Half-pint and Quarter-pint Snapshots...

Half-pint is recovering very quickly from his recent surgery. On Saturday I took him to run some errands with me. I thought we both needed to get out of the house, so we left Quarter-pint home with Daddy and we hit the stores. About half-way through my list Half-pint was hungry. His diet is still limited to soft foods so I suggested ice cream. He was delighted! He quickly told me he wanted "Banilllla" and that I wanted "chalk-olate" (he's absolutely right I love chocolate ice cream). We ordered and he found us a booth in the back. He sat on one side and I sat across from him. After just a few minutes, he shoved his cup of vanilla ice cream at me and slithered under the table as only kids can do. He said "I want to sit by you, Mom" as he reappeared on my side of the booth. I gave him a hug and said "I love you, my precious boy!" "I love you; you a precious durl! (girl)" then went back to finishing his ice cream. It melted my heart. What a sweet kid!

Quarter-pint has begun to follow me around the house. He's right on my heels when I leave the room. He's right behind me when I'm picking up the house and continually moving from room to room. It usually only takes him a few minutes to find me when I've moved to another room, even when I think he's occupied playing with something (even his brother). It's really sweet, but I wish I could quickly run upstairs or to the basement by myself every once and awhile. I'm enjoying his loving disposition-I know it probably won't last forever.

Quarter-pint's newest antic involves climbing. He has really turned into a little mountain goat. I have repeatedly come to his rescue when he climbs the two steps on the step-stool in the bathroom. He gets to the top, plays with the faucet on the sink-turning the water on and off, on and off again-then can't figure out how to get back down. He squawks like a helpless little bird until we scoop him up off the the top of the two-step step-stool precipice.

Goodbye Tonsils...

We found out a few weeks ago that Half-pint needed his tonsils removed. We were able to get on the surgery schedule quickly, and the operation was set for about 2 weeks later. It all happened very quickly, but we have great assurances that the surgery will greatly improve his speech, among other things (like snoring). I was quite apprehensive about the whole thing, but quickly felt comfortable with the decision. I did all that I could think of to prepare him. He is very much like me in the way he handles new/different situations (actually he probably does a little better than I do)-we like to know what to expect and then it's easier to roll with the punches. When I scheduled the surgery, I didn't waste any time getting on the local library web site and placing holds on any kid book I could find relating to tonsils and hospitals. We waited until about 48 hours before to tell him (didn't want him to worry too long about it). We had already read the books, and he's familiar with the local hospital (with his brother and 3 cousins born locally in the past year). He took the news better than I expected-there was some apprehension, some fear, and then excitement about all the ice cream and pudding he could eat. We also did a quick tour of the out-patient surgery center. When we got to the reception desk, Half-pint proudly said: "I have big tonsils, see..." and opened his mouth as wide as he could. We had a special trip to the local mega-mart for a special toy. We had a special grocery run to get all the pudding, ice cream, jello, Popsicles, canned peaches, applesauce, and juice he wanted. We went to the local bundt cake shop to pick out a "thank you cake" for Grandma, and one for Half-pint. The evening before the operation, we held a "Goodbye Tonsils Party" complete with wrapped presents and cake. I know, it looks like a lot of gifts. Here's the breakdown: new pjs for the big event, a new color wonder coloring book, and color wonder markers, and the big one is moon sand (that was the special gift he picked out). He chose chocolate cake and insisted on blowing out candles. (The littlest present on the top of the pile is a train from his set that he so graciously wrapped for his brother-but Half-pint insisted on opening it up, then gave it to Quarter-pint to play with.)

The next morning, we got him up early and headed for the hospital. A few minutes into the journey, Half-pint sleepily said "Mom, where we going?"

"To the hospital, remember today your tonsils are coming out."

He rode quietly the rest of the way. He was a trooper though. He played happily with Daddy until they called us back, then he became shy and a little nervous. He didn't like the blood pressure cuff and wouldn't go to the bathroom (that's okay-thanks to pull-ups). He was happy to watch a movie and wait for the doctors. I was able to into the OR with him until he was asleep. That was hard for me-he was scared and fought the mask. I guess I didn't do enough to prepare him for that part. Thankfully, he was asleep quickly and then Daddy and I just waited.

It only took an hour, then we got word from the surgeon that all had gone well. We found out that both his tonsils and adenoids were HUGE, so we made the right decision. He was pretty unhappy when he woke up. I ended up holding him in my lap for 2 hours while he slept. He was a good sport. He slept on and off the rest of the day and had a pretty good night also. Quarter-pint has been really sweet-he can be a little bit of a bully, so we've been pleasantly surprised. He made sure his brother didn't get too lonely-bringing him toys they played with together, and coming over just to babble at him. The second day he was bouncing off the walls. I was really hoping the pain medicine would actually make him drowsy. It doesn't hype him up, but he certainly has not been sleepy after taking it. He gets sad when I tell him he can't eat crackers or cereal-two of his favorites, but thankfully he's happy to eat pudding and ice cream sandwiches. Now my big challenge is to try to keep him from being too active until the 2 week recovery period is finished. Anyone have any good ideas? It's been 2 days and I'm already struggling.

When Half-pint saw the pictures of him when he was sleeping on the couch the first day, he said "Oh, that was a bad day!"

Quarter-pint Stashes...

I just found seven (yep, 7) of Half-pint's markers and one wooden puzzle piece in the trash can in the office. Quarter-pint has been up to it again. I'm going to have to be sure to check the trash more often! Quarter-pint likes to stash things around the house. Last week Daddy found a marker in the bread slot of the toaster, and I often find baby spoons in random drawers. It's not unusual to find his pacifier in the crock pot or on the pantry shelf with the door closed. What a kid! I'm going to have to keep a close eye on him!

Adventures with Grandma...

This past week, Daddy and I took a spur-of-the-moment trip south of the border. He had a business meeting and I decided to tag along. My Mom was more than generous when she agreed to take the boys for a couple of days. When I met up with Grandma, Half-pint and Quarter-pint after we returned home, it was obvious that both boys were happy to see me. I know that they had a lot of fun at Grandma's house though (who wouldn't, with 3 aunts, 1 uncle, Grandma and Grandpa there???). Quarter-pint babbled all the way home in the car-he must have been telling me all about his adventures.

As I was tucking Half-pint into bed that night, he looked at me very seriously and said
"Momma, I not miss you at all."
My heart nearly broke, but then I remembered all the people at Grandma's house, and the HUGE hug he gave me earlier that morning. Honestly, I'm glad he feels comfortable enough to not miss me for a few days, but I think he really did miss me...at least a little.

I got the report from Grandma when I met her to get the boys. It sounded like everything went fine. Grandma called me later that evening to update the report. Quarter-pint was quite busy while at Grandma's house. The remote control for the TV had gone missing while he was playing with it. Grandma had the insight to check the kitchen trash. Not only did she find the TV remote, but also an unopened single-size bottle of juice and one of Half-pint's matchbox cars. Now I'm wondering what Quarter-pint has thrown out at my house!

Quarter-pint Activity...

Quarter-pint has me running these days. Not only has he officially entered the wide world of walking, he has begun to experiment with rebellion. When I ask him to come to me, he smiles, giggles and then runs as fast as his short little legs can take him in the opposite direction! The other day I was trying to get Half-pint, Quarter-pint and myself out the door to run some errands. I was just far enough away from Quarter-pint that I couldn't reach him without getting up. I tried to coax Quarter-pint to me so I could put his shoes on (he likes to wear shoes, remember). I looked at me and smiled a smile similar to this:

Then he quickly ran past me and into the next room. I called to him, but he just giggled. After a few minutes, I got up to see what he was doing. I found him hiding in the corner! He was actually trying to hide from me-he was laughing! He was waiting for me to find him. What a little tease! He's been taking lessons from his brother!

Labor Day Weekend...

(Okay, I know I'm way behind with my blogs. Sorry! For any of you who follow my blog, rest asured, it's certanily NOT because my children have been perfect recently. We've been busy, and my children have been up to their usual antics. I simply haven't had a chance to blog anything.)

Labor Day weekend, we spent in the high county with Grammy and Grandpa and Cousin H. The boys had a great time, and we didn't have any real antics, but we did get to do a few things that were new for the boys. One thing we did was take both boys 4-wheeling in Grandpa's jeep. Daddy and I had a great time. I couldn't believe it when we looked in the back seat and BOTH boys were sound asleep; their little heads bobbing and bouncing with every move of the tires. They probably slept for the first 20-30 minutes. Once they woke up, Quarter-pint seemed to really enjoy the trip. Half-pint got scared near the top, even though it was a wide, open high alpine meadow. He kept pleading with us "Let's go home, this mountain scary!" He eventually enjoyed the rest of the ride down the mountain.

We also took Half-pint mini-golfing. Daddy bought him a set of plastic clubs, balls and holes recently; he's been practicing. He had a great time golfing with me; and did a good job. We played two rounds and he had 3 (yep-three) hole-in-ones! I couldn't believe it because he held the club funny and kept trying to hit the ball left-handed. Unfortantually, we didn't get any pictures of "golf-bally", but we did get some evidence that Half-pint should be "locked-up"

We also enjoyed walks with Grandpa and playing with and helping Grammy. It was a great weekend!