It Comes in Threes

So Sunday Nate got that leaf up his nose. Wednesday morning he was pukey. He's had the normal diarrhea that follows that (more laundry). Then today he had a rash. And it kept getting worse. That was the proverbial straw, so off to the doctor we went.

They asked what he had eaten lately, if he used anything new. We ate a normal dinner last night--homemade chicken noodle soup and salad of things I normally put in salad--and nothing unusual for other meals. We ate lots of 'highly allergenic foods' lately: peanut butter, eggs, almond milk, and chickpeas, but all things we eat regularly. I make our laundry detergent, his lotion is the tried and true hypoallergenic he's used since infancy, I have no idea what could have caused his itchy rash.

We're looking at allergy testing at his well visit next week...assuming he is well then. Maybe he's getting it all out of the way now, so he can be healthy, you know, for those terrible twos that are fast approaching.

Almost, but Not Quite

I can't find my Mama Handbook. I seem to have mislaid it the week after Kate was born. I'm trying to look up the sleeping clause, you know the one that guarantees after one of the kids keeps you up puking that everyone will sleep in the next morning. It has to be there right between 'Mama's don't get sick,' and 'Only horrible parents have children who ever act out in the grocery store.' Maybe that handbook wasn't always right after all.

Well, we made it to almost two before the little fellow got his first puking bug. He woke me crying. As I sat up and tried to decide if it was one of those cries that will result in him rolling over and going back to sleep or if he had a dream that required a hug, I heard that sound that parents know.

We lost a few hours of sleep and there have been many loads of laundry, but he is holding crackers and water this morning (and watching Veggie Tales to distract him from his thirst because I'm trying to give him water slowly). Hoping it is over and that no one else catches it!

A Little Excitement

Sunday afternoon I took the littles out back to play while Justin was grading exams.

The girls hung like monkeys off of the swing set 'practicing gymnastics.' Then they made up a version of freeze tag in which whom ever was 'frozen' must spin in circles until they were unfrozen by someone, most often Nate, who declared himself unfreezable (or at least who didn't agree to be frozen).

After awhile, Justin joined us with a little football to toss around. We ran, we jumped, we laughed. Then Nate stumbled and went down face first, again. He popped up quickly, but when he turned around he was crying and as I ran to him, I thought I saw a stick coming out of his eye.

I was relieved to find it was actually up his nose. That is until I gave it a very gentle tug and it didn't dislodge itself. I called for Justin, who pulled again, this time out came the 'stick,' actually the stem of a leaf. It had a drop of blood on it. I ran the crying munchkin to the house and we wiped up a bit of blood, but he was completely fine. I really thought we had an ER visit in our future, but was grateful that we got to hang out at the house with him instead.

And to think I was a tad worried about the girls hanging on the swing set and not at all about the little fellow running on the ground...

To Kinder or Not to Kinder

Miss Gabriella and I have been talking over school for next year. I'm starting to write out my list of books to purchase, so I can plan for them (it looks like Kate may finish her math books early, so I'll likely make my order a bit early, sometime in the spring). I need to figure out what books, if any Gabby will be needing too. She has been wanting to 'do' school more formally all year. I've been giving her a few preschool worksheets here and there, but encouraging her to go play, since she has the time.

Here is my quandary. Gabby wants to start kindergarten in the fall. According to the state, she isn't eligible for public school until '13 (By the way, how on earth did we get to a point in time already that I'm having to write 2013?). Of course, we can go ahead with instruction next year, but what to do about the paperwork? Do we call her first grade year kindergarten in '13? 'Skip' kindergarten (since we would have already done it)? Skip a different grade later to avoid confusion? File the papers next year stating that she's in kindergarten and see if the school system kicks it back? At this point it's just a paperwork issue. The last one is likely to be the easiest, but I kind of like not having the pressure of having to follow through if she decides she isn't ready.

I'm completely fine with Gabby taking another year to play and color, but I hate to hold her back because her birthday is three weeks later than her sister, when she so clearly wants to be part of school. Maybe the answer will become more clear as the year goes on.

Family Fun: Mini Golf

We took the munchkins to play mini golf this past weekend. I bought a Groupon a month or so back and we were excited to get to go use it. The weather was nice and the place was deserted (both good for taking a young family of five)!

The kids were a bit less impressed than I expected. They did like the giant pink elephant (and the creepy carrion birds that were roosting near him), but there were several holes that Gabby chose to skip entirely. We had to watch the little guy pretty closely because he was quite interested in the water hazards!

It was a fun time, but we'll likely wait awhile before we try it again...oh and for the record the little guy and I won!

In case you ever wondered...

coffee can and will explode in the microwave.

I had read a recipe calling for strong coffee. We had regular coffee, so I reasoned that I could drive off some of the water and have the strong coffee required for my little recipe.

I am a reasonable person, so I heated the coffee for a couple of minutes and then stopped, so it wouldn't boil over. I came back twenty or thirty minutes later to heat it again. After one minute and eight seconds the coffee went boom and the microwave stopped (on it's own), flashing :52 at me.

I scrubbed out the microwave around the measuring cup until it had a chance to cool. Then I moved it and scrubbed some more. The inside was sparkling clean, but the big question was, "Will the microwave work after having exploding coffee in it?"

The answer is a thankful yes. I guess I'll forego the coffee milkshake. Or at least think of a better way to make 'strong coffee.'

Nate-isms

When it is bright (like the lights when he first wakes up): "It's hot!"

When the girls ask, "Am I a princess?" He says, "NOOOO!" and giggles.

All dogs are called, "Toby." That is the name of my parents' Yorkie.