Sick, Sick, and Sick

It has happened. Casper's first sickness other than a cold - an ear infection.

Dan got a pretty bad cold that he got from work. I guess everyone at work got it and Dan was one of the last ones. It started out with a sore throat and then escalated from there. He's still trying to fight it off! I knew right when he started getting sick that Casper and I were soon to follow. I noticed a sore throat one morning, but it didn't last long. The only thing that I got was a runny rose, which is weird because I normally catch colds from Dan pretty easily. I guess my immune system is getting stronger! On Sunday I noticed that Casper voice was getting a bit raspy. Then his escalated into a pretty bad cold. The worst he's ever had! Every day it just got worse. Yesterday morning he woke up with so much snot crusted on his nose it was sealed shut. So yesterday I brought him into the clinic down the street and the whole time we were waiting Casper was leaning on me and hugging me. Even though I had brought some toys for him, he just wasn't interested. He was watching everyone in the waiting room and they were trying to make him smile, sometimes he would shyly crack a smile, but then he would turn away. Casper is normally a pretty happy boy so it just killed me to see him so miserable. We finally got into see the doctor and she checks him out (which he was very well behaved for!). Ear infection in both ears! More so in his left ear. However, it was just in the early stages so it was a good thing I brought him in when I did. Casper is now on antibiotics 3 times a day for a week. Already he is showing signs of improvement! I would just like to point out that Casper would have never gotten this sickness if people would just stay home when they are sick! When you don't stay home, your coworkers bring your sickness home to their families! So thanks a lot.

Yesterday was also the day that I was supposed to have my gallbladder removed. It's a good thing I cancelled last week, so that I could take care of my sick boys! Back in March I had a couple gallstone attacks and it was the worst pain I've ever been in! I had a short of breath and it felt like there was boulders sitting on my chest. It's hard to explain it well, but it sure was horrible. The first time it happened at about 4am and I woke Dan up. We were up for about an hour with me on the floor in pain when Dan finally gave me a blessing. And not even two minutes later, I was able to get back into bed and go to sleep. I love that Dan is a worthy priesthood holder in our home. I don't know what would have happened if he couldn't do that for me. At that time we had no idea what was causing that pain, but the next day we bumped into my parents at Costco and I told them about what happened and my mom told me that she had that happen to her after my sister was born and it was gallstones. So after going to the clinic and doing blood work, an ultrasound, and an x-ray, they found that I had multiple small gallstones. Right away they suggested I get my gallbladder removed. I told them that I was still nursing my baby, but they never told me any other option. I haven't had an attack since, and I wasn't planning on weening Casper off nursing until about September. Then my wonderful parents did some research and found a way that you can flush out gallstones by drinking a mixture that you can make at home rather than going through surgery. Why didn't the doctor suggest something like this? Oh well, at least I know there's a better option for me. I hope to try this out soon, but I need to plan it out when to do it because it suggests I don't eat anything solid for the afternoon before I do it. Maybe I'll have to try it when I stop nursing, and just risk not having another attack until then. My mom told me that she never had another attack since, and she didn't do anything!

That is about all that has been happening with us lately. Just a bunch of coughing, sneezing, runny noses, sore throats, aches, pains, and ear infections. Fun, I know.

8 Months Old

I can't believe how fast time flies! Casper turned 8 months old yesterday. 8?! He's growing up way too fast! I know that he looks a lot older than what he really is, but he's learning so much so fast!

• He is now starting to crawl on all fours rather than army crawl.
• He can stand up in his crib (and he does this ALL the time). He's also learning how to sit back down in his crib. He also can pull himself up to stand with pretty much anything, he's almost pulled down my pants a couple times!
  
• He's learning how to feed himself with his fingers.
• He has 7 teeth - 3 bottom, 4 top. And I'm pretty sure we're about to see a couple of bottom molars soon!
  

Casper loves to have us read books to him. He loves to play with his toys and talk to them. He loves being tickled, and loves to laugh at/with daddy. I just love his little personality! I melt every time I see his big, toothy, dimpled smile.

We have taken Casper swimming a few times now and every time he loves it! We are hoping to take him to the zoo soon too. All the other times we have planned on taking him, we either have conflicting schedules or the weather is crappy. I'm so excited for this summer and to let him experience lots of different things. We are just so much happier when the weather is decent outside. I'm just really glad that winter is finally over, now we just need the rain to stop!

This video was taken a few weeks ago, but I just think it's so cute. At about 37 seconds in, you can see Casper snap his fingers on his right hand! He learned that trick at 6 months old!



This one I took just today. Casper does this new "trick" on his change table. I hate it, but he gets so proud of himself, so I have to let him enjoy it with supervision.

My First Mother's Day

I just realized that I didn't post about my first Mother's Day!

It was so great. Busy, but great. We went to church, then headed over to my sister's house for a lunch/dinner to celebrate. My family also had to all be in the same place in order for all of us to talk on the phone to Kimberly who is on a mission and is currently serving in PEI. Some of us didn't get long to talk to her, but it was great to hear from her, and I could tell that she really enjoyed hearing all of our voices. After that we went over to Spence and Laurie's house for dessert. Dan's parents were there too. It was so great to see everyone on Mother's Day!

Dan got me a KitchenAid Mixer for Mother's Day! We had been wanting one for awhile, and we finally saw one on sale at Costco so we bought it! I love it already! I am so blessed to have the family that I have. Thanks for the best first Mother's Day ever!

Favorite Daddy

I have been reading books to Casper for awhile now. He got a new book from Grandma Glenn for Easter called "Fred and Ted Like to Fly". He loves it! He smiles and grabs at the pictures whenever I read it to him.

Yesterday Dan read this book to him, and it was like he never heard the story before! Near the end of the book, he burst into laughter! Then I had Dan read it to him again, and he laughed hysterically throughout the whole story.

So this morning I read the same story to him and all I got was smiles, no laughing. Then once Dan got home, I had him read it to him again. Dan read the title and Casper started laughing! I guess Daddy has the magic touch.

I'm so glad that Casper has a dad like Dan. He gets so happy once Dan gets home everyday. And on Saturday and Sunday mornings Casper just smiles at Dan because he just loves being with him. Thank you Dan for being the best daddy for Casper! We both love you!

First Hair Cut

Tonight we cut Casper's hair for the first time. People had been telling us that we need to cut it, but we didn't think so. He wouldn't look like "Casper" if we cut it. So finally, we thought we should cut it. He started to get a little tail in the back and it was covering the tops of his ears, so we thought it was time.

I miss it already! He looks like a little boy now and not like my little baby! Did we make the right choice? I guess we can't turn back now..

Oh yeah, did I mention that he hated it? He was also sad to see it go...so sad.

Giggles

Casper was having a pretty lousy day. We got home and he was just cranky. Nothing would cheer him up. And this is pretty rare for him because he's normally pretty happy. But he's been teething and has a cold. So I tried to feed him and then this is what happened after...

Jumping is Hard Work

I'm not a bad mom I promise!

I couldn't hear Casper jumping anymore and this is what I found...

Don't worry, I put him right to bed after this even though he loved jumping. He's just so darn cute!

Birthday Boys

Yesterday was my sister Jodie's only boy's first Birthday! I can't believe he's one already! He was about Casper's age now when Casper was born. And now we are expecting another boy cousin to join the Olsen side of the family at the end of April. I'm so happy that Casper has all of these boy cousins to grow up with!

Happy Birthday Connor!

Today was his party and it was so much fun to be with family. Not everyone was able to make it though. Including my brother Arlen whose birthday was also yesterday.

Happy Birthday Arlen! We missed you at the party!

My Boys

I always knew I would love being a stay-at-home mom, but I never thought I would love it THIS much! This really is the best time of my life. I have the best kid and the best husband to share it all with. The part that scared me the most about being a new mom was waking up multiple times throughout the night. If you know me well, then you know that I'm a very heavy sleeper. But right when I became a mom, I could hear Casper crying no problem. And it didn't even bother me all that much. He started sleeping through the night at about 2 months, but that's not the case anymore. Ever since he's been teething he's been up once or twice a night. The hardest part is getting out of bed. But once that's done it's easy. Plus I get to see my groggy, upside down, tangled-in-his-blankets, sweet little boy. Casper makes me laugh everyday. I love the little personality that he's developing.

Once he discovered his feet awhile ago, he's slowly getting more and more interested with not only his own feet, but everyone else's too. He thinks it's funny when they move and he can just sit there and watch feet for long periods of time. The other day Dan was playing with a tv tray table with his foot and Casper was beside it in his excersaucer. Once he saw that happening he started laughing so hard! Neither Dan nor I have ever heard him laugh so hard before... and of course he was laughing at feet. I hope this is just a phase he's going through and that he really doesn't have a crazy foot-fetish.

On another note, Dan made it back from Toronto safe and sound on Friday March 4th. That was the longest we've ever been away from each other. And I hated it. Luckily Casper was pretty well behaved for me, but I went crazy thinking that Dan was on the other side of the country. Plus he was having +2 degree weather over there while we were hitting -40. Dan definitely was away at a good time weather-wise. But it made it even worse for me because I didn't want to leave the house in the cold so I stayed in most days. The only times I left the house was to go to Carstairs to have dinner with a few of my high school friends, go grocery shopping twice, go to church, and I went to Dan's cousin's place for dinner with their family. I also had a couple of my friends over with their babies to my place. It was nice to have some "me" time, but boy was I ever happy to have Dan back home! I think once Casper saw Dan he was in shock that he was actually there and not just on the computer.

Now that Dan is home, he's been working full-time at his new job as a recruiter. And so far he's really enjoying himself there. He's still doing a bit of training, but he's learning a lot. It's nice to finally have a normal schedule - other than the nights where Dan still DJs. I am so blessed to have these boys in my life and apart of my family. I love them both so much!

Life Lately

As of today Casper has TWO teeth! He will be 5 months old on March 1 and he already has two teeth! They are his two front, bottom teeth. His left one came in last Saturday and his right one came in just today! We tried giving Casper some rice cereal on Saturday and he loved it! He has been watching Dan and I eat for the past month or so and every time he wants us to give him a taste. Then when we don't he gets upset. So we knew that it was about time to start him off on a little bit of rice cereal. My boy is getting so big! I've been going through his clothes because he is now fitting into 6-9 month clothes so I have to make a switch and get the 3-6 month clothes out of his dresser. He's been mostly fitting into 6-9 month ever since he turned 4 months old. It's crazy I know. He's just so tall! No one can believe how much he has been growing. He has also been sleeping a lot better now too. He normally only wakes up once a night, but I think we're getting close to sleeping all night through again...I hope!

On Monday Dan left to Toronto for almost 2 weeks for training for his new job. And so far I hate it! I was used to having Dan around all the time and it was nice having some help with Casper, but now it's just me and Casper. It's like I'm a single mom and I don't like it one bit. I really hope March 4 comes fast because I don't know how I'm going to last. I've been trying to keep myself busy. I went to my niece's 3rd birthday party Monday evening and that helped take my mind off of Dan being across the country. But it's been so cold out the last couple days I don't even want to go out. So I have been cleaning and organizing the house and spending a lot of quality time with my baby. I'm happy that Dan was here for when Casper's first tooth came in, but it's sad to think that he's missing all of the cute things he's been doing since, plus his second tooth! I do have a few plans to look forward to in the next few days and hopefully that will help me get my mind off of where Dan is. I don't know how some couples are always traveling away from each other all the time. This sucks! At least we can Skype each other. We also tried the gmail phoning which was nice too. I love things that are free!

I don't think I ever posted about my birthday! It was on Monday February 7 and I turned the big 2-5 (yikes!). We celebrated by going out for dinner at Chillies which was super delicious, and then went to the wave pool with Casper. This time we remembered to take a picture before we went out into the water.

He loves swimming! I hope he continues to love it because I don't want him to be scared of water when he grows older. I never thought that it would be fun to take a 4 month old swimming, but once you have your own, it's SO fun! I love to watch him learn and play and just have fun.