Who are the kids? Part 2

I had a sinus infection. It was January, I was starting to get very busy (at that time, I worked at a bank, and did the tax thing on the side during "the season".) and so my immune system was down. I got up of a Saturday morning feeling as though someone had crammed about 4 rolls of toilet paper into my head via my nose. Perhaps had parked a garbage truck on my face. Whatever the case, I did not feel good, and I knew I had a sinus infection.

So, I crawled from my house to the drugstore, where I shuffled through somewhere in the neighborhood of 142 different sinus pressure relief type drugs, and time and again was caught by the "if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, seek guidance from a health care professional" warning. Now, J was only 10 months old, but he had made the decision to stop nursing about a month before (no bottles, either. He wanted sippy cups, thankyouverymuch, and there wasn't going to be anything I could do or say to change his mind!) My OB had put me on the "mini-pill" at my post-partum checkup, so while I really felt like there was no chance I was pregnant, I took a box of daytime sinus meds, nighttime sinus meds, and an EPT to the checkout, and then headed to work.

Where I peed on the stick.

Meet E!

For as hard-headed as his brother is, E is about as laid-back as they come. He's our snuggler, very tenderhearted, and curious. He loves to help us cook, and has said now for several years (can it be several years when you're only 7?) that when he grows up, he's going to be "a cooker at the Olive Garden"! I was leaning a bit more towards a Bobby Flay or something, but if being the cooker at the Olive Garden makes him happy, so be it!

My pregnancy with E was a little more nerve-wracking than with J. For one, I knew I was pregnant far earlier. Having basically missed the entire first trimester the first time around, this time I really did feel like I was pregnant FOREVER! On top of that, I had developed a medical issue that led to lots of extra blood work and visits with specialists. They drew blood from me every 2 weeks through the entire pregnancy- I looked like a drug user! Thankfully, I stayed healthy, he stayed healthy, and in September of 2002, we welcomed E into the world! (We did have a brief scare with a heart murmur, but it self-corrected by 3 months old.)

He always seemed to be the more athletic of my two boys. (That's balancing out a bit more as they are getting older.) He's also very nurturing. He tends to be very focused, at times to a fault (He's the child who's name I have to say several times before I get that startled "huh!?" from!) We are starting to suspect that he has a somewhat photographic memory - about 3 weeks into kindergarten, we were in the car, and he rattled off the alphabet. Backwards. He wears his heart on his sleeve, loves everybody, but isn't afraid to knock you down if you mess with him or someone he loves. Where J is very independent, and likes to do stuff by himself, E wants you with him. He can DO whatever it is, but he likes to share the experience.

Isn't it amazing how different children from the same parents, raised in the same home, can be!?