The Papaioannou Family Blog

At the moment we have another set of grandparents visiting with us; Granny Jill and Granpda Les. Sunday September 14th was Les’ 60th birthday, so as his birthday gift, Todd, Alexis and myself treated him to a day out on the water in a pretty spiffy boat. Todd’s friend and colleague does a lot of sailing and had offered to rent us a boat for the day from his club, and come and help us sail. The day started with us all getting to the club and climbing aboard this very nice boat. Click here to see it on the club’s website (Scroll down to the boat called Ms. Sera, that was ours). Of course, Les and Todd are both avid sailers, so between them and Doug, they had it covered. After a lunch at Lowes Hotel on Coronado, we sailed back to port. All in all, a great day! CLick below to see those photos, or here for an entire gallery.

It’s been a tremendously busy few weeks here in team P. At the end of August Grandpa John and Granet (Gran Janet) came to visit. We had a brilliant few weeks, with a trip to Sea World, lots of trips to the beach and swimming in their hotel pool, as well as the usual soccer classes, gym classes and of course preschool. Gran and Grandpa worked extremely hard, what with playing with the boys, comforting Sienna during her cranky patch each evening and cooking dinner. In fact one could say that it was hardly a holiday for them at all, rather more like a working holiday if you ask me!

There is a new photogallery up in the mac gallery so click here to go straight there.

Wow, is it hot around here. The boys are permenantly half naked, (if not fully naked) and it’s very sticky.

All continues to be well in the household. Admittedly I’m a little tired of a four year old’s incessant need to chant either the phrase “Yay, chicken fat!” over and over, louder and louder, or his need to make everything and anything have the word poo or bum in it. And yes, I am a little weary of an almost 3 year olds ability to roll his eyes and sigh loudly at just about any request I make of him, or indeed of his sudden ability to pee just about anywhere but where he is supposed to pee (ie the toilet). But, such is motherhood. Who knew that 3 and 4 year old boys were just like stroppy teenagers? 

I am not tired however, of changing diapers, dressing my daughter in pink, watching her smile and laugh or indeed any other thing she does. She’s a lovely little dream. We are very lucky. 

Alexander’s appointment in San Francisco went well. The surgeon confirmed the need for surgery, but concurred with our surgeon that the risks were minimal (as brain surgery goes) and he should recover quite nicely. The next step is the MEG study (magnetoencephelogram) which will basically map out the different areas of his brain in preparation for surgery. He continues to be on a very high dose of medicine, but is not seizing at all at the moment.

Anyway, here are a few photos. I have been a bit slack lately in taking any, so I ought to get my act together. Mind you, it’s not like I have anything else much to do……

Poor Sienna. She’s only been on the planet 3 weeks and she’s already succumbed to the germs of 2 snotty boys. What’s a girl to do? As any of you who now us will testify to, this house is a hotbed of snot. Barely a few weeks go by without a cough, sneeze or snotty nose showing it’s face to the boys and last week was no exception. And, no matter how many times you tell a 4 and a 2 year old to cover their mouths when they cough, sneeze or snot, they rarely remember. Anyway poor Sienna has it now, and what’s worse is the fact that she has a blocked tear duct, so all the gunk is backing up into her left eye…..yuck. However a trip to the doctors revealed that all she needed was some eye ointment, and hopefully that will clear it up. Whilst we were at it, she was weighed and has put on a brilliant 18 oz in 18 days. However, still weighing in at several ounces less than her lovely cousin Callum weighed at birth, I am filled with awe and wonder at how Aunty Jen managed to deliver him without causing serious injury to either herself or him…..well done Jen!

On a more serious note, Alexander had some more seizures this weekend and his meds were increased again. He had bloods drawn today to check the levels in his system, and on Monday, Todd is taking him to San Francisco to gather the opinion of another pediatric neurosurgeon as to the repercussions of the surgery that he faces in the coming months.

Click on the pics below to see them full size.

Just had to post this video of Oliver. It was dinner time, he hadn’t had a nap, and he was literally so tired he fell asleep sitting on his stool eating dinner. So cute.

Not much happening here. Well actually that’s not strictly true; Todd is in Chicago tonight and tomorrow and was in Dallas Monday -Tuesday. I officially made it through two nights of getting all the kids bathed and bedded on my own. with very few tears or tantrums.

Sienna continues to grow and thrive. She truly is an angel. She brings a bit of serenity and calm to a boisterous household. She smiles like crazy, and sleeps, yes, she sleeps!

And quickly made this. I liked the photos.

Well folks, Tuesday was the first day that I was left “home alone” with 3 children all day….solo. And surprisingly it all went very well, and I still ended up with 3 children at the end of the day While Sienna had her morning nap, mummy got her teacher’s hat on, and the boys made bead necklaces and did a science experiment involving mixing colored water in ice cube trays. That was a real hit, and they loved it. After that it was snack time for all, including Sienna, although I will admit to having to let the boys watch a little TV to keep them busy while Sienna nursed. Alexander then played computer games (he loves the games on noggin.com which are all the characters of the TV shows he watches) while Oliver wreaked a path of destruction around the house. In the afternoon the boys had a summer camp at My Gym for three hours. By the time dinner was over, everyone, including mummy, was exhausted, but pleased to have made it through the day in one piece. However, I won’t get too excited, it’s the first of many long days at home alone, of which I am sure there will be many that have me tearing my hair out Photos are here.

Things have been fairly uneventful around here, which is actually a good thing, and we have all been enjoying the week together. Sienna continues to thrive, and do the things that every other baby on the planet does; she eats, she poops, she gazes around and makes baby sounds, and then she sleeps. Repeat this all day and you pretty much have her life in a nutshell. She is a good baby though, and rarely fusses, unless her food supply is not near when she wants it! She is even giving me a few hours at a time to sleep during the night.
The boys are also doing fine. Alexander is definitely suffering from some jealousy of Sienna, and mainly takes his steam out on mummy which can be hard. But I suppose sibling jealousy was inevitable, and we are doing our best to deal with it.
On Saturday we all took a bike ride/walk down into Pacific Beach and beyond. The boys rode, Todd skateboarded, and the girls walked. It was fun, and the boys, especially Beefy, were completely at home on their new bikes. After a stop off for a drink and to watch the world walk by, we came home for lunch. By the evening, after refusing to nap (an unfortunately timed occurrance these days, the boys don’t like to nap) everyone was pooped and treated mummy and daddy by going to bed early…..7:45pm with all 3 kids in bed!

Below are some photos, but click here for the entire gallery. (Hint - if you click once on the photos below they get bigger, then click again and they are full size so you can see them properly)

Well nothing too exciting is happening over here right now, we are simply learning the new schedule with and extra P in the family.
The boys have adjusted pretty well. Oliver is particularly gentle with Sienna as you can see from this picture. Alexander is doing fine too, he just becomes frustrated when he is not allowed to do everything himself and isn’t allowed to pick her up, put her in her seats etc etc.
Yesterday we went to the Birch Aquarium to get the boys out of the house for a while. It was a lovely little outing, if not a little fraught to being with trying to get everyone in the car, buckled in, and stop them from screaming ( and that was just Granny Jill )
It’s funny, but in the flesh, I think Sienna has a lot of moments where she is just like Alexander was when he was a newborn. She has the same expressions and little stretches, and she is pretty easy going. But half the photos we have taken, she seems to look just like Oliver, with a super little round head and chubby face. She definitely seems darker than both of the boys though in the hair department.
Here are a few photos from Day 4 and then a few more from Day 5 and our trip to the aquarium.

Well the first few days at home have been very successful and we are slowly trying to get ourselves into a routine. Despite not sleeping at all the first 3 nights, last night Sienna did finally allow mummy a few good hours of sleep.
One of the highlights of the last couple of days was the gifts that the boys received from Sienna as big brothers. They had a Batman and Spiderman costume and spent the whole of the rest of the day dressed up and loving it. It was very cute.
Sienna had her first pediatrician appointment yesterday and all was well. She had lost 8 oz as expected, but is feeding well and is not too jaundiced. The little milk spots on her face are starting to disappear.
We have added lots more photos. There are some more from her first day in hospital, then an album for day two and an album for day three. Enjoy!!