Waking Scared

This weekend was quite an eventful one… but not necessarily in a good way.

It started on Friday when Alyssa took the day off and you and Mommy were going to have a grand ole time together. Instead, you wouldn’t go down for a nap… in other words, you wouldn’t let Mommy let go of you and everytime your head hit the bed, you woke up grabbing for me. Needless to say, by the time bedtime rolled around at 7:30pm for you, we were both ready.

But, as often is the case when you don’t nap, you didn’t sleep well through the night. You started waking up every hour and by 1:30am, Mommy heard you crying out about every 10 minutes. Then, at 2:15am you were still waking up, but there was a funny sound coming through the monitor. I couldn’t tell what you were doing, and my mood switched back and forth from “quit screwing around in there” to “what is going on?” I was groggy from the Nyquil I had taken because of this stupid cold, but when I finally decided I needed to go take a look, I knew there was something wrong.

When I entered your bedroom, I realized the sound was your breathing… almost panting and you were face down on the mattress. When I touched you, you were burning up with a fever; I’ve never felt you so hot. I ran to get the thermometer and when I picked you up, you were moaning and whimpering. Your eyes kind of rolled back in your head and your body was limp, yet shivering. I considered having Daddy call 911 immediately, but decided we should get a temperature before we jumped to conclusions. It was at 103.5, just under the Emergency Call Guideline. We immediately gave you Motrin and you sat and cried in Mommy’s lap for the next hour. You went back to sleep, still feverish, but not dangerously so.

It was all due to your recent vaccination. The doctor had warned us that you would possibly get a rash or a fever within 7-10 days from your shot and you had a small fever the previous day. You just have never had a fever that high before; we didn’t know what to do.

I will say that I was so scared and can’t stop thinking how things could have gone wrong if I hadn’t gotten out of bed to investigate the sound coming through the monitor… what if I would have continued to say “go to bed, child” in my head and left you alone. And I know Daddy probably never wants to hear the words “Wake up, there’s something wrong with the baby” again.

But, now we know what to do with a high fever. We know how you look and how you act. I realize fear is all about the unknown… I don’t want to know what happens in every emergency, because really, I would like to keep those to a minimum. I’m glad we went through this one and it turned out just fine. And it cemented two facts for me: 1) you are the most special thing in my life, and 2) adrenalin conquers Nyquil anyday.

Stairmaster

You are walking a bit more often now — a long as you have my index fingers firmly in grasp. And it must be the index finger. If I accidentally give you a thumb or a middle finger, you immediately toss it away and then offer your open hand again, but with a little ’snap’ to it. Keep in mind, I’m behind you, so I can’t see your face, but your gesture simply says: “No! Not that one. Let’s try this again – with a little feeling this time!”

And then we quickly go to the stairs. You LOVE going up and down the stairs. And often when you get to the top, you start to cry because you want to keep going, but we’ve run out of stairs. I have to say, “well, let’s turn around and do it again.” And, today, I can honestly say I went up and down our stairs with you probably 50 times… which lessens my guilt for not going to the gym for my kickboxing class.

So, the way I see it, there’s at least two good things that could come of this: 1) Mommy’s butt is getting a workout, and 2) You’re going to learn to count to 7 sooner than most.

Yes, because as we go up the stairs, you like it when I count them out loud, and we have two sets of seven stairs. I think tomorrow I’m going to start counting like an aerobics teacher “And 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, c’mon girls, let’s keep it going, 5 and 6 and 7! Way to go, only 7 more! And 1 and 2….”

The Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend is was too cold to go to The Pumpkin Festival, but this weekend was beautiful and we were able to head to the pumpkin patch to pick out our favorites. Everyone has been fighting a cold, so you were a bit tired by the time we got there, so we didn’t stay long.

Here’s you trying to take Mommy’s glasses:

Out hunting:

You and Daddy with the final picks:

And, the meltdown because we touched you:

Time for nap…

Beautiful Light

The light this morning was so beautiful and perfect for pictures.

Damn you’re cute!

A Little Walkabout

The second most popular question we are asked is “is he walking yet?” And, the answer is still no. You’re close, but not quite there yet.

Although, the other day the famn damily went out for a late afternoon walk. You grew bored of the stroller so we carried you here and there. Then I put my fingers in the palms of your hands and asked “wanna walk?” This isn’t the first time I’ve tried this, and I typically get mixed results. Sometimes as your feet near the ground, you just lift them up and refuse to walk. Sometimes, you’ll start to walk and then quickly get frustrated and crumble into a crying heap. Needless to say, the last thing we expected was for you to walk ALL OVER the place that night. I swear you walked about an 1/8th a mile… which is a long way for a little guy who’s only toddled around the house here and there.

You walked and walked and giggled when Daddy kicked the leaves and were literally panting when we finally picked you up to carry you home. Since then you’re a little more open to walking, especially if we can go up the stairs! Or pretend to scale the couch! Today, we went out again today and you had a wonderful time. You kicked the leaves and climbed trees.

A Nice Pat on the Back

Recently, when I carry you around, you’ve taken to gently patting me on the back. I don’t know if it’s your way of complimenting me on my walking skills, or to reassure me that the direction I’m headed is correct. Either way, it does often give me that extra boost that I need.

15 Months of Shots

Yes, you had your 15 month check-up on Tuesday… which required more shots. Plus, your daddy decided you needed one more, so he ordered them to give you a flu shot, too. I had nothing to do with it. Remember that next time you yell “Dada dada dada” when you hear the motor of the garage door.

You got a clean bill of health, although you’re back down to the 7th percentile in weight again. I think, like all the great men that came before you, you’re going to be a thin, fit young man. You are now 30-3/4″ tall (45th percentile) and weigh 20# 5.5oz.

You also get to sleep with a blankie at night. That’s been a big hit! I will admit, I’m looking forward to seeing you walk around, sucking your thumb with a blankie in your hand. It seems like something you’d like to do, so we’ll see.

P.S. I was lying about Daddy making them give you another shot… it was something we both decided. But, would it kill you to say Mama every once in a while??

Jibber Jabber

You’ve started to put complete sentences together. We just have no idea what any of the words are.

Last night when we were brushing your teeth (as you say “tees”), you sat there and had a conversation with us – complete with hand gestures and voice inflection. When you were done, all Daddy and I could do is look at each other and say “Really? You don’t say.”

Up and Pooping

Yesterday was a big day for you. You stood up, unassisted, for the first time.

I, unfortnately, didn’t see it. Suddenly, Alyssa was excitedly knocking on my office door, saying “he stood up, he stood up”. So, the story goes something like this:

You were distracted by a shiny object (a ball of tin foil) and she looked down and there you were squatting, holding the tin foil. You weren’t quite aware of what you were doing, you suddenly got up to your feet. And squatted. And pooped.

There ya have it, kiddo. That’s your history: you stood up for the first time to poop. Mommy’s never been so proud.

Question is, when it comes to your first steps, I don’t know who is going to be more excited – me or Alyssa.

Smothered

Strangely enough, you get a huge kick out of shoving the palm of my hand into your face. I said it was strange. When I’m changing your diaper, or we’re sitting in the chair together, you grab my hand and shove your face into it.

I’m really not sure where this came from. My only guess is when you used to chew on the windowsills, I got sick of just saying “Asher, stop it” over and over and over again. So, the only way to distract you from eating the house, was to tickle your chin. Giggles would erupt from your belly, and thankfully, that was much more fun than digesting wood.

You’ve now started it with Alyssa and at first, understandably, she thought it was strange. I don’t know how long it had been going on until she finally asked “does he shove his face in your hand?” This was something I didn’t even consider mentioning during the interview process. Once she found out it was completely normal behavior, she had fun with it.

So, it is now public behavior. When you go to the park, Alyssa said that you love it when she smothers your face when you’re swinging. You had never laughed so hard as when she would grab your face every time you swung forward. As she explains it, you now sit in the swing with your head back, arms spread out and eyes closed (think DiCaprio in Titanic) and giggle the deepest gut giggles in anticipation.

I hope this doesn’t make it difficult to get into the Friday play group that convenes at the park…