Brooks had minor surgery August 4th to get his first set of ear tubes. My family has a long history of ear infections and tubes. Poor Brooks is in for a long ride. We've had so many ear infections this year I've lost count although I think prior to surgery we were up to at least six of them... all double ear infections. It started in January, took a couple months off and then went monthly starting in April. Every time he gets a runny nose, it immediately turns into croup over night and an ear infection the next day. Our doctor finally made us an appointment with an ENT and during the two weeks before we went Brooks got an ear infection. In fact, he got another one a couple days after we went to the ENT. Geesh.
The ENT doctor didn't make a convincing pitch for tubes other than it couldn't hurt, but knowing my family history we decided to take the chance of a permanent solution... at least for the next year. Brooks was the first patient of the day, at 7:30AM. Very early. I took a few pictures of him pre-surgery playing with a small toy car they gave him.
He didn't care much for the wrist band they put around his arm, but once they gave him the toy he seemed to forget about it.
The surgery took about 15 minutes. The nursing staff said he did very well and didn't even fight the sleeping gas mask. When we went to the "recovery" room to pick him up, he was passed out. Unfortunately, a couple weeks after getting the tubes Brooks got a runny nose which turned into a night of croup. We took him to the walk in clinic where the doctor said he had a touch of Bronchitis, sinitus and yep, an ear infection. This time though, we didn't have to take any Amoxicillan and the infection had cleared up by the end of the week.
Let me explain. Pink eye and forehead meets corner of cabinet. Enough said, but doesn't he just look so sad?
Brooks and I went to Bluffton at the end of July to spend some time with my mom, Joanna and Lena. I noticed Brooks' eye gooping up through out the day Saturday and quickly took him to a Doctor's Care clinic knowing he had an infection. Later that night Brooks walked into the corner of the kitchen cabinet and bonked his head. He didn't cry and it didn't make a loud noise so I didn't think much of it.... until, literally 30 seconds later he looked like that.
He looked nearly normal by the next morning. :)
Brooks finally got the chance to meet his future BFF in mid-July when we tagged along on one of Justin's work trips to South Florida. Stephen David Karon is only a month younger than Brooks and hopefully the distance between Boston and Charleston won't hinder their friendship. Justin and Stephen's Dad, Adam, met in high school and now will celebrate their 40th birthdays within the next year.
Adam, Katy and Stephen spent the week visiting family before we arrived for the weekend trade show. Another good friend of Justin's, Frank and his two oldest children, Carl and Natalie, also came to West Palm for the weekend. Five adults to four children seems like a good ratio, but when nearly all of them can run you pretty much need eyes in the back of your head to survive.
While Justin worked, the rest of us spent much of our time at the pool. Brooks loves the water, but he doesn't loooovvvveee to just sit in it. Instead, we walk in and we walk out. We walk around the pool, back in, back out, pick up a few rocks, fall face first in the water, choke a little and we're back out again. Someday, we'll find the pool a relaxing place again. Here a a few snapshots of our short time in the pool.
This is Adam and Frank with the kids.
Here is Adam, Stephen, Brooks and me. You can seen Brooks trying to escape.
I love this picture of Carl and Natalie. In order to keep Brooks from burning, I pretty much dumped an entire bottle of sunscreen on his body including his head. This is what he looks like after waking up from a 3 hour nap.
A little bed head. Adam, Frank and the gang were not staying at the same hotel as we did so our room became the gathering place for prepping for the pool and for getting ready for dinner. Katy and I decided to kill two birds with one stone and let the boys bathe together. While the babies are smiling below, Stephen's time in the tub quickly became less happy. Plus, we let them eat their graham crackers in the water... not such a good idea either as you can see it looked like someone doodied.
Another adventure Katy and I could probably have skipped was a trip to the Lion Country Safari. The idea of going to see animals with the kids sounded like fun, but someone failed to really explain the experience to us. We arrived in two cars. Car 1 included Frank, Adam, Carl and Natalie. Car 2 contained Katy (Driver), me, Brooks and Stephen who are both strapped in car seats. As we enter the park we go straight into the self tour which consists of a car ride through several fenced in areas where the animals roam free. Neither kid can see out the window so I decide to take the boys out of their car seats. I pass Stephen to Katy so he can sit in her lap and Brooks stayed in the back seat with me. Unfortunately, 15 months old babies don't have any interest in looking at lions laying on the ground. While we maneuvered through the winding and very long tour, the boys managed to sit on the floor, crawl across the seats, trade turns sitting up front and bang on the windows. Katy and I think it was part of a conspiracy theory between Frank and Adam to put us in one car while they drove in another.
Here is Brooks (looking a little weird) sitting on the floor.
This is Stephen sitting up front.
At one point, both boys sat up front with Katy. Needless to say, the next day we went back to the pool.
We had a great time seeing some of our best friends in West Palm. I never realize how much I miss them until we have to say goodbye. Hopefully, through pictures, Facetime and more visits, Brooks and Stephen will grow special places in their hearts for each other.
