Adventures in Babysitting

My uncle's mother passed away last week at 90 years old.  They had a feeling that she would pass soon, so my aunt had asked me in advance to watch her 2-year-old grandson on the day of the wake.  He is a very active kid, so they felt that it would be better if he stayed home.  So, the boys and I headed to their house shortly after Daniel came home from preschool that day.

We had just seen David about a week earlier, so he didn't seem nervous to have his grandparents leave.  One person that David really seems to love is Nicholas.  He's always following him and hugging him.  I'm sure Daniel and David will be better friends in the future, but they have little interest in playing with each other right now.

Nicholas was a great helper with David.   He played with David and endured all of the rough and tumble hugs that David gave him.  I also had my other son, the warden, to keep David in his place.  "No, no, David.  Don't touch that."  "No, David, don't go out there!"  Daniel loves to make people follow the rules, even if he is a boundary tester himself.

So, here's a little snapshot of our time together:

Nicholas read him a book.

How sweet!

Then, this started.

Which, led to this.

Then, Nicholas taught him how to sit too closely to the television.

All in all, everyone did really well.  When everyone came back from the wake, Nicholas took the opportunity to hold someone that wouldn't be so rough with him.

Nicholas and Alyssa

Nicholas told me that babysitting is a lot harder than it looks.  I guess he won't be starting his babysitting business anytime soon.

In the Last Week . . .

Last week was another busy week.  First, we celebrated my dad’s birthday.  The boys love their Poppy.  They also loved helping him blow out his candles. 

Nicholas received his results last week from his MRI.  There was only a slight change in the size of his heart.  The function is still at 100%.  He could have surgery now, but the doctor feels confident that we could wait another year.  He is still too small for the catheter they would need to use, so they would have to open him up.  We’re going to do another MRI next year and then she’ll help us make a decision on the best course of action.  So, he has another year of no restrictions as long as nothing new comes up.  He is happy with that decision.  I think we are all pleased.  Now we just pray for a major growth spurt or new technology before he needs his surgery.

In house news, we are very thankful for the handy people in our life.  Evan’s family has spent countless hours helping us with updates and repairs.  Most recently, what was supposed to be an easy-swap-out-two toilets became hours of hassles and trips to Home Depot.  Thankfully, everything is working as it should.

My sister has been helping me decorate and pick things out for my house for the past couple of months.  She had a vision for a play tent in Daniel’s room, then built it herself.  Daniel loves it!  He loves it so much that the first day he had it, he barely left it.  In fact, he now uses it as his new bed.  There is a huge comfortable pillow in it and he has slept there the last couple of nights.  I think there is no doubt that he loves this gift from Aunt Amy.

So comfy he fell right to sleep

With all the busyness from the house and life in general, I realized that we needed to schedule in time to carve our pumpkin.  We planned to do it Monday night.  Our plans were almost thwarted by our dryer vent, but with Evan to the rescue this time, we got our pumpkin done.  The boys went a little gross this year with pumpkin innards coming out of most of the holes, but they had a good time doing it.  They also put a little glow-in-the-dark paint on it, so it does glow a little sitting on our front porch.  Next year we hope to have a pumpkin for each of them since they have their own ideas on how to carve it.

The pumpkin is kind of a hot mess, but they love it.

Daniel had his Halloween party at preschool today.  Thankfully, I chose an easy costume for him since the teachers had to help 12 kids get ready for their party, which was the last hour of class.  He looked so cute when we picked him up.  His hat was inside out, which just added to the cuteness.  He received a nice little goodie bag of candy, which he kindly shared with his big brother.

We’re enjoying a more normal school week.  It has been so crazy the last month.  It feels like we actually have a little normalcy.  I still have a lot of organization to get done, but it definitely feels like home here.

New hairdo for this guy

And this guy always keeps us on our toes.

I'll take pictures of the boys in their costumes this weekend.  They both are very excited about their costumes this year!

Old Pro

Nicholas had his cardiac MRI on Wednesday.  We had the first slot and got right in.  Nicholas was a little nervous, but it was nice that he knew what to expect.  The hardest part for him is when they put the iv in his arm.  His MRI has to be done with and without contrast, which means that for the second set of images they light his heart up like a highlighter. 

He got to play a game on an iPad while they put the iv in, so it was done in no time.  Nicholas is completely honest with everything he is thinking and feeling.  He is polite about it, so all the medical staff we have dealt with in the last month have just loved him.  He especially likes to request that the nurses do things as painlessly as possible.

This year Nicholas was able to choose a movie to listen to during the MRI.  Thankfully, he picked one that he had already seen since he would only be able to hear it.  He chose the LEGO Movie.  Evan went in with him this year.  I got an hour of uninterrupted reading and Evan managed to take a few cat naps next the noisy MRI machine. 

I told him that he looked like a doctor ready for surgery.

All smiles before the MRI

Afterwards, Nicholas was able to pick out a toy.  Then they took his picture to put on the wall of kids that didn’t use anesthesia. We were out of there in just a couple of hours this year!

We promised to take him out to breakfast if things went quickly.  He enjoyed some waffles before eating the other half of my Nutella banana crepes that I couldn’t finish.  There’s nothing wrong with that boy’s appetite.

We won’t get the results until this Wednesday.  I think he is also getting an EKG and they may possibly be giving him a halter monitor.  We shall see.  Last year he was borderline for surgery.  We’re anxious to see if there has been any change in the last year.

In the meantime, Nicholas is busy.  Today he has two birthday parties to attend.  He is going to a roller skating birthday party for a friend from church.  Then, he and Evan will join us at my parents’ to celebrate my dad’s birthday!

Things here at the house are slowly taking shape.  Nicholas’ room was picture-ready yesterday, so we got a few pictures.

Painting courtesy of Aunt Amy

More pictures to come as we get organized . . . 

Settling In

The radio silence on the blog has mostly been due to our move.  Tomorrow it will be two weeks since we moved into our new house.  We are settled for the most part.  We’re still working on some painting, decorating and organizing.  I would say that the talks about missing our old house are really few and far between. 

We were all able to go there one last time the day after the move.  We wanted to get it cleaned up for the next people.  Tears were shed and there were definitely some big feelings that day, but I really think we’re all pleased with where we are now.

Our realtor gave us a chocolate house to celebrate.

The boys have their own rooms and have been sleeping pretty well.  Well, Daniel never sleeps well, so he’s sleeping normal –for him.  The basement has definitely given us the much needed space that we all needed to have during the day.  I don’t feel like we’re all crammed into one little space.  Nicholas has also been playing outside with the boy next door, so that keeps him busy in the afternoons and early evenings. 

Daniel found this at a garage sale in our new neighborhood.

Our move was not the only excitement that we have had though.  Nicholas had a medical emergency last week.  In mid-September he hurt his wrist playing with the kids at our small group.  He had a nice open wound.  We got the bleeding to stop and had been keeping an eye on it ever since.  Unfortunately, probably due to just playing, he got the wound infected.  He woke up last week with a swollen hand.

I watched his hand all day Tuesday, but it wasn’t getting any better.  So, I decided to run up to urgicare with him real quick while my sister was at the house with Daniel.  Real quick became a huge deal.  The urgicare felt that he should go to the emergency room.  They recommended one for children in our old town.  So, we quickly ran home to tell Amy and grab a sandwich (in case it took a while).

At the emergency room, Nicholas had x-rays, bloodwork, and ultimately, some antibiotics given intravenously.  Because he has a heart condition and an infection, they felt like the best course of action was to send him downtown to the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic.  The next thing I know, Nicholas and I are riding in an ambulance and then he’s being admitted for the night.  Evan followed behind in his car.  He stayed until midnight and then went home so someone could get a decent night’s sleep.

This was at the emergency room - the beginning of his television binge watching.

Nothing like a warm blanket while watching television.

Nicholas had the time of his life.  Eating Froot loops and chocolate pudding and watching a lot of television.  It was really anticlimactic.  They checked his wrist and vitals a lot, but it was just a small skin infection.  So, we went home the next morning with a prescription for the worst-smelling and tasting antibiotic.  He had follow-up appointments with his pediatrician’s office and an orthopedic doctor.  He’s all clear.

Now television at the Cleveland Clinic

A little "healthy" breakfast with your television.

Daniel ended up missing preschool that Thursday due to a low grade fever.  It came out of nowhere and left as quickly as it came.  I think it was a blessing in disguise.  Nicholas’ antibiotic was making him have some side effects and everyone was tired from the hospital stay.  So, we all stayed home and recovered.

Sick day

Just in case I wasn’t stressed enough, Evan went on a men’s retreat with church that following weekend.  That’s when our cat, Isabella, decided to have her once-a-year gastritis.  Of course, I really became concerned Saturday night when all of the vets’ offices were closed.  So, my mom came over to watch the boys while my dad helped me find the animal emergency hospital.  She had some fluids and medicine and came home the same night.  I finally decided to give her some wet food to let her stomach heal before making any extra vet appointments.  So far, so good.

Things have been better this week.  Preschool has been going well.  Daniel is enjoying it and I can ask him about his day and get some answers.  I think snack time and recess are his favorite times of the day.  I do enjoy all of the crafts happening there too, since I don’t have the brain cells for that kind of creativity right now.

Preschool is tiring.

CC has been going well too.  We have one month under our belt.  I haven’t had too much time to over-plan this year, which has not been a bad thing.  I know what works and what doesn’t, so I just tweak it as needed.  We had the area manager come in and observe our campus this past week.  He had only positive things to say, and he gave a lot of encouragement and positive feedback to me specifically.  Nicholas is enjoying his class too.  He is with the older kids and they have all accepted him.  That was his biggest fear.  I’m not able to see him in class because I am tutoring my class, but other moms have told me he is doing really well.

October is a very busy month for us.  We have more medical appointments on the horizon for Nicholas.  It is time for his annual cardiac MRI and doctor’s appointment.  Last year it was borderline that he needed heart surgery.  We’re not sure what to expect this time, but we’re hoping for another year before surgery.  No matter what, we are going to trust in God’s timing.  

Well, that's some of the excitement from the last couple of weeks.  I don't know when I'll write again, but I'll do my best.