Just some cute pics :)

Elliot cuddling one of his animals

Such a sweet smile on my sweet boy, Noah

Bedtime cuddles with Elliot

Beautiful "Sprinter" day at the park

"The Winter that isn't" continues. Or as one local meteorologist has termed it, "Sprinter". I love it! It was 65 degrees yesterday! As soon as Elliot's nap was over we headed straight for the park. We packed snacks, water and the boys' bikes. Once we got there we realized Elliot's bike had been broken. GASP! (more on that in a separate post coming up). Noah was able to ride his though and they both managed to entertain themselves and have a blast for 3 1/2 hours. Yes, I said 3 1/2 hours. Playing on the playground, running/rolling up and down hills, playing in the dirt piles on the baseball field below, riding bikes (Noah), playing with friends and making new friends. We stayed until it was dark out and everyone was getting hungry. I LOVE days like that. I will miss the freedom to just spend hours playing in the park with no worries about other responsibilities as the kids get older. I long for more of these long days at the park.

The persistent cough

Noah got a cough that showed up at the end of November.  It was a virus that was going around.  Chronic cough with no other symptoms.  The cold air and exercise made it worse.  After a few weeks, it improved, but never went away.  Never.  Because the type of cough it was and the fact I noticed it get a lot worse with exercise, the doctor suspected possible exercise induced asthma.  Before putting him through all the testing and expense of a pulmonologist he decided to just try taking Singulair for a couple weeks to see if it went away.  If it did, it was likely asthma.  Well it didn't go away (which I was happy about).  We also noticed it was worse when he ate.  We then tried Zantac to see if it was perhaps reflux.  Didn't help.  Finally, we were referred to see an allergy and asthma specialist.

I was told the appointment would take a couple hours.  Noah packed up some Legos and a couple books to bring.  First they tested him for asthma, the official way.  NO ASTHMA!  We were pretty confident about that, anyway, but I was still relieved for the negative test.

Next they did an allergy skin test.  They poked him with 68 pricks of different allergens in his back.  He was such a trooper.  Sat perfectly still with only a little bit of complaint that it hurt.  The nurse commented he did much better than most adults do.  And she did a great job getting it done quickly.  The doctor was suspecting an allergy to dustmites or mold.  But, his tests came back negative!  He had a mild reaction to ragweed, but nothing bad at all.  So the doctor went a different direction.  He has irritated nasal tissues and drainage causing a post nasal drip/cough.  He is treating him for a chronic sinus infection for 3 weeks.  We see him back in 2 weeks to be sure it's working.  I'm so happy we don't have any allergies or asthma to deal with and Noah and I are both thrilled to be kicking this cough to the curb soon.

Legos kept him busy while we waited

Blowing out candles on the computer

Breathing treatment to see if his lung function improved afterwards.  It didn't.  Which is good!

Noah loves him some rock and roll

Noah has a new regular station he asks for in the car. XM39 Hair Nation. It's pretty funny to watch him rock out in the car. I took a little video the other day after school.

*I realized watching this is carseat is not secured tightly enough.  It shouldn't move more than an inch side to side*

Swimming

Elliot finished week two of swim lessons this week. And week three of us being regulars at the Y pool again. The boys both love to swim and are doing great. Noah is no longer nervous about the yellow slides and loves to do them over and over. Although he was swimming under water for some time now, he's better about not getting water in his nose now and regulating his breathing.

Elliot is getting stronger, swimming longer distances underwater. He is still working on building his strength be be able to swim and stay above water. He's a great student in his class. The youngest one, but that doesn't hold him back a bit. I love watching him in class and can't wait to see how proud he is when he is able to swim across the pool above water. He talks often about getting to wear a "green bracelet" instead of the red one. Green bracelets are for swimmers who have passed their swim test. With the green bracelet comes more freedom in the pool (deep end without parents, going down slide, etc).

Oh, and I finally figured out the key to getting Elliot to sleep in. Take him swimming the night before ;)

Elliot's really a big kid now

Elliot got potty trained about a week and a half ago.  I woke up late on a Saturday morning only to have Paul & Elliot announce to me that he was done with diapers and wearing underwear now.  He took to it fast and by day 3 there were no accidents.  The big test was sending him to school the following Tuesday (day 4) in his big boy undies.  He did perfect at school.  Later that day I asked Elliot at some point "Elliot, do you need to go potty?" and his reply was kind of an annoyed "Mom, can you stop saying that all the time?"  I thought about it a second and said "OK".  After all, he was doing great.  So from then on, he's been in charge and doing PERFECT.  I'm so proud of my big boy!  And man it is freeing after 5 1/2 years of having a child in diapers to be done!

We went out to celebrate at the new frozen yogurt place in the hood on Valentine's Day with his brother & best friend, Nona Grace

Elliot had chocolate with fruit loops on top

Elliot & Nona Grace

Elliot loves washing his hands every time he goes.  He has the best manners and etiquette

Crack of Dawn

Despite all our previous efforts - late bedtimes, short naps, even no naps - Elliot remains an early riser.  This isn't conducive to anyone else sleeping late, especially Noah who, by week's end, is usually tired and running behind in the sleep department.  And he's not a quiet early riser.  

For this reason, I often take him out of the house when he wakes up early on weekends so Noah (and occasionally Mandy) can try to sleep late.  In the winter, it's too cold for a walk or bike ride, so sadly we are a well-known feature at Starbucks at that early hour.  Elliot picks out his chocolate milk, and politely tells the barista that his daddy wants some coffee.

We then sit and talk over our respective drinks for awhile, and chat about his week.  Then if it's still too early to go home, we cruise around the Plaza for a little while and look at the fountains and lights, and the moon if it's up. He loves the dark morning time, like me.  Sometimes when its warm enough, we walk over the bridge, and look at the 'fountain' in the middle of Brush Creek.  

I enjoy the time alone with him, listening to him chatter away.  These quiet times will disappear soon enough.

Snow Day

Today started out early.  Noah woke up at 5:30 for some reason.  His coughing fit woke his brother up, too.  They were already both dressed when the phone call came from school that it was going to be a snow day.  I was surprised as it wasn't much snow, but it was still coming down.  And we haven't had any real snow this year, except for a dusting.  The kids hit it early, while it was still dark.

Hot Chocolate already at 7am

Noah went for round 2 with Hudson, going back and forth from our house, to his. Shoveling our next door neighbor's drive (or parts of it).  Then he went with Hudson to Suicide Hill.  It was early.  I was still in my pajamas.  Apparently they were the only ones there and had a blast with the hill to themselves.  Once he came home to warm up, it was time to head to the YMCA for Elliot's first swim lesson.

Elliot did great.  He's the youngest in the class and jumped right in.  He has no fear or nerves whatsoever.  He's swimming short distances under water, but still not holding himself above the water yet.  I'm thinking we can get him swimming by this summer though.

With the early wake up call and all that outdoor play, I made the kids BOTH nap today.  Noah went down pretty easily when I told him we'd go sledding at Suicide Hill when he woke up.

I went up and opened up the shades and turned off the fan (white noise) to wake up the kids after 2 hours.  Noah got up pretty quick.  Elliot was another story.  Man, was he sleeping soundly.  And it took another 30 minutes to get him up.  Look how peaceful he was sleeping.  He still looks like my little baby when he sleeps.

Not only did we head to Suicide Hill, but we met Noah's friend and classmate, George (and his older brother and dad).  Noah and George mostly stuck together and were crazy daredevils.  We all started on the more gently sloped side.  Noah and George kept moving north to the steep side.  Before it was over they were planning routes to go over ridges and have "jumps".  Crazy kids.  Elliot and I sled together mostly at first, but finally Elliot got brave enough I got brave enough to let Elliot go down alone.  He just giggled.  He also wanted to go down with Noah and George a couple of times.

We ran into another classmate, Gavin, and his dad.  So much fun for the boys to get to play together in the snow.

Elliot ready for a wild run with the two daredevils.  Noah warned him on the last one "Elliot we are going to do a jump.  Are you sure you can handle that?"  Elliot said, "yes, Noah".  Well that jump was pretty scary.  It ended in a harmless crash, that scared little E, but he was ok. I thought it was so sweet of Noah to be concerned for Elliot and warn him.

Noah and George were preparing to do a final "jump" and I was set to video it, when they kept accidentally letting go of the sled and then sliding down on their butts halfway.  Noah somehow got both boots of his feet and was in the dirt and wet snow in his socks.  I declared it time to go.  We were there for well over an hour.  The kids were wet/dirty/worn out.

What a fun day.  We spent the rest of the day in the house hanging out.  I think we'll all sleep good tonight.

Bathing Bros

Noah at Gymnastics

We joined a new gym. It was a better fit for Noah AND they have a class for Elliot the same time and day. They also have open gym/play immediately following their class. Win-Win-Win. Here's Noah showing some of his moves during open play.

The Name Game song by Elliot

Daddy's hat

Whenever I try to wear a ballcap, Elliot insists on wearing it. He usually tricks me into it by asking me to pick him up, then he grabs it off my head.

Good start to February

Wednesday Paul had arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus that has been giving him pain since last summer.  We had other priorities to deal with, so it's been put off quite awhile.  Grandma Joann watched the kids while I was with him.  When I got home, Elliot went down for his nap and I got Noah out of the house.  We walked to Baskin Robbins and had an ice cream cone then wandered into Reading Reptile.  We settled into the Science section looking for space books, but settled on a book all about Arthropods.  We read about half of it when we decided to buy it.  By the time we got home, we woke up Elliot and headed to the park.  Paul rested, elevated and iced his knee all evening.  It was nice to be able to be there for Paul leaving the kids with Joann, but still enjoying the wonderful weather in the 60's that afternoon with the kids. Paul's knee is healing nicely and he's looking forward to a full recovery and being able to exercise on it without pain.

Snuggled up at Reading Reptile

More fun at the dirt piles

He's always been a crazy climbing fool

Pretty high up in the tree