Milo-isms Part 2 & Update

Last night Aaron and Milo attended Dad's Night at preschool. They had a great time -- Milo even petted a hedgehog (and by "pet", I mean touched for half a second). Milo also made a project just for Aaron -- picture is above, but here's what it says:

My Daddy is Aaron.

We go to grocery store. We go see animals.

We play.

Daddy cooks chips and cheese.

He likes to eat carrots.

(TV) We watch Monster Trucks.

Daddy fix stuff. He has a big

saw. He fix the house -

on the roof - in the windows.

I like Daddy to read

'Elmo's Ducky Day.'

Love, Milo

Now THAT is pretty darn silly.

As for Baby Hank, he had his 10 week check-up on Wednesday. And is less than 3% away from being the fattest child on earth. Seriously. He now weighs 18 lbs, 13 oz, which is well over the growth chart. And Aaron and I will be scrambling soon to get MORE carseats, as Milo is still in the one that Hank will need.

Beyond that, Hank is looking good. He's much improved since I've been off dairy. Let the countdown begin, though: 3.5 months until I can try dairy again. First up? Hmmm. Chicken nachos probably. But I digress. Hank is gooing and cooing away. He's holding his head very steady and even bearing weight on his legs. That's actually one of his favorite things, standing up. It makes him laugh. Of course he's wobbly, but that's Milo's favorite part -- he calls it the Baby Hank Dance.

Anyway, Gramme is about to take Milo to see his first movie -- Monsters vs Aliens -- this morning. We'll see how long he lasts. [Erica's edit: I didn't get this posted in time. Milo did AWESOME at the movie and LOVED it. In fact, he's been back a second time to see it, and says that it's his "favorite".] And I'm going in to work part time next week, then full time the week after. Ah, transitions.

Love to all!

Hank's Two Month Portraits

Milo-isms

Milo, in all his 3 year old wisdom, has come up with some pretty funny stuff recently. Here are a few of my favorites:

- Mama! You have toes. You have a big toe, a little toe, a little toe, a little toe, and a little, teeny, tiny toe.

- (at bedtime): Can you sing me a song? What song, Milo? Twinkle Star? No. Bon Jovi. "Bad Medicine".

- (overheard from another room): Hank, why are you crying? It's OK. Come on, Baby Hank. You don't need to cry. I'm right here.

- (from church yesterday -- when asked what he was thankful for): Mine guitar.

- (also from church yesterday -- they were learning about the Last Supper and asking each preschooler what Jesus and his desciples ate): Jesus ate ketchup.

The Potty & The Park

Oh, give me strength. The Potty Training adventure (nightmare?) has resumed. The Diaper Fairy visited the Chandler home last Thursday evening and took all of Milo's diapers, which he was actually OK with. And we did have success all weekend.......but only if Milo was naked from the waist down. Which he was when we were home. The only accidents he had was when he had a pull-up or real underwear on.

He's on spring break from preschool this week, so the sitter decided she'd work with her son and Milo. However, Milo can't just run around naked at her house, so she's facing a huge challenge. He'll just go in his pants and doesn't have a care in the world about it. I'm just not sure how to bridge that gap between knowing what it feels like to have to go (which he obviously does when he's naked) and actually stopping and finding a potty when he's clothed. Gah. I hate it all!

On to Hank. He is 9 weeks old today, and just as fat and happy as ever. Actually, he's probably much happier than he used to be since I've been dairy-free. He's certainly not perfect, but he's not crying as much and not having such obvious pain. So that's a good thing. He began laughing out loud last week, and drumroll please............slept through the night last night!!!!!! All the way from 10:30pm to 6:30am. Woohoo! (Now, let's just hope that wasn't a fluke!)

Can I just tell you -- these clothes are size 9 MONTHS. Not 9 weeks. 9 freaking moths. Fat old thing.

As for Aaron and I, status quo pretty much. He's had a ton of gigs. And, actually, Gramme and Papa watched the boys for us Saturday night so I could go see Aaron's band, which was really nice. (For those in the area, you should get out to see the Funky Butt Brass Band -- they're a ton of fun! http://www.funkybuttbrassband.com/) However, Hank did give them a run for their money. We'll just leave you with this visual: Jeanie holding Hank while sitting in the bathroom, while Frank ran a blow dryer over Hank's body. That's the only way they could get him to eat his bottle. Crazy kid.

I have 3 more weeks of maternity leave before I go back full time, but I think I'm going to work some half days in a couple weeks to ease back into it and let Hank get used to going to the sitter. I won't get started, but, man, am I struggling with the thought of leaving him. I'm definitely having a harder time now than I did with Milo. But health insurance is a good thing, so back I go.

On to happier pastures (literally): we've had a few really beautiful, warm days here in St. Louis, so Milo and Hank have gotten to visit the park (actually a couple parks) some. Here are pictures.

Visit 1 -- about a month ago:

Visit 2 -- about 2 weeks ago:

Visit 3 -- today:

Our First Road Trip

Week 7 and counting, and we're all here and surviving. Hank had his 6 week check-up last week and -- drum roll, please -- now weighs in at a whopping 15 lbs, 6.5 oz. That would be off the charts fat. Literally. He's also 21.5 inches -- 50th precentile -- with a rather large head -- between 75th and 90th percentile. I think we're going to have to move him up to Size 3 diapers already!


A little, well not *bad* news, but not great. Our pediatrician suspects that Hank has a milk allergy. This is actually an allergy to cow's milk protein, not actual milk, and is different than lactose intolerence. There have been a lot of signs of this since his birth -- constant stuffiness, diaper rash, gassiness, and trouble pooping -- but the biggest indicator was some blood found in his poop. (Sorry for TMI.) The solution is for me to cut all dairy from my diet. That means no milk, yogurt, cheese, cream, etc. And you'd be surprised at what foods hide dairy ingredients -- I have yet to find a loaf of bread or some deli meat that doesn't have some form of milk in it (yet, strangely, Oreos do NOT have any dairy). Let me just take a moment here: Oh, how I miss you, cheese. And my graham crackers just aren't the same without you, milk.


However, the majority of babies that have this milk allergy outgrow it within a year or two. And I've talked to a lot of moms who were able to add dairy products back in their diets when the baby was 6-7 months old. I'm holding out hope that will be the case for us, too. But all for the greater good, right?


The biggest event of the past week was our big road trip to Arkansas -- Gramme, Milo, Hank and I hit the trails to Little Rock and Aunt Barbie's house. (Thanks again Barbie!) It was fabulous seeing so much of our family (thanks again for making the trip!) -- even if I did manage to lose every.single. game of Hand & Foot that we played. Milo had a blast playing with his cousins, and both kids travelled amazingly well. I'll post pics separately since we have so many. Enjoy!

Arkansas Photos

Stop #1: Parking lot of Wal-Mart in Poplar Bluff


Stop #2: Side of the road in Minturn, AR. Gramme & Milo had fun tossing rocks in puddles.
Fun in Little Rock: