the big four oh

I woke up this morning to find the house fully decorated for my big four oh.

My Whimsy Guy is such a love...what fun to practically walk into his decorations at 6:30 AM when it was still dark in the house. :)

Three bouquets of flowers (love from my inlaws and hubby).

My Whimsy Guy gave me a replacement bag of marbles in case I start loosing the ones I have...I thought that was rather practical.




Gramma and Auntie Katie helped Kaemon Ze make this
AWESOME birthday card (it's probably 16" tall).
I LOVE IT.

So blessed.
Thank you everyone (even in advance)
for making this such an outstanding birthday!

need a bigger fridge or less toys

Kaemon Ze does not have many toys (by design - we go through and weed out his toys about twice a year to keep things manageable for him and for our space). I think though, he may have too many still...most of them have ended up on top of the fridge this past week when he chose not to pick them up off the floor.

He can have back whatever he asks for...after he's demonstrated he can put (what's left) of his toys away. It's been a slow recovery process, but he's definitely making a connection between what he puts away and what we end up picking up for him.

something new

Jason brought these home from the office and said it's the latest craze in cake: rolled and frosted cake balls - have you seen them before. Let me tell you, these are delicious! They are from a local bakery, but I'm not sure which one.

an unusual morning commute

I had a nagging feeling (the kind that argues adamantly when you try to ignore it) to take my camera with me this morning. Since I was "just" going to the office, I wasn't keen to add the weight of the camera to my load. It was a persistent feeling... so I acquiesced and was rewarded with an extraordinary scene of a coyote being chased through our urban neighborhood by four or five crows. I sure hope the little guy made it back home safely; he was looking a little wigged out. (Not sure if that was because of presumably being out of his element or being chased by noisy crows...)

more goodies!

When JoyBoy and I got home, we found THREE boxes waiting for us. Two from Bunny and Papa, and one from Gumpapa! Thank you all so much for gifts!

While I cooked dinner, Kaemon Ze made "lunch." :)

sunday waffle goodness

"Helping" Daddy make the Sunday Waffles...

Anutie Shannie gave him the coolest thing: a customized super hero cape!

Finn and Kaemon Ze showing Daddy how to "share" the playdoh.

Big hugs for his buddy Finn!

Say, "chhhheeeeese," Finn! :)

my cowboy

"Look Mommy! I'm riding a T-Rex!"

I had to finish my painting for the upcoming art show. JoyBoy saw me getting my paints ready and said, "I want to paint!" So he added a few more touches to his painting. I love the look of intensity on his face in this photo.

Yesterday, he said his painting was a T-Rex; when he started painting today, he was painting a "velociraptor." I did not get a photo of his finished piece (or mine, for that matter) as we were rushed to get it to the show by the deadline (1 hour, 10 minutes to spare!). For the title of his piece, Daddy and I chose:

T-Rex! Velociraptor!
(I LOVE dinosaurs!)

When we dropped it off, curator Chris Haberman was there. Kaemon Ze showed his friend his painting and Chris took JoyBoy into a meeting room and introduced him to a group of guys as "the youngest artist in the show." One guy asked Kaemon Ze, "So...you're an artist?" Kaemon Ze got all shy and didn't respond. The guy said, "I see the fear in your eyes...you must be an artist." Ha!

His neck is doing great, by the way. Still favoring it, but doing great.

on the mend

Kaemon Ze woke up really well. The three of us were hanging out in bed for a few minutes, waking up and waiting to see how his neck would be. Kaemon Ze started playing with his dinosaurs and jammed up his neck again. I gave him Motrin and Daddy laid him on the couch, surrounded by all his favorite things (dinosaurs, dinosaurs, and more dinosaurs). As it turned out, that's the only medication I had to give him. Wonderful!

Later that day, a box of books arrived from Bunny and Papa!

And later in the afternoon, Auntie Laura arrives...with chocolate!
He's showing her something about the movie, "Ice Age."

All in all, it was a great day for him: running, dancing, watching movies, reading books, getting presents in the mails, Auntie Laura AND chocolate, and of course, dinosaurs...lots of playing with dinosaurs. :) He's still favoring his neck, but doing soooooooooooo much better.

2nd time in the e.r.

When I stopped by Gramma's to take JoyBoy home, he was still asleep so I waited for him to wake up. Gramma said about half-way through his nap, he started moving around (gas) and then rolled off the couch, flat on his face. She rushed over to him expecting him to wail, he sat up but didn't cry. She rocked him back to sleep and that was that.

When he woke up he was acting normal; even ran around the table, pretending to be chased. When he took a drink of his milk, the angle must have activated something because he started to cry and complain about his neck hurting.

We figured he slept on it wrong and sat him on our laps, massaging his neck. I could feel two lumps on the right side of his neck and he let me know that touching them hurt a great deal. He kept crying and saying, "Ow! Owie! My neck hurts." His pain level shot through the roof and he could not find a comfortable position to be in. Of course he didn't understand what was happening (nor did we) and kept turning his head towards the pain, causing it to hurt even more. Poor baby. I calmly kept telling him to not move his neck. By the time I got him to the car, he was still screaming in pain. I tried twice to get him into the car seat, but it hurt him too bad.

At that point, I had already decided to get him into the ER. Gramma went and got him his bottle and I asked her for a kitchen towel to wrap around his neck to stabilize it. She also brought out a few chocolate kisses (he loves them...calls them "volcano chocolates"), and came with us. The combination of the four elements allowed him to calm down and relax enough to get him into his car seat. Amazingly, he didn't cry at all on the 20 minute trip to the ER.

Once there, JoyBoy walked himself into the ER, holding the towel around his neck. He did great until we adjusted him on his chair (for more back support)...the movement triggered his neck again and he was crying out in pain. So awful. The admin and nurses got us checked in and into a room relatively quickly.

I was still trying to get him in a comfortable position when Daddy arrived. JoyBoy wanted "up" on Daddy.

Luckily, the nurse turned on cartoons for JoyBoy to watch and after a few minutes, the pair of them found a comfortable spot on the bed. Once Kaemon Ze's cries subsided as he relaxed into Daddy, my hands started to shake from the adrenaline. Whew. That was one tough hour.

The doctor came in and spoke directly to Kaemon Ze (which was awesome). He asked JoyBoy where he was hurting and he told the doctor his neck hurt and showed him where. I was in full appreciation that Kaemon Ze could tell him that (verbal skills). The doctor ordered x-rays and pain meds. I asked him to reverse the order (pain meds FIRST, please) and he agreed.

More waiting...about 20 minutes. Grandpa showed up to take Gramma home and hung out with us until the x-ray tech arrived. We agreed Daddy would take JoyBoy and as they left I had a feeling Daddy was going to be staying in that position (with Kaemon Ze on top of him), in order to get the x-rays done. That's exactly how it went down.

While in the x-ray room, the tech turned off the lights. JoyBoy said to Daddy, "that guy turned the light on and then turned them off." Wow...use your words, baby!

Later, the doctor came back and said the x-rays showed no bone damage (wonderful!) and gave the diagnosis of "torticollis" (also known as "wry or twisted neck"). Luckily, all we had to do was give him Motrin for his pain. After being in the ER for more than 3 hours, we were able to go home. My big boy walked himself (strutted, really) to the car. By the time I got home (I stopped at the store for milk and meds), I was exhausted.

Blessedly, JoyBoy slept great!

Read more about Torticollis (but only if you want to).

how does a dragon stay in shape?

Dragon push ups!
(Thanks for sending, Grandma!)

helping daddy...?

sunshine!

(This girl traveled the entire play structure without touching the ground! She was very chatty, too.)

Keeping his hands warm (I love it when he walks with his hands in his pockets).

getting certified in cpr, aed, and first aid

nice re-minder from my whimsy guy

funny text from my hubby this a.m.

Kaemon Ze: "Stop. Stop Daddy."

Daddy: "Singing?"

Kaemon Ze: "It hurts my ears."

Daddy: "Oh, that noise hurts your ears?"

Kaemon Ze: Yes. That noise hurts my years."