Dylan's 2nd birthday

Back in November, our good friends Sunny and Seth hosted a 2nd birthday party for their son Dylan. Boy, was it a party. No detail was forgotten and there was a TON of stuff for the kids and the adults! AJ got to take his first ponny ride! He didn't like it at first, but soon warmed up to it.

They also had a petting zoo. AJ LOVED the animals, but as soon as the baby pig came anywhere near him, he freaked out. This is a picture of him after he warmed up to the pig. He loved quacking with the ducks though!

They had a boucing slide too! I loved the slide--I think I had more fun then AJ!

And finally, what kid party is complete without a TRAMPOLINE! AJ has always loved trampolines--so he was having a blast!

Halloween

Yes, I am posting this two months late. I have a lot to catch you all up on!

AJ was none other then ELMO for Halloween! AJ LOVES Elmo. He has all of his books and got so excited when we picked out his costume "Elmo, Elmo, ELLLMMOOO!".

We had a wonderful time. AJ is still a little young for trick or treating, so we met up with his little cousin Roman and hit up a few houses in Grandma and Grandpa Padilla's house. Here is my little Elmo:

No pictures of the boys together, we forgot!

Missing AJ (and John of course)

I had to fly out to Minneapolis yesterday (12/8) and drive a few hours (normally it's 1.5 hours, but it was snowing) down to Albert Lea, MN for a work meeting. The meeting was cancelled and postponed until tomorrow morning due to a HUGE blizzard that hit here. We were going to just go back home, but the road conditions are NOT GOOD, so we are stuck nonetheless. So, I'm stuck in my hotel room all day long. Luckily, I have a good internet connection and can work.

I called John this morning and he said AJ was crying for me. I started crying because I have never been away from him for more than one night--and it's not even like I'm with John and we are having a romantic weekend. No, I'm stuck here all alone in the middle of nowhere MN and on top of it I can't even leave the hotel because the weather is so bad!

This stinks :(.

First day of School

Our amazing nanny, Hannah, is moving to Indiana to persue her nursing degree. I personally, loved Hannah. She was piece of mind for me when I needed it the most. She was so great with AJ and I could tell she loved him and he loved her too. He knew her by name (sounded like banana!) and picked up all kinds of good language from her on a daily basis. Hannah and her husband are very great Christians, which is important to me. Hannah will be missed so much.

Hannah announced last summer she would be moving (that is the perfect amount of notice!) in December. We took a few months to decide what to do. I love the nanny set up we had, but we couldn't afford full time and since AJ is down to 1 nap a day and is literally into everything, it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to work the amount of hours I require. After much discussion and research and many visits, John and I decided it was time to send AJ to school. We decided on The Goddard School for many reasons and quickly got him on the waiting list.

The Goddard School is a full time educational dayschool. Every day he learns spanish, sign language, nature (they teach about the seasons, how to dress, about plants, etc.), etc. They do Yoga and go outside every day, even in the winter (weather permitting). We fell in love with the school and the teachers and administrators.

So fast forward to last Tuesday, and AJ started his first day! I had a lot of anxiety (mostly about naptime--AJ DOES NOT nap anywhere but my car and his crib). It started out rough. We pulled up and I started crying and was holding back the tears when we were talking to his teacher. When we walked in, AJ was excited to see tons of new toys but quickly realized mommy and daddy were leaving him. We had paperwork to fill out and left a crying AJ. After 10 minutes we peaked in the window to check on him and he was BAWLING. My heart was pounding and I was thinking "ok, that is enough, I quit work". Teresa, the operations executive, consoled me and promised to call me in a few hours to give me an update. I left feeling sick to my stomach.

Teresa called me a few hours later and was happy to report he participated happily in all of the activities, ate all of his food, and took a nap with no problem!

Day 2 and 3 were so much easier and it feels like AJ has adjusted well! He is already saying YES (after saying NO to everything including things he wants), "see you tomorrow", "China" (it is Chinese New Year learning week), and singing new songs!

So while I miss Hannah, I am happy with our new arrangement!

Good Pictures of AJ

It only took me two months, but I finally sat down to figure out how to upload pictures onto my computer from my new camera! Here are some good pictures of AJ that I took--enjoy!

Updates

I have been so busy these last few weeks--I feel like I can't breathe (let alone sleep). Anyway, I do have a lot of BIG NEWS to share:

-Our good friends Kevin and Suzanne got ENGAGED! This is the engagement we all have been waiting for. It was expected, but surprising. Kevin, didn't tell anyone but his mom what he was going to do. Suzanne, as mentioned in an earlier post, is currently in Georgia in training for her job. She returns in December. Kevin went down there for Halloween weekend and proposed. I can't wait to see Suzanne this weekend when she comes back for a short visit!

-Our good friends Lindsey and Jon had their baby girl, Lily Anne Davis on November 4th at 11:38 am via a C-section. The little munchkin weighed in at 7.02 lbs and was 19.5 inches long. We had yesterday off for Veterans Day and traveled the two hours down to Harrisonburg to meet Lily. The doting parents are doing SO well. I am so glad--they seem to be dealing with the stress extremely well!

-Our good friends Clare and Josh are having a boy!

And what is a post without my little monkey, AJ. His My Gym class ended this week and his Babygarten class started. He starts school the first week in December. He is talking so much and is popping some more teeth. We are working on #14, 15, and 16--all eye teeth.

Here is a great picture of him falling asleep in his chair, mostly because he hasn't been sleeping well at night! You can't see from the picture, but he is holding food tight in his hand :).

I am so proud of my little monkey, so mature and everything!

Progress?

Yesterday AJ and I went to CH again in DC. GOOD NEWS: AJ IS FINALLY OVER 20 POUNDS! The medicine we put him on to increase his appetite must be working!

First the lab tests: tons of blood taken (and I mean a lot!), which AJ hated of course. Then the sweat test. I can't even explain how horrible both of these were. I don't want to relive it right now, as I was a mess during and after this whole thing. Hopefully we will have results soon.

After the labwork we went for our nutritionist visit. Basically she said that as parents we are doing everything right (finally someone saying that!). We feed him healthy, good fats, good calories. We don't give him juice (a big no no apparently). We structure his meals all day the right way. He eats then drinks and repeats it again three hours later. The one thing she said we can try is to offer milk only at the end of meals and only water in between. We offer milk throughout the entire day since he doesn't drink enough. She isn't concerned with him not drinking enough milk--especially since he loves cheese and yogurt.

In the end, she thought that AJ has a high metabolism and requires more calories then kids his age. She agrees with me that she thinks he was eating/drinking fine, then we gave him the iron (which tests showed he DID NOT NEED), which probably upset his stomach. His stomach probably shrank and then now we have to just jumpstart it with that medicine he is on.

She was still concerned, however, that he may have a malabsorbion problem, so she told us to give her a call in a week to get the results from the test yesterday.

All in all, a terrible day at the hospital, but the outcome looks promising. I feel better now, hopefully things are starting to turn around. Just that extra pound is making me happy!

Next step: Dr. Bader follow up on the 23rd and then his 18 MONTH (wow how time flies!) appointment on the 30th.

Oh, and I feel much better, my little one has his swine flu vaccine!