sledding

We took the boys sledding yesterday. Adler wore the puffball over a big puffy vest and some large jammies. He could barely move.

Plus a hat and a pair of Kari's sunglasses to top off the outfit.

The boys rode in on the sled together and were very brotherly sharing and taking turns going down the hill. At first LT didn't want to go and even threw a fit at the idea. But once we got there he had a great time and didn't want to leave (even though it was too cold for the rest of us). Typical of his three year old self these days.

Not my finest videography work but here's a short video of Adler going down the little hill.

an xmas to remember

You probably saw that little Alder spent Christmas eve in the hospital. We didn't want LT to have to see Adler in the ER so, after we left the pediatrician's office, I dropped Kari and Alder off and took LT home. My mom came down to watch LT and I headed back to the hospital (he wasn't in the ER long before they admitted him).

After getting a little buzz from his nebulizer Adler had about as much fun as could be had playing with some toiletries the hospital gave to his mom. He didn't know he was missing Christmas and managed to be a pretty good sport in the hospital.

He was pretty sick little guy and even the energy burst from the nebulizer didn't last long. Kari's main concern was, of course, for Adler but she also wanted to make sure LT had his Christmas experience so I went home to do Santa duty.

LT put out the traditional serving of bread & honey, some Chex cereal, cookies and some water for Santa.

The next morning (not too early, thankfully) opening stockings was serious business.

LT got some art supplies including some glitter glue (which he loves). He insisted that it was for decorating cookies.

The motorcycle was pretty cool.

Perhaps the most exciting gift of the morning was a juicer. We had to try it out immediately.

LT just being LT while making his juice.

Then enjoying the fruits of his labor.

We found out Alder was being released from the hospital so we went to pick him up. It took a little while to get discharged but the boys enjoyed playing with the toys they had in the kid's area of the hospital.

Adler's came home with his jacket over two hospital gowns and some little socks with rubber treads.

Once we were all home together we had a little family holiday time together. Alder looked to his big brother to see how this Christmas thing is done.

And he even kind of got the idea of opening presents.

The boys got some new legos so LT can build ever taller towers that Adler will knock over.

It wasn't the ideal Christmas we'd imagined but it turned out okay.

boys in a box

Hey, Its me, Adler

Hey Everyone,
I hijacked my moms computer to tell you my Christmas story this year.
It all started last week when my brother (at least I will blame him) brought home some yucky germs from one of his schools. I started feeling a little sick, then a little more and then a lot sick. My mom noticed, but I can't talk, so I couldn't tell her what was wrong. She thought I was breathing really hard and had a pretty high fever, so we went to the doctor last Wednesday. They put me on some medicine for whooping cough and said I had some early pneumonia. We went home, but after two more days, I still felt crumby. So, we went back to the doctor on Friday (christmas eve). They hooked me up to a thing on my toe and said they were checking my oxygen levels. Then they did a breathing treatment with this funny mask. They checked my oxygen again and said I was really sick. The next thing I knew, my daddy dropped mommy and I off at the hospital.
Mommy and I checked in and daddy took LT home. I was really tired and just wanted to go to sleep, but instead we walked into this loud, bright, fast moving place where people were rushing to see how I was doing. They hooked me up to more things. First, they put a red glow light on my toe, which would have been fun to look at if I felt good, but I felt really awful and I didn't want it on my toe. They said my oxygen was too low and so these doctors and nurses put some tubes in my nose with air, which I really didn't like. But again, I was so tired, I just curled up on mom and went to sleep. This didn't last long, even though I wanted to sleep longer. Someone else came in and rushed me to have pictures taken of my lungs. The only good part was that mommy got to come with me. After the pictures, we went back to the bright loud room and I tried again to go to sleep, but my oxygen level dropped and an alarm went off and woke me up. Ugh, I just wanted to SLEEP!
This is a brief moment when I was allowed to sleep on mommy in the ER (by the way, my mom took all these pictures with her phone, so they aren't great. That's the only way she ever takes pictures of my brother and I anymore, so its a good thing daddy is so good with cameras, at least we will have a few good pictures of us!)
After more and more of these loud people interrupting my sleep and listening to my lungs over and over a different guy came in with a wheel chair and took me, mommy and grandma (oh yea, Grandma came to be support to mommy in case she got scared) up to a different room. They told mommy they were taking me to the children's ward and admitting me. They said my test results for RSV were positive and that I had a bad ear infection and pneumonia. I didn't know what all those fancy words meant, I just wanted to go to sleep.
Once we got up there, a few more people listened to me and tried to hook me up to oxygen again, which by this point I really really did NOT like. Maybe an hour later, I finally got to curl up with mommy and go to sleep for awhile. I woke up still not feeling very well and threw up a lot. I felt really cold, but the nurse would roll this funny thing on my forehead and then tell mommy I had a fever. They said I had to stay overnight. I didn't really know what day it was, but mommy felt sad that we had to stay in the hospital on Christmas eve.
My day went on much as explained before. Nebulizer treatments, oxygen, tylenol, people bothering my sleep. Oh, I should mention that the nebulizer treatments were actually pretty fun! After I screamed my way through the actual treatment, I got a lot of energy! It was fun for me, but it was kind of hard on mommy because they gave me the treatment every 4 hours, even in the night. Once I had it, even though I slept through the actual treatment in the night, it would wake me up and I wanted to PLAY! Even from 3:30 until 6 AM!
Mommy and I snuggled in this crazy bed, it moved. I could push these fun buttons and make the head piece raise up or the bottom of the bed move. I also found the emergency button in the bathroom, which I pushed a few times. Luckily we were the only ones in the childrens ward this night and the nurse didn't mind me bothering her on accident. In fact, we got a lot of attention, whether I called her or not.
Mommy wasn't expecting to go to the hospital and didn't bring anything with her. The nurse was kind enough to bring some toiletries for her, which was my first Christmas present!
In the morning, I was finally feeling tired and wanting to sleep, but it was morning for everyone else and so people started coming to see me again. Grandma was really nice and brought mommy some coffee and me some food (I wasn't feeling very well though and didn't eat, but I appreciated it!) The nurses said I was doing much better and they thought I could go home. Mommy was wondering how LT was doing with Santa visiting him. She called daddy and daddy confirmed that Santa had visited both LT and I and brought some presents to our house. Santa was really nice and also visited the hospital. He brought me a car transporter and my brother a police car!
It was really fun to unwrap the present. It took me awhile, but since I was hooked up to so many things, it entertained me and made mommy's job easier.
I threw up on my cozy jammies, but the nurse brought me this dress. LT told me I looked "really cute in my pink dress". That made me happy.
Daddy and LT came not long after to help us check out and drive us home.
While we were waiting to be discharged, mommy found the kids toy room and was able to bring lots of toys into my special hospital room for LT and I to play with. I wasn't allowed to go to the playroom because I am still contagious.

We finally arrived home on Christmas day about noon. I took a really long nap, so did my mommy, daddy and LT. I am still getting breathing treatments, tylenol and some medicine for the whooping cough and ear infection, but I think I am feeling better. I am going to go see my regular doctor tomorrow for a follow up. I just wanted everyone to know that I am OK and doing well!
Lots of love,
Adler
(oh, when mom finds that I wrote all of this, I am sure she will add some pictures, I think she took a few in the hospital).
PS, I also wanted to thank Baba for taking care of my brother Friday so that mom and dad could be with me and Shawn for dropping off food for my mom and dad at the hospital. Also, thanks to everyone else to brought and offered food! My mom was really happy about all the support we got when I was so sick.

Some chips with that salt?

He didn't learn this from me. He got it from his brother. His brother learned it from me.

Holiday photos

LT making gifts for family and friends - chocolate pretzel treats with M&Ms.

The boys in their santa and snowman jammies.

Mom got them to smile together.

When mom left to workout, the boys got into a little trouble.


Alder looking out the second floor window at the big world outside.

Okay, not a Holiday picture - just one of Adler from May that I thought was cute and got lost on the cutting room floor.

Here's an actual holiday shot - the Christmas lights on the City & County building downtown. Click on the picture to see a bigger image or here for few others.

Parade of Lights

The DAC has a big party each year the two nights of the Parade of Lights. I thought it was simply a big buffet and then watching the parade. Boy was I wrong. They have more activities than we had time to do for kids, unbelievably beautiful holiday carols sung by some of the most impressive gospel singers I have ever seen, santa, a tremendous amount of food for everyone, and a big holiday bizarre. We got to the party a little early so that Brian could work out beforehand. While he was working out, the boys and I checked some things out. They made holiday cookies, Adler enjoyed them more than his brother!


And they did multiple holiday crafts. LT went to about 10 of the 15 tables of crafts. He could have stayed in this area all night. I didn't take pictures of the parade, but LT thoroughly enjoyed it. After multiple attempts by Adler to run into the street, I decided to take him inside to wait, but LT sat through the entire parade and talked about it for days after. This was our first year to the parade of lights with the boys, but I am pretty sure we will be back next year!

Remote Control Sister, or brother

When the holiday season began, we started asking LT what he wanted from santa for Christmas. He said, with NO hesitation, "a sister!" It slowly changed to "maybe 4 brothers" to, "if I can't have a real sister, I want a remote control brother or sister". Yikes. Parents can usually find something similar to what their kids ask for, but seriously, a remote control sister? Luckily this evolved to a remote control bird and most recently bath toys and a science experiment book. PHEW... this santa can handle those things.
Regardless of what he asked for, hes loved seeing santa this year. He doesn't get a bit frightened (I almost wish he would...) and tells each santa in a loud and clear voice what he wants. We have seen santa three times so far. Above was at the train museum at the "Santa Express" weekend. Its a weekend where they run a train (LT didn't want to go on it, he just wanted to see santa).
And yet again, leave it to LT to like the characters. He found this railroad babose, gave him a high five and wanted a picture with him.
This santa was at Valdez, a local elementary school that had a big holiday market, kids activities and santa. They also had a santa at his little school, which he sat on his lap as well, but unfortunately, I didn't have a camera.

One on one with Adler

Adler and I get a little time just to ourselves with LT in school. We have spent a lot of time at the mall play area, which he loves! He spends the majority of the time launching himself down the slide.

And, unfortunately, he is forced to run errands with me that LT doesn't like. Occasionally its fun, like grocery shopping with mom and driving the car/cart.

School performance

Last night, LT had his first school performance. It was part of the "Peace Night" at JCOS (the "big school" he goes to). While he was not on the big stage in the auditorium for this performance, his class did stand on little risers and the whole thing was pretty darn cute. We have videos of each of the 5 songs they sang, but I think one pretty much tells it all!

August

A cute picture of Adler from August that got forgotten for a while.

A new game

I went to yoga early this morning and came home to find LT playing a new game that involved prying the keys off of an old keyboard with a screwdriver (often the keys would fly into the air as caught in the picture). LT was having the time of his life. I don't think Adler really understood what was going on but the good times were contagious because he was running around the room with a huge smile on his face and laughing out loud.

When left to their own devices...

The boys happily make up their own 'games' to entertain themselves. In this case, playing light switches soon devolved into playing with the sink.

Adler loves playing with his brother but sometimes gets the short end of the stick when LT makes up games for them to play together.

Light switches

One of Adler's favorite activities now is standing on a chair and turning on and off light switches. I have started putting him on a chair in the bathroom for this activity, seems like the safest place. he's got the sink on one side and the chair sort of wedged between the door frame and the sink.
Seriously a happy kid!