Teddy at 3 Months

The differences between baby #1 and #2 have at times been pretty major... especially in the way that mommy deals with milestones. With Henry, I took a picture of his "month birthday" every month, on each exact day. I dressed him in special outfits and did a mini-photo session of it. With Teddy, at least this month, he gets his picture taken a week late in last night's PJ's. And, as you can see, the only piece of paper I could find at the moment had big brother's scribbles all over it. Sorry, Teddy! I guess there are pluses and minuses to being the baby brother, so hopefully it all evens out in the end.


I wanted to be sure to put up this post tonight because Teddy reached another milestone this evening... he rolled over! Very exciting! He has been trying this new move for the past few days, and has even been sleeping on his side quite a bit, but he never quite made it all the way over until tonight. Yay, T-Bone!

Teddy is recovering pretty well from his illness, it seems that he mostly has a lingering cough now. For the past day or so, he's been back to his smiley old self, which is great. When I took him to the doctor's office earlier this week, he weighed in at 15 pounds, 2 ounces, so he's gaining really well, too. He's turning into quite the chunky monkey!

Another milestone this past week... he's officially out of the "newborn" diapers, Swaddlers, and is into "big boy" Cruisers. I was kind of sad about that as I was picking up new diapers at Babies R Us. Ah... must be the mommy hormones that makes me tear up a bit when I'm buying diapers!

And for a blast from the past... here's a look at Henry at 3 months. At least in this picture, they look less alike than they did in the past... interesting!

Spreading some holiday cheer...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Fever, Part Two

From one sick kid to another. It seems that Henry's virus is now hitting Teddy. He started feeling warm late Tuesday afternoon and by midnight he had a fever of 101.5. Today he was still hot and was a sneezing, runny-nosed little mess. The doctor told us to keep a close eye on his fever and to keep him home over the holidays. Obviously Matt and I are now pretty skittish about fevers, so we're following doctor's orders.

We're going to make the best of it and try to nurse the kids back to health over the next few days. And I'll try to cobble together some sort of T-day dinner for us tomorrow!

So, we wanted to wish happy Thanksgiving to everyone... we wish we could be there with you!

Scary Stuff...

Matt and I got the scare of our lifetime this weekend when Henry had a febrile seizure due to a fever. I can't even begin to describe the horrible feeling of seeing your child passed out and unresponsive. In the end, it's really not a big deal and was over in a few minutes, but I think it felt like an eternity to us. And I think Matt and I both still have some post-traumatic stress from seeing the little guy like that.

The story... Henry woke up on Sunday morning with a bit of a cold and cough, but nothing too bad. Around lunchtime, he was a bit warm and still coughing, so I gave him some Tylenol before his nap. He woke up and was still warm, but since we couldn't give him more Tylenol until later that afternoon, we just waited it out. He was playing like normal, so he didn't even really seem sick.

I went to the gym for about an hour and came home around 3:30. As soon as I walked in the door, Matt said that Henry was still really warm, so I said I would run up to the store to get him some Motrin - we were out of it and it works better on him. I guess as soon as I left Henry kind of "froze up" and stared at the door for a while... Matt thought that maybe he was choking. But then he started seizing - he basically passed out, his eyes rolled back in his head and he was completely unresponsive. How scary for Matt, considering he was home alone with both kids.

He took Henry outside to cool him off and called me. I was just down the block, so I turned around and saw them in the front yard. We took Henry inside and took his clothes off and put him in the shower to cool him off some more. Right after that, he kind of "came to", but was still pretty out of it and shivering uncontrollably. Matt and I had both called 911 a few minutes earlier, so by that time, the police arrived and we were waiting for the paramedics. We took his temp - it was 102.9 - and gave him some Tylenol. He started jibber-jabbing nonsense, which was kind of scary, but the cops said that it's normal for them to do that - I guess their brain needs to "re-set" itself after a seizure and it doesn't cause any lasting harm. He even started singing the Thomas the Train theme song, but really, really quickly... kind of freaky. But I don't think we've ever been happier to hear him sing that song!

Henry got an ambulance ride to the hospital and they checked him out, complete with chest X-rays. The medieval torture-device that they put a toddler in for chest x-rays looks like this... needless to say, Henry was not happy (and I seriously don't know how they got that kid in the picture to be so calm!). But he really took everything very well and was back to his old self by the time we were discharged, thank God.

The doctor said that he had a respiratory virus, and that we should just keep him full of fluids and keep an eye on his temperature. He's totally OK - got checked out by his regular doc today - and was given a clean bill of health, other than his lingering cough. The doctor said that he won't remember it at all and it won't affect his health in any way. It's possible that it might happen again down the road until he's 5 or 6, but I guess it's pretty unlikely. And at least if it does happen, we know that it's scary for a few minutes, but he'll be OK. But for now, we're just so thankful that he's back to his normal, happy self!

Making the Grade

Henry's daycare held parent-teacher conferences this week.

Now, I know what you're thinking - they have parent-teacher conferences for a 2-year-old?! Yeah, I thought that, too. It's nice and all, but really, it's not like he's reciting Shakespeare and learning Algebra at this point. But, still, it's nice that they do it, I suppose, and it gives us some entertaining insight on what Henry is like when he's at daycare.

Some highlights from his "report card":

Areas of Strength: We see Henry trying to behave and his willingness to learn. He is very special and enjoys being with his friends. (Matt and I agree.)

Areas to Focus On: Working to help Henry listen better (Again - I think we'd agree with that!)

Comments: Henry is a leader, the kids follow him. Whether good or bad. He just has that personality - it's a good thing to have. (I agree and had to laugh at "Whether good or bad" - although it makes me a bit scared for what we're in for during Henry's teenage years!)

Henry's 2-year-old stats

Henry had his 2-year-old doctor's appointment this week. He checked out great - he's 35 lbs. and 37 inches tall, which puts him in the 95-97% percentile for height and weight. Sometimes I worry that he's not eating enough since he can be really picky (well, not when it comes to sweets, as you can see!), but I guess he's doing something right!

The appointment was pretty neat since the doctor really interacted with him. He asked Henry to point out various parts of his body and let him play with his stethoscope. Henry was a bit stand-offish at first, but warmed up to him pretty quickly.

He did have to get a few shots, which was not fun. I imagine that this will be the start of him dreading trips to the doctor's office, since he could get a shot. But he took it very well and cried only a little bit. The Curious George sticker that he got from the nurse after his shots helped dry up his tears, as well!

A Little Monday Morning Quarterback

Some of us on the good side of the St. Croix River are still overjoyed with the big win on Sunday. And while I have been more than giddy most of the day, my boy, All Day Jr., has been dancin' and strutin', reminding folks who rules on Sunday. Go Bikings as Henry would say.

Flashback...

Not much to say today (other than it's snowing... ugh!!) but I realized that we have a pic of Henry just like Teddy's picture from earlier this week... same hat and everything. I think he was about 3 or 4 months. Aw!














Speaking of the snow, when we woke up this morning and let Lola outside, I said - Henry, look -snow! That's called snow!

Henry said, Oh! Called snow! Called snow!

I may have confused him. ;)

Yes We Did!

What an exciting night. I'm exhausted but proud today.

I'm proud of my country, where we have the freedom to vote for the candidate we believe in.

I'm proud that my boys can grow up in a country where any child - no matter what gender or race - can truly aspire to be anything they want to be.

And I'm proud by how far we've come. No matter who you voted for, it's pretty amazing that only one generation ago - when our parents were children - segregation was still legal in this country.

To celebrate this great day, here's Teddy rockin' (Daddy's) "I Voted" sticker...

Election Day!

It's election day and Henry has an important (and non-partisan) message!

Happy voting, everyone!

Posted by: An Obama Mama

Happy 2nd Birthday, Henry!

Henry turns 2 years old today! It's crazy how quickly the past two years have gone by. It's been so wonderful to see him grow from a teeny newborn baby to a hilarious, energetic 2-year-old boy. He is the light of our lives and we're so lucky to have him. We love you, H-Bomb!

We celebrated his birthday this weekend with a big bash. Lots of fun - and LOTS of presents. A kind of insane amount for such a little kid, actually! Thanks to his obsession with Thomas, he now has no shortage of Really Useful Crew friends at our house now. Henry is still working on his thank-you cards, but a quick thanks in advance to everyone!

Halloween Recap

Whew! What a busy weekend! We kicked it off on Friday by trick or treating with some of the neighbor kids... Henry and Teddy joined Claire (aka Supergirl) and Emma (aka Cowgirl) on a quest for treats throughout our neighborhood. Lots of fun and even a few science experiments, thanks to Greg, our neighborhood science teacher. He put together a bubbly Halloween cauldron concoction of dry ice, water and dish soap. The kids had fun grabbing the bubbles and playing with them.

Henry did a great job collecting treats and Teddy slept most of the time, which was great!

Here are a few pictures of their adventures throughout the neighborhood...