Busy Weekend and Video Conferencing

This weekend we were visited by Uncle Mark, Aunt Tina, and Cousin Alex. While Tyler and Alex played together well at times, there were just as many times that they didn't. They made a little scene in Babies R Us which resulted in us getting two carts to keep the boys separated. Fortunately, the people around just chuckled and sympathized with us. It didn't help that they were tired and hungry... All in all, it was a fun visit. Short but fun. It always seems short, and it is when you bum around most of the morning and only have a few golden hours to do something before the boys need to eat and nap. It was actually easier to make a day of shopping when they were babies because you "carried" their food with you and they would nap in the stroller/car seat! However, we were able to do our shopping and go through our finds while they napped. Next time we do this, we should really plan to get an earlier start to the day than we did (or leave the little boys with the big boys!)

Also on the happenings for the weekend was video conferencing. Mom and Dad recently upgraded their internet from the old-time dial up. True snail-mail was probably faster than their email! Now, they have the wireless internet throughout the house. I'm not sure how much they've been utilizing the wire-free life, but I'm sure once Dad finds how nice it is to sit in his Lay-Z-Boy recliner while surfing the web, he'll never sit at the desk again! Anyway - so I was trying to talk Dad through how to get started with Windows Live Messenger. It was like pulling teeth, but you can't blame a guy for trying. I'm not all that good at explaining how to do computer things over the phone to start with unless I can go through all the steps on my own computer at the same time. I wasn't able to explain it clearly enough to Dad, so he ended up having to wait until Philip came home from work on Friday. Well, it just so happens that he got things working as Mark and Tina came walking in the door, so they were able to watch Alex and Tyler playing in our living room from the "comfort" of their kitchen table. (They obviously didn't take advantage of being wireless.) So, we've decided that Christmas morning should be pretty interesting with Grandma and Grandpa being able to watch Tyler open his presents through the internet.

This coming weekend we'll be heading home, so more tales to follow!

Back to normal

Things are back to normal with Tyler. He's 100% again. However, now Josh isn't feeling well. He just has an upset stomach (could be partly due to the Chipotle he ate last night for dinner in 2 seconds flat) and he has the chills. I had him take some ibuprofen and he's been upstairs sleeping for the past couple hours. I'm sure he'll be better once he wakes up. He's been putting in some early mornings and not really getting to bed any earlier than usual, so all that probably put some strain on his body. On Saturday, I felt the exact same way - upset stomach and chills. Ibuprofen fixed me up just fine, so I'm sure it will for him, too.

Other than that, nothing much new has been going on this week. Tyler continues to say more and more and has started being able to jump - and he actually gets both feet off the ground. I haven't been taking many pictures of him lately, but there are a few in the camera. I just don't take the time to download them off the camera for just a few pictures - therefore, the picture website hasn't been updated lately and just might not for a little while. There's potential for Mark, Tina, and Alex to come for a visit this weekend (pending everyone's health!), so there's hope for more pictures and a website update soon!

We hope everyone else is healthy and not catching these bugs going around!

My poor little man!

Just as soon as Tyler got better from his cold, he came down with what is assumed to be rotavirus. Granted, Tyler did have about a week in there of good health, but that all changed Thursday morning...

I stepped into his room. Golly, it stinks pretty bad in here. That new diaper pail must not be containing smells as well as I hoped. I stepped up to the crib and proceeded to get Tyler up to take him to the sitter's. "oh boy, Tyler. You are super stinky. Let's get that diaper off you." We proceed to the changing table upon which I realize I've got a super duper mess. There's a poop puddle where Tyler was laying, his pjs (which consisted of a white onesie and a footed fleece sleeper) where drenched in soupy poopy mess. After peeling his clothes off as carefully and cleanly as I could, I realized that Tyler needed a bath. Crap, I'm going to be late for work! "Josh, I need some help in here! Get some bath water running! Tyler is covered in poop!" Meanwhile the poor child is crying and certainly not happy to be tossed in the tub minutes after being plucked out of his crib. I'd have to say it was a rude awakening! After getting all cleaned up and dressed, I had to have Josh take him to the sitter's to save myself 5 minutes on my trip to work. Good Morning, Mommy!!!

That night, he cried in the middle of the night. I got up to change him (clothes too), hoping to avoid changing bedsheets and having to soak the poo poo out of them. I managed to do just that. Yippee! Well, now Tyler doesn't want to go back to sleep. He's a little fussy and he feels a little warm, so I get Josh up to draw up the Tylenol. I tell Josh that my belly doesn't really feel so good... Meanwhile, Tyler throws up. Luckily we were on the linolium. He's crying, I'm trying not to hurl myself while cleaning up the bulk of the vomit. We get a new (third set) of pjs on him and I bring him upstairs to his room. (I have no clue why) Then he starts throwing up again. This time I face him so he throws up on me... better than the carpet. (The things I'll do to make clean-up easier!) At this point I'm REALLY not feeling well, so I decide to have josh coat the couch with blankets and the two of us lay down on the couch. Meanwhile, Tyler falls asleep and I decide to put him back in his crib. I figured that if I need to throw up, that I would be better off being upstairs closer to the bathroom and not having him laying on top of me. I ended up feeling better in the morning, and suprisingly so did Tyler. I decide not to call the doctor because we are seemingly okay now. And, we went half the morning and the whole afternoon without any more episodes.

Saturday afternoon, Tyler has about 3 watery diapers in an hour... I stop by the store for pedialyte on my way home from work. We seem to be getting better by the end of the day. Sunday morning - he has 3 more watery diapers. By this time, I can't tell if he's peed or not since the poo poo is water. So, I consult Dr. Internet. Everything I read about diarrhea in toddlers said to call the Dr if it persists for three days. Crap - this is day four and symptoms aren't showing signs of improvment. Okay, we need to take him in to see if anything can be done and to make sure he's not REALLY REALLY sick. So, $100 later, we find out there's nothing that can be done to stop the diarrhea and just to keep him hydrated to replace the fluids lost. Great - well, at least I bought peace of mind. So, we are on day 5 and the ER doc said symptoms could last as long as 14 days depending on the virus he has. She said it is likely rotavirus, but they didn't do any testing on his stool, so that is just a guess. They did end up checking his blood sugar which was 83. So - I guess we'll keep hoping things return to normal soon!

Things always happen to get to the "see your doctor" phase over the weekend, don't they?

On a side note... grape pedialyte makes poop turn colors!

What a shocker...

Josh is actually coming home EARLY! What a surprise! He told me this morning that he was going to be heading back the next morning because they have completed their task, met their quota, etc... Whatever- the point is.... he's actually going to be home early this trip instead of the usual "later than planned" arrivals. And I'm not talking about just hours - I'm talking DAYS! I'm in shock and it's two days next week that I don't have to inconvenience everyone else around me by having someone come let Daisy out during the day and keep Tyler way past normal hours. Everything seems to run smoother when Josh is home. I get a few peaceful moments to shower, I can actually use the restroom with the door shut, I don't have to let Daisy out to potty when Tyler is all calm and almost asleep on my lap, AND I don't have to be the only one changing diapers. I'm sure there are many many many other things that I could mention, but those are the clear "winners".

Tonight, my plan is to get home and hopefully get finished packing up for the weekend in record time. My goal is to be on the road by 8:30 which puts me at Mom and Dad's around noon. That is assuming that no blue-hairs get in my way and construction doesn't cause slow-ups (not to mention the po-po) Now, in order for this to be realistic, I need to get myself up at 7:30 to shower, pack up the car and get Tyler up by 8:00 so I can dress him, get him breakfast, and out to the car. I'll be taking Daisy with me - she obviously doesn't require much packing, but I need to hunt up the leash that I discovered a couple days ago is no longer in the car! (Dreya and I went for a walk earlier this week and Daisy would not have been able to go along because none of the 100 leashes (exaggeration) that we have were in the car where I usually keep at least one. Lucky for Daisy, Dreya had one at her house.) Anyway - SO, that is just one more thing I need to remember to do tonight.

SOOO - I'm thinking sleep will not come at a very early hour. However, with the way things have been going, I won't fall asleep until 11:30 no matter how early my head hits the pillow. Alas - I'd like to think that Josh not being there has nothing to do with it, but it just may. Not for the fact that of him not being there physically with me, but for the fact that I think he has me so used to falling asleep with the TV on. Dammit. That wretched TV. I wish I didn't even have it in the bedroom, but a certain someone won't let me take it out. Probably because that certain someone can't fall asleep without it and obviously now has me sucked in, too. I was originally blaming it on the time change, sometimes blaming it on the possible consumption of an early afternoon cup of coffee or other caffeinated beverage, or the pondering over paint colors, but I was only kidding myself. I refuse to leave the boob tube on after I roll over. And so sleep will not come at an early hour for reasons other than a lot of things to accomplish before hitting the sack...

Mommy's Little Helper

Tyler has been cleaning up lately. Well, not ALL the time, but he's caught me by surprise quite a few times. Just lately, he's picked up all his mega blocks and put them back into the mega block wagon and then put the wagon back into the corner where we put it. All without me asking or helping him or any kind of prompting from me. He has also put his sippy cup on the "dirty" side of the kitchen counter when he was done. When Daisy is done licking plates and bowls clean, he picks them up and brings them into the kitchen. I haven't decided if he's trying to be helpful or just craves the big cheery "thank you" and hug that he gets from me for helping out. He's turning out to be quite a good little boy!

Last night, Tyler had fun playing on mommy and daddy's bed. He would stand up and then fall backwards doing the "nestea plunge". Then he would giggle so loudly and get up and do it again. His favorite thing to do is run around and be tossed into the air and flipped around. He's gotten tall enough to go for piggy back rides. Thank goodness because "pony rides" hurt mommy's hands and knees after awhile!

6 days down... 8 more to go of Josh being gone... but I'm not holding my breath that I only have 8 days left... I'll believe it when I see it.