Look-y what I found

Yesterday was the first time in four weeks that Eric and I were all alone together, all day. Paul has been off, which was really nice. He kept himself busy, so he wasn't driving me nuts and wishing he'd go back to work! And he was very helpful watching and playing with Eric, which gave me some me-time.

It was raining, so I wasn't going to try and go out to d something to help break up the day. I was wondering what we going to do all day inside. No walks, no swinging, no shopping (OK that's for me). But we managed. He discovered hi jack-o-lantern on top of the speaker, which he tried to get. That ended up being a great piece of entertainment for him. I put a couple of toys in there for him. He carried that pumpkin all over, every once in a while he'd put something else in, even a sippy cup.

He also found an old glove of mine, that hasn't made it to the "give away" box yet. This was the last looooong 45 minutes before bedtime I was dredding. The glove also was source entertainment. He came walking into my computer/crat room with it on his hand, so proud. Eric likes Grandmas's dishwashing gloves. I guess these were better because they weren't wet. He insisted on trying to climb up the stairs for bed with that glove. He made it, too big for him sleepers and all! You can see the feet of the sleepers dangling. His "jammers" are either too big or too small. He has one pair that fit just right.

And finally here are a couple of videos...first, it's time to brush our teeth...second, forget teeth, let's chase the cat.

Another fall outing...

This past Sunday we went to Shaw's Farm in Milford to enjoy a beautiful fall day. We started with the corn maze. It was definitely a lot easier than last year. They cut the stalks down so they were only about 5 feet high and the maze itself was just easy. Last year we were in there forever! Both of them had you find spots where you punch different shaped holes in a card. Once you got all of them and made your way out, you got a prize. This year it was two little pumpkins. So, they are sitting on my front porch.

"Oh my, something has fallen in my path! What should I do?"

"My heroes have come to save the day! Two men have arrived to remove the object which has prevented me from my journey. I can now continue to find the end of this maze."

After getting out of the backpack, Eric was more interested in pushing his stroller around than looking at the animals. He did stop long enough to have his picture taken with me and Gen. Custard.

Eric was ready to go by the time I decided I wanted his picture with the pumpkins. No smile. He barely stood still long enough for me to get this shot. In the others, he's trying to make his way out. Paul put him behind so I at least had a little bit of time to get a few shots. Earlier, Paul set him in front of a stack and he just walked off. No nap/rest time makes for a cranky baby.

Since his ear infection recovery, Eric is back to eating and trying new things. I got him some Baby Goldfish Crackers today, he thinks they are good. He only got about a third of the main course of his dinner tonight. I wanted to see how he would do with turkey and stuffing off the table, not pureed. He did really well. We were done eating and he wanted more. Now these were very small bites, but it did add up.

I wish I had my camera last night. Eric and I have dinner at my parents most Tuesdays. Most of the time when my dad hears that I've arrived he comes out to get Eric. As usual, I was getting Eric out of his car seat, he sees Grandpa coming out of the house, smiles, puts his hand up (hi) and gives his signature little happy grunt. I put him down, usually he wants to help close the car door, this time he ran to Grandpa with his arms up in the air. So, he gets picked up with a big swing, as Grandpa says "that's my boy." I just smiled and watched, wishing I could have had that filmed, a warm classic moment (sorry I'm mushy). No one can tell me that my little boy isn't loved just as much as a baby that I would have given birth to. Adoption is the most wonderful thing. I thank his birth mother every day for the best gift ever! And when we get our next child, I'll be just as excited to see the love my family will have for that little one.

Busy, busy

Besides, trips to the ER and doctor's and therapy appointments, this weekend we did our usual Sunday time at Grandma and Grandpa's. We also went to our neighborhood's "Harvest Celebration" on Saturday. There, we had a chili cook off, only 9 entries, but a few serious competitors! And of course, we had to have some true chili experts as judges. Our local heroes, two members of the fire department and one from the police force, were gracious enough to take time and stop by to judge and enjoy some chili, hot dogs, hamburgers, drinks, sides and dessert. My hubby took first place! Congrats honey! A two time champion! He also won two years ago at our adoption groups chili cook off, even though I made it because he was out of town. And, no, we are not giving out the secret recipe!

Later on Saturday we attended a little fall gathering at the home of a couple we attended foster training classes with two years ago when we were considering adopting a twelve year old girl. They had tons of food and drink, games for the kids, chickens and goats, a kitty for Eric to chase, pony rides and a hay ride. Eric loved the pony ride! If he could talk, I think he'd be begging us for one. He thought the hay ride was pretty neat too! We left shortly after the bonfire started. Had to get the little guy home and ready for bed. Thanks Erica and Brian for a good time, and yummy cookies!

Daddy and Eric...

"This is so cooooool!"

Getting ready to go!

Someone told him to hold the saddle and he did. Doesn't he look like a natural?

Trying to get my...self, yeah that's it...self, up on the wagon.

Cozying next to the bonfire.

Pony ride video...sorry I'm not a videographer. Grandpa is taking pictures and Grandma can be heard at the end.

Eric has decided that Cocoa Pebbles are way better than Cheerios. He's had them when he's helped me eat my breakfast (I prefer Cocoa Krispies, but I had a coupon, and I'm sure they were on sale, for the Pebbles). Today, he brought me the box out of the pantry, so I let him get a handful, mistake, yes, I know. It ended up all over the floor. I put some in a bowl and he happily sat there and ate on the kitchen floor while I prepared his lunch. Except for a few minutes of screeching and refusal to finish off his peas, which he did eventually, lunch wasn't too bad. The cereal kept him occupied. He only ate a few bites of fruit. He did eat all his dinner, yeah!

ER visit

Monday evening, October 6, Eric had a slight fever. The pediatrician (ours is out on medical leave) we saw September 30 said that the MMR shot could give him a fever in 7-8 days, so I figured that was the cause.

Tuesdays, Eric and I have dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's. He was pretty warm, ate most of his dinner, but whiny and wanted to be held. It got to the point that mommy was the only one he wanted. But, he toughed it out and let me eat before we headed home early. We rocked in daddy's chair (he was out making extra money) until a poor little boy fell asleep an hour early.

Wednesday, he acted fine, didn't eat great, but ate. Dinner was at Red Lobster and he was good up till the end, when he said he'd had enough, let's go home. He felt really warm on the drive to the restaurant. All he wanted to do was cuddle when we got home. As daddy was getting his bath ready, I took his temp, with two thermometers, 104 degrees. Paul called an urgent care nurse. She said to give him Tylenol and ibuprofen every 4 hours, alternating between the two. He fell asleep, but was restless. I was prepared for a long night.

Before I went to bed, I checked on him, he was curled in a ball and not sleeping good. I put a blanket on him and rubbed his back, he started sleeping better. When he screeched later I brought him to bed with me. He fell asleep on my chest, but he was breathing so rapidly and still so warm. I decided if his breathing wasn't better when Paul gave him is 1 am dose of Tylenol we were going to the ER. We ended up in the ER at 1:30am.

Eric was poked and prodded, blood drawn from each foot, swab taken from mouth, Motrin forced down his throat (that's his story and he's stickin' to it), undressed and allowed to run around in his diaper. Quick culture came back negative for strep, right ear was a little red, left ear redder...diagnosis...ear infection. Got a dose of antibiotics, a RX, told to see pediatrician tomorrow, paid co-pay and sent home. By this time, 4am, fever was down to 101, and he acted like he had been given a hazelnut, double mocha, cappuccino latte with whipped cream. Fortunately, he fell asleep very quickly after we got home.

He only let me get 3 hours of sleep. Daddy didn't hear him at 7:30am! Mommy brought him to bed with her, he fell back to sleep until 9am. I dosed in and out. He saw the pediatrician and said he definitely had an ear infection and told us taking him to the ER was good, because you just never know at this age with a fever that high. I was able to get a 3 hourish nap in that afternoon.

Eric is doing better. His eating isn;t all that great. The antibiotics has given him diarrhea, oh joy, and he has been the champion napper. At least he's not miserable anymore.

New things we can do...

This will be mainly about the new things Eric is doing. He's accomplished a few things this week, mostly in the climbing department. He has started to climb on the baskets in the den and his toy baskets in the living room, only problem, he can't get back down. So, mama has to help, either picking him up, which is the easy way, or make him do the movements...sit down, turn around and down or just sit and slip off.

Well, actually he has now figured out how to get down. He's also discovered that "I can get to higher places if I use the baskets as steps." He climbed up onto the arm of a chair and rolled over the pillow and onto the seat. I was there to keep him from rolling all the way off. I've moved that basket and he hasn't moved it back.

A boy and his Pooh Bear.

This past week at Grandma and Grandpa's, Eric was standing at the couch looking at Grandma and me, getting very red in the face. Of course we both knew what was up and started to laugh. He stopped his grunting/concentration and let out a little giggle, then continued on doing his duty, grunts and red faced. Too funny!

Eric goes up the stairs like a champ, it's the coming down! He has started to go up a few and get down on his own, but not all the way. Must be all the practice of getting off the baskets. He still prefers to be carried or to have his hand held and attempt to go down like a big boy. Except that he still steps off into space.

The little riding car he got for Christmas has become a big hit. He's so funny when he gets on. At first, he was getting on it facing rear. Because he always leads with his right foot, he just ended up that way. He also gets off with his right foot, then he circles the car to get back on. He doesn't push himself yet, well a little, backwards. He'll sit there and grunt and call for someone to come and push him.

Eric is observant. He found a little piece of paper the other day. Came into the kitchen and opened, as far as could, child locks ya know, one of the cabinets under the sink in order to throw the paper away. Our garbage bag is under the sink. It was the wrong door, but he had the right idea! I opened the other door so he could throw it away and then thanked him.

He's starting to take only one nap a day. So, now he's getting a small morning and afternoon snack. That was added because A) he's not napping at what would be a good snack time for him and B) at his last check up he hasn't gained any weight, still 21 lbs. He's taller but the kid is so darn active he's using up all those calories. His heart condition also makes him use more calories. So, we need to get more into him. Cheerios are becoming a favorite thing. It's one food he'll feed himself. He did feed himself a couple of pieces of biscuit tonight. Maybe I ought to try pancakes, he likes those!

Here he is Sunday, after his second successful attempt at climbing onto a kitchen chair.

The video is starting with his third time climbing onto the chair. Love the grunts!

I started this post a few days ago. I wasn't going to finish it, but finish up what I had left to write on another post. But, I need to do something to keep my mind off my little man. Eric is running a 104 degree fever, so mommy is worried about her baby. Urgent care nurse (and Grandpa) said to give him Tylenol and Ibuprofen, alternating, every 4 hours. He had a slight fever on Monday. I remembered the doctor saying that his MMR shot could give him a fever in about 7-8 days. That was last Tuesday. I figured that was it. Yesterday, he was a bit cranky, ate OK, not great, but was getting really warm when we were at my parents for dinner. He was getting really cranky, Grandma held him, but he wanted mommy. We went home early. I got comfy in Paul's rocking chair, he was out making money, and we watched a couple of recorded episodes of "My Friends Tigger and Pooh" and "Handy Manny." He fell asleep an hour early. I changed his diaper and put him to bed. He woke up a little later than usual this morning, but in a pretty good mood. He was actually fine today, didn't eat usual amount, but did an OK job. We went to Red Lobster for dinner, after running an errand. He fussed on the way there, he was getting warm. Paul had a jacket on him, which he really didn't need. I took it off and his fussing toned down a bit. He was happy to get out of the car. He did well during dinner, ate most of his dinner, plus a little mooching off our plates. Towards the end he was ready to go. All he wanted to do was be held when we got home. When Paul went to run his bath water I took his temperature, that's when I got worried. Hopefully, he will respond to the meds. I'm prepared to comfort Eric, if need be, tonight.

Thanks for reading the ramblings of a first time mommy!

Handsome Boy

I can hardly get a picture taken before Eric stops what he's doing and comes running. He either hears the camera being turned on or sees the flash. I've been trying to capture him as he plays with the spice bottles and baking decorations, which is his current hobby, in the cabinet lazy Susan. He will just sit there and take bottles out, put them back in, not in the right spot mind you. Of course he zeros in on the glass ones, which he so proudly shows me. I'm waiting for him to launch one at me. I have a small collection on the counter, along with other things he doesn't need to be playing with. At times I can't get into that corner because he has twenty things spread out. Therefore I am putting things away numerous times during the day. I must remember that "this too shall one day pass." It will be nice not to find spice bottles in the various places he drops them off, like the barrel I keep plastic bags in.

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Eric got his first "all over" professional haircut today. He's had some trims around the ears and off the back, just to keep him from looking like a hippy. He would never cooperate with me. At "Great Clips" he sat on my lap and was such a good boy! He even got to pick out his own "Dum Dum" sucker. Not sure if he knew what it was. He did make sure that he could hold it in the car and when we got to Grandma's the end of the stick was wet and chewed up. After unwrapping it he knew what it was. He got his first one last week from a neighbor. We finished that one up a few days later. Glad we were outside, he left a drool puddle at my feet.

He loves the swing but just would not smile! Like his haircut?

While we were at Grandma's he decided he wanted a snack. This was his first afternoon snack because normally he would have been taking a nap at the time, but he fell asleep this morning about the time I would have been getting him up from laying down/napping, hence he was running behind. I was dishing out leftovers (thanks Mom!) to take home. He pointed that he wanted some. I gave him bits of cold chicken, noodles, carrots, celery and onion while Grandma held him. Eventually, he wanted to sit in his chair. This is the kid who just starting to get interested in tasting food two months ago, I checked my blog "Mr. Baked Bean Face." Now, he tries just about everything. Breakfast right now is oatmeal with yogurt and bits of pancake/syrup. If I have toast he wants some of that or if it's cereal he wants to sit on my lap and have milk and a little cereal. Now, he'll take milk from the spoon, but not from a cup, go figure. The Pediasure isn't working. He doesn't like the banana (which I thought was pretty good) or chocolate. So, he gets 4 oz. of that in his tube with breakfast. Oh, and he LOVES Campbell's Chunky Chicken Corn Chowder. He had some for dinner Monday and was VERY upset when it was gone. Fruit saved the day! Anyhoo, guess it's time to start giving him more chunky pieces of food.

Chick magnet

We survived Hurricane Ike...well at least the winds he unleashed on us. Lost power for 24 hours. Ya know, it's rather boring home alone in the dark. Just me, 3 cats and a sleeping baby. I did talk to Paul for about 45minutes, that killed some time. Tried to read by candle light, that didn't last long. Finally, I went and read by flashlight until it was time to give Eric his final feeding and then I went to bed. I was very happy when the power came back on. Here's a cartoon that sums it up...

"Folks just don't realize how much they depend on the power company."

Eric doesn't feed himself, lazy little..., he will pick things up, hand it to you so you can feed him, lazy little... Anyway, Tuesday it was lunch time, he was hungry and impatient, what's new? So, I put him in his chair and gave him a few Cheerios. Low and behold! He fed himself! The next morning I asked him if he wanted Cheerios while I got his breakfast ready, he went straight to the pantry door. Two more teeth have come in. He's also said "bye, bye" a couple of times. If you tell him it's time to brush teeth, he heads to our bathroom. I bought some Pediasure to see if that would help in getting him to drink milk, didn't work, doesn't like the banana cream flavor at least. Although he did like my banana cream Blizzard from DQ, that I had to share with him on Wednesday! Guess we'll try chocolate next. I made pancakes yesterday. He ate about a third of a small one, with syrup, of course.

For dinner Wednesday, we had a coupon for buy 10 wings, get 10 free at Hooters. Paul took a picture of him with a couple of the girls last year wearing his "chick magnet" bib. I don't have a good copy of it, will have to get one from Paul. He had to wear it this time also. Paul was prepared this time, brought his camera. After flirting with ALL the girls he could and before we left, we got a shot of him with four girls. Unfortunately, you can't see "Chick Magnet" on the bib, but it's cute anyway...

Update to this. Here is the old picture...

Eric has just figured out how to climb up on the two baskets I have under the window in my computer room. He can't get down, so he is good and waits for me to rescue him.