Surgery Day!

On February 22nd Joshua had the tubes put in his ear. Our morning started off early since we had to be at the hospital at around 7:00 AM. I was very concerned that Joshua would be miserable in the time leading up to the procedure since would not be able to eat or drink anything past midnight. I woke Joshua up at 6:00 and changed him into his adorable SuperMan pajamas and brought him downstairs, my friend was coming with me since Chris needed to go to work that day. The first thing Joshua headed to was his high chair, he pulled a bib out of the pocket at the back of his high chair and tried putting it on. I quickly distracted him, put his coat on and rushed out the door. We were very careful not to mention and sort of food or drink in front of him so that we didn't remind him that he hadn't eaten. After we got to the hospital we waited around for about an hour until they called us in to get him changed in to his pink prison pajamas. The nurse gave him a huge syringe of tylenol and he got sleepy quite quickly. We went back to wait for them to call Joshua's name. My Dad arrived just when the called Joshua's name so they gave each other a quick hello and we went off to meet with the anaestheologist before heading into the Operation Room.

I was glad that I was able to stay with Joshua while they were putting him under, but it was probably one of the scariest moments of my parenting life. When we got into the OR I sat Joshua in my lap with his arms around my back while the anaestheologist inserted the IV in his hand. He cried the worst cry that I have ever heard come out of his little body, and the doctor warned me that he would scream for about 10 seconds and then he would just stop, and that is exactly what he did, with a horrible coughing sound in between. The nurse had warned me how he would go limp but I was still not prepared to see my little boy in that state. They whipped him out of my arms and on to the operating table and the doctor walked me out of the room.

I met up with my Dad, Wendy and my friend and we went and had a quick bite to eat before heading back to the waiting room where we waited for them to call my name. Once the announcement was made that he was in the recovery room and went back to see him. I walked into the recovery room and there he was sitting on the nurses lap looking quite content while another nurse checked his vitals. I picked him up gave him a hug and we sat for a while and cuddled, that was probably the best part of the day since I don't usually get many cuddles in anymore. The nurse offered him a glass of juice which he very happily guzzled back and politely asked for more.

We were able to take him home about an hour after he woke up and as soon as we got home he had a three hour nap, and as you can tell by the pictures below, he was back this normal self.

A huge thank you to my wonderful friend Megan, who came along with me to help keep me sane, not only is she a wonderful friend, but she will soon be a mommy to beautiful set of twins!

Wa Wow

Joshua love our cat Waldo, especially lately! When ever he sees Waldo he smiles the biggest smiles and chases after him screaming, then when he catches him he pulls him onto to the floor and gives him a giant hug. The poor cat quickly get up and runs away, but he is very good with Josh, he has never scratched or hissed at him, he just takes whats comig and takes off at his first opportunity. This morning as Chris and I were relaxing with a cup of tea, Josh chased the cat down the stairs, opened up the cat door and shouted "Wa Wow, Wa Wow?" So cute! This is the first name he has used to identify something, and no suprise to us, it's the cat!

Big Changes

In the middle of September Chris took the plunge and changed careers. Previously he was a Senior Financial Analyst at a local financial institution and now he is a first year Apprentice Electrician, definitely not a small change. He has gone from a desk job to a one where he spends a lot of time outdoors (or in buildings without windows). I am so proud of him for taking this big step, he considered it for a long time before it became a reality and in the end decided that this was something that he wanted to do. Things have been very different for the last few weeks as we are all adjusting to new schedules, but I look forward to what the future holds and I am so proud of Chris!

The time has almost come!

After Joshua's last ear infection we went back into to see the specialist (on September 22) and she suggested that we make the decision to insert tubes into his ears. She felt it was necessary considering he was having trouble so early on in the cold season. His surgery is set for October 22. We went yesterday to see his regular doctor, where they did a pre-op physical and they said he is very healthy (although there is still some fluid in his ears). He was so well behaved at the appointment yesterday, I was beaming with pride! The doctor assured me he would be just fine with the surgery, to which I responded "I know, I am just looking forward to him feeling better!" He gave me a slightly puzzled look and carried on, apparently as I mum I should be in full on panic mode. I feel so comfortable with the specialist that is performing the procedure that I am not really worried. Although just in case, on the day of I do have a friend coming with me for support since Chris has to be at work! My plan is to get Joshua some super cute Superman pajamas (complete with removable cape) that he can wear to and from the hospital.

This morning Joshua woke up with a runny nose, that combined with his waking up in the night crying for the past two nights has me on high alert that another ear infection is looming (these are the early signs that he usually experiences just before the onset of another ear infection). I am keeping my fingers crossed that he stays healthy, but a trip back to our family physician may be in our near future.

New Shoes

Joshua has outgrown yet another pair of shoes, these are the shoes that his Grandma and Nana bought for him when he started walking, and they have been well loved. The hardest part about shoe shopping is the lack of specialty children's shoe stores. This time we went back to Geox since I know that they have a decent selection of good quality kids shoes, where we bought his first pair of shoes. We ended up with a pair of Geox Creepers, and Joshua is running around like crazy, so I assume that he likes them. We opted for velcro this time since he lacks the patience required to sit still for the time that is required to tie his shoes, his preference is to slip on his rubber boots!

19 Month Pictures

Here are some pictures of Josh from the last month!

19 Months

Today Joshua turned 19 months.

There have been many changes over the last month, the most important change has been his coordination. Now, he is still quite clumsy, however, he is much more steady when he walks, and he runs much faster.

He is learning new things much more quickly now and he is starting to mimic the things that I do. For example yesterday he say me tapping my feet on the ground, since he was standing he started to to stomp his feet and laugh.

This weekend alone he learned quite a few new things, he now says "oh dear" and if he hurts him self or someone else he says "ow." Speaking of hurting others, Joshua has started hitting, thankfully I suppose he only hits me, I am trying to deter him from this, but I am not seeing any improvements. He will hit me and as soon as I say "ow" he puts his head on my should and hugs me. It's cute, but it hurts and I don't want him to continue to do this.

Finally after months of prompting Joshua will finally point to his nose when you ask him where his nose is, he will also lift up his shirt and show you his tummy when you ask to see it. I have been working on these basic body parts for months and he has finally picked them out. It's very cute when he points to his noce, because he doesn't just point to his nose, he pushes down right in the middle of it so his nose goes flat!

18 Months (well kinda)

Joshua turned 18 months old a couple of weeks ago, and again I will say where has the time gone, his 18 month birthday also means that I have been back at work for 6 months (really?).

Unfortunately, at the end of July, Janice, informed us that she would be closing her dayhome. It was a really blow, because we had become so comfortable in our regular routine and Joshua was very content. I got to work immediately on trying to find a someone else to watch our precious boy. Daycare spots can be hard to come by, but I did eventually find another dayhome and Joshua started there this week. It has been a difficult week with getting Joshua settled in to our new routine, with the evenings being the worse, but hopefully things will start to come together over the next couple of weeks.

We finally had our appointment with the Ear Nose and Throat specialist last week, and since Josh hasn't had any ear infections for the last couple of months she is going to hold off on inserting the tubes in his ears. Should he start to develop them again we need to go in and see her. I was very happy with the Doctor and Joshua seemed to like the doctors office. He was given a sticker at the end of his visit which he promplty crumpled up.

We seem to be entering the wonderful stage of the Terrible Twos a bit earlier than two. Joshua seems to be testing everything rule that we have set for him. His latest test is pulling on the curtains, previously he used to love to play peek-a-boo behind the curtains but lately that has progressed to his grabbing hold and pulling as he walks away, my biggest fear is that he is going to pull the rods right down on his head. He also laughs at us now when we tell him now. We have begun to implement time outs, so for one minute he has to sit in his room, this usually consists of a full minute of crying, when we take him out of his room we gently tell him not to pull on the curtains, however he walks right back up to them, flashes us smile, grabs the curtains and tugs and the process starts all over again. Sigh.

Joshua climbs on everything now, we can't turn our head for a moment. It started with him climbing onto the window sill in the living room so he could climb ontop of his Fisher Price Parking Garage. Now he pushing is red chair up to the coffee table and tries to climb on the coffee table, what happened to trying to climb on the couch?

Everyday Joshua walks down the stairs on his own, of course Chris and I are always there going down backwards in front of him since he has a hard time reaching the rails. I was in Toys R Us with a friend of mine yesterday and I discovered this wonderful item that acts as an extension on the rail so that it is at a better height for babies to hold on while they walk down the stairs. This might be something I need to talk to Chris about.

Meal time is easier now that Joshua eats pretty much everything that we eat. His favourite item is still his morning banana and yogurt, but he also loves cut up vegetables and fruits, and most meats. His newest thing is blowing on his food, hot or cold, because he has seen us doing it to his food so many times.

Yard Work

We have been anxiously awaiting for our builders to finish the rough grade and gain approval as well as finish the front landscaping at our house, it has been over a year and they "apparently" forgot about us. Because of this poor Josh has not had a yard to play in. Well we have finally gotten approval and the dirt is fairly flat so we took Josh outside to play with his new digger from Opa and Nona. He had so much fun pushing on the buttons and making it move.

More Farm Fun!

We took Josh back out to my Aunt and Uncle's Farm and tried re-introducing him to the horses and donkeys! This was probably his best trip to date. He loved seeing the animals and even got a kiss from Lucy! He also had a great time playing with Bogey, he was fascinated everytime she caught the ball in her mouth!

Dit U

We think Joshua has said, or is trying to say, his first phrase. When ever wepass him something or he passes us something, we pick him up or put him down, he responds with a sweet little "dit u", which we are now assuming means thank you in Josh talk!! He also of course says mum, mooom (when he is sad), Dad, and Dadda, and Baa for his night time bottle! I think he might be working on some other words but he hasn't yet figured out to express them properly!

17 Months

Our little bald man is already 17 months, how did that happen?



Joshua seems to be doing well, he had yet another ear infection a couple of weeks ago and was but on yet another dose of antibiotics. This time however he had to be taken off early because he developed hives all over his body. We are not sure if the reaction was from the medication or from something he had eaten. He had eaten quite a few strawberries the few days leading up to the rash, he has had strawberries before with no problem so we are a bit confused. Either way, we took him of the antibiotics, as direction by the doctor, and have not given him strawberries since. The poor guy looked as if he had fallen down a couple of flights of stairs because each spot that he had a hive eventually turned into a bruise.

Speaking of ear infections, we finally have an appointment with a Paediatric Ear Nose and Throat Specialist on August 28th, coincidentally the same day I scheduled his 18 month immunizations for.

Joshua is understanding more and more everyday, he follows requests well, when he wants too of course, other times he looks and you and smirks and walks away. He is still not using very many real words yet, which I attribute to his many ear infections, but he is babbling more than ever. Our house is filled with the beautiful sounds of a little boy babbling to us!

Joshua is getting closer to have a full set of chompers, he already has 12 teeth, 4 teeth on the top and the bottom and a molar on each side. I think more are on their way!

It is now more difficult to go places than it was before, he hates being restrained in his carseat or stroller, when we are out walking around he wants to walk around and explore also!

He is eating everything in sight, and he is growing like a weed, I haven't taken him to the clinic to be weighed for a long time, but Chris had him weighed when he developed hives and he was 24lbs. Another thing I attribute to his ear infections, he wouldn't want to eat because his antibiotics upset his stomach so he ate very little for a while.

Great idea

I came across this on one of the blogs that I read and I think it is such a great idea, I will have to try it.

The Seattle Space Needle

The Space Needle was an really wonderful to go and see, the only down part of it is that stollers must be parked in the stroller parking lot and are not permitted at the top. This wouldn't have been so bad had Joshua been younger, but having a very independent toddler who wants to see the world on his own terms, it was definintely difficult. We ended up taking turns with the camera, one would take the baby the other the camera. Unforunately we weren't able to stay up there for long but the few was great while we could enjoy it.

Can you see our car? (It's the white one on the right)

Walking in the Rain

While we were in Seattle we finally got Joshua some rubber boots at Carters. I was sure that now that he finally had rubber boots it wouldn't rain until he had outgrown them. Joshua also has some pretty cute rain gear to go with his boots, his cute rain coat from his great aunt and uncle and a Togg's rain suit (straight from the rain experts in Scotland) from his Auntie Sarah!

Seattle

We had a great time in Seattle, besides some difficult flights, our trip was wonderful.




Joshua's first flight left much to be desired, considering how much travel time he has logged I was suprised at how difficult the first flight was (Edmonton to Vancouver), we then took a small Dash 8 from Vancouver to Seattle and he did much better in fact the sound of the perpellers seemed to have put him into a deep sleep.


We then headed to our hotel, we stayed in a small Days Inn just South of Seattle, I honestly hadn't set my sights all that high with this hotel but we were all pleasantly suprised that it was a pretty decent place to stay. Our only complaint was that they there wasn't a crib as we had requested, so the first few nights Joshua slept with us and then after that he slept in his stroller since he trashes around so violently when he sleeps.


We were able to check out many of the beautiful sites that Seattle has to offer, the Space Needle, the Seattle Aquarium, Pike Place Market, the very first Starbucks, and beautiful park on Green Lake, and of course the outlet malls.

First Bike Ride

Joshua got a bike trailer for his first birthday. The first time we used it we went to the park, since it is a bit of hike to walk there and he is usually quite grumpy when we are walking back.

Finally

Joshua finally started walking last night! he is still not very stable, but it is a start!

I know I have been neglecting my poor blog but I promise to post some pics soon!

On the mend?!

The last few weeks have been rough in our household, with the last week being the worst yet. It started off with Joshua and I both getting sick and ending up with sinus infections. After waiting in a MediCentre for 2 hours we were each given a prescription of Amoxicilyn (to be taken three time a day for 10 days). We both seemed to be doing much better, with only a bit of a cough. Last week we had noticed Joshua's cough getting a bit worse but nothing to bad.

On Friday night I went into Joshua's room at about 10:00 to put him in his sleep sack since it was supposed to be getting cooler over night. He woke a bit so I sat in the glider and was rocking back to sleep, he had a bit of a cough and proceeded to vomit all over me and himself. Chris and I got both of us cleaned up and put Joshua back to bed, a few minutes later it started all over again and continued until about 12:00 at night, so one phone call to Capital Health Link, one trip to the Pharmacy for Paedialite, and many changes of clothes we finally got to sleep at about 1:00. We decided to have Joshua sleep in his playpen in our room just in case.

We took Joshua the doctor on Sunday morning since things weren't looking better and she said we just needed to wait it out. The weekend continued to be rough with Sunday being the worst, he was feverish, clingy and tired the entire day. Sunday night was much better and Monday he seemed to be doing great, on Tuesday he seemed to refress a bit so by Tuesday evening I had enough and took him back to the MediCentre, this time to one with a much shorter wait time. Within 30 minutes of arriving we were out the door. Joshua has his first ear infection, he is still coughing quite a bit but is finally able to keep everything down, he was back to eating on Monday but still had an intolerance for milk until just last night (Wednesday).

Our fingers are crossed that he can kick this bug, we hate seeing our sweet little man sick!

Pros & Cons

Things I miss about being a Stay at Home Mom

1. Spending an entire day with my sweet boy!
2. Getting to sleep in a bit
3. Having a clean house and clean laundry!
4. Grocery shopping during the day!
5. Playdate Wednesdays
6. Being able to regularly update the blog!

Things I like about being back at work

1. The adult interaction
2. Joshua is sleeping better at the dayhome
3. More sleep is a much happier baby!
4. I cherish the time I do get to spend with him (hence why the house and laundry are often neglected)
5. Actually getting to wear nice clothes again