Sleeping Habits

I am thankful Case hasn't experienced multiple nightmares or night terrors in several months.  Either he has outgrown them, understands dreams better or feels more secure because currently he sleeps with an arsenal of weapons to combat any dragon, monster, owl or other foul creature which might venture into his room while asleep. Currently he sleeps with at least half a dozen stuffed animals, an unloaded water gun, umbrella, alligator, baby blanket and whatever other toys he drags into bed. I love the fact that he opens up the umbrella and sleeps under it most nights. Hey, whatever works I support.  Oh, by the way, did I mention Case can now open up his bedroom door?  Cody and I have been avoiding and discouraging this development for a long time but it finally happened.  This week Case came out of his room during nptime, looked at me over the stair rails and said matter of factly with a great deal of pride, “I can get out.” I said, “I see you can get out but you need to get back in your room and rest.”  This statement seemed to confuse Case because he then said, “But I can still get out.”  Needless to say, Case hasn’t napped since that day.     



More and More Mad!

I wanted to post a blog about how grateful I am we finally found a medicine that seems to be working when it comes to Cole puking one or more times at night in his sleep.  For that I am grateful.  However, the more I think about the way Cole has been treated medically the more mad I get.  I mean really, why didn’t one of his doctors do something about this a year ago when it started?!  It’s not like we haven’t brought up the issue on more than one occasion.  Yet every time it was mentioned the Dr.’s poo pooed our concern and said the vomiting was related to his multiple ear infections, side affect of strep, part of bronchitis, teething, etc, etc.  And the worst part is I listened to them!  It wasn’t until he had his tubes in place and no illness in his body that we got fed up and began researching possible causes.  Then why was it that an on call Dr. at an after hour clinic was the first person who actually listened to my concerns, prescribed medications and fixed the problem after listening to just a few sentences out of my mouth?!  Shouldn’t that have been Cole’s PRIMARY cares Dr.’s responsibility?!  Then when I was discussing the medication with our primary Dr at our next visit, she said very agreeably said, ‘Yes, yes.  I totally agree with what the on call Dr. prescribed.’  But, but, but YOU should have been the one to prescribed it a year ago woman!!!  And the fix was easy.  All it took to fix his vomiting is one dissolvable tablet a day.  Just thinking about how miserable Cole has been for the last year, waking up in the middle of the night from a dead sleep with vomit all over himself and no one doing anything to help just makes me smoking mad.     

And another thing, the more I think about how long it took them to recommend tubes also makes me mad.  Ear infections are one thing and backed up fluid is another thing.  When the more extensive tests were done they said he had probably been living with fluid in his ears since the infections began.  He hasn’t been able to hear properly since these ear infections started a year ago!  He is behind on speaking, comprehending and all sorts of other things because his learning has been on pause for the last year.  I don’t know who to be more mad at myself for not doing something sooner or the Dr’s for not addressing the issues presented.  Needless to say I am never going back to that Dr ever again.         

Glorious Day

What a glorious glorious personal day.  This morning I was able to do my long run (10 miles) outside as I train for my OKC half marathon coming up in the next month.  The weather was perfect.  The sky was overcast.  The temperature was cool enough to run comfortably without overheating but not so cool that you became cold while walking.  In addition, there was a beautiful breeze that took the edge off when I pushed myself too far.  But I think the greatest part of my run was that my asthma did not bother me even one mile.  Typically outdoor runs trigger a lot of difficulty with my breathing, especially if it is windy, but today no problems (praise the Lord).  Almost every time I run (indoor or outdoor) I hate feeling like my body is capable to keep going but I am being held back because of my lungs.  However today for one of the first times in a long time I was able to run until my body was tired instead of running until my lungs gave out on me.  It felt great to see what I can do without restrictions.  Half marathon here I come.    

Gma Birthday Visit

Gma and Bpa came to visit over Gmas birthday weekend and we couldn’t have been more pleased to have them.   We love the fact that they come over every afternoon while mommy goes to work to play with the boys.  And when I say play, I mean play!  No watching tv here.  They are playing ball, running, chasing, cooking and everything else under the sun.  Everyone (great grandparents included) were pooped after 3 hours.  The visits are always too short but we had fun while they were here.  We made the entire week a birthday celebration with a little something every day like: birthday dinner, birthday pie and flowers one evening, birthday balloons the next.  Here are some family shots post dinner, pre birthday pie, donning our celebratory hats.  Everyone took turns blowing out the candle.  We ate on the birthday pie every evening and lit the candle and sang Happy Birthday multiple times each night.  Even though we only had one candle I believe that by the end of the week we had sung Happy Birthday and blown out the candle at least 84 times in honor of Gmas birthday.    

I think the thing I love the most about their visits is watching everyone play together.  Just because Gma and Bpa hold the title 'great grandparents' they keep up with the kids like teens.  Gma sits on the floor and throws the ball and cooks with Cole and Bpa chases eveyone around the house until the kids are exhausted.  As you can see no one was sitting around.  Playing ball and chase was just the beginning of the fun.  Chalk drawing, jumping on the trampoline and all kinds of fun with the tree house was also on the list of things to do.  We truly enjoyed thier visit and hope the next one won't be too far in the future. 



School Pics

So glad both my little boys love school.  Here is Case's first school picture.  He is in the second row, first kiddo on the left.  The little girls who are smitten with him is the lady in pink tights in the first row and the gal in back with the yellow dress.    

Cole was even photographed with his class.  Cole is the dapper gent in red.

Duck Pond

Today we went to the duck pond.  Little did the geese know that this sweet little child.......

is actually a duck fighting WARRIOR! who chases all pesky birds back into the water so us humans can remain safe on land without being pecked by hungry aggressive geese. As you can see Case valiantly picked up his stick first thing upon arriving at the pond and began chasing the birds away one by one.  This was a rather large chore because after the geese saw our family walking towards the pond with a bread bag we were surrounded. Once the perimeter was safe, Case kept the line drawn and no duck dared breech our territory.  Case even protected his brother from the birds when one attempted a sneak attack around the side of Cole in order to steal his pop tart.  The boys ran wild, no one was pecked, the birds were fed and the weather was beautiful.  Overall a successful afternoon outing.     

Linger

Case is adored by several girls in preschool. He is greeted at his classroom door each day by 3 different little cuties. 2 different mothers have even approached me and said, ‘You’re Cases mother? My daughter talks about him all the time.’ Meanwhile, Case doesn’t talk about any of the girls in class. Even when I poke, prod and ask leading questions he never mentions a girl in school conversations. Cora, the daughter of my good friend Kristy who just moved to Colorado, on the other hand has stolen his heart. Cora and Case are similar in personalities, size, age and apparently similarly in love with each other. Case has socalized with Cora a handful of times since he has been born but long distance romances are hard to keep alive. However since Cora has moved to Colorado, love is in bloom and all Case talks about is Cora. Will Cora be at school today? Is Cora coming over to play today? Will Cora follow us to the gym? His obsession is reciprocated by Cora and their toddler romance is adorable. However the adorableness wore off and my mother genes kicked into high gear today when Cora and Case were saying goodbye after playing at the gym. Case leaned in for a kiss and they pecked on the lips goodbye. I though, how cute! Then they leaned in for another kiss and I swear they lingered for at least 1 Mississippi. Amazing how quickly my thoughts changed. I thought, this affection is going to end real soon......Sigh, oh my.  Here they are over the years.   
        

Stolen Moments

As much as I hate Cole throwing up every night in his sleep there is one positive thing I enjoy.  I love holding Cole as he sleeps at night.  Late at night, I love the soft light, how still the dark room is in contrast to our hectic days and how quiet everything seems with just low hum of the humidifier in the background.  I love the feeling of Cole’s fuzzy fleece jammies against my arms.  I love the feel of Cole's head resting on my shoulder as my cheek rests on his forehead.  I love stealing kisses and murmuring 'I love you' over and over in his ear as I listen to him breathe and hear his raspy snore.  I love being able to wrap my arms totally around his body and holding every ounce of him as we rock back and forth in the rocking chair.  I love these moments together so much that sometimes I have to loosen my grip because I find myself holding him so tightly while relishing our time together.  I hate that my little man is still struggling with his stomach at night but I truly love our very quiet and loving moments together.    

Funny Things

Funny things that Case has said recently.  1) While driving in the rain he ordered Cody to, ‘activate windshield wipers.’  2) Then after Cody stole a car from the table while playing NASCAR Case called Cody a 'scurvy dog.' 3) Case was playing with his toy boat in the bathtub and he said the boat was 'sailing the seven seas.'  4) Agreeing with my idea by saying, 'okay matey.'   

Can anyone tell that Case has been watching some pirate cartoons lately?    

Do You Want To Walk?

This is a video to show off.....well.  I will let you be the judge.