radar detector...

Reese's vocabulary is still pretty limited. He jabbers a lot, but there are really only five words that are distinct, Mamma, Daddy, Kitty, Doggie, and Hot. For everything else he sums it up with "Dee". "Dee" +tugging on the fridge ="I'm hungry". "Dee" +tapping on the sliding door ="I want to go outside". "Dee" + pointing at the computer ="I want to watch a cartoon". The possibilities are endless. And the closer you get to what he wants the more frequent the "Dee"s become, like a game of hot and cold. He'll be pointing at something up high in the fridge so I'll touch the pickle jar, the yogurt container, show him a cheese stick, till finally I'm rewarded (by picking up the milk per say) with "Deedeedeedeedee!" Edward calls him our little radar detector. =) And if you ignore his initial "Dee"s then you get a very adamant and not so cute "DEEEEEEEEE!" And if he's delighted about something you get a sing-song "Deee" (Think of the Geico commercial where the pig squeals "Weee", only replace it with a "Deee"). I'm really hoping his vocabulary explodes here pretty soon and look forward to hearing all about what goes on in that head of his!

bad Mom

Reese swallowed a battery today. We had a little light-saber key chain that Reese liked to play with. I never even thought to check what kind of batteries it used; since it was long and tubular (like a pen) I just assumed it was probably a AA. One minute Reese was sitting on the floor innocently flicking the light on and off (while I was fixing dinner) and the next minute I look over and he's chewing on the end of it with little things on the floor next to him. He'd chewed open the battery compartment, and the battery cover + 2 button batteries were laying on the carpet next to him. After a quick inspection I realize there should be 3 batteries. Edward and I looked everywhere for that missing button before concluding that he must've eaten it. I looked up the "National Battery Ingestion Hotline" and called and they said to take him to the ER to make sure it didn't get stuck in his esophagus (which can cause tissue burning). So Edward and Reese spent the majority of the day at the Children's Hospital. An x-ray showed that the battery had made it's way down to his lower intestines, so now we just have to inspect his diapers till we've seen it's made it's way out. Reese seemed fine/ enjoyed all the attention. He liked getting his hospital bracelets and his own pair of gloves. I however feel horrible about the whole thing and hope I can do better spotting potential problems before they happen.

Brotherly love...

Reese likes to softly pet Hayden's head while he's sleeping,

and has called him "Kitty" a time or two.

Just for fun

I thought I'd put up comparison pictures of Reese and Hayden when they were born.

Above: Reese / Below: Hayden

They look a lot more alike than I originally thought!

Hayden Aymes DeHoyos

My birthing experience this time around was the complete opposite from when Reese was born. With Reese I went into my regular doctors appt and was told I was a three. They called me into the hospital as soon as they had a room and when I arrived I was a four. I received the epidural before I ever felt any contractions, and when it was time for Reese to come he just slid right out.

With little Hayden I had contractions on and off the entire week before he was born. It didn't help that Reese loved to ride around on my baby bump, squeeze his thighs, and bounce up and down like it was his own personal saddle ;) I didn't want to go to the hospital too early, so I tried waiting them out, but finally at 2am Sat morning they were so intense and frequent that I woke Edward up and told him it was time. Brian (my youngest brother) is still living with us while he attends ASU, and was all too willing to give up his weekend plans to tend Reese for us while we were gone.

By the time we got to the hospital I was a seven and the contractions were getting way beyond uncomfortable. The nurses both exchanged a funny look when they told me who the anesthesiologist was, so I thought "great" (sarcasm) I must be in for a real treat. I felt the epidural a lot more this time around, the anesthesiologist was a nice but bossy Indonesian lady who was kinda rough but quick, and that whole area has felt kinda bruised/ sore since, but still I say the epidural is way worth it! I remembered being super exhausted after Reese was born, so this time as soon as the epidural kicked in Edward and I both took a nap. (And my Doctor said he did too, which is good cuz he looked super tired when I first saw him, poor guy.)

I remember laying there and saying a prayer of gratitude. I was grateful for the joy that being a parent and welcoming a new spirit into the world brings, and I was grateful because that was the most comfortable and at peace I had felt in weeks.

When it was time to push I huffed and puffed and had the hardest time getting him out! The doctor said he was looking up instead of having his chin tucked down, so that slowed things up a bit. I couldn't feel a thing and didn't mind, I was just impatient to meet the little guy!

I have to say I was super impressed with the effort Edward made to be helpful and encouraging this time around (as opposed to hugging the wall). He is such a wonderful husband! He was still too squeamish to cut the umbilical cord, but I think that's a slightly overrated honor anyway. (My Aunt said on their last kid she screamed when my Uncle cut the cord, made him jump and think he'd done something wrong. Isn't that mean!? They are funny.)

Anyway, when little Hayden finally made his appearance he was just so sweet and hardly cried at all! He was born Sat morn at 9:30am, Feb 4th, 2012, weighing 7lbs, and was 19.5 inches long. His head was so tiny, (compared to Reese, whose head always measures in the 100th percentile) so I didn't even have to get very many stitches and am so much more comfortable this time around! Also the stay in the hospital was much more pleasant this time! They didn't wake us if we were sleeping. The food was really good. The nurses were all so nice (no trainees this time ;). It was really very relaxing! (I'm sure the fact that my blood pressure didn't skyrocket like it did after I had Reese, had a lot to do with the difference.) I love being a Mother and love my sweet boys more than anything in the world!