...And Gus goes to school too

Robby started preschool this year.  I can't even begin to tell you how much I struggled with this.  I wend back and forth on this decision countless times, but finally decided that it would be good for me to learn how to teach and trust others to care for Robby (not just baby-sitters and friends).  

I approached the director of the preschool Tyler attended and asked if she was willing to take Robby on as a student, given his special needs.  Bless her, she agreed (unlike a public school, a private pre-school can reject students because they might be a liability or extra work).  My biggest hang up was in leaving him for 5 hours.  I knew this would entail one snack and one lunch, which translates to two BG checks and lots of work for them and me- not to mention the stress, so I asked the school director if she would let Robby come for half days.  She agreed and was even willing to pro-rate the cost for me. Needless to say, they have been more than generous to us and our situation.  My hope is that by the end of the year he is attending full day, but we will need some time to work up to that.

When I considered my reservations, I always tried to do what is best for Robby and I knew that sending him to have a fun time twice a week for 2 1/2 hours was going to be a good thing for him, even if I was going to miss him like crazy.  When the first day finally came, Robby was so excited.  Oh man I love watching this kid when he's excited.  The excitement bubbles over and he can hardly contain it.  Here he is eating breakfast with his backpack on- ready to go!

 And here's my darling little pre-schooler.

For him, his first day was a HUGE success.  He loved every minute of it!  For me, it was a bit of a disaster.  But oh well!  Before school started, I met with the director, her assistant, and his two classroom teachers.  I trained them all and left them each with a quick cheat sheet for Robby's diabetes care as well as a binder with step by step instructions for everything (including pictures).  It is quite impressive if I do say so myself.  So when I dropped him off on the first day at 9:00, everyone was ready to go.  Our plan was for the preschool director to do a BG check at 10:00 and call me with the results.  I got a call just before 10 letting me know that Robby had reported that he felt low, so she did a BG check and it turns out he's not low, but extremely high (like 450 high).  At least the kiddo knew what to do when he didn't feel good.  So I ran back over to give him a shot of insulin, rather than having her deliver a bolus of insulin through the pump (when he's that high a shot works better and faster).  Then an hour and a half later when I came to pick him up, I asked him if we could take his picture outside of the school before we headed home, he then started crying (my first cue that he's low) and told me that he felt really low.  A quick BG check in the parking lot and sure enough, he was at 49.  Blast, from 450 to 49 all in one morning.  Poor kid must have felt like crap.  It turns out that adrenalin makes the body insulin resistant and I guess Robby was a combination of super nervous and super excited, thus resulting in the super high.  Wow.

We went home and had lunch together.  That is now my favorite part of the day.  We sit and eat and talk about his time at preschool (no m&m bribery needed).  I love hearing about the world through his eyes.  It's so exciting and fun.

Things have leveled out since then.  The first few weeks, he continued to run a little high, but not high enough to require me to head back to give him a shot at least.  I'm so grateful that he's having such a positive experience.  I'm so grateful that he's a good sport about leaving early and about having a different snack than the other kids (his sweet teachers package up the daily snack and send it home for later), and I'm extremely grateful for capable and loving people who are willing to take care of my boy.

Preschool is such an adventure and we're all excited for our Gus.  Here is Tyler asking Robby about his first day of school.  What a good big brother Tyler is- i love their sweet interaction.

And no, Robby's first day did not get a "first day hooray party." Mostly we were just glad he survived the day.

summer fun- random acts of kindness day

This summer, as I browsed through Pinterest for fun summer activity ideas, it really struck me how much effort and energy we sometimes put into creating happy, fun memories for our children- many of which have little or no value to them.  I tried to choose carefully activities that I knew my kids would actually value (most of these activities aren't the "Pinterest" kind of activities), but I also wanted to do things that were in line with my core values.  As I thought about this, I realized that I want my kids to understand the value of service and that many times we are most happy when we are serving others.  So we decided to do a "random acts of kindness day."  We also started a sticker chart and made a goal to do 100 acts of kindness this summer.  It was fantastic and I'm so grateful we did this.

On our random acts of kindness day we made cards for our local fire department and took them a plate of goodies.

 They were very grateful and were kind enough to let the boys climb into the fire truck (you'd have thought Gus had hit the jackpot).

 We also made cards and took flowers to one of our local nursing homes.  We asked the attendant to make sure to give them to someone at the home who maybe didn't get many visitors or who just needed a cheering up.

We also made a plate of goodies for our mail carrier along with an ice cold bottle of water.  The boys were so bummed when we missed her that afternoon.  I was so proud of Tyler when he kept an eye out for her the next day and made sure her ran out to give her our token of thanks all by himself (he's usually a bit shy with stuff like this).  I loved watching the whole thing from my front window.  

We continued our acts of kindness and each night at dinner we'd report on what we had done that day for others.  At first, I had to really remind the boys to look for opportunities, but by the end,they became very good at spotting ways they could help others.  My proudest moment came on the second or third day of school.  I had just dropped Tyler in the carpool lane and as he walked into the building, he noticed a man who had dropped a few pieces of paper.  Tyler quickly stopped and picked up the papers for the man and then casually headed into the school.  As I sat in my car and observed the whole incident, I was so pleased that our acts of kindness had sunk in and it had even become a habit to notice others in need.  Tyler is usually quite shy with people (until he gets to know you) and it is usually not in his comfort level to go outside of himself like that unless I'm there to prompt him.  I was so proud of him in that moment.  It has been fun ever since, even though our 100 acts of kindness chart has been filled, to hear the boys report on acts of kindness that they perform for others.

It's the small things that mean so much.

summer fun- this & that

Here are a few of the other activities we did this summer when we weren't at the pool:

Basketball at courts (okay, we only did this like twice and I told the boys we weren't going if we didn't leave before 8:30, otherwise it's too hot).

 Finger painting with chocolate pudding.  Oh dear, these two boys couldn't be more different.  Tyler LOVED this.  He loved the gooey, mushy, tasty pudding and couldn't get enough of it.

 His brother, on the other hand, cried when I made him put his fingers in it and wouldn't stop crying until I cleaned his hands.

 Sometimes things got a little boring, but we seemed to manage.

 We were lucky enough to get to go with the cousins to the children's museum a few times.

 Robby took his job as an ambulance driver and a store clerk very seriously.

 And some days, we had the opportunity to simply unwind and relax.  

 This boy, bless him, loves to read and he's very good at it.  He loves learning and uses his reading skills to learn about things that he is interested in- animals, dinosaurs, volcanoes, and other fun facts.  I love taking him to the library just to see what fun things he will discover and then I love even more when I catch him quietly reading a book to himself.

Robby Report

It's been a long time- I know. February came and went without a single post on this blog, but that doesn't mean we didn't do anything! We've been plenty busy. Here's what Gus has been up to in the last month or so.

In January, Robby graduated from nursery and joined primary at church. He is most definitely our brightest little sunbeam! We're still having a hard time convincing him that primary is fun and that he doesn't need toys, treats, and sweet Sister Thomas in order to survive at church!

...and is that sweater not the cutest little 'I just got off the slopes in the alps' thing!?!

The other big news in Robby's world is that he is now officially a BIG BOY! Whoop whoop!

My first and foremost rule when it comes to potty training is to just wait, wait, wait until that kiddo is not just ready, but BEYOND ready. I pretty much wait until they can basically potty train themselves in a day...and that is exactly what happened.

Robby was definitely ready back in December, but with birthdays, holidays, and out of town visitors, December is just way to busy to be potty training. So I told him to wait until after Christmas and we would have ourselves the best ever potty party! And so we did!

My main concern with potty training Robby was the Diabetes aspect. When I potty trained Tyler, we stayed home for two days and I pumped him full of as much juice as he wanted just so that we could have as much practice as possible during those two days. I also gave him a couple m&m's each time he had a success, so I didn't know how that plan would work with Robby, but we made it work. I found some Crystal Light (with very few carbs) that he actually liked and I turned up his basal insulin for the entire two days so that I could reward him with as many m&m's as it took. And it worked out perfectly. He did great and never had a single accident. Done!

He still struggles to get his britches down and up by himself without the pod getting in the way, but we're working on it. I just feel bad if he accidentally rips one off in the process, and I live in fear of the CGM somehow accidentally falling in the toilet.

Robby is solidly potty trained even at night, which is good, but it sometimes means a little more work for us. If his blood sugar is high at night, this makes him have to pee more frequently and on the flip side, if he's low and we feed him juice- you got it, he has to pee more frequently. And since he's not very often perfectly in the middle, this means a few more sleep interruptions for us. Sigh. We try to use yogurt as often as possible for overnight lows, but I hate going all the way to the kitchen to get one out of the fridge. Darn that broken Pancreas!

Nonetheless, Robby is a pretty happy kid. He loves to wrestle and punch his big brother. Heaven help us. It seems to be what they do most of the time they are together. I'm not even sure why we buy toys. He also loves his friends and has enjoyed a little weekly play date we do with two of his best buddies. Robby is a smarty. He knows almost all his letters and their sounds. I love when we are out and about and he'll see letters on store signs or billboards and he'll tell me- that's the letter B, Mom! It says b-b-b!

That little Gus. He sure does make us happy.

Mini Bob

It turns out that not only was Robby named after his grandpa (my dad), but he also just so happened to inherit one of grandpa's biggest weaknesses: being EXTREMELY ticklish under his chin. When I was younger our family would have wrestling/tickling matches. If one of us kids wanted to completely paralyze my dad and make him defenseless, all we had to do was tickle him in his neck. Done. He'd become a laughing, squawking, gasping mess with his chin tucked down trying with any ounce of remaining energy to defend himself.

Robby is exactly the same way. All it takes is one wiggly finger being poked into his chin and he can barely breathe because he's laughing so hard. Well, this becomes a problem when we're trying to get his helmet on to ride his bike. The minute my fingers come near his neck to try to get the buckle and chin strap under his chin, he starts thrashing and laughing and even drooling. Every time. And I think it's funny every time. See for yourself.

Goodness me, Gus turns three!

I'm a little embarrassed by this, which is why I've never mentioned it on this blog, but Robby's nickname is Gus. I'm embarrassed for a couple reasons. First, I'm embarrassed because Gus isn't exactly a great name. It's kind of ugly. And secondly, I'm embarrassed because of how he got that nickname. When he was a newborn, he wasn't exactly a pleasant, happy baby. He was quite fussy and so he started out as "Grumpy Gus," and now Gus has just kind of stuck with him. Gus, Gussie, Gussers, Gus Gus...Yep. That's what we call this cute little man.

So there you have it. Gus is out.

AND it just so happens that he turned three last week! Yep. Gus had a birthday and we celebrated Buzz Wackyear style (that's how Robby says Buzz Lightyear).

His favorite present was this Buzz scooter. Neither of the boys have a scooter (I guess we like to invest in bikes around these parts more than scooters), so they borrow the neighbors' scooters all the time. Every chance Robby gets he rides his friends' scooters and he loves it!
So now he has one of his own and he is so cute scootn' around the driveway and garage on that thing.

This is my favorite age (I felt the same when Tyler was three). I love listening to what he has to say, as well as how he says it. Our lunchtime conversations with just the two of us are always a delight. I feel so blessed to have some good one on one time with him every day.
Robby is such a happy, sweet, tender boy. He has a few friends that he just loves and genuinely cares for. He gets super excited over little things and when he does his voice squeaks and goes like three octaves higher. He loves his big "bwuver, Ty-wer" and wants to play with him all the time. He melts my heart when I kiss him goodnight and tell him I love him and he replies, "I wuv you too mommy" every night. He loves to sing and remembers the words to songs very quickly. He likes cuddling and he loves to run fast.

We sure do love our little Gussers and we're glad he had a happy birthday!

Dump trucks, dirt, and superheroes

How on earth did I get so lucky to have this much cuteness in my life!?!

In case you're wondering, there is still time to donate to the Walk for a Cure on behalf of this darling little dude. Visit our website at www2.jdrf.org/goto/teamrobby.

*We recognize that the website has a minimum $25 donation requirement, but if you'd like to donate an amount smaller than $25, feel free to send a check to our home address. Make checks payable to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (or JDRF). We will be able to submit those on the day of the event.

Thanks again everyone! We're getting excited for our walk!

What Diabetes Looks Like

Well, we survived a year. Yesterday marked our one year anniversary of Robby's diagnosis. We did some fun things to celebrate our survival of one tough year for us, but I'll share more on that later. For now, I thought I'd document what our "new normal" looks like.

In the world of diabetes...

...this is what a bad low blood sugar looks like. This incident was shortly after diagnosis when Robby still wasn't too keen on juice boxes for lows. We were driving down the highway and Robby's BG was dropping like a rock, and he was acting very drowsy. We pulled over and I fed him yogurt with my finger since we didn't happen to bring a spoon. Luckily, we now have several fast sugars that Robby likes for lows.

...This is what coming home from the hospital looks like. This is the amount of stuff they sent us home from the hospital with when Robby was diagnosed. The stash consisted of books, samples, supplies, brochures, pamphlets, log books, charts, graphs, reminders, notes, prescriptions, videos, etc...

..This is what good detective work looks like. The Omnipod (Robby's insulin patch pump) is applied with a large patch of adhesive. We believe that Robby is either highly sensitive to it or has a slight allergic reaction to it. Oddly enough, the adhesive on the Dexcom CGM doesn't bother his skin at all. These are only a few of the products I have tried in our search for finding a barrier to protect his skin- Unisolve to pull off the adhesive, Tegaderm, New Skin, Skin Tac, IV 3000, Opsite Flexfit, Bard barrier, All Kare, and IV Prep. Finding a solution to this problem almost consumed my every thought for a while. I worried that we would have to go off of the pump because the itchiness and blistering was so bad. In the end, Opsite Flexfit is about the only thing that will keep him from getting horrible, itchy, blistering rashes after pod changes. That is, unless some other systemic issue is at the root of the problem (like hives from an allergic reaction to medication). In that case, NOTHING helps and the site will blister like crazy.

...this is what a failed pod change looks like. It was just too sad. I couldn't help take a picture. Poor Robby hates when we have to take those pods off (as mentioned above). On this occasion the first one failed to insert correctly and Robby refused to let us take it off, so we put the new one on and left the broken one in place until he was okay with us removing it later that day. Can you tell that we are overly-anxious for OmniPod to release the newer, smaller version of their pods next year??? That poor little bum! And because I get asked a lot- no he hardly ever notices it's there, unless the skin starts to get itchy. As people always say, kids are pretty resilient. These insulin filled pods are removed every three days (unless something happens to it during a rough wrestling match with big brother). During the insertion process (all done with a push of a button on the remote), a needle is fired and cannula inserted under the skin. Yes, that does hurt, and yes he does cry (which usually makes me want to cry too), but once that is done, he barely notices it's there.

...This is what educating others looks like. This is Nanny learning the ropes to some of Robby's care. We believe very strongly that it is our responsibility to help educate those who are involved in Robby's life. So far, we haven't done a very good job of it. There is so much to teach and caring for a diabetic is very complex. But, I have typed up a "manual" of the basics and hope to share it with more friends and family members. I want Robby to have a normal childhood and that means play dates, family visits, and time away from mom and dad. It is unreasonable for us to be the only two people in the entire world who know how to take care of our child. So far, we do have a few friends and two WONDERFUL baby-sitters all trained and good to go. It gives me peace of mind know that I have people I can rely on to help.

...This is what the changing table looks like after a particularly bad night. We've decided that there is a direct correlation between the amount of trash left behind in the morning and how awful the night was (or how little sleep we got). Sometimes his changing table looks less like a changing table and more like a nurses station.

...This is what toy transportation looks like. If you don't have enough pockets or hands to carry around your favorite firetruck, you can simply tuck it safe and sound in the belt of your CGM carrying case.

This is what pajamas look like. Doesn't look any different than any other pair of pj's (minus the CGM belt)...Until you look a little closer and see that his mommy has cut slits in tops of the feet so that she can access the sleeping child's toes for finger pokes in the middle of the night (Robby prefers toe pokes over finger pokes...and since this is the one thing he can actually has control over, we totally go with it. We've also found it's a little easier because I don't have to stop him from playing to poke his toe, and his toes rarely have anything sugary or sticky on them that might throw off the reading. Plus, we figure he has a lifetime of fingers pokes ahead of him. We might as well use his toes while we can and save his poor, little fingers a bit).

This is what true friendship looks like. Back in October, Jen arranged for a few friends to meet at the park for lunch and a play date to celebrate my birthday. She made a yummy treat for everyone and then handed me this sheet of paper and said, "I'm pretty sure they are 18.2 carbs each." Tears. This meant so much to me, I can barely even express it. To me, this was her way of saying, "I'm in this with you. I get it, and I totally support you." A true friend is someone who understands your burden and then tries to help you carry it.

And this is what $1,000 looks like. This is our three month supply of pods. A box full of these arrives on my doorstep every three months. We also get shipments of Dexcom sensors, test strips, and even insulin. The UPS and FedEx guys know us quite well by now. I am grateful for good insurance that has allowed us to give Robby what we feel are the best tools and technology to help care for his needs. It has been a huge blessing.

...And this is what makes it all worth it!

(I'll walk to the ends of the earth for a good cuddle session)

The Count

Seriously, I could put him in a bowl, pour milk all over him and eat him for breakfast. He's so SWEET!

Robby Report

Birthday Edition- 2 years old!

Wednesday was Robby's birthday! (has it really been two years already?!?)

We started the day off with a bowl of special birthday oatmeal with sprinkles (I pretty much go all out for my kids...wink, wink)

Then we headed off to the park to meet Jen and Coco for a birthday playdate. The minute Robby's stroller turned the corner to the park and he saw Jen, he started shouting her name and waving excitedly. Makes me get all choked up just thinking about it. And I thought he was going to be disappointed because Nolan wasn't there, but nope. He was just as thrilled to see Jen. Boy did her keep her busy. he kept saying um on, Jen! Um pay! and of course, Jen did not disappoint! She slid, climbed, chased and cuddled my sweet little man.

Here he is with his sweet pal Coco sharing a snack.

They even sent him home with his first birthday present of the day (he's way more excited about that Cars book than this picture lets on. He'd much rather play with it than stop to take a picture).

For dinner we decided to have a few of Robby's favorites. When John, Ty and I were coming up with the list of robby's favorites, we realized what a funny little guy he is. He likes fish better than chicken, he likes Subway better than McDonalds, he likes prunes better than raisins, he likes almonds and walnuts better than peanuts and he loves black beans and corn. Since it was birthday day, I didn't want to cook a whole lot so we went with some of his more low key favorites...hot dogs, homemade salsa with chips, and cantaloupe. Easy peasy.

Next we decided to open presents so as to give his insulin dose some time before hitting him with cake and ice cream.

Let me take just a second to explain Robby's birthday presents. A little over a year ago (before Robby turned one), I asked Tyler if it would be okay if we boxed up his trains and hid them for a while and then Tyler could give them to Robby for his birthday when he turned two. At the time, Tyler was 4 and a half and was pretty much done with "the train phase," so he was totally cool with that.

So for Robby's birthday, I bought one brand new train and wrapped it up and then put all of the old trains in a box and wrapped it up and then Tyler and I secretly set up a train track in the toy room to surprise Robby.

Here he is opening his presents and finding lots of "coo coos" (choo choos)

And here he is when he went upstairs and found some of his tracks set up.

Excited doesn't begin to describe it. He was hilariously adorable. We laughed at all of his darling, excited antics and chatter. He was so happy, he could hardly contain it!

He played and played and played. We were beginning to wonder if it was a bad idea to pre-bolus his insulin for cake and ice cream because we didn't know if we could tear him away from his train heaven.
We did finally make it downstairs for cake and ice cream, but not without...

you guessed it... a couple of trains.

And now he's super busy and has lots on his agenda to do all day...every day.

Happy Birthday to our little Gus!