The brighter side

Kale turned the corner toward better health on Wednesday - finally! He is back to his old self again - happy, smiley, sleeping well, eating and dancing! He is painting and coloring at Jane's house, which he really seems to enjoy. He and Nolan like to sit at the little table in the living room and color together. We just have to watch Kale, as sometimes his grubby little hands wander with the crayon and it ends up on things that it shouldn't! He loves to feed himself with a spoon, but it's still pretty messy. Practice makes perfect, so we keep letting him do it.


















Nolan had a great week at daycare. Jane made a deal with him on Monday that if he had dry underpants all week, including at naptime, that he would get a special prize on Friday. I am proud to report that he did it! After 6 weeks of official training he is trained (except overnight). The best part is that he can take himself. It sometimes gets a little messy, but it's nothing a disinfectant wipe can't take care of! His new favorite sayings are: That's fine, It happens, and Of course you can. He's learning to get himself undressed, too. He is becoming so independent!

After naps today we're going to carve a pumpkin with the kids. Adam and I are going to a Halloween party tonight, so we have a babysitter coming over to stay with the kids. It should be pretty easy, because they'll both be in bed.

Coloring

Just a little patience

Last weekend was definitely a test of patience for me with the kids. Thankfully the fevers broke mid day on Saturday for both the boys, but that didn't mean that they weren't crabby. Kale had a small break through before lunch (see picture), but he quickly tanked after that. I did get them out on a walk to Gale Woods Farm on Saturday afternoon. I was thankful it was a nice day so we could get out of the house! Sunday wasn't a lot better, and by the time Kale woke up after 45 minutes in to his nap crying to the point that he couldn't catch his breath, I was ready for a break! I rocked him in his room for an hour while he slept, all the while listening to Nolan sing songs and not nap. Kale woke up a little before 2 and Nolan around 2:15 (after a short 1/2 hour nap). I packed up the boys and headed over to Paulette and Ryan's for a much needed break. It was nice to be able to get a little help and have some adult interaction. While I was there I noticed Kale had a rash on his back and neck. By the time I got home it was all over his back, front, butt, neck and forehead. It didn't seem to bother him, but it looked awful. I let it be, hoping it would disappear by morning. Thankfully the kids went to bed great and slept all night. Kale's rash was still there on Monday, so I brought him in to get checked. He had roseola, which is caused by a fever for more than 3 days. It's viral so there's nothing you can do for it, except let it pass. I felt kind of silly for bringing him in, but I told our dr. that I've seen a lot of things with my kids, but not that! Adam arrived home Monday for dinner, which was fantastic. We were all very happy to see him! It was fun to be able to tell Adam that Nolan had dry underpants all weekend long!

Down with the sickness

Looking back at the summer of 2011, I think the thing I appreciate most is that our kids were healthy, minus one bought of strep throat. Fall is here, and the sickness has returned. Kale has had a fever since Wednesday. He's been up almost every hour the last 2 nights, so I took him to the dr. this morning before work. He so rarely even makes a peep at night, so I know he must be feeling awful. He had a little fluid in one of his ears and the strep test came back negative, so that's good. What's not good is that there is nothing else I can really do for him, except hope all his teeth come in faster. He was at daycare all day today. Thank goodness for Jane! Kale has been really needy, so she basically had to sit in the recliner with him all day. He slept an hour this afternoon on her lap and only ate yogurt. Jane texted me at 3:30 this afternoon to let me know that Nolan spiked a fever of 101 out of the blue, so he was also needy and whiny. I made a quick stop at Walgreens on the way home to stock up on nasal drops, Motrin, Tylenol and vapor rub. When I arrived at Jane's both boys were sitting on her lap while she rocked them. I'm sure she was glad to send them home, as I know what a long day it was for her!

Kale ate a little bit for dinner, which is more than what I can say for Nolan. I also gave them medicine with dinner. Nolan really liked his bubblegum flavored Motrin and wanted more. That was a fun conversation - he literally screamed at me when I told him no. I know he can't help it because he's sick, but it's tough to have to listen to it. I gave them a cool bath which seemed to help. I pulled out the humidifiers for both bedrooms and thankfully they were both sleeping by 6:45. I'm off to bed shortly. If the last 2 nights are an indicator I'll be up with one or both of them around 11.

I think the hardest part of all of this is that Adam is out of town on a hunting trip. It's just me and the boys until Monday evening. Hopefully they'll pull through and be on the mend soon. I called Paulette and put her on stand by, in case I need back up. Tomorrow is a new day (and thankfully not a work day), so I'll just hope for the best!

Potty update: Nolan woke up dry again this morning. Jane told me he napped in his underpants all week and has woke up dry every day, too. He also got a popsicle today. I'm so proud of him and how well he's doing!

Fall Fun

Nolan is a singing machine these days. His faves are Twinkle, Twinkle, Wheels on the Bus, Ring a round the Rosie, ABC's, and Happy Birthday. He doesn't always get the words right, but that makes it even funnier. His new catch phrase is "of course you can". I have no idea where he picked that up, but it's super funny, because he uses it in the right context. Twice last week he woke up with a dry diaper - which means he held it for 12 hours. We think it's spectacular! He's not ready to go diaper free at night yet, but it's getting better. We only had one accident last weekend, too, so we seem to be heading down the right path.

Kale is still not feeling well. He is getting every tooth imaginable! He's getting a cold and has been running a slight temp of about 100. You can just see in his eyes that he's exhausted. The good thing he still perks up to play with Nolan and read books before bed. He recently started pointing to things when we ask him to while we're reading. I forgot how much fun it is to watch them start to make the connections - where's the kitty? Where's the cow?

Last weekend Nolan had a blast playing in the leaves. Kale did not like it, but it was because of those darn teeth. During nap Ellen came over to watch the kids so Adam and I could go on a pedal pub and out to dinner with friends. It was super fun, but slightly more than work than I was anticipating. There were 16 of us on the pub - which weighs 2000 lbs without people on it!

Sunday was my relaxation day, because it was my birthday. I slept in until almost 9:30, we took the kids for a walk, and after nap went to a pumpkin patch, Target and then picked up pizza for dinner. Nolan decided he wasn't interested in taking pictures at the pumpkin patch, so I started having flashbacks to my poor mother dealing with me as a kid, not wanting to take pictures. The funniest part of the whole day was that every time I told Nolan it was my birthday he would tell me "my buthday is next year." He is a typical 2 1/2 year old - all about me!


Big news on the baby front, and it's not us. My sister Christianne is expecting her 3rd in March, and Adam's sister Erica is expecting her first in April. It will be a busy baby-filled spring!

The Chronicles of Nolan

While I was bathing Kale tonight, Adam was trying to get Nolan to finish his dinner.

A: Nolan, please drink your milk.
N: I'm too busy.
A: You're too busy to drink your milk?
N: Yep

Later on in the evening (about 20 minutes after Nolan went to bed) I heard him start practicing his counting in a very loud voice. He made it up to 14 twice before quieting down and falling asleep!

The Spoon

We have been giving Kale a spoon to practice using for quite a few months. It wasn't until we actually put yogurt in a bowl in front of him did he show us his new skill! We're guessing Jane has been working with him at daycare - or he just picks things up super fast!

The Potty theme continues

Adam: Ah, it's potty time! Jane called me on Thursday to tell me she overheard Nolan talking to a doll he was playing with at daycare. Apparently the conversation was quite one-sided and sounded like this. "Baby, you need to tell me when you need to go potty. You need to tell me when you need to go poopy, so we can get you on the potty!" You'd think that if he's able to tell a baby doll this that he'd be doing really well at it himself! Actually, things have gotten better. We're burning through all sorts of gummy bears, since he gets one every time he goes potty. Today he made it the entire day with dry underpants! We're keeping our fingers crossed on the #2 category.

As noted in the previous blog entry I was in North Dakota hunting last weekend and when I got home Tricia wasn't too far behind with the boys. I couldn't believe that after they each got a haircut and being gone 5 days it looked they both aged 6 months! Nolan's vocabulary continues to expand, and on Friday morning he reminded Tricia that we need to buy bananas-which is what I told him yesterday morning as Kale was scarfing down the last one of the bunch. Thursday night Kale, Nolan and I were outside after a quick walk around the neighborhood and Kale pointed to an airplane up in the sky--it won't be long before he's chit-chatting as much as Nolan. Right now everything is more of a screech or scream, but he's definitely becoming more aware of what's going on around him. It's a lot of fun!

On a last note, Kale is popping 4 or 5 teeth through right now…I'm not going to be the one to put my fingers in his mouth, but so far he's been doing pretty well with the pain. Every once in a while we'll give him a dropper of Motrin/Tylenol or a little Oragel, but for the most part he's handling his teeth a lot better than Nolan ever did! Oh, and I got a call from Jane on Friday, letting me know Kale has quite a kind heart. One of the other 1 year olds had gotten in trouble for not listening, and he was really upset and crying. Kale walked over to him, hugged him and patted his back. It's nice to know that all the time we spend teaching our kids to give hugs and kisses pays off! One more thing - Kale has started using a spoon to feed himself yogurt. He's doing really well, but it still involves a bit of a mess!



Tricia: We had a great weekend with the kids. Adam went hunting on Saturday morning, so Nolan, Kale and I made a quick Target run. Nolan kept saying over and over "are Grandma and Grandpa home? Can I see em?" so we stopped out at Ellen and Greg's for a quick visit to see Grandma. After lunch the kids took a fantastic nap, and when they woke up we headed out to a birthday party at a farm in Chaska. It was great - there were lots of motorized rides for the kids to ride on, a bouncy house that both of our kids LOVED, and a hayride. The first time Nolan saw the tractor pulling the trailer he literally started jumping up and down, yelling and waving like a crazy person. Nolan may just end up being a little farmer - as long as doesn't get allergies like his dad!


Today we managed to make it to church. Nolan kept saying "chuch is fun"! He walked up with me for the children's message, carrying his money for the collection. When he saw the basket he tried grabbing a $5 out of it. I told him to put his money in and then asked him if he wanted to sit with the rest of the kids. He got scared and said no, so instead he sat on my lap. Halfway through the message he asked for his snack, so as soon as got back to our seat he was happy. Adam took Nolan to go to the bathroom at the beginning of the sermon, and as soon as they left Kale freaked out - so off I went with him so he could walk off some of his energy. Overall the boys did well, but as we were leaving one of the ladies said you sure have cute kids, but boy do they have a lot of energy! After another good round of afternoon naps we took off to visit with our friends and their new baby. Adam left to go hunting after that, so it was me and kiddos until bedtime. To book end this entry, the most exciting news of the day was that Nolan stayed dry all day. Every week it gets better, so that must mean there's hope for us!

To !?#!? in a handbasket

My Sunday afternoon took a turn for the worse shortly after I tried to put the boys down for a nap. Tried is the operative word. Kale's teeth really started bothering him, so he cried/screamed for about an hour and 20 minutes before I finally gave up. Durig this time Nolan was up and down from his bed, opening and shutting the door, playing with his flashcards, singing songs - doing everything he wasn't supposed to be doing. I tried to get him to nap with me, but that didn't work either. We had planned to go over to Ellen and Greg's to pick out pumpkins for the kids, but by 2:20 my patience had worn thin, as Kale screamed in my face and wouldn't let me put him down. I gave him some Motrin and thought a walk might do the trick . . . and it did, thank goodness. Both he and Nolan relaxed and ate a snack. By the time we got home they were calm enough to head over to pick out pumpkins. Nolan was so tired he fell asleep during the 15 minute car ride! The boys had fun with Grandma, Grandpa, Claire, Mara, Anna, Erica and Elmer, the cat, and we came home with 3 pumpkins that Nolan picked out for us. I made a quick dinner of pizza, peas and blueberries while the kids took every single spice out of the spice rack. Seriously, we have an entire house full of toys and that's what they play with?

I gave the kids a bath and Kale was in bed at 5:50. Nolan held out a little bit longer and finally went down at 7. I had a feeling it wouldn't last because he hadn't gone #2 all day, and sure enough he was up at 9:40 and midnight with a tummy ache. Needless to say I was very tired when the alarm went off at 5 this morning!

At 5:31 this morning I heard a knock at the bathroom door, and sure enough Nolan was, as he announced it "awake". I made him lay on the floor outside the bathroom door on a pillow and with a blanket so I could get ready. By the time we got upstairs at 6 Kale was up, too. As the boys were eating their breakfast Nolan said "Mommy, I'm tired." No kidding. Maybe you should sleep later! I thought I had covered the going potty thing this morning by having Nolan go twice before 6:30, but it wasn't enough as he went in his underpants (still funny) before heading out the door. At the same Kale decided to do his business. I'm pretty sure I'll never leave the house on time again.

Tonight was a little better, even though Kale was crabby because of his teeth again. After a 30 minute debacle Nolan surprised me by doing his business in the potty - and he earned his first popsicle at home! It was very exciting, and he was so proud of himself. While Nolan was working on that Kale proceeded to pull everything off the kitchen table, including Nolan's juice box, which he squirted all over the living room. It's really fun taking things away from Kale now, because he runs away and screams when you finally get it from him. I was relieved when the boys were finally in bed so I could relax a little bit. And by relax I mean do the dishes, put the pill bottles that normally go in the bathroom but are all over the kitchen back where they belong, move the spices from the living room back to the kitcehn where they belong, and move the toys from the kitchen back to the living room where they belong. I know, I shouldn't let the kids play with the pill bottles. I'm learning to pick my battles, and as long as the bottles are child proof I'm not going to fight it. The kids love to use them as "shakers", as Nolan calls them.

Nolan's new favorite saying has served me well - "oh, man". He's also a fan of singing Twinkle, Twinkle, his ABC's (but not all in the right order), Row, Row, Row your Boat (he likes the merrily part), and Happy Birthday to Tale (Kale). He also surprised me by counting to 13 by himself. He still brings home an acorn a day from daycare. I didn't know where he was putting them until he showed me today - in the little part of the car door beneath the handle. He had 6 of them hidden there! Jane recommended I do an art project with all his acorns. I'm not real crafty, so it should be interesting!

Underpants

It's been 2 weeks since Nolan started wearing "underpants" every day. Yes, he calls them underpants. Must be a daycare term! He is not fully trained, but Jane thought it would be good if we got moving on it. He doesn't tell us when he has to go, and has only done that a few times at Jane's. He goes potty every 45 minutes to an hour, and goes every time. He hasn't figured out #2 yet, although we think we're getting closer. Jane called me at work on Friday morning to let me know she had caught Nolan in mid act and made him sit on the potty. 10 minutes later she heard him yell "all done, Jane", and when she went in there he had finished the job. His reward was a purple popsicle, and he was so proud of himself - he even told me over the phone. Overall I'm excited that we're in this stage, but have come to realize we're going to be potty training for the next 2-3 years. It's a lot of work for the parent! The most work comes in the morning, as we're heading out the door a little before 7. Kale will come running over, stinking to high heaven - so we have to change him. Then Nolan dribbles just enough in his underwear that he needs an outfit change. This is of course after he's already sat on the potty 2 times in 45 minutes! Needless to say Adam and I seem to be running late every morning.

About a week and a half ago Kale started to get sick - fever, not eating or drinking, and overall crabby, which isn't like him. We chalked it up to teething, as he's getting 5 teeth right - 3 of them are his 1 year molars. I ended up taking him to the dr. to get checked out because he was also digging in his ears. Side note: he was 24 lbs, 2 oz! His ears were fine, but he had ulcers in the back of his mouth, which typically indicates the onset of hand, foot and mouth disease. There wasn't anything they could give us to make him more comfortable, because it's viral. We treated it with over the counter Tylenol and Motrin. He seems to be getting better, but you can still tell he's uncomfortable - his hand is in his mouth quite a bit!

Nolan has been adding quite a few "things/thoughts" to his nightly bedtime prayer. This week he added shout outs for "Cookie Monster, Elmo, "Tale's" burfday next year, my birthday next year, fire engines and cars". I guess we know what's important to him!

I finally decided to get serious about working out again, so I joined the fitness center at work. Twice a week I roll out of bed just before 5 and leave the house by 5:15 to go to boot camp. It's pretty intense, but it must be working, as I feel very, very sore! In a few weeks I'll feel great, though, so that's what I keep focusing on.

Adam is gone hunting until Tuesday night, so it's just been me and the boys since Friday morning. Overall they've been very good. Yesterday we went to St. Cloud. Our first stop was at Kid's Hair. It is amazing how fast their hair grows! Nolan marched himself in the store, walked up to a stylist and asked to get his haircut. He even let her take his jacket off and lift him in the chair. That was actually quite helpful because I had both boys by myself! Neither of the boys made a peep, and I was complimented by the staff on how well behaved they were. It makes me so proud to hear that! We spent the rest of the day at my parent's house. We rolled back in to town just in time for bed. This morning we left the house a little before 9 to go grocery shopping. We were there for almost an hour, and again they were so good. 4 people stopped as I was bagging our groceries to tell me how well behaved they were. Part of it was the cool cart they got to ride in, and the other part may have been the Teddy Grahams they enjoyed while I bagged!


Hopefully by the time Adam gets home the house will be completely painted. Wednesday the garage door is getting installed. The house is going to look so much better! Now to find the time to wash the windows . . .