Goodbye to Grandy

I can't believe that this is the second time within a month that I find myself writing a "goodbye blog" but I guess that's just what happens sometimes...

This weekend, we lost Grandy and he will be missed by many.  It is bittersweet, however, as we just visited a few weeks ago and had a great time with him.  He was feeling well, in good spirits, talkative and happy to see us and the boys.  With Chris out of the country for work and me heading out in a few days, it just wasn't feasible to get down for the funeral.  That being said, I am content with our last visit and am very lucky that we got to have that last positive interaction with Grandy.

Not only have the boys had the chance to visit many times over the past 4 years, but so many of my childhood memories are with the family in Birmingham.  He was such a strong individual and I have learned so much from him.  I will make it my goal to pass along his memories and lessons, and hope to increase my thirst for knowledge in his honor.

Sharing is caring

If you're contagious and you know it clap your hands (and foot and mouth)!  

Turns out, there has been a case of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease going around the JCC - a viral infection that can be passed from kid to kid. And lucky us, Asher is pretty good at sharing.  Sharing food, sharing toys and sharing germs.  Pretty much, all a kid has to do to share this is cough on his friend, and poof - another case is born!

Asher will be staying home from school this week in an attempt to keep the infection from spreading.  For now, he has some blisters on his feet, a rash on his legs and a few spots in his mouth and on his tongue.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be a mild case, especially one that moves along quickly and doesn't cause him much discomfort.  For now, he is still eating pretty well, smiling a lot, taking naps and listening for airplanes flying overhead!

1st Day in the Toddler Room

This morning was Asher's first official day in the Toddler Room!  All last week, they were transitioning him by having him spend a few hours in the morning in his new room.  The skills that you have to master before being able to move up are the following - you have to be able to sit at the table rather than in a high chair, drink out of a sippy cup instead of a bottle, keep up with the other kids who are walking and take a nap on a cot and not in a crib.  I am happy to announce that Asher is now a pro at each of these tasks!

He knows most of the kids in his new room as they were his friends in the Infant Room before each moving up individually.  He did a great job this morning going into the new room without any tears.  All he wanted to do, actually, was show me all of the cool new toys that he would get to play with now that he is a big boy!  When I picked him up, they said that he had a great day and wasn't really sad at all throughout the day - score!!!

Asher knew it was going to be a busy first day so he was banking all the sleep that he could before it was time to kick it into gear and get ready for a Monday.  Riley, on the other hand, was ready and raring to go and was just waiting patiently for Asher to wake up and start the day with him!  Sitting next to the crib and waiting for his brother to wake up is one of Riley's favorite activities.  I am just glad that he does it to Asher instead of to me!

Our visit to Birmingham

Last weekend, we had the opportunity to go to visit Grammy, Grandy and the Birmingham gang!  We had a great visit with perfect weather, fun activities and lots of quality family time. We always come to visit with a few things in mind but no real agenda, knowing that down time visiting Grammy and Grandy will be a priority and we enjoy the down time with them.

The weekend started out with the Mutt Strut, a 5K that we participated in with the family, two dogs, two strollers and hundreds of other people and their pups.  Everyone did a great job but my suspicions were confirmed that we will need to wait a long time before we actually run a race as a family without strollers.

With the sun still shining, Grammy came to meet us at the park and I think everyone had a great time playing, not just Riley and Asher.  We all had our hands full just trying to keep up with the two of them but I think we used every piece of equipment that they had at the park.

Grandy wasn't up for a trip to the park, so we brought the crazy to him.  We set up camp right in the living room and watched tv, played with toys (both old and new), ate our meals as a family and had some quiet time together.  It had been almost a year since Asher had been to Birmingham and so much has changed since then.  Last time, we just put him on his back on the floor and he enjoyed watching the fan.  This time, it took more to keep him entertained and we were chasing him all around the house and trying to keep fragile things out of his grabby hands.

We even got to go to a Birmingham Barron's game!  The boys didn't spend much time actually watching the game, but there was a lot to see and do so they enjoyed the experience.  You could even go and sit on a grass hill behind the outfield.  Now I think Riley will want to do that every time we go to a game, so it may be a challenge to keep him in his seat.

I know that Grammy and Grandy had been counting down the days until our visit and now that it has come and gone, we will have to get another visit on the calendar for them to count down to.  Traveling with Asher is a little challenging right now cause all he wants to do is walk around and be independent, but not yet old enough to plug in and watch a movie - but some things are worth the stress and challenge, and a visit to Birmingham is definitely worth it!

Remembering Grandma

As much as this blog is usually for celebrations, milestones, cute stories and overall fun, I also want to include parts of life that may sad but still memorable.  This past weekend, Grrandma/GeeGee passed away and we said goodbye to her in California.  While it is a very sad time and I will miss her every day, it is also important to remember the good times that we had with her and the lasting memories that have been made.

I am so lucky to have had such a strong bond with all of my grandparents, and one that I got to foster years and years beyond those of many of my peers.  Not many people can say that they had all 4 of their grandparents until they were 24, but I am truly blessed to be able to say this.

My relationship with Grandma was amazing and so what the relationship that GeeGee had with her boys.  I am so sad that Riley and Asher will not have the opportunity to grow up with her influence as I did, but I'd like to think that she was able to make a lasting impression on Riley.  At 4 1/2, I think the interactions that they had may make it to the long-term memory bank.  Asher, sadly, will not have the same, but from pictures and stories, he will know GeeGee as well.

These pictures, just a handful of precious memories, show what a loving, caring, devoted GeeGee Grandma was to the boys.  I hope that they do their namesake proud and live a life that Grandpa would be proud to share his name with, and that Grandma will be a part of their memories.

4 and 1/2

Yesterday, I explained to Riley that since it was going to be March 9, it would be his half birthday!  He said he was turning 5 and didn't quite get the idea of halves, but I guess they are not learning fractions yet at school.  So he asked if he was getting cupcakes and we settled on a celebratory pie.

This morning, he came running into our room and said "It's my birthday!  I'm bringing cupcakes to school!"  Once we explained again that it was his half birthday and avoided the cupcake question, we sent him on his way to get ready for school.  Meanwhile, I felt guilt daggers starting to stab - who am I to put a damper on his fun?  If my son wants to celebrate his half birthday with treats, who am I to stop him?  So at 7:15 am, I hopped into the kitchen and got some cookies into the oven.  15 minutes later we had a batch of chocolate chip cookies cut into half in order to celebrate Riley's half birthday at school!

Then at home, we celebrated again - with a half of a (mini) pie and a dinosaur candle each.  We sang "happy half birthday to us" as a duet and blew out the candles together!

And one more very important part of acknowledging the fact that he is older is the fact that he is growing too!  Each month Riley gets bigger and bigger and I still can not believe how tall, mature, well spoken and smart this kid is.  He was telling me today about the planets and the solar system and meteors and how he loves just about everything that is space related.  

People try to tell you how quickly time flies and sometimes you just don't believe them when you are caught up in the minutia of cooking dinner, doing bath time, getting ready for bed, washing dishes, doing laundry, walking the dog, packing up school bags and starting all over again the next day.  But days are long - years are short, and before I know it, we will have a 5 year old on our hands!

Asher's first graduation

This morning, Asher officially graduated from physical therapy!  

When he was born 5 weeks early, a set of events was put into motion.  His muscles were not fully developed which lead to him not having full range of motion in his neck.  Because the muscles were tight, he couldn't turn his head the whole way which lead to a flat spot on his head.  That lead to a helmet and some muscle weakness in his shoulders.  Weakness lead to army crawling rather than getting up on all fours, but at the end of the day, he has made tremendous progress and has now completed physical therapy.

We used to have the physical therapist come every week and then moved to every other week.  Mary was always excited to see his progress and was proud of the new tricks we got to show off.  Today, Asher was walking around the room and crawling up blocks and trying to throw a ball.  All of these tricks show what great strides he has made and he has caught up to the skills that kids his age should be able to master.  

Of course there are still always new things to learn and practice, so our work here is far from over, but Asher has done a great job and you can see how proud he is of himself when he gets up and walks across the room!