Absolute Adorableness

Charlie is all about his baby brother. He loves that he can play with toys and kick and coo and smile at what is going on around him.
He loves to give him kisses on the cheek

Here he is playing "this little piggy" with Aaron's toes! I didn't even know that he knew that song!

This morning I told him that he was being such a good big brother. His response, "oh thank you, you can get me some three new cars from the car store, cause I such a good big brother". Now where did he learn that? Maybe I've been using bribery a bit too much lately!

Public Service Announcement

The following is a little story I'd like to share with you to encourage all of you who are of age, or circumstance, to go out and get your annual colonoscopy!

Someone very dear to me...without this person I would be lost, and terribly sad...is now 53 years old. This person should have had a colonoscopy at 50, but put it off, who really wants to have all that done to you. There were no real risk factors except for age, so this person wasn't in a hurry. Finally a doctor convinces this person to get the stupid test done. The test is done and Sunday evening a phone call comes through informing this person that one of the two polyps removed was pre-cancerous and would have been colon cancer in less than a year. Scary huh! True story.

Everyone who needs to, like I said based on age or family history, etc...PLEASE GET YOUR COLON SCREENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Status Quo

Things right now are status quo. It's a nice feeling. Just moving along, nothing too crazy happening. I'll take the calm while we have it! I am still working overtime but the unit is slowing down so it's less of a sure thing...they can cancel me anytime up until I actually come in for the overtime shift, so I plan to pick up some hours at the per-diem job I started (pediatric home care) so I am guaranteed the hours.

Charlie has been very into coloring and drawing and painting lately. I love it because it's some quiet time for me, and he's really good at it. His drawings seem more and more grown-up every time he draws. He also "wears" two markers (one in each ear) when he draws. He says to me, "okay mommy, we have some work to do, lets go!" I love it!

Aaron's doing well. Moving around more and more. The PT really seems to make a difference, and she is able to show us how to help him on days when she isn't here. He still eats two big meals a day of some fun mush I make and he has two bottom teeth coming in. Right now they are just little specks poking through his gums, but they are coming...he drools up a storm and is constantly chewing on his hands.

We finally all had a free night at the same time and had Dave and Mike and Abby over. The kids were also all awake at the same time (for about 15 minutes total) so we snapped as many pictures as we could of the cuteness. Abby is a smiler but was overwhelmed by my boys' cuteness and charm!

Charlie thinks she is just the cutest! We joked that she and Aaron would grow up in love but we're wondering if it may be Abby and Charlie...hmmmm!

Charlie eating corn on the cob. He was so serious about it and so into it. Very cute!

We went to my mom's Sunday for dinner and a movie (Grand Tourino...terrible acting but awesome story and awesome movie overall). Christy, Mike and Bode were there. My dad is in San Fran so he missed the fun but had a call in where we all chatted with him so he felt included in the fun. Poor Bode is getting his two year molars so he was pretty unhappy...but he's still so adorable!

Trying to get him to take a picture...yeah, not so much!

Hope everyone had a great weekend...stay cool!

Trip to LBI and a case of the sickies...

We headed to LBI this weekend where Alex's dad has a house on the beach. It's very nice and not as far as Dewey (where my parents' house is) so it makes for a quick getaway.
All three boys in the house (Alex included) started showing signs of sickness Wednesday into Thursday. I took Aaron to the peds on Thursday just to make sure he was okay...last time he was sick he ended up in the hospital...I wasn't taking any chances! He is fine, he has some viral ulcers in his mouth, as well as thrush, I also noticed the ulcers in Charlie's mouth but other than some runny nose and mild cough, he was fine. Alex might have had the same thing but the doctor also put him on antibiotics for what looked like strep throat. We went to the shore anyway because everyone seemed under control.

We had fun. Saturday was a great beach day and it was sunny but not too hot.

Aaron hung out on my reclined beach chair for a bit and he slept a few times as well.

Janice (Charlie and Aaron's "bubby") has her parents down in LBI as well. They live right next to the house we stay in. "Grandpa Jack" (Janice's dad) hadn't been to the beach all summer so far and most of last summer (he's 92). He made a surprise appearance at the beach because he wanted to hang out with Charles (he actually calls him Chuck but Charlie says that's not his name!). It was very sweet to see the two of them together!

A nice picture of Zayda and Bubby with the boys

We met up with a couple on Saturday night who also go to LBI to visit their parents. I met them because I took care of their twin girls in the NICU and we've kept in touch. We had a very nice dinner with them while bubby and zayda stayed home with the sleeping boys. We were supposed to meet up with them Sunday for a beach day but it was thunderstormy and rainy and Aaron was feeling pretty lousy...so we left early and got home in time to have a family dinner!This is a shot of the boys at the table...I was obviously taking the picture and Alex was finding suitable music. Charlie asked me several times why I took a picture of dinner. This is really the first time we all sat together...including Aaron. he had already eaten but he's usually napping or fussing during dinner...but this time he sat quietly in his highchair while we all ate...it was really sweet!

He and Charlie are still sick but it doesn't seem to be out of hand so we're trudging along. I am starting to feel some ill feelings myself, general achiness, headache, sore throat, nausea, etc.

Despite all that, I took both kids to the please touch museum today for a few hours. It was great. Aaron slept some of the time (above picture) and Charlie generally had a great time!

He made a few pictures...

And played "baby doctor". He was doing some weird sort of chest compressions on the poor baby...he said the baby was sick and he was making it better, okay!

He then put on the doctor coat and decided that the baby was all better!

Then he played construction man for a while.

We had a great time...I brought his lunch and was surprised when he really didn't eat any of it. Even the watermelon which is his favorite. So we left, and he was in a bit of a mood but I pretty much ignored it. Ten minutes into our fifteen minute ride home, he threw up ALL over himself in the car. Several times. I seriously almost wrecked while trying to calm him, not throw up myself, and decide what to do. All is well. Alex came out and took the baby while I stripped Charlie and threw him in the tub. Poor kid kept apologizing for his "vomit up". I also wanted to just throw out his car seat and buy a new one (it's only two months old as it is) but since we're watching our spending, I figured I should suck it up and get vomit on my hands. I seriously considered buying gloves at the drugstore. I didn't. We all lived. Charlie is feeling better and had only that one episode. Aaron sounds sicker and seems to feel worse but is eating and sleeping so I don't see a need to take him to the doctors just yet. I got my overtime cancelled tonight which was a sort of blessing as I can get some real sleep and try to kick whatever ailment I have!

What a Monday! Oh yeah, and we have mice again!

Cuteness

While Aaron patiently waits for me to make him his yummy concoction of home made fruits or veggies and cereal, Charlie likes to keep him busy. He also finds it funny when Aaron kicks Charlie's tummy while he's laughing and getting excited. He tells me, "it's okay mommy, baby Aaron is just a baby and he can kick me, it's not too hard, so it's okay if it doesn't hurt me, okay mommy?!" Perfect logic I think!

Charlie, Uncle Sam, Aaron and Cousin Ethan. Charlie and Ethan are now at good ages to play well together. In the past, Charlie was always a little too young developmentally to get what Ethan was doing (playing games, dressing up and pretending, etc). Now they are on more equal ground and can make up stories together and do fun things at the same level. I had to work the night they all came over for dinner but I heard that there was alot of fun cousin playing going on. Can't wait to see it myself!

Look who can prop himself up! He can get his arms in this position now although he doesn't do the straight arm prop yet. The physical therapist is very pleased with his progress already and thinks he's actually trying to move while on his belly. He has alot of pre-comando crawling moves already. His head control is better and for longer periods of time. He definitely gets fatigued with all the work though and after 20 minutes is done for a while! He slept almost three hours after his therapy appointment this morning! He actually fell asleep in my arms (which he never does) and I didn't want to put him down...I love a sleeping baby in my arms!

Look at those eyes! I could just eat him up!

The shirt says "don't expect alot, I'm big for my age"...the funny thing is that I got this for my sister's baby Bode and he ended up crawling when he was 5 months and walking at 8 months. The shirt is still cute though!

I decided to not work any overtime this week (I've been working 1-2 extra shifts per week since Alex's job let him go a month ago) and I was literally fried this week. I needed a break. So I took it and only worked my scheduled 3 12 hour shifts...hahaha, like that's any small feat in itself. Anyway, we went one of my nights off to Downingtown to visit my parent's. My dad recently had surgery to remove a ruptured appendix and I needed to see him and know that he was okay. We went out to dinner and watched some of an outdoor concert that they have in their development every Tuesday. It was really nice and Charlie was thrilled to hang out with Gampa and Tutu. At one point my dad took Aaron and Charlie for a little stroll like a proud grandpa...it was so cute!

Here's Aaron showing off some head control. He tolerates the bumbo seat for a few minutes at a time. We put him in the exersaucer for a bit yesterday while I helped Alex with the computer for a bit. He didn't love it. I think it was total over stimulation for him. It didn't help that Charlie was making all of the toys talk/sing/shake, etc right in his face! Ahhh, big brothers!

Aaron has a nice little schedule down and has been sticking to it quite nicely. He's asleep by 6-6:30 every night and gets up anywhere from 5-6:30am. How sweet is that! He's been doing this for over a month now, so we are excited! I am wondering when I should put him in the room with Charlie. I'm not quite brave enough yet. Maybe I'll wait till I'm doing less overtime and I can spend a few nights at home supervising everything...in case you don't know this about me...I like to be in control of things...gotta love the type A personality! So Aaron eats two solid meals a day, usually fruits in the morning mixed with cereal, and veggies in the evening. He eats like a champ and really loves his highchair time! He takes several 6 ounce bottles during the day, and spends a decent amount of time playing, talking to us, and he even likes glancing at the TV.

Charlie is great...he's such a doll. I love hearing what comes out of his mouth at any given moment. He's doing great in daycare (school is what we call it, it's preschool sort of) and is learning Spanish and he has learned the days of the week. He knows how to count on his fingers and can tell you how many fingers you are holding up at a time. He also knows that he is "three and a half olds". He has a great imagination and I love listening to his "adventures". Often times, his firetrucks and firemen can be found battling a "wine factory" fire around our wine rack in the kitchen. There's also aquarium factory fires and swing factory fires...the possibilities are endless! When he doesn't have a plastic figure to use for a character, he uses his fingers or hands to pretend to carry said figure. I love watching his mind work!

Okay, I will stop gushing about my amazing 3 1/2 year old and get back to work! We are off to LBI this weekend to see Alex's dad...look for some cute beach pics next week!

All Charlie, all the time

I feel like the majority of my posts since the baby has been born, have been about the baby. So I thought I'd dedicate a post to Charlie...he's been so good and so fun and so delightful lately. I've been working alot so I haven't had a ton of time to enjoy him...but the time we do spend together is great! Last week, I took him to the Please Touch Museum...just the two of us! It was great.

I built a tower that was over my head and he loved knocking it down...

As always, his favorite part was shopping at the grocery store...

The veggies were a huge hit...

He had dinner with a stranger...very cute little girl who stayed briefly and then left. He then invited me to sit down for dinner...

Water play...the kids around him were splashing alot and he was not happy about that...so water play was short lived...fine by me!

There's a room where the 3 bears live...you know mama, papa and baby bear. Charlie set them up like this at the table so they could all eat together!

Charlie's vocabulary is ever expanding and his curiosity for things around him is palpable. He asks lots of questions, loves to make baby Aaron smile, and loves to read books. I'll scan a few pictures that he has colored recently to show how well he stays in the lines...he really concentrates and does an amazing job coloring! He likes to draw pictures of "monsters" and other people who now have arms legs and fingers. Sometimes there's even hair! He knows how to draw several letters, although they usually come out upside down...don't know what that means! At school, they wrote the words "HI MOM" on a paper and he copied it very well. I was gushing with pride!