The Big Visit

William has had two ear infections but supposedly it is gone.  I still see him pulling his ear and shaking his head at times so I was convinced it wasn't really gone.  Then he spiked a fever last Wednesday night of 104.5.  Thankfully the boys had a checkup scheduled for last Thursday.  The doctor said the infection was gone but he thought that William may have Roseola and to watch for a rash to break out.

Saturday I took the boys to see G'ma Heidi and G'pa Doug for the whole weekend.  In the morning when we left William had only a few spots on his legs and a couple on the arms.  By the evening he looked like a train wreck.  Red from head to toe with the rash.  I read that it does not itch but occasionally I would see William scratching his face.

I personally had a wonderful time visiting but the boys were being pushed to their limits.  Too much stimulation perhaps.  It has been several months since we have been able to see Grandma and Grandpa.  They just had their house rebuilt after it burned last year.  So this was the first chance we have had to go out for a visit.  The house is gorgeous!

The boys didn't remember them but that was not surprising.  Add to it they were not in their daily routine and in a foreign surrounding and you have a perfect storm.  They boys wanted to cling to me that first day and I figured it would take some time for them to warm up and feel adventurous.

William is usually the one who likes everyone and isn't afraid to be with someone new.  Well not this time.  I figure it is because he wasn't feeling well dealing with the Roseola.  He didn't seem to be bothered by the dog.  He wasn't afraid of it but it didn't interest him either.

Kia is a small dog and she wasn't too curious about the boys.  She would watch and occasionally want to sniff the boys if they had a cracker but other than that she liked to watch them from her perch on the couch.  She likes to bark at certain sounds.  Particularly ones that sound like the door bell.  Well Levi decided that he didn't like that the dog made that barking sound.  He would cry and felt unsure of Kia.  He probably was thinking that his kitties don't make loud noise like that.  Every once in a while I would pet Kia and talk to her so that Levi would know that the dog was okay.  I would tell him that she was nice just like his kitties.  By Sunday he seemed okay with the dog and didn't mind if she was near him.

Heidi and I took the boys shopping a couple of times.  That went well.  They didn't cry but just looked around at all the different things and people.  They even did good letting Grandma hold them or push one of them in a cart.  We picked up some party supplies and a couple of new toys.  Who doesn't love getting new toys!  Thanks Grandma Heidi.

Grandpa Doug made dinner for us all.  The first night we had spaghetti.  Levi apparently liked it.  He couldn't shove it in fast enough.  His face was orange from hair to clothing.  I was quite amused.  That was the BEST tasting meal he has ever eaten.  He really went to town on it and needed to be put straight into the tub after.  William enjoyed it too but he just isn't as messy as Levi.

 William above and Levi below.  Spaghetti faces.

Saturday evening the boys were both playing on me while I sat on the couch.  It was a good opportunity for them to feel safe and yet allow G'pa Doug and G'ma Heidi to be near them.  They really liked that couch.  It was big and soft.  They bounced on it and trying climbing up the pillows.  So much fun.

Doug started playing with Levi a little bit by tickling him and talking to him.  Levi would smile a little and sometimes laugh but he stayed on my lap or at least had his hand on me.  It was a good start.  Sunday he remembered the fun he had the night before and so he wasn't scared of Grandpa.  In fact he was really liking his Grandpa so much that a few times he would put his arms out to say, "pick me up."  I was so pleased.  Doug would walk around the house with him and Levi didn't worry that I wasn't near.  Finally!  He loves his Grandpa.

William on the other hand was super-glued to me for the most part of the trip.  If I walked away for any reason he would cry and crawl around looking for me.  Sigh.  There were some times where Heidi could hold him and he would do okay as long as I was right there where he could see me.  Sometimes he thought that I was holding him but when he would finally realize that someone else was holding him then it wasn't okay.

I figure we need to go out to visit more often so the boys will remember and it won't be such a stimulation overload.  Next month is their birthday so we will be busy planning for that but afterwards we will start making the trek more regularly.  Looking forward to it too.

I wanted to take pictures of the boys with their grandparents but since they were clinging to me the whole time I couldn't really use my camera.  The lack of photos in this post is evidence enough.  Hopefully, next time it will go smoother and I can get those photos I want.  Perhaps this doesn't sound like such a great trip but I truly had a good time and I think it was good for the boys.

Monday we drove back home and once the boys were out of their car seats they played so hard and were happy to be back on familiar territory.  They whipped around here so fast and exploring all of the familiar spaces and toys.  It was a sweet sight to watch.

In the afternoon my dad came over but Levi was taking a nap and William wanted nothing to do with him.  He cried until I held him again.  When my mom came home from work William didn't want anything to do with her either.  It was so strange.  Usually he is Grandma and Grandpa's baby and doesn't want much to do with me.  Well the tide has certainly changed.  He has been better throughout this week but when he is really tired or gets a bump and cries he only wants me.  Part of me is loving it because he hasn't been much of a snuggler with me and finally I can.  Of course the other part of me is a little annoyed because I don't feel like I can do anything or be further than a couple of feet away.  It's only a phase...

Levi has been quite the mover and shaker lately.  Such a busy little bee exploring everything.  I call him a bulldozer because he plows over his brother to do or get whatever he wants.  William gets shoved out of chairs, toys ripped out of his hands, crawled over and beat upon with toys.  I have to separate Levi from him frequently.  He isn't trying to be mean or a bully but he just is.  At least the really enjoy music together.  That puts a smile on both of their faces.

Last but not least in this update is the major milestones.  William has eight teeth now.  It broke through last Thursday or Friday.  Levi took his first steps on Tuesday this week.  There won't be any stopping him now!

Sick Sucks

My poor lil' William has been battling ear infections.  He just finished his second round of antibiotics on Sunday but I wasn't quite sure that the infection was totally gone.  Sunday and Monday he was happy and playful.  I was loving it!  No crankiness or whininess.  Just a fun loving baby.  We had so much fun playing and goofing off.  But I did notice that every once in a while he would shake his head.  His balance has been off during the infection and it hasn't improved a whole lot.  He has fallen frequently.  Nothing that caused harm thankfully.  Well the fever came back today so I'm pretty sure the infection is coming back.  The boys have a checkup on Thursday so I am going to see if William can make it until then.  I hope.

It's pretty discouraging when you have one child vying for your attention wanting you to play with him on the floor and another wanting you to hold him and make him feel better.  Crankiness from all three parties involved and you have a perfect storm.  I feel bad for William but unfortunately I don't show enough patience with him that I should.  I'm worn down to quickly when they are both hollering at me.  I guess I panic and don't know what to do first.  No matter what I do it isn't good enough for someone.  Sigh.  Sick sucks.

I understand to some degree the crankiness that William feels.  When you don't feel well you don't want people to bother you.  But he has a brother that insists on bothering him.  Always touching, pushing, pulling and smacking.  I just wish he would fight back a little.  It would do some good to give brother a smack and then crawl away.  But he just sits there and takes.  Not thinking clearly enough to decide to get away from Levi.  So big bad mama steps in and separates the two.

With the two ear infections so far I have not been able to work on William going to sleep on his own.  It has taken a huge back seat.  Who am I kidding, it's gone completely in reverse.  He has not wanted to go to sleep at night or for naps without someone holding him.  That in itself wouldn't be so bad if I could then lay him down.  Oh no.  The second I start to move he wakes up and complains loudly.  He just would not sleep unless he was in my arms or on my chest.  The last two days that he has been feeling good he has finally been able to sleep in the crib or on the couch.  But I still need to work on getting to fall asleep on his own.  But if this infection is coming back I don't think we will be making progress on this any time soon.  If he needs to be held to make the pain less then that is what I will do.  Poor babe.

Sunday was such a beautiful day here that I took the boys for a long walk.  Levi talked the whole time and William was so silent I had to keep checking on him to see if was asleep.  Not sleeping but had this very somber look.  He just stared at me with a poker face.  Perhaps it was a lot of visual stimulation and he was trying to soak it all in.  Or perhaps it was just really relaxing.  I think he enjoyed it because he was sure full of it once we got home and inside.  Several times during the walk I saw a little hand pushing a hat out the side of the stroller.  I think Levi was trying to be stealthy about it but I kept picking it up and putting it back on.  Once it became a game I stopped putting it on and just held onto it.  Lil' stinker.

Levi has been saying "uh-oh" for the last several days.  I suppose I need to qualify that as his first word.    Too bad I didn't think much about it at first because now I can't write down what day it was that he started.  Oh well.  But he understands so much more than that.  He catches onto things and words so quickly.  In the last couple days we have been saying "all gone" when a bottle or plate is emptied and then we raise our hands up to emphasize there is nothing left.  So now he is doing it on his own when I say "all gone."  He gets it.

One day last week Grandma smacked her hand down on the armrest of the futon then she moved her hand to her lap.  Levi was standing in front of her and watched it happen.  He liked the nice loud cracking sound she made.  He looked at the armrest and then at her hand.  Back to the armrest and again back to her hand.  I could see the wheels in his brain cranking.  So he carefully stepped around her legs and over to the armrest.  He reached out and grabbed her hand and brought it to the armrest.  Then he watched expecting it to happen again.  So smart.

We have been teaching the boys how to climb the stairs and get off of the couch safely.  Better to teach them how to do these tasks before they find out the hard way by getting hurt.  They have been doing very well.  I will need to teach them how to go down the stairs but since they don't have access to it I haven't felt too motivated.

Last time I updated here I mentioned that Levi finally got a tooth.  He got it on a Monday and then that Friday he got his second tooth.  Both are on the bottom.  Such a big boy.  It took a few days before I could SEE them.  He refused to let me look.  He would seal those lips up as tight as Fort Knox every time I tried.

Today I could feel William's 8th tooth pushed through the surface.  Maybe that is why he has a fever today but my gut tells me not.  Does teething cause ear infections?  I guess I just don't know.

Sorry for the infrequent postings.  With William feeling so yucky I have barely touched my computer.  So if I go a couple weeks again without updating I'm probably tending to a sick boy.  I hope these ear infections do not become a frequent occurrence.

Hugs to you all!

One little, two little, three little teeth...

So exciting I had to share.  I just felt Levi's first tooth.  Although it feels like it has been there for a couple of days.  Just goes to show you I gave up expecting and checking for one with any regularity.  I wouldn't have even checked tonight except he kept running his tongue in and out of his mouth the way William does when he is feeling his teeth.  I thought "hmmm, just maybe" and sure enough.

William had tooth number six plow through a few days ago and number seven made an appearance today.  There are still two more working their way through.

Yay for teeth!

Our Day of Fun

Today we got into trouble and out of trouble. We laughed and we cried. Played hard and slept softly. Snuggled Mama and then climbed all over her. Waved at the neighbors as they walked by. They are all putty in our hands.

William stood without any assistance for 17 seconds. If you don't believe us ask Mama. He climbed onto the walker for the first time. After I showed him how first.

Levi got in trouble several times today. He forgot shaking the table was a no-no. I told him not to do it but he didn't listen.

We had p-sgetthi for the first time too. It was yummilicious. Now Gramps is building towers out of our blocks and we get to knock them down. So much fun!

A time to chill

Yesterday was a hay day for Levi.  He was feeling quite adventurous while Mama was away running errands.  The report from Grandpa was that he climbed onto the couch and was standing upon it and while he was there knocked Grandma's colored glass lamp over.  Thankfully it did not get damaged.  The second thing he did was to push one of the bottom corners out on the gate to the kitchen.  Grandpa caught him and could see that William was attempting to follow suit.  Since that wasn't enough adventure for him he decided to climb onto his walker.  He pulled himself onto the tray and sat there.  I guess he thought this was great fun because in the evening I saw him get into and out of his walker three times in addition to sitting on the tray again.  Oh boy!  Their world grows larger with every passing day.  I hope I can keep up with them the larger their world expands.

Even though he was so rambunctious he would stop often for some cuddling.  At times he would even just lay his head down on the floor for a minute to rest and then get back up and play.  I even caught him cuddling with Humphrey.

I am glad that he knows how to ask for some cuddling instead of crying and leaving me stumped as to what he needs.

William has a new pastime.  He enjoys flopping onto his back and kicking his legs in the air and on the floor and waving his hands around or swinging toys around.  He laughs and smiles.  It's as if he was the first to discover how much fun it is to lay on your back.  And what an exciting discovery it is!

Both boys have been needing a lot of cuddle time over the last week.  Neither one has been feeling 100%.  Levi was fighting a fever for a couple days and William had an ear infection.  Thankfully the fever seemed to subside but I am not sure what it was from.  William seems to be doing better now that he is on some antibiotics.  The doctor said he had it for a while which explains some of the extreme crankiness I have been dealing with.  Now he is just his normal whiney. :)

Last Saturday the boys and I Skyped with Great Grandma Hickey.  It was her 80th birthday!  The boys did so good.  It was their first time "visiting" with G'ma and hopefully we can do it again soon.

And speaking of Grandmas....My mom went on a three week trip.  When she mentioned she might go I encouraged her.  She quite deserves one.  Half of me was glad she would be getting a vacation.  The other half of me was terrified.  I didn't think I would survive three weeks without her help.  Well my Dad decided to stay with us while she was away.  He has been quite a help too.  In fact he is letting me have a few hours to myself right now which is why I am able to make this post.  He has been proactive about changing the diapers when needed and without complaint.  Yay.  He helps at night when the boys get up.  And he entertains them so that I can occasionally clean or cook or run errands.  It is so nice to do normal things.  With all the help it hasn't been too bad of an adjustment with her gone.  Mom, that doesn't mean you can stay away forever!  I still need you.

Someone posted this photo on Facebook and I couldn't help but laugh.  They are 10 months old and already I know this definition all too well.  

Even though it feels as though he whines all the time William sure can make me laugh too.  Seriously, how can you not love that face.

 High and mighty William

Mr Levi

"What?"  (messing with G'pas oxygen hose)

9 month photos

Growing Pains

It's been a fun week with the boys.  Every day growing and learning new things.  I find it interesting that it is inevitable that they will crawl, walk, talk, fight, discover, etc. and yet it still amazes me when I see them do something new.  Why do we get excited over the natural progression of things that will happen?  Perhaps that is part of what makes us human.

Last friday we took the boys for their nine month photos.  We got a little teaser yesterday of some of the photos on facebook.  It sure makes me excited to see the rest of them.  I must say that the session went really well.  I made sure to schedule it for 9 am so the boys were fresh and happy.  It was a stretch to get there on time but it paid off.  Levi was totally hamming it up.  I was glad to have a session where he wasn't crying through most of it.  William was crawling all over the place so it was a tad more difficult to get pictures of him.  But he was happy being the center of attention as usual.

Their nine month photos were a little delayed but we needed to make sure Papa was able to be there.  Doug was in Houston for a month in training.  A big hoorah goes to him for becoming a Captain.  Four stripes and a left seat.  That's like getting the corner office and a personal assistant.

I have mentioned before that Levi started to wave.  Well he loves doing it because it gets a reaction every time.  He has also been raising both of his arms over his head.  Sometimes it is because he wants to be picked up and sometimes I think it is just for the pure fun of it.  He does it in the feeding chair often.

Yesterday morning William was really studying Levi wave and raise his arms up.  Then he started to imitate Levi. It was so sweet.  The rest of the day I would catch William waving and raising his arms.  Brother taught him something new!  Perhaps that was a thank you for William teaching Levi to clap.

One day last week I was changing William's diaper and Levi was at my feet pulling all of the clean diapers off of the shelf.  I let him do it because it does no harm and it is easy enough to clean up.  So I ignored him while I took care of William.  But then the sound of his playing changed.  It wasn't quite right.  So I looked down and Levi was not there.  I bent down and saw that he had crawled up onto the shelf with the diapers and was trying to sit up but didn't have enough space.  That shelf sits about 14 inches off of the ground.  What a strong kid to pull himself up and onto it.

Later that day he started crawling around on his hands and feet.  Yes, feet.  That little booty was sticking way up there.  I found it quite entertaining.

Levi is quite meticulous about walking around or over things.  He holds onto whatever he is traveling around and takes very careful steps.  He has an attitude like the proverbial tortoise; slow and steady wins the race.  He just works at things until he accomplishes what he sets out to do.  Very little frustration.  Today Doug was laying on his back on the floor.  The boys were on him like flies to honey.  Levi had his hands on Doug's stomach and then started walking up toward his head.  He stepped over Doug's arm and kept moving.  Then he got to Doug's head and he leaned over a little more, lifted his leg and brought it up and over the head.  There he was straddling Papa.  I was laughing at least.  I'm sure he would have gone all the way around if Papa hadn't decided to move him.  Fortunately he wasn't smelly.

Although he has been a bit of a stinker the last couple of days.  By means of testing the limits.  I have a table that they unfortunately shake.  Because they are strong enough to shake it, it makes it fun.  Fun means do it again, often.  Levi will deliberately go over to it and then look to see if I will watch him (sound familiar?) and then shakes it.  Well this is not something I can ignore as I did with the DVD player.  If he keeps shaking it I am afraid he will weaken it to the point of it coming apart.  I don't know if it will but I don't want to find out.  He has been doing this for a few days and I would say "no" then move him away from it and give him something to distract him.  Yeah, that worked really well.  Not.  He would instantly go back and do it over and over again.  Mama saying "no" was funny to him.  He thought this was all a game.  So we had a "correctional" day.  Each time he did it I would say "no," spank his butt once and then put him in the pack-n-play for one minute.  I have the pack-n-play in another room.  It didn't take long for him to finally get a glimmer of what "no" meant.  He did not want to be left alone.  Tears would then come.  Ah, so now we are getting somewhere.  Unpleasant consequences.  Such a useful tool.  It was a daylong adventure but I was persistent and did not let him get away with it.  By the afternoon he would stick closer to me and I would find him looking over at the table and staring at it for a moment.  He was thinking about what happens when he shakes that table.  I honestly didn't think he would get that far in one day.  Yesterday he did much better.  He only got in trouble twice in the morning and twice in the evening.  Vast improvement from the day before.  But I am staying persistant so that he doesn't ever think that "no" sometimes doesn't mean "no" and then get confused.  This evening he got in trouble once.  After that he again started to shake the table but as soon as I said "no" he stopped and gave me a look that said, "oh, I'm in trouble."  I kept eye contact and waited a moment.  He took his hand off and then moved away so I praised him.  Small victory.  This happened one more time and again he stopped.  I hope each day brings us closer and closer to a full understanding and of course obedience to "no."

William got a fifth tooth last week!  I didn't even see it coming.  It just appeared.  Sneaky little bug.  If he keeps this up he will have a full set of teeth by his birthday.  I love it when he smiles and shows off his "toofers."  Sigh, such a cutie pie.

I love William but that doesn't seem to change the fact that he is WHY-NEE!  I don't get it.  There are days when he crabs, complains and whines all day.  Those days are when I have moments when I wish I could just wear earplugs.  He can get frustrated and angry about everything.  When Levi is too close or he can't squeeze his body between two items or he can't go in the bathroom or the cat is out of reach or just because he can.  Mostly because he can.  I of course get frustrated, irritable and even angry because I can't fix it.  I feel like a terrible mother because I can't meet his needs.  Some days it downright brings me to tears.  I don't think there is anything that can be done to change this.  He probably needs to work it out on his own and I need to just grin and bear it.  But when he does smile and laugh so hard that he gets hiccups, it makes everything seem perfect.  It makes my whole being just melt and I just want to hold him, kiss on him and never let him go.