More winter = sick kids

We were on a pretty good stretch of healthy kids - until this week! Poor Kale started to go down hill on Sunday. He's had a fever since Monday, and develped a bad cough/cold at about the same time. He looks terrible - red, puffy eyes, runny nose, cough, etc. We debated taking him in to see the dr. yesterday, but decided to wait until his 6 month check up today. He had a fever of 102.5 at the dr., and based on his symptoms recommended a chest xray. They compared the xray to the one he had done in February when he had influenza. Turns out the poor kid has pneumonia! They put him on an antibiotic and told us to bring him in on Friday if he isn't acting normal by then. I feel kind of bad that I was the one who recommended we wait until today to bring him in. It's so hard to know. We thought he was teething or had an ear infection! Because of the fever he wasn't able to get his 6 month shots today, so we'll have to take him back in to get that done in a few weeks. Other than the fact he was sick he had a good report. He is quite the big boy: 18 lbs 4 oz (70%), 28 1/4 inches long (95%) and 17 inch head circumferance. He's a pound heavier than Nolan and 1 3/4 inches longer than Nolan at this age! Kale also had a helmet appointment on Tuesday - although he hasn't been in his helmet since Monday because of the fever. The orthotist did another scan of his head to see how much progress he's made - and the results are pretty amazing! His head is still flat on the right side, but it has rounded out by .6 milimeters. We saw a 5% change (our goal is 6%), and his ears are almost perfectly aligned now - going from a 5 to a 1 difference. The helmet is still a little loose on his head, and because of that his head actually rounded out a little too much on the left side. The goal for our next appointment is to make more room on the right side and let the left side round out more to the right. We have another scan scheduled in 6 weeks, and we'll know at that point if he needs to be in his helmet longer.

Oh, and big news - Kale started crawling a little bit tonight! He perked up a little after a piggy back of motrin and tylenol, and he got up on all 4's, started rocking, and managed to make his way to a toy he was playing with on the floor. He is sure a motivated little bugger! I think he just wants to keep up with his brother.

Nolan had his 2 year appointment today. I'm always so proud of him at the dr. He is so well behaved, and lets our nurse and NP pick him up and hold him without making any fuss. He answers their questions as best he can, and sits very still for the exam. Nolan weighs 28 lbs 7 oz. (60%), is 35 inches long (65%), and has a head circumferance of 19 1/4 inches (60%). He has pretty much tracked in this range since he was born. The great news is that he doesn't have to go back to the dr. until he's 3. The bad news is that I'm a realist and know that we'll probably make a comeback much sooner than that! Nolan had a slight fever yesterday at daycare and has been running a small temp today, too. We can tell he's a little worn out - he cuddled way more than normal before bed tonight. We're just going to take it easy this weekend and hope for the best.

Have your cake and eat it too!

Nolan had a wonderful 2nd birthday yesterday. He started off the day with cake for breakfast. He had a party at daycare with all his friends, and enjoyed another cupcake at lunch. Jane spoiled him by getting him a really cool Thomas the Train train set, and then when we got home from daycare he enjoyed even more cake! And he really, really, really enjoys cake - especially the frosting!

Nolan is 2!

The old saying is true - time flies when you're having fun! Okay, so not all of it has been fun, but 99% of it has been, so I think that counts. Nolan, who entered the world weighing 6 lbs 2 oz, now weighs around 29 lbs and is 2 years old! He is happy to tell anyone who asks him how old he is that his is "two", and he says it very clearly. He is starting to test his boundaries, which is usually pretty funny. A few weeks ago at daycare we had 2 bad reports 2 days in a row. The first day it was because he kept pulling on the cats tail. Jane grounded him from the cat until he could be nice to it again. Adam and I talked to him about being nice to the kitties at home that same night, and the next day when Adam dropped off the boys Nolan immediately went over to the cat, gave it a hug and said "sowy" (sorry). The next day it was because he kept knocking over blocks that his other friends were playing with. Jane put him in a time out and he wasn't allowed to play with the blocks. We did the same thing and talked to him about his behavior, and since then Jane hasn't had to get him after him for that issue. It's nice to know he actually listens to us - some of the time!

Nolan had his birthday party yesterday. All of Adam's family was able to make it, and my mom and dad, grandma and Paulette represented my side of the family. Nolan had such a great day. The first thing he did Saturday morning after he walked in to the dining room was to announce "I like cake" - and that seemed to be the theme of his day. Last year he wasn't too impressed, but this year was a different story! He was quite the little host, greeting all of his guests at the door! He had a great time opening all his awesome presents, and has played with each one of the them today! He loves them all, but he has especially enjoyed his "zoo zoo" pet. I do have to say that his highlight of the day was playing with his "bawoons" (balloons). Within the first 5 minutes of playing with them the red balloon popped - and it had glitter in it so it was everywhere! Claire took a balloon home, and before Josh and Anna had even left our house Nolan popped the "yewwo" (yellow) balloon, leaving him with his Thomas the Train balloon. He still has it, and has found great joy in running circles in our house, dragging the balloon behind him! Nolan and Kale both had so much fun at the party that at 6:30 we closed the door to Nolan's room, and both of them were out for the night.

Kale is 6 months old!

Hard to believe, but our little baby isn't so little anymore - 6 months old already! He is getting busier and busier every day. Last Sunday, on his 6 month birthday, we introduced him to his first real food other than cereal - sweet potatoes. Since then he's had apples and squash. It's hard to tell if he likes something or not. His first initial reaction is always funny - he purses his lips and makes a disgusted face. After a few more bites he's a bit more accepting of it. We also introduced puffs to him. He can pick them up in his hand, but can't quite figure out how to open his fist to get them in his mouth. We end up helping him with it. He is sitting really well, and only gets tipsy when he tries to move his head too much to see what's going on around him. We discovered this weekend that he likes the Laugh and Learn Farm that Nolan got as a gift for his first Christmas. Kale likes to hold your hands and "walk" - and he really does put one foot in front of the other (although not consistently). His other big achievement over the last two weeks is that he's making scooting/crawling motions on his belly. He appears to be very motivated to keep up with his big brother! He is still sleeping a solid 12-13 hours every night, and has fallen in to a pretty routine nap schedule - 8:30 am and between 12 and 12:30 pm. He gives us between 1 - 2 1/2 hours with each nap, which is wonderful.

We took him to get his 6 month professional pictures today at Target. He wasn't as smiley as he usually is, but we were still able to get a few cute pictures. We won't get them back for a few more weeks, but I'll be sure to post a few when we get them.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Nolan had a big day at daycare on Friday. After his afternoon nap Jane noticed he still had a dry diaper, so she took him to try and go potty. She sat him down and realized she didn't have the protective "cup", so she told him to stay there and she'd be right back. When she walked back in Nolan's eyes were as wide as saucers - he was spraying all over! He was so shocked he was speechless. Jane praised him for going, and after cleaning up the mess (including Nolan's foot) he got an M&M as a "spesha teet (special treat). A little while later he brought his 4 year old buddy Connor in to the bathroom and tried to explain to him using words and gestures what happened when he went potty. Jane said it was hilarious. I tried the same thing again yesterday after his nap, and it worked. I guess this means we really need to start being consistent with the training. I've tried to sit him down every hour or so today to see if he'll go - no luck yet. I guess I'll just try after nap.

Kale is busy refining his ability to sit. Even over the last week he has improved - but not enough to let him go without pillows behind him! He's starting to wake up super early - just like Nolan started doing at this age. It's been around 4:45 over the last 5 days or so. I can handle it during the week, since I get up at 5 anyway. The weekends are killer, though! It was a phase for Nolan, and we're hoping for the same for Kale.

We spent the day in Mankato yesterday with Christianne, Lola, Lalayna and Paulette. We hadn't seen the Jones' family since Christmas, so it was time. Nolan had a blast playing with his cousins. Both boys were really good, and all the kids were nice enough to nap at the same time for a little while, which gave us girls a chance to relax for about an hour. Lola and Nolan were pretty funny after nap. They both had a snack of teddy grahams and milk, and sat on the floor together, visiting and eating. It was kind of like the movie Look Who's Talking. One of them would say or do something, and the other would respond - but we would have no idea what they were talking about.

Nolan is picking up on some of the slang words that are used frequently at home and at daycare.

M: Nolan, why did you do that?
N: cuz'

M: Nolan, can you please put away your blanket?
N: k

I guess that's our cue to start using the proper form of the word!

My dad worked with Nolan a few weeks ago on the finer points of aiming a baseball at a stack of blocks. Nolan has been practicing and is getting better!

Eat, Kale, Eat!

The time has come. I waited as long as I could, but we decided that at 5 1/2 months, it was time to start feeding Kale. I'm happy that we've started the journey to him being able to eat what we eat, but at the same time struggling with the extra work it entails! I forgot how much patience it takes to teach a child to eat. He is so messy. It doesn't help that he has a terrible cough right now, and that it seems like every time I give him a spoonful he coughs it out all over me, the table, his bumbo - whatever is in the way. It was pretty funny last night. Nolan pulled up a chair, sat next to me and helped me make noises to keep Kale's attention - open your mouth "ahhhhh", clicking the tongue, saying good job. Kale loves Nolan's attention, so that helped quite a bit. We're trying to figure out the best time of day to feed him right now. He's not real hungry at dinner time, and we don't have time in the morning. We may leave it up to Jane to figure out what works best with his schedule during the day. Besides eating he is getting to be quite active. He's been rolling all over for the last month, and has started to try and get his legs under him when he's on his belly - a sign that crawling will come in the next few months. He's also developed quite good core strength and is able to sit on his own for short periods of time. Adam took him to the dr. again today for his cough. At the appointment they did the weigh in - 18 lbs 6 oz (with cloths on, no helmet). Seriously, he is a giant baby. At this rate we'll need to buy him new car seats in the next few months!

Nolan is getting funnier every day. He is still talking up a storm. My new favorite thing he says without being prompted is "love you!" We are starting to work with him a little more on potty training. We made good progress tonight - he actually went in to the bathroom to do his business without being told! Last night Nolan and I attended construction night at ECFE. He loved being able to play with all the "power" tools, hammers, etc. But if you ask him what his favorite part was, he'll tell you "nack" (snack). What a shock!


We spent a very relaxing weekend with my mom in Browerville. As sad as this sounds, it was nice to get spoiled and not have to plan/cook meals! Nolan and Kale did really well. Nolan woke up the first night and I ended up sleeping with him, but he was able to sleep the entire night on Saturday. Both boys slept or stayed very quiet on both car rides. We're very lucky with their dispositions, even if they are both challenging at times!