Hand-Foot-And-Mouth

Tuesday we found out that  antibiotics Avery was taking to help clear up his ear infection hadn't helped so we switched antibiotics. Tuesday night was rough, you could hear the pain in his voice as he cried. He and I ended up sleeping in the chair in his room. Wednesday he spent the day with my mom and was much better, except a rash appeared on legs and butt. He had a rash last week Thursday (on his arms) and Sunday (on his face) both went away the same day but to be on the safe side I called his doctor. Even though she didn’t think it was a reaction to the  antibiotics, we changed anyway. This morning after a semi-good night sleep Avery headed back to daycare, almost his normal self, just a little rash on his face.

Happy boy ready to go back to daycare
(you can sort of see the rash by his mouth)

When I dropped him off there were two new contagious illness posters up in his room, one for Strep and the other for Hand-foot-and-mouth disease. There are two cases of each in his room. And I am pretty sure a third now can be added to the Hand-foot-and-mouth club. (Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is a mild, contagious viral infection common in young children characterized by sores in the mouth and a rash on the hands and feet.)  This morning a little after 10 I got a call from daycare that the rash Avery had when I dropped him off turned into blisters/sores, which meant that Avery had to go home.
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease can cause fever, sore throat, painful red blister like lesions on the tongue, gums and inside if the cheeks, a red rash on hands, feet and face, irritability, and loss of appetite.

Avery's Foot

Since Avery has had or currently does have everyone one of these symptoms, I am thinking when we see his doctor tomorrow he will get an official diagnosis of Hand-foot-and-mouth disease added to his ear infection. Other then a weak/no voice from crying at night Avery seems to actually be feeling better and there’s no specific treatment for hand-foot-and-mouth so he can go back to daycare once the blisters go away, hopefully Monday.

Icky Ear - 1 Week Later

Avery had a tough night last night and this morning he still wasn’t himself so on our way to daycare I made Avery an appointment with his actual doctor to re check his ruptured ear drum and ear infection from last Tuesday. At 10:30 I got a call from daycare that Avery had a fever of 101, which means I had to go pick him up, and he can’t go back until he hasn’t had a fever for 24 hours. Avery’s appointment was at 1:45, I am always so glad when we get to see his actual doctor, she knows Avery so much better then any other doctor. Avery’s left ear was still very red and is right was also now red, so were are changing meds and adding an ear drop and will go back in on Friday to have his ears looked at again.

Memorial Day 2012

Like we have done for the past few Memorial Days we went out to St. Clair to see a friends dad be apart of tribute to veterans. The VFW group does a service that consists of a reading, the laying of a flower on a comrades monument and a gun salute. They perform this service at one of the cemeteries and at the bridge in town. Like last year Avery came with us, we wondered if this year he might react differently to the guns being fired but again he just jumped a bit at the first shots and that was it.

Happy Memorial Day!

After watching the service at the cemetery and the bridge we headed up to my parents for a little sprinkler fun.   

Sprinkler Fun!

Stealing Nico's ball was a really fun game!

And that was our Memorial Day 2012.

Slip 'N' Slide

Our big holiday weekend plans consisted of celebrating our friend Jess’s 30th birthday at our another friend’s house with some out door fun, “garbage can” turkey and some brats on the grill on Sunday afternoon & night. Of course Sunday was the hottest day of the weekend but there was a plan to keep the kids cool and entertained, a Slip’N’Slide! After getting the brand new Slip’N’Slide out of the box, staking it down and filling the pool at the end with air, and getting the kids in there swim suits, it was finally time to add the water. 

Suit on ready to Go!

The water got turned on and clear water slowly started coming out of the hose, clear turned to murky, then murky turned to really rusty and we stopped filling the pool. Lucky the water was running so slowly there wasn’t much water in the pool when we deiced to dump it out and start over. When the water wouldn’t come back on we knew we were trouble. After two trips to C&S Supply and one to Menards (nothing like a little pluming problem when you have 20+ people over) the water in the house was back on  but there wasn’t going to be any Slip’N”Sliding. All though the kids were really looking forward to using the Slip”N”Slide with water they did have a great afternoon playing in the “boat” without any water, having snack, playing ball and running around.  Avery even managed to sneak in a lawn  mower ride with Daddy before we packed up and called it a night. 

Playing in the "Boat"

Having fun without the water. 

Snack Time! 

Truck Time!

Play Ball! 

Mower  Ride with Daddy, FUN!

It was a great day with or without water, Happy 30th Jess!

Rain Day

What do you do on a rainy Saturday of a long holiday weekend..... You play with every toy in the house and  get some extra sleep. 

Rain Day = Let's get out every toy in the house!

We were up and eating breakfast by 8AM like most days but by 9:00 Mom wanted a nap and Avery didn’t object to the idea, so I put him in his crib and I went back to bed. Nap time lasted until 11:30, then was followed by lunch, then playtime and some mischief . 

Look what happens when mom goes to the
bathroom.... I am king of the mountain!

By 1:30 it was time to nap again. At 3:30 nap time was over, and it was time to play again. After a quick supper, and because it wasn’t actually raining we headed outside to play for a bit before bath and bed time. It wasn’t a bad way to spend a rainy Saturday!

Icky Ear

Urgent Care waiting room
- as always he doesn't look sick

Last night as we were walking out to the Jeep from daycare I noticed Avery had a boogery looking string across his left ear, so I grabbed a tissue and wiped it off. Fearing I knew where the boogery substance came from I looked into his ear and sure enough, it was filled with puss.  Back in January Avery had drainage from his ear do to a ruptured ear drum caused by an ear infection, I was away on business and didn’t see his ear then, but his current boogery ear combined with that morning’s 2:00am-3:30am crying & mild complaining session, it was fairly easy to deduce that Avery again had ruptured an ear drum. So after a quick look from my personal nurse (aka my cousin), Avery and I headed off to Urgent Care. It was a really short wait, after a quick trip to the scale (Avery is 25lbs) the Doctor was in to see him. She cleaned out the outside of his ear, but it was still so plugged she wasn’t able to see anything in his left ear, his right ear was better, not plugged or red but not totally perfect either.

Avery's Icky Ear

 Avery has his second official ear infection in his left ear, and a ruptured ear drum. He will be on antibiotics for 10 days and we will follow up with his Doctor to make sure the ear drum has healed. As usual Avery has been a trooper the whole time, if it wasn’t for the 2:00am wake up, I would have never thought something was up. 

Scraped Knee & Sprinkler Saturday

Saturday after the 5K Avery took a nap from 11-2:30 but before he did Avery had another first. While playing in the driveway at our house, he fell down like he has done hundreds of times before but this time he scraped his knee, a first! He didn’t cry or anything he just got up and kept on playing. I am guessing this “first” will be followed by the second and third and so on very soon!

Avery's first scraped knee!

After Avery finally woke up from his nap, we headed up to my parents to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. With the sun out the afternoon was nice and warm, bordering on hot, so to cool off and have a little fun we set up the sprinkler Avery got in his Easter basket. He loved it! 

Checking things out

Having a drink

Silly Boy!

Having fun in the sprinkler! 

Look at those pipes!
Water filled turtles are heavy

It was the perfect way to spent a hot afternoon. I envision a lot more afternoons like this to come this summer!

Golden Heart 5K - 2012

The sun was out, there was a nice wind, which kept the temperature down, it was a great day for the Golden Heart 5K! This was my second year doing the 5K, but this year Jon and Avery joined me.

Golden Heart 5K 2012

The event was at Benson Park in North Mankato, this was the 3rd annual Golden Heart 5K. I am not sure how many people signed up but it looked like a great turn out. A little before 9 we got ready to head out, the runners who were being timed were in the front, then the runners just running, then bring up the rear were the walkers and strollers and wagons. Having no plans to run any of the 5K we took our place in the back of the pack with the other strollers and wagons. Avery did a really get job, 5K is a really long time to ride in a stroller. We actually didn’t end up doing the entire course, we took a detour with a half mile or so left, to see the Fire Truck and Dirt Movers that had been brought in for the event. Avery was ready for a break from the stroller and we knew it would be hard to walk by the trucks and not stop.
Avery was very happy to be free from the stroller, he sat in the Fire Truck and with a little help from daddy checked out all the dirt equipment.

Sitting in the Fire Truck

Hanging out on the Grater 

Checking out the skidsteer

I think his favorite was the front loader, he sat up in the cab with his daddy with his hands on the steering wheel and “drove” and honked the horn.

Driving the front loader

What a great day for 5K!

It was a great event, maybe next year Avery will be ready to do the kid 1K....

Sand

Ever since Jon started working at the Hospital we have had a lot fewer rocks and less sand in our house (since he is no longer is working at a limestone quarry, he doesn’t bring home what seemed like half the quarry on the bottom of his pants everyday). But that was before, now I have discovered sand all over my floors again, but this time the culprit is Avery. Avery loves sand.  Last weekend when sand was delivered to the sand box at my parents, Avery and his grandpa got right to work playing in it. They dug holes, filled buckets, made towers and smashed towers, I think Avery even had a taste or two. There is no doubt that Avery loves to play in the sand. 

Checking out the sand box for the first time

Playing with Grandpa

Sand is Great!

And now that Avery is in Toddlers and goes outside everyday, he also gets to play in the sand everyday. Which results in him bringing it home with him in his pockets and hair and especially in his shoes. I think Jon and I dump at least a hand full of sand from his shoes every night. Oh well, guess we will just be getting out the dust pan a little more often now.

Walking The Dog

Avery walking Nico!

Last night Jon, Avery, Nico and I went for a walk on the Red Jacket Trail. It’s great we just walk a block down Carney and jump on the trail, Avery loves to be on the trail, he says “hi” to every person and puppy we pass, Nico loves it too, so many new places to pee :) Last night while we were walking Avery seemed to reach out for Nico, first we thought he wanted to pet him but soon realized he wanted to “walk him”, so Jon handed over the leash. It was so cute! Avery was very proud of himself riding in his stroller holding on to Nico’s leash. Nico is such a great dog, he didn’t even notice when I stopped pushing the stroller and let him pull Avery, I still had to steer sometimes but Nico was doing all the work, perks of having a big dog. 

Mush! Nico pulling Avery down the trail. 

Toddler Time!

Ready for his first day in Toddlers

Today was a big day for Avery, he started in Toddlers at daycare, and is now in the Rainbow room. It may only be down the hall from where he has been but it will be a whole new world for him. The big changes in his new room are: he will eat his meals in a chair at a table with other kids, he will get to make choices on where to go and  what to play with, he will nap on a cot and the biggy Avery now will get to go outside, run and be free (with supervision). Before today, Avery visited the toddler room now and then and got to experience  what the toddler room is all about. He always did great on his visits, and cried when it was time to go back to Infant but still for some reason I was a little nervous for his move. I know many moms/dads can relate to this feeling, even though we all know our kids will love their new room,  but it is a big change for the kids and it’s only natural to be nervous. But no matter how big of a change it might be for the kids, it is an even bigger for the parents, our babies aren't babies any more, they're toddlers. In the paper work we got before his move there is actually a page that talks about how for some parents this change can be as hard for them as it was leaving their children at daycare for the first time. For me I wasn't actually nervous for Avery's move until after we toured his new room a week or so ago, That is when I realize how different the Infant and Toddlers rooms were (In infants, it was more one-on-one as they taught to eat, crawl, walk etc and in Toddlers they get the chance to do more things for themselves). It was a great tour, we got the chance to see all the great new things he would be exposed to and all the space he would be given to grow and learn on his own (scary things right :) ). Honestly, my nerves didn't last long, I knew he would be fine and love his new room. So when it came time to drop Avery off this morning my nervousness was totally gone and had been replaced by curiosity and anticipation for how his day would go, in my head I just couldn’t see Avery sleeping on cot (and not running around the room) but he did, and he ate with his new friends, found things to play with and loved sitting at the top of the big slide outside. As expected, Avery did great! It’s official Avery is now a toddler!

Checking out his new big boy cubby

Mother's Day 2012

Mother's Day 2012

My second Mother’s Day couldn’t have been more perfect. Avery and I got up and played cars while Jon went and got breakfast. Then we played some more before getting dressed for the day. I packed up all the things we would need for the day, extra clothes, diaper bag, neb, Avery’s bag o’cars, Mother’s day presents for the grandmas, a total of like 5 or 6 small bags, carried them all to the car at once (made me smile doing this because I love being a mom and being mom also means being a pack mule :)) and headed up to my parent’ house for lunch. After a great brunch lunch, Avery went down for a nap, and I sat out in the sun for awhile before heading in to take a nap myself. After our refreshing naps Avery and I joined everyone else outside, enjoyed the sun and played with his sand and water table (this is why I needed to pack extra clothes) Avery had a great time splashing and playing in the sand. 

Having fun with the Sand & Water table

Me, Avery, And Grandma

The afternoon seemed to fly by and before I knew it, it was time to pack up and head across town to our next Mother’s day celebration.

GG, Avery & Me

After another great meal, it was again play time. As an extra special treat for GG (and all of us) all the Grandkids were there and awake.....although everyone was getting pretty tired and the end it was a whole lot of fun to have all kids together.

Grand babies.... no there was no "wear red memo"

It was a great day to spend with family I am so lucky!
Oh how could I forget, what is Mother’s Day without some hand made gifts..... Avery made me a handprint flower at daycare, and we made handprint flower cards for the grandmas, and Avery even delivered them himself, the grandma’s also got my new favorite picture of Avery. 

My Mother's Day gift from Avery

Hand Print cards for the Grandmas

Pictures all wrapped up ready for the Grandmas

My new favorite picture
equals a perfect gift for the Grandmas!
"The best things in life aren't things"

Happy Mother’s day to all the wonderful Mothers I know. Hope your day was a great as mine.

Gone Fishing

Avery's First Fishing Pole - Fishing Opener 2012

Avery and Jon didn't hit the lakes this morning for the fishing opener. They slept in and went fishing in the living room instead with Avery's new fishing pole. Guessing they caugh just as must as those who actaully made it to the lake...

Saying Good Bye to “Infant”

5/11/12 Last Day in Tigger

February 28th, 2011 was Avery first day at daycare, he stated in the Pooh (Infant 1) a quite room with mostly non-mobile babies, on September 19th, 2011 he moved into Tigger (Infant 2) a room filled with new movers and shakers. Today, is Avery’s last day in Tigger, Monday morning he will be moving to Toddlers. It is a bit of a sad day, today is the last day Avery will spend with the people who have loved and cared for him, watching and helping him grow for most of the days of his life. I can never begin to thank those women enough for what they have done for Avery, they will all forever have a special place in my heart. 

9/19/11 First Day in Tigger

...and no i didn't plan for him to wear almost identical shirts on his first and last day of Tigger but it happened. I love these two pictures, it really shows how much he has grown and changed since starting Tigger.

Graduation Day Picture 

Sixteen Months

Avery -16 Months

Today Avery is 16 months old. Avery is growing so fast. He still wears size 4 diapers, 18 –24 month clothes and size 5 shoes (which are getting small). Avery's baby chubby-roundness is disappearing, revealing our toddler. He has become silly, talkative, semi-independent, opinionated, smart, cute little boy. It’s hard to sum up how much Avery grows and changes every day, Jon and I are so lucky to have such a great little boy.

Ready to Ride

Avery and his new race car helmet

Yesterday I took Avery to the Mayo Health Bike Safety Rally at the mall to be fitted for a helmet. Avery doesn't ride a regular bike yet, but he has his Strider and a few other ride-on toys and we want to get him into the helmet habit early. So after trying on 2 different sizes, one with a race car design, and the other with a super hero design, we ended up with the smaller of the two helmets with the car design. He isn’t a huge fan of wearing it but I will just keep putting it on him and he’ll get used to it.