Well i guess we should update!

This evening Jackson invited me to lay down with him on the living room floor. Heads propped on a cushion, staring at the ceiling we talked about our day…
Me: “Did you have a nice day Jackson?”
Jackson: “Da da didi, du.”
Me: “Good. We did so much, we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s and we went to the park.”
Jackson: “Meeme, di di, da”
Me: “We went to the gym and you played with your friends.”
Jackson: “De da”
Me: “Did you get sad at the gym?”
Jackson: (Lower lip curled and quivered, eyes welling up with tears, looking at me.) “Aaahhh ahh ah!!!!” (Crying)
Me: “Jackson would you like a hug.” (Hugs and cuddling, everything is better now.)

Yes, Jackson got sad and missed his mommy at the gym today. I got called back to the day care before I could finish my work out. Apparently this is a touchy subject with Jackson. When James came home fourty five minutes later, I asked Jackson to tell dad about his day. We ran through a dialogue similar to that above and when I mentioned being sad at the gym he again had a complete emotional brake down. Poor guy. I felt so bad for him and hugged him again but it was at the same time just so darn funny. Who new the gym could be such a traumatic experience.

The year is over and a new one has begun. Where did the time go? We have been busy as usual here. Here are some pics of what we’ve been up to in the last few months. Jackson & I flew to Bellingham, WA to visit Grandma Rosa and the brown side of the family while James stayed home to study for finals. Merry Christmas! Before we could process that it was December Santa Claus stopped by and left Jackson a train set for Christmas. Happy New Year, it’s 2011! We’re off to a roaring start with lions at the Wild Animal Park and a trip to the Zoo.

We had a great day today! Unfortunately James had to study most of the day but I see the light at the end of the tunnel! I think this semester will be easier now that Jackson and I can run around town and play together while James studies. Last year was ruff stuck in the house alone breastfeeding all the time. Oh, how times have changed since then…

Today Jackson and I met Erin at the Hillcrest Farmers Market for a late morning stroll and shopping. It was such a nice sunny day with yummy samples and live music. Jackson danced all around the market to blue grass. He also ate his weight in free fruit samples and tried to sneak a cantaloupe and a peach into his stroller when no one was looking. He even helped sell peaches. People passing buy the stand had to stop and try the delicious peaches as they saw Jackson dancing with a slice in hand, juice running everywhere while he devoured the fruit. Then we had some delicious potato tacos, squash flower tacos and a quesadilla, Mmmm.

Then he crashed hard in the car and took a long nap. When he woke up James was done studying and we set off to say “Bye” to Teta Ashley. Hope she comes back soon! We had fun hanging out.

Then it was off to Grandma & Grandpa’s for WI style braut BBQ. Mmmm. Delicious!

My child is defective. Today I tried to give him Mac n Cheese for lunch & he refused to eat it. Hated it! Then this evening he walks to his crib and points at it (30min before bed time) I put him in it and he laid down and went to sleep! Is this normal? I think my model must be broken

Today, as usual I locked Jackson in the bathroom with plenty of toys to play with while I took a shower. But of course these familiar and expensive toys were not very interesting when presented in the exciting world that is the bathroom. He would much rather play in the shower curtain, giggle at me while poking my thigh and get himself soaked or just try to climb into the tub head first while water sprays all over the bathroom floor.
When I was finally left alone to finish my shower in peace Jackson was so quiet and into whatever he found to play with that I didn’t dare look move the shower curtain and check on him. He’ll just want to climb in all over again! (I child proofed the bathroom a long time ago so he can play safely.) When I was finished I opened the curtain to find the most hilarious scenario I’ve ever seen! Jackson was sitting on the bathroom rug surrounded by a ring of shredded cotton squares and he was playing with a few tampons wrapped in shinny yellow plastic and panty liners wrapped in fun pink wrappers. He was so content looking at the bright colors, feeling the smooth plastic in his fingers and listening to the crackling noise of the wrappers, he was all smiles having a grand time. He was so excited about his find that he would not give them back or put them back in the cupboard so I just let him play with them. Oh, how I wish I had my camera! He even ran around the living room playing with them. Then as I began to blow dry and brush my hair he returned, tampon still in hand. He watched me brushing my hair and then he too began to brush his hair. Using the tampon as a brush! Hilarious!
Had I known what fantastic and exciting toys feminine products make I would have saved so much money and just stocked his toy box with them a long time ago

Why can men not multi task? I swear I can’t do just one thing at a time, multi tasking is survival in my world. Today James admitted he can’t multi task. This statement came after James was talking on the phone and watching Jackson play in the living room. Jackson fell hard on his face. Then later tonight James said that he can’t get ready in the morning when Jackson is awake. Hmm? Excuse me? You shower, eat and get dressed, maybe you shave. How can you not do this with Jackson? With Jackson on a daily basis I manage a shower, blow dry, hair style, make up, need I go on? Silly dad

Sunday I took Lola in for her follow up ear appointment. Peaches was acting sick so I decided to take her with me. Oh, and uh just for giggles I took Jackson as well since James had work to do. James said I was crazy and that it couldn’t be done, the dogs hate the vet and well Jackson he’s one. I laughed and said “I have snacks, we’ll be fine.” So we all set off on our adventure together. Two nervous dogs, four hours later, cookies, crackers and dehydrated apples gone, all toys and distractions exhausted. But Jackson was in a good mood and mom was in a healthy mental state. Success! It can be done.

All in the month of May…
*James’ hospitalization and scare
*Lola got a fox tail in her ear. She had to be sedated to have it removed and now has an ear infection as a result of everything. She get’s special ear cleanings twice a week and antibiotic ointment twice a day.
*Peaches was shaking all day Sunday, acting sad and tired, wouldn’t come when you called her and would not eat. Hmmm. Did this trash eating dog get into something funny. Well a trip to the vet, lab work and abdominal xrays show some suspicious stuff in the small intestine (dilated bowel). Oh, now it’s 5pm and the vet is closing. Off to Emergency Vet services to follow up. Barium swallow study? Exploratory surgery? Is what I’m left to ponder on the way to emergency services. After two nights at emergency services and a normal abdominal ultrasound Peaches is still shaky, not eating well and now limping. She has pooped and has not vomited after eating so barium study and surgery off the table. No longer concerned about an obstruction. She is showing the “classic sign” for a slipped disc in her neck. This nerve pain is causing her to be lethargic, shaky and loose her appetite. We will monitor her at home while doping her up on pain meds, muscle relaxers and steroids. If she get’s better great. If not she may have degenerative disc disease. Either way it’s 6-8wks on cage rest for her. We have to carry her outside to go to the bathroom and she is not allowed to walk, run, jump or play. This is gonna be ruff. But if we don’t stick to it she will need surgery.
*Tonight Jackson has a rash on his torso. Probably nothing. But the way things are going in this family he likely picked up something weird at the vet and will be the next one to see the doctor

May 1st was Jackson’s 1st Birthday! His Golden Birthday! And what did we do you may ask…. Well, we had planned a ridiculously huge birthday party at the park with games and food and cake. But what did we actually do? We cancelled his party at 9:30am on Saturday (his Bday) after spending all night in the ER at Grossmont Hospital. James woke up at 3:30am with shortness of breath and chest pain!!! Ahh! After he took a dose of aspirin I drove James to the hospital where he got an EKG. To make a long story short (or as short as possible) we got to the ER at about 4:00am. He had multiple EKGs, his troponin and CPK levels were checked every 4-6hrs to check for heart muscle damage from a heart attack (if he did have a heart attack). He was on 2L nasal cannula oxygen and we spent a long long time in the hospital. The first EKG was a bit abnormal so James did stress tests on the tread mill hooked up to an EKG and had some pictures taken of his heart before and after in nuclear med to see the arteries of the heart and to see if there were any occlusions. After 12 hours in the hospital, on Jackson’s birthday we found out that James did not have a heart attack What a relief! There were some abnormalities in his EKG and he has chronic hypertention that has caused the left ventricle of his heart to become enlarged. So he is now on medication for high blood pressure and we are waiting to do two more tests, an MRA to look at his arteries and a Renal Doppler to look at his renal arteries to see if there is any stenosis. We still don’t have a reason as to why James had the shortness of breath and chest pain but hopefully after these two tests and an appointment with the cardiologist we will have a better understanding of what happened.
What a scary day! I am so unbelievably relieved to know that he did not have a heart attack! I won’t even go into all my craziness and emotions from that day. Not even sure I could put it into words. This event coupled with it being my first child’s first birthday only made it worse. Not that Jackson new it was his birthday. But I felt so bad that I wasn’t home when Jackson woke up. I wanted to see him so badly. But I wanted to stay with my husband in the hospital. I felt very torn and sad to missing my son’s birthday knowing that he doesn’t know Grandma Rosa well and was probably very confused as to why I wasn’t there when he woke up.
After such a long and terrible day we were all in need of some joy when we got home from the hospital. So even though it was 6:00pm, nearly Jackson’s bedtime we got out some birthday cake (one of the three we made for his party) to celebrate and let him dig in. We couldn’t have had a better ending to our day! Jackson loved his cake, diving in face first, smiling and giggling. It was so great and brought joy to all of us. What a precious and memorable moment. We were all so happy to be together and doing well. No large party necessary just family, love and cake!
Feeling sad to have missed Jackson’s birthday we decided to celebrate with a small intimate BBQ with Grandma Rosa, Grandma & Grandpa Friant, Great Grandma Dixie and cousin Gram. We busted out some appetizers orginally intended for the party, BBQ’d some pork and halibut, played in the mini ball pit (also intended for the party) and ate cake. Oh, and we even had some gifts to open. All in all a very successful party. I’ve never been to a party like this before where everyone was just so happy to be together. Even though it was a day late, it was a wonderful first birthday celebration for Jackson and us.

Well for 10.5 months we had a perfectly healthy boy but all good things must come to an end I suppose. Our boy is still perfect But he does have is first cold which turned into an ear infection in his left ear. Along with this came a green runny nose that never stops running and green eye drainage running almost as much as his nose. Our green goo monster is in good spirits considering everyting but is not his usual self, he is very tired and a bit cranky but who wouldn’t be. Poor guy is so congested he can hardly drink from his bottle. He has to stop every other suck, remove the bottle from his mouth and huff and puff then begin again. The doctor told me to keep him from rubbing his face, especially his eyes to prevent spreading all the green goo and a causing a bacterial infection in his eye. So I ask you… “what 10 month old doesn’t touch their face? or rub their eyes when they are tired?” I’m a crazy mom running around with antibacterial wipes for his hands and saline wipes for his eyes to keep things as clean as possible. I skipped a whole week of work to stay with my little man and I’m glad I did. One more day of antibiotics and hopefully we will begin to see him feeling better.