Break On Through

Well, that final front tooth of Jumpy's has finally, fiiiiiiiiiiiinally made an appearance. We were starting to get concerned. It'd been nearly 2 months since the last one popped and they typically come in twos. I started massaging his gums early last week hoping to induce a bit of action and just before Christmas I felt a rough edge beneath the gum. Sure enough, today we have break through!

Naturally, this explains last night 1 am cryfest that ended with a bottle and a tired mommy. Now, if only we could figure out why Kicky was all fired up last night. He was up again just a few minutes ago, well, really 45 mins ago. Joe gave him a bottle and a bit of Tylenol. We suspect that he's working on a molar as he shoves everything to the back of his mouth and has copious amounts of drool. Really, it's gross and yet amazing how much drool Kevin manufactures

Both boys were out of sorts today but thrilled to see Sue when she arrived this AM. Big smiles and much happiness. Kevin reached out and hugged her, really too adorable for words.  

There is much pulling up, standing, cruising, oh and fighting over toys. Today seemed like one squabble after the other.  Both boys were tired and crabby after being up all night and then up early this AM. There are plenty of toys to go around and yet, a toy isn't worth having until the other guy has it. Right?

Well, I just wanted to report on the tooth situation. Anyone know a good pediatric dentist?

Take care and g'night.

Kathy

A Very Merry Christmas Indeed

The boys first Christmas was a wonderful one. Christmas eve was spent at Joe's folks, Mimi and Papa. We had a lovely afternoon with Mimi, Papa, Auntie Cindy, Uncle Rob, cousins JJ and Molly.  The house was decorated beautifully and the boys were fascinated by the tree and all the beautiful decorations. They had a great time and lovelove watching JJ and Molly. Jason had a nice conversation with his cousin Molly over the exersaucer. He thought her dress was very pretty and told her that she looked lovely, we think. Kevin enjoyed watching JJ play video games and thought he was very good at Mario Kart. There was much laughter and the boys were fascinated by everything. After a lovely feast, one to make even the Whos of Whoville envious, the boys drifted off most likely dreamng of the lovely day they had celebrating with their family. Here are some pictures of Santa's little helpers.

Christmas day started bright and early. After 7 am bottles, Jason chose to go back to bed and restart his day around 10 meanwhile Kevin had breakfast and began earnest playtime. After a traditional Christmas morning treat of cinnamon rolls for the parents, the boys eventually synced up and they opened some gifts from Santa.  The rest of the day was business as usual with a mid-AM nap for Kevin, lunch for both boys and then afternoon bottles.  The day was celebrated in and around meals and naps (sadly, no meals or naps for us). After a good PM nap, the boys resumed their attack on the gifts. Jason had fun shredding wrapping paper and Kevin enjoyed tasting all of the gifts. A music activity table was a big hit as was a Baby's first words book that was about colors. Here's a picture of Kevin checking out that book. 

Here are some more pictures of the day. Enjoy!

Jason inspects a pop-up game and decides which lever to flip.....chicken, sheep or cow? Decisions decisions. Meanwhile Joe helps Kevin open a gift.

Jason opens a gift (shapes sorted into a box). 

There is some video I'll try to post later in the week. We hope you all had a great Christmas!

Love,

Kathy

purdy as a picshure

Well, there's been so much goin on around here that there's a bit of catch-up that is needed. First off, here are the 10 mo pix:

Have I mentioned that Kevin has many gifts? Jason also has many gifts but in this instance, Kevin's special gift is his ability to have his eyes closed when one takes his picture. It's uncanny.

And then here are some pix from today......ain't they cute?

Here Jason plays with his Dad's hat. Check out those rosy red cheeks. Cutie!

Here are Kevin and Jason playing after lunch.

Kevin brushes his teeth after dinner. Berry Blast toothpaste is a new favorite. Jason thinks Berry Blast rocks too!

Check out the cool new bibs. No muss, no fuss - very easy and the boys love the pictures on them. Sometime, when we have time, we'll post some new video of the wee lads.

Love,

Kathy

Bizzee,Bizzee,Bizzee

as the naughty magician in Frosty the Snowman says.

Our boys have been busy. Jason pulled himself up yesterday (Monday, actually). We will say that it was his first time, but he's been working towards it for about a week now. Other smart or cool things that they've been doing:

Kevin has figured out how to play with the ball roundabout toy that is in the nursery. He knows to put the ball in the top arch and it will roll into the holes or he can drop balls directly into the holes. He also knows how to circumvent the topmost holes and pop the ball directly into the side holes. What's interesting is that after he mastered this toy, he applied what he knew to the dinosaur toy in the living room. Sue commented that Kevin spent the day (Tuesday) putting the dinosaur balls into the side holes (the exit holes on this toy) on the dinorsaur. This made me laugh and I explained why he was doing that.

The boys like the dinosaur toy also. Kevin has been using it to pull himself up and to support him when he stands. He knows how to pick up the balls and put them in the holes. Occasionally he'll reach over gently and touch me on the arm to let me know that he wants me to play with him (read that as "mommy, you do the work and put the balls in the holes). He's very sweet.

Kevin is now standing up in his crib. While this is an important milestone, we realize it's also one more step down a path that will eventually end with him climbing out of his crib, so we celebrate this milestone with a teeny tiny itty bit of dread.

Jason has been doing a hilarious arms in the air like an orchestra conductor kind of thing. He laughs and smiles while he does it. He did it all weekend. We aren't 100% sure what he's doing. Sue thinks he might be doing "H0w big is the baby?.. Sooooooo big" or he might be doing a wild and crazy version of pat-a-cake.

Kicky and Jumpy lovelovelove pat-a-cake. You can frequently catch Kevin doing the rolling motion with his hands. We learned a new game over the weekend.. popcorn, popcorn. Both boys like it...but Kevin loves it. We'll try to catch them on video however......much like videoing the elusive Sasquatch or Chupacabra, catching the boys doing what we want on video is a challenge.

Jason and Kevin LOVELOVELOVE the Mozart music cube. It plays several Mozart tunes. You can push a button and the entire orchestra plays or you can push a button that represents an individual instrument and that one instrument plays. There are many options and you can add to or take away instruments as the orchestra plays.

The boys will stand on all fours and rock back and forth and from side to side to the music. They have shown preference for particular Mozart tunes. Jason's favorite is not Kevin's favorite. Jason has discovered that he can turn the cube over and put the Orchestra button on top and change the tune being played by pushing that button. We've turned the cube so that this button is obscured and he turns the cube until that button is on top and then he pushes the button until he gets to his favorite tune. Very funny. Smart Jumpybear. Of all the instrument buttons (violin, french horn, piano, flute, etc.) Kevin's favorite is the piano.

Jason loves to have his head rubbed. I scratch (gently) his hair and he half closes his eyes and pushes his head back and smiles. Cutey.

They both like to crack each other up when they eat. It's almost like a contest to see who can get the other to laugh. Kevin will spit his food and Jason will pretend cough and sneeze. They break out into crazy laughter at each other's antics.

Wednesday, Ginger, our cat, sauntered around the nursery and the boys followed him around. Each time Ginger changed direction, they'd swing about and go after him. Ginger, thinks he's safe but the boys are picking up speed in their crawling so it's just a matter of time until they can catch him.

Sunday we attended a lovely holiday party at Joe's cousins', Julie and Dave. Their (newly remodeled) home was lovely and decorated in a festive manner. The boys, having been awakened from a car nap, were put out (tired) and freaked out (too many people). We'd hoped to get to the party early as they do better when exposed to large groups gradually. They've started to enter that "stranger anxiety" period. It's not full blown but they do get upset and clingy. After an hour or so they were their charming selves. Kevin was held by people and anyone willing to suspend him so that he could bounce, became a fast friend. Jason was more reserved and seemed to be fascinated by the children. They were given several lovely presents and the best one of all....tissue paper. Kids are funny, eh?

I've been pecking away at this post all week. Adding a bit here/there. Crazy work week and now 2, yes 2 snowstorms on the way. Joe ran to the all-important formula store and we stocked up should we be housebound for a week. I'm working from home today and it's quite pleasant. As I wrap up this post, I can hear Joe and the boys having breakfast and having a grand time. Nothing is as musical as the sound of laughter. How lucky are we that our house is so very musical.

Hope you're all having better weather than us and if you are in the path of the coming storms, here's hoping that you have a cup of tea, a cord of wood and good company or at least a good book.

Kathy

10 Months Old and Already Driving

Greetings all, and a happy December 8th to you.

Today is the boyz 10 month birthday. I find it remarkable to be actually typing those words. Seems like yesterday they just arrived. Then again, I find it difficult to remember what it was like before they were here. Did Einstein write about that paradox? I'm sure he did. Einstein was wicked smaht.

As you already know, Kevin is crawling like a maniac. Maniacs crawl quite well, in case you didn't follow the analogy. He and I have developed a little game (not a game, per se, but I'm not sure what else describes what follows. An "activity" sounds a little too much like kindergarten. Anyhoo...). I'll motion to him with my hands and say, "Kevin, come to daddy". And he'll look up at me and then scoot on over to me and lift his hand to be picked up. Plenty of praise administered by dad follows. I know, not exactly solving a quadratic equation, but it certainly warms my heart.

What you may or may not know is Jason is now, too, crawling quite well. He's still finding his way, but I'm guessing that in a day or two he'll be right up there with Kevin. He is very much a little boy, laughing hysterically when I blow my nose and exclaim, "BOOGIES!". Jason also loves it when we fake sneeze. This provides us with a non-invasive means of looking in his mouth at the new tooth that's coming in, or for him to smile at the camera (see attached photo).

Ah, I knew you wouldn't let me slip that by you, faithful reader: Jason has yet another tooth coming in. As with the others, this process is rather painful, and I can hear his mother upstairs administering Baby Tylenol as he's woken himself up crying. Hopefully, Kevin will remain asleep (knocking on wood).

I had the day off today. I didn't spend as much time playing with the boyz as I would have liked to, but I did get a lot of house

projects complete (or begun, anyway). Sue has been a remarkable nanny, and I can honestly say the boyz have grown leaps and bounds further than I ever would have expected or hoped for. I know in years to come that maybe, just maybe, the boyz will read these words and appreciate the level of loving care Sue has given them in these formative years. I know I do.

Christmastime, in recent decades, hasn't been overly magical for me. Lots of negative events had happened during this season, and I have silently (well, silent for me) endured this festive season with a lugubrious heart. This year I can honestly say I'm looking forward to Christmas and all of the Christmases to come, relearning the magic of the season through the bright blue eyes of my beautiful little sons.

- Joe

No Fun At Our House This Week

Well, it's been no fun at our house this week. Awww, that's only partly true. The boys have been miserably sick with colds. Boogies, coughing, difficulty breathing, up all night as they struggle to breath and deal w/the dripping mucous. Then add their teething. Poor little guys. Kevin is working on pushing out some molars while Jason has a lower incisor that's due to arrive any day now. Joe has caught their cold. Then there's our sweet Delta. We've definitely had better weeks.

Thank you to all who offered their good wishes and sympathy about Delta. I think we've all lost a pet so it's an experience we all share. Pets bring so much to our lives and they definitely take a piece of our hearts when they pass.

There have been a few chuckles this week. Kevin has taken to sneezing and blowing his food all over whomever is feeding him. Yes, it's gross, but it's pretty funny as he smiles a huge, adorably cute smile each time so you do tend to laugh. Both boys think that sneezing is hilarious. They like when Joe blows his nose. They are such boys...gross stuff is funny. There's a dearth of estrogen in our house. Even the cats are boys.

Kevin is a speedy little crawler now and was especially adorable as he followed Mango (our Maine coon cat) around the nursery. Sadly, Mango is vacuous. He doesn't know that we have a nursery, babies or that he's a cat. So he had no idea that he was being closely tailed by Kicky.

Jason has been especially adorable. Sadly, I startled him last night. I think he was pretty shaken up in fact. He was napping in the nursery when I arrived home. Sue and I were chatting at the foot of the stairs and he woke up/cried out. I assumed he heard/was awakened by my voice. We both went upstairs but I went into my room and Sue went into the nursery and picked Jason up. She took him downstairs to play and I stayed in my room to sew something. After a bit, I came downstairs. As I descended, I could hear Sue say "Who's that? Is that Mama?"

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, Jason looked up at me and just sat staring in shock. Several things might have been running through his mind...."Was she up there all day?" "Where did she come from?" "Why has she been ignoring me all day?" etc. etc.

He had a dumbfounded expression and kept looking to Sue for reassurance. It took him quite awhile to come around and after 5 or so minutes, I got a smile and some chatter. Poor guy. He really is scheduled and likes things to go the same way every day. Change is not a good thing for Jason. Mama should never just appear from upstairs like that. She should always come in the kitchen door, take off her coat, wash her hands and then give hugs and kisses. I'll do my best to keep with the existing plan.

I've made 3 small photo albums that contain photos of all our family members. Jason has his own personal one as does Kevin. As I flipped through the pages of Jason's photo album, I was naming each family member. I flipped the page and said "Look Jason, here's Molly." Jason leaned down and kissed Molly's photo. I was stunned. I nudged Joe and motioned for him to watch and then I said "Look Jason, who's this? Is it Molly?" He leaned down and kissed her photo, again. We were both stunned. What a sweet little boy.

Kevin, also a sweetie normally, but lately he's developed quite a pushy little personality. Yesterday he crawled on top of Jason's back as Jason was lying on the carpet. Once perched atop his brother, Kevin just sort of stood there, in a pushup position. Jason finally got uncomfortable and rolled over causing Kevin to roll onto the floor. Anticipating tears as his head hit the floor, I was shocked as Kevin just laughed it off.

Today, Kevin crawled from one side of the nursery to the other where he grabbed a toy away from Jason and then pushed him backwards. Our little Kickybear could benefit from learning about sharing, being polite and being gentle.

Jason is so close to crawling that if I get home tonight and Sue says that he's now crawling, I will not be surprised.

This weekend we'll finish babyproofing and safetying-up the nursery. We're removing top heavy furniture and installing a babygate outside their bedroom door. I've got the itch to move furniture all around the house. Poor Joe. He's a tolerant man but I know I'll have to have my "carrot on the stick" ready in order to achieve my goal. Remember to reward your puppy so that he'll do what you want him to do. (A reference to If A Man Answers. If I'd known that I would date and eventually marry Joe, I would never have told him about that movie. At least he's okay with the general idea.)

I'll have to add photos of the boys later as I'm on a different pc w/o the new photos.

Hope you all are having a good day.
Love,
Kathy

Our Delta Dog

In Kathy's words:

Our Delta is a very sick girl. She has metastasized cancer, a growth in her spleen that has spread to her lungs. She's bleeding internally, has anemia and is having a difficult time catching her breath because her lungs are full of fluid. She is bleeding into her abdomen and into her chest. There's nothing that can be done for her but the doctor assures us that she's not in any pain. She's very weak and hopefully we're not being selfish but she's going to come home with us tonight and we'll spend time together as a family. Tomorrow we'll take her back to the vet so that we can do right by her. She's been a wonderful pet and family member.

Delta has lived a rich and varied life. Her first family called her Baby and spoiled her, as we could tell from her love of sleeping on the couch and also the day she came flying into the bedroom and jumped on the bed. She sure was surprised when Mommy #3 (me) said "No bed". Her second family renamed her Delta as her ears do stick straight out and she is very aerodynamic. We tend to call her Delta Baby and Delty. The boys love her and I'm sorry that they'll not grow up with her and that they probably won't remember her and how she's watched over them and been so protective of them. While many would say she was a lucky dog to have been adopted by us, I always felt that we were the lucky ones as she taught us a lot of life lessons and had such a funny personality. Her buddy, Ginger, often her nemesis, will also miss her and Mango, well, who's to say. He's off in his own world. Our lives are better for having known her and our lives will be a little less for losing her.

Please say a prayer for Delta and for us as we help her transition to a more peaceful place.