Dear Max & Jake,
The month of December seemed to go by very quickly. I ended up going to the emergency room three different times because I was having some pretty severe pain right under my rib cage on the right side of my body. After multiple tests it was determined that it was probably my gallbladder. So on December 7th, I had surgery to have it removed. The surgery was done laproscopically, which resulted in a very quick recovery, but it also gave me horrible gas pains in my shoulders and chest. I was in the hospital a few days because of the emergent nature of the situation, but after a few days I was up and about and feeling pretty good. I was told not to lift anything heavier than 15 pounds for 6 weeks, but I knew that was just going to be impossible. So I waited almost a full week and after that I picked up Jake and pretty much went back to my “normal” activity. I’ve been fine as far as the incisions from the surgery goes, however, my body is definitely having to make some adjustments to not having a gallbladder. I’ve had some pretty bad digestive episodes and I’m trying to learn to listen to my body and figure out what it can and can’t handle. But enough about me, let’s talk about YOU!
While I was having health issues at the beginning of the month Aunt Joy was here. I was very thankful that she was here and she even stayed and took care of you boys all day when I was in the hospital. You boys had a lot of fun playing with her and and Jake would take his blankie and snuggle with her every morning, it was so cute! Once Aunt Joy left and I ended up having surgery, you boys were either with Dada or Nona. I’m very thankful that I had so many people helping me, including Dena and Michelle who ended up coming over and helping me with you two in the evenings that Dada had to work. I must say that you two were really good and I really appreciated that, especially on the days that I didn’t feel good. Nona did tell me that she had to give Jake a swat on the leg for the first time. You boys were at Nona and Papa’s house so that Nona could work on her dictation while y’all were napping. She put Max in the guest room and Jake in the doll room. She heard Jake making noise and banging on something and she went in there to find a drawer open and stuff scattered everywhere. She told Jake to lay down and go to sleep and leave the drawers alone. A few minutes later she heard something and went back in there and Jake had two doll bows in his hand. As soon as he saw that he was caught he threw them both back in the drawer and ran back to where he was supposed to be sleeping. So Nona followed through with her threat and swatted Jake on the leg. She said that he was upset (his feelings were hurt that Nona had spanked him) but he finally went to sleep and obeyed. Jake, you’re are such a little booger. And I have plenty of proof. You two had a blast at Nona and Papa’s house, playing on the swing set in the backyard and jumping into piles of leaves. Jake even walked on part of the pool cover and then said, “wet!” I really missed you two while I was in the hospital and even though you came up to visit I didn’t get to really spend much time with y’all. I also had to be careful because you two are pretty rambunctious and when I came home I got kneed in one incision and elbowed in another. At first I was a little bit sad because Jake seemed to want Nona instead of me, and that has never happened. It didn’t last long because within a few days you were both back to being mama’s boys =)
After being in the hospital and then stuck in the house for way too long, I was very ready to get out and do something fun with you boys. So as soon as I was feeling up to it we decided to go to the zoo. You would think that it would be too cold to go to the zoo in December, but we had a couple of days of beautiful 70 degree weather and we ended up going on a really nice day. Not only was the weather nice but there weren’t many people and it seemed like all the animals were out and very active. The coolest thing was that we got to see the hippos actually DO something! We were standing there watching and all of the sudden one of the hippos came completely out of the water and opened his mouth all the way and we got to see his big chompers. Max got so excited. Then when we went to the penguin exhibit there were two penguins that kept swimming back and forth and following Max, it was really funny. We had a great time and both of you fell asleep on the way home, it wore all of us out.
This month was really great because all of us got a break/vacation. My class finished in the middle of December, Dada and I both finished teaching, and then Dada got two weeks off of work! It was great. Aunt Joy came to stay for a few days and then we got together at Nona and Papa’s house one day and ate a feast of Mexican food. There was a lot of laying around and football watching, along with plenty of Hungry Hungry Hippos. One day we were at the store and I thought it would be fun to get a game for you boys since Max really loves games. I’m thinking Candy Land may be our next purchase. You boys got a few new toys over the holidays including, a roadster tricycle, a Handy Manny toolbox, a dinosaur that walks and roars, a shopping cart, and a trampoline. Then you got some money and I let you pick out something with it at Toys R Us. Max picked out a garbage truck that lifts up a trashcan and everything, it’s pretty cool. He also picked out a big Joker action figure. Jake picked out a stroller (it’s blue and a very manly stroller, besides, he pushes Batman around in it) and a big Mack truck that holds a bunch of cars in it along with a Hulk figure. He seriously loves the Hulk. That reminds me of listening to you guys praying, but I’ll tell you about that in a minute.
So next we took a little trip to Oklahoma to stay with Uncle Guy and Aunt Destini. It was kind of crazy because Ian and Eliana were sick and coughing and we thought they might have RSV. They ended up going to the doctor and getting tested and thankfully it was negative. So even though they were sick the whole time we were there, it was just a cold virus or something. Now you both have it, but you both seem to be on the mend now. Anyway, we had some yummy Hideaway pizza and some delicious Ted’s Cafe Escondido. However, we had a serious sleeping issue. We did what we usually do and put Jake in a pack n play in the big hall bathroom and Max in Eliana’s room. At around 10:30pm Max came out of the room crying. I guess he got scared when he woke up and realized he was not at home in his bed. After that he didn’t want to go back and sleep in Eliana’s room so I made the mistake of telling him he could sleep with us. A huge mistake. I put him in our bed with the intention of letting him sleep with me. He wouldn’t stop flopping around and talking and then when he did fall asleep he fell off the bed. Seriously. After that I made him sleep on the floor next to our bed, and just about the time we all three got settled in and were about to fall asleep I heard Jake crying. At this point it was 1am in the morning. I walked into the bathroom to find Jake sitting on the TOILET crying. Thank goodness the lid was down, because otherwise he would have been splashing around in the toilet having a good ole’ time, at 1AM!!! Needless to say, I was exhausted and on the verge of completely losing it. Obviously I could no longer put Jake in the pack n play because he showed us just how much of an acrobat he really is by climbing out of it. So there we are, ALL 4 OF US packed into a small room. Max on the floor to the side of the bed, Jake on the floor at the foot of the bed, and Cale and I laying in the bed completely awake. Of course Max woke us all up because he had to go to the bathroom at 6am. The next day we went to this play place where you kids got to play, paint, and play with play dough. Soon after lunch we saw lots of eye rubbing, including me. So a new sleeping plan was made, because I just could not handle all of us in the same room again. We made a nice little “bed” on the floor of Eliana’s room and we put you two right next to each other. When nap time came around we went ahead and did a trial run with you two sleeping next to each other. It went great. We put Max in a pullup and put a thing on the doorknob so that Max couldn’t get out of the room. Because if he could open the door and get out, then that would mean he and Jake would have free roam of the house and we would never even know it. That’s a scary thought. (SIDENOTE: The day I had to go to the doctor for my post-op visit I was rushing to get the boys and myself ready so that I could drop them off with Nona while I went to my appointment. The boys were completely ready and I was in my bathroom finishing getting ready when Jake walked in saying “wet wet.” He had gone in the hall bathroom, got the big bucket we use to wash the boys’ hair out of the bathtub, turned the sink on and filled it up, and then dumped all the water down the front of his shirt. He was literally soaked from head to toe. Even his shoes were wet. I was so mad. I stripped him down to his diaper and he immediately ran and sat in timeout, I didn’t have to tell him because he knew he was in big trouble. As I was cleaning up the mess Max was asking me why Jake was sitting in timeout naked. So just think of all the damage that Jake could do if he was left to his own devices.) We never encourage Max to pee himself because he always wears underwear to bed, but this was an extenuating circumstance and we did what we had to do. We put him in a pullup and told him to just go in it. Everything was fine, until 11pm. We heard Max crying, beating on the door and somewhat hysterical. We went and tried to calm him down, but the second we started to leave and shut the door he started getting hysterical again. I seriously have no idea how Jake didn’t wake up, or Ian, since he was in the next room. Cale ended up dealing with Max and threatening him with his life I guess because we didn’t hear another peep after that. I woke up around 8:30am and saw that the light was on and that the boys were quietly playing, I didn’t care because at least they didn’t wake us up. I really have no idea what was going on with Max but I hope he never freaks out like that again. The good thing is, at least I know they can share a room and that they will be fine. We had a good trip (aside from the sleeping issue) but after two nights we were all ready to be home.
These letters get longer and longer every month. I really need to cut this off but I’m just not done, yet. Let’s talk about how sweet your bedtime prayers are. Jake is starting to pray without my help and it’s funny the things he says. He usually says “Thank you for house, toys, cars, books, Mama, Dada, Max, Jake, Jesus name, Amen.” (not necessarily in that order) One night you even prayed for Hulk, haha, you crack me up. You’ve really started to string words together lately, for example, just this week you said “Max hulk out.” At first I had no idea what that meant, but later Nona told me that Max was pretending to turn into Hulk and that when he went back to “David Banner” she would say that Max was hulked out. Jake says new words all the time and you two were actually arguing the other day. Jake would say, “Max, Two-Face” and Max would shake his head and say, “No Jake, I don’t like Two-Face.” This went on and on and Jake was just cracking up. The other day Dada and I were snuggled up in his chair watching Ratatouille with you boys and Max said to me, “Why do you like Dada” I then told him that Dada was my best friend, and I asked Max if he had a best friend. He immediately said, “Yes! Jake is my best friend!” How sweet is that. You two follow each other around the house and play so great together. Now that’s not to say that you don’t fight over things, but I usually try to let you guys sort it out and I only intervene if I have to. Jake has a bad habit of squealing when Max either takes something from him or won’t give him something he wants, but we are putting an end to that, if you get my drift. Max is getting in trouble because he thinks he is just as much in charge of Jake as we are, but he is quickly learning that he’s not. He’s a bit of a bossy older brother and thinks he can threaten Jake by telling him he’s going to get a pankin’. Then they both do things to purposefully aggravate each other, but that’s just the nature of siblings. All in all they are constantly playing and laughing together and I’m glad they have such a close relationship. I hope they will always be able to count on one another.
Here’s a video of you two jumping on your new trampoline. I love it because it is the perfect size for you two and it’s very safe because it’s only 2 feet off the ground. It’s a great way to burn off some of that toddler energy =)
One of my favorite things is to watch you boys “dance” when music is playing. We listen to music a lot during the day and Max seems to come up with a new move every time. One morning he was in the middle of getting dressed when he started dancing. Thankfully I got it on video. Because it is such great blackmail.
Love,
Mama
