10/12/08

Well we bought a stroller yesterday. I think I am happy with it. We spent an hour and a half looking and testing strollers. I did find the "perfect" stroller but not at a perfect price - it was $339!!! More money than I want to spend or even have for that matter. It was really nice though and had everything I wanted. I got the next best thing for more than half off the other one. It is the same brand as our big stroller and is almost as big with alot of the same features but the big difference is that it is 10 lbs lighter! That will make a huge difference getting on and off of the buses. Another big difference is that it lays all the way down so Korben will be able to comfortably take a nap. Our other one laid back but he was still reclining and that is hard for him since he is a stomach sleeper. Now he will be able to lay all the way down on his belly. So hopefully that will help with naps too at Disney World. Another feature it has that I love is the basket below locks into place, ours keeps falling down if we have too much stuff in there - and we always do. We also bought a new rain guard since ours ripped while we were in Seattle. We also bought a sunshade that hooks on to the stroller sunshade, it is see through so we can pull it all the way down and Korben can see out. I think that will be helpful since he is allergic to sunscreen like me, it's hard to keep the sun off him. Anyway the shopping trip itself was very stressful since my blood sugar was low and it was nap time for Korben. He kept screaming and then Brent would walk off leaving me with the diaper bag, Korbens shoes (he had taken them off himself and was eating them!) his sippy cup, toys and trying to put up several strollers back up on the high display. So we all three were stressed by the time we left there. From there we met up with my parents to eat Chinese food, they were treating us for setting up their bathroom while they were in Vegas. Korben fell asleep on our way over there and everybody was happy again once we sat down to eat. When Korben fell asleep in the car he had his play phone up to his ear still. It was so cute! I didn't have a camera and before Brent handed me his phone and I figured out how to take a picture with it he had already dropped the phone.





When Brent and I went grocery shopping Friday night (we'll never do that again after Korben has gone to sleep we didn't get home until 1 am and we were dead tired!) we bought Korben "big boy" diapers, pull ups. We had to switch to them because he kept leaking out his diapers which means he was outgrowing them and he was at the biggest size of diapers. So now he is starting over and is in the smallest size of pull ups. He still has a box of diapers left that we are using during the day but we are putting him in the pull ups at night. I am tired of waking up at 7 am and having to change out his bedding, which was happening almost everyday. I am just glad I was smart enough to buy a whole extra set of bedding including a pillow since half the time he sleeps on top of his pillow so that ends up in the wash too. We won't use the pull ups for potty training though because they are just as absorbent as diapers and alot of times the child can't feel that they are wet. After we run out of the diapers we are going to buy him cool pull ups for during the day, they turn cool when wet so it makes the child uncomfortable so they will tell you that they have wet. Korbens dr. said not to try to potty train him until he can tell us he is wet but esp. when he wakes up dry several times a week - he never does this. He will tell us he is wet or has poopy if we ask but then he runs away as he doesn't like to be changed. We are hoping the cool pull ups will fix that. I can't really blame him though because he gets such bad diaper rashes from his sensitive skin that it hurts him to be wiped. I don't know what to do for that, we even have prescription diaper cream, I change his diaper constantly, we use sensitive skin wipes, and have tried everything his dr. suggested but his poor little bottom constantly stays red. Anyway Korben thinks he is a big boy with his pull ups on. He laughs when we put them on him, they have Toy Story characters on them.





Two more teeth have popped up in Korbens mouth, they are just barely sticking out but they are there. Only 4 more teeth to go! But they are all molars. :(





We have been giving Korben a couple of chocolate covered raisins occasionally, he is so funny when you hand them to him he says "Yyyyyyuuuuummmmmmm" it cracks us up. I guess the only new words he has been saying are "kitty" (Itty) and he said "empty" yesterday. He is babbling a whole lot more.





This morning Korben woke up about 7 am and was wanting milk so Brent put him in our bed. We all went back to sleep (with Korben still in our bed) and I woke up at about 10 am and Brent was beside me but Korben was not. So I jumped up and yelled "Brent where's Korben" Brent jumped out of bed too and Korben was just walking around our room. Neither one of us felt him get out of bed and he was sleeping in between us. He was carrying around the cookies that Brent and I were eating last night. He didn't open them though. I don't think he was up very long though, if he was I am sure he would have torn apart the room. Or at least had the phone or the tv turned on since those are usually the first things he goes for.

We ended up putting our car in the shop today instead of yesterday. They couldn't find anything that should be making that noise but think it might be because of the brake pads that they used. They are going to change them out but they don't have the other type of pads and won't be able to get them until tomorrow. So tomorrow Brent will drive my parents van to work and I will use their car to go to my appointment. Then Korben and I are going to run errands with my mom.

This afternoon we went to the Blazers Welcome Picnic. The booster club (we are all members and my mom is a board member) had a cookout so we went and ate and talked to a couple of the players. The players then got up in front of everybody and talked a little bit about themselves but right as they were starting that Brent and I decided to leave since Korben was starting to get fussy. It was nap time but of course he didn't end up taking a nap. Brent did though.





Well I guess that is all. I don't have any new pictures of Korben. The one that is up there is the new stroller we bought. I hope these posts make sense, I never go back and read them, I always just type them real fast and then spell check but I know that won't catch when I use the wrong words. So hopefully I don't do that too much and if I do hopefully you still understand what I am talking about.

10/01/08

Yes I know I have fallen behind on this again. I was busy helping my mom get ready for my grandparents visit. I steam cleaned all her carpet and then I stripped all the wallpaper off the bathroom and Brent and I painted the bathroom with primer. Mostly I painted and Brent just did the trim around the door and by the ceiling. Then my grandparents came and we have been spending time with them.

On this past Monday I had to have an endometrial biopsy done to check and see if I have cervical or ovarian cancer - hopefully not - I won't get my results back until Oct. 13th. That was no fun at all and I had to go by myself since Brent had a meeting and was not able to get off work. I didn't want to reschedule as I just wanted to get it over with. My mom stayed home with Korben. Anyway it hurt - alot - so when I got home I put Korben down for his nap and tried to rest and take a nap myself but instead Korben decided he was going to scream the entire time. I finally gave him some Tylenol since he was chewing really bad on his fingers and his crib rails and then 2 hrs later he fell asleep. By then it was so late I decided not to nap as I would be up all night. Brent has been working overtime and so we are trying to go to bed earlier since he works an hour before and an hour after. They are allowing OT for about a month possibly two. Brent wants to take advantage of it while he can, esp. with the Disney trip and X-Mas coming up.

Poor Korben has been trapped in the living room again, like he was when he was real little. He hates it and is constantly sneaking out of the gate. But we can't let him run around since his Grandpa's are working on the bathrooms and have tools and all kinds of stuff everywhere up and down the hallway and in the kitchen.

When I was at my appointment on Monday my Grandma watched Korben for a bit while my mom was doing something and my Grandma was telling me all the stuff he was getting into. I know he is bored in that little area plus I know he was testing my Grandma, he knows he can't get away with that stuff with us. Although every since then he has been testing us like crazy. Anyway apart from sneaking out of the gate, he pulled a bunch of DVD's off the shelves, climbed on the couch and was trying to knock the lamp over, climbed on the love seat and was pulling on the blinds. My Grandma said that he is just like how my Uncle Eddie was when he was a kid - I thought it just came from Brent's side of the family because I had never seen a kid like him and from what I keep hearing Brent was just like this too. Anyway I have heard horror stories about my Uncle Eddie growing up, such as eating the seats of their car, when on vacation he got into their suitcases and started throwing their stuff out the window while driving! Geeeesh I hope this is not what I am in store for! My Grandma told me to be prepared to bolt the furniture to the walls, she said she knows this from experience - I didn't ask cause I am not sure I want to know!

Korb has been saying more words and seems to be talking more often. On my last post I had made a list of words and didn't include 'shoe' as that was one he stopped saying and the very next day he started saying it again. He also has been saying 'mama' more often now, he really has a hard time with the "m's" and "b's" though. Speaking of that he is in his crib right now saying "Ma" over and over again. He now says phone (he pronouces it 'own'), hello, and he has been trying to say grandma and grandpa he sounds funny when he says it and he can't tell what he is saying but every time he sees grandma or grandpa he says it the same way every time and points to them. Oh, he also says banana ('nana') seems like there were more words but I can't think of them right now. He has gotten into the blowing kisses again. When I was going to get a drink the other day he was sitting on Brent's lap and he blew kisses to me as I was walking away, so cute!

Well I ended up finding a pair of Stride Rite sandals in his size on eBay for $2.00. Turns out he couldn't walk very well in the Gap sandals. Since it is still really warm here I went ahead and got them. His tennis shoes are really a pain to put on, esp. for just a quick trip around the block or to the store. Brent kept trying to let him go barefoot so I went ahead and got the sandals. They already came in the mail and Korben can run again with shoes on.

Korben has been doing something that has been driving me crazy. He learned how to take off his diaper through his clothing!!! Even with a one piece outfit on. He plays with the velcro through his clothes until it comes undone and his diaper ends up around his ankles! Drives me nuts!

Korben's Halloween costume came in the mail today, he is going to be a monkey!!!! Because he is a little monkey, always climbing up on everything. Later tonight after Brent gets home I am going to try the outfit on him and take some pics. I can't wait to see him in it, he is going to look adorable! We will probably spend this Halloween like we did last year and walk around the block with Korb's cousins. Only last year he slept the whole time and there were alot of us walking the kids around the block since everybody was in town for Skylar's funeral. We all had just gotten back from the viewing right before going trick or treating. Halloween is my favorite holiday but it has sorta been tainted by that. I am still trying to forget about that part of it and be happy and excited for Korben's sake but it is hard. Really I am still in denial about the whole thing.

I have some new pics but not alot, the last ones I took were of Kaylan's birthday party. We haven't done anything really fun since then. This coming Friday my parents are taking my grandparents to a very nice fancy restaurant and I don't feel comfortable taking Korben to a place like that. So that same night the zoo is having a family fun night for people with a zoo membership (which we have.) So we are thinking of going to that. All the rides at the zoo will be free and they are having meals for $2.50 per person. They have a little kids train and a merry go round, I think they have some other rides but those are the only ones I can think of right now that Korb will be able to ride. I *think* he might be okay on the train, I am not sure though, I don't think adults can go on it and I am not sure if he will sit there by himself, we'll see though.

Oh yes, and about the pictures, my family has a tradition with mini golf, we take a picture of everybody who gets a hole in one by the whole they made it in. As you can see Brent got 2 hole and ones and the only other person to get a hole in one was Zylee!!! It was an easy hole where all you had to do is hit your ball into the water and if you were lucky it went across a bridge straight into the hole. It worked for her but not the rest of us!

Anyway I will post the monkey pics after I take them. I still haven't uploaded all the videos to YouTube. I will get around to that one of these days. We will have more free time next week as my parents and grandparents are going to Vegas for the week.

09/23/08

Korben cracks me up! Today he was eating breakfast and there was a fly buzzing around him and kept landing on his head. He kept telling the fly "no" and waving his hands to get it off of him. Every time he saw the fly he would look at it and say "no." It was funny because he was getting so mad at the fly and was waving his hands wildly around to keep the fly off his head. Then he started covering up his food with his hands, I think he was afraid the fly was going to steal his food!





Then Korben was sitting on my lap drinking his milk before his nap and he saw a baby on tv and he said "baby" or rather he said "dayde" which means baby. Then he started pointing at my mom's Barbie dolls and saying "baby" and I said "are you mamma's baby?" He said "no" then I said "oh are you a big boy?" and he shook his head yes. He is funny. Sometimes I really think he understands everything we say to him.





Korben sure keeps us on our toes all the time. Yesterday he pulled down mom's butcher block thing of knives and came running around the corner with scissors that were in there with the knives. Luckily he didn't get hurt at all. My mom was off work and I called for her help to pick them up because Korben kept trying to grab at the knives. So we had to move that. Then we have been having issues with him keeping his jammies on. The other night we tucked him in bed and then went in the other room and we heard him crying. Brent came to check on him and he had his jammies unzipped, his diaper off and was just standing there flashing Brent. Normally he pulls his legs out of his jammies too. So I put away all the jammies that don't have the little flap covering the zipper, he won't be wearing those anymore! I can't put him in 2 piece jammies for the same reason, he takes off the bottoms and then his diaper. That is how the poop incident happened and I am not going through that again!

We had to buy Korben a new pair of shoes. I couldn't find any Stride Rite sandals in his size - well used that is. So we found some used Gap sandals that are completely adjustable, they seem to be working so far. He is now in a 7.5 XW, I do have a size 8 XW Stride Rite sandals and tennis shoes that I bought him because he had always jumped from whole sizes so I skipped over the 7.5 figuring he wouldn't need them and of course I was wrong. There were tons of them on eBay a month ago but I guess since we are heading into Fall the sandals aren't hot sellers anymore. I won't put him in sandals during the winter but we all know how Brent is. He won't even put tennis shoes on Korben even when I tell him to. I may have to hide the sandals once it gets cold or tell him Korben out grew them. :)

Korben is starting to talk more. He can't make a "b" sound at all so if that doesn't improve by the time he is 2 (only 4 more months - can you believe that???? My baby is growing up.) he may have to go to speech therapy. We'll see what the doc. says though. I have been excited because he has actually been saying "mama" lately. He had stopped saying it completely shortly after his 1st birthday and had been calling me "da" or "dada" (he also calls Grandpa and Mickey Mouse "dada") He still doesn't say it alot but I am happy that he is making another sound besides "d" which is what he says most of the time.

List of words Korben says now - so I can keep track for his next doctor's appointment, she always asks how many words are in his vocabulary.

1. thank you


2. hair


3. eye


4. nose


5. teeth


6. ear


7. no


8. door


9. dog


10. clock


11. baby


12. car


13. hi


14. bye


15. sock (he did say 'shoe' but he hasn't said that in so long I am not counting it)

Hmmm that is all I can think of right now. If you know of any that he says and I forgot to list them let me know. At 18 months he was supposed to have between 15-20 words (besides dada and mama) in his vocabulary.

I just set up Korben's appointment to have a flu shot. Brent and I will be getting ours at his work this year. They give them out free to employees and spouses, which is awesome! I have to have one every year because of my diabetes and if you are around children under the age of 5 regularly you are supposed to get one. Brent refused to get one last year because he didn't want to pay the $30 for it and he wasn't an actually employee yet he couldn't get one for free. I told him last night he has no excuses this year, he is getting one. Esp. since he kept getting sick last winter. He hardly ever gets sick but living here we are around more people. My parents get sick alot and we are always around my nephews and niece and they get sick alot being in school.

Well that is about all that has been going on here. I haven't really taken any new pics lately. The only ones I have are of Korben sleeping with his new little Thomas the Train pillow that Grandma & Grandpa S. bought him. He loves it and sleeps on it all the time now. I am behind on putting up videos on YouTube, I will try to get them up this coming weekend.

Today is Kaylan's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY KB!) so we are going to celebrate his birthday at Hey Day and at Andy Alligator. They are right next to each other so we are going to eat and play mini golf at Hey Day then walk over to Andy Alligator where he wants to ride the go carts and hit some balls at the batting cages - which I really want to do too, I haven't played baseball in probably like 20 years (geeeeesh that makes me feel REALLY old!) so I am not sure if I can even still hit a ball. I don't know yet if I want to try to make a fool of myself yet or not! Anyway if I remember to bring the camera I should have some new pics.

07/30/08

Well Korben is 18 months old now, that is just crazy to me. He is growing up way too fast. :(



Monday he had his 18 month check up. He grew 2 1/2 inches in 3 months so he is now 32 1/2 inches tall. He is in the 75 percentile and the pediatrician said he is going to grow up to be very tall. He only gained one pound in 3 months so he is now 25 lbs and in the 25 percentile. Dr. said not to worry about that since he is growing and he does eat 3 meals a day plus snacks & milk. I guess it is because he is SO active.



He does eat very good though, I swear he eats like an adult! Every morning he has a whole banana & a whole piece of toast with fruit (baby food) spread on it, with V8 fruit & veggie juice. Then for lunch he has sliced apples and veggie patties which have beans, rice and all kinds of vegetables in them. He also likes burritos or grilled cheese but right now his favorite thing is the veggie patties. For dinner he has a little bit of whatever we are having. We still keep him away from sugar & junk food. If we are eating it in front of him and he 'asks' for a bite then we don't deny it but it is not an everyday food for him. I think it is working pretty good & it is funny when he is given sugar food because he makes the funniest faces. A couple of weeks ago my mom babysat him while we went to the movies and they ate fast food. I told mom to just get him a kids cheeseburger with nothing else on it. So she did but she gave him some of her fries, (he likes them but they are not his favorite thing sometimes he won't even eat them) and the fry she gave him had ketchup on it. We had never given him ketchup before because it has alot of sugar in it. Mom said he licked off the ketchup, made a funny face & threw the fry like it was poison. She said it was so funny, she tried it again & the same thing happened. Then she gave him a fry without ketchup & he ate it. On days like that it makes me feel like we are doing the right thing by limiting his sugar. I don't want him to grow up addicted to sugar like me & I don't want him to be diabetic like me.



Anyway back to his appointment. The dr. was looking at Korb's eczema on his feet (it is the worst there but he also has it on his arms and every once in a while across his back) she decided to give us a prescription for a steroid cream to be used for a week once a month. We have switched to sensitive skin wipes, baby laundry det., special lotion & baby wash for the last 6 months and it has not gotten any better. Turns out that I have it too, I only get it on my arms though. My mom said that I got it when I had the rash like Korben when I was a baby but she thought it was heat rash. So unfortunately he has got my skin. I am glad we did find a sunscreen that he is not allergic to. I thought since it worked on him it would work on me - wrong! We went to the zoo & I just put it on my face & my whole face broke out in hives. Which is why I never wear sunscreen & I always get burnt.

As the dr. was looking at Korb's feet she noticed how wide they are. He has got giant feet! I told her how shoes have been a real issue for us. He hasn't been able to fit properly in any shoe & he walks funny in them all. They hurt is feet & he pulls them off. So she told me to not even buy anymore regular shoes because it will affect his feet & his walking. She told me to look for Wide width, I have never even seen wide width shoes for toddlers & kids. She recommended Stride Rite shoes & said they are pricey so find them used as long as they have good soles still on them. When I got home I looked at their website, $32 for the cheapest sandals!!!! $55 for a pair of tennis shoes!!! And he will outgrow them in a month or so. The next day I went to our local baby & kid consignment store & I found 2 pairs of Stride Rite sandals in his size (found out he actually needs the Extra Wide Width ones - XW) one pair was leather & the other pair is brand new! So I bought him those 2 pairs plus a new pair of slippers (Thomas the Train) as his other ones were way too small & he was still making me put them on him everyday. I also bought him a toy clock since he goes around saying "clock" all day, everyday & points at every clock he sees. Also I got him another bath book, his Grandma S. bought him some Disney bath books and those are his new favorite books, they are perfect for his teething. He carries them with him all day long. Anyway so 3 pairs of shoes, a toy & a book cost me $24 and on top of that I had a $5 off coupon for that store so I got it all for $19, woo hoo! Less than the cost of one of those pairs of shoes brand new. Later that evening we went to Wal-Mart to drop off Korben's prescription and Brent & I could already tell a HUGE difference in Korben's walking he was going as fast as he does barefoot. So I am happy that I was able to find those shoes for him cheap. I also just won another pair in the next size up on eBay for .99 cents $4.50 shipping so that is a good deal too.

The doctor was also very pleased that Korben has been off the bottle since he was 9 months old, the pacifer since he was 4 months old and sleeps in his own bed. She said that if we were just now trying to work on those things then we would have huge battles on our hands. Which is exactly why I did all that stuff sooner because I know that the longer you wait the harder it gets to break the habits.

Well I had better wrap this up, it only took me two days to type this one out while Korben was taking a nap. :) Until next time.