Ice Cream Date

Sweet & Sassy

That phrase totally embodies Elliot, sweet and sassy! This morning, The babies were hanging out in our bed while Tim got ready for work. Elliot was watching a PBS show on an app, and Aaron was playing with her beloved Minnie. It was such  a sweet moment as she gave him a kiss and patted his head while he rested in her lap. It quickly turned into "Aaron heavy!" In one swoop, Elliot pushed his head off her leg and instead rested HER legs on HIS head. Sassy.

The grass is greener

Since Aaron sits up well, it makes playtime a lot easier! There are now rare moments when Elliot and Aaron are playing together and I can get things done. Of course this peaceful picture is quickly ruined with screeches of Elliot yelling because Aaron took her toy. She is having a hard time sharing and waiting her turn...oh the trials of being two!

Aaron loves playing with Elliot's toys, especially when she's not there ;)
Last night, between getting each kid really for bed, Aaron got to play with those treasured toys uninterrupted! He was loving it! Of course he doesn't like his own toys nearly as much. Aaron would have hung out there all night if he could.

Anti Almonds!

So here's the long and crazy story about Elliot and the almonds (pictures included):

Tuesday: Elliot was eating some almonds with breakfast. She's had almonds tons of times and loves them because Tim and I eat them a lot. She spilled the cup of almonds on the floor and started to sneak away, so I asked her to clean them up. Toddler tantrum started up as she yelled no and faked crying. Apparently she still had some almonds in her month and she started coughing really hard. After a couple of minutes the coughing wasn't stopping, instead it was getting worse. It got so bad that she threw up! The rest of the day she kept coughing, but her behavior was the same.

Thursday: I took her to the doctor because the coughing wasn't getting better and now she was wheezing! The doctor heard the wheezing, but both lungs seemed to be breathing the same. Elliot had 2 xrays done, and they didn't see anything stuck. She sent us home with an inhaler to do 4 rounds 4 times a day. Poor baby girl was so good at the doctor's, but hated the inhaler when we got home. But she settled down when she got to show it to Tim, and we convinced her it was pretty cool :)

Friday: We went in for a check up to see how the inhaler was working. Although it was better, it wasn't much better and she was still wheezing. A different doctor prescribed a steroid to take once a day. She also said that she thought that Elliot had a nut allergy, and didn't inhale the almonds. I wasn't convinced. Even though she gave a good explanation, I stuck to my mommy guns and believe that she had aspirated the almonds. Over the week, Elliot was feeling better but she was still dependent on the inhaler. Like clockwork, every 6 hours would stark hacking and wheezing uncontrollably! Although she was playing, Elliot would get sluggish and her appetite had decreased.

Wednesday: We went in for another checkup with the original doctor. I told her how it couldn't be an allergy and that Elliot had even lost 3 pounds in one week! She listened to her chest again...and sure enough the left lung was barely letting in any air. The doctor immediately made arrangements for us to go to the hospital, see the surgeon, and get a bronchial scope done. It was so crazy! The world stopped for a moment as I tried to process what was going on. What?! We have to go where?! She going to have surgery tonight?! Since DC traffic is so ridiculous, we had to leave immediately and didn't have time to go home and collect out things, otherwise a 20 minute trip would take and hour. I must have had a horrified look on my face, because the doctor asked "Are you ok? Can you do this?"
Yes, yes I could do this. I would have to be strong and not show fear or cry because then Elliot would start to freak out. So I gathered up Aaron, Elliot, our barely stocked diaper bag, put on a brave mommy face, and drove us to the pediatric ER.

We got checked in quickly, and Aaron enjoyed flirting with the nurses while Elliot got another set of x rays. Thankfully, Tim made it quickly to the hospital by metro and bus and met us after the x rays. Apparently, this time the almonds did show up in the x rays because they were encompassed by mucus and other stuff. The nurses were so sweet and set up Cinderella on movie channel for Elliot and showered her with princess stickers.  (In the pictures, it looks like Elliot is wearing a cast, but it is to cover up the IV so she wouldn't mess with it).

 

After what seemed like forever, and meeting with doctors and the surgeon, we moved upstairs to a private room. Thankfully it wasn't long after that when the OR had an opening and we were moving Elliot to another wing of the hospital.

Poor Tim was trying to console a tired and hungry Aaron at 10pm, while the anesthesiologist and surgeon talked to me again about the procedure. I carried Elliot into the OR and tried yet again to put on a brave face for my baby girl. We snuggled and sang our favorite songs right before they gave her the anesthesia. In a matter of seconds, Elliot became limp and closed her eyes. It was by far the hardest thing I've had to see. I knew she was fine, but it was horrifying to see your child like that.

Tim, Aaron, and I waited in the waiting room for 30 minutes until the surgeon came out with good news! He showed us the tiniest little slivers of the almond that was stuck in her bronchial tube. He also showed us a digital picture of the slivers before and after they removed them. I couldn't believe that the tiniest of nothings caused so many problems!

Unfortunately, we had to stay the night (that's all I'm going to say because it's a sensitive subject). In the morning, Elliot was hungry and ready to get back into our normal routine! This meant watching Micky Mouse Clubhouse while eating cereal :)

We finally got to leave around noon! We were all SO excited to go home, get out of the clothes we'd been in for 24 hours, and take a long nap!

We didn't even make it off the hospital's grounds before both babies fell asleep! Elliot took a peaceful 4 hour nap, and woke up with a smile on her face. Our sweet baby girl was back to her wonderful self!

Lesson learned: Don't let toddlers eat food that splinters (nuts, raw carrots, etc) and make sure they chew their food properly. 

Sorry this was a long post ;)

4 months, 5 months, and yes 6 months old

Aaron at 4 months old:
-18 pounds (82%), 24.25 in long(8%), & 17 in head (80%)
-So from those stats, we call him our Little Teapot...because he's short and stout ;)
-Loves to slouch! You'll see in one of the pics, he just want to hang out and kick his legs out.
-Started solid foods! Since he still wasn't on a good sleeping schedule, or taking a bottle, the doctor and I decided solids would be good. He started out with bananas and avocados, just like his big sister. It took a couple rounds before he realized what I was trying to force into his mouth was yummy! Now he's a big fan!
-He grabs at anything that comes within his grasp. Unfortunately, my hair is usually the victim to his tight fist.
-He is really enjoying toys, especially rattles!
-Still pretty happy and easy going :)

Aaron at 5 months old:

-Loves to yell and queal! Tim calls it his "raptor voice." He can get so loud that he sometimes wakes Elliot up from her nap! Oh little brothers.

-Currently sleeps in his car seat at night because he likes to be snuggled, and he's too big for the bassinet in the pack-n-play. While he's sleeping, you can see him nuzzle the sides like Mommy's there. 

-He tolerates tummy-time and is really good at rolling from belly to back.

-He loves to blow raspberries at us and say "ba-ba."

Aaron at 6 months old:
-20 lbs (91%), 26.25 in long (31%), 17.75 in head (92%)
-He wears 9 month clothes!!!
- I'm so glad he stretched out! But boy is he heavy!
- He's very strong even though he is on the chubby side. The nurse even commented about how she was so surprised by the strength in his thighs!
-He stills up on his own! This is always a welcome milestone because it makes playtime so much easier!
-He loves to jump and work out in his free standing jumper!
-Puts everything in his month and chows down. However, we're still waiting for those first teeth.
-He welcomes all new foods so far, but still loves bananas best! We sang him "happy birthday" for his half birthday and gave him bananas with a candle, just like we did with Elliot :)

Shhhh

I was scrolling through the over 500 pictures on my phone, and came across these two pictures of Tim sleeping with the babies :) (I think Aaron looks like baby Elliot when he's sleeping). In the pics, Elliot is 14 months and Aaron is 6 months.

Btw, camera is acting up so monthly pics of Aaron will take a little longer...

Baby Reunion

I LOVE the hospital where I delivered the kids! INOVA Alexandria is a smaller state of the art hospital with an amazing staff. I can't say enough good things about it! So today they celebrated their 140 year anniversary with a Baby Reunion!

They asked anyone who has been born at the hospital in its long history, to join in a day of festivities. The kids and I of course went, and was awesome! They had face painting, balloon animals, games, crafts, picture session, and yummy food. And it was all free!!! I couldn't think of a better way to spend my sunny Saturday . Elliot had a blast! I had to carry her to the car because she was so sad about leaving! We probably would have stayed all day if it didn't cut into naptime :) Below are pictures of our wonderful day