10.27.2011

My poor baby and his cast

I took Dylan in for his cast on Monday. He did surprisingly better this time (probably because he was well rested and not hungry) which helped me. After some more X-rays ($$$) we met with the orthopedist who said Dylan would need a cast but only for 3 weeks, yea!
And he said they encourage him to walk on the leg because it increases the blood flow and speeds up the recovery process. However that meant his leg would be completely straight, unlike the splint that at least had his knee slightly bent which helped him to crawl. So now he's trying to learn how to move around with the full-leg cast and he is getting extremely frustrated...and I don't blame him at all. I've heard Dylan screaming from down the hall at daycare and he has cried everyday on our way home from school. I know he's not in pain because the orthopedist said he shouldn't be in any unless his cast slips, which we are all closely watching. Lately his tantrums have been like no other and it's really hard to watch him so upset when I know I can't do anything to help him. I can offer him cookies, my iPad, toys, juice, Gloworm, and all the hugs and snuggles I can give and nothing will work. Sometimes I just have to make sure he's safely laying on the floor (because he'll get so upset he'll throw his head back and that only makes things worst, so I make sure he goes down slowly) and walk away. I just have to let him be mad, I have to let him let off some steam by kicking, rolling around, screaming his head off, because if it were me, I'd probably need to do the same thing. Sometimes you just have to be mad in order to feel better, and after 5 minutes he does...he calms down and I have my Happy Dylan back. This hasn't been easy for him or I (especially since Keith's worked 3 nights in a row this week) but I think we're doing great and I love that I can be there for him when he needs his mommy.
Going for walks in his wagon cheer him up though!

Unfortunately he's been having the same frustrations at school, but I think just being out of the house and being able to play with his friends helps a lot. He's not able to play on the playground, which makes me sad because he LOVES the playground, but luckily they won't be out too much longer with the cooler weather on the way. I hate the thought of him missing out on outdoor recess. Dylan is also starting to be aggresive with his friends at school. We think he's just so frustrated that he's taking it out on the other kids, and that really worries me. :( And what are the odds that he wouldn't be the only kid in his class in a cast...unfortunately one of his friends got hurt this weekend and now he's in an arm cast, those poor teachers! Apparently it hasn't been a good week for anybody. We all hope for a safe and speedy recovery for everyone! :)


Wednesday night I had the idea of seeing if Dylan would walk using his walker...he loved it! He was so happy to get to move again! He's now starting to cruise along the walls and take a few independent steps. Again, I'm so proud of my little guy.

I also received our family pictures from the very talented Sara Barnes...I love them and can't wait to order our Christmas cards!









10.22.2011

Dylan's 1st trip to the ER

I can't even begin to describe how incredibly crazy this week has been for me! I knew it was going to be bad going into it with 5 ARDs, 1 staffing, and a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch on my schedule (while trying to squeeze as much therapy in as possible), but I never thought it would end with Dylan in the ER.


On Thursday I had a field trip with one of my other schools to the Pumpkin Patch and then headed back to Kelly afterward, which is my main school and where Dylan goes for daycare, for an ARD meeting. I was about to leave my office for the meeting when I heard a baby crying in the nurse's office and knew immediately that it was Dylan. Dylan's teacher was there with him and she told me Dylan was limping when he walked and wouldn't want to put any weight on his leg. The poor thing was screaming so I knew something wasn't right. Side note: Dylan is such a laid-back baby...he could have a 105 fever and still want to play, so when he actually looks hurt or sick we know something's up. She said no one saw him fall, he just walked over to his cot for nap time and starting crying. They took him to the nurse but he eventually fell asleep so they left it alone and let him sleep. But when he woke up he was still hurting so she took him back to the nurse and that's when I heard him crying. I tired putting him down but he immediately starting screaming and crying again, and when I tried getting him to walk his leg starting shaking and he would limp. Right away I took him to the doctor (yes, missing the meeting) and when Dr. Coco examined him he told me, "I'm going to call Children's ER and let them know you're on the way". Dr. Coco said his lower leg was very tender and it appeared Dylan had a fractured tibia and would need x-rays. At this point I'm still trying to figure out what the heck is going on with my life but my little trooper was amazing. At one point on our way to the hospital I looked back at him in his carseat and he was looking out the window, smiling with his Gloworm. I'm glad he could stay so calm when I was about to loose it. Keith met us at the ER and I'm so grateful he was there because I don't think I could've handled it all by myself. Poor baby was in a strange place, new people kept coming in the room to examine him, he was tired, he was starving, plus his leg hurt. But daddy knows how to make him laugh!
He wasn't very pleasant most of the afternoon/evening and trying to keep him calm/happy was very difficult, especially during the X-rays, but his mood changed immediately once he was able to eat and the nurse brought him crackers and juice, which he couldn't eat fast enough.

We finally got a confirmation from Radiology that he had a fractured tibia and that he would need a splint that night and we would need to have an orthopedic consultation for his cast. The worst part of the night was trying keep him down while they put his splint on. I hated being in the room, hearing him crying and screaming, but I knew I had to...he needed his mommy. And luckily Gloworm was with us too!!! Dylan usually brings Gloworm when we leave in the morning and leaves him in the car or in his backpack while he's in school but that morning he was going to leave him at home, but something told me I should grab Gloworm anyway. I'm SO happy I did...I don't know how he would've made it through the night without his BFF.

Once the splint was on and we were discharged we could finally take the little guy home. And after some yummy pasta he finally went to bed. He actually slept longer than I thought he would....he was only up from 3-5:30am. We go back on Monday so we can get his cast and he'll hopefully be back at school on Tuesday. I know he's ready to go back because he's definitely going "stir-crazy" being home. He's pretty limited in what he can do because he's immobile and we have to constantly change his scenery and toys or he'll get upset and fussy. I'm very concerned about how the next few weeks are going to go because Dylan LOVES to run around, but I'm so amazed at how well he's handling everything. He's still the same happy, loving baby he's always been and he's even figured out how to crawl with the splint. He's even stood up a few times, but we have to discourage that because he shouldn't be putting any weight on his leg. He's figuring out how to live with it and I completely admire him for that...so many lessons to be learned from a 17-month old! Whenever I used to leave the room Dylan would always, and I mean always, follow me wherever I went. I would turn around and ask him "Do you have to follow me everywhere I go?" (in a loving way, of course!) and would occasionally tell myself, "stop saying that because you never know when something might happen and you'll be eating your words later". FYI, they taste terrible! And I don't blame daycare or his teachers at all, I really think it was a freak accident and no one is at fault. In fact, he's been known to run and dive into his cot when its nap time, so that may have been what did it. Its even called a Toddler's Fracture because it happens so often in children between 9 months-3 years and can usually happen with just a normal fall. We knew he'd break something eventually, just didn't think it would be this soon! As for me, I'm managing. It was such a stressful week before this even happened, but I'm dealing with it and my main priority is always making sure my family is safe and happy. Everything else comes second...

My poor baby relaxing with his feet up and his iPhone :)

Dylan's already learned how to crawl with his splint...nothing is holding him back!

This morning we had our family pictures taken and Dylan did so well, I'm so proud of him! Then Keith took him to a marching band contest while I cleaned the house...keeping a clean home was kind of put on the back burner. Then, because we haven't dealt with enough lately, our "barely a year old" AC went out so we had to call someone to come out and fix it. Turns out it was just a wire that got loose, but nothing in this world is free. Then this evening we took Dylan to the fall festival at Castle Hills. It seemed like a good idea back when he wasn't limited in his mobility, but all he could really do was visit with the petting zoo. I hated walking past the bounce houses knowing he really wanted to jump in them :( Soon enough, little one...







I also wanted to thank everyone for their prayers, support, patience, and hugs!!! I had so many people calling, texting, and asking me on Facebook if there's anything they can do for us and letting us know that they're thinking of us...THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS! We don't live near family, so it's so great to know that we have such amazing friends when we need them. Your kindness did not go unnoticed or unappreciated...love you all! :)

10.15.2011

Pumpkin carving and duckies...

And the fall fun continues!!! We enjoyed our Fair Day/Columbus Day off doing absolutely nothing...it was wonderful :) I seemed to get into another "crafty mood" and decided to create a little foliage for our front porch. I used the 3 pumpkins we bought at the Pumpkin Patch the day before and flowers and a haystack I bought at Michael's. While there I also bought a decorative pumpkin, some fabric, and some ribbon. I cut the letter "M" out of the fabric and super-glued it on the pumpkin. My bow-making skills aren't quite mastered yet so I paid one of the employees in the floral department to make the bow for me. I hated putting it outside!

The rest of the day was spent enjoying cleaning in silence while Keith took Dyaln to the park and to get groceries. While we were waiting for dinner to finish we decided to carve our pumpkin.

Dylan working on his pumpkin...




And the final ensemble on our porch...we let Dylan come back inside though!

After the 3-day weekend, a 4-day work week was a breeze...sort of. This week was pretty busy at work trying to get ready for a crazy week next week, not to mention having to take Dylan to the doctor for ear infections. Antibiotics were so much easier to administer when I could just mix them in his bottle. It's A LOT harder to get him to take it now. Keith had another late night last night so Dylan and I decided to go to the lake and feed some duckies, however we should've know that 5 slices of bread was not going to be enough...not near enough! We must've had about 15 ducks following us around the rest of the time hoping I'd whip out some more yummy, delicious treats (thanks, Nichole) for them. But Dylan thought it was hilarious!






Since Keith had to work again this morning (more band stuff) Dylan and I decided to head over to the mall. First we stopped by the Apple store so I could get a case for my new iPhone...Dylan couldn't decided which one we should get...




Then we stopped by the Play Area so Dylan could play for a while (45 minutes) and share a pretzel...

Then he rode his 1st escalator up and down, and was absolutely fascinated with the handle.


I don't have a lot of pictures of Dylan sleeping, so I'm loving this one :)

10.09.2011

Hooray for Fall!!!

I really don't think anybody is more excited about fall finally being here than me. I love the cooler weather, the warmer colors, the pumpkins everywhere, and just knowing that the holidays are just a couple of months away. Fall makes my heart happy and soothes my soul :)


We have all kept pretty busy the past couple of weeks. Keith's been busy with football games, numerous band functions, and UNT football. I've kept busy taking care of Dylan while Keith is busy with everything else. And as much as I wish I could have some help sometimes when he's away, I also love the bond Dylan and I have created by spending so much alone time together. But we've also stayed busy with visiting grandparents!


Two weekends ago Rodger came up for a couple of days so he could go to a UNT football game with Keith and since he had a work meeting in Dallas. So of course Dylan had to "drag" him to his favorite park.

The next weekend Patricia came up since she had to miss out on the trip with Rodger, and everyone loves visiting Dylan! He showed her the other park he likes to go to at the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve. We had fun visiting with her too!

Dylan's been fighting the snuffles and an occasional cough for about a week now, but unfortunately he woke up with a slight fever yesterday. We had to postpone our family pictures because he looked pretty awful, but we figured we'd try the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch anyway. He did really good for about an hour, but he definitely started slowing down and was miserable by the end. He actually fell asleep in the car on the way home, and he never sleeps in the car!


Dylan wasn't too sure what to think about having to sit on the little wagon...mainly because he didn't fit!




It was overcast all morning, so we all came out looking pretty pale in our pictures.


Gloworm had to come too!






He loved running through the aisles of pumpkins! Unfortunately he slipped a lot on the random rocks on the ground and at one point took a pretty bad tumble with Gloworm on some hefty dirt. It took a lot of wipes to get Gloworm looking decent, but not great. Keith thinks we should buy him a new one, I think it just adds to the memories...


Dylan's first hayride! It was bumpy, but he loved it.


By this point Dylan was exhausted...I think I took about 40 pictures alone in this particular patch and only came out with one of him smiling. He really wasn't in a smiling mood :(


Done with the pumpkin patch and ready to go home, with some pumpkins in tow!

After Dylan woke up from his nap he still didn't look very good and didn't feel like eating much. But thankfully he was starting to look better by the afternoon. After a fun trip to Target I decided to stop by the lake in Castle Hills so Dylan could walk around for a few minutes. It was a good thing we stopped because the ducks were on the lawn saying "hi" to everyone...Dylan was so excited to see them!


"Hello Mr. Duck!"

Today we were invited to Gianna's 1st birthday party. Keith has been working with Gianna's dad, Brian, for 6 years and the Palmers are such an amazing family. We were so happy when we found out they'd be having another baby last year, mainly because she'd be so close in age to Dylan...another potential Mrs. Dylan Marshall perhaps?? :)

This baby was 2-3 months younger than Dylan...my boy looks like a beast compared to him!!! And yes, Dylan's shirt has a tie...gotta look good for the Mrs!

He was preoccupied by the rain...its been SO long!


And Dylan serenading the birthday girl, who was in the other room. I'm pretty sure she heard it, right?!

Happy Birthday Gianna!