Snow? In Alabama? No way!

I went to the grocery store yesterday and the lady bagging my groceries said "Are you stocking up for the snow?" I said "It's not going to snow." And, even going to bed last night, I still didn't believe that it would. It hardly ever snows here and when it does it's not enough to cover the ground much less make a snowball or snowman.

I was so wrong. After Austin yelled up the hall for a drink of water, I got up and looked outside and went into Austin's room. I asked him if he had looked out the window yet. He jumped up, looked out the window, and immediately changed clothes to go outside. This was all before 7:00 a.m. One of our requirements was that we had to have our coffee and eat breakfast first before going outside. Gene took Austin first and I brought Andrew outside mostly to get a picture of him in his first snowfall.

I should have eaten more bread

This week our house has been sick. Andrew and I have had a cold most of the week. On Wednesday, the school called and told me I had to come pick up Austin. He'd been throwing up. So, I picked the kids up, brought them home, and Austin got sick 3 times after we made it home. After one episode, Austin looked and me just pitiful and said, "Mommy, I should have eaten more bread at lunch and not as much corn."

4th tooth

Andrew's 4th tooth finally broke through yesterday, his left front tooth on the top. Woo hoo!

Fun finger foods

Andrew's trying all kinds of table foods. He's figured out that you don't always have to squish the banana; you can actually eat them. So far, Andrew's tried peas, carrots, peaches (not a huge fan of these), and Cheerios. At school, he's tried mashed potatoes, biscuits, and french toast sticks. Of course, he's still eating baby food but he's really enjoying the venture into the wonderful world of table food.

Funny faces

These are just hilarious.

Mommy's in a timeout!

On Sunday, Austin put me in a timeout. Apparently, I said something at breakfast that we weren't supposed to say (per Gene). I can't even remember what it was. Anyway, once Austin heard that I said something I wasn't supposed to, he said "Mommy, you need a timeout. Go sit in the corner for 2-5-0. You can't talk or move or play!" (When we put Austin in a timeout, we set the timer on the microwave for 5 minutes.) So, there I was, sitting in the corner of the living room for 2 minutes and 50 seconds. I guess, if we put him in a timeout for saying something or doing something he's not supposed to, it's only fair that we do the same.

First word

Andrew's saying his first official word, dada. He calls everyone and everything "dada" not just referencing Gene. He calls me "dada," his food "dada," and the cats "dada." A few weeks ago he was saying "baba," but hasn't done that since discovering the word dada.

Surgery day

Gene and I got up at 4:30 this morning to take Andrew for tubes. We had to be there at 5:45 but left here around 5:20. Andrew was his usual chipper self even with us having to wake him up so early. He laughed and flirted with all the nurses there. The doctor was running late as usual (I don't get how you can be running late at 6:30 in the morning). Anyway, they took him back around 7:15 and he was back about 7:45 or so. All went well. They cleaned out his ears. Both were bad and the doctor said the left eardrum was about to burst. Thank goodness we got this taken care of when we did.

Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a new Andrew! He's always been so happy and jolly and that's when he's feeling just terrible even post-surgery (see below). I can't imagine how he's going to be now!

9 months old

Andrew is 9 months old. Well, almost. Gene took him for his check-up and shot yesterday. He weighed 21 pounds 5 1/2 ounces and was 29 1/2 inches tall. Just for comparison, Austin was 20 pounds 3 ounces and 30 inches tall when he was 9 months. A little heavier and just a hair shorter. The pediatrician said that genes (no pun intended) were finally catching up with Andrew.

Andrew's pulling up all over and has started cruising a little bit. Tonight, while Austin was in the tub, he really wanted to climb right on in!

So grateful for Saturday

It was quite the week this week both at home and work. On Tuesday, we spent 3 hours at the ENT with Andrew. On Wednesday, I took Austin to the pediatrician. He'd developed a cough and it was getting worse. There's been an outbreak of sorts at the school of pneumonia and I was concerned that Austin had caught it. Luckily, it was just a sinus infection so we got some cough medicine and an antibiotic. And, as the multi-tasker that I am, I took care of getting a new antibiotic prescription for Andrew, rescheduled Andrew's 9 month appointment, and scheduled Austin's 5 year checkup while I was at the doctor's office. Needless to say, I was thrilled to see the week come to an end. I hope next week is better.

Hilarious (and somewhat offensive)

Kids really do say the darnedest things and Austin's so exception. The other day after work I went to pick up the dry cleaning. The owners of this establishment were Asian American and handed me my cleaning through the drive thru window. Yesterday morning, I, with Austin present, was looking through the stuff I got back from the cleaners and was surprised to find that one of my jackets had it's buttons replaced (and not by request). Needless to say, I was not happy about this. But, I picked something else out and got dressed for work.

After dropping Andrew off at his room, Austin and I were outside putting our shoes back on and getting his stuff together. Another babies dad, an Asian American gentleman, was bringing his baby into the class next door. As we were walking to Austin's class he whispered, "Mommy, was that the man that messed up your jacket?" I said, "No, baby, it wasn't." Now, this had to be the funniest, and most observant, thing that Austin has ever said. Thank goodness he whispered.

Table food

Andrew has started trying table foods. He's been eating puffs for a couple of months and we started those wagon wheel things last week for a change of pace. We also started giving him little bites of banana, mostly to squish. Last week at school, I told the teachers that they could try giving him some soft table food to get him used to how things feel. Most of it didn't get into his mouth but he's practicing which is good. Tonight, I gave him some sweet peas. He was the funniest thing chasing those peas around his tray. He managed to get a good bit of them into his mouth and "chewed" them up. He only spit a few out.

Knock Knock

Austin officially knows his first knock knock joke. And it's a classic.

Austin: Knock, knock

Me: Who's there?

Austin: Boo?

Me: Boo who?

Austin: Please don't cry.

I also told him the orange/banana knock knock joke. I'm sure he'll get the hang of that one soon!

Tubes (and other things)

Andrew saw the ENT today and we're scheduled for tubes on February 17. We have to be at the outpatient center at 5:45 a.m. They said that he does have some hearing loss in both ears, one more than the other. But they are pretty confident that once the tubes are in place and working that his hearing will return to normal. Let's pray that it does!

In other news, Andrew's pulling up all over the place and it doesn't matter where. In his crib, on the table, on me or someone else. He's trying to pull up on the stairs; this is something we didn't have to deal with when Austin started walking around. He's also taken a couple of steps with our help and I really think that he'll probably be up walking not too long after he gets his tubes put in. I don't know that I'm ready for another one walking through the house!

On another note, Austin's doing so much better at home these days. We've started letting him serve himself at dinner which has really helped with his eating dinner. We're not watching TV during the week and that's helped keep us all a little more sane at night. Things are much better and we've only had a couple of timeouts in the corner.

He's pulling up everywhere

Andrew's pulling up all over the place...

The computer is back (for now)

As I was working on this post last night, the blue screen of death appeared and the computer shut down. I called it a night. Luckily, a draft of my post was saved!

Gene decided to take our computer to one of the tech guys at work to look it over. The diagnosis? It's old.


So, now that I have it back, let's get to the business of reporting the news. Andrew's started pulling up and LOVES climbing over everything, me, my lap, my shoulder, anything. He's also holding our fingers and taking a few steps with our help. He's into absolutely everything these days and loves the air vent, chasing the cats, chasing Austin, and has discovered the bowl of cat food. None has made it into his mouth yet, but I know that's coming.

Another trip to the pediatrician was in order for Andrew. He was still pulling at his ear a little and the doctor said if he was less than perfect to bring him back. So, I did. After 20 days of antibiotics, we've been referred to an ENT, the same one that we used with Austin. The appointment is next week. I'll keep everyone posted on the outcome, but I'm sure we'll be scheduled for tubes in the near future.

Awww...how sweet!

Thanks to my friend Michelle of The Busy Carneys for awarding me a fabulous blog award. I never win anything! So, following her lead I am to admit to five addictions and pick five other people to send this award to. So, here are the additions.

1. Weekly shopping ads. I can't wait until Wednesdays to see what Publix, Winn Dixie, and Bruno's have on sale.

2. BOGO. I LOVE buy one get one free deals especially if I have a coupon so I can save even more $.

3. Bargains. I will keep looking at my receipt not believing the deal(s) I got. For instance, I went shopping for kids clothes for next fall/winter. I went to Old Navy and the Carter's outlet and got so many good deals, but was particularly proud of the $0.98 and $1.49 shirts for Andrew, the $1.49 long-sleeved onesies for Andrew, and the t-shirts for me for $1.49 each.

4. philosophy products. I love this line of skin care and fragrance. Everything is amazing and makes such a difference in my skin.

5. Web sites. I check all my favorite blogs multiple times a day, Facebook, People, UsMagazine, and others. I can't let a day go by without finding out what's going on with my friends or my celebrity "friends."

And the winners are...drumroll please...

Judy at The Cole Journal

Rachel at today's blue plate special

Wendy at West Family Fun

Kayla at Life with the Stanley Family

Beth at Expatriate-izing

Tis the season...

for runny noses, stuffy noses, snotty noses, coughs, ear infections, and pink eye. Last week, I insisted that Gene take Andrew to the pediatrician. Something wasn't right about him. He normally eats like a pig and he wasn't. I just had a feeling that something was wrong. And I was right. He had infections in both ears and was prescribed a 10 day antibiotic which we finished on Thursday.

During the week, however, Andrew developed a really runny nose and a terrible sounding cough. Now, this wasn't enough alone to freak me out. It took a note in his cubby at school this week warning that another child had been diagnosed with RSV and was hospitalized with pneumonia to really freak me out. So, I called the nurse on Thursday to get reassurance that Andrew was OK with the symptoms he had and to find out what I needed to watch for with the whole RSV thing. This morning, he just wasn't any better, actually the cough was worse and the snotty nose was a green/yellow color. AND one of his eyes was goopy.

So, off to the pediatrician we went. Diagnosis? Andrew's left ear is infected (again) and he has pink eye in both eyes. At least this occurred over a long weekend. The doctor wants to see him back after this round of antibiotics to make sure it's cleared up. We'll discuss tubes at that time.

On another note, Austin's got a stuffy nose. For the most part, he's a healthy kid and rarely gets sick. He thinks he has to go to the doctor for this stuff nose. He's told his teachers that he can't take a nap because he can't smell.

Two positive things came out of this day.

1. Andrew was officially weighed today at the doctor's office. He weighs 20 pounds, 13 ounces, almost a whole 2 pounds more than Austin weighed at 8 months old. Did I mention that Andrew's officially 8 months old? I can't believe he's only 4 months away from being 1!
2. The prescription we got for the ear infection is on the free list at the Publix up the road from the doctor's office. The only bad thing is the inconvenience of having to get out of the car and go into the store with a baby in tow. But at least the script was free!

Battle wounds

Andrew has his first bruise. Yesterday, he was sitting up and tipped over and bumped his cheek on one of his toys. Poor little guy.

He's also discovered his tongue. He sticks it out all the time.

I love this

Austin received many wonderful presents for Christmas from everyone. The other night the desk Nonna and Papa got him was delivered (thanks Papa!). We set everything up and got all organized with his markers, pencils, paper, paint, glue in just the right spots. After we finished organizing, Austin got to work. He said "I love this. This is so cool!" Maybe Austin will draw his first masterpiece at the desk!

On the move

Andrew's officially crawling now. He's mostly commando crawling on his tummy. Every now and then he'll get on his hands and knees. He also uses his tip toes to push off. I took these pictures the other night.

Jumping to sleep

Now that we have the Christmas tree out of the living room, Gene brought up the jumperoo from the basement. I knew that Andrew would love it. He's been trying to jump in his exersaucer without much success. Within minutes, he'd jumped himself to sleep.

Almost, but not quite

I think he missed.

Clap your hands

Andrew has started clapping. The claps aren't productive soundwise, but he's figured out that he can bring these two weird things together and make a small noise. I attempted to take pictures of the claps.

Discovery!

Andrew discovered the cats a few weeks ago. Trouble was good about letting Austin "pet" her when he was little and so far she doesn't mind Andrew "petting" her. At least, not until he grabs her hair and pulls! Now that he's mobile, when he spots a cat, off he goes after her. He's pretty proud at finding his new friend.

Puffs

A couple of weeks ago at the little Christmas party at school, Andrew tried his first puff. At first, we would put one in his mouth and he wasn't thrilled about this new thing. New texture, new taste...icky. His less-than-thrilled expression was captured here.
Since, he's gotten better at picking them up himself and putting them in his mouth. And he actually enjoys them!

Billy Mays and the Big City Slider Station

I don't know how many of you know what I'm talking about. But, that man, Billy Mays, the man who yells and sells everything these days, from Oxy Clean to Mighty Putty, has started selling something called a Big Slider thing that makes mini-hamburgers. The commercial is all over the TV. And every time it comes on Austin asks us "Do you want to get that?" We haven't mentioned wanting this this or even made mini-hamburgers in a normal way for Austin to be asking us this. We've asked him if he wants us to get it. Maybe he's trying to tell us that he wants a mini-hamburger??

First movement

Andrew has made his first official crawling movement. He was after a small toy. He's been getting up on his hands and knees for the last few days, but that's been as far as he's gotten. Today, he commando crawled just a little.

Christmas family picture

I can't believe we actually got a decent family picture on Christmas!
Snapfish:Photo:Shared

November photography session

Now that Christmas is over, I can share some pictures we had taken in November when Andrew was 6 months old.

Joke telling

Austin has started telling us jokes. At least, he thinks they are jokes. Essentially, he sees things around the house or in the car and makes a joke or a punchline out of it. He told these at the dinner table the other night.

How does a monkey swing from a banana? From eating a snowman!

How does a crocodile eat snowflakes? From eating all of the napkins!

6:15 a.m.

Our Christmas morning started at 6:15 a.m. Austin's an early riser even on non-Christmas mornings. He ran into our room and said, "It's Christmas Eve! I so excited!" And we all came downstairs. Andrew was still asleep, so we got started with Austin and Santa. Once Andrew woke up, it was nuts. It took about 3 hours to open everything starting with the kids (must open everything to keep them occupied). Finally, Gene and I opened our presents about 3 hours after "Christmas" officially started.

Andrew, pooped already

One of Andrew's most favorite things...wrapping paper!

Austin and his batcaveOne of Austin's favorite things from Santa...a toy tornado

Santa's arrival and Hermey's departure

On Christmas Eve (prior to the spanking), Austin and I made cookies for Santa and Hermey. We cut out cookies, iced and sprinkled cookies for Santa. We left plain ones for Hermey. The large circle cookies were for Santa because "his belly is big." By the time Austin and Andrew went to bed, we had three plates: one for Santa with his 4 large iced cookies, one for Hermey with two plain cookies, and one for the reindeer with celery and carrots. We put the cookies plates (and a small cup of milk) on the coffee table for Santa and Hermey. The reindeer plate we placed on the doormat on the porch because Austin said reindeer don't come inside. How else would they get their food?

Christmas Eve rebellion

We entered the final push for being good because Santa Claus is watching you. Well, Austin has been testing us lately, both our patience and our tempers. There have been various things over the last few weeks (i.e. throwing blocks at school, pushing down someone at school, etc.) that have caused us to cut out TV and issue time outs. The stickers on the calendar for good behavior obviously doesn't have the same draw that it did a month or so ago. Neither does the prospect of a trip to the dollar store for a treat for behaving (for the most part) for 10 consecutive days. Today, on Christmas Eve of all days, it finally came to a head.

I've always said that every couple of months we have to have a "come to Jesus meeting" and today was the day. We'd told Austin repeatedly that we weren't going to watch Charlie Brown's Christmas until after dinner. Well, of course that didn't meet with his approval. So, a fit was pitched and Austin got a spanking. That's right. On Christmas Eve. We'd done and said everything to avoid that but sometimes it just comes to that. Hopefully, this will be it for a while.

No longer "supported sitter"

Andrew's been working on sitting up by himself for the last few weeks. He would sit up for a minute or two and then tip over probably because he's such a large baby, in weight and height, that it just takes more to hold himself up. He finally got the hang of it in the last couple of days. He's even gotten himself from laying down to a sitting position a few times. He still completely loves the bows on the presents under the tree. Don't be surprised if one of your gifts was attacked by a 7 month old baby. You'll know yours has been a victim by the lack of bow or if the bow is crushed.

All kinds of things

Sorry for being M.I.A. lately with pictures. It's been so busy around our house getting ready for the big guy. Here are some recent pictures of the Andrew from school.

Jingle bell circle

For Austin's Christmas program, his class sang various Christmas songs. It was perhaps the cutest thing I've ever seen. The teachers had set up risers in the school's multipurpose room, the kids painted white t-shirts to look like Rudolph with their hands for the antlers, and the kids filed in. They sang Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

Austin loves singing Christmas music. Every day, we've been listening to it in the car. One of his favorite songs is Jingle Bell Rock. He changes the words though. The real lyric is "Dancing and prancing in jingle bell square." Austin has changed it to: "Dancer and Prancer in jingle bell circle."

Hermey's latest

As we're winding down Hermey's visit, he's gotten more adventurous. One night, he unrolled the toilet paper in Austin and Andrew's bathroom. Another night, he pulled out all of Austin's underwear and socks and threw them on the floor. Last night, he was in the "snow" at the top of the stairs.

Hermey goes home on Christmas Eve and we're trying to prepare Austin for his departure. I'm sure he'll be sad to see his friend go, but there's always next year!

What a week!

The week began with Andrew's Christmas party at school on Monday. Tuesday, as I was getting Andrew out of the car at school, Austin was standing on the sidewalk and proceeded to throw up. I got both kids back into the car and took them home for the day. Tuesday afternoon, I took Andrew to the doctor; he'd been pulling at his ear and had a goopy eye. Diagnosis? Ear infection and pink eye. On Wednesday, Andrew stayed home while Austin went back to school. Thursday we were actually back into the routine. But, today, Austin had his Christmas program and party at school. All that to say, the Fambrough house is pooped!

7 months old (already?)

Andrew is officially 7 months old. As you can imagine, he's into EVERYTHING. He's attacked the cat, the presents under the tree, and is presently trying to bite my sock foot. So weird. Anyway, I measured Andrew with the tape measure. This is a hard thing to do since he wants to roll over and scoot around. Based on my measurement, he's 31 inches long which supports my belief that they measured him wrong at his 6 month appointment. It just didn't seem right that he was only 28 3/4 inches. And I just weighed the big man. He weighs 21 pounds. Now, my scale isn't calibrated like doctor scales, but that's quite the weight for a 7 month old. Based on this weight, I made the right decision to purchase 18 month onesies yesterday. That's right...18 month clothes for a 7 month old baby.

Smiley or frowny face

Last week, I had two conferences at the school, one for Andrew (the typical 6 month) and for Austin. Andrew's was uneventful; what could they say except that he's just the perfect angel? Austin's wasn't as smooth. We've had trouble with Austin at school really since Andrew was born, but things have gotten better. He still has some issues with focusing his attention and getting distracted with things and listening to his teachers. So, we've devised as system. There is a small sheet of paper with a smiley and a frowny face on it with a place for comments. At the end of every day, Austin has to circle what kind of day he had, a good (smiley) day or a bad (frowny) day. We've done this for 3 days, 2 of which he received a smiley face. Yesterday, however, he got a frowny face for not listening to his teachers and jumping around at nap time.

We used this opportunity to have Hermey not do anything based on Austin's behavior. But, he did write Austin a note to explain. "Austin, I was sad about your bad day at school today, so I think I will just go to sleep tonight. Please be a good boy next week so I can play again! Love, Hermey." We'll see if this works.

Various

Things are quite busy these days around our house mostly because of the holidays. Needless to say, blogging has been the last thing on my mind. Here are various updates from around our household.

• Hermey's been busy. He went with Austin to school on Wednesday and today. Last night he wrote "Ho, ho, ho" with toothpaste in the sink. We laughed at this, of course. And Austin said, "I can't stop laughing!"
• Andrew's busy too. He loves pulling the bows off presents and he has gotten into our Nativity scene under the tree. And, today, he enjoyed playing with his school friends' feet! Andrew has also discovered the cats. He's fascinated by them and watches them and plays with their fur.

Hermey brings gifts

Saturday night Hermey brought Austin the first of two surprise gifts: candy canes. Austin said "I've been waiting for these!" Who knew that two candy canes would bring such joy? Last night, Hermey brought Austin a tin of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer hot chocolate. And there was Hermey, shoved down inside of a big mug.

Break through

Andrew's first tooth finally broke through today! Maybe now he won't be quite so miserable although for a miserable, teething, drooly, snotty baby, he's been in a pretty good mood. It seems like forever ago that he first shoved his hand in his mouth and started gnawing.

Hermey update

After forgetting to feed, water, and sprinkle Hermey the other night, Austin's been quick to remind me that we have to take care of Hermey before going up for bed. On Thursday night, Hermey stayed up playing Austin's computer game. Last night, Hermey managed to get into Austin's pajama drawer. Austin didn't realize that Hermey was in there so when he got up this morning he just closed the drawer. We had to go into Austin's room to get something and we opened the drawer and found Hermey inside.

This close to crawling

Andrew is pretty close to crawling these days. He's scooting around in a circle to see things (i.e. me, Austin, Gene, the cats, etc.). He's not sitting up unsupported yet I think because he's just such a big, tall baby. When he is sitting up and we let go, he slowly tips over. Oh well. He'll be sitting up (and crawling) before I know it. Watch out Austin and cats!

The elf latest

Hermey's been all over the place the last few days. One night, he was upside down in Austin's stocking. The next night, he pulled off all of the cushions off the furniture in the living room and was sitting on top of them.

Unfortunately, last night we forgot to feed, water, and sprinkle Hermey. He did not come to life and do anything. Austin was disappointed, of course, but he's made it a point to remind me tonight that we need to "do" Hermey. Hopefully, we won't forget again.

Hermey's super funny

Austin woke Gene up this morning with "Daddy, come see what Hermey did. It's really super funny!" When I came downstairs, Austin told me that Hermey banged on our bedroom door, snuck into our room, got Austin's school napper, banged on Austin's bedroom door and snuck into his room, and had a slumber party with Nemo.