Straight from the Mouth of Carly

Unfortunately we had to put Jake down today.  This wasn't something that was scheduled or even expected when we woke up this morning, but it is how our day progressed.  Thankfully, Jake is now comfortable, able to swim, and seizure free.  Dave and I spoke this afternoon about how we would handle telling Carly.  We decided we would let her guide us by asking about him.  I felt it would happen today, Dave figured that with Halloween it would happen on Friday.  Well tonight at dinner we had the following conversation -

Carly - "When is Jake coming home"
{silent moment, two parents looking at each other and all around trying to figure out who is going to talk and what exactly will be said}
Dave - "He won't be coming home, he got sick and died."
Carly - "No he didn't, when is he coming home?"
Dave - "He isn't, he died."
Carly - "No he didn't, when is he coming home?"
Dave - "Never"
Carly - "What day of the week is that? When is he coming home?"
Sharon - "He is in heaven like GG Grandma where he can swim, play, and not have seizures anymore."
Carly - "No he isn't, when is he coming home?"
Dave - "He isn't.  He was sick today and went to the doctor and they couldn't fix him.  He died.  But he is happy and in doggie heaven now."
Carly - "Oh.  Are we going to get another dog?"
Dave - "Yes, but not for a long while."
Carly - "Why?"
Dave - "Mommy and I have to recover from this first."
Carly - "Can we call him Jake?"
Sharon - "No, Jake will always be our Jake."
Dave - "You will get to help us name him or her when the time comes."
Carly - "We should name him..." (she just kind of faded off) "Will he have the same doctor as Jake?"

While today has been hard on Dave and myself, thankfully the kids have been very well behaved today and Carly has provided comical relief at all of the right moments.

Greek Taco

Dinner time recently has been a struggle with Carly.  The phrase "no thank you" has been used A LOT.  (Two weeks ago she didn't eat dinner 5 nights in a row...)  Last night we had lamb, asparagus, and couscous - Carly ate none of it.  Tonight we ate gyros or in Carly's case a Greek Taco.  Her "greek taco" was slightly different and consisted of lamb, humus, pita bread, and shredded Mexican cheese.  She ate the WHOLE thing!

Win for her Daddy with the creative dinner time naming!  Keeping this idea in my back pocket!

Triathlon Camp

Carly has finished her first week of summer camp.  This winter I learned that the YMCA offered a triathlon camp for preschool kids, so I quickly signed Carly up.  Between registering her in February and starting camp on Monday we worked with her on biking and even purchased a "big girl" bike (with training wheels).  She took swimming lessons and was ready to swim the distance with no help.

On Monday and Tuesday the kids worked on swimming, running, and having fun with each other.  She was excited about her time and camp, but there was a lot more excitement on Wednesday when I picked her up.  Wednesday the kids took their bikes and began biking while at camp too.  This was a wonderful addition in Carly's mind.  She got in the car and quickly started telling me about her day.  They swam, ate a snack, biked, ran, then moved on to the playground and lunch before wrapping the day up with a craft.  She even quizzed me about what she was to do in T1 and T2.  (T1 = transition 1: move from swim to bike AND T2 = transition 2: move from bike to swim)

Today was her final day of camp and she had a mock triathlon.  We went out with a sign and cowbell and cheered our little girl on.  She swam the length of the pull (in a life vest), biked two laps around a cul-de-sac at the Y, and then ran around the tennis courts.  She wasn't very quick today, but her counselors claim she was during the week.  I will admit, Carly is competitive about accomplishing a task but not about finishing first.  Dave and I aren't quick and our goal is to finish a race, so I guess Carly will be a lot like us.

Growing Up

Last week was a BIG week for both of our children.  On Tuesday, Carly attempted her swimming test at our YMCA.  It was after her lesson and wasn't really in our plan.  She had finished her lesson and a boy who will turn 6 in a few months had made plans to take the test after class.  This boy actually sat out for the 5 minutes of class so that he would be rested for the test.  I thought it would be good for Carly to watch him take the test and cheer him on during it.  I also knew she could complete the swim and floating portion of the test if she put her mind to it.  She watched him take the test and get his yellow swim necklace and immediately wanted to try it.  Unfortunately, she was not successful.  She turned for the wall with 2 feet left in the swim (swimming a foot towards the wall, so really falling just a foot short).  We made plans for her to test again on Thursday.  Well, she passed with flying colors after her lesson and now has a yellow necklace.  This necklace allows her to swim without me in the water where she can touch (so not very deep) and allows her to go on the 2 large water slides.  Unfortunately, she isn't quite tall enough to climb to the top of the slides.  So the reality, it gives her nothing except for a HUGE sense of pride.

Thursday was also a big day for David.  He moved up from the nursery at the gym to the toddler room. This move is due to the amount of walking he is doing now.  Apparently, he was walking all around the nursery and checking on all of the other babies and beginning to climb.  Due to space David was actually moved to the 2 year old room this day.  When I picked him up he was sitting around a rectangular table while the other kids were coloring.  He wasn't coloring, but was watching them closely.  When I came to the door and called his name, he looked up at me, banged the table, and went back to watching these other children.  I actually needed to walk into the room and get him.  (Typically he moves as quickly as he can in my direction.)

Last Thursday was filled with 2 big milestones for our growing children.

And We Are Done!

David Jr and I have ended our breastfeeding relationship.  Last Monday (July 1) he nursed for his very last night... at his afternoon nap.  We were starting the weaning process, but then an eye doctor's appointment ran long and David Jr was more pushy than I wanted before his afternoon nap... so I thought this is the end.  Dave and I pushed through with this idea and on Tuesday evening I broke down and enjoyed cheese on my sandwich and salad at dinner.  Later in the evening I enjoyed a WONDERFUL peanut butter cup (a year in the making).

The past week has been tough.  I've been slightly uncomfortable.  David has been fussier at nap and bed times.  There are many times when I thought, "I wish I hadn't eaten cheese and could just nurse these tears away."  I am glad that I did go ahead and eat a few un-forbidden foods to help me not change my course on weaning him.

I am sure we still have a few bumps in the road in this process, but David is weaned and going down decently now for his nap and bed times.  I went 12 months without dairy and around 11 months without egg, peanut butter, and crab and am really enjoying reintroducing my body to some of my favorite foods.

David Jr is WALKING!!

David has been taking a few (1-5 steps) occasionally now for about a month.  Yesterday, I took Carly and David to a local splash pad.  David crawled around and then would stand up in an area to play with friends.  While watching David I started to think he was finally interested in walking.  (At his 1 year well visit the pediatrician felt that David has the muscle tone to walk but wasn't interested in doing it.)  Last night David began walking from point to point more and then continued again today.  He isn't ready to hold our hand and walk out to the car, but he did spend more time tonight walking than crawling.

We are Back!

Our family is back on the water!!  This morning Dave went for a 33 mile group ride while the kids and I hung out, made pancakes, and cleaned the kitchen.  Dave returned home shortly after David went down for what I thought was his morning nap.  It turned into a 2.5 hour nap and allowed our family to have a FABULOUS afternoon.  During the nap we made lunch, gathered our items for the boat, and got as ready as we could.  As soon as David (finally) woke up, we all sun screened up and made our way down to the water.

Carly and David both seemed a lot more comfortable on the boat today.  David was very interested in standing on the seat, holding a grab bar/rail, and looking out at everything going by (both when we were in the no wake zones and cruising.  Carly wasn't quite as clingy during our ride and even sat up in the co-captain's seat for our ride home.

After our first anchoring we caught sight of some friends and decided to try and join them.  So up came the anchor and we motored towards them.  This turned out wonderfully!  They had planned to meet up with more of our friends and built in babysitters.  There were 4 rising high school freshman girls on the boats we met up within about 10 minutes of Carly first getting into the water.  It was GREAT!  We kept a very close eye on Carly (we didn't expect them to watch her), but she had constant entertainment and company.  She was very interested in showing off for these girls (and the other "kids" that continued to join our raft up) and spend majority of the time jumping off of the boats or swimming.

David did not spend quite as much time in the water, but he did have two extended lengths of time floating around in his life jacket and holding onto a noodle.  He was also very happy standing on the back bench jumping around and watching everything.  Which was great with me - it meant he was out of the sun and under our canopy for most of the day.

Dave and I decided it was time for us to pull out when another boat did since our kids were still happy and not in full melt down mode - we knew we were on borrowed time and our luck would soon run out.  We called Carly back to our boat and explained we were about to leave, to which she responded with, "No thank you!"  This got a loud laugh from the other parents and she thankfully did leave without any fuss or tantrum!!

Our 4+ hours out on the boat were GLORIOUS today!

Welcome Summer

While summer hasn't officially started - our family had its first real taste of summer on the lake today.  During the kids' afternoon naps Dave ran out to ready the boat.  By 4pm we were making our way down to the water.  After a short ride we were anchored and ready to swim.  Carly and Dave jumped in first and made 2 laps around the boat.  She then turned into a jumping machine.  She would jump off the boat to a noodle, swim to the ladder, and repeat (of course with her life jacket on).  David was loaded up into his float and floated through the water until he became more interested in drinking the lake water.  My favorite part however was the boat ride home.   I was able to sit up in the bow holding David in my arms and Carly sitting across from me holding on to the bars.  She even did a "woo-hoo" at a wave.  I am very, very excited for what the rest of the summer has to offer.

"We're going to...

... Raleigh to see my daddy compete in a half Ironman this weekend!" ~ Carly

This sentence has been coming out of Carly's mouth ALL week.  She has told everyone we have come in contact with this week.  She has played "Ironman" all week.  Saturday was filled with her registering  for her race and then running around the house.  She was able to show off her biking and swimming in the evening to her Grandma, who traveled into town for Dave's race.

Sunday morning, we woke up and set off to Raleigh to see Dave complete his half Ironman.  (Which Carly informed me was not a triathlon, but an Ironman.)  We were fortunate enough to have timed things just right and watched him run around mile 4 at Meredith College and then saw him at the finish line.  Carly was on cloud nine for the entire event.  Her daddy kissed her at mile 4 and everyone commented on her signs.  We had 3 with us - 1) Left, Right, Repeat  2) Run, Daddy, Run  3) Pain is Temporary, Internet Results Last Forever

After the race we got both cars loaded up and Carly asked repetitively if Dave could ride in the car with us.  After dinner she finally got her wish and he told us all about his day during our ride home.  We have all enjoyed hearing all about his race and seeing all the fun things he got from the event.

Tooth Alert

Around May 4th we went on full tooth alert.  We could see David's top two teeth through his gums, but they hadn't broken through.  I mentioned this to the kids' dentist during Carly's visit, and she felt like the bottom left tooth would be the first to debut.  Well our first tooth debuted today and it was the top left tooth!  Just one day shy of being 13 months!!

**Update - the right upper tooth popped through the very next day (May 26th)

David and I ventured over to his allergist today while Dave and Carly had a daddy - daughter date to breakfast before preschool.  David's appointment was almost 2 hours, but we have answers!  David is officially allergic to dairy, egg whites and yolks, peanuts, and crab.  Due to his allergy to peanuts and crab he has an 85% chance of also being allergic to nuts and shellfish, so we will be avoiding those items too.  This definitely isn't the news we wanted to hear, but we are thankful to have answers.  And those answers came very quickly.  The nurse pricked his back with the allergiens and began to clean up her materials.  David was very squirmy and I was having difficulty holding him without touching the spots on his back.  Within about 90 seconds she checked his back to make sure everything was working and quickly commented that she was going to get the doctor.  The two ladies walked back in and the doctor immediately said, "Get them off of him, he's reacting to all 5 foods."  He was quickly wiped down and coated with a lot of antihistamine.  We currently have a "plan" about what comes next - begin a transition from breast milk to soy milk, avoid egg, dairy, shellfish, and nuts, and return to the allergist when David is three!

Let's Celebrate!

It has been a BIG weekend in the Orr household!  On Friday David turned one.  We celebrated his birthday with a Duplo themed small play date with friends and a yummy grilled dinner with his Grandma, Papa, and GG Papa.  Our celebrations continued on Saturday with another grilled dinner and more company - his Grammie, Grandpa, and Uncle Robert joined us for the food and celebrations.  Dave designed and made a fabulous bright blue Duplo cake for Saturday night's celebration.  On Sunday we changed gears slightly and celebrated David's Baptism.  Carly was able to stand up at the front of the church in a dress matching David's outfit (thanks to their Grandma's wonderful sewing ability) and was the very proud.  She even held the skirt of her dress out while standing up front with David and our preacher.

Happy Birthday David Jr!

Dear David Jr,

It is hard to believe that a year ago from right now you had just finished getting your first bath while your Daddy and I packed up to move to a different room within the hospital.  Your birthday was quite the exciting day but it doesn't even seem to compare in the excitement you have brought our family during your first year with us.

Carly loves you to the moon and back (and then some more).  She loves to play with you, give you hugs and kisses regularly, and protect you from the world.  Everywhere we go she announces your allergies and will ask if you can eat any new food she encounters.

Your Dad and I just look at you in complete awe (especially when we see a newborn) and can't believe how much you have grown during your first 365 days.  You have gone from a happy, sleepy baby to a boy who can feed himself, speed crawls, recognizes the sounds of the dishwasher, baby gate, and laundry room door opening, asks to be picked up, and says "dada" as soon as your daddy comes home from work.  You no longer seem to be interested in baby food and have actually not consumed even 6 ounces total of pureed food in the past 7 days.  Unfortunately we are still working through your food allergies/intolerances, but hope to have more answers for you (and ourselves) on Thursday.

This past year has been a wonderful adventure, and I can't wait to see how you will continue to grow and develop during this next year!

Love,
Mommy

Swimming Lessons

Unfortunately at swimming lessons today Carly was not the model student.  Her lesson started off well; however, she a little too confident in her swimming abilities and not too interested in listening to her instructor.  While she was supposed to be sitting on the edge of the pool so another girl could have a turn swimming with the instructor Carly got up and walked to a different spot on the edge.  (She had done this earlier to work with the class's assistant, so I thought nothing of it.)  However, while both teachers were away from the edge of the pool with students Carly began to lower herself into the side of the pool by holding on to the edge.  As I glanced in her direction to give her the "mommy stare" she pushed herself off of the edge and swam about a yard and a half out into the water.  By this point I was at the edge of the pool and the instructor was within a foot of Carly's body.  She began to tread water for about a minute until she attempted to swim back to the edge.  At this point she began to sink down and was scooped up by the teacher.  There was a discussion with the teacher about how unsafe her choices had been before she was told her lesson for the day was over, a similar discussion on our ride home, and then again at bedtime with Dave.  I'm really hoping Monday will go smoother and that we haven't just frightened Carly away from the pool.

Still Allergic to Milk...

Well I knew this day would come, and yesterday it did.  David Jr, Carly, and I were at the park with some friends.  Carly was off playing and David was sitting on the ground with some other kids close to his age.  I glanced up to check on Carly and then looked back down at David.  I found a pile of goldfish crackers on the ground in front of him and his hand going for one.  I scooped him up, causing the cracker in his hand to drop to the ground and realized quickly he had one in his mouth.  With a quick scoop of my finger it was out of his mouth still intact, and slightly soggy.  Another mom had removed the crackers from the area and I began freaking out deep inside (not wanting anyone to know).  Carly had swimming in the afternoon so David would be in child watch, I had something at church so the kids were going to have a babysitter in the evening, and I really needed David Jr to take a nap when we got home so I could pick up the house some - all time that I couldn't helicopter over him and make sure he kept breathing, was getting a rash, etc.  Well David's lunch and nap time went fine,  and he woke up from nap with a nasty, blood speckled diaper.  Confirming that our little man is still allergic to milk.  I made mention of this episode to the girls at child watch and the kids' babysitter and neither reported back anything about his diaper, so I'm assuming he either didn't have a BM or it was comparable to what I had described.  He goes back for allergy testing a few days after his first birthday, but at the moment we know dairy will come back positive.

Chunky Monkey?

Our chunky monkey doesn't seem so chunky in this picture.  Today was the first time David showed off his little legs this season.  And as he motored by me I thought, "Where did those bird legs come from?"  David never seemed to develop the baby pudge in his legs like Carly and so many other babies do.  

Math

I have begun to talk more and more about David's up coming FIRST birthday party and it is making Carly quite excited.  There were some muffin/cupcake liners left out on the counter this morning from our breakfast muffins and Carly mentioned that she thought we would need more for David's birthday.  When asked why she thought this her response was "Because there will be what, 15 people here for cupcakes?" (A number I'm sure I've said at some point about the party, but do not know when exactly.)  My immediate response was, "How many do we have already?"  She then began counting the liners.  Once she was finished she looked at me and stated, "We have 10 mom, so we need 5 more." Talk about a quick snap of my mom/teacher head in her direction - I was not expecting to see my little 3 year old looking up after me after that statement.  But she was, and WOW!!

11 Months

David Jr is now 11 months and so very close to that big 1 year milestone.  Around the house we've started talking to Carly about how at the moment he is "Baby David," we won't be calling him that after his first birthday.  So of course now she calls him "Baby David" and then gives me a description of when and why we will be stopping this reference soon.  And while Dave and I are the ones who told her this and know it is true, I'm having a hard time bracing myself for this reality.  My baby is almost 1 and not going to publicly be called a "baby" much longer.

At 11 months, David Jr is a speed crawler and cruiser.  He isn't showing interest in walking or standing independently.  But give him a walk behind toy or a piece of furniture he can push and move he will walk right along.  And if he wants to get to a specific point quickly, then he will drop to his hands and knees and take off.  He loves to chase his sister around the house and race her to various points.  He is still very fond of dumping out the Duplo blocks and animals in our Noah's Ark.

David is also eating us out of house and home already.  He typically starts a meal with a portion of what is on my plate and typically eats more peas or green beans than Carly.  He then moves on to a vegetable puree and finishes his meal with either a fruit puree or chunks (if not both).  He recently also showed a big interest in graham crackers and wanting to bite piece off of it, instead of me breaking it up into small pieces for him.

At the moment David is not showing any signs of teething, babbles a lot, and has handsome blue eyes!

We Survived!!

Well Dave and I survived!

The above statement could be used to describe a number of events -
1) A weekend away from both children.  (Dave's parents also survived staying with both children!)
2) I survived running 26.2 miles and bettered my time by 34 minutes, having me finish at 3:46:26.
3) Dave survived running 13.1 miles and bettered his average pace by 22 seconds a mile, finishing at 2:41:01.

Don't get me wrong, I was confident about our family surviving the dynamics and big events of this weekend.  However, there were some bumps in the road leading up to the weekend that left me slightly nervous.

I had strained a muscle and come to realize that my hips were misaligned, leaving me to only run 18 miles for my longest training run and to need physical therapy 2 times a week for the four weeks leading up to our race weekend.

David had been consumed with work, school, and looking towards the future for his half Ironman event in June, so hadn't been consistent with his week day runs.

The forecasted weather for the weekend was in our favor for driving up to DC on Friday and returning home on Sunday, but sandwiched in the two days were some nasty storms.

Carly had developed a stuffy nose on Thursday afternoon and slept very little the night before our departure.  This left us worried about how she would behave and feel while we were away, and gave a pretty sleepless night before getting in the car to drive 6 hours.

David Jr. has only recently (as in over the past 4 weeks) began taking some milk from a bottle; however, had never been away from me for more than 1 feeding.  His food challenges also make his desire to eat table food some what of a challenge at times.

There were also about 5 different "childcare" plans throughout the course of the week leading up to this weekend, which had my anxiety level quite high.

Oh, and David's car had begun acting up and was occasionally locking the key in the ignition when you tried to turn the car off.  

With all of the bumps I was scared I was missing a big sign that this trip was a mistake and we shouldn't go.  But, on Friday morning my alarm went off at 5am and things began moving into motion. By 7:00am we were loaded up, had bought gas, gone through the ATM, and were on I-77N.  We only had traffic in Richmond due to a stalled truck in the center lane and arrived in Washington DC is great time.  After checking into our hotel we headed out to the Armory to pick up our race packets and make sure we had a clear understanding of the Metro system before needing it to return back to the hotel the next afternoon following the race.  We walked around DC some and ate dinner before heading back to the room for an early night.  Saturday morning, I awoke again at 5am and had the most pleasant surprise - a dry forecast!  The system that was supposed to hit the DC area that morning had shifted south and DC was spared.  We would have a dry run!!  We arrived at the starting area, turned our items into the gear check bus, and ventured around.  Eventually we made it to our separate corals and waited for the race to begin.  I know Dave complained later about a slow first mile due to a slow pace by others around him, but overall he had a fabulous run.  I made great time with my first 20 miles and then slowed down considerably for the last 6.  Not only was the race dry, it was also sunny for the final moments of Dave's and the last quarter of mine.  Following the race Dave was able to spot me in a sea of people and we slowly made our way back to the Metro.  After arriving at the hotel, getting cleaned up, and a quick nap for Dave we ventured downstairs for lunch in the restaurant that was next to our hotel.  After ordering a hamburger the waitress mentioned that the burger was huge and question if it was really what I wanted, I promptly explained that I had just finished running and finishing it would NOT be a problem.  I polished it clean, along with my fruit cup.  (The slaw was left on the plate only due to David's allergies, not because I was full.)  The remainder of our trip was peacefully.  Lots of sleeping and eating!  Our kids did great for their grandparents and even felt obligated to share their colds with them.  (Sorry)

I am very thankful that I didn't just throw my hands up in the air and cancel our trip after the many bumps that presented themselves the weeks leading up to the race and I can now say that I ran a marathon when my son was just 10 months old!  I've got my eyes currently on a half Ironman event in September (can't let Dave be the only one knocking one of those out this summer) and maybe a marathon in November/December - but I will have to see how our calendar is looking.  All of these long distance events take a chunk of time out of our weekends, and Dave only has a few quarters left of school...

Happy 10 Months

Double digits, double digits!  David Jr joined us 10 months ago today and has helped to keep out lives interesting since.  We actually found out 5 days ago that my hips are misaligned most likely due to David's delivery - although I'm not sure he is deserves all the credit for the misalignment.  (I'm somewhat of a klutz...)

At 10 months, David Jr is doing VERY well at eating table food and especially likes shredded chicken, peas, and chicken pot pie.  The only "baby" foods we have found him to not be a fan of are mushy grains and citrus.  Otherwise he enjoys EVERYTHING else!  This is such a blessing to my heart after watching his weight slowly drop between July and November.  When we went for his 9 month well visit he had chunked up some.  Unfortunately, he will never have chunky little Michelin Man legs and arms - he didn't start putting on weight until he became mobile.  But at 10 months, David is a bruiser with his size.  He is also cruising furniture and pulling up on tables, chairs, and cabinets.  He enjoys greeting us each morning by smiling as he is standing in his crib and will quickly flash a flirty smile when someone gives him any ounce of attention.  David isn't speaking much but he does occassionaly say "mama mama," "dada dada," and "up."  Every so often there is something that sounds like "all done." 

It is hard to believe that in 2 months we will be celebrating David's first birthday!