Portland, Day 3 (Seattle)

Our third day on Vacation should really be labeled 'Washington.'  We didn't go to Oregon at all :)  The original plan was to get up early and head to Seattle for a full day of sightseeing there, but after having a high fever all night long, Dave went to Urgent Care at 9:30 am instead of leaving.  We ended up leaving Vancouver about noon.  Thankfully Andrew slept almost the entire drive because we were all a bit cranky that plans didn't go as planned and Dave was super sick with either strep or some form of pneumonia.  Melissa also had a pretty nasty head cold and I have the blisters of Hand, Foot, and Mouth on my toes and finger tips.

Anyway, we started at Seattle Center and the Space Needle.  We parked in the parking log right next to the center and were expecting to pay $12 for three hours, but a very nice man gave Melissa his ticket for the rest of the day ($22).

 Andrew was glad to be out of the car!

 We weren't willing to pay the $19 per person to go up the Space Needle, but we did enjoy walking around the park, looking at the sculptures, and walking through the Armory.

Dave spent a lot of time on his cell phone talking to the doctor in Vancouver, the pharmacy in Seattle, and the different insurances (although they were all Kaiser affiliated, they didn't talk to each other or So California Kaiser).

 There was a really pretty flower garden that we enjoyed.

 After about two hours, we sent Dave on a mission to find the pharmacy for his antibiotics and we rode the Monorail to the area of our hotel.

 The short ride was fun.  After getting off we talked around the mall, up and down some of the streets around the hotel and Andrew fell asleep in his stroller.  We checked into our hotel (beautiful Sheridan in downtown Seattle) and decompressed.  We walked across the street to Cheesecake Factory for dinner; Andrew flirted with everyone, but managed to throw an entire piece of pizza across the restaurant.

On the way back from dinner, there was a street musician playing drums with buckets, wine bottles, and hard alcohol bottles.  Andrew seriously thought this was the best thing ever.  He was walking (no stroller) and started dancing when he heard it.  We ended up standing there for almost 15 minutes as Andrew danced (aka: head bob, stomping feet, the body wave, circle steps, etc); the drummer, Forest, realized that Andrew was into him so he was playing for me.  Anytime Andrew would start to lose interest, Forest would change it up to bring his attention back to him.  Every time someone walked by they would point at Andrew and copy his movements; looking around, I realized that there were people on the other street corners watching him too.  Forest earned a pretty penny that night.

And... Andrew slept in a cage.

Sick Baby

It started nice and slow.  Andrew had a runny/stuffy nose on Thursday.  By Friday, he added a little cough and on Saturday the cough increased in frequency and became croupy again.  He sounded like a barking dog as he was coughing.  After the second time that he coughed so hard he threw up, Melissa told me that I could called Kaiser and see if we could get him in (it was 7:45 pm on Saturday). 

I left a message with the after-hours nurse and when she called me back at 8 pm, she told us to come right away.  We were able to get right into the pediatrician office and did not have to go to Urgent Care (fantastic!!). 

After listening to his lungs and checking everything else out, the doctor pronounced the diagnosis of Bronchiolitis.  Never heard of it?  Neither had I--Bronchiolitis is a common lung infection, often caused by a virus. It most frequently occurs in infants, commonly younger than 6 months of age.  Bronchiolitis starts out with symptoms similar to those of a common cold but then progresses to coughing and wheezing. Symptoms of bronchiolitis typically last for a week or two and then go away.

The treatment is a neubulizer and breathing treatments. 

Breathing treatments + five month old = traumatic

We've spent a lot of time trying to convince Andrew to sleep (he's not having it) and eat (3 oz vs. 8 oz).  He's cried more in the past few days then he has in his entire life!  The humidifier is running any time Andrew is in his room and he likes playing with it, so I let him.

We have to do breathing treatments four times a day now (or more if needed) for this week and on Saturday we switch to twice a day for the next two weeks.  In total, he'll have to have these traumatic treatments for three weeks!!

Football Weekend

Mommy's favorite weekend of the year is here! 

Football has officially started at school and home! 

We celebrated Arlington's first home game on Thursday night (we share a stadium with three teams and have to share nights too-sucks).  It was SO hot that day that instead of being concerned about Andrew being cold, I was worried that he'd get overheated.  Thankfully it cooled off enough that we were comfortable in shorts and t-shirts.  Andrew wore his 'little dude' shirt in AHS colors and Mommy and Daddy had their lion pride yellow on.

 Andrew had a good time.  He looked around, played with some friends in front of us, and smiled at my students.  I think he was a bit overwhelmed though because his smiles were not constant, but there were no crying moments.

 We left at half-time so Andrew could be home by bedtime, but AHS won the game! 

It was fun for me to see a lot of the players that I had in class three years ago (remember when I had the entire freshman team in my Intro to Lit classes?!?)

On Thursday at the game, Andrew had a tiny runny nose, but I assume it was related to the two teeth that are trying really hard to come out.  Thursday night we had a horrible night of sleep, Friday Andrew's cough got worse, but he was still pretty happy.  Saturday, he was clearly sicker than sick.  By 7:45 last night I called Kaiser and we went (more to come), so today as the Chargers' play their season opener, Andrew was pretty excited for about five minutes.

Then he remembered he was sick and the happy baby turned into a coughing, sick baby.  He has sleep for the past two hours of the game.

It's okay little man, there will be plenty more football for you!

He's finally asleep... Well-baby Check up, 4 Months

Yesterday, Andrew went to his four month appointment.  According to the doctor, Andrew is a healthy baby boy who is a bit "advanced" in his physically abilities and size.  He showed off his skills by pushing his head/torso up with his arms, standing up, and sitting in a tripod. 

We discussed his reflux and the need for a higher dosage of Zantac (increased from 1.0 ml to 1.5 ml twice a day) and she recommended that if the Zantac does not continue to help or the symptoms start appearing sooner, he should go to a GI specialist.  That is on hold for now because the Zantac appears to help.

When we talked about Andrew's eating habits and the amount of formula he eats (30-34 oz), she brought up that babies aren't really designed to have more than 32 oz a day because they have a hard time getting enough calories. The statistic that was on the appointment paper said "Four month old babies usually eat 5-6 oz every four hours" and Andrew eats 8.  She wasn't telling me that I was feeding him too much (based on his weight he "needs" between 33-49 oz), but suggesting that based on his size and activity, he needs to start on solids.  I had planned to wait until six months, but because I'm not breastfeeding, I don't feel as strict about it.  Look forward to "eating" posts coming soon.

He had more shots and did not like them at all. He screamed much more than last time, but calmed down pretty quickly when I picked him up.  He did whimper at the nurse when she walked back in afterwards (smart baby remembered who she was).  I cried more than him.  He did pretty well after the appointment until about 7 pm last night when his fever started.

Andrew's fever has gone on all night and today.  He's super clingy and doesn't want to be put down, so much so that he won't sleep without me (gone is my super independent sleeper).  I'm tired.  Thankfully he was SO tired that he finally fell into a deep sleep and I was able to put him down (and why you have this post) and he stayed asleep.

Length: 25 inches, 51st percentile (the nurse didn't even straighten his legs? Not very accurate)

• 9 Weeks: 24 inches, 89th percentile
• 3 Weeks: 21.5 inches, 58th percentile
• Birth: 20.5 inches

Weight: 16 lbs, 4.8 ounces, 78th percentile

• 9 Weeks: 12lbs, 3.8 ounces, 51st percentile
• 3 Weeks: 8 lbs, 14.9 ounces, 24th percentile 
• Birth: 7 lbs, 5 oz

Head Circumference: 17.75 inches, off the charts! 101 percentile

• 9 Weeks: 16.73 inches, 95th percentile
• 3 Weeks: 15.5 inches, 84 percentile
• Birth: 13.5

silence

silence has taken over this blog as my life has taken over my time.

so sorry.

suprisingly enough, I really do have things to say.

the time to say them just hasn't happened it.

they're coming I promise.

but for now, I'm going to take my nasel-congested face to bed in prepare for another marathon day tomorrow.

and Saturday after I take my midterm and sit in Finance for another five hours, I should have some time for you.

soon, my friends, soon.

Stressful morning

This morning was stressful.

Overwhelmingly stressful.

It was totally and completely my fault too.


First--Last night I stayed up way too late. After school yesterday I went and received my "salt glow" as part of my spa treatment (more on that later), then went to Target and Walmart, and ended up at home about 7 pm. Desiree came over and we worked on our two assignments for tonight's class. While we were working, Melissa called and then came over with two of her friends to celebrate finishing all her undergrad work (woo hoo, Melissa!!). She came over while Des and I finished our papers. Dave got home at 9:15 and started working away on the bathroom. Everyone left about 10:30 pm and I cleaned the bathroom (tupperware party is Wednesday).

Second--today is the first day of CST testing and I volunteered to coordinate and execute the purchasing snacks for multiple teachers. This morning I got to school at 7 am, hauled cereal for 200 kids for 6 days into my classroom and set it all up for the teachers to come pick it up from the hallway.

Third--I scheduled my parent yearbook camp meeting for this morning at 7:45. I guess when I scheduled it I didn't think about testing, tupperware, Mel's graduation, or anything else, because man, it couldn't be worse timing on my behalf. I have seven parents, my yearbook students, and a few siblings for the 30 minute talk about camp, rules, fundraising and money. The tupperware rep that is running our fundraiser was here and discussed how great of a fundraiser it really is (they get 40% of the sales) and how much money they have the potential for raising. The parents were eager, willing, and wonderful. They left shortly before 8:30.

Fourth--8:30 brought nervous students into my room for the first CST test of the year. We start with Math, so students were extra nervous. I went over some of the basic rules (all of which they already know), passed out cereal snacks and water cups. It is stressful to make sure you're following all the rules because breaking them means tests are invalid.

Overall my students handled the tests well and I had two hours to relax a little from the morning of stress. I'm writing this as they finish 36 basic algebra questions and stress about their little futures. Can I just say that I HATE these tests and the pressure that is put on the kids to do well!! Although that is an entire issue all together.

The week will continue to be busy.

• Tuesday night: Class
• Wednesday night: Tupperware party (you're still invited)
• Thursday night: prepare for all of my entire family to be here
• Friday day: 1/2 sub for Melissa's pinning, entire family gets here
• Saturday: Melissa graduates and her party follows

A day at home

Trying to kick my sickness away, I spent the day at home. It was interesting... my bunnies crack me up. Darcy is calm and likes to sit... Charlotte never stops moving, and even when she lays down it is only for a short second. She jumps right on top of Darcy. They want to be near each other, but I can't see how he doesn't want to kill her everytime he wakes her up. When they are in their cage, they sleep, when they are outside of the cage, Darcy sleeps and Charlotte jumps!

Charlotte is getting big, but still likes to cuddle. They both think that it is fun to eat plaster off the walls and bite my socks/slippers.

Dave was home working away on the new bathroom. He's doing something with the plumbing and goes from whisling one of three sounds to getting angry every thirty seconds or so... it is interesting to listen to.

My neighbors hang out and talk to each other outside during the day. The mailman (who is very nice) stopped for a cookie and milk with Jake, the two year old who lives on the other side of the street. I've seen four older couples ride their beach cruisers down the street and very, very few cars.