Croup

We had our first late-night trip to the emergency room. Nathan woke up about 1 am one morning crying hysterically and coughing like a seal (meaning his cough sounded like the bark of a seal). As I was trying to get him to calm down, it became clear that he was having difficulty breathing. We bundled him up and raced to the emergency room at Baptist East. I walked in and at the main ER window in front of us was a woman in hand-cuffs being escorted by a female police officer. The woman was obviously intoxicated and was doing everything she could to stall (I guess she wanted to delay going to jail). I had an overwhelming urge to push her out of the way, couldn't she see that I had a baby who couldn't breathe??? Finally the nurse in charge told her to move and took us right in. Nathan had calmed down significantly and was a real trooper as the nurses and a doctor examined him and gave him a cool-mist breathing treatment. After a chest and upper airway X-ray, he was diagnosed with Croup. This is a viral infection that causes inflammation of the upper airway and vocal chords in young children. We were sent home with steriods for the inflammation and instructions on what to do if he has another attack. It was quite a scary night.

Preschool

Nathan started preschool last week, actually he goes to daycare at the hospital 2-3 days a week, but he calls it "cool". Nathan has been to church nursery many times, but never all day and not with as much structure as school. I was not concerned about him getting along with the other kids or being well behaved, I was a little nervous about nap time. They all nap on mats and I was concerned he would not do it. They reassured me that the transition is easier than most parents think. I was pleasantly surprised when they reported that he slept for the whole 2 hours and was great.
I am really pleased with our decision to use this place and I think it will be great for Nathan. On the first day, the director took Nathan's picture on the playground and send it to mine and Jeff's email. They also took the pictures and made a nice poem with them documenting his first day. It was so cute. below are the pictures they sent. He had a great time as you can see.

Halloween at the Zoo

On Saturday evening we went to the Zoo's Halloween celebration. The kids get to dress up in costumes and "trick-or-treat" around the zoo after hours. Most of the animal exhibits are closed, but there are a few animals who come out in the early evening hours and are much better to see than during the day. It was very crowded, but the crowd moved well enough and we had a great time. Nathan was Bob the Builder and we took Nathan's friend Ellie who was a Bee. They were super cute.

The Pacific Ocean

It was entirely too cold in the Pacific to get into the water, but we had fun walking along the beach and watching the surfers. Jeff couldn't get enough.

Jeff wishes he were the one surfing.

Beach Bum Nathan

Balboa Park and museums

Balboa Park is a large park in the middle of downtown San Diego, much like Central Park in the middle of New York City. It is beautiful. There is a lot of great architecture, trees, 13 museums and the Zoo. We bought a pass that got us into any of the museums once and the Zoo. It was so much fun walking around the grounds of the Park and going to see the many different museums.

Nathan loved this beautiful fountain in the courtyard near the visitor's center.

The Museum of Man featured Mummies and ancient Indian artifacts (the Mayan and Aztec). It also chronicled man's evolution (yes, from apes).

There was a Science Center that had a wonderful play area for children less than 5. Nathan had a great time playing with the musical instruments, the blocks and the make believe grocery store.

There was a water exhibit where you walked through a curtain of "water" with lights naming water in many languages. Jeff and Nathan must have walked through the curtain a dozen times because Nathan loved it.

Model Train Museum.
It was amazing how intricate the villages and scenery was. There was room after room filled with model trains.

San Diego Zoo

2008 is the Year of the Frog.
We saw a lot of neat frogs and other amphibians at the Zoo.

Nathan and I at the Zoo
(he is wearing his monkey backpack)

On the road to see the Panda exhibit.
The San Diego Zoo has a great Panda exhibit with 2 adult panda bears.

Sea World

Nathan's first amusement park ride with his favorite character, Elmo (A-mo). He loved it

Sesame Street Bay of Play
Sea World's fun play area for young children.
Nathan could have spent the entire day there with A-mo

You can't go to Sea World without seeing Shamu. They put on a great show.

San Diego

Back in May I won 2 free airline tickets on Continental anywhere in the lower 48 good until the middle of December. This was a use-it-or-loose-it deal so we decided to use it while Nathan was still a free ride-along and go to California. Jeff had never been to California and it had been quite a while since I was there (back in high school). We decided Nathan was too young for the big theme parks like Disney, Knott's Berry Farm and Legoland, but we did get to do a lot of neat activities. We went to Sea World, the Zoo, a number of museums at Balboa Park and to the beach. It was a nice, relaxing vacation.