Pete's first word--we think

Matt and I can't quite decide on Pete's first word.  For awhile now he has said "dahduh" when he points into the pantry.  It seems like it could be cracker as that is the box he often gets.  But sometimes he says it when he points into the pantry at other things, so we aren't sure about that one.  But we do know he has started saying shoe. Yay!  He learned the sign for shoe a couple of weeks ago.  I was so excited because it had been awhile since he had learned a sign or anything and I loved seeing him look down at his little hands and put them together and get excited to see the shoes coming.  Then just a couple days ago he started adding the word, "szhh" to it.  So cute.  Hooray, Pete!

Pete has been pretty jealous of Hank for as long as I can remember.  But it is getting out of control. If we do anything for Hank at all Pete will start whining and coming over to us to assert his place in the family.  I am not joking when I say, even wiping Hank's butt on the toilet causes Pete to run over, crying out of jealousy.  Occasionally Pete has even begun whimpering just at seeing Hank walk into the same room.  I guess he fears the future interaction between Hank and a parent.  Poor Pete.

Oh, speaking of poor Pete, we are trying to take it easy on him and his insane grumpiness because he has been sick.  I mentioned last week about how he was getting fever and mouth sores.  We went to the doctor and he thinks it is thrush again.  He also had an ear infection along with cold symptoms.  The doctor was concerned about him getting thrush again as it is quite uncommon among non-newborns.  So he had us get a CBC blood test and an immunoglobulin test.  The immuno came back normal but the CBC had a few low levels, one of which was more concerning than the rest.  His neutrophil level is quite low (neutrophils are a type of white blood cell, and the low count is what is making him more susceptible to getting different infections) and we were referred to a pediatric infectious disease specialist, who will coordinate what further tests will be needed to find out what is causing the low neutrophil level. It could be several different things, some being much less scary than others.  The soonest we could get in is this coming Wednesday so I am trying to stay off google and not worry unless I find out that I need to.  For now we are focusing on loving Pete through his fussiness.

Hank is such a sweetie.  He asks for permission all the time.  When we give him something to eat he usually still asks, "Pease I eat dis?"  Before going upstairs (because often he isn't allowed if Pete is napping) he stops and asks, "Pease I go upstairs?"

Jane told me, "I'm worried about becoming a teenager.  I don't want to grow into a snob."

Jack had a kindergarten field trip this week.  He was so excited about it he could hardly fall asleep and he was up plenty early to make sure he got ready in time.

Matt took all the kids to Lowe's while I was working because he desperately needed some potting soil.  When Matt got it Jane asked, "Is that dirt?"  Matt said yes and then Jack asked, "Did you even have to pay for it?"

I didn't manage to take any pictures this week.  Well, except for this one.  Jack made some mother's day cards for his grandmas.  I absolutely loved how the added punctuation changed the whole feeling.

Oh, I forgot to post this video from last week.  The boys were cracking me up with their play fighting.  I think it's hilarious that they know just how to hit without hurting each other (unless of course, they want to).