Late Birthday Gift ~~~ Early Christmas Gift

It's official!

Jacob is officially walking!! I told him I wanted that for my birthday a couple of weeks ago, but he just wasn't up to it, so I told him it would be a nice Christmas gift. He walked across the room several times today! He's been taking several steps over the last week or so, but he really took a turn today. He was even wearing PJ's that were too big for him all day and still did it. His orthotics came in last week and he is doing well with them, but the shoes are heavier, so he is a little leery, although is cruising fine with them and also some walking. I'll put them on him tomorrow.

His other accomplishments today: Learned how to switch a light on. Both Jacob and Robby have been able to turn it off fine, but today Jacob started doing both. He is quite pleased with himself when he does something new. He also is able to get on the coffee table w/out standing on anything. He is pretty funny because he does it once and immediately gets down and tries again. He does this over and over, even though he struggles each time to do it.

The other fun he had tonight was pushing the rocking chair/recliner around and around...WITH me in it! I had my legs up and it just cleared the window sill, so around and around he went laughing hysterically. Robby pretty much watched him and laughed.

They have both been great with the Christmas tree, until tonight. Jacob started taking off the lights and Robby followed right along. Robby has been very intrigued with the ornaments and I have mostly all non breakable ones towards the bottom because he likes to take them off and look at them. He attempts to put them back on the tree. They have both been throwing balls and toys in the tree in attempt to decorate it, which is fine.

It was a cold day here today and we stayed home for the 4th day in a row (we did venture out to my work and the grocery store yesterday), but other than that...we are home bound. It has been a bit of a challenge.....I've been good about dripping the cold water on my faucets and leaving the cupboards open 24 hours a day since it got cold. I found out that you need to let the hot water drip too. My kitchen and main bath don't have hot water! My washing machine and 2nd bath both have it. It's livable, but not ideal and I just hope the pipes don't burst when it warms up.

We all have colds, Robby especially didn't feel good today. It's about time for bed for me too!

Christmas Time!

I have been horrible about blogging and to think my job revolves around blogging! The boys are at G&G's this weekend so I can get out all the Christmas decorations up without having 4 little hands helping me. I got the majority of my Christmas shopping done today, got the tree up, but not decorated and busy doing laundry, dishes, cleaning....all the things I can't get done during the work week and then some. I was up until 5am this morning doing things and the same will probably happen tonight.

We saw Santa early this year. He was so much friendlier than last year.....We went to a different mall to make sure we didn't see Grumpy Santa. The picture didn't turn out too well, but they were both just kind of dazed. This picture was actually taken by the mom that was in front of us. I didn't bring a camera to take my own, so she did it for me and emailed them to me.

My brother and his wife of 1+ years flew in from Kuwait last week. She is very nice and "warm"

is the way I would describe her. Here is the family picture we took. They will be here until January 1st, but are traveling around to see Jeff's old friends in Hermiston and Bellingham.

Update on Robby & Jacob.....

Robby is walking and running everywhere. A few nights ago, I was in my office working and I always listen to the monitor. I heard too much silence, so I went to investigate. Jacob was in their bedroom playing and I could find Robby! I was freaking out and running through the house looking for him. I had the alarm on, so I knew no door had been opened. I found him in the playroom...he had closed the door and was sitting in the dark silently.

Jacob is still not walking, but is taking up to 7 steps at a time. He cruises everywhere, but just doesn't have the confidence to walk w/out touching a wall or furniture. His orthodics still aren't in. The first pair were too small and then shipping problems. I'm praying once he gets them he'll be off and running. He is tolerating his oxygen most nights, but we've had some rough nights putting the tubing on. I really need to start working on this CPAP machine, but I know it is going to be really tough to get him to wear that and he can easily take it off, so he will have to sleep in my room. He has been much more perky and awake since he has been on the oxygen. I hope he outgrows the apnea or can have surgery and not have to wear anything at night. I constantly tell him that it isn't fair he has to wear it, but I still have to be the mean one to put it on his face and tear the tape off his face in the morning.

My mom took their 19 month pictures and I don't have copies of them yet. Hopefully I'll get their 18 and 19 month pics on before they are 20 months.

New words...Jacob

Jacob's vocabulary is growing daily. On the way to day care today, he kept saying "cookie"....gee...wonder where he learned that!

His other constant word is "ball". They both love throwing balls and since they love seeing things dangling from the ceiling, I put up a "net" on the ceiling and have pictures, baby booties and Christmas balls hanging down....they both love it! I'm still working on it, so when it is done I'll post a picture of it.

Milestones and Memories.....

I hope when I go to write in their baby books that I have documented all their milestones. I've been finding pieces of paper w/ notes on them, so I thought I'd put all of them on here so I don't loose them!

These aren't in any specific order...

Nov 6, 2008...Jacob took a couple of steps towards me. Since then he is running behind his "little walker" and just touching things for balance. I really don't think he needs to touch for support, but he is just insecure. His orthodics came in last week, but they were too small. He was suppose to get new ones today, but Pilar, his OT, was sick.

November 13, 2008...Robby has been cutting his first molar since last Friday. He's been very miserable at night. He is dripping like a faucet and going through tons of bibs. He even got a cold sore from all the drool. He also has a cold, so his MD gave him some Tylenol w/ Codeine so he can sleep w/out coughing all night. He's been quiet all night, but didn't go to bed until 10:00 tonight.

November 13, 2008 --- Got a call from Marylee today. She was the very nice lady from the local church that came over 2 days a week for several weeks to help me w/ the boys when they were babies and I was getting very little sleep. I can't wait for her to see how much they've grown.

Words they say...

Mama
Beep (we beep noses)
Uh Oh....Jacob started that a long time ago and Robby says it too
Kitty Cat and they point to Baylea's picture or other cat's picture
No No ....that has been fun and they do it a lot of times when it is appropriate if the other one is doing something wrong.
Robby kind of said Grandma
They both kind of say each other's name
Bye - Bye w/ a wave and Hi w/ a wave
If someone is putting on their coat or walking to the door, they will be told bye-bye and waved too.

Funny things....

We have two blue rocking chairs for the boys. I keep them under the window because they are kind of bulky and get them out when they are going to have a bottle or for quiet time. It was freaking me out at first, but I'd find them moved (or I thought moved because I didn't remember putting them in the middle of the LR)....well....I caught the ghost...it was Robby...he first started to move both chairs in front of the TV against the coffee table when it is time for a bottle. Now, he moves them at other times too. It is quite cute because he gets the chair ready for Jacob.

Jacob has been running constantly behind his little "walker" He really gets crusing fast. Now, if he'd just let go! He's getting closer.

I'm going to have to continue this later...I'm getting tired.

My Super Hero!

The Home Health Care RN just came by w/ a new CPAP mask for Jacob....the first one had a gel in it and both the boys would chew on it and I knew it wouldn't last long.

He struggled a little as we put everything on him, but once it was on, he just sat there and fell asleep! He did wake up after about 25 minutes and wanted it off, but it's a start!

Final Park Pictures

They were moving so fast, it was hard to get pictures. They were crawling on the divider of the sand/rocks and the grass. Both were wet and yucky, so they tried to stay on the beam. They had a great time even though we were suppose to be in Vegas in the heat and dry grass.

Independence

My independent Robby!

Jacob had more fun playing in the sawdust!!

Robby like to play with it too!

You just had lunch Jacob...don't eat that!

Jacob loved the slide so much he wouldn't wait
for me to get the camera to take a picture of
him sitting at the top. I tried several times,
but he was having too much fun going down the
slide. Next time I will need some help so I can
get more pictures and so they play on it longer.

Robby on his 1st slide

Robby's 1st time on a slide! Oct 26, 2008
He loved it!

Ducks continued

Lake Ballinger Ducks continued...Picasa only let's up upload 4 at a time to a blog!

Lake Ballinger -- Ducks and Slide

Robby Just checking out the ducks at the lake.


Jacob is styling in his shades too!

Watch out...here they come!

Night 3 of Oxygen

I've been dreading the end of the night knowing I had to hook Jacob up to the O2. One of his face patches came off last night so I knew I'd have the pain of putting another one of those on.

Jacob came home from day care very tired...I think he was asleep before we even pulled out of the parking lot. He slept for a while in his recliner after we got home, but kept coughing on his phlegm due to his cold.

After he got up and they both ate, we all played in the living room. They love playing pig pile on Mom and are actually getting too big and rough for me, but they have just a good time doing it.

I put Jacob in his bed at bedtime and thought I'd wait until he was nice and calm before I went through the agony of hooking him up and upsetting him.

To my surprise, he let me put the tubing over his head, around his ears and tighten it. He fussed for about 15 seconds and then put his head down and smiled at me as he closed his eyes! I couldn't believe it, but was so thankful. He hasn't moved much since he went to bed, although let out a little scream about 3 minutes ago, but is still sleeping now. (This is totally normal around this time of night for him to do) I'm still going to keep him in my bed when I go to bed just in case he tosses in the night and gets tangled.

My next goal is to get him to wear the CPAP and then I won't need to worry about him strangling himself and he can sleep in his crib. We didn't play w/ the mask tonight, but will play w/ it this weekend and hopefully next week try to hook him up.

Robby's trick for the day....this was soooo funny..... As I was getting ready this morning, someone was knocking at my door. I looked through the LR blinds, which were open, but not pulled open (vertical blinds) and saw two "church ladies". I kindly just said through the closed window, "Thanks, but I'm not interested". I walked away to continue getting ready and Robby went and shut the curtains on them! It would be rude if I did it, but it was pretty funny when he did it.

They both had a great time at Little Red School House this morning. That place has been a God sent in helping them....especially Jacob.

Hopefully it is nice this weekend (for Seattle) and we are going to go to the lake and feed the ducks and find a place with some good slides and swings.

Photobucket Album

Way over due for an update

This has been a very crazy 6 weeks. Some good things...some not so good....I have to go back and forth in time and things still might not make sense, but bare with me.



I got the job at Aliante Casino in Las Vegas (It's opening on Nov 11, 2008) and the start date was this last Monday (Oct 20th). I was given less than 4 weeks notice to get everything together. I flew down there and spent an entire weekend looking at places to live, narrowed it down to 4 houses and since I hadn't officially started working yet... so basically, my entire trip was wasted down there, other than I was fitted for my suit (they supply suits for floor supervisors).



Just prior to going down Jacob had a sleep study done and it was found that he has sleep apnea that is pretty bad. Ideally, it would be best for him to be on CPAP, but getting an 18 month old to wear one is not going to be easy. In the meantime, he is getting oxygen at night. Tonight was only the second night he has been on it, but he did pretty well letting me stumble to put the nasal prongs on him. I'm having him sleep w/ me because I'm afraid of him strangling himself w/ the way he tosses and turns at night. Once I can get him to wear the CPAP, I won't have that worry. He was so sweet tonight as he layed in his crib and I hooked up the compressor....he give me a sweet smile and a little giggle and looked at me with his sweet eyes. He's such a sweetheart and takes things with stride. His next obstacle will be wearing orthodics to help him walk. They were ordered the other day, so it will be long before they are in. They will only go up to around his ankles to give him strength.



The good news is they had swallow studies about a month ago and they both "passed" and don't aspirate, so they are off thickened liquids. That saves me about 45 minutes of bottle prep in the morning.



Robby had just been go, go, going. No longer walking everywhere, but running! His personality is precious and he is quite funny. He is being a bit of a bully and and pushes Jacob down a lot and tackles him like a football player.



Jacob also had a couple of trips to the eye doctor and his eyes aren't quite where they want to see them, so I just have to watch him and bring him in for follow up in a few months.



These last six weeks have consisted of multiple medical appointments, 3 moving sales, packing, working and I'm pretty exhausted.


The bad news (in my eyes) is due to Jacob's medical problems and not having a place to move into, I told Aliante that I couldn't accept the job. They were understanding and told me to keep in contact and to let them know when I get things taken care of (Jacob being my main concern) and my application will be on the top of the pile. With the ecomony being as it is and with all my family here, I'm going to just stay put until the boys are older....like 18!



My most heartbreaking news is Baylea....but she deserves an entry of her own.



I'm a bad mom and don't have as many recent pictures of my boys as I should. Here is a link to a slide show of some pictures. I tried to link it from Photo Bucket, but it came out wrong. I'll figure it out later.



http://s372.photobucket.com/albums/oo163/cindylowman/Oct%202008/?albumview=slideshow

Many Changes

It hasn't been that long since I've updated my blog, but many things have happened. Robby is walking everywhere! He just loves it! He was very unsure of himself at first, even though he had excellent balance, but now he just goes! Jacob crawls following him everywhere. Jacob is very anxious to stand and walk and is able to pull himself up by himself and does it constantly. He will try to take some steps and only hang on with one hand. It wasn't that long ago that he had totally spaghetti legs, but he is getting them strong very fast.

They both got some Robeez shoes last weekend and love to wear them. Even though they are similiar weight and height, Robby wears a 5 1/2 and Jacob only a 3 1/2.

I'm working hard on getting them on regular table food. I still have baby food around for the nights I don't feel like cooking. I need to find more ideas. Jacob has a problem of putting many pieces in his mouth at the same time and waiting until it is totally full to start chewing and swallowing. I gave them each a couple of bites of pizza tonight. I was exhausted last night and ordered one for the first time in over a year.

They love scrambled eggs, so they get those most mornings along w/ bread and yogurt. They are both doing well eating. When they are tired of eating, the plates and silverware end up on the floor, which I'm trying to break that habit.

We went to a picnic on Saturday and I got some good pictures I need to download. They both went on a baby swing. Robby loved it and Jacob was a bit hesitant. On Sunday we went to the Mariner game w/ my friend Tom and the boys did great. Robby stayed awake the entire game and he watched a lot of it and clapped. Jacob fell asleep towards the end and had a good time too.

Tonight we went to the grocery store after picking them up from day care. Safeway used to have the double car cart that two kids can sit in from of the cart. I guess they got rid of them because older kids would pee in them and then little kids would get in. I'll have to find a store that does have them and check they are clean before they get in. It was difficult to shop w/ Robby sitting in the basket w/ all the food. He did pretty good, but decided he wanted to start standing on the jars. He did fall at one point and bit his lip or tongue and had a bit of a bleed.

Before bed,the routine has been to body slam mommy. I will lay on the floor and Robby will especially do a body slam on me over and over again. Jacob laughs and tries to do it too..We just all laugh, but it won't be long before they start hurting me.

I love how they are getting some routines down. Every night when they go to bed, I stop outside of Baylea's room where she sleeps before getting in bed with me. I have the boys tell her goodnight and that they love her. Robby was walking to his room tonight and stopped at the doorway to do his new wave to Baylea and say he loves her. Unfortunatly, Baylea wasn't in there, although she probably heard him.

I've have to upload some pictures soon and learn how to do the slideshow like Heather does and learn how to upload DVDs.

If anyone has ideas of healthy meal plans for the boys, let me know. I'm trying to do as much reading that I can. I just need foods that they won't choke or aspirate on.

First shopping trip to the mall

Robby & Jacob went to Northgate Mall at Christmas to see Santa, but we've never been shopping until tonight. It was actually a very good trip for them. They love to people watch and we went to I don't know how many stores looking for shoes. We stopped off and saw their God Sister Portia, who just got a promotion at her store and is now the store manager.

It was 6pm and we were all hungry, so I was trying to find some place that would have food they could eat since I didn't bring any baby food w/ me. We ended up at Ruby's Diner and they were in awe of the trains going around the tracks above their head. This was the first time I brought them to a restaurant where they ate table food and it was quite an experience. They split an order of Mac & Cheese and chowed down on it. I gave them a couple of french fries that came with the Mac, but they had salt, so I think they got 1 1/2 each. I managed to get bites in of my dinner while they were chewing, but it wasn't the most relaxing dinner. We left a mess on the floor and the table, but what do you expect? They both behaved like they were having dinner at the White House (family joke) until it came time to clean their faces and hands. I don't know why little boys don't want to be clean.

They both fell asleep on our way home, but once I put them down on the LR floor, they were up and going, but very sleepy. After wrestling both of them to get new diapers and their PJ's on, I put them to bed. I was only able to get one side of Robby's diaper one before he broke loose and he pulled it off and peed on the carpet and the diaper. He was quite proud of himself.

I left my cell phone in the car so I wasn't able to get pictures of them at dinner. I'm sure there will be plenty more dinners out for the three of us.

Grandma is coming over tomorrow to bring them to the Little Red with me and then work on my next garage sale. She'll watch them as Debbie and I go to the Mariner game tomorrow night VS the NYY. I plan on bringing the boys to the Sunday game. I hate to say this, but they haven't been to a game yet this year. Last year they went to 3 or 4 of them.

Robby's First Haircut! Jacob's 2nd Haircut

Robby after his hair cut
Jacob after his hair cut



We had a very lazy 3-day weekend for the most part. I labored a lot, but we didn't go anything special. Sherry came over and gave all three of us haircuts. This was the first one for Robby. He was fine during almost all of it, but got fussy at the end. He still has very wavy hair and the curls will be back.

Jacob had his after Robby's and he wasn't quite as content, but better than his first cut. The funny thing during Jacob's haircut is Robby was sitting in his high chair watching and I gave him 1/2 of a graham cracker....when I looked over at Robby, he had the entire bag of them on his tray w/ three of them partially eaten. It was pretty cute and he just sat there minding his own business eating his crackers.

Thanks Sherry!!

Big Night for Jacob

I've been behind in my posts, so I tried to catch them up so I could add this one. As you know, Jacob just started crawling a month ago. It was a huge step for him. He is always watching Robby, who is hitting most milestones first and I think he gets really frustrated.

Shortly after he was able to crawl, he wanted to stand, but he'd have to be lifted up and held since he was pretty weak. He got to the point where he could pull himself up to his knees and he was so excited. It would be cute because Robby would stand up at the coffee table and then suddenly you'd see Jacob's head pop up, but he'd be on his knees.

Well, today, I looked over at Robby doing something and the next thing I knew, Jacob was standing at the table. He had a huge smile on his face and I started to clap for him. He also wanted to clap for himself and then he went down. He kept trying all night to get up again, but couldn't. I brought in my bedroom and as I layed on my side, he could pull himself up using my sides, so I think tomorrow he will be able to pull himself up to the table again. He is so proud of himself and so determined. He really wants to walk and can with a lot of assistance, but he is a little fighter and wants to do everything on his own.

16 Month Pictures.... 8-27-8

Jacob was having a really good time with the pictures!




Robby studying his b-day bear.


More giggles from Jacob

Robby, Jacob & Baylea

Baylea isn't going to be with us much longer, so I really wanted to get some pictures of her with the boys. They loved the time with her and don't get it often because she isn't super patient with them.

Jacob giving tender pets to Baylea's face.

Robby is always doing something funny!

Baylea just watched as Robby layed on Jacob's lap and they just laughed and laughed. A lot of times they will poke at each other and tickle each other, which is pretty cute!

The boys are growing up!

Here is Robby in his new shoes (taken w/ cell phone, so very dark). It was standing in place marching after I put them on...it was pretty cute. I have video of it I'll upload when I learn how.


I had time to window shop for carseats while I was in Vegas and bought them when I got home. Robby was so excited to sit in the big boy seat and look foward!



Jacob wasn't as thrilled about the seat the first time I put him in it. He likes it now!




Here they are! It is so nice being able to see their faces when I turn around or look in the mirror. I had the safety lady (Suzy) at the police station make sure they were installed properly and that the boys are buckled in well. It is much different than their infant seats.

Robby is Walking!!

It was such a nice surprise to come home to Robby walking! He took 11 (?) steps a couple of times the night I picked him up. He had previously taken a couple of steps here and there, but he really impressed me the night I picked him up.

I have video of it, but no still shots I'll post when I figure out how to do it!

Vegas

I had an unexpected trip to Vegas on August 20th. I was called for an interview at the new casino opening in November for the 22nd. Luckily, my parents had a free ticket, which I "bought" from them so I didn't have to pay the outrageous price for last minute flights.

My day of departure was very hectic. I wasn't packed (which is not normal for me), the boys had follow up appointments for their ear surgeries. Everything looks great and Jacob had another hearing test and passed with flying colors! I knew he was just tired the day he flunked it at the UW.

Traffic was horrible going to the airport and I almost missed my flight, which was the last one out. I was asking people for cuts in line, which I've never done before. It took me over 2 hours to get there and I took the wrong exit (actually two wrong ones) to go to the place where I was going to park the car. It was raining so hard, I couldn't see the signs through the windshield.

So, after racing through the airport, like OJ Simpson in the Hertz commercial, I made it fine because the plane hadn't even landed yet!

Filbea picked me up in Vegas and we just went to her place and talked for a while and then I crashed.

The next day I went and got a rental car and drove out to the casino, by my old house (hoping it was for sale) and just checking out new areas. Had a nice Chinese lunch w/ Filbea and saw Elizabeth and her two kids Jacqueline (almost 2 years) and Landon (3 months) for the first time. Cathy was with Elizabeth at the pool with her 3 year old- Callie....Who I didn't even know existed! That was a fun surprise. I just had a quick visit with them because Fibea's boyfriend, Jeff, was taking us out for a nice steak dinner. We had a great dinner and it was nice to meet Jeff for the first time. They went to listen to music after dinner and I played my $20 in the video poker machine for about 20-30 minutes. I was so tired and just wanted to sleep.

The interview went all...the best I could tell. It lasted 2 hours and I was told to take a drug test afterwards. Almost all of the casinos drug test employees before hiring them....that was a good sign they did that, because others that went through the 2 hour process with me didn't get asked to take a test, so they aren't testing those they aren't interested in.

After running some errands, I went to the pool with Eliz, Cathy & kids and had a great time catching up with them. The only bad thing was I packed so quickly, my bathing suit didn't make it into the suitcase (although it was the first thing I got out of my drawers, but it stayed on top of my dresser w/ the shorts I pulled out). So, I had one pair of shorts w/ me and my cell phone was in my pocket as I went into the pool! After less than 24 hours it was working again. Below are pictures from our day at the pool. I should have taken more, but I got video too.

That night (Friday) I went to a new place w/ Eliz, Cathy and kids (and Cathy's husband) where they had a great play area for the kids and then a one man band in the park area, where we sat and ate pretzels. It was very relaxing, but I really wanted Robby and Jacob to be with me. I was missing them terribly the entire time I was gone, but especially that night. Went back to Filbea's and talked until about 1am and then crashed.

I stopped by to see her boyfriend working before I headed to the car rental return spot, but it took me much longer than expected. I was very late for my flight (Again!) and I walked on the plane w/ the pilot as they were closing the door. My suitcase didn't luck out and didn't arrive in Seattle until 10:30 that night, so I had to pick it up on Sunday. I'm always early, so to be late twice is very unusual.

I went to my Mom & Dad's to pick up the boys and it was so great to see them again. Robby came crawling up to me, but Jacob did his little scream and then wouldn't come to me for quite a while. More on this night in the next blog.

Elizabeth and Landon

Elizabeth and Landon again

Jacqueleen (L) & Callie (R)


Jacqueleen 23 months


Jacqueleen

Callie - 3 years...has curly hair like her mom! Callie & Jacqueleen...best of friends!