Snowy Owls!

One day at work I was walking around with Wesley, not getting any work done, and Jen was sitting at her computer.  I walked around the back of her desk to see that her computer had pictures of white snowy owls on it.  Me: “Why are you looking at pictures of snowy owls?” Her: “I am going to take my kids to Ocean Shores to see the Snowy Owls this weekend.  Want to come?”  Me: “Sure!”

This little exchange was the start of our joint New Year’s goal – we are going to take our families on one new adventure each month this year.  The adventure doesn’t have to cost money, doesn’t have to be extravagant, doesn’t have to be far away, but DOES have to be an adventure!  The snowy owls would be the designated adventure for January!

Jen read on the internet that the Snowy Owls have been migrating to Ocean Shores for awhile now.  The owls sit on the drift wood and in the grassy areas next to the beach to find warmth.  The owls can be small or can have wing spans up to 5 feet.   The pictures showed beautiful white owls, and lots of them!

So… we packed up the cars with the warmest clothes we could find, lunches for the kids, rain boots (just in case) and headed south on the 3 hour drive to Ocean Shores.  When we arrived to Ocean Shores, we headed to Damen Point (this was said to be the location of the Snowy Owls by our friend, internet).  We drove to the beach to find FREEZING wind, sunny skies and excited kids.  We were a little skeptical that we were going to actually see owls and it was so cold we easily could have abandoned the mission.  However, we collectively decided we didn’t drive all that way to turn around AND, what kind of New Year’s goal would it be if we said, “for January, we loaded up the car, drove 3 hours, ate peanut butter sandwiches in our seatbelts, and headed home!”  No… we were going to do this. 

With the babies snuggled in blankets, coats, hats and/or helmets :), and nestled into the double stroller, we started the walk to find the owls.   The wind was so cold it was hard to catch your breath, but the kids were so excited to find sea shells for Kiki, they didn’t seem to notice!

 

After walking for a about 10 minutes, Jen and I decided it was not good parenting to keep our little babies out in this weather and sent Steve and Greg back to the car with the little ones (this was done with much protesting from Steve – even though his hands had no circulation and he seemed miserable.  He apparently was so excited to see snowy owls that he was willing to resort to a small body check to keep me away from the stroller, but that is a story for another day, I suppose).  :)

When the boys turned around, I picked up Evan and trudged ahead with Owen to find owls.  Jen was a little bit behind us with Muffy.  Ivy had a job to find Kiki shells and was not going to stop until her bag was full.  No, OVERFLOWING!

As we rounded a small bend ahead, Owen and I spotted something white sitting on a piece of drift wood.  Was it really an owl?  Yes!!  We saw one!  We came all this way and actually saw an owl!  I was a little worried that Ivy was taking a little bit too long and Jen wouldn’t make it to the drift wood in time to see the owl (considering this was her idea, her research, and basically her trip).  The owl flew away before she got there, but luckily, right up ahead we saw another one!  Two!  (We still don’t know if it was the same owl that had relocated to the new spot or a new owl, but who cares?!  In my book, total owl count = TWO!)

 A nice bird watching lady had a fancy telescope that she let us use to see the owl close up.  Through the lens we could see it was an actual, snowy, white, OWL!

Luckily, Santa had brought binoculars for all the kids this year and we were able to see the owl through the binoculars as well.

After seeing the owls, I decided I should go and find Steve and Greg and let them come out to see the owls.  I ran back to the car to find them sitting on a bench with the babies still in the stroller, asleep.  Apparently they didn’t mind the cold all that much.   I told Steve and Greg where to go to find owls and then sat on the bench and relished in the wonderfulness of our first adventure!

   

After looking at owls, we drove back to the quaint little town, found a hotel, drove on the beach (you can do that here), took pictures, ate dinner at a local fish and chips restaurant, ate ice cream cones, swam in the pool and remembered our childhood as we watched our kids run through the hotel with their cousins!  (They spent the whole time switching from room to room and being amazed at the fact that our room was just like theirs, only switched around!)

All in all, 1st adventure = SUCCESS!!!!

Helmet Update…

Last week I started to notice that Wesley’s helmet seemed to be bothering him more than normal.  He was pulling on the sides and banging on the top.  The little thing also seemed to be rubbing on his cheeks a little more than normal and was harder to get off and on.  My “after the holidays” appointment with Children’s (the surgeons) and with Orthotics was set for today, but I didn’t think we should wait that long for the helmet to be looked at.  I made an appointment to see the orthotics people and took both boys down for a review.  (Evan was happy to get to tag along.  Every time we go to the orthotics place he gets stickers, toys, stuffed animals, etc.  They are very nice and obviously very used to dealing with children).  At the appointment the tech confirmed my worries and told me that the helmet was officially too small.  He did the required “scan” and turns out all the numbers were exactly where they were supposed to be!  Our goal of “Cephalic Ratio” being in the low 80’s? Yep!  82.5 to be exact!  Our goal of 47 cm circumference?  Yep!  46.9!  He informed me that he would shave a little room in the helmet to get Wesley through today so he could meet with the surgeons and figure out the next plan of attack. 

(When I say “shave down,” for those of you who haven’t had a doctor prescribed, orthotic helmet on your baby before – which I am guessing is quite a few of you – the helmet is hard on the outside.  It is made of some sort of very durable plastic type material.  The inside, however, is made of hard-ish foam type stuff.  The helmet originally had about 1 inch (maybe a little less) of foam in the inside.  This foam is contributing to the smell and is the reason we have to clean the helmet every night with alcohol and give Wesley a bath EVERY night.  Each time we have gone in for a check up, they have shaved a little bit of the foam out.  Sometimes on front, sometimes behind the ears, last time by his neck, but almost every time something has been shaved from his cheeks - (they are pretty big cheeks!)  They are able to shave out the foam that is rubbing his skin or making red spots.  They can also make more room for places that are growing in a rapidly growing little boy.)

At the appointment last week, the tech decided to shave more from the cheeks and also a little bit up around the top because the helmet was sitting funny.  Simply too small.  The tech said that “if” the surgeons decided we needed to keep helmeting, we would need to come back in this week and get the new helmet ordered.  I promptly went into planning mode and started looking at colors.  Should the new one be blue or yellow again?  (They don’t give us too many choices.  If they did, you better believe we would have GREEN picked out by Evan.)  What stickers should I pick?  Will his shirts fit over the bigger helmet?  Planning.  However, in the back of my mind I kept silencing this little hope.  The tech said, “if” they wanted us to keep helmeting.  Maybe that meant that we would be done and I could snuggle little Wesley without getting my collar bone smashed by the helmet!  Maybe he could lay down without getting a helmet impression on his little cheek!  Maybe he could start rolling over better and sitting up because the helmet won’t be weighing him down!  Maybe, Maybe, Maybe! 

Today was the appointment with the surgeons and I knew better than to allow that little hope to sneak its way into my thoughts.  The surgeons confirmed that the size and shape look amazing – exactly what we were hoping for.  However, they also confirmed that they didn’t feel comfortable allowing him to be helmet free.  Not yet.  As they were talking I felt like I was listening to Charlie Brown’s teacher. Wanhh, Wanhhh, Wanhh, Wanhh… When they stopped talking, I shook my head and told them I agreed.  We had come so far, I didn’t want any regrets.  I didn’t want to be one of those moms that I have talked to in the waiting room.  The ones that say, “I wish we would have helmeted for ONE more month” or “Looking back now, I wish I hadn’t been in such a hurry to get it off.”  I vowed from the beginning I would do whatever it took to make sure Wesley got the best treatment, the best care and the best options.  I am sticking to my promise, but I am not going to lie and say I wasn’t a tiny bit disappointed. 

I got in the car and called Steve.  All business.  I explained what they had said.  He agreed.  I agreed. I hung up and called over to Orthotics.  All business.  I needed to get the new helmet ordered. I left them a message to call me back and hung up to call Jen.  She didn’t answer.  I hung up and called Dad as promised.  He answered, but quietly said he needed to call me back.  Maybe he was in with an appointment.  I hung up and called Em.  As she answered, tears flew from my eyes.  I couldn’t help it.  Dang that little hope! 

Turns out, we will likely be helmeting for at least another three months.  Maybe longer.  Tears, please stop.  I can do this.  Wesley can do this.  We are used to the helmet now.  Three months have gone by SO fast.  Another three months is nothing in the grand scheme of things!  Tears, please stop.  I must have a clear head when I pick yellow or blue.  This a big decision and I need my eyes to be able to look at the color swatches! 

AND… if they had said he was done, I would have definitely doubted their decision.  I told Jen last week that I thought the sides could still round out a bit and there is a ridge on the top that is very noticeable when his hair is wet.  Today, they confirmed both issues are normal and will just take a little bit more time in the helmet.  Ok.  Here we go.  We have time.  We are on our way to perfection and will stop at nothing short of that!

Christmas!

This was the first Christmas that Evan seemed to realize what was going on.  At first, he didn’t really understand the whole concept of Santa.  We would explain to him that Santa was going to bring him presents and he would just sort of stare at us with this look like, “Why?”  The closer Christmas got, the more things started to make sense to him.  “So, if I am good, I get lots and lots of presents?!”  Yes.  Pretty straight forward. 

So, even though he threw a lot of two year old tantrums, woke up his brother from his nap ON PURPOSE a few times, refused to eat his vegetables, and even got so mad he had no choice but to tip over a chair… Santa came to our house!

Evan was so excited!  When he had gone to see Santa at the mall with Steve and Grandpa Bob he told Santa that he wanted a Green Car, Legos, Dunbar (from Chuggington) and Mtambo (from Chuggington).  When I asked Evan what the green car he wanted looked like, he confidently told me, “I will show you when I get it.”  This made for a little bit of panic hoping Santa would bring him the one he was envisioning, especially considering there are a LOT of random green cars out there in the world.  In the long run…  Santa came through and Evan said the green car he got was EXACTLY the one he was thinking about!  PHEW!  Thanks Santa!

Evan is Three!

The same day that Wesley had his 6 month appointment, we had Evan’s 3 year appointment.  Wow, I know.  Time is flying!  My little “tiny” is 3.  I almost don’t believe it myself.  At his appointment he was 37 3/4 inches tall (51%) and weighed 34 lbs (74%).  The Dr. said the height predictor was indicating that he may only be about 5 foot 8 inches tall as a grown man.  Awesome.  While this wouldn’t be a bad thing, per se, it would just mean that basketball and perhaps football may not be in his future.  He and I have been discussing soccer and golf.  Maybe Tennis. 

For his little birthday party we rented one of those bouncy house places.  It was $100.00 for 1 hour and up to 16 kids could come and jump.  Considering Evan has one friend, Ivy (ok, make that two friends, Owen and Ivy), we couldn’t believe we were spending the money on this, BUT Evan was obsessed with the idea of the bouncy house place because Owen did that for his birthday and Evan wants to do EVERYTHING just like Owen.    After informing Jennifer that her kids HAD to get over their sickness to attend the party I also emailed my friend, Jannine and a mutual friend from law school to let them know about the party.  After all was said and done, kid total = 8.  Parent/Grand Parent total = 6.  Time to party!   When they opened the doors, Evan ran right to the little toddler play area.  This area was set up with toys for kids under the age of 2 who were not allowed to jump.  Um, we have those toys at home… why don’t we try the HUGE blown up jumpy things instead?!

 We got him in the jumpy house, but he was hesitant and ran right back to the toys. At one point, I looked around and ALL the kids were playing with the toys and ALL the jumpy things were empty!

It took a little bit of coaxing by Steve, but eventually we got him on the slide, the obstacle course and into the ball throwing area.  We also got Grandpa Bob down the obstacle course which made my $100.00 totally worth it!  When the party was done he got in the car and said, “That was awesome!” 

 

The party was totally awesome and Evan is totally awesome.  He is still a picky eater and will eat –for the most part - only noodles and yogurt.   It is very difficult to take him out to eat, but only because it is impossible to find something on the menu that he will eat.  Most of the time I have to ask the waiter for butter noodles, plain, with cheese on the side.  Ivy and Owen sometimes like their noodles this way as well and we have officially named the order, “Evan noodles.”  Sad for me.  He loves fruit snacks and chocolate chips, but even a small little bribe for his favorites do not produce a healthy food option.  For example, Me:  “Evan – I will give you chocolate chips if you eat this orange.”  Evan:  “I don’t want chocolate chips.”  Awesome again.  He is stubborn and opinionated and will NOT back down.  I blame Steve.  Okay, okay, I guess he may get some of it from me…

He is friendly, and sweet, and really really really wants to be funny like his cousin, Owen.  He laughs his head off at Owen’s antics and I hear him trying to emulate him all the time.  He is nice to his little brother (most of the time – This does not include the time he threw a shoe at him and then lied about how the shoe ended up on Wesley’s lap…)   Sometimes, when he thinks I am not listening, I hear him trying to take care of Wesley - saying things like, “It is ok, don’t cry, mom will be right here to get you.”

His favorite color is green.  Green everything!  His favorite show is Handy Manny (according to him, but I tend to think it is Chuggington).  His favorite shirt is his green helicopter shirt and he would wear it EVERYDAY if I would wash it that often.  His favorite food is yogurt.  His favorite movie is Cars.  His favorite toys are his Mimi cars and his favorite snuggling item is still his turtle blanket.  (He actually has two turtle blankets now.  Long story short --  I had bought a back up identical blanket in case we ever lost the original “turtle” as he fondly calls it.  One night I was gone and Steve was putting the kids to bed alone.  Evan had put his blanket in the night stand drawer and Steve couldn’t find it anywhere.  In a state of panic, Steve pulled out the back-up only to find the real blanket in the morning.  Evan looked at the “new turtle” and then at the “old turtle” and said, “WHAT! TWO?!”  How exciting!) 

He is my little buddy and will only let me read to him at night.  He loves books and will stay awake as long as possible to hear as many stories as I will read.  His favorite book right now is, “Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site,” but this changes so often it will probably be something different tonight. 

He is all boy and loves tractors, cars, rocks, trains, dirt, you name it.  The only thing that he seems to hate is food…. Maybe some day.

I love him, his tantrums, his singing, his voice, his little hands, his pretending, and his obsessions more than I ever could explain and I am absolutely shocked how quickly 3 has snuck upon us! 

6 Months!

On Thursday, Wesley had his six month appointment.  Stats:  Height - 27 inches (59%), Weight - 19 lbs 8 oz (75%)! 

I cannot believe six months already!  He is still not sitting up on his own, but he is working on it.  He can sit for a little bit, but then falls over in slow motion.  I was a little worried about him, but the Dr. said to give him a break.  He is not "behind" unless he is not sitting at 9 months.  I am convinced he will be able to sit by that time considering he is anxious to be sitting now!  He reaches for everything (Evan's toys included) and has found a new love for my water bottle.  He tries to drink from it and kicks his little feet frantically to try to get to it.  He has two little teeth on the bottom, but is slow to eat solids.  We have tried avocado, sweet potatoes, banana, and now pears.  He wants to eat them and gets really excited when he is sitting in his little high chair.  However, when I try to feed him, he gets the food in his mouth, smacks his little lips, and then starts gagging on the food.  The Dr. suggested that we water it down A LOT and see if that helps.  I watered the sweet potatoes down last night to a pure liquid and the pears were more like pear juice today.  He did a little better, but I think the solid food diet might be a work in progress for this little guy. 

He still laughs all the time and is a happy little baby.  He thinks Evan is hilarious and he gets really excited when Steve comes home from work.  He likes his new wooden toys from Christmas, his stuffed animals, and of course his walker/jumpy car.  He has figured out how to get around and our kitchen cabinets will never be the same.  He gets "running" really fast and bashes the car into the cupboards if they get in his way.  One day I said, "Oh my! Are you ok?" after a pretty big crash.  Evan responded, "Mom, he is fine.  He has a helmet on!"  True.  Very True.

Wesley has a tooth!

Today we woke up to a first tooth! Because I was frozen for the first three months of his life (frozen with fear of the surgery) I tend to think of him as a lot younger than he is. When I saw the tooth I was amazed, but I guess a tooth is totally normal for an almost six month old kid! Yay!

Dress up

Today I told Evan that we were going to watch Ivy's school Christmas program and that I needed him to wear something nice. He said, "ok mom," then got really excited and proudly announced, "I will wear my Cubs shirt!"

Steve's dream! Evan thinks his nicest piece of clothing = a very old, hand-me-down, faded, almost too small, Chicago Cubs shirt.