A Trip for Two

Could I be any worse at blogging lately? It's not that we aren't doing anything, I'm just not in the mood to document it. Very unlike me. Maybe if it would stop snowing I'd get a little more excited to pull out my camera.

Last weekend Hardy and I took out first vacation without Jack and went to Las Vegas. Hardy kept asking me (before we left) if I was going to cry when we left the little fella. I wondered that myself until we dropped him off at Grandma's and I sprinteed to the car and was totally fine the rest of the trip. It was so nice to go out at night and eat my dinner all by myself and while it was still warm. We stayed out late each night and slept in each morning. Hardy golfed, I went to the spa, and we held hands everywhere we went. We saw "Blue Man Group" and "Jersey Boys" and I read a good long book. We went on the roller coaster in Primm and got $20.00 Lucky jeans at the outlets. It was great on all accounts.

The only bad part is that Jack is now getting back at me for leaving and will not leave my side. He wails if I walk into another room and close the door. He's even been waking up at night and refuses to go back to sleep unless he's snuggled happily between Hardy and I. And while I enjoy snuggling with my little man, it's really hard to sleep, plus his diaper leaked the other night and he totally wet our bed so I spent all day yesterday laundering bedding. Stinker.

But I must admit that I did miss him and I'm glad to be home. Vegas is a weird town. Fun for a few days, but not reality. I'll take my quiet little life in South Jordan with Jack and Hardy over the bling of Vegas any day.

Idaho Falls Fun

Lat weekend Hardy was away so my mom, Jack and I drove to Idaho Falls to visit my sister Erin. We hardly did anything at all but had a fabulous time.

Jack and his cousin Alex (who is just a couple of months older) had the best time together.

Bathing is so much fun with buddies.

Funny story on the way to Idaho. About halfway there Jack started grunting and pushing and I knew we'd need a stop in the near future to change his diaper. We stopped in Malad, but when I changed him he was clean. So again, just outside of Pocatello he starts pushing and grunting and working very hard, but nothing is happening. Soon he's crying and clearly suffering so I pulled over in Pocatello and got him out of the car. He laid his tear stained cheeks on my shoulder and said "stuck!" Oh dear, yes it is. Darn poop. I let him walk around in the parking lot for a few minutes and finally he managed to get "unstuck" and after a change we were on our way. Kind of gross, I know, but I thought it was prety funny.

A New "Do" and a "Choo Choo"

My baby turned 19 months old today. He's hardly even a baby anymore. Nope. Just a crazy, funny, naughty little boy. Here are just a few things he's up to lately:

1. His vocabulary has exploded in the last month or two. He can give you nearly every animal sound and is starting to name all the animals now too. When he sits down to work on a project he says "all wight" (all right), and when you're leaving he gives a big wave, blows kisses and says "See ya!" He loves to go "side" (outside) and go down the "wee" (the slide). He knows that beverages come in three forms: milk, water, and "Coke." He loves to play with the "mote" (remote) and the "phone" and climb on "shairs" (chairs). He will repeat just about anything except Grandma and Grandpa. He absolutely refuses even though I keep trying to tell him those are the most important people to suck up to. He cracks me up every day with some new word he's picked up. I just love getting a tiny glimpse into his silly little head.

2. His favorite shows are "Manny" (Handy Manny) and "Hot dog" (Mickey Mouse Club House) and each morning as soon as he wakes up he emphatically requests a "show" meaning one of these two.

3. He LOVES Elmo, Cookie Monster and Zoe from his Sesame Street books. For Valentine's Day I got him a new sippy cup with these 3 characters on it and he could hardly drink he was so excited.

4. His favorite activities are turning light switches on and off, prank calling people from my cell phone, plugging in and unplugging anything in an outlet, and banging on the computer. As a result he is usually banned from from almost every room in the house at some point during the day.

5. He is an excellent helper and loves to pull out the broom and sweep the kitchen or help dig in the garden. I even had to buy him his own gardening tools so he would stop stealing mine. He also loves to stand on the stool in the kictchen and watch/help me cook.

Yesterday Jack his first real haircut. He hated it and sobbed the whole time. Poor Erica (my next door neighbor) cut as fast as she could and offered to stop because he was so upset, but I told her to carry on and eventually got him to help me with the animal sounds for Old McDonald, giving a "woof, woof" here through his tears.

But the end result turned out very handsome. I think he looks so grown up.

Then today, fabulous Erica who cut Jack's hair called and said they were cleaning out their basement of things her boys are no longer using and would we like a train table for Jack? Umm...Heck ya! He was in heaven when he got up from his nap.

Then he found the screwdriver I used to tighten up a few screws and had even more fun pretending he was Handy Manny!

What a good day.

Multi-tasking

Sucking on his binky while brushing his teeth. Good skills Jack.

My Gym Fitness

This afternoon Jack and I had the fun opportunity to go to My Gym in Sandy with Hopekids, an amazing group we are part of that supports families of kids with chronic and life threatening conditions. They do fun activities all the time but until now Jack has really been too young to enjoy most of their events. Not today. This was perfect and he was in heaven!

He jumped, ran, crawled, walked up, walked down, balanced, shot some hoops, made a darling little girl grin from ear to ear (two if you include me), explored, danced, tossed, created, and gave himself a big smooch every time he passed the mirror. It was great fun.

Does this kid think he's cool or what? Thanks Hopekids.

CHD Awareness Week

This is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week!

I think last year for CHD week I shared lots of scary facts and figures about CHD's and how it is the #1 birth defect in America with not enough funding, etc. That's all still true, but this year my CHD message is to encourage everyone to love like you only have half a heart. You see, when you only have half a heart (or love someone with only half a heart) you know that time is precious and the people around you are incredibly important. You pray often, and never miss an opportunity to say "I love you." You are better able to mourn with those that mourn, and celebrate seemingly small, miraculous victories. Your patience is increased and forgiveness comes more easily. And all because you have been blessed with a little insight from heaven that life is fleeting and special and not to be taken for granted.

Jack and his little half heart have blessed my life in so many ways and taught me so many lessons I can no longer count (though Jack would probably tell you "six").

Today was Jack's 18 month check up (and RSV shots). His head is still huge (95%), he still tall (32.5 inches, 75%) and he's finally starting to put on some pounds (23 lbs 6 oz, 20% - up from 15% where he's hovered the past few visits). He was very, very sad, but also very brave and earned a sucked for the ride home. Good job big guy.

Six

Brilliant! He gets it right every time. Now we just need to work on one through five.

You know you're from Utah...

...When 40 degree weather makes you want to head to the zoo...

...and break out the swing set again.

Oh Spring. We know you are getting closer but we really wish you would hurry a little faster.

A Happy Heart

Jack's had his cardiology check up this morning. Because of his RSV shots every 28 days mixed in with all his flu shots and boosters and other pricks lately, he was not too happy once he discovered we were at a doctors office even though I tried to reassure him there would be no "owies." He screamed in terror and clung to either Hardy or I as they tried to get his measurements and blood pressure. The nurse finally had to leave the room so we could calm him down and we got his leg pressures, but as soon as we pushed the button for his arm blood pressure he started screaming and we couldn't get a good read.

Dr. Puchalski said Jack is doing fabulously and we should feel very lucky, which we do. He is huge (23 lbs) for a heart kid and sounds great. His sats were around 80 while we were there, but that was also when he was screaming his head off and not breathing very well. I think he's normally closer to 83. Dr. P said 80 is pretty good though and not to worry. We don't have to go back for 6 more months.

We did inquire about when he thinks Jack might have his next surgery, the Fontan. Based on how well Jack is growing, he anticipates within 18 months, so probably next summer before he turns 3. That could easily change but at least gives us an idea of what to prepare for.

We are huge fans of the new Riverton Primary Children's Outpatient Clinic. We were practically the only ones there. No sick kids every where. No waiting. Jack didn't even get to play with any of the cool waiting room toys. Dr. P stayed and chatted since he wasn't too busy. And it's like 5 minutes from our house. LOVE IT! As a bonus we even ran into our heart buddy Gracie Gourley in the lobby area. She is so darling. Fun seeing you Deanna.

Jack is growing and learning so much lately. Each day he picks up on something new. Today he and I went to Barnes and Noble which he thinks is the most fun thing ever. He ran around the kid section excitedly finding "Emo" (Elmo) books. Plus they have chairs and benches just his size that he likes to climb all over. And every kid in the store was his new best friend. He's also fascinated with shoes and loves to wear them all the time. And he's not picky if they are his own shoes or mine as seen pictured above. His other big thing lately is that he likes to request a "show" as he hands us the remote. He even says "peas" (please) so sweetly that it's hard to say no, even if I am sick of Handy Manny for the day.

What a sweetheart. We just love him more every day.

One Year Ago Today

A year ago Jack had his second open heart surgery, the Glenn. We got to the hospital early that morning to spend time with Jack and so Dr. Kaza could answer a few last minute questions. A few hours later he looked like this.

How far we have come since then.

"No, no Jack"

I know. I'm behind. We just have nothing too exciting to report lately from the Hardy household.

Jack had his RSV shot on Thursday, then had to go get his flu and H1N1 booster shots on Saturday, so we really hate the doctors office right now. But he's a trooper and forgives quickly. Especially when I bring a few M&M's to help ease the pain. We also went to "Rhyme Time" for kids 2 and under at our local library after his RSV shot and he thought that was pretty fun, even if he spent most of the time running around rather than participating. Oh well. We'll work on that.

Waiting patiently in the doctor's office.

He's also very busy and in to trouble all of the time these days. Lately he has heard it so often that he has started telling me "No, no Jack" before he does something naughty - like eat playdoh, or stick things in an outlet, or climb in the dishwasher for example.

Jack has his next cardiology visit next week and we are excited to be able to go to the new Riverton Hospital with its Primary Children's Outpatient Center which is just minutes from our home rather than have to trek up to PCMC. He seems to be doing really well so I'm not too worried.

Oh, before I forget, I better share his latest trick that I was quite proud of. Jack loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The other day Hardy sang part of the theme song to Jack and he jumped down, ran into his room and grabbed the stuffed Mickey Mouse we got him at Disneyland. I didn't know he had made that connection between the two, but I guess he did. Before that he was completely indifferent to the toy, but now he LOVES it and gives Mickey hugs and kisses. What a smart boy.

Happy New Year!

Jack had a marvelous Christmas. He loved unwrapping his presents and spending lots of time with family and friends. After a nice but fairly quiet Christmas Day, we went with my family to my parents cabin in Heber for the weekend. 21 people, 1 bathroom, 800 sq feet. Hardy was terrified, but somehow it manages to work out and we all had a delightful time. Even Hardy.

Jack got to try out his new sled that he got for Christmas and had a pretty good time in the snow.

His lips turned rather blue the first few hours we were up there, but after that he acclimated to the elevation and seemed to do just fine. He was just one of the gang with all his crazy cousins running around and learned a few new tricks (like how to turn the knob to try to open a door). It was lots of fun.

Back at home, he and his cousins tried out his new car ball pit. He loves throwing the balls all over the place and pretending to drive the car...

...and thought Rachel's hair did some pretty funny tricks while she was playing.

On Monday we went with Hardy's family to Hollywood Connection, a place with rides, games, mini golf, roller skating, laser tag, etc. Jack was hypnotized by the blinking lights on the carosel so I decided to take him on a ride. Oh boy, did he have fun. Every time we passed daddy he would wave and call out to him with a big cheesy grin. I think we rode it 10 times. There was also a little bus ride that goes up and around and he thought he was pretty darn cool on that thing. It gave my stomach butterflies so I started to worry about what it might do to his little heart, but he LOVED it...so I took him again. We'll have to see what Dr. P says about that at our next cardiology visit.

Jack is just the sweetest, happiest, funniest little guy. I know I am biased, but I so adore him. He makes me laugh all day long.

- He talks all the time. It's usually just gibberish, but he is very serious about it and definitely knows exactly what he's saying. He thinks everything is a cell phone and holds it up to his ears and says "okay" a lot while chatting.

- He currently calls me by my first name. Yes, my 1 year old refers to me as Aimee. How he picked that up, I have no idea. It's kind of funny, but I would sure prefer a simple "mommy."

- He loves to do the actions to the song "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree" and requests it by saying "Popcorn" and doing the popping action with his hands. He also loves to do the Choo Choo song with actions and gets so excited that sometimes he forgets to wait until the very end to blow the whistle and waves his arms and says "woo woo" through much of the 2nd verse.

- He is in a major book phase and loves the new book I made him for Christmas. It's a church quiet book(which he skips), but I made the 2nd half a family ABC book with lots of photos of Jack and all his relatives. He loves to point at all the familiar faces and gets very excited.

- He gives the biggest, cheesiest smiles all the time. Especially when he know he's done something a little naughty, like tonight when dad caught him pulling half a roll of toilet paper into the toilet and was dripping wet. He thought he was pretty clever and was clearly worried about the repurcusions from his strict father. (ha! - see below)

I just can't believe how much he grows and learns every day. I feel ever so grateful for the miracle that he is and we pray for a another happy, healthy, wonderful year.