Raya Recently- 23 Months! Again

Just a little sumthin to go along with yesterday's post...

So once a week I get an email from BabyCenter.com. Well actually twice a week now that I have 2 kids. The one for Raya came yesterday. It was the email for "Your 23month old, Week 2" and guess what the topic was?! "Does your toddler ignore you?" This isn't the first time the email has been spot on. It actually happens a lot and I feel like its the Baby Gods laughing at me and then feeling bad for laughing and then sending me help via my email. They're good guys :) The first sentence in the article was: "Does your toddler ignore you? She's not doing it on purpose; it takes time and practice to learn how to listen well." Ahhhhh, so relieving. I love you BabyCenter.com. Here's the little snip-it if you're interested: Ignoring
Such a helpful little article!

AND, I've always heard people say "Yah, my toddler didn't talk much and then one day, Bam, all kinds of words and phrases." Well Raya did that yesterday. She's had a good amount of words, but wasn't a big talker. Well she was a talker, but not in a language the general public could understand. I took her outside to run around and she started saying "I got it!" I had never heard her say that, and that one phrase I swear popped the cork holding her vocab in. In the last 24 hours she hasn't stopped talking. And almost all of it has been words and phrases that we can understand. Its AMAZING how that happens! Seriously, she's saying all kinds of things. It's crazy. And so cool. And one more reminder that my baby is growing up. But it's all good :) It's funny because after I got her dressed today she looked different. Like a little girl and not a baby. We went and saw Gentry and my Mom at work and had lunch with them and she was just so chatty and grown. I guess the bitter sweet is never ending....But I'll take it. She's such a fun kid. And funny too. And gorgeous. And I'm so lucky <3

My Little Girl

She was fake falling. It was hilarious. And she knew it.

LOVING LIFE

So Purty

Raya Recently- 23 Months!

Raya Sunshine-
I can't believe the countdown to TWO is in full effect. My baby's gonna be TWO?!?!? How did that happen?

Lets see my little one...what have you been up to? Well you got through your first Sickness. It was the basic flu-runny nose, fever, aches, sore throat, cough. The worst part lasted about 4 days and you were one sad puppy. You just wanted to cuddle and watch cartoons. The saddest part was hearing you cough and then you'd whimper because the coughing hurt your throat. Uh, stab me in the heart! That sad little face. But you are a trooper for sure. You didn't whine about it and you weren't even fussy. I would've been totally fine if you were, just so you know. I was just so surprised by how tough you were about it. And the short times you were feeling a little better you wanted to jump on your trampoline or go to the park. So this week I learned that you're going to be a kid that I have to MAKE relax and take it easy. Duh. You still have a runny nose-that's awesome. Nothing like a runny nose when you're a flower girl and in a bunch of pictures :)

Sick girl :(

How we spent the majority of our week

AND this last week you've introduced me to what many know as The Terrible Twos! I'm not positive its that, but that's how I'm summing it up. Lol. I'm sure its a combination of you still being a bit sick, your sleep schedule is totally off, maybe you're getting your 2year molars?, and you don't get as much attention as you use to. So all that sums up to One Feisty Little Girl. Whhoooooweeeeeee child. You have been testing me beyond belief. And now you throw mini tantrums and freak out pretty easily. So, not my favorite time, but we'll get through it (please) Nothin like a public tantrum to make you feel like you've failed at parenting. Haha. I know I know, it happens to everyone, but I'm not use to a kid doing this. You've really never had a tantrum, so its all new. And I'll be totally ok when you decide you're outta the tantrum phase. Cause if it lasts much longer mama's water bottles are gonna be mama's wine bottles ;) You DO NOT listen to me when I say No. I can't decide if its because you're still so young, or if its your personality and you hear me but don't care. That's hard. There is no tone I can use to say No that works with you. I clearly don't scare you. Some may think thats a good thing, and I'm a good mom for not instilling fear in my child, but when you're climbing the bar in the kitchen and I'm nursing Kallen and tell you No its annoying. Keeping my fingers crossed it gets better as you get older.

You are talking a lot. More and more words all the time. Your favorite word is No. Lol. But you have some phrases now too. "I got it," "There is it," "What's that," "Ah Man," "Where'd it go?" You love watching Nick Jr and when they teach dance routines you get up and follow along as best you can. Its SO CUTE!!! Your favorite cartoon is Wow Wow Wubbzy, but now you also like Ni Hao, Kia Lan, Dora, Diego and Olivia. You're still active as ever. You love to run and jump. Jumping is probably your favorite right now. And you're really good at it. You easily jump, both feet together and land on both feet. You have a basketball and hoop from Nana (obviously) and you can toss the ball under hand and make it in the basket.

We were so busy last week being sick and getting ready for our mini vacation to Palm Springs for Cathleen's wedding that I didn't get to do your 23month blog on the 22nd AND I have very few new pictures of you. YIKES!!! The blog doesn't worry me, but not having pictures of you?!?! I gotta do better :)

You are in size 24month and 2T clothes. Yah 24months and 2T are different sizes. Makes no sense. And its annoying. But I get just about everything in 2T now. You fit all of your 18month pants (if they're cute as capris) You wear a size 7 shoe perfectly. You wear size 4 diapers and as soon as we get back from our Arkansas trip Potty Training 101 is Goin Down!!!

Well my little love...next time I blog about my BFF you'll be TWO!!! Make it stop ;) You're the cutest kid I could ever ask for. Watching you grow is the highlight of my life. I love you!!!
xoxo,
Mom

First Sick Weekend :(

So Raya has NEVER been sick. Seriously. One time she threw up cause she ate something that didn't agree with her stomach, but was laughing while she was throwing up. And when I had bronchitis she had a little mini cough. She'd cough for like 5 minutes every morning for about a week, but that was it. So these weekend we all got it. Bad :( Well, minus Gentry. But I don't think he's in the clear quite yet. With all the coughing and snot in the house this weekend I will be SO surprised if he misses all the nasty germs. I hope it does!

I learned that Raya is one of those kids that, even when she's super sick, she still wants to Go Go Go. She's going to be the one I have to actually tell to lay down and rest so that she can get better. This picture was the day she got sick.

I was super sick, Raya was super sick, but Kallen is getting much better!!! We had Dr appts Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat morning. All were just follow ups and to check him out and make sure he was getting better and not worse. They did chest x-rays Friday to make sure there was no pneumonia developing and there wasn't. The chest x-rays were perfect. By Saturday our Dr told me I could cut the oxygen treatments out, or once a day if he was looking like he needed it. I've done them once a day because he still has a cough and he seems much better after the little boost of oxygen. 

This is how we spent the majority of the weekend. Gentry was soooooo great :) I really did nothing. I was useless. And thanks to him we had food to eat. Lol. 

Poor Raya was so sick. She would cry and it was just so pitiful. Like I said earlier, I've never had a sick kid, so this was a first. It was so sad!!! Poor baby. And there's really not much you can do for a kid just under 2. A little bit of Tylenol and then juice and soup. Riiiiight. Soup for a toddler? Who wants to feed herself. Good luck with that. But as I type right now Kallen is cooing away in his bouncer, Raya is up because she had a cough attack and wanted to cuddle, so she's sitting in Kallen's bumbo about 6 inches from the screen watching Wow Wow Wubbzy and we're all about to go to bed! My flu has moved to the head cold part so I can't taste anything!!!! UHHHHHH. I HATE when I can't taste. I'm guessing someone up above knows I have a wedding to be in next Saturday so they're helping me eat well ;) Cause if I can't taste it I won't eat it, right? Not gonna lie, there's a piece of lemon cake in the kitchen and about every 2 hours I take a bit to see if I can taste. I can't. At all. But I know that its so good so I imagine it. HAHA. So hopefully before Friday, when we leave for Cathleen's wedding in Palm Springs we'll all be on top of our game. Ps- Our family outfits for the wedding are so cute. Yah I said "family outfits" We're all coordinated. That's what we do :) I can't wait to post pictures!!!! 

Just gonna wrap it up with some pictures of Little Big Man:

ALL he wanted to do was sleep. He really didn't want to eat and he definitely didn't want to be awake. This is him getting that goooood deep sleep :)

Sick, but still Cute!!! 

Family Footsies ;)

Publish Post

Keeping Up With Kallen

We went to his 2month doctor check up a few weeks ago. He was 13.9 lbs and 23.5 inches. I was right on for the height, but off by a pound on the weight. I was thinking he was more like 12...he's a big kid! Doc said he looked good and was nice and healthy. He's 14.6lbs now.  He's in the 95% for weight and a little above the 75% or 85% for height, I can't remember. He fits great in all of his 6 month clothes. I already had to put away a lot of his 3month clothes. Definitely the 3month pants. Those were tight. Lol. And he's in size 2 diapers.

So Handsome

"Good morning Mama!" 

Skyping with Granny

Sick kid:
At the beginning of this week he started to get a little congested, so we had him sleep with the humidifier on for 2 nights and it only seemed to get worse. Usually I wait a little longer to call the doctor because I know there's not much they can give a baby at this age, and because the best medicine I can give him is breastmilk and I was doing that, but I guess it was a motherly instinct to call. I made an appt for Wednesday morning and by Tuesday night I was so glad I did. Towards the end of the day he developed a pretty nasty cough-it sounded EXACTLY like the cough on the commercial for whopping cough, so I diagnosed him myself ;) (It wasn't whopping cough) But by Wednesday morning he was clearly not feeling well. So after seeing the doctor he diagnosed Kallen with RSV. It's bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) You can read about it here: RSV. While at the doc office he had me use a nebulizer with some medicine in it. It takes 15 minutes for all the medicine to pump through the nebulizer, so he gets about 15minutes of oxygen and medicine. Some kids respond well to this treatment and some show no improvement. Kallen responded really well, so they sent us home with a nebulizer and the medicine and I have to give him the oxygen treatments every 4-6 hours depending on his breathing. He did really well that day. The night was a little tough. I felt like he was breathing harder than usual. It was like how you'd breathe after you took a short run to the end of the block or something. So, needless to say, I slept lightly. He was still nursing, so that's probably the only reason we didn't have to check him into the hospital. He's not eating as much as he usually does, but he's eating and that's a great sign. We went back this morning (Thursday) and his breathing was a lot less "wheezer" than the day before. The doc did say that he would get worse before he got better, so be prepared for that. I have to keep the oxygen treatments up and we go see the doc again tomorrow morning. The oxygen treatments aren't as hard as I thought they would be. He pretty much just sits calmly and lets me hold the mask on his face. I'm thinking maybe it's soothing? Or immediately helps him breathe better? When the doctor told me they were going to do the treatment I assumed the nurse was going to do it. She came in and set everything up then handed it to me and said "Hold this over his nose and mouth, I'll be back in 15. Make sure you hold the mask completely upright and that it covers his nose and mouth or it won't work" and shuts the door and leaves. I'm like, "Ummm, Ok, so let me try and figure out how to hold a baby straight up and support his head since he really can't and hold his arms down and somehow pin his head against my chest so he doesn't move it AND hold the mask over his mouth and nose. I sat cross legged in the chair with Kallen facing out and, well, luckily the medicine was done by the time the nurse came back cause that would've been awkward. LOL. I've gotten much better at it and don't look ridiculous anymore. RSV it a little freaky to deal with because it has to do with his breathing and because when I read about it on line the only parts I really remembered were about the infants that die from it. Awesome. Kallen doesn't seem to by anywhere near this being critical. Luckily we saw the doctor before it was at its worse, so I'm prepared and we already have a treatment plan and can monitor everything. He's been eating great today! And he's snuggled up and sleeping like a baby while I'm writing this. And breathing great. So we're doing good! I'll be sure to keep you posted :) Oh and we rounded out the appt with Thrush. Awesome, again. I just thought my nipples hurt cause this kid has jaws like a shark. So I was nursing through the pain thinking it'd go away eventually. It wasn't bothering him at all cause he's had it for a couple weeks now and up until 2 days ago he was eating like a champ. Sooooo, just some bumps in the baby road. Thanks for all the love and prayers and well wishes from those that I talked to the last few days! Let's hope he kicks this asap!!

Ready for the doctors

Sick but still smiling

Watching March Madness with Dad and gettin some oxygen

Chillin

Love My Boy!!

Raya Recently

Girls are so much more fun to dress :) Lets start with this shirt from my Mom:

It's her Raya Rainbow shirt. Its pretty dang cute. When my mom got it it looked huge! We actually talked about ordering another one in a smaller size because it'd be forever until she fit into this one. And then 6 months later its perfect!

Her name on her sleeve

The back "Love, Nana 2010"

Just a cute one of her and Gentry when he got home from work.

Such a Cheeser

I LOVE these shoes!!! I would've bought them in a couple sizes, but this was the only pair and they were in her size. Can you say Fate? 

I love that Gentry's shoes/feet are in the background. I didn't even plan that. I found these skinny jeans that bunch at the ankles when I found the shoes...all at Ross for so cheap :) God I love a good sale!

I've never been a Hello Kitty fan, but now that I have a daughter I think it's so cute!!! 

This is a 6-12 month dress that still fits, but prob too short to be a dress, so it was a shirt today!

So grown.

MY FAVORITE!!!!

Sunday afternoon at Nana & Grandma's

Yep...Nana's teaching her just like she taught me :) Oh and guess who made Raya's flower girl dress for the wedding she's in..yep, my Dad. This is my life :) So glad Raya gets to experience it!

Ahhh, she's so fun to dress up :) I know I only have a little longer until she refuses to wear what I pick out. Oh man, that's gonna hurt! So until she does, I will take full advantage of this super fun time!