Water Table

On Sunday the 22nd, we opened up the water table for the first time this season. Parker thought all the splashing was great fun.

He got himself quite wet!

It was difficult to convince Maia that she is much too big to get in the water table this year.  She really liked to sit in the table last year, and call it her "pool." 

Stomping

May 21st was the 9th Annual Stomp Out Stigma event for the Mental Health Foundation. I captain the team for my place of work, and we ended up having 104 people register for the walk, with 97 actually participating. AMAZING.  I was grateful to have some extra help from my family, while I tried to make sure that 20+ got their t-shirts the morning of the walk, and to help find some of the t-shirt sizes I was shorted.

When we were getting ready in the morning, Maia was the last to get dressed.  She saw Parker in his shirt, mommy and daddy in their shirts, and said "I want one of dose shirts like Pahkuh!"  When I showed her the t-shirt for her, she yelled and jumped up and down "I'm excited about dat, momma!"  She also asked to wear it the next two days.

My sister started running this year, and has already run two 5k races.  So a 5k walk was nothing for her, and the kids did great as well.

Emily had a volleyball tournament later on during the day.  And Parker was very sleepy.

Maia was a little overwhelmed by being in the middle of 900+ people.

Adrian had was set with his Ipod.

Right as we were supposed to start walking, Maia decided she had to go potty.  So Kath quickly ran her to the bathroom.

Maia walked (and ran) the last half, and was very excited about the river. She told us it looked like daddy's coffee.  Meanwhile, Parker had a nice nap.

 After the walk, we went to Applebees for lunch.

 And in the afternoon, Maia tried on my glasses (which I rarely wear),

... and "played Piroska" by wearing those glasses and combing my hair.

Ears by the Numbers

Sixteen doctors appointments since February 17th.
Twelve weeks of chronic ear infections.
Six Rocephin injections.
Five rounds of antibiotics.
Four different antibiotics.
Three additional medications.
Two infected ears.
One surgery: Bilateral Myringotomy with Tubes.  Hopefully the resolution of a long three months of ear infection, after ear infection, teeth and a couple more ear infections. Poor kid.

In addition to traditional treatment, we also tried a few chiropractic visits.  I was hopeful it had helped, but I brought Parker in to the pediatrician to have his ears checked, since he'd had a cold for about a week, but hadn't ever spiked a temp, and... Nope. "Raging bilateral ear infection."  Sigh. Rocephin injections. Again.

Our arrival time for Parker's surgery was set for 6:45 a.m. Today was the first time in quite a while we actually tried to, and managed to, get up before the kids (who are notoriously and unfortunately early risers).  I'd last nursed Parker at 1:30 a.m., since orders were for no milk/formula after 1:45 a.m. We had to wake him, and he was pretty okay with that. A sleepy Maia was dropped off at daycare with a cereal bar and some milk at 6:10. 

Then off to the outpatient surgery center.  Parker got his cool new bracelet, which he played with until he managed to get it off, about 15-20 minutes later.   Until then, he was cruising happily along the waiting room furniture,

 and reading a book with momma,

 or cuddling with daddy.

 When it was time for surgery, they took him from us with paci in mouth and jammies on.  We saw the ENT surgeon in about 15 minutes, to advise that surgery was fine, and that yes, there was an infection (we knew that) and we should go ahead and get that third (and hopefully final) Rocephin shot.

A few minutes later, they were bringing us back to a recovery room. He was cuddling the nurse and they told us he did really well.  They often expect them to be irritable, sometimes inconsolable, but Parker was content to look around sleepily and lay his head on my shoulder.

He didn't nurse much, and wasn't acting particularly hungry. After another 5-7 minutes of cuddling he perked up and was ready to play.  He remained snugly for the rest of the day, and finally seemed more normal and ate well at dinner time.

It was actually kind of nice to have a cuddly, snugly baby for a day.  He's on the move so much, that cuddling has become minimal of late.  We had designs to get a bunch of things done while we were both home, but with cuddly sleepy baby, cold rainy day, and serious sleep deficit (see above for 12+ weeks of illness and teething) made napping seem much more appealing.  Our fingers are crossed that this is the end of this issue, and we don't have to repeat this in a few months.  Poor Parker.

Dentist

Maia went to the dentist for the very first time on the 18th.  She'd been talking about it for months, ever since she'd caught an episode of Elmo's World where a kid went to the dentist and got to have his teeth polished with bubble gum flavored paste.  She was in.  Every day she would tell me, her classmates, her teacher "I'm going to da dentist now, okay mommy?"

We got a referral from my sister to a local pediatric dentist who is supremely kid friendly.  Maia was unbelievably excited when we walked in the door and she saw this great log cabin playhouse filled with toys. I sat down and completed paperwork, and she brought me Every. Single. Toy. in that playhouse!

Then, it was time to go back.  They did x-rays on her teeth, and she did really well, and sat amazingly still.  She looked so tiny in that chair with the big lead blanket (tie-dyed!) over her, with just her little cowgirl boots sticking out.

Then we went to the exam room...

...where her teeth were counted, flossed and eventually polished.  She had lots of choices of paste flavor, originally thought maybe cookie dough was for her, but settled on bubble gum in the end.   No cavities, things are looking great with her current and future teeth.  Not to worry yet about damage from the finger sucking.  If she's not growing out of it by 6 months from now, however, we will have to do more talking. 

She did SO well, I was so proud of her good manners and patience.  She is very excited to go back!

She got a truckload of little gifts... toothbrush, paste, floss, a mini flosser, a sticker and a plush flower.

She was eager to try everything out in the car.  When I picked her up at the end of the day, I learned that she and her friend Claire had dominated the lesson plans for the day by talking about the dentist and Disney World, respectively.   Since my kid is now asking to go to Dizaney Wourd, I certainly hope Claire and the rest of her friends are now asking to go see the dentist!

Family Pics

Daycare was asking for a family pic.  One of the teachers created a tree out of 9 canvases, and asked all the families to submit pictures for the center's "family tree."  So we set up the tripod to see what we could get. 

This was the best one:

The out-takes:

An important lesson: Don't wait until it's bedtime and the kids are exhausted to do this.  Parker does not look pleased!

Mothers Day

"What would you like for Mother's Day?" Ray asks me.

"For my children to not wake me up before 7 a.m."

I had a better chance of winning the lottery without buying a ticket.

Parker generally gets up at 5:45, and Maia between 6 and 6:30 at the latest.

What I did get... was some love and cuddles from my kids (that's good!)

Maia remembered it all on her own and wished me Happy Mother's Day.

Ray got McDonald's breakfast and we got shorted a few sandwiches.

And these gifts:

Wow.  Parker has great handwriting for a 10 month old! 

(alright... thanks goes to those wonderful ladies at daycare!)

 And Maia made bath salts with her friends at school.  Lavender and Eucalyptus Mint.

Maia brought them home for me the Thursday before, and was so excited:

Da purple one is for you, and da green one is for daddy.

Dere bath sawts, so you can take a weeee-laxing bath!

The Park

Last weekend was gorgeous. It was time to get out to the park.  However, it tends to take forever to get ready, so we didn't really get out in the morning like I'd hoped.  In fact, it was pretty much lunch time.

No matter. We'll stop and get lunch, since Maia is constantly asking for a picnic, and we'll eat at the park.

So, Wendy's junk in hand, we chose our table and started eating. Parker is in his stroller.  I got out my phone to start taking pics, but the Maia decided she had to go to the bathroom. 

So we packed up the food, ran across the park and...

Alas. The bathrooms were still closed and locked for the winter/spring season. A toilet-paperless porta-potty it would have to be. Fortunately, I had wipes, and there was hand sanitizer. Maia was fascinated.  I wasn't quite so excited, while we stood there with the door open, since I couldn't bring Parker and stroller in with us. I had to hold Maia to keep her tiny tushie from falling in the big hole!
Moving on.  We re-settled at our table, and Maia wolfed down another chicken nugget before deciding she HAD to go play.  She climbed right up to the biggest spiral slide and slid down. After that, it was running to every piece of playground equipment and trying it all. Every slide. Everything that could be ridden or climbed on, she tried it.

Parker tried a few slides, but usually slid too fast and bonked his head a little bit.  Eventually, I managed to get them both to the swings.

There, Parker was delighted.  He giggled. He kicked.  And yes, I know he's missing a shoe. I got tired of putting it back on.

When we got home, Daddy was mowing the lawn. Even though it was nap time for little girls, lawn mowing is An Event.  And we must Do Our Part.  So she 'helped' daddy finish up, and Parker watched them both out the window.

He was very excited to watch them, but it was hysterical with his big sister came to say "hi!"

Laughing

I love that the kids are now more able to interact and play with each other.  Maia continues to be a good sister, and is generally concerned with Parker being safe by pulling or pushing him (uncomfortably) out of the way. He is generally not a fan. But there are things that escape my mouth that I later marvel at.  You may not ride your brother! for example.  

But a few days ago, this was the "after dinner entertainment."

Dinner Outside

Last week, Ray was gone at dinner time for his bowling league, and Maia kept asking to eat outside. "A Picnic!" It was a beautiful evening. The dinner plans included such glamorous items as hot dogs, and macaroni-n-cheese.  So I thought this might be doable. 

Parker was pretty sleepy,  but managed to put away some serious mac n' cheese.

See this little thing he's doing with his feet?  Maia used to do it too, and I think it's pretty funny. Somehow the highchair tray becomes a foot rest?

One of Those Nights.

Every mother (parent) has this night, or day, and probably quite a few variations of them as our children age.

Ray is off bowling so it's just me and the kids. So I'm getting some dinner ready for them, and Maia is so hungry she is eating it out of the serving dish before I can even get the table set. Then she spills the bowl of peas on the floor. I get the kids eating while I clean this up. Dinner's done, and Parker is wheezing so I let Maia watch a little TV after dinner (a rarity) so I can go give Parker his inhaler. I come back from getting the inhaler, and Maia is standing on the couch: "I went poopy momma."

Sigh.

This is the third accident this week after dinner, but she rarely poops in her pants. Unfortunately, she's had rather loose poop this week, so I put Parker down next to his toys and tell her "don't move!" I pick her up and carry her to the bathroom to clean her up. She's trying to take off her her pants, and I'm yelling at her to wait for me to get her onto a towel so I don't have to mop the floor. She doesn't wait. It's so bad, I throw the undies away and poop is everywhere. I get her cleaned up as well as I can and in a diaper for bedtime. I check on Parker, and he's happy as can be. I pick him up and think Huh, I thought I did a better job cleaning him up after dinner than... Oh Crap. Literally. Little poop nuggets had fallen onto the carpet, and he'd crawled through them. Poor kid had Maia's poop on his hands, shirt, feet, and cheek. GROSS!

Just to top it off, later in the evening, she managed to head butt me right in the nose so hard I saw stars and my eyes were immediately streaming. I tell you, I could not get her to bed fast enough! 

It is for days like this that they make Mother's Day, right?  And to Our Mothers:  Thank you,  and We're Sorry for your days like this!

He Walks Behind

Then, on Sunday, May 1st, he did this.
 

Since he's been cruising for a while, I thought it would have been a quicker transition to this, but he really didn't show any interest in wanting to walk behind a toy until just recently.  I helped him get started today, and he thought he was pretty cool.

He Climbs

Usually he sits at the bottom stair and pat-pat-pats on it.

 
















On April 30th,  I was surprised to see him doing this.

Easter

Easter arrived in a house full of sick people (Momma included).  As such, apparently the Easter Bunny was reluctant to spend too much time leaving eggs to search for.

Maia found them quickly!  And that was that.

A Welcome Visit

The weekend of April 15th, Tara, Dave, Aaron and Rachael came out for a visit during their spring break. Maia was so excited all week, telling her friends and teachers all about it.  They arrived on Friday afternoon, and I picked up the kids from daycare and brought them home to our Family.

Maia was rendered shy and speechless for a good 15 minutes.  Probably the quietest she's been while not sleeping in months, and it was all an act.

We're Ang-wy.

 Parker was content to play and interact, however. 

 We had a nice dinner at Texas Roadhouse, where Parker tried some new foods, and Maia ate good ol' Kraft Mac N Cheese.

The next day (Saturday) was a cold, rainy, dreary day, as was much of Sunday.  We spent some time indoors.

Tara, Rachael and I went to the mall, and Maia took a ride on the carousel.

When the weather was nicer (cool, but the sun was finally shining), Aunt Tara and Uncle Dave took Maia outside to play.

Parker played indoors.

Maia and Parker showed everyone the Joy of Parker's new favorite activity.

He spends a LOT of time in this cupboard.

And what visit would be complete without some good rockin?