Happy 4th birthday Rosco

Dear Aidan,

It's our dear dog, Rosco's 4th birthday today. Before you he was the prince of the house. Just remember that...

Picture day photos!

Dear Aidan,

Remember how I mentioned that your picture day was on Tuesday? Well, we got the proofs of it on Thursday, but I didn't get a chance to show the proofs until today. Aren't you the handsome little fellow? It came out better than I expected! I want to order 100 prints of each! You are such a handsome little boy and I'm so proud that you were such a good sport even though you were so sick that day.

Here you are sporting your newsboy cap. I love the bottom one especially.

Daddy likes the top one, but I like the bottom one.

Pain, pain, go away. Come again another day...

Dear Aidan,

You were coughing so much last night that mommy couldn't sleep. I was worried sick about you and even did some late-night research online. I thought that you had come down with whooping cough because all the symptoms pointed to that. You started with cold-like symptoms- runny nose, sneezing and then it turned into a fever and now to coughing. Those were the exact symptoms that were listed under whooping cough. I was tossing and turning all night because I knew I had to take you to the doctors. However, since it's the busiest time at work for mommy it was very difficult to coordinate everything so that I could still take you to the doctors, but without causing any inconveniences at work. You know, it's hard being a parent. I always wonder how single parents do it. Since daddy worked from home yesterday to look after you I decided to take you this morning so that he didn't miss too much work.

The doctor was able to squeeze you in for an appointment during her lunch break (thank God!) so I let you sleep in a little. However, since today was picture day at your daycare I found out a way for them to take your picture earlier since we had to go to your appointment later. Luckily you weren't cranky so everything went well. I can't wait to see how the photos turned out! I got the photographer to take one photo of you with you newsboy cap that we bought you last week and one without.

Afterwards I took you to the library that was in the same building as your doctors so that we could read some books together. You really enjoyed the library last time we went. However, you weren't so well-behaved this time. You started grabbing all the books from the shelves and started throwing them on the ground. I was not impressed. It didn't help that there was a table of the best well-behaved Korean kids that I've ever seen. They were like mini Einstein's.

By the time your appointment time came around you were exhausted and super cranky. The doctor heard your lungs through her stethoscope and she said everything was fine. The only thing that wasn't fine were your ears. Apparently your ear infection wasn't totally healed. She suggested I go back on the amoxicillin that she had you in last time. Oh brother... I'm just glad that it's nothing more serious. Tomorrow we will put you back in daycare. Hopefully you will be ok. Auntie Sara said she has a day off on Thursday if we need her to babysit you. We shall see...

Below are the photos I took of you after we came home from your picture day photo shoot at daycare. I put my Kate Spade back around you like a messenger bag and you immediately went to the mirror to check yourself out. What a little girl!

Moo Ooh Gook for the soul

Dear Aidan,

I'm really starting to worry about you. You don't seem to be getting better... Daddy stayed home today to watch you to make sure your fever didn't come back. Although you didn't have a fever your cough is pretty bad now and your nose is very stuffed up.

Although mommy is in her busy time at work I made you moo ooh gook (radish and beef soup) so that you can have it tomorrow. I cut all the ingredients into bite-sized pieces so that it's easier for you to eat. I'm hoping your appetite will come back. So far you haven't eaten much...

I got a whole bunch of Korean recipes online that I want to make for you. I think I'm going to be making mandoo dduk gook (dumpling and rice cake soup) next.

Terrible day

Dear Aidan,

Your fever came back again today. You woke up crying at 7am to both mommy and daddy's dismay. When I went to check up on you I found you drenched in sweat and burning hot. I gave you acetominophen (infant Tylenol) and that brought your fever down, but you were very needy and cranky the whole day. Usually when I give you medicine and your fever goes down you are back to your normal self, but today you weren't. You refused to eat any kinds of food- even Homo milk! Both daddy and I were worried sick because you weren't eating much. It was just exhausting because mommy had to finish her income tax form to send to our accountant, but I couldn't leave your side. Daddy was saying how kids seek their mother's touch when they are sick and it's so true!

Around noon when I tried to put you down for a nap you woke up crying 30 minutes later drenched in sweat again. However, this time around you had cold sweat. We were worried to the point that I called Telehealth Ontario again. But because there was a waiting list for the next available nurse they said they would call me back in an hour and a half. I realized that health is so important. Even with lots of money if you don't have good health it doesn't mean anything. Also, knowing our friends who had to go through hardship because their child had health problems is just heartbreaking.

I ended up putting you down for a nap again around 3:30pm. By that time you were delirious and exhausted. I had to lie down next to your crib so that you wouldn't freak out.

The nurse called me back around 5pm and she asked me a lot of scary questions like:

"Is your baby turning blue?"

"Is he coughing up blood?"

"Can he move his arms and legs"

She even asked me to wake you up from your nap so that she could check to see that you were responsive. That was pretty scary. Luckily I think I did everything I was supposed to do. She just suggested you get a teaspoon of honey for your cough and advised I see your doctor in the next 24 hours. I'm hoping that you will wake up revived and back to your normal self. If not, we will have to take you to the doctor.

Even though you were pretty sick during the day I got you to do several activities with me, such as drawing with crayons on paper.

You were more interested in putting the crayons in and out of the box, but you did scribble a few scribbles on the paper. You even dropped a drop of your spit on the paper.

Look at you hard at work.

You were wearing your new lion PJ set that mommy bought you on Friday. I absolutely love these PJ sets from Old Navy and Gap. They are amazing. I drew a caricature of the lion on the white paper.

Oh no, you just woke up crying. I better go check on you. I think your fever has returned. Sigh.

Isaiah's 1 year birthday party

Dear Aidan,

Mommy and daddy are pooped! We were invited to our friend's son, Isaiah's 1 year birthday party today. You usually nap in the afternoon now so we thought since the party started at 11am it would give us plenty of time to enjoy ourselves before you started getting cranky. I was wrong! You caught another cold so you haven't been sleeping much. You woke up pretty early today and by the time we got to the party you were a little delirious. I tried feeding you the food that they served, but you made a complete mess. It also didn't help that the party had 10,000 kids. It was pure chaos. I'm so glad I don't have to do a 1 year birthday party any time soon. Daddy and I were talking in the car today and he said that for our 2nd child we would just do an intimate party. He said we already had one for you so he didn't think we needed to do it for our 2nd child. However, to make up for it he said he would spoil them silly. Let's see, shall we?

I thought I would include a couple of pics of Rosco wearing your diapers. I found a whole stash of size 3 diapers in the car that I kept there as an emergency stash. You are now wearing size 4's so we had no need for it. Daddy thought it would be funny to put Rosco in the diapers since he poops everywhere! Rosco wasn't very happy. He wouldn't move while wearing the diapers.

TGIF!

Dear Aidan,

Boy, am I glad it's Friday. I feel like I didn't get much sleep this week. That's because I didn't. You've been having fevers on and off this week and that's been affecting your sleep. You woke up drenched in sweat and I had to give you infant Tylenol and some milk to cool you off every night. I think today is the first day you'll be ok? We'll see.

Even though you weren't feeling your best at night, you've been pretty good during the day/early evening. We were even able to go to the mall today after mommy finished work. I bought you snow pants and another PJ set- I swear those are God sends! Daddy went to the mall with you first and met me there. While he was waiting for me he bought these really neat shades for you. The funny thing is when I met up with daddy we happened to be browsing through Mexx Kids and I pointed out boy sunglasses to him. I swear, great minds think alike...

Best dressed list

Dear Aidan,

I know I say this again and again, but what a lucky boy you are!

Daddy and I happened to be eating at a restaurant beside a baby store and after we ate we stopped by to check it out. We ended up leaving with a few things for you. Because it was more of a high-end boutique we were able to find really cute stuff that we hadn't seen anywhere. Let's just say you will probably be one of the best dressed boys we know...

Mommy fell in LOVE with this fedora. It's by Goorin Brothers. Mommy has 2 fedoras so I would occasionally put my hat over your head. You loved it. So when I found this one for you I knew you would enjoy it. You've been wearing it all evening while playing in your play room.

This was daddy's pick for the other hat that we got you. This one is more of a newsboy cap. It's also by Goorin. I guess they make really good hats!

We also got you new kickers. You've been growing out of all your shoes so we needed to get you a new pair. This one is in 7.5-8 size. You currently wear a 7. The great thing about these shoes besides their look is that it comes with inserts that allows the fit to be a bit tighter. And then as you grow you can remove the insert to make more room in the shoe. Plus, these shoes are machine washable!

We bought you new swim trunks. These are by Appaman.

We took you swimming at our community centre this morning and your current swimsuit was getting a little snug. Plus, we wanted to get your swim trunks that didn't come with floaters.

Last, but not least, is daddy's favourite purchase- Ben Sherman shorts. I didn't even know Ben Sherman made kids' clothes! Aren't they sick? They are supposed to fit long so you'll look super cool in these in the summertime.

Would you like ketchup with that?

Dear Aidan,

You are a human sponge these days. You watch what we do carefully and you start mimicking it.

For example, daddy was pretending to put ketchup on your plastic hot dog from your kitchen set (BTW, the ketchup is also fake too) and you started mimicking daddy right away. Yesterday morning I grabbed your hat to put on you before I sent you off to daycare and I said to you, 'Hat' and you repeated 'Aat!' and put the hat on top of your head. Amazing... You see mommy change clothes after I come home from work and you grab my house clothes and bring it to me.

Hear our prayers

Dear Aidan,

Lately I've been watching videos of you when you were first born. I guess now that you are getting so big so quickly I'm feeling nostalgic. Plus, many people I know (including Auntie Jess) are pregnant or just had a baby. One of our friends, S & C, had a baby 2 Sundays ago. However, they found out that their baby has a lot of health issues. Baby M is now at Sick Kids Hospital and we just found out that he suffered from brain damage due to having 2 seizures after birth. I'm not sure what caused the seizures and that's what doctors are trying to find out, but just thinking about it makes me get teary-eyed. I distinctly remember the day you were born like it was yesterday and I couldn't imagine going through what S & C are going through. Even daddy, who is normally very unemotional, was very distraught. He told me in the middle of the night last night to go kiss you because you were healthy. I thank God every day how lucky I am. We were so concerned that you were born with 2 different ears, but now looking back I realize how shallow that concern was. I just prayed to God before writing this blog and I broke down in tears because I was so sad at the situation. I'm going to pray hard every time I think of S, C & baby M. I know God is great and I hope and pray that something positive will come out of this.

Here's what our friends, E & J emailed us today regarding S & C. They are good friends to S & C and visited them a couple of times already:

Hello Everyone. I hope this message finds everyone well.

I'm sending this prayer request out on behalf of our NHF brother & sister S and C. As you many or may not know, S & C welcomed baby M into the world on Sunday Feb 27th.
As we are all parents and also a part of family small group, they thought you would all understand the need and request for this intercessory prayer for baby M.

Baby M, upon his first week of life, has unfortunately experienced a few health issues. The doctors originally thought baby M had a couple strokes after birth, however after numerous tests at Sick Kids Hospital they now have confirmed that it was not a stroke, rather a couple seizures. They also have confirmed that baby M has significant irreversible brain damage to the posterior left side of his brain along with a bit of his right side as well.

As parents yourselves, I'm sure you can imagine the heartbreak and emotional and physical stress this has caused both S & C. Therefore, we kindly ask that you please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. More specifically, prayers over the following:

1. Even though baby M has some irreversible brain damange, because he is so young and at an age where his brain is developing daily, the chance that the good side can compensate for the damaged side is great - so we ask that you pray for baby M's overall health going forward and that even though he will have a harder time than most learning the most basic developmental stages of his early life, that he WILL be able to do so.

2. Please pray for C's health as she has not been able to take care of herself since giving birth and is still at the hospital with baby M. They will have to stay at least another couple weeks as the doctor's try to find out the cause of baby M's brain damage and to be able to diagnose proper next steps.

3. Pray over the medical staff at Sick Kids, for God's hand to be at work amongst them.

4. For S & C's faith, as I'm sure they're feeling challenged at this time. Please pray that they are able to cling on to God during this difficult time and that He may provide them with the comfort, peace and reassurance that they need to see past the negative aspect of things and to be able to look at things through God's eyes.

I thank you for your prayers and support in advance and although this may seem like a mass email/message, please know that S & C had specifically chosen all of you for this prayer request and asked us to tell you guys in private so we ask that you kindly keep this prayer request low key.

God Bless.
E & J

Here's a video of you when you were first born. I can't imagine what S & C are going through...