Mistakes in Motherhood

Matthew was sick last night. He started in around 8 pm when he emptied his stomach contents onto Bobby’s lap, then the carpet, then into the toilet, then onto the tile floor, toilet again, and then twice into a bucket. By the 6th time Bobby was threatening me with a trip to the ER. I talked him out of it when he was able to hold down some water and Bunny Grahams around 11 pm. He never acted lethargic, was not running a fever and was acting like his normal self.

This morning he woke up a bit feverish, but acting normal and his stomach has been completely fine, so I am sure it was just a passing bug.

We have been a bit uneasy about kid-puke for about 4 years now… when Christopher was 5 some friends, the kids, and I had just returned from Six Flags. Christopher started acting funny on the drive home… he started being unusually lethargic, but after 12 hours in the sun we were ALL tired. The next clue was when he refused to eat anything, VERY unlike him, but again I blamed the day in the sun. That evening he started puking and running a fever, I figured maybe it was too many goodies, or too many roller coasters and let him sleep on the floor in front of the bathroom like he requested. The next morning he was still pale, lethargic and puking with fever but no diarrhea so I decided it was time to head to the ER for IV fluids.

When the fluids did not perk him up, they ordered an x-ray to find out why he only had vomiting, they worried about an obstructed bowel. When the x-ray was clean, the intern ordered an Cat Scan as a precaution. The radiologist came out and I remember his words exactly, “I think your son has an appendicitis, but I am not sure. I have consulted another radiologist, a specialist and a surgeon and we all agree we have NO clue what is wrong with him, honestly I have never seen images like these before but we all agree his appendix is larger than it should be”. He went on to say that they were confused because Christopher did not appear to be in pain, did not exhibit any of the classic signs (retrocecal, psoas, obtruator, Rovsing’s, or Blumberg’s) these are tests like tapping of the knee or heel to see if the patient reacts. These are normally extremely accurate, so this is why everyone was confused. So the surgeon comes in and asks for permission to do exploratory surgery. I consent and they go in to find his appendix is in bad shape and there is foam all in his abdominal cavity. We figure we must have caught it early. His recovery went well, it took three days for him to leave the hospital and he was able to manage his pain on just Tylenol alone. He is also very proud of his 3 inch scar and shows it off to anyone who will look.

Anyways, to make a long story longer, since the appendix episode, Bobby tends to be a bit puke-shy, especially in the little ones who get sick out of the blue for no apparent reason and who toss their cookies more than 4 times (since the little one dehydrate easily). I don’t blame daddy for being worried.

Update 4:00 pm

**Since writing this, Matthew started crying when I picked him up. I asked him to point to his owie and he had me kiss his right side of his belly near his belly button, so I have called the nurse at his pediatrician’s office to see what they recommend. I am starting to feel the anxiety daddy felt last night and I am hoping it was a fluke thing.**

Update 11:00 pm

**The little faker is just fine and as soon as we got to the ER started acting like his normal self.**

No Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Bobby, Health, Matthew, Scary, Toddlers. | #

So I use long-range walkie talkies to communicate with my kids when they go out to play, that way if I need to call them in for dinner I don’t have to go out and yell or search or knock on doors. Sometimes the children will forget to put them away and sometimes we will get on a bad channel and you will hear static and interference. Well this afternoon I hear static and we are looking for the walkie talkies and not finding them anywhere.

Finally we find the source of the noise… it is inside an old purse Matthew decided to steal from me. Here are pictures of what we found inside the purse.

From top left to right is: The walkie talkie (and Austin’s hand), the purse. Next row left to righ: The Stereo remote, the DVR remote, my cellphone, my laptop mouse, Austin & Christopher’s laptop mouse, my keys, and Matthew’s right foot with his left boot.

Matthew was so proud of himself and giggled at each item we pulled out of the purse. I was shocked at how much that little purse could actually hold!

No Comments | In: A lot about nothing | tags: A lot about nothing, Humor, Matthew, Toddlers. | #

Matthew, Playing Under the Table.

Originally uploaded by sumnerrain.

Matthew had his 2 year well baby exam today. He was super cute playing with the “bwocks” (blocks) in the office… he would stack them up and then knock them down. He also played with the cars and did REALLY well putting together the puzzles.

The actual exam went well, he is as usual on the smaller side; 25% for weight, 5% for height… normal for him and normal for our family.

Getting ready to go was quite another story… Bobby was working at home so he was helping me get ready. We could NOT find any of his shoes that matched!! It was ridiculous. Thanks to Terri, my little guy is a shoe hound… he has a dozen pair of shoes or more… however he is all right feet apparently because of all those shoes he ONLY had one left shoe… that one of course not being a match to any of the other right shoes. So, he went to the doctor in mismatched soft sole shoes. One was a boat, and the other was a puppy.

After the appointment I went to Payless to take advantage of a BOGO sale since he could use a pair of sandals and I wanted a pair of Airwalk Croc-Off shoes. I then went to Walmart to get him an over the door shoe organizer, play shoes near the bottom, and his every day wear shoes at the top out of reach. In time as we find shoes we will put them in the organizer and voila, a pair is found! I sure would love to know where he is ferreting the left shoes away too. I have searched in his room, my room, and any other common areas I have thought of. Silly little guy probably has a mountain of shoes hidden away somewhere.

No Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Humor, Matthew, Toddlers, Updates. | #

Matthew is the total opposite of Christopher. Christopher was laid back, independent, non-touchy-feely, and opposed to potty learning. Matthew is a bit higher maintenance, he knows what he wants and will stop at nothing to get it, he is a cuddle bug, he is chatty, and he has decided it is time to initiate potty learning.

For about 6 months now it is all about taking the diaper off, wet or soiled, with or without our knowledge. Then about a month ago he climbed up on the potty himself and peed in the toilet. Now, it is like having a new puppy… I am cleaning up poop everywhere. He attempts to make it in the potty, but more often poops next to the potty. I am all about child-led everything, and I have been encouraging early potty learning, without sitting him on the toilet all day every day.

A few weeks ago, we got him some big boy underwear with a Finding Nemo theme. He loves his fish – butt as he calls it. See, Matthew is ALL about butt lately. He pretty much has about a dozen different meanings to butt; from tooting, pooping, his penis, his butt, and now his underwear.

Sunday morning, Daddy let him wear his underwear and he came to visit me in bed. He was holding onto my headboard, jumping up and down on daddy’s pillow, singing “butt-butt-butt-butt-butt-butt-butt-butt”; he was so happy, and Bobby and I were laughing like crazy. He is such a silly baby!

So far, no accidents in the big boy underwear… but honestly that is because he does not keep them on long enough, but that is OK. He is making positive steps forward, and learning at his own speed, and that is fine by me!

3 Comments | In: A lot about nothing | tags: A lot about nothing, Humor, Matthew, Toddlers. | #

My little darling loves to help. When I call his name he comes running saying “coming mommy”; however, sometimes he helps a little too much.

Take today, I had just folded a nice fresh laundry basket full of diapers and set them outside his door to be put away when he woke up. Well, I got busy with baby A. and he was up playing and having a good old time in his room. He was quiet and I did not see all the red flags.

So A.’s parent came and got her and I go upstairs with Matthew who smells suspiciously like poop. First clue something was amiss were the two poopy diapers on the stairs. The second clue were the three diapers in the middle of his toys. I am gathering all these diapers as I walk towards the diaper pail, telling Matthew “no-no-no, we don’t play with diapers, ewww!” When I get to the diaper pail I stop short; the diaper pail is now overflowing with dirty clothes from his clothes hamper. I start digging them out, hoping I see the rest of the diapers at the bottom. Much to my dismay they are not in the pail, but instead are now piled under his crib, along with some of the freshly washed ones.

I was pretty darn pissed, however I knew my emotions would be lost on him, and that two years of age a severe scolding, or a spanking would not make any difference. He was just exploring his room and trying to help by taking care of his dirty clothes. I did explain that it is yucky, and that it is not a place for babies to play. In the meantime I will make sure I shut his door when I can’t supervise him. I also need to think of a long term place to put his diaper pail so he is not playing with them, especially when he moves into a toddler bed. Thank goodness we have not had any coloring experiences!!

No Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Matthew, Parenting, Toddlers. | #

Matthew cannot say the word pizza; he thinks he can, but we won’t let him… especially in public. See, he says the ‘pea’ sound in pizza like ‘poo’ and the ‘zah’ sound in pizza ‘tuh’. I won’t write the word he says, or the exact translation of his word, but we can say it is a very well known Spanish word that means ‘prostitute’. If you don’t know the word, google a free English-Spanish translator, ask a 10th grader, or just ask my 2 year old to say pizza.

Now let’s not teach him the words “fork”, “asphalt”, “bench” or “ship” until he is at least 5.

No Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Confessions, Humor, Insanity, Matthew, Parenting, Toddlers. | #

Has this day not been bad enough?? I am PMSing, A.’s dad was late again, I injured my toddler (who has been WAAAAAY more precocious than usual), and I spent the better part of the afternoon trying to get a video to embed in my blog. I am tired, and crabby and I still don’t know if Austin will have to cut his hair before school starts to meet dress code. I just want to curl up in my warm bed, have myself a good cry and a long nap.

On a side note, the older two boys have a sleepover this weekend, and tomorrow we are invited to go bowling with our couples friends, but the here and now remains the same… I need my husband to rub my back and hold me and I need a nap.

Mommy is crabby, she needs a time out.

No Comments | In: A lot about nothing | tags: A lot about nothing, Tirade, Toddlers. | #

Today has been a day… I guess if I could describe it in one word it would be catalyst, because one event keeps leading to another. I don’t know how it began, but I will start with the event that inspired the title.

Matthew woke up this morning with a little bit of a red bum, and I decided I would allow him to “air out” so to speak and let him have his much loved “diaper free” time. Accidents don’t bother me because baby pee is easy to clean and it is a great lesson that will hopefully aid eventually in potty learning. Well, he was playing in the front room and came asking for a diaper, so I put a diaper on him and all was fine.

Well, baby A. had just woken up from a nap, finished her milk, and the new milk caused the expulsion of the old milk so I went into the front room to her diaper bag to get her a clean diaper. While in the front room I noticed a strange puddle on the window sill and the table runner of the window seat. I look around and see a wipe (I use cloth wipes, this one was an old diaper and super absorbent) that had fallen out of the laundry basket when I was folding and putting away Matthew’s diapers and wipes. I clean up the pee (light bulb comes on to explain WHY he wanted a diaper) and then head upstairs to put it in the pail. Baby A. is crying, because who wants to lay in poop, but I have to get this wet cloth into the pail before I change her.

While in Matthew’s room, I find that he has climbed up onto his dresser and is finger painting with a tube of Desitin that I keep on the changing table/dresser for bad rashes. I remove him from the dresser and he promptly starts messing with something else he shouldn’t, so I go to my bedroom and grab a doorknob cover so he will stay out of his room while I am busy with A.’s diaper. In the time it takes to do that he is back in his room holding onto a toy for dear life; I pull him out, put the cover on while he throws a tantrum at my feet.

I calm down A. and get her cleaned up and in a fresh diaper. While I am doing that, Matthew finds a step-stool and has started to help himself to a glass of ice water from the fridge and manages to spill it all over the floor. I get a paper towel and clean that up, and by the time I manage to get back to A. who is wanting held, Matthew has now found my Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and is “cleaning” his mess. I get that and the stool away from him and he is already rummaging through the cupboards for something to eat. A.’s dad is supposed to pick her up shortly, so I have no time to put her down to scream so I can feed him. So he gets into the Cheerios and starts squirreling them away in one of his toys.

A. starts to get upset because she is gassy or something and so I have to turn my attention back to her and he is back in the cereal that now decorates my kitchen floor. I grab a broom to try to clean it up and he grabs a dish rag and his it on her face and is pushing it down trying to “help clean” her, not cool so I drop the broom and go back to her and put on Sesame Street trying to distract him long enough to get her out the door. Writing all this makes me realize HOW I can be so tired at the end of the day and get nothing done whatsoever. I remember now how the house managed to stay so clean when I was working out of the home before Matthew was born and Austin and Christopher were in school and daycare.

No wonder I have not had a chance to eat!

No Comments | In: People, Places & Things, This is how I roll | tags: A lot about nothing, Cloth Diapers, Insanity, Matthew, Parenting, Tirade, Toddlers. | #

Matthew is now 23 months and 6 days; I can barely believe he is going to be two years old in less than a month.  Before I got pregnant with him I knew that there were some things I wanted to do differently with him.  For one I wanted to try cloth diapering, and I wanted to try natural childbirth, and I wanted to wear him in a sling… but none of those were set in stone.  In fact I ended up being induced and 5 hours into the induction I was begging for an epidural.

However there was ONE issue that was non-negotiable for me; and that was breastfeeding.   I knew that  I would nurse Matthew until at least his first birthday, but I never dreamed I would be able to make it this close to his second birthday.  I am not sure we will make it much farther, I cannot even predict if we will actually make it to his 2nd birthday (he only nurses a few minutes every 1-3 days), but I do know I made the very best decision for my family and I.

Matthew now asks for more “moo” (cow’s milk) than “boo” (mama’s milk); but boo offers comfort and cuddling that moo cannot.  I regret not trying harder with Christopher, who nursed for 5 months.  I took the advice of others who told me to supplement with formula; and I feel that was the beginning of the end.  We also had other issues, thrush, low supply, inexperience and lack of a solid support team.

If you are breastfeeding, or planning on breastfeeding make sure you have a solid support team in place (friends, family, medical staff, La Leche League, etc), read up on it (the internet, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding book), and have a goal set in place… the AAP recommends exclusively breastfeeding until at least 6 months when you introduce solids, but still making breastfeeding the main source of nutrition until at least the first birthday; and this was my goal.  The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for as long as mutually desirable between mother and child.  If we have another child, my goal will be 18-24+ months.

No Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Advocacy, Matthew, Parenting, Toddlers. | #

I started babysitting a little girl during the days and so I brought up a few “necessities”, like Matthew’s playpen and his swing.  Well, Matthew loved his new little chair so much he climbed in and started swinging himself back and forth.  The little stinker is WAY too big for this swing, but he does not realize it.  Come on now little one, if you can climb in and out all by yourself, you are just WAY too big.

No Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Matthew, Toddlers. | #