Once again, I’m delayed in posting things I’ve been jotting down. Back in October (around October 22), we were in our gym class. During one of the parts, all the babies are lined up on the trampoline, and we stand them up on their feet. We say 1, 2, 3 then we let go to see what they will do. Most of the babies topple right over – but that day, Micah stood. And stood. I think he stood there for 15-20 seconds before he SAT down. Everyday, he seems to be getting stronger. He is definitely standing on his own more often. I keep thinking of the Road Runner and Bugs Bunny episodes – you know, where all the animals run off the cliff chasing after either the Road Runner or Bugs and are able to float on air until they look down and realize what they are doing (and then they promptly plunge to the ground)? I think that is Micah and standing – he does just fine until he realizes he is standing, and then all of the sudden, down he goes! My little man is getting to be such a big boy. Unbelievable!
Feeding Mommy is Fun!
Despite the fact that Micah has been a toothless wonder, he does a really good job eating adult food. I originally wrote this post the week of October 19, when we went out to dinner twice (Italian food) and then he had chicken (okay, vegetarian chicken – he loves it!) and mixed vegetables. He was busy feeding himself and making happy noises (yum, yum, yum) when I sat down across from him. Micah paused for a moment, and held out his hand with a piece of chicken and leaned forward to touch my mouth. I opened wide and made a big loud chomping sound as I ate the piece of chicken (think Cookie Monster). Immediately, Micah exploded into peals of laughter! He thought that was the funniest thing ever! He grabbed more food, and tried to feed me over and over again, each time laughing more than the last. How fun is that?
All I can say is that this is now a regular occurrence. Pretty much every meal, Micah likes to feed me, and I have to play the role of Cookie Monster and chomp down on his hand and make loud eating noises. This game always leads to very deep belly laughs, and we have so much fun!
Polly want a cracker?
We now have a parrot in our midst – for the past two weeks, Micah has started repeating everything I say! He particularly enjoys repeating words like “this” and “bang” and “duck.” I can’t believe how much he is talking already. He is constantly babbling, and I swear, he thinks he is communicating. I don’t understand what he is saying most of the time, but he is absolutely trying to talk. He looks at me very seriously sometimes, says something unintelligible with a wise look on his face, I say something random back to him, and he nods and smiles at me. I just want to scoop him up he is so adorable!
Guess what?
Micah FINALLY has teeth! Yes, teeth – not just one tooth, but TEETH! After much cranking, moaning and crying (and being awake from 3:00 on this morning), Micah now has two little teeth poking through his lower gums. We started to see them pushing up the gums late last week, but yesterday afternoon, the first little tooth broke through, quickly followed by number two today. It is possible there are 2-4 more right behind this, although I hope we at least get a little break for a bit! As far as I’m concerned, teething is not so much fun. Can you imagine – my little baby has TEETH?
Near miss with a pig and teething
We got that dreaded call today from Micah’s daycare…”your son is running a high fever and you need to come get him.” There are kids with swine flu all over the place in that daycare – the most recent was a kid in his classroom last week. I thought we were beyond the incubation period, but naturally the first thing I thought was “great, swine flu, and I’ll be getting sick, too.”
So, I picked Micah up from daycare, and went up to the pediatrician. I kept thinking “just our luck!” since our pediatrician got in the thimerosal free (and squalene free) h1n1 vaccine and we had an appointment set up for Micah to get vaccinated on Saturday. A small part of me, I must admit, did think “well, that will settle my agony – no need for a needle once I get the flu!”
We made it up to the appointment, and Micah’s temperature was at 101.8. The doctor checked him out, and did a nasal swab to test for flu. He checked Micah’s ears (currently all clear) and I asked if this could be a sinus infection because I had been wondering if he had one again since his last cold had been lingering for several weeks. The doctor said it was possible, and he would also send out a nasal swab to check for a sinus infection. While we waited for the results of the flu swab, I mentioned to the doctor (the one who always laughs at me for thinking Micah is teething) that I was convinced Micah was teething again. He smiled at me, and I said “Look, one of these times I have to be right, don’t I?” He laughed at me, checked Micah’s gums, looked at me very somberly, and said “well, I have to say…he is definitely teething! I can see two teeth getting ready to break through on the bottom.” Finally!! My toothless wonder may not be toothless much longer. I also mentioned Micah’s horrible diaper rash that cropped up this week while I was out of town. After a quick check, he confirmed that Micah has a yeast infection, so we have to apply lotrimin 2x/day until it is gone.
After waiting 15 minutes, much to my surprise and amazement – Micah’s flu swab came back negative! Instead of writing a prescription for Tamiflu, he sent us home and told us to try and keep his fever down. If his fever is not gone by Friday, we should bring him back in to re-check his ears and his throat. We should also have the results of the nasal culture back by Friday, too, so he may require antibiotics at that time. Unfortunately, if he is not better by Friday, we’ll have to cancel his vaccination appointment – he has to be fever free for at least 24 hours before they will vaccinate him. So, hopefully we can keep us all swine flu free.
Traveling, Parties & Computer Issues, Oh My!
Well, I’m back from Minneapolis. It was an exhausting, whirlwind trip. My flight was scheduled to leave at 6:30 pm – but, of course, nothing goes as planned. We sat on the tarmac for over an hour due to “computer” problems. Eventually, they fixed the issue and we took off over one hour late. I arrived in Minneapolis around 10:00 pm, and went and checked into the hotel.
I have to say, I’ve been dreading this trip – the client has postponed the trip several times, and they have been difficult about the work product. I initially sent a draft script in June, but heard nothing back until October – when they asked me to completely re-write the entire thing! I had no time blocked off for that, and the request really annoyed me. I understand that they are the client, but it truly showed no respect for my time. I was traveling, but managed to get another draft done. I then learned that they expected me to videotape the entire piece without using a teleprompter! I was supposed to “wing it” but stick to the script. Yeah, right.
On the day of the taping, I got there and we did a trial run. I was reading from my notes, but needless to say, it did not look good on camera to have me looking down. The “interviewer” for the segment complained and requested that I be given a teleprompter. Thankfully, that all worked out well! I only wish the decision had been made beforehand – there are a number of changes I would have made to the script if I had known they were going to let me use a teleprompter. I’m dreading seeing myself on video.
My journey home was uneventful. Micah was asleep, and I was simply exhausted. I crashed pretty early, as I had a busy day planned the following day.
This morning, Micah woke up at 8 when the phone rang – because Elliot apparently forgot the phone extension in Micah’s bedroom. We fed him breakfast, and I had to decorate a cake for a birthday party. Thankfully, Elliot baked the cake while I was out of town. I just printed out an edible image and slapped it on the cake – nice and simple. In the meantime, Elliot took Micah for his 10 month photos (a little late). I have been terrible about giving monthly birthday updates lately! We do not have pictures yet – due to our tight schedule today, Elliot did not stay and pick out the photos, so I’ll take care of that later this week.
After picture time, I took Micah up to playgroup to celebrate Joseph’s birthday. The kids had a great time – playing in a ball pit and crawling around. Here are a few fun pictures of our babies:
We still have a lot more to do this week. I’ve got a ton of work, and Micah is back to daycare (and all the swine flu circulating there). We’ve got class on Thursday, and I have a bunch of meetings on Friday. Thursday night, Elliot and I are going out to a very nice dinner for date night. We’re also meeting with the architect to discuss house renovations. Wish us luck!Halloween
We’ve had a great Halloween week! I’m feeling much better, my father was released from the hospital late Wednesday, and we’ve been Halloween party fools! Micah was dressed up as a dragon for Halloween (we had a hand-me-down costume from our friends Jen and Dave). We kicked off Halloween with a parade and party at Micah’s daycare:
After the daycare party, we went to Kidville for a Halloween party and Little Maestros concert! Micah had a ton of fun dancing and clapping.
Today, we went to celebrate my niece’s 2nd birthday. Unfortunately, Micah was a bit cranky, and we forgot to take pictures of him in his Jack-o-Lantern shirt. We made a chocolate peanut butter Mickey Mouse cake for Peyton, and it was a big hit! What could be bad about Mickey, balloons and peanut butter?
After my niece’s party, Micah took a long nap in the car. We decided to swing by Micah’s friend Zach’s birthday party. I had also made a birthday cake for him – ELMO!!
We arrived quite late (and had to wait for Micah to wake up from his nap), so we missed the Little Maestro’s performance, but he still had fun playing with all the gym equipment.
Tonight, Elliot took Micah out trick or treating for a bit. We had a mad rush of kids, so it was a good thing they went out – without their treats, we would have run out of candy for the kids coming by! As Elliot says, reduce, reuse, recycle!
Micah is now quietly tucked away in bed. We’re exhausted, and I have to pack and get ready for ANOTHER business trip tomorrow. I’m off to Minneapolis – I hear it is FREEZING there.
Whistle Down the Wind
Okay – the title may not be totally appropriate for this post, but, hey, I thought the Broadway reference would entertain my father when he gets out of the hospital (hopefully today). You see, today I have movie references and my Grandma “Cookie” on my mind. Do you ever think that some habits/actions of lost loved ones are somehow…reincarnated in our children? Perhaps it signals as a reminder from those who are gone.
You see, Grandma “Cookie” could not whistle. There is no judgment in that – neither Elliot nor I can whistle either, so clearly, it would be a genetic challenge for Micah to acquire the whistling acuity of HIS grammy (my mother). Cannot whistle, you say? Well, why didn’t she just put her lips together…and blow? (Are you smiling, Dad?) Funny thing is, she did. All the time. Mostly unconsciously. It was actually quite an annoying habit. If you asked her to stop whistling, she would tell you that she could not whistle. It started to become so awful her last few years that we would sit around and mimic her. Often when she wasn’t with us, one of us would start making that infertnal…blowing…noise. Even now that she is gone, every once in a while, one of us will still do that as we smile and fondly remember Grandma “Cookie.”
Why am I reminiscing about Grandma “Cookie” today? Naturally, it is because of Micah. You see, regardless of ability, he too, likes to sit and “whistle.” He puts his lips together and makes that same awful noise. He sometimes does it incessantly! This morning, for example. He was sitting in his high chair, absentmindedly….”whistling.” And I thought about Grandma “Cookie.” I hope she is smiling.
Craziness
All I can say is “What a week.” On Thursday, Micah and I went to our gym class. There is a part of the class where we have the babies all stand up, and we let go. Micah stood on his own for 15 seconds!! He sat down, and looked a little scared afterwards, but I was amazed – that is the longest I’ve seen him hold a stand on his own so far. I’m pretty sure he’ll be walking before he is one year old.
Lately, Micah is obsessed with his Daddy. He howls and runs to the door and bangs on the screen door screaming “Dad” or “Dada” when he steps out. It is kind of adorable. He also has a new trick – he likes to feed mommy food from his tray and he laughs hysterically as I “gobble” it up. We tried catching it tonight, but Micah tends to find the camera a bit of a distraction and prefers to “mug” for the camera.
Here is another recent video of a few of Micah’s “tricks”:
And Micah playing peek-a-boo:
So…onto the crazy part. Micah and Elliot had a private night together on Friday – while I went out for a girls’ night for my friend Stacy’s birthday. I made her a cake – we bought her a mah jongg set for her birthday, so mah jongg was the theme! We went out to an Indian restaurant that was more like a Moroccan restaurant. They had a Bollywood/belly dancer, and we sat on cushions low to the floor and shared big plates of food (with no silverware). We had so much fun!
On Saturday, we were supposed to go to a birthday party, but the weather was lousy and it was canceled. Saturday night, we went out to our friends Hirsch and Lisa’s annual Sahmain Soiree – a “Black tie potluck” event. We got all dressed up, and my parents came to sit with Micah for an hour or two while we went out. When we got home, my Dad was complaining that he had the chills. I took his temperature, and it said 101. I immediately suspected he had swine flu, and I sent them off to the hospital. Needless to say, I was worried for him and for Micah. After a long wait, and a CT scan of his sinuses and a chest xray, they decided he had pneumonia. No cough at all, just fever and chills. They admitted him to the hospital and put him on IV antibiotics. Unfortunately, he does not seem to be responding, so they added more antibiotics – he is now on 3 of them. I’m hoping he starts to respond better by tomorrow. If all is well with the bloodwork tomorrow, they’ll release him.
I also think I have a sinus infection – so sickness seems to be going around. My mom’s friend Mona was in town today, so she came by to see Micah. We went for a long walk, and I was exhausted. I crashed for an hour, but then Micah woke up, and I was back to mommy duty.
Just wanted to say, feel better, Daddy!
ETA – I decided to take myself to the hospital tonight, too. I seem to have developed a case of bronchitis, and I thought I should hurry up and get antibiotics. Mostly, I was starting to worry it could be the same pneumonia my dad had, so I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. After the doctor was incredibly rude to me (and informed me that they don’t treat bronchitis with antibiotics – they just call it h1n1 and give people Tamiflu), she finally wrote me the script for antibiotics (and a prescription for Tamiflu). I mean, seriously? I’ll take the Tamiflu if I develop flu symptoms – but I just have a low-grade fever, my chest hurts, and I *know* that I have a sinus infection/bronchitis. It is the same thing that happens all the time to me. I had a mild cold last week, so a secondary infection following a cold is par for the course for me. Ridiculous! Oh, and according to this lovely doctor, they no longer prescribe antibiotics for bronchitis or sinus infections. Um, hello – maybe they wait a few weeks for most people, but that is NOT a good idea with asthmatics and people with chronic sinusitis. She didn’t look up my nose, or at my throat or my ears, she didn’t listen to my chest, and she didn’t feel my glands. I found the whole experience annoying and off-putting – but I’m glad I have my antibiotics now.
Swine Flu and Baking
It is official – we have a case of swine flu in Micah’s daycare class. Apparently, a child went home sick on Friday, and he and his parent have been diagnosed with swine flu. I’m hoping that since we have shown no signs or symptoms yet means we have passed the incubation period and all is well. To make matters worse (as if I’m not already freaking out about germs), the caretaker in Micah’s class had a cold yesterday. Yes, a cold. I went to pick Micah up, and she was all stuffed up, coughing, and well…sick. I’m sure it isn’t the flu, but really – did she HAVE to expose Micah to her cold? He just got over being sick last month! And I certainly don’t need to be sick with all of the traveling I’m doing. I do not need my lungs compromised in any way if there is a chance I could catch the flu!
I hate all this fear about flu. I’ve never worried about the flu before – in my life, I’ve only had it 2 times. It has never been a big deal. It is funny – I catch everything else, but I’ve been relatively flu-free most of my life. I’ve never gotten the flu vaccine either. I am still not concerned about the seasonal flu, and to be honest, I am just not that excited about H1N1. For whatever reason, if I catch it, I just do not think it will be a big deal. Perhaps I should, but I feel like I’ll go to the doctor, get Tamiflu, go on antibiotics if I get a lung infection, and all will be well.
In the midst of all of this, the H1N1 vaccinations have arrived at our pediatrician’s office. Both Micah and I cold get vaccinated, but they do not yet have the thimerosal-free (and squalene-free) version yet. So – do I give Micah the vaccine now, or wait an extra month for the safer vaccine? I hate these kind of decisions! I am currently leaning towards waiting. Most of the cases of swine flu seem to be no worse than regular flu. Not that I wish flu on either one of us, but part of me feels that getting the flu might be safer than taking the vaccine. I am also not certain that Micah did not already have swine flu last month when he was sick (although, I suppose Elliot and I would have caught it, too, if it was swine flu).
This morning I called to schedule his second dosage of the regular flu shot – and was told I should call back in November. I am so frustrated by all of this! They would not give me information about which version of the H1N1 vaccine they are currently using, or when they expect to get the thimerosal-free version. I cannot get good information about what to do. The CDC recommends vaccinating, but declines to comment on either thimerosal or squalene at this time. While they will not approve these ingredients in other vaccines, the FDA has suspended most of the guidelines for the H1N1 vaccine for the next six months. I’m sorry – if something was unsafe last month, and it will be unsafe again in six months, isn’t it unsafe now?
On the one hand, the studies show there is no connection between thimerosal and autism. Fine – I believe that. HOWEVER, we are encouraged NOT to feed children fish with mercury because even the low doses have been shown to affect brain development. Okay. I can accept that. Then how is thimerosal in the H1N1 vaccine safe? To make matters worse, due to the shortage of vaccinations, there are adjuvants that contain squalene in this version of the H1N1 vaccination. Apparently, there is some relatively new and untested research that indicates that adjuvants *might* cause autoimmune disorders in both adults and children. Until better research is done, how can I comfortably give such a vaccine to Micah? Several states have banned doctors from administering the H1N1 vaccine to pregnant women and children under 3. Moreover, this vaccination has been rushed to market prior to FDA approval and without testing. It is presumed the vaccine will do no harm because it was developed with the same techniques as the regular seasonal flu vaccine. But, with different ingredients in the vaccine, how can they be sure?
In other news, I’m busy cake-baking. I have a cake to do for a friend (I’m making a pumpkin chocolate chip cake) and next weekend I have a cake for my niece’s second birthday, and my friend’s son’s first birthday. I’ll be baking my pants off this week in order to get everything finished on time! The good news is that it appears my edible image printer should be back in order! We purchased a new printer head, so tonight I will attempt to replace it and hope that it starts working again. I’m not sure how I will get through the next week without it. I’ll post cake pictures soon.
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