It's the Little Things

This started with me wanting to do something nice for him. A little 'treat'.  It was an awful week, that ended with one last doctor's appointment at 8am Saturday morning. I mean, who really wants to do that at the end of an ordinary week?

He was fussy.  It was a long appointment.  I decided to stop at Party City to get him a few balloons.  He doesn't eat ice cream. A cookie or cupcake would have worked, but that's not immediate for him and requires my help. Getting him in his chair again was a fight that I barely won, but it was worth the fight. He didn't care that I was showing him a green and purple, (the same colors as his "gears of the day"). But then he looked up and pointed at an Elmo balloon. Ok, I'll take the Elmo one too please. The girl helping us asks me if I would like the 'long lasting helium'. Umm, yes please.  I paid her $4.79, handed him the balloons, and watched the biggest grin appear on his face.

The rest of the day, these balloons never left his side.  At the table, on the floor, up the stairs, down the stairs. He even took them to bed with him.  Thankfully I was able to put them where he could see them and he was fine.

Sunday. Balloons are with him all day. Same thing up and down the stairs, while he is eating, sitting, playing. He had the balloons and gears at the table for dinner.   Thankfully, he didn't try to bring them to bed again. I knew they would make him happy and he would play with them, but I didn't think he'd enjoy them that much!  At this point I am realizing that this quite possibly could be the best $4.79 I've ever spent.

Since he didn't take the balloons to bed, I hid them. Easier than fighting on a Monday school morning, especially after him being home the entire previous week. Phew, I got him out the door sight unseen. I couldn't believe the balloons were still floating when I saw them after he left. I expected them to be on the floor.  Well, I knew it was going to be a tough day for him at school, so I had the balloons at the door when he came home from school. Another big grin when he saw them.  He grabbed them, took them into the family room and sat down grinning.

It's Tuesday morning and the balloons are still floating. I can't believe it! That was some long lasting helium in those balloons! They stayed hidden again until after school. In he comes through the door, straight up the stairs to the bonus room where the TV and balloons are waiting for him.  He grins again and grabs them pulling them up and down.  When I come get him for dinner, he insists on bringing them with him. So, for night number 4, balloons join him at the table.  They back up the stairs with him and even back into his room at bed time.  He was happy that he could see them.

Today is Wednesday. I go into his room to wake him for school, and the balloons are still floating! This is unbelievable! I want to call the girl at Party City and thank her! Of course, he wants to bring them down for breakfast. Who am I to say no? But after breakfast, he wants to take them on the bus to school. Uh oh. This is not going well, but I get him on the bus, without too much fuss.  We'll have to hope the balloons are still floating when he gets home. And yes they are!  Again he goes up the stairs.  I tell him it's bath time. He grabs the balloons and takes them in the bathtub with him. Seriously? He's laughing! Out of the tub, down to dinner, back upstairs again, all with the balloons.

I don't know what we'll do when they finally fall to the ground.  These balloons were supposed to be a 'treat'.  You know, something you get your kids for being well behaved, when you are celebrating a great game, or you feel bad because they've had a rough day. He's always liked balloons, but I've never seen him play with them consistently like this before.

I've been thinking about all the things I spend $4.79 on.  A coffee at Starbucks.  A carton of ice cream at the market.  A gallon of gas (almost). A few pieces of scrapbook paper.  I don't think any of these things are worth nearly what those balloons have meant to him these past 5 days.  I wonder if they'll be floating in the morning.

Septoplasty

Yesterday, I wrote a Facebook post referencing the toughness of my little guy.  I didn't go into details. Today I am.

Yesterday, he had Septoplasty. Surgery to correct his severely deviated septum. One side has been so blocked, he's never been able to breathe out of it.We've known this most of this life, but had to wait until he was old enough to do it.  We also were trying other options to avoid surgery, but to no avail.

The surgery went well. His septum was so crooked, the doctor said it was accordianlike, but in an 'S' shape.  It wouldn't stay straight, so he had to graft in some spacers to keep it straight.

He woke up agitated, mad, confused and bloody. I was not prepared for how he would act or look.  I was nervous, but I am usually the strong one. I can usually handle anything when it comes to him.  Nope. Not yesterday. I fell apart.  He kept grabbing for me, then pushing me away. He wanted to sleep, but wasn't comfortable. He was whining and crying and trying to move around.  I felt helpless. There was absolutely nothing I could do to help him.  I got woozy and needed to sit down.  The nurse had to bring me a drink.  I put my head on John's shoulder and cried.

I wound up leaving his room to pick up his prescriptions.  When I came back, the nurse said we could go home.  He'd be more comfortable there. Once we got home, we got him settled in the Bonus Room, his favorite place.  He was still very agitated. Couldn't sit still. Couldn't make up his mind what he wanted. Couldn't get comfortable. Awful. Awful. Awful.  We followed the meds schedule, finally getting him to calm down. He never fell asleep, but he finally ate something, and ate well. After he ate, he acted himself.  He played and watched movies. He asked us to read him books. Can't believe how quickly he bounced back

Then, bedtime came and went. Still no sleep.  The strong pain meds made him hyper and agitated, not sleepy. Uh oh, we were in for a long night.  He finally fell asleep on the bonus room floor around 11:30.  That would be 30 min before his next dose of ibuprofen.  Oh well, if you know him, you never wake him up after he falls asleep.  So, the 3:00am dose got skipped as well.  4:00, he's up and confused.  Went to his room, climbed into bed, but got right out.  He's been awake ever since.

The good news is, he's eaten, played by himself, both in and out of his room.  He's smiling, laughing and interacting. He's demanding attention and the things he wants to do.  His nose is swollen today and I'm having a hard time keeping it clean. There is some slight bruising around his eyes.  We are all tired, but overall, can't complain too much.  He's acting himself 24 hours later.  He'll have a bath later and we'll hope for the best when it comes to sleep tonight.

It was a hard day on everyone.  Today is pajama day. We are doing absolutely nothing.  As I said yesterday, he is the toughest person I know.  I am so proud to say that, and so very proud to be his Mom.

The Character

The boys are back in school after 5 days off for Mid-Winter Break.  We made the best of the time off.  Thursday I took the boys to the library. Little Bubba walked all the way in with his walker and went right to the kids section. He was more interested in the computer so we looked at pictures of Animals while Big Bubba looked for books.

Friday we went to Barnes and Noble to spend the last of the Holiday Gift Cards.  Oh my!  Little Bubba motored right on in like he owned the place!  The girl at the information desk giggled as he walked by her.  We made it to the children's area and right away, he found one of the books we needed to replace.  We are now on our third copy of Pajama Time, by Sandra Boynton, only this new copy is Super Sized! It's huge! As was the grin on his face when he saw it.  I got him over to the other books he likes, and he stood and looked at them until he had decided on one.  The hard part of going to the bookstore with him is paying for the books.  He does not like to give them up, even for a minute.  

We had to show him we ha the books in order to get him out of the store.  One of the books didn't leave his hands, until yesterday.....

I made soup for dinner and got a loaf of French Bread to have with it.  For some reason, Little Bubba took a liking to the rest of the bread sitting in the tin foil.  I tried to give him some, but I knew he didn't want any.  At first he was just touch the foil.  Next thing I know, he's just sitting at the table holding it.  john tried to take it away, and he started to throw a fit.  He wasn't bothering anyone so we left him alone.

I tried to take it away from him and he gripped it so hard he white knuckled it!  I did get it away, and he went right after it!  John quickly hid it so he couldn't find it, and genius that I am, I grabbed a plastic container and a piece of foil, wrapped it up and gave it to him.  He took it up to bed and slept with it all night.  This is what we found this morning...

He set it on the table while he ate his breakfast, carried it around with him before school.  I had to add some more foil, then sent a note to his teacher, knowing he was going to take it with him to school.  i can only imagine what it will look like when he gets home today.

Finally: Let's begin with today

I've been thinking about starting a personal, or family blog for a while.  I think it might be an easier way to stay in touch with my family and friends. A way to have it all in one place so I'm not emailing, and calling, and posting, and texting, blogging...this may be the way to go.

So today I hear Joshua wake up.  I love it. he always has a "good morning world" kind of yell when he wakes up.  I open his door and this is what I see:

Not only is he bent over his bed trying to pick up his gears (that he no doubt threw there is the first place), he proceeds to play with them while still bent over his bed. Oh, he was stuck, but he was laughing!  It's always something new with him.