The Bee's Knees

School's out!

What happens when I...

...don't supervise hand washing.

What happens when I...

...let Oliver make his own sandwich.

Olympic Day

Declan had his school Olympics last week. Here are some pictures:

What happens when I...

...let Oliver stir the chili.

Arboretum

Declan's classwork

Teacher translation included...

 

 

Picnic

We celebrated our annual anniversary picnic in Oak Park this year. We broke our tradition of going to the lakefront. The boys didn't mind, as long as we're at a picnic.

Twinsies!

Today was Twin Day at school and Declan and his friend, Kaden, dressed alike.

They're more similar than they know - both their moms are named Amy, from Michigan, and went to the same college!

Oliver the Explorer

And so, it begins...

Potty training Declan was one of the most NOT fun things I've done as a mom, and I knew I was in for it again since Oliver would eventually age. Oliver is now 3 years and 2 months and he will hopefully be going to preschool in the fall.

I made a decision to put potty training off as long as possible with Oliver so I didn't have the poopy-underpants-in-one-hand-and-carpet-cleaner-in-the-other-hand scenario replaying. This is reminiscent of our time training Declan since we started him too early. Oliver has been using the potty a little bit so I decided to start yesterday. I told him he'd get an M&M for each time he used the potty. I'm not above bribery. Potty training is like a war - you'll do what you can to survive. He used the potty tonight and he was quickly rewarded with loud cheers by Arend, Declan, and me and a M&M in the palm of my outstretched hand. He raised up on his knees in the bath, and slurped up the M&M with his mouth since his hands were gripping bath toys.

And so, it begins...

Declan's first Slurpee

It's a big moment! Declan's first Slurpee. He's very impressed by the straw with a spoon on the end of it.

Oliver's fav park

Now that Oliver's not napping and it's finally warm out, we are spending hours at the parks. This is his favorite park, Rehm Park. He calls it "Sandbox Park" because it has a fantastic sand area. I like that it's shady.

BRIIIIIINGGG

"Smell my finger, Mommy."
- my alarm clock this morning

Rough life

Shelby is the sweetest, most patient cat. Oliver pulls her tail and pets her a little aggressively, but she takes it and waits for it to end so she can scurry away. She spends every evening with us on the couch, snuggling and finally letting down her guard.

Oliver trying to be sly

 

Overheard

Declan after dinner at Freddy's at approximately 7PM: Is it morning, Daddy?

Rock climber

If there's a rock, Oliver is on it.

Hair straightener

Don't worry - it's not plugged in.

Play Ball!

Declan and his t-ball team, the Washington Nationals. They won by one run!

 

Stalker Kitty

Hide your children! It's Stalker Kitty! She will not rest until you PET HER!!!

 

 

Oliver reads a Thomas book

  

Our patient little patient

Declan and I spent the night at an pediatric outpatient facility to participate in a sleep study. We ended up there after his ENT suggested we see if he's sleeping okay with his enormous tonsils. We first saw the ENT because Declan failed a hearing test at school, but we suspected his hearing loss was just the result of fluid in his ears. His audiogram confirmed that he could hear fine past the fluid. We still had our sleep study scheduled and Declan and I checked in at 7PM on a Thursday night.  They hooked Declan up to about 72 wires and put something up his nose that also hovered over his mouth to monitor his oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. They wrapped his head up in tape to keep his brain monitors from shifting around while he slept. He was a champ the whole time and never once complained.

He had a hard time falling asleep - who wouldn't really? He finally started sleeping around 9:15 and the nurses and techs came in a few times to check his machines. Finally, at 5AM they woke us up and took off his stickers and nodes. They said we could expect results in the next week or so.

In the dark morning we sped home in no traffic and both tried to go back to sleep. Declan didn't have school that day but he was up the whole morning. We went to a play area and played for a while and then came home.

 

The phone rang in the afternoon and it was his ENT. He said he had his sleep results. "Already?"

He said Declan's file was placed on top of his call list. He said Declan has sleep apnea. He said mild sleep apnea is interruptions 1-5 times an hour; 5-10 is medium; over 10 is severe. Declan averaged 18. He said one hour he had 60 interruptions. He said the tonsils were causing these interruptions and they needed to come out in the next 4-6 weeks. He also said that Declan's apnea is so severe that he couldn't do the surgery as an outpatient surgery - Declan would need to go to Children's Hospital downtown. He'd also have to spend the night in ICU for observation.

We weren't sure how Declan would react to the news so we took a few days to gather our thoughts. I sat Declan down today and told him about it and he thought it was pretty cool. A girl in his class had surgery on her feet earlier in the year so he said, "Just like Grace? Oh and Curious George swallowed a puzzle piece so they had to give him medicine to go to sleep, too!" I said the only bummer about the whole thing is that he may have a shot and he will have a sore throat for about one week. But then he jumped up and down when I told him that means all the ice cream he could want.

 

 

Overheard

Oliver: Mommy, Shelby loves us. I tickle him. Eww, stinky.