Tuesday, February 24, 2004

 
Signs

You are finally starting to understand sign language. You know the sign for 'more' and how to use it. I am so glad they are teaching you signs at school. We have been using them at home since you were born, but I haven't been as consistant as I should be. With the teachers and other kids doing it you'll be signing like a pro in no time.
posted by anonymous 11:06 AM

Friday, February 20, 2004

 
My Poor Sick Baby

This has been a VERY long week for us, you have been so sick. On Sunday night I made your favorite matzoball soup for dinner and after your bath you threw up your dinner all over yourself, daddy, and your bedroom. On Monday we were home for the holiday (Presidents Day) and you just weren't yourself. Between 6am and noon you only ate 12 oz of formula. Around 2pm I offered you a bite of mashed potatoes and you proceeded to throw up all 12 oz of formula on the sofa...ick.

We went to the doctor on Monday night and she said the stomach bug runs its course quickly and since you didn't have a fever you were at the tail end. She said you should drink Pedialyte or Gatorade for a couple days then move on to a BRAT (bananas rice applesace toast) diet. Sounded good to me, except you refused to take any Pedialyte or Gatorade.

On Tuesday morning I HAD to go to work, but you were running a fever of 101.4, being a bad mommy I gave you Advil and sent you to daycare so I could take care of some stuff at work in the morning. Sure enough at 10:40am your teacher called and said you had a fever of 101 and just were not yourself. Since the Advil didn't help your fever I immediately made an appointment with your doctor for that afternoon.

I picked you up around 11am and you were the sadest sight ever. You clearly did not feel well and when we got home all you did was sit on the floor and moan. I finally got frustrated and took you to your appointment a half hour early. You doctor is great and said that though you appeared to not be dehydrated she would run blood work just to be sure. It's a good thing because your sodium level turned out to be low (it was 133, normal is 135-145). The doctor ordered you be put on an IV for fluids and gave us a couple bottles of Enfalyte (the ONLY thing you would drink).

Seeing you on that IV for 5 hours was painful for me. When we started all you would do was scream and cry. As you began to feel better you perked up, but were still hooked up to a machine. Daddy came and brought me dinner about 4 hours into your treatment. After the IV and 24 oz of Enfalyte you were just about back to your old self. The doctor re-ran your blood work and your sodium was up to 141. She let us go home and said you could drink watered down formula if you wanted it. I made you a bottle that night and you were very thirsty. After you finished it Daddy picked you up. Burp..burp..barf...UGH! I guess you weren't quite ready for it yet.

Wednesday you were up and down. You seemed to be feeling better until the late afternoon. Around 5pm you spiked a fever of 102. I called your doctor and she said that if it was still up in the morning to bring you back in. Thursday morning we ran out of Enfalyte (they sent us home with 2 bottles) and more was enroute (the kind folks at Enfamil sent me a courtesy case because we can not buy it in our area) but had not arrived. You also woke up with the most awful sounding chest congestion so I made an appointment with your doctor for 3:45pm. At 10:45am you fell and bumped your head on the wall (not unusual for a pre-walker), you started crying at 11am and did not stop until 2pm when I put you in the car. It was just so so sad to watch you suffering.

We got to the doctor you had a 101 fever and she took one look and said "double ear infection". She had blood work done to see if you were hydrated (since you were not drinking much) and had a chest X-ray done to look at the congestion. Turns out you were hydrated...yay no more IV, but had bronchitis. They gave you two shots of Amoxicillan and a breathing treatment before we left. The two combined really made you feel better and perked you right up. We also took a bunch of medicines to take at home.

In the end you had blood drawn three times, one X-ray, one IV, two shots, and a breathing treatment all within four days. That's quite a load for anyone especially an 11 month old. You were a trooper though and are now feeling much much better. I'll admit it was scary and sad to see you so sick. I hope this was a one time event and that you stay healthy for a long long time.

Oh and by the way you tipped the scales at 23lbs. You sure are getting big.


posted by anonymous 7:25 AM

Thursday, February 12, 2004

 
11 Months

Where has the time gone? One month from today you are going to be a year old. I can't believe how much you have changed in that short time. You have mastered pulling yourself up, crawling, and climbing stairs in the past couple weeks. You now only hold on with one hand when you stand up. I know walking is just around the corner....yikes!

You still have only 7 teeth, but I know more are on the way. You have been teething like a mad man lately. You're pretty much done with jarred baby food. You eat whatever we eat. You especially love pasta or any type and crackers. You figured out the sippy cup and drink like a big boy too.

We just had your 11 month portrait taken and I was comparing it to your 1 month portrait. It is amazing how you have grown into a little boy. Just thinking about you getting older makes Mommy sad. I want you to stay my baby forever.

If anyone would like to see some current pictures of please email me at lilspecialk2003@yahoo.com.
posted by anonymous 8:12 PM

 
Shameless Plug

Since some people have asked I have updated our baby registry at Babies R Us / Toys R Us to include items Caleb may want for his first birthday. Also, for clothes he'll be needing 18 month summer items. When in doubt you can never go wrong with a gift card (Toys R Us, Costco, Mervyn's, Target or Kohls). Thanks so much!

posted by anonymous 12:08 PM

 
Sickness

There are 6 kids in your class at daycare. Today 4 of them were out sick...yikes!!! All of them were out for different reasons ranging from RSV to vomitting. According to the teachers they have never had so many kids from one class out at the same time before. Super!!! Ahh the joys of daycare.

I hope you don't get sick too. You are supposed to spend the night at Grandma & Grandpa's house on Saturday.
posted by anonymous 10:10 AM

 
I Say It's About Time

The state of California is proposing a bill that would allow pregnant women to park in in handicap parking spots. I wish this was available when I was pregnant, though I do think there should be conditions on it.

When I was pregnant I swelled up at 20 weeks and eventually had trouble driving and walking 1/2 a mile to my office. When I would go to my routine doctor visits I had to park over a block away and walk to my appointment only to be exhausted and uncomfortable by the time I finally got there.

Currently OB/GYN's can not give handicap placards to pregnant women (I asked). Under the new proposal I think that instead of making the spots available to ALL pregnant women, maybe they should be just for the ones under doctors orders.

I agree with the article in that pregnancy is not a disability in itself, but I do think the side effects (swelling, back pain, hip pain, etc) can be a disability. Given that I hope this passes and pregnant women who NEED the access will be allowed to park in handicap spots.
posted by anonymous 9:47 AM

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

 
Superstar

You had your first job today. You did a special ad for Target that is going to be published in 'O' Magazine, Parents Magazine, and the Sunday Target ad sometime within the next 6-8 weeks.

We had a lot of fun at the shoot. You went to wardrobe and they dressed you in a white cloth diaper (over your regular diaper) with yellow pins. Then we went to hair & makeup to get your hair styled. The stylist thought you had a "Our Gang" look about you and gave you piece sticking up on the back of your head. Next we went to the holding area where they had a mat full of toys for you to play with. There were a few other babies playing there too and you really seemed to like a half deflatted blue balloon.

After about 15 minutes it was your turn to get your pictures taken. You did fabulous not crying at all. You really liked the baby wranglers and kept giggling at everything they did. The photographer snaped a ton of pictures of you sitting on the floor and sitting on a slope.
I am so proud of what a good boy you were when they were taking your picture.

We were there towards the end of the day and they had seen over 40 babies pass though, but everyone kept commenting on how cute you were. I enjoyed that a lot. After they finished your pictures I got you dressed, picked up your voucher (you got paid nicely for this job) and we were off to go home. In all it took an hour and what a great experience it was. I can't wait for your next job.

posted by anonymous 9:47 PM