Skol, Vikings!

On Sunday we took the boys to Severs Corn Maze in Shapokee. It was really cool - a great alternative to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch/farm animal petting zoo we usually do in the fall. We've never done a corn maze and I wasn't sure if the boys would like it or be bored and quite honestly I wasn't sure how good our orienteering skills were ;-) Turns out we all did great - we made it through the maze, we found all 26 Vikings fact sign and the 6 challenge signs. It took a decent amount of time to get through it but it really was a lot of fun.

They also had a little hay bale maze set up. Since we got there right when they opened it wasn't very busy and we were able to walk/run through this it but later in the day the kids (& adults) were all just running & jumping on top of the bales instead of walking through them. This was fun for everyone but Eli who didn't want to/wasn't able to jump from bale to bale. He didn't really care though.

Like all the standard family fun activity places - they had plenty of places set up for photos ops. These were especially fun because Henry is a huge Vikings fan and Eli pretty much loves any opportunity to ham it up.

The boys have mad love for big slides. This one was no exception. It was tall, steep, bumpy and super fast. I'm not sure if you can tell by the look on my face but I was more than a little nervous about Eli being on there but he insisted and since we are trying to let him do all the "normal stuff" he got to go. Like my hair?

I'm normally not a huge fan of the petting zoos but at least this one had some cool animals that I'm not sure I've ever seen in person before. Kangaroos, ostriches, camels, lemurs, water buffalo, llamas, Chinese pheasants, weird little small deer, some blind white thing that looked like a cross between a rat and a kangaroo, other stuff too. I think the coolest part was some of the kangaroos had joeys in their pouches. You can kinda see the opening in this picture. Those little babies were crazy though - moving around in there, making their mamas all uncomfortable, sometimes a body part would accidentally come out of the pouch. It made me glad that I'm a "normal" mammal and not a marsupial one!

They had all kinds of other stuff too - a magician, a juggler, crappy (but delicious) food, face painting, a band, and... pig racing! Seriously. They had a little track set up and the pigs all had cutesy names - Britney Squeals, Dale Oinkheart, Lindsey Loham. The big prize for the winner of each race was a mini donut. I'd race for that too ;-)

It was a perfect day.

ps. Happy Birthday to Ben Todd!! I hope you have the best day ever! We are so excited to see you (and your whole family) this weekend.

Thinking about thinking

When we met with Henry's teacher yesterday she was telling us about a survey the kids did at school. The results were meant to be indicative of their learning style. She gave us a little hand out with the 4 different styles along with a couple of bullet point to describe each.

Step-by-step: follow a routine, get things done, keep themselves organized

Social: work well with others, know when people are happy or sad, like to help others

Curious: like to figure things out, learn mostly from reading, ask questions

Creative: are imaginative, come up with creative ideas, put drawings and are into their work

I would have thought Henry was strongly in the step-by-step category but it turns out that he's equally a social learner and a creative learner. We were pretty surprised. But then upon further thought I guess it does make sense. In regard to the social style he really is empathetic and sympathetic toward other people and he does enjoy helping other kids learn stuff. The creative one was a little more curious to me but I guess he really does like to draw stuff, make awards/trophies/etc, he loves to make cards for people. I didn't really realize that these attributes were part of his learning style - I just thought they were personality traits or stuff he likes to do. It's very interesting to find out that your kid is kind of different than you thought. I hope this information can help us get through some of the challenges that are likely ahead. Not everything will come easy to Henry so the more tools we have to help him the better off we'll all be.

Plus - he loves to play basketball!! He's been playing every.single.day since we got BB hoop last spring and I gotta say - he's getting really good. He's a fantastic dribbler and can make tons of different shots. It's great to see him work so hard toward a goal.

Big Red!

And here it is in all it's glory - the big red cast. Eli's been back at school for the last 2 days and has done great. I wasn't so sure that he'd make it all day but he's a champ. I think the distraction of school and his friends is the perfect remedy for his pain. He did have one instance where he couldn't or didn't want to ask for help getting to the bathroom so he just peed behind a tree on the playground. Interesting. I will say, though, that he can be pretty cranky by the time he gets home - not that I blame him. Overall I think Eli is doing really well. We're not really giving him much in the way of pain meds now - trying to use Motrin for the most part.

And we had our first adventure in bathing this person. I guess we were successful in that the cast didn't get wet but I can't say the same for us, the 4 towels we used and the bathroom. Geez. Any and all ideas for a better way to do this would be fantastic!

Today we got to meet with Henry's teacher for our first conference. She told us that Henry is doing really well - that he fits right in, he has friends and kids want to hang out with him, and that he's doing well with his school work. It's really all we could ask for. I'm just so happy that he's happy!! Clearly I was much more worried than I needed to be on his behalf.

Kids are so resilient!

Iron Man

What's the best treat you can give a little boy who just spent an entire day (over 12 hours!) not eating nor drinking and in a bunch of pain b/c his arm is super broken? I'll tell you... anything his little heart desires. And Eli's little heart desired this Iron Man mask. And since he was even tougher and braver than Iron Man these last 2 days he 100% deserves it!

On Sunday the boys and I were at the little park down the street from our house. They were playing and running around and all that. Eli was climbing the rope ladder and when he got to the top he scooted over to a bar-thing and sat up there. Usually when he does this he asks for help getting down - I assumed he would this time too. So when he said he was getting down I started to go over there but it turns out that he jumped down instead. All I saw was him laying all crumpled on the ground crying. And you know how when your kid is really hurt they cry differently... well he was definitely crying differently. Poor little monkey. It didn't take long for Troy and I to decide he should probably go to the ER so off Eli and I went. I'm so glad we decided to just head to Children's b/c they were really nice. They took him to a room immediately - in fact a doctor followed us into the room and examined him before I could even put my purse down. He was given some pain meds within minutes and then off to x-ray. After that things slowed way down but in the end they told us that he'd broken his humerus right above the elbow and that since it wasn't lined up correctly that he'd probably have to have surgery the next day to set it. So we left the ER with a splint and a sling and orders to see the orthopedic surgeon ASAP on Monday.

We called at 8 am on the dot so that we could get the very first available appointment b/c we were told no eating and drinking until he sees the doctor and they decide if surgery is necessary. Our appointment ended up being at 2:45. I knew we were going to be in for a long day. Have you ever had to withhold food and water/juice/milk from a 5 year old? It's not fun, that's for sure. I felt so bad for him b/c he was just so thirsty and his tongue was so dry. Plus - he had a broken arm for goodness sake. And it hurt. So he and I spent the day vegging on the couch watching Netfix (streaming to the Wii).

The appointment with the orthopedic surgeon was at Gillette, which is part of Regions so Eli was excited to be at Auntie's hospital. The whole process there was pretty slick - they definitely have it down. We were taken from here to there, seen by nurses and doctors and told he would in fact need surgery but that they couldn't do it until 6:30. We had about 1.5 hours to kill so we hung out in the waiting room where they have TVs, games, Wii, toys, air hockey and other kids. The bad part was that some of those other kids had food. At one point Troy and I were watching Eli watch another kid eat a bag of chips - oh poor Eli! He didn't say a word but I know that was a very sad moment for him. He was so hungry and thirsty.

A nurse came and got us around 5:15 so we were thinking that maybe we'd be done early. We were taken to a pre-op place where we had a little curtained off area and Eli could watch a DVD. And! on the bed was a new stuffed animal and a handmade quilt - both his to keep and take home. Isn't that great? He LOVED the stuffed animal and it was so perfect for him b/c it was a parrot. And what pirate doesn't need his very own parrot? After much consideration Eli named him Fluffy!

We ended up waiting and waiting and waiting - watching Scooby Doo, gathering about a million stickers, beating his nurse at Candyland, and asking one million times "what's taking so long?". A little after 7 they finally took him and me back to the OR. I got to stay with him until he fell asleep and thank goodness he did b/c I couldn't hold me tears in any longer. It was so hard to see my little person have such a bad day and then be put to sleep like that. My emotions got away from me.

Don't be jealous of my outfit up there... I got to bring it home so if anyone wants to borrow it you sure can! It's "one-size-fits-most"!

I think it was 15, maybe 20 minutes before the doctor came out and said he was done and that everything went really well. Eli did great. He came out of surgery with 2 pins and a bright red cast - just like he requested. Then we waited a bunch longer, picked up his Rx to take home and finally I sent Troy home to relieve Erica (who had had Henry all afternoon - thank you again!!). Knowing that Eli was fine and just working on waking up we felt like it was fine for him to go. About 2 minutes after he left the anesthesiologist came out and said that Eli was having a pretty tough time and that maybe having me back there would help. I'm not sure it did at all. He would just cry and cry, big tears and lots of snot. Then in an instant he'd be asleep and then just as quickly he'd be awake and crying again. I felt like this cycle went on for eternity but of course it didn't. Finally we got him to drink a little water and after that it seemed like he started to truly wake up. Lots of things were really bothering him - the IV, the monitor, the pulse ox-thing, the fact that he could actually see the air (from the oxygen mask) - but he was more awake and at least talking to us. Things got better and better and finally he was ready to come home. We got him dressed and in a wheelchair and all loaded in the car. He slept so soundly last night and didn't wake up until 9 am today.

And here's our boy today. He woke up in a good mood and has been pretty happy all day. His first request was a trip to Target for his special present. He's been eating and drinking. We've playing and watched movies. We went up the street to watch some of the huge trees in our neighborhood be taken down. So, he's fine. A little tired and sore but fine.

It's really scary when your little one gets hurt. We are so lucky that Eli is fine. We are so lucky to have so many people who love and care about Eli. Thanks for your emails, FB posts, texts and phone calls - truly!

ps. Happy Birthday to Jack Todd! Jack - it's not snowin' on your birt-day!! Hope you have a super fun day - we can't wait to come to Iowa next weekend to celebrate with you and Ben!

Week One - Success!

We did. Well, I should say the boys did it. They successfully made it through the first week (OK it wasn't a full week but still) at their new school. I've spoken to both of their teachers and received glowing reports for each of them. And the (kinda limited) news I get after school each day from the boys is filled with joy. Hurray! Now that we're over that hump we can work on important things like homework, making friends, figuring out the library, etc. Let the games begin.

The other night after Troy got home and we were chatting before dinner I said to him "we're livin' the dream!" I'm pretty sure he thought I was kidding but I so wasn't. We have these great kids who are happy and healthy, we have jobs that allow us the flexibility to take care of them like we want to, we have a great house with awesome neighbors, truly wonderful family and friends, food on the table, clothes on our backs - what more is there?

OK universe... just because I put that in writing does not mean you need to take a crap on us ;-)

And without further ado - pictures of Eli's first day at ED Williams.

And because I think you probably didn't believe me before... here's proof that Eli's teacher is, indeed, named after an animal. You'd think this kid has lived in a cave his whole like thinking this one little thing is so crazy.

And coming soon to a blog near you - stories about camping with fugitives, adventures in landscaping, eating our hearts of at the state fair, Eli's impression of a venus fly trap, and much more! Stay tuned.

So...

This person starts Kindergarten tomorrow. For real - like all day, take the bus, no kidding around this time. This will be his 4th "school" in the last 12 months. Seriously. He's thrilled. His best friend, Teshie, is in the same classroom so I don't think it could even get more exciting. Oh, and, his teacher is named after an animal. That's super cool (in case you didn't know)!

And to make things more exciting, this person started 2nd grade at his new school today and LOVED it! He was all smiles when he got off the bus this afternoon. I am so happy for him b/c he's been terribly nervous about it. It's hard to start at a new school where most of the other kids already know each other and have friends. They know how the bus works, where the bathroom is, how to buy milk at lunch - all that stuff. I think it helped that he did know a couple of boys in his class from basketball and baseball but when I asked if he talked to them today he said "no." And even though he told me he didn't play with anyone at recess he said he lots of fun. Oh, my sweet boy.

I'm hoping that this will be a terrific year for the boys - that they'll love their new school, make lots of good friends, learn tons of new stuff and have fun everyday!