Yes, she’s certainly going to be my little troublemaker.
Unsnapped, unzipped, and more than half off when I walked in to get her this morning.
Category Archives: Firsts
Owen’s first school pictures!!
Hell, technically his first ever professional pictures!! (I had the professional photographer come when he was about six months old but that never turned out…and I had my professional photog cousin take some pics one weekend at a family gathering, but it wasn’t anything official.)
I am BEYOND THRILLED and honestly a little amazed at the perfect smiles and cute poses! I mean, just look at the goofy grin I got this morning! I was really worried about getting one good shot, and I got three! Of course I think Pose B is hilarious because that’s just SO not him but it’s such a typical school photo shot—I love it! I had no idea there would be three options, as the form we filled out just let us pick a color background (beige, blue, or red) and accessories (the letters J-O-Y, etc.).
So after I posted them on Facebook, Tom messaged me:
Tom: OMG! How did you know?
Me: How did I know what?
Tom: The Shirt. Rob and I had to wear matching blue shirts for every school picture, until 6th grade.
Me: Ha ha, I had no idea. I just wanted him in blue since he looks good in blue and I knew I could pick a blue background.
Talk about fate. 🙂
Oh, and…CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. 😈
And, wow have school photos come a long way—you didn’t get an order form ahead of time. As I mentioned, we just got the background and accessory request. You get the order form with the proofs about two weeks later with a website and code numbers to see the proof and order everything from holiday cards to mugs and notepads. I haven’t gotten to check the prices on anything yet, but I’m guessing I’ll just get the smallest package that gets me all three pictures and then I’ll use them as I normally would in my Shutterfly things. STAY TUNED.
Maiden Voyage
Katie and the playset!
The kids wanted to go outside… (Just as an FYI, all pics were taken with my iPhone. I was really impressed today.)
Owen was laying down (pretending to be killed by a zombie thanks to the Mythbusters zombie episode we watched this morning!) so Katie had to do do the same thing.
Then I was only half watching because they were both all over the yard when I looked up to see someone was trying to climb up the playset ladder…
So I lifted her up into the playset so I didn’t have to deal with her falling off. And she LOVED IT! It was her first time walking around up there!
Owen tried to get her to go through the tunnel—she was intrigued but didn’t go through.
A sliding montage…including her first lone trip down the slide!
Someone got stuck!
She finally went through!
And then back to the other side!
And then Katie stepped in dog poop (I just cleaned the yard yesterday so obviously Maggie pooped right by the playset this morning) so Owen ran to get the pooper scooper and HE wanted to do it. He needs practice, but I think it will be a good job for him! 🙂
New dress, new tights, new boots!
The good part about buying kids shoes ahead of time? You can get good sale prices. (It was still a crazy price for kids shoes, but they were $10 off and SOOOOO cute.)
The bad part about buying kids shoes ahead of time? You are only guessing at the sizes and by the time the season is right to wear them, they could already be outgrown.
At least these still fit, but they are a bit tighter than I’d hoped for (they are a 6.5 and I think she’s almost at the limit of her size 6s).
So, since she was wearing boots, that required tights—her FIRST tights, in fact! She didn’t think twice about them and didn’t try to remove them at all! And then it was picking a dress which she might not fit in when it gets to be warm again—a size 18m. But first, we tried shoes because I thought I might be able to exchange the boots for a bigger size (at Amazon) but they are out of stock.
When Owen saw her, he said “Katie! You are so adorable!” 🙂
Another surprise mystery trip!
Much closer to home this time—the elementary school just down the road. 🙂
Katie’s first slides! I missed her very first one but she kept coming back (though not one right after the other). A few times I thought she’d go down frontward but always flipped over.
She also really liked swinging with me. She’d say “Wheee!” And would swing back and forth a few times then want down. She’d wander off then come back and put her arms up. 🙂
On the way home.
Owen: Mom, that was AWESOME! Thank you so much for taking me to the playground!
🙂
Birthday Bowling + A Toe Tragedy
Today we had a birthday party at a bowling alley for one of Owen’s classmates.
He had great fun using up his allotted tokens:
And I played one game for him and won over 100 tickets! He liked feeding them into the counting machine! (I thought we were done at this point which is why I turned them in so early. By the time the day was done, I had three redemption slips!)
Then it was time for pizza, cake, and opening presents. Overall it wasn’t too bad, but the party room was SUPER tiny for all the kids and let me just ask: If you were having a birthday party at a bowling alley on a limited time schedule with little kids with a short attention span, why on earth would you bring ALL your personal presents (at least 10-12)? Bring maybe 2-3 from mom and dad (if any at all) and open the rest at home. But anyway.
Owen was really very patient, and finally it was time for bowling. He wasn’t thrilled with the shoes but I told him he had to wear them. The first few frames went pretty well (they had the bumpers up) but honestly, trying to corral ten or so ~5-year-olds into bowling is like trying to herd cats. Kids running here, running there, between lanes, down the lanes while others are bowling, not waiting their turns, wanting to punch all the buttons on the display… And the noise level? Eeesh. Owen started complaining that the shoes hurt his feet and even though they felt fine, I let him take them off. I bowled in socks as a kid and so could he.
Here was his first go at it!
Then they brought out the helper stands—which made a HUGE difference in the success of each turn.
So it was only Owen and another kid on the last lane. This kid seemed to be a little older and a little bit of a brat—and I have NO idea who his mother was/parents were because no one was ever once close to him the whole time I was there. Well, in about frame six, this kid grabs a ball off the ball return and I guess was trying to be nice and bring Owen a ball for his turn… And just as I’m realizing this could go horribly wrong…yep, bowling ball to the toe. Screaming, wailing, tears, and a little boy sobbing in my lap.
A few moms and kids came over to see if he was okay (he was, he just had to cry a bit and settle down) and one offered to get some ice (oh, yeah, that would be good—I was so concerned with calming him down I had completely zoned on getting ice). Anyway, that was the end of the fun and he just kept saying he wanted to go home. I said we could but we had to leave the ice on for a bit first. The other kid never apologized (I’m sure he didn’t think anything of it) and whoever was there with him never came over (I recognized the few moms that did come over) so that was kind of annoying.
We did have to stop and redeem his tickets on the way out. He had picked out what he wanted earlier and of course they were out of that item. But the guy said we could pick ANYTHING in the case! (I mean it’s all cheap crap, but Owen was excited!) So he picked handcuffs! 🙂 Then it was a slow hobble to the car (I obviously can’t carry him) and he really was a trooper for as painful as I know it was. On the way home I tried to get his mind off it it and had him smiling and laughing. And since he can take pills now, I stopped at Walgreens to get some children’s Advil.
Of course he couldn’t wait to get home to tell Gramma and Grandpa about it and show them. We asked him if he knew the kid and he said no, but he always drops the bowling ball on his foot. 🙂
First School Picture Day!
I can’t wait to see how his first professional pictures turn out…even though he’s used to being photographed, I tried to coach him on smiling nice for the photographer since he won’t take 40 shots like I do. I hope the photog had better luck than I did this morning. We’ll find out in 2-3 weeks.
First Sibling Bath
A week or so ago, Owen asked to take a bath with Katie. She’s old enough now to sit up herself without me having to constantly monitor her, so I agreed…but I did want to wait until Gramma Jean was around to help just in case. 🙂
“Katie! It’s time for your bath!” Just like Owen, she heads right up the stairs!
Cute jams!
Katie’s first spoon
She doesn’t often eat (like) yogurt or applesauce so we don’t have many options to try out spoons. But tonight we needed to keep her busy in her high chair so I brought out some yogurt, a bowl, and a spoon.
Her fingers were the first thing in the bowl. 🙂
My three cookie monsters!
I bought Owen a new size, so his old shirt got handed down to Katie! Now we have three cookie monsters!
And Katie’s first wearing at 15m compared to Owen’s first wearing at 9m:
Owen swallowed a pill today!
Since he flat out refuses to take liquid medicine and turns into a screaming crying snotty hot mess, we had to try something else. So we’ve been practicing swallowing mini M&Ms and he’s gotten good at that…so I decided it was time for the real thing. I’m pretty sure he has allergies (I definitely do and Katie was diagnosed yesterday) so he needs to take something.
I was just going to split mine in half (because they’re small to start so would be super small broken in half—plus wouldn’t require me to buy anything) but all the dosing info I could find said even half was probably too much…plus my parent friends said a jagged half-pill would be harder to swallow. So it was off to a Walgreens where I stood like a zombie in front of the allergy section, looking for the tiniest pill he could take. I settled on Claritin, which is actually smaller than a mini M&M.
When Owen got home from school, it was time. I set the pill down along with some of the mini M&Ms and explained he had to swallow the pill and then he could have the M&Ms. I told him it was medicine (I had debated that, but thought I’d better be honest) and as soon as he heard that, the refusals and hot mess started. Nothing I was saying mattered. Papa got to witness it and was amazed. (I’m not sure he fully understood or believed my stories about how Owen reacts to medicine.)
I told him the pill would help his runny nose. Nope.
I told him it would make him feel better. Nope.
Then I told him that daddy takes pills for allergies, mama takes pills for allergies, Grannie takes pills for allergies, and Katie takes medicine for allergies. He says “So everyone takes pills?” Yes, buddy, pretty much.
Then like it was no big deal whatsoever he popped it in his mouth, took a drink, and was done in three seconds.
Of course I made a huge spectacle about it, saying “Wait a minute. You did not just take that pill. Let me check your mouth. I think it’s hiding!” And of course I was making sure he really did swallow it. 🙂
So now I’m just hoping each day goes a little smoother…and that we work up to larger sizes (because not everything comes in teeny pills) but I’m actually amazed at how well he did.
Go, Owen!
Birthday Gymnastics
Friends had their kids birthday party at the local gymnastics place and Owen and Katie had a blast!
I love that you can see her pigtails in her shadow!
Red cupcake frosting!
Owen really liked it and didn’t want to leave…so I guess I’ll be looking into gymnastics or at least free gym time.
I’m still stunned.
Tonight I ordered pizza for dinner.
Me: Owen, do you want yogurt or do you want it plain?
Owen: Plain.
Me: Completely stunned.
After he ate his two pieces and was clearing his plate, he says “Mama! You forgot the yogurt!” I reminded him he said plain and he didn’t say anything else.
I still can’t believe he didn’t have yogurt. I mean, there are times he doesn’t have yogurt, but never at home!
He asked for the police car!
He actually asked yesterday…but it was dead. So I charged it overnight and it was ready to go when he got home from school today. It was Katie’s first experience. She liked it okay at first…but then Owen jerked it a little and she wanted OUT.
Rocking Owen’s shades:
Left to her own devices…
Owen’s first day of Pre-K!
Of course he wanted to pose with his new sword!
And a side note? Never buy white shoes. Yes, those shoes were white and are now dirty gray. 🙂
Who do you think grabbed the worm?
Of course, my baby girl is the one who grabbed the worm from me. Owen wanted NO part of it.
Owen lost his damn mind.
And definitely his marker privileges. This is what I walked into at bedtime:
One, I didn’t know he even took any markers upstairs.
Two, he’s been great with markers thus far so I had NO reason to believe he’d do something like this.
Three, apparently I needed to remind him markers are for PAPER ONLY.
And four—of course, these weren’t any of the 40 “washable” markers we own. Nooooo, these were some other random markers.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe.
It’s in the first wash cycle now.
Morning at the playground
I told Owen we could go to the playground this morning, thinking he would pick the one we’ve gone to a few times (the one we stopped at on the way back from seeing Tom off) that’s closest to us…but no…he requested the “baseball playground” (obviously, the one next to the ball fields we went to after playing baseball).
He also requested “socks like grannie’s at the hotel” so he could slide down the slides better. So I gave him some of mine (no pics, unfortunately)…and they stayed on pretty long, until he saw a girl in bare feet and then he wanted bare feet, too!
It was a nice, cool, fall-ish morning so we were all in long pants and long sleeves (which felt like heaven!)…but Katie just couldn’t quite understand the long sleeves and kept trying to pull them off.
This is how she sometimes goes down stairs.
Unlike Owen, she doesn’t mind sand at all.
Owen with Connor, one of the kids from my mommy group.
Katie had her first skinned-lip/chin fall on the sidewalk moments before this (she just stumbled). She cried for about 15 seconds while I brushed the sand off her face…and then she was fine.
Her first two-fer tails!
Katie’s first walk down the street!
Since it was a gorgeous fall morning (65° and no humidity!) I decided to take Katie for her first walk down the street…
It took a bit just to get her out of the driveway—she walked around the car about three times. 🙂
I love that you can see her pigtail in her shadow!
Stopping to take a break in a neighbor’s driveway:
She kept bringing me pinecones!
Playing in the dirt!
Katie’s at day care!
I turned in her paperwork last week, so took her this morning for a test run while Owen was at school…and they said she did great! Though, she looked a little lost when I first dropped her off:
Game day!
Well, this morning was the first Special Needs Baseball game day! We drove around a bit until we found it (I’d never been to that complex before), picked up Owen’s shirt, and then it was a waiting game before all the registration stuff ended and volunteers got everything ready. And speaking of volunteers, there were a TON of them—a church group and a biker group along with friends and family—enough for a few on each base, ones to run with each batter, ones to have fun in the outfield, and many to just stand and cheer! (They told me later that there usually aren’t that many until later in the season.)
I had only brought my telephoto lens so I had to make Owen stand about 10 feet away to get a shot. Yes, he’s wearing it over his regular shirt—that was his choice. And I could kick myself for not taking more to have one with better lighting. Oh well. And yes, he had to go potty at that moment—that’s where we headed next. 🙂
Katie wasn’t really enjoying being strapped into the stroller, but since I wanted to take pics, I didn’t really have any other options. (In the future I likely won’t be taking as many pics so I can let her wander.) But she wasn’t really that bad (it could have been much worse) and she enjoyed everyone stopping to talk to her or wave at her. And I tried to keep her placated with milk, snacks, and toys.
He found a ball right away!
Lining up to be divided into teams. He was on the Crushers and they were in the outfield first. They even had a parent sing the national anthem!
Owen’s buddy in the outfield.
There was a lot of this in the outfield.
Bowling?
I think he was going for the fumble recovery. 🙂
Waiting for his turn at bat.
Picking a bat!
On second base!
Third base!
Running for home!
Back in the outfield.
I’m not sure why, but there was spinning.
Back up to bat!
He started running the wrong way, so the volunteers helped direct him! This is one of my favorite pics—even though it’s definitely not the best pic—because it shows how awesome and supportive the volunteers are!
Running to second base!
Coming in to a high-five!
Game over! High-fiving everyone!
You can’t really get a good feeling for how crazy it was. There were so many people around, the game being announced play-by-play on loudspeakers, lots of not-playing going on, no scoring, kids running to whatever bases they want, two or more kids running at the same time, some older kids actually hitting the ball and adults in the outfield taking care of those balls, some kids refusing to bat/run, etc. But it was fun and Owen had a good time…so yes, there will be more weeks of this.
Then they announced that lunch would be served at the pavilion, and Owen was hungry…so we went. Thankfully there was just a prayer before eating—which is just fine with me. They had hot dogs and popcorn—and if you can believe it, Owen ate an entire hot dog, bun and all! For the first time ever! WOOHOO! Then he wanted to play on the playground which was very close…so we went. And I finally got to let Katie out of the stroller and she had A BALL!
As we were leaving, Owen said “That was awesome”…and I’m guessing he meant the baseball, though I guess he could have also been referring to the playground as well. But it was a good day that gave me 428 photos to edit down to 58. 🙂 Next time I won’t take nearly as many!
I’m having second thoughts about Special Needs Baseball
Okay, so I’m REALLY having second thoughts about this Special Needs Baseball thing. It starts tomorrow.
Every one I’ve told about it is like “…Uh…why??? Owen isn’t special needs…” Which, well, technically he is (the autism diagnosis) but realistically, he’s probably not in regards to this baseball thing.
I still think it has the potential of being good for him—there are supposed to be three different levels of play (from needs LOTS of help to needs little help) and it’s good for him to be around other kids—but part of me thinks he may do just as well with “normal” baseball as this might just confuse him since there really are no rules and it’s all just for fun. And, if I’m being honest, part of me just doesn’t want to do it because I’m lazy and it’s a lot of prep work and energy to take two kids places. Of course, I also learned from the website that it’s religious-based, with “fellowship and food” after. Uh, thanks, but that’s not really my scene. So we’ll see about that.
Owen is somewhat excited—which is good—but he honestly doesn’t even really know what baseball is. He’s never watched it or played any version of it (I’m not even sure how he knows what it is—it must have been via osmosis or it’s just a boy thing). I’ve told him if we really don’t like it, we don’t have to do it (which is completely against my usual mantra of you wanted to do this, you’re going to do this)…but if he likes it, we can definitely go again.
It shall be interesting.
Owen’s Preschool Q&A
I’ve seen friends do this with their kids (from five questions to 20) so I thought I’d give it a whirl. I asked each question and wrote down exactly what he said.
- Favorite color: blue
- Favorite pet: Charlie—He licks me every time.
- Favorite food: Sandwiches (What kind? Peanut butter and jelly.)
- Favorite ice cream: chocolate
- Favorite fruit: apple
- Best friend: Joselyne—she’s my girl!
- Favorite toy: cars
- Favorite Cars car: Doc Hudson
- Favorite Super Hero: Superman and Batman
- Favorite TV show: Octonauts—no, Doc McStuffins.
- Favorite book: Olivia
- Favorite movie: Planes
- What I want to be when I grow up: race car man…race car guy…racing guy
What’s funny is that if I asked him the same questions on another day I’d get mostly different answers. For example, he has three friends that he regularly talks about, but whatever he saw (or played with) most recently is going to be the one he mentions (I was SURE he was going to answer that Braxton was his best friend so was surprised when he said Joselyn—until I remembered she was here at the house yesterday for swimming). And when I asked his favorite food the other day for his actual preschool questionnaire, he said pizza. And I know he says he loves strawberries, but today he answered apple. The mind of a four-year-old!
Owen’s first day of school!
After being excited about school being today, he actually started the morning with a mini meltdown because he didn’t want to put clean underwear on because his weren’t dirty (“See? There’s no poop in there!”)—which he was right, there were no poop stains (which is, honestly, fairly new) so I tried explaining that we change our underwear every day but he wasn’t having it. It wasn’t a battle I really cared about, so he got to wear his ninja underwear again.
Then the outfit he had picked out was a little too small. It’s been on the verge for awhile now, and of course this morning was the morning it was too tight…so he wasn’t happy about that and I had to make other outfits look appealing. He wasn’t thrilled, but picked another. While he was getting dressed, he came up to me with sad eyes and said “I don’t want to go to school because I will miss you!” Awwww. I told him he would be so busy and be having so much fun that before he knew it it would be time to come home…and I couldn’t wait to hear ALL about it!
Socks still proved difficult to get on so I had to help with that…and he got frustrated with the tennis shoes, too. Poor kid. But he was still VERY excited for school!
Ready to go!
He was the first one to arrive!
He found his cubby! The poor picture quality is because I only had my phone plus I was holding Katie plus he wouldn’t stand still!
Playing with the other kids before class started.
Then it was time for me to leave so I actually had to get his attention to come over and say goodbye. Yeah, he couldn’t have cared less. 🙂
As I was out in the parking lot talking to another mom friend (from mommy group) asking about our other mom friend, she texted saying she wouldn’t be coming to school because her husband took both sets of keys. I told her I’d be right over (she only lives five minutes away). She’s the one who has volunteered to bring Owen home now and again, so I figured it was karma at work!
Owen’s new foods: Week 2
He only had six new foods this week since he was in the hospital for one of the days.
- chicken from my sandwich at Costco
- guacamole
- chicken fingers (samples at Sam’s Club)
- chicken nuggets (samples at Sam’s Club)
- watermelon
- provolone cheese
Funny story.
So we were obviously at Sam’s Club one night this week and they had the samples going. I immediately hoped there would be some stuff I could have Owen try because how perfect is a one-bite sample? Besides, he needed one extra food because he had skipped a day—and that was the only thing standing between him and his Reward toy for the week.
First up was fruit punch Vitamin Water and he flat out refused that. That floored me because it’s pretty much water. And he likes to sip daddy’s drinks…so I told him it was like that. NO. Not happening. Okay, moving on.
Next was fancy chicken fingers (meaning real breading that looked like fried chicken and not pulverized cracker coating). He said no. I explained how he needed TWO foods to catch up to earn his toy. He said no. I said “It’s JUST LIKE the popcorn chicken you like except it’s a different shape.” Okay, he’d try it. And he liked it—IMAGINE THAT. 🙄 I asked if he would eat those if I bought them and of course he said yes. Fine, whatever, we’ll get them and worst case Katie and I will eat them (unlike the Gogurt he HAD TO HAVE and PROMISED to eat and he ate one and now refuses to eat them). In the same aisle, he saw the dinosaur chicken nuggets and expressed interest so I asked if he’d eat those, too, and he said yes. Okay, in the cart they go.
So the next aisle’s sample was…chicken nuggets! Tyson brand vs. whatever generic brand the dinosaurs were. I asked Owen if he wanted to try that. No. SERIOUSLY, KID?! You just ate and liked chicken fingers but you don’t want to try chicken nuggets? He kills me. So I again explained about needing an extra food and this is JUST LIKE THE CHICKEN HE JUST ATE…and he agreed to try it. So he’s nibbling on it as we’re going down the next aisle (where Katie scarfed the full sample of red potato potato salad) and before I realize it, HE ASKED IF HE COULD HAVE ANOTHER ONE! 😯 So we made another pass and grabbed another one! Then we put back the dino nuggets and grabbed the Tyson nuggets! WOOHOO!
I didn’t want to push my luck any farther so that was it for him.
Owen’s going to preschool!
Well, Owen is officially signed up for morning preschool three days a week! I wanted two, but she said better to start with more and cut a day (if necessary) than start with two and want to add a day and have there not be room.
Best part? One of his friends is in the same class! 🙂
Worst parts? Class starts at 8 and ends right in the middle of Katie’s nap. 🙁
So this means we’re all getting up by alarm (YUCK). This was a VERY rude surprise since we thought it was 8:30 (that’s what the paperwork I have said) and that was VERY doable with our regular schedule (Owen is up at 7, I’m usually up and showered by 7:30, but Katie can sleep until 8 or 8:30 sometimes—though it’s usually 7:30). But 8? Good god, that’s a BIG change in our schedule to be up and out the door by 7:35.
And on the other end, I either keep Katie up and deal with her being a hot mess and she falls asleep on the way to pick him up OR I let her nap but have to wake her up after 30-45m. Neither are appealing. Poor second kid gets the shaft nap-wise. The only thing I’m hoping is that maybe by getting her up earlier she will be tired earlier and will nap earlier… FINGERS CROSSED!
That said, one bonus to having a friend in the same class? I already know his mom well (she’s part of our mom’s group) and he’s an only child so she doesn’t have to deal with other kids napping…so she has GRACIOUSLY offered to pick up Owen on occasion and bring him home! So they’ll just come out for lunch and a play date! I swear, this mom’s group just keeps on giving and giving!
The only other thing I was planning on but didn’t pan out is dropping Katie off at the same place for once a week morning preschool…but they only do full-time care for one-year-olds (you have to be potty trained for pre-school classes). They do have drop-off first-come-first-serve daycare, though, so I may still be able to have a morning to myself now and again!
We got to meet his teacher, Miss Jennifer, and see his classroom. He had been SUPER excited about going to school and wanted to GO (not just visit) today but he didn’t seem too thrilled once we got in the classroom. I think (am hoping) it was because they just cleaned it (while the kids were outside) and it smelled like disinfectant. He also could see the playground and wanted to go play but that wasn’t an option.
After a few minutes he seemed a bit more at home and was walking around exploring. He had to go potty when he was there, so he got to check out the bathroom and wash his hands in the kid-sized sink (and learn how to use a different soap bottle and towel dispenser).
The teacher and I talked about his issues (mainly pooping and autism diagnoses) and she said she had another kid with GI issues and that she hadn’t noticed anything autism-related with him. She said they eat breakfast there, there’s no rest/nap time, water is available all day (they just have to ask for it), they have outdoor play time, and there’s no real regimented activity time (like “Okay, you HAVE TO sit here and practice writing for 15 minutes.”).
I still can’t believe this is happening. My baby is leaving the nest… I just wish he was taking a school bus so I didn’t have to spend an hour of my day trekking back and forth. 🙂
Home again, home again.
Almost as soon as we got home and walked through the door, Tom happened to Skype. Within 30 seconds, Owen told me he had to poop! WOOHOO! So all three of us went in the bathroom (yes, Tom came with us) and…OWEN POOPED! It was still all water but he did it all on his own!!! I was amazed, really.
As we were both praising him, he gets off the potty, points to his mouth, then points to the toilet. Huh? I didn’t think much of it because he has a recent habit of being silent while mouthing words and pointing. But then he leaned over and barfed. Again and again.
One one hand…WHAT?!?!
On the other…YAY!!! He finally realized what was coming and actually remembered that we told him to barf in the toilet!
So Tom got to watch him barf from halfway around the world! And I didn’t have anything to clean up!
Owen: Can you wipe my face?
I’m pretty sure it was just the pizza plus the milk he had when he got home. I guess I should have given him lighter fare for at least a day or so.
But, as usual, he seemed no worse for the wear!
Clean out: Day 2—Poop Happened
Owen did pretty well [trying to] sleep with the lights and vital checks and trips to pee. I wasn’t super comfortable but it wasn’t awful. I turned my lights out at 10:30 and was up at 11:30, 12:30, 3:30, and 5:30—finally getting up for good about 6.
And even though he had strong doses of meds all night…he still didn’t poop (he did pee a few times). He’s a tough bugger, apparently. Or, rather, his poop is the tough bugger. 🙂
He spit up at about 6:15 but it was just phlegm. I had to call the nurse so we could change the bed and get him into a gown. His B also got a little wet so I just threw it in the Family Lounge dryer (I was going to pack an extra B and forgot). Bad mom.
An upset stomach (nausea) can be a side effect of too many meds, so they turned them down (they had been up to the max level). Then he vomited at 7:15 and the tube came out. Ugh. Which means we likely have to go through that torture again. We’re waiting to hear the official next step—though I’m sure it means the tube goes back in because he still needs the meds to poop. 🙁
At least I don’t feel bad for being unsuccessful with the Miralax regimen at home—if they can’t get things going with serious drugs over 12 hours…what hope did I have?
Yep. Another tube. And an enema. Joy.
But before that happens, here’s a happy Owen, cleaned up and in his second gown of the day.
“Mom, I’m gonna lay like this. This is great!”
Of course he’s happy now—he doesn’t know what’s coming. 🙁
Nurse: [Grabbing Owen’s toe.] I think I’m gonna eat this.
Owen: No! I need it! [Taps his toe on the bed.]
Nurse: So I can’t eat it?
Owen: No, toes are for walking, not eating.
It was four hours before he got the second tube. FOUR HOURS. This is walking with the nurse to the treatment room.
This is getting the drugs via the port.
This is Owen on giggle drugs (Versed).
This is putting the tube in. It was a different tube and was done in under 30 seconds this time. Phew.
After he calmed down, they have to blow a puff of air through the tube to see if they can hear it in his belly. Owen wanted to listen, so they let him.
The same as yesterday, we had to wait for an X-ray to confirm tube placement. The air puff can be enough confirmation at some places but here they want to make absolutely sure.
The same as yesterday, he was a hot mess as the drugs wore off. Fine one moment, crying the next.
He wanted to see what he looked like:
It took FOREVER for the X-ray confirmation. So long, in fact—well, at least to me—that I completely forgot about it and panicked and called the nurse (and when I couldn’t get him, snagged the pediatric liaison in the hallway) saying he wasn’t connected to his medicine. I blame lack of sleep.
Tom Skyped in and Owen burst into tears and did NOT want to talk to him. After we hung up, Owen was sad he didn’t talk to him. But didn’t want to talk to him if he called back. Stinker.
Owen finally fell asleep about 1:30 so I ran down to grab a quick bite (and they had a volunteer sit with him in case he woke up while I was gone). Then I took a half hour nap, too.
He can’t easily get to his normal left-hand thumb, so he adjusted. 🙂
They RE-started his meds about 2:30 and planned on doing the enema once he woke up.
As a side note, there have been a few machine snafus—nothing life or death—just annoying.
Of course we get the wonky machine that beeps when you unplug it (it doesn’t hold its charge, apparently) so it starts beeping immediately. That’s nice…especially in the middle of the night. Or when Owen is napping and some other random steady beeps happen. I just push whatever button it’s requesting to shut it up—then go find the nurse.
And I have yet to ask about the nurse call button. No one ever shows up when I press it. Luckily there’s not been a real emergency and I can find someone at the nurses station. (I’m not talking doesn’t show up immediately. I’m talking doesn’t show up after three calls in 15 minutes.)
So…turns out I was using the call buttons on the bed when I was suppose to be using the one on the remote. Yeah, that wasn’t told to me, even when I was talking to the first nurse the first night (about telling Owen not to push that one for fun). I asked some random nurse who was standing outside our room and she cleared it up for me. I used the right button and someone answered in a minute.
Which, oh yeah, Owen pooped! Just a mere 21 hours after starting the meds and 26 hours after being admitted. Hallelujah.
But of course he didn’t go on his own. I had to practically beg him to “just try.” Which he finally did…and then let loose. Yay! But he wasn’t happy—he was crying and drooling. 🙁 I assured him it was okay and that’s what we wanted to happen!! I’m hoping that means we won’t need to do the enema.
He had to pee about a half hour later so I said “Let’s try to poop since we’re already here.” More whining and crying. I almost had to force him on the toilet. Once there? More poop. I just can’t understand how he can hold that all in without feeling uncomfortable or like he’s got to go!
When the nurse finally made it in (he had been admitting a new patient) he was thrilled at Owen’s pooping and agreed we’d hold off on the enema. He said he’d have Owen try to poop while I went to grab dinner.
On the way down, I actually noticed the mat in the elevator. I’ve been in it at least four times since we got here.
When I got back from dinner, I found out from our awesome male nurse that Owen call(s)(ed) him a doctor because he’s male. This is odd because Owen’s pediatrician is a woman (but his GI specialist is a man…) so it looks like we need to have a little talk. Rodney got a kick out of it regardless. 🙂
As we were just sitting there:
Owen: I don’t like needles.
Me: Well you’re done with shots.
Owen: Phhhheeeewwww!! Complete with hand wiping across forehead move.
Me: [Laughing]
So I made Owen poop four more times and the last three were (for all purposes) clear so we’re just waiting on the final word from the doc to get the last X-ray! And he’s already off the meds!
If it was any earlier we’d get to go home tonight…but since it’s a bit of a drive we’ll stay and try to sleep and check out first thing in the morning. (Had he not barfed up the first tube, we’d be about SEVEN hours earlier in this process and surely headed home tonight.)
At 9:30 he was given a clean bill of health—and the okay to eat! Of course, I hadn’t brought ANY snacks (I assumed we’d just eat after he was discharged) but the vending machine had his favorite crackers!! So he was a happy boy!
And the tube should be coming out shortly! (I just wish that part wasn’t taking so long because it’s already WAY past his bedtime (it’s currently 9:45). I know this situation is a bit unusual, but still.)
The doc said he’d cancel the nightly vitals checks so hopefully we can both get some decent sleep…and when the nurse came to take the tube out a little after 10, she said fluids were done, too! YAY! So now at least if he has to pee, he can do it alone (though of course I’ll still hear him). He was excited that he could now potty alone. He still has the port in just in case.
But oh. Taking the tube out. He screeched and cried so much while she was just taking the tape off I was flabbergasted. I mean, I’m sure it didn’t feel great, but I thought his reaction was way overboard…which I blamed on him being overtired. The actual tube removal was nothing in comparison and he about ripped it out himself.
So…an eventful day. Hell, two days. Overall I’d have to say it went much better than I thought. And I really hope we never have to do it again.
