Long time no talk

There have obviously been lots of changes in the last month. I was very sad to have to turn in my NASA badge. My last day at work was October 2nd. I've been job-hunting and networking. So far, I've had two phone interviews from HR folks. The one job wasn't a good fit, but the other could be. Hopefully, I'll hear back from the hiring manager. Through my contacts I know I'm still in the running for another job that's an awesome fit, however, there is talk they may go with someone they were already considering before I applied. At the end of last week another job posting came up which would be a good fit. I applied. (fingers crossed)

The biggest thing with Little Bit lately is trying to get potty training. He just resists peeing on the potty at home. He won't tell us if he's pooped in his pull-ups either, even if we ask him directly. Last week we bought 10 pairs of cheap sweat pants and "big boy" underwear and put him in them except for nap or bedtime. He just held his pee as long as he could at daycare. By the end of the week, he was peeing in the potty all day, but had a poop accident in the afternoon. Still at home, he would just stand there looking at us and pee in his pants, so we had pee puddles on the floor and our rug. On Friday night and Saturday, he pooped in his pants another 3 times!!@ With the 4th pair of poopy underwear, DH and I were done. I put him in a pull-up at the end of the yesterday.

It seems he's just not ready to do this (at least at home) for whatever reason. We'll keep trying to send him to school in underwear, and talk up being a big boy and being able to move up to the 4-year old classroom once he's completely out of pull-ups. (Not having to buy pull-ups would certainly help our budget!)

On the lighter side of things, Little Bit dressed as Superman for Halloween. Too cute! He loved being a superhero! I bought butterfly wings to wear around while we took him trick-or-treating. DH bought some awesome real feather angel wings. Little Bit proudly told everyone that I was a butterfly and his dad was "an eagle".

I was going to write a post about the exciting things Little Bit is doing -- yesterday he learned how to trace his blocks and his hand really well. He also drew a very nice smiling face with representative legs and arms (an advanced drawing skill). The biggest thing happened earlier today. DH walked into his classroom at daycare to pick him up for the afternoon. Little Bit was playing with wooden letters by himself. That's when DH noticed that Little Bit had spelled out his nickname with the letters, all by himself!! I had shown him how to spell it the other week in writing; he remembered. I got a little teary-eyed when DH told me, because, that's my bayh-beee!!! He's only 3 years and 3 months old.

That was going to be my post, maybe going on about the excitement and awesome prospect of raising this gifted little boy. However, my manager pulled me into his office at the end of my work day today. Our departmental 2010 budget has been cut. I got the short straw. The 2010 fiscal year begins in less than 2 weeks at the beginning of October. They will try to find me another position on the contract, but if not...I'm out of a job. I feel like I've been sucker-punched. I'm the primary breadwinner right now. I don't even want to think about how much COBRA health care coverage will cost us if I'm unemployed in a few weeks.

Fabulous Friday

You have to check out this post from The Bloggess -- Tim Gunn, Iron Man, the Wienermobile, and a video of a cat taking a shower. What more could you ask for? The kitty in the video reminds me of our dearly departed kitty. He didn't take showers, but I sure do miss him sometimes.

Also, I want to have lunch with Tim Gunn! We could totally go shopping afterward with the $25,000 winnings.
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Last week, Little Bit was coloring a sheet with drawings of various farm animals. He started asking me what the animals were, like he was my teacher. As I answered correctly, he said, "Good," and wrote down a scribble like he was taking notes. After he had gone through all of the animals, he started going back over his scribbles, like he was adding up my score! He's only three, ya'll.

Politically Incorrect

Little Bit learns so much at daycare - songs, counting, ABCs, sharing, etc. Unfortunately, that learning includes things that we don't want him to learn. I'm beginning to see why some parents choose to homeschool. There are lots of good things about his daycare. The problem is one or two of the children in his class who act up. Several of the "lovely" things he has learned include:

1. pointing a stick-like object at me (or his dad) and saying, "You're dead. Ha ha ha ha." The laugh is a fake laugh that particularly grates on my nerves.

2. doing something he's not supposed to do (like yesterday, throwing a pillow directly at my face), then saying, "I was jus' kidding."

and, 3. in general, he's started getting an attitude sometimes where I get flash forwards of him as a teenager.

When I was young, I tested as "gifted" at a fairly young age. From fourth grade on through high school, I was in the separate gifted program classes. We moved at a faster pace and had many more hands-on and field trip activities. Maybe it's snobbery, but I was glad to not have to deal with the lowest common denominator in the regular classes who only wanted to cause trouble in class. DH and I and our pediatrician suspect that Little Bit will test as "gifted"; he's already show some signs. Part of me looks forward to getting him into the gifted programs where he will be surrounded by other bright, inquisitive children who want to learn.

Fabulous Friday

In honor of the premiere of "Project Runway" last night...

Three things

Three things important to me in parenting

1.) This one you've probably hear before. Pick your battles. Or, as we say around the avonlea household, Is this the hill you want to die on, soldier? I ask myself if whatever I want Little Bit to do (or not) is really that important? Does it matter if he eats his food one way or another, as long as it ends up inside his tummy and not on the floor? Then, why try to force him to do it my way? Does it matter if that item he wants gets "toddlerized"? No, then let him carry that advertising booklet around and color on it, or drop it on the floor. Related to this is...

2.) Respect Little Bit as a person. Yes, he's still a child, but if I can give him choices, if I can give him some say in his life, then he gets a little autonomy. He has his own likes and dislikes, and they can change. At one point, he was fine with us cutting up his dinner roll into bite-sized pieces, but one day, there were going to be tears if he didn't get a whole roll, unblemished. So I gave it to him, and laughed when he smooshed the whole thing against his mouth trying to get a bite. Sure, that's a trivial example, but there are lots of little choices he can make.

3.) Let him play! I do not want to overschedule him with a bunch of activities and lessons. First, he's only three. However, when he gets older, we'll sign him up for one or two things at a time, eventually working our way through different sports, scouting, martial arts, music, etc. so he can find out what he enjoys. For now, just playing is pretty darn good. I will not be pushing tutoring on Little Bit, like the people mentioned in this article, in order to prepare him for kindergarten.

[Play is] also a critical way that children develop language, express their creativity, expand their social skills, solve problems and generally learn about their world — all important abilities that will help them in kindergarten and well beyond.

-- Joan Almon, Executive Director of Alliance for Childhood

Big Boy

Me, speaking to Little Bit: Let's take off your sandals; they make your feet stink.
Little Bit: No, they don't. My poo-poo makes me stink.
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We took Little Bit for his three-year old checkup. The pediatrician says that he is still in the 75th percentile for height and weight. His vocabulary is good. She had him try to draw a few shapes that she drew first. He got the circle (a three-year old skill, she said) and the plus sign (a three and a half year old skill). He's not quite up to drawing a square yet (a five-year old skill), but he did get one corner on the shape he drew. Just in the last few months his coloring skills have grown. He no longer just colors with big swipes of color across the outlines on the page. He tries to color inside the lines and does a pretty good job of it.

When we told the pediatrician that he likes to "read" back his bedtime story books to us, she was impressed. She said that telling stories was closer to a five-year old skill. We need to video Little Bit "reading" The Cat in the Hat. It's hilarious. "You go 'way now t'ing One and Two. No here while Mommy away! You go 'way!! Please!"

Last week, he was reading a bedtime story back to me. The story had asked questions like, "Do you see the present with the big red bow?" Little Bit asked me the questions and when I answered correctly, he said, "Good, Mommy!" My little teacher. Then, he surprised me by coming up with his own new questions. Though, of course, he is still only three. "Can you find the red... with ladybug spots?" I pointed to the picture of a ladybug.

A first visit to the boardwalk

We took Little Bit for his first trip to Kemah Boardwalk last week. He was so excited when he saw the huge carousel and the train. We rode the carousel first, then the train around the boardwalk. No kiddie rides for us. We even rode the full-sized ferris wheel. He wasn't scared at all to be up so high.

Like his cousin, he is in the full-on "why?" stage.

"Why the wheel stop up here?"
"Why dat boat out there?"

We saw the stingray exhibit at Kemah. Little Bit was so excited and fascinated to see the huge stingrays and the colorful fish in the tanks. The stingray tank was set up so people could feed them and pet them. I was too chicken to do either. Little Bit laughed in surprise when one stingray came splashing out of the water at the edge of the tank. It saw us standing there and came looking for food.

"Why dat fish do dat?"
"Why...?"

At the end of the evening, we carried a very tired little boy, clinging to his new stuffed turtle (from the visitor store), to the car. The first thing he talked about the next morning was that he had gotten to ride the carousel, the train, and the ferris wheel the day before.

Blah, blah, blah

I haven't felt like posting lately, mostly because it seems like it would all be about the same thing -- how tired I am of being tired. While at least the hormonal roller coaster has smoothed out (though with monthly grumpiness), I still keep getting sinus infections. Little Bit has brought home two run-of-the-mill colds over the last month or so. I catch them, and they immediately turn into infections for me.

My regular sinus doc, Sinus Doc 1, wanted to refer me to a "specialist" specialist -- a sinus doc who sees all the unusual cases. The original "specialist", Sinus Doc 2, was out of the country until August. OK, I went and saw Sinus Doc 3, the head of the department and the doc who taught Sinus Doc 2. What a big fat waste of time that was. I had to drive down to the medical center (about an hour drive in traffic), then first talk to his nurse in detail about my history, then in detail to two of his residents, then finally he came in. His residents, and then he, kept asking me, "what's the worst symptom?" How about getting sinus infections all the effing time?!?j

"No, that's a diagnosis. What's the worst symptom?"

OK. Fine. PTHththththt!!

He looked into my sinuses with the scope (not even using the numbing spray, which I should have spoken up about). Owwww. He said that since I didn't have an infection at that moment, he couldn't tell anything, what was causing the infections to keep coming back. So, I'm supposed to go back when I have a sinus infection. We scheduled me for ~5 weeks after that appointment. I had a sinus infection last week, but could I move my appointment up? No, of course not. The next opening was only one week sooner than my original appointment. So, rather than suffer from the symptoms and mind-numbing exhaustion for another 2.5 weeks, I self-treated (as my regular sinus doc said I could) with my nebulized antibiotics.

Now, I actually get to hope I somehow manage to get another sinus infection at just the right time, not too many days before my appointment. Oh, joy.

I just feel like it never ends. The infections keep popping up. I can't get my head above water.

Sleep, perchance to dream

We have had some success on the sleeping/bed front -- within the last week, Little Bit has slept a few times all by himself in his own bed in his own room. The rest of the time he still slept in his bed, but, he has toddled into our room about 3 am and said sleepily to me, "Will you come sleep in my bed?" I stumbled down the hallway with him, settled him down, and slept next to him the rest of the night. It's a step in the right direction.

Getting him to bed has been getting harder and harder. He keeps trying things to stall. He wants one more story (on tv or a book). He wants some juice. He's hungry. Sometimes we can get him into his bed without too many tears. But once he dissolved into hysterics. He was so tired, so upset and crying hoarsely. Finally, I just picked him up in my arms and held him in a cradle hold close to my chest. I rocked him and made soothing sounds. Soon, he calmed, and I was able to lie down next to him.

He's been stuttering off and on again. The daycare teacher said it's very common for his age and that their thoughts are going much faster than their words/vocabulary can go. We just let him take his time when he's telling us something and not draw attention to it. It's hard not to feel a little concerned, though, wondering if it's the start of a problem.

We went to a 4th of July celebration at the park and got to spend time with DH's family. Little Bit and his cousin Bethany had a most excellent time dancing to the music of his Uncle. While we were there, I got to hold the little 3-month old baby girl of a friend of our niece. Oh, dear...those sweet little chubby legs, those cute, tiny toes, that little ruffly outfit...She was just so small. It made me remember when Little Bit was just born and how wonderful it was to hold him over my heart, with his little legs folded under him like a frog, small and compact. I had a dream within a few days of that where DH and I were discussing Do we really want a second child? How are we going to afford two in daycare? Do we really want to do this? Gulp.

However, even with those baby-induced ovary twinges (hey, quiet down there! Haven't you already been giving me enough trouble?!), I know that we're "one and done". While it would be awesome for Little Bit to have a little sister or brother to play with, having a sibling doesn't always mean you'll be close. My brother and I are worlds apart and have never been close. We're just too different in personality and have different interests.

There are also practical reasons to be "one and done" -- since DH is 15 years older than I am, he'll be nearing retirement when Little Bit is in high school. We'd like to be able to retire sometime, you know, before we die, and enjoy time together, and also still provide some college money for Little Bit.

I also selfishly enjoy being able to hand-off between me and DH, knowing DH is not outnumbered, so I can go for some 'retail therapy' or take a nap or read a book.

Ach-chooo!!

I finally got an allergy test done to see exactly what causes my almost year-round stuffy nose and sinus issues. Yep, I'm allergic to everything...OK, not really. However, out of 38 allergens tested, I'm allergic to 23 of them to varying degrees.

There's nothing quite as fun as getting stuck with 40 + small needles filled with various diluted allergens. You want to inject me with "Cockroach Mix"? Awesome. Oh, and two different kinds of dust mite allergens? Sign me up. My upper arm still has a cross-hatch pattern of red dots from the testing. It looks like I had a run-in with Pinhead.

Also? I now know more than I ever wanted to know about dust mites. And where they live. And how much of their "waste" adds to the weight of your pillows and mattress over the years. Just don't google it. Trust me. I wish I didn't know.

So, my list of allergies includes the ever popular dust mite and molds and several grass and tree pollens, as well as cat and dog. Not mice though. Or horse. So, you know, if I wanted a pet mouse, that would be ok. I'm allergic to Virginia Oak tree pollen, but not Eastern Sycamore. It seems very random to me. Why am I allergic to this tree or grass, but not that one?

Now, Allergen-Free Bedroom! is on. (Or as allergen-free as we can get it.) I need to get full mattress and pillow encasings to block the dust mite allergens. An air filtering unit for the bedroom would be wise. Just those things will probably cost about $200 to $300. We need to minimize dust collectors sitting around the bedroom, and dust, vacuum, and launder weekly*. Next, I will start allergy treatments, which are going to cost about $100 a month! If it improves my sinus situation though, it would be worth it. I hope.

*I almost forgot to add -- I now have a doctor's excuse for not cleaning. Heh heh heh. The literature says that an "allergy sufferer should avoid being home when cleaning is done, or wear a face mask". Sorry, DH, I have to go have a manicure while you clean. Heh heh heh.

Awesome...we're only at a heat index of 106, instead of the forecast 117

You know you live in Texas when...

You park farther away from the door just to get the spot that is shaded (even if that "shade" is just a few piddly leaves/branches).

Your city's forecast looks like this - Highs: upper 90s and Lows: upper 70s - for the next billion days, or until August, when it will get even hotter.

Even your three year old knows the score. "Let's go there, where it's nice and cool," he says, when talking about what to do next.

You love to look at the flowers in your garden...through the window, from your air-conditioned living room.

You ignore the weeds in said flower garden, because it's too damn hot to pull weeds.

You actually can watch the grass grow (it grows so fast), unless the grass is turning brown from no rain.

Short takes

We were discussing dinner. I asked Little Bit, "Are you going to eat a lot?"

He said, "No...a little a lot."

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DH and I were dropping Little Bit off at the drop-in daycare near our house this past Saturday. (Yay -- date time for mom and dad!) This place has a huge indoor play set that looks like a tree, with slides, climbing boards, tunnels, and bridges. Little Bit grew very excited when we said that he was going to that daycare for the afternoon. The daycare rules say children have to be over 3 years old to climb on the tree play set. Sometimes in the past, they have let Little Bit climb on it because even though he wasn't three yet, he was tall enough for a three year old. However, he remembered clearly his disappointment the last time when a daycare worker said he couldn't climb it because he wasn't old enough. He wanted to be sure that they knew he had a birthday, and that he is three now.

As we checked in at the daycare desk, Little Bit proclaimed to the woman there, "I older. I feel old."

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Little Bit has taken to declaring all the things he will be able to do when he is older. These things are quite varied. According to him, when he is bigger he will get to watch cartoon after cartoon on the tv. He'll be tall enough to touch the ceiling while standing on the top step of his bunk bed. This morning he commented on my dress (a dress he has oooh'ed over before and said was pretty). He said, "I be bigger, and I can wear that [points to my dress] and that [points to my cardigan] and that [points to my necklace]!"

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Now that the days are longer it has become more difficult to convince Little Bit that his bedtime is approaching. Some of the neighborhood kids were playing in the turn-around at the end of our street after dinner last week. Little Bit insisted on going to see them. DH took him. Little Bit had the best time playing with the "big kids" and the "big girls". They were throwing and kicking a ball and drawing on the street with chalk. The olders kids were great with Little Bit, including him in the fun. Little Bit wanted to keep playing and playing. DH finally had to physically carry Little Bit home as it was getting dark (and way past his bedtime).

The next morning, the very first thing Little Bit said as he got out of bed was, "The big kids getting up? We go play the big kids?"

Apparently, another thing he thinks he'll be able to do when he's older is play for as long as he wants. "I get bigger and play the big kids!"

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It's always fun to have your words thrown back at you, isn't it?

Me: (calling Little Bit to come here, please)
Little Bit: Just a minute!

DH: (joking around with Little Bit, but Little Bit is in one of his 'No!' moods)
LB: That's enough!

Big Boy Bed

Little Bit's "big boy" bed arrived at the end of last week. We got an awesome bedset from RoomsToGo. Ours doesn't have the desk on the end, but is otherwise like the picture. It's like having a clubhouse indoors. Little Bit kept saying, "Come see my new bed!" several times a day. He wants to sleep on the top bunk, but we have made it clear that he can only play there during the day; when he's older, he can sleep up there. He loves climbing up the steps and throwing himself down on the bed.
For now, he has to sleep on the bed on the floor. Over the weekend I showed him how to hang a blanket from the top bunk to make a tent. Little Bit thought that was the coolest thing ever!
"Come on, Mommy! Come inside the tent!....This is fun!"

Now that he has his big boy bed, we've begun the transition to him sleeping in his room in his bed by himself. While it's been awesome having a snuggly little boy snoring quietly with us many nights, he also can be a flopper. Somehow he'll end up with his feet on his dad and his head on me. Or he'll be completely flipped with his head at the foot of the bed. He sometimes cries out or talks in his sleep if he's having a dream.

Little Bit loves his new bed so much that he'll excitedly run to his room when it's bedtime. When I go to bed, I sleep next to him for now. I tried just going back to my bed, but he toddled into our room in the middle of the night. The next day it took some convincing to get him to go to his own bed, even when I reassured him that I would sleep next to him. I think he got scared when he woke up by himself and then had to walk through the shadowy house to find me.

Next, I may sleep on the floor of his room, all the while during the day talking up him sleeping in his room by himself, and that mommy and daddy will be just in the next room.

He's at the age where he talks about monsters - more in an abstract way and possibly feeling the idea out. He'll make up stories or pretend play. "Mommy!! There's a monster! I'll hit it!!" Sometimes he hits the monster or dinosaur; sometimes the dinosaur goes stomp!stomp!stomp! through our house. I have been telling him that no monsters are actually allowed in our house.

Only the first time of many that we'll hear these phrases

After being told that we needed change to get candy from the machine (25 cents for a small handful of M&Ms), Little Bit ran across the restaraunt, shouting...

"Daaadddyyyy! I need some monnnnney!!"

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We were waiting to turn left when a Saturn Skye pulled up in front of us. Little Bit piped up from the back seat of the car, with wonder in his voice...

"That's a nice car!"

(Only 3 years old, and he's already noticing cars!)

Happy Birthday, Little Bit!

Who knew three years ago such a small being could hold my heart so tightly? Your birth wasn't the way I "planned" it, but that was just the first parenthood lesson in being flexible. When your father placed you on my chest, wailing and red-faced, I said in wonder, "Hi, there, little one..." You stopped crying and just looked at me. You looked into my heart with those big blue eyes. You knew my voice; you knew me.

Now I look at your long legs, and they are already longer than your whole body was when you were born. I look at your hands which still seem small, but you are learning to build things and draw things and throw things (you've got a rocket arm). You keep us on our toes. You surprise us with your sly humor and your thoughtful sharing. We weather the storms of toddler hood together. Through it all, I'm so glad to be your mother.

A short post

One of our two outdoor cats likes to lie under our cars and also walk on the grass beside the driveway. We always try to watch out for him since he's taken to walking nearer than we'd like as we drive up. If he wants attention, he'll flop down onto the driveway showing his belly for pets. It finally happened. He was walking on the grass, when DH was backing out. Only then he was behind the car before DH knew it. Poor kitty seems to be in some pain (maybe some internal damage?), but no broken bones. We have to just wait and see. I hope he's ok, and that he's just used up one of his 9 lives.

Welcome home

I was away last week on travel for work. The morning I left I had to get up at "oh,god"-thirty in the morning to catch my flight. Later, when Little Bit woke, DH said he started playing with his toys. Then, Little Bit picked up his toy phone.

"I calling Mommy...Hello, Mommy!...I love you. Bye-Bye."

He said hello to me on the real phone later that day and told me he loved me, but the rest of my trip he refused to talk to me on the phone. I shouldn't take it too personally though. He does the same thing to his grandparents when he's watching cartoons.

I missed DH and Little Bit a lot. Little Bit asked about me everyday. Sometimes DH had to carry him around the house in the middle of the night to show him that Mommy wasn't hiding somewhere. Once he knew for sure I wasn't there, he let his dad settle him back to sleep.

Little Bit has the habit of repeating the last word or few words of most anything you tell him. He's repeating the words with a question in his voice. Maybe he picked it up from me. I repeat his words in a questioning voice when I'm making sure I understood (translated) his toddler-ese correctly. The repeating can be cute or annoying depending on how many nerves are left (i.e. "You're getting on my last nerve."). He also prefaces many of his statements with, "Hey, Mommy?" or "Hey, Daddy?" to make sure we are listening to what he's going to say.

DH relayed a variation of this occuring every day I was gone:

Where Mommy?
She went on the airplane, to see the rocket. She'll be back in threeeee days. (Hold up 3 fingers.)
Airplane?
Uh huh.
Rocket?
Yes. Remember, we watched it yesterday. It went "whoosh!" up into the sky!
Where rocket?
It's flying up in outer space. The mommies and daddies on it are working on a satellite. They'll be done soon, and will come back down and go home to their houses.
Flying?
Yep.
Home?
That's right.

When I got home from my business trip Friday afternoon, I found a sick little boy. DH had been watching over him all day. He had a virus and hadn't been able to keep anything down. He lay on the couch watching cartoons. I sat next to him where he could put his feet on me, and I could reach over to pat him comfortingly. I was telling DH about my trip, when Little Bit piped up.

"Hey, Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Stop talking." (Said in the sweetest little boy voice you can imagine)

DH and I fell over laughing. Little Bit was trying to watch his cartoons, and I was talking! Never mind that I'd just returned from being gone all week. I was interrupting his cartoons.

Little Bit had a few crackers and some water before bedtime and was able to keep them down. He woke later in the middle of the night asking for milk. I (silly mommy) gave it to him. He promptly gave it back all over our bed where he was sleeping between DH and I. Welcome home and happy birthday to me. (Yep, it was my birthday this last Saturday. Little Bit's is next week.) Thankfully, Little Bit woke up Saturday morning his usual bright eyed self.

Medical bills could give me night terrors

Little Bit woke screaming last night. We rushed into the room to find him sitting upright in the middle of the bed. He wasn't fully awake and continued to scream, cry, or say, "No!" every now and then. I got him to lie down, snuggled up to him, and tried to comfort him. About 15-20 minutes later, he was finally breathing deeper and obviously in a deeper sleep. My first thought was night terrors. Screaming, sweating, thrashing around, impossible to wake up - yep. Supposedly night terrors aren't remembered the next day. He was his usual bright and happy self this morning.

Medical bills and statements from my insurance for the two ER visits this year have been trickling in. Now we're really seeing the disadvantage of working for a small company versus a big company. My insurance coverage is nowhere as good as it was at my previous job. Based on what my current insurance paid and the bills from the doctors, hospital, technicians, etc, we owe $2000+ for two ER visits! Compare this to the coverage at my previous job: Little Bit spent two and a half weeks in the NICU. We paid $0, even though the total bill for all the NICU costs (room, nurses, doctors, labs, xrays, specialists, etc) and my labor/delivery was about a quarter of a million dollars. Again, we paid zero dollars. My insurance at the time, with the large company I worked for, covered it all.

Daycare has a program that will pay up to $5000 towards the medical bills not covered by personal insurance when a child is hurt in their care. So at least we won't have to try to squeeze $2000+ out of thin air.

The whole "in-network" "out-of-network" thing is a crock, too. The first hospital ER we went to was "out-of-network", so not very much insurance coverage. OK. Lesson learned. We went to a different hospital ER for the second incident. My insurance statements say that the hospital was "in-network", so the only thing to worry about was my deductible. However, the doctor who treated Little Bit's arm at the in-network hospital ER is considered "out-of-network". WTF!? That means we owe the ER doc close to $800. That's bulls---!!!

He's just a little feller

Scene: Dropping Little Bit off at daycare

DH says, "Son, you need to leave your toys in the car. (points to front door of daycare) Miss Donna* put up a sign that says everyone has to leave their toys at home."

Little Bit considers this.
"Let's pretend it says 'yes'!"

DH quickly says, "OK. Then we'll pretend we took the toys inside."

Little Bit considers this...hrmmmm...then, he leaves his toys in the car.

*We live in the South, ya'll. All the daycare teachers are addressed as Miss Donna, Miss Kate, etc. Little Bit is also taught to say "Yes, ma'am" or "Yes, sir" as appropriate.

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I'm way behind on reading/commenting on the usual blogs I read, and of course I haven't posted much lately. There's only so much "free" time in the day; lately I've been reading personal finance blogs and getting lots of good ideas about being frugal and tricks to keep on budget, and so on. Either that or trying to catch up on the DVR'ed shows recorded while we watch the evening cartoons with Little Bit.

Little Bit is staying up later than he probably should. We let him watch his favorite cartoons on Noggin, which end at 8pm. By the time we get him to sleep, it can be past 8:30pm. That doesn't leave much evening. Last night we actually got him into bed and asleep by 7:30pm. He had quite a day though. He woke up feeling out of sorts, wanting to gather all his toys and things around himself on the couch. He really didn't want to go to daycare; he seemed like he might have a bit of a bug. So, he got to stay home with DH for some extra attention. When he felt better in the afternoon, they played outside for awhile. Unfortunately, Little Bit got really overheated very quickly. He has my fair skin, but he also has a high normal body temperature, and his face broke out in a heat rash.

This morning, Little Bit broke my heart protesting getting dressed to go to daycare. He kept crying for me to come hold him, while DH tried to put on a fresh pull-up.

Little Bit yelled, "No pull-up! I baby!"

:-( It broke my heart. He's been feeling insecure I think. I would imagine it's rough trying to dance along that line between wanting to get out and explore and wanting to be held close and safe by mom and dad. In another 10 years or so, we'll get to go through his puberty. Wheeeeee.

DH and I are thinking about taking Little Bit out of daycare part-time. That way he can get more one-on-one attention from his dad. Socialization is good, but he's only almost three. He's just a little feller.

These are not the droids you're looking for

One advantage to having a one story house is that during a very rainy day, we can still play kickity-kick ball up and down the long hallway down the middle of the house. Little Bit loves to kick and throw the ball. We have to remind him to stay in the hallway with the ball. The hallway doesn't have lamps or expensive stereo equipment to knock over. Little Bit said over the weekend that he wanted to play basketball. So, DH held his arms out in front of him in a hoop shape.

After a few tries, where the ball went flying up and backwards over his head, Little Bit figured out the easy way. He stepped forward and threw the ball up through the "hoop". I love how clever he is.

Daycare actually sent home a note last week saying that we should stop using diapers at all and just go to pull-ups or training pants. Also, to bring lots of extra clothes to school in case of accidents. I guess they really want Little Bit to get all the way potty trained. However, he still won't tell us when he has to go potty. He doesn't seem to care if he's got a dirty diaper. We can smell it, but he just keeps playing and will even deny it if you ask him if he poo-poo'ed. We put him in only pull-ups over the weekend, and we took him to the potty, but he never did tell us before he had to go, and he didn't even go when we sat him on the potty. (sigh)

Little Bit seems to be entering the "threes". He wants to do things himself. He wants things done a certain way. If they aren't, he gets so mad! He'll cry and almost grind his teeth back and forth in frustration. He enters the "No zone", where he will only answer no to any question. Any hope for cooperation is out the window.

I'm doing ok. I think the new prescription is helping with my hormone imbalance, but I still had some grouchy feelings during my regular PMS weeks. Hopefully after a few more months that will even out as well. I still feeling run down and think I still have a lingering sinus infection, because I don't always do the antibiotic treatment twice a day like I'm supposed to. My doc has me on the nebulized antibiotics still and wants me to wean off them slowly. I need to get to feeling better, so I can actually have the energy to start dancing/exercising regularly. I feel so blah about being so out of shape. I used to exercise regularly with dance, so it was fun and not "exercise". Now I'm so out of shape that the last time I got out a dance DVD a number of weeks ago, I was panting like crazy and could barely walk the next day. I didn't even complete the whole workout. Blech.

Purple -- One day all babies will be born healthy

My heart and eyes are full of tears for this family. Their sweet, beautiful, little 17 month old girl passed away a few days ago. She was born 11 weeks premature in November of 2007. Her parents are requesting donations be made to the March of Dimes in memory of Madeline Alice Spohr in lieu of flowers. They had been planning to march in the upcoming March of Dimes walk with Maddie. The outpouring of love from the blog world is wonderful to see -- the donations for their March of Dimes walk team has gone from less than a few thousand to $21,000+ in the last few days.

While my little guy wasn't premature, he spent 2 weeks in the NICU for respiratory failure when he was only 2.5 weeks old. The March of Dimes cause is close to my heart as well.

Hug your little ones a little tighter tonight.

He's such a sweetheart

Little Bit wanted to wear his sling for a few days, even though his arm was better. That was fine. It reminded them at daycare to be extra careful. DH talked with the daycare director and the teacher responsible. The teacher was just crying and so sorry it had happened. She said that she had taken hold of his hand since he had been hitting other kids. He threw himself down on the ground because he didn't want his hand held. She held on instead of letting go, and that's when his arm got pulled. She didn't realize it had happened. I know it was an accident, but I'm still mad it happened. However, Little Bit isn't holding a grudge. DH told me that as they were leaving daycare on Friday that Little Bit told that teacher, "Bye! I love you!"

I feel so bad that his self-esteem took such a beating last week though. The whole thing about being consolidated in with the "babies" after getting his arm hurt really kicked his feet out from under him. He said several times over the weekend, "I baby. I no big kid," even though he'd been so proud to be in the big kid class last Monday. He really needed extra TLC from us over the weekend.

Pissed off

I am so, so pissed right now at daycare. At one of the teachers there. Little Bit was favoring his left arm, holding it close to his body in his right hand. When we tried to examine it, he cried and said it hurt. After asking him about it, we found out that apparently he had been climbing (something, not sure what) yesterday, when Miss So-and-So grabbed his arm and hurt him. Several bruises have appeared on that arm. "I in trouble....I in baby's room." The sad thing is, since they consolidated the Twos and Threes by the end of the day as kids left, Little Bit felt he was being punished by going back to the "baby's room." He said, "I no big kid. I baby." Oh, man, if that woman said something like that to him...It. is. on. As it is, she fu@#$ing grabbed my baby roughly enough to at least sprain his wrist and leave bruises.

DH is at the ER with Little Bit now to get Little Bit's wrist/arm looked at and x-rayed. I have to be here at work instead of with my baby. Little Bit is really being a trooper about his arm. You can tell it really hurts if it is moved. He didn't want to move his left hand or arm at all. He said this morning, "I go doctor for my boo-boo. No go school."

I'll update later when I hear what the doctor says.

Update: The doctor at the ER confirmed that it was "nursemaid's elbow, a dislocation of the elbow caused by a jerking motion on the child's arm. He said it's the most common pediatric complaint because the ligaments are still loose in toddlers. The doctor took some scans just in case, but saw nothing unusual. He popped the elbow back into place and gave Little Bit a sling. I met DH and Little Bit at the local bagel shop so I could see my baby and see he was ok. Between arriving at the bagel shop and staying long enough to eat, Little Bit's arm was obviously feeling much better. He had straightened the arm out so that the sling has slipped partially off, and he was using it.

Wordless Wednesday: Is it ironic to buy 3 (used) books about clutter clearing?

Simplifying

Over the last few months, I've been thinking about and reading about several topics that feel interconnected to me -- decluttering my life/my possessions and taking control of finances. I want to pass on good habits to Little Bit. I want him to have the things he needs, but to also know that "things" aren't the goal. I want to have saving, investing, and living well below your means to be a part of our lives.

I have been a bit of a pack rat for awhile, so it's going to take some time and work to declutter. Things that can stay have to be useful, beautiful, or loved. Those criteria will help me decide what to keep or what to get rid of. I know that there are some things that I won't be able to part with yet, even though they aren't used. It will be an ongoing process. It only took me about 10 years to get rid of some notebooks full of class notes from college!

As part of keeping the clutter out of our house, we can decide not to buy frivolous things and not to buy on impulse. That will help with the financial goals as well. We have a list of purchases that we are budgeting for in the next 4-6 months. A little fun money every month for each of us will be a good idea, too. That way I can pick up a few books at Half Price Books without feeling guilty.

I started decluttering in my closet this past weekend. Everything that I do not love went into the charity donation box. Things I haven't worn in months (or even years!) went into the box. I did keep a few things that don't currently fit me, but I'm going to limit how many I keep. I still need to drop the box off at Goodwill, but I already feel a little lighter for having let go of those clothes.

The front room which we use for a music room and Little Bit's playroom works so well right now. There isn't too much stuff for the room, and everything has a place. We have Little Bit play "pick up!" often, so it doesn't get out of control.

Updated: Monday, Monday

Starting a few weeks ago, in the middle of the evening, for no reason that we could discern, Little Bit started stuttering his words. He gets moved around a lot during the day at daycare between different rooms. He's bored with the Twos, but not fully potty trained so he could be with the Threes all day. When the Twos teacher is late getting to work, he ends up in a third classroom. (Yes, DH is going to talk to the center director about all the switching classrooms during a day.) DH and I wonder that he's feeling stressed and unsure. I hope that other kids don't point out the stuttering. We don't. We just patiently wait for him to say his thought. Sometimes he stutters more than other times, and not every sentence is stuttered.

The pediatrician said that his child did the same thing at Little Bit's age and to just not make a big deal out of it, that he would grow out of the shyness that is probably behind it. He sounds so shy when he stutters out his sentences and questions. It breaks my heart; it's so sweet sounding.

My little boy is going to be three years old in just over two months. I can't believe it. Where did my little baby go?!

Updated: Yesterday, they officially moved Little Bit up to the Three's room. Little Bit was so happy. He told us very proudly, "I with the big kids now!" How cute - the three-year olds are the "big kids".

"I not in baby's room."

He didn't stutter last night, and he seemed more happy in general. We'll continue working on the potty training.

"Hello, Kitty!"

(what Little Bit said to our cat as he looked at it upside down)

He's already trying to negotiate out of bedtime

Yesterday evening was so nice outside that we sat on the back patio for awhile after eating. Little Bit was sitting on the ground playing with his cars, while DH and I sat on the outdoor loveseat. When it was time to think about going inside, DH said to Little Bit, "It's time to go inside, and you can watch some tv, have some nah-nah, and then go to bed." (Nah-nah is nursing.)

Little Bit said, "No! TV...nah-nah...play!"

DH explained again, emphasizing each word by touching a different spot on his leg. "Play. TV. Nah-nah. Bed." Then I joined in, smiling as we copied the whole Dora-the-Explorer-repeat-three-times-thing.

Little Bit smiled and repeated with us, except for the bed part. "No bed!" Then he wanted to say it all by himself. He copied his dad by touching a different spot on his leg with each word. "Play....What next? (TV) TV....What next? (Nah-nah) Nah-nah...What next? (Bed) No! No bed!"

Then, he switched legs to see if he could get a different answer from us by pointing at his other leg!

(Oh, yeah, you see that band-aid on his forehead above? He hit his head again at daycare, in the same spot on his forehead. This time he hit it while on the slide outside, instead of on a bookcase inside. *sigh* It's been about six weeks since the original wound happened, but you could still see a pink scar there, even before he cut it enough to bleed again the other day.)
----

Later, as we sat on the couch together inside, Little Bit made some observation. I don't remember what it was, but I commented proudly to DH, "He's so smart!"

Little Bit said, "I smart!" I nodded. Then, shaking his head, Little Bit said sadly, "Maryann not smart." D'oh! I laughed at the unexpected observation, even though I knew I shouldn't laugh. (Maryann is a made-up name for the real name of a girl in his daycare class.) We'll have to make sure to teach him to keep such observations to himself when he's not at home, or he could hurt somebody's feelings or get in a fight!

I know I've said it before (and I am his mom, so it may seem like bias), but he is *so* smart. He has a very big vocabulary for his age and picks up on words and concepts quickly. As it is, the daycare teachers have told us that he gets bored in the 2-year old class where he is, so he'll start hitting the other kids or throwing toys, etc. He has much more fun in the 3-year old class. They let him stay with the 3's part of the day, but they won't let him transfer over until he's completely potty trained. I guess our laid-back attitude to potty training needs to change so he can move up.

The cranky saga continues

I told my manager yesterday that I had a medical diagnosis for what's been going on - PMDD. At first when I said "PMDD", he got the hint of a smile, like maybe he thought I was kidding. I continued on seriously, that the difficulty concentrating, the migraines, the debilitating symptoms every month were all symptoms. Looking back, it really pisses me off that maybe he at first thought I was joking. Like, ha-hah, I've got really bad PMS. No, it's not a fucking joke. Has your wife gone through menopause? Then you should effing know what hormone imbalances can do to someone.

The other thing that pisses me off is that yesterday he suggested we look into finding me another position to rotate into, since I'm on our lead's "list". What the hell?! We just finally got an intermediary on our side of things to help "translate" what the lead wants. This intermediary has been a huge, huge help the last few weeks. The intermediary told me that he thought any reassignment for me was on hold, pending how things work with him interfacing for us and translating. I'm pissed that it sounds like my manager is no longer in my corner. At least, the intermediary is in my corner. Maybe he can convince the lead to wait and see how things go. I don't know what will happen. I just need to continue to produce.

Yesterday afternoon, I was overwhelmed with a flood of despair. It all seemed to be too much, too big. I wanted to go home and curl up on my bed, in a dark room, and hug a stuffed animal, and try to sleep. To disappear. But I don't have the "luxury" of doing that right now. So, I concentrated on one thing at a time -- open the file I needed to work on, start copying and pasting info from another file. One thing at a time. It worked. I was able to get a decent amount of work done. And I felt a bit better this morning, having gotten some work done.

I hope it helps (I'm sure DH does, too)

This last week I've been working like crazy to get a big deliverable done by yesterday afternoon. I was working on the weekend, 10+ hour days Monday and Tuesday, barely taking time for lunch, but I did it! I did it without flipping off my boss or yelling - that's a pretty good accomplishment right there - or anything. Which I really wanted to do once or twice when he kept going on and on about something I'd already said wasn't finished. Arrrrrghghghg!!

(Any guys reading this might want to wander away now because I'm going to talk about 'female stuff' now.)

Yep, I got my project done even while I was wanting to tell most everyone to eff off and leave me the eff alone for a minute, because the Prehistoric Monster Syndrome was rearing it's flaming, roaring head. You know when the sound of someone's breathing annoys you? Yeah, that's what I was dealing with. Just for kicks, the hormones would also randomly make the bottom drop out from under me. Literally, walking from the bedroom to our kitchen and suddenly I would just feel too depressed to breathe. Not that I do that anyway. [Score extra geek points if you know what I'm referring to! Or just follow the link...]

Sure, those feelings could just be from the stress of being under a microscope and wondering if I was going to get written up or fired for poor job performance, but, three things make me think this has been PMS a week "early" this month.
1.) Last month, it was a week early, so it could actually be time for it.
2.) I had the feeling this week of being in a brain fog and having to struggle with focus.
3.) Today, like a switch, I'm much clearer.

Anyway, I saw my Doc today. He said that he wouldn't think perimenopause, but he diagnosed PMDD. That's right. No pansy-ass regular Prehistoric Monster Syndrome for me. My hormones have decided to regularly firebomb the hell out of my inner balance. Making just about every encounter that particular week of the month a running internal dialogue of irritation about the stupidity of everything.

P.M.D.D. -- Psychotic Mood from Dealing with iDiots. Whadya think?

No matter what the label is -- The treatment goal is the same. Get those damned hormones under control!

The Doc gave me a sample of one of the brands of continuous birth control pills, the kind where you only get 4 periods a year. Yee-hah!

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

Today's words are "Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)" and "perimenopause". Can you say "PMDD" and "suck it up, you're a hormonal mess"? I knew you could. I've complained on here before about my worsening PMS symptoms. The symptoms that have been severe enough to affect my work at my job. Last week and this week, I had two terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days at work. I was given two 'shape-up' talks by management -- about my number of sick days, about my lack of focus, etc, etc. I started crying in the meeting with my direct supervisor. Gads, I hate that. It's embarrassing and makes me angry. At least my supervisor said that the situation wasn't unsalvagable. I have a chance to turn it around.

After that rude wake-up call/slap in the face, I started thinking about my symptoms, google'ing, and looking at the calendar. "In PMDD, mood symptoms are more severe and often overshadow physical symptoms. The emotional disturbances are significant enough to cause problems with daily life." [emphasis mine] and "Emotional symptoms include feelings of sadness, hopelessness, anxiety, irritability and sensitivity, anger, being overwhelmed, and the need to withdraw from others."

I had recently told a friend that the emotional symptoms are very marked right before my period, then they go away. It's like a switch -- I wake up one morning, after days and days of looking at things through a haze of irritation, and the haze is gone. I know that my period will start later that same day.

While reading about PMDD, I came across references to worsening PMS or PMDD being associated with perimenopause. 'What is that' you may ask? It's the 10-15 years before menopause. Based on my mom's history, I had figured out that I would likely start perimenopause in my late 30's. I'm soon to be 37. Let's take a look at the symptoms of perimenopase, shall we?

» Hot flashes - check, night sweats
» Sleep disorders such as insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, waking up frequently, or restless sleep, leading to fatigue - check
» Mood swings, irritability, depression, anxiety, or nervousness - check
» Decreased libido
» Menstrual cycle changes, including heavier periods, uterine fibroids, spotting between periods, or skipped cycles, as well as worsening PMS (premenstrual syndrome) or PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) - check
» Fuzzy thinking, decreased or impaired memory and attention - check
» Increased food cravings, stubborn weight gain, insulin resistance, and difficulty controlling blood sugar
» Digestive problems, such as irritable bowel, bloating, or » acid reflux
» Heart arrhythmia, chest pain, palpitations
» Joint and muscle symptoms, including inflammation, stiffness or pain
» Dizziness, decreased balance,
» headaches or menstrual migraines - check

Well, shiiii-at. I may not be crazy after all. Well, that is to say, the hormones may be what are making me crazy. One website mentioned that the symptoms of fuzzy thinking and inability to multitask can be significant. I've just found out recently that I've missed some important details in meetings due to my brain fog. Those meetings? Yeah, they were in prime PMS time. Dude, I'm smart; I have advanced degrees. But these hormone shifts are kicking my mental butt. I've joked with DH about my 'hot flashes', but I just figured that they were just from the hormones of still breastfeeding (like feeling hot during pregnancy). Maybe they really have been bona-fide hot flashes.

Now I just need to get with my Doc and figure out how to get my hormones on an even keel. Any lurkers who have some experience or advice?

Short takes

His told his first 'Knock, Knock' joke last week --

Little Bit: Knock, knock!
DH and me: Who's there?
Little Bit: Me!! *laugh*

-------
On the car ride home from dinner, after a discussion between DH and I of the fact that there weren't any napkins in his car to wipe the chocolate off Little Bit's fingers...

Little Bit: I need go store!
Me: What do you need at the store?
Little Bit: Na'kins!

-------
Little Bit had a throw-down tantrum after we got home because he didn't get to close the door all by himself. (Ah, the fun of living with a toddler.) He was mad at his Daddy for not letting him. Little Bit insisted that I take his shoes off, not Daddy. He insisted that I turn on the tv for him, not Daddy.

He snuggled up to me and said, "Mommy my friend. You no my friend, Daddy."

Later, I gave Little Bit some "stars"/cereal puffs. He ate them all while I was in the other room.

"More stars, Daddy."

"Well, if I'm not your friend, I don't know if I should give you more stars..."

Little Bit said, "I wuv my friends. You my friend, Daddy."

DH gave him more stars. As Little Bit ate, DH said, "I love you, son. You're my friend."

Little Bit said, "You no my friend. I wuv Mommy!"

What a clever little stinker!

I Feel Pretty, Oh, So Pretty

Like the new look? It's purrdy. The new colors make me smile. That's a good thing. So is PMSBuddy. (You're welcome, DH.) I was actually thinking of setting up an MS Outlook reminder in my calendar to email DH every month. If I can't even remember it, he shouldn't be expected to either. I'll be grumping around and feeling like I want to tell everyone to just leave me the F- alone. I feel like a three year old -- I don' wanna go work. I don' wanna do chores. {stomps feet} I'll look at the calendar, count back the weeks, and the light dawns. Hormone-Roller-Coaster-R-Us. Welcome to the funhouse.

It's usually a good thing if Little Bit is not riding in the car with me while the Prehistoric Monster rages.

"Goddammit! That motherfucker cut me off. Bitch! MuhTHER FucKER!!!" Etc. etc. His daycare teachers might raise their eyebrows about the new vocabulary he was using.

Seriously? I would like to dispute whatever assrabbit signed me back up for this. It's just been getting worse and worse since my monthly cycle started back almost a year ago, after several years of blissful pregnancy- and lactational-induced reprieve.

PMS sucks. I need better hormones or drugs or something.
----------

I picked Little Bit up from daycare yesterday. At a stoplight, I read the notes on his daily report.

"So, you hit and pushed your friends today at school?" I asked him.

He said, "Yeah. I hit Becky. I wanted blocks...green block."

Well, he did tell the truth. He's about three months away from being 3 years old, and it still amazes me how you can have a conversation with Little Bit now. Sure, we're not discussing meta-narratives in his Elmo books. We should start with "Go, Dog. Go!" I think.

Even with his tempermental streak, apparently Little Bit is rocking the 2's room. One of the other moms reported that all her little girl talks about outside of school is Little Bit. The mom thinks it's cute. The dad does not; it brings out his 'threatening the 17-year old date of your sweet, innocent 16-year old daughter' side.

A Morning in the Life

Every night before bed I think, "Tomorrow I will get up early. It'll be great! I won't have to rush to get ready, and I'll get to work early." The reality is that I'm just not a morning person. I love my sleep. Alarm clocks are not my friend. So, I wake up late, realizing that I forgot to turn on the evil alarm clock. I set Little Bit up in front of tv watching his favorite cartoons. I hurry through a shower, then find some khakis and one of my go-to tops to throw on. On the days when DH can take Little Bit to daycare, I don't end up quite so late to work, but I'm still late. The flextime excuse can only take you so far. When I have drop off Little Bit, there's an extra 30-45 minutes tacked onto my morning routine. First, I have to bargain with Little Bit to change his diaper. "If you want to keep watching cartoons, then we need to change your diaper." Next, I suggest a shirt for the day. If he insists on wearing his pajama shirt to daycare, oh, well. He's only two and a half. Try to find some clean pants for him. Are they in the dryer? Darn, forgot to run that load last night. OK, yesterday's jeans aren't too bad. Dust them off and wrestle them onto the boy. If Little Bit protests turning off the tv in order to leave, I offer him a job to do. He's still in that 'wants to help' stage, so I milk it for all it's worth encourage him. Would you like to feed the kitty cats? Or, would you like to carry my coffee cup? (Don't worry...it's empty. I tank up with coffee at the bagel shop on my way to work.) I drop Little Bit off at daycare. All the little girls (and the few boys) in his class crowd around him when we come into the room. He's already very popular (lord, help me when he's a teenager). They want to see what he's brought with him (sometimes he insists on bringing a stuffed animal). The classroom teacher asks if he's had any breakfast yet. The answer is usually no. I can feel the stink-eye she is giving me, while she's thinking, "You're bringing that boy in here this late and he *still* hasn't had breakfast?" Mommy FAIL. They now know to either save back a breakfast for him or plan to get him some cereal when he arrives. Oh, yeah, sometimes his hair doesn't even get combed before he gets dropped off. He *hates* to have his hair combed; it's not always a battle I want to fight. So, the cowlick sticking up in the back just adds to the overall pajama top, slightly dirty jeans look. He's going for a grunge vibe. Yeah, that's it. After a stop for bagel and coffee to go, I slink into work, hoping that it hasn't been noticed that I'm late. It is noticed on the mornings I slink into our weekly staff meeting after it's started. The topic -- how it's now expected for us to be in at 8am. No more lenient flextime. Awesome.

On being tired, happy diapers, and no pants

Sorry I haven't been posting much the last few weeks, ya'll. I've just been alternatively feeling depressed, hormonal, bitchy, tired, sick, sleepy, grumpy and doc. (Don't tell DH about me feeling Sleepy, Grumpy, and Doc; he doesn't know.) There have been many cute things Little Bit has said or done that I think, I should put that on the blog, but then I just don't get around to it. I'm still trying to shake off the effects of the latest Virus de Daycare.

Sometimes, Little Bit does not want us to change his dirty diaper. He'll retreat to the other side of the coffee table, playing keep away, and say, "No! This one [meaning the diaper] happy!"

They are still trying to get Little Bit to use the potty at school. He's gone in it less than a handful of times. Yet the other day when they ran out of pull-ups for him, they actually put him in just underwear and pants. So, of course he ended up peeing on himself. He came home wearing a shirt, a diaper, no pants, and shoes and socks wet with pee. Nice. Great job putting a kid who's nowhere near potty-trained in underwear.

Though I will say that the teachers and the daycare director do care about Little Bit and the other kids a lot. On Tuesday, his first day back after his trip to the ER for his cut forehead, the teachers were very concerned and said they'd give him lots of attention and love. The center director saw me as I was leaving. After we chatted about what the ER doc had said, she said, "Let me go see my baby", meaning Little Bit, and hurried off to see him. That was sweet.

We went to the ER today; how was your Monday?

I had dropped Little Bit off at daycare this morning, then came home to crawl back into bed. DH and I have the flu/bug that Little Bit had last week, and we feel awful. Not even half an hour had passed when daycare called. Little Bit had had an accident. He was running across the room and fell into the edge of a low bookcase cabinet. The daycare director said she thought he might need stitches. Eeeep!

Our brave little guy was subdued when we got there to pick him up. He had only cried briefly when the center director called me (probably because he knew she was talking to me). The gash on his forehead was quite deep.

We drove him to the ER. I sat in the backseat next to him for comfort. On the way there, he threw up all over himself. Note to self - next time bring both a clean shirt and clean pants in case of emergency.

No stitches this time. The doc cleaned the gash (traumatic for both Little Bit and me because he cried during it), then used dermabond to seal the edges. They did a CAT scan to double check there wasn't anything else to be concerned about.

Little Bit and I had a nap together this afternoon. He's now running up and down the hallway, giving me gray hairs as I worry about him falling and opening up the wound again. How do you get an active toddler to stop running without duct taping him to a chair?

Obama busts a move (Updated with lunar rover at the parade)

How cool is our new prez?

**********
Also, because I'm a NASA geek....

Obamania!

Counting down to the inauguration...

Did you see this?

Ikea is "sending a presidential-style limousine around town with Ikea furniture and boxes strapped to the roof in a cross between “Hail to the Chief” and “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

That's awesome and funny.

On a different note, what a sweet little peek at the Obamas in 1996, before kids and politics.

He may have a future in stand-up

For today's story, first a little background -- We had pizza last night; it's one of Little Bit's favorites. DH cut Little Bit's pizza into bites for him after he asked DH to do it. As Little Bit was trying to stuff a large piece into his mouth, DH said, "That's a big bite. Here, let me cut that smaller for you." As he ate, Little Bit commented on the size of the bites, "Little bite!" or "Big Bite!"

Now, on to the story -- This morning, Little Bit asked for "nah-nah". He said, "A little nah-nah, please." I got situated with him on my lap. Then, with a big smile, he said, "Big bite!" and opened his mouth wide and lunged in like a dinosaur to latch on.

Thankfully, he was only playing and no nah-nahs were hurt in the making of this story. He knows that any biting for real is right out.

He's got a funny sense of humor though. A few times, when we are situated for nah-nah, he will raise his arms, ask, "Ready?" like he's about to throw a ball, then go garumph in to latch on. I made the mistake of laughing the first time he tried it.

**************

DH and I got Little Bit's playroom (which also doubles as the music room) cleaned up and organized. I took pictures because who knows when it will look this way again.


Because I also finally downloaded the pics on my phone, here's some more pictures. I was trying to take a pic of the pack n play to put up on ebay. Our little hambone saw that I was taking pics, so he raced over and asked, "Pictures me? pictures me? Cheeeeeeeeeese!"

PfM's Anatomy

And now for the medical update from Chez PfM...Little Bit has finally gotten some relief from his awful diaper rash. My HR got our insurance to pay for an early refill on the prescription diaper rash cream. Our homemade remedy was keeping the rash from getting much worse, but it wasn't going away. With the cream and with the diarrhea finally going away, he can sit on his bottom again! Poor little guy -- he had been standing all the time. He told us that his bottom is happy now!

As for me, I got something for Christmas that I really did not want. A sinus infection. Another sinus infection. Arrrrggggghhhhh!!! My parents wanted to know why the sinus surgery hadn't worked and had I complained to the doc? I told them that all the forms you sign for surgery say clearly that the surgery does not guarantee the sinus infection won't come back again. The doc never promised that.

I saw the sinus doc last week. He just shook his head and said that it was the worst of the worst day -- his worst ear case was there, too, for an appointment, and I was his worst sinus case. Great. I'd rather be singled out for something a little more positive, thanks. He suggested that I need to go back on the nebulized antibiotics, maybe indefinitely, but at least for a few months. I had guessed as much, since the slightest thing seems to cause my sinuses to get infected (I had some sniffles a few weeks ago).

I was so tired of using the nebulizer, but at least I got a little break. If it keeps me from having sinus migraines everyday and from having no energy due to the infections, then it's worth it, I suppose.

*****

Oh, yeah, I discovered that our Cable on Demand has several of Little Bit's favorite Noggin and Nickelodeon shows for viewing anytime. Plus, you can watch some episodes online. Woo-hoo! I don't have to gouge out my eyes from seeing the same few episodes over and over again on our broken/non-recording DVR. If, in a few days, I haven't yet watched the few things recorded on our broken DVR that I really, really want to see, I need to just exchange the darn thing anyway.

Hello, 2009 - If I can't have a personal jetpack, can I join the financial bailout train?

Happy New Year y'all!

It's still hard to believe that it's 2009. I certainly don't feel *mumble*mumble* years old. The last three years have been so busy and hectic with pregnancy, then newborn, and now a toddler. I have to always stop and do the math to figure out my age. I want to automatically say that I'm the age I was just before getting pregnant.

We don't yet have personal jetpacks for everyone or some of the other Jetson-like futuristic gadgets, but soon, we could have personal nuclear power plants. They are the size of a garden shed and would be able to power 20,000 homes. The design is based on a 50-year old design, like that used for nuclear subs. The reactor would be completely encased in concrete, with no moving parts, buried underground, and would not use weapon-grade uranium. That is just amazing to me. The article points out that at a cost of $25m each, a community of 10,000 households would only need to pay $2500 per home to have their own personal nuclear reactor.

Little Bit is certainly going to be growing up in a different time and context than I did or his dad did. Micro-laptops and text messaging and cell phones. When I was growing up, I remember that my dad used punch cards to program the mainframe computers at his work! Now we've got video watches and micro-computers that can fit in your pocket

One of the greatest inventions might be the DVR. Little Bit just assumes that he can watch any show that he requests, at any time. If you don't have any recordings of that show, you better get ready for the tantrum. (BTW, the Viacom and Time Warner dispute news scared the crap out of me -- No Noggin? No Nickelodeon? No CSI on Spike? Yesterday morning, Noggin was still on our cable. Thank god - Little Bit can still watch "Max and Ruby" and "Dora" and etc, etc. The online news says that Time Warner and Viacom reached a deal to avoid the blackout. However, I'm still nervous, because for some reason, Noggin was a black, dead channel this morning. That's so not good, people. We have about two episodes each of Little Bit's favorite shows on DVR. We've already watched each about 5+ times because our DVR refuses to record anything new. We haven't gotten around to taking it in to exchange it for a new one. We need new shows. I can only watch Steve figure out the mouse ran up the clock 10 times before I may have to gouge out my eyes.)

In other news, Little Bit is very aware now and talking about happy and sad emotions. He stubbed his toe recently and told us that the foot was "not happy", but the other foot was happy. While it's very cool that Little Bit can now tell us he is happy, he can also break my heart when he says that he is not happy.

Recently, we were on our way to dinner in the car. Little Bit was being his usual talkative self and kept asking the same question over and over, even when we had already answered. My blood sugar was crashing (head opens and out comes snarling, raging dragon). I told him sharply that we had heard him and to please be quiet.

A few minutes later, his small voice piped up from the back seat. "I not happy."

I said, "Oh, honey...why aren't you happy?" He didn't answer, but DH pointed out that his feelings had probably been hurt by my sharp tone. Cue shattering heart. I apologized to Little Bit for my sharp tone and made sure to hug him when we got to the restaurant.

Last week, I was sleeping in with a headache. DH later told me of a conversation he had with Little Bit.

Little Bit said, "I happy...Daddy happy...Mommy no happy."

DH said, "No, Mommy sick."

Little Bit repeated, "Mommy no happy."

I had been feeling a little blue for several days, and he had picked up on it.