Top Ten Things About Winter Break (In No Particular Order), Part One

Why hello there!

Remember me? I had SUCH grand plans about so many things this break. Household organization, cleaning projects, blogging and of course, time with the kids.

So I accomplished the time with the kids part. And then some. The other stuff, not so much.

Not that I’m complaining.

So, without further ado…

1. Leo’s Adenoid Removal/New Ear Tubes: The surgery went well, we go back for Leo’s follow-up next week. The worst part of the day (for me, anyway, I’m sure Leo would say otherwise) was the fact that we all had to be at the surgery center at 6:30 a.m. In the pre-op room Leo threw Ellie under the bus, calling out her name, in other words, suggesting perhaps she should be the one to get her adenoids out.

Six hours later we were home, lulled by Tylenol with codeine for an unprecedented nap (it’s been over two years since Leo took a nap at home).

I got cocky and rented a movie “On Demand” which of course I didn’t get to watch because he woke up. And the calm was short lived when Leo awoke at 3 a.m. the next morning, we gave him more codeine and it seemed to wake him up more. That’s when I learned that this kind of pain medication can actually amp up kids with Down syndrome. Well, of course it does. Why didn’t I know that?

2. Gifts:
We didn’t go crazy this year. The kids have so much. Overall I think they liked everything they got. The palace was not the hit that I'd anticipated (Leo actually seemed to enjoy it more). Oh well, you can't beat the price I got on that one.

Leo loves the airplane (it is really cute even if it’s not the like the ones I used to play with, sigh). He’s also having fun with this boat (seriously, to Leo, you cannot go wrong with a plane or a boat).

On a developmental note, I love watching Leo play with Little People and the like. His attention span is so much improved. He plays with such...intention.

For Ellie, the tea set is getting lots of play. She’s also having a great time shopping through the house with her new grocery cart. And yes, there’s been plenty of the sibling rivalry I expected with this one. Sigh. And I blame her newest phrase “I want a pink one” (whatever it is, she wants it to be pink—on the way to the airport to pick up the grandparents she announced she wanted a “pink airplane”) on this book.

3. Fun In Unexpected Places
Did you know that the Elizabeth, New Jersey IKEA is located across the street (OK, highway) from the Newark Airport? I didn’t. But I can tell you that it’s a lot of fun to watch the planes take off with a gleeful five year old boy, even if it is about 10 degrees Fahrenheit with wind chill. Although, I’m sure Ellie would say otherwise.

It’s also fun to play in the kid’s rooms at Ikea. While I figured they'd both make a beeline for the dreaded ballroom (which I was afraid to let Leo loose in, for fear he'd never want to leave (transitions are an, um, problem), it was the little "rooms" that really piqued their interest. Leo found about ten different beds that I’m sure he would have loved as his own and Ellie also enjoyed a real bed-she gravitated toward the pink adorned ones, shock (she’s still cribbing it and I plan on keeping it that way for as long as I can get away with it).

But probably my favorite thing that happened at IKEA was that Leo sat down at one of the kid's desks (there was paper and a pencil) and proceeded to write his full name. Perfectly.

4. Leo discovered “catch”
As in, playing ball. He can throw a ball with amazing skill and is pretty darn good at catching it. It can keep him occupied and giggling and engaged for a long time. He received a couple of nice, small, soft balls as gifts, perfect for playing indoors during frigid temperatures while recovering from minor surgery. And watching Leo play ball with his grandpa: Priceless.

5. Ellie’s First Haircut
Everyone seems surprised Ellie had never had a “real” (as in, I paid someone to do it and it wasn’t me). It was spur of the moment, Christmas Eve afternoon at the mall. Honestly, I think both kids were attracted by the sight of a row of television screens showing “Dora” (it’s one of those sit-in-a-Barbie-jeep-and watch a DVD places).

As hysterical as Leo gets, Ellie was cucumber cool. I watched her with fascination, the sight of a child not terrified by a haircut truly is a sight to behold. I love the cut, by the way. My instructions were, a simple bob, short, but long enough it could still go in pigtails (not that she allows those often). I think short hair is adorable on little girls. Think: Dorothy Parker meets Strawberry Shortcake.

And seriously, until she has an opinion, why not keep it easy? And let's be honest, with such epic cuteness, does the hair length really matter? Sadly, because it was unplanned, I didn't have my camera, so no photos of the main event (new year's resolution: bring camera everywhere!).


Before

After

6. Being introduced to my new favorite quote, by way of the always wise Cate:
“Everything will be OK in the end. And if it’s not OK, it’s not the end.” (author unknown)

7. Homemade gifts

And this might be my favorite gift of all this year. I am a sucker for the handmade. Bonus points if pasta is involved.

Stayed tuned for Part 2.

All Good or Do You Hear What I Hear?

Just wanted to pop in and say we are home. Leo did well. The doctor said he has probably not been hearing ANYTHING out of either ear. There was so much wax in both ears it was as if he was wearing ear plugs. Yeah. He left one tube in and took the other one out that had fallen out. It will be interesting to see how he feels/acts now that he can you know, hear.

This was such a minor procedure. Whenever we do things like this my thoughts go out to all the parents who have to watch their children endure such difficult, painful medical procedures. It makes me feel both nervous and grateful.

So we're home, eating scrambled eggs and prepping for a long day of Dora and playing in the basement playroom. Should be fun.

Thanks for all the support.

Thank Goodness That's Over

Leo's eye surgery is done. Can't say I would like to go through that again (and I wasn't even the one who had surgery!). We had to be at the hospital at 7am and since the daycare doesn't open until 7 that meant Ellie got to come adding a whole other layer of fun (actually she was quite well behaved and she got lots of compliments and attention in the family waiting room). Praise to the person who decided there should be mini tvs in the room before surgery as Leo got his full dose of Elmo. And MIL was in town so it was nice to have a third set of hands.

Leo was (understandably) very uncomfortable upon waking up from the anesthesia. I didn't expect him to be so out of sorts. I kind of go into auto-pilot mode in situations like this. I just held him and tried to keep him from hurting himself. He was bothered by all the wires and tubes. After both sets of ear tubes Leo was pretty mellow but I guess eye surgery is in a different category of misery. He was writhing around and pretty hysterical. And is there anything more sad than a tiny hand with an IV in it? It makes me so grateful that Leo has (knock on wood) been relatively healthy. My heart goes out to the parents who have to spend so much time in hospitals with their sick children. We were there for five hours and that was plenty.

Yesterday afternoon Leo was zooming around the house like nothing had happened. If he didn't have some rather frightening (though apparently normal) pools of blood on the sides of both eyes, you wouldn't even know he'd had surgery. This morning we went on a nice walk to the park with the dog and then came home to be told by the doctor that he shouldn't play outside. Oops. You try keeping a 3 1/2 year old inside the house on a beautiful day!

Thanks ER

What a crazy couple of days it’s been. Monday night when I picked Leo up from daycare he seemed ok. But when he let me buckle him into his carseat without protest and proceeded to ride silently all the way home, I had a feeling he wasn’t well. Then he wouldn’t eat dinner, which is always a red flag since Leo is definitely an eater (what can I say, he comes by that honestly). But he wouldn’t even come to the table. He was hysterical when I turned off Dora and then proceeded to wail and cry as I tried to feed Ellie her tofu and avocado and sweet potatoes. Then his wailing started to freak her out and she began to cry. Then her crying agitated Leo. Then Ellie flat our refused to eat at all and I found myself annoyed with Leo which isn’t really fair. Then I felt spread way too thin and that I was being a sucky mom to both my kids, to Leo who was sick and needed me and to Ellie, who at nine months needs a lot of attention, especially when eating and trying new foods. Basically it was a mess. Leo had a bit of a fever so I toyed with the idea of giving him a bath to cool him off but he was just so out of sorts that I decided the only thing to do was to give him Tylenol and put him to bed. Out of his misery. Luckily he went down easily. He’d been on a field trip that day and missed a nap, so that may have been part of it. I was really worried I’d have to keep him home sick the next day and with the work I am missing for his upcoming eye surgery it was really stressing me out. I let him sleep in the next morning and took his temperature first thing when he awoke. No fever, and he was off to school.

Tuesday is his eye surgery to correct intermittent strabismus (basically it’s a lazy eye). It’s been a whole thing to get the surgery scheduled (blood tests, a pediatrician visit to clear him). And of course, he failed the clearance this morning. Sigh. A suspected sinus infection. Or something is gumming up the works and making his nose a real mess. And honestly, he doesn’t seem like he feels well although there was no wailing last night and plenty of eating. The good news is that both tubes are still in place so there’s one surgery we can cross off the list. The ped had me concerned because he hadn’t been able to locate the right tube.

So now we are putting him on an antibiotic and waiting a few days and going back to the ped for a check on Saturday. Hopefully he will be given the clear. I am trying to be optimistic about it but at the same time want him to be healthy for the surgery. I asked the doctor if they would have to intubate him and realized the only reason I know what that means is from watching ER. That made me smile and I thought about telling the doctor that but I figured he wouldn’t care. Pictured above: All hail Children’s Tylenol. Nectar of the gods.