Busy, busy

We've been very busy lately. I think it's been good for Seamus.

On Saturday morning, we went to a birthday party at one of those Extreme Bouncy places with moonbounces and climbing walls and slides. Seamus was in heaven since his most favorite thing is jumping and bouncing. Mommy was a little concerned about all the germs, but I just hoped for the best and followed him around with lots of antibacterical cleaner. Most of the kids were older than Seamus which makes him feel like a big kid.

Then we stopped by Ga and Pa's apartment and saw Uncle Woody, Alex and Cassidy who had come for a visit. He spent hours with them running around on the playground. Then we all went out to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse for Ga's birthday and had a fabulous dinner. Seamus loved his chicken critters so much he sat and ate and ate in silence and didn't ask once to go for a walk. He also got to ride on the horse saddle which was for the birthday girl who was too embarrassed to ride it.

Yesterday, we went back to Ga and Pa's to visit more with the cousins and Aunt Chris and Uncle Woody. He will sure miss them. Then later in the day we had a nice visit from Seamus' friend Lilly who he always has fun with.

And today, Seamus and Daddy had another outing and went and saw "Horton Hears a Who!" Whew, that boy's been busy!

Eerie

Alright, so I think Seamus is psychic.

Yesterday morning, I walked into his room and he was in his crib wide awake singing "Alex and Cassidy are coming to visit, Uncle Woody is coming. I'm going to play with them." That is my brother and his kids who live in NC who he hasn't seen since Christmas. They actually are coming to visit this weekend but James nor I have mentioned it to him at all. He is still talking about them coming even today.

Then this morning, when I went in there, he was wide awake and said "Mommy, I'm talking about animals. Tigers and turtles and sheep and cows and turtles and roosters and turtles. They are having a race." We discussed who is fast and who is slow and who would probably win the race. Later in the morning during his treatments, he was watching "Super Why" which is a great show on PBS about spelling and reading. The book that was on was "The Tortoise and the Hare" which is about... that's right, turtles in races. How weird is that?

Good week

This week was a good one. Seamus went in for his endoscopy and tube replacement on Wednesday and the doctor's initial thought was that things are looking much better than his last one in September. We still have to get the biopsy results.

He is only throwing up occasionally and is eating like crazy so they think maybe eventually he won't need the feeding tube. We switched to only using the part of the feeding tube that goes into his stomach instead of the part that goes into his intestines which is what he have been using for the last year. So far his stomach seems to be handling it fine.

Here's a video of Seamus. He really did finish the whole thing but I ran out of space on the memory card. That will make sense once you view it.

Rough Days

Anyone who has ever experienced life with a two-year old knows some days can be pretty rough. Today has been one of those days.

Breakfast this morning turned into a battlefield. Seamus wouldn't eat anything but his blueberries and formula. After accidentally spilling his cup, he discovered how artistic he could be with the berries. After Mommy cleaned it up and then caught him intentionally dumping his formula again and making "blueberry rainbows" on the table, chair, himself..., I'd about had enough. (Although, I do admit they were pretty.)

After trying to get him out of the bathtub numerous times, I finally gave in to his screaming and let him stay in there for 30 minutes. The pruny kid had surprised me by sticking some "friends" up the bathroom faucet. After pulling out the plastic scuba man and blue fish, I gave up trying to rescue the gold fish. The tweezers and screwdriver didn't help so he may be stuck permanently.

Then we get to the playroom. James and I make an attempt to get him to keep his playroom at least somewhat tidy. Today, not so much. I was in the kitchen and turned around and saw him dump his huge bin of stuffed animals (I'm talking 50-60 animals) on the floor and take a WWE-worthy diving leap into the pile. They're still sitting there.

I know he's stir crazy because we didn't leave the house on this freezing day and he misses his Ga and Pa. Pa is back in the hospital and Ga is usually with him.

I also need to remember little moments like last night when we were going to bed. We climbed the stairs together and when we got to the top he said "Thanks for holding my hand, Mommy". I love the little monster to pieces.

At gymnastics this week, Miss Patty demonstrated the latest routine the kids were supposed to master on the uneven parallel bars. They were to jump onto the lower bar on their tummy and then grab the top bar and move onto their feet on the lower bar. Then they were supposed to walk the length of the bar and switch their hands around and turn around and walk back down the bar the other way. (Did I mention this is a class of 2 year olds?)

I've been talking about how brave Seamus has become but he's no fool. When Miss Patty finished, he yelled "I am NOT going to do that!!" Who could blame him? People sitting way up in the bleachers started laughing.

Seamus has picked up another talent. He loves music and he has a weird ability to hear a song and name the instruments playing. We'll be listening to the radio and he'll say "That's the violin" or "That's the guitar". He can even do it with less common instruments like the tuba or trumpet. He's not always correct, but usually he's dead on. I see music lessons in the near future.

I don't know if I should mention this because I don't want to jinx it, but Seamus' health has been really good lately. He hasn't thrown up in a week and a half and he's been eating like a horse. He's still scheduled for an endoscopy and tube replacement next week but I think they may have finally hit on the right treatment.

He-Man

Sometimes he's so cute I can't stand it.

One of the first things Seamus says every morning is "I have to throw up!!" (Good morning to you too, son) We've taught him to run into the bathroom and do it into the bathtub, which sounds gross but is a lot easier to clean up than the living room floor and not as germy as other places in the bathroom.

This morning I was in the shower so James brought in a little basin, or tub, for him to use. When he was done James said to carry the tub with him in case he had to throw up again.

Seamus bent down next to the shower and started grunting and in all seriousness said "It's too heavy". It took us a few minutes to realize he was trying to pick up the bathtub and carry it around with him.

I guess it's pretty warped when vomiting starts to be a source of humor but this is our life and you work with what you have.

My little man

Seamus is a very deep, contemplative young man.

These days when you ask him a question, he puts a lot of thought into his answers. Even if it's just something like "What would you like to play?" he usually stops and says something like "Hmmm, maybe, I think Chutes and Ladders." Often, he puts his hand to his chin while he's thinking like he is trying to solve the mysteries of the world.

I often have conversations with him that I would have with any grown-up friend. It's amazing the concepts he picks up. It's easy to forget he's only two.

But last night, we were watching Dora the Explorer during his treatments and there were some little kids discussing what they wanted to be when they grew up. I asked Seamus what he wanted to be and he thought for a moment and then said "Maybe ... a duck?". I guess he still is my little two year old.