Happy Birthday to my Husband

26 years ago...

1 month ago...

To start of Travis' birthday morning, he got to wrestle Aiden back to sleep five minutes before his alarm was set to go off. I gave him his birthday card and a gift card to buy a hat and then saw him off to work.

For lunch, I met him and his co-workers at Mario's on the Seawall in Galveston. There are some serious clouds building over the Gulf, which makes me wonder about this 30% chance of rain... Now, I am stuff full of salad, pizza and tea.

Tonight, we are having a few friends (and family) over for tacos and a giant cookie (Travis' favorite). Unfortunately I overcooked the cookie last night, so it won't be as soft as hoped. Maybe the mint-chocolate ice cream will help soften it up a bit?

Freight Train

The house I grew up in had train tracks that ran through the backyard. As a parent, the thought of that stresses me out to no end. Apparently my parents were numbed to the idea since they moved in before I was born. I'm sure it helped that they taught us to respect the trains.

When Ariel and I were little, we used to run into the backyard when a train stormed through and scream at the top of our lungs. The rumble of the train would drown out our screams and it was exhilarating. No one ever told us to be quiet when we screamed as a train passed. We could be as loud as we wanted without any consequences. If we were feeling extra zealous, we would run to the edge of the hill that the tracks stood on and make a motion with our hand like you do to make a semi driver honk his horn. Most of the time, the train honked back. Excellent memory.

I like to think Aiden's getting a little taste of that every time I vacuum.

Vacuum Fun from Nicolette Ward on Vimeo.

Sun-in-the-Face

Every morning when I drive Aiden into daycare, we have to face the sun head on for about three minutes. Aiden's not a fan of sun-in-the-face.

I solved the problem by putting my windshield sun visor up between him and the back of my seat. Aiden usually gets annoyed that he can no longer see me or or the road in front of us and attempts to kick down the visor. If he is not successful, he fusses until I make that first turn south and I take the visor down. If he is successful, then he gets mad about the sun being in his face again and tries to shoo it away by waving his hands in front of his face.

It makes me laugh every time.

Am I an evil mom? Is it bad that I find entertainment in the small struggles of my son?

If so, I guess I'll deal. Because it is hilarious.

In my head, lettuce almost went extinct.

Yesterday morning, I was getting my lunch ready as Travis was about to walk out the door for work. I was slicing a cucumber wondering if it was considered a fruit or a vegetable. I voiced my thoughts to Travis and he said the same thing I thought. If it has seeds inside, then it's a fruit. But then, think of all the plants we eat with seeds inside: pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, the list goes on. Are all these fruits then?

My next thought was how do vegetables propagate if they do not have seeds? What about lettuce?! If there are no seeds in lettuce, then how do they continue on?!

Oh the things I have to worry about.

I did a little research and for all of those that are just as concerned about the fruit vs vegetable debate, here is what I found:

A vegetable is any edible part of a plant that is usually a leaf, root or stem. A fruit is any edible part of a plant with sweet flavor that is also the ovary of a seed-bearing plant. One website said that all fruit are vegetables, but not all vegetables are fruit. Tricky. All vegetable plants have seeds, they just may not necessarily be IN the vegetable.

I didn't really find this to clear up much for me. It's not cut and dry the way I'd like it to be.

Lettuce in particular is very peculiar. The longer lettuce is allowed to grow, the more bitter it becomes. When lettuce is farmed, it is picked for sale before it gets bitter. BUT, if the farmer wants lettuce seeds, they have to be patient. Eventually, the lettuce grows what is called a "bolt" that grows out of the lettuce head. A flower and seeds grow, making lettuce the leaves of the flower. Voila! The seeds can then be harvested!

After writing the word vegetable this many times, it no longer looks to be spelled correctly.

Vegetable.

Vege Table?

My brain is saying veeg table.

Speaking of Addictions...

Okay guys. I'm not going to lie. My addiction to reading has resulted in an addiction to coffee. I'm like those eldery who need downers in the evening to fall asleep and then uppers to wake up in the morning and overcome last night's downer. My downer is reading. My upper is caffeine. Ahh life.

If you haven't already, you should go back and read the comments from my last blog. Apparently I hit home on that one.

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Ok. This is just funny. My Wife Knows Everything beats The Wife Doesn't Know. Wonder who bet on that?

Addicted

Lots of people have addictions: alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, gambling, shopping... The list goes on. I've decided that I have an addiction. Once I start reading a good book, or watching a good TV show, I CAN'T STOP.

I've looked it up. It appears that an addiction to reading is thought to be a way to avoid reality. Although, according to this article, I must be a functioning reading addict because I am capable of cutting back on my reading. To a certain extent.

Here's the problem. If I find a really good book, one that truly captures my attention, I don't want to stop reading it. I will read late into the night and feel exhausted the entire next day. But then do it again the following night. This goes on and on until the book is finished. UNLESS, that book is a part of a series. In which case, the story goes on until that series is finished.

I am in the middle of reading the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton. (Thanks Alexa!) This past weekend, I was reading during Aiden's nap and actually got mad when it was time for him to get up because I knew I had to put the book down. It took a good 30 minutes for me to get over it.

What is wrong with me?!

This has been an issue with me since I was a kid. I remember spending a summer reading every Nancy Drew book I could find at our local library. I would ride my bike up there, check out two books, ride home and start reading. Then in a couple days, I was back up there doing it all over again. I went through this again when the Harry Potter books came out. I was all over those. And again more recently with Twilight.

I have the same problem with a really good TV series. In general, I don't watch or need TV on a regular basis. It's not like that. It's only if I find a great show. What makes that even worse is if I have the series on DVD. For example, Travis and I borrowed True Blood, Season 1 from David and Stephanie. We couldn't stop watching it. Actually, I couldn't stop watching it. The only reason I didn't watch the entire series in one night is because Travis wanted to see them too and he was ready for bed.

Anybody else have this problem? I'm thinking about starting a support group.

Nursery Rhyme Choreography

WEEKEND! Wish it wasn't over. Then again, it's always nice to get back to the other part of my life.

Friday night Travis and I went to a double birthday party at his friends' grandparents' house. We met at Ariel's beforehand so Travis could shower without having to go home first, since the party was on the island. Aiden and I got there before Travis, so we spent a little time with Auntie Ariel.

Ariel tried to get the dart board to make noise for Aiden...

Aiden likes it when I "drop" and catch him. He laughed so hard every time I pulled him back up, but Ariel wasn't able to get it on camera.



Travis worked all day Saturday and half of Sunday. Aiden and I went up to the Ramby's after he woke up from his nap on Saturday. We swam in the pool and ate sliders for dinner. A couple of their other friends came over that we haven't seen (and haven't met) in a long time. It was nice to catch up!

Sunday, Travis was sick when he got home from work. He's still not feeling well today, but he still went into work. I think he is working himself sick - literally. Aiden and I went to the grocery store that morning and then played in the afternoon.

Aiden learns new things everyday that crack me up. I'm pretty sure he copies my lip syncing everyday on the ride home from daycare. His lips move to the music, but I'm not sure exactly why. He's not actually verbalizing anything. He also starting covering his mouth when he laughs sometimes. Turns out that's what his teacher does when she laughs. HA!

He also seems to have learned the "moves" to several nursery rhymes at school. We work with him on the Itsy Bitsy Spider and Patta Cake, but he learned Ring Around the Rosie without us. Travis was reading it out of a book the other night and Aiden started walking in a circle all by himself. Then he fell down at the appropriate time. Hilarious. I know they do the first two songs with him at school though because he does the moves a little differently from me sometimes. It's so strange to recognize that he is learning something from someone else.

Having a child is the best thing ever. It still amazes me that this kid came from Travis and I. We made THAT. =D Hope that wasn't too much cheese for one paragraph...

One Semester of Sailing

My short stint of sailing for TAMUG was awesome. That was my first time to sail ever, so they taught me everything. We raced 420's, a two-person boat. I have never worked so hard on anything in my life. Those boats beat the crap out of me and I loved it. We practiced several times a week, but I only sailed in two regatta's. One in Austin, Texas, the other in Pensacola, Florida.

The one in Florida was something to remember. I always sailed with a girl name Jill. We made a good team. Only problem was two girls didn't add much weight to the boat. That was good when you were sailing in good weather. Bad when you were sailing in windy weather. There was nothing to keep the boat down.

That's the problem we had in Pensacola. It was raining really hard and the wind was all over the place. The race started and we were keeping up with the group. But halfway through the race, University of West Florida called the regatta due to inclement weather. HA. Time to bring the boat back to the yacht club. On our way back, the boats got scattered, as everyone took their own route.

Figures that this is when our boat decides to blow over. We both did exactly what we were supposed to and jumped over the side of the boat opposite of the direction it fell. The center board is only big enough for one person to land on and Jill got to it before I did. I just hung on to the side of the boat in hopes that our combined weight would be enough to fight the cold, choppy water that was threatening to eat our sail.

It felt like minutes, but was probably only seconds, before our boat righted itself. Jill had let out the sail, so there was no impending danger of flipping again immediately. I wasn't thinking about the fact that the bottom of my dungarees were velcroed shut against my ankles, so when Jill offered an arm to pull me back in the boat we both struggled severely. As soon as both feet were in the boat, I realized my mistake and opened the bottom of my pants. The water poured out and added to the puddle in the bottom of our boat. I took a moment to bail water while Jill did her best to keep the boat in control.

Once that was done, we fought our way back into dock. We did great. Even though we didn't get to finish the race, I felt confident in our ability to maneuver our 420. We and the other boat from A&M, along with a couple people from the University of South Alabama celebrated at an Irish Pub for dinner.

That was by far, one of the most liberating experience of my college years. We made the road trip there and back, found food and fought the sea. Doesn't get much better than that when you're in school.

August 2002

Eight years ago, Travis and I moved to Texas. I was set to start at Texas A&M, Galveston (TAMUG) in September. Travis planned to move with me, work a job for a while, then start at the local community college. That summer, I made plans to come visit Galveston with my mom and search for an apartment. The week before we were set to leave, I received a letter from TAMUG stating that I must live in the dorms for my first year at the school. I called to make sure that was the case, since I was coming in as a Sophomore. I was furious because that put a serious damper on Travis being able to afford to move down with me.

The school ensured me that no matter the age, I had to apply to stay in the dorms my first year there. I sent in my form and left for my visit to Galveston the following week. My mom and I took the chance to see what there was to do on the island and had a little vacation. A couple weeks after I got back, I got a letter from TAMUG that said the dorms were full and there was no room for me.

Seriously?!?!?

I kicked myself for not looking at apartments just in case. I honestly hadn't even seen it as an option. I quickly got online and searched for a place to live. I was crazy worried because the apartments get to choose what you see, but it was my only choice. Since the apartment option was back on the table, Travis decided to move to Texas with me.

We packed up three cars, one truck and a U-Haul trailer and started the trip down. Unfortunately, the trailer could only go max of 55 mph. Travis dad, who was pulling the trailer behind his truck, told us to go on, since we had to make it to the apartment complex before closing to sign the papers and get our key. The trip took us 18 hours (the trailer took 21), but we made it just in time. That night, we sat on the carpeted floor of our very first living room with our family.

The apartment complex was not that bad. Definitely not top of the totem pole, but it was better than I expected it to be for shopping over the Internet and phone. We spent the next few days unpacking and Travis went to apply at the local Quizno's. He had been working at the one back home for a year, so he figured it would be easy to get a job there right away. He was right.

That was the start of my third year in college. Several of my classes didn't transfer, so I had to "repeat" my Sophomore year. Being that this was my first year at a major university, I was worried about how well I would be able to keep up with the school work, so I decided to take the first semester off from working a job. To help jump-start our search for friends, I joined the Sailing Club at A&M.

Travis worked at that Quizno's for a few months before he found a job working at a plant in Houston doing odd jobs. It was horrible. He worked there my entire first semester of school. It was a two hour drive each way and he was working 10-hour shifts. I never saw him. Eventually, I convinced him to look for a job somewhere close. After talking with our new friend Kai, he started to work for him building a house.

Towards the end of my first semester, I felt confident about working again. I found a job working as a receptionist at a vet clinic (where we still take our pets). I made even more friends there and stayed at that clinic until I graduated from A&M in August 2005.

Travis finished building that house with Kai and then got a job working for a general contractor who had done some work on that house. He worked for him for a year or so before deciding to specialize in electrical and started working for an electrician that the contractor worked with frequently. That company trained him on most everything he knows.

That next semester in the spring, Travis started at the community college part time. It took him several years of going to school in the evening to get his degree. He stopped there, since he wanted to focus on the electrical trade.

Add a few more jobs, a few more apartments, a roomate, a house and a kid and you're all caught up. ;)

Morning in the Yard

My friend Chrissie recommended foam soap for Aiden to play with in the bath tub. I got a little crazy and brought it out into the yard. Seemed a little silly that it is Cherry scented because all he wanted to do was eat it.


Staying cool with ice cubes in a teether.

Pals

Playing in the gazebo.

Anyone want a push?

Dreamland? Or just Galveston?

I think I've mentioned on here before that every once in a while I have a series of strange things happen to me that make me stop and want to pinch myself. This time I couldn't help but think of Inception. I had to peek around to see if a hundred projections were staring at me.

Yesterday, right before I was supposed to leave work, it started raining. Of course, it never just rains here in southwest Texas. We're either wet from humidity or wet from the monsoons that occasionally drop down. Last night's monsoon lasted approximately 30 minutes and was letting up as I walked out to my car.

I was wearing a garbage bag because I didn't have my umbrella and I wasn't too keen on the idea of being soaked when I picked Aiden up from daycare. The bag was blowing so wildly I couldn't hear much, but I could hear sirens off in the distance. As I was crossing the street, I also heard really loud popping noises to my right. I turned to see what was going on and there were two transformers, one on either side of the street, sparking fiercely at each other. Then I realized that something was also shooting off like a 4th of July sparkler on the side of a building. From what I could tell, a cable had come unattached on both sides and was slowly sliding down towards the ground. Everything was sparking and flaring electrical fires. The fire truck arrived a moment later and I continued my way home.

I was driving down Seawall when I noticed water was dripping out of the passenger airbag warning light in the roof of my car. POS car. As I was trying to figure out how that water could get there, I watched it drip directly onto my cell phone in the center console below. I wiped off my phone, and looked out the window.

People who have been in Galveston know that there are some peculiar things on this island. I know there are strange things and people everywhere, but I feel like I've never been more aware of it as I am on this island. Sure enough, driving down the Seawall on an adult-sized, pink tricycle was a very large man in overalls.

*Blink, blink*

I pulled up to Aiden's daycare and went inside to find him sitting with a teacher at the front desk. She was talking to another woman who had just picked up her son from Aiden's class. When the woman walked away, the teacher gives me a sympathetic look and explains that Aiden had a rough day. I guess we're making up for several days without a bite. He had THREE bites. One on his left arm, two on his right. Each left two red crescent marks on his baby skin. The second the front door shut, she points at the boy walking away with his mother and says he was responsible for two of the bites. A known biter. The other was from a little girl who is currently teething.

I don't know what to do about this biting situation. They don't have enough teachers to keep a hawk's eye on the known biters. Travis and I have talked about switching Aiden to a different daycare. I found one that does not currently have any biters, but there is no guarantee that a biter won't move in later. I am not that thrilled about the idea of moving Aiden again, only a month after he transitioned to this new room. And the only way we would move him is if it were to a nicer daycare and that means more money, which at this point is not easy for us to do.

I hate that Aiden is getting injured several times a week, but what worries me more is the thought of him turning into a biter himself. He's given it a try a couple times now. I always look at him and say 'NO', then I set him down immediately to let him know I won't tolerate such behavior. I feel like the longer I wait, the higher the risks get. We're just having a hard time making the decision to move him or not.

My Boys and the Sea

Wow. I have been really bad about posting lately. That's what happens when I'm busy at home AND at work. No time, no time! Oh and you can blame Alexa for giving me a 100 books to read. I know Travis is a little less than thrilled about that. ;)

Aiden seems to be recovering from his ear infection nicely. We will have another three days of antibiotics left, but he is no longer walking like a drunk man and doesn't cry every 10 minutes. That's a serious improvement in my book!

Aiden has made some language advancements lately that are SO FUN. He just started pointing at things and saying "uh dat". I'm pretty sure that means "what's that". His favorite items to point at are lights and fans. I'm thinking he might have a slight fascination with electrically-run things, like his father. Ha! Most of his words at this point are his personal jargon. I can tell what he's saying because I've learned that he uses them at certain times or places. And I think that 'mama' and 'dada' are taking on actual meaning to him. Wahoo!

This weekend was tiring, but much better than the last two. No fevers or sickness. THANK GOODNESS. I had gone up to Alexa's house on Thursday to go through some books she's getting rid of (nesting has officially set in at the Ramby's), so I had a lot to choose from this weekend. So on Friday, after Aiden went to bed, Travis went out to mow the lawn and I decided to take it easy with a book. It was amazing. I love resting. Sometimes I forget to do it and then have to remind myself to chill out.

Saturday morning, we went to the beach first thing. We were only there for a couple hours. Aiden would have enjoyed more time there, except it was nap time so we had to head home. I am so excited Aiden had fun this time. He kept walking back into the water. It was hilarious because the waves would throw off his sense of balance and he was constantly falling in the direction the waves were moving. I wanted to sit down and have a snack for a moment, so I got out a shovel for him to play in the sand. He loved that too. Best part for Mommy was he didn't try to eat the sand. We'll have to get him a sandbox soon!

Travis and I drove separately, so he could go to work. There was a fundraiser run on the beach and his company had been asked to set up the lights the day of, and then take them down the day after. Saturday was the day of, so he and a co-worker made three trips to carry the lights and a generator and set them up. Unfortunately, his co-worker lost his keys, so they had to wait for a friend to come unlock the van. When the keys weren't in there, they called a locksmith to make them a key.

When they were finally finished around 6:45, the woman running the show asked if they would stick around to turn on the lights at 7:30. Travis originally thought he'd be home in the afternoon. Ha! Anyway, while they were waiting to turn on the lights, the EMS arrived. The sand on the beach was really soft, so he didn't want to drive down onto the beach. He said that if someone more capable would drive it down, he'd be okay with that. He just didn't want to be the one to get it stuck. Travis jumped at the chance to drive an ambulance and he loved every minute of it. Of course, he got it stuck 10 feet from the wet sand. A gas-powered golf cart was all it took to help them out of the soft stuff.

Travis came home electrified. No pun intended. Or was it?

Sunday morning, Travis left to pick up the lights. Aiden and I played out in the yard with the water table (I put bubble bath in it this time). The best time of day to go outside at this point is first thing in the morning. So that's what I try to do with him every weekend. To give you an idea of what we're working with, right now, at 8:52 in the morning, it is 84F (cooler than normal actually) with 85% humidity, making the heat index 97F. It wouldn't be so bad if it cooled down at night. But it doesn't. It feels like this all day long. Well, I guess it gets worse from noon to 4pm. Hooray for Texas summers.

Sunday was my dad's birthday. He got his gift just in time on Saturday, but saved it to open ON his birthday. I talked to him for a while in the morning. Travis got back in the afternoon, just in time to get Aiden up from his nap and feed him his snack.

We played inside with Aiden until it was time to bring him to the babysitter's. Sue, the babysitter, asked that we bring him by more often so he could get used to her. I think it's working because he didn't cry at all this time. She also said that this was the best visit they'd had so far. I'm sure it helps that he's not sick this time, but either way I am glad. Travis and I took a few hours for adult time and went to see Inception with some of my work friends. I thought it was an excellent movie, but you really have to pay attention so you don't get lost. It had one of those endings that leaves you wondering what it meant, instead of just telling you outright. Normally that annoys me, but this time I'm not sure.

Travis and I have realized that we really like Leonardo DiCaprio. He always does great movies. Part of that could be that he always chooses to work for great producers. Or they choose him? Not sure, but I do know I like his movies. I'll have to remember that...

Fields of Soy

My brother Alex has spent his summer working at the University of Illinois. He got a position working in the Horticulture Department. His job mostly entails working the experimental corn and soy fields, but occasionally consists of lab work (on the rainy days). This is a lab that creates strains of corn and soy that are disease resistant or more resilient to droughts, etc.

Yesterday, Alex sent me this photo - the subject: The dangers of soyface.

After a little research, Rachel and I found this to be a Yellow Garden Spider. While it may be harmless to humans, it is capable of catching small birds in it's web.

I am not okay with the existance of this creature.

My response to his text:

1. Ahhhhhh!
2. What's soyface?
3. What's the blue string hanging below the spider?

Turns out, soyface is the name of the fields he works at. It stands for Soybean Free Air Concentrated Exchange. The blue string is a part of her web. In reality, the "string" is not blue, it is white. That blue is just because it's a cell phone photo.

::Shaking off heebie jeebies::

Alex' move in date at the dorms is on the 18th of August. One week from today. He's rooming with a friend from high school, who just happens to be the valedictorian. Ha! It will be the dorkiest room on their floor and that makes me ecstatic. It will probably also be the most in-shape room, since they are both runners.

My dad's wondering if Alex will lean more towards the frat-boy persona (he is already looking into joining one of two fraternities), or if he'll be the college student who spends all his time running with the high school track and cross country teams. Only time will tell.

New Pharmacy

After a 4 1/2 hour nap yesterday (he normally sleeps for 3 hours), Aiden finally woke up so I could take him to the doctor. I checked his temperature before we left and thankfully it was back to normal. Because he was feeling so badly and I just knew if I didn't take him that he would wake up sicker than before, I decided to still bring him to the doctor. His normal doctor was not available until Thursday, so I took him to the urgent care clinic next door.

This was the second time I have taken Aiden there and both times there was no waiting time. We just filled out one page of paperwork and then were called into the back.

The doctor took a look at Aiden and said he had a mild ear infection and congestion. That congestion is draining into his throat, causing his vocal cords to swell, hence the nasty sounding cough and nasal drip. Yay. He prescribed Amoxicillin and sent us on our way.

The receptionist asked the name of a pharmacy in which I would like the antibiotic called. I thought for a moment, because I absolutely despise the Walgreen's near our house. I have never been there with a wait under an hour. And usually when I go in around 5 pm, the wait is closer to two hours. As I was pondering where else I could go (it was getting close to Aiden's dinner time), the receptionist recommended Target. Since that is right on my drive home, I agreed.

The Target pharmacy is AWESOME. I don't know why I've never thought to go there before. It is directly on the route out of Galveston, so I pass it almost every day after work. It's the perfect place to go, since I usually need something else from there. We buy Target brand diapers and wipes for Aiden (used to get Target brand formula too), so I go at least every other week. Usually every week.

The best part about Target's pharmacy was the non-existent wait. The longest part of our visit was when I realized my wallet had fallen out of my purse, so I had to go back out to the car to find it.

Also great? The different color rings around the medication, marking each person's prescription as their own. For example, Aiden's meds now will all have a green ring. If I go, I can get a different color ring. That way, each person in the family has a different color ring and we have less chance of mixing up our meds. Thankfully at this point, we don't take enough prescription medication to really need this, but it's an interesting thought for the future.

Greatness #3 = The children's suspensions come with an easy-to-use syringe and withdrawal "port". I don't have to dunk the entire syringe in the liquid to pull it up. If I accidentally tip the bottle over, the hole is so small that only a drop comes out. It's the work of a genius. Or a mother. Either one.

I promise, Target is not paying me for this post. They should be though...

Aiden has been on the antibiotic for a little over 24 hours now. I had noticed this weekend that Aiden's balance has been really off. After about the third time Travis or I joked that he was walking like a drunk, I put two and two together. It equaled four... The ear infection. Although it has not improved quite yet.

He went back to daycare today. No fever and no bites. I consider that to be a successful day for our wee man.

Another crappy weekend, minus the crap

Another messy weekend in our house. Aiden woke up Saturday morning with a barking cough. He didn't feel warm, but just in case I checked his temperature. No fever. Aside from the funny cough, Aiden was fine for the rest of the day.

Oh except for when Aiden decided that his new favorite thing to do is climb. He climbed up onto his toy chest in the living room and then fell off, scraping his forehead in the process. Then later in the day, he did the same thing off the futon in his room. Thankfully that one was onto the carpet, so he was fine.

The final climb was in the afternoon on the shelf in his room. I walked in as his feet were on the second shelf, hands on the top shelf. He fell down a second later. I ran to pick him up and that's when I realized he had reached into the reservoir on his vaporizer. His hand was covered in lavender oil, and now, so was my hair. I had lavender stuck in my nostrils for the remainder of the day.

That night, Travis and I went out for Zach's birthday and we left Aiden with the woman who watches him periodically. Last time I left him with her, he cried for an hour before falling asleep. After he woke up, he was fine and enjoyed the rest of his time with her. While I am glad that he got over whatever it was that bothered him, I really did not want him or the babysitter to have to go through that again.

To prepare, we stayed for 20 minutes, fed him dinner and played with this toys. Once he started running round the couch and he let the babysitter pick him up, we decided that was our cue to make our escape. The babysitter said that he cried for five minutes but was fine after that. He thought her son (who is around 19 years old) was the best. We were back by 11pm to take him home.

Sunday morning, though, he woke up with a fever. I usually set my alarm for a later time than he usually wakes up during the week, but I forgot to on Sunday. I woke up at 8, suddenly feeling like something was wrong. Aiden never sleeps in that late. I ran in to his room and he woke up. He didn't get up or say anything, but he was burning up. I checked his temperature while he drank his bottle and it was at 100.8F. I gave him some Tylenol and he started to feel better pretty quick after that.

We spent the rest of the day, alternating doses of Tylenol and Ibuprofen. His appetite was not completely normal, but it was better than I expected it to be. Sadly, we had to cancel our plans with the Ramby's. We just hung out at home.

THEN, Monday morning, Aiden woke up at 3 crying. He was burning up. I had to give him Tylenol, a drink of water, then held him for a while before he would go back to sleep. This morning I decided I was going to bring him to the doctor. Ariel has watched him all morning for us and now I'm just waiting for him to wake up from his nap. We have to go to Urgent Care since his doctor doesn't have an opening until Thursday. (!!!)

Basket 'O' Fun

Jenna came over last night for a chat, on her way home from work. We were sitting at the dining room table when I realized it got a little too quiet for my liking. I went to check on the wee one and this is what I found...

Tally Me Bananas

Come Mr. Tallyman from Nicolette Ward on Vimeo.

Sharing is Caring

Look at how nice Rachel is being by sharing her bouffant!

I'm also impressed with how well Rachel can rock the Kip safety glasses.

Sometimes? Kids bite.

Or in Aiden's case, it's ALL the time. He had three accident reports yesterday when Travis picked him up. All three were bites. Once on a finger, once on the arm and once on the forehead. Only the one on the arm left a mark. And they were from three different children.

According to the teachers, Aiden takes the other kids' toys, so they bite him in defense (I've witnessed him take toys from smaller kids). When this happens, Aiden gets the toy momentarily while the other kid is put in time out. Then they take the toy away and give him an ice pack (fun for a 1-year old). I keep hoping that the pain of the bites will teach him not to steal toys anymore, but I read that kids his age don't have a good sense of cause and effect just yet. Hopefully he figures it out within the next few months - preferably before he starts biting others.

Travis asked the teachers what they recommend doing and they said the main thing is to teach him how to ask for a toy instead of just taking it. To do that, we're supposed to teach him to say "please" when he wants something. I'm not quite sure how to teach that. I just hope we can get him to understand before he loses an arm!

Thankfully, thus far no bites of broken the skin. Only two have been bad enough to leave a mark long enough for us to see it in the evening (one of which occured yesterday). He has had over seven bites at this point. Honestly, I've lost count.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I need to do some more reading!!!

Crappy Weekend

Early last week, Aiden's daycare warned us that there was a bug going around the school that involved fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Honestly, out of the three, vomiting is my least favorite. We have not had to deal with straight up vomiting from Aiden so far and for that, I am thankful. Other people's vomit always makes me gag. Generally I just get out of the way quick enough that I don't ever actually throw up at all. Once, I cleaned up after Travis and that was only because it was either that, or sit with the smell. UGH.

Needless to say, we spent the week awaiting the bug. Sure enough, Aiden came down with a fever and a LOT of diarrhea on Friday morning. I had to leave work early to pick him up. Then I spent the remainder of the day, changing his diaper every two hours.

Travis had plans already to work on Saturday and possibly Sunday, so I was absolutely dreading the advancement of whatever was ailing the baby. I got SUPER lucky and the vomiting never happened. Just lots and lots and LOTS of crap. Seriously. My weekend was FULL of crap.

By Saturday morning, Aiden's butt couldn't take it any longer and developed a full on diaper rash. He has never had one so bad. It wasn't to the point of bleeding, but it was enough to take his breath away every time I changed his diaper. I resorted to wiping with a warm, wet washcloth to cut back on irritation and switched over to Extra Strength Desitin.

I tried looking up a home remedy and the main one I came across was wiping on Maalox. I don't think that really helped any to be honest. Not to mention, it took forever because you have to wait for it to dry before applying the Desitin top coat. Otherwise, you're just locking in the moisture that is the cause of the diaper rash in the first place.

The rash waned off and on, but it was still present this morning, so I made sure to send Desitin to school with Aiden. The diarrhea was gone yesterday, but he is still having regular, soft poo, which does nothing to help the rash.

Anyhoo, Saturday we hung out at the house by ourselves all day. Travis got another set of tickets to go see the Houston Astros play, so he came home for a shower and went straight out the door. He asked if I wanted to go. By this point, the fever had been gone all day, but I wasn't up for diarrhea + public restrooms. Plus, I'd constantly be in the bathroom because I have been changing Aiden's diaper every hour to help get rid of the diaper rash.

Oh! AND I already had plans to have Jenna over for dinner! It was a nice night just the two of us. I made pork loin and then we went out to the gazebo to imbibe a few beers. We kept it an early evening, which was nice because I'm so not used to staying up late!

Travis ended up working Sunday morning but was home at lunch time. I had to teach him how to change diaper rash diapers and then we got on with our weekend. Since I had spent most of my weekend indoors with poop, I convinced Travis to take me shopping. Yay!

First we hit up Starbucks so we could walk with fraps in hand. Second, we went up to Old Navy to look for jeans, which was a mistake. I never fit their jeans. We did a quick run through at World Market before running over to the mall. I hit up the 5 for $25 sale at Victoria's Secret, then found a couple pairs of jeans at Charlotte Russe. I LOVE their jeans. They have such a huge inventory so it was easy to find the styles I like.

I bought my first pair of skinny jeans! They're amazing. I haven't been able to find a pair that I didn't feel absolutely ridiculous in. These have rolled bottoms so it feels like maybe they balance out my wide hips a little. Maybe it's all in my head. I dunno, but I like them!

After that, we rushed home to eat dinner. After putting Aiden down for the night, we went out to sit in the gazebo for a couple hours.

Despite the title of this post, it was actually a delightful weekend. ;) This poop-filled, single-mother weekend is the reason there was no post Friday and Monday's is late. I know, I know. My followers are upset by my lack of posting. They will survive, I know it!!