Something I’m thinking: I’m thinking about buying a double stroller. We could have both pushed strollers tonight, and that would have been fine. I’m sure there will be times where one of us will need to stroll both kids, and Maddie is still a bit too young to walk everywhere. I actually walked this evening’s walk with Cullen in the Sleep Wrap. It wasn’t too bad, but I don’t think I could walk around all day at a zoo or park like that.

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping that Cullen doesn’t get sick again. His temperature is a little elevated this evening (though not a fever at this point), and he’s not quite himself.

Something happening around the house: Ugh. We’re experiencing some “fun” home ownership issues. I guess our house is starting to act its age. The water heater broke yesterday. Gabe walked out with Maddie to go grab some lunch, and he discovered that the garage was full of steaming hot water. Not good. Fortunately, we found someone to come out almost right away and they fixed it yesterday. We have been enjoying our hot water today. We also bought a new kitchen sink and faucet today and plan on having the same guys install it. Our kitchen faucet and sink are falling apart and got worse this morning with the messed up water pressure due to air in the pipes. We are thinking about getting lighting installed in our library, something that we have wanted to do since we moved into the house. What kind of library doesn’t have suitable lighting? We are debating replacing the remainder of our brass light fixtures. I’m not sure we’re ready to do all of that.

Something I’m reading: I finished Flyte! Our book club is sorting out our picks for the next 6 months, so I might have to start reading some of those if I’m ever going to finish any of them.

Something tasty I ate this week: I made my own pizza for the first time! I didn’t make Cindy’s pizza, but she inspired me to give homemade pizza a try. Yum! I will have to make Cindy’s someday. It looks very good.

Something Maddie did this week (24 months old): Poor girl got strep throat for the first time. She seems to be getting all the same kind of illnesses that I had frequently as a child. Maddie felt pretty bad, resulting in some sweet cuddles with her Daddy. I think she’s feeling more like herself now. Not feeling well did contribute to some extra toddler tantrums. She is certainly embracing being a two year old. She continues to say funny things. She often requests socks saying, “her feet are cold” (whether or not that is actually true). This week, she came up with a new one. She said, “Daddy, I need my shoes. My socks are cold.” I love the toddler logic!

Something Cullen did this week (6 weeks old): He rolled over from his front to his back this week, though clearly not intentional. He has done this a few times previously on the bed, which I thought was a little sloped so it didn’t “count.” This time he rolled over on the floor. It certainly wasn’t intentional, but he was happier afterward. Cullen smiles a little each day. He still has a little acne and a lot of cradle cap. He’s holding his head up extremely well. We estimate he’s between 11.5 and 12 pounds.

Something I struggled with this week: Broken water heater, sick child, recovering my iTunes library (the only copy of it was on our iPods and a broken hard drive), dealing with toddler tantrums, realizing that my maternity leave is half over, realizing that Cullen is no longer a newborn, accidentally not refrigerating Maddie’s antibiotic necessitating a new prescription (which is not covered by insurance, by the way), chronic lack of sleep.

Something I’m doing towards my goals: I’ve been actively gathering suggestions and sending out emails for our book club. This falls under my goal of staying active in at least one book club. I’ve also done a little bit towards my MS fundraising goals and plan to focus some more efforts in that direction soon. I went back and created my 2005 photobook, so I guess that can potentially count as “create yearly photobooks for my family” since some of it has both Gabe and me. Ooh, and I see that “replace the kitchen sink” was one of my goals…we bought the sink and faucet and are replacing it very soon!

Something I learned this week: I learned that I had already scrapbooked 2005….after I finished my 2005 photobook! Hrm, oh well, the old scrapbook was heavy and bulky. The photobook version is a little different, but the important things are well represented.

Something I’m looking forward to next week: A relaxing, stress-free week???

Something random: We’re watching more reality shows than normal this season - Survivor, Amazing Race, and American Idol. We’ve really been enjoying all three! I’m not sure who we want to win Survivor, but I love the Heroes vs. Villains thing. I haven’t watched Survivor in several seasons, but I know a lot of the players this season. The cowboys on Amazing Race make us laugh. We are rooting for Crystal Bowersox on American Idol and also like several others: Alex Lambert, Andrew Garcia, Casey James, Lee Dewyze, and Lilly Scott. Lee Dewyze is probably my second favorite at the moment.

Something captured: Poor sick little girl wanted to snuggle with Daddy and read books.

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something I’m thinking: I really need to do my taxes soon. I did a preliminary run weeks ago, but I haven’t had time to make sure all the numbers are right.

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping we’ll all be healthy this week. I thought that Cullen was over his cold, but he’s not quite well. He still has a little congestion that is making it hard for him to breathe. Poor thing.

Something happening around the house: Maddie and I made cupcakes today. I even made them pink, like in her new favorite book, Pinkalicious.

Something I’m reading: I think I read another chapter of Flyte. Otherwise, I read a lot of Pinkalicious and some of Maddie’s board books. I’m even way behind on my RSS feeds.

Something tasty I ate this week: Friends brought us tasty dinners this week!

Something Maddie did this week (24 months old): Maddie had her 2-year check up this week. She weighs 24 pounds, 6 ounces which puts her in the 20th percentile. The doctor was very impressed with Maddie’s communication skills and claimed Maddie was talking like a 3 year old. We were very proud.

Something Cullen did this week (5 weeks old): He graced us with his first social smiles this week! So far, he has mostly smiled at Mommy (but has smiled a time or two in Daddy’s direction). I’m sure the smiles will get bigger and more frequent soon! He’s been alert more and more each day. His acne is starting to clear up, but now he’s cursed with cradle cap.

Something I struggled with this week: I’ve been trying to ignore the fact that I’ve been sick. I feel mostly ok, and I think I might be mostly better now. That’s what I keep telling myself, and so far that seems to be working!

Something I’m doing towards my goals: Nothing in particular this week.

Something I learned this week: I learned it takes more food coloring than you might think to make cupcake batter pink. Plus, I needed to make it a bit more pink so that it wasn’t so subtle when the cupcakes were baked.

Something I’m looking forward to next week: Quality time spent with my newborn son.

Something random: Cullen has nursed over 750 times and has had almost 400 diaper changes.

Something captured:

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Not too long after this video, she got into the princess “bucket,” put the lid on her head, and said, “Maddie’s in the bucket!” Followed shortly by, “I’m too big for the bucket. I not fit.”

Dear Cullen,

Welcome to the world, little boy! I can’t believe your are already a month old. Time has flown by faster than ever before. I’m happy to have two more months of maternity leave, but I’m also sad that it is going by too fast.

For months, I wondered how the labor was going to unfold. I was so surprised at how fast you arrived! I thank you for the quick delivery, though I didn’t have time to get the pain medication that I was hoping to get! It turned out to be better that way, so everything worked out nicely for both of us. I was so happy when I was able to hold you just after you were born. This was a very sweet moment for me.

You came into this world with an extremely healthy scream and didn’t let up for several minutes. We called you our little pterydactyl as your cry was very piercing and loud! From the first day, you reserved it for when you were in distress. You only cried when you were hungry or getting changed. You do not like getting your diaper or clothing changed! For the most part, you have continued to be very laid back. It’s been a very pleasant beginning. Thank you for being an easy baby so far!

Your arrival in this world made us a family of four. Your big sister Maddie is so proud of you and met you for the first time in the hospital. She wasn’t sure what to think of you at first and mostly ignored you for the first few days. Once she realized you were here to stay, she has really embraced big sisterhood. She loves holding you, giving you kisses, and says goodnight to you every night. She affectionately calls you “Cullen Man,” and when you cry she comforts you saying, “It’s ok, Cullen Man.” I am looking forward to seeing how you two will interact together. Seeing you two together already makes my heart happy. I know you will have many fights over the years, but I hope that you will become wonderful friends.

Your nights have been pretty good. You are sleeping in a bassinet co-sleeper which is attached to our bed like a sidecar. I love it. It’s nice having you so close to me. This arrangement makes it easy for me to pat you when you’re restless, retrieve your pacifier, and pick you up when you need to nurse or extra cuddles. At night, we have found that you sleep best when you are swaddled despite the fact that you hate not being able to move your arms and legs. Once you’re swaddled, I help calm you by laying you on your belly on my chest and rubbing your back. I’m then able to easily and gently place you into the bassinet.

You quickly became an efficient nurser. The pediatrician and lactation consultant noted that you were tongue tied in the hospital. Doctors, nurses, and lactation consultants were worried about how it would affect your nursing, so we had your tongue tie corrected when you were almost a week old. It’s hard to say how much of a difference it made, but the clipping didn’t seem to bother you. Your weight gain and diaper output seem to indicate that breastfeeding is going very well. You weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces at birth. We had your weight checked when you were about 4 weeks old, and you already weighed 10 pounds, 7 ounces! Wow! You are a healthy boy!

We have already had an unwelcome first. We spent two days in the hospital after you vomited several times and had a fever. After calling the after hours nurse, she advised us to go directly to the children’s ER. Even though you had the lowest possible fever, they take fever in newborns very seriously. Shortly after we arrived at the hospital, they informed us that you would automatically be admitted for observation and testing for probably two days. It was a bit scary to take you to the hospital, and I didn’t like all the tests that they had to do. You let them know that you didn’t care for them either, though overall you took things quite well. It was so sad to see you hooked up to the many tubes and wires. I’m sure there has never been a cuter patient with your teeny hospital gown.

All of the tests at the hospital were negative for various infections as well as RSV. This was a huge relief. You became quite congested by the second day in the hospital. Your sister had had a runny nose for a few days, so we’re guessing you caught a cold from her. You were a couple days short of three weeks old when you started to get sick. It’s been about 10 days, and you’re still recovering. You’ve been a bit fussier than usual and have had a hard time sleeping at night. I’m hoping you’ll be completely better soon.

You have quite a case of baby acne. It doesn’t seem to bother you, but it looks pretty awful. I’m sure it will clear up soon. Your umbilical cord finally fell off a few days ago, though it left behind a little piece that we’re still trying to treat. We’re glad you now have a belly button! You are doing pretty well with your head control and will lift it when laying on your belly. We still need to support your head when holding you, but you’ll be holding it all by yourself in no time. You smile involuntarily, and I’m sure we’ll be treated to social smiles before your next letter. You sleep most of the day, but you have more and more periods of alertness each day. When you are alert, you often will gaze at faces and seem to enjoy looking at your Mommy. You’ve taken to the pacifier very well. We introduced it to you when you were in the hospital as it soothed you through the unpleasant tests. It was a little earlier than I wanted to give you the pacifier, but obviously it has not interfered with your nursing given your weight gains!

I’ve been taking photos of you every day. It’s my goal to have at least one photo of you from every day of your first year. I apologize in advance for the fact that not every day has great photos. It’s tricky to take photos every single day! It will be a little easier when you start smiling and sitting up and such. Right now there are only so many ways we can arrange you in a laying down or slightly propped position!

We are enjoying getting to know you. You have been a very sweet little boy. I’m sure your easy going nature will come in handy with handling your curious, chatterbox big sister. You are a very loved baby. I’m looking forward to seeing what the next few months will bring. I love you very, very much Cullen Man.

Love,
Mommy

Something I’m thinking: It’s my sister’s birthday. Happy birthday, Kristin!

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping Cullen’s baby acne clears up soon. I don’t think it bothers him too much, but it sure looks awful!

Something happening around the house: We had Maddie’s best buddies over for cake to celebrate her 2nd birthday yesterday!

Something I’m reading: Today I read Big Red Barn and PInkalicious, both of them multiple times. Oh! And I actually read two chapters of Flyte, the Septimus Heap book that I was reading before Cullen was born. I don’t anticipate getting time to read generally. I have too many other things that I need to do with my “free” time, like sleep.

Something tasty I ate this week: Cake!! We ate birthday cake for Maddie yesterday and birthday cake for my sister today. Both were very yummy. We have a good amount of cake leftover from Maddie’s cake, so I guess we might be enjoying that for a few days.

Something Maddie did this week: She turned TWO and had a birthday party! She also tattled on Nana and Papa. Cullen spit up a little on the couch earlier this week, and I asked Gabe to get a wet cloth to wipe it. Maddie then started saying over and over (while pointing at a spot on the couch), “Papa washed it. It’s clean. Papa washed it. It’s clean.” I talked to my mom and asked whether there had been any mishaps with the couch when they were here while Cullen was in the hospital (at the time OVER three weeks ago). Sure enough, Abby had drooled on the couch and my dad cleaned it up. We were all amazed that she remembered this and communicated it to us!

Something Cullen did this week: He was a bit fussier than usual this week and had a few bad nights as far as sleep was concerned. He spent most of the week recovering from his cold, poor thing. He seems to be back to his “usual” laid back self, for the most part. Oh, and he’s growing like crazy. When we had his follow up appointment the day after being discharged from the hospital (over a week ago on Saturday), he hadn’t gained any weight since the previous Tuesday. We had an appointment on Thursday and found out that he had gained almost another pound, weighing in at 10 pounds, 7 ounces! Big boy!

Something I struggled with this week: We had a couple of days this week where Maddie absolutely would have nothing to do with anyone except her Daddy. This has been exhausting for Gabe, but it’s also hard not to get my feelings hurt when she won’t let me read a book (though I can’t say I’m heartbroken when she refuses to let me change her diaper).

Something I’m doing towards my goals: I set up Cullen’s college savings account which is the first step in paying for his education. It’s my goal to pay for Maddie and Cullen’s education so that they don’t have to start their adult lives with a ton of debt.

Something I learned this week: I remember thinking of something earlier this week that I learned, but I guess it didn’t stick. I did learn how to throw a party without investing a huge amount of time in preparation. I did not make a single food item for the party…not my best party offering, but I didn’t really have time to spend on making stuff. The toddlers didn’t seem to mind!

Something I’m looking forward to next week: Looks like we have some tasty dinners headed our way this week! I’m also looking forward to Maddie’s 2-year check up. I’m curious to know how much she weighs now.

Something random: I received an interesting comment this week on my post about the Emmaljunga prams. A representative from the Cirque du Soleil show, Mystere, in Las Vegas contacted me to see if we still had the pram for sale. We do still have one of them, but unfortunately it’s a smaller model. They were interested in the one pictured on the post for use in the show. I was excited for a day or so that we might be able to contribute to the production. How cool would that have been?

Something captured: The birthday girl with her crayon box birthday cake.

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Dear Madeline,

I can hardly believe it, but today you turn TWO. For weeks, you have known the correct answer to the question, “Maddie, how old are you going to be on your birthday?” You’ve also been saying, “Happy birthday to you, Maddie.” We have really enjoyed seeing you develop into an amazing little girl. We are constantly amazed by the things you say and the connections you are making in the world.

For the past month, we have all been making adjustments. Your brother has arrived. For the first time, I spent a couple nights away from you. You didn’t seem to mind and were able to visit us in the hospital. You had a great couple of days with Nana and Papa while we were in the hospital. When you visited, you mostly ignored your brother. You were more interested in the french fries! You finally showed a little interest during your hospital visit when we let you touch Cullen’s hands. Then you wanted to point out his facial features. We had to make sure you didn’t poke him in the eyes!

Once Cullen was home, you tried to ignore him for several days. I think you were hoping that if you didn’t pay any attention to him, that he would go away. Once you discovered that approach wasn’t working, you embraced your role as big sister. You wanted to hold him and hug him frequently. I loved seeing the two of you together and look forward to when you can play together. I hope that you will be good pals, though I know you will have your fair share of fights.

Prior to your brother’s birth, you had transitioned back to being a bit of a Mommy’s girl for maybe a month or so. It was sweet, and I enjoyed some extra special Maddie and Mommy time. It did not take very long after your brother was born for you to cling very strongly to your Daddy. You quickly learned that Mommy often needed to feed Cullen. You’ve told people that Cullen eats Mommy’s milk. Smart girl! If Daddy’s holding Cullen, you often say, “Daddy, give Mommy Cullen. Come, Daddy. Let’s play. I want to play. Daddy, give Mommy Cullen.” It’s very sweet, though I’m sure that Daddy could use a break every now and then! When I try to relieve your Daddy, you insist that “Daddy do it.” I am trying not to take it personally! It makes me happy to see how much you love your Daddy. Your love for your Mommy and Cullen shows often, too.

Every night when you go to bed, you say goodnight to your mommy and Cullen as well as other toys and household items. Around Christmastime, you said goodnight to the snowman, tree, and train. Recently, you frequently say goodnight to the bird bean bag, your blocks, and your shopping cart. When you get to your crib, you put all of your “buddies” down to bed and arrange them just right. The buddies that get the honor of sharing your crib most often are Jojo and Valentino (you never go to bed without them!). You also absolutely need your pink blanket (which sounds like “bee-net” when you say it). Winnie the Pooh and Bunny join you often. You usually have at least 5 buddies with you at bedtime and naptimes.

Sleep continues to be a struggle, though you have made some progress. When we returned from our Thanksgiving week trip to the mountains with Keira’s family and to visit your relatives in Kentucky, you suddenly changed your going to bed habits. We were amazed that you were so easy to put down to bed at night. We would set you and your buddies in the crib, put a lightweight blanket over you, and pat you a couple of times. We’d say, “goodnight Maddie” and leave the room. And then you’d actually go to sleep! Considering that bedtime has been a huge struggle the majority of your life, this was a very welcome change. You weren’t quite sleeping through the night, but we didn’t mind when you joined us in bed sometime in the middle of the night. We even had a few times where you slept peacefully through the night.

Sometime between Christmas and Cullen’s birth, you started to change again. You started to be a bit of a challenge to put to bed again, requiring us to take multiple trips to get you back to sleep. You were still joining us in our bed in the middle of the night. While we were in the hospital, this obviously wasn’t an option. Nana was able to get you back to sleep when you woke in the middle of the night, and we continued to get her to put you back to bed during the night after we got home. We were hoping that this would help you make the transition to not joining us in the bed and ultimately you would sleep through the night. With Cullen feeding every two or three hours, it wasn’t a good option for you to sleep in our bed anymore. I miss your snuggle time and have even felt guilty about the change, but it is for the best.

In the past week, you have been easier to put to bed. Prior to this, we had been struggling for up to two hours putting you to bed at night. Most nights would take no less than an hour. Your pediatrician actually suggested that we instate a later bedtime. This has worked very well! The first few nights we tried the later bedtime, we had to make one or two trips upstairs to get you back to sleep immediately after putting you down to bed. For the past week, we have been able to put you into the crib, tell you goodnight, and then you go to sleep without issues. You’re still waking up sometime in the middle of the night most nights, but sometimes you’re sleeping through the night. Your sleep is improving at the moment but who knows what the next month (or even week) will bring. And at some point, we’re going to have to transition you to the big girl bed. We are NOT ready for this transition!

We recently broke down and got a video monitor. It has been entertaining to watch you on the monitor, and it has really helped us figure out what you’ve been doing up there when not sleeping. Nap times are still interesting. You resist them somewhat, but usually you’re content to play with your buddies in the crib for a while. You put your buddies on their tummies and pat them. You’ll put the blanket over them and tell them “night night.” You’ll lay down with them, put the blanket on yourself, and then pat yourself which we find hilarious. You recently have started jumping in the crib and find that to be quite fun. And we know you’re about to call for one of us (usually Daddy) when you gather all your buddies and face the door or start throwing the buddies and paci out of the crib. You still use a paci at bedtime and naps. We haven’t decided whether to transition you to the big girl bed before weaning you from the paci or whether we want to wean the paci first or whether we should do them both at the same time. Nobody really told us how much winging it this parenting gig involves!

Speaking of your big girl room, I finally finished painting your special mural. I love how your new room is coming together and hope that you will enjoy it as well. You are growing quite a collection of cute owls! Hopefully, we can make your new space very special for you and you will love going to the new room.

You have really gotten into imaginative play since our last letter. While we were in the mountains with Keira’s family, you and Keira interacted more than you ever had previously. You both pretended to put each other down for nap. One of you would lay on the floor, while the other placed the blanket on her and pat her back. It was very cute! Since then, you have been very into putting your stuffed animals to sleep as well as anyone who will let you (Daddy, Papa, Mommy, etc). Recently, you have wanted us to swaddle your baby and stuffed animals and are interested in diapering them as well. This recent interest is no doubt due to having a baby brother in the house. You will tell us things like, “Jojo’s diaper is really wet” or “Jojo pooped” and even apply the diaper cream.

You have already found that having a baby brother is convenient. The other day, you tore the paper off of your crayon. Daddy asked, “Maddie, why did you take the wrapper off the crayon?” Your reply was, “Cullen did it.” We couldn’t believe you were already blaming your brother! Too funny. A few days later, you passed some gas when coming downstairs in the morning. Daddy asked if you had tooted and you said, “Bunny tooted.” Your brother wasn’t around, so you decided to blame your stuffed animal.

You talk constantly and narrate our lives. Your language skills have really exploded in the past few months. We have to be careful about what we say because not only will you repeat us, but you are able to process them and will bring up random things at later times. You are able to communicate with us quite well now. You often speak in fairly complex sentences. We hear you mimicking things that we say all the time. “It’s right here.” “I did a good job.” “It’s pretty good.” “I want to go to the other room.” “It’s ok, Cullen.” “My feet are going to be cold.” “Daddy, hold my hand” “come on, Daddy.” “I mean it.” “I have plenty.” “What happened?”

You don’t watch any of your own television. We try to keep the TV off whenever you are awake. We make an exception for your Daddy’s sports teams. Lately, you’ve been watching basketball. A little over a month ago, you came into the living room and grabbed the remote and told Daddy, “I need to watch the basketball. I want to watch the game.” Your Daddy was so proud! I wish I had it on video. Daddy gave you a huge hug and was grinning ear to ear. Your Daddy has done a pretty good job at watching his language during the game. This is a good thing, since you will repeat things that he says at times. You now will tell the players, “Calm down, guys.” You got a basketball goal for Christmas from Santa, and you love playing it with your Daddy.

Speaking of Christmas, you got a lot of cool stuff this year. We visited Santa, but you didn’t want to have any part of it. You certainly didn’t tell him what you wanted. Fortunately, he knew what you would like. Your grandparents, aunts, and uncles gave you some nice things as well. Some of your favorite gifts from Christmas are your drawing toy (just like Keira’s), your shopping cart and fake foods, your bike, your train sets, and your tea set. You have played with all of those quite a bit since Christmas. When guests come over, you often offer them “hot tea.” You have a new table just your size that you keep your tea set on most of the time.

You got a few new books for Christmas, too. You love your books! Sometimes you’ll look at them on your own or even read them to your stuffed animals. Most of the time, you want us to read them over and over. As soon as we get to the end, you say, “read it again.” You often prefer for Mommy to read the books to you. I do the voices better than Daddy!

Daddy does a better job building things with the Legos. You have quite a collection of toddler blocks and enjoy playing with them quite a bit. My favorite is the Duplo dinosaur set. You like to build “towers.” Daddy builds some nice, complicated towers and houses. You seem to appreciate his work. You are also pretty good at putting your blocks away when you are done (as well as other toys with lots of pieces). Apparently, you sing a “clean up” song at school. “Clean up, clean up, everybody clean up.” I have a good appreciation for your daycare teachers! They often teach you great habits. You know that everything has a proper place and put things in their places when finished.

Another thing that we have noticed from daycare is that you have a healthy respect for their disciplinary tactics. You don’t often need to be disciplined at school, but you are well aware of the consequences if you misbehave. I wasn’t even aware that they used “time out” at school, and one day recently I had my hands full with Cullen and you were shrieking. I asked you repeatedly to use your indoor voice. You continued to shriek at the top of your lungs and you thought it was quite funny. I then asked if you wanted to go to “time out.” I had never used that phrase with you before, so I have no idea why I used it then. You immediately stopped shrieking and got very upset. You ran to Daddy, crying about how you didn’t want to go to time out. It was heartbreaking! I felt awful. We had to reassure you that you weren’t in trouble and everything was ok. Another tactic that your daycare teachers use is the phrase “walk away.” We haven’t had to use that one with you. You tell yourself to “walk away” when we tell you not to do something. It breaks my heart as it obviously upsets you to find that you’re in trouble! We will have to use both of those phrases sparingly.

Honestly, you are well behaved most of the time and rarely need disciplining. I’m sure this will change as you get older and push your boundaries more and more. You do tend to throw a fit when you don’t get your way. Lately, you have gotten upset because we refuse to give you cheddar bunnies for dinner. You also burst into tears when Daddy leaves the room or is not available to take orders from you.

Your infatuation with Daddy did not keep you from tattling on him recently when he broke one of our dinner plates. We were chatting with your grandparents at the time that it happened, and you kept saying, “Daddy broke a plate” over and over. “Daddy broke a plate, trash” meaning Daddy broke the plate and put it in the trash. You told everyone about it in the next several weeks. All of the daycare teachers knew about it, including many of the floaters.

You are developing a pretty good memory for random events. Sometime several months ago, you were eating a pizza crust (which we like to call the “pizza bone”). Nana and Papa were visiting with their dog Abby, and Abby snatched the pizza bone from you and ate it. You still are talking about that. It comes up nearly every time we have pizza and some other random times. “Abby took my pizza bone. Eat it.”

The other day was a first. You tattled on Nana and Papa for something they did while we were in the hospital for Cullen’s birth. This is the first time that you have told us about something that happened when we weren’t around. Cullen spit up a little on the couch, and when I asked Daddy to get a damp washcloth to clean it up, it must have triggered the memory for you. You started pointing to a spot on the couch and said, “Papa washed it. It’s clean.” You repeated this over and over which prompted me to call your grandparents to find out what happened to the couch when we weren’t here. This was almost four weeks ago, and we were amazed that you remembered it and relayed the information to us. Abby had slobbered on the couch and Papa had indeed cleaned it up. All of us are just amazed that you remembered this and were able to communicate it to us.

Your repeated storytelling is not limited to negative events. You recently told what I consider to be your first joke. One day during lunch, I spilled my Dr. Pepper all over the place! I was talking to you about it, “Maddie, I spilled Dr. Pepper everywhere! It’s on my pants, the table, the floor, my shoes, it’s everywhere!” You responded with, “on your head??” and giggled about it. Clever girl! You mentioned the incident at random times over the next few weeks. “Dr. Pepper on your head!” You even made up some variations. “Goldfish on my knee!” I love how you say “Dr. Pepper.” “Doc-tuh Pep-puh” Too cute.

The first time that Keira’s mommy took you home from school, you talked about it for weeks to anyone who would listen. “I rode in Shannon’s car. Toys.” The box of toys in Shannon’s car was pretty exciting as you never failed to mention them. That was the first time that you had ridden in a car in a forward facing car seat, but since then your regular car seat is facing forward. We had to reconfigure the seats so that we could install Cullen’s car seat. You can see out the windows much better now and comment on all the cars. You’ll say “cars” and “beep beep” quite often.

You have ridden in the car with Shannon a few other times since then. When Cullen was born, Shannon picked you up from daycare and took care of you until Aunt Kristin arrived (followed shortly by Nana and Papa). You have ridden home with Shannon a few other times since then as well. You and Keira have so much fun together! We stayed with Keira’s family in the mountains on the way to visit your grandparents in Kentucky. They recently bought a mountain house directly on our route to Kentucky, so hopefully we will be able to do it again sometime. We had a wonderful extended weekend. You and Keira had a lot of fun together. We stopped for another night on the way back home, too. Shortly before Cullen was born, we had a slumber party at our house with Keira and her mommy. It’s always a treat to see you and Keira play together. You get so excited to see each other! Recently, you have started saying that Keira is your best friend. Of course, this has been the case for a while, but it is cute to hear you talk about it. We try to arrange to have dinner with Keira a couple times a month, and we are hoping that you’ll be in her 2-year old classroom soon.

You talk frequently about your classmate Andy. Your teachers call him “Andy Man,” so you have been calling him that as well. You have an old cell phone of Daddy’s that is your phone. You use it to call Andy most often. You’ve even started calling the phone your “Andy phone.” The other day, you walked into the bathroom and said with surprise, “Where’s Andy? Andy’s not in here!” I’m not sure why you expected him to be hiding out in our bathroom. You are going to miss Andy Man when you move up to the 2-year old classroom at school. This should be happening soon!

You have had a lot of teething in the past few months. You finally got your molars, and they are huge! I know they must have been hurting you for weeks. You have been constantly teething. We are pretty sure you’re getting the teeth in between your molars and front teeth. You have at least 12 teeth now, though we think a couple more have broken through the gums. You don’t let us get a good look at them these days. You do enjoy getting your teeth brushed “with Thomas.” You saw the Thomas toothpaste in Target and just had to have it. Somehow with just one small Thomas train set, you are very aware of who he is.

You have been pretty healthy most of the time, but you did have your first experiences with croup. This was quite scary for your parents! We were worried about whether we might have to make a trip to the emergency room in the middle of the night. Fortunately, we did not have to do that, but we did take you into the steamy bathroom multiple times with the shower running on hot for 15-20 minutes. None of us got much sleep for a couple of days, and you lost your voice for several days. You sounded so pitiful when you didn’t have a voice!

You are growing up in a hurry. You make connections on your own all the time, and you’re learning so much. I have been giving you some lessons in the kitchen. You help me make the muffins and have the very important job of putting the muffin cups in the muffin tin. You have helped me bake muffins probably half a dozen times now and are getting pretty familiar with the steps. When it is time to put the muffins in the oven (or take them out), you are very good about going over next to the sink to stand a safe distance from the oven. I’ve been impressed with how well you follow instructions. You love muffins, and we’ve recently introduced you to cinnamon rolls. You take after your Mommy and love just about all breakfast items (and snack foods).

You love coloring, though you call all of your crayons your “blue crayons.” I am pretty sure you know your colors, but you just like to play games with us when we quiz you. Just last night, you grabbed a red crayon and said, “I have the red one.” I promise you that if I had asked you what color that crayon was, you would say, “blue.” And then the conversation would go something like this: “Maddie what color is this crayon.” “It’s blue.” “No, Maddie, you know it’s not blue, what color is it” “It’s blue.” “No, it’s not blue.” “It’s not blue” “That’s right, it’s not blue, what color is it?” “It’s orange.” “No, you know it’s not orange.”

You have been drawing with more purpose. On your drawing toy, I have seen you draw spirals on multiple occasions. In your coloring books, you have started coloring shapes mostly within the lines and fairly completely. It’s so neat to see you develop in these ways. Your love of crayons and drawing inspired us to have a crayon-themed party for your birthday party later today.

You no longer will agree to wear a bib when you are eating meals with us. As far as I know, you still wear one at school. I hear that the two year old classroom doesn’t use bibs, so I guess you’ve been practicing at home. We haven’t started potty training, but that is something else you will be doing at school before too long. You have a potty and sometimes like to sit on it, and you’ve even had some potty successes. You are interested in the process, and you’re aware that Keira uses the potty and wears underwear. You seem like you may be interested in it soon. You are getting familiar with the potty process, which is one step. You will always tell us when you have a poopy diaper (though sometimes say, “It’s just gas”). You often tell us when you have a wet diaper as well. We’re not quite ready for the potty training adventure, but we will gladly welcome dealing with less diapers now that we have two kids in diapers!

You are an amazing little girl. I love hearing you talk about every little thing, and you are getting so very articulate. I am used to translating your speech for outsiders, but it’s becoming more and more clear to everyone what you are saying. My favorite development in the past 3 months has been the fact that you call me “Mommy” often now. I love being your Mommy, my sweet little girl. I am excited to see what the next year brings in your life. I’m sure you will continue to impress us and inspire us. I love you so much, Maddie. Happy birthday, sweetie.

Love,
Mommy

Oops, the steering wheel is on the outside!

She loves getting in the bus with Daddy:

The bus has a nice sunroof.

Aunt Kristin played in the tent with Maddie. Who enjoyed it more?

And Maddie discovered that she could walk around the house in the bus. Click on the post to see the embedded video.

With Maddie, I was induced a few days before my due date due to high blood pressure issues. We showed up at 6am at the hospital, and they started the induction pretty soon after arrival. It wasn’t long before I determined that I did indeed want an epidural. The epidural didn’t take fully for a while, but I had plenty of time for it to kick in. I was in some pain before that, especially since I had back labor with her. By early afternoon, I was pretty comfortable. Progress was steady, though it seemed to take forever having never gone through it before. I was officially in labor for 10 hours, and Maddie was born after pushing for over two hours. I was exhausted and unsure why I had to wait forever in order to hold my daughter. It was a confusing and emotional experience, but I finally was able to hold my little girl in my arms.

Since I didn’t spontaneously go into labor with Maddie, I still had no real idea of what it is like to go into labor. I wondered when it would happen and how. I experienced many more contractions this time in the last few months of the pregnancy. Several times, I timed the contractions to see if they were regular. Sometimes the contractions were a little painful or uncomfortable.

Until the morning of Friday, January 22nd, every time I had timed the contractions, they were not at all regular or getting closer together. That morning, I went to work as usual and noticed that I was having somewhat frequent contractions. I took out my practice iPhone (my iPod Touch that was intended to placate me until we are out of our cell phone contract), and I started timing the contractions with one of the pregnancy apps that I had downloaded a while back. I started to think that maybe I might be heading towards labor when I discovered that the contractions were very regular and around 9 minutes apart when I started timing them. This was around 10:30am. I emailed Gabe just to let him know that maybe he should gather the hospital bag, but I wasn’t too concerned just yet. The doctors’ office didn’t want me to call until the contractions were less than 5 minutes apart for an hour.

By the time I went to lunch on campus with a friend, The contractions were around 6 minutes apart. We had to stand in a long line since they were giving out free lunch (I didn’t want to miss that!). I kept updating my friend with my status and carried the iPod so that I could continue to time them. They were definitely getting more frequent and a little bit more painful…but they really weren’t painful. By the end of lunch, I decided it was time to call the doctor. After a consult with them, they sent me to the hospital. My friend went to get her car, and we had to decide what to do. I felt like I could drive, but friends don’t let friends in labor drive - go figure! We decided that she would drive our van, and we would go by and pick up Gabe and our hospital bags. I didn’t feel like we were in a hurry at this time, though the contractions were definitely frequent. They still weren’t painful, and everyone says that you shouldn’t be able to talk through the contractions. I could still talk through them.

By the time we got to the hospital, checked in, and had my labor signs checked, it was about 2:30pm. I was disappointed to find that no progress had been made since my appointment two days ago (still at 4cm, 50%). I was thinking that things were going to progress quickly, but now I thought it might take forever. Since I had not made progress since my appointment on Wednesday, I was now considered a “watch patient.” The nurse suggested that I walk around to see if that helps progress. She wouldn’t say one way or another, but it seemed like it was even possible that they might send me home. At this point, I really didn’t want to be sent home!

So, we walked around the maternity ward. My contractions were getting more painful at this point. We made some phone calls, and I was no longer able to talk through the contractions. I really, really wanted my epidural already, but they wouldn’t even start an IV with fluids until I was officially “in labor.” I ran into the doctor at some point and let her know that my contractions were painful, and I was looking forward to my epidural. I told her it was starting to get uncomfortable to walk. She said that I didn’t have to walk around if I wasn’t comfortable and that if I was going to be in labor, it would happen whether I walked or not. At this point, I was thinking, um, *if* I go into labor? I’m pretty sure I’m in labor, woman! But officially, I wasn’t in labor yet.

Finally, the nurse comes back to check me. I had made progress! Now I was at 5-6cm and 80% effaced. Woohoo! She got the IV set up a little bit afterward, and now it was around 3:30pm. The doctor came by and assured me that we were going to run the fluids (that part takes 45 minutes to an hour), they would start the epidural, I could take a nap, and then I would wake up and push and voila! Baby! That plan sounded good to me.

The pain had gotten pretty bad by the time they started the fluids. I had to breath through the contractions and started to feel like I wasn’t getting much of a break in between them. We had called my parents to let them know they should go ahead and start the journey to our house, but we decided to wait until after I got the epidural to make other phone calls. I was quite uncomfortable! About 30 minutes into the fluids, my water broke during one of the very painful contractions. Wow. That was crazy. I told Gabe, “um, my water just broke.” His response was, “are you sure?” Ha! Um, yeah. I’m quite sure.

The nurse came by not too long after my water broke. She started to get the epidural ready but said that she needed to check my signs. I think she had a good idea that I had progressed too far and warned me that I might not be able to get the epidural. I really, really did not want to hear that! When she let me know that I was at 9.5cm, definitely past the time that they could give me the epidural (especially considering the fluids weren’t even done yet), I was scared! I hadn’t prepared to do this naturally, and now they were saying I couldn’t have any drugs. Yikes! I didn’t know how long I would have to push. After pushing for 2 hours with Maddie, I didn’t know how I was going to be able to handle anything near that long.

The nurse wanted me to let her know if I needed to push, and at that point I didn’t know if I needed to push or not. A few contractions later, I knew that it was time. Unfortunately, the doctor that was supposed to deliver Cullen was in an emergency c-section. So, they were trying to get me to wait until another doctor could arrive. The contractions were quite painful and frequent and I really wanted to push at this point. The nurse was great, but I was wondering, “don’t you deliver the babies sometimes? Get over there and catch, woman!” I didn’t say that out loud, of course. I did ask if she could snag ANY doctor out of the hallway, though. I hadn’t even met the doctor who was on the way to deliver Cullen.

Finally, after holding me off for over 20 minutes, the doctor showed up and I told him I was going to push now. They were pretty quick to get things ready at that point, and after 3 pushes, Cullen was born at 4:54pm. Officially, I had been in labor for less than an hour and a half (unofficially, it was at least 2-3 hours).

The recovery without the drugs was so much better than the recovery for Maddie. Of course, the pain was worse, but it was for a shorter period of time, thankfully. It helped that I didn’t miss a meal, and that I didn’t have to push for over two hours!! I just felt so much better overall. I was relieved that I could hold my son right away - with Maddie, it felt like forever before I was able to hold her. I was even able to walk myself from the delivery room to the postpartum room!

Something I’m thinking: I thought I was tired last week at this time. Wow, I had no idea.

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping to have a boring week and a healthy family.

Something happening around the house: Snow, again. This kind of snow was much better. It was pretty, it didn’t cause problems on the roads, and it is melting away quickly.

Something I’m reading: Board books to Maddie. That’s about it.

Something tasty I ate this week: Several friends delivered real food to the hospital while we were there with Cullen. This was very much appreciated!

Something Maddie did this week: Maddie continues to be a chatterbox and cracks us up all the time. Last Sunday evening, she blamed her brother for the first time. She tore the wrapper off the crayon, and Gabe asked her, “why did you tear the paper off the crayon?” Maddie’s reply was, “Cullen did it.” Wow, I can’t believe how early that behavior starts! She’s not even 2! And then a couple days ago, Gabe was taking her downstairs from her crib in the morning and she passed some gas. Gabe asked, “Maddie, did you toot?” and Maddie’s reply this time was, “Bunny tooted.” I guess since Cullen wasn’t at home (he was at the hospital with me), she had to resort to blaming her stuffed animals. Hilarious.

Something Cullen did this week: Cullen seems to have his first illness which, due to his age, meant an ER visit for us and a two day stay in the hospital. He vomited several times and had a fever on Wednesday night. They take fevers in newborns very seriously and subjected him to a number of tests including a spinal tap and several equally unpleasant tests. It was a difficult couple of days, and we’re not quite recovered from it. We have been home from the hospital since Friday night.

Something I struggled with this week: Obviously taking my newborn to the ER and having him admitted to the hospital was a struggle. I encountered my first situation where I had to prioritize my children and give attention to the one who needs it most. Maddie was very upset when we left her on Wednesday night to take Cullen to the hospital. It was heartbreaking, but we had to focus on what was going on with Cullen at the moment. I knew that we would have times like these with multiple children, but it was still difficult.

Something I’m doing towards my goals: We watched another episode or two of Dead Like Me.

Something I learned this week: I learned a little more than I wanted about the ER and pediatric ward of the hospital. Fortunately, Cullen’s visit was a precautionary one, standard protocol for newborns with a fever. Thank goodness it wasn’t more serious.

Something I’m looking forward to next week: Maddie’s birthday! I can’t believe that she will be TWO at the end of this week.

Something random: I’m excited about seeing the rest of Cullen’s photo session with Catherine Keene Photography. This should happen tomorrow!

Something captured: My little guy in the smallest hospital gown ever, hooked up to an IV and various monitors. This was taken while we were still in the ER (where we stayed for about 8 hours).

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something I’m thinking: I’m thinking I could use more sleep.

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping to get my taxes done this week. I started on them this past week, but I need to make sure my numbers are correct.

Something happening around the house: Gabe’s mom came to visit for a few days during which time Catherine came to set up a studio for photoshoots of Cullen and the rest of us. I can’t wait to see the photos!

Something I’m reading: Still not reading much, aside from blogs in my feed reader.

Something tasty I ate this week: Friday night, friends brought over a tasty meal of sausage corn chowder, salad, bread, and a cheesecake/mousse pie. I think we’re going to add the chowder to our normal rotation of meals. We both really enjoyed it! I’ve posted the recipe.

Something Maddie did this week: She missed two days of daycare due to the weather (and one day due to the photo session with Catherine). I’m hoping that having her in daycare full time this week will help with her overall routine. Hopefully, it will help improve her sleeping schedule as well.

Something Cullen did this week: Cullen had his first of many photo sessions with Catherine Keene Photography. At this rate, the kids will have to pay for their own college but they will have beautiful photographs of their childhood.

Something I struggled with this week: Sleep was a struggle a few nights this week, but of course that’s to be expected with a newborn. The toddler is having more sleep issues than the newborn, it seems. It’s taking 2 hours to get her to sleep each night, she wakes up several times in the middle of the night, and one night this week she was awake the majority of the time between 1am and 5am. I’ve also been struggling with not being able to give Maddie the same attention we gave her a few weeks ago and miss snuggling her in our bed in the middle of the night. It’s an adjustment for everyone.

Something I’m doing towards my goals: Surprisingly, I did work on one of my goals. Just last night, we got out the Dead Like Me DVDs so that we can watch the rest of that series as we have time.

Something I learned this week: I learned that the daycare uses the phrase “time out” (sparingly) in the classroom. When Maddie repeatedly wouldn’t listen to me, I asked her if she wanted to go to “time out.” We had never used that phrase with her previously, so I’m not sure why I even said it. Well, it worked. She no longer thought that misbehaving was funny and stopped that behavior. Her little face then scrunched up in a heart wrenching way, and she got really upset! She went running to Daddy, “I don’t want to go to time out! No time out!” and was crying. I talked to one of her teachers who said she didn’t think that Maddie had ever been sent to time out, but apparently she has a healthy respect for the punishment! We’ll have to remember that in the future (but use it sparingly).

Something I’m looking forward to next week: I’m looking forward to seeing our photos from Catherine, my first “normal” week on maternity leave with Maddie in daycare the whole week and no house guests, and Cullen’s 2-week appointment and weight check.

Something random: I’m still waiting on Cullen’s cord to fall off. Poor guy doesn’t have a belly button yet.

Something captured: Grandma had a lot of fun playing with Maddie and holding Cullen this week!

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something I’m thinking: I can’t believe that I’m the mother of two beautiful children! I have kids. Kids, as in more than one! Crazy.

Something I’m hoping: I hope that the LOST premiere is good!!! Looking forward to it!

Something happening around the house: SNOW! It snowed and sleeted and did all kinds of frozen stuff for well over 24 hours. We have quite a bit of accumulation and are pretty much stuck for a few days. Maddie was excited to see it, and she spent about 5 minutes out there with Daddy. It was COLD.

Something I’m reading: I’ve been reading a lot of blogs on my iPod in the middle of the night while nursing the little man. For the first time ever, I’m staying caught up on my feeds. I need more blogs to add to my list!

Something tasty I ate this week: Homemade chili that friends brought by and chicken soup that neighbors brought us at exactly the right time as we were trying to figure out what to have for lunch. Meal drop offs are awesome!

Something Maddie did this week: She took a greater interest in her baby brother, after ignoring him for several days. She now wants to hold and hug him often. She will sit and ask to put a blanket on her lap in preparation for holding “baby Cullen.” She includes him in her night-night ritual (”night night baby Cullen”), among other important items like her shopping cart and school bus tent.

Something Cullen did this week: Cullen slept a ton and was generally a little angel. He has a tough job.

Something I struggled with this week: Winter weather, ugh! The weather changed the plans of my mom (she went back earlier), Gabe’s mom (she’s coming later), and Catherine (also coming later).

Something I’m doing towards my goals: Does it look like I have time to work on goals?

Something I learned this week: I learned how they correct tongue tie. It was a very simple procedure, and Cullen didn’t seem to suffer from it at all. Hopefully, it has made him a more efficient nurser and will lessen the chances of speech issues in the future.

Something I’m looking forward to next week: Hopefully, Catherine is coming to take photos of our little boy. The weather already interfered with that once, and I’m a little worried it’s trying to interfere again. Stupid winter.

Something random: We are still planning on taking a photo of Cullen every day for the first year of his life. Once again, we’re going to have way more photos than anyone could ever possibly need. I’m excited about the project as Maddie’s turned out awesome.

Something captured: Maddie was so excited about the snow. She wasn’t heavy enough to break through the top crust of the snow since we had a layer of sleet and ice on top.

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey