Two-Year-Old Check-up

In an amazing turn of events, Seth was just a fifth of a pound shy of 25th percentile at his check-up. He tipped the scales at 24.8 lbs, which means he's gained almost a pound in the two weeks since his last ear infection. He was 34.5 inches tall. Since he is always following his curve, she thinks his leanness is do to genetics, not diet, so he is allowed to start 2% milk. She was pleased with his progress with his speech. It was a good visit, especially since it was the middle of naptime! Seth got his second Hep A shot, and barring any more infections that require IM antibiotics, he could be shot-free until kindergarten prep. She told me today that FluMist may be approved for 2 year olds by flu season, and she would recommend that for Seth since he didn't do well with the flu shot last year. He walked out blowing kisses to all the staff, and that won him not one, but two stickers on his way out the door.

Seth's 2nd Birthday party!

We had a very busy weekend. Bryan came and spent all day Saturday with us. The boys took a big nap, and I finally worked up the nerve to decorate Seth's cake. Sunday we had Seth's party at one of the playgrounds at Tanglewood park. Both sets of grandparents, cousins, and a couple of Seth's best buddies were able to help us celebrate. Seth received the pool as a gift, and we've already used it three times! He loves it! He's become quite the chatterbox since turning two...yesterday's new words were "Case", "pool", and "Deac"!

Seth's new toys

As promised, pictures of the birthday boy and his gifts....

Haven't you always wanted a monkey?

How many of you sang that title in your head when you read it? (if i had a million dollars...)

The celebration continues as Seth had a playdate again at the Little Gym. He was having a blast hanging from the uneven bars. We went to Mi Pueblo afterwards with the gang and my cupcake cones were a huge hit.

Seth 2.0

Seth turned two yesterday! Just like last year, Seth and I kept up a very busy schedule all day. We let him open his cards and one present (a Backyardigans guitar) before Nathan went to work. He loves it; Nathan and I are tired of it already. Our first stop of the day was to get a big Blues Clues balloon...bonus: we found a duck that said SETH on it! Then we went to Baptist so Seth and Wanda could wish each other happy birthday. Seth was enjoying it all so much, we stopped by Nathan's work too, and then had a family lunch. By then Seth was pooped, so we went home for naptime. We had a good hour plus of playtime and then hit the showers. We met Nathan at Portrait Innovations so we could document Seth at two. We also took a family picture, but I can't get that one to orient itself the right way yet, will post that later. Quick dinner at Jason's Deli and then home to open one more present, a basketball goal. We all had a very fun day! Here are some unedited pictures from Seth's photo session...more birthday pictures soon, there is some bad red eye I need to edit out first.

The photographer said she's never seen a kid decide to stand on the block for pictures, but it's classic Seth to us!

Father's Day 2007

Father's Day was extra special this year because it was also Nathan's birthday. Seth and I got Nathan a Weber grill, and Nathan tested it out by making grilled chicken sandwiches for lunch and steaks for dinner. Both were excellent, and I have leftovers for work this week!

Seth has been making a MESS eating crackers this week, but now he is taking responsibility for his messes...he likes to vacuum? I wonder how much longer before I can let him do the whole house?

Zoo Trip

Seth recovered fairly quickly from his ear infections, but it took him until Thursday to get his appetite back. I wish I remembered the name of Brad Pitt's character in the "Ocean's" movies, because every time I turn around now, Seth has some sort of food in his mouth. Today is supposed to be really hot, but yesterday was cooler and slightly overcast, without the threat of daytime rain, so we decided to move our zoo trip up a day. We thought we had fun last year, but it was even more fun this year. Seth played hard the whole time, and paid attention to most of the animals. Right now he loves elephants, but he also liked to watch the polar bear and the sea lions, I think he thought they were swimming. Last year he was terrified of the carousel, this year he started out cautious (on an elephant), but by the last three turns he was waving to his daddy.

This is a week of celebrating around here...today is Nathan's birthday AND Father's Day, and Wednesday is Seth's birthday. And we may add a new little cousin to the mix this week as well! Friday night Nathan and I went to see the new Pirates movie for his birthday. The zoo was our Father's day outing. I'll keep posting as we keep celebrating!

No reserves

I guess it was too much activity last week for poor little Seth. He had a temp and runny nose over the weekend, but was still playful, so we played the molar card for awhile. But the temp spikes kept getting higher, and by the time I got home last night we were doing the 104+F thing. This morning all he wanted to do was lay in my bed and moan. That warranted a doctor's visit in my book. Classic Seth with an ear infection (although May was an abnormal presentation). Both ears looked "terrible" according to his pediatrician. He was so listless during his appointment that the doctor recommended a shot of antibiotic. It has really helped, although now he has a sore leg, because it was really thick. Tomorrow he starts 10 days of an oral dose. Hopefully we have no reactions this time. Seth has lost a third of a pound again, but I guess that figures since he hasn't eatenwell since Sunday morning. I'm hoping for a summer reprieve from the ear infections so I can try to plump him up a little bit or at least build up some reserves, so every germ we come across in Clemmons doesn't result in double ear infections. Since it is only his third this year, she said it was too early to discuss tubes. Next time I see my favorite ENT at work I'm going to start asking questions. I spent the day washing linens and stuffed animals (don't ask) and got into a good book while Seth took a long nap. Now Seth is helping his daddy cheer for the Spurs while I have some power-down time. I don't work again until Monday (I was supposed to work today but I HAD to stay home with Seth after that shot) and don't really have anything planned until the weekend...maybe Seth will be up to a pool trip later in the week.

A week of visitors

We have had a LOT of company this week. Tuesday evening Lisa and Michael stopped by on their way back from Ohio. They stayed with us until lunchtime on Thursday. Seth is trying his darnest to say the word "shirt", but all he gets out is the "SH" (I know it could be worse.). For some reason, he was fascinated with Michael's shirts. Wednesday Jake spent the afternoon with us, and Seth had so much fun hanging out with a big boy. We went to the playgrounds at Tanglewood. Afterwards, Seth and I tried out a different Mexican restaurant with Lisa and Michael. Mango margaritas? Not so good. Food? Excellent! And Seth stayed in his booster the whole time! By far the best he's been at a restaurant in over a year! Thursday Alden and Landon spent the morning with us. Which brings me to our weekend...

Marie and Eric went on a kid-free trip to Asheville, and Evan and Ryan came to spend the weekend with us. The boys had so much fun! Friday morning Marie and I took the boys to the Children's Museum. As you can see, the donut factory was a big hit! Nathan and I tried to take the boys to the pool Friday afternoon, but thunder caused the pool to be shut down after we'd been there for about 15 minutes. Ryan was missing his mom, so I was having a hard time convincing him to go in the water anyways. The storm that passed over us brought in cooler temperatures, so we went for a short walk with the boys that evening. Evan had brought his bike, so he rode that while the little guys hitched a ride in the garden cart. Saturday we had a NICU playdate at Dan Nicholas Park in Salisbury. Seth's buddies were there, but since it is a very large park, we only saw them while we had our lunch cookout. The park had a huge playground, a train, a wilderness park, gem mining, and a sprinkler area, all which were a big hit. Evan played a round of mini golf with Nathan. There was also a carousel there, but none of the boys expressed interest in riding that. Seth and Evan were pooped, but Ryan did not want to leave! All three boys fell asleep on the 45 minute ride home.

Sunday morning was 100% crazy boytime in the playroom. It is so funny to watch what these guys think up to do. We went on another short walk to kill time awaiting Marie and Eric's arrival. The boys were very excited to see their parents and got good report cards. Looking forward to doing it again sometime!

Sesame Street Dictionary!

He didn't have a chance of not being a bookworm, but I had a blast from the past today when he cracked out the Sesame Street Dictionary. Rumor has it that when I was Seth's age, it was my favorite book. I had my parents read it from cover to cover, front to back , back to front, middle to ends, every other word, and I knew when they tried to skip stuff! We aren't at that point yet, but it was fun to look through all the pictures with Seth this morning. He says "k-kie" for Cookie Monster and "tra-ash" for Oscar. He says Bert clear as day. He would tell me which ones were eating and say "shhh" if they were asleep.

I got this Cheerios book for a shower gift, and we read it all the time, but I've never put Seth to work at it before (you fill in the holes with Cheerios). He got it! Yea! Something else to entertain him in the kitchen!

My parents came over Saturday because my dad needed a "grandpa fix." They brought over a carful of little baby stuff (they figure it's better it takes up space in our attic than theirs) and Nathan's birthday present, a garden cart. It will have dual-purposes, as Seth likes to ride in it like a wagon. Its maiden voyage was a ride around the cul-de-sacs trying to get Seth to wind down and sleep...it worked...

First Pool Trip, 2007 edition

Yea! Tanglewood pool is open for business! Seth and I went to the pool this afternoon. It is amazing the change nine months can bring. This kid who had to hold on to both my hands last year will now walk until his shoulders are covered unassisted, and up to his chin while holding my hand.

Hopefully this summer we will work on our sharing. I caught a genuine expression here of when a little boy tried to use one of his diving sticks. Who knew Seth was so sassy?

Definitely going to be spending a lot of time here this summer....

Binky Battle, Day 2

Seth tried once again to boycott bink-less naptime...it got quiet upstairs 20 minutes ago, so I sneaked a peek...this is what I found:

Poor Floppy Dog...

Note the "broken" binky in his hand... Do you think he was tired?

Binky Negotiations

We had a quiet Memorial Day weekend. Nathan went golfing Saturday, and Seth and I went to the mall because my work shoes had broken the night before. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I worked. Wednesday was a recharge day for me. We did nothing except go to meet baby Blair. Seth was so excited to go play at Case's house! We have decided it's time to get rid of the bink around here. Since Seth has been feeling better, we were back to just nap and bedtime. Yesterday I tried to cut out naptime. I told Seth that Daddy had taken his binky to work. Seth found another one, so I cut it in half and told him it was broken. I let him fuss it out. That didn't work. I read dozens of books. That didn't work. So finally I just let him play quietly in the playroom. I had wanted to take him to the pool, but he fell asleep on the way there. After a quick nap, he was a bear when he woke up. We spent a majority of the evening outside because he's happier there. We let him have the bink at bedtime, we'll tackle that once we get naptime down pat. This morning at 4am Seth started hollering. When I went to check on him, he handed me his bink like it was his ticket out of his room. Yeah, right! I got him settled back in, and he slept until morning. Here are a couple pictures of our morning playtime yesterday:

Look what we found back by the fence yesterday morning! She dug two holes, so I guess she was going to make a nest. I think she changed her mind after she met Colette, but it almost looks like she's back out there right now as I type this! (Sorry the picture is so dark, our backyard is very shady right now.)

Big orange sticker on his chart...

Seth went down for nap yesterday with a couple (so I thought) bug bites on his arm. He was filthy after a morning of washable (not color-magic) markers, sidewalk chalk, and outside play. I had to drop Seth off at Nathan's work so I could go to a meeting, so I threw him in the shower with me so he'd be presentable. His belly was covered with spots. I thought it might be chicken pox, but at least it'd only be a mild case since he had received the vaccine. Called the pediatrician to give them a heads-up, they call back, wanting to see him this morning for an official diagnosis. Uneventful night; this morning the spots had turned into whelps, and his knees are red, hot, and swollen. Hmmm. Not the pox. So we go to the doctor, Seth walks in like he owns the place, and I had brought crayons, so our short wait was really fun coloring pictures on the exam table paper. The doctor says he is having a classic penicillin reaction (oops--guess I should have held his AM dose of amoxicillin). She gave him a whoppin' dose of Benadryl (he didn't even stay awake the ride home and it wasn't even 9am!) and ordered around the clock Benadryl for the weekend. So ate least he doesn't have some weird contagious germ that I don't know where he picked it up since he hasn't been out this week. But he does have a big orange "PCN Allergy" sticker on his chart now, and hopefully that won't become a problem as he gets older and gets exposed to strep and the like.

IOP

It's hard to believe a week ago we were on our way to Charleston. More specifically, Isle of Palms. Seth woke up last Wednesday with green goop coming out his eyes and nose. Convinced the doctor would give him something this time, we made a last minute trip to the pediatrician. Diagnosis: one and one-half ear infections. Filled the prescription and we were on our way. He looked pitiful, but he was in really good spirits that day. Our condo was perfect for what we needed for the weekend. After everyone got settled (Nathan's parents and Marie's family had condos on the same floor), we had carry-out pizza. We had decided that each family would make breakfast one morning, and that worked out great. The guys went golfing Thursday morning. We went to the pool/beach with the boys. This is a picture from the pool trip: We had all commented on what a dreary beach morning it was. We started smelling smoke later once we came in, only to find out the wildfires in Georgia were responsible. I was hoarse by mid-afternoon, and still have a cough today. I just had to take the next picture...Seth wanted Ryan's float, but he didn't want to use it in the big pool...here he is in the baby pool using the float.

Thursday Marie and I got to shop sans kids at the outlet mall, then we met the rest of the crew out for dinner. We found some great deals! Friday was a beautiful day (lucky for us the winds shifted). Elise and Chad came over and had some beach time with us.

I don't know what it is about the beach, but every day after about an hour Seth would go in the beach bag, take out his bink, lay down on a blanket and fall asleep. Friday he woke up towards the end of his nap and crawled in Marie's lap to catch another 30 minutes.

Friday night we went to downtown Charleston with the Johnstons. We ate at A.W. Shucks and had a really nice dinner. The boys were really good, especially when you consider that Nathan ordered two dozen steamed oysters that he had to shuck himself, and that took forever. We went down to the water for a little bit until the bugs started to get us. Here's a good picture of Evan and Ryan:

Saturday was another beach morning. Seth took almost a four hour nap that day. I guess he was catching up on all the sleep he missed the week before (I'm glad one of us did!) That evening we went to Goose Creek to Chad and Elise's house. Chad graduated from Charleston School of Law Saturday, so Elise had a party for him. It was very nice! Sunday we had an uneventful ride home. I've worked the last two days, so today I'm finally starting to catch up with things around here.

For all you Idol fans...

I just saw this on the News&Observer website:

http://www.newsobserver.com/1241/story/570279.html

New dishwasher

The new dishwasher was installed just a little bit ago, yea! I didn't think you guys would be interested in seeing a picture of a new black dishwasher, although the inside is really neat, because it is gray. But I did think you'd be interested in seeing what the original kitchen flooring was...ugly laminate (it's hunter green and white, in case you can't tell in the picture...click on the picture to see a larger view, which gives you a better idea of what I saw), and this was a 1993 Parade of Homes house! We had a very nice long weekend in Charleston with Nathan's family, more on that, with pictures, as soon as I get things in order around here.

Guess what I'm getting for Mother's Day?

A new dishwasher! Ours died mid-cycle this morning, so tomorrow I'm headed to Lowes to see if they have any that strike my fancy. The irony of it is, I probably liked the dishwasher best of all my kitchen appliances! Oh well! Here's some pictures of our weekend:


Sidewalk chalk has been a wise investment. We have almost gotten our money's worth out of it this weekend.

Yesterday was Sabrena's wedding in Icard. We dropped Seth off to play with his cousins. Here is a picture of me and Michelle (my DZ little sis). People have been asking me to post a picture of my new hairdo.

We got back to Marie and Eric's just in time for dessert and bathtime...this time the boys got mohawks!

Nathan took Seth to go shopping this morning...he swears he was just the wallet of the operation, and that Seth picked out the flowers and the card himself. I believe the card part, because Seth continues to scribble the inside every chance he gets!

Terrible twos...

...here we come! Although Seth wasn't the first to roll over, get teeth, crawl, walk, etc., he did get separation anxiety early, and it appears the terrible twos may be upon us. (And since I hear 3 can be worse than 2, we might have a bumpy couple years around here!) We are starting to have short-lived melt-in-a-puddle tizzies. He's already mastered instant crocodile tears. Now, Seth's had a tough week, which we are blaming on allergies and 2-year-old molars. After several restless, sleepless nights, a few low-grade temps, and some unexplained meltdowns, I took him to the pediatrician, thinking I would catch an ear infection early. Nope. Boy doesn't even have fluid behind his eardrum, much less an infection. Oops. Better safe than sorry! The thing about my pediatrician's office is that they know I'm a NICU nurse, so they think I can "handle" things for awhile before I bring him in. Every time something happens for the first time ie. stuffy nose, bumped noggin, super high fever, etc., I have called in, then use that advice the next time. But, I did get to throw the boy on a scale, and was SHOCKED to see he weighed in at 23 lbs 15 oz. What the heck! I thought he'd be 25+! So I just looked at the CDC website and that puts him right on the 10th percentile line...AGAIN. Next time I'm going to put some rocks in his diaper!

Then we met Nathan for lunch and Seth had so much fun spearing pizza on a fork. We made a family trip to ToysRUs and bought a couple toys for our trip to the beach and got Seth's birthday present to put away. Well, the big box wouldn't fit in my car, so we had to take out the carseat in the Camry and put it in there. I don't know what was the catalyst: Nathan getting out of my car, or putting the box in his car, or removing the car seat, but there was a very unhappy boy in my car. I told him Daddy had to go back to work but he'd be home later. Major waving and kiss-blowing ensued, until Nathan's car was out of sight. He's going to be thrilled tomorrow when he realizes it is Saturday and he has both parents home for two days!

Triad (Guaranty) Idol

Nathan is always being asked to be on some sort of social committee or another at work, not for his business savvy or his work ethic (that's why he gets assigned real projects), but because his sense of humor is not that of a "typical" accountant. When I was pregnant with Seth, we made a 3-D turkey for their Thanksgiving party. The next year it was a 2 ft Mayflower, complete with pilgrims. For the second year in a row, Triad is having a night out at the Warthogs game. For the second year in a row, they are having a competition to see who gets to sing the National Anthem at the game. And for the second year in a row, Nathan was asked to be Simon Cowell. Check him out! And for those who remember our college Halloween costumes, that's a WIG.