There was a sword class going on right before Carlos’ birthday party at the dojo. He was lucky enough to get a quick demo and to hold a sword. He’s sold!

Levi’s birth brother, Devin, came to spend a couple of days with us last week. The boys all loved having him around. He’s a cool kid. Can’t believe how much he and Levi look alike, he reminded me so much of when Levi was 4.
We also got to meet up with him (and his g’ma and mom) at the park to celebrate his birthday. We are always up for a party!

I got a call on Thursday morning from Carlos’ school saying that he got a gash on his knee. I made it there as fast I I could, took him into the doctor’s office and when he pulled off the bandage I was shocked. It was a nasty, deep gash (he had said a scrape…no, buddy, that is not a scrape!). There was no doubt it would need stitches, and it took 9 of them to close the wound. Dr. Walters did an amazing job keeping Carlos informed of what was happening and trying to calm him down. It’s the worst part of being a mom, where you know your child is hurting and you have to do the best to comfort them through even more pain.
After the stitches were done, Carlos went back to school for a little bit and all seemed ok. Friday morning he was pretty stiff and sore, but not more than would be expected. On Saturday his knee was really swollen and red and at his follow up doctor’s appt Dr. Warren drew a line showing where the redness was. By the afternoon, the redness had gone past the line and I knew we needed to head over to Seattle Children’s ER.
Of course, we missed the ferry by 4 cars and the next ferry was late so we didn’t get to Children’s until around 7pm. We got in pretty quickly and they did an ultrasound to try and find any left over debris that might be causing the infection. He asked a lot of questions about each test, procedure, new staff person. When the nurse came in to put in the IV, she was trying to explain to him that they would use a needle-less syringe to numb his hand. He asked her if she would show him first by doing it to herself. She didn’t hesitate, and was happy to demonstrate. She appreciated his questions and was very honest about what all they were planning on doing.
He got some IV antibiotics, blood work done and the ultrasound came out negative. The doctor came in and removed a couple of stitches and re-irrigated the wound and ordered us some massive antibiotics to-go.
He was close to being admitted for the night, but thankfully we were sent home. He’s not out of the woods, but we are hoping the antibiotics take care of the infection quickly!

This was taken at Carlos’ birthday party….man, that boy can jump!

You are smart, passionate, an amazing athlete and the most determined kid I’ve ever known. Happy, happy birthday!

A surprise birthday celebration for Levi’s teacher! She loves baseball, so it was ball park franks for lunch. Love that the kids love her so much.