Days I Love

Yesterday my company was closed for Good Friday, I was going to keep both kids home and take them to the zoo, Chuck E Cheese, park, something fun but Riley insisted on going to school.  They were having a party and she really, really wanted to go and didn't want to miss the party so I sent her but I kept Jacob home with me.  I don't get a lot of alone time with Jacob these days, Riley I feel like I do, I'll take her on errands with me, to get our nails done but Jacob I don't usually take and leave Riley with Marc so I jumped at the chance to have some one on one time with my little man.  We had a great day, exactly what I needed, I feel refreshed and reconnected to him, even though spending the day with him made me realize what I miss while he's at day care and I'm at work. 

I got up at 5:30, got my work out in (I'm a little obsessed these days with our Cancun trip right around the corner), dropped Riley at day care around 7:00/7:15 and then Jacob and I came home for some breakfast and then I did some laundry and he played/helped me.  Then we went for a walk down to Peet's and had a coffee and a snack and then we grabbed some groceries before walking home.  We actually sat at Peet's and looked at the trees, the dogs, the birds and I got to focus on him rather than his sister trying to be the center of attention.  When a bird landed on our table and he pointed at it and said "biry!" I realized how quickly he has developed in the past few weeks and what I really miss.  I try to convince myself that he's developing the way he is because he is in day care and they are teaching him things I wouldn't but the truth of the matter is, he's growing leaps and bounds in the blink of an eye and I probably don't even know a fraction of what he's learning or experiencing.

It was such a beautiful day that I decided to take the long way home and walked through the park and along the trail in our neighborhood, Jake-Os fell asleep soaking up all of the Vitamin D (he's cutting his incisors so he's been sleeping a little restlessly so he definitely needed the sleep).  We got home, put the groceries away, did some laundry and then Jacob woke up so we played a little, then made lunch before putting Jacob down for his nap. 

When big sister is away, brother will touch all of her stuff!

While Jacob napped, I gutted our play room and packed up some toys the kids either don't play with or have outgrown (bye bye playmats and exersaucer!).  I also baked a banana bread.  Jake-Os only napped for an hour, darn stroller nap ruined my napping plans so once he woke up we headed to the mall for some errands and picked up some dinner as a treat.  After the mall we headed to get Riley.  We dropped our food off at home, got Jacob in his stroller, got Riley her scooter and we walked down to the park.  Yep, 2 walks in one day, my little slice of heaven.  This was Riley's first time riding her scooter to the park, she did great, though her foot looked awful, I video taped it for Dr H to see in July.   She scooted all the way down and scooted all the way back and only fell a few times.  She also stopped at each corner and waited for me to help her cross the street.

 

The kids love the sand box, I'm not a fan but it does keep them both confined to one place so I'm not chasing 2 kids in different directions so I go with it. We also can't even look at the swings without Jacob melting down so at least the sandbox keeps everyone happy.  On the way down we saw a little girl and her mom walking down with her little brother, we saw them on our way home too.  It turns out the little girl is 4 1/2 and the little boy is 20 months so they are right around Riley and Jacob's age and they live 2 doors down!  Riley and Noelle hit it off and actually ran up to play in Noelle's room when we got back to our neighborhood, they ran down to our house so Riley could tell her where we lived and Kai (Noelle's little brother) and Jacob played outside for a bit.  Riley was so excited to meet her and even talked about her this morning and how she hopes we see them again so that she could have her over to show Noelle her stuff.  The mom and dad were super nice too so I'm excited to have met another family in our neighborhood, and Noelle and Riley will be at the same elementary school next September so that will be nice, Riley is already very worried about not knowing anyone at her kindergarten since all of her friends will go to different schools. 

It was a messy, messy afternoon but we had a great time and it was such a fun day off.  I need more days like that!!!

Brain Doctor

I got super lucky last week, the stars aligned, the sun was shining and as soon as that referral came through for the neurologist I called to get an appointment and low and behold she had an appointment available for Friday at 10:30, next available was for April 12 so I scooped up Friday's appointment.  As luck would have it Marc was returning from Austin on Friday and his flight was scheduled to land at 9:10 in San Jose so he made it to the appointment in Fremont just in time.  I told Riley we were going to see the brain doctor because her brain had been acting funny and we wanted to make sure it was ok.  The whole way down she said she didn't like Drs, only Dr Bossyman (Dr H), he was the only nice doctor (because he doesn't give shots, we'll see if she still thinks this after her surgery next year!).  I asked her about her pediatrician and she said yes, she liked her too so I told her this Dr was friends with her, that Dr A wouldn't be friends with a mean Dr.  And I'm sure Dr H would be friends with her too since Riley holds all of her Drs up to Dr H standards. 

I loved the neurologist, she was super friendly, made Riley feel comfortable and was very thorough.  She believes that Riley actually had a complex partial seizure (versus an absence seizure which the pediatrician thought she had), where it starts in one part of the brain and spreads across the brain.  The great news is she's almost certain it wasn't caused (if she did indeed have a seizure) by any underlying issues, i.e. tumors, strokes, cardiac issues (since Riley turned pale and not blue) and that it could be a one time deal or it could be the beginning of more seizure activity.  Riley's quality of life does not have to change, we just have to be more vigilant around water.  We're scheduled for an EEG on April 24, that was the first available appointment that they had so we're hoping to get some answers there, though there can be a lot of false negatives on the tests.  Fingers crossed for some answers and that it was a one time deal for her!

The Dr even followed up that night with email saying that it was great to meet us and if we ever have any questions or concerns to reach out to her.  I was so impressed, it's not every day that a Dr reaches out like that!

15 Months

I can't believe my big man is 15 months already!   A ton has happened in the last 3 month, heck, even in the last month.  He is now officially a full blown walker and is getting super quick!  I love his little walk, he looks like a little old man wandering around.  After school I often catch him out of the corner of my eye wandering around the family room, looking for something to get into.  He's getting quite the little personality, he's still super sweet and will often times walk over, put his head on my lap and snuggle in for a pat and then is on his way, he also has quite the temper and can throw a full on toddler temper tantrum like the best of them.  He's starting to talk now and even said "Hi dadda" while we were FaceTiming with Marc while he as away.  Jake-Os can now follow simple instructions, he loves to throw stuff away, we've found toys, bibs and sippy cups in the trash can and have not known how they have gotten there until we caught him trying to throw something away so I now give him stuff to throw away and he loves it.  If you ask him to pick something up (like the cheese he thought belonged on the ground) he will.  His throwing of cups and pacifiers is lessening and he's starting to give us stuff he no longer wants, though he still throws his food on the ground when he's done eating.  We've had a nice break from teething in the past month but he started up again this week, he now has 12 teeth!  (Riley had 0 at this age!!!)  And as you can see by his belly and chins below, he still loves to eat!  He's started sharing his food with Riley which I actually like because then she eats because Jacob is sharing it with her. :)  He's also learned that his head is huge and is a good tool for making space for himself. 

Words: Momma, Dadda, Hi (which sounds more like "Ahai", "Gaveh" (his friend Gavin), "Aleh" (his friend Alex), Bah (Ball), "Muhl" (Milk), "Mo" (More), "Ahello" (Hello), "BuBye!", "Babey" (Baby)

Nicknames: Jake-Os, Handsome Pants, Jake-O the Tank-O, Beef

His teacher told me the other day that he likes to walk around his class and check other kids' diapers for poopy diapers.  She told him not to steal her job!  So funny, I can only imagine him walking around and peaking in diapers, I'm sure the other kids in his class love that.  The ironic thing is, he's probably smelling himself 75% of the time!

He had is 15 month check-up on Friday and his stats are:

Height: 31 inches (42nd percentile)
Weight: 23.5 lbs (58th percentile)
Head Circumference: 48.7 cm (90th percentile!!!)

In the last week he has just progressed really fast, even my friend Jessica noticed it Friday at day care.  He's waving hi, bye, and claps if you ask him too.

Lending a Helping Hand

I was in Denver last week for a business trip, my first one since Jake-Os was like 5/6 months old so I was a little worried he would have a hard time because he's definitely a Momma's boy and would know this time that I was gone.  He did pretty well and so did I.  Riley was fine because we FaceTimed every night and I sent her pictures of the snow we got in Denver and of my room so she was happy.  Plus I brought her home a bag of M&Ms (her request).  It was actually a great meeting, I love my immediate team and my broader team is just a great group of people.  The purpose of the meeting was to get all of the Category Managers from across the country together, I missed last years' because I was on maternity leave so this was my first year and it was great. 

We took off Wednesday afternoon and headed out to Boston Elementary School in Aurora, a suburb of Denver and built 126 bikes for all of the kindergarten and first graders.  All of the kids are underprivileged and have never gotten anything new so it meant a lot to build these bikes and be able to give them to the kids.  The school rates a 1 on GoodSchools so to help bring these kids a little bit of joy was an awesome experience.  (Ironically, all of the parents were taking pictures with iPhones but that's a different debate)  We got to meet the kids.  I helped fit a kindergarten class with their helmets, they were so cute and made me think of RiRi and realized how truly lucky we are in life that we can give our kids everything that they need in life, plus a whole lot more.  It also made me realize that I love kids, mine and others and maybe my calling is doing something with kids that make a difference.  Really, how important is it to get an extra box of Eggo on the shelf???  But touching the life of a child, that could make all of the difference.  Maybe it's time to re-evaluate my career???  My last girl of course cried because we ran out of heart helmets, she totally reminded me of RiRi with her reaction, think arms crossed, head down, big crocodile tears saying over and over "It's not fair."  Total RiRi reaction, I guess she's not that unique after all!  I mean in the realm of everything she was getting a BRAND NEW bike but the focus was on the accessory, something Ri would definitely focus on!  Of course if it was Ri I would tell her to get over it or else she wouldn't get a bike but I couldn't tell that to a girl I didn't know and who didn't know me, so I tried to be sympathetic and convince her the green helmet with "flowers" was awesome!  I finally got her to try on another helmet and sent her on her way but it took a lot of coaxing, one of the teachers told me that once she got over to the bikes the tears had stopped.  Phew!

Overall it was the best team builder that I have ever participated in.  Watching the kids ride off on their bikes was truly heartwarming.  I'm so proud to work for Kellogg's, an organization willing to help and give our time!

Each kid wrote us a thank you card and the teachers made a super cute thank you collage of pictures of each of the 6 classes.  Thank you is spelled out in crayons, a total Pinterest project that I'm going to have to use for the kids' teachers! :)

When Does It Ever End?

So things have been pretty crazy/stressful around her this past week.  Saturday, after a gorgeous day spent outside, Riley had an odd occurrence happen.  She was sitting at dinner and all of a sudden she lost all of the color in her face, she turned a palish/grey and started to sway a bit.  When we asked her if she was ok she was responsive but very distant.  We took her out of her seat and put her down and she couldn't walk, she would take a few steps and fall.  Once she regained her awareness she was slurring her words and her sentences were not making sense.  She is generally a very coherent 4 year old!  I was freaking out.  I put Jacob to bed while she rested on the couch, I had hoped that she would be back to normal when I came down but she was not.  I decided to take her to Urgent Care, the only other time she had been like this she was severely dehydrated from the flu but she had no flu symptoms and she had been taking liquids all day.  Of course the Urgent Care 1/2 mile away was closed, they close at 6PM on Saturdays so I took her to Livermore where I had a bad experience when Riley had the flu but it was the closest place open besides the ER.  In retrospect I should have taken her to the ER as they outsource their pediatrics to UCSF Benoit Children's Hospital so they have real doctors rather than the crack-pot we ended up getting at the Urgent Care. 

We got there at 7:30 and they closed at 8:00, we were the last patient, the Dr came in and asked Riley if her ears hurt, she said yes both, and he proceeded to tell me she had an ear infection despite not seeing an infection or even fluid in her ears.  I asked her about the slurring, falling, and confusion.  He said the falling was probably from the fluid (even though there was none) and that she was responsive in the room so she was fine and it was an ear infection (her temperature was only 99 so it wasn't even a real fever).  And he gave us an antibiotic and sent us on our way.  Mommy intuition was not settled, I was not convinced that it was an ear infection.  I made an appointment for Thursday with her normal pediatrician, Monday I still had a feeling that things were not right so I was able to get her an appointment with a Dr in the practice we take the kids to.  I described the symptoms and she said (without looking in her ears it was not an ear infection), then she looked in her ears and it was definitely not an ear infection, they looked perfect.  She said what I had described sounded like a petite mal seizure (or an absence seizure) where they just stare off into space and then can act loopy afterwards.  I nearly started crying in the Dr office but held it together as I had both kids with me, alone as Marc is in Texas for work.  It honestly felt like we were sitting in the ultrasound room hearing that our baby had birth defects all over again.  The Dr was going to consult with neurology to see if she should be evaluated. 

Yesterday we heard back from neurology via the pediatrician and she said we don't have to come in, we can just watch and see if it happens again but she'd be more than happy to see Riley if we wanted.  Marc and I both  agree that we should have Riley looked at.  My wonderful co-worker and friend, Pam, cooked us soup on Tuesday for us to have for dinner last night since I have been so stressed and work and worrying about Riley at week.  It was so sweet and thoughtful of her.  So now we are just watching Riley closely and waiting to get her in with neurology where they will do an EEG and evaluation.  The pediatrician did do a neurological exam on Monday and she passed everything but I would feel more comfortable having her evaluated.

And so now for my pity party:  When does this end?  How much does this poor girl have to go through?  What did she do to deserve all of these obstacles.  I know she will get through this, she always does but why does my 4 year old have to be so brave and so strong?  Why does she have to face club feet, surgery, and now this?  I'm sorry but I am emotionally drained, haven't we been through enough with her?  First we have to worry about her feet throughout my pregnancy, then we have to worry about her feet through her first 2 years of life, now we're facing surgery on one foot and on top of it she may be having seizures.  I know what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger but honestly, I just want to enjoy my kids while they are young without worrying about these huge things!

Bag Boy

I took a "me/mental health" day last Friday and went shopping, I desperately needed some new clothes and just can't concentrate on shopping with the family in tow so I went to the mall and then the outlet mall, it was pure heaven for me.  While I was excited about my new purchases, Jacob was super excited about the BAGS!  He put my shoe bag on the doll stroller and pushed it around (just like I do) and then just walked around the house all night with it.  Perhaps he will be my shopping buddy in the future!

Volunteering

Last week they celebrated Dr Seuss' birthday at the kids' day care with daily Dr Seuss activities.  In Riley's class they asked for volunteers to come in and read to the kids and do an art project with them.  Even though I've been insanely busy at work I volunteered to go into Riley's class on Tuesday since that's my work from home day.  I've been so excited to get more involved in Riley's class and look forward to her going to kindergarten so that I can volunteer weekly at her school.  So Tuesday I went in and read "Green Eggs and Ham" and then did an art project with the kids that I found on Pinterest.  Riley was super excited for me to come in and most of the kids know me so it was super fun.  Even though I told Riley I was going to have to leave after spending a little bit of time with her class and go back to work she was still very upset when I had to leave.  I had to pull out the big guns and have Jacob's teachers bring Jacob over (I didn't let Jacob see me there).  Their classes connect so the teachers let Jacob and Riley see each other often.  That seemed to do the trick and she stopped crying long enough for me to leave.  Her friend James kept coming over to her and asking her to play with him but she still wouldn't leave my side, Super Jake-Os to the rescue! :)  Here's the art project that I had them do, mine (obviously) is on the left, my daughter's is on the right, it was probably the most "abstract" of all of the kids who did the project.  Go figure!  But the kids had fun and so did I!  I can't wait for another opportunity to volunteer!

Favorite Spots

Jake-Os has his favorite spots, in our bed, it's here:  right between all of our pillows:

Downstairs it's on the big anywhere chair.  Every night when I'm making dinner he climbs up in the chair with either a book to look at or a magnet drawing board and just chills and keeps himself busy while is sister runs around like a crazy banchey.

Flying Pillow Lives On!

Marc used to play flying pillow with Riley all the time, today we tried it out on Jake-Os!  He loved it, you can even see his new way of laughing in the video.  He started putting his hands up over his mouth when he laughs.  It is so freaking adorable!

 

New Laugh

Jacob has been SO much more smiley and giggly the past few days, Marc and I totally think it's because of his tubes and the fact that he is more comfortable.  He still had an infection in one ear on Friday at his post op appointment so the ENT put him on a new antibiotic drop and we've already noticed a change in the amount of goop coming out of his ear so hopefully he's on the mend.  He came home Friday super happy and giggly, his new way of laughing is to put his hands to his mouth, it's so stinking cute!

Who could foster such giggles and joy from Jacob you may wonder, big sister of course!!!!

She loves him SO much! (her words, not mine!)

Don't Judge

the fact that Jake-Os uses his feet to play with the iPad! :)

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

We had great weather last week and through the weekend.  Though the weekend saw some cooling, it was sunny and gorgeous, I was able to break away from work so after naps on Sunday we loaded the kids up in their strollers and walked to Peet's and then the park for some fun in the sun.  We all loved the Vitamin D but only some of us loved the park.  Jacob does not like the park, at all, we tried to put him on the swing and he flipped out, then I tried to swing with him on my lap and he came unglued.  We couldn't even watch Riley swing without him freaking out.  So he just practiced his walking.  He's getting quite good now that his ears are cleared out!  I have only seen him crawl the last few days in order for him to pull up on something so he can walk, he hasn't quite figured out the standing on his own thing.

We saw a ton of wild turkeys on the way home!  The kids (and Marc) loved it!

It was a great way to end the weekend, especially when Riley told us that she loves going for walks to the park with "2 boys and 2 girls, her family."

So Big

I don't know why, but Jake-Os looks huge here!!!  Perhaps it's the mass quantities of food he consumes, I seriously dread when he's a teenager, he may literally eat us out of house and home!

Daddy Is So Proud

Riley had a birthday party this past weekend at an indoor sports complex so we all went along since her friend Joey was going to be there with his brother Alex, whom Jacob adores.  Alex is about 6 months older than Jacob but still in his class and Jacob just adores him, he even says "Aleh" when he sees him.  On a side note, the party was for Riley's friend Vishruth, I didn't know they were such good friends but both his mom and dad came up to us and told us how glad they were to see Riley, that Vishruth only asked for "one pretty girl, Riley, to be at his party" and that he would have been upset if she couldn't be there.  And that Riley is the most popular girl in class, it was so sweet to hear such nice things about her, I guess we really see the worst of her but at school she truly behaves and is liked.  It pretty much made my day! 

Anyway, he had his party on an indoor baseball field and since Jacob is beyond obsessed with balls he had a blast.  We caught these pics of Jake-os double-fisting the baseballs by home plate, daddy was so proud!

Tubes

Super behind on blogging, I feel like all I do is work and when I'm not working, I'm trying to spend as much time with the kiddos as possible which leaves little time for blogging, let alone getting my toes done, eye brows waxed, watch fixed and going to the mall to try to find a new pair of jeans which I need desperately (since I wear jeans to work almost every day).  Oh and sleep, sleep would be good too.

Thursday I took the day off and took Jake-os down to get tubes put in his ears.  Overall it went very well, the hardest part was really just waiting for them to take him back.  I got there at 6:20 (in the am!) and they didn't take him back until 7:30 so he got very antsy.  Around 7:10 they gave him a sedative which made him very sleepy and very giggly but because it made him so relaxed I had to hold him and not let him walk around the waiting room that they had us in.  That was a challenge.  Marc took Riley to day care at 6:30 so with traffic he didn't get to the surgery center until just before they took Jake-os back.  Around 7:15/7:20 Jacob was getting super mellow which was nice, he just laid in my arms.  The anesthesiologist and the ENT came back and talked to us and at 7:30 on the dot they wheeled Jacob back, the anesthesiologist was great and kept assuring me that Jacob would be ok, that there was more of a risk of us driving every day than there was with him under the general anesthesia (I was more nervous for him to go back there and have anesthesia than I was with Riley, I think because of his asthma but Riley, while much smaller, seems much tougher than Jacob and I seem to worry about her less.  Perhaps because she faced so much more at a younger age than he ever had to so I know she can handle anything).  The anesthesiologist gave Jake-os his stethoscope to hold because he was obsessed with it and I walked back to the OR door with them.  No tears, at least from Jake-os. 

15 minutes later, the ENT was back and everything went great, Jacob was in recovery and doing well.  As Marc said, he spends more time in the bathroom than it took for them to do the procedure.  When we got back there I was expecting screaming, unruly baby but he hadn't quite woken up yet.  He was coughing a bit which the anesthesiologist told us about but he monitored him closely.  He was a little fussy but they handed him over to me and he settled right into my arms and fell asleep for over an hour and slept off the anesthesia.  I LOVED cradling him and him sleeping in my arms, literally at this stage in his constant movement I will take the cuddles wherever I can get them.

As promised we were on our way home by 9:30 after 2 Popsicles and some crackers.  I got him home around 10AM and I put him down for a nap to sleep off the anesthesia.  He slept for 2 hours and then it was pretty much like nothing had happened.  He was a little fussy and clingy but overall did great, we even managed to sneak out of the house for a bit and ran to the outlet mall to return some stuff and treated ourselves to a Starbucks (milk for Jacob and coffee for me).

Waiting for his turn in the OR

Post surgery and 2 Popsicles later (I had to cut him off from the Popsicles, he kept asking for more!)

Sweet baby boy!

Keeping himself busy before surgery

Sneaking out to run some errands after surgery

Lunch time, who would have ever guessed he had surgery that morning!

Present from Nana!

Friday Jacob went to day care and they told me they would keep an eye on him.  I picked him up of course later than I wanted to thanks to work being absolutely out of control and I noticed his ear was super oozy and bloody (they told me they had been draining and they had been cleaning them up throughout the day), I freaked out and put in a panicked call to the Dr, of course it was 5:05 and they were gone but I finally got an operator who put me through to the ENT on call, I was in such a panic.  I got lucky and it was Jacob's ENT who said he was not at all surprised given what he saw in the OR, that there was a ton of fluid and so it's now all draining out and it's totally normal so he put Jacob on an ear drop for both ears and we go back for his normal post-op appointment Friday.  Riley was very concerned about his ears on Friday.  They were seriously gross, even I was gagging but when I came in from unloading the car I found her cleaning his ears. She had gone into the bathroom and wet a tissue and was wiping his ear down because she was so concerned about it.  Such my sweet girl!