tizimatt.info

February and March has been quiet and crazy at the same time. Matt, unfortunately, has not been healing as fast as we wished and he was not able to get back to work till the end of February.

Keegan has been really great during this difficult time. I do not know if it is because he grew up and matured, or maybe because he was worried, or maybe because we are all a little changed from what happened, or maybe because the parenting techniques we have been trying are starting to work, but he cut down on whining and tantrums, and he is A LOT more compliant, and less demanding and moody. I guess it does not really matter why: we are just enjoying it!

Our normal life, whatever that is, has been put a little on hold as we all recovered, but we still found a way to do some fun stuff. Haircuts are a necessity, but Keegan is happy to go because he sees his favorite stylist, Breanda, who is really funny, and then, he knows that we will have some junk food lunch afterwards.

He did not like the style this time, claiming it is too short, but I think he is very handsome.

My friend Meggie came to visit in the middle of February, and we enjoyed some quiet time together and beautiful walks. She also brought Keegan 2 red envelopes for Lunar New Year, $10 total. What a generous gift! This year, is the year of the Goat (or sheep or ram), and according to Chinese horoscope is a year of peace and calm after the “galloping horse” of last year. We hope so.

Keegan and I celebrate the new year at Seaworld. We enjoyed rides and the usual exhibits, including the 3d “helicopter ride” over the Arctic, and the turtle ride. Looking at these cool sea turtles and tropical fish I thought about Hawaii…I really  wish we were there now! Hopefully we will be able to get back soon.

They also had a cool celebration, with special food, decorations and shows, such as the Chinese acrobats – amazing- and local Taiko drummers. I think I have found the instrument for Keegan! Combine powerful drum hitting with jumping around and dancing: can you think of anything that is best suited for him?

Talking about drumming, Keegan had been practicing for most of February for a special show, called the Doo- Daa parade. Each kid was supposed to create his own drum, meaning, each parents had to go crazy trying to build one. Then, by class, they performed a show/competition, on a chilly, breezy Friday afternoon. Even if his class did not win, I know he had fun. He is the one with a green hat, orange shirt,gray/green pants and red shoes on the left side.

Keegan also had the chance to experiment some firsts:

•  Matt showed him how to play pool. For as bad as he was, being his first time, he still a lot better than me.

• We finally went to the circus. Keegan has been asking a lot about it, so I took him to Circus Vargas with Sara, her boyfriend and their girls. It was pretty cool. Of course, there were no animals, but the artists were spectacular.

Keegan liked all the acts, especially the trampoline guys. By the end of the show, he got to pose with the two motorcycle guys, that rode inside a cage…pretty insane.

While it is not a first, he even got to spend a really fun afternoon with his friend Ezra: movie, pizza and then sleepover. So it was a great time for us too. Again, we did not do anything spectacular, but we watched a nice movie in the theater and had a quiet dinner, and most importantly, we got to wake up with no rush in the morning. By the time we picked him up at noon he was still all wired up and playing. When we got home, we had a quick lunch, and then we rested. Keegan was so exhausted that he passed out and slept more than two hours, like he has not done in a long time. Sleepovers: the gift that keeps on giving.

On March 2, National reading Day, as well as Dr. Seuss’s birthday, they had a fun celebration at school. All the kids wrote funny hats again, and they read to preschooler kids.

Then the teacher cooked green eggs and ham, and they had a nice feast.

Lego building is still one of Keegan’s favorite activities, beside reading, as in US reading to HIM. He has gotten a lot better, and now he actually builds his models, at least in part, (and he is much more careful with them, since he knows how much time it took to make them). It is a little sad, because now I do not get to build anymore…I guess I will need to buy my own models.

the Star Wars Cantina (collaboration)

The x-wing fighter (collaboration)

As Matt got a little better, we took Keegan to Legoland. He made us promise we will go as soon as Matt was better, so to raise the ante, we secretly booked a night at the Legoland Hotel for the Star Wars  Weekend: Legoland was unveiling the model of a large Death Star to complement the Star Wars Section of miniland. Keegan was so excited. What a great surprise! We headed up north on friday, after school, and enjoyed the rush hour traffic.

We made it by 5pm, so we had plenty of time to explore. We did not hang out by the pool, but it was still fun. The first impact was a little traumatic: imagine Las Vegas for kids. Even Keegan remarked on how loud it was. The lobby included a huge bricks fountain, where kids can build and visitors are greeted by a large Lego dragon.

Even before getting to the room, the fun had already begun with the disco elevators, featuring a disco ball, strobe lighting and 70’s music. The room was awesome, though, at least from a kid’s perspective. He had his own sleeping area, with bunk beds, and there were Lego sculptures everywhere. Too bad they did not have a door separating the adult area. The theme of our room was Adventure, which I thought it was great. It was a little like Indiana Jones, with an Egyptian theme.

As Keegan explored the room, Matt and I enjoyed a beautiful sunset. We were lucky enough that our room was overlooking the ocean.

We started the stay with a small treasure hunt, which gave us the combination for the room safe: inside Keegan found chocolate coins and two mini-figures. How fun.

He immediately started building for the Building competition, and put a lot of effort in creating his cool ship.

Alas he did not win, but he still had fun, and participated with enthusiasm. I am proud of his good attitude.

We had a buffet dinner, and then there was a pj party for the kids…wow, what an exciting afternoon. Even all this did not keep him sleeping, and he was up at dawn, as always. Fortunately we have brought our movies and every room has a bucket of Legos to play with. What did Keegan build? Two Lego guns, of course.

After a delicious free breakfast, we headed to the park.

Being Star Wars day there were lots of activities related to the movies, especially lots of characters walking around. Keegan did not want to take photos, but some were really cool, such as the Imperial guards, the Sand man, and Darth Vedar himself. I had to get a shot with him, since we never saw one before.

There were also contests, raffles and fan art. I loved the Darth Vader Pool Table.

They also had competition, and Keegan eagerly participated in the Star Wars Trivia challenge twice. Again, he did not win, but he was undeterred. I hope he will remain like this. Nice attitude.

We finally got to see the much anticipated Death Star replica. It was really cool, more than 13 feet tall and 8 feet wide, and made with more than 500,000 bricks. Very well done, and completed with some of the most famous movie scenes, recreated and animated. Darth Vedar and the Imperial Guards were at hand.

We also enjoyed some of the regular rides, such as the small driving course, the storybook creek and the laser shooting. Keegan is not afraid of roller coasters anymore, so we took a few rides together. It was a long day, but we all had fun.

Before we knew it, it was St. Patrick’s Day. It is not a huge celebration, I know, but Keegan always gets a kick out of it. When he went to school that morning, a tricky Leprechaun has made a big mess in his classroom, and left little empty pots and gold coins for all the kids to discover…what a trickster. Yes, Keegan knows there are no Leprechauns, but he still enjoys the antics.

Back home, the Leprechaun made a mess on his room too! After the pool, Keegan enjoyed some chalk drawings…look at this beautiful Shamrock that says: #1 Mom. Isn’t he sweet??? Here he is, in his “bikini pose”, as he explained.

With Matt feeling better, we also had the chance to go out on a real date, the first in a few months. We went to see the new Cirque de Soleil show, Varekai, which was amazing as always.

After, the show, Matt reserved a table in a wonderful restaurant on the bay, and we had “normal” dinner. It was nice to see him eat a regular meal again, and his mood reflected his better state. With his feeding tube finally removed last Friday, we are really hoping that we are starting the long road to full recovery. We are trying to stay cautiously optimistic.

Comments are off for this post