OH NO!

Jackson's latest trick is smacking himself on the forehead and exclaiming "Oh no!" in a very dramatic fashion.  It kills me every time! 

His language skills are really coming along!  He will try to put 2-3 words together to get his point across.  Tonight, I was making pasta for his dinner, and he wanted to see what I was doing (on the stove).  I showed him once, then he wanted to see again and said, "Tata [pasta] see 'gin [again]?"  He's definitely trying and showing a lot of improvement, but still far from where a lot of kids his age are.  However, I see a number of areas where he excels, so it all balances out, I guess.

This summer should be a lot of fun!  I signed up for the local pool again, and even though it opens at a very inconvenient 12noon, we'll be spending a number of afternoons there (after his nap, which ends between 3-4pm).  I'm excited!  Jackson's really been slightly crazy about water, especially when it comes from the hose.  He's obsessed with the hose and asks to play with it every time we're outside.  We know when he does play with it, everything will be wet, including him!

Last weekend, Paul and I finally assembled the new swing set!  It's a nice wooden one that his dad graciously paid half for (as a birthday/Christmas gift).  We weren't really expecting that (it was a little pricey, which we were totally prepared for), but it was certainly nice of him to do!  Jackson likes the set a lot!

The weather is finally warming up!  Enjoy!

An amazing Mother's Day

Today was a great day!  We woke up this morning, got ourselves cleaned up and out the door just after 8am.  We had breakfast at Colonial (OMG the smoked salmon benedict was AMAZING!), then headed out to see my nephew, Michael, play lacrosse.  It was a fun game and close to home, which was nice!  We then took Jackson to a really cool park we've wanted to visit.  They had mambo slides, but he seemed more interested in just going up and down the stairs. 

After the park, we walked to a little Mexican restaurant where we ate really bad food (I'd never been there, and I probably won't be going back anytime soon, but I'm glad we tried it...I've been curious about the place...).  Jackson was screamy in the restaurant, which was kind of a bummer, but he's 2 so we can't expect much else from him right now (but we can always hope!).

We came home, put Jackson down for a nap, and I laid on the couch catching up on Tivo while Paul ran to the local butcher to get something good for dinner.  He came home, and I napped while he rubbed my head (aahhhhhh).  Jackson woke up and the 3 of us went outside to play.  I climbed a tree to trim some dead branches.  Jackson got a hold of the hose and soaked himself. 

We came in and gave Jackson a bath before dinner, then ate a really DELICIOUS feast prepared by Paul.  We put Jackson to bed after that, and Paul and I had ice cream sandwiches.

All in all, it was a perfect Mother's Day.  I spent the whole day relaxing and watching my 2 boys.  I reflected on where I was 10 years ago, and how much my life has changed (for the better!!), and how I can't imagine doing anything else with anyone else.  I truly love my husband, and my child is my life, and while things aren't always perfect, I feel so happy!! 

Happy Mother's Day to all mother's out there!

2 months?

It's been almost 2 months since my last post, and a crazy 2 months it's been. Thankfully, most health issues are behind us and life can continue on as it should. I still have my gallbladder, and it's fine for now. I reached the deduction on our medical insurance so I'll be hitting every doctor this side of the Mississippi River in the next few months (for anything and everything minor).

Jackson's been amazing lately! I have to say, while we do have days with a lot of ups and downs (mostly ups), I'm really liking this age! I never thought I'd say that, but there are so many sweet things that we're sharing now, and it's FUN! His language is really coming along, too. It seems to improve with each passing week. He's even been putting 2 words together. He's starting to get the idea that he's the baby, I'm the baby mom, and Paul's the baby dad. He points this out quite a bit as if something in him has clicked. He still knows all his letters and is starting to "see" letters in everything, including food. He'll bite into something round (pancake, slice of cucumber, etc) and declare it a letter. It's awesome to watch this develop in him! He's so aware of so much, and responsive as well, which is something I don't see in other kids his age. Pretty remarkable to me.

I've been babysitting for some time now for a friend's son named Angus. Jenny (his mom) just had another baby in Feb, so now Vhairi is in the mix. I had all 3 for the first time this week and it was chaotic at times, but not too bad! Handling the baby is bringing back good memories of when Jackson was that small---all the little habits he had. She gives lots of beautiful smiles so that's nice! I'm making a small amount of money doing this---not much, but it'll pay for groceries each week.

The 3 of us had our first family vacation to the Ozarks a few weeks ago. It was a good time, though different for Paul and me. We're used to going on vacation, sleeping in, watching movies, eating and drinking tons, having tons of freedom. This was so different having to keep a 2 year old entertained. It wasn't hard by any stretch, just different and not very vacationy at times. But it was great to spend time together as a family!

We have a lot of things coming up: tree planting in the yard, new swingset, lots of parties in the next few months. I hope it'll be a fun summer! Speaking of which, I need to go get a pool pass for Jackson and me. I joined last year, not really sure what to expect, and we enjoyed being able to go! The pool doesn't open until noon each day so we weren't able to go until after his nap. It'll be the same this year, but we'll definitely make the effort to go!

More sooner! (I hope to not wait another 2 months to write!)

Sayonara February!

I'm so glad to see February go! Now, in any given year, I'm always glad to put one more month of winter behind me. This year, it's for completely different reasons. We've had a mild winter, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE. Unfortunately, this has been a bit overshadowed by health problems. Nothing too serious, but annoying nonetheless.

It started with my gallbladder problems at the start of the month. Paul's company had just switched insurance carriers, so we hadn't even gotten our new cards, numbers, or any paperwork when I went to the ER. We do now have all that so things are a bit easier when we go to the doctor now.

Last week, I started coughing, which led to a fever and horrible sinus infection. Then over the weekend, thanks to all the coughing, my back "went out." Here we are 4 days later and I'm still dealing with back spasms that no pain killer can even touch. I went to the chiropractor yesterday and, in attempting to test my range of motion, I burst into tears because the spasms were so bad. It was awful, and still is. I'm absolutely miserable right now. I was lucky to have my mom here on Monday and my mother-in-law here yesterday to watch Jackson. Without the 2 of them, I'd be a lot worse off.

Of course, when one of us gets sick, someone else follows, and that would be Jackson. I took him to see his doctor today and he has croup. Poor thing is coughing and sneezing, his nose is running, yet he's still a very energetic 2 year old who isn't going to let a little phlegm (or a laid-up Mommy) slow him down!

So February, it's been real but now it's time for you to G-O go. I, for one, won't miss you. Here's hoping for an extra healthy March!!

Letters

A funny story about our visit to the eye doctor yesterday....

We 3 had our annual appointments yesterday. Yes, even Jackson went and had his own little exam. I don't really understand how they know things, but they seem to. I was sitting in the chair with Jackson on my lap. The doctor wanted to test how far he could see, so he starts to pull out some symbol cards, saying, "I'm sure Jackson doesn't really know his letters yet, so let's try some symbols." I could tell this would require him to use vocabulary he probably doesn't have, so I immediately told the doctor that no, the letters might be a better bet. So he shined them up on the wall, and wouldn'tcha know it, my boy nailed all of them.

Jackson has a habit of saying the letter, then following it with the sound of that letter. When we were teaching him some words, we would use the sound of the first letter, and he now does that as well, so please comes out, "Puh-puh-peeeeze." I did this initially to distinguish between a P and B sound, which he has trouble with, and it sort of backfired on me. I'm sure one day, he'll just say PEEEEEZE. Either way, it's damn cute when he does it. ☺

So he rocked his letters at the eye doctor yesterday, and the doctor was totally impressed! That's my boy!

A post about....wait for it....

JACKSON! This month has brought all kinds of interesting new developments where Jackson's concerned, not only in his speech but his actions as well.

Today, we had the fair-haired Angus visiting. Angus is the son of a friend who comes to visit most Friday mornings. His mother, Jenny, is about the nicest person I've EVER met. That's no exaggeration. She doesn't read this blog so I'm not saying that to suck up to her. HA! Anyway, Angus is 3 weeks younger than Jackson, and when he's here, I can't help but compare the two. I know how wrong this is, but it's a natural thing. Please don't give me shit for it.

Angus and Jackson are similar in so many ways. Simlar temperament, similar speech delay, similar developmental patterns. It's really fun (and interesting!) for me to watch the 2 of them together. Right now, a lot of what they do involves parallel play. They do play together, though not often, and they really don't argue much, which is nice. Angus has been in speech therapy for several months now, and it's really helping him. His vocabulary is much more full than Jackson's, though his delay is still noticeable (compared to what many 2 year old's should be at...emphasis on SHOULD). He has a good command of sh- and ch-, and a few other double-consonant combinations, which Jackson doesn't.

Speech-wise, Jackson still has a lot of trouble. One area of trouble for him is the difference between M and B. This is getting better, but today I was trying to get him to say Boom and it kept coming out Moom. He can say Boo, and he can say Moo, but he can't say Boom. I've been trying to get him to say Elmo, which he still says as Eyo (sometimes, it also sounds like How). He can say the 2 syllables separately, but can't put them together. Same with the name Abby (we watch a lot of Sesame Street here!). He calls her Ah-oh. Sometimes, I have a really hard time understanding HOW he gets the combination of sounds that he does.

Jackson's doing a lot more this month that he hasn't done before. He can now reach most of the light switches in the house. So far, he hasn't abused this (i.e. I haven't found lights on in rooms where I haven't turned them on), but he can definitely reach them.

He's also does this funny thing at the dinner table. He sits in a wooden high chair (minus the tray) right at the table. Tonight, he was eating and got something on his hands. He HATES having anything mess up his hands, and I was out of range to wipe them, so he stood up, reached to the lazy Susan in the center of the table, swung it around, and grabbed himself a napkin. I laughed so hard when I saw this! My little boy is certainly growing up!

Unfortunately, Jackson's still hitting me, but we're both getting better about this---I'm learning how to avoid situations where he might feel compelled to hit me, thus he's hitting less these days. He's throwing more tantrums when he doesn't get his way, but we've become quite adept at ignoring those. He definitely likes to have a lot of control over what's happening. Quite often, I'll ask him if he wants something and he'll immediately say no, then turn around and want what I've asked him. This is happening more and more, and I know it's just an issue of control. For now, I'll let him think he has it (or maybe he really does??!).

Every day is a learning experience for me with this little boy. I love him more than my life, and love each new thing that comes along!

Oh, the gall!

I have a fritzy gallbladder! A week ago (last Thurs), I started having pain in my gut that sent me to the ER that night. Things were ruled out, and I was sent to a gallbladder test the next day, which showed I have a low-functioning GB (no stones). I've seen a gastroenterologist, who will be doing an endoscopy tomorrow morning. I'm actually quite excited about this---the last time I had this test was in Japan. They don't put you out there like they do here, so I was totally awake for it (what I remembered most was seeing my reflection in the glass door of a cabinet...think "deer in the headlights" and that pretty much sums that up!). I'm really curious to know what they find down there. From what I've read (and that's been A LOT so far), this is pretty standard procedure. I have an appointment to see a surgeon next week to talk about options.

The funniest part of all this is how many people are coming out of the woodwork to tell me about their horrible experiences, and how I shouldn't have it removed, blah blah blah. The thing is, most of these people I've been in contact with have had gallstones, which is a much different protocol than what I'm going through. Mine is not an emergency, nor am I in pain 24/7. Thanks to a low-fat diet, my pain has been significantly reduced and I'm feeling pretty fine right now. I appreciate the advice people have given me, but it kind of irks me that no one really takes into consideration that what they went through might be different than what I'm going through. Anyway...

Jackson's speech is still slowly coming along. Last night, he shocked both Paul and me by saying "banana," which he's never said before (he doesn't like eating them, so they're not high on his need-to-know list). He knows all his letters and the sounds they make (thank you LeapFrog!), but he's not really on the path to learning to spell. In fact, neither of us is pushing for that right now. I'm reading an interesting book on typical 2 year old behavior, and they stress not pushing kids into learning things too quickly (like spelling and reading). We haven't pushed the alphabet on him, though we've encouraged it, and his desire to learn it has seemed more natural than forced, so we consider it to be ok. We're certainly not going to discourage it!

One of these days, I'm going to write about my neighbor. It's too much to get into right now. Suffice it to say, it's quite the story. I'll keep you hanging with that...

How could he do it?

Earlier this afternoon, I read an article about Josh Powell, the man who's wife Susan disappeared over 2 years ago, seemingly without a trace. She left behind 2 young boys, and suspicion always fell on her husband but there was never enough evidence to prove he had anything to do with her disappearance. Today, he allegedly blew himself and his 2 boys up after they were dropped off for a supervised visit.

I've heard of this happening with other parents, those who kill their children (some succeed in killing themselves as well). Andrea Yates from TX, Susan Smith from SC, Marilyn Lemak from Naperville...the list goes on. Many of these parents, if still alive, are left to contemplate their actions while living behind bars or in a mental facility.

I don't get it. I don't know how a person can kill his/her own child or children. What's even more confusing to me is why these kids weren't getting help in the first place. Josh Powell's kids were getting help and should have remained in the custody of their maternal grandparents. There are flaws in the system---I get that---but these things still manage to happen.

Does it ever click in the parent's head to let the child go? To let him/her live? Especially if the parent intends to kill himself/herself? Why not just let the child live?

Stupid questions with no answers. It just made me so sad to read that article today. The Cox family (the boys' maternal grandparents) have suffered enough, losing their daughter, and now this. My heart goes out to them.

Tonight, I looked at my beautiful boy who wasn't the best boy today, but I can't imagine any act that would make me want to harm one hair on his little body. That would make me want to take his life. I'm grateful to not be psychotic enough to do anything harmful to my son. Sorry for rambling tonight. Just a lot of thoughts scrambling around in my head.

How it all began...

For some reason, I feel compelled to write about how Paul and I met. Most people know the story (or stories!), but I want to have something in writing in case this blog still exists in 50 years and I'm old and decrepit and don't remember anything then. This could get long...you've been warned. Here it goes.

Paul and I met probably close to 20 years ago for the first time. We had a mutual friend, Michelle (someone I went to college with, but I don't remember how he and Michelle met). Michelle took me to a dragon boat race on the Fox River to participate with Paul and a gaggle of his co-workers. I remember thinking he was so cute, and probably the nicest guy I'd met in a long time. I don't remember much about the race though, nor about anything else going on at that time.

At some point, maybe days later, I tagged along with Michelle to a bar in St. Charles where we met a big group of friends she hung out with, Paul being among them. The bar was a confetti bar, and the floor was covered in about 3-5 inches of little paper confettis, as if someone sat for years with a hole punch and a lot of paper. My recollection of events leading up to going to the bar are sketchy, but I do remember being there and flirting shamelessly with Paul. He didn't seem all that interested, though that didn't stop me from trying.

At one point, I remember standing in a circle of the friends we were with, next to Paul (to his left). He was holding a cup of beer, and I stood with a handful of confetti. I held it high above his head and let the confetti dribble down the back of his shirt. All of a sudden, he took that beer and flung his hand back, letting go of the beer down the front of my shirt. Now, he says that I was getting confetti in his shirt and that he warned me to stop (I vaguely remember the warning, but CLEARLY remember the beer). I stood there stunned, and Michelle grabbed me and ran us both out the door. I remember walking to her car and saying over and over, "Holy crap, he just dumped a beer on me!"

What followed was about 2 years of avoidance from both of us. Michelle would call and invite me to stuff, and my first question was always, "Will Paul be there?" If he was, I wasn't, and vice versa. It wasn't until about '97 or '98 when Michelle's parents threw themselves a housewarming party. We both found out the other was going to be there, and I relented and let myself be talked into going. At the party, he came up and apologized for what he'd done, and I immediately forgave him. He was so damned nice that I couldn't NOT forgive him. We talked and I told him about living in Japan. He mentioned going to visit a friend in Hong Kong and asked if he could stop in Tokyo on the way for a few days. I thought it was a great idea so we planned it.

Paul came to Japan in February, 1999. He stayed for 3-4 days, and I played tour guide around the city. We even spent the night in Sakai, the town where I lived, and he even went with me to taiko practice while he was there. It was the most fun I'd had there, and I fell head over heels for him, however I had been told (by Michelle) that he had started dating a girl a few weeks before coming to Asia. I knew this while he was there so I had to keep the flirting to a minimum. Hard to do when you're sleeping in the next room (or the same room as we did at the ryokan in Tokyo). After he left, I sent him a letter and told him how much I enjoyed his visit, and said that if he ever found himself single again to contact me. I think there may have been a few emails after that, but then I didn't hear from him again...

...until 2003. Michelle's cancer had relapsed (several times), and we saw each other for the first time (since '99) in September of '03 at a fundraiser for Michelle. We said hi and made small talk, but it was a little uncomfortable. I really hadn't thought of him much in those years before. For the next few months, we would pass each other in the hospital hallways on occasion while visiting Michelle, and I think he was at a sleepover she had one night with her friends (he's always been "one of the girls!").

In late January 2004, I got an email from him early one week (a Tues?), asking if I'd be free to go to a musical that Saturday. He had tickets to a matinée in the city and no one to go with. I had nothing going on so I went. And I went with absolutely NO expectations. I mean, I'd already struck out twice and I certainly wasn't going to go for strike 3. I went, and we had a great time. It was in the early afternoon and we went out to dinner afterwards (I was suppose to pay, per my suggestion, but had forgotten my credit card!). Then he took me home to my condo where we spent the next 7 (or so) hours talking. And talking. And talking and talking and talking. We were exhausted by 3am but he left after that, and I think he called me every single night after that for months. We would talk and have fun and do stuff together, but it was always just as friends.

One night in May of that year, after having gone out with him for the umpteenth time as a friend, I got an itch to do something to try to move things along. I sent him an email saying I'd had a few too many to drink, and asked him outright what was going on with us. Were we a couple? Were we dating? If not, could we be? I held nothing back. Funny thing was, I was sober as a judge when writing it. I didn't hear back from him that night, nor the next day or the day after that...not even our usual call. I was TERRIFIED that I'd ruined things, and I wrote back to him and apologized, and asked him to please not take it seriously. I heard nothing for about a week when one afternoon, I was leaving my condo to go to a hair appointment. I stepped out the door and saw Paul walking up the sidewalk outside my building. I was puzzled because it was in the 4 o'clock hour, and he normally didn't get off work until 5 or later. He walked up to me holding a bag, and we both stopped in front of each other. I was scared to death, but he looked and me and said, "I think we should date." That was it. He brought me Chinese food to celebrate the moment (which had to wait because I had an appt I had to keep, and he had to leave to go bowling that night). I hugged him, and he left the food in my fridge for later. It was one of the sweetest moments I can remember! I had never been so happy in my life.

That was the beginning to a lovely ride!

Letters

Jackson has a new addiction in his life: LETTERS. He's discovered the alphabet and he loves it! I bought him an alphabet puzzle about a month ago. It's take some time but he's learned where all the letters are, and he can say most of them (though I don't think he understands that there's an actual order to them). He's also been watching a LeapFrog video he got for Christmas called The Letter Factory (it's about letters and the sounds they make). This has been a GREAT teaching tool for him! He can't quite say all the letters yet, but he can identify them and say the sounds for most. If we're wearing shirts that have wording on them, he takes so much time pointing to each letter, prompting us to say the letter for him (though lately we've been able to ask him what it is and he'll say it). It's been really fascinating watching this all progress! Kind of weird that he still can't really talk, but he's obsessed with the alphabet...

Unfortunately, he's still hitting me. I'm getting better at avoiding situations that cause him to strike out, but it's not always easy. The other day, he was swinging at me with both hands, which I grabbed to stop him, and he used his head to bash into my nose. Seriously, I'm starting to feel like an abused woman! Paul has NEVER and would never raise a hand to me, but Jackson sure has. I'm still at a loss as to how to handle it. I feel like I need to talk to someone, but I have no idea who.

Speech-wise, Jackson's slowly adding new words to his vocabulary. We're pretty certain he understands just about everything we say, so I'm having to really work at curbing my potty mouth. Yeesh. He doesn't quite understand opposites yet (like hot/cold, light/dark, up/down), though he does understand most of those words. He can say if something's hot, but if it's cold, he still doesn't know the word for that. He'll say dark when the lights go off, and he knows what a light is, but doesn't really understand the concept of those 2 being opposites. I know this is something that happens later though.

We have a few quiet weekends coming up. Jackson is going to a sleepover at Aunt Cake's this coming Friday, so Daddy and I are going out to dinner and a movie! A REAL DATE! That hasn't happened in a long time!

Hasta luego!

My dilemma

For the past few months, Jackson's been on a hitting spree with me. Basically, any time I do something he doesn't like, he hits me (or attempts to...sometimes, it's just him swinging his arm from across the room). It happens ALL THE TIME, no matter what I do. I could simply walk in the room and he swings. He does it when it's just the 2 of us, or when anyone else is in the room. Sometimes he makes contact, but most of the time he just swings, and I know what it's for.

My problem is, I can't figure out why he's doing this (is it something I did? or he saw?), nor what to do about it. I've read online all the tricks to dealing with this sort of thing: taking his hands, getting on his level, and telling him firmly NO (this just makes him angry and he hits more); separating him and putting him in "the naughty bed" (a portable Pack-n-Play which became a huge source of amusement for him when he realized he could take the bed apart); having him stand in the corner in a time out for 2 minutes ("Oh, look at this cool wall!"); ignoring him altogether (not even possible when he's whacking me in the face with his head). This problem didn't start yesterday, and I gave all these tricks a good shot, but none have worked and I'm at a total loss.

The worst part of it is, I'm really letting it get to me. Seriously, he's TWO and every time he swings at me, it chips away at my soul. I know how stupid that might sound, but I'm taking this VERY personally, as a sign that I've done something terribly wrong (ok...YES, I've spanked him in the past but it's rare!). He occasionally swings at Paul but it's a whole lot less frequent, and only in extreme cases (extreme for Jackson, like if Paul's taken away his favorite toy or denied him access to the toys in the man cave, his favorite play spot these days). He'll swing at me when I'm simply walking into a room. I've never seen him swing or hit any other person, but he spends most of his time with me.

Now, I'm sure I'm going to hear from a few people who call to tell me this is normal and a part of growing up and he's in his terrible two's and he's frustrated because he can't speak and blahblahblah. Maybe someone will tell me that he only does this because he loves me (yeah, I'm not so convinced). What I need is for someone to tell me what to do, to lead me in the right direction where I can make this stop for good and spend the rest of my days raising a beautiful child who loves his family and his dog. I don't even know where to look anymore.

Sorry for the depressing post. I love this boy more than my life and would do anything for him. I'm at a loss on this one though.

Start and finish

I've started a half dozen posts in the last 10 days or so, but I can't seem to finish them. Sometimes, I'm lazy and don't want to finish, or I get interrupted. I don't even know if I'll finish this entry...but I'll try.

First and foremost, Jackson is healthy!! His bout with pneumonia was short-lived, thanks to a couple antibiotics and a steroid. He cleared up right after Christmas and has been doing really well ever since. My goal is to keep him that way!

The worst part of it, in my opinion, has been his eating habits. Before he got sick, he ate really well: daily yogurt, cottage cheese, veggies, etc. During his illness, his appetite went down the tubes and he barely ate. I attributed it to him not feeling well, of course, but some nasty habits developed that we've had a very hard time changing back. No more yogurt, no peas or corn, no cottage cheese...the list goes on. He just simply refuses to eat them. I can't force feed him, so now I'm trying to change the landscape of his diet, so to speak. NOT an easy task with a 2 year old. The good news is he still doesn't like mac 'n cheese. This makes me happy.

The holidays were really nice! Christmas eve with my family was successful (the food turned out really well!), and Christmas day with Paul's family was relatively stress-free! Again, the food there was amazing, so we had a couple good meal days.

The start of 2012 was uneventful. Paul and I stayed in and had our traditional surf 'n turf meal, which was good! Played Bananagrams and got a little tipsy, and both of us were out like lights before midnight. It was a good night, and the next day we had the special treat of staying in our jammies all day and being lazy, playing with Jackson (who, oddly, was dressed in regular clothes), and eating yummy leftovers.

Now that we're back to reality, we're going to attempt some things that we've put off so far (hooking up the big TV, etc). I have my resolutions for the year: redo my office (into an office, instead of a "will it ever be a nursery??" room), be more positive, go out on more dates with Paul, and be more creative. This last one will be the most important (and hopefully) fun one for me. I want to do some canvases for Jackson's room (for the next phase, whatever that is), and other ideas I have, mostly art-related. I miss painting and would love to do something really spectacular for our family room, but I'm stalled. The Eiffel Tower's already been done by me. ☺ HAHA! Next...

Oh, look! I finished! Enjoy!

Well, who knew?

I ended up taking Jackson back to the doctor today. For those of you counting, that makes 3 visits in 8 days. Last Friday, I was told all was clear (lungs, ears, etc). Today: a whole new story. Jackson has pneumonia in his left lung. Now, I realize how serious that sounds, and it is, however he's ok! He's running around and acting all sorts of normal, he just has a nasty sounding cough. The doctor today put him on an antibiotic (a strong one), a steroid, and breathing treatments, which aren't his favorite thing but he tolerates them well. The oral meds are once a day, but the nebulizer is every 3 hours, including during the night. Good thing Paul's not working tomorrow! Should be an interesting night.

New word: ahBOOO, which is apple. He loves to yell this at all times, which is pretty funny. He knows what an apple is, but I guess it sounds funnier to him when jumping on the bed. He just yells it out proud. This started because he got a new alphabet puzzle that shows an apple under the letter A. Such a smart boy!

We're still planning to host Christmas Eve, and I can't wait! I love hosting at the holidays! Even with all that's gone on the last few weeks, I have Saturday to look so forward to. I can't wait to cook and have everyone here, and just enjoy the holiday.

Enjoy!

Motherload

Saw the doctor again on Friday, and she confirmed that Jackson's lungs, ears, and throat all look clear. She said this is probably just a post-nasal drip induced cough, and she suggested giving him a teaspoon of Benedryl before bed. We've given him that all weekend (though it does make me a little nervous, considering it's not recommended for kids under the age of 4). It doesn't really seem to be helping much though. His nose was more runny today (clear, not green), but I don't know if that's good or bad. I feel like we're at a point where we just have to wait for it to end on its own. As long as he can breathe, I guess that's what counts.

This past weekend, we had 2 family parties: Saturday with Paul's side, Sunday with my dad and stepmom. They were both VERY nice parties and we did have a good time, despite Crabby Paddy and his sidekick, Coughy Cup O'Paddy. He hit the motherload! Holy moly, the gifts were aplenty. A couple have to go back (one might not since the window to return has passed), but overall, it was very nice.

We'll be staying in the next couple of days to relax and take it easy before another big weekend. I feel so bad for dragging Jackson out when he doesn't feel well, and for infecting everyone who crosses his path. I'm sure I'll be hearing stories in the next few days about someone we've infected falling ill. My apologies for anyone caught in the sick crossfire.

Enjoy the weekend!

Hacking up lungs around here

My poor poot is still coughing after almost a week. I had him into the doctor's office on Tuesday for his 2 year appointment, and she said his lungs sounded good and his ears looked clear. I decided, with the weekend ahead (and a couple important Christmas parties), I should have him checked out before then, so we headed off there again today. He saw a different doctor who said everything is still good, and this is likely being brought on by post nasal drip. She gave the ok to give him Benedryl, so I stopped and got a bottle.

For those who don't know, I'm all about the drugs (more for myself than Jackson!). I have a pharmacy in my bathroom. I take after my mother, I guess.

Anyway, his appetite is slowly coming back, but I think he's been a little spoiled this week. I've let him eat whatever he will (within reason!), and so he's snacked on things at all times of the day. Usually things like carrots and frozen peas, occasionally black olives. His dinner tonight consisted of a pickle, 3-4 spoonfuls of pasta (plain whole wheat), a bowl of grapes, and about 6-7 whole grain Goldfish crackers. Breakfast has been his best meal of the day, but only if it's a bowl of Cheerios. Today I was able to sneak some banana in there. He just won't eat anything else right now, though it's pretty easy to see that the kid isn't starving (yet...).

Tomorrow is a family Christmas party on Paul's side, then Sunday is Christmas with my dad and stepmom. I HATE taking him out when he's sick and exposing him to others, but I don't know that I can miss either of these parties. We'll see how he is in the morning and decide then. Amazingly, neither Paul nor I have caught this (yet...). I'm hoping it stays far, far away after it leaves him, but I'm sure that's wishful thinking.

Happy weekend before Christmas!