Alden Birthday 5 pt. 2

Alden had his follow-up birthday at the Discovery Museum in Augusta with a handfull of friends from school.

He had a great time playing with everyone and was a very nice host.

Ilana provided some great chocolate cupcakes and even made balloon animals for the kids. Mostly dogs and flowers, but the kids loved it.

Surgery

Alden has had some trouble with his ears and we decided it was time to take direct action. We were told that removing his adenoids and putting in ear tubes (again) would surely solve everything. This was a recommendation by his Ear, Nose and Throat doc and it seemed like good advice. I arranged the surgery then and there. As we left the doctor's office Alden asked "Are they going to cut off my ears?" to which I replied "No, they will remove your adenoids, which is kind of in your throat, not your ears." To which Alden stated," Oh, maybe they are only going to cut off one of my ears". To which I said, "Yes, maybe only one ear, but probably not."

Alden was nervous at the hospital, although we watched an online video from the hospital about what to expect. Alden had the video memorized and between doses of engagement and distraction we managed to get him ready for the event.

Ilana got suited up too, to be with Alden when they put him under.

Alden was very adamant about not going to sleep when they gave him the gas. He went to sleep right after they put the mask on, of course. Even as a willful 5 year old, it's tough to defy chemistry.

Except for about 10 minutes of Alden being absolutely crazy in the recovery room when he came-to after surgery, things went very well. The nurses told us to expect the post-surgery dementia episode, but it was still difficult to get through... of course Alden does not remember any of it.

After the recovery room Alden got a grape popsicle, they did some tests and he was out the door.

Karen had been watching Elliott for us during this time and had snacks with Alden when he got home. He hears a lot better now and his tympanic membrane has returned to it's original non-stretched state, so it looks like the surgery was a success.

Alden Birthday 5

Alden had the first part of his fifth birthday today! There will be another party a week from now at the Discovery Museum in Augusta. For today we hung around the house and people came by to wish us well and eat home-made pizza and cake. Alden picked a strawberry shortcake this year.

Sophia a and her parents were the first guests. After they left Evelyn and her family came over to play. It was great to host and Alden played really well with his friends. His favorite game is still going into the guest room and acting crazy. His friends seem to like that activity too and it gives the grown-ups a chance to socialize.

 

 I finally pulled my 20 gallon aquarium out of Karen's basement and set it up for Alden to discover in the morning.  I did not have time to put fish in it, just everything else. Alden was very excited, despite the lack of sea creatures. We went out later that day and got a couple of Bleeding Heart Tetras.

All in all a very successful birthday.

Christmas at Karens

Chocolate Moustache! Didn't last long at all.

Our ritual of celebrating Christmas day with Karen continued. Alden and I helped make cinnamon rolls the night before so breakfast was a treat.

We took turns exchanging gifts, playing with the kids, and undertaking random chores.

Im going to slide a few pictures of my birthday in here too. 

Holidays

December 21 was the gift exchange day this year.

 

The big hit for Alden was his 'safety equipment'. 

 

Elliott did super fantastic with all of the guests and handled being held and adored with the best baby attitude one could hope for.

There were even some really warm days where we took walks outside.

Sandy was able to play with the kids.

We got our first chance for photos as a family too. I think we should try again in better light.

Pre-Holidays

 Our holidays are started around December 16 this year.  We did not plan it that way, but we had guests visiting early for the holidays and one thing lead to another...

Hanukkah started December 8but celebrating was hit-or-miss for the first 3/4. By the end our guests were here and we were celebrating about every evening for something or another.

Joseph and Sandy visited, and Scott made an appearance for a couple days. They all were able to attend the school holiday recital. The program this year was much shorter and having a year under his belt Alden did quite well.

He and his buddy Evelyn supported each other for the event.

Alden also got to meet Santa (and the missus) and get a stocking full of goodies. This was a bit awkward since Ilana told Alden that Santa does not come to our house and we celebrate Hanukkah. There is a bit of a story behind this, but the short of it is that we celebrate Christmas at Karen's house and whether or not Santa shows up there is still being debated. Anyway seeing Mr. Claus in person seems to have made for some interesting internal processing.

Employee of the Year

 

 Under the leadership of our new agency director I was awarded employee of the year. Darrell was made manager of the year. I got to shake the hand of the governor and get a piece of paper for my file. It was a nice gesture and I appreciate it.

Aroostook

I had a chance to get up to Aroostook County for a couple days. I'm doing some work to help the St. John Valley apply for a grant. 

I've been to the County a few times before. I always enjoy it. There are some spectacular things, like the Mont-Carmel church... but there is also a lot of distress.

Mostly agricultural focusing on potatoes and lumber, the region has seen better days, but even the run-down buildings are fascinating.

I don't really talk about work on the blog very much, so I am trying it out.Tthis was the view from my hotel.

More of the Kids

For those interested in Elliott's growth and development.

And people who want to see how Alden prepares to help me case-in a closet.

San Francisco Trip 2

We had a chance to  go to Muir Woods and visit the big trees with the family. I was also going to meet up with my friends Brad and Shanti and their new baby Taren. Unfortunately we got held up a little and there is no phone reception in the park by which to coordinate schedules. I later found out that Shanti saw Alden and Levin racing up and down the trails, but did not make the connection to me.

The forest was great and is one of the places I really wanted to see in my life.

Here is Alden outside the gift shop next to a slice of tree. 

In addition to the Muir woods trip we also did hiking and geocaching thanks to uncle Aaron. We found this crazy maze in the middle of a field and had fun taking and leaving things in the cashing canisters.  The big hit was the San Jose Technology Museum, it was so nice we went there twice.

There was a Myth Buster exhibition that was loads of fun.

 Aaron and Leven dominated in the space-chair simulator

Alden especially liked the kinetic ball-sculpture outside the museum and the new-technology exhibit where a robot arm drew a picture of Alden with a bic pen.

Alden and I were able to visit Shanti, Brad and Taren at their place after the museum.

 

Ilana and Barbara missed the first visit since Ilana was fighting a cold and Barbara was working. We went back on the last day of our visit... Well, they went back, I split from the group and saw an interactive art festival.