We had a good Thanksgiving. We only got invited to my side of the family this year, so we went to my aunt's house. Hadn't seen her new house before, it's really nice! Dawson was very uneasy at first because he thought I was going to leave him there, but he warmed up eventually and by the end of the day he didn't want to leave!
Dawson said a new word the other day! He pulled me to the fridge, pointed for me to open the door and pointed at the crisper. Grabbed an apple and left the kitchen. I always talk through it, trying to get him to ask for it but he hasn't yet. So Dan and I headed back into the living room where he went with his apple and Dawson walked back up to us. Stood there a bit, then looked up, lifted his apple a bit and said "apple". We both clapped and made a big deal out of it, he clapped and then he said it again. :) He had an apple again today but couldn't get him to say it.
Dawson has a developmental appointment tomorrow morning. Mostly for speech but I believe she'll do the full evaluation. If they think he needs it, someone will come to our place and work with him for a bit. I did the initial developmental evaluation tonight and it looks like he's just a bit behind on social/communication and speech. Otherwise he's right on track with everything else. The fact that he is picking up on new words is a good sign, he just isn't doing it very quickly and might need a nudge in the right direction. Sometimes having someone else working with them is just what they need. With parents, we know what they want even if they don't say it, and they know this, so what's the point in telling me he needs an apple when he can drag me to the fridge, open the drawer and grab one? Hopefully this will help. I'm sure someday I'll be wishing he didn't talk so much!
Tyler is doing great. His counts are up a bit. He missed Thanksgiving because he's not ready to go home yet. He's in a great mood though. He just learned how to go from hands and knees to hands and feet. He just isn't sure what to do from there! He hasn't figured out forward motion on his knees yet. He can walk backwards several steps and he'd done forward about 10 steps in his room. I never thought he'd go across a bigger room, but he's proven that with enough determination he can do it. His favorite nurse assistant was playing with another patient in the playroom and Tyler wanted to go over there. I put him on the floor and said if you want to see him, you can walk there...and he did! Holding onto my hands, he quickly walked towards him, grinning the whole way! It was cute. I wish we could take a few of those nurses home, we're gonna miss them!
I'm doing ok, my jaw still hurts and I still can't open my mouth very far. I was having is sues with food getting stuck in the holes where my teeth were (ew!). It was hard to get it all out. They are finally closing up though, some are closed and some are close. They are still very sensitive there though. Part of my jaw, bottom lip and chin is still numb. Not sure how long that's supposed to take, but it seems to be very slowly gaining the feeling back. It used to be almost half my face, not it's just about 2 inches along my jaw. It's a bit tingly now too, which is really bugging me, it's itchy! On top of that, I have an ear infection. It's not as bad as some I've had, but it's pretty painful. All the way down my neck pain and my ear throbs when I lay or bend down.
Dan is doing good. He has a lot to do before the snow flies and work is bugging people to work overtime on the weekend. Next Friday is the Brian Adams concert we're going to. I'm excited! He's been to several concerts before but I've never been to one. I just hope my ear infection goes away before then!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Crappy Week, New Breastpump
Yet another week inpatient. I'm very frustrated at Tyler's numbers not coming up. Also because Dawson is so bored and frustrated with being stuck in a tiny hospital room all day. It's been a bad day overall today. The boy next door to Tyler passed away. All the nurses were crying, so I stayed a bit longer than usual to let them deal with the situation. Overall I've been in a crappy mood. Just sick of being there. I thought we were going home 2 weeks ago, so every day past when I expected to be home is hard. You'd think I'd stop planning for things by now, but I'm a planner and this is driving me nuts! It's been 5 months since diagnosis, 19 months to go. Feels like a long time yet but I'm glad we've made it this far.
I got a new breastpump, mine wasn't working right and I need to pump so the Dr wrote up a prescription for it and got me a new one since it's mandatory because of "parent/child seperation". I can't believe those things are $427! That's crazy! Thank goodness they got it to go through the insurance!
Thank goodness for volunteers. They take Dawson to the playroom. Dawson got to go once today, he really thrives on being able to go. Everytime the door opens he runs over and looks hopefully at the person walking in. It's usually the nurse and unfortunately they visit often, so it's a lot of dissapointment. I can request volunteers but they aren't always available.
I wish I could take pictures. I can't post them anymore because my laptop stopped working. I can't even take any because I need to get my pictures developed so I can get them off the card. I should probably go through them again too and delete some that I don't really need printed. It's harder deleting pics since Tyler was diagnosed. You just never know how many more you'll get to take. Though I'm feeling a lot better about it now, you just never know. It's hard to know which ones to delete, every smile is cute, and the funny faces are cute because it's part of his personality too! I think it's safe to say I'm addicted. To the kids, the camera, or most likey all 3. :)
We got invited to Thanksgiving at my aunt Shelley's house this year, so Dan, Dawson and I are going there for the holiday. It'll be nice to get out and go somewhere.
I got a new breastpump, mine wasn't working right and I need to pump so the Dr wrote up a prescription for it and got me a new one since it's mandatory because of "parent/child seperation". I can't believe those things are $427! That's crazy! Thank goodness they got it to go through the insurance!
Thank goodness for volunteers. They take Dawson to the playroom. Dawson got to go once today, he really thrives on being able to go. Everytime the door opens he runs over and looks hopefully at the person walking in. It's usually the nurse and unfortunately they visit often, so it's a lot of dissapointment. I can request volunteers but they aren't always available.
I wish I could take pictures. I can't post them anymore because my laptop stopped working. I can't even take any because I need to get my pictures developed so I can get them off the card. I should probably go through them again too and delete some that I don't really need printed. It's harder deleting pics since Tyler was diagnosed. You just never know how many more you'll get to take. Though I'm feeling a lot better about it now, you just never know. It's hard to know which ones to delete, every smile is cute, and the funny faces are cute because it's part of his personality too! I think it's safe to say I'm addicted. To the kids, the camera, or most likey all 3. :)
We got invited to Thanksgiving at my aunt Shelley's house this year, so Dan, Dawson and I are going there for the holiday. It'll be nice to get out and go somewhere.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Back with Tyler
Feels so good to be back! We packed up and left before noon. Got to the Ronald McDonald house and set a new record...got all our stuff hauled in on 1 trip. Thanks to a hotel luggage cart and a double stroller with an empty seat. We got put on the same floor as usual, only on the other end of the hall. So now we've been in 3 out of the 4 corners of our floor. Room looks the same, but this one has a microwave and for the first time, Dawson has his OWN tv in the loft! For the first time, he LOVES being up there and claiming the loft as his own. As much as I like cuddling him at night, it's best that he sleeps in his own bed. We both sleep better that way. He wakes up a lot when he's in with me and I wake up being elbowed or kicked!
I got a laptop at the hospital. The Geek Squad took over the laptop rental just this week. They provide free repair and diagnostic services now, you just pay for parts. They also have cell phone charging docks, since most parents forget the charger the first time. I didn't, but I did lose it once so it came in handy. They have 2 servers now. He said they're more tight on the general server for everyone since kids are using it. You can't see facebook, blogger or any other social networking sites. Being that I live on those places, I got the other server! Just required some signatures, thankfully.
Tyler looks great. He's pale and has some bruises but his attitude is great. He was in his highchair getting some food when I came in. He was smiling at the lady, but once he saw me he looked at her, cried, then looked at me and was grinning and trying to get out of the highchair. He looked like he wanted to fly out of there but his thoughts weren't doing the trick! I picked him up, he grabbed my hair and held onto me for a while. Then he wanted to nurse, so he nursed for a little while, stopping to grin at me every several seconds. The Occupational Therapist found it pretty funny. She was asking me questions on what I'd like her to be working on with him. It's nice, he has OT, PT, a massage lady, music therapy, volunteers that play with him, nurses that play with him.....he's pretty spoiled!! He was giggling at Dawson running around the room. He thinks highly of his big brother already, it's so cute!
Yesterday, even last night I had a horrible headache and my jaw was really hurting. My lips, jawline and cheek were still numb too. After I saw Tyler today, it all went away. I've had very little jaw pain. I've only taken meds twice today, and that was pretty far inbetween. It's only a dull pain now. I can chew without sharp pain too. My headache is completely gone. Just like that. I'm thinking it was the stress of everything, not being able to go back and be with Tyler, being sick, being worried, etc. Feels so good to be back, it's a huge relief. I'm still numb but a little less than before. The swelling is going down still. That's mostly what I'm taking the meds for, to keep the swelling down and get everything to heal. I'm hoping by Thanksgiving I'll be able to eat what I want!! Otherwise I guess I'll just have to hog the stuffing. ;)
Dawson did good today. He played with toys, layed on his tummy on the mat when Tyler was having some tummy time and then made a big mess of the room. Nothing new there. He likes throwing toys and clothes everywhere. His newest thing is sticking paper through cracks. Drawers, doors, both the side and bottom. Being that Tyler is in a pressurized, sealed room, there's rubber at the bottom of his door. Didn't stop Dawson from shoving something under it. He was quite upset when his fingers got stuck and he couldn't pull them back because the rubber only goes 1 way. I was changing Tyler's diaper but the nurse who was in the room went over to help but couldn't get his fingers out. I went over, lifted the rubber on both sides of his finger and he was out. Not the first time he's done that, but nurses say he's the only one to their knowledge who's managed to get anything under there!
Tomorrow should be fun. We're going to see Tyler for most of the day. I might be babysitting another 2 year old in the evening and Dan is coming to spend the night with us after that. It's exciting to have something planned. It'll be especially nice to see Dan again. Seems like I've seen him a lot but really we didn't get much time together. I wasn't feeling good after surgery, then he was sick so I stayed away from him as much as possible, then I left! It stinks. Hopefully Tyler's counts will start going up soon so we can be home and maybe even develop some sort of a normal routine again!
I got a laptop at the hospital. The Geek Squad took over the laptop rental just this week. They provide free repair and diagnostic services now, you just pay for parts. They also have cell phone charging docks, since most parents forget the charger the first time. I didn't, but I did lose it once so it came in handy. They have 2 servers now. He said they're more tight on the general server for everyone since kids are using it. You can't see facebook, blogger or any other social networking sites. Being that I live on those places, I got the other server! Just required some signatures, thankfully.
Tyler looks great. He's pale and has some bruises but his attitude is great. He was in his highchair getting some food when I came in. He was smiling at the lady, but once he saw me he looked at her, cried, then looked at me and was grinning and trying to get out of the highchair. He looked like he wanted to fly out of there but his thoughts weren't doing the trick! I picked him up, he grabbed my hair and held onto me for a while. Then he wanted to nurse, so he nursed for a little while, stopping to grin at me every several seconds. The Occupational Therapist found it pretty funny. She was asking me questions on what I'd like her to be working on with him. It's nice, he has OT, PT, a massage lady, music therapy, volunteers that play with him, nurses that play with him.....he's pretty spoiled!! He was giggling at Dawson running around the room. He thinks highly of his big brother already, it's so cute!
Yesterday, even last night I had a horrible headache and my jaw was really hurting. My lips, jawline and cheek were still numb too. After I saw Tyler today, it all went away. I've had very little jaw pain. I've only taken meds twice today, and that was pretty far inbetween. It's only a dull pain now. I can chew without sharp pain too. My headache is completely gone. Just like that. I'm thinking it was the stress of everything, not being able to go back and be with Tyler, being sick, being worried, etc. Feels so good to be back, it's a huge relief. I'm still numb but a little less than before. The swelling is going down still. That's mostly what I'm taking the meds for, to keep the swelling down and get everything to heal. I'm hoping by Thanksgiving I'll be able to eat what I want!! Otherwise I guess I'll just have to hog the stuffing. ;)
Dawson did good today. He played with toys, layed on his tummy on the mat when Tyler was having some tummy time and then made a big mess of the room. Nothing new there. He likes throwing toys and clothes everywhere. His newest thing is sticking paper through cracks. Drawers, doors, both the side and bottom. Being that Tyler is in a pressurized, sealed room, there's rubber at the bottom of his door. Didn't stop Dawson from shoving something under it. He was quite upset when his fingers got stuck and he couldn't pull them back because the rubber only goes 1 way. I was changing Tyler's diaper but the nurse who was in the room went over to help but couldn't get his fingers out. I went over, lifted the rubber on both sides of his finger and he was out. Not the first time he's done that, but nurses say he's the only one to their knowledge who's managed to get anything under there!
Tomorrow should be fun. We're going to see Tyler for most of the day. I might be babysitting another 2 year old in the evening and Dan is coming to spend the night with us after that. It's exciting to have something planned. It'll be especially nice to see Dan again. Seems like I've seen him a lot but really we didn't get much time together. I wasn't feeling good after surgery, then he was sick so I stayed away from him as much as possible, then I left! It stinks. Hopefully Tyler's counts will start going up soon so we can be home and maybe even develop some sort of a normal routine again!
Long Week, Awesome Hubby
Had a busy and crappy week so far. Dan came home early Monday with the flu. It's been over 48 hours now, Dawson and I are still healthy, so we're going back to the cities tomorrow. Dan stayed home today because he was still wiped out from having the flu. He got more energy in the evening though, and ended up cleaning the bathroom, living room, doing dishes, laundry, taking all the garbages out, cleaning the tv, computer monitors and cleaned out the linen closet that Dawson had messed up. I love my hubby. :)
My jaw is still hurting, my face is still numb. It's driving me nuts! I have a horrible headache to top things off. I'm currently 2 hours past due on my meds and I actually feel ok so hopefully I can start slowly backing off on those in the next few days. I hate being dependent on meds. Ironic, being a cancer mom, huh? I do still have a dull pain, but it's nothing like the sharp pain I was having before. I've found that ice cream helps a lot, it naturally numbs the area a bit since it's so cold, and it tastes good too. I only have 1 bowl a day though, as my body wouldn't react so well to living on ice cream! So I save it for the evening for a treat since that's when I'm usually in the most pain, from talking, eating and all that during the day. It's amazing how much you use your jaw and don't realize it.
Dawson is doing good. He's been getting pushy lately, so trying to stop that. He'll run up to me and shove me with both arms to get my attention. This week he learned how to blow. He can now blow bubbles and he blows on food. Today he came up to me while I was eating my pot pie. He said "hot" and blew on it! New word AND in the right context! Yay! :) Dawson also got a haircut! It was getting long in the back and kinda crazy up on top. I decided to take him to Kid's Hair, they have a movie for them to watch, bubbles, toys and suckers. It was a good experience, I think it went well. He fussed some but really couldn't complain much, as suckers are a rare treat. :)
Tyler's counts are still dropping. He's expected to spend at least another week in the hospital. Hopefully nothing else will stop us from going down there tomorrow so we can spend time with Tyler. Even Dawson seems to miss his little brother.
On to the pics....
My jaw is still hurting, my face is still numb. It's driving me nuts! I have a horrible headache to top things off. I'm currently 2 hours past due on my meds and I actually feel ok so hopefully I can start slowly backing off on those in the next few days. I hate being dependent on meds. Ironic, being a cancer mom, huh? I do still have a dull pain, but it's nothing like the sharp pain I was having before. I've found that ice cream helps a lot, it naturally numbs the area a bit since it's so cold, and it tastes good too. I only have 1 bowl a day though, as my body wouldn't react so well to living on ice cream! So I save it for the evening for a treat since that's when I'm usually in the most pain, from talking, eating and all that during the day. It's amazing how much you use your jaw and don't realize it.
Dawson is doing good. He's been getting pushy lately, so trying to stop that. He'll run up to me and shove me with both arms to get my attention. This week he learned how to blow. He can now blow bubbles and he blows on food. Today he came up to me while I was eating my pot pie. He said "hot" and blew on it! New word AND in the right context! Yay! :) Dawson also got a haircut! It was getting long in the back and kinda crazy up on top. I decided to take him to Kid's Hair, they have a movie for them to watch, bubbles, toys and suckers. It was a good experience, I think it went well. He fussed some but really couldn't complain much, as suckers are a rare treat. :)
Tyler's counts are still dropping. He's expected to spend at least another week in the hospital. Hopefully nothing else will stop us from going down there tomorrow so we can spend time with Tyler. Even Dawson seems to miss his little brother.
On to the pics....
Dawson before his haircut.
After haircut! It hadn't grown in much in the sides in the front, it was mostly the back and some off the top that they did. I'm pretty happy with it, it's really even and neat looking. The lighting is bad in this pic, he wouldn't hold still so I had to chase him down, delete the first 5 blurry pics and this is what I ended up with!
Tyler on Sunday when we visited him. His face looked kinda rashy around his nose and chin, looks like a sweat rash. He's pretty sweaty and most people like to pile on the covers at night because he's a baby. He would smile so cute, then go crazy when he saw the camera flash!
Nurses shouldn't have long fingernails! grr This doesn't look as bad in the pic, but it was a pretty big/deep scratch I found when changing his diaper. Makes me mad because we try so hard to avoid bug bites and anything that will break the skin and then I find a huge scrape on his leg! With his platelets so low, they should be extra careful!!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Wisdom Teeth are Out!
Had them out on Thursday, it's now Monday and I'm still feeling like crap! I'll start from the beginning.
I went in, filled out a 3 page form and got sent to a little room to watch a short video about the surgery and what to expect. Then I got put in another little room on the dentist chair, staring at a tray of surgery tools. In avoiding looking at the tools, I talked to the assistant for a bit.
The anesthesiologist came and quickly jabbed the needle into my arm. Then he said "this is gonna make you woosy, then you'll fall asleep". Well, he put 3 syringes in. First one did nothing, 2nd one I got woosy, 3rd one I was still woosy but not any worse. I was just hoping (and expecting) to fall asleep quickly and get it all over with. Tyler falls asleep within seconds of injecting the meds. I didn't, but I suppose I have a bit more body mass than he does! He opened my mouth and I felt a really sharp pain. I was thinking "crap, I can FEEL that!" So I was starting to panic about not being asleep, though my eyes were shut. I was cringing, and wondering if he could tell or not. Thankfully I only felt it for a few seconds. After that I still wasn't "sleeping peacefully", it was like a bad dream or something. I felt restless and I was seeing lights flashing by me or something. I'm not even sure, it was a weird sensation. I still can see it though.
I woke up what felt like seconds after that. The restless sensation didn't go away but the weird things I was seeing stopped and I heard someone saying "Wake up! Open your eyes!" in a rather impatient tone. I tried but couldn't seem to open them and focus on anything. Then the assistant said "Come on, open your eyes, we're get up". They pulled my legs around to the side of the chair and each grabbed an arm, telling me to use my legs. I thought they were being really rude and rushing me way too much. Luckily my legs were strong enough, I walked to a chair and sat down, then they got Dan to sit with me. They gave him the directions and asked us where to send the prescription to. What felt like 5 minutes later, they came back and told me to get up because it was time to go. Dan helped me to the car, I still couldn't seem to get my eyes to open much. I slept through the pharmacy drive thru and woke up as we got home 10 minutes later. Dan helped me to bed and I slept off and on for 4 hours. After that my head felt a lot clearer and it was a relief.
I asked for a mirror and saw there was a ton of gauze in my mouth. I couldn't tell what it was and didn't want to touch anything until I had a mirror! So I took all that out, thankfully the bleeding had stopped. Later we read that the gauze should've come out after an hour. OOPS! They gave me Vicodin, Ibuprofin and an Antibiotic. I started with the Vicodin and alternated them every 6-8 hours. The Vicodin made me really drowsy, I had a hard time staying awake while on that, so I've been taking the Ibuprofin during the day, especially now that I'm alone with Dawson! I couldn't nurse for 24 hours, so I had to pump and throw it out because of the anesthesia meds.
It's been 4 days and I feel worse than the day I had them out! I have a horrible headache that has been there the whole time, my jaw is really sore and I can't eat anything that requires chewing. The last couple days my face has been half numb. I've heard that there can be damage to the nerve that runs along the jaw. Sometimes it goes to sleep for a while because of the trauma of surgery. I'm hoping that's the case. I've heard stories of people being numb from a few days, 6 weeks and one friend has permanent paralysis! It wasn't there right away, so I'm hopeful that it just fell asleep after a few days of pain. My left jawline is numb, along with my whole chin, halfway down my neck, almost whole bottom lip and half my nose. My cheek is numb too, and all the way up to just below and next to my eye. It's weird! I can't imagine spending another week like this, let alone 6 weeks or more! So hopefully this nerve will wake up soon! The ironic part is, the thing I was the most afraid of was my mouth being sensitive where the teeth were, and it being painful to eat or drink. I haven't had any sensitivity at all! Which is great, but I really wasn't expecting any of these other side effects!
I've taken to eating with baby/toddler spoons. They aren't as wide, thus easier on my jaw. I can't open my mouth far at all. I have a long line of stitches in my left cheek, not as much in my right but I saw some there too. Not sure why in the cheek, not thinking I want to know! I started working on the mouthwash they gave me. Before it hurt to drink, let alone swoosh anything in my mouth, but it's to prevent infection and bacteria growth, so I figure I'd better do it. So today I'm really sore from that too. At least it's the blue minty stuff, so it doesn't taste too bad. I was dreading to find out what was in the brown bottle. Do they enjoy making people worry? A clear bottle of blue stuff would've been much less intimidating!
On top of the pain, my energy is wiped out, I'm having hot flashes occasionally and some dizzy spells. Though most of the dizziness comes from the Vicodin. I was going to wait until I had less pain and felt better to go back and be with Tyler but I'm sick of waiting. It's not getting any better, some days it seems worse! So I'm just gonna go. If I'm not feeling well, I can always rest at the Ronald McDonald house. At least I'll be closer to Tyler and if I get lucky, maybe I can bring him out on a day pass so he can rest with Dawson and I at the RMH.
I have to say, after my experience I'm hoping to never need another tooth out again and I'm really hoping to never have to be put to sleep again! I really hope the experience is as peaceful for Tyler as he makes it look.
I went in, filled out a 3 page form and got sent to a little room to watch a short video about the surgery and what to expect. Then I got put in another little room on the dentist chair, staring at a tray of surgery tools. In avoiding looking at the tools, I talked to the assistant for a bit.
The anesthesiologist came and quickly jabbed the needle into my arm. Then he said "this is gonna make you woosy, then you'll fall asleep". Well, he put 3 syringes in. First one did nothing, 2nd one I got woosy, 3rd one I was still woosy but not any worse. I was just hoping (and expecting) to fall asleep quickly and get it all over with. Tyler falls asleep within seconds of injecting the meds. I didn't, but I suppose I have a bit more body mass than he does! He opened my mouth and I felt a really sharp pain. I was thinking "crap, I can FEEL that!" So I was starting to panic about not being asleep, though my eyes were shut. I was cringing, and wondering if he could tell or not. Thankfully I only felt it for a few seconds. After that I still wasn't "sleeping peacefully", it was like a bad dream or something. I felt restless and I was seeing lights flashing by me or something. I'm not even sure, it was a weird sensation. I still can see it though.
I woke up what felt like seconds after that. The restless sensation didn't go away but the weird things I was seeing stopped and I heard someone saying "Wake up! Open your eyes!" in a rather impatient tone. I tried but couldn't seem to open them and focus on anything. Then the assistant said "Come on, open your eyes, we're get up". They pulled my legs around to the side of the chair and each grabbed an arm, telling me to use my legs. I thought they were being really rude and rushing me way too much. Luckily my legs were strong enough, I walked to a chair and sat down, then they got Dan to sit with me. They gave him the directions and asked us where to send the prescription to. What felt like 5 minutes later, they came back and told me to get up because it was time to go. Dan helped me to the car, I still couldn't seem to get my eyes to open much. I slept through the pharmacy drive thru and woke up as we got home 10 minutes later. Dan helped me to bed and I slept off and on for 4 hours. After that my head felt a lot clearer and it was a relief.
I asked for a mirror and saw there was a ton of gauze in my mouth. I couldn't tell what it was and didn't want to touch anything until I had a mirror! So I took all that out, thankfully the bleeding had stopped. Later we read that the gauze should've come out after an hour. OOPS! They gave me Vicodin, Ibuprofin and an Antibiotic. I started with the Vicodin and alternated them every 6-8 hours. The Vicodin made me really drowsy, I had a hard time staying awake while on that, so I've been taking the Ibuprofin during the day, especially now that I'm alone with Dawson! I couldn't nurse for 24 hours, so I had to pump and throw it out because of the anesthesia meds.
It's been 4 days and I feel worse than the day I had them out! I have a horrible headache that has been there the whole time, my jaw is really sore and I can't eat anything that requires chewing. The last couple days my face has been half numb. I've heard that there can be damage to the nerve that runs along the jaw. Sometimes it goes to sleep for a while because of the trauma of surgery. I'm hoping that's the case. I've heard stories of people being numb from a few days, 6 weeks and one friend has permanent paralysis! It wasn't there right away, so I'm hopeful that it just fell asleep after a few days of pain. My left jawline is numb, along with my whole chin, halfway down my neck, almost whole bottom lip and half my nose. My cheek is numb too, and all the way up to just below and next to my eye. It's weird! I can't imagine spending another week like this, let alone 6 weeks or more! So hopefully this nerve will wake up soon! The ironic part is, the thing I was the most afraid of was my mouth being sensitive where the teeth were, and it being painful to eat or drink. I haven't had any sensitivity at all! Which is great, but I really wasn't expecting any of these other side effects!
I've taken to eating with baby/toddler spoons. They aren't as wide, thus easier on my jaw. I can't open my mouth far at all. I have a long line of stitches in my left cheek, not as much in my right but I saw some there too. Not sure why in the cheek, not thinking I want to know! I started working on the mouthwash they gave me. Before it hurt to drink, let alone swoosh anything in my mouth, but it's to prevent infection and bacteria growth, so I figure I'd better do it. So today I'm really sore from that too. At least it's the blue minty stuff, so it doesn't taste too bad. I was dreading to find out what was in the brown bottle. Do they enjoy making people worry? A clear bottle of blue stuff would've been much less intimidating!
On top of the pain, my energy is wiped out, I'm having hot flashes occasionally and some dizzy spells. Though most of the dizziness comes from the Vicodin. I was going to wait until I had less pain and felt better to go back and be with Tyler but I'm sick of waiting. It's not getting any better, some days it seems worse! So I'm just gonna go. If I'm not feeling well, I can always rest at the Ronald McDonald house. At least I'll be closer to Tyler and if I get lucky, maybe I can bring him out on a day pass so he can rest with Dawson and I at the RMH.
I have to say, after my experience I'm hoping to never need another tooth out again and I'm really hoping to never have to be put to sleep again! I really hope the experience is as peaceful for Tyler as he makes it look.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
We're Home!
Dawson and I came home today. I have my wisdom teeth removal in the morning, so Mom is gonna come watch Dawson for us while Dan and I go. I'm required to have an escort with me that stays there the entire time. I'm a bit nervous but I've been pretty distracted. I just got the news that Tyler will be Outpatient after he comes home on Friday! I'm very excited about that, we can be home a lot more, it'll be so nice. It was so weird cleaning up and leaving the Ronald McDonald House. Just the thought of never going back was a bit of a bummer. While I'd rather be at home, that place was so nice and Dawson loves it. It really is "the house that love built" as their slogan says. So much thought was put into making that place and the things they provide are so generous. They went way above and beyond what I had expected to find and I knew everyone loved the place.
It was nice getting to know that family. I have some pics of the 3 kids together, though Dawson wouldn't sit still, knowing I was taking a pic. It was nice having someone to talk to though. We exchanged Caringbridge sites tonight before I left so we can follow each other and stay in touch.
It was nice getting to know that family. I have some pics of the 3 kids together, though Dawson wouldn't sit still, knowing I was taking a pic. It was nice having someone to talk to though. We exchanged Caringbridge sites tonight before I left so we can follow each other and stay in touch.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Feeling Better!
Dawson had a great day, his appetite is back and he still has lots of energy. We played outside, watched some movies and played with his legos. I had left his bag of toys at the hospital since we left late and didn't expect to have much playtime before heading back in the morning. So he really has no toys in the RM house except a ball and his bag of legos. Thankfully throwing a ball down stairs or over the ledge of the loft is great fun. :)
Tyler had a good day also, he's taking bottles from the nurses and getting lots of attention. Can't wait to see him again.
I'm still feeling fine, if I still feel fine in the morning, I'll be going to get Tyler. Can't wait to go home and be a family again for a couple days. :)
Tyler had a good day also, he's taking bottles from the nurses and getting lots of attention. Can't wait to see him again.
I'm still feeling fine, if I still feel fine in the morning, I'll be going to get Tyler. Can't wait to go home and be a family again for a couple days. :)
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Our Sick Day at the Ronald McDonald House
Dawson woke up every hour or so, mostly dry heaving. He got up (unknown to me until it was too late) and chugged down all the water from his sippy. I totally forgot it was still in his reach. :( Of course he threw all that up too, but that was the end of it. In the morning he was walking around saying "owie owie!!" and wanting water. It's hard when they don't understand. I gave him a few sips worth in his sippy. He drank that and continued to fuss and ask for more. I gave him a little at a time, trying to distract him with movies and toys as much as I could. He did play with his legos for a bit and watched some Blue's Clues. He was taking the water fine, so I started giving him a little more, then he was fine and didn't want anymore.
Around 1pm I gave him a small bowl of applesauce. He ate some but wasn't interested in the rest. I'm glad he's pacing himself with the food. He refused when I offered him more a few hours later. The RM house provides cheerios, so I brought some up for him. I've been running down to grab things while he stays in the room. I blocked off the stairs and he was just sitting watching his movie. He didn't seem to mind at all, he's comfortable here now, it's like a big house and I was just leaving the room. I didn't want to risk anyone else getting sick either, or risking him throwing up somewhere. So once supper time came, I went down and got it in to-go boxes. Dawson wasn't very hungry, he picked at some bread and turned the rest down. He didn't even want my cookie, which I thought for sure he'd be fighting me for. He ate some cheerios and was good with that.
He was very active today. He played with a ball on the stairs for a good 2 hours, then wanted to go outside. I put on his mask and we went outside. He ran through the leaves, down the slide and we sat on a swinging bench for a bit too. He played outside for at least an hour. It really wore him out, he fell asleep around 9pm tonight, so I've had a quiet evening! I finished the laundry, washed the bedding. Seems like everyone was doing laundry today! I checked often and finally just went down to the basement to get it done. There's 1 set of machines on our floor, which is about 8 rooms. Then there's 2 sets of machines down in the basement. I've never seen anyone use those yet. I usually just bring our clothes to the hospital and wash them with Tyler's there.
Dawson's fever went away this evening. I checked it around 8pm and it was gone, so if he's still doing good and I'm still feeling good on Saturday, I'll go get Tyler and we'll all go home. I'm really hoping to be able to, but I'm still bracing myself for the flu. At least it's a short lived thing. Hopefully tomorrow will go well so we can have a break for a couple days.
Around 1pm I gave him a small bowl of applesauce. He ate some but wasn't interested in the rest. I'm glad he's pacing himself with the food. He refused when I offered him more a few hours later. The RM house provides cheerios, so I brought some up for him. I've been running down to grab things while he stays in the room. I blocked off the stairs and he was just sitting watching his movie. He didn't seem to mind at all, he's comfortable here now, it's like a big house and I was just leaving the room. I didn't want to risk anyone else getting sick either, or risking him throwing up somewhere. So once supper time came, I went down and got it in to-go boxes. Dawson wasn't very hungry, he picked at some bread and turned the rest down. He didn't even want my cookie, which I thought for sure he'd be fighting me for. He ate some cheerios and was good with that.
He was very active today. He played with a ball on the stairs for a good 2 hours, then wanted to go outside. I put on his mask and we went outside. He ran through the leaves, down the slide and we sat on a swinging bench for a bit too. He played outside for at least an hour. It really wore him out, he fell asleep around 9pm tonight, so I've had a quiet evening! I finished the laundry, washed the bedding. Seems like everyone was doing laundry today! I checked often and finally just went down to the basement to get it done. There's 1 set of machines on our floor, which is about 8 rooms. Then there's 2 sets of machines down in the basement. I've never seen anyone use those yet. I usually just bring our clothes to the hospital and wash them with Tyler's there.
Dawson's fever went away this evening. I checked it around 8pm and it was gone, so if he's still doing good and I'm still feeling good on Saturday, I'll go get Tyler and we'll all go home. I'm really hoping to be able to, but I'm still bracing myself for the flu. At least it's a short lived thing. Hopefully tomorrow will go well so we can have a break for a couple days.
Long Day, Dawson got the Flu
It was a really long day today. Dawson decided to dump the entire box of cereal out onto the unmade bed this morning, so cleaning that up took extra time. I also had to pump because Tyler didn't eat as much as usual yesterday and I was sore.
We got to the hospital around noon. Dawson is great about wearing his mask these days. He used to put up a fight getting it on, but once it was on he was fine. Now he lifts his face up to me when I go to put it on and he'll leave it there! Tyler was happy to see me, he says "mama" a lot lately. He kinda clapped his hands today. He loves it when I clap. He was watching a movie and was excited, so he was waving his arms around and then clapped his partially closed fists together a couple times. It was really cute!
Dawson was pretty bored, he was trying to push buttons on the IV pump and pulling on the tubes. He was goofing with the diaper scale (they weigh Tyler's diapers) and he was getting into my things everytime I'd do anything with Tyler. So I had the nurse change all the diapers today, that really helps. Dawson just knows that as soon as I get those gloves on, I'm busy with something else!
Tyler wasn't eating solids today, or even nursing much. He did seem to keep his good mood though. He's really starting to like Blue's Clues, which is nice because Dawson really likes that show too so it keeps them both entertained. Too bad the hospital only has 1 of those movies.
I called to make a speech evaluation appointment today, I just got an answering machine but hopefully we'll get Dawson in soon. His Dr wanted to wait since we're so uprooted, but it seems like we're here at Children's more than home so I thought we'd do it here. A complete evaluation is booked through February, so I chose to just do speech since he's doing great everywhere else. I have a friend who does development stuff and she often posts a link to the monthly milestone sheets, which Dawson has been doing great in all the physical things, he's just lacking in speech and a some in social development, but mostly where speech is related.
We left around 8pm tonight. Dawson was happy to get back to the RM house, he always claps and says "yay!" when we get there. Leaving the hospital without Tyler is always hard though, today Dawson tried to run back into the hospital. He seems afraid of where he'll end up if Tyler is still in there and we're leaving.
Once we got to the RM house, I thought I lost my phone. It was in the trunk because I'd had it in the stroller last. Whew! While looking for it, Dawson decided to play in a plant and eat some dirt. I came up to him and he had a funny face and dirt on his chin. I tried to get it out but it was hopelessly stuck to his tongue so I gave him some water to wash it down. Dawson had macaroni and some spaghetti noodles for supper. While heating it up we ended up with a 4 year old girl following us around for about an hour. She was asking questions and talking non-stop. I learned that she has a little brother named Dawson and I found out what he likes to eat and what all he's capable of doing. Her mommy also has a baby in her tummy. That's when it got "fun". She wanted to know if Dawson used to be in my tummy, did he like it there, when did he get out.....? I changed the conversation before she asked how he got in there! I really didn't think I was in any danger of that conversation yet, but apparently I was mistaken!! Then she moved on to food, I found out what she likes, doesn't like, what her mom makes her eat, etc, etc... Then we went over what Dawson likes, what I like...WHY to every possible answer. I'm really NOT looking forward to this stage! Though it's cute, I really don't miss all the questions! I had a 4 year old in the daycare I worked at and she was the same way. So all while she's hounding me with questions, I'm thinking "why am I in a hurry to get Dawson to talk?!" Her mom came by a few times, said "you aren't bothering her, are you?" to the kid. Of course the girl says "no, we're just talking". Well I suppose that was true, but seriously, I like my peace and quiet while at the RM house, nobody is around much in the evening and it's just nice to be able to sit and think, or not think! She was pretty cute. Another lady fell into this girl's trap when walking across the room. Ended up talking to her for about 10 minutes. The lady chuckled at all her questions and asked "is she yours?", I said "nope! she just came over and started talking to us". She gave me a look of pity before she left!
I got back to the room thinking how nice and quiet it's gonna be. I got Dawson settled down with some legos, put a movie in for me and got comfy on the bed. Not 5 minutes later, Dawson threw up a ton. So much for peaceful and relaxing! I got up and stuck him in the bathtub. We have a removable shower head in this room so I turned that on and hosed him off, clothes and all. Then I took off his clothes and gave him a bath. Was going to wait until tomorrow but I guess not! Wasn't sure if it was from what he ate or not. He did eat that dirt... Well he seemed to be feeling ok afterward, he voluntarily settled down and went to bed, which was a warning sign to me. Then he threw up a bit more. He's been waking up and dry heaving for the last 2 hours, so I think it's definitely the flu. We won't be going to see Tyler tomorrow. I think we'll just keep ourselves isolated in here. No point in going home to make Dan sick. I have masks to wear in the common areas of the RM house so nobody else gets sick. Will probably only leave the room to get food if we're even hungry for it. If I'm going to get it, I hope I can get it and get over it soon so we can move on! I did get the flu shot but not the H1N1 shot. Dawson didn't get either because he's allergic to eggs. He has no fever so that's a good sign. Hopefully it'll be over soon.
We got to the hospital around noon. Dawson is great about wearing his mask these days. He used to put up a fight getting it on, but once it was on he was fine. Now he lifts his face up to me when I go to put it on and he'll leave it there! Tyler was happy to see me, he says "mama" a lot lately. He kinda clapped his hands today. He loves it when I clap. He was watching a movie and was excited, so he was waving his arms around and then clapped his partially closed fists together a couple times. It was really cute!
Dawson was pretty bored, he was trying to push buttons on the IV pump and pulling on the tubes. He was goofing with the diaper scale (they weigh Tyler's diapers) and he was getting into my things everytime I'd do anything with Tyler. So I had the nurse change all the diapers today, that really helps. Dawson just knows that as soon as I get those gloves on, I'm busy with something else!
Tyler wasn't eating solids today, or even nursing much. He did seem to keep his good mood though. He's really starting to like Blue's Clues, which is nice because Dawson really likes that show too so it keeps them both entertained. Too bad the hospital only has 1 of those movies.
I called to make a speech evaluation appointment today, I just got an answering machine but hopefully we'll get Dawson in soon. His Dr wanted to wait since we're so uprooted, but it seems like we're here at Children's more than home so I thought we'd do it here. A complete evaluation is booked through February, so I chose to just do speech since he's doing great everywhere else. I have a friend who does development stuff and she often posts a link to the monthly milestone sheets, which Dawson has been doing great in all the physical things, he's just lacking in speech and a some in social development, but mostly where speech is related.
We left around 8pm tonight. Dawson was happy to get back to the RM house, he always claps and says "yay!" when we get there. Leaving the hospital without Tyler is always hard though, today Dawson tried to run back into the hospital. He seems afraid of where he'll end up if Tyler is still in there and we're leaving.
Once we got to the RM house, I thought I lost my phone. It was in the trunk because I'd had it in the stroller last. Whew! While looking for it, Dawson decided to play in a plant and eat some dirt. I came up to him and he had a funny face and dirt on his chin. I tried to get it out but it was hopelessly stuck to his tongue so I gave him some water to wash it down. Dawson had macaroni and some spaghetti noodles for supper. While heating it up we ended up with a 4 year old girl following us around for about an hour. She was asking questions and talking non-stop. I learned that she has a little brother named Dawson and I found out what he likes to eat and what all he's capable of doing. Her mommy also has a baby in her tummy. That's when it got "fun". She wanted to know if Dawson used to be in my tummy, did he like it there, when did he get out.....? I changed the conversation before she asked how he got in there! I really didn't think I was in any danger of that conversation yet, but apparently I was mistaken!! Then she moved on to food, I found out what she likes, doesn't like, what her mom makes her eat, etc, etc... Then we went over what Dawson likes, what I like...WHY to every possible answer. I'm really NOT looking forward to this stage! Though it's cute, I really don't miss all the questions! I had a 4 year old in the daycare I worked at and she was the same way. So all while she's hounding me with questions, I'm thinking "why am I in a hurry to get Dawson to talk?!" Her mom came by a few times, said "you aren't bothering her, are you?" to the kid. Of course the girl says "no, we're just talking". Well I suppose that was true, but seriously, I like my peace and quiet while at the RM house, nobody is around much in the evening and it's just nice to be able to sit and think, or not think! She was pretty cute. Another lady fell into this girl's trap when walking across the room. Ended up talking to her for about 10 minutes. The lady chuckled at all her questions and asked "is she yours?", I said "nope! she just came over and started talking to us". She gave me a look of pity before she left!
I got back to the room thinking how nice and quiet it's gonna be. I got Dawson settled down with some legos, put a movie in for me and got comfy on the bed. Not 5 minutes later, Dawson threw up a ton. So much for peaceful and relaxing! I got up and stuck him in the bathtub. We have a removable shower head in this room so I turned that on and hosed him off, clothes and all. Then I took off his clothes and gave him a bath. Was going to wait until tomorrow but I guess not! Wasn't sure if it was from what he ate or not. He did eat that dirt... Well he seemed to be feeling ok afterward, he voluntarily settled down and went to bed, which was a warning sign to me. Then he threw up a bit more. He's been waking up and dry heaving for the last 2 hours, so I think it's definitely the flu. We won't be going to see Tyler tomorrow. I think we'll just keep ourselves isolated in here. No point in going home to make Dan sick. I have masks to wear in the common areas of the RM house so nobody else gets sick. Will probably only leave the room to get food if we're even hungry for it. If I'm going to get it, I hope I can get it and get over it soon so we can move on! I did get the flu shot but not the H1N1 shot. Dawson didn't get either because he's allergic to eggs. He has no fever so that's a good sign. Hopefully it'll be over soon.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Back to the Hospital
Tyler got admitted today. We got going around 10am and got to the hospital just before noon. Dawson threw a tantrum but settled in pretty quick after I put a movie in for him. I found out that I misread the chemo plan. It's 2 days of chemo, not 4. They used to do a calendar and write out the plan, but they don't anymore since I do ok at reading the Dr's roadmaps.
Dawson didn't last very long at the hospital. We left around 3pm to go check into the Ronald McDonald house. We got the room across the hall from our old room, so it's the same but backwards of the other one. This one has no microwave either, I miss that. They do have them downstairs though. Dawson is liking it here. He's getting into everything. So far he's already gotten his head stuck between 2 metal bars of the loft railing. He also took a ton of kleenexes and threw them off the loft, that was entertaining. I came out of the bathroom to find kleenex all over the place.
He didn't eat much for supper, they had vegetarian lasagna and a few casseroles. Dawson won't eat anything mixed. He had a bun some beans and a pumpkin bar. Thankfully I have his own food here, so I can make up for that.
Tyler is in a good mood still, he had a jar of sweet potatoes and some applesauce today. Dawson finished it for him. He's been impressing the nurses with his sitting up and leaning skills. Tomorrow the physical therapist is going to stop by and see what he can do now. The nurse says he's not taking a bottle yet, but hopefully he will eventually.
Dawson didn't last very long at the hospital. We left around 3pm to go check into the Ronald McDonald house. We got the room across the hall from our old room, so it's the same but backwards of the other one. This one has no microwave either, I miss that. They do have them downstairs though. Dawson is liking it here. He's getting into everything. So far he's already gotten his head stuck between 2 metal bars of the loft railing. He also took a ton of kleenexes and threw them off the loft, that was entertaining. I came out of the bathroom to find kleenex all over the place.
He didn't eat much for supper, they had vegetarian lasagna and a few casseroles. Dawson won't eat anything mixed. He had a bun some beans and a pumpkin bar. Thankfully I have his own food here, so I can make up for that.
Tyler is in a good mood still, he had a jar of sweet potatoes and some applesauce today. Dawson finished it for him. He's been impressing the nurses with his sitting up and leaning skills. Tomorrow the physical therapist is going to stop by and see what he can do now. The nurse says he's not taking a bottle yet, but hopefully he will eventually.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Our New TV
My mom and sister came over today and saw what we got. They always make us wait until we come over to see what they got, so we did the same. They seemed impressed. :) Here it is, our new 46 inch Sony LCD TV that we got with our property tax return.
Sitting below it is our old 20 inch TV that we've had since we got married. It was an open item, so we got a really good deal on it. It has a small scratch on the top but you have to know where to look to see it. Not a big deal, I'm sure the kids will put more on it anyway, unfortunately! I'm still trying to get Dawson to be nice to it. He keeps pushing on the screen, it makes a cool distortion color and makes us cringe! I told him he was giving the TV an owie, he seemed to leave it alone a little better after that.
Dawson got a 2 year molar last week and is still working on the others. It was cute when I went shopping earlier this evening, I went to get the boys out and they both had a hand shoved in their mouth! I think they are both teething, Tyler has had his hands in his mouth more too. I stopped using shopping carts because of this, I just push them in the stroller and carry a basket. Thankfully I didn't have much to get!
Tyler is approved for chemo, so we're going back tomorrow morning. First to Grandma's house to pick up the breastmilk, then to the hospital. We also got into the Ronald McDonald house on the first day! There was no waiting list, I sure wasn't expecting that! A big relief since Dawson is with me and I really didn't want to deal with him in the hotel again.
We're gonna have a movie night before I go back. We get a free Redbox dvd every first monday of the month, so we couldn't pass it up. I got The Proposal, I hear it's good. Hopefully we can have a nice relaxing evening before going back. Tyler has been staying up really late these days, until 4-5am a lot of the times. Dawson goes to bed around 11-12 and gets up around 8-10am, so I usually don't get a lot of sleep!
Dawson got a 2 year molar last week and is still working on the others. It was cute when I went shopping earlier this evening, I went to get the boys out and they both had a hand shoved in their mouth! I think they are both teething, Tyler has had his hands in his mouth more too. I stopped using shopping carts because of this, I just push them in the stroller and carry a basket. Thankfully I didn't have much to get!
Tyler is approved for chemo, so we're going back tomorrow morning. First to Grandma's house to pick up the breastmilk, then to the hospital. We also got into the Ronald McDonald house on the first day! There was no waiting list, I sure wasn't expecting that! A big relief since Dawson is with me and I really didn't want to deal with him in the hotel again.
We're gonna have a movie night before I go back. We get a free Redbox dvd every first monday of the month, so we couldn't pass it up. I got The Proposal, I hear it's good. Hopefully we can have a nice relaxing evening before going back. Tyler has been staying up really late these days, until 4-5am a lot of the times. Dawson goes to bed around 11-12 and gets up around 8-10am, so I usually don't get a lot of sleep!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Starting Solids
I decided to see if Tyler would take some baby food today. In the past he'd put up a big fight just trying to get him to open up, so we just waited. Today he opened up and was eating it like he'd been doing it all along! He ended up eating a whole jar of Sweet Potatoes. Hopefully we can add this into his daily routine and he'll continue to eat well. He didn't really make a mess until Dawson came into the kitchen and got into something. I got him out of the kitchen and turned around to see Tyler had dumped the entire bowl onto the tray and was splashing in it and sucking it off his fingers! Why did I leave the bowl on his tray?! Should've known better!
I keep forgetting to mention Dawson's first sentence! He says this quite a bit now, which I think is funny and quite necessary for a 2 year old's vocabulary. He says "I did it", it's so cute! Sometimes I can't figure out what he did, but today I asked him to close the cutting board. He did, we clapped and said "yay", so did he, then he said "I did it" and smiled. :)
For the longest time, Dawson was so good to hand me his plate and everything once he was done eating. I had him start doing that, instead of throwing it onto the floor. Well he's back to throwing it on the floor again. I've been having him pick it all up, but it doesn't seem to be stopping him from doing it.
Tomorrow my mom and sister are coming over. I'm sure Dawson will be happy to see them, he sure loves his Grandma and Auntie. He even says "Auntie" when he sees her or even hears her voice over the phone, it's the cutest thing!
The time change didn't seem to bother Dawson at all. He actually fell asleep an hour earlier than usual (figuring in the time change). I think I wore him out pretty good. He had a rough day, lots of disagreeing and tantruming today, so I'm sure that helped wear him out also.
Today I cleaned the boys' room. I put a bookcase in there, that helped a lot. All the diapers and many other things that had no home are now off the floor and looking a lot neater. I can see the rocking chair AND the floor now! :) Dan put together a new storage cabinet that he bought, it's just like our other one. We put that in the spot where the bookcase is, so now we have a place to put picture albums, books and other things we don't want Dawson getting into. The other day he started dragging out my books, he hadn't really messed with them before so I was glad we bought that!
Some pics from yesterday. The boys were playing with this toy. Dawson likes having things on his lap, so he pulled it up on his lap and a little away from Tyler. That upset Tyler, so I scooted him closer and they both played with it peacefully for at least 5 minutes. It was really cute seeing them play together!
I keep forgetting to mention Dawson's first sentence! He says this quite a bit now, which I think is funny and quite necessary for a 2 year old's vocabulary. He says "I did it", it's so cute! Sometimes I can't figure out what he did, but today I asked him to close the cutting board. He did, we clapped and said "yay", so did he, then he said "I did it" and smiled. :)
For the longest time, Dawson was so good to hand me his plate and everything once he was done eating. I had him start doing that, instead of throwing it onto the floor. Well he's back to throwing it on the floor again. I've been having him pick it all up, but it doesn't seem to be stopping him from doing it.
Tomorrow my mom and sister are coming over. I'm sure Dawson will be happy to see them, he sure loves his Grandma and Auntie. He even says "Auntie" when he sees her or even hears her voice over the phone, it's the cutest thing!
The time change didn't seem to bother Dawson at all. He actually fell asleep an hour earlier than usual (figuring in the time change). I think I wore him out pretty good. He had a rough day, lots of disagreeing and tantruming today, so I'm sure that helped wear him out also.
Today I cleaned the boys' room. I put a bookcase in there, that helped a lot. All the diapers and many other things that had no home are now off the floor and looking a lot neater. I can see the rocking chair AND the floor now! :) Dan put together a new storage cabinet that he bought, it's just like our other one. We put that in the spot where the bookcase is, so now we have a place to put picture albums, books and other things we don't want Dawson getting into. The other day he started dragging out my books, he hadn't really messed with them before so I was glad we bought that!
Some pics from yesterday. The boys were playing with this toy. Dawson likes having things on his lap, so he pulled it up on his lap and a little away from Tyler. That upset Tyler, so I scooted him closer and they both played with it peacefully for at least 5 minutes. It was really cute seeing them play together!
Dawson running over the bubble wrap. This was the smaller piece. He still has a lot more to play with some other day. Should be fun, it sure wore him out! :)
Sibling Fun
Well 2 days ago I said that Tyler isn't getting off his belly yet, but yesterday he was doing it all day long! He gets up on all fours now, off his belly and everything, and rocks back and forth. Dawson was doing that at about 8 months too and he started crawling at 9 months. Yikes! How'd he grow so fast?! He's quickly going from little baby to active baby. He always progresses so fast at home, it's like he's making up for lost time in the hospital!
Tyler is saying "mama" and "dada" more appropriately now. Before it was all dada at home and mama at the hospital. Now he says mama if he's hungry, wet, fell over or has some other problem and he says dada if he sees him walk by or something.
The boys were having lots of fun together last night. I was holding Tyler, flying him around the apartment after Dawson. Tyler was all giggles, especially when he caught up to and touched Dawson and it was the best when he landed on him and we tickled him. Dawson thought it was really fun too, he didn't even mind Tyler touching him for once. He usually doesn't like it and shoves him off. Once Dawson was tired he stopped on the couch. We sat by him, he grinned at Tyler and said "Hi..dada". He still doesn't say Tyler, it sounded like he knew that wasn't right but didn't get how to say it. I said it a few times and he was intently listening but didn't say it. He always gets this bashful look when prompted to say a new word. It's like he doesn't want to say it wrong, so he doesn't say it. You can just see him going over it in his head though, it's cute.
I invited my parents over today to see our new "toy", so after they see what we got I'll post it. I still have a lot of cleaning to do. I also want to switch the toys again. I keep half the toys in the closet and switch them out every couple months. I used to do it every 2 weeks but just got out of that habit. It's always fun to discover the "new" toys all over again. Keeps them busier.
Here's some more pics rom the photoshoot the other day:
Tyler is saying "mama" and "dada" more appropriately now. Before it was all dada at home and mama at the hospital. Now he says mama if he's hungry, wet, fell over or has some other problem and he says dada if he sees him walk by or something.
The boys were having lots of fun together last night. I was holding Tyler, flying him around the apartment after Dawson. Tyler was all giggles, especially when he caught up to and touched Dawson and it was the best when he landed on him and we tickled him. Dawson thought it was really fun too, he didn't even mind Tyler touching him for once. He usually doesn't like it and shoves him off. Once Dawson was tired he stopped on the couch. We sat by him, he grinned at Tyler and said "Hi..dada". He still doesn't say Tyler, it sounded like he knew that wasn't right but didn't get how to say it. I said it a few times and he was intently listening but didn't say it. He always gets this bashful look when prompted to say a new word. It's like he doesn't want to say it wrong, so he doesn't say it. You can just see him going over it in his head though, it's cute.
I invited my parents over today to see our new "toy", so after they see what we got I'll post it. I still have a lot of cleaning to do. I also want to switch the toys again. I keep half the toys in the closet and switch them out every couple months. I used to do it every 2 weeks but just got out of that habit. It's always fun to discover the "new" toys all over again. Keeps them busier.
Here's some more pics rom the photoshoot the other day:
I love that smile!
He was getting hot and crabby so I took off the shirt. Cute chubby arms!
His scar from the first Hickman is getting lighter. If you look close, it's the little red dot at the 1 or 2 o'clock position on the outside of the circle. He's growing into them more too, they used to go down to his feet. I still don't get why they make them so long, it's really not that necessary.
Here's Dawson when he fell asleep at the table the other day
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