Joseph hearts Monkey

As mentioned in the previous post, Joseph loves his loveys. He loves all of them, but has a particular affinity for his monkey, which is one of the two original loveys he's had since he was like 3 months old. His affinity for Monkey makes it hard for Monkey to make it to the wash very often. I aim to wash Monkey once a week, but there are some laundry days where I'm just not getting between Monkey and Joseph.

Today was laundry day and Monkey was overdue for a cleaning. There is no sugar coating it, Monkey smelled...like really, really bad. Between a snotty nosed kid with a cold rubbing it all over his face and insisting he eat all his meals with it (last night Monkey was dragged through some pasta salad and regurgitated hard boiled egg), Monkey was more than a little funky his morning. Luckily, I found a moment when Joseph was distracted sticking my car keys in and out of the door and I was able to sneak Monkey into the washer. I was folding laundry in the hall near the laundry room (correction - laundry closet. Our laundry area is way too small to classify it as a room) and Joseph came running in. He has a strange fascination with me folding laundry. He likes to sit on my lap and help me put everything in the basket when I fold it. Of course, he doesn't really have the coordination to actually keep the clothes folded while placing them in the basket.

Unfortunately, as Joseph came running in, the door to the laundry room was still open and as Joseph peaked in, he spotted the bright red silk of Monkey pressed up against the window of the washer. He immediately went crazy pointing at it and yelling "THAT! THAT! THAT!". There was no way I was stopping the washer and handing him a wet, soapy Monkey so I prepared for the tantrum. This is a small glimpse (Note this was near the end when he was starting to calm down. The foot stomping and throwing himself against the wall had stopped).

Somehow I managed to lure him out of his tantrum with a secondary frog lovey and some Nick Jr. television for 10 minutes. Crisis averted. I managed to sneak Monkey into the dryer while Joseph ate his lunch (Trust me, there have been times he's seen it coming out of the washer and I have relented and let him have a wet monkey). I am happy to report that a very happy reunion took place right before nap time.

Lazy Day

Yesterday ended up being a rare lazy day around our house. First, Joseph slept in almost an hour later than usual, until 7:30. I know, those of you who don't hear a peep out of your kid until the clock hits 8, are like shuddering at the thought of "sleeping in" until 7:30. At our house, however, 7:30 is like a dream come true. I woke up, took a long-ish shower that didn't involve a screaming toddler locked down in a bouncy seat he is seriously over the weight limit for (a mom's gotta do, what a mom's gotta do), and even got a little Matt and Meredith fix from The Today Show in peace and quiet.


Even after waking up after his unusually long 12-hour slumber, Joseph was still pretty tired. He pretty much demanded to sit in my lap most of the morning watching Nick Jr. Since it was a rainy day (again) and I was running low on indoor activity ideas to get of the house, I let him have his way and enjoyed a rare morning of snuggling with my little monkey, both still in our PJs.


I have to say, I started to get a little worried after his afternoon nap when he was still pretty snuggly and tired. Joseph's lack of hyperactivity is usually a sign of impending illness. When he sat on my lap for 20 minutes reading books (!!!!), I started obsessing over his temperature, which was clearly in normal range. While folding laundry, Joseph actually took a towel put it over him like a blanket and laid down on the floor for 5 minutes. The picture below is extremely rare indeed:

He did perk up some when he realized there were like 5 of his loveys in the laundry. He made a dash to gather them all up. Joseph has this thing where if there is a lovey in sight, he has to have it. We spend many nap times gathering up every lovey around the house because he refuses to go to sleep without every one in his crib. So when he saw all of these loveys come out of the dryer, he pretty much flipped out. Joseph's attempt to carry them all at once:

We spent the afternoon just generally hanging out in our PJs. When Rich called at 6 to say he was on his way home, I had to warn him that he would find the two of us in the same clothes he had left us in that morning. Since it has been over 24 hours since our lazy day began and Joseph is still showing no signs of illness, I am just going to chalk it up to a calm, relaxing day at home we both needed. I actually think it *may* have been due to his molars finally coming in. Most kids become cranky and little hellions when their molars come in - nope, my strange kid gets tired and snuggly (Not that I am complaining - of all the craziness this kid throws at us, teething has been the most painless, effortless process to date. His teeth just sort of show up with no real fanfare).

Maybe in like 8 months we'll get another PJ day at home.

Craptastic

That is the only way to describe this week.

Craptastic Day #1 was Monday when I took Joseph for his H1N1 vaccination at the Dept. of Health. Somehow the nurse manages to give him my vaccination (the full adult dosage). I didn't realize it until the nurse bolted out of the room only to return with an administrator who starts asking me questions about my child's age and weight (something which no one else in the room had been asked). Only when I ask what the heck was going on, did anyone decide to inform me that my kid just got overdosed. Luckily, after a tearful drive home thinking I am a crappy mom who lets her kid gets overdosed at the hands of the incompetent Dept of Health, a call to the pediatrician and a call from the State Dept of Health was enough to calm me down. Luckily, 4 days later I can report there have been no signs of any negative effects of receiving double the dosage of H1N1 vaccine.

Tuesday and Wednesday were actually non-eventful besides the horribly awful pouring rain and windy weather. By Wednesday morning, I really thought our house might just float away. It's really difficult to keep Joseph inside all day. He doesn't really play with toys so if we are inside he's climbing things (note the foreshadowing for Friday's craptastic events), opening up every drawer and demanding he be allowed to play with things like meat mallets and scissors. When he's not doing that, he's pretty much standing at the door yelling "OUT! OUT! OUT!" over and over again. No attempts by me to make blanket forts to hide in or block towers to knock down could really take away from his sheer annoyance that we were in fact in our house.

So you'll understand why by Thursday morning, despite continued pouring rain and a 40 degree temp, it was time to get the eff out of the house. I figured a trip to the mall where I could park in the deck, avoid the rain and let him run around the train table and various toys at the bookstore, was the way to go. Awesome idea....until I get to the top of our street and realize I have a flat tire. Now, if it was any other day, I would have taken Joseph out of the car and enjoyed a walk back to the house but of course, we are dealing with craptastic weather. So I slowly drive the car back to the driveway (Joseph screaming in the back of course), praying this is not going to result in some $800 rim damage, only to be greeted by the mailman, who very seriously tells me "You shouldn't drive on a flat tire". Thanks for the tip - just give me my freaking mail and be on your way. Luckily, an hour and a Yo Gabba Gabba DVD later (yeah, I needed to calm my kid who was throwing the tantrum to end all tantrums at the sudden dash of his dream of leaving the house), AAA had come, put the spare on and my kid was ready for a nap.

I should also mention that Joseph is going through an awesome phase of wanting to get up for the day at 4:30 am. Without fail since Sunday morning, we hear "MaMa! DaDa!" over the monitor somewhere in the 4:30-5:00 am time frame. We just let him do his thing and he fusses, sleeps for 10 minutes, fusses some more, whines...repeat...until somewhere around 5:45 when he breaks down into an all out scream fest. Our days have been starting early, and quite frankly, we are just downright tired. It didn't help this morning when I woke up with a touch of a stomach bug...I'll spare you the details. Luckily, my wonderful hubby agreed to come home a little early because I was wiped out and just needed to lay down for a little while.

Yeah...well, we lucked out he came home early...except he ended up meeting us at the pediatrician's office. Why, you wonder? Because Joseph decided to climb the kitchen chair when I left the room for 45 seconds max. As I am coming back, he is reaching for something on the table, reaches too far and slips off the chair. On his fall to the floor, he cracks the back of his head on the seat of the chair. I rush to him to comfort him, only to realize my hand is covered in blood. At this moment, I thank god that I am there to deal with this and not Rich (I love him but if you ever have an emergency, call me, don't call him). I got the bleeding stopped only to realize we have a sizeable, deep gash back there. Oy vey! Luckily, Joseph is calmed down enough to again be willing to watch his Yo Gabba Gabba DVD for 5 minutes, while I call the pedi. Luckily, they let me come in instead of sending me to the ER.

An hour later and a whole lot of screaming, Joseph has 3 staples in the back of his head. Thank goodness Rich was there because there is no way I could have held Joseph down to have his head cleaned and stapled. He is insanely strong for an 18 month old - Rich's arms are throbbing tonight. He seemed rather unphased by the time we got home (I am sure allowing him to eat dinner on Daddy's lap, on the couch with Nick Jr on TV and the popsicle he got afterwards helped) and was back to his hyperactive ways by bedtime. In fact, we put him to bed slightly earlier because he was running around in circles and neither one of us could handle another accident tonight.

So as this craptastic week closes, I am just saying a little prayer that the weekend doesn't get craptastic-ier and that some higher power has some sympathy for me and is bestowing upon me a second son who is a delightfully easy and calm little fellow. Rich is just laughing at me even typing this. I know, I know...wrestle mania in my den, kids jumping off of furniture, brothers throwing rocks at one another and lots and lots more stitches are in my future. I need some sleep just imagining it.

Halfway

As of yesterday, I am officially halfway done with this pregnancy. Well, if the pregnancy with Joseph is any indication it may be a few more days until I hit the actual halfway mark - he made a fashionably late entrance to the world. At the very least, I am halfway to the point where I can look at my OB and beg "Please, lets schedule an induction!"

I am 20 weeks pregnant! 20 weeks! When did that happen? When did I get halfway to holding my second son in my arms? Halfway to Joseph being a big brother. Halfway to referring to my children as "my boys". (On a slightly less excited note - halfway to being up every 2-3 hours at night). This pregnancy has flown by and I have to say, other than the nasty morning sickness from weeks 6-9, it's been the easiest, least drama free pregnancy I could have imagined. Lets hope it continues that way.

And for your viewing pleasure, a 20 week belly pic.

And yes, I am bigger than I was with Joseph. It's apparently true that you pop earlier with the 2nd. This, despite the fact that I have actually gained significantly less weight this time around (hmmm...do you think controlling my hyperactive toddler could be the cause of the that?)

My 23 week belly pic with Joseph:

And more trouble....

Yes, this little rascal creates plenty of trouble around here....

but in 5-ish months, he'll have a partner in crime.

That little munchkin pictured above is in fact another boy - another baby with a Y chromosome (or as Rich keeps saying another stem on the apple). I think we have pretty much concluded this blog will be renamed "Double Trouble" once baby boy #2 makes his grand debut in March.

While Joseph clearly doesn't understand the concept of a sibling, let alone the difference between a brother or sister, we are pretty sure if he could comprehend and declare his preference, he would be pretty psyched he's getting a little brother rather than a little sister. I don't see tea parties and baby dolls in his future. However, a buddy for playing cops and robbers with and jumping in mud puddles...that is more Joseph's style.

If our photo sessions for our gender announcement pictures were any clue, we should have realized another boy was in our future.

We needed 2 takes to get a decent photo of the baby brother photo...

Baby sister....hmmmm, Joseph pretty much refused to cooperate (giving him an old cell phone was the only way we got even a few pictures without him screaming).

Pushing the teddy bear off the rocker:

Trying to take out the balloon:

A change of location only furthered Joseph's frustration:

Clearly, Joseph wasn't prepared to welcome a baby sister into his life.

I'll be honest - I was pretty shocked when the ultrasound tech announced we were having another boy. I was 99% sure there was a little girl in there. I think it took a few days for the idea to fully set in - 2 boys!!! We are pretty excited to see how our two little guys to interact - will they have the same interests or be completely different (I have to say I would like them to be similar enough to be best buds but different enough that baby boy #2 ends up being slightly calmer than his big brother)?

I was out shopping for ideas for Joseph's new bedroom today and came across this oil painting. It honestly brought tears to my eyes - two little brothers.

I am still working on the purchase of it (Rich liked it - not such a fan of the price tag).

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Joseph has been working on his climbing skills for awhile - really he started practicing about 4 days after he started walking (see "Out: Waking In: Climbing" post from May) - but in the last week he has perfected them. I left Joseph in our breakfast nook on the floor happily eating a snack and banging a pot with a ladle so that I could go to the bathroom (something that is occurring at an alarming frequent rate these days) for 2 minutes or so. I came back and saw this:

That would be Joseph sitting on our breakfast bar, about 4 feet above the ground, happily throwing bills and magazines out of my mail basket and rummaging through my wallet. The only way for him to get up there would be to climb on the chair (see slightly pushed out chair above - apparently he also knows enough to push the chair from under the table), then unto the table and climb over the half-wall to sit on the bar counter. I knew I might encounter some trouble when I stopped hearing the pot banging about halfway through my trip to the bathroom. I expected to find Joseph rummaging through cookies and crackers in the pantry. I didn't realize he'd become a certified mountain climber overnight.

So for the next few days, if I needed to leave the room, I would move Joseph into the baby proofed family room. The fireplace and coffee tables are padded, there is a gate to keep him confined, all the electical outlets are properly Joseph-proofed. It was a great plan until I realized Joseph also now likes to climb onto our window seat. He knows enough to pull all the pads and pillows off so we can have a nice hard surface to run along once he gets up there. This wouldn't be so bad - it's only a foot off the ground with a carpeted surface below - except that its right in front of a nice, big glass window. I just have an image of him running, tripping and falling through a glass window. Not good - he's not getting left alone in there anymore.

So we are back to a situation similar to Joseph's newborn days when he had to be held ALL.THE.TIME so he went everywhere with me - including the bathroom. Now instead of screaming while he sits in a bouncy chair for 2 minutes, he stands and screams while pointing at the counter to indicate that he wants to stand on top and splash in the sink.

I guess as much as things change with Joseph, some things stay the same.

No Particular Reason

There is no particular point to this post other than to display this video of Joseph.



It makes me laugh for several reasons. First, his little laugh and baby talk at the beginning makes me giggle. Second, I love the part when he peaks his head around to try and find me behind the camera. We are big into "looking" for things now. It's the cutest thing to watch a ball roll under a dresser and him trying to lean down looking for it. Third, his sudden interest in that nose sucky thing (sorry, the technical name is escaping me at the moment - pregnancy brain) they give you at the hospital is pretty hilarious. This is especially interesting since anytime he has a cold and we have to use it, he fights it quite valiantly and acts like we are murdering him. However, if he himself can stick it up his nose and pretend to suction himself, well then, its all fun and games.

That's all I really have. Hope you enjoy the video!

UPDATE: On a 5 minute drive home from Barnes & Noble with Joseph screaming in the backseat, in an attempt to start teaching him to "work through" some of his frustration, I went deep inside my head to block him out and suddenly "aspirator" popped in there. Yes, the nose sucky thingy is actually an aspirator. FYI - Joseph's tantrum was induced by my refusal to give him a Coke. He then threw his paci, lovey and toy on the floor to show me he was mad, only to get really frustrated that he no longer had his favorite things.