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.