Two Peas in a Pod Party: Part 1

Ryan and Spencer turned one yesterday, and we celebrated with a party today. Here are some pictures from our "Two Peas in a Pod" party.

valentines

What a Little Trooper!

Yesterday Spencer had bilateral eye muscle surgery at Shady Grove Hospital. Everything went really well. My parents came down to watch Ryan and Eli so that Kevin and I could both go with Spencer. I wasn't sure how it was going to go with him not being able to have a bottle in the morning. He was allowed to have pedialyte 3 hours before the surgery, so I gave him some a little after 5am.

The doctors were pleased with how everything went. They said he was a perfect angel, and the whole anesthesia process went really well (we weren't with him during that part). When they took us back to see him afterward, he was being held by a nurse and was just coming to. He was crying the saddest, most pathetic cry with his eyes closed. I held him for almost two hours while he cried and slept.

 During the surgery, his eye muscles were detached and re-attached so that they would be looser (and hopefully not cross anymore). He has stiches in his eyelids that will dissolve. The whites of his eyes (on the insides) are bloody, and his tears all day yesterday were bloody (a very strange thing to see!).

Today he seemed back to his normal self. His eyes are still really red, but he has left them alone for the most part. The first picture below is from tonight before bed. His eyes seem pretty straight. I've seen them cross a little, but the doctor was pleased today at the follow up appointment with their alignment. The bottom picture shows just how bad the crossing could get. It wasn't always like that, of course, but there is a big improvement.

There is still a 30% chance he will have to have another procedure in the future, but I'm assuming we won't know that for awhile. For now, I just hope this surgery will help him focus better and help him see his surroundings better. I'm so proud of my little Spencer and so thankful for a successful surgery.

Spencer

Spencer is such a mama's boy (and I love it!). He's been crawling for about a month now. And by crawling, I mean dragging his body around. He's getting faster and going further each day. He's very into clapping and reading books. He likes to turn the pages and stays engaged book after book.

He likes to mimic sounds- he does raspberries, dada, mama (sometimes), and "aah" sounds. Recently he's learnedto say a sound for cat- he says "ca" when Gracie comes around (and only when Gracie is around.)

Spencer goes down for naps pretty easily. I can put him in his crib awake. The funny thing is that I guess while he's getting comfortable, he's basically tearing his crib apart. He has a breathable bumper that has velcro on it. He's figured out how to undo the velcro and untie the strings. When I get him from his nap, I find him in his little war zone with a big smile on his face.

His eye surgery is scheduled for Thursday. I'm anxious for it to be over!!

Roosies

I think the nicknames are getting out of control for this kid. He actually responds to Roosies now.
Thankfully, he also responds to his actual name, too. He's into everything these days, and everything goes into his mouth. He's been doing "so big", clapping up a storm, shaking his head no, and waving bye. He's also been walking behind push toys and climbing steps. Here's a few pictures of Ryan from this past week.

How big is Ryan?

He loves to dump out the play food- ALL the time. And both bins. That's 100 pieces of food. 

Did I mention ALL the time?

He also likes the remote (which I know is the dirtiest thing ever and we try to keep it out of reach.) But inevitably, he finds it and takes off. The little bugger changes the channel too.

Super Hero Valentines

Eli and I made valentines for his friends at school this weekend. I found some inspiration via pinterest- cute superhero lollipop valentines. Since there wasn't a whole lot of the process he could do by himself, we decided to add star and bolt stamps to the capes. Here is what we came up with.

We started with good old fashioned potato stamps.

Some stamps came out pretty clear.

Others had a more "rustic" look

All ready for school on Tuesday!

Fizzling Volcanoes!

Eli and I had some fun one-on-one time during the boys' early nap. I put him in the high chair to contain him (and the mess). We dumped a big pile of baking soda onto the tray. Then I gve him a medicine dropper and three bowls of colored vinegar. He squirted the liquid onto the baking soda and created little fizzling volcanoes. He also had fun mixing the colors together and generally just making a mess.

This is my life

I heard a strange sound tonight while watching TV. It sounded like a jumping bean in the kitchen. Kevin was at his friend's house in the neighborhood. So I investigated and discovered it was a rogue yogurt melt that had fallen into the heat vent near the high chair. The heat was making it jump around. I spent the next 10 minutes trying to extract the bugger with tweezers "Operation" style (and I may or may not have tried to stab it with a knife and get it that way). On the 40th attempt, it fell off and disappeared into the black hole.

I called Kevin and asked him if the house would burn down if I left it in there. He is used to ridiculous questions coming from me. He said, "Just lift the vent up and grab it."

Oh.

So I pried the vent up and sure enough, the little yogurt melt was there and I grabbed it. But then the heat kicked back on and suddenly a fake Pringle from the kids' kitchen came flying out at me from the black hole. I nearly peed my pants.

That's my Friday night.