We had a great time in the Maldives doing all the typical beach things like... playing on the beach.
Tylor was very curious about the water and the sand and kept himself entertained by splashing and eating sand. One of the reasons we chose this resort was because it is a kid friendly place with a great kids club that lets you bring (and leave) kids 3 and up (most resorts it 4 or 5 and up).
Jaydon had a great time at the kids club and it became our morning routine to wake-up,
eat breakfast, play in the sand then I'd head back to the villa to put Tylor down for his nap. Steve and Jaydon would play at the kids club or on the beach making neat things like sand turtles.
We'd then meet up for lunch once Tylor was awake and repeat for afternoon nap. Once he would wake up we head out to dinner and repeat. For the first few days this is all we did and I napped everytime Tylor did which was great to finally get some sleep.
The resort had many different restaurants but our favorite ended up being the Italian one. Lots of good food and a great guitarist which thoroughly entertained the boys.
All the staff at the restaurants were really great and would go the extra mile to try and make sure Steve and I had a relaxing meal (or at least got to finish our food).
It seemed every waiter/tress had their own trick whether it was singing or making napkin animals or showing off the resident geckos.
Some would even give Jaydon a tour of the kitchen and let him go meet the chefs cooking up our dinners in the back. We really could not say enough great things about them.
Half way through the vacation we realized that all we had done was eat, sleep and play on the beach so Steve decided to change things up headed out on a fishing charter.
He was entertained by a pod of dolphins. They had a good but not great day fishing but did bring home this beautiful fish.
The resort saved all the fish and cooked it up for us the next day for lunch. It was exceptionally good and an enormous amount of food.
We all gorged ourselves on fish, finished off some champagne and had a very good afternoon nap.
I took the next morning to go snorkeling. This area of the Maldives atolls is well known for whale sharks and our resort supported the local research center. The snorkeling trip was to find whale sharks and swim with them but unfortunately we didn't see any that day. After driving around for a few hours (inhaling diesel fumes) they finally decided to let go out and snorkel for awhile (and I was thoroughly sea sick by then). Before the trip I had bought a new underwater camera because we seem to have the worst luck with our camera getting jammed up with sand on vacation. This camera was great because it was sand and shock proof. However, I discovered that it wasn't exactly waterproof.
I jumped in the water, took about 6 pictures before bubbles started coming out of the camera - the screen went blank and that was the end of it. Looking back it's probably just as well we didn't see the whale sharks because then I would have been super mad about the situation or worse off been so distracted with my malfunctioning camera that I wouldn't of enjoyed them at all...
Back on dry land Jaydon showed me all the hermit crabs he had caught that day.
And decided to be a bunny at dinner that night thanks to arts and crafts time at the kids club.
One of the other big attractions for the boys at the resort was the feeding time.
On the north side of the island they fed the black tip reef sharks every night and on the south side they fed the manta rays.
Usually this happened during Jaydons nap time but there were a few evening that we were up in time to enjoy the fun.
Jaydon LOVED feeding all the creatures in the sea and we got a couple of cute videos of him making friends with the locals and feed the sharks and manta rays.
We got the feeling that they usually don't let the kids do this but he was so into it that they couldn't resist his enthusiasm and the other kids happily joined in (to the parents disgust since it was stinky raw fish with out a sink and water to wash up any where close by).
When feeding time was over the next bit of fun was catching the crabs that came out of their hiding spots to eat all the fish scraps leftover.
Jaydon thought catching crabs was great fun and by the end of the trip was very good at it.
All too soon the trip was over, and on our last day they decorated our room extra special.
We got some cute pictures of Tylor before the boys spread the beautiful hibiscus flowers every where.
We said good-bye to our personal butler and Jaydon's favorite best friend on the trip Yousuf.
Having him around really helped make the trip just as perfect as it could be. The last morning we were their we woke up extra early and caught our sea plane back to reality.
Jaydon loved the flight and Tylor put up with it (the earplugs were a fight - again).
We were sorry to go and our week trip was much too short. But it was well worth it!
Last year Qatar Airways had a 25% off promotion. I knew that we'd be going somewhere on vacation so pressured Steve into picking a place. We chose the Maldives knowing that it would be the first vacation (not seeing family) with Tylor so wanted something low key and relaxing. We had gone to the Maldives when we first got here in '06 so figured it was time to go back. Once the tickets were bought we procrastinated on finding a hotel. Thought about getting 2 rooms at the Conrad which everyone recommends but realized it was super expensive and we could get a large suite at other places for the same price. Found a good priced family room at Kurumba where we had stayed before but wasn't sure how we'd feel about staying in the same place twice - by the time we decided to book it it was gone. By this time we were convinced on having a 2 room suite but all the good deals at family resorts were already gone. We ended up at a wonderful resort called Lux* but paid so much for the 2 bedroom suite for the week that all the savings on our 25% airfare offer was essentially lost in the rounding... go figure. But enough about that - let's talk about the vacation.
Travelling with little one become soo much easier once they're into videos. Steve downloads some Dinosaur Train or Dora and Jaydon is set for hours (or until batteries run out). In the bus on the way to the plane.
Tylor was very excited about going on the adventure and was wide eyed and bushy tailed the whole trip. We arrived in Male with no issues (4 hour flights seem so short now), waited in the nice waiting area for our sea plane to arrive then headed to the resort. The sea planes are very loud so they encouraged everyone to wear ear plugs, well getting a 9 month to wear ear plugs is nearly impossible. He had them in about half the time but was not a fan of the tiny plane and being stuck with me in the little seat. He cried for more than half of the 25 minute flight but it was so loud that no one else on the flight really noticed (the plane held about 12 plus 2 pilots who wore shorts and flipflops - which they removed to fly the plane barefoot).
Our room was amazing, it had a glass floor overlooking the water in the living room and this is where I fed Tylor most of the time when we were in the room so he could watch the water and fish below.
They had pretty designs/decorations on our bed welcoming us to the resort which Steve turned into Jaydon's name which he got a big kick out of. Pictures don't quite do the place justice so I made a couple videos and even attempted to add music and comments to them. This is my first time doing such a thing on youtube so be warned that it's a bit basic.
Jaydon's favorite toy is his doggy. He's had it since he was born and this little guy has been everywhere! There was one trip to Jordan when Jaydon was 1.5 that we forgot him at home (so luckily he was waiting for us when we got back). After that trip I decided to find a back-up one just in case anything happened. Most baby books you read actually recommend doing this - buy 2 of the favorite toy or even cut a favorite blanket in half just in case. Also makes it easier when it needs to be washed and saves undue stress and heartache if the special toy is lost. Well turns out doggy is a special edition limited offer Carter toy - who knew. Replacement doggies run about $40 before shaping. So I decided to give up. Well when Jaydon headed of to Houston I found the one thought that made me feel better was knowing that Jaydon had his doggy and that that little guy could help him get through anything. I realized doggy had become as much Jaydon's security blanket as mine. So I decided to finally get a replacement one on e-bay (slightly used) for $30.
He arrived here in great condition and made me realize just how worn out poor old doggy was. He looked so fresh and different I was worried Jaydon would notice. But no worries, one comment about how great the washing machine worked to clean him up and make him fluffy again and Jaydon was sold. He even commented for the next couple days about how soft doggy was.
The old one is on a much needed retirement in our bureau - waiting for that unfortunate time when his twin may go missing.
Oh yeah, and I did learn from this. When grandma picked out Tylor's Monkey toy I was sure that she bought 2 this time.
His personality is really starting to shine through. He's very curious and wants to figure everything out (which also means get into everything).
He's finally down to only 1 wake up each night with a feed and then right back to sleep. He didn't really know what to think not having Jaydon around for 10 days, the house got really quite and boring for him but he did enjoy the extra attention and got used to tagging along with me on all the errands. He thoroughly enjoys car rides because he knows that it means fun new things at the end.
He's also become such a good sitter that when Jaydon got home we decided it was time to try out the double bath approach.
If the boys are in the right mood they love it
(well actually Tylor loves ANYTHING that has to do with a bath and since he just adores his brother, having Jaydon in the tub is all the better).
Jaydon also enjoyed being back at nursery with all his friends. Time to try to settle back into a little bit of normalcy now.
While in Houston the boys did there best to make the best of it.
Jaydon got to go see his long lost buddy Ella who moved out of Doha about a year and half ago.
Jaydon and Ella were born 6 days apart and they shared their first birthday together.
It was great to get the two of them together. They played wonderfully and were just tooo cute. Can't help but think this is a precursor to prom some day ;)
The boys also spent a lot of time in the hotel room either because of jet lag (i.e. wide awake at 3am) or waiting in between appointments.
Steve decided Jaydon needed a train set, they had so much fun with it they went back to the store and bought them out. Which meant they were able to build a track all the way around their room.
When they came home it took an entire half of a suitcase to get all the train and tracks packed.
This is a picture of Jaydon just before waking up from the local anesthesia he was given for the biopsy.
One of the benefits of having to stay a few extra days was that they were able to join Ella for her big 3 birthday (luckily for Jaydon she had it a few weeks late).
Jaydon got to play with all kinds of Doha alums. The had fun in the bouncy castle and playing other fun games.
They ate yummy cupcakes before heading off to the airport - just what a kid needs before being stuck in a plane for the next 16 hours...
...I'm happy to say, but it was a harrowing experience! To start from the beginning, Jaydon has always has a bump on the side of neck since he was born. When he was small I'd have the Doctor check it at every appointment and the doc would always say it was nothing. I got to the point of forgetting all about until our recent trip home. Several relatives pointed it out and with the new attention I had for it, it seemed to be getting bigger. So in Jan when we got back to Doha I asked the doc. Again, he said it was nothing but decided to order an ultrasound just to be sure. At the end of Jan we got the ultrasound done. What was supposed to be 15 minutes for the report results turned into an hour and a half with the nurses giving me various excuses as to why it was taking so long and finally just giving up and telling me they'd come find me when it was ready. I finally got the report and started reading it on my way back pediatrics to find words like - lymphoma, metastasis, thyroid carcinoma and lots of other scary medical terms that you never want to see on a report.
My stomach in my throat I headed over to the pediatrician to understand what he had to say. (Fortunately, our friends the Fenns had arrived to get some shots for their son so I was able to leave Jaydon with them while speaking to the doctor.) He was particularly unhelpful and basically told me that we needed to do blood tests, x-rays, cat scans and a biopsy to determine what the issue was. He asked me what I knew about Lymphoma and I mentioned that we had put our dog down from it less then a month ago - he made some absurd comment about how "that's not what we do with kids" - and that was basically the end of his bed side manner.
Overwhelmed and in complete shock I went to see our company doctor. He had just newly arrived in Doha so was being very careful about what advice to give me but was very helpful in explaining what this could be and was very positive that it was likely nothing. He convinced me to go ahead and get the blood tests and x-ray since at this point the more information we had the better.
That night we got online and started researching cancer treatment centers and quickly landed on MD Anderson. It was in Houston and very well respected. We sent them an e-mail and within 3 hours had a phone call back. (Which was a huge relief given the kind of medical experiences we're used to here in Doha) They have a whole department specializing in overseas patients. The lady who called us was from Qatar and understood the medical system here. She mentioned that her past 2 cases from Hamad (the public hospital here) had been misdiagnosed. She agreed to get Jaydon's case looked at by a specialist as soon as possible.
The next day the tests results were in - everything was negative so the pediatrician basically told me that he couldn't do anything further to help us get to a conclusion. I needed to either go to Hamad or overseas if I wanted certainty as to what we were dealing with. After many sleepless nights and several discussions with the company doctor and my brother (and his girlfriend) who are in medical school we decided to get Jaydon back to Houston. We don't have a lot of confidence in the medical system here and if the worst came back from the tests we knew we'd go to back to the US for treatment so better just to start everything off there to begin with.
The MD Anderson doctor agreed to see us as soon as we could make it to Houston, we considered canceling Jaydon's birthday but once we made the decision to go to Houston everything slowed down. Our contact at MD Anderson went on vacation, her stand-in took over a week to get the insurance cleared and then finally we had an appointment for Feb 16. It was a tough decision to stay home and send Steve off with Jaydon but since I'm still breast feeding Tylor it was the right one to make (Tylor certainly didn't need an unnecessary trip to Houston). I loaded the boys on the airplane and they headed off for a boys 'vacation' (which is what we told people who didn't know the whole story). On the plane Steve and Jaydon sat next to a young girl who was on spring break going to visit her sister and take her to Disney world. Coincidentally her sister happened to be at MD Anderson - getting treated for Lymphoma...
Jaydon was a great traveler and made it to Houston with no issues (unlike our last trip where he was sick with a fever). They met with the Lymphoma specialist and he gave Jaydon a thorough examination and said it was very unlikely that anything was wrong. This was a great relief but at the same time, in a weird way, a disappointment that we had done all this planning and worrying and traveling for absolutely nothing. The doctor had no interest in doing a biopsy and told Steve to bring Jaydon back for another exam in a week before they went back to Doha (apparently Lymphoma is very aggressive and he would see a difference in Jaydon's condition if indeed he had the disease). That was on Thursday and that weekend was President's weekend so everything was closed. Steve decided to take a road trip over to Louisiana while they waited for the weekend to pass.
On Tuesday when everything was open again Steve scheduled another ultrasound just to confirm what they had seen in Doha. Wed they did the ultrasound and then all of sudden we were back at square 1. This time the area they focused on was the Thyroid. This was mentioned on the first test but apparently not in a way that made the doctors take much notice. This time they immediately contacted the endocrine specialist. The next day Jaydon went to see her and she decided that a biopsy was necessary. So at this point I was rescheduling the flight back so Jaydon could stay a few more days for the biopsy that we thought we had sent them there for to begin with. Worrying, sleepless nights understanding every bit of information in the Internet started all over again.
He had the biopsy, they tested his Thyroid and since they were there his Lymph nodes too (which the original doctor maintained wasn't necessary). As suspected by everyone involved, everything came back negative. He has larger then normal Lymph nodes and nodules in his Thyroid that ended up being nothing more than some misplaced Thymus tissue. With the good news Jaydon and Steve headed back to Doha. It was quite an experience but fortunately it was all a big false alarm...
So you may have heard about Doha winning the 2022 World Cup and bidding for the Summer Olympics. Well there's a big effort here to make Doha a tourist destination for sports (since it wouldn't be a desitination for the scenery or weather...). This year they decided to even make a national holiday for it - Sports Day. Everyone got off work and was 'encourged' to participate in sporting events.
It also happened to be Valentine's Day so it was nice to spend a day at home with the boys.
Tylor had fun ridding his car around with Samina.
That night we decided to take the whole family out to Chili's for dinner.
We didn't do much sports per se but definitely enjoyed the day off anyway!
Jaydon turned 3 today. An boy did he have quite a day - but not in the way you would hope a 3 year birthday to go. He had been fighting off his coughing sickness again and woke up that morning tired and grumpy.
Even coming downstairs to an almost life size T-rex couldn't lift his spirits. Finally at 10am, we agreed to let him go back to bed (which gave us time to finish decorating).
He laid there for an hour trying to sleep and instead coughing until one of his coughing fits caused him to throw up. We got him up, in the bath, changed his bed, loaded him up on more medicine and got his cough under control enough to get a little lunch in him. Put him back down for a nap at noon only to have him throw up again an hour later and this time he had a fever.
3 hours until party time with everything set-up, even the dinosaur shaped jigglers ready to go, and the birthday boy had a fever!!!
There was no way I was going to cancel the party (I had taken the day before off to bake up his '3' cake and matching cupcakes).
He finally got to sleep and the guests started to arrive. We woke him up and asked him to come down and see everyone. He was not himself and put up with people playing with his toys and making too much noise for about 20 minutes before he had a meltdown. I put him back in his bed and he stayed there for half an hour until he felt better.
Once he decided he was able to face the party again, we used the opportunity to light up the candles and sing to him. After a little cake and ice cream he started feeling a lot better but it certainly wasn't the kind of day we had hoped he would have (and we ended up with very few pictures).
Tylor wasn't too phased by it all - he hung out with the ladies turning on his charm.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAYDON!
