Peter Says...

"Hey You!"

"Go vote! I did. :)"

"Then, if your mom is as cool as mine, you can go swing afterwards. It's a lot of fun!!"

Sharing is NOT always caring!

When I taught kinder and 1st grade, I often found myself saying . . . "Sharing is caring!" Well, Peter is sharing, and I do not think it is caring at all!

First, Peter shared his stomach virus with both Andrew and me.

Now he has shared it with 3 kids at daycare. Ok, they could have caught it somewhere else, as we did wait several days after Peter stopped throwing up to take him back to the sitter. However, the timing is just too weird...

Uggghhhhh...

On a good note, he really isn't letting his broken arm get to him. He is trying to pull up on EVERYTHING, and he is even starting to cruise the furniture a little. He was doing this some before he got hurt, and we were worried about a delay in cruising/walking due to the broken arm. Worries gone - this boy wants to move! :)

13 Months

Notice the monkeys - his new best friends!

Yes, his arm is still broken. This picture was taken right after nap time before I put his sling back on. No, he isn't sick anymore!!! Although we all took our turn having the stomach virus, we are now all officially over it. Wahoo!!!

When my little brother Marc was 13 months old, my little sister Emma was born. My mother must have been "SuperMom" - I can't even fathom having a new baby right now!

Change of Scenery

Peter and I went to the mall tonight to get out of the house and enjoy a change of scenery. I can only walk around the block so many times. Andrew now has the stomach bug, so getting out of the house also allowed him to rest in peace and quiet. Peter hasn't really had much in his stomach the past few days except Pirate's Booty and breast milk, so he decided he was really hungry tonight. I'm hoping that is a sign that this bug is almost gone! We shared some chicken nuggets and french fries from Chick-Fil-A. I didn't let him eat too much just in case, but he did enjoy a little dinner. Then we walked around the mall. It was nice to just get out and do something different. We bought a few things at Dollar Tree, and I found a new pair of sunglasses for $10 to replace the pair I lost a few weeks ago. We were back before 8pm, and Peter went right to bed. I'm praying for an uneventful night tonight!

Quick Peter Update

Just in case you were wondering...

He threw up once yesterday evening and again in the middle of the night. Well, it was really 10:30 pm, but I had been asleep for over an hour! He woke up at 4:30am, and I gave him Tylenol and nursed him. He was awake until 5:30am or so, but then he finally went back to sleep. He was still sleeping when I left for work at 7:45am. Andrew is home with him again this morning.

Please pray that this virus will be over SOON!

Answer: FOUR!!

Question: How many sheets did Peter go through last night?

Besides having a broken arm, Peter is now dealing with a stomach virus. Poor little guy. He threw up twice yesterday morning. Last night, he threw up three times. It was the first time since he was born that we have actually used every crib sheet that was given to us at our baby showers. He just isn't himself at all. The only thing he has eaten today is a few cheerios. If you have ever been around Peter at mealtime, you know that that is very unlike him. He LOVES to eat! He is still nursing, so right now that is his only form of nourishment. Andrew took Peter to the doctor this morning, and the goal is just to keep him hydrated. Hopefully it will be a short virus that will run its course quickly, and our little guy will be back to his old self soon!!

Answer: Broken

Question: What is Peter's right arm?

Peter has a broken arm. It is something that I absolutely never imagined happening, but now we are learning how to handle a toddler who is frustrated because he doesn't have full mobility of his right arm. I'm so thankful that he is a happy baby overall. That is definitely helping him in this situation!

Yesterday started out as any normal Monday would. It's that weird time of year where the weather is so cold in the morning that you have to wear a coat, but so warm in the afternoon that you can wear shorts. Peter was wearing his new sweater and shoes - such a handsome boy. :)

He had fun playing with his friends at the sitter, but he fell during the day there. When I picked him up, he was a little fussy, but he wasn't acting like he was in a lot of pain. I took him home and fed him lunch. After lunch, I sat him on the floor in the playroom to play before nap time. He was acting completely frustrated and wouldn't scoot around like he normally does. I could tell that he wanted a certain toy, but he wasn't trying to get it. Although he isn't walking yet, he gets around just as fast scooting on his bottom and pulling himself with his arms. Yesterday, though, he was just sitting there. I called the doctor and left a message to see if we could come in.

At that point, I thought that he was probably just sore from falling. He had hit his head, so I thought that he might have a headache. I gave him some Tylenol and put him down for a nap. He usually takes a 1.5-2.5 hour nap in the afternoon, but he barely slept for an hour before waking yesterday. I called the doctor again, and they got us in right away.

Peter is usually great at the doctor, but he was not feeling himself yesterday at all. He screamed when the doctor tried to look at him. Because Peter couldn't verbalize where he was hurting, we were sent to the radiologist's office for x-rays.

Once there, we signed in and waited. Peter was doing great at this point. Although he still wasn't using his right arm, he was eating cheerios and visiting with another lady waiting in the office. We were called back pretty quickly, and we got ready to take pictures. They had to take A LOT of x-rays. They did x-rays of his skull, clavicle, shoulder, arm, and wrist. Peter did not care for the x-ray tech at all. She was very sweet, but every time she would walk in the room, he would start screaming. Then she would leave to check the picture, and he was totally fine. They had several techs helping, though, and they were wonderful. I could tell they had experience with young children. An hour later we were finished, and a nice little orange monkey got to leave with us because Peter did such a good job. Peter already had one stuffed monkey, so I think this might be the start of a monkey collection!

The pediatric radiologist looked at the x-rays and called my doctor. By this time, it was already after office hours. The doctor then called me at home at 6pm with the verdict - a broken humerus.

We visited the pediatric orthopedic surgeon today. The service at this office was wonderful as well. They were right on time, and we were in and out in less than an hour! We were able to see the bone, and it was indeed broken. The doctor described it as a "crinkle" - kind of like when you squeeze a soda can. It was a clean break, and it was not out of alignment. Because of the location of the break - upper humerus near the shoulder - a cast isn't an option in this case. Instead, they put a sling on Peter and wrapped an ace bandage around it. The goal is to limit mobility for 4 weeks. At that point, we return for x-rays and pray that it is healed. The doctor was extremely optimistic that it would heal just fine.

Peter seems to be getting used to the sling. He can take it off for naps and bedtime, and he is sleeping well despite everything. He is still turning over onto his stomach in bed to go to sleep, but he can't turn back over when he wakes up. He also can't pull up in bed (another new skill that he has learned recently that was affecting his sleeping). He is definitely being a real trooper about all of this!

Hi!

Peter and I were driving home from Krista's house this morning (Krista is Peter's sitter). We were stopped at a red light, and I could hear Peter in the backseat saying "hi, hi, hi, hi, hi . . . ". I turned around, and he was looking out the window at another driver who was waving at him. I'm sure Peter thought that the man could hear him. It was so cute!

He's been saying it for about a month now - Official first word = hi!

Loooonnnnnnnngggggggg Walk!

After getting home from HEB this afternoon, we realized that we had forgotten to get batteries for Peter's house toy. The weather today was BEAUTIFUL, so we decided to walk to Randalls to get batteries. Peter loves being outside, so we knew he would enjoy the walk. We loaded Peter into the stroller, made sure to have his water cup and lots of Cheerios, and set off.

Now, I haven't walked farther than around the block in uh, well, a LONG time. Randalls is a little over a mile from the house. Needless to say, I was quite tired by the time we got there. We bought the batteries and grabbed a couple of sodas from the machine before heading back home.

Notice anything different about Peter? He's wearing shoes! This is the first time he has ever worn shoes. He kept trying to get them off at first, but he got used to them fairly quickly. These shoes are called Robeez, and I got them for free. Quite the deal! :)

Instead of backtracking, we decided to walk home a different (slightly longer!) way. About a third of a mile along the way, we walked past a park. They had toddler swings, so we stopped to swing and slide. The park has picnic tables and grills - a great place for a picnic in the future!

Finally, we were on our way home again. I'm really not sure how I made it home. We walked a total of 3 miles!! I was wearing flipflops (I know, I know ... next time I'll wear tennis shoes!), so my feet are pretty sore. I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow, but it was wonderful to get out and just enjoy the weather and family time. Maybe we'll try it again next weekend. :)

Peter was bathed and in bed by 7:15. He was worn out! Andrew and I enjoyed a nice dinner together (Chinese take-out!) after Peter was asleep. Now, even thought it's only 8:40pm, I'm headed to bed. I'm exhausted!

Just Like Mommy!

Peter had a great time today being pulled by Poppy in the wagon that I used to ride in!

Favorite Foods

Peter LOVES to eat! Here are some of his current favorite foods:

spaghetti

pancakes

Pirate's Booty

pasta with alfredo sauce

peas

cheerios

strawberries

4 in a row - not happening!

Well, I guess 3 nights of sleeping through the night is Peter's limit. He woke up at 2:45 last night and just wouldn't go back to sleep. I went in his room, fed him, and put him back to bed. He happily fell asleep again. Guess he was just hungry...He woke up again at 3:50, but he put himself back to sleep that time. I had to wake him up at 6:40 to get ready for the babysitter.

Now he is still sleeping, and it's already 5:25! I got a good nap because he's taking a long nap (He's been asleep since 2:30ish), but I hope he sleeps tonight!!

Progress!

Peter took several steps last night holding onto his toy all by himself! He will "walk" while holding our hands, but this is the first time that he has taken a step without us holding onto him. We are so proud! :)

3 nights in a row...

Peter has slept through the night the last 3 nights!! That means that I have had 3 nights of completely uninterrupted sleep! Can we make it 4 nights? Here's hoping... :)

Family Time

Andrew has worked almost every Saturday for 15 months. He had today off, though, so we took advantage of it! After breakfast, Andrew took Peter for a walk while I cleaned up the kitchen. Peter got this really neat little car for his birthday from Aunt Amy and Aunt Kim. It has a handle for us to push it with. Peter LOVES riding in it. He enjoys looking around at everything and honking the horn. It was a little after 9am when Andrew and Peter returned from their walk, so it was nap time for Peter. He slept for over 2 hours! Once he woke up, we headed out. We had lunch at Chicken Express. Chicken Express is right next to a park, so we went over to the park to play. The weather was perfect. We walked for a little while, and then we stopped to swing. Peter really enjoys swinging.

Then Peter sat on the purple dinosaur. His balance is getting so much better!

After the dinosaur, we spread out the blanket and sat for a while in the shade. Ok, Andrew and I sat. Peter scooted all over the place. I tried to keep him on the blanket, but he wanted nothing to do with that. He discovered sticks for the first time. He only tried to eat the little ones, so we didn't mind when he picked up a giant stick. At least he couldn't put it in his mouth! There was a cool breeze, so we enjoyed just hanging out.
We left around 3pm so Peter could have his second nap. He slept for an hour and a half - just enough time for Mommy and Daddy to nap too. :) We took one more walk in the toy car after dinner (Homer joined us for that walk), and then it was off to bed. It was nice to have Daddy home the entire day today!

Set Us Free!

Hey guys - Would you like out of your crates? I know Mommy said that you have to stay in for now because she's mopping the kitchen, but I will get you out of there so we can play!

I'm pulling hard, but your crate door is just too big! Can't you help me out in there?

Hmmm...let me try the little crate. Come on Homer - You have to help, too!

Oh well. I guess I'll just get into all of Mommy's scrapbooking stuff instead!