Friday, January 11, 2008

Our first EKG

Hayden had to have an EKG done this week. Having never experienced this before I got as much information as I could, then tried to explain it to Hayden. And as good as I am at explainations, I find daily that I still need a lot of work.
I told Hayden he had to take off his shirt so they could stick stickers to him and listen to his heart. We went through all the usual questions: does it hurt, are there needles, will you be there ect. I did a really good job and he seemed to be at ease with the information.
So yesterday at 4pm we got to the Dr's office and into the EKG room. The nice nurse explained to Hayden all the steps they would take and then asked him to take off his shirt and lay on the bed. So Hayden took off his shirt and- low and behold- there is a pajama top on underneath it. He jumped up on the bed and layed down. The nurse looked at me and I looked at Hayden..."buddy you need to take off your shirt." Hayden pointed to the shirt on the foor, "I did, this is a pajama top not a shirt" Really thought-what do you say at this point? I just had to laugh.
After some explaining that he needed to be "naked" on the top he finally agreeed to take it off, but for the record "it is not a shirt-it is a pajama top. Besides you should do a better job at explaining these things to people."
And 30 seconds later were were done and putting his "shirts" back on. Harley and Hunter were very concerned and littered him with questions. Hayden told them quite the tale of not being able to breath for 6 minutes and the pinching and lots of beeping..."ohh it was horrible, but I was so brave."
I love that kid

Les Miserables-A first for all of us!

Last night I took the kids to see the Northridge High School's production of Les Miserabes. I was a bit nervous that the story would be to much for them, but thought it was safe coming from a High School!
When we got to the High School the kids were doing their "mike checks", so we got to see what they looked like before the musical started. Harley immediatley started rating the boys and came to the conclusion that Jean Valjean was the cutest and wondered if he had a little brother....wow I didn't realise that eleventeen was a real number!
The kids were amazing and sat through the entire 2 1/2 hour musical. They were very well behaved and only asked a few questions. It helped that they already knew the music. It was fun to see them put the story together and see their favorite songs in action. I was so proud of them and look forward to taking them to many more musical productions...the next one they want to see is Phantom!
Hunter was facinated that you could sing, act, and be funny doing it! (Thernardier made s all laugh) But his favorite part was the stage/production crew and the cat walks...behind the scenes seems to be his "thing". Harley loved Fantine or Eponine but was sure she could have sung the Cosette part! Hayden kept me laughing with his quirky comments. He noticed the details in all the scenery, the shoes the boys were wearing, the blacked out teeth, and the lights that were still swaying. When the war scene happened and the cast started the battle, Hayden turned to me and in an extremely loud voice asked, "Is this Mexico against France?" The sweet old people sitting next to us burst out laughing, as did I.
All in all, it was an amazing night. Hunter has been humming the music all morning and Hayden keeps asking if the kids pretended to be dead or if they really were dead. Harley is troubled that life really was that bad in Paris and can't wait to start her musical career. It really opened up their eyes what a great event! Thank you NHS! Thank you Dena Brady!
I rate this night at perfect 10!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Sleep My Little Angel Sleep

So, this may turn out to be the blog about Hayden, but he is just so entertaining. It has been 6 1/2 years of life now for Hayden and he still has not mastered the art of sleeping. We are working diligently on trying to get the sleepless wonder to SLEEP! But to be honest, for those of you that know the 'real' Hayden, the trick is to get him to sleep NOT in my bed and NOT with me! I have tried about every trick in the book and even resorted to locking him in a room, threats, bribes, money, yelling-- i think you get the picture.
After much contemplation I offered him a Go Diego! Go! bed. Well the wheels in his head started turning and his eyes lit up, "I will never get out of bed if you let me have a Diego bed, I promise!" I crossed my fingers.
Off to Walmart we go! He picked out the best bed spread and the best pillow case and we rushed it home. Hayden made his bed with tender loving care and placed all his animals in their designated spot. He couldn't wait to get in bed and sleep! I almost cried I was so happy. Then bed time came, he climbed in bed ever so careful, snuggled up to his pillow and said, "K Mom get in!" Uhhh yeah. I explained how Diego was so special I did not want to mess him up by getting in bed. I tried every excuse I could think of...Hayden is one smart cookie and a great debater to boot! Finally I left the room with promises to come back and check on him, even hold his hand if he needed it.
1 hour went by and not one word from Hayden. I was dancing for joy when Hayden came walking in the living room. "Yeah Diego is not as cool as you Mom, I would prefer to just sleep in your bed and let my animals sleep with Diego." So back to the bedroom we go with words of encouragement when I had a brilliant idea. "Hunter why don't you lay by Hayden in his cool new bed until he falls asleep?" Hunter looked at me like I was crazy, but seeing the desperation in my eyes he got in bed with Hayden and promptly fell asleep.
1 hour went by and again in comes Hayden. "This sucks why can't I just sleep in your bed with you? Hunter is happy in my Diego bed and I can just see Diego in the morning." At this point I am almost ready to cave and put him in my bed...but NO! I will fight this and he will sleep in his bed...without me!
I would love to tell you that I had a successful night. I would love to end this with words of joy. But this is Hayden we are talking about. 3 hours later (1:30 am) he finally dropped to sleep on the couch, on my legs, and I thought of how much I hated Diego and his stupid bed spread.
Alas, I picked up the my sweet baby boy and put him in his bed, tucked him in tight, and tip toed out of the room only to turn around and see that sweet boy standing right behind me with his Diego bed spread and a smile on his face, "Mom it just works better this way...move over please" AHHHH