Remind me again why we're moving? Oh right, higher standard of living for less money and the chance to be near my family. That's good to remind myself because moving sure is a huge pain in the neck. I have spent the last several weeks cleaning, purging and rearranging. I've practically got Purple Heart on speed dial just to get all the crap off my front porch. I really had no idea how much stuff I have. Really. I know everyone says that, but I have actually been working on getting rid of stuff for a while. When the big kids moved home, I got rid of a bunch of furniture then. I also routinely go through mine and the little kids' closets to donate and pass along to other kids. Yet I still have an enormous amount of stuff to get rid of.
My attic is just about filled with boxes. Fortunately we're just about ready to list the house next week so I think I've gotten up there just about all that is going to go up there. Jennifer moves into her new place first of next week, which gives me about a day to then clean up the basement and rearrange some furniture from other parts of the house. I have invited some friends over allegedly for my birthday, but in reality everyone is going to help me get the place ready.
It's going to be a real challenge keeping the place neat so it can be showed. I had a long talk with the kids about it last night -- how there can be no laundry not folded, dishes have to go in the sink, beds made and everything off the floor. Mark mostly groaned. The little kids I can boss around, but Mark, well, not so much. My realtor has said she'll throw away any of his stuff he leaves on the floor so that should be interesting.
I have survived okay without Bjorn. I miss him terribly, but I'm excited to hear the new job seems to be going well. I know he was pretty choked up when he left so I felt pretty sorry for him headed off to the big unknown as the advance team until I spent all last weekend cleaning windows and shampooing carpets. Then, well, not so much.
Now, who wants to buy a four bedroom, 2 1/2 bath on 1/3 of an acre in Fairfax? Come on, it's walking distance to Royal Lake, Laurel Ridge Elementary, Robinson Secondary and Commonwealth Swim Club. Plus, it's right off the bus line with easy access to the Pentagon, VRE and DC. I'll make you a deal!
Desperate for a good night's sleep since 2005.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The big, big move
So there's big news in Casa de Bennett, Internets -- we're moving to Texas! Bjorn got a new job down in Dallas, my hometown, and he's moving this weekend to start on Monday. I'm going to stay behind in Virginia with the kids to sell the house with the goal of being down there first of August to be ready for Andy to start kindergarten in the fall. Oh, and in the middle, we have an awesome two week trip to Australia planned. So we've got a bunch of once in a lifetime events crammed into one summer. I had no idea I was such an overacheiver.
When we got married, oh, back in 1998, we always said that after the big kids got out of school, we would move back to Texas. I had never really intended to be here that long. It was a three month internship (a three hour tour...) But then I met a great guy and the rest is history. But here it is, nearly 12 year later and we're really doing it. I am so excited about the move, excited to be near my family and watch my kids and nieces grow up together, get a huge house for what our modest house costs around here. It's a win-win except for all the family and friends we're leaving here. Fortunately, Bjorn is looking at houses so massive we could bring everyone down for a weekend not run out of places for them to stay.
We've got a neighborhood down in Dallas all picked out -- the Southlake/Carroll area near the DFW airport. I have some friends from high school that live there and love it, we can get a house twice the size of our current one and be in a good school district with a great football team (I've been making sure to watch Friday Night Lights just to keep up. Oh, who are we kidding. I was watching already.)
I have come out to my office and they have been amazing. I'll stay on through the summer and then transition to a part-time role to finish up some projects as well as go to our big meeting in the fall. It's a good solution for both of us, I think. Plus, my adored assistant director is getting promoted to my job. I'm thrilled about that part, too (although having my successor named is sort of like being a lame duck president, I've decided).
Selling the house is going to be hard, especially trying to keep it clean with two kids and a 21-year-old who ignores most of what I ask about keeping his room tidy, but hardest is going to be Bjorn going on ahead for a couple of months. I'm trying not to think about it too much, but certainly a couple of weeks at a time will be the longest we've been apart since we've been married. Sad.
Even though I've been yelling at him for his refusal to pack in general, he's a total champ for doing all of this. How lucky am I?
When we got married, oh, back in 1998, we always said that after the big kids got out of school, we would move back to Texas. I had never really intended to be here that long. It was a three month internship (a three hour tour...) But then I met a great guy and the rest is history. But here it is, nearly 12 year later and we're really doing it. I am so excited about the move, excited to be near my family and watch my kids and nieces grow up together, get a huge house for what our modest house costs around here. It's a win-win except for all the family and friends we're leaving here. Fortunately, Bjorn is looking at houses so massive we could bring everyone down for a weekend not run out of places for them to stay.
We've got a neighborhood down in Dallas all picked out -- the Southlake/Carroll area near the DFW airport. I have some friends from high school that live there and love it, we can get a house twice the size of our current one and be in a good school district with a great football team (I've been making sure to watch Friday Night Lights just to keep up. Oh, who are we kidding. I was watching already.)
I have come out to my office and they have been amazing. I'll stay on through the summer and then transition to a part-time role to finish up some projects as well as go to our big meeting in the fall. It's a good solution for both of us, I think. Plus, my adored assistant director is getting promoted to my job. I'm thrilled about that part, too (although having my successor named is sort of like being a lame duck president, I've decided).
Selling the house is going to be hard, especially trying to keep it clean with two kids and a 21-year-old who ignores most of what I ask about keeping his room tidy, but hardest is going to be Bjorn going on ahead for a couple of months. I'm trying not to think about it too much, but certainly a couple of weeks at a time will be the longest we've been apart since we've been married. Sad.
Even though I've been yelling at him for his refusal to pack in general, he's a total champ for doing all of this. How lucky am I?
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Personal Record
I hit a new personal record this week -- we had four trips to the pediatrician. Of course, tomorrow is Saturday so we still have one more day to make it a full week. They know my name when I call in now. I'm kind of impressed with our rock star power.
Sunday -- visit for croup and strep test
Monday -- visit for day three of croup and stridor, lead to steroid shot and nebulizer treatment
Tuesday -- still coughing, turns out I was really there for her "steroid psychosis." That's right, her 'roid rage. She was going from laughing to crying in one breath. He cut her dose down to half for Wednesday.
Wednesday -- no visit!
Thursday -- no visit!
Friday -- she went to bed early, like 7:30, and woke up at 10:30 a.m.! I know, who ever heard of a toddler to sleep that late? When she did wake up, she was feverish again and lethargic. I called to talk to the doctor and was able to get an immediate appointment. Diagnosis - sinus infection. Unrelated to the croup, just that her weak immune system couldn't fight both.
Saturday -- fingers crossed!
It's been a long week of ups and downs. And actually there has been a lot of vomit, too. I would like to say for the record that I am over cleaning up vomit (and off myself especially). Sure, sure, that comes with parenting, but there have been at least four separate vomiting incidents in the last two weeks, probably half of which were on me. I think I could go, say, a month or so without it next time. 'Kay?
I am hopeful that we're getting our full of illnesses out now. We've got a couple trips coming up. A beach trip over Memorial Day, not to mention our two weeks in Australia next month. Her being sick is no fun for anyone, especially her, but doing it in a hotel in Tasmania would be suboptimal.
Sunday -- visit for croup and strep test
Monday -- visit for day three of croup and stridor, lead to steroid shot and nebulizer treatment
Tuesday -- still coughing, turns out I was really there for her "steroid psychosis." That's right, her 'roid rage. She was going from laughing to crying in one breath. He cut her dose down to half for Wednesday.
Wednesday -- no visit!
Thursday -- no visit!
Friday -- she went to bed early, like 7:30, and woke up at 10:30 a.m.! I know, who ever heard of a toddler to sleep that late? When she did wake up, she was feverish again and lethargic. I called to talk to the doctor and was able to get an immediate appointment. Diagnosis - sinus infection. Unrelated to the croup, just that her weak immune system couldn't fight both.
Saturday -- fingers crossed!
It's been a long week of ups and downs. And actually there has been a lot of vomit, too. I would like to say for the record that I am over cleaning up vomit (and off myself especially). Sure, sure, that comes with parenting, but there have been at least four separate vomiting incidents in the last two weeks, probably half of which were on me. I think I could go, say, a month or so without it next time. 'Kay?
I am hopeful that we're getting our full of illnesses out now. We've got a couple trips coming up. A beach trip over Memorial Day, not to mention our two weeks in Australia next month. Her being sick is no fun for anyone, especially her, but doing it in a hotel in Tasmania would be suboptimal.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Croup
Doesn't that look like fun? We had our first real bout of croup this weekend that turned into steroids and nebulizer treatments today, poor baby. What's amazing is how a few hours after her throwing up due to her inability to breathe, how fast medicine can turn it all around.
It started Saturday. I heard it in the morning, a slight bark, but dismissed it. Then she woke up from a nap coughing and crying. She had a fine evening and then a terrible, awful, very bad night. We took turns with her in our bed and the other sleeping in Andy's room (note to self -- Andy needs a new mattress that doesn't feel like I was in a sleeping bag outside it was so hard). I had talked to the doctor's the day before who said to give her half a teaspoon of Benadryl (generic of course thanks to the McNeil recall) and to come in the next day for a strep test.
Indeed on Mother's Day, I dragged my exhausted self and her to the doctor where we waited for nearly two hours for a quick strep test and a diagnosis of "Yep. It's croup." He also checked that it wasn't in her lungs and that it should improve. And you know, it really did improve. She took a long, four hour nap and then slept well, just waking up twice. In the morning, she seemed better even -- no fever either. But I got the call from my babysitter only an hour after drop off saying the cough made her nervous and she had a little fever. I picked her up and we went home for a nap. And she did nap except about an hour in she woke up, coughed, cried and promptly threw up all over me. It was awful, because she was scared, she was breathing faster, and because she was breathing faster, it was that much harder. It was just like watching an asthma attack. I called the doctor's immediately and was seen 20 minutes later and probably 20 minutes after that she was getting a nebulizer treatment followed by a steroid shot to reduce the inflammation in her trachea. We left with a prescription for prednisone to give her twice a day for two days and to come back Wednesday for another appointment.
You know, I really like our pediatrician, but sometimes his people skills. Well, yeah, not so much. "Don't worry. We won't let her slip away." Um? Slipping away? That didnt' even occur to me! "At least her trachea won't collapse like it does on some nine-month-olds." Yeah, that didn't occur to me either. At least his clinical skills are excellent. My baby went from blue lips to running around the living room saying, "Chasing, chasing, chasing!" as she follows her brother around. I can live with some sub par people skills if he can give that back to me.
Monday, May 03, 2010
Regression
So both kids are in the middle of some weird regressions. Meg has discovered waking up at night is fun! I suspect she's 1) teething 2) having dreams/nightmares 3) she thinks me straggling in to give her a sip of water, hold her for a minute and set her back down is comforing and 4) she thinks Mama looks best with bags under my eyes.
To make it more interesting, Andy has been wetting the bed a lot lately. It's weird how it happens. Since around Christmas, he will be fine for two or three weeks in a row with maybe one accident, then he goes like three or four nights in a row having accidents. Naturally him having an accident means he comes to my room and tells one of us (hopefully Bjorn) that he's had an accident. Sometimes he will have changed into new clothes and crawls into bed with us to then kick me the rest of the morning. Other times like today he came in at 2 a.m. needing help with new clothes and sheets. Poor guy was so exhausted he could barely sit up straight. I made him wear a pull-up after this. I explained to the extent I could that his body is growing right now and it's so busy growing overnight that it doesn't have the energy at the moment to tell him to wake up. We'll see how well that goes over tonight.
Adding to the fun is that Meg has had the barfs twice in a week. First instance was Wednesday afternoon so she was home Thursday (after waking up at 3 a.m. to throw up and then rally into such a good mood she was up until 5 a.m. just being happy. Crazy kid). Then yesterday out of nowhere she woke up from her nap and threw up on me. I gave her some Pedilyte and she threw that up later, too.
Needless to say, I'm sleepy today.
You know, I've been debating changing the title of this blog beacuse until recently, they were pretty good sleepers a lot of the time. It just didn't seem right. But now? Now I am in desperate need of a good night's rest.
To make it more interesting, Andy has been wetting the bed a lot lately. It's weird how it happens. Since around Christmas, he will be fine for two or three weeks in a row with maybe one accident, then he goes like three or four nights in a row having accidents. Naturally him having an accident means he comes to my room and tells one of us (hopefully Bjorn) that he's had an accident. Sometimes he will have changed into new clothes and crawls into bed with us to then kick me the rest of the morning. Other times like today he came in at 2 a.m. needing help with new clothes and sheets. Poor guy was so exhausted he could barely sit up straight. I made him wear a pull-up after this. I explained to the extent I could that his body is growing right now and it's so busy growing overnight that it doesn't have the energy at the moment to tell him to wake up. We'll see how well that goes over tonight.
Adding to the fun is that Meg has had the barfs twice in a week. First instance was Wednesday afternoon so she was home Thursday (after waking up at 3 a.m. to throw up and then rally into such a good mood she was up until 5 a.m. just being happy. Crazy kid). Then yesterday out of nowhere she woke up from her nap and threw up on me. I gave her some Pedilyte and she threw that up later, too.
Needless to say, I'm sleepy today.
You know, I've been debating changing the title of this blog beacuse until recently, they were pretty good sleepers a lot of the time. It just didn't seem right. But now? Now I am in desperate need of a good night's rest.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Beach trip
Another new crush
Oh Craigslist, how I love you so. Seriously. I love this free service. So I wanted a toddler bed for Meg. I went on Craigslist, did some trolling and found a cute one nearby for $20. Sold. Then when it was clear we needed a second mattress to go with it, I went back on Craigslist, did some sorting by neighborhood and found one less than a mile away for $30. Done. Sure, they're both used, but both are in good condition and perfect for my needs. It's so easy! Why didn't I do this earlier.
Now I'm looking around the house during some spring clearning and holding a virtual garage sale. I've been hawking some of the bigger kids' toys that they never play with anymore. Today I sold an awkward piece of kids' furniture for $40. I know! I got $40 and the guy came and carried in away. Next weekend I think I'm going to sell the weight bench no one has touched in two years.
As for the big girl bed, Meg slept in it one night last week. She did fine going to sleep (it helped that it was late because Bjorn was gone and I tried to do too much so she was exhausted). The problem was when she woke up screaming at 6 a.m., which is before my wake up time. I did manage to coerce her into my bed where we snuggled for another hour, sleeping off and on. It was marginally better than trying to sleep on an airplane, what with the poking and kicking, but I did really love it.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Mark your calendars
I got gas yesterday evening and didn't lock anyone in the car. Go me! I even remembered roll down a window and not hand her the keys with which she could lock herself in. How long do you give me before I do it again?
Monday, April 19, 2010
Child locks self in car; child fine, mother traumatized
A neighbor kindly invited us on Friday to her beach house on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It's about an hour and 15 minutes away, not convenient, but she thought her kids and mine would have a great day frolicking on the private beach. We decided to caravan since they'd be spending the night. The first hour was great -- no traffic, beautiful warm weather. We stopped in Dunkirk, Maryland, so I could fill up with gas. Andy wanted to get out to help. In my minivan, the gas thing is on the right so I can't have Meg's side door open while I pump gas. She wanted to get out too, so I offered her my keys to appease her while I got the gas. I thought twice about giving her my keys and then left the driver's side door open, just in case. You see where this is going, right? Naturally the wind blew my door shut and when I turned around, Meg had locked the doors and promptly thrown the keys on the floor of the car.
Fortunately, my friend was with me so we put Andy in her car with her girls to watch a DVD while we tried to figure out how we could coax Meg into opening the door. Of course, she was still in her car seat and couldn't get out. A man at the pump next to us said to call the police and they'd come help. Sure enough, I dialed 911 and the local sheriff came with tools. Within minutes of the call, a sheriff was wedging the door opening to try to open a door lock, press the unlock button and/or slide the door lock up. I was so calm at first. It was all going to be okay! Sure, I'm an idiot, but help is here! It's going to be fine! But then it was 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, then 30 minutes and nothing seemed to get it open. Meg was doing fine those. She could reach Andy's pretzel sticks and was snacking away. She was loving the attention, but she was growing weary, too. At about the 35-40 minute mark, her cheeks started to get rosy and I tried not to panic that she was going to suffocate (she wasn't). Then she started to cry and then cry harder.
I asked the officer what to do, call a locksmith? No, they'd do what he was doing and charge $100 bucks. Call Honda? Not one in Calvert County. Call my husband? He's too far away and would have go home to get the keys -- would she be calm for another 1 1/2 hours? Call a neighbor? It's still another hour. By the time Meg started crying in earnest, I asked the officer about breaking the window. He was kind and said he didn't want to scare her, besides, he'd only had one before he wasn't able to unlock. She was starting to get worked up so I was ready. I called Bjorn for the reassurance it was the right thing. The officer broke the passenger window sending tiny glass pellets everywhere. That really scared her, Meg bawled harder but I was so close! I was able to go in and grab her and console her while my friend and the officer triaged the glass. I think it took Meg about three minutes to calm down. I, however, was on edge about it the rest of the weekend.
Epilogue: Bjorn got a new window for me on Saturday, $259 with tax. Worth it.
Fortunately, my friend was with me so we put Andy in her car with her girls to watch a DVD while we tried to figure out how we could coax Meg into opening the door. Of course, she was still in her car seat and couldn't get out. A man at the pump next to us said to call the police and they'd come help. Sure enough, I dialed 911 and the local sheriff came with tools. Within minutes of the call, a sheriff was wedging the door opening to try to open a door lock, press the unlock button and/or slide the door lock up. I was so calm at first. It was all going to be okay! Sure, I'm an idiot, but help is here! It's going to be fine! But then it was 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, then 30 minutes and nothing seemed to get it open. Meg was doing fine those. She could reach Andy's pretzel sticks and was snacking away. She was loving the attention, but she was growing weary, too. At about the 35-40 minute mark, her cheeks started to get rosy and I tried not to panic that she was going to suffocate (she wasn't). Then she started to cry and then cry harder.
I asked the officer what to do, call a locksmith? No, they'd do what he was doing and charge $100 bucks. Call Honda? Not one in Calvert County. Call my husband? He's too far away and would have go home to get the keys -- would she be calm for another 1 1/2 hours? Call a neighbor? It's still another hour. By the time Meg started crying in earnest, I asked the officer about breaking the window. He was kind and said he didn't want to scare her, besides, he'd only had one before he wasn't able to unlock. She was starting to get worked up so I was ready. I called Bjorn for the reassurance it was the right thing. The officer broke the passenger window sending tiny glass pellets everywhere. That really scared her, Meg bawled harder but I was so close! I was able to go in and grab her and console her while my friend and the officer triaged the glass. I think it took Meg about three minutes to calm down. I, however, was on edge about it the rest of the weekend.
Epilogue: Bjorn got a new window for me on Saturday, $259 with tax. Worth it.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Latest celebrity crush
Despite my obviously charmed marriage, I have lots of crushes, usually on random celebrity types, i.e. people I will never, ever meet so therefore totally safe. Most are quite typical -- think Pacey Witter from Dawson's Creek, Andy Botwin from Weeds or Josh from Sports Night (yes, I do watch too much television). Others make my coworkers shiver, like Benjamin Linus from Lost (what? Sure he's not handsome, but he's devious and snarky) or Stephen Collins (think Jumpin' Jack Flash Stephen Collins, not 7th Heaven Stephen Collins. Yeah, I know....)
I'm now at a bizarro phase in my life where I have a crush on a children's book author. Worse, it's not at all because he's cute, but because his books are so darn awesome. There are billions of children's books out there, and most of them are total crap (I'm looking at you Dora). But Mo Willems? No, his books are awesome? I don't love the Elephant and Piggy series so much, but Knuffle Buffle and the Pigeon? Seriously great. Any kids' book that can make me laugh while keeping my kids interested in just great.
I'm now at a bizarro phase in my life where I have a crush on a children's book author. Worse, it's not at all because he's cute, but because his books are so darn awesome. There are billions of children's books out there, and most of them are total crap (I'm looking at you Dora). But Mo Willems? No, his books are awesome? I don't love the Elephant and Piggy series so much, but Knuffle Buffle and the Pigeon? Seriously great. Any kids' book that can make me laugh while keeping my kids interested in just great.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Family of action
Lots of exciting things going on around here. A list seems appropriate.
1) Mark got a job. And there was great rejoicing.
2) Jennifer is actively looking for apartments, starting around June 1. Happy birthday to me! (We will really miss her, but I think we're all ready.)
3) Meg is potty training. I'm not ready, but she is. She pulls down her trousers in public places annoucing, "poo poo" which is universal for number 1 or 2. About 2/3 of the time, she actually goes. Amazing.
4) This potty training is tough because I can't keep her in clothes in general. She's constantly trying to take off everything so I have worked to find clothes she can't take off, making it that much harder when she announces her need to use the "flush."
5) I am going to have to rethink my strategy.
6) I've been getting my garden beds ready for planting vegetables.
7) I was bummed to realize I'm not supposed to plant my garden or annuals until Mother's Day. Boooring.
8) The tooth fairy came for Andy. He got $1. Just a plain dollar bill, too, although his name was written on it. A two dollar bill or a gold dollar would have been cooler, but my friends' advice to go for something easy to replicate made sense.
9) Shocking to me is how many of my friends give out $10 and $20 for a lost tooth. Seriously? I think Mark would start pulling out his teeth for casholinis like that.
10) Bjorn and I have been working our way through the Star Wars prequels. And you know what? They're really kind of bad. Natalie Portman's hair was pretty awesome, Hayden Christiansen's hair was remarkably bad and Yoda is downright awesome.
1) Mark got a job. And there was great rejoicing.
2) Jennifer is actively looking for apartments, starting around June 1. Happy birthday to me! (We will really miss her, but I think we're all ready.)
3) Meg is potty training. I'm not ready, but she is. She pulls down her trousers in public places annoucing, "poo poo" which is universal for number 1 or 2. About 2/3 of the time, she actually goes. Amazing.
4) This potty training is tough because I can't keep her in clothes in general. She's constantly trying to take off everything so I have worked to find clothes she can't take off, making it that much harder when she announces her need to use the "flush."
5) I am going to have to rethink my strategy.
6) I've been getting my garden beds ready for planting vegetables.
7) I was bummed to realize I'm not supposed to plant my garden or annuals until Mother's Day. Boooring.
8) The tooth fairy came for Andy. He got $1. Just a plain dollar bill, too, although his name was written on it. A two dollar bill or a gold dollar would have been cooler, but my friends' advice to go for something easy to replicate made sense.
9) Shocking to me is how many of my friends give out $10 and $20 for a lost tooth. Seriously? I think Mark would start pulling out his teeth for casholinis like that.
10) Bjorn and I have been working our way through the Star Wars prequels. And you know what? They're really kind of bad. Natalie Portman's hair was pretty awesome, Hayden Christiansen's hair was remarkably bad and Yoda is downright awesome.
Monday, April 05, 2010
Lost tooth!
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Easter pictures
Meg loves this slide that was donated "freecycle" from a neighbor a couple of years ago when her girls outgrew it. She and Andy were bouncing on it when we had friends over on Saturday as captured below. 
Good friends. I normally would say "old" friends, but present company would have assaulted me for saying so. 
We had an Easter egg hunt first thing this morning. I, er, the Easter bunny put out the eggs last night. Turns out that was a mistake as they were covered in ants this morning. Fortunately for Mark and Jennifer, they didn't want anything to do with the lottery tickets. We won $3 on a $10 investment. 
Andy and I met some friends for church. It was a Presbyterian church that we've been to a couple of times. Cool thing though, they handed out bells and everyone rang them whenever they say "Christ is Risen." I liked it. Andy looked dapper in his blue blazer, but it was a little warm for it. 
At Bjorn's mom's house for Easter dinner, we had a second egg hunt. We had a great time hunting and playing ball in the yard in addition to a fabulous dinner. Luckily, the weather cooperated. It was 70 and mostly sunny all weekend. Just gorgeous. 
Saturday, April 03, 2010
The Easter Bunny
Tomorrow is Easter. We have plastic eggs to stuff with candy and a few lottery tickets for the big kids. We even left out some strawberries on the back patio for the Easter bunny. I'm a little at a loss about the whole ruse though. Is the Easter bunny just like Santa? I mean, is it a big surprise that he comes and does all this stuff? And does he bring presents other than the eggs and candy? I ask partly because due to the sheer awesomeness of Facebook, I see all these pictures and posts from friends who appear to go to great lengths with their Easter bunny surprises for their kids. Does everyone do that? We're just planning to hide some eggs and search for them.
Granted, I'm quicky admitting I'm not as awesome as my mom who must have dyed two billion hard-boiled eggs with us growing up. Last year I bought the kit and we never ever opened it. I was actually just fine with that, thanks. Maybe next year. Or the year after.
Andy's tooth is still working it's way out. It's pretty loose now, but I have no experience except my own vague ones from probably 25 years ago to know how loose is really loose, so loose I need to go ahead and yank it before he accidentally swallows it. Next question, what's the going rate for the Tooth Fairy these days?
Granted, I'm quicky admitting I'm not as awesome as my mom who must have dyed two billion hard-boiled eggs with us growing up. Last year I bought the kit and we never ever opened it. I was actually just fine with that, thanks. Maybe next year. Or the year after.
Andy's tooth is still working it's way out. It's pretty loose now, but I have no experience except my own vague ones from probably 25 years ago to know how loose is really loose, so loose I need to go ahead and yank it before he accidentally swallows it. Next question, what's the going rate for the Tooth Fairy these days?
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Letting the terrorist win
She's back to sleeping in the crib...for now. I am going to further remove everything interesting from the room and then try again. I initially thought this weekend, but maybe I'll wait a couple more weeks. She's also very interested in potty training right now (my girl went no. 1 and no. 2 on the toilet this morning!) so I might take one huge milestone at a time.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Operation big girl bed = fail
Our of fear that she'd fling herself out and get hurt, I went on Craigslist -- the most awesome garage sale in the history of the world -- and found a cute little toddler bed. A cherry finish sleigh bed. I opted for the toddler bed, basically a low to the ground bed with rails that takes the crib mattress vs. a twin. For one, I liked that it takes up a lot less space in her relatively small room. And two, it's just so, so cute.
I moved Andy up to a twin bed when he was ready to move out of the crib and I hated those add-on bed rails. I never could get it to work that great and they always felt flimsy.
Bjorn picked up the bed for me at the bargain price of $15 and brought it home. I invested in a cute new sheet and a Dora blanket and we were all set. On Friday at nap time when I knew she was tired, I made a big deal of her new bed. We read a book, sat nicely and I rubbed her back until she was almost asleep. It should have been perfect. Then about 20 minutes later, I heard the noise of a toy. So I went in, removed all the toys, put her back in bed. This continued for about another 40 minutes when I finally put her back into her crib.
I tried not to get too discouraged. Bjorn did the same routine come the evening and after about an hour, he too put her in the crib. After more of the same yesterday, I moved the bed out to the carport. We'll try it again in a week. Or never.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Astigmatism
Andy's going to need glasses. Not too much of a surprise really considering Bjorn's got a pretty serious prescription. On his four year check up, they pediatric nurse tested his eyes with their basic tests that I believe are left over from 1960 as it's the same stuff I remember using at Bradfield Elementary school in 1978 and it was old looking equipment then. She warned that he seemed to be having a little trouble with distance vision, but that at age four, a lot of kids have trouble with the instructions. At his five year check up, they noticed he was still having a little trouble with distance vision and that I probably should get him to an optometrist before kindergarten.
So a few weeks ago, I took him to an optometrist in Burke that our pediatrician recommended. Apparently a lot of optometrists (like our regular one) don't see little kids so I needed to find one who was willing to take the time. Dr. Katz was great. Nice, funny and comforting. The whole exam took about an hour and a half, which was surprising to me. Considering the length, I was so glad I left the Meg-er-rator with Miss Ayesha. Andy was pretty nervous about it, but he did pretty well. After doing a bunch of different distance vision and depth perception tests, he came back with a pretty good astigmatism in both eyes (I had to call my sister Mary to learn it's not "a stigmatism" and figure out what that meant). Andy was getting tired so Dr. Katz asked us to come back in a couple of weeks so he could dialate his eyes and make sure he wasn't missing something.
We went back yesterday for the dialating. Dr. Katz first tested that the measurements and vision tests from a couple weeks ago held up and then he put the drops in Andy's eyes. Andy did not appreciate that part since they stung a little. The good news is that the inside of his eyes are perfect, it's just that his eyes aren't completely round so he'll need glasses at some point to correct his 20-50 vision. What I liked was the doctor wasn't in a hurry to put him into glasses. He said for what Andy's doing, he can see fine. He suggested we tell his kindergarten teacher that he needs to sit closer to the front of the class and then bring him back in a year. So he'll definitely need glasses at some point, but I appreciate that the doctor's not in a rush. That said, he recommended monitoring the situation and if it seems he's having trouble that might be related, to bring him back in and we'll get the glasses sooner.
So a few weeks ago, I took him to an optometrist in Burke that our pediatrician recommended. Apparently a lot of optometrists (like our regular one) don't see little kids so I needed to find one who was willing to take the time. Dr. Katz was great. Nice, funny and comforting. The whole exam took about an hour and a half, which was surprising to me. Considering the length, I was so glad I left the Meg-er-rator with Miss Ayesha. Andy was pretty nervous about it, but he did pretty well. After doing a bunch of different distance vision and depth perception tests, he came back with a pretty good astigmatism in both eyes (I had to call my sister Mary to learn it's not "a stigmatism" and figure out what that meant). Andy was getting tired so Dr. Katz asked us to come back in a couple of weeks so he could dialate his eyes and make sure he wasn't missing something.
We went back yesterday for the dialating. Dr. Katz first tested that the measurements and vision tests from a couple weeks ago held up and then he put the drops in Andy's eyes. Andy did not appreciate that part since they stung a little. The good news is that the inside of his eyes are perfect, it's just that his eyes aren't completely round so he'll need glasses at some point to correct his 20-50 vision. What I liked was the doctor wasn't in a hurry to put him into glasses. He said for what Andy's doing, he can see fine. He suggested we tell his kindergarten teacher that he needs to sit closer to the front of the class and then bring him back in a year. So he'll definitely need glasses at some point, but I appreciate that the doctor's not in a rush. That said, he recommended monitoring the situation and if it seems he's having trouble that might be related, to bring him back in and we'll get the glasses sooner.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Health insurance reform
There has been a lot said about health insurance reform. Certainly the politicians went on and on and on about it. And certainly everyone in the Facebook-o-sphere has been posting stuff pretty incindiary on both sides (seriously, people). I have nothing to add except my own personal rant du jour about it. Which I can do. Because I control the keypad (at least I do between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.).
I am for insurance/health reform. I am for this because I have children and I believe American children everywhere should have good, quality health care if they are ever going to have a chance to make something of themselves. This all came to me because I have seen first hand how insurance makes a difference in the growth and development of kids. Take Andy. He had bad ear infections. If I hadn't had insurance, he wouldn't have gone to the doctor 2,700 times for antibiotics. He wouldn't have necessarily had all those ear infections treated and eventually the tubes put in so he could, you know, hear and learn to process words and language skills. If he hadn't had all that, there's a good chance he would have been language delayed. It would have taken years for him to catch up, if he ever did.
I think about kids with less resources. Those kids have the same problem and enter school with a language delay. Because they're poor, they probably go to a crappy school and have fewer resources there, too, which puts him further behind his peers like Andy. By the time he finishes school, if he does, he's now several years behind a kid like Andy. That's not to say other things wouldn't have been a factor, but if giving him antibiotics would have fixed it, why not? It's a relatively cheap fix with such a serious positive upside for the entire country.
I also work in cancer care. I hear stories from the doctors I work with all the time about how lack of insurance keeps patients from being diagnosed earlier. That means they present with a worse disease and likely have worse outcomes. It probably also costs our healthcare system even more than the insurance would just paying for their Medicaid claims while we spend $250,000 on end of life care when if they'd had insurance, a $50,000 treatment regimen would have cured it. In fact, the American Cancer Society several years ago began a campaign lobbying for health reform because the simple fact of having insurance makes a person significantly more likely to beat the disease than without -- far more than any new screening, mobile mammogram program, surgical or radiation treamtent.
So, yes, I do think it's a good thing. I'm not sure about it being an entitlement. I'm not sure health care is a right per se. I'm not sure how much it's going to cost in the long run. But something had to be done and I'm proud of this big first step.
Rant over.
I am for insurance/health reform. I am for this because I have children and I believe American children everywhere should have good, quality health care if they are ever going to have a chance to make something of themselves. This all came to me because I have seen first hand how insurance makes a difference in the growth and development of kids. Take Andy. He had bad ear infections. If I hadn't had insurance, he wouldn't have gone to the doctor 2,700 times for antibiotics. He wouldn't have necessarily had all those ear infections treated and eventually the tubes put in so he could, you know, hear and learn to process words and language skills. If he hadn't had all that, there's a good chance he would have been language delayed. It would have taken years for him to catch up, if he ever did.
I think about kids with less resources. Those kids have the same problem and enter school with a language delay. Because they're poor, they probably go to a crappy school and have fewer resources there, too, which puts him further behind his peers like Andy. By the time he finishes school, if he does, he's now several years behind a kid like Andy. That's not to say other things wouldn't have been a factor, but if giving him antibiotics would have fixed it, why not? It's a relatively cheap fix with such a serious positive upside for the entire country.
I also work in cancer care. I hear stories from the doctors I work with all the time about how lack of insurance keeps patients from being diagnosed earlier. That means they present with a worse disease and likely have worse outcomes. It probably also costs our healthcare system even more than the insurance would just paying for their Medicaid claims while we spend $250,000 on end of life care when if they'd had insurance, a $50,000 treatment regimen would have cured it. In fact, the American Cancer Society several years ago began a campaign lobbying for health reform because the simple fact of having insurance makes a person significantly more likely to beat the disease than without -- far more than any new screening, mobile mammogram program, surgical or radiation treamtent.
So, yes, I do think it's a good thing. I'm not sure about it being an entitlement. I'm not sure health care is a right per se. I'm not sure how much it's going to cost in the long run. But something had to be done and I'm proud of this big first step.
Rant over.
Movin' on up
Young Margaret probably only has hours left before she moves up to a toddler bed. Hours. I had planned to keep her in her crib until the summer, but the little bugger has demonstrated she can just bend at the waist just right and try to get out. She hasn't successfully gotten out. Yet. But the clock is ticking. I have casually been looking at toddler beds. I have some specific wants. I want either a bed that uses a crib mattress or a twin, but I don't want to get one of those in between beds that requires a whole new set of sheets. Right now, we're down to three sizes -- twin, crib and queen.
I am loathe to go to the toddler bed. Unlike Andy who I don't think realized he could get out of his twin bed for probably two months, Meg absolutely knows. And absolutely knows how to open the door knob already. On my list is one of those door handle protectors to keep her from letting herself out. I also will have to bolt everything to the wall that isn't already or take it out. She's turning out to be quite the thrower these days. Sigh.
All this is at a time when she's been struggling to go to bed. Last night the littlebrat darling refused to finally go to bed until after 10:45 p.m. She might have been up later, but I finally crashed. It's now almost 10 p.m. and she's finally quieted down after a 90 minute struggle where poor Baby Elmo and Daddy Elmo were sacrificed overboard as she protested the sheer injustice of bedtime.
I am loathe to go to the toddler bed. Unlike Andy who I don't think realized he could get out of his twin bed for probably two months, Meg absolutely knows. And absolutely knows how to open the door knob already. On my list is one of those door handle protectors to keep her from letting herself out. I also will have to bolt everything to the wall that isn't already or take it out. She's turning out to be quite the thrower these days. Sigh.
All this is at a time when she's been struggling to go to bed. Last night the little
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