My 18 month Old

Sam at 18 months:

• Is doing a great job keeping up with his brother
• No longer wants to sit in his high chair
• Is still blonde with gorgeous blue eyes
• Has words for pretty much anything he wants, and is putting together 3 word sentences "I did it! and "don't do that!" among his favorites
• Is generally cooperative at diaper time, the hard to catch for diaper time phase was thankfully short lived
• Still avoids nuts, eggs, and has limited dairy intake, but is generally a good eater
• Has just been diagnosed with seasonal allergies. I'm close to taking him back for testing to see if he's allergic to the cat
• Got rave reviews at his Early Access eval today
• Still sleeps horribly - has maybe slept through the night twice his whole life. Once was at grandma's.
• Is reluctant to give up one piece of babyhood - his bottle. I might be too :(

Pictures

Somebody's starting early

Throwing it home

It's not fair he has to wait 3 more years to play!

My brother Chris and niece Eisley!

When SuperMoms Fail

It's not easy trying to "have it all". Not that it's easy being a stay at home parent - I know that presents it's own set of challenges. But I can only speak to mine.

When both parents work (or you're a single working parent) it's hard because you have your full time job and then there's all the kid stuff and house stuff on top of that. I basically take care of the kid schedule stuff. I pack lunch, make sure I know when the special theme days are for school, keep track of what days we need to be where for activities.  In general, I think I do a pretty darn good job, especially given that being organized does not come naturally to me.

Every day at the summer program they either go on a field trip or have a special theme day at the school. I looked at the calendar and got all Gavin's gear together for "wacky water day".  Which was great until we got to school and it was "super hero day". I had looked at the wrong date on the calendar. I looked at Gavin and said "we don't really have super hero gear anyway". To which he replied "my power rangers outfit from Halloween".

Crap, crap, crap. One look in his eyes and I could see how important it was to him. I had 15 minutes to get home, find the outfit, and get back to school before he went off to class. I knew he'd freak out if he didn't actually see me return with the costume. Got home, found the costumer, found the mask (whew! i knew where the outfit was, but wasn't sure the mask was with it - see, unorganized). On the other hand it's due to my unorganization that the costumer (from last october) was still thrown on the top shelf of his closet and not down in the basement in a random, probably unlabeled tote. But I can't find the power rangers logo thing that goes on the belt. I decide to risk it and head back to school.

I got back with 5 minutes to spare only to find Gavin sitting at a table all by himself crying his eyes out! When I asked what was wrong, he said "I didn't think you were coming back".

One of the counselors was coming around gathering up kids for the reading class review, so I had him pull it together and told him his costume would be in his backpack for when he was done.

I headed to work feeling horrible. When had I let him down before that he would ever doubt that I was coming back (when I said I would be back with the costume)? Plenty of people will let him down in his lifetime, he should never expect me to be one of them!

But, even SuperMom fails from time to time, I suppose. He was happy when I picked him up and has been so good this evening, so I can only assume he had a good day (inquiries about his day usually yield a response of "i don't remember").

And then, just now, I looked over on the counter and caught a glimpse of a piece of paper Gavin had been writing on. SuperMom's can't fail with boys that write this:

"Momee yor the best"

Summer time Stomach Flu

The Sellers house was hit by a most heinous stomch bug this week - within about 6 hours it took three of us down (Chad escaped), along with the other little girl our nanny watches, her dad, and the nanny's three children.

Fortunately, it was about 24 hours and we were on the mend. Sam still isn't eating much but hopefully he'll be back on track tomorrow. He's also refusing to wear clothes, but I don't think that's related! Remember when Gavin went through his no clothes phase? The one that lasted about 3 years? He would come home, or walk into Gamma's and strip down to his diaper/pull-up/boxers (yes the phase spanned all those undergarments!)

Otherwise the boys are doing well. Unfortunately Gavin only made it to 1 out of 4 nights of basketball camp. Next week he starts the summer refresher course for reading and math - 3 days a week for 2 weeks. His reading skills continue to improve - we have his old books out for Sam, and they are actually perfect for him to practice his reading with. It's so cute when Sam cuddles up to him and Gavin reads!

They are really gettiing along great.Sam is a full fledged toddler and a complete daredevil. He is driving us a little crazy because he is getting into everything and literally jumping off the furniture. But we wouldn't have it any other way :)

Sam is also obsessed with babies. He has a cabbage patch doll that he snuggles with, feeds a bottle, and kisses. He also loves looking at pictures of babies in his baby books, and on the yo-baby yogurt containers.

NICU Series - D-

Not to downplay a short stint in the NICU - we've been there with Sam, and it sucks horribly.

But really NICU series? Your first episode you show kids that go home in 18 days and 11 days? What about the people that spend two, three, six months in the hospital?

I don't think they hid or glorified anything, but I didn't get the feeling that the NICU experience was accurately portrayed. Even with Sam I had my low points - where was the mom hiding behind the curtain sobbing because her baby just won't take a bottle? Instead she put on a brave face for the camera and said she would learn to be patient.

They did throw in all the appropriate medical stuff - but during the head ultrsound they didn't tell the dad - or the camera that they were looking for brain bleeds - or what the potential complications from the brain bleeds could be.

The whole thing felt sterile. There are so many moments in the NICU -
Anticipation - every time I took the elevator up, knowing I would see my baby. Holding him for the first time. The day you walk out the door with him.
Fear - every time there is a set back, another illness, another test run
Excitement - with every good day, ounce gained, ml drank out of the bottle, O2 % turned down
Awe - of the Dr's, your child, and the miracle you witness daily
Panic - more often than anyone should feel
Worry - constant
And there's also funny light-hearted moments in the midst of it all that happen when you least expect them and you need them most

I thought I would be a basket case because I thought the show would bring me back to all those moments. And I'm disappointed that it didn't, because I don't think it did the NICU justice.

NICU series on Discovery Health - airs tonight

http://health.discovery.com/tv/nicu/

Tonight Discovery Health channel is airing the first in a 10 episode series about life in the NICU. I'm not sure what they will show - I imagine they will be showing stories of the smaller, sicker babies, and not the ones like Sam - while he certainly was a NICU experience, I'm not sure it would make for good TV!

I think my mom is the only one that really understands the ups and downs of the NICU, as she and Grandma Betsy were able to visit on a regular basis, and my mom was the one I called when I was a basket case - and happened to call me the day that Gavin got sick and put back on the vent which was one of the scarier days we had there. Anyway, if you want to catch a glimpse at what we went through, this is probably a good way to understand.

Will I watch? I'm not sure. It doesn't take much to make me tear up watching stories that involve preemies or sick kids on fictional shows. I'm not sure I could handle watching real families and real babies on this show.

I don't ever want to forget what we went through with Gavin. I'm just not sure I am sadistic enough to make myself relive it. I just really hope they give everyone the full picture. Gavin is probably the poster child for preemie success story - he's healthy, he's "normal", and we have no long term issues as far as we can tell yet. This is not always the case. There are so many children that started out with the exact same circumstances that for whatever reason do have lasting health or development issues. We are definitely the lucky ones, and I hope that this show portrays the full spectrum of babies and the issues that they face on an ongoing basis due to prematurity.

Perhaps then, people will realize the gravity of the issue and therefore feel the need to fund more research in this area. Realize that not all preemies turn out like the Gosselin kids, who appear to be just fine (parental situation excluded!).

Surfing USA

Samsonisms

Sam's vocabulary is growing and he is even starting to string together two and three words! And so, I present to you the first of his own "isms"

Diaper changes are no fun for anyone involved. Sam avoids diaper changes at all costs, and you should see him streak through the house naked when he gets out of the shower. The other morning when he woke up I told him it was time to change his diaper to which he replied: "No, no, diaper!"

We were snuggling on the couch and I said "Who loves you?" He replied "Mommy!" and I said "Who else loves you?" expecting to get another name. Instead he said:

"Mommy and Daddy!"

My boy is growing up so fast!

*Editor's note: let's not talk about Gavin's "gavinism's" in front of him. While we all know we are marveling about what cute/smart/witty things he is saying, I think he feels like he is being made fun of.

Grandpa Rui pics

Beach Bums