Apparently we can save some big bucks on toys. I’ve heard of kids loving the boxes or wrapping paper more than the toy…
But this takes the cake.
Maybe we should see what he can do with a hammer.
Category Archives: Ordinary Life
Changing leaves and sharp teeth
The second tooth is getting ready to make its appearance with a much bigger production than the first. So far I don’t care for this second tooth. It has an attitude problem so far as I can tell. The first one really just reduced his appetite (which wasn’t actually a bad thing), but this one is causing some very uncharacteristic fussing. All this, and I know they won’t even bother to stick around. These teeth come along, make us crazy, and just disappear in a few years as part of some sort of pyramid scheme with the Tooth Fairy.
We took advantage of the awesome fall weekend and my parental units as babysitters on Saturday and went to the Cabbagetown Chomp & Stomp. Some might question if it’s worth fighting the crowd to get tiny little cups of chili. The answer is yes. The joy I get from stuffing myself at chili cookoffs is somewhat sick. Perhaps because I think the small portions don’t count, even 987 small portions.
Last night was the first night alone without Chris since Connor was born. He had to fly up to Albany to do a presentation-on his birthday, much to his delight. I let Connor sleep in the bed with me for a night that saw his best night of sleep possibly ever. He sleeps pretty well anyway, but I don’t think he made a sound or move until 7 am. Every time I woke up I had to make sure he was breathing it was so unnerving. He usually spends some portion of the night talking to himself or kicking his mattress like he’s Jason Statham.
I guess he was worn out from our long day out Sunday walking the Atlanta Beltline and stopping to grab some food and drinks on the way with friends. But how to spend the evening without Daddy? Chinese delivered to the door and Walking Dead in the dark. Okay that was for me. He was sleeping. I suspect Walking Dead isn’t good for a baby’s development anyway.
I mentioned a few entries ago that we had gone two days without seeing any eyerolling. We actually went three, almost four, but about an hour before bedtime on the fourth day we fell back into the 1-2 a day routine. So that was a bummer, but hopefully means we’ll see less frequency soon.
It looks like Connor will also have the opportunity to participate in a TSC study in Boston. We got connected through a friend who has a son enrolled and I e-mailed with the genetic counselor over the weekend. We are supposed to talk via phone tomorrow to iron out the details. On one hand I’m excited to have experts that will be keeping an eye on him at another major TSC clinic, and giving us an opportunity to get up to Boston for a change of scenery. Any issues that (hopefully don’t) arise, I will have more brains to pick and connections if other opportunities come about. On the other hand, the purpose of the study is to look at the issues that come about as a result of TSC, particularly autism. They are trying to figure out markers of which kids go on to develop it and which ones don’t. The fact that my child qualifies for this study because he has higher odds of developing autism than the general population terrifies me. Autism terrified me before I even got pregnant, even though I have worked with some kids I really loved that had it. One of my favorite students of all time was diagnosed with Asperger’s, but I still can’t imagine it in my life at home. The things that hang over you because of this disease just absolutely suck. I try to focus on the many amazing people who are living with TSC successfully and taking incredible steps to further research and awareness. Apparently the December issue of Runner’s World is going to feature a teenage runner with TSC. And whatever comes, we’ll deal with it.
Related articles
- Dear Tooth Fairy, (owonderfulwonderful.com)
- Most Unique Neighborhoods in Atlanta (apartmentguide.com)
- Slideshow: BeltLine’s Eastside Trail opens (bizjournals.com)
First Halloween: Check
I did a bad, bad thing. I went to Target today to see if the leftover Halloween decorations were on sale. Actually, disaster was averted because it had been picked pretty clean. I, the woman who wore the same costume for like six years only to pull out a costume from my middle school days this year, had to fight the temptation to buy three costumes because they were 50 percent off. Fortunately, I needed a bathroom and had Connor with me, as well as a full cart, so I had to rush out. I came away with just this:
I also may or may not have been unable to resist the impulse to buy him Santa pajamas. You can prove nothing. Target is evil.
Connor really enjoyed his first actual Halloween. We didn’t do the Trick-or-Treat with baby thing since he weighs 976 pounds. Or 22. Can’t keep that straight. But he took a nice long nap, right through the ringing of the doorbell, shrieks of young children, and me laughing hysterically as two small boys in awesome, if not particularly flexible Lego people costumes hobbled across the yard. I’m worried he’s going to pick up my poor moral character in that I find it hysterical when a kid faceplants in my yard and flails about immobile until Dad comes to the rescue. Connor woke up in time to enjoy his first viewing of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Mommy enjoyed her own treat in the form of a Jack and Coke.
I also dressed up for the first time to pass out candy:
The leftover M&Ms have me in a good mood which is good for the pharmacy that provides Connor’s Sabril. Sabril is not available through regular pharmacies. It has to be fedexed to the house. Every time I have had to refill it’s been an ordeal because the prescription kept changing as we sought the ideal dose. Finally, this time was just a simple refill. No changes. Not to be. Not even sure how long I was on hold as I had them seek out the reason our prescription was flagged because supposedly the “directions were not written correctly.” Really? Because they were last month. Turns out some rep was confused because in one place the doctor wrote “at bedtime” and elsewhere “evening.” Ummm….what? I find it irritiating that it would be flagged due to someone’s apparent hangover, but even more annoying that some rep decides to flag it but takes no steps to look into it and clarify. Basically, he or she left it to be my problem when it came time to refill. Had I not insisted it be looked into while I was on the phone, his refill would still be in limbo.
Obviously all my hopes lie in that Connor’s TSC will be a mild case, but regardless of its course, he will require more medical attention than other children, even if only for the annual monitoring. I’ve come to realize that a significant percentage of my life is going to be dedicated to repeated phone calls, sitting on hold, and writing nasty letters to billing departments because people are idiots.
Is Michael Myers in my house?
We have an eruption. The tooth has made a slight appearance. It’s difficult to catch a glimpse of it though since Connor pretty much always either has his fingers in his mouth or his tongue sticking out. That part of the teething process is charming. Slightly less charming is the “I’m being chased in a darkened parking garage by an axe murderer” shriek he’s adopted over the last few days. Up until then his new sounds had been grunting and growling, which the pediatrician said is typical of boys. The girls, she said, like to shriek. I’m all for equal opportunity and eliminating gender based stereotypes (except in cases of guys I’ve dated), but at 5 am I don’t want to hear the Halloween soundtrack coming out of his room. His appetite has also decreased significantly, but I’m pretty sure my 7-month-old who is wearing 12-18 month clothing is gonna be alright. Losing a little weight will probably help him with his motor skills anyway, since the physical therapist thinks his rapid weight gain is a factor in his slight motor delays.
I’d post a picture of the tooth, but at this point I’m afraid he’ll chew up my phone.
We have a feeling he might just bypass crawling since that doesn’t come easy to chunky babies and he is pretty strong when you put him in a standing position. Plus, his answer to tummy time is to conk out after a couple minutes because he doesn’t like to work. He’s like his mommy. You want me to do what? Yard work?…mommy crawls behind sweaters hanging in closet and passes out. He might actually just resort to doing the backstroke on land. Lately he’s been scootching himself several inches up when lying on the changing table and in the crib. So frankly, he probably considers it silly to go to all the effort of turning himself over.
I spent about 3 hours sleeping on the floor with him this morning when his shrieking started up. I’ve done that quite a bit when he gets loud enough. He’s not crying, but proximity to one of us usually quietens him down. So it’s either one of us on the floor, or Chris on the couch and him in the bed with me. Bet the baby book writers would love that. Way to teach him how to get what he wants instead of just putting himself back to sleep. But since he sleeps pretty well most of the time, we don’t care, and they aren’t here to assist me when I stumble into a wall because I can barely open my eyes. I barely consult baby books anymore because the normal every day stuff doesn’t phase me now. So he may not have the perfect nap schedule or all those other details that fill 500 page books. He’s a happy baby.
Besides, he’s gonna provide the sound effects for the trick or treaters.
Just because I wear the same costume over and over doesn’t mean I don’t like Halloween…
Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. Horrible mother! Horrible! Why is she doing that to him? Please. This kid was ticked that his pumpkin costume didn’t come with a machete. His only response to Creepy McPumpkinhead was to try and shove him in his mouth, presumably to keep company with the two teeth that are about to burst out of his gums Alien-style.
Connor also attended his first Halloween party yesterday, which was also the day of his 7-month birthday. It was thrown by my friend Claudia. Claudia is the reason Connor will eventually grow to resent me and think I’m totally lame because she loves to throw theme parties and has the inflatables rental place on speed dial. I’m gonna have to rent Cirque du Soleil for his birthday to compete. And the entire staff at Nickelodeon. Either that or we’ll just pretend he has the same birthday as her daughter Isabella and tell him the party is for him. Since it was a kids’ party, I was unable to wear the French maid costume I bought in, I don’t know, 2004? Fortunately, my mother keeps everything, so I wore my witch outfit from middle school instead. Look, I just prefer decorating my child and house to decorating myself.
With Isabella at the party
With Daddy at the party . My cats don’t cooperate, so I live through others…
With “Uncle” Damien (costume got a little hot…) With Ugly Betty
Mommy found a cool wig for $5.99 the day AFTER the party….
Connor had physical therapy this morning and she continues to be very happy with him. We’ve been focusing on strengthening his core, but now we’re shifting to mobility by working with him in positions that will make sure he gets comfortable transitioning into crawling and standing positions. His independent sitting has improved since she saw him just last week.
And as I type this, I look down to see…
I give up. I can’t keep anything on his feet.
Connor’s ready for Halloween!
My next post was supposed to be about what TSC is, but yesterday was my fourth 29th birthday and today we were out enjoying the pretty fall day. So, in other words, not a weekend conducive to serious writing. But Connor’s getting pretty pumped about Halloween, and insisted on wearing one of his Halloween themed shirts today. In keeping with the theme of his shirt, we went to the Sunday in the Park Festival at Atlanta’s Historic Oakland Cemetery. He had a great time. I can always tell when he’s having fun because he closes his eyes and goes to sleep to show it. I’ve also finally gotten on board with Instagram so I’m about to take annoying to a whole new level.
Pardon my month and a half break…
…but I’ve been asleep. No, really. I’ve been so blessed as to have not thrown up once for the entire duration of the first trimester, but as for that fatigue thing they mention? I’m matching my cat hour for hour. Today was the first day in weeks I’ve summoned the energy to exercise, and of my usual 4 mile walk, I managed just a little over a mile before I was ready to curl up under a shady tree. In fact, the most significant aspect of the walk was when I came across Pachelbel’s Canon in D on the iPod. It’s not one of my usual musical motivational tools, but I just felt I needed to hear it. When the violins swelled, so did the hormones and emotions, and the baby immediately let me know that I should immediately take up the violin, indeed should have done it 20 years ago and that I’m a musical failure. Great.
We had our first ultrasound last week. I was expecting to have a Jennifer Aniston Friends moment of “I don’t see it!” but it was clearer than I could have expected. Unfortunately, being the 12th week, we had no luck with the sex, but it was fascinating to see the translucent skin and vital organs. The baby was all stretched out in a manner that reminds me of the way my husband hogs the bed. So I guess I know what I’m in for. I also realized at that moment that it was a real child, and had to breathe into a paper bag for the rest of the day.
Since I’m way behind on this blog: some of my favorite reactions to the news of my pregnancy:
1. So no drinks for Becky at the wedding? Wait, maybe this is good for my wallet. (husband’s cousin)
2. Holy sh#%! (long shocked pause) You’re spawning? (my brother)
3. I just peed my pants a little…I’ll bring back little Swedish baby toys or baby skinny jeans! (friend who is studying in Sweden)
4. So he IS hitting that! (husband’s cousin’s fiance)
Should a pregnant woman slide over a waterfall?
Okay, in my defense it wasn’t that high or that deep, but when I touched bottom and the undercurrent pulled my feet out from under me, and I did have a moment in which I questioned my decision making. I think I have a lot of that coming up.
So I guess it’s time for a second go at blogging after a hiatus of several years. Oh, how I’ve missed this world. But frankly, blogging became quite difficult upon entering my current profession. I have so much I want to say about my job, but history has not been kind to blogging educators. So sadly, I will continue to store my abundant material away in the “I want to Tweet this so bad, my head’s gonna pop” portion of my brain.
But I needed something else to talk about. I mean, sure I could stick to my personal life, but the stuff that gets me really fired up and sarcastic is work. Probably because modern pharmaceuticals helped me find an inner peace I didn’t have the first time around blogging.
So let’s start with the attempts to get pregnant. Don’t worry, it’s not that kind of site. But I have to say, I was shocked throughout my 20s to discover how many people experience fertility issues and miscarriages. I know people, multiple people, who have done fertility treatments, in vitro, adoption etc. And yet, many girls (sadly not enough) hear their whole lives IF YOU DON’T USE PROTECTION YOU WILL GET PREGNANT! so I couldn’t believe it was really true until I tried it.
But there is always a bright side. The bright side being that I could drink for another month.
But what do you know? The second time worked. I remember my final drink fondly, an apple martini, two days before I found out.
I’ve already had to out myself to a friend. It’s just that weird when I go out and don’t have a drink. This could be a problem.
Mixed Up Mommy 