sigh of relief

Today Evan had surgery at Children's Hospital, and everything went very well and we're all home safe and sound. Right now I'm taking a 'break' and purging some of my feelings. Today has been really hard for me. My eyes are red and my head hurts from crying so much. But actually Evan did SO GREAT, it's just that I was SO WORRIED.

Evan's last solid food, including formula, was last night before bedtime. So that means that when he was getting prepped for surgery he was starving, plus there was so much going on that he had a hard time falling asleep for his nap even though he was in my arms. So he was starving and tired, and still he was not fussy. I could not believe it. He is such a sweet little boy. Evan didn't cry once before surgery, even though all these strangers were around. Even when they took him away Evan did not cry. I watched as the 2 anesthesiologists, one carrying Evan, walked down the hall away from us, and my eyes started tearing up. Evan didn't turn around and he didn't cry at all. Such a happy boy.

After surgery Evan was supposed to have clear fluids, like Pedialyte, apple juice, or water...but Evan just wanted milk. He cried and cried until the nurse said it was ok to give him formula, and then he was happy. We had a hard time finding a pharmacy that had oxycodone in a liquid infant formulation...but then Walgreens came through. Just a few hours after surgery, Evan's appetite returned.

I can hear Kyle reading a new book that we got in Hawaii to Evan about fish. Kyle has been my rock throughout this day. Keeping me calm and telling me everything is going to be ok.

Evan seems just a little fussy, but surprisingly is happy to crawl or stand still. I'm afraid for him that these activities might hurt, but I guess he'll let me know if it does. It's almost time for bed. I hope everything goes smoothly. Tonight we were instructed to wake him every 4 hours to give him pain medication and some food with it. Deep breath....we'll all get through this.

peace and quite again

I was very nervous about our first time zone traveling with Evan. Will he know what time he's supposed to go to bed? Worse, will he wake up at 4am? Turns out my fears were unfounded. We just fed him his meals at the normal, local time and the time zone change didn't really affect him that much. True, the first morning he woke up at 4:40am, but it got better each day and after the 3rd day it was 6am. Evan slept in a crib in our room and it was really sweet to be so close to him. When he woke up in the morning we could hear him babbling to himself and playing with the toy we put into his crib. Then we'd take a walk on the beach and sometimes he would fall back asleep. It was so sweet.

After we got back home, we resumed his normal routine and I didn't think it'd be hard for him to fall asleep at bedtime because he was already so tired. But the first night he cried hard for 30 minutes before falling asleep. Oh my god this was hard on me. I've never heard him cry like that before. His cries now, compared to when he was little and we were sleep training him the first time, were more robust. He sounds like he's suffering and in despair! Evan sounded like an adult, sobbing and wailing, with a stuffy and runny nose, big giant crocidile tears streaming down his face. A far cry different than his little newborn whimpers. I'd go in to check on him and he'd look up at me with desperation all over his face. :( Once I even climbed into my own bed and cried too. But there is a good ending to this story. 4 nights of that, and POOF!!! It was a magical overnight transformation. Evan went from wailing for half an hour one night to falling asleep easily without a sound the next, and the next after that (that's tonight). Phew.....a huge sigh of relief. I guess my dad was right, it really does take 1 week to recover from jet lag.

aloha!

Just got back from our first 'far away' trip and we had a fantastic time! Evan ate a lot of sand (but I had asked the doctor before we left, 'How much sand is too much?' and she said that there's NO LIMIT, so I didn't worry.) Evan also swam in the ocean and played frisbee with Daddy and Papa in the pool. And guess what amazing thing Evan learned how to do while we were in Hawaii? He knows his name!! And turns around to look at you when you say it. WOW. WOW. I'll post pictures up on the website as soon as I can.

1st haircut!

Evan is such a big boy with his new haircut. He sat in the tractor chair and got his hair cut with scissors and clippers! Doesn't he look like a 3 year old?!

Oops!

I wish I could go back in time. Evan's hair is getting super long again, especially in the front and it is getting into his eyes. Personally I love the many layers and the light brown tips and never ever want it to change. But it is true that it's starting to get in his eyes. Next week we go to Hawaii and we figured it is probably about time to get Evan's hair cut professionally. Well this afternoon while playing with Evan I came up with the genius idea that I could cut it myself. So I grabbed a pair of scissors and trimmed what I thought was just a little bit off the top. YIKES! And then I did it again, what was I thinking?! GASP! Now it looks just ghastly and now my terrible attempt has forced the issue so we have to go to Kids Cuts tomorrow to have them fix it. I hope they can make him look cute again. :(

huh?

Does anyone else think that it is completely ridiculous that Sarah Palin is a VP candidate? How can she even show her face!? Her teenage daughter got knocked up and is no better than Jamie Lynn Spears! It makes my jaw drop when I hear people say, "Well Sarah Palin knows what it's like to have a teenager...in that nobody can keep them under control." OH YEAH? I doubt that Obama's girls would get knocked up.

zombie children

Last Friday we toured our first prospective daycare for Evan for when he turns 1 year old. I was trying to keep a really open mind because I really didn't know what to expect. Unfortunately, it was creepy and icky!! And after thinking about it for days Kyle and I finally came up with WHY it was so icky there. It was because none of the kids were interacting. They were just sitting in their chairs with blank zombie stares. They were silent. No laughing, no smiling, nothing, they were like these creepy sad zombie children. I would NEVER leave Evan there! So we've made some more appointments with other day cares in Issaquah and we're going to be touring them soon. I hope we find something great!