by dose id duffed up

...and my throat...and my ears...

That about sums it up from the Land of Sick out here. Lordy. What a couple weeks it's been. If you recall from the birthday post, Ari had been acting rather strange and cranky the week prior to his birthday. Seems he was coming down with Monster Bug. Last week he had his 12 month well visit scheduled with our new pediatrician, which quickly turned into a sick visit as he was sporting a fever, aches and a general I'm-not-happy-do-something-now-ness. Our lovely pediatrician (who, it turns out, isn't quite as open-minded as our Ann Arbor doc when it comes to alternate vaccination schedules) did the requisite examination, which offended Ari no end, and pronounced him with a virus. "There's nothing we can do. Go home. Rest. Plenty of fluids. Motrin." But she said it in a very nice way.

The fever topped off at 103.6 Saturday morning and croup started on Monday followed by another doctor visit on Tuesday. I never thought I'd willingly shoot my kid up with steroids but when she said it would decrease the inflammation of his vocal cords and possibly give us a good night's sleep, Sascha and I proclaimed a unanimous "yes". So we've been in and out of steamy bathrooms to soothe his congestion, pushing Motrin and fluids (to which he royaly turns his nose) and watching way more TV than is healthy for a one year old. He's been getting better pretty much every day and we actually went to the playground yesterday. Hey, he can't quite walk yet but he can still crawl around and get all kinds of dirty...that's fun in itself. On the down side, Ari's developed quite a love affair with the television...

Also on the down side, I have contracted this unnamed virus as well and am currently sampling several cold/flu/sinus drugs on the market trying to find one that actually works and "gives you back your energy", as one well-known (ahem-DayQuil-ahem, excuse me) drug claims. Bullshit. Whomever was taking that crap definitely wasn't a stay at hom mom. "Gives you back your energy", my ass. However, combine the DayQuil with Advil and a little caffeine and you have a rootin'tootin' cocktail.

Better go, Sleeping/Coughing Beauty, calls!

FYI

The walker car video has been updated a few posts below...I hope it has sound...the sound isn't working on my laptop right now.

birthday boy

I cannot believe we've been doing this for a year. In some ways, it seems as if it's been 20 years...in other ways, like we just started doing this last week. Probably symbolic of how a parent feels...20 years older than they actually are...yet still feeling as if they don't know what the hell they're doing. Yep, that's about it. Sascha and I were reflecting a bit ago about the year, itself. It's been kind of a tough one. Ari's start-out was rough for us, we didn't take easily to parenthood (i.e. indentured serventhood), he didn't take easily to life on this planet, then working to get a house ready to sell, finding a place to live out here, moving out here...it's been...full.

And so, Sunday we celebrated Ari's first birthday. This day came on the down end of a 7-day monster-fest-extroardiaire. I don't know if it's a developmental thing - capping off the first year with a weeklong let's-see-if-we-can-get-mom-to-jump-off-a-cliff test - or if Ari was really suffering from some form of sickness. Sascha and I are both leaning towards the latter. The poor little bugger just hasn't been himself.

In that spirit, we gingerly set out Sunday morning to celebrate Birthday #1. We had big (i.e. foolish) plans. Pfizer was hosting a Family Fun Day at the Padres stadium (baseball)...a pasttime we try to never pass up...so we decided to celebrate at the ball park as well. Started the day with a little pre-party present opening, which (of course) called for a nap later. We ended up getting to the stadium about 90 minutes late, but what the hell. Ari had a blast - crawled on the grassy hill outside the stadium and "picnicked" on Cheerios, danced in the stadium to all of the kickin' music, flirted with Sascha's female co-workers. It was a lot of fun for us, as well. For one thing, I got to get out and have some adult conversation for a change. With beer. Not bad. My big social thing for the past month has been the weekly story hour at the San Diego Public Library. They don't serve beer at the library...and you can only sing "teddybear fingers, teddybear toes" so many times before you start to feel a little insanity creeping in around the edges. And so, the ball game was a welcome diversion.

We came home when Ari's meter was reading empty, had a rough afternoon but finally managed to pull it together enough for cake and presents that evening. The cake went over like gangbusters (God Bless Duncan Hines). I've never seen him eat anything new so fast and his attitude immediately changed from "what the hell are you doing to me?" to "dude, rock on". All sugared up and ready to go, he rip-roared through present-opening like a champ and played hard core until it was time for bed. All in all, a good day.

giddyup

Ari's newest thing...playing 'horsey'. If I'm playing on the floor with him, he'll walk around to my back, grab onto my shoulders and pull himself up. Then we'll "gallop" around the house. The horsey gets tired pretty quickly (try this...hold an 18 lb sack of flour on your back...one that wiggles....and then do a little halting trot/run...in circles...for 10 minutes). He also likes to look at himself in the mirror while he's on my back (hence the picture taken in the mirror). I woke up with a weird backache yesterday morning but couldn't figure out why. It hit me later today when I was being "horsey" again. Yes, it's tiring. But it's also awfully cute.

Other new things he's up to (to make up for my self-involved rant yesterday): Standing on his own (not standing UP on his own yet). Walking up to three steps alone. Eating with a fork (loves the fork). Eating from my plate appears to be more fun for him, too. I swear he said "mama" twice yesterday. "Draws" with a pencil on paper...did this on his own without any prompting from me. Is communicating a lot more clearly with us - or maybe we're just getting better at understanding - he tells us when he's done with something, when he wants something, when he's happy that we've done the thing he wants, when he wants to go outside to play...can't remember much else and this list is probably getting a little dull for some of you (grin).

I'll write an update at the end of this weekend. It's Ari's first birthday Sunday and we're going to a Padres game. Should make for an interesting weekend.

rantings and SOS

Warning: below rant holds no mention if Adorable Ari's development, it is strictly About Me.

By some strange, unknown turn of events, I have become Housewife*. Now, I'm not sure how this has happened. I had never planned on becoming Housewife. And yet. Here it is. Housewives clean (I'm not that organized). Housewives do laundry (this I can do...it just takes three days). Housewives cook. This last point has me completely flummoxed. Which is why I am summoning the spirits, i.e. you guys. Please help. If you have any tips, protocols, processes (I know, I'm turning this into a Vice President position) to make cooking, grocery shopping, meal prep easier...especially if those tips include a way to do it with a whining one year old clinging to your leg throughout the entire ordeal...please pass them on! Any easy-to-prepare recipes, cookbook recommendations, websites... Bear in mind, I really don't know what I'm doing in the kitchen.

Well, I guess I may as well pull out the big guns...if you have any tips on making life easier/more organized with a one year old...running errands, getting work done around the house, having time to yourself (should that ever happen)...please pass that on as well. I used to think I was an organized individual, but becoming Mother has blown that idea right out of the water.

Finally, if I am idealizing this prospect of being "organized" or the idea that it is possible to make the above experiences "easier"...please let me know. It'd be great to know that I am not the only one feeling that life is just a whirl of chaos, dirt, dried-on-the-chin Cheerios, cat hair stuck to almost everything, crying/whining/teething, backaches, and Mommy-clinging-in-the-grocery-store-when-he-doesn't-want-to-ride-in-the-cart. However, if I, God forbid, am the only one going through all of this...would the rest of you-in-the-know please either help me out or help me find a cheap daycare so I can go back to work!

*In using the term Housewife here, the author implies no negative connotation whatsoever. Please do not become angry with the author. The attached frustration is merely due to the fact that said author does not make a good Housewife...or Mother, at times. But she is working on it.

tequila dreams

I just heard from a college friend, with whom I'm really horrible at keeping in touch, that she has a new baby. Now, by sheer coincidence, I was looking through some old photos last week and came across a picture of her doing a tequila shot...with the resulting "ughhh" face close behind. I have dozens of pictures in this genre. Two whole photo albums, in fact. Which begs the question, how on earth did we (and those like us) become mothers? How we made it to motherhood, without severe alcohol poisoning, is beyond me.

And yet...here we are. Joyous. Slippery with sunscreen and slobber. Tearful...or wiping their tears when the ear infection is ouchie beyond words. Which brings me to my next point...

We started our quest to find a new pediatrician out here. I "interviewed" our first doc this week...Filled out three sheets of paperwork while holding onto a squirming Ari, after repeatedly asking the receptionist if this was necessary for a simple consult. Waited 45 minutes for a 15 minute "interview" that turned into an examination (after informing the doc twice that it was a consult) with a $15 copay. Afterwards, I found myself outside on the sidewalk wondering what the heck just happened. Was I just "processed" (I detest being processed). Do doctors not do a quick, no-money-involved consult anymore? All I wanted to do was see if I liked this doctor and/or the clinic for Ari. On the plus side, he found a nicely matured infection festering in Ari's right ear (so that's why he's been grabbing his ear, I had thought it was because of the teething. Mom Radar down, apparently). So now the little bugger's on an antibiotic. Luckily, it tastes of grape.

Otherwise, Ari's week was mostly about the resurrection of toys from patio purgatory. When we moved in, there was just no room to put his big exersaucer and walker-car. So they were relegated to the patio for the time being (i.e. 3 weeks). Hey, it doesn't rain here. No prob, right? Huh. The prob is that the sun beats down like Satan from Hades here (or whatever simile you'd like to employ). We now are the proud owners of a yellow, blue and pink walker car. Ari doesn't seem to mind. After I cleaned them up and brought them inside, you'd think he'd never seen them before. Oh joy. And I unabashedly plopped him in the exersaucer in front of his Baby Einstein DVD three times this week...so I enjoyed them all over again as well. Seriously, though, here's a video of the kid learning how to walk behind his walker car. That was really fun for us and Ari was SO proud. He's learned how to do it on his own now...however, the car's really too big for our living room and keeps getting snagged on furniture...a constant source of irritation for him, which is a little funny for us.

month #1 - down

Well, we've been living in this condo for a full month. And while the passage of time hasn't made me feel much better about leaving home, at least I don't feel much worse. Funny, I never thought of myself as a home-body before but I guess Fate has proven (proved?) me wrong. Or maybe, I had just finally found a place where I felt that I was Home. At the very least, there go all of my jet-set fantasies, right out the window. Goodbye "living in Paris for a year"...goodbye whisking off to Peru. Maybe someday.

On a lighter note, Sascha (God bless him) forced my ass out of the house today and we took a family outing to Coronado. Ever hear of it? Cool small-town-on-an-island in San Diego. I totally dig Coronado. There, we stumbled upon a Labor Day festival in the town square park...kids circling on bicycles, children swinging on the playground, folks dancing the two-step, picnic-ers, and band playing in the pavilion. I was expecting resorts, palm trees and rich people. What I got was middle America 20 miles north of the border. Rock on.

There was ice cream, too. As Sascha so delicately displays below...

squishy banana thoughts - a tip from Ari's high chair

Raw fruit chunks are too slippery for little fingers to pick up (hell, it's too slippery for my fingers to pick up). Crush up a teething biscuit, cookie, cracker, etc. and roll the fruit around in it. Makes it a lot easier, and less frustration-inducing, to pick up. This also works for those times you've had one too many during dinner and are trying to eat with your fingers.

Huh.

Maybe everyone else already knows this trick.

And here I thought I was finally ahead of the game.

Shucks.