Notfall Kinderspital

Sunday morning started out just like every other. A little chaotic.  Joe was trying to rehearse the German he had practiced so he could conduct in Sacrament meeting.  I was getting all of my stuff together for Young Womens.  Kate happened to be teaching that day, so I was helping her make sure she had everything she needed, and then I was at the piano practicing the songs I was supposed to play on the organ that day.  Joe and I kept calling out to the boys to make sure they were getting dressed, brushing their teeth and finding sock and shoes.  Mack was still in his jammies.  We don't dress him until absolutely necessary.  Did I mention he refuses to use bibs?  It's been at least 6 months, so all of his clothes are really lovely after every single meal.  I yelled to Jake over my shoulder while practicing a German Hymn I had never heard of before. 

"Did you take your grass pill???  Take your grass pill!!!"

A little background.  We found out earlier this year, surrounded by such green, lush, beauty, that Jake is horribly allergic to grass.  You can't escape it here.  It's one thing we LOVE THE MOST about where we live.  But, that makes it a bit tricky for Jake.  So, this summer, we followed the allergist's advice and have been trying to desensitize Jake to the grass allergy by giving him little bits of the grass every day in pill form.  He has to take them every day for 3 years. 

We had been doing fine for 3 weeks.  This morning, something went awry.  All of the sudden, while I'm sitting at the piano, I hear Jake say, "Mom, I can't breathe." What?!!!  There can be some melodrama at times, so no one jumped up from what they were doing.  I continued playing.  Joe continued repeating his German phrases.  

"No seriously!!  I CAN'T SWALLOW!!!"  And then he was at the sink, unable to swallow and his voice was changing and he was scared.  I was too.  We went into hypermode and threw everyone in the car and raced to church.  Now I say that, because church is right next to the Notfall (Emergency Room) for the children's hospital.  (We accidentally parked in the Notfall parking lot on our very first Sunday in Switzerland, not knowing what that meant.  We got in a bit of trouble.) 

Joe raced Jake over to the emergency room and I took everyone else into church.  I was accompanying a musical number that day for Susan on the piano, and I figured after I got through the organ and piano, I could run over and see Jake.  

Joe was giving me updates as quickly as he could.  Epi-pen was given and Jake was starting to feel a bit better.  SCARY.  Sweet boy.  They wanted to keep him overnight to monitor him.  I hadn't spend the night in the hospital for anyone but me!  So, Joe stayed with him while I went home and got the kids settled and then I arrived for the afternoon/night shift.  

The nurses were so nice and tried their best to speak to us in English.  We got a good laugh that "Jack" would be staying in room 24.  

Something I noticed right away was that there is zero privacy when sharing a room.  Cyril was in for a tick bite.  He was right across from Jake.  No curtain or anything.  So when his visitors arrived, they came over and shook our hands too.  Kind of funny.  

 Jake and I actually got in some really good QT.  It's not often that we are both just sitting with zero distractions together.  So, we decided to play some cards.  We talked, watched a little TV, played some cards--I taught him solitaire so we could start playing double solitaire-- one of my favorites--thanks to Nans.  

 And after a long night of no sleep for me, but a pretty peaceful setting, Joe got the kids off to school and then brought Mack over to me so he could go to work.  Mack was beyond thrilled to see Jake AND take a ride in his cool bed.  

Thank heavens it was a happy outcome.  Jake now has an epi-pen.  There is a shortage of epi-pens in CH right now, so I told him he is not allowed to have this reaction again ;)  We have figured out that he has to take an antihistamine 30 minutes before he takes the grass pill.  If he doesn't, we could land ourselves back at Notfall.  I don't really want to do that again.  He told me he wouldn't mind spending the night again--I think he liked the one on one time.  I agree.  I could have a do-over of that too.  But we can arrange that somewhere else!!!

Big Mack, Macaroon, Mack Truck...

At Mack's 2 year old check up, back in March, the doctor did all sorts of cognitive development tests with him.  She, of course, checked him physically (and mentioned that he's huge compared to the Swiss children-no shocker there), and then went on to play all sorts of games with him.  He was in heaven!  Pointing out colors, matching shapes, building blocks... all without saying a word.  Just grunts here and there with really big smiles and a lotta laughter.

"Is he saying much at home?"

"Not exactly."

"How about 'mama' or 'dada?'"

"Nope."

I realized this wasn't ideal, let alone "normal."  I wondered a little if I should feel concerned, but hadn't gotten to that point yet.  

And then Luke, who was with me, piped in.  "It's Ok, he doesn't have to talk, because I know what he wants!"

And there you have it, folks.  The baby of the family.  Doesn't need to talk because everyone does all of his talking for him anyway.  

Well, the doctor said that if he didn't start saying some words by 2 1/2 years old, then we might need to take some steps as to figuring out why.  

What do you know?  Just shy of that-- 2 years and 5 months old, suddenly Mack started talking.  I guess he didn't feel like doing further testing ;)   He started with "Dada" and then just exploded from there.  Some of our FAVORITES that we hear constantly are, "Otayyyyy!" (with a thumbs up sign to go with it) and "Tank tu mama (or whomever he's talking to)." (thank you)  I can't get enough of his little voice and the communication that we have now as he slowly puts his words together to form short sentences.  

It's funny, he reminds me a lot of Jake at this age.  They have the same build.  Jake's first word was "thank you,"  and when he spoke, he put a period after each word, just like Mack does.  

Here's our little man at almost 2 1/2 years old.  It represents him well ;)  I turned around and for a split second thought Mack was the unfortunate beneficiary of Turd Birds...until I saw his empty yogurt container, and realized he was just trying to get to the bottom of things.  

Love him so much.  Again, I think Heavenly Father is just giving us a little blessing by allowing Mack to grow up slowly.  He crawled "late," he walked "late," he talked "late," but really, for us... those milestones have been right on time.  

First Day of School

School came so quickly, this year!  

I could have enjoyed a few more months of summer!

 Biggest change... Kate is in 8th grade at ISB this year and is going to the high school with the 9-12th graders.  No room at the middle school for her class, so they are moving up. Ahhh!!!  Don't grow up too fast!!!!  I am a bunch of emotions to say the least.  Kate?  Not at all.  She went to the orientation and was excited.  Got lost the first couple days of school and just laughed.  And she is taking the bus/tram to school now because it's at the other end of town than the grade school.  She's navigating her new norm without much of a hiccup and that is impressive to me!

 These boys couldn't wait for school to start.  Jake scored with the nicest teacher in 5th grade and was so excited to be BMOC at Aesch ISB this year.  Luke found out that his best friend, Tim, would be in his 2nd grade class, so he was beyond thrilled.  What a great start to the year!!!

And Big Mack gets to be home with me!!!  I wish they all could be.  

But I'm excited to see what this school year brings.  

Kate's a Teenager!

She's got this!

Kate had just returned the day before from a pretty amazing few weeks of summer--which was her real birthday gift.  We let her fly home to California again with Momo and BG after 2 wonderful weeks together here in Switzerland and Greece.  She spent a week with her cousins (which was pure heaven) and then she and Gracie got to go to Girls Camp together for another week with the Pleasanton Stake (again, heaven).  She flew home to Switzerland by herself for the second time in her life, and we were SO HAPPY TO SEE HER.  We got just a few hours together, because she left the following morning to go to the Regional YM/YW camp here in Switzerland for another week.  

So, needless to say, August 12th, was wonderfully low key.

 

 We started off the day with German pancakes, went to church...and then came home and celebrated and heard about all of her adventures.

The boys LOVED having their sister back.  It just wasn't the same without her.

 

When I asked what she wanted to do for dinner, she immediately said, 

"Nana's lasagna...and can the Nordstrom's come over?!"

 And so it was.  The Nordstrom's dropped what they were doing and came over to have dinner with us to celebrate Kate turning 13.

Cute Ivy even made party hats for all of us on a whim

 And we managed to grab a picture of the cake and all of the kids after we had already begun to dig in!

 I can't begin to express how grateful we are for the Nordstrom family and the friendship that we share.  I think these relationships had been prayed for long before we stepped foot on CH soil. 

Mia and Kate are two peas in a pod and I love that they have each other.  

Happiest 13th Birthday, Kate!  

We LOVE teenagers in this home.  

I'm not sure how this happened so quickly, and when you grew to almost be able to look me in the eye, but we love every single minute we get to spend with you.  I'm so grateful that even though you are spending more time with friends, and learning to navigate life with a little more freedom and responsibility, you still love spending time with us.  You make me belly laugh.  You are thoughtful and considerate and aware of others feelings.  You are mature beyond your years.  You are capable and strong and funny and so very smart.  You read more books in a week than I do in a year.  You are confident and jump into new and what could be uncomfortable situations with both feet.  You have been blessed with so many talents and you are such a good example to your family and friends.  I have no doubt that you have incredible things in store for you as you align your path with the one God has in store for you.  WE LOVE YOU so much! 

 Best. daughter. ever.