Lung steroids

Well, the title of this blog says it all...Lung Steroids. Yes, it's a unique type of steroid and Jack has taken them. I've been on eye steroids after my cataract surgery, but poor little Jack was prescribed lung steroids after a severe bout of breathing difficulties two weeks ago. He woke up breathing very hard and we took him to see his doctor by 7:30am. He was breathing roughly 50-55 breaths per minute and average is 40. So they used the nebulizer on him and it worked miracles to see him breathe normally again.
The doctor said he has a sever upper respiratory infection (again) and that he can't classify it as baby asthma, but he needed a little more help this time and therefore prescribed lung steroids to use as needed. He only had to take them a couple of times the following days but he's now only nebulizing approximately once a day. Basically, it's the same medicine that's in an inhaler...but in the format of a mask for a baby/infant. Jack has taken to it quite well.

I guess that's the exciting news on this end.

The boys have taken to daddy's guitar playing. They really warm up to it and we sing all sorts of kiddie songs. Eban's favorite is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. He also likes the Barney song from the tv show. Eban also likes taking stickers and stickering Jack...that's awfully thoughtful of him!

Jack still only has one tooth. He's still not crawling. And he's getting heavier by the second. I swear that I have man arms because I pick up two 30-40 pound weights in each arm every day several times a day. What's frightening is that my arms are chiseled...it's somewhat gross, but I guess it helps my golf game. That's one good way to look at it??

Eban's imagination grows daily. He loves to be a lion and growl and crawl around to the various humans in the house. He growls and makes scary faces and once he gets to you, he crawls by. I guess it's a good thing that he doesn't take a chomp out of our legs or what have you!

This weekend has been chock full of events. Ryan and I saw the Dark Knight last night. We also went to a coffee house and played Scrabble over a cup of java. It's neat because in each Scrabble board I have whether it's travel Scrabble, the fancy lazy Susan Scrabble or the normal board game, I have kept all the scores in the boxes. It's fun to review the old games and see the dates...I'm sure some of you are silently calling me a geek in your heads, but that's okay!

This morning, we headed down to the zoo, where we fed the birds, rode the train, rode the carosel, and went to the petting zoo section. Immediately following our jaunt to the zoo, we went to Heather's boyfriend's surprise 40th birthday party which was at our old condo's pool. As were we swimming, everyone was running out to get into the event room, but Ryan, me, and the boys. As Clyde walked by, he looked in the pool and nonchalantly said, "Hey Ryan...what are you doing here?" Ryan looked at him and with a straight face said, "We're just swimming." So he shook his head and walked in the event room and everyone yelled surprise. We both thought it would look more suspicious if we ran (with two kids in tow) out of the pool and into the event area so we just continued to swim around. He told us he had no clue, but who knows.

After the party where Eban gobbled down lots of hummus, we went back home for brief showers before going to our dear friends' house for dinner. Jodi and Vince hosted the crazy Tracy clan for some of Vince's killer chicken and lots of food. Eban loved their koi pond and feeding those monster fish! Check out the video below...he also loved taking leaves from their garden and smelling the fresh cilantro, basil or other herbs. He also loved their horses, chickens, and big tractor they have on their property. Jodi commended me for my multi-tasking ability...hold a 30+ pound baby, a beer, and take photos that turn out in a halfway decent manner! Heck, I think I was even chasing Eban around some lovely bushes at this time she was telling me this.

We had a great time laughing and reminiscing about the many years and the many crazy stories we've shared! What's fabulous about Jodi and Vince is that they live about a mile away from us...and the middle school is a stone's throw from their house, so when the boys are older, they'll head over to their house out hang out or help with horse clean up!!!
That's all I can remember for now...my brain is fried from a lack of sleep and a long day...but it's great when those days include your entire family.

EBAN AND HIS PUPPY VIDEO

JACK WAVING BYE BYE...with a burp or two

SCARY LION (it's really Eban)

FEEDING THE BIRDS AT THE ZOO

SCARY BIRD

JACK GETS LEFT BEHIND

EBAN FEEDS HIS FINGERS TO THE FISH

Eban's Coffee

As always, Eban's vocabulary grows by each passing second. It's amazing to hear what words or sentences come out of his mouth and it's more fun to watch his sense of humor develop. It's simply amazing.

Jack has been fighting a temperature since Thursday night so I'm attributing it to teething although he still only has one bottom tooth and hardly any hair...he's taking after his Uncle Steve on the hair part!

Right now, Papa and Eban are off at our friend's pool and Jack is napping so I'll briefly share some pictures and videos with you. The only little story I can think of sharing is the fact that I received a $5 gift card for Starbucks last week, so Saturday morning Eban and I walked up to our local Starbucks so I could get a white mocha. As I finished ordering Eban started throwing a little fit saying MY COFFEE. So the kind people at Starbucks said "We'll get you a coffee" and they made him a small chocolate milk. I'll tell you what...that little kid was so proud he was having "coffee" he could barely sit straight. He held onto his Starbuck's cup the entire trip home and proudly sat with it at the table this morning as I had my coffee. So we even had a coffee date this morning (he didn't finish his coffee yesterday) at his table and drank our coffee together. It was really cute - he's getting so old!!

Eban's imagination is also growing wildly which I love. He turned his table over and created a car...he even wanted Jack to sit in the "seat" next to him so the following pictures showcase this fun-filled imaginary world of his!

The following pictures are ones that Eban took when he stole my camera and he loves the camera now...Enjoy!

DRIVING IN THE CAR

SAYING GOODBYE AS EBAN NEEDS TO DRIVE HIS CAR

Starbucks Coffee (I shouldn't put this up here...you can figure out why)

Fireworks and Moto

Uncle Steve left too quickly and now every motorcycle is "Uncle Steve's Moto!" He even called his little three-wheeled bike that the Rainen's gave him "Eban's Moto!"

On the 3rd of July, I had a half day of work so I hit the links at the closest public golf course called Riverdale in Henderson, Colorado. I joined two women and one of their husbands. I guess I played decently and they asked if I'd serve as a substitute on the golf course's golf league. I said sure so now I need one more round of golf so I can acquire a handicap. I'm pretty excited about this as I love the game. We then went up to Erie, Colorado, where we participated in the Erie fireworks and festival. We spread out some blankets and our lawn chairs on the Vista Ridge Golf Course driving range and after what seemed like hours of waiting the fireworks finally started around 9:30pm. I was worried that Jack would be terrified but he was calm and easy going throughout the entire 25 minute display. Eban sat on my lap and would say "boom" here and there but mostly he sat in awe looking at the colorful sky.

The next day was somewhat of a nightmare as the kids were off their schedule. We went to a community pool in Broomfield that had waterslides and a kiddie pool area and Eban loved it. He wanted "more slide" all the time. I would hold him in front of me as we would tear around the corners of these slides and then lift him up as we landed in the pool area. Jackson hated the pool so this is a new development as he LOVES the bath.

On the afternoon of the 4th, we headed down to Denver to Chris and Jen's house for more food and boat activities. I didn't bring my suit, but the next time I will as they were knee boarding and wake boarding all afternoon (I think that's what you call it??)

Eban loved riding in the boat. He really loved honking the horn. What we loved the most was the fact that Avery was very mindful of Eban and they sat together the entire time. Each time she asked for a kiss, he would oblige. Smart boy!!

Sunday, daddy left for Houston for some new certification class for a week so we'll see if the house goes up in flames since he's not here. HA...just kidding. Tonight, Henrik (my friend Liz and Dan's son) came over and he's only 11 weeks old. He's such a cutie and was a good boy all night while Eban proceeded to be naked baby and run around and say POPO and who knows what else! Jack is...well...always hungry. He's only happy with food...or Nani. He absolutely adores Nani. He giggles the loudest when he's with her and he is just delighted to be in her company every day.
That's it for now...we're still waiting for Jack to crawl!

CHRIS WAKE BOARDING ON THE LAKE BEHIND HIS HOUSE (Eban is in the boat loving every minute of it!)

THE BARNEY SONG (I can't believe I know the words)

Pony RIdes and Time Outs on Your Son's Birthday

Uncle Stephen got into town safely Friday night and Eban and I greeted him happily from the front porch. Eban loved seeing the "moto"!! He wasn't afraid of it at all...just what I thought. Into the house came Uncle Stephen and he received a warm meal just as he entered the kitchen. The only problem was that as soon as he sat down, his little nephew wanted to sit on his lap and eat off his plate.

Saturday we got up and went to the zoo where we saw all sorts of animals. Jackson also liked the zoo while Eban really enjoyed the snakes this time. He calls them "nakes" and while I'm thinking of other things he says...he also calls nose by the word "noke." We also saw a one day old baby zebra and that was pretty spectacular. After the zebra, Eban was close to having a melt down so we quickly ate our picnic lunch of PB&J sandwiches, pretzels and cantaloupe.

Saturday afternoon, we prepped for the big two-year old birthday. Uncle Steve and I did the streamers in the house and outside...they looked quite festive if I say so myself! Sunday morning as Eban got up, we watched him as he came down the stairs to see all his gifts on the kitchen table. Check out the video below as he finally found the word after two minutes of being completely surprised. His word was OPEN.
We opened gifts and he loved his truck, tractor, bus and Grammy Kass' fire truck. He also loved a fire truck card that Tutu created with personalized photos. You can see more videos below.

Around 2pm, his friends started coming in and the mayhem immediately was noticed. Kids were running rampant...there was no structure...you practically ran into an adult or some kid with each step...thank god there were adult beverages present for the parents to relax a tad. Then in came the fire truck cake by Keegan and Lisa. Keegan is an MC for a pastry show on the Food Network and his wife, Lisa, used to be the pastry chef for the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans (I think). Anyway...they own a dessert bar in Denver called d-bar and they created Eban's fire truck cake...the fanciest two-year old cake I've ever seen!! It was beautiful.

Eban immediately reached for it and with my cat-like reflexes, I thwarted his evil ways to grab the sirens and the windshields of the cake. I must have saved that cake from his five-finger grab with a second to spare.
After more chaos, I decided it was time to eat the cake. As we lit the candles, Eban started blowing them out...before we sang happy birthday. He was so over-stimulated by the time we sang, that he just sat there staring off into no man's land. He cheeks were flushed and all he needed was a nap!

Anyway after I felt so bad that we were going to cut into a most lovely cake. So, we made Keegan cut it as I felt as thought we were ruining some piece of art by cutting it. But the cake itself was SO good. After the cake, I decided it would be a good time to open presents...boy, was I wrong.

HOW come none of you who read this warned me about two-year old birthday parties and the present time???!! You're all in trouble. So as Eban is sitting on my lap, he opens up Nani's gift and it's a huge, green and loud garbage truck. He was so thrilled with this new toy! After I told him to say thank you so we could proceed to the next gift was when his official melt down he occurred. He didn't want another toy...he only wanted the garbage truck. So the yelling of NO MAMA and TRUCK ensued. It was not embarrassing at all (I hope you can read my sarcasm in that last sentence)...at least the other moms in the room laughed understandingly at my embarrassment. Ryan quickly took Eban away from the situation to control his temper and basically give him a time out to think about his behavior. I ended up opening the rest of the gifts while Eban was in an extended time out. It was lovely.

At that point, I could hear Seamus whining from the basement. I held his collar while leading him through the toddler crowd and I heard a kid yell "YEAH...PONY RIDES!" I wish I could have seen who it was, but I was too busy making sure that no kid would try to hop up on Seamus now that he got upgraded to a pony.

Now onto a sweet little story on our baby boy, Jack. Uncle Steve keeps teasing him with Grammy Kass' fire truck and he did a little crawl towards it. I can't believe he is minutes from being a crawling monster. He also loves Grandpa Bob's wagon...it's so cute to see both boys riding in it together. Uncle Steve loved pulling through the sprinklers which got them both giggling so much...we hope you like the pictures and the videos.

I think tomorrow I'm getting my first caramel macchiato as Uncle Steve told me I had to try one. Well see if this happens...but I know I could use the caffeine.

SEEING THE GIFTS FOR THE FIRST TIME (OPEN)

UNCLE STEVE'S BUS

TUTU'S CARD

FIRE TRUCK

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE TIRED BIRTHDAY BOY

Fire Truck Toddler Bed

Alright...let's see what's good for this update. Saturday morning we walked to the Thornton Fire Department like we do every other week. Eban loved it and this crew wasn't as personable as other crews. Eban didn't notice that...maybe it was because our sweet, little dog decided to growl and bark and firefighter Mike walked forward to him with his hand out so Seamus could sniff him.

I think that Seamus has bad eyes and could be near sighted as he can growl and carry on when I walk in the door to the house at unexpected times. He'll growl untili he's three feet from me or until I say "Hi Seamus" and then the tail starts a-wagging. Too bad they don't make spectacles for dogs as I really think he needs them.

After the fire house, the event of the day was a pool party at Mark and Danielle's house for Mark 40th birthday. Eban LOVED the pool and it was like pulling teeth to get him out of it. There were other unique activities, but this pretty much sums it up!

We've been talking every day about Uncle Steve's visit on his motorcycle and every time that Eban hears his name he'll say "MOTO!" I have a feeling that when Uncle Steve gets here all Eban will want to do is sit on the motorcycle. Hopefully he'll be afraid of the big bike, but I doubt it.

Jackson is finally sitting up with no problems at all. He used to simply roll over when he got tired of sitting up. But he doesn't anymore. He hasn't crawled yet or even gotten close! I'm happy about that as it's one less body for me to chase around this house or yard, etc.Jackson is also a total snuggle bear!! I love that he'll put his little noggin in my nook in my neck and snuggle for a bit. He always wants to be held and cuddled. He also always wants to eat...he's a monster around food! Eban was already finished using his pacifier at this time but Jackson is very content to have it in his mouth at all times.

OOOOOOhhhh, I forgot to tell you that I golfed last week and my golf game hasn't been ruined by two years of non-stop pregnancies! I'm so stoked. In fact, I received a $100 gift certificate to Morton's for getting the women's longest drive at the Denver Convention Bureau's golf tournament at Arrowhead Gold Club. We played a scramble format and I was playing with the dean of The Hospitality College and the PR Director for AAA Colorado and for two holes we only used my shots. At the third hole, I finally bent over and grabbed my back in pain. They asked me what was wrong and I wickedly smiled at them and said, "Ladies, my back hurts from carrying you two for two holes!" Thank goodness they had a good sense of humor about the whole thing. So then I went back to happily swigging my beer!

UPDATE: This morning as I was nonchalantly chatting with Ryan while holding Jack across from the kitchen island, I looked up and saw Eban lazily coming down the stairs with two blankets in tow. My eyeballs must have been saucers as I couldn't believe what I saw. He sleepily looked up at me and said a sweet little "Hi mama." Ryan and I immediately went to him and realized that 1) He climbed out of his huge crib and 2) This is a new era for us as far as his freedom is concerned and 3) We need a toddler bed STAT. So thinking about all these changes is scary for me...Ryan told him what a big boy he was while I was quietly thinking about all the things that could happen now...opening doors and escaping, falling down the stairs in the middle of the night, waking up with a child peering over me as I sleep, etc. The list goes on and I'm sure you all have stories of your own from this time. My parents always tell me that they would never find me in my crib in the mornings when they woke up. They would find the crib empty and go on a quest to find me in the house on Hackberry in Deerfield, IL. They would always find me sleeping with my head in my cross-legged lap watching TV fuzz in the family room. I was a kind toddler to my folks, huh?! :)

Check out his new toddler bed! He loves his fire truck which he can sleep in...just loves it! Nani also took the boys to the Goddard School today as they had a visiting petting zoo. Both boys loved it she said. Check out her pictures!

BOTH BOYS EMULATE THEIR DADDY ON THE LAPTOP IN THIS VIDEO...listen to Eban say "No Jack"

PRACTICING BLOWING OUT CANDLES

JACK GIGGLING...fast forward the first ten seconds or so. Nani filmed this clip.

EBAN feeding Seamus one nugget of food at a time...