Stories From A Life Gone Crazy: June 2008

Friday, June 20, 2008

Tag

Our camera is busted-- yes broken. I took it to the pool with hopes of getting pictures of Jack with Lydia and Elsie but it didn't pan out. During break we drank water out of the water bottle but apparently did not close the lid all the way, and when leaving I noticed everything in the bag was wet--that included phone and camera. I turned the camera on at the pool and it worked so I thought great--yay!! I then padded the bottom with towels and put the rest on top, but once home I tried to take a picture and nothing. I charged the battery and nothing, I opened all the compartments I could open to let it air dry- and nothing, I ordered a new battery and nothing, and so I had to resign myself to the fact that the camera I bought in October was in fact busted. I was devastated. We are poor college students again and we made a decision to get a nice-ish camera in October, but now it won't even turn on!!! I am heart-broken.

Jack had tubes put in Tuesday-- things went very well. Jack was given two new toys--so fun! He got a toy stethoscope from the nurses taking his blood pressure and then the anesthesia nurse gave him a plastic snake--so fun!! We were told that when he woke up he would be cranky and crying-so we were prepared for this child who was screaming his head off, but we weren't prepared for an angry baby. We offered him his cup, which he took and brought to his mouth, only to have him bring back like a football behind his head and launch it across the room. Then in the elevator he reached out for his cup, so I gave it to him, the exact same thing happened again. It was so funny. I couldn't help but laugh.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Reading-- a contact sport

While I shouldn't be writing or using the computer now I just can't sleep and at the moment I am not in pain, so I thought I would share the story of my Friday the 13th.

The day started out gloomy, rainy, and so muggy-it was gross. Jack and I dropped Pete off at the rugby field so he could practice throwing his discs, and Jack and I headed off for our morning walk with Tamri and Elsie. We had a great time and the rain held off so we were super happy about that. We pick up Pete and head on home for a lazy rainy day indoors. Jack played with his cookie jar, he is really interested in putting the shapes in their correct slots lately. I was either helping Jack or doing a crossword puzzle and Pete was hanging out with us enjoying his time off before class. As Jack's nap time draws near he begins to get cranky so I ask him if he wants to read a book. Upon hearing this he walks into our bedroom with two of his favorite books at the moment: The Flea's Sneeze and Please Baby Please. I grab him and pull him on the bed and we snuggle up under the blankets for reading time. We get through the first book no problems and then I begin to read the second one when suddenly I see an arm coming right for my face and then feel a finger go straight into my eye. Pain. A small whimper. Then silence. Tears fill my right eye and automatically my hands go straight to it- as if I were protecting it from more harm. Pete enters and asks what is wrong. I try to open my eye but cannot- not even a little bit. Jack starts moving and fussing so Pete puts him to bed. I try opening my eye again and this time a succeed in opening it barely. Eventually, I can open it about halfway. Everything is very blurry when using that eye. I think something is in there I have to get whatever is in there out. I splash water over my eye again and again and pat it with a towel. I can open my eye more now but I am in like level 8.5 pain on the pain scale. Everything is still blurry, more tears , and this film over my eye that Pete and I both see. My first thought is to stick my finger in there and get it out. I mean it is probably like that snot mucus you get sometimes in your eye. Pete warns me not to do this. I really want to though. Anything to make it stop hurting. We call mom to get her mother and doctor opinion-- she says go to doctor and if we can see it then it must be pretty bad. So Pete calls the Purdue Urgent Care to make sure we can get in, he gets Jack out of bed, and we head off. I have to close both my eyes otherwise the sand feeling is overwhelming. We arrive and the boys have to wait in the waiting room. They numb my eye, do something else, and put this black light over it to check things out. The doctor says that this is a very large cut on my cornea, he says it is like a huge crater is in the middle of it, he says Jack couldn't have done a better job, and sounds very impressed in a way that you don't want doctors to sound very impressed. He puts ointment over my eye, next two things of cotton, and then decides that he would rather I wear a patch than just taping the cotton over my eye.

So I have a nice big black patch over my right eye. I have to wear it 24 hours. Then I have to put eyedrops in my eyes every 4 hours for 5 days. I am not to open my eye or move my eye or expose it to sunlight for 24 hours. Thank goodness he gave me pain medication that knocks me out. Although it makes me itch so I also take a benedrayl. So I have either been sleeping in bed or listening to Friends with my eyes closed- I have seen the show enough times I don't need to see it. Pete had to miss the class he was going to sit in on. Jack was sad that his mommy was in the bedroom with the door closed and he couldn't come in. I was sad that I was in so much discomfort. Overall, the sad gloomy day ended sad and gloomy. Although, I do want to thank Pete for being such a wonderful husband and dad today--well everyday-- but definately today.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

poker chips

Jack really likes putting poker chips in his plane

He didn't realize he wouldn't be able to get them out

After he stopped crying I made him come in- he still wasn't too happy

Then he climbed into his toy box and remembered he had a truck on his shirt so life was good again.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

can you hear me?

Wow we have been pretty busy around here the past few days. Jack has been having so much fun lately. Pete has been taking him out and showing him the ins and outs of frisbee golf, and Jack will be out throwing daddy in no time. He has been playing with poker chips, coins, pens, cups, and anything he can get his hands on; he has been lining stuff up in a row and/or sorting things. I am not real sure what his method is, but I know that he has one because he is very serious when doing these things. I could go on and on really because it seems that every day he just learns how to do so much more.

This has been our week of doctor's visits and we aren't quite done yet. This morning we had to go get the 15 month shots. Jack wasn't even phased, he acted like nothing happened. Then we ran a couple of errands, but I had not had breakfast yet so we also went to Panera. Quite a few people stopped to tell Jack that not only was he cute but they really liked his shoes. Then it was off to Borders to pick up a few things. We were browsing in the kids department when Jack noticed this little stuffed dog-Spot- and so I let him carry it around. He would not let that thing go -he sat it on the shelf next to where he was looking, then he carried it over to the little table and chairs and he sat it on the chair, then he introduced it to some other stuffed animals that were in the corner. Of course I bought it for him, I am weak, that and well the dog's face was very wet from Jack eating it. So two of the above pictures show Jack and his new favorite, at least for today, stuffed animal.

Then it was home for a nap before we went to another doctor's appointment this afternoon. This doctor's appt. was a hearing test. Jack has been struggling with ear infections all winter long. We just haven't been able to shake them. Yesterday we had an appointment with the ENT and today we had a hearing test- the verdict is--TUBES. It is very sad. Jack has minimal hearing loss due to his multiple ear infections, and this was something we sort of figured. He never says the ends of words. It is sha for shoes, d for dog and duck, fl for flower, and if it weren't for context and sign language I don't know that we would fully understand what he was talking about. However, he is one smart cookie- during the hearing test he and Pete were in this little room with a window, and I was on the other side of this window with the two ladies giving the test. The grad student was making noises and Jack saw her through the window, figured out that she was the one doing it, and just stared at her the whole time. They had to change the lighting so he wouldn't see her. I say- very clever young sir.

The surgery is to be done in a couple of weeks. This means that for a year he has to wear ear plugs in the bath and when he is going to be anywhere near, in or around water. He also has to wear this head band type thing in addition to his ear plugs when he swims. He can't play in lakes or oceans--he can only hang out at the very edge where water meets land. At least now his language skills will improve and he won't be sick anymore. Still mommy and daddy are a little stressed out about the surgery.