A Birthday Interview & the ER

Chocolate-chip waffles. Lightning McQueen plates. Birthday balloons, signs and paintings.

Happy Birthday Oreos for my nursery friends. Mac n Cheese for lunch. Family presents and a cute little brother!

I am special today plate--pizza and mandarins. Ice cream cones for dessert--3 candles on top.

9 pm. Already in bed for 2 hours. Get excited to see Mommy who comes in to feed Evie. Lunge towards her--hit my bed frame and split open my head. Bummer way to end my bday.

At least Stanford's ER has a big screen TV in every room. I watched Cars while the doctor's worked. A whole lot of glue, a few steri strips and a Nemo sticker. Got home at midnight--now that was a full birthday! And since this is the second birthday in a row that I've visited the ER, Mommy is going to put me in a helmet next year!

***

I know a few people who do birthday interviews, and I think it's a fun idea. We'll ask the boys the same questions every year on their birthday and see how things change--or don't! (PS--I wrote his responses word for word.)

What is your favorite:
Color: uh, my favorite color is yellow.
Food: uh, mmm, muffins. What kind? Strawberry muffins.
Game: my favorite game is a train game. Can I press that button for it can chug?
Book: mmm, uh a train book.
Toy: mmm, my favorite toy is a train.
Treat: my favorite treat, mm, is crackers.
Song: uh, my favorite song if the dinosaur train song.
Thing to learn about: my favorite thing to learn about is dinosaurs
Animal: my favorite animal is a dinosaur
TV show: my tv show is the dinosaur train
Thing to wear: my favorite thing is to wear underwear
Holiday: mmm, my favorite holiday is when we get birthday presents, we open them up, and the dinosaur train was in there and there were dinosaurs in there too (squeals)
What do you want to be when you grow up? I don’t know. I think I wanted to be when I grow up is a train.
If someone was being mean to your brother, what would you do? I say, “Pwease don’t be mean to my brother.”
Who is your best friend? Frankie.
What is something you want to learn to do this year? I don’t know. I fink…like, a train.
What is something that you are really good at? Huh? Huh? I don’t know. I know. Know. I’m really good at a friend whose behind me. What do you do to that friend? Play with that friend.
If you had a million dollars, what would you buy? Toys.
If you were an animal, what would you be? I wanted to be a giraffe. Why I do want to be a giraffe because I’d have a long, long neck.
What do you want someone to invent? Huh? A train.
If you could have a magic power, what would it be? A dinosaur power.
How many kids do you want to have when you grow up and get married? I want two kids.
What kind of house would you like to live in: an igloo, a treehouse, a castle, a cave, or our house? Our house. Huh. Yeah.
Who is the prettiest girl in the whole world? Cedar.
Where do you want to go on your mission? I want to go on a mission, like Uncle Chase goes on a mission. I will go to butter.

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Last week in a nutshell

Last week was kind of insane. Evie got sick, like double ear infection/bronchitis/possibly RSV/quit eating/quit sleeping/cried cried cried/lost 1.5 pounds in a week kind of sick. The stress level was so high it was almost humorous. Almost. Despite the craziness, we still had a pretty good week, mostly due to the fact that it was Talmage's birthday week so we got packages in the mail and were planning a party.

T trying on his conductor hat for the first time and falling totally in love. He.is.so.cute.

Opening a birthday package and loving every second.

Evie and his breathing treatment that he loves. I mean, likes. Ok, fine, he hates the thing.

Sleeping with his foot through the bar.

Sleeping with his baby bear.

T and Evie were in a boat swimming away from sharks.

On Wednesday a package from Papa and GG came which drastically changed the awesomeness of the week! They gave T a wagon for his birthday, and it was love at first sight. We have pretty much lived in the thing since. This was our maiden voyage.

These three are in here together a lot. They like to sing, "A sailor went to sea, sea, sea..." and go to San Francisco.

My Noni sent this and it's amazing! It's a perpetual movement machine and that toucan keeps spinning and spinning across the bars. The best part is that she carved and painted the whole entire thing. We love it.

And just in case you thought I was kidding about the three amigos living in the wagon, I wasn't. Here they are again giving each other rides.

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T's 3 Timeline.

March 11, 2009

Provo, Utah

Talmage Scott was born, and we are forever grateful that we were able to keep him. His birth was both joyous (because we were parents to a beautiful son) and tragic (because that beautiful son of ours was fighting for his life). We made it through his first few days one day at a time, and rejoiced in even the smallest milestones--holding him for the first time at 4 days old, feeding him at 5 days, taking him home a little over a week after birth. So while March 11 in 2009 was not exactly what we were hoping for or had planned, it is still a day to celebrate, for on that day the world met it's match in Mr. T!

March 11, 2010

Cambridge, England

Still not walking (and just barely crawling), T spent his first birthday chasing balloons around the house and entertaining friends. But the crowning event of the day was when he dove into his birthday cake face first! He would take a few bites and squeal in delight. The moment was priceless and luckily some family got to experience the action on Skype.

March 11, 2011

Bronx, New York

Our day was spent playing at the Spuyten Duyvil playground where many-a-child admired your new stitches, eating a slice at our favorite pizza place and blowing out an ice cream cone for dessert. Life was FULL to the brim with Cars. Everything Cars. A Cars party was had and a cars party was LOVED!

March 11, 2012

Stanford, California

Three? How in heavens name did that happen? This kid of ours has been more three than two lately...and knock on wood I'm beginning to think I'm going to like this 3 thing! He reasons. He understands. He communicates. He is caring and loving and aims to please, mostly. He's still fiery and spirited, but he wouldn't be the T we all love if that changed too much! For the first time in his life we were able to have family at his birthday party and it was SO nice.

***

T-Man, Mr. T, Talmage Scottavich, Mr. Man, Little Mister,

We love you. Happy Birthday!

Love,

Mommy, Dad-Man and Evie Knight

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Dinosaur Train Birthday Party

Talmage turns 3 tomorrow so we celebrated with a Dinosaur Train party today! It actually went really well, and he was THRILLED which made everything worth it. There is not a lot of Dinosaur Train merchandise for sale yet, so I had to be a little bit crafty...but it was fun. Here's a little run-down of the party.

When kids started showing up we gave them each a conductor hat and they started coloring some Dinosaur Train pages I had printed from pbs.com. It was a great starter activity while we waited for everyone to come. We also had Dinosaur Train music in the background.

After coloring, the kids were given a ticket to ride on T's Dinosaur Train. My dad made the tickets, which were amazing, and Jim and I made the train out of cardboard and paint (which rested on T's new wagon from Papa and GG...more on that later). This might have been the highlight of the party for everyone! It turned out way cuter than I was expecting, and Talmage was absolutely floored. He kept saying, "Wow. Wow Mommy. Is a Dinosaur Train and is for my party!"

We played a few games--red light/green light, Conductor Says and then we went on a Dinosaur Egg Hunt. They were fun for the older kids, and the younger kids were at least partially entertained.

Since we did the party between meals, we just did snacks. There was food for herbivores (veg), carnivores (goldfish), cupcakes and prehistoric swamp juice (apple juice punch dyed green with swedish fish and gummy worms). I made all the decorations for the cupcakes and they turned out really cute.

And even though he kind of looked like a deer in the headlights when we sang to him, I think he kind of liked it ;)

And then it was time for presents. Our friends were so kind and Talmage got some really amazing things. Needless to say, we spent the whole rest of the day playing, playing, playing.

After the organized part of the party was done, I got the camera out and tried to get pics of everyone who was still there. I didn't get everyone, but I got some. We sure love our friends!

We love you Birthday Boy! Hooray for being 3. Thank you for giving us a reason to celebrate!

After the party we took Grammie to see the Memorial Church since this was her first trip to Stanford.

And, of course, me and my dad were acting super mature.

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All Quiet on the Wiggy Front

For the last six weeks we have been on house-arrest while Everett (and his cheerleaders) have worked on recovering from his heart surgery and all that came with it--pain and soreness, meds, vocal cord paralysis, extreme eating issues, weight loss...and then gain!, sleeping problems and more. Feeding is our biggest chore, with little Evie clenching his jaw together and refusing to open for a spoon a bottle or to nurse. Many tears have been shed--mine and his--and many prayers have been said as we struggle to beef this baby up. I will admit, being exausted does not help the situation and time and time again over the last six weeks I have felt desperate over how difficult simple things, like eating and sleeping, seem to be.

Add all the at-home recovery with frequent visits to the cardiologist, pediatrician, ENT and a few other doctors and life has been busy, and yet simultaneously quiet. The farthest we've ventured from our home is the courtyard (besides our doctors visits) so that we can protect Everett from all the germs and bugs that Winter offers--although I must say that these California winter's are heavenly! And while we are SO blessed to have an incredible backyard (courtyard) full of friends and bikes and swings and all things fun, I am looking forward to eventually easing my way back into mainstream life. I miss playdates and museums and taking my boys to the store. I miss field trips with T and feeling like I have control over what we can do. In Everett's 8 months he has been on some sort of extreme lock-down for 6 of them, and I'm just excited at the thought of feeling free to go where we please. I am nervous that I will always be a tad socially-awkward about germs and sickness and keeping my kids safe, but maybe it'll fade away with time (just like Everett's scar) or maybe it will be the new me. Who knows.

But while we wait for flu season to officially pass, and for our cardiologist to give us a prescription back into public, we are left quietly enjoying our time at home. Reading books, making treats, watching shows, going on walks, planting seeds and riding bikes. I know that things won't always be all quiet on the Wiggy front, so I'm trying to enjoy it now.

One of T's many boo-boo's from the last week. Our policy is no blood=no band aid and let's just say that we've used many a band aid lately. After getting a big bonk he usually cries for a few minutes and then gets so excited (a whimpering excited) over picking a Cars band aid for his owie! This kid is really growing up...but more about that this week--HIS 3RD BIRTHDAY WEEK!!!

Talmage and Cedar-girl reading to each other on Dr. Seuss' birthday. I had pulled out all of our Dr. Seuss books and they sat on the couch reading together for such.a.long.time. It was awesome.

And here's our little sun-baby. Such a sweet little kid who LOVES the sunshine and will sit on a blanket and watch the big kids play forever.

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