MRI

So today was the big day that Nolan got to go get his first MRI (7 months old). MRI's are nothing to the Caughran Family. Daddy Colin has had his head MRI'd twice and Little Colin had two before his back surgery (at 3 months and 11 months). I don't think Lisa has had one, but she did have a CAT Scan a few weeks back (that would be a good post . . . stay tuned)

But this is Nolan's first (and hopefully last) MRI. It is a little more scary for little kids since they have to put them to sleep and there are always risks with that. Nolan has a tiny fat pad bump on the side of his head that looks/looked like a mosquito bite. They wanted to MRI it to confirm that it was nothing to be worried about. Good news is that the doc called within hours and said it is nothing!

Here is a pic of Nolan before they sedated him.


Lisa always hates it when her kiddos need to get an IV because they always have a hard time getting it in correctly. This time was no different. Luckily Lisa didn't slug the nurse.

Daddy Colin got to sleep in this morning for the first time in forever because he got to play mister mom and take care of little Colin before taking him to school.

Poopin in the Potty

This might be a little late, but Little Colin is officially potty trained. A few weeks back, Lisa found 3 days of no plans and decided to do a 3 day potty training boot camp. She set up shop in the kitchen (Tile floors) with Colin in big boy undies and proceeded spend the next 3 days potty training. And it seems to have worked. It took more than 3 days, but he hasn't been in a diaper since and uses the potty (with the occasional accident).

Since Mommy was teaching him, he pees sitting down and now I am teaching him to pee standing up. He seems to like it better although he needs a stool since he isn't tall enough.

The other day pee'd standing up and then he told Lisa "I want to poop standing". After Lisa stopped laughing, she explained to him that everyone poops sitting down.

Lisa has also created a monster. To help him with pooping on the potty, she would try to make it fun and they would laugh when he tooted on the potty. So now he thinks it is hilarious and laughs out of control when he toots. I had to write this down so that in future years when he thinks it is funny to toot, I have written evidence that I was not the one to teach it to him, but his mother did. Sorry future daughter-in-law.

The Boys

Just some photos of the boys from recent trips/days.

Happy Nolan

Colin at Rodeo day at school. Lisa said he was happy but liked the tough cowboy look.

We are going to the Bahamas this summer so Nolan needs a passport. Lisa had to take the picture for the passport photo guy.

The boys were excited to ride together in the cart at the local HEB. Nolan loves to do things with Colin. Colin is happier with Nolan riding with him, but he still won't share the wheels when they are in the race car cart.

The family took the private jet to Paris Texas to visit the Capt family for birthdays.

Nolan riding his first Pony with PapaPat at the Ranch.

Colin riding the pony at the Ranch.

Nolan was ready for the day.

Colin all dressed up for Valentine's day. Watch out ladies.

Nolan Growing 1-5 Months

Nolan at 1 month

Nolan at 2 months

Nolan at 3 months

Nolan at 4 months

Nolan at 5 months

First Marathon

First Marathon = DONE.

Last week, Lisa, the kids and I all went to Orlando Florida to see Mickey/Minne/Pluto/Goofy/Donald/Buzz/Woody/Grand Parents/et al at Disney World and for me to run the Disney World Marathon. It was a great trip and I think everyone had a great time.

It wasn't the smoothest of trips. After getting dropped off at the airport (Thanks Katey) I checked Lisa and the kids in and checked strollers/car seats (for free) and we each had a carry on (we are cheap or frugal). When I tried to check in, I learned that I needed to go to terminal E since I was on a group ticket (With Team in Training). So Lisa was off to go through security and get on the plane on her own with 2 kids and 2 bags as I ran off to terminal E to retrieve my ticket and get back to C to get on the plane.

Needless to say by the time I got on the plane Lisa was not too pleased as the car seat was impossible to get strapped in, Colin was screaming and Nolan was in a flight attendant's arms. Also I don't recommend taking a car seat on a plane (or at least our brand). First off it puts the kid higher up so they can easily kick the seat in front of them and if the seat in front of them decides to lean the chair back, they basically crush the kid's legs. Secondly, the plane does not have the latch system so you have to use the seat belt. Normally this is not a big deal, but the plane's seat belt system is different than a car's. When the car seat is strapped in and tightened with the belt, the latch is right in the middle of the kid's back in the car seat. We had to put a pillow in the back of the seat so the kid didn't have a metal box the size of a pack of cards in the middle of his back.

Once we got there things were going well. Disney was great, Colin got to meet all his favorite characters from his favorite shows and movies. We hit up the Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom each day. We stayed at the Grand Parents house which was fun as well.

After walking all around Disney for two days straight and eating Disney World food, it was time for me to run my first marathon. (not the best pre-race ritual). So I set the alarm for 2:30 AM ET and get on the bus to the race by 3AM. The race went well and although it was quite cold, I had fun and enjoyed seeing all the parks at a 8 min/mile pace.

Team Photo before leaving for the start

On the bus to the start

I finished my first marathon at 3:36:53.

Right after the race.

Flight back from Orlando

You might ask 'Where is Lisa on the Flight back?" Well she wasn't taking the picture and she wasn't in the picture because she wasn't on the flight with me. She stayed a few more days to hang out with her Grand Parents. And yes, that does mean that she flew back by herself with 2 kids, 2 full carry ons, a diaper bag, and a personal bag. Don't ask me how she did it. It is a mystery to me.

Link to photos from the race.

We might post some pics on picasa from the Disney days. That is Lisa's job though.

***UPDATE***
Disney Photo Slide Show No thanks to Lisa. . .

Wow it has been awhile

Now I don't think it is that surprising that it has been almost 2 months since our last post. I mean if you read the last post you know that we just had our second baby so things like posting on a blog are a little lower priority. Now that things have settled down a bit, I have a long list of things that we have been up to that I can blog about.

Nolan is doing great. He is growing like a weed and hitting all the typical milestones. He seems small but enormous to us. We forgot how small they start, but he is bigger than Little Colin was at the same age (not by much). He is on the smaller side 40th percentile but Colin was 20th.


Nolan in a milk coma
He has taken to feeding and our schedule really well. For example between 6-8 weeks old, he was sleeping 5-7 hours a night and week 8-9 he slept 7.5-9.5 hours a night consistently (with even a couple nights since that were almost 10 hours straight).


Nolan sleeping before getting shots

Nolan Sleeping with Elmo (Colin gave it to him)
Lisa has really stepped up her game and turned into a super mom taking care of both kids with out skipping a beat. She even has the energy to walk 3 miles a day with her neighborhood friends. I have been extremely proud of how well she has adjusted.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of months. . .


Colin soothing Nolan to sleep

Nolan looking cute

Nolan in his shirt for the Komen Race

Nolan after a bath

Nolan giving the evil eye

Arrival

I know some of the followers may have been concerned that today is 5 days past Nolan's due date. But don't worry, I have just been too lazy to post or update the blog with the good news. Nolan Thomas Caughran was born at 11:03 AM on 8/18/2010 weighing in at 7 lb 4 oz and 19 inches long.

The labor and birth went pretty quick (half the time of last year). Lisa's water broke at 6:50 am and he was crying on her chest by 11:05 am. Just over 4 hours from start to finish (excluding the 9 months of pregnancy, morning sickness, preterm labor, braxton hicks contractions).

The whole process was deja vu. I mean it all started the same way (like most babies), but I will skip the obvious commonalities. Lisa's water broke early in the morning with both. Both times we took it easy getting things together before heading to the hospital (this time luckily Brandon was able to get Colin before going to work), and then the contractions hit and it was go time. Both times we had to traverse the freeway and downtown Houston during rush hour. Both times Lisa terrified someone at the entrance to the hospital (this time was a cop that she yelled at to go faster). Both times Lisa was night and day before and after the epidural. This time she forgot her makeup so she was not plucking her eyebrows during labor like last time.

I got to cut the cord and Lisa got to hold Nolan right after birth. No NICU this time. All and all it went pretty smoothly the second time around.

Nolan was a little jaundice, but not too bad. He was actually less than Colin was and they gave us lights to take home (I wish they had with Colin, maybe we would have avoided the trip to the ER and the TCH NICU).



A few days after birth we learned that Nolan had a broken collarbone. Supposedly this is pretty common. You should ask Lisa about how Randy describes it (NSFW).

So far he is feeding well and is already past his birth weight (and Lisa is already down 20 lbs). He is sleeping well and has taken to the family. Little Colin just loves his little brother and he seems to be adjusting well.





Here is a link to some of our Picasa photos from a few days after his birth.