Boys age. . . . . .

Poor Sick Ethan :(

Our poor little Ethan has been quite sick this week. Sunday he started to get a nasty cough, but was otherwise well. Sunday night he coughed a lot throughout the night and didn’t sleep too well. Monday morning he woke up with even more congestion. His breathing sounded like Darth Vader and he had a terrible chesty cough and kept tugging on his right ear. We took him to the local doctor at 11am. The doctor said he had an upper respiratory tract infection and was starting to get an ear infection. He said Ethan can have some anti-biotics if it doesn’t clear in a few days.

Monday afternoon at 2pm Sal was just about to get ready to go to work when Ethan woke up early from his nap crying and making another weird noise. We got him up and noticed he was distressed and looked like he was having trouble breathing from him cold. We tried to settle him, but he kept crying. Sal rang the doctor’s office who had an answering machine that said they were closed for lunch and would re-open at 2pm. It was 2pm, so she decided to take Ethan straight to the doctor. We did not know if this was normal for a cold, or if something was wrong. (meanwhile, Tracie stayed at home with a sleeping Ben and rang Sal’s work to tell them she would be late) The doctor’s receptionist told Sal the doctors were all busy and she would have to sit and wait with Ethan to see a doctor. Ethan was still crying and making a funny noise. Sal was crying too, as she was worried about Ethan. The receptionist still insisted they would have to wait at least half and hour to see a doctor. Sal rang Tracie to tell her what happened. Sal told Tracie she wasn’t happy with Ethan, and that they should take him to the hospital. Tracie woke Ben and we went to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at about 2:30pm. Ethan was seen straight away. He was triaged category 2 (1 is the most severe and life threatening, 5 is least severe). The emergency staff were fantastic. They took Ethan out to the kids area and treated him straight away.

They explained to us that Ethan had croup. Basically, as I understand it, croup is a partial airway obstruction caused by mucus and inflammation. As we all know, when we (as adults) get a cold, our nose gets blocked by mucus. We notice it more in our noses as they are very small passages that block easily with a small amount of mucus. Croup occurs in young children as their airways are smaller (because they are small) and can become narrowed or blocked by mucus and inflammation from a simple cold. This narrowing of the airway causes a stridor (a high-pitched sound heard on inhalation) and a “barking" cough (often described as seal-like). Apparently, the stridor is worsened by agitation or crying which explained the funny noise we heard while he was crying. They asked us to try and calm him down so they could tell if the stridor was present while he was calm. We managed to calm him a little, and he still had the stridor. They gave him some nebulised (inhaled) adrenaline to help open his airway. Ethan HATED the nebuliser, but it helped, and for the first time in over an hour he was breathing easily. They connected him to heart monitoring and an oxygen monitor. They also gave him some oral steroids (dexamethasone) to help open his airways over the next few days. The adrenaline works instantly for and lasts for about 30mins, the steroids take longer to work, but last longer too.

The adrenaline lasted for about 30mins and then he started to become distressed again. About an hour after the first adrenaline dose, they gave him another dose. The second one was another  horrible experience. Ethan HATED it. Like the first one, he screamed, kicked and tried to wriggle out of our arms. He was acting like we were trying to suffocate him with the mask. I can understand it would be horrible for someone to put a mask on your face when you’re already having difficulty breathing. Poor baby doesn’t understand we’re trying to help him. They also gave him some more oral steroids. He started to get a little better. We was EXHAUSTED, but wanted to explore the emergency department like Ben was doing. He had a little explore (being carried and with his heart and oxygen monitors attached) and was starting to get happier. It was  about dinner time by this stage, and we had been told that Ethan would be admitted to hospital and be staying the night. We decided that Sal and Ben would go home, get some dinner and some supplies and come back. We got back around 6:30pm. About 7pm Ethan started to get worse again. His stridor came back and he began to get distressed again. They gave him another adrenaline nebuliser. This was the worst so far. He fought it all the way. He was so tired by then, but would not sleep. By 8pm he was starting to bounce off the walls. The doctors said all the adrenaline would make him hyperactive until about 3am. Tracie and Ethan stayed at the hospital. Sal and Ben went home to bed. The boys are usually in bed by about 6:30pm. Ben finally got to bed at about 8:30pm. He was exhausted and went to sleep without a word, for the first time without his brother in the room. Tracie and Ethan were finally transferred to a high observation bed on the kids ward at about 10:30pm. Ethan was hyperactive for a while, but Tracie managed to get him to sleep and he got about 5 hours of disturbed sleep. Tracie got about 1 hour sleep. Sal and Ben came to the hospital the next morning. The nurse said that Ethan came alive when Ben arrived. He was very pleased to see us both. We took Ethan home about 2pm.

We were very pleased to be home. We put the boys to bed and they had a little nap. Unfortunately Ethan woke up crying with stridor again. The doctors and nurses told us to expect this, and to bring him back if it was bad again. We tried to settle him. It took a while, but we managed to get him to calm down. It was not quite as bad as the day before, but close. We did not have to take him back to hospital, but we seriously considered it. We packed our bags and made a plan in case he woke again in the night. Thankfully our poor tired boy went straight to sleep and slept for almost 14 hours straight. We have never seen him that tired. He was almost falling asleep while we were getting him dressed for bed.

The next day he was a little better, today he was a little better again. He’s still sick, but defiantly improving.

Ben has been reasonably well throughout this whole ordeal. The doctors said he might get croup too, as it is a contagious viral infection - but so far so good. Unfortunately it looks like Tracie’s caught Ethan’s virus. She feels lousy, has a high temp and a terrible persistent cough that sounds like a seal barking.

We are all hoping Ben and Sal don’t catch it, and that Tracie and Ethan get better soon.

14months old – New videos and stuff

Life has been busy lately. Sal’s gone back to work (sniff sniff) after almost 3 weeks off. For those who don’t know, Sal is a nurse. She works on a medical oncology ward (deals with a lot of cancer patients, people with heart and lung problems) Her work has been crazy busy lately with all the winter illnesses. Her ward is full to overflowing most of the time, which is chaotic, but at least it makes the days go fast.

The boys have been sick again. When we got home from our road trip, Ethan had high temps and diarrhoea, and Ben had a runny nose. Now, Ethan has a wet chesty cough, and Ben has diarrhoea. They’ve been irritable during the day, but thankfully, sleeping well the last few nights. We’re hoping they get better soon.

I thought it was about time I uploaded some of the video’s I’ve taken over the last month.

Below is Ethan and Ben playing in one of the hotels we stay in during our recent trip.

The video below is of Ethan and Ben eating dinner. They are copying Sal shaking their heads.

Below is the boys playing together. It is quite rare that they’ll play nicely together. It often ends in tears after they fight over the toy.

Below, the boys are playing in the living room, riding their bikes that their Nana gave them when they were born. They’re finally big enough the play with them.

Below is the boys playing with uncooked rice. Ben has a bag of rice and he’s emptying it. They are sitting in their small pool in the kitchen. They really enjoyed playing the the rice, feeling the texture and listening to it fall onto the plastic pool as they dropped it. They playing for about 20-30mins. We kept the rice, and will defiantly let them play with it again soon.

Ben and Ethan in the pool playing with uncooked rice.

Ethan Ethan and Ben

We love to play….

Our little boys are truly becoming toddlers now. They are very good at walking (toddling), but still fall a lot. They have a keen curiosity about the world around them. They like to be given an object that they haven’t seen before – almost any object will do. The draw cooking utensils with spoons and cups is popular. They prefer objects that are not their toys. Recent favourite items include; the ear thermometer, a marble sphere of approx 3-4cm diameter, a shell, spoons, fridge magnets, whisk, dustpan and broom, jar of nappy rash cream, laundry basket and telephones. The other day Ben was playing with the phone and he accidently dialled emergency 000 (Australian equivalent of 911). They hold the object in their hands, turn it over, study it and manipulate it. You can see the concentration on their faces. It’s amazing to watch them learn.

We like to find new and different ways to feed the boys hunger for exploring and learning about the world. Last week Sal sat down in the living room with the boys and made cookies. Ben loved making cookies, feeling the flour and eating the cookie dough. Ethan doesn’t like to get his hands dirty and watched closely at everything that was happening. Ethan did enjoy eating a small amount of cookie dough though!!

Below is Sal and Ben mixing the flour.  Sal, Ethan and Ben making cookies Ben with his hands in the bowl again – mixing the dough Is this what we do next mum??? Ben, with flour all over himself and his head!

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Last Sunday we took the boys to go watch Uncle Michael playing soccer. Uncle Michael’s team won 5-0. Ethan clapped when he heard everyone else clapping after they scored a goal.

The boys had a great time playing with some spare soccer balls on the sidelines. Sal and Ethan at the park near the soccer game Tracie and Ben Ethan and Ben spinning the log. They were fascinated by the spinning log.

Tired boys ready for bed

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SICKNESS :(

On another note, both boys have been a little sick lately. After we returned from our road trip Ethan spiked a high temp up to 40.4C (104F). He also had a nasty case of diarrhoea and didn’t eat as much as normal. One week later his temp is long gone, he’s eating well, but he’s still having at least 3 loose bowel motions per day. I know it’s probably too much info, but the poor little boy got his first nappy rash from the diarrhoea. He HATED having his nappy changed as it hurt him. Poor baby, he’s never had nappy rash before. We hope it clears up soon.

Ben had a runny nose for a few days last week. It’s been good for a few days, but today he’s got an elevated temp and he’s been extra wingy and crying more than usual. He only wants to be held, and cries when he’s put down. He’s also not keen to each much…….. It’s been a hard day today as Tracie is also sick with muscle aches, sore throat and a temperature. To make things worse, Sal had to go back to work after almost 3 week off today. Everything happens at once :(  So far, Sal is the only healthy person in the house.

Interestingly, Ben did not get Ethan’s diarrhoea and Ethan did not get Ben’s cold.

We are hoping everyone gets better soon

Road Trip Part 3 - Dubbo

On Sunday we drove to Dubbo, our final stop. Dubbo is about 4-5hours drive from the Blue Mountains. It rained most of the trip, very very heavily at times. We made if safely and really enjoyed our time in Dubbo. For those who don’t know, Dubbo is the home of the Western Plains Zoo.

We visited the Zoo on Monday and Tuesday morning, for about 2 hours each day. 2 hours is about as long as the boys will tolerate. The boys had a great time exploring the zoo and loved the animals that moved a lot. Their favourites were the Rhinoceros, Giraffe and the Otters. We saw feeding time for these, and other animals. Feedings seem to make the animals more alert, active and closer to the front. The boys pointed, laughed and talked the the animals. We found it quite amusing that in certain exhibits that used water to contain the animals, the boys found the water more interesting than the animal!

Tracie and Ethan watching the Rhino having it’s breakfast.

Ben and Sal with a Rhino in the background. Tracie and Ethan with some deer type animal far in the background. Tracie and Ethan and an Elephant Ben and Sal with an elephant Ethan and Ben watching the otters Monkey Tracie and Ethan watching the lions Ethan and Ben examining the screws on the bench (toddler curiosity never ends) Ethan Zebra Ben Tracie and Ethan Ethan, Sal and Ben Ethan and Ben examining the wooden pole

  Meerkats Ben escaping Ben walking around – apparently more interested in exploring the grounds than looking at the animals. Sal and Ben looking at the wombat Wombat Tracie and Ethan with a Giraffe Ben and Sal with the Giraffe Feeding time in the Giraffe enclosure. Ethan and Ben standing next to the statue representing a newborn giraffe. Ethan Ben Sal and Ben having lunch On Monday afternoon after the zoo and their nap, we took the boys to a park in Dubbo to play.

Ethan examining the slide

  Ethan on the slide, Ben at the steps Ben and Ethan Ben, Ethan and Tracie Tracie, Ethan and Ben Ben and Sal Ethan Ethan, Sal and Ben Ethan Ethan Ethan Ben and Ethan – playing in the water on the bench Ben and Ethan

Ethan

That’s the end……. We had a great time on our trip. On Tuesday afternoon we drove home. It took about 6 hours. They boys did great. Ethan didn’t feel well, and cried and whinged on and off for a few hours in the middle of the trip. We are all pleased to be home, and are now wondering where we’re off to next!

Road Trip Part 2 – Blue Mountains

 

After Sydney, we spent 2 nights in the Blue Mountains. We arrived Friday evening and once again, went shopping (these children seem to eat a lot!) cooked dinner and put the boys to bed. On Saturday we went to the Winter Magic Festival. The main street of Katoomba is closed off to traffic, and overtaken by people and stalls and a parade. It was cold, a little wet but we still enjoyed ourselves.

Below are some pics of the boys playing in the house. Unfortunately, due to the cold and rainy weather we didn’t get any pics at the festival or get to play outside with the boys in the mountains.

Ethan and Ben with all the stuff we took with us on our road trip. Ben and Ethan eating dinner and watching TV Ben - can you see the neck of his shirt is all wet. Poor Benny is teething so much he’s dribbling like a tap and every shirt ends up wet within an hour of getting dressed Ethan walking. He still walks with his hands up for balance. Ben and Ethan sneaking off to explore the other room. Ethan watching TV in the beanbag. Ethan and Ben looking outside at the rain. Ben and Ethan examining the curtain.

After the mountains we drove to Dubbo.

Road Trip Part 1 - Sydney

Our 7 day road trip started on Tuesday. We packed up all our stuff and hit the road around lunch time. I should also mention that last week we started to transition the boys to one nap a day, and by lunchtime they are very tired little boys. They slept most of the 90minute trip to Sydney.

Tuesday afternoon we did a little shopping, cooked dinner and put the boys to bed. Our hotel was a one bedroom self-contained apartment. The boys went to sleep in porta-cots in the bedroom. They didn’t like going to sleep in a strange room. They cried a little, but fell asleep quite well as they were very tired. Ben woke 3 times in the evening before we gave him some Panadol (Tylenol) and he slept the rest of the night.

Ben had a few teething miseries in the first few days of the trip and now has a total of 12teeth! He got 3 new teeth in the first few days of our tip. He now has the 4 middle top and 4 middle bottom plus his 4 molars. The 2 bottom molars are completely through the gum, he’s still working on the top 2 molars, they are slightly through the gum, but not completely. Ethan still only has 4 teeth (2 top, 2 bottom middle teeth).

Over the next 2 days we visited many friends in the Sydney area. It was great catching up with everyone.

Our two little boys are well and truly toddlers now. They are both walking very well and have a keen curiosity about the world. They love to explore, examine and learn about the world around them. They open draws and cupboards; they push buttons on TV’s and DVD players; they pull on cords; they pull toilet paper off the roll; they put their hands in bins and toilets; they climb on furniture without fear of falling off; they push chairs around the room and still enjoy eating all sorts of “treats” they find on the floor! With that in mind, imagine travelling with TWO curious toddlers to places that are not baby-proofed! Life at the hotel was chaotic. They boys do not appreciate being told “no” when they are only trying to explore and learn. We try so hard to let them play, but it is not always possible, and we found our self saying no, and consoling screaming toddlers a lot!

Below are some pics of the boys playing in the hotel in Sydney.

Ethan

  Ben and Ethan getting treats from Mumma. Ethan getting a treat from Mumma. Ethan Ethan Ben brushing his teeth Ethan Ethan and Ben exploring the kitchen Ben – again with his toothbrush Ethan and Ben Ethan and Ben having dinner – Ben is laughing. Ben Ethan Ethan climbing through the coffee table Ethan Ben emptying the baby bag. Both boys now love to empty things. Apparently this new skill is a developmental milestone that helps hand/eye co-ordination! Sal with Ben and Ethan early in the morning. Finally on our last day in Sydney the skies cleared and we got some sun. We took the boys to the park for a MUCH needed play outside. Below is Tracie and Ethan in the park. Ben exploring Ethan Ben feeling the sand in the sandpit. He’s never seen a sandpit before (only the sand at the beach) Ben playing in the sand and Ethan showing us his hand as if to say “Mum, I’ve got something weird on my hand, get it off for me” Ethan doesn’t like it when his hands get dirty!! Ethan Ben examining the tiles on the wall. Ethan in the sandpit. Ben and Ethan in the sandpit. This park had a very strange elevated sandpit. It was as high as the boys chests in parts, and as high as our waits in other parts. The surrounding ground was concrete. This sandpit made us both very nervous that the boys might fall out and onto the concrete, so we didn't stay long. Ben and Ethan. See the elevated sandpits behind them. Strange huh!?!? VERY cheeky Ben. Tracie and Ethan. Sal and the boys. Sal and Ethan Sal up in the climbing net looking down, and Ethan looking back up at his Mummy. Ethan and Sal, wondering what to do next. Ethan on the swing Ben on the swing Sal and Ben going down the big slide. Ethan playing at the bottom of the big slide. Ben and Sal climbing up the mountain. Ben climbed most of it himself, and only had a little help from Mummy. Ben and Sal

After an hour at the park we had lunch in the car and said goodbye to Sydney. Off to the Blue Mountains……

Home From Our Road Trip

We made it home!!!
7 Nights on the road with 13month old twins..... what were we thinking!!!!

Actually our trip was great. We had our troubles, and we had our fun. I will post a complete story soon.

Feeling better now....

Our little boys have recovered well from the 12 month immunisations. They have been better for about 5 days now. We've still had some teething related miseries, but that seems to be almost constant in our house. 2 babies means twice as much teething. Ben has 9 teeth (7front and 2molars) and Ethan still has only 4 front teeth.

Our neighbour Arthur is home from the hospital after his heart attack. He caught a nasty cough in the air conditioning of the hospital, but is otherwise fine. He has heaps of new pills that he finds confusing, so we've been giving him a hand. He'll be getting them made into a dosing box by his pharmacy tomorrow. We're glad he's going to be just fine :)

NAPS
Ben and Ethan have been on a schedule of 2 naps a day for many months now. Lately they (mostly Ethan) have been refusing one of their naps. They lie in their cots and talk for an hour!!! So we decided it's time to start transitioning them to just one nap per day. It's been a little tricky, and a little "unscheduled" the last week or so, but we hope they get used to it soon.

ROAD TRIP
Nest week we're taking the boys on their first road trip. We will be away for about 6 nights. . We're going to catch up with friends in sydney, do some sightseeing in the blue mountains and take the boys to the zoo in dubbo. We're really really looking forward to spending some time with the boys and not having to work! We'll defiantly post stories and pics when we get back.

Sickness all around

We have 2 poor sick babies. Both boys got their 12 month vaccinations last Monday (26th may). They had them at the local hospital kids ward due to their allergies. Some research says if you have an egg allergy, you can have an acute reaction to the MMR (measles, mumps rubella) vaccine. Both boys did great and did not have any initial reaction to the shots.

For those who don't know, the 12 month vaccine has 3 different needles, to vaccinate against several diseases. One part of the vaccination can give you a temperate, general miseries and aches and pains for a few days. The other part (MMR) has a delayed reaction and causes similar symptoms 5-10days later. The boys did great in the beginning, they were a little miserable for the first 2 days, but generally very good.

Last Sunday afternoon (6 days after the vaccination) Benjamin woke up from his afternoon nap with a temp of 38.9 (102F). He was miserable and had an elevated temp for 2 days. Today, for the first time in 48hours his temp was back in the normal range. We've been taking Ethan's temp too, and at the same time Ben's temp came back down, Ethan's went up :(
Ethan's been feeling miserable this evening. We have been giving panadol and nurofen often (tylenol and motrin in the USA) and lots and lots of cuddles. We're hoping the boys will be feeling better soon.

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On an unrelated topic, our neighbour Arthur (who many of you may know from the boys birthday party) is in the hospital after suffering a minor heart attack. Last Sunday morning Arthur came to drop us his Sunday paper (like he does every Sunday) and he mentioned that he was getting sick. He said he was really short of breath and was concerned he was getting the flu that a few of his friends at the club had got. He looked very unwell so we convinced him to let us take him to the local medical centre. He waited for an hour to see a doctor (while we fed the boys and let them play outside). The doctor said he had an irregular heart rhythm and had to go to the local emergency department. We took him home to collect some belongings and let the cat out and then Sal took him to the hospital (nap time for the boys). Arthur ended up being seen quite quickly (so Sal left) and then staying in the emergency department till 9pm. He has since been admitted to the coronary care unit. He has had continuous heart monitoring an echo and angiogram (heart tests). Last I heard he was still in AF (irregular heart rhythm caused by the heart attack). The doctors say he is very lucky and should make a full recovery. He does not need any stents or bypass surgery. Arthur is feeling much better and will be discharged on the weekend. We have been feeding Arthur's cat Max, who Arthur is very worried about. We're all (including Max) hoping that Arthur makes a quick recovery and comes home soon.

Benjamin can walk!!!

Our little Benny started to take a few steps just before his birthday (3rd May). Then, about a week after his birthday he started taking about 5-6 steps into our open arms.

Another week later he was walking a little better. Now he can take about 10 steps. He’s still only walking when we encourage him to walk towards us.

Then another week later (this week) he’s walking like a pro! He’s worked out how to stop, change direction and stand up without something to help him. Now, he walks and walks all around the room just for the sake of walking. He’s getting very good. Each day he gets better. He’s even attempted to run a little!

Our little walking star is also becoming a little soccer star. Ben loves to kick the soccer ball. He learnt to kick the ball a few days ago. He’s defiantly a soccer super star in the making!!!

Ethan can walk!!

Our little Ethan started taking a few steps when he noticed we were getting excited about Ben walking a few weeks ago. Unlike Ben, he had not really started to practice standing. Consequently he hasn’t got the same balance skills and is taking a little longer to perfect the art of walking. About a week ago he worked out how to take about 4-5 steps.

In the last 2 days, Ethan has suddenly decided he’s determine to walk and has dramatically improved in just 2 days. He’s now able to walk across the room and does so without any prompting from us. He still crawls and cruises more than he walks, but he’ll be walking like a pro in no time.

ONE YEAR OLD!!!

One year old! It is truly amazing how much a baby changes and grows and develops in one short year. They say in your first year you grow more than you will in any other year of your life.

Here is a brief overview of the last year.

ETHAN

Born: 3rd May, 2008 @ 8:18am (3weeks premature)

Weight at birth: 3.22kg (7lb 1oz)

Weight at 1year: 10.05kg (22lb 2oz)

Weight gain since birth: 6.83kg (15lb 1oz)

 

Height at birth: 47cm

Height at 1year: 76cm

Height gain since birth: 29cm

NEWBORN

1 MONTH

2 MONTHS 3 MONTHS 4 MONTHS 5 MONTHS 6 MONTHS 7 MONTHS 8 MONTHS 9 MONTHS 10 MONTHS 11 MONTHS BIRTHDAY BOY – 1 YEAR OLD!! 

BENJAMIN

Born: 3rd May, 2008 @ 8:19am (3weeks premature)

Weight at birth: 2.69kg (5lb 15oz)

Weight at 1year: 9.10kg (20lb 1oz)

Weight gain since birth: 6.41kg (14lb 2oz)

 

Height at birth: 48cm

Height at 1year: 74.5cm

Height gain since birth: 26.5cm

NEWBORN

 1 MONTH 2 MONTHS 3 MONTHS 4 MONTHS 5 MONTHS 6 MONTHS 7 MONTHS 8 MONTHS 9 MONTHS 10 MONTHS 11 MONTHS BIRTHDAY BOY – 1 YEAR OLD!!

More videos

I’ve been meaning to upload a few video posts for a while, but for some reason every time i tried, it failed. We’ve solved the problem so here’s a few more movies :)

First, here’s the boys on the morning of their birthday unwrapping their present.

Here’s the boys playing with their birthday present.

 

The boys like the light. They can point to the light when we ask where “where’s the light?'”

Cheeky Benjamin

Taking a few steps

 

Our little boys are starting to take a few steps. Every day they get better.

They are well on their way to learning to walk!