Puzzles

I have always enjoyed doing word puzzles and now I never get stuck. I just ask Boston and he helps me out.

Snowmobile

Finally we had enough snow for Spencer to ride the snowmobile (snowmybile if your Boston). Too bad it was so freezing cold he only wanted to ride for a few minutes. We got Boston all bundled up (almost so much that he could not see) and he went for a short ride. We thought he would hate it because it is so loud but he loved it. Guess we'll have to keep it.

Making Cookies

Boston loves the mixer. He asks if we can "do mixing" everyday. So we made cookies one night. He loved to pour the ingredients in and watch the mixer go round and round. He also loved eating the cookies and now asks to not only "do mixing" but also "make cookies"!

A Beautiful Day

No fog. No smog. No wind. Just lots of warm sunshine. So we took the "mogocycle" for a spin and played at the park. The sunshine felt so good!

Happy Birthday Spencer!

Friday was Spencer's birthday. I didn't make a cake because we had just come back from SLC and I didn't have time. Luckily the hotel had one for him so he brought some home and we put a couple vanilla scented tea lights in it and Boston blew out the candles.

Great Grandpa and Grandma

Since we were near we stopped in for a quick visit to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Heslop. Boston loves to play with Great Grandma's walker. It is always fun to see my grandparents. When it was time to go I gave my grandma a hug and Boston came over to give a hug too.

Cardiology

We made a quick trip to SLC for a cardiology check up on Boston. First thing was an IV for sedation. One nurse held his legs, another his arm, I held his head and tried to comfort him while the other nurse put the needle in his hand and secured it.

Then they did a echo cardiogram, which is like an ultrasound done on the heart. He was sedated (it is common for them to have their eyes open during sedation) for this procedure because it takes about 30 minutes and you have to be very still. It was very interesting to watch, you could see the arteries, and valves etc. They were looking particularly at his bicuspid valve(two leaflets rather than three) and where they repaired his coarctation(narrowing of the artery). They also did an EKG and took his blood pressure in both arms and legs while he was sedated.

Next they wheeled him upstairs to a recovery room. He watched cartoons and drank juice for an hour to make sure he came out of the sedation okay.

Then it was back downstairs for 2 chest x-rays. He sat on a stool while two nurses held him so that they could get him in the right place. In one x-ray they had to have a side shot with his arms above his head. The machine kept malfunctioning so it took 5 tries to get the picture they needed. He cried through the whole thing. Then back to cardiology to wait for the Dr. We didn't wait too long before the physicians assistant came in and listened to his heart and asked s questions about shortness of breath, activity level etc. The Dr was next with good news. Everything looks great. The place where they repaired the coarctation is growing (there is a 10% chance that it will coarct (narrow) again) and his valve has not started to collapse as is likely with a bicuspid valve. Our next appointment is in 2 years. Hooray!

a bathtub photo

I knew Boston headed down the hall and I knew that the only room he should be able to get into was his bedroom. Sometimes I let him play for a few minutes in his room before going to redirect him to a better place to play rather than chasing him out every 2 minutes. I thought I could hear him yelling "SCORE" but couldn't figure out where he could be playing basketball. I decided it was time to investigate and found the bathroom door open and there was Boston fully clothed in the dark in the bathtub playing his "bathketball". What a silly boy! Later that night he was asking for a bath so we went in to turn on the water and he got all upset. It took me the longest time to figure out that he didn't want a water bath. He wanted to just play with the bathtub toys. Time after time we have found him in there in the dark playing bathketball. Now the door is locked so that there will be no slips and no further investigating when he gets bored of bathketball.

I haven't learned my lesson yet!

I forget how tall Boston is getting and leave opened boxes on the edge of the counter OR I forget about him climbing up on the table to get things and I leave opened boxes or bags of food where he can now get to them. This day we had gotten up and had some breakfast and then gone to wake Spencer up. I laid down on the bed to close my eyes again and he ran out of our room. I could here him playing and then it got too quiet. I came out just in time to see ...

Ice Fishing

Spencer and Augus (a foreign exchange worker for Indonesia) went ice fishing on Flaming Gorge on Monday. Spencer says they had a great time but I've been ice fishing before so I know it wasn't most people's idea of a great time. They caught 3 trout and 1 Ling. This is a picture of Augus with the Ling.

One thing we really enjoy about being in WY is getting to know the people who come to work here from all over the world. They have been very nice to us.

The Terrible Twos Already?

He has only been 2 for 6 days but today I know for sure that he is two. His favorite phrases are "stop it" "don't" and "NO". He is on purpose throwing things at me and when I tell him that it hurts he laughs. He ripped a dust jacket off a book and then tore it to pieces while I was out of the room for a second. He dumped a container of ground cloves all over himself and the pantry. While I was cleaning that up (and sneezing) he ran off with a roll of paper towels. I didn't think he do much harm with them but he unrolled them all over the living room. Weaving them in and out of the furniture. He has figured out how to open doors. I have been dreading this day so I was prepared, with 3 childproof doorknob covers. We have 5 doors that need covers. So I am constantly taking one off a door and moving it to the door he is currently obsessed with only to turn around and move it again. (Why do we live 30 minutes from the store?) Today I feel I have done more disciplining and cleaning up than anything else. Please tell me this phase doesn't last ALL year!

Got Milk?

Shortly before Christmas we discovered that Boston is no longer intolerant to milk. Yeah! He can now have pizza with cheese. It has been so nice to not have to worry if something has milk in it or want to make lasagna for dinner but not be able to because of the cheese. We are still staying away from rice and peanuts and will probably continue to for the next 8-9 months. Hopefully then he will not have any diet restrictions.

Boston is 2!

We celebrated Boston's birthday on the first because Spencer was working on his real birthday. We started the morning off with some birthday pancakes.

In the afternoon we went to Vanessa's and played Rock Band and had pizza.
Then everyone (grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins) came to my parents house for cake and ice cream and presents. We had a great time.

Christmas

Christmas morning Boston found a "mogocycle" tricycle and fishing pole from Santa. He hopped right on the tricycle and tried to drive around but he doesn't have the alternating pedal push action down yet. So we pushed him around until we were too tired. He loved opening his gifts and wanted to play with each of them before opening the next. We had a little breakfast and packed up the truck. We were hoping the weather men would be off a little and we would make it to SLC before the storm. The trip went very well. There were a few miles of slick spots and snow covered roads but we made it just fine. We headed to Spencer's house first and opened gifts, played with cousins and enjoyed dinner. Boston really loves his tiger from Mari and Lily.

Then we went to my house and opened a few more gifts and settled down for the night. It was a great Christmas and we were so happy to be able to be with our families.