Evan's Tubes - Take 2

There is never a dull moment around our house these days.  The boys had both been battling colds the last few weeks and we thought they were on their way to recovery until last Monday. Eavn was cranky in the morning (not unusual) and we sent him off to school.  Daycare called soon after and said Evan was having trouble swallowing and was really upset.  By 3:00 they called me with him hysterically crying in the background.  Off to school I went to get him and then to an urgent care because I couldn't get him to see his regular doctor.  Turns out his tubes in his ears were not in the right place and he had developed an ear infection.  The poor guy just kept holding his ear and screaming crying.  I got him to see his ENT the next morning and by Wednesday, he was scheduled to get his tubes replaced.  Evan has allergies to antibiotics and the best ones for curing ear infections are the ones he can't take.  This is one big reason why we got tubes originally, because we can treat ear infections with drops.  However, the ears were blocked up with wax and infection so the drops could never get to where they needed to.  Since this was his first cold of the season and it had turned into an infection without his tubes working properly, his doctor agreed to do the tubes the next day.  But since he was a last minute addition to the schedule, it meant he had the last appointment . . . which meant no food all day!  By the time we go to DuPont, Evan was in a surprisingly good mood considering it was 4:00 PM and he last ate at 6:45 AM. Our doctor was running late but DuPont is the best because they have a children's playroom.  I didn't have my real camera, so these next few pics are not ideal.  But here he is shooting hoops and loving the playroom area:

About 20 minutes after we went to the playroom area, they called us back down.  Here is his reaction to being taken out of the playroom.  He threw a full on tantrum, kicking and screaming on the floor:

And here he is settled in nicely watching Sponge Bob for the first time. He was able to have his sheep with him for his procedure and the sheep even has a hospital bracelet around his leg.  This is a children's hospital so they are really wonderful with kids.

Coming out of anesthesia was rough on Evan. This was his 3rd time coming out of it and each time has not been fun.  We made it home by 7:00 and were on the road for Thanksgiving at 8:00 PM.  Nothing quite like getting your kid out of surgery and then putting him in the car for 4 hours!  We knew he'd be tired and fall asleep, which is exactly what happened.  And hopefully we're all set for awhile and he will outgrow these infections sooner rather than later!

Cartwheels

I unfortunately left my digital camera memory card in Elmira, so no one will get to see Thanksgiving pictures until a few weeks from now when I see Janet & Vinnie again.  In the meantime, this gives me a perfect chance to catch up on some posts I'd been wanting to do.

Cartwheel photos are a small hobby of mine.  The tradition started in college - back in the days before digital film.  This is my first cartwheel photo from spring break in the Bahamas.  It's with Kelly (I'm the one in the background).  Knowing how difficult it is to capture the right moment now that I've done this a hundred times with a digital camera, I'm surprised looking back at how great this photo turned out in one take. Big thanks to the photographer (Chris :) 

This one was taken in the Outerbanks back in 2008:

 This one was taken at night in Venice in 2008:

Most recently in Central Park (November 2012):

One of my more idiotic ideas . . . at 9 months pregnant.  What I haven't shown here is how I collapsed under the extra weight but avoided landed on my belly thankfully.  Looking back, it's pretty funny:

And probably one of my top three favorite photos, taken in Sedona in 2007.  I can't explain how much I love this one.  Taking this photo was pretty much as dangerous as it looks.  The drop off on either side would have killed me.  The platform was much wider than the balance beams I was used to so it didn't seem overly dangerous at the time.  But I don't think I'd have the courage to do it again today:

I know I've taken others over the years but am having trouble finding them in my files.  And though I'm getting older and can't quite cartwheel like I used to, I hope I can continue on with this tradition for as long as possible.

Eric is 8 months old!

Eric turned 8 months old this past week!  Getting these frog chair pictures isn't as easy these days.  I was looking back on Evan's 8 month pictures and Eric was pretty good compared to Evan on this frog chair at the same age.  These days, Eric is ON THE MOVE.  He doesn't sit still for one second. He's pulling himself to standing on objects that are shorter than him (step-stools, etc).  It is quite challenging to change his diaper these days too.  We are just starting to get into this active phase and I know it's not going to slow down any time soon. He is eating his solids well but isn't a huge fan of puffs yet - spits them right out.  And we're slowly working on the sippy cup, but not as much as we should be because we don't have a lot of free time. He's still our skinny little peanut who is happy and easy-going. 

Close up:

In his picture-day outfit.  Too bad the pictures did not turn out well.  How cute is this tie?? 

The usual comparison picture of the two boys:

The next few months are going to be hectic and I'm afraid his first birthday is going to be here before we know it!

NYC for a night

This past weekend, my parents very kindly agreed to watch the boys overnight so that we could get away.  Last year on this same weekend, we spent the night in NYC.  We had such a great time that we decided to do it again.  This year we stayed at Central Park South and opted to take a guided bicycle tour through Central Park.  Here we are along the ride:

Posing in front of the fountain (cheesey tourist photos):

 Probably 2 weeks earlier and the foliage would have been spectacular:

Brian "jogging" through the park:

It's been quite awhile since I've taken one of these photos, which has prompted me to look up some of my old photos to put together a post on that (coming soon):

The reservoir:

Damage from Hurrican Sandy:

Posing at an overlook:

John Lennon memorial:

Our hotel - about halfway up the very tall building is a building with the words "Essex House" above it. The very tall building under construction was the one with the crane dangling from above during Hurricane Sandy:

A picture of our very nice room:

It was so nice to get away for a night.  Given this was our second trip, we have decided we should make it an annual thing.  Thank you to Deedee and Pops for watching the boys, even with a 4 hour power-outage!

Halloween Festivities

Halloween began for us on the weekend before.  With the hurricane coming, we didn't know what sort of Halloween celebrations would still be taking place.  So on Saturday night, we headed to the YMCA for their annual Halloween party.  We found out about it from our neighbors at 5:00 and we were there by 6:30, with our little cow in hand:

Mooing:

 Enjoying himself after warming up and our little pumpkin getting dunked:

Eric started off the day getting diagnosed with pink eye.  Since he was going to sit in his stroller, we weren't worried about him giving his pink eye to other kids.  But by the time we left, we noticed he was feeling warm.  Little did we know we were in store for a 6-day long fever virus:

 Daddy with his unhappy cow (whos headpiece kept covering up his eyes) and his little pumpkin:

Mommy and her pumpkin :)

On Sunday, with a little Advil in  Eric's system, we headed to the mall for some Halloween trick-or-treating.  We thought it might be a little empty there as the storm was fast approaching.  Boy were we wrong - I think every parent was trying to get out the last of their children's energy before being cooped inside for a few days.  Brian was his usual goofy self and dressed as a cowboy to go along with his little cow.  They got lots of cute smiles throughout the mall:

Not your everday occurrence - a cow and cowboy heading up the escalator:

At this point, even with a fever, Eric wasn't acting too sick (as evidenced by this photo):

Fast forward 3 days.  Hurrican Sandy hit hard.  We were lucky to get through it unscathed, keeping power throughout.  Many were not so lucky.  Eric was really sick the whole time.  The pediatrician's office was closed Monday and Tuesday.  Eric was 102+ fever for 5 days and we got him in there first thing on Wednesday morning.  They sent him to the ER for tests because the labs were without power still.  Turns out it was just a virus but it took 7 long days to run its course.  He had little appetite, little energy and just wanted to be held all of the time.  It was a long few days stuck in the house.  Thankfully Nana was able to come down to help out for the 2nd half of the week, which meant she was able to stay home with Eric while Brian and I took Evan out trick-or-treating.  Here he is just as we were able to go out:

 Making sure his bag is ready for all of his candy:

 The neighborhood kids ready for some trick-or-treating. 

Afterwards inside with Nana.  Eric didn't even get to dresss up for his first Halloween :( 

All in all, it was a rough few days.  But it could have been so much worse.  And we were able to enjoy Halloween, which is a lot more than many others can say.