We had a pretty fun Halloween, and I have the photos to prove it. Falco was a turkey, or a chicken according to most people. He was a real sport about keeping his costume on, just like last year. He had four opportunities to wear it, at the zoo, at school, on actual Halloween, and at a day-after party at our house. We’re hoping to still get more use out of the turkey suit for Thanksgiving, though that seems a little weird since we will be eating said bird.

Seriously, is this my child? I have no memory of having a tiny, angelic, sleeping baby. It must have happened, but now I only know him as a wild toddler who uses the potty and hits me when he’s mad and asks to draw with markers and talks about how nice he is. Sadly, in two years, I won’t remember this time and will only know him as a preschooler who does whatever four year olds do. *sniff*

For those of you who don’t know the story, Matt was hit by a car while riding his bike to the train station on 9/30. The driver didn’t see him and made a quick right turn, taking my poor husband out in the process. I got a very scary call on my way to Falco’s school from a stranger calling from Matt’s cell phone. He said that Matt was in an accident and asked him to call me to let me know. The stranger, Tom, said that he was OK but confused, and an ambulance was on the way. Matt does not remember Tom or asking him to call me, but I’m so glad he did. I dropped Falco at school and met Matt at the emergency room. His poor head was banged up, but he was awake and oriented.

Turns out he was scraped and bruised all over and had facial fractures. He was wearing his helmet, which definitely protected him from worse head trauma, but his poor face still hit the asphalt. He needed a laceration repair on his eyebrow and ultimately surgery to correct his fracture. There are many stories about his time in the ER and rechecks and day of surgery that are outdated and unpleasant, so suffice it to say that he is recovering and doing well, all things considering.

You may remember that we have a child, Falco, who I used to tell you about, post cute photos of, etc. I will be sure to write my next post soon about how hilarious, adorable, and brilliant he is. Stay tuned.

As if this wasn’t enough, I took Adelaide to the vet on Monday because she seemed a little off to me. She wasn’t exactly off balance or anything I could put my finger on, but she was acting sluggish and not herself. She passed her neurological tests, and the vets said they couldn’t see any abnormalities. She still didn’t seem quite right to me, but I assumed I was just being paranoid. Unfortunately, after another day of seeming quiet and lethargic, she had a seizure tonight. We have been tapering her meds, so it seems that her symptoms are returning at this lower dose of steroids and seizure drugs. So, it’s back to the doctor with her to see where to go from here.

We knew her disease had a grave prognosis, but her recovery was so dramatic that I was starting to think it was all a mistake and she was cured. I guess that’s what steroids can do for you. She can’t stay on high doses of steroids forever though because they are too hard on her body, so it’s unclear what the plan will be from here. At least we were expecting this and knew she may not have much time left. She has had a pretty good couple of months at home with us, and we won’t let her condition become nearly as bad as it did when this all started. I don’t mean to be too morbid, but realistically, we likely have some sad times and tough decisions ahead.

Oh, and tomorrow morning Matt is having surgery to repair his broken cheekbone from when he was hit by a car on his bike two weeks ago. I KNOW I should have mentioned it sooner, but I’m telling you now, m’kay? He is OK but still has to get through this surgery and recovery.

That’s all the breaking news for now.

As a side note, if I thought my kid was cute before, he is out-of-control adorable in underwear. A skinny toddler in firetruck or monkey briefs and a T-shirt is just too much.

Someone posted to a local parents’ email list about a parent-run childcare co-op for kids 18 months to 3 years. They call it pre-preschool. The program is 9-12 Monday through Thursday, and your child can attend two or four mornings per week. Each parent works half the days their kid is there, so you have one or two workdays and one or two mornings of childcare. When I first read about it, I was interested but thought I wasn’t ready to leave Falco yet. But then I kept thinking about it for the rest of the day and mentioned it to Matt. He thought it sounded like a great idea, and I was starting to think so too.

Before I knew it, I was signed up for a tour after Labor Day and an info night later that same week. I really liked every parent and kid I met, so the only deciding factor was whether Falco would like it or not. His first time there, he kept going to the gate and saying, “Go!” which made me a little worried. I took him back for a second visit the next week, and he started playing well right away. I decided then and there that we were going to sign up for two mornings per week, and last we attended our first full morning!

This week, I left him for about 30 minutes while I went to have a coffee, and he did great. I think I’m going to stay with him most of the time for a couple more days and then try to leave him for at least two hours one morning next week. It’s a big step for both of us to be away from each other, but it’s only three hours per week. Now that he is entering the terrible twos (sorry, Falco, but it’s true), I think I need a break to keep my sanity, and I think this can help him build some independence. Also, since we don’t have any family around, it will be a good opportunity for Falco to build relationships with other adults.

Here is a movie of his first day of school. It’s hard to hear, but he is saying, “School, yeah! School, yeah!”

In other news, we took Falco to Seattle over Labor Day weekend to go to PAX. The only other time we have travelled with him was our trip to Mississippi when he was eight months old, so we were nervous, especially about the flights. Our worries were not completely unfounded, as you might expect, since we were going to be trapped on a plane with a very active 21-month-old. We got through it, but not without a lot of squirming and whining and seat kicking and crying about ear pain and squealing every time the PA system turned on, etc. We couldn’t really engage him in any activity; he wouldn’t sleep; and on the way home he got so frustrated that he started hitting us. We couldn’t do anything about it for fear of causing a meltdown, so we had to just take his bad behavior and all be miserable.

The good news is, when we were actually in Seattle, he did great. He slept well in the Pack and Play the hotel provided, and he was in a pretty good mood and excited to see new things. We couldn’t really do much of PAX because it was crowded and filled with a lot of stuff he wasn’t allowed to touch, so we spent a lot of time in the room. Overall, with the tortuous air travel, such a quick stay, and missing most of the conference, I don’t know that it was worth the trouble and expense. It was fun to go be with a bunch of fellow nerds for the weekend, but we were all happy to get home.

Falco loves it!