For The Birds

Our newest bird...

Get ready to Wiggle

Today at 10am, tickets for the July 30th "Wiggles Live" performance in Mobile Civic Center Arena went on sale. We called the ticket office; by 10:30 they'd sold over 1000 tickets and were expecting to sell out today. My parents were very excited about the prospect of taking Will -- so much so, that they were contemplating going for the $125 per ticket price of sitting on the center floor in front of the stage. The power of a grandchild is apparently quite intense. (Seriously. $125 a ticket. To see The Wiggles.)

We talked them out of it. Final tally: 3 tickets, $123 via ticketmaster. 5 rows up a riser on the arena floor, perpendicular to the stage.

Some of Mom's Favorites

I couldn't resist posting some of my favorite pictures of the kids from our most recent photo playtime sessions! (Link to the kodak gallery in the posts below.)




 

Bicycling Boys

Kate and I enjoyed some late afternoon air while Will and Paul rode around. We realized that Paul needs a helmet, too!

(I love Will's face in the picture above.)

 

Returns!

Leaving Kate sleeping with my Mom, the three of us (Paul, Will and I) ventured to the West Mobile Wal-Mart. Diapers and pictures were on the list... I had made an online order of photos from Kate's first days to start her scrapbook. We picked up the goods and were on the way home when I started to check out the photos.

They were HORRIBLE.

Inspired by Gwen's bold return, we turned the car around. With a deep breath and shoulders back, I hopped out and strode to the Customer Service counter. It took a phone call to the photo center and a manager approval, but they took back the photos and gave me my money back. Yuk. I'll just stick with the kodak gallery for now on.

Best of the Binkies

Collections of Mom's favorites from our recent photo sessions are available online via the kodak gallery. View them, order them, and love them here! 

Three Weeks

Kate is three weeks old today. For the most part, we're doing quite well, considering her days and nights are definitely backward. Nothing can wake this kid once the sun rises.

As for me, I'm okay. My tummy is still fairly sore and a few hours up and about is enough to get it achy. The surrounding area is terribly red, itchy, and weepy from the surgical tape (now gone) but seems to be getting a bit better everyday. Nursing is improving, too! The block nursing has done a tremendous amount in controlling oversupply, it is no where near as bad as it used to be. When calm, Kate generally can handle the forceful letdown in small amounts. (When upset, it just pisses her off.) She is growing so fast that we fear she'll be out of her three month clothes in the next 2 weeks. She looks amazing for a three week old, but is definitely huge! Will wore his 3 month clothing through his third month, so we're a bit taken aback by Kate's growth. At this rate, she'll be bigger than Will by July. 

Photography by Will

I've started a blog for Will. I've been feeling a little guilty when I delete the photos Will takes with our camera, especially now that he is really trying to take true pictures. Borrowing the idea from Randy, who suggested it so long ago, I've set up a blog to post Will's better photographic moments. Parents have done stranger things, right?

Kate's Bathtime

Binky Games

Both of my kids are big time into non-nutritious sucking. Will still sleeps with his "binky" and has regressed a bit in his dependence on it since Kate came on the scene. He is also obsessed with her binkies. Tried as I have to hook her on to Will's style of binky (the nursing friendly Gerber gentle flex, which I special ordered online), she has decided that Nuks are the one and no other will do. We currently have one Nuk in the house.

Paul made a tactical error last night by allowing Will to get a hold of Kate's Nuk before bedtime. None of us could find it. When Kate turned into a Rock Star at 4am, she really wanted her Nuk -- and I *really* wanted to give it to her. We were still up when Paul woke up around 7:30, when I asked him to go to the store, in his pajamas, and bring home Nuks. Instead, he opted to once again discuss Kate's binky with Will.

Paul: "Will, do you know where Kate's binky is?"
Will: (shaking head up and down) "um-hm"
Paul: "Really? Where?"
Will points to my Dad's dresser in my parents' room. Paul opens a drawer.
"No, Daddy," says Will, "THIS drawer."
Paul opens it up, and sure enough, Will has a hidden stash of Kate's binkies: two of her size of the Gerber gentle-flex, and the Nuk. Paul, in the mix of surprise, humor, and shock that comes to parents of precocious kids, turns to Will and says, "You little bugger!"
"No, Daddy," says Will, "I a big boy."

Tonight's Entertainment

Will's (current) favorite books:
- The Lorax
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- Horton Hears a Who
- Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree
- Where's My Cow?
- Richard Scary's Best Word Book Ever
- Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile
- The Belly Button Book
- Pajama Time!

Will's (current) favorite movies:
- ChittyChitty BangBang
- Peter Pan
- Toy Story







Will's (current) favorite shows:
- Max and Ruby
- Bob the Builder
- Jay Jay the Jet Plane
- Thomas the Train
- Teletubbies

Sound clips from Will

Will has his doctor's kit and is examining Paul. Will is very serious about using the otoscope and is looking closely and carefully into Paul's ear. Paul asks, "Do you see any brains in there?" Will puts down the otoscope, looks Paul seriously in the eye, and very matter-of-factly says, "No."

*****
Will and I are sitting at the kitchen table about to have lunch. Will suddenly turns to me with his finger as far up his left nostril as it can possibly go. "Gotta big one up there," he says, "I gonna get it."

*****
Will is in the pool chair being pushed around the pool by my Dad. I sit down at the shallow end of the pool with my feet in the water. My Dad pushes Will's chair down to the other end, where Will suddenly turns, looks around the edge of the chair, and calls out to me, "How you doin' back there?"

*****
Will and I are in the shower as part of his bedtime routine. When we are done and getting ready to squeege off the shower door, Will turns his back to the door and presses his butt cheeks against it, holding for a few seconds. Then he turns to the round twin orbs floating in the steamed glass and says, "Look Mommy, bummy print!"

*****
Paul, Kate, and I got back from my doctor's appointment during Will's naptime after being gone all day. Kate and I immediately went upstairs to rest, where we both fell asleep. I woke up with Will, who had just woken up from his nap, patting my belly.
"Mommy see doctor?" he asked me.
"Yes, Will," I said, "Mommy went to the doctor."
"Mommy's belly boo-boo all better?"
"Mommy's belly boo-boo is a little better, but it is still sick."
"Aw, Mommy" he says. Then leans down and gives my belly a big kiss.

Agents: Take Note!

My Dad reads Will a bedtime story each night. They both love it. Last night, my Dad carried Will up, they stopped into our room to say night-night to Baby Kate and I, and then sat in the family room (right off of our bedroom) to read their story. Will picked "The Lorax." I could hear their muted voices from where I sat nursing Kate.

Barely a few moments had passed when my Dad called over to me, "Holly, are you hearing this? I am not even believing this!" So Kate and I went to investigate.

My Dad opened to the first page of the story and read:

"At the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows..." and paused. And Will piped up:
"...and the wind smells sweet and sour when it blows
and no birds ever sing excepting old crows
is the Street of the Lifted Lorax."

My Dad turned the page. As if on cue, Will continued:
"And deep in the Grickle-grass, some people say,
if you look deep enough you can still see, today,
where the Lorax once stood
just as long as it could
before somebody lifted the Lorax away..."

Yes. Our son, barely 2 1/2 years old, has memorized "The Lorax." This is not completely new, as he's memorized parts of other favorite books (most notably, the "Where's my Cow" book that he loves to read with Paul). He routinely picks up favorite books to "read" to us where he'll recite favorite lines as he randomly flips pages, but not word-for-word and start-to-finish. Moreover, Dr. Seuss is supremely more difficult a vernacular to master. And he was getting it practically word for word. And he is 2. (*TWO!*) And he seems to truly know the entire book.

They continued to read the book together. My Dad would read one line and Will would recite the next. It was astounding. I called Paul up to check it out. Unfortunately, it didn't last long; Paul brought in the video camera and once Will saw the camera, it was basically over. Will began to ham for the camera (doing his best monkey imitation) and wanting to look behind the lense (he is obsessed with cameras). So, we're working on a system of hiding the camera in the room before storytime to better capture this phenomenal act.

He's TWO!

What's up Doc?

Yesterday was my 2-week follow up with Dr. Maher, the friendly OB who performed my last section. I'm okay to have other babies, but will always be a c-section birth. My major organs are okay, just "tacked" up and scarred from the first section (what Dr. Maher called a "resident" mistake where young surgeons overzealously just sew up much more than is necessary). My bladder is the biggest change and so blessedly noticeable... he worked through the scarring and moved it in order to get into my uterus (had this been an emergency under the clock, he would have had to slice through my bladder)... now going to the bathroom actually feels normal again! (I had thought the changes were just a normal part of having a baby.)

We had a *wonderful* visit at Baptist hospital and medical center -- this is by far the most positive and friendly medical environment we've ever seen. While waiting for copies of Kate and my medical records, we had lunch in the cafeteria (complete with a free jutebox for fun tunes), stopped by billing where a staff member offered to help us navigate and possibly reduce(!) our bill, visited our day nurse, Mary, and stopped in on the lactation consultants. One of the LC's worked with us on positioning Kate to help with the forceful letdown problems. It was very helpful to have someone look at us nursing and give suggestions and advice. If only I could get my hands on one of their awesome nursing chairs!

Final report: all is well and we are okay!

On the right track.

A lactation consultant from Baptist Hospital (where Kate was born) called today to check in with us. I confessed to our problems with oversupply and forceful letdown reflex. She asked about symptoms, agreed with my assessment, and I explained my current attack mode:

- Block nursing (nursing only one side for several hours at a time)
- Nursing with Kate in a position above the breast
- Trying to express only when absolutely necessary
- Expressing mid-feed when spraying/when Kate gets upset

"Wow," she said, "you could do my job."