A story of tonsils and tears

HP went under the knife for the second time this past week. Not our favorite activity that's for sure. I am currently on day 3 of being at home with him during the recovery process. So far we're doing alright. I've just had to physically restrain him once so far to get him to take medicine. He insisted that he 'was full of medicine' and that he was all better anyway and didn't need anymore.

I've felt like a new parent again having to wake up several times in the night to crying and/or to check if he was in fact still breathing.

To keep my sanity I've run off to the YMCA while Jon's been home. Re-loaded with with energy and more squishy foods every time I return. So far HP likes pudding, chocolate milk and gummy bears. I have done my fair share of ice cream eating.

Sideways giggles while sporting our matching hospital bracelets.

Post op puffy face.

Daddy pep talks.

A Roadtrip, solo

Hello from Indianapolis, IN! I'm parked right in the heart of the city about to go into a New Directors meeting. This is State number 3 that I've visited this week. I look forward to rounding the corner to my own little house tonight.

Last year, my first in my current role, I hopped sporadically from school to school and state to state. This year I'm holding Regional Conferences for my schools, and so far its been successful! Now with NC and OH down I'm heading into 3 regional meetings across Michigan. It should be both awesome and rough. But yes, a whole lot better than travelling here and there like last year.

Some takeaways- I really do like Dayton, OH. If you haven't been it really is worth a drive through :) Indy's downtown mall has to be one of my favorites. And NC provided some actual Summer heat (much needed). But nobody likes the drive from Indy to Grand Rapids. Long, flat and boring. Blerg.

On the home front Jon was awarded an employee of the month-type award! Yay! I know he deserves it. And especially with me being gone so often these next 2 months I'm sure he'll win the best parent award too :)

HP actually sat through his first big boy haircut with Jon! I would have loved to see that :) Over these past years he has always gotten haircuts from his babysitter, Cindy, and myself. Cindy does it way better than me. Of course there was the time Jon tried his hand at it to.....best not to mention.

Also on the HP-front, he is participating in his very first field trip with his class today! I kick myself for not being able to chaperon :( I wish I could see him play with his buddies and enjoy a picnic lunch at the park. Sweet boy :)

A Sprint down Memory Lane

I bring you now an update of life through pictures I found on my parent's computer! Some are true blasts from the past!

The Blandford Nature Center 2013

One year ago today! 2012

I chose this one, because of the crazy looks on both our faces!

Today he asked if Kiki would be at his birthday party :(

Yesterday was Grandma's birthday! (2011?)

Ah! What a bug!

He's loved helping his Abuelito in the garden since Day 1

For some reason I love this picture!

Awwww

:) My teddy bear

Of course, I think all this sentimental walking down memory lane is due to the fact that this guy right here

is turning the big 03 this month. Holy smokes! 

Almost happy birthday HP :)

HP's Halloweens

I was emptying pictures off our camera and came across some of HP's greatest Halloween hits :)

2010: Baby Scarecrow 

2011: Tiny Parrot 

HP and his best friend cowboy Eli

2012: Little Boy Buzz

Fall

 Tis the season for running through leaves, chasing squirrels, playing hide-and-seek, picking pumpkins and eating our weight in apples and doughnuts. We are on our game. That is probably the best explanation for my lack of updates. That and the less exciting, simpler events that mark the passage of time. The soccer practices and games, the adult ESL tutoring, the general up-keeping of the house, all those things that I can do by heart now. It keeps me moving.

But instead of being weighed down by the fact that all these littles add up to a big day I feel good about almost everything that I do. And that is a great feeling. Kind of like registering for college courses and finding you've gotten into all your top choices and they all start after 10am with no Friday class. I think I registered my semester of life well this time.

There is still a laundry list of Fall to-dos, but I'm not stressing. I'll get to it if I do. Right now I'm relishing in these bits of lovliness: a friend's baby announcement, a possible career shift (trying not to hold my breath), a baby shower, two completed knit projects, dinners with friends, and the fact that TODAY my little HP looked at me and said 'Mama'. He decided this morning to actually address me by that name (after all this while!) and I could not be happier to hear his sweet voice.

Speechless

Today was the day. H had two ladies come over and evaluate him for speech and general toddlerisms. One was a speech pathologist the other an occupational therapist. They were both very nice and H took to them right away, even though it was 1pm and he was desperately sleepy. They had him when they pulled the first ball out of there many bags. 

Like I've mentioned before, we have been concerned with H's lack of language. And all the books and pediatricians speak of a language explosion that just never exploded. My deepest fear was that there was something more, something trickier and more permanent that was at the root of this delay. No parent wants that to be the case, and I can totally see how getting on the denial train is the easier route. But, it's better to know and learn ways to help. 

H seems right on level with everything OT-wise, if you have ever seen Harry with a ball you are not surprised by that. He did qualify for speech and articulation help. Which means that he is entitled to weekly in-home visits by a speech-path for an hour to teach strategies that H can use to develop skills. I asked her if this would have any long-term effects, and she says he has a good prognosis of having his own language explosion within a year and being up to speed by kindergarten (whoa, even writing that H will be in Kindergarten is a scary thought, time moves!). He might need speech during pre-school if his articulation demands it. I took speech for a few years due to my lisp....hopefully they are better now that they were then. 

So there it is. He charmed them with his smiles and dance moves, and overall happy attitude. I know he'll get the whole talking thing soon :)

Summer Series: Part 4 of 6

Week 3 has flown by in a flurry of excitement. Although we didn't manage to get to the beach again we did almost everything, and more, that I wanted to do. We even took advantage of a BOGO coupon to the Children's Museum downtown. I've been there once before with H last year, but he has been several times with his babysitter and buddy Eli. It felt odd to be shown around by a 2 year old. He maps places really well.

We attempted the 4th of July fireworks. A friend of mine invited us over for a backyard viewing and we went trying not to have any expectations of H.

We made it til 8:30.

Next year I think will be the year :)










This week is full of my kind of adventures :)

Fiona Apple concert at Meijer Gardens
Camping Trip to Manistee for 2 nights!
Enjoying the much cooler temperatures, whew, 100+ is not fun unless you live on a beach

In other H news: We're going to be evaluated at Early On soon for his speech. It's a little funny feeling as I've never done, or thought about this before. But H is pretty close-lipped (literally, he talks through a closed mouth), points his way through the day, and acts embarrassed when I ask him to try saying something (he'll slap his head and cover his eyes). This is not my specialty. I know how kids act when acquring a second language but I'm at a loss.

In all other aspects H is thriving and speeding along. I'm fairly sure he's just a late talker. But we'll see, and if nothing else it'll be interesting to see what a baby speech pathologist does to evaluate a 2-year old. 

Big Boy

HP is napping upstairs! On his very own floor mattress big boy bed! I was a bit more apprehensive about how he'd do napping than sleeping overnight. But yay him (so far)! I've had to lie on the bed with him both times now until he's asleep, and really that is more sweet than annoying. It was a little tricky today though as he really loves tangling his hands in my way-too-long hair. I had to do a Indiana Jones maneuver to get out of it. I quickly switched my head with Mr. Bear. I guess we are similar enough because I was free and tip-toed away.

In other news, we have laundry in the house again! I said enough was enough with the laundromat and bought a used washer for $100 on craigslist. I love that site. My father-in-law helped Jon get it connected and even fixed the gas leak in the dryer. Awesome, so no more crispy towels from being hung out on the line. That is not going to stop me, however, from hanging out the rest of the laundry. Sorry Jon.

Reflections on February

Did you enjoy February as much as H enjoyed pudding? Well, I hope so.

So I've made progress with my list of things! I've been keeping my promises more (or just making fewer), buying things I need/want (my first ever pair of Anthro jeans!- half off, sweet), and (drum-roll) have lost 3 pounds over the last 4 weeks! Huzzah.

Baby H has been taking off in general. Much to my amazement he has become way self-sufficient with his play. Climbing up and sliding down the elementary equipment over and over til he was covered in mud and ready to move on to the swings.

He's still a man of few words, most concerning balls and "I got it!". But he does know a whole lot of vocab that he's choosing to keep mum about.

Lastly, I do realize all parents think their child is super duper, etc. but...this boy is super duper good at all things concerning ball sports. He has one wicked drop-kick. I'm hoping to bring him to my soccer practices more this season :) Which starts in 2 weeks! New adventures :)

A Bear in the Woods

H practically begged to go down to his first nap at 8:45a. Why so sleepy? That is perhaps the worst thing about camping with a 13 mo old, the readjustments. H is all about his schedule, for the good and the bad.

On a whim a few weeks ago we decided to look up Sleeping Bear Dunes campsites. I had heard about them through a co worker and since it is on my 27 THings to Do While 27 I thought why not go there? As luck would have it, the campsite we were aiming at had one night available amidst weeks of being booked up. We registered for it on the spot, 15$ campsite. I was happy about it already :)

So we woke up at 4:30 Saturday morning. The car was (very wisely) packed the night before. I only managed to forget both of our toothbrushes. We loaded a sleepy bear into his car seat and took off with coffee in our hands and cautious anticipation in our hearts!

It took us 3 hours and 15 rounds of The Ants Go Marching sung by me in the back seat to get to our first destination. We arrived early at the Platte River and loaded up the little one in the borrowed 25+ year old Gerry baby carrier (the BEST contraption and the winner of What to Bring While Camping with a Baby). We got to see large nesting cages of endangered birds. Discovered that we should have brought waders to ford the river and also maybe should have bought a map. But the river felt delicious on our feet!

Jon flashing some skin to avoid the water.

We lounged on the grass and ate some snacks while planning our next stop. We decided to head to our campground to see if our spot was open and then continue on to the Dunes.

View from the car, just the first of several dunes to Lake Michigan.

Because our site was still occupied we headed north to Glen Arbor (perhaps it was Haven?) for lunch and a stroll around the cute town. Very beachy. We grabbed some slices of pizza and H even convinced me to buy him his first ice cream (superman flavored) which we split. He was techni-colored around the face for the better part of the day.

Me and H decided to race up the dune...not a good idea.

The initial dune was huge yes, but I've done several before so thought nothing of it at first. But those dunes were deceiving us! Each time we crested the sand hills we just saw another looming in front with the false promise that the lake was right after that one. Well no it wasn't.

Jon reacts to seeing yet more hills between him and the water.

22lbs of precious cargo still feels like 22lbs.

H had a lot of fun removing his hat and throwing it to the ground while we climbed. Hilarious. But it really was a great hike. The best part was the descent though :)

The view before descending the big dune.

Another thing I learned was this, carry your camera everywhere if you want pictures. Sadly this is my last picture. This was taken at 6am Sunday morning while Jon was tearing down the tent and I placated a sad baby with crackers and milk.

To streamline the rest of the trip for you:

Things that went well:

H slept- from 10:30 to 5:30 the baby slept in his diaper between us. Little angel. It took him 2 hours of ping-ponging around the tent before he collapsed from exhaustion, cute but tiring even to watch!

We got to see such beautiful things in northern MI that we really want to go back. That along was a success :)

I made and lit a campfire (albeit with 6 matches but who was counting?) that lasted long enough for our hot dog dinner and smores.

We went through Traverse City on the way back- what a fun mix of Ann Arbor, Holland and Chicago. I want to go back!

Things that were less than awesome:

The camp stove was not our friend...a fire hazard for real! No pancake breakfast for us.

It thunder stormed as we woke up (which was actually pleasant) but packing up camp in it with a cranky baby not so ideal.

A loud raccoon got into our campsite and scared me silly. I couldn't see it and only heard piggy-like noises and lumbering about. Yeesh.

So that in a nutshell is what I learned. The best thing was we left tired but wanting to do it again. Success!

We're on the Move!

Lots has happened over the course of the week. I'd put them into 3 categories, because that is just what I do.

I. Baby H:

He went from being semi-mobile to a real crawler seemingly within the week. His daycare ladies must have been working him hard because he has launched into true crawling. In addition to that he is really into pulling himself up onto anything he can get his paws on. One of his favorite things to do is stand in his crib and slap the railing as loud as he can.
He is also being a champion sleeper. Waking up around 3/4a for a feeding then rolling back to his tummy for the rest of the night. We are really appreciating that. Will it last, eh? Perhaps.

II.House:

We actually made an offer on this house that we really like. It came back with a counteroffer and after a little discussion we decided to sign that too....whoa.
So now inspections on Monday will tell us if it's a lock. And then...I guess we go from there.
Here's a little written sneak peek on the house:
3 bedrooms all on the upper story, fireplace, bay window, fire pit in backyard, funny little carport, wood floors throughout, nice kitchen, built in 1930.
Things to update: windows! They literally have a pulley system to open them...

III. Me

I am getting back into the swing of working out. Awesome. Played volleyball at the staff v. students game this past week and am sadly feeling it in my arms and stomach. I so miss sports!

I went swimming, delightful! I need to get back into that.
And the house is located 2 blocks away from a bus stop that could take me to the street that I work on. That would be amazing to not have to drive over there and do all that back and forth. And honestly, that's getting way pricey!
Also, we paid off 1 credit card which puts me on track to make my goal of killing 2 by the end of the year! Yay!

House/9 Month

Yesterday Jon and I did round #1 of 'housing". We met Rebecca at the first miss of the day. From there we travelled to the one hit of the day. And like I'm sure it's happened to so many others, it has ruined me for any future houses. Sigh.

It made me want to display my wish list for our future house:

1. fireplace
2. 1+ bathrooms
3. 2/3 bedrooms
4. a backyard with green space enough to run around and have a small garden
5. wood floors
6. but some nice carpet too
7. an eating bar in the kitchen

nice windows

Things it wont have:

1. split levels
2. wood panelling 
3. narrow hallways 
4. more than 4 rooms 
5. a scary unfinished basement 

Truly, that lovely house ruined me with its perfect fireplace, its built in desk, those shiny wood floors and updated kitchen... Oh well, maybe it was a touch too awesome and big for us. A family of 2.2 does not need so much. 

***********

In Bear news: he had his 9 MONTH check up last Tuesday! Whoa. Here are his baby stats

Weight: 19.0

Length: 27 1/4" 

Now those silly percentiles that I don't so much like, because really? What's the purpose?

Weight: 90%

Length: 25%

Head: 75%

Congratulations Baby H! You are 9 months old AND demanded his first haircut! 

A Very Happy Non-Birthday

One day left to finish up my to do list...and I am not optimistic. Well, I did accomplish some of the more major things :)

Tonight I'm having a girls night with the ladies. Lots of food and chic flicks I think. Considering one of us is 8 and a half months pregnant we'll likely stay in for the duration :) I am SO excited to see the new baby girl. I think Harrison will be a great playmate. He has made a few buddies at his school. One girl, Alexandra, in particular seems smitten with him. She's always trying to climb into his car seat as we get ready to leave. I never imagined I'd be one of those parents to mock set up a little "girlfriend" but I must admit it is really cute when they sit together and play with their toys. His other buddy Ezra is a funny character too, army crawling all over the place. Harrison likes to roll, rock back and forth on his bum and tummy scoots backwards. He also pulls up well and likes standing and jumping. In other "firsts" the Bear fed himself a puff yesterday. It's kind of a scary thing to feed a baby solid things. Each time I see it move further back on his tongue I anticipate his red faced cough. 

So tomorrow I turn 27. But for today I'll try to enjoy whats left of my youth :) 

Let it Snow!

Harrison got this sweet sled for Christmas and today would have been a perfect day to use it! Sadly we didn't get home to close to 6 at which point dinnering and winding down took precedent over venturing outdoors.

Back to work for all of us. Me at the school, Jon at the job and Harrison at his daycare. He was all smiles when I greeted him at 3. We play a little before packing up and heading out. It's funny to watch the other babies watch us. So many little baby faces!

I have noticed a new Harrison first- he has been passing toys from one hand to the other for a couple weeks now. It's almost like he's performing a magic trick. He also loves saying Daddy and Da da....to everything! His sleep habits have become kinder lately as well. He goes down by 7:30 after a story from Daddy and songs from me. He'll stay sleeping til 4 or 5. Awesome. Then a little snack and back to bed til 7ish. It has been really a nice trend.

He just keeps on changing!

A New Year

Happy 2011! I have a strong suspicion this will be a good year. It started off on a fun note. Grandma and Abuelito Matteson volunteered to watch the Bear while Jon and I joined Kellie and fiance Dikran in Chicago. I LOVE Chicago.

We joined up with a very eclectic bunch. This is the third time I did the all inclusive dinner/drink NYE and I really think it's the best way to go. The food was DELICIOUS at Quarantinos (sp?) and I sampled a whole array of drinks. That was the biggest difference from last NYE when I was pregnant and focused on eating not drinking. I'm still on the fence of a signature Laura drink. I have yet to find it.
Well I made it through the evening with only minor social gaffs. Something to work on for the next year: be less awkward. Please feel free to call me out if I in fact am awkward in front of you. I need to learn somehow :)
It was odd to be away from the Baby for an overnight, the first time! I survived only because I knew he was in good hands.

I now have only 15 days to complete the remainder of my 26 things to do list. The pressure is on to finish some of them and brainstorm what to put on my next list. Suggestions are welcome :)

It's a Pillow, it's a Pet, it's a Pillow Pet Xmas

 Merry Christmas! The Bear went incognito as a reindeer for the occasion. Christmas morning was spent with Grandma and Abuelo Matteson and Aunt Kellie. We then crossed the state for a Christmas dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Randall, Jon's sister and bro-in-law and their two little girls Emma and Ella. 

 Santa left a great stocking for Harrison, he especially liked the puppet.

 However he was a little perplexed about the orange at the toe.

 These squishy blocks were a hit! Thanks Aunt Michelle! He also can't wait to take his new blue sled out. We're just waiting for some more snow!

 Lots and lots of great books for bed time stories.

And the most coveted and popular Xmas gift of the season was the Pillow Pet! He cousins had 2 each and even little Harrison got his own infant-sized one to cuddle. And of course it was a bear :) 

Tuckered out!