Christmas Dinner

We had Christmas dinner at Mike and Cindy's house...Evan had a great time climbing in and out of their little dog door.



Getting a beer for Dad:


Hanging out with Dad:

Christmas!

Waking up:


Opening his shopping cart:


Filling up his cart:


Playing with the truck with Dad:


Using the cart:


Opening his Pooh table:


Opening up his Leapster:


Helping to get Max and Sadie's stockings:


After getting a ball from his stocking, Max went outside and didn't want to come back in. It was raining, but Max didn't care:


Opening up his artboard/easel:


Opening his train:


Eating breakfast and playing with his Leapster:


Giving ther pups their morning treats:

Ready for Christmas!

Everything is ready!


Ready for Christmas day!

EEG Day

This morning was Evan's EEG at Tucson Medical Center at 8am. According to the pre-op directions, we were supposed to keep Evan up until midnight and then get him up at 4am. The point was to make him sleep-deprived so the sedative would work better. Evan ended up faling asleep around 9:30pm Sunday night and there was no keeping him awake. We got him up at 4am, but he was still zonked out. He was awake by the time we headed to Tucson, so we figured that was good enough.

They used an oral sedative on him that tasted awful according to the nurse. Evan was not happy having the liquid force-fed to him (of course). It took about 15-20 minutes for the sedative to work. Evan became slightly combative as he started to go out (which is normal according to the nurse). After he was out, the EEG guy went to work on him, measuring his head for the placement of the electrodes. There were about 20 electrodes to fit on his small head. After marking the locations with a black sharpie (of all things), he used an abrasive lotion on the spots and then stuck the electrodes on. Evan stirred a little bit when he was putting the electrodes on, but stayed sleeping.

After doing all the long prep work, the test only ran about 20 minutes. Towards the end, they used a flashing light (sort of like a strobe light) which helped to wake him up and it tests something different with his brain...the technical term is "photic or stroboscopic stimulation". Luckily, the electrodes came off rather easy and we were out the door by about 10:30am.

We should get the results within a week (with the holiday and all).

Going to see "Tanta"!

Evan has a little understanding of Santa Claus (because he's on one of the episodes of "My Friends Tigger and Pooh"). Since Evan has yet to master his "ess's", Santa is "Tanta". We asked him if he wanted to go see Santa and he was very excited. We headed off to the mall in search of "Tanta"!

As expected, being a typical 2-year old...Evan talked a good game about Santa...but when it came time to sit on the big guy's lap, he was less than willing. Mom had to end up sitting with Santa and put Evan on her lap. As you can see, he was still not happy! Funny, it was the same Santa as last year!

MRI

This morning was Evan's MRI up at Tucson Medical Center. We're trying to figure out why Evan has been having passing-out epsiodes at daycare. We had to be there by 7am (ick) which meant leaving the house by 5:30am (ack). We pretty much grabbed Evan from bed and just put him in the car and he slept most of the trip. Even after we got to the hospital we left him in his pjs since we figured they'd put him in a hospital gown.

Evan was antsy since he had been to TMC before (for his reflux scope). After checking in we had to wait a good 45 until the anthesiologist came to get him, so we occupied him by looking through picture books. The procedure took about 40 minutes, he was knocked out for the whole thing. He did well coming out of the anesthesia, so we were out the door and back on the road for home around 9:30am.

We should hear results sometime next week, but no news is good news.

Amphibious Pooh

Two-year olds go through phases (a shock, I know)! Evan loved getting a bath until recently. I found a "Bath Time Pooh" at Target that has renenergized Evan's love of bath time. This Pooh is really cute (he has a red life jacket on) and comes with a little Piglet who sits in a boat.

Twinkle, Twinkle!

This video has a bit of wasted footage, but it's Evan's first attempt on video to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".

Cheeeeese!

It was a rare occasion...Evan let us take his picture. He even said "cheeeeese"! I was able to trim his hair up a bit also...he was rockin' the crazy hair look (all the rave with 2-year olds).

Tucson Half Marathon

I survived my second half marathon this morning. I didn't post as good of a score I had hoped for since my left knee started hurting. It was odd since I never have trouble with my knees. It was probably due to not running much the past month and playing soccer the past 2 days.

They'll eventually post pictures to www.marathonfoto.com. My bib number was 3432.

Here are my stats from the run:

Overall: 1207 out of 1460
Women: 690 out of 889
F 35-39: 108 out of 130
Age/Grade: 40.86% Place: 1239
Finish: 2:45:40 Pace: 12:39
Tag Time: 2:45:40
Gun Time: 2:47:51
6.1 Mile:1:14:17 Pace: 11:58

At least the Steelers beat the Cowboys today; which made my run all the better!

Back From the 'Burgh

It's been hectic since returning from my quick trip to the 'Burgh Thanksgiving weekend. I had a blast at my 20-year reunion, despite the relatively small turnout from my class. We had a combined reunion with the class of 1987 and I knew a lot of the '87 grads, so it made it worth it.

I won't go into detail on the travel issues I had getting home...let's just say I was supposed to get into Tucson Sunday night around 9:45pm; I didn't make it home to Sierra Vista until Monday around 11:30am. The trouble wasn't weather related, but a computer glitch on the plane we were to take out to Pittsburgh to Phoenix. The highlight was that I was able to watch the Steelers kick butt against New England during the delay. Oh, the other highlight is that the Scottdale Pizzeria is back open and I was lucky to get a pizza (they only make a certain number every night).

Southmoreland Class of 1988




Virginia, Lori, Mindy and I tried to recreate the picture below from the '87 prom...

Two Words in Row!

Big day today...Evan said 2 words in a row! He said "bye bye truck" (o.k. that's really 3 words, but two unique words in a row)! All heavy equipment is a "truck" to him, so they were actually bulldozers working on the parking lot beside where I work. Evan was having a bad day at daycare, so I had to pick him up bring him to work. He loves sneaking through the turnstile (he's skinny enough to squeeze through the side) and walking up and down the stairs.

Got a call from Dr. Smith's nurse today with Evan's lab work and x-ray results. Nothing bad to report on the x-ray; nothing really bad to report on his bloodwork; but Dr. Smith still wants Evan to see a pediatric endocrinologist. I asked the nurse if Evan's TSH's levels were off (which would mean a thyroid problem like Mom); but she said the results were within the normal range. So, we'll try to find a local doctor (but chances are we'll have to go to Tucson for that too).

Artwork Update

Bye Bye to the Crud

Evan has almost fully recovered from the crud...just a little lingering cough. He was almost back to himself today. On Friday, I took him to get his chest x-ray (always fun)! Of course he was not cooperative; so it took me and 2 other x-ray techs to hold him in place. They had to take 2 sets of films since he moved. No word from the doctor on the results of his x-ray, so we assume all is well. We still have to get the EKG done here locally, probably tomorrow.

Back to the Doc!

Evan had a doctor's appointment today (and ironically he has the crud also)...but his appointment wasn't for the crud, but to check on a problem he's been having at daycare. About 4-5 times over the past month, he's been having these passing out episodes where he stops breathing and turns blue. It takes his teachers about 15-20 seconds to get him back to normal by blowing in his face or splashing him with water. These episodes are usually brought on by extreme crying (usually someone stepped on his hand or knocked him over). We've never seen this happen at home, so it's really odd.

Dr. Smith was concerned about these episodes and wants to pursue all the options to make sure it's not something serious. He said it sounded like a case of breath-holding syndrome, which is what is sounds like. He is having Evan do a bunch of tests to rule out "Syncope" which is a more serious issue. We have to get blood draw to check to make sure metabolically everything is fine; a 12-line EKG; chest x-ray and MRI and EEG (at Tucson Medical Center). We're wating to hear from TMC when the EEG and MRI will be. Thank goodness he'll be sedated for those tests.

After the doctor's visit we went to the hospital to have Evan's blood drawn and EKG. The poor boy hadn't napped or ate anything all day, so he was miserable. We tried to get the EKG done first, the lady was able to get the stickers on his chest without too much fuss, but when she put the leads on, Evan lost his mind. We decided to wait until after he got blood drawn to do the EKG. Of course, the blood draw was terrible since Evan was so dehydrated. The poor lab tech had to use the top of Evan's hand to get a good vein. It took 2 lab techs and me holding him in the chair. After the blood draw, we tried the EKG one more time and of course, he was a no-go at that station again. We'll try again in a day or so.

On top of Evan feeling terrible today due to the onset of a bad cold, he got a flu shot. Dr. Smith was also concerned with Evan's chest congestion, so he prescribed Pulmicort 2 times a day in his nebulizer for the next 2 weeks. That should help open up his chest a bit more.

Weight check: 21 pounds 3 ounces (will the boy ever get heavier)??
Length: 31 inches.

Here Comes the Cold!

We finally had to break down and turn the heat on Friday night! Tonight they are calling for snow above 7000 feet, but we won't see much of anything but light rain. We had crazy wind today that blew in even more of the colder weather.

Evan ran the Veteran's Day 5k with me on Saturday. We didn't go for any world records (hard to do when you have a 2-year old asking for his mini Oreos during the run...sortta throws off your running pace).

Evan loves playing with the trash cans...what is with that??!!

Bike Show

We travelled up to Glendale for the Cycle World Motorcycle Show in the University of Phoenix Stadium (where the Cardinals play). It was a long trip, but Dad got to sit on some bikes and get some gear. Evan had a great time with Mom chasing him all over the expo. He endeared himself to the guys in the Kawasaki trailer outside and got to go into the trailer and they gave him a pin and a frisbee. The highlight of the trip was the stop by In-N-Out Burger in Chandler (of course)!

Typical Evan being antsy:

No Dad, get the ZX-14 instead!


Get me off this Councours!

Halloween!

It was a busy day today! Evan's daycare had a Halloween party today, so they encouraged the kids to dress up. I didn't want to risk Evan messing up his evening costume (see below), so we went simple and dressed him in his Steelers jersey. The father of one of the other kids in his class is also a big Steelers fan (he ironically went to St. Vincent College and Thiel College). For those of you in the 'Burgh area, you know those schools. His daughter didn't want to wear the Steeler cheerleader uniform they dressed her in. I thought it would have been so cute to have her and Evan both in Steeler garb.

Every morning, Evan looks for the garbage truck:



Evan Halloween Costume #1: Big Ben!



Evan Halloween Costume #2: Jinbei Outfit from Japan



Sierra Vista United Methodist Chruch had a big fall festival. Evan didn't quite know what to do. Out in the parking lot they had a "trunk or treat" for the kids (so you don't have to go door-to-door).



Evan found a fun game to play:

Using the Dog Door

We recently installed a new dog door that will allow Max to get in and out of the house easier. This door is a little taller than the old one, and doesn't have a rise like the old one did. As you can see fro the videos, Evan has taken a liking to using the dog door as his means of going outside.

Bisbee Stairclimb 2008!

The third Saturday of each October is a special day...it's Bisbee Stairclimb Day! I had mentioned in earlier posts about training for the event. My co-worker Terri and I did a handful of practice runs to get prepared. Despite all the practice runs, it never gets any easier, you just recover faster.

Evan was a bit antsy in the beginning since it wasn't our normal routine to just hang around waiting. All along the way I had comments from people about how in the world I could do the steps with Evan on my back. It wasn't too hard when you train for it. :-) We think our time was about 1 hour and 30 minutes...which is pretty good considering our practice runs were about 1 hour 45 minutes. We decided to run the first downhill leg through Tombstone Canyon (until Terri reinjured her hamstring). After that, we just stuck with walking. Evan thought it was so funny bouncing up and down in the backpack as we were running. The people around us were laughing at his laughter.

Evan being antsy...saying..."Why aren't we walking already??!!"


Shocking! A picture of the boy sitting still!


This is my co-worker Terri (these pics are from her cell phone).


A view of the mass of humanity before the start


We were in the corral waiting to go...Evan was pointing out people he thought we could easily beat.



Stair #1 Super-easy!



Stair #2 Another easy one!



Stair #3 It's starting to get hard!


Stair #4 Aaargh...hating this!


Stair #5 The dreaded Maxwell Stairs! Made it to the top of High Street. How fitting of a name for a street in Bisbee! Evan was so worn out even he needed a drink of water.


Stair #6 The worst is over, but alas, more steps to climb!


Stair #7 Nice easy set of steps...I think Evan was sleeping by this time.


Stair #8 One more left after this set...


During our training sessions, Terri and I said we would get a picture of this street sign. Funny with the Obama sign behind us (sooooo Bisbee).


Stair #9 The last set! At the top of the stairs, these guys starting chanting "We're not worthy" when they saw us coming up that last set.

My First Day with the Twos!

It was a pretty cold morning this morning (the car temp said 50 degrees....brrrr). I had to dig around to find Evan a pair of pants...I was shocked to find his pants don't fit him anymore (they're like capris on him now). The boy is finally growing taller! I did find a pair of pants I thought were way too long for him, but they fit him perfectly. We're finally in a size 12 month pant!

Evan's first day in his new classroom today! When I dropped him off, he wasn't too sure of things. There were only 2 other children there in his class and his regular morning teacher wasn't there yet. I handed him to the teacher on duty and he didn't cry, so that was a good thing.

The report when we picked him up was that he had a GREAT day! He buddied around with his best bud Hayden (who just turned 2 but is a good head taller than Evan is).

Our Little Punkin'!

Evan's first trip to Apple Annie's up in Willcox didn't thrill him too much. He did love watching the tractors go by. We're hoping he'll now realize that Dad doesn't drive a tractor (he always points to the tractor in one of his books and says "Dad-da").



The weather couldn't have been better (a little overcast for Mom would have made it perfect). The bad weather from Hurricane Norbert blew through our region on Friday and Saturday, so it was relatively chilly (in the upper 60's). You can hear the wind in these clips.



At Apple Annie's, you can pick your own pumpkins and other items such as sunflowers, peppers and squash. We found a decent sized pumpkin that wasn't roughed up too much to carve up for Halloween. There are hayrides that take you further out into the patch and a corn maze to wander through. The best part was the caramel kennel corn for Dad.



It was hard getting Evan to do 2 things at once: stand still and look at the camera. He's caught on to the whole camera thing and wants to hold the camera himself. You can get him to stand still, but he'll be stubborn and not look at the camera.



Wandering the pumpkin patch:




Helping Dad with the pumpkin:








Riding back to the barn:


Playing in the corn bin:


Walking through the corn maze..."Children of the Corn" flashback! Lookout for Malachi!