1st Saturday off...

So meal times for G have turned into a disaster. He doesn't want us to feed him- normal for a 16 month old, right? However the problem comes with the fact that he still doesn't really eat solid things, so he's still spoon fed. The only way you can get food into him is by putting the food on his tray and letting him cover everything in it. He does a pretty good job with the spoon for a kid his age, but he doesn't eat a ton with it. It's just really stressful and challenging. He's also really into spitting things out that he doesn't like immediately (M will show you that if you want to see how it looks).
We just keep trying distraction after distraction until we can get him to eat a fair amount. He is loving cookies and crackers and an occasional french fry, blueberry, or apple, but really there's not a lot of nutrition in what solid food he eats. He's come a long way, but we still have miles to go!
M is a pretty good distraction for a few bites.
Today is my first Saturday off! YAY! It's strange- I really didn 't mind working every weekend at all. I rather enjoyed it. Most of the time it's pretty quiet and I love my weekend girls, but with the promise of no more weekends I am really excited. A whole new world of weekend trips and activities has opened up. Today I started my Sat morning pilates class and then we went to the zoo as a family. I can't wait for church tomorrow- I have 3 churches I want to try out and then I want to get settled in a church home. 1st one starts tomorrow.
It's also a lot easier to get a workout in when you don't have to find a sitter! Last night I ran 3.6 miles straight- a pretty big milestone for me. I am sure I can at least accomplish the race in its entirety but I am sortof worried about swimming in the lake. My goal for the next few weeks is to practice swimming in open water and figure it out so I don't drown!

We're off to a party at my cousin's house and we got a babysitter (well, grandma)! WOOT!

Oh the fun.

Everything out of the toy box so we can play!

An argument...

"NOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo!!! I don't wanna weaw doze sorts, they don't mats!" cry cry cry....
"I wear DOZE FLOWEW PANTS!" (No, I don't wanna wear those shorts, they don't match, I wear those flower pants)

Then I see this:Sigh.

More on change.

Silly- we took these last week.
If you look closely we have the exact same color eyes.
This might end up a slightly (or more than slightly) reflective post... I feel like lots of things have changed lately. The obvious- I have lost 30 lbs, am in the best shape of my life (literally), I am taking a new job in 3 weeks, I'm going to have a normalish schedule, and a few other things.
The not-so-obvious to other people: I find that I feel better about myself than ever before. I don't shy away from getting my picture taken, I feel good in my clothes and most of the time don't feel self conscious about myself. I find myself doing things FOR myself lately- reading some books to help me with areas of my life I feel I need to work on, spending more time with friends one on one and in groups, taking the time to paint my toenails, shave my legs regularly, get my hair cut and dyed regularly, do an exercise class I love, etc. It's interesting how feeling good about yourself can slowly creep into all areas of your life and make you WANT to improve things.

I am taking a job with Cardiovascular Surgery at Children's mercy- I will be a scrub nurse in the operating room. This means I will be at the field during the surgery- I will be in charge of managing instruments for the surgeon, etc. At each surgery there is a surgeon (obviously) and 3 nurses- the 1st (each doctor has one) and 2 scrub nurses. On most days I am really excited about it. I want to learn new things and I am REALLY looking forward to finding a church home and making it our own. I have no idea if the OR is the place for me or not. It is completely different than anything I've ever done as a nurse, but I do think it will fit my obsessive and organized personality well. If I do end up ever going back to the PICU it will be a great expansion of my knowledge. There are days when I wonder what I'm doing. I love my job, love my coworkers, and love my patients. Why am I leaving, you ask? Well....in nursing there are about a million different things you can do, and I've only done ONE. So how do I know I'm where I belong? I have been there long enough to be knowledgeable, successful, and just darn good at what I do (heh), but where do I want to be in 10 years? I HAVE NO IDEA. A scary thought really. Time to see what else the world holds. I am really really excited about working 4 days a week 7-330- I think it will benefit our family and our children a GREAT deal. My kids are both strong willed and strong willed children thrive on scheduling....something neither B and I are good at providing. Pepper, on the other hand, is superb at it. There are lots of things that will have to change with this, but I am excited to see how this will impact our family.

I am still doing my training. I really need to step it up this week and do more, but I feel like people are tired of watching our children so I can work out. Unfortunately this means that B has to be alone with them in the evening so I can get it in. Only one more month until the race! Time is getting short and I don't feel even close to being ready to complete it.

In short, I feel like an entirely different person than I was 4 months ago and it feels great. Unfortunately I do feel that it's possible that it won't last. I am actually a little terrified of having another baby and gaining a bunch of weight back. I really don't want to get pregnant until I have been in my new position for at least a year so we'll see what happens there. I also need for my children to grow out of their difficulties a bit.

That's all for now- I can't handle the screaming any more. Doesn't G look like such a BOY here?

He thinks it's hilarious to push the chairs over to the computer and try to play with it. Woops- got caught this time!

Changes

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'...

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

-Dylan.

More on this later...

Hooray!!!

This is my son eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! WOOT! I toasted the bread (probably the key). He took at least 10 bites and ATE them after chewing. He'll often take a bite of something and then spit it out, but this went DOWN the hatch! YAY! I'm so proud of him!DELICIOUS!

Almost 16 months.

Wow- pretty soon G will be 1 1/2. Crazy! We had our 15 month appt today a little late.

Weight- 19lbs 11oz (less than 5th %)
Height- 30 inches! (15-20%!)

We are making some GREAT progress! Not much is changing in the weight department, but they had told me that would happen when he started getting taller! Since his 12 month check up he has gained almost 4 inches in height! CRAZY! He is really becoming a toddler. We are eating all sorts of things- mostly crackers and cereals- crunchy things but also as started working on french fries and blueberries! It seems he'll try something new every day. Still not much mushy textures, but that's ok. I can actually get quite a lot of healthy food in him- what 15 month old do you know that eats veggies daily? Mine! Since I can still feed him baby food, I can actually get quite a bit of nutrition in him too! We do about 6-8 oz of baby food or baby cereal 3 meals a day. He loves yogurt best of all.
Still only 6 teeth unlike Mira's 12 at this point! I can see another one coming in on the bottom which I think will help him eat more things.

He never gets punished- he's WAY too cute for it, but I'm starting to realize that it's going to be a problem if we don't set some boundaries with him soon!
We don't say much- da, uh oh, hi, dog, woof, gah, ball (gall), baba (gaga). He is trying to say somethings but those are the only really consistent ones. Dr M says we need to keep an eye on his speech- he's normal for now but lots of kids with oral aversions end up speech delayed.
He remains one of the sweetest babies out there although he has taken on some of M's more difficult aspects to compensate for her attention. He loves to be cuddled and he makes himself laugh quite a lot. He still takes 2 bottles a day although I really don't think he'd care if we took them away- he takes one at nap and one at bedtime. It's easy to get a lot of calories in him that way, so I don't worry about it much. He is all boy- he's started to try and jump on and off everything- he thinks jumping on the couch and falling down is hilarious.

He doesn't tolerate the heat well at all- I assume it's his coloring and hair- red as ever! He gets beet red and really crabby. Can't stay out too much when it's this hot!

M wanted a picture too- eating her corndogs!