Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!
First, let's talk about Maus. Deflator Maus is ready for a name change to Danger Maus. He had his first ER visit this weekend.

Maus is cruising. Maus is fearless. Maus is determined. He will try to go from one piece of furniture to another -- even if they are not close enough. He took one hand off of the chair yesterday and tried to turn but instead of a successful grab for a toy off of the floor, he did a face plant onto our wood floor. First there was indignant breathholding. Then there was screaming. Accompanied by a slow stream of blood from his nose. I called the pediatric line while J yelled at me and was generally accusatory and the nurse called me after 15 minutes. It was still bleeding. She told me to pinch right below the hard part of his nose and tilt him slightly forward to keep the blood from going down his throat. She said she'd call back in 15 minutes for further questions. His nose did stop bleeding after about 7 more minutes of the right kind of pressure. . He did not lose consciousness and he was back in good spirits after we stopped pinching him. He was even back to trying to cruise the furniture. His nose wasn't crooked, but it was swollen so the answering nurse sent us in. I took Maus by myself as Monkey was napping and J was unbearable.

Maus did a spectacular spitup on the intake desk. (He's still having some MSPI related barfing but he seems unbothered by it and I'm not going back on the damned diet.) I didn't have my wallet, so I called J to bring it for the insurance card and so I could pay the ER copay. $75. J was sullen when he got there. Since the ER was blessedly empty, J and Monkey stayed. When we saw the doctor, he confirmed that the cartilage was not going to impede breathing, there were no scary hematomas in the nasal passages, and Maus's pupils were equal and reactive. He could not confirm what the swelling would look like in a couple of days, if there were longer lasting issues with his nasal passages or if unerrupted teeth were effected. He said not to worry about it now. Yeah, that's not the kind of couple you're talking to here, Doc. I hope Maus doesn't look like Jimmy Durante. We went home and Maus played for a while, then nursed to sleep on my lap. I held him, making sure periodically that he would respond to stimulus. In other words, whenever I got nervous, I trimmed one of his nails and he would frown and wiggle in his sleep. This morning, he woke up smiling, as usual, but super snotty. His allergies and mine are going nuts and his nose is still tender so there is heartache when I wipe it.

I am in general prone to letting the kids test the laws of physics. I don't let them climb on the roof, but I'm not going to stop a baby from cruising or a preschooler from jumping on the bed. I worry that they will get hurt, and I do want to prevent serious injuries. I know there will be minor ones. I don't want them to get broken bones or stitches, but I don't want them to be repressed and timid. I don't want them never to have fun. We aren't exactly showing them that it's fun to do physical things. We are sedentary to an unhealthy degree-- I don't want the boys getting the idea that this is ok. Neither do I want to pass on body-image issues, which we both have.

I don't want to shape them into nerds and misfits because I'm afraid of them getting hurt. My position is that J and I are geeky, bookish, not very athletic, not very social. Our children are going to absorb a lot of that from growing up with us. Sports are part of fitting in for kids. And I want them to fit in. I don't want them to be the kid sitting on the playground with a book or the kid who gets picked last for teams. What we need to be mindful of are our shortcomings, not our strengths. I don't want to neglect the development of any ability that they have because of my own inadequacies.
- posted by Anna Trueblood @ 2:36 PM 1 comments

 
Mothers' Day
So, yesterday was Mothers' Day. Ever notice how advertisers sell MDay as a day for moms to get away from their kids and Fathers' Day as a day for dads to hang out with them? Do I need to tell you how much this annoys me? Do I need to tell you why? Probably not, but I will anyhow.

The only thing a mother can give a child that a father cannot is breastmilk. Everything else is a a bunch of hogwash that paints mothers as saintly martyrs, fathers as incompetent wallets and children as annoying burdens. It's insulting to everyone-- Mothers, Fathers and Children. My husband is not clueless on the homefront and my kids aren't a drag. Oh, and I am not one to suffer like a saint. Actually, I'm a bit of a blowhard.

Yesterday as per our family tradition, my husband got me my gift from the boys on Mothers' Day. Does this bug me? Not as much as They say it should. I know he waits until the last minute. That's how he is. He did get me a nice Kodak Easy Share Camera. I took pictures of Monkey and Maus. Monkey brought home the daycare present-- the most unflattering picture of him every. I love it. It's freaking adorable that he has his grump face on and his hair is sticking out. Maus' pic is scotched taped on a wee little flower pot. Why the tape? My daycare has an aversion to messy things like paint and glue. I am thinking of switching childcare centers and this is part of the reason. (Others: high turnover, no teethbrushing after lunch, use of movies at pickup time instead of activities)

The boys and I went to my mom's and made cookies. They were horrible. I bought the dough and it was too soft to roll and cut. Never again! As I tried to spatula them off of the cookie sheets they all fell apart. Damn that Doughboy to HELL!!
- posted by Anna Trueblood @ 11:19 AM 1 comments

 
Bad Blogger
Yes, I've been remiss. Lots to think about at work. We're coming into a busier season and there are quite a few job postings I should really be considering. I'm not exactly HAPPY with where I am, but it is comfortable. Also, I'm hourly and my employer is miserly-- NO OVERTIME. The general sentiment seems to be that salaried people who work less than 50 hours a week are slackers. I am just not down with that.

Lots to think about with daycare. I grow less and less fond of our daycare because the director can't get along with employees, so turnover is high. Also, she is really distracted by her MaryKay sideline. I don't want my kids watched and taught by people who hate the person I pay to take care of them. I am going to try to look at a couple of places on Friday and see how I feel about making a change there. It would be nice to have a place close to home instead of to work so that it would be more convenient for J to help with driving. I have some reservations about a couple of the director's ideas about when kids should do certain things.

Lots of cuteness with the boys though. Deflater Maus is allergic to something, so he wakes up pretty crusty, but DAMN he is happy. He is a morning guy. Monkey on the other hand wakes up grumpy and whiny but wants to party all night. No level of noise or chaos seems to bother Monkey. Maus is like me-- prone to overstimulation induced meltdowns.

Latest Tricks: Monkey is a fishing and RC Car lovin' fool. Maus plays peekaboo-- hiding his face and then coyly revealing it. They're AWESOME!
- posted by Anna Trueblood @ 5:29 PM 0 comments