"izza!"

Nolan was enjoying his favorite meal of "izza" (aka pizza) on Saturday for lunch. He stopped, looked at me and annouced "I like izza!". It's so fun to be able to have a real conversation with him lately. He loves talking about his "budda" (brother Kale). It's tough, because he can't pronounce Kale's name yet. However, he is super happy to shout out "my budda" every time he sees Kale. We learned this week that he is discovering the not so great joys of being a tattle tale. I guess I don't really know if it quite qualifies as that yet, but I'm sure it's a start. When I picked him up on Thursday from daycare he came running out of the toy room, pointed at the 2-year old twin girls who were crying because they had been fighting, and annouced to me "the babies cying" (crying). Jane let me know he had been doing that all day - pointing at things and announcing what was going on. I think Nolan is just so excited to be able to talk that he needs to give us a play by play. Kale got his helmet on Friday. I was really nervous about the appointment on Thursday night. It's a tough realization to know that for a temporary period of time, your kid is not like other kids his age. The appointment went way better than Adam and I thought it would. Kale didn't cry at all through the 3 different fittings he had. We were there for about an hour, going through all the details of the cleaning and putting the helmet on/taking it off. He didn't wear it much on Friday, but yesterday he was in it for about 4 hours, and today was about 7. Tomorrow morning I'm dropping off the kids at Jane's house so I can spend about 10 minutes with her, showing her how to handle the helmet. We didn't think she'd have to do anything with it, but based on the helmet schedule she'll need to take it off and put it back on Kale. She'll also have the ability to take it off and on when she has to change his clothes - which tends to be a lot because of all his spit up! Tomorrow is the first day he'll nap with the helmet on, and he'll sleep half the night with it on, too. That will be the real test. The helmet doesn't seem to be bothering him a whole heck of a lot at this point. Adam has the stickers all ready to be put on the helmet. Now he just has to find the time to put them on.

Nolan had swmimming lessons on Saturday morning, and Adam said he did really good again. He even figured out how to hold on to the edge of the pool and kick his legs. Nolan also got his haircut. The stylist was amazed at how low key he was during the haircut. He's going through a phase where he gets shy around people he doesn't know very well. I'd rather have him just sit and be shy then kick and scream! Last night we met up with Paulette and Ryan for dinner. Nolan had a nice, hearty meal of french fries dipped in ranch dressing, 2 bites of chicken strips and a cup of "ice ceam" (ice cream). He was getting a little wild and crazy after he ate the ice cream, but luckily the 20 minute ride home calmed him down.

Today I decided to take some time for myself and met up with Paulette to go shopping. She didn't need anything, and I was primarily looking for clearance clothes for the boys. I did find a new winter jacket/snow pants for Nolan for next winter. Kale needed his own snow suit for next winter, but after that he'll be able to use Nolan's hand me downs. I really try hard to take good care of Nolan's clothes so we can get more that 1 use out of them!

Last week I finally got my car washed. The poor thing had been neglected since Kale was born. It didn't even look black anymore! I go to a full service car wash, so I didn't see my car go through the process. I was waiting to see it, and saw this really nice looking black car coming through the line. I remember thinking what a great looking car it was - and was a little jealous it wasn't mine. Then I took a closer look and realized it was mine! What a great feeling to know I still love my car!

Our friendly neighborhood pheasant made an appearance yesterday, across the street in Julie's driveway. I was looking out the kitchen window and saw this really big bird swoop down. It landed, and sure enough it was the pheasant. You know there's too much snow cover when the poor bird needs to start looking for food in the driveway.

It's helmet time

Kale met with the orthotist last Monday to get his head measured. It's flat on the back right side of his head, and his ears aren't lined up exactly like they should be on his head. You wouldn't know by looking at him straight on! He has what's called asymmetrical brachycephaly (flatness on one side of the head). He is getting fitted for a cranial remolding helmet on Friday of this week. The orthotist is confident that after 4-5 months in the helmet that Kale's head will round out in the back. It's going to be extra work for me and Adam, but we figure Kale is worth it:) The first 4 days he won't be wearing the helmet full-time. Day one he'll be in it for 1 hour and then have it off for an hour - and not on during naptime or bedtime. Day 2 it's on for 2 hours and off for 1 hour, and not during nap or bedtime. Day 3 its on for 4 hours and off for 1, on during nap and off during bedtime. Day 4 it's on for 8 hours, off for 1, and on during nap and for 1/2 of his night sleep. By day 5 he'll be wearing it for 23 hours a day. During the hour that we can take the helmet off we need to give him a bath, specifically to wash his hair. We also need to wash his helmet every night. This will put a little kink in things Adam and I can plan, but we'll work around it. We ordered him a light blue helmet, and Adam ordered some MN Twin's stickers to decorate it. Kale will hopefully adjust just fine to the helmet. I know it's going to be hard on him and me and Adam, at least at the beginning. It's tough to have to do things to or for your kids that you know aren't comfortable. We just have to keep in mind that it will help him! The orthotist said we should see significant improvement between 6-8 weeks - that's when they'll rescan his head. Kale has to be in it for sure until he's 8 months old, and anything after that is upon the recommendation of the orthotist. The orthotist would like to see at a minimum a 5% change in shape on the right side of his head. Babies need to be at least 4 months old before they get a helmet, and even then some kids have to wait because they don't have enough head control yet. We're lucky that Kale is as strong as he is, partly because of the physical therapy appointments and extra work we do with him. He started rolling from his back to tummy in the last few weeks, and now we can't put him down anymore without him rolling all over the place. This past week he started rolling over in his sleep, and his new sleeping preference is on his belly. He's been sleeping really well - last night he went down at about 6:20 and didn't get up until 8:10 this morning!

Nolan is as busy as ever. New this week in his vocabulary is bampa (grandpa), izza (pizza), seeping (sleeping), piwwo (pillow) and dite (light). He also loves to say "oopsie" to everything - for example, when a football player get tackled! I took him to swimming this morning. It takes him about 5 -10 minutes to warm up to doing anything, but once he did I was impressed. He learned how to scoop the water (doggy paddle) on his belly, and really kicks well in his back float. He even lets me dunk him under at least once during the class. It helps that there are bath toys to play with in the pool. He especially loves the toys that shoot water!

Adam is ice fishing with his dad today. I'm feeling pretty good because Kale has been napping since 11:30 and Nolan since 12:15! I'm sure it won't last much longer, so I should enjoy it while I can. My dad watched the kids yesterday for us so we could attend the funeral of our brother-in-law's mom. The kids were pretty good, even if Nolan only napped for 2 hours and Kale needed to be held most of the day! Hopefully they didn't make it too hard on him, because we'll probably need his help again sometime soon!

Going to great lengths

Kale turned 4 months old last Thursday. It is incredible to me how fast time passes by the second time around! He started to get a cough/cold on Wednesday, so he's had a bit of a tough week. Yesterday he was miserable - watery eyes, coughing, sneezing - the whole bit. Today he's doing a little better, and is even napping, which is a huge improvement over yesterday when he didn't nap at all. He had his 4 month check-up on Friday. He weighed 15 lbs 7 oz (50 %) and is 26.75 inches long (96%) - head circumfrance of 16.5 inches (50%). The length is what really gets us. Kale is almost 2 inches taller than Nolan was at this age, and a pound heavier! We like to call him our little chunker. Overall he is doing well. We have his appointment for his head measurement on Monday, so we should know shortly after that if he'll need a helmet or not. Kale also had a PT and chiropractic appointment last week, and is doing so well that we don't have to go back for a month. I'm glad we're doing all we can for him, but all the driving in one day gets to be a lot. On Friday I drove him to Bloomington to see the chiropractor, then to Chan for his dr. appt., back to Mound to drop him off at daycare, and then back to work in St. Louis Park - 90 miles later! Kale is still doing really good sleeping through the night. We had a little bump in the road last Sunday night, which was awful. Kale was up 5 different times - which meant very little sleep for me and Adam. Then on Tuesday night we couldn't find any of his nooks, so when he woke up at 4 a.m. we weren't able to get him back to sleep. I get up around 5 anyway, so he just hung out with me as I got ready for the day. The rest of the week went much better and we had to wake up both him and Nolan for daycare. It's a great problem to have!

Nolan is finally getting rid of his cough/cold. Adam took him to dr. last Monday for a follow-up appointment for his ear infections (current weight: 28 lbs, 14 oz). His ears are finally better, which is a relief. What's tough is that we can't give him anything for his cough. Adam did ask about giving him honey to coat his throat, and our NP thought we were a little strange. She told us to mix a little honey with warm water for him to drink. We tried that and it didn't go real far - he took a sip, made quite a face, and handed the cup back to me. He did, however, like the syringe of honey we gave him. And amazingly it worked! A teaspoon of honey along with a dose of Tylenol did the trick and he's sleeping through the night again. Nolan is keeping busy reading lots of books lately. His favorites are If You Give a Pig a Party, a series of baby peek-a-boo books, and Snuggle Puppy. He loves his new spiderman slippers and wears them all the time. In fact, when I went in to get him this morning around 8 he was trying to put his slippers on his feet. Adam has worked really hard with him to learn his left vs right foot, so he at least knows which slipper goes on what foot. It's fun watching him figure out how to have conversations with us, for example:

M: Hey Nolan or Nolan, come here, please.
N: What?

M: What do you want for breakfast?
N: Boffy (coffee)

M: Who's that? (pointing at Kale)
N: My lidda butha (my little brother)

His other funny words are ot (hot), I tuck (I'm stuck) and elp (help). He pays really close attention to everything we do, which makes us laugh really hard when he tries to copy us. Adam taught Nolan how to cast his new fishing pole this morning. He picked up on it right away and already knows how to reel in the line. His favorite part about "fishing" is the fact that his pole lights up when you push the button! Nolan also figured out this week how to fold his hands when we say prayers. Prior to this he just put his fists together. The other funny thing he's doing lately is when he plays trucks. He loves to line up all his trucks and cars in one long line. If we try and move one of them out of the line he grabs it and puts it right back. I was telling a friend of mine about this, and he said his son still does that at 4 yrs old. It must be Nolan's type A personality coming out (a lot like his parent's)!

We were supposed to be up in Moose Lake this weekend, but the snow prevented us from going. I can't get over how much snow we've had this winter. It snowed 5 of the 7 days this week alone, which meant Adam had to shovel 4 times! I think we're going to deserve a really nice and warm spring/summer. Adam and I enjoyed the day home with the kids yesterday, but really, really enjoyed our evening out last night. Paulette was nice enough to come over to watch the kids for us so we could go out to eat. It's so nice to be able to really enjoy a meal and not feel rushed. Plus there was a great acoustic group playing, so it was quite relaxing. Adam is ice fishing with his dad again today, and has plans to go out again tomorrow after Kale's appointment. He doesn't have to work tomorrow - lucky.

I'm starting to get back in the swing of things at work. Last week I was offered a position as an HR Supervisor, which I happily accepted. It will be nice to be able to focus more on the compliance side of HR, as well as have a few direct reports and be a part of the HR leadership team.

Almost 4 months old

If I had a hammer

The first week back

Adam and I had no idea how this week would go, with me being back at work. We were very pleasantly surprised that it exceeded our expectations! Kale is waking up once a night, for about 3-4 minutes between 12:45 and 2 a.m. He doesn't wake up again until sometime between 5:15 and 5:45 a.m. - which is fine because I'm almost ready by then and Adam is just getting up. He picked a great week to sleep through the night! I think part of it is because he's getting so big, and the other part is that he's exhausted after his day at daycare! Jane told me that she can't believe how well he adjusted. He doesn't take long morning naps, but he's giving her at least 3 hours in the afternoon. Every day we picked him up this week he was smiling, so we figure that's a good sign! He loves to watch the other kids, and Jane tells us that they talk to him quite a bit. He sat in an excersaucer for the first time this week, and loves it. We put ours together today, and he bounces around like crazy. He is an active little guy. He also rolled over for the first time from back to tummy, which is great. It goes to show our hard work at PT and at home has paid off! Next week he has a PT and chiropractor appointment, and the week after his is head measurement and 4 month check-up.

Nolan is doing okay, but seems to be battling some type of ailment. We're not sure if it's a tummy thing or something else, but he hasn't quite been himself this week. We have an appointment for him next week, too, to check out his ears. He's still been pretty funny, though. Every Tuesday Adam has archery, so it's just me and the boys during bedtime. My routine is to get Kale fed and in bed around 6:30. During this time Nolan runs back and forth between Kale's room and the living room, whispering to his heart's content. I wasn't sure he could whisper, but with a little practice we made it happen.

I found out that I'll be traveling for work the first week in February. It will be really interesting to figure out how Adam is going to deal with the boys by himself for 4 days. I feel kind of bad, but then I think about how quiet the hotel room is going to be and I don't feel quite as bad!

And like that it was done

I'm not sure how it happened so quickly, but my time at home with Kale is done. 15 1/2 weeks went so fast! I have mixed emotions about going back to work. I know I'm ready to go back (even though I don't know what I'll be doing yet!), but I know I'm going to miss my lazy days with Kale. Some days with him were of course better than others, but overall I really, really loved my time home with him - even more so than with Nolan. I think it's because I knew what I was getting in for, and was far more prepared this time around. Kale is going to get lots of love and attention from Jane and all the kids at daycare, so I don't have any concerns about how he'll be taken care of while I'm at work. We had a good thing going, the two of us! I didn't cry when I dropped of Nolan, but I have a feeling I just might with Kale. Good thing I have an office door to close at work.

Speaking of time flying, where did the last 2 weeks go? Christmas celebrations, of course! We spent time with Adam's family on Christmas Even and Day, the Oven extended family in Rochester the day after Christmas, and with my family Wednesday - Saturday of last week. We even got to ring in the new year and celebrate my dad's 60th birthday! Okay, so I didn't get to actually ring in the new year. The sleepless nights of traveling with our children caught up with me, and Nolan was sick again - battling more teething, another ear infection and a terrible cough/cold. He woke up at about 10:45, so Adam and I rang in the New Year (and our 4th anniversary) at 11 with the east coast, and then I went to bed with Nolan. Adam stayed up with my sisters/brothers-in-law to actually ring in the new year. I know, lame. But such is the life when we travel with our children!

Adam and I are still trying to figure out where to put all the new toys the boys got for Christmas. There are a few toys of Kale's that we're not evening opening right now - we'll wait until it's a little closer to the "age appropriateness" listed on the box. It's funny - Nolan does like all the toys he got, but he really likes a lot of Kale's toys better. Hopefully he'll be good at sharing when the time comes that he needs to do that!

Kale isn't sleeping quite through the night yet, so tonight will be interesting. He's so darn gassy that he's been waking up 2-3 x's/night, which is a huge step backwards from what he was doing about 3 weeks ago. I'm preparing myself for all the coffee I'm going to have to drink to keep me going! He's still busy playing with his feet, practicing rolling from side to side in hopes to flip over from his back to tummy, and LOVES "standing". He's not one to stay in one spot for long, and he really lets you know when he's not happy! On the flip side, Kale is turning in to quite a giggler, and his laugh is so funny. One of his favorite things to do is stare at himself in the mirror.

Nolan has been really funny lately. The other day I was feeding Kale and Nolan was reading a book upside down. I told him to turn in around, and instead of turning the book around he turned himself around. That gave me quite a laugh. He got a basketball hoop for Christmas, and somewhere (and we don't know where) he learned that he should jump when he shoots a basket. He picks up on things so quick! And today when I was cleaning the kitchen I asked him to help me. I gave him a rag, and he got down on his hands and knees and started scrubbing the floor. Again, nothing we've actually taught him, but proves that he pays attention to everything we do! Another reminder that we need to watch what we say/do around him!