Disney on Ice

Back in March I had this epiphany. Disney on Ice was going to be in Houston a few weeks before Rachel's birthday. So, I proposed to Rachel the idea of going to that instead of a friend birthday party. The idea was a hit! Yay!!! And of course little sister had to be included. So, I bought tickets for Disney on Ice Rockin' Ever After. Andy had to work that Saturday, but he came home around 2:30 and the girls and I headed out for our 3:30 show. The girls dressed up like their favorite princesses, Ariel and Belle, who were actually both in the show as well. 

My beautiful princesses and I:

Ready for the show to start!

A picture by Belle:

A picture by Ariel:

I had told the girls I wasn't going to buy anything at the show. Well, you know how it goes. They see all the things you can buy. So, at intermission they decided to spend their Easter money they got from both sets of grandparents on a snow cone for $10 a piece. They were happy girls:

A picture of the finale with all the princesses out on stage:

The girls really enjoyed the show! I'm glad we went. And I think it was a great birthday gift for Rachel. After the show we went out to Olive Garden, Rachel's favorite restaurant. It was so much fun to go out with these two girls. They are definitely at fun ages. I loved every minute of it and I think they did too!

Dermabond Nightmare

 

So, yesterday morning I noticed Ian's dermabond (fancy name for surgical superglue) film was peeling away. I just let it be, because it says not to put any tape on it. Well, by 4 pm it was completely peeled away. I checked out his wound and it seemed to be holding. So I figured all was well. I didn't give him a bath last night, just to be cautious. It still looked good when he woke up this morning. After he was done eating breakfast I put him in the playroom to play. When I came back a few minutes later I noticed he had blood on his shirt. So, what to do??? I didn't want to just watch and see over the weekend. So, I called the pediatrician and made an appointment for 1:30. I put a bandaid on it and hoped for the best. The Easter bunny left the most awesome bandaids for Ian in his basket. Nexcare Spider-Man bandaids are fabulous for chin wounds!

Once I got to our appointment both the nurse and pediatrician we're surprised the film had come off. In not so many words, they said if it had been done right it would have stuck better. I guess it now is too bad there wasn't a different doctor the second time I went to the ER. A different set of hands might have been good. Ian's pediatrician also commented that hindsight is always 20/20, but stitches probably should have been done. I asked her if I should have gone to an instacare-type place instead of the ER. She said actually the ER was the best place for lacerations due to them being able to do both dermabond or stitches. Plus, you could get a plastic surgeon, if needed. So, at least I know I did the best I could have for him. If we have a chin laceration again, we're insisting on stitches!!!

So, Ian's pediatrician taped the wound to help minimize the scarring. She sent me home with more tape, just in case. The plan now is to keep the tape on for 3-4 days. She told me if he started picking at it, I could put one of the Spider-Man bandaids over the tape to protect it. Well, after the 10-minute drive home the tape was already peeling back. So, now Ian's going to sport a Spider-Man bandaid for the next couple of days. 

What a nightmare!!! I hope this is the end of this story. His tooth seems to be doing well. No sign of infection. So hopefully in about a week we can laugh about this all. Until then, I'm going to continue to enjoy my ice cream therapy each night. :)

So close...

In other news, Ian is so close to walking. He took a few steps this past weekend while being encouraged by his daddy. Each day he's getting braver and braver. I think this is why he took the tumble on Tuesday. I think he was stepping from his airplane to the bench. Anyhow, here's some video of him tonight:

 

Shortly after shooting the above video he started going for the camera, so I tried to encourage him to walk for that reason. However, he soon started heading towards the entry way bench... He got six steps, but this nervous mommy put down the camera to be ready to catch a possible fall. 

Another video just for fun:

Ian's such a busy, happy boy! He may be walking for good by Mother's Day. :)

Another Badge Earned

I earned another badge as a mom yesterday. We had our first emergency room visit...

The day started out like any other day. It was my turn to teach Joy School (Audrey's preschool group). We had just gotten through our welcome routine and I was reading a book about the number 2. Ian was walking around pushing his airplane. I then heard a bump and a very loud, sad cry. I rushed over to Ian in the entry way and there was blood on the tile. I picked him up, rushed him to the kitchen sink, and took stock. It wasn't good... Blood was coming from his mouth and chin. On closer inspection I saw a pretty deep gash right under his chin. So, the rest is kind of blurry for a bit. But I called my friend Allie and asked her to take me to the hospital. (Lucky her, she always gets calls like these, like when my water broke with Ian.) She said she'd be right over. I walked over to my next door neighbor, Alice, who graciously helped me gather myself, Ian, and the things I may have needed at the hospital. The three little ones went over to Alice's house. Allie was here ready to take me. I held Ian in the back seat while she drove and her 3 year-old son was so good. During the 10 minutes it took to get to the hospital I got a hold of one of the moms to pick up her son and the other one got messages left. So grateful I knew the kiddos were in good hands with Alice. I also called Andy at some point. He wondered if he needed to meet me at the hospital. I told him I'd let him know...

Once I got all checked in at the ER desk, we waited for about 45 minutes. The bleeding had stopped by the time we got to the hospital. Not bad... Allie stayed with me the whole time and it was so nice to have someone there with me. Weston was so good. Luckily minor care opened up at 11 am, which was about the time we were called back. I had to wait awhile once I got to the room. Something about their computers not working. Not sure why I had to wait for that... But once they got up and running, Ian was super-glued and discharged. We were probably there a total of 2 hours. Ian did so good while they cleaned him up and put the Dermabond on. He just laid on the bed and looked up at the doctor and nurse.

I'm not a fan of graphic pictures, but here's one of Ian playing with his car on his hospital bed:

Here he is on the drive home, sound asleep:

Ian transferred to his crib well and took a 3-hour nap. I collected Audrey from Alice and enjoyed the stories she had to tell me about the kids. At one point she asked Laci for her phone number. Laci said 7 numbers, so Alice asked her if it was 713 or 832. And Laci said it was 832. Alice tried the number and of course it was a wrong number... Funny kids! They were all picked up within 30 minutes of Alice taking them.

Ian was in a great mood the rest of the day. He even played outside a bit early that evening:

End of story, right??? Not quite... At bedtime, I put Ian's PJs on, set him down on the ground in his room, and then headed to the bathroom to brush the girls' teeth. He crawled into the bathroom to join me. One of the girls commented that there was blood on his shirt. I had read in the discharge papers that that could happen. I wasn't too worried. I blotted it and blotted it again and blotted it again. Still bleeding. On closer examination I noticed that it was totally split open. It's 8 pm and I have to take him back to the hospital. I called Andy and told him he needed to come home. Luckily that only took about 15 minutes. Once he got home, I headed to the hospital. I had called the hospital while waiting for Andy to get home and they said they would do it again if I would get there by 11 pm. Around 9:30 pm a nurse came out to confirm that I wasn't some overcautious mom. And sure enough, it was split... So, she took me back and they super-glued him again. This time they put it on real thick... Ian wasn't as cooperative this time. The hospital was nice and didn't make me fill out all the paperwork again. When Ian and I got home around 10 pm, there was a sweet note left by the girls:

You'd think my boy would have slept in this morning, but he didn't. He was up at 7 am, ready to face the day. We first went to the dentist (his bottom right tooth is loose). His tooth is now moved forward a little bit. We get to play the wait and see game for the next 2 weeks. It may just heal on its own and it may not. I feel like a super paranoid mom not letting him put anything in his mouth... It's crazy! In 2 weeks the dentist will do x-rays to see how everything has healed up. He didn't want to do any today, because he didn't want to do any more damage. Ian may have broken the bone under his tooth. After the dentist we headed to the pediatrician. On the way, Ian took a little snooze in the car. Poor baby, he was exhausted already. Pediatrician visit was kind of a waste of time. More of a formality. She said it looked good and if I was concerned about anything in the next week or two to come in again. 

So now I'm a super paranoid mom. I feel like all my time is taken up watching Ian. Making sure he doesn't bump his chin, or try to chew on some hard toy, or scratch at the Dermabond, etc... Hopefully in a day or two, I'll feel more relaxed. And hopefully my little boy that just barely got his tooth 2 months ago, is able to keep it. I'm so grateful for the many friends and neighbors I have around me.We feel blessed and are grateful that Ian's on the mend.

15 months

Ian is 15 months old today! We went to the doctor this morning and our little guy is right on track. He weighs 22 pounds, 6 ounces and he's 32 inches tall. He's in the 75th percentile for height and weight!  Our little man still isn't walking, but he's so close. Very soon... He's walking along furniture, standing up on his own in the middle of the room, walking along the walls, and will walk while holding one hand. However, it has to be HIS idea to walk. If you push him, he goes berserk. Ian still isn't talking much, but he carries on conversations through pointing and grunting. He can say basic sounds: mama, dada, nana (night-night), hi, baaa (bath), wow, uh-oh, and I know there's a few more I'm not thinking of. He definitely understands what's being said though. He can follow simple directions, when he wants to follow directions. :) He definitely understands the word NO. He throws fits already and doesn't seem to mind what type of injury may result in throwing such fits. Sometimes I worry that he's going to be a biter, but we're okay so far. I can't tell if he's excited to give kisses or what... 

Ian loves to wrestle, be outside, play peek-a-boo, sing songs with actions, read books, go on stroller rides, watch people, swing, body slam pillows on the ground, and play with his sisters. He's into everything. Some days I don't even know if his toys get played with, but plenty of other things do. He's now been caught twice playing with toilet water. Just yesterday he got the cup that I use to wet his hair in the bath and he was dipping that cup in the toilet and then dumping the toilet water all over the bathroom floor. Must be a boy thing... My girls never bothered with the toilets. Everyone's encouraged to keep the bathroom door closed, but it doesn't always happen. Ian recently learned a new trick - giving high fives. In the past week he's started this shrieking business when somebody takes something away from him or is playing with something he wants. It's quite the shriek! He's also into blowing. He mimicked me one day and now if you tell him something is hot, he'll blow. And sometimes he blows for reasons we don't know...

Ian's had 2 haircuts since turning 1. And he's finally got some teeth. His first tooth popped through on February 13th, when he was 1 year, 1 month, and 1 day old. He now has 6 teeth - 2 on bottom and 4 on top. He's a pretty good teether. It's not like we have sleepless nights or super grumpy days, so that's been nice. He's not much of an eater. He LOVES milk and water, but he's not super interested in most food. It's kind of weird how he's digressed. I feed him to feed him, but it's not like he's ever asking for food. The best way to get him to eat is to have him busy playing with something and he'll eat. Otherwise it's just boring to him. He's pretty good about oatmeal, yogurt, smoothies, veggie sticks, cheerios, pretzels, grapes, and oranges. Everything else depends on his mood...

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Ian from the past 3 months...

Got a hold of Audrey's water:

 

 Just sitting in the tool chest:

Fun at the library:

 

Reading time with sisters:

 

Taking a break from body slamming the pillows:

Mastered the stool:

Loves to play with the pots and pans:

Helping Mom do the dishes:

Garbage time:

Play time:

Emptied out his bottom drawer and climbed right in:

 Future hairdresser?

 Fun at the park:

  

Got to Audrey's Sprite:

 Snuggle time with Daddy:

Mastered a two-step stool:

Helping Mom squeegee the shower:

Just playing in the closet with the girls' shoes:

One-Eyed Ian (it's a clean diaper):

Easter

We had lots of fun this Easter. It seemed to sneak up on us rather quickly. On Saturday, we went to the annual Easter Egg Hunt at our church. The kids all enjoyed finding plastic eggs with candy in them. They were each in different sections, so between 2 adults and 2 cameras, we were able to get some pictures.

Ian picking up some eggs:

 

Audrey, getting serious and walking through the bushes. It was interesting to watch her be so selective. There were a lot of eggs she passed up and definitely certain ones she really wanted.

 

Audrey with her full basket:

Rachel hunting (more like gathering) her eggs:

 

After Ian picked up a few eggs, he was more than happy to watch the others and play with his eggs in his stroller:

 Our happy three:

Andy then took off to work and I headed home with the kiddos. We dye Easter eggs as well for the Easter bunny to hide. I was surprised as I talked to several different friends and not many of them so this... Interesting... I guess Andy and I had this tradition growing up, so we've continued it with our children. I was going to have them dye their eggs while Ian napped. However, right as Ian was going down for a nap a neighbor friend called and invited both of the girls over to play. We didn't want to pass that offer up! While Ian napped I was able to get stuff done around the house and the girls had fun at their friend's house. Once they got home, we then dyed eggs. Andy was still at work and Ian was up by now. The girls had lots of fun dying their Easter eggs:

  

Ian wasn't a huge fan of the tradition (maybe next year when Daddy can hopefully be around):

The finished eggs, I think we ended up with about 27:

The next morning there was lots of excitement as the kids checked out their baskets. They each got new swimsuits, floatation rings for the pool this summer, and some other fun little items. I think they got one piece of candy and then a few snacks (goldfish and fruit by the foot - things I usually say no to).

Swimsuits were quickly put on and we headed out to find the Easter eggs. The Easter Bunny was very creative this year. One of the favorite hiding spots was two eggs in an actual bird's nest that has been abandoned for about a year:

 

 

 Happy girls who have found all the eggs:

 

Ian just observed the girls finding the eggs outside, since he still isn't walking. Once we got inside he was excited to check the eggs out and make sure they really were hard-boiled:

We then got ready and went to church. After church the girls were quick to get back on their swimsuits, have us blow up their flotation tubes, sport their headbands, and play with their flashlights:

We had a relaxing afternoon. That evening we met up with some friends and family for Easter dinner. Our friends have the tradition of making a bunny cake every year for Easter. The kids thought the bunny cake was pretty cool!

We definitely enjoyed our Easter weekend. The girls and I enjoyed doing their "Resurrection Eggs" starting 12 nights before Easter Sunday. Each night we read some scriptures and learned about the events leading up to our Savior's crucifixion and resurrection. This has become a tradition in our house and they look forward to it every year. They are getting so smart and learning so much. We do have fun with the Easter bunny, but we also truly know why we celebrate Easter. And it's a very tender thing to watch your children learn and grow in the Gospel. We feel blessed!