Ben is 18 Months!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Sorry for all of you who have children, but I am just so in love with this boy that I can't help but use superlatives and say Ben is the jolliest, friendliest, good-natured, affectionate, inquisitive and intelligent little boy I have ever met.

Yesterday Ben started singing, "happy happy birthday to you" - his longest sentence yet. We all laughed really hard upon hearing this and then applauded loudly. He always makes us laugh.

The other day shopping with the girls in Ross, Ben met a little boy about 4 years old. He went up to him, said, "hiieee", and then proceeded to give him a kiss on the belly, which was level with his head. The boy ran away haha.

Ben has a super appetite bravely eating pureed broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, liver, and un-sweetened homemade formula. He has the same types of health problems as Emma, but they are much less serious.

A little mischief...he still eats dirt from the garden! He likes to hide important things like remote controls in the dishwasher and credit cards in the windowsills. His new thing is to climb first on the kid stool, then onto the kid table, then onto the play kitchen, then stand up and reach for the mixer on the very top shelf about 4 feet off the floor!

He likes to play with the big kids and do what they do, even though he's usually too short and round for those things :) He's very independent at home and only whines when hungry or tired. He absolutely LOVES watching Diego, and when hungry, allows me to cook if I put it on.

I can't believe this boy is going for two years already! Like his new suit for going to nursery?

A Date With Emma

In an effort to do big kid things with our big girl and not have to share with brother all the time, we took Emma bowling. Ben stayed back and played with the neighbor's boys. Emma kept saying, "are we on a date yet?" haha. It was fun for her to learn how to bowl, but it wasn't her favorite thing I could tell. She was kind of spacey that night, as you can see in the picture. An "A" for effort, I suppose :)

The Best Zoo Trip!

A couple weeks ago we decided to take a chance on the zoo. We got there right when the gates opened when there was nobody there. Most of the animals were very active, and I was able to let the kids out of the stroller and walk around because there were so few people. Some of the best memories we have from this trip were the Lemurs who were so very interested in my babies - they played together almost 20 minutes! And then the okapi we got to see up-close because of the new addition Africa Live to the zoo. Both kids love animals!

Cheese smile happy to ride the train!

Lemur friend, meet Sleeping Beauty.

Neither kid was scared...but I was haha. Big black shadow jumping...

Easter 2010

We did Easter this year with baskets, egg hunts, and hard-boiled eggs the way I grew up doing it. The kids had fun searching for their baskets Easter morning like it was Christmas. Lucky for us, Grandparents sent a plethora of presents :) Happy Easter!

Ben's 1st Visit to the Hospital

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Last Saturday Ben woke up sick and was having trouble breathing. I had never seen either child like that before - it looked like asthma. I needed to get a diagnosis and so I took him into the Pediatric Urgent Care Center. They said the virus he had gave him croup and that it was all in his throat. I left with instructions for cool mist humidifiers, cool drinks, steamy bathrooms every 3 hours, and instructions to go to the ER if I couldn't control it with those things. Sunday morning he was beyond my help, so we took him in. In the car on the way there, Ben used the little breath he had to show us his new word - "Pa-pi". In his whisper voice he carefully pronounced both syllables. This just about melted our hearts.

After walking through the doors, it was literally 15 minutes and he was relaxed and asleep. They put him on a nebulizer laced with epinephrine, and then gave him a steroid to relax the muscles in his throat and get him breathing easy. Of course he fought this all tooth and nail, so it was not fun. It was especially tormenting for me who has worked so hard to keep him out of hospitals and free from interventions.

It was a kind of letting go and trying to trust the system again (for those of you who don't know Emma was born cesarean in Methodist Hospital and Ben natural in a Birthing Center) I was happy with the treatment he got and the speed in which he was helped. I would recommend Methodist Children's Hospital Emergency Room. The Doctor was excellent.

They sent us on our way 4 hours later with some more steroid for Monday. He woke up wanting to play Monday, improved a little each day, and is 100% himself today. We appreciate Ben more than ever before and are so blessed to have him with us. I remember now not to take him for granted.

Thank you for your prayers. I really could feel them working. I mean that. Thank you.