Pooh Tycoon

We’re out and about town today with visiting family but I have yet to do my photo class homework and class is tomorrow. (It’s only the first week of class and I’m already procrastinating. It’s bringing back memories of college.)

The weekend was pretty uneventful except for a gross incident. I was changing E.’s poopy diaper when he decided he, uh, wasn’t quite finished with his contribution. I stood there transfixed as a skinny brown snake slowly crawled onto the changing pad. It was disgusting. And then, E. peed into the air and it shot into his eye.

For you know, the big finish.

My Homework this Weekend

I started a month-long photo class this week that I’m pretty excited about. It’s taught by Nicole Hill, a local professional photographer. She works for Rubberball, a stock company and then teaches in her free time. Check out her blog, it’s fun. (She took Kelsey from The Next Food Network Star’s wedding pictures. You can go to her older posts to see them.)

The class I’m taking is a Photo 101 class that focuses on manual exposure. I first learned photography on a film SLR back in high school and I so know the basics of manual exposure, but I am pretty rusty when it comes to actually doing it. Shooting digital for the last 4+ years has made me lazy when it comes to exposing correctly because I know I can tweak the photo with software later. For the class we’re not supposed to alter our images since we’re learning about exposure, which makes perfect sense. But having this restriction is making me a little nervous about doing the homework for the class. Luckily for me, shooting digital means that I can take tons of shots of the same thing at different exposures and then submit the best one!

Letter: Month Nine

Dear E,

This last month was an interesting one. We finally got serious about feeding you solids a couple times a day, which you took to really well. You’ve eaten pretty much every type of baby food I’ve given you without complaint: peas, green beans, squash, apples, pears, blueberries, mangoes, veggie medley and so on. The only baby food you haven’t liked, or at least tolerated, so far is oatmeal. You’ve started to want to control the spoon instead of letting me do it (which I’m sorry to say usually doesn’t work so well). But you’re good at (and love) cramming Cheerios in your mouth and gumming them to bits.

Continuing on with this month’s theme, you also cut your first tooth. It was a good two weeks of you being uncomfortable and fussy before it (your bottom right incisor) popped through. It was a little hard on you. Out of nowhere you would suddenly burst into tears for reasons known only to yourself. It was a relief when your tooth finally cut through, but somewhat anticlimatic.



It was anticlimatic because it was when you were in the hospital that we noticed your tooth had finally popped through. Yes, that’s right: “when you were in the hospital!”

Even though you love all sorts of food, apparently not all food love you back. I gave you a bottle of baby formula for the first time and you had an anaphylactic allergic reaction to it. I’ll spare you all the dreary details, but you ended up being in the hospital overnight for observation.

It was hard to see you hooked up to so many monitors and the IV. After you finally fell asleep in the shiny metal hospital crib they had for you, I lay there in the dark and listened to the chatter of the nurses in the hall and watched the lighted squiggles on the moniters move in their reassuring patterns. It was hard, but when you woke up in the morning and I leaned in over your crib you smiled and laughed out loud. E, sometimes you are breathtakingly unflappable.

I guess we have to wait until we see the allergist to find out exactly what you’re allergic to. I’m hoping for your sake that it’s not cow’s milk (because ice cream is really, really great), but if it is your dad and I will help you through it.

We’ll help you through anything.

Love,

Mama

Grandpa’s Visit

Over the weekend E. caught up on the sleep he had missed during the whole allergy episode and seems to be back to normal. The earliest appointment I could get with the allergist our doctor recommended was October 17th (!) but I had them put me on the waiting list for cancelations. I asked the receptionist how long the waiting list was and she said “very long,” and so I’m not counting on getting in before October, which is a little lame.

Grandpa flew home on Saturday. His visit was a lot of fun. It took E. a day or so to get used to having another person in the house (at first he looked surprised every time he caught sight of Grandpa in the house) but once he got used to it E. was quite taken with Grandpa.

Grandpa was quite taken with the hummingbird that built a nest in our tree. He enjoyed watching the nest through the front window. Last week I thought I could see tiny little beaks poking up out of the nest, and this week we confirmed it. Two hummingbirds chicks hatched successfully!

In this photo you can see the chicks’ feathers starting to grow in. When I was watching them I would sometimes see them stick their tiny tongues out. Very cute.

E.’s Kryptonite

On Wendesday night Grandpa and his sister, E.’s great-great-aunt Dorothy, took us out to dinner. I didn’t have a bottle of breastmilk ready to take along and so I decided to mix up a bottle of formula (using one of the many sample cans they gave me at the hospital) and take it with me for E.

After we settled into our booth at the restaurant E. seemed hungry and so I gave him the bottle and he drank the whole thing. Then, his face turned quite red and he threw up the entire contents of the bottle (my apologies to the wait staff at Sweet Tomatoes). His nose and mouth started dripping mucous and drool and he was rubbing and scratching his face vigorously.

Two and a half hours later we were checking him into the hospital for overnight observation.

Yes, just like Superman, E. has an near-fatal weakness. It turns out that

Since we wouldn’t all fit in one car, N. had driven Grandpa and Aunt Dorothy to the restaurant and I had driven E. in my car. After he threw up, E. seemed to feel a little better but was still flushed and itchy. I decided to leave the restaurant early and take him home. I got E. home and gave him some Benadryl, nursed him for a little bit, and put him to bed. He seemed really tired but still itchy. I called our pediatrician’s after hours clinic and spoke to a nurse. She was mystified about E.’s reaction to the formula; she hadn’t heard of anything like it. But she said it didn’t sound like it was necessary to bring E. into the clinic since he wasn’t having trouble breathing.

While I was on the phone with the nurse, I heard E. wake up and start crying. When I went to go check on him he was on his tummy in a pool of vomit and looked worse. (I have to confess that at this point I started to freak out a little). I picked him up and he threw up all over me. I realized that he really needed to go to the doctor. So I quickly changed him out of his vomit-soaked pajamas (noting that his legs and arms were now a bright solid red color), changed my own shirt, threw some things for him into my bag, and called the clinic to let them know we were coming in. N. had forgotten to take his cell phone with him and I didn’t have a way of getting a hold of him and so I just left him a note.

At this point E. was super tired and tried his best to fall asleep on the car ride to the clinic while I tried my best to drive there as fast as safely possible. As I was driving N. called and I told him what was going on. When we got to the clinic we saw the physician’s assistant and she said that it looked like E. had had an anaphylactic allergic reaction and that she was going to have the doctor who was on call come in and examine him.

When the doctor arrived he looked E. over and asked me if E. had possibly eaten any food at the restaurant that was out of the ordinary, like seafood. I told him that the only thing E. had eaten all day was breastmilk except for the one bottle of formula.

The doctor said that the danger with serious allergic reactions like the one E. had was that sometimes there is a secondary reaction in about 6 or 8 hours that can be as bad or worse than the original reaction. So the doctor wanted to give E. a shot of Epinephrine to stop the current reaction and than have E. admitted to the hospital to be put on IV fluids and monitored overnight. When the doctor told me this I felt overwhelmed–IV fluids? Overnight hospitalization? My poor baby boy! Just then N. and Grandpa showed up, which I was grateful for.

The nurse gave E. a shot of Epinephrine and almost immediately E.’s color started to clear up. The doctor told us to take E. to the hospital (which is only a block away from the clinic) and go straight up to the pediatric ward and the nurses there would be expecting us. We went over and as soon as the nurses saw us they started putting on their gloves and hustling to get an IV into E. so they could give him fluids.

It took them almost half an hour and many, many needle jabs to get the IV started. It was so hard on E. and really hard to watch. They needed me to fill out some paperwork and so I gratefully left N. with E. while the nurses were sticking him but I could hear E. screaming all the way down the hall. After I was done with the paperwork they STILL hadn’t gotten the IV started and so I went to go comfort E. It was pretty heartbreaking; E. was exhausted and was trying his best to go to sleep. His eyes kept fluttering close and then flying open every time they jabbed him. It took 3 nurses to hold him steady during all this time: they said that E. was really strong for his age. (They also all mentioned that they liked his hair.)

Anyway, things settled down after the IV was in and they put him in a room and hooked him up to a bunch of heart and respiratory monitors. It was a little hard to get the cords out of the way while I nursed him, but I fed E. and then put him in the hospital crib and he fell asleep right away.

There was only one adult bed in the room and things seemed to be under control and so I sent N. and Grandpa home. I filled out some more paperwork and then around 2am I went to sleep. The nurses popped into the room to check on him every couple of hours and changed his IV a few times.

In the morning N. came by and brought a change of clothes for me and a few other things. While N. was there the doctor came by to check on E. The doctor said E.’s allergic reaction was pretty mysterious. They didn’t know if he’s allergic to cow’s milk or to something specific in Similac. A cow’s milk allergy would be unusual since I eat a lot of dairy and the proteins that trigger cow’s milk allergies pass into breast milk. Either way, E. needs to see a pediatric allergist so it can get sorted out. I need to call the allergist they recommended later today to get an appointment. It will probably be a few months before we can be seen, though.

The doctor also proscribed Epipens for E. so we can keep one with us just in case he has another serious reaction. On the way home I picked them up from the pharmacy. (I like how “Jr” is in a fun font. Cutest needle ever!)

Until we get his allergy figured out, E. (obviously) can’t have any formula. I was planning on breastfeeding E. until he turned one anyway, but I have to admit that now that formula simply isn’t an option I’m feeling a bit more pressure.

E. seems to have made a full recovery, other than being a little tired from the lack of sleep. After we got home from the hospital yesterday he took a nap and when he woke up he enjoyed bopping around in his jumper.

And for something completely different:

Good news! Sometime during all of the hoopla E.’s tooth finally broke through.

…so there’s that.

I Heart Art: Scott Campbell

I like looking at (and once in a while buying) art online. I’m mostly interested in prints and silk-screened posters because they are, well, affordable. I’m also quite taken by the idea of supporting living, breathing artists and having unique art in my home rather than prints of very common pieces by long dead artists (Don’t get me wrong though, I like a good Van Gogh as much as the next person). But there are a lot of talented artists whose prints you can buy online for $20 or $30 and I thought I’d share some of my favorites.

A couple of weeks ago I bought another Tiny Showcase print.


This print is actually a diptych by artist Scott Campbell (or Scott C) and it’s titled “The Cute Hunter.” I’ve been a fan of his work for a couple of years, but this is the first print of his that I’ve bought. I love Scott’s use of watercolor combined with his whimsical/somewhat old-timey subject matter. I bought this set with the idea of hanging them in E.’s room, but after I get them framed (I thinking that they would look great with an old-fashioned brocade mat) I might end up snagging them for somewhere else in the house.

I think a lot of his prints would be great in kids’ rooms. I have been coveting this awesome ninja battle print (make sure you check out the details on the right) for E.’s room. But it’s kind of pricey and huge. But a set of these two prints would also be great in a kids room.

I first discovered Scott’s work through the web site of the art gallery Nucleus. Their website used to be kind of clunky and take forever to load but they redesigned it about a year ago and it’s great now. The gallery is located in L.A. and is high on my list of places to go the next time we’re in L.A., whenever that will be. Nucleus carries a lot of artists that work in the comics industry and they put on a lot of cool themed shows. After each show they’re pretty good about putting prints of the exhibition pieces up on their site for sale and so it’s fun to check and see what’s new.

If you want to see all of Scott’s prints that Nucleus carries you can do that here. Scott also has a comic coming out on August 1st that I’m excited about (and have already pre-ordered) and his blog has updates on projects that he’s working on.

(Wow, I had no idea I was such a gushing fanboy of Scott’s work until I just reread this post. Yikes. I need to calm down!) Anyway, I’ve got to go hop on the Nordic-Track and exercise and so I think I’ll save the other artists I like for later posts.

Bedhead

Yesterday E. was sporting this awesome hairstyle when he got up from his nap:

Sadly, E.’s tooth still hasn’t broken through yet. He’s still congested and has also developed a cough to boot. He’s more clingy than normal and is having trouble with his naps.

But luckily this should be a pretty quiet week work-wise since my team is going to be out of town at a conference. So E. and I and going to try and take it easy this week. Well, I’m going to try and take it easy but I have a nagging feeling that E. (and E.’s tooth) may have more of a say in the matter than I do.)

On the Edge of Our Seats

This past week we’ve been seeing a lot more of this than is usual:

Yep, one of E.’s teeth has finally decided to grace us with its presence. But it’s being a total drama queen and has decided to keep us writhing in suspense for over a week. In the mean time, E. is congested and drooly, cries at the drop of a hat (or if you take too long getting him a Cheerio), and has trouble napping (but thankfully he still sleeps okay at night).

All and all, I guess it’s not too bad. But it’s been going on since last Friday. Just how long does this whole thing normally take? When I feel inside his mouth it seems sometimes like the tooth is very close to the surface but at other times it feels like it has sunk down some. Do teeth actually do that? This tooth is such a tease!

On a brighter note, N.’s grandpa is arriving tonight to stay with us for a week and a half while he attends a conference in town. It’s always fun to have Grandpa around and I’m hoping to get some good pictures of E. with his great-grandpa.

Minty Fresh

I stopped by the health food store last week to get E. some vitamin drops (hopefully they’ll help him less sickly) and noticed these Metromint bottled waters. I had seen them around before at fancy food/import type stores but had never tried them.

I’m kind of conflicted when it comes to bottled water. When I’m out and about I often prefer drinking water to soda or other drinks and it’s convenient to buy bottled water to take with me. But it’s ridiculous how much waste in the U.S. is generated by plastic water bottles. And it’s also pretty wasteful to pay for clean, drinkable water when the U.S. has a great infrastructure that provides it to us in our homes.

But clean, drinkable water that’s flavored with mint? And in a nicely-designed bottle? I will TOTALLY buy that for a $1 (Especially if they’re on sale.)

I ended up getting one each of the Spearmint, Orangemint, and Chocolatemint flavors. I wasn’t so much a fan of the Orangemint flavor: the combination tasted a little weird to me. But the Spearmint flavor felt cooling on a hot day. And the Chocolatemint flavor was great: a perfect blend of chocolate and mint that was refreshing and slightly sweet.

So if you’re going to drink bottled water anyway, you might as well drink these. (But recycle the bottle when you’re done!)

We’re Getting Serious

I have to admit that when things were hectic in June I slacked off on feeding E. solid food regularly. But last week I decided to get serious about feeding him solids and finally got around to buying E. a high chair. I really like the design of the chair we bought. It’s like a little barber chair: it has a center pole with a pneumatic lift so it’s height-adjustable which means that E. can use it to sit at our kitchen bar when he’s older. And the base has casters so it can be wheeled around, which has been more useful than I thought it would be. I can wheel E. over to the sink after his meal to wipe him down or if I’m working in the kitchen I can position him next to me to hang out.

Anyway, E. seems to like sitting in his chair so far. During this past week E. has gotten a lot better at eating Cheerios and enjoys chasing them around his tray.