'Roid-rattic

It's true, he really is on steroids; and we can tell. The kid has gone wacky! He can't sit still. He can't move fast enough. And his imagination has gone wild!

Eat a fire truck? Why, I think I will.

Yucky you say? Well, you just didn't use Heinz Ketchup...

I get it, I get it

Up @ 5.
Out (of bed) @ 5:10.
A.M.
Yeah, in the morning.

Now what?

Mama's suggestion, "Daddy, the kid wants you to take him downstairs." Good idea.


Of course, all good things come to an end. The boys woke me at 7, Daddy went back to bed and the hopped up kid was all mine.


So, we got a bowl of Ethan's cereal, sprinkled in a box of yogurt covered raisins, and made as much noise as we could so that daddy would wake up & play with us... (the noise part was easy, seeing that feeding the kid his medicine caused him to beg Maia to "help him," and beg me, "Mama, don't hurt me." Heart breaking.)

But daddy got up...






Speaking of the kids medicine, steroids to be exact, they make this kid crazy! Straight jacket, padded room crazy. He just can't stop moving. And on a positive note, it is also helping with the kids cough too!


And, then he crashes.

Cute Convalescence

Our poor little scientist isn't feeling so fabulous. Coughing, sneezing, snotting & feverish. So, instead of enjoying the Panera playdate, Ander & Mama spent the day watching, watching & re-watching Scoop... who knew Scoop could be so therapeutic?

And speaking of watching, do you know the best thing about a smart phone? That's right, Netflix. To be precise, Netflix on the smartphone, at the doctor's office. Seriously, my lick the window, touch the door knob, roll on the floor aggravation is greatly alleviated with a little Thomas in the waiting room. It might not be politically correct to entertain my 2-year-old with technology, but it sure does save on hand sanitizer...

And now Mama is sitting on the couch listening to the kiddo cough in his sleep. Poor little monkey.

Everyone say a prayer.

Love Hurts

Free hugs! Ok, they cost. But not much, just a potential head/neck injury. But it's worth it. Just look at that cuteness!

And before our little guy won his first awkward Ella hug, he had to chase her in a slow turtle-like race down the hallway. Notice how he almost followed my instruction & kissed those cute little toes.

And how, you might ask, did the evening end? With a fever, of course. How else would the kid choose to end a fabulous dinner date?

Fevered Fun

Our kiddo has a yellow, tube-slide-kinda runny nose. Probably just a cold, but still, not-so-much fun. Maybe a little better than the three shots the kid got yesterday. But nothing like a piece of Babushka cutletta. Yum.

So we went to the park. Alexander's little friends said they could handle the little snot-nose, and Mama could handle a little inteligent adult conversation.

A few months ago, Z would climb to the top of the jungle gym, sit on the slide, then turn around & climb back down the stairs. Today, today was the day. Alexander fell in love with sliding down the slide. Yeah, good snotty times.

And then, we headed home. To a fever. Ugh. At least the kid had a little fun before the sickness...

Tympanostomy Tube Time

Well, our Little Ear Infection has seen his last fevered, fluid-filled infection; Dr. Jeremy Tiu did a little nip/tuck, and five minutes later, the boy was healed!

The pre-game wasn't so bad. The babe looked cute in his little polyester gown. He wasn't too upset about the lack of breakfast, but he was begging for his "cup" very early in our OR wait.

Luckily, the cage-like bed kept him busy in his panda gown for a little bit. And then the nurses turned cartoons on for the little guy!

Grandma & Aunt Jenn sent a box of goodies, including a box of crayons & newsprint.... and a toy hoopdie truck that plays loud rap music. Shortly after we arrived on the OR floor, an orderly walked by & told the little guy that he had a truck in the back, just like Alexanders, and that he liked to run it up & down the halls, just like our boy.

Shortly before 8am, Mandy came in & gave the kiddo some Valium. Interesting. About 10 minutes later, the boy could barely keep his mouth closed or his head up.

While good & high on the bubble gum flavored medicine, the boy started saying "cat, cat," & pointing at a frail looking, white-headed lady laying in a bed nearby. As loopy as the kiddo may have been, she really did look like a cat!

Unfortunately, we were made to wait in the out patient waiting room, miles away from our boy. We saw the doctor walking down the hall shortly after Papa made himself a cup of coffee; all went well & he said the nurses would come for us shortly...

Because the boy was so friendly early-on, I suspect, the nurses didn't think it so important to get us back to the boy's bedside before he woke... so they didn't. When they finally called for us, it was too late. The boy was awake (barely) & not happy. Screaming mad, actually.

By the time we got there, he was inconsolable. He was kicking me away, but he wanted held. Papa got him some water, which he wanted, but threw across the room. Everyone in the very long recovery room was staring at us. It was awful. There was nothing we could do to calm him.

About an hour of screaming finally wore the kid out & he passed out. Then, they let us go.

Our big guy was clingy, but easily amused most of the morning. He finished most of the cookies that Aunt Jenn sent to Maia. Yum.

And Ms. Amber & baby Ella (with some of Ms. Tammy's special Pesto) made us a delicious pasta for dinner. Double yum. I've never seen the boy eat so much. After dinner I had to make him a second plate to satisfy his demand for another, "bite, bite."

Shortly after we arrived home, the babe demanded a "bubble." I felt so bad when I saw all the marks left on his poor little chest!

And now, every one's sleeping soundly. Thank God for the easy outcome, and thank God for all of the wonderful prayers that so many of our friends & family sent up for us this week! XOXO.

Lonesome

So, we're all alone... again. All our favorite cousins are gone, and Papa's working more than he should. So we decided to spend our Sunday morning playing with our second-favorite group of friends-- animals!


It was raining when we arrived at Oglebay's Good Zoo, so we played with the Meerkats in the main building and then got distracted with the train table turned wild animal staging area.

But the boy wasn't satisfied. We had to go outside and enjoy the drizzle like the other animals!

Luckily, Papa called before we got too wet to tell us that he was on his way home from work.

We wanted to go to the Wheeling Lebanese Festival to support Marie's Mama, but I was a hesitant to let the boy interact with any other cute babes, in case he was still contagious.

Hopefully, we'll get some real kiddo kompanionship sometime this week!

Play Nice

Well, all our cousins & Aunt Jenn's are gone. Bummer, right? But at least we had fun while it lasted!

Aunt Jenn brought us a super-exciting trampoline to set up in the side yard (so that her kids would stop asking to go jump on the neighbor's even more super-exciting adult-sized "jumpy thing." It kinda worked.)

I know, most of you think I just like showing off some naked baby butt... true, but, it's hard keeping pants on the boy now that he can ask to use the potty... And, how cute is that crack?

Norah got hit with the brunt of the virus; we figure she was exposed first. Her fever came back full-force about an hour before they left to go back home. Alexander never really had a fever. And all the kids rashes were quite mild. Of course, A's rash seems to be back today...

Peanut has finally become the hero cat; I won't tell you why. But anyway, he deserves a nap!

Papa gas some mad baby-snoozing skills! And Aunt Jenn has some crazy *emphasis* kid dragging skills...

All the kiddos LOVED Alexander's new pink stroller. Aunt Jenn suggested I buy a second... I think we just might pass on a second...

Although Norah wasn't feelin' too hot, she still pulled it together enough to play Mama & help Alexander put some shoes on...

Probably the cutest thing the cousins did this week was play "night, night" on their shared air mattress. Norah started the game with Alexander, and when Sarah & the Mamas joined in, it quickly turned into, "You're going to the dungeon." Sarah was banished to the dungeon quite a few times, but talked her way out with the promise of a back, arm, head rub. Good times.