Sleepover!!!

But not the kind you think or even the kind you would hope to have. It was more like the kind where you show up at Urgent Care at 8:30 in the morning and end up staying in the adjacent children's hospital for the rest of the day and night until it is time to leave the next day. Hopefully many of you read about the little red spots that we saw on Thursday. Well, everything got a bit worse Friday morning and Chrisotpher's little feet and hands were swollen on top of it. We were more than concerned so Brian and I took him to the urgent care clinic at Children's Mercy Hospital. Our poor little man had to endure a catheter plus three needle sticks in order to find a good vein for his IV Benadryl. The vein was hard to find because, as the nurses kept saying, Christopher is a "fluffy" baby. We weren't sure if that was because he was all swollen or because he's a solid boy. Anyway, after all that torture, the doctor recommended that we keep him in the hospital overnight for monitoring just to make sure his breathing wasn't affected. It is SO fun hanging out in a hospital room with a little boy who's miserable because he doesn't feel good and has been tortured all morning! Brian took a trip home to pick up some things for Chris and I including his treasured Sesame Street videos. We don't watch a ton of TV with CJ but we must have watched the same two DVDs about 7 times yesterday just to distract him. It was also a ton of fun sharing a twin size bed with my little man overnight. Let me tell you, if you have a kid like Christopher co-sleeping is completely out of the picture. He never stops moving, even in bed. After all was said and done, we still don't know the exact reason for his fluffiness but here are the three options:

1. A viral infection (highly likely according to two doctors)
2. A food allergy (also likely according to another doctor but cannot be confirmed without more tests and we certainly were not going to stick him again)
3. Allergy to amoxicillin (according to two other doctors)

So go ahead and take your pick. Let us know later which one you think it is because who knows!? Needless to say, we're probably not going to trick or treat with little man today unless he takes a really good afternoon nap and improves significantly. Good thing he got to wear his costume to Kindermusik last Tuesday!

Little Red Spots

It appears that little Christopher had the same reaction to amoxicilin that I had five years ago. Last night as we were getting him ready for bed, I noticed two little spots on his leg. Okay, not too worrisome but it certainly got my "Mommy-on-alert" antenna going. Well, this morning the bumps spread... and spread... and spread some more. So it was back to the doctor for us! Turns out the amoxicilin has done NOTHING over the past 10 days (aside from giving my little boy a nasty rash) and the ear infection is now in BOTH of his ears. Fabulous! So my poor baby was incredibly uncomfotable all day and essentially cried for 2 hours (at least) because he was unable to sleep and was, therefore, super cranky. We are now on our second antibiotic plus ear drops plus Tylenol plus Motrin (glad I did a drug-free delivery for our little man). And if that wasn't bad enough, we're watching the Yankees in their mediocre performance in game 2 of the World Series. I guess they thought winning the ALCS was enough. (I really hope they prove me wrong--it's only the 5th inning as of this writing). I hope to have better news tomorrow!

A Perfect Fall Day

Ahhhhhh.... Today was one of those beautiful fall days when all you need is a light jacket or fleece and your two running feet, especially if you are Christopher. Although it was a bit blustery, we spent nearly 3 hours total outside today, some in the morning and more in the late afternoon. There is just so much for our little man to see and experience outside that he can't get enough of it! For example, he watched the men from the town working to fix the cracks in the road right in front of our house, and he even waved to them when we saw them later on our walk with Kasey. Then CJ got it in his mind that he wanted to torment a crow that landed on our neighbor's lawn. Fortunately for the crow, CJ's plans were foiled by Mommy! Later on in the day, we were playing in the backyard when Kay saw us and we went to her yard for a visit. Christopher was rearranging some of the rocks in her landscaping for much of our time there. But most of all, our little boy's favorite thing to do is run. Run, run, run... Not surprising considering the genes that make him up! Here are some more pictures from our outdoor romping:

And then here is as close as I can get to an action shot of Christopher running toward me, getting closer, closer, and closer still...

Our little hero

So when I was browsing the children's Halloween costume aisle at Babies R Us, two questions went through my mind: 1) Will CJ be roasting in this costume? and 2) Will it be easy to change his diaper if necessary? The costume that had me answering "yes" was the little firefighter pictured above. Today at Kindermusik, we had a little Halloween celebration where all the little babies dressed up in their costumes and brought treats for the class. They all looked stinkin' cute! There were flowers, tigers, spiders, bees, ducks, and more! Here are Emily and Danny, two of the kiddos in our class:

This was the first time Christopher wore his costume so I wasn't quite sure how he would respond. The pants were easy, although they were a bit long. The jacket also wasn't a problem, although I did get nervous with the velcro (yes, another bonus) going right up to CJ's chin. The part of the costume I thought for sure would be the first to go was the hat. When we got to class, I put the hat on and there it stayed! It even came off at one point and Chris tried putting it back on. Who would've thought? Anyway, we had a very fun time at class and we stayed until Christopher's pager went off calling him to his fire truck to go save the day!

Brusha, brusha, brusha

When you have 16 of your 20 baby teeth, it is extremely important to brush daily. Well, I use the term "brush" loosely because you try teaching a 15 month-old boy who's constantly on the go how to properly take care of his teeth! Christopher is very interested in brushing his teeth by himself, especially when Mommy and Daddy are at the sink in the morning. He wants to be part of the action. To quench his thirst for keeping those pearly whites always sparkling, we give him his own brush so he can take part in the fun. You can see from the above picture how much he enjoys it! It's so cute because he watches us very intently as we brush and sometimes I'll make a humming noise while I'm brushing so CJ will too. :) Little man is especially fascinated by Daddy's super cool battery operated brush. Anyway, the real brushing takes place in the evening after Christopher's bath and let me tell you, it is hazardous indeed! I have a small brush which I place on my index finger, followed by an application of Elmo's fabulous flouride free toothpaste. My finger has basically become immune to the sharp baby teeth that gnaw at it every night, but I have to do what I have to do to keep that smile shining! Oh and by the way...
BALLGAME OVER! YANKEES WIN! TTTHHHHHEEEEE YANKEES WIN!!!!

Pain in the ear

We have been to the doctor twice this week. On Tuesday, we went to a different doctor's office to get Christopher's ears checked (our usual office was booked solid) and today we went to Dr. Brooks to get CJ's 15 month check up. On Monday night, our little man woke up screaming and was up for about an hour and a half until he finally went back to sleep, hence the visit to the doctor on Tuesday. After waiting 45 minutes (always fun with a 15 month old!) in a germy waiting room, we found out his left ear was pretty infected and his nose has been running like a faucet ever since! We waited again today for 45 minutes to get in to see Dr. Brooks, but the news was much better--our boy is healthy and, relatively, happy even with a nasty ear infection. Here are the stats from our appointment:

Height: 32 inches (72%)
Weight: 26 lbs. 7 oz. (73%)
Head circumference a.k.a. "manly sized brain": 19 inches (78%)
Things that make me laugh: that we ever worried about CJ gaining weight

Even though Daddy says that he expects the 90% percentile, we are still very proud of our growing little man! Oh and another wonderful thing about our child, if I may brag a little bit, are the Bronx cheers he has learned recently. No, it's not necessarily what you are thinking. When we have watched the playoff games recently, Brian and I will cheer "Let's go Yankees" followed by clap, clap, clap-clap-clap. Well, Christopher does the clap-clap-clap part. And then when Jorge Posada gets up to bat, we say "Hip Hip" and then Chris raises his arms in the air and smiles big when we say "Jorge!" It's very reassuring to know that our boy is being raised the right way. Go Yanks!

PJ Pants

Hey guys, guess what... Are you listening? Can you hear me? You know what, you know what? This morning, Mommy let me hang out in my pajamas all morning. That's right, all morning! Usually she dresses me as soon as she gets me up out of my crib which, she claims, just makes things "easier." But not this morning! I got to play all morning in my super cool animal PJs. I'm sure you're thinking about how ferocious I look with all the lions, alligators and tigers on this sleep gear. Oh, you better believe I'm ferocious... grrrrrr... Just ask Kasey. Anyway, Mommy probably let me wear them out of guilt since she and Daddy left me again last night to go out to dinner. I know, right? Once again, I didn't get to go out to dinner with them. And guess who they saw at the restaurant? Gary Lezak!!! If you're from the east coast and are not fortunate enough to know who Gary Lezak is, he's only the coolest and best news weather man in Kansas City. He's no Ernie Anastis but we're talkin' bout the midwest here. I guess I'll get over not seeing him as long as I got to wear these PJs the morning. Plus, I'm going to get to stay up past my bedtime tonight because it's pumpkin carving time at Dan and Mary's. Woohoo! Mommy and Daddy keep telling me about how this time last year was the first weekend I actually slept for extended periods of time (one night I apparently only woke up once) and they thought we all turned a corner in the sleep department. Ha!!! I fooled them didn't I? Here are some more pics of me in my fabulous pajamas:

Rockin' the Puma

Christopher may have been born in Kansas but he definitely has the "Jersey" in him. Brian claims that this outfit would not be complete without a nice gold chain. Hmm. We'll see what we can do on our next trip back east.

Profile

Name: Christopher Joseph Woglom
Age: Almost 15 months
Favorite Songs: "Kookaberra" from Kindermusik; "Why I Am" by Dave Matthews
Favorite Dog: Kasey Moe
Favorite Activities: Knocking over towers of blocks, then helping to build them again; flirting with my music teacher; eating peas; smiling; watching the fish tank
Playoff pick: Yankees!!!
Favorite sound to make: "Kak kak kak" (goes the duck)
Quote of the day: "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore."

Lazy bones

Our child slept until 8:20 this morning. 8:20! That is a full two hours longer than usual! Perhaps he was up celebrating the Yankees very lucky win last night without telling us. Or maybe he was on the phone talking to one of his many girlfriends until the wee hours. Either way, Brian and I were up at the usual time (of course!) and after we both had our own breakfasts we just sat on the couch twiddling our thumbs because we weren't quite sure what to do with ourselves. When the boy finally woke up, we had an enjoyable albeit lazy morning at home and then went to the mall to ride the carousel and get Brian's watch fixed (yes, another exciting day in Kansas). Now little man is in the process of taking a mega-nap that would make Kasey proud.

Won't you be mine

This is a picture of Christopher when he awoke from his morning nap today. Look at it closely because there are not going to be many more of these since our boy is in the process of dropping his morning nap (and what a process it is!). You also need to look carefully because it is not often that I am able to capture such a picture since this little squirmy wormy likes to try out a little gymnastics while on the changing table. I have found us wrestling with each other during diaper changes recently and not in the fun, WWF (excuse me, E) way either. Chris is constantly flipping from his back to his stomach in order to grab things that are in the diaper storage box on top of the dresser. "Well why not give him something to hold while you change him, Karin" I hear you saying. Hello? I'm a mother, don't you think I thought of that? Everything I have given him to hold recently ends up on the floor... everything, that is, except Mister Rogers. (Huh?). No not the real Mister Rogers. In the picture above, Chris is holding a key chain my mom gave me a couple years ago that has little buttons on it which, when pressed, have little sound bites of things Mister Rogers used to say. Some examples include: "Won't you be my neighbor" and "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor." This is the ONLY thing right now that is keeping Christopher on his back. Sometimes Chris will press one button over and over so that all you hear is "Won't you won't you won't you won't you... be my neighbor." Believe me, it's not annoying when you can actually change his diaper without getting poo on his leg!
(Yes, there is cantaloupe in his teeth from lunch. He was saving it for a snack).

Happy Anniversary!

Four years ago today, Brian and I wandered into a Petsmart dog adoption and walked out with the best dog in the history of dogs! Well, we didn't actually get to walk out with her but we certainly adopted the fine pup who would soon become Kasey Moe. We just had to wait a few days so she could have her "operation." None of us can believe it's been four whole years since Kasey has been a part of our lives but we can't imagine what life was like before her (kind of how we feel about Christopher too!). Kasey went from living on the streets of Independence, Missouri to living in Kansas City style, first in a downtown loft and then in a Johnson County residence fully loaded with her own personal Pottery Barn chair and king size bed. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful puppy and it is heartwarming to see how great Kasey is with Christopher. The past couple of days, Chris has been really fussy with teeth issues and every time he would wake up early from a nap screaming, Kasey would stand outside his door with a concerned look on her face. She would go up to his crib and stick her nose between the slats as if to say "It's okay, CJ. Kasey is here!" She lets him take any toy she may be chewing on without a fuss. And now that the weather is cold, she cuddles with us on the couch and keeps us warm so we can save some heating energy. We couldn't ask for anything more.

And giggles

This video pretty much speaks for itself.

They did what!?!?

Remember how I posted that we were going out to see a movie last Saturday night and Kay was going to come over and watch Christopher? Well, we had so much fun going out that we did the unthinkable--we went out again last night. That's correct, it had only been four days since we last escaped and we did it again! Actually, we went to see Dave Matthews at the Sprint Center, a show we have had tickets to for months. It was so awesome and we even got back before we turned into pumpkins at midnight. The show was fabulous and Willie Nelson was the opening act. I don't know how many of our readers are DMB fans but they do a song called "Gravedigger" and Willie came out and sang the song with them. It was so great! Now, it's been seven years since the last time we went to a concert (also Dave Matthews but in NY) and one thing that has majorly changed since 2002: people hold up their cell phones instead of lighters. What is this world coming to? Even though we are a little sleep deprived this morning it was, for once, for a good reason and it is nothing that a good pumpkin spice latte can't cure.