Good news first, right?

Stevie will not need any leg, hip or foot surgeries. Huzzah!  He got x-rays taken (which was sort of like tying a wild honey badger to a table and then trying to bribe it with candy to sit still).  The x-rays showed that his bone development is good, his legs are straight and his feet aren’t so bad.  Man, those feet.  Two minutes after Stevie was born, Paul turned to me and said “Those feet are gonna be a problem.”  He has not been far off. They certainly don’t look very beautiful and he walks pretty funny.  The doc thinks its because his heel cords are too tight.  Whatever that is.  It’s pulling his feet and giving them a “rocking horse” effect on the bottom.  So not only does he have flat feet, but they are almost turned the opposite way of an arch.  The treatment is for him to wear stretching casts for about 4 weeks. Hopefully that will get the cords stretched out, and then he can wear some leg braces at night to keep it stretched.  And we can do this on our own time.  No rush.  So we are thinking after our busy summer.  But NO SURGERY.  Phew.

The not-so-great-but-not-terrible news has to do with Stevie’s chompers.  He has a few mouth issues that will surely cause some speech problems and God only knows what else.  But for now, we are just worried about this one little tooth.

It’s a soft tooth and it has chipped.  And now it’s wearing down.  We want to avoid it reaching the nerve and perhaps causing an abscess, so it needs to be extracted.  Ripped out.  Pulled.  And the only way to do that for Mr. S is to sedate him and get it outta there.  More anesthesia.  Boo.  He’ll need to have it done at his usual hospital.  And it needs to be sooner than later.  We are really not thrilled about putting him under sedation again, especially with other procedures on the eyes and heart coming up.  And totally not thrilled that our dental insurance won’t cover it for a year.  I wish we could just let it go.  Stupid baby teeth!  They fall out anyway!  But we got a few years to go until that happens, so this is one I don’t think we can wiggle our way out of.  Farts.

We went back to Mammoth just a few weeks ago.  Totally un-pregnant and ready to party.  We always have a great time on these cabin trips!  But there’s a catch now.  Have you heard? Sometimes after pregnancy, you gain a little person.  We have a kid.  A real life 2 year old.  And he would be joining us!  He was welcomed by our friends with open arms.  They had no problems giving us the big room so all our crap we could fit.  They looked forward to playing with him and squeezing on him.  Paul & I were excited to show him a new place and take him to the great outdoors.

And I want to say what an angel he was!  But this kid.  Oh, he repaid our good intentions by screaming the whole 5 hour car ride up, barely sleeping the first couple nights, not wanting to eat anything while constantly shouting at us for food, and just being kind of difficult. Sorta like being at home, but not.  The main thing I really remember is how tiring it all was.  So this is what they mean when they say a vacation with kids isn’t much of a vacation.  OK, I get it.

All of our friends were more than gracious.  And yes, there are glimmers of hilarious moments and quiet moments and joyful moments.  Cozy socks and coffee cups.  Delicious breakfasts smells first thing in the morning.  Crisp, mountain air.  I know I shouldn’t complain.  I’ll simply add it to our list of adventures.  And again, based on the photos, all you will know is that we had a magnificent time.

And that’s what we’ll tell Stevie when he’s older too.

I know, rough life.

And luckily, I got over myself.  Because we had the most fun that day.  Really.  It was like the best.

^^^ one tired and happy mama ^^^

I didn’t get to talk to my mom on Mother’s Day.  She has been in Missouri tending to a mother in mourning. And I think that’s right where she was supposed to be.  Not exactly a fun Mother’s Day for her, but she does it. Because she’s a good mom and she loves us – her own kids and the ones who joined our family through marriage.  She loves all of us.  She goes where she’s needed, even though she has a full life of her own.  I appreciate her for all that she is and does.

They say you don’t truly understand what your mother goes through until you’re a mother yourself.  I find those words to be truer every single day.  She raised 5 good kids and I sure don’t know how.  Love her.

By the way, did I mention that I started running again?  Just training for a 5K instead of a 10K this go round.   That’s about all I have time for.  It’s something.  I’m doing the Couch to 5K program and I’ve survived the first 5 weeks.  So I think it’s safe to announce on the internet that my running shoes are back in business.

Anyway, this DIY tank.  If you haven’t already seen it on Pinterest, this is how it’s done:

1. Get an old t-shirt.  Bigger is better.  This one wasn’t quite big enough.
2. Cut off the sleeves, collar, and bottom hem.
3. Turn over and cut a “v” down the back.
4. Since it was feeling a little snug, I decided to add some panels to make it looser.  I had some leftover lace from when I hemmed my IKEA curtains, so I used that.  And take note of this: I DO NOT SEW. Well, that’s not true.  I CAN sew.  Kind of.  Barely. But my sewing machine is small – like ladybugs would have more success sewing on it than I do.  Plus it’s noisy.  And this had to be done during Stevie’s nap.  Enter Stitch Witchery.  So. Very. Easy.
5. You can use extra material from the cut up shirt or the panels to tie up the back.  Just wrap around several times and secure with a knot.
6. Admire your work.  Have a Diet Coke.  Put your hair up in a bun – if you haven’t already. Relax in your comfy new tank while you wait for the little one to wake up from nap time.  You rock!

I wasn’t sure how I felt about clinic.  First, it meant I had to leave the house 4x’s a week to take him.  Second, he’d have to get used to all new therapists.  And third, I was upset that he wasn’t improving at home and thought maybe this clinic meant that he was failing.  And we were failing.

But it has really been the best thing.  He gets so much physical activity and there are so many options!  The gym is amazing!! It is only about 10 minutes from home and we were the luckiest to get PT & OT scheduled back to back on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we only need to make 2 trips a week.  The first couple sessions were tough, and anytime we work on fine motor skills, he still struggles.  But we have noticed he is making some progress.  Always slow, but it’s there.  Here are just a few of the activities he tries during a session.

Other things they’ve been working on are feeding, taking off shoes, walking upstairs, pulling things apart, crumpling paper, and overall just building up his patience by finishing each task, even if he doesn’t want to.  His preschool teachers, as well as Paul & I, continue to work on these things too.  Sometimes it’s really tiring being a parent and a therapist.  But we do what we do.  So we are hoping to see more and more improvement. Obviously, we’ll keep you updated!

Of course.  It’s Disneyland.

Last Tuesday, two of Stevie’s therapy sessions got canceled.  So instead of panicking about how to entertain him for those 3 hours, we packed some snacks, hopped in the car and headed to the parks.  I didn’t anticipate having a magical time with him, because my fantasies so rarely turn out as I want them to.  But I figured at least we would be outside and it’d be slightly more exciting than the playground down the street.

And guess what?  This trip actually was magical!  We both had so much fun.  He was in a great mood.  The weather was perfection.  No major meltdowns.  I didn’t want the day to end!  Oh, and believe it or not, whenever a ride was over, he actually used the sign for “more”.  That’s a first.  (Except on the Jungle Cruise. Halfway through that one, he did the sign for “all done”.  Can’t blame the kid, right?)  It was so fun to see him being more interactive and interested in the things going on around him.  And even getting a little scared when the rides were dark.  Trust me, when your kid is not a snuggler, it’s kind of a precious moment when they cling to you out of fear.  I’ll take what I can get.

^^^ not trying to be cool, rockin’ the fanny pack ^^^

^^^ don’t want to ride this alone!! ^^^

^^^ that’s better ^^^

^^^ favorite ride of the day.  mater’s tractor pull.  he cried when it was over! ^^^

Thanks for a great day, little man!

Except the state flower of California chose not to make an appearance.  Again.

Last year we went to the poppy reserve expecting to see a vast field of orange flowers as far as the eye could see.  All we got was a whole lotta wind and one poppy bush.  Not quite the dazzling spectacle we anticipated.

This year wasn’t much better because of the lack of rain here in SoCal, but at least when you go to a festival you get food and stuff.