18 Months

On Tuesday I took Curran in for her 18 month well check. As we already knew, she is a big lady. She is 26 lbs., 15 oz. which puts in the 80th percentile for weight. I can't remember her height, but she's in the 90th percentile. Her head remains off the growth curve. Brayden's head is big too, but his came back on the curve at some point. Curran - no such luck yet. She's also a toughie, she got a shot and didn't even flinch. I don't vaccinate her on the recommended schedule, I've made up my own schedule. Autism scares the sh*t out of me. The funny thing is, as big as she is everywhere else, she has teeny tiny feet. She's still in 6-12 month old shoes. Her are some pics of the little lady at 18 months:

I think its fun to compare the two of them. I am sooooo lucky that they are both such good, happy kids. Since Brayden is so fresh in my mind being that he's only 17 months older, here are some observations:

• Eating: Both are very good eaters. Brayden loved baby food, Curran hated it. They both enjoy table food and eat 3 good meals a day. Brayden hates milk and always has. Curran would drink it 24-7 if I let her. They both drink more water than anything. They both call it "ice juice".

• Sleeping: They are very similar. Both slept through the night at about 2 months, and both dropped their morning nap at about 18 months. I know I posted earlier that Curran dropped her morning nap, but she faked me out. Just recently has she started consistently only sleeping in the afternoons. Brayden is the better sleeper though, by a slim margin. Both LOVE to sleep. I attribute this in large part to the book "On Becoming Babywise". An absolute God-send. Thank you Jill.

• Sickness: Curran is as healthy as a horse, Brayden had many ear problems. They both get their usual colds, and have had the stomach flu a couple of times.

• Motor skills: Brayden walked at 9.5 months, Curran at 11. Brayden crawled for about 3 months, Curran crawled for a week. I'd say they are both pretty active and into climbing, etc.

• Verbal skills: Curran in WAY ahead of where Brayden was at this age. I can say she can now speak in full sentences. Brayden didn't do that until he was well over two. I think part of it is that she's a girl and part is due to Brayden's hearing loss from his chronic ear infections. As soon as we got the tubes in, he started talking up a storm.

• Teething: Brayden got his first tooth at 4.5 months, Curran at 7. Brayden was a worse teether in terms of needing medicine and getting up at night. Curran has a pretty high pain tolerance. She's getting her bottom eye teeth in and has yet to get up at night.

• Behavior: I think you know the answer to this one. Curran is MUCH more difficult. She's aggressive and stubborn. Brayden had his moments, but nothing like Curran's everyday temper tantrums. She tests Steve, Amy and I everyday. But she's so damn cute. And articulate. Today I was downstairs and I heard her saying - "Mommy, where are you?" Brayden might be an angel. He's much better behaved than Curran is.

Up - A - Ba - Ba

So Friday night, we headed up to Catawba. The title of the post is what Brayden calls it when we head up there - going Up - A - Ba - Ba. Brayden and Curran love it up there. We were having the entire house's carpets cleaned on Saturday. I snapped these pics at sunset on Friday. Note the nuclear power plant on the horizon. Very Simpsons-esque, don't you think? I am sure the members of Catawba Cliffs were pleased as punch when they built that.


Then on Saturday morning, while they were cleaning the carpets we headed to the "beach". I use that term loosely since its all rocks. The kids loved that too. Steve found a cave and told Brayden to go into it. Unfortunately, a goose had used it as their personal sh*tter and Brayden dived right in. He was covered in goose poop from head to toe shortly after these pics were taken:

This is the house that's on the corner of our street. Steve and I think it's so beautiful. It's a distance shot, but i wanted to get the "beach" and the cliffs. The development that we live in is called Catawba Cliffs. Put-in-Bay is due west of here. You can see it from the beach very clearly, I just didn't get a pic of it.

Steve bought a tractor for the house. He is determined to mow the lawn himself. Here's a pic of him and Curran on the tractor. There is also a little trailer that came with the tractor and he pulls the kids around in that too.

Of course, Brayden prefers to play in daddy's car.

And finally the first sign of spring in our yard up at Catawba. Happy Spring!

Saint Patrick's Day Recap

This year's March 17th weather was sunny and warm (in the mid 60s) which made for an even more amazing day. My plan was to come downtown at 2 when the kids go down for their nap. That morning, Brayden was a mess. Crying and crying, telling me his ear hurt. He has tubes in his ears, and he's on an antibiotic already for prevention of Curran's pneumonia. So I knew it couldn't be a typical ear infection. Then I looked at his ear and there was fluid leaking out of it! So I called the pediatrician and they asked me to bring him in at 1:45. Turns out he has a puss pocket in his ear on the outside of the tube. Apparently this is from getting water in his ears. We try as hard as we can to be careful, but I guess some water must have gotten in. We pumped him full of motrin and Dr. Ghazoul prescribed him ear drops to treat the sore. Poor dude.

So I took him home, put him down for his nap and my day began. I made my way downtown to meet up with big Mol. She, of course, was not answering her phone, so I didn't know where to park. I finally got her on the phone and found out the place to be was Panini's. Then it was on. I started the onslaught and drank several Miller Lite tallboys way too fast.

A summary of the next couple of hours follows: I fell, I made friends with some people from Sandusky, I dropped my cell phone in the toilet, I lost my friends, I took a nap in the bathroom, I was found by a very nice girl who put into a cab and sent home, I left my broken cell phone in the cab.

Yea, it was not one of my better evenings. I was home by 8:30. I also left my car parked on E9th Street and knew there was a good chance it could of been towed the next day. The cops must have been busy with other drunken criminals because my car was there when Steve took me downtown the next morning. I had the mental capacity of a staple gun at work yesterday.

But it was a great day. So many people downtown, so many happy people!

I know I didn't post any pictures, and I apologize. But I was not about to take my camera downtown on this particular day. You read what happened to my cell phone.

*******EDIT*********

I found one pic that captures the madness. The kid on the right is my best freind from high school's little brother. He was like 5 the last time I saw him. This was very late into my afternoon/evening and I am not sure whose glasses those are.

Love

Having 2 kids as close together as Brayden and Curran are is hard. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and I can't believe how hard being a parent can be. But every day it gets easier and easier. And I feel so fortunate because they are such wonderful, healthy children. This week Curran was diagnosed with pneumonia. Seems like a big deal, right? It is and I was very upset when the doctor told me that's what she had. But it made me think of how lucky I am that that is my biggest problem right now. You hear so many stories of ill children, and for me each one I hear makes me realize how lucky I am.

These two babies are so unbelievably special. Aside from loving them as their mother, I love them for the little people they are. I love Curran's little voice. I love Brayden's little butt in his Batman underwear. I love Curran's curly hair, I love Brayden's little chubby hands. I try to revel in these moments when I truly appreciate all I have. All the rest of the nonsense means nothing when its compared to them.

Sick and I Met Mangini

Well, the subject line says it all - Brayden and Curran are sick. Curran has pneumonia and Brayden has bronchitis. I am happy to report that the antibiotics have kicked in and today they were feeling much better. Here are some illustrations of the past couple of days:

The good news is that they sleep more when they are sick. Brayden averages about 13 hours a night when he's sick and a 3 hour afternoon nap. Curran will take an hour morning nap and a 3 hour afternoon nap. She will only go 11 or so hours at night though. They are very cute and cuddly when they are aren't feeling well.

In other exciting news, I met Browns head coach Eric Mangini last week in the airport. He was very, very nice and seemed very excited to meet yet another desperate Browns fan.

NYC was wonderful! Colleen and I had a great time, relaxing, eating, drinking and walking. We were sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Soho and 2 friends from college walked up who happened to be in NYC the same time as us. What a small world. We also had brunch at the Plaza on Sunday before we flew out with my very best friend from high school, Aaron. It was great to see him and I am sure we bored Colleen to tears with all of our stories from high school. We got our buzz on with $15 mimosas and vodka tonics. Is there any other way to fly?

All the work at the Catawba house is done! It is ready to be lived in. We are very very excited for the spring and summer to arrive.

Next week is the big day, my favorite day of the year, the kickoff to spring - ST. PATTY'S!!!! I feel horribly guilty because I have asked our nanny to watch the kids while I go out downtown and get my drink on. Oh well, its a once in a year experience, and a super fun one at that.

Off to NYC

Tomorrow I leave for a weekend trip with Colleen to New York. I love New York. It's probably my favorite vacation spot. I love all the energy, all the people everywhere and knowing you're in the center of the universe. I am also super excited because it's Colleen's first time there. We're going to see Wicked on Friday night and sight see and shop on Saturday and then fly back on Sunday.

Which brings me to my next thought. Steve wants to take the kids, by himself, up to Catawba this weekend. I think he's nuts. He's asked me to prepare a list of all the things that he needs to bring. I think he's biting off a little more than he can chew, but I know better than to try to convince him otherwise. I am a lucky girl I am. Steve is a wonderful hubby, father and provider and I am so proud of him.

I am tempted to say that I may - sniff sniff - smell spring in the air. The picture at the top of the page is my screen saver. Today it is supposed to be sunny and in the 50s! My St. Patty's Day countdown sign outside my cube says that there is a mere 12 days remaining until the big day. Then, on April 10th, the next rite of spring - Tribe Opening Day. Hopefully it won't be snowing. This year the game is at 4:00, which leaves even more time for people to get hammered before the game. Steve and I will be attending and partying beforehand :)

The kids are doing very well. Curran is behaving better! She is also talking so much. Yesterday I asked her - "who wants a sucker?" And she said "I do"! I also think she is shaping up the be quite a Daddy's Girl. I was too. That's fine by me - Brayden is such a Mommy's boy. His potty training is going very well. He's started going #2 in the toilet. From what I hear, this is something that a lot of kids struggle with so I am happy that he seems to be getting the hang of it. He still is in a pull up at night, so that will be my next step in this process - getting him to stay dry at night.


Bon Voyage! I will post pictures from my trip next week!