The (Infamous) Lotus Candle

When we were in China, we discovered the lotus candle, and we bought a couple to bring home to the U.S. It's a flower that shoots off a big scream of flame, then opens (or blooms) into a flower of candles, all the while playing a high-pitched version of "Happy Birthday."

We used one for Casey's 4th birthday after we returned.
And we used one (a knock-off we bought at Albertson's) for Marcie's 4th birthday.

Then we found another one at Albertson's (they're rare, I tell ya!). Here it is at Casey's birthday party yesterday (and, in particular, I hope you enjoy Jason's commentary):

Casey's Rock'n Bowlers Birthday Bash

I didn't get a ton of photos-- at least not good ones-- in part because the kids were all over the place at the party. But Casey did have a good time. The kids seemed to like the t-shirts we made as party favors. They were skeptical about the silly putty we handed out as a "thank you for coming" party favor gift at the end, but we were fine with that. There was plenty of pizza and french fries and lemonade and cake. And lots of friendly competition and laughter, too.

Casey bowled a 76 his first game- and in the last frame, one of his friends came from behind to end with a 77. The highest score among the kids was an 86, which is pretty impressive for a bunch of 7 year olds.

Here are some photos. I'll upload a video of his lotus candle on the birthday cake (we were careful to have everyone move balloons out of the way, but I put a few other candles too close to the big one and had to move them because they were catching the petals on fire!).

Bowling Birthday Cake

One thing I learned early on as a parent is that when your child tells you they want something and you decide to buy it, you should not "upgrade" whatever it is they've asked for to the newer, better version. You should get them what they asked for.

This year Casey asked for cupcakes for his birthday. And that's what he got. But when it came time for his party, he was elusive about what he wanted his cake to be. I'd read horror stories about making ball cakes (in a round pan), and I didn't have the time to do a "practice" cake. So I did half a ball for the bowling ball, made the cupcakes, and did a bowling pin to boot.

I'm no Cake Boss or anything. But cakes are what I like to do for the kids. Some people make Halloween costumes. I bake. Here are the results:

Update:

On the way to the birthday party, as Jason was walking into the garage, the cardboard holding the bowling ball and bowling pin bent. Which caused the cakes to slide forward and Jason to lose his balance. The bowling ball did a little flip roll and almost ended up somewhere between the hood of my car and the garage floor-- but Jason caught it and we were able to flip it right back in place. Phew. I was just glad I took the pictures before we transported it. That, and that I'd made plenty of cupcakes for everyone.

Tooth Fairy Cometh

In the week after Disneyland (or maybe it was the week right before- it's blending now. That's what I get for waiting too long to post about it), Casey lost another tooth.

Now, I don't know what the going rate for the Tooth Fairy is in your neck of the woods, but around these parts, we've heard tooth rewards of as much as $20 (!). Casey's cousin recently received $5, but his parents explained that was because it was a special event (his first one), and they doubted the Tooth Fairy would ever bring that much again.

Casey's Tooth Fairy (or Tooth Fairies-- he's not sure if there is a different one for each tooth) brings him $1 bill for each tooth. It comes in a snack-sized ziplock back, as a bookmark in an easy reader style book. I'm not entirely sure how the Tooth Fairy decided on this reward-- except that it's my understanding that one of the fairies in Tooth Fairy land wanted to give books to encourage reading, but the others all told her that Casey would be disappointed to discover other children received cash. The first Tooth Fairy was not entirely convinced that was true, I imagine, because what do children spend cash on, anyway? But the fairies, like all good collaborative partnerships, must have agreed to compromise. Because Casey gets money and a book he can read.

Anyway, Casey's tooth was knocked out of his mouth at school when he was horsing around with his friends. He was not clear about the location or the context of the horseplay-- just that it went down the drain. So he had no tooth to leave the Tooth Fairy in exchange for a reward. He decided (on his own) that he should write a note, explaining what happened. And, he posited that the Tooth Fairy would respond in writing, and because fairies are small, the note would have to be tiny.

Here's Casey's note:


And here was the Tooth Fairy's reply, included in the ziplock bag, along with the dollar bill, as a book mark in a new League of Justice book.

Pediatric Urgent Care Is Anything But Urgent

Casey's fever did not subside by Sunday.

So off we went to our local (pediatric) urgent care, where they do not triage.

I actually think this played to our advantage, given that all we had were four days' of a fever (ranging from 101 to 103.9) and an infrequent cough. But I was struck by how long the wait was. We arrived 25 minutes after opening, were seen after about 3 hours of waiting and then discharged another hour later.

In chatting with a couple other moms in the waiting area (both there for ear infections and just in need of antibiotics for their girls), and in exchanging stories with them, it struck me how terrible our Children's Hospital system is at treating urgent patients. When you got to the ER, even by ambulance, they triage. So even if you have a broken bone, unless it is compound and you need surgery, you could be waiting six hours or more (and in fact, we ran into that on one of our trips to the ER). This is so even when the doctor sends you there and calls ahead.

Urgent care on the weekends is much the same.

But the thing is, what else can you do? If Sunday happens to be day four of fever, the options are urgent care or ER. If your kid breaks his arm on a Saturday, your options are urgent care or ER. And if your insurance company is like ours, we have to go to the children's urgent care.

What I learned is that our children's hospital urgent care is staffed by one doctor. One. A second one gets called in eventually (after about 2 1/2 hours, in our case). I guess I should be impressed that one doctor was able to handle 14 patients in under 3 hours. But I just felt bad for her.

So I've come to the conclusion that, given the number of kids who are in accidents or fall ill on the weekends, we most definitely understaff our urgent care (and ER system). Why? I have no idea.

Casey wasn't feeling well, so he was fine with laying all over me and watching the endless loop of Disney movies. When he felt better, we downloaded a Magic Treehouse book on my Kindle and took turns reading to each other. When the doctor finally got to us, after listening to him breathe and giving him a breathing treatment, she explained that any true diagnosis would require x-rays at a nearby (not pediatric) hospital, and the wait would be at least 2 hours. Then they'd have to be read and blah blah blah blah. (I stopped listening.) Fortunately, she was willing to send us home with an inhaler and antibiotics as an alternative. And off we went to the pharmacy.

His fever was gone by morning (thank you antibiotics), and he was in good spirits all day at Grandma's house, enjoying homemade soup for lunch and a full spread of Chinese and American food for dinner. (Yum!)

The Birthday Party That Wasn't

Casey came home with a fever yesterday. Nothing else wrong. Just a fever.

When I got the phone call from the school, I was secretly glad for an excuse to leave the office. Even though I was pretty busy, I work in a high rise (albeit only about halfway up). The high rise was built on rollers. This is good for earthquakes, because it better withstands ground rumblings by allowing the building to roll or sway instead of topple. This is not good for windy, windy days because the building sways with the wind. At least it's not good for me on windy days because, as it turns out, I get motion sick. By sitting at my desk. And yesterday I forgot my sea-sickness bands. So having to pick up Casey was a nice excuse to work at home.

But now he's still sick. With a fever.
I called the doctor's office, and they suspect it's just a cold.
I didn't even know you could have a fever with a cold. But you can.

Initially we thought we'd just have the party without Casey. After all, the kids were expecting it. And how would I reach all the parents?

But then I called the bowling alley, and they agreed to reschedule.
And then I tracked down contact information for everyone who'd RSVPd.

Perhaps some kids won't be able to make it next week. I know life gets busy.
But it's just a birthday party-- and it's a bit hard to have one without a birthday boy.

So next week it is.

Disneyland

I love going to Disneyland on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. It's never too hot. It's never too crowded. But this year, someone has to work (and it's not me). So we decided to head up for the weekend before the holiday. This ended up working out well (especially because it's now raining and we got to enjoy the Magic of Disney in sunshine).

We went last year at the same time, but it's been a whole year, so the kids were pretty excited. Though they did inform us that they would not being going on Pirates of the Caribbean (too scary, they claimed).

We stayed at a very conveniently-located hotel, in a family suite. We started our day yesterday in California Adventure at Soarin' Over California, which we've always wanted to ride. Marcie is well over the 40" mark now, so she got to enjoy the experience, too. (As a side note, I just found Casey's 5-year check-up paperwork when I was cleaning and he was more than an inch and probably two pounds lighter than Marcie currently measures at age 4!) After we finished up in California Adventure and headed over to Disneyland for lunch, we headed to the hotel for an afternoon nap. Then we let the kids stay up for the fireworks last night.

This morning we nibbled on our continental breakfast before we hit the park (just in time for the gates to open). We went straight for Indiana Jones, which was broken. I waited while Jason and the kids rode the Jungle Boat and climbed Tarzan's tree. They returned just in time for the ride to open, and for Jason to take Casey on it for the first time. Marcie and I snuck off to ride the Pirates ride (which she rode again with Jason, though Casey vehemently refused). We ended our trip back at California Adventure, watching Turtle Talk with Crush and riding all the rides in Bug's Land. We even managed to catch the High School Musical 3 show three times (twice just the tail end, though).

I didn't take a lot of pictures, but the ones I took actually came out pretty nicely. Here are a few of my favorites:

Casey carried this journal with him, copying down words and drawing pictures of things he liked in the park. Sometimes his writing-while-walking slowed as down a bit. But who wants to discourage that? So we went with it. This is arriving at the Park.

A nice couple visiting for their anniversary snapped this one of us at Toy Story. I convinced Jason to wear the 3-D glasses. But not Marcie. She's one tough negotiator. And I'm not kidding.

There is no significance to the letter "A" except that it was empty and the kids wanted to climb on it this morning.

One of our favorite things about Bug's Land is the repeated reference to Casey's name. But Disneyland isn't selling paraphernalia with "Casey" on it anymore. We got some at Disneyworld before he was born, but we couldn't find mugs or key chains or anything with "Casey" on it this time. What's up with that?

Lucky Seven

Friday we celebrated Casey's 7th birthday.

I'm not sure why sevens are considered lucky-- but I can count at least two reasons I'm one lucky mom: Casey and Marcie. This year, for the first time, Casey expressed intent interest in the "day he was born." We told him how we'd been at Disneyworld with a friend of his from school's parents. We told him about the airplane, meeting his birthmom and the snowstorm. We told him how he cried at first, but we held him while we fed him. We told him how lucky we felt then-- and how lucky we still feel that his birthmom picked us. Casey thinks we're lucky, too. And he is not quick to let us forget it. I'm okay with that.

This weekend I continued my organization spree by cleaning out the "junk closet," which is what our closet in the computer room/ study had become. I came across the certificate of flight Casey got when we flew home from Ohio shortly after he was born. I came across a lot of photos from his first year of life. I found some school work he'd completed in preschool. And I found the letter we'd sent to Casey's birthmom to introduce ourselves. Our featured picture was me with short, blond hair. On the back were several photos of us with our nephew Sal (who was an infant at the time), and pictures of our then-pets, only one of whom still lives. We all looked (and were) much younger.

Casey asked me to read him the letter, and I did. And I must say, I was pretty impressed by what we'd written. Not because we're super cool and great writers (though we are- ha ha). But because I think we've really held true to the goals we articulated, the promises we made. We wrote about how much we longed for a child. We vowed to be involved in his life by volunteering at school, attending sporting events, and reading together. We explained that we believe in hard work and the Golden Rule, and we wrote about how we would preach tolerance of all races and religions and creeds while at the same time emphasizing our own beliefs. But above all, we promised we would fill our home with unconditional love. I think we've done these things. So far.

Of course, Casey is only seven. He has a (hopefully) very, very long future ahead of him. But so far, I'm impressed. And I don't really think I can take the credit. Casey is just a great kid. He is genuinely sweet. When I asked him to pick just a few kids to invite to his birthday, he refused. He wanted to include the whole class. Not because he wanted a lot of gifts, but because he couldn't possibly choose just a few friends-- he likes everyone. When a boy in another first grade class got hurt on the playground on Friday morning before school, Casey ran back to the playground to find the boy's backpack while I walked the kid to the office. Then Casey offered to stay with the boy in the nurse's office until school started. This wasn't someone Casey hangs out with regularly. But Casey was undeniably concerned.

When I see Casey, he still gives me bear hugs and big grins. He asks me to crawl in bed with him to cuddle on cold mornings. He curls up next to me on the couch. When he's being mean, he knows it and he apologizes for, literally, "acting like a jerk." When it comes to Emotional IQ (or "EQ" as it's called), Casey is kind of a genius. He is truly amazing. And, in the end, that's what we want for our kids-- that they are comfortable in their own skin, capable of getting along in the world, and genuinely happy. Maybe some of this is parenting. But in Casey's case, I can't help but feel like I really hit the jackpot.

Here are some photos of how he celebrated his big day:


The night before his birthday, I baked mini chocolate muffins -- his favorite (the chocolate part, not the mini part)-- to share with his class. He later told me that they all sang him "Happy Birthday," and he even got to, literally, take a bow.
Before school, we let Casey open presents from his Godmother, his cousins, and from his grandparents. The globe, which he's been asking for now for a few months, was a big hit. (Yes, the other presents are wrapped in Christmas paper-- but paper is paper, and it all gets torn up anyway. This gift, if you must know, was wrapped in Hanukkah paper.)

After school, we met up with Casey's San Diego cousins (and their parents) and his Aunty Tiffy at Red Robin for dinner (Casey's favorite). This is before dinner. From left to right: Calliope, Jason, Casey, Joey and Uncle Bryan. Ethan and Casey's aunts must've been behind me.

Ok. So this isn't Casey. It's Ethan, his 2 1/2 year old cousin. But I couldn't resist putting it in here because Ethan is just so darn cute, and I knew how much my mom would love the photo. . .

Ouch

It never feels good to get a phone call from the school during the school day. (I say this like it's happened to me a lot; it hasn't.) In those few seconds before I picked it up, my head sort of spun and my stomach lurched. Casey gave no indication that he wasn't feeling well this morning. And school was to end just about an hour after the phone call.

The worried voice on the other end revealed that Casey had been stung by a bee. On the tip of pointer finger. He was resting comfortably with ice on it. They let him talk to me on the phone ("It hurts a LOT, Mommy," he said, sounding all of a sudden very small.)

Of course the school was worried. And how responsible of them to call. She'd checked his file and noted that we didn't mention any bee allergies.

Of course I thanked them for the call. Casey is not allergic to bees. He's been stung before-- in fact, I think it was on his pointer finger. That time, though, he poked the bee, so it was kind of his fault.

Anyway, he's fine. Or he will be. But you know how kids are around bees-- no matter how much you tell them to stand still, they flip out and that just makes them a bigger target. . .