Sick

Thankfully Henry seems to just have a mild cold. I unfortunately, have some horrendous virus from Hell. I went to the Dr. today to rule out a sinus infection or strep and it appears just to be a really bad virus. The bad thing about that is the only thing i can do is continue to stay in bed and drink lots of liquids. I've been in bed basically since Friday afternoon and have to say i'm not feeling a whole lot better. I've taken today off from work and may have to take tomorrow off as well.

I'm not keen on using up my sick leave, but i just feel to horrible to try to make it through a work-day, even if i just kept my pajamas on!

I am feeling slightly better this afternoon-- good enough to sit up in bed and type rather than having to be completely horizontal all the time.

Henry has a runny nose and hasn't been sleeping great but he doesn't seem to feel as bad as i do and hasn't run a temperature or anything. He started being really disobedient this weekend and i'm hoping that it was a symptom of being cooped up and not the start of a new phase. There were several blocks of hours where he would do the absolute opposite of whatever you asked him. We had to draw the line at the spitting habit he seems to have acquired. It starts out as blowing spit bubbles but then he thinks it's hysterical to actually spit all that saliva out. Jt and i had both told him no uncertain terms that spitting wasn't allowed so he's suffered 2 or 3 timeouts over the issue already. I'll have to talk to Brenda to see how he fared at daycare today. I'm hoping he can hold off on this phase at least until i'm back in fighting form.

22 Months, 5 Days

I know i've been posting sporadically lately but i ask that you bear with me. Work is getting super busy as i prepare to go on leave in 4 weeks (can you believe it!) and i've been getting more and more tired as the days go by which makes it difficult to do much more than the basics come nightfall.

We wrapped up Henry's swim classes yesterday and i think he enjoyed things very much. He seems to forget about swimming when we're done with it, but hopefully he'll have a good time at the outdoor pool by our house once it warms up this summer. I'm a little glad to be done with walking out the water carrying Henry and Silas.

Henry had his appointment with the Pediatric Geneticist yesterday and was given a "normal" bill of health. They took a detailed family medical history and then did a physical exam of Henry. They felt that he was totally normal, had overcome his low muscle tone from his earlier days and that the various issues he's had (low muscle tone, pyloric stenosis and chordee) were unrelated and essentially three unlucky rolls of the dice. They said that if his development ever slowed or seemed to back-track certainly to get him back in, but there was nothing to prompt them to do more tests or look further because he appears to be totally normal. This was what we were hoping to hear!

Henry has loved to stand on the step-stool in the kitchen ever since Christmas but JT has been letting him do this more often as he works on dinner. Henry either plays with his own bowls or spoons or just watches as Dad puts dinner together. He's a bit more sure-footed on the step-stool now so you don't have to literally stand there with your arms around him the whole time.

President's Day

Henry and i enjoyed the day off and decided to make an outing of it. We had plans to hit the Art Institute with my friend Tabitha and her two girls. The museum is free through the 21st so we figured we had nothing to lose. Unfortunately Carys woke up with a fever this morning so they bowed out. I figured we were already up and motivated and we'd still go. I got Henry all bundled into the stroller and we took the El down to the museum. Thankfully it's much warmer this week (30s!) so it wasn't too bad.

The museum itself probably isn't the greatest for kids though-- at least not at this toddler stage. There are lots of stairs and in general it's a quiet place (to be expected of course) and there really isn't much geared towards young children. Henry really liked the African masks and Asian artwork that involved animals and was pretty content for about 30-45 minutes. After that he wanted to get out and walk around and have a snack-- both of which weren't really going to happen. So i called JT and we headed to Marshall Field's where we met up with him and had a nice lunch together.

I have to confess that my 35-week pregnant body also felt the impact of the day. The baby has definitely dropped so i can't walk normally (or quickly) anymore, i get tired really easy, and everything fairly aches.

Once we got home at 1:30 Henry went straight down for his nap and i laid on the couch unmoving for the better part of the 3 hours he slept.

We had a great day though and it was nice to get out but it's pretty clear that i'm really pregnant and need to take things a little easier now as we enter the homestretch. Now, i just have to get 5 days of work done in 4.

I don't have any reason to think i'll have this baby early but i'm a bit nervous at work because things are so busy i haven't really had time to work on the "transitioning" aspects of being out on leave.

21 Months, 4 Weeks, 1 Day

We decided kinda last minute to go out for an uber-romantic dinner at our local taco joint. Henry and i headed over after swimming and met JT. I can't say it was the best behaved Henry's ever been in a restaurant, but it was nice not to have to cook or clean up and Henry actually ate some dinner which was a bonus.

We got home and he found a new easel waiting for him along with a few things from mom, and a new outfit from his Great-Grandmother. He was extremely excited about the easel as you can tell by the picture. He particularly likes to "erase" the chalkboard using the wooden side of the eraser. We've shown him how to do it correctly but he prefers to make a horrendous noise that sends Mom and Dad running for cover.

Valentine's Day!

We've had an eventful day already, although nothing to do with valentine's yet. We've probably gotten about 8 inches or so of snow since two nights ago and we had therapy bright and early this morning, so we got up, got Henry some breakfast and ourselves ready and JT shovelled the walk and dug-out the car. We run a tight ship around here so we managed to actually get out the door on time.

Today was a really great therapy session for Henry. No tantrums really-- a tiny bit of fussing when we'd been doing one thing for a long time and he was genuinely having fun for parts of it. I think it really helps that his memory is developing. I try to talk about his therapist "Jo" periodically, and Henry loves to say her name as well.

Then he headed off to see Ms. Brenda and the kiddos in his valentine's day shirt. I'll try to take a picture and post it tomorrow. He's been more and more particular about what he wears. He has two winter coats-- a puffy green one and a dressy light blue wool coat. Typically he's been wearing the green coat just because it's a bit more casual. Well, Henry has decided that the only wants to wear the blue one and will go over to the coat closet and protest if i have picked out the "wrong" one. He's also pretty clear that he prefers his leather squeaky shoes to his typical tennis shoes.

That's all fine and good but i worry a bit about Brenda's sanity when he wears the shoes that squeak every time he walks for days on end. She said the kids love them so i just try to push the tennis shoes every few days or so.

Henry and i have swimming this afternoon and then he'll get to come home to some valentine goodies. We made sugar cookies the other day and decorated some of them with hearts. He enjoyed one on Valentine's day Eve, but i figure he can have another one while opening a few Valentine gifts.

Haircut

The day finally arrived! I made Henry a hair appointment with JT and i's Stylist weeks ago and yesterday was the soonest we could get him in. You'd think she was a celebrity stylist or something. I wasn't really sure what to expect but Henry passed his first official haircut with flying colors. I packed plenty of snacks and a full cup of milk and even though we got there early and waited for about 30 minutes he was totally content.

Our hairdresser was really great with him. She's very calm and patient and showed him everything she was going to do first. She asked if i wanted to hold him on my lap and i said i'd like to try having him sit in the chair on his own. She got some booster seats and he sat that way the whole time he was getting his hair cut. His favorite part was getting to play with the squirt bottle that she used to keep his hair wet-- oh and of course the snacks he munched on the better part of the appointment.

Please note that the before picture reveals a particularly bad hair day, but it was clearly time for this haircut!

21 Months, 3 Weeks

I know i haven't been as regular with the posting as many folks would like. I'm starting to slow down a little bit with this pregnancy. I'm definitely hitting the big and uncomfortable stage. It's also amazing how busy work is right now and how much there is for me to get done before i go out on leave. I'm also feeling slightly under the weather. Nothing seems full-blown but i think i've got some kind of low-grade virus that is also affecting my stomach. While i certainly don't feel great, i just hope that it stays with me and doesn't infect JT or Henry.

We've been doing everything we can to stay warm around here. We've been dealing with highs from -2 to 4 degrees for several days and it hasn't been above freezing in over two weeks i believe. Today it's a little better though-- a high of 15, and by this weekend it's supposed to be positively balmy at 27 degrees.

We had one really bad cold-related incident earlier this week. I think it was Monday morning and i was taking Henry to daycare. I put his gloves on but they were cold (we had left them in the car from the night before) and he just cried and screamed the whole way to Brendas. It was so cold that the car really didn't heat up at all until after i was headed home so it didn't even improve while we were driving there.

I actually came in with Henry to take his coat off and help get him settled thinking that might help but he was still so upset and then really crying and not wanting me to leave. Unfortunately i did have to go but i called a bit later to make sure he had settled down and Brenda said "of course, as soon as they got the legos out." He hasn't really had any outbursts since then, but he has kept his gloves and hat on because even he knows it's cold!

He's not consistent about it, but he's starting to take more of an interest in his clothes. He has this one t-shirt from Oklahoma State that he loves. My Grandmother bought it for him after my last trip back there in January. It has pistol pete on the front and back of the shirt and whenever he picks out anything to wear, it's that shirt. I told him it was orange and that was a good choice and why didn't he wear his LONG-SLEEVE orange shirt instead. He refused so he's sporting the layered look today with his Pistol Pete shirt over another shirt. This morning he also insisted on wearing his dress coat instead of his everyday coat.

We're making a second go at swim class today. I double-checked the bag and have his swim suit so i just have to make sure to put mine on!

21 Months, 2 Weeks, 4 Days

We had a full weekend capped off with a super-bowl party tonight with friends. Unfortunately the Bears lost, but we had a good time with all the kiddos together. Henry was a little overwhelmed at first between the dogs and the kids and the football-related yelling. Then he settled in and was pretty happy hanging out with JT or I and canoodling with the other folks. Unfortunately i think his entire dinner consisted of three different packs of crackers and part of a cookie. Oh, some OJ as well.

We tried to put him down to sleep over there around his normal bedtime and at first everything went well but i think after being asleep for a short amount of time he woke up and had no interest in sleeping again. He acted like the party was still going and demanded to get out of his portable crib. Since the game was winding down, we decided to cut our losses and just head home. He's been quietly asleep in his own crib for the past 20 minutes, so hopefully he'll have a quiet uneventful night.

Before i forget, i wanted to mention that i'm extremely excited to be getting my braces off at the beginning of March and before Silas' arrival (hopefully). I was keeping my fingers crossed my orthodontist would give me a removal date before the birth because it sure is easier to get to appointments when Henry is safely at daycare and Silas is safely in my belly.

Hysterics

Hmm, well we've had two days that i wouldn't necessarily count as good in a row. Hopefully that means that tomorrow will break the cycle.

Yesterday i picked Henry up and we headed to swimming until i realized i had forgotten to pack his swimsuit. I had everything else, swim diapers, towels, MY suit, even snacks and milk for after swimming but no suit. So, we just headed to the grocery store and picked up some things for the shower i'm helping throw on Saturday. Henry didn't seem particularly nonplussed one way or the other but i was surprised at how disappointed i was.

Today we had therapy in the morning and i was worried it was going to be a terrible session, because Henry was really ornery this morning-- very non-cooperative and lots of screaming. But amazingly it was probably our best day yet. He did really well with everything and didn't freak out once. We're supposed to encourage his running and bouncing because she's really satisfied with his stair-climbing ability.

Tonight when i picked him up from Brenda's he was one ball of hysteria from the time i picked him up until after i put him to bed (and beyond). I had snacks in the car for the ride home which was great for about 15 minutes but when they ran out and he started asking for milk he was inconsolable that we didn't have any. JT is working late today so we stopped off at our local taco place to pick up some dinner on the way home. While we were in there waiting for our order Henry actually did one of those tantrums you see in the cartoons where he laid face down (yuck!) on the restaurant floor and kicked and beat his fists. I'm still not even sure what that outburst was about (maybe the milk still?)

When we got home i got Henry some milk and another snack really quickly but by then it didn't matter what i did he just kept screaming and crying and generally being upset. It didn't help that i thought i had lost my wallet somewhere between the restaurant (3 blocks away) and home. I decided to just scoop Henry up sit on the couch with him and his milk and just cuddle. Good idea but that also elicited screaming. I finally tamed the beast by repeating but also putting on his signing video. He calmed down enough for us to watch some of his video and then go eat dinner. After that he wouldn't let me out of his sight or he would be screaming and crying.

We passed the evening in this fashion and i put him down early for bed thinking he must be really tired. Up until 15 minutes ago, he was up crying every 20 minutes or so. He finally got really upset and i told him it was time to go to sleep and that i would see him in the morning. He screamed bloody murder for about a minute and has now been quiet. I have a very bad headache.

I'll ask Brenda how he's been there but i get the sense he's testing out these new "tantrum" behaviors more than he's really upset about something. He was rarely really crying-- and sometimes while screaming he was making the "fake crying" face. So, he's probably just testing me but tonight was a hard time for the pop-quiz.

I'm giving him a few more minutes and if he's still quiet i'm going to take a bath...