Grouchy days and baseball

What a day! The boys seemed extra rowdy today. Maybe it's just because daddy's been gone for a week and I feel extra tired. We headed to the grocery store to get some things for a new stuffed shells recipe that I wanted to try. (It was yummy and I have lots in the freezer for another day.) The boys were so whiny while I was cooking. One would take the others toy and then they'd cry or fight over it. Of course since I was cooking (although in sight) I didn't know who was in the wrong. I was so glad when nap time came.

Chris called this morning to tell me that after he finished classes today he was hoping to go swimming with the sharks (in a big cage) with some buddy's. O.K. I'll give him that one. That's not something I'd want to do anyway. When he comes home with beautiful pictures of the beach, then I'll be sad I missed it.

This afternoon we went to a birthday party. Our friend turned five so he's a little bit older but the boys play well together. It was a total "boy" party - transformers, baseball, and a bounce house. The birthday boy got the coolest baseball game. It's like t-ball but the ball hangs from above instead of sitting on a tee. It also plays ESPN music. All of the boys loved it. Gee, I wonder if Alex would like one for his birthday?

A visit from Mimi

With Chris being gone we had a visit from Mimi (my mom) this week to keep us company. Alex & Zachary loved having their Mimi here. She took them outside when mama was too hot to go. She baked us chocolate chip cookies.Zachary waited for the cookies to be done and then ate about half of a cookie. Alex on the other hand wolfed down three and wanted more......but didn't get any until later. Mimi made the boys breakfast, washed lots of laundry, and cleaned the kitchen. Oh wait - that's the part I liked! Just kidding. We also made it out shopping one morning and yesterday we took the boys to the inflatable play place that we like to go to. Lots of fun!

Today we headed over to check the progress on the new house. We've got walls and a roof (but no shingles). I think all of the plumbing and electrical work is done and the windows are in.

It's amazing what the house looks like each time we go. It's going to be ready before we know it! Mimi headed back home today but we'll be at her house to visit again next week.

Here's one last cute picture of the boys. I made them stand in the "picture spot" at the bottom of the stairs to take some pictures. I especially like to have them standing together to see how big (or small) they are. My cutie pies!

Things they say

Kids say the cutest and sweetest things sometimes. This week Zachary has started to say "I love mama". It's usually a response when I tell him that I love him but it is still wonderful!

Now for the funny. When the boys are in the bath sometimes they like to point at body parts and name them. They are good. They know pretty much everything. Last night Alex was playing this game and when he got to "wee wee" (boy parts) I told him he was right and that all boys have those. I asked "Does daddy have a wee wee?" and he said "Yeah!". Then I said "Does mama have a wee wee?". Alex said "No, underwear." He's actually said this twice now and it cracked me up both times. They know the difference between boys and girls but I've never actually discussed girl anatomy even though they've taken a bath with me. I think I'll just stick with "underwear". They know we're different and that's enough for right now.

A look back at bedtime

I posted awhile back about Zachary having some bad nap times. That post was written during one of those bad days. On the whole it's not too terribly bad. And it could be worse. He used to take off his pants and his diaper and then wet the bed. Not every night but enough to drive us crazy. The pants though, did come off most nights. I asked everybody I knew for advice and I read about it on frua. I tried everything. First we tried putting him in one piece pajamas, backwards. This stopped him for about a week. He never could get the snaps open but he's so small that he figured how to get his whole body out through the neck hole. No kidding.

Next we tried one piece footy pajamas that zipped up the front. Well, that lasted about two days. Not only did he get every stitch of clothing off and wet the bed in about three different places but an extra pair of pajama pants showed up that had been missing for a few days.Since Zachary couldn't figure out snaps the next step was a onsie with pants on top. He could get the pants off but not the onsie - yes! Oh wait. He could get the diaper off and out through one of the leg holes though.

Last resort - duct tape. Finally something that worked! The only thing he could pull off now was his pants and that wasn't a problem. Yea, a dry bed! We did this for about a week when one night Zachary saw me get out the tape and started crying. I told him that I wouldn't put it on anymore if he left his diaper alone.....and he did. Since then (June) he hasn't been taking any clothes off anymore. We do still have him sleep in a onsie, just in case, but his pants are always on.

The one thing that I can't break him of is this: This picture was taken at nap time today. Even if I don't see him with his hand in his pants I can tell he did it by the elastic marks on his wrists. We had heard that in his orphanage the children slept with their arms swaddled (he was 16 months when he came home). I always wondered if that had anything to do with it, if it was a comfort thing. Or maybe he just likes his hands down his pants.

The green eyed monster

I just got back from dropping my husband off at the airport. He's gone on a work-related trip. For two week. To Hawaii. Hawaii of all places! Although I'm sad that he's going to be gone for so long I must admit that I'm a little bit (O.K. alot) jealous that he's going to be in Hawaii. Sure I could have gone with him but I'm not sure I'm ready to be away from the boys for a week or more and we couldn't afford to take them with us. Plus, I'd be alone most of the time while Chris was in his classes. I have been to Hawaii before and loved every minute of it. I believe my exact words were along the lines of "I'd like to move there even if I had to sell coconuts or seashell necklaces on the side of the road.". I'm going to do my best to just get over it and enjoy my two weeks with my boys and spend part of it with my parents.

New mom thing

I think I have a problem knowing when my kids really need a doctor or not. I've been told that all new moms get freaked out by any fever or little sniffle and that's me. I took the boys to the doctor once and was told that they only had a cold and there was nothing to do but give them fluids and ride it out. I've also called the nurse line at least twice asking if they thought I needed to come in for one reason or another. I don't know how many times I've called my mom or a sister to ask about symptoms. Plus, you saw my post about the mystery "hives". By the way - the doctor doesn't think it's hives. She doesn't know what it is. We were just at the doctor yesterday and then last night Alex starts having breathing problems. So we use his inhaler (we just got it in April and haven't used it much). It helps a little but I still hear his heavy breathing/wheezing. This morning he woke up bad. Even after the inhaler his breathing sounds labored. Then he tells me that he has an owie and points to his tummy. I pointed to his chest and asked if that's where it hurt thinking it's got to be from the breathing but he said no and pointed to his tummy again. Then he asks me if he can take a nap - at 11 in the morning. Uh-oh. I called the doctor but we can't get in until tomorrow morning. Until then I hope he sleeps through the night. He's got such a nasty sounding cough to go along with it. I'm wondering if it's bronchitis but the doctor might just say that a cold irritated his unconfirmed asthma and she can't do anything. I'm not sure which I prefer.

Zachary's two year check-up

Today was Zachary's two year check up at the doctor. At 25 months he weighs 22 lbs and 14.8 ounces and is 32.9 inches tall. That means that he is still not on the charts for weight (or head size) and is somewhere around the 7th percentile in height. He's a small fry alright especially compared to Alex who's around 75% for height and 95% per weight! He's growing though and developing well in every other way so the doctor's not too worried. He's got his own growth curve going. He also got another vaccination today. I thought this was going to finally get him caught up but I was wrong. He'll need one more Hep A vaccination in October and then we'll be on track. Not only was he a little bit behind when he came home but although his Russian charts said he'd had the Hep A & B vaccinations, they didn't show up in his blood. That means he had to have them all over again. Thank goodness he's pretty good about it. Neither Zachary or Alex are afraid of going to the doctor despite how many times they've been poked and prodded since coming home.