Grateful

I lived this past week with more thankfulness and appreciation for my little tot.  With last weekend's uncertainty, I tried not to worry until I heard the definitive news from the doctors, but I must have been nervous because on Tuesday's drive in to work, my stomach was twisted in knots and I struggled to get organised for a routine day of school.  Jackson's bubbly attitude and energetic playfulness was reassuring, but after dealing with such a fragile situation for three days, it was hard to just forget how 'up-in-the-air' things were during the weekend.

After the hospital room and amenities, I was also more thankful for our house which feels much bigger now, having our own refrigerator in which we have food that we don't have to label, and free parking for our car in our driveway.  Surprisingly, I was also happy to do four loads of laundry today and catch-up on other household chores that obviously didn't get done last weekend.  It was really nice to have a quiet, productive day at home--something that I may have not appreciated as much before last week's uncertainty.  The dirty diapers, screaming tantrums, and other lovely little perks of raising a toddler that popped up this week also didn't bother me as much as they may have before. 

I'm not trying to be morbid or dramatic; I was just surprised at how much seeing my little baby sick, stuck in a hospital room quarantined away, and seeing the doctors' concerned faces when they noticed his developing rash adjusted my thinking.  It also created more empathy in me for the families that were in the hospital before we got there and were still there when we left.  The worry that parents must have for their children who have serious illnesses must be debilitating.  I don't know how I would function if I were in their shoes.

So, I'm thankful to God for the doctors, medicine, His healing, and Jackson's strong spirit and good health.  We made it another week and I am grateful.

Another set from his two-year-old photo shoot

Developmental updates:  Jackson has come along really well with his new words and phrases.  This week's additions include "pretzel," "red," "blue," "help," "Benedict (his new friend at nursery)," "thank you," "hiya (a Northwestern English greeting)," "one, two, three, four, five, seven, nine, ten," "witch (inspired by Halloween decorations at nursery)," "yogurt," and "Huh? What?"  He started tricking us by pretending to need help by burying himself under some couch cushions.  His other trick was 'falling' while he was chasing me, making me go back to check on him, and then jumping up and laughing because his ruse worked.  Today, at football practice, Jackson sat in the centre of the circle during warm-ups and he looked like he was leading the group.  When a couple of children's footballs rolled into the middle, he kindly rolled them right back to them like a true professional.  Jackson started eating apples whole, one tiny toddler bite at a time, and even nearly polished a whole Pink Lady apple off today.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.

Annual Hospital Trip

First things first:  don't worry; everyone is okay. 

Jackson couldn't resist his yearly visit to the hospital during his birthday month, but I didn't expect a two-night, three-day stay in our own deluxe private room with adjoining bathroom!  It's nice to look on the bright side of things now that we know Jackson is all right, but we were quite worried until his blood tests came back.

It all started Thursday when I got a call from nursery while teaching my students how to write an original folktale that Jackson had fallen off of a bike and he had a 'gaping hole in his head.'  That was not extremely comforting, so I said, "A gaping hole?!"  And upon repeating it, the nursery manager confirmed that was what she meant.  I left work within ten minutes of hanging up the phone and after a dry-mouthed, near-fainting drive, I arrived to see my little babe with a cut about .7 cm long in the middle of his forehead with a large bump to go with it.  It was not 'gaping,' but rather a deep, narrow cut.  After taking him to the Royal Preston Hospital (which was a lot closer than driving to Ormskirk--the only other children's hospital I know of), we were seen within an hour and Jackson got liquid stitches and we were sent home with a pamphlet of what to look out for after a head injury.

Thursday evening and Friday, Jackson was his old self and so we didn't think anything of the head injury.  Saturday, though, he woke up being very lethargic, not wanting to eat or drink, and then threw-up which is something he hasn't done since he was about ten-months-old.  After the last symptom, we headed to A&E because he had checked-off everything on the head injury leaflet of what to look out for if something had gone wrong and needed a doctor's attention.

When we arrived at the hospital, we were seen fairly quickly and unlike the other times, the doctor wanted us to wait until Jackson was acting like himself again before leaving the hospital.  We were moved from the initial curtained room to another curtained room in the children's ward.  After about three hours from setting foot in the hospital, and a few doses of different medicines, we were preparing to leave when we mentioned to the doctor that a few spots had broken out on his arm.  Lee and I thought they were broken blood vessels from when he was having his blood pressure taken and it took a fairly long time, causing Jackson to become quite distressed.  The doctor said that he needed another doctor to look at Jackson's arm and then we were told that he may have viral meningitis.  Oh goodness gracious! 

Not too long after this, we were 'upgraded' to a private room in the children's ward where we knew we would have to wait overnight for Jackson to be observed and assessed.  They also wanted us to wait for the blood test results to come back.  The withdrawal of bloods was traumatic enough for us all.  It took two attempts, six adults, two bottles of bubbles, three episodes of his favourite show, blood, sweat, and tears to give the doctors what they needed, but we pulled through. 

The nurses started his first round of antibiotics through an IV Saturday night.  He had to keep his arm still for 25 minutes until it was all through and unfortunately, it caused him to throw-up again.  Jackson had a fever on-and-off all through the night and was still groggy Sunday morning. 

On Sunday, he took two naps for a total of four hours, but seemed to be playing more than the day before.  He had to have the antibiotics again Sunday night and was still not eating much food.  He was drinking his milk, but other than a banana and a sausage, he didn't eat anything.  At this point, we were happy that he was feeling better and more playful, but we were still worried because his spots hadn't gone away and we were still a day away from finding out the diagnosis. 

When Monday rolled around, the nurses and doctors said that we would be able to go home if we wanted to (and we did) and that a community nurse could administer the antibiotics at home if we needed to continue them.  See, the antibiotics need to be given every 24 hours and his first dose was at 10:40 on Saturday night.  There is a two-hour leeway so on Sunday, they gave it to him at 8:30 and then tonight, it could be given at 6:30.  We would only have to return to the hospital if Jackson's blood test results came back positive for viral meningitis or the cannula became twisted, pinched, or for some reason wouldn't work because those have to be inserted at the hospital. 

For Jackson's sake, we also wanted to leave because Jackson started saying, "Home," midday Sunday and pointing to the door, so we were happy to get him back where he could be a bit more comfortable.  When we were quarantined, he also wasn't allowed to interact with any other children because they didn't know what the rash was, so he was sad that he couldn't talk to the babies that he could hear out in the hallway.  I have to commend him on his ability to be creative in such close quarters, though.  The nurses provided him with a few toys from the playroom and the four 'choo-choos' and six cars he had kept him entertained for three days.

The community nurse gave us the 'all clear' tonight for Jackson to go back to nursery and to carry-on as normal tonight around 7 o'clock.  What a relief!

We are so thankful that Jackson is okay and looking back on the situation, if he hadn't had the head injury on Thursday, then we may have waited to go into the hospital in the first place and just assumed he had a cold.  Since we were sitting in the hospital when his spots appeared, then there was no way that a doctor could have actually seen him sooner.  In that respect, we were really lucky.  We were also thankful that we have jobs that allow us to miss a day if we need to for family reasons because we both wanted to take care of Jackson and on top of that, it is difficult with one car to shuttle one of us around when the other needed to stay with Jackson.  I think he wanted both of us to stay with him, too.

Jackson's nursery photos that were taken two days before he turned two!  Good timing for his yearly pictures.

Developmental updates:  Jackson's new words this week were 'great,' 'noise,' 'plane,' 'home,' and 'Blaze.'  (The last one is the name of his current favourite show.)  He had a conversation with his nursery friend in the parking lot (car park, UK).  Jackson and another little boy recognised each other and they said each other's names back and forth.  His friend pronounced Jackson quite clearly, but as far as I know, the other boy's name is 'Diddy.' 

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.

Birthday Double Feature

On Wednesday this week, Jackson turned two!  He loved opening his presents and even though this is something he only does twice a year (the last being Christmas 2016), he has a good method of finding the tiny opening and peeling.  Not unlike us when we were little though, when Jackson unwraps a gift, there ends up being 55 tiny pieces of paper scattered about.  With every gift, he also says, "Woah!" and wants to open it right away, getting out all of the pieces and in the case of a DVD, watching it that instant.  At least he appreciates his toys and doesn't race through opening them and then forgetting what he was given. 

Yesterday was his circus birthday party with his four little friends (inspired by one of his favourite movies of the moment:  Dumbo).  Thankfully, he woke up in perfect health this year and had a great time.  It was sprinkling all day, so we didn't get a chance to play outside on the new deck, but all of the carnival-themed games translated well to the indoors.  Jackson opened his presents from his friends right away.  Now, I have not been to an English birthday party yet where any children have opened their presents, so I wasn't sure that this was okay; but, who is going to stop a child from discovering what gift lies beneath the pretty paper and risk crying, screaming, and fit-throwing?  Not me.  Plus, the new toys he received served as great toys for everyone to play with so it was a win-win situation.  (In Ohio, I never went to a birthday party where the gift-opening didn't happen.  It was usually a 15-minute affair where all of the party-goers sat in a circle and watched the birthday kid open their gifts and cards, saying, "Thank you," after each one.  The unprepared birthday child would sometimes say, "I already have this!"  And the civilized children in the group would exchange looks because we knew that this child was obviously not prepped on the appropriate response to receiving a duplicate toy.)

Today, we had the same party, but Lee's family came to visit and celebrate circus-style.  It was a bit sunnier today so Jackson and his cousin could take full advantage of the Little Tikes climber that he got last year and could play on the new deck for a little bit.  It was easier to set-up for the second day of partying since we already had the food menu sorted; we just needed to replenish everything and reset the tables. 

Now after everything is said and done, I think I've had enough partying for another year.  Although, Lee's birthday is in a week so it looks like these decorations will come in handy if he's up for a big-top birthday bash!

Our little boy is now two!

Opening gifts (round two)

Party treats and gifts for our guests

Welcome to the circus!

Our lovely friends

Jackson couldn't wait to open his gifts, but who can blame him?

Everyone transitioning to clowns with their party gifts

One of the carnival games for the kids (and parents!)

Jackson's rainbow layered cake

Just a little help from 'Mimi' to blow all of the candles out

Jackson and Ralph enjoying a slice of cake together

Post-party cupcake that Ralph baked for Jackson

Racing his new Hot Wheels cars from Uncle Scott and Aunt Kirsten

A view of the big top

Enjoying the new deck with Grandpa Neil

Jackson with his cousin, Connor

Loving the two-year-old life and all of his new toys!

Developmental updates:  Jackson's continuing to be quite opinionated and instead of just saying 'no,' he says, "No way!"  I am still appreciative of the fact that he knows what he wants and doesn't mix-up his yeses and nos.  Jackson is perfecting his fake sleeping with sounds and a change of expression, but the funniest thing about this is he hasn't put that much importance on keeping his eyes closed.  So, he will look right at us and 'sleep,' and we have to play along that he is taking a nap.  (We'll get there.)  His new words and phrases for the week are 'sticker,' 'me go,' 'thank you,' and 'hot.'  He is also getting very good at repeating words and short phrases right after he hears us say them we as soon as he can attach the meanings to what he is repeating, then he should be able to add to his vocabulary quite quickly.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.