December 10, 2011 ~ More Moo Please!

Today was a very busy day for us.

Last night after Billy went to bed, I broke down the makeshift desk in the den and assembled Daddy's old desk. It looks so much better. Unfortunately, now I can't get the big computer to work, having moved it, so I can't add any photos today. I don't understand how unplugging and replugging in the computer causes mass chaos, but with Daddy's computers, it always does. Never have these issues with my own computers.

Well, anyway, Billy spent the morning exploring the new desk and the increased floor space.

During naptime I went over to Grandma's to pick up her tree to borrow for the season (Grandma was sitting). Daddy was supposed to get us a real tree, but being too busy with work, I opted to make things easier on him and set up the artificial one. While he was sleeping I got the whole tree assembled. When he woke up he explored the bare tree.

After checking out the tree I showed him some other decorations. we have a Hallmark singing Christmas dog. He thought it was intriguing and terrifying. He hid behind me and peeked around to watch it dance. Honestly, those things are a little scary, in a fluffy kind of way.

I also noticed that the heat wasn't working in the house, so I called a repairman that works with my family. We had to hang out in the den where we have a radiator and separate heating unit to be warm, especially since Billy is still technically sick. The main house didn't get too cold thanks to the sunny day, but it was a bit chilly. The repairman came during the time that we were supposed to be at a Christmas party, but it's better to have heat. It turned out to be a small clogged tube causing the problem. All fixed.

Before bed I taught Billy "moo", meaning "milk". He keeps trying to say milk, but it comes out either as "ick" or "kah". So I thought him "moo" and he got it on the first try. Now he knows when he wants milk all he has to do is ask for "moo" and Mommy will get it for him.

He's also getting a canine tooth, so he's a grumpy gus. Occasionally, I hear him whimper in his crib. Those teethies must really hurt.

After he went to bed I decorated the interior of the house for Christmas. Outside will be tomorrow. I'm just glad it's done. He'll get to explore all of the non-breakable ornaments in the morning. I still have to clean up all of the boxes, so I'm off to go put them back in their closet. Until tomorrow!

December 9, 2011 ~ First Soup

When I picked Billy up from daycare today he didn't immediately run to me like he usually does. In fact, he was avoiding the the teachers too. Why? He had swiped some stickers from the older kids and was kidding them for a time to eat them when no one was looking. Well, adults are sneaky and we got the stickers away from him, silly boy.

Billy and I had a big argument today. The TV is the problem. He wants to touch it, bang on it, shake it, etc. There are Billy hand prints all over the screen. This is an ongoing problem. I can't just turn off the TV- he continues to attack it and, besides, he has to learn to listen to Mommy. I had to bum smack again today. Fortunately, that worked this time, after multiple failures with "no!" and hand smacks and distracting him. I would prefer not to use a bum smack and I'm a total No Go on true full-out spanking... yuck! At least the bum smack worked. He let out a fake cry (because there's no way a light rap through a diaper hurts more than feelings) and then went to get his school bus and push it around. Ugh.

For dinner he got to try homemade soup- the first soup he has ever had. I sent it with him to daycare and he refused to eat it, but I got him to eat it at home. True, I added sour cream and pepper as a garnish to help it go down. That's how I like it, and he liked it too. Clearly, soup is not his favorite, but it's a new texture and flavor to him and it doesn't contain sugar, so I wasn't expecting fireworks to go off on the first try. He hated peas for a long time and loves them now. Same with corn. The fact that he ate half of his bowl suggests I can get him to eat more tomorrow without fuss.

After dinner he played tug-of-war with Buddy. The two of them are becoming better friends. Buddy knows that Billy is always willing to share his snacks, much to Mommy's chagrin. And Billy has learned how to encourage Buddy to play, so they play together now. They played for 20 minutes with Buddy's snake. Billy would grab the tail and run away and Buddy would grab the other end and pull. Buddy is sweet too. He doesn't pull very hard so that Billy has a chance to hold on. When I play with him Buddy puts his whole weight into it and I can barely hang on. So I know Buddy is looking out for my Lil Man. That's pretty cool.

Billy also got to learn about the heater today. Blown air is a great toy.

And I'll leave you with this picture from this morning. I'm so proud.

December 8, 2011 ~ Santa Left Me a Big Present!

It has a Billy inside!

Billy went back to daycare today. He is still sick, but not so sick to stay home. He has a bad cough and in the morning some light wheezing. My biggest concern with going back to daycare is exposing the other kids to this illness. But apparently it will be in his system for another two weeks, and I just don't have two weeks of vacation time laying around to stay home with him.

When he got home he was tired but wanted to get into everything.

Here he is in his little fort that he made between boxes and furniture that are still in the process of being moved in. (Aka- hey Daddy, get on this stuff!)

Billy and I had a big fight over the television. I didn't turn it on until after 7 to watch the national news, but Billy was very interested in it regardless of the programming. We're trying to keep him from toughing the TV. It's large and not attached to the wall. The bigger he gets, the harder he can smack it. He's either going to crack the screen (like when he took a swing at it today with a plastic wrench) or he's going to topple the whole thing onto himself (like today when he shook it). I tried "no!" He thinks "no" is funny. I tried the hand slap. No Go. I tried directing him towards his toys. No Go. He just kept touching the TV. Time out? Tried to bite me for that one. Finally, I resorted to the bum slap. I'm not for spanking. But sometimes you have to let them know who's boss. There's spanking- bare bum, over the knee, counting one two three. Then there's the bum slap- one to three slaps to the clothed and diapered bum right at the scene of the crime. He's got to learn to listen somehow and I'm at my wits end trying to get him to stay out of things.

The footstool cube was a big hit today. Hiding behind it, hiding in it, and here's Billy...

Falling asleep on its lid.

December 7, 2011 ~ Back To Normal

This morning when Billy got up he was still lightly wheezing, so I treated him with the inhaler.

He was feeling much better, so, of course, he wanted to get into everything. Anything he could find that he shouldn't touch he went after. At one point he picked up something he wasn't allowed to touch, and without prompting from me started giggling and chanting "bad, bad, bad".

He really wanted me to dance with him in my arms today. I would be sitting on the floor and he would come over and grab my sweater on the shoulder, pulling upwards. I would stand up then, as indicated and he would ask to be picked up, which I would do. Then he would start swaying back and forth- his way of telling me to start dancing.

Unfortunately, I am whipped and not in the mood to dance. It's a combination of things. One, staying up and watching him at night. Two, I'm sick too. I probably have the same thing he does, only with fully developed lungs, the virus isn't dangerous, just annoying. Three, I have been working full days at home. Working from home with a toddler, though, isn't just putting in a full day. I have to fit my work in around his sleep schedule. If he's up, he won't let me work.

However, when the Sugar Plum Fairy song came on itunes I did start dancing around, having played the part before. He point and started whining. "You're dancing without me, how dare you!" he was trying to say with "eh, eh, eh".

When it came time for his nap it was still too early to give him his medication. I debated keeping him up, but I want to get him back on schedule and he's so tired. I opted just to put him to bed. He was not interested and cried for an hour off and on with me trying to cajole him into sleeping. I could have given him the inhaler then, but it upsets him a lot, which is the opposite effect of trying to calm him into napping. It worked out, though. When he got up from his nap he wasn't wheezing, so he didn't need it, anyway.

At dinner I gave him chicken pot pie, which he had yesterday and loved. I actually made it Monday night (from a box), but the trip to the hospital got in the way of dinner. He wasn't really interested in dinner. When I wouldn't give him what he wanted (sugar), he threw a fit. He threw the china plate on the floor, spilling everything. Buddy was very glad to get to eat all of Billy's dinner. Luckily, the plate didn't break. Regardless, Billy knows not to throw things on the floor, so I whisked him off to his crib sans binky for a 3 minute punishment. I don't want him to associate the crib with punishment, since then he won't want to go to sleep, but I haven't come up with a better option yet for the really bad behavior. Normally, he gets a light rap on the hand for trying to touch something he knows he shouldn't, and he gets a 10 second sit down punishment, where I hold him in a sitting position on the floor. The latter is usually more effective, since it removes him from the scene of the crime. I have a designated punishment sitting location.

Right now he is crying off and on in his crib- teething. Poor guy. Over one thing and on to the next.

December 6, 2011 ~ In Photos ~ Comment with your captions!

Look, Mom, it glows! Like a raver he was mesmerized by the pen for over twenty minutes.

Uh, oh. Driving (remotely) while on a cell phone!

I guess I need to teach him about prints and stripes, because that purse def doesn't match his outfit!

Who needs a binky when you can have a wooden spoon? 

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December 6, 2011 ~ A Much Quieter Day

Because of the breathing issues, I spent the night on the floor in Billy's room beside the crib. I am a light sleeper, so even the congested sounds of his wheezing will wake me up (this is likely why I am ALWAYS tired.) Thanks to the treatment at the hospital, though, he was breathing well.

In the early morning before the sun was up he woke up and discovered I was in his room. The sound of him standing up woke me up. He looked at me and then threw his binky at me. Then he took the binky in his other hand and threw that at me too. I handed both back and told him to go back to sleep. Again, he threw both binkies at me. This process repeated several times until he became frustrated and threw a stuffed cat at me. Apparently, he didn't want me in his room while he was sleeping. I gathered up my stuff and left and he laid right down and went back to sleep.

He didn't get up until 11, and Daddy and I both decided that letting him sleep in was better than keeping him on schedule. For one, he came home way past his bedtime yesterday, thanks to our little ER adventure.

When he got up finally his appetite had come back. He ate two eggs, half a waffle and some cheerios. Whatever it takes to keep him fed.

Later, Daddy was playing around with Billy and a back scratcher. To be funny, Daddy jokingly used it to scratch some unmentionable parts to make me laugh. Then he handed Billy the back scratcher. Billy chased Daddy around the house trying to scratch those same unmentionables until he managed to whack Daddy right where it counts. I don't think that joke will be repeated.

Well, earlier Billy's breathing sounded really good. Now that he's sleeping he's wheezing again, even with the inhaler. We're monitoring him closely and will administer another dose as soon as we can to see if it has any effect. If it doesn't, well, let's hope that it does so we don't have to go out in the dark and ran tonight.

Looks like another night of being pelted by binkies.

December 5, 2011 ~ A Trip to the Hospital

This morning began with a trip to see the pediatrician- well, the nurse practitioner since the doctor was not available in the morning. Billy was very clearly having breathing difficulties and was not a happy camper. Most notably is a condition called tugging. This is wear the infant is breathing so hard that the skin is tugged through the ribs. I noticed it when this all started and knew this was no cold.

She diagnosed him with brochiolitis.

According to Wikipedia:

Bronchiolitis is inflammation of the bronchioles, the smallest air passages of the lungs. It usually occurs in children less than two years of age and presents with coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. This inflammation is usually caused by respiratory syncytial virus^[1]. Treatment is typically supportive^[2] but may involve the use of nebulized epinephrine or hypertonic saline.

It is common among infants, only treatable with supportive medicines and in some cases fatal.

They used a nebulizer on him at the doctor's office and that opened up his airways and made his breathing easier. They sent us home with an inhaler containing the same medicine.

After treatment he was a different baby- running everywhere and getting into everything. Fortunately, being able to breath meant he could sleep, so off to nap he went.

Four hours after the original treatment we had to treat him again at home. I had Daddy do it since he has an inhaler for himself. Seems logical to have someone that knows the device use it, right? Again, immediate improvement right after the treatment.

Then Daddy went off to class.

Two hours after treatment he keeled over wheezing and screaming. Per doctor's orders I was to call if the medicine wore off sooner than 4 hours. His regular doctor was on call and recommended a trip to the ER for pulse and to test for RSV.

Here is Billy inbetween tests in the peds ward of the ER. They gave him a gown with koalas flying spaceships. I'm not sure why koalas would want to fly spaceships...

They reconfirmed the original diagnosis and determined that his oxygen levels were ok enough for us to go home. Apparently, the wheezing was our fault, not that we knew it at the time.

Daddy administered the inhaler dosage the same way he administers his own. However, the inhaler with the pediatric chamber is administered another way and, as it turns out, he got half or less than the dose he should have received. I had the nurse in the ER show me how to administer it so that Billy won't have to suffer with the tugging and wheezing.

We are still waiting on some test results, but Billy gets to sleep in his own bed tonight. I am off to his room to keep watch over him tonight.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the worst day of the disease, so let's hope the disease isn't mean to Billy and won't make him suffer more.

December 4, 2011 ~ A #1 Most Miserable Baby

Misery, thy name is Billy.

Billy is teething and has been having trouble sleeping lately. The binky always fixes everything, though. When he wakes up in pain we just pop the binky back in and he falls right back asleep.

Last night it became acutely clear that more than a tooth was at work.

Before midnight he had already woken up three times crying for the binky. But after midnight was a whole different story. He woke up screaming in pain. The binky was not enough to settle him. In fact, he still had the binky in his mouth. He screamed even through trying to rock him to sleep. Finally, exhaustion took over and he went back to sleep.

A half hour later the whole process repeated. Only this time add in dry-retching and difficulty breathing. OMG. I was so afraid. But I got him to settle back down and relax (which relaxed the breathing) and go back to sleep.

A half hour later it repeated. I made Daddy go take care of that round.

Then again. And again, Daddy and I taking turns soothing him.

By 4am I was so exhausted and worried that I gave up trying to sleep. He woke up again screaming. So I rocked him back to sleep and held him in my arms until 7, when I switched off with Daddy. Daddy then held him until 10am in the rocking chair. Then Daddy took him into the steaming shower to try and open up his nasal passages.

I got up at 10:30am. Billy was alternating from looking miserable to screaming. He wanted to be held, but he couldn't get comfortable and would start crying. If it hadn't been Sunday he would have gone straight to the doctor (open on Saturdays too). But being Sunday, it was emergent care or stay home. We stayed home. He was so tired and miserable. I just sat on the floor with him and rubbed his back, trying to interest him in toys. I also had Nemo on to keep him occupied.

By noon it was clear that he needed to sleep. Only, he was afraid to go to sleep. He would lay his head down, then startle and start to cry. I relented and danced him to sleep. Nothing like classic 70s rock to put you out. (I love classic rock- Billy can fall asleep to the 1812 Overture, so that's not a comment about the music.) In fact, concerned that he wouldn't sleep, I moved my ipod and docking station into his room and put on my classical playlist for him. He actually did sleep to the 1812 Overture.

I had to run out for some errands so once he was sound asleep I headed out to get everything done as fast as I could. He woke up after about 1.5 hours, miserable again. But I wasn't able to come home yet.
When I did make it back, 1.5 hours after he woke up, this is what I fouund:

Billy, sound asleep on the carpet in front of the TV. He slept there, with the football game on, for more than two hours. A phone call from Grandpop woke him up. I would like to note that Billy has NEVER fallen asleep on the floor before.

He was miserable when he woke up and only wanted Mommy. So I held him for awhile. He has started to love football, so he got in to watching the rest of the game and stealing oreos from Daddy. Then Daddy and I played football with him and his inflatable ball. That lifted his spirits some.

I gave him a quick dinner of yogurt and fruit, a bath to clear his lungs and then put him to bed. Again, I had to dance him to sleep. We did rock for awhile and look up at the planets projection on the ceiling. Finally, he relaxed enough to go to sleep. He's in there now, sleeping to classical music to keep him calm. I heard him wake up already, but he put himself back to sleep, and I'm betting it's the music keeping him calm.

In a terrible stroke of luck, Daddy has gotten sick too. Daddy never gets sick.

Tomorrow, I hope thy name is Relief.

December 3, 2011 ~ Fish, Trains and a Big Bump

Thanks to the teething Billy had me up before 8am today. Now, I know other babies get up earlier, but he normally gets up at 8:30, so it's early for him. When I have insomnia, it's really early for me.

By 9am he was bored with his toys and I had chased him from one end of the house to the other more than ten times. He wouldn't stay still long enough for me to make coffee. I tried erecting the baby gate. First he ripped it down. Then I wedged it in tighter, but had to go higher with it for a better fit (the walls aren't straight). So, he figured out how to crawl under it. By 9:30 I corralled him into his bedroom- the only baby-safe room in the house with doors and without sleeping people. Containment is key when lil man has boundless energy and I'm whipped.

Unfortunately, moving furniture around woke him up early from his nap. Always a recipe for crankypants. How to solve the crankies? Food.

Daddy was making fish sticks for himself for lunch so we decided to let Billy try his first fish.

He thought it was very tasty. I know in the photo he looks kind of concerned, but he is merely inspecting the properties of this strange new food. Fish is a success.And Mommy is excited that so far no allergic reaction to fish, yay! (I am always nervous about his health when exposing him to major allergens, like peanuts and soy, etc.)

After lunch Grandma and I took Billy to Kenilworth to see the trains.

If you're not familiar with Kenilworth, every Christmas the mall sets up a huge train garden around the central fountain. It's a big draw for the kiddies. So is Santa, but he was on his break while we were there. Probably out feeding the reindeer or getting some milk and cookies. We weren't there to see him yet, anyway. Have to find a Christmas outfit first.

When we got home we went outside to play. Billy was trying to head for the street, so I was blocking him with my legs from going near traffic. I always do this. He's fascinated with attempting to run to the end of our street and see the cars on the cross street. Mommy is not excited by this. Normally, he grabs my legs and tries to side step me, which never works. Today, however, he decided to run headlong into me. I had no warning, since he was standing still right in front of me and then ran at me full speed to get me out of his path. The result? He hit me, stumbled backwards, tripped over his own feet and belly-flopped onto the pavement. I nearly caught him from falling, but it happened just a split second faster than my reaction. He cried for just a minute and then wanted down to go play again. Of course, he immediately decided to try running down the street again. Ok, time to go in.

After a few minutes playing inside I noticed his face was turning red and splotchy. Because it's so cold outside it must have kept the redness from developing until we came into the warmth. He had a red spot on his forehead, tip of his nose, and all across his face like a beard. I didn't think the fall look that bad when it happened. I tried to ice it but he wanted none of it. He was totally unphased by it. Must look worse than it really was. After awhile the redness faded except for on the forehead.

You can see the little red mark in this picture of laundry basket rides.

Just before bed (and just before the above photo) I had to go on the Great Binky Hunt. We were down to the one cheapie back-up. I crawled under the crib to try and find any that had fallen behind. They get lost under the dust ruffle and behind a box under the crib. All of a sudden Billy climb on top of me, grabs my shoulders and starts bouncing like he were on a pony ride. Mommy doesn't do pony rides, but it was so funny that I called for Daddy through the monitor. Daddy had to finish laughing before letting Billy get a Daddy pony ride (with Mommy following close behind to prevent any spills). Definitely don't need any more head bumps today.

It's midnight and he's been up three times already with teething pain. Poor guy. Hope tomorrow that tooth finally gets here and leaves him alone.

December 2, 2011 ~ Under the Moon

Today really began yesterday. I didn't get to see Billy yesterday, having worked late on a project that had to go out this morning. Often, like on Tuesday, I can leave projects in the capable hands of my coworkers, but on this project I took point and had to stay.

When I got home everyone was asleep. But soon enough, as I was getting ready for bed, crying was coming through the monitor. I had to go in and console Billy, rock him back to sleep. An hour later, I had to repeat the process. Then again, at 4am, I had to get up and rock him back to sleep. He was so tired that he pushed me away when I tried to kiss him goodnight again. He either wanted to be in my arms or in the crib, but no kisses.

It was nice to see him in the middle of the night, but I don't like that it's because he's in pain.

It's a bottom molar. And it's hell for us all.

He doesn't want to eat because it hurts. Even french fries weren't very appealing. I gave him frozen raspberries (partially thawed and coated in sugar) to help ease the pain. Since he's on antibiotics for his ears right now I don't want to give him other medicines, especially herbal remedies.

But when Daddy picked him up from daycare he was in a better mood getting to go outside. He looked up, pointed and said "moon!". Then he pointed to the other side of the sky and said something unintelligible. Planet, that's what he was trying to tell Daddy. I have been teaching him the difference between the moon, the stars and the planet currently in the night sky. He knows the words and loves to look at them all. His nightlight is a projection of the planets. I name each one for him and he is starting to get it. It's pretty cool.

Unfortunately, he has already woken up tonight in pain and had to be soothed back to sleep. I suspect it will be a long night for all of us.

December 1, 2011 ~ An Ode to Cock and Caca (It's not what you think!)

There comes a point in every toddler's life when pronouncing simple, common words produces hilarious and often unintended results. Simple English words are transformed by Toddlerish into inappropriate meanings. The toddler, of course, remains completely unaware that what they are trying to say has become something entirely different.

Billy has reached this phase in learning to speak.

I remember when a dear friend of Billy's was learning to talk. Unable to pronounce his R's, he tried to say the word "fork". It was cute, disturbing and hilarious to hear him try to ask for an eating utensil and say something one never expects to hear out of the mouth of a babe.

Yesterday, Billy said to me "Mom, caca. Caca!" I'm thinking to myself, "did my son seriously just say that?" He walked around continuing to "caca, caca!" until, after about a half hour he found caca. He held up his hand to show me an animal cracker. "Caca, Mom." Yep.

Then in the bath he pointed and said, "cock!" Again, dirty word, innocent meaning. He was pointing to his rubber duckie. "Cock, cock!" That is, apparently, what the duck says. Last week the duck said, "ack, ack!" He's clearly trying to get the QU sound, with very funny results.

So here's the thing. What do you do with a kid that's saying something dirty but meaning something innocent? He's so proud of himself for knowing words and gets the sounds close to how Mommy and Daddy pronounce them. I just smile and squelch the laughs that are begging to come out.

November 30, 2011 ~ Rewind

On this date one year ago Billy weighed less than 12 lbs.

He was only sleeping 4-5 hours at night and only drinking milk for food. His big accomplishment was rolling over from stomach to back. He did get to go on a tall ship and vote with Mommy. Every Friday we went to Mommy and Me and that's where we met a good friend of Billy's.

Now he is running everywhere and talking.

November 29, 2011 ~ Hello Yeyow

Today Billy pointed at the color yellow on a toy and said "yeyow!" I tried him with the other colors- no success yet, but yellow seems to be one of his favorite colors anyway, so I'm not surprised that it's his first color to know the name of.

This morning I woke up to the sound of the crib mobile. Now, that little wind up mobile lasts for only 2 minutes (Ok, why two minutes? Seriously? It needs to be on for 20 minutes!). Then...the sound of giggles. Ok, he's up to something. I found the mobile pulled down sideways, still attached to the crib. Hey, at least it kept him occupied. How he managed to turn the crank and get it to spin and sing I'll never know.

Tickle time! Billy wanted to Tackle and Tickle all afternoon. Mommy always covers him in kisses when he wants to Tackle and Tickle. He let out some of the best laughs and giggled all afternoon. He got piggyback rides (his new favorite) and the Mommy Monster came for a visit.

Then it was bedtime. Only, Billy decided it was time to practice death-defying feats on the high wire (aka the rolled up rug sitting in our front hall). We're still not unpacked from the move and mess is everywhere, although contained. I'm going through it but I'm also working so there's not too much time to work on stuff. Meanwhile, the very heavy large rug that will go in our bedroom is sitting in Billy's path. It's an awesome toy. It will be more awesome in the bedroom where it belongs. Anyway, Billy refused to go to bed, but instead kept running away and giggling. Yup, he stretched out bedtime by a half hour. Fortunately, he didn't fight me at all about getting in the crib- he was too tired!

November 28, 2011 ~ The Polite Thief

According to daycare Billy has a new habit. He walks up to another child, rips a toy out of their hands and then runs off, saying "tan-oo!" That's right, he's polite enough to thank the child while making them cry. I'm not worried. He's very good at sharing and I have seen the other kids at daycare rip toys out of Billy's hands. But, hey, he knows how to say "tan-oo!"

I don't have much to report today because Billy came home and took a nap, getting up only to eat dinner. He was so tired that he didn't want to play, he just wanted to lay in my lap and hold a toy. He fell asleep immediately.

When I got him up for dinner I did try to give him his medicine. Do you know what he said? "I don lie dat" and shook his head no. He didn't want to take it and I had to struggle with him to take it. I finally squirted it into his mouth. He had big puffy cheeks and a look of death on his face. He swallowed it down, but he was not happy about it.

If you're feeling confused that Billy went from a few words last week to phrases today, don't be confused. It has actually happened that way and I haven't skipped over him learning to speak. Last week it was Mamma and Daddy. Today, thank you and I don't like that. Yup, just that fast.

Good night,
sleep tight,
don't let the bed bugs bite,
see you in morning's light.

November 27, 2011 ~ Moving Day

We moved today so I'm going to make this super short. We're still living in the same place, but we had to move all of our stuff in today. We're not done but calling quits tonight.

Anyway, Billy decided to growl today. When I play tug'o'war with Buddy I say "grr" to let him know that we are playing that game and not fetch. Buddy "grrs" back. It's not a fierce growl- just a play growl. So, Billy picked up a Buddy toy, walked over to Buddy and started "arrrrrrrrrrg". Maybe it's a pirate growl.

Billy also learned today what a fish says: glub, glub. He repeated it back to me and thought it was so funny that he continued to repeat it an laugh all day. He's very proud of knowing what a fish says.

So, the total list of words we know Billy has in his vocabulary are: Momma, Daddy, plane, cack cack (quack), glub glub, banana and a host of other words he parrots but doesn't know the meaning of.

Ok, signing off out of sheer exhaustion.

November 26, 2011 ~ I'm Not GrumpyPants... I Have No Pants!

This morning started with a trip to the doctor. I knew Wednesday night that Billy's ear infection wasn't gone. I could just tell. The office was closed Thursday and Friday so I either had to wait until today or take him to emergent care or the ER. I opted to wait- it's an ear infection and I'd rather not have my baby in a hospital with sick people.

Unfortunately, there was a back up at the doctor's office (apparently, an overload of ear infections) so we had to wait for an hour to be seen, even with an appointment. Let me tell you, hanging out with a one year old in a waiting room is not a good time. He was surrounded by other little boys, though. Of course, all of the other Moms with boys Billy's age appear to be pregnant. I can't even imagine showing and having a baby Billy's age. With the exhaustion that comes with pregnancy I don't know how they chase after toddlers.

Anyway, the doctor confirmed that the ear is still infected. On to Round 2 antibiotics.

By the time we got through with the doctor Billy was exhausted and went straight to his nap. Of course, the ear is really bothering him so he didn't sleep very long. This meant that he was GrumpyPants all afternoon.

Grandma stopped by for a little and we had some yogurt and he played well enough while she was here. He showed her some of his dance moves and tried to get her to play with Evil Airplane.

After she left he went downhill with the mood. Every little thing made him cry. He wanted to sit in my lap or lay in it and have me sing to him. If I got up, to say- let the dog in- he would cry. I tried to get him to nap again, but he pitched a fit in his crib. When he ran out of toys and blankets to toss out of the crib he ripped off his pants and threw them too. Just Grumpy, not GrumpyPants apparently.

But I know why he's so unhappy. It's not the ear. It's not that Daddy wasn't here. Nope. It's a tooth. A painful, bothersome, bottom molar that decided to arrive today. This makes number eleven. It explains all of the unhappiness, the lack of appetite, the trouble sleeping. I have heard that teething is more painful that anything a person will experience in adulthood. Yikes. I would be a GrumpyPants too.

I'm hoping that since the tooth is in and he's gotten some medicine in him for the ear that tomorrow will be a better day for him.

Cousin MoMo

Novermber 25, 2011 ~ Give Me an "M"

I would have posted some pictures from today, but I'm having an issue on the big computer. "M" isn't working. It's hard to write a Mommy blog without an "M". It's even harder to talk about cousin MoMo meeting Billy for the first time if I can't type "M". Cousin oo cae to eet Billy for the first tie today... yeah, no.

Billy has a new phrase that he just started using. Clearly, the progression from "Nein!" is to "oh, nein!" He uses it when he drops something. It's really cute, but I promise I'm not teaching him German. We have been listening to some German opera, but I haven't heard "nein" in the lyrics (not that I have a clue what they are saying). We did watch Raiders of the Lost Ark today, but the German he heard in that movie can't account for using "nein" over the past week.

He also has a new motion that he just started today. You know how you wipe your hands together when you're done with a task? That. Only, he seems to think it's a dance move. He presses the button on a musical toy, starts to wiggle and wipes his hands. It's really funny.

Speaking of dancing... for the first time today Billy danced on command. He loves the music Evil Airplane plays and I had it singing. So, I said, "Billy, can you dance? Can you show Mommy that you can dance?" He started to wiggle and turn around. I also noticed that he's picking up ballet (from me). He tried to do a pirouette today and I saw him trying to point his toes with his arms in Second. So funny. He gets his little toys singing and starts to dance. At one point today he had his arms over his head and was spinning around. Maybe I should sign him up for a ballet class... nah!

This afternoon Billy got to meet my cousin MoMo for the first time. She LOVES babies. I've been trying to get her to meet him since he was born, but she lives out of town and keeps a tight schedule. So, now that he's 14 months old, she finally got to meet him. He was very shy at first, but soon warmed up to all of her all-over-smooches. If only she lived in town I would usurp her for a babysitter. They were fast friends. Billy cried when she left- no really. He waved byebye and after she and her Mom drove away he cried. Poor little guy.

Sign Billy up for the Ravens roster. We have an inflatable football, and since the weather was so nice today, we took it out into the court. I would throw the ball to him. Then he would pick it up, and at my request he would run away from me. I would chase him and "tackle" him, meaning that I would scoop him up in a Mommy embrace with lots of kisses- almost like being tackled! Sometimes I would let him get away and then I would tell him that he scored a touchdown. He thought this was a ton of fun. Billy 14. Mommy 0. Well, I might have let him win...this time. He is only one, after all.

November 24, 2011 ~ Gobble, Gobble!

Billy started my day super early. He got me up before my work alarm, which is way too early for a holiday. But, poor fella, he has another ear infection. Back to the doctor when they open up again. Until then, I guess we'll be getting up early.

I needed to get the meal prep under way so I put Daddy in charge of watching Billy. The result of Daddy daycare?

Some how, in the twenty minutes of Daddy care, Billy managed to lose his pants, a sock and be put to work sweeping the floor. But the turkey made it into the oven and Billy was no worse for wear, so I guess it all worked out.

When Billy woke up after his nap Grandpop, Grammy (or Nana- still working on that name) and Alex were here. Billy had a quick bath and then ran around the house buck naked investigating who was here. Fortunately, he realized he was cold, so he let me put clothes on him. 

Turkey Time!

The family came over and we had a nice visit before dinner. Billy was very shy. For the energetic little thing that he is, he was in a very quiet mood. It's a lot to process, with the table all set and extra furniture in the living room and dining room to accommodate the meal and the people, and all of the people. He did start to get a little fussy so we appeased him with crackers. I think by the time dinner was served he had eaten his weight in crackers.

Billy liked everything that he ate and ate plenty of it. He got to try out his silver set, a gift from Grandpop (it was Grandpop's silver). He especially loved the turkey and the cranberry sauce- it is the best part!

By the time we served the pie Billy was rubbing his eyes and falling asleep on his tray. It was a long and tasty day for him. Looking forward to leftovers.

Happy Thanksgiving!