All Boy

Today is a Max and Mommy day. Alex is at work and it's my day off to play with my boy. We started out the morning with a 9:00 dentist appointment. This is Max's 2nd trip to the dentist. You may remember that he chipped his tooth when he was 13 months or so.

Upon arriving, Max loved the waiting room. There was a train table, play kitchen, aquarium and best of all it was empty so he had it all to himself. Once in the exam room he did well. I won't say he enjoyed the dentist brushing his teeth but nobody left the room requiring first aid so I call that a success. Everything checked out well and he loved the balloon he earned at the end. I found it amusing that as he was dancing around, bopping his balloon the dentist observed, "My, he's all boy, isn't he?" Is that a compliment? I suppose it's more an observation than anything. So thanks, I think.

After the dentist I figured he deserved a reward so it was off to the play area at the Museum of Science & Industry. Max had a great time playing although he had some issues in the sand pit. There seems to be a lack of understanding that taking the sand shovel from the boy next to you doesn't go over very well. When the boy tried to take it back, Max swung it at him and said, "Hit!" We made ammends and then a quick exit from the sand pit. Yeah, I guess he is all boy.

Words to Live By

I saw this in a work e-mail signature line and thought it was beautiful....

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

How true.

My Little Hercules

Quick update on Max's 18 month ped. appointment today....

-He's 35" tall and still "off the charts" for height

-He's 97%ile for head circumference. He truly does have a Sample head.

-He's just shy of 30 pounds which is 90th %ile for weight

He was also the cranky recipient of 2 shots today. I've heard that there are none at the 2-year check up so that's an appointment to look forward to. Overall, he's doing great!

April 30th!

I had an OB appointment today. For those of you familiar with prenatal care, this one included a lovely little something called the glucose tolerance test. For those of you not familiar, this test involves chugging this suped-up glucose drink that is loaded with sugar. My version tasted like flat orange soda. Then you rush to the lab to make sure that a phlebotomist can suck several vials of blood out of you precisely one hour later. The combination of the extreme sugar high and nervous adrenaline is horrendous.

At my appointment all measured well with Baby and myself. This brought me to the question of when will my doctor know if the baby is larger than average? The answer was that at this point what separates an average baby from a large baby is only a matter of ounces so not quite yet. This led to an extensive discussion regarding attempting a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) or scheduling a repeat c-section. Apparently I'm likely to repeat my history of a large baby and unfavorable cervix. I would also need to switch hospitals to do a VBAC. Then he started citing these horrifying stats regarding ruptured scars and adverse events. Not to say he was all doom and gloom but there was enough information there to plant my feet firmly in the repeat c-section camp.

Me: So, Dr. So-and-So, if it's a c-section then when do we talk about when to schedule that?

Doc: How about right now? Let's see (referencing calendar behind him). You're due date is May 8th. You're 39 weeks on May 1. What do you think of May Day?

Me: What's the significance of May Day anyway? Isn't it a pagan holiday?

Doc: Well, how about April 30th? That's actually better because I'm at the hospital that day.

Me: Okay, April 30th it is.

So mark your calendars folks. Baby is scheduled to appear Thursday, April 30th!

Spend the Money!

Alex and I have always been savvy shoppers when it comes to baby gear. $300-some jogging stroller? No way! A video monitor? Ha! The audio-only will suffice. I pride myself on my borderline obsessive research regarding which products are best. I'm like an encyclopedia of baby product user reviews, sales prices and model features.

As with all aspects of parenting there are always lessons to be learned.

That $300-some dollar stroller? Yeah, we just bought one last week. It's the BOB Revolution (pictured above) and I'll be the first to admit we should have bought one to begin with. No, I don't run, but we take 2-3 walks a day during decent weather and the Graco and InStep just don't cut it. The BOB is beautiful and worth every last cent for our lifestyle. Lesson learned: spend the money!

That video monitor? It arrived in the mail today and I'm currently watching my son put himself to sleep on a 2.5" night vision screen. That $40 audio-only monitor we received? I can count on one hand the number of times it came in handy. Now I can check in on Max from a floor away without having to open his door and risk waking him. Not to mention how cute it is seeing how he snuggles into the corner, grabs his lion lovey and drifts to sleep. I had no cluewhat he was up to. Lesson learned: spend the money!

One item of note regarding the baby video monitor.... Alex was home alone when it arrived. He pulled it out of the box and started connecting cords. When he turned the monitor on a sleeping baby appeared. Huh? The camera wasn't on yet and that wasn't our son. Was it a video simulation? No, upon closer inspection it was Maxwell from next door. Ends up that the next door neighbors have a similar model and our receivers are able to pick up each other's signals. Once our camera is on we no longer pick up the signal (nor if their camera is off). We went to Maxwell's birthday this evening and passed on the news so that Mike and Melissa are aware. They're moving in a few weeks so it shouldn't be a long-term issue. Never the less, I'll be sure to turn the camera off when it's not in use.

An Unwelcome Guest

The Linke family has an unwelcome guest in our home. He goes by the name of norovirus. Talk about the pits. You can see from my previous blog that Max was having some stomach issues on Tuesday. By noon that day I had fallen victim. By the evening I was unable to hold down even sips of water. We were quite the duo.

I was a bit worried about dehydration with Baby so the doctor prescribed me an anti-nausea med which seemed to do the trick. Other than an hour or 2 of wakefulness, I slept until 4 p.m. the next day. I have delirious memories of Max and Alex's voices. WonderAlex took great care of Max, who was feeling much better by then. Alex even cleaned the entire house. We're talking under the couches, beds, everything!

Today I was glad to be headed back to work as I was a bit stressed about what the sick time was doing to my balance for maternity leave. However when I showed up to my mom's house this morning she had fallen victim to norovirus as well. Unfortunately my niece had stayed the night so I'm hoping and praying that she doesn't get sick as well. So I'm back at home today. Not much that I can do about that. I'm just hopeful that Mom is the last victim in the ugly chain.

Wishing you and your families good health!

Update: Max and I took a trip to Nana's to drop off some get well items. On the way home I saw him yawning and decided to keep an eye on him in the rearview mirror. I won't desribe what followed but let's just say it's going to take a few days for me to clean his car seat out.

Rough Day but Cute Kid

Max had a rough evening yesterday and went to sleep earlier than usual. We blamed his mood on the fact that he hadn't napped well. This morning I was pleased that he slept in. Imagine my surprise when I walked in his room to find a crusty, puke smelling baby once he woke. Poor kid! He has his first stomach flu. It has been quite a morning. I won't go into details, I promise! He's on nap #2 right now so I'm entertaining myself by pulling photos off the camera. Thought I'd share a few....