... it is Another

Well, Henry has a leg brace now. The specialist said he thinks he has a fracture of his lower left leg (tibia) that is not showing up on the x-rays.

As you can see, he is not so enthusiastic about the brace. In fact, he absolutely can't stand it!

It's not actually really this big, it just looms that large in our lives. I mean, it's just the perspective. It was the smallest one they had anyway. I guess it's better than a cast. I really can't say at this point. He absolutely can't stand it! (Oh, I said that already.)

We are supposed to take him back in two weeks for a check up. I sure hope he gets used to this thing being on his leg, because otherwise we are going to be somewhat not-so-happy.

Did I mention that we now have no daycare for two weeks? Aaahh!!

If it isn't one thing ...

Henry's belly is doing a lot better. Today he seemed nearly back to normal. We are so relieved. He ended up losing at least two pounds by the end.

Madi has been a good big sister for the most part through all of it.

Henry was still eating crackers yesterday but by today he was back to a normal diet.

Henry's biggest problem now is his foot and/or leg. He won't put any weight on it or walk at all. He has started trying to crawl a little bit, but even then he holds his foot up like it hurts.

He's been to Insta-Care twice for x-rays, to no avail. Tomorrow he is supposed to go to a specialist to see if they can figure out what is wrong. Sigh. Well, at least he's not sick any more.

We had a good time hanging out in the yard yesterday.

Tio Scott is back from Russia and Puerto Rico and brought us Thai food. Madi got special astronaut food - strawberries! They didn't last long at all. We are glad Scott is back. We're not sure what we're going to do without Melanie and the girls for a YEAR though!

Today we went for a walk on the River Trail in Logan Canyon. It was really nice.

We decided to do this trail because Henry was in the stroller today. We weren't sure if riding in the pack would hurt his leg.

Madi checked out the moss at a little seep on the north side of the canyon. It has been an incredibly wet spring here.

The day was really beautiful. Perfect weather for a walk.

Madi did fall down and scrape her knees though. She thought it was a pretty major incident, but I'm not sure you'll be able to fully appreciate the carnage here.

At home, displaying her Bandaids. She's pretty attached to them already.

Tonight we had a good talk with Granddaddy and Grandmother after dinner.

Here is a video of the kids, yesterday morning. Madi is being very sweet.

Here Henry shows off his fork skills. Getting pretty talented!

Tomorrow we will hopefully get Henry to a specialist and start to figure out what is going on with his leg. I will keep you posted...

Hmmm

Well, Henry didn't throw up today, so that is good. He still isn't eating very much, but he is keeping it all down. As always he is still pretty much having a good time.

The bad news is that he hurt his leg at day care. He fell off a slide (with help from a two-year old), and won't put any weight on his left leg. We took him to Insta-Care and they do not think it is broken after the x-rays, so hopefully it is going to be ok. If he is still not putting weight on it by Monday we are supposed to take him back.

It was not such a good day really. We figure it has to be better tomorrow.

Madi has been hanging in there. It is hard on her when Henry is sick (and now injured) because she doesn't get as much attention and also she is sad for Henry. Fortunately she got a great story from Sarah tonight, and that made her happy.

Popsicles and crackers for dinner again

The good news is Henry is still happy and as much fun as ever. The bad news is he is not better yet. We ended up getting an anti-emetic from the doctor to try to help him keep things down. He threw up twice today.

It's not like he has a ton of spare weight anyway, as you can plainly see, so we are hoping he gets over this soon.

He had a little Popsicle and crackers again for dinner.

I read the some 'stomach flu' can last 10 days! I hope this doesn't go on that long ...

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A better day

Henry continues to improve slowly from his stomach bug. Today he kept everything down (at least so far), although he didn't eat or drink very much. I think he's a little hesitant after all the problems he had. Here he is ready for school this morning.

The kids went outside for a bit before they went to school. It was a gorgeous day! Henry was excited to see the goats. You can hear him saying 'goat' here, as well as talking to our cat, Connie.

Let's keep our fingers crossed he's all done with the stomach bug now.

Not totally recovered

Well, there's good news and there's bad news today. Henry did ok overnight, and had some formula and banana this morning without getting sick.

He seemed like he was feeling better, and he had a fine day at school. He ate crackers and formula and ham!

We got a little overly confident, I suppose, and let him eat an overly ambitious dinner. You can guess by now what happened. Let's just say he had two baths tonight and leave it at that.

He seems to be sleeping ok so far, so let's hope he has a good night and is finally done with all of this by tomorrow!

Doing slightly better

First, my apologies to Kate ...

Today Henry has done a little better. He didn't vomit all day, but then again, he didn't get anything except clear liquids until dinner.

This morning he wasn't feeling so hot before we set out for the doctor. The doctor thinks he has the 'stomach flu'. It is apparently going around.

Madi got to stay home too. She had a good day and was pretty helpful (for the most part).

For dinner, Henry had a popsicle and a couple of tablespoons of white rice. He did get really queasy for a while after eating, but so far it has stayed down! 4.5 hours and counting...

Let's hope he's out of the woods now.

Birthday and Father's Day

I had a good birthday this Saturday. We started celebrating by having sushi with Sarah and Andrew on Friday.

Henry is starting to experiment just a bit with chopsticks. Seaweed salad is one of his favorites.

It was a good dinner. A little hectic at points with the kids, but fun.

Saturday we just hung out around the house. I went through clothes to see what is coming up for Henry from Madi and Finnegan. I was amazed at how many clothes he has! Thanks Kate!!

Henry looked cute in Madi's old Halloween costume, but he could 'bearly' squeeze into it now. Maggie, would you like a fun bear costume for dress-up?

We took it easy on Saturday because we had a big day planned for Sunday. We intended to go to the Father's Day buffet at Hamilton's, which we hear is quite good. We also intended to go to a Summer Solstice party at Joanna and Mike's house. They are the parents of the fabulous baby Violet.

I suppose you can tell that these things did not in fact happen. Instead, Henry started whimpering at 5 a.m. and was up throwing up by shortly after 6 a.m.

Here is Tim with the kids on Father's Day morning. Henry was on his third outfit already.

Tim did manage to take Madi outside for a bit to play. She had fun flying her kite (video at end of this post).

Madi and I played inside a bit with her animals. I don't know if you can see it all, but Ana Claire has on barrettes, a necklace, a shirt, and has her ears in a 'pony tail'.

For the most part though, we just took care of Henry really, cleaning up after him and doing laundry as necessary. Here he is with a pedialyte pop. He stopped throwing up soon after he went to clear liquids only.

He likes playing simple games on my phone.

We tried some formula around bedtime and he threw up again. Sigh. We don't know why he is throwing up, but he will definitely be headed to the doctor tomorrow.

He did feel pretty well for parts of the day, fortunately, and even managed to get in a little traditional daddy wrestling.

Can I say it was a good Father's Day? Sure. It was, even with all the vomiting.

The kids and I are really fortunate they have such a great daddy.

Madi flying her kite. Tim got this from his new phone, which arrived just in time for Father's Day!

Everyday Video Extravaganza!

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately, and that is good. We are all sort of still recuperating from all the events of the last month and a half. Here is what it looks like out back from our house lately. I chose this picture because you can actually see things, every other day in the last couple weeks it has rained. Very unusual for Utah. We have mushrooms in our yard even.

Madi has been doing well. Here she is with Ana Claire, her new jack rabbit. GaGa got it for her in Arches NP. Ana Claire is Jack's wife. They've been very happy together so far.

She loves coloring, and her new little ponies too.

Henry got another sinus infection and had to go back on antibiotics. I guess now instead of getting an ear infection whenever he gets a cold, he gets a sinus infection. It does seem better than the ear infections though.

Here he is playing with an animal puzzle that was Madi's. He just loves animals. He is kind of feisty these days, as you will see.

He's sort of trying out eating with a spoon every once in a while. Nothing serious yet.

Here he is having fun in his duck slippers from Tony. He's laughing (I know it's kind of hard to tell).

Here he is biting my shirt.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for ... the video!

Henry has started saying a lot of words. Some we can understand, some we can't. Sometimes he even says short sentences too, mainly expressing his autonomy. Like tonight, he said 'I do this'. I haven't gotten him saying anything like that yet, but here I did capture him saying 'ball'.

Although he mainly communicates with words (ok, and shouts and screeches) these days, he does make a few signs as well. Here he is making his sign for 'all gone'.

And now, for the piece de resistance, here Henry is with one of his latest fun things to do: Empty the dishwasher! He's pretty good at it. They don't go in the drawer in any particular order, but still, we're impressed.

Moab: Part II

So the first part of our trip to Moab was spent with GaGa and PapPap, as described in my last post. The next part was spent with Sarah and Andrew, our friends from Logan. In the second part of our trip, we focused on some moderate hikes to interesting arches during the day.

Our first hike was to Corona Arch. This hike was recommended to us by a friend at the conference we went to, and it was great! The arch is not in a national park, so we saw very few people, even on a Saturday. The total trip was about 3 miles, with about 440 feet of elevation gain.

Here we all are setting out.

Sarah and Andrew on the trail to Corona Arch.

Our destination is in sight! Here you can see Bow Tie Arch (left) and Corona Arch (right). That's Sarah, Tim with Henry, and Andrew. Madi is on a leash in front of me, so she's not in this photo. The cliffs on this hike and the next were high enough we just didn't take any chances.

Tim and Henry scaling a small ladder on the way to Corona Arch. Tim is the one doing the work, in case you weren't sure. You can click on any photo to see it full scale.

Henry out of the pack at Corona Arch! Don't worry, he's got his monkey on his back ...

.... and I've got a hold of the monkey's tail.

Madi checking out Tim's poles ...

and the arch.

Tim and Henry on the way back, at Bow Tie Arch.

We had a good hike. Madi did really well. Here she is afterwards, admittedly a little tired. She wanted to go see some dinosaur tracks as a treat afterwards, and we obliged!

The next day, we went to see the most iconic arch in Utah, Delicate Arch. Delicate Arch is the one on our license plate, and it is well worth the 3 mile, 450 foot elevation hike! It is located in Arches National Park.

Here is Madi with Andrew, getting close to the arch. The first part of the hike has a lot of the elevation, and she had a bit of a hard time staying motivated. Once she got onto the slick rock she did better.

Sarah, Tim, and Henry, getting ready to round the last bend to the arch.

Here it is! Tim and Henry just viewed it from this spot. Henry wasn't allowed out of the carrier, even on the harness. The drop offs around this arch are numerous, steep, and long.

Madi and I under Delicate Arch. It is an awesome place.

Tim and Henry, Andrew and Madi headed back down the slick rock after seeing the arch.

Henry ended up sleeping toward the end of this hike, but otherwise he was checking out the scenery and having a good time the whole way. He loves riding in the pack.

As her bonus for hiking to Delicate Arch, Madi chose her own treat. Her choice? To hike to Sand Dune Arch! It's only about half a mile, and it is one of our favorites in Arches National Park. Here they are, headed up to the arch. It's shady and relatively cool in between the fins.

Here we all are, under Sand Dune Arch.

Tim, Madi, and Henry exploring some cracks beyond the arch.

We had a good time just hanging out, enjoying the cool sand after a long day.

Then we went and got some dinner, complemented by beer and ice cream. It was a great day. The next day we came home to Logan and I dove into my grant proposal. I was glad we got to take such a great trip with GaGa and PapPap and Sarah and Andrew.