Breaking Three (and a half)

Longest post ever...Hang in there...there are more pictures toward the bottom...for those that need that sort of thing.

As I mentioned yesterday, the first day of school was awesome. It was perfect in many ways. What you didn't know about was our little "accident" while on vacation last week in Los Angeles. Now, you may remember this little incident. Same kid, different day. Hayden is what we commonly refer to as a "flight risk." Blink, and he's off and running. To him...it's hilarious. To us, it is growing increasingly more dangerous and it's breaking us...and well...him.

"Where should I bolt to next?"

Rewind to last week. We were frolicking on the beach adjacent to the Santa Monica Pier. We settled in amidst a sea of smoking foreigners. I dug myself into the sand as I was on crutches last week, nursing a calf muscle injury and could barely limp. It was crowded, and Hayden thankfully had decided that the ocean was even a little too daunting for him. Usually, I encourage my guys to face their fears - but in the case of my magic Haydini, I was happy to have him sit still with me. But that quickly changed... and he fled.

He ran towards the lifeguard stand and proceeded to climb up the rail. These were your run-of-the-mill Baywatchesque towers, and quite honestly, a fall from the stand to the sand would have been more startling than overly dangerous. I felt paralyzed (which has since morphed into guilt) because I physically could not run to grab him. Andy was in the ocean with Ry and I was surrounded by Borat meets Studio 54...these beach goers would render themselves useless.

In any case, I began to yell my usual chant...

"Hayden GET DOWN... Hayden, NO...ANDY!...Hayden STOP!"

Finally, my cries were answered and Andy ran to the scene to grab HasselHay from the stand. As he was coming down, BONK. For the second time this year, those two Tic-Tac front baby teeth made contact with an inanimate object. The first time the teeth took a beating was from a failed dresser-to-bed dive. We have small teeth marks in the bed frame to this day to prove it. That time, we were able to save the teeth, even though they had been knocked slightly loose. This time? The lip gushed with blood like before, but those teeth were way more mobile.

Well, since we were well versed in what-to-do-when-you-have-a-baby-tooth-trauma, I made the quick decision that we would bypass the lip and work to save the teeth! It was clear that we needed to find a pediatric dentist, STAT. Important to note...it was almost 5pm in Los Angeles.

If you know anyone who has yet to jump on the smartphone bandwagon, this scenario could not make me advocate for this convenience more. We had NO referrals for a dentist in the area, and so the search began. I called my dental office back home for my insurance information and hopefully a referral. They had none. Meanwhile, the crying was thankfully silenced by Hayden falling asleep after his traumatic experience. Oh, did I mention it was now 5pm?

Where to turn now? YELP! Armed with my insurance info and my smart phone of course, I searched "Pediatric Dentists West Hollywood." I barely read any reviews, but chose the closest mapped dentist with the most stars. We found a place called Toothbuds in West LA. After some back and forth calling, finding out that my youngest was uninsured *WHAT HUH WHAT* and a quick call to Delta Dental and my employer's HR department to straighten this sh!t out, I had what I needed. Thankfully Dr. Tali and her team could fit us in...at 5:45pm. Read more about them here. So we drove 4 miles in 30 minutes. I love LA.

Here was the waiting room scene...One. Hot. Mess.

Diagnosis? The bottom line was, he'd been through enough that day, so better to just let his lip heal and the swelling go down. Anything she would do that day could be done days later with no repercussions. Dr. Tali = Awesome. I even received a follow up call on Monday, her knowing fully well, we might never set foot in her office again. I Yelped her awesomeness immediately... my second entry ever. I'm not a chronic Yelper, but I may start.

So here we are...finally. Six days later, back home, and geared up for our post-first-day-of-school dental appointment, with awesome Dr. Quo in Palo Alto, the local go-to Peds guy. Hayden was feeling good about the idea of getting some help with this painful and loose tooth that had kept him on a soft food diet and without his beloved pacifier. Note - Dr. Tali recommended taking advantage of this paci-less window to ween him. So far so good. No Paci for almost a week and he had done well with the excuse "Doctors Orders!"

Hayden saddled up to the dental chair or table-bed... whatever that thing is called. He was in good spirits because where else can you lay on a table and watch TV on the ceiling? Tom and Jerry. He was psyched.

He needed some X-rays. I had never seen this kind of medical cooperation from him. I was relieved when he followed the instructions to open his mouth, hold still and bite down. Ah-mah-zing!

All was hunkydory until....

Here is where we took a turn for the worse. Hayden's tooth was indeed fractured. We could have left it in to run its course, however, the discomfort and inability to eat normal foods lead us to the decision to pull the tooth. Now, Hay has never really had a dental visit before, except for my wonderful Dr. explaining the perils of sugar bugs and counting his teeth. So basically, after this fiasco, we are totally screwed for all future visits. Dr. Quo agreed that there really was no fabulous other way to do this. Here we go.

First came the laughing gas. This was supposed to comfort him enough to be able to get a couple of shots of Novocain in his gum line. He wasn't having it. We tried tirelessly to liken it to an elephant trunk, a batman mask, crap...just drugs to make his face feel better. He was fighting. Soon, the cool shades came out and it helped to somehow blind him from the gas mask enough to go for it. Step one. Completed.

Here is where things got super sucky. The needle. I don't think the gas disguised that needle one bit for Hay. At the first poke, the wailing started. Seeing your child in pain is the worst, and knowing that I made the call to yank the tooth just added to the devastation. We were also in a situation where the dentist, the assistant and I had to pin him down so that we could get the injections finished while he screamed and was shaking with fear. The actual extraction process takes only seconds, but the lead-up was excruciating.

When all was said and done, the crying persisted out the door and into the lobby where the parents in the waiting room just looked at me with empathetic expressions. The wailing was soon replaced by crying over the "prizes" in the prize machine. Hayden wanted a red ninja out of the ninja gumball-like dispenser. Six try's later, we were good-to-go...and we then hit up the Creamery for some ice cream.

And so... we close the book on another unwanted and unwelcomed first. I now have a 3 1/2 year old with one less tooth, a bounty from the Tooth Fairy, serious bragging rights at Nursery School, and no recollection that this entire situation could have been avoided by not running off, coupled with listening to his parents.

Congratulations. You made it to the end. Thanks for listening.

Posted with Blogsy

First Day of School and Then Some...

Remember, when you read this...today is yesterday.

Today marked a monumental day of firsts. It was the first day of school for BOTH of our kids - translation- Hayden is no longer a baby. This made today sting a little bit more. To add insult to injury, today was Ry's first day of 1st grade. There is something about a grade level with a number in front of it that brings a reality to light that your child is "growing up."

"Kindergarten" is a cute word in itself. I mean, what is more adorable than a German garden full of kids? Today, I needed a Biergarten (this doesn't need translation...and if it does... Sound. It. Out.). I know many parents who are weepy at the first Preschool and Kinder drop offs. I get it. The baby stage is over. It's overwhelming. This little human is now a person. I know this to be true because my little guy now has a cubby, snack sign-up responsibilities, and a pick up time punctuated by a lot of forms that regulate who can remove my child from the premises. This is the real deal.

We had not been great parents this summer when it came to bed time. We planned accordingly for today though, by getting the kids to bed earlier the night before school started...that's enough time to regulate them, right? Thankfully, the first day excitement trumped (I use that word a lot...I know...it's good) any amount of tiredness that could have ensued. I awoke the mini-humans with my best rendition of the acclaimed Imagination Movers diddy, First Day of School. Our kids think it's the "jam."

The excitement in our house came in two forms. One, Hayden was finally going to get to join his brother at the same school. He had a new Spiderman lunchbox, Spidey thermos, shiny blue Kleen Kanteen and a new Spiderman shirt. He was supercharged and his enormous grin said it all. Today rocked. Today, "I'm BIG." Ry's excitement came from a place of feeling like he was "BIG" too. A lot of bragging commenced about things he gets to do that Nursery Students don't get to. All in all, the love for their school was apparent and seeing how it is September 11th and many kids in the area have been back now for a month, they were ready to get out of the house.

Our summer break is incredibly long compared to others, it almost feels purposeful on our school's part, to make sure that kids are extremely ready and willing to jump back into the classroom. The negative is that there is not a whole lot for kids to do at the end of August and early September, but the plus is, that it gives families a nice week to travel to any popular kid-friendly attraction, as there is no one around. Like when we went here.

Anyhow, today was a great day...until 3pm. But I'll write about that one tomorrow... Right now, I just want to relish in the fact that my kids sprung out of bed excited about the next chapter of their lives. Ry even got to spend his first after-school day slurping down rootbeer floats with a good friend.

Meanwhile... Hayden lay waiting...

To be continued...

Posted with Blogsy

Skate Camp Day 3 - Go Big or Go Home.

So today Ry's skate Instructors informed me that he feels that learning the fundamentals are boring, and he wants to do the "big stuff." Those who have known me and my husband from childhood will probably find this funny...and somewhat reeking of karma. I guess the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.

Mind you, this kid won't really skate down a small incline by himself yet, but in his mind, he's ready for the big time.

Here's another skill he can actually do himself...

We will be investing in Super-sized amounts of ice packs, children's tylenol and gauze.

Posted with Blogsy

Skate Camp - Day One

This week marked one of the most anticipated camps of our Summer, Skateboarding Camp! Society Skate Shop in San Carlos runs this camp through the Redwood City Parks and Recreation Department (a little shameless self promotion...from me, Leslie Knope) I also have to mention that this camp took no encouragement or bribery to get him to go, just an investment on our part for the right equipment...coupled with a zillion..."You'd better REALLY want this" since equipment-wise, we were starting from scratch.

The Skatepark itself is awesome. It was constructed with a lot of input from local skaters and named in memory of one of Redwood City's resident Pro Skaters, Phil Shao, who passed away in 1998 by way of an auto accident.

Big daunting bowls, rails, stairs, you name it. Ry is just psyched to learn to conquer the flat, but did spend a good part of lesson one learning how to fall "correctly" sliding down the sides of the giant bowl. His pads already look as if they have been annihilated by a full season of X Games training.

Here are a couple of pics from Day One... And a Vid. I'm totally impressed by how much they taught him in one day - he even rode down the stairs, solo!

Ramp assistance.

Learning to ride fakie in the big bowl!

First injury... "belly burn." I was also told that he got a "shark bite" that day. He was a champ and told me "I got hurt, but it didn't stop me from skateboarding." Attaboy.

Maybe someday he'll star in the sequel.

Until then...to be continued...

Posted with Blogsy

HAIR

{I think we have EVERY fallen lock. *sniff*}

It has been 2 years and 4 months and not a hair has been snipped from our youngster's head. Beautiful, bouncy, soft, golden curls flowed from Hay Hay's head and were a popular conversation starter. Conversations like, "How old is your daughter?" "Your daughter's hair is beautiful!" "Is your daughter okay?" were commonplace. My mother's favorite conversation starter of late has been, "When are you going to cut his hair?" My response was usually, "Never. Leave me alone. Stop asking."

We always knew we were going to have to cut it at some point, but we were having a terrible time taking the leap. The hair had become such a major part of him that we felt as if somehow, he was like Samson, and that cutting off his hair would result in the loss of some sort of power...or incredible cuteness. We couldn't let Hay Hay suffer the same fate as poor Keri Russell when "Felicity" cut off her beautiful mane and caused the show to "Jump the Shark." No. Hay's series would not be cancelled.

Today, we decided that we could no longer let our selfishness drive this train. It's summer, he's hot, and constantly pushing it out of his eyes. It was time. The second part of the haircut equation, was finding a place where he would sit still long enough to not only get a haircut, but get a GOOD hair cut. The "not moving" issue trumped all others and so we opted for the kid-centered, television-zombie-making locale. Reluctantly, we ventured out the door on our quest and headed to Snip-Its.

As he sat in the chair, thankfully DIEGO played on the screen. Diego and Dora are good friends of his, so there was an instant comfort in that.  We got off to a rough start, but once we introduced more Diego, bubbles, and candy, we were well on our way. And we have to say...it turned out great.

Mommy & Daddy failed at one major thing... we didn't bring the good camera. Enjoy our cruddy cell phone shots. At least our subject is cute.

An Unfortunate Day of Firsts

Originally when we set out with our camera this morning, it was to document a monumental event in our second son's life, his first train ride. Unfortunately, this was not the only first he would experience on this day.

The morning started off great. The family packed up for a late-morning jaunt to a city only a few train stops away. The kids were really excited, especially Hayden, who is a Super Fan of trains. As the train approached, we all boarded and embarked on our adventure.  

Note, for the faint of heart, nothing bad happened on the train, keep reading. Plus, I am actually writing this, so how bad could it be? Well...

{Happy Campers}

We continued on to the park.  Still fun...

We then set off for a nice leisurely lunch at Hola! on the Avenue.  Ry was resting in the stroller - that was being pushed by me, and Hay Hay had just dismounted from Daddy's shoulders. 

Unaware of potential danger, we walked past this... a fire hose hookup, with missing caps. Two small holes that someone at it's eye level, would find interesting and quite irresistible.

Daddy had just recovered from letting our little one down off of his shoulders, when I turned around and saw Hay, up to his elbow in the brass abyss.  Unfazed, we told Hayden "DON'T STICK YOUR ARM IN THERE!" We assumed he would easily slide right out.... unfortunately, what happened next was one of the most horrific moments we have had as parents to date.

{Yes, I took a photo. It only took 2 seconds. Don't judge.}

Hay pulled and pulled, and with every tug, the cries became worse. Our fears had escalated as well as those of passers by who were kind enough to call 911 and offer to help "our daughter" (hair reference). Daddy quickly realized - with limited viewing- that inside of the hose hookup was a butterfly valve. Basically, this valve is in place to regulate water flow, but if you stick an object inside - such as a small hand- with every pull, the disc will compress harder and harder on the inserted object - or small sweet fingers, in our case. 

A kind gentleman, whom we wished stuck around so we could properly thank him, was calm and supportive and helped us to trouble shoot the situation. Daddy was asking anyone in ear shot for some sort of narrow rod. A lovely manager from Banana Republic, named "J.J." was persistent in her efforts to help us and returned to our aid three times with a barrage of hangers and items to help us to push the valve back in, and free our precious toddler. Finally, a metal rod came to the rescue. Hay was free, and then, four emergency vehicles pulled up. The call probably incited a fear of a "Baby Jessica"-like situation.

Of course, words cannot express the pain we all felt in our hearts during this terrible 10 to 15 minutes of our lives. So many things went through our minds during this time. Thoughts ranged from "How do we keep Hay comfortable?" to "Why is he screaming- what is happening in  there?" to "Who the heck is responsible for this avoidable situation" to "Will they have to cut the pipe from the building?"...I can go on forever... It was a horrible test of patience and self-control, but thankfully there was no permanent damage and we went on to enjoy the rest of our day- albeit a little shaken.

I just remember the tears didn't fall from my eyes until he was free and I was able to digest what had just happened. It is unfathomable to consider what parents of children who have suffered real tragedy have endured. This small incident was enough for us.

There's Nothing Mellow About This Yellow

Yes! It's pee. In the potty. Unsolicited. All Hay Hay's!!!!!

Today you are 2 years and 49 days. We haven't felt the need to start potty training you nor put you through the rigors of Potty Boot Camp. All we did was take the potty out of the garage...wait...that wasn't us, it was your loving Nanny...but I think we told her to...right?  Anyway, it has been sitting in the bathroom for weeks. Occasionally you will sit on it before bath time, but we could care less what you do with it. Sometimes the seat comes out and gets worn on your head. Clever. Just get comfortable with it, we say.

Today was different. As we got ready for bath tonight, you decided to sit on it. You see your big brother pee all the time...it's gotta be fun, right? You sat on the potty, I told you to pee....and VOILA! If you don't do it again for another year, I won't care. I am just so proud of you today.

PS- you have 479 days to get it down - that's when you start school. No pressure. 

Twenty Minus One. My Tooth Fell Out Today.

A few days ago I came home and Ryder told me he hit his tooth with a fork and that it was now loose. After some consoling from our nanny and a slew of "I Lost My Tooth" YouTube videos on her iPhone, he soon became excited about the idea of losing a tooth. He's been singing a song from one of the YouTube Videos -that I can't find- and we've been hearing "My Tooth...Fell Out...Today..." for several days now.

Well, at dinner tonight, he bit into a pancake (Yes you heard me correctly... Dinner... Pancake...) and then started screaming. No, the pancakes were not rock-hard (they were microwaved perfectly), but somehow he bit it in such a way that the tooth became even more loose. There was quite a bit of blood so I sent him into the bathroom to rinse. Finally he stopped crying and I suggested he try to pull it out. He did!

 

"Mommy! Take a picture of my Tooth!" Is it just me or does it look like he has an odd number of bottom teeth?

 

"Here's my envelope!" Mommy drew the tooth how she thought I might draw it, but I wrote the rest.

 "I hope the Tooth Fairy gives me 5 bucks!"

(not sure we'll be setting that precedence).

ADDisneyland...

So... not that you all have been waiting with baited breath for the next installment of the Freeman Family Blog, but here is what happened....as I remember it.

In September we went to Disneyland with the boys for the first time. We were excited and ready for three days at the Happiest Place on Earth. As much as I wanted to recount this story in the blogesphere, I have found that sensory overload created writer's block and this entry has kept me from continuing our adventure in blogland. I felt like this trip HAD to be documented, but I just couldn't do it. These kids seriously provide countless content for us to write about, but this really seemed like a daunting task, so as with  most things, I just opted out- it's my new life strategy. I coined a quote a few weeks ago that summarizes this...

This quote was written when I was training for the Malibu Marathon several weeks ago. I realized I just needed to finish the race - not win- so why was I soooo stressed about how fast I was going...or if I walked...BUT...this posed too be too stressful for me at the moment...so I am not going to run it. I feel AWESOME about that! OK- back to D-Land.

Since we are now a month out, all I can give are bullets...that is how I think anyway, so it's a win-win. Let them also serve as advice for future visits.

• Pinocchio was a bad jumping-off point for Disneyland. Nothing can sour an experience like a ridiculously scary ride. Now, we were well aware that Disney was launched in the non-PC time of 1955. Pretty funny that the scariest part of the theme park is the area designed for their littlest patrons. Having visited D-Land for "work" a few years back, I was sure to not venture onto Snow White's Scary Adventures or Toad Hell Mr. Toads Wild Ride. I did not remember Pinocchio though. This ride basically soured Ryder for the remainder of the day. He clearly stated "I DON'T WANT TO GO ON ANY MORE RIDES"...crap... we had 2 and a half days to go.

• It seems that Babies like all rides...you won't know what's scary or not, unless they wear a heart monitor.  Hayden was mellow and stone-faced on almost all of the rides. The only fluctuation I felt from him was after the first "drop" on Pirates of the Caribbean and it was my hands wrapped around his upper body that allowed me to feel his heart jumping out of his chest.

• Ryder talked about the Haunted Mansion & The Tower of Terror the WHOLE TIME. This from the kid who said the Winne the Pooh ride was scary. Oh, he didn't go on it, just mentioned them in every other breath. The Haunted Mansion is also closed in mid-late September while it turns over into "A Nightmare Before Christmas" decor.
  
  
• Follow up any scary "inside-ride" with an outside ride. Autopia, rocked. Those inside rides are DARK!

• Small World three times. Ryder asked if Small World had a "Happy Ending" I said the whole thing is a Happy Ending....because of the Air Conditioning of course.

7

• Don't do this. You will get in trouble (but we got the shot).

• Characters are scary. Ryder DID NOT want to meet anyone but Goofy. He had the most star-power for our son. We finally caught a glimpse of Goofy, and you have to stand in line (yes, a line at Disneyland) to meet these guys. When we got to the front, we were told that it was time for Goofy's smoke break lunch break. So this was as close as we got to a photo. Andy has a great pic of Goofy heading to the "break area." We thought that was the funniest part, since our imaginations of who was in the costume and what he was thinking took over...

 

Watch Fireworks from  the Magic Castle your hotel room. Honestly, this is more for the parents, but after spending $1 million dollars on Disney, this felt like my money's worth....ah...comfort!

 All in all a great trip. A lot of bribing strong encouragement to go on rides (see Pinocchio), but a magical and momentous event in our family's life. Ryder is now asking to go again...and visit the Haunted Mansion. We have an obsession currently with A Nightmare Before Christmas...a hint to what's coming for Halloween. I am thinking about honoring this request around Thanksgiving in an effort to secure myself as a finalist for MOM OF THE YEAR.

OK, I feel so much better now that I got this post out of the way. I can resume...