Patient of the Year

I haven't really blogged about how much Elliot has been sick in his little life. Between colds, croup, gastro, and rashes, it seems like he always has something. This year he's been diagnosed with asthma and learned to use an inhaler (thanks to a fancy spacer with a little whistle and toy that spins when he gets it right). And for the last couple of months, Elliot has been on antibiotics pretty much the whole time. First, it was a persistent ear infection that would just not clear up and has led to a referral to an ENT for tubes/grommets in his ear. (We've got our fingers crossed that the doc says they're not necessary now that the ear infection has finally cleared up.) And now he's had this horrible chest infection for weeks which has now been diagnosed as pneumonia! Can he just catch a break already??

But this post isn't just about how sick Elliot's been. Nope, it's about what a gallant and hilarious little patient he is. As you can imagine, the folks at the doctor's office know us quite well by now. And Elliot is also pretty familiar with the place. As soon as we walk in, he scans the room for potential playmates and beelines for the toys. After a few minutes with the standard toys, he kindly brings me a magazine and requests his rice puffs (which I've learned to always bring to the doctor's in order to appease him if the wait gets long and he gets restless).

Once Dr. Keji (a wonderful six-foot Nigerian woman) calls his name, Elliot drops everything and takes off after her. He strolls into her office and climbs up on the chair next to her desk and lifts up his shirt so she can listen to his chest (whether she wants to or not). Once she's listened to his chest and back, he says 'ears' and turns his head so that she can check his ears (whether she wants to or not). With ears taken care of, Elliot turns and looks at Dr. Keji and says 'aaaah' (again whether she wants to check his throat or not). At this point, Dr. Keji is usually cracking up and Elliot has hopped off the chair and onto the scales. And once all the medical business is taken care of, Elliot cheekily opens up the sticker drawer and waits for his reward for being such a great patient. Finally, he heads for the door, saying 'bye' (whether we're ready to go or not!)

Would you look at the state of our house!

 

 

 

Diggers are serious business!

Fancy a dip in our pool?

 

 

I think that Elliot would be quite happy if the pool stayed just like this!

Our favourite footballer

A couple of weeks ago, our football fanatic neighbour Blake celebrated his birthday and asked his friends to dress up like their favourite footie player. Since Elliot doesn't have a favourite yet, we decided to dress him up as Australia's most notorious football player, Ben Cousins. We thought the fake tattoo and bruises and scrapes on Elliot's face (from a stumble on the sidewalk) were appropriate, but decided against sprinkling white powder under his nose (Ben struggles with a serious cocaine addiction).

Elliot had a blast running after the older boys. Sometimes I think that he doesn't have the faintest idea that he's just a little guy still.

Carwash!

 

 

 

Daddy's Day in Australia

Today was Daddy's Day in Australia and we had such a great day. Mommy and Daddy and I went to King's Park to the Wildflower Festival, and we danced to the live music and followed around the towering flower fairies and admired the flowers and splashed in a stream and played with bubbles and ate hot dogs and sushi and churros and chocolate. I like helping Mommy and Daddy around the house, but it was about time that we got out and did something fun! ~ Elliot

 

 

 

Nacho's got bandaids

A couple of weeks ago, Nacho got his dew claw caught on something and it got twisted and nearly ripped clean off, and he was bleeding and everything! I rushed him to the vet, and we were both in quite a state. Why is it that I panic more when Nacho's not well than anyone else? That's really not right, I know.

Anyhoo, turns out that Nacho really panicked after I left and got his other dew claw caught on the muzzle (Nacho hates the vet!!!) and messed up the other one.

Poor little guy hobbled around the house for four days getting lots of sympathy from everyone except Elliot who just couldn't understand why his best friend didn't feel like playing.

Election day!

Who knew that Elliot's first trip to the polls would be so momentous. In case you were wondering, it's been over two weeks, and we still don't have a prime minister. Bit reminiscent of another election controversy not so long ago in the States.

The boys out for a walk

How cute are my boys?

 

Mr. Independent

Sweet Pea's first photo!

Guess what? We're having another one!

 

Baby #2 should be arriving in early March and we couldn't be happier.

We decided to do all the early tests this time around (now that we know how hard it can be chasing after a little one who doesn't have special needs!) and we're happy to report that everything looks really good.

 

In fact, I'm pretty optimistic that everything about this baby is going to be pretty good. He'll come into the world, and I'll feel hardly a pinch. He'll sleep like a dream, take to breast-feeding like a natural, and be the most laid-back, cruisey little baby that you ever did see.

 

Hmm, you might be wondering why I'm referring to this tiny little thing as a boy. Well, you see we decided to find out the sex of the baby this time. Little did we know that somebody's little willie would be so obvious so early on in the game. And yes, there's still a chance that that little willie has been misdiagnosed, but I think it's best if I start preparing myself now for a lot of years living in a house full of boys!

Did you know . . .

. . . that Mommy and I have long conversations the whole way home from daycare in our special blah blah blah language that only she and I know how to do? I think it's really fun because in the end Mommy always starts giggling so hard that she can't stop. Of course I giggle too. It's so funny!

. . . that Mommy and Daddy decided to make a list of all my words and animal sounds and I knocked their socks off when they realized that I know more than 70? I'm even starting to put them together now. Last weekend at Blake's birthday party, I was quite a hit when I brought my plate up to Sam and said 'more cake'. It worked so well, I tried it a second time!

. . . that I'm a really great helper? I help with the dusting and the laundry and picking up toys (sometimes). Now that Daddy has been so busy with the house project, I've started helping with that too. I've helped move bricks (although I can only carry the half ones) and load up the trailer to go to the dump and I even tried to saw a piece of PVC pipe after I watched Daddy do it. And last weekend, Mommy let me help her wash the car. I really liked splashing the big sponge into the bucket full of soapy water and squeezing it all over my tummy.

. . . that 'mo bapple piss' is not an icky thing like you might have thought? Nope it's just me asking for some more apple please and it cracks Mommy up everytime.

. . . that I have a very elaborate wake-up routine that must happen every time that I get up from my crib where I have to say hello to the elephant, giraffe and lion paintings on the wall, and then I have to pat my piggy bank and my elephant and lion toys and my monkey backpack and finally I have to point at the photo of the mommy giraffe kissing the baby giraffe until Mommy gives me a kiss on my forehead just like the mommy giraffe?

. . . that I'm going to be a big brother soon? Mommy and Daddy have been trying hard to keep it a secret, but I can't stand it anymore. My little brother or sister is going to join the family at the beginning of March and I can't wait to meet her or him! ~ Elliot