Free at Last, Free at Last..

Free at last, free at last. Drew's hands are free at last!

That's right, gloves are DONE! We changed the bandages for the last time Wednesday night - only his right hand remained at this point. When Dave took the gauze off it looked almost as good as his left hand did after we removed the bandages following our day at Disneyland.

We're so thrilled, although Drew cried asking for his "glove". We had to tell him he's all better. So he just cried to us - "All better, glove". I guess he grew attached to them. They sure made him "brave" - he no longer had a problem waving to total strangers and saying hi. Usually you only get a good-bye.

So 3 1/2 weeks after he first burned his hands, we are on the road to recovery. And the ER doctor said 10 days..... hah!

I'm Going to Disneyland!

OK so we already went to Disneyland, but that slogan doesn't sound the same if you don't shout "I'm going to Disneyland!"

Since Thursday, Drew was sooooo excited to go to LA and see Mickey. It came out of no where actually when I was reading him a Disney book - and he said he wanted to go see Mickey. He actually started throwing a tantrum in our living room because we wouldn't put our shoes on and get in the car!

Anyway, we went this past Sunday for GrampC's Birthday - he got in free! Dave had an agenda - no characters when we enter the park - go straight for the Nemo Submarine ride. Well That plan lasted about 30-seconds. Drew spotted Mickey shown here - and Goofy (we didn't pull our cameras out fast enough). After our obligatory pose with the star, we went on our merry way. Heck, I'll do anything to avoid the long wait we would have had in Toon Town for another up-close and personal meeting.

We then went to the Submarine ride which features Nemo - or as Drew called him "Memo". He had a great time, and loved all the starfish and bubbles on the ride. (This was the first time we'd all been on it since they redid it a few years back).

After that it was a marathon of rides - including Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, Jungle Cruise, Toon Town and the Tomorrowland Rockets.


All in all we managed to fit in 5 rides before lunch - some at opposite ends of the park!

While it was beautiful - even overcast in the morning - it really heated up, and boy was it muggy! Courtesy of the hurricane that went through Mexico. We were doing all we could to stay cool - and keep Drew from overheating and getting cranky - including splashing in the fountains!


We only managed to hit up 2 rides in Fantasyland - the carousel and Pinocchio. Here's a group shot of us on the horses (oh and the rug burn under Drew's nose is from when he fell off our bed Thursday night).

We also managed to get a few more character visits accomplished. I mean how can you resist when your little guy literally screams (at the top of his lungs) in excitement that he sees Tigger?


While waiting in line for Tigger, at random times Drew would seriously start screaming in short consecutive intervals. We kept trying to shush him, and he'd just say "I excited! I excited"! Dave and I just looked at each other and laughed, wondering how he comes up with this stuff!

So from 8:30am - 9:45pm we were at the park, and despite his only taking a 20-minute stroller nap, he was in a FANTASTIC mood! I'm so glad we took him. It was night and day different than our trip last year after Thanksgiving. He really enjoyed everything so much more! It was as Drew would say "Perkfect".

2nd Birthdays - LA Style

Hiding from the paparazzi (they heard we have family in Antioch), we went to Tata and Abuela's house in Southern California for the first of two 2nd birthday parties for this little star.

That's right - he's turning TWO!

We got to Tata and Abuela's house a little early to try and help out with the family luncheon. It ended up the guys did more work than the ladies, but that's how it should be right?

It was a fantastic afternoon - despite the scorching heat and over the top humidity (courtesy the Hurricane/Tropical Storm that hit Mexico). The theme for this party was perfect - Cars! Drew's favorite thing right now.

See, here's Drew playing with the cars Tata played with when he was a kid.... a VERY long time ago ;)


Tata and Abuela sure know how to throw a party, we all ate until we had to unbuckle our pants, and the kids hit the pinata.


OK so Drew wouldn't use the big stick to hit the pinata. Instead he was using a small little toy sticks. He was afraid of the "bat" for some unknown reason (I'm suspicious of the "gloved" hands). Drew really enjoyed the lollipops that came out of the pinata though!


Then it was on to the birthday cake! Look at the cake he had all to himself....


It was a perfect afternoon with family! Thank you again Tata and Abuela - and also to all of our family for making the day so special!!

Healing Hands

I'll warn you - these pictures may be slightly graphic or not what you want to see while eating. While they look a million times better than they did 3 weeks ago today when Drew burned them in the hot embers of our campfire, they're still pretty gnarly.

But these pictures I took last night shortly after the dressing change. We decided to leave both hands open to the air overnight. For the past two days we had the left hand completely exposed - here's that hand...


Not too bad, but the lighter pink areas are where the blisters once were. As you can sort of see from this shot, they covered a good chunk of his hand (fingertips too, but you'll have to take my word for it). Drew wasn't cooperating for this photo shoot as you can see.

And then the right hand was more severely burned - and slower to heal. I managed to capture this shot during a diaper change.


You can see the darker "scabby" looking areas on his palm. The top one under his ring finger was the first spot I saw prompting me to call the Dr. last Thursday for a re-check. Well, that "infection" looking area appears to be getting better, leaving only a scab-like thing on his hands. The finger tips on this hand are still really raw, as is his palm. The fingertips, we've had out of the "gloves" for the past two days, and we've noticed that he's babying them a little. However he has no problem going after and grabbing what he wants when he wants.

All in all, we're on the road to recovery. I just thought I'd share a less gruesome look at his hands. We're headed to Disneyland this weekend, and planning to recover his hands to prevent any germs from attacking this new skin. And we'll see later this morning whether we'll cover the right palm back up. We just wanted it to breathe overnight.

Thank you again for everyone's healthy wishes, prayers, candle lighting, and all. They're working!

Our Super Freak

Drew has found a new favorite commercial. Previously it was the Throwback Pepsi commercial, and now he's moved onto Visa Debit. You may remember it because it's voiced over by Morgan Freeman, and plays the Rick James song "Super Freak".

Well Drew was obsessed with this commercial and we had to play it over and over - or pay the consequences. Thank goodness for DVR.



That's right, my kid has learned how to say "freak". I did stop the video before you hear all the people he called a freak.... and well... let's say it ended with GrampC. I'll protect others who may be offended by it hehe.

Don't you love his moves? Think he's ready for "Dancing with the Stars"?

Hard Sleeping Conditions

This past weekend while Daddy was in St. Louis, Drew and I stayed at Grammy and GrampC's. I managed to get some scrapping done, and well Drew got to play with GrampC and Mollie (their dog).

On Sunday I ran a few errands with my mom, and came home to see Drew like this! Asleep on their hallway floor. GrampC said he was upset after realizing I disappeared, and just conked out on the floor. (I tried to say good-bye before we left, but he was too busy watching "Johnny" aka - the Wiggles).

When I first walked in the door I though maybe he knocked himself out. In his tantrum throwing, he bangs his head on the floor (or the furniture, or the wall, or the chair....), so I could easily see him knocking himself out cold.

Well this nap only lasted until he tried to turn on his side and realized where he was. Grammy came to his rescue at this point.

If You're Happy & You Know It...

Since Drew got his "gloves" when they sang "If You're Happy and You Know It..." they couldn't do "clap your hands". So Ms Stephanie came up with an alternative verse - "Give me a Smile". Here we demonstrated for Grammy and GrampC this weekend, and GrampC caught it on his camera phone.




This cheesy smile is also seen in some recently posted pictures here - like in the blog about his he was looking sharp at church. Yes that's my boy... or rather his Daddy's boy hehe.