Monday, November 27, 2006

Cars - The Movie

Kian has a new love. The Disney/Pixar Cars. Before we left for our big trip for Thanksgiving, we bought him the movie and planned to let him start watching it on the trip. Well, he watched it a few times in the car and this morning he asked to watch it – for the SECOND time just now! This is the first movie he’s actually sat down and watched (well for the most part) during the slower parts of the movie he plays with his toys but the exciting parts he actually sits down and watches. I think that we will be able to take him to the theater the next time a good movie for him comes out :)

Right now I am trying to do some researching into different toys related to the movie. Kian enjoys playing with his cars more than anything else in his toy box and since the movie is well…cars I think he will love them :)

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Our Thanksgiving :)

So, we are back from Mayberry – I mean Ferndale, CA ;) (Martin calls it Mayberry so it’s okay hehe) Kian did AWESOME on the trip thanks to our DVD player and several movies. We got up there around dinner time on Wednesday (took us about 7 hours to get there because of several stops and really intense rain for part of the drive in the mountains). Of course when we got there Kian just wanted to walk around and not sit in his chair to wait for our food at Curley’s. We did meet up with Jon and Ester (the people who hosted Thanksgiving dinner, own a part of Full Sail, and have a recording studio in Ferndale that Martin is the audio engineer for). I was too busy wrangling Kian and trying to eat the same time to really be able to converse with everyone but heard bits and pieces here and there. Upon walking the half block back to Martin’s place he told us that Eater opened the “parsonage” to us and we would probably be more comfortable staying there. Just catty-corner from Martin’s place is a BIG, old church that Jon and Ester own along with the parsonage behind it. Let me tell ya, when I think of a parsonage I think of simple living, small place but this was QUITE the contrary! It is a Victorian home but has been restored on the inside completely! We were MORE than comfortable there and felt very blessed by Jon and Ester for opening this house to us – pretty much complete strangers.

Thursday there was quite a crowd at “the ranch” (a 19 bedrood 19 bathroom place!!). It’s on top of a mountain that overlooks the ocean. Kian had a great time running around outside on the vast land, playing with the pool table, and trying to love on Ester’s little dog named Lilly. Turkey dinner was AMAZING! Ester and several helpers cooked everything for the 20 some crowd. It was an amazing meal :)

Friday we got up and had breakfast at Papa Joe’s. A bit of a longer walk this time (instead of a half block it was 2 hehe) and we had an AMAZING breakfast there. It was one of those places that offers just a few things on the menu but each one is awesome! I guess a lot of the ranchers go there after they are done milking their cows. Oh yeah, this area is definitely a big part of the dairyland of California. I felt like I was in Wisconsin with the amount of cows we saw. It was very odd to see cows grazing and the ocean waves rolling in the behind them!

After eating breakfast we walked down the main street in Ferndale and looked at shops (most of which had pieces of paper taped to the windows that said “Closed Thursday through Sunday Happy Thanksgiving!” Ferndale is a cute little town :)

After our short walk home we headed up to the studio to check it out. This place is AMAZING…I think our tour lasted about 2 hours to cover the whole place with stories and everything. That place is amazing! The artists and record pretty much anywhere in the house (including the bathroom!) for different sounds. And it’s not only a studio but it feels like a house that has a lot to do so the artists and those working with them will feel comfortable. There is even a chef that works up there to cook for those who are working! I know I am not even giving this place justice in what I am saying – it’s so amazing I’m not even sure where to start or how to talk about it lol!

We left late Friday afternoon. We were all pretty tired and I’m sure Kian was sick of hearing no touch all the time. Kian did great in the car again – that is until we would stop and let him stretch his legs. He didn’t want to get back in the car…poor guy! We got home in just under 5 hours! Thanks to not a lot of traffic, no rain, and not a lot of stops (Kian’s dinner consisted of dried fruit, toddler crackers, and Kix washed down with some whole milk so we wouldn’t have to stop for over a half hour for him to eat).

I think we were all happy to be home and sleeping in our own beds (Toby included). Kian was up an hour earlier than normal – he was doing that when we were in Ferndale – and he went to bed about an hour and half later than usual so today is our recovery day. But we all had a great time and were very happy to spend the holiday with family :)

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Friends and Thanksgiving :)

We had a wonderful visit with my friend Jen and her three little boys. Kian did amazingly well sharing his toys. Since we don’t have many little ones visiting our house, I wondered if he might have issues with sharing. At times he did but in general he was into the sharing deal :)

Thursday her and her husband traveled back to Phoenix. It was about a 12 hour drive – although I wish it were only 12 minutes! Everyone seemed to have a really good time. I know I enjoyed the company a lot!

Being an introvert, I was kind of tired when they left (getting energy from spending time alone). Physically tired but emotionally rejuvenated. We really need to try to meet up again in 2007 for sure!

We Have a Place to Go for Thanksgiving!

I thought this Thanksgiving would be the first that we spent alone. I was geared up for it and mentally had planned a menu of Thanksgiving foods but on a smaller scale (thanks to some brainstorming I did with my mom!)

Well, last week Jamie’s cousin Martin called and invited us to have Thanksgiving with him and some friends! It will be about a 6 hour trip north – not including stops. This will be the first time we made a trip like this with Kian so we are geared up for many stops and have a TripTik printed off from the AAA website to help us in planning those stops. We have also geared up with some new DVDs for Kian to enjoy on the trip along with a new book so hopefully those things will keep him occupied for the most part. We will also have Toby in tow as well! So it will be a family affair with furbies and all lol We are really looking forward to it leaving tomorrow morning!

Friday, November 10, 2006

Kian update and Special Visitors!

Kian is doing much, much better. I think he had some sort of 24 hour virus or something last weekend. He’s definitely back to himself!

Wednesday was our last day of our class (Terrific Two’s) until January. Since Saturday is Veteran’s Day, the teacher brought in flags and played a marching song for us to march around the room and have the kids wave their flags. She allowed the kids to bring home the flags if they wanted – Kian has had the greatest time dancing around and playing with his flag! Isn’t it funny how they love to play with the simplest things even though they have a toy box full of toys.

On a different note, we are gearing up for some special visitors this weekend! When I was pregnant I started posting on a message board for mom’s who were due in May 2004. That group has stayed together and I have made some good friends. Well, one of the mom’s is coming to our area! Her husband has some business in the Bay Area and he is going to drop off his family (her and their three boys) so we can spend the next 5 days together! I am so very excited to finally meet my friend, Jen, in person and for Kian to have a playmate :) We have plans to go to the zoo and take them to EA for a tour. Jen has two older boys and one is very into video games so I figured this would be a very neat thing for her guys to do :)

Speaking of visitors, I have been trying to straighten and clean our house since it’s been neglected a bit due to a sick kid and lack of motivation. I am so looking forward to having some good conversation over a few cups of coffee every day next week :)

Monday, November 06, 2006

Update on Kian

We just got back from seeing Kian’s Ped. He is fine. Has a bit of fluid in one of his ears but we are to continue his antibiotic until it’s gone. He had the beginnings of an ear infection about a month ago and I am pretty sure it was in the same ear.

We were told by Urgent Care more than once that Kian needed to see his doctor on Monday or Tuesday. So that’s why I made the appointment. But I was asked at least three times if he was still sick – it seemed to me like the lady was wondering why the heck we were there if he wasn’t still sick. I figure I’m paying to come in here to make sure he’s rechecked out because I didn’t really trust that yahoo in the UC that looked at him (he said that Kian’s vomit was spit up…2 ½ year olds don’t spit up anymore and when he looked in Kian’s ear he looked at it like 2 feet from his head like the guy needed bifocals or something…so I just wanted to make sure he was ok).

So, as I am sitting in the waiting room I finally get a chance to look over the paperwork that Urgent Care gave us. It says that we didn’t have to see Kian’s Ped unless his symptoms continued! Huh? No wonder why they lady berated me about coming in :(

The doctor we saw was not Kian’s normal one…just the one that sees sick kids for the day. She was nice and answered all my questions.

Before we ended the visit I asked her if she could sign a form for our electric company for having Kian’s HEPA purifier running in his room 24 hours a day 7 days a week (the form gives us a discount on our electricity since it’s a medical need for him to have it). Of course I didn’t look at the form before I gave it to her so I fumbled over the paper work. She asked me a million questions and seemed like she wasn’t going to sign it at all! It’s just a form for his HEPA thing…it’s not like I’m making it up! I think she talked to me for about 5 minutes asking me why we didn’t get rid of our pets, telling me he needs a physical, telling me we need his medical records (which they have), asking if he’s been hospitalized for his asthma….this went on for at least 5 minutes! After giving her answers for everything, pointing out that she has all his past medical records, explaining that he has been in the ER for an asthma attack…she signed the darn thing! Before she left the room I wanted to make sure I was clear that I needed to set up an appointment for a physical (since she asked 4 times I was sure she wanted him to have one but I wanted to ask HER this time). She asked if he had his two year visit yet. I said yes he did, in May….she said “well, your insurance won’t pay for it until next year so you can do it then” HUH?

So now I feel like the village idiot at our Ped’s office. Although we were doing what we were told to do. If any lesson is learned here, it’s to read paperwork! GRR! This weekend was not a fun one and it was rather busy…but still I should have made time to look all this junk over. It might have saved me the humiliation.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

My Sick Kian :(

Yesterday was our first trip to the ER for the year. Kian spiked a high fever suddenly when we were on our way to go shopping yesterday. He was really clingy and moaned and whined a lot…which is so not like him. He wouldn’t drink or eat anything either which was concerning to me since I was afraid he might be getting dehydrated.

I finally was able to get him to lay down in his crib and he took a nap. We weren’t able to get the fever down with Tylenol and after his nap he felt very hot still. I had heard that alternating Tylenol with Motrin can help reduce a high fever. So I gave him some Motrin and Jamie and I headed to the Urgent Care center…it’s closer than the ER.

On the way over to Urgent Care he drank an entire sippy cup of diluted juice. Once we got there he started acting a bit more normal and of course by the time he was assessed his fever was gone. On the way back to see the doctor I discover that Kian had vomited on his blanket while he was sleeping…it was dry but I know it wasn’t there before. I notified the doctor of it and he wrote it off as spit up…last time I checked a 2 ½ year old doesn’t spit up anymore! But he did discover that Kian had fluid in his ears and had the beginnings of an ear infection. So, we went home with a script for antibiotics. At least we are tackling the ear infection and since we need to see our Ped on Monday I feel much better....especially because I really trust our Ped.

When we came home he ate a late lunch – early dinner and drank a little bit more. About an hour or two later he didn’t seem to be himself again. His fever was returning. Right before bed I could give him more Motrin so I did that. We also gave him a cool bath…which he did not like but we felt it was best with his fever to do that. He went to sleep quickly and we checked on him every half hour to an hour to make sure his fever wasn’t rising. I even got up at 2AM, when he would need more meds, and made sure he was feeling ok. His head felt fine.

This morning Kian woke up crying. He didn’t feel warm but it was apparent he didn’t feel well either. He didn’t want me to let go of him at all. He didn’t want to go downstairs or do anything that he normally does. After rocking with him a bit I was able to tell him that we would go downstairs and I carried him down. He saw his milk and ran over to drink it. I thought he was ok. Jamie went out to get the paper and I got Kian’s antibiotic ready. When I started to give him his meds, he screamed…this is not even close to normal for him as he’s a great medicine taker and these meds taste more like candy than anything. I asked Jamie to help me when he got back inside and Kian started to vomit (sorry for the TMI!). Luckily it ended up on clothes and was easy to clean up.

Jamie and I got a quick bath ready for Kian and we both changed. After getting Kian calmed down we gave him some saltines. At first he didn’t want them but when I showed him they were squares he was very interested hehe I knew that they would help to calm is tummy down. He ate a few crackers and had some more diluted juice. Since then he has been very much like himself. He only wants to eat those square crackers though. But I figure that when I am sick only certain things sound good to me. So, he’s had about half a package of saltines this morning (which about ¼ has been shared with Toby).

I’m just hoping that it’s only up hill from here! I will try to update again when I have some news. Hopefully it’s only good news from here on out!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

A little update...

Our Halloween :(

Well, unfortunately Kian didn’t have much of a Halloween. At least he has no idea what’s really happening so it wasn’t that big of a deal, but I still feel bad! Kian started coughing and had a BAD stuffy nose on Monday. It got worst on Tuesday so I didn’t think the cold night air would be good for his immune system or his asthma so we stayed in. We had a few trick or treaters. Kian’s going through a bit of a shy stage so he wasn’t too much into it. I would tell him “Snow White” was at the door or a “duck” and he would come out and check it out. I really look forward to next year when he can pick out what he wants to be and we can take him around the neighborhood. :)

Blue’s Clues

For the last few weeks Blue’s Clues has been sidelined among Kian’s requests to watch different kid’s shows. Today he requested to watch Blue’s Clues after seeing the beginning at the very end of a Tivoed Go Diego Go! show. I have been a bit worried since Santa told me he bought him some Blue’s Clues things and my mom bought him something Blue too – at least Blue is still loved in our house :)

Toys R Us Catalog

It’s a ritual in our house to dig out coupons and ads in Sunday’s newspaper. This Sunday brought the Toys R Us catalog. I paged through and I think Jamie did too. I left it on the table along with some other ads. Kian saw that the cover had something with Diego on it and started to talk to me about it. I think he sat down for about an hour (yes, my son sat down for an hour and he wasn’t strapped into a carseat AND he didn’t complain!) and looked at the catalog pointing out Elmo, Dora, Diego, cars…you name it. Every day since then he has sat at the dining table next to me and looked through this catalog. I know he’s only two, but man I have a feeling he’s going to have a list as tall as me of toys he wants! But at least he’s enjoying such a simple thing! Of course it has to be the virtually free things he enjoys the most hehe