Elmo and the Cast

Here are a few photos from this weekend. Yes, he's an Elmo fan. And you can see his red cast (red because Elmo is red of course). He is doing so well with it, hasn't fussed or made any issue of it. It comes off in another 2 1/2 weeks, so there is an end in sight. I'm just ready to get back to normal baths!

Some new toddler escapades -- Kellan is now counting to 12. Why 12 we don't know, but still, its impressive. He knows most of his colours and all of the basic shapes. He has started to recite some of his more complex books, demonstrating an amazing memory and recall. He sings the entire ABC song and some other songs from his music class. "Beat is steady" has been reinterpreted as "Beat is Daddy" which I like much better anyway. He is also currently restaurant obsessed. He calls restaurants "Mmmm" and begs to go out for both lunch and dinner pretty much every day. When we drive by a restaurant he will sob, "Mmmm!!! Mmmmmm!!!!!!" and point dramatically. Look, I know my cooking is nothing special, but come on.

Before the storm

The recent lack of posting is due to the fact that our home and surrounding neighbourhood were hit by a tornado last Sunday (March 12th). The garage was flattened on top of our car, a tree came through the roof, our electric meter was pulled right out of the wall, we lost quite a few mature trees which were pulled out by the roots, some of them landing on our neighbour's house and car, the fences were flattened, and our screened porch is no longer screened. But we are all safe and our house is habitable again, so we really can't complain too bitterly. We were without power all week and temperatures were bitterly cold, so Kellan and I stayed with our most amazing and incredible friends who welcomed us, fed us, kept us warm, and maintained a level of sanity during an otherwise insane time. Nic was afraid to leave the house alone at night, so slept at home and worked on clean-up all day.

Kellan was incredible throughout. On the morning after the storm (we stayed home that first night) he made do with an uncooked breakfast and no heat. He didn't complain about cold mashed potatoes for lunch. He entertained himself all day while we worked to clear the most dangerous trees and hire builders to remove the garage from our car. He pretty much lived on "anyal cokos" (animal cookies) until a friend came to pick us up and take us to stay at her place. The next morning, while climbing into a chair for breakfast, he fell onto the kitchen floor and broke his arm. A day in the emergency room and resetting the bone without anesthetic didn't dampen his spirits a bit. He was ready to go back to Olivia's house to play all evening, even eating out at a Mexican restaurant that night. After a few nights with Olivia and her mother, we moved to Dominic's house where Kellan settled right in and spent a fun couple of days. In the meantime, Kel got his permanent cast, choosing red because Elmo is red, and didn't have a single complaint. The only new behaviour that's come from all of this is that Kellan is pretty sure that all sofas are beds. Ours doesn't pull out, but he still keeps asking for "nigh nigh" when we're in the sitting room!

Anyway, these photos were taken the day before the storm. You have to pay for nice weather in this place!

Birthday Party Photos

Many thanks to Gymboree Play and Music of Springfield for an incredibly special day.

The Mystery Virus

Kel has been down all week with what we can only now label as a mystery virus. On Sunday Kellan came down with a high fever. By Monday morning he was burning up and feeling awful. All activities were cancelled. On Monday night, his temperature was over 103.5. A call to the doctor's office resulted in the possible diagnosis of Roseola and a prescription of "wait and see". By Tuesday he was at 104.3 and even holding onto his cup of water was making the contents hot. We were changing his sweat soaked clothing and wiping him down with damp cloths. I was worried, but the doctor said that unless there was a change or a new symptom, there was little more to do than let it run its course. She wanted to know if he had not recovered fully by Thursday. He was burning up, laying on the couch, sleeping lots. Finally, after breakfast on Wednesday morning I noticed that I was saying a lot of "Kellan!", "Please don't do that", "Just wait a minute", "No Kel", and so on. I took his temperature, and as surmised by the return of my mischievous boy, the fever was gone. There was no rash, so Roseola isn't the most likely culprit. Perhaps we'll never know. He's been fine ever since. But he sure did give us a scare!

In other health news, Kel had his 2 year check-up last week. He is in the 97% for height and 80% for weight. She requested that he go back on the nebulizer for awhile since his lungs were a bit full. February was a big month of colds. Luckily, Kellan is so used to the nebulizer that we simply get it set up and hand it over, he does the rest. I look in every so often to make sure that he hasn't removed the mouthpiece and always find him breathing the medication steadily in and out while watching a favourite video. This morning I asked him if he was ready for his treatment and he said, "Yeah, rice krispie treat!". We're not always on the same page.