Welcome, Edison! ... and other silliness

Edison Eusevio Hernandez was born Friday, August 10th 2012 at 7:51pm at Evergreen Medical Center. He was 8 pounds 5 ounces and 21 1/4 inches long. His big brother and sister got to meet him that night at the hospital when Grandma Cindy brought them over. David's parents came to meet him that night as well. Liliana kept asking everyone to undress him and when nobody would, she announced, "The baby is a girl." The nurse, Emily, then invited Liliana to help give Edison his first bath. Once he was completely undressed, Liliana looked deflated and said, "Oh, it's a penis." in a less than enthusiastic tone. All the adults in the room had a good laugh at that. A few days before the baby was born, I was taking shower and Emmett was sitting on the side of the tub in my bathroom so he could talk to me. As I got out of the shower, Emmett said, "Mom, you did a really good job...take a shower." I laughed and said, "Thanks, kid. I'm glad you approve of my hygiene." Then as I toweled off, his face lit up as he pointed to my pregnancy-induced stretch marks and shouted, "Look! Train tracks!" - FYI: He loves trains. "Yes, Emmett. All of these are thanks to you, your sister, and baby #3." The other day Auntie Nicole was over visiting and mentioned something about her dog. Liliana told her, "We can't have a dog because mommy is electric to dogs." Nicole and I loved that! Emmett went to time out for hitting Liliana. After he was done in time out, I asked him what he had done that was naughty. He said, "Hit Lana." "That's right. Are we supposed to hit?" "No," he responded. "What do you need to do now?" I asked. "Say sorry Lana" "That's right," I said. I watched him walk into the next room to give Liliana a hug and say sorry. A moment later I heard Liliana say, "He hit me again!" Emmett came out of the room with a grumpy look on his face. I asked, "Did you hit Liliana?" "Yes." "Why?" "Lana no hug you," he said. Bahahaha! He hit her because she wouldn't let him hug her to say sorry for hitting her! Needless to say, he got to go spend a few more minutes in time out.

Emmett's gargantuan tonsils

Emmett's pediatrician would often make comments like, "Woah!" or "Check out those babies!" whenever we went in for a check-up and the doc looked in Emmett's mouth. He was referring to Emmett's tonsils. He said we would need to keep an eye on them and they would likely have to be removed sooner rather than later. Well last month Emmett became ill and his already extra large throat-lumps swelled up even larger. Emmett was gagging on his food and spitting up at meal time because he could not swallow well. I took him in to the doctor and my poor baby tested positive for Strep throat. Even after the antibiotics had run their course, one of his tonsils was still pressing up next to the uvula, and the doctor referred us to a specialist. Our first visit to the E.N.T. was all it took. As soon as he walked in, the doctor asked, "Is that how Emmett always sounds when he breaths?" He was referring to the snore-like sounds coming from my little mouth breather.
"Not always," I said, "But quite frequently."
We also discussed his nightime snoring, constant stuffy/runny nose, frequent fluid behind his ears, etc. The next thing I knew, we had an appointment for surgery for the next available day the doctor had - about two weeks out. Being pregnant, I had overly emotional responses over the next couple weeks to the upcoming procedure of my little guy. I was all but convinced that something would go terribly wrong and Emmett would have some adverse reaction to the anesthesia or some such thing. I knew I was not being rational, but that didn't change the stress I was experiencing. I prayed like crazy to know if I was making the right decision and to be comforted to know all would be well. I was grateful that David and a family friend were able to give Emmett a priesthood blessing before his surgery that gave my emotional pregnant brain the calm I needed.
At the day surgery clinic Emmett happily allowed a nurse to scoop him up and take him back to the operating room. He was having so much fun pushing the buttons that automatically open the doors that he didn't care that we were not coming along with him. At the conclusion of the surgery, we got to go into the recovery room and sit with him. Daddy held Emmett on his lap while Emmett got to watch part of Finding Nemo and eat popsicles. The nurses kept commenting on how good he was. They said most two year olds have a fit when they separate from the parents to go back for surgery and then put up a fight when the nurses try to get them to do anything-like put on the gas mask or take a dose of pain meds from a syringe- but Emmett was completely cooperative and didn't even fuss or cry when he woke up from the anesthesia. What a tough little guy. (*Reminds me of when he astonished the nurses at his regular doctor's office by holding completely still while they drew some blood for an allergy test. They said they did not have teenage patients that acted that calmly or held that still for a blood draw.)
Emmett has recovered well. He was up and jumping around the afternoon after his surgery. As long as he let me give him his pain medicines, he was his cheerful rowdy self. After several days, though, he decided he didn't like his medicine anymore and I either had to force feed it to him (which made him kick and scream) or let him go without (which made him irritable and overly sensitive and dramatic). Luckily that only lasted a few days and then he was past the pain and we no longer had to worry about the meds.
After the surgery, David and I noticed that Emmett was breathing through his nose rather than his mouth. The Dr said our boy's adenoids were also large and had probably been part of the congestion problem. Emmett sleeps so quietly now that I have to go clear into his room and stand by the crib to check on him. I used to be able to hear him snoring from outside his door, so I knew he was asleep! During his surgery the Dr also drained the fluid out of Emmett's ears and said they should stay clear now that the tonsils and adenoids are gone. Emmett can probably hear better now as a result, so his pronunciation will likely improve quite quickly. Others are already saying they can understand him more easily now!
I am glad Emmett is better off because of his tonsillectomy. I just hope none of my other kids will need to undergo surgery of any kind anytime soon...or ever, for that matter!

Liliana in real life

Last night David made dinner for the family. During our meal Liliana announces, "Daddy, the food you make is much more gooder than what Mommy cooks for dinner." What had he made? Homemade mac and cheese.
Then a little while later we were stretched across the bed reading scriptures with the kids and Liliana noticed that David was stroking Emmett's hair. "Here, Dad," she said as she shoved her way between the two of them. "You can rub my hair. It is much longer and prettier." Luckily Emmett is a pretty easy going kid and he just rolled over closer to me without a big struggle ensuing. However, I am certain that he is keeping mental tallies for each time she does something to him that he doesn't like and when he gets bigger than her, he is going to retaliate big time.

Adventures In Lililand

Now it's time to catch up on some of the silly things Liliana has been up to in recent months.

While swimming in an outdoor hotel pool awhile back, Liliana suddenly jumped out of the pool and started stripping off her swim bottoms. "What are you doing?" I asked. Before she could answer, I realized she was peeing all over the cement! My sisters and I started laughing and splashing loads of water out of the pool to wash away Liliana's puddle. Luckily we were the only ones there at the time!

Liliana has had a few sleepovers with her cousins. One of the sleepovers involved her cousin Kaden sleeping in the extra bed in her room. In the morning Kaden said, "Auntie Neen, I couldn't sleep very well because Liliana kept standing by my bed and looking and me." I started laughing while I tried to apologize to him. Leave it to my daughter to be a creepy stalker-like sleepover buddy!

While cooking dinner one evening, Liliana asked me what I was making. When I told her what it was, she said, "That's ewww. Only grown-ups like yucky stuff." Nice to knnow how much she appreciates the time I spend on home made meals.

One afternoon Liliana and I were sitting on the bar stools in the kitchen and she pointed out that her butt didn't cover as much of the stool as mine did. She told me, "When I am a grown up my butt will be more huge like yours." Thanks, kid. I love you too.

During a car ride, Liliana started interrupting a conversation that David and I were having, asking me if I like Spongebob. We have been working on interrupting, so I decided I would not respond until she used the appropriate, "Excuse me" intro to what she was saying. Liliana asked me the same question a few more times, and when she failed to get a response, she said, "Since you're not talking to me, that means you do like Spongebob." I laughed, explained why I hadn't responded to her, and let her know that I had no love for the idiotic yellow kitchen sponge that wears pants.

In December we discovered that we were expecting baby number three. When we told Liliana and Emmett about it, Liliana started laughing hysterically and kept laughing until she was bright red in the face and had tears streaming down her cheeks. We have asked the kids what the baby's name should be and Liliana came up with Sweet Baby, while Emmett has been sticking with Choo Choo. Good thing they don't get final say on the matter.

The other night David was putting Liliana to bed and she wanted to stay up and play instead. In an attempt to get him distracted, she said, "Daddy, you go downstairs and play video games, OK?" Hahaha! Nice try!

Yesterday we went out to eat at a restaurant called The Rock. Before leaving, I took Liliana into the restroom for a potty break. The toilets were black and had purple flames painted on the top of the tank with a pair of creepy eyes peeking out of the flames and the bathroom was not very well lit. I tried to convince Liliana to use one, and even offered to hold her over it so she wouldn't have to touch it, but she was NOT having it! Needless to say, the potty break was postponed until our next stop.

Today David handed Liliana and Emmett some of the peanuts he was snacking on. Liliana thanked him and then asked, "Daddy, now do I have a baby in my belly after eating peanuts?" Don't ask my how or why she made this connection. After a good chuckle, David cleared up the confusion...in a four-year-old-friendly way.

Oh, Liliana, you make life so fun. :)