3 DOWN, 1 TO GO...The boys are ALL in School!

Yesterday was the end of Week 2 into the 2014-2015 school year and so far, everyone is doing really well!

Connor is loving kindergarten. Amazingly enough, no tears were shed by either of us on his first day (yay!) and every day he excitedly bounds out of the school doors to tell me all about lunch. Lunch is his favorite part of the day. What can I say, he loves to eat! And apparently, he really loves to eat the ''vegetarian'' options. He's had salad, salad with pasta noodles, a special tray that had cracker chips, yogurt, cheeses, celery and carrots. He usually tells me all about lunch, then all about PE or Recess and then something completely random and off the wall.

We did have a little hiccup when on Wednesday when I received a call from the school nurse. Connor had puked while skipping in PE but felt ''much better'' and had wanted to continue to play. Unfortunately for him, I had to pick him up. A quick doctor visit confirmed that all that running, got him to coughing and that the cough combined with a slight 'crackle' sound in his lungs earned him a preventative inhaler for the next two weeks. As bummed as I was, I have to say to go an entire year without an inhaler was a huge milestone for my little peanut. 

And the other boys? They are loving third grade and second grade.

Logan was actually assigned the same 2nd grade teacher that Ryan had and while he likes Mrs. G, he usually tells me all about how she called him ''Ryan" x amount of times today. His patience is a little thin but I explained how when she sees our last name, she naturally wants to say Ryan when calling attendance. And how they do look a little alike, so to give her some time. His best friend from first grade is in his class, so the two always choose to sit by each other (oh and he loves the ''open seating'' option that his teacher has). So far he hasn't had any homework but he is concerned because he remembers how much Ryan had last year. (Not a lot at all but Logan has never had a teacher who assigned much!).

Ryan was a little anxious about starting 3rd grade. When the class lists were posted, he realized that he didn't have any friends in his class (he did recognize a few names).  But now at the end of week two he is much more at ease. Apparently he is mostly in his class with his teacher, but for language arts they swap with another class so he has a different teacher. Then for block/specials (PE, Art, Music, Computers) they are the ''rainbow'' group so the entire class splits up and goes with other classes on different days so he is getting the opportunity to meet a lot of kids from other classes. I'm hoping that Ry might come out of his shell a little bit this year.  I know at home he is much more verbal and opinionated! The attitude of an 8 year old can be shocking some days.

And little Sis? She's loving all that time to herself. The first few days were a little rough; she missed her brothers. She would ask if it was time to pick them up. She would talk non-stop. But by this week, she was loving that alone time. Last Friday Ron had off so we took just Maggie and headed down to Galveston. She loved it. She got to walk on the beach and pick up shells, she got hold our hands and do the 1,2,3 swing. We went out  for seafood at lunch and she got her own steam-pot of crab, shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes. And she behaved so well and helped clean the table at lunch, so the waitress gave her a plastic shark toy...her day was totally made. She was telling people ''I'm just one kid today!". Totally adorable and such a different dynamic.

Overall, it's been a really smooth transition. They all wake and get ready pretty easily. Connor has had a few mornings where he really wanted to just stay home with me (not because he dislikes school but because he ''just loves me so much''). Those mornings are rough because of course I want to say, "okay you can stay home and snuggle" but I don't, I walk him to school and he does great. His teacher actually approached me after school yesterday and wanted to let me know that she is so impressed at how well he is doing, both academically and socially.In fact, they earn tickets each day but can lose the tickets for bad behavior/not listening...Connor had the most tickets out of anyone in the class; he has never lost a ticket. He got to "shop" the prize wall on Friday and gets to bring a stuffed animal to school on Monday. He was elated to hear that!

Five going on Twenty-five...

Please someone tell me it's not just my five year old who suddenly thinks that because he is FIVE he can suddenly break all the rules, back talk and generally do whatever his little heart desires?

Please. Anyone?

I mean seriously. It started right before his birthday. It was bedtime and I told him to go brush his teeth and get ready for bed. His response: "Mom, I'm almost five now and I don't want to go to bed so I'm not."

For reals.

Today he was eating Chex snack mix when I told him that he didn't need a snack, we were leaving for Pizza Hut in half an hour and to put it down. He told me ''NO" and pulled the snack cup in closer. I pried the snack cup from his hand, put it high up on the counter and told him that he needed to listen to mommy. He promptly told yelled ''No'' again, while batting his hands at me and telling me that he WANTED his snacks.

Yeah, that earned him a big fat timeout.

The thing is {and I know this is why I'm taking to so personal/hard} Bubba has never been a defiant child. He's usually a people pleaser, a natural rule follower, happy to help, first to tattle and seems much more mature than his peers for his age. I barely recognize this little boy who is back-talking, ignoring my requests, intentionally doing things he knows he shouldn't, etc. And I should clarify, it's not every moment of the day; it's fairly random but man oh man is it annoying nonetheless.

I know it's a stage. My recent ''Big Kid E-mail'' from babycenter.com even had an article on defiance. I know that he's at that awkward age where he's no longer a baby but he's not quite a ''big kid'' yet. He can do most things on his own but still doesn't get complete freedom to do as he wants. He's testing boundaries. He's trying to get attention, positive or negative. One minute he dresses himself completely, even remembering to put his dirty clothes in the hamper without being asked and the next moment he's using baby talk to ask me to watch Netflix. I keep telling myself ''This too shall pass".

But onto his stats, Tuesday at Dr. S' office Bubba weighed in at 35.5 lbs and was 40.25 inches. This puts him into the 7th percentile for weight and the 4th percentile for height. He's a petite little thing but healthy and still staying right on his own little growth curve. At his 5 year well child appointment he had his blood pressure checked for the first time:

He thought it was pretty funny:

He passed his eye exam {reading from the letter chart, not the shapes}

Developmentally, he is right on track. He knows his alphabet (upper and lower, he recognizes them and writes them), knows his colors, he can hop on one foot, identify and draw basic shapes and define basic words. The resident that was helping Dr. S asked him to define the word "Lake", Bubba responded "Like a pond...it's water" and looked at the guy like "Duh". There is nothing we need to keep an eye on or look out for, just keep doing what we're doing. He did have to get 3 shots and while I'd love to say ''He did awesome, barely shed a tear'' that would be a lie. A huge, big, fat lie. He was screaming "No, no, no'' the moment Donna walked in the room. He intertwined his arms across his body and refused to take off his shirt. He cried, then bawled, then got to the point where he was almost gagging and this was BEFORE he even had the shots! But we managed to get them done and we were good to go. My oldest baby is officially ready for Kindergarten......

6 Month Stats

Well little Miss had her check up today. At six months she is tipping the scales (ha!) at 15lbs 10oz, she's 26 inches tall and is right in the 50th-60th percentile. Her brothers were all 16lbs+ by now but she is much more active than they were and apparently, a petite little girl :) She is perfectly healthy, had her immunizations and handled them like a trooper. Doc said we need to introduce solid food so she can get the extra iron so I guess that's our goal for now. {Especially since I am quite tired from waking up at night again, girlfriend needs her calories but I need sleep!}.

In 2 days...

...Peanut will be twenty-one months old!

He's just three short months shy of being 2 years old and he just doesn't seem old enough for that,. I mean in some ways he does: he talks up a storm, he behaves...often times better than his brothers. He uses silverware, he's starting to show signs of potty training.

Take today for instance. Today I took Peanut to the doctor about a rash on his tummy and to see if it was food allergy related {bubba is allergic to eggs and milk and when he was eating those things regularly, he had a rash}. He also has a runny nose and cough that I thought should be checked out. Turns out the rash is not a allergy thing. It's actually a very common skin fungus called Tinea Versicolor. All we have to do is wash his belly with Selsum Blue shampoo once or twice a week and it'll go away. And the runny nose/cough is most likely a virus...he and Pooks both have the same symptoms as well as an ear infection each. Antibiotics for both.

So while the rash isn't caused by food allergies, we still had blood drawn to test for allergies due to "poor weight gain" and family history. See Peanut, truly is a little peanut. At his 1 year check up he weighed 21.2 lbs. At 18mos he weighed 22.4 lbs and today, buck-naked he weighed 24lbs exactly. In 9 months he has grown taller but has gained less than 3lbs. Thus he's fallen from the 25th percentile, to the 20th, to were he's at now, about the 17th. Dr. S isn't highly concerned; he's getting taller, his parents are both smaller than average, etc but because of the family history of allergies she thought we should rule it out just in case.
 
The method of testing? A blood draw. They were testing for any sensitivity or allergy to dogs, cats, nuts, eggs, milk or wheat. Now I know grown adults that don't like having their blood drawn. Bubba has had this done several times and it usually involves me holding him as tightly as possibly, at least one nurse holding his arm down, another nurse who draws the blood and a whole 'lotta tears. And the thing is, Bubba is 4 years old. And I can't blame the kid, I don't know anyone who thinks ''Oh Goodie! Blood draw--YES!" But reminder, Peanut is 21 months old. So we were all kinda expecting the worse.

We get back in the little room and I hold him in the chair. The 1st nurse ties the blue rubber thingy around his upper right arm (doc matt feel free to inform me of the real word) and she starts feeling for a vein. No luck. So she switches to the left arm. No luck. So she calls in another nurse and he thinks that he's found a usable vein in the left arm. They consult a 3rd nurse who checks it out and declares that that it itsn't a vein but an artery and that won't work. They move back to the right arm and between the 1st nurse and 3rd nurse ''find'' one. Meanwhile Peanut is just looking at them like ''what the hell are you doing''. Never fusses, never even moves his arm.

So they get all ready to draw on the left side; 1st nurse sticks him while second nurse holds his hand. Needle goes in and after, I kid you not, two minutes of rooting around in there it is decided that the vein has ''rolled''. They remove the needle. And Peanut? Did not make a peep. Not a grimace. Not even a flinch did that child move. He just watched. And he continued to watch as they searched for a new vein on the left arm. Same routine only this time the 3rd nurse does the draw and she gets it on the first try. They suck 4ml out of him and again, he doesn't bat an eye. Not a tear is shed, not a yelp...nada. We get done I pick him up and hold him, telling him how big he was and he looks at the cotton balls taped to the bends in his arms...looks back at the nurse and says ''Bye".

That was it. Piece of cake. The really ironic part? This evening when Nanaw came over she asked why he still had the taped cotton balls on his arms; I told her because I couldn't bring myself to yank the tape off...hell I'm a grown up and it hurts me. So she reaches over and yanks the tape off...Peanut looks at her, gives a glare and a little body shiver and says ''Ouch!" Apparently, the removal of the tape hurt worse than the removal {and attempted removal} of the blood? 

well child check ups

Pooks turns 3 tomorrow (eek!) and Peanut will be 18mos old on Wednesday. Let me just say that it's a very good thing that I'm pregnant again or I think my biological clock would be ticking so loudly for another baby, that people in China would be able to hear it. I just cannot believe how fast they are growing. People always tell you that they "grow up so fast" and they do. It's hard to believe in the first few sleep deprived-sore nipples-no clean clothes-haven't showered in days months, but they do grow up so quickly.

I remember like yesterday, the day Pooks was born. I had been in labor for days having contractions from 10min-5mins apart, I was dilated to almost 4cm but the contractions weren't getting closer or more intense, just annoying. I had a check up with Dr P and he told me to ''walk''. Right...like I hadn't tried that one! So, being the sensible person that I am, I mowed the yard. In May. While 37 weeks and 4 days pregnant. In 80 degree weather. With a push mower.

Ding, ding, ding! Contractions! Four minutes apart and intense, even after a shower. We headed to the hospital around 2pm and by 7pm, Pooks was born. After a drug-free labor and about 3 pushes, all 6lbs and 5oz and 19inches of him had arrived.

Six pounds and 5 oz.

Wow.

Today, at just one day shy of being 3 years old, he weighed thirty one pounds and was thirty five and a half inches tall.

Definitely not a baby. Not even close!
Even Peanut, my tiny little peanut that was my early Thanksgiving present, is no longer a baby. At just 2 days shy of being eighteen months old, Peanut weighed 22.2lbs and was 31.5 inches tall. Quite the difference from his birthday, when he weighed just 6lbs 13oz and was 20 inches tall. He now walks, runs, talks and guess what...climbs!
Yeah...last time I checked, babies cannot do that.

So listen when people say ''Cherish this, they grow up fast" because while my oldest is only 4, I can attest that it's true. Today my oldest ''baby'' told me that I was ''just too mean mom'' because I wouldn't let him have an ice cream cone, before dinner. Challenging? Yes. But it was just yesterday that he made sounds for rain and called my mama.