On Parenthood

I love this graph.  The post that accompanies it (on the topic of parenthood) is pretty damn good too.

Jon's been doing really well - recovering a little bit more every day.  He's still hobbling around like an old man, and groans whenever he coughs or laughs, but he's definitely on the mend.

I, on the other hand, have barely been hanging on.  I've been in "survival mode" as my PT puts it, this past week.  Work is extremely busy, and waiting on my husband has been a tiny bit draining.  But, the worst of it all was Callum decided to start teething.  Literally, TO. THE. DAY. that Jon was cut open (and lo and behold couldn't pick up the kids anymore).

Callum has had his last four teeth (the canines) missing for a very long time - I don't remember how long but it's probably been at least 6 months, if not longer.  So late last week, those remaining four teeth decided to come in.  All at once.  Poor guy is in uncomfortable pain, crying out without any warning at all, wanting to be held at all hours of the day and night.  And, I've got no one to help me juggle it all.

So yeah, love these little boogers to the point that I wouldn't hesitate to throw myself or Jon under a bus to save one of them, but I'd say this last week has definitely been one of the bigger pains in my asses.  :)

Holy smokes!

So it turns out at least part of the reason why Callum has been such a slobbery cranky mess is because he had five (as in, one - two - three - four - FIVE!) teeth coming in at once. At least, that's how many I've counted while sliding my finger quickly around inside his mouth, while he clamps down on it - since he won't actually open his mouth up for me or allow me to inspect it for more than 3 seconds. It appears to be three lower teeth (two molars! and another front tooth) plus two upper teeth (I believe one is a molar but I could be off).

INSANE IN THE MEMBRANE.

Now that those five teeth have broken through, he seems to be doing a little better and his nose is not NEARLY as runny all the time. Hopefully that means we'll get a small reprieve before the rest of his teeth move in and take over. ;-)

8 months old

Well, it comes to no surprise that Callum quickly picked up on his rocking and scooting and elevated it to full on CRAWLING in just a few short days! He's been making his way around the house on his very own for many many weeks now and is becoming an old pro. He's also extremely eager to stand - and pulls himself up on anything he is able to (when he's strong enough, some of the taller pieces of furniture still allude him). He'll "walk" a few steps while holding onto your fingers but he hasn't quite got the balance down enough to take a few steps on his own. In due time - we know it's around the corner!

He doesn't speak anything more than cooing, babbling, and a constant stream of "dadadadada" :) but he knows what he wants and how to get it. If you walk into the room that he's in, and he wants you to pick him up, he'll immediately crawl to your feet and PULL on your pant legs, whining at the same time, until you give in (or until he escalates to crying if he's really upset, tired or hungry).

He's doing really well at eating - and even though he's been battling one ear infection after another, he's still able to take down a bottle or put a jar of food away no problem. I had started him on some "puffs" and yogurt melts, to give him some practice at picking small objects up with his fingers, but because he's been so sick, it hasn't gone really well (he LOVES to eat them, but if he gets one caught down his throat the wrong way, or inhales one mid-cough, that's the end of the puff AND all of the peas, or squash or yogurt we just fed him, since the choking leads to puking everything back up). So, we're taking a break on "harder" solids for now and sticking with the stuff that doesn't cause him to lose his meal.

He did get a chance to try some juice for the first time this past weekend. Since he's been on so many anti-biotics, the doctors have told us to keep him REALLY hydrated, but on the flip side, milk isn't great when you've got a head cold and are congested, so Dr. Safir gave us the ok this past week to start giving a bit of juice or water instead. Callum was more interested in biting the sippy cup's handles and nipple than he was at drinking the juice. :)

He now has both bottom front teeth in, quite visible and sharp as all hell. A third has been threatening to appear (next to his bottom front left) for a few days now - which makes it hard to tell if all the biting and mouthing and drooling and runny nose is due to (yet) another cold, or just more teething?

Along with (or because of?) the teething and cooing, Callum has discovered his lips and tongue. He absolutely LOVES to play with his lips and make sounds while plucking them with his fingers. And, he's recently discovered the fun art of clicking his tongue - which he does all the time, but particularly if I'm not fast enough with the food at the dinner table. ;-)

In fact, now that he's mobile, sounds are taking on a whole new meaning for Callum. He is free to pick up anything he sees and throw it, drop it, or most often, bang it on the floor or other hard surface. He seems to be pretty curious as he tests out everything he sees to figure out the sound it makes and what happens when he drops it or hits it on something else. It can be nerve-racking for us (not to mention, it upsets Logan anytime Callum rips apart a train track or two from his table!), but we know it's all just a part of the learning and soaking in that he's doing right now. :)

While we love Callum to pieces, we definitely are getting tired of the mid-night wake up calls. It's particularly trying when Logan wakes up too, and/or the two of them are sick. But, we're doing the best we can right now. Days when Logan and Callum are peacefully playing side by side in the living room, with Logan talking to his best friend and expecting answers back, definitely make it all worth while. :)

The pearly whites!

I noticed Callum's bottom teeth threatening to poke through a few days ago - and sure enough, this weekend his bottom right tooth has cut through (I think his left one will be coming in soon too).

Callum doesn't seem to act any different by it - but of course, he's been "teething" for MONTHS now, the drooling, biting, slobbering machine!  Still, I'm so glad it's not affecting him, since I'll be leaving tomorrow for a week long trip up to Redmond while Jon gets to play his hand at Mr. Mom for awhile.  OOOOoooohhh how fun!  ;-)

6 months old

Callum turned 6 months old last week - which sorta just came and went, without me quite realizing what a big milestone he's reached, until it was too late. Work is still pretty hectic, so that's definitely partly to blame. But having two kids is just way more work and craziness than having one (duh Bree). I'm starting to accept the fact that I may always be behind on my monthly updates for poor Callum. *sigh*


So what's new with Callum? Other than gobbling up any food we give him, I'd say his other biggest change this past month is being able to sit up on his own. And, he's getting better and better at it every day! He still can't balance for TOO long, before he topples over, left or right, or slams his head straight back. But, he's doing better each day that we practice. I'm looking forward to the day that I can set him down and know that he'll be fine just hanging out, sitting in one spot, playing with all the toys around him.


But for now, he's still pretty demanding of our time - he LOVES to be held, and isn't afraid to show it. He likes to sit on his own too, but he gets tired after awhile and that's usually when he topples over. He's a kicking fiend as well - and can't stop kicking his legs out straight and locking up his knees. Which means, he's great at standing on his tree trunks for long periods of time (with one of us to balance of course), just watching the world pass him by.


But, when he's been sitting and then just habitually kicks those legs out, WHOMP, his whole body flies backwards and he slams his head on the ground behind him.

Or, as was the case this past weekend, when I had him sitting in his car seat on top of the dining table, he kicked so hard, arching his back at the same time, that he managed to kick himself OUT of his car seat and, sad to say, had his SECOND fall to the floor. :( It was soooo awful. I saw it happening in slow motion and ran toward him to catch him but didn't make it in time (I did happen to make it in time to catch the car seat before it smacked on top of him though).

Long story short, I had situated him there temporarily, so I could more easily feed him his antibiotics without fighting/holding a wiggly baby as I tried to get him to swallow. I went to the kitchen to wash out the syringe and get a bottle, to get ready for nap time. As I'm walking back to the table to get him, that's when I see him falling.

Poor guy fell face first on the hardwood floor and, while he was totally fine (thank goodness), he was pretty upset (naturally).

So yeah, need to start buckling him into EVERYTHING. And, watch out for those damn bucking legs of his. :(


He's also getting better at reaching and grabbing anything in sight. He's gotten much better at his coordination, so he's generally pretty successful at picking up or grabbing whatever it is that he's after. And, it definitely means we have to keep a more careful eye out for anything within arm's reach around us these days!

He's becoming more chatty as the days pass by and I can't help but look forward to the days when he's Logan's age now - to see what kind of weird conversations and vivid imagination that will come out of two young boys. :)

Although no teeth have yet popped through, he's biting and chewing and teething like crazy. I'm a bit hopeful that his teeth will break through soon, since I think it might provide him a bit of relief. On the other hand, I know that will be the start of the end of my baby, as he loses his beautiful toothless smile, which breaks my heart to think that will be going away soon.

Callum remains a happy charming little baby. He smiles at pretty much anyone who approaches him to say hi. And, he doesn't just smile small. He smiles BIG. He smiles with his entire body (as he bucks and kicks and wiggles, stretching out his arms). He beams sunshine and brightens our day. What a beautiful kid in the making.

Rolling Over

Callum's been very close to rolling over on his own the last couple of weeks - we've been "showing" him how to do it in Hawaii to see if that would help. In any case, he rolled over on his own in the middle of the night last night! Even though we were dog tired, Jon and I took a couple of minutes to celebrate for our little guy and make him smile a groggy sleepy smile.

YAY!! (this excites us more than you know, since it means sitting up on his own is just around the corner!)

Callum's actually been having a really rough time since we've been home, and sad to say, last night was no better. We met my parents at Stacks for lunch yesterday and then headed to their house so they could have some grand kid time while Jon and I snuck off for an afternoon movie (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - loved it!). They had a nice time visiting with Logan and Callum - but poor Callum was running a mild fever and having a really hard time with his teething. That continued on through the night, making (at least) a second sleepless night in a row for Jon and I. :( Poor guy is biting on anything he can, won't eat much, pretty warm to the touch, has a runny nose and slobbering like crazy.

To top it off, he's got a bad cough - which we're not sure is due to all the additional slobber and runny nose, or if he's come down with an actual cold. It's hard to tell, but my guess is he may have a slight cold/cough which just sounds worse right now because of the extra slobber. :( Because he's so uncomfortable, he's been sleeping about 2 hour chunks at a time, but no more. And unfortunately, I don't see his teeth breaking through very soon. With work (for both of us - eeps!) coming up on Tuesday, things aren't looking good. But, what can you do? We're just plowing through as best we can.

My last day

Today is my last official day of maternity leave (even though technically I have three more days before work starts, since we're coming up on a long holiday weekend). I'm a tiny bit stressed and nervous about jumping back into the middle of crazy work after such a long time off. But I'm also looking forward to the change and seeing my old coworkers again. :) Since Tuesday will also be Callum's first day to start daycare, I actually dropped him off at school this morning, when I dropped off Logan, to spend time with his new teachers and classmates for a couple of hours. He was all smiles and did just fine - sleeping the majority of the time. When I arrived to pick him up for lunch, he was just waking up from a short nap, a little groggy and not quite sure where he was. I'm sure the screaming baby near him was also a different and strange experience for him to wake up to! :)

As for me, I miscalculated how difficult and time consuming it would be to get the kids out of the house this morning, given the time change from Hawaii. I had a 10am PT appointment that I had wanted to get to - but that would have meant getting out of the house a bit after 9am, which is 6am Hawaii time. :( I woke Logan up around 9:20am which he was NOT at all happy about - still very much asleep, cranky and whiny - fighting me the entire time I dressed him for school. Can't say I blame him. ;-) But, I figure this will force him back onto our time quickly anyway (Callum, on the other hand, will be harder to transition I fear!). Unfortunately, I was still too late by the time I got the boys dropped off to make my appointment - so I ran a couple of errands (grocery shopping and a pedicure!) instead, before going back to pick up Callum and meet my parents for lunch.

At lunch, Callum was on and off (as he has been for the last week). His teeth are definitely bothering him - he jumps at any chance he can get to bite and chew your fingers and is a nonstop slobbering fool. But, when I look in his mouth, it seems like it's still going to take awhile for any of those teeth to finally break through, poor guy. :( Such is the way it goes at this stage, I guess.

First Dentist Visit

Logan had his first dentist visit this morning and it went well! :) They didn't do more than a "looksie" to just get him accustomed to the office and have the hygienist and dentist poke around in his mouth to look at his teeth, etc. But still, a big milestone for us.

He didn't want to sit in the chair by himself but DID sit in my lap. And, at first he wasn't crazy about the hygienist approaching him with gloved hands, but got over that once we brought out the mirror. She looked around at his teeth with the mirror, checking for cavities and plaque buildup (I was a little worried about plaque but it turns out his teeth are just fine).

The dentist looked at his bite, overall teeth and alignment, spacing, etc. He noticed a little crowding on his lower right side (not surprising given both Jon and I have had orthodontic work) but liked to see the extra room and space between his teeth up on top. He says that will work to our advantage when the bigger teeth come in. ;-)

Overall though, they were very pleased with his teeth, instructed us to keep on brushing and make sure to only put a tiny dab of toothpaste on his toothbrush, especially since Logan likes to suck and chew on his toothbrush more than the mechanical brushing action (that is usually left to Jon or I to take care of).

We'll go back in 6 months for another visit and to see if we can attempt a cleaning at that point. But for today, we mostly wanted to just poke around a little in his mouth so he'll get used to the idea that the dentist's office is a fine place to visit. Of course, they let him choose a couple of toys afterward, which doesn't hurt. :)

Lazy Sunday

Logan woke up early this morning (6am) so we decided to hit up our fave breakfast spot, Stacks. He was a monster all morning until we got some food in him. :( Now that he's full, he's passed out for an early nap.

(The pacifier is a two-prong looking thing that helps massage his back molars that have been bugging him. He loves chewing on it and apparently, sleeping with it.)

The Clueless Parent

You would think that some slight diarrhea and a mild temp (99.9) over the last couple of days would be a sign (instead we thought he was starting to get sick and have been watching him carefully since we're about to take off on a long road trip).

You would think that gnawing on his forefingers would be a sign (funny side story, he keeps holding up his index fingers saying "Owwwwie!" but nothing looks wrong - I guess chewing on them all day long can lead to sore fingers).

You would think that the loss in appetite would have been a sign (but c'mon now, he's already a picky eater, so we just look past a lot of the non-eating stuff).

You'd think that his increased punchiness this past week would have been a sign.

You'd think the instant overnight change from happy-to-play-by-himself-with-his-trains-and-cars to I MUST DESTROY EVERYTHING IN THE HOUSE OR IN THE DRAWERS OR IN THE CABINETS THAT I CAN REACH would have been a sign.

But no. None of that clued us in.

It was finally this morning, as Logan was helping me fold and put away laundry, that I noticed it. I asked my son to hand me another hanger to hang up a blouse in the closet, and instead saw him gnawing on one end like it was a tasty treat.

Huh. That's strange.

Logan's 2-year molars have cut through. I can see the lower right and left ones very clearly with the four little white tips waving "Hi". The top ones are harder to see since he won't let me look into his mouth for too long - so I'm not sure how many we have coming in right now.

Just in time for our road trip (we leave in about an hour).

Wheeeeeee.

Getting a boost

A month or so ago, when we were visiting our friends Karen and Joe, I noticed that they had a step stool in the kid's bathroom to help the kids wash their hands, brush their teeth, etc. Logan climbed right up to wash his hands and it was sooooo easy (esp. on my back!) that I decided we needed one for our own house.

You know, because Logan isn't getting into enough trouble on his own.

I searched high and low and never found the same one (her's was a natural wood stain, nothing fancy and no kid decorations). So, I went with the next best one out of the bunch.


I picked it up yesterday and put it together last night, after Logan was already in bed. But this morning he got to try it out for the first time and LOVED it! He went back and forth between sitting on the lower step (and opening up the lid on the top step where he's now storing his potty book) to climbing up to hang off the lip of the counter, willing the faucet to turn on.


Now of course, he's all about washing his hands, face and any other excuse he can use to play in the water.


In other news, Logan's bottom two canines broke through this past weekend! I don't yet have a good picture of them but trust me, they are there. ;-) Now we only have the four "2-year"molars left! Woohoo!

Vampire Fangs

Tonight, during one of Logan's rare frequent moods on the changing table, where he was screaming his head off as if I was actually hurting him (thank God I have such a good relationship with our neighbors because otherwise I'm sure they would wonder about how we're treating our poor child), I noticed his two upper vampire fangs canines totally poking through.

And I'm not kidding when I say that Logan was screaming bloody murder at me, so ANGRY that I had the gall to change his poopy diaper in the middle of an intense game we like to call "Dumping blocks and Legos all over the floor". Exhausted end-of-a-long-work-week mom that I am, all I could do was stare down at his open screaming mouth, unaffected by the piercing noise coming out of it, and instead say:

Wow! Would you look at that?! Your canines finally came in!!

AWESOME!


I'm all about seeing the silver lining in things these days.

Top Molars are In

Miss Kim has been telling us for the past few days that Logan's molars are pushing through - and we know they've been working their way out for awhile now but we just haven't bothered to torture Logan enough to look.

Last night, Nathan wanted to see the teeth, with his LED Head Lamp and all (poor Logan). So, we three sat peering into Logan's mouth and finally found two sharp little molars answering back to our probing fingers. I have to say, I'm so glad they are finally through.

Next up, the bottom ones....

Digging for gold

I suppose I should be proud that when I asked Logan to touch his nose, he actually understood me and did it. But picking his nose? Where exactly do you draw the line? ;-)

Today Logan received his first valentine from a classmate, and suddenly it dawned on me that I now need to start sending him to school with cards for the teachers and other kids too. Whoops!
Totally missed the boat on that one.

In other weekly news, yet ANOTHER tooth has broken through (bottom front lateral incisor)!! Hot damn!

Had to deal with a terrible crisis mid-morning yesterday where he literally was screaming in pain for about an hour. It was awful. At first the teachers thought he was constipated, but I think finally he may have just had some really bad gas, since he never actually pooped but his super hard stomach finally turned back to the normal soft baby belly after cuddling in my lap for 30 minutes. :( All I thought was, this is parenting crisis number 8 of ...how many? ;-)

Navigating through traffic and pouring rain as I type, so that's it for my weekly update. (Logan did find my umbrella quite interesting I might add).

Happy Friday the 13th!

8 down, but 12 more to go...?!?!

I decided to bake some yummy sticky buns this evening - it felt like the right thing to do after a nice long walk. Not to mention, it has started raining a good deal, explaining the chill I've been feeling all day. Toward the end of the bake, Logan was letting me know, under no uncertain terms, that he was READY for bed MOM.

*sigh*

So, to try and distract him some while the sticky buns baked their last few minutes (Jon was not home), we sat on the floor in front of the oven with the light on, watching the oozing buttery sugar goodness bubble around the bread. I thought it was mesmerizing. Our hyper-active son, however, didn't. He liked that game for oh, about 6.8 seconds. Nice try MOM.

*sigh*

At any rate, he DID like sitting in my lap - but because he was SO tired, he kept scrunching his whole body down down down, until he was basically LAYING half on my lap and half on the floor; belly, legs and feet flopped in all different directions. And, he kept looking up at me with his big beautiful gray-brown eyes, laaaaaaaaaughing up a storm (at what? I'm not sure. I probably had a few nose hairs sticking out making faces at him.)

Anyway, I took the opportunity to check out his gums and new teeth that have been coming in. He's REALLY persnickety about letting you check his gums, I guess because they are so sore. But with this position, I could easily see down into his mouth without poking him too much. And, wouldn't you know it, I didn't yet see the back left molar that I have been expecting to see for a few days now.

Instead, I found another tooth has just cut through. It seems to be either his upper right canine or 1st molar. It's hard to tell since he was getting squirmy.

But, my point is, that's the 2nd tooth that's popped through over the last week - that has NOT been the one we've been expecting!

*sigh*
It seems like these damn teeth will never end. My boss (the one without any kids) recently asked me how long teething lasts - and I told her about 2 yrs or so, depending on the kid. Which, to most (without kids) wouldn't seem that bad. Logan's a little over one, so you're more than halfway done!

But, then you stop to think about how many teeth he has left to cut (TWELVE! people), four of those being his molars. And, in response to that thought, I simply stuff a buttery sticky bun in my mouth.

What can I say. It helps ease the stress called parenting.

Teeth Marks

So many things to report on, but I've got a nasty stomach flu and am going to try and make this quick so I can get back to laying down and feeling sorry for myself.

Anyhoo - I mentioned this last week Logan's been teething. We think, in fact, that he's probably been teething for a couple weeks now - and it's been taking FOREVER. But, we thought, well it's a pretty big tooth coming in (bottom left first molar) so it should take forever, right?

Then, Saturday (just before Jon returned home late that night - yippeee!), I noticed a little shard of white poking through on his bottom FRONT lateral incisor. And I thought, well shit. No wonder he's been a complete maniac for me lately - he doesn't have just one tooth coming in, but another one in the front too! *sigh*

So for the last couple of days I've often times found him standing up, facing his bedroom door, gnawing vigorously on his crib railing like a starving little rat - or perhaps - like a teething baby in pain. It's really hard to say.


(Jon can probably get a much better pic with his macro lens, but I was in a hurry and didn't want to bother with framing a "nice" shot) ;-)

Finally.

Logan's top left tooth (lateral incisor) has been threatening to show for a couple weeks now it seems - causing some really rough late nights for Jon and I. Thankfully, it has finally poked through over the last day or so (while I was away on business travel).

I'm hoping that means the pain will ease up a bit for our little guy so he won't be as grouchy and touchy as he has been lately. :)

Another Breakthrough

Over the last 4-5 days I've noticed one of Logan's upper teeth starting to come through - a little bit more swollen gum and you can kinda see the pearly whites somewhere underneath said gum. Yesterday I was pretty sure I saw a corner of the tooth finally poke through, but wasn't positive. Jon claimed he was "super bitchy all night long" (he had Daddy-duty last night so I could take a few hours off), and fell asleep a bit earlier than usual.

This morning, Jon held him upside down so I could do an official inspection and sure enough! We have another tooth that's broken through. It's still in the beginning stages, but given our experience from the first set, I'm sure it'll be a sharp razor before we know it.

And the second pushes thru.....

While visiting with an old college professor of mine for brunch today, we noticed Logan's SECOND tooth has now broken through! Right next to the first one (bottom, front)..... I still haven't got any snapshots of the little razors, but will try to do that sometime this week.

They are there... trust me! ;-)

Pearly Whites

Another first to report -- this time it's teeth -- or rather, a tooth!!

We were pretty sure something was going to break through soon with all the biting and gnawing that Logan has been doing this past weekend. And, this evening after our 2nd swim class (which went great, Logan and Robert both did much better and Jenn and I were much less frazzled) I noticed a little teeeeeeny white speck on his front bottom gum. I asked Jenn to take a look and feel it, and she agreed, a little razor sharp tooth has emerged.

It's still too small to take a pic (and Logan was way too exhausted tonight to even let me try anyway) but I'll try later this weekend to post up for all (the grandparents) to see. :)

It's exciting that we've hit another milestone -- yet also really sad for me. Logan's toothless-all-gums-grin is so incredibly happy and infectious. Not to say his smile with teeth won't be -- because we all know he will inherit my smile and not his Dad's -- but, I know that now all of his teeth are going to start pushing through at an alarming rate and he'll no longer have that cute-baby-awwwwww look that we've come to adore....

and instead start looking more like a toddler.

oh no.