Christopher played with a pirate ship last year at a friend’s house and has been in love with all things pirate since then. We found a Veggie Tale’s pirate ship (from the movie “Jonah”) and he was so excited, but we didn’t want to just buy it for him. We decided to let him “earn” it by doing extra chores (beyond the usual) around the house. We bought the set and kept it in our closet and we would find him sitting there admiring it then even more eager to do chores. On Bennett’s birthday we let Christopher open it and I have never seen a child appreciate a toy more. He’ll play with it for hours and ANYTHING that keeps Christopher’s attention that long has to be pretty amazing. The cutest part is that at random points he’ll turn around from his playing and say to us, “My love you. My love my pirate ship.”

Tomorrow Moira tours the preschool where she’ll attend speech therapy starting in May. Depending on her assessment, we may have the option of enrolling her in a program for kids with developmental delays 5 days a week for 3+ hours and she would get speech, occupational, physical therapy plus time in a special motor lab (think obstacle course for 3 year olds) and it’s a tiny class (the “big” class has a teacher, aide, and 7 kids plus all the therapists coming in and out) but we’re very, very unsure. Our first reaction is to not enroll her and just take her in one to two times a week for speech. We’ll see how she handles the tour but 5 days a week is a LOT to send a child barely 3 away from home. Christopher is only gone one day a week and next year will be two days a week and that was really hard at first and he’s going to Amy’s house, my dear and wonderful friend and someone he’s adored since he was a year old. (It probably helps him feel at home there since he’s proposed to Amy’s daughter and all…) Sending Moira to someone we don’t know is a different matter. Just not sure we feel okay with that.

And again, this depends on IF Moira qualifies and she’s making incredible progress over the last couple weeks. I think her vocabulary has easily doubled if not tripled. Today she said whale! (Watching “Fantasia”) then said, “Diego whale,” since Diego (Dora’s cousin) had whales on his show. Yes, our child has learned to speak from “Dora the Explorer” and “Go, Diego, Go!” Don’t know what to think about that.

Bennett’s being a regular climbing monkey and giving me heart attacks and getting new bruises every day. For some reason this child thinks he’s invincible, or at least acts that way. I remember Christopher going through a stage of exploration (wait, like he’s ever left that stage??) but I don’t remember this constant head bashing, climbing into the fireplace, laying on top of the laundry basket like Super Man flying thing. (Kit found him there - 16″ off the ground, on top of an overturned laundry basket, flapping his arms & legs.) I told Kit I’m starting to take Bennett for granted, in the sense that I’m no longer viewing him as “fragile” - I can let him sleep without checking on him. I spend more time worrying about him pulling things on his head than I do about his lungs. I’m more concerned with Moira’s developmental delays than his! He just seems so, so “normal” now that I can almost forget on some level what he’s been through. He doesn’t feel like a preemie anymore. And I think I realize what a miracle it is that we can feel that way.

Bennett is 15lbs 7ozs! Meaning he’s gained 1lb 10ozs in just over two weeks, which is incredible. He’s also 26″ long, so 14″ over his birth length. We’re cutting the oil out of his bottles now but keeping him at 30 calorie preemie formula until he’s one year old adjusted (end of May.) He’s 25th percentile for his length but still under 3% for weight. That’s okay - he’s growing and I’m under 3% for weight probably, too! We’re thrilled he’s doing so well. His lingering issues seem to be the slow weight gain, being near sighted, speech delay, and the lungs. But since the slow weight gain and speech are typical for all three kids, I don’t think they really count. The lungs will heal. All the kids will need glasses eventually, he just needs them very early. All in all, not bad for a baby that showed up 4 months early!

Today our littlest is one year old and I still can’t believe it. We’re getting ready to make a birthday cake (that we’re not going to let him eat) and the kids have picked out a present for him and we’ll sing and videotape. The official cake smashing and party will be May 20th, however, the week he came home from the NICU and closer to him being one year old and able to enjoy the cake!

Pictures are up in the gallery of the kids being adorable last night. We’ll post more today after we bake the cake.

I was telling Kit one of the blessings of being so sick lately is that I haven’t been able to really think about the anniversary dates we’ve been passing this last week. It was really, really hard back before the holidays as we went through some of those dates from last year that were terrifying. One year ago this week I was hospitalized and told my water had broken and we were going to lose Bennett. Okay, so we had been hearing that for months but still, it’s always hard to hear. As we come up on Bennett’s birthday (SUNDAY!) we’re celebrating and excited but also very mindful of where we stood at this point last year. Just today I’m starting to feel close to “normal” and I’m reading back over his journal and remembering how far he’s come. It’s neat, if not hard on my stomach, to be expecting again and to have this added blessing to celebrate. And for things to be going so well. I have to pinch myself every day (that I’m not violently ill) to believe that this pregnancy is okay. We’re grateful. And I’m trying to not whine about feeling icky because I’m thankful I’m not on bed rest.

We’re posting pictures later of Bennett for his official birthday.

I believe our theory of progesterone being the culprit was accurate because now, a few days without, I’m back to a “normal” level of morning sickness and misery. I talked it over with my midwife and we agreed this pregnancy is a whole new world and that’s great. Things look wonderful, especially now that I’m feeling well enough to stand up. Still icky, but more bearable.

I’m reviewing Bennett’s development charts from ECI covering cognitive, language, gross & fine motor, verbal social & self help skills. Not at all a surprise, Bennett has caught up in the gross motor skills to his adjusted age (8 months this week) AND not only that, he’s caught up to his actual age. He is where he should be for a 1 year old. Crazy. But just like his big brother - Christopher walked at 9 3/4 months and Bennett will probably walk around then (adjusted) since he’s already starting to stand alone and is cruising furniture constantly and making some scary transfers from one thing to another and letting go in transit. He’s almost caught up to his actual age for fine motor skills but needs some help there. And self-help and social. He needs the most help with verbal, but that was anticipated since he’s focusing so much on gross motor. He’ll start speech therapy in May when he hits 1 year adjusted (16 months really) and until then we’ll let him worry about motor skills. So we’re thrilled! He’s cutting some more teeth (#7 and #8 on top) and he’s given up his second nap. One nap a day seems like way too little to me but again, that’s like his big brother. They don’t require much sleep, I guess.

Bennett turns one on Sunday which is what prompted me to see how he’s doing with these skills. We were told by the time he’s 2 years old he should be mostly caught up on those lost four months, but I suspect at this rate he’ll be caught up by 18 months except for verbally.

Christopher was relating something he saw on a movie. He was very adamantly and animatedly explaining that these men he saw had little hats and they were holding asparagus, and they were talking to another man…

Asparagus? Christopher has never eaten asparagus, certainly. I was pretty sure that he was too young since the last time we had it in he house to recognize it again. Apparently not. “Asparagus, Dad. Big asparagus.”

“Can you describe it to us?” we asked him.

“They had big sticks with triangles on the end of it. Asparagus!”

“Christopher, do you mean ‘Spears’?”

“Yes! Spears are asparagus! That’s what my mean.”

Of course. This has nothing to do with tacos, by the way.

Heidi, nay pregnant women in general, have heightened senses. Heidi, specifically, becomes extremely aware of touch, sound, and smell/taste. Especially the smell thing. It’s like a nausea-inducing super power.

Bennett was climbing over Heidi yesterday afternoon and she suddenly exclaimed, “Kit! He smells like a taco!” She sniffed the back of his head. “Right here,” she indicated.

I smelled the base of Bennett’s skull. Wouldn’t you know it, he smells like a taco. Well, more like a corn tortilla chip.

This makes sense, I suppose. We supplement Bennett’s food with corn oil to help him put on weight. I guess any excess comes out through his hair or something because he definitely smells like a taco. (I can post movies, pictures and such, but there’s no smell delivery system for the internet, yet. For such small blessings, I’m glad.)

Perhaps we’ll shake things up and try peanut oil. Or coconut oil! Then we could dip him in chocolate… That would be a pleasant smell for Heidi’s super sniffer.

(Mounds, among other things, are on the cravings list I’ll be picking up later today.)

First, some background.

With Bennett, Heidi’s progesterone levels were significantly low. Her excellent midwife caught this early on and prescribed her progesterone supplements to help maintain her pregnancy. Progesterone is the hormone that is instrumental in sustaining a pregnancy in the early months. If it’s not there, the pregnancy isn’t going to make it.

To be on the safe side with this pregnancy, if the low progesterone was going to be a continual problem, the midwife suggested that Heidi continue the progesterone just to make sure. So Heidi did, though she was taking a considerably lower dosage.

Background over. Heidi has been very sick with morning sickness. More like Debilitating All Day Misery (DADM). Morning Sickness alone would be a welcome change. To make it worse, she’s never been this sick before with any other of our kids. It’s horrible and wretched and we really need it to stop if we’re all going to survive.

Last night as we were watching silly TV, trying to get Heidi to be able to eat something, and generally killing time to try and survive our DADM, Heidi mentions, “I wonder if you can take too much progesterone?”

In other words, if this pregnancy is truly progressing normally (it is), and Heidi has tested that her progesterone levels are good (they are), is it perhaps possible to have too much progesterone in the system if one is supplementing? So we look it up combining the word progesterone with some of her symptoms.

Turns out that is is indeed possible to have an excess of progesterone in your system. If you do, you may very much feel like you have a wicked case of food poisoning. ALL THE TIME!

We don’t believe everything we read, but it’s certainly worth giving her midwife a call to corroborate this information. With any luck, our little bit of research has nailed this one, and Heidi can go from her Debilitating All Day Misery to something far more reasonable and normal for her. We live in a constant state of optimism and hope.

When I came home from work this afternoon, Heidi mentioned something about Bennett discovering a new level of mobility. I didn’t really hear what she said, however, and after dinner I discover this:

Seeing that Heidi has him spotted, I do what any self-respecting dad would do and grab the camera. “You knew he was doing this?” I ask Heidi.

“Yes!” she replies, “What did you think I was talking about?”

Certainly not this. Yikes.

All I can say is “bleeehhhhhh.” Sick has hit with a vengeance and I’m praying I don’t start losing weight (I did manage to gain a pound before this started, so we’re happy.) Kit will be the official blogger from here on out until we hit the second trimester or I get my midwife’s okay to start back on zofran. Hopefully TODAY!

Being sick is a good sign and this is the longest I’ve gone throughout our six pregnancies without being sick so that supports our “girl” theory. I usually get sick right at 4 weeks and I’m just over 6 weeks so that extra two weeks was nice. And I’m usually okay around 14 weeks so just 8 more to go!!

Hey, at least I’m not on bed rest, right?

Kit and I were teasing each other this evening and Christopher announces, as he does to everyone these days, “Teasing a time out offense!” So Kit and I gleefully announce we’re going to put ourselves in time out and Christopher is now in charge of Moira and Bennett. He’s happy to accept the challenge so we race to hide in our bed room for a brief moment of peace. I think it was about 20 seconds before we heard Moira calling for us and Christopher tell her, “No, them in time out!” So she jumps in bed with us and Christopher races in to say, “Bennett make me nervous!” and Kit had to go rescue Bennett from wherever he had gotten stuck. He’s pulling up and cruising around EVERYTHING and he walked the length of the couch tonight (holding on, of course.)

It was almost relaxing for those 20 seconds, though.

I can usually admit when I’m out of control and right now, I am SO out of control. I’m living in fear of the morning sickness hitting (this is the longest I’ve gone without actually vomiting in pregnancy - sorry, gross) and in the other five pregnancies I’ve been SICK (much less so with Moira) and actually losing weight so they put me on a medication used for patients on chemotherapy (it’s cheaper than having to hospitalize me and stick me on IV) and at $25 a pill, you’re too intimidated by the price to dare throw it up. I think that’s how it works.

Anyway, as soon as we got a positive pregnancy test I started making freezer meals. (I love freezer meals.) I’ve also learned making food is how I show love for people. Poor Kit. Impossible to stay healthy around here when I’m making multiple desserts a week. Here is our list of freezer meals I’ve made in the last week since learning we were expecting. My theory is that if I get sick, I don’t want Kit to worry about making dinner (though he loves cooking):

chicken mushroom crepes
stroganoff (3)
white enchiladas
real mashed potatoes
stuffing
quesadillas
calico bean soup
sweet & sour chicken (3)
rosemary pizza crust & homemade sauce (2)
tator tot casserole (3)
chicken potpie (3)
homemade macaroni & cheese
red enchiladas (3)
meatloaf (4)
burgers (8)

apple muffins
waffles
pancakes
buttermilk biscuits
pumpkin bread
Macaroni grill bread
apple spice bread
mini bacon cheese quiche

Okay, so of this was already in there pre-pregnancy and this doesn’t count the freezer meals I picked up at the store (like lasagna and crockpot meals) or the basics we have like chicken and cheese and veggies and ice cream and 9lbs of strawberries (I’m not kidding) and mangos and kiwis (I crave fruit smoothies when I’m pregnant and I freezer the fruit in season - yummy.) Oh, and this doesn’t count the three kinds of cookies and forty million other desserts. So, how out of control am I?? At least I won’t have to cook much before the baby comes. I won’t have to go the store, either, at least for the first trimester (except for perishables) because I did a massive shopping trip and you should have seen the looks I was getting pushing around the shopping cart at Walmart and buying 10lbs of ground meat, etc, etc. It reminded me of grocery shopping at the commisary for our family of seven kids!

Heidi and Mo went on a playdate this morning, and after I got Bennett down to his nap, Christopher and I played a bit. I decided to help him practice his drawing. Our oldest plays quite a bit. In fact, you can’t get him to sit still, as a general rule. As a result he rarely seems to focus for typically quiet activities like drawing. This was an excellent opportunity.

Critter and I went to play with the dry erase markers on the new easel. We took turns drawing objects to produce a lovely collaborative doodle of a pirate ship. Here is the final product:

Let me take you on a brief guided tour. Pirates are bad guys. They have swords. Grr. There’s a plank where the good guys are walking off. Note the splash in the water. We were careful to not forget the pirate games. Midships is the pirate volleyball net complete with racquets. Badminton-ball, perhaps? You’ll find the basketball hoop near the aft.

Critter drew the wheel right about where the crow’s nest should be. It’s very tall. Once he did, he extended the sword of the pirate standing nearby. Once he was finished, looking very satisfied with himself, he declared, “My made the sword reach way up to the top. My a very clever boy.”

Laughing at his candor and self-assesment, I had to agree.