S & S

Tuesday morning we found ourselves in the doctors office searching for answers of why Brode had a full body rash.

Friday night after hockey Brode had the start of a body rash on his chest. Without a fever or any cold symptoms we let it go through the weekend. It stayed pretty steady but he developed nothing more.

Monday morning he woke up and it was gone off his chest and back, but his face was bright red with darker areas around the eyebrows and ears. I brought him to day care asking what to do because he has no other symptoms of anything based on their standards of kids staying home. I wasn't able to keep him home because there was nothing I could do for him with no fever, pain, or symptoms so he spent the whole day.

Tuesday morning I checked Brode over before waking him up, still no fever, bit of a rash on his face. I turned on the light to wake up him up, and there it was - all over his arms. His rash was moving from body part to body part for no reason. Because it had spread but he had no symptoms I wanted to get to the doctor to make sure it really was ok for him to be in day care.

9:30AM we sat together in the exam room while 3 doctors inspected Brode, stumped by why he had no fever or redness anywhere else. They looked through pictures, descriptions, etc. until they finally decided to test for strep even though he had no red throat. Sure enough his tests came back positive for strep throat. Once children have the strep virus in their body this forms a toxin that can cause a rash. Only some people are sensetive to the toxin that results in rash, others show no form of it. This rash, better known as scarlet fever (we were laughing that he only had the scarlet without the fever), forms in the exact areas Brode has it on his body in a strange patterns. We got him some antibiotics and he spent two days on the couch. Within the first day his appetite was back and his rash was disappearing.

The hardest part was keeping him content inside all day because he had no fever or "sick" feelings he just wanted to run and have fun and be a healthy little. Unfortunetaly that didn't happen and we made him watch movies, relax, play quietly, and take his medicine.

Lucky for Brode Daddy came over and played for a while in the afternoons, and he received a few 'sick' presents (we'll save that for another post).

Strep throat and scarlet fever. What a fun week. He better be ready for all of our fun plans this weekend!

Weekend Fun

Weekends are SO much better when the weather is in the 70s! We had another great weekend around home. We didn't have any major plans so it was nice to come and go as we pleased.

Friday night I had to work so Grandma Beth picked Brode up from day care, had dinner and played, then they headed over to Matt's last home hockey game. I met up with them after work with Brode's skates for "Skate with the Ice Dogs" after the game. I thought Brode would be a little bit nervous, but he loved skating with daddy and the team.

Saturday Brode attempted to sleep in but then got right to playing around the house. After a morning at home we headed out to see the sturgeon spawning in the river. Yes they are big ugly fish, but these things are bigger than me, right up by shore, how can you not be fascinated? I was only fascinated for a few minutes until I started thinking about the fact that we swim in the water these live in, I'll be keeping my toes closer this summer. After we saw the sturgeon we stopped and got lunch and visited some friends while Brode tortured their cats. Of course Brode fell asleep like a rock on the way home and slept in the car for an hour!

(yes, he did this pose by himself)

We spent Saturday night at the YMCA for one of their last Family Nights. We played basketball, jumped in the bounce house, and ran around in the family fun center. Once again Brode was tired when we got home and slept soundly all night.

Sunday started out a bit cold and rainy so we spent the morning at the grocery store and running errands for spring clothes, sunscreen, etc. that we need for spring and summer. When we got home Brode was not feeling the nap concept at all so we spent the afternoon playing outside. I should say Brode played with the neighbor boys, I soaked up the sun reading while they ran around.

He was tired out by dinner time so after a full belly, warm bath, bit of a movie, and some ice cream he was ready for bed.

If these weekends are any indicator of summer, I am very excited! We've already got a lot of plans for the week and next weekend.

This Better Not Be A Tease...

This better not be a tease.... because we enjoyed this weekend's weather too much. It never fails warm weather hits early in Wisconsin then drops back down to 30 for a week.

I'm done with winter. Sign me up for spring and summer!

Sunday we played outside the majority of the day, golfing, riding tractors, cars and bikes, and going for a walk.

(do you like their matching hats?)

Brode was getting pretty confident with his shots as he told me he was better than me and he can hit farther than me. He tried to give us all lessons.

We took an afternoon trip to Golf Galaxy to get Brode some colored golf balls and tees as he always gets frustrated that he can't find the white ones.

You know what's coming next?

Yes, he ended up in the simulator, again, with everyone watching. They asked if he wanted to hit but when we said he was left handed it didn't work. Luckily we came prepared and had his driver in the back of the car so he got to hit. He left the simulator with lots of laughs as the employees couldn't believe how he takes the time to get set up and hits solid, as well as with a free hat and 2 sleeves of balls.

After Golf Galaxy we "ruined our dinner" as Brode said and went to Culvers for ice cream. The boys shared a banana split and as you can see had to turn their matching hats around to keep the bill out of the ice cream.

A little boy in heaven:

 A great afternoon!

The rest is completely random, but Brode needed new shoes again! He has outgrown the matching Puma's we had and wore out a pair of play shoes after that as well. He was quite picky as he wanted "black Nike's or Jordan's that make me fast". I know, this says future trouble all over it! All of the stores were out of his size as well because they are between seasons, but we found some red and black Nike's that he loves.

Monday morning I went shopping at Kohls and had to exchange a Nike coordinating outfit for Brode and picked out this one instead. It has matching shorts, but with those new shoes he will be looking good this spring and summer!

One Liners

Brode is full of funny sayings. Some of them are funny because he has his own words and combination of words, others are funny because they are from things that happened months ago, and some are just funny because they are way beyond what a typical three year old would say.

I have been falling behind on a lot of thnigs. I'm getting better at keeping up on the blog again luckily so I have some sort of record. From that I am able to go back and work on his scrapbook (I think I'm only 9 months or so behind). I have NO videos from recently. We always joke when we're playing we just need to leave it up for an hour because he bounces from one thing to the next and you just never know what is going to come out of that mouth.

A few little things I want to remember:

1. Brode now knows every word to Yellow Submarine

2. "Mom, if you do not listen and make a good choice I am not going to call your name"

3. "May I please have some juice to wash my (insert any random food here) down." (the kid will always find a reason for juice)

4. Brode is coloring, we are watching American Idol "Whoa, that guy is a really good singer, they should send him to Hollywood"

5. "Sorry, I can't play hockey right now I need to go in the locker room and have a pep talk with my coach"
6. "Can you even believe that? I haven't even never saw that before"

7. Example of making his own words - Brode calls diving for the diving rings in the pool "Tagelrat". Don't ask me where it comes from. Things like this are daily.

8. Brode insists he works at Red Lobster so a few weeks back when we went we said to him on the way there, "Brode, have you ever even been to the crab place, except for work" and he replies "Yup, I'd been there for two weeks for work then I had no more work!" I have no idea why he says he works there, but he spots it from a mile away "The crab place! That's where I work!"

9. Whenever Brode races he always "beats" he never "wins". "Let's race, I'm gonna beat!" "Look Grandpa, I beat!"

I ALWAYS want to remember this:

Brode has been making this sound since two years old. He does it all the time, with no rhyme or reason. I cannot replicate this sound no matter how hard I try, and I can't find anyone else that can!

He stopped doing it for a while until his day care teacher asked for silly sounds one day at day care and that was his, ever since he is stuck on it again. I wanted to get this on video so bad so that I will always remember because we will always laugh and who knows when he'll stop doing it again!

The Circus

Sunday was a lazy day, until 1:00 when we started contemplating going to the circus that was in town. By 1:30 we were in the car on our way to the 3:00 show! After a long wait to get in and getting a few snacks we were ready for the show to begin:

Grandpa and Brode with the cages of 10 tigers behind them.

 Brode and his LOUD light up gun.

 The Ringmaster right in front of our seats!

 Brode and Grandpa watching the Tigers.

 The one very brave man in a cage with 10 tigers!

 Little miniature horse running figure 8's through the big horse!

 The elephant walking across the ring!

 Trampoline tricks. We were just hoping this didn't give Brode any ideas!

 Brode and I during intermission by the elephants!

 Juggling!

 The motorcycle tricks! (The best part!)

(Turn the volume down on your computer because I'm pretty sure this is loud and we all scream and shout after we see what happens!)

A short video of the best motorcycle trick:

 David Smith Jr. the human cannonball!

The human cannonball:

The whole circus was amazing! Much better than we thought for a last minute decision to go. Brode laughed and laughed and he loved seeing all the tricks. It was a great afternoon!

Final Photo Days

Day 27: Something You Ate

Lunch today. Not exciting. Chicken salad sandwich and peanut butter crackers. I was running out of the house to workout before work, and realized I hadn't packed lunch so I threw it in my bag.

 Day 28: Money

Ok, I don't really have a picture of money, because I typically don't carry cash around with me. I did however spend my money on this dress on that day though! I know the picture is blurry, no it is not me, that is the picture from the website. Excited for spring/summer to wear it!

Day 29: Something You Are Listening To

Brode and I listened to Y100 on the way home last night. He loves him some Eric Church.

That concludes the picture a day! Fat Mum Slim put out a list for March, but I don't think I can keep up. Already looking over the list I know I won't have too many good ones or I'll forget. I'm just glad I made it through the 29 days!