Mr. Potato Head

Just wanted to do a quick update before I forget about all the noteworthy happenings here at Cub Central.

On both Saturday and Sunday, Z-man surprised us by drinking 12 oz. of Pediasure for his bedtime bottle. Usually he only takes in 9 oz, so this was really an accomplishment for our little man. I joked with Steve that he is our little caviar man, since he has such expensive taste. Why can't he drink his milk like that? It's way less expensive than the Pediasure. Oh well...if he'll drink it, we'll buy it for him.

On Sunday, Emily experienced some more new foods. For breakfast our little mini-princess dined on scrambled eggs and toast. We offered it to Zach too, but of course, he just played with it. For dinner Emily enjoyed a fabulous cuisine of grilled cheese. She loved it. The girl loves cheese! What can I say? She gets it from her mommy.

Emily is such a funny little girl. She is stubborn, determined, and DRAMATIC. Her temper tantrums make me laugh. She stops, flings her head back, throws herself on the floor, and cries. No tears, just noise. Eventually she will realize that they don't get her what she wants, but that doesn't stop her from trying. Such a little drama queen. I'm just glad she hasn't thrown one out in public.

Sunday evening our friend Donna (from Abilene) stopped by for a brief visit. It is the first time she has seen the cubs and we were really happy that she was able to stop by. Zach was a little shy, but Emily practically attacked her. No stranger anxiety here. Such friendly little cubs!

Last night the cubs had some baked potato. Zach did so well. He opened his mouth wide, took in several bites without fussing one bit. Then he coughed (like he was clearing his throat) and threw it all up. Steve and I just can't figure it out. He tries to eat, and he swallows his food, it just never seems to make it all the way down. One little cough and it all comes back up. We are thinking of going ahead with the swallow study, even though I don't think swallowing is the problem. It's just so frustrating.

I think I overlooked mentioning that we can finally retire the swing. Previously we would have to put Zach in the swing before bed so he could calm down, and then we would move him to his crib once he fell asleep. No more swing!! Zach is now going straight to bed (since August 11). We can now move the swing to storage and open up some much needed space.

The housing issue is difficult. We are quickly outgrowing our home. It was great when it was just the two of us, but now that we've doubled the size of our family, our living quarters are a little cramped. We have been house shopping for a while now, and we've narrowed down the location of where we want to "plant our roots", but finding a house that fits our needs has been challenging. UGH! Do we buy an existing home, or do we build? Do we try and sell this one first, or buy one and pray we can sell this one? So many questions and no real answers. We went on Sunday to check out another house and left disappointed. There was a contract on it already anyway, so I'm really relieved that we didn't like it. Who wants to get into a bidding war? The housing prices here, at least in our desired area, seem to be going up. I don't see any evidence of a housing depression here. Maybe we should move to Detroit. Yeah, right! Now we're considering building, but since they are all mass builders, I'm concerned about the quality. All the new developments have homeowners associations, which I am not too fond of. I don't want to have to ask anyone's permission to plant a tree. I'm sure it will all work out, but I just wish I could close my eyes and wiggle my nose, and all our housing issues would be solved.

This morning Zach fed himself a banana puff, and he ate it without thowing up. This is pretty major stuff. He tried to eat a second one, but could never get it to his mouth. We need to work on his pincher grasp and his hand-to-mouth coordination. He only has this problem with foods...he has no problems putting things he shouldn't into his mouth. Such a mystery!

Grandpa and Grandma Bear are coming this weekend, so we have something to look forward to. Hopefully Steve won't be working and we can all enjoy some precious cub time.