Back to School

G's first day of school was Wednesday. This year, he goes five mornings a week, instead of three like last year. Growing up so fast! His mixed-age Montessori classroom has kids who are 3, 4, 5, and 6. When a dropped him off, he walked timidly into his classroom, though there were no tears. Just a hug and "Bye Mom."

First Steps

This video is actually a couple of weeks old now. I kept thinking I would get a better one, but he hasn't been  interested in walking much since this. On my own time, Mom. On my own time.

{Forgive the diaper...he was mid-clothing change.}

Weekend Scenes: Stormy Saturday

It felt like our last weekend of summer. G goes back to school this week, and Saturdays from here on out are filled with football games, friends and family. {Kent has season tickets to see his beloved Hawkeyes.} So a rainy Saturday led to a last-minute decision to visit the children's museum in Iowa City. We met up with Aunt Kelsey and Uncle Austin at the museum, then went out to dinner at one of our Iowa City favorites before returning home after dark. Both kids were happy but exhausted, and we carried them to bed.

G shopped in the museum's kids' market. Please note that the first item in his cart was a box of veggie burgers. 

Miles thought this air pressure exhibit was funny but frustrating. He just wanted to grab the ball.

Both kids' favorite was a room filled floor to ceiling with air-filled plastic tubes.When they put a ball or scarf into one of the tubes, the object whooshed around the maze of tubes before shooting back out at them.

Before leaving, we rode the carousel outside the museum. G picked the elephant.

"It's Easy. Just Put One Foot in Front of the Other."

Lately G likes to take Miles by the hands and guide him around the house.

12 Month Baby M

It's true what they say about second children: they grow up faster than the first. We can't fathom that a year has already gone by. He weighs 19 pounds, 2 ounces (16th percentile), and measures 30 inches (55th percentile). He still has six teeth, and seems to be working on a few more. He amazes us with his awareness and sociability.

What he's been up to this month:

• He gives kisses and hugs.
• In addition to climbing up the stairs, he now climbs down them.
• He takes about three steps at a time before falling down. 
• He seems to understand more and more of what we say: He responds to words like water, hungry, ball, etc., with a nod or head shake. He also can identify his nose, mouth and hair.
• He's enamored with dogs, mimicking their sounds and reaching out whenever he sees one.
• He's proving to be quite opinionated, letting us know with no uncertainty how he feels about something. 
• He still loves to eat, especially fruit like peaches and blueberries.
• One of his favorite things to do is put basketballs in the hoop in the playroom. He seems to have a natural inclination toward balls and sports.
• These days he likes books, but mostly ones that have interesting textures or animal sounds. He has little patience for stories.
• He is quite social, and always has smiles for older women.

First Ice Cream Cone

In addition to his first piece of cake, Miles also enjoyed his first ice cream cone last weekend.

Ice cream-eating was very serious business for Miles, who focused on it as if it were an Olympic sport. In fact, he hardly came up for air at all. He consumed the entire thing in less than 3 minutes, then attempted to lick Grandpa's fingers when it was complete. 

He is a boy of my own heart.

Weekend Scenes: A First Birthday Party

We had a weekend of celebration featuring balloons, ice cream and, of course, cake.

On Saturday, when the weather was lovely, we took Grandma and Grandpa Jerousek to Jester Park to see the buffalo {or "fuffalo," as G says}.

 The boys enjoyed climbing through this hollowed-out tree and peeking through the holes.

We spotted this very large flock of birds, and later discovered {after some digging by our family librarian} that they were pelicans.

Later on Saturday, Grant wanted to go to Target to pick out a gift "for Miles." He chose a tube of animal bath toys, which he brought home and helped me wrap. On Sunday morning, he presented the gift to Miles. "I can share with you," G told M. Then Grant took them downstairs to play with them and proceeded to hoard them the rest of the day.

We borrowed a blow-up bouncy house for the party, which was a hit with the boys and their cousins.

Of course, the day concluded with cake and ice cream.

Miles wasted no time devouring it, then whining for more.

Miles Is 1! And a Birth Story

Happy birthday to Miles! In honor of his first birthday, here is the story of his birth. {If birth stories are not your thing, please stop reading.}

The story of Miles' birth actually begins with Grant, who was born via c-section in May 2009. When I became pregnant with Miles, I wanted to try for a VBAC. Although VBACs are encouraged by the  American Council of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, they are still uncommon, in part because the risk of uterine rupture {which is very, very small} unnerves some doctors. So while my doctors were generally supportive, they were not exactly encouraging about my chances. In fact, numerous times during the pregnancy, they encouraged me to go ahead and schedule the c-section just in case.{I said no thanks.}

My previous c-section meant that my doctors would not induce me because inducing increases the risk of rupture.So at 41 weeks, I was waiting patiently {OK, not patiently at all} to go into labor on my own. At my 41-week OB appointment that week, my doctor scheduled me for an ultrasound and a nonstress test. Both showed Miles was healthy, though big. The ultrasound technician predicted he would be 10 pounds! This scared me. And my window for a VBAC was closing. 42 weeks was as far as she would let my pregnancy go, and my doctor made me schedule a c-section for the following Monday, Aug. 15, if I didn’t go into labor on my own. No one was optimistic: I was not dilated at all, and large babies often lead to c-sections.

At the appointment, my doctor also mistakenly revealed Miles' gender to me. Just like with Grant, we had been waiting until the birth to find out our second baby's gender. After waiting 9 months and looking forward to the surprise at the birth, I was beyond upset {made worse by hormones and being 41 weeks pregnant}, and left the appointment sobbing. 

On Wednesday, Aug. 10, I was feeling defeated. I was 10 days past my due date and very much wanted to avoid another c-section.That week I did everything I could to get labor going naturally: ate spicy food, walked several miles each day, bounced on an exercise ball, etc. That morning, I visited an acupuncturist, and left feeling relaxed, if nothing else. That evening, I went to prenatal yoga, where everyone seemed so optimistic and excited about their births. I felt like a VBAC just wasn’t going to happen for me, and I went home feeling depressed. 

At home, I sobbed to Kent that my body wasn’t working. As I bawled, I felt a contraction. I didn't think much of it because I’d had so many false starts in the previous weeks. I showered and got ready for bed. I was still feeling the occasional contraction. Tired and weepy, I got into bed and tried to sleep, but the contractions were strong enough that I felt like I needed to get up and walk around. About a week before, I’d had similar contractions, walked around for a bit and then gone back to bed when they’d finally died down. I went downstairs and walked laps around the kitchen island. 

The walking helped, but the contractions were intense enough that I had to stop and slowly rock my hips back and forth at the contraction’s peak. I did this for an hour before I started to time the contractions. They were 3 to 5 minutes apart. I was in no hurry to get to the hospital, so I decided to pace for another hour to see if they became more intense or went away like they had the week before. At about 3 a.m., I woke up Kent and told him to call his mom just in case this was the real thing. After she arrived, Kent made her a bed in the basement and encouraged her to sleep so I could pace around on the first level. Between 4 and 6 a.m., the contractions became less intense and farther apart. But they did continue. And for the first time, I allowed myself to believe that this was the real thing.

I tried to sleep a bit sitting up on the couch, but was too uncomfortable–and excited–to sleep. I read birth stories online, meditated and tried to enjoy the moment {sounds strange, I know}. At around 6, I decided to make breakfast so I'd have energy and stamina for the day ahead. The rest of the house got up at around 7. The contractions were weaker than they had been and only about 6 to 7 minutes apart, so I knew it wouldn't be time to go to the hospital for awhile. I took a long shower because the heat felt good on my back, and then decided to clean the bathrooms since guests would be coming after the baby's birth.

Kent walked in as I was scrubbing a toilet and probably thought I had lost it. He took my cue, though, and mowed the lawn while Peggy watched Grant. Lindsay, Grady and Hudson came by to help entertain Grant and pass the time with me. At 11 a.m., we sent Peggy out to pick up lunch. While she was gone, the contractions became significantly more intense. I found I needed to stop what I was doing, put my head down and really focus on breathing through them. They were coming closer together, about 4 minutes apart. I felt less excited and more serious. I told Kent to get ready because I wanted to go to the hospital when Peggy returned. I quickly ate a sandwich before telling Kent it was time to go.

I had about three contractions on the car ride, gripping the sides of my seat, my eyes closed. We got to the hospital around 12:30 p.m. I had at least one contraction while checking into Labor and Delivery. When I got to my room, a nurse came into the room with a burst of energy. “Madelaine! I’m so happy to see you! Do you remember me?” It was Jean, a nurse I’d had three weeks previously when I was admitted with a high fever and low fetal movement. Jean had had a VBAC many years before, and had been supportive and encouraging in my desire to have one. She told me she had been waiting for me to return, even asking other nurses during those three weeks if they had seen me. She wasn’t scheduled to work that day; she was filling in for another nurse who wanted to go to the Iowa State Fair. I was thrilled to see her, too, feeling like she’d been sent to me for a reason. 

I changed into a gown and a doctor came in to check to see how far I’d dilated. I was a 4! I was thrilled. My doctor wanted to put me on antibiotics right away since I was Strep B positive, which meant being hooked up to an IV and that I’d be stuck in bed for awhile. But I begged Jean to let me take a hot shower while she stalled the doctor. I stayed in as long as I could. I think I was in there for an hour before Jean said I really had to get in bed. They put me on an IV and the broke my water, which helped me progress to a 5.

There was a shift change around this time, and a new doctor came on. It was the doctor whom I least wanted to see, the one who had revealed Miles' gender to me earlier that week. Jean stayed on for about an hour after her shift to see my progress. But not much happened from the time they broke my water at 2 or so until 5 p.m. My doctor discussed doing “a whiff” of Pitocin {a hormone that induces contractions}, and I agreed. Around this time, I also decided to get an epidural. The pain was endurable, but I was exhausted from laboring and not sleeping in nearly 48 hours. And believing that I would have to push out a 10-pound baby, I wanted to rest and build up my energy for the end. The epidural gave me a nice break. I slept a bit and we watched DVDs. But after more than four hours had passed, I still wasn’t making “satisfactory” progress. My doctor started to mention deadlines and c-sections. I was upset, kicking myself because I worried the epidural had stalled labor. 

At around 10 p.m., I felt like the epidural was wearing off. I was in extreme pain and felt nauseous. Now I realize that probably meant I was in transition. I asked for another epidural, which helped, but it made me so numb that I couldn’t move my legs. This part is kind of a blur, but I remember a nurse came in to set up the baby’s warming bed, and I realized that I might have the baby soon. A little while later, the nurse checked me, and I was at 10. At around midnight, it was time to push, even though I couldn’t feel a thing.

At this point I think I went into my marathon running mode—so focused that I didn’t realize that an hour and a half passed by. I simply concentrated on Kent’s voice, closed my eyes and pushed. I opened my eyes at one point, and was thrilled to see the room had filled with several doctors and nurses. It was really going to happen. 

Miles James Smith was born via VBAC at 1:30 a.m., weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces. Nowhere near 10 pounds. Unlike my c-section, the doctor put him immediately into my arms. He cried, and I did, too.

What an amazing {and quick!} year we've had. This little guy has brought so much joy and energy to our lives. We can't imagine our family without him.

"Old MacDonald"

This is a favorite at our house, typically sung as loud as possible.

Summer Treat

He's come a long way with popsicle-eating since last summer, though it still makes a big mess.

Weekend Scenes

A major rainstorm on Saturday gave way to the first comfortable temperatures we've had in weeks. So we spent a lot of time outside over the weekend. G wanted {big surprise} to go to the zoo on Saturday afternoon. In fact, he practically demanded it. "I really want to go to the zoo. Please. I need to be a good boy. I need to keep my bed dry. Please." He's hard to resist, so of course, we ended up at the zoo for a bit on Saturday. This time, after seeing the usual favorite animals, he stopped in front of the camels. "I want to ride the camel." As much as he loves animals, he's a love-from-afar kind of guy, so this surprised us. He typically doesn't like to get too close to animals, especially if they make loud noises. But he insisted on riding the camel -- and he loved it. He talked about it all weekend.

Miles continues to inch closer to walking on his own. Every day he seems more confident and stable. He takes a few steps at a time, then falls down. He's spending a lot of time "practicing," pushing his walker and cruising around the furniture. He also likes to hold one of our hands while walking around the house. We've been putting him in shoes more regularly, which makes him look a little bit too much like a toddler. He might be ready for the next stage, but I'm not sure I am.

Kent mowed the lawn for probably only the third time this summer, and G helped.

G checked out our neighbor's hammock. Not a bad place for a nap.

Kent and I also had a date on Saturday to celebrate our 7-year anniversary today. Happy anniversary to us!