Week 112

April 20-26

Happy Easter 2011! We finally got to take a family "vacation" away from Florida! It is always nice to get away and see your family. The Friday before Easter we got up super early and drove 8 hours to South Carolina. First stop was Columbia where my mom lives to meet up with her, my sister Caroline, and my brother Andy to have a nice lunch at the infamous McAlister's Gourmet Deli. We also had to drop off Hope because she couldn't go to the beach with us. We had a relaxing lunch and then got back in the car to make our way to Ed's moms house in Sumter.

Friday night we got to see Ed's brother Ryan and sister-in-law Amanda since they weren't able to go to the beach with us. That afternoon Ed's Uncle Tom, Aunt Jennifer, and Cousin Mallory had flown in from Pittsburgh, PA and would stay until Tuesday morning. Friday night was a great time hanging out, dying Easter eggs, decorating cookies, and eating dinner.

The next morning we all (minus Ryan and Amanda) headed out to Myrtle Beach for the rest of the weekend. Jack and Mallory rode in our car and watched Toy Story 3 to pass the time. Once we got there we unpacked the cars and went out for lunch at Oscar's. When we got home Jack took a nice nap and Mallory went to check out the pool at the resort. Saturday night we had a small birthday party for the kids since Jack's birthday was last month and Mallory's birthday was coming up in a week. They loved it! We had the best strawberry layer cake ever!! Yum!

Of course the next morning was the big day...Easter Sunday! Jack woke up first and found his Easter baskets (yes, he had more than one). He thought it was so awesome to get a big basket full of candy, books, toys, movies, and other fun things. I definitely think that next year he will really appreciate the fun of Easter. He definitely loved it, but really wasn't sure what was going on. When Mallory woke up he helped her find her Easter baskets.

After finding Easter baskets we all started getting ready for church. When we got there we sat down and Jack decided he didn't really want to go to church that day so he started acting out. The service had just started when Jack escalated his behavior to the point that it was embarrassing so Ed and I escorted him out to walk around outside. He found lots of fun things to do including walk around the grounds, look at the many fountains, play in the gardens. We attempted one time to take him back in, but he wasn't having it. We didn't want to ruin church for everyone else so we just played with him outside.

After church we went home to start on the delicious Easter meal. Everything was so delicious! We all sat down and had dinner. Ed's mom and Harvin made a ridiculous amount of food and we ate it up!!! We were all stuffed! After lunch Jack napped, then after that we went down and enjoyed the beach for awhile. Jack and Mallory played in the sand while we all soaked up the sun and relaxed. The whole day was perfectly lovely.

Monday morning we went down to the beach once again. We found all kinds of fun hermit crabs in the sand. The sun was hot that day so after awhile we left the beach and relaxed in the pool. After that we went back up to the condo and showered, ate lunch, cleaned up, then loaded up the cars for the ride back to Sumter. The whole weekend was wonderful.

Week 111

April 13-19

This is a nice educational post on pediatric rashes. As a nurse I have seen many rashes, but for some reason my child seems to get the most rare forms that I have never experienced. Viral rashes are very common in children and often benign so if you think your child may have one this will help you to not freak out because they look much worse than they are.

This week we have had the pleasure of experiencing another freak rash. Only my child. When he was about 19 months old he had a horrible rash. Well it was only horrible looking...not itchy or anything. It was just a viral rash. Being a pediatric nurse I wasn't too worried and his symptoms were classic at the time. He had a fever, general malaise, and decreased appetite. Suddenly his body erupted in this loveliness. Oftentimes kids have a rash like this along with a virus. It looks much worse than it is. Here is Jack's first rash at 19 months old. It covered his entire body including his ears.

Well a few weeks ago he had two spots on his belly that kind of looked like dry skin. They wouldn't seem to go away. About 1-2 weeks later the rash started to spread to his whole belly and then to his back. It seemed to be getting worse. I've seen a lot of viral rashes but this one was definitely something I hadn't seen before. I really wasn't too worried about it because Jack literally had no symptoms despite the fact that he looked like a leper. No itching, fever, crankiness, pain, nothing.

Ed was a little more nervous than me. I finally made an appointment with the pediatrician to have it checked out. A few days before the appointment Ed really started getting nervous so I finally told him to just come with me to work and let the doctors in the Emergency Room take a look. I told him this wasn't an emergency so he shouldn't expect too much. ER doctors aren't really trained in dermatology especially not when it's not an emergent rash. They really weren't too sure about it and told us to try Benadryl to alleviate some of the redness and irritation. It didn't work.

Wednesday was finally the day of our appointment with Jack's pediatrician. Now when I picked her out I did my homework. She is one of the smartest doctors I have ever seen. She is like an encyclopedia to Pediatric medicine. When I worked up on the Pediatric floor at my hospital I witnessed her bedside manner and have since decided she is a genius. The moment she saw Jack's rash she knew what it was. "Oh wow, this isn't usually seen in kids," was the first thing out of her mouth.

I was intrigued. "What is it?" I asked. "Pityriasis Rosea. It is common in ages 10-30 and not typically seen in young children." Then she went on to tell me all about it. She asked if it started off with 1-2 spots that lasted around a week. She explained that this was the 'Herald Patch'. She told me about how it is considered a viral rash although researchers are unsure what virus causes it. It is not contagious. There are no symptoms. It can last up to 12 weeks. Wow. Who would get this but my kid?

So we are basically going to look at this lovely rash for the next few weeks-months. Poor guy. He doesn't seem to notice it at all...he just doesn't get too many nice looks at the beach. :)

Hope this provided a little education for all you parents out there. :) I know I have learned something new.

Week 110

Apr 6-12

This week I have nothing. LOL. No pictures, no stories, nothing. Hmmm...this has never happened before. Honestly we have just been up to the usual. Work, maintaining the household, etc. We have been going to the beach and riding our bikes more often. Jack has been going to "school" twice a week. One new thing is that when I tell him he is going to school that morning he runs upstairs to get his clothes and shoes on. He loves to go!

We are just looking forward to our vacation over Easter break. We are driving to South Carolina to visit our families for a whole week! No work for a whole week! Wahoo!!

Hopefully I will have more interesting info next week. Sorry to disappoint. On a positive note, next week I have an ultrasound! We will get to see Baby Storch #2. We still haven't changed our mind and do not want to find out what he/she is. :)

Week 109

Mar 30-Apr 5

It is officially April! :) Full blown beach time is in effect. We have been going as much as possible because it is soooooo nice out right now. I am really going to miss being able to put on our suits, jump on a bike, and ride 5 minutes down the street to the beach. This particular day we decided to enjoy our lunch on the beach. We packed sandwiches, fresh fruit, water, and crackers. The fruit was delicious until Jack decided to put his sandy hands in it...crunchy pineapple is not a good combo. Oh well!

We took turns getting Jack buckets of water for his creations, made sand castles, buried Jack in the sand, and just relaxed. There is something about the ocean that just makes you happy. It is so peaceful to hear the waves crash and feel a nice breeze. It has been in the 80's here so it is perfect to sit out, get warm, and then jump in the cool ocean. Perfect!

Everything else is going well. Ed has been working super hard to get fire fighting finished. He has also been working out like crazy and his efforts have paid off. I have to admit it's a little tough to watch your significant other get into amazing shape while you just feel like you are blimping out uncontrollably. But it doesn't change the fact that I am SUPER proud of him.

Week 108

Mar 23-29

So Jack had his official 2 year old well child check up. Craziness! I remember when he was super little and it felt like we went to the doctors every couple of months. Now he doesn't have to go back until he is THREE! He is all caught up on his shots (except for the flu shot which Ed and I don't really believe is necessary for healthy kids).

I will start with physical growth. Jack was 90th percentile for his weight and 99th percentile for his height. If he was 1/8th of an inch taller he would have been off the chart! He is going to be a big boy!!!! I was a little nervous about the weight but the pediatrician assured me he is proportionate to his height and he looks VERY healthy. Ed and I are very anxious about him being overweight since it is such an epidemic in children these days. She said he is tall and lean and I have absolutely nothing to worry about.

The pediatrician keeps asking me if he is a "picky eater" yet as most toddlers are. I told her if anything his taste for different foods improves with time. He has started eating more meats. He has always liked all fruits and vegetables. The kid even eats salad! There are times when he practically eats the portion size of a young adult. But then other times he is not as hungry and he might just graze a little. We are still trying to keep his diet as healthy as possible. He drinks milk, water, and juice. We try to give him balanced meals and he gets treats every now and then.

So Jack surpassed all of the expected developmental milestones as usual. I have to brag because I am so proud of him. The expected language development for a 2 year old to have a vocabulary bank of 30-50 words. Well of course my child has way more words than that...look at how much his mom talks! Haha!

Jack has at least 100 words in his vocabulary...if not more. I have always prided myself on explaining everything I am doing, even when he was a baby and I felt kind of silly talking to him in full sentences because he obviously wasn't going to repeat it. I feel like that has really helped him. We are constantly going over words and identifying objects.

Jack can speak in 3-4 word sentences and phrases. For example he will often ask, "Where did Daddy go?" if Ed leaves the room. He is very observant. Children at 2 years old are also supposed to identify objects and point them out as you ask them. Jack can do that, but I feel like he has kind of surpassed that phase because we read to him all the time and point things out in books, now he takes the initiative and points out the objects himself as he names them. You know those books that just have one object per page? He has mastered them. It is really funny going to the grocery store with him because he points at everything and yells it out loud until you acknowledge him.

When we show him pictures of people he will identify them by name. He used to just know me, Ed, and himself. Now he identifies all of his friends by name, and also his Grandma, Uncle Andy, Uncle Will, and Aunt Caroline. He recently saw most of them so he remembers.

He loves to do his "A,B,C" puzzle and can correctly identify about 20 out of 26 letters of the alphabet. He can count to 5 and sometimes he can count higher than that (depends on what mood he is in). He has started to sing songs...his favorite being the annoying "Clean Up" song from the old Barney movies. He must have learned that one in school. He tries to sing "ABC's" and "Twinkle Twinkle".

He is very sweet and social. He always hugs his friends and talks to them. He knows when I am going to work because "Ashie" comes to our house and when I come down in my scrubs he runs over and gives me a "hug and kiss Mommy" and then he automatically says, "Bye bye!" He doesn't mind when we leave. Same with when I drop him off at school. It's almost sad because he is so confident, but I am glad he doesn't cry and have separation anxiety.

He is very independent and likes to figure things out himself. He also likes to "help" with everything that we do. LOVES to throw things in the trash when asked. LOVES to help empty the dishwasher, put clothes in the laundry and he even knows the correct buttons to push to turn them on. It is very cute but sometimes annoying when you are in a hurry. One thing you learn with a 2 year old is endless amounts of patience. :)

Right around his 2 year old birthday he started climbing out of his crib. He is pretty slick about it too...you never even would hear a thud because he skillfully shimmied down the rails. He would get stuff around his room, put it over the rail, and then climb back in. We decided for safety reasons it was a good idea to go ahead and put him in a toddler bed. He has done VERY well with it. I was really nervous about it because I thought he would just play around his room and not go to sleep.

Nights he goes right to sleep (score!) and nap times we have utilized the "Super Nanny" method of putting him back in his bed every time he gets out, not saying anything. The first couple of days it took about an hour to get him to fall asleep and get the idea...now it is like 15 minutes and he is down. He started napping again (double score!) after a nap drought for the past couple of months.

We have been letting him stay up until around 7:30 pm now. It is starting to get dark later and later so why not? We are hoping to adjust his wake up time to 7:30-8:00 am. We will see how that goes. He still sleeps for 12 straight hours at night and takes about a 1 1/2 to 2 hour nap.

He has started to exhibit some of the traits of "terrible twos". He had to start at some point being a typical kid. Haha! Overall he is very well behaved, but sometimes he does try to push the limits and can be defiant. He will get frustrated when he doesn't get his way. It is amazing how fast children learn the art of manipulation. Sometimes he will want something and I will tell him "no." He will look over toward Ed and in a whiny pathetic voice say, "Dada?" We are trying our best to stick to our guns and teach him at an early age that Mommy and Daddy are a united front and if one says no then that means no. Hilarious!

Physically he is in tip top shape. When he is awake the kid is on full speed the entire time! He climbs, plays, runs, jumps, etc. I must say it is hard to keep up with him at times (especially being pregnant and tired) but he keeps me on my toes! He loves the park and can climb up any type of structure. He likes to slide, swing, play basketball, run around, and play with his friends. He is super active!

We have started putting him in "school" two days a week. It is the Child Development Center (CDC) on base and they do drop in care for a very reasonable rate. He goes for about 2-3 hours twice a week and has come to LOVE it. When I tell him he is going to school that day he runs and gets his shoes. The whole drive there he talks about, "school, play, kids." It is super cute and I love to see him have fun playing with other kids in an organized setting. Most of the kids there are regulars so when he walks in they all run up to him and yell, "JAAACK!!!" It is the cutest thing ever. He hugs all of them and then just jumps right in to whatever activity they are doing. Socialization is a wonderful thing. :)

I think Jack is going to be a great big brother when the time comes in September. In the meantime we are going to start working on potty training. We have started introducing him to the idea, but have not really started to enforce it. I read that the "ideal" time to start is 2 years and 3 months old so we will try soon. I want to wait until I have a nice stretch of time off of work so I can basically take off his diaper for a few days and just constantly have him sit on the potty and try to go. More to come!

Here are some pictures I took of him the other day, he is growing fast! :)