Changes

Yeah not so creative for a title but I couldn't think of anything else at the moment.

It has been a very long two weeks. The boys have both been sick coughing, sneezing, runny noses, etc. I brought them to the clinic on Saturday with Grandma Murtaugh's help(thankfully). The doctor said James is on the mend but that Conner's cold went into his ears. So he put Conner on antibiotics for the infection in his ears. I hope all the snotty noses dry up soon. Right now I think we are keeping Kleenex in business.

Last Friday, I finally turned James around to front face in his car seat while traveling. Since then traveling in the car has a whole new sound to it. James is a chatty Cathy now that he is riding front facing. This morning I took him and Conner to their first dentist appointment. As I made a turn onto the road I hear from the back vrooommmm, vvvrrooomm! DRIVE! The other night when Jimmy was driving he's yelling GO FAST! Now he points out every McDonald's that we pass and yells, burg, fry, shake! He points out trucks and anything else that strikes his fancy. I am glad that I was able to keep him rear facing for so long-26 months. It is the safest way to travel.

Did you ever wonder why flight attendants ride backwards?? Yes, because that is the safest way to travel. Obviously, for technical reasons adults can't rear face when driving. Maybe someone should think about designing a new vehicle where we could drive it rear facing. That could help stimulate the economy. Imagine all the new jobs that would create. One we would need for sure is rear facing driving school.

I could have turned James around as early as one year old to front facing because car seat guidelines and the manufacturer's manual say you have to keep a child rear facing until age one AND 20lbs, but since I have done a lot of research on car seat safety I have learned that if at all possible you should keep your child rear facing as long as possible. James now weighs 29lbs and the seat that he is in is a convertible(front and rear facing) car seat that only rear faces to 30lbs. So, I turned that one around.

With Conner I may not be so lucky to keep him rear facing for so long. The chunk meister is 25lbs and just going to be a year on Thanksgiving. Although he weighs over the 20lb requirement to turn him forward facing, he isn't one year. The seat he is riding in is also a convertible seat. That seat rear faces until 33lbs. Anyone want to take a guess on when he might hit that weight?? I doubt it will be 26 months. I can always hope that when he starts walking maybe he will slim down a bit. That may be any day now.

Conner has been pulling himself to stand for quite a while and he has finally started to cruise the coffee table and between the end tables and couch. He also likes to stand up and push James' Packers chair around.

Alright a change for Conner besides cruising is that he got his first haircut Sunday night. We saved $10. We learned that after James' first cut. I cut his hair and luckily I didn't listen to Jimmy who wanted me to use 1/2in. attachment instead of 1in. on the electric shaver. The kid would have been scalped for sure!

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Cutting Conner's hair proved to be a little more difficult then James because he has wavy/curly hair. One of our kids had to get the kinky hair curse from me.

Both boys visited the dentist for the first time today. I hadn't planned on having Conner examined because I didn't think they normally saw kids until they are 2 or 3 but the pediatric dentist that I brought them to said they like to see kids by age 1 so they both got to go. I have to say it was very relaxed and the staff was awesome. James even was cooperative. The main reason why I scheduled an appointment was because James has some discoloration of his front two teeth. I wanted to find out if they were infected or if it was from falling on his face. I don't know if any of you remember what my smile looked like until first grade but it included one front black tooth. Yes, from falling on my face. So, I guess you can say that James gets his gracefulness or lack thereof from me. James needed to have an X-ray of his two front teeth to make sure there wasn't an infection. He went with the lady without a problem while I stayed with Conner in the exam room. The lady said that he was a good listener and that he opened his mouth when she asked him to closed his mouth and sat still for the X-ray. I was like do you want to come home with me!!! Needless to say he got a Blue's Clues sticker for being so cooperative. The dentist came in and said the X-ray was clear. He looked at both boys' teeth and said that they look great. We don't have to go back again till next year. He did say to keep an eye on James' teeth and if there was any change to give them a call.

That's it for now. We are getting ready for Conner's first birthday party next week. Wow, how time flies!