F*U* Flu!

This was such a long week.  I was away at Philips Andover for a work conference last Monday and Tuesday.  Luckily, the conference was over at noon on Tuesday (and we didn't have to go back to the office) because the daycare called Carlos around 11:30 to get Adrian.  Carlos and I took him to the pediatrician and they thought it was allergies and a cold.  So we gave him Claritin and some Advil for the virus.  I had to be out with him Wednesday because he has to be fever-free 24 hours to return to daycare--we had a pretty good day together.  Thursday Adrian seemed fine.  I dropped him off and went to work.  I was still eating breakfast on campus when they called me to pick him up.  He had a fever of over 101 and only wanted to be held.  Geez!!!  I went to get him and he was MISERABLE.  I took him back to the pediatrician.  This time they thought maybe he had the flu...IN THE MIDDLE OF MAY?!!?  The flu test came back positive for strain B...then, the doctor suspected he had pneumonia so she sent us to Good Samaritan for a chest X-ray.  That also came back positive--so he was battling the flu AND pneumonia...poor little guy.  They put him on an antibiotic and we had to wait out the flu with nothing but Advil.

Friday morning I brought a comparatively happyAdrian back to the pediatrician (third time in one week) for a re-check of his lungs/breathing per the doctor's request.  I also took Sebastian along with me because he had the same junky cough and runny nose Adrian had when he was diagnosed with the flu.  He was also running a temperature of 99 or 100...not technically a fever, but not normal for him, either.  Adrian was fine--his lungs sounded better already.  Sebastian was negative for the flu, but the doctor actually prescribed the same antibiotic as Adrian anyway, just in case given the high odds he'd get the same thing as his brother.

Here are some photos from the morning when Adrian appeared to be feeling better...

Turns out, both boys like chocolate chips!

Adrian and Sebastian love to run around in just their diaper.  We took his pants off (and later his shirt too) to help him cool off!

Friday afternoon after his nap, Adrian woke up with a high fever--almost 104--and was miserable.  I gave him Advil when I could (have to wait 6 hours between doses), gave him a tepid bath, and put facecloths on his body...the fever slowly came down.  But then right at dinner time, it shot up again to around 104.  I was so freaked out I called the pediatrician after hours and they talked me off the "I'm going to take him to the ER" ledge...we just had to keep the fever down and let the antibiotic run its course.  By around 8pm, Adrian finally fell asleep; the fever had started to come down to around 101 which was low enough for him to finally fall asleep.  It was so sad and painful to watch how miserable he was.

Saturday was an exact repeat of Friday.  We had to cancel plans for dinner with our NICU nurses, who I miss terribly.  I was so upset to not get to see them--it's hard to coordinate their schedules because they work so much.  Major bummer for me.  I also had to cancel Sunday brunch with 3 of my awesome friends from Harvard.  I miss them so much and was so looking forward to catching up with them over a few beers.  I was SO MAD to miss it.  But what was I going to do???  I wasn't sure how Adrian would be and it was a HANDFUL to manage him and Sebastian, too, when he was so listless, lethargic, and completely miserable.  We were about one degree from having to take him to the ER Friday and Saturday nights, so I didn't want to leave Carlos alone with both boys today.

Adrian ended up being ok today, thank God.  Relatively speaking, he is still not himself, but he was a lot better than he's been for the past few days.  He's not really eating much and is drinking just enough to barely keep himself hydrated, but I suspect that's due as much to the antibiotic upsetting his stomach as it is to the flu.  In any event, I hope we've finally broken the cycle.  He's in his crib sleeping peacefully now (he was sleeping in the pack and play in our room for the past 2 nights so we could keep an eye on him).

Sebastian, thank God, seems ok for now...I will just keep my fingers crossed and say a few prayers that he won't get the flu, too.  I can't miss any more days at work!!! I missed Wed-Friday last week, and thank God for my mother because she'll take Adrian tomorrow (Monday) and possibly Tuesday, too, if necessary to give him a few more days to recover completely.  Tomorrow is the last day of his course of antibiotics so I'm hoping he'll be 100% after that when the infection is gone and his stomach is less upset.

Here are some photos from this afternoon, once Adrian was feeling a tad better.  These are the boys' new hats for daycare (they always put hats on them when they are outside playing).  Their heads are too big for their old hats!

Sebastian was trying to go up the slide when he accidentally got himself caught in the rungs...he couldn't get out!  I had to rescue him...

My boys love their Pampers parties!!!

Adrian is such a sweet boy, even when he has the flu and pneumonia.  When he was breathing rapidly and shallowly, with a temperature of 104, I laid down on the bed next to him and put my head by his so we could look each other in the eyes.  He looked at me with the most pathetic face and just said, "Mama..."  I held his hand and he'd squeeze my finger.  It melted my heart and made me so sad for him.  There is nothing worse than seeing your kid suffer.  I hope this is IT with the illnesses for a very very very long time.  These boys have dealt with way more than their fair share.  They are such good sports!

An (Un?)Healthy Obsession with Hats

My boys have an obsession with hats.  My dad's red Hingham hat, a train engineer's cap, a builder's helmet at daycare, a cowboy hat...if it goes on your head, they will want it.  And they will probably both want the same hat at the same time.  Hats provoke temper tantrums in those boys like I haven't seen otherwise.  Here is Adrian modeling two of his hats!

We were at Ikea this Sunday, and I got some pictures of the boys that I like when we were eating.

There are so many captions I could put here....

Sebastian

Adrian

And here they are at Target.  They were holding hands and looking at each other and giggling.

Happy Mother's Day!

There's lots to celebrate this Mother's Day!!!  First of all, there's a new baby in the family--and it's a boy!!!  My brother Jim and his wife Jen welcomed little baby James BoHua Kirkcaldy to the world at 9:08PM 5/8/2013.  He's adorable, and I'm thrilled my boys will have a boy cousin to romp around with!!

Right out of the womb!

Like a bug in a rug.  So cute!

With grandma, LiMei 

I'm in love!

They brought the baby home today...now the real fun begins!  ;)  hehe...I sure as hell missed holding an infant, but I was secretly grateful to come home to two boys that already sleep through the night!!!

Speaking of my boys, here's what they made me at the daycare for Mother's Day.  I LOVE their pictures!  They captured their personalities perfectly!

I was just thinking of last Mother's Day--Marcy and Judy came over the night before last year.  I made margaritas and there was plenty of beer as well.  Both Judy and I ended up hung over the next day.  I was so bad I couldn't get out of bed!!!!!!  I hadn't felt like that in YEARS.  Oh, good times.  At least this year, I won't be hung over.  Although those two trouble makers are supposed to come over next weekend...

Today we had a great day!  First, breakfast at Brianna's (which was newly remodeled).  Then we applied for the boys' passports.  Hope they come soon!  In theory, we have plenty of time (9 weeks) before we go to Mexico and they are reporting waits of 4-6 weeks, but I'll feel better once they are in-hand.  Then we went to Michelle's house down the cape.  The boys had fun playing with all the big kid toys and otherwise wreaking havoc on Michelle's house.  We had a delicious homemade chicken pot pie (I'm hoping Jeff shares the recipe!) and cake and cupcakes for dessert!  The boys were exhausted after lunch so we left around 1pm.  The boys took home an awesome battery car they can drive around in and some awesome clothes in 2T.  Thank you, Michelle!!!!  You are THE BEST!!!!!!

Finally, to end the post, some random pictures.

Love his hair...and his pose! 

Goodness.  What a time to show an interest in your feet!

Playing with Papi's hat

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

Fist Bumping, Break Dancing, and Pampers Partying

A few videos today for your viewing pleasure!

These little monkeys make me laugh EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.  They are too funny with each other.  I love to see them interact, although sometimes it's only them hitting each other, pulling each other's hair, or stealing each other's toys.  But more often, it's them laughing together or running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoCC2ZYT5-o&feature=youtu.be

Here are the boys out for a walk in the push car and wagon this afternoon.  They are too funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR6qpQA2gis&feature=youtu.be

In addition to fist bumping almost constantly these days, both boys love to dance.  Sebastian will be a break dancer in the future, I'm sure of it!  ;)  Way to work it, little guy!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQq7vMBvorU&feature=youtu.be

Today was a rough afternoon, though, in some ways.  After we got home from our walk, Adrian started spinning himself around in circles--dancing, I believe.  Of course, he made himself dizzy, fell down, and made himself cry.  Sebastian tripped over his own feet and fell head first into the corner of the stairs...he has a red welt on his forehead.  Good thing he missed his eye...Then, he fell head first into the bookcase.  He has another welt on the top of his head and a very minor cut/scrape there, too.  Wow.  They weren't even doing anything dangerous--just walking!

In other news, Sebastian now makes gimme gestures with his hands when he wants something.  Both boys now blow kisses correctly--from their mouths instead of their eyes or ears.  Sebastian says byyyyyy---eeeeeeee for bye.  But they are still so stubbornly selective about when they will say the words that they know.  They haven't said "ca-ca" in days.  Then again, we haven't had crackers for a few days, either.  Oh well.

Name Change to Blog!

I have always hated the name of the blog--I had to come up with something when I was in the hospital becausse I wanted to start writing.  I waited for days to have an epiphany about a name, and nothing came to me that wasn't already in use.  So I finally settled on Love and Spice, because Carlos always talks about things being "la pimienta de la vida," or the spice of life.  But it sounds like a porn blog or something so it needs a new name.

For now, I've settled on Two Little Monkeys because they are monkeys and they love monkeys (well, especially Sebastian).  But if you have better ideas, please share!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Trip to See Great Nana (a.k.a. Nana Banana)

We had a wonderful day with my nana today.  I LOVE taking the boys to visit her.

We started off the morning with an early breakfast at Panera.  We took a drive through Stonehill College on the way home because I hadn't been on the campus since I was in high school and I sometimes recommend it to Milton students when I'm doing college lists.  I thought I should get a refresher in terms of what the campus looks like!  It's quite nice--I was really pleasantly surprised.  We played until 9AM and then took off for Methuen.  The boys slept peacefully the whole hour ride to Nana's house.  When we arrived, she had toys waiting: a zoo and a car wash from some neighbors who gave them to her, a huuuuge Elmo doll, and a push lawn mower.  Of course, all the toys were a hit, but especially the lawn mower!  The boys kept fighting over who got to use it!

The boys ran around the kitchen, and then we went for a walk.  Nana was eager to show off her great grandsons to her neighbors!  Too bad these pictures aren't the greatest--the boys would NOT look at me!

After our walk, Tia Mimi and Lucas stopped by on their way to Greek Easter.  Lovely to see them, as always!  Then we had lunch.  By then the boys were pretty tired and they didn't eat that well.  It's crazy because nana made them fish sticks--their favorite.  Too much stimulation maybe??  Anyway, after lunch we hit the road so the boys could nap on the way home.  Unfortunately, Sebastian only slept a half hour and Adrian didn't sleep at all!!?  Oops.

When we got home, my mom came over.  We played in the back yard.

The boys worked up an appetite playing outside and some more inside so we ate dinner.

After dinner,  the boys were tired and went to bed at 6:30.  Then I went outside and weeded nearly the whole yard.  (I actually took these pre-weeding.)  We need to order and spread mulch, and there are lots of improvements I would like to make, including planting some azaleas, tulips and daffodils, and mums (when the time is appropriate for each thing).

This will be a pretty hydrangea when it blooms, I think.  It was given to the previous owner by her mother.  So we have to take good care of it!

So, weeding was a good thing done.  I just took a shower and feel relaxed and sleepy!  Almost time for bed!  I love weekends that are productive, but it's even better if they are productive AND fun!