8 Pairs of Dirty Shoes Later…

Gorgeous! That is what today was! What better dinner to have planned for a beautiful 75 degree day than…beef stew! Well, it is what I had planned and I really wanted to use up my last package of stew beef. Brady and Cara helped me put the veggies in the crock pot this morning. It actually worked out to be a great meal for today because I didn’t have to be inside cooking!

We headed outside and out came all of the toys! The yard is still a little squishy, so Grandma Sandy and I tried our best to contain the kids in the driveway.

One of our favorite toys is the Step2 Rollercoaster that Auntie Lissa and her family got the kids for their birthday last year. SO MUCH FUN!

It was quite warm in the sun today, and we noticed Brady’s face was getting very red, but only on his left side. Then we noticed that there was a distinct line down the middle of his face…bright red on one side, normal on the other. After a while his face looked puffy and swollen on the red side too. This is a terrible picture since his eyes are closed, but I think you can see what I’m talking about. 

We were told last year at Sloan that Brady may have Horner’s syndrome as a result of the thoracotomy surgery he had last April. This syndrome can lead to an eye droop on the affected side (he had this post-surgery, but it has almost completely resolved) and anhidrosis (inability to sweat on the affected side). I’m thinking that this strange red line down his face and only one side being red and puffy is some manifestation of Horner’s syndrome again. If that side of his face is unable to sweat, that would explain the redness and puffiness. I’m not sure why this would happen now, and not in the months after the surgery. This will be an issue to bring up with the oncologist and pediatrician for sure.

After a nap, he was back to his adorable, all-one-color self!

I realized that we have reached the age where the kids need a designated pair of play shoes for outside. Unfortunately I realized this after letting them where their only pair of sneakers outside in the morning. For our second outing of the day we switched to their croc-like shoes. So I now have 8 pairs of dirty kid shoes at my back door (well 8 plus 3 pairs of muddy rain boots).

Hello chubby cheeks!

Within 20 minutes, Brady face was red on the left side again. I’m a little confused as to why it is the left side. As I understood it, Horner’s syndrome affects the side that was operated on. They went in through the right side of Brady’s chest, and his eye droop was on the right side. In this picture you can clearly see the dividing line right down his forehead. So strange…

Even with his multicolored face, he still takes a cute picture:)