OK, Calmer Now

Whew, got laundry mostly done, Debbie is off to the airport (that's my mother-in-law for those keeping track), Kieran is napping and most of his clothes are packed. I still must pack my own clothes and Ken has to pack as well but that usually doesn't take much time. So with a short trip to Target tomorrow and hopefully a haircut for Kieran I think we're good.

Therefore, I now have time to mess with all the Facebook updates I've gotten in the past few weeks AND upload a few photos here for your entertainment. I know it's been quite some time since I've posted - sorry.

Stress Level: RED

OK so I've got way too many things to do before the cruise and to finish cleaning up after the holidays. I'm praying that I have enough time to do everything before we leave. Because of that, yeah, I'm sick. Also hoping the cold clears up before we take off on Friday.

Top it all off? Kieran is not allowed in the pool on the cruise ship. Because he is still in diapers (and don't ask about swimming diapers - they said those as a no-no as well) he is not allowed in the pool. On the positive side, we only have two ship days and the other days are port days so it's only two days we'll have to chase him around the ship and keep him out of the pool.

AAARRRGGH. I have to pack, finish up my work, get all the trash out of the house, make sure the dogsitter is set up, etc etc etc. laundry, last minute shopping. Someone please tell me that the cruise will be OK?

Update - 1:14 pm
Well, the dogsitter has been crossed off the list. Laundry and packing begin tonight. Shopping will occur on 1/1 (we're getting food for the flight and some additional new/lightweight toys for Kieran to play with). About 50% of what I need to get done here is complete. Feeling slightly calmer. Maybe a red/orange level right about now....

Let the Craziness Begin!

So, my MIL comes to town tonight. Ken has off tomorrow, but I don't. So Ken & Debbie get to hang out with Kieran and I'll be at the office.

But Wednesday night we'll have some fun. We've got some small gifts for Kieran to open, we'll light the menorah, we'll leave cookies out for Santa (and carrots for the reindeer) and we'll put Kieran to bed. Santa will come during the night.

In the morning, Kieran will get to open all that Santa has left for him. We'll watch him play. I think around naptime we'll head down to my brother's where a Christmas dinner will be enjoyed by all. My SIL's family will be there too so there will be lots of kids for Kieran to play with. He loves playing with his cousins.

Friday its back to work for me and Ken, Debbie will have the day with Kieran. Then the weekend together.

So yeah, the craziness begins of holidays and family. Speaking of which... something funny happened to me on Facebook. It's been blocked at the office (which is fine) and I haven't been on in awhile at home. Apparently the app that shows Ken & I as married has a glitch and showed us divorcing and getting re-married. Ken got a very sweet note from a friend who was sad to hear the news (though he let her know we're very much still in love and together). For anyone who's wondering, no, we did not renew our vows in Vegas or get a quickie divorce or anything. OK, we do have photos that I am now remiss in uploading. Hope to have some soon.

Love to all - have a wonderful holiday and I'll blog again sometime.

He Did It Again!

Yep - this time he fully meant to poop in the potty. I'm excited, but trying to remember that some kids go through a phase where they LOVE to use the potty... and then stop.

That said, Kieran would spend an entire day in the bathroom if I let him. He'd brush his teeth, wash his hands, sit on the potty, play in the bathtub and then repeat. Probably not a bad thing at all.

Poop Goes in the Potty

That's right. Our boy just pooped in the potty this weekend. We couldn't be prouder. Don't mention the fact that it was because he was straining so hard to pee that he accidentally pooped. Don't care. Still counts!

Oh, here is a bit of musical accompaniment for this momentous occasion.

Quiet Nights

Kieran has recovered from his flu. He went to school just fine on Monday (though he did freak out when I dropped him off) but then...

Ken had to come home from work early. He succumbed. He's been hit with the same flu. He's been down for the past two days. I think he's finally on the tail end of this. Hopefully I will dodge it completely.

Once a Year

I'm thinking that by and large we're allotted one parental freakout per year. Last night after getting hit with projectile vomit from Kieran (yes, again) he seemed to calm down and go to sleep okay. Then at midnight he woke up dry heaving. Ken took him downstairs and came back up around 3. Kieran started dry heaving again. Ken said Kieran had done that once per hour since he'd gotten up. So - off to the hospital.

A minor background on why this was freaking us out so badly. Milo, our first cat, ate a penny when he was first with us. He threw up all weekend long and finally did a lot of dry heaving. So, we were concerned that Kieran had swallowed something non-food.

Anyway - long story short - back at home by 6 am being told no blockage and just a stomach bug. Clear liquids for the next 8-12 hrs. That went over like a ton of bricks this morning with Kieran who demanded a fruit bar. We caved only because he didn't ask for food at all yesterday and was inconsolable without it (hey - we've had about 3 hrs of sleep). So far so good, but I don't want to jinx it. More later.

Seeing It Again (and Again)

I got home from my business trip last night. I was really happy to see Ken and Kieran and we had a nice night together. Kieran went to bed around 7:45 and Ken and I got to spend some nice quality veg time together.

Until about 10:30 when Kieran woke up crying. And vomiting. We got him and me cleaned up, sheets on the bed changed and him back to sleep in about a half hour. Not bad, clothes and sheets in the washer we hung out a bit longer until he woke up with more vomitting. He did this off and on throughout the night. The whole night is a bit of a blur because Ken and I are not used to him being up so often.

So today, needless to say, I am home. Called the doctor this morning and they said so long as he continues to keep everything down and is not feverish to not worry. So far so good. He barely slept last night so he's been asleep now for about 3 hrs and I'm hoping he sleeps a while longer yet. I also hope that I don't get thrown up on again - I got hit 3 times last night.

HoliDaze

Had a great long Thanksgiving weekend with much family ado. No photos yet but hopefully soon. Internet should be fixed at home Friday or early next week (we're canceling Verizon and going back to Cavtel, cross your fingers).

Thanksgiving Day saw us putting Kieran down for an early nap (2pm is the time for my Uncle Gary's traditional crazy big and good feast) and he was not happy about waking up. He took a little while to warm up to everyone, but once he did... well, let's just say he puckered up and gave everyone a kiss goodbye. I think my favorite was when he played with my cousin Jarrard who sat down on the floor to get him to run over. Jarrad thought Kieran didn't like him because he hit him and laughed. I had to explain that this was a sign of affection.

Friday was actually a little quiet. Kieran and I went to go visit Oma and Opa (that's Mutti and Poppop - my mom's folks) for a little bit. When we got back Kieran napped and we brought out the tree. When Kieran got up we all decorated the tree together. It was fun and we had cookies and hot chocolate. Kieran enjoyed his cookie - probably more than I'd like him to but I can't blame him. Cookies are tasty.

Saturday we went to the Science Center in the morning to let him run around. As always we had a breakdown when it was time to leave the water play area. He quickly recovered and we all had lunch before heading home. Another nap and then off to dinner with Oma, Opa, Uncle Andy, Aunt Wendy, Zack, Becca and Pete. Kieran did very well at the restaurant and had fun playing with his cousins.

Sunday he was a bit congested and coughed a lot that morning so, although we were scheduled to go to a baptism, I stayed home and Ken went. (sorry Stacy, Matt & Patrick!) Kieran and I played, watched some TV, played some more and basically just had a nice lazy, rainy indoor day.

Now, I'm in Vegas for a trade show. I'm beat (didn't sleep well) and looking forward to coming home. I can't wait to see everyone for the next big shindig.

What Goes Around....

Kieran got bit at daycare Wednesday evening. No one saw it happen, no one can even confirm that what is on his chin is a bite mark and not something else. Most of the workers there do agree that it looks like a bite. I'm not upset that no one saw it, Kieran was let slide a few times when he was biting. I'm not even all that upset he got bit (Should it happen? No. Did it happen? Yes. Can I change anything? No.) but I do hope it doesn't happen again.

Ah well, it happens. I took him to the doctor's yesterday, they've prescribed an anitbioitc cream to put on the marks until they fully heal. Like Neosporin only perscription strength.

I'm slowly learning his language too. The other night he said "Habat" which he's been saying often and we had no clue what it meant. I had a light bulb moment when he grabbed what he was pointing to and said it again. "Have it?" I said. "Yeah, habat." he replied. I think I'll need to publish a Kieran to English dictionary for people other than Ken and me.

DANG Verizon!

Yeah, still no connection at the house and OODLES of great photos to share. I guess I'll just have to stick to some stories... *sigh*.

Kieran sings the entire alphabet song by himself. He doesn't always get all the letters out individually but the sounds are in the right place. He's probably a week away from getting it all down. He pointed to A, B, C, D and E on the alphabet chart at daycare without any assistance. He knows different numbers too.

He loves to "read" books by himself. At night he doesn't want me reading to him, just to sit there with the book. He likes me to tell him what's going on so then he can "read" the page himself. He's babbling up a storm - I'm actually convinced he's talking but is not clear enough for me to understand. A frustration I am trying to overcome.

Ken's new job goes well. For those who hadn't heard, Ken made the move to Offit Kurman, a firm in Howard County. His commute hasn't changed much in terms of time so that's good. They're a larger firm with many offices. We're both pretty excited about it.

Ah, the holidays. I can blog about this because I know my grandparents will not read it. This will be funny in about 2 weeks but is still semi-frustrating right now.

For Thanksgiving this year my mom is going to California to visit with Carol (her sister-in-law) which is usual. She didn't go last year because of other travels and whatnot. So, as we were planning to have Thanksgiving with my dad I checked in with him to see if my mom's parents (aka my grandparents) could go. My dad was originally planning on having dinner at his place. This changed to my Uncle Gary's but when Dad and I talked, I missed that part and only heard that he wasn't sure if there was space. At this point I had not called my grandparents as I didn't know what to tell them. My Uncle emailed me a few days later to say it was OK to bring them. One minor hiccup, my brother may need to bring his mother-in-law and wasn't sure if we would all end up at Uncle Gary's or if he was going to do something separate. OK, more waiting. Got the answer yesterday - it's all a go at UG's house. So I called my grandparents.... they apparently got tired of waiting on us and made their own plans. HA! Next year I'm going to Tahiti.

Love to all, blog again sometime... maybe even get photos up if Verizon can fix our internet (or when we ditch them for someone freaking reliable).

Mine!

Yeah, that one is new from over the weekend. Ken thinks that Kieran learned it from the Mine-itis episode of Sesame Street. I'm thinking we're just at that stage.

Halloween was a BLAST. If I can get Verizon to fix our internet (and keep it fixed) then we'll be able to post photos soon. Wait to you see our little Batman!

200th Post and Other Milestones

OK I just had to brag that this is my 200th post. I'm sorry I haven't done any photos in awhile but Verizon is not doing a good job of getting our DSL working at home. We download photos to Ken's computer and then post them online so it's a bit of a struggle without that. Hopefully that will get fixed later this week.

So - the big milestone.... A Toddler Bed. Yeah, that's right, I wussed out on moving him whole hog to a twin bed from the crib. But he's doing well with it so far (and we didn't have to buy a new mattress, so that's a bit of a savings plus resale on this will be high). We bought the bed on Saturday, assembled it after his nap and he slept on it just fine his first night. I'm sure that once he really gets that he's able to get up on his own we're in big trouble, but for now so far so good.

He's talking up a storm. Our favorite phrase is "Where did it go?" in reference to practically anything or anyone.

Dad and I had fun at Sunday's game (thanks Dad!) watching the Ravens WIN. I think Kieran is on his way to being a football (and specifically a Ravens) fan. Especially if Zadie (and probably Ken too) has his way. Dad gave Kieran a Ravens blanket (which he slept/cuddled with last night) so he's on his way. OK back to work. Love to all. Blog again soon.

Stalling Out

A quick one since things are crazy here at the office.

Yeah, the great first few times on the potty have devolved into "Do you want to go potty?"

"NO!"

Or "Yes" followed by a quick "All Done" while on the potty after having done NOTHING. The other night he said he was all done, 3 times, and then proceeded to pee in the bath not 2 seconds later.

I've ordered a DVD on Potty Training and I hope that helps. I'm lost. I know it will take time and consistency (which I admit, I am lacking right now). I'm afraid I have to go and use the potty seat (was hoping to avoid this and just go straight to the toilet inserts).

*sigh*

Let the Potty Training Begin!

Yeah, it's that time. We started this weekend and Kieran has done fairly well so far. He's sat on the potty about 3 times and peed on the potty twice. So we're off to a good start and I let daycare know that we've formally begun, so they can help while he's there.

That said, the second time I had him sit on the potty, he said he was all done and then proceeded to poop and pee on the floor of the bathroom. Oh well. I think it's harder to poop because his legs don't reach the floor.

Anyway, busy busy day. Back to work.

Sunny California

It's been very fun here at this work-related thing. I've spoken with many people and ridden a ferry. I'm sitting here in my room while lunch is going on simply because I am trying to observe Yom Kippur today by not eating. I used to do this every year but got lax the past few years. Since I am not pregnant, breastfeeding or sleep-deprived I felt I had no excuse this year.

Today ends our sessions and begins my leisure time. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the area.

Poor Ken is having a hard time sleeping without me and Kieran decided that his diaper was way too heavy to continue to sleep (at around 3 am). Ken did manage to get him back down but didn't sleep much himself. Pile onto that he ran around today and got his car back, only to have it stall out in front of the body shop. Fortunately he was next door to the dealership where he's been getting it repaired. $800 later his car is running. $2K more and it will give us another year. *sigh*

Ah well. At least the wine here has been fantastic and I should be able to bring him home a good bottle of it.

Missing You...

So, I just arrived in California. I'm here for the remainder of the week and am even taking an extra day just to do something fun (the rest is work-related). But, I'll admit, I already miss Ken & Kieran.

I'm sure Ken's gong to have fun with Kieran this week with some good daddy/son bonding time. He's already got some cool things planned. Ken got a dose of my regular pickup routine. Today, when Kieran saw him, he jumped up, grabbed his bag and went straight to the door, getting ready to open the handle.

I've been thinking about it - should I worry that my kid is so ready to go home? Does that mean he doesn't like daycare? Then I remembered - in the mornings when I drop him off he usually gives me a (waffle or banana laden) kiss and says "bye bye". He's ready for me to go. I guess at night he's ready for me to be there.

Anyway, random thoughts. I can't believe it's 8pm at home right now. Here it's just 5. I'm starting to realize that this is going to be a very long week. Is it Saturday yet?

What's New

I just got up on Facebook and been getting back in touch with people I haven't seen or talked with in about 10-20 years. They all ask the same thing "So, what's new?"

Geez - I feel so boring until I sit and think about the past 15 years. I've done the following things:

Graduated from College (1995 - 13 years ago)
Got Engaged (also 1995)
Got a job (1995)
Moved out of parents' house (1996)
Got married (1997)
Bought a House (1999, I think)
Got a new job (2000)
Stepfather passed away (2001)
Grandfather passed away (2002)
Ken starts Grad School (2002?)
Ken starts Law School (2003?)
Moved into the City (2003)
Got pregnant (2006)
Ken finishes Law School (2006)
Gave birth (2007)
Ken takes the Bar (2007)
Ken Passes the Bar (2007)
Ken gets job as a Lawyer (2007)

Well, now you're up to date. I feel staid (weird, I know) but there is so much that goes on day to day and it's all so exciting and fun while it happens but there are no huge milestones to mark. It's not like knowing when Kieran started walking (10 1/2 months) or talking (16 months) it's just my life.

About Ohio

So, this will be quick for now. Went to Ohio this weekend as Ken's youngest brother, Ben, got married last weekend and had a celebration party with family on Saturday. Congrats Ben and Angela.

We stayed with Ken's middle brother, Matt, his wife Lori, and their two kids, Riley and Morgan. Riley and Morgan were VERY excited to see Kieran and the three of them had a grand time playing together. Of course, I got no photos of them doing that at all. We did manage to get a few shots in before we left. here is one. OK going back to work now.

Bad Word?

For the past 2-3 weeks I could swear that Kieran had learned a bad word. And I was sure he had NOT gotten from me (shut up - I am aware of my potty mouth and work hard to curb it in front of him).

Here's how it would go, he'd grab his crotch and say what sounded like "dick". I use "penis" when I talk about it so I knew that he didn't get this reference from me. I was alarmed that perhaps daycare taught him this. He wouldn't do it often, so I wasn't very upset. Recently, however, it has been more frequent.

This morning he got up and grabbed his crotch and said "dick". I had a light bulb moment and realized that what he's been trying to say all along is not "dick" but "diaper". We've been trying to teach him this word for awhile but have not gotten past the "d" sound. We'd enunciate it "d-d-d-diaper" and it seems he is stuck on the "d-d-d" part. When he did that I asked him if he wanted his diaper changed - he said yes. Bad word and confrontation avoided. Whew!

Congrats!

I'll get back to your semi-regularly scheduled Kieran fix tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime....

Wendy Taylor is engaged! I'm so excited for her and her beau, Scott. I also heartily approve of his request to do Elvis in Vegas. Wendy - I swear to you - Eloping is BEST. Don't do the big wedding. Spend the money on a good house or a good vacation. We can party when you get back. Love ya sweetie.

(for those keeping track, Wendy was my college roommate)

Welcome Eli Lipshultz

My cousin Aaron and his wife Katie welcomed their first - Eli Grant Lipshultz over the weekend. I hear mom and dad are doing well.

Here's a quick pic of the new little cousin (2nd cousin or whatever).

Born 10:19 am 8/23/08
9 lbs, 11 oz; 20 1/2 inches long

The Simple Things

Today Ken, Kieran and I went to the aquarium. Yes, we've done it many times before. But really, as Kieran grows, each time we visit he's into something else. We just went there a few weeks ago and this time around he was more into the exhibits (though I will say that the puddles and bubbles remain his favorites). He walked nearly the entire time and then some.

Friday at daycare he ran a fever so I took him home a little early. The sad thing is that they told me Friday was the best day he's had in his new room in a long time. Said he had his "listening ears" on all day. Sometimes he just refuses to listen to me and Ken too. He throws a tantrum and we promptly ignore him. He screams a bit and then is fine when he realizes he's not going to get his way.

Yes, today I am just blogging whatever floats into my head so please bear with my rambling.

Last night Ken gave Kieran his bath and the two of them were laughing the entire time. They both came downstairs soaking wet but smiling. It's the little things in life that are so wonderful. Sometimes I forget that. I think we all do. OK, enough maudlin. I'm going to go do dishes now - yuck.

Vocabulary

Everyone says that kids have a language explosion around 18 months. All I can say is... KABOOM!

This weekend Kieran picked up about 5 new words in 2 days. One of those words was, yes, "Zadie". I think that my dad could not have been happier or prouder.

We had a great weekend. Spent Saturday hanging out with my dad and then Sunday we went to my brother's place where he watched Kieran while Ken & I snuck away to go see The Dark Knight. It was a great time and Kieran had so much fun he did something he never has before - he napped at Andy and Wendy's.

I do have some photos to share, but blogger seems to be having issues loading them. I'll try again soon. Visit Shutterfly.com and see our photo album. If you can't see it, leave me a comment and I'll email it to you.

Things I Totally Blame My Husband For

I'm in an odd mood today and thought I'd share....

1. My addiction to letting people know about Dr Horrible's Sing Along.
2. Reading everything on the Kindle and being grumpy when I can't read the book I want that way.
3. Computer games (though he could turn this one around on me since I introduced him to Chuzzle).
4. Watching TV on time-delay and thinking that I can always fast-forward through commercials.
5. Having an amazing kid.

NO!

Yeah, he finally learned it. He's been pretty good about not telling me or Ken no when we tell him to do something. Apparently at daycare today it was a whole different story for Miss Michelle, Miss Jesse and Miss Shela. AND he had biting attempts. A bad bad day for Kieran at school.

He and I had a talk about it tonight. I do know that he's breaking in some molars and that it has really irritated him (which I let them know). Ah well, not much we can do other than try to break him of his "NO" habit.

Let's see, what else is new... Mom is back from her trip to Ireland (had a great time but coulnd't find much with Kieran's name on it, much to my amusement). Ken is working very hard and so am I. Looking forward to seeing the Dark Knight this weekend (thanks Andy & Wendy) with Ken. Hmmm. About it. I've been so freaking busy at the office that I've been 100% brain dead by the time I get home (hence little blogging). Its enough for me to try and focus on Kieran, doing a few small things around the house and then zoning out.

I should try to keep a running list of his words - his speech is coming along very well. He does say thank you, no (obviously), ball, bubble, puddle, bottle, dog, tree, truck, shoe, sock, yes, please, cheese, and book. I swear I'm missing a few but I'm more than happy about what I have, considering that just 3 months ago he wasn't talking at all. OK, I need to get off of the computer and get some dishes washed. Love to all.

18 Month Checkup

So, 21 lbs, 3 oz. 32 inches in length and 18 cm head circumference. Biggest jump in percentiles in HC but he is now officially more than 1/2 my height (I'm 5 feet which translates to 60 inches) and he's in the 55th percentile for height so slightly above average right now.

That's really it right now. He's healthy and happy and enjoying daycare BUT he's howling like a banshee when I drop him off. Everyone swears that lasts about 5 minutes and he recovers (I know he does because when I came to pick him up yesterday he didn't want to leave - made me sit through story time first) but it still sucks.

OK back to work. Hopefully I'll get the 20 gazillion photos I've taken uploaded sometime soon.

Done with ENTs

Yep, that's right. Kieran got a clean bill of ear health today. Passed his hearing test and there's finally no fluid behind his eardrums.

WOO HOO.

Had a great time yesterday celebrating my Dad's birthday. Kieran was entranced by Becca (his cousin) and she, he and Pete ran around like crazy kids. He slept for about 2 hours after we got home.

OK, back to work for me. Love to all Blog again... uh, sometime!

Exhausted

Just a quick post to say everything is fine with us and I hope to do some photos and video soon. Am swamped at work and beat when I get home so I haven't had the "umph" to do much blogging.

Kieran's vocab is growing - we have puddle, bubble, Dorothy, thank you, cheese, book, ball, hot, hat, and I'm sure a few others I can't think of right now. He's doing OK with no biting (so far) but he also did try to bite me this weekend, so we'll see.

OK, back to work. Love to all, will blog... eventually....

A Few Words

Kieran's getting a bit more vocal though mostly we still get grunting and gesturing. He knows "hot" and "hi" and has said at least once "book", "Dorothy" (name of our clownfish apparently), "thank you" (hasn't said this in awhile), and "up". I realized that Ken and I are not very vocal ourselves. Left to our own devices we'd converse with one another and read. Not useful to Kieran who needs us giving him a constant chatter of information. I've been making a conscious effort this week to do that. I think it's paid off as he uses "hot" at least once at dinner each night.

Then again, sometimes I think he just likes blowing on his food, which is what comes after "hot".

Long Time No Blog

Well, it's finally happened. I've gotten lax in my blogging.

No photos yet to post (probably not for another few weeks) and we've been so busy that I haven't really talked about what's going on. Bad me, bad, bad me!

Ken is in Vancouver this week at the AILA Conference. He won't be home until late Sunday night so me and Booger Butt are on our own for awhile. So that pretty much stinks. He left this morning and I miss him already.

Kieran is doing OK in his new room (biting aside) though he did bite himself again yesterday but not as bad as the first time he did it (which wigged me out beyond belief). Ken discovered that Kieran's molars are coming in, which could account for the recent increase in biting behavior.

At work there are a plethora of things to do and not enough time in the day to do it. I got a really good suggestion from a co-worker today to take a few days of vacation when Ken gets back. Not to go anywhere, mind you, but just to not be at the office all day and not with Kieran either. So, I'll try and work that in.

OK enough prattling. I'll try to get back on top of this whole blogging thing soon.

Take Me Out

Just a quick note to say I hope to have some photos up soon.

A brief summary of last weekend.

On Saturday Kieran received his first non-daddy-given haircut. He survived without crying or fussing or completely destroying the salon. It was great and his haircut is wonderful.

On Sunday we met up with my brother's family and our dad at Hull Street Blues in Locust Point for brunch. A GREAT all-you-can-eat brunch place and everyone enjoyed themselves. Then my brother went off to go see Kung-Fu Panda with his clan while we went to the game with Dad.

Well, I have to say, I had hoped that Kieran would last a little longer but... given that brunch was at 11 am and the game was at 1:35 (his naptime at daycare is 1-3pm) I knew we were probably in for it. And we pretty much were. Ken & I left the game before the first inning was over. (Sorry!). So, dad's day for Ken was a bit of a bust. (and for Dad and Dar too)

Hearing News

Ken took Kieran in for a follow-up appointment today and while we didn't get a new hearing test (they were waiting for nearly an hour), there was still fluid on Kieran's ears.

We have another appointment on July 21 and if there is still fluid at that time, then we'll need to discuss putting ear tubes in. This is absolutely last resort for us, but since the fluid is not going away, we may have to take action to prevent any long-term damage (at least I think that's why we do tubes).

Anyway, this news is not great but at least we know what we're looking at and we've found doctors that we like to work with. If we have to do tubes, at least we know that we're doing them with the best possible people.

Finally...Photos!

Good News

So, his spleen is just fine, maybe in a weird position, but nothing abnormal about it. That's another load off of my mind.

I (obviously) did not get to posting a ton of photos last night (as I should have) goal is to do that tonight. Ken posted some of the new photos on his updated photo site. Only a few of the new ones made it. Which is why I need to post more tonight.

Quickie

So, much to tell, not much time to blog.

Kieran is moving up to the Pre-Toddlers room June 16. He had his first day there yesterday. Did well but was cranky at first.

We had his ultrasound for his spleen on Monday. Now I'm just waiting on results from the doctor.

Lots of photos from his weekend with Grandma but I haven't dumped the camera in FOREVER. So, that's gotta be done. We also have a few from Ken's last triathlon, which was very trying for me.

OK back to work. I'll blog tonight, with photos, I promise!

First Words

We went to the Baltimore City Infants and Toddlers program, where we met with a caseworker who explained what would be done for his evaluation. Then we met with all of the therapists and evaluators at once. We sat in a room while they had him do some simple tasks - stack blocks, finish a simple puzzle, play with a crayon.

Not only did he do well, he was above his age range for nearly everything by at least one to two months with the one exception of speech. His responsive speech is fine (meaning he understands basic direction given to him) its his expressive speech which is lagging. But, strangely enough, today we got his first words. That's right, not singular word - words. His first understandable speech? "Thank you."

It's the one thing we probably say most often to him. When he brings us items, when he is finished with a meal and he lets us know, etc. Also, this week at daycare they have been working on the sign for "thank you", which I think contributed to it. His expressive speech is at a 14-month level, but they expect with a bit of help on our end, that he'll pick up soon. They told us that if he didn't catch up in the next 4 months to come back for another evaluation. But mostly, he was fine.

So that was it. Oh, right, and he'll be moving up to the next room in daycare within a week or two. Kieran will officially be a Spectacular Seal (aka Pre-toddler) at the start of June. Which is funny because Miss Karen, who just started this week, is already sad to know he won't be there for long. Yeah, he's her favorite :-). OK, gotta vacuum, the Mother In Law is coming today. Love to all, blog again soon.

Sugar Rush

We had a good weekend just hanging out. We went to Wine in the Woods on Saturday and the Aquarium on Sunday.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at the Cheesecake Factory (since we hadn't gone to the grocery store just yet) and Kieran's breakfast was french toast, strawberries and bacon. Well, the strawberries had a syrup on them (had I known I would have requested they leave that off) and our little man LOVED it. Dipped a piece of french toast in it. Then proceeded to run like mad around the aquarium. Ken and I looked at each other and agreed - as little sugar as possible for this kid. He is naturally active and doesn't need the extra boost.

OK, that's all to report. Blog again soon.

Home at Last!

Whew. Made it home - half hour late, but that's OK. I was still home before 9 pm, which is a change over my regular travel.

Ken was waiting for me (open arms and pursed lips!) when I stepped through the door. Kieran was already asleep, though I peeked in at him. He was happy to see me this morning but a bit daddy-centric. But, he can get mommy-centric too when Ken's been off doing stuff for several nights in a row.

OK, back to work. Blog more soon. Love to all.

On the Road Again...

Travelling for work this week and I'm not liking it so far. I miss Ken, I miss Kieran. I feel like I'm missing all the cool stuff. As if he'll say his first word and I won't be there. I think I'd be crushed.

That's about it. I'm beat, I'm travelling with some folk who can party like it's 1999 (or there's no tomorrow or whatever cliche you'd prefer). These are the same people who don't understand the reasons for having a kid. So, here I am, fogey that I am, beat and it's 9:42 pm. Ah well, I know the joys of the first smile of the morning, the run and hug, and the last cuddle of the night. I'm perfectly content in my fogey-ness.

Old Photos

My dad sent me these. I kinda freaked out when he told me the ages, which I'll put at the bottom of this post.
Ok, so here is a brief explanation:
Photo on left is Uncle Gary, my dad and Uncle Stanley.
Photo in the middle shows my Bubbie (aka my Dad's mom - Anna) in the middle
The last photo shows my Zadie (aka my Dad's dad - Leonard) on the right (shown below)

I'm not 100% sure who the other people in these photos are. The comment from my dad about ages...

He and Uncle Gary are 12, Uncle Stanley was 14. Not too scary yet.

Bubbie was 33 and Zadie was 36. Now that's a scary thought. I'm 35 this year and the idea of having a 14 year old is just... wow.

Uh-Oh

It's still all I've got in terms of words (sorry, Zadie). Damn cute though. I've been trying to get him to do it on video so I can post it, but no such luck yet. I'll keep trying.

This weekend is Ken's first triathlon. I'm pretty excited and hope that the weather holds so we can all go and see it. Unfortunately, it may be during Kieran's regular nap time that he finishes so we may have cranky boy if we try. We're going to play it by ear.

Not much else is new, Kieran is still kinda stuffy and cough-y. I need to make a follow up appointment for his spleen (his bloodwork came back fine, but the doctor wants to do another physical exam). I'm hopeful at this point that we may get some words before our assessment at the end of May, but I've been hoping he'd talk since he was born.

Ah well. Seasme Street is not working to help, although he does mimic me when I say "Ah! Ah! Ah!" like Count von Count - also quite cute.

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled....

Thank you for commenting. Sometimes it does feel like no one's paying attention, even though I know you are.

Not much new to report. I've got Kieran's developmental assessment set up - that's not until nearly the end of May. So for now, same old same old. Still no words (though he does say "uh-oh" often and to good comedic effect).

We've had a good week but Kieran's nose has been stuffy and he's been coughing as well. I need to give him another dose of honey & lemon juice - which he hates but it helps. Tonight was a test for Ken & I. Our first night out with a paid babysitter. It went OK except that Kieran had separation anxiety about one minute after we left his room. Ken went back upstairs to put him to sleep before we left. Oh well. At least we're getting used to leaving Kieran with strangers. Oh wait - that's a bad thing, isn't it? (truthfully, neither one of us was comfortable)

We had a good day before tonight. Ken got up with Kieran and they played until I woke up an hour or so later. After Ken left for his bike ride, Kieran and I went to the park and played for about an hour on the playground. It's strange and exciting to watch him get on the slide by himself. He is so fun, and sweet and reckless. He played ball with an older boy - I had brought his ball to the playground and they took turns tossing it. Not exactly playing together or with each other, but it was good sharing all around.

That's it, it's late and I should be in bed as it's my turn to get up with Kieran tomorrow morning.

BOYCOTT

That's it. No one is commenting - even with a mad face photo and a video of Kieran dancing. Until I get feedback, I'm on strike. Or boycotting or just not blogging.

Baby Loves Passover (and the 80s)

Baby Loves Disco was a hit. I got nervous as the day approached since it has been our experience that Kieran hardly ever is as excited about some of our outings as we are in advance. The day before we mostly hung out at home and then went to Passover with the Lipshultz clan (and what a clan we are) down at my Uncle Stanley's. It's about an hour drive so when we hadn't finished up and it was 8pm, we took our leave (sorry everyone - maybe next year we can keep him awake). Though I will say he ate so well he needed no bottle to go to sleep that night.

Today we hung out at home, got Kieran to nap early (he's good at that when we ask him) and went down to BLD at 2pm. Andy & Wendy (and their kids) and my mom joined us there. Their kids were into it right away - their youngest is now 4. Kieran was not entirely sure what to make of it.

The dance floor was fairly crowded (and covered in bubbles) with kids and parents. Average age was probably about 3 or 4. Kieran was not the youngest kid there, though the littler ones were being carried in slings. Like I said, at first he wasn't sure about this place. It was loud the lighting was dark and everyone was getting in his face, trying to see if they could help him enjoy it better.

After we went upstairs, where things were quieter, and he had a chance to play with toys (and try and steal balloons) he started getting into it. Ken swears that he really didn't get into the dancing until the DJ started playing 80s music. Not sure I can disagree. Here is a long-ish clip of Kieran dancing.

Anyway, everyone seemed to have a good time overall. Zack won a dance contest (to Becca's dismay) with some great hustle moves he learned from his mom (and a few of his own). After we were all too tired to move (or so I thought) we headed over to Oma and Opa's for another Passover dinner. Uncle Charles and Uncle Drew joined us there.

Our second Seder of the weekend went much easier than the first. It could be that we used the children's Haggadahs (that's the book we use to guide us in telling the story of passover). The good news is that we had this meal catered and the food was wonderful.

Here are a few additional photos from our weekend. Ken will host more on his website soon and I'll link over to it once he does. Enjoy!

Doctor's Report

Kieran now weighs 20 lbs 15 oz. He is officially more than half my height at 31 1/2 inches tall. His head circumference is 17 1/2 inches. All good, though weight and HC in the 10% or lower. Height is 60 percentile.

Anyway - he's drinking way too much milk (which we kinda knew) so we're going to be cutting back for the next few weeks to one bottle in the morning and one bottle in the evening. Finally we'll eliminate the bottle in the morning and at the very last, the bottle before bed. That one will be a bit of a fight, I think.

The doctor would like us to get an evaluation on his delayed speech. There's a free development assessment place run by each county so I've got to call and schedule an appointment for that. He's concerned about the delay specifically because of Kieran's ears and his Tongue Tie. Likely nothing is wrong but this is just a check since he should have around 5 words or so and he has none.

The only worrisome thing is that while the doctor was feeling around Kieran's belly, he said he could feel the tip of Kieran's spleen. May just be how Kieran is put together but may be something else. So, tomorrow morning, Ken's going to get Kieran's blood drawn (yes, I am still a big chickens**t). We were just going to do a finger prick to check his iron level since I was unsure if he needed any vitamins but when the doctor felt the spleen he wants us to get some other tests done. Hopefully everything is fine, but we'll see. The doctor did not seem overly concerned about it, didn't warn me of anything to watch for.

That's pretty much it. We got to daycare and he sat and smiled for his photo. These may turn out fairly well so we'll see how much they are when they come in (probably in about a month or so). OK to work with me. Love to all, blog again soon... 3 days until BABY LOVES DISCO!!!!

Good (but semi-boring) Weekend

Had a nice time Saturday just putzing around the house for awhile and then we went out to dinner with friends at the Melting Pot. It was a nice experience and a tasty meal. Thanks to G-ma for the babysitting! Kieran was asleep by the time we picked him up, fell back asleep in the car, then barely woke up to be put to bed. We didn't even bother changing his clothes, we just let him sleep in his jeans & shirt.

Sunday was cleaning and shopping day. Kieran woke up early but went back to sleep until 8:30. Ken got back from his run around 10 and then we went to lunch and shopping around 12.

So generally, nothing terribly exciting to report. He's still not talking (driving me NUTS, have I mentioned that?) but he is definitely signing more. He tells us "more drink" a lot, he's less interested in getting food though half the time that's what he really wants. He's learned one new sign - "please" though I don't know that he understands it just yet.

Doctor's appointment Thursday morning so I'll have more information then. My questions for the doctor will circle around how much he should eat (and what), whether he needs a vitamin supplement, how to get him to sleep more, and when we should worry about his non-speech thing. Answers coming soon (I hope).

Party Boy

Whew. April is a busy month for us. This past weekend we had a birthday party on Saturday and then Andy & Wendy graciously agreed to babysit on Sunday so Ken & I could have a romantic outing for our anniversary. (Thanks again!)

This weekend we have invitations to two separate dinners. Weekend after that is Passover and Baby Loves Disco. Weekend after that there's something going on Saturday, but I just can't remember what it is. Thankfully we have Google Calendar to keep it all straight or I'd never remember any of it. It is nice to be popular though!

Here are some great photos of Kieran at Harry's birthday party. This is Harry's first birthday (he's about 2.5 months younger than Kieran) and Kieran's first kiddie party (though he and Harry were the only kids there). Great photos courtesy of Harry's mom.

Ear Doctor - Revisited

Ken took Kieran to the new ear doctor this morning. This is a doctor in his (Ken's) ENT's office who works regularly with kids. Ken likes this doctor more than the one we saw before, so looks like we've found our fit.

GREAT NEWS
Kieran's ears still have fluid, but are drying up. Between the weather and we're being very careful to not let him have a bottle or any drink while he lays flat on his back the fluid is going away. No ear infection and he can hear. No tubes are necessary. We'll go back in for a checkup in June.

I'm dancing in my chair I'm so happy. Maybe this means we'll get real words soon...man, I just can't wait for him to talk!

I've Been Banned from Daycare

We had a nice weekend. Well, I did anyway. Ken took care of Kieran while I ran around and did some shopping, got my nails done, etc. It was weird and nice to have a bit of time to myself. I definitely find that grocery shopping is much easier without Kieran in tow - but not half as entertaining.

Unfortunately as Kieran got very riled up, he began to bite. Me. And Ken. So far today he hasn't done anything at daycare, but we'll see. I riled him up good by stopping by to see him and he BAWLED when I had to go. Erica told me that she was going to have to ban me (she was joking - sort of). I don't blame her. I peeked in and he was sobbing in her arms - it was VERY hard to leave after that. But I know about 5 minutes after I was gone he was laughing and playing again.

Bad news for Kieran - Carolyn will be moving to the next room shortly. I asked if Kieran would follow and was told that it's really more of a numbers thing. That they either needed space in the Infant II room or are trying to even out the number of kids in Infant II and Pre-Toddlers (next room). Anyway, we'll see how both he and Carolyn function. He's more of a room flirt now that there are more girls around.

That's about all my news right now. He's just loving the dancing and I'm hoping that maybe tonight or tomorrow night we'll get new photos (I know, been promising those FOREVER). I've got book club tonight and a dinner out on Wednesday - wow, I'm doing good with this me-time thing :-). Love to all, will blog again soon.

The Newsletter

Have some stuff to blog about but I wanted to do this, partially to see if it works.

Gauvey Newsletter for 2007

Quick Photos

Some good shots from Saturday night dinner at the Helmand in Baltimore. It's an Afghani restaurant. Kieran enjoyed the bread, but the meat was a little too spicy for him.

Here's the whole gang. And one of the birthday girl and her date. She looks really good for 29, don't you think? (OK, I'll fess up - only because I'm danged impressed - she's 90).

Slow Mouth

Kieran's had no incidents this week of biting at daycare. When I spoke with Nikki about it on Monday she said he had "slow mouth" which meant that he was thinking about it before he actually bit anyone. A big improvement. It allows for easier intervention from the staff.

He's still biting me periodically, but much much less and I get "slow mouth" too. What it looks like is he slowly moves toward your arm/hand/finger with his mouth open, making his intent perfectly clear. It's really funny, unless you don't stop him in time.

Graham Cracker Lady
On a separate note, I have become the bad influence mom. There's a baby in Infant II with Kieran who's mom is having a hard time getting the kid to continue to eat baby food, but doesn't know what to feed him. She did at least move to cereal bars this week but the kid loves the graham crackers that I give to Kieran as his pre-breakfast snack. He and Kieran have been sharing them for about 2 weeks now. Ken is horrified - how would I feel if I found out another mom was secretly giving Kieran food? (He's right, I'd be ticked at first, but then I'd go out and buy whatever it is that he liked.)

Anyway, now the kid is refusing to eat whatever is given to him, instead waiting for the Graham Cracker Lady to appear with her morning bounty. Good thing they're fairly inexpensive. I think that Chrissy is planning to talk with the mom today because they said that next week Ben would have to share with Kieran his own graham crackers.

Ah - Living for the Weekend

Kieran was sick all weekend. With a high fever and pooping issues (first he couldn't, then he could.. a little too well). So, we had kranky boy all weekend. When the fever finally broke on Sunday afternoon he was so excited he raced around the living room. And bit me, then laughed.

Yeah, back to that. After a full week of doing well at daycare he was very aggressive on Sunday. I warned daycare about it today, but we'll see.

Not much else is new. He's working on speaking (I think) but we still don't really have words. We have "Mamamamama" and "Dadadadada" in association with me and Ken, but nothing much else. He understands a lot - I swear the kid knows his colors already - but he's not saying anything yet.

OK, back to work. I got some really cute photos this weekend and I think we can post them tomorrow night.

Checkups and Checkins

I'm losing my mind. Slowly but surely. I read in someone else's blog about missing an 18 month appointment and her kid having to get double shots because of it. And I read in someone else's blog about a 15th month appointment. Made me realize I hadn't scheduled Kieran's 18 month appointment which I thought was his next one.

Well, goes to prove what I know. He needs a 15 month appointment. Then I'm on the phone with the woman and I'm thinking that he's just turning 15 months next week. DUH, now that I'm blogging about it I realize that he's only turning 14 months on the 17th and I have to now call them back to reschedule the 15 month checkup. BAH.

My mother-in-law is heading to town (I hope) during Memorial Day Weekend. I know she's going to be bowled over by how cute and fun our little man is... and how tantrum-ful. Though since she's a Grandma, she's allowed to spoil him... just not too much, OK Deb? Anyway, I got a notice from the Picture People, which I still want to do and am thinking that this will be something we do when Debbie is in town so she can be in the picture with us.

He's having a good week so far at daycare. I get bum-rushed when I pick him up every night, so that's pretty cool. He's also not fighting his shoes in the morning so much, even if he still takes them off on the way home. Last night I put him down and realize he only has one shoe on. I asked Ken to check my car on his way back in from walking Ochi. Sure enough, there it was. Little stinker.

Okay. Love to all, photos soon.

A Minor Rant

A few things bugging me today...

First, we accidentally left my car unlocked this past weekend. A few things were stolen but nothing I'm really going to miss (maybe my winter jacket) but it's irritating that people feel free to avail themselves of things that don't belong to them. It's frustrating and upsetting that this happens regularly. At least my car wasn't busted open and it wasn't one of the many, many times I left my cell phone in the car overnight. So, there's that.

Next, we had a toy phone. The Bright Lights Phone by Vtech. Kieran dropped it one day and it stopped working. It was a great diaper bag toy and I was disappointed that it broke. So I called them, thinking maybe we could get it fixed. They had me try one thing (take the batteries out, flick the on/off switch multiple times) which didn't work, so I called customer service. We've had the phone for probably 5-6 months and Kieran dropped it. Apparently both of these statements null the warranty. Quite frustrating. I understand that dropped toys cannot always be replaced but it's a freaking BABY TOY and should be able to withstand some dropping. I'll give them that they at least offered that if I sent the toy in they'd replace it for 50% off. Since the toy cost about $15, by sending it in and buying the 50% off one, I'd be right back up to full price. No deal.

OK, those are my rants. Do you have one?

Teeth are For...

Kieran still seems to think they are for biting and his tantrums have increased to sulking. This morning he wanted me to open his pop beads right before we left. I told him no and he pitched a fit, then pretty much sulked all the way to daycare. I couldn't coax a smile out of that kid for the life of me. Once he was there, he was still kinda ticked at me, but in a better mood (I guess the distraction of food helps).

Anyway, we began reading Teeth are Not for Biting and No Biting! this weekend. So far it's not sinking in but we persist. He even bit Ken on Sunday, something he doesn't often do. He seems to ask forgiveness after awhile and I will say he seemed to do it less on Sunday after a day of "No Biting!" from me on Saturday. Then again, maybe that's why he bit Ken (in his mind he was OK since he wasn't biting me).

On the very cool front, I definitely have gotten "Mama" out of him. He even did it this morning when babbling to himself. I think it was a request and he was very happy to see me when I went to his room this morning. He self-regulated for daylight savings time - refusing to nap on Saturday and then falling asleep at 6 pm (what would then be 7 pm the next day). He was right on schedule yesterday, going to bed at 7. Our kid is amazing.

Good With Children

No, not me, Kieran. This morning we walked into Infant I and there was a new baby who just started. She was hanging out in the bouncy seat. This is actually Kieran's old bouncy seat the one he couldn't have been bothered less about. Now, when he sees it with another kid in it, he's all over it.

Miss Chrissy was worried because, as she put it, "this one's a screamer" and it doesn't take much to set her off. So, when Kieran made a beeline for her in the bouncy seat, Chrissy was worried. But she should have just counted on his good flirt genes to win the day. While he rocked the baby by pushing on the bouncy seat, and played peek-a-boo a bit, the infant was entranced. She even nearly smiled (she's only 2 1/2 months old). Made me think that Ken & I should get on this adopting thing before he starts to think of babies as challenges for our attention.

Oh well. I was just so amused at how well he did, how well this baby did. Hopefully we'll have another good day on our hands.

Can I Get a WHOO HOO!!!

His hearing tested just fine today. Though they warned me not to get too excited because hearing can fluctuate day to day. There is definitely still fluid behind the eardrums but the infection is gone. So a very good news day on the ear front. We will cancel the surgery we had set for the 3rd and schedule another hearing test in about a month. If his hearing continues to test fine, there is no real need for the tubes. The ear specialist suggested that his ears may dry out as the weather warms up. We'll see.

Anyway - on the biting front, he's doing it more and thinking it's funny. I'm getting frustrated but trying to be consistent. I learned the sign for "no" today at daycare so we can be doing the same thing at home. He was in a good mood all morning with me, slept on the way to the doctor's office (he woke up at 4:30 am - thanks Ken!) and played while we were there.

That's it, gotta get to work. I've been out a lot for events and for doctor's appointments and am therefore behind on a few projects. Love to all, thanks for all the good thoughts and wishes. More photos (and hopefully a video of him feeding himself with a spoon) coming soon.

More Biting

We're getting some books. He's getting worse, not better. Hearing test is tomorrow, surgery is scheduled for April 3. If they determine he doesn't need it before then, we can cancel.

That's about all that's new. I'm still trying to kick this cold and having trouble sleeping (hence not much posting). I'll blog about our hearing stuff tomorrow.

Busted

So, I finally had a confrontation with another parent this morning. I know that Kieran's been biting at daycare and we've been working to correct it. I got cornered by another parent this morning - the dad of the boy he bit two days ago. He said something such as "Well, my kid bit me at home and we told him that behavior was not acceptable." I told him that we've been working with Kieran as well - from ignoring him and time outs and telling him "No bite" but that nothing had yet completely gotten through.

This seemed to put him a bit at ease. He said he was concerned that we were the "that's the way kids are" kind of parents. I told him absolutely not - especially since he's biting us as well - that we were working with him. I felt very badly that Kieran bit this boy to begin with. I understand the father's frustration as it may not be the first time, I was a bit put-off that he felt comfortable confronting me about it, but from his perspective, I do understand. Ken's really quite ticked. They don't put names on incident reports for a reason - to protect the kids from harassment from the parents (and probably the parents too). I almost felt like I shouldn't have fessed up, but I didn't want to lie to the guy.

Hopefully he's mollified to know that we're working with Kieran, but it may mean more trouble ahead at daycare. I asked them yesterday if Kieran would get kicked out for biting, they assured me he would not. But if another parent knows its him and objects violently - and lets other parents know its him, they may not have a choice if his biting continues. I don't know. I'm upset, embarrassed and frustrated. I'm hoping that once we get his hearing situated that the biting incidents may go down too because he'll be able to better hear us say NO BITING. Maybe I'm pinning my hopes on something fruitless since I don't have ear infections to blame for my own childhood biting behavior. BAH - OK, back to work.

Ear Doctor

We met with Dr Wilkinson who was very nice and seemed to know his stuff. He said Kieran was likely a good candidate for ear tubes as he's had ear infections off and on at least since October (Ken thinks its been longer but I thought our first diagnosis was in October). Either way, he's got some possible hearing loss already.

We've got a hearing test scheduled for the 5th since he needs to do that first to fully determine what's going on. Then we can schedule a surgery from there - usually about a month's wait. So, sometime in April he'll probably be getting tubes put in.

That's all the info I've got for now.

Doctor's Report

Ear infection (bad one) in the right ear and still fluid on the left. We've made an appointment with a specialist tomorrow so we'll know more then, but it's likely we'll have to have tubes put in.

Kieran's on an antibiotic (again) and he also was starting in with the pinkeye again so more eye gunk on that too. Oh well, hopefully once the tubes are in we'll get some words like "I love you mom and dad" so it will all be worth it.

Ears and Fears

Got a call from daycare today. Kieran was crying for an entire hour without being able to be consoled and he held his head (hands by ears) through most of it. By the time I was out of my meeting he was OK and finally eating but they were concerned about him. His doctor's appointment is rescheduled for this evening so we'll see if he's got an infection then. For some weird reason - based nowhere in fact or observation - I don't think he's got an infection. But I've been not guessing well on this before, so I'm probably wrong.

Anyway, I got him some Orajel and applied it because I know he's got about 4 teeth trying to come through in the back and its possible that between the teething pain and ear pain he's not happy.

Enough of that - here are some new photos of the munchkin!

Just a few mall shots - that's my dad (aka Zadie) with Kieran at the Columbia mall on the left and Ken and Kieran at Arundel Mills on the right.

Ice and Snow and Freezing Rain

Well, it may not keep me from blogging but it certainly can put a damper on the day (and into the weekend). Ken's at home with Kieran as we had a doctor's appointment today (canceled) and daycare was running on a shortened day (closed at 1pm) and I had an event in York, PA which is about an hour away. We had a tiny bit of snow last night and it's raining now and everyone is freaking out about the bad weather. Having driven in it, I can say it's not that bad. So, I'm at work but when I get home, Ken's got to get some work done and he needs to do some more this weekend.

Unfortunately, I think Kieran's ears are bothering him. He woke up twice last night (one of those I slept through completely) and woke up early today. I hope he'll sleep well for Ken so he can do a bit of work during the nap (or get some additional sleep as he not only got up early - 5 am - but also did both wake up calls last night). Kieran's been holding his ears and grumping so it won't surprise me if his ears are bad, we'll have to get a new appointment on Monday. I may try and call tomorrow when they're open and see about getting an early Monday morning appointment just to get it all taken care of.

Anyway - that's pretty much it. Not much else new or exciting. There are some nice events in the coming weeks - two separate Moms/Dads Night Out in the neighborhood, a dinner with some friends for me, and a return to exercising for Ken. He's been pretty bummed about not being able to workout because of the flu, but he's still on the tailend of being sick. OK, back to work. Love to all - stay warm and safe.

Dracula

A bit embarrassing to admit, but Kieran's a biter. He comes by it honestly as I was a biter as well. According to daycare all we can do right now is watch him closely and when/if he bites us remind him sternly "No biting."

He's singling out one kid in the classroom, which leads me to believe he somehow feels threatened. He also bites when another kid tries to take a toy away (or when he's trying to get a toy). If they see him and give him that stern "Kieran..." he stops.

Anyway, that's about it. I'm not pleased by this turn of events but hey, maybe he's just hungry. He goes back to the doctor to check out the ears on Friday. If he weighs enough we'll turn his carseat around. I'm pretty excited because I'm fairly certain we can turn him forward. Ken wanted to go ahead and do it but I really wanted to be 100% sure of his weight since it was 2 lbs he was behind. As much as he wants to eat (and does eat) now, I think we're good to go.

OK, back to work. If anyone has a suggestion for stopping the biting, I'm all ears.

Recuperation

Ken's feeling better, if a bit weak and still pretty tired. I feel badly but I've got a business trip today (leaving tonight, home tomorrow night) so he'll be on his own for a short while and he's not 100% up to snuff.

Though I must admit, I'm looking forward to sleeping in a bit longer than I've been. Kieran woke up inexplicably at 2:20 this morning, Ken made a bottle, I fed it to him (barely awake) Ken said I was out before my head hit the pillow upon returning to bed. This is very possible as I barely remember the entire ordeal except that I'm still pretty dang tired.

Kieran is not at daycare today (they've got a teacher in-service day so the whole shebang is closed) and he and I have been hanging out and having fun. I took him to the park again today (took him there for a bit on Saturday) and he's just really quite funny. At first he's shy and timid, doesn't want me to put him down at all. Then he gets into the mode of "I can explore so long as I'm holding mom's hand." Then he doesn't want to leave. We stayed for about 40 minutes total. It's BEAUTIFUL here today - about 50 degrees with barely a wind and a strong sun.

Anyway, taking a brief break from work right now to blog - gotta get back to it.

The Flu

No, not Kieran, Ken.

Ken's been sick since Sunday -shivering and shaking, etc. He's had trouble sleeping and has not been to work all week.

3 am I wake to the light from our bathroom. Ken is up and he's heading to work, then to the hospital (I know, priorities, right?). After that, I was pretty much awake (I went to sleep at 11 pm so I'm operating on a small number of hours), I read for a bit managed to get back to sleep for 40 minutes before Kieran woke up.

The good news? It's the flu and with fluids and bedrest (until at least Sunday) should take care of it. Oh, and Kieran's had his flu shot. The bad news? It's the flu and there's nothing to be done but rest and wait to get better - not something Ken's really that good at (sorry babe, I love you but you are not patient with these things).

OK back to work for me. We survived the ice storm and all is well otherwise. Love to all will try to blog again soon. Maybe more pics soon.

Studmuffin

Every night when I go to get Kieran from daycare I usually get a smile/greeting from Carolyn (the little girl that he bonded with in Infant I). I've also heard that he's got a new girl too - Aashna, who is the ruler of Infant II. Yesterday when I walked into the room, Kieran came to greet me as he usually does (big smile, big hug) and Carolyn came over too. While Kieran and I were hugging she decided she wanted to join in. So there we were, me, Kieran and Carolyn in a group hug. Then, right in front of me, she kissed him. Bang on the mouth! I'm sitting there laughing. Kieran's just trying to get me to pick him up (but he's also interested in being kissed).

All of a sudden I look up from the group love going on to see Aashna, crouched down just a bit to see us all, and she's smiling at me. She finds this all very amusing too. Erika and Nikki (Caregivers in Infant II) are laughing and amazed. Nikki mentions that so long as Kieran remembers that he loves her best (above Carolyn and Aasha), and Erika says "Wait, I was here first!" So I had to remind ALL these women that I came before any of them.

Whew. I'm going to have my work cut out for me when he hits his teens and actually gets interested in girls.

My Platform

With all the Super Tuesday stuff going on, I started thinking what I would campaign on, were I running for President. Here are some of my serious, not-so-serious and completely nutzo ideas:

• The day should begin at 10 am. This applies to all workplaces (excepting anyplace that will serve me a strong cup of coffee before then). This also applies to children who should learn to sleep in past 5 am.
• School/education should be more important than a simple campaign promise or a mandate to meet test scores. I think that people who have kids in school should be REQUIRED to be a part of the PTA. I completely understand busy schedules and whatnot but I also think that having a kid is a commitment of a higher order.
• Coffee should be very strong and served early in the morning - see bullet #1.
• Healthcare should not bankrupt people.
• Making sure kids have a sense of humor is key to their being able to function in our society with a modicum of sanity. I propose that George Carlin become our Ambassador of Humor Education.
• Housework sucks. Everyone should have a maid - even maids. Unfortunately this means that everyone will have to clean someone else's house. But this is usually better than cleaning your own.
  
• I think that non-smoking laws are pure genius - BUT, I think they need to take into account the average person's stupidity. Instead of just telling people they can't smoke inside, tell them they can't smoke right by the door either. If I'm going to a smoke-free place, I really don't want to have to wade through smoke to get in the door.
• People who abuse animals should be abused in the same fashion - if they starved the animal so they should be starved, etc (I'm kinda an eye-for-an-eye gal).

So, this begs the question... what would YOUR platform be? Who do you think you'll vote for? Who are you voting for in the primary? Did your favorite candidate already bow out?

Oh, my final thought - do away with the parties completely. Let everyone vote once for each open position (i.e. you could vote for either Huckabee or Obama, but not both) on a ballot, making everyone an independent. Plus it may mean that people are more open to having a separate opinion from the masses. Anyway....

More, More, More

Kieran's doing better - he's on antibiotic (again) for his ears and eyes and he's got eye gunk we need to put in his eyes twice a day. He's doing OK with all of it (Ken had the brilliant idea to put the medicine IN his formula and let him drink it up - I still need to verify with the doctor that this is OK...).

He's got the signing thing down... at least in order to tell us he wants to eat. I guess the appetite finally kicked in, since he's telling us "more" a LOT. He's eating up a storm, we finally figured out that what he wants is to feed himself. He's OK with getting fed at daycare, but not so much at home. He'll let me do a few spoonfuls, then isn't interested. He wants to use his own hands to pick up and eat. He's not terribly interested in learning how to use the spoon himself, but we'll be working on that. Ken said he put him on the scale at the doctor's office (fully clothed) and he was at 21 lbs. I'm hoping that when they go back in for his checkup in a month we'll be able to turn the carseat around. I think Kieran will like that too.

That's pretty much it. We'll all be city-bound on Sunday during the Superbowl as there are a lot of bars in the area who will be showing it and a lot of people coming out to watch it. Don't know what else we'll do this weekend other than run errands and clean house. It's nice to not have every minute scheduled. OK, speaking of schedules, I have to get back to work.

Where's the Goop?

Kieran got kicked out of daycare yesterday for having goopy eyes (he didn't have it on Sunday and the doctor said there would be little he could do without symptoms). They already had one kid with pinkeye in the group and figured Kieran had it too.

Ken took today off (and apparently I owe him big, I'll explain in a minute) and took Kieran to the doctor. Kieran has dual ear infections (nothing new) and pinkeye, but will not be contagious after 12 hours on his medication so he can go back to daycare tomorrow.

Kieran cried nonstop for Ken for 2 hours today, finally fell asleep in the car on the way back from the doctor's office and then Ken got stuck in traffic and Kieran woke up and started crying again. I haven't heard from Ken after that (I'm hoping he made it home but I don't know).

President Bush was in downtown Baltimore today and that's what caused I-95 to be at a dead stop. One more thing to blame him for. Like I said, I owe Ken big. Ken was also able to talk with the doctor about his own history with his ears and why he's resistant to the idea of putting tubes in Kieran's ears. The doctor said he understood and would do everything possible to avoid that route. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

An Amazing Day

We went to the aquarium today after hitting the bookstore downtown. Even though we've taken Kieran to the aquarium several times since he's been born this is the first time he's been able to walk around and really interact with his surroundings.

He was really into running around and touching the tanks. At one point he reached out and took mine and Ken's hands. It was just amazing. We just looked at each other with the same expression on our faces - we were in awe of Kieran. It was so great to see him so happy and engaged with his surroundings.

After that we went to dinner at Uno's and Kieran ate a decent amount and he drank through a straw for the first time. Ken and I are just so pleased with all the things he can do now. I think back on how he was even just 3 or 4 months ago and what he can do now... it's breathtaking. I know I'm gushing but it was just so much fun and he ate well today.

On a grumpy note he woke up from his nap with goop in his eyes. This kept up throughout the day. Ken and I looked it up online and it is possible Kieran has pinkeye. Unless it miraculously clears up tomorrow we'll need to take him to the doctor's on Monday. Thankfully, if Ken can go to the office for a short while tomorrow he can take off on Monday. Say a little prayer for us that it's not pinkeye!

A Birthday Story

Now that we've finally got the photos done, I thought I'd go back in time to talk about Kieran's birthday party.

My mom was gracious enough to host (I figured I'd already had Dad & Dar host the naming ceremony and Andy and Wendy hosted our baby shower - have I mentioned how lucky I am to have such a generous family). I came over early with Kieran, hoping to get him to nap early but he'd been running a fever of 102 since the night before. He was not happy overall, but managed to have a little but of fun.

Just some friends and family for this one, since it was more for me than Kieran. We got a great cake made of cupcakes and in the shape of a dragon. I did that because I thought it went well with our theme from our wedding - we got married in a castle. Yes, I know I'm a dork.



Anyway, back to the story. Kieran did go down for a nap early (ish) and mom, Ken and I got everything ready for the guests. It was a nice time and the food was great. We had a separate cake for Andy (whose birthday it actually was). Kieran was not interested in eating the cake at all but had a GREAT time finger painting with the icing.

He was not interested in opening presents either (but his cousins helped him out quite a bit). He got some wonderful gifts from everyone and he's been enjoying them immensely. Thanks to everyone. Kieran had a great first birthday party, even if he was sick and even if he won't remember it.

One Year Checkup... and I'm NOT Happy

Kieran has lost weight. He was, at one point, up to 19.9 lbs. Today he weighed in only 18.12 lbs. The doctor is concerned about his continual weight loss. For now we'll have to keep him on formula and we've got to try to get him to eat more. He needs a one month checkup after this (for his ears, which still have fluid and are a bit red but not bad overall) and if he's gained sufficient weight at that point we can switch him from formula to whole milk.

Other than that, he did just fine. Was NOT happy about the shots (but can you blame him) but did OK with them, cried but calmed down after I gave him a graham cracker. He's missing a few milestones but nothing that he likely won't catch up on... specifically language. They're a bit worried about his ears and his language development (he's not really saying Momma or Dadda yet and meaning it - he associates the "dadadadada" sound with Ken but doesn't attempt to say "daddy" or "mommy" unless prompted). So, if in one month his ears still have some fluid on them we'll get referred to an ENT (that's Ear, Nose and Throat) specialist. Ken's going to check and see if the guy who did his ears takes pediatric patients, since we know and like him already.

Back to daycare and he was OK but WAY behind/off schedule. I let them know about his needing to eat everything and tried to make a point of getting them to give him more solids that he can feed himself (I don't think that they do this too often unless I provide cheese). So, hopefully that will help too.

Overall he's in good health. His head Circumference has stayed in the 5th percentile and his height has dropped a little but, but that's normal (he's 29 1/2 inches tall, one more half-inch and he'll be half my height). Ok, back to work. Love to all, blog again soon.