Mall time

Ben and I met Jon up at the mall yesterday for lunch. It was a bit wet outside so we hung out at the play area and let Ben take a ride in one of the mechanical cars.

We checked on Ben last night and here's how we found him sleeping:

I talked to the cardiologist today. She doesn't have the results of the holter monitor yet, but she said the echo looks good. It did show that I'm not drinking enough fluids (I don't know how she got that from a few pictures of my heart, but I'll go with it) so I'll have to work on that. She'll call me once she gets more results in.

Look at my butt!

We went shopping with grandma over the weekend for spud, but Benjamin managed to find a Sesame Street couch and grandma couldn't resist!













In baby news, Jon is now able to feel him kick. He got the first kicks over the weekend. It was very cool!

In health news, I had an echo today. It was actually kind of cool. I got to watch the majority of it. I saw everything my heart did, watched (and listened) the blood flow and listened to the valves moving. Hopefully, the doctor will read it and give me a call in the next day or two instead of making me wait for my apt next week. I'll keep you posted.

Play house

Benjamin got a play house on Friday. Gram knows someone that works at Step 2 and got us a great deal. Ben loves it. He talks on the phone and isn't happy until you get in the house with him.

We went to the park the other night. Here are a few highlights:

Updates

First things first, we have a nickname for the baby. Benjamin was spike and this one is spud! We got a lot of fun suggestions, but couldn't find many that we agree on, so spud it is.

We had play group this morning. Benjamin would swing all day long if he could!

We went to the cardiologist today. I have an infection they are trying to find the source of. That could be the answer to everything, but I'm also wearing a 24hour holter monitor (it records everything my heart does). Tuesday, I'm going for an echo to make sure the heart is structurally sound, but she feels pretty optimistic about everything. I'll go back on the 12th for results etc.

Benjamin has been working on his animal sounds. He's added cow, chicken, elephant and sheep to the list. I tried to get him to show off his new talents, but its hard to get that kid to sit still and focus on one thing.

And the verdict is.....

Well, we had our ultrasound yesterday. We have a healthy baby boy on the way. I am 19 weeks today and he measured at 19 weeks 3 days. He's right on track. We could see all 10 fingers and toes. Now comes the hard part of deciding on a name. Once again, we will keep the name secret until the end so we're working on a fun nickname like we had for Ben.
The annoying part is just when I thought this one would be an easy pregnancy (the nausea is gone!), my body had to throw in a different complication. I'm having a couple issues with shortness of breath and feeling like I'm going to faint, so I'm going to see a cardiologist tomorrow to get checked out. Hopefully, it will turn out to be nothing and start to resolve on its own. I'll keep everyone posted.

Play time

Today was week 2 of our church play group. It was a bit too cold to be outside, so we went to the Nature Center today. Of course, half the time, Ben ignored all the kids and animals and wanted to hang out by a container of rubber ducks promoting a race in June!

After, Ben and I met Jon for lunch. We've been trying to avoid introducing Ben to sauces. Mostly because we know how much of a disaster it will be to clean him up. We cant avoid it anymore though. He discovered syrup a few weeks ago, and today he discovered ketchup. Check it out...

Messin' around

We had some friends and family over for brunch on Sunday. Ben took advantage of some play time before we ate.

After, Ben and dad had some fun.

Market love

I am now in love with the West Side Market. Jon and I went there this morning for our first shopping experience. We got a ton of fruits, veggies and cheese. We spent a total of $18. Jon just got back from the grocery store and compared prices. Had we got everything at Giant Eagle, we would have spent $37! We are definitely going to start shopping there every week.

A feast for the ears!

Like father, like son....

Play group

We went to the first Cross Point Church play group this morning. It was really cold, but we had a lot of fun. Seven moms brought their kids to Lakewood Park. Ben spent most of the time on the swing, but had a great time going down the twisty slide with Debbie. Of course I forgot my camera, but Prasti was kind enough to forward a couple pics to us.

Exploring Cleveland

Benjamin usually gets his baths at night before bed time. One of his routines afterward is to grab his "talking" bunny and relax in his chair for a few minutes before bed.

He has also made it a habit to sit in his car to watch Sesame Street as often as we'll let him.

Benjamin and I went on a tour of the West Side Market today with Aaron, Prasti and Emma. I've lived in Cleveland my entire life and have never gone there before today. We were amazed at how big it is and how great the produce prices are. I'm going to take Jon up there Saturday morning and I think we're going to make that a regular part of our weekly shopping.

Family visit

We went down to St. Clairesville today to see Jon's aunt and uncle who came to visit from St. Louis. They had their 2 year old twins with them as well. Benjamin had a great time playing with his cousins and running around the huge yard. Here are some highlights. There are more on Flickr.

New adventures

Benjamin started with a new sitter today. Melissa goes to our church and has a daughter a week younger than Ben. She also watches another toddler for half the day that is a week older than Ben. It sounds like his day was packed with activity. They did a lot of reading, swinging, playing with Lego's, dancing etc etc.

Ben also had a busy day yesterday. He spent the afternoon with grandma and grandpa while Jon and I went to the Indians game with our church. It was a lot of fun, but a win would have been nice.

In pregnancy news, I have fired my OB. I wasn't thrilled with her attitude or the attitude of one of her assistants. I was referred to a doctor out of Lakewood Hospital. I've heard great things about her so I hope she lives up to the hype. I'll meet her and have an ultrasound 5-27. As long as it cooperates, we'll know the sex that day. The only downfall is I'll deliver at Lakewood instead of Fairview. I'm a little disappointed about that, but if this doctor is as good as I hear, I'll get over it pretty quickly!

Slow week

It's been a slow week for us this week. We took Tyler to his soccer game on Sat. Ben had a good time kicking around the ball on the side lines. Ben and I had our weekly play groups and lunch with friends Wed and Thurs, but I forgot the camera. We've had a lot of swing set time this week. Ben is in love with our back yard! Here are a couple pics.

Swing set

Jon got the swing set put together today and Benjamin LOVES IT! We played for an hour before bed time and once again, Ben cried when it was time to go inside. I hope he gets over that soon.

Benjamin came up with a little tune while he was playing..

And figured out a way to keep us on our toes...

"but I dont want to go home yet..."

It was too nice outside yesterday to be inside at a play room, so Ben and I walked to the park. He loves the swings and the slide. If he could spend all day there, he would. After he wore me out we left the play area and hung out by the bird house in the field. Ben couldn't keep up with all the birds going in and out. When it was time to go home, Ben was very upset. He's definitely become an outdoors man over the last week and wants to be outside every chance he gets. On our walk home we decided to go to Einsteins for lunch. Ben now has to have his own seat (not a highchair) when we go out. He felt very important sitting on his own eating lunch.

This morning, I put him in his car and walked him up and down our street. When we got tired of that, we headed to my moms office. All he wanted to do was ride the elevator and, of course, grandma let him.

We found a great deal on a swing set so Jon is going to check it out after work. I hope it works out. I cant wait to see the look on Ben's face when we finally have something set up for him. And its big enough that he'll be able to have some friends over to play.

Happy Birthday

Today is aunt Prasti and Todd's birthday. We all had dinner at Aaron and Prasti's tonight to celebrate.

Benjamin had a busy weekend. He spent most of the day outside with gram on Friday and loved every minute. He screamed when it was time to come inside. Jon and Ben went for a bike ride Saturday morning and stopped to watch Tyler's soccer game. Ben loves relaxing in the bike trailer. Saturday night we started our search for a swing set and Ben tried out his first bike while we were at the store. He didn't quite master the pedals, but liked being pushed around on it.

The new chicken pox

We found out today that Benjamin has chicken pox. He got a rash on his stomach Sunday night. It didn't look like anything out of the ordinary, but then he started getting another rash on his arms and legs. They are little red spots that look like bug bites or zits. Only a couple of them looked like they could have fluid in them so we had basically ruled out chicken pox. The doctor said the vaccine has changed the look of the virus over the years, but he definitely has them. We didn't get a lot of answers like how did he get them even though he's been vaccinated and could he get them again? This seems to be a mild case so we don't know if enough immunity has been built up. Obviously, Ben couldn't go to story time tonight and will miss the play room tomorrow. He cant be around kids or ill people especially those with cancer so the doctor is advising we pretty much keep him at home until everything has crusted over. It seems to be moving quickly so as long as he doesn't get any new spots, he could be over this by Friday. Even though the weather is beautiful, Ben is making the best of staying home.

Water Bill

Well, I think our water bill is about to go through the roof. Last night, Ben discovered he can flush the toilet. After he did it, he said "yeah" and clapped and had a big smile on his face. It was hard not to laugh so now it's going to be difficult to get him to stop. Maybe the promise of getting to flush will be good incentive for potty training!

Animal fun

One of Ben's favorite things is to climb up on "his" chair in the living room and go through a book. He has a few of them with animals in them and is slowly learning what each says. He can do a pig (although its more throaty than nasal), dog, tiger and monkey. Here he is showing off some noises:

Ben has been great the past few days. He's been talking up a storm. He has to eat everything that dad eats from bagels to Chipotle, he used sign language this morning when he wanted more of a snack--I'm guessing he picked it up from his cousin, Emma. He went from several time outs in a day to 2 time outs in the past week. I'm not sure what changed, but I hope it sticks!

We had our visit from the Help Me Grow people yesterday. I'm actually kind of disappointed with them. They advised me that they would evaluate every aspect, not just his speech. However, they seemed to evaluate everything, but his speech. They were here for about 1.5 hours and spent less than 5 minutes on speech issues. She said in every other way he is an average 18-24 mo old kid. It was nice to get that reassurance. The counselor will write a report and our case worker will come out and go over it in detail with us. They are recommending speech therapy, but only because I'm concerned. If we choose to go ahead with it, yet another person will come out to evaluate him and get him going on a plan. He's been doing so well with picking up new words, I don't know if we'll go through with speech therapy. I think he's just going at his own pace. I guess we'll wait and see exactly what the report says.

On a happier note, Ben has been much less cranky that he was last week. He seems to be getting back to himself.

More bubble fun...

Its been a while

I know, its been almost a week. I'll try to do better this week! Benjamin had a rough couple days. I don't know if he still hasn't adjusted to being back in Ohio or if something else is up with him, but he's been extra cranky recently. Between crying spells, we managed to go to the park on Thursday. It was still a little cold, but Ben had fun with it.

We went out for bagels Saturday morning. Ben ended up eating most of Jon's bagel. He definitely has an appetite--when he's in a good mood.

We had dinner at Aaron's house with some family and friends. Ben ate several bites of Jon's fajita then scammed ice cream from me and aunt Corrie!