here comes the sun, doo do dooo doooo - Here Comes the Sun. . . and I say, It's alright!! Wonderful wonderful wonderful! I should move to Florida where it is nice and sunny all the time. I am SOOOO happy that it is spring, that it's warm, and that it's light until 8pm. My nose is peeling already, and we all have tan lines. What a great life. Stealth Baby's Life: Well, Stealth Baby continues to be my darling. It's amazing how much he can play on his own without help. Independent little boy. A while ago as I surveyed the several thousand dollars worth of baby toys we have scattered around the house, I wondered - "What did kids play with so many eons ago? I mean, we have baby toys made with 'special' colors and 27 mind enhancing activities. Well, Stealth Baby showed me. . . that very day he spent about 30 minutes playing with a potato. Yes, a potato. He'd throw it up and laugh when it would 'thud'. He'd roll it along the floor and pounce on it. Potatoes and the dustpan are his two favorite 'toys'. He just loves to push the dust pan around. He is using one arm to crawl, one arm to hold the dustpan, one leg out like it alone is trying to walk, and one knee to crawl. So he's ridiculously inefficient and looks retarded. (But happy.) Stealth Baby went to the hospital for breathing trouble on April 22. Scary. Spent half the day yesterday at the hospital with Stealth Baby, who was having breathing troubles. Sigh. Very long tiring day. So here's the scoop - Sat. night I notice he's got a nasty cough - just a dry unproductive hack. But he's not acting particularly sick. Well, a little cranky, but not dreadful. Sunday I notice that he still have the hack, and now he's downright unhappy. I'm starting to worry about his breathing - it sounds labored. Well, the real red light was his laugh. It's hard to describe - but it was the same heh-heh-heh that Precious had 1 year some ago when she had pneumio. (I just tried to describe it to a co-worker who said, "I used to sound like that - it's asthma") So I time his breathing (60 breaths a minute, waaaaay to fast) and check his chest for breathing. It looks like he is indrawing - like Stealth Baby breathing totally through their stomach and not their lungs. So, off to the emergency room I go. The first hour in the waiting room wasn't so bad because I had a ball and then I just let him run around batting at it. So then I get moved to an actual emergency bed. Well, this sucks. What am I supposed to do with him in this room? I'm not about to let him on the floor - for all I know someone has died in this room! I know they mop the floor after every patient, but I wasn't taking chances. I was in this room for the next 4 hours. With a trying-to-learn-to-walk hyperactive boy. I DESPISE hospitals!!! Actually, he wasn't that hyper to start with. However, since he wasn't breathing well they give him the 'thingy where you put the medicine in a wand and wave it around in front of their face so they breath it in.' (I know what this is called but I can't spell it Nebulizer?) So he got Abuteral in the nebulizer. For those not in the know, this is a steroid and has a strong 'happy' effect on kids. So, my complacent baby turned into Squirmy-Man! Ack! And I'm trapped in this little room with a 27 pound hellion and an orange ball!! For 4 hours! An aside, you should have seen him when we got home a full hour past his bedtime after 3 doses of the happy drug. Lord, Stealth Baby was the happiest child alive! He rolled around on the bed shrieking delightedly and waving his arms around. My, isn't life is good for a baby on drugs? They decide take chest X-rays (all clean) and check for RSV (happily, no.) But the first nebulizer didn't raise his oxygenation enough, so we decide to give him 2 (Two!!) more. Super-Squirmy-Man! And the doctor about scared me to death because he came in and said that he wasn't comfortable sending him home with his breathing problem . . . (My heart about stopped! You are going to keep my baby in this hideous place over night? Over my dead body!!) . . . so he was going to put him on prelone. (Mommy resumes breathing.) And he talked to my wonderful Doctor who said the prelone was a good idea and that I should come in to see him in a few days. Sure, why not. I've only seen you weekly since Christmas. What's one more trip? So, they are not sure what is wrong because Stealth Baby was wheezing but did not have nose or lung congestion. They think he may have serious allergies and that this could be a prelude to something like asthma. Sigh - so we are talking major life modification. Like, no more open windows for the spring breeze, no more spending 12 continuous hours outside, yet ANOTHER special air filter for his room. I am taking heart from the fact that Pumpkin was wheezy for the first 2 years of his life, and doesn't seem to have asthma or allergies. All his symptoms disappeared when he turned 2 1/2. Another funny story - one of the nurses saw me nursing Stealth Baby - which is hard to cover up when the object of your affection is huge and likes to look around mid suck. Well, she also has a 12 month old and is breastfeeding. But this is her first, and after she found out that Stealth Baby was my 3rd she kept coming into the room to ask me questions about sleeping through the night and weaning and stuff. It was pretty funny - here is this NURSE, with all the medical training in the world, but what she really wanted was, "Ok, Really, how do I know when she is ready to wean? She still wants to nurse at night - what did you do? Have you heard of the Farber method- what do you think of it?" It was pretty funny. Oh yes. Everyone felt bad for me and the bouncing baby, so the nurses brought me dinner and gave Stealth Baby a big thing of peaches This has indeed been a rough year. I wonder if I should quit work. I almost can't bear the thought of it, but I also wonder if I've just got germ riddled kids. I am taking solace from the fact that Pumpkin was sick ALL the time from about 6 months to 2 years. He always had a runny nose and a cough. And suddenly at age 2 everything 'magically' cleared up and he's barely been sick a day since. He's been healthy as a horse since then with no breathing problems. The real problem this year has been Stealth Baby. And the key is this year - he was never sick AT ALL from birth on until Christmas of this year. And Precious has only gotten sick AFTER Stealth Baby did, and she has caught whatever he had. I think if I can get Stealth Baby well, then Precious will be fine too. Which, of course, begs the question -- how do I keep Stealth Baby well? (Aside from not working and blowing my head off in 1 year.) The other interesting thing here is that he's not technically sick. He can't breathe - which if you ask me means he's sick - but they couldn't find any signs of infections. I mean, his nose isn't even running! Which leads me to think that it's allergies. I'm hoping that the air conditioner being on and a new air purifier in his room will help. I am also thinking that the never ending rash on his face is also due to allergies. Pollen? Cat? Grass? He's going to see the doctor on Friday and I'm going to ask a ton of questions and also find out about allergy testing. I DO NOT want this to go from simply allergies to actual asthma! I really don't know what is wrong with Stealth Baby. He was a little unhappy, and not eating well. But he wasn't listless. No fever, no runny nose, no clammy feeling. But his breathing was labored. He also has had diherria since Cincinnati (Easter break) - however the doctor seems to think that is more indicative that he has allergies and that it started in Cincinnati, got better the 3 days he was in daycare, and then acted up again once we had our days off and spent all day (every day) outside. He's really not acting all that sick - it was more mothers' instinct and that laugh. The sound of that laugh caused chills down my spine! It was just like Precious's when she was so sick! The other weird thing is that he is not congested. That it why his breathing is so bizarre! I mean, he doesn't even have a runny nose and he can't breath? What's going on! So he has bronchiolitis (an unknown inflammation on the bronchial tubes) as compared to bronchitis - which is an actual infection. He is on Prelone, which reduces the inflammation, but isn't an antibiotic. My doctor as well as the emergency room doctor don't seem to think this is caused by a virus. Happily, Stealth Baby is only on the Prelone now. He's the happiest sick child you've ever seen. If it wasn't for that awful experience with Precious, where she seemed sick but not horrible and then I ended up rushing to the hospital, I probably wouldn't have noticed his labored breathing. I mean, we're all outside playing in the sprinkler and such. It's not like he's dying to sit on my lap. Heck no, he wants to be out crawling around. Stealth Baby then went to the doctor's on April 28 - and he weighted 27 and a half pounds. So he's HUGE. Breathing is fine and no wheezing. walking - we're going to put the date at today April 29. He still lunges now and then. It's like he takes 7 or 8 steps and then gets really excited because he's actually walking - and then take this headfirst lunge. So his arms are pretty scraped up, even more than his knees. And you should see him go DOWN THE SLIDE! We have this plastic play thing outside (actually, we have several plastic play things, and also the swing set and a sandbox. As a neighbor said, for the under-7 crowd, our house is the place to be.) So, Stealth Baby crawls over to the big wooden flower (now only mud) box we have around the base of the maple tree. Climbs up that and over to the slide plastic thing. Hauls his fat bottom up and through the hole on the side onto the platform - crawl over to the slide then down the slide backwards! It is totally amazing to watch! And you should see him giggle! I got this on film because I thought, no one will believe he does this on his own. Not bad for a kid that still refuses to say momma! We just put sand in the sandbox - and Stealth Baby and Precious could live there. He LOVES the sandbox. Precious's Life: Precious is now potty trained. I got sick of those stupid pull-ups. I STILL think those things are worthless. So on Friday April 27 I just decided I wasn't putting her in them any more. And she has yet to have an accident. We went to the doctors, to the store - no problem. Well, DH is scared to take her anywhere without pull ups - and she knows she can poop and pee in pull ups. So every time DH takes her out that's what she does. We are still having problems with pooping. She seems to have only little ones again - put if I give her too much mineral oil then she has loose stools and then we will have an accident. She's pretty excited about using the potty now, so I am hoping her 'issue' with pooping will gradually go away. Precious continues to be my head strong darling. She uses tears to her utmost advantage whenever possible! So she shrieks about once a day. I dare say I'm going to have to start putting her in the crib to shriek rather than let her lay on the floor. Not totally sure what to do with her, especially since it is obvious she is intently watching your reactions through the tears. Precious remains in love with dresses. It is SO FUNNY! Especially because she is such a mud puddle of a child all the time. Happily I have a ton of dresses, and these frilly things are very cheap on e-bay, so I don't feel bad about her ruining her outfits. So I have a girl that has lace dresses as play clothes. But that's what she wants to wear. And of course her 3 favorite dresses are the ones that I think are butt ugly! 2 are just ugly got -for-a-quarter dresses. One is actually an expensive dress that looked great on a hanger that I fell for that is too tight so she looks like a sausage in it-- but it has very long sashes which she adores. See, we recently got a Dragon Tales video (The kids LOVE dragon tales - it on at 6:30 every morning, so we have to catch the first 15 minute story and the dance tune) and one of the episodes has the little boy Max learning to tie. Well, Pumpkin - who is old enough to learn but prefers to be helpless and cry when we won't help him put his shoes on - pays no mind to that and only likes the episode about the remote controlled car. Precious however is fascinated with "tie" - so she keeps trying to say the rhyme, "Over and under it's easy to do; reach through the hole and pull it through" And she wanders around the house saying "Tie" "Tie" and if you don't tie her sashes into triple knots she simply pulls them out and starts over. Also, she tries to tie everything. So she keeps grabbing DH's ties and putting them around her neck, the cat's neck, Stealth Baby's neck - whatever she can find. And since she can't tie, she just turns it into a large snarl. (Oh crumb DH, she's strangling the cat again!) It's amazing that Precious can totally dress herself, while our oldest remains helpless as possible and then has crying jags because he isn't First. Precious's other love in life is "walking the dog" We have a little scooby doo doll that is tied onto an enormous length of twine. So she drags this poor thing around. The other doll was once a white spotted Dalmatian that barks. It is now more of a gross gray. She was using one of DH's good ties to pull it around, so we found an old one for her to use, and she 'walks' it. I know, if I truly loved my children I would buy them a dog. (I simply cannot bare the thought.) Pumpkin's Life Pumpkin is as awesome as ever. He is so totally his own person. He's been a bit annoying recently. He seems to want stuff ALL the time. Wants a cookie, wants a treat, wants a toy: lets go to the toy store, I want to go to Wa Wa, I want a pokemon, I WON'T go to X because there are no pokemon toys there. I want to smack him upside the head, but that wouldn't be Christian. (But justified!) I'm assuming this is just a phase. I'm not sure how to break him of it - and DH does love to take him to Wa Wa for treats and such, so I'm up against some institutalized resistance. Although I don't care if DH gives him treats as long as Pumpkin quits nagging ME about them. Pumpkin and Kenny just live outside together. For hours and hours and hours. It's funny, Pumpkin and Stealth Baby go bananas trying to get outside, while Precious doesn't care all that much. She would just as soon be inside watching TV. I'm even trying to limit the time they spend together and drag Pumpkin inside every now and then. I never thought I'd being saying, "you have to come inside right now and watch TV." My heavens he's going to get sunstroke! I mean, on Friday he went outside at 10:30am and I'm not sure if he even came inside to eat. Pumpkin wants to be outside from 9am to 9pm. Unbelievable! Wow!! We are going to miss Kenny like gangbusters, assuming he does ever move. But that appears to be on hold for now as they haven't found another place to rent and given my highly advanced nosy skills, it doesn't appear like they are looking either. Back to the toys issue - again, we have tons of Pumpkin toys. But know what he and Kenny play with all day long (besides Pokemon, which they carry around in their pockets or stuff in the spokes of their bikes) --- our shed. We have a Rubbermaid plastic shed which we use to hold all the outdoor toys in a somewhat contained area. So it has the kids bikes and big wheels and some toy carts and stuff. Pumpkin and Kenny figured out how to use the chairs to climb on top of it and then to open the top lid - so they live on/in this thing. It is their favorite toy. Of course, it's just a plastic rubbermaid thing - and it locks via a small plastic loop that you stick a lock through. I am sure they are going to break this loop soon and then the doors will have no way to be latched shut. And this will ruin the fun of being inside (some cool hideout if the doors just Open!) And then to save our sanity DH and I will be forced to buy another 300 dollar shed for them to use as a cave. (I'll pay any price to keep them quiet and happy!!) So Pumpkin remains a happy, active camper. Still wants to be first all the time. Still cries when he's tired. Still needs lots of hugs. My Life: Things have been pretty hetic. First, I got home from the Cincinnati Easter trip. Somehow DH makes a bigger mess WIHTOUT me and the kids then when all 5 of us are here. Then Precious got a stomach ache on Tuesday the 17 - meaning I had to work on Friday the 20. So now we've gone a whole week with no milk or food. Saturday is a hetic day with an early morning plant sale (8 to 10! So we spend a couple hundred bucks before DH is usually out of bed) Then we had our final kitchen consultation - so we were gone from 1 to 5. Then Sunday we had a TON of mulch delivered and we dug up a tree and planted a different one - then I was at the hospital from 3 to 9. So the house was DESTROYED. No food, no laundry, no dishes. It was so bad, and I was SO tired after my ordeal at the hospital that we didn't even have Maria clean. I just left her a check and said, "Have a nice day." * But what a difference a week makes! * Today the yard is great, the laundry is done, most of my end of month chores are done. Yippee. Had to work a half day on Thursday the 26th. It ended up being kind of fun. First, I am such a morning person, so I asked DH if I could have the car all day. That way I could leave the house around 5:30 am and get to work by 6:15 - so when I left at 12:15 I had already worked 6 hours. Then, because DH drives to work and he has the minivan, I get a free day. DH has the minivan so there is NO way for me to get the kids -- I could do anything I wanted! Guilt-free free time. I went to a few stores to look at some wall tile to see if I could match our accent tile, then I went to Lowes and Home Depot so check out some stuff (and bought even MORE flowers). Then I came home, put on one of Grandma Kenkel's old (and ugly) house dresses and cleaned my kitchen. It was a BLAST. I dug out some of my old loud-music CD's (these are like college era CDs, when the bands have names like "Ned's Atomic Dustbin" and "Chumbawumba Tubthumping") Our house was just so destroyed. I don't mind it when the downstairs is bad, that where the kids play and I accept that mess as par for the course. But I like the 'living' room (why do they call it a living room when no one is allowed in there?) to be tidy. So I opened all the windows, turned up the music, and scubbed pots and dishes, put things away and made dinner. Sounds silly but it was cool. Thought for the Day: Give a man a fish and he eats for a Day. Teach a man to fish and he gets hit with an American Nuclear Submarine.