Austin

Austin
1st B-day Party

Saturday, July 24, 2010

First Step

That is right folks! My little man has finally done something I NEVER thought he would attempt (at least this month), he took a step without holding onto anything! It was quite shocking as he has not really been interested in walking or standing up on his own. Now he can push a toy and walk all day long, but remove the toy and he sits right now. Its been like that for months!
In his horoscope it said the little Cancer that he is, tends to need to feel secure and not to expect him to walk for some time after his first b-day.. So we will see... So far this seems to be holding true. He is just really into holding something, anything, to the point of annoyance. But now I can see the light!
So this is how it went down.
He was holding onto the couch - where I was sitting - and he threw his toy a few feet to his left towards the elliptical. He turned, facing toy(and elliptical) and let go of the couch. So he is standing on his own for a couple seconds - this too is an accomplishment and rarity. Than he takes a conscious step towards his toy, turns back at me smiles and sits down. REALLY!! Freaking Awesome. He has done it 2 more times since.. similar scenario. This all happened on Wednesday of this week. He did it one more time that day and my friend Karla and Eli were over and saw it.. so I have a witness. Than he did it again at Eli's 1st birthday party. I tried for a picture but was unsuccessful.

It is only a matter of time now - Let the games begin!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Poopfest 2010

Oh yes, if you are a parent than you know that babies can poop so much and so violently that it comes shooting out of their pants. Or maybe you are not a parent and have had this happen to you after too many margs and bean dip one night. Whatever the reason, whether it is something they eat or drink, this shit happens!

This has NEVER happened to us in 1 whole year of life until this past Tuesday morning. It was my turn to get some extra ZZZ's - I did get up for his 2am feeding - so Justin took over at 5:30am when the man woke up ready to start his day. I hear some crying as I normally do when A is in Justin's care but continue to sleep. At around 7:30am, J yells "Tracie, I really need your help right now!" Well this is rare, so I jump up and come out of our bedroom. Austin is in his ducky themed bathroom tub with poop ALL OVER. All over him, his clothes and now the tub. J is a bit squeamish about pooh and I was like, get over it J you need to help me.

I take off his clothes and put in the sink. Next I grab a plastic trash bag and put the extremely full diaper in it, hand it to J to set down. He looks nauseous. I turn the water on and hose my baby boy off and than hold him up while J wipes down the tub to get all the feces down the drain so we can properly bath our son. I continue to take the lead and completely scrub him down with 3 times the amount of soap I normally use. Good thing I went and recently bought some cheaper stuff! It was all over his back, arms, legs, hands.. so freaking gross. He is all clean and we dry off and put on a new and ready to catch it all diaper. J dresses him while I rinse out his clothes. Suddenly I get nauseous myself due to the stench, but being the women I am, I shake it off and finish the job.
Next up, the downstairs. Oh yes, it wasn't over yet. The little man got poop all over the carpet/rug, some toys, his book (one of my favs), the tv remotes and the tile floor. I move all toys to the kitchen sink and throw the book away. That wouldn't come off the paper ends of the pages. Tear. J starts to wash/wipe down the remotes and I clean the tile several times and begin on the carpet. OMG - it was so think as if he wasn't wearing a diaper. I mean, holy shit kid! - no pun intended - what a lot of poop! I get out most of it using hot water (in a bucket), an old sponge and paper towels. Than we whip out the carpet cleaner machine. Since we borrowed this out to a couple of my dog owning friends, it was full of dog hair and wasn't working. So we unscrew it, take it apart and wash out the best we can. Still it isn't working and I get a lecture on how I shouldn't borrow my friends our stuff. Okay Justin.. lame-o! Than I was like, lets try the attachment piece to see if that still works. The waters wasn't coming out. So I keep trying and put it up to my face and push the button - GUESS WHAT?? It works NOW!! Soapy Water right into the eyes. J has to guide my blind butt to the sink to rinse it out. So he gets to work to make sure it is all gone. Than we try the main piece again and to our delight it begins to work again like it used to.. So we clean it some more. I clean up the toys and all is done and clean.

We placed Austin in his high chair during this process.. but it became his nap time so he was down while we finished the job and the carpet dried.
So much poop. Now what is even more interesting.. He pooped 2 times the day before and normally he only goes once. AND - he had 2, yes TWO more Big Ole poops that same day for a total of 3 poops - but really we should count the first one as like 5. So 5plus 2 is like 7 poops that day!! SERIOUSLY??
Good times at the Bjoin household. I am just Thankful that this explosion did not occur the day before as we were staying in a hotel. That could have been tragic.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

We have a Toddler!

Yep, its true, Austin is officially a Toddler now!!
Austin turned 1 whopping year old on June 23rd. We do anything but play a LOT that day. We had his yellow and blue rubber ducky themed party on the following Sunday. I worked my butt off leading up to the event to do a couple things to prep for the event in the days leading up to Sunday.
J's mom was going to fly to Vegas and pick up Marcy and Lindsey (A's aunt and new cousin) but due to some terrible news - Grandma Fran had a stroke and fell the night before the flight- she was not able to make it out to visit us. That made me sad for several obvious reasons. 1. Grandma Fran - hope she recovers soon 2. I was so looking forward to seeing my in-laws and that beautiful baby girl!!
But I took on a project and decided to make all the treats from scratch. I made little yellow ducky chocolate molds (thanks Karla who borrowed me the molds), I made 2 batches of sugar cookies in which I dyed sugar yellow orange and blue (for the bubble cookies) and than dyed home made frosting and decorated them all on top of the sugar used. I also made these cupcakes that looked like actual rubber duckies! I bought this great book that showed me how to do it. It was great and they turned out really well. I even carved out a ducky shaped cake just for Austin to dig into.
Go Me!! Pics of event are on facebook.
We had his 1 year appt and shots on Friday and that afternoon the fever started. My poor baby was so out of it all Saturday and just wanted me to hold him. I was nervous but the next morning he slept in and the fever was gone! WHOHOO!! that would have sucked for his party.
Now - we had to get blood work and it came back irregular!! I know, scary. So we had to get more blood work and the doc told us we should get a blood allergy test at the same time since we were already there. Well the girl drawing blood couldn't find his vein and just kept poking and re-poking him and had to try both arms. He still has little bruises from that.. THAT SUCKED!
Than on Thursday this past week we had his ENT appt that we waited 7 weeks for.. I know.. super long. The doc thinks that the problem causing his continuous sinus and ear infections may be enlarged adenoids. We went to get an X-ray and since A is 1 and unruly now, we had to put him in this plastic tube thing that wasn't the right size for him and it was like watching my child suffer in a torture device. I almost cried as I held his arms which were awkwardly poking through a small space. I just told her that she needed to hurry up and the 1st pic worked so we got my screaming Austin out of the device. SERIOUSLY? Is there nothing else out there that is for these type of pics and for 1 yr olds?? I mean technology is amazing.. lets work on this smart people!
On Friday I got a call back from my pedi and the results were in on his allergy and blood test. Okay so the original irregular red blood cells were now regular so no anemia. YAY!! But he is allergic to Milk (which we pretty much knew), and also .. Egg Whites, Soy Beans and Wheat. WHAT?? but he drinks soy formula!! Allergies are scaled 0-5, 5 being the worse. He is a 5 for milk and eggs and a 3 for soy and wheat. She thinks that is why he has been able to handle that formula.. but now knowing it is bad for him, what am I supposed to give him? Now we must make yet another doc appt for a new doctor - Pediatric Allergist. So I will have to call now and get that appt scheduled. UGH! my poor baby.

But we are lucky to have such a happy adventurous baby/toddler boy!! He just figured out how to open cupboards and take stuff out. But he organized it by size or color and than puts it back most of the time. So funny!! He has been clapping and for like 2 weeks straight he just said "HI" to everyone, pointed and waved.. but that has seemed to pass. He can also say ball now. The worse toddler-ness we are now experiencing is his tantrums and separation anxiety. It is sort of funny how upset he gets and how quickly it happens.. But dealing with it. He isn't walking yet but sometimes he will have a toy in each hand and be standing up without holding on... than realize it and sit down or hold on again. He is hilarious. He can walk great, while holding a toy. So who knows when he will want to actually learn to walk on his own. He is also a big climber now and can climb up onto our upstairs couch without any help. So FUNNY!

That is my baby!! Sorry, my Toddler!!