Spring Breakin'

We're half a day into spring break, and so far, I think it's going really well!  I decided I would celebrate this success now since one never can tell how long these things will last.  My goals for the week were to get us outside as much as possible while still giving the kids plenty of down time to do as they please, and to not go crazy.  Sounds easy enough, right?  We spent the morning at the beach playing with some preschool friends.  When we got home, I put Marley in one shower and Amelia in the other. I was able to get Sam down for his nap before either of them ran out of hot water!  AND they have been playing together beautifully ever since.  Granted, they're still in their underwear, but having everyone be dressed was not one of my goals, so I'm letting it slide.  

This picture is from our Saturday evening trip to the Olympic Sculpture Park.  Sam and Amelia need to work on their running poses:)

Lego Building

Okay, I will warn you that this is a really long video.  Probably only grandparents will make it to the end.  But, I decided to share it because it illustrates, really well, each of my children's developmental levels, and shows quite a lot about their personalities, too.  Plus, it's Legos, which are still pretty much the most awesome toy out there.  Enjoy!

Ghosts of Holidays Past

I grabbed the camera card to pull off photos from our family vacation to Monterey, CA last month (blog post in progress, but don't hold your breath).  I realized that it contained pictures all the way back to the fall - none of which have been shared.  Until now!  I present to you...Halloween and Christmas 2013! Consider yourselves up to speed.  Well, except for that family vacation update. (Here's a preview: It was fun!)

Totally Tubular

Sam's surgery was scheduled for 7:30 am last Friday, which meant we had to check in at the hospital at 6 am.  Yikes!  Luckily Diane agreed to come to our house the night before to see Marley off to school in the morning and stay with Amelia.  It was definitely nice that Jeff and I could both be at the hospital with Samuel.  

I was really worried about how our night would go because he needed to stop having breast milk at 2 am.  Usually he lays in bed with me and nurses/dozes during the early morning hours.   But, he only woke up once during that time and went back to bed pretty quickly with only a little complaining.  Hmm...perhaps night weaning is in our near future.  

Sam wasn't really happy to be up so early, but he was a trooper and hardly complained.  He kept pretty busy playing with toys in the waiting room.  When it was time for the surgery, Jeff had to stay in the waiting room while I put on scrubs and headed back to the OR with Sam.  I'm pretty proud of myself because I only cried for a second when he was going under.  It was just so weird (and scary!) watching him fall asleep like that in less than 30 seconds.  

Then, I headed back to the waiting room to sit with Jeff while the doctor placed the tubes, which only took about 10 minutes.  Afterward, we both got to go back and wait for Sam to wake up.  He was pretty sleepy, so after a while we just had to get him up.  

In recovery, he got to have graham crackers and apple juice.  And lots of snuggles, of course.  We were headed home within about an hour after the surgery.  He was running around like normal from the moment we got home.  He never needed any pain meds or anything, just some antiseptic ear drops for the next week or so.

We go back next month for another hearing check and to make sure everything looks good. Hopefully this is the end of Samuel's ear problems!

16 month word list and ENT update

We had Samuel's follow-up appointment with the ENT.  Both of his ears are still filled with fluid.  And he failed his hearing test.  The good news is that his word bank is increasing daily - he uses around 30 words* now - and he responds to directions.  So we know he can hear us, at least somewhat well.  The bad news is that his doctor recommended he get tubes placed.  It's only a 15 minute procedure, and I know it's really common.  Most likely, it won't even require pain medication afterward.  But, my baby will have to go under general anesthesia, which scares the crap out of me!   They might have to anesthetize me, too, so I don't freak out.  The surgery is scheduled for early morning on March 14th.

Then, Sam will have a follow up hearing test six weeks later.  Hopefully, we will find that his hearing is perfect and there is no longer fluid in his ears.  The tubes will get pushed out as his eardrums heal, usually within a year or two.  By that time he will most likely have outgrown the middle ear drainage problem.

At his appointment, when his doctor asked how many words he was using, I guessed 15.  He's been having a vocabulary explosion this month.  At 15 months, I think he only had about 5 words.  Anyway, when we got home, I decided to sit down and make a list of all the words he uses on his own.  As I said each word he would repeat it and sign it.  It was so cute that I just had to try and capture it on video. Enjoy!



*up, no, yeah, ball, bowl, bye bye, hat, dada, mama, hi, hug, hot, eat, shoes (signs only), bath, all done, Marley, Amelia, more, close, yum, uh-oh, dog, woof, help, boo-bahs, again (signs only), baby, go, knock knock

Goodbye, Curls!

For the longest time, the back of Sam's head had these lovely little blonde ringlets.  Sure, everyone mistook him for a girl all the time, but who cares. Just look at those adorable curls!

Over the last few weeks, however, the curls have started to relax, creating more of a mangy mullet look.  So, we decided that it was time for Sammie Boy's first hair cut.

It wasn't the most pleasant experience.  It was 25 degrees today, and the kids' salon was without heat. Sam and Amelia both cried almost the entire time we were there.  But, we survived, and they got lollipops at the end, so I think all was forgiven:)

It was a big day for our little guy.  This afternoon Sam had his ENT appointment.  His ears still have fluid in them.  The doctor wants us to try giving him Flonase to open up his nasal passages and see if that helps the fluid drain.  We'll go back in three weeks for a hearing test and and a re-check.  The other good news is that the doc debunked the myth (that I believed) that pacifier use could cause ear infections.  Whew, what a relief!  Mama was not ready for the binky battle just yet!

Oh, and as for the rest of us...I think Jeff is probably the sickest, but everyone in our house still has snotty noses and coughs to some degree.  

Just Kidding!

I guess I spoke too soon, because Sam's and Marley's coughs got significantly worse yesterday. Marley came out of school in tears because he was feeling so sick. Poor kid. We had a talk about letting his teacher know next time so I could come pick him up. Both kids were up most of the night coughing.

It's a total bummer, though, because Marley has the day off school. I had big plans to visit the science center today. But, Marley hasn't moved off the couch yet. And Sam won't let me set him down. Oh well, looks like instead I'll be brewing myself an extra large pot of coffee and making it a pjs and movie day!