Baby News and Binkey Blues

Well this week we had two major events in the Flanagan household. The first is that we found out that we are having a girl. When they told us, Steve asked if they were sure, I am not sure if this is because he is afraid of having a girl or afraid of all the stories people seem to tell you about a boy popping out after they were told they were having a girl. Well anyways both the tech and the doctor said they were 99.9% sure, so let's hope they are right. I was going to be happy either way, as long as the baby was healthy, but it will be nice to have on of each. Steve has already fast forwarded to her teenage years- so it is a little harder for him to be quite as happy. The grandparents are thrilled- my mom finally has a granddaughter.

The other big news is that we are quitting binkies (pacifiers). Jace was not a fan in the beginning, but as teeth appeared we gave them to him, mostly to stop him from biting (gave him something to chew on). Well overtime he became more attached, and it became routine. Now that he has most of his teeth, we started the weaning, and were to the point where he only used it at night. So we made the leap this weekend, and knock on wood, so far so good. We have packed them all away in the cabinet- he seems to not miss them until he sees them, so out of sight out of mind. The doctor said it would be good to get rid of them before his ear surgery, so let's hope we are on our way.

Jace had his 18 month old check up this week. He is a talking machine these days, though nothing makes much sense. He got bit the other day at school (it always seem to be the girls that bite him) and the minute Steve came to get him he pointed to her and tried to tell him all about it. Well he is 33" tall (75%), 24lbs 4 oz (30%) and has a big head (90%). We told the doctor that we are still having issues with eating whole fruits and vegetables so we are supplementing with the pureed form, and he told us to stop the pureed. He is growing fine and he said he just needs to learn to eat them. So this week luckily strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, nectarines and oranges were on sale. So we are ready- our little boy has to grow up.

An Ear Update

Well we went to see the ENT doctor this last week and he definitely recommended Jace have tubes. He took hearing tests, and there was below average movement in both ears, and one ear was even worse (where he has gotten most of the ear infections), and his hearing was below average. I think Steve and I had already decided that we would do tubes, but then the doctor also recommended he have his adenoids out too. The doctor really thinks it is the root cause of why he gets sick so much (the place where the bacteria gets caught and grows). They don't normally take them out until the child is 18 months old, just because they are hard to get too when they are smaller, and Jace will be 18 months old tomorrow. He said if we just do the tubes he will likely still gets runny noses a lot, which he has constantly now (the doctor called him a mouth breather, because he is always stopped up). So we are currently scheduled for tubes and adenoid removal on March 5th- though we have until the pre-op appointment to make the final decision. We just feel so bad that he is sick all the time, but the idea of having to put him to sleep for surgery makes us both cry just thinking of it. Everyone tells me it is the best thing they ever did, but it still is very hard. Oh and he prescribed another antibiotic- his ears looked better but there was a lof of fluid in his ears, so it was a matter of days before he had a bad infection again. This one was supposed to dry him up (nose and all) but we are on day 6 of 10 and his nose is still running all the time.

So in a week we will know if we have a boy or girl- exciting. It seems so much more real then- you can start talking about names and SHOPPING. Though if it is a boy I have no reason to buy any clothes- Jace had so much and I saved everything (there are 8 big containers in closets upstairs). But we will still need to get furniture and start talking about the nursery. I know Steve is somewhat afraid if it is a girl- there is so much more cute stuff out there for girls, but knowing how much the grandmas love to shop and the bargain hunter in me will make me refrain from buying too much (I hope).

We actually got out by ourselves on Friday night for a friend's birthday party. Which considering it is the only the second time we have had a babysitter that was not one of our moms, it is a big deal for us. We use an older lady who works at Jace's daycare (she used to be his teacher) and her fee is reasonable so I wonder why we don't so it more- he reminded us. When she came he instantly knew what was going on. He did not cry he just got sad. He laid on the floor and put his face down- would not even look up to say goodbye- killed me. We had a good time, but felt guilty. We keep saying we need to do it more, just to go see a movie since it has been 2 years since we have been together, so we will see if we get the guts- he knows how to lay on a guilt trip.

No wonder there are problems with our legal system

Well, Monday and Tuesday I spent witnessing why there are so many problems with the legal system (or part of it anyways). I had jury duty. I report at 8:15 and after starting 45 minutes late I find out I have to come back at 1:30 for a jury pool- too long to just hang out in Angleton so I boogied back to Pearland (45 mins each way) ran an errand, had some lunch and headed back to the courthouse. The next three hours I spent in a jury pool where I had to keep listening to people basically making up ridiculous opinions in an obvious attempt to get out of serving. Now I was not exactly excited about serving, especially as busy as work has been, but it is my duty so I was not going to lie to get out of it. Well, needless to say I was not picked, but at the end we found out 25 of us needed to report back in the morning for another jury pool, and I was one of the lucky. So I headed back Tuesday morning. This was a DUI case where the person already had two convictions and he was on trial for the third, which apparently makes it a felony and the person FINALLY looks at serving some real jail time (this post would be too long if I posted my views on drinking and driving). It was amazing to me how many people either had a DUI (about 7) and how many people had a close friend or relative killed by a drunk driver which led them to believe they could not be unbiased (10)- which excluded them all. Well at noon they had decided who they wanted and when they called juror number 12 of 12 she did not respond- she had not come back from the break! And of course they did not want to pick an alternative but rather break for 2 hours so they could try to find her. When we came back 2 hours later, I heard her (juror #12) explain she was just standing outside when the judge called her outraged. I wish she had been instructed to give us all an apology. So we were called in again just to be released. So after two days, I know like I should have felt like I did my part, but somehow felt I did not. My husband is always mad when I get jury duty (3 times in 4 years and him none) but after calling him at every break I think he now understands why I get frustrated.

Jace did well this week, we are hoping the antibiotics cleared the ear infection but we will find out Tuesday. We ended up going to the zoo Saturday which he loved. It is funny because this week it seems like he started catching on to things. He now will give you a kiss- he leans over to you and presses his lips to you cheek- too cute. Also started to say "more" and doing the sign for it- good and bad. Most parents would think this is not a big deal, but everything Jace has said up to this point always sounded like "da" though we could tell he understood us when we asked him something. And he finally ate pasta- first spaghetti with ham and peas and then mac&cheese. He would not even touch it before so to pick it up and eat is stunned us. I still cannot get him to eat whole fruits or veggies, though he will eat anything pureed. My grocery bill is very expensive every week trying to come up with something new for him to try- but just like the pasta I think he will just change his mind someday.

Two more weeks and we will know if we are having a boy or girl- getting excited. I am doing well- kind of have a slight cough still, but feeling better than last week.

The Ear Infection Blues

Well, Monday I got a call from the daycare- Jace had a fever. Steve stayed home with him Tuesday, and the fever was persistent even with the tylenol and motrin, so Wednesday I took him to the doctor. And for the third time since October Jace has an ear infection. This one came on fast, and the last one took two doses of different antibiotics to clear, so they seem to be getting progressively worse. So the doctor recommended we go talk to an ENT about getting tubes. I guess the new rule of thumb is three in 6 months of 4 in a year- so we are there. I hate the idea of putting him through surgery, but he is sick all the time lately. I know he will still get colds, but they (supposedly) should not be this bad. He had the fever all the way through Thursday night- it was amazing what a good sport he was about it, but between the coughing and fever he was a sad dude. I guess we will see what the doctor says week after next. Amazing once you start talking to people how many kids have tubes.

And needless to say, the inevitable happened today- I am achy with a sore throat. So me and the couch have been best friends along with my cup of hot tea. I have jury duty tomorrow so that should be pleasant- my luck is I will be there all day.

We got our front load washer and dryer this week. After watching the washer the first time we could not decide if it was working right because it does not add hardly any water (you can never see a level), but after some inernet research and asking a friend it seems that is how they work. I had read they use so much less water but had never imagined this. Jace had some very dirty items that we used as test subjects and they all came clean so I guess it gets things clean regardless of the lack of water.