Where did it go?

Both Luke and our baby girl are obsessed with our laptop.  Because of this I usually wait until they are sleeping to do anything online.  But, sometimes I’m too impatient and want to write some e-mails and things….so why wait…right?  So  when that happens, I often set myself at the kitchen table where it is harder for the kids to reach, especially Luke.  Other times I usually wind up sitting on the couch and put the laptop at an angle on the arm and try to keep it out of Luke and baby girl’s reach.

Well this morning, baby girl was occupied watching Nick Jr and I wanted to write a couple e-mails to some of Luke’s doctors.  So there I was writing away.  Everything was going well.  Our baby girl didn’t even notice what I was doing.  Then right when I was reading some e-mails…an e-mail showed up from the doctor I just wrote out in Baltimore.  So I go to read it….and I guess the good news was that I actually finished reading it before she did this…but I just got done reading the e-mail when our baby girl reaches over and pushes several buttons toward the top of the laptop. 

All of a sudden the e-mail from the doctor was gone!!  I thought she just deleted it and it was in the “trash” folder.  But…. oh…that would be too easy.  I looked in the “trash”, “spam”, “sent” and even the “drafts”.  Surely it would be somewhere like that right?

Then I keep looking…because it was like it vanished into thin air.  I wouldn’t normally worry, but it was an e-mail that contained some instructions…and I kept thinking…did it really say what I thought it said?  You know…that kind of thing. 

So I’m looking all over my yahoo mail trying to find this e-mail.  Finally I thought…”I wonder if she put it in one of my personal folders…like ‘family’ or ‘church’”  I never really use these any more…but I used to sort my important e-mails out in several folders. 

I then went through all the folders and finally when I looked in my “Germany” folder…which I used 4 years ago for my trip to Germany with my mom to visit my sister who was called up and serving there.  At the top of all these old e-mails was my “missing” doctor e-mail. 

I found it!!  I have no idea how it got there….or what buttons our baby girl pushed.  I’ll have to be even more careful from now on!!

Super Luke

Sometimes I wonder what our kids are thinking.  Do they really need to dress up as a princess or a superhero using a towel for a cape?  Well, Luke is not ready to be running around the house with a towel draped over his back.  But, I don’t wonder if he is still pretending to be a superhero…just in his own way.

I say all this because at least three times now, while Luke is eating he winds up getting his bib turned around.  The result is that the food still hits the shirt and that he looks like Superman.  It is a pretty funny site.  Of course he always does this with my back turned, so I’ve never seen him actually turn the bib around.

I wonder if he is just testing me to see how long it takes to notice what happened with his bib.  I have to admit that it does usually take a while to fully comprehend what I am seeing.  It is like when you see a picture and you know something is off…you just aren’t sure what.  When I do notice, I make a comment like “what are you doing?  Are you Superman?”  Then Luke will smile and I’ll turn the bib back around.  Ah the silly things kids do.

What is she doing?

This last month has been an adventure with Luke being sick on and off.  He would have a temp or a couple days and then it would go away.  At one point the doctor sent us to the ER because it was a Saturday afternoon and Luke’s temp was up to 103.4 and he had started vomiting as well.  That was after the first week of whatever virus he had.  This is also when they did some initial tests: chest x-ray, blood draw (looking for things like “walking pneumonia”), and a nose swab (looking for influenza   of course these were all normal.  Then came more coughing and then some runny noses.  Then After 3 weeks he cleared up, there was no more cough or runny nose.  But then a low grade temp (hovering between 99 and 101.4) stuck around for a good 10 days.

It was on the tenth day that I took look back to the doctor, for the third time during this sickness.  This was the fun experience I wanted to share with you.  First set of advice, if you don’t already do this or if you are about to be a mom for the first time…always take a spare set of clothes with you…no matter where you go. 

The doctor decided to test Luke’s urine, since it hadn’t been tested already and he has this linger temp.  The nurse and I were in the process of putting a bag on Luke, only after wiping the area down good with alcohol wipes…the nurse was having a hard time getting the bag ready….which meant Luke was out in the open for a while and it was rather cold.  Can you guess what happened next?  Yep…pee flying everywhere.  When Luke was a baby, my husband and I used to fondly call this “free willy”.

To my credit I did think fast and put my hand up to stop it from “going the distance”, and he peed quite a lot.  So unfortunately…after finally getting a bag on him….I changed his clothes which now had pee on them, and we had to wait.  It was also a good thing I brought along some juice, so I made him drink…and we sat there for about 15 minutes and then the doctor came back in and told me we could leave and do errands or something and just come back in when he peed.  So we did.  The nurse also gave me one of those sterile cups to put the bag in when he was done…if I needed it.

So off we went.  I didn’t really need to run errands….we went to K-Mart which was only about 6 blocks away.  I got out his walker and we walked inside and up and down aisles.  It was kind of funny since Luke walks at a slower pace…I would leave him walking in the main aisle and then go down a side aisle to get something or look at something real quick.  Only I think he knew when I did this and he tried to run away…because he seemed to always pick up the pace of his walking. 

The crazy part about this was that since we were waiting for him to pee, I kept giving him juice….and of course I needed to know when he peed right?  Or else we would be stuck in K-Mart walking all day.  So I found a discreet aisle no one was in, knelt down in front of Luke, dropped his pants and undid one side of his diaper so I could see the bag.  I kept looking around, hoping no one saw me….who knows what people would think.  I did this two times while we were in the store.

Finally after 30 minutes of walking around I decided we should just go and possibly eat lunch while we waited as well.  But when we got to the car, I checked his bag one more time…this time I dropped his pants and everything out in the open….at least the car door blocked the view from behind….and he had quite a bit of pee.  So instead of lunch we headed back to the doctor’s office.

Once we were there I could tell they were behind in their appointments from the morning and were now starting to work into their lunch hour.  I also knew that we were at the end of the list, so we had a long wait ahead.  So I took Luke over to the furthest alcove, where no one was….dropped his pants again and sure enough all that juice was catching up to him…and the bag was almost full.  So I pulled out the sterile cup and then took the bag off, sealed the top together and stuffed it in the cup….which almost seemed too small for the full bag of pee. 

Later on the nurse from earlier saw us and I gave her the cup before we went back to see the doc again.  It turned out that the initial results showed no infection, but the culture that they did wound up showing some infection…but only a little.  So that could explain that lingering temp. 

Anyway….who says that a stay at home mom has a boring life?  After all how many people can say that they play “cloak and dagger” while checking for pee?

New Wheels

You don’t expect your children to have “wheels” until they are 16.  When that happens I think the child is more excited than the parent.  After all the parent is feeling anxiety about their child driving around on their own, and thinking about the increase in insurance rates.

When your child is Luke’s age, 3, I think it is the opposite.  They get a new set of “wheels” and the parent is more excited than the child in some cases.  Maybe they are equal.  But the parent is excited because it often means a free hand or two for them, which gives them more freedom.  It may even mean that they no longer have to carry their 30 pound child around, which is very nice on the back.

The child may be thrilled with the idea of a new “toy” with wheels.  They could even just be excited because in some cases new “wheels” means more freedom for them.

When we got Luke’s new walker, I was so excited and I think Luke was too.  It is so much easier for Luke to turn and maneuver around.  He has gotten pretty go at controlling that thing.  He still doesn’t do great in small spaces, he need room to turn.  So at home it is still not the easiest thing for his to use to get around (since our hallways and rooms are on the small side).  But, at school he does great since he has a nice wide hallway to work with. 

About a week and a half ago we finally got Luke’s other new set of “wheels”.  We ordered it the same time as the walker, and have been waiting anxiously for it to arrive.  It is what is called an “EZ Rider”.  It is kind of a cross between an umbrella stroller and a wheel chair.  I think of it as a heavy duty stroller.  Since Luke is getting too tall for our regular stroller and even our double stroller, I was really looking forward to having this.

I am so excited to have it before we get Luke’s biopsy done.  It will make it so much easier to get around in.  I won’t have to carry him or make him walk if he is too tired.  It will also be easier to pack since it folds down like an umbrella stroller.  The big wheels can even pop off so that we can squeeze it in better.

When we got it Luke seemed to really like it also.  He kept smiling and patting the handle bars.  He also kept saying “aahh…ahhh” and rocking back and forth.  This is his usual signal to “GO!”

Can I see?

Why are kids so curious?  I guess it is their way of learning, especially when their young.  After all it isn’t like they can sit around and ready Tolstoy or an encyclopedia.  Luke and our baby girl are always wanting to get into things or watch what we are doing.  Many times they will cry when I leave the room, like I’m never coming back or something. 

Before going to the basement I find myself explaining, “I’ll be right back…no crying…mommy has to switch laundry, we don’t want stinky clothes do we?”  I’m not sure that the kids really get all that, Luke is usually fine.  I think he has been around long enough that he knows I’m coming back.  But with our baby girl I never know how she’ll react.  She’ll either go over to the gate and peer around it, trying to watch me, while jabbering the whole time or she’ll start screaming and won’t stop until I come back.

One of the cutest times where both kids have been so curious started about a week ago.  When I cook I have been putting the kids on what we call “baby lock down”.  This is where I contain the kids to the living room with gates.  One gate goes in the hallway and the larger gate goes between the kitchen and living room.  I started doing this when cooking because of Luke’s new kitchen countertop cruising abilities (mentioned before) and our baby girl’s ability to get herself in trouble (pinching fingers or even burning them when putting them in small places near the oven).

Anyway, I put the kids in the living room and was cooking along when I heard both kids jabbering up a storm.  I went to investigate and found that both of them stood up to the gate (which is a wonderful ability for Luke to now have) and were looking over, trying to figure out what I was doing.  They were talking back and forth like they were debating what I was doing exactly, since they couldn’t see me real well from their view point.  It was pretty cute.

If Only

As a parent I often find packing up to go someplace more of a chore than I thought it would be before becoming a parent.  When they are babies you have to take cribs, bottles, food, feeding chairs, and so much more.  Sometimes I even had to take my own small baby bath tub, since my parents only have a shower.  It gets crazy!

What is nice is that as my kids have gotten older I don’t need to take as much, and now that both Luke and his baby sister are on table foods I don’t have to worry about food or bottles anymore.  Which is so nice!

But, with Luke things aren’t as easy as they might be for most parents with two kids.  Not that having two kids is easy, definitely not.  For example, most parents with a 3 year old and a 1 year old when going to the doctor may only need to bring a single stroller for the 1 year old.  The 3 year old can walk in holding your hand or even help push the stroller.  Well for me it isn’t that easy.  Luke can walk with his walker, and our baby girl is learning to walk…but not quite there yet.  So, I still have to carry her or use a stroller, which means I get our baby girl in her stroller and then go around and get out Luke’s walker and get him going.  When we go places with lots of people I have to kind of push Luke along, he is too nosy for his own good, so I go in to the doctors trying to push Luke along and pull the front of the stroller at the same time.

So the other day I had to take both Luke’s walker and the single stroller.  This used to be easy, but with Luke’s new walker (that I really do love) it isn’t so easy any more.  This new walker does not lie down flat like the other one.  The result?  The stroller gets the trunk and the walker gets to ride in front with me.

It makes a funny site really.  The walker is too wide to just fit in the passenger side seat and too tall and deep to lie completely flat.  So I have to put it in so that the walker sits up and one wheel rests on the shift changer that is between the driver and passenger seats.  Then the handle bars stick up, and it almost looks like someone is riding the passenger seat beside me.

This isn’t too bad if it is just me and the kids, but if there is another adult?  Well, we either leave the stroller behind or the other adult is just out of luck.

The other problem comes if I go through the drive-through somewhere.  Where do I put my drink?  After all the walker takes up the cup holders.  Then there is controlling the heat.  The wheel is wedged against the heat control, so it takes two hands instead of one in order to get the car warmer or cooler.

The simple solution would be for me to drive our SUV instead of the car each day.  The problem with that scenario is that Luke weighs 35 pounds. Lifting him up and putting him in at an angle to get him in his car seat is not real good on the back.  It’s not like he is a sack of potatoes that I can just throw in.

I’ve never been a fan of mini vans.  But this last month I’ve been dreaming of “if only”. Of one day when I would have more space and be able to take along a walker, stroller and still be able to eat in the drive-through.  I’ve been dreaming of a minivan.  Is that normal?  

Cheap Entertainment

When you first have kids you think, “oh we have to get this toy or that toy.  It will help them so much”.  Then the day comes, you get the present all wrapped, all the family comes over and you celebrate that first birthday.  Then you help him or her open their precious gift and you show them the new toy, “look, isn’t it great…it lights up and makes all this music.”  Then your child turns away from the toy you got them and starts playing with the box!  Yes, a box!  Who cares about this fabulous toy that cost so much money, when you have a box!

I’m sure most of you who are parents out there can relate to that memory.  I’ve learned to not be upset when my kids rather play with a box, after all they are developing their imaginations…right?  I’ve also learned that you don’t have to spend lots of money to make your kids happy when they play.  One of my new favorite places to shop for toys and clothes is our community garage sale.

Last night as Luke and I were working on his walking, I realized that the concept of cheap entertainment really comes in to play with so many parts of our lives.  With Luke we get certain toys to work on his OT or PT skills, or buy a special book to work on his Speech.  But, once again here I have learned to improvise with what we have…and get a little creative.

Instead of buying some fancy gadget to attach to the treadmill, my husband used 2x4’s and a wooden rod to build something that we use with Luke on the treadmill.  It allows Luke to walk at his height, which is wonderful…especially in the winter months when we can’t walk outside. 

Over Thanksgiving my husband and father-in-law used 2x4’s and plywood to build a ramp so that Luke can walk into the house from the garage with his walker.  These things aren’t fancy, but they do the job...and they definitely benefit Luke in his therapy. 

Why did all of this come to mind last night?  Well Luke was walking along on the treadmill, and kept losing his focus.  He didn’t want to walk.  It reminded me of when we first tried getting Luke to walk with a walker at Easter Seals.  Back then the goal was to get him to walk 10 feet with a walker on his own.  We also had to sing while he walked in order to get him to go anywhere….otherwise he would scream and scream. 

So last night I remembered the singing and I also remembered something that Luke’s old PT did to get him walking on the treadmill.  The PT used to use pieces of a flat puzzle to put down on the treadmill so that Luke would look at his feet and it also served to keep Luke happy because Luke thought this was funny, of course.

So I combined these two old tricks.  I didn’t have flat puzzle pieces, so I used junk mail.  It’s flat and it definitely won’t hurt anything if Luke tares it up with his feet.  Then I started singing “the ants go marching one by one….”  I also added in some “stomp….stomp” action. 

I would sing and when we got to the “hoorah” part of the song I threw a piece of mail down and helped Luke “stomp” on top of the mail.  The result?  Luke walked 20 minutes straight and was happy to do it. 

Cheap entertainment at its best.  The only problem was Luke could only walk about 3 minutes before I needed to pick up all the junk mail on the ground so that I could start over.  Who can say they don’t have enough junk mail?  So keep the junk mail coming credit card companies!  I’ve got some use for you!!

Whatz up doc?

We have been making a lot of doctor visits lately.  I guess it is the season for the nasty cold stuff.  We've been several times in the last couple months.  A couple times we just had the normal check-up exams for both kids.  The other times have been because of coughs or fevers.  Every time we go it seems like we are a circus act or something.

Early in January I took both kids.  I honestly can’t remember why we went that time.  I’m sure Luke or our baby girl had a cough.  Anyway, I had Luke walk in with his walker and I carried our baby girl.  While we were waiting in the exam room I parked his walker under the exam table and sat in a chair.  I had our baby girl on our lap and Luke stood in front of me.  But, instead of standing still like you would think he would do.  He cruised his way over to the door and proceeded to hang on to the door handle and at the same time he opened and shut the door…over and over again.

That day the doctor was running behind so we waited a good 20 minutes in the room.  It was funny how Luke would open the door, look out, laugh and then shut the door.  I saw the doctor go to the nurse’s station before coming to our room, and one nurse told him to watch out because Luke was playing with the door.  She and the doc got a laugh out of it and the doc said he’d make sure not to run him over.  Even so, Luke almost got run over in the process of nurses and the doc coming and going.  Every time I moved him out of the way, Luke would just cruise right back over to that door handle.  Silly little guy.

Well, today we went back to the doc…surprise … surprise.  Luke has a lingering low grade temp.  Our baby girl has also had a horrible cough and temp the last week.  She has also been fussy, and it turns out she has an ear infection of all things. 

Anyway…to the funny part of the day.  Once again I had Luke walk with his walker and I carried our baby girl inside, where I let her walk holding my hand.

So when we start down the hallway to the exam rooms I have Luke using his walker and I have our baby girl’s hand and we’re walking along.  Who is at the end of the hall?  The doctor!  While we are walking he starts teasing Luke and watching him walk, to see how well he is doing.  Then our baby girl decides she wants to show off her skills to the doctor too.  Instead of holding my hand she grabs a hold of the back of Luke’s walker and starts walking with Luke.  But that wasn’t enough, I think she thought Luke was going too slow, because she wound up pushing the walker so hard that Luke was forced to walk faster.  It was pretty funny to watch.  A couple times they were walking so fast Luke wasn’t able to control the direction of the walker and they hit a wall.  So then mommy had to come to the rescue and help both kids back up while holding on to the walker.  Crazy kids!

New Tricks

Once and a while Luke will do something that blows me away; something that I just never look for, but know one day he just might do it.  A few days ago he did something just like that.  To truly understand why I’m so happy for this I have to explain that Luke has been really sick the last couple weeks.  He caught some kind of virus that included fever, cough, vomiting and diarrhea.  We are still waiting for his low grade temp to stay low enough he can get back to school.  Every time I think he is good, he surprises me and his temp comes back.

Anyway, because he has been sick I stopped giving him his daily vitamins.  I have talked about these in the past, they are not just any vitamins but his source of energy and muscle building.  He has been off of these about a week now, which is why what he did really surprised me.

I was in the kitchen working on cooking some breakfast when all of a sudden Luke wasn’t just under my feet like usual because he is crawling around, but his head was in my way because he was standing up!  Not only did he pull himself up using the oven door, but he did it in his socks….which really surprised me because he has a hard time not sliding all over when we walk in the kitchen in just his socks. 

Luke then shocked me more when he started cruising along the stove to the counter then to the kitchen sink!!  He was all over!  I was so happy…but at the same time I was thinking “oh no” because he could reach dishes and skillets as I was trying to cook.  This is a definite mixed blessing. 

As he cruised along I moved skillets, plates, glasses, knives, and when the counter was clean he started trying to take dishes OUT of the sink.  Then when I moved those he cruised back a little and found the silverware drawer, and had lots of fun trying to empty all of it onto the floor.  I had to laugh at first, and then lay down the law!   With him being sick, I had to wash practically all the silverware all over again.

Our baby girl has been following her brother’s lead.  She’ll stand up while holding on to the oven or refrigerator and then cruise along.  The only difference is that she isn’t tall enough to cause any real damage.  I’m sure she will be soon enough.

Bright Ideas

The last few weeks Luke has had a couple “bright ideas”.  It seems like he is always looking for new places to stash his toys.  I’ve told you how in the past he put them in the warming drawer under the stove and in the bathtub.  Well the last few weeks he has tried putting them on top of the stove, which doesn’t work out so well when mommy is trying to cook.  He has also tried putting some in the kitchen sink, along with the dirty dishes.  That leads me to a whole other story….which I promise to tell you later.

There are two places he has been stashing his toys consistently lately.  One is on top of the TV stand, in front of the TV.  This is a new thing because we had to replace our TV.  The old TV was HD and was NOT a flat panel…so it was VERY big.  When we first got it, it took three “strapping lads” to carry it inside and set it up.  So that TV took up pretty much all the TV stand.  When it broke we bought another HD, this time a flat screen.  So there is now about 6 inches or so of free space in front of the TV on the TV stand.

Luke likes to pile his toys up on that free space.  When he first started this, I was afraid he would throw his toys at the TV.  But instead he’ll actually pile books, blocks, plastic food, or whatever else he can find….even his juice cup.  What Luke finds so funny when he does this is when he puts things up there and they don’t stay, usually because of the way the books are balancing on top of some odd shaped block or something.  So when the book or toy falls and doesn’t stay where he put them, Luke laughs.  It is pretty good entertainment, until the books or toys fall back and hit him in the head.  Then Luke doesn’t find it so funny anymore.  Even so, that doesn’t stop him from trying again after a few minutes of crying.

The other place he tried stashing toys, I found more funny than Luke.  He didn’t laugh at all, but it kept cracking me up when he first did it.  Luke was sitting facing me, with his back to the wall and the heat/air register was directly behind him.  Luke took all his smaller toys; blocks, shapes, Lego’s, and plastic foods, and put them in a big old pile behind him.  The purpose?  I think it was to cover up the register.  I wonder if Luke was getting too warm sitting there or what.  He only did this for one day, and I haven’t seen him do it since. 

When he did this I laughed and just to see what he would do, I went over and took all the toys off the register.  What did he do?  He smiled at me and then proceeded to put all those toys right back on the register.  After all that was where they belonged, right?  It was a funny sight.

Stop!

Over the last 6-8 months Luke has been able to say some words.  For a long time everything was “door”, but he would say it like “dough…dough…dough”.  He LOVES to play with doors.  Then after he started school I stopped hearing him say “door” and every now and then I’ll hear “go” or “more”.  I was so happy to hear these words, but I kind of miss “door”.  It was always so cute.

Well, now I’ll still hear “more” once and a while…especially when he is eating.  But, I haven’t heard “go” or “door” in a long time.  He speech therapist told me this is common.  Most children while learning to talk will have words and then drop them for a while and then they’ll come back later on.  He has done this with his sign language as well.  For quite a while he would sign “more”, “music”, “eat” and “go”.  Now he will only do “more” consistently, and once and a while he will do “go”.

Even though these words come and go, Luke will usually pick up new words to take their place.  The latest has been so funny.  He had to have picked it up at school too, which makes it even more funny…at least to me. 

One day he came home from school and he kept telling me to “stop”.  Of course it sounds more like “sta…sta”.  I just found this so funny because I would be doing something like feeding him and he would say “sta”, or I would be driving him somewhere and he would be constantly telling me to “sta”. 

He picked this up after only a few weeks at school, so he must be hearing his teacher and aide say “stop” an awful lot.  I just hope it isn’t because they’re telling him to “stop” constantly.

Who's bath?

I’m sure I’m not the first one to walk away from bath time wondering who was getting the bath, my kids or me.  Giving our baby girl a bath can be done without getting too wet.  But when we give Luke a bath, that is a whole different ballgame.

At first Luke used to throw all his bath toys out of the bathtub, which just got the floor a little wet.  That wasn’t too bad.  Then, he started throwing his wash cloth out of the tub as well.  This left a bigger puddle of water than the toys did.  After that, Luke learned to splash.  I admit to teaching him.  One night I thought it would be fun to try and get him to splash.  I figured it was good OT, right?

Well, it was at first.  Then Luke turned into a “splash monster”.  When he starts splashing it is best to stand back.  If you don’t, you wind up covered in water, and so does the bathroom floor.

Getting his momma a little wet from the splashing wasn’t enough for Luke.  No, he had to come up with a way to get his mom not only a little wet, but completely soaked.  A few months ago he figured out that the cup I use for washing him off, holds LOTS of water.  So, Luke started being sneaky about getting this cup.  If it was up on the ledge, he would get up on his knees and get it.  If the cup was on the outside of the tub on the floor, he would reach over and get it.

Once he gets a hold of this large cup, he would fill it with water and dump it out a few times.  At first I thought this was great, after all Luke was figuring out how it worked and was almost trying to clean himself!  Well, looking back I think he was experimenting before putting his big plan into action.

One fateful night Luke decided he must have practiced enough.  He filled up the cup with water and then dumped it over the side of the tub!  Landing most of the water on me and the rest on his towel.  I was so wet!!  Luke just laughed as I said “NO!” 

Needless to say, from that point on I have been on high alert.  When Luke goes for the cup I quickly snatch it away.  Luke is very quick, so I don’t always get it in time.  Especially, when I am trying to multitask by giving both our baby girl and Luke their baths at the same time.  It is definitely a time where I wish I had a third arm.  I guess I’ll just have to get by with the two God gave me.