The Talk ?!

I guess there is a downfall to bathing your 3yr old girl with your 1yr old boy. Brooke was bound to notice there was something a little different about her brother sooner or later....well she noticed tonight.

Intently staring at her brother standing in the bathtub, she asked me, "Mommy, what is on his bum?" (Bum is the word we use to describe the whole area below the waist in general) So I told her what it was called, and what hers was called, and that boys and girls are different and so forth to which she replied with..."do you have an "enis"?" I am still laughing about the whole conversations hours later as I sit here and think about it while I write about it.

She went on to name every boy she knows and asked if they had one...and then she just kinda dropped the subject, but it was almost like Brandon knew we were talking about him. On occasion he has found his boy parts a few times here and there, but tonight he kept grabbing himself and cracking up. Hilarious. I can't wait to see what will happen during next bathtime.

Mothers Day....Delayed

Due to the fact that Mothers Day was FREEZING.............we delayed mothers day....well planting of the flowers anyway. It kinda works out for me because it was like I got two Mothers Days for the price of one. Here are some shots from the day:

Turtle Back Zoo

This past Saturday we went to the Turtle Back Zoo here in NJ. Much smaller than the Philly Zoo, but the perfect size for the smaller kids. This time we had Pap Pap come along with us and had an awesome time.

Sand

I still understand what he enjoys about eating sand!

Ear Tubes Round 1

After ear infections that were not responsible to antibiotics and the past 2, eight weeks apart, that ruptured, today was our day for Brandon's ear tube surgery. I knew what to expect so in that sense it was a little easier than with Brooke, but it still wasn't fun. We had to cut him off of all food and liquids at midnight the night before his surgery (no biggie since he wasn't night nursing anymore). We got him up at about 5:50 and were at the hospital by 6:30AM. He was scheduled for 7:30 and they took him in right on time.

The doctor and the anesthesiologist stopped in before the surgery. Our doctor is great, but you could tell the anesthesiologist didn't work with little kids too much. (A little bit of nervousness set in for me at that point, really the only thing that I don't like about the procedure is that he has to go under) He came up to Brandon and was trying to show him tricks with the stethoscope and telling him to hold is a certain way.....ummm yeah....he is 15 months old....then while he had it on Brandon's back, he told Brandon to take deep breaths and showed him how like he was 5 or something....Eric and I both started cracking up as soon as he left.

It was actually much easier to keep him happy (while he was hungry) before the surgery than I thought. I went into the OR with him while they put him under, glad I was there for him, but he still wasn't a happy camper. I had to put on all the OR gear while looked funny to him and they wanted me to lay him on the table while they put his oxygen saturation thing on his foot. (It would have been much easier if they let me hold him while they tried this because as soon as I laid him down he started kicking his feet). Obviously he didn't like the mask, he fought it, and he cried, but in about 30 seconds he was under.

20 minutes later, with me standing at the door of the waiting room, they called for me. As soon as they opened up the doors to the recovery room I heard his poor little cries :( This is the part that I wasn't looking forward to. I ran right over to him and grabbed him from the nurse who was trying to hold him in the rocking chair. Eyes closed, pushing me away, crying, trying to stand, pretty much all over the place, inconsolable. At that age they just really don't know what is going on. For the first 30 minutes it was like that, then he just wanted to be held and not bothered. I knew it was coming but you feel pretty helpless because there is nothing you can really do to help them, or snap them out of it. Around the 50 minute mark, he started to drink a little and act normal again. He went from sitting still zoned out to drinking a whole juice box, eating a pancake and part of a banana in about 5 minutes. We had him dressed and we were on our way out of the hospital at about 9AM.

We made an attempt to go to music class but he fell asleep in the car on the way there, and I wasn't about to wake him up.

Overall successful, his ears were draining a little (Brooke's never did) but that is normal. Ear drops 3 times a day for the next few days to keep the tubes from clogging and a post op in 2 weeks.

I almost forgot to write this part, our little man must have sensitive skin because he has tape marks on his eye from where they tapes them shut :( (why do they do that anyway) and he has marks all across his chest from the adhesive on the electrodes they put on him...which 2 of them they left on in and I had to soak him in the bathtub to try to loosen them up, which didn't really work so I had to rip them off his little chest :(

Glad it is over.

Sweet Baby Sierra

Happy 1st Birthday to my little niece Sierra!!!! (Technically on the 26th, but her party is today)

Eyes Only A Mother Could Love

So all the infection and gunk that caused Brandon's most recent ear infection is also causing issues with his eyes. It was giving him eye boogers on Monday when he was seen for his 15 month well visit, then it cleared up. FOr the past two days it is back and not a pretty site.

These pics are his after nap booger eyes....yum!

Note: 15 month old, eye drops, 3 times a day for 7 day...oh joy

Messing Around

Just messing around with my moms new camera....I need to figure out how to get the date off....

Philadelphia Zoo...Again

Since we are now members, we will be going a lot! Unfortunately Mimi had to go to a funeral this time, but Amanda was so sick she couldn't go to work and came to the zoo with us, so I didn't have to brave Philly or the zoo alone.

We had another awesome experience with the tigers! One walked right past us twice this time and the cougar did too. Pretty cool to see them so close up. Some of the other favorites were the Gorilla, Rhino and Polar Bear (who Brooke wanted to go swimming with).