One Small Step Toward Protection

We're sick of COVID. It's changed all aspects of life for us because we now see everything through the lens of risk versus reward as we try to protect Teddy in particular. Once your child has been intubated once, it's not something we ever care to experience again.

Fortunately Teddy was able to get his first dose of the COVID vaccine this week, and even more thankfully he seemed to experience no side effects. We did medicate him with Ibuprofen for a couple days afterward just in case he were to develop a fever (because fevers often trigger seizures for him). 

AJ didn't "throw away his shot!" 

He was very excited to get out of his Kimba Kruze chair to go sit at the table by the nurse. However, when she wiped his arm with the alcohol pad, he realized this was something medical and immediately tried to push her away. I was able to hold his arms and him, so she could administer the vaccine. Teddy did freak out the most when she tried to apply his bandaid, so I snagged it to show him that it wasn't on him. He still was freaking out and looked like he was trying to remove his arm (probably because his brain processed the jab) for just a moment. He immediately went back to his Kruze, which is his safety spot during medical procedures and was then  perfectly fine. 

AJ is normally quite wary of shots, even to the point of working himself to tears before the shot even occurs. However, he was so excited to have this opportunity that he was an absolute champ. He went first, and after his shot, looked at his arm and said, "Oh, you're done? That was just a little pinch." He complained just a bit the next day about a sore arm, but he knows it's well worth it for the added protection for him and our family.

Of course, he also knows that nothing changes now, and nothing will honestly change in December when they are fully vaccinated. COVID cases are incredibly high, and it seems like it's everywhere. We'll still continue to wear masks and avoid activities that are higher risk. Hopefully as more get vaccinated, we'll see the tide turn ...

Peter Pan Tried Flying

Ugh, this kid will be the death of me. Or the death of himself.

Apparently after being Peter Pan for Halloween, Teddy thought he should try flying in real life. He fell over the railing from the second floor or possibly the top of the stairs. He landed with a thud (that's obvious, right?), stunned for about 30 seconds and then started crying without moving. Talk about heart-stopping moments.

Yet within 5 minutes, he was done crying and moving apparently normally. That didn't change the fact that we determined it was best to take him in to get evaluated given his incredibly high pain tolerance and lack of communication. He was excited to go for a car ride with both mom and his babysitter in the middle of the day. He was still excited when we went into the hospital. 

I'll be honest I felt a bit ridiculous telling the receptionist that he fell over the railing for two reasons: the fact that he fell over a railing itself and the fact that he was giggling and appeared perfectly fine. 

(Sidenote: the ER won't tell you whether you should go to urgent care or be seen at the ER. However, urgent care will always take you down the secret passages to the ER when they determine you really needed ER services. When in doubt and not clearly a life-threatening situation, we should always try urgent care first. Of course, this was my third trip down that secret passage ...)

As soon as we went back into the ER, though, Teddy's demeanor changed. And the moment I tried to push his chair into the ER treatment room, he instantly began crying and actively resisting going into the room. We were quite the spectacle with a whole ER team ready to evaluate and treat Teddy, asking me what they can do to help. My response? "The only way he's going in that room is if we force him."

You see, that was the same room where he was intubated. Even though we thought he was out of it, he clearly has traumatic memories. I did manage to get his chair into the room and honestly don't remember whether I had to pull him from him chair or managed to get his chair into the room. (Let's just say we both have some traumatic memories from there.)

They quickly permitted me to have another caregiver present, so we got an extra set of helping hands. And we needed them and then some. I tell you, it was much easier to wrangle Teddy when he was smaller. I'm still larger than him, but he's on path to outgrow me much quicker than I can handle. I'm less concerned about him growing up than I am about not being able to restrain him for medical procedures and wrangle him as needed to get through days like this. 

They decided on a chest x-ray but needed no further tests thankfully. It was challenging enough to get that one done even though it takes about a minute and is completely painless. From the moment Teddy went into the treatment room, he was crying non-stop. At one point, I was concerned he was going to throw up because he was crying to hard ... which would have then indicated a possible concussion when in reality he just hated being there. 

Our nurse was able to get us to a private waiting room with a couple couches, chairs and kid table and chairs. It still took about 15 minutes, but he finally settled down and stopped crying. We rearranged all the furniture repeatedly, sat in everything, ate a snack and enjoyed apple juice. We waited there until they cleared Teddy to be released.

We took off his mask when he was alone in the room and crying ... poor kid.

Although Teddy was unfazed once we left, I know how challenging those visits are physically and emotionally on all of us. I wish that our childcare provider didn't have to endure the hour of crying and the feeling of helplessness when nothing calms Teddy. But I absolutely appreciated her help and calm demeanor as she bear hugged Teddy to get him out of his chair into my lap for the chest x-ray and helped redress him after he had an accident (while I was holding him, of course) and kept Dave updated. 

And in related news, we have renewed our efforts to safety plan the railing. Teddy clearly didn't learn any lessons as he was trying to climb the outside of the stairs the next day ...

Halloween - the Best Therapy

I think it's safe to say that Halloween is Teddy's favorite holiday. Now that he's past the phase of being freaked out by costumed characters, he loves most everything about Halloween. (There was one scary beast character that got the side eye from Teddy.) And I loved watching him experience everything!

I say most everything because he'd really love everything about Halloween if he was allowed to enter everybody's home, traipse into their backyards and explore their garages. Those were the only disappointments for the evening when I redirected him from those activities. 

I was so proud of Teddy this Halloween. That might sound odd because all he had to do was wear a really cute costume and get candy, right? When you think about all the effort and skills that go into trick-or-treating, it's like every therapy rolled into one activity that lasts a couple hours. And Teddy rocked it. 

Wendy with her beloved Peter Pan and his Shadow.

From walking so much (with only a few breaks in his chair to rest) to stepping up to every front porch because everyone has a step I swear, he did so much physical therapy. He only fell once, caught his balance several times and trucked through ditches like nobody's business. 

He knows the sign for candy or treat, so he signed that at many houses, along with thank you. Near the end, folks got more of a wave than signs, but they still knew what he meant. (And Dave looked up how to sign trick or treat, so we now have a year to practice the full sign!) 

Grasping candy in a bowl and taking only a piece or two, much less letting it drop into your own bucket, is monumental from a fine motor standpoint. His therapist would be proud of his release skills as he practiced all night, not to mention when he decided to carry his own bucket.

That was my favorite moment. Even though Teddy was putting candy into his bucket all night, I was carrying it because he was holding my hand part of the time and holding his beloved sword that he was so proud to have. All of the sudden, though, leaving one house, he looked at the bucket 2/3 full of candy and realized he should be carrying it. He threw down his sword and used two hands to pry the bucket from me. From that point forward, I was not permitted to carry the bucket and was relegated to sword duty. He was also extremely concerned when he climbed in the car that his candy bucket wasn't in his arms.

This was the few moments Teddy was actually with the kids. I'm not creeping behind him. Oh wait ...

Teddy is such a social butterfly that going from house to house to see all the people is completely his jam. He honestly thought we were supposed to go inside each house because why else would they open their doors. He did amazing at listening overall, going to each front door, ringing or trying to ring the doorbell and then moving on to the next house. Seriously, taking him trick-or-treating was absolutely amazing this year!

I think we should consider trick-or-treating once a month as therapy. I think Teddy would be on board, but now I need to convince my community. 

Sneak Peak for Halloween

How on earth did this child get to be so big?

The end.

Inclusion by Invitation

One of the positives of having an "adopted daughter" who works at Teddy's school is that we get to hear more about Teddy's school life. His teacher does a great job with communication, but she has some insights that we wouldn't hear otherwise. 

For example, we heard about Teddy's classmate who burst into tears when he saw Teddy's picture because he misses Teddy. That prompted an entire 3rd-grade class discussion about why Teddy wasn't in school right now and how much everyone missed Teddy and wanted him back in the classroom. That was heartwarming to hear.

Then, an invitation to a birthday party came home last week. This is Teddy's second invite to a party. Of course we won't send him because of COVID, but were it not COVID, I'd consider sucking it up to attend with him because I think he'd have such a great time. I know this little boy and his mom somewhat from our interactions, and his mom has an idea of Teddy's abilities, so I'd be comfortable that we wouldn't completely make a scene.

So, this time around, we'll send a present to school with our connection to give to the boy's mom. That way, he'll have something to remember Teddy by until he sees Teddy back at school. (This wasn't the boy who was distraught that Teddy wasn't in school, just as an FYI.)

I love that Teddy's classmates and friends remember him, miss him and want him to rejoin them at school. I want the same ... 

Not Normal Works for Us

For the past 2.5 months, we've had one of our childcare providers living with us. Her lease ended before she landed her teaching job, and she's been on a wait list for an apartment. Since school started, our other childcare provider has been living with us as well during the week. (She has an hour commute, so she stays through the week rather than driving each day.) 

Honestly, it is so much easier to have extra hands around the house. Although they don't spend every waking moment with us (and those waking moments probably happen earlier than they'd like living in the basement with Teddy thumping around upstairs), it's so nice to have an extra set of hands to redirect Teddy at mealtime or to keep him from snatching fresh pain au chocolats when I pull them out of the oven. AJ loves having another person to play games with in the evening, and they both spent virtual time entertaining AJ when he was quarantining while his test results were pending last week. 

Also, given that our social circle is so small with COVID, it's nice to have another person to go for a walk or run or bike ride. Or, since I'll never have daughters, I can even talk them into going to craft stores with me sometimes. 

I know it's a unique living arrangement. It's a little odd that our one "daughter" is a teacher at Teddy's school, and the entire staff knows she's living with Teddy's family. But honestly, it works for us, and it works for them. 

This kept Teddy out of the pain au chocolat while they cooled.

I think we're all going to have a bit of withdrawal when our beloved houseguests move out. We've talked about gradually weaning ourselves, still with some family dinners or treats dropped at school. As much as they might miss the meals and tasty treats (perk of living in a cottage kitchen bakery), we're all going to miss each other's company. We'll start the adjustment period this weekend when one moves out to her new temporary place ...

A Snapshot Series of a Weekend With Teddy

Teddy is running away from me with a fly swatter.

Teddy is running to put wood on the fire, wearing my gloves.

Teddy wanted in on the cornstalk sword fighting that was happening. 

This is the moon. This is how early Teddy wakes up.

At least the sunrises are pretty when they happen an hour later.

This is how I feel about the early wake up calls. 

But he's so cute, and we still love him.