what we've been up to...

...starting with the stuff i didn't post from sunday. we went to king's table in waupaca with mom and dad, then went to their house afterwards. cole had a nap and after he got up, he had fun playing with his grandma and grandpa. the game of the hour? catch, of course!

making grandma do all the work

"it's fun, grandpa!!"

cabbage patch, anyone?

yesterday i had an appointment at n.e.w. rehab to start sensory therapy. lynne went over the eval from last time and had already devised a plan. instead of starting with auditory therapy, she decided to start with touch. so- several times a day (like, every two hours, ideally) i'm supposed to do brushing and joint compression. brushing is just using a surgical brush to "scrub" the skin on my back, tops and undersides of my arms, the palms of my hands, the fronts and backs of my legs and the balls of my feet. it only takes a minute or two. joint compressions only take a few minutes as well. i can't explain it as well as lynne can, but we all have a threshold for stimulus, like a pain threshold, except with senses. there are certain stimuli that register very low on my threshold, that may register high on other peoples'. for example, when someone rubs my back, it registers as about a 2 on my threshold, where as for many other people, it registers at, say, an 8. hard to explain... but the purpose of brushing and joint compression is to create the neurological pathways that will allow my brain to register touch as "good". lynne did the routine on me in the office, and when she was done, she took my pulse. it was 80 bpm and erratic. ten minutes later she took it again and it was 68 bpm and steady. so it's not a figment of my imagination; i really do escalate when people get too close!! let me tell you, that session was NOT that comfortable. hopefully in a few weeks i'll be able to tell a real difference... :)

cole's trying to figure out mommy's brush...

... i'd say he's got it!

on a little side note, lynne told me that if cole's irritable and won't calm down (same with madison) that a little brushing can hepl, whether or not there are sensory issues. cool- i'll so have to try that!

we had mashed potatoes, green beans and fish last night. cole picked up a piece of fish, popped it in his mouth and immediately spit it out. so much for that. he didn't want the potatoes (can we say "picky eater"?!) until i tricked him into opening his mouth. he found out they weren't so bad after all, and ate them and most of his beans. it's interesting to watch a toddler self-feed with mashed potatoes...

he resorted to using his fingers. messy!! at least he ate them. i think we've entered the picky eating phase of toddlerhood. it was bound to hit sooner or later...

li'l chatterbox

i forgot to mention that cole's vocab is picking up. he now says "baby" (beh-beee), "daddy" (da-tsee) and "mommy" (meh-mee). not always on command, but he does say them!! "baby" is his favorite... yesterday i asked him where the baby was; he pointed to madison and said "beh-bee" and then "a na na" (that's how he says madison's name). awww! oh, and he also says "uh-oh", which i LOVE because it's just comes out so cute and all! he's putting it to use too- he threw a toy this morning, knowing full well that throwing is prohibited in the house. he looked at me as he was about to toss it, i shook my head and said "no"... he shook his head as he threw it and then said "uh-oh". yes, cole, that's definitely an uh-oh!!

cole's nose and rainy rummaging

this past weekend was the annual city-wide rummage sale for bellevue, and once again, kandace and duey had one too! friday would have been a MUCH better day for it since it was over 80* and sunny! ah well... there were still people out and about on saturday looking for good deals despite the 40*-ish rainy weather!!

poor cole- he got a big-boy boo-boo when he was running around outside. he ran for hours! it's great for him, since our backyard is pretty much non-existant and our front yard is on the busy 5-corners (no fence, eep!). in fact, he couldn't decide if he wanted to come in for supper or stay outside and run- he would just give 'er but stop every now and again just long enough to sign that he was hungry. hunger finally won and he came in after hours outside. before that, though, he got his boo-boo... on his nose.he was running across the driveway and tripped; he landed on his hands and knees so very gracefully. we thought that was it, but after a slight pause (just long enough for us to think he was fine), his noggin kept a-goin' and well, his little nose saved his head from being seriously injured. oh, yes, there were tears!

miss squish in her new "big girl" shirt! all she's had so far are onesies, so to have a t-shirt with no snaps on the bottom is pretty neat! on friday we hit bay park square before going to kandace and duey's, and kohl's was having a nice sale on baby and kid's clothes. i found a pair of nice big soft drool bibs for just over $2 and this organic cotton shirt for about $6.50. it's a lot bigger than i thought it would be so it should last quite awhile! i love the organic cotton clothes- they're so soft! her shirt looks just adorable with her little jeans...

the kids with grandpa & grandma b before breakfast on saturday

our chefs... :)

cole with miss kitty

i thought it would be a day full of the crankies on cole's end, since the weather was not in the least bit conducive to outdoor play, but he did just awesome! except for one time-out in the afternoon, he was so well-behaved, it was almost eerie. he sat and watched some car show on tv for the longest time (there wasn't much else to do), which still baffles me, since he usually just stops in front of the screen every now and again before continuing with whatever he's doing. he got ahold of one of duey's remotes and started pointing it at the tv... he'd kind of jab his arm out at the same time and make a whooshing sound. he's been doing the same thing with my paint stir-stick (or a wooden spoon) for the past few weeks and for the life of me, i had no idea what he was doing. then, it dawned on us: he's been pretending to play wii bowling!! funny thing is, he didn't get to join in the fun with the wii this weekend (he was in bed) and it's been a a good two weeks since he DID hang around for it, and even then, he seemed so absorbed in other things... guess it's true- little kids ARE like sponges!! it's hilarious that he's been using the stir-stick as a wii remote...

madison got to wear daddy's hat!

so yeah, that was our weekend. i have a few photos from yesterday (we went over to my mom and dad's after taking them to lunch), but the camera is in the diaper bag with kelvin. obviously, he's gone, or we'd have it here... he took cole to his parents' for a little bit- he had a few things to do and thought it would be a good chance to let cole run around. and speaking of cameras and photos, i FINALLY ordered prints for cole's 18-month and madison's 1-, 2- and 3-month photos. once again, i LOVE mpix!!! hopefully they'll be here within the week- 2-5 business days to ship, it said. last time i ordered from them, i ordered on a friday and got them the next week on tuesday, so i'm thinking we'll have them by the weekend. i can't wait!!

in other goings-on: kelvin's laid off this week, so it's great to have an extra hand around the house. and i have another appointment at n.e.w. rehab tomorrow, which i'm super anxious for, now that the birds are out and making more ruckus. kelvin will be home to watch the kids so mom won't have to drive over to new london after work... it's so handy that it works out that way, and the kids love spending time with grandma (and mommy REALLY appreciates it) but if kelvin can take the kids, mom won't have to make the extra trip, kelvin will get some bonding time with his babies and mommy won't have to worry about whether or not they're behaving for grandma.

ally and spencer...

yesterday we spent some time with ashley, ally and spencer. i only got two pictures since we were too busy chatting. the kids (cole and ally) played so well together. or rather, kinda did their own things so well together. it was SO nice to see ashley and catch up- thanks again ash! :)"...make the world go away..."

(i have NO idea why all these bits of old songs come to mind every time i need a caption. curious but definitely effective!)

cole with his breakfast. there's a reason he doesn't wear clothes to the table (yet). ever try to get brown sugar and cinnamon oatmeal stains out? i'd rather have a semi-naked toddler at the table than try to get those stains out. avoidance is key here... especially since he's got oatmeal all over his face, fingers and tummy!

ally and cole; ally was playing ball with another little guy (hunter- he was there with his mommy for a little while). cole was fascinated- he watched them throw the ball back and forth, all the while sporting that little scowl he gets when he's trying to make sense of things!

awww, kisses! poor ally- i think she's been traumatized. cole's an affectionate little guy but he comes on a bit strong sometimes, lol!

despite the fact that cole was up most of the night wednesday night with a persistent cough, he had a blast yesterday! he had a cold at the end of last week/beginning of this week... i think it's pretty much over, but his cough is hanging on. it's one of those unproductive ones, the kind that tickles in your throat and chest and makes you cough every 20 seconds or so. i tried everything i had on hand for him that i could think of: a spoonful of honey (useless), warm cocoa (yummy but no relief), ibuprofin (supposed to coat the throat and reduce inflammation- didn't do the trick). i think i got about 3 hours of sleep, and that's on the high side. so yesterday, i went to kmart and found some homeopathic cough syrup with honey, made by hylands. we've had luck with hyland's teething and colic tablets, so i figured it was worth a try. i also found some calms forte for kids (remembering how cole sleeps when we're away from home) and gave some of both to him before bed. guess who was quiet all night and is STILL asleep? whew! i don't think we'd have survived another night like wed. night; at least, mommy wouldn't have! i hate giving the kids any medication, so the fact that we found a natural remedy that works is such a relief for me. hopefully it will work as well the next time we need it!

*oh, and yes, i know honey's not good for babies under 12 months, so madi's not getting any!*

"how sweet it is...

... to be loved by you!"

and i thought he was just getting milk...

a melt-your-heart moment...

... we've been having a lot of these lately! this is how the morning started here:i just LOVE the way madison's smiling at cole... kinda like"hey, it's you again! yay!"

big brother kisses! i don't know who's are more juicy, cole's or madison's...

enamored with the cute little person in the mirror

saying his new word: "uh-oh!!"

woah.

we're still fighting a persistent cold bug here. cole was up off and on last night coughing. i tried giving him a little honey but it just made him wake up and didn't do a whole lot to tame the cough. guess he was up more than i thought because he was still asleep (or rather, back to sleep) at 8. i know he needed the sleep but didn't want to have to fight with him at nap time, so i got him up. he had a 3 hour nap after lunch, though, so that was good. madison's just got a major case of the sniffles (mommy + bulb syringe x boogies = one mad baby). me, i've got some of both... most annoyingly, a sore throat the just won't leave. from what i've heard, though, we've only got a mild case so far.

in other news: dad's out in montana for a few days to spend some time with logan, elissa and coy. sarah is headed to new york for a week for her choir trip. huh. makes me kinda want to take a trip somewhere... somewhere tropical and relaxing, preferrably.

smile and sigh...

i have a little "helper"... sometimes all i can do is scratch my head, giggle and take a picture. like today, for instance...as you can see, he's only slightly proud of himself.

why? because he "helped", that's why.

this is how he "helped": three blankets, two burp rags, assorted socks....

... and two pacis for good measure.

like i said, sometimes i have no other options than to gasp, giggle, wonder, sigh and then break out the camera.

really, though, in all of his toddler-capable thoughfulness, cole was pretty sweet. all he wanted to do was make sure his baby sister had everything she needed. as for baby sister? madison got a kick out of it, i think- she was cooing the whole time. i should add that i didn't see the process, just the end result- i was busy making cole's oatmeal.

3 months!!

madison turned 3 months last week wednesday but i didn't get a chance to snap any photos until friday... here's a small sample!

this is my favorite... might go with it for prints.

yummm, i love baskets!

"you don't say!!"

i just had to snap a few of cole too; he was so cute in his little baseball shirt... but first, who can resist bare toes and jeans!

love the little piggies!

one of the few good ones.

i didn't really need to get anything spectacular, so i just set him down and snapped randomly. i DID get a lot of different expressions!

one of these days in the very near future i need to order prints... i have cole's 18-month photo and madison's 1-, 2- and 3-month photos to have printed. luckily, for less than the cost of one studio sitting and minimum package, i can get enough prints for friends and family of all four photos. that's an 8 x 10 for us, 5 x 7's and 4 x 6's plus plenty of wallets of all four photos... try doing 4 studio shots plus prints for under $50. not happening... oh mpix, i love you!

out and about (again!)

these weekends make for long posts, lately... more likely than not the length seems to come from an insane amount of photos. lately i've found myself wondering if it's really necessary to take so many photos. yeah, we could probably do with less; however, it costs next to nothing and i'm going to cherish what occassionally seems like repetetive and/or mundane pics when i'm 80 years old and wondering where the time went. we waited almost 5 years for cole... there was a time when we were told that our chances of having a baby were slim-to-none. those words are the exact reason i don't want to miss a thing. even the ordinary things. anyone who knows what it's like to wait 5 years (or longer) for kids; well, you understand what i mean!

so anyway, about the past few days: we started with a bonfire/potluck at amber and jason's. squish was pretty clueless as to the goings on but cole had fun!
he tried out the airplane swing- it started out fun but quickly moved on to getting hypnotized while watching the ground, which led to him getting a bit green around the gills. mommy is all too familiar with that "look" and made daddy pull him out before any cookies got tossed.

cole went down the slide with auntie sarah...

...and climbed back up with some help from erica. i guess in his mind, you're supposed to go up the same way you go down...?

saturday we went to my mom and dad's... originally, kelvin was supposed to work throught the weekend, so mom and asked if i wanted to bring the kids over for the day. kelvin ended up not working, so we all went over. they put up the baby swing for cole... that swing has been in use for a LONG time! mom and dad have photos of all us kids as babies using it... so, on to the next generation! anyway, cole had fun for a little while, swinging with grandma.

in the afternoon, he helped daddy and grandpa dig up a tree stump. of course, he couldn't help without his tractor!

showing grandpa how to get it done...

...and learning to drive the real thing! daddy took him on the gator to the dump and back, and from what i was told, cole "drove" all the way there and back!

let the boys have their machines and dirt- madison's got her auntie sarah!!

cole spent most of the day outside- it was so great to watch him run freely! no roads or dog poo to get into- he had a blast, and slept VERY well saturday night.

guess cole was still in the mood to ride things!

after a busy few days, we took it easy yesterday. we went to texas roadhouse for lunch with levi and kayla and then went home to wind down before starting another week.

silly boy!

sleepy girl!

i won't hold my breath, but...

...cole just went in the big potty!! i know- he's only 20 months so technically it's a bit early to even think about potty training, but i had JUST changed his diaper and heard him grunting. since i really didn't want to throw another diaper in the laundry room when it wasn't even wet yet, i did the first thing that came to my mind: stripped off his pants and diaper and sat him on the toilet. he screamed and cried and didn't do anything so after a few minutes i took him off. back to snack we went... and after a little while, he started acting like he was going to poo again, so i asked him if he wanted to go poo on the big potty. we got into the bathroom without a fuss (i was expecting a lot of screaming, in which case we'd just forget it) and sat him on the toilet. this time, no fuss. we got a little #2 and two #1's! of course, mommy made a HUGE deal out of it, especially the tinkles. he was right proud of himself, let me tell you! i was hoping that when we were done, cole would want to flush by himself, but he didn't; he had more fun putting the lid down. so while i don't expect any serious potty training in the immediate future, i think i'll still encourage him to go on the big potty, if he wants. i think it's time to get a potty chair...

what's YOUR motivation??

guess who learned a new trick? that's right, miss squish inadvertantly rolled over whilst chasing that elusive thumb of hers...

see? all but her shoulder and arm. my guess is those are a no-go because that thumb is attached to the end...

"eh, get over here, you!!"

takes two hands to slurp away on that thing. silly little girl!

yes, my three-month old was laying on the table... but she WAS being closely supervised, in case anyone is raising an eyebrow out there.

our goofy boy in his new diaper... they're a tad bulkier than disposables, but so far that's my only "complaint". i did my first load in the wash this morning, followed the instructions exactly and guess what? no lingering smell and with the exception of a very slight, pretty much unnoticeable stain on one of pink ones (madi poo), the soap we got took out everything. that would be imse vimse stain away soap, in case anyone wants to try it. you can find it at http://simplewondersdiapers.com/. amazing stuff- all natural, vegetable-based, takes those stains right out!

"oh no, it's the momarazzi!!"

(i love the hassled-celebrity look he has going on)

with the exception of colds and madison's rolling over, there's really nothing new to report from our neck of the woods. kelvin's been working at presto dairy in weyauwega this week; they're doing 12-hour days through saturday, a 10-hour day on sunday and then working there yet on monday and tuesday. after tuesday he just may have the rest of the week off, and from there, well... who knows. once again, not the greatest of hours (especially the sunday thing) but as we all know now, take it if you can get it! he'll almost certainly be doing more travel work, it's just a matter of when, where and for how long. we survived this past time, so we can surely handle it again!

"she's got it, yeah, baby she's got it..."

big brother is not a thumb-sucker... never was. this little girl, though, seems to maybe be taking after her daddy and mommy. (we both were thumb-suckers... emphasis on were)oh so peaceful...

don't you feel all happy and snuggly just looking at her?

"huh. it DOES taste good..."

now to work on her transition between paci and thumb. we don't care if she takes both; actually, both would be nice because sometimes, i just can't stop every 10 seconds to stick that paci back in. on one hand, the thumb can't be dropped or lost. on the other hand, it can't be tossed out like a paci when it's time to break the habit. experts say that thumb-sucking usually stops once kids hit kindergarten. if they just can't help themselves it's the realization that nobody else is doing it that gets them to stop. or the teasing, unfortunately. i'm not worried about it now- that bridge is beyond the horizon yet. but yes, we now have a thumb-sucker. it's pretty endearing, the way she lays almost on her side (always the left, since that's the only thumb she's been taking), head thrown back, thumb popped in... sometimes she even holds on to her left hand with her right hand, like she wants to make sure that thumb won't sneak out on her. i need to get a photo of that...

what a sweet little squish!