Through the Rabbit Hole and Back Again

We have known for awhile.  We thought we were prepared.  But when you get there and see your child hug his Mr. Lamb and sit waiting to go into surgery, you realize that nothing, absolutely nothing can prepare you for the moment the nurses wheel your baby away from you through those double swinging doors.  It does not prepare you for the moment when your baby asks you why you can't come with him.  It does not prepare you to hold back your tears and feelings of absolute fear from your son when you tell him to listen to the nurses and doctors and that you will see him very soon.

Fortunately, there are moments of humor amidst the seriousness of the situation.  In the seemingly endless sixty minutes before the patients go into the operating room, our little man of steel was a fantastic trooper.  He was hungry, thirsty and in great need of a nap, but he sure did make the most out of a mask with vanilla cake flavor on it.  Personally I thought our little nook of the pre-op area smelled like a stinky rendition of one of those holiday body shower flavors at Bath and Body Works, but Baby O seemed to like it.

His choices of gas flavors were grape, strawberry, bubble gum or birthday cake.  He chose birthday cake.  In his mind, he thought they were asking him what he wanted when he went through those doors and having had not one bite to eat in the last 8 hours or so, he was fully expecting an actual birthday cake.

He came through like a champ, but was an absolute bear when he woke up and the birthday cake was not there.  He did however settle for a rainbow Popsicle and a sticker.

Although pretty disoriented and out of it for a few hours, the next day he was back to normal and obviously recovering well.

We are relieved and thankful.  Relieved because the build-up seemed extreme. I really thought we would never make it to the day of surgery.  Despite becoming a complete germophobe of a Mother for about a month, (no play dates, no jumpy place, just good old fun outdoors, right?), in the 6-8 weeks before, he weathered three colds, an infected lip (from a cut in a fall off his bike), an apparent allergic reaction what we believe was a poisonous plant (when he deconstructed the plant and touched his infected lip), and a black and swollen eye (from a tumble off his scooter) just a couple of days before hand.  After the last incident I decided that movie marathons were the only safe activity.

Now it's about recovery and movie marathons really are the only way to keep him from playing in the dirt or falling off his bike etc...Just a few more days of yet another viewing of Madagascar and Toy Story and he will be as good as new.  So thankful it went well and hopeful that this will be our only and last experience  visiting the surgeon's wing of the hospital.  Frankly, I don't think I'm cut out for it (pun not intended).

Smiles-A-Lot

If you are a fan of Dances With Wolves, you'll understand the title.  Nothing seems to get her down.  For a girl who still doesn't sleep through the night (not even barely) and only naps 50 percent of the time, she sure is happy. All the time.  I guess I can't ask for more than that, but I sure would like some down time during the day or some sleep at night.

Secrets to her priceless facial expressions during photo shoots?  Jumping up and down with the camera and her older brother doing the same.  Works every time.

These stickers never last long.  In the past she has spit-up on them almost from the very moment I stick them on her onesie.  No spit-up this time, but she did attempt to eat it.

So much has changed in the course of a month.  She grabs EVERYTHING now.  I definitely have to be aware of what toys are around her.  She immediately puts them in her mouth or shakes them as hard and as fast as she can.  Small tanks and pirates with pointy guns are not good for this and are sure to go straight into her eye.  And believe me, we have plenty of those hanging around.

She loves rattles, her squeaky giraffe and just recently is especially pleased with herself when she gets a  hold of one of Baby O's trains or train tracks.  She absolutely knows and is delighted that she is playing with one of his toys.   Baby O is not especially happy with this new development.  He is actually very good at sharing with other kiddos his age, but this-this is new territory.  For now he is almost content letting her play with Dirty Diesel, Diesel 10 (the bad guys from Thomas the Train), and maybe a random train track or two, but every once in awhile he will tell her that she should not eat his trains.

She is getting better at eating solid foods.  She seems to still prefer her Mommy at the moment, but it's getting better.  She loves apple sauce and sweet potatoes.  Not a big fan of rice or squash, but we are still trying.  This week the doctor gave the go-ahead on more solid foods and we will start on cheerios, some chicken and maybe beans.  I'm a little nervous about beans.  The doctor may think it's all well and fine, but the doctor also doesn't have to deal with a gassy baby and the subsequent aftermath.  Enough said.

Newbie O is still a roller and seems to get around fine when she wants something (like trains), but I have noticed that she is becoming much more frustrated at the time it may take her to get to that 'something'.  She has the legs/knees all figured out, but cannot coordinate it quite yet with her arms.  Most of the time she ends up with her behind up in the air and her face in the carpet.

She also hasn't figured out how to sit herself up, but is more than happy to be propped up and play on her mini piano.  You have to be close, because she will topple over after a couple of minutes, but she always enjoys the sitting time.  And I'm almost positive she has inherited the Family O musicality.  Which is none.

Her hair is most definitely falling out.  It's coming back in blond.  No more crazy cowlick, but there are random scraps of two-tone long hair all over her head and she can look a little crazed sometimes when they decide to stick up.  Hats and large bows are definitely a good look for her.

She's still teeny-tiny.  At her six-month check-up today she weighed in at 12 pounds 6 ounces.  She has gained 2 pounds since her 4 month appointment, and although she's barely on the charts she is still gaining, healthy and happy.  Her pediatrician says she's right on schedule and we are looking forward to the next month.  Every day is a new day and a new milestone at this age.  Despite the sleepless nights, the days are fun (once I get myself moving).

And here we are-this is about as good as it gets.  Boy O with his 'fake' smile, Baby O having just gotten a black-eye in an unfortunate scooter incident, Newbie O not looking at the camera, and my giant calf.  Seriously, why does it look so giant?

This Is Love

Love comes in all different sizes, shapes and forms, but tomorrow it's coming as a surprise in Boy O's lunch box and it's in the form of a pizza lunchable.

Apparently (according to Boy O) I'm pretty old school when it comes to lunches-it's a standard boring lunch meat on whole wheat bread sandwich, fruit, juice, and some sort of snack like pretzels or a granola bar.  Every once in awhile, I add a cookie or a piece of candy, but he knows what to expect from day to day.

Last week he came home and asked me if I knew about something called 'lunchables'.  Yes, I've heard of them...they even existed way back in my day.  He said, "Mom, they even have pizza lunchables.  They are so cool.  Can we get that?"  I responded by saying (old woman that I am), "No, absolutely not.  I make your lunch.  It's healthier."  He looked pretty crestfallen knowing that his only experience with a pizza lunchable would be to look on from the sidelines in the cafeteria.

I happened to come across this so called lunchable today and thought it might be a nice treat to open up his lunch box and see this:

This is love.  Seven hundred mg of sodium love to be exact, not to mention other interesting nutrition tidbits, but I guess it's okay every once in awhile.  The large heart message from his mother might cancel out some enjoyment, but he'll never get away from that one.

Deja Vu

It was the first sunny day in about a week, so I thought we would load up the stroller and bike and try to do about a half mile around our park and see how things went.  It was slow going and at times I wondered why I was so optimistic as to take the time to adorn myself in running clothes, but all in all it was good start.

Here is the enthusiasm before we began.  It probably took us just as long to get ready and load the car as it did to walk/run the entire route.

He got a lot of practice figuring out his brakes (about every two seconds).  This picture reminds me of this post from 2010.  He's not a speed demon yet, but he's got at least a year and a half to catch up and it was fun to see him really try out his new bike without his big brother telling him what to do.

I kept telling him to look where he was going in order to steer the bike and this is the end result after looking at a bird off in the distance.

Then came the hill.  He got a bit nervous when the bike started to drift backward.

Even after a few pushes, he decided that walking back to the car was his best bet.  It was certainly faster.

Proud of his efforts, but excited to get on with his day...such a big personality in a small package.  Gotta love it!