Obligatory pumpkin patch photos

Our little pumpkins at the pumpkin patch (from 10/18). You'll notice that there is not a single picture of the cubs smiling together....most of the pics from that day are of their backs as they are running away from me, in opposite directions, no doubt. I posted the best of the best....maybe we'll have better luck next year.

Amnesia

When I wait too long in between posts I generally forget everything that has happened. Self-inflicted amnesia. Pretty true in tonight's case too, so this will be a short (and probably disappointing) blog.

It seems that everything has been going along pretty well. I had a dinner out at Gloria's with the THC girls last Thursday. We had to cancel the night in September because the cubs were sick and a couple of the girls were out of town, so it was really nice to see everyone again and catch up.

We met with our pool salesperson on Saturday to pick out the coping and tiles for the pool. I just received the plans for the pool yesterday, so I need to get those to our HOA for approval. I am crossing my fingers that we don't have any problems.

On Sunday (Oct 18) we took the cubs to the Pumpkin Patch. I would love to say that I had a great time but I would be lying stretching the truth. All I wanted was to capture the cubs in a photo together looking adorable. As soon as I got there and turned on the camera the battery light started flashing (just my luck). No problem. I brought a spare pair...if only I hadn't left them in the car. UGH. I made the right decision by not trekking all the way back to the car. Practically every picture that I took was of the cubs' backs as they were running away from me, most often in opposite directions. It was really a test of my patience. I hated it but I'll post some pictures anyway.

One good thing came from the Pumpkin Patch disaster. On the way back home, Zach took a bite (not a nibble) of a Mum Mum (rice cracker). He gobbled the whole thing!! I was so excited! He has been doing great lately and I am so very proud of him. He is finally eating fish sticks (HUGE accomplishment). He continues to try new foods, most recently asparagus. He didn't really like it but that's not what counts. He has started turning up his nose to his usual favorites in order to try something off of my plate. We ordered a pasta dish from Buca di Beppo's and he liked it. We took him to Red Robin where he had some grilled cheese and french fries....he even did better than Emily. Today the cubs ate all of my taco...I didn't get one bite. I can hardly believe this is the same Zach that was eating baby food a few months ago. I am praying that this trend continues. Way to go Little Man! We are SO proud of you!

Tomorrow Grandma and Grandpa Bear are visiting and doing a little cub sitting for us. We are always so excited to see them!! Hopefully it will be sunny and dry so we can enjoy some more kite flying!

Another day older and deeper in debt

Last night we signed the contract for the (redesigned) pool. Another commitment for our pocketbook, but I think it will pay off. We are looking forward to spending a lot of time in the pool next summer when it will be way too hot to do anything else. Too bad I missed all the swimwear clearances! We will also have to start looking into swimming lessons...good thing we have expert swimmers in the family, now all we have to do is get Uncle Craig and Auntie Leslie out here from the East coast to teach the cubbies! HINT!!

The next step is to submit the plans to our HOA. They have 30 days to approve them so we'll see how that goes. Fingers crossed.

Another week with a sick cub. Quarantine needed.

We had more drama on Grandpa Bear's birthday. We spent the evening with the pool designer because our original pool design did not fit in our backyard. BOO to the regulations that require our fence to be pushed in 10 feet from our property line. Who does that?? Anyway, that's another soapbox issue.

We ended up putting Emily to bed a little early because she was fussy and tired. I figured it was because she skipped her nap earlier that day. Other than that she seemed perfectly fine. Two hours later she was whimpering like a puppy so Steve went to check on her and she was burning up with a fever of 106! We did all the right things: started meds, stripped her down, lukewarm bath, cold compress and we could only get her temp down to 103. Then her temp started going back up and she was very lethargic, so we called the oncall Doctor. Before he returned our call, she started throwing up (which is VERY rare for Em). The Doctor starts yapping about brain damage with fevers over 105 and I thought I was going to lose it. He told us to take her to Cooks, where (two hours later) they diagnosed her w/ a (yet another) viral infection. Negative for flu. Unfortunately there is nothing we can give her to treat this other than alternating Tylenol and Motrin to keep her comfortable and give her plenty of fluids. We should be old pros at this. One Doctor's office visit, two urgent care visits, and one ER visit in the last month and every time we come home with the same diagnosis. Will we ever get over this mess???

Anyway, knock on wood, both cubs seem to be doing fine now. There was no preschool on Monday since it was Columbus Day, and I was anxious to get back to our routine. Speech therapy on Tuesday went great. Zach does the chicken dance now which Steve and I find hilarious. He is so cute!! Donuts with Dad day at Preschool was yesterday but unfortunately Dad couldn't go, so I was Dad proxy. Unfortunately the cubs left their good behavior at home....I guess it's their job to embarrass me in front of all the other parents. Zach dumped over a cup of water and neither of the cubs were interested in sitting during story time. I wish I could have superglued their little bottoms to the floor. I guess that's the behavior I can expect from two two-year-olds. Maybe I should start looking into etiquette school too. Good thing they are cute!!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Bear!!

Everyone here at Cub Central wants to wish Grandpa Bear a Happy Birthday! We love him very much and we can't wait for him to visit soon so we can go kite flying together again. We hope he had a wonderful day today!!!

Weekly update

We are getting back into our routine...finally. Zach has done great going to preschool...I even got a goodbye kiss when I dropped him off in his classroom on Wednesday. Therapy is going just as well, he now takes the hand of his Clinician and off they go, leaving me behind to follow. What a difference!!

When I picked the cubs up from preschool on Monday, the director told me that they were having a picture make-up day. Woo hoo. I was thrilled that Emily would be getting another chance to replace the stick figure I was going to have to put in her scrapbook. I dressed her up on Tuesday, went to school, and was thrilled that the photographer was able to get a cute picture of her. Unfortunately the cubs wouldn't sit together well and I gave up as soon as the fussing started, so no sibling pictures, but at least I will have an individual picture for each of them. SUCCESS.

I am still working with Emily on the potty training. She is doing pretty well. Tonight she finally indicated "poo" to me BEFORE she actually did it. Usually she cues me after she's already gone, so this was huge. Hopefully she will keep up the forward progress. It is difficult though, since we are gone every morning during the week. I think I am going to start working with Zach. I'm not expecting anything yet, but maybe the little man will surprise me.

Zach has been doing very well with his eating with the exception of the week he was sick. This is also huge progress. He has been trying some new foods...fish, broccoli, scrambled eggs, and hashbrown potatoes. He even ate some cheese toasty and tried a few bites of roast beef. AWESOME!!! He still LOVES Taco Bueno refried beans. Today I gave him some burrito at lunch and I took him out of his booster seat when I thought he was finished. Silly me! I was amazed when he looked at me and crawled right back in his booster seat. I offered him the remaining small bites of the burrito and he ate it!! WOW!! He absolutely despises ketchup. I put a small drop on a hashbrown potato and he immediately spit it out and started screaming. SCREAMING!!!! Emily, on the other hand, can't eat things without it. She would not touch her fish until I put ketchup on it (which was a little gross to me...baked fish with ketchup, but if she'll eat it then I won't complain, and I'll keep offering it to her). She won't eat her fish sticks, french fries, scrambled eggs, or chicken nuggets without ketchup. It is so funny watching her with nuggets. She takes one bite out of each one...as if she is checking to see if they are all alike...and then she will go back and start over. Silly cub.

Steve and I have met with a pool contractor. What should be easy has started becoming difficult thanks to all the HOA/City regulations, but we are not giving up. I have financing lined up, now all we have to do is get the pool we want to fit in our yard. We'll know more next week. Until then....