Category: E.

Back to Normal

It seems like E is finally back to his cheerful self. He’s eating and sleeping much better. I think I’m going to take him to preschool today; he hasn’t been in weeks and he’s been getting antsy. I’m looking forward to getting a bit of a break myself and going to the gym, something I didn’t get to do when E was sick.

I just hope E can stay healthy for a while. It seems like he has been catching every bug that comes around lately. I’ve been pretty stringent about following the preschool’s policy of not bringing E to preschool when he’s sick but it seems like E keeps picking up illnesses there. (Le sigh.)

I was going to write a review of Grown Up Movie Star, the other Sundance film we saw last Friday but I’m having trouble mustering the enthusiasm at present. I liked the movie quite a bit, as did N. It’s about a girl coming-of-age in a little snowy town in Newfoundland. (It will probably be rated-R when it is released but there’s no nudity in it, just adult subject matter and language.) N’s review is really good if you’re interested in reading more about the movie.

Oh, and in other news, the new semester of woodworking class starts today–yay! I’m really excited. I’ve officially run out of room in my house for any more furniture so I’m going to make a spice cabinet to hang on my kitchen wall. I’m not quite done with my plans yet but will post details as they come together. I’m excited.

Color Therapy

It’s going to be a long, long day. This morning E was up at 2 am and then back up for good at 5 am. Ugh.

I took him to the doctor yesterday since his fever still hadn’t let up. The doctor said that E was a little dehydrated and has lost some weight but that he should bounce back later this week. Hopefully it’s sooner than later.

E was still feeling puny yesterday afternoon after his all-too-short nap but he perked up a bit when we broke out the crayons.



Looking at these photos now is cheering up my grouchy, sleep-deprived self.
Man, I love this guy.

Weekend Highs and Lows

This weekend was somewhat of a mixed bag. I had planned to get together with my friend Erica on Saturday and check out the Overstock.com store and grab some lunch but when I went to get E out of his crib I discovered that he thrown up and wasn’t feeling well. I gave E a bath and he seemed to be feeling better but then he spit up some apple juice he drank. I considered canceling my outing but N assured me that he could handle it so I ended up going.

It was a lot of fun to hang out with Erica and catch up. We were college roommates but don’t get the chance to see each that often. I’m always a little nervous to drag people all the way up to the Overstock store but it was a lot of fun to chat in the car and Erica scored a nice down comforter and a board game.

I found some cute bronze leather Nine West flats and this London Fog trench in red. I’ve always wanted a trench and it was a good deal ($27). My other big find was a copy of Famouz, this book of photographs by Anton Corbijn, a photographer noted for his portraits of musicians. It’s a gorgeous book and printed on really lovely paper. It didn’t have a price tag on it; and I really didn’t need it so I told myself I would only buy it if they asked $10 or less for it. Happily the workers asked only $10 so it came home with me too. Not too shabby considering that the list price is $70.

On the way home I called to check on E who, as it turns out, had thrown up three more times–poor N and poor E! But N was a sweetie and gallantly insisted that Erica and I stop for lunch as planned. When I got home I found E cuddled up with N watching kids’ shows. For the rest of the day E spent most of his time draping himself over us or the couch and whimpering. He woke up at 3:30am on Sunday morning and threw up again so we stayed home from church. E was so wiped out that he lay down on the floor of the family room and fell asleep there. It was pretty pitiful but cute.

I think E’s stomach is feeling better: he ate some animal crackers and drank some juice this morning which so far have not made a second appearance (knock on wood). But he’s still feeling pretty puny so it looks like we’re going to have another stay-at-home day.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope you’re having a lovely Christmas day with family or friends or doing something you enjoy. So far our Christmas has been very nice. The only issue we’ve had is that E still has a nasty cold he came down with earlier in the week so he is a lot more clingy than normal and we weren’t able to make it to Jan’s house last night as planned (we don’t want to get the new baby sick). But E is soldiering on and having a wonderful time despite not feeling 100%. (Funny how new toys will help with that.)


I’ve really enjoyed getting to know new people and sharing the doings of our little family with friends and family through this blog. Thank you for reading. I’m going to take a little break from posting but will be back after the New Year. In the meantime, enjoy the end of 2009!

As graceful as always

I almost forgot to post today. I’ve been in a bit of a funk since this morning when, carrying E, I slipped on the ice outside of his daycare and fell. My right knee and elbow took the blunt of the fall but poor E fell on his back and bonked his head lightly. It freaked him out quite a bit and upset me too. I felt horrible about dropping E (mother-of-the-year!) and then really embarrassed since my graceful landing was witnessed by several people who then kept asking if I was all right. Le sigh.

Also, E ate a chicken nugget at daycare that contained something he was allergic to and so when I came to pick him up the skin around one of his eyes was red and covered with little hives. But on the plus side, he was still having fun playing with the toys and didn’t want to leave. I gave him a teaspoon of Benadryl right away and in about an hour and after a bath he was back to normal. When I had dropped him off I had asked the cook to check the ingredients of the nuggets for milk and eggs so I’m not quite sure where the breakdown occurred, but obviously something went wrong. The next time I drop him off I’m going to bring a bag of E-safe chicken nuggets for the daycare to keep in their freezer and feed to E if there’s any doubt about the food they’re serving that day in the future.

I know it’s wasn’t like anything super traumatic or even horrible happened today but I still feel like I’ve been put through a wringer. (Because I am a delicate flower like that.) So it’s nice that I have an outing scheduled with some girlfriends tonight for dinner and some Christmas shopping. I’m still a little concerned about E’s reaction. If E was going to be left with a sitter I would probably cancel but since N will be home so I can go out without feeling burdened by worry.

Now I just have to go clean my house like mad before my friends show up.

Let the harsh judging commence!

After much thought and discussion we’ve decided to send E to a daycare/preschool for two mornings a week. The main reasons behind my decision are 1) my work has really ramped up lately and I sometimes need to go into the office for meetings or spend a few hours at a time on my reports 2) E enjoys socializing with other kids and as an only child doesn’t get many chances to do so 3) the daycare I found comes highly recommended by a friend; it’s run by Kids on the Move (the county’s child occupational therapy program) and has a strong focus on activities (they don’t even have a tv).

Even though I feel that this is a good choice for E and our family, I’ve agonized over the decision. In general I’m not one for hand-wringing, but I do feel a bit guilty. I really enjoy being a mother but I like working too. I’m pretty good at what I do, I feel appreciated by my team at work, and the extra money is nice. And most of the time I’m able to manage watching E and working at the same time quite well (i.e. I usually work when he naps.)

But I have to admit that on the occasions when work gets really crazy E spends entirely too much time watching tv, sometimes several hours a morning. I think that sending him to daycare for a few hours a week is preferable to that. I’d rather get him on a routine where he can go and hang out with other kids and I can take care of my work at the same time. Then on the days he’s home I’ll have more time to focus on doing fun stuff with him.

While I feel like I’m making a good choice I have to admit that I’m a little apprehensive about being judged by other moms. Not many mothers with young children in my neighborhood work. I can’t think of anyone else who only has one kid and who sends them to daycare. I know I shouldn’t let it bother me but I feel a vague unease when I wonder how other people will perceive my actions.

Having said all that, the most important thing to me is that E does well. I truthfully think he will like it but if he has issues or doesn’t thrive I can take him out and figure something else out.

We’ll Miss You

Tomorrow my good friend Kristin and her family move out of our neighborhood. We met her and her husband soon after we moved in and it was one of those family friendships where the stars aligned: her and I have a lot in common and get along swimmingly, our lawyer husbands get along great, and E and their son P are close in age and love playing together.

I’m really going to miss having them just down the street, but they’re not moving too far away so I’m sure we’ll still see each other often. Yesterday morning I watched P while Kristin attended to last-minute packing. E and P had a blast running around wrecking havoc (as they usually do when together).

We’re really going to miss you guys.

Test Results

E’s appointment with his allergist took most of the day on Friday. I got stuck in the backup from a traffic accident on both the way up and back from Salt Lake. On the way up it wasn’t so back, only about 25 minutes. But on the way home I was in stop-and-go traffic for over an hour with a cranky, tired, hungry E. The only thing between us and insanity was a bag of Skittles I had put in the car for such an emergency. By the time we got home he was covered in a layer of sticky brownish grime from the colors melting together all over his face and hands. As soon as we pasted the wrecked my irritation evaporated, though. It was pretty bad. Among the crunched cars there was a flipped minivan that was torn up really badly. I wondered if there had been kids in there. And I realized that dealing with a cranky toddler for an hour was infinitely better than whatever than whatever the people in that van were dealing with right then and maybe for the rest or their lives. (Just checked, sadly someone did die.)

But about the appointment itself: there were mixed results. Last year we found out that E is allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts, and a bunch of other nuts. The doctor (who is really great–let me know if you ever need a recommendation) wanted us to also avoid all seafood because it is also highly allergenic. So this year we retested his blood to see if his allergies had changed.

The bad news: E is somehow more allergic to milk than he was last year and his egg allergy stayed the same.

The good news: E’s peanut and nut allergies went down dramatically. He’s still very allergic to them, but at least they went down which gives me hope that he can continue to outgrow some of his allergies. And E is not allergic to seafood so we can start giving it to him. I think one of the first seafood recipes I’m going to try is this one from my sister-in-law Mindy who is a great cook.

The doctor and I were kind of disappointed about the milk and eggs. She said that normally if kids outgrow something it’s usually milk or eggs so it’s usual that E’s peanuts/nut allergies came down instead.

The plan for the next year is to continue avoiding all milk, eggs, and peanuts/nuts and then do his bloodwork again when he turns three. She said that by the time E is four or five and can articulate if he’s having a reaction then they’ll probably had the protocol for oral desensitization worked out and he can start on that. While we got mixed results I’m trying to look at them positively.

Like Father Like Son


The other day a Guitar Center catalog came in the mail and quickly captured the attention of the men of the house. N was flipping through it while E was eating dinner but E quickly became distracted and insisted on looking through it with N. E would point to every guitar on the page one by one and exclaim, “guitar!” and then add some fervent but unintelligible commentary. It cracked us up.

I love my boys.