Party in the ER, the Croupe Episode

I will start this out, for all the worriers, by saying that as of this afternoon, you would not know this child had been so sick. He is currently racing from room to room chasing the cat.

But at 2:30 this morning, I would have given anything for his normal ornery self. He had woken up a couple times in the night prior to that, just sat up and cried, and wanted some water. I knew he'd had a cough for a couple days, but had given no indication of anything more serious. Then the last time, I notice he was shaking. Shaking hard. He said he wasn't cold, and he didn't feel feverish, so I tried laying down beside him. He just wouldn't stop that shaking, and was crying softly and so out of it. My mom wasn't home, so I made an executive decision to go ahead and drive him down to the ER and make sure it didn't get worse. He just screamed in the car, in between throwing up a few times. And then finally a few minutes away from the hospital, he fell back asleep. I noticed he was breathing really hard as well.

So, wrapped up in his blanket, we went in and signed up. He snored on my shoulder and was so limp and hot. I could tell now that he was running a fever, and they confirmed it at 102.1 once we got back to the triage nurse. He kept gagging on the thermometer, so they had to take it the more 'uncomfortable' way. To say he was displeased with that would be a bit of an understatement. Then they gave him some armbands, and left me there for 45 minutes in that chair, with him sleeping soundly. I spent the time with my cheek pressed against his, feeling as his racing heartbeat thumped out of the side of his neck, knowing he was okay, but thinking I would give anything to take that heat away from his little body.

Finally someone returned, to tell me to wait back in the waiting area for a room to become available. Then they gave him some Ibuprofen to get the fever down. At least I found a double seat and he could lay down for awhile. After another hour or so, we got a room. The nurse was just so sweet. And he would proudly tell everyone he met that he was (holding up his fingers) "Three old". What a big boy! they would say every time. The only other bump in the road was when they wanted him to wear one of the gowns. You would have thought it was made of thorns and broken glass. Finally, when they left, I took it off. It was tear soaked at that point anyhow. Couldn't hurt him to cool off a bit with that fever anyhow, as long as he wasn't complaining.

The doctor, who was also so sweet and patient, said he probably had Croupe, and prescribed him some prednisone for a few days to relax and help his throat so he could breathe better. And more Ibuprofen to keep the fever down. By the time we left, he was fully awake and raring to go. I, however, wasn't so energetic. The positions I held so that he could keep sleeping have every muscle in my arms aching, and by this point we had been there for almost 5 hours.

Once home, he slept for about 3 hours, and he's been fine ever since. Me, I'm counting the minutes until bedtime. I wished I hadn't read the insert for the medication. I'm trying to forget what the words "May cause insomnia" might imply.

I have a date with a handsome three year old tonight to go see "Alvin and the Chipmunks". I only hope, as it is with most dates, that we can make it through a movie this time without anyone screaming "Are the CARS on yet??"

It's understandable, since this latest phase involves watching the movie "Cars" in entirety at least every two or three days. 5 minutes here, 30 minutes there. I can practically recite the movie by heart. I'm a dear Owen Wilson fan, and I still can't bear to hear his voice anymore.

Last night on our way home, as Brent was berating me for something or other as usual, I finally snapped a little bit. I think he was complaining because he couldn't reach one of his cars that he had 'accidentally' on purpose thrown on the floor just seconds prior. And it was relentless, as it is some evenings. I'm certain someone is just putting the day care cameras on 'loop', like on tv, and during that time when it looks like the children are napping peacefully, in reality the teachers and constantly tickling their feet with feathers, using chinese water torture, or other various nap warfare. Because I just KNOW that my child is not this ornery through any doing of his own.

So, as the whining was hitting an all time high, I simply looked back at him in the mirror and said "Brent, I cannot reach your car, for the 50TH TIME!". To which I got the normal reply of "YES YES YOU CAN MOMMY!!! Try it!! Try it!!". And I looked back again, smiled, and told him that I couldn't reach it this time, because the car was in... my butt. A strange tactic, to be sure. But potty humor is his new thing these days, and anything with the word "Butt", "Caca" or "Pee Pee" is always met with laughter.

Except this time.

"NO IT'S NOT!!!! It's NOT in your BUTT!!!! It's somewhere else MOMMY. SOMEWHERE ELSE and not YOUR BUTT"

And for anyone that knows me, this doesn't even sound like an out of the ordinary conversation, unfortunately.

Look! My house is deco-wated!

Some say that the holidays are mostly for the children. But the bright lights, the brilliant trees...they get to us all. And sometimes, it's just so beautiful that you have to go running around the yard in just your socks, jumping to reach the candy canes, looking at all the lights from every angle you can. Sometimes it's so beautiful that you just savor it, even when everything else is dim.

Train ride to the zoo

It was a little chilly, and long day, but somehow it turned out just perfect all the same. A couple days ago I was thinking about how we haven't had a fun day in awhile. So I figured a little day trip was long overdue... We had thought about going to a zoo a couple hours away, but I thought if we were to ride the Metro up to the DC zoo, then Brent could spend part of the day riding trains, and part looking at animals. What kid wouldn't like that?

Well, it turns out his mother didn't do so hot on the trains. I guess I was so focused on getting pictures of him that I got a bit sick.
Luckily the mile walk from the train station to the zoo helped get some fresh air in me. Not so luckily, I had to carry him most of the way, and it was uphill. But as you can see, he had a blast riding the subway. These pictures were all from the ride up, as the ride back would have just been one long shot of him snoring, wrapped up in my jacket and leaning on me, with a puddle of drool running down my arm. Poor baby got wore out!

The first animal we saw turned out to be the highlight for me, as he was loudly shouting "Look!! Look Mommy! Look at all the Cheet-ohs!!!" You know, large cats...fastest land animals. Oh, man...if I could have had that on tape. I will add that to the list of words that I refuse to teach him how to correctly pronounce, because they are too adorable to give up. The others currently are:


Hippo (meaning "pillow)
Peppa-Oni (pepperoni)
Hook (for the hood on his jacket)

Most of the other animals weren't really very animated, as it was a little chilly yet, but we still got to see more than we would have sitting here at the house watching "Cars" and "Thomas". So, mission accomplished.

And on the ride home, as he leaned on me, sleeping as only a child can after a day full of new surprises, I realized that days like today are what Thanksgiving is really about. And I am so thankful, today and every day, for all that I am able to experience...for all the love in my life...and for being able to see the world through the eyes of this vibrant creature I am so lucky to share it with.

Like an Angel...

My new excitement in life is the fact that I get to sing again! Ever since I learned I was pregnant, I've been singing to Brent, lullabies, or Christmas songs, or children's songs. He was serenaded more in utero than perhaps any child alive today. And the day finally came when I would get to see his reactions. I dreamed of rocking him and singing him to sleep...of soothing him with just my voice.

Only...it turns out he hated it when I sang. I don't know how many times I heard "No singing, Mommy!!" or "No like that song!!". And, I know I'm no Britney Spears (wait, that may be a good thing), but I can hold a decent tune. I've done my fair share of karaoke and I've never been boo-ed off stage. Granted, my crowd was the soberest of crowds, but still...

Then, one night last week, a strange thing happened. We were laying in his bed sharing stories before bedtime, and out of the blue he started singing "Twinkle little star". He knew the words! He was having fun with it! And slowly after a few days I was allowed to join in. Next came the A,B,C song. Then, on the way home from daycare, we started rotating several others into the mix. And he actually likes it when I sing to him now!

But best is when he thinks no one is watching, and he sings softly to himself in the most perfect of voices. It stops me dead in my tracks, and I spend those moments savoring yet another precious moment that will one day be nothing but a memory. There will be that day that he starts remembering to put the "T,U,V" into the alphabet song. Then the day where the majority of the letters are pronounced right. Then maybe even a day when he stops bobbing his head up and down with each new note, while overexaggerating the way his lips should be in order to say all the letters. And finally one day, I'll be banned from singing once again.

But I'll have my memories stored up. Every one is more precious a gift than the one before it.

Rainy day conversations

This morning Brent was chiding me for making the windshield wipers go up and down. I tried explaining that the rain was a good thing, and how much we needed it.

"Brent, do you know how you love applejuice?"
"Yes..."
"Well, the trees and the grass and the ground all drink water from the rain, and they've been so thirsty lately. So now they are all so happy that they're getting something to drink!"

"....." He pondered this for a moment...

"Silly Mommy! They don't have mouths!!!"

Fingerpainting

Well, the eyes are better, but the drops remain necessary for a few more days. And I guess when you're 3, you can think of maybe a million or two things that you'd rather do that get stinging drops put into your eyes a couple times a day. So, although he was an angel about it yesterday, today is a different story.

I held him down while Mom did the deed, and afterwards, I praised him for being SO good and asked him what he wanted to do now. He turned those big eyes up to me and said softly.... "Paint!?"

It wasn't the first thing I had thought of doing at the end of a long rainy day, but it turned out to be just perfect. We went from neat paintbrush lines, to both of us elbow deep in colors mixed together in beautiful rainbow-streaked mud. But a more perfect mud cannot be found, I think. We made handprints, streaks and dots that turned out to be a lovely mirage of some sort, and then merrily cleaned up, leaving the sink a little worse for wear.

If only all of life's difficulties and tears could be erased with a little fingerpainting, the world would be a lovelier place.

The Pinkest Eyes in the West

Okay, maybe not the west, and maybe not the pinkest, but definitely the cutest case of conjunctivitis I've seen. Between the crusty, snotty eyelashes and red spider-webs where the whites of his eyes should have been, he looks a mess. But we've had a nice relaxing rainy day. We haven't had a good rain in a couple months here, so it's such a blessing to look outside and see the dreariness staring back at you for a change. I was starting to get too uplifted all the time with the endless blue sky and puffy clouds. Sometimes you need a good cloudy sick day to really come to terms with life.

Hopefully tomorrow he'll be good as new, and life will get back to normal. Until then, here's hoping for a long night's sleep, drifting off to the splatter of raindrops against the windows.

October birthdays

Saturday was a busy one, starting with the visit of my dad and sister and crew. Oh Brent just loves it when his cousins visit. They played in the sandboxes, pulled each other on bikes and wagons, and of course got lots of attention from all the grandparents. Who could resist :)

Brent woke up Sunday morning and immediately ran out to see if they were still there, then ran back to find me. "Mommy! Panda and Allison are still here! They wanted to stay with me!!" And off they ran to find more adventures for the morning.

It's times like that I feel bad that he's an only child, because he loves having people around to play with. He even shared his new train, which is quite a sacrifice. The kids are playing together so much better these days, and we find ourselves going minutes at a time without having to intervene or negotiate terms to end an argument. What a luxury to have so much love in a family....

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday afternoon after visiting with my Dad for awhile, we headed to the pumpkin patch with my sister and her two girls, and my mom. Oh man was it so much fun! Between tractor rides, hay rides, hot dogs and pig races, the kids were completely drunk on hillbilly excitement. We made our way through the corn maze, trying to follow the songs of the banjoes to find our way back. After 30 minutes, we had to raise the flag and be rescued, but little legs can only wander through mazes for so long. Okay, actually I think they could have gone on forever, but us grownups were getting tired!

We picked our pumpkins out of the patch, laughing as Allison tripped over vines every 10 seconds or so. The sun was low in the sky, lending a mystery to the already surreal experience.

And finally, the smell of hay strong in our noses and the plucking of bluegrass still ringing in our ears, we headed home.

Summing Up

A Day Out with Thomas

So the big day finally arrived! It was time to go RIDE THOMAS! We excitedly get ready and head out for our 3 hour trip. As we're deciding what to eat for breakfast, Daddy says those infamous words "You do have the tickets, right?"

Yeah! Another hour added to the trip for a return home. Oh well. We still make it there within 10 minutes of when Andy's parents arrived, so all turned out well.

We spent the first few minutes finding the grandparents (which he was SO excited to see!). Then we went exploring and trying to figure out which thomas-filled tent to venture into first. We decide to go get Brent's free temporary tattoo, which he shows us for pictures, but his eyes have already caught the biggest parent-trap of all - the biggest Thomas gift shop in the world! He sees the rows and rows of trains, and for a moment I'm afraid he might have a stroke or something. It's like he didn't know which way to go first. There were Thomas trains, of course, and tracks. There were also shirts, hats, books, sunglasses (yes, I replaced the ones I flushed) and more. By the end of the day, he had made quite a haul, though he won't get most of it until Christmas.

Then we ventured into "Imagination Station", where lots of tables were set up with different Thomas tracks and trains that the kids could play with. As he was busy summing everything up and deciding if it was safe to venture among all the large-eyed, overly excited children, he spent a few minutes at an uninhabited table where you could decorate paper with Thomas stamps. Finally, he waded among the crowd, unable to resist any longer. He passed by the sets that were similar to what he has at home, and settled in among the battery-powered displays. Happier than a fox in a henhouse, he played until it was time to go RIDE THOMAS.

Only it turns out that Thomas is just for picture taking. We rode on passenger cars that were parked BEHIND Thomas so it may have fooled the kids, but he had fun on the 20 minute ride none-the-less. After he got bored of the scenery, he spent the rest being tickled by Grandpap.

After the train ride, we posed with Thomas for a picture (I have yet to go online to order the prints, but they'll be coming shortly). And then we headed back to the tents. Sir Topham Hat's line was pretty long, but we did catch a sighting. And Brent and I petted a large snake, turtle and sheep in the petting zoo before heading back to Imagination Station. I'm pretty sure he would have stayed there for days until he passed out from lack of food. And eventually I was forced to drag him away, literally kicking and screaming. But in my defense, he hadn't had a nap and his eyes were beginning to droop, so I made the executive decision.

From there, the rest of the clan walked over to Pizza Hut, and I drove the car. As I passed them, I made the "L" for LOSER sign on my forehead, just as I made a wrong turn and got stuck on the on-ramp for the freeway. After that, I got extremely lost, and spent 20 minutes wandering around that town from hell trying to find my way back. I guess I showed them who the Loser was :(

So after dinner, we headed back, all of us (except for one) with enough Thomas in our brains to last a century. Happy Birthday, Brent :)