Peanut Butter 1, Liam 0

Warning. Do not, I repeat, not give Liam peanut butter. We found this out the hard way today.

Poor Liam had his first trip to the ER this afternoon.

I had just fed Joergen, put him down for a nap, and made myself some lunch when I got a call from Miss Doreen letting me know that Liam had taken 2 bites of his PB&J sandwich, announced that he was "DONE," and promptly broke out in hives all over his face (note that Liam had been eating peanut butter over the past 6 weeks or so without incident!). While I was on the phone with Miss Doreen, Liam's left eye began to swell. I always keep Benedryl in Liam's diaper bag, so I had her give him a dose, but unfortunately in the meantime, the reaction started spreading across his face and his right eye began to swell as well. Within seconds, his eyes were swollen shut. So after a quick call to his pediatrician, who recommended we go straight to the emergency room, I hung up the phone, packed a bag for Joergen, and ran out the door (and, as is our luck, I ran right into a torrential downpour. Could this get worse?!).

When I got to Doreen's to swap kids, I took one look at Liam and knew this was serious. He was almost unrecognizable! I got him in the car and sped off to the hospital, holding his hand from the front seat and asking him questions the whole way to make sure that his throat wasn't also swelling. Fortunately that never happened! The Benedryl made the hives all but disappear, but he just wasn't getting relief in his eyes.



When we got to the ER, they took us in right away. Liam was so quiet (and I think a little scared), but he was his usual charming self with the nurses, who fell in love with him immediately! He was so proud of his hospital bracelet (just like Mommy's and Joergen's!), and even got a little glowing sensor taped to his finger that plugged him in to the monitors. And then... then he got his own tv with his very own remote. He just had to keep straining to see out of those poor little eyes!






Liam got a big shot of a steroid, followed by a mega-dose of Benedryl (which, by the way, does not make Liam drowsy. At all.), followed by eye drops, and then we just had to wait... and wait... and wait to see if it would work. In the meantime, we were blessed with the most fantastic nurse, who brought Liam a new distraction about every 30 minutes. What would we have done without her?! Here's Liam with his popsicle and his Spongebob coloring book. Hey, this hospital thing is fun, no?

After about 4 and a half hours, we were finally cleared to leave. The swelling in his eyes had gone down a bit, and they were more confident that the reaction wasn't going to get any worse.
Liam is going to be taking the steroid and Benedryl for the next several days, and will carry an Epi-pen with him everywhere he goes for at least the next 3 years. We are going to be making an appointment with a pediatric allergist as well. Oy. Just so thankful that he is okay!

One Month Old

Well that month flew by! Spring has seemingly come and gone, as we went directly from 45 degree weather to temps above 80. I guess it's a good thing Liam got an inflatable pool for Easter!

Joergen had his 1-month checkup today and is growing like a weed. He has gained almost 3 pounds and 1 1/2 inches since birth! The doctor is really happy with his progress, and Mommy is relieved considering how little he's been nursing over the past week while he's been sick.

Joergen is starting to have longer stretches of awake time during the day and (hooray!) longer stretches of sleep time at night. We've been amazed at just how wide awake his awake-time is, too! Here he is lounging on the Boppy:

His eyes are still dark blue, but we're wondering if he may end up being our brown-eyed boy? Doing some serious staring on his playmat:

Poor little guy had to get his Hep B vaccine today, and was not a happy camper. He finally passed out during the car ride home (and is still sleeping now, a hour and a half later!)

Easter with Family

Happy Easter, everyone!

We were so excited to get to spend this Easter holiday with Grandma and Papa, as well as with Nana, Grandpa, GG, and Mommy's cousin Shannon and her family. We hadn't seen Shannon and the gang since Tim and Jackie's wedding almost 2 years ago.

Liam made a new pal in his cousin Gilbey. Gilbey is my godson, and I just loved to see these two playing together and being extra-silly!

On Saturday night, Aunt Jayne and Grandpa's cousins Judy, Joanne, and Jay came over for cocktails and a visit. Always a party with that crowd! Judy and Mike brought a fun little Easter present for Liam, who enjoyed ensuring that stringy Easter grass got all over the deck:

Nana, Judy, Grandma, and Joanne:

Papa enjoying the weather and a snuggle with his newest grandson:

Joergen catching some Zs on Judy's lap:

On Sunday morning, the kiddos saw that the Easter bunny had arrived!

The Easter bunny brought Liam new sippy cups and Play-Doh, and brought Joergen new pacifiers. Score! After Easter baskets and church, it was time for an egg hunt. Jason and sweet little Anneke getting ready for the festivities:

Grandma playing some ball with Dillon, Gilbey, and Liam while we set up the hunt:

The hunt is on! Liam paid homage to his great grandpa G-willie with his sweet new Easter hat:

Joergen preferred the comfort of Grandpa to the craziness of the Easter egg hunt. Check out his Easter duds!

Grandpa with Gilbey, Liam, Lilly, and Dillon:

After the hunt (and a whole lotta candy), we went to GG's house for brunch. Liam loved making his entrance with both Nana and Grandma! Swinging, no less!

Grandma and her PA grandsons:

Unfortunately, Liam had decidedly hit the end of his Easter joy just as we were all sitting down to brunch, so we more or less had to eat and run to avoid a total public meltdown (oh, the terrible, terrible 2s!). We were so sad to have to say goodbye to our families, and especially to Grandma and Papa who left from York to head back to Illinois. We loved our visit with them and can't wait to see them again in June to celebrate Grandma's 60th birthday on Lake Erie!

PS- Liam is so good at sharing, and was so kind as to share his nasty cold from last week with not only Mommy, but with poor little Joergen as well. It has been a rough few days around here but I hope this has been the worst of it!

Meeting Grandma and Papa

Grandma and Papa are here!! And after Mommy was home with a sick, miserable Liam and a fussy Joergen for 3 days, she couldn't have been more grateful to have them arrive!

Grandma holding Joergen for the first time. Such a sweet moment!

A wide-awake Joergen with his Grandma and Papa:

Don't you love Joergen's little double chin?!

While Grandma and Papa have been helping us out here at home, Liam has been helping Daddy outside:

Like father like son... complete with headphones, a radio, and a mower! Too cute!

Looking forward to celebrating Easter with all the grandparents this weekend!!

Joergen's Baptism Day

Little Joergen was baptized on Saturday, and despite the rain and cold, it was a really beautiful day! Before the baptism, Joergen got to meet GG for the first time:

As you can see, GG has the magic touch!

Although our parish was not doing any baptisms over Palm Sunday weekend, we were so grateful to our pastor Fr. Cioppi, for making special accommodations for Joergen. Given Uncle Tim's leave schedule, this was the only weekend we knew for sure that he would be able to make the trip here... and as Joergen's godfather, it was pretty important that he made it! We hadn't seen Uncle Tim and Aunt Jackie since Thanksgiving, when we had first found out that Liam, and now Joergen, would be getting a new cousin in August. Here is Joergen with his godparents right before his baptism:

Unfortunately, Joergen cried... no, wailed... for pretty much the entire service. Again, we were grateful to Fr. Cioppi, who took it all in stride! Here's Uncle Tim tracing the sign of the cross on Joergen's forehead:

The big moment... and the one moment when Joergen' was actually not crying!:

The final blessing:

Joergen with his godparents and parents:

And with Fr. Cioppi:

Afterwards, it was time to party! Joergen in his baptism garb-- thank you to Nana and Grandpa!

Joergen loves his GG and Aunt Jayne, who were always willing to hold him and marvel at his hair!

Grandpa and Nana with Joergen, Liam, and Lilly:

Liam getting some snuggle time with Uncle Tim:

Thank you a million times over to our family and friends, whether with us in person or in spirit, for making Joergen's day so very special and for helping us throw a party on very little sleep!

How to Play, by Liam

First Week Home

Well, that week flew by! Daddy is back to work, so it's just Mommy and Joergen hanging out at home. We've had some visitors, some "firsts", and definitely some fun. Miss Doreen came over to see the new addition, armed with a bag full of fun for Joergen and even some special Big Brother presents for Liam. Liam just adores Miss Doreen and is always full of giggles for her!



Daddy watching basketball with his boys:



Everyone has told us to expect that Liam may regress a little with having a baby in the house. Overall, he's been pretty good-- but this one made us laugh! He put on Joergen's tiny bib and definitely insisted on wearing it through dinner!



Joergen had his first little sponge bath this weekend:



Washing that hair:



And poof! Look what happened when that clean hair dried!



Joergen catches some of his best Zs in his swing:



And wouldn't even wake up for his first walk yesterday! It was so gorgeous outside-- glad we got out when we did, since it's pouring rain today...