Back to the ER

Brody came down with a no big deal cold that unfortunately landed us in the ER this weekend.  The whole week he had a runny nose and cough but except for a few hours no fever.  I didn't think much of it because ever since his ear tubes a runny nose never amounts to anything for him.  It usually runs its coarse and goes away.

Thank goodness my parents came into town for the weekend because on Saturday night Brody started to sound croupy.  I tried giving him an albuteral treatment but it didn't really do much.  I put him in bed that night and wasn't worried about him in the slightest bit.  Unfortunately for everyone involved Brody awoke at 4AM and was having some trouble breathing.  I say "some" because I really wasn't acutely worried about him but knew if we didn't fix it soon, it could become worse.  The poor little guy was scared to death and was crying so hard that it was only making things worse.  My parents quickly jumped in the car with me and we raced to the ER.  Brody sat on my lap so that I could try and calm him down.  I knew his crying was only making things worse so I decided that we were unlikely to get in an accident at 4AM and that it would be better if I didn't put him in his car seat, and spent my efforts trying to get him to stop crying.  Go ahead cast your judgments ;) but I would make the same decision today if put in that situation again. 

We decided to go to UK's ER and I was very impressed.  An ER nurse heard Brody's breathing when we walked in and she brought us back immediately.  Before I knew it they had a pediatric pulse ox on him and respiratory was on their way.  While we were there he got a racemic Epi treatment and some steroids.  After a few hours we were sent home to muscle through the day on little sleep. 

I am glad to say that after one more dose of steroids a few days later Brody is back to him self, breathing normal and 100% snot free. 

Roxie

Sadly we have lost our dog Roxie.  She passed away yesterday and we all are deeply saddened by her sudden death.  I got Roxie 12 years ago from the pound and my roommate Shannon could have killed me for it.  She was just so sad and lonely in her cage at Pets Mart that I couldn't leave her there. Roxie was my companion all through college, when Dave and I broke up, when Dave went to the Marines and and during his tours in Iraq.  Roxie, saw me through anesthesia school, and the birth of our son.  We often joked that Roxie would never die.  She had survived heart worms at 6 months of age, being hit by a car with a compound fracture, and eating lots of ant poison.  Nevertheless, whatever she scummed to was quick and fast and I although it is harder on us, I am thankful for her quick passing. 

Roxie had fallen down the stairs on Wednesday afternoon and although she took a hard fall she got right up and walked it off.  However, that evening she started vomiting and did not want to come inside.  The next morning she walked down the stairs and went outside but again did not want to come in.  That afternoon she became very tachypnic and progressively became paralyzed.  Dave left work and took her to the vet for an evaluation and we both thought she would be put down.  The vet felt very strongly that she had just hurt her back and he was certain she would recover fully in just a few days.  He gave her a dose of steroids and sent Dave and Roxie on their way. 

When I arrived home from work and saw Roxie for myself I agreed with Dave and was certain she was dying.  I called the vet and told him that if he really thought this was all pain related then she needed a narcotic.  Poor Roxie was breathing so fast that I couldn't even count her respirations.  I quickly gathered Brody and drove to the vet to pick up a narcotic for her.  When I arrived home I took a few steps inside and knew she had passed without even seeing her.  I sat Brody down in the kitchen and when I walked upstairs I found her dead.

The medical person in me just could not handle not knowing what happened to her.  The vet said all her labs were fine.  I could not stop questioning if they were fine then why would she have died so suddenly.  I have now decided that she must have hit her head when she fell and had a brain bleed that ultimately caused her to herniate.  I know to most people this sounds gruesome and cold but it brings me great comfort to "know" what happened to her. 

She was a great dog and will be very missed by our entire family!!!

The Childrens Museum

Today Brody and I went to the Children's Museum at Union Terminal in Cincinnati.  On the way ur p we stopped in to see my friend Emily and her 6 week old baby girl Zoey.  She was so cute and so little.  It seams unbelievable that just a year ago Brody was that size. We were not able to stay and visit long because we had other big plans for the day but we did manage to get in a few pictures. 

 

After lunch at my parents we headed over to the Cincinnati Children's Museum.   My parents and my Mom's parents went with us.  The Museum used to be a train station for Cinicnnati and interestingly is the location my grandfather left for WWII.  Now it is a Museum with so many exhibits/activities for adults and children.  It is so big that it never feels crowded and there is so much to do that we didn't even see half of what they had to offer.  Guess we will be headed back soon.

Snow Day

First Time Sledding

This Saturday we woke up to a unexpected snowstorm.  The funny thing about Brody and snow is that he loves to play with it and thinks its hilarious when you throw snowballs at him but he is terrified of snow falling from the sky.  If it is actively snowing you can't even think of taking him outside in it.  He screams bloody murder and clings to you.  If he notices that some of the snowflakes have fallen on his arm he will shake his arm violently trying to get them off.  It is sad but really quite comical at the same time.  Luckily by the afternoon it had stopped snowing and we were able to take our little buddy outside for his first sled ridding experience.

Brody really enjoyed sledding down the hill the first few times with Dave but after a few times of sledding down the small hill by himself and face planting in the snow at the bottom he decided that he didn't care to much for the sled.  We tried to build a snowman, but ultimately ended up with nothing but one big pile of snow. We will have to work on our snowman building technique in the future.

Tantrums

Okay, I will be the first to admit it.  Before Brody I used to think that I would know exactly how to handle my kid if he threw a tantrum in the middle of a store or a restaurant.  Well, guess what our sweet little Brody has developed a big attitude lately and has demonstrated his anger with us in the most embarrassing ways.  Most of the time his outburst have to do with him wanting something that we will not let him have.  Here are a few examples:

     - In Rite Aid he decided to melt onto the floor and scream when I took away a plastic pill holder that he found while we were shopping.

     - At Outback Steakhouse the other night he started screaming because we wouldn't let him eat any more bread or hold his Styrofoam sippie cup.

     - At Gordmans he would turn into a limp noodle when I tried to take his hand and guide him to walk in the direction I wanted to go.

Luckily for us all of these outburst took place in a setting where we were able to leave promptly and avoid the stares from those around us thinking that they would handle the situation better.   The biggest problem I have with these tantrums is that they are occurring so often.  He cries, screams, and even growls at us when ever we take something away from him which unfortunately is very often.  He is just in to everything.  Dave and I have had to learn to let him flail on the floor at home screaming and ignore him when he is crying and tugging at our legs to be picked up.  It is so hard.  Anyone who said that you are able to tune out your kids cry and scream is lying.  It not only makes me very sad to hear him carry on like this it also annoys the heck out of me and I can often feel my blood pressure going up. 

I keep telling myself that this is just a stage and that we need to nip this in the butt now so that he knows who is in charge.  Its just so hard because it seams we are in a power struggle with him most of the day. It would be nice if there were clear directions for parents on how to handle these issues.  I recently told my friend who just had a new baby that the decisions you have to make for your child are so much easier when they are a little newborn.  All that you have to decide is how to feed them, diaper them, and how to get them to sleep.  Once you hit the toddler years the decisions you have to make become much more difficult.  You have to decide how to discipline your child, how to educate them and how to start teaching them to function appropriately in this crazy world.  I just hope that we are making the right decisions for Brody and that how we decide to handle these issues and the issues we encounter with him in the future will teach him to be a mature well adjusted adult. 

Bro Bro

Last year I completely forgot to write about Andrea, Brett, Cole and Graham staying with us.  I guess since it was around the Holidays it just slipped my mind.  Anyway, Andrea and Brett were in the middle of selling their old house and moving closer to Lexington.  In order to help them out we offered to let them stay with us during the week.  Most people thought we were crazy to invite house guest with a toddler and a newborn to stay but I think we all really had a good time and enjoyed each others company.  Brody especially loved having a playmate all day.  Cole is 6 months older than Brody and despite their frequent fights they love playing with each other.  Now that they are all moved into their new house, Cole has been asking about "Bro Bro," so we decided to go visit them at their new house this weekend. 

The boys had lots of fun playing with each other, while I snuggled baby Graham and Dave helped Brett build his new workbench in the garage.  We all can't wait till the summer when we can spend the day on their land and the boys can run around outside.  

I wish I had better pictures of the day but have you ever tried to take a picture of two wild and crazy toddler boys.  Its near impossible!  

2014

January so far has been a pretty good month for us.  Brody did get sick pretty bad the first week but it has been smooth sailing from then.  We have tried to keep him busy by visiting Lowes, Kohls, Gordman's, etc.  He just loves to walk around the store and push the shopping carts.  We had one exceptionally warm day, that allowed us the opportunity to play outside.  We took advantage of this and went to Shilito park where we had the park all to our selves.  Brody definitely had a good time climbing and going down the slide and I had a good time taking pictures with my new camera.