His future's so bright he's gotta wear...
SHADES!For more Sunday Snapshots go here
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Water Baby
Last week Caden started swimming lessons. It's a mommy and me class at the rec center and we have been working on kicking, floating, and blowing bubbles. He loves it! Earlier this week Grammy, Papa, AND Daddy all came to watch. What fun, an audience! Caden P put on quite a show for them.
Daddy also put on his suit and got in the water for part of the class
and took him down the slide
Grammy was ready with the towel when he was done swimming
That afternoon (after a nap) JZ, Caden, and I all went to the outdoor pool in town. So fun! I believe we have a water baby on our hands!
Happy Summer!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Father's Day
Before I show you how we spent Father's Day 2010, let's flashback one year ago to Father's Day 2009, shall we?
Can you believe that was just a year ago? I remember he had just started smiling two days before, and this was the first video I had of him grinning.
This year was a little bit different. We stayed home because Caden was still feeling crummy and had still had a little bit of his rash. We all took naps and my parents came over in the evening for dinner. JZ outdid himself (yep, he cooked on Father's Day) and smoked a brisket. Yummy!! We did make it to the park after dinner and had a great time.
This is how Caden usually rides in the stroller - feet up on the bar, kicked back, watching the world go by. Yes, he also oftentimes holds Papa's beer too.
Caden crawled up the jungle gym and giggled at Grammy and Belle through (the ridiculously gross and scratched) porthole.
The gym also has a tunnel, and Caden came through it...
and then went back to Papa...
...then back to me...
... and then back to Papa (This is how he got down from the 1/2 foot drop)
Over and over
and over again.
Then came the slide
Down
Up
Down
Up
Down
Up
and down again
Then Caden drove us home
Happy Father's Day everyone!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
And the Diagnosis Is...
Well, we have finally figured out what is going on with our little man. Today it became quite obvious - roseola. We knew this was a possibility and what to look for - a high fever (check) that breaks suddenly (check) and then a rash on the torso and face (check).
The rash is not as bad as you might think. It is not painful or itchy and it actually appears at the tail end of the sickness. So, the good news is that this is almost over! CP is doing much better today than the last two days. He is still sleeping a lot and not eating much, but he is more himself - that's right, into EVERYTHING and chatty, chatty, chatty. He was not even interested in sitting on my lap watching cartoons. Weird. The rash can last from a few hours to a few days. We first noticed the rash this afternoon before his nap and it was already better by the time he got up two hours later.
After reading up on roseola, I realized he had classic symptoms:
Sound like what he has had this week??? That's what the on-call nurse (yep, had to call them again) thought too.
For anyone that's keeping track, that's 1 infected circumcision, 1 hand, foot, and mouth, 1 seizure, and 1 roseola. Sigh. Go big or go home, right?
The rash is not as bad as you might think. It is not painful or itchy and it actually appears at the tail end of the sickness. So, the good news is that this is almost over! CP is doing much better today than the last two days. He is still sleeping a lot and not eating much, but he is more himself - that's right, into EVERYTHING and chatty, chatty, chatty. He was not even interested in sitting on my lap watching cartoons. Weird. The rash can last from a few hours to a few days. We first noticed the rash this afternoon before his nap and it was already better by the time he got up two hours later.
After reading up on roseola, I realized he had classic symptoms:
Roseola usually starts out with a sudden, relatively high fever, often above 103 degrees Fahrenheit.The fever typically lasts three to five days and may end abruptly, followed by the telltale rash. The rash may last for days or only hours.The rash is pink and may have small flat spots or raised bumps. These spots may have a lighter "halo" around them and may turn white if you press on them.The rash isn't itchy or uncomfortable, and contact with the rash itself doesn't spread the illness. It's usually seen on the trunk and neck, but it can extend to the arms, legs, and face.If your baby has roseola, he may also be irritable and tired and have mild diarrhea, a decreased appetite, and swollen eyelids. The lymph nodes in his neck and at the base of his skull may also be a bit enlarged. In general, children with roseola don't appear especially ill, considering how high their fevers get.About 10 to 15 percent of children with roseola have a febrile seizure. If this happens, your baby may become unconscious and jerk his arms, legs, or facial muscles for two or three minutes.
Sound like what he has had this week??? That's what the on-call nurse (yep, had to call them again) thought too.
For anyone that's keeping track, that's 1 infected circumcision, 1 hand, foot, and mouth, 1 seizure, and 1 roseola. Sigh. Go big or go home, right?
Thursday, June 17, 2010
A Different Kind of Trip
I will warn you, this post does not have any pictures. Trust me, you do not want to see pictures of what I'm about to describe. I'll also warn you that this is long and pretty darn dramatic!
We have spent the better part of this week preparing for a trip to Kansas City. JZ's cousin is getting married on Sat. and the whole family was headed out to the festivities. The plan was for us to fly in Th. night, attend the wedding on Sat., and return home on Sun.
Wed. morning Caden woke up with a slight fever. My first thought was, "Of course!" He has woken up sick on Christmas, Valentine's Day, and his birthday. He ran a fever the morning we were leaving for South Dakota. Why would I think that a trip to KC would be illness free??? Anyway, his fever wasn't high - right around 100 for most of the day - and I figured it was teeth, or a little bug, nothing we couldn't handle by this point, so we continued planning and packing. He ate well all day, took lots of fluids, played, and smiled. He was a little more tired and fussy than normal, but I wasn't too concerned. He went to bed very easily at 7:15 pm - he had been up for 3 1/2 hours and was exhausted. Around 9:15 pm he woke up crying (not normal for him) and I went upstairs to check on him. Before I even picked him up I could feel the heat radiating from him. I took his temperature with our temporal artery thermometer (it's great, you just slide it across the forehead!). It read 104. Yikes! I called my friend, Amanda, to find out what to do. I had given him Motrin at 4:00 pm, so he couldn't have anymore quite yet. She told me to alternate with Tylenol and try a bath to bring the fever down. We did both of those things, but the fever wouldn't come down. The strangest part is that he wasn't fussing at all. He was shivering in the bathtub (when you're body temp is that high, a lovely 98-100 degree tub is FREEZING) but not crying at all. When he got out and I changed him (which he hates), he just laid there. He was conscious, he just didn't have the strength to cry. When we couldn't get the fever down I called the after hours care at the pediatrician's office. They said an on-call nurse would call back within 30 min. In the meantime, JZ had put a very sleepy Caden back in his crib. At 10:10 I decided to check on him again - it had been almost an hour since the Tylenol, and I knew the nurse would want to know if that had helped. So, I went back upstairs and took sleeping Caden's temp. It said 106. I took it again. 106. Once more. 106. I went running downstairs to tell JZ. At that moment all @$%!&^% broke loose. The nurse called back. While I was talking to her, we heard Caden on the monitor. He wasn't really crying, he was moaning. Since I was on the phone, JZ went to check on him. He immediately started yelling and I went running up the stairs with the phone still in my hand. I was half way up when JZ came out of Caden's room. It is a picture I wish I could get out of my mind. JZ was holding C in front of him and Caden was arched backwards with his arms spread out, eyes rolling back in his head, drooling. He was breathing (although it was labored because of all the drool), but he wasn't conscious at that point. We couldn't get him to open his eyes, make any noise besides a moan, take a bottle, sippy cup, or pacifier. I told the nurse on the phone what was happening and she told us to take him to a Children's Hospital satellite building on the campus of our closest hospital. I'm pretty sure we flew there - JZ drove like a crazy man! I sat in the back with a totally out of it Caden. I sang songs, I rubbed his head, I prayed over and over, "God, please keep my baby safe. Please don't take him from me."
When we got to the hospital we went in and (luckily) did not have to wait very long. By this point Caden was ticked. He was so exhausted and just wanted to go to sleep. In his crib. In the dark. Without being poked and prodded, thank you very much. The quietest I could get him was just moaning, not screaming. When the nurse took him temperature it was now 101. They told me that the temporal artery thermometers are great when the temp in the the "normal" range, but they tend to give abnormally high readings when the temps get high. So, his fever was probably not 106, it was closer to 103. Also, the seizure that he had (more on that later) is often a way that the body reduces fevers on its own. The doctor checked him over and found him to be healthy as far as ears, throat, belly, go. She felt as if he had probably suffered from a febrile (or fever) seizure. Febrile seizures most often occur in kiddos 6 months-4 years old, most often between 12 and 18 months, and happen when a fever spikes suddenly. It's not necessarily how high the fever gets, it's how fast it gets there. A kiddo could quickly go from 100 to 102 and have a febrile seizure. The good news is that these types of seizures, while so very scary, are rather harmless and very common. JZ had them when he was little (thankfully, only 2!) and there is some evidence to suggest that they are genetic. There is, however, no evidence that having a febrile seizure causes brain damage or that he will have some sort of seizure disorder in the future. There's no way of knowing whether or not he will ever have another one. Since we know that he is prone to them, for the next year especially, we have to make sure we keep his fevers under control. When he starts having a fever, we have to start alternating Motrin and Tylenol every 3-4 hours to keep it from spiking.
The stress of this poor little kiddo's body is unbelievable. After the doctor did her exam, she didn't feel comfortable releasing us because Caden was so miserable (still moaning at this point). She had us wait about 45 min while Caden took a nap and the Motrin they'd given him kicked in. Around 12:15 am we were released to go home. We made it out to the car before Caden threw up all over himself, the car seat, and eventually the parking lot. We stripped him down and he made it home before throwing up again (this time in the sink). Poor baby slept very soundly from 1 am - 8:30 am. I, however, checked on him every 45 min. At 8:30 I heard him babbling to himself on the monitor and he greeted me with a big, two-teethed grin. That is resiliency! We had a follow-up visit with his pediatrician today and he is in the middle of the world's longest nap as I type this.
Unfortunately, we have decided not to attend the wedding in Kansas City. We just didn't feel good about putting him on a plane today, and the change fees to go tomorrow were outrageous. We contemplated just sending JZ, but he decided he didn't want to leave his family. Right now, I'm just grateful. I'm grateful for Caden's health, for the wonderful people at Children's Hospital, and most importantly, for the sweet cooing I just started hearing on the monitor. Hug your babies extra tight today, I sure am!
We have spent the better part of this week preparing for a trip to Kansas City. JZ's cousin is getting married on Sat. and the whole family was headed out to the festivities. The plan was for us to fly in Th. night, attend the wedding on Sat., and return home on Sun.
Wed. morning Caden woke up with a slight fever. My first thought was, "Of course!" He has woken up sick on Christmas, Valentine's Day, and his birthday. He ran a fever the morning we were leaving for South Dakota. Why would I think that a trip to KC would be illness free??? Anyway, his fever wasn't high - right around 100 for most of the day - and I figured it was teeth, or a little bug, nothing we couldn't handle by this point, so we continued planning and packing. He ate well all day, took lots of fluids, played, and smiled. He was a little more tired and fussy than normal, but I wasn't too concerned. He went to bed very easily at 7:15 pm - he had been up for 3 1/2 hours and was exhausted. Around 9:15 pm he woke up crying (not normal for him) and I went upstairs to check on him. Before I even picked him up I could feel the heat radiating from him. I took his temperature with our temporal artery thermometer (it's great, you just slide it across the forehead!). It read 104. Yikes! I called my friend, Amanda, to find out what to do. I had given him Motrin at 4:00 pm, so he couldn't have anymore quite yet. She told me to alternate with Tylenol and try a bath to bring the fever down. We did both of those things, but the fever wouldn't come down. The strangest part is that he wasn't fussing at all. He was shivering in the bathtub (when you're body temp is that high, a lovely 98-100 degree tub is FREEZING) but not crying at all. When he got out and I changed him (which he hates), he just laid there. He was conscious, he just didn't have the strength to cry. When we couldn't get the fever down I called the after hours care at the pediatrician's office. They said an on-call nurse would call back within 30 min. In the meantime, JZ had put a very sleepy Caden back in his crib. At 10:10 I decided to check on him again - it had been almost an hour since the Tylenol, and I knew the nurse would want to know if that had helped. So, I went back upstairs and took sleeping Caden's temp. It said 106. I took it again. 106. Once more. 106. I went running downstairs to tell JZ. At that moment all @$%!&^% broke loose. The nurse called back. While I was talking to her, we heard Caden on the monitor. He wasn't really crying, he was moaning. Since I was on the phone, JZ went to check on him. He immediately started yelling and I went running up the stairs with the phone still in my hand. I was half way up when JZ came out of Caden's room. It is a picture I wish I could get out of my mind. JZ was holding C in front of him and Caden was arched backwards with his arms spread out, eyes rolling back in his head, drooling. He was breathing (although it was labored because of all the drool), but he wasn't conscious at that point. We couldn't get him to open his eyes, make any noise besides a moan, take a bottle, sippy cup, or pacifier. I told the nurse on the phone what was happening and she told us to take him to a Children's Hospital satellite building on the campus of our closest hospital. I'm pretty sure we flew there - JZ drove like a crazy man! I sat in the back with a totally out of it Caden. I sang songs, I rubbed his head, I prayed over and over, "God, please keep my baby safe. Please don't take him from me."
When we got to the hospital we went in and (luckily) did not have to wait very long. By this point Caden was ticked. He was so exhausted and just wanted to go to sleep. In his crib. In the dark. Without being poked and prodded, thank you very much. The quietest I could get him was just moaning, not screaming. When the nurse took him temperature it was now 101. They told me that the temporal artery thermometers are great when the temp in the the "normal" range, but they tend to give abnormally high readings when the temps get high. So, his fever was probably not 106, it was closer to 103. Also, the seizure that he had (more on that later) is often a way that the body reduces fevers on its own. The doctor checked him over and found him to be healthy as far as ears, throat, belly, go. She felt as if he had probably suffered from a febrile (or fever) seizure. Febrile seizures most often occur in kiddos 6 months-4 years old, most often between 12 and 18 months, and happen when a fever spikes suddenly. It's not necessarily how high the fever gets, it's how fast it gets there. A kiddo could quickly go from 100 to 102 and have a febrile seizure. The good news is that these types of seizures, while so very scary, are rather harmless and very common. JZ had them when he was little (thankfully, only 2!) and there is some evidence to suggest that they are genetic. There is, however, no evidence that having a febrile seizure causes brain damage or that he will have some sort of seizure disorder in the future. There's no way of knowing whether or not he will ever have another one. Since we know that he is prone to them, for the next year especially, we have to make sure we keep his fevers under control. When he starts having a fever, we have to start alternating Motrin and Tylenol every 3-4 hours to keep it from spiking.
The stress of this poor little kiddo's body is unbelievable. After the doctor did her exam, she didn't feel comfortable releasing us because Caden was so miserable (still moaning at this point). She had us wait about 45 min while Caden took a nap and the Motrin they'd given him kicked in. Around 12:15 am we were released to go home. We made it out to the car before Caden threw up all over himself, the car seat, and eventually the parking lot. We stripped him down and he made it home before throwing up again (this time in the sink). Poor baby slept very soundly from 1 am - 8:30 am. I, however, checked on him every 45 min. At 8:30 I heard him babbling to himself on the monitor and he greeted me with a big, two-teethed grin. That is resiliency! We had a follow-up visit with his pediatrician today and he is in the middle of the world's longest nap as I type this.
Unfortunately, we have decided not to attend the wedding in Kansas City. We just didn't feel good about putting him on a plane today, and the change fees to go tomorrow were outrageous. We contemplated just sending JZ, but he decided he didn't want to leave his family. Right now, I'm just grateful. I'm grateful for Caden's health, for the wonderful people at Children's Hospital, and most importantly, for the sweet cooing I just started hearing on the monitor. Hug your babies extra tight today, I sure am!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Summer, Swimmin', Strollin', and Stuff
School's out for summer! That doesn't have quite the meaning it has had in previous years, but we're enjoying our fun in the sun nonetheless.
We officially opened the Zahrte Pool for all of the community residents last week.
This year's breakout song on American Idol was "Pants on the Ground." Here is Caden's version...
We call it, "Pants on Your Head"
Evenings in our house have changed significantly. JZ and I used to have a quiet dinner, maybe a glass of wine, and watch a movie. Here is what a typical evening at our house is now like
Caden is doing "gymnastics" and scampering up the slide. Belle is running around like a wild animal. It is chaotic and crazy - isn't it great???
Caden has also been practicing his walking. He has now graduated from walking with the trash can to actually using his walkers.
I know the videotaping is bad, but I was trying to record and walk backwards at the same time. He's going to be running around here before I know it. Tonight, as I was taking him up to bed, I asked him to please stop growing so fast. He just giggled at me. In case you're wondering why Caden isn't wearing any clothes in either video (and they're not from the same day!), I don't really have a good reason. It was evening, he had been outside playing with his water table, he likes to be nakey...I don't know. I promise he wears clothes most of the time!
Another thing I'm super excited about is our new coffee table book. There is a web site (http://www.blurb.com/) that will take your blog and slurp it into a coffee table book. Once I found out this was an option, I HAD to have one. I really wanted a hard copy of my thoughts, struggles, and joys throughout my pregnancy and our first year of parenthood. So, I am thrilled to have a copy of Team Zahrte: Our Journey Through Pregnancy, Birth, and the First Year of Parenthood on our coffee table (ok, not really. It was too expensive to leave near little fingers). It is 160 pages of pure bliss
The last page says, "...and they lived happily ever after!"
And just for fun, here is one more of our darling little boy - doesn't he just make you smile?
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Mt. St. Presidents
Over Memorial Day weekend we embarked on a grand adventure - a 3 night RV trip to South Dakota with our (really kind, generous, forgiving) friends, the Marshalls.
We left Fri. afternoon and drove up to Glendoe Reservoir in WY. We pulled in to our beautiful site that backed up to the lake just in time to grill hamburgers for dinner.
JZ and Caden taking a nap in the back of the motorhome on the drive up
The next morning we got up, ate breakfast...
...and drove up to Devil's Tower in South Dakota. What did we do to keep us entertained while driving? Well, the Marshall's travel in style - so we got to watch movies, play games, help drive... 
...and take naps.
Once we got to Devil's Tower we walked around it and took lots of pictures of ourselves to prove we were there.
That evening we went to Deadwood, SD. We had dinner, shopped, and gambled a little. JZ even found a great cowboy hat!
Ethan thought it was nice too!
The next morning we went to Mt. Rushmore!
If it looks like Caden is not happy to be at Mt. St. Presidents, it's because he wasn't. By this point he was on the verge of total meltdown. He was ready for a nap, so we layed him down in the stroller as we walked along the Presidents' Trail. There are about a million stairs, so "King Caden" had to be carried up and down all of them. 
After we left Rushmore we went to Rushmore Cave. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into! We originally planned on carrying Caden in the backpack, but the cave was too low and narrow. Instead we (and by that I mean JZ ) had to carry him - through the low overhangs, up and down the stairs, and even up a ladder. Nice work JZ! Luckily, Caden thought the cave was FUNNY!
Actually, it was probably Kaila and Ethan that were super funny (and cute too!)
The cave was full of limestone, but it also had some stalactites.
After we finished the cave, we drove by Crazy Horse Monument - we decided that since we could see it from the road we didn't need to pay to go in.
The next day we (sadly) had to make the long drive home. At lunchtime we stopped at a park to grill some hot dogs and let the kids run around and play. Caden had a great time playing on the playground and practicing his walking.
We had a wonderful adventure to South Dakota. I have to say that I was really nervous to go. There were 7 of us in one motorhome, and I was worried that Caden would cry, wake up at night, not sleep, and keep everyone else up. In reality, he did those things, but it was not as bad as I thought. He struggled to go to sleep with people looking at him, and sleeping in the pack-and-play in between our beds. He did wake up once at night, but he quickly went back to sleep. The Marshalls said they knew what they were getting into when they invited us - they have two kiddos themselves. All in all Caden was awesome and I could not have asked for more out of him. Ok, maybe to sleep a little later in the morning. He would wake up around 6 and instead of going back to sleep like I'm sure he does at home, he sat up, saw us, and wanted to play. Every morning we would wake up to him giggling at us and throwing his blanets and pacifier at us. Hard to be upset at a smiling Caden boy in the morning!
We had a wonderful trip. I totally forsee us doing something like this again - but we may wait until Caden can walk and watch DVDs!
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