Bo's fall at the playground

Bo had a little scare yesterday at the playground. Since he likes to climb and follow the big kids around, I think he tried to do too much. He was there with his cousin Will, Aunt Tracey, Mommy, and Emmy. They all were eating lunch and playing so not sure anyone saw him fall. However, when Shelly took him to the doctor, he apparently did a good job explaining what happened to the doc.

He said he climbed over the bridge and tried to go down one of the twisty poles (about 6ft. off the ground) and couldn't reach it. So he fell and hit is head on the pole. As you can see he has a big welt on his forehead. It swelled up pretty big and he didn't let anyone put ice on it because it hurt. I don't think he did any real damage and he wasn't acting tired or out of it at all so we don't think he had a concussion or anything. He just has a nasty bruise to bring home the New Year.

First Snow and Sledding

Tuesday morning we woke up to an inch of snow overnight here in St. Louis. Bo was so excited. "Oh my goodness" he said. I think he thought Santa was coming again. When he finally understood that wasn't the case, he wanted to go sledding because Santa brought him a sled. So of course we all got bundled up and went outside at 8am in the morning. We were afraid it was going to melt. They had a blast and made snow angels. Here is a video of them sledding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftYRCC0gMyQ


The week before Christmas Mommy and Bo made a Ginger Bread House. They did a great job especially considering Bo ate half the decorations before they were on the house. Then he continued to pick at it all week until finally I think he hurt his tooth so he stopped.

Christmas

The Woodworth's survived Christmas but I think our house looks like we robbed a toy store. Bo had a blast opening presents and wondering if Santa was going to come every morning. I think he finally realized that Santa is done for the year. We had to take down some decorations and such so he would get the point.
When Bo was asked what his favorite present was, he said Slinky the dog and then pause about 5 seconds and said Spider man and tools and legos. Then he said "that Santa is silly, he gave me all those toys".

I think these two pictures sums it up very well. They definitely loved all the presents, opening them, and will enjoy playing with them in the time that follows.

Emmy loves her baby and her duck. She loves saying "quack quack" and treats her big duck like it is her baby. She rocks it and everything.

Here is Mommy and her two precious little ones all decked out for Christmas.

I would have more photos and videos of the kids opening presents but our little sweetie took the camera and dropped it in a glass of water. We are having trouble getting it to come back to life.

Mommy kissing Santa Claus

One of the kids favorite thing the past few weeks is the Christmas music. Bo has music class every day at pre-school. He definitely understands some of the words now. His favorites are Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is coming to town, and Frosty. He sings them in his bed all the time. I think Emmy likes any music and to just shake her booty.
Sometimes we have to repeat the song over and over again that it drives us crazy. The kids just dance around on the rug in our living room for hours. Well, we discovered the karaoke to find a different variety. One of the songs that came on was "I saw mommy kissing santa claus" and it stopped Bo in his tracks. I think he was a little embarrassed and made sure to come tell Daddy. Daddy did you know that Mommy was kissing Santa Claus. It was very funny.

He still keeps telling everyone that Santa is bring him lots of toys. A slinky, a spiderman, a spiderman car, and hockey/golf. Then when you ask him want Santa is bringing Emmy, he says a baby doll. "I'm so excited" - as he rubs his hands together like the Grinch who is up to something.

Christmas Lights and Breakfast with Santa

Last weekend was a busy weekend for the Woodworth clan. Friday night we went on a bus with all the Cordia's to look at Christmas lights. The kids were a little tired with all the excitement leading up to the event but fun was had by all.

One of the stops was at Our Lady of Snows in Belleville. They had a section outside there where you could ride the animals. Bo loved this and picked the donkey first.

The next morning on Saturday we went to Breakfast with Santa at the Zoo. Emily was all dressed up for this one in her Sunday attire.

Here is a picture of the family waiting in line for Santa.

As you can see, Emily was not very found of this strange man but Bo loved it. He even told Santa that he wanted "hockey" for Christmas (he refers to hockey and golf as the same thing sometimes)

Bo's surgery

On Monday, Bo had his surgery at 7am in the morning. Luckily, it is an out patient deal. They are able to take out his current tubes that are no longer in place, put new ones in, and remove his adenoids all at the same time. The recovery is very quick and unlike tonsillectomy he really isn't restricted in what he can eat afterwards. They did give him an IV this time to knock him out. Here is a picture of him after the surgery basically passed out.

They like to keep him there for an hour after the surgery to make sure he recovers, eats and drinks something small. However, our little guy decided to just keep sleeping. Even when the nurse removed his IV from his hand, he just rolled over to sleep on his tummy.
The doc said everything went well. They did find that one of his ears was already infected and the old ear tube was sitting on his eardrum so it is a wonder he could hear at all. They gave him some ear drops with steroids in it to help the swelling go down. He just has to take those twice a day for 7 days and that's it. We go back for a follow-up in 4 months.

As for the adenoids, the doc said that for a boy his age the adenoids generally block about 30% of the air passage but in Bo's case they were blocking 80%. Hopefully this will help with Bo's sleeping and snoring. He was already sleeping well that Monday night. Here is a picture of him in Mommy and Daddy's bed, his favorite place.

Also, this past weekend we went to pick out our Xmas tree. Of course, we picked out the biggest one possible that would fit in our house. Bo kept saying that it was too big. But Emily and Bo loved it in the house with all the lights and of course the cho-cho that goes around it.
Bo also helped me put up lights on the outside. There is an inflatable snowman that both of the kids like. They check on it every morning and wonder what happened to "my snowman". I had to tell them that he only comes out at night because during the day he lays flat on the ground.

Mommy (aka Martha Stewart) has been doing a great job decorating the inside of the house. The kids are learning a lot of craft activities to help.

Bo' ear tubes and adenoids

On Weds late afternoon, we were finally able to take Bo back to the ENT doctor to check on his tubes. Given the fact in the past two months Bo has had two ear infections and the doc cannot check his tubes while infected, it has been a continuous stretch of reschedules.

At first, the doc couldn't even see his tubes because Bo had so much wax in there. You should have seen how much gunk he pulled out of there. It looked like full size raisins in there. It was not pretty. After that the doc could look into his ears and see that both tubes were no longer in place. One of the tubes was actually sitting on his ear drum so he said I'm surprised Bo could hear at all. He also saw quite a bit of fluid in there so it was only a matter of time before he started another ear infection. The doctor's recommendation was to have his tubes replaced immediately otherwise it could be a long winter of constantly battling the ear infections. Also, Bo has already moved up to one of the strongest antibiotics because the lower ones do not do the trick any more.

We also discussed Bo's sleeping patterns and snoring. We really don't think it has improved at all. He still snores like an 80 year old man and that is not good for such a youngster. Bo is very restless when he sleeps so that is another sign. The doc checked his tonsils and they looked just fine but he thinks his adenoids are extra large which is blocking his air passage thus causing him to work really hard to breath. Even when he had Bo lay down to pull the ear wax out of his ear, he could hear him breathing really hard.

The doc suggestion was to have these adenoids removed at the same time the ear tubes are put back in place. Knock out two birds with one stone as they say. We all agreed because Mommy and I were really starting to be concerned about his sleeping and don't think he is getting enough, especially not quality sleep.

This Monday we have the surgery scheduled. We don't look forward to the anesthesia again but hopefully since he is a little older it will go better. They said they will also give him an IV too. Please keep Bo in your thoughts this Monday and we all hope everything goes well. Then this winter will go better for him and us of course too.

Holiday Fun

Two photos of Emily just doing as she pleases on Thanksgiving walking around Uncle Mark and Aunt Tracey's house

Here are the two kiddos having fun over the holidays.

We have are future supermodel showing off of course.

Here is Bo bowling for the first time or as he calls it "let's bowls". I'm not sure this game is meant for a 2yr old. It could be very dangerous with very heavy balls to drop on your foot or someone else's foot, ball returners to stick your hand in, and very slippery floors. Not to mention all the lanes you have to pick from and you have to wait for your turn. Not a game for people short on patience but all in all I think he had fun. Too bad the lanes didn't have a ramp for the little ones otherwise we might have made it through more than 3 frames.

Emmy's Minnie Mouse Party

Since Emmy's birthday was during the week, we threw a big Minnie Mouse party for her on that following Saturday. Mommy did a great job of planning and decorating. Here are some pics of the event:

We also had a guy come who made balloon animals, characters, weapons, etc.
Here is Bo with the first balloon that probably took 10mins to create. Can you guess who it is?

This is the birthday girl eating her PB&J in the shape of Minnie Mouse

Emmy playing with all her friends

Eating more home made by Mommy cake (vegan of course)

Here is Bo helping Emmy open her presents. The bitty baby came in this box with packing peanuts so Bo's first instinct was to jump in the box and take his shoes & soxs off like he was at the "balls".

Thanks to "all my friends" as Bo would say for coming over and family of course. The kids had a blast and Mommy had even more fun throwing a big party.

Emily Rae's first birthday

Last week, our baby girl Emily turned one. Of course, we had to have 2 parties so we could invite all of our "friends" as Bo would say. The morning of her birthday Weds. the balloon fairy came to Emmy's room. Then we went down and opened her present from Mommy, Daddy, and Bo. We gave her, her very own movie chair in hot pink of course. Bo picked out Minnie jammies and sippy cups.
Here is a movie clip I made of the days events
http://youtu.be/BPd44Ga9KwI

Here is a photo of Emmy trying out the cupcakes the night before the party. I think she was sneaking one and enjoying every minute of it.

Emily's first hair cut

The day before our little sweatie's first birthday we made a hair appointment at the Hairy Elephant. She didn't do a very good job of sitting still. They strapped her in and put Elmo on the TV but she wanted no part in just sitting there. We were a little shocked because she usually likes having her hair brushed after bath time but I guess this is a little different. There was a lot of stuff going on at that place and big brother Bo was getting his hair cut right next to her at the same time.

It looks like the balloon fairy stopped by Emmy's room at midnight. She will have a big surprise when she wakes up in the morning on her big day

Halloween - Mickey & Minnie Mouse

This one is also late but here are our beautiful children dressed up as Mickey and Minnie. They really had a blast getting candy and dressing up.

Daddy was a little late coming home from work so didn't get to help carve the pumpkins but mommy and grandpa did a great job
Bo had his pirate pumpkin, "Argggggg"

and Emmy had her "oooo, scarry pumpkin"

They really enjoyed the suckers from this video
http://youtu.be/veObNLPgkWI

Here is a video of Bo a few days earlier singing the Mickey Mouse Club House song. "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Come inside, it is fun inside"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9-KRCgRhWA&feature=youtu.be

Pumpkin Patch

I'm a little late on this one but I liked the video so I'm posting it any ways from October 13th.

Daddy worked late the night before so was able to come home early this day so we thought it would be a good idea to take the kids to the pumpkin patch. Bo has been asking about it every day since he saw pumpkins out and about. We figured it would be very crowded on a week day which we were correct but didn't realize they wouldn't have any of the hay rides, pony rides, and other extra stuff.

Here is Emily playing with all the pumpkins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sOXScxIzq8

Here is Bo looking for the biggest pumpkin they have way out in the fields
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC5WMlIepQU

I don't Emily knew what to think when I stuck her on top of one of the big ones.

Finally at the car to leave and I think Emily thinks she hit the jackpot with them all to herself in the back.

Buzz Lightyear & Emmy the doll

Here is a pic of Bo in his new jammies that he doesn't want to take off. He is very proud of "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue".

Then our little doll who loves climbing everywhere now. She is pretending to be the showcase here

Bo's first plumbing experiment

Here is a funny story that happened on Friday. Daddy had to go into work a little early so I was downstairs making lunch and getting ready to head out. Mommy and the kids were upstairs taking a shower. The kiddos like to play with the Leggos and other water toys in the morning. Then all of sudden I heard Mommy scream "Boland Joseph" very loudly. Everyone knows the full name is not a good sign. I ran upstairs to see Bo standing at the bathroom toilet with his hands up in the air saying "all gone". Apparently, he thought Emmy's PJs needed to be cleaned so he stuck them in the toilet and flushed them down. Thank goodness Emmy is so little because the jammies disappeared down the toilet.

Of course we were worried that the drain would back up or the clothes would become stuck in the pipes somewhere. Mommy called a "premium" plumbing company she knows who sent someone over to cable the drain. He did not find anything so luckily we think it made it all the way to the street.

As punishment, Bo had to take all the money from his piggy bank, write a letter to the plumber, and mail him his money for fixing the problem. Since Bo has been very rebellious the past few months, we are trying to give consequences for everything. Apparently, the plumber said he didn't want Bo's money but wanted his Halloween candy instead which obviously Bo was not willing to give up. Hopefully he remembers this lesson.
But it doesn't appear to have set in yet because Mommy did some painting this weekend. Bo took the painter's tape and put it in the toiler too. His sticky tape as he calls it is one of his favorite new things to play with. He is obsessed with it so now he gets to go without it as well for awhile.

Cardinals Win World Series

Since we couldn't get tickets (and Pa-Pa didn't buy) World Series tickets, we decided to take the kids to the championship parade Sunday afternoon. Here is a video of us eating lunch before heading over there.
http://youtu.be/ulLag0Ywcxw

Then of course, they started playing music so Bo had to dance.
http://youtu.be/w8L4OcCKxCw

Emmy is ready to go.

Here is Bo at the stadium in his seat. He thinks we are watching a game and is very excited.

Last time we went to the game, he ran the bases so he was very disappointed that this was as close as we could get this time.

At least we did get to see the "horsies" clydedales. That's Tony La Russa leading the parade.

It was very crowded at the festivities so Bo wanted to see.

I think all the excitement was too much. We carried him out to the "trains" (we rode the metrolink from the landing to the stadium for extra excitement for Bo). He woke up when he heard the fireworks and said "wow, what is happening".