Big Boy Bed!

Our new adventure this week has been to move Johnny to a "big boy bed". It is really a low toddler bed that was actually Annette's (Grammy's) when she was a girl. We have been a little nervous about this, but felt like he was ready. We also wanted to go ahead and do it since he would need to sleep on an air mattress at the beach, and because I am not supposed to be lifting him so much. I was also not so sure how it was going to go, because when he saw the bed frame in the garage before we had it set up, he said "I don't like it", and that first night he told us at bedtime that he wanted his crib. We told him we would try the big boy bed for a few nights and if it wasn't going well, we could move him back in his crib. Although, I don't think Andrew really was wanting to take it back apart and move it back into his room!

We started on Sunday night, and so far he has done great! The first few nights he took a long time to fall asleep, and it was funny to watch him go on and off screen on the video monitor as he explored his new-found freedom. But, he stayed in his room, although we did have to go check on him a time or two. On Tuesday night he fell out of the bed and I found him asleep in the middle of the floor in the morning, which was pretty funny, but he did not seem upset about it! In the morning, he still calls for us so far and wants us to come get him. This morning, specifically, he yelled "Mama! I need a nose wipe!!" LOL...

Tonight he told us "I love my big boy bed!" as we were getting him ready for bed - so I think Andrew is safe on that having to take the crib back apart and moving it thing :)

Big Boy Bed

A Good Saturday

Well, since I didn't write last night, I suppose I should tell you a little about yesterday. It was a long day - work and then I had the pre-op appointment at the OB's office. It was a 3:30 appointment, but they seemed to be running behind, as I had to wait a long time once I got into the examining room. Had a long talk with Dr. Beatty about the cerclage procedure, and left feeling very upset and confused. The best thing about the appointment was that I did get to hear the baby's heartbeat, and it sounded wonderful. That is so reassuring and nice to hear :) I get the feeling that Dr. Beatty doesn't think I should do the cerclage, but maybe she is just trying to make sure that I understand the risks so we don't sue them and such. She had talked with Dr. Goodnight, the doctor that had treated me at UNC, and told me that there was a new study out saying that the progesterone treatments I had done were just as effective as cerclage, and was talking about how we could wait and start that at 16 weeks, and could do a cerclage as late as 20 weeks if needed. I looked up the papers later, and it was actually just progesterone versus no progesterone, and the progesterone did give improved outcomes. They never mention if the women were on bedrest or not, but all had cervical lengths between 10 and 20 mm, so I am assuming they were. Women who elected to have cerclages were excluded from the study. The thing I found interesting was that several women were given emergency cerclages. Everything I see says that emergency cerclages are way less effective and more prone to infection and problems, which makes sense really. The outcomes of the studies all concern the outcome of the baby, which is of course the most important thing, but never mention what the mom is doing during the pregnancy, how much time is spent in the hospital, etc. After all my reading, it brought me back to the cerclage and doing it now, when it is not in an emergency situation, before anything has a chance to start moving. I am going to pray on it, and to read about it a little more, but I still feel like it is the best option. I really hope I am not wrong.

Because I didn't leave the doctor's office until right at 5:00, and traffic was AWFUL in Fuquay, I got to Johnny's day care pretty late - around 5:40. He was still doing good, though, and was outside in the wagon when I got there. I had ordered a pizza from J&S before I picked him up, so we headed over to Varina. I then found out the reason for the bad traffic - Broad street was closed through downtown Varina for a block party concert later on - which meant no parking near the Pizza place either! So, we parked by the CVS and walked all the way down there. I decided that since we walked so far, we should just eat there, but forgot how slow the service was there! We ate outside, though, and had a pretty good dinner. Johnny really enjoyed watching all the cars, trucks, and motorcycles go by. I think he was pretty tired, though. I didn't realize his nap had been pretty short that day until later on after he went to bed. He wanted to play so bad when we got home, but I hurried him on to bath and bed since it was late. It was probably after 8 when he got in bed, but I don't think he fell asleep until after 9! I guess it was just such an unusual day, and maybe he knew I was upset about something. I had to go in there a couple of times, the last time I left his door open and told him I was going to sleep (because I was!)

He didn't really sleep late this morning, though. We had a pretty good breakfast, but he was clingy all day - wanted lots of hugs and to sit on my lap a whole lot and such. And he was tired all morning morning. I think he is really missing Andrew, and yesterday was an unusually long day. Not sure - but I tried to give him all the hugs he wanted, unless I was driving, lol :) We talked to Andrew on Skype this morning after his trip to Macau "yesterday" - he said it was interesting, but he was exhausted! It was great to talk to him and see him, though!

I took my shower this morning after Johnny was up, and he was playing in our room when I went in, and I just took a real quick one. When I came out, though, it was quiet - too quiet - so I called for him, and he came running in and said "I went pee pee ALL BY MYSELF" I said "you did? Good for you! Do you need Mama to empty the cup for you?" "NO - I went in the big potty! Standing up!" I went in to see him and sure enough he was standing by the big potty - and the lights were even out in there. I was really impressed and he was really cute :) He went on his own, even #2 several times today, and was just so proud of himself. I also heard "ALL BY MYSELF" several other times today about other things :) Trying to let him do what I can!

After I got my chores done this morning, we headed up to Cary and got him some new swimsuits that actually fit at Old Navy - One has fish on it, and the other one has skateboards on it. They had a Cars one that I thought he would want, but he was not interested! He did like the Spiderman one, but they didn't have his size. There was not much left in the 2T and 3T sizes. We also got a couple of rash guards. He did NOT want another Blue flowered one, and put on a pretty good demonstration of that! I had him try on the fish one just to be sure the 3T wouldn't be too big, and he liked it so much he wanted to keep it on. I decided to let him, and just lifted him up at the cash register - :) Then we went by Whole Foods to get him more of his probiotics, and then on to the farm. By the end of all that, we were both pretty done, and I was very glad that I had bought some apples at Whole Foods - we both had one of those on the way home from the farm. He did a pretty good job on the whole apple with the skin! We had a good lunch, and he went on to nap pretty easy, as did I :) He took a good nap - probably a little over 1 1/2 hours - hopefully catching up from last night..

After nap, I needed to get some work done, so I graded notebooks, and he read some, and then watched Cars. That went pretty well for about an hour! He is totally mesmerized by that movie. He had a snack of cucumber (2nd one from our garden!) and cheez-its while he watched. I turned the movie off after I'd worked for about an hour, and we went outside and brought some shorts back to our neighbor Elizabeth's house (they were her son's - J had an accident at her house one day a few weeks ago). We got there, and Natalie and Luke (the kids) met us at the door and just started shouting "Johnny, Johnny, Johnny!" - I felt like I was with a rock star! They were really cute. We hung out there for a little while and the kids played while Elizabeth and I talked - she really is so sweet :) J and I came home and then played in the pool and watered the garden until it was dinner time. Had more leftovers for dinner, which was nice and easy, and I thought Johnny would want to go back out to the pool, but he didn't! So I worked on the kitchen a bit while he played, and then played with him some. He had done awesome with the potty all day today. He was naked or half naked most of the day - so that really helped and let him go without my help a whole lot. The only tragedy was that he tried to pee standing up at his little potty - I didn't find that until later - needless to say, the little potty needed a bath, and the floor needed some cleaning!!

After dinner we talked to Andrew, and he looked great! He said he had slept continually all night for the first time since he got there! I think it was only 6 1/2 hours - but it was more than he had been getting. He also said he slept on all the traveling yesterday to Macau and then even fell asleep for just a second during dinner last night!! He said they were all craving Western food last night and were on there own so had gone to an Italian restaurant. I hope he can get another good night tonight and can get rested up before he has to get turned around again. Tomorrow/Today they are having meetings, but also going to a horse race.

J did awesome at bedtime tonight. I tried to get him in bed a little early tonight since he seemed so tired today. He wanted to read "If I ran the Zoo" again tonight - and tonight we just read that, and so we read all of it in one sitting for the first time. We have been reading in the corner with all the pillows, and I swear I think he would sleep in that corner with just those pillows. I almost put his crib mattress on the floor tonight, but then got nervous it would end up being a long night! Maybe we will try that next weekend after Andrew gets home :) I got him in bed around 7:45, and he rolled around just a bit, and fell asleep shortly after 8, thankfully.

Tomorrow Mimi and Gramps come. I have a lot of work to get done tomorrow, so I am not sure if I will manage much of a blog post. I did not get any pictures today or yesterday, sadly. So, since I promised some pictures - here are some from March when we built the new garden bed by the driveway:

New Garden Bed

June 2nd

Well, today it will have to be no pictures, since I didn't take any today. I guess I got out of practice with Johnny being gone. Got Johnny in bed just before 8 last night, and he was zonked. I heard the little sigh he used to give all the time when he would finally calm down last night while we were reading before bed. You knew he wasn't done pitching his tantrum or being upset until you heard it. We talked to Andrew a little later than usual because he was having internet troubles. Johnny wanted to read the Pooh book Mimi and Gramps gave him AND the little engine that could. Both are a little longer, and I agreed, but told him just those two and no Bible story. We read the Pooh book, and then started on the Little Engine when I heard that sigh. I decided we could stop half-way through that book and finish it tonight. He did pretty well with that, and just wanted to read one more page. He gave me a nice long hug, and then went right to sleep.

Johnny woke up earlier than I expected this morning - 6:15! He really is cutting back on his sleep. I worry a little that he's getting how much he needs, but he really doesn't seem to be able to sleep much more than that. So, I guess we will roll with it for now as long as he is not too cranky. I forgot how tough it is getting out the door without Andrew here and for an 8 AM class! We were doing so good, and he wanted to read little engine that could, so I agreed, and then I looked up and it was after 7, and neither of us had shoes on! We managed to make it out of the house, but not without a bit of a roller-coaster ride. He wanted to put his shoes on himself, so I let him do that and went to get my shoes while he did that. He actually did a pretty good job! He didn't have the straps right, but that was easy to fix. I had so much stuff to carry that I handed him his milk cup to carry, and I think he didn't want any right then, but he just screamed and screamed all the way to the car. I told him I needed his help, but that didn't make any difference, so I decided to ignore him.... Didn't seem like too much to ask to have him carry his milk cup... The only true calamity was that we forgot his strawberries that I had cut up for his breakfast at home. I managed to make it a few minutes early, so I had a little breathing room to make it to class on time.

Had a good day at work. It is still so hot in the building even though the a/c is running. It starts out OK at around 75, but the temperature quickly goes up with warm bodies, projectors running, and the sun hitting the big east windows. It makes it tough in the afternoon to concentrate. I may start coming home to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays once I am pretty sure that the lab is going OK for the other lab instructor. I have a lot to do to get everything ready to leave it on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I will probably end up working this weekend some at night and during (please, please let there be) nap time, but I think I will be OK.

He had a good day at school - ate a good lunch, took an over 1 1/2 hour nap, and had no accidents! He was playing with some big plastic nuts and bolts when I got there, and had a wet shirt - I guess from washing his hands?

Was a little late leaving work and picking up Johnny, but I continued my tradition of setting a timer and spending 30 minutes with him when we get home before I start cooking dinner. We had a good time outside throwing and kicking balls. At first he just wanted to throw them into the yard and then go get them and do it over again. Then we would throw the balls at the other balls to see if we could get them to move. Later, I showed him the velcro mits, and we almost had a game of catch going there for a little while :). It was getting close to time to go in, so I told him we needed to water his flowers that he had started from seed at school, so we took his little watering can around to the rain barrel and watered the marigolds. We had the little can a little over half full, and as he was carrying it around the house, he said "I'm strong!" I thought that was really cute, and told him he was! Then he wanted to water more, so we got another canful and did the begonias that I'm pretty sure are in too much sun and aren't going to make it. He started losing it a bit just as I almost had dinner ready - I think he was pretty hungry.

We had a good dinner - hot dogs, mac and cheese, and green beans, and then we had some pudding that I had made. I had told him that we could go out and fill up the baby pool after dinner, so we did that. This time we put it in the back yard in a flatter spot. That will probably work well, except the grass is not so good there, so it's a little harder on the bare feet in that area. He had a good time splashing in the pool, and then we talked to Andrew for a little while! It was a good thing Andrew called when he did, because the mosquitoes were coming out en force at that point.

Andrew seemed more tired again - and disappointed that they had stayed up late to finish their project, but it still didn't work. He has to make a presentation today on it, and wasn't looking forward to that really. The only good news was that part would be over after today, and then he could sleep in tomorrow! So, we may not talk to him tomorrow night, but he really needs to sleep in, I think. He says his body has not quite figured out the time yet and he keeps waking up early in the morning, unable to sleep any more :( This weekend they are going to Macau - the Vegas of China and next week is Dale Carnegie training for them.

The bedtime routine went well tonight - Johnny loves throwing the football in the tub - and is pretty good at it! At bedtime he wanted to read Seuss' "If I Ran the Zoo" - which is a really long book, it turns out! We didn't finish it, but marked it for tomorrow night. Again, it was almost 8:00 when I put him to bed, and he seemed to fall right asleep! I am hoping he sleeps a little later in the morning - we will see! I may try putting him to bed a little earlier tomorrow night to see if he will sleep a little later.

OK - bedtime for me! So glad it's Friday tomorrow and class starts at 8:30 instead of 8! I promise there will be pictures tomorrow, even if they are from our backlog of unedited, unposted pictures! :)

June 1

I stayed up way too late last night, so I am just going to post pictures tonight. Not too many, since Johnny came back around 4:30 this afternoon. It was so good to see him again. Grammy and Klay had brought him up, so I got a little hug when he got here since he was busy playing with Klay (got a better one from Klay, actually), but then I got a sweet, good, long hug at bedtime :) He had a fantastic time playing with Klay, Grammy, and Grampy, I think.

Andrew said he is getting a little more sleep and starting to get adjusted and had duck feet with his dinner last night. He said he didn't eat much of them, and they tasted just about like you'd expect! More tomorrow, I promise.

June 1

Memorial Day and Tuesday(Monday?)

Yesterday Johnny and I went down to Carthage and had a fantastic time with the Blues and at the pool! I made the mistake of reminding Johnny that we were going to Grammy and Grampy's not long after he got up. So he was ready to go - right then! Unfortunately we still needed to eat breakfast and pack, and I still needed to shower. He kept his patience pretty well and found things to do or helped me as we did all we needed to do to get out the door. I thought he was going to fall asleep on the drive down there, but he fought it off. We played in the pool in the morning with Klay, Grammy, and Kerri.

He was pretty hesitant at first, as it had been so long since he'd been in the water, and would only "jump" into the pool if you were already touching him. In the afternoon, though, he was jumping away and he got so mad at me as I was helping him to the steps after a jump. I couldn't figure out what he was so mad about, and finally I realized that he wanted to swim by himself to the steps :) He drank a little water, but he did a really good job! He LOVED it :)

He would not nap after lunch, just kept running around in the crib and calling for me. Andy and Emily and their kids, Nick and Molly were there by that point out at the pool, and I think he was hearing them, or maybe he was just excited. Finally I gave up on the nap and he went back out to the pool. That's when he got really good at jumping and "swimming".

We spent all afternoon out at the pool, and then came in for dinner. I gave Johnny an early bath so he would be ready if he needed an early bedtime, and Grammy and Grampy made a great dinner. I left not long after dinner, and it was really hard to leave to go home to an empty house and work. But, I knew Johnny was in good hands and would have a good time with Grammy and Grampy and everyone.

And... I did get a whole lot of work done today. Stayed a little late at work and then started right back up after dinner at home. Trying to get everything all set so that I have it in order for the people that are covering for me next week when I am out for surgery and recovery. So, that was good! Still have a ways to go, but I feel like I have a pretty good handle on it.

I got to talk to Andrew, Annette, and Johnny on Skype tonight, so that was also good. Johnny seems to be having a really good time down in Carthage, and wasn't interested in talking on Skype once he found out I was just on the computer and not really there :) Back to running around screaming with Klay! He may be sad to come home and hang out with just me - but I will be glad to see him again. Andrew is still not quite turned around with the time - they keep having late nights, and then he gets up early to Skype. He says the meetings are going well overall.

I leave you with some pictures from the pool yesterday, and one video (too lazy to post it on you tube tonight):

Memorial Day

Sunday, 5/29

We had another good day, overall - we did oatmeal for breakfast today, along with some watermelon. I let Johnny taste some of my chocolate milk, and no surprise - he decided he liked it and wanted the rest of it, lol. He wanted me to read him some bible stories after breakfast while we were still at the table, so I did.

We had a good morning - played some "hide" (and seek), he build some block towers while I tried to get the mountain of clothes in his room under control (putting away winter and pulling out summer clothes), and for some odd reason he asked if I had any necklaces. So, I let him touch some of the more fragile ones, and hold some of the more durable ones. He really liked one that had beads that had been my Grandma Bornet's. I was a little worried I wasn't going to get it away from him without it breaking! So, I told him it was time to put it away, and pointed out that his abacus also had beads. Amazingly, that actually worked as a distraction!

There was a covered dish brunch at church, so I made some hard boiled eggs and some cheesy grits. We arrived late - surprise! but it was a small crowd, so there was plenty of food left. He really enjoyed the sausage someone had brought. He wanted to see Sharon, and breakfast didn't take long, so we went on over to the nursery, and I hung out there until it was time for service, talking to Becky and Sharon. Luke didn't come to church, so Johnny was a little disappointed, but seemed OK with that. Church was good - Pastor Chad had an awesome joke - ask me to tell you the "skip a day" diet one sometime, although everyone must be at the beach this weekend, because no one was there. After church, Johnny wasn't hungry, due to the second breakfast, and was pretty grumpy, so I can't say much good about that, except that he did go down pretty easy for his nap, but then napped for less than an hour. His sleep seems so erratic these days!

After nap, I worked on his clothes a bit more. There was a cute pair of plaid overalls that had been Klay's that I told him he should wear to Grammy and Grampy's house, and he wanted to put them on. So I helped him put them on over the train shirt (which I think had been Thomas') that he had picked out. He then got on his trike and said "Time to go to Grammy and Grampy's!" It was so cute, and so hard to tell him that we wouldn't go until tomorrow morning. He took that OK, though, but I think he is excited about going down tomorrow.

We had a snack - cheese, apples, and the first cucumber from our garden, and he really enjoyed the cucumber - I think he ate over half of it! Then I thought he would be all ready to head outside and go to the pool, but he played with the shape sorter and wanted to read some. So we read for a while, but he was acting cross, so I said here is your swimsuit you just let me know when you're ready to go outside. Not too long after that, he was ready. He had a great time in the pool again - this time we brought the little splash balls outside, and he must have thrown them out and ran to get them 100 times. I tried the sprinkler for a little while, and he liked running through it with me, holding hands, but otherwise not so much. He told me he wanted it to sprinkle into his pool, but then changed his mind :) I got in the pool after that, just wading, and he started splashing me, and I got so wet that I finally came in and changed into my suit. At some point, we took a break for popsicles. Oh - and I convinced him to pee pee outside! Sorry if we kill your grass, Andrew, but it was nice to not have to come inside all wet and dripping!

After that, it was time to come in for dinner. So I made okra, chicken nuggets, and tater tots - yes - another healthy meal! I figure we made up for it today at breakfast and afternoon snack. He really enjoyed the chicken nuggets, not so much the okra. He seemed tired, so I went ahead and bathed him while we waited on Andrew to call. Talked to Andrew for a bit. He seemed to have had a pretty good Sunday, but was tired. He was up a little before 7, and they had gone out to an Opera the night before. He said he did get to spend a little time at the pool in the afternoon, and that the Opera had some acrobatics at the end, which was his favorite part. It was really good to see him and talk to him. He and Johnny acted like they were "bonking heads" and Johnny blew him lots of kisses and told him that he loved him. :) Johnny had asked a lot about Andrew today again. So I showed him on the calendar the days he would be gone and circled them, and then crossed through the ones he had already been gone. I don't know if that helped or not - you never know until later!

He did good at bedtime, although at one point he started patting my chest and asked if the baby was in there, and I showed him about where the baby was. I had told at church today that we are expecting, and I think the ladies in the nursery were talking it up to him about him being a big brother - lol. I told him my tummy would get bigger and bigger as the baby grew. I know this is such an abstract thing for him - I guess all I can do is answer his questions as they arrive and not make too big a deal about it. Thankfully, he went to sleep really quickly tonight - probably due to the short nap. I think he was even asleep before 8:00 - that hasn't happened in weeks!

Here are some pictures and video from today with some pool pictures, as promised!

May 29th

Andrew Made it and a pretty good Saturday

We checked on Andrew's flight this morning a little after 8 and saw that he had arrived, and then later got an e-mail saying that he had made it to his Hotel! He said he was tired, and was just going to eat and go on to bed - definitely can't blame him for that.

Johnny and I had a good day overall. We had a great breakfast of pancakes, and then he played while I did a few chores and cleaned up from breakfast. Then, I thought we should go to Wal-mart partly to grocery shop, and partly to buy him a new baby pool. The one I had bought last year had sprung a leak, but I felt like we got our 10 dollar's worth out of it. Only problem was, I realized when I got up to the register with a cart full of stuff (and the woman had already checked half of it) that I did not have my wallet with me! I had cleaned it out, and remembered putting it back in my purse, but now I wasn't sure if it was at home or if it had fallen out of my purse at some point! I tried to pay with a check, but didn't have my driver's license number. So, I asked her to hold the cart and we made a flying trip home to try and find my wallet. We had been in the store for a while, so I told Johnny he needed to go potty while we were home, and he pulled down his own pants, sat, pulled his pants up, and dumped the potty cup all out on his own!! I was so impressed! I was frantically searching for the wallet or something to pay with and came up with my passport and a credit card that we don't use much and we headed back to the store. I was in a hurry, and carried Johnny in from the parking lot, much to his disappointment - he was kicking and screaming, and then made him hold my hand once I let him walk in the store - but he was still screaming! Everyone in the store was staring at us..lol. I finally stopped and told him that I knew he was mad, but we were in a hurry, and if he wouldn't hold my hand, then I would have to carry him. He finally calmed down, thankfully. We found the cart, paid for the stuff, checked customer service, and did a sweep of the store, but no wallet. I was starting to panic that I was going to have to cancel our cards, and with Andrew in Hong Kong, that was NOT going to be a good thing! BUT - I finally found it later this afternoon in the house. Yes - I need to fold laundry really badly...

We were both starving at this point, so we had lunch, and Johnny helped me make the egg sandwiches - he did a great job cracking the eggs and scrambling them. He ate a really good lunch, and had a marshmallow for dessert which he and the smore's display at Wal-mart had talked me into :) I made us both smore's, but he was not impressed. I'm thinking it was partially because they were the microwave version - really not the same at all. It was a little after noon, so I thought we could go and set up the pool and play outside just a bit before his nap - hoping to help him actually take a nap - although I thought he was pretty tired already, as he had already had a few tantrums about things. We didn't get the pool filled up all the way, but he LOVED it. I think his favorite part was that he was allowed to splash out of it (unlike the tub!) :) I didn't get any pictures of him in the pool today, but I definitely will tomorrow. He played and played and played and ran in and out of it. Finally I said it was time to come in, and before we started reading at naptime he said "I played in the pool!" He fell asleep pretty quick for his nap - although it was after 1:00, maybe 1:15, but he slept until 4:00!! I couldn't believe it. I think he was just exhausted. I took a bit of a nap while he was down, too.

We had a snack not long after he woke up, and I thought we might get to go back out to the pool, but then it started raining. So he played and rode his bikes, and I worked on folding laundry (finally) and then cooked dinner. We had a toddler's dream dinner - hot dogs, mac and cheese, and applesauce. I also cooked some of Fred's sugar snap peas which were awesome, but Johnny wasn't too interested in those. He said during dinner that he wanted to watch the Cars Movie that we just got for him, but then he changed his mind when we went out to pick the cucumber and check the mail, and he played in the pool again until Andrew called.

It was great to see and talk to Andrew on Skype. He looked good - they are staying in the Hyatt Regency - I think he said Sha Tin. He said he slept about 4 1/4 hours on the plane and that the flights were fine, but that the second one was just really long.. He said they were going to meet "today" (Sunday) starting at 10 and that they are going to a show tonight, so he probably won't get to go to bed early, unfortunately. It was so great to talk to him, and Johnny was really glad to see him. He definitely is missing Andrew and asked about him a lot - especially this morning, and then at dinner time when he usually comes home from work.

I got Johnny in bed a little late tonight - probably around 7:50, but it took him an hour to fall asleep! I am guessing it was because of the long nap, but he did seem tired at bedtime. Anyway - it is time for me to go to bed too, as I am beat! Looking forward to brunch at Church tomorrow and the service. Sleep well, all!

Here are some pictures (yes - he wanted to be naked most of the day, if you're wondering based on the pictures!) I did get some clothes on him for the trip to Wal-mart.

May 28th