Logan Turns 2!

My littlest buddy turned TWO today!  He was born with an extra shot of energy and loves to be outdoors.  My little adventurer and creator.  He is smart, silly and has "super strength" (as Owen always says).  He is easygoing and as long as he can "walka walka" he is a happy camper.  He LOVES music and watches music videos on YouTube all the time!!  He is not a huge talker but is busting out new words every day.  He is motivated by chocolate and we can get him to do pretty much anything with a promise of chocolate. He loves animals, especially dogs, and is so affectionate with them.  He even tries to pick up the ducks...

This morning Kam played the Sesame Street Happy Birthday song on YouTube and he loved it!  He loves "La La" and "knee" and "cook", even though he has probably never watched an episode of Sesame Street yet.

He got a water table with ball cyclone which he quickly dumped an entire bag of goldfish down.  The rest of the day he would go grab a goldfish like it was a dispenser for him.  Owen had this remote control train set when he was little and so it was recycled for Logi.

A new Sesame shirt was fitting for the big boy!

Kam and Carson took him to Joes Farm for breakfast so he could run around (his favorite) and eat his favorite meal.  Mostly sausage and bacon.

Kam tried hard to get a photo of his face today and couldn't get a single one because he is on the move!

My little artist loves to paint, color, draw...or paint with water at Auntie Sussys.  Best. Activity. Ever.  He will paint with water for a very long time.

My super smart boy knows his color and loves counting to five.  He is a master at puzzles too!  Larissa sent me this video this week.

He loves to eat and is super independent. If we had a dog I'm pretty sure he would be severely obese because Logi can't help but feed the family dogs.  

He loves nap time and will usually tell you when it's time and climb right into bed.  Except for when Daddy is with him...he has to drive him somewhere to get him to sleep.

I am bummed to not be with him on his birthday but we will be together so soon. We Facetimed to sing Happy Birthday and watched him dig into his cake.

Catching Up

Where did I leave off?  I should really be better at updating and lack of time is not an excuse.  We have nothing but time while in here.  I suppose I just feel like there isn't much to say.  Owen is hanging in there...his labs are stable and his echo is unchanged (stiff and low EF).  So we wait...  and have as much fun as we can.  

Today was the last day is school before break.  They did a lot of crafts this week. He built a pirate ship with engineers from the new hospital, they made winter crafts on Thursday and Art today.  He may not be learning too much but he is loving school.  Look at "Cutie" the penguin he made... 

They did chalk art today and last week. 

His ELF, Emperor Moriarty, returned on he 10th and has been very mishevious but for some reason hasn't moved in 24 hours.  I told Owen he must be VeRy tired.  (Fail)

We get some school work done in his room and venture out a couple times a day.  Owen has been on the hunt for the best chicken wings and so far Round Table had the spiciest.

As far as visitors, the 49ers came this week and there was cupcake decorating.  

Owen has no idea one sport team from the next, it's just not his thing.  So he smiled and watched the super fans get their autographs on.

He is a Star Wars super fan so he was thrilled when the entire crew came to visit.  They handed out inflatable light sabers and he battled nurses.  We made Yoda puppets and R2D2 crafts.  

Each day I get a ton of packages and cards at the RMH.  The packages are mostly from Amazon because I have everything shipped here for Christmas.  Owen is loving all the cards!!!!!  His card wall is getting so full!  He reads every single card and I show him where everyone is from.  Y'all are killing me with your dog cards..."seems like everyone has a dog BUT me!"  Says the boy who REALLY wants a dog and a mom who doesn't love animals.  Maybe a service dog...

We are staying healthy and time is cruising right along.  Our fam will be here next week and I'm sure Santa will make an appearance sometime as well.  Owens hospital room is such a happy place!  We are really making the most of the situation.  A heart will come.

Keeping Busy

I am back!  It has been a very busy week!  Yesterday was the Winter Wonderland party at the hospital and it was only two hours but felt like an entire day.  They had games, prizes, cookie decorating, ornaments, scarves, keychain personalization and a whole wall to pick out a stuffed animal.  Owen got his Christmas shopping done!  

He was so thrilled to win this BB8!! 

The week started out with a procedure on Monday morning.  We woke up and headed straight down to Interventional Radiology.  They wanted to put him completely under, but they agreed to do light sedation and let me scrub in.  Owen got his favorite, and most requested, Ketamine.  He felt good and we got a new PIcC line placed pretty quickly.  His old line kept clotting off and it's a huge infection risk and not a risk we want.  We spent some time in the recovery room and then headed back to his hospital room for a lazy afternoon of playing Minecraft.

We have been getting cards flowing in from all over the US and Owen LOVES it!  He reads every single one and we talk about where they are from.  He is just beside himself  that so many people  thought to send a card!  If you want to send one Ithe address is: 

Owen Simmons

c/o RMH Stanford

510 Sand Hill Rd

Palo Alto, CA 94304

On Tuesday, they made gingerbread houses at school.  Owen is a perfectionist and made sure to color coordinate his candy in specific patterns and no messy icing anywhere.  He loves his house and thankfully doesn't like candy too much.  It smells so good in his room.

Today in school they had a team from the Monterrey Bay Aquarium come in and teach them all about sharks.  They all really loved it and got goodie bags and a shark tooth at the end.  We went back for the afternoon session to make jellyfish and do some quizzing on the morning session.  Owen fits right in and loves it!

We were out for one of our nightly walks and passed Karlas room to see a star shower projected on the ceiling...so cool!  We came back and ordered one for Owen and it's so magical and fun in here!!  Such a fun idea if anyone has a little one inpatient for the holidays.   Owens room is twinkling with red and green.

We have been exploring outdoors and the other day spent time with Nurse Jay and another patient playing drones.  Owen loved it so much.  He loves to get outside in the atrium or by the topiaries everyday.

Time is moving right along and we are having a memorable December.  As of this month we have spent almost half of our 2016 inpatient, out of state.  We are so blessed that Owens heart continues to   remain stable.  I keep meeting new heart moms here and everyone has a story.  Prayers for all these little ones.

Back home...  Logi has caught a nasty bug.  Snot, cough, puky and sometimes fevers.  Kam took him to the pediatrician today (and felt like a single mom for a moment) and it definitely seems viral.  This too shall pass.

His 2nd Birhday is coming up and he sure is smart enough to find his presents.

He loves spending his days with "Suss" and he is happy.  He is talking a lot more and love his big cheesy smile when we talk on FaceTime.  Only a couple weeks before I get to squeeze those cheeks again!

Kam is slammed with school and helping out around the house.  She  is an amazing girl and I am so proud of her!  Carson is now 40!  I love saying that because it sounds like he is so old!  Love you babe. 

 

197 days and counting...