In recovery

Well now that Ethans forehead has gone down a lot his dad wanted to put a couple of shots of him 'in recovery'. Alot of bruising has come up around his eyes and his nose is pretty puffy which worried me but AJ says its normal and with his vast experience I have to take his word for it. Everyone calls him a klingnon (star trek) but he takes it on the chin. Hes a little toughie our son but that doesnt mean we want this to become a habit hey :)

Barron Warrior

Well its 1.10am in Brisbane and we have just retuned home from the hospital with Ethan, our little warrior.

Cant sleep and have to wake my son up in a couple of hours to check on him and thought what better way to pass the time than update everyone on the latest escapades in the Barron household.

'Twas a nice but slightly chilly afternoon in Brisbane, and with Andrew and my brother working late and me stuck at home with my 5 kids and my 4 year old nephew, we thought 'what the hell, lets have a bbq'. So we invited ourselves to my sisters house for dinner (yay no dishes tonight, was certainly a strong point for my daughter)and packed up the car and went over.

It started out ok. The adults chatting around the barby and 9 kids running around the yard, playing and causing mischief. It was a relaxing start and everyone was enjoying themselves.

I was heading upstairs to check on my 7 month old godchild and all I heard was my sister yell out 'Liam be careful. Put that down.' and then more urgently 'Watch out!' then a thud and Ethan started crying. Loudly.

By the time I had got to my son, he had a lump the size of a basketball that varied in colours; pink, white and black, and a distressed older son who was staring with tears in his eyes at his baby brother.

Liam had found a block of wood in the garage (think wood chopping block shape but half the size), bought it out to the yard and was showing his cousins how strong he was by throwing it as far as he could. Unfortunately his aim was apparently off and his brothers forehead became the unintended target.

Neither me nor my sister had ever seen a lump so large and so I packed the kids in the car, dropped the others off at home with my brother, picked up his dad (guess they didnt end up working so late hey) and we rushed off to the hospital. By then Ethan had stopped crying and was back to his normal self. Giggly, alert, boisterous and stroppy.

We got him assessed by the nurse and sat down to wait for our turn. The emergency room started to fill up pretty quick while we waited. Lots of very sick and grizzly kiddies and equaly frazzled parents. We felt like a bit of a fraud amongst all this misery, as while there was lots of sad faces around us, our son was climbing chairs, chatting to various people and running around the play area at top speed with a massive grin on his face.

After two hours of waiting to see the doctor, Andrew was starting to get annoyed and if it hadnt been a head injury, he would have had us out of there. After a bit of a rev up at reception, we finally got in to see the doctor only to have them sit there and fill out an incident report and asessment for possible child abuse BEFORE they actually checked out his head. I could see Andrew start to get very upset and irate and sent him out to do Ethan a bottle while I hurried the paperwork up and got onto the important part of getting my sons injury looked at.

I totally understand and agree why doctors need to establish how any child would get hurt but is it too much to ask that they check your child to make sure that they are fine BEFORE trying to establish wether or not it was an accident?

By now it was 10.30, Ethan was getting tired and aggravated and wanted a shower, pjs, bottle, his blue pillows and purple mouse in his own bed at his own house. He was also getting upset at the endless lights being shone in his eyes, the rubber hammer that tests reflexes, the beep beep thingy that reads his pulse and heartbeat. But I have to say that he didnt wince once when they pressed on the lump that was thankfully decreasing in size.

Anyway they kept him for observation till 12.30 and now we are home. A very long and tiring night and Im not looking forward to daylight, when I have to be up preparing breaky and lunches, doing drop offs and handling two active pre schoolers and a toddler for the day.

The joys of parenthood :) Well gotta go and wake Ethan up and hopefully get a few zzzs.

To Gran, with love xxxxx

We got an email from Gran yesterday requesting some black and white photos of the children. So Gran, here they are, sent to you with tons and tons of love, hugs and kisses

Brat Attack!

I loved nothing more than dressing my baby son up and making him look more gorgeous than he usually does, chucking him in the car and cruising off to the mall, even if it was just to have a ice choccie and a bit of a wander round. He would love it too, sitting in his stroller and throwing out big smiles to all who would stop and say how cute he was and chuck him under the chin.

Sigh. Those were the days.

Now hes gotten older. And all thats changed.

Picture this. Ethan has figured out how to press the thingies together to release him from the restraints in his stroller. I didnt know this untill we were browsing in KMart the other day and I was sizing up some clothes for one of the other kids and, crash bang, this loud noise reverberates through the baby section, which was right next to where we were. I look in the stroller and my son is gone. With a bit of a curse, I head to where the noise came from and theres my son, amongst all the baby rattles and teats and bottles and wotnot that he had pulled down on top of him, with a big grin on his face. Red faced I start to clear up the mess all the while trying to figure out how the hell he escaped his stroller and apologising to the nice store DETECTIVE that had stopped to help. Mind you I bet he was just there to check for breakages that therefore needed to be paid for!!

Then once more securing Ethan in the stroller I left asap, moving onto the next shop. I became engrossed in looking at some house plants, but unknown to my child, kept one eye on the stroller. And then I realised how he had gotten out. The little rat was sitting there positioning his fingers on either side of the clip. Once done, he used his other hand to add strength to those fingers and sqeezed and yanked. He repeated this for the other side and, voila, he was free. Had to admire his ingenuity but it did pose a problem, one which his dad found a solution to once I told him of his sons escapades. By bending the clips a bit further outwards it made it harder for Ethan to squeeze and it caught when he yanked.

We dont even take him into the dairy when we stop in for milk etc anymore. We only do that in pairs. Ethan likes nothing more than running in, grabbing what he can and throwing them to the ground. Yesterday he took off while I was paying and ran between the small aisles, arms outstretched and sweeping what he could off the shelves.

He is definitely alot different than the other kids were at that age. Certainly teaching us alot more things thats for sure.

Our darling daughters

A day at Aussie World

Today as a late birthday treat for Maddisyn we packed up the car and family and took them up to the Sunshine Coast to Aussie World, a kiddies amusement park. It was very exciting for them and sort of for us, and they loved it. Liam went on the octopus and rollercoaster so many times that Im surprised he was able to walk from place to place. After a bit of a hesitant start, halfway through the day, Maddy got a bit more daring and went on alot of things that she wouldnt go near earlier on.
It was a lovely day, tho very warm, but Andrew and I were glad to get them in the car and make our way home as the sky started to darken. Now we are at home, with full tummys, clean children and looking forward to a lax night.
Here are a few photos