Looking back but trying to move forward...

Written yesterday...

To say we're glad to be home would be an understatement. Walter stayed home from work yesterday so that we could regroup as a family. Isaac and I took an amazing nap in the morning. After we woke up I asked Walter if it would be totally crazy if I went to playgroup. I know you probably think I'm crazy, but I wanted to see everyone and so we went, and it wasn't crazy because it was refreshing to see yet another extension of my support group.

Walter and I can't help but note how surreal it feels being home and past the surgery. A few days ago the nurses and doctors didn't think we would get to leave the hospital until today. Isaac is shrinking back to his pre-surgery size, which means lots of very wet diapers and giant poops. Yesterday's poop required a bath. If you know Isaac, you know that he doesn't like to poop. I actually have to give him a suppository once a week--I know, you really wanted to be in on that information! It's probably due to the antibiotic but his bodily functions are working better than they ever have. I think this means we will not only need to change clothes and sheets due to drool overload but also due to poop explosions.

I'm still trying to get used Isaac's very round head. His eyelids are still quite swollen so I think once that goes down I'll have an easier time feeling like he's my Isaac. His whole head is swollen and I know, it's only been a week. As I said in the previous post, his mannerisms are all the same; the noises he makes are all the same; his laugh is the same, but I guess because I'm his mom I'm having the hardest time with this change. The incision itself doesn't bother me at all but he's always had a small head and now his head looks so big that I just can't get past it. All of the surgeons reassured me over and over again, because trust me, I asked every doctor who came in the room, "now, the swelling in his eyelids and head will go down, or is this how he will always look?" And they reminded us over and over again, this was a major surgery and took twelve hours, give it time.

With all of that said, it seems weird that I would post pre-surgery pictures, but these are from the day before the surgery and are special to me so I can't avoid sharing them.

Last Monday at playgroup we had a baby shower for Linda who is expecting her fourth baby--yeah, she's pretty much an amazing person and also the most beautiful pregnant person I've ever seen. With that said, somehow I managed not to get a picture of her perfectly round belly. But I did get a couple pictures of Jamie helping the kids play the guitar. Oh, and Jamie has taken baby wearing to the next level because at one point she had (her) Isaac in the sling and was playing the guitar at the same time!

Due to the expression on Isabella's face, I'm pretty sure she just finished bossing around Maya.

Charlotte

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And after trying to decide whether or not Isabella would go trick or treating, Walter said, "well, I really want some candy, so we could take her to a few houses." We didn't tell Isabella that she would go trick or treating until about an hour before the actual event. If you have toddlers, you can understand what I call, "on a need-to-know basis" rule. Every Sunday we go to my parent's house for dinner and throughout the whole meal she was talking about how excited she was. We explained what she was supposed to say when she walked up to the house and that she needed to say thank you. She got all the rules and did a great job, but for some odd reason, which we still don't understand, at almost every house she loudly exclaimed, "TRICK OR TREAT I'M IN THE SHEETS!" In the sheets...what??? Yeah, don't ask me. She had a blast though and kept saying, "Oh I love trick or treating! I love candy!"

Can you tell, I'm playing catch up with pictures...Last weekend we went to a nature realm. It was a pretty chilly day but we wanted to do something fun as a family before the surgery. So we bundled up, maybe a little too much because when I took Isaac out of the Beco he was sweating, and went for a fun hike and crossed a really cool suspension bridge.

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Isabella and I were waiting for Walter to get home last night when she randomly said, "I'm not having any fun today." Join the club--membership is free. Isaac was extremely fussy all day and night but thankfully he slept pretty well. Because I was trying to make sure she had a day completely void of fun, we went to the park in the afternoon and made brownies for dessert and then took a bubble bath together where we made bubble ice cream and had a bubble tea party. While at the park Maya and Isabella began one of their debates which usually results in tears. Sarah and I went over to intervene and the debate was simply a matter of Maya wanting to be Mary Poppins but Isabella wanting her to be just Mary. So Sarah asked Isabella who she wanted to be and Isabella said in a very pathetic and whiny voice, "I just want to be Lazy." Um...okay. I don't have any pictures from the park but I'm sure Sarah will post some on her blog.

Do I need to remind you that she picks out her own clothes?