Three for Three

Before I tell you about our weekend, here's a few pictures from our pool party last week.  Nat, Ben, and I joined Aunt Beth and Jack for a cookout and swimming party.  Unfortunately for Ben, he fell asleep and took a long nap during almost the whole party, so he didn't get to do any swimming.  Since last summer, Natalie has graduated from her swim ring (which Jack grew into quite nicely), and has taken over a life jacket on loan from Jack (because he's too small to small to keep it upright).  She hasn't really skipped a beat in terms of how much she loves the pool.  And with some prompting she is using her arms AND legs at the same time to swim.

our swim buddies

I was trying to teach Nat how to float on her back...

she thought putting her feet up in the air was so funny

doing rolls in the pool

Speaking of Natalie...our girl got pretty sick all of a sudden Friday night.  It started with a cough, and by the middle of the night she was getting more and more uncomfortable.  By about 4:00am she was having increased shortness of breath and started to really labor to breath or even talk.  At 5:00 I called for back up and we made our third trip in three years to the emergency room for Natalie.  A breathing treatment and chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia, and we were sent on our way with a couple of prescriptions.  In the car, I noticed that her breathing was getting worse again, so we decided to hang out, have some breakfast, and go to sick call at her pediatrician.  Thank goodness we did.

The pediatrician immediately wanted a second breathing treatment.  Nat's oxygen saturation was 94, and the doctor was worried it would go even lower while she was sleeping.  Poor lamb was still so short of breath and her chest was so tight that she just couldn't keep up.  After the second treatment, and a listen to her lungs, she didn't sound any better, so the doctor wanted her admitted to the hospital in order to monitor her and to give her at least a few hours of intense treatment.  She told us to be prepared to spend the night.

trying our best to stay occupied in a hospital bed

Natalie was such a good girl.  Her biggest gripe was the monitor on her finger.  We had to tape it on because she kept pulling it off.  The fact that it meant she was tethered to the wall didn't help matters.

Within minutes she made friends with all the nurses

Just like dada, she thought the best part was the "souvenir" cup she got for her very own water.

After 3 more treatments in 3 hours, a short nap, and lots of fluids, Nat was starting to perk up some.  She got 3 more treatments, and by that time was going pretty stir crazy.  She had called the nurse on her call bell more times then they probably thought was cute, sufficiently wore out the controller on her bed moving the head and foot up and down, walked the halls, and even got to check out the nurses' station with her nurses aide.  Her tolerance was so shot, she wouldn't even sit for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD I ran home to get.  

The doctor came back to see her around dinner time, and felt that if we were comfortable taking her home, she was comfortable discharging us.  We had to keep up the breathing treatments, got a script for an antibiotic and a steroid, and were on our way.  Today, Natalie is much more herself.  She still has a cough, which the doctor said she might have for another 3 or so weeks!  But her breathing is much, much better.  She is only really short of breath when she's been playing or running.  By the way, the diagnosis was originally bronchitis in the ER, and her pediatrician agreed, but then said that after she got a look at the chest xray films, she saw a few spots on it that she might consider pneumonia.  But the treatment is the same: treat for both, open up the lungs and reduce inflammation.  

Nat was awarded the unofficial star patient.  She was totally into all the attention, the cool gown she got to wear, the fact that she had her own bathroom with toiletries, got snacks in bed, and could even hold her own mask for her nebulizer treatments (which she has been doing at home, too).  And of course we are so happy that she's feeling herself again.  Here's sincerely hoping that her frequenting the ER slows down a little bit in the next few years.  I'm not sure that it's a good thing that we are able to recognize the staff there and she's only 2.5...

Ben: 8 months

8 months will go on record as the month that momma got zero great pictures of Ben.  It was a crazy busy week for us last week, and Ben's 8 months birthday was actually spent out of town, so in order to make sure we got his pictures done, I took them the day before, when we were in the midst of running around like crazy trying to get everything done.  I think he probably won't mind in the long run, but the perfectionist in me is contemplating retaking them.  Buuuttt, then....maybe I'll just try to drag out my camera a few more times in the coming weeks to make up for it.

Alright, here we go...

one week

one month

two months

three months

four months

five months

six months

seven months

eight months!!

I just love him SO much!

somethin's funny, momma

look at this standing boy

His crib is lowered to the lowest setting now.  Ben is pulling up on all kinds of things, and when that happens, no more convenient higher crib settings.

oh, that hair.

This time Natalie was totally into having her picture taken along with Ben...she's hit or miss these days.

At eight months, Ben is crawling all over the place, and just as happy as can be about it.  It's so funny to see how different our two kids are already.  Ben is so much more quiet than Natalie, and much more content to have a little personal space and play by himself.  Natalie, on the other hand, is a lot more of a ham, and a very opinionated one at that.  Ben has 3 teeth, and one that is almost through (I'd give up my life savings to have that sucker come on already...our bad sleeper has become a downright awful sleeper the last couple of nights.)  And, I already mentioned that Ben is able to pull himself up to standing on all sorts of things that he can reach.  He almost has "So Big" mastered, too.  

We were able to spend an absolutely wonderful weekend in Wisconsin for Father's Day.  Nat and Ben got loads of Nana and Papa time, I got to run a race, and we were all 4 able to spend time with both sides of extended family.  Unexpectedly Nat, Ben, and I got to spend and extra night after Natalie puked all over herself not 4 minutes after leaving to head home.  Eric had to be back for work, but because Nat's car seat was in no condition for travel, it was time for plan B.  We owe a HUGE thanks to Nana and Papa for their extended hospitality, and for driving us halfway home on Monday!  (And to Papa for helping me clean up all the throw up in the middle of the night!)

Which Way Did He Go?

There are days when all the activity planning in the world just cannot entertain all 3 kids...last week was one of those days.  We ended up setting up shop way (WAY) out in the front yard, far away from steps that little ones could climb up and fall down, far away from mulch that could be shoved by the fistful into a mouth, and away from the garage where there are all sorts of tempting things that tiny hands really shouldn't be into.

While we were out in the yard, a really old tractor came popping by.  The farmer was so nice, and waved enthusiastically to the boys, who just couldn't get enough of watching him.

(I love Ben peering around Jack to see)

tractor!

And then this happened....

Ben doesn't care as long as he's moving, and Jack was so happy with himself.

Sweet Summertime

I've always been a "grass is always greener" sort of person when it comes to where I've lived...but it's really hard to argue with this:

I mean, how beautiful is our backyard?  And what a blessing to have this kind of place to explore and play in as a kid!  To say the weather has been perfect might actually be an understatement.  After the rain cleared this morning, and while Ben was napping, Nat and Jack and I headed out for some sunshine and fresh air.  I cannot wait until Jack is talking.  I'm just so curious to hear the conversations between him and Nat.  They are such good friends.

Poor Jack.  Sometimes I think he just doesn't realize he's still a little guy.  He wanted to go out of the fence, or up on the fence, or who knows what else.  And it just wasn't working out for him.  Finally, he gave up and was ok to just sit and watch for a few minutes.

Will you look at our girl in that saddle?  She loves animals, period. But she really loves horses.  At every chance she gets she likes to work in the barn taking care of the horses, sweeping the gangways, mixing their food.  And now riding, too!  In another couple years, she'll be just about the right age for riding lessons.  I love that "I'm trying to be serious, but I'm so proud of myself" smile she's got.  Oh, that girl...

Lunch Date with Mimi

The three amigos had a lunch visitor today...Mimi!

It's always nice to have a little something to break up the day, it just makes it go a little smoother for all parties, and of course the kids just love their Mimi and were so happy that she came for a visit.

somebody learned how to blow kisses!

Mimi and her boys

bless Ben's crawling heart.  All the excitement from being on the go today,

plus the 4 teeth that he's getting, wore him down.  Nice place to take a snooze, eh?

Just Crawling

Ben has been trying his hardest to crawl for the past two weeks.  He has been going one "step" with each arm and each knee, then collapse and roll around.  He has been getting where he wants to go using this method, followed by pushing up to sitting, then going back down to all fours and starting over, so he kind of sidewinds across the room.  If he did act like he was really going to take off, Natalie was almost always standing by to lend a hand by (1) swiping the toy that was tempting him across the room, (2) knocking him over, or (3) creating some kind of diversion by running by yelling "I'm a crazy lady" or diving off a piece of furniture.  Even though he's been pretty mobile, I would by no means have said he was officially crawling.

Then, while we were making dinner, this happened...

I'm so proud of him.  He is going to be thrilled to finally be able to keep up with the big kids once he gets past those awkward first crawls and coordinates a little better (and stops that weird bear crawl thing he's doing).  All day today whenever I've looked at him I've been sort of blown away by how all of a sudden he seems so big and like he's really not a "little" baby anymore.  Where did the last 7 months go?

Bike Gang

After weeks of practicing, Natalie finally got the hang of pedaling her tricycle.  The thing about her tricycle though is that Ben has pretty much taken is over.  He loves riding along in it.  So, since it is already set up for a baby, and Nat is growing like a weed and riding a bike like a champ, she got a new bike.  (On a side note, I felt a little bad that Ben is already getting everything handed down, but I guess those are the breaks of being the second kid...)

We went after a trike, but while she was test driving it around the store, I was shopping the other options and found this awesome bike!  She is almost grown out of the trike anyway, so after some encouragement, she took this one for a test drive and it was the eventual winner.

She did not love the idea of the helmet at first, but when I clarified that it isn't a helmet at all, but rather a "bike hat" she was totally into it.  It's all about the phrasing with kids, right?

Ben is pretty happy about having his own bike now, too.

check out those chubby baby feet

and now that we have two bikes, I think it's officially a gang!

And finally a video of Nat riding: