We had an experience with his first ear infection in April which was traumatizing. He had awoken screaming his ear hurt and I brushed it off because it was just one night/morning. Then about a week and a half later he started saying again that his ear was hurting and crying. I finally took him to the doctor because of his impending oral surgery and I wanted to make sure he was completely healthy before having his evaluation. Well when we finally got him to the doctor the nurse took his temperature from his bad ear which then of course traumatized him and now he's scared of going to the doctor or getting his temperature taken by ear.
Two rounds of antibiotics and sick visits to the doctor he finally was well. And then a week after that we were able to get his successful "all clear" for oral surgery.
While we're on medical topics, his surgery went well. He was scared of being in the sterile scary doctor's office environment, but over all I think it was better (and WAY less expensive) than the one we had last year. It was just a small office not a big hospital like we had last year so there were less costs involved. It was scary though that they had me hold him while he was starting the anesthesia. They used gas rather than the "happy juice" the way the hospital did. He was scared and crying so he took in the gas quickly and then even though they told me each step of the way before hand what to expect it was still scary seeing it all happen. I admire the parents who have to have their children go under anesthesia frequently. It's so scary. I cry every time I think about it.
Two rounds of antibiotics and sick visits to the doctor he finally was well. And then a week after that we were able to get his successful "all clear" for oral surgery.
While we're on medical topics, his surgery went well. He was scared of being in the sterile scary doctor's office environment, but over all I think it was better (and WAY less expensive) than the one we had last year. It was just a small office not a big hospital like we had last year so there were less costs involved. It was scary though that they had me hold him while he was starting the anesthesia. They used gas rather than the "happy juice" the way the hospital did. He was scared and crying so he took in the gas quickly and then even though they told me each step of the way before hand what to expect it was still scary seeing it all happen. I admire the parents who have to have their children go under anesthesia frequently. It's so scary. I cry every time I think about it.
On to happier things. Xavier is such a cheerful child. Pretty much every day when we go outside he will tell us it is a beautiful day. This must be something his teachers say at school because I don't remember ever actually saying that before, but now I've made an effort. He's so sweet.
He also likes to offer encouragement. I just have to laugh when he cheers and tells me that I'm a good helper if I pick something up or help him do something. Or since we've been working a little bit on potty training even when I use the bathroom (because anyone with kids or knows about having kids will know, you can't go to the bathroom alone.)
I've got to say, I'm loving the conversations that we have and his imagination. I know that a lot of things are driven from things he watches on YouTube or Netflix, but when we were on our way to his surgery he was looking out the window and said he saw an elephant. I said "An elephant?" He said "Yeah. Window. Clouds." "Oh, there's a cloud shaped like an elephant?" "Yeah!" And then he saw an Xavier shaped cloud and a Puppy Roh shaped cloud and a Daddy cloud.
We also were talking on Saturday about needing to go to the Farmer's Market to get eggs and he said the expected "why" to which I responded "Because we're almost out and it's good to have eggs available." "Oh, yeah. 'kay!"
It's so much fun being able to have little conversations. And he expresses his wants pretty well, though he gets on a very much one tracked mind (which he comes by naturally as I have the same problem.) He does usually know what he wants to eat though. Which is good and bad.
When we went for my birthday dinner at a fairly nice restaurant he just kept screaming for biscuits. They finally gave him some bread which was similar enough to biscuits to calm him down.
Which brings me to that was one of the most embarrassing experiences I have had in a long time. I had been told that the restaurant was kid friendly and they had a kid menu. Well, Xavier was being a normal toddler and was not quiet. We had the manager come to our table and sit down with us and basically told us that we needed to keep our kid quiet. Humiliating.
Then Rob had called ahead to talk about my gluten sensitivity and we even mentioned it at the time of ordering, but the appetizer came with bread on it. So then we have the embarrassment of everyone coming to the table and apologizing over and over and asking if we're sure we don't want them to replace it, etc. There was plenty there I could still eat. And I don't like being a nuisance and I know we already were an inconvenience with our loud child so we said no.
Then when it was time to leave I thought Xavier had a dirty diaper and it was a 20 - 30 minute drive home so I wanted to change his diaper. Well Xavier said the bathroom was scary but I pushed him to go in anyway. He proceeded to scream like I was killing him the whole time I was changing his diaper which caused someone to come bang on the door to ask if everything was OK. Utterly humiliated.
There are still a lot of times he'll just mimic though and not really answer questions. I don't know if it's because he just doesn't have as much verbal skills or just doesn't have answers. Like when he acts impulsively and hits or kicks or something and we ask him why he'll just repeat "why."
I am impressed with his memory though. We were sitting on the back stoop with Iroh one afternoon and he points to Iroh's back and says "Shots. Hurt." Xavier had gone with me when we took Iroh for his first set of shots and Xavier remembered exactly where the doctor had made the shots.
He also loves going through car washes. He's been 3 times now. Twice with me and once with Rob. He also likes to pretend car wash with his toy cars or when I'm sitting on the couch he'll go behind my knees and say he's going through a car wash and it tickles.
Xavier is very concerned about fire. When we had the egg hunt at the church we've been going to off and on they had a cookout afterwards for everyone. He was very concerned about the fire in the grills. He was reassured that everything was under control and we had some firefighter's there who would take care of it if anything went wrong.
Then a couple of weeks ago, when Xavier was still suffering his ear infection, I went with some friends and took him to a Japanese hibachi restaurant which of course uses fire. He was very concerned and kept yelling "Fire! Fire!"
Also, I have been very impressed with Iroh. Xavier has started helping put Iroh in his crate when we're eating or bedtime. And Iroh listens to him!
More funny things that Xavier says. Yesterday (05/24) Xavier said that he didn't smell good. I asked if he needed a new diaper and he makes a sniffing noise and spins around and says "Yeah. Shewie. Stinky. Need diaper." This is the type of conversations that we have.
He also has started to LOVE baths. And asks for them all the time. I think he just likes playing in the water.
About a week or so ago we also tried out our sprinkler for the first time this season. It was SO COLD. But we had discussed swimming in the pool at the hotel we were staying at the night before his surgery and then we ended up getting settled after the pool had closed. So the day after his surgery since he bounced back so well I got out the sprinkler and his little kiddy pool to make up for it.
Speaking of his surgery (again) he did really well and was asking for corndogs that afternoon when we got home. He's recovered stupendously.
Here's a couple of videos I've uploaded.
I've got to say, I'm loving the conversations that we have and his imagination. I know that a lot of things are driven from things he watches on YouTube or Netflix, but when we were on our way to his surgery he was looking out the window and said he saw an elephant. I said "An elephant?" He said "Yeah. Window. Clouds." "Oh, there's a cloud shaped like an elephant?" "Yeah!" And then he saw an Xavier shaped cloud and a Puppy Roh shaped cloud and a Daddy cloud.
We also were talking on Saturday about needing to go to the Farmer's Market to get eggs and he said the expected "why" to which I responded "Because we're almost out and it's good to have eggs available." "Oh, yeah. 'kay!"
It's so much fun being able to have little conversations. And he expresses his wants pretty well, though he gets on a very much one tracked mind (which he comes by naturally as I have the same problem.) He does usually know what he wants to eat though. Which is good and bad.
When we went for my birthday dinner at a fairly nice restaurant he just kept screaming for biscuits. They finally gave him some bread which was similar enough to biscuits to calm him down.
Which brings me to that was one of the most embarrassing experiences I have had in a long time. I had been told that the restaurant was kid friendly and they had a kid menu. Well, Xavier was being a normal toddler and was not quiet. We had the manager come to our table and sit down with us and basically told us that we needed to keep our kid quiet. Humiliating.
Then Rob had called ahead to talk about my gluten sensitivity and we even mentioned it at the time of ordering, but the appetizer came with bread on it. So then we have the embarrassment of everyone coming to the table and apologizing over and over and asking if we're sure we don't want them to replace it, etc. There was plenty there I could still eat. And I don't like being a nuisance and I know we already were an inconvenience with our loud child so we said no.
Then when it was time to leave I thought Xavier had a dirty diaper and it was a 20 - 30 minute drive home so I wanted to change his diaper. Well Xavier said the bathroom was scary but I pushed him to go in anyway. He proceeded to scream like I was killing him the whole time I was changing his diaper which caused someone to come bang on the door to ask if everything was OK. Utterly humiliated.
There are still a lot of times he'll just mimic though and not really answer questions. I don't know if it's because he just doesn't have as much verbal skills or just doesn't have answers. Like when he acts impulsively and hits or kicks or something and we ask him why he'll just repeat "why."
I am impressed with his memory though. We were sitting on the back stoop with Iroh one afternoon and he points to Iroh's back and says "Shots. Hurt." Xavier had gone with me when we took Iroh for his first set of shots and Xavier remembered exactly where the doctor had made the shots.
He also loves going through car washes. He's been 3 times now. Twice with me and once with Rob. He also likes to pretend car wash with his toy cars or when I'm sitting on the couch he'll go behind my knees and say he's going through a car wash and it tickles.
Xavier is very concerned about fire. When we had the egg hunt at the church we've been going to off and on they had a cookout afterwards for everyone. He was very concerned about the fire in the grills. He was reassured that everything was under control and we had some firefighter's there who would take care of it if anything went wrong.
Then a couple of weeks ago, when Xavier was still suffering his ear infection, I went with some friends and took him to a Japanese hibachi restaurant which of course uses fire. He was very concerned and kept yelling "Fire! Fire!"
Also, I have been very impressed with Iroh. Xavier has started helping put Iroh in his crate when we're eating or bedtime. And Iroh listens to him!
More funny things that Xavier says. Yesterday (05/24) Xavier said that he didn't smell good. I asked if he needed a new diaper and he makes a sniffing noise and spins around and says "Yeah. Shewie. Stinky. Need diaper." This is the type of conversations that we have.
He also has started to LOVE baths. And asks for them all the time. I think he just likes playing in the water.
About a week or so ago we also tried out our sprinkler for the first time this season. It was SO COLD. But we had discussed swimming in the pool at the hotel we were staying at the night before his surgery and then we ended up getting settled after the pool had closed. So the day after his surgery since he bounced back so well I got out the sprinkler and his little kiddy pool to make up for it.
Speaking of his surgery (again) he did really well and was asking for corndogs that afternoon when we got home. He's recovered stupendously.
Here's a couple of videos I've uploaded.
Opening get well soon car. Sorry for the shaky video. Hind sight I should have cut open the bag before presenting it so that he could just slide it out. Oh well.
Slide self - Big boy wanted to do the slide all by himself the afternoon of 05/23
Merry go round - Xavier insisted on me riding the merry go round when we went to the park the evening of 05/24
And pictures!
Spider Man came to Xavier's daycare. You can see him sitting right up front in the black shirt.
Xavier likes sharing my shakes.
Trying to work out is difficult when you have a 2 year old workout buddy.
Easter Egg Hunt!
Playing on the playground was more fun though. Played for a long time after the egg hunt was over.
The church had a great castle play place. Of course, Xavier, "King of the Castle" wanted to play.
Xavier loving his Doctor shirt.
Puppy 'Roh being sad that his boy is taking a bath without him.
Because gotta look cool when you're nursing.
So, Xavier took my glasses and he just looked too cute so I took some pictures.
Xavier doing his exercises.
Just a typical afternoon.
This was while he was still suffering his ear infection and I didn't know it. I just took this picture because it showed the two of them together. I realized after I took it Xavier was pressing on his ear.
He loved me to blow on his ear when it was hurting. Not sure why. But Rob had introduced him to that option and then he would whimper for me to "blow it" all the time.
Bath time! He was feeling better at this moment which is part of why I didn't realize his ear was as bad as it was. He would act fine then all of a sudden start hurting again.
All the time.
Iroh watching over his boy while he sleeps.
Sitting in the doctor's office waiting room. By the way, the shirt he's wearing... one his favorites. He will try to dig it out of the hamper to wear it.
Blowing dandelions.
Oh yeah! I got new hair this month right before my birthday! I didn't keep it straight more than a day or two. And it's really washed out much more than the purple did which is sad. I'm trying to save up money to get it done again. The purple was done by a friend. The "berry" was done as part of being a 'hair model' for a new salon. It was so much fun.
Snuggles!
Playing outside. "Beautiful day" as X proclaimed it. And of course, he has his cars with him.
Helping me open my birthday presents.
Potty training in style.
We went to Dogapalooza which was near the park with the fountain. We didn't spend much time with the dog activities but we did at the fountain.
Xavier eating a biscuit with Daddy at the game shop. (notice Lightning McQueen on the table close by.)
I got the kiddie pool ready and opened while I was mowing. Iroh likes playing in the water.
And again... losing my shake.
A good friend had gotten this for Xavier when he was just a tiny baby when she went on a cruise. He's now big enough to wear it.
Iroh likes taking a bath too. But then the boys splash so much I've had to start putting Iroh to bed before Xavier bath time because I don't like getting soaked.
I love how much we've both changed.
I was frustrated with the day, but I caught sight of myself in the mirror and thought "You know... You may be frustrated. The day may not be going your way. But look at how cute you are." And it made me feel better.
Apparently it was nap time.
Later that same day.
Xavier calls this his "letters shirt."
On the way home from surgery I stopped to get him some apple juice and Gatorade and I noticed that he'd been chewing on his lip. They had warned me that he might have some swelling of the cheeks which he did. The post op instructions said to keep them from chewing on their lip but I had to drive home so I couldn't keep him from doing it.
He wanted to make sure I got his car in the picture.
He was feeling well enough to play outside a little after we got home when we took Iroh outside.
But then quickly settled in to sleep off the anesthesia some more.
I spent most of Saturday the 16th like this.
Eating popsicles under doctor's orders.
"cheese"
"Brown one?" Daddy got fuge-sicles too!
He was in much better spirits by that evening.
I don't remember what was happening. I think he had been hugging but then by the time I started to take the picture he was doing something else. I try to stop Iroh from chewing on hands (he's gentle about it) but Xavier thinks it's funny for some reason.
Stickers from a book that Grandma Anna gave him.
Eating "soup" (Spaghetti O's) because I wouldn't give him corn dogs.
Wrestling.
and laughing
I had asked Xavier about being without a diaper then he came back a few minutes later and said "Did it self, Mommy!" He was smiling until I tried to take the picture.
Big boy climbing up the slide all by himself. "Climbing yadder."
Wee!
Look at that long hair! Xavier one day said his hair was hot. I asked if he needed a haircut and he immediately said no. I think he's going to get a haircut anyway.
Yesterday he was all about the snuggles. We just snuggled and watched TV most of the morning.
Then in the evening we went to the playground again because he had such fun on Saturday and it was, you guessed it, a beautiful day.
On our way home from the playground Xavier told me it was a great day. This just melted my heart. I'm so glad I could give that to him.
No comments:
Post a Comment