More Sickies

First, I will start with the bad news...we have another illness in our house. Zak started on his oral steroids and antibiotics on Tuesday last week. He has finished the steroids and only has a few more days of the antibiotics to go. He is feeling much better now! But on Thursday Ryder started with the runny nose and by Friday he had the cough. I thought about calling the pediatrician to get him checked out, but decided to see how he did over the weekend. This morning rolled around and my "mommy instinct" was pushing me to call even though I was trying to wait it out a little longer because he didn't seem bad really. But for whatever reason I found myself with an appointment for him at 11:30am. We saw the same person who saw Zak last week. She said his lungs were clear, ears were fine, but his throat was red and swollen. So they did a strep test which came back positive! Looks like Zak passed on his strep to Ryder. He started on Omnicef this evening which he will take once a day for 10 days. I am glad I followed my instinct and took him because he will be fine to go to school on Wednesday now that he is on the medication today.

I wanted to share a picture of Ryder after one of his last "bad boy" moments....this is after we had found him sitting on the railing of the deck digging in the flower box and throwing the dirt everywhere! I had already cleaned him up a bit before I went to get the camera so it was much worse than this.... (I ended up putting them in the shower since it was in hair and everything)

On Saturday we decided to take the boys to a local playground called Annie's Playground. It is a pretty big place with a trail and some open fields. We started out by playing soccer and football on one of the big fields. The boys had so much fun running from one end to the other, kicking the soccer ball, and throwing the football. They are pretty good at kicking the soccer ball around and Zak has gotten really good at throwing the football. We are still working on catching balls though.

There was one wrestling match over who got the football

Zak won

Ryder pouting

After we finished on the field the boys took a break for some Gatorade and then we made a stop at the bathroom before heading to the playground.

Ryder was tired

At the playground Zak quickly made friends with a few girls and he was off running around with them most of the time. We would hear him laughing, yelling, and talking to the girls all over the place and would see him run by us and say "hi". Ryder stuck with us for most of the time.

Ryder would not go down this slide, but liked sitting in it

We then made a trip to Home Depot for Ben to get some caulk to patch up some holes and around the windows and doors. He also bought a hook and lock latch to put on the boys' closet so they can't get into it and pull out all of their clothes! Once we got home we had lunch and then the boys played all afternoon while I organized our filing cabinet and got all of our paperwork into the right files.

It became very real for my tonight that on Thursday morning Ryder will be getting on a bus and going to school! I got a call from the bus driver to chat and give me details. He will be riding in a car seat because of his size, but when he outgrows that they will have a vest ready for him. The bus will be in front of our house to pick him up at 8:12am on Thursday!

Lots of Pictures

First, I wanted to show everyone the new shoes that "Grammy" bought for the boys last week. They are both so excited when they get to put on their Buzz & Woody shoes.

Wednesday our day started out as usual when one of the boys has pneumonia....nebulizer treatment while watching cartoons.

Then we went out to BJs to look at the preschool workbooks they have. I ended up getting two workbooks for Zak, Reading and Math. We had lunch at home and then I tried to get the boys to nap, but it didn't work. Instead, they got into their closet and wrecked it! They had pulled down most of the clothes on hangers, pulled out the bins and emptied them and so much more. I was not happy because it had taken me a while to finally get the closet organized since I had to empty the dresser (because they kept emptying it all over the bedroom!).

Finally, I gave up and let the boys go outside to play. They like to play with their car, but recently have started to use it in different ways. Their favorite thing to do with it is....

Sometimes it tips over, but they laugh

This....

....turned into this

They had a blast and nobody got hurt. Zak is such a climber and loves to jump off of everything. We have had to make a rule of no jumping off furniture. Because of his love to jump and the new rule we have to give him some areas to jump and outside seemed like a good place.

Ryder reading his new magazine

(subscription was a gift from Tim & Peg)

Yesterday we went to the post office to mail pictures of the boys to various family members. Then we stopped at Target looking for some new jeans for Ben since he discovered a hole in his last pair. We were unsuccessful in finding any because unfortunately his size is difficult to find in most stores. I was able to get the boys to nap which was good, but it required me to lay down with them in my bed so I wasn't able to get anything done.

Once Ben got home from work we all got dressed and headed to Ryder's school. They had a Meet & Greet combined with Back To School Night last night. Originally, the plan was for all four of us to go, but when Zak got sick the beginning of the week we decided just Ryder & I would go. Ben really wanted to go and see the school because he wants to be part of the boys' schooling so yesterday we decided that all four of us would go since Zak was no longer having coughing spells and seemed to be doing really good. We first signed in, looked around at some information posted in the lobby and then had dinner in the cafeteria. They had bags with a sandwich, chips, and cookie along with juice or water. The boys loved sitting at the big tables with all of the other people while eating their dinner!

After they were done eating we went to Ryder's classroom to meet his teacher. The boys played for a few minutes and then we went to the gym to meet the principal and learn some stuff about this upcoming school year. After that was over we went back to Ryder's classroom for a presentation about the special education preschool. During that the boys played with a few other kids (Ryder actually spent most of the time playing with his teacher). Once that was over I got to talk with his teacher for a bit and then we headed home. I did find out from his teacher that Ryder might be in a car seat on the bus because of how little he still is. When we walked in the room she took one look at him and asked me how much he weighed because she thought he might need a car seat and not just the vest for the bus. So she is going to call the transportation people and let them know they might need both on the first day so they could decide once they see him.

This morning the boys woke up around 6:30am (maybe a little earlier)! Ben was getting ready for work so he got them started with something to drink so I could lay in bed for a bit longer. I got up just before Ben left for work. The boys were ready to go for the day so we got dressed and went to the playground. It was only 67 degrees when we left so I put light jackets on them which later did come off once it warmed up a bit. We were the only people at the playground for a while, but just before we left two or three more families showed up.

This weekend we had planned to go to Maryland Renaissance Festival since Ben & the boys have never been and I love going, but due to financial issues (as always) we are not able to go. I am hoping we will be able to make it there at some point this year though! We do have some free tickets to the Maryland State Fair that we plan to use next weekend, but we might look into going twice since the tickets are free. Just have to tell ourselves we can't spend any money while there.

And It Begins....

I really think this year the "winter" illnesses are hitting earlier than normal. The boys had a pretty decent summer health-wise (other than the multiple bouts of pneumonia in April). Then Ryder got an ear infection a few days after his birthday. Then both boys started getting their on and off cough which we have become accustomed to. Well, over the last week Zak's cough turned into a cold and then continued to get worse. This morning I finally decided to get him an appointment with the pediatrician.

His cough has become very wet and more frequent along with having some coughing fits. He also has a runny nose and hoarse voice. Other than that he was pretty much acting fine although he was a little cranky and not eating as much. So I figured I would get him checked out and be told he has a virus and just wait it out.

The pediatrician checked him out and said he has pneumonia in his upper left lung. She then said his throat was extremely red, raw and swollen so they did a throat culture on him. He was not happy about this, but it was over quick. About 5 minutes the pediatrician came back in and said it was positive. So she sent him home with prescriptions for 10 days of antibiotics, 5 days of oral steroids, and a follow-up appointment in 2 weeks. If after 5 days he is not improving or has gotten worse than I am supposed to call and bring him in earlier.

Zak was all excited about getting medicine though! My kids LOVE to take medicine so that is nice not having a battle trying to get them to take it when they do need it. Tonight Zak got his daily Zantac (twice a day), oral steroid (once a day for 5 days), and antibiotic (twice a day for 10 days) as Ryder watched crying asking for his medicine. He did just finish up antibiotics last week for an ear infection.

I am worried what infections and illnesses Ryder will bring home once he starts school if they are both already starting with the cough and illnesses this early!

All About Ryder

Tonight Zak was sent to bed early because he was misbehaving all evening and was obviously exhausted. This left Ryder with some alone time which they each always love. Ryder took a shower with me which turned into more of a binding, singing, learning time than actually getting clean (meaning I will need to actually take a real shower later tonight). I was amazed at how talkative Ryder was during this alone time with me. He has so much to say and was so happy the whole time, as was I. We then filled the tub with water and sat down to play some more. We sang songs, counted, worked on colors, and just had a good time. Once the water got cold I decided it was time to get out.

After we were dry and dressed we came downstairs. I decided to take the camera out and try to catch some of Ryder's newest skills on video. Usually when I try to do this he becomes shy and won't "perform", but tonight he actually did well. Below are four videos that I was able to get of him....

(1) Counting: Ryder is extremely visual so he counts much better if there is something in front of him to actually see and count such as fingers, toes, blocks, crackers, etc. Tonight I placed 10 animal crackers on the floor in front of him and as I pointed to them he counted. He normally talks pretty quiet so I had to tell him to yell in order for the camera to really pick up on his voice.

Ryder Counting

(2) Itsy Bitsy Spider: We sang this song every single time we went to Ryder's therapy class over the last year. Normally, Ryder would just do some of the hand motions, but not say any of the words. Recently, he has started to say some of the words which I was able to get on video. Sometimes if I sing with him he will finish the song, but this is what he does without any help.

Ryder Singing Itsy Bitsy Spider

(3) Wheels On the Bus: This is the other song we sang at every therapy class we attended. He usually sings to this one a lot more than the spider song. But he won't sing it at all unless you start it out for him so you will have to hear my voice. He loves to sing the word "town" at the end of each verse. This is just one verse, but his favorite is usually "the mommies on the bus say shhh-shhh-shhh".

Ryder Singing Wheels On the Bus

(4) Colors & Shapes: These are two of the skills we are currently working on. He is usually very good at labeling circles and triangles and the color green and purple. Other than that everything is usually green and he tends to skip saying the shape. So this is definitely one of his emerging skills...

Ryder Working on Colors and Shapes

On Thursday night we are going to Ryder's school for a Meet & Greet and Back to School Night Combo. This year they are doing both in one night. At 5:15pm there is a picnic dinner followed by a meet & greet with the teachers in the classrooms. Then they will continue into a Back to School Night type of thing where the parents stay in the kid's classroom to hear from the teacher what the kids will do throughout the year and ask any questions they might have. All four of us are going to go, but if the boys have trouble behaving the whole time Ben will take them outside or go home and come to pick me up when it is over.

Ryder's first day of school is in 9 days! I will go with him the first day and he will only be there for one hour. The next day he will ride the bus and go for the whole 2.5 hours!

(Side Note: I did get Zak registered for his sports class at the YMCA which starts September 8 and continues through October 20 every Wednesday from 10-11am)

Day 5 Diaper Free

Yesterday Ryder had his last therapy session with his Special Educator. She has been our other favorite therapist (Speech being the #1) so it was sad to say good-bye to her as well. She does have meetings at the school Ryder will be attending so she plans to stop in and check on him periodically. So we have no therapy scheduled for the next 2 weeks and then Ryder will start school September 1.

Today is the fifth day that Zak has been diaper-free during the day. So far he has done pretty good. He did pee in his underwear once so far in the 5 days which is not bad. We have been reminding him about using the potty throughout the day so he is not yet ready to initiate it on his own, but this is progress. Our major source of difficulty is poop...he will not poop on the potty! Everyday he has pooped in his underwear. I have noticed in the last 2 days he will either go to the playroom and then show up with poop in his underwear or he will go in the kitchen and squat behind the table. So he is realizing when he needs to go, we just need to figure out how to get him over this "issue" of not pooping on the potty. We have ventured out of the house with Zak in his underwear with no accidents so that is good also. The other good news is that Ryder has been asking to sit on the potty when he sees Zak doing it. So Ryder has peed on the potty a few times in the last few days.

This morning the boys and I went for a walk around the community. We always find some interesting and/or fun things to look at. Here are a few pictures from today's walk...

Tree full of birdhouses

Watching big work trucks

Zak being Buzz Lightyear