"Look at me and smile"

And this is what happens.
Being a mom is a tough job, but you get little rewards, like putting your kids in goofy hats and seeing smiles like this.
Serafina clearly enjoys the adaptive swing at our local park. Unfortunately it is right next to this climbing boulder, so Leo has been exploring it more and learned to conquer it. Every time he starts going up, I remind him I already have one kid in a cast and to please be careful.

Witch's hat

Magic Shampoo

Serafina is dirty. When you have a cast you can't get wet covering a large portion of your body, getting clean isn't easy. I've been wiping her up the best I can, but her hair is a different story. It hasn't been washed in a while. Thankfully, it's still looking pretty good, but since Nana is in town I thought it would be a good time to wash it.

Look at that smile. Just hanging out naked on the kitchen counter. What could go wrong?
"Oh god! What are they doing to me?"
"Why, mom, why?"
Recovering.
"I think I might forgive you some day, Nana."

Ice Cream Social

Tonight we attended Leo's Preschool's Ice Cream Social. Though I wasn't feeling very social, we can't turn down an opportunity to eat ice cream right before bedtime. Tom was such a good dad and came home in time to join us even though he's very busy at work and is leaving tomorrow for his college reunion in Chicago. Then again, there was ice cream, so pretty much a no brainer.

Serafina was a good sport. She gets a lot of looks with the big pink cast anywhere we go. Sometimes even the "poor baby" lip pout. I mostly socialized with people I know and already know the full story, so I didn't have to go into, which was something I wasn't really looking forward to.

Here she is with her daddy. Check out that kid in the monkey helmet in the background. His mom said it was part of a Halloween costume. Whatever it is, it makes the pink cast less of a spectacle.
Musical act Andy Z performed. I guess he's big in the local kids music scene. He gave me a bit of a headache, but the kids loved him. He had them jumping, marching, parading around and generally having a ball. Here they are singing a dinosaur song or something.
As soon as we got there, his little friend Brielle latched right on to him. It's really cute how much she loves him. He's really tolerant, though her mom and the teacher remind him often that he can tell her "no thank you." His teacher said it's get him use to pushy women early.


Apparently he's very popular in class. Many kids want to sit next to him and hold his hand. I asked the teacher if it's because he's the youngest, but she seems to think he's just the flavor of the month. I hope he doesn't miss the attention when it shifts to someone else.

Serafina had a follow-up x-ray today. Everything looks good and she's on schedule to be in a short cast on November 2nd and completely out of the cast on November 22. Hang in there, baby girl!

Spider hat

Three year check-up

Leo had his three year check-up with the pediatrician. He did really well during the most of the appointment. He was cooperative and answered the doctor's questions clearly. He didn't do too well on the vision test because he didn't really understand what he was suppose to do, but they gave me a handout so we can work on what's expected of him. Apparently, they use to start testing at four years old, but the new recommendation is three though most three year olds aren't able to "do" the test. I was worried he was going to be underweight because he's a bit of a skinny minny (or maybe he just hangs out with a bunch of fatties and it makes him look thin), but he's totally fine. He weighs 31.5 pounds and is in the 50 percentile. He's 37.25 inches tall, which is also is the 50 percentile. Everything went to hell when he had to get two vaccines. People being attacked by sharks scream less and less piercingly than Leo did. Not only was he in pain, I think he was feeling betrayed. It had been a perfectly pleasant experience up until then. Unfortunately, Serafina needed to get a flu shot too. Leo was still screaming bloody murder and continued to do so while Serafina got injected, cried and then recovered. He was still a big mess while we drove home. He stopped crying/screaming but he still talked about his "hurts" and "pokes" throughout the rest of the day.

Here he is when I went it to get him up from his nap. He found a big monkey in his bed and decided to use it as a pillow.
My mom bought me that monkey from a hospital gift shop while I was having surgery. It made me feel better back then and I think he felt better too.
Of course I had questions for the doctor about Serafina. She seems kinda depressed and so frustrated. The doctor said, "I'm sure she is. She was a very active little girl who's really limited now. " She encouraged me to give her all the attention she needs. It's a bit exhausting but that's what I've been doing and will continue to do. She is needy right now and her separation anxiety has increased.

My mom sent Serafina her own comfort creature in her time of need. He arrived in this box.
With an "air hole".
She opens it.
And finds a teddy bear with a cast on his leg.
She's trying to increase her mobility, mostly to increase her access to her brother's stuff. She pulls up to a standing, like in this picture. This allows her to rifle through Leo's Play-Doh box. She's also trying to balance on her foot/cast combo and tonight made a few little steps while holding on to furniture.
It's strange to be re-experiencing her milestones. It makes my heart hurt a little. I try to remind myself this is a very brief time in her life and she won't remember it at all. I, on the other hand, will never forget it or how it feels.

Uesugi Farms

We had our first really "fall" day - cold, gray and raining. Of course it was the same day we planned to drive about 45 minutes to a pumpkin farm for a family outing. Even though the drizzle turned to downpour a few times, we braved it and are glad we did because it was a great time. I'm especially glad we got a chance to go since I missed my moms' group visit to a different pumpkin farm since Serafina's cast was still very fresh.

Uesugi Farms is much more than a pumpkin patch and in fact, because of the crappy weather we didn't get a chance to explore the patch or the pumpkin pyramid or even buy a pumpkin. We focused on the other attractions.

Serafina was all set to go with her cast protected in the sleeve of my rain coat. Of course, that meant I didn't have a rain coat.
The first attraction was a tractor ride through the corn fields. Leo didn't actually drive the tractor but was allowed to get behind the wheel for a picture. Definitely the highlight of his day, possibly his whole life.
Ready to be pulled by the tractor.

Very excited to ride the train.
Checking out the second place pumpkin.
First place. That could make a lot of pie.
The "cow train" (little cow-painted barrels on wheels pulled by a tractor) is intended for kids only, but kids under 42" need to ride with an adult. Can you tell how thrilled I am to be crammed into that thing? I wasn't sure if I'd be able to wedge myself out.

An unofficial measurement.
Royalty.
Loving the carousel.
Waiting to get on the Enchanted Hayride.
The marigold fields as seen from the Enchanted Hayride. Did you know that marigolds have to be planted by hand? The are also weeded by hand.
Gotta have one of these pictures.
Serafina was a entranced by the mariachi band performing in the food tent.
After lunch, the rain really started coming down. Leo and Tom braved two little corn mazes, but we headed out after that. I think this will become a family tradition so next time we'll see the patch close up.

Here's a bonus shot of Leo and Serafina playing "medicine" (with an empty syringe).