Traumatic, Tiresome, Terrific, Tender, TWO!

Max turned 2 today. I know,right? Who can believe I'm old enough to have a 2 year old? (humor me please).

Max on his Birthday:

Max on his 1st Birthday:

Max on his 2nd Birthday (in his jammies from GG):

Here's the run down on my tenacious 2 year old...

He can be so sweet snuggling his brother, but he also loves to test boundaries and climb on things he shouldn't.

He loves to do anything Daddy does, including trying to golf. He also sleeps in a big boy bed now.

He is obsessed with anything to do with trains, especially Thomas & loves to "collie" (color)

He can throw a tantrum like nobody's business and 2 seconds later go kiss his brother.

Today I tried my first solo excurssion where there were no friends around to help out. We went to the LA Arboretum and I let him run around all the paths and trails. Fun for an hour and then a lunch time/nap time tantrum hit so it was time to go. It was a beautiful day & we'd never been there before, we'll go again with Daddy.

Happy Birthday Max! I love you!

Thankful

At least something other than the word "NO" occasionally comes out of his mouth. In order to speed things up a bit he started with "Amen". I tried prompting him but as usual he had his own ideas. I didn't even make first mention! Seriously, I spend all day with the kid, Daddy shows up for 2 hrs a night and gets fun weekends and Daddy is the first person he is thankful for. At least I beat out the baby.

One of Tates latest pics- cheeks are getting fuller.

Officially Fall

Even though it is still in the 70's you can't find t-shirts in the stores, every little kid you see is wearing a backpack, & the costumes are out, so it officially must be Fall.

Today we took Max to his friend Ellie's birthday party. It was good for him to get out and it was a painting party (such a great idea!). Max loves to color so he had a blast painting and playing with playdoh for the first time. Good thing we got him an easel for his birthday- don't tell him. The party started at his nap time and he did good but after lunch he stopped listening to mommy so it was time to go home.

In the afternoon we hit the Kidspace Museum pumpkin festival for 30 minutes. Max enjoyed the bounce house, eating a rice krispie treat and watching the musical performance. He refused to put his shoes back on to ride the train and then proceeded to throw his worst tantrum ever. Naturally it was in public. He didn't get to ride the train.

After dinner Daddy & Grandpa went to pick up his latest toy. His friend Ellie was getting rid of her mini-trampoline so Max took it off her hands. Even though today was not his best day (he had 3 more tantrums just while Daddy & Gpa went to pick it up) we let him jump in it for a bit. Oh well, so much for consistency in discipline.

Practicing good oral hygeine

Max has not shown much interest in Tate. However, we did catch him trying to teach Tate an important lesson.

Tate Michael Brownstein

He's here, & he came earlier than expected which makes me love him even more :)

The play-by-play...

8/28 11:30 a.m.: Dr's appointment where I find out already 2-3 cm dilated and almost fully effaced. Dr. suggested scheduling induction because I am strep B positive. If I went into labor before then, to not wait too long to go to the hospital. My mom was booked on a flight for Wednesday the 2nd but the Dr. suggested we schedule sooner than that. So Monday 8/31 was gonna be the day.
8/28 evening: Several large contractions but they were a couple hrs. apart.

8/29 9 a.m.: Leave the house for 3 hrs. so Terminex could come treat the ant problem (whole other blog post for that!). IHOP with my dad for breakfast. Small contractions every 15 minutes or so.

11 a.m.: Hit a park for some outdoor play time for Max. Poor air quality the last couple weeks from the fires has had us all cooped up inside. Called my sister to tell her she better plan on coming to our house because I was pretty sure the baby was on his way.

12 p.m.: Sis shows up, fed Max lunch, put him down for a nap, left instructions for Grandpa & headed to the hospital.

1:30 p.m.: Admitted to hospital, blood work drawn and IV put in. Waited for the Dr. who was coming in any way for another delivery. Contractions were getting stronger but still bearable. 1st round of antibiotics given.

3:45 p.m.: Dr. came in & broke my water. He said if I wanted an epidural to do it now. The anesthesiologist was due to go into a surgery with a surgeon who was known for being slow so they didn't want me to miss my opportunity for the good drugs.

3:55 p.m.: Anesthesiologist came in to explain the procedure to me and do the paperwork. She said she was waiting on my blood test results which would be a couple minutes and she would be back.

4:20 p.m.: Contractions were unbearable so I sent Mike out to ask where my epidural was.
Nurse:"Your blood work is taking longer so the anaesthesiologist had to go into surgery."
Me: "Are you serious? This really hurts."
Nurse: "I wanted to be honest with you and not give you some story. I don't know why its taking so long. Do you want something else for the pain?"
Me: "Um, hell yeah" (or something close to that).
4:25 p.m.: Statol injected into IV. I was checked again (dilated to a 6). Ticked to find out I still felt enormous pain. The only difference was I also felt fuzzy headed. The nurse informed me that it would only help take the edge off. It sure didn't feel like it. So now I was in pain and incoherent- fantastic.

I'm not quite sure how to explain the pain of contractions & now have serious respect for ladies who go w/o the epidural. The next 40 minutes until Tate was born was just plain painful.

4:45 p.m.: Holding Mike's hand & gently squeezing it (not according to Mike), I told him I had to push. I looked at his face as he looked at my sister who was rubbing my back, it seemed like they were giving each other a "Oh, poor girl. That's not possible" look. I quietly said it again & patiently waited while Mike got the nurse (again, not according to Mike). Humoring me, the nurse peeked under my gown and said "Oh, there's a head!".

Basically the room filled with people very quickly trying to rush and set up. I was flipped onto my back and told to use my breath to "preserve yourself instead of using it to yell". I looked at Mike to give him a "tell her to go take a hike" look. I had to push NOW. Dr. rushes in & at 5:01 p.m. Tate Michael Brownstein was born weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz. & 20.5 inches long.

My nurses and Dr. all made sure to tell me that if we have another child to be sure and tell everyone that I am fast after my water is broken. I'm just thankful it was only 1 hr and 15 min. from when my water broke. I'm fairly certain I would have been trying to knock myself unconscious if it were longer.

We were a little nervous at first because he wasn't breathing well, but apparently it was because my statol injection was given so shortly before he was born. We also didn't have time to give me my 2nd round of antibiotics. Everything ended up fine & Tate ate and slept like a champ in the hospital. Max wasn't so interested in him, but was very happy to see Mike and I. We're home now & adjusting well to having another little guy around. Thanks to everyone for the phone calls, meals and well wishes! Can't wait for you all to meet him.

6 Firemen + 4 EMT's + 5 hrs in emergency room + 3 hrs at vet = 1 unhappy husband

I suppose I should clarify a bit...Face Book just doesn't give you enough room & probably made it sound worse than it was. So here's the long version...

Last Wednesday morning Max & I went outside to enjoy some sun that wasn't totally scorching. He was in a diaper and I had shorts and a tank top, neither of us had shoes. After splashing in the wading pool for a bit I thought to myself, "My husband has been fabulous and doing everything around here lately. I'll go water the garden so he doesn't have to do it later", cuz that's the kind of person I am. Max of course followed me back to the rocky garden & I began watering. He started to complain a bit that his feet hurt so I dusted them off with my hands and put him on a chair to watch. I continued to wander through watering and pruning a bit for about 10 minutes. Max hopped down off the chair and picked a "bapple". He thinks the tomatoes are apples and eats them right off the vine, I don't mind so I rinsed it off in the hose and handed it to him.

Finished with the watering I rinsed Max's tomato juice tummy off & we went back inside. I turned the TV on for him and went to rinse off my cucumbers and peppers I'd picked. I was feeling a bit dizzy and sat down, the dizziness only got worse as I sat. Then I noticed the right side of my face felt numb, just like I'd had a Novocain injection. It felt really weird and both just kept getting worse. I called Mike and as I did remembered he had spread ant poison around the garden a couple days earlier. It was all over back there and I had been walking through it, touching it and probably inhaled a bit. Mike told me to go read the label & do what it said. I jumped in the shower to rinse myself off (thankfully I had Mike move one of our outdoor ottomans into the shower a few weeks go. I just can't stand & soak in there like I want to anymore w/o being able to sit). I was still dizzy when I got out so called Mike back and he said he was on his way home and to call my Dr. I thought about how Max had been back there as well and kept my eye on him. He seemed perfectly fine and content to watch TV.

The Dr. said go to the hospital. Yeah, easier said than done when you are dizzy and have a 22 month old to dress and load into the car. It takes Mike about 40 min. to get home and they said not to wait. I called a couple friends and got voicemails. I remembered my sister had an appointment in Beverly Hills that morning so I crossed my fingers that she had not gone home yet. Luckily she was just leaving and said she would come right over. But again, Beverly Hills isn't that close. I tried Sachia again, but on her cell this time. She was out running errands and rushed right over saying she would take me and just haul Max around with her while she ran errands. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, who wants to run errands toting around a 1 yr old and a 2 yr old? Plus, I can't get the car seat out of my car.

Reluctantly I called 911. Within minutes of me calling, Sachia showed up followed by 2 fire trucks with about 6 firemen & 2 ambulances with 4 EMT's, a bit much if you ask me. I immediately regretted calling. They moved fast around my annoying dogs who were thrilled to have a house full of playmates. Max didn't even poke his head out of the family room. He really likes his shows. Apparently the firemen control these kinds of situations, they took down what happened, my info, and took blood pressure then instructed the EMT's to put me on the stretcher. I asked if I could walk and they said no. Honestly the whole thing was a bit embarrassing at this point. I knew Max was in good hands so off we went in the ambulance.

Mike didn't know I had called 911 so went home 1st. He checked on Max and changed into comfy jeans (good thinking, cuz hospitals are not known for being fast). After some blood work, monitoring my blood pressure, and listening to the babies heart over a 5 hr period they finally said I could go home. My blood work was fine, baby was fine & most likely the whole thing was a combo of me doing too much and probably being allergic to an ingredient in the poison.

Oh, and when we got home my sister said our dog Boo still seemed out of sorts. She had been coughing for a couple days & my sister had been here a few days earlier. Mike figured since he was home from work and Max was napping and I would just lie down that he would take her to the vet. 3 hrs later they came home with meds for Boo who apparently had cloudy lungs causing her to cough so much. Unbelievable. We won't be getting new cell phones or a new TV, or frozen yogurt 4 times a week now :(

So there you have it. 5 days later & my face is still numb on the right side, but I'm perfectly fine & just bitter that not one of the firemen or EMT's was like the dreamy ones in the calendars. Mike told me if I want to meet a cute guy to just go on line next time :)

Recession proof Birthday

Mike started a tradition 2 years ago of making my birthday a week long celebration. I'm pretty sure me talking about it and constantly suggesting the fabulous idea had nothing to do with it. I get a little present each day and 1 big present on my birthday. This year he told me it could only be 5 days due to the recession. I'm not going to complain because part of it included a fun weekend in San Diego (thanks to Citibank points1). Plus, my Dad, my older sister and her kids were here so Mike didn't have to entertain me too much.

My sister arrived the day of my b-day so we enjoyed some cupcakes from Dots that some fab friends and my husband picked up for me. Thurs. night we went out for a late dinner. It just made us feel old that we were exhausted at 8pm and shocked that Houston's was so packed at that hour. My, how we forget what it was like w/o children & when we both worked until 7 or 8 every night. We did have some random celebrity sightings, Long-duk-dong & Dennis Rodman were there (separately). We used to eat at Houston's a lot (when I had a job) and almost always saw celebrities there.

Friday after Mike got off work we drove down to SD and stayed through late Sunday afternoon. We went to the San Diego zoo with our friends the Howe's, had some yummy Mexican food, enjoyed the hotel breakfast buffet, checked out La Jolla beach & stopped at the San Diego temple for pictures on the way home.

Not a bad deal for a birthday in a recession year, eh? Thanks Mike :)

no laughing at the pregnant woman eating her 2nd cupcake

This cheetah walked right by us on its way to a lunch for guests who bought a back-stage pass. We're totally gonna save up for that next time.

Max & Fallon checking out some sort of crocodile thingy.

Group shot in front of Galapagos turtle exhibit. Both Max & Fallon wanted to climb in. We should have let them...they could probably out run the turtles.

One of the few pics of Max & I were it was not a total chest shot of me (sorry folks, trying to keep it 'G' rated)

Max hated walking in the sand, but loved jumping the waves on this rock. we had to drag him away screaming.

One of the most beautiful buildings ever