The Big Day

After what seemed like an eternity, the day of Connor's surgery finally arrived, August 6, 2013.  We had explained to him that he was missing part of his bone on his skull, and that he needed to have an operation to fix it. If you haven't seen the scan, it's pretty amazing.  This was his skull before the surgery:

Connor, surprisingly, took everything very well.  He asked a lot of questions, several of them many times, but we made it out to be a fun and exciting adventure, and I think he bought it.

Since Connor's surgery was scheduled for 7:00 a.m., we had to be at the hospital by 6:00.  It was a very early wake-up call, especially for Meme and Papa who drove down from Tewksbury to stay with Maeve while we were gone.  Papa came with us to keep us company, and we were at the hospital in no time (it's amazing how fast we can get there when there is no traffic).  We got Connor all registered and into pre-op.  They gave him the hospital ipad to play with, and you would have thought that he'd never seen one before.  He was glued to that thing and hardly paid us any attention.  When they were ready to wheel him into surgery, Mommy took the trip to the OR with him and gave him lots of love and kisses as the anesthesia kicked in.

While we were waiting for the surgery to be finished, Meme had dropped Maeve off at daycare and joined us in the hospital.  A little while later, Auntie Heather, Grammy, and Grampy showed up.  Connor is one very loved little boy and had a lot of support in the waiting room that day.  After about two hours, the surgeons came out and said that everything went beautifully, and that they were very pleased with the outcome.  We went to see our brave boy in the post-op prepared for a LOT of swelling.  The nurses and doctors all warned us that there would probably be a lot of swelling and to be prepared.  We were a bit nervous walking into the recovery room, not knowing what Connor would look like.  To our surprise, he looked the same, just with a bandage on his head.  He looked so peaceful.

After a few hours, we were moved to Connor's room.  Connor slowly woke up, and was very groggy for a while.  He had two IVs, one in his hand and one in his foot, as well as a drain in his head.  The drain was the most annoying part because we thought we had to be super careful or else we'd pull it out.  Little did we know that it was the longest drain known to man, and went from the base of his head all the way to the top, and that the chances of us pulling it out were slim.

Connor spent a LOT of time watching cartoons on the ipad.  There was a TV in his room, but Daddy had put old episodes of Spider-Man on the ipad, and that was much more interesting!

We rested a lot, and Mommy finagled her way into Connor's bed so we could cuddle.  Connor is a cuddler by nature, so this made him feel much better.  Plus, it allowed Daddy to sleep on the fold-out bed.  We didn't get a lot of sleep, but we got more than expected.  

The next day Connor was able to walk around a bit, and we even made a trip to the play room down the hall.  He didn't play much - it was very difficult to navigate the IVs and the drain, but at least he was able to walk around a little.  

 The second day is when the swelling began.  All that swelling that everyone told us to expect immediately after surgery?  It was making it's way down Connor's face on day two.

 The doctors told us that by the next morning we should expect his eyes to be swollen shut, and sure enough they were.  I could see before he even tried to open his eyes that they were swollen shut.  The poor kid was so upset.  He kept saying "somebody HELP me!  I can't SEE" over and over.  It broke my heart.  There was nothing we could do, of course, except wait it out, but that's not much relief to a scared little boy.

Once he was upright, he was able to open his left eye just the tiniest bit, enough to play a game on Daddy's phone.  

At this point, there was talk of us going home because (despite the swelling) he was healing very well.  We were told we would be there for 3-5 days, and it had only been two.  His head wrap had been removed, and the scar looked great.  

They removed the drain from the head, and despite a little discomfort when that happened, Connor was managing his pain very well.  We were a little concerned that they were sending us home with his eyes swollen, but they assured us that it would subside within a day or so.  Since Connor had been asking to go home anyway, we agreed that we were ready to be discharged.  Discharging Connor went fairly well.  There was a slight issue taking out his foot IV and he ended up bleeding all over the floor, but it was quickly dealt with and we were ready to go.

Connor lived on Jell-o in the hospital, and that's exactly what he wanted when he got home, too.  His eyes started to get better the next day, and he went from this:

 to this:

in just a day and a half.

This kid amazed me with his resilience.  He only took one dose of his prescription medicine when we got home, and only asked for Tylenol after we would take off his shirt (because the neck holes were too small and would squeeze his head).  He was jumping and playing within a couple days like nothing had ever happened.  The hardest part of the surgery was after - keeping him "low key and calm" for six weeks! Needless to say, Connor played a LOT of video games during those six weeks!

We were very fortunate to have an incredible team of doctors and nurses at Boston Children's.  They took amazing care of our boy, and for that we are truly grateful.  We had an even more incredible group of grandparents (and a very special Auntie).  Without their help taking care of Maeve, we wouldn't have been able to stay with Connor at the hospital the entire time.  It was very important to both Joey and I that we be at the hospital at all times with him, and we are truly thankful for everyone who helped us (and to those who offered to help us).  Thank you all!

Maine 2013

Our annual Maine vacation was during the last week in July.  My parents rented a new cabin this year, which was a further walk from the beach, but had more space and a little more privacy as far as sleeping arrangements go.  Nathan and Erica stayed the entire week, and Andrew most of the week.  It was fun to watch the James and Maeve play together, but not so fun when they would have screaming matches back and forth during nap/bedtimes.

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.  We had a little backyard, so we inflated the little pool I brought for Maeve.

 The next day it was cloudy and a little cool, but I had to take Miss M to the beach for the very first time, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Mr. James enjoyed all the activity from his older cousins!

Even brother and sister got along (at times)...

Poolside beach?  Why not!  Cousins sharing a cool dip.  Who wants to walk ALL the way down to the water, anyway?

Who isn't a fan of fake teeth?  Connor picked these out at a store in York Beach, and we may have had a little too much fun with them!

Surfs up!

The beach is a whole lot more fun with your cousins around.  

Breakfast on the beach, anyone?

Our good friends the Hickok's joined us for a day of sun!

Cousins lounging in the pool!

Winning 1000 tickets at the arcade?  Priceless!

She looks like she's up to something.... 

A little time at the Nubble light

Her future's so bright, she's gotta wear shades...

Camping and ATVing... must mean a trip to Cabela's!

New York City

This past Spring, it was decided that Connor needed bone grafting surgery to correct his very large soft spot. After scheduling, re-scheduling, and re-re-scheduling, we finalized a surgery date of August 6th.  Joey decided that before the surgery, he wanted to do something extra-special with Connor, so he planned a trip to New York City for the middle of July.  He invited his sister and Paige along, and that's when the magic happened.  Heather managed to get a stretch limo for the ride to AND from New York, got a sweet hotel room in Times Square, and scored tickets to see Spider-Man on Broadway.  Joey had the idea to see Spider-Man, and Heather got them all tickets.  Needless to say, Connor was extremely excited!  

Mommy stayed home with Maeve because a spunky 14-month-old in New York City is just asking for trouble.  Daddy was very good about sending pictures along, though.  They visited the M&M store, where they purchased the largest bag of M&Ms ever, and even posed with Spidey before the big show.   To this day, Connor is STILL talking about New York and how much he wants to go back (and it's November). He absolutely loved this trip, and it was a very special weekend between father and son.  I'm sure there will be another trip in the future, but I'm pretty sure the limo was a one-time thing.  We don't want the kid to get spoiled or anything!

The Island

The annual Vermont trip for the 4th of July was made just a bit more special when my cousin, Kate, invited us to spend the day with her family at the lake house they were renting.  The best part about the lake house was that it was on an island!  We met Kate's husband, Darrin, at the boat access to the lake, and we all piled in for the ride to the house.  Connor was in his glory!  He talked about the boat ride for weeks afterward. Once we arrived at the lake house, Connor was so happy.  Not only was his cousin, Sarah, there, but the entire island was shaded.  If you know Connor, you know he doesn't like bright sun shining on him.  There were so many trees on the island, that he didn't have to worry about that at all.

The kids spent the day fishing off the dock, running back and forth between the two ends of the island, and playing in the loft.  Mommy even got to have a little fun and went tubing for the first time since high school, I think.  Later in the afternoon, Kate's brother and his family joined us, so there were LOTS of little kids running all around.  We did have one minor incident when the boat stopped working.  We were all jokingly trying to figure out where we would all sleep if we couldn't get off the island.  Luckily, Kate's parents were making their way to the island as well, and they stopped to pick up an extra battery for Darrin.  Darrin and Greg used the paddle boat to get to the access road, then used the row boat that was there to transport everyone back to the island.  Darrin managed to fix the boat motor, and we were all able to get home without having to swim to shore.

We LOVED spending time with our cousins.  We had a delicious dinner and  were able to enjoy each other's company since the kids occupied themselves.  Thanks to the Heath's for such a fun day! It even made me think that perhaps the Estee's should rent a lake house one summer.  Connor had SO much fun that I know he'd just love it.  Maybe one day...

Beginning of Summer Fun

The summer started late, thanks to Hurricane Sandy and several snow days, but we packed in the fun just the same.  The end of school was June 28th, the latest we could legally go, so by the time our first week of summer was upon us, it was already Daddy's birthday!  So we left Maeve with a sitter and took Connor, Joe, and Penny to the North End for lunch.  Connor tried (and LOVED) calamari, and we had delicious cannoli's from Mike's.

We also took a day to go to the Brockton Fair.  We try to go every year.  The kids love it, and you can't beat the people watching experience!  We talked Heather, Mark, and Paige into going with us, and we had a ton of fun!  The kids were adorable to watch, and Connor was old enough this year to go on rides by himself, so we didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for an adult to go with him each time.   We ate lots of junk food and loved watching the kids have fun with each other.  

Field Trip

Backtracking a bit, I wanted to post a little bit about Connor's very first field trip!  The entire Kindergarten at his school went to the Roger William's Zoo in Rhode Island.  I volunteered to be a chaperone, and let me tell you- all of those kids on the bus was insane!  Since I work in a school, I've been on many trips before in my life, but they're with middle school kids.  They most often keep to themselves, perhaps sing, but they aren't bad on a bus.  The kindergarten kids were LOUD.  Once we were close to the zoo, they started chanting. It was cute at first, but then they wouldn't stop.  I took a video, but just recorded the back of the seat so I wasn't recording other people's kids (I didn't want to be that creepy Mom).  It's not like I could get a video of my own child, since he didn't even sit with me...

The kids had a great time at the zoo, but it was a FAST trip.  By the time we got the bus loaded and drove to Rhode Island, we only had about an hour and a half at the zoo before we were told to meet back at the buses for lunch.  It actually worked out fine because my group did not have the longest attention span, so a quick look at the animals was all they needed.