2 years old!!!

Well, we officially have a 2 year old! It's so hard to believe that time has flown that quickly, but we love every minute of this crazy life with him. :) Since turning 2 he has really turned the corner in a lot of things, his progress is amazing. We are so proud of him, and he isn't a little baby anymore. Nos t at all. He is a big boy now, in every sense of the word!

His 2 year check up went well. He had another surprise ear infection, which is crazy! He never ever acted like something was wrong, and if we hadn't gone to the doctor, we never would have known. He weighed 34lbs 14oz, and was 34in long. The first time she measured him, we got him at 36.5in, which was a gain of a whole 5 INCHES from 18month! However, when she re-measured, he was at 34in, which is a still a gain of 2.5in! His weight was also up about 2lbs. No shots, although he did have to get the lead test done again. He cried, and then promptly forgot it happened. :)


On the 20th of February, he had to get stitches. We cannot figure out what he cut his little finger on, but it was pretty bad. He ended up with five stitches, but was actually very brave. Joelle, not quite so much lol. He screamed a lot when the lidocaine shot went in, which was horrible to watch! This huge needle in his little finger. :( We had to keep a bandaid on it the whole time, because everytime he saw the stitches he would scream, even though they didn't hurt as long as the bandaid was on. He got his stitches out on the 27th, which he was very brave about too. It looked DISGUSTING after the stitches came out, but the doctor said it had healed nicely. It looks much better now, though, and he is doing better about not having a bandaid on it anymore.

His birthday party went really well! He enjoyed opening his presents, and went to town on the wrapping paper. :) He got a lot of great presents, and we are very grateful for all the family that came and helped us celebrate. We have pictures that we will post below as well. On his actual birthday we took him to McDonalds, and he LOVED the play area. It was his first time in one.

His speech therapy is progressing WONDERFULLY! He is imitating so many new words and actions, and he isn't getting as frustrated as much since he is learning to communicate a little bit better. Still doesn't say more than one word at a time, but he is becoming very talkative with those one words. We loved to hear him say OH NO and to chirp like a birdie. How he makes a noise that high, we have no
idea! :) He is really into throwing tantrums now though, lol.

We are working with him on time out, and he seems to be getting the concept that mommy and daddy are not putting up with his screaming at the top of his lungs, and he doesn't get what he wants when he screams. Thankfully, we don't have any biting yet, but we do occasionally have hitting. It's mostly just knocking toys away, and screaming.

Our favorite words that he says are MAMA and DADDY. We LOVED that he is calling us by our names now, and not just grunting to get our attention. He calls for us when he needs something, or when he just wants us to pay attention to him. He also excitedly calls our name(s) when he hasn't seen us for a while, like after nursery.

Ok, so we’re really bad about repeating ourselves…..sorry about that!

Almost 2!!

Well, we finally buckled down and are weaning Little B off his paci. We knew it was time, but he was just soooo attached to it, that we were having trouble sticking to our guns. When Joelle got really sick with her migraines, he really became dependent upon it. The speech therapist said it needed to go, and we knew that anyway. So, we take it in the morning and after nap time, and he gets it for naptime and bedtime. Some days are good days, some days are bad days. He will go one day and not even miss it, and then the next day go beserk when we take it from him in the morning. At some point we will have to begin to take it for nap time, which isn’t something we are particularly happy about lol. Without it he does make a lot more sounds, so we are hoping that he will begin to find it easier to communicate.

 

Speech therapy is going really well! He has begun to make a lot more sounds and words, and is really beginning to try and communicate. He still spends most of his time screaming for what he wants, which is sooooo frustrating. We are trying to teach him more signs, so that he can communicate without having to use words. Right now we are to focus on responding when he makes a sound or says a word, and repeating them back to him, so that he understands that words have meaning. He loves to communicate with strangers now. Sometimes he shouts at them to GO in the elevator. Or he waves bye bye :) He says YAY when he does something right, and OH NO when something goes wrong. He tells the dog to get OUT of the kitchen, and yells MOVE to the cat. Some of the signs we are working on are MILK and EAT and BABY for his stuffed animals – not because he is getting a new baby lol.

 

For quite a while he was obsessed with Shrek. Then it went to Thomas the Train. He is still obsessed with playing with his trains – he has like 20 – but his favorite movie to watch is Cars. And by favorite we mean at least once a day, sometimes more. He apparently doesn’t have fast evolving tastes, he finds a good thing and stick with it lol.

 

We are having his birthday party on the 24th, but it’s going to be family only. Joelle is just not able to handle a big party, and be able to function through hours of tons of people. He goes for his 2 year check up on the 25th, and we know he is well over 30lbs now. We just don’t know how tall he is.

 

We are incredibly thankful that he has only been sick once since Nov 2011, and that was in Nov 2012. He had an ear infection, but we only took him to the doctor because we were afraid that he had pneumonia (since it was going around, and Josiah – Joelle’s younger brother - had it). He has also, praise God, avoided the flu and RSV. It was weird to find out he had an ear infection, since he had no fever.

 

We also got his hearing tested again in Nov, and praise God again there was no fluid! His hearing was perfect, and we were very happy that we did not do tubes.

Pictures!!

We forgot to post some pics – so here you go :)

 

 

Happy New Year!

Holy smokes are we behind! To tell you the truth, sometimes we forget that this blog even exists! We are just so busy, and Benjamin changes so fast, that it is hard to keep up with everything. So let's see...

Benjamin is getting therapy through Babies Can't Wait. It is offered through the state of GA, and it is also free for us. He has currently only had one therapy session due to the holidays, and his next one is Jan 3rd. We are so excited to see him progressing! He still is not putting together two word sentences, which is the main reason he was referred for therapy. But everyday he copies a little more, and is starting to slowly put things together communication wise. He still has trouble though explaining what he wants, and being able to tell us how to help him. So...we still have A LOT of screaming fits. And throwing food on the floor because he does not like it. 

 

However, he has been copying us now with words and deeds. He knows most of this body parts, though he confuses teeth and feet which is adorable! He also knows a lot of animal sounds, will pretend to snore when you tell him to sleep, and says “"aww” and pats your back when you tell him to give you a hug.

 

He LOVES Thomas the Train. Like – is obsessed with it. It’s all he wants to watch, and his trains are pretty much all he wants to play with. We are sick of Thomas, but since the morals are a whole lot better than Shrek – which he used to be obsessed with – we aren’t minding so much.

 

In Oct Joelle and Benjamin and Joelle’s mom went to see her grandparents in PA. It was B’s first time meeting them. He was a holy terror in the airports, though, lol. On the flight up he got antsy right at the end, and on the flight back he slept the whole time. But during the times were they were waiting for a flight or walking back/from the terminal – he spent the majority of the time throwing down and screaming. Exhausted does not even begin to cover how much he wore them out. However, the grandparents had  WONDERFUL time meeting Benjamin. He loved his cousins, who were a good bit older. They enjoyed playing with him too, and kept him occupied and interested.

 

Jeremiah is right now thankfully in a slow time. :) This means that he actually gets to see his family, and spend time with them. Joelle’s migraines have been SOOOO bad that it is hard to get family time – so we are greedy about any chance we get. Our current main family event is grocery shopping. Which we have learned, the hard way, is something that Benjamin needs to be full to do. A hungry  toddler being denied all the food in the cart does not mix well.

 

The pain specialist is trying some new meds for Joelle, please pray that they work and that she will experience relief. Right now she is on long acting nucynta, which makes her very very sleepy. For about 11 days she could not even drive. She goes back to the pain specialist on the 2nd, and we will see what happens. According to the pharmacist she is not supposed to be on it for a long time. It gives her some good days in the midst of the bad. About every 3 days she would get a semi good day, to where she could get out of bed and take care of things that have been building up.

 

Oct was also a blessing because Jeremiah’s dad came to town from China! We really enjoyed see Tom, and he also got to meet Little B for the first time.  He brought some trucks for the him that Benjamin has really liked playing with. We miss Tom a lot while he is overseas, so we eagerly await his visits. :)

 

Christmas and the new year have come and gone. This past year was a year of great trial, and loss. But it taught us how to lean closer on the One who provides all peace and grace. Christmas was a lovely time with family. Benjamin was truly blessed with his presents. We didn’t really do anything to celebrate the new year, Jeremiah managed to stay up for it, but Joelle was sound asleep. If we had a party to go to we would not have been so lame, but alas, lame we are. :)

 

Benjamin will turn 2 at the end of February! That is so hard to believe! It seems like he was just born. Also, we are glad that we did not put the tubes in his ears. He had a hearing test in Nov, and his ears were perfectly clear! Of course, two weeks later he ended up with an ear infection in one ear, and fluid in his other one. We took him to the doc because of his cough and pneumonia going around, but we never suspected that because he had no fever.

 

We are still no pg, so all in His timing. We are going on 17months, and debating whether or not we need to seek medical help and/or advice. We didn’t with Benjamin, and God worked it out when He was ready. It’s so hard to know this time though, because He has not given us a time like He did with Little B. All we can do is hope, pray and wait each month :(

 

We are looking forward to the new year. We pray it is one of great healing, of grace and peace, and that dreams are answered and hope restored. May God bless each and every one of you. May you know Him greater and  grow in His goodness and love.

18m update

Wow! We have been so lax about updating recently! The crud has been making it's way through our house this past week, poor Little B had croup for a couple of days. That cough is SOOOO scary! We almost took him up to the ER because of it, and his fever. Thankfully, after just a few doses of a steroid he was ok. He is still coughing though, and has a runny nose. He doesn't seem to be quite himself yet. Jeremiah was also sick, but hopefully over it. Joelle's throat hurts, but so far nothing else. We are hoping that it stays that way too!

Benjamin is now 18m, and is the light of our lives. He weighs in at 28lbs, and is 31.5in long. The nurse thought he might have recorded him wrong at his 15m appt, because he commented it seemed like Benjamin had grown a whole inch!

He is doing well, but he is behind verbally. He doesn't say but 3 words, and cannot put 2 word sentences together. Some of it is because he is a boy, and boys tend to lag behind in speech anyway. But still, we want to have him evaluated by a speech therapist, and then go from there. We are hoping to be able to get Babies Can't Wait, as we can probably not afford speech therapy through our insurance. Hopefully it will just be a case to where they say he is fine, and give us some exercises to work with him on. Praying he really doesn't need true therapy, but if he does then God will work it out.

Everything else he was doing GREAT in! He is on track with all the other milestones, and passed his autism screening.

He LOVES to climb, we cannot keep him off things. He worries us because he likes to stand up, and we are afraid of him falling backwards and slamming his head. We have to keep a close eye on him constantly, but we wouldn't want it any other way. :) He hasn't tried to climb out his crib yet, THANKFULLY, so we are still good there. He will probably be moved into a toddler bed later on this year.

He also loves to "read" books, though he still doesn't have much patience with being read too, lol. His favorite time of day is when his daddy comes home. He will stand at the door and dance until Jeremiah walks in when I tell him that Daddy is home.

We are currently praying about whether or not to move. Our leasing office worked with us on the rent increase, but we are still maybe thinking about renting a house. We will know more on Monday after we look at it. However, here in our apartment everything is electric, and should we move to a house we would also have gas to contend with. Not to mention being further away from family.

Joelle's migraines are beginning to improve, thanks to the Lyrica. She has seen a naturalistic doctor, and has some ideas of how to maybe help heal her body from all the meds she takes (or has taken). She has two different diets to follow, and some other regiments as well. This past week was not a good week because of her cycle. We also experienced an early loss this month (called a chemical PG). To be honest, Joelle was devastated. But we know that God does have a plan for our lives, and God is good, all the time. Even when we cannot seem to understand why we suffer loss, He is still good.

We worry that even though Joelle's migraines are getting better, she still has bad days. And it is easy for her family to come and get her, since we live so close. If we move to Griffin, it will be much harder for them to help her. Just another reason as to why we need His wisdom in this situation.

Jeremiah is still very  much looking forward to fall! And hoping that this year we actually get a winter, so that the bugs will DIE DIE DIE! Last year was so mild that the bugs just kept breeding, and he has had issues since March, maybe even early February.


Jeremiah's father is coming in from China in October, it will be his first time meeting Benjamin. We are very excited to see him again, and for Benjamin to meet him. He is already buying presents. :)

And now some pics:


Eating nanners like a big boy!

Yes, his eyes are closed in most of these. He loves getting his picture taken, but always blinks!

Well, I guess that is about all we have to say! Hopefully the next update won't be so long in coming. :)

14month update

Benjamin is walking! Not exclusively, he still crawls when he wants to get somewhere fast, but he is walking about 90% of the time. He looks so adorable toddling around, and you can tell that he is still unsure of his balance a lot of the time. But every day he walks a little more and a little longer, so it won't be long and we will be running just trying to keep up with him!

He was pretty sick last week, had some sort of viral infection that entailed a sore throat and him SCREAMING for 4 days. We thought something really serious must be wrong, otherwise why would he be screaming? But his ears stayed clear, and his strep test was always neg. Eventually, around Tuesday of last week, it seemed to pass.

He is pretty much off of baby food now. He eats some fruit in the morning, but that is all. Otherwise it is table food all the way! He is a good eater, and so far has no food allergies. He is kind of picky like his mommy, but once he finds something he likes - he eats a TON of it. He will eat ENORMOUS amounts of spaghetti and lasagna.

When he was sick they did weigh him, and in ONE month he gained 1lb 2oz - bringing him up to 26lbs 2oz. A lot of the moms I talked to said that they didn't see much increase in their kids weight until 18months, so I was pretty surprised to see that he had gained that much weight.

He LOVES to read books, but isn't very patient when you try and read to him, lol. He mainly just turns the pages by himself, and looks at the pictures. He also loves doing puzzles, especially the ones that make noise. Most of his toys make noise or sing, so even with just one kid it is a noisy affair :) We can't wait to see what happens when we add in more! (No, not yet....but hopefully soon!)

We had a flea infestation at our house. It was HORRIBLE. Jeremiah had to treat the house twice, and we had to treat the cat twice too. We did SOOOOO much laundry. And not to mention all the vacuuming we had to do too. It had NOT been a pleasant experience. Benjamin and I had to spend two nights at my parents' house while the house was being treated.

Jeremiah is DEFINITELY coming to the busy season in work. Every time we turn around he has a cleanout, and his hours are getting longer too. He is currently beginning training to do termites, and we hope that this is a good opportunity for growth with his job.

Something new we are all doing as a family is going to the chiropractor. It has given Joelle some mild relief with her migraines, hopefully it will continue to do so. They had a family plan, and since Jeremiah was going to start going, it made sense to add Little B too. Jeremiah has a lot of issues with his back due to all the bending he has to do at work.