ABCZ

Aunt Sarah & Uncle John sent this COOL new toy to Zach for his birthday! The only thing better than the smile on Zach's face when we first put him on it and he got to bounce around...



...was getting this picture of Curtis blowing Rody up, through his unfortunately placed fill hole.

I started to write a post about this week, but I keep getting interrupted - go figure. So, here are some pics from the week, and the stats in short:

Trips to Kaiser: 7
Days spent in outpatient treatment getting IV fluids or antibiotics: 3
Days in the hospital: 2
Amount we've spent on Kaiser co-pays, meds, etc: $525
Visits to the ER: 2
IV Lines started on Zach: 3
Number of tubes, tangles and wires taped to him in the hospital all night long: 6
Number of consecutive hours Zach's arm was splinted to keep the IV in: 34
Number of times he puked in the last week: Where is the infinity key on this thing?
Hours of sleep we have gotten this week: More than 1, less than 10.

Day 1 getting IV fluids. Mommy's Blackberry is a welcome distraction - and a small price to pay for a smile at this point.

Day 1 - he couldn't keep the oral antibiotics down, but wouldn't put them down to go to sleep. Again...whatever makes you happy, baby boy.

And if the bottle isn't handy, the dropper will do.

Notice a pattern? Zach would only sleep in Mommy's arms, for the most part - and occasionally Daddy's. No one else would do. I pinched a nerve in my wrist rocking him like this 24/7 for the past week. On the up side, we got so many AWESOME snuggles and enjoyed that sweet feeling of having my baby sleep on my chest again. This was after the 2nd IV was in on Day 2.
Anna thought that the wrap they sent him home in (because they left the IV in, after having a hard time starting it the 2nd day) was cast and she wanted to 'sign it'. Underneath that wrap was a rigid board that his arm was strapped to, to keep it straight. THAT was fun for several days.

Zach, puffy eyed from crying all night, entertaining himself with my camera.
Can we be better yet?

Daddy and Zach play with Anna in his hospital bed. A SMILE! Hey - we'll take it!

Anna signed the 'cast', "Anna (heart) I'm sorry this has to be on."
We had temporarily ditched the cables, wires, toe monitors, etc for a little break here.

Almost ready to go HOME!

Little Boy Blue kept on holding onto my hand when he wasn't on my chest...sweet, sweet boy.

*sigh* Finally at home again and snuggled with Daddy.

Zach's self portrait with my camera. We were back in "anything to make you smile" mode. We stayed in the mode a lot this week.
Sick little boy.

You have to love living in the country. Leaving Anna's school today, we hit a bit of traffic while some of the residents that live on the school road herded some escaped cows back into their yard. It was at this point that Anna announced, "My favorite animal is a cow. It's because they taste so good."

Well, the little man is about to turn one in a few weeks. He's been walking since 10 months, is still stalled at 7 teeth, just survived his first ear infection, loves peaches, puffs and cheese, and giggles a whole lot. He weighs 23.5 lbs and still has yummy, chubby baby rolls. And I think his favorite time of day is first thing each morning, when he hears his sister coming to see him. He sits up on the bed and watches the door for her, and as soon as she peeks in, he breaks into a HUGE grin. Actually...he does that when Daddy comes home too. :) It's good to be loved. It's so fun watching him grow...if only he'd slow down a little!

I'm a little behind, but I couldn't let Valentines Day pass without recapping our traditional celebration.  Every year, Anna and I plan a special dinner (usually "rare steak" - every Schmitt's favorite food), and we decorate the dining table with over the top hearts and flowers and we have a romantic dinner...just the three, well - now FOUR, of us.  Curtis and I find our own time to celebrate the day too, but this little tradition is so sweet and filled with love...we wouldn't change it for anything in the world. 

...has always been the daisy. And now we have a Daisy Girl Scout!




Bonus points to anyone who can name the country who's flag she carried on Thinking Day! I sure couldn't!

We spent part of Anna's midwinter break doing some fun stuff right here in our own backyard! One of those trips was to the Aquarium of the Bay on Pier 39. We had a great time there! They have two neat touch pools with starfish, sea cucumbers, rays and even a shark to touch! Anna was pretty brave...even posing with a 'pink toed tarantula' (hereby answering the age old question, "does Anna just like EVERYTHING as long as it's pink").

My favorite part of the day was our latest 'Annaisim.' As we were walking through the underwater tunnel that takes you through a huge tank of sea life, including some huge sharks, there are trivia questions posted along the walls. Curtis asked Anna one that said, "Do sharks have bones?" She pondered it for just a second, before saying, "Nope." Curtis and I exchanged impressed glances and then I said, "Wow! That's right! How did you know that?" Anna replied, "I actually had no idea, but I figured they wouldn't be asking the question if they did." Smart cookie!

We had a so much fun visiting with John & Sarah tonight! They are out from West Point for a visit this week. It's so fun to see the cousins actually play together now that they're getting a little bit older. Though we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like, we always seem to pick up right where we left off. Thanks for the fun visit, guys!