funky hair do
rock star stare
showing off a tongue trick
not to be outdone, this guy has tricks of his own!
pretty angel in allstars
4 years ago
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 07, 2009
Leo is having a sleep deprived EEG test at 8am. We were given instructions to let him sleep from 10pm-2am and them keep him awake until testing time. Clara is sleeping over at Chloé's so we've got the house to ourselves for this great adventure. Here goes...
2:08am - We are UP! Leo just needed a bit of prodding but he woke up with a smile on his face. It is a good start. Now we are eating cereal. We figure we may as well try to confuse our bodies into believing that it is morning.
2:22am - Tap Tap revenge anyone? I love my new ipod touch.
2:36am - Marc is gonna teach Leo how to play Lego Star Wars on the PS2 and then Leo tells me he's gonna teach me how to play later. He's been very excited about this since we first talked about partying all night long. I have a definite impression we'll be at this for awhile :)
4:15am - Leo is still going strong with Lego Stars, Marc and I not so much. We are tired. Yikes, Leo wants me to play now but I don't think my eyeballs will allow it. OK, now he's agreed to make banana bread with me for our second breakfast in few hours. That will get us moving around and awake a bit more. Marc has decided he needs a shower now, he's hoping the water will help him.
4:55am - Chess lesson commencing. I can't imagine it lasting too long, neither boy has much mental clarity at this point but Leo is insistent. I just offered him some lemonade (to help perk him up) but he politely declined. I think I'll pour some anyway and just set it in front of him and maybe some water too.
5:04am - That's it, I'm making coffee now.
5:35am - I didn't give them enough credit, they finished the game. It is getting light outside, we're going to head outside to see if Juancho the cat is out and to take a walk around the block. Leo is insisting in walking in his pyjamas. Oh wait, I have to stay home and keep an eye on the banana bread. It is smelling good.
5:45am - it was a short walk. The lemonade had Leo doing the pee pee dance so he came back. No Juancho so no good reason to hold it I guess either. Buddy boy is begging for more Lego Star Ward video game, but I think Marc is sick of it. Sounds like they are negotiating another game choice.
6:00am - Little Einsteins episode. There was a meltdown when Marc couldn't bear playing video games for Leo's entertainment (I'm told that the big problem is that Leo doesn't want Marc to play the games he likes). I'm watching him like a hawk, no sleep allowed!!!
6:30am - Eating yummy, warm banana bread. More little Einsteins to come, he was very alert during the whole episode.
7:15 am - heading out the door!
10:35 - We are home and EXHAUSTED. Test went fine, it didn't show any abnormalities. The specialist will review it later this afternoon but the doctor told us not to worry, everything looks great. Going to bed...
2:08am - We are UP! Leo just needed a bit of prodding but he woke up with a smile on his face. It is a good start. Now we are eating cereal. We figure we may as well try to confuse our bodies into believing that it is morning.
2:22am - Tap Tap revenge anyone? I love my new ipod touch.
2:36am - Marc is gonna teach Leo how to play Lego Star Wars on the PS2 and then Leo tells me he's gonna teach me how to play later. He's been very excited about this since we first talked about partying all night long. I have a definite impression we'll be at this for awhile :)
4:15am - Leo is still going strong with Lego Stars, Marc and I not so much. We are tired. Yikes, Leo wants me to play now but I don't think my eyeballs will allow it. OK, now he's agreed to make banana bread with me for our second breakfast in few hours. That will get us moving around and awake a bit more. Marc has decided he needs a shower now, he's hoping the water will help him.
4:55am - Chess lesson commencing. I can't imagine it lasting too long, neither boy has much mental clarity at this point but Leo is insistent. I just offered him some lemonade (to help perk him up) but he politely declined. I think I'll pour some anyway and just set it in front of him and maybe some water too.
5:04am - That's it, I'm making coffee now.
5:35am - I didn't give them enough credit, they finished the game. It is getting light outside, we're going to head outside to see if Juancho the cat is out and to take a walk around the block. Leo is insisting in walking in his pyjamas. Oh wait, I have to stay home and keep an eye on the banana bread. It is smelling good.
5:45am - it was a short walk. The lemonade had Leo doing the pee pee dance so he came back. No Juancho so no good reason to hold it I guess either. Buddy boy is begging for more Lego Star Ward video game, but I think Marc is sick of it. Sounds like they are negotiating another game choice.
6:00am - Little Einsteins episode. There was a meltdown when Marc couldn't bear playing video games for Leo's entertainment (I'm told that the big problem is that Leo doesn't want Marc to play the games he likes). I'm watching him like a hawk, no sleep allowed!!!
6:30am - Eating yummy, warm banana bread. More little Einsteins to come, he was very alert during the whole episode.
7:15 am - heading out the door!
10:35 - We are home and EXHAUSTED. Test went fine, it didn't show any abnormalities. The specialist will review it later this afternoon but the doctor told us not to worry, everything looks great. Going to bed...
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Copy of my facebook status from last night: Laurel is getting over one of the scariest experiences ever, Leo had a seizure early this morning and we spent all day in the ER getting tests run to figure out why. We have a few guesses but no real answer yet. He's feeling fine now. I'm not.
The long explanation is; Leo had an early morning seizure right beside me, in my bed. He seized for a short time, maybe 30-45 seconds and then was unresponsive until after we'd called 911 and taken an ambulance ride to the Children's Hospital. The seizure itself was horrible; his lips were blue, his eyes rolled up and the whites of his eyes were grey but the 20-30 minutes of unresponsiveness was worse. I can't explain with words the relief I felt when he "woke up", looked straight at me and said "Mama?"
We spent about 12 hours at the hospital because the seizure was not fever induced so we had to look for other possible explanations. Leo was a champ all day long. Every nurse and technician praised him (and me) for his bravery and great attitude - he had blood tests, an EEG, a CAT scan, and an EKG. The EEG showed some slowing in the frontal lobe and it was this result that warranted the CAT scan.
After all the tests were done a neurologist came down to examine Leo and ask me a million questions. Then a second neurologist (a head honcho type) joined us and he explained what he thought was going on and said that we'd need to do a sleep deprived EEG in the next couple of weeks to try to confirm his suspicions. Leo will also be scheduled for an MRI and that should round out his use of the medical system.
The doctors think that the seizure is a symptom of a syndrome associated with migraines (BECRS). It is benign and typically is outgrown by the age of 15. The chances are high that he'll never have another seizure but if he does have more there are meds that are very effective in treating them. Overall prognosis is great, now that we've seen inside Leo's head we know there are no lesions, or tumors or other frightening possibilities. We did however confirm the size of Leo's head, the neurologist measured it and immediately commented "he has big head." He then measured my head and said, no, it is not from you. Does his father have a big head? I had to call Marc and get him to measure his own head so we could compare. Turns out Leo doesn't have a genetic good reason for the size of his noggin and this is the reason for the upcoming MRI (I think).
So, Leo is acting perfectly fine and normal now. Marc and I are still a bit gun shy. We are staying home from camping at La Minerve with everyone which is a huge disappointment. Hopefully we'll figure out a way to camp and or at least have a campfire soon since the kids are both very disappointed. I'll be waiting for phone calls next week giving me the dates for the upcoming round of testing which means I don't even know if we are going to be able to go to Toronto at all. I'm bummed. I'm glad my boy is going to be fine but I don't like being afraid and I don't like being forced to stay in town during the time I'd intended for "vacation." I'm sure I'll feel differently in another day or two, we'll figure stuff out, we always do :)
The long explanation is; Leo had an early morning seizure right beside me, in my bed. He seized for a short time, maybe 30-45 seconds and then was unresponsive until after we'd called 911 and taken an ambulance ride to the Children's Hospital. The seizure itself was horrible; his lips were blue, his eyes rolled up and the whites of his eyes were grey but the 20-30 minutes of unresponsiveness was worse. I can't explain with words the relief I felt when he "woke up", looked straight at me and said "Mama?"
We spent about 12 hours at the hospital because the seizure was not fever induced so we had to look for other possible explanations. Leo was a champ all day long. Every nurse and technician praised him (and me) for his bravery and great attitude - he had blood tests, an EEG, a CAT scan, and an EKG. The EEG showed some slowing in the frontal lobe and it was this result that warranted the CAT scan.
After all the tests were done a neurologist came down to examine Leo and ask me a million questions. Then a second neurologist (a head honcho type) joined us and he explained what he thought was going on and said that we'd need to do a sleep deprived EEG in the next couple of weeks to try to confirm his suspicions. Leo will also be scheduled for an MRI and that should round out his use of the medical system.
The doctors think that the seizure is a symptom of a syndrome associated with migraines (BECRS). It is benign and typically is outgrown by the age of 15. The chances are high that he'll never have another seizure but if he does have more there are meds that are very effective in treating them. Overall prognosis is great, now that we've seen inside Leo's head we know there are no lesions, or tumors or other frightening possibilities. We did however confirm the size of Leo's head, the neurologist measured it and immediately commented "he has big head." He then measured my head and said, no, it is not from you. Does his father have a big head? I had to call Marc and get him to measure his own head so we could compare. Turns out Leo doesn't have a genetic good reason for the size of his noggin and this is the reason for the upcoming MRI (I think).
So, Leo is acting perfectly fine and normal now. Marc and I are still a bit gun shy. We are staying home from camping at La Minerve with everyone which is a huge disappointment. Hopefully we'll figure out a way to camp and or at least have a campfire soon since the kids are both very disappointed. I'll be waiting for phone calls next week giving me the dates for the upcoming round of testing which means I don't even know if we are going to be able to go to Toronto at all. I'm bummed. I'm glad my boy is going to be fine but I don't like being afraid and I don't like being forced to stay in town during the time I'd intended for "vacation." I'm sure I'll feel differently in another day or two, we'll figure stuff out, we always do :)
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The weather has not exactly been what we'd expected for July but we have not let the never ending "risk of thunder showers" dampen our Summertime fun. We've managed to do all sorts of fun activities close to home, swimming, however has been the staple of the Summer of 2009. We've made multiple trips to Piscine Laurier and Levesque and we've visited Piscine Schubert, Jean Drapeau and the Beach on isle Jean Drapeau one time each. The kids seem to spend more and more of their time underwater, either diving for treasures (Clara) or doing flips and corkscrews (Leo). We've spent time with Chloé and Zaco, Ruby, Max and John. We haven't seen any of Clara's school friends but she has not requested that I set things up so I guess spending the Summer with her family and her old friends suits her just fine :)
On Sunday Marc suggested we do an experiment à la Mythbusters. We showed the kids a Youtube video of the infamous diet coke and mentos eruption. Leo seemed pretty sure that the myth would be "busted" but Clara though it was possible. They headed off to the pharmacy to buy the necessary items and were home again in no time ready to test what they'd seen. As you can hear in Leo's voice, he was pretty impressed that it worked, Marc and I were kinda disappointed, we though the fountain of coke would be higher. It was fun and I think we'll have to pick another experiment to test soon, any suggestions?
On Saturday I finally convinced the kids to join Marc and I on a mountain walk. There was quite a bit of whining at the outset but it did dissipate with the help of trail mix and secret paths. In the end we walked for over two hours and Leo only fell twice and managed to either get stung or pricked by a trail-side plant once (I still don't know exactly what happened, I do know it hurt and caused his hand to swell briefly) . Considering how stumbly he was, his final stats are actually quite good!
Rambling on Mount Royal
On Sunday Marc suggested we do an experiment à la Mythbusters. We showed the kids a Youtube video of the infamous diet coke and mentos eruption. Leo seemed pretty sure that the myth would be "busted" but Clara though it was possible. They headed off to the pharmacy to buy the necessary items and were home again in no time ready to test what they'd seen. As you can hear in Leo's voice, he was pretty impressed that it worked, Marc and I were kinda disappointed, we though the fountain of coke would be higher. It was fun and I think we'll have to pick another experiment to test soon, any suggestions?
On Saturday I finally convinced the kids to join Marc and I on a mountain walk. There was quite a bit of whining at the outset but it did dissipate with the help of trail mix and secret paths. In the end we walked for over two hours and Leo only fell twice and managed to either get stung or pricked by a trail-side plant once (I still don't know exactly what happened, I do know it hurt and caused his hand to swell briefly) . Considering how stumbly he was, his final stats are actually quite good!
Rambling on Mount RoyalSaturday, July 04, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
The specialists at Arc-en-Ciel (that means the gym teacher, music teacher and art teacher) organized and coordinated an end of year spectacle with the students that knocked our socks off! It was Cirque de Soliel-esque with music, song, acrobatics and dancing.
As always, Clara the performer enjoyed her time in the spotlight but she did gave me permission to tell the truth about my favorite part of the show "you don't have to say my part was your favourite mama, tell me the truth okay?" To be honest, I can't even pick just one act that was my favorite; the gumboot dance was excellent, the drumming on recycling boxes was fun, the music made by tapping different lengths of plastic tubing was funny, and Clara's class playing xylophones and singing Les Chansons Comique was painfully cute. All the kids had their faces painted to be insect like creatures and they came to school dressed in mono-tone colours. Clara was a little sauterelle, a grasshopper.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)