Thumb Update

So we saw the hand specialist again today (well, technically we saw his PA).  His thumb is unchanged (as we already knew) and still stuck in that bent position.  So, a surgical fix it is.  They have to get authorization from insurance and look into the schedule and then get back with us on a date.  It'll be done at IU West.  My major concern is making sure there's a pediatric anesthesiologist (not just an adult one)...I put in my request, so I guess we'll see what happens.

Now it's started...

This morning, Bob and I were sitting by Ben, and I was trying to get him to say Mama.  After I went, Ma ma ma ma ma...Ben looked at me, then looked over at Bob, and said, "da da da".  Rotten.  He was more than willing to perform this feat over and over again. I guess I did get 4 entire months of ma ma ma without having to share so I guess I should consider myself lucky.

Today's the day... (Take 2)

Okay, well, actually Friday was the day. 

 We moved Ben to his own room.

It has, shockingly, been anticlimactic.

(Take 1)

 I was hopeful this would be a magical fix to get him to sleep through the night.  Although we all know, there aren't "magical" fixes.  This boy is going to do it when he wants to do it.  And until then, I'm now going to march myself down the hall to nurse him.  He's better than he was a few months ago for sure.  He lays down around 7:30-8:00pm and wakes up for good around 7:30-9:30am.  He will usually wake up 1 (occasionally 2) times in that span of time.  Sometimes, like last night, he'll make it clear until 5:00am...other times, he wakes up in the 12:00-1:00am time frame.  I'm willing to tolerate a minute or two of fussing, but not much more than that (he's right next to Jack now, and I don't really want 2 kids awake in the middle of the night). Plus, one of these nights will be the last time that he wakes to nurse overnight, and, as much as I want sleep, I'm going to miss those cuddles too.

We're doing our best to turn the spare bedroom into Ben's bedroom, but there are definitely some other things I want to add (Pinterest here I come) to make it his (especially since we're recycling the bee nursery theme from Jack).  I suppose we should paint it too, but I have yet to recover from painting Jack's room.  

Tractor from Papa Roy

I bought a new little shelf, so all of this stuff has moved.

Love our announcement from Grandma in the black frame!

Whoops...captured more dust than I intended to!

Celebrating Number SIX!!

Today was Bob and I's 6th anniversary!

 My parents were thankfully able to watch the boys for a few hours (I felt bad even holding them to this after they watched them Monday and Tuesday due to Jack being sick).  We attempted to make a reservation at Maggiano's (we've gone there the last 2 years) but the earliest one they had available was at 8:30pm (we wanted to be back BY the boys' bedtime).  So we took our chances and just walked in. The supposed 45 minute wait turned into nearly an hour and a half, but eventually we had a great dinner and somehow ended up in the exact same booth as last year.

I can't believe it's been SIX years since our wedding. We've been together for 8 years now.  After I started working in the NICU, it felt like I was single for such a long time.  But really, I was only there 2 years before I started dating Bob.  Feels like an eternity ago now!

I married my best friend, the best daddy in the world to our children, and one of the most patient men on the planet.  He's my other half, and I can't imagine our journey without him.  And I am so grateful to him for the two most incredible gifts I could ever ask for!

The view of downtown from the top of the Chase building.

Getting (more) Vocal

The only sounds Ben had made for the last couple months had been 'ba' and 'ma'.  And, of course, I count his first word as "mama"...but truly it was more of just a string of 'ma ma ma ma ma' he made when he wanted me, usually crawling toward me crying.  He certainly was discriminate in only using it towards me, but it was also almost a distress call.

On Wednesday, this week, when he and I first got up, I set him in the exersaucer while I ran to the bathroom.  He was watching me, and I had my back turned to wash my hands, and he goes, "Mama".  I immediately turned around, and he just grinned at me really big.  I think we can count this one officially!!
Later this day he was standing between Bob and I at the couch, and looked at Bob and made a da sound, then looked at me and went ma ma.

One of the funniest things he does is string together "ba ba ma ma" and it sounds like bad, bad mama.  I always laugh when he does it.

But, we're also starting to hear lots of other new noises lately...

-da (few and far between compared to the "music to your ears" sounds of ma ma)
-yeah
-dj (it really sounds like this...almost like maybe he's trying to do Jack)
-wuh

Rockin' It

Today, Ben is wearing some Baby Legs...

...perhaps we just like them around here

...or perhaps he has no clean pants.

I'm not at liberty to say.

Regardless, Ben is rockin' them 80s style.

Drawing...

So this morning, Jack asked me to draw a picture of me with Ben in my belly.  I took some artistic liberties with my appearance, of course. When I finished, he told me, "oh that's a good mommy."  Then he drew himself.  He, perhaps, looks a little creepy...but he's only 4.  Then he added this thing to the back of my head because I, apparently, forgot.  At first I couldn't figure out what it was...then I realized it was my, ever present, ponytail.  I guess he doesn't recognize me without it.  After we finished our joint picture he said, "Now we can be friends." That's good, I suppose since the morning we've had together hasn't exactly been what I'd call 'friendly'.  It's more what I'd call 'clashing.' But, we're friends now...

Go Colts!!

Seriously...

...how cute is this little fluffy butt?? 

And, of course, this face. 

Shoes

I put a pair of Jack's old shoes on Ben today for the first time.  I think Jack seriously wore them ONE time.  Ben had no desire to stand up when he was in them.  All he really wanted to do was, well, eat them.

9 Month Checkup

Today, Ben had his well baby checkup.  It became very apparent today that he's in the stranger anxiety phase.  My word.  He screamed and hollered anytime the nurse or the doctor touched him...for NO reason.

His official stats:
Weight: 18lbs 7.5oz (25th percentile)
Height: 27.5 inches (15th percentile)
OFC: 17.5 inches (25th percentile)

The length was a little tricky (I swear they need length boards, because their current method just isn't cutting it).  They lay them on the white paper and mark head and foot with a pen and then measure between the two.  With a wiggly baby, this barely works.  Then, the nurse was doing the pen beside his head rather than putting her pen at the top of his head, and shorted him well over an inch (he was shorter than at 6 months).  Thankfully, the doctor saw that himself and decided to remeasure.

All in all, it was pretty uneventful.  They did have the flu shots in, so both Jack and Ben got a flu shot (poor Ben still has to have one more this year in a month).  Jack did very well with his.  I told him he was going to get it probably about 5 minutes before the nurse came in.  He was appropriately concerned, but not freaking out.  He said with a really pouty lip, "But that'll make my leg hurt." I let him decide who would get theirs first...and he chose Ben.  When it was his turn, he said he really didn't want to do this, but climbed up and laid down without any coaxing. He started sniffling and tearing up before she even did it, and then said, "owww" but by then it was already over.

Ben also recovered very quickly (which was good since I immediately had to put him in his carseat to help with Jack).  I did catch him chewing on his bandaid a few minutes later.  Yuck.

Out of the Mouths of Babes, Vol. 8

Me: "Jack, what are you doing back there?"
Jack: "Just playing with Ben. Don't worry. Everything is under control."

NICU Reunion

Yesterday wast the NICU Reunion.  We've gotten into the habit of going as a family.  Mainly because Jack loves it SO much.  Ben was cranky, though, so we left him at home with Grandma.  

Jack was determined to have a football painted on his face.
It was the first thing he wanted to do.
We were a little sad that Staci wasn't there yet to do the perfect job...
...but Mommy was the only one who cared about that.

Sitting in the race car.

The entire reason he wants to come...the bounce house.

He loved hitting this poor kid right in the face, and since no one was in line behind us...
...he just kept doing it over and over again.

Jack got to push the button to turn on the lights all by himself.
If he's ever in a police cruiser again, he better only be in the front seat.

Dressing up like a NICU Nurse.

Feeding the baby.

Giving the baby medicine.

Learning a new instrument with our musical therapist.

Jack was a very good drummer.
He kept good time when they sang "We are the dinosaurs..."

9 Months

Ben turned 9 MONTHS on Friday.

Seriously, where is the time going?

I just know I'm going to blink and I'll have another 4 year old on my hands.  

Crazy.

Anyway, he hasn't had his official 9 month checkup yet.  We go on Wednesday.  Hopefully, it'll be shot free.  Unless they have the flu shot in, and, in that case, he'll be getting his first one of those.

I did weigh him unofficially today (2 days late), and he was 18lbs 3oz. According to the app on my phone, he appears to be chugging along following his curve just perfectly (he started life at the 90th, but by 5 months had dropped to around 25th percentile, and he's hung out there ever since).

A Big Switch

So, even with Jack, I was intrigued by the idea of cloth diapers (the newer kind...not what my mother envisions with diaper pins and plastic pull up pants).  And several times I caught 'the bug' where I really wanted to do it, but Bob wasn't very interested, and I needed more of an impetus I suppose. 

About a month ago, I was talking to a friend at work who was really excited about the prospect of cloth diapering. It got me thinking again.  I spent hours and hours researching everything from type, accessories, washing instructions...and everything else I could get my hands on.  I was hooked.  When I mentioned it to Bob, he was fine with it.  Of course, the financial aspect is the big kicker.  There are plenty of other reasons many people do it, but that's definitely the draw for me.  

I initially bought a few to try on and see exactly what I wanted.  I decided to go with the simplest option--the all-in-one (AIO). It's basically as simple as a disposable...except for the rinsing and washing.

Which is where this gadget comes into play...

...the diaper sprayer.

It sprays off poop into the toilet, and I also use it to rinse all the wet diapers.

We've been doing it at home now for nearly 2 weeks.  I'm still in the process of building up my stash to have enough...I'm currently at 2 days worth, but I just made an Amazon order to get me where I wanted to be.  With 3 days worth, I can do 1 load every other day.  It has, thus far, been very easy.  

I wouldn't say I enjoy rinsing the poop diapers...that sprayer is really high pressure, and I have yet to quite master the angle to avoid spraying myself.  But with practice...

And, thankfully, Ben doesn't usually poop more than once a day (if even that). 

Here are some pictures of Ben in his cute diapers...

Sickly

Earlier last week, Ben had his first fever.  He looked pitiful.  He was a total snotty mess.  The first night he was up from 11pm-3am.  Then another 2 nights he spent awake from 3am-6am.  All 3 were on nights before I worked.  I may never recover.  And I'm even more certain now what is going to happen in the very near future!!!

Follow-Up

As a continuation to our previous discussion...

Jack, "Daddy, girls have China!"

Meet...

..."Snappy the Croc"

He has a huge, wide mouth to snap with. And lumps on his back.