Ben: 15 months

Holy moly. The biggest "new" thing that Ben does is communicate more. You've seen my lists. I love documenting first words/signs. It's fun to see what's most important in a little life. Like...

Words: Mama, Didi (daddy), mopmopmop (mop), ball,  there/this/that, uh oh, hello, hi, and "baa" = what a sheep says.
Signs: nodding head for yes, shaking head for no, waving goodbye, milk, daddy,
"please"

"water"

He gets into a bit of mischief, too. He's always opening the refrigerator and getting clementines, pears, hot dogs...whatever he can find. He knows how to get the step stool and set it next to the couch to climb up on it, he climbs on it and turns the light switches on and off, and tries to reach things he shouldn't be reaching. It's tough keeping up with him. :)

Benny is drinking out of one of the Tupperware cups with the sippy spout really well. He also has is own Camelbak for water just like big brother. He's working on his last 1 year molar. The others came through the last few weeks.

Ben LOVES to color.

 

and brush is hair 

 teeth.

He weighs 32.4 lbs, so he hasn't gained weight in a few months. He has a pediatrician appointment next Friday.

Ben is still nursing. Mostly in the morning when he wakes up, and before he goes to bed, sometimes when we get home from daycare, and sometimes once at night too. When he nurses he signs "milk please" over and over. :) I do refuse to nurse him at times now and distract him instead. He's usually okay with that. I love nursing, and I want to follow his lead to wean, but I would also like to be done by May or June.

Please forgive me for future posts that document more words. :)

Ben: 14 months

Happy monthday Benny!

Ben is getting to be more like a little boy now. His personality shines through more and more every day. Here's what he's up to these days:

Words:
Ben can sign: "more" and "milk," and we've caught glimpses of "all done." Actually, the "milk" and "more" signs he uses universally when he wants something. We're working on "help" now.

Ben can say: "Mama," "Hiiiii," often says "baba" (brother?) when talking about Colin, "da" (there/this/that), and "uh oh." He mimics a few other sounds like for "woof"...he says "f" and for "buzz" he says "sss."

Other smart tricks:
Sometimes when I ask him where his belly is, he lifts his shirt up. When I ask him where his nose is, he puts his hand to his nose and blows (sometimes when he does this, he blows snot all over his hand and then wipes it all over his face, which is disgusting). When I ask him where his hands are, he claps them.

Favorite things:
His blankie that Auntie Stephie made him
Opening the refrigerator and taking something out of the door (usually salad dressing).
Playing/lying on Colin's bed
Reading books (Ten Little Ladybugs is a favorite)
Playing outside, even though he falls down quite frequently in his winter gear.
Playing with cleaning objects--brooms, vacuums, mops, shovels. Adult-sized, please. No small versions allowed.
Food! Anything, really. He ate 2 clementines yesterday. He still likes meat a lot, but he also likes veggies and fruit. He wants to eat fresh pears, apples, and carrots so badly but they're usually too hard for him so he gets upset when I tell him he can't have them.
Being chased around the basement with the corn popper toy
Climbing on top of things
Tackling other people
Coloring
Dumping multiple puzzles all over the floor at a time (ugh)
Throwing balls

Things I love:
When we're cleaning up toys, Ben helps too! He'll even put his clothes down the laundry chute.

When it's his bedtime, I tell him to give Daddy and big brother hugs, and he gives them the sweetest, most genuine hugs.

When I pick him up from daycare, he runs to me, arms open, says "Hiiiii" with the biggest smile, wraps his arms around my legs and squeezes them with his hands a couple of times.

Other hapbenings:
Ben still nurses, but it's usually only before/after nap/bedtime. He goes down for a nap without me or a bottle just fine, though. In fact, he hasn't had a bottle since before Christmas. I packed them away. I'm done pumping at work, too. So now I'm just taking his cues on when he wants to be done with nursing. I have a feeling he'll drop the "wake up" morning nursing session soon, because he's okay not nursing when he wakes up from his nap.

He has 8 teeth and he's working on his molars. His gums are so swollen, and you can see a white bump under his gums in at least 2 places where future molars will be. Poor guy. Hopefully they'll poke through soon.

He's usually tired at about 7:15, so he nurses and goes to sleep. Right now he's waking up once a night for a quick application of orajel. Sometimes he wakes up a little later and I nurse him for a few minutes (because I feel bad about his poor teeth) and he goes back to sleep. We wake him up for the day at 6:30. On weekends he sleeps until 7:00.

Ben can climb up and down stairs too!

Kevin asked me today when Colin started talking. I told him that 18 months is usually the month that words start coming from every direction. It's unbelievable that we're only 4 months away from that!

Oh Benny, how I love watching you become a little boy every day.

Ben: 13 months

Ben is 13 months old and FINALLY had his 1-year well baby visit.

He weighs 32 lbs, 6 oz (100th percentile) and measures 32 inches tall (95th percentile).

He was not a happy camper. We went at 4:00 on a Friday. I'm sure he just wanted to go home, but instead was being checked out by three people (nurse, resident, pediatrician) he didn't know. He didn't want anybody touching him.

He had a rash on his hand. He had it over Christmas break, it went away, and it came back again Friday morning. It was just some dark red spots on his right hand, mostly around his thumb but also on the back of his hand, his wrist, and a little bit on his forearm. I guess the consensus is that it's broken blood vessels. In other words, he gave himself a hickey from sucking and chewing on his hand. He doesn't do that very often, but I guess just enough.

Ben's bottom lateral incisors (hence the sucking and chewing on his hand) cut through on 1/11. His hair is getting to the point where I feel like it's almost time to cut it, but I just can't bear to snip the curls off yet :(

Ben's words are:
"na" = milk
"da" = this/that/there
"uh oh"
"mama" but only sometimes, like when he REALLY wants something.
"hi"

He's a bruiser. When he walks, he has a lot of momentum behind himself and crashes and falls a lot. He always has a bruise somewhere.

I love when I pick him up from daycare and he runs to me, his arms outstretched, and hugs my legs. I bend down to give him a hug and he puts his arms around my shoulders and hugs and pats my shoulders. Then he lets go, looks at me, and hugs me again. Such a great way to feel loved :)

Ben follows directions very well, which I'm quite impressed with! When we tell him to sit in his chair for meal times, he walks over to it. When it's bath time, he walks to the bathroom, opens the cabinet and picks out what toys he wants, throws them in the bath tub, and then stands next to me so I can  take his clothes off. When it's time to put his socks and shoes on, he sits on the floor in front of me and lifts up his little foot. Of course, there are times when he doesn't listen, like when he's getting his diaper changed.

Ben loves to wrestle and play with Colin. He loves to be in Colin's room, and his favorite part about it is his bed. He likes to climb up on it, walk around on the mattress, and fall down.

10 months old on 10/10!

Happy Golden Monthday, Ben!

(picture up soon)

Benny is a busy boy! He's learning things left and right, which is so fun to witness, even the second time around.

Ben can sign "more" while he's eating (and "more" and "more" and "more".....). He might also be signing milk. The sign for it is squeezing your hand like you're milking a cow. When I say milk and if he wants some, he waves his hand up and down. He eats pretty much everything except peanut butter. Sandy gave him strawberries this week, which I secretly raised an eyebrow to, but he didn't seem to have a reaction towards them. We're loving the Baby Lead Weaning Method, and so does he. He loves to feed himself, and goes to town on things like chicken, hamburger, broccoli, sweet potato fries, green beans, waffles/pancakes, scrambled eggs, etc. etc. etc. He even likes green peppers!

His repetitive babble is becoming more meaningful. I swear he said "ni ni da da" (night night Dadda) the other night. He also says "dadadada," "mamamama" and "non non non," which may mean either milk or night time because I feel like he only says it when we're sitting in the chair getting ready to rock and nurse.

Ben has mastered cruising around furniture. How he's walking either on his knees or feet pushing objects or toys around. He can even stand on his own for a few seconds. I'd love it if he'd hold off on the walking for another month :)

His first top tooth cut through today. He's been doing okay with teething, even though his gums are so swollen and sore looking. His teething necklace seems to do a pretty good job of keeping him in a good mood. Aside from being a little more clingy at times, he's tolerating it well.

We're working on getting Ben to sleep through the night. I haven't nursed him in the middle of the night for a week now. Oh, except for last night when he had already been awake for an hour and a half and his teeth were bothering him, he had already been re-medicated with ibuprofen and got a swipe of Orajel. What he really needed was good old fashioned Mama comfort. It was poor timing to do start the crying-it-out right now, but we didn't know his teeth were on the move when we started. Hopefully when they're through he'll start sleeping all night long.

I better start thinking about his 1st birthday! Holy smokes, I can't believe it's just around the corner.

Ben: 8 months

Happy 8 months Benjamin!

If I could sum up this month as a two-word phrase, it would be: Ear Infection? (with a question mark because the whole month we wondered on and off if he had one). Ben started the month off with one, it went away, and then came back with a vengeance after a 2 a.m. trip to the ER. In the middle of the night, Ben wasn't happy doing anything--sitting up, laying down, being held, being rocked, being nursed, being walked around--so I took him in and sure enough it was a double ear infection. We are done with antibiotics now and hopefully we won't be having a three-peat. And speaking of the antibiotics, that lead to a raging diaper rash which was almost worse dealing with than the ear infection itself. With the help of some Tucks (yup-hemorrhoid pads) to wipe him with and some Lotrimin (yup-Athlete's Foot cream), we got it all cleared up. Whew!

Ben is certainly moving around more now! He can go from his belly to his butt, so we had to lower his crib mattress down. He can also crawl backwards. When he attempts a forward crawl, he ends up flopping on his belly. He makes up for it by being able to wiggle and stretch himself forward if the object he wants is close enough. He tries to pull up on couches and other things as well. He is quite strong and surprises me with what he can pull down and drag. When he's taking a bath he tries to climb out of the tub (or climb the walls). Colin's always saying, "How'd Benny get way over there?"

He seeks out the tiniest things to pick up. A tiny rock, a tiny scrap of paper, a tiny seed...whatever. He's got his eagle eye peeled for it and he will try to pick it up! He also likes to pick grass and pull this fuzz stuff off from under the couch. He plays with purpose and deliberation. I don't know quite how to explain it, but, for instance, he'll be playing with the Little People barn and tip it over and put Farmer Jed into the barn, pick up the barn, and notice that oops! Farmer Jed is now on the floor. And then he'll carefully try to put a window/door of the barn over him so as not to smash him.

Benny's personality is starting to show now. He's super sweet and loves to give hugs and slobbery kisses. He loves to play peek a boo with a blanket. He's quick to smile and has an infectious laugh.

He has upgraded from a stroller to the push car when we go for walks. He steers and chillaxes as he takes in the sights. He makes a lot of funny noises with his mouth :)

Ben slept through the night 5 nights in a row a few weeks ago. But now he's back to waking up once during the night, and then again at 5:something in the morning.

Ben loves to eat table food. He's doing really well at picking up those big chunks and eating them. His pincer grasp is getting better too. He can pick up Puffs without a problem now. His newest food loves are toast, blueberries, chicken, cheese, and baked beans. He still loves milk though :)

 

I already know that he'll be cutting teeth this month. The first ones are right under his gums. And maybe this month he'll figure out the forward crawling thing.

And for the record, he weighs 29 lbs 12 oz and has moved to 24 month/2T sized clothes.

Ben: 5 months

Benny, Benny, Benny what a joy you continue to be.

His smile and laugh are infectious. Colin gets the biggest laughs from him just by talking to him and acting goofy around him. He watches Colin wherever he goes. He's so easy going. Our neighbor says he's a "placid baby" because he's so calm.

He can roll from his back to his belly now and he's trying really hard to roll from belly to back. He blows raspberries and babbles now too.

His first tooth gives him some problems now and then, but Colin gave Ben his amber teething necklace about a week and a half ago, and the last week he's been much happier. He's loving to chew on his Sophie Giraffe and we resurrected a teether with bristles on it that Colin used that he loves.

He only drinks about 10 oz of milk all day long at Sandy's house, and he can go 4-5 hours between meals. At home in the evenings he likes to spend some quiet one-on-one time with Mommy eating though. We haven't started him on table food yet. We've decided to skip the rice cereal since it has no nutritional value and obviously he doesn't need to be any fuller than he already is!

Ben is moving into 18 month sized clothes now. Finding clothes that fit him is hard because he has such meaty thighs and most shorts/pants can't go over them. So we have to buy old man stretchy "sweat" pants and shorts. I dare venture that at this rate Colin and Ben will be wearing the same size someday. I've just finished packing away Colin's 2T stuff!

Ben has fallen into a pretty predictable routine. Waking up early must run in the family because Ben wakes up before 6 just like Colin does. He usually takes an hour-long nap in the morning and a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. Most days he cat naps on the way home from daycare for about a half hour. He gets hungry just before 6:00 and starts getting tired and crabby at 7:00. That's when we give him a bath, put his jammies on, and feed him one last time before bed. Most nights he's sleeping in his crib by 8:00. Ben typically wakes up once a night, but it's also not unusual for him to sleep all night long or to wake up twice when his tooth is bothering him.

It seems like he's growing up so fast. I wish time would just slow down so I can enjoy his babyhood a little more.

HapBENnings

What's been happening with Ben?

Well, the little man is cutting his first tooth! We can see a little white dot juuuust starting to poke through. He has been pretty good about it, but appreciates a shot of Tylenol at times. Buying a teething necklace is on my to do list today.

Have I mentioned he sleeps through the night? About half the time, he sleeps from 8ish (usually earlier) to 6ish (usually earlier). Other nights he wakes up just once for a snack. Can't complain about that, since I've seen the complete opposite.

He's also rolling over! It seems like every time we put him on his back now, he rolls right over to his belly. Sandy says when he takes a nap at daycare, he rolls onto his belly. She flips him over and he rolls back. We haven't seen that at home yet. It makes me nervous, but you can't stop him from rolling! We'll just have to be aware of it.

He's digging his exersaucer too. He loves to reach for things and hit buttons.

 He loves chewing on the feet of this horse toy.

He loves playing airplane and swinging in the swing outside.

Here's the status of his rolls :)

He's learning and growing so quickly! I still can't believe he's getting teeth and rolling over already. Where does time go?

Colin's first piece of jewelry

We bought Colin a necklace and it came in the mail the other day. It's made of amber and it's used to relieve teething pain, among other things. As the amber heats up from body temperature, the amber releases healing oils containing succinic acid which are absorbed into the skin and into the bloodstream. Sounds made up, doesn't it? I've heard so many good things about these necklaces that I thought it would be worth a shot. It's a heck of a lot better than giving him orajel and tylenol and motrin if we *think* he's teething. He can wear it to bed, too.

He loves it! He was kind of mad last night when I had to take it off at bath time. After I told him he could put it back on after his bath, he was happier. So maybe he feels better when he wears it. He even shows it off to other people.
I know, it looks a little girly. I was going to buy him a darker-colored one that was more boyish, but the lighter the amber color, the more succinic acid it has in it. We need all the help we can get here! Maybe next time I'll get a mixture of dark and light.

I'll let you know how he tolerates these canines that are taking their sweet precious time to pop through.

Amber (and hazelwood) helps even adults with a wide variety of problems such as eczema, acne, rashes, earaches, fevers, colds, upset stomach, etc. The website Hazelaid is where we bought ours and it has more information if you're interested!

Paci and Potty

We have officially gotten rid of the pacifier! ::insert happy dance here:: We followed the Bye-Bye-Binky method, and within 5 days, the pacifier was down to a 1/2 inch stub. Colin got very frustrated at it and kept signing "help" and kept trying to pull it out more. Then we got the scissors out and asked him if he wanted it cut off, and he said yes. Then there was nothing left except the plastic part. He got really mad then. And he didn't sleep well AT ALL for about 2 or 3 nights. He had grown accustomed to falling asleep without his nukie, but for those first few nights he kept waking up every hour or two wanting it. It's a lot easier to not give in when there's nothing to give :)

I'm telling you people, the change is awesome. When the pacifier was in-use during the wee hours, he'd want to read books and rock for awhile before bed (not that I hated that part! I loved that time we spent together). Now that it's gone, after he gets his pajamas on, he runs out into the hallway to yell, "DADA! Na-nye!" Then he tries to crawl into his crib while he waits for Kevin to comes into his room. Colin gives us each hugs and kisses, and lies down in his crib, gets covered up with his blanket, and says, "bye bye" to us. How freakin' easy is that? And now when he wakes up, it's because one of his teeth is busting through. After a little bit of orajel, he goes right back to sleep.

Colin has been spending an hour every night in underwear for the past few weeks. Over the weekend, Colin wore his training pants for a few hours in the morning and evening. He peed on his potty about 10 times, and pooped once or twice too! He doesn't quite have the foresight set to tell us if he needs to go yet, so he needs to be reminded, but usually he'll go every hour or so. He also knows when he doesn't have to go. I gave Sandy the go-ahead to try it at daycare, and it didn't work out so well. She wants him to wear pants there, otherwise all the other kids want to prance around sans pants, and that's just not going to work. He'll sit on her potty for 10-15 minutes but won't do anything. So we're waiting until he feels comfortable going potty there before we send underwear again. Colin knows how to say "pee," "poop," and "potty" now, and sometimes he tries to pull up his underwear/pants. If he's not trained by Christmas break, my plan is to hit it hard then as much as I can and hopefully start off 2011 with no diaper laundry!

Hodge Podge

My fabulous friend Leah over at Leah Maria Photography held mini sessions last Sunday, so we took part. Even though he just barely turned 17 months old, these are his official 18 month pictures. It's always good to get a family picture or two as well!
Don't get me started on that apple. Colin took a nap before we left, but wasn't finished with it when it was time to get in the car. So he slept another 50 minutes during the car ride, and then when he woke up, he was hungry (like always). I brought a honeycrisp apple because what says fall in MN more than one of those tasty fruits? And...it's a better "prop" than goldfish crackers, right? Except we couldn't take it away from him. He ate the ENTIRE thing too, except for the core which I had to remove for him or he definitely would've eaten it.

She's busy editing the rest (along with all the other families that she shot that day, and other families on top of that!), and I'm so excited to see them. (Seriously, Leah...although I'm super excited, I'm being super patient. I know how busy you are).

The velcro on our beloved BumGenius diapers has worn out to the point where it just doesn't stick anymore. We've decided the best financially-sound thing to do is to get the diapers converted from velcro to snaps. So tomorrow morning, I'm sending them to a lady in Utah who converts diapers. In the meantime, Colin is wearing a piece of paper on his butt, which aggravates his teething diaper rash, which aggravates us.

Speaking of teething, did you know this boy has officially grown 6 teeth in the last 6 weeks? And there are 2 more on the way. Maybe we can make it 8 teeth in 8 weeks. Wouldn't that be grand?

Happy 16 monthday!

You can now sign about 15 words. Your newest ones include:
truck, baby, fish, eat, play, cheese, apple, help, please, thank you, and we're working on sleep. You're putting words together into short phrases too.

Your new favorite words and phrases are:
There it/he is!, That way, ooooooh, mail, teeth, buckle, cheese, bye, and Rocket

(He was pointing to a semi trailer the neighbors had parked in their driveway. And excuse the random "hello!" which was directed at said neighbor)

You are sprouting some molars! You threw quite a tantrum on Monday morning, and mommy got a little peek inside your mouth and found out that two of your upper molars had already poked through. I guess you're skipping those lateral incisors and heading right for the big dogs.

You have decided you'd like to take a break from potty training. It's not as exciting anymore, and sometimes it can be hard to poop at the same time every day. We'll try again in another month or so.

Now you only take one nap from 12-2ish. We tried really hard to get you on this napping schedule so you'll have a smoother transition when you start going to Sandy's in a few weeks. Having this set schedule makes naptime so much easier for you to just close your eyes and fall asleep.

You're a little more brave with dirt now. You've found that sand and dirt can maybe even be fun to smush in your hands. You can always wash them off when you're done playing! But you do still like to clean and organize.

You love trucks. You love to see them on the highway, you love to see the construction equipment digging a big hole down the street, you love to push your toy trucks, you love to make truck sounds, and you know what a truck says (chhh!). You're happy to see trucks you can climb into at parks.


I'm so glad I got to spend a lot of time with you this summer, little man. We sure did learn a lot about each other, didn't we? I fall more in love with you each and every day.

Love, Mommy

Twins Game

We celebrated Mothers Day by going to a Twins game with my parents (thanks Mom and Dad!). The new stadium is pretty sweet. It is humongous. It was FABULOUS. The food was good. The game was good (Twins win!). Colin even did a good job at his first spectator sport. Here's what he thought of it all:
Here are a few things I learned about Target Field that I thought a first-time game-goer might like to know.
1. They have family restrooms.
2. In the family restrooms, I noticed that on the mirror it said that nursing moms could contact guest services for a place to nurse their babies. Not that I needed to nurse, but good to know, right?
3. Bring at least $15 per person to eat. I'm not one on buying a whole lot of food at events. I got chicken tenders (they came with fries), and that was $7.50. I shared a waffle cone ($5) and a bottle of Aquafina ($4) with Kevin. Kevin got an $8 calzone.
4. Take the Light Rail. It was easy. The LRT station is right outside the field. We boarded at Ft. Snelling and it was about a 30 minute ride. We left the game at the top of the 9th with 1 out (b/c the Twins were winning 6-0), and we got on the 2nd train.
5. ::Warning--Vent:: Speaking of Light Rail, chivalry is dead. Here I was standing, holding a cranky 23 lb toddler, trying to keep my balance while not breaking my back. Of the 8 people who were sitting in the seats around us, 2 were elderly and the rest seemed like perfectly capable middle-aged couples. I kept trying to tell myself that maybe there was a reason they had to sit. Maybe one of them recently had back surgery or something. But I doubt all 6 of them. So Kevin and I passed Colin back and forth. By the 2nd to last stop, there was enough room that I could sit on the floor. The woman that occasionally piped in on the PA system would say, "Please let the elderly and disabled sit in the designated areas." I wanted to shout to her, "AND THE PEOPLE WITH SMALL CHILDREN!" Moving on...
6. Take note of where you're sitting and dress appropriately. Outdoor baseball has no climate control, people! If you're in the outfield, you're facing south, so it's likely you'll be in the sun. Everywhere else was pretty shaded. We were on the third baseline, and when we got there, we were warm in the sun. But by 1:30, the sun had gone over the stadium and we were chilly. People were wearing winter hats and blankets in our section. I almost hesitated to buy the ice cream. If we had been sitting in the sun, however, I would've felt like a bad mom for not bringing any sunscreen for the wee one. Just something to think about. This was our view from our seats. It looks high, and it was. But they were still pretty good seats. I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything:
7. Sneak food in. At the Metrodome, they checked bags and purses. They didn't at Target Field. The people in front of us had all sorts of snacks. We brought in a huge diaper bag. We could've stuffed it full of goodies.
8. There's lots of space to move around on the concourse without feeling like you're missing the game. The game is even broadcast in the bathrooms.

Colin Morneau watching Daddy mow lawn while he waits until it's time to leave:
Getting out and about at the game:
My dad teasing Colin with his nukkie:

And in other news, Colin is cutting 2 teeth. Not his upper front teeth, but his upper side teeth. Please tell me my kid will not grow a snaggle tooth (teeth?).

Well hello there!

Whew! What a busy week it has been. It all boils down to this:
Thursday afternoon, I left work as soon as the kids were out of the building because I was not feeling well. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in bed...and running back and forth to/from the bathroom with the flu. By the time I was feeling somewhat functional around 11 pm, Kevin was down for the count, so I took the overnight baby shift.

I went to school on Friday, not feeling awesome, but needing to go because we had our first grade program. I muddled through the day, glad it was the end of the week.

On Saturday, the three of us checked out the daycare we *really* wanted. It's an in-home place, and Sandy was really nice. Two of my co-workers have used Sandy for their children, and loved her so much. We're so glad she has an opening in the fall for Colin (as long as unforeseen circumstances don't happen between then and now). She has a very structured day with plenty of outside time, activities, etc. She has a tiny toilet, low sinks, and a kitchenette right there in the basement.

My parents came up on Saturday, too, and hung out with us. I made some cinnamon swirl bread and some lactation cookies. My supply had dropped after being dehydrated from the flu and I was worried. I thought it was the end of breastfeeding because when I pumped, I was only producing 1 oz. at best.

On Sunday, my parents left in the afternoon and we continued to lay low. Kevin and I felt like we were hungover.

Back to work on Monday, and after downing some lactation cookies and drinking plenty of high-calorie Vitamin Water, and finally getting my appetite back (I woke up with a growling stomach!), I was so happy to find that my supply returned.

Colin's cutting the other bottom front tooth. If sleeping poorly means he wakes up every 2 hrs, and sleeping well means he wakes up every 4 hrs, he's sleeping semi-poorly. Last night, after being rocked, nursed, Tylenoled, and Orajeled, we started letting him cry it out again. It sucked. But then he slept for 4 hours. I hate letting him cry, but for the past few weeks, because of his teeth, we've been catering to him (as we should). But we're exhausted, and getting up every 2 hours isn't helping any of us.

It's another busy few weeks at school. The 100th day of school is tomorrow. I don't remember EVER celebrating it when I was in school, but it's a big deal now. Then the Science Museum of MN is coming to our school next week to talk to the kids about Antarctica, and we're going to see a small-town theater production play next Friday. The week after next is conferences. The only part I look forward to is having them done and not having to think about them again until next year :D

We found out last week that Kevin's grandma has a brain tumor. I'm not sure whether it's cancerous or not, but she does have to have it removed and she'll probably need chemo as well. Keep her in your thoughts if you get a chance.

Well at least something good came out of it.

While Colin was busy having RSV (he's much better now), he was also busy cutting a tooth! The tooth cutting could be the reason for his ear infection, too. It's kind of nice that after a big ball of sickness, we get a little reward for it. And no "extra" fussiness, either :) I'll get a picture of the little chomper if little dude ever opens his mouth wide enough for us to see it. For now, we just have to stick our fingers in there for validation. The second tooth looks like it's close behind.

Can I also say I'm super excited to go to Target today to peruse the baby food aisle? Last weekend, I took a quick glance at the wonder of Target's selection, but didn't buy any of it. We're going back today and I'm super pumped to buy some mangoes and who knows what other kind of fruit/veggies Colin hasn't tried yet. Better yet, Target's Gerber baby food is cheaper than Wal-Mart's! I figure if he all of a sudden refuses to eat the purees, we can cook them into pancakes, waffles, etc.

And I'm also going to be making chili and goulash for freezer meals this afternoon, and possibly even some homemade applesauce.

I love Colin's long naps, and he needs them, but WAKE UP little man! Let's go shopping!