I called the pediatrician this morning and got an appointment for Stellan. Once again I'll say how much I love my pediatrician and their whole office. I had never met this doctor before but he was super nice. They just keep getting better and better. This alone would make me want to stay here until my kids no longer go to the pediatrician. (Another 15 years or so?)
Anyway, the doctor checked him out and said there is no sign of infection. It's just a nasty cold that is lingering. Darn it cold, go away and leave us all alone!
I told him it might be due to the fact that my mother in law just watched as Stellan licked the train window. He agreed it was quite gross but then shared a story of his own. He was riding the subway in New York with a buddy of his. Appropriately enough for a doctor conversation, they were discussing how many germs must be on the subway. They hadn't even finished the conversation when they looked over at a family, obviously tourists, who had one child with his arms wrapped around the subway pole. The little kid then proceeded to lick the pole up and down as if it were a lollipop.
OK, maybe the window wasn't so bad.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Easter Weekend
Our plan was to go to North Jersey to stay with Phil and Adina on Saturday night and then have Easter dinner with them. Amazing how kids can take well planned intentions and turn them right upside down.
Poor Stellan is feeling quite sick. :( He has permasnot. It's really quite gross. And, try as I might, he cannot figure out how to blow his nose. It's quite frustrating actually. I tell him to close his mouth and blow. Inevitably he opens his mouth while blowing. I figure it will just click one of these days. He was walking around with his eyes half open and even had a phlegmy cough. I got the sign, he was not going to be leaving the house this weekend. James and Jameson still went as planned and I got sick baby duty. (OK, I know he's not a baby. But when one of the boys is sick, he's automatically my little baby again. Heck, when James gets sick he acts like a baby....wait, isn't that all men?)
I was actually looking forward to an evening by myself, once Stellan went to bed of course. Once he woke up from his nap he was beyond pathetic. He just wanted to snuggle with me on the couch. Trust me, I didn't complain! One of my favourite things to do is to snuggle with the kids. I let him pick betweeen two movies, Cars and Finding Nemo. It was like he didn't know what to do. He had never seen a full length movie before. He chose cars (even though I was promoting Nemo). We snuggled in and started the movie. Problem was....I forgot to grab a box of tissue. Within minutes I had to get off the comfy sofa and grab tissues. I thought I grabbed plenty but I ended up getting up several times to replenish our supply. He was drooling all over me since he had to breathe through his mouth. Poor little angel. Then he started complaining because his eye hurt. That was my clue that this apparent cold might have developed into something more. But it was Saturday evening on Easter weekend. We'll have to wait it out until Monday morning when I can call the doctor.
During the bed time routine it was so cute that Stellan wanted to do everything as if Jameson was actually there. We even read our bed time story in Jameson's room. Before I put him down I decided to take things into my own hands. I pulled out the aspirator. Since he can't figure out how to blow his own nose I figured I had to suck out the snot. He HATED HATED HATED it. I have rarely heard him scream like that. At the end he looked at me with a tear streaked face and pleaded, "Please don't do that again mommy". How heart wrenching.
He fussed a bit when I put him down but, who can blame him. He did nothing active all afternoon and here I was expecting him to sleep again. He did fall asleep and slept very well. Until 4 o'clock. Then he was up for the day and ready to go. Problem was, I wasn't ready. After an hour of pleading/begging/a bit of yelling, he finally went back to sleep. Until 6:30. I was not a happy camper.
I realized that we would not be able to make it to church as planned. I sent a text to James to let him know. I was disappointed but it was just the reality of the situation. I asked James to come home as soon as he could after church. I hated ruining his plans too but I was starting to feel the need for some sick baby relief. He ended up getting home just after 3:30. For the second time today I was not a happy camper.....
I went outside and hid the only eggs I had left (I sent the rest to Adina's for her egg hunt). I told the kids that we were going outside for a hunt, hoping they would be excited and I would have a great photo-op. Jameson was thrilled, Stellan was, well, less than thrilled. In fact, he was screaming when we brought him outside. Jameson got right down to it and started collecting the eggs. (Granted, they weren't hidden. I placed them on the bushed, next to the sidewalk, etc.) Once James opened an egg and showed Stellan that there was candy inside, he finally decided it was time to join in on the fun. Jameson turned around and noticed that Stellan had started looking for the eggs. He walked over to him and gave Stellan half of the eggs he had collected. How sweet! He's such a great big brother. They continued the search and managed to find all of the eggs (all 15 of them). What a great little egg hunt. Now I'm looking forward to doing it again next year.
I went for a walk after the hunt and took much pleasure in seeing daffodils blooming as well as trees budding. I love spring!! It was a bit chilly but I ended up going for an hour long fast-paced walk. I need to get in shape for the New York 5 Boro bike ride. It's a month and a half away!
Poor Stellan is feeling quite sick. :( He has permasnot. It's really quite gross. And, try as I might, he cannot figure out how to blow his nose. It's quite frustrating actually. I tell him to close his mouth and blow. Inevitably he opens his mouth while blowing. I figure it will just click one of these days. He was walking around with his eyes half open and even had a phlegmy cough. I got the sign, he was not going to be leaving the house this weekend. James and Jameson still went as planned and I got sick baby duty. (OK, I know he's not a baby. But when one of the boys is sick, he's automatically my little baby again. Heck, when James gets sick he acts like a baby....wait, isn't that all men?)
I was actually looking forward to an evening by myself, once Stellan went to bed of course. Once he woke up from his nap he was beyond pathetic. He just wanted to snuggle with me on the couch. Trust me, I didn't complain! One of my favourite things to do is to snuggle with the kids. I let him pick betweeen two movies, Cars and Finding Nemo. It was like he didn't know what to do. He had never seen a full length movie before. He chose cars (even though I was promoting Nemo). We snuggled in and started the movie. Problem was....I forgot to grab a box of tissue. Within minutes I had to get off the comfy sofa and grab tissues. I thought I grabbed plenty but I ended up getting up several times to replenish our supply. He was drooling all over me since he had to breathe through his mouth. Poor little angel. Then he started complaining because his eye hurt. That was my clue that this apparent cold might have developed into something more. But it was Saturday evening on Easter weekend. We'll have to wait it out until Monday morning when I can call the doctor.
During the bed time routine it was so cute that Stellan wanted to do everything as if Jameson was actually there. We even read our bed time story in Jameson's room. Before I put him down I decided to take things into my own hands. I pulled out the aspirator. Since he can't figure out how to blow his own nose I figured I had to suck out the snot. He HATED HATED HATED it. I have rarely heard him scream like that. At the end he looked at me with a tear streaked face and pleaded, "Please don't do that again mommy". How heart wrenching.
He fussed a bit when I put him down but, who can blame him. He did nothing active all afternoon and here I was expecting him to sleep again. He did fall asleep and slept very well. Until 4 o'clock. Then he was up for the day and ready to go. Problem was, I wasn't ready. After an hour of pleading/begging/a bit of yelling, he finally went back to sleep. Until 6:30. I was not a happy camper.
I realized that we would not be able to make it to church as planned. I sent a text to James to let him know. I was disappointed but it was just the reality of the situation. I asked James to come home as soon as he could after church. I hated ruining his plans too but I was starting to feel the need for some sick baby relief. He ended up getting home just after 3:30. For the second time today I was not a happy camper.....
I went outside and hid the only eggs I had left (I sent the rest to Adina's for her egg hunt). I told the kids that we were going outside for a hunt, hoping they would be excited and I would have a great photo-op. Jameson was thrilled, Stellan was, well, less than thrilled. In fact, he was screaming when we brought him outside. Jameson got right down to it and started collecting the eggs. (Granted, they weren't hidden. I placed them on the bushed, next to the sidewalk, etc.) Once James opened an egg and showed Stellan that there was candy inside, he finally decided it was time to join in on the fun. Jameson turned around and noticed that Stellan had started looking for the eggs. He walked over to him and gave Stellan half of the eggs he had collected. How sweet! He's such a great big brother. They continued the search and managed to find all of the eggs (all 15 of them). What a great little egg hunt. Now I'm looking forward to doing it again next year.
I went for a walk after the hunt and took much pleasure in seeing daffodils blooming as well as trees budding. I love spring!! It was a bit chilly but I ended up going for an hour long fast-paced walk. I need to get in shape for the New York 5 Boro bike ride. It's a month and a half away!
Easter Egg Hunt
On Friday we headed out to a local church to participate in their Easter egg hunt. We almost didn't make it, we were having a bad morning, but pulled in just in time. The host mentioned the fact that there were 7000 eggs for the hunt. That's INSANE. In addition to that there were suckers and lollipops that weren't in eggs. The kids were directed to a room based on their age. We went to the 3 year old room where there were dozens of kids who just had to go around a pick up the treats off the floor. It took a while to convince my kids to pick up the eggs. They were focused on the suckers. Jameson was happy to get one sucker but then he wanted to eat it and stop collecting. I told him to keep collecting candy and he could have a sucker at the end. He finally got into it but then ended up swinging his basket back and forth which caused the eggs to go flying everywhere. I scrambled and gathered them up for him again. Before long the entire floor was cleared of all traces of candy and eggs. We sat down with our friends and the kids went to town. They each had one sucker in their mouths and were already unwrapping the second. At the same time they were trying to open the eggs to find their hidden treasures. There were a variety of goodies ranging from plastic rings and bracelets to plastic compasses (they think they're clocks) and tatoos.
We got out of there and I believe they each only consumed about three suckers. I was proud of that accomplishment. Not a terrible sugar high.
We got out of there and I believe they each only consumed about three suckers. I was proud of that accomplishment. Not a terrible sugar high.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Sad
I'm sad today. My nephew is sick and in the hospital. Please pray for him.
I had the boys gather round me and we said a prayer for Luke. Before I started, Jameson folded and his hands and said, "We pray for baby Luke. Help him to get better that he will be able to go to bed." From the mouth of babes.
Then he looked at me and said, "Mommy, why are you crying". I told him that I was sad that baby Luke was sick. He came over, wrapped his arms around me and said, "Don't be sad mommy". Then he gave me a very special Jameson kiss. More tears.
I had the boys gather round me and we said a prayer for Luke. Before I started, Jameson folded and his hands and said, "We pray for baby Luke. Help him to get better that he will be able to go to bed." From the mouth of babes.
Then he looked at me and said, "Mommy, why are you crying". I told him that I was sad that baby Luke was sick. He came over, wrapped his arms around me and said, "Don't be sad mommy". Then he gave me a very special Jameson kiss. More tears.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Heart Attacks
I would have to say that I suffered several minor heart attacks today. I will place the blame on my darling husband. First off, let me say that he is a terrific husband who is always willing to help out and goes above and beyond in his role as a father. The one problem is that he's not very tuned in to what needs to be done. I think it's a male thing (don't be offended guys). We were both in charge of one of the boys which I thought should make things a bit easier. Problem was that James sometimes forgot to pay attention to Jameson (his charge) and I ended up watching Stellan, Jameson all the while trying to find James and encouraging him to stay on track. (Gentle persuasion of course.) Thank God no one snatched up one of the boys in the museum and we were all safe.
One of my heart attacks occured as we were leaving Central Park. James was in charge of the boys while I was cleaning up and looking for my train ticket. I glanced up to see James strolling along the path chatting with his mom while the boys were running full force toward the street. The street that was full of cars, moving cars. The boys know that they are supposed to stop at the curb but a pre-schoolers brain is not always consistent. Thank God they stopped and no one was hurt but I easily lost 3 years of my life.
The next heart attack occured a short while later as we were waiting for the train. I was carrying Stellan when I noticed that no one (ahem, namely James) was watching him as he bounded toward the edge of the platform to look for oncoming trains. One stumble and....I don't even want to think about it. I lunged forward while still toting Stellan and grabbed him. My glared at James, shooting daggers of warning. I herded Stellan back to the wall where we could stand out of the way of people and out of the way of harm. Once again I see Jameson bound toward the edge of the platform. Thankfully a complete stranger was there to hold him back. Hmmm...weren't there three other adults there to look after him?!?! Do I have to do everything and be responsible for everyone?!?!?! I know he wouldn't take the plunge onto the tracks but all it would take is a strong gust of wind from a train and who knows what would happen. That easily took an additional 7 years off my life. Those two events alone have shortened my lifespan by 1o years. Hmmm....should I risk another trip to the city with my loving yet not always attentive husband?
Even reliving this in writing has caused my heart rate to speed up. I need to go to bed.
One of my heart attacks occured as we were leaving Central Park. James was in charge of the boys while I was cleaning up and looking for my train ticket. I glanced up to see James strolling along the path chatting with his mom while the boys were running full force toward the street. The street that was full of cars, moving cars. The boys know that they are supposed to stop at the curb but a pre-schoolers brain is not always consistent. Thank God they stopped and no one was hurt but I easily lost 3 years of my life.
The next heart attack occured a short while later as we were waiting for the train. I was carrying Stellan when I noticed that no one (ahem, namely James) was watching him as he bounded toward the edge of the platform to look for oncoming trains. One stumble and....I don't even want to think about it. I lunged forward while still toting Stellan and grabbed him. My glared at James, shooting daggers of warning. I herded Stellan back to the wall where we could stand out of the way of people and out of the way of harm. Once again I see Jameson bound toward the edge of the platform. Thankfully a complete stranger was there to hold him back. Hmmm...weren't there three other adults there to look after him?!?! Do I have to do everything and be responsible for everyone?!?!?! I know he wouldn't take the plunge onto the tracks but all it would take is a strong gust of wind from a train and who knows what would happen. That easily took an additional 7 years off my life. Those two events alone have shortened my lifespan by 1o years. Hmmm....should I risk another trip to the city with my loving yet not always attentive husband?
Even reliving this in writing has caused my heart rate to speed up. I need to go to bed.
Where's My Kiss?
Stellan and I were waiting for the rest of our gang while they "took care of business" at Penn Station. In order to occupy him I said, "Where's the clock?". He quickly found it so I asked, "Where's my kiss?". He grabbed me by the cheeks, turned my face toward his and then planted a kiss on my lips. Then he said, "Where's your love?". He then quickly gave me a HUGE hug. How sweet is he? This is a game I definitely plan on playing again and again.
New York!
We went to New York City today. My in-laws are in town so we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to bring the boys into the city. A ratio of 2 adults to 1 child should be manageable. :) In the end, we did just fine.
We caught the express train from Princeton Junction to Penn Station. The train was somewhat full so we didn't get to all sit together. Stellan and I grabbed a seat with an older (not old) gentleman. It ended up that he was extremely nice and we talked for the entire ride. He even gave up his window seat so Stellan could have a better view. At one point Jameson even joined us. I have never seen the boys so excited. They had a blast on the ride. They were so good! They were a bit loud at time but it was due to pure, unabashed excitement.
We got into Penn Station just under an hour after we left Princeton Junction. How convenient. We were a bit confused but eventually found our way to the right subway line. The boys were thrilled to be going on another train. Since this was all underground they really had no idea where we were. Jameson was convinced that we weren't in New York yet. So funny.
We got to our stop, The American Museum of Natural History. We debated for a while as to where we were going to spend the day. I had heard that this was a terrific place to bring kids so it won. Great choice! Before heading into the museum we decided to head over to 80th and Broadway to buy bagels at H & H Bagel. This was a recommendation by Nina and now I know why; what delicious bagels!!! Not a fancy place but truly delicious bagels. We all had a bagel and then headed back to the museum. This was a great opportunity for us to see a residential street in New York. What cute little row houses. I would hate to guess what one of those places goes for. And that's not even the nicest area of New York. Crazy to see cars double parked all along the street to. What a driving nightmare! Couldn't do it.
We got to the museum and then decided on a rough plan of attack. We had the kids with us so we knew we needed to visit the kid friendly exhibits. Our first two stops didn't fall in that category so we quickly left. My kids are definitely not interested in geology or space. A bit young for that. Especially boring rocks and mountain formation. (I don't mean to offend any geology lovers.)
The boys loved the animal exhibits. It's crazy how life like the exhibits are. So amazing! The boys are used to going to hands-on museums so this concept was a bit new to them but they still did relatively well. James and I divided up responsibilites. I was in charge of one and he was in charge of the other. My father in law was pushing the stroller laden with coats and my mother in law was filling in the gaps, helping out where needed.
We got through the North American animals, Biodiversity, Ocean Life, African Animals and Dinosaurs. I have to admit, I didn't care for the dinosaurs. Just not a particular area of interest for me. Everything else was cool though!
The boys did well even though they were obviously quite tired. We headed out and grabbed lunch at a deli. We took the sandwiches to Central Park and rested there while we ate. The BLT's hit the spot. We decided to head back to the subway to make sure we caught an early train. We did not want to be in Penn Station with two tired boys during rush hour. We ended up on the 3:33 train. Not an express but not a problem. The wonder of the train hadn't worn off so the boys still had a blast. They were tired and cranky by the end but we still got home without any troubles. Stellan fell asleep in the boring car in almost no time at all. Jameson fell asleep about 3 minutes from home. Go figure. Unfortunately we couldn't let them sleep since it was getting late; I didn't want it to intefere with their night sleep.
Got home, ordered chinese and then rested for the evening. What a great day!
We caught the express train from Princeton Junction to Penn Station. The train was somewhat full so we didn't get to all sit together. Stellan and I grabbed a seat with an older (not old) gentleman. It ended up that he was extremely nice and we talked for the entire ride. He even gave up his window seat so Stellan could have a better view. At one point Jameson even joined us. I have never seen the boys so excited. They had a blast on the ride. They were so good! They were a bit loud at time but it was due to pure, unabashed excitement.
We got into Penn Station just under an hour after we left Princeton Junction. How convenient. We were a bit confused but eventually found our way to the right subway line. The boys were thrilled to be going on another train. Since this was all underground they really had no idea where we were. Jameson was convinced that we weren't in New York yet. So funny.
We got to our stop, The American Museum of Natural History. We debated for a while as to where we were going to spend the day. I had heard that this was a terrific place to bring kids so it won. Great choice! Before heading into the museum we decided to head over to 80th and Broadway to buy bagels at H & H Bagel. This was a recommendation by Nina and now I know why; what delicious bagels!!! Not a fancy place but truly delicious bagels. We all had a bagel and then headed back to the museum. This was a great opportunity for us to see a residential street in New York. What cute little row houses. I would hate to guess what one of those places goes for. And that's not even the nicest area of New York. Crazy to see cars double parked all along the street to. What a driving nightmare! Couldn't do it.
We got to the museum and then decided on a rough plan of attack. We had the kids with us so we knew we needed to visit the kid friendly exhibits. Our first two stops didn't fall in that category so we quickly left. My kids are definitely not interested in geology or space. A bit young for that. Especially boring rocks and mountain formation. (I don't mean to offend any geology lovers.)
The boys loved the animal exhibits. It's crazy how life like the exhibits are. So amazing! The boys are used to going to hands-on museums so this concept was a bit new to them but they still did relatively well. James and I divided up responsibilites. I was in charge of one and he was in charge of the other. My father in law was pushing the stroller laden with coats and my mother in law was filling in the gaps, helping out where needed.
We got through the North American animals, Biodiversity, Ocean Life, African Animals and Dinosaurs. I have to admit, I didn't care for the dinosaurs. Just not a particular area of interest for me. Everything else was cool though!
The boys did well even though they were obviously quite tired. We headed out and grabbed lunch at a deli. We took the sandwiches to Central Park and rested there while we ate. The BLT's hit the spot. We decided to head back to the subway to make sure we caught an early train. We did not want to be in Penn Station with two tired boys during rush hour. We ended up on the 3:33 train. Not an express but not a problem. The wonder of the train hadn't worn off so the boys still had a blast. They were tired and cranky by the end but we still got home without any troubles. Stellan fell asleep in the boring car in almost no time at all. Jameson fell asleep about 3 minutes from home. Go figure. Unfortunately we couldn't let them sleep since it was getting late; I didn't want it to intefere with their night sleep.
Got home, ordered chinese and then rested for the evening. What a great day!
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