Germs and More!

Update to my TGIF Post:
Our Friday filled with fun was on a roll: speech started late which meant our hour drive/lunch break was shortened to 30 minutes, and then because of that I was 10 minutes late to Taylor PT eval which was dutifully noted in the printed eval I was mailed about a week later. Among his hypotonia and low muscle tone diagnosis mention was a reference by the therapist that she could not complete the full test because we ran out of time. Gee, thanks. The story of my life, it seems.

So anyway, after rushing back to Araceli's from PT to pick up Jasmine who Araceli had very kindly sat with during her developmental therapy session since mommy couldn't be there, we headed to an unexpected stop at the pediatricians. And the day came screeching to a halt with the diagnosis no mother who has taken her kids all over town and so unknowingly shared germs galore wants to hear: RSV. Since Taylor does not do oral meds, he was give an antibiotic shot for his ear infection I also was made aware of, and a breathing treatment at the office as well as nebulizer to take home for more breathing treatments. So, I called Jenny and sadly explained we would not be at the birthday party, then called my very pregnant sister to let her know I just brought some mega cooties into her home.

Over the course of the weekend, Taylor got much worse and breathing treatments were upped to once every three hours, even during the night. Something like RSV really must be shared, so by the next day little Jasmine was showing signs of this virus o'joy as well. On Monday, we were back at the Pediatrician's office and this time Taylor received a steroid shot for his poor little lings and airway. He also needed to go get a chest x-ray. Following this day of fun, my little guy decided he wanted McDonald's and he wanted ice cream at Ikea, so of course we obliged him.

The week only got better, with Jasmine getting even sicker, another trip to the pediatrician for her which was positive for both RSV and Pneumonia. We ended up at the ER that weekend when her temp spiked at nearly 105 degrees. By Monday, fortunately she was much better, but on Tuesday we received a call from the ER Charge Nurse saying her x-ray had an "infiltrate" and she needed to be switched to a 10-day antibiotic treatment.

So, anyway, after all that I hope and hope and hope some more that we are done with germs for the rest of the winter!

TGIF...for some

"Thank Goodness It's Friday" for some is "Oh, Geez...it's Friday" for us. Not that the end of the week doesn't bring the excitement of the weekend or an opportunity for a full day of Transformers play with Daddy, but Friday is therapy day which means we run around all day, with hardly any play, which makes for two cranky kids. We have been hanging out at Araceli's house in during breaks in our schedule as it doesn't make sense to drive home. Taylor enjoys being able to play with his cousin, Mikey, a fellow Transformers fan. But then I feel horribly guilty when I need to stop the play to load him back in the car for another visit somewhere. Here is a sample of today's schedule:
6:30 wake kids up, get dressed and hit the road by 7:15
8:00 drop Brooks off at work
8-9 stop at the store to pick up two birthday presents
9-10 Taylor Occupational Therapy
10:30 Jazzy Speech Therapy
11:30 leave Speech and grab a quick lunch at Araceli's.
1:00 Leave Jazzy with Araceli for DSI, and take Taylor to Physical Therapy eval
1:30 Jazzy DSI home visit
2:00 avoid photo radar cameras and try to make it back for the end of Jazzy's DSI
3:30 Kids haircuts
5:00 pick Brooks up from work, grab some dinner
7:00 birthday party 56 miles from home
8:30 head home!
I could switch Jazzy's therapies to home visits, but I have been reluctant to do that because she has such a great relationship with her therapist, and home visits would mean she's lose her current therapise. Plus, she has become quite the little chatter box and I would hate for her to regress. Taylor's occupational therapist is awesome as well, so I have the same dilemma there. Now that he has received the official ASD diagnosis, he could also receive music therapy, and I am trying to get speech therapy which he really needs. But, how do I fit that in? I am sure with too many therapies in one day he would have a really rough time.

Well, until I figure something out... oh geez, here we go again.

Happy Birthday To Brooks!

Happy New Year To All!

Today is Brooks' birthday, but he has been milking it all weekend. Unfortunately, Jasmine, Taylor and I have been sick so he hasn't really been able to get away with much. Taylor and I made him a cake first thing this morning, his favorite Coldstone Creamery cake will have to wait until the January birthday party at the end of the month.

Since three of the four of us aren't feeling so hot, we'll just be hanging out at home. Taylor loves to play Transformers with Daddy, and would be content doing that all day. I asked if I could play with him and he said no because I was "too girly". Brooks also asked for steak and french fries for dinner, so I should be able to take a break from blowing my nose long enough to make that. He also wants to play basketball at the nearby courts today, so we'll see if Taylor and the Transformers follow him.

2009 was quite a year, to say the least, so we are really looking forward to a new outlook in 2010. This is also the last year in our 20's, a daunting thought only because there is so much more we wanted to do before the big 3-0. January also marks our 8 year anniversary. I can't imagine life without Brooks and am blessed to spend this day with our family.

Jazzy at 15 months

On Wednesday, Jazzy had her 15-month well check. We love her doctor, and feel blessed that both kids have been lucky enough to have great doctors. We had lots of questions for this appointment. We wanted to make sure that she was on-target for her milestones, and of course we were concerned about her weight. Jazzy has always been much more petite than her brother, and I know it is like comparing apples and oranges since Taylor was mega-size, but it is all we have for comparison!

The Little Princess weighed in at 23 pounds, which is now in the 60th percentile! Meaning that she has gained two whole pounds since her last appointment, which is surprising since she is such a picky eater. The only things we can consistently get her to eat are french fries, chips and strawberry milk. Everything else we offer her she throws on the floor. She is also still nursing, which the doctor thinks is what is filling her up. At this point, mommy milk still offers more in the way of nutritional value than whole milk. I'd be happy to be done with it, but I' be happier to have a healthy baby so that by far takes priority.

Jazz looked great, but we did have one big worry - she isn't talking. Brooks and I had discussed this a bit and he felt maybe she could be a late talker. I don't know if it is that I am a worry-wart at heart, or that I have a little bit of a medical background, but deep down I really thought it could be something else. The doctor was concerned especially since along with the talking, she isn't really even consistently mimicking us of following commands. At this point, we should be able to say "Jazzy- go to your room and bring us your doll", and Jazz would follow. But, realistically, she can't do that and maybe only follows our commands 25% of the time, if that, and does mimic a bit, but not an impressive amount. The doctor felt then that she might be displaying that she is not understanding us. We now have a referral in for the ear, nose and throat doctor and Jazzy will have a hearing assessment to check for any impairments.

Being a worry-wart, I start to think if it could be something worse- could Jazzy be autistic? It is so hard to think about- we just want her to be OK and OK really means perfect. Brooks is taking it pretty hard, but we keep telling ourselves it could really be nothing, and she might just be a late talker. She could have her hearing test and everything could be fine. As if to reassure us, the other night at dinner, Jazzy was talking with daddy and looked over at him and said, "Dad." We both looked at each other in disbelief, then asked her to say it again. Sure enough she did- "Dad". Of course she hasn't said it again, but we're still hoping!

So we have been going double time on reading with her and talking with her and explaining everything. And, we are still hoping, hoping that she is OK and just simply is a late talker.

Disneyland!

Who doesn't love Disneyland? We love it, or at least I love it and so does Taylor, and Brooks loves us so he deals with it. :)

We have been planning this trip for quite some time, and were so happy as the time finally drew near! Between the two of us, we had three friends with silver passports, which are sweet Disney passes that get the holder plus three people in for free. Brooks' former co-worker John offered use of his pass on Thursday, so we drove in Wednesday night after dinner. The kids did great and slept most of the way. I am like a baby in a car as well, and dozed off quite a bit. Brooks drove well (I think) and we made it to Anaheim a little after midnight. We like to try to stay at Embassy Suites so that we can stuff ourselves silly at breakfast. Taylor's favorite food as of late is bacon, and each morning he stuffed himself with pancakes, bacon and chocolate donuts. Jazzy discovered she liked fruit loops and strawberry yogurt and even drank plain white milk. The little princess has insisted on nothing other than chocolate or strawberry milk lately, so we were relieved she'd consider something with a little less sugar.

Disneyland was great! We started out at Disneyland and our first ride was the Buzz Lightyear ride in Tomorrowland. It was Taylor's favorite ride, and fitting since he wore his Buzz costume. We did bring a change of clothes for him, but he was rather content in his costume for the whole day. We also rode the Nemo submarine ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion (both were scary for Taylor), the Pinocchio ride, the tea cups and then headed over to the California park. Jazz squealed throughout Playhouse Disney Live and we rode the Toy Story Mania before heading back to Disneyland to ride the Buzz ride again. Jazzy got a pair of pink princess mouse ears and a pretty Tinkerbell locket.Taylor got a Buzz Lightyear/Emperor Zurg hat, a Buzz Lightyear light saber and a spinning Buzz toy.

We spent the next day at Downtown Disney, swimming and relaxing at the hotel. On Saturday, we met my friend Annette in Long Beach. She lives a bit of a drive, and we have a hard time finding some place in between that would work. This particular area of long beach was a great suggestion and we had a nice afternoon at the beach. The kids love the beach, and so do Brooks and myself!

We stuffed ourselves silly Sunday morning for breakfast, then headed back home. It was so nice to get away. We love visiting California.

We're Back!

Once again I have gone way, way, too long without posting. Things have been nuts, but I am starting to realize that is just how things are going to be with two kids. The most recent exciting events are that the laptop bit the dust, so we now have a nice, new computer, and our little Taylor recently received his first, and we hope only, stitches. It's been about three months since we backed up our files, so Brooks is going to try his best to retrieve what he can.

The story of the stitches: The kids both had a tummy flu, and we were up one night with Jazz about 3:30 in the morning when Taylor woke up as well. He calmly asked for us to "snuggle with him" (I love having a little baby snuggle bug!), so daddy laid down with him while I was cleaning up the puke then we switched. The next morning, he woke up around 8am and asked to watch TV. When I looked at his sweet little face, I did not have either my glasses on or my contacts and couldn't quite tell what he had on his cheek. I looked again and he had a bad gash. I woke Brooks up so he could panic with me, then called the pediatrician and off Tay and I went to the ER, while Daddy stayed home with Jazzy the puker. Taylor received three stitches in his cheek and although we knew we had a big, brave baby boy, he didn't cry at all! When he received the anesthesia injection in the actual wound he just turned and calmly told the doctor, "Ow. That hurts."

Of course braving through something has major as stitches requires a special present, so Taylor got the Octopus play dough toy he has wanted since Christmas. Daddy can't stand play dough, but loves his boy. The bigger mystery is what exactly happened to Taylor. We think he may have fallen out of bed, which is why he woke up at three when we were up with Jazzy. But, he didn't cry at all, so I guess we'll never really know. Since every scar has a story, Taylor can now make one up. Maybe he was wrestling alligators or battling the evil Emperor Zurg.

Boo at the Zoo

Last weekend we took the kids to the Phoenix Zoo for "Boo at the Zoo". They had a small parade, music and performers, Radio Disney was there, and they fed some of the animals pumpkins. It has been a few months since we went to the zoo, and Taylor loved it! We used to have an annual pass, and I am thinking we may want to consider getting another one. We took the kids wagon,which was an adventure getting to fit in the car, but worth it since I knew Taylor would not want to walk the whole time. It's hard to say which animal he liked best, as he was very interested in all of them. Jazzy was great, as always. I think she just enjoyed being out and about. It was a warm day, but lots of fun!