Mama's Classroom

Noah loves coming to school with me every morning.  He hangs out in my classroom while I try to get everything ready for the upcoming day and then we walk down the hall to his classroom when the bell rings.

One of his most favorite things in my room are my Big Books.  He gets such a kick out of reading them!

Bath Boy

Noah has recently discovered laying on his tummy in the bath.  For a little boy who used to have a trach...this is pretty HUGE!

 

He also loves to paint with colored shaving cream.  Perhaps a Monet in the making...

  

Lately, Bubs has taken to running around with his hoodie towel on after getting out of the bath.  He likes to pretend he is Superman...but I think he's more like a streaker!

School Pictures

Noah had his very first "school pictures" a few weeks ago.  It is funny the things that are so important to you as a parent.  Bubs taking school pictures was just a huge milestone.  It is something that I experience with my first graders every year and knowing that my Little Man was taking his...well...it was just huge.

We practiced smiling for the camera and putting his hands on the "gate" a few days prior.  One more practice that morning {Squirt had to get in on the action}...

and here's his actual photo.  Isn't he just the cutest!!!

Cuteness

Here are some cute photos Kc took on his iPhone.

Noah loves to play with his Cookie Monster Play-Doh letter making set that he got it from Cuz Hunter and Cuz Brooklyn for Christmas.  Bubs gets a kick out of "feeding" Cookie the letters he makes out of Play-Doh and watching them come out the back.  He called them "poop" one day and I just about fell off my chair laughing so hard.

Sucking the salt off crackers is much better while wearing Mama's sunglasses.

Noah was wearing his own shades and playing with a humpback whale...of course.

Outside

Noah absolutely LOVES playing outside.  If he could, he would spend all day in Nana and Pop-Ro's backyard.

There are so many places to explore,

so much digging to do,

 

and so many friends to play with.

While at the zoo {we're there at least every other week}, Mr. Man enjoys dinging at the Dino Dig and

crawling on the turtle shells.

Bubs especially loves playing outside at our local park.

Random iPhone Photos

Kc picks Bubs up from school every Monday and Friday.  Aren't these the cutest picture of him???  He enjoyed watching his shadow on this particularly sunny day.

There was a birthday party at school and Noah go to take home a balloon.  So fun!

23 and counting

Noah's surgery today went well.  We arrived at Children's Hospital Central California bright and early.  Mr. Man was a happy little guy even though he was probably a bit hungry.  Once we were in the Pre-Op room, however, everything started to go downhill.  Our lovely nurse started to take Noah's vitals and connect the blood pressure cuff as well as the pulse-ox monitor...well...I think that brought back a wave of emotions.  Bubs started screaming and crying.  He wanted to go to leave the hospital and go to the car.  Noah told everyone "NO", including our fantastic doctor when he entered the room.  It wasn't until the anesthesiologist gave my Little Man a bit of "happy juice" that he finally calmed down.

In order to pass the time before surgery, Noah and I sang a few songs.  

The surgery was short and sweet and in no time at all we were all back in the recovery room.  The nurses actually came and got me a bit earlier and rushed me to the initial post-surgery room because Noah was a tad bit agitated and they needed help restraining calming him down.  Bubs was so ready to leave that he was pulling off all the leads that were attached to his chest as well as the IV placed in his wrist {ouch!}.

Our very patient nurse agreed to remove every last monitor and finished taking out the IV and pretty soon Noah was snuggling, quietly in my arms.  We didn't have to stay in the recovery room too much longer and were back at home by noon.  Pheww!

The rest of our day consisted of watching NEMO, snuggling on the sofa, playing with every single shark toy available, a ridiculously long nap {for both Noah and I}, and a splashy bath. 

Bubs talked quite a bit this afternoon about "go to the hospital", "put on blue jammies", and "hello Nurse".  When I asked him why he was crying so much at the hospital, he replied, "Noah scared.  Noah get owie."  It just broke my heart.  My poor Little Guy has such fears about hospitals...and rightfully so.  While he may not remember details about all of his past hospitalizations, he does remember the feelings of fear and pain.  Those feelings are quite powerful and strong. 

I think we will need to do some major counseling or have an intervention or something because Mr. Man will be back in the hospital in six months or so...the tube that was placed in his tear duct will need to come out.  EEK!  

Another Surgery

We're heading back...well, actually Mr. Man is heading back...for another surgery.   If you count all of Mr. Man's previous surgeries and scopes, this is number 22!  It is, however, probably the easiest and least significant of all his surgeries.

 Bubs has a clogged tear duct that needs to be opened.

Seriously?!?

Yep, a clogged tear duct.

Noah's awesome Opthalmologist will be opening up his nasolacrimal duct with a small probe and placing a tiny tube to keep it open while it heals.  How easy is that?!?

Even though this is such a simple procedure, it still is surgery.  We still need to be at the hospital very early.  My little man still can't eat anything after midnight {which makes for a very hungry and grumpy guy}.   Bubs will still be put under anesthesia.  Kc and I will still have to kiss our Little Man good-bye and watch him be wheeled away. It still is scary and nerve wracking.  It is also his first surgery without a trach {which is just making this Mama very nervous}.   

Please think about us tomorrow and join us in prayer for our Little Man as well as for  his amazing doctors and nurses.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day

{only one day late} 

Bubs absolutely LOVES pre-school.  Once he realized that he needed to go every.single.day and that it was full of songs, games, learning, play time, stories, and friends, he decided it was a good thing.  A VERY GOOD THING!

Bubs talks about school every morning while getting dressed.  He talks about playing on the playground {BIG NEMO}, playing with his friends, saying "Bye-bye to Mama", and all of his teachers.  He loves his teachers.

For St. Patrick's Day, the students had the option of creating a "Leprechaun Trap".  We'll just say that Kc truly had a blast working on it and Bubs only wanted to suck on the candy.

 Mr. Man had a great St. Patrick's Day at school and Kc declared him the "King of the Leprechauns"!

Big Boy Bed

Almost two years ago, we started using a feeding pump to give Mr. Man food while he slept.  We found that he tolerated feeds much better while he slept {little did we know at the time that dairy and soy were the enemies of Noah's tummy}.  Later, after we realized that we needed to blend his own food to eliminate the evil dairy and soy, we struggled to cram everything he needed {protein, carbs, vegetables, fruits, fats, calcium, vitamins, minerals, water, calories, etc} into a small enough volume for one day.  We have been tinkering with his feeding schedule to try and mimic a "typical" toddler so he gets a pretty big breakfast before school, a large lunch after school, an afternoon snack, and a large dinner before bed.  He is then put on the pump at night {from about 8:00 to midnight} and given the rest of his food.

About two weeks ago, Kc {who blends all of Noah's food every night} thought he could cram everything into the daily feeds and eliminate the overnight pump.  What?!?  How awesome would that be?!?  Well...we've been at it for two weeks now and it's been quite the success.  Mr. Man wakes up quite hungry now and is eager for his breakfast and all other feeds have been going quite well.

While Bubs was on the feeding pump at night, he had to be contained in his crib.  We could not risk him getting out of bed in the middle of the night {or even in the morning} and pulling out his g-tube because it was attached via tubing to the pump.  Mr. Man has pulled out his g-tube before {all inflated and everything} and let me tell you that it is quite painful.   Now that he is off the pump at night, however,  we could finally convert his crib into a toddler bed.

Oh...my...goodness!

Is he ready for this?  Are we ready for this?  

Well...here goes nothing.

On Saturday, Kc took the front off the crib and miraculously transformed it into an "easily escape-able" toddler bed.  All of Noah's fishy friends joined in the fun!

{Charlie 2, dolphin, beluga whale, Nemo, humpback whale, Squirt, stingray, great white shark, hammerhead shark, sea horse, Charlie}

Bubs was SOOOOO thrilled with his "Big Boy Bed"!  He kept running and jumping onto it, laughing the whole time.

Before bed time, we talked extensively about the rules...once we say prayers and he lays down, he is not able to get out of bed until Mama or Daddy-O come and get him.   Our little "rule follower" said he understood so we read books, said prayers, and kissed him good-night. 

I am pleased to report that Mr. Man has {so far} followed the rules and doesn't get out of bed.

He does, however, roll/fall out of bed at night.  Insert quite chuckle.  Thankfully there are pillows on the ground and the bed is quite low as it is so Bubs doesn't wake-up...he is a NICU Baby after all {he can sleep through ANYTHING}.  Hopefully his little body will learn to adjust and roll the other way during the night.

Our Little Man is growing up so fast...can you believe it???

Ocean Crafts

Noah and I have been getting pretty crafty these past few days.  We've made a few t-shirts including a turtle shirt

and a Nemo shirt.

Both were made out of Bubs' handprints...how cute are those?!?

I even got some ideas from here and Bubs and I made a seahorse out of tissue paper

 

and the cutest shark placemat you've ever seen.

I love that my Little Man loves to craft as much as I do.