July 11:
8:30pm: While Michael and Joe watched Andrew and Sylvia, I headed over to the University Hospital to visit Tom. He seemed amazingly well considering the surgery he went through just a couple days ago. His throat is really sore, so he is whispering, but he was talking and joking and seemed really “with it” for someone on a substantial amount of morphine! He’d been up walking several times, but he’s also prone to moments of utter exhaustion. The doctor stopped by while I was there, and they are planning on moving him out of the ICU and to a normal hospital room tomorrow.
By the by, I’ve never been in an ICU before. Good grief. Just walking down the hall…there are some really hurt people there. Uhh…I can’t imagine. It’s a really serious place. Sort of made me want to run far, far away to a place of peace. Also sort of made me want to go immediately to medical school so I can help people there too.
3pm: The news from my brothers is that as of last night, Tom is sitting up in a chair, off the ventilator (while still on a heavy-duty air mask), and able to communicate. He may be moving out of the ICU in the next day. Still a long road to recovery, and he’s not out of the woods yet in terms of infections and surgery success, but we’re on the right track. Way to go, Tom!
Kid party at our house
July 10: We had four friends over yesterday morning, and we had a great time! We made flowers out of coffee filters, the kids ran about and had a blast, and we all enjoyed each other’s company. Pictures of the morning are in the gallery.
Tom is in the hospital
July 9:
5:00pm: Tom has been doing alright today. Joe and Michael have been staying with him at the University Hospital’s ICU. Joe said that while Tom is mostly unconcious, he has been able to communicate, nod, and indicate that he needs more pain meds. He still has a breathing tube, and they expect to keep it in for another day or two. At this point, the main concerns are the high risk of internal infection and the unknown whether the surgery was successful. The next five to seven days will tell. If all goes well, he’ll be getting better. If there is an infection or a problem with the surgical site, the problem should manifest itself in that time. That’s the update for now!
9am: We got some bad news last night. Our family friend, Tom, is in the hospital after having emergency surgery for a bowl obstruction. He was in surgery last evening for four or five hours. Michael and Joe were at the hospital and saw him in the ICU. He’s on a ventilator and under close observation. If all goes well, he should come out of ICU in four or five days. Really serious stuff. Michael was going back to the hospital this morning. I don’t think I’m going to be able to visit much until he gets out of ICU since I don’t think I can take the kids there. Tom’s family is out of state, and Terry is in Oregon visiting his family this month.
Poor Tom. It’s a tough time.
Outdoor fun
July 9: The last week has been a good one. We enjoyed our long weekend, and the last couple days have included lots of visiting with friends. That always makes for some good times! On Friday Joe, Sylvia, and I went for a walk on Picnic Point. To our amazement, we saw three baby mink in the water and very close to us along the shore. The next day, we went back with Michael, Becky, and Andrew. We had a lovely time, but we didn’t get a second viewing of the mink.
Pictures from the last days are in the gallery.
Oh, and last week we had doctor’s appointments for both kids. Andrew is 32 pounds and 3′ 1.75″ tall (that’s around the 50th percentile for both). Sylvia is 14 pounds, 4 ounces and 25″ long (also around the 50th percentile) [not 16″ as previously noted!]. I’ve got two happy, growing kids!
This morning we’re having some friends over this morning for a toddler art group. We have colored water, eye droppers, and coffee filters. Should be fun!
Fourth of July reunion
July 5: We had a great Fourth of July at my mom’s Aunt Carol and Uncle Bill’s home on a lake in Oconomowoc. It was a lot of fun to see cousins and aunts and uncles, and we had a really fun time splashing around in the water. It was Sylvie’s first time in non-bathtub water, and she was happily dipping her legs in (sometimes going up to her neck) for almost an hour.
Andrew got to go for a ride on the pontoon boat, and then he had fun floating and getting thrown high into the air by his strong Uncle Bubba.
Pictures from the reunion (mostly taken by Joe) are in the gallery.
Why, Mommy, why? Why?
July 5: About a week before his third birthday, Andrew dove into the world of “why?” I’d been awaiting the “why” stage with some degree of excitement and anticipation. I had been thinking of creative answers for an inquiring mind. However, I was a bit surprised to find that about 6 hours into the land of “why” that I was tired out and feeling kind of done. It’s exhausting!
Here’s an example:
Andrew: Where are we, Mommy?
Me: We’re driving on the highway.
Andrew: What? What did you say?
Me: We are driving on Highway 51.
Andrew: What?
Me: HIGHWAY 51
Andrew: Why?
Me: Because it’s how we get home.
Andrew: Why?
Me: Because we need to go home so we can play with your toys.
Andrew: What are we going to be on next?
Me: Well, in a little bit, we’re going to turn onto Cottage Grove Road.
Andrew: WHAT? What did you say? I didn’t hear you. What did you say.
Me: Cottage Grove Road. That’s the name of the road. Can you say that?
Andrew: Cottage Gwrove Woad. Are we there yet? Are we there yet?
Me: You’ll know where turning onto Cottage Grove Road when we go around a big circle.
Andrew: Are we there yet?
Me: It’ll be in a few minutes. It’s about a mile up the road.
Andrew: What? What did you say?
Me: Almost
Andrew: The Big Circle!!! Where are we now. Mommy, Mommy, Mommy. Where are we?
Me: The exit ramp. We’re about to get onto Cottage Grove Road.
Andrew: What? Why? Why Mommy, why?
Wow. Makes me kind of tired to recall! How do kids have so much energy? Inquiring minds want to know:)
Birthday fun
June 30: Well, yesterday was a lovely birthday. I got to sleep in a little, my sweetie made me French toast for breakfast, and we had a slow morning at home. Around noon, we went to a farm with our neighbor Nancy. Andrew had a great time seeing Alpacas, donkeys, a goat, horses, and many doggies.
Late afternoon, we met up with Joe and Becky, Michael and Lisa, Dad, and Terry, and we all headed up to Baraboo to eat dinner at one of our favorite restaurants – Ishnala. We had a huge meal, including shaum torte for dessert, and we all left stuffed. All in all, a good day. And one where I rarely thought about the fact that one year ago was when Mom was first getting some negative health diagnoses. Nope. Hardly thought about it at all.
Pictures from our day are in the gallery.
Bambino birthday at the beach
June 29: Yesterday evening, we had a great time at the beach with all our “baby friends.” Come to think of it, they aren’t really babies any more. In fact, they aren’t even toddlers any more. We now have a wild pack of preschoolers on our hands!
We all met when our first-borns were only weeks old, and now here they are…three years old! I haven’t seen many of the other families in months, so it was a lot of fun to get together for a blustery evening at Vilas Park Beach. Kids in attendance included Jaya (and new baby Turner), Cora, Vianne (and one-year-old baby Shae), Anika, Eli, Isabelle (with a baby sister nearly here) and as we were leaving, Max and Miles.
Andrew had a blast at the party. It was his first time this summer in the water, and he really enjoyed getting his feet wet. It got me excited about spending lots more time at the beach as the weeks go by.
Pictures from the party are in the gallery. For a fun comparison, see pictures from their one-year and two-year birthday parties.
Birthday weekend
June 28: It’s shaping up to be a beautiful weekend. Yesterday Andrew, Sylvia, and I went to Bryan’s office to join him for lunch. He’s moved from one side of the UW Research Park to the other side, and we hadn’t met a couple of his new co-workers. It was fun to see his new diggs, and Andrew really enjoyed getting some treats from Bryan’s co-worker, Dawn.
After lunch (Hubbard Street Diner…mmm) the kids and I went over to Uncle Bubba’s to hang out with the uncles for a bit. Joe ends his work week at noon on Friday. He’s splitting his time between an internship at the Madison Symphony (20 hours) and work at Gathering Waters Conservancy (10 hours). Andrew just adores his uncles.
Sylvia’s nighttime not-sleeping routine is improving. The last few nights have gotten better and better (it’s easy to get better when she was waking up every hour!), and last night she only got up at 1am, 4am, and 6:30am. She even then went back to sleep until 8! I’m sure that my children’s sleep patterns are not that interesting to read about, but it so affects the joyfulness of our days!
Tonight we have our third Happy Bambino kiddos birthday party. Then tomorrow is my birthday, and Terry’s taking our gang to Ishnala for dinner. Should be fun!
I had forgotten to link to some pictures I took earlier this week. Such cute kids! I couldn’t decide which picture to post with this update, so I picked two!
Our day in pictures
June 26: It’s 10pm, and I’m about to turn in to bed in an attempt to be rested again tomorrow. We had a really lovely day today. Spent most of the day at Jessica’s house where Andrew and Eli had a blast being silly (and remarkably imaginative) boys together. Janelle, Vianne, and Shay came over, and we all made tissue paper window crafts. Sylvie took some naps, Andrew was in a splendid mood, and I was rather rested for the first time in a few days. It was great! Sleep and time with good friends make for a great day.
Pictures from our day are in the gallery as are photos I took of Terry and the kids last night. Enjoy!