Ready to Rock 30!

Yesterday was my 30th birthday, and I got to "celebrate" today by hearing my second baby's heartbeat yet again.  What a glorious sound!

Pics of the current baby bump and the baby bump of Knox are on the left.  Baby's heartbeat is great, and I have actually LOST 4 pounds--back to pre-pregnancy weight.  The doc isn't too concerned since I just got over the stomach bug a week ago, and my eating habits are entirely different than they were when pregnant with Knox.

Of course, we celebrated my birthday in other ways as well.  Mexican food Friday night with our sweet neighbors, fancy dinner in Atlanta Saturday night sans Knox with surprise guests, Holly, my ATL BFF, and her hubby!!!  They brought me flowers and a card and we inhaled amazing food and desserts!  Yesterday was a lazy day, and I didn't even cook dinner last night as all three of us ate something that didn't agree with our tummies--but we did manage to "force" down a piece of chocolate ice cream cake Keith and Knox got for me.  I received many wonderful cards (one of which was from BOTH of my children :), several texts and phone calls, and Facebook birthday wishes that would make anybody feel so special on such a special day.  Honestly, I thought turning 30 would be a tiny bit difficult, but it's really not.  I'm just so thankful everyday, and every year, that God lets me be apart of this world, and that he has blessed me with so many amazing people and things in this life of mine.

Happy Monday and Happy February, y'all!

Fun Facts for a Snow Day

I have a few random blurbs I wanted to share since there's no way you could get me out in the cold to do running around just yet, and I don't have too much work to do right now.  I'm sure there are other things that need to be done around the house (like finish the laundry) but it's just too cozy here on the couch in front of the fireplace with my warm blanket.

Knox is home from school today due to the "big blizzard" that came through last night.  (Ha!)  I wish Daddy had worked from home to be with us, plus I was worried sick about driving conditions.  Knox and I took it easy this AM, watching a few shows after breakfast (you'll see him chillin' in a storage container below!)  I finally decided to bundle him up and let him explore the snow.  His first actual accumulation since he's been old enough to actually play outside.  Poor thing--I couldn't find his gloves, so I just put a pair of socks on his hands, so I know they were frozen.  Despite temps in the teens, Wild Man loved it and didn't want to come inside.  He found the watering can and carried it around all over the place, poking the tip in the snow.  He didn't do too much more with the snow--just walked around checking it out.

Next bit of fun fact is that Wild Man is becoming such a big boy.  Not only has he been sitting on the potty multiple times a day since Tuesday, but he has pee-peed in the the potty at school at total of two times, and the tiniest bit once here at home.  I think the only reason he got some out at home is because we promised him that he could play golf on the Wii if he went potty!  The time after that, he got on the potty and immediately said, "Gol!" (aka Golf!)  Little stinker.

ALSO, he's now sleeping in a BIG BOY BED!!!  Since Wednesday, we have a wooden rail on the side of his bed and moved his bed to set against the wall.  The first night we had to intercept him as he was crawling off the bed about 4 times, but after that and explaining many different ways that he isn't to get out of bed unless Mommy or Daddy comes to get him, he finally stayed--and stayed the ENTIRE NIGHT until 6:15AM!!!  He's taking 2-3 hour naps there too!  Last night we hit a little glitch--he rolled out of the end of the bed about 11:30.  He didn't sleep so soundly after that, but never tried to get out of bed!  We're going to get a smaller rail to put at the foot of the bed since he doesn't have a foot board.

Lastly, a sweet sorority sister of mine sent me a message saying that she thought baby #2 was A GIRL, from looking at the ultrasound pics I posted.  She asked if I had heard of the "nub theory" or "the angle of the dangle".  Sounds funny, right?  But it's really quite interesting.  Not sure if most of you know, but male and female genitals begin to form the exact same way, but it's not until week 16 or so when they're finally in the correct places.  This "nub theory" is using ultrasound photos from around 12-13 weeks and using the angle of the "dangle" to determine the gender--boys point one way and girls the other.  Check out the link here for a better description and photos.  It's rather interesting!  I know that may be TMI for some, but just think of it as your daily science lesson!  :)

Anywho, another rather long post, but what else do you have to do on this pretty snow day?!

Doin' The Potty Dance!

Today was only the second day for Knox to be in the "big boy room" at school (aka 2 year old room), and he is doing AMAZING.  I say this because he went pee-pee on THE POTTY for the FIRST TIME EVER!  YAAAYYYYY!  I'm just thrilled beyond belief.  You would have thought he just discovered the world the way I gushed over him!  :)

We've sat on the potty for a few times here with no results--he just checks everything out from the handle to the TP.  I've been asking him if we wants to go potty, but normally get, "no," his favorite response to everything.  I've heard you don't want to force them into it, so I just roll with it.  His teacher told me she just says, "let's go potty," and takes them every hour or so.  We tried after we got home but he got in the bathroom and hid with some fussing, so I didn't push it.  We just got back from dinner and we made a great attempt at sitting on the potty, but no results this time.  I just acknowledge his great attempts by big high fives

He may have better luck at school since he gets to see the others go potty.  The potty there may be more his size too.  I have the seat that goes over the big potty with a stool to get up there.  That's how I learned so, we're going to go with that for a while.  We went to Target yesterday and looked at the cool kiddie potties there, while saying how cool it would be to go potty like a big boy on one of those "bad" boys.  :)

Anywho, I know that may be TMI for some of you, but it just tickled me pink (hopefully--haha!  Pink, girl, get it?!)  What a wonderful way to get the start of the new year off right with my baby boy making me proud!!!

Big Birthday Weekend

We're gearing up for Knox's SECOND birthday party!  Second party for turning two!  The men of the group will have eyes glued to the TV--I thought I had cleverly planned the party to end right in time for the SEC Championship kickoff, as it worked out last year.  Unfortunately, after invites were sent, we found out that kick off was right during the party.  Why put the #1 and #2 ranked teams for a day slot anyway?  OH well, the kiddies won't mind--they'll be having fun regardless!

While we're gearing up for the big celebration, I wanted to make a list of words Knox is saying now on a regular basis--in case we're asked at his two year check up.  And just so you know, I'm spelling as it sounds coming from him:

mama:  unfortunately not used to refer to me, but instead cows and Elmo

uh-oh:  self explanatory

shu:  shoe

E-E:  puppy, for puppy food, but won't call the dogs that

bayball:  baseball, my child can already play baseball on the Wii--sad or stellar?

haut:  hot

nummy nummy:  yummy--often says when he sees cookies in stores or in the drive thru

choo-choo:  for any train or to watch Thomas the Train, normally accompanies with an imaginary tug for the train whistle

juce:  juice

*Just thought of two more:

all gah:  all gone

tha i is:  there it/he is

ca:  car--this is new one as of today!!!

There may be a few others that I just can't think of right now.  I know it's very limited for a two year old, but he saying a few more slowly but surely.  Some words he's said once or twice include bug (as in bug juice--sugar water packaged with coloring), horse, ice, match point (I know this one seems crazy, but he repeated it after the Wii tennis game!)

He understands more than what he lets us hear him say.  He signs please, thank you, more, eat and milk, but you usually have to get him to quit whining with his hand stuck out, and ask him point blank what he wants.  He also can do all the hand movements to Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  He knows where all of his body parts are and can point mommy and daddy's too.  He listens very well at school and almost as well at home.  :)  He's getting very good at helping pick up his toys when asked.  Oh and he LOVES all things cleaning--did NOT get that from his momma.  :)  I got him a toy broom that he carries everywhere and is obsessed with the vacuum when it's out of the closet.  We think he played with our steam cleaner so much that it doesn't work like it's supposed to anymore.  Hopefully this continues, and he can help really clean soon!

What else--oh, he loves putting together his little wooden puzzle with animals on it.  It's kinda like a matching puzzle--animal picture in space for piece and also on the piece with little knob handles on the pieces--does that make sense?  He does it all by himself and almost always gets it right the first time.  Speaking of animals, which he adores, the animal noises he makes are moo moo for cow, grrr for bear, meow for cat, ss-ss for snake, zzzz for bee, doo doo for rooster (as in cocka doodle doo :), and gobble gobble for turkey.

We're very familiar with time out.  You almost have to be with a temper like our Wild Man's.  :)  We just tell him he needs to go sit in the corner (a dining room chair in the corner of the dining room), and he just goes and sits (and whines a bit too).  We remind him there is no crying or whining in the corner, that he needs to think about what he was doing to get him there.  We never leave him there for long since once he gets quite and calm he just sits there.  We go over and explain to him what he did wrong and what we expect of him and then ask him to say, "Yes, ma'am (or sir)" when we ask him if he understands.  Right now our response is a head down movement for yes and a mouth that moves with no sound.  (I think that comes from me pointing to my mouth and telling him to SAY, "Yes, ma'am."  Normally he just points at his mouth and smiles when I point at my mouth asking him to talk.)  We save pops on the leg for when he does something dangerous or has fits in excess.

And last, but not least, my most favorite thing about Knox right now is how affectionate he is.  He is totally a rough and tumble little boy--chasing the dogs, trying to sit on them, running into the couch full speed, walking on everything in his way and doing "down, set, hike" in the hallway.  But in the midst of it all, he stops to give fabulous bear hugs and kisses, and kisses are now followed with a big MUAH!  Even his teachers at school say that he gives the best hugs!  And when he's winding down for nap time or bed time, he'll sometimes come over to me and crawl up in the chair with me to veg to some TV before turning in.  These are the days.  :)

That just turned into a rather long post.  I just wanted to make sure I'm documenting things going on in his life right now.  I have been horrible at keeping up with his baby book.  Anywho, hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Knox's First School Week Wrap-Up

Knox surprised us all, even his teachers, with how well he did in school.  His teacher figured him out pretty quick--give him food and he's happy.  Ha!  He barely even whined this morning since teacher had  a banana waiting on him!  Teacher said that he started off better than all of his classmates--that it took them much longer to get settled.  He has a new buddy named Joey, and I witnessed a little high five/attempted sippy cup swapping.  Too cute!  Teacher sent a few things of his artwork home (pictured below), and they are the best EVER!  Don't you think he takes after his mommy?  ;)

They made their own "baskets" out of a milk jug, to use for an Easter Egg hunt next week.  I'm going to see if they'll let me come spy on him while they hunt eggs.  I'm also going to go during their activity time to see him interact.  Teacher thought I might come today, so she had the two way mirror open (I didn't know they had one).  They had a puppet show today, and he just loved it!  He did have one bruise from school, on his ear of all places.  Apparently he crashed and burned from excitement that lunch was being served!  Ha, again!  We hope that the three day break in between school weeks won't set him off too much, but we're really worried for the two WEEK gap he'll have after Easter.  Oh well, he'll be fine just like he was this week, I'm sure. 

First Day Of School--UPDATE!

So apparently it wasn't as bad for Wild Man as I thought.  I had a call at around 9-9:30 from school, and of course I immediately thought the worst, and envisioned rushing to get him.  Nope.  The director just wanted to let me know how great he was doing and that he quit crying about 5 minutes after Keith dropped him off this morning!  His only issue was when workers would come in and out, but I think his teacher asked them to just peek in on him.

I got to stand and "observe" for a good 15-20 minutes.  He was chowing down, so we all know he was good if food is present.  His teacher said she thought she might have to get him a second plate!  That's my boy!  ;)  There is one little "feisty" boy, that was throwing food at the two other little boys and squeezing juice into his mouth with the sippy cup overhead.  Let's just hope Knox doesn't pick up on those undesirable habits.  Good thing is that I think that little boy kinda freaked Knox out a bit--teacher said he steered clear of him!  Haha!  I think he did play well with one other little boy that is a little more calm, so that's a plus!

Tomorrow is another day, and we'll see how it goes from here!  Oh and tomorrow is picture day, complete with a group shot--I'm sure that will be a hoot!

First Day of "School"

So today is Knox's first day of daycare/school.  He's only going four half days each week, but we think that is plenty of time for him to be socialized.  It's also plenty of time for me to get work competed each day--well for the most part and not including my current favorite hobby that is thankfully turning into a small source of extra income.  Anyway, this hobby definitely bleeds into our everyday life so I had to post pictures of all the goodies I made for Knox on his first day of school.  You can also see that the day didn't start off all that stellar.  Ha!  Poor baby knew we were going to drop him off somewhere strange.

School Bound

Momma's sweet baby boy will be starting "school" on Monday.  Keith and I have decided to enroll Knox in daycare part-time, to help socialize him (he's the true meaning of the phrase Momma's Boy) and to hopefully get the speech ball rolling.  Not only should this help Knox, but Mommy will be able to get a solid four hours of work, and possibly exercise in, without having to worry about "neglecting" Wild Man.

Starting Monday, Keith will be dropping Knox off at 7am (hanging around for a good 5-10 minutes to help get him adjusted as much as possible) and I will be picking him up at 11:00am.  He will only be attending Monday through Thursday, so we still have the flexibility to make three day trips without penalty, and get some playdates in as well.  I think all members of the Rogers household may be in better moods, once we get over the separation hump.  I hope.  I'll follow up next week to let you know how this goes.  *fingers crossed!*

Update on the "plan"

After talking with Michelle, Knox's pediatrician, our current plan regarding Knox's lack of verbalization is to wait.

When talking with her about the extra tests the ENT "prescribed," Michelle was not familiar with the ABR test, and said that the sedation would be a bit extreme.  (Thank goodness!)  She said that she could send us to the autism early prevention center to have him tested, but again stated that she DOES NOT think that Knox has autism.  So she said she felt comfortable revisiting the situation at his 18 month checkup.

Several of my sweet readers, one being a sorority sister 

that works with delayed children, assured me that Knox's situation is quite normal--so my nerves are a little more at peace.  Thank you to everyone, including Ma Jacks and Grammys, for all of your help/assurance/input.  We love you all.  We are so glad to know that Knox is so cared for and loved.  And of course, now I think, since he has found a new love in Blue's Clues, I could swear he tries to say "Blue's Clues" when I go to put it on--but I could just be delusional at this point!  :)

My Non-Verbal Sweetheart

Many of you know that Knox hasn't really been talking--at all.  Not even his first word.  He has been walking since he was 8 months old, and I've been told that when their gross motor skills are advanced that fine motor skill, like talking, are often delayed.

We went to his 15 month check up yesterday, where his growth is fabulous--weight normal in the 57%, head circumference in the 73% and height in the 85%, so he might be a tall one!  All else checked out great, with the exception that he hasn't said one single word yet.  Michelle, his nurse practitioner that we ALWAYS see, wanted to check his hearing, to rule out that as a possible cause to the lack of talking.  She also said that not talking is a major warning sign for autism, but that she did not believe that Knox suffer from that.  He may very well, just be a little stubborn in verbalizing what he wants.

Anywho, we call yesterday and manage to get an appointment at the ENT today at 2:00pm.  I wish I had followed my own advice and waited for a morning appointment.  It was QUITE difficult to keep Knox entertained for AN HOUR AND A HALF.  Regardless, his hearing check out fine, but now they want to see him back in 4-6 weeks to "run more tests"--I think it's to get more money, so I asked if it was necessary, and of course they said yes.  Then they want me to call and schedule a test called a ABR with SEDATION through the Children's Hospital of Atlanta!  I am completely freaked out to put my child through some form of sedation for an optional test, especially when it's known that some children don't really talk until they are 18 months old.  Needless to say, I'm waiting a few days/weeks to schedule the later test until I get more info.  I am calling his pediatrician to go over today's test results, and to see what Michelle thinks we should do.  I was okay with him not talking, but now I'm getting a little more uneasy with it...

First Haircut

We loaded up the entire family (Mommy, Daddy, Ma Jack and Big Daddy) to accompany Knox on his first haircut.  I was thrilled to have Diane, a close family friend who gave me my very first haircut, do the honors of first snips!  Thankfully, he was such a good boy with the help of some toys Diane brought and a little snack of graham crackers.  We kept a few locks to put in his baby book, which desperately needs an update.  Sweet baby boy no longer has his little "rat tail" that was beginning to form and his baby mullet looks much more like little boy hair--no more party in the back! :)  It blends more with the short hair on top.  So other than that, it was relatively calm.  Enjoy the few pics!  Didn't Keith do a great job?

My Little Technology Lover

Here I've been, worried sick, that my sweet baby boy isn't quite up to par with his "milestones".  He just clapped at 11 1/2 months, which many babies do at around 8 or 9 months.  Well, apparently everything is clicking upstairs, and more than we realized.

Keith is on his cell phone fairly often for work.  I'm on my cell phone fairly often because I'm a girl, and girls talk on the phone all the time.  Well, my little technology lover has been soaking up what you are supposed to do with the little silver thing Daddy lets him play with.  Tonight, while in my lap, Knox had Keith's cell phone waving it in the air like he normally does.  Next thing I know he puts it up to his EAR!  OH MY GOODNESS--he knows what to do with the stinkin' cell phone.  I put my phone up to my ear saying, "hello, hello Knox!" and he just grins.  So, I take it a step further and call Keith's cell.  Unfortunately, it was on vibrate, so he didn't get to "answer" it, but once I opened it and he could hear my voice, he didn't know what to do with himself!  It was great!!!  Once I closed the phone, he was determined to open it again.  Another funny moment.  He didn't know what to do to open the phone, so he sat there, squeezing it at hard as he could--his little body and arms just a-shakin', mouth clenched.  He did this over and over again, until Mommy opened it for him.  I tried to find the video camera to capture one of the most hilarious things ever, but it wasn't within reach.

So that's just another night in the life of Knox...