Anybody out there?

My poor little blog, how I've forgotten you. Not forgotten so much as neglected in favor of other things like school, sleep, cooking, cleaning, and other crucial needs.

We're on the other side of Chicken Pox for both boys now. Milo didn't actually come down with it until 21 days after Moses. Milo's fever that we wrote off as a Chicken Pox symptom was actually a double ear infection, poor boy. When he eventually came down with the pox, I was hugely surprised because our pediatrician said that we were out of the woods if he didn't have them 8 days after Moses since the exposure was so intimate. Wrong! He had very few pox though and seemed to weather the virus well. Now, we won't need that vaccination for either boy!

Milo's been crawling for several weeks now and two weeks ago he started pulling up on everything. It's a lost cause to hope he'll just sit in one place anymore. He's cruising our furniture, too, but with lots of supervision since he's still pretty unsteady.

Moses is doing really well too. He's still obsessed with trains, construction vehicles, and sports. I bought a great Tonka truck coloring book from the dollar store, but he doesn't color in it: he just carries it all over the house and we read it like a book. We've also discovered "Mighty Machines." I thought they looked ridiculous initially, but the shows are really pretty great. The DVDs talk about a variety of vehicles and explain what each does and why they do it. It's pretty crazy how much Moses talks while watching those. Boys.

By the way, Moses is most assuredly a lefty! Dave's already planning Moses' sports career. Too bad they don't make sports toys for lefties at this age.

Poxed-in

We're still quarantined over here. Yesterday, I questioned the chicken pox diagnosis I made when Moses woke with the same six pox he went to bed with. I'm not sure if it's just a mild case or if he's one of the lucky ones, but Moses isn't covered in a gazillion pox like I expected. I've only counted 32 so far (mainly on his chest and back), but I might be writing too soon since he developed more today than in the last two days combined. The pock marks range from teeny tiny dots to pencil eraser in size. He's been in good spirits except that every once in a while he gets fussy or clingy. The below pictures were taken after he climbed onto the couch with Milo's blanket to watch Super Why this morning. You wouldn't know it, but that's strange behavior for him. I typically have to wrangle him for breakfast and a change of clothes! My poor boy is still all smiles though.

The pox

Moses has the chicken pox!

A couple of hours ago I noticed a blister-looking bump on his back and thought it strange. I drug Moses into the bathroom and stood him on the toilet so I could better inspect him. I found 5 more pocks so I'm going to go out on a limb and saying he has the chicken pox. I knew it was going around because the nurse mentioned it at his last appointment when I politely declined the vaccine for it, again.

On one hand, I'm kind of excited that he's got them now because I didn't think it'd happen this soon, and now we'll have that virus checked off his childhood illness list (figuratively speaking of course--I'm not that organized). On the other hand, I feel sorry for him because I know the next week won't be too much fun. I'm really hoping that he won't even notice what's going on since he's such an active boy and illnesses don't typically phase his activity level.

No news on Milo yet. He doesn't have any pock marks at the moment, but I'm keeping an eye out for them. I really don't understand the incubation period of viruses and don't know what to expect when. I think the fact that I'm still breastfeeding him protects him some so we'll have to see what happens.

A return to normalcy

Well, I (we) made it! The boys and I picked Dave up from the airport last Wednesday night (and fell to our knees, fervently begging him not to leave again!) His trip to DC for the inauguration went fantastically though so, in retrospect, we were more than happy to part with him for those 5 days. It was a little rough in the sleep department for me though. I had both boys in bed with me since Moses has night terrors/nightmares and usually wakes up screaming a couple times a night (and those screams would startle Milo into crying). I think my current cold stems from those sleepless nights.

At the airport, several parents and students just gabbed my ear off with praise for Dave -- as a teacher and travel agent. It was yet another moment I was proud to be his wife. Moses was delighted to see him again but at first sight he wasn't sure what to do -- as if Dave's image was a mirage. Once he got over it, he clung to Dave as the students oohed and awed over the twosome.

Since I've deprived my last few posts of pictures, here are some taken during our week without Dave:






Dave also had a little more press coverage (without nervous balance-of-powers goofs) during and after the trip so we're relishing his 15-minutes!

Under the weather

We're all sick or convalescing from one ailment or another right now. I had a stomach bug last week, Dave and Moses have colds, and poor Milo has both the bug and cold. Everyone's on the mend now, which is fortunate because Dave and I are borderline delirious from lack of a good night's sleep.

Congested (but still cute)

(yes, that is a dimple--there are dimples. Plural!)

I took Milo into the doctor this morning because his spit up looked as if he'd drank raw egg and he was incredibly upset yesterday. Our regular doctor was out so we saw a nurse practitioner we've seen once before. She said Milo is very congested and has mucus running down his throat, which causes him to gag and spit up more and aggravates any reflux he already has. All the congestion is upsetting his stomach, too, which is causing all the more discomfort. Poor kid. He's still too young for any meds so we're trying some more homeopathic methods she suggested. I'm hoping this isn't a sign of another ear infection prone kid. I blame Dave and I's horrible allergies for all ours sons' congestion issues. Grr...

On the plus side, the nurse was amazed at Milo's level of head control and repeatedly mentioned how impressed she was. As we were leaving she said he's at least 3 weeks ahead developmentally! It is crazy how much difference those 3 additional weeks gestating has made for Milo versus Moses: it seems Milo's already leaps and bounds of Moses in certain areas. There's nothing like a little sibling rivalry. Sigh.

A big bottle o' catch-up!

I've been gently reminded recently by a few readers that I haven't blogged in awhile. It wasn't my intent to abandon the blog for more than two weeks but time just seems to fly with two kids occupying my time--before I know it, the day is done and I'm too tired to string sentences together, let alone type them. Dave also took the lap top back to school with him so blogging mobility is no longer possible, and Moses' interest in the keyboard makes typing at the desk impossible while he's awake since all my sentences would undoubtedly contain extra letters, numbers, and punctuation marks. Ah, the woes of motherhood!

Despite my inability to blog, I've been writing down topics as they come to mind and these jewels to share with you today:

1. Milo's 1-month-old!
2. The characteristics of a first born
3. Fernando
4. Amigos de Fernando
5. Finger painting
6. Sickos
   
7. RIP TV
   

So, please, sit back, relax and let me regale you with the my tales o' family.

1. Milo's 1-month-old!

Time certainly flew for us. We can't believe how quickly we reached the 1 month milestone with our boy. His sleepiness and contentedness wore off almost as soon as I blogged about it and he's now awake more and grumpy/fussy for 90% of the day. I wouldn't say he's colicky but maybe fool's colicky since he exhibits all the signs of a colicky baby but inconsistently so (I'm think I'm going to copyright that).

I meant to take a picture of him at one month, but he wasn't being his cute self on camera. This was taken during his nap a couple days before.

2. The characteristics of a first born

Moses' personality is shining through increasingly more these days. The funniest (and most irritating) part to manifest lately involves his need for things to be just-so. He'll let us know something's not working for him with a pointed finger and "oh, oh, oh." He's suddenly very concerned with the cleanliness of his highchair and its tray and will point out anything that's askew. He'll alert Dave to parts of the lawn that weren't mowed. A spill on his clothes could spark WWIII, and if Milo's spittle so much as dribbles down his chin, we know the instant it happens.

This was all very cute for awhile but now it's a teensy bit annoying since there's little we can do to stop his concern but take the time to correct the offending item. Thankfully, I'm a fan of Kevin Lehman's The Birth Order Book and know this little quirk is a typical characteristic of any first born child and we've essentially created this nit-picking monster!

But what an adorable monster he is.

3. Fernando

You may remember that, while I was suffering from insomnia, I discovered that a mouse was enjoying the comforts of our kitchen . Well, shortly after that discovery, we left for Dallas and when we came back, there was no sign of the mouse (who I dubbed Fernando) so we forgot the issue. Then, a couple months later, I noticed the tell-tale signs again so we bought a no-kill trap and placed it on our counter. We caught Fernando that night and released him far, far away the next day.

Meet Fernando:

Cute, right? Moses enjoyed watching him, and I enjoyed pretending he would wear clothes and talk when we weren't looking.

4. Amigos de Fernando

We've since caught three others. Eek. The aren't so adorable in these numbers.

5. Finger (er, brush) painting

I'm trying to incorporate more activities into our daily routine, including arts and crafts, so we tried our hands, nee fingers, at painting. While we started out using our fingers, we switched to brushes because Moses was too tempted to eat or lick the paint from his hands. The Crayola finger paint was a little disappointing though because it looks like a translucent gel instead of your typical paint. All in all, we had a great time and I look forward to more art projects. Next up--stringing fruit loop necklaces (if we can avoid eating them for long enough).



(no, he didn't paint that tree but rather confiscated my painting)

6. Sickos
Since school started up again recently, it was inevitable that the sick season would start. Two weeks ago, Dave started feeling some cold symptoms and soon after Moses and I had them, too. As with any illness that comes through our door, I got the worst of it and rode the couch as much as Moses would let me. I'm hoping this winter is better than last and that Moses can stay ear-infection free for as long as possible!

7. RIP TV
Last week, our living room TV decided to stop working. That was a rough morning for me because Moses usually watches TV during breakfast so that I can get ready for the day and start chores.

The worst part is that the TV is not even a year old but outside its warranty (don't buy the Wal-Mart brand, ilo). We can't exactly buy a new one so we're stuck with Dave's old 19" set and my fifteen-year-old 13" one that needs rabbit ears. We were used to having a nice large set and pretty HD pictures so this is a bitter pill to swallow. I've already requested an HD converter box coupon though. Sigh.

Well, that covers the last two weeks. I hope to get my rhythm back soon!

Family Time

Moses had a wonderful grandparents-filled time this past week. During the week, he saw two of his grandparents, and over the weekend, he saw the other four of his six grandparents.

It's wonderful to see that he's made such huge strides in feeling comfortable with his grandparents lately. Before, he was very timid and unsociable around them, but now, he'll ask for them to pick him up and freely give them hugs or kisses. It's so nice to see that he's coming out of his shell--it's only taken 1.5 years!

My Mom and Kelly visited with my sister Paige on Saturday, and Dave's parents came down with his niece Jasmin on Sunday. Unfortunately, I've been lazy with pictures lately and only have a few--of my Mom and Kelly's visit not Dave's parents. I really should try to pick up the camera more these days and give everyone a fair shot (no pun intended).




The only bad thing about our weekend is that Moses seems to have contracted Fifth Disease and started exhibiting the cheek rash on Saturday. He's feeling great now, but his cheeks are red in all the pictures. I think it's safe to say that by age two he'll have acquired all the immunities he'll need for a lifetime. I guess it's better he gets them out of the way now than have two sick boys.

-Lindsey

P.S. And, yes, I'm going in for a blood test today to make sure I've already got the Fifth Disease anti-body and I'm not ask risk for an infection while pregnant. I think the chances are pretty good I've had it before, but I still have my fingers crossed!

Stop and smell the roseola

As it turns out, Moses has Roseola.

Soon after I updated that his fever was gone, it came back. It was bizarre because he was cold as ice that morning, but then very warm at 101.7 degrees just hours later. That weaker fever stayed with us until last night, but after showering with Moses, Dave noticed a rash forming on Moses' lower trunk. As the night went on, the rash worsened and sleep was hard to come by. Moses and I stayed up until 2 a.m. before I could finally get him to sleep, but even then, he slept fitfully and was constantly tossing and turning.

This morning the light-pink rash is still present but doesn't look too bad. I called his doctor who confirmed it was Roseola and said the good news was that he was no longer contagious. Whew. Being stuck in the house for nearly a week hasn't been fun. The rash might last up to 3 days, but the the end is near. And, Moses now has a lifelong immunity to Roseola--at least I won't have to worry about caring for two cranky, restless boys with it.

He's playful this morning and seems to have forgotten the terrible night. Hopefully, we'll have good days and nights from here on out.

-Lindsey

The name is Dish. Petri Dish.

Well, once again we've contracted an illness over here. Moses came down with 102.8 degree fever (his favorite temperature apparently) after his nap on Saturday. I thought he had another ear infection because he was exhibiting all his usual symptoms except this time gagging accompanied the fever and fussiness. Lovely... Well, after two terrible nights of sleep and a persistently high fever despite the alternation of fever reducers, I took him in to the doctor.

The good news is that for once, an ear infection isn't the culprit. His ears were "perfect," in fact. This time, however, he has a viral infection (correction: we have a viral infection). This bug causes fever in children for 3-5 days and creates an obnoxious amount of congestion, which causes a sore throat. He also has viral conjunctivitis (pink eye), which makes him look especially pathetic.

For the most part though, he's in good spirits and happily plays so long as his fever isn't spiking. The rough part comes at night when I'm not so diligent with the Tylenol or Motrin. He spends most the night rolling around and whining, and I spend the night making sure he gets some sleep. I think he'll be better soon, but it's just a matter of time before I die of exhaustion...

I look forward to summer and days void of day care.

UPDATE: His fever broke last night so he's doing much better today. Hooray!

-Lindsey

Not-so-smooth move

Well, this move has been a rollercoaster so far. I took Moses to the doctor on Friday for another ear infection. Dr. Gray prescribed Augmentin, a drug that's new to us, this time in hopes of stopping these ear infections for a bit. The antibiotic is much stronger and tougher than we're used to giving Moses, and within two hours of his first dose on Friday night, Moses was vomiting--frequently. Vomiting was a potential side effect, but after consulting a nurse and our pharmacist the next morning, we had two possible causes of the vomiting, 1) Moses picked up a stomach bug in addition to the ear infection and the time of his sickness was coincidental 2) Moses was reacting to the drug and the vomiting would disappear after the first or second dose. Hmm, the waiting game--how fun--what will the cause be?

Saturday was my first day of painting/cleaning with Sally and Maegan in the new house, and I was excited to get started even after such a rough night with Moses. Painting started well but went slowly. The house has very textured walls that made it very difficult to paint. After six hours, we were still in the same room (a large room but, whoa, still?)! The good news was that Dave informed me that Moses hadn't gotten sick anymore so we thought we were out of the woods. Sally, Maegan, and I continued working all night and finally went home at 11:00--a fourteen-hour day!

The next morning, I woke up and met Sally and Maegan at the house again for day number 2. The painting went much quicker as the texture on the walls in other rooms was much, much thinner. By the end of day two, we'd put in 11 more hours and were nearly done.

Around 2 a.m. on Monday, I woke up feeling very hungry, and thinking I was just famished from my days of hard work, I ate nearly everything I could get my hands on and I was still hungry--nauseatingly hungry. Then, I got sick to my stomach. Yup! That was a stomach bug Moses had--not a side effect to the medication--so for the next 10 hours I couldn't keep anything down. At 1:00 p.m. I was feeling better and decided to risk going to my doctor's appointment because I was concerned about dehydration and knew that hearing the baby's heartbeat would help me get through the week. Everything checked out okay: the baby's heartbeat is still in the 160s and he/she is very active. After my appointment I was feeling better but not up to working at the new house so I went home and rested. Thankfully, Sally went to our new house and continued to work on the walls so they'd be finished by the time I started (hopefully) to clean the next day.That same night, I began to run a 101 degree fever and feared I was getting the flu, but fortunately, it broke over night and I felt fine this morning.

Today, I was able to get most of the cleaning done so that we'd have everything situated for the movers tomorrow. I still haven't cleaned the kitchen or bathrooms well, but I will knock those out once the furniture's in. The house looks 120% better with fresh paint, and it's made it seem more like our home. I can't wait to show off our new house once we get settled. It'll be our home for the next three years!

Wish us a better week as we finishing moving into our new house and out of the old! And, it's less than a week until our big ultrasound. I'm thankful for our busyness--I'm hoping this week will pass quickly and we'll have that ultrasound before we know it.

I also have to take a moment to brag on Dave. He's spent the last four days (4!) watching Moses from sun up to sun down--even administering Moses' medicine and putting him to bed at night. Dave's really been patient with my need to paint and clean well and then tending to Moses and I while we were sick. He's such an awesome husband and father!

-Lindsey

P.S. Hopefully I'll have some pictures for everyone the next time I post. We'll be off line for a couple of days and I'm sure I'll lose the camera or parts of the computer for some period of time, but I should have my act together soon!

Sick sick sick

Last Saturday, Moses woke up with 102.8° fever and it didn't fall below 102 even after we alternated fever reducers. I was certain he had the flu and braced myself for an upset stomach, but that never happened. Instead, his developed chartreuse-green eye discharge and slept all but 2 hours the entire day (night sleep was an entirely different story).

His fever dropped on Sunday, but it was still low grade, and his eye discharge only worsened. He was absolutely miserable on top of that--nothing would console him except the outdoors. I felt bad taking my sick kid outside in 50° weather, but he was happy as a lark out there with all the distractions. We played for nearly 2 hours before he tired and went down for a nap. After his bath that night, his matted, swollen eyelids started pinking and his fever still wasn't any better.

Monday morning, Dave was sweet enough to stay home so that I could get some school work done since we couldn't take Moses to Parent's Day Out. Even though Moses was in a better mood, he still had a fever and looked terrible. Our usual pediatrician was out of the office, but after a crazy string of phone transfers, we got an appointment with Dr. Alkul (which sounded like Dr. Cool on the phone and left us completed puzzled when we were looking for his office). The nice stand-in doctor let us know that Moses had a cold, a terrible double-ear infection (he grimaced when looking in the ears), and pinkeye. I was surprised that Moses had an ear infection since he hadn't tugged at his ears at all, but I should have known better though since his fever and behavior was identical to that first ear infection in November. Dr. Alkul prescribed some not-so-fun meds for Moses and let us on our way with a sucker.

Moses really enjoyed that sucker. And, we enjoyed the quiet time we received from Moses' enjoyment of the sucker.

Today, Moses is doing better. He's still a bit cranky but a good sport and I think he'll be back to himself in no time.

-Lindsey

Bugged

Well, this morning I called Dr. Gray's office to ask about this mysterious illness, and his nurse informed me that there's a terrible stomach bug going around and that it can last up to a week. A week! This is not good news. I hope Moses' dance with the virus is shorter than the norm. The poor kid...

-Lindsey

Sick and tired

This weekend marks Moses' first bona fide sickness, and it just breaks our hearts to see our little man under-the-weather and unable to understand what's happening to him.
He had a runny nose all week, but we attributed it to allergies (Dave and I are suffering now) or a cold he picked up from Parent's Day Out. However, last night it took a turn for the worse and we're not sure what's plaguing him.
I put Moses to bed at 8 o' clock as usual, but three hours later he woke up yelling an angry, "na, na, na." I'd never heard him yell like that before and went to check on him. He was sick to his stomach--man, I never thought so much liquid could inhabit such a tiny body. It was strange too because he would vomit, want to play, and then vomit again 20 minutes later, play, and well, you know. He was in relatively good spirits too even though this continued until 2 a.m. When he was finally able to sleep he just tossed, turned, and whined all night. I was so concerned about him that I didn't sleep well at all but found relief when Dave took over at 6 a.m.
Moses had one more episode this morning, and despite his all day fussiness, we thought he was out of the woods. We were wrong. When I put him to sleep at 8 o' clock this evening, it happened again, and this time he was not in good spirits afterwards. He was so obviously tired and I could hear his poor stomach rumbling. Dave and I took turns walking him around the house, but he just could not get to sleep. After some milk (I know, I questioned this, too), he finally went to sleep and we haven't heard from him since. I hope he has a better night tonight and can get the recuperative rest he needs.
We're not sure what's going on--stomach bug? teething? I'm going to call the doctor in the morning to see what he says. We've given him some Pedialyte, but he's really not interested in drinking anything. I'll be sure to update everyone on the outcome.

Last night, between "episodes"

-Lindsey

Mmmm, elephant...

What can I say, the kid's got an appetite! Who can blame him? Purple elephant is so rare in these parts.

Whew, I'm glad this week is over! It's been a doozy. First, Dave and I are back in school, and we can't say that we missed it. Second, I passed a kidney stone on Wednesday. I was home alone with a napping Mos, which was scary, and I only assumed that I was dying and wouldn't live to see another day, let alone that evening's episode of LOST. Thankfully, Dave and Sally (Gran) rushed here right away. Gran took care of Moses while Dave went to the hospital with me. I'm better now, but I'm really hoping that my right kidney purged itself of all calcifications in that one instance. I don't know that I could stand another attack!

On the growing baby boy front, Moses is doing fantastic. He's really using his hands and understanding how beneficial those strange appendages are. He's really been into playing with his activity mat, especially that purple elephant, which has crinkle-paper ears and vibrates when manipulated just right. Today, for the first time, he tuckered himself out and fell asleep right in the middle of playing. He'd wake, attempt to play, but then nod off before any success. It was hilarious.

Before


After

Moses' new schedule is progressing well. Today he's taken 3 naps, two of which met our one-and-a-half to two-hour goal. And yes, in the picture he's asleep on his stomach, but we monitor him carefully. This weekend we'll start his transition from bedtime in my arms to bedtime in the crib. Wish us luck!



-Lindsey

Spring Break Comes to an End

Dave and I had a wonderful week of vacation with sweet Mos. I was sick early in the week with a possible case of food poisoning, but Dave saved the day and turned the tragedy into some father-and-son time. I'm not sure what the two dished about while I was regretting my entree selection, but I'd like to think some real male-bonding took place: the difference between gas and charcoal grills, proper chicken wing eating etiquette, the best way to mow a lawn, and how to properly catch and release a spider before mom is aware of it's presence.
In the past three days, Dave and I have put Mos on a schedule which means he is currently napping in his crib (not our arms) three times a day. The first day was difficult, but it's gotten easier and easier. He never cried it out or anything like that. We just picked him up and put him down until he'd come to terms with sleep. Now,every four hours we know it's naptime because he'll start to nod off. It's so nice that we don't have to plead with him anymore, or bounce for minutes on end. Sure, there are some difficult times, but they're a cakewalk in comparison. Hopefully, he'll have naptime down pat before long, and we can work on bedtime in his crib!



This is a new favorite!