The Burlingames

Chronicling the adventures of the B's

Category: Mr. Eli

June 24, 2011

Swim Lessons…

by Megan

…were a success!!! I’m pleased to say that Eli did a fantastic job in his swimming class. He really enjoyed being in the water. He had to play with every single toy at least once during each class. Without knowing, realizing or fully understanding the consequences, he would ask me to let go of him while he was swimming. Needless to say, he would quickly sink (no worries, I would catch him). He started getting good at blowing bubbles and kicking. He does NOT like being on his back in the water. My favorite story from the 2 weeks…one day he was holding on to the edge of the pool, he looked at me and said, “look Mom, no hands” as he let go of the edge. Oh boy!!

Last summer we took the ‘toddler A’ swimming class, this summer we attempted to take the ‘toddler B’ class. Due to lack of participates we were asked to join the ‘toddler A’ class and work on ‘toddler B’ skills. Some of those skills included swimming with the swim instructors. Eli gladly went to them and did all the things they asked him to do.

The great news…he ‘graduated’ and can be in the preschool swimming class next summer. Yay!!! The goal will be to get Eli signed up for the preschool class and Noah in the toddler class during the same times. Wish me luck!

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June 14, 2011

Summer vacation officially started today!!!

by Megan

Yep, its official. I’m on summer vacation until August. Whoohoo!! I’m very much looking forward to having some time off to be with my boys, get some much-needed projects done and spend some time focusing on me. I have a list of projects about a mile long! On a sheet of paper I have the names of each room (Eli’s bedroom, our bedroom, bathroom, etc.) and a list of things I need/want to do in each room. The list ranges from cleaning to hanging pictures on the wall. We’ve been in our house for nearly 2 years and there are still no pictures on the wall. Well, I’m changing all that this summer. I’m hoping I can make a major dent in my lists.

Quick updates on all of us…

Dave is busy playing softball each week, buying/selling music gear (he currently owns 5, yes 5 bass guitars), doing some work on the house, playing his bass(es) and lovin’ on his family. He’s a very busy man but seems to enjoy it. We’ve been dreaming up ideas for our house and landscape ideas for the yard. Lots of ideas, just saving our pennies to get it done.

Eli is talking a mile-a-minute. His vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds. We love listening to him talk and talk and talk!! He loves to play with his cars and trains, scare Noah (he giggles the whole time) and be ‘helpful’ around the house. He is becoming very independent and wants to do lots of things by himself. We have been encouraging the potty training ordeal, but he is uninterested. Maybe in a few more months. Here is a picture of my growing boy, I can’t believe he is already 2.5 years old. Eli is scheduled to have his 3rd open-heart surgery on Tuesday, July 12th.

Noah is busy growing and becoming a porker!! He is now a master at rolling around on the floor. He’s getting better at learning to sit up. He loves to play with his toys. Noah has discovered his voice and babbles a mile-a-minute just like his brother. They can be found having ‘conversations’ together, lots of giggling! Noah is learning to crawl, he’s not quite there but he can army crawl and scooch around on the floor. Lynn, our daycare provider, said he is a man with a mission at her house (he chases the dog). :) Noah is also becoming quite the eater, he will eat just about anything put in front of him without much fuss. He recently started eating broken down goldfish and loves them.

I’ve been busy doing some cleaning and organizing. Today I’m feeling a bit under the weather and spent the day resting. I hope to be ‘back at it’ tomorrow (with moderation, don’t want to over do myself). I’ve been enjoying my snuggles and loves with my boys (all three of them). I’ve been busy scrapbooking and crocheting. Dave and I’ve been making plans for the yard and inside of the house. I’m starting to do some online shopping for house stuff – time to decorate!!!

My sweet baby boys!!

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June 14, 2011

Swim Lessons – Day 1

by Megan

Yesterday was Eli’s first day of swim lessons for the summer. We signed up for the Toddler B class, but were bumped down the to Toddler A class due to lack of participation. Oh well! It’s the experience that we care about. Yesterday and today (due to me feeling like crap), Dave is in the pool with him. He did a fabulous job!! He played, laughed, swam and had tons of fun. Last year, the first session resulted in lots of pity looks – he was SCREAMING and I was pregnant with Noah. Oy!! I was just glad (and thankful) he wasn’t the one screaming the whole time. :) We’ll see how today goes…

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April 25, 2011

Heart Cath

by Megan

Today Eli had his heart catheterization. A heart catheterization is “the threading of a catheter (tube) through either a vein or artery into the heart. The heart catheterization is used to diagnose problems with the blood flow and structure of the heart, or to open or close certain heart structures.” *Courtesy of Children’s Heart Clinic. Today they went through Eli’s vein. During the last heart cath (at age 5 months), they had inserted several coils. The coils cut off blood flow through certain veins in an effort to reroute some blood work.

He was sedated for the entire procedure and very upset and frustrated as he was waking up. I started out holding him as he was waking up, shortly after Dave entered the room (after I had struggled to keep him calm and relaxed) he wanted Dave to hold him and promptly fell back asleep. Upon waking up again, Eli wanted various people in and out of the room (Dave’s parents – Charlie and Kathy were there as well). He was able to eat and drink, he did not throw up (which was very good). He stayed calm and still for the next few hours and watched the movie ‘Cars’. Before we could go home, the doctors and nurses wanted to see him up and moving around. He got up and played for a little bit. As we were packing up to go home, he started perking up and was getting excited to go home. However, he did NOT like having the bandages pulled off. Now we just need to make sure the cath site doesn’t burst (blood shooting out) for the next few days, then we can resume all normal activities.

The doctors were very pleased with how his heart and blood vessels were working. They did say his heart valve is still leaking, but they were not concerned about it. Dr. Rios said he was ‘good to go’ for the last surgery. They will be calling us soon to schedule the last surgery.

We were given a tour of new heart unit at Children’s in Minneapolis. It was absolutely gorgeous!! For his previous two surgeries we started out in the pre-surgical area, then moved to the PICU (after surgery) and finally moved to the IMC before discharge. Now, everything is on the 4th floor. Eli would have his own room, instead of being in the bay with the high traffic area just across from his bed. Each room has either a 1/2 bathroom or full bathroom (super nice), a pull out bed, several chairs for sitting in, TONS of space for moving around, locked storage units and so much more. It was absolutely amazing, such a HUGE transformation from what it had been. We also saw the Ronald McDonald House that is now housed within the hospital (3rd floor). We will be able to stay there overnight if need be, we can get our meals there, sit and relax in the huge common area and socialize with other families with children in the hospital. We also found out that since I’m nursing Noah, we’ll be able to get a meal voucher card for the week. This is a big deal, it takes away a huge expense of purchasing food for the duration of the hospital stay. The only expense we’ll have for the week is parking (very thankfully my insurance will cover the entire cost of his surgery and recovery).

I struggled emotionally today. My baby was hurting and he didn’t want me and my Mom wasn’t there to comfort and support me, her baby. I was missing Mom so much today and wished she could’ve been there or available via the phone to talk. I’m going to miss her this summer when we do his final surgery. She was going to stay with us during Eli’s hospital stay and help with Noah and taking turns being at the hospital with Eli. Ugh, sometimes death really sucks.

* Courtesy of Children’s Heart Clinic.

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January 22, 2011

Quick Update

by Megan

Here is a quick update of the Burlingame household, its been awhile.

Dave – put in some crazy hours at work over the holiday season. In the two weeks prior to Christmas he worked about 115 hours – CRAZINESS!!! We were quite glad to have him home for two 3-day weekends, in a row. He has since been busy trying to find someone to mud/tape some rooms for us. He keeps the boys home with him on Mondays, his day off from work. Which is great for us, saves us over $200 a month in daycare cost. On Thursdays, when he doesn’t have worship band practice, his band gets together to practice. There is talk of a gig coming up soon. We’ll keep you posted.

Eli – is still a busy, busy boy. He loves playing with his cars and trains. He is still obsessed with Thomas, James and Percy. It is kind of funny, he knows all the characters in his Thomas movies. He also knows all the characters in his Arthur books. He loves to sit and read stories with us or with Noah. At the moment, he still adores his little brother. As I type this, Eli is laying on the floor next to Noah giving him kisses on his head. Oh fer cute!! ;)

Noah – is a growing boy. We had his 2 month appointment this week. He is up to 13lbs 5oz and is 24.25 inches long. He also got his 2 month shots and did great with them. He loves to talk and smile. He also loves to watch his big brother be silly. Noah is getting a little bit better at sleeping at night, his first stretch of sleep is typically the longest 3-5 hours, the rest of the night is anywhere from 1-3 hours until he decides to be awake for the day.

Both boys are doing great at daycare. Eli is protective of ‘his Noah’ and gets very concerned if other kids get too close. Lynn, our daycare lady, says at least once a day Eli will lay down next to Noah and chat with him for a few minutes before getting up to go play some more.

House – is slowly coming along. I’ve been going through and purging things. We have too much stuff and I want to have less stuff. So, I’m slowly getting rid of what we don’t need or want any more but I’m also reminding myself to not go buy more – that’s the key. As Noah grows out of his clothes I’ve been separating them into two boxes for some friends. I’ve been slowly giving away my maternity clothes. Yes, this means I’m done having children (that’s a story for another time). Two boys are enough for me.

Me – I’m recovering from a recent bout with the stomach flu. My stomach still hurts but the aches and chills are gone, thank goodness. I’ve been keeping busy with work, bible study and the boys. I enjoy my time home with them. I still try to find time to crochet in all my busyness and enjoy making baby blankets for friends.

That’s a semi quick update of our family. Once the picture galleries get sorted out, we’ll start update those as well.

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