We took Daniel for his six-month photos on Thursday--about a week early, but our two-year "smilesaver" membership at Sears was expiring that day, so we wanted to squeeze one last bit of value out of it. We weren't sure how it would work with both boys, but they cooperated and we got some nice shots.

Daniel isn't quite able to sit up on his own, so there was some propping involved. He's getting close though. He'll sit for a short time and then either lean forward folding himself in half, or tip to the side. He's also much more adept in the rolling department these days. He can easily go back to front or front to back and has somewhat figured out how to combine these to move away from wherever he has been set down.

We decided to use the long weekend at home to try having Edward wear underwear during the day. He has tried using the potty both at school and home and had some minor successes. I thought including the wet sensation would help him take that next step toward understanding the process. He had some early successes on Friday, but then we had some friends over for a picnic in the late afternoon and I think it was all too much. Now today he seems only to be remember the afternoon accidents, despite the stickers celebrating his first achievements. He wasn't too into it this morning. I have no illusions that this will be a short or easy process. It seems to be as much a psychological task as a physical one. I just want to ensure that we're encouraging him without forcing him against his will. We know he has a strong will and I don't want him to turn it against us in this endeavor! I also don't want to be one of those parents who talks (blogs) about her kid's pee constantly, so I'll leave it at that.

We think Daniel has conquered his latest infections. He finished his medicine on Sunday and has been sleeping better--longer stretches overnight (twice all the way through!) and solid afternoon naps in his crib. This is all good news...for everything except blogging. Since his crib is in our office, it's hard to find time to use the computer. Right now he's sleeping right next to me.

Over the weekend, he was a bit fussy about his afternoon naps, but John found the solution. Not too tough an assignment for a Saturday afternoon.

On Saturday morning, John took Edward for a series of errands, including getting a haircut. The woman who tackled his unruly locks (OK, that's an exaggeration, but it was getting long) was very impressed with his cooperation and gave him this crocodile squirt gun as a reward. He was a bit unclear on the concept. You have to put the croc in the bucket and pull back on the plunger to fill the tube with water. Then push the plunger to squirt--it goes really far! He sort of picked up on it after a few assists, but this may be a summer-long learning curve.

We think our camera may be on its last legs. The auto-adjust for the lighting didn't work with these shots. Sometimes when we turn it on the screen is wavering and some of our videos include this malfunction. (Videos will have to wait for another post--no way to edit in the same room with a sleeping baby. Clacking keyboard is one thing, but personal sound effects are another story.)

We've recently had an uptick in house showings, which is reassuring. We'd really tapered off, but in the last two weeks we've had five showings. Now if only someone would decide it's just right. There's a lot of real estate action going on in town though as people displaced by the floods figure out their next moves. Those who have the means are buying new places on higher ground. Some are renting and others are making due with temporary quarters. There is talk of buyouts in the hardest hit areas, but that takes a long time. It's hard to imagine having everything just wiped out like that and no real idea of how long it will be before you can expect to return to something resembling "normal."

Many campus buildings are still closed for clean up. Some will remain so into the fall semester. Long after the Midwest floods have left the headlines around the country, this will remain our top story.

We had a belated Father's Day celebration yesterday. I consulted with several fathers to find out whether a gift for "Dad and kids" would be appropriate and finally decided to go with my instinct: Little Tikes Basketball. John's been talking about wanting one of these for the boys and he and Ed are always inventing ways to play versions of basketball, so I thought this would be well received. We made a big deal about it being "Daddy's" and Ed helped him open it. Still, it was hard to "take turns" initially. By this morning though, he was letting John have some turns after his own. Ed's not entirely clear on the concept, however. John tries to wow him with his long distance shots and Ed says, "Daddy, stand right here!" Meaning--right in front of the hoop where you can easily reach up (if you're two feet tall) and dunk.

Daniel got a turn, but his first move was to jam the ball in his mouth. Ed was not enamored of a slobber ball. Daniel needs a little forgiveness though. He's currently battling an ear infection and pink eye...again! I don't know why this pink eye keeps recurring, but it's getting frustrating. At least a single antibiotic will treat both ailments. However, it doesn't seem to be doing the trick on the ear. He's been on the medicine since Friday but still is having trouble sleeping. If tonight is rough again, we may have to go back to the doctor tomorrow. I guess we had a good run of about a month of health.

I realized the other day that I never posted Daniel's rolling video. He's getting close to going from front to back as well and then--look out. There will be no containing him. He has done it a few times, but not consistently. He is still more likely to cry than rectify the situation on his own when he's tired of being on his belly.

It's hard to believe that just one week ago, I was trying to decide whether to stay or go. The trigger was the announcement that I-380 (between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids) would close by 6 p.m. When I heard this at 2, I kicked it into high gear, packing while the boys slept, loading the car, then the boys (including plucking a sound asleep Edward from his bed) and headed out. I started by back-tracking because I knew the most direct road to the Interstate was clogged with traffic. I got gas and cash on my way out of town and headed east. I got on I-80 going west and sailed through with no traffic to 380. Since 80 was closed east of here there was only local traffic on the road. I also breezed through the section of 380 that would soon be closed. I thought I was in the clear.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Shortly after the Iowa River bridge, traffic slowed and then came to a halt. I knew it would be slow-going given what was happening in Cedar Rapids, but nothing I'd heard indicated the road was closed. Plus the traffic was moving fine southbound, so I didn't think I needed to alter my route. After about an hour, we were approaching a rest stop between Iowa City and the CR airport (maybe a total distance of about 10 miles.) Not knowing what lay ahead, I decided to stop and feed Daniel--trying to avoid getting stuck between exits with a screaming, hungry baby and no way out. Ed had a snack while I fed Daniel and changed his diaper. All told we were stopped for about 15 minutes. When we got off, a yellow cement mixer was right behind us. When we got back on, we were several cars in front of the mixer. This did not bode well. Also, our new location was directly behind a cattle truck. Luckily, I was able to switch the AC to the "recirculate" function and keep the smell out. I was later treated to the sight of a cow pooping out the side of the truck. But that was so minor in the scheme of things.

An hour later, we had still only reached the airport exit, which is normally a half-hour trip. I had the map out and was trying to see what alternatives I might have for getting up to Highway 20, which, as far as I know, was the only major east-west road that was open all the way to the state border (Mississippi River) throughout this flooding ordeal. By the time I decided to try another route, I was about 100 yards past the airport exit. I pulled onto the shoulder and started to back up toward it, but the man in the car behind me suggested that instead I turn around completely. He'd seen me for the past two hours trying to cope with the situation--standing/inching traffic, two kids in the back seat, map reading in the front, etc. I executed a three-point turn on the interstate and drove the wrong way down the shoulder back to the exit and got off.

I thought I could take Highway 965 (which runs basically parallel to 380 at that point) as far north as Highway 30, which I knew was flooded to the east, but open to the west. I thought if I went west a bit, I could take another route north to Waterloo. John was online at home checking for the latest road closures and told me that the next road north (Highway 218) was closed, but the one after that (Highway 63) was open. So I'd have to drive an hour west to Tama, then north to Waterloo, then east to Dubuque. First hiccup in the plan: when I got to Highway 30, the westbound entrance ramp from 965 was flooded. So I had to get on going east, then turn around at the next exit and come back west. After that, it was a smooth, but long trip. Once we were moving, Daniel fell asleep and Edward, comforted by his "teenie and paci (blanket and pacifier)" was calm and observant in the back seat.

While we were stuck in traffic, we were all miserable. Edward kept dropping/throwing his toys and his drink cup on the floor. We were stopping often enough that I could put the car in park and reach back to retrieve things, but it was driving me crazy. I thought I was helping Daniel by hooking a toy onto his sunshade for him to play with. I didn't realize until he'd been crying a while that he'd kicked the toy enough that the shade was down and the sun was beaming in directly on him. This would make me scream too!

So all told, the kids were actually pretty amazing. It took six hours to get to Dubuque, where my parents met us after driving from Evanston (through their own traffic nightmare--Friday night rush hour in Chicago!) I would NEVER plan a six hour trip with kids, even with another adult to help, much less as a solo caregiver. Even when we go four hours to Evanston, we stop somewhere to run around for a bit. But these were extraordinary circumstances.

One more blooper to add to the mix: Daniel woke up just before Traer, Iowa so we stopped there so I could feed him. Edward stayed in his seat eating a "squished cheese" sandwich (one of his favorites--American cheese between two slices of bread, all squished down flat.) The bank parking lot where we stopped was right next to a gas station where I saw gas was only $3.80. After everyone was fed, I thought I'd top off the tank since we'd used so much already. I also realized that despite limiting my own liquid intake, I was not going to make it to Dubuque without going to the bathroom. I have never done this before, never intend to again, and certainly would not have if it hadn't been Traer "no one around" Iowa. I ran into the store, gave the clerk my credit card, told her my kids were in the car (locked with front windows rolled down) and ran back to the bathroom. Worst 90 seconds of the trip, hands down. But we all survived.

Then I thought I should give the boys fresh diapers for the remaining (roughly) two hours of the trip. Too late for Edward. He was totally soaked--top, bottom and car seat. So he got out and stood next to the car while I changed him and then put a blanket over his soaked car seat before putting him back in. (It dried overnight and I washed it when we got to Evanston, but still pretty gross to make the trip in a pee-soaked seat!) As I was getting back in the front seat after all this, Edward said, "Mommy, don't drive!" My sentiments exactly.

We got to Dubuque at about 8:45 and pulled into the parking lot of the Best Western on Highway 20. I called my parents, who, as it turned out, were just up the road at the Hampton Inn. They hadn't checked in though, so they came to us. I could not even bear to put the key back in the ignition at that point! We got two rooms at the "flood rate" and joined a hotel full of evacuees. Edward was excited to see Gram and PopPop, who got him a snack and some milk while I fed Daniel. Then we all sat outside for a bit, letting Ed burn off some steam. He stayed in their room and Daniel and I stayed down the hall.

The Iowa City to Dubuque trip is 83 miles by the most direct route. If I could have gotten through on 380 it would have been about 168 miles. This trip was approximately 210 miles.

On Saturday we drove on to Evanston with my mom driving my car so I could more easily tend to the needs of the back seat. Again, the boys were very good, sleeping part of the time.

Sunday was a very sad Father's Day for John with all of us gone and not knowing when we'd be able to get back. I was hoping for Wednesday at that point, but that was only a guess. I knew I could not return until Interstate 80 reopened--there simply was no way I could repeat the Friday Odyssey. As it turned out, the road cleared overnight Sunday into Monday morning and the Dept. of Transportation announced around noon that it would be open by late afternoon. John called me as soon as he got the press release. Given Chicago traffic though, we could not leave that afternoon. We waited until Tuesday morning and then hit the road. Grandma and Grandpa met us at the Iowa Welcome Center, just after we crossed the Mississippi--again, extra adults are so helpful when traveling with small children. What a great feeling to be home!

So our town never lost water or power, which were my primary concerns, but I won't second guess the decision to leave. If I'd waited to see whether the worst would happen, it would have been too late to leave. We ended up having a nice long weekend with my parents, including a trip to Lincoln Park Zoo on Monday (where Aunt Nora took the pictures with this post), and though it was hard to be separated from John, I think it was the right thing to do. As one of my co-workers said on Thursday when I first started thinking I should leave, "This is millions of years of evolution at work: A mother's instinct is to protect her children."

Just a quick note to let everyone know we're all fine. My office was flooded out, but as long as the sandbag walls we spent three days building continue to hold until the water goes down, we should be back in within a month. Right now, everything is out of the office and they've ripped out the carpet and trim boards, which (cross your fingers) seem to be the only things really damaged. For now, everyone is working out of their home. The photo above is what the building looked like on Saturday, the day before the crest. Our office is about half way down the building.

Our home, as mentioned in the previous post, is high enough up that we are well away from any flood water. The only impact is the inconvenience of still having only one way to get into and out of town. The good news is that they have finally reopened Interstate 80 (above is what it looked like at its worst), so my family is coming home! The drive out was torturous, but it seems as if Mary and the boys have enjoyed their visit with Gram and Pop Pop. I'll let her share more about it, but I do know it included a trip to the zoo that was quite exciting for Edward.

Mary decided to take the boys to her folks' house in Evanston to avoid any potential flood-related problems. We won't get water anywhere near our house, but there is a real possibility we'll lose power and/or water, and that would complicate things enough that it seemed worth the hassle. Actually, hassle isn't the word for it-- ordeal, or trial or tortuous effort are more applicable. It took her six hours to get only as far as Dubuque, a drive we've taken in the past in about 100 minutes. It involved loooooong detours and 5 mph traffic because there are few ways in or out of our region.

Because I was home alone and sleeping off a day that included 7 hours of helping to complete dismantle and move our new office (we've been there six weeks) and another couple helping to sandbag the building, which includes a radio station and two restaurants in addition to the newspaper. Alas, I woke at 7 a.m., too trained by the boys' sleep patterns to even take advantage and sleep in. So, I grabbed my camera and headed out to see what my city looks like. The water is very high in spots and is expected to get anywhere from 3-8 feet higher over the next two days. The above photo was shot from a parking ramp that overlooks the river. The white line in the middle is a wall of sandbags that essentially marks where the edge of the river used to be.

To see all the photos I took, click here.

If you are seeing news stories around the country about Iowa flooding, they are mostly centered on Cedar Rapids, which is about 20 miles north of here and on the Cedar River. If the national media hasn't tired of it by next week, the stories will likely be centered here in Iowa City. We are on the Iowa river which is rising fast but hasn't reached the dramatic levels of the Cedar.

Yet.

We are being told to expect the river to rise at least 10 feet higher than its highest point in the historic 1993 floods. The crest is not expected until sometime next week and it continues to rain. Our house should not be endangered, but we are preparing for other disruptions. I actually had myself worked up into a pretty good panic this afternoon and was starting to make preparations to leave town with the boys and head to my parents' house in Evanston. A long drive and perhaps an extreme response, but there's legitimate speculation that all roads in and out of town could be cut off by next week. I started thinking about panic scenes at local grocery stores if the stocks run low and deliveries can't be made. I was also thinking about carrying out every day functions without water or electricity for days, perhaps weeks on end.

In the end, I dispatched myself to the grocery store for 10 gallons of bottled water (an arbitrary figure--it looks ridiculous on the kitchen counter and I hope we don't need it, but will be glad to have it if the time comes.) Also bread and some other staples. Now we just watch and wait with the rest of the community.

Daniel is five months old! He has found his toes and loves his exersaucer (which was retrieved from storage over the weekend because he was very impatient with his horizontal life.) He's sleeping right next to me, so I'll keep it brief. We have some video to edit and post, but not sure when that will happen. Preview of coming attractions: rolling over, grabbing toes, jockeying for exersaucer position with a brother who still thinks it's his.

So far we are dry at home. John spent two hours sandbagging at his office last night--his brand new office, the one they've occupied for less than two months! Hoping for the best. The river won't crest until sometime next week.

Parts of our town are slowly disappearing under the rising river. One main road into town from the interstate is closed. Lots of sandbags are being piled around vulnerable houses and some parts of campus. I had gone home to Evanston for the summer after my sophomore year the last time this happened (1993.) There is a palpable tension in town as we wait to see if this summer will match that disaster.

We may end up with a bit of seepage in the basement (though, luckily, none so far) but otherwise, we're far enough from the river and creeks to be mere observers to this deluge. We took a walk near the river and the flooded City Park yesterday afternoon. Edward was not impressed. The real drama in his life took place on Tuesday when they tested the fire alarms at daycare. This induced a major panic and hysterics that led his teacher to call me at work. She didn't say I had to come, but he wasn't responding to any of their attempts to soothe him. Since he never does this, they didn't know any "tricks" to put him back on track. It took me more than an hour to persuade him to rejoin the group. And even then, it was mostly because lunch arrived and it was one of his favorites. Before that he was clinging to me, crying and saying "I wanna go outside. I wanna go home."

I didn't want to take him away because I worried that this would make him afraid to come back. Sort of the same reasoning behind getting right back on the horse after falling. He didn't refuse to go back the rest of the week, but he was definitely hesitant and much more emotional/sensitive than usual. I found out late in the week that they don't ring the alarms when they have fire drills, so this really was the first time he'd heard such a piercing sound (his own shriek notwithstanding!)

So he's still talking about "alarms" and saying "alarms hurt me," but he also says "alarm keeps me safe" and "they're just testing it." So he may be on the road to recovery. At one point during the initial breakdown he either asked about Daniel or they thought seeing Daniel might reassure him, so they took Edward to Daniel's class. Daniel was laughing. Edward was not comforted.

We have tried several times this weekend to capture video of Daniel's rolling abilities. Even though his first move upon being placed on his back is to flip himself over, he is mesmerized enough by the sight of the camera that he freezes and stares as soon as it appears. A stare down is not most dramatic video material. Once the camera is put away, he rolls right over. Then it takes just a few minutes for him to realize he really doesn't like being on his belly much. He twists and flails his arms and legs like a beached whale. Today I thought he might be figuring out the reverse flip from belly to back, but I don't think he's there yet.

Edward's gymnastics are on display at the park. Anything above his head is fair game for climbing. He seems to have no fear in this realm. His parents on the other hand... We're trying not to hover too much or stifle his exploration, but we've seen him climb nearly to the top, get distracted and think he can make a lateral move, so we know better than to leave him totally independent.

Daniel was playing with his ear while John and I were eating lunch today. We hope this is "I just discovered these things on the sides of my head" rather than "Man this thing really hurts!" No other signs point to the latter, so we'll assume the best for now.

Daniel finally got over his own shoulder and rolled from back to front Saturday morning. He's been half/three-quarters of the way there for more than a week, but never could figure out that last shoulder hurdle. I missed the first performance while in the shower, but there were many repeats throughout the day. It's still a somewhat arduous process that takes several minutes, so we'll spare you the video until he becomes a bit more practiced. (Our camera battery isn't up to the current challenge!)

I wanted Edward to have some new summer sandals so we took him to have his foot measured. The only place locally that still provides this service is our Von Maur department store, but the shoes there start at $30, which is a bit pricey in my opinion given how fast kids grow out of them. He walked in wearing a size 6. The saleswoman said in a sandal he'd take a 7. For a closed toe shoe she said an 8 would work "with room to grow a bit." Oops. Guess we were a bit late in remeasuring. But since that was the extent of her help (she brought us a pile of boxes and then walked away, helping a series of other customers and never returning to us) we left without buying any. A trip to Target later in the evening produced a perfectly serviceable pair of $10 sandals. For that price he could have another pair before the end of summer if he wears these out (or grows out!)

We had a fun visit with cousins on John's side of the family when we all gathered at his grandparents' place yesterday. John's cousin's kids are 2, 5, and 7 so it was fun to see them all play together. Edward was exhausted by the time we left, but decided to stay awake until only 40 minutes remained of the 2-hour drive. When we arrived home, he was not happy to be awakened. John set him in his bed thinking he'd calm himself with "paci and teeny blanket" and then move on with the evening (it was about 5 p.m.) Instead, he was sound asleep when I looked in on him 5 minutes later. We let him sleep until about 5:45, but then figured the pain of waking him would be less than the pain of him waking us at 4 a.m. if he was asleep for the night at that point. In hindsight, I still think we were right, but it was a painful two hours for all involved. Edward just could not get himself under control and was just crying pitifully. Everything we suggested (park, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, food, drink) was met with a wailing "No!" We finally persuaded him to sit and eat something. He agreed to mac&cheese, but then started crying "No" again when we put it in front of him. We finally settled on applesauce and a leftover ham ball. We kept offering the mac&cheese, but since it continued to bring tears, we finally took it away and John ate it. About one minute after John finished the bowl (out of Edward's sight) and put it in the sink, Ed asked, "I want mac&cheese?"

We didn't have any more. The tears started flowing again. Two parental heads banging against the wall.

So those tears led straight to the bathtub, which was only saved by the emergence of a set of bath toys that arrived at Christmas, but were put away for just the right occasion. This got him to stop crying and get in the tub, where he played happily for about half an hour. (Another reason this was not in immediate use--a half-hour bath in January could lead to hypothermia!) Then we only had to survive the tears about not wanting to leave the toys and get out of the bath. (Side note: first thing this morning he asked to take another bath!) Pajamas, stories, a bit of milk and then back to bed. We all sighed with relief. Then we had to laugh when about 40 minutes later we heard him belting out "The Farmer in the Dell" from his bed.

Another funny moment to remember when things seem to be spiraling out of control. During a late-afternoon thunder storm this week, this empty wipes box provided either protection or distraction for Edward. I couldn't quite tell what led to this headgear choice, but it helped him get through the storm, so no argument here. We also tried the trick of counting between the lightning and thunder. He doesn't understand about using that to estimate distance, but it did seem to help distract him from his worry about the thunder. Daniel was unfazed by it all.

A busy weekend led right into a crazy week. We have lots of pictures but little time for blogging. Over the holiday weekend we successfully traveled from Iowa City to Franklin, WI, (Milwaukee suburb), Evanston, IL, and back home again with no major catastrophes. We found a fabulous park for a picnic lunch in Rochelle, Ill. (almost exactly half-way between here and my sister's place in Wisconsin.) The boys both slept well in the car (drive time carefully planned around full bellies and tired boys.) And since we're not above making ourselves totally ridiculous in the name of toddler entertainment, we all survived. Not to mention, we had a great time in both places. In Franklin, Ed got to play with his cousins (and eat Katherine's birthday cupcakes) and Daniel was very tolerant of the pinching and kissing from the extended family. (Note: Aunt Nora took the photo at right with Daniel in her lap. She titled the file "yes, my cheeks are substantial.") Then in Evanston, Ed got to take his first trip to the beach (late afternoon and slathered in sunscreen, which he calls "sun scream" and for good reason, since he hates when I put it on him.) He LOVED the beach. Enough that I may have to get over my own aversion and take him to our local sandy spot (I find it a bit gross because it's a reservoir created on the Iowa River, which is not a pristine waterway!) He played at the water's edge for quite a while, scooping sand and dumping it in the water. The water was cold, but not enough to send pains up your legs. He actually stayed relatively dry until we carried a bucket of water up to where Gram was sitting with a sleeping Daniel. Then he dumped it all over himself. Here is a series of beach shots and a video.



We waited until after the trip to let Daniel try some rice cereal. He doesn't quite know what to make of it at this point, but he's not rejecting it either. I had hoped it would help fill him up and encourage sleeping through the night, but so far that has not happened.
In health news, Daniel has conjunctivitis again--no surprise, given that Edward had it last week. I asked the doctor yesterday if we could expect them just to continue to pass it back and forth. He didn't miss a beat: "Well, that's how we stay in business." A doctor with a sense of humor--what a treat.

Some people might be offended to hear a doctor refer to their baby as "squishy." Not me. I love fat babies, especially mine. And our doctor agrees. She was using the term endearingly.

Daniel weighed 17 1/2 pounds at his four-month check-up yesterday and was 26 1/4 inches long. Both of these are close to the 90th percentile for his age group. His head circumference, 16 3/4 inches, is not quite up to Geraghty/Kenyon standards (only 50th percentile) but he has plenty of time to continue expanding. Grandma Kenyon rightly pointed out that these percentiles are opposite of Edward's infant growth trends--he was always about 50th percentile for height and weight and 90th for head. For some perspective, I found a web page with information about infant growth, and it says to expect babies to double their birth weight by 5 months. Daniel is already well ahead of that at 4.

In fact, 3-6 month clothing is meant to fit babies up to 16. 5 pounds. Daniel apparently is announcing from an early age that he will not tolerate a wardrobe full of hand-me-downs. I had to go buy some 6-9 month pants because all of Edward's clothes in that size were from the height of summer--all shorts and rompers. We're still only seeing highs in the 60s and 70s, so I don't think it's quite warm enough for Daniel to wear those--especially since it's much cooler than the daily high when we leave the house in the morning (more like high 40s or 50s.)

With an overall glowing report, Daniel now has the go-ahead to start trying some rice cereal. I think we will wait until we return from our weekend trip to start that particular adventure. Watch for photos next week.

So after the appointment yesterday, with Edward still napping at Grandma and Grandpa's, we took the opportunity to hit the store for a few new pieces for Daniel's wardrobe. On the way out of the store, I saw out of the corner of my eye, a woman walking toward the store talking on a cell phone. She saw us and said, "Oooo--there's a baby!" I didn't quite realize she was talking about us until I turned the stroller, she spied Daniel and exclaimed, "A squishy, JUICY baby!" I turned and smiled, saying, "Yes, he is a chubby one." She replied (to me or to her friend on the phone?) "I LOVE juicy babies!" I'm not sure what "juicy" implies, but I just had to laugh.

Since the text here is all about Daniel, I'll end with Edward's new favorite video of himself. He laughs out loud and demands, "Do again!" after each viewing. Then he goes to repeat the performance and says, "Get camera!" Simple child.

And the hits just keep on coming...

Ed woke up with a pink, crusty eye this morning. John stayed home to take him to the doctor while I took Daniel to daycare and went to work. I'm in the final week before a major project is completed and it would have been very difficult to miss a day. The doctor confirmed conjunctivitis in Ed's right eye and prescribed drops. John says the first dose went well so let's hope the novelty doesn't wear off. John also said the doctor said we could use the same prescription for the other eye when (not if) he transfers it from one to the other. He also indicated that it was quite likely that Daniel would catch it from Edward. Great.

Edward likely did not get it from Daniel though, since that was a month ago.

Is is possible to have two kids healthy at the same time? Perhaps not when daycare is involved. I guess it remains to be seen in the coming weeks/months/years.

Daniel upgraded to the full-size crib this weekend. John looked in on him an hour after he went to bed last night and reported back, "He looks like someone who's spent his life in a twin-size bed and then goes to a hotel and finds a king size." In the cradle, he slept with his arms outstretched and they flopped out through the slats. Here, his arms don't reach the sides.

But this is a quasi-real-time shot--he's actually sleeping next to me as I post, so I will keep it short. His cough is better, but now he has a rash on his feet and legs. I thought it was hand/foot/mouth disease, which Edward had during his first summer, but the rash has extended further than would be expected with that. He has no fever and is not acting like it bothers him though, so the phone triage nurse said we could wait until his scheduled well-baby visit on Thursday.

He hasn't been sleeping all that well at night though--regressing to waking to eat at least twice a night. Ugh! This morning he got up at 5 and then was back asleep in his high chair by 6:30. Bummer, since we can't join him in his mid-early-morning snooze. John left him the paper in case he woke up while he was in the shower.

Daniel wore his first shorts on Saturday, but only for a few hours before a leaky diaper forced a change. We need more shorts weather though because he's mostly outgrown all the 3-6 month clothes and is ready for 6-9 month, but Ed's clothes in that size are from a much warmer summer. No pants to be found!

Funny story from Ed's week. We went to Target one late afternoon for a baby gift for some friends. Ed always wants to know where we're going and then talk about it the whole way there (can't wait for the four-hour trip to Milwaukee and Evanston this weekend! With any luck he'll sleep a few of those hours or we may be batty from the constant questions.) So along the way he started talking about guitar, and I was assuming he was talking about John's instrument, which they sometimes play together. But he was clearly frustrated with my responses, and I finally realized he'd conflated "Target" and "guitar." So now we talk about the big, red T at Target and I think he's got it straight.

We took Daniel's four-month picture yesterday, but didn't quite get to the blog posting. Gram and PopPop arrived just after Edward woke up from his nap, so there was lots of playing to do. Also some mocking. Anticipating their arrival, I did not get Daniel completely dressed after changing him so his thighs were on full display. They are quite a sight to behold. John says his legs are so fat you can't really even tell he has knees. The cheeks are also evidence of his eating prowess. Gram says the blog pictures are great, but don't even come close to capturing the real thing. She was in serious withdrawal--it had been more than a month since her last visit!

Shortly after they arrived, we were sent away for dinner and a movie. What a great Mother's Day weekend treat! We had to make it an early movie and a comedy because we knew there was no way we'd stay awake otherwise. We've had a couple of long nights with Daniel waking up coughing again. I thought it was getting worse between Wednesday and Friday so I took him back to the doctor on Friday. Their assessment is that it's just a virus and that this happens to be how Daniel is affected. Some kids get ear infection after ear infection, others get diarrhea all the time. Apparently this is what we can expect as he works his way through the various viral manifestations circulating at daycare. He's definitely not as bad as he was the last time through, so let's hope for a quick resolution so we can all get back to sleep.

Anyway, we saw Baby Mama, which met all of our movie parameters--comedy, 96 minutes, 7:25 p.m show. As we were leaving (having thoroughly enjoyed it, even laughing out loud at times) John looked at the line of people waiting to buy tickets to the late shows and scorned, "Ha! They're not gonna be in bed in 40 minutes!" Sad, but true. We take sleep where we can get it.

I'll share now the Mother's Day present my sister-in-law sent me after playing with photoshop this week. She has four kids, so she knows all the tricks to successful photos:

When we got home from work/daycare on Friday our neighbor had a mini-roadroller parked at his house. Edward was intrigued. This neighbor has beautiful landscaping and a lawn worthy of a golf course. He also works for a local paving company so has access to various equipment for projects to keep it looking this way. This weekend his plan was to roll the lawn to flatten it out. As prime candidate for most generous neighbor of the year, he offered to do ours as well, but the many dips and humps in our lawn are really the least of its problems, so we politely declined. When he started working on it late Sunday afternoon (he had to wait for it to dry out as much as possible from recent rains) John and I were inside getting ready for an evening event to benefit the public library. Grandma and Grandpa, who were here to babysit for the evening, were outside with Edward. I sent John out with the camera so he was there to capture this amazing moment in the life of a young boy:

Even though we've worked out the dinner timing so that Daniel almost always eats right before we sit down to our own meal, he's not been a very pleasant dining companion of late. We set him next to us in his aquarium bouncy chair on the floor, but he soon tires of that entertainment and creates a fuss. In the last two weeks John and I have become quite adept at one-handed eating because we've had to pick him up to stop the wailing. We decided that what he really wanted was to be part of the action, so on Friday, I readjusted the highchair straps to the infant settings and let him sit there. No fussing from him or from Edward, who was convinced that sitting on our ancient green step-stool was a major treat. We know the transition was a success in that regard because when Edward threw his ball this morning and it bounced into the kitchen under the highchair, he shouted "It hit Daniel's seat!"

This week was picture day at the daycare. We somehow had a few extra minutes in the morning before we left, and I managed to snap a couple of pictures. I had set Daniel on Edward's bed for a moment and Edward wanted to climb up next to him. Apparently the school photographer also got a shot of both boys together (this option is offered, but I hadn't requested it because it seemed like too much to ask of the daycare staff who already have enough to keep them on the run!) So we'll see how those turn out.

We ended up having another spontaneous photo session on Saturday when Edward asked to hold Daniel. He doesn't ask very often, but he usually is interested when he brings it up. Daniel had just woken up from a nap and was surprisingly subdued so Ed was able to hold him for quite a while before he started wiggling away. It's hard enough to get a good shot of one kid, and this was another reminder of the near impossibility of one shot that captures both boys' best looks. Each of them had a great shot where the other was not at the top of his game. Here are the two we wish we could somehow stitch together:
















Here's the best alternative:Daniel is getting closer to sleeping through the night. If only I could hold him off until after 9 p.m. for his last meal, I think we'd be there. But he's been hungry and exhausted closer to 8 so that's been his bedtime lately. Friday and Saturday nights he needed his pacifier a few times, but didn't demand more food until after 5 a.m. Unfortunately, he thought that playtime should follow that breakfast and we weren't too keen on starting our day that early. I guess we just have to consider it a step along the path to returning to a normal sleeping pattern. Speaking of sleep, I can't believe he slept long enough to allow a complete blog post. I sat down to prep the photos and assumed I'd be interrupted at some point before finishing the project. Daniel was awake when we got to church this morning, but conked out soon after mass started and snoozed right through to the end. (Good thing too because Edward can be a handful, though I was reminded of why I keep taking him when I heard him echo "Thanks be to God" after the congregation's response to the first reading.) We've now been home for nearly an hour and he's still asleep in the car seat. As much as I hate lugging that thing around, I do love the ability to extend car naps into the house!

Special birthday post for Aunt Nora. Short and sweet because I'm trying to do this quickly and quietly while Daniel sleeps right behind me in the office. Translation of Edward's first performance--he's a sunflower seed, he gets water, then he grows tall. He learned this at school this week.




Second video demonstrates Daniel's growing conversation skills.