Training in Bisbee

In a previous post I think I mentioned how Evan and I are usually in Bisbee every weekend "training" for the annual Bisbee 1000 Stairclimb in October. Evan has been doing great in the backpack and manages to find a comfy position to sleep in during the walk! My co-worker Terri has been joining us and these are some pics she took with her camera phone.

A view of Castle Rock and the Bisbee "B":


Evan and I making it up the last set of stairs (Perley Street steps):


Evan waiting for the "magic door" to open on the van:


Is this kid too cool or what?!

Sand Art

Last Check-up with the Pulm

Today Evan had a check-up with his pulmonologist, Dr. Brown. It's great that Dr. Brown comes down to Sierra Vista now. Of course, Evan was sounding crispy thanks to one of his daycare buds having croup the week prior. We weren't expecting a huge weight gain (and we were right)...20 pounds 14 ounces (and that was him fully dressed). He measured at 30.5 inches, so I think that's a .25 inch gain in height from his 2-year old check up in July.

Despite Evan sounding horrible, Dr. Brown doesn't need to see him anyone! He wants us to continue giving him the albuterol treatments every so often when he's sounding bad.

Checking Out My Favorite Shows

Evan has been fascinated by the Playhouse Disney page on the computer. He can't quite work the mouse, but understands how to click. His current favorite TV show webpages to view are "Handy Manny", "My Friends Tigger and Pooh", and "Little Einsteins".

Evan's an Ambassador!

Today I got a call from the March of Dimes office in Tucson and was notified that Evan will be an "Ambassador" at the Sierra Vista Jail and Bail Event in September. We're not sure what all that entails (I don't think he gets a crown)! ;-)

Info on what Jail and Bail is all about:

One of the March of Dimes favorite events, Jail & Bail brings together community leaders and ordinary citizens for a common cause... fighting birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Since its inception in 1957, more than 5 million citizens have volunteered their time in the name of fun - and a good cause.

At this event, volunteer "jailbirds" serve time in a "mock jail." "Prisoners" are arraigned before a volunteer judge on trumped-up, outlandish charges, such as "reckless golf-cart driving." They are then sentenced to spend an hour in "the slammer" to raise bail in the form of donations to the March of Dimes. Nearly 500 events are held annually across the country.

Yummy Garlic Powder!

Evan has found a new "fun place" in the house...the corner cabinet and spice rack. He does a great job taking lids off....but it's the putting them back on that he hasn't mastered yet. Needless to say, the smell of garlic powder sticks on ya for a while.

Cool Dude

Ever since we can remember, Evan has never liked wearing hats or having anything on his face...it seems he's taking a liking to a pair of sunglasses. His nose is still a bit short to keep them up on his face.

Today we went to an open house being held by our church...Evan was the cutest guy there with his sunglasses on (of course). He even ate a few bites of a hot dog for me! He was the biggest helper running back an forth to the garbage can throwing away his plate and cup.

Back To His Normal Self?

Evan's cranky-pants phase at daycare has passed quickly (for now)! After experiencing the "tough love" from the teachers, he's back to his regular self! His eating habits still change from day to day...2 days ago he was a crazy-good eater; yesterday, not so much; today, a good eating day (2 servings of mixed veggies.....what's up with that)?. He's definitely doing things on his time! All of a sudden, he has started using sign language for "more". He's also able to point to an object in a book after we ask him to find it.

Bubble Machine

Evan loves bubbles!



Even Dad likes playing with the bubbles!

Extreme Cranky Pants

For the past few days at daycare, Evan has had a big personality shift (so to say). Towards the end of last week, Evan started getting very clingy and wanted to be held all the time. The teachers thought maybe he was sick since the funk has been going around; but we noticed he was fine at home.

Yesterday, he pitched such a fit that we had to pick him up at 10am. As soon as we headed out the door of the daycare, he was absolutely fine....hmmmm, there's a pattern here. This morning, he went into his usual fit when I dropped him off. I watched him via the close-circuit camera system at the front desk and saw he was an absolute cranky-pants (which is not his usual self). He got so bad, his teacher had take him away from the breakfast table since he kept flinging his head backward.

One of the head ladies at the school watched with me and we realized that Evan was totally "playing" Ms. Sara, his teacher. Whenever she walked away, he would go into a fit; when she would try to comfort him, he would quiet down (what a player)! We decided the course of action would be for Sara to totally ignore him and it worked! Sara called me later in the morning to say he was settled down. I think he realized at a certain point that it wasn't working and turned back into his regular self.

It seems Evan's behavior is the unfortunate result of him being so well liked by the teachers that they do tend to coddle him more than the other children in his class. Since he's the "little guy" they like to protect him from the bigger (but younger) kids. So now they have to be a little "tougher" on him, which is fine since he can't be out of control in class.

Here is pic of Evan doing a very bad thing...sitting on Max. For some reason, Evan tries to ride Max and Sadie and he'll chase them all over the yard and house (poor pups). With Max's hip problems, it's a big no-no, and Evan just doesn't understand.

Playing in the Yard

You can see in the video that Sadie had a little surgery today. She had a tumor on her right front leg (I guess you could call it the shoulder area). The vet said they were able to get it all, but we have to keep a watch on the area since the type of tumor she had can return.

I had her shaved down at the groomers a few days ago since she was shedding like crazy. She has a Siamese-cat-like look to her now!

Tissue

Blue

2-Year Old Check-Up

Evan had his 2-year check-up today and we were hopeful to see him post a weight over 20 pounds. He made it with an extra 2 oz! So Evan at 2 years and 1 day, weighs 20 pounds 2 ounces. His height is now 30.25 inches, so he's gained a bit of height.

No significant things to report from the doctor's visit aside from Evan sounding a bit wheezy to the doc. Never fails that Evan gets congested right before going to the doc; so we'll try to give him an albuterol treatment to help clear him out.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Happy 2nd birthday to the Ev-man!

Blowing out the candle on his cake:



Evan likes imitating Dad when he's playing with the Wii:

2-year Old Pics

Evan turned two today...and with pictures today, he had to turn "terrible two"! We were lucky to get what we got!

Party Day...Let the Rains Begin!

It started out a beautiful day...we had high hopes that the rain would hold off! By 4pm the skies had clouded up, the wind shifted and the temperature dropped about 15 degrees...we still had high hopes the rain would hold off! Well...the rain came down...hard!!

You can see a storm off in the distance...but that wasn't the storm that would visit us! The deluge came from the mountains in the west.




As the storm approaches (you can hear the thunder)...we tried to get Evan to open presents (it just wasn't happening). He got locked on to Joey and Deb's present.




A vid of the die-hards who rode the storm out. Thanks to everyone who helped us load up.

Trying to Get Caught Up

Apologies for the lack of posts...with the grandparents flying in, it's been hectic. We hope to get things updated after this weekend. I got an e-mail from one of my oldest friends from high school (who ironically also is a Theta)...she and her husband will be travelling to China in a few weeks to pick up their new daughter! I added Tracey's blog to my list on the right, so you can read about their adventures.

New Slideshow

Here are some pics from the past year...the blog page cuts off the right side unfortunately. You can mute the music on the window since it loops the same song over and over. :-)

Free MySpace slideshows, photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Spider Bite! :-(

One of the downsides to all the monsoon rain we've been getting, it brings the spiders and bugs out. Today at daycare Evan was "bit" by a tarantula. The daycare director said this was the first time in the 20 years she has been there that this has happened. The kids were outside for waterplay and they managed to capture the spider so we could take it to the ER with us. It was just a precaution to take him to the ER since the daycare personnel had already contacted poison control and knew this wasn't an emergency situation.

Luckily, Evan didn't have an allergic reaction to the bites. By the time we picked him up, he was playing like nothing unusual happened aside from all the attention he was getting. The spider was definitely the hit of the ER for the morning. We figured out it was a male and it was about 4-5 inches across.

The spider left 8 marks on him that look like bite marks, but the spacing between them seemed too big for a bite. The ER doctor thinks maybe the spider pinched him, which he said is typical for tarantulas. One of the ER nurses thought maybe Evan was having an skin reaction to the hairs on the spider since that is also a defense mechanism for tarantulas. After about an hour in the ER we really don't know exactly how the marks got there (if it was a bite, a pinch, or from hairs), but Evan's absolutely fine. T took the spider and released him back into the wild up on post.

The bite trail:




Evan was his normal nutty self waiting for the doc:


Click here if you want to read more about tarantula bites: http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/TOPIC550.HTM