My boy almost drowned… right in front of me.

Myrtle Beach Vacation 2012

This is something very dear, embarrassing and still hard for me to say out loud. But as summer approaches, I think it's important for me to say it. Two summers ago, when Caleb was just 14 months old, he nearly drowned right in front of me. It was one of the scariest days of my life.

We were on vacation with my dad, my husband and my three nieces. Jeff and my dad and one of my nieces were in the ocean. I had the other two and little Caleb up further away from the beach but playing in a little pool of water that had pooled onto the sand. We were sitting there with another mom, grandmother and little girl. All the kids were playing nicely in the water. Caleb LOVED the water. While the children were all playing, the adults were talking. Caleb was standing right in front of my, less than arms length away. I was watching the girls play and Caleb was bent over playing in the water.  At least, that's what I thought. I thought my little baby was playing. Soon, the grandmother remarked at how nicely he was playing and couldn't believe that he wasn't afraid of the water at all. That's when I realized that I hadn't heard a sound from him. That he was quiet and still, though bent over. I quickly yanked him up and with fear in my hands and heart, realized that my boy's face had been down in the water. He wasn't playing at all, he was drowning. When I yanked him up, he threw up, then gasped for air and then promptly started crying. I was terrified. I kept thinking about all of the "what ifs" What if that woman hadn't said anything? What if  I didn't pull him up when I did? What if I continued watching the kids play and talking to the adults, never realizing that my son was in trouble?

And those "what ifs" didn't stop in the next moments. That night, I was so terrified that he was going to drown still. You know, if a kid swallows too much water, they can still drown after they're out of the water. I didn't sleep that night. Instead, I looked up signs of drowning. I had no idea that if a child, or any person for that matter, were drowning, they aren't usually flailing about- that's what I'd always pictured, the child would be flailing, bobbing up and down, gasping for breath, making some sort of ruckus so you'd know they were in trouble. But that just isn't true and certainly was not the case for Caleb.

Caleb wasn't interested in going in the water much more during that trip. In fact, he ended up getting pretty sick and had a blessing. He was still a pleasant little boy and enjoyed the playground at the resort, but preferred to stay away from the water. I was afraid this would affect him for a long time, and gratefully as we found out the next summer, it did not. It took him a little warming up to get into a pool, but once he did, he was fine and had great fun. I expect this summer will be much the same.

Now as summer is approaching and there will be times where we'll be swimming either in pools or the ocean, I just wanted to bring to my remembrance and possibly to my friend's understanding of what drowning really looks like. It's not like what we see in movies or what we might picture in our minds. It's quiet, eerily peaceful.

Here's an article that I found helpful and maybe you will too.

Drowning Doesn't look like Drowning

And another:

8 Quiet Signs of Someone Drowning

This year, especially as I have two (very active) little ones to keep safe near water, we're going to try and get the kids into swimming lessons. I think it's important for even the littlest to know what to do in the water.

My sweet boy. (2012)

I love those curls of his… wish he still had them. :) (2012)

A is 14 Months

So I've been terrible at keeping up my blog lately… anyway, Adelaide is 14 months old now. I can't even believe that she's so old. I know I say that all of the time, but she really is growing up so fast. Today though, during General Conference, I held her in my arms- just for a second, I was reminded of how little she was. Last General Conference she was just two months old. and now she's walking, climbing, talking and sassy. It's amazing. I had no idea what kind of toddler she was going to be then, you know? I didn't know what her personality was going to be like… it's just amazing to me how much babies develop in such a short amount of time.

Anyway, Adelaide says a bajililon things already. Part of me is amazed, part of me is kind of sad about it. I just am not ready to be done with her baby stage yet.

Here are her current words and she adds a new one nearly every day.

up (uh)
down (dow)
baby (bah bah)
bye (bye)
hi (hi)
water (wawa)
bed (buh)
book (boo)
ball (baw)
eat (eat)
bath (bath)
bubbles (buhbuh)
pop (pop)
Papa
Namna (nana)
mama
dada
Caleb (way yah)
head (haea)
shoe (shoo)
sock (soo)
nurse (ssss)
apple (apple)
banana (nana)
cookie (tootie)
thank you (titoo- almost said in a whisper)
Lisa (eessa)
Chrstal (tista)
mine (mine)- her favorite word currently
stop
play (pay)
dog (dah dah)
truck (tah)
car (dar and sometimes a dar)
blanket (boh boh)
hide
light (ligh)
bird (burr)- she points to the bird
Night night (nigh nigh)
plane
help- heh
outside (I can't remember how she says it at the moment)
pooh (because Caleb says, "I need to go pee pee and poop" every time he needs to use the bathroom. Adelaide follows him to the bathroom and says pooh pooh")

She signs "please" and "more" and she just started shaking her head "no"

She also says the phrases:
I want some
take a bath
I want get in bed (meaning she wants to get into the pack-n- play or up on the bed).
I turn (for my turn)

I feel like she says more… but I can't remember right now.

She says animal sounds for cat, dog, cow, horse, sheep, pig and donkey (our favorite).

She can point to her head, and ears. She wiggles her fingers when you ask where her fingers are. She picks up her feet if you ask where her feet are. If you ask where her hands are, she makes a fist with both hands. Her eyes and nose are tricky. But if you ask her where "my eyes are" she can point to your eyes.

She still loves to climb and can climb on the sofa, the bed, the kitchen chairs and onto the table. She likes to climb into the dishwasher, into baskets, buckets, strollers. Sometimes I see that she is on top of something and wonder how she got there. She's a tricky baby.

She loves to put things in her mouth still… but if you ask her to spit it out, she will- sometimes she will run away first, but she almost always will just spit it out.

She loves to wrestle with Caleb. She will climb onto him, grab him around his neck, pull him to the floor. He doesn't like it so much.

She loves to follow Caleb around and do whatever he's doing. If he's playing with blocks, she wants to play with blocks, too. If he's playing with the ball, she wants to do the same. If he's playing on the piano, she comes following. He likes it sometimes, sometimes, it's bothersome to him.

She also likes to copy what he says. So she's always trying to repeat whatever noises he makes. He thinks it's funny so he says random sounds and she'll copy. It's one of their favorite meal time games.

Her favorite songs these days are: "Once there was a Snowman". She does the actions and she'll even say, "tall, tall, tall" and "small, small, small". ; "If You're Happy and You Know It", "Wheels on the Bus", and "Ring Around the Rosies", oh and, "Walking, Walking".

She is always amazing people at the park when she climbs up the stairs and comes down the slide by herself.

Just like her big brother, she LOVES to be outside. So we're super excited for good weather! So we can play, play, play!!

She loves to read books and enjoys the library.

Caleb and Adelaide have started playing better
lately, which is awesome and fun. It's so fun watching them play. It's really neat within him explore language as he tells her what to do and imagines with her. For example, the other day, they were playing and Caleb goes, "Addieyay, there's a spider! Oh no! It's a big one! Aaaahhh!!!" and he got up and ran away. There was no spider. Or if they are playing outside and someone is getting ready to leave, "Addieyay, watch out, Papa's getting ready to back up. Be careful!"

I guess that pretty much covers the last two months. :)

Time for some pictures:
(Sorry, they are way out of order)

St. Patrick's Day (night)

Finally a tooth!! :)

I really love this photo. 

I caught these two playing with a little green beetle they found on the ground.

Miss Sassy Pants.

Do you see what I see? her hair is getting longer and look at that little curl!! :)

Baby A is One!!

Little Miss Adelaide turned one last week. One! Even though I can't even imagine my life without her, it's amazing to me that she's been with us for a year already. She is an amazing little baby, if I can even call her that anymore... perhaps toddler is really more appropriate. I never did update my blog when she turned 11 months... so there's kind of a lot-ish. Anyway, here are some facts about miss A.

She has been walking since she was ten months old. She's into EVERYTHING. She follows Caleb around all of the time and wants to do everything he does. She's pretty advanced when it comes to her motor skills. She claps, waves, puts both arms up to be picked up. She climbs anything she can. She dances awesomely. She runs. She has a great pincer grasp.

She touches her head when you ask where her head is. She loves "If you're happy and you know it" and can do all of the actions. She also loves "Patty Cake" and does the motions. Her favorite primary song is "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree". She gets super excited when that song plays and it's super cute.

She has the best pouty lip. If she gets upset or offended or sad, she pokes out that lip and gives you the biggest puppy eyes.

She tackles Caleb and has learned which buttons to push. He says, "No don't see me Addyae" and she looks at him. "Don't touch me" and she touches him, or kicks him or pushes him.  They play nice together, too.

She says several words: mama, dada, Eessa (Lisa), Crystal, buh (book, ball or bed- you just have to know the context), hi, bye bye, nana, pawpaw, nana (for banana), wawa (water), dogdog (for any animal really), hiii (for hide), shh, ho (for hot), nie nie (night night), whoa. Every animal says, "mmmo" except for just now I asked her what a dog says and she said, "woo woo". We've been working on it, but that's the first time she said it by herself. She tries to imitate a lot of what we say and I think she says more, but I can't remember right now.

When she gets mad, she lays on the floor and makes her body stiff as a board. Apparently her aunt Lisa did the same when she was little.

She doesn't eat much in the way of solids. She will eat sometimes, but usually just a couple of bites at a time. We've tried numerous things! She's offered whatever we're eating (with the exception of meat). She tastes most things, sometimes she just pushes the food away. She does seem to like mac & cheese, bananas and cheerios. She likes to gnaw on pizza crust and bagels. She has not a single tooth, notta one.

She doesn't yet sleep through the night. She nurses several times at night still. She wakes up around midnight nearly every night, though a couple nights last week, she slept until 2 or 3 am, which is awesome.

She LOVES to read! She will sit with a book and "read" it herself or she will sit in your lap and have you read to her. She loves to play with puzzles, but hasn't figured them out yet. She enjoys playing with books and cars and balls (guess that's what she gets for having an older brother). She is starting to appreciate her dolls and stuffed animals more and loves to give them hugs and kisses.

She loves other babies and always wants to poke their eyes, pat their heads and give them kisses.

She knows when she's being cute and if you tell her she's cute, she does this cute little bashful smile thing and puts her hands into her chest or belly. Adorable.

She likes to sing and dance. If you ask her to dance, sometimes she'll make her own music. If you ask her to sing "Jingle Bells", she sing "buh buh buh buh", in no specific tune.

We never make it through sacrament meeting or even through the first several minutes of sacrament meeting without her screaming and wanting to leave. (Sidenote: Caleb sits in sacrament meeting awesomely, with the exception of the past couple of Sundays. What a guy!).

She's a pro at getting up and down the stairs.

She's a determined little girl who is not going to take anything from anyone... she knows what she wants and how to get it, it seems. She's one smart cookie and we're so blessed to have her in our lives. She really does brighten up a room with her sweet smile. She makes my heart sing. Happy Birthday Adelaide! We love you!!

Oh yeah, we went to the doctor the day after her birthday: She weighs 20 lbs 7 oz. and is 30 inches long. She's in the 81st percentile for height, the 60th for weight. Her weight growth curve has dropped from the 80th. Doc's not concerned- she just is VERY active. As long as her head and height don't drop, she's fine. :)

Now for some pictures:

People watching is one of our favorite pastimes. 

Just look at these two... I must be the luckiest mama. 

Big brother started playing with a friend he met so Adelaide had to join in. 

I love her "running face". 

One of my faves. 

She wasn't quite sure what to do with her birthday cupcake. 

Playing in the tunnel she got for her birthday. 

Birthday morning. 

Technically the day after her birthday....

Again, technically the day after her birthday, but I sure do love this photo. 

Can you tell she's dancing? Baby girl loves to dance!

That smile pretty much kills me. 

 

My cross eyed baby. 

This is the smile she gives if you ask her to say "Cheese". Miss A on her 1st birthday. 

So I made this a couple of weeks before she had her birthday. At her 1 year check-up she weighed almost 20.5 lbs and was 30 inches long. Also, a new book we checked out from the library one day became her favorite: Goodnight Gorilla. She tries to "read" along. Super cute.