Washington DC

My mom, dad, Zach, and I traveled to Washington DC for my big brothers wedding. I absolutely love DC and Zach was excited to travel on a plane to go see his uncle. I was a bit worried to travel with Zach just because lately I feel his behavioral issue have been getting worse. So being on a cramped plane for 4 hours wasn't sounding very exciting. Luckily our plane left LAX at 11PM so Zach slept the entire way to DC. It was probably the most uncomfortable plane ride I have ever been on. I've never had a problem sleeping on a plane, but I got about 30 minutes of sleep in. It was no bueno for me but Zach slept the entire time which was really nice. Even after we landed he continued to sleep until the entire plane was cleared out and we were the last ones on board. Once Zach realized we wer finally in DC he was very excited. It's something he's been talking about for months now and he's happy that he gets to see hus Uncle Jason.
After finding out baggage and getting our car rental, we drove from Dulles International Airport to the heart of Washington DC. Unfortunately we arrived during rush hour, so what should have been a 30 minute drive turned into a 2 hour one. We met my brother at his apartment and went out for breakfast. I don't know if it was because I was completely starving or if the food was actually that good, but the Cinnabon Pancakes at Ihop are delicious. After breakfast we went back to my brothers apartment because Zach wanted to see the dogs. This is when we found out that Zach is possibly allergic to dogs, mostly their saliva. He had so much fun playing with Hank, a big black dog with the heart of a puppy. That dog was the perfect babysitter for him. He wasn't mean or too rough with Zach, and he was happy to play games of tug-a-war with his chew toys. After leaving his apartment and heading for our hotel, I noticed Zach's face starting to swell up. Right away I gave him benadryl and cleaned him up because the last thing I want to do on vacation is spend it in a hospital. About an hour later he was completely fine.

Our first full day in DC was spent sightseeing with my mom and Elizabeth, great friend from my old high school high school days. Before leaving DC I complained about the 108º weather, but DC really made me appreciate that wonderful, dry, southern California heat. I could not stand the humidity. I was completely miserable. My goal for this day was to revisit the monuments we visited back in 2008, when we first visited Washington DC when Zach was 9 months old. Most of the pictures I took on that trip are still my favorite to this day. I wanted pictures so that I can do a comparison of then and now. Looking at both these pictures I cannot help but to cry. Gosh, he's definitely not a baby anymore. He's such a little man. My little man. The picture from 2008 is one of my favorite pictures of us together. Look at his adorable, chubby cheeks. When he was a baby I couldn't help but to kiss those cheeks all the time. 

But moving on, Zach really loved touring DC. I didn't think he would, I though he would find it boring. He wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial. We like the "Moments With Abraham Lincoln" show at Disneyland and leading up to this trip I have been telling him all about the memorial. Plus I think Lincoln is Zach's favorite president. Zach can point him out on the $5 bill and penny. We enjoyed walking around DC and catching up with my friend. We also visited the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial as well as one of my new favorites, the FDR Memorial. While walking back from the FDR Memorial, we were chased by a squirrel which really freaked Zachary out, so we decided to head back to our hotel. I was wonderful catching up with a great friend and tour DC with someone who lives there.

The next day my dad arrived in DC and we picked him up from the airport, and from there we stopped at the famous "Georgetown Cupcake" store in Georgetown. BEST CUPCAKES EVER! Being a fan of the show and having ordered cupcakes from them in the past, it was really cool being in the shop. We walked around DC a bit with my dad and he wanted to see the White House. So Zachary and I went with him, while my mom stayed back at the hotel. Zach thought the White House looked pretty cool. After walking around DC for a couple hours, we went back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding rehearsal dinner for my brother and Stephanie.

Our final full day in Washington DC was the wedding, but before that we promised Zach we'd take him to the Air and Space Museum. It was really crowded and I hate dealing with crowds. I allowed Zach to walk around for a bit and try stuff he was allowed to play with. He loved it, but waiting for him is torture. He did very well though and I was very proud of him. We took him to the gift shop and he picked out a toy airplane and space shuttle. After that we went to the hotel to prepare for the wedding. I tried to get Zachary to take a nap but that didn't happen. After we finished getting ready, we took the metro over to the wedding location. Zachary looked so handsome in his shirt and tie. The wedding was absolutely beautiful. I don't know why Zach was so into the wedding, I thought I'd have trouble keeping him busy and quite, but he sat there the entire time smiling for his Uncle Jason. After the wedding was of course the dinner and party. This is when Zach transformed into soem crazy party animal. I was amazed that he was the first one on the dance floor. When he saw people doing a certain dance move he copied them. He was very entertaining to watch. People were shocked that he was such a social boy and was the only kid on the dance floor. He even asked a couple girls, that were a bit older than him, to dance. It was very funny to watch.
It got me thinking if Zachary didn't have ADHD, would he be out partying on the dance floor with all the adults? There are so many negatives to ADHD that when the positive qualities to emerge it almost makes me cry. Zach struggles socially at school. He's very impulsive and it's his downfall. He's trying his best and that's all I asked from him. To watch Zachary get along with adults so well and socialize with them so well it kinda funny. People say that Zach is an "old soul" and I think that is an amazing quality he has. While he is only 5 and still has those moments of immaturity and silliness about him, he is one of the most interesting people in the world. He's also quite brilliant. I love sitting and having conversations with him. I can sit down and listen to him talk for hours. He can go on and on and I just sit there and smile because I don't think he knows how truly amazing he is. I really believe that my son is destined to do great things in this world and I will always be right there by his side to help him do so.

First broken bone.

Today Zachary managed to break his humerus while playing today at school. I usually work yard duty at his school on the days Zach is scheduled to go over to his dad's for visitation. He asked me to do it so of course I would do it for him in a heartbeat, but it's also awesome because now I get to see my guy everyday. So today Zach was playing on the play ground with all his little friends. He was standing at the top of the slide about to slide down. I looked away and the next thing I know I see him fall backwards and land on the edge of the slide. I heard him yell "Ow!" but he didn't cry. I walked over to him and asked if he was okay. He didn't answer and didn't move, so I picked him up and walked him over to a bench to sit down. He started crying but assured me he was okay. I was thinking it was more tears from being embarrassed rather than injured. I thought he was acting a bit awkward for taking such a big fall, but he continued to reassure me that he was okay. I  took him to the office and put an ice pack on his shoulder. He sat there for a while and asked me if he can go home. (Zachary always begs me to come home because he doesn't want to go home with his dad. Majority of the times he's in tears asking me) I figured this had something to do with it. While sitting in the office the bell rang and he told me he needs to go to class. I asked him once more if he was okay and he said yes but again asked me if he can come home with me. I told him that I always want Zach to come home and be with his momma, but it's his dad's day so he cannot. With tear filled eyes he said okay and I walked him to class. I told his teacher what happened and she said she'd keep an eye on him. I figured since he continuously assured me that he was okay, I didn't think to take him to the ER.
I received a call a couple hours later saying that he was still crying and complaining about his arm. I drove to school to pick him up before J could get there. I talked to his teacher and she said that for the first time this school year he took a nap. Not just a short 15 minute cat nap, but a good 2 hour nap. She thought it was unusual for him but what she thought what was even more alarming was that he didn't want to go outside and play with his classmates. I agreed this was odd and decided to take Zach to the hospital. I called J and told him what happened and he met me at Kaiser.
We got there at 3:00PM. J met us in urgent care. From the second we arrived and sat in the waiting room, he tried to keep Zach away from me. He grabbed Zach from my lap and put him on his. The entire time he carried Zach around. Not once did he put Zach down. We didn't get into urgent care until 4:30PM. We waited for about 50 more minutes before the doctor came in. She checked out his arm and shoulder and ordered an x-ray. We walked up to x-ray where J still carried Zach and kept him out of my reach. We waited another 30 minutes. After that we were sent back to urgent care and waited another 45 minutes before a doctor came in and asked me when was the last time Zach ate. I knew right then and there something was seriously wrong. He told me that he broke his humerus and that he might need surgery to fix it. When I heard this I felt absolutely horrible. I should have gone with my first instinct cause I felt something was really wrong. Whenever it comes to things for Zach I ALWAYS trust my mother instinct because it is ALWAYS right. I was pretty upset with myself over this.
Not only did I feel horrible about this, but Zach was starving and I could not feed him or give him anything to drink just incase surgery was needed. Poor baby was crying and so upset since he was so hungry. He asked me to come and lay down with him to make him feel better. We laid there for another 30 minutes. Finally the doctor came in and said he didn't need surgery but they will be putting him in a splint. Zach was happy to hear this cause it meant he could eat, I was happy because I was afraid of surgery. Again J kept Zach away from me by carrying him out of the room to the cast room where the splint was put on.
It angers me when J does this crap. Seriously? Are you that much of a control freak that you have to go to such extremes to keep Zach away from his mom? Grow up and grow a pair buddy. Your harming your son more than you know.
I am completely exhausted. We arrived home from DC last night around 10PM, woke up around 6AM for school, and have been up since. Sleep, a comfortable sleep sounds so good right now. I'm glad that my boy is okay. He was so strong during the entire visit. He always amazes me at how totally awesome he is.