Birthday Success

So i hope to do a rundown on the pirate party planning I did for those that might be interested. I found lots of resources for getting started on the web and made some variations that people might like to see. In the meantime i thought i'd just give an update on the actual party- a smashing success i think.

From April 2009

The guests started arriving right before 4 and Henry was already decked out in his full-pirate costume. Silas wouldn't let me get closer than a 2 foot plank so even though he had previously enjoyed dressing up with the necklaces he did not sport any for the party. As the guests arrived they got decked out in their pirate duds and made their way to the spyglass decorating table. Oma helped them decorate with gems and stickers and they seemed to enjoy this. As more kids arrived people congregated outside since it was 70 and sunny that day.

From April 2009

JT had the food ready to go so after people filled up on chicago hot dogs, small hot dogs wrapped in pastry, potato salad and cole slaw we rounded up the kids for games. First we did a treasure hunt which i think was probably one of the high points of the party. I wrote a few clues that were stashed around the yard and after the last clue they found the treasure chest. The chest was filled with individual little coin purses i sealed with wax for each child with gold coins inside. After that we did a little walk the plank game.

From April 2009

Then, cake time and presents. People loved the cake and cupcakes (which we made when the cake didn't seem big enough). Guests were very generous with the gifts and the boys have been having tons of fun since then. It's a little crazy with a whole bunch of 3-4 year olds attempting to "help" each other open the gifts. For those that stuck around we all moved outside and Cullen organized races for the kids. Next year i'm just going to have Cullen run a "field day" for the birthday party-- he doesn't know that yet though.

From April 2009

Meltdowns and Easter, thankfully not conjoined

From April 2009

So a mix of good and bad to write about. Let's get the bad out of the way. Friday was just about the worst number of hours our family has gone through (although these are certainly in the running, here, here and here.)

I picked the boys up from school per usual and things immediately went downhill. Silas was crying when i got there because two parents had come just before i arrived and he was upset that each one wasn't his mommy. Henry started misbehaving right away, running away from me, not heading up to the car etc. His interplay with Silas seems key to this afternoon going awry. I was irritated and trying to be authoritative which backfired-- on me of course.

I finally *wrestled* them both into their car seats and Silas proceeded to cry strongly the entire way home. Henry was upset too and kept telling Silas to be quiet. No attempts on my part to distract with music or sightings of trains worked at this point.

From April 2009

When we got home i attempted to "reset" the mood-- at least with Henry by apologizing for getting upset and saying that i was hoping we could start over now that we were home. Silas stopped crying and i thought things were looking up. Then we got out of the car and Henry purposely started stomping on the crocuses. I told him to go inside for a time out and he lost it. He stayed lost for approximately 1.5 hours.

Soon thereafter Silas also fell apart. He wanted crackers, he didn't want crackers, he wanted crackers, NO, NO, NO. At this point he also began sobbing and screaming hysterically.

From April 2009

For the next hour and a half JT and i each had one child on a different level of the house alternately disciplining, distracting, or comforting them. Nothing seemed to work and then as suddenly as the storm came it left. By about 7 both boys were happily playing after finally eating some semblance of dinner. JT and i just looked at each other shell-shocked.

In the midst of everything i called Brenda to find out if something happened at school. All she could come up with was that Silas did get upset waiting for me to pick them up and Henry didn't nap. She said there were only 5 of them there that day so they got plenty of attention and she didn't think anything escaped her notice. She even called back to check about an hour later after she had talked to her sister. Thankfully we were doing better by then.

From April 2009

Now that some time has past i think Silas was reaching a peak of his start (gulp) of the terrible twos. He wants what he wants when he wants it and he just lost the ability to calm himself down. I also think that Henry is sensitive to Silas and feeds off the negative or positive energy he exudes. Henry also seems more... threatened, challenged (?) by Silas now that he's becoming a "big boy" himself. We're trying to set aside more special time for Henry and have been emphasizing the good parts of their relationship to one another.

The upside was that every upset since this nuclear attack has seemed mild in comparison.

And now i'm about out of time. Easter was very nice. The boys woke me up Sunday morning and did a little egg hunt to find their easter baskets. They happily explored the contents (which i'll admit was a little practical this year) and then we headed over to Tiffany and Mike's for Easter brunch and an egg hunt. All the kids had fun finding the eggs but we were nice enough to give the littlest ones a head start.

From April 2009

Henry in particular had a great time and told me that he wanted Mario Race Cart for his birthday and a real fish tank. We talked about how he could have a fish tank when he was a little older and he said "yes, when i'm 8." He also told me that Tiffany could buy it for him when he's 8 so if you're reading this you're on notice :)

We're knee-deep in preparations for the boys "ill-timed" pirate party and a visit from Oma and Opa. I hope to have lots more to report and pictures up next week.

Concerns of a 2 and (almost) 4 year old

From March 2009

So i've been traveling again, and another trip at the end of the weekend (just a one nighter) so i have a lot of random things i've been wanting to update folks on but no unifying theme. Thought i'd go ahead and put this together now while i'm watching Silas take a bath and before Henry gets down from playing his nightly allotment of computer games on pbskids.org.

Let's see while Silas still says a very cute "yes" if say you call and talk to him on the phone (the key is a series of yes/no questions), he also seems to prefer "no?" when you ask him most anything in his actual presence. "Silas do you want pasta or soup for dinner?" No? It's cute and maddening. That pretty much sums up very small children.

From March 2009

Henry is either very helpful and respectful or obstinate and stubborn. Sometimes it depends on the day-- he can have a good or bad run for hours at a time. But more likely it varies by the half hour or minute. He's been loving art projects of all kinds for awhile but has had renewed interest in collages with random objects. He also has gotten back on a real book binge and loves watching movies or videos-- especially if they are about nature. Shows on volcanoes and "Blue Planet" are in high rotation lately.

Silas has figured out how to open doors (although honestly he did that awhile back) and just this week can now open the gate at the top of the stairs. He does fine on the stairs by himself, as long as he remembers to go down backwards. At least they are carpeted. Silas is also very, very into his babies.

The binky fairy came last Sunday (thanks to Tabitha and Cullen for reminding me) and was hugely successful. We put Silas to bed without his binky and when he woke up he had a new baby doll. The baby has a binky and a bottle and we talked about how now that he's a big boy he didn't need the binkies (pai in his pronunciation) anymore and that he takes care of his baby now. He's asked a few times for his "pai" since then, but always repeats our sentiments in his own words: "big boy, bye-bye binky, daddy, baby." So now we're pai free.

I'll have plenty of pictures to post soon but for now here's the text post.

The Ear Tubes are In

From March 2009

Today was the Silas' scheduled surgery to get ear tubes inserted in both ears. If you look up information about ear tubs (there's a good overview of infections and tubes here) you'll see they aren't really tubes at all-- more like little flat disks with a whole in them. They're tiny but the point is to drain the fluid that in Silas' case has been hanging around at least 4 months.

The timing of the surgery couldn't have been better. We were to arrive at the hospital at 9:15 and the surgery was scheduled for 10:45 am. Silas couldn't eat after last night but he could have clear liquids up until 7:30 this morning. Included in the "clear liquid" category was juice (a rare treat at our house) and jello. So the boys both had a "hospital morning" breakfast of juice and jello and then we were off to drop Henry at school and take Silas on to the hospital.

Silas was in great spirits and not the least bit upset all morning while we went to the hospital, got settled in our room, got Silas in his gown and his vitals checked. He loved the sliding glass doors that separated each room and they helped to pass the time while we waited. We talked everything over with a few anesthesiologists and his mild cold was considered within the normal range and not a reason to cancel the surgery. After meeting with the Dr. and another anesthesiologist we were all ready to go.

From March 2009

It really helped having gone through surgery with Henry before. I asked if i could take Silas back and the anesthesiologist agreed. Silas did get upset as we started to walk down to the operating room although they let me carry him and i'm sure he would have been more upset if i wasn't there. When we got into the operating room he calmed down and the nurses and the anesthesiologist were great with him. I have to say i've never had anything other than amazing experiences at Children's Hospital. It took just a minute or two while he breathed in the strawberry gas to fall asleep. He was quiet while it was happening, stroking his bunny and baby and with his pacifier. They're really wonderful about accommodating all the soothing loveys kids have. I was taken back to meet JT and we went to the waiting room.

They told us the procedure was so quick that we should stay put rather than going to get something to eat. I didn't look at the clock but i would guess it was 20 minutes before they were calling us back. We met with the Dr. who told us everything went fine, that ear drum had been pushed back, most probably because the fluid had been there a very long time. He said normally this wasn't a problem but that sometimes it could cause the tubes to fall out early. So, we'll just have to wait and see.

A few more minutes passed and then we got to go back to see Silas who had already woken up. He was cuddling with a nurse and quiet but heaving as if he had been sobbing. They said he had been really upset and just kept calling for "mommy." He was very sweet and just wanted to cuddle and be held. They said some kids were very difficult to console when they came out of anesthesia so it was nice that he was looking for some much cuddling. After a few minutes we got to go to a recovery room with Silas and he really settled down at that point. He sat in my lap and watched "Diego" which was on tv and decided he was all for the apple juice and animal crackers that had been offered to him.

By the time the show was over we were getting the discharge instructions and we were all done and leaving the hospital by a little after noon. You really would not have know that he had surgery basically from the minute we left the hospital. He napped like normal and was his usual active self all evening.

Henry on the other hand was a basket case today. Very emotional, quick to get frustrated and break down, temper tantrums, the works. So maybe he was just acting out on Silas' behalf. We're not sure but we're hoping tomorrow goes more smoothly. All expectations are that everyone will be back at school tomorrow.

Birthday Planning

From March 2009

I know i stopped abruptly last night. I had a lot of updates to provide and i literally ran out of steam. I've been having to work most evenings and after the dishes and a load of laundry are done that's just about all i can muster.

So, now i've got some time but i'm not sure i'll remember what updates i wanted to provide. Let's see-- oh yes birthdays! We're anticipating Silas turning 2 about a week from now. We're going to have a small celebration with family that night and i hope going to go to Monkey Island Saturday morning. We've got Kerala's birthday party that afternoon and i run the Shamrock Shuffle on Sunday so it's more than a full weekend.

Then two weeks later we'll be having our third annual "Chicago hot dog" party for both boys. Henry settled on a pirate theme and we've been having lots of fun researching ideas and brainstorming our own as well. We're looking forward to JT's parents visiting and being able to help us out with the party.

From March 2009

Silas is on schedule to get his ear tubes next Wednesday. We had his pre-op physical today and of course he's congested so we're supposed to keep an eye on it and come back in if the cough gets worse or he has a fever. Hopefully it will clear up on his own and he'll be able to go ahead with the tubes as planned.

I'm surprised it's taken this long but Silas is in a wicked "no" phase. We just recently passed out of the "mine" phase so i guess this is the logical progression. I have to say he says "no" in a really, really cute way. I need to start video-taping some things again. If i can find a few moments i'll try to post some video in the next few weeks.

We can almost taste the spring

From March 2009

Planting is still a long way off for us, but i did throw down some more grass seed in the backyard and we've hit a streak of high forties/low-fifties sporadically up into the sixties and seventies. We've all capitalized on any warm weather that's come our way by making frequent trips to the park, walking to dinner, and debuting the bubble train!

Silas is particularly obsessed with being outside and is often inconsolable when he finds out you're not going to the park. We decided to go out to dinner last night and while Silas rode in the stroller Henry walked the whole way there and back-- just over 2 miles. We had more than one conversation about trying to find enough energy but he did great. We're hoping to get him more and more comfortable walking long distances soon. It's almost hard to imagine a time in the somewhat near future when we won't need a stroller anymore!

From March 2009

The big news is that Silas has to get tubes put in his ear because of persistent fluid. He goes for his pre-op physical tomorrow and then gets the tubes put in next Wednesday the 25th. The surgery itself is very straightforward and only about 15 minutes, but the do use general anesthesia which of course we wish none of us had to go through again. Not only does the fluid lead to frequent ear infections, but a hearing test revealed a pretty profound loss of hearing in both ears due to the fluid. My understanding is that once the fluid is drained his hearing should return to normal and hopefully we'll see some improvements in his speech development.

From March 2009

I'll try to post more soon but i'm exhausted now so heading to bed. There are new pictures up in the March album on Picasa.

There will come a time when we can get out of the house

I know truly warm weather is awhile off. Chicago doesn't have much of a spring if you are looking for 60 degree days (although we're supposed to have one tomorrow). You have to be content with the 40s and 50s with some warmer days thrown in. But really, as long as you aren't silly enough to think you can stop wearing your coat, that's fine. We can definitely stop by the park on the way home from school or take bike ride around the block before getting dinner. We can certainly let the boys play in the back yard a bit on their own (as we peer frequently out the window.)

All of these things are coming, and we're excited. We do have to figure out what to do with transport options for the boys this year. Last summer Henry got to where he was completely proficient on his tricycle even without assistance. Silas was happy to ride in his wagon unless he was trying to touch the moving wheels. This year Henry is too big for the tricycle and Silas keeps exclaiming "mine!" when he sees it (that's a pattern with Silas of late.)


Clearly it's time to get Henry a bike. The only question is whether to go the traditional tiny kids bike with training wheels which essentially is like a tricycle or to go with a more European-style balance bike that actually allows to learn how to balance gradually. I know that the balance bike would be best physically for Henry-- but will he think it's as cool as the other boys at the park with spider man bikes? I'm not sure yet and i'm hoping we'll get a chance to see how strongly he feels about one type of bike over another as we're outside more in the next several weeks.