Random Thoughts

Despite our best efforts, K has come down with the plague as well. He woke up one morning with the telltale goopy eye and had to stay home for two days to avoid spreading it to his coworkers. Now the two of us take turns shaking the bed with our coughs at night. Last night I didn't realize that K was right behind me until he aimed a sharp cough at the back of my head. If was, ahem, a few pounds lighter I might've flown out of bed, instead I unsuccessfully suppressed an expletive from flying out my mouth and rolled about indignantly like a turtle on its back.


I should but I can't stop reading the news. It makes me sick to my stomach, but the incredible gall of some people never ceases to fascinate me, dude, I feel guilty if I don't put the grocery shopping cart back after unloading my purchases. The AIG bonuses, the Madoff ponzi scheme, Cheney's lovely remarks about the state of the economy. But then I get depressed thinking about how I see this on a smaller (yes, much smaller) scale everyday as well. The people in the parking garage at work who never arrive on time to move their car, fully expecting the rest of us to just drive around them, risking damage to our own cars (am I bitter, just a little bit). Also people who will stop in the middle of the road to answer their cell phones...wtf?!

Had a weird craving for blue tortilla chips and salsa yesterday...so I went crazy. Let's just say that it's a good thing it was one of the smaller bags from Trader Joe's and not the Costco brand chips...and it was unsalted too! Spivey asked me the other day about the cravings I've been having during this pregnancy. Chocolate! I have to have it in some form every day. I'm normally not a milk drinker but I bought a quart of organic chocolate milk and downed it in two days. Also Hansen's natural cane soda, I can't be without it! I absolutely love the Black Cherry flavor but then discovered the new Pomegranate flavor at Trader Joe's. There must've been some sort of stampede in the soda aisle when this one made it's debut because while the other flavors were being sold by the six pack, had to get this one by the can. I bought one can, finished it that day and of course now it haunts me...I need more.

Pig's poop has taken an even nastier turn. Kris usually changes the #2 diapers these days but the other day I was home alone with Pig and as she ran by me, my super sensitive pregnancy nose caught a whiff of something noxious which I had to investigate. Great Caesar's ghost was it awful. I dry heaved so bad my lower back cracked. We had planned on introducing Pig to the potty in a few months and really seriously potty training when she's close to two....but after meeting that last turd...I dunno, maybe earlier is better.

Date's been Set

So looks like we have an arrival date for Moo, April 9th, 10 am. I am to report to the hospital at 8 am for lab work and surgery prep. As my sister said after I told her, it's strange to set your child's birthdate, like setting up a fedex pickup time. Also weird, my son's birthdate will be an all purpose household cleanser, 4/09...easy to remember at least.

K is open to having more kids but I am set on only having two. I loved having a sibling so I wanted to give my kids that experience. But as pregnancy has been just way too debilitating for me, I've decided that two is enough for me. I really want to be finished with the childbearing portion of my life so that I can focus on being with the family I have. I spent most of my first trimester holed away in my room, missing out on precious time with Pig and now in this last trimester, I find that I can't keep up with her. Often I watch her play while seated in a chair even though I'd love to just plop on the ground with her.

I do feel sad at times knowing that this time next year, my final baby will be toddling around like his sister is now and that we'll pack up the little onesies and baby toys away for good. I got a little verklempt yesterday as I watched Pig's earlier video clips back before she could roll over. But then I think about all the great things to look forward to, like watching my babies develop into little people.

For example, Pig's language skills sharpen everyday. I can't wait for the day when my child can tell me what she needs from me so that I won't have to guess. One of the hardest things is to guess where she hurts and treating her based on my best guess. I look forward to Pig being able to tell me that she's still hungry or thirsty. Currently, we're not sure if she declines food because she's sick of it or because she's full, there are some days when she'll eat and eat and eat and then I start to wonder if I'm starving her on other days when she only takes a few mouthfuls and quits.

Anyway, back to language skills. For the past few days, Pig has been singing to herself, sounded like total gibberish to me, "eee oooh eee!" She'd sing this over and over. One day, while she was sitting in her highchair ready for her dinner, she started singing again. So just for fun, I repeated it after her. Then she got excited and said in response "oooo ooooh eeee!" Then I realized, dude, my kid's singing the Barney song ("I Love You, You Love Me"). I had known that her daycare provider sang that to her when she had trouble sleeping. So we started singing those two lines over and over again because unfortunately at the time mommy only knew the crude parody version of the Barney song so had to stop after the first two lines.

So needless to say, we're more on the alert in the hopes of picking up more.

Sleep...I miss you so

Still got pinkeye, hopefully the drops I'm using will wipe it out soon. In the meantime, I wake up twice to clean the goop oozing out of my eyes and go down to the kitchen to rummage around for something cool to relieve my sore throat. Perhaps nature's way of preparing me for Moo.

Methinks Pig is cutting another pair of teeth, most likely her molars. She's been whiny as of late and prone to sudden bursts of irritability and clinginess, strange for our usually sunny, independent little child. Today for instance, we sat her in her high chair, on the menu, boneless pork chops with a balsamic honey mustard glaze, rice and green salad. (Side note: I've always been afraid of boneless pork chops but finding it easier and easier each time, the trick being to find the thickest chop, pan searing and finishing in the oven with onions and a nice thick glaze)

Our pediatrician encouraged us to let Pig feed herself more and more so she could achieve that heady feeling of triumph that comes with successfully using utensils. So our practice these days has been to give Pig her own spoon and we'd do the primary feeding with another spoon. Pig already in a bad mood, immediately hurled her spoon to the floor. We said bye-bye to that spoon. K tried to feed with the spoon he was holding and girlfriend had a major cow. Started pushing her dad's hands away and flicking the food out of it. After a few tries, we decided to let her chill on her own. We continued eating and chatting as she yelled and whined and made funny faces and finally threw her high chair tray to the ground. We said bye-bye to the tray.

It wasn't until I got up to clear the table that she settled down and realized that this meal was marching on with or without her. She then proceeded to eat the rest of her meal, granted her daddy helped it along by slathering it with lots of cold applesauce.

Then during her shower, she cried when we stood her in the stall...very unusual, she normally loves any form of bathing. Some whining while her dad diapered and dressed her. It's gotta be teething and judging from the uber-crankiness, it's gotta be the molars. Further proof, my friend E's daughter who's 2 weeks older than Pig is currently cutting her bottom molars and these two chicks have been twins when it comes to their developmental milestones. Also, Pig has been sucking down her nighttime bottles and the other night she slept fretfully, we thought it was a sneaky, nighttime poop but nope, all was clean.

Well back to bed, let's see if I can get in a few more hours.

The Pig Personality

The Pig at 15 months

She is walking quite well, will occasionally take a tumble but learning quickly how to balance herself. She's discovered that to put her shoes on (or daddy's shoes on), she should hold onto something stable first.

She is a dancing fool. My sister, her Emo, visited for a week and demonstrated some great Indian dance moves as we listened to Chaiyya Chaiyya on youtube.com. Pig stared intensely for a few seconds and threw herself wildly into it, her arms were a fat little blur as she waved them about. She was sitting in her high chair which I thought just might flip over from the force of her dancing.

Girlfriend got herself a temper. Pig and Emo were playing with a plastic laundry basket. Emo held onto the basket as Pig climbed in. I was doing the dishes when all of a sudden I hear a loud shriek of anger. I come running to find Pig standing and glaring back at the basket and her Emo rolling with laughter. (Apparently, Pig got stuck trying to get out of the basket) Then in a huff she turned around, shaking her hands and yelling, "No-no, no-no!" She then proceeded to take her anger out on the kitchen cupboards. But she soon got over it and she and the basket have since reconciled.

(to be continued..)

34 Weeks...have mercy

At my last ob apptmt (a week ago), the doc estimated that Moo is already weighing in at 6.5 lbs. O..M...G...and still a month left to go. I really don't think my body can handle getting any bigger...I have long since lost sight of my Flintstone sized feet, I no longer turn around in front of the mirror to get a glimpse of my derriere, there's no point, I already know the answer to the question does this make my butt look big...yes, indeedy. I have a waddle that could easily fool a passel of Emperor Penguins into thinking that I'm one of them. I am currently sporting a lovely skin tone that could only be described as fishbelly white and so I laughed long and hard when K suggested that don one of my old bikinis and join himself and Pig during her Saturday morning baby swim class. AND, because I wasn't beautiful enough, I've also caught bacterial conjunctivitis (aka pinkeye) from Pig and am now walking around with swollen, bloodshot eyes, oozing yellow and green discharge from the tearducts.

Oh yeah, I know you want a piece of this now.

Pig's pinkeye is doing much better thank goodness, she's on antibiotics and responding well. I will hopefully get treatment tomorrow from my GP. In the meantime, we're hoping that K stays pinkeye free, we've got separate towels and several bottles of hand sanitizer around, so fingers crossed.

Update

It was the croup after all. Pig's ped prescribed steroids and told K that that night (Friday) would be the worst but would slowly get better. The likely viral host was a little boy at Pig's daycare who ended up hospitalized so I stayed worried. So we had another sleepless night but at least we knew what we were up against and had a plan. K took Pig into our shower and created a steam sauna, the two of them emerging with matching hairdos and drowsy expressions. The medication was administered and humidifier filled to the brim and the night began...

Saturday was a mucous-y, cranky day. Pig was over-tired and unhappy with the world. She was still to sick to really do anything other than play around the house so we skipped her first swim lesson that morning and hung out, fighting a mountain of mucuous that was pouring out of her nose. She got another steam shower and then we decided to forego the steroids since the nose was bothering her more and try a small dose of baby Benadryl and a little baby vapo-rub.

Sunday was a bit better. She slept a bit more Saturday night so not as cranky. K took Anoki to the vet, got a refill on the pain meds, more about this later.

And other news, K has to watch his cholesterol. I'd been nagging and nagging him about eating more and better and after getting a printout from our GP and a little lecture, he finally believes.

I hate this weather.

Sick again

Poor Pig was up all night coughing, groaning, whimpering, and crying...and we have no freaking idea why. It wasn't at all like her usual colds....she managed to sleep through most of the night when she had her sinus infection last year....but this time, she'd wake up every 30-45 minutes or so. I'd walk into her room and find her poor sleepy little self sitting up, holding her stuffed animal and crying.

She was having trouble breathing so we made sure her humidifier had plenty of water and turned down the heat to 69. Usually that would help her get through the night. Nope. So we gave her a large drink of water thinking her throat was dry from mouth breathing. Nope. So around 3 am, we changed her diaper, gave her a dose of baby tylenol, administered saline nasal drops, suctioned out her nostrils, and some more water. Not really. She slept for maybe a few hours and then woke up again fretful.

I'm afraid it's croup. K is taking Pig to her pediatrician today so fingers crossed that it's only a teeny cold.