Happy Birthday to You

My Darling Seamus-

Today you turn three! You are such a big boy now, steadily gaining weight and growing taller despite many obstacles this past year. You have started nursery school and love being with all your friends. Miss Terri says you are a very good student.

This year, you have learned so much. You can count and say all your colors in both English and Spanish. Chinese is next. You love doing jigsaw puzzles and playing with your trains. You've even figured out how to use the the computer.

You walk around singing all day and music class is one of your favorite activities of the week. Rhyming is another favorite thing to do. You can amuse yourself for hours on end coming up with new rhymes, some of them very clever.

Socially, you have grown so much. Your favorite thing is to play with other kids and you are very good at making friends. And what an independent little boy you are. You have no problem leaving Mommy or Daddy when we drop you off for school or being in a group of strangers. And even though you love being with people, you do so well playing by yourself with all your toy friends.

You are wise beyond your years, my love. Often, you say to me "Mommy, are you frustrated?" or "Do you need to talk to someone?" And you are always right.

We are so proud of you, my little pumpkin pie. You are my bestest boy.
Love-
Mommy

Not so good

Seamus had only been to nursery school twice before coming down with a really nasty cold. We knew to expect it, just not so soon. Before that, he had gone almost his entire 3 years with only a handful of colds. We have some serious thinking to do. If this continues to happen, we may have to pull him out and wait until next year.

I have also been suffering from allergies and Seamus has been very sweet. Yesterday we were lying in bed together and I asked him how he felt.

"Ummm, good. How do you feel?"

"Not good. I can barely breath."

"Mommy, you can use my shake and bake vest if you want."

"Thanks, Sweetie."

The Dance Craze Sweeping the Nation

Other big news, Seamus got into nursery school last week! He's gone twice and it's been great. The teacher has had another CF student a few years ago so she knows the basics but Seamus isn't your average CFer with all his food allergies, feeding tube, and vomiting/pooping issues. We have our fingers crossed.

Here's two pictures of Seamus on his first day.



Please keep Seamus in your thoughts. He's in the midst of one of his "down" times and may need a clean out in the hospital soon.

Classic Seamus

Today, Seamus went to the mall with my mom and me. We were in Macy's picking out bras when he said:

"Are these for boys?"

"No, they're for girls"

"Like vaginas?"

Right, just like that.

Good news and Bad news

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

Well, the bad news is last night about 11:15, I tried to change Seamus' diaper while he slept. His feeding tube got caught on his pants and pulled right out. Well, not completely, and James (not me, I can't stand to do it) was able to push it back in. But we had to go to the ER to replace it because it wasn't going to stay in.

We made it to the ER about 12:15 and after a little wait, we got right in and the docs saw us. Seamus was actually happy to be there. He loves the stickers and all the attention. Since we are no longer using the j-tube portion of the gj-tube that goes into his intestines, they were able to replace it right there with a g-tube that only has a 2 cm tube going into the stomach. That's the good news, if you couldn't tell. That means we didn't have to call repeatedly to set up an appointment so Seamus could come back and go under anthesia to have the Internal Radiologists place a tube in his jejunem. That's great progress.

By 2:00 AM we were ready to leave but Seamus wanted no part in it. He cried because he wanted to stay there. He got over it as soon as we got in the car and I thought he'd fall instantly asleep but he sang the whole way home and was up this morning at the regular time, no worse for wear.

Happy Hannah Day

"It was too cold to go out and too wet to play ball." Sorry, that's from Cat in the Hat, one of our nightly regulars.

It actually was too wet to play ball, thanks to Hurricane Hannah, but we went out anyway. Around noon, we decided we'd had enough so we got our rain coats and umbrella and headed out. Mid-way through the walk, it really picked up but it was all the more fun. Seamus ran and ran and jumped through every puddle. It was windy but not cold and we didn't go far so I figured we weren't getting any wetter than we would in a long shower.

After we came in, Cowboy Seamus (he announced early this morning that he was a cowboy and was never far from his hat and "cowboy shoes" all day) and I dried off and got cozy under the covers in bed and read books. He's really picking up words and is going to start reading to me soon. Then CS helped me make brownies and while we waited for them to cook, we played puzzles. It always amazes me how good he is at figuring out puzzles.

Later, we went to Ga's house and had a nice visit. He conked out on the way home, still in the cowboy hat. It was a good day.

Mini vacation

So we just got back from a much neeeded little break. We went to New York to visit my father and family and catch up with friends. Seamus enjoyed himself, although he is the youngest of my friends' kids and found it hard to keep up with the big kids sometimes. Although the majority of time he was definitely the ring leader.



Ga came with us. It did her good to get out of town and visit with friends she hasn't seen in almost a year. It was hard for her to go to all the places she went with Pa but I think it helped her to talk about him with all their friends.

We spent some time in the mountains at our friends, Deb and Scott's, cabin. It was the first time Seamus had been (pseudo)camping and he seemed to like it, although he kept asking us when our trip was going to start. Before we left, we were worried about how he would handle the mustiness of a mountain cabin and things like campfires and swampy places but we were careful and it all worked out.

On another note, we were looking at pictures of Grandma Jo's kitty who died a few years ago and when we told Seamus she was in heaven, he said "Then Pa can visit with her" so I think he's handling Pa's passing okay.