ASD - Atrial Septal Defect

So today's focus has been Butters. He's been coughing off and on for about a week, and with his ASD (Atrial Septal Defect - a little hole in one of his heart valves) this can be indicative of a problem with his baby heart. I took him to the doctor this morning, and sure enough there is some fluid built up in his lungs - a sign that blood is possibly leaking from his heart into his lungs through this little hole. No good. When we first saw the pediatric cardiologist back in July, they had said that we need to watch him closely over his first winter for pneumonia and other lung issues, and if he had them they may do the surgery to close the hole.
Now, this didn't really scare me at first. They explained that they use a scope that goes in through one of the veins in the hip and insert a small plastic piece over the hole to close it. However, my accountant of all people put the fear of God into me. During one of our meetings, I found out his son died when he was only three years old. To make matters worse, he died having the surgery to fix his ASD. OMFG. It took everything I had not to break down in tears in his office. Hearing a story about ANYONE losing a child at such a young age is terribly sad and makes me tear up to begin with, but hearing a story about someone losing a child due to a problem that MY child has makes me want to lose it completely.
When I first found out Jax had ASD, I found it ironic that Logan has the OTHER ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). So, I have two ASD kids with two different ASD's.

Aspies ask the most interesting questions...

"Mom, how do they get toothpaste in the tubes? The holes at the top are awfully small..."
Most of the questions Logan asks me, I just can't answer. We love Google at our house. Aspies think differently than the rest of us...they have their own little world. They change topics on the drop of a dime. They also have no filters. Whatever comes into their brains tends to come right out of their mouths...it's often funny, but it's often embarrassing and leads me to have to make apologies. Logan talks incessantly. Unless you have an Aspie, you probably can't understand how going through your day NOT listening to your child is a very valued skill. It's either that, or go crazy. Aspie's tend to have one or two things that they are very interested in, and that's normally all they want to talk about. They do not know how to have a two-way conversation. Logan receives speech therapy at school to work on this. He is unable to tell when somebody is uninterested in what he is saying as he cannot read facial expressions or social cues. He assumes that if HE is interested, you must be interested as well. Logan's interests are video games and Yu-Gi-Oh. Listening to him discuss these two things in detail all day long is both tiring and irritating. Yes, my child is irritating. I am not afraid to say it. I play the "Uh-huh" and "Yes" game often. I have learned to tune him out, but appease him enough to make him think I am listening. I really don't think he cares that I am listening most of the time - he just wants to talk, and get out of his system whatever it is he has to say. Again, not something most people can understand unless they deal with an Aspie.
Butters slept through the night. I, however, did not. When I crawled into bed around 11, I heard him moving around and was convinced he was going to wake up. Therefore, I couldn't sleep because I laid in bed just waiting for him to stand up in his crib and start crying. He never did...but because I have been so accustomed to getting up with him, I just waited...awake.
I have a b&b list a mile long...sewing, photography, sketching for spring, samples, wholesale packets...this will keep me busy all week. My goal is to cross everything off of this list by Friday.
b&b on Kare 11 - woo-hoo!

And...it's over.

It seems I spend months preparing for the holidays, and then they are over in the blink of an eye. Seeking out and buying the perfect gifts, decorating (admittedly I didn't do much this year), sending out cards (also skipped this one this year), WORKING (I did a LOT of this), cooking...oye. I have to admit I'm glad it's over, and I already started putting all of the Christmas decor away.
Butters and Logan are enjoying their new toys. Logan immediately retreated to his room after opening his 360 and we haven't seen much of him since. I've coaxed him out to eat, but I've let him go for the most part. Today we are back to his time limit of two one-hour periods of electronics time per day, so everything should go back to normal. Butters is loving his dinosaur walker and his kitchen...











So, we are loving the Step 2 Lifestyle Traditions Kitchen - it has lots of stuff to open and close which Butters loves, comes with silverware and plates, a coffee pot and pans (bonus) and is JUST his height for standing up. The link provided is to Toys R Us, however we got ours at Target for $20 cheaper. We love the Fisher Price Dinosaur Walker (also cheaper at Target) as it converts from a walker to a ride-on toy. Butters loves the lights on the top of the head that also plays songs. Our deal of the season was the Xbox 360 Lego Bundle for $199.99 from Best Buy (normally that price for just the console) - no longer available online, but still available in some stores. It came with THREE games - Lego Star Wars, Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones - perfect for an 11-year-old.

I hope you all had a WONDERFUL holiday season!

Oh, Blogspot...

I've missed you.
I've been terribly busy...sewing, Christmas, Butters, Logan, b&b. There never seems to be enough time over the holidays to get everything done. I am sewing my Christmas gifts up until the last minute - Butters is getting his one-year molars so it is impossible to get anything done unless he is napping. This, however, is his new favorite activity:


Emptying the dishwasher keeps him occupied for up to an hour. He drags everything all over the house, chews the spoons, stacks the tupperware...and I let him. Whatever floats his boat.
I have developed a few new products for b&b including a matching Mama lap blanket and some tag sensory blankets. SUPER cute. This has kept me super busy. (sidenote - My Super Sweet Sixteen is on the TV and these brats are absolutely amazing)
Lastly, I think Williams Sonoma should do baby registries. Who needs toys when there are wooden spoons and pots and pans? There you go WS - a free million dollar idea. :)

Giveaways and CoolMomPicks.com

Wow - sooooo much b&b happenings!
One - Heather of the EO has an Andrew Collection giveaway going - make sure you enter! I absolutely adore her blog about sobriety, mommyhood and all things philosophical.
Two - Susan at DivineSecretsOfADomesticDiva has yet ANOTHER giveaway going for the Abby Collection newborn set - an amazing holiday gift for the eco-Mama to be! Again, go enter it! I love her blog - she doesn't mince words about motherhood. :)
Three - We had an awesome spot in the Cool Mom Picks (for less) email yesterday...and I'll give you the coupon code (Ooo-la-la). Use cmp25 for 25% off your purchase through December 16th.
Four - We've extended our free logo onesie deal through the 20th - receive a totally FREE b&b logo organic onesie with any purchase over $50! Just specify size and color (natural, pink and blue available) in the notes space of your order.
Five - Come see me tomorrow at UberBaby! This event runs from 10-6 and will be so much fun! Tim Mahoney will be there playing, Grace Wood will be doing photography. This adorable shopping area reminds me of Miami...heart it.
Phew.

Tiny Green Bubble Interview

I'm super stoked about this interview that was published this morning! I always wake up and google butters&beans to see what the media is saying (if they are saying anything). Recognition from such a great "green" website is absolutely awesome.

Switching pace - Butters needs to sleep. He is up for a bottle still at least three times during the night, and one of those times is always a one hour romping rendezvous with his toys. He is 11 months old, and therefore I've gone almost a year without a full nights sleep. I am taking suggestions, and am at the point that I will try just about anything. The list below is what we have already tried:
-Ferber Method
-super dark room
-turning the temp down (and up)
-white noise
-swaddling
-going down to one nap during the day
-limiting his two daytime naps to one hour each
-stuffing him with as much food as possible
-letting him stay up till 9:00pm
-baby-led schedule
-mama-led schedule
If you have any other suggestions, PLEASE email me at annevans@buttersandbeans.com. I'd do just about anything for more than four hours of straight sleep.