2 Years Ago Today...

On Sunday, March 22nd, Noah had his 2nd Birthday. As with any family event, we had been very much looking forward to the big day, organizing a little party for him, Grandma was coming up for a visit, I had grand plans to create a huge 'dump truck' cake using fondant. But on the days leading up to his big day Noah was not feeling too well. What started off as a simple cold steadily grew into a bad cough and a very high fever. So, Saturday morning we decided he probably wouldn't be 100% for his party so thought it best to post-pone. At this point we were just thinking he had a bad little bug that would run it's course while we administered Tylenol and the humidifyer. And just to throw a spanner in the works, our crazy dog Diego injured himself playing with some neighborhood dogs and was behaving a bit like Shay did just before she became permanently paralyzed...so we (I) was freaking out about that and sent Matthew to the emergency vet with Diego Saturday morning. Meanwhile Noah was becoming more and more listless, his fever was not going down and we noticed his breathing was very labored....so we decided once Matthew returned from the vet we would take Noah to the emergency care center to get checked out (kids always seem to get the sickest on the weekends when a simple doctor's visit is not an option.) Well, the situation was not good. Noah's oxygen levels were at 78% which is really low - they get really worried when the levels go beneath 90%. So, next thing we knew Noah was getting breathing treatments and oxygen and needed to stay at the hospital. It was so scary. As a mother you feel like you know pretty much what your child is going through, you know what they look like when they are sick and how they act....but I guess unless you are Tom Cruise with all the medical gears in your home you don't know whether they are getting enough O2 or not. Noah wasn't blue in the lips or anything, but his eyes were soo sick. The doctors and nurses in the Pediatric ICU took incredibly good care of Noah. We definitely felt we were in good hands and when I really realized how serious a situation this was and asked the dreaded question no parent ever wants to ask "is he going to be okay?" The nurse turned and looked at me straight in the eye and very reassuringly said "yes Mam." I think the fact that he was in such good hands helped me to be able to calmly and confidently care for him. I was very much a part of the care team in the hospital, and as strange as it may sound, it was a wonderful bonding experience for us. We slept in the same little bed all snuggled up together, just like we did exactly 2 years ago. And just like when he was a newborn, I was his everything. I was there for him watching him sleep, helping him eat, I was there when he woke up, when he cried, or when he just needed cuddling. This was a scary thing for him, he needed me constantly and I guess in a funny way it was good to be in a place where I could be there for him without interruption.


On his birthday Grandma brought in Noah's favorite pippa (pizza) and made a birthday cake. He opened a couple hospital friendly gifts and the nurses came in with another cake and sang him happy birthday. So even though it was definitely not the birthday we had been planning for, and probably not the one he wanted, it was actually very special.


After undergoing several tests and x-rays they concluded that Noah had RSV which is a common respiratory virus that can have devastating effects on very young children. Usually children 2 and older are not badly effected by it, but in Noah's case they are thinking he may have asthma as well (this they will be better to diagnose if he has a wheezing sickness in the summer months)which means he may be more susceptible to respiratory illnesses. Little Grace Anderson had the same thing in January and was hospitalized for 8 days. It is a really nasty virus, very contagious and something no kiddo should have to endure.
After 4 days and 3 nights in the hospital, Noah was able to breath without oxygen assistance and was able to go home. It took several days before he fully recovered, sleeping all the time. Now he is totally back to normal, apart from his pants which keep falling off his skinny little bum... and it is soooo nice and such a relief to have him back. Sophie was very concerned about her little brother, she did not like him to have oxygen tubes in his nose and although she doesn't come out and say it, she is glad to have him home too. AND I just have to say a big THANK YOU to my Mom, who came up for a long weekend to spend visiting, dining out and playing with the grandkids, but ended up staying an entire week helping us out in every way during this tough week. Hopefully the next visit will go without incident...

Boops and Unnins

Pants are apparently optional in this house lately. Noah requires a constant eye if you are trying to get ready to go somewhere and want him to have clothes on. He can get his clothes off way faster than you can put them on. We did use ducktape for awhile to keep that diaper on, but now it has become obvious he is getting more interested in potty training....sort of. He was interested in pottying on the potty for awhile there but now is just interested in having his pants off. The shrieks of delight and giggles as he runs up and down the hall after removing his pants is hilarious. Sometimes he tries to be super sneeky and he will give you a sly look, and run off into a closet and get naked. Lately he loves to put on "unnins" or undies (unfortunately he does not have any of his own yet so he wears pink Sophie unnins or he tried out daddy's one day and looked like the boy off 'Jungle Book'). Even though he loves to be naked he does understand the importance of wearing his "boops" or boots when he goes outside. Too bad it is 30 degrees or we just might let him....instead we begin the process all over again and try to keep them on long enough to ride our bike around the block. Such a fun game. Endlessly entertaining watching him be a goofy nude dude though...

Molding Clay to the Rescue

So I promised myself I wouldn't use this blog to write about the tough days and the big battles with my 4-year-old.....and I am going to stick to it...but I gotta tell ya, these have been some tough couple of weeks. Besides the normal things that fall under the category of "that sucks" like the speeding ticket I got, or the carton of eggs I dropped on the floor, the job interview I had but the guy called in sick and forgot to tell me so I show up after arranging a babysitter, the fish food that got completely spilled all over Sophie's bed and the pee on the floor from Noah as I was cleaning up the fish food, or my treadmill which no longer inclines, besides those things, Sophie has been tough, and that makes the other things seem like a walk in the park. There was a time when I would proclaim that Friday was my favorite day, but for the past few weeks Sophie is just so worn out by the time Friday rolls around she can hardly function. She is "phasing out" her nap. I guess it is called that because inevitably they go through a 'phase' when they do this. I guess I never thought about what that meant, but what it means is they are not tired enough for a nap and don't want one, but need some sleep or they are too tired the next day...so the 'phase' is the period of time it takes for them to adjust to less sleep and that means tough days. So yesterday was one of those days. Without going into details, let me just say I had to call in my reinforcements for advice and took a time-out for myself to shed a few tears. But in the end the storm blew over and it was molding clay that saved us. I got it out for little Noah who deserves to have some fun despite his sister's tantrums. And wouldn't you know it, Sophie stopped crying, finally ate some breakfast (it was now around 10am by the way) and then sat down and happily molded some clay. I think that it is very hard for me to describe the challenges we face as we parent our little Sophie, and I know that every parent goes through these challenges, but somehow I always feel like my stories seem to top all the other stories when we sit around talking about 'you wouldn't believe what ____ did yesterday'...Usually I don't even get into it, because some stories are just too outrageous. Sophie is a determined little girl, and this shows through in her battles, but also in very positive ways too. Sophie is an amazing artist, now I am for sure biased, but she constantly amazes us and her teachers. She knows exactly what she wants when she sits down at the table to work "mom I need 2 pieces of red paper, my red scissors, a hole punch, tape and some string" 30 minutes later she has created another work of art. We have piles and piles of artwork. She loves it, does it constantly and never wants to stop doing it. Last week at a playdate I had to beg her to stop so that she would play with her poor friend who wanted Sophie to go find her while she hid! So her battles are a bit like that. She knows exactly what she wants and she locks in and fights hard for it. I have no doubt she will be very successful one day - something to do with the arts, perhaps a director or something? Anyway, here are a couple of the things she has done this week. And she took the picture of the molding clay and was very particular about how it all looked inside the frame of the camera! So yes, it was molding clay to the rescue in the end.


It was crazy how much the day changed after that. The hardest part for me was believing the storm had actually passed, was this just a break between thunderstorms or was it safe to get excited about the sun? But it was. We had a great afternoon. Sophie did lots of art, we played 'Puff the Magic Dragon' over and over while we danced, we jumped on the beds, played hide and go seek and watched 'Charlotte's Web' with a bowl of popcorn and chocolate milk (like my dad used to make for us). So, just like the carton of eggs that dropped on the floor, it sucked and it was a mess, but nothing that couldn't be cleaned up and learned from...it is hard to not break eggs when some days you are walking on eggshells.