begin to verbally communicate fairly early!  You are such a social bug- you just thrive on being around groups of people and watching other kids!  We continue to joke that you were really meant to be a fifth or sixth child so that there would have been more happening to keep you busy!

To our amazement and shock you began to sip from a straw this week!  You randomly got ahold of one of your brother's cups and sucked the whole thing down in nothing flat.  Luckily it was only full of water!  You continue to amaze us and prove just how smart you really are!

You have a fascination with pulling every book and DVD off of our shelves, but most of the time I just let you because you are happy and what is it really going to hurt?!

Oh, and have I mentioned lately that you are just stinkin' adorable?!  We love you bunches!

8 Months Old!

I feel as though I blinked and you have nearly turned into a toddler!  You are doing everything so quickly now!  You have started to climb the stairs (yikes!), you clap for things (and at the funniest moments!), and you are so darn fast!  You keep getting caught under the table too because you are too tall to stand under it but for some reason that just isn't making sense to you!

One big milestone has been taking baths with your brother in the big tub!  You two have so much fun playing with all the boats and you continue to think that R-Man is the funniest person you have ever met!  I love witnessing the bond between you two!  I think that you are going to grow up to be great friends!

Update- I forgot to mention that we took a trip up to daddy's job the other day for your brother to see the big equipment he was using, and we got some cute pics of you!  All the pics that I am in with you your brother obviously took- quite the photographer!

7 Months, 4 weeks old!

 We have begun referring to you as "Shark Bite" because with all those new chompers you are nearly as lethal as one!  You have broken the skin on me a couple of times (particularly on my shoulder and collar bone!) but, luckily, I have begun to recognize the signs you give before you are about to go crazy while nursing, thus enabling me to avoid too much damage there.

You are a standing monster and trying to navigate between objects even sometimes!  Daddy and I look at you moving around and playing and just can't believe how old you are!  With 5 (almost 6) teeth in just three weeks and the fact that you are almost too long for your 12 months clothes (at not even 8 months!) I feel like you have turned into a toddler overnight!  I am truly cherishing our cuddle times more and more as they become less frequent!

You are starting to mimic more and I just can't help but think that you are one smart little cookie!  I taught you how to make your voice change by wagging your hand over your lips today and I couldn't believe how quickly you caught on and were doing it all by yourself!  I find such joy in seeing you learn.  You are amazing!

We had another little mock photo shoot (which all these photos are from) and I am so happy with how our pics turned out!  You get cuter every day and you look more and more like your brother and dad!

 

  

 

 

  

  

  

We love you sweet boy and are so proud of you!