Out for ice cream

Swimming

Kate and Grant continue to take swim lessons on Tuesdays at Goldfish. We always try to get dressed as quickly as possible after naps to arrive early to play with the chalkboards. At 4:30 Kate and I head to the small pool and Grant goes by himself to the big pool. He grabs some goggles and immediately starts talking to his instructor. Even as he is swimming he's trying to keep his mouth above water so he can keep talking! His teacher tells me he's making huge improvements. He can swim a little over half the width of the pool by himself and he loves doing cannonballs. Kate is in a phase where she doesn't like to get her face wet, except when she's going down the slide, because it is worth it!

My Sweet Kate

Today Grant, Kate and I were having a stuffed animal fight. Grant took a big wack at me with a dog that had a hard collar on it and I doubled over wincing in pain (it was a bit of an exaggeration, but it hurt!). Grant ignored my pain and continued throwing things at me while Kate came over and asked, "what happened mom?" When I told her she said, "hug, hug," and gave me a big hug. I started down a train of thought centering on how much more compassionate females are etc and was trying to explain to Grant what he should do if he hurts someone when Kate came up behind me and slammed a giant hardcover Bible against my head. :)

Hike

Today we took the kids on a "hike" along the Rouge River trail and then had a picnic under a shady tree. The kids spent most of their time throwing sticks in the river. Grant was so happy he literally galloped through the woods singing. He said he wasn't very hungry until I told him how sad it was because we were going out for ice cream afterward. When he finished his ice cream he came over and snuggled up to me and said, "if you want to share, I'm here."

Junk Food

Today I took Grant for his pulmonology check up and then out to lunch. (The doc put Grant on new meds bc his cough is still not gone.) When I was paying for lunch I bought Grant a mini Reese Peanut Butter Cup. Here's what he said when I gave it to him:

Grant: Mom, is this bad for me?
Mom: Well, it's not the healthiest thing, but I thought you'd like a treat for doing so well at the doctor.
Grant: So, you mean this is like, junk food?
Mom: It is okay to have a treat once in a while kiddo.
Grant: Wow. I can't believe you are giving me something to put into my body that is really bad for me. I don't know if I should eat it.

He did end up eating it. Is he his father's son or what?!

What they're into

Grant-playing "kitchen", mopping and doing dishes (hopefully this theme will continue when he's older), playing in sandboxes, eating watermelon, playing in the water fountain at Shain Park, swimming at Goldfish (can almost swim the width of the pool), adding a "ie" to most words (ball = ballie, book = bookie etc.) and continuing to be just about the most joyful kid I know!

Kate- riding her big wheel, using the "big" potty, trying on my shoes, going down the slide at the park over and over, doing the "hot dog dance", making calls on her cell phone, talking in complete sentences, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and rocking in the rocking chair with me after she naps while we sing and pray.

Happy July 4

This year on July 3 we went to grandma and grandpa's lake house with our cousins and their families. Unfortunately, Kate had to be quarantined because she was just getting over the hand-foot-mouth virus. The kids had a blast playing in the water, running through the sprinkler and taking boat rides. Grant even got to ride on the jet ski for the first time. What a treat! Oh, and did I mention Grant liked the dessert?

Call to Papa

Home Alone

Single moms, I don't know how you do it. God bless you! Jim just got back from being gone for 5 days. We are all so glad to have him back on the scene. Grant is still fighting a cough. We're doing breathing treatments twice a day and have two weeks to go until we see the doc again. Hopefully he will be better by then. In the mean time it is not slowing him down.

The Persistant Cough

Grant's cough is back. It disappeared for only a few days when taking the antibiotic for his pneumonia. Thankfully, we got in to see his pulmonolgist today. After listening to Grant cough and wheeze he was pretty sure it is asthma. We are going back for allergy testing in a couple of weeks to find out what Grant's triggers are. Most likely he's been dealing with this since back in October when he first came down with the cough. (He's been complaining that his stomach is hot which was probably the only language he could come up with for what was going on. Poor guy!) The many antibiotics and brief breathing treatments over the last 9 months have temporarily supressed the asthma but now we can actually deal with it head on. Grant will be on steriods for the next few weeks and then use a nebulizer as needed.

The pulmonolgist was a bit concerned by the chest x-rays that were taken recently at the ER. He wants us to repeat the x-rays again in four weeks to compare the two. Please pray that Grant's lungs totally heal and that the asthma would be gone!

Hearing God

Grant typically wakes up from his afternoon nap singing. I mean really belting it out. His joy continues to amaze me. When I go in to get him I always ask him what he dreamed about. Most of the time he says "salad." Weird. Today I tried something new. When he woke up I asked him to close his eyes and ask God to speak to him- to tell him someone to help or some way to obey today. At first he said "I can't hear anyone." Then I told him to listen with his heart. Then he told me that God told him two things. (1) that he was a soldier and (2) that he was never supposed to steal money from anyone. You can't really go wrong with either of those things!

Guitar Nudist

Today Jim took the kids to a park near our house that has a huge water fountain that they allow the kids to play in. They had fun splashing around trying to retrive pennies from well wishers. As you can imagine they came home soaked. Before I got a chance to put Kate's clothes on she bolted for the guitar. I had to snap a shot.

A Vist to Spring Lake

P.S. We moved back into our house last night. Air test came back all clear!!

Movin' Out

I took Grant to the doctor yesterday for a recheck on his lungs. The doc said that his right lower lung didn't look good and we'd need to see his pulmonolgist. I told her about the flood in the basement and she said, "GET OUT!" It is too dangerous with Grant's lung condition to be around that much moisture and possible mold. So, last night we moved in with my parents. The kids are enjoying it, although they are having a little trouble not being in their own bedrooms to sleep. Hopefully they will adjust tonight and we'll be back in our house before long. We are very blessed to have parents nearby that are kind enough to open their home. :)

Pneumonia round 3

Yesterday we were at the lake all day playing and Grant was acting perfectly normal. He has had a cough for a while so I had scheduled an appt with his pulmonolgist for later this month. After he got out of the lake he kept saying he was cold. We just thought he was being kind of wimpy (sorry Grant) and went on with the day. Soon his lips turned blue and he just didn't seem right. We got in the car to go home and his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out. We woke him up and he did it again. I screamed, "drive to the ER NOW!" So, Jim went into racecar mode and we drove to Royal Oak Beaumont. The whole drive I was doing everything I could to keep Grant from passing out. His eyes kept crossing and he kept saying he was tired. Jim was praying continuously and Kate was looking on with curiosity.

At the hospital they quickly found out that Grant had an extremely high temperature. They think it was a febrile fever (temp rises extremly quickly and eventually causes a seizure). Yes, this is the same thing that happened to Kate a few months ago. It tends to run in families. After getting xrays and running a few more tests they concluded that Grant has pneumonia. They were able to get the fever down and then Grant was acting great. (While he had the fever he was moaning and crying.) I picked up the guys and we went to CVS for Grant's prescription. It was about 10:30 at this point and Grant was incredibly chipper for all that he'd been through. We pulled in the driveway at close to 11:00pm and Grant looked and Jim and said, "Dad, can we go ride bikes?"

Grandma's new hat

Potty Training Day 2

Lately Kate has seemed really irritated when she has a messy diaper. A few weeks ago Kate starting stripping herself naked in her crib before she went to sleep. This included her (sometimes full) diaper. We decided to start potty training this week. I think potty training is kind of like labor. Just as I forgot what a pain it was to potty train Grant I felt ready to take on Kate. What a chore. Here are the results so far:

Day 1:
Hits 0
Misses: 9

Day 2:
Hits: 4
Misses: 7

Soccer

Grant plays soccer at the YMCA once a week. He actually plays more of a form of rugby, diving onto the ball, picking it up and running. Regardless, it is a good way of getting him to run around. He adores the coach and is building a special relationship with him. There is a playground right next to the soccer field for Kate to play on so she always looks forward to soccer days too.

Focus on the Good

Last week
Grant: (in a very whiney voice) It's so sunny out. It hurts my eyes.
Jim: It is important in life to to learn to focus on the positive. Let's focus on what is good today, like the fact that it is a nice, warm day.

Today At Lunch
Grant: I don't want green peppers. I only eat red peppers.
Cindy: Too bad. You are going to eat your green peppers.
Grant: I don't have to. Dad told me to only focus on the good things in life.

1st visit to the Lakehouse

We make our first visit of the year to grandma and grandpa Koss' cottage. (where there was no rain or snow) The weather was warm and the kids loved the water, rafts, and and boat.