Ice Skating

It's a good thing Stevie Y retired, but Zetterberg should enjoy the time he has left...Ethan "Fast and Furious" Hurford is lacing up for the future of Hockeytown. Ethan had his first experience ice skating today and was amazing!

Ethan was so excited to go ice skating for the first time. Although he was concerned that he did not have his own skates he raced into the rink ready for action. We got his size 8 skates (adorable), Mom had the guys take the rust off hers, and we laced up! Ethan jumped right off the bench and started walking. A little bit of an adjustment but for his first time ever on skates, let alone single blade skates, he strutted with confidence and pride. As we stepped onto the ice he started laughing saying, "It's slippery!" Holding hands he was off! Choppy little steps and glides but he was skating! We had so much fun together. His favorite part was skating fast with Momma. I skated, he glided and laughed as we weaved in between all the other people going as fast as my back would let me! When we were finished we refueled at Old McDonalds where Ethan told me, "We should go again Momma." Priceless.


Ready to go!


Little Super Star

January 2010

Happy New Year! So I'm a little late and a little behind. This has really been a crazy month for us. We were on vacation until the night of January 4th. I flew back to Florida the morning of January 5th for a week long meeting. January 15th Alex and Ethan both got sick. January 17th and 18th Alex was at the hospital. Finally on the 25th I'm ready to record our monthly events.

The first few lines are self explanatory. Patrick and I have been crazy with work. Mine should slow down, Patrick needs a vacation. On Friday the 15th I noticed Alex was not acting like himself and appeared to be getting sick. Saturday morning we woke up to Ethan having croup and Alex having a low grade fever. Manageable. Patrick and I had date night Saturday night but shortly after we returned Alex was hysterical, running a higher fever, and wheezing. By Sunday morning his fever had gone over 102 and he slept the entire morning. After falling back asleep after a small bottle he woke up hysterical and burning up. He had a fever of 104.1. Off to pediatric emergency we go. He was listless, wheezing, and very pale. We were scared. The doctor sent us home with a breathing treatment and told us to manage the fever until morning then go to our doctor for a chest xray. Two hours after we get home his fever is now up to 104.7 and he is limp. We call the pediatricians (ours and the clinics) and we throw him in the bathtub. As the fear of potentially watching our baby have a seizure came into and out of our minds we waited and watched him lying in the tub. It was an amazing sight to see life come back into his eyes the second his fever dropped. He sat up and began splashing. That night was extremely scary alternating tylenol and motrin every 3 hours, putting him in the tub when his fever went above 103, and lying awake just to watch him breathe.

Monday morning back to the pediatricians office. Blood count showed a wbc of 20 (normal between 5 and 10) showing infection. Really? Come on, no kidding! Back to the hospital for a chest xray. Negative. Back to pediatrician for urine culture. Idiot secretary makes us wait in the waiting room despite my pleas to get a collection bag asap. Alex urinates what little he has had the entire day in his diaper. Now the doctor uses a catheter and can't get a drop. I feed him a few ounces and wait. Finally enough urine to culture. We go home with antibiotics and wait. Fever still above 102. Tuesday morning we are back at the doctor's office. More blood and now a throat culture. Urine and throat negative. Wbc count still high. At this point they are looking at my 21 lb big boy and saying, "Well, he doesn't look too bad and is not dehydrated so go home and see what happens overnight." I nearly went ballistic! How about a blood culture or an injection of antibiotics or anything that will give me answers and make my baby feel better! But we went home.

Fortunately by 2:30PM, roughly 24 hours after starting the antibiotics and three doses later, Alex played for the first time in four days. My happy baby was back. Finally by Wednesday we had a normal temperature. When I spoke to the doctor on Wednesday she informed me that she felt he had had blood stream infection that had not settled any where else yet. WHAT!!!! God forbid if I am ever in this situation again I am going straight to the pediatric hospital and having an infectious disease consult. I don't think our hearts can take that again. Alex seems to be doing great now. Still on the antibiotics but doing great.

Otherwise, the big baby turned 7 months old yesterday and is growing so fast. He is in size 4 diapers and 12 month clothes. He loves making the little "Indian" noise when you pat his mouth. His favorite game is dropping things and then helping to pick them up. He started drinking out of a sippy cup on the 23rd. Today when I returned from work he gave me my first kiss. When I asked him for another he gave me a giant open mouth planted straight on mine. I melted. He is standing unsupported holding on to things and is walking well holding hands. Crawling is coming. He can turn himself around on his belly and will army crawl a little (8-12 inches) if he absolutely has to to get something out of reach. No other ambition though to move. Just a happy little guy who adores his big brother and the dogs.

Ethan J is hysterical. We got his first report card home from school. Excellent on everything except personal hygiene (not potty trained- yes, we are still fighting that battle. He told me the other night that he likes pull ups at school because he likes it when the kids say P.U. when he poops his pants. I said it. It's true. That is my son's reason for not ditching the diapers. Entertaining the other children.) No surprise on this one either then. His only surprising make was a needs improvement on works independently. WHAT!!!! Not my kid. This is a mistake. Ethan sits for 45 minutes to an hour at a time working on tasks or projects, playing with cars or trains, this is a mistake. I approached the teacher asking to explain because we just don't see this at home. Her answer was this. "I don't know how to say this..." Me: "You can be blunt." Teacher: "Ethan is the class clown." Nice. She went on to explain how when the kids are doing a project Ethan sees this as his time to shine and begins to perform. His goal is not completing a color sheet, it is to make the other kids laugh hysterically. Other than that he is far beyond his older peers in his educational milestones, has his entourage of girlfriends, and has his teachers wrapped around his fingers. His latest trick- pointing at his teachers saying,"Can I get a...." to which they respond, "Boo- ya!"


Finally feeling better!


Rub a dub dub, two guys in the tub


7 Months


SNOW!


Shaving with Daddy


This is MAN stuff.

Holiday Vacation

After Christmas this year we went to Florida for a week with the Fino/Welch family. Despite the record breaking frigid temperatures we had a blast.

Ethan had prepared the entire previous month for jumping into the pool. He practiced daily with his life jacket jumping onto the sofa cushions. Unfortunately we were only able to swim two days in the pool, quick in and quick out, but were able to jump. Not what Ethan expected. Perhaps I made the mistake of letting him jump but he was determined. With life jacket on he went for it! Down he went. His life jacket and a little assistance quickly made him resurface however I do not think his experience met his expectations. He was freaked! I just don't think he expected to go under. With a little coaxing and coaching from Uncle Brian we continued to experiment, although a little less carefree, with jumping, swimming and floating in the Pool. Alex loved the pool! We kept the babies in the "little pool" (what Ethan calls the hot tub) where the men had "baby wars". They were completely amused. I am talking about Patrick and Brian of course.

We spent a lot of time layered up on the shore throwing shells and rocks into the ocean. I don't know what it is that is so entertaining about watching a splash but talk about a time killer. Ethan was actually adorable this year with how particular he was about which shells and where he needed to throw them.

The trip to the aquarium tied in perfectly to the timing of Ethan discovering the movie "Finding Nemo". We saw the blue fish, clown fish, jellyfish, Mr. Ray, sharks (we even saw the feeding time), and a huge sea turtle. Ethan also loved the manatees Hugh and Buffet. We even took home our very own Buffet. Yes, more plush. Did I mention I hate dust collecting plush?

Finally, the Tampa airport had a pleasant surprise of a playground in the terminal, next to our gate. BONUS! The perfect end to the trip. One tired little boy getting on a three hour flight. No delays, no traffic, home happy and relaxed.


Just throwing some shells.

Our trip to the aquarium

Ethan and Uncle Brian

"Baby Wars" (I wasn't kidding)

Alex and Oliver

Christmas 2009

This was another Christmas of firsts. Alex's first Christmas. Ethan's first Christmas truly understanding Santa Claus. With all the joy that the holidays bring, it was another Christmas that reminded us how truly blessed we are.

We had been gearing up all month on two fronts. Preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus and preparing to prepare cookies and wait for Santa. We all know what is the most important of those two events however we all also know what is most important to a two year old. Ethan knew the reindeer's names, he had spoken with Santa and put in his order, he had practiced making cookies, customized a plate for Santa, and had a scheduled itinerary (in his mind) of his tasks and the nightly events of Christmas Eve, Santa's visit, and Christmas morning. He was ready. We had two countdown calendars. One traditional advent calendar(countdown to Jesus) and one chocolate treat calendar (countdown to Santa). As the day approached Ethan could hardly focus on anything else. The great distraction was Grandma and Grandpa's arrival.

We were very fortunate to be able to share our celebrations with Grandma and Grandpa Hurford. Grandma Hurford had a bonus celebration this year on December 24. As Alex celebrated his 6 month birthday, Grandma Hurford celebrated her 60th birthday. Fortunately we were able to give Grandma a special day on the 23rd by taking her into the city for a NYC birthday dinner. The 24th had a lot of action.



First off to the doctor. Both boys were sick. Ethan had a raging ear infection and Alex had a viral respiratory issue. Alex was under the weather but Ethan appeared to be perfect- nothing was going to stop his Christmas. We returned home to a day filled with playing and preparing. Ethan had gotten a new teddy bear from school and had a little skit with Grandpa where the little bear would innocently walk down the street and then attack. I think we all perished multiple times. It was hysterical. Next was cookie baking. Sugar cookies with lots and lots of icing. Ethan did it all. Mixing, rolling, cutting, icing. He was a cookie making machine.



After the cookies were assembled on the plate and carrots were placed in a bowl for the reindeer, we started to track Santa on the internet (who knew satellites were that good), and had dinner. Ethan was pretty tired out and went to bed without a fuss knowing that Santa would only come when he was sleeping.

Christmas morning was hysterical. Like any other morning he woke up at the usual time, I think 5:00 or so calling for Momma. I went into his room and he began talking about his dreams and his day... he had forgotten it was Christmas. I began to ask him if he had heard anything last night, he said no. I said, "Not even some reindeer on the roof?" Then came the horrified gasp. He sprung up in bed and shouted, "Oh Momma, I forgot! It's Christmas!" With that he catapulted out of bed. I had to reel him back in to go potty before flying down the stairs to confirm the previous night's visitor.

With a smile from ear to ear he witnessed a glorious sight. As if in slow motion, he scanned the room and took it all in. To be honest I don't think he knew where to begin. Santa went a little overboard, I have to admit.



The sweetest thing about the morning was how meticulous he was about opening everything and examining each new treasure one piece at a time. Every item had to be played with with due diligence before moving on to the next. His favorite gift was his "treasure box" from Santa. He had asked Santa for Emily the train (more Thomas and Friends monopoly items). Buried behind a few other wrapped gifts he found a special little box with a big red ribbon. With a big grin and twitching little fingers, he opened the box to find his prize. Emily! He was literally jumping up and down giggling. It was in that moment alone that I found a new love for Christmas. In those brief snip-its in time when the giggles and smiles etch a permanent memory in you brain and in your heart you realize the miracle of children, the innocence they possess, and the pure happiness they bring to your life. The rest of the morning was just icing on the cake, or should I say frosting on the cookie.





Poor Alex's first Christmas morning was not as joyous. He had his morning bottle and went back to sleep. When the sick little guy woke up later that morning he enjoyed opening a few presents and loved watching and playing with (grabbing) his brother. He slept the better part of the day but being the guy that he is, he was a happy little trooper through it all.



Since Ethan has already started asking when Santa will be back, and if we can have another countdown calendar, I'm sure time will fly by and before we know it we will be gearing up for Christmas 2010.