Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Blast from the past

This morning when I took KB to the ped's office for his shot, I was signing him in and dealing with the co-payment when I heard another parent in the waiting room tell his child "No, sweetie, let's share." I turned to look because I was pretty sure KB would be involved. And of course he was. I don't know who started it, but I guess KB and the little girl were tussling over the little bead & wire toy in the middle of the waiting room.

I kept one eye on the action while I finished checking in. Then I looked more closely at the kids in the waiting room (identical twins) and finally recognized the parents. We were all in the same breastfeeding support group after KB was born.

Once I recognized them, I was seriously hoping I didn't have a dirty look on my face when KB and the little girl were having their tiff over the toy.

We re-introduced ourselves and chatted a bit. They got called back first, and the mom gave me her card so we could keep in touch. She seems really nice, and it would be fun to have another mom friend and more potential buddies for KB. The twins were born in mid-June so they're just a couple of weeks older than him.

This would be a great segue into talking about my new twin nieces, if I weren't so tired. Tomorrow.

In the meantime, here's a quick question for my SIL:

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, or The Nursing Mother's Companion?

Vax

5:40 this morning. Ugh. At least I went to bed before 10 last night. Even the room-darkening shades we bought haven't helped KB sleep later. I'm out of ideas.

Anyway. We "get" to go to the ped's office this morning so KB can get Round 2 of his Hepatitis A vaccine. I would have never thought to give him the Hep A vaccine, but in February, when I casually mentioned to our ped that we were about to go to Thailand, he said we should get the vaccine.

We do tend to travel to places like India and Thailand more than the average bear, so it seems like a valid idea.

I'm pretty sure I'm skipping the anti-malaria medicine the doc offered for KB, though. I remember the first time I went to India and got anti-malaria meds. The doctor told me, "Now, if your in-laws seem really weird to you, or if you just can't stand them, it may not really be *them*. It may just be the meds."

So I don't think I'm all that keen on KB having weird psychological reactions when he doesn't fully have the ability to tell us what's bothering him. Most of the people we're going to meet in India, he won't have seen for 18 months (not that he will remember any of them). Even the relatives he's seen most recently, he met 6 months ago. He's already going to be very overwhelmed with the crush of people. No sense compounding that.

Of course, now I have to figure out if mosquito repellents with DEET are really safe for a 2-year-old. You'd think, with my extensive medical background courtesy of Google University, I'd already know all these things.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Wake up call

KB slept in today...6:00! I know -- ugh. As a lifelong night owl, it pains me greatly that my son is SUCH an early bird. Ugh. I hope he outgrows it. I don't have high hopes, given how the men in S's family pride themselves on needing very little sleep.

Anyway, I went in and lay down on the comforter next to his crib just hoping for a few more minutes of sleep. He was a real chatterbox this morning.

"I wanna Lightning Keen blanket." I put it on him. "No Mommy! I no wanna Lightning Keen blanket! Take it off!"

"I needa go downstairs and watch Crehbuls." [The Incredibles -- he's a Pixar fan]

"Where's the train, Mommy? Where's the train that goes 'chugga chugga choo choo WOO WOO!'??"

"I wanna read 'Me Cookie' in the glider."

Thinking he might read quietly so I could doze for a couple more minutes (hahahaha! I kill me!!), I got him out of the crib and he climbed into the glider with a couple of books.

S. came in then and took over while I went to the loo. Apparently there was more funny chatter forthcoming:

"I'm going to take a small nap in the bed" (as he got down from the glider and lay down on the comforter I had just vacated).

followed by "7 o'clock is the time to get up".

Where he got this last one, I have no idea. Usually when I try to get him to sleep longer, I'll say something like "Mommy's watch says we need to sleep for 10 (or 20 or 30) more minutes." But I don't usually tell him specific times.

I wish he'd listen to himself. 7 o'clock IS a much more reasonable time to get up, buddy. Now if I could just figure out the magic incantation to make it so.

No more fever

KB's fever is gone. He was running around like a maniac yesterday. Well, when we weren't in the car driving to/from Oakland to see S's cousin Veena and her boyfriend.

Nothing like a non-childproofed apartment full of books, CDs, stereo equipment, remote controls, drinking glasses on end tables, etc. I don't think I sat down (or relaxed) for a single second.

Now it's Monday. Have to go into the office today. Yuck. KB's at day care.

Which reminds me, I really need to step up the efforts to find him a good preschool.

I hate Mondays. Need caffeine.

Remind me to talk about the new twins on S's side of the family...

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Roseola?

I jinxed us. Just recently I was thinking that KB hasn't been sick for quite a while.

And then he woke up from his nap yesterday with a fever. Not a big one, 99.3. But since his febrile seizure in October, we don't screw around with fevers anymore. Our pediatrician has advised us to start dosing with Motrin at the first sign of a fever, so I dutifully did.

KB didn't act sick at all -- no coughing, runny nose, lethargy -- no indication whatsoever that he felt bad.

At bedtime, I checked his temperature again. 100.4 with the ear thermometer. Crap. More Motrin. Checked with the digital thermometer under his arm while we read goodnight stories. 101.5. Crap crap.

He still wasn't acting terribly sick, but he was starting to get a little lethargic.

We canceled the lunch we had planned for today (we were supposed to host about a dozen of S's relatives at our house) and wondered what kind of night we were in for.

At 11:15 or so, KB started moaning in his crib. I went to check on him, and he was burning up. It hadn't been 4 hours since I'd given him his last dose of Motrin, so I didn't want to give him anymore yet. I brought him into our bed and we all fell asleep.

At 12:30, he woke up and this time he was REALLY burning up. The ear thermometer read 102.4, so I'm guessing his actual temp was about a degree higher.

More Motrin. Somehow KB thought it was morning, despite the room being pitch dark. He kept rambling about various things, telling me he wanted to go downstairs, telling me he wanted to read Dragon in a Wagon, and saying things like "I needa go over my cousin Aadi's house. I needa swim with my cousin Aadi."

I was afraid he was going to be up for hours because he was wide awake at that point. (S., of course, was able to sleep through all of this despite being in the same bed)

Luckily, KB went to sleep after maybe 30 minutes of babbling.

This morning he woke up at 6:45 (he ONLY sleeps this late when he is sick) happy as a clam. No sign of fever whatsoever. It was so odd. He was tugging on his left ear a lot, though, so we wondered if he had an ear infection.

Our pediatrician's office is open on Saturday mornings, and our ped. happened to be the one in the office today, so we took KB in. The ped. said he's been seeing a lot of this over the last couple of weeks -- fever out of nowhere, no other symptoms of illness. His own son has had something very similar.

He said in many cases, the kids come down with a rash after the fever breaks. "Have you ever heard of roseola?" he asked us. Great.

I've Googled quite a bit, and I'm not sure this is what KB has. For one thing, his fever wasn't super-high. And for another thing, it seemed to be a very short-lived fever, not one lasting 2-3 days.

I guess we will see, if KB comes down with a rash. I'm hoping not.

I really hate it when my baby is sick. He did fall asleep in the car on the way home from the doctor's office (after only being awake for 3.5 hours) and he took a 3 hour nap this afternoon. As I said, the *only* time he sleeps a lot is when he's sick, so I know he feels bad.

No fever when I put him down tonight. Fingers crossed.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Lotta Lattes

Last night we were on our way to swimming lessons and S. had to stop at Starbucks for his fix. Funny how my Diet Dr. Pepper habit is "bad" but caffeine from Starbucks is just dandy. But I digress...

KB (of course) asked "Where we goin', Mommy?" and I replied "To Star..."

"bucks!" he finished brightly.

"I needa go Starbucks and getta Grawnde Lawtte, Daddy," he then declared.

How many friggin' times a week does S. go through the Starbucks drive-through? And he must order the same exact thing every time.

When I hear the words "Grande Carmel Macchiato" come out of KB's mouth, then I'll really be impressed. Or sad. Maybe both.

Today's conversation

Driving in the car today...

KB: What's dat kid doing, Mommy?
Me: He's cutting the grass.
KB: Like Papa!
Me: Yep, just like Papa. Wow, you remember that?
KB: Like [KB]'s Papa!
Me: Do you want a toy lawn mower so you can cut the grass like Papa?
KB: No Mommy, I no wanna toy, I wanna big lawn mower.

This kid has a good memory. He saw my dad mowing the lawn one time when we were in Arkansas a month ago, and he still remembers it.

He cracks me up. A little farther down the road, he called out:

"Look Mommy! Der's da lar-berry."

Lar-berry? I had him repeat it a couple of times trying to figure out what he was talking about. Then I finally figured out, he was talking about the new library under construction around the corner from our house.

Ooops, should go take a shower while he's napping or I'll never get one today...

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Back on the roller coaster

I can't believe I'm about to do this.

We went for a consultation today at the fertility clinic that helped us conceive KB. In fact, our consultation was with the very same doctor who did our 3rd and final IUI.

I go in for a physical next week and will get lab slips for bloodwork and such. I think we will probably have to skip August because of travel and so our first cycle trying will be in September.

Yikes. What the hell am I doing?

Monday, July 23, 2007

This kid is so cool

We go out to eat a lot. I know, bad parents. Somehow we still haven't managed to figure out the whole food-prep thing with a toddler underfoot. I should try the once-a-week or once-a-month cooking thing.

Anyway, the net result is that KB has been dining in restaurants since he was a little bitty guy. Ah, those blissful days when we'd turn a wooden high chair upside down, rest the Graco car seat on top, and enjoy a leisurely meal with him blissfully snoozing away.

He's pretty well-behaved wherever we take him. Of course, we mostly choose "family friendly" places where the hostess gives him a kids' menu and crayons. But now and then, we decide we're hungry for sushi, or dim sum, or Thai food, and we schlep KB along.

He loves miso soup. LOVES. He devours the tofu and drinks the broth as we hold the big, flat spoon for him, despite his protests of "No Daddy! I do it by self!!"

In the past couple of weeks, he's tasted unagi for the first time, and he loved it. He ate 2 pieces by himself (didn't care much for the rice or seaweed, but he scarfed down the fish).

Then Saturday, we took him to Bonfante Gardens and then out to a dim sum place afterwards. He tried steamed pork bun, Shu Mai, Ha Gao, and garlic noodles.

Last night, we went out for Thai food. He ate chicken satay with peanut sauce (his first peanuts -- no sign of an allergic reaction yet) and then ate Pad See Ew.

My little gourmand. I'm so glad he is an adventurous eater!!!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

How does he know these things?!

This morning KB woke up at 5:30. Nothing new. He was crying for Mommy so I went into his room in the hopes of getting him to sleep a little longer.

He wasn't standing up in his crib -- he was lying down and calling out for me -- so I took that as a good sign that he might go back to sleep easily.

We keep a comforter and blanket on the floor next to his crib because there are many nights/mornings one of us sleeps there in the hopes of teasing out more rest for all of us.

Anyway, this morning, I put a blanket on KB, patted him, and lay down on the comforter on the floor. I lay on my side with my back to the crib.

KB looked at me and immediately said, "No, Mommy, lay forwards, not backwards."

WHAT?!?!? How does he even know 'forwards' and 'backwards', much less how to use them in something approximating the right context?

I swear, he says things daily that astound me.


P.S. He did not go back to sleep. :-( Any tips for getting a 2 year old to sleep until 6:30 or 7:00 would be more than welcome.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Ixnay on the arbucksStay

Oy.

Why can I never find time to post all the cute things KB does and says?

Last night as we were sitting down to dinner, I asked S. what he wanted to drink. He asked me to pour him a glass of Odwalla PomaGrand juice, which he pronounced "Poma-Grahn-Day".

And what do we hear from the peanut gallery?

"I need a Grande Latte, Daddy!"

OK, dear, that's enough drive-through Starbucks visits with the toddler in the backseat.