Just a quick update to let everyone know that the congestion appears to be gone.  Like any other cold, at least for me, it sounds like it has now moved to his chest.  But the coughing has reduced and the constant stream of love from his nose appears to be gone.  So life moves back to normal and our worries are at rest.  Next oncology appointment is on Monday morning.  I will post an update with plenty of good news then…including the return of Kobi.  No, she’s not coming back to work, just to freeload enjoy the Texas way of life while she figures out what she wants to do next.  We will be very happy to have our dishwasher dear friend back.

Below is a picture of Kobi and Cutler that I stole from Kobi’s facebook.

Strawberries!  Sunday Cutler’s focus was on blueberries as he packed away a pint in record time.  Yesterday it was bananas as he polished off five throughout the day.  We even had to make a special trip to the grocery story (all before the fever).  Today he was out of control on strawberries as he went through an entire container.  Oh and today his fever is gone and his cough is getting better.  Unlike Mason, Cutler has never lost his appetite when feeling bad and wasn’t really all that needy.  In fact, today he was the model child that was more than happy to hang out and play on his own and allow dad to work and didn’t require Chuggington constantly.  The topping on the cake is that he would let me aspirate his nose without fussing.  So it looks like it is definitely just a cold as the doctor told us, but Monday is his bi monthly oncologist appointment to help put our overly active worrying minds to rest.

Below are a few pictures during one of his strawberry runs…

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So not long after my last post Cutler spiked a fever up to around 101.  Naturally I overreacted and called the doctor, the pediatrician, and 5 minutes later was picking up Mason from school and heading our way in.  On the way I told Mason there was a chance that we wouldn’t make his soccer game depending on how long and what the doctor said.  Mason, being the incredibly supportive brother he is, didn’t even think twice about it and simply said that is was ok.  So just to keep everyone updated, Cutler was tested for the flu and rsv and both turned out negative.  The doctor thinks it is just some gunk going around this time of year and that he should be fine in a few days.  A couple of the nurses even stopped in and told us it was nothing to worry about and that indeed there is a gunk going around, but to feel free to call them as often as we like and to come in as often as we need.  It warms my heart the support we get from them every time we visit.  Just like today, the nurse was waiting for us as we walked in and we were whisked away.  Cutler is sleeping away and despite a few coughs, seems to be sleeping well.

By the way, Mason did make it to his game and showed more hustle and the most aggressiveness we have ever seen from him in soccer.  He even rang a shot off the inside post.  Coach Brian was nice enough to call it his first goal.  Below is a picture of the two boys while hanging at the doctor’s office.

Cutler has come down with what we hope is just a cold and cough and so I decided to work from home today in  hopes that removing him from the petri dish of a 2 and under classroom might help him get over it.  As you might expect, we are a bit concerned as the symptoms he is experiencing are exactly what lead us down the Leukemia road.  That being said, we have faith that it is just a cold and fortunately for Cutler, it means a day away from school.  Below are a few pictures of the rough life that Cutler leads when he is under the weather and misses school.  It’s hard to tell, but his day basically consists of sitting in Mason’s little recliner in my office and shouts the occasional order while watching 500 episodes of Chuggington (the theme song is permanently etched into my mind).  A special shout out to Kobi, for if she were here there would not be a tv in my office for Cutler to watch.  🙂

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Don’t report us to the labor department, but we have found ways to make the boys earn their keep around here.  For Christmas Cutler got a toy vacuum cleaner and based on his fascination with it I decided to give him a shot at the regular vacuum tonight.  Actually I was using it and I looked over and he was standing there watching me with a huge smile so I offered it up.  It was how shocking how natural it was for him considering just a few years ago Mason asked what the vacuum was when he apparently saw it for the first time after three years of existence.  And of course, here is some video…

As for Mason, I have now found a way to one up all of my friends.  Several of them have taught their kids to fetch us beer when we are sitting around discussing how to solve world peace.  This weekend, I did them all one better, I taught Mason how to mix up a great daiquiri thanks to the Magic Bullet.  I’m sure you have all seen the infomercial for them where some couple sit around a friend’s house and watch them as they prepare fruit smoothies, omelets, and alfredo sauce?  Well I was fortunate enough to get one for my birthday and we finally put it to good use.  But we did discover that it isn’t as easy as 1-2-3, but it still worked very good and made Mason proud to pour just the right amount of rum into our my drink.

Were his dancing shoes.  This was taken at Best Buy while we were taking a break from shopping on Christmas Eve. 

Uncle Joe was his only competition while we were back in St. Louis visiting.  (Sorry Joe)

With Kobi moving on her way it was finally time to reintroduce Cutler back to school.  Today was his first day back at school and is now attending the same montessori school as Mason.  Mason was so very proud to walk his brother in and Cutler was pretty proud to have him walk him in a well.  Watching us leave him there was an entirely different story.  Because Melanie is his current favorite I was fully expecting for him to cry out for her, but instead he made it extra difficult by calling out for me.  We called and checked on him a few times throughout the day and the end of the day report card was that he was a bit fussy, but for his first day he did pretty well.  Not sure how well he napped, but according to his written report he ate pretty well.  This was one of our main concerns along with his napping.  Hopefully will learn more about the napping tomorrow morning when I drop him off.  Apparently Mason was a big help throughout the day by walking him back to class and checking in on him when they were all outside playing.  Cutler was very happy to hold his hand when the day was over on the way to the car and the overwhelmingly warm welcome I received when I got there was well worth it.  I am sure he will do better as time progresses, but this morning was pretty dang tough.

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