Hospital stay

Shortly after I filmed little Alex below, he took a little turn...in the wrong direction.

Sunday he started coughing. The fever appeared Monday. Max already had it so we treated them both as it was the flu. Both were vomiting, etc. The rest of the week is sort of a blur but Thursday morning we rushed to the pediatrician to check out both kids who were not improving.

Max has a double ear infection. Medication prescribed.

Alex was a different story. He, too, had a double ear infection. He was also having trouble breathing. We tried another breathing treatment in the office. Failed. His Oxygen levels dropped to 85 and we were directed to the ER. After a chest x-ray, blood tests and more breathing treatments, he was admitted.

Diagnosis: RSV, bronchialitis, double ear infection, possible pneumonia. By dinner time he was hooked up to two monitors, had an IV going and oxygen tubes attached to his face.

We came home today after a eye opening experience at the hospital. 5 days total. He's doing significantly better and breathing very well on his own. We had incredible nurses and other hospital staff. We LOVE our pediatrician, too. I think any Dr. that can comfort you (and hug you!) during something like this is awesome. So many medical personnel are robots now.

I'm getting myself a little more educated on his diagnosis now. I am so glad I didn't know these things before he was admitted. RSV is very common, as are the other diagnosis, but can also be very severe and can change rapidly.

I'm very happy we were where we were. But, the hospital is definitely a place I do not want to be at again. Unless I'm bringing home a new baby. Not bringing one back.

Off to snuggle my boys.

Here is the translation for the video below. Something along these lines:

"...I finally feel better...I don't like it that Max is sick again but, at least he won't try to lay on me or roll over me for a few days...I'm bored...I knew I was bugging Max last night, wasn't it so funny...I have two teeth...I really want that camera...I'm bored...when will Max wake up? I miss him...My jammies are too small...I'm bored...Mom, who is really going to watch this..."

Funny Bath time

Who knew sneezing could be so funny!

Sick...and busy

We've all been sick for about three weeks here. It's been horrible and we're hoping this will be the last week of it. Ugh.

Alex LOVES his teething biscuits. He has two teeth now, finally. The were pushing for almost a month. On the bottom in the middle. I'll work on getting a picture of them. So far his eyes are staying blue! Yay! Max still loves sorting, separating and lining things up.

He loves to help in the kitchen...

Works hard, plays harder, and passes out like the best of 'em!


He loves to paint. When it's too cold to paint in the garage (with real paint brushes and water) he gets to pain on the kitchen floor.

Erik is still doing his internship. Between that and work he is gone a lot. So we've all had to adjust. Soon he will start doing ride-a-longs with another ambulance company too. Hopefully he will be done in a couple months. Now, if California would just give fire departments and other EMS agencies some money, they could start hiring again, and he can get a job! Fingers crossed. In the meantime, he is working really hard to finish and do well. We are so proud of him!

A little of this...

a little of THAT!

We found Max sleeping like this a few weeks ago.

We've been doing a little cleaning....

A little crafting. Or "making cra-puh-suh" as Max says...see video below. I made this for My sister Kelly for her birthday. I admit, it was hard to let it go.

A little playing around. Max loves playing with Alex. I know he can't wait until Alex can really play. I saw this after a few minutes of them "playing". Max said, "Mommy, my did!" (Mommy, look what I did) "Make bake tuhn-oh toooooo." (I made Alex a tunnel too). Yes, he still calls Alex "Bake" Or "Bakey". It all started as Baby Alex and went from there. Or he says "Ay-cuh-suh-ander. Maxwell is "Mah-cuh-suh-weow". Keep in mind this includes all the pauses. He's a funny kid.

A little cuddling. Alex was sleeping on Daddy, Max woke

up from bed and got right in the middle of it.




And this. The night I was making the craft above, Max wanted to be a part of it. Only, much like a duck, he thinks Mommy was making...well, you'll see.

Again, there you have it...Mommy makes CRAP.

Thanks, kid.

Animal sounds

Max has known his animal sounds for a long time and I'm pretty sure he gets bored with me asking him all the time what a dog says. Well, this one is new. Maybe he stirred it up for my sake, but it makes me laugh every time.

.

There you have it.

A duck says: "QUACK CRAP!".

(I'm not doing very well with the watch-your-mouth part. Could be a lot worse than crap. See, no Supermom here).

"Love" this craft!

I saw a Valentine idea in one of my magazines and got a creative hair up my you-know-what last night. I didn't have the exact things in the magazine so I went through all of my "craft supplies", turned on a movie with Erik

and came up with these. I don't know what I'll do with them.

Maybe make a clothesline/banner out of them? Little doorknob hangers? Gift toppers? They would be really cute as personal Valentines, too. They are nobigger than my hand. I think they turned out cute. It was nice to get some creative energy out.

(click image for a larger view)

On another note, it's already time to use this:

He's not fully ready for the food yet, but we're working on rice cereal and bananas. I'll freeze what I make for now. I can't believe it goes by so darn fast.

(And for the record, I'm not supermom because I made some crafts and make baby food. ha! In fact, Alex is screaming bloody murder at me right now. Max is watching cartoons, rotting his brain. So there! No cape for me! Hmm...that just gave me another craft idea....stay tuned!)

Who needs toys?

Max came to me this morning with a teaspoon asking if he could "scoop". So we got him all set up to scoop. He's been very busy and very focused for about 30 minutes.
And this little guy watches Max like he's magical. I can't wait for them to be able to really play together. (And by the way, he was chewing on Sophie the giraffe until he saw the camera...so he instantly smiled. Cheeseball.)

I just heard Max get into the measuring cups. This should be interesting...

Rainy Update

I realize it's been quite a while since I posted last. We had a wonderful Christmas and have had a busy start to the year. Erik started his field internship with Napa City fire. It's a great opportunity for him, but it takes him away from us for 48 hours (straight) a week. He loves it and is learning a lot. Max talks about the "Geen Fouw Tuk" (green fire truck) at the station all the time.

Max is talking up a storm and we love listening to him. We are having fun trying to translate his words. Most of the time we can figure it out, but there are a few we have to nicely pass through. He is growing and still thinking he's a 5 year old. He blows our minds just about every day with the things he knows and learns. He's mastered the temper tantrum and is behaving like a typical 2 year old.

Alex learned to roll over and gets himself stuck all the time. He has two teeth trying their best to break through but are taking their time, causing a lot of discomfort and drool! He's "talking" a lot ,trying to keep up with Max. He stops crying instantly when he spots his big brother.

Today is a really rainy and dark day. Max recently got a new rain hat, jacket and boots and has been very anxious to try them out...in the puddles! Breakfast started out like this....... it took me a few minutes to convince him he didn't need to eat with his jacket on....then he wandered into the family room to check on the puddle level...(one of the greatest things about having a dumpy yard is the puddles! Please ignore the yard and the chain link fence. We're really not in the ghetto.)...
...he got suited up and out the door. It only took a few seconds...

...digging for rocks to fill the dump truck...

...playing with the dog...

...splashing everywhere!...

..making it difficult for Mommy to get a photo of his smiling and focused face. He only looked in my direction one or twice...

...and riding his mini 4-wheeler. I finally got him to come inside after his boot fell off and soaked his toes. He was in heaven !!!

I added a couple videos for the Grandparents. They are pretty boring. But, I wanted to include Alex in here too. He keeps chewing like he has food in his mouth, which looks pretty cute with his huge cheeks. Enjoy...

Too fast.

Alex rolled over. And , if you look closely, you can see two teeth making their way through. Goes by toof-ast.