Oh the Horror!!

So, I really swear that I was going to do some uploading yesterday of some various activities we've done throughout the week, including my kiddos looking super cute in rugby stripes at Daddy's game yesterday, but wouldn't you know it...the camera finally died. I feel a great loss. It has been a bit on the fritz for the past month or so, but I figured it was still working pretty well. I've been wanting a new camera for about a year, but figured it just wasn't in our immediate future since this one did work, but I guess Christmas is coming early! ;) I looked on our computer to see if it had a little spot to insert the memory card so that I could at least get off the photos that were on there, but no dice. I'm not sure if there's any way to retrieve them except for printing them off at Walgreens and then scanning them into the computer (blech!).

Life here is trucking along. Sophia has reasserted her prerogative to not sleep. That's been fun. It has been better the last few days, but it makes for an even more tiring night when I'm up with both of them. I think a lot of it stems from a bit of jealousy. She wants mommy to herself and isn't inclined to share when she doesn't want to. She also came down with just a small cold and that could have had something to do with it too. Other than that, she continues to be just a hoot! She is making so many more connections, it absolutely amazes me. Right now she's really into mommies and their babies. She was rooting through her Halloween candy bowl and pulled out an orange Tootsie Pop (her fave by the way) and continued rooting. She then found a Mini Tootsie Pop, also orange, and exclaimed, "Oh! It's her baby!" Today after leaving church she told Charlie, Daddy you get in the seat and I'll drive. The other morning as I was in the bathroom she asked me, Mom, did you tinkle? Yes, Sophia. Good job, mom! Then she asked to flush and proceeded to sing "bye-bye tinkle, go down the hole!" over and over again. She loves her little brother and is happy to kiss him and hug him most of the time! She also likes to use the word "ok" as an emphasis on the end of her sentences. For example, I want some milk, Tori. Okay? or she'll tell her animals in her bed, I'm going to go check on Leo but you have to stay here, okay? Okay?? Okay, I'm going to go, ok??

Leo's cough seems to have mostly cleared up. He has really "woken up" the last week or two and is presenting us with some parenting challenges, oh joy! He is still pretty gassy and becoming fussier. I'm over my fear of the colic, but I do worry about his gas bouts. His fussy time seems to be around 8pm which is a HUGE bummer b/c as soon as I get Sophia to bed, I have to deal with his drama for another hour. He still sleeps a lot during the day and is awake a lot during the night. I have started putting him in his crib and he sleeps there for at least an hour every night! Baby steps! Sometimes it is a significant portion of the night, other times it isn't. He has started smiling and giggling, which is way cute and I look forward to more of that! Today we took him to church for his 40th day blessing and he did pretty well, Sophia is another story.

I continue to question my sanity when I take her to church. I am just at a loss. She isn't badly behaved, it's just that she isn't particularly well behaved either. She's loud, she doesn't get the concept of whisper at all, and she is very busy! I can deal more with busy than I can the loudness. Our church does have a cry room but it's just a room filled with toys. I basically refuse to take her into it because one, it's filthy, and two, I don't want to teach her that we come to church so that she can go upstairs and play with toys. However, I spend the entire time at church fussing and worrying and looking after her that I'm getting nothing out of it. I only listen to half the gospel reading and half his sermon so I think what's the point of being here??! I look around at other kids her age and they seem to be able to function, so what is it about us?? Part of me feels like if we get Leo going on this church thing starting now that he'll be able to do it because he'll have learned from the beginning. I can only hope. Along that same vein, I say that could happen with Sophia too, but part of me feels like we should already be to that point and moving past it.

We're just a happy little family of four now, looking forward to a holiday season full of thanks and joy surrounding it!

A Frightfully Good Time!

Hee-Haw!

a very unhappy giraffe

Sophia and the Little Bear Ballerinas

Sophia and Tinkerbell (Isabelle) are dancing to the music in downtown OP

Happy Birthday, Julie!

Mom and Leo cuddled while I gave out candy

Sophia enjoying her bounty

We began the evening by visiting the many trick-or-treat options in Downtown Overland Park. It was extremely busy but the kids had a good time. Sophia got a lot of walking in and even managed to do quite well while wearing her horse! There was a band playing in the Square and we took a short break there for the kids to bust-a-move! Charlie took Sophia out in our neighborhood for her first real trick-or-treating experience. They just went around our block and he said she really got the hang of things towards the end. At one point she left some one's house and screamed, "I LOVE candy, Daddy!" He said the other group of mothers ahead of him just died laughing. The only down side to this whole thing is we've spent the entire day doing the battle of the candy bucket! ARG! I'm tempted to just let her eat it all and then we're done with it! I really liked those days when she didn't know what candy was yet...I miss them!

Never a Dull Moment

As if Halloween weren't crazy enough, we decided to pay a visit to the Emergency Room too. It was Little Leo's first and probably not last, visit to Children's Mercy last night. I noticed that he began developing a little cough sometime yesterday evening and wasn't overly concerned as Sophia just got over a cold herself...but then Charlie thought he felt warm and took his temp. Well, this is where it got hairy. His underarm temp was 99.4. Many doctors and nurses recommend a rectal temp be taken when the baby has a temp over 99. And this is where things start going down hill...

I must admit that both Charlie and I are, how you say...inexperienced... in this area. We never faced this challenge with Sophia so we were both a bit freaked. I won't give you all the nitty-gritties but just imagine the possibilities with two grown adults, a tube of Vaseline and a very squirmy baby. Hmmm.

After this 30 minute ordeal we dialed up Ask-A-Nurse to give her the low-down and get some further advice. (I love this service by the way...ingenious!) She basically said, take him to the ER, he could have a fever and at his age any fever is serious. Okay, enough said...we loaded up the car and headed out.

We waited almost 3 hours, which didn't really bother me that much as I felt it was to be expected during flu season AND on Halloween, to finally see the doctor. Here is really where my irritation begins and ends...she was complete bitch. Essentially after asking us a bunch of questions she made us feel like idiots for bringing him in, implying that we were stupid not to know better because he was still eating and having wet diapers and then she had the gall to ask us if we just did this because we though he had Swine Flu. Um...HELLO!? He's FIVE WEEKS OLD!!!!! I would expect her to be understanding of such things and that if he did in fact have a fever (which he didn't by the way, once the experts took it rectally they got a better result!) he would need immediate medical treatment! Quite frankly I think we were justified in our visit. We were concerned parents of a very tiny baby AND we called to get a second opinion before just rushing to the hospital. Regardless of all these things, we went to the hospital for a service, not a lecture and she should have placated our fears not patronized us. She can talk about us behind our backs all she wants...vent to your fellow doctors about the over protective parents who brought in a healthy 5-week old all you want, but she should have made us feel better!

Just to spite her we stole two fancy bulb syringes for his nose...we're such rebels! After making it home just before 2 am, we are all exhausted but are continuing to monitor his situation. So far so good! Thank goodness for mothers though, because my mom came over at the drop of a hat last night to stay with Sophia (who thank heavens did not wake up b/c it would have been melt down city when she found out I wasn't home) and Charlie's mom who just picked up Sophia to take her to church and to visit Grandma B. Hopefully Charlie and I can catch up on some sleep and hopefully Leo's cough will clear up in a timely manner and this is the end of that ordeal!

An Outing

Sophia getting her dance on
Massimo joins Sophia in a very exuberant dance party

he's all skin and bones!

so serious!

Do you think mom minds if I use Brother as an arm rest?

This is more like it!

I'm trying to set some goals to get out more! Thanks to Julie we had a very fun outing/play date this morning. We went to see the Dino O'Dell concert at Pottery Barn Kids and then back to their house for lunch and play time. All the kids had fun, Leo slept through the entire ordeal, and I felt like a normal person for a few hours...woo hoo! We're looking forward to another busy day tomorrow! Stay tuned for more spooky (okay, maybe not so spooky) looks!

Pumpkin Carving

Whoa!
Sophia's Jack-o-Lantern

Charlie carving his masterpiece

the Frank-o-Lantern

It's so fun to start more new traditions! Sophia wasn't too into the whole process really, just the end product! We couldn't get her to touch the inside of the pumpkin at all! We asked her which shape she wanted the eyes and nose and whether or not the mouth should have teeth, how many, etc. This gave her some ownership over her pumpkin, but of course we didn't trust her with any sharp carving instruments just yet!

Here's what will greet Trick-or-Treaters at our door this weekend...

Check-Up Time

Leo is one month old! I would say time flies, but strangely, in some ways, this month has dragged on! I think it's because we're both so sleep deprived and it's not like we have the time to catch up on it like we did with Sophia. Additionally, Leo usually has a feeding right in the middle of Sophia's nap time, so I can't really utilize this time to nap either. Plus, our lives do go on...with rugby, family events, and me trying to set goals to actually leave the house, we're just trying to make things work!

Leo looks great, however, so I guess maybe we're doing something right! ;) He is 11 lbs 4 oz and 22 3/4 in tall. That puts him in the 90th % for both, no surprise there! I have a feeling we're going to have a big boy on our hands!

My main concern during this check-up was the scary breathing that I mentioned in a previous post. I was also reminded that one of Jill's girls also experienced the same thing, so even before talking to the doc, I was a little more relieved. I didn't figure it was a huge cause of concern, but it is scary sounding and basically, he backed that up. He said that basically his esophagus was immature and it sort of wiggled when he breathed causing that sound. He said that it will not cause him to choke or anything of that nature, so although it sounds awful, there is really nothing to worry about. The unfortunate part is that he said it could last for a few months. So, with this news I am considering putting him in his crib during the night now. I fear however that I've spoiled him with my constant night cuddling. Truthfully, it has been the only way that the two of us (Leo and myself) have been able to get any sleep. He loves to cuddle and I'm apparently too happy to oblige, especially if it means I get to sleep for an hour or two as well! When we cuddle, he sleeps and does not lie awake fussing...I know, I know, I'm creating a monster, but I'm so tired!

The other question I had was about his gas issue. He assured me again that he didn't think Leo was a colicky baby (well I don't think so either, but I'm more worried he could turn into one!) but gave us some things to try. He gave us some samples of a new formula that is designed for gas and fussiness and mentioned that he could also prescribe him a higher strength gas drop than the Mylicon drops you can buy at the store. I had not heard of this, so that kind of intrigued me and I'm happy we have that as a back-up if we need it. We're going to finish the can of formula that we have open before we try the new stuff and he told us to give it 2 weeks before we say whether or not it helped. Keep your fingers crossed!

Lastly, I asked about whether or not we should be worried about him contracting the Swine Flu, or any other sickness, for that matter. It really came up because Sophia has been a bit under the weather the past few days, and although I really don't think she has H1N1, I of course worry. I truly think it's just a cold, but you know how your mind wanders! Anyway, he reminded me that the antibodies that pass from the placenta to the baby are super strong and illness fighting so it was likely he was not going to contract much of anything within the first 4 months of life. He said he'd be more worried if he were 6 months old going into cold/flu season, but his status right now is pretty good. Obviously, we're still going to be vigilant hand washers/sanitizers, but at least it can alleviate a little fear.

Overall, we're plugging along as our new family of 4!

More Visitors

Sophia and Aunt Ellyn bonded over blocks, books, and songs!

My Aunt Ellyn traveled into town this weekend from Minnesota and we were so happy to have her! I've been missing Dad is a big way lately. A lot of it is obviously because of Leo...I really would have liked it if Dad could have met this precious little boy. I know that he'd be just in love with him! Another, of course, is the anniversary of his death is just around the corner. Last year was difficult being the first year, but this year is difficult in it's own way. Because I just gave birth to Leo, and because 2 years ago Sophia was exactly as old as Leo is now, it puts me right back in the place of remembering Dad and having a tiny baby and all my emotions come swirling back in a very surreal way. But, I digress...my point here is this. It really meant a lot to me to have Ellyn here in his place. If I can't have dad, I guess his sister is a good second! :) She agreed with me, which of course I always appreciate, that Leo looks a lot like dad! In fact, she brought some pictures of Dad and of her son David and Leo's newborn picture and David's newborn picture are almost identical! It's crazy! I'll try and do some fancy scanning so that I can post pictures of both, but last time I scanned something it seriously took me two days to figure it out! LOL! During her visit, we kept her on her toes with lots of family time, errands, cooking, story reading, baby feeding and just general fun! This post is mostly just random snapshots from our busy, busy weekend.

Sophia making sure that Leo is properly entertained by the swing

Cody at his 21st birthday celebration (21?! Ack!)


Aunt Bess and Mr. Leo

Daddy and daughter

Aunt Annie with Sophia and Angela at Oktoberfest!

Aunt Ellyn feeding Leo

Sophia getting her Oktoberfest dance on!