Fun with the Bubble Machine...

What happens when the bubbles are "all gone"....

Summer Sniffles....

Well, I took Joel to the doctor today for his coughing and wheezing. We actually saw the nurse practitioner. She aggravated me by saying that Joel should have been off the bottle by his first birthday. She also informed me that, since he has a cold, he should have had a jacket with a hood. It was 72 degrees! At first I was upset and felt like the worst mother in the world, but as the day wore on I pretty much decided to blow her off. She doesn't know me or Joel, so she doesn't have much credibility as far as I'm concerned. We are working on getting Joel off the bottle, but he isn't even 18 months old for Heaven's sake! I've seen lots of kids older than him with bottles. ANYWAY....he got a prescription for some cough medicine and we have to go back on the nebulizer for a while. It isn't the end of the world, but he struggles with the nebulizer and doesn't like the medicine at all. He does sound a little better, so maybe this will pass quickly. The nurse practitioner said that right now he just has a cold, but with his history of "reactive airway disorder" (wheezing) he needs the nebulizer to loosen up his chest and avoid airway constriction. She also said that usually kids outgrow RAD by the time they are three when their lungs are bigger and stronger. I hope so! I guess for a couple of years we will just plan on nebulizing him whenever he gets a cold. He is asleep now so maybe he will wake up feeling better in the morning. We did play with his bubble machine for a while and he seemed to like doing that. He needs to perk up though! More later....

A Boy and His Fork......

Oh, what a day in the Foster household! Yesterday was wild. Joel is clearly feeling better and is into everything again! He tore this house up from one end to the other ALL DAY!!! He and Bailey were "bickering" all day. Mom was tired and oh-so-cranky by bedtime! Anyway, Joel decided randomly yesterday that he could not go anywhere without his plastic blue fork. He carried it around all day, slept with it, and carried it with him to an appointment. He held it in the car and only let go of it once we were home and he was playing with Daddy. This morning he picked it up right away and was smiling and giggly. He's a goofy little guy! I'm glad he's feeling better, though. Grandma and PawPaw are babysitting tomorrow while I go to lunch with a friend. He'll keep them busy, I'm sure! More later.....

Can you see the attitude coming out?

Poor Sick Baby...

Poor Joel! I took him to Wauseon yesterday for a visit and he was acting really cranky and did not seem to feel well. I brought him home and, before we even got in the house, he threw up all over Rob and the garage floor. The poor little guy....he was so upset! Rob said he thought he was more scared about throwing up than upset about feeling bad. It freaked him out a lot! It took us quite a while to calm him down, but he eventually drank something and went to sleep. He slept all night...for twelve hours! We got up a couple of times to check on him and he was sleeping soundly. He was pretty chipper when he woke up, but by mid-afternoon he was cranky and whiny again. He refused to nap and it was hard to keep him happy. Eventually he fell asleep and has been sleeping for about an hour. We are hoping that some of this is related to getting some back teeth since he is drooling a lot again. I'm hoping that he sleeps well again tonight and wakes up feeling better in the morning. Tomorrow could be a long day otherwise! More later.....

Talking and Giving Kisses......

My little boy is growing up too fast! He has started talking some, and chatters all the time whether he uses words or not! He has said "Elmo" (so cute!), "Cookie", "Ok", "up", and "oh-oh". Rob thought he heard him say "Bailey" the other night, but we aren't sure about that. He is getting really good at following simple instructions ("Give that to Daddy." "Go to Joel's room.")and has been very free with hugs and kisses here recently. He seems to have changed a lot in just the last two weeks or so. He is losing his "baby fat" and getting taller. There has been some debate about cutting his hair, but for now it is staying the way it is. Randy, Georgia, LeighAnne, and Kyle visited for a few days last week. Joel had lots of attention and extra hands around, which was good because Mommy has a bad shoulder and neck and needed the help! I think he was confused the first couple of days after they left. He kept standing at the basement stairs and seemed to be waiting for someone to come up and play! Tonight was interesting. He had his first "accident" in the tub while I was giving him a bath. DISGUSTING!!! Needless to say we finished the bath in the sink (hair wash only!). He has slept through the night the last few nights, so we are hoping that trend continues. Good night....More later.....

Joel, LeighAnne and Kyle....matching tye-dye!

Being oh-so-helpful with LeighAnne using the laptop!

Another round of homemade ice cream...this time with Daddy and Uncle Randy.

Tired little cowboy!

Big Boy!......

Last night we took Joel to the Wauseon Homecoming with Grandma. We were disappointed because there weren't many "baby" rides. We did manage to have Joel ride three rides. Daddy took him on the giant slide twice, which Joel seemed to like. He gave Mommy a big smile at the end! He also rode the "flying animal" ride by himself. We were not sure about that, but Mommy had the operator promise to stop and let him off if he got upset. Daddy strapped him in and he did well. He didn't smile, but he didn't cry. I think he was just confused! :0) The whole time we were there he just had this stare on his face like he had no idea what was happening around him. Mommy and Joel rode the "crazy bus" ride just before we came home. Basically you just sat in it and it went up and down. Joel was NOT happy about that at first, and looked terrified. He held on to me for dear life. That was the last ride of the night....we had pushed our luck I think! He should enjoy the fair more in September with all the animals and the much tamer kids' rides. He has been busy this week with Susan, Sarah and Katie visiting from Cincinnati. This coming week Randy and some of his family are going to visit. Busy, busy, busy! The big news is that Joel has started talking a little bit. I got him to say "Elmo" the other day, and he says "Yeah" and "oh-oh". I had to say Elmo about 50 times before he repeated it, so it counts! Of course he has only said it once since then...... He is busy making friends with out new neighbors, who have already volunteered to babysit if we need it! The woman is retired from Social Security and I know her from when I was a social worker. Tomorrow we may go back to the Y pool if all goes well. More later...

Loading up for the flying animal ride.

Not quite sure what to think.....

Getting ready for the slide!

Weeeeee! Joel gave me a big smile at the bottom, but he didn't look too sure on his way down!

17 Months Old.......

Joel is 17 months old as of yesterday! :0) He has had a big couple of days with his aunt and cousins visiting from Cincinnati. Next week our family from Mississippi is coming for a few days, so he will need to rest up to be the center of attention! :0) His head is healing quite a bit, but not fast enough for me! He's still growing like a weed and learning so many new things every day. It's amazing! Today he started clapping appropriately when you sing "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands...". Such a big boy! More later...

Joel "helping" Daddy and the girls make homemade ice cream!

Busy Weekend....

The Fosters have been popular lately! :0) On Thursday last week my friend Megan came to visit and to introduce us to her baby boy, Owen Daniel. He's adorable but colicky, so he wasn't very happy. He did snuggle on my chest for a while and slept, so that was wonderful! Mr. Joel, however, was not having any of it! He had just woken up from a nap when they got here, and he was NOT amused. He cried several times when Owen cried and did NOT want me to hold him. He even crawled up in my lap on the couch to watch his DVD while Megan and I were talking, which he never does. He wanted to make sure he was #1, I think! He did sit with me while I held Owen once and he did touch him with one finger, but that was it. I think he wants to maintain his "baby status" for a while yet! :0) On Saturday, Aunt Lisa brought a little friend over for a while and then Megan, Ashley, Amber, and her daughter Leah came over to visit for a while and go out to dinner. Joel stayed with Daddy so Mommy could go out with the girls. Daddy gave him a bath since he was filthy from the park. Joel and Leah were cute together. Joel seems to do better when he is the smaller child in a pair rather than when he is the bigger of the two. This morning Rob went to a golf outing and I took Joel to Fremont, Indiana to go to the outlet mall. We did some good shopping for Joel for this fall. Joel was on his best behavior, but unfortunately did not nap all day. He hung in there really well tonight, but when it came to bedtime he was unhappy. Last night he had Rob up from 2:00-3:00 and me up from 3:00-4:00. This can stop anytime. I'm not too optimistic that he will make it through the night tonight, even though he should certainly be tired enough! Fingers crossed... This was a pretty traumatic week, given Joel's fall on Tuesday and our trip to the ER. He was a trooper through the whole thing and is healing beautifully, but if it's all the same I would prefer never to have anything like that happen again! :0( We are having family here from Cincinnati and Mississippi over the next couple of weeks, so I am sure Joel will get plenty of attention and will enjoy entertaining everyone! More later....

Joel's busy weekend wore him out!

I thought this was cute. Aunt Lisa brought her friend's little boy, Keagan, for a visit on Saturday morning. They did pretty well together. Joel wasn't happy when Keagan wanted to ride his ATV, but they worked it out. We went to lunch and then to the park. Joel was filthy and sleepy when we got home...but happy!

Joel, Mommy, and Owen. Joel was quite worried about Owen when he visited this weekend. He cried a lot when Owen cried and did NOT want HIS Mommy touching that baby. He wasn't mean to him, but he clearly was happier when Megan visited alone!

One of my favorites.

"Helping" Mommy do the laundry. It takes twice as long, but it is way more entertaining!

The boy does love the remote! (Like father, like son?)