ear infections

Kathryn and I made our weekly trip to the pediatrician's office this morning. You think I'm kidding? Ha! See every post below about my daughter's health.

Turns out she still has the same ear infection which was first diagnosed a few weeks ago. Whoopee! We had this exact problem a few months ago. Amoxicillin just doesn't work on whatever funk my kid seems to be a magnet for. She's been prescribed some stronger meds and hopefully it will be knocked out this time. Kids are not supposed to be sick in the middle of the summer when the temperature is hovering at 106 degrees.

I'm really hoping that Kathryn won't end up with tubes, but it's beginning to seem inevitable at this point. I had terrible issues with my ears. Her uncle gets nasty ear infections and so does her cousin. Seems like she's being slammed from both sides of the family.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that this will be the last ear infection for a while.

hypothetical question

Have you ever read a book and become attached to a particular character? Then said character dies and you're depressed about it for a week. Then you decide to torture yourself by re-reading the book immediately after you finish it because you're a freakin' masochist.

Not that I'm speaking from personal experience or any thing.

18 months

I took Kathryn to the doctor for her 18-month well baby check today. No shots. What a relief!

She's still a big girl. She's grown nearly 2 1/2 inches since her last appointment, putting her height at 34 1/2 inches. I guess she gets that from her tall parents.

She's right on target developmentally, too. Talking up a storm, running every where and throwing some wicked tantrums.

Kathryn is happy, healthy and thriving. What more could a parent ask for?

losing it

This morning Kathryn woke up at 5:38. I blame the nearly four hour nap she took yesterday afternoon.

Not surprisingly, she fell asleep on the way home from Elizabeth's house. Normally moving her from her car seat to her crib is not difficult. However, today, the day that I was finally planning to get stuff done around the house, she woke up and is currently in her crib swearing up a storm. Ok, perhaps she is not swearing. She actually sounds quite happy. But really, is a 20 minute catnap enough for a toddler who normally sleeps for nearly three hours most afternoons?

Ugh, it's going to be a long stretch to bed time if she doesn't give in to sleep soon, because there is no way I'm letting her nap until 4:30 again.

swimmin' fool

The first time we took Kathryn swimming, she was only four months old. It was April. Kim and David were in town and invited us to take a dip in her parents' pool. I think it was a wee bit too chilly for Kathryn. That being said, I don't believe she enjoyed her first swimming experience all that much.

A few months later, we tried to introduce Kathryn to the pool again, this time at Brien's mother's retirement community. She seemed to take to the water a little better that time around. Maybe because she was older. Maybe because the water was warmer. Only problem, she really needed some sunglasses. The poor kid was going blind from the sun's reflection off the water.

Fast forward to this summer. What a difference a year makes! Kathryn is a swimming fool. Or at least a jumping fool. She loves the pool. She spends most of her time jumping off of the entrance steps in to the water. She goes completely under and comes up laughing and wanting more. She's also working on kicking her feet and moving her arms.


Even better, all of the exercise exhausts her. She went down for her nap this afternoon at one o'clock and we had to wake her up at 4:30. Normally she's up by 3:30 at the latest.

indy bites the big one

We made it to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull today. In my opinion, it was awful. I could go on and on about how disappointed I was in the film, but I don't want to spoil it for any one who might still want to see it. Numerous times throughout the movie, Brien and I looked at each other and were like, WTF? Lucas should have stuck to Nazis and religious artifacts. I'm so bummed because I loved the original three. Ok, not so much the second one, but Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade are fantastic. Oh well. At least I got a yummy lunch at Einstein's Bagels out of the deal.

update

Holy shit! It's been forever since I posted. At least once a day I think, hey, maybe I should blog about that. Then I get distracted by my kid's screaming. And the pile of dirty dishes in the sink. Not that I have any thing terribly interesting to write about anyway.

So here's a good thing - tomorrow Brien and I get to go see the new Indiana Jones movie. Woo! I can't wait. Getting away from the kid and our disaster of a house will be good for both of us. Oh, the house. Perhaps that warrants another blog entry, in about, oh, six months.

this is going to be a long one

We went in for Kathryn's procedure this morning. Can some one tell me why they always make the person with the active 16-month old wait for an hour and a half?

Can some one also tell me why the doctor who performed said procedure had the worst bedside manner? Like, he was actually annoyed that he had to deal with a screaming toddler. Listen, buddy, you'd be screaming, too, if you were strapped to a table, unable to move, with a huge, scary machine hovering above you and you couldn't understand why. Asshole.

Despite it all, Kathryn survived. I thought she might enjoy heading to the mall for some pizza and to run off some of that cooped up energy at the play area.

The pizza went over OK. She ate most of it, but didn't devour it like I expected. I didn't think any thing of it. We headed to the play area. When we got there, Kathryn didn't take off running. She just sat there, clinging to my leg. I thought, OK, maybe she's tuckered out from the events of the morning and we should just go home and take a nap. I picked her up and right as I stepped over the threshold in to the mall, she puked. Pizza puke. All over me. Guess the stomach bug hasn't quite passed yet.

I'm amazed I didn't lose it. My first thought was, where's the nearest bathroom??? Then I figured it was better to just get the hell out of the mall without leaving a trail of vomit behind me. Luckily, the play area is all the way on the other side of the mall from where I parked. That was a fun walk. I thought my arm was going to fall off and Kathryn kept trying to push away from me because, ewww, mom, I vomited and you're making me sit in it.

We made it to the car. Barely. I stripped Kathryn, wiped her down the best I could and fastened her in the car seat. I considered shedding my shirt in the mall parking lot, but on top of every thing else that had happened today, I didn't want to be picked up for indecent exposure. I just wanted to get my kid home.

Kathryn passed out and proceeded to sleep for three hours. I took a shower. Kathryn woke up happy as a clam. No throw up since the episode at the mall, but I think we'll stick to a bland diet until I'm positive the last of the stomach crud has passed.

the one about vomit

The past week has been a little crazy. I contracted the dreaded stomach bug that's been going around last Tuesday and didn't feel like eating much until Saturday evening. It was a doozy.

And now, what a freakin' surprise, my daughter has come down with it. It might be too much information, but last night, she threw up in her crib and didn't even stir. Do you know what she smelled like after rolling around in that all night? Yeah, gross. It's funny, though, despite it all she woke up all smiles. Until she realized I wasn't going to feed her and then she was pissed.

nice guys finish last

Should I be worried that, while at the park today, my daughter was more interested in hanging around with the older, rowdy, cursing boys than the sweet, quiet boy and girl closer to her age?

Is this shades of the future? If so, lucky me.