Our secret handshake

My whole life I have been jealous of people that have elaborate high five/handshake things going on. I always wanted someone to have something fun and personal like that with. Well my dream has come true, but instead of a secret handshake, it is a series of kisses with Donovan. Every night before he goes to bed I give him kisses. Along the way in the past month, we evolved into it being 4 official kisses long. He knows what's coming next, as do I and we both love it. It goes like this:

1) kiss on the lips
2) Eskimo kisses (rub noses)
3) Butterfly kisses (Eyelashes on cheeks)
4) "Regular" kiss (another kiss on the lips)

I love that Donovan enjoys our little kiss series as much as I do. He always squints his eyes when it gets to the butterfly kiss, and I always ask him "What's next?" and he tells me while smiling all big. My favorite is that the first kiss is just a kiss but the last one, which is the same thing, is called a "regular kiss" and gets the biggest smile.

I had to wait 30 years to have a secret handshake (ok kiss series) with someone, and let me tell you. It was well worth the wait.

Things that go

Today we had our Parents as teachers "Things that go" day at the school. There is lots of cool trucks and vehicles for the kids to play on as well as fun activities. I was supposed to work today but got called off so all of us went and had a great time! We look forward to this event every year!

Driving the fire engine.
Hanging out in the ambulance.
Back of the fire engine.
Pretending to be a patient. This is the last time I want to see him on a stretcher in an ambulance.
Hanging out in the police car. Again, I only want to see him in this thing at events like this.
Driving a bus. He likes driving.
Loved the trampoline.
Driving some sort of bobcat thingy.
Reese was a good sport during the whole visit. Hung out in her stroller and blew raspberries (a skill she learned last night). She did wear a cute outfit and was flirting with all the firemen and what not. We got a few pics of her there but she was all covered by her spit cloth so here is what the little fashionista looked like.

Hmmmm

Donovan playing under his bed in his hiding spot just now-

Donovan: "Oh no, my sock fell off!"
Me: "Your sock fell off? Well put it back on."
Donovan: "I can't, I'm too short. I'm too heavy."

Oh. Makes perfect sense. Thanks for clearing that up.

Cheap fun

Sometimes, pushing your 2 year old around on your carpet at a high rate of speed while he sits in the laundry basket is a ton of fun! (and coincidentally, a great quad work out).

We pushed him around like this.

Then we pushed him around like this. (He requested this picture. Even was saying "Cheese" and smiling as he laid there.)

This was right after Dono told Tom "Daddy's turn" and insisted Tom get in the basket so Donovan could push him. It was quite a site. (Tom was in the basket, leaning over the front, pulling himself across the floor with his arms and Dono was pushing the back). Then Dono jumped in too and said "Dono too".

What they did when I told them to do a funny face picture.

First rice cereal

Yesterday Reese tried rice cereal. I am certain some got in her mouth but I have no idea if any got in her belly. We'll try again soon.

I think where I went wrong was letting her sit next to Dono as he ate his chocolate poptart. She was eyeing that bigtime. Anything less than that was bound to be a disappointment.

"Hey brother? Can you help a sister out? Slide some of that there poptart on over. And let's keep it between you and me. Mom does not. need. to. know."

Staycation conclusion :(

Today we went to the Zoo. Reese's first trip to be exact. The weather was just gloomy enough that it kept most people away which was great for us, it was almost like we had the place to ourselves. We got there early enough to be able to do the Carousel, the stingrays and the children's zoo all for free. I was especially happy about the free part after Donovan refused to touch the stingrays and sharks so that would have been 12 dollars for nothing. Donovan had a fabulous time as did Reese, who stayed awake for the entire 2 hrs 45 min we were there, only to fall asleep walking back to the car. We learned that Reese really likes waterfalls as she got really excited and kicked and flapped her arms and talked a lot every time we passed one. We also saw one of the Orangutans swinging around and hitting his body against the window and she thought that was hilarious. The animals were very active for the most part so it was an especially good day at the zoo. We wrapped up our family fun weekend with family naps today. Me and Dono in his bed, and Tommy and Reese in the family room. There is nothing better than a good nap with your kid on a rainy day. Best thing about Dono's big boy bed... it's big enough for mommy and daddy to sleep in on special occasions. Tomorrow it is back to the real world. Sad. As Donovan would say, "I need mo staycation!".

All goats of the world need love. And Donovan is going to give it to them. One hug at a time.

Donovan loves this play car in the children's zoo. As soon as he got in it today he saw the cup holder, requested his sippy and made use of it (see below).
Hugs don't stop at goats. Guinea Pigs need some too. "Awww, gimme pig. Awww, gimme pig." (Dono' s version of "Guinea" pig)

Posing in front of Raja.
Sometimes he cooperates, sometimes he doesn't.
Too bad that flash showed. Otherwise I might have been able to convince you there wasn't any glass between the Penguins and Donovan.
This is what Tom rigged up for Reese to stay warm in the Penguin house. All you could see was her head and her little shoes. And yes, babies need shoes. To keep those stupid socks on.


On the way to the car. Sacked out. Didn't even fuss. Just slumped on over.

Staycation part 1

The Q family had us a Stay-cation this extended weekend. I was off for 5 days straight so Tom decided to take Friday and Monday off to give himself a nice little break from work too. So Friday we loaded up the car and took the kiddies to Grant's farm. The first time for Donovan this year and the first time for Reese ever. They loved it! (ok so I'm just guessing Reese did). Donovan loved the Tram, he was looking at all the animals, pointing at them and telling us all about them and and soaking it all in. Then we decided to try feeding the goats for the first time as I always thought he was a little to little for it. He took to it right away and wasn't afraid of them at all! He fed them from outside the gates at first, then I asked him if he wanted to go in with the goats and he said yes. So Tom took him in and he loved it. He walked from goat to goat, petting and bending down to hug them. I am so glad I got some video and pictures of it because it was adorable. This went on for about 10 minutes but then he got a little freaked out when I goat had his whole hand in his mouth. He also got to ride on the carousel and feed some geese and a llama and he loved that too! All in all a great day at Grant's farm! Without further ado, the pictures and video.

Pretty girl and her parents.


So excited for the tram ride.

Loving it.

Taking the goat feeding very seriously.

Headed in. This is where I thought he was going to turn right around and head for the hills.


"Oh look, this is great. I can pet them!"

"And hug them!"

Another goat in need of a hug.

Donovan kept calling to the llama "Come-mere mama, come-mere mama" when she was getting petted by other kids and Dono wanted to feed her. I tried to explain she was a "llama" and not necessarily a "mama" but he didn't care.





Then Sat we went to Greentree festival in Kirkwood which I have very fond memories of from when I was a kid. We missed the festival last year because I was working so I was really excited for this year. Donovan did great at the fair and even walked on his own through the crazy crowds for most of the time. He even helped me eat a funnel cake that nice young man. He was very well behaved which I am sure was helped by the fact we picked up a "really big" train for him. (it is a little bigger than all his other ones). That night Tom and I got to go on a date while Auntie Jenna watched both kids for us and they did pretty well for her, at least she didn't look terrified when we came home which was good since it was her first time with them both by herself.

Sunday we had our family friends over as well as Jenna and my parents. It was a good, low key rainy day so it was the perfect day for people coming over to our house. We were celebrating the August birthday's, which was for four of us, and Donovan took full advantage of the cake as evidenced by these pictures.




Today was a fun day too but it gets it's own blog post.

Dono and Reese

Dono was "scaring" Reese the other night by yelling "BOO!" at her and she just thought that was hilarious, as evidenced below:

Look who found her feet!

Now if she could only get them a little closer to her mouth things would be perfect.


She did not find those puppies a moment too soon either because now, she is WAAAYYYY better during diaper changes now that she has something to distract her from how much she wants to roll onto her belly.

The doctor's visit to day was another non-eventful visit, just the way we like them. He had no concerns for her and said it was up to us when we wanted to start feeding her solids, whether it be now or in 2 months from now. I did ask what we could do to get her needing less feedings over night and he said start the solids sooner so we might pick up some rice cereal and give that a whirl in the next few days or so. No rush but it sure would be nice to get more than 4 hours of sleep in a row. Living like Zombies has lost it's appeal (...or did it ever have any?). Her stats are as follows:

Head circumference: 16 1/2 inches- 75%
Weight: 13lbs 15oz- 57%
Height: 25 3/4 inches- 93%

I was worried her weight would have dropped off more since I have gone back to work since our last appointment and she is having the problems with the bottles. I was actually happy with how much she gained and the Dr wasn't concerned either. So hopefully it doesn't drop off anymore and I will be even happier. Reese took her shots like a champ, didn't even flinch or cry with the first but cried for only about 30 seconds with the second.

I will leave you with my parenting fail of the day:
I had a brilliant idea to go to Kohl's and get some more pants for Dono after the Dr's since I had a coupon, we were already all out of the house, and it is getting colder and Dono has 5 pairs of pants. Well that was a horrible mistake. Missy was great but Dono started whining as soon as we got in the door and he was told he could not ride in a cart but had to walk. He sat on the ground in protest. So I somehow rigged a cart to carry both Reese in her carseat and Donovan, who of course wanted out once I started looking at the kids clothes. Then he wouldn't stay near me. Then he wanted every toy. Especially the "Cars" toys that were like 12-15 dollars and were similar to what we already have. He was not leaving without a fight and I wasn't going to give in to anything more than a 5$ one and he was not having it. So I carried him screaming and flailing and trying to climb out of my one arm, up to the front of the store, the whole while pushing Reese and the cart with my other arm. He was screaming and sounded like he was possessed by the devil, no lie. This nice worker lady saw this scene, offered to push Reese and my cart and even opened up a new line so she could check me out right away without making me wait in the lines that were a couple people deep. She offered to help me out to my car which I declined but shouldn't have because we get out the doors and he gets worse, which I didn't think was possible. Fighting to get out of my arms so much that his whole body is over my back, upside down, his butt by my face and legs kicking in the air. At this point Reese and the cart start rolling down the ramp into traffic but I have to use two hands to wrangle Donovan so that he doesn't fall out of my arms and get a head and neck injury so I am panicking inside but I throw my foot out just in time to get under the wheel of the cart and stop it from rolling into traffic. I finally get him so that I am holding him like a sack under one arm so I can push the cart to the car. Once at the car it takes me 15 min to get him buckled. I have never felt so helpless as a parent (other than with health stuff). I even contemplated calling Tom to come help me (he was at least 30 min away) or calling the police to have an officer try to help me restrain him enough to get him buckled in. Had Reese not been in the car, crying and hungry at this point, only adding to my stress, I would have just locked the doors and sat in the car til he tired himself out and I could win the physical battle. But I did not have that luxury. So we battled and battled (he even lost a shoe in the fight) until I finally had to click the bottom part of the buckle together and was able to pull his legs out from under him and make him sit on his bottom long enough for me to get him snapped in. It was exhausting. All this over a damn car toy. It is crazy the strength a 2 year old has when they have their mind set on something. It was superhuman. I am still shocked I was able to get him properly belted in but I knew I had no other choice and no one to help me. Next time I will think twice about taking both kids to Kohls.

4 months old

Happy 4 months old to baby Reesie! Here is our big girl. (I realize I am 30 min early but I have to work tomorrow on her actual birthday so it was post now or Thursday. I chose now.)



Sleep: Is Reese 4 months old or 4 days old? Sometimes I think the girl forgets. For instance, Saturday night she ate at 7:40, then went to sleep probably around 10, was back up for a feeding at 11:15, then again at 2:15, and then I had to get up at 6 to work. Brutal. So that night I decided she needed to start sleeping in her crib in her own room instead of the cradle in our room. My theory is that since she wants to flip on her tummy all the time now (more on that later) she needs more room and in our cradle we prop her in the boppy because the mattress is so hard so it limits how much room she has so she wakes up when she flips over and the boppy is all in her face. Did you follow that? Bottom line, she is a tummy sleeper like her brother and is doing better (knock on wood) so far since we have made the switch. Yes, it's only been one night but still, it was a victory (slept from 10:45 til 5:25) and I will take it. We did some experimenting with not swaddling her or only swaddling her body and not her arms so she could use them when she inevitably flips over to her stomach(we still always put her down on her back) but those have all been fails so swaddled as tight as we can get her it is. But to sum it up, Reese has not been sleeping that well overnight. Still feeding at least once but usually twice a night. Naps are better. She takes several small ones throughout the day but one big one that I am so thankful for. It is usually anywhere from 2-3 1/3 hours and God bless her for that. It usually coincides with Donovan's nap or at least me putting him down, which has been a test as of late so it is wonderful. Today she slept for over 2 1/2 hours so I got an hour 45 min nap myself. It was wonderful. Keep it up Reese!

Thinking about flipping.


The view of Reese that we see the majority of the time now when she is on the floor. We have NO problem getting our tummy time in.


Notice big brother's i-phone. He knows how to use that better than I do.



Feeding: She eats about every 3-4 hours during the day and is doing much better with the Bottle. She now takes 4oz at a time pretty regularly and from what I hear, doesn't fight very much at all. She is very inquisitive so breastfeeding is becoming a challenge because she wants to see what is going on at all times so it's drink for 30 seconds, look around. Drink for 15 seconds, get frightened from a noise and look around again. Drink for 1 min, smile at mommy. Such a silly.

Playing: She is just starting to reach for toys but the poor girl's arm's look like she has parkinson's when she reaches for them still. Needs to work on that coordination a little bit more. As of Aug 24th she started rolling from her back to her front and she has never looked back. She is my turtle, hates being on her back. Diaper changes have become much more stressful now. It's like a time challenge every time. She still loves to eat/suck on her hands and burpcloths, just like her brother at this time. And also like her brother, she prefers to spend her time with you holding her, facing out and preferably, you are also standing. She is not as patient as she used to be as I believe she is starting to get bored with being a baby. I call that Donovan syndrome. She laughs daily and my favorite thing is when she laughs at something that is not Tom or myself trying to make her laugh. Lately it has been Petey doing doggy things. Just cracks up. It is so fun.

We haven't tried solids yet but we go to the Dr on Thurs so we will see what he says about that. I am not trying to rush it but if he thinks we should start trying, we might. She seems satisfied with just milk for now so I hate to rock the boat. I am interested to see how her weight is doing since she doesn't eat as well with the bottle feedings. Hopefully she didn't drop percentage that much.

In Dono news we got to go to our 3rd ER trip of his life on Friday. He stopped putting weight on his left hip and started collapsing when he would try to take a step on it. He told me his knee hurt but it was his hip that he was grabbing. He couldn't even stand up from a squatting position it hurt him so bad and he had to crawl to get to the couch and then to get his juice. This went on for 45 min. Other than whining about the pain and grabbing that hip though, he was perfectly happy. So I called the Dr's exchange and by the time they got back to me he was only favoring it a little. The Dr was concerned enough that he thought we should go to the ER. Tom was at the baseball game and luckily my sister was here to watch Reese so off Dono and I go. And I will be damned if that kid didn't walk in to the ER perfectly. Never showed any symptom or pain afterwards so we never even got any tests or x-ray there. I am taking full credit for healing him. Right after I called the Dr, I took his diaper off and looked all around, pressing on his belly to make sure it wasn't a hernia or there wasn't anything pinched or visible. I also moved both legs all around to see what type of range of motion he had and to see if anything hurt or I could feel anything weird. Nothing. But then after that, is when he was much better and only started to favor it a little. So what I think (and my Dr friend agreed) is that it was something that was tweaked a little off, like a ligament or something, and when I moved his leg all around it righted itself. So I should have waited longer to call the Dr is the moral of this story. And he has been fine ever since. So we got to go home from the ER with a diagnosis of "crazy mom" which I will proudly take because I would much rather that then something have actually been wrong with him. I love my little boogers so much.

Your reward for reading this whole post. I love that smile.