We are pet-sitting Cole’s hamster Henry while the family leaves town for two weeks.  Lisa and Cole dropped off Henry and his cage on Saturday morning, and he is now living in our guest room.  Each day we pay Henry a few visits and Stuart has been trying to let him out of the cage too.  Henry is a very tame and lazy hamster.  He often wedges himself in a tunnel or a corner to sleep.  Yesterday Stuart let him out, and Henry quickly walked back into his cage.  Today Stuart finally took him out and carried him a bit.  The boys were able to pet him and watch him for awhile before he ran back into his comfort zone.  Henry did walk around his cage and went up another tunnel to show us what he can do.

The boys were in a Wacky Robot camp last week at the recreation center.  It was a smaller group, 20 of them with 3 instructors.  The two boys were able to stay together; they recruited another boy named Ryan, and all 3 of them hung out together for the week.  Every day the kids built some sort of robotic things, ie. retractable grabbing device, a race car, solar windmill / car, and the boys were happy to show us what they made each day.  Overall, they seemed to enjoy the camp and gave it an 8-9 out of a 10.  The only complaint they had was that they did not have much free time outdoors.

     We went swimming both Saturday and Sunday, and these days we stay in water longer and get more exercise.  The boys are definitely more comfortable in water now, and they can play freely around in the pool.  This weekend we spent quite a long time playing Monkey in the Middle with a small ball, and both of them had no hesitation swimming to get the ball.  The boys have been getting me excited to swim and stay in water as well.

    While we came out for a break on Saturday, Connor stepped on a wasp and got stung on his foot.  He was screaming with pain.  I quickly googled what to do; I took Connor to wash off with soap and water, then we got a bag of ice from the lifeguard.  While Connor was icing his foot, Logan decided to go back to the pool on his own.  He just casually floated and swam from one end to the other end.  Stuart and I are very happy that the boys are more efficient in water now.

    Logan has been very into the Fitbit since he got it for his birthday.  He wears it every day; he initiates challenges and invites all of us including Dora and Gloria to them.  Logan is definitely motivating some of us to get more steps.  Connor had been envious, but he just watched all of us talking about our steps and challenges patiently.  Finally on his birthday, Connor got his as well, and he just stepped right into our friend circle.  On the first day, Connor ran back and forth in our bedroom at the end of the day to make sure he made 10K.  Since then, he has been getting many steps, has already surpassed my weekly count and won some challenges.

    On Monday, Logan had his third orthodontic appointment where they placed the expander in the upper palate.  This appointment was an hour long and both Stuart and I were nervous about how Logan would tolerate it.  Stuart prepared Logan’s tablet with some shows in hope to entertain him during the procedure.  This was my turn to accompany Logan, so we said bye to Stuart and Connor once I arrived to the office.  Once Logan sat down at the dental chair, I hooked up the video for him to watch.  I did not want to be in the way, so I sat on the side bench to observe from a distance.  Logan was reluctant to let the staff do the cleaning and later for the orthodontic to fit the apparatus in his mouth, but he was following the instruction.  I occasionally saw Logan’s hand in the air or try to stop them, and I heard Logan making some uncomfortable noise, but at least he was letting them work on him.  Whenever he got up to go rinse his mouth, he looked sad and exhausted, but whenever possible, he would watch his tablet during breaks.  When the orthodontist returned to glue on the apparatus, I worried that Logan would refuse and they had to redo the glue, so I decided to go hold Logan’s hand.  He allowed them to put in the expander, and we were close to be done.  After the staff cleaned off Logan’s teeth, next it was my turn.  I had to learn about all the do’s and don’ts, how to clean his teeth with expander, and finally how to expand the device each night.  Logan wanted to go home, but fortunately the tablet was able to entertain him while I listened to the staff.  At the end I also made one turn on Logan’s expander before we could finally leave to go home.

    One thing I was not previously informed was that they placed a plastic extension to one of his bottom teeth to help avoid cross bite with the upper palate.  The tooth is very obvious and it took Logan awhile to get used to it and close his bite properly, but it will only be there for a couple of weeks.  The rest of the afternoon, we had to have Logan learn to talk and eat again.  We are very proud of how he tolerated the whole procedure and he has been dealing with the device in his mouth without too much complaints. 

     Connor was looking forward to turning 7.  As soon as he got up on Tuesday morning, he jumped up to our bed to let us wish him a happy birthday.  Next he wanted to open his presents, and he managed to wait until after breakfast.  He had already opened the presents from friends on Sunday after the party, and on this day, he got to open the ones from the family.  Connor was happy to receive the present from grandparents and the one from Logan, and from us, he was excited to get a Fitbit.  After this little birthday celebration, we all had to get ready for work and camp. 

     I came home from work early, and Stuart had just picked up the boys from camp.  Connor was so happy to show me the Fitbit he was wearing which was set up by Stuart during the day.  He was thrilled to invite all of us along Dora and Gloria to be his friends, and he started stepping away.  After allowing the boys to play some video games, we all headed up for dinner.  Connor was playing with the kid puzzle from the restaurant.  He was working quickly solving all the puzzles as he said he is a big boy now.  We all enjoyed the dinner and Connor was given a birthday cookie which he loved as well. 

    After we returned home and before we wrapped up the day, Connor wanted to play outside with his friends.  By the time we brought them in, Connor already had 8000+ steps.  He was so motivated and kept running back and forth before shower time.  At the end, he did it and got 10,000 steps.  After reading time, Connor reminded me that I had promised a long time ago that he could sleep with me on his birthday.  So with Connor happily sleeping on our bed was how he ended his big day.