Glasses

About a month ago the boys both came home from school with a letter saying they might need glasses. I figured this day would come since I got my first pair of glasses at 8 years old. So I made an appointment with the pediatric ophthalmologist that our pediatrician recommended. A few weeks later I took the boys to Dr. Shelley's office and they got checked out. It was interesting see the difference between how they do a check up for an adult versus a child. I was sure they would do the whole number 1 or number 2 thing, but that would be a bit ridiculous with kid. Instead they measured their eyes and then did a bunch of looking inside them with super magnified lens. 

Diagnosis...Astigmatism + little bit of lazy eye = glasses for both of them! 

Owen's prescription isn't much, but Jack has a bit more. We ended up being able to get two pairs of glasses for them. One through Regence and one through DSHS. It will be good to have a back up pair on hand. 

They look SO cute!!! It totally reminds me of this post back with they were little and I put my glasses on them! Hilarious! 

Now of course begins the reminding them over and over to wear their glasses! Owen says his hurt his nose so were going to go back to the eye Dr to see if they can change out the nose pads. Owen is worried that other kids at school are going to laugh at him. I'm sure there will be a few kids that say something cruel, but for the most part I think glasses aren't really a big deal anymore. 

First Trip To The Dentist!

Last week 5 out of the 6 people in our house had dentist appointments. I didn't mean for that to happen, but it just turned out that way. On Thursday I took both Ella and Zeke in for their appointments when the older boys were at school. 

This was Zeke's first time at the dentist and I wasn't sure if he was going to let them do anything. The hygienist was so awesome though. She talked to him like he was a big boy and she showed him the water squirter...she had a cute name for it. Then she showed how Mr. Thirsty would suck up the water. Zeke was in awe! 

Then she gave him his own little toothbrush and he knew just what to do. She even let him hold Mr. Thirsty and he loved putting it in his mouth and letting it suck up all his spit!

Then she showed him Mr. Tickles...the polishing brush and he let her clean his teeth! I was absolutely shocked! She told me that he was quite exceptional for an 18 month old. She said most kids his age won't do any of that. 

One of the things I think that helped Zeke be comfortable with the whole process was that he got to watch Ella go first. 

He was so cute wanting to sit up in the big orange chair with Sissy! First dentist appointment was a total success! 

Another One Bites The Dust!

November 12th I pulled out Owen's top front tooth. It was hanging down lower than this other top tooth so I told him we should go into the bathroom and see if it was ready. It would move way forward, but not backwards so I decided to push it back with a little force. I did that twice and it started bleeding a bit. I told Owen it had to come out and I gave it a tug all the while he's looking all freaked out. The moment the tooth broke loose his face changed to sheer excitement! He was so excited to go to school and tell/show all his friends. I wonder how much money this tooth will grow! 

We Always Knew He'd Be The First!

 To break a bone that is! 

Saturday November 9th was the day that our no broken bones streak came to an end. Zeke was jumping on the loveseat and then one thing led to another and the next thing I see is him falling off sideways. He immediately started crying and mubbling in a way that I've now coined as him saying baby swear words! It wasn't a cry I'd heard before. I figured he just bumped his head so we snuggled a bit. He was pretty much unhappy unless we were holding him. We kind of brushed it off as him getting the same cold that was going around our house and the fall just kind of sent him over the edge...pun intended! So Michael took him up to bed to sleep it off. When he woke up I put him in his highchair to eat lunch and I noticed that he wasn't reaching for anything with his left arm. In fact I had to hand him his sandwich and hold his sippy for him. I decided to check out him out so I took off his pajama top and that's when the crying and baby swear words came out again. This is when I was pretty sure a trip to the ER was in our future. To make absolutely certain that it was necessary I set Zeke on the loveseat and then asked him to give me a "five" with his left hand. He instinctively tried to raise his left arm and then immediately started crying. Michael was out picking up a shelving unit that we found on Craigslist so I had to wait for him to come home. 

Then it was off to Mary Bridge! I love Mary Bridge!!!! The valet parking, the gorgeous buildings, the helpful staff and usually the wait isn't that bad either. 

 Of course the moment we got to the ER he started acting all chipper and I was thinking great there's nothing wrong with you afterall! 

About 30 minutes later and we were called back to a room. The clothes had to come off, but I was really gentle and no baby swear words were said. 

Resting and waiting to go for x-rays. 

The x-ray tech was so nice. He took 2 x-rays of Zeke's arm which were the only ones ordered. He didn't see anything wrong so he started asking me more about his injury. I told him that he could reach out and down with his left arm, but not up. That's when he made an executive decision to do another x-ray that wasn't order. That's when he said...."sure enough!" 

Broken clavicle bone! 

There really isn't much they can do for a broken collar bone. They tried to wrap up Zeke's arm, but lasted about 15 seconds before he was out of it. 

The next day he was timid about moving around, but it was no time before he was acting like himself and trying to jump on the couch again! 

Nothing will keep this kid down for long! 

Oh and if you're interested in why there is a lady on our TV that's in a bath towel it's the movie Enchanted. It's Ella's favorite and she could watch it everyday...all day if we let her! 

Blue Spruce!

The same Saturday that we went to The Outlet Collection we also had a bit of a wind storm. It was awful, but the difference was the wind came from the south instead of the west. After we got home I was washing the dishes and I heard this crack sound...we have airport windows so if I could hear it inside that meant it was really loud. Then I looked up and saw a huge chunk of our 35+ year blue spruce falling to the ground. All I could say was, "OH MY GOSH...OH MY GOSH!" Michael was in the living room wrestling with the boys and was trying to figure out why I was freaking out. I was sure the tree was going to hit the kids play structure, but thankfully it missed it. 

The section that broke off was the part that made that point at the top of the tree. The tree looks ridiculous now! That section that you can see the sky through the tree you used to not be able to. 

There the chunk that broke off laying in our neighbors yard. It took out the fence between our yards and his back fence with another neighbor. 

After the storm was over Michael went outside to get a closer look at our now smaller tree. 

I was amazed at how big the section really was. It was about 12 - 14 inches across. 

Here's where it split off! 

Since then I've called my cousin Bill and he is going to come up and cut down the blue spruce and the big evergreen in our front yard. We will be sad to lose the privacy, but the blue spruce is a bit of a hazard and we will be happy to get rid of all the pine cones it drops. The tree in the front yard needs to come out in preparation for a remodel we have in mind down the road. The roots from that tree have totally destroyed our driveway and we are wanting to get it redone within the next few years.

The Outlet Collection!

A couple weekends ago my Mom and SIL Steph went to The Outlet Collection formerly The Supermall in Auburn. Ga-Ga took a picture of the new playarea and showed it to the kids. Owen was sure that we HAD to go there to check it out. So the Saturday we headed down to see all the changes.  

The playarea has been nicely redone. The space needle is the main focal point! It's usefulness is lacking though....the only thing you can do with it is crawl under it. Some of the older kids were trying to climb up to the top, but with socks on it's almost impossible. 

This was Zeke's first time at the playarea since he's been walking. It was busy and he was too sure about all the other kids. 

The first thing Owen did was conquer the new Mt. Rainier. 

Jack enjoying the view from the top! 

I finally found something that Zeke loved...this little whale slide. 

It was just his size so not many of the other kids wanted to play on it....double bonus! 

With my help the boys were able to make it to the top of the evergreen tree. 

Ella spent most of her time on this one truck slide...her and another girl were kind of trying to figure out who was top dog so she spent most of the time making grumpy face! Girls!!! 

I did distract her enough to get her to play under the space needle for a bit. 

Top of the tree! 

Hanging on for dear life! 

When we said it was time to go to the mall, Owen thought ahead and told the other kids to bring some money. He's always wanting to ride these toys, but we won't pay for them. So each of the kids brought a dollar in quarters. 

Each toy cost .75 to ride once.....RIP OFF! 

It was a good teachable moment where we got to talk to the kids about the value of money and what is worth spending our money on. 

The space ship was moving around hence the blurry photo! 

Doing his squinty flash face again!

After riding on the toys we walked around the mall....it now has a cut through so you don't have to walk all the way around the mall to get to the other stores. There are also lots of new stores and the food court has moved. It was a fun outing on a rainy day! 

On a funny note...when we first got there and got out of the van Owen said, "I'm gonna look on the floor for money!" Just then I spotted a penny and then we found a few more coins. Later on the way out to the van I looked down this little service driveway and right there on the ground was at least 20 coins. It was crazy! 

Bye Bye Crib...Hello Fire Truck!

A couple weeks back I noticed that Zeke was starting to reach for doorknobs. This is when we always move our kids out of their cribs. The last thing I want his a kid in toddler bed when they can open doors! 

Back at the Mill Creek Garage Sales in May Ga-Ga bought this super cool firetruck bed for Zeke. We've been storing it in the basement so Michael had to bring it up. It was a tight fit to say the least! 

After adjusting the position he was able to fit it into the room. 

I had already taken the crib down so it fit right into the same spot! 

It's SO cute!!! 

Introducing Zeke to his new bed! 

He knew just what to do! 

Pretty cool huh!!! 

Even though it's blurry it's too sweet. He immediately laid down and started sucking his thumb! 

Then it was time to check it out and of course try to climb all over it! 

Since we are not crazy we did add the side rail to keep him somewhat contained. He can still climb out, but it's a nice deterrent. 

   

All tucked in and ready for bed! 

Big Shoes...Boots To Fill!

Jack is my boot lovin' boy, but it looks like we might have another boot lover in the family! 

This is his squinty face he gives me because the flash on my phone is so bright! 

It's kind of fitting that he's wearing his Woody pajamas! 

These are BIG BOOTS to fill!