Another Visit to the Doctor

Evan still had a fever this morning, so I put a call into the pediatrician’s office and we were seen at 9:30am. He has really come a long way. He will let the Doctor look in his ears and listen to his heart without crying. They did prick his finger which did not go over very well. I told the Doctor we needed to buy stock as we were just there two weeks ago today and he was put on an antibiotic. Of course, today I was told that the fever, runny nose and cough were viral and just needed to run its course. That is so hard to hear because you just want your little one to feel better. We did discuss the possibility he may have allergies. He is always pink under his eyes. So we are going to start giving him Zyrtec on a regular basis to see if that makes a difference. So the whole family will be suffering through this cold and hopefully Kevin and I will stay healthy.

On a positive note, he also saw the ENT Doctor this afternoon for a follow-up for his surgery to have tubes put in his ears. The Doctor said the tubes looked great and no sign of fluid or infection. Yeah! Finally something is going right for him. We are supposed to follow up in about 5 months for a check up.

I stayed home from work today and Mom, Aunt Faye and Grandma kept him entertained while I had a Doctor’s appointment. Thank goodness for family especially since they will watch him so I can return to work tomorrow. He has to be fever free for 24 hours before he can return to daycare. The poor little guy was so exhausted tonight; he just wanted to lay his head on my shoulder and go to sleep. So bath came early and he was asleep by 7:45 which is unusual. Of course it probably will not be long before he is awake. Please say a prayer for him to have a speedy recovery.

Evan’s Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Evan’s 2nd Birthday with a small party at home including family and close friends. We were afraid we were going to have to cancel as once again Evan is sick. He has run a fever all weekend and been a little out of sorts. But everyone decided to brave his fever and come to the party. The theme was Elmo. He had a great time and everyone was so nice to him. He and his cousin Yancy cooked up a storm at the play kitchen. We got tickled because Yancy said Evan kept making a mess and she had to clean up. Some of his goodies included clothes, a doodle pro, train, train set, and college fund money. From Mommy and Daddy, Evan received an Elmo Live. He seems to like it but he sure did get mad and throw a fit when Elmo fell over. We don’t know if it scared him or not.

Preparing to greet his Guests

The Famous Elmo Birthday Cake

Trying out the cake--not much of a cake eater

Evan with Granna and Aunt Faye

Evan with Papaw and Mamaw

Waiting for Daddy to unbox his present

With Elmo and his cousins Yancy and Adele

Children’s Museum

Kevin and I took the day off to spend some time with Evan. We took him to the Greensboro Children’s Museum. He had fun but there was so much to do, he didn’t know where to start. Of course the main thing he kept coming back to was the train set (choo-choo) which is similar to what Granna has for him at her house. It was funny; he was riding a wheely bug and went flying toward a lady in the same area. I then realized what had attracted his attention. She was carrying her daughter’s Elmo backpack and Evan loves Elmo. She said several children had come up to her because of the Elmo backpack. We then took him to lunch at Chick-fil-a which basically consisted of him eating a few French fries and fruit. No chicken. Such a picky eater these days. He must have been worn out because he slept almost 2 ½ hours which is unheard of for him.

Here are some pictures from today:

Evan turns 2!

Today is a very special day as Evan turns 2. We submitted his picture to our local news station for the morning segment of “Who’s Turning 2”, so it was neat to see his picture on the television this morning. He is cute because we have been asking him how old he is going to be and he will say “2” and try to hold up two fingers. We have to help him with that

I am taking snack cakes and cheese doodles for a birthday party with his classmates at school today. We are celebrating on Sunday with a small family party. Mom was able to use one of her many sewing machines and embroider a shirt with “Birthday Boy” on it to wear Sunday. His cake will have Elmo on it since that is one of his favorite characters. I will be sure to post pictures.

New Pictures

I can't resist. I have to post these pictures of Evan that were made New Years Day. We were all gathered at Kevin's Dad's for New Years. Everyone on our side and Phyllis's was able to be there. Phyllis has a cousin who is a photographer. Van came to the house and took tons of pictures of the children, each family, and the entire bunch. These are just two of the pictures of Evan. I will be getting more in near future and I will be sure to post. By the way, Van travels and will come to take pictures at your home. He does a great job. If interested, I will pass his number on to you. Just let me know.

Does It Ever End?

Does the runny, snotty nose, cold and cough ever end? Evan has had this fairly consistently since September when he began attending daycare full time. I know this is generally a standard curse to deal with. I guess I had hoped that somehow needing tubes caused part of the problem. Wishful thinking I know. We enjoyed a non-runny nose over the Christmas Holidays and the week afterwards when the daycare was closed. Well, he started back full-time this past week and of course, as of Thursday, Guess what he has? He is not running a fever so of course the Doctor doesn’t want to see him. I called today. They said to see how he is the beginning of the week. So Evan is under the weather and not up to his usual energetic, fast moving self. A friend from work (Paige) said her kids were constantly sick while in daycare but once they started school, they were rarely sick. So only, 3 ½ years to go. I guess we had better buy stock in Kleenex.

Sleep/Food Issues—What a Struggle!

We have had a bad week with Evan’s sleep habits. As I have posted many times before, he still wakes up during the night and ends up sleeping with us. He generally is asleep by 8:30pm. This week, he has been asleep by 8:30 but is waking up between 10 and 10:30pm. It takes me almost 30 minutes to get him back to sleep. If we are lucky he might sleep for another hour and then the process starts over. Of course, I am generally so tired I go ahead and put him in the bed with us. Last night I rocked and rocked, he was snoring, so I laid him in his crib and those eyes popped open and he was on his feet faster than lightning which lead him to sleeping with us even earlier. It is so hard to figure out how to break this when we are so tired and have to get up and work the next day. I know part of it has to do with attachment and he doesn’t like being by himself.

The other issue is food. Our picky eater has become even picker. This child of mine doesn’t eat eggs, meat, bread, mashed potatoes, pasta (mac and cheese/spaghetti), etc. He would at least eat chicken nuggets or fish sticks. Those have now gone by the wayside. He will eat a few vegetables on a good day. He will eat some beans and fruit and that is about it. If it wasn’t for fruit I don’t know what we would do. I have started giving him the Wal-Mart brand of pediasure trying to get something nutritional in him.

We are looking for insight on how to improve these things for Evan and ourselves so we can all rest better and he is getting all the appropriate nutrition he needs. If you have any suggestions, please share.

Happy New Year!

It is hard to believe how fast 2008 went and all of the changes in our life that occurred. In reflecting back on 2008, Kevin was recovering from a broken heel the first of the year, we learned our dossier had been registered in Kaluga and we received a referral to meet our future son. We made three transatlantic flights within 4 months to Russia and arrived home on June 21, 2008 with our son Evan. We were able to see another country and all of its beauty. Of course we also learned there is no place like home. I joined the world of mini-van drivers when we purchased a van after someone decided to run a red light and totaled my car. Life has definitely been an adjustment having a little one in the house and trying to get out of the house that is a whole other story. Who knew one child could require so much paraphernalia. Evan has brought so much joy and adventure to our lives.

As we enter into 2009, we are looking forward to celebrating Evan’s 2nd birthday on January 22nd. It is already amazing to see how much he has changed since arriving home and are looking forward to all the new things we have in store for us.

Wishing you and your family joy, peace, and happiness as we begin a new year with 2009!