Please ignore this post if you do not want to read ranting or are easily offended. I rarely get upset about what people choose to do in their own lives. I have too much stress in my life to worry about the choices of some stranger's life. However, I have been completely aggravated with what is going in Aria's class at school. Two children in the infant program have come down with Chicken Pox. I am constantly praying that Aria is not next given that she isn't old enough to be vaccinated yet.
I'm not angry at the school or the poor kids with Chicken Pox. I'm angry about this virus still existing despite there being a vaccine. What is making my bloodpressure rise is the people who do not get the vaccine for their children and then purposely infect them with the illness. I'm fairly certain that was NOT the kids at daycare, but they might have come in contact with a kid like this.
Purposely infecting your kid with this virus is CRUEL. It is 1-2 weeks of sheer misery for the average person infected. Moreover, it is foolish to believe that you are only infecting your own child. Chicken pox has a really long contagious period. Your kid would have to be in complete isolation for 2-3 weeks or even longer. Infecting another person could kill them even if you are willing to take that chance with your own child's life.
If you can't get this vaccine, I'm cool with that. If you can get it, but choose not too, that's fine with me. However, purposely infecting someone is something that I cannot stomach. I literally kept me up for several hours last night thinking about how terrible this is.
Just a few months to go (fingers crossed), and I will get Aria vaccinated. I will not be buying pox-laced lollipops off the internet or going to a pox party. I cannot bare to think of her or anyone else suffering with this illness despite having survived it myself.
On a positive note, Aria does not show any signs of chicken pox!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Proto-toddler
Aria is getting to be such a big girl. I swear her head grew since yesterday, and that's not just because I couldn't fit another 18month size shirt neck hole over it. Every time she has a growth spurt, I always seem to notice it in the head first.
In addition to shear size, she is just learning in leaps and bounds. She's learned to wave bye-bye or night-night. It mostly looks like her just stretching out her arm with an occasional full arm flap, but she's trying.
She's starting a few, very short attempts of free standing. It took me a few tries because it doesn't last very long, but I did catch a picture of it. She is a bit more cautious than her bigger brother when he learned to stand. She tends to stand next to things so that she doesn't fall all the way down. Xander was atypical (or at least his teacher's told us that). He first attempts at standing were in the middle of the room.
Also, very rarely, if highly motivate by something really interesting, Aria has been caught with a bit of cruising. I caught a few steps here on video. In this case, the motivation was Xander acting like a crazy person.
In addition to shear size, she is just learning in leaps and bounds. She's learned to wave bye-bye or night-night. It mostly looks like her just stretching out her arm with an occasional full arm flap, but she's trying.
She's starting a few, very short attempts of free standing. It took me a few tries because it doesn't last very long, but I did catch a picture of it. She is a bit more cautious than her bigger brother when he learned to stand. She tends to stand next to things so that she doesn't fall all the way down. Xander was atypical (or at least his teacher's told us that). He first attempts at standing were in the middle of the room.
Also, very rarely, if highly motivate by something really interesting, Aria has been caught with a bit of cruising. I caught a few steps here on video. In this case, the motivation was Xander acting like a crazy person.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Copper is Copper again
For about a year, we've been battling some strange problems with one of our dogs, Copper. She got multiple skin infections, lost hair, put on a lot of weight, and seemed really lethargic. Treating the skin infections while taking care of a newborn was a real challenge as I had to give her frequent showers with special soap, and remember a complicated schedule for her medicine.
After several months of battling with this, the doctor suggested a thyroid screening, which came back normal. On the most recent skin infection occurrence, he decided that despite the normal reading on her thyroid, we should treat with a thyroid supplement. I've been giving it to her daily since October. It's really made a huge difference and our Copper is truly Copper again.
Her hair has grown back. It started growing back in all the bald patches at the same time. She lost the extra weight she had put on. As you can see in the video, she is a playful dog, which is great, because Xander is now started to enjoying playing with the dogs in different ways. He loves to throw toys for fetch, which both our labs love to play.
As a side note, the vet had also recommended this special dog food, at one point, in case Copper skin problems were allergy related. This was a huge failure. While I initially was able to get her to eat this super expensive grain free food, after a couple days, she out right refused to eat it. Even if I mix it with her normal Iams food, she will eat around the new food.
I'm glad that our Copper is feeling better. After all, she really was our FIRST baby.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Feeling productive
This time of year is my spring cleaning time, as you'll notice some posts from last year. I try to organize or de-clutter. I would love to do this all year long, but I don't always have the vacation time nor the energy to always be perfectly organized at all times. My accomplishments thus far this year:
1) Organize the master closet. This resulted in 36 cubic feet of clothes, shoes, and bags for good will. Plus, the closet is no longer hazard to walk into.
2) Get rid of every possible baby item
- Clothes 0-6mos went to a coworker who had a little girl
- Clothes 6-9mos went to goodwill
- Clothes 9-18mos are going to a friend in California.
- Extra carseat and Xander's crib bedding went to a local Freecycler
- Co-sleeper sold on craigslist
- Baby bath and baby swing given to Dolphin's coworker
I almost sold the baby bouncer, but the buyer changed their mind so Aria can plan with it a few more times.
3) Take a load of books to the used book store. Yep, I no longer feel the need to keep around "Baby's First Year".
I have a day off later this week while the kids will be in day care. Then, I plan to shampoo the carpets, clean the garage, and possibly repair some bricks on our house. There's a whole bunch of other list items I'd like to get to, but not sure I'll have the time.
1) Organize the master closet. This resulted in 36 cubic feet of clothes, shoes, and bags for good will. Plus, the closet is no longer hazard to walk into.
2) Get rid of every possible baby item
- Clothes 0-6mos went to a coworker who had a little girl
- Clothes 6-9mos went to goodwill
- Clothes 9-18mos are going to a friend in California.
- Extra carseat and Xander's crib bedding went to a local Freecycler
- Co-sleeper sold on craigslist
- Baby bath and baby swing given to Dolphin's coworker
I almost sold the baby bouncer, but the buyer changed their mind so Aria can plan with it a few more times.
3) Take a load of books to the used book store. Yep, I no longer feel the need to keep around "Baby's First Year".
I have a day off later this week while the kids will be in day care. Then, I plan to shampoo the carpets, clean the garage, and possibly repair some bricks on our house. There's a whole bunch of other list items I'd like to get to, but not sure I'll have the time.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Christmas Cottage Fever
Finally, it stopped RAINING! Nothing like being trapped inside to make you go crazy. We bundled up for the blistering cold weather 50 degree weather. Brrrr...and we headed out to one of our favorite parks.
We bundled up Aria the best that we could, and she seemed pretty content. Of course, she loved swinging. This video and her smiles on the swing give you a good view of her 4 teeth. Speaking of teeth, she has such slow teeth compared to Xander. Xander at this age 8 teeth already, and they would come in super fast. Aria's teeth take weeks to come in all the way. I've also noticed that Aria doesn't drool at all. Xander was constantly wet in comparison. Such unique teethers I have!
Xander loved feeding the ducks Cheerios. I hope Cheerios are ok for ducks. I recall that last winter we came to this same pond to feed the ducks but they were all afraid of us. These ducks were definitely not afraid, nor was Xander afraid of them.
We bundled up Aria the best that we could, and she seemed pretty content. Of course, she loved swinging. This video and her smiles on the swing give you a good view of her 4 teeth. Speaking of teeth, she has such slow teeth compared to Xander. Xander at this age 8 teeth already, and they would come in super fast. Aria's teeth take weeks to come in all the way. I've also noticed that Aria doesn't drool at all. Xander was constantly wet in comparison. Such unique teethers I have!
Xander loved feeding the ducks Cheerios. I hope Cheerios are ok for ducks. I recall that last winter we came to this same pond to feed the ducks but they were all afraid of us. These ducks were definitely not afraid, nor was Xander afraid of them.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Quiet--the sound of trouble brewing
Xander was in the bathroom for a really long time. I went to check on him to find him counting and filling these little cups. He said he was doing "science". I've learned that when Xander is quiet, it's a good idea to be worried as usually there is some mess making in progress. This one wasn't too bad.
Merry Christmas
We had a nice quite Christmas at home this year. We took the kids out to see Christmas lights. A few miles away there is a home that synchronizes the lights to a local radio station. It was a very impressive display. Both kids fell asleep in the car before we even got to that house. We'll have to remember that sleep trick for next year.
For Christmas breakfast, we had monkey bread. I think we're trying to make a tradition of it. There is a store bought brand that only takes 2 and 1/2 minutes to heat in the microwave and it tastes awesome. We enjoyed it with coffee from Dolphin's new Aeropress and Cocao Loco from my stocking.
Xander's present from Santa this year was a corrugated paper (lay people call this cardboard) castle. It was easy for Dolphin to assembly while I...I mean er...Santa had the tough job of eating cookies. This gift was inspired by a few of my old childrens books. After reading a few to Xander, I kept seeing this old advertisement for a house that kids could draw on. Low and behold, they still make these houses and now, in quite a few shapes and sizes including this awesome castle. Xander is totally in to art these days so I thought it would be perfect. What was most surprising about this gift was that it took Xander something like 7 passes of walking right by it before he noticed it. Seriously? It's gigantic! This is possibly another indication that he takes after me..."one track mind".
Aria's present from Santa was a little tykes outdoor swing that I got off craigslist. She's going to love it when get it set up in the backyard. As expected, she was pretty much interested in eating the paper. I did put a few outfits for her under the tree. One was this yellow sundress which I layered with a onesie to make it appropriate for the colder weather. Despite an ear infection, she brought her usual ray of sunshine personality that matched her dress well.
Grandma Carla and Grandpa Tom got a Kindle for the kids. Its instantly become a family favorite. Xander and I spent a good 30 minutes playing Angry Birds. Time wasters aside, we've enjoyed readying some of the free books already including Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know and When Cows Fly.
Our Christmas dinner was steak, potatoes, spinach salad, and green beans. I made little personal sized fruit hand pies filled with cranberries, apple, blueberries, and blackberries. Yummy!
Christmas Preparations
I did not do much in the way of Christmas preparing this year compared to some years in the past. I did have one day off with the kids to do a few last minute preparations.
Last year, we did all sorts of homemade cards for various people. This year, I was only able to get Xander to do one. Why? Let's just say we had creative differences in that I wanted him to make cards for people, and he wanted to cut random shapes of paper. He's just obsessed with cutter paper these days. For daddy, though, he did agree to make a card. Yay! We all know daddy is the best and most deserving.
Santa apparently deserved some of our attention as well. After going to two stores, I finally found some pre-made sugar cookie dough to make something for Santa. If it weren't for the artistic experience, I think Santa would have probably preferred a different kind of cookies. In any case, Xander helped with the whole process while Aria mostly chewed on the cookie cutters.
Cookie Cutting
Cookie Frosting
End Result
My Cookies
Last year, we did all sorts of homemade cards for various people. This year, I was only able to get Xander to do one. Why? Let's just say we had creative differences in that I wanted him to make cards for people, and he wanted to cut random shapes of paper. He's just obsessed with cutter paper these days. For daddy, though, he did agree to make a card. Yay! We all know daddy is the best and most deserving.
Santa apparently deserved some of our attention as well. After going to two stores, I finally found some pre-made sugar cookie dough to make something for Santa. If it weren't for the artistic experience, I think Santa would have probably preferred a different kind of cookies. In any case, Xander helped with the whole process while Aria mostly chewed on the cookie cutters.
Cookie Cutting
Cookie Frosting
End Result
My Cookies
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Christmas Challenge
This year, for reasons that I won't go into here, I gave myself a challenge for my Christmas shopping. I tried to stick to buying as local as possible, buying used, or buying practical things that I would get anyway. The result is that I didn't succeed in many cases, but it was a learning experience none the less. I'll mention of few of the experiences below.
1) Wrapping - Well, it seems most wrapping paper and bows are made far away in China, but Scotch tape is made in the USA. I did end up getting both paper and tape, but many a times I held myself back from getting bows. It was really hard. I love bows, especially big giant, shiny bows for Christmas.
2) Online shopping - Since 2001, nearly 90% or greater of my holiday shopping has been online. I continued to stick with this model, but it did not mesh very well with my challenge. It is sometimes hard to figure out where things are made or from where they are distributed. I was impressed that Amazon did have a significant number of items showing up a "made in usa" search.
3) Software - A lot of software is made in the US, in fact, right here in Austin, TX. Who doesn't need software? Games? Personal organizational tools? There's an app for everything, right? Granted the hardware that runs the software is all made somewhere very far away.
4) Media - I invested a lot in media gifts. I know the blank paper, ink, DVDs are made and printed far away. There are a lot of good local artists and authors of all sorts out there. I probably should do more electronic media, but I just can't quite give up on real books. Change is a process. Maybe that is next year's challenge.
5) Craigslist - If you want to get good stuff, you cannot wait 'til the last minute. I ended up only finding only one thing off Craigslist this year. Maybe next year I need to set up some RSS feed searches so my software does the shopping for me. What fun is that though?
6) Food - I love giving and receiving this. Although these days I often find myself too busy to make food for my family, let alone others, I found tons of online resources to help me send the gift of food. Yay for farmers, chefs and restaurants.
7) Regifting - Yay that's right. Or at least, Xander is helping with this one. He's giving some of his hold things to Aria.
In any event, I enjoyed the shopping challenge this year and will likely try these rules on a more long term basis....hopefully, with better success rate. This is a new thing for me as I have previously only done budget challenges for my shopping. Previous years, I found myself with a lot more time to prepare for holiday giving. Previous years have had a lot different composition of things underneath the tree. Change is good. I think I needed this challenge to revitalize my interest in things beyond surviving my daily life.
1) Wrapping - Well, it seems most wrapping paper and bows are made far away in China, but Scotch tape is made in the USA. I did end up getting both paper and tape, but many a times I held myself back from getting bows. It was really hard. I love bows, especially big giant, shiny bows for Christmas.
2) Online shopping - Since 2001, nearly 90% or greater of my holiday shopping has been online. I continued to stick with this model, but it did not mesh very well with my challenge. It is sometimes hard to figure out where things are made or from where they are distributed. I was impressed that Amazon did have a significant number of items showing up a "made in usa" search.
3) Software - A lot of software is made in the US, in fact, right here in Austin, TX. Who doesn't need software? Games? Personal organizational tools? There's an app for everything, right? Granted the hardware that runs the software is all made somewhere very far away.
4) Media - I invested a lot in media gifts. I know the blank paper, ink, DVDs are made and printed far away. There are a lot of good local artists and authors of all sorts out there. I probably should do more electronic media, but I just can't quite give up on real books. Change is a process. Maybe that is next year's challenge.
5) Craigslist - If you want to get good stuff, you cannot wait 'til the last minute. I ended up only finding only one thing off Craigslist this year. Maybe next year I need to set up some RSS feed searches so my software does the shopping for me. What fun is that though?
6) Food - I love giving and receiving this. Although these days I often find myself too busy to make food for my family, let alone others, I found tons of online resources to help me send the gift of food. Yay for farmers, chefs and restaurants.
7) Regifting - Yay that's right. Or at least, Xander is helping with this one. He's giving some of his hold things to Aria.
In any event, I enjoyed the shopping challenge this year and will likely try these rules on a more long term basis....hopefully, with better success rate. This is a new thing for me as I have previously only done budget challenges for my shopping. Previous years, I found myself with a lot more time to prepare for holiday giving. Previous years have had a lot different composition of things underneath the tree. Change is good. I think I needed this challenge to revitalize my interest in things beyond surviving my daily life.
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