Hiatus

Well, my last post was August 26th. And on August 27th, we took Cody to the ER because his limbs were shaking and he couldn't keep his balance while walking. After several hours of them taking us very seriously because something was obviously wrong but no one really being able to tell us what, they finally came back with CT scan results. First it was that the ventricles of his brain were enlarged. "What does that mean?" we wanted to know, but they couldn't tell us exactly. Then, it turned into that his ventricles were enlarged and there's a lot of excess fluid in there. "So what do we do about that?" Um.... Finally, the doc who'd been with us the whole time told us that there was a mass in his brain, a fluid-filled mass. "So basically, he has a brain tumor?" Yep. At last, an answer.

They moved us up to the neuro-ICU almost immediately after that and sedated and intubated him in a matter of minutes. The sleepy drug they gave him, called Versed, didn't seem to do anything at first...he continued to cry and thrash and tell all the nurses and docs around us, "No nono." Then suddenly, he started laughing. We were all instantly hilarious. And once, randomly, he started and said, "AH!" Whatever he was seeing, it was gooooooooooooooooooooood.

The emergency surgery on 8/28 went well, and Cody stayed in the hospital for about 2 weeks after that (we were discharged once only to go back that same night). He's been home and improving and running and talking and being a superchild.

So THAT is where we've been....and now we're back. AH! :P

Back to School

The Friday before school started, we attended "Meet the Teacher" and went to visit the boys' classrooms. JW was extremely excited and couldn't wait to actually start on Monday (although he was slightly confused as to why he had the same classroom as "camp" this summer, but 2 new teachers). CM, on the other hand, started screaming as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. Mr. Separation Anxiety has the same 2 teachers AND the same classroom as over the summer, but he was still inconsolable during our visit.

On the first day, CM actually did amazingly well. He smiled at the teachers instead of crying, went immediately to play instead of clinging to me, and then waved as I was leaving, only whining slightly. JW was very shy on his way in to his classroom but then went over and jumped right in to a game a few boys were playing.

After school, we went to Ben&Jerry's to get some celebration ice cream. Think they liked it? :)

I'm especially interested in seeing how JW does this year, as his class' curriculum is all about kindergarten prep. We're a little nervous about sending him to K at age 5 so a large part of our decision will hinge on how much he learns this year. I can't believe we're even talking about Kindergarten already....where did my baby go?

Storytime with Jacks

When Mama's Away....

One of my favorite things about leaving the boys with Daddy is that by the next day, they've always learned something new.

JW has been watching the movie Spaceballs with A. He likes the big spaceship and the HalfMan-HalfDog. There's some profanity in it, but we thought it was all going over his head. And then I had both boys in the Old Navy dressing room with me while I feverishly tried on 5 pairs of pants and 2 tops in under a minute. JW was dancing around trying to keep CM amused, and he decided to test out the acoustics of the small space. At the top of his lungs, he shouts, "We're not doing it for money.....we're doing it for a S**TLOAD of money!!!" (a quote from the film. ) Oh, the mortification. And when I talked to him in a quiet voice about the fact that that was a grown-up word and not appropriate for little boys, he said, "Mama, *MONEY* is NOT a bad word!"

And then last night, I had dinner with some friends and while I was gone, the boys watched some music videos with Daddy. A educated Jacks on the difference between "wussy" and "rockin'" songs. So in the car today, I hear from the backseat, "Mama, this is a wussy song. I like ROCKIN' songs." He practically rolled his R and roared, he was so proud to share his musical critique. So I started flipping radio stations to find something better and I stopped on something that sounded good to me. And yet, it still wasn't good enough my little rocker. "This is NOT a rockin' song."

Jacks also tried calling Daddy a "wanker" this weekend. Oy. I'm in big, big trouble. ;)

Not even 2

CM's verbal skills have really gone through the roof in the last month. At his 18-month appointment, when the pediatrician asked me whether he had 10+ words, I said no because I honestly didn't think he did. Now, he's got closer to 50! Also, he has started to use 2-word phrases ("My turn", "ByeBye Gran") and can follow 2 and 3-step instructions. Below, check out all that this now 20-month can say!




Mama
Dada
Jackson
Gran (for Gramma and Grandad :))
Hello
Hi
ByeBye
Ball
Balloon
Bear
Car
Vroom
Boom
Moo
Chicken
Bread
Down
In
Out
On
Off
Diaper
Row (from "Row Row Row Your Boat")
Towel
Bath
Shower
Mine
Woo-woo (what a train says)
No
Uh-huh
Yum
Humm (Hummer...currently in Happy Meals)
Banana
Cup (usually sounds like "goom-goom" but that's what he means)


Of course, along with this "advanced" vocabulary (having a big brother must help a lot...JW didn't have half as many words at this age), CM is also bigger than the "normal" 20-month-old. He's only 4 pounds lighter than JW, despite being 2 1/2 years younger, and he's wearing 3T clothing (you can see how long the pants are on him, above...but they fit in the waist.) It ain't easy being HUGE! :)

Circus July 2006

Although he was disappointed not to see the "motorcycle guys" (last year there were guys who rode motorcycles inside this big globe), Jacks really enjoyed the circus this year. He ate cotton candy ($10--how CAN they charge that much for a bag of spun sugar?), tried to catch the flying confetti that they blew out before intermission, and screamed as loud as he could while the crowd was cheering (how much fun to be able to make that much noise INSIDE without getting in trouble!). His favorite part was the clowns, though. He understood the humor this year and really laughed at their antics. He came home with a spinning light wand as a souvenir, and we brought one for Cody, too. Next year, I hope we'll be able to take both boys!

Courage

One of JW's biggest challenges in this, his fourth year, has been overcoming fears and anxieties. Suddenly, he has been afraid of various things with a very real and potent terror.

It started soon after he turned 3, when he saw an episode of Scooby-Doo (which he'd watched before and enjoyed), and the villain was a "fire monster." After that, he became our family's fire marshal: he needed to know the location of every smoke detector and fire extinguisher in the house, how we would escape if there was a fire, and every time we cooked, he checked with us to make sure the stove and/or microwave weren't TOO hot or on fire.

Since then, we have dealt with monsters, dinosaurs, aliens, thunder, the dark, the hot tub in our new backyard, and various other potentially scary creatures and ideas. But over this year, JW has also decided on his own when exactly he was ready to move past those fears. Occasionally, he'll randomly say, "Mama, I used to be afraid of X, but now I know it's not real." Or, my favorite, he asserts, "Mama, I'm brave now!" He watches Monsters Inc. and laughs, reads books about T-rex while pointing out how sharp his teeth are, and sits with us in the hot tub, just chillin'.

Just like Dorothy's leonine companion, I think JW gradually discovers that the courage he needed was really there all along. (backdated 2/23/2006)