I was listening to a radio show today....Bob and Sheri out of Charlotte NC. Sheri was discussing how her daughters waste food and sometimes destroy new toys in 30 seconds without any regard to how wasteful that is. And it got me thinking. I remember Christmas as being a wonderful time. The excitement of decorating the tree. Checking all the strands of lights with my Dad. The anticipation of Santa's visit. In my little kid mind the living room was filled to the brim with toys on Christmas morning. But looking back I realize my parents did a wonderful job with very little. When I wanted a life sized Wendy Doll I got a child size mannequin from a store that went out of business. When I wanted a hard to find and afford Cabbage Patch doll I got a home made adoption doll instead. I still have her in my room to this day. Most of my Barbie clothes were handmade by my mom but looking at them now they are more beautiful than any of the store bought Barbie clothes. But back then I wasn't always grateful when I didn't get what the other kids got. I didn't really realize how lucky I was.
I have been Christmas/birthday shopping for Alex. Its difficult because I want him to have lots of fun things to open. But he already has so much that he doesn't play with.I want him to have everything he wants and everything I had. But I don't want him to be spoiled and take things for granted.
The thing he plays with most of all is my old wooden blocks. I don't even have the full set anymore. They have groves on the top and bottom that helps when building tall towers.

Hold the Benadryl please

Wow we have had a few nightmare-ish nights with Alex. First let me point out that Alex has taken Benadryl plenty of times in the past without any reaction. He seems to have our allergies...oddly so does Lizzie the cat. We have all felt the onset of Ragweed. But Byron and Alex also seemed to have shared a cold. On the day of his 18 month (a little late) well check he woke up sick. I asked about giving him Benadryl to help with the symptoms and was given the okay. So for several nights I gave him a dose before bedtime. And for several nights he did not sleep. Put him down and an hour later he was up. Try again and repeat. So I snuggled in the guest bed with him thinking he needed a little extra comfort. Not only did he root me to the very edge of the bed he popped up awake every time I moved. Then about 3 or 4 am he decided it was time to play. I was becoming a zombie but he was full of energy at daycare. So last night we skipped the Benadryl and he stayed asleep all night. I can't express how much we all needed that sleep.

At the well check he was 29 lb, 35 inches high...75-80% in weight and 95% in height. Everything looked good except his vitamin D levels. So we were instructed to give him Vitamin D3 tablet every day. Poor little guy also got 4 shots.

We took him to the fair on Saturday. He loved the goats. He also got to see a camel, turtles, wallaby, emu, parrots, lamas, baby cows and big cows, horses, mules, donkey, and pigs. He even made piggy noises at the pigs.

He rode the pony but wasn't at all sure he liked it. Oh we also saw the chickens and the bunnies. And he rode the merry go round twice. Once so I could take pictures and again so I could record. Which of course made me car sick both times :-)

He refused the funnel cake and the cotton candy.

Alex likes to close doors. And he likes to close the bathroom door and close himself inside. Since he doesn't know how to turn the door knob he ends up alone in the dark. But he doesn't get scared. He just knocks on the door until I come and open it. Then more times than not he closes it in my face so he can knock again.

Hot Summer Days and nights

Last week Alex's sitter was on vacation so he had some backup sitters. He had a great time but I think he really missed his sitter and was happy to fall back into his daily routine.

Alex loves being outside no matter how hot it is. It is a common fight to keep him indoors lately with the temps to high. And Saturday evening out AC went out making it almost as hot inside as out. Luckily my dad knew someone with the part we needed at 10 O'clock at night. I can not express how grateful I was to feel the cool air once again. I don't know how Alex managed to fall asleep.

Sunday we went swimming in the above ground pool at my parents. I love my old pool and wish it was closer so I could enjoy it more than on the weekends. This pool is 25 years old and I know every year could be its last. Since it is a big pool I set up a little wading pool for Alex no the ground beside the big pool. Again since it is an above ground pool there was no way for him to fall it. The only way in is from the deck with has a locking gate. In all the years I have enjoyed the pool I have never know the water to be as warm as it was yesterday. 92 degrees!!

So for a while Alex played in the baby pool. Since we keep his pool put up when not in use I had to fill it and he loved playing with the water hose as the water flowed. He splashed himself in the face with the hose several times before he figured out how to aim it. Hopefully the ear plugs did their job.

Then he got in the big pool with us. The dolphin toy he was afraid of is now his dolphin toy. He is just about to outgrow his little boat float. And he had a ball. I hope his ears clear up after these tubes fall out and I hope he will not need them again. I would love to see him take swimming lessons next year.

And speaking of ears he was his post op appointment tomorrow. I hope we have good news.

Doodlebug Doodle bug are you at home

When I was a kid we did not have cable tv. We had a couple of Atari games thanks to our cat who won the Purina Cat Chow Calendar contest. But those games have always kind of bored me. And living in the country I didn't really have any neighbors my age to play with. So I spent a lot of time outside exploring. One of my favorite things was Doodlebugs aka Antlions. In their larva state they make cone shaped sand traps. The goal was to trap ants and other small insects for food. I would take a small twig and stir the center of the trap and sing "Doodlebug Doodle bug are you at home?" When I stirred one up I would hold him and let him scoot around in my hand for a minute before putting him back in the trap and watching him scoot behind first back into the sand. Then can slip into the sand so quickly.

Most of the time Alex sleeps in his crib in his room. We also have a guest bed in there that will one day be his. It has my old mattress which is so very comfortable. So sometimes when Alex is having a hard time sleeping I will put him in the guest bed and sleep with him. One night recently he was teething and needed so extra comfort so I crawled into the guest bed with him. The next morning I hoped to ease out of the bed and make a quick dash to the bathroom before waking him up. He looked sound asleep. But the instance I sat up he started scooting behind first towards the edge of the bed beside me. And my mind flashed to that song "Doodlebug Doodlebug are you at home" He was barely awake but he was scooting towards freedom with the speed of a doodlebug.

One week after tubes

Alex has said a ton of new words and his balance has improved. The downside is the no water in the ears rule. This means ear putty at bath time and he hates it. It is a fight every time to get the putty in and sometimes it takes several attempts because as you put it in the second ear he is pulling it out of the first ear.

This week the sitter is on vacation so we are using other friends to fill in. I realize now how lucky we are to have a sitter so close to our home.

Next week we have his post-op appointment with the ENT. As well as a trip to the lab for blood work. I recently found out that for his 18 month well check the doctor requires blood work. We have to take him to the lab before his well check up. Since its in the same building as his ENT we will just combine it all in one visit.

And we have tubes

Yesterday was the day of surgery. It was a very early morning for us all but Alex took it in stride. Barefoot and in jammies he took his spot at the front of the line in the waiting room. I was fine in the waiting room but once we moved to the pre-op area I was fighting hard not to cry. I really didn't want to do anything that might scare Alex.
Alex was watching everyone and everything with an intense look. He was really more curious than anything. I thought handing him over to the nurses would be the most difficult part but it wasn't. Sitting in recovery and waiting for him to wake up was the worst. Every minute seemed to last a lifetime.
When he did wake up he was only upset for a minute. Once we gave him some juice he settled into drinking and watching. And before long he was playing with his toys and wanting to get down and move.
The event didn't seem to hamper his appetite any but he was a little fussy. But with teething pain on top of everything else it was to be expected. He did say 3 new words and made 2 new animal sounds. He also started walking on his tip toes. I am not sure if he is copying his cousin or if it is a balance issue. And by bedtime he looked like he had been attacked by an octopus due to the monitor patches. At first I thought it might be a mild latex allergy but the nurse said the patches were latex free. So its just his skin being sensitive to the adhesive.
He also woke up with a low grade fever today but I blame it on the teeth. Poor little guy has been chewing on his finger and drooling like mad.

Today he went to Deeda's wearing a shirt that said "Whatever it is I didn't do it". And his friend Bryce was there for a visit so that should make for a good day.

Days of tears

Poor little guy is working hard on those stomach teeth. I have now seen 3 out of 4 poking through. But all the work and discomfort have made him a grumpy little guy. The last couple of days everything seems to make him cry. At least I think its just the teeth but it could be him gearing up for the "terrible" twos.

We didn't get out of the front door quick enough for him this morning so he started to cry. But by the time we reached Deeda's house he was all better. I walked him in the door and off he went running back and forth from the kitchen to the living room, around the recliner and back to the kitchen. I think he did at least half a dozen laps before I left. She only had 2 other children this morning...an older kid and a baby. Both were asleep but Alex was ready to run.

Ears, teeth and fevers oh my

So we have a surgery date of Tuesday July 13th. He must be the youngest patient of the day since we first in line. We must be there at 7am and surgery is at 8am. And between now and then I have to try not to worry myself sick and be on the lookout for fevers. Fevers are the deal breaker. If he has an ear infection they will still do the surgery unless he has a fever and then it will be canceled.
But here is our problem. He gets stealth ear infections. No runny nose or cold as a warning just a sudden fever usually when he wakes up from a nap. And the other problem is teething. He is getting 2 possibly all 4 stomach teeth. He has been fussing and pulling out his mouth. And with teething usually comes fever.
So we hope for the best and see where we are Monday night.

Its official my baby is having surgery

I have such mixed feeling about this. Tubes were a dark evil cloud over so much of my childhood. I hate for Alex to go through the same thing. And I will be a crying basket case the day of....probably even before.

But although he does not have an infection at the moment he does still have fluid in his ears. Fluid that is ripe for infection. Fluid that is throwing his balance off. And fluid that is hampering his hearing.

Surgery is Tuesday July 13th.

In other news we have (hopefully) made our last bottle. Alex was down to 1 bottle at night. He did not need it since he eats well during the day, but it had become his comfort item. He has not latched onto a stuffed animal or blanket. But for the last 3 nights he has gone to bed without a bottle. Although the first 2 nights it was hours past his normal bedtime. But last night he was asleep before 8pm.

Everyone said....

Those first few weeks while I was still home with Alex everyone said "nap when he naps" but for some reason I couldn't. Sometimes it was because of chores that needed to be done. Sometimes it was because I just couldn't put him down. Which lead to everyone saying "If you hold him all the time you will spoil him". But no I spoiled me. I loved watching him sleep. I loved feeling his warmth and weight on my shoulder or lap. And I knew that there would come a day when I couldn't just sit there and hold my sleeping baby. Well those days are here. At 17 months he struggling for independence.
Last night we went to my mom's house for a swim. A few weeks ago he hated water but now he loves it. And since this is my pool and he and I are the only ones to swim in it he got to swim naked. During dinner he fed himself and somehow managed to get spaghetti in his diaper.
Mom had bought him a little Thomas train and when she tried to open it he held out his had and said something that sounded a little like give. He wanted her to give it to him to open. And he wants to explore everything.
When it was time to go home I tried to put him in the car seat and he grabbed the top and side of the truck and held on to keep from going inside. He wasn't ready to leave. Then this morning when I took him to his room to get dressed he saw Byron in our bedroom and he wanted to go to Byron so he grabbed the door frame to try to keep from being taken into his room.
For now I am enjoying the baby babble because this too is something that will change and soon.

Phases

I helped raise my godbabies so I know about children and phases. But having my own little Alex has taught me all about the less defined phases. The trash can phase which cost us several sippy cups and I am not sure I want to know what else. And not the sink phase. This is an interesting phase to observe. He puts his bowls and spoons in the sink. But his sippy cups are now hidden all over the house. Maybe he is practicing for the Easter egg hunt next year. But the really odd part is the other things I find in the sink. The cat's treats, mail, and last night a bag of chips. I am kind of scared to know what Phase we might be moving into next.

In other news we see the ENT on July 2nd. I have already had my first nightmare about the visit. This weekend he was a little congested and snotty and pulling at his ears again. Since he is already on medication there really isn't anything else I can do other than Benadryl. He should not get an infection while on antibiotics so it could just be pressure from the fluid. Before leaving the hospital with a newborn I think all moms should be given the equipment and taught to check for ear infections!

warm suds on a hot day.

I use a cup to rinse Alex's hair in the bath. The other night He tried to drink bathwater from the cup. So I took the cup out and started using the toy boat and he tried to drink from the water from it as I poured it on him. Tonight he decided to forgo the middle man and stick his face in the water to drink. Why is it that he won't drink water from his sippy cup but he wants to drink his bath water?

bites and itches

Over the weekend Alex learned by accident how to open the storm door and fall out onto the porch. After a few tears he decided to take advantage of his freedom and drag his foot car out for a drive. But it was prime mosquito time and they love him. To make matters worse I think one hitched a ride back into the house with us and spent the night in his room having dinner. Poor little guy is covered with bites but they did not seem to bother him until yesterday evening. Or maybe he just figured out that scratching made him feel better. We are giving him Benadryl for the itch and treating them at night with a cream. Hopefully they will heal quickly.

Going out the door this morning he stumbled a little and bumped his head on the door frame. He didn't hit hard but he put his hand to his head and said "Oww" several times as he went down the stairs. It was very cute.

We are still waiting to hear back from the doctor on our referral to the ENT.

Never ending ear infections

Alex is growing and changing so much and so fast. He seems to grown up at just 17 months old. And there is one rite of passage I hoped we could avoid...tubes. In the last 17 months he had about 8 ear infections. Some of those took more than one round of meds to clear. His most recent ear infection started on May 14th with a fever of more than 103. He also had Roseola and Tonsillitis at the same time. This was one of the worst illness we have gone through. He finished his meds on May 24th ans spiked another fever on May 28th. Ear were still infected so we changed to a new antibiotic and he promptly broke out in a rash. Luckily it did not seem to be related to the medication and a dose of Benadryl cleared it up. But a recheck of his ears on June 7th showed the ears were still infected so we changed to a Zpak. And another recheck yesterday showed the infection was gone but his left ear still had lots of fluid...Which I expected since his balance has been terrible.

So we have been referred to an ENT. The same one who did my last set of tubes. With my history of chronic ear infections I am sure we are headed down the same path. I hated having tubes and I hate the idea of Alex having surgery. But I don't want to keep giving him antibiotics and I don't want the infections and fluid to interfere with his speech development. Hopefully we will know more in a couple of weeks.