First Day of School

Noah was supposed to start school on Monday the 30th.  We had been preparing for several weeks.  We made trips to the new school, took plenty of pictures, practiced the new routine, and talked about it over and over again.  We also took the pictures and put them into a book.  Every night we would read the book and get excited about "Copper Hills School" {as Noah calls it}. 

Well, the day before school, Bubs developed a runny nose which slowly got worse and worse throughout the day.  And then the cough started...and boy was it a wicked cough.  The poor guy had such a hard time breathing.  He couldn't breathe through his nose - too stuffed up.  He didn't want to breathe through his mouth - every time he did the coughing would start.  EEK!

Needless to say, it was a very long night for all members of the Jackson household and we opted to keep Mr. Man home on his first day of school.  How sad is that?!?

After a day spent hangin' at home with Daddy, Bubs was back to his usual self and was excited for his new first day of school.

Thanks to all the prep work, Noah was quite confident as we walked the long hallway to his classroom.

 

He gave Mama and Daddy a quick hug and sauntered into the classroom like he'd been doing it all his life. 

 

WOW!!!

No tears!
No fits!
No whining!

And Noah didn't either!

Could this be a sign of things to come?!?  Noah's amazing teacher e-mailed me an update later that morning and told me he was doing great!  Amazing!  Nana picked Mr. Man up after school and received a glowing report of his first day.  When I got home, Noah talked all about his day at school.  He told me about snack time, painting at the table, playing on the playground, and holding hands with his friend {who just so happened to be a sweet, little girl}.   We truly couldn't have asked for a better first day of school.

That night, we read Noah's school book again and prayed for his teacher and friends.  We talked about going back to school in the morning and prayed for another great day.

As we walked down the hallway to Noah's classroom on his second day of school, Bubs was less than enthusiastic.  What?!?  You had a great day yesterday!  You love school!  You want to do this!

Bubs disagreed!

Mr. Man seemed to be telling me that he already did this.  Yesterday.  Don't you remember?  It was fun while it lasted, but it was over.  Been there...done that.  He didn't need to do it again.

Oh, no!  Here came the tears! I literally had to peel Mr. Man out of my arms and deposit him into the waiting arms of his very patient teacher.

Apparently when we had been preparing Noah for school {visiting the classroom, reading his book, talking all about it} we failed to mention that he would be going every. single. day.

Over and over and over again.

Poor guy!

Noah's teacher reported that he had a great second day and was quick to stop crying.  That made me feel a little better.  Perhaps day three would be better.  Perhaps there wouldn't be any more crying.

Well...that was not the case.  Day three and four looked very similar to day two.  It will be interesting to see what this coming week will bring.  After the weekend at home with Mama and Daddy, will Mr. Man be excited or reluctant to start back at school?

Your guess is as good as mine...

Nobody Told Him

Apparently nobody bothered to tell Noah that it's his birthday tomorrow. He's turning the big 2!!!

Nobody told him about his most fantastic birthday party on Saturday. It's a Noah's Ark theme. Get it??? Two by two...he's turning two...too cute!

Nobody told him about all the friends who are coming and all the fun he's going to have.

Nobody told him about the fun of opening presents on your birthday. All that paper that you get to rip and ribbons you can tear.

Nobody told him...so now he's sick again! Are you kidding me?!? Again?!? We only had a few days with our happy Bubs and now he's unhappy Bubs again. Sore throat, vomiting, open mouth, drooling...could this be strep throat again?!? EEEEEEEEEEEK!

Noah's back on antibiotics and fortunately Daddy-O will be at home with him tomorrow. They can work hard at getting better.

He WILL get better!

He's GOT to get better.

He's got a party to go to!

Someone oughta tell him that...

Feeling Better?!?

When your bathtub looks like this...
and Mr. Man looks like this...
I think you can cautiously say that he is feeling a tad bit better. Thank goodness!!!!!!!!

Cheese and Rice!! Praying!!

So...things have been very interesting here at the Jackson House. On Monday, Kc took Noah into the pediatrician's office and came out with the diagnosis of tracheitis and an eye infection. Our little guy was put back on antibiotics and began to feel a bit better until...

Wednesday evening. 6:15 p.m. We had just finished feeding Noah his dinner and he was cruising around the coffee table playing with some blocks. He began to cough some of the excess mucus out of his trach {a wonderful side effect of the tracheitis} and the coughing lead to gagging which soon lead to vomiting. That is not unusual. What was unusual was the blood, yes blood, that he vomited up.

Note**If you are a bit squeamish, please skip to the next paragraph.**

As I started to clean-up the mess, Kc took Noah and used his G-Tube to suction out the contents of his stomach. Sure enough, there was about 15 ml worth of bright, red blood mixed in with partially digested formula {such a lovely image as well as smell}.

**Ok to resume reading**

A quick call to the pediatrician-on-call confirmed what we already knew to be true...a visit to Children's Hospital ER was in order. We packed our bags {you never know how many days might need to be spent at the hospital} and quickly drove to Children's, which thankfully only takes about 10 minutes. The waiting room was QUITE PACKED so we knew our wait would be long, even though Noah's complications put us in the front of the cue. While waiting, we tried to entertain a tired little man with the toys we brought. He stacked them, threw them, and put them all in his mouth. NOW WHAT?!? Boredom set in quickly! While Noah was banging on a chair, he turned around to look at me and suddenly took three steps towards me. WHAT?!? I picked him up, laughed with glee, and put him back down for a second round. Once again, he took multiple steps towards Mama! WTF! Now! Now! You choose NOW to start walking?!? Apparently Noah was going to do anything to get out of this place.

After six and a half hours, lines, blood tests, IVs, multiple visits from nurses, unruly gowns, annoying intercoms, loud babies crying, welcome visits from Nana, and a great doctor, nobody could figure out why Noah was vomiting blood. We have a follow-up visit with our pediatrician tomorrow, but are not expecting many answers.

Both Kc and I took the day off to sleep, recuperate, and spend some time with our little Stinkpot who decided that steps were "No Big Deal". We were able to capture a few steps he took at home today, but they were nothing compared to what he did in front of the coughing and vomiting kiddos in the ER Waiting Room.



Oh, yes, the Cheese and Rice title...my sister-in-law commented on my Facebook post about being in the ER and Noah walking. She said, "Cheese and Rice!! Praying!!" I thought that summed up the entire evening!

Tempting Fate

So...do you remember two weeks ago when I mentioned that Noah was finally finished with his antibiotics?

Remember?

Do you remember how I joked about Noah needing to get his "antibiotic fix"?

Remember?

Do you also remember how I tempted fate and wrote "bronchial infection here we come"?

Remember?

Well...bronchial infection here we are. On Monday, Kc took our sick little guy into the pediatrician's office and he was diagnosed with bronchitis. So we're back on antibiotics and Mr. Man is making a s-l-o-w recovery.

That will teach me to joke about drugs.