48 hours

As some readers are aware, we have spent the last 48 hours at Children's Hospital with Clara. On Wednesday afternoon, Clara came down with a fever and swelling so Julie got her right over to Dr. Harrington to be checked out, and Dr. H. told her to get to the ER to get tests and antibiotics. It was a scary afternoon seeing our little girl on that big hospital bed getting poked and prodded by a small army of nurses and doctors. Clara was admitted to the hospital so the doctors could observe her and wait the requisite 48 hours for various cultures to culture. Our fear subsided some as the doctors told us that regardless of what she had or where it was, the antibiotics would get rid of it.

So Clara spent he next 48 hours within three feet of her little iv stand, and Julie wasn't much further away the whole time. Ted alternated among various errands, taking care of Joe and sitting with Clara. We had many nice doctors and nurses (6th floor team rules!) who were kind and helpful.

By Friday morning, the swelling had vastly subsided and the doctors all agreed that she had turned the corner and could go home in the afternoon once the last antibiotic treatment was administered. Well, Clara had the good idea of yanking her iv out about an hour early so the doctors said she could just go home and start the oral antibiotics instead (we sense a good natured rebel on our hands).

We got home in plenty of time to get a nice walk in around Lake Calhoun before picking up Joe from school (the girls needed some sunlight!). Joe was excited to have his mom back for story time before bed. And Clara was back in her bouncy seat with only a Garfield band aid to show for all her troubles. All seems normal again at the Raleigh House.

Joe Ekkers

Tonight, Ted was talking with Grandpa Tom on the telephone while Joe was eating dinner. Joe loves the telephone, so he kept asking to hold it. During the phone call I was telling Grandpa how Joe's daycare was teaching all the kids to say their first and last names and that it was reported on his sheet today that he knew his right away. His last name was never something we thought to "teach" him, so thank you Kinder Care for having the sense to teach the poor boy his last name. Anyway...I got Joe to say his full name while Grandpa was on the phone, but after I hung up and gave Joe the phone, he started his own pretend conversation with Grandpa Tom and ended with some chants (with some encouragement) of "Joe Ekkers." Bonus video of Raleigh in the background!

A Boy and a Boo

It was not so long ago that this poster was commenting about the behavior of certain dogs had they been present when the Jehovah's Witnesses stopped by, and we're sure all our loyal readers can think of other amusing-from-a-remove vignettes in which Boo and Roo turn our lives into a three ring circus. This very morning in fact this poster put words in Clara Jane's mouth and referred to them as Cuckoo and Cocoa Puff. But then, Fans, you see something that just melts your heart. Like Boo Boo lying in front of Our Hero's crib as if to protect him.

Or, she may just be hot, and that's the coolest spot in the house. Tough to say. But she is still there at 9:54pm, and will not be moved.

Memorial Day

Joe hosted a Memorial Day pool party in the backyard, but given that festivities kicked off at the toddler-friendly time of 9:30am, the pool stayed deflated as the cool of the morning had not yet given way to the totally spectacular and perfect warm afternoon. The Babka ladies and Pat were over. Joe and Elise snacked at the new picnic table.* Elise impressed everyone with her climbing skills, honed at her gymnastics class. When the water table, balls, and slide-climbing-thing had run their course, we all headed off for lunch at Punch. We got Joe a bambino pizza. Julie cut it all up. Joe picked up a piece, set it back down, and said, "All done." He proceeded to announce that he was all done for the remainder of the meal. Hilarious. The day was capped with ice cream from Dairy Queen. ("Joe-Joe** ice cream, too?")

Sidebar: Dairy Queen is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Blizzard by menuing 25 old favorites, including the banana cream pie Blizzard, the Blizzard of choice at the Ekkers' household. In typical Dairy Queen fashion (which is to say poor on the execution end of things--e.g. you could age a year waiting in the drive thru line, whipped cream application is inconsistent, Julie and Ted once saw the drive thru person try to give their frozen treat to the car in front of them and then talk over it increasing the risk of spit contamination on our frosty treat before retracting it back into the window), it has not advertised how long the 25th anniversary promotion will last so we have had more than a few banana cream pie Blizzards of late.

*When we set this thing up, Joe marched right on over and settled himself right in, navigating the legs and feet over the bench like nobody's business. Julie was a little teary-eyed upon seeing this because who knew our little boy was such a big boy?

**This is Joe's moniker at daycare. We're pretty excited for Joe-Joe to learn about the wonderful world of pronouns. Especially I.

That's Our Bird

Clara Jane has been with us a little over a month now on the outside and this is what we know: the girl loves her a snuggle. She is remarkably unflappable, but if there is one sure fire way to get her to wake up or cry out, it's the set her down. Set her down, or keep her up when she is tired as it must also be said, our girl loves her a snoozer. That's Our Bird.