A few stolen moments

That's all I've got right now as I'm struggling with a program to properly run my report. Argh! I've delineated everything in the simplest of terms, and yet it either times out or gets bumped by another project. It's infuriating.

It would be even worse if I actually needed it today. Sadly, though, I will need it on Monday, and if it's not working, I'm screwed.

So, I've been totally lax in posting. Totally lax. As my good friend Meredith said via e-mail, I haven't been this quiet since I ran off to the Philippines. For that, dear friends, I heartily apologize.

(Quick interruption: The report I want still isn't working, but I now have access to a folder from which I've been needing to pull data! So, today isn't a total loss. Now, back to our program, already in progress.)

The Boy is in a state of flux right now - each day is a new adventure. When we begin our day together, I have no idea if I'll be dodging pieces of bananas or struggling to keep up as he shoves everything into his mouth. Last Sunday (the week after Mother's Day), as our custom, I buckled him into his high chair and sprinkled some cereal on his tray so that he could eat while I peeled a banana. He clearly didn't want the cereal (evidenced by screams as he hurled Rice Chex to the floor), so I broke off a piece of banana and offered it to him. Instead of opening his mouth like a little bird (as he has been known to do), he forcefully shoved my hand away from him and sent the banana piece flying. Unfazed, I began dropping banana pieces on his tray. The screaming continued until he seemed to realize that he liked the food he was ready to chuck at my head. Afterwards, I wasn't able to put enough bananas on his tray.

This past Sunday, we experienced what I will call The Scrambled Egg Incident. Let's just say The Boy is very likely allergic to egg whites. Oh, he's had eggs as ingredients in lots of things without any reactions (his birthday cake and myriad muffins, for example), but apparently eggs alone are a big no-no right now. Not only did he vomit eggs all over himself (and me) several times, he also broke out into a terrible rash (complete with hives, but no wheezing or fever, thank God) that didn't go away until Monday evening. It's a shame, too, because he really liked them.

Anyway, we saw my friend Jen and her Baby E on Sunday. They came over for an impromptu play date as Jen washed a comforter in my supersized washer (which promptly ate part of her comforter, but that's a different story). I realized how spoiled I've been because The Boy has always been so easy to feed. Jen let me try feeding Baby E, and he would kind of stare at the spoon for a while before partially opening his mouth enough for me to squeeze in a little food. It was very cute, but as I said, it made me realize exactly how easy I've had it feeding The Boy.

Monday, I took The Boy to school at his regular time, then rushed back home to properly vacuum the house and straighten his room. The family room got a good suctioning, too, as did the master bedroom (sorely need, I have to say), and the hallway. Then Chris and I met up with our friends to see the new Indiana Jones movie. I don't really care what the critics have said - I really liked it. I thought it was great and in line with the rest of the franchise. That's all I will say about it.

After the movie, we picked The Boy up from school and took him to Fort Wilderness to visit the "petting zoo" (no petting of the ponies or miniature horses allowed, though), where he thoroughly enjoyed staring at the animals, then to the playground, where he eagerly pointed at the swings until we got him into a bucket seat. Oddly, though, he didn't have the same expression of glee that I've seen from other kids. Oh, he was happy, all right (he gets to go on the swings at school), but very cool about it, as evidenced from his photos.

Crazy kid.

We're back to a normal-ish sleep schedule. Oh, yes - we've had a time of the whole sleeping thing. Remember when he got sick with a stomach bug (that he later passed to me) at the beginning of the month? Yeah... that's when it all started. He woke up every three to four hours, screaming and in near-hysterics. So, it was the stomach bug first. Then it was a cold that progressed into an infection of some sort (I think it was a sinus infection, but my husband didn't remember exactly what Dr. W said) that required antibiotics. Of course, throughout all this he was transitioning from his infant class to the toddler classroom, too. Nothing like throwing everything at the poor kid at once, right? Well, how about throwing some teething in on top of that? We had no idea because of all the other things, but a good portion of his crying probably came from teething pain, too. At less than 14 months of age, all four first-year molars are in. Mind you, they've only broken through the surface and still have a lot more growing to do, but yeah, his molars are in now - before his lateral lower incisors, I might add.

This kid clearly follows his own schedule.

Once I realized that teething pain had something to do with it (and I had finished my work conference), I had the courage (and fortitude) to give him a little bit of Tylenol just before brushing his teeth and let him cry it out. That meant listening to him wake every four hours and watching the clock to see just how long each crying spell lasted. Each night got a little better, and now we're (mostly) back to normal. He'll still cry out a little (and he woke up today at 5:30, but I left him alone because I decided he really wasn't ready to wake - sure enough, he fell back asleep within five minutes), but unless I hear a shriek of pain or an otherwise unusual scream, I'm training myself to leave him alone.

This also means we're done with our multiple breakfasts (clearly, he wasn't eating well when he was sick), but it also means he's back to eating sizeable dinners and equitable breakfasts. Last night, he had six ounces of macaroni and cheese, about five ounces of watermelon, bread off my husband's plate, two ounces of corn, and a whole lot of milk. Today, we had a large banana, four ounces of yogurt, some cereal from my bowl, and a whole lot of milk. I can't say he eats as much as I do (after all, I've been known to put away enough food to make grown men stare in awe), but he really does like to eat. And really, pound for pound, I know he eats much more of his body weight each day than I do. (Yes, I did the math. I'm sick like that.)

So, that's the latest update on me. Lots of work, lots of toddler time, lots of work, and a little bit of play thrown in for fun. Speaking of "play", I got a Wii at the end of April and just invested in the new Wii Fit last week. I really like them both. (If you happen to have a Wii and want to be Wii friends, send me a message or e-mail with your Wii ID, and I'll send you mine, too!) Wii Fit is strangely addictive in ways a visit to the gym (sans my old trainer, Kennedy) never was...