Park

Saturday was a lazy day of errands and park playing.

Ben gets so sweaty while playing. He plays hard and doesn't stop running from place to place. 

Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Amanda rock!

Awesome time at the shore

After our delayed start to our shore trip, we didn't arrive until after 1:00pm. Our little water babies didn't care what time it was...they were at the beach!  

 

So the captions aren't working right at all- oh well. Highlights: Addie boogie boarding like a pro; Ben not liking "ocean juice" in his face; Ben snacking in the shade while Addie rocked the waves; Addie throwing up the horns as she skimmed to the sand on the board; building sand castles with their new equipment; Addie writing songs every chance she got- including belting one out about "I put my shirt on, I put my pants on, I put my underwear on" just as teenage boys walked by; Addie stopping everyone she could to say "we're having a sleepover at the beach! And there are chocolates in our room!"; catching up with Pam after waaay too long a break. 

Enjoy the surfing videos below.

That's the lifeguards at the end who she waves too. I'm sure the 19 year old dudes were impressed by her.

Earbuds

Tuesday after work, Brian and I attended a happy hour with some of my social work pals. We had a lot of fun and really enjoyed getting to go out as adults socially. Brian hadn't ever met/spent time with most of the people there, so it was good for him to put faces to names, etc.

On our way home, Muddy called to see how close we were.  She then followed that question with "I just wanted to let you know that Addie has a crayon in her ear." Um, what? Apparently she stuck a crayon piece in her ear while riding in their minivan and watching a movie.  Her reasoning, "I was trying to make ear phones."  I told Muddy it was no big deal and that I'd remove it with tweezers when I got home.  

Well, it was in her ear...like waaaay in her ear canal.  And clearly based on clever design, the diameter of a crayon is just that of a four year old's ear canal.  There was no way I was removing it. After consulting with the on-call, who told me that it must come out via my trusty tweezers or those of the ERs, I tried some more.  By 11pm, Addie was no longer interested in having me stick anything in her ear. So off to the ER we went.  

In order to coax a 4 year old way beyond her bedtime that going to a hospital and having someone stick something in her ear again, parents must be very resourceful. So I asked Addie what she would like to wear to the hospital.  Not surprisingly, this is what she chose:

Actually her shoes were on her feet when we got there. 

Note the accessorizing here. Her "C" necklace (C is for Cutie, by the way), her butterfly bracelet and her butterfly princess dress that Muddy made her years ago. Everyone who saw her made a comment about her beautiful she was or how there was a princess in their midst, so it went well.

Oh, the crayon extraction? Not so well. The ER doc couldn't get it either.  We even tried suction, which Addie called the vacuum and didn't like the sound of in her ear. So after an hour visit, we were sent home to call the ENT specialists first thing in the morning.

Now I should tell you that I was being very selfish, because we had planned on going to the Jersey Shore for two days, just the four of us. Brian and I've been looking forward to this for a long time.  All week long we told the kids about a special place we were going, etc.  So the thought of having to delay that trip wasn't the happiest, but that's what happens when there's a foreign body in your child's ear.

We called ENT Wednesday morning and were told to come in at 9:30.  The ENT doc said there was no way he could get it out with Addie awake. I totally agree with his assessment. There will be a lot of digging required and Addie is not too keen on the idea of someone looking inside her ear, let alone scraping out the crayon.  We talked about when surgery could be scheduled for.  The doc said she could be added on for 2pm, but that that meant she probably wouldn't go back until after 4pm. We were told in the ER not to have her eat/drink anything in case OR time was needed. The thought of losing the whole beach day with a starving child was not my first choice. The doc assured me there was no rush to remove it. It wasn't going anywhere. He told us to just schedule time for next week and to enjoy the beach. We even discussed the fact that the ocean might knock the crayon out. 

So surgery is scheduled for Tuesday. I have to take her in this afternoon to do her pre-op anesthesia work up. 

Oh and to answer the question I've been asked the most: it is a green crayon.

Reflective

Yesterday was one of the scariest times of my parenting life. Ben woke up in the morning with petechiae on his body.  For those of you who don't know, petechiae are little pin prick sized red/purple dots that show up under the surface of the skin.  In the world of pediatric medicine, they are commonly the first sign that a child has leukemia.  After I checked with Muddy to confirm she saw them too, I called the pediatrician with my heart in my throat.  The nurse said she would talk to Dr. Scott and then call us back. So we waited...then she called back and said that the doc wanted to see Ben in the afternoon. In the meantime I was researching it to the ends of the Earth and found that petechiae show as a viral thing or the other.  So I  had everything crossed that it was some weird viral thing left over from his rash from last week.

When I took him in, Dr. Scott said there was no doubt that it was petechiae (which made me feel better and not like the neurotic mother).  She said she thought he was fine, but wanted to have blood work done to be sure.  She assured me, if she thought it was leukemia she would have sent us to the ER, not to the lab. So off to the lab we went.  The results were ordered  "stat" which means they are done within the hour.

After an hour I called the office and was told the doctor was with a patient and would call us with the results as soon as she was out.  Three hours later, which may have been the longest three hours of my life, she called to say all of his lab results were gloriously high.  

We're still waiting on the mono results, but she thinks those'll be negative too. 

She thinks he's got an enirovirus (not sure how it's spelled, but it means "summer virus.") which we do nothing for.

So, in closing, I just want to express how grateful and blessed I feel that I have two healthy children.  Now I can say I know what that wait is like for parents who aren't sure if their child has something as horrible as childhood cancer. It was not a pleasant experience to say the least. I feel like we dodged a bullet somehow and I feel like I have a new lease on life. We're really lucky.

OMG a whole week overdue!

Shame on me and my blogging. Why didn't anyone send the search crews out for me? 

No pictures to share actually. We've been enjoying warm summer weather at night with long walks, and on the weekend with water sliding.

Benjamin continues to do so well with potty training. The past two days have been 100% accident-free!! He even told Muddy today, "Remember when I was a little boy and I pooped in my underwear? I didn't like that." Yes, yes, yes Ben we remember when you were a little boy.

Ben got his first bloody nose last night, at the foot of his sister. They were playing around, pushing each other, the usual stuff when Addie would give up and Ben would just bull ram her.  Brian told Addie to get him back, so they started scuffling.  Ultimately Addie decided she was done and sat back on the couch.  Ben charged her and his nose promptly met her foot. His little nose bled immediately.  Addie felt so horribly about what she had done. In the end, the blood stopped flowing and all was right with the world.

Ben had some weird rash going on late last week, which prompted a visit to the pediatrician. By Sunday we ended up there again, with the diagnosis of a staph rash. It sounds really bad, right? Staph?! But I assure you that everyone has staph living on their skin at all times.  Ben's just flared up and made him have spots on his face.  The ointment we were prescribed has taken care of it now. So that's good.  *I do actually have pictures of his rash, but that's not too exciting for my blog followers to see.

We're excited for a weekend visit from Onkteb. We got to video chat with Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Amanda and their new kitty the other night.  Technology is amazing.  Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Amanda actually got to video chat watch Ben pee in the potty, thanks to wireless internet! Oh come on, you know if they were here he would've expected them to come see, so we took advantage of the opportunity.

Does it get any cuter than this?

I don't think so!! Benjamin has decided he's ready to potty train.  He does really well anytime he's naked and just this past weekend has realized he needs to go potty when wearing his underwear too...you get the picture.  Anyway, he is proud as a peacock to wear his boxer briefs.  If you haven't seen him in them yet, he'll be happy to greet you in just them and exclaim, "Look I'm a little daddy." 

After my own heart

The other morning while sitting on the toilet, Addie says to me, "Mommy, we need to put a railing right here" and pointed to the wall. I asked her why and she replied, "So a person who uses a wheelchair can get on and off the potty."

She didn't seem to catch on to the fact that we were in the bathroom on the second floor and the logistics involved.  Nonetheless, it made me happy that she thought about being accessible to all people.

Longwood Gardens

Well Longwood Gardens' Fountains and Fireworks was another roaring success.  Addie and Ben about jumped out of our chairs when the opening number was Dancing Queen.  It was really a lot of fun to have the show to ABBA tunes.  There were some very rave-y moments and we were jamming along.

Going to Longwood is very much like going to Chanticleer on Mother's Day; a definite camera-filled event. Below are some of my favorites.

Addie is wearing her new sandals too.
This priceless-expression-moment was just as we entered the Children's Garden. This part opened 3 years ago in the Main Conservatory and it's a water-filled good time. They actually provide towels to dry off with if your child gets too wet.  



Looking down a spiral staircase.  Addie was doing her The Shining smile...not really.

Poor Aunt Wendy got stuck holding both kids up over her head to catch the water that shoots between the bricks.
Benjamin and Brian getting squirted. I don't know if I love Ben's expression or Brian's more!

Totally her own pose.

In the outdoor Children's Garden there are mazes too.
And really cool wing chairs...lol
And cool wooden carvings.
Overall a lovely night.

Some firsts

First off, I've been having problems logging in from home to update this...so sorry for the delay.
No pictures to share of this past week either--a travesty I know.
Ben got his first bee sting on Sunday while picking string beans from the garden at Muddy and Guppy's house. I was with him and I've got to tell you that I've been dreading the moment he got his first one, simply because of how badly his body responds to insect bites. So when Ben said, "Oww!" and I saw that little bugger sticking out of his leg, I thought "oh God, here it comes." I swatted the bee off of his leg and hurried him inside, where I thought we'd be able to monitor his swelling etc. Knowing that the closest pharmacy was only a 5 minute drive, I figured if we needed an epi pen, we'd be able to get it. Well, Ben was like "It hurt, but I'm ok. Let's go back outside." The site wasn't particularly swollen or anything. Within 10 minutes, you could barely tell he had gotten a sting at all. So that was a relief.
The night before Addie had a first too. She was in her room and wanted to snuggle on our bed with us. I told her to turn her light off before coming into our room. She went into her room and then I heard her start crying/shrieking. I yelled for her to come to me and we met in the middle. She was so upset she couldn't really talk at first. Then she said, she "got a little shake." I realized she meant she got an electric shock. A little shake was a good description for her. She was so upset about it. We consoled her and she was fine afterwards, but it made me so sad for her. I know that feeling and it's not pleasant, especially for the first time and not knowing what it was.
I do have a video to share. It's of Addie singing "Super Trooper" by ABBA. We watched Mamma Mia again last weekend, which really means Addie and Ben were singing along to every song. I'm so excited that tomorrow night we're sup rising them by taking the to the Longwood Gardens Fountains and Fireworks show, which happens to be synchronized to ABBA music. It's the first time in Longwood history that they are having music with words in it- which should be awesome.
Hope everyone has had a good week. Brian is gearing up for a big test on Monday for work, so wish him luck. We'll be water sliding this weekend too, with hot, sunny 92 degrees temps!