Monday Picture

Monday Picture

Birthday Day!

Mike's birthday was yesterday but we decided to celebrate on Sunday with a day full of fun.  We started off the day at SLU for breakfast with Santa.  This year Mike finally got it.  He was excited, he smiled, he talked to Santa and he even sat on his lap.  Ryan, on the other hand, started crying and turned into a wet noodle the second I tried to sit him on Santa's lap, which  meant another year of me in the picture. Luckily, Ryan was perfectly happy sitting on my lap, next to Santa.

 

 

After our visit with Santa, we headed to the Magic House for a little fun.  The boys LOVED it (per usual).  Ryan is finally old enough to really start enjoying a lot of what it has to offer. 

 

After a few hours of playing we headed home for presents and cake.  Unfortunately Ryan missed this part of the day because he fell asleep in the car (don't worry he got cake later).  We facetimed with Grandpa Mike and Grandma Cami so they could watch Mike open his presents and help us sing happy birthday.

 

That evening we drove to Tilles Park to experience the "Winter Wonderland."  Mike loved it and Ryan once again fell asleep in the car.  After the lights we headed out to dinner because Mike had requested "squishy steak" for his birthday dinner. 

Monday Pictures - Birthday Boy

Today my sweet baby is 4. To sound cliche, I cannot believe how fast time has gone by. 

Things to Remember: One More

Our bed time routine is pretty established.  Each night around 8pm we herd the boys upstairs for bath and bed.  Brad flosses Mike's teeth, while I get the bath going and give Ryan his toothbrush.  Once Ryan is finished, I plop him in the bath while Mike brushes his teeth and goes potty.  I wash Ryan and then he happily plays while Mike finishes up and gets in the bath.  We get Mike's hair wet, plop some soap onto his head and let him wash himself.  After a few minutes we tell Ryan to "pull the plug" and then let them play until the water is gone.  Once the water is gone, Mike will dutifully climb out of the tub and into his warm towel, while Ryan lays down on his belly in the empty tub and slides around like a little eel.  Once I am finally able to fish him out of the tub, I dry him off and carry him to the carpet so he won't slip on the tile with his wet feet. 

At this point, Mike and Brad head to Mike's room to get his pajamas on and read stories and I take Ryan into his room to do the same.  Once Ryan has his pajamas on, he requests "down" and then happily runs down the hall to "give daddy all his love."  After burying his little body in Brad's chest, he will run (toddle) back down the hall to his room and giggle excitedly at me. 

 

As soon as he sees me, he gives me the biggest grin, then turns around and runs back down to the hall to Brad.  This would probably happen all night if we let it.  Eventually I will tell him "One More" to which he will run back and fourth 3 more times saying "Mo, Mo" (one more in toddler speak) while holding up his index finger each time.

 

 I finally grab him, spin him in the air then cuddle him in close.  He buries his little face in my neck and gives me a quick kiss before I lay him in his bed.  Each night he lays down and waits for me to give him his bibi (pacifier), water and cow.  I then hold up his blanket, which he knows signals time for him to put his little legs straight up in the air.  After repeating "legs down" a few times he slams them into the mattress then grins at me as I cover up his little body, ruffle his hair, tell him I love him and slip out the door.

Lesson Learned (I Hope)

As I pulled into the parking garage today at work I grabbed my phones to check and see if any work emails or phone calls had come in while I was driving.  I was surprised to see 5 missed calls (3 from daycare and 2 from Brad) a voicemail (from daycare) and 2 text messages (from Brad).  It would appear that the world was REALLY trying to get a hold of me.  I quickly scanned Brad's text messages and called daycare.  It turns out that 5 minutes after I had pulled out of the parking lot, Mike had found a willow (the plant that grows along streams) and stuck it up his nose.  When he tried to get it out (I'm guessing) the stick portion broke off, leaving the fuzzy little pod part stuck (way way way up) in his nose.   After getting the full story from daycare I called our pediatrician's office and made an appointment for an hour later.  I turned my computer on, told my boss what was going on, and pretty much walked back out the door to drive back down to daycare (oh in case you hadn't guessed it is a Monday morning...of course). 

We get to the pediatrician's office for our 9:45 appointment and after examining Mike and verifying that there is indeed something in his nose she suggested that I (yes I) plug one of his nostrils (obviously the one that doesn't have willow parts stuck in it), form a seal over his mouth with my mouth, and blow hard.  She was hoping It would pop the willow out - spoiler alert...it didn't.  What it did do was create a lot of snot bubbles.  Next she called in one of the nurses and had the nurse and me hold Mike down while she tried to use some random tool that was obviously specifically designed for pulling things out of people's noses.  Spoiler alert: It didn't work either.  By this point, Mike was not a happy camper.  Having 2 women hold you down while I third tries to shove stuff up your nose was not winning his affection.  The doctor sheepishly explained that she couldn't get the willow and that she wanted to send us to an ENT...Grrrrrreat.

 After a quick gas station stop for a snack we show up at the ENT a few minutes before our 11:00 appointment and fill out the applicable paperwork.  We finally get called back just to sit in another room.  The doctor eventually comes in and tries to look in Mike's nose.  By this point, Mike is pretty fed up with people messing with him and starts to cry immediately.  He has me bear hug him (arms and legs) while he tries to spray lidocane up his nose to numb everything up.  I think the ENT may be going home tonight with a few bruises on his legs thanks to my little fighter.  A few minutes later, they move us to another room (with a table to lay Mike on).  Two nurses join us and instruct me to lay him down.  One takes his legs/lower body, the other one instructs me to hold his arms, while she explains that she will be holding his head in place.  He FREAKS out (understandably).  The doctor first uses a tiny little vacuum to try to suck the willow out.  Spoiler alert: It didn't work.  He then tries another little vacuum, it also does not work.  All the while, Mike is screaming and thrashing while three grown women (myself included) hold him down on the table (how is your Monday looking compared to mine??).  The doctor next decides to use a similar tool that the pediatrician used and fishes around for a while before finally extracting the willow!!!!  Mike immediately jumps up and clings to me while the nurse carefully wraps up the boogery piece of willow in gauze, places it in a baggie and presents it to me.  I guess this is the sort of thing I'm supposed to include in the baby book.

Two minutes later Mike was 100% fine (in case anyone was concerned).

Monday Picture