1. Halloween! We dug out costumes that I purchased last year but didn't use. Nolan was Thor and Beck was the Dark Avenger. They loved it, gorged on candy and stayed up too late. They had apocalyptic-style meltdowns the next morning because I forced them to take showers (GASP) and put on clean jammies (DOUBLE GASP) (it was pajama day at school). We all survived.
 |
| Superhero Power! |
2. Beck turned FIVE! Really?!? Really. He and Nolan have recently switched personalities, and Beck has been acting uncharacteristically aggressive, whiny, and tantrummy lately. I blame not getting enough sleep and/or artificial dyes (which I'm discovering are everywhere...even marshmallows, which are white, ya know?). Hopefully, it's just a phase. He's still kind, loving, smart, and funny most of the time. But, he has his moments. Five is big, though. Kindergarten next year. Whoa.
 |
| Still can't get a good picture of the kid. |
3. We went to Cabo! John and Tracey had a room rented, but were unable to use it because of John's treatment. (here's a link if you want to follow his progress - http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnwhisenand - and please keep him in your thoughts and prayers) They very generously offered to let us use it for a week. We thought a week would be a little too long for a beach vacation with the kids, so we went from Monday-Saturday. Again, there were some apocalyptic-style meltdowns (understandably...what kid wants to leave the pool or beach to eat? Or worse, take a nap?). Beck pretty much refused to eat anything while we were there and survived on virgin pina coladas and an occasional pb&j sandwich in our room, and Nolan woke up with an unexplained rash on his face in the middle of the trip (see below). Despite all of that, it was an awesome trip. I think "vacationing" with kids is like childbirth in that you only remember the fun stuff and forget about the challenges pretty quickly. Beck LOVED the beach. Loved it. He would have played in the ocean all day. Nolan LOVED the pool. We got him this little floaty deal from Amazon and it was perfect. He could totally swim independently (we stayed within arm's reach, though). We will definitely try to do another beach vacation with the kids.
 |
| Paul said this was the most relaxed he had been all week. |
4. Impetigo! That rash Nolan woke up with during our vacation? Impetigo. I suspected that's what it was after a little googling and bought a $40.00 tube of neosporin from the hotel gift shop. It seemed to be spreading so I took him to urgent care immediately upon our return. The doctor gave me the choice of continuing to apply neosporin or giving him an oral antibiotic. I took the prescription, but didn't fill it and waited to see what happened overnight. It didn't look any better in the morning, so we started the antibiotics and it cleared up within a couple days. The internet says it's a very common childhood illness, especially in day care settings, but Nolan's teacher had never heard of it. I guess we can call it an exotic mexican rash.
 |
| Exotic! Mexican! Rash! |
So, that's it. The holidays are around the corner. We have completely overscheduled ourselves with work holiday parties, travel plans, ski weekends, and ski lessons, so the next few months should be CRAZY. Godspeed.
