Snotty Noses and other Big Green Monsters...

This hasn't been a pretty week.

The Duke caught a cold last week, and I managed to catch it too. As with all colds, this one went directly to my left ear and I cannot hear a thing out of it. So far, we appear to be the only victims of this latest round of germs. (Knock on wood...)

Besides running around chasing after a one-year-old with a really, really green, snotty nose, we have been dealing with yet another Big Green Monster.

You can call it jealousy or you can call it Sibling Rivalry - it all looks green to me.

If the Duke is playing with a toy, the Knight wants it. If he doesn't get it, he gives the Duke a little push or shove. The baby cries and I have to give the Knight a time out.

Repeat. Several.Times.Each.Day.

We have a no-hitting policy around here. If you hit, you get a consequence.

Consequences have been flowing freely at our house this week!

The Knight does not want to share any toys with his little brother - even if they are the Duke's own toys. When I make him share, I hear things like, "Why do you like the baby better than me?"

Heart breaking.

I have really been trying to work on their relationship. I want these two boys to be close, but right now I am failing miserably.

When the Duke toddles over to the Knight, I say things like, "Duke really likes his big brother and wants to say hi!" Sometimes this works and the Knight is receptive to the Duke's attention.

Other times, the Knight just walks away or asks me to put the Duke upstairs to nap or into his play pen.

I am not going to give up though.

1-year-olds are tough. They want to explore their little world. And if that little world includes toys absent-mindedly left in their paths, they are going to play with them and most likely put them in their mouths.

It's what 1-year-olds do.

The Knight isn't buying it though. He thinks the Duke is just being mean and we like the Duke better than him.

Sigh...

Here's to hoping this phase does not last long!

Knight Update!

My little Knight is eating!

A few weeks ago I wrote about how we had been struggling getting our little Knight to eat. Click here and here for more of the story.  Meal times were battles of wills and negotiation skills.  We took the Knight to see our wonderful pediatrician and he gave us a prescription for a reflux medication. 

The results have been amazing!

He is eating!

This morning at 10:00 he actually asked me to make him a ham and cheese sandwich.  And this was before he had even had his medicine! 

A ham sandwich at 10:00 in the morning may not seem like a big thing to blog about, but him asking me for something to eat is music to this mom's ears!

This is a picture of him eating his SECOND ham sandwich!

Wordless Wednesday - Snow in Texas!

For more Wordless Wednesdays...go here (Five Minutes For Mom)!

Cheat:  Snow Caterpillar!!  (Did you know without the cheat?  Curious!)

Wordless Wednesday - Happy 5th Birthday Big Guy!

Knight Birthday at Preschool

Happy 5th Birthday, my little Knight! (Part Two)

Birthday Party Part 2!

The Knight's birthday cake!

Can we open presents yet?  (He wore his Chuck E. Cheese crown all day!)

My quartet!

What is it??

The Knight shared his boxes with the Duke!

Ready for some cake!

Daddy and the Knight!

A favorite gift from Aunt J and Uncle C!

Mommy and the Knight!

The final present of the night: Sleepy Time Frog!  He helps make night times better!  I hope he works!

Happy 5th Birthday, my little Knight! (Chuck E. Cheese pictures!)

Watch out Chuck E. Cheese!  Here we come!

My Knight got a big balloon!

He was pretty excited when we arrived!

The Knight and our little neighbor girl!

A new ride at Chucks!  Ride 'em Knight!  (Now all he needs is some shining armor!)

Prince and AB!

My little Duke was fairly overwhelmed!

Our neighbors!

Pretty girl!

I ordered the small cake but they were out so we got a big one for the price of a small one!

Princess and her BFF!

Knight with Chuck!

Our table!

Presents!

Knight and his best buddy!

Daddy was able to stop by at the end of the party!  Thank goodness - I am not sure how I would have gotten everyone and everything back into the van without him!

Happy 5th Birthday, my little Knight!

Happy 5th Birthday to my precious little Knight!

5 years ago today, we headed to the hospital to welcome you to our family.  What a joyous day it was!  You were so tiny and sweet - weighing in at 6 pounds 13 ounces - exactly 3 pounds less than your big brother.  But you were 3 weeks early and he was one week late.  You were prefect!

I cannot imagine my life without you! You bring an energy to our family like nothing I have ever seen.  You might be smaller than your big brother and big sister, but you don't back down to anyone.  If you see an injustice, you fight to see it corrected.

Right before you turned 4 years old, you became a big brother.  While the Duke gets under your skin on a daily basis, you really do love him and are the first to tell me if he needs something.  You loved to hold him when he was an itty bitty baby.

This year YOU get to start doing some big kid things!  I signed you up for soccer this Spring, and (I am not sure how this is possible) you get to start Kindergarten in the fall.  Wow!

My heart overflows when I think how much I love you.  I cannnot wait for you to wake up this morning and left the fun begin!  We are having a little party for you at Chuck E. Cheese!  Your best little friend will be there along with some of your bigger friends. 

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!  Mommy loves you more than you will ever know.

Knight vs. Food Part 2

Last Friday I took both the Knight and the Duke to their annual well checks.  Both of them were declared "well".  My poor little Duke got 4 shots... :(

I love our pediatrician.  He has been our doctor since Princess was an itty bitty baby and he is wonderful.  DadOf4 and I both went to the appointment because we had some concerns about the Knight and his not eating.  We wanted to make sure that we covered all of the bases so the doctor had all of the information.  I also brought a list of questions. 

After talking to the doctor, he said that it appears that our little Knight has reflux and that is making his little tummy hurt when he eats.  He gave us a prescription for a medication that the Knight will be on for about a month.  The goal is to re-build the lining in the Knight's esophagus.  The doctor said that the medicine would take a good week to start working.  He warned that we would not see an increase in appetite for at least that long.

My little Knight has eaten more in the last three days than he typically eats in a week!

He is not gorging himself - he is just eating. 

Instead of taking three bites of a piece of toast because I am standing over him, he will eat the entire thing by himself and ask for more!  Music to this mommy's ears!

And get this - he is even eating the bread CRUST! 

This is just such good news for us.  Encouraging this kid to eat has become a daily struggle, and maybe, just maybe it does not have to be anymore!

I cannot wait to weigh him on Friday!! 

Photo Story Friday - Food Fight!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

This little 4 year old does not always want to eat.

So, yesterday he and I made a cake.  A lemon cake (his choice) with homemade chocolate icing (my choice!).

To get a piece of cake, all he had to do was to eat one itty bitty little piece of chicken.

(Doesn't he have a GREAT evil eye??)

Yes!  That small!

Where did he go??

At least he ate some bread, but to get the cake, he needs one itty bitty bite of chicken.  (By the way, he LOVES this chicken and declared it his "very favorite thing to eat" the last time we had it.)

Oh!  There he is!

The compromise?

He would eat the chicken if I cut the "crust" off first.  He didn't like the grill marks on the chicken.

Kids!

A Rude Awakening!

Flu Bug - 2        Knight - 0

My Poor little Knight got sick again last night. 

He came downstairs around 2:00 in the morning.  This in and of itself is not all that unusual. 

However, when DadOf4 reached down to pull our little Knight into bed with us, the Knight promptly threw up all over DadOf4's pillow. 

Ick! 

DadOf4 is quite quick witted even at 2:00 in the morning. He looked up at me and said without missing a beat, "Well that was a rude awakening!"

Too true!

It is good to be able to laugh when life barfs on your pillow!

Knight vs. Food

We have had a brutal last few days.  My poor little Knight caught the tummy flu.  Princess got it after him, but so far that has been the extent of it. Thank goodness!

My poor little Knight has not gotten his appetite back after this darn thing.  I have tried tempting him with 7-Up, cookies, juice of any kind, and even a glorified donut toaster strudel  this morning.  I thought I had hit the jackpot with the toaster strudel, but he only ate a couple of bites.

My Knight has had tummy issues from the day he was born.  He used to spit up after almost every feeding when he was a baby.  Every burp would be followed by an URP and milk would shoot out of his little mouth.  This all went away after we switched him from formula to milk when he turned a year old. 

He still is not a good eater though.  He has his days when he dives right in but more often than not, meal times are negotiation periods.

"If you eat 3 bites, you can have a brownie." 

"Don't you want to get to 40 pounds so you can have a big-kid-car-seat?  Eat up so you can grow big and strong."

"Daddy is going to eat your supper if you don't eat it quick!!"  (This one tends to work the best!)

"If you don't eat we are going to have to go talk with Dr. G.  Remember he told you to eat more at your last well check?"

My little Knight's 5 year well-check is coming up here pretty soon.  DadOf4 is going with me and we are going to see if we can get to the bottom of this.  We suspect reflux of some kind.  We have been giving him "little tummies" antacid and that seems to help.

This is just on my mind this morning.  Does anyone else out there have a picky 4-year-old who doesn't want to eat?  Do you have any tempting treats that work for you?

Pictures!

We are missing the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins today!  Here are some pictures!

Taken 1/23/2010.  He is starting to look like a little boy!!

What a handsome and happy boy!

These kids are wearing Daddy out!

Playing Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots!