Ellie's First Piano Recital

Today was Ellie's first piano recital. She started piano with her teacher in January and today, 5 months later she performed. She performed a piece playing with both hands and dynamics. We are so proud of her hard work to get to this point.

Grandma Pam and Grandpa Mike came down for the concert (which I'm sure brought back memories of watching me and Susie perform these same pieces). The recital was held at the Community Room at the South Pasadena Public Library which is a great space and terrific for the recital. All of the studio performed, approximately 35 students, ranging from ages 4 to 17 and with a huge range in experience. It was really great for all of the kids to see what could be next for them as well as to be reminded of where they started. We even ran into a family from Ellie's preschool who are part of the studio as well.

Ellie was in the middle of the program and the third of four kids who played the same piece. We took Calvin and he was well behaved until after Ellie performed when he, accompanied by Grandma Pam, left the building. Her performance wasn't perfect, and I wouldn't have expected it to be. However, she did really well. She played strong and had a perfect ending. Her dynamics were there. And she was confident and had fun, which is really all that matters.

 

Ellie really seems to enjoy piano and doesn't mind (well, sometimes she minds) putting in the hours practicing. She really likes her piano teacher. And I do too. She is an incredible player and is really good with the kids. She encourages them without being too pushy, but definitely holds them accountable. I'm so happy that Ellie likes piano and it is so much fun to watch her learn and perform. Although, I think I was way more nervous than she was for this first recital!

Spring concerts

On May 27th, Ellie performed in two concerts at school. One was during the day and was with her classmates. The second was after school and with her after school program (held at school, with her classmates too).

The program during the school day was directed by her school's music teacher and had a theme of world music. Ellie and her class sang three songs. The first was in English and Spanish. The second was a Moroccan song. And the third was Australian. It was really well done. The only downside was that she was positioned right behind the music teacher, so getting a good picture of her was tough. But she was pretty excited not to have to wear her uniform to school! The kids were asked to wear dressy clothes.

After the concert I took a moment and spoke to her music teacher and told her that I really enjoyed the concert and thought she did an excellent job. Ellie has enjoyed her music class all year. She asked who my daughter was and I told her Ellen, and then she smiled and said she was fantastic and a joy to have in class. I told her that we had started piano and then she said, "oh! that explains why she is so good!". So that was nice to hear.

In the afternoon the show was titled, "It Came From the 80s!". All the hits were there, Safety Dance, People are People, Who can it Be Now, Sweet Dreams, and of course, the well know and beloved, Never Turn your Back on Mother Earth. Yeah, the kindergartners got that one. I guess finding 80s songs that have elementary school appropriate lyrics can be difficult. Whatever, the kids don't know the songs anyway (unless they are the daughter of Nick who is 80s-pop culture obsessed). They all did a great job and some of the older kids really got all dressed up in 80s garb which was really cute. Calvin came to the afternoon show and was really well behaved...maybe he likes 80s music as much as his dad.

As part of the show all their work and art for the past semester. It was really cool to see everything displayed and collect her work. She was really really excited and happy to show us her work, as were her friends.

Its always fun to see Ellie hang out with her friends. They are such cute and great kids who are really friendly. She also loves her after school teacher and is really upset that she won't be in her class next year.

Ellie's school has an awesome auditorium that was just renovated. It is gorgeous and a really cool space to get to watch her perform in. As this school year comes to an end, there are so many things to reflect upon and realize that yes, our neighborhood public school is pretty awesome and a great place for our family.

14 months and a trip to the hospital

 Calvin is 14 months today. It has gone so fast. Hes a walker and has become quite the communicator lately by signing, pointing, and grunting. He's become opinionated and is still the charmer. He has 10 teeth and is getting 1 or 2 more.

After spending 5 days in the hospital it seemed only appropriate for him to take his tiger picture in his hospital mask. Yep, 5 whole days. Last Monday, May 4 we got a call from daycare that Calvin had a fever and had some rapid breathing. Previously we had asked daycare to watch for his breathing while he was recovering from head colds in case he needed a treatment with Albuterol. We have taken his nebulizer to school and they have given him treatments. So teachers there are aware that he has had issues in the past.

When I picked him up and got him home I realized he needed a treatment immediately. However, the treatment didn't seem to really help. He was breathing very rapidly and very shallow, more than he ever had before. He wasn't wheezing or coughing. It didn't seem right. And so I called the doctor and we got an appointment that evening. After checking his oxygen level and giving him another treatment at the doctor's office, the doctor sent us to the ER. They called ahead and told me what to ask for. His doctor said he needed to be monitored overnight and have a chest x-ray.

And so off to the hospital ER Calvin and I went at 7:30pm. We saw the triage nurse right away and then sat. And sat. I told the nurse what the doctor had told me about the X-ray and oxygen monitoring. I asked every hour when he would be seen. Around midnight I could tell that the last treatment he got was wearing off and his breathing was getting more and more labored. I told the nurse he needed an albuterol treatment and I was told that he couldn't get one there because they didn't have a bed for him. And so I made the decision that since I had a nebulizer and albuterol at home it would be better for him to be there. And so we left the ER.

Tuesday morning we got an appointment with this doctor as he was still having labored breathing. His doctor was frustrated with the ER given our experience but very concerned about Cal's breathing and his oxygen level. And so we were direct admitted to the pediatric unit at the hospital. Calvin was hooked up to a monitor to watch his oxygen and heart rate and put on oxygen to help keep his O2 levels up.

Tuesday night was a bit scary. His couldn't eat or drink because his breathing was too rapid (80 breaths per minute). And so he was put on an IV. He still had some fight in him and it took 3 nurses and 4 tries to get an IV in him. He wasn't responding to treatments and his breath rate stayed high and his O2 levels just barely at 90% saturation. We almost got sent to the PICU. But we made it through the night and he started getting better.

Thursday we celebrated Nick's birthday in the hospital. Not where anyone wanted to have dinner or cupcakes, but at least we were able to be together. Fortunately KTLA threw a pretty great party for Nick and he had an awesome cake, so the hospital cafeteria food didn't seem so bad.

Slowly but surely his breathing slowed down. He started responding to the treatments. And he could keep his oxygen levels up above 90% with less and less oxygen. Friday night he was taken off oxygen to see if while he slept he could keep up his levels...unfortunately he had a few dips below 90% that he needed help in raising his levels (moving him or waking him up). Saturday he had a couple naps where he was able to keep his levels up or raise his levels up on his own without intervention during his naps and so we were able to go home.

While there we definitely took advantage of the toys, books, and wagons that were made available to us. As soon as Calvin was given the go-ahead we busted out of the room and went walking and to the playroom and on wagon rides. Of course, when he was out of the room he had to wear a mask which he didn't fight as soon as he realized it was his ticket out of the room. He enjoyed the hospital food, mostly applesauce and scrambled eggs,

He was technically diagnosed with bronchitis. It definitely knocked him down. If it was another kid the viral infection wouldn't have hit them so hard. However, little Calvin appears to have inherited him family history of asthma and lung issues. However, we know what to look for and he is used to the nebulizer and albuterol treatments and doesn't fight them.

It was a rough few days at the hospital and we both didn't get much sleep. It is really good to be home. While he isn't 100% he is definitely better and his personality has come back in full force!

Happy 35th Birthday Nick

Happy 35th Birthday Nick!



Such an amazing cake and surprise at work for him this morning!

Which was very nice because his birthday dinner and celebration was not that exciting. Hospital food from the cafeteria and not wacky cake cupcakes (but by the same bakery as did the cake for his party at work). Oh well. At least Calvin seemed happy and was well enough to enjoy the party in his hospital room (when we are out of here I'll provide an update on Calvin and his hospital stay. He's recovering well currently.)




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Calvin is 13 months old!

He really is such a happy kid! Especially now that he has his sippy cup. His primary teacher was on vacation the past week and was back today. She was so sad that she missed his first steps. It just goes to show how charming he is and how much his awesome teachers care about him. He is so adventurous, walking until he falls flat on his stomach, eating smoked salmon made Uncle Mike, and trying to hang with his sister and her friends.

And also, we have a piano now!! The piano movers moved my parents piano down to our house today. Everyone was super excited about it!











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He's a walker!!

So this happened today when I picked him up...

I will go on record as saying that I saw his actual first steps. He was holding a book and took 2-3 steps from the bookcase to me, like he wanted to bring the book to me to read to him.

But yeah, so he's a walker now.

He can also drink out of a cup with a straw on his own.




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Happy Easter!

While we aren't big Easter people around here, I will take any excuse to occupy both my kids throughout a weekend when Nick has jetted off to Chicago for Cubs Opening Day. And so we had a jam-packed weekend. One of our good family friend's also was down a parent for the weekend. And so us moms, left with kiddos, teamed up and had a weekend full of Easter related activities.

Saturday morning started out preparing for the City of Pasadena egg hunt. Ellie knew we were headed to the hunt (which wasn't until 11:30) and immediately after waking up at 6:15am she kept asking when the hunt was, when we were leaving, etc. And so at 8:15 we were out the door. We were parked at the Rose Bowl, where the hunt was and by 9:00 I was wondering what to do with both of them. Last year the city hunt was in the park near our house and there was a breakfast and a festival and all sorts of activities. This year, with the hunt at the Rose Bowl, everything was behind the stadium gates and there wasn't anything until 11:00 when the gates opened (unless you planned ahead and had VIP Bunny Brunch tickets...yeah, we didn't). Fortunately, we are members of KidSpace which is located very close (walkable) to the stadium and so we headed there. Unfortunately, the museum was having an egg hunt and so it was super crowded when they opened at 9:30. But we got into the baby area and Cal was able to crawl around, which was especially nice considering that he would be cooped up in his stroller for a while. We ended up meeting up with our friends at around 10:30 and headed over to que up to get into the stadium.

It was crowded. Very crowded. And since it was the first hunt at the stadium, it was chaotic. But we eventually made it through the tunnels and down onto the field and got the kids to their starting points. By "hunt" it really is a egg dash. Kids running every direction grabbing as many eggs as they can. Ellie and her friends ended up with a gigantic haul. Ellie ended up with 64 plastic eggs (yes, this number is important later). This is the first year I have actually gotten pictures of Ellie in the chaos of the hunt/dash; thanks to our new camera with the amazing zoom, I was able to keep track of her in the chaos and get pictures of the kids!

Cal slept through the whole thing.

Not to waste a great Saturday (and the fact that 3/4 of Pasadena was down at the Rose Bowl) we ended up going out to lunch, and then Yogurtland, and then back to our house. The kids ended up playing in the backyard for a long time. We had dinner and then both kids were sound asleep by 7:30. Which gave me plenty of time to hide Ellie's 64 eggs in the backyard.

When Ellie work up she found her bucket, which she used to gather he haul of eggs at the hunt/dash, empty. She started to freak out and then said, "did you hide my eggs?". Yep! But we couldn't go egg hunting till everyone had eaten and gotten dressed.

After breakfast we all headed out into the backyard to look for eggs. Ellie gave one of the first ones she found to Cal to keep him happy. He was totally content crawling around outside with his one egg while she ran around hunting for her eggs. I did hide one in our half-barrel planter which Ellie didn't find...but Cal did! He pulled up on the barrel and saw the egg and got himself into a spot where he could reach it and grabbed it. He was so excited that he found one on his own! Ellie (and Cal) ended up finding 63 of the eggs. I couldn't remember (or find) where the last one was hid. And since I did it the night before, I figured maybe a squirrel got it or we just didn't find it, no big deal.

Just after lunch our friends came over. We had lunch outside and all the kids played well. Then, they asked for another hunt. And so we ended up hiding Ellie's 63 eggs and the 36 that they brought over. They kids had a blast running around finding them again. There was a little frustration (because we actually hid them and they had to work at finding them), but in the end it was a lot of fun (and the best part...about half of E's eggs ended up leaving our house with our friends! Less plastic eggs for me to deal with!).

Then the kids dyed eggs and then there was some cookie decorating. Calvin was pretty good and had a great nap outside. He got thoroughly dirty crawling around outside and totally frustrated that he didn't have free reign when the kids were dying the eggs. But he had fun in his swing and in his car.

After dinner, I couldn't get the kids in bed fast enough. Both had a bath and they were both asleep before I could get through a story with either one of them. Ellie hasn't even fallen asleep while I read to her, but she did tonight.

It was a long weekend, but it was a great one. Thank goodness for family friends to help out and hang out with.

Happy Easter!

(and yes, we found the 64th egg...as we were cleaning up from the day, we spotted the last egg hidden in a planter...pfew!)