Mr. Independent

The past couple of weekends have been so fun with our little man. He loves our weekend routine of going to the gym, playing outside, and eating out together, and so do we.

Everything is “in here” or “dere.” Like “I go dere,” “not working in here.” Just yesterday, he said “Shoe goff (shoes off) in here.” He’s repeating things he hears us say and just this morning said “Don’t do dat.” I’m thinking he’s heard that a time or two.

Last night he was even trying to repeat what my dad was saying and he was speaking in Arabic!

He is becoming Mr. Independent and doesn’t want help climbing up into his chair to eat or getting in and out of the car seat. The other day, he actually told Nick to “LET GO” when he was trying to help him. I would have been frightened if I weren’t laughing so hard!

He’s now had his first case of croup, which is highly contagious and requires immediate pick up from school. Because my mom was in Pensacola taking care of my sister’s kids, that fell on me and went something like this:

Call from the school, frantic calls to husband dad and doctor, pick up from school, bring him to office to see patients (me not him), go home get supplies (i.e. pack n play, diapers, snacks, books, etc.), get lunch (him not me), get to the doctor, eat lunch in the waiting room, get seen, get prescription, go to pharmacy and back to the office for patients (me) and nap (him). Thankfully, he slept the entire afternoon (1:30 to 4:30). By the time we got home an did the evening routine I was EXHAUSTED, like fall asleep on the couch at 8 o’clock exhausted.

Thankfully we caught that in time, and he was fine, but now he has a dry cough that’s keeping him up at night and a low-grade fever. The call should be coming anytime….

Tough Guy

Numba 2

This post is dedicated to baby number 2, who has proven herself to be a mystery in her mere 22 and 1/2 weeks of existence. I know I had some symptoms when I was pregnant with Z, but they were few and more importantly common, you know food aversions, nausea, fatigue, etc. And, I have had some of those with  number 2, but I have also had some other less common symptoms. I attribute these strange symptoms to pregnancy because I’ve googled, and found that I’m not the only one who’s had these.

Note: you can google virtually ANYTHING with the word pregnancy and know that someone somewhere has had it too. I mean ANYTHING from crazy dreams to toenail fungus. I’m just saying.

So, my first weird symptom was also an early one and that was a nosebleed, recurring for a period of about 3 or 4 weeks. I’ve never had nosebleeds, so I blamed that on baby girl. Those stopped, then began bleeding gums, particularly one spot which stays irritated, but I’m not getting into that. Now, I’m getting tongue ulcers (weird that 2 of these are mouth related). For about a week, I have had these migrating, relatively painful ulcers on my tongue. At first, I thought it was a virus, because I noticed Z had them too, but now I’m starting to think it’s pregnancy related, why? Because I googled of course! I have also had (what I think is) sciatic nerve pain in the rear region, but thankfully that is pretty much gone.

By the way, I’m sorry if this is TMI, that’s not usually my style.

This girl is SO active. I can’t believe I didn’t even notice Z kick until around 20 weeks. I have been feeling her since at least 15, and it seems like she’s moving all day (and night). Slow down, girlfriend!

I had my first random person ask if I was pregnant at Zumba yesterday, and she said “the baby must be tired” because I was really shaking it, so yeah, it’s probably my fault. She may come out doing the merengue.

I have started to tell Z that “there’s a baby in there.” I also had to teach him to “rub Mama’s belly” otherwise, he wanted to slap it.

Changing Times

Sometimes I think back to the time right before I had Z and how I thought there were things I would never be able to do again once a baby entered the picture. On the top of that list was going out to eat. We used to say, we’ll never be able to do this again, you know go to a nice restaurant eat peacefully and talk, stay out past 7 or 8 or even 9 o’clock (admittedly, that I didn’t think I would be able to do even when we were taking him out). Now, I think back to the many peaceful evenings we’ve spent at restaurants on Saturday nights the past 2 years (certainly not all peaceful) and I remember that things don’t always end up how you think they will.

We had one such evening on Saturday. My aunt and cousin are in town, so we decided to go to Bonefish Grill with them and my parents. We had to wait a few minutes, but then we were seated and we got to enjoy several courses and take our time. We were able to converse and eat our food at a normal pace. Sure I had to attend to Z, feed him fishsticks and such, and sure he had my phone about half the time, but that’s nothing to complain about. Then, we left and went to Barnes and Noble where we chatted some more, browsed magazines and books, and as long as we sat around the train table, we were able to do it all in peace. Sure I had to take him to the bathroom and change a poopy diaper on the disgusting changing table in order to keep him from the being the smelly kid at the train table, but that was really no bother either.

It actually almost felt like a pre-baby weekend outing. We even got home around 9, put Z to sleep and did another thing I never thought we’d be able to do, slept in, until almost 9 in the morning!
We’ve been able to go to the gym on the weekends. I haven’t really missed any of my TV shows, and sure we don’t go to the movies much anymore, but we still rent movies and watch them at home after Z goes to sleep. What was I so worried about?

The thing is, that I wouldn’t want all those freedoms again even if I could have them, because Z has enriched my life in ways that being able to go to the movies, or up and take a weekend trip somewhere never could. I used to wonder what my life would be like with a little person in it, and now I wonder how I lived without him for so long! All of this is to say that I am so thankful for my little man and the ability to enjoy things I used to with him because we’re a family now and that’s what families do.

Why am I reflecting on this now? Maybe because I feel many of my freedoms will be temporarily suspended again soon, in 4 and 1/2 months to be exact, when we have 2 little ones to entertain and tend to, 2 to worry about bedtimes and naps, and 2 to potentially keep us from said activities we are so fond of, but I honestly couldn’t be happier about it! (Someone remind me about this in about 5 and 1/2 months). One thing I have learned is to enjoy the moment and when things change change with them!

Speaking of BG2. She has been moving a lot lately! I felt her for the first time around 15 weeks and for the past 2 or 3 weeks it has been unmistakable! That is probably one of my most favorite things about pregnancy! It’s like a constant (sweet) reminder that your little one is in there.
Z still has no idea what’s going on, at least I don’t think so. He has been a little attached to me lately, but that’s probably just a coincidence.
We have not decided on a name, but it’s not for lack of trying. I’m sorry #2, it’s just too hard, but we’ll get it, eventually.

I have bought probably about 10 outfits, so far. It was a little hard at first, but clearly I am having no problem doing it now.

We are working on the rooms, and by working I mean discussing. Z’s gonna move upstairs to a big boy room and BG2 is taking his, which means we’ve got some painting to do, and by that I mean we’ve got to get someone to do some painting for us.

Z is such a stickler for routine that I’m afraid what this is going to do to him. Having said that, his bedtime routine has changed some over the months. He doesn’t insist on singing itsy bitsy spider in the bed anymore, but we do read a book in bed. Y’all, it’s the sweetest thing, first he sets his winnieS and Elmo up and tells them “sit bottom Winnies, sit bottom elmo,” then we read a book. Lately it has been Llama Llama Red Pajama (If you don’t have this book, get it, seriously). Right after we finish the book, he takes his friends, and says “okay Winnies, okay Elmo," and gets them and himself situated on his pillow and that’s (usually) the end of it. I love and cherish that moment so much I can’t even tell you!

The Winnies

Speaking of change, Mama’s gettin’ big!

Calling All Blog Friends

As you guys know, Z has had his pictures done by the amazing Heather Swanner since he was 1 week old. It is such a treat to work with her.
She has a contest going on right now (until the 11th) for best picture of 2011, and one of Z’s pictures is part of the contest! This is my shameless plea for votes: Please please vote for him!! The winner gets a free session next year (and we’re gonna need that soon ;)
You can vote here (only once from a computer) by leaving a comment. To vote for Z, just put “#66-stop and smell the roses” in the comment line.
Thanks friends, and congrats to everyone on the list. The pictures are all amazing!

Z

I took a lot of pictures of all of the kids, but of course Z got the lion’s share, so I figured I’d post a few, after all, if you’re here, you’re probably used to it. (I have also been working on PSE, mainly with the PW Actions, and loving it! I can’t wait to learn more (when I find time)), so I’m sharing a few of my favorites.

My sis brought her kids first, and Z is pretty used to having them over. Having said that, there was some fighting over toys, and I heard “MINE!” used quite a few times. We actually had to put the trampoline away because none of them would could share. The majority of his time was actually spent chasing or being chased around, rolling around on the floor, and playing outside. He woke up every morning and went to bed at night asking for “Ameeya and Adam.”
Then my brother’s kids came, and it was like constant entertainment for all 6 of them all the time. Z wasn’t sure which one to follow or chase or play with because there was so much to do in any given moment! He was about as happy as I’ve ever seen him. Then, he started asking for Ameeya, Adam, Tahya, Kenz, Jude, pretty much at all times.

One night he was chasing Talia around the house. Once he figured out which direction she was going, he took off with his arm out and yelled “I comin’!” which, by the way is probably my new favorite thing he says. He also says it now when he sees the moon or stars. He looks up and says, “Moon, I comin’!”
He has been trying to cope ever since they left. At least that’s what I’m going to blame his tantrumy screams for no reason abnormal behavior on. Coping, yeah, that sounds good. I know it’s sad for him, but it’s also great to get back into the routine.

He is talking so much, I don’t even know where to start. He says stuff like “Watch this, Mama/Baba” and “I wanna watch water” (Wipeout, his favorite show). He also mimics me a lot, even reflecting my intonation in saying “Good Job Zayd-uh!” “You DID it!'”
He can sing ABC’s, B-I-N-G-O (sounds like “B-I-Ayygeeo”), Old McDonald (Sounds like “Old D-donald” and when he gets to the animal sounds it turns to “with a moo moo here a moo moo here a moo moo here” and on and on, until I break the cycle for him, oh and Wheels on the Bus.
He’s been branching out a little more lately with food. He actually added “strawbebbies” to the fruit repertoire, previously consisting of bananas and (recently) apples. I didn’t video it this time, but I did take a picture. Hey, it’s a big deal.
He loves fries and chips, specifically barbecue, but who doesn’t? And, good Lord, he loves chocolate (Chock-it). I don’t know, maybe because my mom feeds it to him nearly constantly when she’s around him. That could be why.

He really likes traditional little boy things like trains and cars, but I think his thing is sports and sport balls. He likes watching football and basketball (the latter of which is rarely on the Gax family TV, but when it is, he likes it), and he LOVES playing with his basketball hoop that Aunt Talia and uncle John gave him for Christmas. He likes to throw footballs and about anything else he gets a whim for. We’re working on that, actually.

That’s all for now, I’m sure I’ll think of some more later.

A New Year’s to Remember

I’m sure I have mentioned how rare it is that my entire family (Mom, Dad, 4 siblings, 3 spouses, and 6 kids) get together. Well, I can’t even remember the last time, it was probably before there were 6 kids. This was the year! We have been planning this long weekend reunion for a while, and were so excited when it finally came!

Especially the grandparents...


We had lots of activities planned, like opening presents:

Shopping:

Eating:

Going to the park:

And there were several unplanned activities, like dancing:

Hugging: There were enough hugs to go around (maybe a couple times).

There was friendly competition, but thankfully, everyone reconciled in the end and were all smiles.