End of January Recap - Bring on February!

I have to tell you, January was a rough month in our house. 2013 started with us making a visit to the emergency room at midnight on January 2nd. Unfortunately, Matthew had a respiratory infection that we simply couldn't quell using home remedies (humidifier, steamy bathroom, etc.), so we packed the family up and tromped to our local ER in the middle of the night. Thankfully, we were surrounded by friendly and efficient ER staff, and the doctor kept looking at me and saying things like "you absolutely did the right thing bringing him in," and "he's going to be fine, but he needed to come in." What a relief that it wasn't more serious, and I definitely am glad that we went in when we did!

After the early morning ER visit, Matthew continued to battle the croupy respiratory infection for quite some time (weeks, in fact). We finally got Matthew feeling well -- for three whole days -- and then he came down with the flu just in time for my first business trip away from home.

My week-long business trip was scheduled in the middle of January, and while I got on the plane to Irvine, CA, Lennie was left at home with a sick kid. I landed in Orange County on Sunday and on Monday Lennie took Matthew to the doctor. I am to understand that the daycare sent Matthew home because he was feverish and inconsolable. Lennie took Matthew to the doctor, where he learned that our son had the flu (which was sweeping the country at the time), and that we couldn't take him back to daycare for the rest of the week. A prescription was written for Matthew, and Lennie dropped by the local pharmacy to pick up supplies. The prescription turned into quite the odyssey, as none of the local pharmacies had what we needed in stock. Poor Lennie and Matthew had to go two towns over just to get the prescription (and they got the last dose that the pharmacy had!).

The good news is that Matthew began to recover throughout the week. On Thursday, Lennie was preparing to take Matthew to the doctor for a follow-up appointment to assess his condition and to determine if the boys could come to Southern California to meet with me and visit family for the weekend. Lennie was running early for the appointment, so he put Matthew in an Exercauser while he stepped out to take the trash out. Unfortunately, there was black ice on the driveway, and Lennie took a spill on the first step outside of the garage -- landing hand first on a glass jar in the trash bag. The result: two deep cuts on Lennie's hand and quite a bit of blood loss. Fortunately, we are surrounded by construction workers and some fantastic neighbors. The construction workers saw Lennie fall, and immediately came to his aid. When they couldn't get the bleeding stopped, they called emergency services, took care of Matthew, and got me on the phone. It was a long, arduous day that somehow included two ambulance rides, two ER trips, and a lot of pain for Lennie. What I learned through all of this, though, is that we have a great community of people here to help us. For that, we are eternally grateful!

First Trip to the Park

We had a rare day here in the Seattle area where the sun came out, and the crisp clear day was perfect for a long family walk and a trip to the park. After walking around the neighborhood, we stopped at the local park and Matthew got to play on the swings and take in the sunshine.

Here are a few photo highlights:

10 Months Old!

Our little man keeps growing and growing! Every day we are amazed at the new things that he does, the wonder in his eyes, and the love that continues to grow in our hearts.