Partings

Emma Josephine Furnas

1921-2010

"A good marriage, a good family, a good life".

Goodbye, Great-Grandma Jo.

We love you.

Test Results

The results for Max's chest x-ray and blood work were all normal. However, the doctor is still concerned about Max's lympth nodes and suggested further testing to make sure that nothing is missed. Max had a bout of stomach flu last week, which on top of the cold and recent ickiness has made me more anxious than I would typically be over a bug. This little boy cannot afford to lose any more weight! Although, I can tell that he is stretching out and getting taller, so some of the skinniness may be related to that as well.

On Wednesday we took Max back to the hospital for an ultrasound. We were instructed not to feed him before our 7:30 appointment. Max had different plans. He woke up several times during the night and then extremely early screaming, "Eat, eat!" He was very upset that we could not have breakfast or anything to drink. He cried and yelled until we forced him into the car to go to the hospital. On the 2 minute drive, he managed to take his shoes off and throw them at us while sobbing hysterically.

Fortunately, once we arrived he calmed down. He loved watching the fountain and counting the colored squares in the hallway. During the ultrasound he reclined, put his hands behind his head, and enjoyed the warm, gooey massage. The technician was astounded that a 2 year old could remain still for the hour process. Obviously, she was not at our house that morning.

I am very thankful that these procedures have not significantly bothered Max. On our nightmarish trip to the hospital, I had a brief glimpse of what everyday life must be like for parents of children with a chronic disease and my heart aches for them. We will continue to pray that the ultrasound results are normal and that the pediatric surgeon does not see a need to do a biopsy. Max has learned new techniques from all of this - now he likes to smear paint on his tummy in the bathtub and move a toy around on it, just like in the ultrasound!

31 Flavors of Fun

Happy 31st Birthday, Daddy!

Ice cream, balloons, and hugs...the perfect birthday!

Lego Mania

Legos have gone high tech. Forget those rectangular plastic blocks that were formerly used to make simple house structures. Now Legos come in ever imaginable shape and size and are used to create replicas of the Taj Mahal and the Death Star. For Christmas, we gave our nephews a trip to Lego Paradise and the opportunity to choose their own project.

The entire back wall of the Lego store is covered with bins of specialty Legos. Kids could fill up various sized cups with a combination of blocks. Max was more interested in moving the Legos from one bin to another. Goodbye, organization.

Computer programs demonstrated how to make different objects using the Legos located at that table. Some of the Lego project packages had bar codes that could be scanned to show a 3-D image of how the completed project would look. Josh picked a giant ship and Darin chose several cars, a racetrack, and an underwater creature.

Most importantly, there was a well stocked playroom to try out the merchandise!

Before leaving, we took a spin on the carousel, which far outweighed the Lego mania in Max's opinion!

During this trip, Josh was awarded the coveted Entertainer of the Year award. In the store, he helped Max build a Lego train. At dinner, he walked Max around the restaurant and blew crayons at him. On the way home, he retrieved Pelt 937 times after Max threw him across the car, as well as making Max laugh hysterically with his silly antics. Josh the Entertainer is welcome on any future drives with Max. And, naturally, we expect him to teach Max all about Lego building as he gets older!

Statistical Analysis

After careful analysis, it has been determined that a positive correlation exists between the possession of Object A (designated as "Pelt") and the insertion of Object B (defined as "Thumb"). Object B was rarely utilized outside that presence of Object A. Furthermore, the number of insertions of Object B ("Thumb") is inversely related to Item C (the number of words vocalized by the Subject). Thus, if A affects B and B affects C then A must also affect C.

Further study of the statistics revealed that the number of possessions of Object A was dependent on the caregiver present at any given time. Caregivers 1 and 2 ("Mommy" and "Daddy") showed significantly less numbers of possession than Caregiver 3 (Grammy, also known as "Mimi").

Conclusion: In order for the Subject to increase his spoken utterances, he will have to forego Object A and Object B. The Subject has demonstrated a capacity to achieve this goal, but each caregiver must conform to the same standards.

Or in layman's terms: Pelt is going to have to be left behind so that Max will not suck his thumb as often and will talk more. Be strong, Mimi.

In Sickness and in Health

2010 has started with a lot of tissues.

Max and I have both been sniffling from bad colds. The kind of cold that requires me to wipe my nose and then lean over to wipe Max's nose. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat. I think we will keep Kleenex company solvent for the upcoming year.

After being unable to make it through the entire day on my first day back from vacation, I was extremely grateful when human contact seemed possible again on Wednesday. But no, because Wednesday night my ear began to ache. And ache. And ache. I woke up at 3 am in tears from the pain. I knew sitting and waiting for hours for my primary care doctor to fit me in on Thursday was not going to be an option. So I called one of the pediatricians that I work with and begged her to check my ears before her first patient. Fortunately, she is a kind and generous soul, as is my co-worker who watched Max at our office while I had my ear exam. After dropping Max off at ITP and downing my medication and pain pills, I climbed back in the bed to try to ignore the stabbing pains and rest. When I woke up, the stains on the tissues indicated that my ear drum had perforated. Great.

I dragged my unwashed body, bloody ear, and greasy hair out of the bed to pick up Max. I stepped outside to set something on the back porch and managed to lock myself out of the house. I wanted to cry. The temperature was in the 20s, I had an ear infection, I needed to pick up my child, and some workers were due at the house to replace a mirror. No phone. No coat. No tissues to blow my nose. That is what our new neighbors saw when I appeared on their doorstep and asked to borrow their phone to call my husband.

Then, as if the week had not been bad enough, Max's pediatrician (not MY pediatrician) has been watching some swollen lymph nodes on his neck for the past few months. He ordered a chest x ray and blood work to help determine the cause. On Friday, Grammy and I took Max to the hospital to have it completed. He did not make a peep while they took 3 huge vials of blood - amazing! Although, he did enjoy sliding on his stomach on the floor of the blood lab. As did Pelt. I cannot imagine what type of germs are there!

We are both returning to normal, although I still cannot hear out of my left ear. The other day Max picked up the box of tissues and said "Mama" and then brought them to me in the bed. Me, Max, and Tissues - we go together like peanut butter and jelly.

New Year's Boy

Happy 2010!

And just in time for the new year, I finally got pictures uploaded from last year!

Check out the picture site for the highlights of 2009.