The Results Are In

The neurologist got back to us on Friday and I meant to blog about it but it was a long weekend with work (it's never ending I swear) and then me getting the stomach flu on Saturday and juggling the kids getting antsy from being inside, I just never got around to updating the blog. 

The neurologist emailed me mid-day on Friday to let us know that everything came back NORMAL!  Can I get a yippee!?!  She suggested doing an MRI but considering how distraught Riley was about the EEG I told her we would hold off on the MRI until she has another seizure episode.  She's completely petrified of Drs right now and with her probably needing surgery on her left foot I don't want to completely scar her for life!  So far we haven't seen any additional seizures so I'm hoping that based on the NORMAL (can I get another yippee!) EEG and the fact that she hasn't had any additional episodes that this was a one time deal and we are done with it. 

Mad Moves

Jacob has got some mad dance moves! ;)

My Buddy

Remember that toy from the 80s/90s, My Buddy?  I can't help but sing the jingle (My buddy, my buddy, wherever I go, he goes.  My buddy, my buddy, my buddy and me!) when I see Jacob and Riley together.  She has quite the little buddy in Jacob and he literally follows her where ever he can, including time out!  It makes my heart sing seeing these two so loving towards each other!

EEG

It's been a crazy week, Sunday night Riley started to get sick and was home with a fever and cough Monday, Tuesday and then I kept her home Wednesday morning because she had her EEG that afternoon so I was going to have to get her early anyway.  Tuesday her temperature went up to 101 and I was super worried about it climbing more and her having a seizure, I know nothing about seizures and if they've had a seizure if that makes them more prone to a febrile seizure so I gave her some Motrin and put her down for a nap.  Now I know my RiRi doesn't feel well when I only have to ask her once to go take a nap and she heads upstairs without an argument and then proceeds to fall right to sleep and sleeps for 3 1/2 hours!  That nap did the trick because her fever broke and she seemed so much better.  I took her with me that night to get Jacob from day care and all of her friends were so happy to see her.  Riley was crushed that she had to miss reading on Tuesday and was even more upset when I kept her home Wednesday morning. 

I tried to prep her all week for the EEG, she asked for Jacob to come to help her be brave, originally I was going to keep him at day care but she planted a little seed in my head that maybe he should come down with us.  Then I started stressing about all of the logistics, it was down in Palo Alto at 2:30, what if they were running late?  What if we got stuck in traffic?  After only 3 hours of sleep stressing over logistics, work, the test, the test results, worrying about Riley, I made the executive decision to bring Jacob with us.  This made Riley very happy because "he's her best fwiend!"

I picked Jacob up around 11:30 and we headed to Marc's office in Sunnyvale to grab lunch with him before Riley's appointment.  I bribed Riley with a new Care Bear stuffed animal if she promised to be brave and listen to the Dr.  She was still pretty concerned and nervous on the way up to the Dr after lunch and Jacob reached out his had to hold her hand, they held hands like this most of the drive from Marc's office to the Dr's office, it was so sweet!    I love that they love each other and are starting to rely on each other for friendship.  Jacob just stares and stares at her with complete love and admiration and it makes me smile so big!

For the EEG we had to make her sleep deprived so she went to bed an hour and a half late on Tuesday and we woke her up an hour early, then I didn't let her nap until her test at 2:30.  Let's just say that it was a disaster.  Riley is extremely irrational and defiant when she's tired so she was completely uncooperative.  It took them 40 minutes to put all of the 26 wires on her head plus 2 on her chest, she was not happy.  10 minutes into the test she had to pee so I had to negotiate with her on that.  Then they wanted her to sleep, hi, have you ever met a scared 4-year old with 26 wires stuck to their head?  Fat chance that would ever happen.  Instead Riley screamed pretty much the whole time, the only time she didn't cry, when they were flashing the disco lights in her face to try to stimulate a seizure.  She totally mellowed out for that part.  I have no idea if they got what they needed, if they saw any blips in her brain activity or what any of it means.  Now we just sit and wait for the neurologist at that office to read the results, send them to our neurologist and then get in touch with us.  Hopefully soon! 

And good thing we brought Jacob, we didn't leave Palo Alto until 4:30, just in time for rush hour traffic, we didn't get to Pleasanton until 5:50, so we pushed it pretty close to day care closing for the day!  And guess who fell asleep 5 minutes into the car ride home, yep the little 4 year old who was supposed to sleep at the Dr office!  Jacob stared at her smiling until she fell asleep, I love watching their relationship grow!

Keep your fingers crossed that we get results sooner rather than later!

6 Years!

I guess it's true that time flies when you are having fun, either that or life is so chaotic that you don't see the years passing you by.  What's the saying that the days are long but the years are short?  Well, Sunday Marc and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary.  What a lifetime ago it seems!!!  We started the day with presents, Ri was busting to give me my presents, Marc had taken her the week prior to the mall with him and they picked out my presents together (she called the bras at Victoria's Secrets "the booby things" apparently she yelled it) and impressively kept the secret the entire week!  So she was the present passer outer and loved it.  Then we watched our wedding video, the great thing about having kids is that you can torture them with that sort of stuff.  Jacob couldn't quite figure out how we got on the TV and Riley asked why she wasn't there, or her 2 cousins Daniel and Max.  But she loved seeing  Marc and I and all of the family at the wedding.  She kept telling us that we were so pretty and handsome and she loved my "princess" dress.  What broke my heart the most was that she recognized Poppa Jack and what broke it even more was how wonderful he looked, he was 93 at our wedding! 

After we got dressed we walked down to the big shopping center down the street so Riley could pick out some new reading books and then we hit up Old Navy before lunch at Johnny Garlic's.  Yum!  It was a gorgeous day so we ate outside (and preserved the ambiance of the nice restaurant at the same time!).  Riley wanted to eat at Fuddrucker's but I told her since it was our anniversary we were going to class it up a bit and eat at Johnny Garlics.  Marc and I had two very large, delicious adult beverages, good thing we walked!  Then we walked home, put the kids down for a nap before heading out to do some errands.

These cocktails were AMAZING!

Pretty girl!

Handsome pants!

Jacoby got a new friend named Miles, he LOVES Miles!

Can't believe my 4lbs of Fury is learning how to read!!!

16 Months

How is it possible that the little man was 16 months yesterday!?!  It seriously goes so fast, a year ago at this time I was getting ready to go back to work and now I have a full fledged toddler.  Craziness! 

Jacob is tons of fun right now.  Aside from him being a teeny tiny, cuddly baby this is probably my favorite age right now.  He is seriously a crack up and his personality is really coming out. 

He loves to wave, is talking a ton, said his first sentence in fact "Aye Dog" (Aye is how his Hi sounds).  He also said "Aye Baby" to a picture of my friend's youngest daughter on Facebook.  The once shy little boy is really coming out of his shell and he says hi to everyone!  We were at the Dr twice this week (once for a hearing test, he passed, and again for his final post op with the ENT - all is good) and went up to every elderly man and said "Aye" and waved.  He even made the man who CLEARLY wanted nothing to do with the 1 year old, smile and cave and started up a conversation with Jacob.  Jacob also took a different elderly man by the finger and led him over to the toy they have in the waiting room to show him the pirate ship steering wheel.  He's definitely coming out of his shell!  A couple of months ago he would have clung to me and not have engaged with strangers. 

Jacob loves to throw stuff away and follows simple directions.  This week we started to also see him take pride in himself when doing something.  He gets a big proud look on his face, claps his hands and pounds his belly.  If you ask Jacob where his belly is, he'll pound it and laugh and say "belly."  He also gives big slobbery kisses and he is super friendly, especially to babies.  He loves to see babies and say hi to them and pat their head (fortunately he's pretty gentle with them).  His new obsession also involves dogs, anytime he sees one, even if we are just driving by he screams and points with excitement.  When he can come in contact with one he toddles over, squats down and waves and then lets the dog kiss him.  His favorite book is a Dog and Puppies book and he opens it to all of his favorite pages and points and kisses the puppies.  It's super cute.  His final trick of the month is turning around in circles.  If you ask him to dance he will turn and turn and turn in circles until he falls over!

He still loves to eat (as you can see) and he's working on teeth #13 & 14 still!

This is as good as Jacob's 16 month photo got this month!

Marc took Riley to the mall and bowling for some 1:1 time with her and I stayed home with Jacob, as soon as Riley walked in the door, Jacob ran to her and gave her kisses.  I love seeing the two of them getting along and showing their love to each other!

Jacob still has 0 trust for his sister - especially when she puts her arm around his neck!

Just a Hunch...

but I think he was hungry...

Our Future's So Bright...

we've got to wear shades!  These kids are way into their shades!!!

Goofballs!

Finally, his own pair of shades!  (I bought him a pair of 0-24 month shades a while back and they were too small!  So we had to exchange them for a pair of 2-6 year old shades!)

Parks Parks and More Parks

Riley is currently obsessed with parks, and I'm not going to lie, I fully enjoy getting out with the stroller and the kids and walking down to get a coffee and then letting them run free at the park.  Sure beats being cooped up inside with 2 crazy toddlers!  There are days where Jacob will even walk over to his stroller and put stuff in it and then try to climb in!  So we've been exploring the other local parks as the one right down the street from us is one of the main parks in Dublin and it has been SO crowded and is really not fun for Marc and I because we feel like we have to be on super alert for safety reasons.  So we ventured up to a park that we've driven by many times on the way to Livermore or to our Target.  We were the only ones there which was awesome!  And since it was connected to an elementary school the play structures were geared mostly for smaller children.  Riley didn't like it because there were no swings (ok by Jacob since he hates the swings) and no sandpit (ok by me because I hate the mess that the sand makes!).  Jacob thought it was great and don't get me wrong, they both ran around and had a great time!

We drove around and found a few other parks in walking distance so those may be on tap for the next few weekends until we settle into the perfect park for us!

This is from last week, Jacob loves the slide despite the look on his face

Crazy girl!

He loves the big kid slides, none of those wimpy baby slides!

Post-park chocolate chip cookie that his sister shared with him

Splish Splash

I don't know what it is about water but I know all kids love it.  I was at Target the other day (big shocker right???) and saw this Safari Water table and since I had an extra 5% off, I decided to get it for the kids, especially since the weather is getting nicer.  It was super warm at the end of the week so I put it together while I was working at home one day and on a call and let the kids test it out.  Of course fun was had by all.  I expected Riley to be soaked by the time we went inside but it was Jacob who was soaked and Riley was pretty much completely dry.

Jake-Os couldn't decide between the house and the water table

Cheese!

Playing nicely together

Pretty girl dove right in!

Captain Destructo thinks dis is fun!

When the 1 year old starts dunking his face in the water it's time to pack up and go inside!

He Shoots, He Scores!

If only I was a little bit taller!

Almost tall enough to dunk!

My future Hooser, watch out Assembly Hall

Going in for another shot!

Sister shoots and scores!

He got the rebound!

Clean Up

My kids clean up well, both go hair cuts this past weekend!  I took Riley with me to my hair cut lady and she loved it.  She loved the Starbucks that I got her while I got my hair cut and she loved even more getting her hair washed in the big sink!  And Jake-Os did great getting his hair cut, no tears, just a few squirms at the end we were close to nap time!)

Check out those delicious cheeks!!!

Hugs for Sister

Riley was throwing a temper tantrum the other night and Jacob walked right over, laid down, and gave her a hug.  At first Marc thought he was biting her, I him "no, I think he's hugging her," as he did this a few days earlier when she was throwing a tantrum at school when I picked them up but it did warrant another look because well, it was very possible that he was biting, pinching or pulling her hair.  But nope, sweet boy was hugging his big sis!  Jacob has started to be become aware of other people's moods and responds to them, i.e. hugging a crying-fit throwing Riley.

As you can see, Jacob successfully turned her frown upside down!  I love this age because they are playing so well together.  They love to give each other stuff, especially Jacob, he'll grab Riley's sweatshirt and hand it out to her or when she's doing gymnastics and he sees her, he'll point and scream at her.  And the feeling is mutual, Riley tells us that Jacob is her best friend.  Saturday she told us that she likes Jacob better bigger than smaller because he's so much more fun.  (I on the other hand, love this phase of Jacob but miss the cuddly baby phase, especially after a few visits to see Bella's new brother Max!)

Baby cuddles from Max for me! :)

Family Movie Night

We started Family Movie Nights on Saturday nights, Jacob usually lasts like 10 minutes but when we get going both kids love to sit in their chairs!

Puzzles

I bought Riley a set of princess puzzles after her neurologist appointment, I figured once we finished her homework for the week it would be a good chance for us to do something fun together.  Well it took us a bit of time, but we finally finished her 150 piece princess puzzle since there was no homework this week.  Riley actually did a lot of it, I was very impressed as she's still probably a little young for this type of puzzle.  She was so proud of our work (and she loves the princesses in it) that we decided to glue it together and hang it in her room.  I went to Michael's and got some Mod Podge (I feel so Pinterest crafty now that I have some) and a canvas that I'll mount it on and then we'll hang it in her room!  Next up, the 100 piece one!

Cuddle Bugs

Jacob is such a cuddle bug, he gives hugs, kisses and just loves to chill in a comfy spot.  Unlike his sister who is in perpetual motion.

But don't let him fool you because he can also throw a full-blown temper tantrum like the best of them.  We're talking hands and legs going on the ground temper tantrum!

Outdoor Fun

The weather (up until this weekend) has been GORGEOUS!  We've certainly been taking advantage of it with all of our treks to the park and down to the little shopping center on foot (or in Riley's case, scooter). On the days that we can't make it out and about we've been going outback (though, daddy needs to mow the lawn).  Jake-Os didn't get to experience the backyard too much last year as he wasn't too mobile but now, watch out, the boy loves it back there.  He LOVES the playhouse, going in, out, opening and closing the door, I have to bring him back inside kicking and screaming!