Happy Birthday #2 You Crazy Kid!

Warning: this post is pretty much a novel, and pretty much just for my records, so skip it if you don't like long, drawn out stories :) My Baby is 2. TWO!! I can hardly believe it. I still treat him like my itty-bitty baby. This boy has brought SO much happiness into our home. I am so grateful he came when he did. It was perfect timing, even though I didn't think so at the time. I just can't believe how much I love him. He makes me laugh every day. He is so sweet and funny. He loves to cuddle with me which I love. It's a good thing he's the 4th kid and that I've relaxed a lot as a mom because he is a little trouble maker. Here are a few recent antics...

I was downstairs doing laundry when I heard a huge CLUNK followed by some whining. I ran upstairs to see this:

I just sat there and laughed. Later on I was up in my room and Daphne came running in saying "Mom, come see Baron!" I went down to the toy room to see this:

Monkey Boy.

A few days later I heard Baron sneaking around in the kitchen. Andy had been substituting an early morning seminary class at our house that week and the last day he did it, he had gotten some donuts for the kids. He had told me there were a few leftover on the counter. Apparently Bear had spotted the package (that kid can sniff out anything treat-related in our house :), pushed a chair over to the counter, snuck into the dining room and started scarfing that donut as fast as he could.

He looked very ashamed until I busted up laughing, and then he smiled.... and ate the rest of his treat.

One morning Daphne went outside to jump on the tramp and Bear wanted to join her. It had been rainy, so it was muddy and I told him to go get some shoes. He brought me some lovely ones to put on him:

Plastic dress-up shoes. Nice Bear, nice :)

As you can see, this kid keeps me on my toes and constantly laughing. He loves to eat. He is an excellent eater and literally likes everything-veggies, fruit, breads, dairy, meat, treats. Every food group. He does have some favorites which include: oatmeal, cereal, berries, BANANAS, cheese, yogurt, milk, toast, turkey, chicken nuggets, apples, broccoli, asparagus, artichokes, pickles, fish (tilapia is his favorite), baked potatoes (prefers them to mashed), carrots, hot dogs, hamburgers. he won't have his 2 year well child exam until we visit Utah in May, but I think he's around 35-36 pounds, and maybe 38 inches tall. Still just a big, solid boy. He wears 3-4T clothing. He talks all the time and says a ton of words and will copy anything you tell him to say-and sometimes things you don't tell him to say-whoops :) He's been talking in sentances since he was about 18 months old. We can always understand him and he can tell us whatever he needs/wants. He loves to play outside, loves movies, loves to watch his brother and sisters play games on the computer or nintendo. He looooves dinosaurs and usually has a toy dino tucked into his chubby little fist wherever he goes. He also likes toy cars and riding his 4-wheeler. He just learned to ride his tricycle and can peddle all by himself now. He likes to play Leapster, make messes in his and his sisters' bedrooms, get into stuff, and follow Daphne around. They have become great friends since Laylah and Jonah are gone all day. He and Laylah are very close and he gets so excited when she gets home from school every day. He loves to pretend to be a kitty and crawl all around the floor and "meow" and be pet and held. He gives the BEST hugs and says "I duv you" so sweetly. His grin is infectious and it is very difficult to stay upset at him for any period of time. He is spoiled rotten and Andy and I give into him way too much-one of the reasons being his ability to apologize perfectly "I saw-wee mama, I saw-wee!" He's been in a "big boy" bunk bed since we moved and he has done terrific. He's only fallen out once. He likes to sneak up the ladder and get into Jonah's bed with him, so we had to take the ladder out of the room. He still LOVES his binky. We decided to wait and try to get rid of it after the move, and we did try a few weeks after we got here. It didn't work out so well and we ended up giving it back. We'll try again soon. He is such a wonderful, perfect addition into our family and we all adore him and love him to pieces.

Now, to make this post even longer than it already is, I wanted to tell about my labor and delivery story, as I never have recorded it anywhere, and I wanted to do that on all of my kids birthdays this year. Baron is my most exciting story because it's the only delivery where I wasn't induced. I was supposed to be, but Bear had plans of his own...

I get induced a week early with all of my kids because I have huge babies and my doctor doesn't want to risk them getting stuck or anything like that. Anyway, I was scheduled for an induction on Tuesday April15th. My due date was the 22nd. I had been so exhausted the entire week before my scheduled induction. Andy was still traveling at the time and he was out of town one last time before the baby came. My mom and dad were also out of town that week. I had never gone into labor on my own, so no one was worried that I would go early. My house was a huge mess, I hadn't washed anything or gotten ready for the baby at all and I had also done a lot of hair that week. My sister was planning on coming the Monday before my induction to help with my kids that week and everything. Anyway, Andy got home Friday the 11th. Since his birthday is the 19th, we decided to celebrate early and we went out that night. We had a lot of fun and throughout the night I was having sporadic contractions. I figured they were just braxton hicks, but they were a bit painful at times. The next day I did some more hair and Andy went to help my brother who was moving. He was gone ALL DAY and I should have been cleaning my house, but I was just so tired and had been having a lot of random, painless contractions again. Plus, I had all day Monday to get ready, so I didn't care much. Cristan was planning on giving me a pedi and doing my nails that night, so I dropped the kids off with Andy who was still helping move my brother and headed over to be pampered. It was so nice to just sit there and do nothing. I stopped and got some food on my way home and when I got home the kids were in bed. Andy and I watched a movie and I continued to have more painless, random contractions. I mentioned them to Andy and he said "Oh, are we gonna have a baby tonight?" I laughed it off becasue I had never gone into labor on my own-I didn't even know what it was supposed to feel like! Around 10 I decided to call the hospital just to see if this was labor. I talked to a nurse who said "What # baby is this for you?" I told her it was my 4th and there was a bit of a pause and then she said "And you don't know if you're in labor?" I laughed and explained my previous inductions and she told me I should come in just to be safe, but I told her I would probably wait awhile. She told me to take a bath to see if that stopped the contractions. So I did. And they stopped for awhile. I went back downstairs-Andy had fallen asleep on the couch, so I watched another movie. Throughout the movie the contractions kept getting stronger and more regular. They still didn't hurt very much at all. After the movie it was about 2 AM. I decided maybe I should pack a bag for the hospital and find some clothes to bring our baby home in just in case this was the real thing. I also packed a bag for my other kids to take to my mom-in-laws (my mom was still out of town-which I was upset about because she was supposed to be my nurse for the delivery-another reason I was hoping I wasn't really in labor) I also started cleaning up a bit, because I was so upset that my house was such a mess and my mother-in-law was going to see it like this! I'm a weirdo, what can I say. All of the sudden the contractions started to HURT!! Just like that. It was weird. I kind of started moaning quietly and bending over and it woke up Andy. He came and asked me what I was doing up and I told him I thought I was in labor. He kind of laughed and then he said "Seriously?" He ran and called his mom and said "Mom, can you come over? I'm going to take Sarah to the hospital-we're having a baby tonight." He told me she replied very sleepily "Right now?" For some reason I thought that was incredibly funny and burst into fits of laughter. I finished getting all ready to go, had the kids stuff ready, Andy grabbed some stuff and we left and passed Andy's mom on the road. It was about 3:15 AM. Luckily the hospital is just down the road from us. We were passing Wal-mart and I suddenly remembered something- "Stop! Go to Wal-mart, we don't have any more video tapes for the video camera!" Andy looked at me like I was crazy, becasue I was in the middle of a contraction and just groaning and doubled over. He said "Ummm, are you sure?" And I said "Yes, I'm fine, I want a video tape, now go!" So, he said "I'll hurry!" And he parked, jumped out of the car and ran in. I only had one contraction while he was gone. I timed it and it was about a minute long and they were about 3-4 minutes apart. I saw him running back waving the package of tapes, he jumped in and started to drive. He was laughing and told me this funny story. He said he ran to the back of electronics, grabbed some tapes and then ran back to the front. He said only one cashier was open and there were about 5 people in line ahead of him. He said he didn't want to wait so he yelled "My wife's in the car, we're having a baby, I need to hurry! She made me stop to buy these!" He said everyone got out of his way said "Oh!! Go ahead, go to the front!" And the cashier suspended the things she was ringing up and did Andy's purchase and he ran out of the store and everyone started clapping. He said it was just like a movie. I thought it was hilarious and started laughing, which hurt, so I had to stop. We made it to the hospital and the doors were locked, so we had to wait for someone to buzz us in. We made it to Labor and Delivery and went to talk to the receptionist. This whole time I am of course having contractions and thinking I'm about to die, so I am in no mood for this snarky receptionist who is sarcastic and obnoxious. She kept making inappropriate lame jokes and made us wait forever. I wanted to punch her face in, but I refrained. Luckily, Andy made a snide comment and put her in her place and she finally got a nurse to take us to our room. I wish I would have complained about her, but I didn't. Anyway, after the nurse checked us in and asked all those lame questions they have to ask, she said "Let's check you so we can get an anesthesiologist in here." She checked me and said "Oh! You're almost an 8-we better hurry!" Later I found out she was the Night Charge nurse and she knew my mom, so I got excellent care. She was also the one I had spoken to on the phone earlier and she said "I knew I'd be seeing you later, I was positive you were in labor and thought it was funny that you weren't so sure." Another bonus of the night was that my actual doctor was the one on call! I was so happy, I love my doctor and he has done such an amazing job with all of my deliveries. So, I finally got my epidural around 4 AM, and then my doctor came in and prepped me and were all ready to go. I started pushing around 5:07 and out popped Bear at 5:12 AM (I think that was the time, it's written down somewhere ;) I remember screaming through that last contraction and pushing so hard and my doctor saying "I am woman, hear me roar!!" And then I just started laughing and Bear was out, I didn't need an episiotomy and I had no tears, which I was extremely happy about. It makes the healing process so much faster and smoother. Bear was a big 9 lbs. 11 oz. and 22 1/2 inches long. A BIG boy! He had a black fro of hair with a little bald spot right in the middle in the front, almost like a hole in his hair and there was also a squishy bump right under the bald spot- which I noticed right away. I made a mental note to ask the pediatrician about it. I also noticed during my examination of him that his 2nd and 3rd toes on both feet were fused together, so he had webbed toes. I knew a girl in highschool with webbed toes and everyone though it was so cool, so I just laughed about it and thought "Oh well!" He was perfect to me, and I already loved him to pieces. It was a fun and different way to have a baby and I'm glad I didn't have to be induced because I'd always wondered what it was like to go into labor on my own. I hope it happens again :)

Just for your info (because I have people ask about Bear's little bald spot all the time) the pediatrician said that it must be from when he was in utero and he must have been pushed up against something right there for a long period of time, that's why the hair follicles didn't develop there and that's why it created the bump right under it. He'll always be bald there, but if his hair gets longer, it's pretty easy to hide. I think it's cute though, so I dont' care about hiding it. And the doctor had me take him to get an ultrasound on the bump under the bald spot just to make sure it wasn't a little tumor or anything. We did, and it was just a little deposit of fat. It has since shrunken and almost completely gone away, but I can still feel it there if I push on it. I also asked him about the webbed toes, and he said I could have surgery on them to split them up, but that would just cost a lot and it wasn't necessary. He said "He can still wear flip-flops, so it doesn't really matter" And I agreed :) Anyway, that's the story of how Bear came into my life and made a place in my heart that he'll stay forever.

Happy 2nd Birthday Bear!