Friday is...

...a lazy day. I'm tired, the Kiddo is tired... I'll pretty much bet my cookies that the Man will be tired when he gets home. So do I nuke some taco soup or do I rally and make some every so yummy comfort food mac n cheese??

Concerting

Yesterday I got to go to the Nickelback concert here, courtesy of Lady D and Pac Man (hehe sorry bro it's just a really fitting pseudonym). We left the Kiddo with my mother in law and spent the entire evening listening to some really good music.
We got there a little late and missed Saving Abel. They started the concert off and only played for 20 minutes. We did get to listen to them (as we made the long treck from the parking spot to the arena) and I don't think we missed much insofar as their performance goes. I like their music but I think they've got some learning to do on how to entertain people live.
The next band up was Papa Roach. I wasn't very familiar with their music so didn't know whether I'd like them or not. At the end of their set (30 minutes) I turned to the Man and told him that I felt old. He asked me why and I said "because I really thought that guy swore WAY to often". I wasn't a fan of the music (sounded to me like all he did was scream vs sing) and he used the F word as often as he possible could. It was as if he was forcing himself to try and entertain and be cool.
Third up was Hinder. Now I really enjoy Hinders music and was holding my breath that they would put on a good concert. They did. I thoroughly enjoyed their entire 30 minute set and actually rather wished they would play longer. Sure their singer looks a little odd, and dresses ridiculously (check out is pants!) but he really can sing!
Last in the lineup was Nickelback. I am a HUGE fan of theirs. So is the Man. Neither of us was disappointed in their performance. It was more then entertaining, the lead single (Chad) is a really funny guy and spent a lot of time in between songs cracking jokes, doing random stuff and really getting the crowd into it. We had to leave about 15 minutes before the end of the show (missing the last two songs and the big pyrotechnic finale) and I am a little upset by that but MIL was feeling sick so we had to go get the Kiddo. We saw most of the show AND by leaving that tiny bit early we did manage to miss most of the congestion. Next time they're in town I'm going to make a very big effort to get tickets, it would be more then worth it to see them play again.
As and end note I must say that I have never really understood the super adoration some women have for drummers. But the solo the drummer (Danial Adair) did towards the end of their set was the coolest thing I have seen in a long while. Their are drummers and then there are... drummers!!

Fly!

Yesterday at dinner we ended up having an impromptu science lesson. I glanced out the sliding door to our patio and saw a dragon fly clinging to the roof. I know the Kiddo has never seen one of those sitting still and thought he'd get a enjoy it. He did, when the little bugger finally flew away (at least 20 minutes later) the Kiddo got a bit upset and kept asking where his friend the fly went. Finally I told him it went away to it's home so it could sleep.

Medicinal updates

The previous week has been a rather sparatic posting one here but things should get back to normal now. We have finally gotten all the new meds that the Kiddo is supposed to be taking and have no more doctors visits until the end of next month. He's got his one pill a day of Levothyroxin for his Hypothyroidism. He's got two doses a day of Hydrocortizone (HC) for his Adrenal Insufficiency and that one in the back is a generic liquid version of cleritin (because our insurance pays for it in that form!!).

The orange bottle (the HC) is supposed to be kept chilled which means I suppose I'll be looking around for a bottle cooler so that when I travel or go anywhere in the evening I can take it with me and keep it cold at the same time. Today is the first day giving that medication but he seemed to do well with it, we are going to try an 8am and 8pm dosing schedule (I had to wake him up for it this morning *chuckle*).

The thyroid pills are tiny and he is learning not to chew them. In fact today he didn't chew it at all. He gets those once a day in the morning around 9 and it seems an awful lot like they make him hyper. Of course when the Man asked the doc if that was okay the doc said "they aren't making him hyper, they're making him NORMAL". Ummmmm it isn't like he was all lethargic before! Of course the doc also said that when his system got used to it he should mellow out again, I'm holding my breath and counting down the days till that happens.

Fire in the hole...

We've been working hard this past week or so trying to teach the Kiddo to pee standing up.

What finally worked? Not cheerios (cuz I know that was your first thought)... nope we drew boats on tissue. Gives the phrase "you sunk my battleship" a whole new meaning.

Good Morning...

Day two of the kiddo's thyroid medication was easier on me then day one. Yesterday I wanted to crawl home and hide in my moms closet, but yesterday my sis also chewed me out for being such a dope... things could be so much worse that for me to get all freaked out over a little pill a day is silly.

Good point Lady D *sigh*

The only bad news I have to report today is that the medication is apparently not helping the Kiddo sleep any better. It isn't supposed to but I admit to a little hope that juuuust maybe it would. But no, even with bags under his eyes he's rolling out of bed before 8.

Apparently this morning he was up before the Man left for work... conversation reportedly went something like this:

The Man: "get back in bed"
Kiddo: "no" ... "I can't"
The Man: "why not?"
Kiddo: "because the sun is up"
The Man: "not all the way yet. Go back to bed"
Kiddo: *sigh* "ok. But I can't sleep"

That sounds about right... considering the usual way for him to wake me up is to sit on my head and pry my eyelids open so I can "see mommie, the sun is up in the sky".

This morning he added the cute little extra of rolling onto his back and punching at the ceiling. When I asked him what he was doing he said "punching the stars out of the sky so the sun can finish coming up."

second

A very short video of the Kiddo being a ham. He watched Madagascar 2 the other day and the lion in the movie does the expression face wipe thing (happy/mad). The kiddo apparently really thought it was cool because it's his new "thing" he does when he's bored at the table*

*note that his cereal is dry. We're slowly eating the sugar cereal that was left behind when the kids left on Friday. He likes to eat it dry so his fingers get less sticky when he picks out the marshmallows. Then, once they are gone, he asks for milk to eat the rest.

First..

I give you a few more pictures from the kid invasion we had last week.

Today I finally sucked it up and gave the Kiddo his first dose of thyroid medication. I will admit that I have been reluctant to do so. One big reason is that I am worried about remembering to give it to him at the same time every day (I have two alarms set to help me remember). The other is that I feel unbelievably guilty about starting him on a medication he will be taking for the rest of his life. As I understand it once he starts taking it he can never stop and any altering of the type will take slow weaning off of the one then slow build up of the dose of the next with careful monitoring during the whole process.

But as mentioned... he is now officially being medicated. I am making new wallet cards with his diagnosed conditions, and the medications he takes for them.

I am sad *sigh*

Kiddo update

If you'll remember we took the kiddo in last week to get a couple blood draws to test the levels of cortisol in his system.

My very basic understanding is this: Cortisol's most important function is to help the body respond to stress. It is a corticosteroid hormone pumped out by the adrenal glands as part of a body's fight-or-flight response. It also helps regulate your body's use of protein, carbohydrates, and fat; helps maintain blood pressure and cardiovascular function.

The Kiddo's results came back low. A test that we were relatively sure would eliminate a problem actually ended up confirming one and our little tiny 4 year old has what is called hypo-cortisol levels or hypocortisolism. I'm not sure I can adequately explain what that means since I'm not altogether sure myself. When the Doctor told us to get this test done he explained that after the results came back, IF the Kiddo had the problem, that is when he would explain it and answer our questions. He didn't want to before then because if the results came back normal then there was no need to worry us about it.

The lack of information left me very concerned and confused when we learned that his levels are low. Because I am an information junkie (learned that from my mom) I have, since yesterday, been doing quite a bit of research to try and learn what I can on my own. I still can't explain it very well but I have found a few web sites that seem to have good information for those of you who are interested.

The first site is one that talks directly about low cortisol levels in children. The symptoms, causes and treatments.

The second site is one I found via webmd (thank daddy) it is an article talking about something called Addison's Disease. The reason I link you to this particular article is because if I understand things correctly that is what the Kiddo has. I like this article a lot because it explains the cause in such a way that gives me a better understanding of how it could be connected to the other medical conditions the Kiddo has:

"...If the adrenal glands are affected by a problem starting somewhere -- such as the pituitary gland -- it's called secondary adrenal insufficiency.” The Secondary adrenal insufficiency is a less common cause but the article states that it “can be caused by problems with the hypothalamus or pituitary gland, located in the center of the brain.”

One of the reasons for the Kiddo’s ONH AND his Hypothyroidism is his pituitary gland. Therefore, if I understand things correctly, all three problems stem from his pituitary gland not functioning quite the way it should. One big medical mess tied to a single little gland.

days...

Yesterday the pool was closed. It was horrible. The kids were traumatized. The Kiddo kept saying "is the water going to be open again?" ... "Is the water open yet".

I talked to the apartment office lady and she said that it should be open today. I'm holding my breath (don't know if the kids could take TWO days of that sort of disappointment).

Yesterday started with a little educational computer time:
And instead of swimming we went outside and played on the slides and swung on the swings.
After the other kids left I let the Kiddo pick a movie to watch (Meet the Robinsons) because he didn't watch ANY of his usual daily tv*

Today should be more of the same. ... already we are 2 hours into the day with the Kiddo still asleep and the girl driving me nuts asking over and over and over again when he is going to wake up. I finally told her that if he isn't awake by 9 I would go ahead and wake him up for her.


*which isn't much, a movie in the morning (while I wake up) and then sesame street in the afternoon.

*wistful sigh*

It's been awhile since I've done a shoe post.... I know at the very least Lady D is going to think these are cute and worth sharing!
The man says he doesn't' like them. "they look lazy". I think they would be so very cute with some skinny jeans or a skirt.

Meteors...

Another Meteor shower tonight. Looks like the best time to go out to view it will be between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. ET (1-2 a.m. PT) though I could be a bit off. Usually I go research to find out exactly what time and where to look but this one seems to be a "look everywhere" shower, and I'm to exhausted by my extra early morning and long day to go do research.

Still I know some of you like it when I let you know these things are happening so here you go.. your heads up! :)

visitors..

I've got a couple extra kids around this week. It'll mean that what postings I do will probably be late evenings instead of morning/afternoon. I should still be posting though (with pictures) so stay tuned!! :)

Tech-y

I mentioned the other day something about a flash that didn't flash. I thought it was kind of neat. So I posted it. Not that it was available really for us regular folks yet, or even practical.

Today I ran across an even better camera gadget. Actually it's the camera itself that's super cool. It's a Nikon CoolPix and it wont be out until this year September. It'll carry a rather large price tag ($429) but I'd still love to have one.


What does it do that makes it so special and neat you ask??

It has a tiny, built-in, projector capable of throwing a 40-inch image onto any nearby surface, good for showing off individual snapshots, slideshows, or even clips. Not to mention a remote that controls the projector or acts as a shutter release. I mean I know most cameras have a ten second delay feature but I'd find it far more useful to have an actual remote to do it.

Two and a half hours..

The Kiddo's cortisol blood test is finally done! He was amazing, I knew he would be but still even the expected with him sometimes amazes me.

The blood testing involved three separate needle sticks. First we had to go to the pharmacy and get the inject-able medication mixed. Then it was off to the races..

First we went to the blood clinic and have blood drawn for a baseline. This first picture is of the kiddo waiting for his first blood draw. He was watching the guy (who was very nice) get everything ready.
Then the Man gently placed his fingers over his wrist (to keep him from turning his arm) and the guy stuck him. Note that he's just watching. If you click on the picture to make it bigger you'll see that his brow isn't even furrowed. I took this picture as proof that getting his blood drawn doesn't faze* him.
This next picture of of the Kiddo showing off his "sticker" from the first blood draw.
We made the 25 minute drive to the doctors office and after a little sitting around she injected him with the medication. I didn't take any photo's of that so you'll have to take my word for the fact that he didn't cry. He did squirm a little though, I don't think anybody likes to get a needle stuck in their thigh.

After that we hotfooted it back to the blood clinic and at 60 minutes (on the dot) from when the nurse injected him he had a second veil of blood drawn. The last picture here is of him proudly displaying his "two stickers". Not a tear in sight.


*Edited to change the spelling of phase to faze because I am illiterate ... that or because I wanted to make sure nobody thought the kid was only behaving himself because he's in a 'needles don't bug me phase' *grin*.

Digestively speaking

The Kiddo loves yogurt. He adores the stuff. I've started buying him his own because he kept raiding the fridge and stealing the mans, then batting his pretty long lashes at me and asking if he can please please please have some yogurt.

Recently, due to not a few mini starts and underwear cleaning episodes, I decided that, since it costs about the same, I would buy the Kiddo the Yo-Plus yogurt instead. Slightly smaller serving size (which actually makes me happy because he IS only 4) and the benefit of helping keep him regular. He loves the stuff, gobbles it down and asks for more. And, not a problem since!

I actually think it tastes pretty good too. I know this is kind of a random post but there you go.

a picture is worth..

Rematch

Back when the Olympics were running hot the Man and I watched ever swim race televised. We followed one Michael Phelps with held breath and excitement. It was amazing when he won, just milliseconds ahead of Milorad Cavic of Serbia. We looked that race up on utube and watched it a dozen times, each time with the same internal excited voice yelling "go, go go go go GO woooo hoooo!!!"

I'm not really a super big swim fan so of course since the end of the Olympics I haven't kept up on any swim news. I did hear a bit of fuzz about Phelps behaving in a not so good way, losing a product endorsement contract because of it, and maybe actually coming in second on a race or two (as he adjusted his stroke to something that was/is supposed to work better for him).

Yesterday I ran across an article discussing a rematch between Phelps and Cavic. Cavic was talking crap because Phelps (or his manager) had said that his Cavics suit was faster, but Phelps is loyal to his brand and even though the brand had told him he could go get the other suit if he felt it would help his time, he did not. So Cavic said he would and was using it as an excuse for the loss he was sure to have at the race. Shoot this entire time Cavic has proclamed to anybody, and everybody, who will listen that HE was the winner at the Olympics reglarless of the time laps photography and electronic press plate proving otherwise.

I am very VERY pleased to report that it was not Cavic who won this rematch. Yep Phelps won, in his usual last minute 'pull up and pass em' style. I watched the video and even though I knew who won I once again found myself cheering him on. Go Phelps!!