The Transformation: Curious George to Tazmanian DEVIL

Shane has become the epitome of a smarter and yet more naughty 2 year old. As he nears 3 years of age...still several months away...he follows the same pattern Christian did. Learning lots of cute, fun things....but also learning how to push our buttons and do those things he has clearly learned to be pure NAUGHTINESS!!

Things that have changed:

- Church- especially Sacrament Meeting- he has discovered the power of a shout in an otherwise quiet arena. He consistantly ends up outside in the naughty spot

-Our childproofed home- he is finding little ways to create a dangerous/harmful atmosphere...pulling up chairs, pushing buttons...you name it

-Stores- although parts of this has improved...he has also discovered running away from Mom. Christian never pulled this one on me. Shane, on the other hand, laughs and screams as he taunts his naughtiness.

I could continue the list...but I think I have vented enough. Honestly, he is not without his cutest moments as well. I think its a catch 22 at this point of his learning. In between the naughty, He redeems himself by singing at the top of his lungs, he counts to 20, he proclaims his love, he pulls out the "shake my booty",still sucks his 2 fingers.

I am just taking this stage in because I know I will be sad when it passes...like I was when Christian did. I think thats life....loving and hating the stages your children go through...all the while loving them to death!!

2nd Grade STarts!!

Same school- Webb Elementary- its a comforting thing to be able to start a new school year at the SAME school as last year. This is the first time its happened for Christian. He felt so at ease...this is all old hat by now. He started 2nd grade this morning. His teacher, Mrs. Rodriguez, seems like a very warm, loving teacher. She is the 2nd grade team leader, so I think she is going to be on top of everything. Christian didn't look a bit scared. Maybe a tid bit shy...but mostly because of the ear situation. I am PRAYING the kids at school are kind to him. Its pretty inconspicuous....but kids can be brutal. Christian got a blessing last night from Daddy so I have faith its going to be a great year.

Shane is going to miss his "broba"...but hopefully we can keep him busy. He is doing GREAT on the potty front. I would say he is done...well, except for this morning of excitement. He reverted back to peeing in the pull-up. But I am hoping its because we were really busy and not reminding him. Otherwise, we are excited for his big boy progression.

2008 Questionnaire

1. What time did you get up this morning? around 6:45, initially, then downstairs by 7:20!
2. Diamonds or pearls? DIAMONDS...also my birthstone
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Narnia;Prince Caspian (in the $1 theater)
4. What is your favorite TV show? American Idol or Medium
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? not a breakfast person
6. What is your middle name? Nada~ still think its a lame idea to use maiden name for a middle
7. What food do you dislike? mixed foods...ie fruit salads or hawaiian pizza
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment ? Natasha Beddingfield
9. What kind of car do you drive? Toyota Sequoia
10. Favorite sandwich? Submarina Turkey Avocado
11. What characteristic do you despise? Its a draw betweem hypocrits and self-righteous
12. Favorite item of clothing? denim bermudas
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Lots of places- Australia, Europe, Costa Rica, Fiji...should i keep going
14. Are you an organized person? I am trying to be more-so
15. Where would you retire to? A small quaint community in So-cal by the beach...hopefully thinking!
16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? my last one was pretty good...Gav stole me for the weekend to a nice hotel on the Riverwalk in San Antonio and Six Flags and lots of good loot.
17. What are you going to do when you finish this? Go run!!
18. Furthest place you are sending this? Who knows, right...it a blog!
19. Person you expect to send it back first? I know Amber & Taryn like to do these sort of things.
20. When is your birthday? Federal Tax Day, April 15th
21. What is your shoe size? before kids= 7 after kids=8
22. Pets? looking for a nice aquarium w/ little upkeep
23. Any new and exciting news? i'm having a laparoscopy on sept 10 to see if we can find out why i am not getting prego
24. What did you want to be when you were little?other than a mom, a brain surgeon (dream big)
25. How are you today? hopeful
26. What is your favorite flower? yellow rose
27. What are you listening to right now? my boys requesting breakfast menus & Disney
28. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? January 2009 match day for Ophthomology...it means all the anxiety & unknown are over
29. What was the last thing you ate? chips & salsa late last night
30. Do you wish on stars? I wish on whatever will give me my dreams
31. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? YELLOW
32. How is the weather right now? Actually sunny...I hope it lasts so we can hit the beach
33. Last person you spoke to on the phone? my sis, De
34. Favorite soft drink? Cherry Coke
35. Favorite restaurant? um...PF CHangs or Sammys
36. Hair color? I go for the platnum blonde
37. What was your favorite toy as a child? our trampoline
38. Summer or Winter? summer in so cal...winter in NY
39. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla
40. Coffee or tea? neither but i do like the smell of coffee
41. Do you want your friends to email you back? a comment is cool
42. When was the last time you cried? few days ago to my sis
43. What is under your bed? extra blankets, maybe a few stray toys
44. What did you do last night? watch May/Walsh clinch the Gold in beach volleyball!!!
45. What are you afraid of? losing loved ones
46. Salty or sweet? I have a solid sweet tooth ..although I believe the 2 co-exist

Potty Training Take II

I know...I posted a while back that Shane had shown some interest in the potty. But, it was more as a toy and new game than an actual process of maturing.
While we were pretty much house-bound these last weeks with Christian recooping, I decided to capitalize on the situation. Last week I started putting real underwear on him. That approach lasted 2 days with a lot of success but a few accidents that I was getting tired of cleaning up. So, we went the pull-up method. We call them pull-up underwears or underwear diapers....both terms of which Shane feels Bigger with.

During the last several days, we have seen progressive learning. And even though we opt for the real diaper at bedtime, Shane has woken up the last 2 mornings with a completely dry diaper. He manages to only slightly wet one pull-up a day. The rest of the releases have been in the toilet. Then yesterday, he decided to crank it up a notch. He did #2 in the potty...not once...but 2 times!! I am going to give it a couple of more days until I would call this a true success...but its smelling sweet. I would be one happy woman to not have to buy diapers for a while. Of course, I might if we have more kiddos...but to be out of that stage for a while sounds wonderful!
As a reward, Shane got to go to CHuck E CHeeses yesterday!...and Christian was more than happy to celebrate with him. Christian says its awesome to be a big bro because he got his rewards and now he gets to also participate in Shane's rewards. I think this is a win-win-win-win situation!!

Icing on the cake

Christian has had a pretty eventful month as you can see on the prior posts (2 week trip to Cali with a gnarly bike crash/concussion, 7 yo birthday, major ear surgery, etc). Amid all of that minor stuff, we can't forget to show his very important/favorite birthday present-

Cholesteatoma Ear Surgery...

Cholestea...whatta??! I know, I said the same thing the first time the doctor said it to me. I don't want to go into what it is too much on this post...if you're curious what it is, its easy to google and find lots about it. So August 11th we checked into surgery at 6 AM, Christian was scheduled to start surgery at 8AM. By 10AM they had finally begun. He took the anesthesia like a champ(and had to be intubated). He was in surgery for about 3.5 hours. We are glad they released Christian and did not require an overnight stay in the hospital. Christian did relatively well. There was a rough patch in recovery...but once they controlled his pain, he felt much more at ease. The cholestoetoma was very large and had caused pretty extensive damage. The Dr. had to remove all but half of one bone in the middle ear. He feels he got most/all of the growth...but will go back in 6 mo- 1year to make sure. It is unclear if the hearing will be about the same or slightly worse...its a wait and see type deal. It is also unclear if he will be able to reconstruct anything...mostly because he had to remove much of everything that he would have used to connect a reconstruct to. Anyhow...we are hopeful this is the beginning of a healthier ear....and can only pray that it will not come back to cause further damage. For now, we are just laying low and allowing the ear to heal. Luckily he still has one more full week before school starts. He should be pretty much up to normal by then (as long as no one touches his incision).

Do my sleepy eyes give the 6AM away??

He played lots of GBA before surgery as a distraction! He was also hilarious...dancing on the gurney and cracking jokes

In recovery...in a lot of pain and confusion.

Not a very clear picture...but you can vaguely see the incision post surgery.

#7 for Christiano

Christian's Happy Birthday welcome from Shamu

Christian's favorite ride of the day!

Enjoying a break from the heat in 4D style.

That's not a booger on Christian's nose...just the remainder of his bike trauma.

August 7, 2001...I had been induced and labored all night...by early morning with Christian having late decels on his heartrate monitor and my progression stalled...it was decided to deliver C-section. I was disappointed and ill prepared. When they pulled him from my stomach I felt tears trickle down my face. I looked into Gav's eyes and saw a similar emotion. Our first baby!

Now seven years later...I am even more teary eyed when I think about Christian. We truly could not have asked for a better first born. He has been a dream child in so many ways. He is the apple of his daddy's eye...I see so much of Gav in him. He is an amazing student and athlete. And he is a great older brother and example to those youngerand some older. He is so brave and strong beyond his years.

This year we had a family birthday party while we were in San Diego. Then for his actual birthday, we spent the morning doing his pre-operation appointments at the hospital...and spent the rest of the day at SeaWorld San Antonio. He had a blast!

The Kids' Summer Vacation...

We all know that a vacation is not truly a vacation for the parents (or parent,in our case)...I won't say there wasn't a lot of fun. But its also a lot of extra work to be away from home, normal lives, different people's lifestyles and expectations.

That being said, our trip to San Diego was very much worth it. I can tell...because as we left, Christian got choked up at how he is going to miss everyone and questioned why we have to live so far away... that's a hard one!

Amongst some of the highlights were going to the pool and beach with cousins, having a cousins sleep over in the beach brat room, having Christian's 7th Birthday Party at the beach, trying to go to a sold-out Padres game and ending up at Hard Rock Cafe, Shawna running an 8 mile VERY hilly race through Balboa Park, going to Old Town, getting Christian's filling done without a shot (he was said to have 4 cavities and was dreading getting all of them fixed with shots to the mouth...very pleasant surprise for him), and just visiting with lots of family and friends.
So...the story behind the previous posted picture...Exactly half way into the trip, Christian decided to go bike riding on his cousins' driveway (which is a pretty steep hill) and became over zealous, the handlebars got out of control and he face planted down the hill. Apparently he knocked unconscious for a moment...but cannot still remember anything until he was on the couch, about 20 minutes later. He caught the fall primarily with his face/nose. LUCKILY, he was wearing a helmet..but still managed to get a good sized goose-egg on his forehead. That was the worst time, as a mom, that I truly felt that type of anxiety, sickness and fear all together. Seeing him all bloody and disoriented scared me to death. He did all right that night...but the next day he began worsening. He had sever neck pain, a headache, a fever, was very lethargic and nauseous. Cumulatively, we decided to take him to the ER. So instead of getting a date night at the temple, we spent many hours in the Emergency room doing all kinds of tests. Obviously, the outcome was positive...his scans cleared. He must have had a good concussion. Thanks to some good salt water and chlorine water, his wounds have healed relatively quickly and without scars.

We are so glad we were able to visit "home" for a short while. It may be a while until we are able to make it back there. It reminds us of the things we miss (while also reminds us of some of the benefits of living away for a while). I do have to say I looked forward to being home--in our own beds, normal schedules...all the benefits of being in your own environment. We did not miss the hot humidity...but its livable and will hopefully begin lightening up over the next several weeks.

Sneak Peek....

Here's just a sneak peek at some of the "fun" we had on vacation... definitely more details to come!!

As a side note...Christian is having surgery on his ear on Monday. We had his pre-op yesterday... and everything is set. He is such a trooper.

I am going to get my feet on the ground here at home before Sunday night when we have to go to San Antonio for the surgery. So, I will catch up on our eventful 2 week vacation soon!!