Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Exorcist Baby

Well, it has been a week since my last post, and Ryan is still sick.  Only it's gotten much worse!  He'd been suffering from an ear infection for four or five days before he was diagnosed and given an antibiotic.  She also prescribed a prescription antacid, Axid, for the ongoing reflux issues.  That was Wednesday.

I had never really known the difference between a spitting up baby and a vomiting baby until Thursday morning.  More like Exorcist baby.  Add in continuous diarrhea.  Both Trey and Sean have a sensitivity to antibiotics, so I immediately assumed that was the problem.  But by Friday morning, Ryan had thrown up three times.  Turns out there is a stomach virus going around, so the doc said to hold off on the antibiotic for a full day, and the antacid for a half day while things calmed down.

The problem is....it hasn't calmed down!  Today was Day 6.  I've actually been doing OK, in fact, I told Melissa B. how OK I was just yesterday.  But something about today - I just hit that edge.  The proverbial wall.  I can't do it anymore.  I'm worn out, I can't possibly have any more laundry, and to look in my little guy's eyes and have him whimper back at me is the absolute worst thing ever.  He's actually kept a pretty good attitude - frequently laughing and smiling - but I think even he's getting sick of it all, and these past two days has been so sad and hurting.  Sometimes, he just sings the blues!  He's not crying, but singing in a sad way, like he's telling me all about it.  And it's not good.

Of course, the typical bum rash has appeared.  And I have a funny "be careful what you wish for" story - I was realizing that I'd never use all the current size diapers, I had a huge stockpile and Ryan was going to grow out of them any day.  And then this hit.  First, we're going through 2-3 times as many diapers as normal, and second, the poor little thing has lost a pound in all this.  No worries about those diapers going to waste!

So please pray for my little guy.  Hopefully, this bug will stay true to it's name, and only stay for a week, and then move on.  In the meantime, Ryan is staying hydrated; I'm investing in a spot cleaner; and the piles of laundry are growing exponentially in front of my eyes!  

Oh, I did get this incredibly adorable video today.  A reminder of how amazing our little ones are!


(FYI - sorry for the delay, YouTube issues in posting this video!)

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

My Poor Little Baby Boy

My poor little Ryan is sick.  Like really sick.  :-(

With his tummy issues, I've kinda felt like we've been three steps forward, one step back.  Overall improvement, but definitely still have bad days.  And these past few days, I felt like we were suddenly only going backwards!  I'd started noticing late last week....that he was playing with his right ear.  Sudden feasting on his hands, even though he wasn't hungry.  Drooling like a mad man.  Stuffy/runny nose (which he's had off and on all winter, but never got sick-sick.)  But it wasn't until later Monday and definitely Tuesday that this kid was miserable.  Really fussy.  We had trouble getting him to sleep, but once he was asleep, he stayed that way.  And on Tuesday, he had a low-grade fever.  And he was definitely spitting up more. (Remember the boob incident?)

So obviously something was going on, but reading up on ear infections led me to believe that it just might be teething instead.  And then this morning, he was doing better!  Or so I thought...by late morning, he took a major turn for the worse, low fever came back and he was inconsolable.  So I called the doc, and they got us in immediately.  By the time we were there, I also noticed that Ryan's eyes were filling up with mucus, too.  He literally just looks sick.

The Verdict:  He has an ear infection.  And because none of our eating changes has had definite results, they also put him on a prescription antacid.  My poor little guy.  He made it all Winter without much complication, and now that it's Spring, the germies finally got to him.

The funny part in all this - even when he was at his most miserable, he'd still try to smile at you while crying, this little silly smile/cry face.  He wanted to feel happy so bad, but he hurt too much!  Hopefully he will be better soon!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Mommy Moments That Suck

Everyday, us mom face moments that we could really live without - maybe it's something that we have done, something that our kids have done, or it's just an overall situation that, for all the love of God, sucks.

Today's moment:  Anastasia came over to drop off some tables she has so graciously been storing since last fall, as well as to borrow our air mattress.  She visited with Trey and the boys and I.  Nice chit chat.  Ryan and I walked her outside, and as I commented that it was cooler than I thought outside, and nestled Ryan into my chest, it happened.

Ryan spit up all over my boobs.  The top half of my left breast was covered, and anyone who has seen my boobs knows that's saying something.   All over the outside of my bra.  All over the inside of my bra.  It dripped down onto my stomach and slowly made it's way to my nether regions.

Needless to say, I ran inside, barely saying goodbye, dropped Ryan into the swing and headed straight for the shower.  There's no "wiping up" that amount of spit up.  At least I can hope that Ryan's tummy felt better after bathing Momma in baby spewage.

Stayed tuned for the next edition of Mommy Moments That Suck!  :-)

When Life Hands You Lemons...

Papa Z recently brought back a huge bag of fresh lemons from my Uncle Tom's backyard - one of the benefits to living in LA, for sure!  How awesome to just step outside and pick up a few lemons or avocados or (insert your favorite fruit here) right off the tree.  You can keep the smog, earthquakes, and plastic blonde women, though.

Regardless, we had 10 plus lemons about the size of softballs (I know!), so Trey looked up a recipe for fresh squeezed lemonade.  Holy cow, this stuff was good!  And the kids had fun doing their part!








Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Monday, March 16, 2009

Gibber Jabber

I love it when our Parents As Teachers educator comes to the house.  Nothing like being told over and over what a genius your child is!  Seriously, I'm starting to think she just tells everyone this, but I'll take it - it's a great ego booster for us worn out moms to hear how awesome your kid is from an authoritative source!

So Miss Kim came last Thursday, and the focus was, of course, on Sean.  She did a full language assessment on him - an auditory assessment - and it seems my little brain child has a 5-6 year old's understanding of language.  Of course, I had to confide in Kim the funny irony of wishing your child would talk, and then when they finally do, you wish they would just shut up sometimes!  Regardless, Sean did outstanding, and Momma is so proud of him - not just for his level of understanding, but also to have the control to sit through the entire testing!  

But Kim was also impressed with Ryan - how strong he is, the way he holds himself up already, and his language also.  Of course, if you had a two year old in your face every day talking, you'd probably pick up a few things too!  This kid loves to talk, too!

So I have tons of videos of Ryan talking, but I suspect I may be the only one who can watch a million videos of my baby babbling all day long!  

Here is Ryan talking at the end of January:


And here is a video of Ryan talking to Trey just last week:


Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Happy Birthday, GiGi!

Happy 81st Birthday to my Grandma!  We love you, GiGi!


Monday, March 9, 2009

I've Been Sucked In!

I presume that anyone who's known me for any length of time is aware of my vampire fetish.  I still remember in the 7th Grade when "The Lost Boys" came out.  I stayed up all night reading the book in one sitting.  I cut out the full color ads for the movie from the Sunday paper and hung them on my wall.  I wanted to be Jami Gertz. I was torn between Jason Patric as Michael or Kiefer Sutherland as David.  David!  (And I still love me some velvety voiced Kiefer!)

Not sure what it is about the bloodsucker that I love so much - I was just as obsessive about "The Vampire Chronicles" by Anne Rice.  One of my all-time favorite movies is "Bram Stoker's Dracula," with Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder - oh, I swoon when I hear "Love Song for a Vampire" by Annie Lennox during the closing credits!

So I guess it should be no surprise that I was intrigued by the hubhub of the "Twilight" series.  I was still unsure about a teen novel series, and even Costco lists them as Juvenile Fiction!  But it's been all the talk in my FitMommas group for quite awhile now, and when Melissa B. made it our book club selection, I thought I better check it out.   

Holy Crap!  I cannot put these books down!  I read "Twilight" in two days.  I read the next book, "New Moon," in a day and a half.  I'm waiting for either the boys to wake up or Trey to get home so I can run over to my friend Mandy's house for "Eclipse."  Someone better have "Breaking Dawn" on hold for me now!  :-)  

"Twilight" is basically a very well-written Harlequin romance, except here, boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy has to resist drinking girl's blood.  And, as an almost 35-year-old woman, I keep expecting it to get dirty, as in when are Edward and Bella going to get to bumpin' uglies?  They don't.  (Well, at least not yet, no one tell me!)  I see now why teenage girls and their mothers can bond over these books!  

I keep asking my friends who have also read it "But why?"  We all agree we can't put them down, but the larger question is why?  What makes this story about obsessive love so intriguing to grown women?  Really, it's not a healthy relationship.  Is this what we really want to teach our girls - don't bother with the nice-guy-Mikes of the world, wait for the domineering Adonis-like hottie with a temper to boot.  And let's not even talk about her back-up choice  - I don't want to give that away!

Alas, these books will in fact suck you in, no pun intended.  They are easy reading, don't require lots of brain power.  You'll overlook the questionable obsession between Bella and Edward, and instead wonder just what it feels like to fly on a vampire's back, to see a Greek statue shimmering in the sunlight.  Who else giggled at the thought of Edward sneaking into Bella's room to sleep with her (literally let her sleep) while Charlie was just down the hall?  **Sigh** 

Hey, who wants to do a movie night at the Latta's on the 21st!?  "Twilight" on DVD!!  WooHoo!

Friday, March 6, 2009

Rollin'

This just in...Ryan's rollin'!  He just rolled from belly to back, and he did it with such ease that I was surprised that when I flipped him back over, he didn't do it again right away!

Alas, turns out he was sleepy, and less than five minutes later, he was down in his bad for a nap.  There was our fun and excitement for the day!  

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Happy Three Months!

Dearest Ryan,

Yesterday, you turned three months old - and today marks 13 weeks since you came into the world.  And I cannot imagine my world without you.  Something so amazing happened today at MOPS, and it is the opitome of my love for you.

You were fussing and overtired, having missed your first nap.  I decided to give you your next bottle, and hoped that you would sleep afterward, even though sleep meant laying in your car seat while I sat through the rest of my meeting.  

So there I was, feeding you in my arms - and your bright blue eyes stared up at me in awe, and you struggled to eat through your big grin!  I literally felt my heart radiating warmth into my chest, and my eyes filled with tears.  This is the ultimate love, my dear baby boy, and you bring such joy into my life, I don't know how I lived without it.  

While we are still struggling some days with your poor belly, there is no doubt that you are such a content baby.  Everyone comments on how alert and happy you are, and your smiles stop strangers on the street!  You are beautiful, just like your big brother, and yet also sweet and cheerful  - how is it possible for me to be blessed with such two amazing boys?  How did lightening strike twice?

And if I didn't announce it already, you have been sleeping through the night for over two weeks!  There is nothing in the world better than the two of us well rested!   We took the sleep training slow with you, to make sure your belly issues weren't aggravating you.  But once we gave it a go, it was only about three nights, and you had it down pat! And by sleeping through the night, I mean 10-12 hours a night.  No wonder you're getting so big so fast, you sleep all night, plus nap so during the day - giving you plenty of time to grow, grow, grow! 

I promise to continue to work on the reflux, my poor sweet thing.  Next step is reflux medicine, but I also know that within a few months, you'll be better all on your own.  I can't wait to see you be the happy baby all the time, like your brother was.  I hate that your tummy bothers you so on some days (and am baffled why you are just fine on others!)

You're strong, sweet, funny, happy.  You adore your big brother, you're fascinated by Sophie.  You wave your arms in a frenzy at the site of a bottle.  You turn your head and smile whenever you see or hear your mommy or daddy.  You are already sitting up so well when propped up, holding your head up high!  But nothing make me smile more than to hear you sing and talk to me.  Where's that tape recorder when I need it!

So, my love, here's to your first three months.  You are beautiful, an angel that I cherish every day.

All my love forever,
Momma

Just a little Curious about George!


You have no idea how much we dig you!


Um, big brother, you're interrupting the photo shoot!


So happy that Spring Training has started!

 
This morning, at MOPS, before you melted my heart.