Yucky Sickness

We have been battling colds since Caleb came home with one last Friday. We tried our best to keep it away from Lexie without success. Luckily it was mild and we are all feeling much better with only some congestion now. It's kind of humorous that we have humidifiers in all the bedrooms currently. Poor Lexie is very frustrated while eating since she cannot breathe through her nose very well, and she's not a big fan of the saline nose spray. Caleb has a bad habit of licking his entire mouth which causes severe chapping. I keep trying to tell him not to lick to which he finally replied "Mommy, it's hard to keep my tongue in my mouth." We'll just have to keep buying tons of chap stick I guess. Lexie still refuses to take a pacifier, she apparently prefers her thumb. It's hilarious to watch her try to find her mouth with her thumb. She splays the rest of her fingers across her face which is so cute. Unfortunately she has little control over her hands still, so she cannot keep her thumb in her mouth long enough for her satisfaction or mine. I have mixed emotions about going back to work next week. I'm looking forward to getting back into a normal schedule, and hoping Lexie does as well; but I am also sad I won't be with her all day everyday now. Fortunately we have a wonderful daycare to care for her, so far Caleb loves all his teachers he's had there. But it's still hard when they are so young to leave them with someone else. Pray that I remain strong during this transition.

Swim Lessons

We took Caleb to his first swimming lesson last night. We decided to enroll him early so he can enjoy our community pool more this summer. They meet once a week for 20 weeks, so it will give him something to look forward to each week. He did well last night, holding his breath for a few seconds under water and for the most part following directions from Mr. Brad. He especially enjoyed meeting the 2 other kids in his class; it was cute seeing him so excited. I hope to enroll Lexie at 6mo. This will make us feel more comfortable about them being around the water, especially since we now have 2 to keep up with at the pool. Thankfully Caleb has not had a relapse of hives though I'm still at a loss to its initial source. Caleb received a medical kit for Christmas which he uses to ensure we all stay well. He especially enjoys using the stethoscope to listen to us and giving shots when we "don't sound so good." He wanted to give me a shot yesterday, so I acted sad at the prospect. He told me "don't be sad Mommy, you're an adult." No sympathy for me I guess. Apparently I had a giraffe in my left ear and an elephant in my right. That's better than poor Lexie who had spiders in her ears. We definitely needed a shot to get rid of those problems.

Rash

Last night was real fun. We had put Caleb to bed around 8:30p.m. , and Greg was going to try to go to bed early because he wasn't feeling well. I was of course up with Lexie though she wasn't happy with any of my comforting techniques. Then 30 minutes later Caleb called down wanting to "tell me something" like he does most nights. Usually I call up to him to go back to bed since we have a video monitor, but this time I went to check on him. I found him with his shirt off and asked why, he said "because it itches". When I turned on the light I saw he was covered in a hive-like rash. Great. Luckily I checked on him because he wasn't going to tell me about his itching if I hadn't. Caleb ate up all the attention he got as I checked him over suddenly becoming aware of his rash and letting me know "it was everywhere." I gave him some Claritin (that I luckily got yesterday) and decided to let him sleep in the living room downstairs with Dad so we could watch him for more swelling. We ended up watching TV until 12 a.m. since Caleb was too excited to sleep and Lexie never sleeps before then anyways. Luckily the rash faded within an hour of the medicine, though I'm still not sure what he reacted to in the first place. Joys of parenting! I'm just so thankful it didn't progress to a trip to the ER.

Nap time

Caleb has decided to oppose nap time at home. Every weekend after lunch he states "I'm not going to sleep after this, right mom." I'm never sure if it's a demand or a question. This rebellion has actually been going on for quite some time, but now is becoming harder to enforce. He asked me once why he had to take a nap and I told him it gives him energy. He looked at me and said "but I have egergy." And he is sooo right, but I didn't have a better answer for him. Nap time is important for at least two good reasons, one, it allows Mommy and Daddy time to get other things done around the house, or recently our own nap time. Two, it keeps Caleb from being uncontrollable or irrational in the evenings. I have learned to avoid the drama of answering his question (or statement) with a yes by letting him have "quiet time" in his bed where he can read his books. So far it's worked great, he reads for 30 min and then passes out for over and hour. Lexie on the other hand has been sleeping well during the day, but refuses to go to bed until at least midnight. She demands constant attention from 6 p.m. until 12 a.m. and will let you know very loudly if those demands have not been met. Unfortunately she has vetoed pacifiers and bottles since she has been home. Greg totally blames the hospital for first withholding a pacifier, and second guilting us into not introducing it for the first few weeks " to avoid confusing our breastfed baby." Caleb did great with his paci right off the bat, but I had a very unpleasant and painful time with breastfeeding him the first 8 wks which the recent Breastfeeding Consult is sure was from "introducing that paci so soon". I refuse to acknowledge the idea that this is payback from when I was an infant and supposedly refused a pacifier. According to my Mom, she too suffered long, frustrating nights due to my rebellion. Either way, Lexie is going to have to give in to a bottle soon since I go back to work Feb 1st. She obviously has no problem breastfeeding. I think she has reached the 12 lb mark this week.

Caleb is enjoying using Monte as a pillow while watching cartoons; Monte doesn't seem to mind.

Baby Pics

I decided to try doing my own baby pics of Lex to avoid taking her out in public during these winter months. It took several different short shootings to accumulate, but I think we got some good keepsakes. Here are some of my favorites.

What an angel!

This one was tricky to pose and take the picture at the same time.

She is probably going to hate tutu's and be a tomboy like her mommy was.

Daddy's little girl!

My two sweeties feeties.

We are so blessed!

Happy New Year

I hope everyone is enjoying the start to the new year. We have obviously stayed low key with the kids, so not any exciting outings of late. Though Caleb continues to keep us entertained with his witty banter. He continues to visit "time out" fairly often for his smart remarks he loves to make. Thanks to Uncle Rhett, he tries play off his rude pointing finger into the beginning of the Longhorn's sign and suddenly says "Go Longhorns", then "Uncle Rhett started it." He also likes to mimic some of our sayings, but uses them most rudely. The other night Greg told him he had to eat all his dinner before getting dessert, and Caleb replied "I have to eat all this food? Are you kidding me?" I tried not to laugh while correcting his comment. He also loves to say "whatever mom" in response to something asked of him, which always lands him a trip to Time Out. He does have his sweet moments too of course, but often these are a weapon of manipulation when he wants something. It didn't take me long to catch on to the ruse. But it is hard to say no to his angelic face when he says "I love you Mommy", just before he asks for his treat of course. I am in for lots of trouble in the future. I'm more worried about having two little manipulators in the coming years. Greg and I won't have a chance.

Lex continues to grow at an alarming rate. At yesterday's weight check, she weighed 11 lbs and 2 oz. I do have "healthy" babies. Those of you who love to, will definitely be able to pinch those chubby cheeks. She is starting to show some of her personality, especially with Daddy. She loves to laugh at his various funny faces. Caleb continues to be "very helpful" with her care as well. Always willing to hold her hand while I change her diaper. (He decided helping me change her diapers were gross.)

Here are some pics from Grandma Teri and Aunt Sammie's visit. Caleb thoroughly enjoyed entertaining our guests for the duration of their visit.

Merry Christmas!

We were very blessed this Christmas having my parents, Aunt Dani, and Uncle Rhett here to help us celebrate. It was wonderful having a fire going while watching the snow fall on Christmas Eve. I was excited to have a white Christmas for a change. Aunt Dani and Uncle Rhett helped Caleb roast marshmallows over the fire the first night, something Aunt Dani used to enjoy the most as a child. They continued to spoil Caleb the rest of the weekend. Christmas Eve Caleb was sooo excited anticipating Santa's arrival, he didn't even protest at bedtime. Just after he fell asleep, I woke him for another sneak peek of Santa this year while Santa was picking up his elf Sandy to return back to the North Pole. It's getting harder for Caleb to restrain himself, he really wanted to go talk to Santa this time. We may have to discontinue this tradition next year or we will get ourselves in a pickle. But it was cute seeing how excited he was to see Santa. After Caleb fell asleep again, Greg and uncle Rhett worked hard to get everything ready for Christmas morning. Luckily Caleb didn't get up until 8a.m. so we had a little time to rest before the chaos, though Lexie didn't care what time or day it was. She still prefers to stay awake at night and sleep during the day. Caleb was spoiled by Santa this year, but it was worth it to see his face light up as he ran into the living room to see all his presents. He didn't know what to look at first, but ultimately the blue guitar and Spiderman scooter were the biggest hits. He enjoyed singing to the family most of the day on his microphone GiGi gave him. It was priceless! I think we have a rock star in the making. Lexie wasn't too concerned about what Santa brought her, she was content with snuggling with GiGi. We spent the rest of the weekend enjoying wonderful company and food. I hope everyone else had a very Merry Christmas.