Sick

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Parents of the Tiny Humans are Tired

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First there was a pandemic which closed schools and daycares, and forced parents to be fulltime caregivers while also working full time with no breaks. And if you happened to get sick, you still had to take care of those children while you maybe couldn’t get out of bed yourself.

Then the country reopened almost a year before there were vaccines for little kids to keep them safer.

Then because everyone was sick of precautions and had weakened immune systems from the pandemic, there is a tri-demic of Covid and Flu and RSV going around, all of which is particularly terrifying for small children.

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Sibling Love

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We were driving home from daycare the other day, and E was happily holding G’s hand in the backseat. See, every day he makes me slide their seats together after I’ve strapped them in, so they’re close enough to touch. E was talking as he does, about 50% words that I can understand with lapses into his own made up talk. One thing came through clearly though: “My G. He’s my G.. FOREVER. Brother. My brother.”

Another Year, Another Emergency Vet Visit...

We could use some positive thoughts sent our way, please. Our kitty isn’t feel well again. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We had a health scare last year, and we took care of it. It was supposed to buy us many more years.

Instead we’ve been thrown another curve ball. This one is bigger, and scarier. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of options, or time, but we’re hoping for whatever good news we can get.

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Our Weekend

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Last weekend Tom was sick for most of the day, which left me solo with the kids. I realized that I’ve been orchestrating life lately to ensure that I’m not alone with both of them except for our normal night routine. I’m not sure why I see those two as different. Maybe because we have such a routine to our nights, I view that as normal and not hard. And it’s not like I haven’t been alone with them - over Christmas there were multiple days in a row where it was just me and both the tiny humans. And of course there’s been other random days here and there, but I always end the day exhausted and feeling like I failed both of them. So for whatever reason, we’ve just made it so that most of the time it’s either two on two, or one on one.

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If it Barks Like a Seal...

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So croup’s fun, huh?

On a Monday recently, I was sitting at my desk at work, leisurely eating my breakfast while planning out my day. What projects I was going to work on, what I was going to get for lunch, and making plans with a co-worker to get coffee after our 8:30 team meeting. It was during that 8:30 meeting that I saw daycare’s number pop up on my phone.

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Long Weekend

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Four day weekends used to be so exciting. A big opportunity to go somewhere, or do something. The opportunities felt endless and we were always excited and counting down. And then you have two very small children, and you realize that as much as you love spending time with them, four days without a break is a lot. It’s tiring.

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Mainely G

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My last post about Maine was pretty E heavy. Mostly because he’s a toddler and is big about experiencing everything and sharing opinions about it. Baby G on the other hand, mostly goes along with whatever we’re doing. For every one of those memories about E, baby G was there too. Usually in someone’s arms or sitting on the floor watching everything that was going on.

There were a few very distinct G memories though, and so I thought I’d share them in their own post. I’ve already mentioned that G was feeling a little off during the week, and as a result, that surrounds most of my memories of him. We were constantly trying to either figure out what was going on, or trying to treat it. I’m not exaggerating when I say that we were minutes from bringing him to the ER (Tom had already called to verify they had a pediatrician on staff) when we abruptly changed our mind and decided he was fine.

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Keeping Me Guessing

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I think I was wrong.

Not just wrong, but I had it completely backwards. I used to say that E was an extrovert and G was our introvert, but after a week of vacation, I’m rethinking that. We all have a bit of vacation hangover right now. It was a long week, a tiring week, and the most fun week ever. Totally worth it, but reentry is hard.

So as I’m watching how both of the small ones react to reentry and think about how their energy levels fluctuated over the week, I’m thinking that I’m changing my mind: E might be an introvert and G might be an extrovert!

Maia Update

Time for an update on our kitty! Thank you to everyone who reached out or listened to me vent about this whole process. It was horrible while we were going through it, but looking back it was so worth it.

It was three long weeks of 2 treatment and isolation and life just not being normal. First she went away for treatment, which was weird because she’s never been boarded before, so I’m not used to being home without her. I thought this was going to be the worst part, but luckily I have two little humans to keep me distracted. E only asked for her a few times, and we were able to distract him pretty quickly.

Then she came home, and we were told to keep her in isolation for two weeks, and definitely keep her away from any children since she was still slightly radioactive. This is when it got bad. She could tell we were on the other side of the door, and so she cried and screamed and scratched at the door for the first 24 hours she was home. Between her and the baby, no one got any sleep that night. It was horrible and ripped my heart apart.

The "Maow"

May 18, 2008. The first time we met. She was small, and scared, and her siblings picked on her, so she was hiding behind a piece of furniture. Rebecca looked at me like I was crazy as I tried to move the dresser to get to her. Was I sure I didn’t want to play with one of the kittens running around the room, basically throwing themselves at me? I was sure.

She came home May 22, along with her brother Aiden, just days before my birthday. She was just as timid, just as scared of me then. I had to tip the carrier to get her to come out, since she wasn’t accepting my food bribes. I had to earn her trust and her love, which I did slowly over the coming days, months, years.

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Where We Are

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My mind is all over the place lately with lists of things to do, thoughts about the upcoming holiday and baby coming, things to do with E… I’m as frazzled as you’d think haha. So here is a random brain dump of what’s going on with us lately.

E had his 18 month check up the other day. Everything looked great, the doctor was super happy, and this little munchkin gained TWO inches in the past three months!! He gained a pound, which is right on track, but the doctor was super excited for his growth spurt! No wonder he can touch the ground on his little car now. I’ve updated this post with percentiles, etc.

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Not the Best Holiday Track Record

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Remember Easter this year?

I actually didn’t. Just the other day I was asking Tom if we made it to sunrise service on Easter, and couldn’t remember why we didn’t. Oh yeah, we were all super sick. We’ve actually been doing really well since then, even managing to dodge a few outbreaks of hand, foot, mouth at daycare!

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Sick, We've Got It

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Oh have we got it.

Poor Bubba's had it pretty bad.  He was fighting off a virus for about a week, but seemed happy.  Then came the puking.  Oh so much puking.  At daycare.  At home.  On me.  On the bed.  On the floor.  Everywhere.  Just when he seemed like he was getting better, he got hit with another virus/cold.  Suddenly he wasn't eating, not acting like his self, all stuffy, and hit with a fever.

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TEN Months

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Nick Names: Bubba, Sweetness, Love bug
Height: 28 inches (Estimated - No doctor's appointment)
Weight: 19.5 pounds (Estimated)
Special Outings: Still going to count the trip to Florida, since that was also part of this month
Visitors: Alice and family, plus we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa!
Loves: Exploring, playing with friends, trips to Target, his moo cow, mooing, the kitty
Hates: Throwing up, being hungry, not being able to sleep when he's tired