Sawyer's Well Check

Sawyer's well-check was late this year because of insurance. I did his three-year check late last year so that I could do Chloe's fifteen month at the same time, so we had to wait until June 30th or later to do the four-year one. This one was pretty involved so Chloe stayed with my friend Trina. He had a vision and hearing check which went well. His vision is 20/40 which they said was normal for a four-year-old and his hearing was normal too. "So he CAN hear," was my response! :)

He also got two shots in each leg which wasn't very fun. At least now he's finished with those until he turns twelve. He used to do pretty well with shots, but he was traumatized at his Pulmonologist appointment the week before. They drew blood for allergy testing, and were unable to find the vein in his left arm after trying for what seemed like forever. I sat helpless with him on my lap while the nurse called in another nurse for assistance. They got some from the other arm, but the damage was done. Sawyer kept saying that he didn't want any more "shots," so I kept trying to explain to him that shots were different from blood draws.

Karen, the nurse at Pediatric Place, gave him an entire bag of prizes after his shots, so now he will expect that each time he sees the pediatrician. She said that she would rather call in sick than give Sawyer his shots. She is such a wonderful woman! It's also so nice to see Patti, the nurse who helped me learn how to nurse a little six pound baby four years ago. I was so overwhelmed and clueless, and she was so patient and understanding. I will always remember and admire her for that!

Sawyer is only allergic to Kentucky Bluegrass, by the way, which makes me very upset that I put him through all the pain of the blood test. He had a "mild" reaction to milk, wheat, and chocolate, but the numbers weren't high enough to consider them true allergies. His IgE (Immunoglobulin E) score was 41, and the normal is 0-30, so there is evidently some predisposition to being allergic, but the scale can go into the thousands, so I don't know that it is much of an indicator of how "allergic" Sawyer can become. The test only screens for the most common of allergies, so who knows, maybe he has some allergies that weren't included.

Sawyer is 41 1/4 inches tall, which puts him in the 72nd percentile. He weighs 39 pounds, so he is in the 74th percentile for weight. He is growing steady and sure. He has grown almost three inches and gained five pounds since his well-check last year.

He completed the annual developmental survey and his answers were pretty amusing. It's funny to see how much they have changed since the first one done those four years ago. He actually gets to complete tasks in the office and answer a series of questions. I jotted down some of his answers because I thought they were indicative of the personality of our little man, Sawyer. I was instructed to end the survey after three answers of no. I think that those were for dressing himself completely, balancing on one foot for eight seconds, and drawing a person with six different "parts." His little person had five, including two sets of arms, eyes, a nose, and two legs. He scored above the normal four-year-old on the overall survey so I was very excited about that.

My favorites are #8 and #9:

1. What is a ball? Round circle
2. What is a lake? Whole group of water
3. What is a desk? What teachers sit on
4. What is a house? What you stay in
5. What is a banana? What you eat
6. What is a curtain? What you close and open with
7. What is a fence? What keeps dogs and cats from getting out
8. What is a ceiling? Where the fan is
9. What do you do when you're cold? You cover up to someone that is warm
10. What do you do when you're tired? Go to bed
11. What do you do when you're hungry? Eat

Ten MORE Things Mommy Loves About Chloe Kathryn (AKA Nogoey)

I have two previous posts for Chloe from 2007 and 2008 if you'd like to read them first.

10. The way she "reads" her books to us, reciting them from memory.

9. The way she loves all things Disney Princesses, especially "Cindewewwa."

8. The way she sings the Alphabet Song, "Q R S L M N O P."

7. The way she could eat ten bags of fruit snacks if we'd let her.

6. The way she says, "I not a chicken nugget, I a Coie!"

5. The way she removes her ponies before we even get out of the driveway.

4. The way she says, "peet, enephent (elephant), cober me up, peet (feet), wap, wet
(let) me out, and wove."

3. The way it takes at least two rockings with her "blankie" and Georgia before she
will fall asleep.

2. The way she is so fearless, climbing rock walls and dangling every chance she
gets.

1. The way her entire face lights up when she smiles, and she shares her joy with
everyone she meets.

Ten MORE Things Mommy Loves About Sawyer Blake (AKA Stallyer)

I have other versions of this post from 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. It is always so much fun to go back and read my thoughts from the previous years.

10. The way he sticks to his bedtime routine-fish cup, lotion, Mederma, Vaseline, and "Bandin" without fail.

9. The way he still asks to watch his French friend Caillou.

8. The way he counts off MY two choices like I do to him.

7. The way he requests tacos for supper each and every night.

6. The way his cup, plate, and silverware all have to match.

5. The way he gets so excited over construction equipment.

4. The way he asks, "Why?" about one thousand times a day.

3. The way he always wants me to sing the "Dumbo Song" or "Godspeed."

2. The way he likes to sleep in "our two beds," or in "our two rooms."

1. The way George remains by his side even after a nose, body trim, and double ear transplants.

Scooters and Princess Shoes

Sawyer was so excited about Kayla's scooter that she got for her birthday that I decided to take the gift cards he got for his birthday and get him a scooter along with a Cars helmet and knee pads. I got him the three-wheeled Radio Flyer scooter. I also got the Disney Princess dress-up shoes for Chloe thinking that she would be happy with that. Little did I know that she would want a PINK scooter just like her brother! I think that was her best fit so far. It was a real doozie! I went to Wal-Mart the next day and got her pink scooter and a Disney Princess helmet and knee pads.

I asked Chloe to show me her Cinderella shoes; so she did!

She is so in love with Cinderella.

I thought it was funny that she was playing with Sawyer's Jeep while wearing her girlie princess shoes.

Sawyer with his new scooter.

I had to get a picture of this fit, because it was a monumental one! I wish that I'd taken video too.

"Gig 'Em!"

Chloe and her pink scooter.

My two rotten children and their scooters.



We went outside to test drive the scooters.

They were checking out our neighbor's sprinklers.

We just had to run through the sprinklers at least twice before we went in for the evening.

Happy Birthday Kayla!

It was so great that we were able to go to Kayla's third birthday party. She and Sawyer are one year and four days apart, so this is always a special time of year. Kayla had a Dora party, so she got lots of Dora loot! Matthew and Jackie bought a water slide last year, and it was a huge hit with the kids! I don't think Sawyer slowed down one bit that day. I thought maybe Chloe would be scared because it was pretty tall, but she wasn't worried at all!

Dora turned out great!

Jackie made Dora's house out of the giant cupcake mold. What a cute idea!

Chloe was loving having the sandbox all to herself.

Matthew and Jackie actually bought this water slide. It looks like it was a great investment.

Sawyer had a blast on the water slide!

Kayla unwrapping her Dora nightgown from us.

Kayla and her cake. She looks so happy!

Sawyer was in love with Kayla's new scooter.

The little princesses

Princess Chloe

Her Highness Kayla

Sawyer is Four Years Old!

Sawyer has changed in so many ways over the past year. He is so much fun to be around, and he loves to be right where we are all the time. He is literally wanting to be where we are recently, even at night. He started sleeping with us while we were doing all of our traveling, and now he mostly sleeps on the floor in the hallway in front of our bedroom until we come to bed, and then we put him back in his bed.

We've also stopped having him sleep in Pull-Ups at night, but I don't know that it's the best thing to do just yet. I am changing his sheets at least once, if not twice, each night, and sometimes during nap time, too. I don't punish him when he has an accident, but I just worry that I'm going to make him feel badly about it when it happens. He is such a deep sleeper that he isn't waking up in time.

Sawyer is definitely an inquisitive child. He asks me "why?" at least fifty times a day. He loves to talk about everything, especially when we're in the car. We had a great conversation about filters the other day: coffee, pool, air, fuel, etc. I try to speak to him like he's a little adult so that he can expand his vocabulary and his awareness of the world around him.

He has recently started pouting which is pretty cute! He gets his feelings hurt easily these days, so we're trying to really explain ourselves when we discipline him. He is still harassing Chloe on a daily basis, and I really don't know what to do about that. I think that it's mostly just part of being siblings.



Gliding with Bear

Climbing with Bear

Sliding with Bear

Swinging with Bear

I don't know where he learned to tummy swing, but he's really good at it.

Swinging is so much fun!

My stair steps.

Here are a few pictures of Chloe from the day:

Captain Chloe

Four Years Ago

I became a mom four years ago today, and my life changed completely, never to return to the "normal" to which I was so accustomed. I had absolutely no idea what being a mother would entail. I can't even tell you what I used to do with my time. I used to think that I was busy, but being a mom changes the definition of busy in so many ways. These two little kids didn't ask to be here, so it is up to me to ensure that they are well taken care of and live in an environment in which they can thrive and become the best possible version of themselves.

Lorne and I had been together for so long, just he and I, living completely for one another, that it is still such an adjustment to not always feeling like his number one anymore. I may not always get the first kiss when he walks through the door, but seeing his face light up when he sees his children touches me in a way that I never thought possible. By the same token, I remember watching him holding those blue and pink swaddles in his arms, knowing with certainty that he was meant to be their father, and that he and I were in this together, forever.

I still have days when I think that I'm way too selfish to be a mom. Then I realize that a selfish person isn't as hard on themselves as I am. Selfish people don't anguish over making sure that they are the best possible mom to their children. I used to wonder why God blessed me with children when I feel so unworthy of them. I now know that He sent them to me to teach me humility, patience, flexibility, and how to give and receive their beautiful and tender love and affection.

I started brainstorming on the changes all parents experience, so I've developed a table in true Kelly fashion! :)

Four Years Ago	Today
Kelly	Momma
Patricia Cornwell	Dr. Seuss
People	High Five
Date night	Play dates
XM Radio	Raffi CD
Free time	Time-outs
All My Children	Caillou
Dine-in	Take-out
Poker	Go Fish
Laundry day	Daily laundry
Alarm clock	Sawyer
European vacation	Staycation
Graduate school	Preschool
Lorne & Kelly	Smith Family

Happy Fourth Birthday Sawyer!!

The Disney Pixar movie Cars was the theme of Sawyer's fourth birthday party. I had so much fun planning and getting ready for the party! It is really amazing that we even had a party based on the week that we'd had.

Chloe had an ENT appointment on Monday that we had to reschedule for Tuesday because Dr. Gottleib got paged to the ER. We got there Tuesday afternoon and Chloe had a sinus infection. Her hearing is 100%, though, so that was a relief. Dr. Gottleib said that he wasn't surprised about the infection since her brother was sick. I told him that I had just taken Sawyer to the doctor the Thursday before and he only had allergies. Dr. Gottleib said that his cough sounded like he either had an infection or Asthma. Needless to say, I got to the car and immediately scheduled an appointment for Sawyer. Dr. Darrow was booked for the remainder of the day so we saw the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Michele. We were in the office for almost THREE hours! It was horrible! Evidently three cases came in once we were there and they were more serious than ours so we had to wait on them. I had only packed enough snacks for a fifteen minute ENT appointment, and I'd left the water cups in the car, so it was not fun!

She listened to Sawyer's chest numerous times and said that she heard wheezing. The next thing I know they are bringing in a nebulizer and doing a breathing treatment. I was so confused and tired that I didn't even think to ask why they were doing all of this. They sent us home with a nebulizer and enough medicine to get us through Friday when we were supposed to return. They actually didn't get us enough medicine, though, so we had to go back to the pharmacy for refills.

We went back to see Michele on Friday because Dr. Darrow was on vacation in Cabo or Playa, or somewhere else where you can see the ocean floor. Now Sawyer had bronchitis and an ear infection, and she was still hearing wheezing and saying he had Asthma. I tactfully asked for a Pulmonologist referral, because I just didn't think it was Asthma. His cough came out of nowhere a little over one week ago, and he had no history of excessive coughing up to this point.

We went and had a chest X-ray to rule out pneumonia. I couldn't believe this! Sawyer can't have pneumonia; he's having a birthday party in the morning! The X-ray only showed bronchitis so that was good, but he was still having to do three breathing treatments of his "dragon medicine." The mask looks like a dragon, so the term was born.

Jackie and I stayed up until almost 4:00 Saturday morning getting ready for the party which was scheduled for 11:00 on Saturday. I awoke at 7:00 and only one of my eyes opened. I jumped in the shower and was at Care Now in Garland when they opened the doors at 8:00. I had pink eye and a sinus infection! I stopped at the pharmacy on my way home (that was my fourth trip in five days for those of you who are keeping track), and told Jackie and Velma that they would have to take over the food preparation due to the pink eye. I was sooo disappointed! Luckily I had stayed up really late getting most everything straight so there wasn't quite as much to do that morning as there normally would have been.

I think that the party went really well! They always come and go so quickly. I feel like I plan and plan, and then just like that it's all over!


We put some decorations on the fence for this year's party.

I made two cakes because the Cars cake was pretty small. This one has a checkerboard inside. The checkered flag and traffic light favor bags are in the background.

Lightning McQueen cake

Hot dog race cars

Traffic light desserts and the watermelon car

I told Jackie that I never get any pictures of her, so I had to take one.

Ashley, Ariana, Lexi, Sophia, Lynn, Dharma, Sawyer, and Cade

Bekah, Luke, Dharma, and Sawyer on the swing set.

Sawyer in his cardboard car

Presea in Strip Weathers

Sawyer and Chloe in the race cars

Lorne raced with Sawyer. It was really funny!

Sawyer with his checkered flag cake.

I wanted to show the cross-section of the cake that showed the checkerboard.

Lorne made these cars from cardboard, Mod Podge, and our printer. They were so awesome!

Sophia, Sawyer, and Lexi

Kayla had a good time at the party.

Chloe and GrandDad

Ariana and Chloe

Caroline

Cate had a lot of fun on the swing.

Sawyer was more impressed with the whistle than actually racing.

Chloe got a Disney Princess hooded towel from Nana and Poppa and wouldn't take it off for at least an hour!

Nana and Poppa


I had to shoot video of Sawyer playing catch with GrandDad for the first time. This is how he always played with us. All the things I was saying while filming were the things Dad always said to us! If we didn't hit his glove we had to run after the ball, usually stopping and get him another beer on the way back!

I'd say it was a successful party!