Aidan LOVES footie PJS and buses!
Sacked out after a long day traveling - Brady, Gavin, Aidan - but Brady seems to have his second wind!Well, another month long vacation has placed a wedge in between me and this blog. :) It was delightful.
To re-cap our trip we had a 16 hour flight from Doha to Houston on 11 December. It was ROUGH. The boys were really good, but didn't sleep NEARLY as much as they could/should have or as much as we would have liked. We HAD tested out the Benadryl trick at home TWICE. apparently, new situations can blow their reaction out of hte water because Aidan and Brady were definitely on the EXCITABLE side of their benadryl dose - leading them to walk UP AND DOWN the aisles for the majority of the afternoon. Ever had to get your 15 month old to not touch a sleeping stranger? it's a little awkward.
We then flew with my mom to Iowa. Overall, again, the boys were pretty good. Brady slept on grandma's lap most of the flight, I nearly put Aidan in the overhead compartment sicne he was being rather annoying (up, down, look out the window, get down, wrigglewrigglewriggle, up, snuggle, window, down - you get the idea). Aidan finally fell asleepabout 20 minutes before we landed - sigh. And Gavin - he did not sleep for pretty much the whole flight - poor Curt. Gavin was being so squirrely and kicked the seat in front of him so hard the woman ahead of them turned around. She was very nice about it, but I think she was surprised that munchkin could kick so hard! The next morning, during breakfast, Aidan seemed to be having issues eating the raisins and toast. At one point, my mom decides to pull some food out of his mouth(he kept trying to put it in and chew) when she sees something green in his mouth. not veggie green - plastic green. Yes, Aidan had put the letter 'F' (for food?) that is a refrigerator magnet in his mouth and THAT was why he couldn't chew/swallow very well. It was a little bit of a shock to everyone, including Aidan. 
Brothers don't shake hands . . . Brady kissing Aidan
Don't eat the yellow snow Gavin!
Gavin did NOT want to come inside, even with his cheeks this red!
Fun with Auntie Slabas and Auntie Raber - G, B, A!
To re-cap our trip we had a 16 hour flight from Doha to Houston on 11 December. It was ROUGH. The boys were really good, but didn't sleep NEARLY as much as they could/should have or as much as we would have liked. We HAD tested out the Benadryl trick at home TWICE. apparently, new situations can blow their reaction out of hte water because Aidan and Brady were definitely on the EXCITABLE side of their benadryl dose - leading them to walk UP AND DOWN the aisles for the majority of the afternoon. Ever had to get your 15 month old to not touch a sleeping stranger? it's a little awkward.
We had a lovely few days with my family at Aunt Pam's house. She has an incredibly patient yellow lab named Sadie who had 3 little shadows for 4 days. We knew Gavin would be bonkers for her, but Aidan and Brady got in on the gig themselves and by the end of the first day were running down the hall to throw themselves on Sadie and her dog bed, sticking out their hands for her to lick them so they could pull them back giggling and shreiking, and just being near her any chance they could. THey also LOVED being introduced to all kinds of new things with grandma and grandpa and aunt pam - like horse (wooden horse that is their size), running circles through the kitchen, kid level windows, etc. They had a BALL and so did we. We also had some family pics taken by my incredibly talented friend Tracy G. Robinson - if you are in the Houston area and want pix taken of your kids/family - check her goods out here: http://www.doe-ee-bird.com/
Sadie and one of her shadows - Gavin
We then flew with my mom to Iowa. Overall, again, the boys were pretty good. Brady slept on grandma's lap most of the flight, I nearly put Aidan in the overhead compartment sicne he was being rather annoying (up, down, look out the window, get down, wrigglewrigglewriggle, up, snuggle, window, down - you get the idea). Aidan finally fell asleepabout 20 minutes before we landed - sigh. And Gavin - he did not sleep for pretty much the whole flight - poor Curt. Gavin was being so squirrely and kicked the seat in front of him so hard the woman ahead of them turned around. She was very nice about it, but I think she was surprised that munchkin could kick so hard! The next morning, during breakfast, Aidan seemed to be having issues eating the raisins and toast. At one point, my mom decides to pull some food out of his mouth(he kept trying to put it in and chew) when she sees something green in his mouth. not veggie green - plastic green. Yes, Aidan had put the letter 'F' (for food?) that is a refrigerator magnet in his mouth and THAT was why he couldn't chew/swallow very well. It was a little bit of a shock to everyone, including Aidan.
Aidan LOVED wearing Uncle Matt's hat . . .
Brothers don't shake hands . . . Brady kissing AidanOver the course of the month, Brady began speaking in swedish tongues like CRAZY(he sort of sounds like the Muppets' Swedish chef when he puts words together)! through the presence of the grandfather clock he mastered CLOCK, and discovered CARs, and continued with HORSE (from Aunt Pam's). Aidan began singing at meals (la, la, LA, la, la, LA) and Gavin increased his babbling, as well as his physical prowess in leaps and bounds. all three boys are now climbing up stairs (with adults safely behind them), climbing up the couch, and are so steady on their feet - it's AWESOME! THey got LOTS more stimulation and visits with family and friends coming over a lot, so they are SUPER bored with us these days. :) I feel like I can see a difference (especially in Gavin) with all of that stimulation. THey definitely began doing more stuff developmentally - maybe it's coincidence, or maybe it was a catalyst.
Don't eat the yellow snow Gavin!Gavin did NOT want to come inside, even with his cheeks this red!Since we got back all three have come down with a NASTY something. The first night Aidan threw up in my hand. that was awesome. Then of course we have had fevers like crazy (all the way to 104 folks), snotty noses, coughs, etc. Brady and I made a trip to the ER on Sunday night for a few hours because he went from going to bed with NO ILLNESS WHATSOEVER to barking like a seal in 3 hours time. When the breathing treatment didn't seem to last more than a couple of hours and he had labored breathing, i took him in. He was Mr. Personality the whole time. Really. Talking to the nurses, giggling, playing peek-a-boo by himself, swishing his feet on the crunchy paper, eating goldfish during his breathign treatments, etc. The ER Dr. thought he was being so cute he asked to take a picture of him on his phone. Brady rewarded him by saying and waving BYEBYE when we left, scrips in hand. At the pharmacy at 3 AM he was chatty with the pharmacist, playing with the potty training devices, etc.
Fun with Auntie Slabas and Auntie Raber - G, B, A!Tonight before bedtime, we were goign through all of our meds for each kid (it's exhausting BTW) and Aidan had something taken from him he wanted to hold (honestly, i think he wanted to hold a piece of the nebulizer machine). He began with his infamous SILENT cry as he leaned backwards against my leg and then slid down to the floor to end up on his back with his head on my foot. I was trying my best to not laugh but COULD NOT HELP IT. At least my head was turned and I was quiet. Curt was also doing his best to not laugh. THe best part is Brady walks over to him, lifts his shirt and says "arrgh?" as he pokes him in the belly button - his new favorite body part. He then goes and gets a pacifier and shoves it in aidan's mouth. This is not to silence him, but they boys have begun giving each other things when one is crying. The other day Aidan brought BRady some socks. Gavin will often get down on the other boy's level and get about 2 inches from their face - and then begin giggling. It's very intentional to try to make the other one feel better. As Aidan continued to cry, even on my lap after his little shindig, Brady then came over and gave him about 5 kisses on the forehead, mouth, etc. over and over again. it seriously just warmed my heart. even if I wanted to stuff Aidan in a cabinet.
Then we got everyone up at 9PM to begin the next rounds of breathing treatments and fever reducers. I SHOULD have gotten Gavin up at 8PM (even though his dose should have lasted until 11PM) for the different medication, but I didn't and yes, I will still be kicking myself for that many moons from now. He had another febrile seizure just after curt gave him his breathing treatment, so Curt is at the ER with Gavin as i write this. I KNOW he will be OK, but I am kicking myself because we should know better to not go the full 4 hours in between difference medications so that the fever doesn't have a chance to spike again. and of course since I KNOW that this has happened a second time, i am even more stressed for the otehr two and their fevers, so you can bet i will be setting an alarm to get up and check them tonight.
In other news a couple of significantly LESS painful things sicne we have returned home. Aidan now likes to be FULLY dressed for the day every day. It used to be whatever we put him in and maybe a pair of socks. He now brings us shoes (usually matching, but not always), some sort of hat (baseball, sunhat, etc) and a hoodie or sweatshirt he would like to wear for the day. it is hilarious. and so sweet. and he is happy as a clam if we do this for him. it kind of reminds me form the movie Big Daddy, where the kid wants to wear crazy stuff and Adam Sandler lets him wear fishing boots and a colander for a day. i can just see that coming. :) Aidan is also afraid of his shadow, and i am not kidding. curt and I had the boys walk to a little play area a few buildigns down from us since the grass was being watered at the park this last weekend. Aidan's shadow was in front of him and he was walkign behind me. When he noticed it, he bagan to cry and try to slide to one side or another to get away from it (the sun was behind him, so his shadow DIRECTLY in front of him). I ended up having to carry him because he was FREAKING. then, on the way home, he did NOT like that shadow walking so close behind him! He was glancing over his shoulder at the ground and try again to move side to side to get away from it. THis morning Marie was doing shadow puppets on the wall and he was hiding behind her wanting to look but so scared he couldn't get any closer. poor kid. can you tell we don't take them outside much during super sunny (read - hot) days?
Brady on the other hand, still loves to close doors, but he is being a bit more helpful in doing so. I have had the fridge shut on my head/body more than once, but at least he is helping! He is also busy asking questions about EVERYTHING. Car, clock and bye bye are his best words, but he has begun mastering "grape" as well. Who doesn't love GRAPES?!
