Biggest Little Boy.

Thomas is 1 year old today (though I started this post several days ago...it just takes that long to accomplish things sometimes). Our biggest little boy is really a baby no more.

As Jacob turned a year old,

(JDP at 1yr)

I recall being a bit baffled that parents could be depressed that their children were growing-up, hitting milestones at record speed, and loosing their 'babyness'.

With Thomas, I understand a wee bit more; he's too big to casually toss in the air, he wears 18m+ clothing (as in some clothes Jacob wore when he started preschool last year), and we're a back-break away from permanently retiring him to the stroller-which he is learning to hate- instead of the Moby wrap. Here, as he turns 1, he walks everywhere at the speed of light, points or waves and babbles at things of his choosing (dogs and footballs), and smirks at silly jokes that he shouldn't have understood.

When he's got an opinion, he's quick and loud at sharing (happily and not-so-much); when he's happy to go with the flow, he's just the silliest mellow and cuddly munchkin.

We've learned that physically and personality-wise, our children are distinct thus far. Jacob is a Daniel Pugh mini-me; active, competitive, curious, extremely clever, endearingly mischievous, and startlingly intuitive.

Thomas is a Chell. He loves to be loved and snuggled, has a very silly and unique sense of humor, is sly and muted in his mischief, wants to eat the food you're eating (veggie, fruit, bean, meat, nearly all are okay with him as long as you too were eating it), wants to explore the detail of toy (or not quite a toy) mechanics, and can hone-in on 1 person to explore rather than absorb the emotions of a full room of people.

Thosmos has had a chaotic year medically, but continues to bear with us on his daily breathing treatments and asthmatic issues during germs. He'll be seeing a pulmonary specialist sometime after the holidays as x-rays already indicate lung/air-way structure changes due to his asthma; but considering how well he's done last year, we know it will all get better and better.

Brotherly Love...and other boyish things.

Sorry for blog silence this month.

It's been intense.

Jacob continues to be extremely sensitive in the hand/fingers; fortunately, night screaming has drastically decreased. He gets his cast off on December 8th and though terrified of the cast-cutter (that previously cut him), he is pumped about bathing and playing in the sand at school without a bag on his arm. And, you know, using his formerly dominant left hand/fingers for anything. Including pumping-up a rocket balloon without using his feet.

In other regards, these two boys of ours continue to be hilariously normal siblings.

(Don't worry, Jacob gave it back to Thomas. and pouted about it.)

Thomas is walking all over now and at his most recent respiratory-distress ER trips (happy thanksgiving, HA), he has remained 26#'s of all boy. Though muscle development and height have increased, the Buddha belly remains (and precious cheeks)- and those below are 18month articles of clothing.

But, he still ingests minimal solids. Silly boy prefers nursing, though can occasionally be tempted by Cheerios, pear, chicken, peas, or beans. Unfortunately the dairy allergy persists with full body eczema flare-ups, so no cheese or yogurt for the two of us....we'll try again in a few months.

At our follow-up Dr appt today (there were 2 ER trips due to him not breathing well over the Thanksgiving), we have finally been told that we should see a pulmonary specialist. This is exciting in that we may actually get his asthma under control or at least talk to someone who has more than just guesswork on treatment/prevention.

I see now that this post makes us sound like crazy people with so many health problems.

But.....I have little to offer, other than if you're family and friends you know this isn't the usual case.....well.... Let's just say: come on healthy 2012!

To round-out the boy post:

"Gimme 3 steps"

On Wednesday, Thomas decided to go for it: he walked for 3 1/2 steps (the 1/2 was a slow crumble to the floor)! He did so in front of a large crowd as we were eating a community lunch at Daniel's seminary, so there was a lot of excitement for this determined sweet boy.

That evening, we were encouraging more steps with the camera rolling and Thomas was happy to show-off; he was a little giddy and impulsive, but proud nonetheless.

After all that work and sweat, Thomas was sporting some serious curls.

In other news, Jacob got his bazooka-arm (the original blue cast with the tape to hold it together plus another layer of black fiberglass on top) removed on Thursday;

he is now looking svelte in a Cardinals red cast.

The x-rays showed that his bones continue to be as they should and good healing; we return next week for more x-rays. After that, it's possible he'll get the cast-off in 2-3 more weeks.

Cue giant sigh of relief.

the Absurd.

We returned home from the ER around midnight. After a completely sleepless night with Jacob pitifully screaming and Thomas doing a good job sleeping through it, Daniel returned home from the airport with John and Kirsten (whom helped tremendously with filling prescriptions, distraction, feeding us, and empathizing this week....just so wonderful).

The fun didn't stop there.

Jacob's fingers got extremely swollen, which we've been told is another rarity in this 'situation'. We called the pediatrician, we called the orthopedic clinic, we got absolutely no help. After dosing Jacob with "kiddie vicodin" as the hospital called it, Jacob was still screaming, though his voice was gone. We returned to the ER.

Everyone was saddened and concerned by his swollen fingers, so grateful we brought him back, and Jacob was once again terrified as they cut his cast open on both sides (as seen in photos) to relieve swelling and pain. It has slowly helped...here we are on Saturday having had the FIRST night of more than 3 hours of sleep/quiet in a row without absolute screaming

At the follow-up appointment this past Thursday, we learned Jacob's injury is not good. Apparently this kind of dislocation (the radius is the small bone in the forearm the 'turns over' when moving the hand) has to be closely monitored for good healing. We were even told in 5% of cases, the radius re-dislocates and becomes a problem. So, we go for more bone pictures again on Thurday.

Worry-not; following arm trauma #2, Jacob came home and crashed (he got some amazing painkiller help at the hospital). Then, that night, woke at 9:30 to declare he has going trick-or-treating.

Awake enough to assess his loot.

Unfortunately, Thomas didn't wake-up for costume time...we sorta failed him. But....there were definitely extenuating circumstances.

the Bad...

You know how all stories go; things start smoothly enough....

Soon after our return from the cabin, Daniel and Kirsten (previous post) headed to Baltimore as part of a class; they left Thursday morning of last week and returned Monday early afternoon.

A good chunk of time, but it was gonna be juuust fine.

The boys were doing well and Jacob had his Fall Festival at school on Saturday:

Afterward, we made crafts, played, etc. Sunday we headed to church, had some lunch, then headed to playground. Jacob is getting really good- he can make it to the fourth monkey-bar unassisted! I convinced Jacob we should go to the store to get things for dinner by making 'a deal' where we could return to the playground for a few minutes. Bad choice.

We returned to the playground where Jacob proceeded to try the monkey-bars and immediately have his hand slip, crash his body to the ground, and scream in pain....same scream from 1 1/2 yrs ago when he busted his arm.

Thanks to some kind park parents (one whom was a pediatrician), we immediately got loaded-up and headed to the ER. again. Fortunately, our community here is amazing. Even though Daniel was across the country, he called some friends/neighbors Ben and Stacey who came to our rescue at the ER. Though Thomas screamed at them intermittently and Ben was in the room as they tried to get an IV in Jacob 3 times (I felt like passing-out, I can't believe Jacob didn't), they continued be calm and beyond helpful.

As it turns out, Jacob dislocated his radius and broke his ulna at the elbow. Yes, the elbow was a problem last time. Yes, it was his left arm last time. Yes, he is a lefty.

Sigh.

The Good.....

The gorgeous cabin where we got to spend warm time with our beloved family of 3, the Worzala Dumke crew (Kirsten, aka KD, John, and baby Roman).

The view from down in the creek.

Jacob: the conqueror.

Jacob: the studious.

Roman: the delightfully interested and tolerant!

Daddy and Jacob: woodsmen.

Having fun making a fire.

Resting in the hammock; Daniel missed the stripes memo.

Thomas snuggling me in the afternoon sun.

Super "fun" phase where Jacob MUST be in front or winning. even on nice calm walks.

Yes, he did get road-rash on his face following this picture due to his irrational need to be in front despite any obstacles.

Thomas, however, was fine just chilling with his Daddy!

We had an absolute blast....

and love this family!!

Blooper reel.

Looking through the pictures I just uploaded from this past week, I realized there are just too many silly pictures worth sharing.

So here it is: the blooper reel. I figured no explanations were necessary...they're from the zoo, home, a cabin in Northern Ca with friends (which is the topic of the next post within the next few days).

Persistance

Jacob is macro-skill/coordination kind of guy; kicking or dribbling a ball, hitting a baseball with the bat, running races, balancing, etc. He has been tough to convince that sitting for art activities (writing, painting, coloring, etc), especially for the detail work (as evidenced by the coloring on the handout, which is almost absurd it's so messy) is worth the effort or time.

I just read that girls go for lots of color and detail while boys tend to choose one and 'go for it'. Jacob is truly textbook boy.

But, we're happy to report that he is getting closer to holding the crayon/pencil appropriately. A little more practice, a little more time....

Dream of every Child

At the Berkeley Marina, there is a park of epic proportions that we've been trying to visit for awhile now. There are things to climb, structures to explore, rope to dangle upon, and other adventures to be had. Additionally, this park is constantly changing as the kids are given nails, wood, paint, etc. in exchange for seeking out dangerous corners, loose nails, and so on.

This place was everything we'd been anticipating and more!

Per Usual.

Boys. Acting like boys. Per usual.

Some things these boys do are hilarious, some things we parents-though more often than not, we moms- don't understand, and other things they do are shocking(ly embarassing).

The hilarious: Thomas taking a "break" on the floor to recoup from the hard-work of being a baby.

Both boys finding the underside of the table fascinating.

Jacob playing peekaboo with Thomas through the window screen (obviously poorly attached). Jacob felt it necessary to pull the screen back to be most effective at the "surprise" element of the game while Thomas insisted on climbing on top of Daniel's bag for a better viewpoint. I guess just 'cause it's fun?

Fortunately, the shocking/embarrassing things are less photographed. Having a hard time believing these boys could ever do something shocking or embarrassing? (HA)

Both potty-humor related. Of course.

Thomas continues to race to the bathroom whenever someone enters or he hears a flush and gets super thrilled when he hits the jackpot by shoving his hand in the bowl. Usually, this is accompanied by Jacob yelling "EWWW, mom, get Thomas quick!!"

(Backstory: Jacob has a BFF here named Andre. He lives 2 apartments down and is 2 3/4years old. Andre has been working on potty training which occasionally includes outdoor pee-attempts.)

That brings us to tonight; in the apartment courtyard, someone was having a big birthday party with music, treats, and lots of people including Jacob's BFF, Andre. After the boys had been playing, snacking, and dancing their hearts out...I look behind the chairs to see Jacob, white tush exposed, mid-pee.

And yet, gotta love them!