I still have the same number of kids, but it's struck me that you are continually getting more kid available. Especially in those early months, you get pounds and pounds of kid added on every month. They're older now, and doing different things, would you like to hear about them?
Casey is still the smiliest baby in the world. She still only has her two bottom teeth, but she will show those puppies to *anyone*. She loves to see new faces and give them her biggest smile, it really melts the heart. She's crawling, now, too. Properly crawling, even. She had been doing some productive army-crawl stuff, but now she gets up on all four limbs and covers *distance*. We are officially at the point where you have to be careful, because the place where you put her down may not be where you need to go to pick her up. This effect can be carefully mitigated by surrounding her with toys, so that if she tries to escape there is something to distract her attention and get stuffed into her mouth. Swords, oddly enough, are a big hit in this regard.
I'll tell you the cutest way that this shows up, though. You'll be doing something else, either on your own or with Tyler, and tiny fingers will grab your toes. That part is pretty nice.
Also, she likes to crawl up to my pants and put her mouth (her always so-drooly mouth) on my pants. I'm not sure if it's a kiss or if she's trying to eat me. Though given how she interacts with nearly everything at this point, I suspect it's the eating one.
The one thing we're a little concerned with is that she's not made much linguistic progress. She's still pretty limited to raspberries, vowels, and "kkkkkkkkkk". Which I guess is a consonant. We'll get her checked out to make sure there's nothing wrong, but she may just be waiting until she knows what to do with communication before just *flaunting* it all the time.
Tyler grows. We've implemented a plan that I rather like. If Tyler does his chore (feeding the cats) and eats his dinner (still 50/50, I put lots of veggies in things) he get 15 minute of ipad time. He doesn't yet realize it, but this isn't a kindness for him. For us, it gives us a reprieve from having to keep him always entertained, and it serves as something else we can take away if he's being bad. I feel pretty Machiavellian when I think about it.
He likes to play 'Good guy and Bad guy' with me, but I'm always the bad guy. I told him I don't like to be the bad guy, and he said I could be the bad guy for a while and then be the good guy later. So we did that until he realized that he was going to have to be the bad guy, and he didn't like that. So we talked about how you have to share if you want people to play with you. You sometimes have to do nice things for other people if you want them to do nice things for you. He was quiet for a while after that.
Today, He said I could be the good guy and he would be the bad guy. We switched after a while, but I felt proud about that one.
Also I got sick this weekend, and now the entire household is coughing pretty much all night. I've spent some nights in the guest bedroom with the monitors just to let Jess sleep. It's noisy. But we did have a date night, the two of us. We went to a board game Cafe. Think game store, but they will also sell you beer or coffee. We played Lords of Waterdeep and "A Few Acres of Snow" and Jessie kicked my butt at both of them. She's vicious.
-N
Showing posts with label sick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sick. Show all posts
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Thursday, April 19, 2012
I'd write more, but we all have the plague
Tyler managed to pick up a cold a little bit before his birthday, right when all of the family was coming in to visit. I don't know what it was, but it's set off a chain reaction of illness that's kept the entire family busy with doctor visits for the past few weeks. It's pretty staggering.
I started it off, with a fever and a cold that eventually clogged up my throat with gunk and ended up giving me an ear infection. I'm a grown man! I'm not supposed to be getting those anymore. Anyway, I did, and managed to get over the worst of it before my throat got really sore. I ended up going to see the doctor for that one, which meant that he as able to tell me that my ear was still infected and my sore throat was not, fortunately, strep throat. It was still horrible, though, so I got some antibiotics and am feeling much better, thanks.
Tyler's ear infection has stubbornly refused to go away, and ended up spreading into a pretty severe fever a couple of times. Unfortunately that meant that we had to graduate him past oral antibiotics and onto a shot! It was horrible! But it seems to have helped his ear. Anyway, he's going into the ENT doctor tomorrow to get evaluated for tubes, because he's been getting a lot of infections and they're becoming progressively harder to cure. I don't want to be giving him a shot every time he gets a cold.
Jess managed to skip the worst of it, but ended up with a voice-clearing sore throat yesterday and she ended up with a couple of doctor appointments too. So between the three of us, we have been keeping the American health care system well employed. You're welcome.
Micro news! Tyler is really good at walking now. He does more walking than crawling. This means that we get a lot more calls from the day care telling us he bonked his head on something. He's also taking naps on a Cot now and is being gently weaned off of bottles and on to real person food. They cook good stuff at that place, I'm actually kind of jealous I can't join him for lunch. He'll be moving up to the toddler class pretty soon, I suspect. I'm trying to make more music, but so far haven't been successful. I'm trying to find a way to come at a new composition that allows me to, well, make something, mostly. Work was boring, so I went off and found my own work. It's much less boring now. I've become totally addicted to supporting video games on kickstarter. It lets you pledge money to support a thing (music, art, a physical product, anything, really) before it gets made. It's just like putting in a pre-order, really, but it's a pre-order that helps the development of the item in question. I like it. I finished the first book of the Hunger Games. Quite pleased with myself. A good, fast read, high on quality. Recommended.
-N
I started it off, with a fever and a cold that eventually clogged up my throat with gunk and ended up giving me an ear infection. I'm a grown man! I'm not supposed to be getting those anymore. Anyway, I did, and managed to get over the worst of it before my throat got really sore. I ended up going to see the doctor for that one, which meant that he as able to tell me that my ear was still infected and my sore throat was not, fortunately, strep throat. It was still horrible, though, so I got some antibiotics and am feeling much better, thanks.
Tyler's ear infection has stubbornly refused to go away, and ended up spreading into a pretty severe fever a couple of times. Unfortunately that meant that we had to graduate him past oral antibiotics and onto a shot! It was horrible! But it seems to have helped his ear. Anyway, he's going into the ENT doctor tomorrow to get evaluated for tubes, because he's been getting a lot of infections and they're becoming progressively harder to cure. I don't want to be giving him a shot every time he gets a cold.
Jess managed to skip the worst of it, but ended up with a voice-clearing sore throat yesterday and she ended up with a couple of doctor appointments too. So between the three of us, we have been keeping the American health care system well employed. You're welcome.
Micro news! Tyler is really good at walking now. He does more walking than crawling. This means that we get a lot more calls from the day care telling us he bonked his head on something. He's also taking naps on a Cot now and is being gently weaned off of bottles and on to real person food. They cook good stuff at that place, I'm actually kind of jealous I can't join him for lunch. He'll be moving up to the toddler class pretty soon, I suspect. I'm trying to make more music, but so far haven't been successful. I'm trying to find a way to come at a new composition that allows me to, well, make something, mostly. Work was boring, so I went off and found my own work. It's much less boring now. I've become totally addicted to supporting video games on kickstarter. It lets you pledge money to support a thing (music, art, a physical product, anything, really) before it gets made. It's just like putting in a pre-order, really, but it's a pre-order that helps the development of the item in question. I like it. I finished the first book of the Hunger Games. Quite pleased with myself. A good, fast read, high on quality. Recommended.
-N
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Lots of family over here. And sickness.
Meanwhile, down in Texas, Tyler has turned 1 year old. That's right! This time last year I was staying up from 2 to 6 in the morning, monitoring a baby who couldn't even open his eyes all the way. When you pinched his cheeks *nothing happened*. All he could eat was formula. He didn't sleep through the night. I didn't have to go to work in the morning. It's been a heck of a year, watching this little guy grow up from his larval stage to a fully functional pupal toddler. He's walking a lot, he wants things and has figured out ways to ask for them, he has emotions and desires, he can learn things. He's a lot more fun, now.
And being as he's a toddler, and will be soon tearing around the world with reckless abandon, everyone got him adorable Carhartts overalls. Which are great, because the knees are double-stiched, perfect for all the rowdy activity Tyler will be getting up to as a toddler now.
So we threw a birthday party for him...okay, if we're being honest, the first birthday party really isn't for the kids. Maybe not even the second, either. It's for us. We invited over a bunch of friends, mostly ones with kids, and had cake and made hot dogs and socialized. Tyler was busy nailing the transition from two naps per day to just one, so he was asleep from 12:00 to 2:00 and missed the early parts of his birthday. But never mind, it let me have more time to grill hot dogs.
The cake was, as predicted, my favorite part of the proceedings. We got him his own cake, dropped it on his high chair and let him do whatever he wanted to it. We took video, I'll let you know when we put it up somewhere. Anyway, ht started off a little tentative, but really started to enjoy getting this stuff all over his hands. Jess would feed him little bites here and there to eat, but he seemed less interested in eating, and more in making an *incredible* mess. He was wearing his Carheartts, though, so he was well protected. Then at the end I sat all close to him so he could make adorable messes all over my face too. I was a very proud dad.
We got some nice presents, too. We got him a little kids laptop, which he seems to enjoy a lot more than I thought he would. He gets really into pushing all the buttons and then opening and closing the laptop to hear it make noise.
Also, it's visitor time for us! We had Jessie's sister and her mom (who is still here) visiting us this weekend. Mostly for the birthday, but also because we like them. So we took them out to Innerspace Caverns, a natural cavern formation near us that we actually hadn't been to before. In the grand scheme of all the caverns everywhere it's probably not the greatest you could visit, but it's really neat to explore even just the areas to which they've put trails. Makes me want to maybe come by sometime to try their more extreme expeditions. The ones where you squeeze into tiny spaces. Maybe. We'd have to see. I'm not really shaped for tight spaces.
So after sending sister and her boys home, Tyler and I have been alternating illnesses for a while. He had a fever that hung around for a few days over the weekend, and when we took him into the doctor, she noticed that he had a couple of really bad ear infections. Which is crazy, because *we would never have known*. Seriously, the kid doesn't make a fuss, and I have no idea why. I've had an ear infection recently. It sucks. For some reason, he doesn't feel like making a big deal of it. Anyway, we got him some antibiotics yesterday, and then I went off to Judo, which has been going swimmingly, by the way, and then I got home and...got really sick.
I was pretty fevery last night, and very, very achy. It's died down, thank goodness, but I'm still making sure I'm never more than a few steps away from some painkillers. Which is a bummer, because there are some classes going on at work that I really wanted to take. I'll catch days 2 and 3, but I had to review the day 1 stuff at home. Which turned out not to be too big of a deal, because I knew a lot of it already. Bad time to get sick, though.
So I definitely owe you guys pictures from the party and the caves and the like. I'll let you know when I get those up. Also, this is post #750 on this blog. Numbers, right?
-N
And being as he's a toddler, and will be soon tearing around the world with reckless abandon, everyone got him adorable Carhartts overalls. Which are great, because the knees are double-stiched, perfect for all the rowdy activity Tyler will be getting up to as a toddler now.
So we threw a birthday party for him...okay, if we're being honest, the first birthday party really isn't for the kids. Maybe not even the second, either. It's for us. We invited over a bunch of friends, mostly ones with kids, and had cake and made hot dogs and socialized. Tyler was busy nailing the transition from two naps per day to just one, so he was asleep from 12:00 to 2:00 and missed the early parts of his birthday. But never mind, it let me have more time to grill hot dogs.
The cake was, as predicted, my favorite part of the proceedings. We got him his own cake, dropped it on his high chair and let him do whatever he wanted to it. We took video, I'll let you know when we put it up somewhere. Anyway, ht started off a little tentative, but really started to enjoy getting this stuff all over his hands. Jess would feed him little bites here and there to eat, but he seemed less interested in eating, and more in making an *incredible* mess. He was wearing his Carheartts, though, so he was well protected. Then at the end I sat all close to him so he could make adorable messes all over my face too. I was a very proud dad.
We got some nice presents, too. We got him a little kids laptop, which he seems to enjoy a lot more than I thought he would. He gets really into pushing all the buttons and then opening and closing the laptop to hear it make noise.
Also, it's visitor time for us! We had Jessie's sister and her mom (who is still here) visiting us this weekend. Mostly for the birthday, but also because we like them. So we took them out to Innerspace Caverns, a natural cavern formation near us that we actually hadn't been to before. In the grand scheme of all the caverns everywhere it's probably not the greatest you could visit, but it's really neat to explore even just the areas to which they've put trails. Makes me want to maybe come by sometime to try their more extreme expeditions. The ones where you squeeze into tiny spaces. Maybe. We'd have to see. I'm not really shaped for tight spaces.
So after sending sister and her boys home, Tyler and I have been alternating illnesses for a while. He had a fever that hung around for a few days over the weekend, and when we took him into the doctor, she noticed that he had a couple of really bad ear infections. Which is crazy, because *we would never have known*. Seriously, the kid doesn't make a fuss, and I have no idea why. I've had an ear infection recently. It sucks. For some reason, he doesn't feel like making a big deal of it. Anyway, we got him some antibiotics yesterday, and then I went off to Judo, which has been going swimmingly, by the way, and then I got home and...got really sick.
I was pretty fevery last night, and very, very achy. It's died down, thank goodness, but I'm still making sure I'm never more than a few steps away from some painkillers. Which is a bummer, because there are some classes going on at work that I really wanted to take. I'll catch days 2 and 3, but I had to review the day 1 stuff at home. Which turned out not to be too big of a deal, because I knew a lot of it already. Bad time to get sick, though.
So I definitely owe you guys pictures from the party and the caves and the like. I'll let you know when I get those up. Also, this is post #750 on this blog. Numbers, right?
-N
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
I don't have time to be sick!
Yesterday started out a bit rough, and I realized by the time I was meeting with our regional VP to talk about how to get promoted (more on this in a moment) it wasn't just a lack of coffee and some sore muscles. That sleepy, chilly, achey and stupid feeling was definitely a fever settling in. Oh arg. The weird thing about working a 4 hour shift is it hardly makes it seem worth calling off. Esp after I'd just had this meeting and my shift was half over.
Yeah, so this meeting. The guy who hired me is the regional VP of something... he is my manager's boss's boss. He's a nice guy, and he is totally tickled to have brought a Ph.D. into the organization, and he is also pretty sympathetic that I didn't pursue that to be a teller. (He is kind of in denial that I am 100% married to a career in banking.) So we were talking about whether I should apply for the Fast Track program to take some classes to be a relationship manager, basically get some experience with sales and some of the back end stuff so that if/when a position opens up at a manager level, I could move into it. He is pretty confident this can work for me, even though I haven't finished with my on-boarding (ie. I am not a very good teller yet). I tried to get a feel for whether this would be useful for me if I didn't want to be in a sales position, and I got a sort of "product knowledge is useful" type of answer. I read that as 'not a waste of time,' and I'd rather get paid to be trained then to actually do my job, if they are cool with it. We'll see where that goes. I'm really going to feel bad if I get a job offer to go be a scientist somewhere though.
A little more on that conflict: I'd really like to be a scientist, but I can't deny that it is out of my control. It seems to be easy to be a banker, and at this stage, I could use some "easy" to give me confidence for the other things I've got going on. But I can't figure out how I am going to love banking, which is why the search for a scientist job continues. Today I found a job in Operations for a person who is called a "Scientist" but actually facilitates the development and manufacturing process. Cool, right?
In other news, I spent today on the couch, snoozing, listening to Pandora and working on some editing contracts. I've got 2 due Friday, one Monday. One is for 320 yuan, and I finished that up this afternoon. The other two are more long term (legit?) projects that have been ongoing. But I'm impressed that just a couple hours of contract work makes my week suddenly feel slammed (I'm sick, remember).
Yeah, so this meeting. The guy who hired me is the regional VP of something... he is my manager's boss's boss. He's a nice guy, and he is totally tickled to have brought a Ph.D. into the organization, and he is also pretty sympathetic that I didn't pursue that to be a teller. (He is kind of in denial that I am 100% married to a career in banking.) So we were talking about whether I should apply for the Fast Track program to take some classes to be a relationship manager, basically get some experience with sales and some of the back end stuff so that if/when a position opens up at a manager level, I could move into it. He is pretty confident this can work for me, even though I haven't finished with my on-boarding (ie. I am not a very good teller yet). I tried to get a feel for whether this would be useful for me if I didn't want to be in a sales position, and I got a sort of "product knowledge is useful" type of answer. I read that as 'not a waste of time,' and I'd rather get paid to be trained then to actually do my job, if they are cool with it. We'll see where that goes. I'm really going to feel bad if I get a job offer to go be a scientist somewhere though.
A little more on that conflict: I'd really like to be a scientist, but I can't deny that it is out of my control. It seems to be easy to be a banker, and at this stage, I could use some "easy" to give me confidence for the other things I've got going on. But I can't figure out how I am going to love banking, which is why the search for a scientist job continues. Today I found a job in Operations for a person who is called a "Scientist" but actually facilitates the development and manufacturing process. Cool, right?
In other news, I spent today on the couch, snoozing, listening to Pandora and working on some editing contracts. I've got 2 due Friday, one Monday. One is for 320 yuan, and I finished that up this afternoon. The other two are more long term (legit?) projects that have been ongoing. But I'm impressed that just a couple hours of contract work makes my week suddenly feel slammed (I'm sick, remember).
Friday, January 20, 2012
Just One More Thing About Virii
The good news is that the family is feeling much better. Tyler seems like he's on the mend, mom and dad are over their respective illnesses, and the whole household is feeling relatively healthy. Which is why it's almost comical that now my computer has a virus. Ha. I managed to defeat the initial threat, but it's popped up again a few times. From what I've been told, the one I picked up is a tenacious one.
Which is why it's good that I've finally managed to get our household-wide backup working. Well, at least potentially working. My plan is to offload everything important off this computer and wipe the thing clean, then install the backup software so I don't have to worry about it anymore. All pictures of cute babies are totally safe, no worries there. It's an annoyance more than anything else, really. Just a heads up, in case you guys pick up something similar, too. If a brand new program shows up unannounced and starts 'scanning your computer' and 'discovering viruses', and then offering to delete them if you'll just 'buy the full version of the program' with your 'tender, delicious credit card', don't be fooled. You may need to do some technical gymnastics to clean up the mess, but it can be cleaned up.
Anyway, between that and some other chores, I've been keeping quite busy at home and surprisingly idle at work. Very frustrating to see Jessie have so much important stuff to do while I struggle to get even the most menial tasks. Anyway, lots has gotten done, and this weekend is definitely for relaxing. Though I've been getting a lot of exercise, too. The Kinect workouts are really tough, if you push yourself, and between that, Judo, and going out skating with Jess (I'm still practicing, she is more like a real skater) I've managed to trim a few more pounds. I don't really have a goal weight, but I've decided I'm too out of shape and need to trim up. Fortunately, I believe this will involve eating more tuna. Yum.
-N
Which is why it's good that I've finally managed to get our household-wide backup working. Well, at least potentially working. My plan is to offload everything important off this computer and wipe the thing clean, then install the backup software so I don't have to worry about it anymore. All pictures of cute babies are totally safe, no worries there. It's an annoyance more than anything else, really. Just a heads up, in case you guys pick up something similar, too. If a brand new program shows up unannounced and starts 'scanning your computer' and 'discovering viruses', and then offering to delete them if you'll just 'buy the full version of the program' with your 'tender, delicious credit card', don't be fooled. You may need to do some technical gymnastics to clean up the mess, but it can be cleaned up.
Anyway, between that and some other chores, I've been keeping quite busy at home and surprisingly idle at work. Very frustrating to see Jessie have so much important stuff to do while I struggle to get even the most menial tasks. Anyway, lots has gotten done, and this weekend is definitely for relaxing. Though I've been getting a lot of exercise, too. The Kinect workouts are really tough, if you push yourself, and between that, Judo, and going out skating with Jess (I'm still practicing, she is more like a real skater) I've managed to trim a few more pounds. I don't really have a goal weight, but I've decided I'm too out of shape and need to trim up. Fortunately, I believe this will involve eating more tuna. Yum.
-N
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Otherwise, Life is good
Couple other little updates from my glamorous life. My Chinese brother Shaoshu turned Thirty on Sunday (so old!), so we got to celebrate with some old friend, several of whom we hadn't seen since college. It was a fun party.
It is snowing in Seattle. It's not that much snow- maybe 6 inches on the ground here, getting icy on top. The real issue is that there isn't much snow removal equipment, and not a lot of experienced drivers. It's the kind of combination that makes a person want to sit at home with cocoa- which I did.
My dissertation arrived. It's anti-climatic to have the final printed version. It looks good, the images came out nice, and it is bound in black with the title along the spine. That is the end of that.
The job hunt continues. I am told this is a good time of year to be looking for a job. I have some plans to meet with more people, so the networking part is coming along. Nothing feels like it is that close to turning into a job yet (Boo), but I have got some things to keep me busy.
Like this cold. I was feeling all jealous of Noel's household being sick all the time, so I went out and got a germ of my own. Matt isn't thrilled, but that's because I have more germs than him- for now.
Overall, things seem fine. This is the first time I will have been home for a full week in over a month. I am trying get a normal life here. Seeing friends, cooking in the kitchen, that sort of stuff. I am looking forward to Nana's February visit.
It is snowing in Seattle. It's not that much snow- maybe 6 inches on the ground here, getting icy on top. The real issue is that there isn't much snow removal equipment, and not a lot of experienced drivers. It's the kind of combination that makes a person want to sit at home with cocoa- which I did.
My dissertation arrived. It's anti-climatic to have the final printed version. It looks good, the images came out nice, and it is bound in black with the title along the spine. That is the end of that.
The job hunt continues. I am told this is a good time of year to be looking for a job. I have some plans to meet with more people, so the networking part is coming along. Nothing feels like it is that close to turning into a job yet (Boo), but I have got some things to keep me busy.
Like this cold. I was feeling all jealous of Noel's household being sick all the time, so I went out and got a germ of my own. Matt isn't thrilled, but that's because I have more germs than him- for now.
Overall, things seem fine. This is the first time I will have been home for a full week in over a month. I am trying get a normal life here. Seeing friends, cooking in the kitchen, that sort of stuff. I am looking forward to Nana's February visit.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Blogging About Something Other than Being Sick
Ha ha, no, just kidding. Viruses for everyone!
I spent the weekend battling off another cold. It's been since nearly Christmas since I've felt normal. With any luck, this cold won't develop into an ear infection again. But it it does, I still have the drops. Also, Tyler had a cough for a few weeks that he transferred over to us. At least we can take cough medicine, no such luck for the baby. Oh, and the antibiotics have as of yet still failed to clear up Tyler's ear infection, though you wouldn't know it by his demeanor. He's on stronger stuff now, and it seems to be working? I guess we won't know until we get him checked out by a professional with an otoscope.
Those of you with Facebook will want to check out Tyler's page in a few minutes. Jess took Tyler off to an exhibit called 'Architects of Air' where there were giant blow-up tents with cool lights inside. Jess took some pictures and video and Tyler had a blast. Really cool looking with all the colored lights. I stayed home. You know, sick.
Another tooth! I forgot to mention that one. The companion to his first top tooth is coming in. (I'm talking about Tyler, just in case anyone is confused about people I might know who are getting new teeth.) Which has led Tyler, for the first time, actually using his teeth to chew food. I've seen him do it! Witness!
In a few weeks we're off to Vegas for a hockey tournament/visit with the Vegas family. I'm sure there will be cute pictures to share with everyone when we are done, and now that we are all experienced with traveling with Tyler, the whole things should be a breeze, comparatively.
Oh, and in case anyone was curious, it wasn't Chicken Pox, so it was probably Hand/foot/Mouth disease. Seriously, there's nothing to discuss that doesn't involve viruses.
-N
I spent the weekend battling off another cold. It's been since nearly Christmas since I've felt normal. With any luck, this cold won't develop into an ear infection again. But it it does, I still have the drops. Also, Tyler had a cough for a few weeks that he transferred over to us. At least we can take cough medicine, no such luck for the baby. Oh, and the antibiotics have as of yet still failed to clear up Tyler's ear infection, though you wouldn't know it by his demeanor. He's on stronger stuff now, and it seems to be working? I guess we won't know until we get him checked out by a professional with an otoscope.
Those of you with Facebook will want to check out Tyler's page in a few minutes. Jess took Tyler off to an exhibit called 'Architects of Air' where there were giant blow-up tents with cool lights inside. Jess took some pictures and video and Tyler had a blast. Really cool looking with all the colored lights. I stayed home. You know, sick.
Another tooth! I forgot to mention that one. The companion to his first top tooth is coming in. (I'm talking about Tyler, just in case anyone is confused about people I might know who are getting new teeth.) Which has led Tyler, for the first time, actually using his teeth to chew food. I've seen him do it! Witness!
In a few weeks we're off to Vegas for a hockey tournament/visit with the Vegas family. I'm sure there will be cute pictures to share with everyone when we are done, and now that we are all experienced with traveling with Tyler, the whole things should be a breeze, comparatively.
Oh, and in case anyone was curious, it wasn't Chicken Pox, so it was probably Hand/foot/Mouth disease. Seriously, there's nothing to discuss that doesn't involve viruses.
-N
Saturday, January 7, 2012
A Catalog of Misery
Illness has been blooming like springtime in the Preecs Household—Austin Branch. The cold I brought down with me refused to give up the ghost, and I was sick with it for nearly a full week until I took a full day off work to just not do anything except recover. Of course, all of that happened AFTER the ear infection.
I don't know if it was the flight, or what have you, but I've picked up an ear infection from something and it HURTS. I can totally tell why babies cry when they get these things. It kept me up most of a night just dosing myself with handfuls of Ibuprofen and waiting for it to kick in. Not a fun time. I finally managed to get in to see a doctor who gave me some antibiotic ear drops, but my ears, despite not being painful and keeping me up at night anymore, are still really clogged. I'm waiting for them to clear, but in the meantime, my hearing is terrible. And then the day after that, my cold came back with a vengeance, at the same time Jess came down with it, so we took Tyler off to day care and both stayed home and rested, like normal sick people are supposed to do.
So for the most part we are over our illnesses, except I still can't hear anything. I can see why this would be so bad for babies to have. It's hard enough to learn English when you can hear it properly.
There are other little things to talk about, but it's mostly just been illness recovery around this house. Tyler's tooth has broken through, and he spends a lot of time clicking his teeth together and driving his parents crazy with the sounds. Fingernails and chalkboards and whatnot. We got a Kinect, and have already started burning off calories with our game. Fun times. Jess is off at hockey and I'm in charge of the little one, who is taking an early nap for a while longer. After that, I will just pinch his cute little cheeks and play with whatever happens to be around here with him. Everything is a toy!
-N
I don't know if it was the flight, or what have you, but I've picked up an ear infection from something and it HURTS. I can totally tell why babies cry when they get these things. It kept me up most of a night just dosing myself with handfuls of Ibuprofen and waiting for it to kick in. Not a fun time. I finally managed to get in to see a doctor who gave me some antibiotic ear drops, but my ears, despite not being painful and keeping me up at night anymore, are still really clogged. I'm waiting for them to clear, but in the meantime, my hearing is terrible. And then the day after that, my cold came back with a vengeance, at the same time Jess came down with it, so we took Tyler off to day care and both stayed home and rested, like normal sick people are supposed to do.
So for the most part we are over our illnesses, except I still can't hear anything. I can see why this would be so bad for babies to have. It's hard enough to learn English when you can hear it properly.
There are other little things to talk about, but it's mostly just been illness recovery around this house. Tyler's tooth has broken through, and he spends a lot of time clicking his teeth together and driving his parents crazy with the sounds. Fingernails and chalkboards and whatnot. We got a Kinect, and have already started burning off calories with our game. Fun times. Jess is off at hockey and I'm in charge of the little one, who is taking an early nap for a while longer. After that, I will just pinch his cute little cheeks and play with whatever happens to be around here with him. Everything is a toy!
-N
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Finally back home
Yeesh, what a mess our travel was. All successful, but between Tyler's pox, pink eye, and a mysterious third ailment that I'll discuss later along with some sort of super-cold that's kept me feeling like garbage for the past three days, flying was not fun.
Let's recap Christmas, though. Tyler was an absolute gentleman. He played with everyone, let people feed him, napped well, and adjusted pretty well to his new surroundings, despite a series of illnesses that would greatly hamper any normal baby. We even got to show him off to a few other Juneau resident friends, mostly people we ran into at the airport. Next time maybe I'll just layover in Juneau for a few hours and catch all the people I know that way. Seems more efficient.
Anyway, we packed up a lot of our stuff, and a lot of Sandlin's stuff too, and I woke up feeling like a hot mess. I took some painkillers before the flight out of Juneau and got Tyler as situated as we could. He looked pretty horrible, though, all dark circles under the eyes. Still a charming smile, though. We got some complements from a lot of our fellow travelers. The flight from Juneau to Seattle went pretty well, and we got to see Aunt Sandlin and Uncle Matt one more time. Apologizing profusely for bringing so darn many germs into their house, we enjoyed some great soup and put Tyler down for a fitful sleep. He woke up in a fussy mood several times, but we managed to get a game of dominion in nonetheless.
And side note: Raoul is terrified of me. Just me, though. He would hiss and slink away every time I came into the room. I did manage to get close enough to let him sniff me at one point in the early morning, but something about my intimidatingly manly presence seemed to irk him to no end. I'm pretty butch.
I went down to sleep pretty early and nearly set the bed on fire with my heroic fever. Jess played supermom and took care of Tyler while he woke up periodically with hurting-sounding cries. I did my best to keep myself rested, but I ended up dosing myself heavily with drugs, eating a PB and J sandwich at 1:00 AM (I was hungry!) and then sleeping in another room on the futon. Rough night.
The flight from Seattle to Austin started off well enough. Tyler had a bottle and took a nap during most of the ascent. After that it got a little spotty. There were times when he was fine and dandy, making cute faces at the girls in the seats behind us, and other times when he was a bundle of nerves and complaints. He liked walking around as much as he could, though that isn't something you can do a lot of on a plane. We did our best, but were quite relieved to land, finally.
Last night Tyler went to sleep at an almost-normal time to the sound of neighborhood fireworks, though decidedly later than normal, and only needed his parents to come in once. He sounded like he was having a rough time of something, again, but we weren't sure what. Eventually I beat-boxed and danced him to sleep. I slept soundly, in between bouts of not sleeping soundly, and woke up at nearly noon. Thanks for the resting time, Jess!
Well Jess convinced me that we needed to go shopping this morning, so we went out and got some food, and while we were out, I spied what, among his other illnesses, has been making Tyler so fussy lately. New tooth! Finally! It's a top one on his right side, and it's just barely visible under the gums. We'll put up pictures of his new smile when it comes in more fully. I'm starting to get over my cold, or maybe the dayquil is just working better now. Rough travel for all involved.
-N
Let's recap Christmas, though. Tyler was an absolute gentleman. He played with everyone, let people feed him, napped well, and adjusted pretty well to his new surroundings, despite a series of illnesses that would greatly hamper any normal baby. We even got to show him off to a few other Juneau resident friends, mostly people we ran into at the airport. Next time maybe I'll just layover in Juneau for a few hours and catch all the people I know that way. Seems more efficient.
Anyway, we packed up a lot of our stuff, and a lot of Sandlin's stuff too, and I woke up feeling like a hot mess. I took some painkillers before the flight out of Juneau and got Tyler as situated as we could. He looked pretty horrible, though, all dark circles under the eyes. Still a charming smile, though. We got some complements from a lot of our fellow travelers. The flight from Juneau to Seattle went pretty well, and we got to see Aunt Sandlin and Uncle Matt one more time. Apologizing profusely for bringing so darn many germs into their house, we enjoyed some great soup and put Tyler down for a fitful sleep. He woke up in a fussy mood several times, but we managed to get a game of dominion in nonetheless.
And side note: Raoul is terrified of me. Just me, though. He would hiss and slink away every time I came into the room. I did manage to get close enough to let him sniff me at one point in the early morning, but something about my intimidatingly manly presence seemed to irk him to no end. I'm pretty butch.
I went down to sleep pretty early and nearly set the bed on fire with my heroic fever. Jess played supermom and took care of Tyler while he woke up periodically with hurting-sounding cries. I did my best to keep myself rested, but I ended up dosing myself heavily with drugs, eating a PB and J sandwich at 1:00 AM (I was hungry!) and then sleeping in another room on the futon. Rough night.
The flight from Seattle to Austin started off well enough. Tyler had a bottle and took a nap during most of the ascent. After that it got a little spotty. There were times when he was fine and dandy, making cute faces at the girls in the seats behind us, and other times when he was a bundle of nerves and complaints. He liked walking around as much as he could, though that isn't something you can do a lot of on a plane. We did our best, but were quite relieved to land, finally.
Last night Tyler went to sleep at an almost-normal time to the sound of neighborhood fireworks, though decidedly later than normal, and only needed his parents to come in once. He sounded like he was having a rough time of something, again, but we weren't sure what. Eventually I beat-boxed and danced him to sleep. I slept soundly, in between bouts of not sleeping soundly, and woke up at nearly noon. Thanks for the resting time, Jess!
Well Jess convinced me that we needed to go shopping this morning, so we went out and got some food, and while we were out, I spied what, among his other illnesses, has been making Tyler so fussy lately. New tooth! Finally! It's a top one on his right side, and it's just barely visible under the gums. We'll put up pictures of his new smile when it comes in more fully. I'm starting to get over my cold, or maybe the dayquil is just working better now. Rough travel for all involved.
-N
Saturday, December 17, 2011
What it is Like to Have a Real Baby
Oh, man. Last night was rough. Sandlin will remember the night when we were playing Dominion with some friends and Tyler hit a rough patch. We spent an hour trying to get him to calm down, and eventually he went back to sleep, but the whole time he was yelling like his arms were broken, heartbreaking.
Last night it was like that for the entire night. I really wish I knew what was wrong with him. We put him down and he slept for maybe a half an hour before waking up screaming. We could calm him down by holding him, but he was still kinda fussy. And whenever we put him down, he'd start shrieking again. And not in a 'I want my mom to come hold me', way. In a 'I hurt' way, which is horrible to hear. Eventually Jess and I got him go go back to sleep, after some Baby Tylenol and a lot of carrying (I did get him to sleep on my shoulder, just not laying down) we got him to go to sleep in his crib. That lasted for maybe an hour before he woke up crying again, and the pattern repeated all night. Jess insisted on taking care of him, saying she wouldn't be able to sleep if he was crying anyway, and eventually she took him downstairs and just slept with him on her chest on the couch. I think sleeping upright helps. I took over in the morning and Jess took a nap.
Tyler was a little better this morning, but still not quite his usual, ebullient self. We passed ideas back and forth: constipation, ear infection, the gout, but we weren't sure, and after a night like last night, we decided it would be a really good idea to get him checked out. We found a doctor's office, got an appointment, and had him checked out. Turns out it's a Yes on the ear infection, though only in one ear. I'm going to go out and get the antibiotics pretty soon. Though with one other wrinkle. We saw a notice on Friday at the day care that one of the babies came down with Chicken Pox. Considering how infectious it is, there's every likelihood that Tyler may have picked that up as well. He didn't have a fever last night, but he did have one at the doctor's office. It'll be a bummer if he has it: they actually have a vaccine now, but you can't get it until you're 1 year old. But nothing scary or bad, just a fever and a complainy baby for a few days. We'll get some oatmeal bath for him.
One week! I think I've managed to get all my Christmas stuff in order, though doing it all remotely has clearly led to some beans getting spilled. I do try my best, though. With any luck Tyler's ears will have cleared up by the time we need to mix him up with altitude.
` 1xZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZze `1z1 yf6ykkkkguguvttttttttttttttttttttttttuuuvgut
Tyler is helping me blog.
Also, Sandlin visiting was fantastic, Algae seems really interesting, and she totally forgot her algae sample in my fridge. I'll try to bring it up to Alaska so she can forget it there, too. Lots of eating of food and lots of Baby squishing. Tyler had to get used to the loud laughter of so many Preecs Children and friends in a room together, but he had to get used to the same sound when he was born and Daddy started laughing.
-N
Last night it was like that for the entire night. I really wish I knew what was wrong with him. We put him down and he slept for maybe a half an hour before waking up screaming. We could calm him down by holding him, but he was still kinda fussy. And whenever we put him down, he'd start shrieking again. And not in a 'I want my mom to come hold me', way. In a 'I hurt' way, which is horrible to hear. Eventually Jess and I got him go go back to sleep, after some Baby Tylenol and a lot of carrying (I did get him to sleep on my shoulder, just not laying down) we got him to go to sleep in his crib. That lasted for maybe an hour before he woke up crying again, and the pattern repeated all night. Jess insisted on taking care of him, saying she wouldn't be able to sleep if he was crying anyway, and eventually she took him downstairs and just slept with him on her chest on the couch. I think sleeping upright helps. I took over in the morning and Jess took a nap.
Tyler was a little better this morning, but still not quite his usual, ebullient self. We passed ideas back and forth: constipation, ear infection, the gout, but we weren't sure, and after a night like last night, we decided it would be a really good idea to get him checked out. We found a doctor's office, got an appointment, and had him checked out. Turns out it's a Yes on the ear infection, though only in one ear. I'm going to go out and get the antibiotics pretty soon. Though with one other wrinkle. We saw a notice on Friday at the day care that one of the babies came down with Chicken Pox. Considering how infectious it is, there's every likelihood that Tyler may have picked that up as well. He didn't have a fever last night, but he did have one at the doctor's office. It'll be a bummer if he has it: they actually have a vaccine now, but you can't get it until you're 1 year old. But nothing scary or bad, just a fever and a complainy baby for a few days. We'll get some oatmeal bath for him.
One week! I think I've managed to get all my Christmas stuff in order, though doing it all remotely has clearly led to some beans getting spilled. I do try my best, though. With any luck Tyler's ears will have cleared up by the time we need to mix him up with altitude.
` 1xZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZze `1z1 yf6ykkkkguguvttttttttttttttttttttttttuuuvgut
Tyler is helping me blog.
Also, Sandlin visiting was fantastic, Algae seems really interesting, and she totally forgot her algae sample in my fridge. I'll try to bring it up to Alaska so she can forget it there, too. Lots of eating of food and lots of Baby squishing. Tyler had to get used to the loud laughter of so many Preecs Children and friends in a room together, but he had to get used to the same sound when he was born and Daddy started laughing.
-N
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thanksgiving survivors
Happy Thanksgiving, All!
We were very exited to be close enough to drive up to my mother-in-law's for a weekend of fun and eating. See, moving home is great, because you can get together and plan a big meal to share with you family in person, and then get together AGAIN and share it. How cool! Right? I mean, that was kinda how it turned out. Thanksgiving Eve, as it were, I started feeling not awesome- achey, sleepy, sore throat. By the time Matt came home I was reduced to shivers on the couch under a pile of blankets. In a brief moment of clear-minded-ness brought on by Tylenol, I remember 'Hey sometimes people don't like it when you bring them germs as hostess gifts.' I tried to explain this to Matt, but I am pretty sure my pathetic muttering came off as much more "Please take me to your mom's, she'll take care of me."
In the morning Matt confirmed, that yes, his saintly mother would still take us and all the germs we could carry for Thanksgiving AND put our entire, ambitious feast on the table. Whadda Woman! Picture this, I moved directly from the couch to the car, took a long nap in the car and arrived in slippers, sweats and a fleece blanket thrown over my head. I gave a big hug Betty, who made me a cup of tea, which I immediately took to bed. At some point, Matt poked his head in to ask how you make sausage cornbread stuffing. I believe my exact recipe was "Sausage, Cornbread and more butter." I woke up once thinking I might be energetic and asked "Are we having mashed potatoes?" and then went back to bed. I don't know that I felt so terrible, but being awake and suffering just didn't seem in the cards. During one of my brief peroids of awakefulness, Matt did say that he was feeling achey, maybe from his workout. This is a literary device called forshadowing. After a couple more naps and mugs of tea, dinner happened!
And let me just brag on this spread, because I optimistically committed us to it and then didn't lift a finger to get it on the table. I thought surely, the two remaining chefs would decide chard AND Brussels sprouts is overkill, or that maybe a waldorf salad was redundant considering we had like 4 other vegetable dishes on the table- but no. No pan was spared in the making of our Thanksgiving feast, which should come as no surprise given our turn-outs in the past. The centerpiece was of course a beautiful, herbed and brined turkey. Together, they made an amazing sausage and cornbread (that Betty baked fresh) stuffing, as well as Brussels sprouts with sopressetta, creamed chard, mashed potatoes and parsnips and a green casserole which I managed to muff up by giving him crunchy onions that expired 2 years ago (uh, yeah, we moved with that....). There was also a heavenly sweet potatoe dish, an heirloom quality orange-cranberry relish and a divine pumpkin cheesecake. AND a waldorf salad, which while I supposed Bety didn't grow the nuts, everything else in it was home grown AND my-mother-in-law's-best-recipe Deviled Eggs and a crazy good gravy to drown everything in. It was amazing. It took like and hour to move it all on to the table, and then on to each of our plates. And now is a good time to clarify, that yes, it was just the three of us eating. We of course ate ourselves silly, and then retired the feast to the fridge until we could consider cheesecake. I believe I had another nap. And about the time I got up to eating cheesecake, Matt said that, no, he didn't want any, he would just go to bed. Which I thought was weird- especially when I tasted how good the cheesecake was! By my bed time, my throat was just feeling bruised from swelling and I was tired, but Matt had mumbled a goodbye, and then curled up on the bed, fully clothed and passed out. Uh-oh.
He spent the rest of the night tossing and turning and feeling awful. He woke up in the morning sort of confused about it, like he often is about when his body does not respond as directed. After some discussion, we concluded that maybe you don't only need to take medicine when you are SICK, if you use a narrow definition of SICK that requires hospitalization, maybe sometimes you can take some medicine when you don't feel good. Having some aleve in him made it easier to get him interested in drinking juice, but unfortunately, his interest in food was completely off. Betty and I went for a brief sprint around town for "black friday" shopping- we went to the gallery, and her friend's gallery and the grocery store for more lemons for my lemon honey tea. I got some beautiful cards, and then was in sore need of a nap. I cannot exaggerate the amount I slept this weekend. Matt and I barely saw each other we were sleeping so much. This is partly due to illness, but I think also a cry for help in the form of blackout curtains for our bedroom. By today, we both felt with it enough to pack our own things out to the car and stay awake for the long (2 hours) drive home. Matt took a shower, put on all his warm clothes and came to sit on the couch with me. Then the cat yurped, and after he recovered his dignity, he came to be the cherry on top of our sick family sundae.
As objectively bad as most of that sounds, it was actually a really nice weekend. I mean, if you have to be sick, it is so much nicer to be around people who want to take care of you and can make tea without batting an eye. I'm thoroughly convinced our health was buoyed up by a full array of hearty and nourishing foods, prepared lovingly by my (blessedly un-infected) mother-in-law. And if we left too many germs behind, I will totally rush back to concrete to make the tea and prime the DVDs.
We were very exited to be close enough to drive up to my mother-in-law's for a weekend of fun and eating. See, moving home is great, because you can get together and plan a big meal to share with you family in person, and then get together AGAIN and share it. How cool! Right? I mean, that was kinda how it turned out. Thanksgiving Eve, as it were, I started feeling not awesome- achey, sleepy, sore throat. By the time Matt came home I was reduced to shivers on the couch under a pile of blankets. In a brief moment of clear-minded-ness brought on by Tylenol, I remember 'Hey sometimes people don't like it when you bring them germs as hostess gifts.' I tried to explain this to Matt, but I am pretty sure my pathetic muttering came off as much more "Please take me to your mom's, she'll take care of me."
In the morning Matt confirmed, that yes, his saintly mother would still take us and all the germs we could carry for Thanksgiving AND put our entire, ambitious feast on the table. Whadda Woman! Picture this, I moved directly from the couch to the car, took a long nap in the car and arrived in slippers, sweats and a fleece blanket thrown over my head. I gave a big hug Betty, who made me a cup of tea, which I immediately took to bed. At some point, Matt poked his head in to ask how you make sausage cornbread stuffing. I believe my exact recipe was "Sausage, Cornbread and more butter." I woke up once thinking I might be energetic and asked "Are we having mashed potatoes?" and then went back to bed. I don't know that I felt so terrible, but being awake and suffering just didn't seem in the cards. During one of my brief peroids of awakefulness, Matt did say that he was feeling achey, maybe from his workout. This is a literary device called forshadowing. After a couple more naps and mugs of tea, dinner happened!
And let me just brag on this spread, because I optimistically committed us to it and then didn't lift a finger to get it on the table. I thought surely, the two remaining chefs would decide chard AND Brussels sprouts is overkill, or that maybe a waldorf salad was redundant considering we had like 4 other vegetable dishes on the table- but no. No pan was spared in the making of our Thanksgiving feast, which should come as no surprise given our turn-outs in the past. The centerpiece was of course a beautiful, herbed and brined turkey. Together, they made an amazing sausage and cornbread (that Betty baked fresh) stuffing, as well as Brussels sprouts with sopressetta, creamed chard, mashed potatoes and parsnips and a green casserole which I managed to muff up by giving him crunchy onions that expired 2 years ago (uh, yeah, we moved with that....). There was also a heavenly sweet potatoe dish, an heirloom quality orange-cranberry relish and a divine pumpkin cheesecake. AND a waldorf salad, which while I supposed Bety didn't grow the nuts, everything else in it was home grown AND my-mother-in-law's-best-recipe Deviled Eggs and a crazy good gravy to drown everything in. It was amazing. It took like and hour to move it all on to the table, and then on to each of our plates. And now is a good time to clarify, that yes, it was just the three of us eating. We of course ate ourselves silly, and then retired the feast to the fridge until we could consider cheesecake. I believe I had another nap. And about the time I got up to eating cheesecake, Matt said that, no, he didn't want any, he would just go to bed. Which I thought was weird- especially when I tasted how good the cheesecake was! By my bed time, my throat was just feeling bruised from swelling and I was tired, but Matt had mumbled a goodbye, and then curled up on the bed, fully clothed and passed out. Uh-oh.
He spent the rest of the night tossing and turning and feeling awful. He woke up in the morning sort of confused about it, like he often is about when his body does not respond as directed. After some discussion, we concluded that maybe you don't only need to take medicine when you are SICK, if you use a narrow definition of SICK that requires hospitalization, maybe sometimes you can take some medicine when you don't feel good. Having some aleve in him made it easier to get him interested in drinking juice, but unfortunately, his interest in food was completely off. Betty and I went for a brief sprint around town for "black friday" shopping- we went to the gallery, and her friend's gallery and the grocery store for more lemons for my lemon honey tea. I got some beautiful cards, and then was in sore need of a nap. I cannot exaggerate the amount I slept this weekend. Matt and I barely saw each other we were sleeping so much. This is partly due to illness, but I think also a cry for help in the form of blackout curtains for our bedroom. By today, we both felt with it enough to pack our own things out to the car and stay awake for the long (2 hours) drive home. Matt took a shower, put on all his warm clothes and came to sit on the couch with me. Then the cat yurped, and after he recovered his dignity, he came to be the cherry on top of our sick family sundae.
As objectively bad as most of that sounds, it was actually a really nice weekend. I mean, if you have to be sick, it is so much nicer to be around people who want to take care of you and can make tea without batting an eye. I'm thoroughly convinced our health was buoyed up by a full array of hearty and nourishing foods, prepared lovingly by my (blessedly un-infected) mother-in-law. And if we left too many germs behind, I will totally rush back to concrete to make the tea and prime the DVDs.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Fever Dreams
Poor Tyler. I thought yesterday he was going to finish up his little illness and get better soon. Turns out not. Yesterday was really rough for him, his fever got up to 103 while he was home with Jessie. I was at working doing important stuff for a flight test happening next week that I'm going to help out with, so Jess was being very nice to me by letting me work.
Today I stayed home with the baby, and he did better, but he's still sick. I got a measurement of 101.2 in the...traditional baby-fever-measuring location. And since the day care wants your baby to be fever-free for a whole day before they'll let them hang out with other babies, I get to stay home with him tomorrow, too. And can you imagine what sort of strange fever-dreams you have when you get a fever and you're only 6 months old?
His nose is going crazy, too. When he woke up, one of his nostrils was totally plugged up, and I've been sucking baby-snot out of his nose all day, too. He hates when you do that, but he can barely breathe through his nose as it is.
Normally I got to got to judo today, but considering that I spent all day with a baby, and I have the same thing to do tomorrow, I think I'm going to take this evening to relax and play some games. Judo will still be there later this week.
-N
Today I stayed home with the baby, and he did better, but he's still sick. I got a measurement of 101.2 in the...traditional baby-fever-measuring location. And since the day care wants your baby to be fever-free for a whole day before they'll let them hang out with other babies, I get to stay home with him tomorrow, too. And can you imagine what sort of strange fever-dreams you have when you get a fever and you're only 6 months old?
His nose is going crazy, too. When he woke up, one of his nostrils was totally plugged up, and I've been sucking baby-snot out of his nose all day, too. He hates when you do that, but he can barely breathe through his nose as it is.
Normally I got to got to judo today, but considering that I spent all day with a baby, and I have the same thing to do tomorrow, I think I'm going to take this evening to relax and play some games. Judo will still be there later this week.
-N
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Can I talk about my baby some more?
He is really cute. He's having a bit of a rough time at the moment, but you'd never know if you didn't know how smiley and energetic he normally is. And what his normal body temperature feels like. He's got a fever, and the sniffles, so I'm going to chalk this one up to 'he has a cold' unless further evidence presents itself. He acts like I act when I'm sick and no one is around. I make that 'groany' sound and roll around in the bed, unable to get comfortable and feeling sorry for myself. I toughen up when other people are around. Tyler has no such qualms.
It's been a mostly boring weekend for us. Yesterday Jess took some mommy time and went of to roller derby and then got a massage. I took care of the baby. He's started eating applesauce, his favorite, so far. He's also gone through green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots without incident. Sometime we're going to start him on 'multi-grain cereal' (read: it has some wheat in it) but we may hold off for a little bit. He's actually mostly gone through the 'stage 2' baby food cereals (I think stage 1 is just formula) and we should be starting him on the next level of stuff: chunky things that he has to learn to mash a bit between his cute little baby gums before swallowing. It's a step. After that, we can start giving him food to eat on his own with his increasingly-well-developed little pincher grip.
And speaking of chewing, I've started brushing Tyler's teeth at night. It's mostly just to get it worked into the routine, at this point, but we have a cute little brush and I scrape it against his teeth a few times while Jess changes his diapers. He was a little startled the first time, but quickly decided he likes it. It's not a bad way to get some smiles out of him.
As for crawling, Tyler is getting more and more distance under his belt as his confidence grows. He can definitely see a thing that he wants and go get that thing, which must be immensely freeing for him. He's thinking about pulling himself to standing, but he doesn't quite have the muscles yet, and he occasionally flips and rolls and spooks himself something fierce in the attempt. You just have to hold him and smile at him and let him know that everything is okay, and before too long he'll be convinced.
Today we went out to the mall. Not for anything in particular, just to look at things and walk around with Tyler. There's lots of colors to see and people to stare at, and mommy and daddy can get some smoothies and pretzels. I considered buying Tyler his first video game system, but the point behind that little trick is to buy an old, cheap one and a million games for it. Turns out old Nintendo consoles have dipped past 'cheap' and are back up into 'collectable', or at least that's what my local 'old video game console' stores want me to think. I'll see if Ebay can't prove them wrong sometime later. Either that or Tyler gets a free upgrade to a cheap Playstation or PS2. No rush, though. I don't think his pincer grip is good enough to work video game buttons quite yet.
I think I'm allergic to mold. I've had watery (though not red) eyes and a stuffy nose for the past few days, and the allergy forecast has been high for 'mold' the past few days. Also my throat hurts. That might be unrelated. And I've been achy and tired, but only for a few days after I got the flu shot last week. I'm just saying, there are symptoms, okay?
I'm working on the Ticom Geomatics theme song in my spare time. It's hokey and simple which makes it easy to work on, but hard to get motivated by.
I'm going to to serve up dinner. Ta.
-N
It's been a mostly boring weekend for us. Yesterday Jess took some mommy time and went of to roller derby and then got a massage. I took care of the baby. He's started eating applesauce, his favorite, so far. He's also gone through green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots without incident. Sometime we're going to start him on 'multi-grain cereal' (read: it has some wheat in it) but we may hold off for a little bit. He's actually mostly gone through the 'stage 2' baby food cereals (I think stage 1 is just formula) and we should be starting him on the next level of stuff: chunky things that he has to learn to mash a bit between his cute little baby gums before swallowing. It's a step. After that, we can start giving him food to eat on his own with his increasingly-well-developed little pincher grip.
And speaking of chewing, I've started brushing Tyler's teeth at night. It's mostly just to get it worked into the routine, at this point, but we have a cute little brush and I scrape it against his teeth a few times while Jess changes his diapers. He was a little startled the first time, but quickly decided he likes it. It's not a bad way to get some smiles out of him.
As for crawling, Tyler is getting more and more distance under his belt as his confidence grows. He can definitely see a thing that he wants and go get that thing, which must be immensely freeing for him. He's thinking about pulling himself to standing, but he doesn't quite have the muscles yet, and he occasionally flips and rolls and spooks himself something fierce in the attempt. You just have to hold him and smile at him and let him know that everything is okay, and before too long he'll be convinced.
Today we went out to the mall. Not for anything in particular, just to look at things and walk around with Tyler. There's lots of colors to see and people to stare at, and mommy and daddy can get some smoothies and pretzels. I considered buying Tyler his first video game system, but the point behind that little trick is to buy an old, cheap one and a million games for it. Turns out old Nintendo consoles have dipped past 'cheap' and are back up into 'collectable', or at least that's what my local 'old video game console' stores want me to think. I'll see if Ebay can't prove them wrong sometime later. Either that or Tyler gets a free upgrade to a cheap Playstation or PS2. No rush, though. I don't think his pincer grip is good enough to work video game buttons quite yet.
I think I'm allergic to mold. I've had watery (though not red) eyes and a stuffy nose for the past few days, and the allergy forecast has been high for 'mold' the past few days. Also my throat hurts. That might be unrelated. And I've been achy and tired, but only for a few days after I got the flu shot last week. I'm just saying, there are symptoms, okay?
I'm working on the Ticom Geomatics theme song in my spare time. It's hokey and simple which makes it easy to work on, but hard to get motivated by.
I'm going to to serve up dinner. Ta.
-N
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Everyone is Always Sick
So as Sandlin mentioned, this whole illness saga starts last week on Sunday evening after Matt and Sandlin had gone home. I had a rough day, I just felt awful. Body aches all over, though no sore throat, which is what I normally get when I have a cold. I was still blowing my nose every 30 seconds from the previous cold, so I thought maybe I was having a relapse from that virus. I felt really achy, but I did my best to help around the house. Tyler was having kind of a rough day too. He was chewing a lot and generally fussy, so we thought he might have been teething, but he didn't have a fever either so we thought he would be okay. Jess and I got tired early, though, so I took a dose of Nyquil and we both went to sleep at something like 7:30 on Sunday.
At about 8:30 I woke up with a really grumpy stomach. I went over to the toilet, made some unhappy sounds, and then threw up. Jess came over to comfort me, and I went back to bed eventually, only to be awakened a few minutes later by her throwing up everything in her stomach.
Uh oh.
This continued for the rest of the night, though I'm convinced Jess got the worst of it. She had to use the bathroom several times more, where as I just spent the rest of the evening waking up every hour in the throws of some strange fever dream. I had to make couscous for some people who had gotten hit by an avalanche, and for some reason that involved waking up and going to the bathroom. Thank heavens Tyler didn't seem to have it. He still slept all night.
So morning comes, and Jess and I are *wiped out*. We have no energy, and Tyler is waking up. It took me 10 minutes to summon up the energy to go get my glasses and put on my robe. Jess manages to get Tyler up, changed, and fed, but we're not sure how we're going to take care of him today, and work is off the table. Fortunately, we gathered ourselves up enough to get him to day care, where he had a pretty good day. We, on the other hand, mostly slept. We got a text from Sandlin at some point telling us that she and Matt had picked something up and were also throwing up back home. So, yeah, it was probably something we ate, but we don't really know what.
Anyway, by the end of monday we had stored up enough energy to go get Tyler from day care...or at least Jessie had. She let me nap some more. Then tuesday came along and Jess and I felt good enough to at least be physically present at work, though not exactly bastions of production. Tyler, on the other hand, was having a rough day at school. So we grabbed him, took him to the doctor and yep, ear infection. Two of them, in fact. So he's on 10 days of antibiotics for that.
After that, at least, things have gotten better a little bit every day. Tyler hasn't even needed that much baby Tylenol, so his ears are improving, and since we had a well-(ish)-baby checkup this friday where his ears are looking better and so...we gave him four shots. Rough week for the kid. But think of that powerful immune system! Jess and I are feeling better, too, but I'm not sure how much I trust my food at this point. A lot of leftovers got thrown out.
We may have been a little early on our purchase of a front-facing car seat for him. He only weighs about 18 pounds, and the minimum weight fort eh new seat is 24. So his ridiculous growth has leveled out somewhat, and he's 'only' in the 95th percentile for height at this point, 28.5 inches. He's in the 100th percentile for cute, though. That's on his chart.
In other news, I don't have any video games to play this weekend, not because there aren't any, there are, but because I'm tricking myself into tackling a few other projects. One is a theme song for Ticom Geomatics. Think 'mickey mouse club' but for defense contractors. I've almost got the lyrics and a first guess at the melody worked out. The other I'll leave as a surprise. Jess is headed off to backed track Derby practice, so clearly she's feeling better. We're mostly just excited about having things get back to something more like 'normal' for a little while.
-N
So as Sandlin mentioned, this whole illness saga starts last week on Sunday evening after Matt and Sandlin had gone home. I had a rough day, I just felt awful. Body aches all over, though no sore throat, which is what I normally get when I have a cold. I was still blowing my nose every 30 seconds from the previous cold, so I thought maybe I was having a relapse from that virus. I felt really achy, but I did my best to help around the house. Tyler was having kind of a rough day too. He was chewing a lot and generally fussy, so we thought he might have been teething, but he didn't have a fever either so we thought he would be okay. Jess and I got tired early, though, so I took a dose of Nyquil and we both went to sleep at something like 7:30 on Sunday.
At about 8:30 I woke up with a really grumpy stomach. I went over to the toilet, made some unhappy sounds, and then threw up. Jess came over to comfort me, and I went back to bed eventually, only to be awakened a few minutes later by her throwing up everything in her stomach.
Uh oh.
This continued for the rest of the night, though I'm convinced Jess got the worst of it. She had to use the bathroom several times more, where as I just spent the rest of the evening waking up every hour in the throws of some strange fever dream. I had to make couscous for some people who had gotten hit by an avalanche, and for some reason that involved waking up and going to the bathroom. Thank heavens Tyler didn't seem to have it. He still slept all night.
So morning comes, and Jess and I are *wiped out*. We have no energy, and Tyler is waking up. It took me 10 minutes to summon up the energy to go get my glasses and put on my robe. Jess manages to get Tyler up, changed, and fed, but we're not sure how we're going to take care of him today, and work is off the table. Fortunately, we gathered ourselves up enough to get him to day care, where he had a pretty good day. We, on the other hand, mostly slept. We got a text from Sandlin at some point telling us that she and Matt had picked something up and were also throwing up back home. So, yeah, it was probably something we ate, but we don't really know what.
Anyway, by the end of monday we had stored up enough energy to go get Tyler from day care...or at least Jessie had. She let me nap some more. Then tuesday came along and Jess and I felt good enough to at least be physically present at work, though not exactly bastions of production. Tyler, on the other hand, was having a rough day at school. So we grabbed him, took him to the doctor and yep, ear infection. Two of them, in fact. So he's on 10 days of antibiotics for that.
After that, at least, things have gotten better a little bit every day. Tyler hasn't even needed that much baby Tylenol, so his ears are improving, and since we had a well-(ish)-baby checkup this friday where his ears are looking better and so...we gave him four shots. Rough week for the kid. But think of that powerful immune system! Jess and I are feeling better, too, but I'm not sure how much I trust my food at this point. A lot of leftovers got thrown out.
We may have been a little early on our purchase of a front-facing car seat for him. He only weighs about 18 pounds, and the minimum weight fort eh new seat is 24. So his ridiculous growth has leveled out somewhat, and he's 'only' in the 95th percentile for height at this point, 28.5 inches. He's in the 100th percentile for cute, though. That's on his chart.
In other news, I don't have any video games to play this weekend, not because there aren't any, there are, but because I'm tricking myself into tackling a few other projects. One is a theme song for Ticom Geomatics. Think 'mickey mouse club' but for defense contractors. I've almost got the lyrics and a first guess at the melody worked out. The other I'll leave as a surprise. Jess is headed off to backed track Derby practice, so clearly she's feeling better. We're mostly just excited about having things get back to something more like 'normal' for a little while.
-N
Monday, September 26, 2011
Being on Vacation is objectively better than Home
As I already had the chance to brag about mention, I got to spend the last week in Austin Texas with the World's Greatest Nephew and his super parents. I did a little bit of job hunting, a pretty decent about of cooking and a whole lot of baby squishing. There is not one part of Tyler that doesn't deserve a kiss or a squish. And he is very amenable to adventures. He got to go to the pool! Which he liked looking at more than splashing in.... And the Neighborhood Festival (where the rest of us porked out on Bake Sale)! And to Rudy's for awesome BBQ! Where he got his feet cleaned in the handwash jacuzzi, and he came to a posh Derby Party, where he got cooed over a lot, and I got some good contacts about Austin Jobs. He is such a great baby. And I got to feed him peas and carrots, and change his tiny clothes and he even feel asleep in my arms BECAUSE HE LOVES ME.
And then we took a plane home. And then Matt and I got violently ill. I was hoping it was something we picked up while flying, but no, the Austin Family is out for the count too. I was thinking I am pretty lucky have someone as nice as Matt to feel so dead awful with, and I did have the passing thought that having a Baby around would be impossible. And then I found out Noel and Jessie both had it... So, not feeling so whiney anymore. But yes, the vacation part was WAY more fun than coming home has been.
And then we took a plane home. And then Matt and I got violently ill. I was hoping it was something we picked up while flying, but no, the Austin Family is out for the count too. I was thinking I am pretty lucky have someone as nice as Matt to feel so dead awful with, and I did have the passing thought that having a Baby around would be impossible. And then I found out Noel and Jessie both had it... So, not feeling so whiney anymore. But yes, the vacation part was WAY more fun than coming home has been.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Tyler with Other People
We're sitting here on Saturday at the other end of Tyler's first nearly-full week at Day Care, and things are going pretty well. He's picked up a case of the sniffles and his temperature was up at 100.2 last night, just barely below the technical definition of 'fever', but this morning his fever is gone though he continues to have a runny nose. You're supposed to use the bulb squeezer to help keep his nose clear, but he hates that thing. It takes two of us to use it, one just to hold his head still, and he gets really fussy after we use it on him. He recovers quickly, though.
So I finished my festival of cooking last weekend and everything came out great. It turns out six grilled pizzas may have been slightly too much for Jess and I to eat, but the leftovers were nice, if not quite as nice as leftover oven pizza. I'm sure if we did the ingredient list for the pizzas we'd be stunned at how much the cost, especially the 'Alton Brown Recommended' pizza of Dates, Prosciutto Ham, fresh Mozzarella and Thyme, all ingredients purchased at Whole Foods. Heh. Anyway, that one came out great, the Margarita Pizza was delicious, and I made up a 'Spicy Salmon' pizza that involved Smoked salmon (Locks) Sriracha, and then Cream Cheese after it came out of the oven. A delight, especially for breakfast the next day.
The Fudge was also a hit, and much of it has already been given away at work. We did save some for ourselves, but knowing how much sugar is in that thing makes me want to eat it sparingly. I need to try more of that Avocado Ice Cream. I keep forgetting we have it.
Anyway, Tyler at day care has been getting better and better. Jess was worried earlier in the week as he didn't seem to be having as good a time, and was in a quiet mood when we got home. Dad fixed that quickly enough with nuzzles, games, and other distractions (I'm good at that sort of stuff), but Jess was still worried. That all changed, though, the next day when Tyler had a much better day and the day care actually called Jessie to let her know that Tyler was doing well. We picked him up in a smiling mood and he was much happier that evening. He's been pretty cheerful most every day ever since.
I was taking a shower on Thursday when Jess yelled at me from the bed. “I want Katsu Curry!” So we tracked down a place that did Katsu Curry for dinner and went there after work on Friday with Tyler. As always, he was a perfect gentleman, and Jess and I had some really great food. I order ridiculous sushi rolls and some Katsu Don (also great), Jess got her Katsu Curry and then we had some Mochi Ice cream and some Tempura Ice Cream for dessert. It was all pretty fantastic, especially as Tyler just sat and stared and occasionally made cute cooing noises at us the whole time. Also of note, we were surrounded by hot chicks at all the nearby tables. Jess kept saying that they were all attracted to a stable father taking care of his baby. I can't say I disagree.
Tyler has also started playing with one of the toys Great-Nana Preecs got him while she was here, a sled with a whole bunch of blocks in it. One of his favorite games is to sit with the sled in front of him and just pull blocks out and drop them on the ground, occasionally keeping a hand on one and stuffing it in his mouth and scraping his bottom teeth against it over and over. He's definitely better at coordination.
And because we keep getting asked, we are doing fine, wildfire-wise. There have been a couple of scattered fires in our 'neighborhood' that have been quickly contained, and the really big fire that everyone keeps talking about is outside of a city that is just southeast of Austin, and we're northwest, so if our house gets threatened by these wildfires it will have to have gone through the entirety of Austin to get to us, and I'm sure you'll see that on CNN.
This weekend we're inviting Dan and Amy, yes, the ones from Juneau, over for Fondue and baby talk. We have a big pile of things Tyler doesn't fit into anymore that we are planning to give away. Other than that, I'm mostly planning to write this blog and then go get lunch, because I am *hungry*.
-N
So I finished my festival of cooking last weekend and everything came out great. It turns out six grilled pizzas may have been slightly too much for Jess and I to eat, but the leftovers were nice, if not quite as nice as leftover oven pizza. I'm sure if we did the ingredient list for the pizzas we'd be stunned at how much the cost, especially the 'Alton Brown Recommended' pizza of Dates, Prosciutto Ham, fresh Mozzarella and Thyme, all ingredients purchased at Whole Foods. Heh. Anyway, that one came out great, the Margarita Pizza was delicious, and I made up a 'Spicy Salmon' pizza that involved Smoked salmon (Locks) Sriracha, and then Cream Cheese after it came out of the oven. A delight, especially for breakfast the next day.
The Fudge was also a hit, and much of it has already been given away at work. We did save some for ourselves, but knowing how much sugar is in that thing makes me want to eat it sparingly. I need to try more of that Avocado Ice Cream. I keep forgetting we have it.
Anyway, Tyler at day care has been getting better and better. Jess was worried earlier in the week as he didn't seem to be having as good a time, and was in a quiet mood when we got home. Dad fixed that quickly enough with nuzzles, games, and other distractions (I'm good at that sort of stuff), but Jess was still worried. That all changed, though, the next day when Tyler had a much better day and the day care actually called Jessie to let her know that Tyler was doing well. We picked him up in a smiling mood and he was much happier that evening. He's been pretty cheerful most every day ever since.
I was taking a shower on Thursday when Jess yelled at me from the bed. “I want Katsu Curry!” So we tracked down a place that did Katsu Curry for dinner and went there after work on Friday with Tyler. As always, he was a perfect gentleman, and Jess and I had some really great food. I order ridiculous sushi rolls and some Katsu Don (also great), Jess got her Katsu Curry and then we had some Mochi Ice cream and some Tempura Ice Cream for dessert. It was all pretty fantastic, especially as Tyler just sat and stared and occasionally made cute cooing noises at us the whole time. Also of note, we were surrounded by hot chicks at all the nearby tables. Jess kept saying that they were all attracted to a stable father taking care of his baby. I can't say I disagree.
Tyler has also started playing with one of the toys Great-Nana Preecs got him while she was here, a sled with a whole bunch of blocks in it. One of his favorite games is to sit with the sled in front of him and just pull blocks out and drop them on the ground, occasionally keeping a hand on one and stuffing it in his mouth and scraping his bottom teeth against it over and over. He's definitely better at coordination.
And because we keep getting asked, we are doing fine, wildfire-wise. There have been a couple of scattered fires in our 'neighborhood' that have been quickly contained, and the really big fire that everyone keeps talking about is outside of a city that is just southeast of Austin, and we're northwest, so if our house gets threatened by these wildfires it will have to have gone through the entirety of Austin to get to us, and I'm sure you'll see that on CNN.
This weekend we're inviting Dan and Amy, yes, the ones from Juneau, over for Fondue and baby talk. We have a big pile of things Tyler doesn't fit into anymore that we are planning to give away. Other than that, I'm mostly planning to write this blog and then go get lunch, because I am *hungry*.
-N
Monday, April 25, 2011
Tyler is fine and Healthy
But it was kind of an open question there, for a while.
I didn’t want to get everyone worked up, but Tyler’s second round of blood tests, about two weeks ago, came back abnormal. They were worried he might have something called MCAD which would have meant, in short, that if he didn’t eat for more than about 6 hours, he could die.
It’s a genetic disease, common among ‘northern europeans’ (I’m not sure if that means Brits or Scandinavians) and according to the literature usually doesn’t have any long-term problems, it’s just the eating thing. The baby gets sick and doesn’t eat for a few hours and the prognosis can be quite bad if they don’t get on some IV nutrients very quickly, and because it’s so rare, most people don’t know their kids have it until it’s too late.
Even at first prognosis, though, we didn’t think he had it. He’s always been alert and vital when he wakes up (anyone who has heard him really get going behind a good cry will attest to that.) He’s had no problems getting up and moving even after quite long sleep sessions. Still, due to the seriousness of the disease, they wanted to be sure, and so they brought him in for another round of testing, both urine (hard to collect on a baby, let me tell you) and more blood. (He has such unhappy face when he gets needled!) We just got a call back from the doctor today that the preliminary tests looks negative, though they’ll do some more just to be extra-sure (serious disease, remember?)
That’s enough for us, though, to qualify him as totally free and clear. We’ll let him sleep as much as he wants, now.
-N
I didn’t want to get everyone worked up, but Tyler’s second round of blood tests, about two weeks ago, came back abnormal. They were worried he might have something called MCAD which would have meant, in short, that if he didn’t eat for more than about 6 hours, he could die.
It’s a genetic disease, common among ‘northern europeans’ (I’m not sure if that means Brits or Scandinavians) and according to the literature usually doesn’t have any long-term problems, it’s just the eating thing. The baby gets sick and doesn’t eat for a few hours and the prognosis can be quite bad if they don’t get on some IV nutrients very quickly, and because it’s so rare, most people don’t know their kids have it until it’s too late.
Even at first prognosis, though, we didn’t think he had it. He’s always been alert and vital when he wakes up (anyone who has heard him really get going behind a good cry will attest to that.) He’s had no problems getting up and moving even after quite long sleep sessions. Still, due to the seriousness of the disease, they wanted to be sure, and so they brought him in for another round of testing, both urine (hard to collect on a baby, let me tell you) and more blood. (He has such unhappy face when he gets needled!) We just got a call back from the doctor today that the preliminary tests looks negative, though they’ll do some more just to be extra-sure (serious disease, remember?)
That’s enough for us, though, to qualify him as totally free and clear. We’ll let him sleep as much as he wants, now.
-N
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Comment Moderation is a GO!
So if you click on the comment link for the post below this you'll see that there are four comments...and three of them are random, Chinese comment spam. What this means is I've turned on comment moderation. Feel free to comment as much as you like, it's just that now before those comments show up someone will have to actually look at them and verify that they are done by human people and not annoying Chinese robots.
For those of us that actually post things on the blog...which I think is actually all of us...you can just sign into the dashboard and give a thumbs up to your own comment to that it gets posted, but we don't actually use comments that often so I doubt speed is that important. Anyway, just thought you should know.
And just because I'm writing...I was sick this weekend. I picked up some sort of bug from my office mate who was only in the office with me for about an hour before he went home. It looks like Jessie has it now, but she's still at work for some reason. I'll see if I can chloroform her and drag her home later.
Other than that, little to report.
-N
For those of us that actually post things on the blog...which I think is actually all of us...you can just sign into the dashboard and give a thumbs up to your own comment to that it gets posted, but we don't actually use comments that often so I doubt speed is that important. Anyway, just thought you should know.
And just because I'm writing...I was sick this weekend. I picked up some sort of bug from my office mate who was only in the office with me for about an hour before he went home. It looks like Jessie has it now, but she's still at work for some reason. I'll see if I can chloroform her and drag her home later.
Other than that, little to report.
-N
Friday, January 29, 2010
H1N1 is my nutritionist
So maybe one of you 'bioengineering' or 'doctor' types can chime in, but I have a theory.
When your significant other, the person you live with and spend all your time around, gets sick, their immune system goes to work killing off the virus, and what you get is all of these weakened, nearly dead virii flying off of their body and smacking into yours. And, much like an immunization, this weakened version of the sickness helps your body build up an immunity to the disease so that you don't get it. This explains why when either Jess or I gets sick, the other usually doesn't. This goes further to explain parents often get sick from their kids. Children don't have as developed an immune system, and so therefore the virii flying off of them are fully formed, and instead of getting immunized, you just get sick. I await my nobel prize with baited breath.
So I'm feeling a lot better. I was only out of work for about a day and a half, and am rapidly coming up to 100% strength. Jess, on the other hand, being the work-focused, highly driven (to save time off for vacation), girl that she is, has made quite a game effort to get into work and get something done, but has only been in for a few hours this week. She's actually taking the whole day off again to try and rest, and when I told her to sleep as much as she wanted and only call me when she woke up I didn't hear from her until 1:30. She's still got it pretty rough. Thank goodness for my husbandly immunity. Hopefully she'll be able to finish recovery over the weekend and start the week off fresh. She's mostly just been tired and worn down, no doubt from fighting off the dreaded H1N1.
Yeah, we're pretty sure that's what we got. The general symptom list is 'general flu-like symptoms', such as aches, tiredness, and nausea (we both got to use a bucket on monday night), and then also a fever, which Jess definitely had, (thermometer verified!) and I probably had (I felt really cold!). And it lasts for a long time. Unless your wife gets it first. Like I said, Jessie is still recovering, and is mostly just tired. My only lingering systems is a loss of appetite which, in some ways, isn't *all* bad.
So let me take a moment to brag about weight loss. I'd like to point out that most of my progress has been made gradually, step by step, and is accompanied by a wide variety of healthy foods, veggies included, mom. (V8 is good stuff!) I'm just eating less of it. Only a little bit of weight loss has come from the fact that I didn't eat anything heavier than a piece of bread for about three days there. For reference, my 'high weight' happened right after I got back from xmas. I was 230 pounds. Last time I weighed myself, (in the morning, which is always less, but it makes me feel better), I was at 210 lbs. I haven't been that skinny in a long time, and I even got my first 'hey, you look like you're loosing weight' comment, which always feels nice. The real discovery here is that I don't need to eat as much as I thought I did, even if it's good for me. Less still fills me up. Guess that's part of getting older. My exercise regimen has dropped off somewhat, as I've decided to stop doing Ving Tsun in favor of...something else yet undecided. And there was also the fact that I was sick for a few days there, but I'm actually excited to go running again soon. Imagine how much easier it will be! 20 lbs. Yay!
Progress still marches on in contractorland. Perhaps unsurprisingly the contractors discovered that they couldn't get access to the 3/4" pipes they wanted in order to run two showers at once. Just the 1/2" ones that were already there. So the cost of the project got bumped up a bit. Also, the shower pan they wanted to install turned out to not be available until just today, so they're a bit behind schedule, too. But nothing catastrophic, certainly, and everything has been accomplished with skill, good communication, and excellent craftsmanship. We're pleased. If you guys are very nice, I may post a few pictures later today when I get home. I think they'll get to start working on the tiles on Monday. Exciting!
Also, someone should remind me to write the story of the RSVP project I did back in college. It's been lost to history, a bit, but it was a fun class that I'll bet parents and grandparents alike would like to hear about. Cheerio!
-N
When your significant other, the person you live with and spend all your time around, gets sick, their immune system goes to work killing off the virus, and what you get is all of these weakened, nearly dead virii flying off of their body and smacking into yours. And, much like an immunization, this weakened version of the sickness helps your body build up an immunity to the disease so that you don't get it. This explains why when either Jess or I gets sick, the other usually doesn't. This goes further to explain parents often get sick from their kids. Children don't have as developed an immune system, and so therefore the virii flying off of them are fully formed, and instead of getting immunized, you just get sick. I await my nobel prize with baited breath.
So I'm feeling a lot better. I was only out of work for about a day and a half, and am rapidly coming up to 100% strength. Jess, on the other hand, being the work-focused, highly driven (to save time off for vacation), girl that she is, has made quite a game effort to get into work and get something done, but has only been in for a few hours this week. She's actually taking the whole day off again to try and rest, and when I told her to sleep as much as she wanted and only call me when she woke up I didn't hear from her until 1:30. She's still got it pretty rough. Thank goodness for my husbandly immunity. Hopefully she'll be able to finish recovery over the weekend and start the week off fresh. She's mostly just been tired and worn down, no doubt from fighting off the dreaded H1N1.
Yeah, we're pretty sure that's what we got. The general symptom list is 'general flu-like symptoms', such as aches, tiredness, and nausea (we both got to use a bucket on monday night), and then also a fever, which Jess definitely had, (thermometer verified!) and I probably had (I felt really cold!). And it lasts for a long time. Unless your wife gets it first. Like I said, Jessie is still recovering, and is mostly just tired. My only lingering systems is a loss of appetite which, in some ways, isn't *all* bad.
So let me take a moment to brag about weight loss. I'd like to point out that most of my progress has been made gradually, step by step, and is accompanied by a wide variety of healthy foods, veggies included, mom. (V8 is good stuff!) I'm just eating less of it. Only a little bit of weight loss has come from the fact that I didn't eat anything heavier than a piece of bread for about three days there. For reference, my 'high weight' happened right after I got back from xmas. I was 230 pounds. Last time I weighed myself, (in the morning, which is always less, but it makes me feel better), I was at 210 lbs. I haven't been that skinny in a long time, and I even got my first 'hey, you look like you're loosing weight' comment, which always feels nice. The real discovery here is that I don't need to eat as much as I thought I did, even if it's good for me. Less still fills me up. Guess that's part of getting older. My exercise regimen has dropped off somewhat, as I've decided to stop doing Ving Tsun in favor of...something else yet undecided. And there was also the fact that I was sick for a few days there, but I'm actually excited to go running again soon. Imagine how much easier it will be! 20 lbs. Yay!
Progress still marches on in contractorland. Perhaps unsurprisingly the contractors discovered that they couldn't get access to the 3/4" pipes they wanted in order to run two showers at once. Just the 1/2" ones that were already there. So the cost of the project got bumped up a bit. Also, the shower pan they wanted to install turned out to not be available until just today, so they're a bit behind schedule, too. But nothing catastrophic, certainly, and everything has been accomplished with skill, good communication, and excellent craftsmanship. We're pleased. If you guys are very nice, I may post a few pictures later today when I get home. I think they'll get to start working on the tiles on Monday. Exciting!
Also, someone should remind me to write the story of the RSVP project I did back in college. It's been lost to history, a bit, but it was a fun class that I'll bet parents and grandparents alike would like to hear about. Cheerio!
-N
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
News from the sick ward
So remember how I mentioned that Jess caught some sort of bug over the weekend? Well guess who has it now, yes, that's right. Me. Both of us, technically, which is rough, because we'll be feeling better or worse as the day goes on and it's hard to tell which one of us needs to be taking care of the other. Neither of us has eaten much. I haven't eaten anything more substantial than toast in the past day and a half. Jess thought she might be able to make it into work today, but she woke up feeling crummy, so no dice.
The contractors are here, though, which I guess is both a good and a bad thing. We gave a house key to the 'main guy' who was supposed to be working on our house, but so far it's been a bunch of different people showing up, and so we're at home to let them in. It's just that we don't want to wake up at 8:00 AM when they show up, and they tend to be a little noisy while they work. Not too bad, though.
Anyway, the work is going well. I'll post some progressive images of all the different stages when the whole thing wraps up, but it's given me a pretty good look at what is going on behind my walls and under my floors. The shower pan isn't going to show up until Friday, unfortunately, so that means there will be a bit of a delay in everything getting done, but at least there is progress being made.
So back to being sick: we've sequestered ourselves in the guest bedroom while work is being done, and we have both the cats in here with us. I can tell I'm getting better already because I was hitting the Tylenol pretty hard yesterday and haven't even bothered to take any today, yet. Jess is still in a pretty bad way: she's been coughing a lot and said she felt dizzy this morning. She's asleep now, and all cuddled up with the kitties, but I may take her in to see a doctor if she doesn't get better soon.
Cheers,
-N
The contractors are here, though, which I guess is both a good and a bad thing. We gave a house key to the 'main guy' who was supposed to be working on our house, but so far it's been a bunch of different people showing up, and so we're at home to let them in. It's just that we don't want to wake up at 8:00 AM when they show up, and they tend to be a little noisy while they work. Not too bad, though.
Anyway, the work is going well. I'll post some progressive images of all the different stages when the whole thing wraps up, but it's given me a pretty good look at what is going on behind my walls and under my floors. The shower pan isn't going to show up until Friday, unfortunately, so that means there will be a bit of a delay in everything getting done, but at least there is progress being made.
So back to being sick: we've sequestered ourselves in the guest bedroom while work is being done, and we have both the cats in here with us. I can tell I'm getting better already because I was hitting the Tylenol pretty hard yesterday and haven't even bothered to take any today, yet. Jess is still in a pretty bad way: she's been coughing a lot and said she felt dizzy this morning. She's asleep now, and all cuddled up with the kitties, but I may take her in to see a doctor if she doesn't get better soon.
Cheers,
-N
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