Broken Arm Saga - lite

Chance broke his arm in late April.  All it took was a tumble on the sidewalk.  I told him to run back to the park to grab his forgotten sand bucket....yeesh Mommy guilt.  After 5 weeks, Chance's arm was deemed fit enough to have his cast removed.  He wore a splint for 4 weeks and then had a follow up x-ray and the doctor said things were looking really good.  Now it's 3 weeks later and so far he hasn't complained of any pain, but he scares me nearly every other day doing typical 5 year old stuff....jerking on his arm at the playground, whacking pillows (karate style) etc. 

Sibling Rashalry

Karin seems to be just like her brother, prone to massive eczema breakouts. Looks like she gets them a bit easier though, as she went from just a couple of spots on her back to full body rash in 24 hours. Massive systemic eczema...we're supposed to rub her head to toe with Protopic, and put Fucidin cream on her hands and chin, where the spots have become infected with what looks like impetigo.

My poor beautiful daughter looks like she has chicken pox or something....she's pretty tolerant of the situation, but occasionally cries and says it's "owwie / itchy".

Photos coming when I find the camera cord....sigh.

Sick Weekend

Everyone has a cold in some form or the other. I came down with chills and muscle aches on Thursday night, got a killer sore throat on Friday. Friday night Chance woke up with a super sore throat and a very bad cough (whoop). Cam says that Chance coughs just like me. Cam also wasn't feeling great Friday night but was feeling pretty darn miserable by Saturday am. We skipped swimming lessons this week. Karin actually has toughed all of these germs out pretty well, but her nose occasionally runs with green slime.

Take that, Evil Bacteria!!

Chance's ear infection is almost cleared up & the doctor says no more meds!! Yay for no more antibiotics! It's been a month of 2x and 3x a day doses of syrupy, runny, thick, bitter, super-sweet and gritty meds for Chance and he has been a real prince about taking the stuff. So glad that his ears are better!

Another gorgeous day here in Calgary. Took Chance and Karin out for a run in the late afternoon and poor Chance fell asleep in the stroller. Karin snuggled in with him a few times but stayed awake the whole way.

Ear infection 2, Chance 0

The zippy antibiotics weren't zippy enough. On to Biaxin. Just hope c. difficile is not in order for poor Chance's gut. It is gritty and tastes like someone smashed up antacid tablets and put into a warm milk shake. Chance prefers the plunger (syringe) with this one instead of the medicine spoon. LOTS of yogurt going to be eaten last couple of days.

I asked to look in Chance's ear with the funnel thingy. Our doctor obliged. Chance's ear looked more like the picture on the right than the one on the left, yet he is no longer complaining of sore ears (although fights like a caged cat when I produce a Q-tip). Poor guy.

From Wikipedia: "Clarithromycin may cause false positives on urine drug screens for cocaine." So I don't need to send Chance to boot camp rehab if he fails a drug test. Haha.

Ear Infection 1, Chance 0

Well, last week's pesky ear infection was not phased by amoxicillin. Chance woke up last night complaining of a sore ear...actually, sore hands at first, and then he clarified it was his ear that was hurting. At 1:30 in the morning, after his hollering woke up Karin, I admit I was skeptical whether he was telling the truth or just making an excuse for waking up in the night (ie. having lost his blanket and panicking and then saying his ear hurt so that Mom didn't get mad about the screaming baby next door). No fever. I have been impatient with him for the last few days because he hasn't been listening to me when I'm talking. He does it with Cam too. The doctor at the walk in clinic said his ear was quite plugged and eardrums are quite red....reason for (some of his) selective hearing. We were given a prescription for something "zippier" than amoxicillin. I have dubbed him "Pluggy" and have been doing a lot of arm waving to get his attention.

We brought Karin too and had her ears checked for good measure. She has been waking up in the night basically since July when we were on vacation and last few nights has been up to 3 times in a night, wanting to be nursed. And lately she is putting up a royal fuss when done nursing and is placed back in her crib. When the doctor announced her ears were just fine, I looked at her and said "You, Miss, are cut off." The doctor laughed. Karin laughed. I didn't.

8 month wrap up

Well, Karin has really been growing up these days. She is pulling up on chairs, legs, etc. as much as she can and is definitely starting to explore the house. She has now discovered that if she moves her hands and legs faster, she can get somewhere in a hurry. Like...for instance, to that remote control on the floor...or the X Box cords poking out of the bookshelf. She doesn't like sitting still for long. It's a miracle we got this month's picture taken at all.

She popped out 3 teeth in about 48 hours last week. She was a bit grumpy, but wouldn't we all be?

Food wise, she has entered a new realm: I've been whizzing up mostly what we're eating for dinner in the food processor. The girl loves potatoes and veggies. And meat. And yogurt. And fish. And cereal. And juice and water from a cup, just like Chance.

Tomorrow she gets her "6 month" shots. We are a bit behind schedule, partly due to vacation and partly due to backlogs in the public health offices. They must have had staff cuts or something, as now they are booking immunizations about 5 weeks in advance. I'm not sure whether they will allow the shots tomorrow or not, as she seems to have come down with a bit of diarrhea in the last 24 hours. At first I wasn't sure if it was just due to all the extra food lately, but tonight was clearly not very healthy. She's happy though, and no fever or vomitting. Likely we'll be going on a repetitive diet of baby cereal and bananas, apples and yogurt for a few days.

Allergies

Pollen, pollen everywhere! Antihistamines + breastfeeding = no no no. Sniff.

Height & Weight Update

We had Karin's shots today and she did quite well. Chance accompanied us and he was also very brave and reassuring for Karin. She fell asleep within a few moments of getting her shots, all three of them.

They weighed her and she is now 11 lbs 10 oz (5275 g) and an amazing 60 cm long (23.5 inches)!! She is progressing very well on her growth chart and I'm so proud of my growing babe!

While we were at the public health office I got Chance to step on the scale -- he is weighing in at 36.5 lbs (but he was wearing his new transformers shoes, good luck trying to get them off his feet!).

Chance has had a fever the last 2 days and a runny nose but is dealing well with it. He was not feverish today until bedtime, it is low though, I didn't even dose him with Tylenol as I figure his body is just fighting a bug.

6 weeks old and second cold!

Poor Karin has another cold. We've all got it. She's holding up well, despite a pluggy nose. She's tired, and keeps falling asleep while nursing. So I'm up more frequently, as she has not really filled up and / or she is thirstier than usual. It'll be better soon!

In other news, Karin broke out the pink sunglasses that Chance started out with many years ago. She manages to pull off the look.

Sleep Talking

Both Chance and I are sleep talkers.

I wake up all the time having spoken aloud. I quickly check to make sure Cam didn't hear me and then usually slip out of bed to get a drink, pee, etc.

Tonight I woke up shouting "NO BOUNCING!!" I know where that came from....we went to a party tonight and Chance and the other kids were getting quite rowdy bouncing on the couches. At first they were just up and over the arm of the couch and rolling off, but it soon escalated to standing on the arm of the couch and leaping into the air as high as possible and nearly crashing into the walls (my son was the first to do the "Geronimo" move, a horrified mama notes).

So I got up and was standing at the counter with my peanut butter sandwich and glass of milk when all of a sudden I heard a ruckus coming out of Chance's bedroom "NO! wha bhlaz my DINOSAUR!!!" I spoke to him quickly saying it was just a dream and rubbed his back and he calmed right down but never woke up.

Apparently, experts think that sleep talking, or somniloqy, is less frequent in boys but may run in families. So I guess he gets it from me. Sleep talkers are frequently sleep walkers as well as sleep eaters (nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder). So when I find him one day out of bed and eating handfuls of dry cereal, I shouldn't be surprised.

Don't Drink the Water

What happens when you drink pool water? 4-5 days of the runs!

Chance is feeling much better now, especially since he is allowed to eat real food, like the gingerbread man that he made at his day home. And now we know that he is not allergic to sulfa drugs. After 24 hours on clear liquids only, Chance got to eat bananas, bread, crackers (& I snuck in a few cucumbers too). I'm pretty sure he thought the popsicles were pretty good though.

Getting ready....

We are starting to get ready for the baby to arrive, just a little over a month to go now. We have gotten the carpets cleaned and furnace blown out (now the furnace is making a vibrating noise...I'm thinking the guy didn't tighten up all the screws....) The crib is set up and Chance tested it out. When we were waiting for Chance we made Scarlet test out the crib! We have some diapers purchased and a couple of boxes of baby clothes pulled out. This morning we unpacked the baby toys and put them in the toybox. Chance personally tested out all of the toys.

Looking back at my writing from when we were expecting Chance, I found this -- written at right about the time we are at with this baby:

"Sunday, September 10, 2006

39 Days and Counting...

The baby has really been taking out his or her frustrations on my ribs! Ouch! My right ribs feel sore, tender and bruised! The baby hasn't been kicking as much over the last 2 days, so maybe found some sort of comfortable position, but my goodness it was a painful 3 days before that! Cameron likes to joke that the baby has piped down in some form of "agreement": less kicking, and he gets to stay for a few more weeks. At least that might be an indication that the feet are up and the head is down at this point - will get my doctor to check that on Tuesday.

Another random pregnancy grumble: my back is killing me on that same side as the sore ribs, I wonder if it is related to all the rib-kicking? I have a massage booked on Tuesday (actually, for the next 3 Tuesdays), at a clinic that specializes in pregnancy massage. It won't come a day too soon, I can tell you that!Slept late again this morning, got up around 9:30 AM (bedtime was 10:30 PM, and only woke up 3X, so got some pretty good sleep)."

Well, that sore right rib is back, as well as the sore back mostly on the right side. Less painful than with Chance though, perhaps baby is smaller or not kicking as hard. As with Chance, I have started having delivery dreams -- recently dreamed that we had another boy....wonder if my dreams will be as telling as they were with Chance? (I dreamed that he was a boy when pregnant with Chance).

Tomorrow we are taking Chance to Heritage Park for my company's Christmas party (kids' version). I don't think we'll go to the official Christmas party...firstly I didn't think much of it last year (nice, but a bit formal/too large), secondly I don't think anyone will really feel like going (layoffs coming in next 2 weeks or so). But we will have a fun day at Heritage Park tomorrow, and Chance will be able to meet Santa Claus, his first encounter with the "real thing". I hope he doesn't pee his pants. I heard visits with Santa will involve hand sanitizer...what a crazy germophobic society we are living in. Chance and I had our H1N1 shots on Nov. 13th so we should be pretty close to immune by now. Cam is now eligible to get his shot and plans to do so in the next few days. So far the clinics are not swarmed.

On Tuesday I'm going out with a bunch of girls to watch New Moon & drool over dreamy vampires. I am considering making a t-shirt that reads "Edward's Baby" over my tummy...

First week of 2009 almost done...

This is what this week has been like.....

5:30 AM wake up, stumble out of bed and downstairs to ride exercise bike for 30 mins.
6:10 AM shower.
6:20 AM open Chance's door, hallway light on. Cam in shower.
6:30 AM turn on Chance's light and start pulling out clothes, packing diapers for the day. Cam done in shower and in the kitchen making breakfast.
6:35 AM flip snoozing Chance onto his back and dress him.
6:40 AM convince Chance to give up his blanket and soother so he can go have breakfast.
6:50 AM done breakfast.
6:55 AM chase Chance around the house trying to get his toque, mitts, coat and boots on. Snag nylons. %$#
7:00 AM everyone in car and driving to dayhome.
7:04 AM on the way to work.
7:40 AM get dropped off & walk 2 blocks to work.
7:45 AM COFFEE. Important!!
8:00 AM first well call.
8:15 AM second well call.
8:20 AM drilling meeting. More coffee.
8:45 - 11:25 AM work....all kinds!
11:30 AM chiropractor appointment. My neck injury from March came back in mid-December randomly.
12:00 PM Back to office, eat, nap on floor if tired
12:30 PM Back to work! Work, work, work!
4:30 PM home time, meet Cam in car 15 mins. later.
5:15 PM pick up Chance. Unless there is poor weather, then we don't pick him up until 5:45.
6:00 PM supper
7:00 PM bath time
7:20 PM watch TV and snuggle on the couch.
7:45 PM read a story & tuck Chance in for bed
8:00 PM relax!!!
9:30 PM bedtime & start it all over again!


Have seen the chiropractor 3x this week. I got an x-ray taken in December after my neck started hurting again and could not believe the image the doctor showed me -- to put it in her words, my neck was "smashed and re-stacked". Everytime I think of that fall I took I just shudder and thank my lucky stars that it wasn't worse.

I got a headset at work to use while on the phone -- I would guess I spend between 2 an 4 hours a day on that phone, usually with it tucked into the crook of my neck. This is not helping the neck situation! So my lovely admin assistant bought me a headset to use and I love it.

Cam is curling tonight and Chance is in bed, he was really tired tonight and quite grumpy AND accident prone. I think he gets that from me. He was playing with a toy and then for some reason lifted it above his face, looked up and then dropped the toy, cut his lip a little. Then later he was wobbly-walking around and bumped into the couch, it just sent him into hysterics, my guess is that he maybe bit his lip again. Fed him supper, leftover night so he just picked at things a bit although ate all his carrots and dip and 2 glasses of milk. He had a 30 second bath as he was screaming mad about being in the tub and then laid on the couch and watched Cars. I think that is 40,067th time. Read a new book "The Paper Bag Princess" and "Pirates" then lights out. He got up out of bed and banged on the door, had to turn him around and re-tuck him in, then he cried for 2 minutes and all has been quiet since.

Still growing, but not gaining weight

Update from our June 10 visit to health nurse.

They don't even bother to read Chance's numbers off the chart anymore. I was asked (squinty eyed) if he was a picky eater. My paranoid side wants to know "What's that supposed to mean?"

This stair-step growth pattern is typical of Chance. Next time I go in, I bet he'll have gained weight but not grown.

Joy

A kid at Chance's day home was diagnosed with some strange skin virus called molluscum contagiosum over the weekend. Chance has a red spot on his knee that looks similar.

1) So, he's got molluscum contagiosum.

2) Maybe it's chicken pox?

OR: maybe he kneeled on something and managed to get a little scab on his knee.

As an additional bonus bit of good news: our camping weekend forecast has deteriorated to light rain and sub freezing temperatures.

Oh, P.S.: Chance is cutting molars again.







Kill me now.

Little bump in the plan....but rolling now!

So Chance came down with a throat infection and Thursday night ran a high fever, so into the doctor he went on Friday and Mom had to skip her project initiation notice with partners, boo. Her boss was very nice and sent an email to let her know that he would cover off for her, and her colleague emailed later in the day to let her know how the meeting went. Nice co-workers!

So we've been fighting a fever in 30°C weather, which is interesting, it basically means that Chance goes no where without a sippy cup full of water or juice. And his soother and his blankie. So he looks like a really miserable little guy when going to the grocery store or pharmacy, he got lots of sympathy from well-wishers.

But now the antibiotics have kicked in, the fever is kicked out, and his only complaint at night is that his monkey stuffed animal wasn't placed correctly to keep his soother from falling out. Well!

Here are a few videos from yesterday's construction of yard gates. We successfully installed the posts for the 2 gates and tomorrow Cam is going first thing to the hardware store to get the lumber to build the gates, as well as a rototiller for the garden. Mom and Chance will stay home and bake cinnamon buns before it gets too hot, then we will meet Ayla and her folks for a coffee and walk in Fish Creek Park.

What's New?

Wow, I can't believe a whole week has gone by since I posted here last!

Chance came down with a little cold mid-last week, and that is mostly cleared up now except we still have the humidifier on at night for him. A little extra moisture is probably good anyways, as the average winter time humidity in Calgary is around 20-30% or so. My eczema always gets worse in the winter because of that reason.

Other than the cold, Chance has been doing very well. No sign of ear infection yet. I'm still waiting.

The printer has been running for about 15 minutes now at least, I'm finally printing out my tax forms, yes it's that time of year again. I just hope I can manage to find all my papers, as things have been a bit scattered this year. I know I am missing at least a couple of childcare receipts, not a big deal, more irritating than a real tax issue.

There were a few more words picked up over the weekend in this house:

Shovel
Yellow (lellow)
Yes. Yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes!
Moo
Broom

Also, Chance displayed an understanding of what we are saying that just floored me. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and Chance came ripping in with a wild and crazy look on his face. I laughed at him and then noticed his socks were missing, so I asked, "Where's your socks, silly boy??". Chance did a 180° turn and ran out of the bathroom, only to return a few seconds later holding out both socks. My jaw just about hit the floor!

We watched a movie called Atonement over the weekend, it was a great movie. Perfect, actually for Cam and I -- romance for my movie tastes and history/war for Cam's. Thoroughly enjoyed it, until the very end, with the hero/heroine dancing in the surf and all of a sudden the music cut out and there was Cam, FAST-FORWARDING through the mushy stuff. I was not impressed!

Spent Sunday AM at the pool with Chance, he played catch with another little boy about his age for a few minutes. Also he finally decided to take the plunge (literally) and used the pool slide. I did 16 laps, but my knee started to give me grief so stopped, just went in and took a long warm shower with Chance in the locker room instead of our usual dip in the hot tub due to repairs. Sunday afternoon made 3 kinds of cookies: peanut butter (Cam's request), oatmeal-chocolate chip (my choice), and monkey cookies (guess who??). The monkey cookies are very soft, Chance loves them as a nice way of finishing his supper.

I can't take credit for the recipe, I remember reading about monkey cookies when I was researching how to make homemade baby food. Googled for it and found this version at http://www.goodegg.com/recipe/monkeycookie.html

Banana "Monkey" Cookies

2 1/4 cups all purplose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt1 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter (softened)
2 eggs, beaten
2 bananas, mashed (ripe)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Mix well. Add butter. Mix well again. Add remaining ingredients, mix again. Place a teaspoon sized balls of the dough on a cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 12 minutes. Makes approx. 3 doz cookies.

I'm looking forward to our annual May visit to Regina, only 4 weeks away now. We head down every year to attend the Ken Goff Memorial put on by Cam's old boxing club. This year my sister & brother in law will be joining us, so it will be a fun evening. Also we are working out a camping weekend in the summer, looking forward to that as well.



Well, Cam has just informed me that my bubble bath is ready. OK, he's not the best guy to watch mushy romance movies with...but he spoils me rotten, I guess I'll keep him for now.

In closing, here is a photo from a week ago or so...we had to wake Chance up from one of his naps otherwise he would have slept through supper time. I always love how he looks when he sleeps.

Mom's Hurt!

Last week we went for a walk, our first walk in a long time! We decided to try to venture down into Fish Creek Park, which means walking down a pretty steep hill. Cam was pushing the stroller, and had the safety strap on, thank goodness, because he slipped on some ice and lost control of the stroller. He didn't ever let go, instead he just held on and sat down behind the stroller. My mommy-gut lurched and before I knew it I was running to "save my baby", and instead slipped on the same patch of ice. With no stroller to counter balance, though, my feet ended up somewhere above my head and I came crashing down on the base of my neck...ouch! It is still a week later and I'm in some pretty good pain. I have been seeing a chiropractor/massage therapist but the last session did not go well as I was quite stressed out about work and as I was laying there on the massage table about a million thoughts were going through my mind. The doctor said that he could tell that I wasn't relaxing and it wouldn't be as effective this time...and he was right! Today I am hurting more than in the last few days, so I will have to go back on Monday, until then I am just taking it slow.

We had a nice dinner last week with friends and Chance had a good time playing with their daughter Ayla. He received his first kiss too! Both kids are growing up so quickly.

The Easter Bunny came early for Chance this year, I guess EB wanted Chance to enjoy his Easter present with us home. Chance received a helium balloon which looks like a rabbit, which he loves to pull around the house, every now and then he punches it and then hugs it. Also Chance received his first box of animal crackers. He likes to make the bears "woof" before he eats them. Thank you, Easter Bunny! Mrs. G sent Chance home with some Easter chocolate for all of us to share, so thank you Mrs. G!

We had a good trip to the park this afternoon. Cam and Chance were a bit goofy and so I was glad to have taken my camera along!

We don't have any big plans this weekend, other than resting a bit and trying to get Mom's neck and back in order ASAP. I'm off to soak in the tub and then I am going to watch a movie.

Ugh.

You guessed it. Still at home.