Shoes...

I'd been putting off buying shoes for Keaton since they're not recommended for babies growing feet. However, if your first birthday is going to be at the park, you need to be able to keep up with the big kids :) So, we went today and got his first shoes...stupid hormones - I cried ;-) And then we let the fun of "figuring out shoes" begin...too much fun. Keaton didn't think it was all that funny, however, it did wear him out for a very long nap! ((I have the secret key now!!)) Here are some moments of re-learning to walk :)

Helping Mommy

Ta-da!

Opps...

I'm getting it...

That wears a little guy out!

Poor baby...

Well, I took Keaton in this morning. After our last episode of me waiting out his cold and it turning into an ear infection, I didn't want to take any chances. He's been running a slight fever, has had an awful cough, very gross nose, watery eyes - but through it all - sleeping great! (thank goodness!)

I thought one of 3 things: Teething, a cold or allergies.

His ears look great (however if he starts pulling on them at all, more than "hey look! My ear!" we're to take him to urgent care).

Dr. Joanne said, "He has a cold...and is teething...and is having some allergy symptoms..." Does mama know or does mama know? Haha :)

So, we're to tackle the fever first (alternating Motrin and Tylenol to break it) and as long as that's gone by Monday, we're fine (anything over 100 on Monday, they want to see him again) and then we can do children's bendryl to fight the allergies (which I hate because it hypes him up...like my wildman needs THAT!)

So, hopefully NOW we're done with the dr. until the 9th! haha :)

The word of the day is "again"

No...Keaton isn't saying again, haha! But he is SICK AGAIN!!!!!

Only because he went to the nursery Sunday!! I don't know what to do! Hopefully with summer coming, the germies will be gone and he'll go and have an enjoyable time and not wake up Wednesday with a head cold!

He was a little "snotty" last night, but today, he's got sneezing, coughing, runny nose, no real naps (which is going to totally screw up his past two nights of sleeping AWESOME!) and a slight fever. Even if he's better by Sunday, he will NOT be going to the nursery this Sunday! We can't risk a sick baby at his own birthday party!!!!

Pray this passes quickly!!!!

2 Woohoo's!

First - Keaton slept through the night...and not just "Keaton-style" either. I put him down at 7 and he woke up at 6, babbled for about 5 minutes and then snoozed til 630! I don't know the last time that happened! I was hoping he'd be in a better mood today because of it, but, he expended all his energy at his weight check...

Bringing us to woohoo #2!!! To sum up the past few months - He was on track to be a massive 1 year old until the pregnancy and all that has to do with nursing. Before we knew we were pregnant and he wasn't gaining they wanted to run tests for leukimia and all sorts of weird things. I refused the testing, knowing our "genes" and how active he was and all. It's been a battle to get his weight up. At the last check, our goal was 18lbs. - he hit it with an ounce to spare! Our personal goal for today was 19lbs. and he hit it - right on the head!!! I was so excited! And that means...We are DONE with these bi-monthly weight checks!!!! woohoo!!! We go back on the 9th for his 1 year appointment (wow!)

A Much Calmer Easter Sunday!

If you recall, Keaton was born last Easter! Now, he's not 1 (yet) because Easter falls on a different date every year, but it was still crazy to think back to the last time we were planning on celebrating Easter! :)

Yesterday we went to church, Zach got to play with the Praise Team since he was on Easter Break from classes this week and I took my spot as a greeter with Keaton in tow as my big helper :) Who needs a whole team greeting when you have him?!

After church, he took a nice long nap in preperation for the afternoons events - Guitar Hero and UNC basketball at Greg & Nicolle's :) They've been our official UNC basketball watching spot the past two weekends :)

We were there way past Keaton's bedtime. I hate being out past that time because he is NOT one of those babies that will fall asleep anywhere (he has to be EXHAUSTED beyond all belief to think about it...if there are people around, he must be the center of attention!) As I said, it was way past his bedtime, but I just had to prove that I was better at Guitar Hero than Zach! So, Greg grabbed Keaton and started snuggling with him (I was laughing in my head because that is usually a sure fire way to make him mad! He will snuggle - when HE wants to for as long as HE wants!)

After 3 rounds of songs, I look over and Keaton is passed out on Uncle Greg! I decided then that we REALLY needed to go and get him in bed. I knew it would be a bad night if we didn't do that soon! So we got him bundled up, out to the car, home, changed and fed and he went down without a peep (let me add that Sat. night, he slept GREAT! I knew for sure we were don crying it out!) 230am rolls around and the screaming begins...I think it finally stopped at 4 and at some point he started again, Zach gave in and gave him a bottle (since we were SO off schedule, he didn't want the pizza that the Red Baron hadd slaved over and he didn't at dinner...so I'm sure he was starving!) Well...here we are, it's almost 8am...he is still asleep! I'm very glad for this, but, I would have appreciated those 2 hours in the middle of the night more!!! :) Let's just hope this makes for a happy baby today! :) Here are some pictures from yesterday (and one from last weekend at Greg & Nicolle's that I snagged from her yesterday)

Sporting his awesome Easter outfit! (Thanks Bebe!!)

When we get a better camera, these running shots won't be so blurry!!

My boys :)

Me & my Sweet Pea :)

This absolutely cracks me up! This was at Greg & Nicolle's last weekend. Sawyer (their son) had a Spiderman costume and some mean adults (Zach & Nicolle) put it on Keaton, he thought it was the funniest thing ever!

"That way"..."bye bye"..."baby" ...finally we make it to the park!

Oh! And Crying it Out: Night 3...Right on target...minus a very early wake up time! He made it through the night and even fell asleep "on time" so mommy could watch the Tarheels play!!! :)

We went to a park near the Seminary today. We have missed so many beautiful days due to colds and ickyness in our house - it was SO wonderful to get out today! I've been able to take Keaton to the park a number of times, but this was Zach's first time going with us!

Before we left, we needed to have food in our bellies so Zach made his infamous grilled cheese sandwiches - Keaton had that w/ blueberries (gross, but he scarfed it down quicker than Zach & I could!) Zach went into the living room for something and Keaton was looking for him. I said, "Where did daddy go?" No joke. He pointed towards the living room and uttered, "That way" Now I KNOW he didn't really say it, but Zach asked, "Did he say 'that way'?!" haha!!!

While we were at the park, a dad and his son came by and he (the son...not the dad!) was int he swing next to Keaton. "son" could not have cared less about Keaton, but my ever-nosey-like-his-mama boy was staring "son" down! When it came time to leave, the dad asked his son, "Can you say bye bye?" And "son" just stared at us like we each had 5.5 heads. Keaton, who never waves at ANYONE except us when we don't ask him to (!) started waving bye bye to "son" ...Zach and I played it off and as soon as they walked away, I looked at Zach and said, "What was that?! He waved!!!" Zach laughed and said, "He plays dumb..."

We came home and we were looking at the pictures we took...Keaton walks over, looks at a picture and says, "Baby" (more like, "be-ay-be" haha) Amazing...I said, "Very good!!! That's baby Keaton!" and he just smiled at me like he was the smartest kid on earth, haha :) I expect he & Zach to be discussing theology here soon ;-)

Crying It Out: Night 2...

Well, we made it all night, it was a little tough though! Luckily I was so exhausted that I couldn't have gotten out of bed if I wanted to (Zach just put a pillow over his own head and went back to sleep, haha!) 

Keaton took FOREVER to go to sleep last night. It was very un-nerving wondering how the rest of the night was going. He finally fell asleep about 815pm. At 2am, he woke up and fussed a bit and then again at 430am and then slept until 630! Whew! 

Funny Keaton story of the night. Keaton got a bath (you'll see why in a minute!) and Zachc got him all naked (which Keaton just LOVES!!!) and Keaton walked right into the bathroom and closed the door! H knew exactly what to do!!! hahaa!!

Here's the reason for the bath: Keaton had two firsts yesterday - Hot Dogs and Taco Bake!!! Messy messy :) 

Crying It Out: Night 1...

Here's how to make crying it out easy...

Step 1: Take baby to the church during praise band practice

Step 2: Make sure (assuming baby is a boy and a big flirt) there are lots of women around

Step 3: Allow baby free reign of the sanctuary 

Step 4: Let baby run around until baby cannot stand up straight

Step 5: Take baby home

Step 6: Give baby bottle & put to bed

Step 7: Mom - go to bed and enjoy the silence - sleep!

So yeh, apparently, that was enough to wear Keaton out. We didn't hear a peep out of him until about 4:30am...after that it was rough going, but...it was a great start! 

Hopefully that's all it will take to get him back on the right track!

Yesterday morning Keaton started doing something hilarious. I've been making him scrambled eggs for breakfast. Now that he knows what is coming, he isn't very patient to let the eggs cool. Yesterday I was trying to explain that they were hot, and then I would blow on them to cool them a little bit. I said, "We have to wait...they're hot..." Keaton starts going "haaa haaaa" (not laughing, but trying to say hot) after a few minutes he was watching me blow on the eggs and he was imitating me. Great fun :) 

He also started signing "yes" which cracks me up because I NEVER sign yes. I told my mom I have maybe signed yes 10 times in the almost 12 months he has been alive! I always sign "more" "finished" "no" "eat" "shirt/clothes" and "water"...the other day, I signed "Finished?" after breakfast and he started shaking his hand signing "yes" and laughing!!! 

So those are the big adventures from the first half of the week :) 

The good...the bad...and the ugly...sort of :)

Well -

Good News: Keaton's ears are clear!!! YAY!!! The Dr. said there was no sign of infection ever even being there! I'm so excited :)

The bad news: Now that he's healthy...we're getting some sleep - in other words, no more getting up multiple times a night...we're crying it out and getting back our 12 hours a night baby!!!

The ugly: We noticed a couple of weeks ago (about the time we started cloth diapers) that Keaton's belly button stuck straight out (not like an outie) and it had...nastiness in it. I mentioned it at his appt today (it's not ugly anymore, she got the nast out, haha!) But he has a herniated belly button (she said some fancy term and apparently, my expression said, "I've not had caffeine yet, talk to me like I'm human..." and she then told me about it) Basically, it NORMALLY corrects itself by 2 years, if not then they can do a "simple" surgery on it to fix it (I don't think so!!) We just need to keep an eye on it and make sure it never gets really hard or anything.

So, for the first time in 6 weeks - we are all HEALTHY!!!!! YAY!!!! :)

We go back Tuesday for a weight check (Keaton) with the Lactation Consultant and then April 9th for his (gasp) 1 year appt. and then I hope we are DONE with dr's. visits for him for some time!

In other news: It's March Madness. . . .oh, did I need to say more?!? OK, 4 days a week of basketball :) sigh, I love spring!!! :)

Baby Benjamin is moving ALL the time and Braxton-Hicks contractions ("fake" contractions) started Saturday night. I had a couple during the UNC/Clemson game Sunday afternoon...they stopped after UNC won, haha! ;-) But were definitely making their presence known as I finished up Keaton's birthday invitations last night (whew!)

I think that's all the news on this end. We're preparing for some storms today, so I wanted to make sure this got posted!

Yay for no ear infection!!!

Chicken Divan

One of our favorite meals is Chicken Divan. Well, since Keaton has been eating whatever we eat now, that's what he had for dinner tonight too! I've given him bites of the broccoli or the chicken, but, I spoon fed him the first few bites and then, since it was bath night (whether it was or wasn't, he was getting bath after this greasy mess!) I just gave him the bowl! :) Here was the fun that ensued!

WOW! That was GREAT mom!!!

The results are in....

It's a BOY!!!!!!!

We're SO very excited :) Everything looked great and we got some great pictures!

The official name: Benjamin Cai

Requested Belly Pictures & Updates

I had a friend ask for these - here they are...

The first one is today (17 weeks, 5 days)

The second is from roughly this time w/ Keaton (the caption says 17 weeks, 3 days)



-------------
Keaton news - he seems to be feeling much better. He is not at all as congested as he was this time last week (I, on the other hand, am sneezing my head off, haha!) I think his ears are still bothering him as he'll still hold them when he's playing. We're pretty much done with baby food (thank goodness!) since he scream bloody murder when I try to make him eat it and as soon as he has whatever I'm eating, he's the happiest little baby! ...what do I want? A happy baby - eat my food! :)

Keaton is into everything and something got into his head and he is actually listening when we tell him "no" ...I'm going to enjoy that while it lasts!

Two funny stories - probably only to me, but they make the long days go quicker :)

1 - Yesterday morning, Zach brought Keaton to me so he could finish getting ready for work. Keaton went through his usual, "snuggle, no! PLAY! Wait, no snuggle! NO PLAY!!!" routine and it my sleep-deprived state, I was getting a little frustrated...I looked at him and said, "Keaton!" and he grabbed my lips with his hand and gave me a big slobbery baby kiss. I just busted out laughing. Totally made the rest of the day better!

2 - Keaton's doing awesome with his walking. I'm just simply amazed at him. When he first started, he had to use his arms to balance and he looked like a Zombie. It was rather hilarious. Now, he has his hands full of toys when he's walking! But something he's started doing as of late - He'll kind of flap his arms, like a bird while he's walking. I've tried to get it on video, but no such luck. He'll just walk around and around, flap, flap, flap! It's SO funny!

Baby Jones news - I'm pretty much feeling the baby all the time. I knew I'd feel "baby" earlier this time, but I was really surprised when it was around 14 weeks! The first movements were after I scarfed down a bag of Skittles ;-) We find out Friday morning at 9am who is residing within me!!!! We're super excited :) We'll keep you posted - don't worry! :)

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Helping daddy study Philosophy - glad one of us can!

Keaton wanted my cinnamon toast this morning at breakfast...he won me over and took my toast :)

Adventures in whole milk :)

UNC fan - starting him early :)

11 months! (& 1 day!)

Yesterday came and went and I completely missed his 11-month-birthday! The next one is the BIG ONE! (in both senses!)

We're trying to finalize details, get invitations made and praying for GREAT weather!!! :)

We (at least I, ha ha) think Keaton's ear infection has "traveled" to his right ear, which is beyond frustrating. The good news, he's napping IN HIS CRIB right now for the first time....since Wednesday? Maybe even Tuesday! He sleeps "fine" in there at night (between random screams of pain) but just isn't having it during the daytime. If he were perfectly well, I would fight it, but, I know he's hurting, he needs to sleep, and it forces me to sit on the couch for two hours in the middle of the day and rest. (I miss my multiple naps a day baby!!!)

Today at church, Keaton couldn't go to the nursery b/c of his ear(s) and about 1/2 way through church he wanted down to walk/try to run/play. So we went in the lobby (besides, his hacking cough was making people look!) and he discovered the greatest invention known to babies - tablecloth covered tables. Pregnancy Support Services of Wake Forest had a table set up and it was covered in a red table cloth and for 10-15 minutes, he just crawled (something that rarely happens, I was surprised he remembered how!) back and forth ...back and forth....back and forth :) He was just busting out laughing the entire time :)

And I would be a horrible mom/fan if I didn't mention his attire for church today - his adorable UNC onesie :-D Woohoo!!!

Also, we started whole milk this week and he (of course!) loves it :) They go GREAT with pancakes :)

((Check back later for pictures. I keep getting Google errors and I'm too tired to keep trying to upload!))

Went to the dr. yesterday...

& Keaton has his first ever ear infection.

I was so bummed. The NP said it probably started as a cold or even the flu, but made its way to his ear. She wrote him a prescription for an atibiotic & gave me a couple of tips to help ease the pain.

We'll go back in 2 weeks to recheck his ears (I have a feeling it has now spread to his other ear, so I will make sure they check both)

Atleast we know what is going on & we can treat it.

Pancakes!

I *finally* got around to making pancakes for Keaton! And what a hit it was! Despite his being sick, he actually slept in today (way to go little buddy!!!) and so I got up "early" and made them for him.



On another note: Keaton is still running a fever, since Saturday afternoon. Basically "they" suggest for high fevers to alternate between Tylenol and Motrin every 4 hours. If we do this, we can get his temp down to 99. However, if we miss that 4 hour mark/dose, it will spike to 102 or higher. I had enough today and the nurse said to come in tomorrow. Hopefully we can get this figured out and taken care of. He's playing just as hard as he normally would, but he is so congested - he's constantly coughing and his nose is like a faucet...

Crayons!

Today I looked on my Pediatricians website as they have these "Ages & Stages" forms that we're supposed to fill out at various visits. The next one, 12 months, needs this form filled out. The pediatricians encourage you to print them off ahead of time to "direct" the child's play...

Well, I was reading through it and it said something about "If you give your child a crayon and paper does he/she scribble?"....um, who gives a 1 year old crayons?? Especially Keaton who will only EAT the crayon?!

So, my mom had seen these fat crayons on TV for "little" kids...While she was in town, we made our usual Target visit :) While there, we found them and decided since they were 12+ months, Keaton being almost 11 months, we should grab them.

We got home and I grabbed some printer paper and sat down with him...

He enjoyed playing with the paper...

And eating the crayons...We have 5 weeks to learn how to scribble!!!! haha!! Wish us luck! :)

Like I said - he'd only eat them!!! Do I know my child or do I know my child??!

Yes - those are the crayons...weird, but, they're actually pretty neat...

Keaton has been entertaining us by doing yoga as of late - here he's demonstrating Downward Dog Reaching For Crayon

There is a red-headed baby behind that paper :)

Really? I have to color with this? I want to eat it though...

UGH - again...

Keaton woke up screaming his precious head off at 4:45 this morning. Zach went in and gave him a bottle, of which, he only drank half - he usually downs 8oz in 10 minutes flat. And the screaming began again. Usually, after being put back in his crib, he'll cry for a few minutes and then fall right to sleep. 10 minutes later, he's still screaming. I couldn't take it and I went in. I could tell be the cry, something wasn't right. I rocked him for what seemed like an eternity and he just wouldn't go back to sleep.

Zach came in and changed his diaper ((I had taken Benedryl Friday night 1- so I could breathe and 2- so I could sleep!...I couldn't change his diaper because I couldn't stand up or see straight due to the Benedryl!)) And Keaton continued to scream. I had Zach go get the bottle that he didn't finish and Keaton finished it all in about 5 minutes and started the screaming again.

I got my bearings and headed down stairs. Upon turning on the light, I looked down at his sweet face and his poor nose was all crusty and gross and snotty...so I used the 'snot sucker' (which he used to think was hilarious...not so much anymore!) and got out what I could and that calmed him a little bit...for a little bit. After about 30 minutes, I knew the TV would calm him, so I turned it on found my favorite show (Law & Order: SVU) and he immediately quieted down! I was rather excited because it was actually an episode that I had not seen yet! After the commercial break, Keaton started screaming again...commercials come back, he quiets down - this pattern continues the entire show!!! haha!!!

At 930, I took his temperature becuase he felt warm and it was 100.4. I gave him some Motrin and finally, around 945am, he fell asleep on my chest (after many attempted naps in his high chair trying to eat breakfast!) He slept for about 90 minutes. About that time, Zach's parents, who were here visiting, got here so Zach and I could go out for a lunch date.

We left and when we got back, Keaton was terrorizing the living room like his normal self - but still very warm. He took another 90 minute nap and when we woke up, after his bottle, his temp. was 102.4.

He took a nap at 6pm for about 30 minutes (which normally doesn't happen...but, he wasn't going to make it through his bath and to bedtime without it tonight)

After he woke up, Zach gave him a bath, I gave him a bottle and he went to bed without a peep.

He is still burning up. Hopefully the fever will break tonight and he'll be back to his normal self in the morning!!! After all - BeBe is coming!!! And it's supposed to be 75 Monday!!! No one wants to be sick when it's 75!!!!!