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!

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....

Always playing catch up!

Cub Central is trucking along. Zach is still attending the feeding clinic at TWU. Tomorrow is our last day. It seems that we take one step forward and two steps back. Every time we make progress we seem to always have a small relapse. Now we're on the uphill again and I am thankful for that. He hasn't wanted to eat much in the last week. I think he may be teething and that has really affected him. He is so very fussy...to the point that when he doesn't get his way he attaches himself to my leg. So annoying. Today was a better day. We finally got to go outside to play (cold front has brought the temperatures down a bit) but he threw a grand hissy fit when he had to come inside. Emily threw a fit because we went outside, Zach threw a fit because we came inside....could these cubs be any more different?

Feeding the animals cubs has become a challenge, even with Emily. Foods she liked last week are left on her plate untouched this week. Zach still sticks with his standard foods: yogurt, taco bueno refried beans, mac and cheese, and the cheese topping off of pizza. He is on strike with his chicken and rice....WHAT a bummer! He still takes Pediasure and I still give him pureed veggies and fruits since that is the only way I can get him to eat them. He does like the tostada toppings from Taco Bell and he even eats the lettuce and cheese, but not the shell. He has improved on trying foods. He actually tried some rice-a-roni and a leaf from a brussel sprout. He'll try spaghetti but doesn't like spaghetti sauce. He is using his spoon/fork more even though I don't complain if he eats with his hands because at least he is eating. Emily is a mixed bag. She enjoys eating Dad's sloppy joe, but refuses (screaming refuses) to eat it off of her plate. The girl still LOVES bananas. Monkey. She likes fresh strawberries, grapes, and even shared a peach with me. Mandarin oranges are a favorite of hers too. She is a total fruitarian. Veggies are another story. She is on strike with the potato unless it is in french fry form. Yesterday she had some chicken fried steak even though she generally refuses meat. She is also on strike with cheese slices. WHAT??? No cheese??? This can't be my cub.

Last week I hosted an informal play date. I had four little guys come over to play. It went really well. Emily, always the hostess, wanted hugs from everyone as they left and then she would watch out the front window as they drove away. So cute. She was totally outnumbered but it didn't bother her a bit...she is quite the little tom-boy.

Emily is still keeping up with her routine at nap time. Zach goes to bed first as Emily blows him a kiss, waves, tells him bye, and closes the door. I love getting them up in the morning, except when it is unbelievably early. Since moving into their own rooms they have been sleeping pretty well. Emily is usually the first up (which is a surprise) so I get her out of her crib and we walk into Zach's room together. She is always so excited to see him. She always bursts through the door with a big smile and says "HI" and runs over to Zach's crib. Zach always jumps up and looks down at her with the biggest smile. It is so sweet! They are also playing together now. Zach follows Emily everywhere. They were running through the house holding hands earlier this week. Too cute for words!

I still enjoy my nights out with my friends. Things are calming down enough around here that Steve even gets to go to the golf course every now and then. He tries to get out at least once a week depending on the cubs' moods. You never know how their afternoons are going to go.

To eat or not to eat.

There hasn't been much going on here at Cub Central. We've had a few playdates since Mother's Day. We went to Jessica's last week and then Kelli and her girls came over yesterday. It seems like it has rained every weekend, especially if it happens to be one of Steve's days off. We spent this weekend putting flooring in the attic so we can store some things that we don't need right away. I have been putting off the unpacking because I just don't want to do it anymore. It seems like I spend more time moving boxes than unpacking them. We have been trying to spend more time outside. I have taken the cubs on a few walks this week. It is really nice to be in a neighborhood where I feel safe to do this. I didn't feel comfortable taking the cubs for walks around the apartment because of all the crazy drivers speeding through the complex and there were no sidewalks. I never felt safe taking them for walks at the old house either. SAD. I'm really happy that they have done so well in their stroller lately. I'm sure it is only because we are walking outside. If we are inside a mall or department store, the stroller is not very well liked by the cubs. Inside our house it becomes a playpen, they can't stop crawling all over it. Silly cubs.

Zach had his first therapy session with the new speech therapist for his feeding aversion issues. I'm a little irked that they have only scheduled him for two half hour sessions per month. However, today I received some encouraging news. Zach was accepted into a summer feeding program at Texas Women's University. Specifically, it is a group feeding program for toddlers with sensory-based feeding disorders. He will be introduced to a variety of foods with different textures, tastes, and temperatures to increase sensory experiences and improve oral intake. The sessions are led by master’s level graduate students under the direct supervision of a licensed speech-language pathologist. It runs for 6 weeks, from June 16 to July 23, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings for 1.5 hours per session. Each session is planned around a weekly theme and includes circle time, rotations through non-food sensory exploration, sensory exploration with food, and language enrichment activities. I am so hopeful about this! As an added bonus, Emily will receive individual speech-language therapy at the same time. Can it get any better than that?

I haven't updated in ages about all of the new foods we've introduced. Lately (because it will probably change tomorrow) Emily likes black olives and broccoli. She recently started eating steamed carrots but stopped eating potatoes. She likes the small frozen individual pizzas. She likes toast but not bread. She loves fish sticks, especially when she can dunk them in ketchup. She doesn't like sandwiches, but will dunk her toast in jelly. She likes waffles without syrup. She loves to share cereal and milk with Mom. She loves burritos but not mexican rice. She likes chips and hot sauce from Taco Bueno. She loves mandarin oranges. She will eat a whole banana but doesn't like it if you slice it up. Silly cub.

Zach's list is much shorter but at least it consists of things other than baby food in a jar. He still loves refried beans from Taco Bueno. I still add sour cream to them for the added calories. He still likes macaroni and cheese. I give Emily a chicken and rice meal and he will eat the rice, but not the chicken. He likes potatoes but no longer seems to like McDonald's fries. He will eat the cheese from the individual pizza but not the crust. He tried the sauce from Mom's chicken enchilada casserole. He still eats his daily yogurt and Pediasure. He thinks crayons, books, and chalk are meant to be eaten. Foods, however, are not. Silly cub.

One last update before pulling the plug (temporarily)

Saturday was a very busy day. I had scheduled three painters to come to the new casa to give us estimates. One was a no-show which made the afternoon even longer. I was definitely going to need a margarita and I was not disappointed. Saturday night we helped our good friend Matt celebrate his birthday at Joe T. Garcia's. I had never been there before but it is quite a popular little establishment. The line to get in was ridiculous and they don't take reservations, but it wasn't bad because we were in good company. The pitcher of margarita didn't hurt either. I think there was 14 of us in our group and Steve and I had a very good time. We dropped the cubs off at an hourly daycare. This was the first time we had ever done this so I was a bit apprehensive. I was not too worried about Zach. I knew as soon as I put him down he would be off and running. I was right. Little man didn't even look back. I was worried that dropping off Emily would be a little more difficult. She's been pretty clingy and I thought there would be some tears. HA! Could I have been more wrong?? I must admit that my feelings were a little hurt. They didn't even seem to notice us as we left. Emily joined a big circle of older kids (she's not shy at all) and the rest was history. Three hours later we went in to pick them up. Not only did we have to work at getting their attention, they didn't even really want to leave. OUCH!

Sunday was a blur. I was planning on taking the cubs to an Easter egg hunt but it was just way too cold and windy. We have had the craziest weather lately. I think we even had temperatures below freezing one night. That afternoon we met up with Matt and Beth Ann at the house so they could see it for the first time. We had a nice visit and then did a little grocery shopping before coming home.

The first seminar class was Monday night. I'm hoping to learn some very useful techniques for dealing with my Cubs when they are exhibiting some less than angelic behavior. I know it's hard to believe but it does happen on occasion where a little demon takes over.

Tuesday morning I met with the painters for a final walk-through to make sure that everyone was on the same page. I'm pretty excited to see what it looks like when they are finished. It is so hard to select colors from such a small sample card. That evening I met some friends for a much needed (aren't they all??) GNO (girls' night out). I showed a little restraint and did not order my usual (raspberry margarita) but I did break down at dessert time. One last dessert before the big DIET. Steve and I have decided to start eating better after we get moved in. It will be so much easier when we can enjoy the evening on the patio and grill our dinners. During the spring, summer and fall we usually grill most of our meats and vegetables but we haven't been able to do so here at the apartment. We are both craving a good steak.

Emily came down with "pink-eye" minus the pink yesterday afternoon, so this morning I dragged my poor little puffy raccoon face to the Doctor. We have had more Doctor appointments this year than we did for all of 2008. What in the world is going on here? This time it turned out that Emily probably has a small virus mixed in with a huge batch of allergies. Poor baby....she looks absolutely horrible. Her face is puffy and she has red bags under her eyes. This mess had better clear out by Saturday. We are supposed to go on an Easter egg hunt and I want to take pictures. In case you were wondering, yes, it is supposed to rain. My luck in action.

Zach has been doing really well. He ate one half of a Mum Mum today. It is a crunchy type of rice cracker. I couldn't believe it and I couldn't stop watching. This is progress in action. The other day we didn't feed him any baby food. WOO HOO. He still likes mac and cheese and the refried beans from Taco Bueno. He has even started eating rice if it has a little sauce or gravy on it. I honestly can't remember the last time we had a Mt. Vesuvius eruption and I am thanking God for that!

Tomorrow morning the movers come and I am excited but dreading it at the same time. I just know that it is going to be a very long day and I'm not sure how the cubs are going to handle everything. Emily did help pack a box of toys today. She is such a good little helper. It turns out that she also packed her shoes and Zach's sippy cup. OOPS.

Walk-through to closing.

Monday we had our walk-through of the new casa. It's our opportunity to point out things the builder has missed. Steve and I spent two hours with the Manager and we went through the house room by room. We go back again tomorrow morning to verify that everything has been corrected before we head to closing. I still can't believe that this is really happening. The stars have aligned for us. We managed to sell our house just in time to buy the new one. We are a lucky bunch.

Zach had his last therapy appointment today. Steve and I decided to switch to ECI so that Zach could have his therapy sessions at home. I can't help but think that this will work better. At this rate it can't be any worse. I was late this morning because traffic was horrible (due to the races this weekend), so we had a 15-minute $40 session which consisted of me feeding Zach the same exact thing I feed him at home (for free) while the therapist watched. That pretty much sealed the deal and I voluntarily discharged Zach from the program. His evaluation with ECI is on April 17.

Zach has been doing pretty well lately. He had some loaded baked potato and some mashed potatoes this week. He ate almost half of Emily's chicken with rice (minus the chicken). The rice has far more carbs and calories than the chicken so that's ok with me. Steve told me that we could all go to Chuck E Cheese once Zach starts eating pizza. Yesterday our little man ate the cheese and sauce from a frozen pizza. He didn't eat the crust but that was good enough for me. So we are going to Chuck E Cheese. I am so proud of him for trying something new. Then today he tried some salisbury steak. So so proud of our little man!

Emily has been Emily. A bundle of energy who is so fun to play with. She loves playing peek-a-boo with her brother and I love to watch them. I'm a lucky girl!

I have been crazy busy coordinating things for the new house. Setting up the utilities, scheduling painters to give us estimates, and just trying to keep things running here at Cub Central. Mom is exhausted. I wish I could go to sleep and wake up tomorrow morning in the new house, with everything in its place and no packing or unpacking to do. **sigh**

Things that happened in between fevers....

Tuesday night was my monthly LCMOM meeting. We had dinner and a white elephant gift exchange. I always enjoy getting out for an evening. The Doctor had given the "all clear" for Zach to attend his therapy session on Thursday even though he still had the lingering fever. She said as long as he wasn't exhibiting any other symptoms it should be ok. One of the moms from my LCMOM group graciously invited Emily over to her house while I took Zach to his appointment. Emily played with Kim's boys, Nathan and James, while I sat with Zach in his therapy room while he screamed at the top of his lungs for 30 minutes. Emily obviously got the better end of the deal. This was the worst session yet. Last week he managed to eat his yogurt in the middle of all the screaming. This week was nothing but screaming. Except he would stop screaming if you put a toy on the table. Of course afterwards he ate his yogurt up in the car without any problem. So frustrating. On Thursday night I went to dinner with the girls from THC. We went to Rio Mambo for mexican food and a nice strong Margarita. A desperately needed Margarita after that therapy session. My dear friend Debbie invited us over for lunch on Friday. She took time off for the week because her daughter was out of school for Spring Break. Sydney is seven and just the most beautiful little girl...Debbie is going to have her hands full when those boys start knocking on the door. We spent most of our visit outside. I'm glad it was pretty outside because I was very nervous that the cubs would break something if we stayed inside. The cubs are very curious and have to touch everything. On Friday evening we took the cubs to the Cotton Patch for dinner. It is pretty loud there and even with all the noise I think Zach's squeals were still the loudest. He loves to hear his echo even when the rest of us don't love it so much. Matt and Beth Ann came over on Saturday. It has been too long since we saw them last. We all went over to the old house together for one last look. It was a bit sad. I remember being so excited when we first bought the house and now I am so excited to sell it. I actually gave my keys and garage door opener to Steve today so he could give them to our realtor for closing. Closing is scheduled for 1:00 on Wednesday. Zach did impress me this weekend by trying some new foods. He ate a Pringle potato chip. It sounds silly to blog about that, but it really is huge for him. It was only one half of a chip and it took about 10 minutes, but he ate it on his own and that's all that matters to me. On Sunday he actually put a Mum-Mum (a rice cracker...Emily loves them) in his mouth. He didn't really eat any of it, but he put it in his mouth numerous times. Even Steve had to admit that it was exciting to see him do this. We had Taco Bueno for lunch on Sunday and Zach gobbled up his refried beans. I even added some sour cream just for the added calories. Last night I made chicken with pasta for dinner and he tried some of the pasta too. He has learned to push things out with his tongue if he doesn't like it. This is huge progress because before he would try to swallow it, gag, and throw up everything. I'd much rather he spit it out than throw it (and everything else) up.

Slam dunk

Emily is an expert eater. She loves almost everything...except her veggies. She has finally decided that she now likes ketchup. She wouldn't eat anything with ketchup before. I made her some fish sticks this week and put a little dab of ketchup on one and she actually ate it. Then she started sticking her finger in the ketchup and rubbing it on her fish stick. It was hilarious watching her do this. I finally convinced her that it would be easier to "dunk" the fish stick rather than to "dunk" her finger. So now she is a skilled fish stick dunker. Way to go Emily!

Amazing Zach

Sometimes the little man amazes me. After our disastrous yesterday he decided to eat some brand new foods today. For lunch he tried some cottage cheese. I was amazed! I don't think he liked it, but he took three or four spoonfuls. He also had some deli-shaved chicken. Way to go Z-man!

After nap time the cubs and I went to the house to pack some more. I had the logistics all planned out on how I was going to get the cubs to and in the car safely without the use of the stroller. Zach is a runner. Perhaps I should say Zach is a sprinter. He is a quick little scamper. If you don't have a firm grip on his hand he will be off and running. VERY SCARY for mommy. So I decided the best way to accomplish getting this done was to put Zach in the car and let him stand in front of his car seat and shut the door before he can escape. Then I take Emily to the other side where I get her all strapped in. After Emily is safely secured, I go back to Zach's side and secure him in his car seat. Perfect plan! I must admit it worked rather well. The impressive part of this, and the reason I am sharing, is that while Zach was standing in front of his car seat all alone, he pulled himself up and crawled in and sat down in his seat all by himself! Mommy was so proud of him!

For dinner Zach tried another new food. A Gerber Graduate macaroni and vegetable something-or-other. It doesn't really matter what it was. What matters is that Zach ate several bites. Then he followed up with some applesauce. In case you weren't counting, that was four "table" foods in one day. Perhaps my 'swallow study scare tactic' is working after all.

Such a slacker!

I pulled up my blog this evening and was amazed that I have not updated it since November 16. What a slacker! How am I supposed to remember all the way back to last week when I'm lucky to remember what I ate for lunch today? I will reference my trusty little calendar and try to update the world on what has been going on with the residents of Cub Central.

Last Tuesday was my LCMOM meeting. I always enjoy getting out and mingling with friends. Kelli and I even went to Manny G's afterwards for some adult conversation over a glass of wine.

Wednesday was my monthly dinner with Jackey and Cathy. This month we chose to go to a Mediterranean restaurant, so we ended up at Hedary's, which serves mainly Lebanese food. I'm really glad we went because I like trying new things, but I'm not sure I would go again, at least not anytime soon. It was definitely different.

Steve and I took Zach back to the GI Doctor on Thursday. He is still having issues with keeping foods down. It is so frustrating because he is finally taking the initiative to put things in his mouth all by himself and then ends up throwing them back up. Over the last few days he has tried some shaved ham and sliced cheese. It is wonderful to watch him put solid foods in his little mouth....FINALLY! Now if we can just figure out a way for him to keep everything down.

It must be a world record...

This past work week I cooked dinner every night. That has got to be some kind of record. I even made three new things...baked ziti, sloppy joes, and thai noodles. We also had roast beef (one of my favorites...and this time I used the crock pot) and homemade pizza. To top that off I even made breakfast this morning...french toast. Steve always makes Sunday morning breakfast but this morning I gave him the day off. Aren't I sweet?? No emergent runs to the hospital for food poisoning so I guess I did ok. Unfortunately Emily is going through a picky food eating stage (hard to believe I know) and she didn't really seem to like any of it. She turned her nose up at the ziti, and the carrots and potatoes from the roast. The thai noodles were way too spicy and I wasn't crazy about the pizza so I didn't subject her to it. The only thing she seemed to like was the sloppy joes. Zach clamped his mouth shut for everything. What a surprise! ***sigh*** Oh well, maybe the Cub Chef will have better luck next week.

P.S. On an unrelated topic, we saw gas for $1.83 today and milk for $2.50/gallon.

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.

Aliens have abducted our cubs...

Aliens have abducted our cubs and replaced them with MONSTERS! While they look identical to my cubs, I know these are not mine. This has been a less than stellar week. "Temper-tantrum Tuesday" is now replaced with "Totally Terrible Tuesday", and was SO bad that it blended into "How could it get any Worse? Wednesday".

It started Monday with Zach waking up from his nap with a fever slightly over 101. So I started the doses of Tylenol. He had been spitting up more than normal (which has officially blown our 47 day no-puke streak), so I figured he just had a bug. On "Totally Terrible Tuesday", he still had his temperature and was just miserable. He wouldn't eat, drink or sleep. It is very distressing to Mom when Zach won't eat OR drink. I can just visualize the pounds float away on my anemic/bulimic little man. **SIGH** So young and already having eating issues. He wanted to be held every second (VERY unusual for him), which is very difficult when his sister is also screaming for attention. I finally got him down for a nap, but when he woke up, he was just burning up, and he still had several hours before I could give him any more Tylenol. When he was crying so much he made himself throw up, I packed him and Emily up and off we went to meet Steve at the Doctor's office. So after sitting in the waiting room for over an hour, we get our five minute consult with the Dr., who seems to think he has a stomach bug. He says it should last between 3-5 days. GREAT! Keep giving him fluids. Um, right. How does one give fluids to a 15-month-old who doesn't want them, and can force himself to throw up if you tick him off??? Good luck with that! Can't we fast forward to next Friday already???

On "How could it get any worse? Wednesday", sure enough, it got worse. No eating, No drinking, No sleeping. Mom and Dad are both exhausted, frustrated and even more fussy than the cubs. Emily also had a little fever, because it's "highly contagious" per Dr. Genius. UGH! God, please let me survive this, at least until next Friday!!! If you see any aliens flying around, will you please ask them to return my cubs and take these monsters back?!?!

So Thursday was a repeat of Wednesday, with just a little less fuss. I think the cubs are feeling a little better. Zach still isn't eating or drinking much, but at least the crying is starting to lighten up. Steve and I are also thinking that maybe with this fever causing bug, we are also suffering from some teething issues on top of it.

Now it's Friday. One more week until my "Girl's Get-away". The light at the end of the tunnel. Thankfully Emily is feeling better and acting more like herself. Zach is still pretty fussy, but it is getting better. At least he will sit by himself without screaming his head off. So far today, no spit ups. Of course, I guess if you don't eat much, you have less to spit up. **SIGH**

In the midst of this, we still have some items worthy of noting. I've spent a lot of time this week rocking Zach in the recliner. Little Emily has become quite fond of bringing things over and giving them to me while I'm sitting. For instance, today she brought me every throw pillow we have on our love seat and couch. Zach and I were covered with ruby-colored pillows. It is so adorable to watch her and she is so proud of herself. I always tell her "thank you" and I always get her adorable smile, then off she goes for another one.

She still gives the greatest bear hugs. She "runs", throws her arms around you, and laughs. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It is one of the highlights of my day. I ask her for hugs ALL THE TIME! Zach, on the other hand, has become quite stingy with his hugs. I normally hold my arms out, ask for said hug, and he comes to me and gives me one. Lately, I hold my arms out, ask for a hug, and he comes all the way to my fingertips and turns around and walks off. He may think this is funny, but Mommy's feelings are slightly hurt. Where is that alien abductor? I want my huggy Zach back!

Emily also likes to walk around with a teething ring on each arm. Such a little priss sporting her "bracelets". She'll stand there with her "bracelets" on and just clap her friends. Soooo cute. I have already told Emily that diamonds are a girl's best friend. Daddy is in BIG trouble. How convenient that the diamond is also her birth stone. Daddy's credit card is in BIG trouble.

Last night for dinner I made spaghetti, which Emily gobbled right up. I gave Zach a few strands, just to keep him entertained, and he actually put one in his mouth. He even swallowed some. Wow. Of course, in true Zach fashion, he threw it up. The fact that he put it in his mouth to begin with is a pretty big deal around here. It gives me hope that Zach may eat something other than pureed food before he enters Kindergarten.

I hope that alien brings back my cubs ASAP! Things need to get back to normal around here.

Moody Monday and Temper-Tantrum Tuesday

On Monday the cubs had their 15 month check-up and along with it was an MMR vaccination. It made for a very moody Monday. Emily scream-cried all the way home. I think it was a mean combination of being hot, hungry, tired, and poked by that nasty needle. She was NOT a happy cub. Zach did a little better, but it sure took a lot out of everyone.

We did receive an A+ from our pediatrician so that was good news. He always tells us that Zach is not a heavy-weight, but other than his slow weight gain he seems to be doing pretty well. He weighed in at 19 lbs 7 oz, and 30 1/4" long. Our Emily Bear weighed in at 23 lbs 10 oz and 33 1/2" long. Now she's a heavy-weight!

After our "moody Monday" I went out to dinner with some girlfriends and treated myself to a much needed raspberry daiquiri.

Unfortunately Tuesday was not much better. I'd like to attribute it to the immunizations from the day before, but my mother kindly pointed out to me this morning that yesterday was Tuesday. Of course, it was Temper-Tantrum Tuesday, it makes total sense to me now. This was our third bad Tuesday in a row. I am considering looking into a "Mother's Day Out" program...and I am pretty sure that I need one for Tuesdays. I also need another daiquiri.

I have decided to try making my own baby food. This should be interesting! We've decided to start with the basic vegetables, so last night I blended up some carrots, green beans, and peas. The recommended way is to freeze the food in covered ice-cube trays and then thaw out cubes as needed. So I bought special little trays, and am currently thawing some out for dinner. We'll see how well they like it. I'm hoping that it will be more flavorful than the jarred stuff, and maybe Zach will like it a little better and start eating some with thicker and chunkier textures. Keep your fingers crossed!

Thunder (and Zach) woke me up early this morning. We need rain so desperately, but it was just a tease. We didn't receive enough to wet the concrete. What a let down!

I've been tracking our stroller online...(it's pretty cool how you can see where it has arrived and departed from - American Airlines could certainly take some lessons on how to do this)...it has left New Jersey and the estimated delivery date is tomorrow. Thursdays are generally pretty good days around Cub Central.

And the winner is....

It looks like the oranges have it, by a whopping one vote (11-10). Wow! We will be placing our order tomorrow (hopefully). We appreciate everyone who took the time to vote in our very scientific survey. Steve originally selected the orange one, so I'm sure I'm going to have to listen to him bragging about being the winner for quite some time. Lucky me. I must admit, after talking with some of the people who voted for the orange one, I can see some benefits to it that I had not thought of before, so I'm really not too disappointed about being the (dare I say) LOSER.

Today was a typical Monday, except that it was really Friday. Zach had a nutrition appointment scheduled for 10:00. I received a phone call (at 10:15) from the Nutritionist telling me that she was ill and wasn't going to make it. This is her third missed appointment, but who's counting? At least this time I received a phone call. **SIGH**

For lunch today, Emily and I shared a can of Chef Boyardee's Cheese Ravioli. She didn't seem overly enthusiastic about it, but she didn't refuse it either. Zach even tried two very small bites, and I was met with his usual gagging reaction, but he managed to swallow and keep it down. For a special treat they had some chocolate pudding. Emily really liked it, but what girl doesn't like chocolate, especially when it's being served to her? Such a mini-princess. Zach even had several small bites of the pudding, and this time there was no gag reaction. Quite an improvement from the time I served him vanilla pudding (we ended up wearing that).

Naps are becoming a little more difficult. It seems no one around here wants one but ME! I put them in their cribs at nap time and just listen to them blabber back and forth to each other on the monitor. It makes for a really long day, because then they want their nap around 4pm, and there is no way they are going to take a nap that close to bedtime. So they generally become pretty fussy, but how do you reason with two 15 month olds? Telling them that they should have taken their naps doesn't get much accomplished around here. Stubborn little monkeys!

Steve has to work this weekend, so there are no fun plans scheduled. Just another typical day at Cub Central! Probably a good thing, we spend less money that way!

They really are mine!

Steve had an after-work function to attend, so he got home much later than usual. I had planned on cooking dinner, but Steve brought home food from Taco Bueno (my favorite fast food eatery) instead. Since we did IVF, Steve and I sometimes light-heartedly joke about whether the cubs are really "ours". It's pretty obvious that Emily is mine (especially her eating habits, not to mention her hair). Zach on the other hand, is sometimes a mystery. He doesn't really look like us (although several people tell me he looks like my Dad, and he does have Steve's blond curls) and he certainly doesn't share my love of food. Tonight, Zach proved that he really was mine by eating five or six small bites of refried beans from Taco Bueno. He also tried the queso and the guacamole. It is so exciting that he is making an effort to try some of the smoother adult-type foods. PROGRESS!! Emily deserves mention as well, tonight she ate some bites of her very first burrito. That's my girl!! I always swore that I wouldn't feed fast-food to the cubs, especially at this young of an age, but if Zach will eat it, I'll give it to him. Before anyone alerts the "food police", Emily had already had her dinner, so her small bites of burrito weren't her main meal.

Today was a big day for Zach in the eating department. Besides eating food from Taco Bueno, he also ate several bites of the Raspberry and Pear YoBaby yogurt this morning. I was a little hesitant to try it since he didn't do so well the last time, but today he did much better. Again, PROGRESS!! The Nutritionist comes tomorrow, so hopefully we'll see some progress on the scale too.

We've been keeping an eye on the stroller survey (currently tied at 7 votes each on the electronic count). We have been informed of some technical difficulties with the survey. For example, two people from the same household may not be able to both vote (not to mention that it is currently showing 107%). What can I say?? -- the survey post was free, and you get what you pay for. Grandma Shirley (who we affectionately call Granny Nanny, even though she really hates it) has some votes from her co-workers to add manually, since they couldn't all cast their votes electronically. We need to add 3 for green and 2 for orange, which currently puts the green ahead by just one vote. When Steve and I agreed to do this, we never imagined that the votes would be so close. It's been fun checking the tally every morning to see if anyone has voted. (We lead very simple and boring lives -- ha ha.)

The cubs woke up super early this morning. I swear it must be a full moon. Today has been totally off schedule. I had to move breakfast, lunch and dinner up to accommodate their nap, which they didn't really want to take, even though they woke up before the roosters. YIKES!! So exhausting! We had another bad Tuesday this week as well. This will be the second bad Tuesday in a row. I'm going to start referring to them as Temper-Tantrum Tuesdays because Emily Bear was in rare form on the tantrum front. Just one after the other. Even Steve was unimpressed.

We did not receive any rain from Hurricane Dolly, which hit the Texas coast on Wednesday as a Category 2. My Director's daughter lives in Corpus Christi, so I've been thinking about her and her family and hoping that they are all safe. It's been dreadfully hot here, and we haven't received the rain we need. It's horrible that parts of Texas are dangerously overwhelmed with water, and we can't seem to ever get a drop up here.

I'm getting excited for my trip to Vegas. I can't believe it's only three weeks away! I don't want to seem overly anxious, but is it too early to start packing??

Making progress

Our little man is making progress. I am so excited to announce that Zach has FINALLY decided last Friday that he is ready to drink from his sippy cup. While he's not doing it consistently, and he still uses it as an occasional chew toy, he has been making an effort to drink from it, and around here that is HUGE! To make things even better, he had several small bites of my baked potato on Sunday evening. Also, very HUGE! AND...for those keeping up, he has now gone 39 days without an eruption. MAJOR HUGE! He's had several small spit-ups, but they are so much smaller on the magnitude scale compared to his Mt. Vesuvius eruptions, that they aren't even really worth mentioning. It's so great to finally post some good eating news for our little man.

I always feel guilty because I don't have much to report on our little Emily Bear. She is doing great as always. She has tried a variety of the Yo Baby yogurts. She seems to like all of them so far except for the vanilla. She sampled some of Grandpa Bear's swiss cheese on Friday and she also inhaled part of her daddy's baked potato on Sunday. The girl loves food, what can I say?! She is having some pretty annoying temper-tantrums and I am hoping that she will soon learn that they aren't very productive. She is so dramatic, and they stop just as quickly as they start. It would be comical if it weren't so annoying. Poor thing.

Grandpa Bear (and Baxter Dog) came on Friday to pick up Grandma Bear. She stayed with us for two weeks and was a huge help, especially when Steve was gone. I sure did miss her today when I had to tackle all of the diaper changes on my own. I had gotten spoiled because she did almost every one while she was here. I miss her!

Steve (and his luggage) came home on Saturday after his week long business trip. We are so glad he is home. I took the cubs to greet him at the airport, and I think it made his day when his little girl "ran" to him and then he received one of Zach's precious hugs.

The cubs are starting to give "kisses". Big, wet, open-mouthed "kisses". Zach even gave one to Emily tonight at bedtime. So sweet!! I love our cubs!!

News Flash

Stop the presses! On Tuesday we discovered that there is a food that Emily Grace doesn't like. Watermelon. We tried twice and she spit it out both times. Very unlike our little Emily who likes almost everything. She has recently tried "big people spaghetti" and she seemed to like it. I imagine that my spaghetti has a little more flavor than the Gerber's spaghetti in a jar (yummy I'm sure). Just this morning she had a special treat, a cinnamon graham cracker which she gobbled right up without ANY hesitation. What a good little eater, as long as we steer clear of the dreaded watermelon!

What a busy week...

Wow, it's been a busy week. On Monday, I had my girl's night out with Debbie and Kristy. It's always great to see my friends and enjoy some real adult conversation. Don't get me wrong, Emily and Zach are great to "talk" with, but their conversations are a little one-dimensional.

On Tuesday, Zach had an appointment to address some possible oral hypersensitivity issues. It may be the reason he is reluctant to try chunkier types of food. Who knows?! Moving along, I am very happy to report that it has been 21 days since his last Mt. Vesuvius type spit-up. WHOO HOO! You have no idea how exciting this is. I certainly hope he keeps this up and we have a very positive result at our next weigh-in. I've added Pediasure back into his diet, so he's even getting some additional calories. Hopefully he'll continue to tolerate it.

On Wednesday, the cubs discovered that they can reach the door handles and actually open doors. We don't have door knobs here, we have lever type handles. They grab on, pull down, and the door opens. JUST GREAT!! Nobody ever thinks about these things. They are smart little monsters, always looking for an escape.

Tonight Steve and I took the cubs to a mexican restaurant to have dinner with our good friends Matt and Beth Ann. The cubs behaved fairly well considering they don't like to sit still for very long. Now that they are both walking, sitting is probably quite boring to them, as they are so very curious and want to explore everything. Zach actually tried the guacamole and to my amazement he even guided my fork to his mouth for a second bite. His facial expression indicated that he didn't really like it, but the point is that he tried it, and more than once. This is a huge step for him. Now little Emily Bear likes everything, and tonight she also tried some new foods: tortilla, refried beans, spanish rice, a small piece of fajita meat, and a grilled onion. Yes, you read correctly, she even had several bites of grilled onion. The girl is definitely mine! She loves Mexican food!!

Grandma and Grandpa Bear are coming tomorrow, so we can't wait to see their reaction to how much the cubs have changed since their last visit! A busy weekend is ahead!

The difference between boys and girls.

My pictoral observation of the difference between little girls and boys as witnessed during their introduction to Saltine crackers earlier this month.



Emily's saltine. Notice the neatly nibbled corners and edges.






Zach's saltine. DESTROYED! Obviously it is more fun for him to play with his food rather than eat any of it.