2 Year Check-Up

Blake had his 2 year check-up this morning. He weighs 32 1/2 lbs (90th percentile) and is 35" tall (75th percentile). So he's doing great and is a bit bigger than most kids his age!!

I was glad we had a Dr. appointment this morning, because last night Blake had a fever (38.7 C). Tylenol and Motrin brought it down, but he didn't have a great sleep. Then again this morning he had a fever (39.9 C). Tylenol and Motrin brought it down again, but I was quite concerned. We thought he most likely had an ear infection, but Dr. Radisic checked his ears, his chest, his tonsils, his throat, etc. and said all is well! He said the fever may be the baby measles or a bacterial infection in his blood. If it's the measles he will break out in a rash in a few days. The only way to confirm if it's a bacterial infection in his blood is to do a blood count, which requires a blood test. But, he said we could start him on antibiotics and if he breaks out in a rash, then we'll know it's the measles and he didn't need the antibiotics. I said I'd rather do that, then take him to get poked!! So we'll start him on the antibiotics today. I'd never heard of this type of blood infection, but apparently it can occur in children ages 18 - 36 months. I'm going to do a bit more research online!! So it's not great that he may have either of these two illnesses, but I am glad he doesn't have an ear infection :) That's almost 2 months without one!

Hope the rest of your week is great! I'm sure everyone is looking forward to the long weekend!!

Luv Tracy

Happy Mother's Day :)

Here's hoping you all had a fantastic Mother's Day! We had a great day! I got up with Em early this morning and then after feeding her, returned to bed until 10:30 am. It was great! Blake even came into our bedroom at one point and I thought that was the end of my sleeping in, but he let me go back to sleep!! When I woke up I opened my Mother's Day card and much to my surprise there was a pair of Kenny Chesney tickets inside! I'm very excited about this concert! I've been talking about wanting to go for months now! I hear it is the ultimate country concert. Apparently he puts on an amazing show! My super awesome husband talked to my super awesome Mom and together they bought 2 tickets for the 2 of us to go!! And better yet, they are wicked seats! I can't wait! Blake also made me a very cute card at preschool last week! I has a very sweet poem inside :) My parents came over shortly after I woke up and we had brunch. Jeremy and Lindsay stayed overnight last night, so they were already here. The rest of the day was spent around the house mostly. I went to the Running Room with Linds and Mom, we finished Linds and Jer's wedding invitations, we played outside with Blake, checked out Linds and Jer's new quad and trailer, and then later in the evening Cal and I continued to pack our trailer!! It was a gorgeous day outside and nice to just hang out and enjoy the weather and company :) I definitely know I am one lucky Mom!!!

Blake's 2nd birthday party was on Saturday. We had a full house and it was lots of fun! Blake certainly enjoyed himself. His main focus was cake and presents! He wasn't too interested in eating supper, he wanted to get to the cake (although just before supper he stood at the counter and ate half a veggie tray, so he may not have been too hungry)!! And he hadn't even seen the train cake Cal and I made on Friday night. We really felt it didn't quite measure up to his dinosaur cake from last year, but as soon as Blake saw it he said, "Choo choo!" We were very happy that he recognized it as a train!! After I blew out his candle for him, we let him and the other kids dig into it! I had tears in my eyes as we were singing happy birthday to him!! So silly, but I'm just so proud of him and can't believe how fast he's growing up! He was so cute too when we were singing to him. He had an adorable little grin on his face :) The cake was devoured quite quickly. After cake, Blake - with a lot of help from a few of the others, opened his gifts. They all had fun ripping into the wrapping! We had a great time and thank everyone for coming and for the wonderful gifts! We look forward to Blake's 2nd year and all the new experiences to come! The first two years have been beyond amazing, indescribable and I can only imagine what's to come.

Have a great week everyone! We are looking forward to Friday, when we will be heading out for our first camping trip of '09!

XOXOX
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson

Happy 2nd Birthday Blake!

I've blinked and 2 yrs have gone by ... well not exactly, but boy have they passed quickly! Thank goodness I've been posting blogs since before Blake was born. We haven't printed them out yet, but we definitely will. I hope one day Blake and Emerson and our future child(ren) will look back at these posts and smile. I know I'll look back and smile and probably cry a little! I often complain that time passes too quickly, but really I should not complain. I should be, and I am, grateful that my children are healthy and growing and we are also healthy and get to enjoy each day with them.

Blake's birthday festivities are spanning across a few days!! Cal had yesterday off and took today off, so we had some fun family time planned! Yesterday morning we went to the Valley Zoo. Blake enjoyed seeing the animals, most especially Lucy the elephant! He was quite impressed with the "big elephant" (in his words)! He also loved the baby lambs! Not all the animals were out yet, it's still a bit cold I think, so we'll have to go back again this summer. This morning when Blake woke up he opened his gifts from Cal and I and Emerson. He definitely has the whole present and birthday thing figured out! He was saying happy birthday and ripping into the presents! He was very excited when he opened his gift from Emerson and saw Percy from Thomas and Friends! Later in the morning we headed to the library for Blake's last "Fun for Ones" class. After the class we ate lunch at the mall. Blake and I always share EDO after our library class!! This evening we met my parents for dinner and then came back to our house and Blake opened his gifts from them. It was a great day! And Saturday Blake has a birthday party at our house with more friends and family. He'll be thinking his birthday is 5 days long!! We'll let you know how the party goes on Saturday. Have a great rest of your week :)

Luv Tracy

Today I Am 2 Years Old!

Hi everyone!

Today is my 2nd birthday! Mom thought I should write a little email to let everyone know what I'm up to these days!

A lot has changed since my last email 1 year ago. Mom says I'm much more a "little man" now! I understand so much more than 1 year ago. And it's so much easier to let people know what I want and need - I just say it! People are usually quite impressed by my vocabulary. Mom calls me a parrot! But that's how I learn! I surprise Mom and Dad all the time with new words and even sentences. I'm starting to learn colors too. My favourite color is orange and I can point it out all the time! I also know blue really well too! Mom and Dad are very impressed by my memory. There is no fooling me and sometimes I even remember things Mom can't! Some of the other things I enjoy doing are reading books, coloring, building towers with my Mega Blocks, doing puzzles and dancing! I like to point out animals and things in books, around town when we're driving and everywhere we go! I also love to play hockey and pass the ball around with anyone who will play with me. And I like to throw a ball around too! Maybe I'll play hockey and baseball like Dad did when he was little!

Apparently I am 100% boy! My Mom says that's because I'm a little monkey climbing everything and jumping off of things and I want to be outside all the time and love wasting time in the garage! I like helping Grandpa and Dad fix things. Just the other day we fixed Mom's brakes. And then when we went for brunch the next day I checked out some cars in the parking lot to make sure their brakes were okay. Everyone thought that was really funny!!

I can not wait for camping season to begin. Dad brought home our trailer the other day and I already have my bed pulled out! Speaking of beds, I moved to what Mom and Dad call my "big boy bed" a few weeks ago. It's pretty cool! And now I can reach my light switch in my room! Hee, hee, hee ... I can turn my light on whenever I want (even when I should be sleeping)! I can open doors now too, but so far I haven't snuck out of my room!

And the biggest news of all this past year is that I am a Big Brother!! My little sister was born in February. Mom and Dad think I'm a very good big brother. I like to help them and sometimes I even get to help carry and hold Emerson! Emerson loves it when I talk to her - she smiles lots!! I was really glad Mom had a month and a half off with just me and her at home before the baby was born. Mom was glad too! And now Mom's home with us both for who knows how long! We're having fun, that's for sure. Last week I started "My First Preschool" at the YMCA. We do crafts, sing songs, read books and play. I'm also taking swimming lessons again with Dad.

At the end of February I weighed 28 lbs and was 34 1/2" tall. I'm sure at my 2 year check up next week I'll be bigger!! Mom and Dad say all that food has to go somewhere. Apparently they're worried about their grocery bill when I'm a teenager!?

Well, I hope everyone is doing really good. It was good talking to ya' and hopefully I'll see you before I'm 3!

Hugs and Kisses,
Blake

Miss Thumb Sucker!!

Emerson has been sucking on her fingers and fist pretty much since she was born, but this weekend she worked really hard and finally isolated the thumb!! And boy does she put it to good use! She will not take a soother, so I suppose this is the alternate. We're a bit worried about her being a thumb sucker. At least you can take a soother away! I looked up thumb sucking in my What To Expect the First Year book and they say not to worry about it unless is continues past age 6, so hopefully she'll stop before then!! She is getting more and more interactive and talkative each day! It's so cool to watch her change and grow! She's our Miss Smiley :) She continues to sleep really, really well. She goes to bed between 8 and 9 pm and gets up around 6:30 am. Occasionally she will nurse once through out the night. And this week her naps have been getting much better. She's always taking a long morning nap (usually from around 8 - 10 am) and then many more naps throughout the day! Of course she naps best at home, but we are not often home! Although for the most part we don't go out until after 10, so she gets the morning nap in at home. Now Cal and I have to work on our sleep schedule!! We haven't been going to bed until midnight or 12:30 am and it's starting to catch up with us - 6:30 am comes awfully fast! But it's so hard to get to bed any earlier. Guess we'll work on it!

Cal had NAIT this weekend. His second last weekend - YEAH!! He had his first hockey playoff game on Friday night. Unfortunately they lost. Game 2 is Wednesday night. Saturday morning my parents came over. Blake was so excited to see them, he almost fell while running to the door! I'm not sure what he's going to do when they go to Alaska in June!! They were only gone 10 days, but boy did he miss them! Saturday night we had a BBQ and ate outside on our deck. It was a gorgeous day! Sunday morning the kids and I headed to Stony Plain. We washed the car at our favorite car wash (all the way in Stony Plain!!!) and then went to Gerry, Lesley and Colby's house for a visit. It was nice to see them and check out their newly developed basement! There was lots of room for the boys to play!! Then we went to my Mom and Dad's for the rest of the day. Blake pulled on his Carharrts and went to work/play with Grandpa outside! He sure is 100% boy!! Once again, the weather was wonderful.

This week our baby boy turns 2 :( It's so hard to believe! Cal has Monday and Tuesday off, so we have some fun family time planned for Blake's birthday!

Have a great week everyone :)

Luv Tracy

My First Preschool

Today Blake had his first "My First Preschool" class! He had a lot of fun! There are 11 children in the his class, ranging in age from 2 to 3. They started out the class with all the kids sitting on the carpet and doing attendance. When your name was called the teacher asked you to say, "Good Morning." They followed that by reading a book and then doing a craft. Today Blake made a flower on construction paper, with tissue paper and green finger paint. The leaves were his hand prints and there was a hole cut out of the centre for a picture! After the craft there was some free-play time and then it was clean up time and singing a few more songs. Blake really enjoyed the class! I'm pretty sure he'd be okay with me not there, but I think I'll stay at least once more before leaving. It's up to you whether or not you stay the whole time or leave. I was hoping to register him in a summer session, but they take a break over the summer for the day camps and start up again in September. So we'll do it again in September! Tomorrow evening Blake and Cal start their next round of swimming lessons. Em and I are going for the first one!

This morning before preschool we popped into my office for a visit. It was great to see everyone and hear all the gossip! LOL! Apparently I'm greatly missed, which always makes ya feel good :) I do miss it, but love my time with the kids. It's that age old battle a woman fights - home vs. career!

Emerson is "talking" so much these past few days! I LOVE it!! We're carrying on little conversations all the time. The coo's are just too cute! And she is so smiley! It's hilarious! Sometimes I can't even look at her when I'm feeding her because she just keeps grinning and grinning and not swallowing!!

Thank goodness our weather is looking up again! We're going to the zoo on Monday, so hopefully the forecast of +20 will hold true!

Enjoy the remainder of the week (yay it's "hump" day!)!!

Tracy

Almost 2!?

I can't believe my baby boy is almost 2!! It is almost scary how fast time flies ...

We had a busy week this week. On Tuesday Cal's youngest sister Kathy and her daughter Katie were flown to the Stollery Children's Hospital. On Wednesday morning Cal's Mom and Grandma drove down. The kids and I went to visit them at the hospital on Thursday morning and Emerson met her Grandma Bev and Great Grandma Alstad for the first time! They kept the kids busy, while I went up to visit Katie and Kathy. Thankfully, it did not take long once Katie was in the care of the Stollery to find out what was causing her "episodes." She was diagnosed with a mild form of epilepsy and released from the hospital, with medication, on Saturday afternoon. We are very glad little Katie will be okay :)

On Thursday evening we met Cal's cousin Amanda and Gerry, Lesley and Colby for dinner. Amanda is in Edmonton attending the U of A. We had been meaning to get together for months and thought we'd better do it before her first year of University is over! Next year we will try to visit a bit more!

On Saturday we had our first 2nd birthday party with our New Mom's Group. It was a fun time! As the kids get older they have more and more fun together. Although at this age sharing can be a bit of an issue! We also attended a 3rd birthday party on Saturday afternoon/evening. Saturday was a partying kinda day :) Blake had a blast and I'm sure Emerson enjoyed herself too!

This morning my sister stopped by for a visit and other than that we had a quiet day. It's nice to have those once in awhile!

Hope your weekend was grand ;) Talk to ya next week!

Luv Tracy