5/30/07 - LESSONS LEARNED

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I'm learning new lessons every day in parenting.

Lesson #1 - Set a timer when boiling/sanitizing things on the stove. I have been in the habit of boiling Ollie's pacifiers and medicine syringes on the stove. I do it so much that usually I'm on auto pilot at the end of an evening cleaning up and I just plop them in, walk around the house cleaning, and come back in a few minutes to take them out. That did not happen this time. I totally forgot I had even put them on the stove. Then we fell asleep on the couch. Yikes! We woke up right as the water had boiled down to nothing and the plastic was burning away. By the end of it all the only thing remaining on the pacifiers were the nipples, and the syringe was completely gone. It smelled so toxic in the house that we woke the boys up at 1 AM and put them in the van while John aired out the house. Not good. God was certainly watching over us that night allowing us to wake up. I will NEVER EVER casually boil and leave anything again. Our new rule is to set the timer on the stove. Please don't anyone call and give me a lecture on this. I have learned the err of my ways.

Lesson #2 - No matter how "backed-up" your baby is, use prunes sparingly. Oh my goodness. Ollie has been backed up for like 8 days. We have tried giving him small amounts of prune juice mixed with b. milk. No effect. I found out Gerber makes prune baby food so I went out searching for some and found it. I stocked up and went home to try it. Now, Ollie's new thing is that he gets ECSTATIC as soon as you strap him into his high chair and the spoon comes out. He kicks and squeals with glee. So....I try the prunes and he loves it (see picture as evidence). When I tried to put away the prunes he started to cry. So I thought..."he's really backed up...what's a few more spoonfuls really gonna hurt?". Well, the next morning as the school bus arrived I put Ollie in his bouncy chair and left him for a few minutes to put Orion on the bus (the bus arrives at our front door so don't call CPS on me!). I came back into the house to find a major poo poo explosion. Be thankful I didn't post a picture of that. So...lesson learned. Prunes do work...but use very sparingly!!!

5/24/07 - SUNSHINE AND SANDBOX

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Today it was clear and sunny. After big bro' Orion headed off to preschool, Ollie and Mommy went for a walk around the Capital area. As soon as that stroller hit the pavement Ollie was out. It's so hard for him to stay awake on a bumpy ride. He almost always sleeps in the car and stroller.

Oliver started out the day so alert and vocal. Sometimes it even sounds like he's saying "I love you". Maybe that's just what I want to believe. Here's a picture of him doing his morning yoga stretches. Aunt Kathy and Uncle Seong Yoon would be so proud.
After Orion returned from preschool we all went to the side yard to play in the sandbox. Well, Ollie just hung out in his car seat and watched Orion run circles around him. How strange it must be to have a wild and crazy older brother!

5/22/07 - MUCH HEALTHIER AND HUNGRIER

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Oliver is so much healthier today. Praise God! He is eating much better too. We started him on rice cereal the other day and he loves it. I put him in the high chair today and his face just lit up with glee when he saw the spoon come out. He just kicked and squealed and opened his mouth wide like a baby bird. So cute! I have hope for him that he may actually eat regular food unlike his big brother. But, I don't want to speak too soon. We'll just pray he continues down a good path.

Anyway, Daddy left today and we miss him. Big brother Orion looked all over the house after his nap and said "No Daddy?". Daddy please come home soon and play with us!

5/21/07 - SICKNESS AND STEROIDS AND SOLIDS, OH MY!

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What a crazy few days it's been. Well, Orion brought home some sort of nasty cold about 12 days ago. He eventually passed it on to all of us....including Baxter! Anyway, we were mostly concerned for Ollie because of his Laryngomalacia.

On Friday Orion was still sick and Ollie was getting worse so we took them both in to see Dr. Mason. Orion was basically at the tail end of the sickness. But Dr. Mason was concerned about Oliver and his breathing. He prescribed steroids to be taken orally. But Ollie ended up vomiting the first 2 doses we tried. So, the next day we were back at the Dr's again for a shot of steroids for Ollie.

During all of Oliver's sickness John and I took turns staying up at night and listening to him breath so that he wouldn't turn blue in the night. Needless to say we were very exhausted because we also were sick with this cold.

After the steroids shot Ollie seemed much better. He even started nursing better than ever before. Usually he has struggles with nursing and only does a minimal amount. But suddenly he was going for the gusto!

Well, that all ended today! He has been on about a 13 hour nursing strike. No good. We took him back to the Dr. to see if he needed another steroid shot but Dr Mason said he looked better and didn't need it. So, I went home and attempted to feed him again. I finally had success by putting him in the high chair and mixing some breast milk with rice cereal. He went for it. He was even lunging for the spoon. Amazing. He only ate a few ounces all together. But hey...something is better than nothing. And he looked so darn cute with his little body in that big 'ol high chair. That's my sweetie!

5/13/07 - HAPPY SICKLY MOTHER'S DAY!

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Well, today is Mother's Day and it started out a bit rough. Big brother Orion was up at night coughing. He's been sick for days but we thought he was getting better. Not so.

Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Kathy, and Uncle Seong Yoon came over for lunch. They tried taking Orion to the park but it was overcast and Orion wasn't feeling so good. When he returned home he was eating yogurt and suddenly vomited all over himself, the floor, and Mommy! Happy Mother's Day...NOT!

Ollie, however, does not seem sick yet. He isn't much into eating but that's typical for him. We had some nice alone time with him after everyone left and Orion was down for a nap. Ollie squealed and giggled with glee. Very adorable. Then Mommy and Daddy gave him a nice, warm bath. It's sad that we don't often have that alone time with Ollie. I guess only the first born gets that undivided parental attention. It doesn't seem to bother Ollie much though. He's just a constantly happy fella!