what does it all mean?

I seem to learn something new every time we have a hypothyroid checkup at Children's. His doctor called with his results the other day (he was moved up to a higher dose) and in casual conversation she taught me so much!

What I knew about the blood test before the phone call: he gets two different levels checked (TSH and FT4). If they're high or low, they adjust his dose accordingly. The end.

What I know now: One of the levels that gets checked (TSH) is more important than the other. It is also the most sensitive so is more likely to be out of the normal range before the other. For Mason, this one is more important because it is checking the productivity of the pituitary gland. Since Mason has a little residual thyroid, the goal is to keep this number on the lower end of the range (around 2) to make sure that little piece he has doesn't decide it should grow due to what the pituitary gland is telling it. In case you've forgotten past lessons :) his thyroid is located in his throat and could be a choking hazard if he were to stop taking his medicine or let it stay over-active for too long.

The other level (FT4) is checking his thyroid. For this test, this number was in the normal range, but because the TSH was a little above the normal range, his dose was increased. Because it's just an educated guess on the new dose, he'll have another blood draw in 6 weeks. (This is pretty normal for us, although we did luck out the last two times and were able to skip the in-between blood draw because his levels were normal).

Completely unrelated.

Here are two superheros, each with chap stick and one sock on, keeping me company while I made dinner last night. So helpful.

we're fans!

We went to Mariner's Fan Fest at Safeco today. While Matt and Mason waited in line for an autograph, Andrew tried on some real Mariner gear, played in a bouncy house, got a balloon sword, played in the play area and waited in line just long enough to see the Moose need a break for lunch (Andrew didn't care but had no interest in waiting again when he returned). After Matt got his autograph, we ran the bases, played catch in the outfield, sat in the dugout and toured the clubhouse.

Andrew must have been super cute tonight because as we were looking at a table with some free junk Mariner stuff, the guy in the booth told us to wait while he grabbed a Griffey backpack and a Gutierrez jersey for him! Then while we we were playing catch, one of their photographers stayed by us for a couple minutes taking pictures. I didn't get info on how to find his pictures but I plan to do a little searching tomorrow - hopefully I can find them.

If you haven't checked this out, we highly recommend it. An added bonus - kids under 6 get in free!

my morning with Andrew

Today I spent some time with just Andrew. We went into Seattle to ride the monorail and go up the Space Needle. He loves tall buildings and the other day he asked if there are any play areas up there we could go to, so I thought we'd give it a try. I'm not sure we technically got our money's worth, but it was well worth it for me!

It was nice that he wasn't overly excited to be without Mason; he just liked that he could hold my hand (he held my hand almost the whole time) and when he fell he was glad that I was able to hold him for a while without Mason trying to push his way in. He wants to go back with Mason and Matt, but we won't be doing that any time soon. First of all, it's expensive. But more important than that, Matt doesn't like heights and isn't at all interested in paying to be nervous. :)


He chose to ride the monorail first and he loved it! After spending some time at the malls (we hit up the toy store in Pacific Place and the candy store at Westlake) we headed back to go up the Needle.

Thanks, Space Needle. But who would pay $10 for this when it's weird looking and you let me email it to myself for free?

Wait, who would pay $10 for this? :)

I get to spend time with Andrew when Mason takes his nap, but it was fun to get out of the house with just him. He's a fun date!

In case it sounds like our day went a little too smoothly, you're right. Here's the rest of the story if you care to know more...

• I went in the parking garage through the exit. I blame Andrew, but whatever.
• We got to Seattle too early. The malls don't open until 10 - we got there at 9:15 or so.
• Since we couldn't go through the mall to get down from the monorail, we had to take the smelly stairs. Andrew asked if it was also a bathroom or if it was just stinky like one.
• We went to Starbucks to waste time along with a majority of homeless people who, I assume, were also waiting for the mall to open. Our neighbors were comparing how many pills they had left to see if they could do any swapping. It was just a conversation, no pills were on the table.
• Someone took my drink, then gave it to me after rubbing their dirty hands all over it. I took off the lid and called it good. I guess I'll know for sure in about 3 days.
• Andrew fell off the stool while trying to find a penny that a man so generously let me know we dropped. A stranger came up to Andrew to see if he was okay. I got it lady, back off.
• After the monorail ride back to the Needle, I heard what sounded like a ton of firecrackers (guns) going off. I looked over and saw an entire area filled with smoke. I was pretty sure it was a riot, but it turns out it's the Hmong new year. Phew.
• The Space Needle is a bit scary. I was kind of glad when Andrew only wanted to stay up there for about 20 minutes. :)
• A homeless guy befriended us during lunch at McDonalds. He was nice and kind of rad, but I still felt anxious with the whole deal. If you ever see him on Denny and some other street, be sure to give him a buck. He has a sign that says "You look good, thanks to me" on one side and "If I look good to you, you should stop drinking" on the other. He's my very favorite homeless guy.

Andrew's view

Andrew finally understands how to take pictures and he loves it! Here are some pictures from his view in the back seat.

transformers in his drink holder

a day without rain!

We soaked up the no rain today. I'd like to say we soaked up the sun, but that'd be pushing it... And I feel the need to explain what my boys are wearing. Even though I'm sure it's the right thing to do, Mason is only wearing a helmet in the wagon because he has to do everything Andrew does. And Andrew is wearing socks on his hands because he wanted to (it's his new superhero thing), not because we don't have gloves. :) Thanks.

we heart DQ

We're thankful for our friends, the Gamradts, for paying attention to important details! Thanks to them, we made it to DQ on Wednesday for customer appreciation day and enjoyed half off everything we could think to eat! We had dinner and dessert for about ten bucks. It was awesome!

he's crafty

We've been limited on the types of projects we could do because Mason went through a little phase of putting everything in his mouth. It was weird because he didn't do it as an infant - he just randomly started a couple months ago. Luckily, I think we're moving out of it now so we can start to do more crafty projects! Mason was loving this! He made his creation on his own - he put a few smaller pieces of foam clumps together to create the bigger one and put all the shapes/sticks in it.

Andrew was trying to see how big of a piece he could make. He also did a little experiment to see if it would stick to the wall.

I spelled out 'Andrew' but I didn't think anyone would care to see a picture of my fine work. :)

we need a king size bed

Andrew has been waking up in the middle of the night (I think from bad dreams) - if he wakes up twice I bring him into our room so we can both get some sleep. If Mason wakes up any time after 4:30 am, I bring him into our room to make sure he falls back to sleep. When those two things happen on the same night, we quickly run out of room. But it sure is cute!

my little superhero

I realize it's my job to think my kid rocks, but I really do find him to be exceptionally adorable! Tonight he was telling me about a superhero. One he made up. He gave him a name and told me all about him - he can fly, climb walls... and he wears socks on his hands. :)

Goodnight my sweet little superhero.

a night out with Mason

Mason had his regular follow-up appointment at Children's tonight. Since it was another late appointment, I was able to enjoy dinner and some time alone with this little cutie.

Just a random update... Mason recently decided that he likes to eat his bananas in the peel. I'm not sure if he saw one of us do it or what, but he was very clear that, that is how he'll take his bananas now!

For dinner we shared a delicious calzone (thanks for the recommendation, Leslie!).

And my date even picked up the check. :)

I forgot about his appointment until I got into work and saw it on my calendar. He just happened to be dressed in his I 'heart' Mom shirt again - perfect for our night out on the town.

Regarding his checkup - all is good. We got sad news though that his doctor is graduating. After his next appt in April/May, we will be saying goodbye to the doctor who has seen him since birth. I unexpectedly teared up when she told me. And it didn't help when I saw her fighting back tears too. I'm praying that we feel comfortable with and enjoy his next doctor as much as we've enjoyed working with her. I'm so thankful that we got in when we did so that we could have almost 2 years with her.

it's no Strawberry Shortcake, but it's still cool

Matt brought a bunch more of his old toys home last weekend. Andrew dug into a jackpot of He-Man, GI Joe, Karate Kid action figures :) and tons of other cool boy stuff.

Mason likes the toys, too. Oddly, his favorite seems to be whichever one is in Andrew's hand. That might get old.

Notice he has TWO pacis... I've decided to take baby steps in taking them away because he was more in love with them than I expected. He was crying a lot and sucking on his finger (which is harder to take away than a paci) so I've decided to put them up, but give it to him when he asks. I'll try again to take them away in a week or so.

works in progress

Andrew is finally showing an interest in writing his name. As we were working through the letters of his name he told me he knew how to do a D (that would be the "p" you see on the sheet). He's been doing an A for quite a while, but that's all I've ever seen him do. I love this!

And Mason is really, really working on jumping. The best part is he doesn't know how, but I'm pretty sure he thinks he does. He's ready to move on to bigger and better and start jumping off of things now. Perfect!

another weekend, another birthday party

We were invited to two school friends' birthday parties in two consecutive weekends. Conveniently, Matt was out of town for both so I got to take them by myself. They both turned out fine but it takes a lot of energy to keep up with Mason as he tries to keep up with all the big kids.

They had a pinata and their rule was to leave the candy on the ground until everyone had a turn to hit it. As more and more candy started to fall out, Andrew couldn't handle it. He casually scooted over a couple of his favorites, just to be safe. :)

a bit of a mess

Andrew really wanted to paint today, and having to wait until Mason's nap was bumming him out. When I asked him what type of paint he wanted, he picked finger paint. I was trying to decide if Mason was ready for it and Andrew talked me into letting him play along.

Turns out I was right - he's not quite ready. :) But he did have fun.

Then of course Andrew had to join in.

Unrelated to painting, Mason had his first timeout today. He has been hitting a bit lately but today he did it with a mean face and hit Andrew right on the head, so it was time.

birthday party evidence

We went to a bouncy house birthday party on Sunday and the boys came home with a ton of loot (including balloons and puzzles...). Having dead helium balloons hiding out around the house is one of my biggest pet peeves, however, today I found this one to be quite cute.

playing

For the last couple weeks Andrew and Mason have been spending time playing together in Andrew's room. Mason taught Andrew that it's cool to hang out on the side of the bed that is usually against the wall and Andrew is trying to teach Mason how to jump.

Somehow Mason got old. He's the oldest kid in his classroom and only has 6 - 8 months before he moves up to the bigger kid building. Time is flying by.