We decided to celebrate Owen's first birthday with just family and do his party later in June. So, on Friday, June 1, we didn't take him daycare and Nate and I both took the day off from work. We had hoped to take him to the Indianapolis Zoo. He loves watching Ralph so we thought he'd get a big kick out of all the animals. Unfortunately, Friday was a pretty cool day here so we opted for the Children's Museum instead. (If you've never been, go. Seriously.)
We started off the day with lunch at Thr3e Wise Men Brewery in Broad Ripple. Owen LOVED the popcorn and ate quite a bit of pizza. It was the first time Nate or I had ever been to the restaurant, so it was fun for all of us to try a new place out.
After a bite to eat, we headed downtown. As soon as we walked into the museum, Owen started kicking his legs in excitement at the site of Bumble Bee. It was so much fun to see his face and reaction to all of the exhibits! As we walked down the ramp to the Dinosphere, he looked a little nervous and was gripping Nate's arm and shirt as he heard the dinosaur noises coming from below. Once we got down to the dinosaurs, he completely relaxed and wanted to look at everything. He even worked on a dinosaur skeleton puzzle with Nate (pictures to come later).
After checking out the dinosaurs we walked through China, Egypt, and through Captain Kidd's shipwreck - thank you National Geographic. Then, onto the train (my personal favorite)! They've built a replica of the Madison, IN train station. We lucked out as we arrived just in time for the train to "take off." A few other kids started crying because it was so loud and probably scary to them. Owen simply sat back in his stroller and watched it all without making a peep. I love this kid!
The Hot Wheels exhibit is currently at the Children's Museum. I don't know who liked it more, Nate or Owen! The cars are pretty cool. They even had a Hot Wheel toy car completely covered in diamonds... all of the moms were checking it out! We also had fun walking through the Lego exhibit and Children Making a Difference "trail" on Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges and Ryan White. I remember growing up and always hearing about Ryan White from my grandmother who was the librarian at the Cicero Library. My Uncle Bob even met Michael Jackson when he was here visiting Ryan and his family. That exhibit truly made an impact on me as I was too young when my grandmother told me about Ryan to understand why and how he was sick. Then, after growing up, I just simply forgot. I hope Nate and I can do a good job of explaining to Owen how kids like Anne, Ruby and Ryan impacted the lives of others and why they faced the discrimination that so many of us can't even fathom today.
Owen also got to crawl around the Playscape in an area completely separate from the big kids. It was so cool to see him explore all of the little tunnels and corners in the "playground." After some play time, we were all worn out so we headed over to the carousel for a ride before heading home. I put Owen on a tiger that didn't go up and down and tied him onto the seat. He took hold of the pole and never let go. It took a few rotations before he would even look over towards Nate. If he was scared, he never cried. He simply hung on and looked straight ahead. So serious!
On his birthday, Nate and I took Owen to the Flying Cupcake for a "Happy Birthday To Me" vanilla surprise. Owen had a few bites and licks of icing before he cuddled up with Dad. At first we thought he was just tired, but now I know he didn't feel good.
We had our neighbors, the Newman Family, and friends Shawn and Natalie over for a cookout that night. Shawn and Natalie brought Owen his first Tonka truck and a police car that takes off after you shake it. We're seriously enjoying the police car as Owen will shake it, put it on the floor and no sooner than it takes off Ralph freaks out, bites it and throws it across the room. I guess Ralph doesn't like cops? Anyways, we had a great time but Owen just wasn't himself. He wanted to cuddle and snooze all evening. I finally gave him a bath and put him down for what turned out to be a very long night.
Sunday wasn't any better... in fact, Owen was worse. He was throwing himself on the floor and crying. Not screaming... crying, pitiful moans. I was so scared. Nate had left to go on a long bike ride so I decided to ride it out and see how he did later in the day. By the time Nate was almost home, I called him and told him to meet us at the Med Check. Owen has another ear infection. Ugh. We got him medicine and took him home. I thought his reaction was pretty odd, though. I couldn't figure out if his cries were his new way of telling me he didn't feel good or if it was something else. Usually, when he has an ear infection, he screams. This was different. Sunday night wasn't good... I think Nate and I slept for MAYBE 4 or 5 hours. Monday morning I took him to school and headed to work just like normal.
Around lunch time, his teacher called in a panic. "Owen has Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease! You need to come get him now." I rushed to the school and got him. Sure enough... he had a rash on his hands, feet and bottom. A few blisters had even popped up - out of nowhere. Turns out another kid in his room had it the week before... no wonder Owen didn't seem happy on his birthday. He was starting to show the symptoms then! Oh, I don't have to tell you how bad I felt! The poor little guy!
So, his birthday party was supposed to be this Saturday, June 9. We cancelled it. We have no idea when his blisters will pop and scab over, so we can't take him to school anytime soon. I'm at home with him right now while Nate's in Ohio.
Just when you thought his birthday couldn't be any worse... he had his annual exam with our pediatrician today. You know what that means? Shots. It was nice to talk with our doctor thought about Hand, Food and Mouth Disease and get some tips on treatment. He said we could give Owen a 1/4 teaspoon of Benadryl to help with the itching (which was keeping him up at night). He also said that an oatmeal bath can't hurt, but may not help either. We're going to try both tonight - I'll blog about the results later this week!
I'm afraid Owen didn't get much of a birthday celebration this year. I feel so bad about it, too. Hopefully, we can celebrate another weekend with friends and family later this month!
Oh, and here are his updated stats: 29.5" long (75th percentile), 24 lbs 11 oz (50th percentile) and 19" (90th percentile). So I think it's pretty safe to say Owen's already got a big head - that means genius intelligence, right???
No comments:
Post a Comment