Friends

Today we went to visit my friend, Nicole. Kyle loves playing with her boys, Josh (5) and Philip (3). And hopefully soon her 10 month old, Elise, and Max will be good friends as well. It was great to visit with her and catch up. They're in the process of packing to move to a new house in Potomac, so they'll be a bit further away, but hopefully we'll still get to see them just as often as we do now. We had lunch (well Nicole and I did and the boys managed a few bites in between playing). Kyle, Josh, and Philip had fun playing outside in their yard on the swingset and blowing bubbles, playing cars video games, and playing Thomas trains. Nicole's sister and her two kids were there as well. It was a fun day!

Ladybug Snack

It's so cute the things that get a 3 year old excited! Ever since I mentioned to Kyle that one of the activities on our library coloring sheet was to make a ladybug snack he has been super excited to make it, but we've been missing one key ingredient: raisins. So, we finally got raisins at the store and decided to make his ladybug snack today. He had so much fun and loved eating it!

Adventure Playground

Today I took the boys to Adventure Playground. We haven't been there in awhile so Kyle was a bit timid at first, but soon was quite adventurous as he explored the castle and pirate ship with all its slides and climbing structures. He even told me at one point, as he was holding onto some ropes and climbing up the pirate ship, that he was "heave hoing" and "swashbuckling." Max enjoyed his first time on the swing at the playground. Kyle thought it was so fun that they were swinging together. It was a fun morning!

Art Day

Kyle was feeling very creative yesterday. He spent almost 2 hours painting, glueing, and stamping. Here he is hard at work!

Birthday Weekend

On Saturday we went to Lucas's birthday party. He's a new friend of Kyle's that just turned 3. It was at My Gym in the Kentlands. It was the first time we'd ever been there and it was LOTS of fun - it completely wore Kyle out! They have lots of cool equipment. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but some of the afternoon's events including jumping in a ball pool, jumping on a trampoline, playing the hokey pokey, dancing, popping bubbles, and hanging on (and falling off) the uneven bars. And of course there was a yummy cake! The theme of the party was Curious George so Kyle got a nice Curious George goody bag to take home. It was lots of fun!

Today we went to Carmen's 2nd birthday party. She is the daughter of our good friends, Dave and Lana. They also have another daughter, Lauren (age 4), who is a good friend of Kyle's. They adopted Carmen from Guatemala and she came to live with them when she was 6 months old. Several months later they discovered that she has Tay Sachs, a fatal genetic disease. Here is their story http://www.beautifulcanvas.org/welcome.htm. They have handled this whole experience, as difficult as it is, with such grace and strength. They are an inspiration and such amazing parents. Today was truly a celebration of Carmen's life and all the lives she has touched as family and friends gathered together. Happy Birthday Carmen!

Little Sprouts

Before Max was born, Kyle and I used to frequent Little Sprouts (an indoor play center) about twice a month. We haven't been in such a long time so we decided to go today and Kyle was very excited! Both boys had a great time playing with new toys and making new friends. Kyle always seems to meet new friends wherever we go and is getting so much better about interacting with kids that he doesn't already know. And most everyone loves to meet a baby!

Playdate

Today we went to my friend Valerie's house to see her and her kids Owen and Addison. She's expecting number 3 on August 1, yet she was gracious enough to have us and Kara and her kids Woody and Cooper over for a playdate and lunch. She moved to Frederick awhile back and we've missed having her and her kids nearby ever since, but still try to keep in touch as often as we can. Kyle LOVES playing with Owen. They have very similar personalities/sense of humor so they get along great and love to be silly together. Addison seems really ready to be a big sister. She was great at sharing with Max and making him smile! I forgot my camera, so no pictures, but it was a fun day and really great to catch up!

Red Robin

Last night we decided to take the boys out to dinner at Red Robin and had a great time! Both boys were very well behaved and we got to eat all our dinner without rushing. Kyle got to choose a balloon on the way out and Max couldn't wait to get his hands on it. He was eyeing it the whole way home. Here's a cute video of what happened when we got home. This is just a short clip, but they played like this for quite awhile!

Summer Reading Club

Today we visited the Germantown Library and signed Kyle up for the "Read-To-Me" summer reading club. He received two prizes of his choice just for signing up. He chose a bug box (which happens to be a pencil sharpener) and butterfly bubbles. We also got some coupons for local places. And if he completes his coloring book by August 21 then he'll get another prize and a coupon for a free book at Barnes and Noble. The coloring book includes suggestions of summer reading activities such as read for 15 minutes, draw a picture of your favorite bug, read to a bug, sing a song, and make a ladybug snack. If you couldn't already tell, the theme is "bugs." Kyle colors a bug for each activity he completes until all the bugs are colored. It's a cute program! We also checked out some new books from the library. I'm always interested to see what Kyle picks. Today's selections were:

• Chicka Chicka 123
• There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly
• Froggy Eats Out
• Freight Train
• My Freight Train
• The Squeaky Door
• How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?
• Max's Chocolate Chicken

Kyle can now count to 100. Chicka Chicka 123 has all the numbers 0-100 in the back of the book in colorful print and Kyle counted all the way through several times today. Seeing the numbers seems to help him make those transitions since he recognizes even some of the higher numbers. I'm so impressed with him!

After the library we headed to Chick-Fil-A. We had a yummy lunch and Kyle played in the play area and Max had fun watching and taking it all in!

High as a Kite

The doctor told us we could give Max Children's Benadryl and/or use Baby Vicks Vapor Rub along with Motrin to help him sleep better at night while he has this virus.

So, last night I gave him a dose of benadryl before bed. Little did I know the effect it would have on him! After he started acting quite AWAKE and wouldn't stop moving while I was trying to rock him to sleep I decided to check the bottle and it says that it can cause drowsiness. What I didn't know was that it also says "May cause excitability, especially in children." So, it took a Max quite awhile to fall asleep. He was happy as could be, but just wouldn't stop moving and looking around. Every time I tried to give him his pacifier he would push it out and start babbling away! And he still woke up several times that night so we decided not to use it again tonight.

Tonight I decided to put some Vicks on him. Well, as soon as I rubbed it on he started screaming and crying and arching his back to get his nose away from the smell. Apparently he didn't like the "soothing" aroma. So, I then washed it off him because he wouldn't stop crying and stuck with just the motrin tonight. So, the medicines that were approved for him to take don't seem to agree with him, so I guess we'll just have to wait this thing out . . .

Good thing is that he did seem to feel a bit better today - much less fussy and took 2 decent naps. So hopefully he's on the mend and will be back to himself in no time!

8 months

Today Max is 8 months old. Looking back, I can't believe how quickly it's gone by. Max is currently working on sitting. He is able to sit independently for about 5-10 seconds at a time on occasion. He rolled over from tummy to back when he was just 2 1/2 months old, but had yet to roll from back to tummy . . . until today! He's been working on it for awhile now and often rolls onto his sides and even gets his lower half rotated, but today he finally got all the way over reaching for one of Kyle's cars. Kyle was playing with a racetrack nearby and some of his cars were laying near Max. He was quite determined and worked for quite awhile. Usually when something is out of his reach he reaches and then gets frustrated and rolls back onto his back and starts crying. Today he was bound and determined - go Max! And despite his current sickness he's eating his jar baby food very well - 2 meals a day. When he's well he's a very smiley, giggly little guy and we're so happy and blessed to have him in our family!

Oh and as a special treat we went to visit Daddy at work today to see his new office. This was followed by lunch at Potbelly. Kyle loves visiting Daddy at work and tells me every day "I miss Daddy from work."

4th of July

Happy 4th of July! On the actual day we just stayed home and relaxed. Both boys were/are still sick. Max ended up having a viral infection causing his fever/sore throat and seemed better for about half a day when the cold/cough/congestion that Kyle has struck Max. Kyle seems to be on the mend, but poor Max is still just miserable most of the time. He doesn't eat or sleep well and is generally fussy. I feel so bad for him. Hopefully this will be short-lived!

Despite the boys being sick, we headed for VA on Saturday to celebrate with Ma and Pa. We had a cookout and they set up the pool and sprinkler for Kyle to play in and he had a blast! Max wasn't too sure what he thought of the pool so it was a very small portion of his day. He spent most of the time indoors playing with a new toy and napping. We had a yummy dinner of steak, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, fruit, and pickled eggs and beets. This was followed by a trip to Ricky's Cones, Candy, and Chaos where we got some yummy ice cream for dessert! It was a really cute place where you actually sat on ice cream cone chairs! While Max didn't partake of the ice cream, he did have his first taste of a popsicle which he thought was quite yummy! It was a nice, fun, relaxing day!

What a Day!

Here is a glimpse of why I titled my blog "Blessed Chaos." I LOVE my boys, but this is the kind of craziness that can ensue on a seemingly typical day . . .

4:10am - Max wakes up (not atypical, but usually drinks a 4oz. bottle and goes right back to sleep for another 2-3 hours)
4:30am - put Max back in his crib and he starts crying
4:40am - notice he's a little warm so I give him tylenol (I might add that he's been fussy and not eating well the past 2 days and had a slight fever of 99.5 before bed as well for which I gave him tylenol)
5:10am - Max is finally back asleep
6am - Max wakes up for the day
6:15am - Kyle wakes up for the day (usually he sleeps till at least 7) in a VERY cranky mood
7am - Jason leaves for work and Kyle spends the next 20 minutes crying that he'll miss Daddy at work
7:30am - I attempt to feed Max breakfast and he screams.
8:15am-10:15am - Max takes a nap and Kyle and I play and pack for our anticipated trip to his friend Jasper's house where he will see all his playgroup friends . . .
10:15am - Max wakes up and is burning up! I take his temperature and it's 102!!! It's his first fever so I'm a bit worried.
10:30am - I call Jason at work to tell him what's going on and Kyle asks to speak to him. The first thing he says is "Daddy, I'm a little frustrated that Max has a fever. I really wanted to go to Jasper's house."
10:35am - I call the doctor and they ask me to bring him in at 1:30pm today.
11:15am - I make a run to McDonald's for lunch in an attempt to cheer Kyle up and we bring it back and have an indoor picnic for lunch - Kyle loves it! Max starts getting fussy on the way home so in an attempt to cheer him up Kyle starts "roaring" like a lion and Max laughs the whole way home. It's so cute to see the bond they're already developing.
12:15pm - Max takes another nap
12:45pm - Max wakes up quite fussy
1:15pm - We leave for the doctor's office.
1:30pm - We wait for about 15 minutes and are seen. When the doctor comes in she says hi to Kyle and he immediately decides she is his new best friend and decides to tell him his life story including all about his trip to see Thomas (he was wearing his new t-shirt that he got while we were there).
1:50pm - Max is examined and she thinks it could be one of several things probably viral, but due to the poor eating/drinking and high fever she wants to run a few tests to rule out anything that may require an antibiotic. Max has to give a urine sample so she brings in the catheter. Max did NOT like this one bit. Then they tell me to take the sample and paperwork and drop it off at LabCorp to get his blood drawn. Kyle was fabulous in the doctor's office and got to choose a dinosaur on the way out for being so good! He was ready to go home, but when I told him we had to do one more thing he started more whining. By this point he was very tired and definitely could have used a nap had we been home, but we must keep going . . .
2:40pm - We arrive at LabCorp where we wait for about 40 minutes. Kyle made a friend (a little girl that looked to be about 8) and they talked about dinosaurs for the first 10 minutes. Then she had to leave and Kyle kept saying "I want to go home and I really wanted to go to Jasper's house and I miss Daddy from work" over and over and over again. He also somehow managed to get his head stuck in the arm of the chair he was sitting in. And Max spend most of the time rubbing his eyes and crying because he was tired again.
3:20pm - Max is finally called and taken back to the room. He sits in my lap and they strap the band around his arm VERY tightly to find his vein. This should be only for a short time, but the lab guy was very disorganized and poor Max was screaming the whole time. Finally his blood is drawn and he screams during that as well. At this point Kyle starts crying because he doesn't want Max to have a hole in his arm (from the needle). Kyle had his blood draw a few months ago and still talks about that hole they put in his arm. Finally both boys calm down and we get ready to leave but then they ask me for the urine sample. I told them that I handed it to the lady at the front desk with my paperwork. They spend another 5 minutes looking for it because they can't find it. Apparently it was under a pile of papers behind the desk . . .
3:40 - We head home.
4:00 - I put Max down for a nap.
4:05 - I go to feed Peanut because he's meowing at me and I realize I never fed him lunch. When I get to his bowl I find that it and the surrounding floor has been overrun by ants. So I spend 10 minutes cleaning that up. Just as I finish . . .
4:20 - I hear a thud and then Kyle starts crying. He fell off the couch and hit his nose/forehead on the floor. When I asked him what happened he said "I was being too wild."
4:25 - I'm consoling Kyle and Max wakes up again VERY cranky.
4:30 - Max finally drinks almost all of a 6oz. bottle!
4:45 - Jason comes home - yay!
7:00 - Give Max tylenol and put him to bed.
7:30 - Kyle goes to bed. (He's been coughing a lot this evening with a bit of a runny nose)

We still haven't eaten dinner ourselves so it's in the oven and hopefully we'll eat by 8 or 8:30pm.

Not quite the day we had planned, but we still had some sweet, fun moments despite the craziness!

It was an exhausting day, but we still managed to do a few fun things like paint with watercolors, have an indoor picnic, play with Geotrax and Thomas metal trains, and play bowling with cups!

Hopefully tomorrow will be less eventful and everyone will be feeling better and well rested!