A very best friend

Today we went to the Planetarium with Curious J's "very best friend", Batboy. They met last year at summer camp and were in the same class at preschool. It was a pretty instant friendship. I am happy my little person has found a buddy like Batboy. I don't know how time will effect them, but I know they both enjoying each other's company right now.

And so do their sisters.

Batboy's mom is fun to be around. So that makes it even more better.

Let Awesome J Be

So Curious J has been going to camp for the the last week and a half. Last week was Jr. Engineers. This week is Lego camp. Last week the kids were mostly - taller - than him. I would say older, but I know kids who are two years younger and the same height as J. This week, te kids are slightly taller, but seem mostly at the same learning level. My cute little napoleon-complex boy, being who he is from the parents he has, established his awesomeness early on.

The first day of camp, the camp leaders announced they would be giving out a Camper of the Day award to a kid who did an awesome job. J raised his hand and said "I'm J and I'm awesome." And so began his nickname of Awesome J at camp this summer.

Awesome J came back this week. I found him up against the window of his camp room with a piece of paper in his hand. He had been waiting there for my arrival to show me his certificate as "Camper of the Day".

I do worry about him. He can be sensitive at times. I am sure that having me around is a lot different than having other authority figures around. Sometimes, I wonder if he does better interacting and handling conflict with other kids better when I am not there. Today just reitterates that he does fine on his own.

As I was asking how J was doing last week, one of the camp leaders said he was doing just fine. I expressed my concern and she simply said to me, "Let Awesome J be." I need to follow that a little more I think.

So proud of you, Awesome Curious J.

A typical dinner with us

Last night we picked up my car and headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant in town. They have seen us over the last 9 years grow from two to three to four family members.

Curious J is very content playing on his phone and taking bites of his dinner here and there.














Blue Eyes is very content eating. However, notice that not everything goes in the mouth.

Love Bites

I feel like I am absent interwebs a lot these days. Blue Eye and I have been stuck to te hip most of the time these days. I love her, but a few breaks here and there help me maintan my patience and energy. She has been an inconsistent sleeper. Some nights she wakes up multiple times before I go to bed, others just once. That's just the first half of the night. Second half can go between zero and two wakeups. So if she doesn't wake up, I wake up out of habit and out of concern that she is still breathing. Needless to say, I am pooped.

But she is looking and doing well only two weeks after eye surgery. Her eyes are no longer red and she is starting to look much for frequently with her eyes lined up correctly. Look at a picture from today. Doesn't she look fabulous.



But don't be deceived by her. This little vixen knows how to ensnare her prey. I have been her first victim of being bitten, but a new victim has been taken in...
Curious J was giving her a hug, and suddenly she bit him on the cheek. Ahhh, that girl is so related to me. Just ask Auntie M. Here is the proof for the civil trial (Jaw line).

Sibling Love

When you have kids who are a few years apart, you wonder if they are going to be able to play today. Well, thanks to a baby safe toy Blue Eyes got for her birthday, Curious J and BE now how hours of fun together. For J it's a shooting game. For BE, it's a game of chase. A win for everyone. Last ones a video, so enjoy.

My little gymnast

Today we started gymnastics at the Y for Curious J. The boy is like a monkey climbing all over our house, so I decided to sign him up for a gymnastics class. Very basic for both boys and girls. He got to roll and jump and bounce. The boy loved it. Sure, it's the first class. But he didn't feel this way about soccer after the first class.

We'll see if this is the start of his career as an Olympic gymnist or if he will go back to his Starcraft practice for world championship. I will have to show him one of my favorite gymnastics movies - American Anthem.

Blue Eyes and BDR were also along for the event. BE did her usual thing. She saw a small piece of a Dorito and couldn't take her eyes off it. ;) Seriously, she is recooperating very nicely. Her eyes are still a little crossed and bloody, but they are improving and her spirits are as they always are. Sadly, so is her sleeping, which is utter crap.

Feeling a little vulnerable

Blue Eyes had surgery on her eyes yesterday. It was successful and while the first post-op wakeup was extrememly unpleasant, BE did amazingly well after that. She at my brownie when we got home but her right eye has more bright red blood in it... like someone punched her in the eye during one of her baby fight club matches. Her eyes are not matched up yet. Instead they have done the opposite and are cross eyed. Our doc said this is normal and it will take a couple of months for consistent normal vision.

I really struggled looking at her after surgery. It could have been from feeling guilty of putting her through the surgery only for her eyes to look worse afterwards. It would have been the anxiety that was built up to this day. It could have been worry that it may make things worse not better. I don't know. But when we got home, Curious J did not want to look at her or be in the same room as her. Fortunately, I am married to a very calm man who worked with J through his emotions. By dinner J was eating at the same table with her. Had I been the only parent handling his emotions he probably would still be hiding from BE.

I remembered what Quigs told me when I went on bedrest. I can feel bad/sorry for myself (and in this case, sorry for BE) for the first 24 hours, but after that, no more feeling sorry. And the funny thing was it actually worked for me (mind you, it does not work the same on a 5 year old). Today, I feel fine. A good nights sleep, a happy baby... I had readjusted my thinking. J is back to his normal self, too.

But sometimes when stuff is going on in my life, and I find that stuff is going on in other peoples lives around me, I feel blue, for lack of a better word. For me, there is no rhyme or reason to why things happen to people... why people die, pets die, people get sick with awful diseases, etc. I can't turn to faith to feel better. Instead it reiterates to me that "no one" is out there controling the universe, because if they were there, then I would instead be pissed as hell at him or her.

And so tonight, I send out positive, healing thoughts and energy to friends, acquaintances, and strangers who are feeling the stress of hard part of life. And hope that helps.

Stealing other people's work

It's been one of those days. I had a friend forward me this video at the end of the day. Made me cry with laughter. If you need a pick me up, feel free to watch. Enjoy.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/04/06/wits-sweeney/

Summer Lovin', Lovin' Summer.

So, I usually hate summer, but things feel different this year. I want to get out and enjoy the company of others and the sunlit sky later in the day. Since Curious J and I have made some new friends over the last two years from school, we are having fun meeting up with people.

So far, here is what we have done since Tuesday:
1. Played at the park.
2. Attend a party hosted by a family from preschool.
3. Gone bowling with a friend.

For some of you, this is a normal week, but for us, this is craziness. I'm sure things will die down next week.

Enough talk, here are cute pictures.

Blue Eyes Update

So on Thursday we headed to the St. Louis Children's Hospital to get a second opinion on BE's eye condition, intermittent exotropia. Curious J was able to spend some quality time with the grandparents while we took E to the doctor. From what I understand, LEGOs were involved; so it had to be a good time.

Anyway, here is what we learned: BE's condition only has one option at this point. Surgery. We knew there was a good possibility this was going to happen, but we wanted to try a non-surgical treatment that might have helped before we jumped into surgery. However, the glasses she has did not help. She is only slightly farsighted within the normal range for her age, and so the doctor told us that it was pretty pointless to continue the glasses. We are hoping this is the only surgery she will need, but there is a 20-25% chance that she will need more than one operation. Fingers crossed she is in the 75-80% range.

On June 17, we will be going to St. Louis. From what my teeny tiny non-medical mind understands, they are going to be tighting one of the eye muscles so that it has to work with the other eye and not stay where it is and shut off. I don't really understand how they will pick which eye to operate on, but I trust that this is not the first time they have done this. I saw plenty of kids in the office that day who were the same or similar age as BE. And that is different than our first opinion. While we had no complaints about him, he did not seem to see as many children with more complicated optical issues.

It is out patient surgery - very low risk procedure. I am a little nervous about how she will respond to the anisthetic since it is her first time under the stuff. But I am a lot nervous about the fact that she is not allowed to eat after a certain time of night. This girl eats when she is hungry and when others are eating; she will not sit or play quietly until food is given to her.

The grandfolks are being kind enough to let us stay with them for two nights. We need to be there the day before and then we will leave the day after her surgery, as long as all is fine and good. The grandfolks, all four of them, are also watching J all day while we take BE there. It is fortunate that we have great parents so willing to help out and are close to where we are going.