Never knew this gland existed!

My poor guy! Last night, I started noticing that the left side of Tyson's face was looking swollen. We had just cut his hair so I thought his cheeks were just looking extra chubby, but sure enough, it was swelling and had a hard mound right in front of his ear. We went through possible scenarios of what it could be. He had fallen out of his crib on Saturday (yes, its true.. he was leaning over the railing and fell right out) so we thought maybe it was swelling because he hit his face. But it wasn't tender or bruised so we decided to wait overnight to see what it did and sure enough, it was a lot bigger in the morning! I was stressing waiting until my doctors office opened so I could get an appointment. We were just in there on Friday for a sinus infection and was on amoxicillin for that so it was extra weird he had swelling. At the doctor, she didn't know what it was and called in another Dr to get his opinion. They claimed it as the mystery of the day as neither one had seen it before. They said it looked like mumps but he didn't fit any of the other symptoms, plus he has had his vaccinations. So they made me an appointment to see an ENT in the afternoon. You can be assured I was freaking out a little. What it turns out to be is an infected and blocked parotid gland and it wasn't draining properly. Now he is on new antibiotics and the doctor said he will probably take a while (like many days)for the swelling to go back down. So it looks like he will be looking like this for a while longer.
I feel so bad for him, but it doesn't seem to bother him and he's as and busy and happy as ever!

Raining chocolate

So, I was making myself a little snack (a graham cracker with peanut butter and chocolate chips...a treat only my mom could teach me) and as I was pulling out my big costco sized bag from the cupboard, something else fell and I tried to catch it. In the process, the bag tips over and starts pouring chocolate chips all over the counter (it was a full bag). Quite a few also fell on the floor. No big deal because guess who is there to help pick them up?? My little shadow! He was parked right in front of me on the floor and was part of the reason I couldn't properly grab hold of the bag. That and all my plate chargers he had pulled out of the cupboard. As I'm hurrying to gather all the ones on the floor, I can hear his little excited laugh as he's hurrying to shove in as many of the chocolate chips as possible. I picked up most of them before I took the picture.
Wow! Thanks mom! You can see little chocolate leftovers on his chin.

Later, as I'm changing him out of his pajamas, I find this... ...a big chocolate smudge on the middle of his back! How in the world did it get there? The only thing I can think of is after this happened, he wanted to cuddle with me on the couch because he hasn't been feeling good. So with the combination of his feverish body and leaning against me, I guess it just melted right where it landed. He's his momma's child all right!

Utah trip

It was a fun trip to Utah and now I've finally gotten around to blogging about it. As I'm downloading pictures I realize I didn't take all that many. Oops! We enjoyed the funeral and it was a beautiful day. This may seem odd to some, but I've only been to one funeral in my life and that was when I was in the 7th grade for a boy in my sunday school class. I've only been to a few viewings and I've never experienced the interment/graveside dedication of the grave, that I can remember. I realized how fortunate I am to have my family with me. All 4 of my grandparents are living which is a rare thing and I'm so grateful I've grown up with all of them. Scott was a pallbearer and also played the piano for his sisters who sang at the funeral and it turned out really pretty.

All of Scott's siblings were there. It's fun that Tyson has lots of cousins, one that is only a month younger than him. He didn't really interact much but I'm sure he'll have fun when he gets older. We attempted to get all the kids lined up on the staircase for a picture and it was a little crazy. Tyson did not enjoy being picked up too much. There are 12 grandkids under the age of 10 with one more on the way (not us).

While in Utah, I was able to visit my grandparents and aunts and uncles. My cousin Kyle, who just got back from his mission in Taiwan, happened to be in Utah on a ski trip with his dad (they are from CA). I missed his homecoming but got to go out to dinner with them in Utah. When we get together it's always a lot of fun!

(notice the huge drool stain on Tyson's shirt...he's getting in 3 teeth..lovely)

I also saw my bro, Steven and my new sister-in-law, Chelsea. She makes a fun addition to our family. I got to play the Wii at their place, but unfortunately didn't take any pictures of it, but that's really ok. You don't want to see something that uncoordinated. (I'm talking about Steven of course;)) Tyson did great throughout the trip. He's a good little traveler and we were able to make the drive between 13-14 hours. It's always good to be back home and in our regular routine.

Grandma Robison

Scott's grandma, Inge Robison, passed away on Sunday. She was a wonderful lady. Scott ate dinner at her house most Sundays since he's lived in Utah because she loved to be around her family. I've had the opportunity too since we've been married and in Utah and I'm glad I've gotten to know her well. This picture was taken around Thanksgiving time at her home with Scott, his mom, and Tyson. We are sad to lose her but are so happy that she is reunited with her dear husband and up walking around again! She would have been 90 years old in July. We are headed to Utah tomorrow to attend her funeral on Friday. Although we wish it were under different circumstances, we are excited to be with family and friends.

Happy Helper!

I forgot to add that for Tyson's birthday, we went to the Children's Museum. Now I realize that he doesn't know what is going on but it was free through Scott's work and something to do on the weekend. They did have this wiggle area for babies and he loved to crawl around and explore all the toys. He also had his 1 year check-up shortly after his birthday and he's doing great. He was the biggest ham in front of the doctor showing her all his tricks like waving and patti cake and "so big." A ham...in this family? No way. He weighed 29 lbs 12 oz and was 34 1/4 inches tall. He's still not walking which is ok. He's busy enough already. In fact, I'd thought I'd share how helpful Tyson has been since he's turned 1.

He opens the door to the basement, plus others.

He helps me get the appliances out of the cabinets for dinner.

He likes to unload the dishwasher.

(He makes a beeline over to it when its open and crawls right in)

And best of all, he'll help me with the laundry! He's great at pulling it all out for me.

How lucky am I to have such a big helper around the house? Next up...yardwork!