A bunch of Sickies

It's been a rough month at the Makechnie house, health-wise.  Here's a wee run down:

- Finn cut 4 molars.  It was loud.

- Tate got a stomach bug, again.  He threw up all day then we gave him zofran and he slowly got better.

- Finn got an ear infection, and an eye infection on the same side of his head.  The whole right side of his face was swollen.  It was sad and also kind of funny.

- Tate got an ear infection.

And the grand finale, Glenn got an ear infection among other things.  It was a solid week and a half of feeling gross for Glenn.  He went to instacare a few days in and got some meds but he never really slowed down, so he never really got all the way better.  

Then last Tuesday I get a call from Kurtus, a friend of his at work.  (We actually know their family from BYU and then UT and now they work together.)  Kurtus told me that Glenn called him to come up and give him a blessing.  By the time he got to Glenn's office, he found Glenn face down on the floor unable to move at all.  He was severely dizzy and felt like he couldn't move or stand up because he didn't have the balance.  They called an ambulance and the paramedics had to lift Glenn onto the gurney because he couldn't even roll over.  

I met them at the hospital downtown.  He was on a lot of meds and starting to feel better.  He had vertigo, probably brought on by his ear infection which made its' way to his inner ear and affected his equilibrium.  After he could walk a bit they sent us home with some meds and very little advice or information.  I was frustrated.  Please don't send me home with my broken honey without very specific instructions on how to un-break him!

Tuesday was rough.  Wednesday morning he woke up saying that he felt entirely better.  He went to work for most of the day Thursday and then on Friday he played in the Newfield Volleyball tournament all day long.  Even after an ER visit, you just can't keep Glenn down long, especially if he's feeling better.

It's always scary when Glenn gets really sick.  Getting a phone call saying he's being taken to the ER in an ambulance was not my favorite.  He's always the one taking care of us, so it's scary when he down and out.  Luckily, he really is all better now.  Once he finished his meds for his ear infection and that was taken care of, he hasn't had any problems.  I hope it never happens again, it sounds horrible.

Another luckily, in this month of yuck is that I haven't been sick. Wow, that would have made it all much harder.  

Glad it's over.  We all seem to be healthy now and hopefully we can keep it that way!  We have a lot of playing planned this summer and we have no time for being sick!

All About Finn

Every once in a while I should be doing a post all about Finny.  I post about Tate a lot because he's got a lot going on and it seems like poor Finny is just tagging along us some times.  But we sure love him, so I need to update what he's been up to lately!  

First and foremost, he's growing.  A lot.  He's become this big, stocky, little boy.  He's like a solid, rectangular cinder block.  I keep calling him "Baby Finn" out of habit, but the kid is 18 months old this week.  He's a little boy now.  It's the pits, and it's delightful all at the same time.  Ahhhh, motherhood.

Finn now says 10 words: Noooooo (His first word.  He sticks his lips out all cute when he says it.  Hard to be mad when he does that.), Dada (his second word), Nana (he says it for his Nana and also banana/all food), go, wawa (water), Mama, this (when pointing to anything he wants), ow, ball, and basketball.  He also has a great Roar for tigers, bears, etc.  He's his own little man, that's for sure.  Tate was all over the verbal expression thing when he was Finn's age, but Finn just doesn't want to.  We ask him to repeat what we say and he says "no" or simply ignores us.  He's a stubborn little bean, and I guess he'll learn to speak more when he darn well pleases.  That's fine with me.  

I am very pleased that he finally learned Momma.  For months now he's only said, Dada.  Once I was putting him down for his nap and I said to him, "Finny, I sure love you.  Do you love me too."  He looked straight at me and said, "Dada."  All right then.  It's clear you have your favorite.

Finn used to "fold his arms" for prayer by placing his hands on his chest.  I never got a picture of it, so when he changed how he folded his arms, I immediately got the camera out.  

 It's pretty funny.  And always accompanied by this little smirky grin, cause he knows he looks funny and cute.

Another expression that I have yet to catch on camera, but I MUST do it, is his scowl.  He has the orneriest little scowl when you make him mad.  It's hilarious...and makes me kinda mad at the same time.  He's started throwing little mini fits.  Mini, cause they're short, not because they lack intensity. He has thrown himself on the floor, run around in circles, hit the walls or furniture, usually while yelling "NOOOOO", when he gets mad.  

He's recently learned to climb.  If we don't push in chairs he'll climb onto the chairs, then onto the table or desk.  Here he's pondering Tate's breakfast.

And here he's asking for Tate's breakfast.  Tate knows that once Finn is done with his breakfast and is freed from his high chair, he needs to push his place mat farther from the edge of the table because Finn will come begging, and if he gets his hands on the place mat, he could pull the whole thing off the table.  He hasn't succeeded yet, but he still tries.

 He also loves to get on the piano bench and plink on the piano.

 Just a cute picture of the boys sitting together at the science museum.

 Ramps are his new favorite thing.  Every time he sees one he runs up and down over and over.  We're at the science museum here.  There are tons of fun things to see, but Finny just wants to run up and down the ramp.

 And the kid really moves.  He has this funny little hoppy run that looks so unsteady, but he really moves fast.  I'm waiting for him to fall and split his head open.  So surprised it hasn't happened yet.  He's at that tricky stage where he really wants to be independent and walk around on his own when we go places, but he's not always obedient enough to stay really close, not touch things, or not run in the road, so we have to keep him confined a lot of the time and that's frustrating for the poor kid.

He is a very physical little guy.  We're trying to curb the throwing and hitting because it seems like when he's frustrated, he automatically results to being physically grouchy. He had his first week of nursery last Sunday.  I knew he'd be fine with me leaving, but I wasn't sure how he'd do with having to share with so many kids his size or smaller.  His teacher said she could tell he hadn't been around little girls much because he just didn't know how to be really gentle.  True.  He's just not a very soft or gentle guy.  She also said that a little boy laid down on the floor and fell asleep.  Finn went over and laid down on top of him.  You know, if someone's lying down they're fair game for a wrestling match, right? Dear me.

He loves ALL sports.  He shouts "Baaa" at the TV over and over when Glenn is watching any sport.  He also yells "Baaa" when we are out on a drive, walk, or jog and we pass a basketball hoop.He plays with any ball he can get his hands on, and is always excited when Dad gets home because Dad is very excited to foster his athletic skills.  For a while he was using Tate's ice cream scoops as his own little lacrosse sticks.  He'd put a little basketball in them.  Wind up with both arms, and throw the ball around.  Glenn was so proud.  

He's had a bit of a rough month.  Poor kid cut four molars this month, then had an ear and eye infection.  It was a VERY whiney and ornery month.  Sometimes he's hard to get close to, this kid.  Especially when he's grouchy.  He's just not a cuddly kid.  But then, last week, he learned to say Mamma.  And all of a sudden I got this glimpse of a sweet, loving little Finn.  Since he was a newborn he would scream at me when I sang to him at nap time or bed time and he would scream at me when I tried to hug him.  Even when he got hurt, I'd scoop him up and he'd yell at me, pushing away from me until I put him down.  But last week he warmed up to me a bit, he started letting me snuggle him and he cried when I was done singing.  It was truly a miracle.  It was like someone threw a switch and all of a sudden he loved me.  He ran to me saying, "mamma" when he was hurt or sad and let me hug him, briefly, but he let me without screaming!  He let me sing to him and snuggle him at bed time.  It was wonderful.  He's been more feisty the last couple of days, but I'm glad that there is a slightly more snuggly Finn in there.  He is a more stubborn, independent being than Tate, and that's just fine.  It will serve him well in life, in a lot of ways.  But it is really nice, lately, to know that he loves me.  That he needs me or that I can help him at all.  

Dad and Tate, however, have always been easy for Finn to love.  

 Finn adores his big brother and any time he can get him to hold still he's trying to tackle Tate or hug him, or just lie on top of him.  

 "Hey, Brother.  Do you know I'm up here?"

 "Can you see me now?"

"Hmmm, what if I play with your face?"

We love our little feisty Finny.  So glad he's our boy.

Soccer

This spring we signed Tate up for his first sports season.  Saturdays were pretty much the highlight of my week.  The kids were ages 3-5 but most of them were between 4 and 5 and man, you could really tell a huge difference between that four and five years.  A lot of development goes on there.  A few of the kids, regardless of age, had what Glenn called the "Eye of the Tiger" and knew just what to do, got right in the middle of the action, some even threw in a good tumble or fall at the end of every "play" just for fun.  But most of them were just plain funny to watch.  Tate was not an "eye of the tiger" player, but we expected that.  He doesn't have much agression or competition in him.  He just doesn't.  Which I think is a bit frustrating for Glenn, just figuring out how to relate because I think Glenn has agression and competition in his veins instead of blood.  But, holding Finn while watching Tate play probably helped him out a bit, knowing that Finn is going to be more like Glenn.  Finn was SO MAD that we wouldn't let him get out there and get the ball!  He wanted to play so bad and he's barely one and a half.  It was pretty funny/exhausting.  It's like wrestling a very strong bear cub for an hour.
Anyway, Tate did great.  He learned to listen to his coach, and participated great during their practice.  Soccer was just an hour every Saturday.  The first half hour was a "practice" where they played games and ran little drills.  The second half hour was a game against another team.  I'm grateful for that first little practice part because Tate was not excited about getting in the swarm of kicking legs during the game part, so the practice gave him a chance to actually touch the ball.

 "Hey guys, I kicked it in the goal!"

 "That's awesome, Tate!  Let's hug!"

Sometimes even the practice got a little long.  Picking grass or dandelions helped pass the time while waiting your turn.

Or there's always wearing the cones as hats if you get bored.

Every practice they had some sort of drill where they each got to kick the ball in the goal.  That was every kiddo's favorite part.  

This one was duck, duck, goose.  If he called you the goose, you had to run to the ball and kick it to the goal.  Tate loved that.

Learning to stop the ball with your foot.

Just biding his time.

Aaaand here he is during the game.  

 He was pretty confused/frustrated when he did get in the middle of things and he got pushed over.  He usually ended up telling us and his coach about it for the rest of the game.  We tried to explain that this was part of the game and what you had to do to get the ball.  He thought it was very impolite.

 Here's Finn in the middle of saying his favorite new word, "Baaaa" (Ball, of course.)

 The kid is always happiest when holding a ball, though playing ball with Dada (his other favorite word) is obviously even better than playing ball by himself.

Sometimes if Finn was lucky, there were dogs to go visit during the game.  

 Tate, in his soccer gear.  He loved his shin guards the most.  He said they made him look like a blue storm trooper.  

 The last game Tate really caught the, "I wanna get the ball during the game" bug.  It might have had something to do with Glenn bribing him with ice cream.  Previously, he didn't really have any desire to get in the mess during the game.  He just sort of trotted after the pack around the field.  But that last game, he ran as fast as he could go, followed the ball around the field, and even kicked the ball a few times.  It was a huge improvement!  Of course, the whole caring thing came with a side effect of being really frustrated when other kids took the ball away from him once he got it.  There were tears.  His coach was awesome.

 Coach Brian even held his hand during the last few minutes and ran around the field with him helping him get some ball contact again.  He was such a great coach.  So sweet and encouraging to all the very different types of little kids on our team.

 Tate was thrilled to receive a participation medal at the end of the season.  He wore it all weekend and showed it to everyone.

Oh man, being a parent is so great.  We had a blast watching Tate all season and can't wait until the Fall when we get to do it again.  Good job, Tate!