Coen's burn

Well, I suppose I ought to update on Coen. We are not used to him crawling, as he has just started. So he crawled over to my ironing board while I had stepped away to go to the bathroom. He pulled on the cord and down it came, onto his left hand. He has 1st & 2nd degree burns on three of his fingers. He stopped crying almost immediately when we got his hand under cool water. He started playing with the stream of water. He didn't cry in the emergency room, even when they dressed it. He doesn't cry when I clean it or re-dress it, either. We took him to his regular doctor because we were worried about that, but he said the burns look like they are healing well and that he doesn't have much pain is a blessing, not something to worry about. The burns are not deep enough to have damaged the nerves.

At first, Coen would leave the bandage alone, but I think he got tired of it and has started working it off. I used to wrap it around his fingers and wrist, leaving his thumb free, but he figured out how to get his fingers out of the top part. So I took his thumb away, wrapping a few times around his wrist and he hasn't gotten that off. In a few more days, we won't need to wrap it anymore. The doctor said it probably won't even leave a permanent scar, but it will take a long time to look "normal" again.

He is a lucky little boy, the iron fell just off from his knuckles and he is able to bend all his fingers. There's a picture of him on Facebook with his cute little blue bandage, but Blogger won't let me upload right now.

In other news, he still only has one tooth and is pulling himself up to stand on things, even things that aren't very stable.

Watching a baby learn is amazing.

This morning, Coen and I sat on the floor in the toy room playing. Co had his pacifier in his hand and was picking up other stuff that was laying on the floor. He picked up a piece of wooden train track and examined it. Then he brought his hands together quickly (he has started hitting his fists together but he hasn't yet figured out how to clap). This, of course, made a sound as the pacifier hit the track. Coen stopped and looked a little surprised. He looked at the paci, then he looked at the track. Then he started banging them together over and over. He got so excited that he could make the noise happen from two things that don't make noise! It was so neat to watch his little gears turning.

In other news, I set up an appointment for WIC today. Not sure how I feel about that. My biggest problem is that they can treat you like you're uneducated just because you need a little help. I was "referred" because we get the medical card. I got a letter that said they were "required" to meet with me. It didn't say that I was required to meet with them, though. I put it off for a long time because I felt like it wasn't their business, just because we don't have health insurance doesn't mean we (I) need education or to be taught how to be a good mom. But Paul's unemployment won't last forever, and nobody will hire someone who is in school for the hours he needs and the pay he needs for us to survive, so any way to stretch the budget is good, and we could use the food coupons to cut down on grocery money. So I sucked it up and called. The girl I talked to on the phone, though, seemed really nice and understanding. She was excited that I am breastfeeding because it'll boost their numbers. I guess the breastfeeding rate around here is pretty low.
I'm a little nervous because they said to bring the kids' vaccination records. And there aren't any. I'm afraid they're going to try to bully me into vaxing them when I'm not ready. The thing is, I've probably read more on the subject than any of them. No, I'm not convinced my kids are going to develop Autism, but I'm also not convinced the shots are safer than the possibility of the (treatable) diseases in healthy kids. I'm not trying to convince anyone, I'm just doing what I believe is best for my family, and I don't want to be treated like I'm neglecting my kids for it. I've heard some horror stories about WIC people being bullies and even calling CPS (it's not CPS material, since it's NOT neglect and parents have the right to refuse). I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Indiana trip and ER

Well, we had a busy week last week in Indiana. We went to the zoo, the children's museum, and a waterpark. We had a lot of fun. You can find pictures of our trip on Facebook. If you can't see them, add me as a friend. There are also videos up on Vimeo.
Kalten started acting a little sick while we were there, and Saturday night after we got home, he was wheezing and short of breath. He told me he wanted to go to bed way before he usually does and as I laid him down to put a diaper on for sleeping, he just, boom, went to sleep. He was still breathing heavily and shallow, and I could feel his heart pounding. We decided to take him to the ER around 9:30 and we didn't get out until almost 2:00 a.m. He got four albuterol breathing treatments and a chest X-ray, along with two prescriptions. I was holding Coen, so I had to leave the X-ray room. When I was able to go back in, Kalten told me all about it. He pointed to the X-ray guy who was back behind the partition and said, "he's goin' back in his big house. He's doin' his computer. He's BUSY." He did so well despite waking up in a strange place with strange people. He is doing better now but still wheezes occasionally.
Coen is sitting up pretty well now and rolls constantly. His newest thing is sticking his tongue out when he smiles. It's so cute! He is the happiest baby I've ever met. He smiles a lot and at everyone. Of course he has his "moments," but overall he's really content and easygoing.

All-around

Whew! So what's been going on since I posted last? Well, Coen finally rolled over and I missed it. Kalten can write a few letters in chalk on the sidewalk and copy marks that I make. My parents had an anniversary and we sent my dad on a biplane ride. He had a blast, and it was so cool to see him so happy, like a little kid!
What else? Kalten went to the fair with my parents, without us. They were out late and I missed him! When he came home he was talking about the ride he went on. I took him up to bed and was asking him questions. He was trying to be a stinker and kept saying "no!" after every question, but he couldn't stop himself from telling me all about it. He was so funny.
I finally got all the 0-3 month clothes out of Coen's dresser, and all the size 2 clothes out of Kalten's. Co's almost done with his 3-6 month stuff too. He fits nicely in the 6-9.
I'm tired and I will try to keep up more here. I'll post another if I can remember anything else important.

Naughty but cute.

Coen is very stuffy and drooly. I wonder if he is gearing up to pop a tooth out or what. There's no bump on his gums or anything but I know it can take a long time from the start of "teething" until one actually shows. I hope it's just that and not him getting sick. He sleeps a lot but that is because he doesn't sleep well at night with his nose so stuffy, even after I've done saline drops and the sucker bulb.

He always takes a nap right after we get up in the morning, and this time I set him in the car seat so he's more upright. He sounds a lot clearer. I am trying to keep the kids from waking him up, but Kalten went right up to him and said, "hi Coen!" Then, "Mommy, he opened his eyes!"

I tried to explain that Coen wanted to sleep right now, but Kalten kept telling me, "no, he opened his eyes!" I said that was only because he (Kalten) was bothering him. He paused for a second, then looked at me and said sweetly, "I love him!"

Thanks for the help

Okay, so I know it's been a while since the last entry. I just haven't been on the computer all that much lately.

Today I had Coen laying on the floor. He's been doing crunches trying to sit himself up. I wondered if he would roll over for me. Kalten came over to see what we were doing, and I was being goofy and rolled around on the floor. I asked Kalten, "can you show Coen how to roll over?" I meant for him to lay down and roll, too, but he had another idea. He said "yeah!" and before I could stop him, he reached under Coen and flipped him over onto his belly! Co didn't mind, surprisingly, and just laid there looking at the carpet.

Coen is unofficially 14.8 pounds and 25" long (according to Wii Fit and his surfboard tummy time mat).

Paul's parents were here last week and that was a lot of fun. It's always nice to see them. We also got to get out and do adult things a couple times without chasing Kalten around. We're looking forward to the time when we can bring the boys to Colorado.

Paul's birthday was Sunday. He's 27 now, which is funny because he's been thinking he was 27 for the past year.

Kalten is doing amazing with the potty now. Most days he stays dry and is rewarded by a new car at bedtime. He will tell you, "diapers are for sleeping, underwear is for getting up!"

Coen loves to grab things and pull them to his mouth. He laughs when I sneeze or pull a blanket he's holding onto. He doesn't like to lay down anymore. He wants to be sitting up where he can watch what's going on, but he doesn't have the muscles for sitting yet.

Fun with poop

We were getting ready to go out for ice cream and Kalten was on the porch. He came in and said, "I'm eating ice!" Well, there's no ice on the porch, obviously. I asked him to show me where he got it, and he pointed to a spot where I found a piece of frosted decorative glass from a centerpiece we got at a friend's wedding. So I think he swallowed a piece of glass. I called the on-call doctor and we get to sift through K's poop for a while. Since it wasn't sharp, it'll probably pass right through, but if it doesn't by tomorrow we get to test out our new insurance. I don't even know for sure that he swallowed it. The piece I found on the porch might have been the piece he had in his mouth. I'm not looking forward to mushing through the kid's poop, but it really scares me. He'll probably end up with X-rays. The doctor said that if he starts having a stomach ache or any symptoms of bowel obstruction, we have to get him in right away. It's crazy. He never puts stuff in his mouth, and then... glass!

Here's what K has to say about the incident (he's bugging me to do letters):
sb,mmmmmmjvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv