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.

Mom's two favorite phrases of the day....

My first favorite phrase of the day: In-stock!! Whew! After checking several sites hoping to place my stroller order, I have to admit I was getting a bit nervous. They were all displaying my least favorite phrase of the day...BACK-ORDERED!!! Back-ordered until September?!?! I don't want to wait until September to receive the cubs' new wheels. We finally found one...with free shipping (my second favorite phrase of the day) and we should receive it in 7-10 days! Keep your fingers crossed!

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!!

We need your help with our stroller dilemma....

After much research and debate, we have decided on the brand of double stroller we are wanting to purchase. Now we can't decide on a color. There are no retailers here that carry this particular stroller, so we can't see it in person before we order. We have narrowed it down to two, but it just so happens that Steve wants one and I want the other, so Steve suggested we put it up for vote. Please help us by voting for your favorite (the poll is located at the top of the right hand column). Voting ends Friday, July 25, at 9:00pm CDT.

What a week Wednesday...be prepared, it's a long one!

Wow! What a week this has been! Daddy is out of town all week on business, and even though my mom (Grandma Bear) has been here to help, it has still been a little tough. It's been a mixed bag so far...the cubs are waking up before the roosters (UGH), skipping naps, and suffering from teething pain, general crankiness, and sheer exhaustion. I don't know if it's a full moon, or daddy being gone, or perhaps they have been possessed, but my cubs sure aren't acting like themselves. Yesterday was the worst, so thank goodness today was better. I don't think I could have handled another day like yesterday.

Steve left on Sunday (July 13) for a trip to D.C. I think our downward spiral started then. We took him to the airport and after having to switch terminals once we got there, it got even worse. I spent Monday tracking down his lost baggage. The airline refers to it as "delayed baggage"....let's call it what it is....it's LOST. I must pat myself on the back, after a few phone calls and the help of a clerk at Reagan Airport (calls to the airline were a colossal waste of time), I found the lost bag. I see some real shortcomings with the way airlines handle their luggage tracking (or lack thereof). UPS handles packages worldwide and is able to offer real-time tracking. The airline couldn't even tell me if the baggage ever made it on the plane...."we don't really know where it is"....and even though I managed to track it down on Monday, the airline's website at this very minute still says "Your bag has not yet been located. Please check back later for an updated status." Hmmm...let's talk about consumer confidence. I'll get off my soapbox now.

I do want to mention that Steve and I had a "date night" before he left for DC. My mom watched the cubs on Friday (July 11) evening while Steve and I had dinner at PF Changs. We then went to play Putt-Putt (he won) and air-hockey (he won) followed by ice cream at Baskin Robbins. YUM! It was really nice to spend some alone time together. We should really do it more often.

Zach had two appointments on Monday (July 14). One with his Gastroenterologist and one with an occupational therapist. Those didn't go much better. Zach is having an issue with thickened and lumpy/chunky textures. I read where this may be caused by oral trauma, and our poor little boy has had his fair share. He was tube fed for the first days of his life, then we subjected him to an upper GI, EGD and pH probe test trying to find out why he was throwing up entire bottles. So we have another challenge to overcome. While the OT was here we tried vanilla pudding and soft apple bits (jarred in juice), and he forced himself to throw it all up. It's such a mystery to me, because he actually swallows the food, and then forces himself to throw it up. He even did this on Tuesday when we tried lemon yogurt and even some ice cream. I am so desperate to get him to eat that I offered my child ice cream, and he threw it up. What kid doesn't like ice cream??? I read that other children with oral aversion issues have even worse symptoms than Zach, so I count my blessings that this is not the worst it could be. On a brighter note, I think he has finally made the transition from formula to whole milk. He started milk-only bottles on Sunday and those have been going pretty well. I am still adding powdered formula to increase the calories, but that's it. Two bottles of milk and one bottle of Pediasure a day. We're making progress. Please cross your fingers and say your prayers that he continues to gain weight. I let him try to feed himself with a spoon today, and to my surprise he did pretty well with it. He tried with both hands, but he seemed to do a better job with his left hand. His daddy thinks he'll be ambidextrous. His walking is improving, and it's so funny to watch him follow his big sister around the house. He is Emily's shadow.

It's been such a bizarre week that even little Emily Bear has been fussy. She's even had a few temper-tantrums. I finally realized that there is nothing I can do for her when she's mid-temper-tantrum, so I just walk away. She then stares after me with this shocked look on her face. The girl can turn the tears on and off like a water faucet. Such a drama queen. Let's not even mention the drooling. It has returned. I have to follow the poor girl around with a mop. I guess a tooth-check is in order...some more must be coming in. She likes Spaghettios, she just inhales them, and she's so adorable because she tries to chew on them with her front teeth. She is still walking backwards, which is really cute, except the girl doesn't ever look where she's going, so this has resulted in a few bumps and bruises. She understands when I tell her to sit on the floor and she's pretty good with the cat. I can hardly believe how fast she's growing, she looks like a little person walking around the house. She's so unbelievably curious, not sure which parent she gets that from (hehe), and she is pretty stubborn, especially when it comes to sharing.

Wednesday is finally coming to an end. The cubs are soundly sleeping, storing up all their energy for an early wake-up call in the morning. I miss the days when they would sleep in until 8:30. I imagine I won't have late mornings very often...certainly not often enough. I must take advantage of this quiet time and get some sleep myself.

We miss Daddy and can't wait for him to come home on Saturday.