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My little man is Two today!

Happy Birthday Jay! Love you all the way around the world, through the stars, to the moon, and back again!

Happy Birthday To Me!

Thirty Six is the new Twenty Six, right?

That's what I keep telling myself today.

Not sure it's working!

One is FUN!

A few dozen new toys, and a million calories later, we survived the big First Birthday weekend. Baby J was in top form, and loved having all the attention, even if he did get a little overwhelmed and cry when we sang Happy Birthday! Ooops!

With all the worry that we've been through over his hearing lately, we decided that we had to have a big party to celebrate his birthday and focus on all the positives with him, and there are many. I want to look back on this stage in his life and remember it as a happy time, not an anxious time. A time full of the changes we're seeing in Baby J, and the excitement of each new milestone he reaches.

This little man is such a bundle of fun, and is really starting to come out of his shell and hold his own against his sister. Before now, due to Miss E being much more vocal and demanding of our attention, Baby J tended to be a bit of a passive observer really. I feel guilty periodically that I don't seem to give him the same amount of attention as Miss E got at that stage, and that I take advantage of his easy going nature and let him amuse himself perhaps too much. People assure me that this is the normal dynamic in a home with more than one child, but I still feel guilty.

These days, he's getting very vocal. Babbling away, and having full scale 'conversations' with himself every morning in his crib - I hear him over the monitor. I am focusing on these as very good signs that as of now his hearing is plenty good enough, and that he is definitely in line with normal speech development. He is even attempting 'Bye Bye' which sounds more like 'Buh Ba' accompanied by his waving arm.

Several people have asked for updates on our ongoing journey to get to the bottom of J's hearing tests. So far we have had CT scans come back clear, and blood testing reveal that he has a genetic cause for the already identified hearing loss. What we still do not know at this point is what exactly this means in practical terms for J, and what the prognosis is. He has to go through another sedated hearing test next week which will reveal if we are now dealing with hearing loss in his right ear, too. If this is the case it will be a very worrying development and I'm pretty anxious about it. We also meet with clinical geneticists and a pediatric neurologist this month. What exactly they will do, I have no idea. We are just going through with all of the audiologists recommendations in the hope that we get to the bottom of it, determine exactly what we are dealing with and we ask God for the grace to deal with the outcomes along the way. To be honest, I have no idea whether these visits with all these 'ologists' (count them - pediatric neurologist, audiologist, otolaryngologist, speech and language pathologist), is standard protocol following the diagnosis of sensorineuro hearing loss, or if they really suspect that J has issues in all of these areas! It's been a little overwhelming to say the least - but I am now armed with a folder, written questions for each doctor and a determination to leave no stone unturned in terms of finding out what's wrong and what we can do about it.

At this point, I am trying my best to focus on all these positives, and hope for the best - that is that this hearing issue remains as minor as it is now, and does not progressively deteriorate. At the same time, I have to try and prepare myself for news that I don't really want to hear in the hope that I can accept it and move forward positively for Baby J.

Above all, I do not want J to ever feel sad about this, or feel that he is or will be disadvantaged in any way. I want him to see me as a mother who will take on the world on his behalf, and later take it on with him, so that even later he can go out there and take it on himself!

Birthday List

I know this is another ‘list’ post, but I can’t let this weekend go by without a blog entry to commemorate this momentous occasion! Tomorrow I will officially hit my mid thirties – (yikes!) However, instead of giving in to the thoughts of, ‘crap! I’m getting old’, or examining my face for wrinkles (I just tell myself I slept funny, and they are pillow creases imprinted on my face), or other tell tale signs of aging, I decided to take the positive route and reflect on all the good things in life.

So, in honour of my 35^th birthday, here are 35 things that make me smile:

1. My baby boy’s face each morning when I go to pick him up. And, the way his arms and legs go crazy as he ‘tells’ me he’s pleased to see me.
2. My daughter’s anticipation of her trip to Nana’s house, and her eagerness to ‘rets go and pack our supercases’.
3. The fact that I will get to hug my Mum and Dad next week!
4. Knowing that I don’t have to be the one to rush out to a job in the mornings.
5. Staying at home, even though the ‘bosses’ can be very demanding and downright unreasonable at times.
   
6. Lasagna (European style with béchamel sauce).
7. Moose Tracks Ice Cream.
8. Pizza and beer.
9. Fruit Pastilles.
10. Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha.
    
11. The movie ‘Sweet Home Alabama’.
12. Everybody Loves Raymond (I only discovered this recently and love watching the reruns).
13. The fact that Rosie O’Donnell is leaving ‘The View’ (at last), not that I get to watch it that often since our tv must be faulty and is somehow ‘stuck’ on Noggin!
14. Paula Deen, and all that butter!
15. Recent British Movies, like The Holiday, Love Actually, Wimbledon, and watching them in the movie theatre and laughing out loud when nobody else does (I’m assuming it’s because some of the humour or particularly British swear words are lost on an American audience at times, and not because I’m a fool who laughs in all the wrong places!)
    
16. Our healthy, happy families.
17. Old friends who still keep in touch, despite all our kids, hectic days and different time zones making this contact sporadic at best.
18. New friends that have helped me not feel so lonely when I’m so far from family and old friends.
19. Grandmothers who spoil our children, like we were spoiled by our own grandmothers.
20. Aunts and Uncles who spoil them just as much!
    
21. The fact that I am only 6 pounds heavier now than I was the day I got married (which was less than 4 years ago, but I have had two kids since then!)
22. The fact that I’m still nursing, and this means I can stay only 6 pounds heavier than the day I got married, despite the inordinate number of calories I consume on a daily basis!
23. I found a great pair of jeans that fit me the other night (should have bought another pair.)
24. My husband has been able to lower his cholesterol because I’ve cooked him healthier meals.
25. That I know how to cook healthy meals (and quite a few less healthy ones!)
    
26. Puppies make me smile, but not enough to make me want one in my own house.
27. The smell of cut grass, that I can smell right now as my husband mows the lawn.
28. Snuggling with my babies – especially after a bath and right before bedtime.
29. Dimples on my baby’s soft, pudgy hands.
30. A clean and tidy house (especially if I didn’t have to do it).
    
31. When my husband says ‘I love you’.
32. When my daughter says ‘I ruv you’.
33. Baby giggles.
34. That I carried two beautiful lives inside me, nurtured them and brought them safely into the world.
35. Thirty five, wonderful, happy, healthy, and fun years of my life, here’s to many, many more!