Baby SMASH!

While in Florida, my aunt, who has three kids of her own, told me about a game she used to let her kids play on her computer.  It's a downloadable game called "BabySmash".  It's basically a game where a baby can bang on the keyboard and it doesn't mess up your computer.  When they bang on the keys, letters and numbers, shapes and colors appear.  We downloaded it for Sydney, but quickly realized that Landon liked it too.  I'll give you three guesses which button he liked the best (and the first two won't count). ;)

Down to Florida and back again.

The day after my last June post I learned that my Grandpop had passed away from complications after having a couple of strokes.  It was pretty sudden, but he passed with no pain and my aunt at his side.  It all happened so fast that my mom didn't have a chance to get down to Florida to say goodbye.  She had a pretty hard time with it and I comforted her as much as I could from so far away.  I decided that I needed to go down to Florida to be with my family.  Sydney came along with me and I left the boys at home.  I hated that that was Sydney's first airplane ride, but I'm glad she came along.  She helped to lighten the mood a little bit and meet a lot of my mom's family.  I was also glad that I got to see my family and spend a couple of days with them.  I hadn't seen some of them in 10+ years.  I took a couple of pictures, but definitely not as many as I wished I could've taken.

It was the first time that Papa (my stepdad) got to meet Sydney.  They had fun together.

My cousin, Isabella, playing with Sydney.  Sydney LOVED Isabella!

Papa fell asleep on the couch

Nonna and Sydney

My Aunt Theresa, Isabella, and Sydney

Sydney making silly faces

Me and my Aunt Annette

My Great Uncle Carlo with his great-great niece, Sydney

The oldest and youngest of the Mancuso family right now

(Uncle Carlo is one of my Grandpop's six brothers)

My Grandpop will be greatly missed.  I loved him very much and our family won't be the same without him.  He was a great family man that would drop everything if you needed help.  I never felt unloved by him.  He would make me laugh with his cute little belly laugh where his belly would make his shoulders bounce up and down.  It was the cutest little laugh.  He had such a great sense of humor.  When I was a kid, I would get on the phone with him and he would say things like, "Oh no, not you again." or "Who are you again?  I'm looking for my granddaughter."  I always knew he was joking and as I got older I started doing it back to him.  I think he was a little taken aback the first time I said it to him, but he would just laugh.  

As a little girl, I remember Grandpop being the tallest man I knew.  (My family wasn't very tall...sorry guys)  I always wanted Grandpop to hold me so I could be as tall as he was.  He obliged, and I remember thinking that no one could be taller than my Grandpop (and I don't think he was even over 6').  As I got older, he got shorter as I grew, but I always remembered the times when he would carry me around and spend time with me.

When I went to Miami to visit him and my aunts, he would take me for the afternoon and make me a meal.  I remember going to his little apartment where he showed me how to make pizza (like any Italian man would), and he asked me what I liked on my pizza.  I made the mistake of telling him one time that I liked hamburger meat on my pizza.  (Just a word to the wise, DON'T tell an Italian man that you like hamburger meat on your pizza.)  Grandpop gave me an earful on how that was crazy and Italians don't put hamburger on their pizza!!  He ended up convincing me (as maybe and 7 or 8 year old) that Italian sausage was the next best thing and I haven't put hamburger meat on my pizza since.  That wasn't what Italians did.  :)   

As I got older, my visits with him were filled with time spent on his screened in back porch.  He would sit me down and give me a logic puzzle to solve.  Some of them I could get right away, but others I would spend some time trying to figure out.  He would ask me if I wanted to know the answer and I would stubbornly say, "NO!  I want to figure it out!".  I would eventually give in and he would chuckle and show me the answer.  We watched a lot of David Copperfield together because he had a love for magic.  We also watched game shows...even the older ones they show on the Game Show Network.  He loved things like that.  Crosswords...he was pretty good.  I'm still not very good at those.

We also shared a love for Frank Sinatra's music.  "Old Blue Eyes" reminded me of my Grandpop every time I heard him.  I made him a CD with some of my favorite Sinatra songs.  I found it in his condo after he passed and it made me smile that he had kept it.  My Grandpop wasn't one to keep things unless he loved or needed them.  His life didn't consist of much "fluff".  So it made me happy that he enjoyed my Sinatra CD enough to keep it.

I will miss him so much and not hearing his deep, comforting voice over the phone.  When I would talk to him, he never made a fuss about himself and always wanted to hear about me no matter how hard I tried to ask him about himself.  He would've much rather heard about me, no matter how boring.  He used to tell me that he loved reading my blog and keeping up with the kids.  He would tell me how great of a writer I am (which I think he was just being polite).  So in honor of my Grandpop, I'm dedicating this post to him.  I will always and forever treasure him in my heart.  I LOVE YOU GRANDPOP!!!!

Alfred C. Mancuso

March 23, 1931 - June 18, 2011

Crazy few weeks...first Landon's birthday

So sorry I'm so behind on posts.  I've had a pretty crazy couple of weeks.  I'm going to try and break everything up so I can have time to post pictures and such.

We have a four year old in our house now...crazy!  I remember that fourth of July, four years ago when I was a pregnant lady watching fireworks thinking about how my life was going to change the next day.  I never knew how much it would change and how much growing I would do.  Landon has helped me be a better mom and a better person.  He is such a blessing to me and I'm so thankful for him everyday.  Two years ago we almost lost him, and I've learned that even though he isn't perfect he's the most amazing, beautiful, smart and sweet boy I know.  I wouldn't trade him for the world!!!  I'm so thankful that I was chosen to be his mom.

My mom and stepdad came into town for Landon's birthday and the Fourth of July.  I was so happy they could be there.  Landon was very excited to see his Nonna. :)  We planned his birthday party at a park that I had heard of from one of Landon's classmate's mom.  Her daughter also has special needs and she told me about this park that is only a few miles from our house.  It is made for children with any kind of disability.  The playground is made with no stairs and all ramps so Landon could get around really easy.  He LOVED it!!  They have a splash pad with water guns and sprayers that the kids loved.  Landon wasn't too into that, but he watched and laughed while the other kids got water dumped on their heads.  :)  Here are some pictures from our festivities....

The birthday boy

Landon's friend, Roslyn

Nonna and Sydney

Roslyn playing in the splash pad

Landon found the only sign at the whole park with numbers and letters.

Giving Nonna a hug

My friend Lisa and her family

Little Makai

The delicious cupcake birthday cake with yummy whipped frosting! :)

Landon with his cake (the candle was on purpose...he's in love with the #9 right now)

Singing Happy Birthday

Landon's new favorite hat

Doing the string pinata

CANDY!!!!!!

Even Landon got a couple of pieces

Sydney was worn out...She fell asleep on Miss Theresa.

Little Nevin

Me and Mom

Marcus playing

Landon laughing at the other kids getting splashed

We are so thankful for our friends here.  They are like our family since all of our real families live so far away.  Thank you to everyone that made it to the party!!! :)

On Landon's real birthday we took him shopping at Toys R Us and he picked out pretty much anything with numbers on it.  He walked around the store saying "numbers" over and over....silly kid.  We got him a number puzzle and a puzzle clock to satisfy his number obsession. :)  I made him his favorite breakfast that morning...pancakes.  I asked him if I could make him a #4 pancake since he was four and he said "No...nine!"  At least the boy is consistent!  :)  

Landon with his #9 pancake. :)

Update on Landon...

It's been a little over a week since Landon had is tonsils taken out and you can't even tell from the picture, huh?  He's doing pretty good.  We've gotten to a point now where he doesn't need as much Tylenol to control the pain and he's wanting to eat again.  Swallowing is another story.  I'm pretty sure his throat still hurts when he swallows.  He will want to eat something and chew it up, but not want to swallow it.  I know...too much information.  He's getting better though.  We gave him ice cream for dinner one night and he enjoyed that, but he has been wanting his regular diet more.  He breaks my heart every time I'm eating because he'll tell me that he wants to have what I'm having. :(  Hopefully, he will start to feel better soon and he'll be able to eat what he wants.

We went to see Dr. Zapata on Tuesday for a follow up.  He just keeps tabs on Landon now.  We haven't been there since September.  When Landon got weighed he was right around where he was last September and Dr. Zapata wasn't too happy about that.  He said that Landon should still be gaining weight even with just having surgery.  So we're back to keeping a food journal.  But only for four days and when Landon starts feeling better.  They want to see how much he is eating.  They also want to give him a higher calorie formula to get through his G-button.

I'm pretty wishy-washy about this whole formula thing.  If we're giving him more calories through his button, isn't it going to make him more full??  I guess I don't get the logistics of it all, but I'm wanting him to gain weight by the food he puts in his mouth not the food going in his button...ugh!  It's such a juggling act.  I'm hoping to send them a good report on what he's eating and they can cut him back again.  Right now, we have to go back for monthly weigh-ins...goody.  I'm pretty convinced he's going to be small like I was and we shouldn't even be worried about it.

On a more fun note, I took some pictures of Landon having fun with his dad the other night.  He thought it was fun to get a funny reaction from Braydon when he poked him in the eye. :)

Daddy is so funny!!!

Last week the family was goofing off in the loft playing.  Sydney was playing on the floor next to us while we were entertaining Landon.  Braydon decided to make a funny noise at her like he was throwing up and she thought it was hilarious!  It's the first true belly laugh we've gotten from her, so I got some on video.  Enjoy! :)

Zoo time!!!

I was hoping to get Landon to the zoo before we had his tonsils out.  The weather had been so hot here for a few days that I didn't think we would get the opportunity.  On Wednesday, it decided to cool off enough so that we could go.  I bought a zoo pass so that we could take him whenever we wanted to.  They have just about everything there, but of course we spent our time with the fish in the aquarium.  He didn't want to leave the building.  They have a tunnel you walk through where you can see fish, sharks, stingrays, turtles, and if you're lucky, a human might swim by. :)

Mommy wasn't thinking clearly that morning and forgot to bring the camera...I know!  I'm getting really bad.  Thankfully, I had my phone on my camera.  It doesn't take the best pictures, but it's better than nothing.

Sydney's ready...

And so is Landon (I told him to smile and this is what I got) :)

Heidi showing Landon the penguins.  I think he was a little freaked out about the bubble.

This one didn't come out so good.  He wouldn't be still and I couldn't get my phone to take a good pic.  Like I said, better than nothing. :)

We will definitely be going back more this summer.  Maybe next time we'll be able to see more than just the aquarium???  Perhaps the monkeys??  :)

No more tonsils!

Well, Landon had his tonsils removed on Thursday morning.  He did great.  Dr. Quinlan said that they were quite large and he was glad that we took them out.  He had mentioned to me about doing some sleep studies to see how Landon does after he is healed.  I'm kind of anxious to see what will happen.  We've waited for this stage for almost 4 years now.  It's crazy that it's almost here.

It also makes me nervous.  Landon's lip and tongue have a tendency to swell slightly when he gets sick.  In anyone else it may not be that big of a deal, but for Landon with his throat and mouth already in a compromised state it could make getting a cold into a pretty big ordeal.  Dr. Quinlan is also wondering the same thing.  Landon's condition is so individualized that it's hard to know exactly what will happen.  Dr. Quinlan just wants to make sure that Landon has a large enough airway for breathing and also, if need be, to be able to intubate him (or stick a tube down his throat) in case of an emergency.  Hopefully we won't have to worry about that.

So, the tonsils came out just fine.  Dr. Quinlan wanted to keep Landon overnight in the hospital in case of excessive bleeding, but he did great with that.  He was on oxygen during the night because he couldn't keep the oxygen levels in his blood up.  The doctors were looking for him to stay in the 90% range, but there were a couple of times he dipped in to the high 80s.  Not anything too drastic.  Once we figured out that it was the heavy narcotics he was on for the pain, he was able to be off the oxygen.  It was not fun telling a three year old he couldn't get out of bed....no fun.  The poor thing didn't understand and I think he thought we were punishing him.  I felt horrible and was doing all I could to make things move along as quickly as possible.

On Friday, they ordered a chest x-ray to make sure nothing too serious was going on because Landon started to develop a fever.  They found a little spot in his right lung that they were concerned about.  They said that it could've been something left over from anesthesia or it could be the start of pneumonia.  So, just in case, they wanted to keep him another night and they started him on an IV antibiotic to try and get ahead of it in case he was getting sick.  Braydon said his fever broke in the middle of the night after a dose of the antibiotic and he got some rest.  After seeing the hospital doctor on Saturday, we were able to go home.

Now Landon is playing somewhat normally.  He's still a little tired cause he hasn't been sleeping well, but hopefully that will get better.  He hasn't wanted to eat anything even though he's tried to.  He starts to cry cause it hurts to swallow and gives up.  I don't blame him.  Keep my little man in your thoughts for a speedy recovery.