Tag Archives: colds

Anatomy of a slide

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While the holidays and new year break provided a nice break from scrambling to get in the car by 8am with everyone fed, washed and dressed it also looked like a scene out of Contagion.  Mark, Viv, Rex and I passed around colds and coughs for weeks.  Highlights being when I got a double pulled muscle on my side from coughing.

“what part of your body?” asked my neighbor Laurie

I gave her a response which showed living with Chef Peel has rubbed off on me.

“If you were to cut me up it would be my flank”

“I don’t understand as I have forgotten my high school butcher classes” she deadpanned.

Mark bought me a black compression band.  For two days when I coughed it made me wince.  A couple times the pain was akin to labor pains.  I looked like a UPS delivery man.

Then the “night of hundred barfs”.  A few days period where I was the only one unscathed.

The consequence of these winter maladies is that despite living in a perfect climate little time is spent outdoors scampering and basking in our blue skies.  But, RIGHT before the Four horseman of the Apocalypse rode in Rex and I went to a nearby park.

Usually I think ” I wish I had my camera”.  This day I did.  I wanted to record the beats of the joy and discovery of a two year old boy.

Finding a hole.
slide
Feeling the sun.
slide
“momma watch”
slide

Every curve, the wind in his curls, which I know from his sister will soon flattened.
slide
slide

Mission accomplished
slide

Rex is wearing his new favorite shirt. We bought from a nice guy at the Renegade craft fair. It’s from Orangeheat

Today is the first day our rag tag group will try this park again since Vivien threw up there.

Wonder if they will let us in?

Blogging and Motherhood

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Been on a blog semi-holiday since I’m still trying to get the hang of a newborn and having two children. Just when it seemed like I could handle it, the kids and I caught colds. Felt so bad that little Rex got sick. Vivien was nearly a year before she got sick. My body was impervious to all ills while pregnant, but now that nature took its protective coating off, I feel every ding and zing.

Here’s a photo of me trying to blog while Rex seemed like he was going to sleep and Viv was the park with a neighbor friend. A pacifier can be so helpful or such a pain. Here he wanted it, but every time it fell out he was crying. And it fell out every 10 seconds. Thus I was getting stuff done at 10-second increments. Hard to know when to binky and when not too. Maybe the present will help?

I am doing much better though then after Vivien. There is nothing like new motherhood when you are really in the “what the f%^&!!!” mode. The first two weeks with Rex waking up at 1 and 4 a.m. for feedings was no biggie. And I was so excited by him. But now, I’m nearly in a coma when I do. Mark is good about helping. I nurse, nudge him, and he takes Rex for burping and trying to get him back down. Rex is big enough that the doc says he doesn’t need to be woken up for feedings yet. Rex has not gotten this memo.

By the way, if I post blogs where I say the same thing multiple times, forgive me… I can’t remember what I have said or done…

Will This Cold Ever End?

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Hey people, I have to say keeping all the balls up and having a newborn with a cold when I have one myself is challenging. We are now both on week 2 of this cold. It’s not bad, but durable. Rex wakes up a lot from about 4 to 7am, which are the key REM hours for sleep. It breaks our heart to hear his stuffy breathing. He has been doing a bit better when we put him in his vibey seat (vibe off, cause that’s a lot of batteries) per doctor suggestions.

The upright is better than the lying down. But frankly, after I nurse him in bed, I’m often too pooped to put him back in the vibey, so we both pass out together in bed. And he feels so yummy and cuddly, but then he wakes up more. But you know how beat tired you are that you can’t even get out of bed? Need to work on that.

My other challenge is to get Vivien to school on time. I think she’s been on time once since Rex was born. Eight a.m. comes so fast.

Travel You Pay For

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Not in the money sense but in the exhaustion, dirty house, cranky child way.

We got back to LA from NYC late last night. God, was I glad to leave. Love NYC, but when the urine on the street mixes with a heat wave, the smell fills your nostrils and makes you wonder why people pay so much in rent to live there. (More later on plane travel with a toddler. Oy vey.)

I got up early for work today and was looking forward to that nap with Vivien. Prior to her nap she was in a fit state I have rarely seen. As I was trying to deal with her, my stepson was watching TV and I thought, hmm, no wonder he rarely brings friends over here. You know when your kid is really wound up and you can’t figure out why? Except for the fact that her time clock is off? And there it is, yes, snot out of the nose; Viv has a little cold. It made me stay calmer. I didn’t lose my cool.

Finally got her to sleep and I drifted off to sleep for a few glorious minutes. Then the phone rang. Twice. I understand murder.