Hair cut and Mother's Day

All of us together on Mother's Day

First of all, Eli is feeling much better.  He still has a little bit of a runny nose, but he's back to playing a lot and being crazy.  No, really, the kid's not quite right but he's all ours!  Anyway, we had an extremely busy weekend.  Saturday started with making French Toast and bacon (Zachary's request).  Zachary's a great helper!  Then off to the ball field for Zachary's tball game.  We ate lunch at Mi Pueblo then surprised Zachary by taking him to the Rail Fest in town.  It's sponsored by the Daviess County Historical Society and there are lots of train exhibits/collectors/experts there.  He won a prize at the games (a pink stuffed elephant earned by picking up a rubber duck out of a pool.  The duck had the letter "L" on it, which meant "large" but he insists it's "L" for "elephant."  We tried to explain the difference but sometimes you can't argue with four-year-old logic).  Then it was time for the main reason we went....he wanted to ride the train.  He & I went and it was a fun ride.  The "L-ephant" was safely strapped in the seat between us and seemed to have fun too.

We only spent about 25 minutes at the Rail Fest but in that short time Eli was referred to as a girl at least three times.  He's needed a haircut for a while but Bryan and I both wanted to be there for it and it's been hard to get it done since he's been sick.  Now was the time.  We went.  There was no wait.  Bryan, Zachary & Eli all got their hair cut.  I stood ready with the camera and snacks. Eli did great.  He sat in the chair by himself and wore the cape.  She even used the clippers on the back of his neck and around his ears and he didn't fuss much about that at all.  It's sad to me that he can let someone use scissors around his head but he throws a tantrum to be put on the scales at the doctor's office.  Anyway, he did great and looked at himself in the mirror a lot.  Zachary did well too (he HATES getting his haircut, but once it starts he does fine). 

BEFORE:  It's not clear but it shows the curls and length in the back.

A good shot showing some of the length he had.  Poor kid probably hadn't seen anything for months because of the hair over his eyes!

Bryan and Zachary getting their hair cuts at the same time.

He always fusses but it looks so good when he's done!

AFTER:  All his precious curls are GONE!  sorry I can't figure out how to rotate this picture so it's straight

Some of the hair that was left in the chair (there was at least this much on the floor and we already filled an envelope as a keepsake!)

♥ Now he definitely looks like a little boy ♥

After haircuts we went to Walmart.  Then we finally went home.  Bryan's dad brought their tiller over and Bryan started tilling our very first garden ever.  I'm hearing that it's getting late to start a garden but we figure better late than never, right?  The worst we can do is kill it.  I'm sure there will be some mention of this fiasco adventure in future posts.  While he was doing that the boys played and & helped me as I potted flowers.

 

 

Two of my hanging baskets

Some of our potted flowers

Our garden:  the beginning    More to come on this later

 

On Sunday we had several people over from both our families.  Bryan grilled turkey strips and hot dogs and I made a pulled Italian pork roast.  It was all very good and we had a really fun day.  Bryan and the boys gave me an Austin Collie Colts jersey and a handmade card.  Zachary's preschool made Mother's Day gifts:  a chocolate dipped spoon, a handmade card, and three books - one of pictures of their favorite nursery rhymes, one that had a picture/painting/drawing from each month of preschool, and a third that was all about Zachary and included a family portrait he drew, his likes and dislikes, a photograph, and his height & weight.  It was a very special day!  It would have been more special if the Pacers had beaten the Miami Heat in the playoff game, but I can't have everything and everything I really want I already have!

Reason #1 I get to celebrate Mother's Day

Reason #2 I get to celebrate Mother's Day

Zachary playing with baby cousin Alyssa.  Both Eli & Zachary are very protective of her.

The day wore Z out!  He fell asleep on the couch leaning on Aunt Ashley (Veale) while the Pacers were on!

My mom Betty Norris and grandmother (her mother) Dorothy Crouse.  Pretty ladies!

Bryan's grandmother Joyce Rayman.  She always balks at having her picture taken so this is a rare shot!

Lazy day after our busy weekend.  Silly boys playing and watching tv.

Again, thanks for reading.  We hope all the mothers, grandmothers, godmothers and mother-figures who deserve recognition had a great day. 

Teething Woes

Eli is cutting his back molars.  Not a fun week in our house.  He's been drooling enough to put out small fires, running fevers, isn't eating much and is just grouchy (not his normal attitude).  Last night (Wednesday night/Thursday morning)  he wouldn't go down for bed.  That's very unusual for him because his normal is about 12 hours a night.  Total he got about 3-4 :(  As the night went on he got fussier & fussier and kept pulling at his ears.  I was already giving him Tylenol & Ibuprofen so I tried a warm compress.  He didn't like that, but he didn't like anything at this point. 

Dr. Amy saw him this morning and said his ears are not very red but there's a lot of drainage.  In addition to the Tylenol & Ibuprofen we've been using for pain & fever we're adding Dimetapp & Benadryl to help dry him up & relieve the pressure.  If that doesn't work I have a script for an antibiotic we can fill over the weekend if we need it.  We'd like to avoid the antibiotic if we can because he just got over a nasty yeast infection that took a long time to clear up, but of course if he needs it he will get it.  

I know this is all normal stuff that isn't a big deal in the big picture of life, but because of Eli's heart problems his body reacts differently to normal things.  When you have a fever your heartrate increases, but Eli's heartrate can't go faster.  That means his lips & feet are purple more often.  His blood pressure is higher.  It adds to the "I don't feel good, Mommy" feeling he already has.  His BP today was a little high and his oxygen saturation was a little lower than his normal, but these are expected for what he's going through now.

Thank you for the prayers that have been said for him.  He's sleeping now, thank goodness!  Hopefully he has a good weekend and is quickly feeling better soon.

What Pump?

Something very exciting happened here today....we sent Eli's feeding pump back to the pharmacy!  He hasn't had a tube feeding for a few months, but I was afraid to send the pump back until we were sure he wouldn't need it.  Now...it's gone!  Don't misunderstand me, we only sent the machine back to the pharmacy, Eli still has his feeding tube (MicKey button).  He still takes his medicines through that although he's getting better about taking some of it orally.  And we still have access if we need to tube a feeding to him, but he eats about anything we put in front of him.  Seriously, the child doesn't turn much down.

We're trying to wean him off the formula and onto milk, but that's going slowly.  We're also working on switching from a bottle to a sippy cup.  He doesn't like the cup very well.  He will drink out of a straw but won't use the sippy cups with straws.  I'm really not too worked up about getting him off the bottle.  I know most 18 month olds have moved from the bottle to the cup but in light of everything Eli has dealt with, we're not worried about this.

Eli is VERY close to walking on his own.  He cruises furniture like nobody's business and can walk holding just one of our fingers, but he will not let go.  I'm okay with that too ;)  He'll be doing it very soon and I know we'll be so proud of the accomplishment.  As he's worked with his physical therapist through these major mobility events (crawling, standing, cruising, walking), it's been so amazing to see how much energy it takes these little creatures to do these things we take for granted.  I never knew how much more cardiac support was required to work the lower part of the body.  Eli's always been very strong, and actually very well coordinated for his age (that must be from Daddy).  His mobility delays haven't been a lack of strength, it's a lack of cardiac support.  Our goal with physical therapy is to teach him how to make the most of what cardiac support he has.

He had an appointment with Dr. Amy yesterday.  He weighs 22lbs 6oz, is 31 3/4 inches long.  His heart rate was in the upper 70's (a little slow for his age but consistent with his junctional rhythm).  His oxygen saturation ranged 86%-88% (that's about average for him).  Overall, he's doing well.  We're all noticing some minor things with him.  He's more tired after a big family event (the zoo outing for example); his lips, fingers, & feet get blue more often, but he doesn't show any signs of distress when that happens; and he's consistently taking one long nap or two shorter naps a day in addition to sleeping well at night.  All these are signs that his body is getting closer to needing that next surgery.  We go back to the cardiologist at the end of June and will learn more about when the third stage of surgery will be.  Right now we're roughly anticipating July or August, but that's just a guess at this point.

Eli is a very silly little boy.  He makes a lot of faces and loves hearing Zachary laugh at him.  He plays with trucks more than Zachary did at this age.  He cracks up when we're in a public bathroom and someone tears the paper towel off the dispenser (for some reason, it's not nearly as funny when I tear off paper towel in the kitchen...go figure?).  He also LOVES to unroll the toilet paper in any bathroom and, yes, thinks it's funny when that sheet is torn off as well.  A sneeze makes him laugh (his or anyone else who sneezes!).  One of his favorite games is to lift his foot to our face and have us smell his toes, then for us to say "Stinky Toes!" and act like we're gagging.  He laughs hysterically.  Going to Zachary's tball games is really fun for Eli.  He sits in his little Mickey Mouse ("MiMo") lawn chair and claps for both teams.  He yells "Bubba!" and points a lot.  He knows he's a hot shot.  Zachary & Eli play so well together and really learn a lot from each other.  I could literally sit and watch them for hours if life would let me!

Thanks for reading and we hope you're all doing well!