Chuck E. Cheese's

This past Saturday Emma was invited to Mikenzie's 6th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. No one was quite sure why Mikenzie picked that venue but she had a great time, and so did Emma.

For those of you who aren't familiar, it's a "restaurant" with a huge play zone for kids and for parties there is a stage with huge mechanical animals playing instruments (think giant puppets) and a person dressed up as a rat goes around and says hi to the kids!!

To our surprise Emma did not freak out at the giant rat and even gave him a high five.

Being so young we confined Emma to the toddler zone, which was fine with her. Here are the highlights of Emma's first big birthday party...

Emma loves sitting in high chairs, and strollers!!

Wednesday Woes

Today was one of those days - you can tell by the time stamp on this post!! In fact I might go so far as to say it would have been better if I'd stayed in bed, but you know that's never true. I'm learning that there are rays of sunshine in every gray day.

Toby slept in until 8.30am (yay) after being fed at 4.30am (boo). Emma woke up around her usual 7.30am, and was not agreeable to watching TV in my bed while I slept on! Begrudgingly the two of us went downstairs.

By the time Toby woke up I was way behind. We'd originally planned to go bowling with friends, but I canceled because of Toby. About a half hour later I reconfirmed we would be going - I was already going stir crazy with the kids inside on this gray day.

To make matters worse (as if being exhausted with a sick child is not bad enough) I discovered I'd made some accounting errors on our finances and we'd been stuck with some bank charges. After a positive call with the bank they refunded the fees (yay), but for some reason didn't see fit to give us some free money (boo)!! (Not a big deal in reality, but I was crushed that I'd screwed it up. I can be quite tough on myself you know!!)

I also had to run out, with the kids still in their pajamas to deposit a check to clear up said error!! I've only ever done that once before when I had no milk for my cereal and was craving those frosted flakes of corn!

By 11am I was pretty much pulled together and we arrived at the bowling alley. Three of my friends, and all their kids came too and it was chaotic fun. It was here that one of those rays of sunshine pierced my Eeyore-like cloud.

Emma was playing with a toy some of the other kids had brought along. She hadn't really asked, and they didn't want her to (fair enough) and took it back. Emma, a little disappointed (I assume - no expression to base it on!) came over to me, looked up at me with those unwavering brown eyes and signed (wait for it) "share." Aaahhh!!! My heart broke to have to try to explain why people don't always want to share (I didn't bother - she's 2!!) but I was also incredibly proud that she understands what it means, and handled it with such class!

We left after 7 frames as it was lunchtime and Emma was getting tired - she dropped the ball a little close to her feet! She did great, eating everything I gave her. Toby though, not so much. For a baby that puts EVERYTHING in his mouth, he does not like a spoon with food going in there! Soooo frustrating. I'll try him with some pizza!

After nap (I got about 45 minutes!) we were hanging out in the living room. Scott came home before heading to church to do some work. While he was there I called the bank about another charge that appeared during the day (!), and he distracted the kids.

This call was less agreeable and I was pretty argumentative (I'd say I was right but with banks it seems they are always right!). Anyway, while I am "discussing" the issue with the person on the phone and apparently kept saying "but it's the same day", Emma chimes in from the other room, rather loudly "Same day, Same day" over and over! I would have laughed right then if I hadn't been so wound up.

Later we stopped by to visit Scott at church after picking up Toby's prescription (more nebulizer treatments, but they seem to be helping). Emma, the most social and polite 2.5 yr old I know, refuses to say hi to Pastor Bob, and buries her face in my leg if told to do so! I hope it's not an aversion to authority!! What's equally surprising is that to everyone else she now says "Ni-hao", which is Chinese for "hi."

After returning home and putting Toby to bed I was putzing about upstairs when I heard a sound on the stairs. I came out into the hallway to find Emma standing at the top of the stairs - "Look Mummy!" Aargh!!! I nearly had a heart attack. She has never climbed all the way up without us behind her and having slipped a couple times I am nervous even when we are there. Ray of sunshine - she's big and brave!! Where'd we put that baby gate?

Last but not least, since Scott was out late and the TV schedule on Wednesdays is rubbish (British word!) I cleaned the entire house and did laundry. Apparently it is a conditioned response to stress like today was full of! Unfortunately, being goal-oriented I can't go to bed until it's all done. Ray of sunshine - a weekend without seeing all the chores I need to do!

Plan for tomorrow - drink lots of caffeine!!

Check-up

Today was Emma's 6 month check-up with pulmonary. Scheduled for 1pm, I arranged to meet Taryn, a nurse from the NICU for lunch beforehand. Things didn't quite go according to plan...

Last night Toby slept with me, in bed this time, and it was not too bad. Except I could tell he was having a little trouble breathing, short breaths and using all his belly muscles. Since the doctor said to call or bring him in if I saw that, we headed to the doctor at 10.30am.

The doctor out Toby on antibiotics since his symptoms have been lingering for a while and we want to avoid pneumonia. We left there at 11am and headed home so I could pump.

I didn't even take Toby out of his car seat as we left home again at 11.45am. I got to the NICU much later than planned at 12.30. as I waited for Taryn we saw one of Emma's nurses that we haven't seen in 2 years, which was nice.

With only 20 minutes to eat we grabbed a bite from McDonalds and sat in the big atrium where Emma watched the cool stuff they have there. It was nice to catch up, but way too quick before we had to head for the appointment.

While we waited there we saw a few people we knew, all excited about Emma's progress. I don't think there is much of a line between medical interest and personal enthusiasm with Emma's fans - they are genuinely excited about how great she is doing.

Then came the worst part of the visit - the weight/height check. This is where Emma usually has a fit, for some reason. Not so today. I think it helped that she did not have to take her clothes off, but even so she was very calm, and only seemed anxious during the blood pressure check.

The nurse left us alone during the BP check, and when it was finished I told Emma we were all done. She promptly yelled "Nurse? Nurse!" It was very funny.

Once in with the doctor Emma was chatty and responsive, while she is usually shy and quiet. He was thrilled with her and suitably impressed with her gifts. I reminded him about the comment he made about her losing IQ points if she didn't get a CPAP, and how many she must have lost before she got it! He laughed.

The whole time, Toby was as good as gold. I probably shouldn't have taken him and someone mentioned putting a mask on him. Short of rescheduling to who knows when, I didn't see there being much choice.

And so we left. No changes to her treatment, but increased optimism that the sleep study could show she is not obstructing her airway in sleep. Only time will tell.

Pajama Day

Mother's Day ended at midnight, and to his credit, Scott kept it going the whole day, even doing the dishes at 11pm! (Suggestions welcome for something awesome to do for Fathers Day!!)

Normality returned soon after when Toby awoke at 1.30am, coughing and crying. He was comforted being held and rocked in the chair and fell back to sleep. Going back in his crib was not in his plan though, screaming as soon as his butt hit the mattress!

Prioritizing sleep, I opted to take him into our bed. Apparently the lack of movement or lower incline displeased my son and he refused to stop crying until I stood up.

The only compromise I could think of at that inhuman hour was the recliner in the living room - it rocks, and is comfortable enough for me to sleep on it. Toby acquiesced to my choice and set up camp downstairs. Toby woke up occasionally to cough or shift position, but slept fairly well. I probably woke every hour, watching my sleep tick away on the cable box clock.

Scott came down at 6.10am to leave for work and took Toby so I could pump. Toby let himself be laid on the chair and stayed sleeping until 7.15am. I napped on the sofa until Emma called at 7.30am.

The rest of the morning was the battle to stay awake, occupy the kids and ease Toby's discomfort - I've been adding water to his milk so he doesn't get the catarrh build up. Needless to say we are all still in our pajamas - unashamedly so!!