Cuddle Boy

Jacob is 100% a momma's boy, no denying, no getting around it.  I'm not going to lie, I love it!!!  He will randomly come up to hug, kiss, and sit on my lap without asking.  He was particularly cuddly last week and willing to cheese it up for pictures!

He also had lots of love for his sister this night and showered her with hugs and kisses while she was trying to watch her show.  I absolutely love when they show affection towards each other!

Our Future's So Bright...

we've got to wear shades!  These kids are way into their shades!!!

Goofballs!

Finally, his own pair of shades!  (I bought him a pair of 0-24 month shades a while back and they were too small!  So we had to exchange them for a pair of 2-6 year old shades!)

Splish Splash

I don't know what it is about water but I know all kids love it.  I was at Target the other day (big shocker right???) and saw this Safari Water table and since I had an extra 5% off, I decided to get it for the kids, especially since the weather is getting nicer.  It was super warm at the end of the week so I put it together while I was working at home one day and on a call and let the kids test it out.  Of course fun was had by all.  I expected Riley to be soaked by the time we went inside but it was Jacob who was soaked and Riley was pretty much completely dry.

Jake-Os couldn't decide between the house and the water table

Cheese!

Playing nicely together

Pretty girl dove right in!

Captain Destructo thinks dis is fun!

When the 1 year old starts dunking his face in the water it's time to pack up and go inside!

Hugs for Sister

Riley was throwing a temper tantrum the other night and Jacob walked right over, laid down, and gave her a hug.  At first Marc thought he was biting her, I him "no, I think he's hugging her," as he did this a few days earlier when she was throwing a tantrum at school when I picked them up but it did warrant another look because well, it was very possible that he was biting, pinching or pulling her hair.  But nope, sweet boy was hugging his big sis!  Jacob has started to be become aware of other people's moods and responds to them, i.e. hugging a crying-fit throwing Riley.

As you can see, Jacob successfully turned her frown upside down!  I love this age because they are playing so well together.  They love to give each other stuff, especially Jacob, he'll grab Riley's sweatshirt and hand it out to her or when she's doing gymnastics and he sees her, he'll point and scream at her.  And the feeling is mutual, Riley tells us that Jacob is her best friend.  Saturday she told us that she likes Jacob better bigger than smaller because he's so much more fun.  (I on the other hand, love this phase of Jacob but miss the cuddly baby phase, especially after a few visits to see Bella's new brother Max!)

Baby cuddles from Max for me! :)

New Laugh

Jacob has been SO much more smiley and giggly the past few days, Marc and I totally think it's because of his tubes and the fact that he is more comfortable.  He still had an infection in one ear on Friday at his post op appointment so the ENT put him on a new antibiotic drop and we've already noticed a change in the amount of goop coming out of his ear so hopefully he's on the mend.  He came home Friday super happy and giggly, his new way of laughing is to put his hands to his mouth, it's so stinking cute!

Who could foster such giggles and joy from Jacob you may wonder, big sister of course!!!!

She loves him SO much! (her words, not mine!)

Tubes

Super behind on blogging, I feel like all I do is work and when I'm not working, I'm trying to spend as much time with the kiddos as possible which leaves little time for blogging, let alone getting my toes done, eye brows waxed, watch fixed and going to the mall to try to find a new pair of jeans which I need desperately (since I wear jeans to work almost every day).  Oh and sleep, sleep would be good too.

Thursday I took the day off and took Jake-os down to get tubes put in his ears.  Overall it went very well, the hardest part was really just waiting for them to take him back.  I got there at 6:20 (in the am!) and they didn't take him back until 7:30 so he got very antsy.  Around 7:10 they gave him a sedative which made him very sleepy and very giggly but because it made him so relaxed I had to hold him and not let him walk around the waiting room that they had us in.  That was a challenge.  Marc took Riley to day care at 6:30 so with traffic he didn't get to the surgery center until just before they took Jake-os back.  Around 7:15/7:20 Jacob was getting super mellow which was nice, he just laid in my arms.  The anesthesiologist and the ENT came back and talked to us and at 7:30 on the dot they wheeled Jacob back, the anesthesiologist was great and kept assuring me that Jacob would be ok, that there was more of a risk of us driving every day than there was with him under the general anesthesia (I was more nervous for him to go back there and have anesthesia than I was with Riley, I think because of his asthma but Riley, while much smaller, seems much tougher than Jacob and I seem to worry about her less.  Perhaps because she faced so much more at a younger age than he ever had to so I know she can handle anything).  The anesthesiologist gave Jake-os his stethoscope to hold because he was obsessed with it and I walked back to the OR door with them.  No tears, at least from Jake-os. 

15 minutes later, the ENT was back and everything went great, Jacob was in recovery and doing well.  As Marc said, he spends more time in the bathroom than it took for them to do the procedure.  When we got back there I was expecting screaming, unruly baby but he hadn't quite woken up yet.  He was coughing a bit which the anesthesiologist told us about but he monitored him closely.  He was a little fussy but they handed him over to me and he settled right into my arms and fell asleep for over an hour and slept off the anesthesia.  I LOVED cradling him and him sleeping in my arms, literally at this stage in his constant movement I will take the cuddles wherever I can get them.

As promised we were on our way home by 9:30 after 2 Popsicles and some crackers.  I got him home around 10AM and I put him down for a nap to sleep off the anesthesia.  He slept for 2 hours and then it was pretty much like nothing had happened.  He was a little fussy and clingy but overall did great, we even managed to sneak out of the house for a bit and ran to the outlet mall to return some stuff and treated ourselves to a Starbucks (milk for Jacob and coffee for me).

Waiting for his turn in the OR

Post surgery and 2 Popsicles later (I had to cut him off from the Popsicles, he kept asking for more!)

Sweet baby boy!

Keeping himself busy before surgery

Sneaking out to run some errands after surgery

Lunch time, who would have ever guessed he had surgery that morning!

Present from Nana!

Friday Jacob went to day care and they told me they would keep an eye on him.  I picked him up of course later than I wanted to thanks to work being absolutely out of control and I noticed his ear was super oozy and bloody (they told me they had been draining and they had been cleaning them up throughout the day), I freaked out and put in a panicked call to the Dr, of course it was 5:05 and they were gone but I finally got an operator who put me through to the ENT on call, I was in such a panic.  I got lucky and it was Jacob's ENT who said he was not at all surprised given what he saw in the OR, that there was a ton of fluid and so it's now all draining out and it's totally normal so he put Jacob on an ear drop for both ears and we go back for his normal post-op appointment Friday.  Riley was very concerned about his ears on Friday.  They were seriously gross, even I was gagging but when I came in from unloading the car I found her cleaning his ears. She had gone into the bathroom and wet a tissue and was wiping his ear down because she was so concerned about it.  Such my sweet girl!

It's Always Something

Jacob has been pretty sick the past week and a half, it started the Friday before Christmas, he came down with really bad diarrhea, we figured it was from teething because he was drooling a ton, was grabbing his ears and had his hand constantly in his mouth.  He also started biting me again, all tell tale signs of teething and he usually gets diarrhea while teething so we didn't think much of it since he had no other signs of being sick, no fever, no rash, no other signs.  Plus the Dr told us a week ago that his molars were coming in.  Well by Christmas day it was out of control, he was going about 12 times a day and his poor little toosh was fire red and he screamed each time he went.  No matter what we gave him it went straight through him and he could literally take 3 bites before he was screaming for a diaper change.  Marc took him in on Wednesday to the Dr because I had to work.  The Dr said it was either teething (she thought his molars would cut through in the next day or so but have yet to come in) or a virus and if it wasn't better to come back Friday or Saturday, she did give a prescription diaper cream to help with his diaper rash. 

Friday it wasn't any better and his rash had started to bleed because it was so acidic and not getting any relief.  We took him in late Friday afternoon and the Dr was very concerned because it had been over a week.  Plus when he felt his stomach it was very bloated and caused my poor little man a lot of discomfort.  He ordered some blood work as well as stool samples (we came armed with a bag full of dirty diapers), we seriously changed 4 or 5 diapers an hour on Friday, it was out of control.  He did a full metabolic blood panel (which broke my heart as they pulled blood), tested for viruses and parasites in his stools, and tested for Celiac disease since my brother just tested positive for  Gluten intolerance.  Of course I didn't sleep all night Friday with worry.  The Dr put Jacob on a B.R.A.T. diet and that has seemed to help some in the past few days and also said that since his rash had become an open wound it had gotten infected so he has an antibiotic ointment which seems to be helping.  Friday night his blood work came back, his glucose was high, his calcium was high and albumin was high.  I made the mistake of going on WebMd (which I should know better given the Drs recommendations of not going on there when Riley was diagnosed with her clubfeet) and the feedback was grim.  The elevated glucose and albumin indicated Type 1 diabetes.  The elevated calcium could be an indication of cancer, I was heartbroken that something could seriously be wrong with my sweet Jacob.  He just turned 1!!! And of course all night Friday night there were a plethora of St Judd's Children's Hospital commercials, what if we became those families!?!  Oh and while we were there I asked the Dr to look at Riley's ears because I had noticed her grabbing at them and she had started complaining that her ears hurt.  Sure enough, ear infection.  Seriously!?!  Enough is enough!

I waited all day Saturday for his stool and Celiac results to come back, suddenly going gluten free didn't seem so bad!!!  Riley could see the concern on my face and when we were driving home from an errand Saturday she asked if I was worried about Jacob.  I told her yes and she said "Don't worry mommy he's ok, I just know he is."  Sweet sweet girl, she's actually been quite loving and caring towards him, especially during diaper changes when it's clear he's in excruciating pain. 

Sunday morning Jacob had us up super early for a diaper change, when we were done I decided to check my email before trying to go back to bed, there it was, an email from the Dr, at 6:04AM on a Sunday morning, on the Dr's birthday, while he was on vacation.  We seriously have awesome Drs in the practice we go to!!!  My hands were shaking as I logged onto the website to check the message.

 

Received:

12/30/2012 6:04 AM PST

So far all labs are coming back reassuring. Even the bloodwork. Stool studies do not show any parasite, blood work shows normal liver and kidney function and he does not have celiac disease. The elevated blood sugar is normal for someone not fasting. Also his elevated albumin shows that his nutritional reserves are actually very good. Hope the diarrhea is improving.

 

 

Suddenly the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders.  Sunday morning I took some extra time with the kids, you never know what tomorrow brings, I didn't even shower until 11AM (of course I had my coffee at my normal time, lets not get too crazy!) but rather I joined the kids in the playroom to help Riley put YaYa down for her nap since she too is very sick and I helped Jacob vroom vrooom his cars. 

 

Unfortunately we thought Jacob was on the upswing, but his diarrhea has seemed to pick up again.  A later email from the Dr said he thought it was just an awful virus but his diaper rash is getting better with the antibiotic cream.  We've currently gone through 2 tubes of Butt Paste, 2 tubes of prescription diaper cream, a tub of Bag Balm, 3 4-packs of YoBaby, and almost 90 diapers since this started but it's all ok if it means there is nothing seriously wrong with our baby.  His spirits are good, he wants to play, he desperately wants off of the B.R.A.T. diet but I think we'll be heading back to the Dr on Wednesday if he doesn't have a drastic improvement tomorrow.  He's lost a little weight and was 21lbs 13oz on Friday (no idea how since he's literally been living off of Gatorade and toast for the past 10 days) and somehow the 55th percentile on weight.  I would expect him to be lower on Wednesday if we take him back as his face looks thinner and his thighs are less pillowy.

 

 

I captured this photo of the kids this morning during breakfast, Riley freely went up to Jacob and hugged him and Jacob leaned forward, wrapped his arms around Riley and hugged him back.  Such a tender moment.  As jealous as Riley is of Jacob I know she genuinely loves him (it's no secret Jacob loves his big sister).

 

Moments like these I take away all the mean things I've said about Riley.  She really is a sweet kid.

 

My new favorite brother/sister photo.  I love these kiddos!

 

 

 



Happy Halloween!

What a week this has been!  Our Halloween celebrations began on Tuesday with a party at the kids' school.  I put the kids in their costumes and headed over.  It was great fun as usual with a ton of crafts.  I got lucky and got a spot in the lot, especially since Marc was meeting us there and it gets really crowded.  There were tons of arts and crafts and lots of princesses, Transformers and Super Heroes!  I had a monkey and an owl on my hands!  (We asked Riley what she wanted to be for Halloween and said an owl, seriously.  I was fully prepared to purchase her a princess outfit but she insisted on being an owl again, so thus the repeat of costumes from last year.  It still fit so we got lucky!)

My crazy animals!



This girl loves Halloween

Riley and Bella

Checking out the toys in the toddler room

Ready for arts and crafts

Halloween night we went to my friend Elisabeth's to go trick or treating with the usual crowd.  We had yummy pizza and then hit the streets for some trick or treating.  It was a beautiful night, we got lucky and missed the rain!

My mommy dogs

Jacob was not into pictures

The trick or treating gang!

Jacob joins the group, not very happy about it

My Chunky Monkey

Not so impressed with trick or treating, maybe next year!

Through the Years

Marc came across Riley's first class picture and we matched it up with Jacob's first class picture.  They are just about the same age and I find it funny that they are sitting in almost the same spot in the picture!  I also see a very strong resembelance!  

Cul de Sac Fun

It's been quite warm here again so after school on Tuesday I let the kids play out front.  My conundrum has been what to do with Jacob while Riley is riding her bike, he's really getting too heavy to hold but I don't necessarily want him crawling around outside!  So I busted out Riley's old push toy, our faithful lion and he LOVED it! 

I'm so not ready for my little man to be walking but day care keeps telling me that he wants to be a toddler and I can really see him light up when he's keeping up to his big sister so I'll let him have this one!  I also put him in Riley's pink Cozy Coupe car which he initially tried to climb out of, poor kid, the curse of having a big sister, everything is pink!  But once I started pushing him around while Riley was riding her bike and he was cruising next to her, he was more than content!

And Little Miss Riley has mastered her big girl bike, I don't know if she's finally tall enough, weighs enough, or her feet/ankles are finally strong enough (maybe another clubfoot delay, who knows) but she has it down!  I'm so proud of her, she's been trying for so long to be able to ride it. 

His and Hers

Riley loves being able to wear footy pajamas now that she's out of her brace just like her brother.  I just moved Jacob up to 12 month clothes and these new monkey PJs were in the lot, monkey PJs are always a favorite around this house.  Coincidentally, Riley was also ready to move to 3T clothes (yes, I know she's almost 4, le sigh will she ever grow?) and low and behold these pink monkey PJs were in her lot!  Riley picks out her PJs as well as Jacob's each night so she was so excited that they could match!

Box Of Fun

Sunday we got back from the Gilroy Outlet Mall around dinner time.  Both kids were irritable from the heat in Gilroy and being cooped up in the stroller, plus they were hungry so I had to think fast to keep them entertained while I made dinner.  Oh and have I mentioned that Riley dominates Jacob's toys.  Apparently her toys are worthless these days and she only wants what Jacob has or that we have designated as a Jacob toy, I really hope this jealousy goes away fairly quickly, though sadly I am pretty sure sibling rivalry is here to stay!  Considering she owns about 95% of the toys in my house, I should clean them out and make more room in our house for our stuff since all she wants are Jacob's baby toys.

I quickly pulled out this little box of toys because I figured it was low enough for Jacob to get into and there was enough stuff for both kids to play with, plus less toys for clean-up since given their cranky state I would most likely be doing the pick-up.  Score one for mommy because it gave me just enough time to get both kids' dinner ready!  Plus a few minutes for me to pour myself a glass of wine! Oh and I learned nothing gets a 3 1/2 year old moving faster to help with clean up than asking her baby brother to please come and help me clean up his toys.  She immediately popped up and said "I can help you mommy" and proceeded to pick up all of Jacob's toys before he had a chance to crawl his way into the family room.  I finally outsmarted the 3 1/2 year old, thanks again to a little sigling rivalry.