It's Hard to Be Little

[lawnrrd]

Note to self: The next time Lauren asks if we should have a combination neighborhood block party/Halloween party/birthday party for Leo, the answer is:

"NO! NO! NO!"

Closing off the street for the day was surprisingly simple. Two months ago, Lauren went door-to-door on our block and got our neighbors to sign a form indicating their permission to close off the block. The City granted the permit, and so we got the temporary "No Parking" signs, the police dropped off the barricades for the street, and Lauren made arrangements for food and for Chucko the Clown. (The petting zoo was already booked, unfortunately.)

Lauren also bought Leo a Dalmatian costume at Target, thereby demonstrating yet again that there's a fine line between precious and horrible.

Leo was born on Halloween 2004, but Halloween is on a Tuesday this year, so the party was planned for yesterday, Saturday, October 28. The first bad sign came last weekend, though, as the early forecast called for rain. As the weekend grew nearer, the forecast grew worse. Finally, on Friday afternoon, we gave up, postponing the party for a day.

But the weather was not our only problem. In midweek, Leo came down again with hand, foot, and mouth disease, caused by the Coxsackie virus. Symptoms include a fever, excruciating mouth ulcers, and sleepless parents. The virus is also extremely contagious. Postponing the party thus gave him an extra day to recover, which was some small consolation.

Leo finally got a decent night's sleep on Saturday night, which meant that we did, too. He seemed a lot happier this morning, too.

On the other hand, the weather, despite the lack of rain, failed to cooperate. The rain was followed by 30 mile-per-hour winds, gusting to 40. The decorations defied our attempts to keep them in place, and foldering chairs were blown down the street from time to time.

Still, I was able to set up the rented tables in the blocked-off street. The food largely refrained from blowing away. Many of Leo's friends showed up, and Lauren's parents (both sets) drove in to the City, too. Cameron (pictured here) lives just down the street and seems to fascinate Leo.

Someone eventually had the brilliant idea to move the party to the small garden beside the last building in our row. Aside from putting us in the lee, it also put us in the sun, warming everyone up delightfully. The clown painted the kids' faces and made balloon animals. And shortly after noon, I brought out the cake. The cake was huge and very popular.

Shortly after 1, Leo melted down, so Lauren took him upstairs for his nap. We then started cleaning up, with a good deal of help from our friends and neighbors. By about 2, the tables and chairs were all put away, the trash was bagged, and what was left of the food had been dealt with. I walked upstairs to our bedroom, shut the door behind me, and took a nap.

Lauren was left to deal with her family. They left before I woke up. Once they did, though, Lauren took a nap, too.

Our apartment is still a semi-disaster. It'll look a lot better tomorrow, but we'll still need a few days to recover, I think.

Leo's actual birthday, again, is Halloween. As is customary, our plans involve surgery. That morning, we will take him to NYU hospital for his seventh and—it is to be hoped—final operation.

The surgeon put in the final set of tissue expanders in early September, and now they're huge. Leo has three, as shown in the picture that I took earlier this evening. The dark patch on his lower back, along with a narrow band that isn't visible in this picture, are all that remain of a single spot that covered eighty percent of Leo's back when he was born. The spots on the upper right side of his back are separate moles. We hope the surgeon can do something about them, too, in this procedure, but whether he can or not, Leo is done.)

We are tired, and a little anxious, but we're mostly relieved to be almost done. The excisions are less painful than having the expanders inserted, too, so it shouldn't be too hard on Leo—or on us.

Comments

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

Seriously eventful. I hope everything goes well, and that you finally get to sleep again.

[celticmoni.livejournal.com]

*That* sounds like an eventful day! :)

You take your chances with planning big events like that, and it sounds as though much in the way of fun and enjoyment was salvaged.

...

Your hoof and mouth disease story makes my being up in the middle of the night with David's sinus issues feel like a cakewalk...

[sykii.livejournal.com]

He's such a handsome little gent. I'm so sorry that he has to go through so much pain. He's lucky to have the parents he does, though. Love, patience, and a really twisted sense of humor can get you through anything.

[dwivian]

Is this the last surgery upcoming? It looks like you only have the one big nevus left, yes? He's obviously such a trooper!

[lawnrrd]

Well, he's a seriously spotty little person, and the only part of that that's ever going to change is that one day he'll be a seriously spotty big person. But he had only one giant nevus at birth, and all of his operations have been only to reduce that one. What you see in the photo is all that is left of it (plus some tissue expanders, of course). This operation will take out the expanders and excise what's left of the giant nevus, which makes this the final planned operation.

[bravenewworld.livejournal.com]

i love his costumes, they are adorable. it seems like he has made so much progress with the surgeries- i know you all must be exhausted. hopefully it will be over very soon. i wish you all the best :) have a great halloween!!!

[melonaise.livejournal.com]

Eeeeep.

Happy Birthday to Leo, and I hope it gets done in a minimum amount of pain.