Baby Gant Days

April Wrap-Up

2011-10-22T23:32:00.001-05:00

Despite all the smiles, sparkling blue eyes and beautiful, bouncing, blonde hair, April had some challenges for both boys.

Benjamin was sick a good portion of the month. He had numerous eye infections of no known origin and weeks upon weeks of coughing & nasal congestion. After waiting two weeks for the coughing to end, we saw the doctor for a confirmed (via x-ray) sinus infection. We did the prescribed ten days of antibiotic, but it only minimally improved. 4 weeks later we had another x-ray reveal only a small lessening of the fully-impacted sinuses. Lovely! By this time, we also opted for an injection of antibiotic to kick-start the recovery. It really affected him short-term (he was far more tender than he ever is with shots), and he had a fever. However, the meds did their work. but, this all means he spent >6 weeks with infected sinuses.

After burning through far too much Vigamox treating all his eye infections, we luckily got in with a pediatric ophthalmologist to investigate a blocked tear duct. We had gone through all that with Jasper as an infant, but Benj never had the same problems. It seemed odd it would start being a problem now, but it just seemed like the likely area to investigate next. Dr. Busse thankfully had an opening (from a cancellation) the day after I called and we got in for the diagnosis: a narrowed tear duct. He prescribed Pataday (to reduce the swelling around the tear duct and improve drainage) daily to see if that would lessen the problems and frequency of eye infections. He also explained that what likely was happening with Benj was that his tears were not draining from his eyes, and he was likely rubbing his cheek/eye and transferring germs which live on our skin into his eyes which were causing the green goop – and that the green goop was infectious but not contagious. ahh! finally an explanation that made sense (and was spoken with confidence).

We know now that Benjamin has no allergies – no foods, no pollens, grasses, animal dander, etc. none. so what’s causing all his sinus infections are anatomy: likely small sinus draining holes. so he gets eye drops and nose sprays to try to keep the troubled areas less irritated. Things have improved. Now we hope and pray his head gets big enough to accommodate his sinuses.

Jasper had his own source of challenges – at school. For reasons that we honestly cannot fathom, one day in April Jasper went from nearly running into Mrs. Kelly’s class with nary even turning around to say goodbye to clinging to my leg, crying and begging me not to leave. I was so shocked I almost didn’t know how to handle it. Thankfully, Mrs. Kelly was nearby and intervened to distract Jasper and get him into the room and calmed down. But this was such a dramatic change that it shook me. I was in tears after I left him. Each day of school after that was hard for him. Some were worse – (once, when Mrs. Kelly wasn’t able to intervene and Benjamin snuck away and was heading out the front door to the parking lot which meant I had to turn my back on Jasper and run for Benjamin, which made Jasper completely fall apart … yeah, that was worse) but others were better. And he always calmed down and had fun at school once he was there. But his exuberance about going was gone. He was nervous (still positive but nervous) and we had to talk with overwhelmingly positive tones about being there. That was sad. We still cannot figure out what triggered this. Nothing changed at home. No new medicines. … Drew thinks he just became aware of his surroundings more and was more anxious. Whatever it was, it was hard on him … and on us.

Kiddie Acres

2011-10-22T21:59:00.001-05:00

It was hot even in April, so our one trip to Kiddie Acres this year was to celebrate Isaac’s birthday. The boys had a blast! They love the airplanes and surprisingly liked the ferris wheel. Good thing Drew was along and opted to take one for the team, ignore the max total weight limit per car and ride with the boys. God is good. They survived.

Easter 2011

2011-10-22T21:45:00.001-05:00

With riding bikes under their belts, Easter was about Jesus, baskets and hunting for eggs. I’m not sure for 2 and 4-yr-olds it was exactly in that order, but we definitely celebrated at church. Except we didn’t celebrate at Austin High School like we usually do. We celebrated at the UT Erwin Center. You know – the basketball arena. Sa-WEET!

For a couple of weeks leading up to Easter, Drew and I took the boys to the Erwin Center and looked around, walked around the concourses outside, talked to them about how this was going to be our Easter church and then we prayed for our pastors, taking care of all the kids, all the logistics and all the visitors. The boys prayed for Pastor Matt (Carter) and Pastor John (Murchison). It was a great time of prayerful preparation and also mental preparation so that they were ready for a completely different environment on Easter Sunday. Gratefully, both boys went into their KidStuff areas without hesitation and had a great time.

Drew and I worshiped with thousands others (I think it was close to 11K) in the arena, being lead-off with a prayer by Coach Barnes - UT’s basketball coach and the instigator behind using the Erwin Center for Easter services. Unbeknownst to the vast congregation, Matt revealed that morning, Coach Barnes approached Matt with this idea and arranged for it to happen. Coach Barnes’ prayer was contrite and humble, and it left most of us in tears before we echoed amen. Worship was wonderful. Matt’s sermon was great, and in addition to that we were able to bless the city of Austin by being open & visible and by collecting large donations of food for the food bank. It was a GREAT Easter.

Here is a clip from the local cable news station about our service.

Here are some highlights from the materialistic side of things:

Two of Jasper’s favorite things: his Thomas apron and a book about Fire Trucks.

Benjamin lovingly checking out his new Thomas blanket.

Both boys pouring over the stack of new books from G&G Gant.

Hunting for Easter eggs:

sitting pretty with their friend, Adolai

Learning to Ride His Bike–April 22, 2011

2011-10-22T21:17:00.001-05:00

Since Drew had Good Friday off from work, he took advantage of that afternoon to spend time encourage Jasper to ditch his training wheels. On a few occasions previously, Jasper would go on one or two rides without his training wheels, but he always wanted them put back on. Drew is patient, enthusiastic and encouraging, and he was ready to spend a few hours to help Jasper get over the hump of needing his training wheels.

Look at the look of determination on Jasper’s face. Wherever did he get that? hmm ….

Drew never left his side – either on foot or on wheels for the entire time he helped Jasper learn to go faster, to stay straight, etc.

Of course, there was the understandable learning curve – riding slow is tough when you’re just learning, and he’d teeter off to one side or the other … but he just kept going.

He loved his cheering section: Benjamin, Ella and Mr. David and mommy.

Even when he fell, he just dusted himself off (sometimes got a couple hugs) and got back on his bike.

Benjamin is Jasper’s #1 fan! Spontaneously clapping and saying, “Yeah, Jasper!” He also is a fan of our neighbor, Ella.

Look at the ease with which Jasper turns the bike! Thank you, Mr. Skuut!

Benjamin is always moving, so it’s actually pretty hard to get a good shot of him with the camera. I was lucky to capture his sweet face.

Riding on daddy’s wheel is a great place to be.

By the end of a couple of hours, he was ready to take on the roads by himself (under our watchful eye, of course).

The day after he learned how to ride without his training wheels, Drew rode with him down to the cul-de-sac behind our house to ride with the kids down there (Fred, Andreas, Eric & Caroline). He was just screaming around the circle, even going down an inclined driveway to pick up speed. Everyone was amazed! When they learned he had first really learned how to ride on a Skuut, the next week Fred’s dad bought him a Skuut and after 2.5 weeks of riding it, Fred was able to take his training wheels off, too! Proven success! (if only a slightly small sample size.)

American Heroes Days - April 16&17, 2011

2011-06-07T23:55:00.001-05:00

It’s been a rough spring for Benjamin. He’s been hit hard with viruses: colds, croup, pink eye, sinus infections, fever … one after the other, and some at the same time. On this, the weekend of one of our favorite events of the year, he had a mild fever and was probably recovering from one of multiple bouts of pink eye. (I honestly can’t remember.) Needless to say, we had to make it a brief tour of Camp Mabry. Benjamin could not keep up running across the fields, and he was a goner just after lunch.

Day 1

On Saturday we made it through the circuit of helicopters. One of the Starflight rescue helicopters took off shortly after we arrived, and the boys had a front row seat.

After that Jasper would have nothing to do with the multiple helicopters lined up in a row and instead wanted to leapfrog them and head straight to the Blackhawk. He loves this helicopter! He loved it even more when he found out it was used to fight forest fires with it’s 500-gallon basket for water! He very respectfully asked the captain of the crew about fighting fires with the helicopter.

Next we checked out the Apache helicopter on display …

and then made it over to the massive Chinook! This behemoth is the first to arrive and the last to leave – or it would tip over other helicopters from the great swells of wind it produces.

The boys thought it was GREAT that it had a built-in slide! Jasper & I talked to the office at the back of the aircraft and asked him what they could transport or how the Chinook is transported. He said they can carry all sorts of trucks inside or carry them by straps underneath. Jasper really wanted to know if it could carry a fire truck. They officer said he thought they could underneath.

Day 2

On this day, Drew took the boys to Camp Mabry by himself. Again it was a short trip because Benj still wasn’t 100%. Once again we brought little bags of lifesavers with a note inside saying “Thanks for keeping us safe. You’re a Lifesaver!” On Sunday Jasper got really active and generous in handing these out. He circled the Apache helicopter with a handful of bags asking each Army man he saw if he had received a treat bag. He even returned to Drew to get more to distribute. As he handed each one out he said, “Thank you for being here, and thank you for all you do.” We are very proud of how he is growing in being considerate and thankful to others!

Sunday was a jeep day for the boys. You have to notice the hat to figure out who is who on this day. Red = Jasper; White = Benj. We happened to dress them both in navy tops and gray shorts. sorry!

But they couldn’t help checking out the helicopters again.

Benjamin looks comfortable in the pilot seat of the Blackhawk.

Since our family & friends having served in active duty to defend our freedom and liberty, Drew and I want very much for our boys to not only respect our men and women in the armed forces but look up to and admire them. We are so grateful that we live in a nation that is defended by the best armed forces in the world. We do not have opportunities each day to show the boys how significant this blessing is. This is why American Heroes Day is a wonderful time for them to really see how cool our military machines and personnel are so that their admiration will grow.

As a side note: on Memorial Day we watched a wonderful documentary “Hallowed Grounds” about American military cemeteries around the world which hold approximately 40% of the men and women who fought and died during WWI and WWII. It was beautiful. If you happen to get a chance to watch it, we’d highly recommend checking it out.

Riding Bikes with Daddy

2011-06-07T22:19:00.001-05:00

The boys love riding their bikes with Drew. They want to go riding as soon as he gets home from work – sometimes before he’s even had a chance to change. Here are some shots of them (April 12) going up and down the street while Jasper still had his training wheels on.

Benj doesn’t have the stamina Jasper has, and sometimes is happy to ride just a little and then come walking back.

Despite getting over some hurdles with teaching Jasper how to peddle – since he didn’t have to do that on the Skuut bike – he got fast in short order.

Look What Daddy Built!

2011-06-07T21:59:00.001-05:00

We’re going to do some DIY projects in our backyard sometime this summer. Since some projects could be bigger and might take longer to complete, we thought it would be good to knock out a small one to entertain the boys.

Back in April Drew built this bridge. No, it doesn’t cover anything. It is just something to run up and down and ride bikes across. (It’s done a number on our yard after two months of hard use, but boys are only young and FULL of energy once!) Drew build this in a day and put it out for them to enjoy one Sunday afternoon just before friends came over with their families for a bike ride. It was initiated by Jasper, Benjamin, Fred, Andreas & Adolai. They all loved it! Benj has found it’s particularly helpful for getting on top of the Jeep.

Ka-boom!

2011-05-16T00:02:00.001-05:00

(I’m trying to catch up on blog postings, yet I cannot stay sequential and not share the following.)

Jasper did not nap on Friday, and Benjamin was a zombie at the dinner table. Yet, by the time they went to bed at 8pm, they were in no way ready to actually go to sleep. Drew and I both intervened to get them to settle down, but nothing was making any impact. Around 8:45, just as Drew was about to head out to Home Depot, Jasper appeared at the entrance to the kitchen saying “Benjamin crawled out of his crib and fell.” I didn’t hear him properly and stepped closer, saying “what?” only to see not only Jasper but Benjamin standing in the hallway. Both wore a smile that rivaled any cat who had just swallowed a canary. My eyes got huge, Jasper’s grin enlarged, and Benjamin beamed with pride. In disbelief I turned to Drew and mouthed “oh my goodness!” I then picked up the acrobat and – still in shock – walked back into their bedroom, directing Jasper back that way. As I was holding Benjamin, singing another bedtime song, he turned to me and said, “Mom, I went ka-boom!”

Oh my.

He’s a Natural

2011-05-13T23:39:00.001-05:00

Benj has figured out that he LOVES playing with the garden hose. He got his training from the master himself, Papa:

A little while after Papa and Nana had left Texas, the boys got hold of the hose and really went to town. Benjamin’s natural affinity for using the hose came shining (and pouring) through.

But he has to take it if he’s going to dish it:

Of course, the best part of using the hose is to be able to make a mud puddle. They are boys!

Surprise Taco

2011-05-13T23:19:00.001-05:00

Tacos have really become a super favorite meal in the Gant household. I’ve expanded the repetoire I knew as a child, and being that we live in Texas, our family now embraces black beans, guacamole (well, Drew does), corn & bell peppers. We love this meal so much we had it for Christmas Eve. Yum. (Jasper loves tomatoes. He rejects tomato sauce, but he’ll eat fresh cut tomatoes like their going out of style. I currently have three tomato plants growing on the deck to feed this need he has.)

Recently Drew has started letting Jasper make him a surprise taco. He’ll leave the room and let Jasper make up a taco of whatever he wants. The last time he did this, Jasper added crushed tortilla chips to the taco. It was a hit! Drew is a super good sport about all things culinary, so he’ll eat without inhibition and make Jasper feel like he’s on the top of the world for creating such a wonderful taco. I captured our latest surprise taco event in early April.

Jasper loved this so much he actually let Drew make him a surprise taco. He loved it, until the last bite which included guacamole. Jasper didn’t like that there was guac in the taco (Drew told him before his last bite), but nevertheless he ate it. That is a major victory for this kid, and we were very proud of him.

Benj will decidedly eat taco seasoned-ground turkey, cous cous, black beans and corn until the cows come home. Not much else is consumed, but every once in a while he’ll eat tomatoes.

Papa and Nana come to Texas

2011-05-13T23:07:00.001-05:00

March 11th brought Papa and Nana Jasper back to the lone star state. We love having them come to visit. They know enough about the area now that they can come and go as they please without needing directions. They mostly stay though. They like having time with some of their grandsons. Before their arrival, Jasper came up with a list of things he’d like to do with his Papa and Nana:

train table
pick strawberries
play trucks
watch TV
play games (bingo)

I think we hit all the highlights. And there was plenty of reading, too.

They were able to come with us to Preschool one day and meet Mrs. Kelly. They came with us to church and ate with us at some of our favorite restaurants: Panera, Jason’s Deli, P.Terry’s, Mandolas and of course, Rudy’s.

One day they ventured into the hill country alone and knocked around Fredericksburg. Then on the following day, we all piled into the car (sans Drew – it was a Friday) and drove out to Marble Falls to pick strawberries. What a delight! This is not a good year for bluebonnets b/c we had such a cold (for Texas) winter and nary any rain. But, we still saw small groves of bluebonnets and stopped along the way to photograph pretty ranch gates. We drove into Marble Falls at noon and stopped at Storm’s to buy burgers. We then drove to Sweetberry Farm and ate our burgers and the rest of our picnic lunch at the picnic tables on the farm. It was a lovely March day. Totally amazing. The farm had only been open about a week, but even with that we picked such gorgeous strawberries we filled two big baskets without even making it down half a row. The boys both enjoyed this trip to Sweetberry. Jasper loved jumping over the plants from row to row and carrying my strawberries back to the box Nana was filling. He also loved running up and down the rows to stretch his legs. Both boys had fun picking and eating strawberries right off the vine. Nothing can be finer!

We loaded into the car at naptime hoping to get some zzz’s out of the boys but instead just got rambunctious little ones strapped into car seats. No sleeping happened between Marble Falls and the Johnson Ranch. So we got out and toured the historic farm in the State Park portion of the Park. Then we got in the car to do the driving tour of the National Park portion – the old Johnson property. I was driving the Honda minivan, and I was just following the signs, and the route this year takes you up along the airstrip through the rolling property of LBJ and Lady Bird, then back down the other side of the airstrip to the hanger (which now holds an old Presidential airplane), and back out again. My parents have been to the ranch MANY times, and this is the first time the driving tour has taken them along that route. They LOVED it. Cattle freely roam on the rolling hills of the property, and it was a beautiful prospect. (I feel very Jane Austen in having just typed that.) They were going to skip the Ranch this trip, but they were so glad we didn’t. It was my first trip to the Ranch. Perhaps when the boys can be trusted to walk through a historic home we’ll return.

This calf is only a few days old and was bleating for his mama. The shingles in the garden are shading new transplants during the heat of the Texas afternoons.

LBJ’s prospect of the rolling hill country, along the airstrip.

Of course the boys fell asleep on the ride back into Austin, but we hit southwest Austin at rush hour and decided to camp out in the Lakeway area for dinner. Drew was able to meet us for dinner at Mandolas. Initially Jasper was sooooo tired he whined and talked about not being able to stay awake through dinner. However, once we told him he could have ice cream (gelato) if he cleaned his plate, his energy level peaked up. I surveyed the gelato case before them and found that strawberry was next to hazelnut, vanilla was next to toasted almond and chocolate was next to another nut flavor. ugh! but nevertheless, we brought them to the case and suggested they could have one of those three flavors. Jasper looked at the case and said “I want THIS one!” He went rogue and picked straciatelli – which turns out is a sweet milk gelato with chocolate swirled in (sometimes made and described as a chocolate chip). It was nut-free and thankfully not surrounded by any nut flavors. So, they both happily got their gelato and headed back to our table. They LOVED it. Both cleaned their bowls and were not surprisingly wired for the 30 minute car ride home. :)

While here, Papa and Nana also helped us knock out a few outdoor projects. We were not nearly as organized as we would have liked to be to get much more done with them here, but that’s just the way things go with us. But, Papa helped me dig out the front bed and clean it up to receive new plants and flower seeds. Mom planted my tomato plants which we hope will yield a great crop. :)

Eyewear

2011-04-09T14:47:00.001-05:00

It’s important that you have the right protective eyewear.

Soccer Update

2011-04-09T14:43:00.001-05:00

Well, soccer at the YMCA is certainly turning into a positive experience for Jasper. He has a laid-back, very encouraging coach, Mr. Morris. There is a good mix of good and clueless players on the team, and a good balance of girls and boys: Grayson, Aarya, Ethan, Jasper, Ashlyn, Sara, Anuva) All the kids are nice!

The night before his first practice (3/19), Drew and I went to Academy after the boys were in bed (with nana and papa here) to get him shoes, shin guards and socks. We weren’t sure which size would work. So after breakfast we had a sports equipment try-on session.

before he’s geared-up

after

The first game revealed that things can only go up for our son. He wasn’t too keen on running around so much and repeatedly asked to sit or take a water break. He also didn’t have a clue what to do.

The night before the second game we did a mock soccer game in the living room. We cleared all the furniture to the side and got more aggressive with Jasper and talked to him about knowing which goal he was supposed to shoot in. Consequently (and perhaps because the game was at 9am instead of 11am), the second game was much better. He did not ask to come out (except for a potty break), and he ran around a little more aware (stress little). He made contact with the ball three times, too. (contact wasn’t necessarily initiated by him, but hey! contact is contact.) The best part is that while playing at least once and perhaps twice he called out “dad, I’m having FUN!” You can’t ask for more than that. Last week, Ethan’s dad told me that Ethan played last year like Jasper does this year. He just ran around and never had a clue what was going on. It’s a 4&5yr-old league, and from what I can tell it’s pretty much universally true that 4-yr-olds have no clue and 5-yr-olds are the ones actually playing. It seems to work.

(As an aside, it’s super cute to ask Benjamin what he’s wearing when he has this shirt on. Hearing him say “my Yosemite National Park shirt” is fun.)

Today was game #3. The Hornets were without Coach Morris, so Coach Gant had to sub in. Drew did a great job, was super encouraging and did high-fives with each player after every goal (whether we scored or not). They loved it! Aarya and Ethan started asking him to lift his hand higher and higher so they could jump higher. Jasper also KICKED THE BALL … on the run, to boot! Baby steps, but this is great! He loved playing and was only wanting to come out when he saw that Benjamin was on the sideline watching a movie on my phone. oh well. progress. :)

After the game, we ate a picnic lunch at a picnic table in front of the YMCA. It is a lovely day. It’s gonna get much warmer, but in the shade with the strong breeze it is really lovely.

Thomas Has Left the Building

2011-04-04T23:36:00.001-05:00

Not the train table or the trains or even some of the books, but definitely the animated shows on PBS.

I got tired of having to stop the show and have a talk with the boys about what was wrong with what the trains were doing. We have enough trouble with obedience when they’d rather do what they want to do (that’s normal – they’re toddlers). But I was tired of having it reinforced by Thomas and friends. So, I ran it by Drew who was in favor, and we just said no more. Jasper wasn’t too happy with that move and still asks for Thomas sometimes. But, this has given us the opportunity to go back to some of our old favorites: Clifford (Emily Elizabeth always does the right thing!) and the Backyardigans. We especially like the psychadelic funk episode “Save the Day.” Jasper’s informed us it’s his favorite too since it has a helicopter. He also has taken a keen interest in “News Flash” because Pablo and Tyrone sing a song called “I Love Corn.” (no lie)

Tonight they wanted to share “I Love Corn” with dad, and they had a fun dance party after dinner.

I think we’re doing just fine without Thomas. :)

Sous Chefs

2011-04-04T23:23:00.001-05:00

Today I decided, almost on a whim, that I would exercise my culinary muscles and practice making my Oma’s cinnamon roll recipe before Easter arrives. This is something my Oma used to make ALL the time, and I cannot think of a visit to her house in Coleraine, Minnesota while she was alive without the sight, smell & taste of her heavenly cinnamon rolls and icing. Even now I can place myself in her kitchen, standing next to the microwave, looking out the window at the backyard and alley, watching over the precious cinnamon rolls as they cool and get glazed with powdered sugar icing. Ah, how food can take us back.

It’s been 5 years since I’ve made these. I was pregnant with Jasper the last time I can think of trying these. In the subsequent years, grocery store available cinnamon rolls have stood in. This year I’m going back to my roots.

Jasper was keen on the idea and was excited to know I had started the process while they were napping. He had no idea, however, how lengthy the process is and that it would push us all to the brink. Benjamin didn’t remember the plan. He got up from nap in a very sleepy state and stood on the stool at the kitchen island watching the mixer going and asked if I was making pancakes. He slurred his speech he was so sleepy, and I had to ask him to repeat at least once. After I told him, “no, not pancakes. I’m making cinnamon rolls.” It still took about 20 seconds for the reality to sink in. Then he lit up, and exclaimed, “CINNAMON ROLLS!"

Game on!

Once the two stages of rising had finished, and it was really time to start dinner, we instead decided to do the cinnamon rolls. I had to first cut through the enormous bowl of dough to get half of it on the counter. (Note to self: make HALF the recipe next time.) Then it was time to roll it, spread it with melted butter, sprinkle it with brown sugar and cinnamon. The boys got to do the cinnamon. Jasper assured me he is a good cinnamoner. He tried to convince me that Benjamin wouldn’t be good, reminding me of the time Benjamin dumped a pile of cinnamon sugar on his oatmeal. He was correct (and his memory is amazing!), but we decided to give Benj a try.

Check out my sous chefs. We only have one apron. Benj was happy with the hat, though. :)

And check out the size of the dough. That is the largest bowl I have. Clearly, I have to halve the recipe!

(you’re supposed to roll the dough to dimensions of 12x18. we needed a guide – hence the tape measure.)

this is how the dough looked just before we rolled it up. they did a nice job with the cinnamon! :)

Lowes Again

2011-04-02T12:26:00.002-05:00

Going to Lowes with daddy makes a big difference. And finding carts the boys could climb across like a jungle gym didn't hurt either.

Darned if you Do, Darned if you Don’t

2011-04-01T15:42:00.001-05:00

So Nana and Papa left yesterday, and you know where everything went, right? Yep … and a hand-basket. Drew was home from work sick. By the end of the day at preschool, Jasper’s teacher informed me he had been scratching all over his body and his eyes were puffy – a marked difference from the morning. (Oh, oak pollen!) And at naptime, Benjamin started coughing. His cough was off and on through nap and persisted at the start of bedtime, again at 12:30am and then restarted this morning at 6:30am. He was a snotty mess at the end of breakfast.

So … that meant the dreaded nasal aspirator. He’s 2.5yrs old but not a reliable nose-blower. He just started two days ago blowing (when there was nothing to blow), but now that there is stuff to expel – well, he’s less than efficient. So, I gave him saline nose drops at his first diaper change and tried to suction. Nothing came out. That’s ok. It was early in the day. That also meant it was a quick try.

After running errands for two hours this morning so we could let Drew sleep in some peace, the last stop was Lowes. I had specific things to get at Lowes. I didn't think it was asking much of them to hang with me.

I was wrong.

They both acted like they were on a mild hallucinogen. Nothing I said even penetrated their ears. By the end, Benjamin was jumping out of the cart (one of those with rear exit seats so they can get in and out way too easily), and running across the concrete floor a few feet then sliding into a side splits. I actually heard an empty-nester guy chuckle as he walked by and saw that. Jasper got the hiccups and proceeded to stand on top of his seat and yell in a nice old whine “i need water.” Oh yeah, this was going well.

Parsley? who the heck cares! Deer spray? I’ll wing it at home. I needed out.

Much review of our fateful trip to Lowes happened on the ride home. It isn’t even that it was a dreadful trip for them. They got to climb up on John Deere tractors and play with long rigid hose nozzles like they were swords or microphones or whatever, while I looked in a particular aisle. And, it sure seemed like they had fun standing up on their seats and jumping. That’s just the problem. I can be stern all I like, but unless I’m prepared to drop everything and walk out the door and put them straight in time out (or worse), they do not see the consequence of their behavior. They do not recognize my frustration or anger as anything to which they must respond. erghhhh!

Jasper proceeded to come into the house when we got home and follow all but the last of my instructions - which of course were the most important: “and don’t wake up your dad.” After lugging in bags and herbs, I was greeted by Jasper telling me he had asked Drew when he’d get up and was also able to hear Benjamin in the bedroom chatting with his father. Suffice it to say, both boys went into time out.

Jasper ate like a champ at lunch, but Benj could hardly eat because he was so congested. So, after lunch I tricked him and got him to come into his bedroom for a diaper change. Instead I put in more saline drops and got out the aspirator again. This time – much more success. Until … blood. I struck a vessel and it was bleeding enough that it was coming out of his nose while he was lying down on his back. Oh man! Of course the child is screaming, because he hates that aspirator. (I don’t blame him.) I tried to sit him up with the kleenex wadded to his nose, and guess what he did – he blew … a lot. I got blood, lots of blood. I was begging him, “please, don’t blow. no, don’t blow.” It took a while, at least ten kleenex and lots of pleading, but he did eventually stop and the blood did eventually stop. But, I didn’t really want to put him down right away in case the blood was going to spout again. So, despite their hallucinogen-like-induced behavior before lunch, I opted to keep them up a little and clip fingernails – which meant watching a little TV. Not earned, but a regular fingernail-clipping distraction. (Not that they figured out the distinction.)

Before I actually put them down for nap, Benjamin’s temp was climbing above 100deg.

It’s gonna be a long weekend.

He's a cooker

2011-03-31T14:14:00.001-05:00

It's a quiet house today. Jasper was at school and Papa & Nana left this morning for TN. The boys were already asking me at breakfast when they'd see Papa and Nana again. If it weren't for the fact that we had people coming over last night after Papa and Nana left for the hotel, I would have been in a puddle on the floor. It's always hard to say goodbye to family knowing they all live so far away.

Benj and I got home from dropping off Jasper and had a low key morning. At 10:30 Benj started asking me for "a little bit more banana" until he had eaten 1 and 1/3 of a large banana. Then he was ready for lunch before it was even noon! He found the apron in the laundry room and asked me if he could put it on to be a "cooker." I asked him if we should get the bench the boys use when they make pancakes. He agreed, and he came following along and asked if he could help me carry it. Walking backward, he held the bench on one end and then started singing "teamwork, teamwork ..." So cute! Here he is staring off into Meagan and Cameron's backyard as he ate lunch at the counter.

- Posted from my iPhone

Geography Lesson

2011-03-22T19:38:00.001-05:00

Here is my beautiful wife giving our boys a geography lesson.

- Posted with my BlogPress App using my iDrew

Location:Narrow Oak Trail,Austin,United States

Jasper's First Soccer Practice

2011-03-19T10:30:00.001-05:00

Jasper is doing great, but he needs to learn to be aggressive!

- Posted with my BlogPress App using my iDrew

Location:McNeil Dr,Austin,United States

Life is good!

2011-03-13T16:49:00.001-05:00

- Posted with my BlogPress App using my iDrew

Location:Narrow Oak Trail,Austin,United States

Skiing Videos

2011-03-06T22:18:00.001-06:00

Here are some videos from our ski trip to Utah.

In addition, here is a view of the sledding run. Erica's run is impressive!

Ski lesson for Jasper

2011-02-25T16:03:00.001-06:00

We're here in park city, Utah skiing with friends. Yesterday I took Jasper to the Canyons for his lesson with Adalaide and Gideon. He was excited to go, comfortable in his winter gear - including ski boots - and ready to pop into his skis. We rode the red pine gondola up to the learning center and turned them over to their teacher, mr Paul. Paul is from way north England with a heavy accent like drew's friend Charlie.

Jasper was immediately comfortable on his little skis. He could slide them front and back to see how slippery they were. We watched a short time and then hit the slopes to get some blues in. We came back before the lesson was over to watch a little bit. Jasper was doing great!!! He loved the magic carpet, he aimed really well and even had good muscle control to make corrections to go where he was supposed to go (betw some cones). Each time he made it through, he'd say "I did it mr Paul!" (surprise surprise) Paul told me he'd totally be ready for an all day class with 4-7 yr olds. Crazy!

Overnight we got snow -yea!!!! Drew went out early with the guys and I went out before lunch with the girls. When I got back, drew loaded up Jasper and took him down to the Canyons to ride the greens. Jasper was excited once again! I can't wait to hear the report.

Here are some photos of jasper's lesson. Yesterday was cloudy and grey, so the photos aren't that great. Jasper's in all black.

Bacon Eater

2011-02-24T09:04:00.001-06:00

He is a bacon eater! First breakfast in Utah, and everyone is excited.

- Posted with my BlogPress App using my iDrew

Location:White Pine Canyon Rd,Park City,United States

He's a dipper

2011-02-18T12:43:00.001-06:00

Benj has discovered the joy of dipping panera baguette in their soup - particularly the chicken and wild rice. Yum!

Awesome birthday lunch with all my guys!

- Posted from my iPhone

Return to the sandbox park

2011-02-17T20:24:00.001-06:00

After our winter "cold snap," the boys and were happy to return to one of our favorite parks yesterday.

And we were even more delighted that we were met by our friends Nehemiah & mrs Krystal and Adolai & mrs Brittany. Fun times!

- Posted from my iPhone

Bling

2011-02-05T20:44:00.000-06:00

Somehow I lost the sunglasses I bought in August for our trip to California. I’ve been scouring the house and cars and church for them, but I cannot find them. In February, while we were out running errands, the boys stopped to help me pick out a new (hopefully interim) pair.

Jasper l-o-v-e-d this pair. He said “i like these. they make the store night.” They match his shirt, too! Benj loved his pair, and I’m so glad to have caught a side view since that shows of his bling best. I think Jasper looks particularly “Jackie-O-ish.”

Jasper’s report card

2011-01-27T14:57:00.001-06:00

Jasper got his first ever report card today from his preschool teacher, Mrs. Kelly. He scored “G” in all categories (good progress). Mrs. Kelly’s comments were:

Jasper is a wonderful, happy and obedient boy. He is a delight to have in our class. He is very strong academically and socially.

January notes

2011-01-25T23:38:00.001-06:00

jasper loves the thomas trains. he talks about them a lot. one of his favorite things to discuss when Drew asks him what he wants to talk about is “trains on the island of sodor.” I don’t know what made me think of it, but Gordon is engine #4 and Jasper is 4 … so i asked him if we should start calling him Jasper Gordon Gant since he’s 4 years old. He thought that sounded like just about the best thing ever. Just a sneak peak at our lives …

poor benjamin has been coughing like a fiend for about 5 days. it’s worse at night, a clear indication of sinus drainage. but he didn’t actually start draining externally until two days ago. he hates the saline drops we put in his nose typically at diaper changes in the morning, at naptime and at bed. Yesterday he lay on the floor for his naptime diaper change and started crying saying “not my nose” before i had done anything. poor thing. maybe he’ll eventually get to the point where he endures them as well as his nasty vitamin. despite his cough, he’s been full of energy (except yesterday – when he was fatigued, lacked appetite and had a slight fever). we got some dvds at the library, and today at dinner he came up to me carrying one of them saying “what’s this, mommy?” with the cover turned away from me so i couldn’t see. i said, “i don’t know honey.” to which he said “what’s this, mommy?” followed only by “can we see this movie?” “no, benj. not today.” “can we see this movie?” (let the repetitive questions begin!) he still gives smooches anytime he can, and we’re having to repeatedly remind him that he can kiss on the cheeks not the lips.

On Sunday, after learning about the story of Gideon and the Mideonites, all Jasper wanted to do in the afternoon and evening was play Gideon and the Mideonites – which means one person (Gideon) toots the horn and rustles the torch (both props were made in KidStuff at church), the other people (Mideonites) run, and Gideon chases them down. Drew was doing a lot of running around on Sunday. Yesterday, I asked Jasper to help me make chocolate chip cookies after he got up from his nap. it was his treat since he had stayed in bed and slept for his nap. he thought that was wonderful. what he loved was that i have an apron that is just his size that he got to wear. he helped me gather the ingredients and combine some of them. i asked him to unwrap the stick of butter and put it in the mixing bowl. his hands were a little buttery after that, and he looked around to figure out what to do about cleaning them. when i showed him he could just wipe them on his apron, he thought that was awesome! he also said daddy would think the cookies were yummy. he was pumped. he stood on a stool on the other side of the island from me, nose just inches away from the cookie sheets, watching me load them up. at one point, when i had stepped away, i heard him ask me, “mom, can i push this down?” I looked and saw he was pointing to a little flip of the dough on one of the cookie dough rounds, so i said “sure!” he sooooo just wanted to touch the cookies. he could hardly wait! when benjamin got up, it was even more precious to see the two of them on separate stools standing on the other side of the island, noses perched over the edge looking with anticipation. today, i challenged jasper to nap without diego pants. he peed like a racehorse before nap and woke up 2 hours later dry. yippee!

while they have their moments and are working on being peacemakers, they boys are the best of friends and often greet each other with screams of delight or hugs and salutations like “my sweet brother!” we’re learning where most all of the firestations are in Austin so while we’re out and about we can swing by one of them to see if we can catch a glimpse of a fire engine. man, jasper is still just over-the-moon about fire trucks! thursday is a pajama party at preschool, and he’s already told his teacher he’ll be wearing his fire truck jammies.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T10:09:00.001-05:00

we don’t “celebrate” halloween in this house yet, but the boys love acting out being firemen. so i figured i could make them some shirts to enhance that play time. they love the shirts so much - jasper especially- that he has asked if they could wear them again today.

the outfit layout:

california highlights: the sierras

2010-08-31T21:41:00.001-05:00

i know it’s been a long hiatus, but i thought i’d jump in with highlights from our awesome trip to california. thanks, jon and kate for getting us out there!

playing in Donner Lake in Truckee, California

rehearsal ready and color-coordinating with the bride and groom

the view from Glacier Way

evidence of the killer doughnuts from the rehearsal dinner on Benj’s face

all dressed up and ready … looking just like daddy was the goal.

the funniest wedding reading i’ve ever heard by nick i. what a trip!

kate and jon with all the kiddos before they melted down. kate looked gorgeous and radiant, and jon was as handsome as could be.

benjamin really liked grandma’s flowers. how they survived the night after he was playing with them is beyond me. both boys liked cutting a rug, and had fun with mommy and auntie lou.

look, benjamin is still trying to woo kate. do you think it’s working? jon had high praise for his ring-bearing nephews, even if they didn’t follow their designed route for the ceremony.

the view from the top. literally. what a sight from the ritz carlton at the top of the northstar gondola. so glad jon suggested we take the trip. it was great!

a day trip after the wedding (3 hours round trip) got us to emerald bay in lake tahoe. it is picturesque and popular. benjamin missed the entire trip. he was asleep about 5 minutes into the drive and woke up as we were coming back into truckee (although it was a great nap for him!). jasper was awake for portions, and got to throw rocks into the lake in tahoe city. rubicon bay has amazing, unreal really, striations of blue in the water.

after so many hours in the car, we needed to stretch our legs and enjoyed a quick hike to the donner lake overlook at glacier way (the wedding site).

jasper loved looking at all the tractor trailers on I-80 below and talking about how small they looked even though he knows they are soooo big.

as the early evening shadows grew long, we headed back to our home away from home in tahoe donner for dinner with the extended family. jasper was tired by this point and wiped out royally at one point – but still finished the hike. what a strong trooper. we’ve found if we play i-spy it really helps keep him moving. or we count to see how long it takes for him to run and catch up to us.

but a bath makes all things new, and makes the boys ready for books with auntie lou.

there were many other adventures the boys had on the trip after drew and i escaped for two days to wine country. they went back to donner lake to swim, visited with the construction workers multiple times (and brought them leftover wedding cake), went shopping in downtown truckee for treasures and generally had a blast with grandpa and grandma. it was a treat for us too! we didn’t worry about them a bit.

not only that, but papa and nana came for the wedding and were a huge help during the rehearsal dinner and the reception. i think the reception was the most relaxed i was all weekend, because literally nana and papa just corralled the boys and walked with them around the country club when they were getting antsy. then they took them home and put them down for the night so drew and i could stay through the crazy dancing that topped off the official evening. it was great to have both sets of grandparents there. what fun!

who can sleep like this?

2010-08-31T20:35:00.001-05:00

really and truly … who could sleep? i’m interested in a show of hands. this is just ridiculous. clearly my boys who are in their beds now calling out to each other’s stuffed animals would not be still enough to attempt such a task, and WOW can i just say i would have to literally place them in the hands of my savior to let them do this at a more mature age.

Fresh Wounds

2010-06-17T15:23:00.001-05:00

As of yesterday. Jasper’s wound was looking really good. You could barely see the points of entry for the stitches, and the actual scab was coming off on its own.

That was until we got home from the post office.

I was carrying in Benjamin and Jasper was in front of us carrying his Lightning McQueen hat. He turned the corner out of the laundry room, and I turned around to close the door to the garage. In an instant things changed. When I turned back from closing the door, there was Jasper standing in front of me with blood pouring out of his wound and out of his nose. It was in his mouth and all over his hand which was also in his mouth – his gaping wide mouth from screaming.

I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know what happened or really what to do. I put down Benjamin and picked up Jasper and made a bee-line for the kitchen sink. Jasper would not stop crying and would not tell me what happened. Neither thing was helpful. He recoiled when I put a wet paper towel on the wound, but I could not get the bleeding to stop. I tried having him lie down on the floor to let gravity help me, but the wound on the bridge of his nose just poured blood into his eye. Goodness!

So I had to get tough. I put more pressure on his wound and told him he HAD to stop crying. Once I started talking like that, he realized I was serious and fell in line. He explained that he hit himself in the nose with his hat (you know how kids hold the back of the hat – the loop that loosens - and kind of fling it around? I can only guess he was doing that and really clocked himself in the nose. How does that happen? How does it happen to my kid who just had stitches???) The fact that his wound was pouring out blood with greater force than when it was actually injured initially was wild and totally shocking. I guess the nose has more blood vessels that the bridge of your nose, and when they rupture, the blood looks for the easiest way out. (Spoken like a true layman.)

As far as I can tell – the stitches stayed in, and things don’t look too bad up there. Now, of course you can see the points of entry from the stitches again and the scabbing is fresh. And I think the blood vessels inside are more damaged from this latest injury … so we could see more colors of the rainbow. But other than that, he seems back to normal.

We’ll see what this afternoon holds.

Dining Room Fort

2010-06-17T15:10:00.001-05:00

Summer in Texas is hot, and I’ve been copping out and staying inside more than in past years.

In light of that, I’m trying to come up with ways to entertain the boys – or let them entertain themselves – with a little more creativity. So, we’ve been doing art more and I made a “fort” out of the dining room table. I bought two queen size sheets and was going to sew them together to totally cover the table. Turns out, Jasper didn’t want the ends closed – so one sheet will do just perfectly.

In addition to that, I had to line up the chairs along the sides of the room, and Jasper thinks they make perfect trains on the left side and the right side. We ride them all the time to Costco, HEB and Target. (Can you tell where we go the most frequently?) It took one day to figure out how high they could rise up and how they had to be careful about hitting their heads. Now, they like to be in there a good amount of time. They like it when daddy comes in to play when he gets home from work, too. :)

Progress on the Potty

2010-06-17T15:09:00.001-05:00

The only progress we’ve made on the potty is that Jasper will sometimes be willing to sit there to go #2. He does not go on his own and will not stop what he’s doing to tell us if he has to pee (even when he’s wearing cloth training pants). He’ll only go pee when he has nothing on bottom. But, he’s willing to sit there. It helps that we have this h-u-g-e toy catalog that neither he nor Benjamin tire of looking at.

Rite of Passage

2010-06-16T02:16:00.001-05:00

At 4:25am on Thursday morning, Drew and I awoke to the cries of someone in pain – Jasper specifically. We bolted out of bed, and seeing as I sleep on the side closer to the door, I made it to Jasper’s bedside first. He was kneeling in his bed, with his knees nearly on the pillow. I could see something was on his face, so I took him out of the room and, holding him with his head on my shoulder, asked Drew to tell me if he had a bloody nose. Drew turned on some light and said “oh no, he has a shiner.”

Right between his eyes, on the bridge of his nose, he had a cut. We do not know what happened. We can only speculate, but here is my theory: He rose up in his sleep either to a sitting or standing position (as we have witnessed him to do) and moved some amount. Then when he went to lay back down he smacked his head on the headboard.

Thankfully the cut did not bleed much at all. We put pressure on it with a cold pack, and Drew sat with him a while … seeing as how I actually got whoozy from the whole episode and had to pass him off before I passed out. In a relatively short amount of time he calmed down and was sleepy enough to go back to sleep. Seeing as how his wound was not bleeding, we put him down back in bed. I thankfully fell back asleep. Drew worried that he had suffered a concussion and lay awake some with regret about removing Jasper from our observation.

In the morning Jasper slept in until 7:22 and came running out to the kitchen alert, refreshed and nary even giving me cause to think he’d been awake overnight, let alone injured. After breakfast I cleaned his wound to examine the dimensions and sent Drew a photo:

We decided to prevent as much scarring as possible, we’d take him to Dell Children’s Hospital for stitches. Thankfully our neighbor Amanda was available to come stay with Benjamin, and truth be told the whole trip to Dell was as good as could be. They are totally professional & efficient at Dell and supremely sensitive to caring for kids.

We did not have to wait terribly long. Dr. Mouw talked to us about our options, and we opted for calming medicine administered via nasal spray and then restraint while he stitched Jasper (as opposed to putting him under). They took good care of Jasper, and while I still do not understand why they did not have him close his eyes for the stitches, Dr. Mouw was able to get them in and get Jasper all taken care of. The stitching took maybe 6-7min. Jasper started to get upset almost right away when he had to be restrained (by the nurse and me) and when Dr. Mouw needed to tilt his head back. We could keep him pretty still … until he started kicking his legs (his only loose appendage). Drew was holding my iPhone above him for him to watch Cars as a distraction. But that was pointless. Once everything started, he was too distracted with not liking things to even notice the movie. So, live and learn. Next time he needs stitches on his face, just blindfold him.

Photos from the time at Dell

in the waiting room:

with numbing gell on his wound:

looking at Mr. Matt’s glitter wand while the numbing gell took effect. Mr. Matt explained all about the procedure, showed him the tools what would be used, explained what his job was going to be (to hold his head still), and assessed Jasper’s mental stated to let us and the doctor know how he’d do for the stitches.

after the stitches, ready to hit the truck aisle at Target for being a brave boy:

after his afternoon nap, for which he slept soundly:

Friday afternoon, bright eyed:

and kinda scary-looking:

Saturday on our hike (sunglasses are the one thing he can’t wear right now. they hurt his wound.)

Sunday night, the rainbow of colors is setting in:

I told Drew on Sunday that each time I looked at Jasper on Saturday I had a hard time not thinking of him as Herman Munster’s son.

Not once since the event has Jasper complained about his wound. He wasn’t himself the following morning (Friday) when he stayed home with a babysitter, but that seemed to clear up after his nap. Since then he’s really been just himself – a really great kid!

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

2010-06-16T01:27:00.001-05:00

Last Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, thunder boomed overnight and woke Drew and me up with the loudest and longest clatter, rattle and shake that I’ve ever remembered hearing in my more than 30 years. We were startled awake and shaken alert by the thought that the boys would start screaming any minute. But … they didn’t. They slept through it all!

There was no lightening or thunder to speak of once the sun came up, and as it was clear that the rain was just going to fall lightly throughout the morning, we headed out for some pre-lunch fun. The boys donned their boots and rain jackets and took their monster trucks out for some muddin’ action.

Jasper was methodical in driving his trucks through the puddle over and over. Benjamin wandered around trying to find what interested him. Eventually he found the plopping rocks into the puddle and making a splash was cool, so then he was on a hunt for rocks. Jasper later figured out it would be great fun to splash his “stroller” in the puddle and repeatedly ran it up and down the driveway to make the best splash. All in all, just about every outdoor toy got used and muddied in the process. After about an hour or so, both boys were quite wet and dirty, but boy did they have fun!

Benj trying out boats (the puddle wasn’t quite deep enough):

Benj is moving on to find something else to do.

… but is still having fun.

Benj now discovering the presence of rocks:

Out come the jeep and the “stroller.”

I fought the jeep, and the jeep won.

We hear sirens! Is the fire truck going to come down our street? (nope)

All done! Time for a bath!

Tomato Sauce Funny Face

2010-06-15T22:57:00.001-05:00

I can probably count on two hands the number of times we, as a family of four, have eaten together the same exact thing for dinner. Between our picky toddlers, Drew’s work schedule that rarely has him home for dinner, and Jasper’s dietary restrictions due to his continuing GI issues, there are a limited number of meals we all eat.

Tomato sauce has almost never been something Jasper would touch with a ten foot pole, but for some reason I offered him raw tomatoes the other week and he gobbled them up and said that he loved them. ! Benjamin has demonstrated before that he likes tomato sauce, so I figured: we just had to try again.

So a week ago Sunday, I fixed plain-jane grilled chicken with penne pasta and our standard tomato-basil sauce (which won the taste-test on America’s Test Kitchen, by the way). I went so far as to add more brown sugar than normal to really over compensate for the acidity, and i even strained the sauce for the boys – to remove any herbs. And what do you know, but Jasper ate everything. He gobbled it up!

Benjamin did, too.

As a reward for going #2 on the big boy potty (right before bedtime the night before), I frosted some chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Umm-umM! They were yummy. Each boy had his own special way of eating his treat.

What remained after Jasper finished licking off the frosting:

And yes, it was good enough still to eat it without the frosting:

Is that not the look of pure chocolately contentment? (or is it mischievousness?):

He does not show it off so much anymore, but if Jasper asks Benj to “show us your funny face” we get treated to something akin to this. This was just too cute to pass-up.

Have no fear, with some good old-fashion elbow grease and a soapy washcloth, Benjamin is no longer orange.

Backpackin’ Boys

2010-06-09T14:52:00.001-05:00

We’re still trying to train the boys to hike. The last two weekends we’ve gone for a family-style hike (aka slow walk) on the Barton Creek Greenbelt. The first week was hot, dry and not too interesting. We had to use snacks (apple slices, bunnies and straight-up apple juice … bring on the sugar!) to get Jasper back to our car.

Jon and Debbie let us borrow their Kelty backpack for this past weekend’s hike. Benjamin liked it. Jasper wanted to show off his backpack, too. (He does not wear it while we hike.)

This past Saturday, we entered at a much greener, shadier section of the (8-mile) trail and immediately got to watch rock climbers. Jasper took to this portion of the trail with much greater enthusiasm and walked more decidedly. He enjoyed when we got to cross a bridge and when we reached a portion of the trail that opened onto a creekbed over which we had to scramble (thankfully it was dry) and when we found pools of water into which he could throw rocks. He has quite a throw! His aim & distance are steadily improving. We’re going to have to get a football into his hands soon if we want a future Brett Favre rather than a Stephen Strasburg.

After our hike, we had lunch at Rudy’s – what a reward for ALL of us!

Sidebar

2010-06-09T14:27:00.001-05:00

If I ever find the rationale to sit down and get caught up on the blog, i’m sure i’ll delight with photos of bluebonnets, Easter baskets and general cuteness. If i don’t, please don’t hate me. So this is just a sidebar to get y’all caught up on the boys. If you haven’t been around them lately, which is most of you, you’ll be shocked.

Benjamin (who has decided to nap a mere hour and is now screaming – sigh) is talking. Not just first sound words, but real full words. He is still not as verbal as Jasper was at this age (20 months), nor does he have the enunciation that Jasper had, but he is talking. It’s great! It’s also adorable. Jasper will walk into the room, and he’ll say “hi, ja-per!” He’ll mimic words we use as well. He said something close to “excavator” earlier today at my prompting. He has words for all the animals, all the trucks, all the “Cars” characters, food & people (yes – even “Auntie” and “Uncle”). One of his favorite words and one of the cutest to hear him says is “cookie.” His intonation rises at the end of the word as though he’s asking “can i have a cookie?” too cute! Last night Benjamin took to couscous like a duck to water, calling out “coo-coo” the whole time. It was hysterical! Benj follows his brother everywhere but is not so infatuated with him that he won’t tell Jasper “no.” Oh how that irks his brother! Benj loves to run, and unfortunately with his center of gravity being shifted forward as it is (over his belly) … he falls. He has so many head bonks! Thankfully, he recovers and we’re designed to withstand that kind of stuff.

Jasper (at 3 & 1/2) is smart as a whip and so considerate. He’ll compliment me on my necklaces, my hair, how pretty i look, how well i cut his hair, etc. all the time. He particularly loves my necklaces. He gets real close, plays with the necklace and say, “mom, this necklace is pretty.” He knows all his letters, and thanks to The Talking Word Factory DVD can sound them all out and sound out words. He’s not jumping into sounding out words on his own, but if we work with him he’ll totally do it. He’s also infatuated with Fabian Cancellara. I spelled Fabian the other day on a piece of paper and got him to sound it out. When he figured out what he had just said, he got the hugest grin on his face and squealed “Fabian Cancellara! … Mom, how do you spell Cancellara?” We haven’t come back to that, but we will. We consistently read to him from the Jesus Storybook Bible, and he can tell you things about the stories. He knows that God always wins his battles; that David told Goliath, “You might be big, but my God is bigger than you.”; he got bright eyed when i explained to him that jasper is a precious stone (like a diamond on my ring) that shines and is beautiful and is in heaven. He loved that his name was in the Bible. He also loves the story of Joseph from our other children’s Bible because his brother’s name was Benjamin.

I could go on and on. They are a treat (and a trip)! But, I’ll have to save more for later.

Bed Head

2010-06-09T14:02:00.001-05:00

I don’t know why Benjamin’s hair is prone to this activity, but he’s been waking up with this craziness a bit more frequently lately. A mere comb is useless to tame this beast.

check that out! can you imagine what amount of hair product the average person would need to get their hair to do that?

We’re So Lucky!

2010-04-29T15:56:00.001-05:00

There are many reasons for which I am grateful to have Drew for my husband and for which the boys are so lucky to have him as their father.

One of the big things – which might not seem like much to the outside observer – is that he is a risk taker.

I am not.

There has been many a time when he has gone ahead with some bold move, sometimes not telling me – lest he disrupt his Nervous Nelly wife – and far and away most of the time it turns out just swimmingly.

Take last weekend for example. While I was at a baby shower, he put Benjamin down for his nap without his pacifier. (He had tried this earlier in the week, and it hadn’t gone well, so he aborted that mission. Benjamin wasn’t ready for the big push, and we wanted an evening of relative quiet for conversation.) I’m told there was protesting by the wee one, but he did fall asleep after tears shed. Ditto at bedtime. Protesting. Crying. Eventually sleep.

Then on Sunday morning when Benj awoke from his morning nap SO upset, and SO wanting to be pacified, and SO NOT happy to just be in mommy’s arms – what was I to do? I couldn’t give in after what Drew had established. So he cried … for a while. And he flailed, and he moaned and he reached for pacifiers in view (that was unkind of us to have them there.) And then something distracted him long enough (something Jasper did I think) that he stopped. And there’s been nary a pacifier since.

You might think, “what? a pacifier? … really? like it was that hard?”

“have you children?” I might ask.

“have you any habits that are hard to break?”

“have you so wanted peace and quiet after a morning of complete chaos* that a pacifier looks like heaven to you, too?” (*think whack-a-mole, and that might paint a picture of what motherhood of two young toddler boys is like.)

So that’s where I was. Totally wanting Benjamin to kick the pacifier, but totally NOT wanting to endure the perceived pain of getting him to kick it. I didn’t know he could be a rock star in this area if I could just get over my fear to try. (Jasper never took a pacifier. Ever. I didn’t go through this with him. I had nothing to go on.)

So, how nice was it that in less than two days my husband, brave and bold man that he is, took charge and led his youngest out of the last vestiges of infancy into toddlerhood?

Pretty awesome. We’re so lucky!

Cycling Fan(atic), Part Deux

2010-04-12T15:21:00.001-05:00

Anyone who might regularly read this blog (as often as there is anything worth reading) has to know that Drew is a major cycling fan. He knows as much about cycling as he does about airplanes. (And that’s saying a lot!) His love of cycling is rubbing off on his progeny, and now we have two cycling fan(atic)s in the house.

Yesterday was Paris – Roubaix, a century-old “classics” cycling race that is 262km long, over 20+ cobblestone sections. It’s ridiculous! It’s almost a sprint (a sprint for anyone not professional level), and the course is so narrow and treacherous that there are always major wrecks. It’s really unbelievable. It took the winner 6.5 HOURS to finish, going an average of 39.2km/hour. Good Night Nurse!

Yesterday American “big George Hincapie” was riding it for the 17th time, and although we were pulling for him, we knew the race would ultimately come down to the two favorites: Fabian Cancellara (Swiss) and Tom Boonan (Belgian). Jasper has been exposed to these two cyclists since before he could talk. I have photos of them from bicycling magazines in his “image” book, and seeing as how Cancellara is such a cool name to pronounce, we would tell him of Fabian and eventually got him to tell others that “Fabian Cancellara is the world time-trial specialist” which he is … and a gold medalist. But I digress.

We let Jasper watch a short portion of the race last night before bed, and then he got to watch it almost in entirety this morning. He thought it was great! He looked intently for Fabian Cancellara (who kindly was wearing a red jersey and red shoes – very easy to pick out), and without any prompting from me identified Tom Boonan. He called them out every time they showed up on the screen. And he could not (really, he just couldn’t because he was so excited) say Fabian without an increasing intonation in his voice. I recorded him as he watched the race so I could send it to Drew. hopefully I can post a link to the audio later.

In the end, Fabian Cancellara wiped away the field. He was remarkable in his timing and his strength. He pulled away with 45km left in the race and rode out the remaining course like he does all time trials, with great focus and precision. At the end of the race last night, Drew declared “Fabian Cancellara is my favorite cyclist to watch!”

I don’t have it recorded, but Jasper also kept saying things like “Fabian is going to win. He’ll raise his hands up in the air like this” (giving me a demonstration).

and so he did!

Righteous?

2010-04-07T19:31:00.001-05:00

At dinner tonight I asked Jasper to pray. He was all over that and prayed for the fire trucks, ambulances, firemen and “workers at the hospital.” He prayed that the fire trucks would be safe and make it to the fire and be able to get out their ladders. It was cute, and I don’t even remember all of it.

He skipped the food.

During dinner, Jasper also asked me what “righteous” means. This came out of the blue, so I was a little unprepared. I mean, how do you explain righteous to a 3-year-old? I said righteous means to be good. He interjected and said “the righteous runs to the strong tower and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10). So I said yes, “righteous are those who love God and try to do good and obey God.” Jasper then looked at me and said,

“Dad is righteous. MY daddy is righteous.”

How precious!

Praying with Jasper

2010-04-07T15:32:00.001-05:00

For some time we’ve been praying with Jasper before meals and before he sleeps at naptime and at bedtime. At meals he has in the past sometimes wanted to pray himself. He would say

“thank you, Jesus, for the fire trucks. Let them get to the emergency because every second counts. Amen.”

At naptime I try to be consistent in thanking God for our lunch (since lunchtime is hectic and I don’t always sit with them or take time at the beginning of the meal to pray), praying for daddy at work, for our neighbors and for the boys to have good naps. I have often prayed above his level, hoping to get him used to thinking about such things. He always asked to pray for “everyone and our neighbors” at each prayer time. Lately he’s been restless during prayer time, so today I suggested that he pray by himself. I gave him an example of what he could pray for (our top four things) and how to say it (like we do every day but much simpler). Then he said “no, you pray” a few times until I could convince him to pray on his own. Then he did. He said,

“Thank you, Jesus, for our lunch.

Thank you for daddy’s job and bless it.

Thank you for our neighbors.

Please help Benjamin and Jasper to have a good night sleep.”

I was so proud! I hugged him and said I didn’t need to add anything to it since he had prayed so well. Then I tucked him in and came almost running out to the computer to share it with Drew. Drew was thrilled! (I think that’s putting it mildly.)

Our primary prayer for him - above healing his GI, getting potty trained, keeping him from harming his brother, taking away his allergies to nuts, etc. … the thing we have prayed more than anything else for Jasper (and Benjamin) is that God would draw them to Him and that they would become sons of God.

We see how Jasper is learning about God and Jesus from Sunday school at church and from reading to him, praying with him and talking with him about the Bible and God. He’s lately been telling us stories from his “bible” (any flip chart type thing he can get his hands on – usually a pad of post-it notes at the kitchen table). Yesterday it was the Easter story: “Jesus died on the cross for our sins and then he rose from the dead.” Literally, those were his words. It really is a thrill to see how he’s growing in maturity (yes, even at 3!) and in his understanding of his Creator. Amen!

18 months old, continued

2010-04-07T15:09:00.001-05:00

Benjamin does not like to be left out of any conversation or hand gesture. If we give Jasper a high five, Benjamin puts up his hand for us to “five” him too. If we fist bump with Jasper, Benjamin holds up his fist too. it’s adorable! He waves hi or bye and claps when we sing, play music, dance or are clapping in appreciation for good deeds or fun stuff.

For some time Benjamin’s favorite book was Farmer Jed, a Fisher Price board book about life on the farm. He got it in his stocking. He seems to have a little more fondness for animals than Jasper did or does. He is wild for cats, and can make some animals noises – not perfectly, but consistent to the animal in question – meowing, mooing, quacking, woofing, etc.

Much to our pediatrician’s dismay, I’m sure, Benjamin has seen a record number of Clifford episodes, Cars movie clips and movies about John Deere tractors, cars, motorcycles, street sweepers, fire trucks, garbage trucks and big mining trucks. When it’s time for Jasper to do his breathing treatment, we let him watch something – usually only for about 15 minutes (unless we’re really busy and lose track of time). When this time comes, Benjamin knows what’s happening and comes running, squealing with delight, for the couch. He climbs up and settles in to be entranced by the magic machine. Not sure what detriment this will be to his cognitive ability or his attention span. Time will tell!

While Benjamin naps in the morning, I usually get some alone time with Jasper. But I rarely get alone time with Benjamin. However, recently he was waking up from his afternoon nap almost an hour before Jasper, so we got some one on one time. He has shown a fondness for stuffed animals and loves to cuddle them. He also likes trying to get them to fit into the dump truck. Here are some shots:

This is Bunky bear, one of my favorites growing up.

oh, what a cute blue monster!

This might not come as any shock, but there is nothing Jasper does that Benjamin does not want to do. He runs after him, wrestles with or is tackled by him (lately he’s starting to defend himself by biting), he squeals and laughs with him – endlessly, and generally speaking he tries to do what Jasper does. This becomes a problem when Jasper does something that would be dangerous for Benjamin, and I can just see ulcers having to be fended off of my life in the future as I give up the safety and security of both boys to our loving heavenly Father. So far there have been no casts. We’ll see how long that holds out.

18 months old !

2010-04-06T16:11:00.001-05:00

Okay, it’s been forever since I’ve posted anything. I’ve had all these grand intentions.

But I also have been trying to read my Bible more faithfully every day, and support my husband more effectively every day and parent our boys more patiently every day and enjoy life more truly every day … and since I haven’t really been successful on any of those fronts (and it’s not just because I’m a perfectionist who is trying to change), I didn’t feel like I could stop and spend lots of time posting to the blog … since that really doesn’t have the eternal significance of any of my other every day objectives.

But today, Benjamin is 18 months old. He’s a year-and-a-half. gulp! I don’t know where the time went, but he is definitely not a baby anymore. He is a little boy. Since January, we’ve watched his personality unfold and have been rapt in the awesomeness of God’s creation. It is fun to see how people born of the same parents and raised in the same household can be so different. To be sure, Benjamin has distinct similarities to his brother Jasper. But he is his own creature, and he is a HOOT!

Benjamin is still not talking much, but he has his own way of communicating. He does say dada (his first word), chugga chugga (for train) and wee-ooo (for fire truck). We think he’s saying chips. How’s that for a non family word? And just recently he’s started saying papa and mama. He does sign for milk, more and thank you and blows kisses like the best of them. He totally responds when you ask him to do something he wants to do – like go give hugs and kisses to a room of people before bed. Today he ran from the bathroom to the tent in the playroom to retrieve the “milk carton” for Jasper who happened to be sitting on the big boy potty. He’s attached to his pacifier still (sadly) for naps and other times of comfort and is just starting to show progress of being in the nursery at church without crying much. This last Sunday was perhaps an anomaly since there were 28 kids in his nursery room on Easter. Previous Sundays he’s played, talked and laughed the entire time without needing his pacifier. (We LOVE our nursery workers who are consistent each Sunday and love him and can really track his improvements and care that he shows progress.)

Without knowing how or why this developed, Benjamin loves to yank Jasper’s clothes off the hangers in the closet. He’ll do it while I’m trying to change Jasper’s diapers, too – just when I don’t have a hand free to grab him. In these instances, he is all too defiant and cares not about the tone or inflection of my voice to stop him. He will not eat leftover chicken and sometimes protests almost his entire meal – even though it’s clearly composed of things he loves. He’s taken to Oatmeal Squares cereal for his breakfast of champions of oatmeal, toast and fruit as well. He’s ascribing to his brother’s adoration of breakfast. He loves trucks, just like his brother, and refers to them as “a-cha” – pointing decidedly at passing trucks while saying this.

As of today he has 12 teeth and four, yes four, additional ones are coming in right now. These four will fill out his mouth, leaving no gaps in his smile. Oh, his smile. He is a funny kid and has a “funny face” that he will grin at you if you ask. Jasper loves his funny face and will ask him to show it – then laugh, laugh, laugh at Benjamin. It’s too cute. Drew took a video of it about a week ago. I’ll try to get it uploaded. This is a shot taken when Jasper was saying “Let’s see your funny face, Benjamin!”

The boys are attached to their papa and nana who have been snowbirding in Austin for nearly three months. When they arrive, Benjamin runs for papa, sometimes very clearly brushing off nana as he runs past her. Jasper on the other hand squeals wildly for nana when she arrives. Thankfully they are an equal distribution sibling pair. Papa and nana leave tomorrow. Oh how the boys (and I) will miss them.

Benjamin has not completely given up his morning nap. Some days he can skip it without missing a beat. I mean, he’s stumbling over himself as noon approaches but can make it through lunch and then down for his nap. But he can’t do it every day all week. Yesterday we skipped morning nap and there was major flame out at dinner. Today he was flaming out nearly at the end of breakfast and went down with a scream for his morning nap but quickly fell asleep for over an hour. It sounds like he’s just starting to wake up from his afternoon nap now. There is nothing simple about life with kids. I hope we can be a little more productive in our days once he gives up his morning nap for good and we can use mornings for going to the park, running errands, etc.

I’ll have to catch up on all the goings on since January later. Right now, I have two boys who want to play.

Gideon and Asher come to visit

2010-04-06T15:35:00.001-05:00

In town for a wedding the second week of March, my friend Stacy and I were able to squeeze in a visit and a play date for our boys. Having four boys under the age of 4 in the house was a little pandemonious, but it was fun to see how they interact and feed off one another.

After playing with trucks, play doh, eating blueberry muffins and lunch (chicken nuggets, thank you!), we turned on good ol’ PBS for some peace while Stacy and I ate our lunch. Jasper here is glued to Clifford. Gideon isn’t all that into the big red dog, and Benjamin was all too eager to follow Gideon’s lead of not staying glued to the TV. So, there was some up and down on the part of the mommas, but much less than if we had let them run free.

Asher, the Hock’s chunky monkey, is 3.5 months old and already fitting into 6mo clothes. Sounds like our Benjamin! He is a sweet, smiley boy! Jasper loved loving on Asher (without actually making contact). He would crouch down next to him on the floor and speak sweetly to him. “Asher, it’s Jasper.” He reminds me so much of his sweet cousin Linnea sometimes, it just blows my mind!

Benjamin too thought Asher was pretty cool and would point at him and jabber. Before they left, this shot below reminded me of our first joint shot of Jasper and Gideon.

Benjamin thought Asher wanted a little rocking ride, but we didn’t think Asher was all that into being on a horse. So, we cut off Benjamin before things got out of hand. I think Asher was relieved. :)

Learning to Use a Spoon

2010-03-03T23:22:00.001-06:00

At 15 months, Benjamin showed signs of wanting to feed himself. Either that or I just thought, “let’s give him a spoon as see just how much of a mess he can make.” Of course he did, and he had fun trying. Oatmeal and sweet potatoes were the easiest foods to try, since they stick to the spoon (and don’t fall off when you turn the spoon upside down upon entry). Yogurt and applesauce were a bit more dicey. What neither Drew nor I were prepared for was the mixing of foods that Benjamin is totally comfortable doing. Mixing foods is still an anathema for Jasper.

Check this out (from Jan 13, 2010): Benjamin’s double-fisting his spoons!

and he’s mixing his food … strawberry yogurt and sweet potatoes. Yum?

A few days later and Benjamin is still making a mess. As you can see, though … he’s having fun in the process! Another Jackson Pollock? Perhaps! He’s very studious.

And after all that fun, this kid needs a bath! Bathtime is usually separate. Yes, they have fun together. But for me, when this is the very last thing of the day and I am already worn out from flying solo, the last thing I want is to referee in the bathtub. However, some nights they get a bath together – mostly when daddy’s around.

Just in case we might forget at a later date, Benjamin has the “B” and Jasper has the “J.”

Benjamin is much more tolerant of water getting in his eyes, but he’s pretty much resistant to getting his hair rinsed after shampoo.

Jasper, who used to have a total fit when you tried to rinse his hair, has now become much more calm and tolerant. Phew, what a relief!

Impatient or Inquisitive?

2010-03-01T15:35:00.001-06:00

Benjamin is a toddler, and that means a) he’s getting into everything and b) we cannot yet reason with him.

With Jasper at this age I was really wishing he was able to understand logic. Seeing as how Jasper eventually grasped the concept, I am not pulling out my hair with Benjamin’s lack of interest in the topic. And, the fact that Benjamin has only now started to push boundaries of obedience (each time with an all-too-cute look on his face), I am also not pulling my hair out from frustration and exhaustion.

One day while I was trying to clean, Benjamin either got too inquisitive as to what was in the linen closet or too impatient that I was on the phone with Auntie Lindsay. I tried to distract him with other things, but in the end I also determined that the items of interest were not choking hazards – and let him just have at it. He decided to empty the open drawer onto the floor – shaking each box with flare and great interest. Won’t he love these photos when he’s older?!

Wrestle Time with Daddy!

2010-03-01T15:26:00.001-06:00

Drew is a great father and husband. He loves us (way up to the sky) and cares for us in innumerable ways. The boys and I are “so lucky!” He spends as much time with the boys as he can and really likes to make the time special.

Saturday mornings are “pancake mornings.” Drew makes pancakes from scratch, and Jasper helps him mix the batter. Jasper can mark his days by this event and looks forward to it every week.

Drew makes the boys breakfast each morning, plays with them when he gets home from work, reads to them, bathes them, puts them down for bed and spends lots of quality time with them on the weekend – going to the park, taking bike rides, wrestling, playing with puzzles or trucks, etc. Soon we’re going to start taking family hikes, too – to get ready for our trip to Yosemite this summer.

Jasper has a fabulous laugh and really enjoys being tickled/wrestling. This puzzle time quickly transitioned to a wrestling match. Benjamin is just starting to get in on the fun, and as of this past January, was content to just pat Drew on the head. It was precious!

Jasper might be getting tossed like a sack of potatoes, but I’m going to keep patting daddy’s head.

Oh no, there he goes! Benjamin gets caught by daddy!

Oh, look. Another puzzle piece.

Some of our favorite things

2010-02-26T21:24:00.001-06:00

These mini bagels are a life saver for me. Between Benjamin’s morning nap, lunch, afternoon naps and dinner, there really isn’t a lot of time to run errands. I have to push through and sometimes infringe on some critical time in order to be productive. Sometimes I just get caught – in line. Case in point: the Costco photo pickup before Christmas.

So, I generally carry these with me whenever we’re out running errands. They can instantly bring peace. They are soft enough that they’re easy to chew. They have no nut content and only “may contain sesame seeds” – of which I have never found any. They are yummy. They take a little while for the boys to each eat them, so it’s a long peace time. And the boys can hold them easily while they eat them. When the natives get restless in the backseat of the car, I just hand them each a half bagel instead of turning around over and over to dole out more Cheerios, bunnies, craisins, etc. I love ‘em!

Monkeying Around

2010-02-25T00:03:00.001-06:00

Papa and Nana bought Jasper a trampoline for his 3rd birthday. He loves jumping on it, but early in January he discovered he could mount it “Dukes of Hazard Style” and crawl underneath it. We might have encouraged him to crawl underneath it, but the “Dukes of Hazard” mount is all boy!

And yes, this is how our living room floor looks every once in a while. Sometimes the boys take out all the toys and don’t put things away as they go. It can get a little nuts.

Before Christmas is Officially Over …

2010-02-24T23:54:00.001-06:00

here are some photos of our boys in front of our Christmas tree (from early January).

Spelling

2010-02-24T23:42:00.001-06:00

As you might imagine, the first word Jasper asked to learn how to spell was:

He spelled this on his own on the first day of 2010!

Christmas 2009 … snow, snow, snow!

2010-02-23T00:06:00.001-06:00

Each year I hope I will handle Christmas better than the last. I endeavor to be more Christ-focused and less materialistically driven. Each year I try to teach Jasper (and soon Benjamin) more about the birth of Jesus and the hope it brings us. Each year I hope I am demonstrating love to our family, friends, neighbors and strangers better than I have in the past – even if that means only a note on a Christmas card instead of a more heartfelt and inspired gift.

Perhaps when my days are less consumed with the daily joys and trials of raising small children each of these things will be easier to accomplish. For now, in 2009 I think we made progress on teaching Jasper more about the birth of Jesus, a noble task.

We love the Jesus Storybook Bible and delighted in reading the beginning and then the birth of Jesus stories over and over again in the weeks leading up to Christmas. We talked about how much God loves us that he put in place a plan to rescue us from the punishment of our sin and that Jesus was the way. He’s only 3, but he’s catching on. What JOY!

We still make it a point to travel to see family at the holidays. At Thanksgiving it was Ohio to see the Gant side. Christmas it was to Michigan to see the Jasper side. This time we had to travel through O’Hare. Generally we avoid O’Hare like the plague. We have never had good luck traveling through there and really didn’t want to risk it, but tickets were so expensive, it was the only feasible economic choice. So with much prayer support undergirding us, we planned for this trip. We were leaving on the 23rd, so the night before we departed we set up a video conference with Grandpa and Grandma Gant to let them participate while the boys opened the gifts they sent. They sent books, fleeces, trucks, games and more. Jasper thought his h-u-g-e cement mixer was the greatest! Benjamin just thought the computer screen with grandpa and grandma on it was the coolest thing ever. We positioned it on the floor, and Benjamin kept toddling over to it, bending low to see it and squealing with delight. What a hoot! It was precious.

Much to our amazement, relief and great JOY, our trip through O’Hare was a piece of cake. We were late leaving Austin but didn’t suffer on our connection. We were late departing from O’Hare and actually arrived about an hour late but considering we were flying directly into Kalamazoo, it was of little consequence (especially since Papa was so gracious to wait patiently for us). The boys each napped on the flights, including a quick cat nap on the O’Hare to Kalamazoo flight for Jasper which meant he was done for the day. No worries, excitement pushed him through. He was thrilled to see Papa, Nana, Karin, Linnea, Asher, Daisy (!) and his aunties and uncles. Drew and I were glad to arrive in one piece. We slept solidly that night and were so glad to be on vacation.

Our time in Kalamazoo was filled with fun stuff. We ate tons of good food, opened fun presents, played charades, celebrity, Wii and with Legos. We went sledding in the snow in front of Papa and Nana’s house and delighted in seeing a couple of good friends. The time went by too quickly, and before we knew it we were back in Austin settling in to work and play as usual. Each year that we come back from the holidays and are driving home from the airport we ask each other if we feel like this is “home.” Not being native Texans, I don’t know how Texas will ever feel completely like home. But after 6 and a half years, it’s certainly feeling more and more like “home” to us. It’s where we started our life together and it’s where both of our boys were born. It’s hard not to get attached to a place with those memories. :)

Here are some snapshots of our time in the cold midwest. Asher is sporting a seriously adorable hat – for one adorable boy!

Having tons of fun, the kiddos line up for a Christmas PJs picture (from nana). Linnea (7), Karin (5), Jasper (3), Benjamin (14mo) and Asher in front (7mo).

Can you tell we’re a Scandinavian bunch? Look at all that blonde hair!

Benjamin is wanting to get to know his cousin a little bit more. too cute!!

Then the cookie baking began. Of course, nana had already made several batches of all kinds of cookies and fudge (minus our favorite peanut blossoms … sigh), but the kiddos wanted in on the fun, too. The next day, Jasper, Linnea and Karin frosted their sugar cookies. They did a marvelous job. Jasper took his job quite seriously, and enjoyed it!

Jasper’s favorite playmate is Daisy. He sooooo loves her, that he looks forward to seeing her whenever he can. We are so grateful that Daisy is a great dog. I mean GREAT! She is really patient with the kids and Chris and Lindsay have worked hard with her to be obedient, so she just lays and lets Jasper listen to her heart, etc. How many dogs will do that?

Our Texas tree was up on a table, far from prying and pulling hands. But at papa and nana’s house, the tree was on the floor and a wealth of visual and tactile stimuli. Benjamin loved being able to explore it’s ornaments. I think he might be kissing a photo of me as a girl. … Oh, and hanging out with papa is always a treat. :)

Check out their master creation, an energy efficient (check out the windmill in the back), Asian-inspired house. How fashion-forward are these two?

Okay, here we go, the family photos in front of the Christmas tree:

Jasper (3), Erica, Drew and Benjamin (14mo)

(clockwise): Adam, Brittany, Linnea (7) and Karin (5) Shively

Lindsay, Chris and (hiding behind his hat) Asher (7mo) Atkinson

Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without Swedish meatballs (on a very superficial level, of course). No, not the kind you get at IKEA. MUCH better. So yummy! Jasper calls them “Nana’s special meatballs,” and they are. Here we are sitting down to enjoy Christmas Eve dinner after the service at Calvary.

Jasper is teaching Auntie Lindsay how to get festive and do “cheers!”

And yes, Benjamin’s plate is virtually empty. He ate like a champ! Bring on more meatballs!

On Christmas morning, we open stockings and gifts. We take breaks as we go to get nourished because with all of us taking turns opening one gift at a time, it takes a while!

The girls get a big Santa gift on Christmas morning, and this year it was a Barbie condo for Karin. Both boys liked driving their cars/trucks through her condo.

Jasper got a Fillmore and a Red (the fire truck) in his stocking. Had those been the only things, he would have been totally happy. He was thrilled to get those two cars. Along with that he got Mater & McQueen jammies, a cool LeapFrog computer from nana and papa and an orange CARgo tractor trailer (among many other things). He was quite pleased with the orange truck and enjoyed playing with it right away.

Are these girls stylish or what?

It hasn’t taken Lindsay long to bust open her sewing machine and get crafty. She’s got serious Nancy skills, and we’re so impressed!

Sometimes there is nothing nicer than a warm fleecy top to cuddle up in during the cold Minnesota winter days and nights. Now Britta and Adam are matching!

After being up for eating breakfast and opening stockings, Benjamin and Asher took their morning naps. They both rested well and woke up fresh as Daisies – just in time to open their gifts! Benjamin was quite taken with all his gifts: jammies, three new trucks and a cool water bottle.

Asher got all kinds of BIG and small, colorful and stimulating toys, and the Shively girls scored big with a Wii!

We girls have been looking for a new birthdays/anniversaries (year- independent) calendar for my dad for YEARS. To be honest, I had kind of given up hope. But in the week before Christmas while I was wandering around Lifeway, I just happened to spot this calendar. Of course I immediately had to call Lindsay to tell her of the find. I mean, for crying out loud it was a calendar … with Bible verses! Dad opened the gift, looked at it for a moment and then got big eyes and said, “I’ve been looking for something like this!” Ah HUH, we KNOW! So have we! We all laughed and were happy to check that one off the list as finally being done!

Somehow after all the pandemonium of gift opening and cleaning up (maybe even on the next day – I don’t know), Papa managed to get some snuggle time with both boys. They appear to be enjoying it. :)

Linnea is a reading machine, and is reading Benjamin a book from his stocking, “Let’s Meet Farmer Jed” (a current favorite).

It doesn’t take much to make Benjamin giggle and squeal. Here Papa is playing with him on his lap, and Benjamin was just having a BALL! These two are best buds!

Auntie Lindsay, a newly self-proclaimed “all I want to have is boys” mommy, is getting in some cuddle time with Benjamin, too. It was such a huge blessing to be with my family in Michigan and have our boys be so comfortable with everyone that there were never moments of crying or clinging because they only wanted to be with me. With as much trouble as we’ve had getting Benjamin to go into the nursery at church, Drew and I were really relieved and blessed by his easy spirit around everyone. We don’t have photos of the boys with everyone, but they willingly hung out, were held or played with everyone.

All I can think of when I look at this photo is “when I was your age, I had to walk through snow up to my knees!” How funny when the perspective is given.

Day 1 of sledding adventures for Jasper really involved very few sleds. While his cousins loved being pushed or pulled down the hill, Jasper instead liked running down the hill and jumping into the snow. Check it out:

Yes, it was cold – cold enough to make his cheeks seriously rosy, but Jasper LOVED being outside. We were outside together for at least an hour and a half. He outlasted both of his cousins. Perhaps it’s the novelty of the snow, but he just loved it. He wanted to stay out even when Drew and I were just shoveling the driveway. That’s a crazy “Drew gene,” if you ask me!

We introduced Benjamin to the snow on Day 2 of sledding. He liked it but was not nearly the natural fan as Jasper. It’s hard though when you’re small, loaded up with all that extra clothing and are trying to walk.

It snowed on Day 2, and it came down pretty thick. Jasper was undeterred, and even Benjamin enjoyed sledding with daddy.

Sledding with Jasper, however, was not exactly Benjamin’s cup of tea.

After a long time outside, this is the sign of a good time: sweat, a runny nose and bright red cheeks! He could be a snowboarder with that hair!

Since Benjamin and Asher are less than a year apart, comparisons will likely be made of them as they grow. I suspect they’ll be close friends throughout life, and that is super cool to think about. Here it just so happens that they have the same jammies and can be in a photo op together. Benjamin fits snugly into his jammies (as Drew said, “think Elivs”), and Asher has a little more room to move. Still they are cute as buttons sitting together.

Next time, we’re taking this photo when we all have makeup on – not just Britta! Here we all are, some more groggy (Jasper) than others (Asher – smiling like he does ALL the time!, what a sweetheart!).

Winter landscape photos are so pretty, and you just can’t stage these to be natural. How cute is this one of the Atkinsons? SO cute!

Papa and Nana, Linnea and Karin got these Nothing Runs Like a Deere hats when they were at the MN state fair in September. They got enough for each grandkid. How great are they? Since we Gants were the last of the kids / grandkids to leave Michigan, the boys got a little bit of one-on-one time with Papa and Nana. They like to wrestle, and seriously even Benjamin gets in on the act. He has so much fun.

What luck – we don’t have to saw goodbye but see ya later alligator. Papa and Nana will be flying south in January. Yippee!

Parting shots, look how the boys have grown!

Thanksgiving 2008:

Christmas 2009:

Fun in December

2010-01-22T01:19:00.001-06:00

I’m going to have to condense nearly all of December before Christmas into one post. Hang on!

Because they know Jasper is a boisterous boy who has more than enough energy to go around, Papa and Nana bought Jasper a trampoline for his birthday. He loves jumping on it … and using it as a launching pad for some brotherly wrestling. It’s a good thing Benjamin is tough. (sigh)

Jasper likes to jump on his trampoline while directing other activity. Here he’s directing the assembly of his new Mater puzzle, by dad, Andy and Kathryn Rouse. The kid’s got skills!

The tent Grandpa and Grandma got for the boys is still a fun place for them to play – a fun place for wrestling, again. Somehow (seriously I don’t know how he puts up with it) Benjamin manages to laugh and smile through it all.

This plate of food is full of leftovers from Jasper’s birthday party – some of his favorites: sausage, pasta salad and pineapple. yum! Drew keeps threatening to try to eat as much as the boys do for a day. I don’t know that he’d be able to do it. The boys pack it away. We know where it goes on Benjamin (see below), but we’re thinking Jasper’s developed a Joel Hock-eske hollow leg.

Benjamin is becoming adept at using his spoon to eat. He still makes a mess on a regular basis, and things like yogurt have to be spooned off his bib and fed back to him, but he doesn’t care. Sweet potatoes are the best thing for him to eat with a spoon because he turns his spoon upside down at entry.

Play-Doh! Oh yeah! I guess we’re a year “late” to the party, but now that we’ve joined, Jasper is loving it. He started out making spaghetti. He’ll be branching out soon.

Check out that belly in Benjamin! He’s having a little “naked baby” time after bath. He gravitated to the trampoline, and I haven’t a clue why. Speaking of the trampoline, Benjamin quickly started leaving his mark on it. There are half moon-shaped bite marks in the red foam on the handle bar. It’s just at the right height for him to chew on. Considering he’s getting his molars now, he’s drooling and chomping on everything.

But he sure is CUTE! Benjamin was 14 months on December 6th.

Before Christmas we were thrilled to find a weekend when Lisa and Bryan Rollins could join us for dinner. The boys love Lisa! She spoils them and always is delighted to greet them when we go to Apollo to visit daddy. We didn’t know Bryan well before our evening but found him to be so nice, personable, fun and adventurous. We were also delighted to see how quickly Jasper bonded with him. They both are awesome with kids. This is great for us – since they’ve offered to babysit so Drew and I can get out of the house every once in a blue moon. :)

Some of our friends have beautiful property on Lake Austin, and they have generously offered to let us use it whenever we are interested. We are so blessed to have an outlet for escape or just a place to enjoy the serenity of the lake. We headed there in the middle of December to take some family photos. They boys love running around on the property or sitting in the swing next to the lake. Jasper likes to count how many boats we see. We saw many more over the 4th of July, but we still always see some.

Behind the boys, across Lake Austin, high up on the bluff is Mt. Bonnell. It’s a sightseeing spot in Austin from which you can look downtown to see the skyline and also up the lake (river) to see the 360 bridge. I have to admit we got lucky with this photo. We think Benjamin looks so old in this photo – way beyond his 14 months, and that big brother Jasper is looking particularly comforting.

This photo is all sweetness.

But this is what life with two toddler boys is really like. Benjamin is trying to eat me, and Jasper is either crawling out of my lap or jumping in it. Whichever one – he’s always on the move.

This photo still makes me laugh each time I see it. I brought candy canes as props – if needed. I didn’t think through how we’d use the candy canes if we needed them. We posed the boys amid this reeds and told them to hold the candy canes. I don’t recall what Jasper was doing with his, but we told him to hold it up – and this is what we got: a statue of liberty pose. Benjamin is 100% uninterested, and in general it was a total bust – except for the laughter factor.

An old set of stone steps at the back of the property proved the best spot for more serene and light-controlled photos.

By the end of our photo op, we were all desperately running out of fuel. The boys needed to nap and we all needed more than bunnies and craisins. Thankfully they boys held on as long as they could and we were able to get a couple of precious shots of the boys and our family.

The boys figured out they could sit in the wagon (never intended for people transport) and pull/push each other. Jasper liked pulling Benjamin around,

and Benjamin liked climbing in and out.

Like women who think they can suck in their gut to get on a pair of too tight jeans (me included), Jasper thinks he can fit himself into the wagon. Benjamin is not similarly interested in pushing that much weight. Pulling (something heavier than him) is a concept beyond him at this point.

Less than a week before Christmas, the weather was nice enough for an afternoon on the deck. I could sit at the office desk and get things done on the computer (with them in direct sight), and the boys enjoyed playing with the trucks in their sandbox.

But they are still their father’s sons and before long were distracted by the sound of aircraft.

back to pushing sand around. :)

Cheers!

2010-01-17T21:48:00.001-06:00

At some point in the month of December, Drew taught Benjamin how to do cheers.

I came into the kitchen one evening while Benjamin was finishing up dinner to find Drew sitting with him with the biggest grin on his face. “Watch this!” he said. “Benjamin, … cheers!” to which Benjamin would virtually slam his cup into Drew’s then take a sip. Then after seeing Drew’s big smile, Benjamin looked at me with a similarly huge grin. How cute – one of his first tricks! I’ll post a video as soon as I find it. Jasper loves doing cheers with Benjamin.

Jasper is 3!

2010-01-03T23:17:00.001-06:00

We celebrated Jasper’s birthday family-style while we were in Ohio. But at his age Jasper has figured out what birthdays are all about, so we wanted to do it up Texas-style, too.

While he was sleeping the night before his birthday, Drew and I decorated the kitchen, paying special attention to his new chair. On the morning of December 1st, before Drew left for work, we let Jasper open his presents and had a fun morning together. Jasper thought it was great!

Of course, he still had to do his morning breathing treatment before breakfast and presents. But, this isn’t any bother to him. He gets to watch about 15-20 minutes of his pick of videos during the treatment. Benjamin likes that part, too.

Benjamin gave Jasper the blue flatbed he’d been asking for. Jasper thought that was great!

Here he’s checking out the flatbed to make sure it meets his high standards.

Next up was his gift from daddy and mommy …

A Fisher Price Fire Hall, for imaginative play.

Benjamin was a happy on-looker and enjoyed his breakfast in the process.

Oh yeah, happy campers are we!

Jasper and Benjamin played with the Fire Hall all morning. Benjamin particularly loved chewing on the fire hose.

We already had Drew and his rescue helicopter (seen below) and were delighted to see that the Fire Hall has a helipad on top. How fun!

After breakfast, morning playtime and nap, we met Drew for lunch. We gave Jasper the option of where he’d like to eat and he selected “the lunch place” (aka Panera). The sky was gray and cloudy, so I checked the weather before we left … and somehow missed the torrent of rain into which I was going to drive. That was pretty irksome because I didn’t bring any rain jackets. Oh well, we met Drew at the Panera close to his office (a good 30 minutes from our house) and got inside without getting too wet. We had a fun, cozy lunch together and headed home for nap. That night we had Jasper’s favorite meal for dinner: Nana’s special meatballs! It was delicious! (We’re all fans.)

On Saturday, December 5th, we had a little Cars-themed party with Jasper’s friends.

Luke & Ellie and their family came. Two of Jasper’s Z-named girl friends were in attendance: Zeren and Zaylin. Brooklyn and Annabella came with their mommy, and the Burchfields blessed us, too. Miss Mallory came early and played a pivotal role in getting the party off the ground and keeping it well-attired. She was our tattoo artist. :)

We cleared out the living room for plenty of play room for the kids. The tent was a HUGE hit with everyone taking turns going in there for secret hiding time. We had Rudy’s BBQ for lunch, and then all the kids decorated their own cupcakes. It was great! They all loved being independent and creative. Those who are sugar-starved showed the most vigor, but all the kids had a blast!

Ellie was very precise with her decoration. She decorated a cupcake for Drew, too. It was lovely.

Luke was having fun decorating, too!

Jasper is getting into the decorating spirit.

Annabella is heating things up!

Jonathan has his hands full with Cayenne and Paisley (but I don’t know which is which!)

Big sister Zaylin LOVED the frosting on her cupcake.

Brooklyn created a masterpiece!

Jasper got … messy

Benjamin thought the cupcakes were delicious, too!

Mallory and Mark sharing a laugh.

Zeren, Ellie and Annabella are staying busy on the far side of the table. Zeren totally covered the top of her cupcake with blue sprinkles. Teri’s initial reaction was to say “Zeren!” She looked up at Teri with worry in her face, but Teri quickly adjusted and said “that’s beautiful” and Zeren was immediately pleased. It was precious!

Parents and kids alike enjoyed the cupcakes. The recipe is from Magnolia Bakery in NYC – one of the more famous and popular cupcake bakeries in the country. Their vanilla-vanilla recipe is delicious!

Before he left, Zeren’s dad Mike sweetly offered to take a photo of our entire family. Hyped-up on sugar but ready for naps, we all had a good time!

T is for Teething, Too!

2010-01-03T22:17:00.001-06:00

The week upon our return from Ohio (after Thanksgiving), Benjamin was a bear! Our normally happy-go-lucky little one was off-the-charts cranky! After having our shoulders bit for a day or two (picture Benjamin lunging at us with mouth open wide!) and seeing the drool faucet turn out “loud” (as Jasper calls it), we figured he must be cutting new teeth. The only thing is … we couldn’t see any new teeth coming in. It wasn’t for lack of looking. It was for not looking in the right spot! I don’t know why this is, but with his front 8 teeth firmly established, the next to come in are not right next to the existing ones, but one spot over – further back in his mouth. I felt like a veterinarian pushing up his gums (much as one does on a horse – but not a gift horse, of course!) and there was tooth #9 coming in on top on the right. Poor kid! This has been the first really painful tooth to come in.

Tooth #10, the compliment on top has also recently come in (around Christmas). With all the pain associated with these eruptions, brushing his teeth is a dangerous proposition. You have to hold the fingertip brush lightly and not let your finger get trapped, because OUCH! he chomps! In addition to all this chewing, we have not worked at extracting his pacifier. Benjamin only uses it when he is ridiculously upset (read: being left in the nursery) and for going to sleep. He can go without it for naps but often is so tired when it’s bedtime that the pacifier just makes him calm and lets him fall asleep easier. When he gets up from naps or in the morning, we can hold out our hand and say “pacifier out,” and he’ll either spit it out into our hand or take it out with his hand and give it to us. These days I’ve also started saying “why don’t we leave your pacifier in the crib,” and he’ll take it out and set it down (or toss it) in the crib. It’s pretty cool.

T is for Thankful

2009-12-08T14:44:00.001-06:00

If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Yet through it all God is faithful.

Sadly, Jasper got sick on Thanksgiving day. After not wanting much to eat for breakfast and then almost rejecting lunch, I was quite sure we were in for something bad as Jasper headed off for his nap. Unfortunately I was right, and he didn’t even stay asleep an hour before he started throwing up. He continued doing that every 45 minutes to an hour for the next 7-8 hours.

He barely slept the entire time. He complained about being thirsty and wanting water. He was miserable. Finally at 10pm it had been over an hour without any vomit, so we started dosing pedialyte in 1 teaspoon amounts every 5 minutes. He was doing fine until 11:20pm when it all came back up. Poor thing. He was terribly upset and sick. Thankfully he fell asleep on the floor after that, and Drew and I stayed up with him until 1am at which point we finally put him in his toddler bed in our room and went to sleep. That was disrupted at 5am when he was awake and complaining about being thirsty, so we started the whole pedialyte process again. He fell asleep on the floor again and at 7am when he woke up was allowed to have a little something to eat.

At this point I don’t know what he had. I had to go to bed. While Drew slept with Jasper from 6-7am, I was up with Benjamin. Drew and I had had virtually nothing to eat on Thanksgiving day since breakfast. We had all kind of skipped lunch in anticipation of an early dinner. Then Drew and I were very busy taking care of Jasper and Benjamin, not wanting to eat in front of Jasper and then were kind of not interested in eating with Jasper being sick. I was in rough shape by Friday morning, but my sweet husband let me take a morning nap and I recovered.

Before all that went down, Jasper had been having a fun time. He finished his art piece with Kate, hung out in the kitchen with grandma and grandpa and went for a walk in the wagon with Benjamin, Jon, Kate, dad and mom. It was a beautiful Thanksgiving day with actual sunshine – a rare occurrence in Akron, and mild temperatures. Benjamin had a great incident-free holiday. He loved spending time with Kate and exploring grandma and grandpa Gant’s house. He took to climbing the stairs like a champ, too! He was great!

Jasper is practicing his pastry skills with grandma – rolling out his own crust.

Benjamin took to climbing the stairs like a duck to water. I had to show him how to go down once, and then after that it was nothing! He had major incentive to climb upstairs a few times – to reach Miss Kate!

Jasper and Benjamin are both big fans of Miss Kate. We think uncle Jon made a good choice!

As of Friday, Jasper made a slow but steady improvement. His appetite and his color improved throughout the day, and he got to celebrate his 3rd birthday with family members from near and far. Nana and Papa Jasper came from Kalamazoo to have lunch with us before Jon and Kate headed back to Columbus. Lou, Kathleen, uncle Tom, cousin Judy and great grandpa and grandma all came over to grandpa and grandma Gant’s house for cake and pizza at dinner! Drew and I decorated a cake to match a scene from the Cars movie, and Jasper thought it was great!

This is a depiction of the scene from Cars just after McQueen has wrecked the road in Radiator Springs. Sheriff drives up to him angry and tired from chasing him and says, “Boy, you’re in a heap a trouble.” Jasper was able to tell everyone that, and everyone thought that was great!

As of this third birthday, Jasper now knows what presents are all about. For weeks he’s been telling people (including our music teacher out of the blue) that he’s going to be 3 on December 1st and that he’ll get an assortment of trucks: a blue flatbed, a blue tow truck with the yellow things, two Doc Hudsons and Fillmore without the fuel tanks. I don’t know why those 5, but it has been consistent for weeks! Nana and Papa delivered on the blue tow truck with the yellow things, and Kate and Jon got him another Doc. He was pleased! We gave him this little stool right in front of the fire place as a seat of honor from which to open his presents. It was great, and he was actually really super – he waited patiently for everyone to come into the room before he started opening his gifts.

Here you can see he’s really wanting to dive into this gift! He’s checking out the first of many trucks.

Grandpa and Grandma Gant got him an excavator and dump truck set. I mistakenly called this a loader at first glance, and he quickly corrected me. “ah, no mom, it’s an excavator.” Thankfully this was the last gift he opened before nap, because it was very enticing and had all his attention once it was open.

Jasper posed for his pictures and then did an excellent job blowing out his candle. Then he wanted to use his snow plow to scoop up some frosting to eat (his favorite part!).

Due to sickness, we did not get the Christmas card worthy photo we hoped to get over Thanksgiving. These are two of only a few photos of us all. It’s late at this point and time for Benjamin to head off to bed – hence the pacifier. He’s looking sleepy, isn’t he.

To our great relief and thankfulness, none of the rest of us got sick on our return trip to Austin Saturday morning. It was nice to return to the warmth and sunshine of Texas to regain our strength. Benjamin napped on our Cleveland to Houston flight, and Jasper fell asleep on our flight from Houston to Austin. Even though it was a quick flight, that was it for a nap for Jasper. Once we got home, the boys just played outside. We were grateful to have the rest of the weekend to recover from sickness and travel.

We are so thankful for all the blessings we have. We are blessed to be a blessing, and we hope and strive to do this for God’s glory every day.

So Faithful!

2009-11-25T08:57:00.003-06:00

I lift up my eyes to the hills -

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip -

he who watches over you will not slumber;

Psalm 121: 1-3

With all praise to God, we can report that we made it to Ohio late last night without sickness incidences. Benjamin is still not 100%, but he was a trooper and did not get sick on the plane or during our 2 hour lay-over in Houston.

Both boys were great travelers. We feel so blessed to have kiddos who obey, do not act-out in public and generally enjoy traveling. Jasper had a blast taking two airplanes. He even thought the turbulence that sent the flight attendants back to the galley for safety was fun. He was almost yelling "these bumps are fun, mommy!"

Jasper always claims the window seat, so Benjamin doesn't get much time there. But since we had to board the plane before Drew and Jasper on our last flight, I let him peer out the window, and he squealed just as much as Jasper does. We happened to be parked right near the entrance & exit to the underground baggage claim area at Houston, so there was a steady stream of baggage trucks with their cars trailing behind them zipping by.

Neither boy slept on either flight, and Jasper tolerated it much better. Jasper was so excited to be in Ohio he was chatting with grandpa the entire car ride home (about 40 minutes). Benjamin did not fall asleep until the car ride home - at 11 pm (local time) ... 3 hours past his bedtime. Then he woke up when we got to grandpa and grandma Gant's house and was very scared of the unusual surroundings. He had a hard time going down to sleep ... at midnight (local time). Poor boy. He woke up at 7am this morning, so it was precious little sleep for him.

This is our transition day. Jasper has gone off to preschool with grandma and grandpa, and Benjamin is napping now. Hopefully it will be a good one! Jon and Kate get in around dinner time. :)

Sweet Cuddler

2009-11-23T21:11:00.001-06:00

Our poor baby is sick. No, this isn’t the first time this year or this season or even in the last 2 months. No, that’s because he’s been sick for all but two weeks of the last two months. Poor kid! He’s sounded like he has mucus in his lungs the entire 2 months. I have said over and over, he sounds mucus-y. Each time they listen to his lungs and he’s “clear.” But he doesn’t improve. He also struggled for a long time with a nasty cough that he just couldn’t shake. I’ve offered him lots of water, he sleeps in a room with a vaporizer (24/7), and when really congested he gets nose drops (and sometimes the suction). So, the pediatrician finally put Benjamin on Amoxicillin.

After 7 days of Amoxicillin his green nose goop was gone, but he wasn’t totally kicking whatever had taken hold of his body, so I went back to the pediatrician and begged for a stronger antibiotic. Before she was going to just dole out the drugs, she wanted x-rays. So, Benjamin wooed the ladies at the Radiology clinic and walked all the way from the waiting room into the exam room. It was funny to walk behind him and watch him follow the technician. He still kind of waddles while he walks, so it’s cute and comical.

Xrays were on a Friday, and the following Monday (last Monday) we got a call from the pediatrician that Benjamin has a major sinus infection and a viral lower respiratory infection. Great! Can’t do anything about the latter except just wait. But for the former he was put onto Omnicef for 2 weeks. Usually this messes with his GI, but for the last week he’s actually been fine … except on Wednesday he started being more cranky than normal and his body temperature started to rise. It didn’t reach fever levels, but it was trending in the wrong direction. By Thursday morning it was 100.2 deg. That seemed odd. The nurse I talked to on the phone verbalized what I had been thinking: “Omnicef should be taking care of that.” Uh huh. By the time he got up from his nap his temp was back in the normal range and he was a happy camper again. He continued to feel warm (as he has throughout this whole sickness melodrama), but nothing over 100deg, through the end of the week.

On Saturday morning he woke up with snot residue under his nose. I noticed, and I wondered. Then later that night, out of the blue, he woke up at 11pm and cried inconsolably for an hour. It did not matter what we did – who held him, if we walked outside (usually an instant calming trick), if he had a pacifier, whatever. At one point he passed big time gas and then had esophageal activity that made Drew and I both run for the kitchen sink thinking he was going to vomit. Thankfully he didn’t, but we took precautions in case he did. We covered the couch with a sheet and towels. We decided to wait a little while and observe him before we put him back in his crib.

Drew brought the rocking chair into the living room so I could rock him, and that was the first time either of us had been able to sit with him. He soon fell asleep and then woke a short while later and reached his arms out like he does when he wants to go down in his crib. So I quickly lay him on the couch and nestled in next to him. (Drew had let me take a nap earlier in the evening, so I was due to be on nighttime duty.) Benjamin and I spent the next three hours on the couch, but he wasn’t overly comfortable. There was no humidity to make it easier for him to breathe, and the couch – while super comfy – wasn’t the right firmness for him – and he kept rolling into the crease where the cushions meet. So, at 3am, after getting precious little sleep myself, I put Benjamin into his crib and climbed into my own bed. He spent the rest of the night in his crib without issue, and by God’s kindness Jasper did not wake up (and wake us up) until after 7:30am.

On Sunday his runny nose was back in full force. He was sleeping worse than before – waking to cough or moan throughout naps and overnight. He also sounds mucus-y again. We’re nearly 7 full days into Omnicef and cannot figure out why he’s regressed. While he’s quite happy and active right after his naps or once he wakes up in the morning, as soon as he’s tired, he really gets clingy and somewhat cranky. It’s sad. I don’t want him to be sick. I just want him to be healthy and happy. That being said, his clingy nature can be cute. He’s still a cuddler when he wants to, and these days we’re getting a lot of it. I couldn’t reach my camera fast enough to capture a photo of him cuddling with Drew yesterday, but it was precious. I hope I can remember it.

Today was an adventure. He had made little progress since yesterday, except that he made it through the night without issue (yea!). His nose was running like a faucet, but his temperature what still not breaking (albeit knocking on the door of) 100deg. He seemed fine enough that I just called and talked to the pediatrician about his condition and got instructions to watch and wait. I let Mallory, our dear babysitter, come watch the boys as planned and headed out to the salon for a long overdue hair appointment.

When I arrived home after naptime, I was greeted in the garage by a boisterous Jasper followed by Benjamin being held by Mallory. Jasper was full of energy and is quite healthy right now. Benjamin on the other hand was coughing – like he was trying to clear his throat and then all of a sudden vomited ALL OVER Mallory. I was stunned. Mallory was stunned. Benjamin looked sick – like round 2 was coming. So I said, “go to the sink. he might throw up again.” Mallory went running, but thankfully there was not a second round.

Mallory was a trooper. For those of you not exposed, vomit smells awful. Really awful. She had it everywhere, even in her hair, and she totally did not complain – but was trying to put me at ease about it.

Oye! All I could think of was “poor baby, what is wrong???? Why vomit now? What caused this.” He had not had anything to eat for about 4 hours. The coughing was the first episode of coughing he had done all afternoon since Mallory was there. There is no true explanation. He looked pale and gaunt for the next hour and took precious little pedialyte. But about three hours after this all went down, he ate some Cheerios, banana and a dry pancake. He also washed it down with more pedialyte before konking out at bedtime. We’ll see what this evening holds. I pray nothing out of the ordinary, we have to pack. Tomorrow we fly to Ohio.

Bedtime Buddies

2009-11-20T21:53:00.001-06:00

Both boys took great naps this afternoon – nearly 3 hours a piece. So when Benjamin’s bedtime rolled around (7pm) and he hadn’t even gotten into the bath, I wasn’t ruffled. I figured he could go down a little late – maybe a half hour or so. He went down without a hitch albeit a tad late. When Jasper marched into the bedroom a little after 8pm, only 30 minutes after Benjamin had gone down, his grand entrance woke our not-totally-asleep one-year-old and set off a chain reaction of events I only knew would happen one of these days. We’ve never put them down awake together. Now I know why.

Benjamin started to cry, hard. So I got him up in the darkness of the room and held him while I sang to Jasper – all three verses of “Jesus Loves Me.” Then I prayed with Jasper. This is standard stuff for our bedtime routine. When I was done, I put Benjamin down and gave him a kiss. No problem. Then I went to Jasper and gave him a kiss. No problem. I left the room in silence and heard nothing in return … until moments later when we could hear giggling over the monitor. Yes, giggling. Drew went in to find Jasper at the crib egging on his brother in a nighttime laugh fest. Jasper was warned and got back in bed. Another warning quickly ensued. By the third outburst of laughter, Drew found that Jasper was doing this all from the comfort of his bed. He was staying in bed, just talking jibberish to make his brother laugh. Benjamin, for his part, was jumping up and down on his mattress and then leaning over his crib rail as far as he could to see Jasper.

This giggling went on until it was nearly 9pm, which is nearly 2 hours after Benjamin’s normal bedtime. Something had to be done. The boys had to be split up. So, we decided – since he’s been asking to do this anyway – to let Jasper sleep in his sleeping bag in his tent in the office. Drew extracted him from the bedroom, and I calmed the screaming baby who was none to happy that we had removed his bedtime buddy. Drew got Jasper all set up in the tent and then somehow let Jasper talk him into leaving the French doors between the office and living room open.

As I type Benjamin is not making a sound, likely not making a move and is (we sure hope!) sound asleep. Jasper on the other hand is zipping the tent door open and closed, sitting up in the tent and then flopping his body down onto his pillow and has just this moment kicked his foot outside the tent. (Drew has gone to investigate. See a pattern? Drew is my sleuth. Sometimes he comes back with the silliest tales that we laugh until our sides hurt.) Drew and I are in turn sitting in silence and muted light in our living room. We’d normally be watching Special Report, making ourselves depressed at the decisions being made (or not made, re: Afghanistan) in Washington, DC. Or we’d be retreating to the comic relief of Accidentally on Purpose – our guilty pleasure. Instead, I’m typing on the computer and he’s reading his iPhone. Oh the joys of parenthood!

… and with too much excitement and not enough self discipline to speak of, Jasper has been put back into his bed in their bedroom at 20 minutes to 10pm. Benjamin is asleep, and we hope this return to normal sleeping arrangements will have a normal outcome = Sleep!