Sunday, November 20, 2016
Life Changes
My timehop yesterday showed a blog post I wrote. I decided to read the post. Almost an hour later I found myself going through tons of my old blog posts, which made me realized that I NEED to get back into blogging. If not for anyone else, for myself and for my kids. In that hour that I sat down to read some of my old posts I found so many little things that I had forgotten about; things my kids said or did, places we went, events that took place. I need to get back into it, and I will. This is such an easy way to keep a journal of our crazy life. I am not going to go back and re-hash everything that has happened in the years since I last blogged, but rather I am going to start with now. I'm excited to start writing again!
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Basketball Star
I posted about Kayden and the basketball league we signed him up for. Remember how he hated it so much at first? Well, by week six, he was completely on his own. Participating in all of the activities. And now--he LOVES basketball. We are even having a basketball themed party for his sixth birthday! I'm so glad I stuck with it instead of letting him quit when he wanted to.
I spoke with his teacher yesterday and she said she can't believe how much he has come out of his shell since Christmas break. I'm so glad he is maturing and becoming a little less shy.
I spoke with his teacher yesterday and she said she can't believe how much he has come out of his shell since Christmas break. I'm so glad he is maturing and becoming a little less shy.
The lump, pt. 2
Tuesday, February 12th was Tyson's surgery to have his "lump" removed. I went into this whole thing, thinking it was not really a huge deal. We knew he would have to stay overnight after the surgery, but I didn't realize the actual surgery was going to take three stinkin' hours! Wow. I thought it was just going to be a quick in-and-out kind of thing, but I was wrong. Once the doctor came in to explain what he was going to do, I found out it was a little more complicated than I had first realized. There was some nerves they had to work around, a breathing tube, etc. Eeek.
The actual procedure took almost three hours, by the time we got to see our baby after his time in recovery it was well over three hours. He did awesome! All of the nurses and doctors were so impressed with him. He handled everything really well. He never shed a tear. The plan was, as long as he was eating well and staying hydrated, etc. we would be able to go home the morning after surgery. Thank God, everything went great. He ate like he hadn't eaten in weeks, and was spoiled rotten by the nurses. He ate cookies and ice cream in his bed, he was in heaven.
During the night, his nurse came in every hour to check his vitals and he did amazing, going right back to sleep as soon as she was done. The surgeon and his team came by 8:00 in the morning to check things out. They were amazed by how well he was doing and then decided to have the nurse take out his IV, and they removed the drainage tube from behind his ear. By about 10:00, we were on the road, headed home.
It was "recommended" that we keep him out of daycare until the following Monday, but our amazing daycare provider was totally fine with having him on Thursday and making sure his incision area stayed dry and nobody bumped it.
He has been healing well as far as I can tell. The bandages are still over the incision area. The doctor thought they would fall off within about a week, but as of now, they are still there. He goes in for a follow-up appointment on Friday, so I would assume if they haven't fallen off by then, the doctor will remove them. The only real side-effect we are seeing is that his smile is kind of crooked. Dr. Lander told us, that because they had to work around a major nerve on that side of his face, this would probably happen. The full function should come back within a few weeks, but it could be as long as a year before he has complete control of it again.
The actual procedure took almost three hours, by the time we got to see our baby after his time in recovery it was well over three hours. He did awesome! All of the nurses and doctors were so impressed with him. He handled everything really well. He never shed a tear. The plan was, as long as he was eating well and staying hydrated, etc. we would be able to go home the morning after surgery. Thank God, everything went great. He ate like he hadn't eaten in weeks, and was spoiled rotten by the nurses. He ate cookies and ice cream in his bed, he was in heaven.
During the night, his nurse came in every hour to check his vitals and he did amazing, going right back to sleep as soon as she was done. The surgeon and his team came by 8:00 in the morning to check things out. They were amazed by how well he was doing and then decided to have the nurse take out his IV, and they removed the drainage tube from behind his ear. By about 10:00, we were on the road, headed home.
It was "recommended" that we keep him out of daycare until the following Monday, but our amazing daycare provider was totally fine with having him on Thursday and making sure his incision area stayed dry and nobody bumped it.
He has been healing well as far as I can tell. The bandages are still over the incision area. The doctor thought they would fall off within about a week, but as of now, they are still there. He goes in for a follow-up appointment on Friday, so I would assume if they haven't fallen off by then, the doctor will remove them. The only real side-effect we are seeing is that his smile is kind of crooked. Dr. Lander told us, that because they had to work around a major nerve on that side of his face, this would probably happen. The full function should come back within a few weeks, but it could be as long as a year before he has complete control of it again.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
An early birthday celebration
Kayden received his birthday present from us a little early this year. Mike's boss has season tickets for the Minnesota Timberwolves. We decided to reward him by getting our hands on those tickets and taking Kayden to the game. The seats are in the sixth row, right under the basket. He loved it. Since we were heading down to the cities for the game, we decided to hit up "Underwater Adventures" at the Mall of America. We took Kayden here for his birthday last year too, and he absolutely loves it. It's right up his alley with all of the fish and animals. It was a long, busy day, but a totally successful birthday present.
Basketball
I signed Kayden up for Saturday morning basketball. It's just a six week program. He plays with other kindergarteners, has some great coaches and is learning a ton! From the moment I told him I had signed him up, he was adamant that he was not going. His reason? He was already in baseball and he doesn't need to be in more than one sport. I decided that even though he had a terrible attitude about it and just really didn't want to go, I would have him at least try it.
The first week went horribly. Mike took him and I guess he cried and did not want to participate. Mike had all three boys that day, so there wasn't much he could do to help. So, Kayden stood by the wall for the entire hour and watched. Fail.
With a little convincing, I took him back the following week. I told him I would stay with him the whole time and help him with everything the coaches wanted him to do. So, week number two went a little better. He participated in all of the "drills" with just a few tears. I had to be right next to him the whole time, but he did it. At the end of every session the team has a little scrimmage with the other kindergarten team. This week, he refused to participate in this part.
So, week three. Things went a little better. He participated in all of the drills. I don't think there were any tears. Again, I was right with him. He participated in some of the scrimmage, but decided part way through, he'd had enough. Fine with me. It was during the scrimmage time this week that my friend Christina came and sat on the floor with me. She told me that I was a good mom for making Kayden stick with it, and for putting in all of the extra effort of getting him to enjoy basketball without letting him quit every time he wanted to. I needed to hear this. It had been hard watching all of the other parents sitting on the sidelines drinking their Saturday morning coffee and chatting while I was having to hold my child's hand through every part of the program. Thank you Christina.
Week four. This week, Kayden participated in every part of the program. I didn't have to help him with anything. He is so much more confident. I sat near him, but did not have to give him nearly as much support as he had needed in the past weeks. I was so proud of him. I knew if I could get him to stick with it, he would find out he really did enjoy it. He is shy, and just wasn't very confident in his abilities. He has spent the past six years of his life watching his aunt play basketball. I think he thought he needed to play like her. I had to explain that Amazih started with kindergarten basketball. She didn't know how to play when she started and these coaches had to teach her. I think it all just finally sank in. He isn't so afraid of failing. Maybe he won't make the shot he takes, maybe the ball will bounce off his foot and roll away while he's dribbling, maybe he will bump into another player and fall down. He is learning that this is all ok. His coaches are amazing. One of them was my high school history teacher and my ninth grade basketball coach. He talked to me the first week I was there and I told him how shy Kayden was and he was 100% on board with letting him ease into things. He understood that pushing Kayden outside his comfort zone wouldn't help anything. This was all a huge help. I'm so thankful Kayden was put on his team.
There is just two weeks of basketball left. I hope we will see even more improvement in Kayden's confidence, but even if he stays right where he is at, I'm totally satisfied. He has made huge gains and I'm one proud mama.
The first week went horribly. Mike took him and I guess he cried and did not want to participate. Mike had all three boys that day, so there wasn't much he could do to help. So, Kayden stood by the wall for the entire hour and watched. Fail.
With a little convincing, I took him back the following week. I told him I would stay with him the whole time and help him with everything the coaches wanted him to do. So, week number two went a little better. He participated in all of the "drills" with just a few tears. I had to be right next to him the whole time, but he did it. At the end of every session the team has a little scrimmage with the other kindergarten team. This week, he refused to participate in this part.
So, week three. Things went a little better. He participated in all of the drills. I don't think there were any tears. Again, I was right with him. He participated in some of the scrimmage, but decided part way through, he'd had enough. Fine with me. It was during the scrimmage time this week that my friend Christina came and sat on the floor with me. She told me that I was a good mom for making Kayden stick with it, and for putting in all of the extra effort of getting him to enjoy basketball without letting him quit every time he wanted to. I needed to hear this. It had been hard watching all of the other parents sitting on the sidelines drinking their Saturday morning coffee and chatting while I was having to hold my child's hand through every part of the program. Thank you Christina.
Week four. This week, Kayden participated in every part of the program. I didn't have to help him with anything. He is so much more confident. I sat near him, but did not have to give him nearly as much support as he had needed in the past weeks. I was so proud of him. I knew if I could get him to stick with it, he would find out he really did enjoy it. He is shy, and just wasn't very confident in his abilities. He has spent the past six years of his life watching his aunt play basketball. I think he thought he needed to play like her. I had to explain that Amazih started with kindergarten basketball. She didn't know how to play when she started and these coaches had to teach her. I think it all just finally sank in. He isn't so afraid of failing. Maybe he won't make the shot he takes, maybe the ball will bounce off his foot and roll away while he's dribbling, maybe he will bump into another player and fall down. He is learning that this is all ok. His coaches are amazing. One of them was my high school history teacher and my ninth grade basketball coach. He talked to me the first week I was there and I told him how shy Kayden was and he was 100% on board with letting him ease into things. He understood that pushing Kayden outside his comfort zone wouldn't help anything. This was all a huge help. I'm so thankful Kayden was put on his team.
There is just two weeks of basketball left. I hope we will see even more improvement in Kayden's confidence, but even if he stays right where he is at, I'm totally satisfied. He has made huge gains and I'm one proud mama.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
A little brag session
My baby sister Amazih scored her 1000th career point as a varsity basketball player about a week and a half ago. She went into the game needing to score 16 points and ended up with 17 in just the first half and 30 total.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
The Lump
Tyson has a "lump". I noticed it on December 9th. I looked at him and noticed the right side of his face was swollen. Upon further examination, I found a lump. It was big. Like at least the size of a quarter. I freaked a little bit. This was a Sunday morning, and was also the middle of a Minnesota snow storm. I called my RN sister in law, and she said she would probably take him in, but I convinced myself it could wait until Monday. So, Monday morning I called his primary doctor and she was able to squeeze him in. She checked it out and was pretty perplexed. She did a few tests. Strep, checked some blood levels, etc. She found nothing other than the fact that he had some kind of infection. She decided to put him on a ten day antibiotic and hope the "lump" would shrink. It didn't.
The next appointment included a call to another physician friend of our doctor's, a call to an ENT specialist at the Children's hospital, and a chest x-ray. So, eventually, she referred us to an ENT doctor at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis.
Fast forward to New Year's Eve. We took Tyson to his appointment at Children's and the doctor didn't seem overly concerned. He explained (in a lot of big words) that this was probably an infection. Something little kids pick up in the summer, but doesn't show up for a few months. He thought it would most likely need to be surgically removed. The first step was some blood work, then to schedule a CT scan. The blood work was done that day. The CT scan was today. We never heard anything on the blood work, so I am assuming no news on that is good news.
For the CT scan, we had to be in Minnetonka at 7:30 this morning. The two big boys spent the night at my parents' house so that my mom could take them to daycare/school for us. We got Tyson up early put Ice Age in the DVD player and we were on the road. The actual scan was pretty quick. He did need to be sedated, so that process took a little while. Everything went well, and the results will be sent to his primary doctor and the doctor at Children's. The nurse from this morning thought we would most likely hear something from Dr. Lander at Children's within one to two days. Until then, we just hope for the best.
The next appointment included a call to another physician friend of our doctor's, a call to an ENT specialist at the Children's hospital, and a chest x-ray. So, eventually, she referred us to an ENT doctor at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis.
Fast forward to New Year's Eve. We took Tyson to his appointment at Children's and the doctor didn't seem overly concerned. He explained (in a lot of big words) that this was probably an infection. Something little kids pick up in the summer, but doesn't show up for a few months. He thought it would most likely need to be surgically removed. The first step was some blood work, then to schedule a CT scan. The blood work was done that day. The CT scan was today. We never heard anything on the blood work, so I am assuming no news on that is good news.
For the CT scan, we had to be in Minnetonka at 7:30 this morning. The two big boys spent the night at my parents' house so that my mom could take them to daycare/school for us. We got Tyson up early put Ice Age in the DVD player and we were on the road. The actual scan was pretty quick. He did need to be sedated, so that process took a little while. Everything went well, and the results will be sent to his primary doctor and the doctor at Children's. The nurse from this morning thought we would most likely hear something from Dr. Lander at Children's within one to two days. Until then, we just hope for the best.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)