COVID Continues

You guys, normally I'm proud to be a Wisconsinite. We're the dairy state, so cheese and ice cream abound. We have four beautiful seasons (although winter sometimes wears out its welcome). We don't have nasty big critters like grizzly bears or panthers that want to eat us alive, nor do we have many smaller, nastier critters like poisonous snakes, scorpions or spiders. We're also Midwest nice, which means little things like holding doors for people, waving at neighbors (or anyone in rural Wisconsin), lending a helping hand and more.

Unfortunately, "more" doesn't include wearing masks (despite a state mandate), physical distancing or limiting our social gatherings. Wisconsin is breaking COVID records daily and weekly, topping national lists for hotspots, and we're feeling the impact. Our hospitals are enacting crisis plans as they're near or at capacity, our schools are closing their doors, and the impacts are close and personal.

Last week Oshkosh schools transitioned to virtual learning. That had no impact on us as AJ was already in virtual learning for the school year, and Teddy's 60 minutes a week are still intact for now. Last week our church did virtual sessions for catechism due to exposure. Again, that had no impact on us because AJ is doing a homestudy program, thankfully with my mom, via technology. See the pattern here of how we've intentionally reduced our interactions and risk?

Yet, despite all our efforts, COVID still impacts us. We have two in-home childcare providers that ensure the boys are alive and well while we work. We're extremely blessed to have two young ladies who are beyond wise for their years, care deeply for our children and take COVID very seriously. Still, two weeks ago, one of our providers tested for COVID, which meant she was unable to work until she was cleared ... and that we spent much of our time worrying until she was cleared. Ironically, the same day she was tested our other provider learned that her two roommates were both quarantined due to known exposure. Fortunately she hadn't had direct contact with them since their exposure, so she was still able to work but didn't have a good place to safely quarantine from her roommates. So, she temporarily moved in with us into our spare bedroom that was overran by AJ's LEGOs. 

Two of my my kids' favorite people. I think I like them even more than my kids.

It worked out remarkably well for us because all AJ's LEGOs were picked up, perhaps not perfectly, but the room actually had space to move around. Our provider had a safe place to quarantine, and our boys absolutely loved having some extra time with her in the evenings. I don't think Teddy fully realized that she was living here, as she would often intentionally "disappear" before bedtime to ease with that transition. The look on Teddy's face when she came upstairs in the morning was  priceless each time. We're grateful she was willing to take us up on our offer of a safe place to quarantine as it certainly made our lives easier.

We continue to be fortunate that most of our family and friends have been safe from COVID. The last few weeks have been stressful, but we'll deal with the inconveniences and the stress and remain grateful for our blessings. 

I Remember When 2 a.m. Was Bedtime ...

 ... a long, long time ago the semester I lived in Spain. Even when I returned stateside, I had no desire to be awake at 2 a.m. That hasn't changed in all the years since college as I firmly believe 2 a.m. is meant for sleeping.

Teddy, on the other hand, determined that 2 a.m. was the perfect time to wake up Sunday morning. We were at the land, and he began stirring and moving around. He was sleeping on the bed next to Dave, and I was on the couch.  I checked my watch and realized it was 2 a.m. and hoped he'd settle back to sleep quickly. Then I heard him cough and realized we had forgotten to bring his rescue medication for seizures down to the land. Immediately, my mind was wide awake piecing together that obviously since our childcare provider was being tested for COVID that Teddy was probably sick and that's why he woke up, he had a fever and would start seizing and determining which one of us would call 911 to get an ambulance to meet the other en route to the hospital 20 minutes away. All because of a single cough. I spent the next 30 minutes worrying about all of this for two reasons:

1. When your child has taken two ambulance rides due to seizures (one of them intubated), the fear of illness and the associated seizures is very real. We spend every winter on heightened alert because of flu season. We worry that when Teddy wakes up in the middle of the night that its because he's ill and has a fever. Trust me, there have been too many times he's woken up in the night for us to discover her with temps over 100. When you add in potential COVID exposure, your mind goes to bad places, no matter how much you rationalize that potential exposure as minimal. With all these fears, the obvious thing would be to check him for a temperature immediately, right?
2. Except for the fact that when Teddy wakes up in the middle of the night, he will not settle back down if you acknowledge you're awake. Once he realizes you're awake, then he wants to play. Or wake up everyone in the room. Or go for tractor rides. Or do anything but sleep.

At 2:30, I heard Dave give up and acknowledge he was awake. Then I spent the next 30 minutes trying to tell myself I could fall back asleep because Dave would check Teddy for signs of illness. Dave attempted to get Teddy to snuggle back to sleep to no avail. 

So at 3 a.m. Teddy and I headed out to the Tahoe. That might seem odd, but middle of the night drives are fairly common to get Teddy asleep or to occupy him while others are trying to sleep. We drove (often at idle speed) around the land, down the road to the county park and back around the land. After an hour of driving, I was hoping Teddy might be tired enough to sleep because I certainly was. I knew by the occasional giggle that he probably wasn't, but it was worth an attempt.

After 10-15 minutes of blatant disregard for sleep, Dave took Teddy back to the Tahoe. He put in a movie for Teddy to watch, reclined the seat and attempted to get some sleep. (I had offered to go put a movie on for Teddy in the vehicle, but I planned to lay down a seat, bring a sleeping bag and pillow and snooze with Teddy securely strapped in his carseat. (It's one of the few ways that Teddy is truly contained, so it would be safe to rest.) I got to go back to bed for a few hours, until I woke up at 7 a.m. and texted Dave that I could take over (out of a sense of obligation, not because I was well rested). He brought Teddy into our garage, and Dave got a couple more hours of sleep while the boys and I ate breakfast, went for ranger rides and even a short tractor ride. 

Teddy fared remarkably well that day, only a few minor meltdowns and some whining on the drive home. He was exhausted but had no desire to sleep until he finally crashed at 7:30 p.m. How that child can manage to be awake from 2 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. with no caffeine is beyond me ... heck, me being awake as much of that time as I was even with caffeine is beyond me. 

2 a.m. to 2 p.m. and going strong. 

Happy Birthday to the Best Big Brother

Nine years ago today, our dreams of becoming parents came true when AJ was born. With a little help from a lot of people, we celebrated his birthday quarantine style so well that he declared it to be the "best birthday ever!" I had reached out on Facebook to ask for a little extra love on his birthday, specifically cards to brighten his days. I intentionally said he didn't need presents but said that if folks wanted to tuck a dollar or two in the card that he's saving money for charity. The kindness and generosity of our family and friends means that he now has right around $100 to donate to the charities on his list. 

Happy 9th birthday AJ!

We still are quite careful regarding COVID and precautions, so that meant a birthday party with our two childcare providers replaced the usual gathering with all our family. Teddy was ecstatic to have both babysitters here at the same time and couldn't decide who he wanted to boss around with so many different options. We still did very small family celebrations, which spread the celebrations out to celebrate with each set of grandparents, and we have a virtual party planned to spend time with his cousins. There were a handful of masked visits, including much love from our myTEAM Triumph family. Masks might hide the smiles, but trust me, they were there for every visit. 

MTT friends surprised us with a cul de sac distanced birthday celebration. 

Today was an incredible day celebrating an incredible boy. We're so blessed to have AJ as our son and Teddy's big brother, and we're so grateful to all who made this day special for him. 

Guest Blog Post by AJ

 AJ wanted to do a guest blog post, sharing how Teddy hurt his ear from AJ's perspective:

We were setting up the Yi camera, and I checked on Teddy. He was clanking on a piece of wood, and 5 minutes later *CRASH* I was worried on what he did now, and the squatty potty was tipped over. The wood was on the window cell, and it was in his ear. He fighted his way out, and he cut his ear. It was bleeding, and we cleaned him up and saw cartilage, which gave me the creeps and got me nervous.

That sent us to the hospital, and he played on the family tablet on the way there. We got there. They set up my room, and he got a spring light toy, then got numbing medicine (which did not help much). Then they gave him the drowsy medicine, and he needed a headlock, and he hated when the curved needle went in. I built a Minecraft jail and palace and a get away home. He had to get 4 stitches, and then on the way back to the land, we cleaned up and went home and then finished the rest of the day. Then dad slept with him for bed.

First Day of School

 After countless phone calls and e-mails (and discovering that the director of special education for our district knows Teddy by name and personality) and an IEP meeting two days before school started, we had our plan in place for Teddy's education this year. We're still working on approvals for outpatient therapy (particularly getting OT extended and speech approved for the school year), but thankfully PT is set for the rest of the calendar year. Teddy has settled back into his music therapy sessions without missing a beat. (Pun intended.) Our childcare provider is working with him on academic activities daily at home, which he's excited to do because it's new materials to explore. It's super fun to watch him concentrate on an activity because his tongue either juts out of his mouth or into his bottom lip, so it's easy to tell when he's truly focused. 

This week was the first week Teddy went to school for his academic time. If you recall, we had advocated for homebound education for Teddy due to all the risk factors, but that was oddly enough deemed too risky by the school district. So, we're doing homebound at school, which means that twice a week Teddy goes for 1:1 instruction in a designated room. We had coordinated with his team where that room is located, how it would be sanitized and that PPE would be worn by his teacher. 

We felt comfortable with all the pre-work done as his school designated a room immediately inside the building, so Teddy doesn't have access to take off to explore the rest of his school. His team even took the time to explain, without us asking, the two different levels of cleaning products they will use to sanitize the room prior to Teddy's time learning there. Still, I was a bit surprised when his teacher commented on the first day of school about his PPE and pleasantly surprised when he sent a photo at the end of the day.

Guys, Teddy's teacher wore full personal protective equipment (PPE) to teach Teddy. He wore the same level of PPE that is used for interacting with known COVID positive cases in medical settings (aside from a cloth vs. surgical mask). He wore a mask, face shield, gown and gloves. While this might seem like overkill (and candidly was more than we were expecting), this all but ensures that even if Teddy's teacher has COVID that Teddy would not be exposed to it. And you might not be able to tell from the picture, but I can tell you that his teacher did this with a smile to support Teddy with his learning. 

Teddy was a bit intrigued by the PPE but still had a great session.

Right now it feels like our world is returning to normal with little regard for those who are most vulnerable to COVID. We often feel like we're in the minority in doing the right things like wearing a mask, physically distancing and keeping a small social footprint, but we don't feel like we have a choice to keep Teddy safe. That gets disheartening, but the effort made by his school and team to safely educate Teddy truly gives me hope and warms my heart. He matters to them. His education. His safety. They're working with us to make it safe for Teddy to be in this world, and we are so grateful for their support. 

Often I hear of how people are tired of the PPE they have to wear to do their jobs. I'm sure that no teacher expected to wear a mask to school, much less full PPE like this. Life is different right now. It won't always be different, but we'll always be different because of it. We'll forever remember the helpers and those who eased the stress of these challenging times. (And we'll probably at least know how to properly wash our hands.)