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!

Poor Little Jacob

The boy guy has been not feeling well since yesterday. It started out w/a big pile of vomit and while I was cleaning that up, another pile started and then a fever and fussiness. I gave him some Tylenol and he was feeling better pretty quickly. He has been much more fussy than ever before. I'm glad we are going to the ENT doc on Wednesday because I'm worried he has an ear infection or something is wrong w/ one or both of his ear tubes. He woke up at 2:30 am today totally red and hot all over. I think his temp was 101.8. I called the hospital because I thought it was really high and was told not to worry until 105. Luckily Tylenol did the trick again. He was a little sleepy at day care and got another fever. He still got all excited when he saw me through the window. I just love the way they both react.

Robby has been Robby. He is a total clown. He practically came crawling through the window when he saw me today. He had just crawled through the little tunnel and Jacob was following him...very cute.

He won't let me feed him any longer, which can be a problem because he doesn't get all of the food in his mouth, but he does try. I tried taking a 2nd spoon to feed him, but he wants that one for his other hand, so now it takes 3 spoons if I want to feed him. Two for him, one for me. He has been such a happy boy and loves to play with people or by himself. He is always doing something funny or making funny noises. I love to just sit back and watch him, although he likes to climb all over me and is starting to give hugs. I've been working with him every night to get him to walk. He will take a couple of steps, but gets so upset if he falls down, so he prefers to just crawl to his destination.

Short Update....

I've not been keeping up w/ my 10 minutes a night updating things on here.

Jacob- he has been crawling everywhere and loving it. He wants so bad to pull himself to stand, but can only get up on his knees. He has been a little more of a whiner, actually quite a bit compared to the perfect content little baby he used to be. I think it is because he gets frustrated, but he wants to be held a lot.

The cutest things he has been doing is saying "Oh Oh". He'll say it when he drops or throws something on the ground or just for the heck of it. It is very cute. He is saying mama and mom a lot.

The other funny thing is when I picked them up from day care yesterday and they both jolted towards me. Jacob got their first (although he had a good head start). He was so proud of himself and Robby laid on the floor and cried! They both get such big smiles when they see me and Jacob will do his little scream and arm waving and bolt towards me. Sometimes Jacob can't decide whether he should scream first or bolt. It is very sweet. I really need to video it.

Robby- he has been quite busy doing many new things. Last Sunday, he "accidentally" took a few steps. He wasn't trying, but he did it. I couldn't get him to do it again.

On Wednesday he started concentrated on his walking and can walk a couple of steps at a time. He is so cute because he will often pull pillows around to be in front of him like he is planning his fall in advance. He usually just falls on his bum.

Either last week or at the beginning of this week Robby bit someone in his class! Not good. He is still in the advance infant room for those that can't walk, but he advanced up to the older kid room today. I think he may be too rough with the littler/younger ones. Last night he took his open hand and pushed Jacob in the chest quite hard trying to push him over. I was there and grabbed Jacob before he fell, but Robby tried another 3 or 4 times to knock him over. G &G call him the bull dozer and that is exactly what he is right now. He is talking himself to sleep right now. It is funny listening to him because he will just lay there and babble on and on. I know he is tired because he will nuzzle into a pillow when he knows it is time and he did that a while ago in the LR.

When not working, I spent quite a bit of time on Tuesday with my sister and Thursday and Friday with my mom getting ready for hopefully a successful garage sale tomorrow. I have way too much stuff and need to downsize. This will be the first of two sales I plan on having before fall is here.

I'm going to Vegas next week on business for a couple of days. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my friend and Elizabeth's new baby boy and her daughter, who is almost two, but I hate being away from Robby & Jacob.

I took some pictures of the boys in their pool this evening and eating their dinner. I let them feed themselves as much as they can even though it makes a mess. They are both progressing well.

Well, I need to look into rental cars. I'll put pictures on as soon as I have a few extra minutes.

One baby is a breeze..........

Monday night continued through the morning. Robby was up every 2-3 hours for 45 minutes crying/screaming....not a normal cry. It was nearly impossible to console him. I kept both of them home Tuesday morning and we all took naps. They went to day care and I went to work. When I picked them up from day care, no one said anything about him being cranky during the short time they were there.

Tuesday night, they ate dinner, Robby was a little more fussy then usual...they had a bath and had their normal fun splish splashing and then shortly after that, Robby started the screaming/crying. I noticed a rash all over his chest and back, so I called his pediatrician's office. They were closed, but the on call MD called and said it was probably just a viral infection, but I could take him to Children's if it made me feel better....so I did. Sure enough, a viral infection. The MD said it would get worse before it got better. He was quite well behaved while we were there and didn't do his screaming. We got some OTC meds and came home.

Jacob was awake the entire trip home and at the hospital and was happy as can be. Luckily, Robby went to sleep right away, but Jacob had no intentions of going to bed. He was up until after 11pm watching me do dishes, bottles etc. He finally crashed around 11:15 and I went to bed soon after.

Jacob woke up crying, so I brought him in my room so he wouldn't wake up Robby. Jacob was awake on and off all night, but luckily poor little Robby slept through the night...he woke up once at 4:30 and cried for just a minute, but went back to sleep.

My mom came over in the am (Wednesday--today) and took Robby home w/ her. He had an exciting day when a pet bird got loose from someone's house and landed on his leg! I guess he didn't like it and let the bird know. I'll have to post a picture of his friend when they are sent to me.

Jacob and I went to the UW High Risk Clinic for his one year (corrected age) check up. He didn't do quite as well as Robby did. He weighed in at 23 pounds, 1 ounce (1 pound, 1 ounce less than his big brother) and is 29 1/8" tall (Big Brother is 6/8" taller). His head is 49.7 cm, Robby's is 49.8cm. They are happy w/ all their measurements.

Jacob basically flunked his audiology tests, BUT... his left ear isn't "open" and he was very tired. He would react the way they wanted sometimes to certain tones, but not all the time. They have someone there playing w/ toys in front of him to distract him and they play a noise and he is suppose to look at the dancing bear...hard to explain. He goes back to the MD that did his ear tube surgery on Aug 20th, so we'll have to see why that left ear is not keeping open. He'll have another test soon after, if not that day.

He has to see a sleep study specialist to be checked for sleep apnea. He has many symptoms that point to that. On the mental scale- he functions at that of an 11 month old, but in the low normal range. His motor skills is that of a 91/2 to 10 month old. To his defense, he didn't want to crawl on the carpet there because it was not soft. He came home and was all over the place. Since he just started crawling 10 days ago, it will take a while for him to build his strength. He can pull himself up to his knees, but not pull himself to stand yet...although he wants to!

So, it was an OK check up. I knew he had certain problems and so nothing really surprised me. We came home and played, had dinner, bath, played more, cuddled and had some nice alone time.

It was cake caring for just one baby (although I'd never gave up either of them for this simplier life). I went through over 200 of my 600 emails and dealt w/ them, cleaned my room, dishes and more. It's not even 11 yet! I think I will call it a night and hope Jacob sleeps through the night so I can too.

Hell

That about sums up what tonight has been and continues to be. I doubt many people take the time or care to read my blog, and I don't really care. I'm doing it more for Jacob and Robby to read when they are older.

They were both kind of cranky when I picked them up from day care. Robby was especially cranky during dinner and after.

I put them both to bed around 7:30 and they were quiet until about 8:25. First Jacob started crying and then Robby joined in. I always let them cry for a short while hoping they will go back to bed. Neither gave in, so I went in their room and tried to comfort them. They would only stop crying if they were being held, so I'd pick one up, get him quiet, put him down, pick up the other, get him quiet and put him down to pick up the other crying one. This went on for I don't know how long. I finally picked up both of them and carried them together in the LR and sat in the rocking chair. Neither were happy, so we went back to the pick one up routine for a good 30 minutes. Finally Jacob gave up and fell asleep when it was his turn for the floor. I finally got him into bed and had to hold Robby to keep him quiet for another 30 minutes. I finally put him down and made myself some dinner and he entertained himself. Once I was back in the room, he was cranky again, so he was held, rocked, read to, bottles etc. He finally quieted down and as I carried him to their room, Jacob started crying again. I ended up w/ both in my room with neither of them happy..especially Robby. Jacob finally went to sleep, but Robby was poking him, pulling his hair, poking me etc. As I write this, Robby is crying hysterically in his room and Jacob is laying in my bed. I'm going to have to switch babies again, because Robby is not giving up.

I think I'm extra crabby tonight myself because I'm so sick of listening to everyone else's problems all the time. It kills me when people complain about the most trivial things. I try not to complain. I wanted my boys and I still want them. I wouldn't give them up for anything in this world and would do anything for them. I don't want to hear someone stressed out because they can't find the perfect new nice dress. I'm still wearing the clothes I had before I was pregnant and while I was pregnant....those are my "nice" clothes. Don't tell me about the miserable night out you had....I don't have nights out. Don't complain to me about money. I went from making over $35 and hour and living comfortably to being below the poverty level and selling the things I own to pay utilities and buy necessities. I can't wait to get the hell out of WA and go back to a nice life and give my boys a nice life and not this miserable existence I'm giving them. Wow...Robby quit crying. I better make sure he is still breathing. Well, that was a mistake....he's breathing fine and crying again since I went in his room.

Well, Robby & Jacob.... I owe you one big night of hell..... but I can't wait to wake up and see your smiling faces and give you love, hugs and kisses. I still love you and always will.

After Bath....

Being as there is only one of me and two of them, I need to be creative when bathing them. I grab one of them and "throw" them into a room and run back and grab the other one from the already drained tub. Jacob got his diaper on first while Robby peed on the coffee table and carpet. I think I will get their toilet out and put Robby on it after his next bath since he has been peeing right after his bath lately.


Robby's new thing is putting his foot or both feet in the ice cream container that is for their toys. They both love standing at the gate and banging it like they are in jail...even if I'm in the room.

It was really fun watching Jacob chase his big brother around today. This is the first time that Jacob was following Robby around. He isn't as fast as Robby, but Robby will stop and let him catch up and then they continue to crawl around. Jacob is trying desperately to pull himself up, but he isn't quite strong enough yet. I'm sure it won't be long because he really likes to stand. It amazed me today how quickly he could go from his belly to his back to sitting up. I'm so thankful he can finally move around on his own.

Bath Time!

These pictures aren't in order...In the top right- Robby is trying to stand while Jacob is crawling...means double trouble for me.

The waves are made by the boys...the jets are NOT on. They LOVE to splash!

Nothing like a nice bath after lunch....They know if they smear their food in their hair and all over their faces they'll get a bath.