Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Obama leading McCain in multiple polls
*A number of polls are showing Obama leading since Friday’s debate. I think we’ll be seeing those numbers go up—ESPECIALLY once Senators Palin and Biden debate. A few recent polls linked below.*
************************************************************************
“Aside from all the Zogby polls that are very favorable for McCain, Obama has the momentum.
- Obama is inching closer in
- Obama is maintaining his lead in
- Obama is moving ahead of McCain in our weighted national polls... McCain was up 2% before the economic crisis. “
http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/
“Gallup
Momentum in his favor going into debate
Barack Obama leads John McCain, 49% to 44%, in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update. This is one of Obama’s best showings since the Republican National Convention, and suggests he had some momentum going into Friday night’s debate.”
http://www.gallup.com/tag/Gallup%2BDaily.aspx
“
Most debate watchers agreed both McCain and Obama would be able to handle the job of president if elected.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey is not a measurement of the views of all Americans, since only people who watched the debate were questioned and the audience included more Democrats than Republicans.
Fifty-one percent of those polled thought Obama did the better job in Friday night's debate, while 38 percent said John McCain did better.”
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/27/debate.poll/index.html
*Even Fox News is getting in on the action.*
“FOX News Poll: Obama Reclaims Lead Over McCain, 45% to 39%
by FOXNews.com
Barack Obama has recaptured the lead — 45 percent to 39 percent — over John McCain in the presidential race, according to a FOX News poll released Wednesday.”
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/24/fox-news-poll-obama-reclaims-lead-over-mccain-45-to-39/
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Thoughts on impending labor
Jim downloaded "The Business of Being Born" on Netflix and watched it last night, and today before he left for work he said, "I'm sorry you don't get to have a homebirth. Next time you're in the hospital and in labor, whenever you want to get up and walk around, I'll just unplug the monitors and we'll walk. If the nurses or doctors have an issue with it I'll support you and tell them it's your body and your choice and that's the way it is." Then after I talked to him tonight about the amount of money we're going to be paying with the new insurance, he suggested I consider switching to a midwife at this point, to get better care and also since we're going to be paying all this money anyway, we might as well pay a midwife instead of our horrible commercial insurance company. Which is sweet, but unfortunately no midwife would touch me at this point, being on insulin and being watched for a potential heart defect. Just the insulin alone risks me out of MBC. I really should have lost a lot of weight before I got pregnant, I might have avoided GD and all this headache.
I watched "The Business of Being Born" tonight and really liked it, though it kind of makes me want to cry. I never really considered homebirth, I've always felt safe in hospitals and (luckily) my two induced labors were successful and not extremely invasive. I'm not crunchy, which is how I kind of saw homebirths (like cloth diapering, eating organic, etc). I don't know that "natural" birth--at home or in a hospital--would make me feel accomplished or proud or successful; I just want the labor and birth to be over with, and I want the baby and myself to be healthy. There was a point when I was laboring on Wednesday (that I'll probably reach again) that I was in so much pain I would have happily taken a c-section with no regrets. I don't feel like I'll be strongly affected in a negative way if I end up having a c-section, mostly because I'll just be so relieved that the baby is out (and hopefully healthy) and it's over with. But in my rational mind, while researching induction and medical management of pregnancy, I definitely DON'T want a c-section because it *is* major surgery with a whole slew of potential complications. Rationally (though not emotionally) I would rather go through the pain of labor and even difficulty/potential risk of delivering a possibly macrosomic baby than have a c-section. Emotionally, the closer I get, the more I fear the labor and delivery. Which I know is counterproductive, and I'm working constantly on calming my mind, but it's hard to face what you know is going to be the worst pain of your life. I think even harder this time around, because I went through it twice before so I can't delude myself that it won't be that bad.
Incidentally (speaking of c-sections), here was my conversation with one of the doctors at my appointment this morning (his side):
"I know you're getting tired of all of this, everyone gets to the point at the end of pregnancy where they're just done and ready to give up. You will be having this baby in the next few weeks; if you don't go into labor before the 7th, either by induction or by c-section. Because sometimes you get to 5 cm and the baby is just too big to fit through the pelvis and then you'll need a c-section. So just hang in there, you're almost there."
Wasn't that encouraging? I didn't even say anything, just nodded. It's nice that a c-section is no big deal to one of us. What struck me is how casual he was about it, throwing out this mention of a surgery that is close to amputation and making it sound like a hair appointment. There must be a lot of malleable and uninformed women in the practice. It will be interesting to see where the next few weeks takes us.
I watched "The Business of Being Born" tonight and really liked it, though it kind of makes me want to cry. I never really considered homebirth, I've always felt safe in hospitals and (luckily) my two induced labors were successful and not extremely invasive. I'm not crunchy, which is how I kind of saw homebirths (like cloth diapering, eating organic, etc). I don't know that "natural" birth--at home or in a hospital--would make me feel accomplished or proud or successful; I just want the labor and birth to be over with, and I want the baby and myself to be healthy. There was a point when I was laboring on Wednesday (that I'll probably reach again) that I was in so much pain I would have happily taken a c-section with no regrets. I don't feel like I'll be strongly affected in a negative way if I end up having a c-section, mostly because I'll just be so relieved that the baby is out (and hopefully healthy) and it's over with. But in my rational mind, while researching induction and medical management of pregnancy, I definitely DON'T want a c-section because it *is* major surgery with a whole slew of potential complications. Rationally (though not emotionally) I would rather go through the pain of labor and even difficulty/potential risk of delivering a possibly macrosomic baby than have a c-section. Emotionally, the closer I get, the more I fear the labor and delivery. Which I know is counterproductive, and I'm working constantly on calming my mind, but it's hard to face what you know is going to be the worst pain of your life. I think even harder this time around, because I went through it twice before so I can't delude myself that it won't be that bad.
Incidentally (speaking of c-sections), here was my conversation with one of the doctors at my appointment this morning (his side):
"I know you're getting tired of all of this, everyone gets to the point at the end of pregnancy where they're just done and ready to give up. You will be having this baby in the next few weeks; if you don't go into labor before the 7th, either by induction or by c-section. Because sometimes you get to 5 cm and the baby is just too big to fit through the pelvis and then you'll need a c-section. So just hang in there, you're almost there."
Wasn't that encouraging? I didn't even say anything, just nodded. It's nice that a c-section is no big deal to one of us. What struck me is how casual he was about it, throwing out this mention of a surgery that is close to amputation and making it sound like a hair appointment. There must be a lot of malleable and uninformed women in the practice. It will be interesting to see where the next few weeks takes us.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Things you might hear at our house....
Amanda: I love you.
Me: I love you too, sweetie.
Amanda: No Mama, I was talking to the green spoon.
..........................................................................
Me: I'm going to leave Amanda at home while I take Alex to get his hair cut today.
Jim: Alex has a haircut, huh? Will they use a scissors or a train?
.............................................................................
Amanda (when I sat down to play Candy Land with her): Ooh look! The Candy Land castle game, with color-matching fun!
(We're cutting back on TV.)
...............................................................................
Amanda (upon seeing I taped a sheet to the wall and draped the ends over bookshelves to make a little fort): A TENT! Oh, THANK you Mama! THANK you for my tent!!! (Big hugs for me before running to set up camp--what can I say, the kid is easy to please.)
Me: I love you too, sweetie.
Amanda: No Mama, I was talking to the green spoon.
..............................
Me: I'm going to leave Amanda at home while I take Alex to get his hair cut today.
Jim: Alex has a haircut, huh? Will they use a scissors or a train?
..............................
Amanda (when I sat down to play Candy Land with her): Ooh look! The Candy Land castle game, with color-matching fun!
(We're cutting back on TV.)
..............................
Amanda (upon seeing I taped a sheet to the wall and draped the ends over bookshelves to make a little fort): A TENT! Oh, THANK you Mama! THANK you for my tent!!! (Big hugs for me before running to set up camp--what can I say, the kid is easy to please.)
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Rough day for Alex
First, Amanda's ballet class:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18127374@N00/sets/72157603858109858/
Last Friday was her first class, and she LOVED it. I almost passed out from the incredible cuteness of it. The teachers were wonderful, very interactive with the girls and understanding of the occasional antsy-ness. Amanda followed most of the instructions, but a few times she got distracted and did her own thing. For the most part though she watched what the teachers and other kids were doing and followed along, turning to wave to me through the glass a few times. The ballet class was in a mirrored room separated from the waiting area by observation windows, so some of the pictures have reflections. Also when the girls sat in a circle for the first part of the class, Amanda ended up in a place where she was pretty much directly facing the opposite wall, so I could only get pictures of her back. You can see she was having fun though.
The teachers went through introductions and talked for a good ten minutes, then got into stretching and some ballet positions. The girls lined up against the wall and practiced moving across the room in different ways, and then everyone gathered in the middle to hear a short story (Rapunzel). After the story, the teachers brought out costumes and made up a simple routine for the little ballerinas to act out the story. Since it was the first day, the parents got to sit in for the last ten minutes of the class and the ballerinas did a short recital. When all the parents and siblings came into the room, Amanda called out "Hi, Mommy and Daddy! I'm a beautiful princess! I'm doing ballet class!" Then while we (parents and siblings) were sitting against the wall on the other side of the room, Amanda kept calling out to Alex, "Come here, buddy! Come do ballet class with me!" Which was especially funny because Jim and I were trying to keep Alex with us instead of joining (disrupting) the class.
I uploaded a few video clips on youtube, here are my favorites:
Amanda walking on tiptoe across the room:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO3YdIQYUGs
and Amanda acting out Rapunzel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH4JQqk9eZE
She just loved the class, and I'm looking forward to going again on Friday. This week the story is "Mary Poppins", which should be fun as she really likes that movie. This class runs weekly until May or June, so I'm glad she'll still have something fun to do after the baby is born.
Now on a less cheerful note...poor Alex had a rough day. He's fine, and sleeping now, but I just feel bad for everything he went through today. He was crabby when I was changing his diaper this morning, but I chalked it up to waking up too early and the morning moodiness he usually goes through. On the drive home from Amanda's gymnastics class, he started kicking the back of my seat and crying, saying "Ow diaper! No diaper!" so I thought he might have diaper rash or maybe constipation. I changed him as soon as we got home but couldn't see anything wrong, and he didn't seem to have a problem getting a new diaper on.
Then I was getting ready for lunch and he was playing with a battery-powered toy train, when all of a sudden he started screaming. I ran to him and saw he had the train caught in his hair--the train wheels are really strong and his hair is in desperate need of a cut, and when he put the train up to his head (because the wheels tickle), his hair got tangled so tightly that the wheels stopped moving. I grabbed the train and turned it off, and tried to get him to stay still while I reached for scissors. But he pulled away really fast, so fast that the train ripped out a clump of hair about the size of my thumb. I can't imagine how much that hurt, I almost started crying (and feel like crying now). He cried of course, and I held him and rocked him and told him to let it out, that that must have hurt and said a lot of "my poor baby" and "I'm so sorry, little guy".
Two minutes later he had calmed down and was fine, five minutes later he was running across the couch and laughing--I'm amazed at how quickly he recovered. I rocked him for a while and put him down for a nap. He slept about ten minutes then woke up crying, saying "hurts" and "ouch". I went to him and he touched his head and said "choo choo hat, no choo choo, hurts" and then pulled at his diaper and said "no darpur, hurts". So I held him for a while, and changed his diaper. He didn't have diaper rash and his urine wasn't any different, but when I touched his penis he pushed me away and said, "No touch, no darpur Mommy. Hurts. No touching." He was fine in a clean diaper for a while--totally normal for a good half hour, running around and laughing and playing--then he came to me and told me he wanted his diaper off and it hurt again. So I called the doctor and took him in, thinking it might be a UTI.
At the doctor he was extremely well-behaved, cheerful and cooperative, except for when she examined his penis. She was super gentle and he was fine when it was over, but I was so sad that he was in any pain at all. Turns out he doesn't have a UTI but has an infection in his penis, like a yeast infection or something, so he's on antibiotics for the next 10 days. The doctor said she was surprised he was being so well-behaved because an infection like that is extremely painful. So we started the medicine tonight, and I gave him some Tylenol also and he's been sleeping well since.
Funny story: Jim was trying to get Alex to open his mouth so Jim could squirt in the medicine, but Alex scrunched up his face and turned away. Jim told him he had to take the medicine to feel all better, and Alex said "No seek-you" ("no thank you")! He said that a few times, which was super funny. (We finally got him to take it when we bribed him with cookies.)
So everything is fine now, it's pretty amusing looking back at it but sure hasn't been a fun day for him. He talked about it for a while before bed--"No choo choo hat, choo choo hurts my head" and "No touching, no toot darpur" ("toot" is his word for peeing and pooping, anything elimination-related). He doesn't seem to have any ill effects, has been his normal cheerful self and so far has slept well through the first half of the night. But his poor head! Here are two pictures I got of the bald spot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18127374@N00/sets/72157603861376361/
I still feel so bad about that, I feel like I should have prevented it. I'm definitely getting him in for a haircut next week. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick this infection and we'll have an uneventful next few days.
Sorry this was so long, I just wanted to share with you. Now I'm off to bed myself.
'Night,First, Amanda's ballet class:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18127374@N00/sets/72157603858109858/
Last Friday was her first class, and she LOVED it. I almost passed out from the incredible cuteness of it. The teachers were wonderful, very interactive with the girls and understanding of the occasional antsy-ness. Amanda followed most of the instructions, but a few times she got distracted and did her own thing. For the most part though she watched what the teachers and other kids were doing and followed along, turning to wave to me through the glass a few times. The ballet class was in a mirrored room separated from the waiting area by observation windows, so some of the pictures have reflections. Also when the girls sat in a circle for the first part of the class, Amanda ended up in a place where she was pretty much directly facing the opposite wall, so I could only get pictures of her back. You can see she was having fun though.
The teachers went through introductions and talked for a good ten minutes, then got into stretching and some ballet positions. The girls lined up against the wall and practiced moving across the room in different ways, and then everyone gathered in the middle to hear a short story (Rapunzel). After the story, the teachers brought out costumes and made up a simple routine for the little ballerinas to act out the story. Since it was the first day, the parents got to sit in for the last ten minutes of the class and the ballerinas did a short recital. When all the parents and siblings came into the room, Amanda called out "Hi, Mommy and Daddy! I'm a beautiful princess! I'm doing ballet class!" Then while we (parents and siblings) were sitting against the wall on the other side of the room, Amanda kept calling out to Alex, "Come here, buddy! Come do ballet class with me!" Which was especially funny because Jim and I were trying to keep Alex with us instead of joining (disrupting) the class.
I uploaded a few video clips on youtube, here are my favorites:
Amanda walking on tiptoe across the room:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO3YdIQYUGs
and Amanda acting out Rapunzel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH4JQqk9eZE
She just loved the class, and I'm looking forward to going again on Friday. This week the story is "Mary Poppins", which should be fun as she really likes that movie. This class runs weekly until May or June, so I'm glad she'll still have something fun to do after the baby is born.
Now on a less cheerful note...poor Alex had a rough day. He's fine, and sleeping now, but I just feel bad for everything he went through today. He was crabby when I was changing his diaper this morning, but I chalked it up to waking up too early and the morning moodiness he usually goes through. On the drive home from Amanda's gymnastics class, he started kicking the back of my seat and crying, saying "Ow diaper! No diaper!" so I thought he might have diaper rash or maybe constipation. I changed him as soon as we got home but couldn't see anything wrong, and he didn't seem to have a problem getting a new diaper on.
Then I was getting ready for lunch and he was playing with a battery-powered toy train, when all of a sudden he started screaming. I ran to him and saw he had the train caught in his hair--the train wheels are really strong and his hair is in desperate need of a cut, and when he put the train up to his head (because the wheels tickle), his hair got tangled so tightly that the wheels stopped moving. I grabbed the train and turned it off, and tried to get him to stay still while I reached for scissors. But he pulled away really fast, so fast that the train ripped out a clump of hair about the size of my thumb. I can't imagine how much that hurt, I almost started crying (and feel like crying now). He cried of course, and I held him and rocked him and told him to let it out, that that must have hurt and said a lot of "my poor baby" and "I'm so sorry, little guy".
Two minutes later he had calmed down and was fine, five minutes later he was running across the couch and laughing--I'm amazed at how quickly he recovered. I rocked him for a while and put him down for a nap. He slept about ten minutes then woke up crying, saying "hurts" and "ouch". I went to him and he touched his head and said "choo choo hat, no choo choo, hurts" and then pulled at his diaper and said "no darpur, hurts". So I held him for a while, and changed his diaper. He didn't have diaper rash and his urine wasn't any different, but when I touched his penis he pushed me away and said, "No touch, no darpur Mommy. Hurts. No touching." He was fine in a clean diaper for a while--totally normal for a good half hour, running around and laughing and playing--then he came to me and told me he wanted his diaper off and it hurt again. So I called the doctor and took him in, thinking it might be a UTI.
At the doctor he was extremely well-behaved, cheerful and cooperative, except for when she examined his penis. She was super gentle and he was fine when it was over, but I was so sad that he was in any pain at all. Turns out he doesn't have a UTI but has an infection in his penis, like a yeast infection or something, so he's on antibiotics for the next 10 days. The doctor said she was surprised he was being so well-behaved because an infection like that is extremely painful. So we started the medicine tonight, and I gave him some Tylenol also and he's been sleeping well since.
Funny story: Jim was trying to get Alex to open his mouth so Jim could squirt in the medicine, but Alex scrunched up his face and turned away. Jim told him he had to take the medicine to feel all better, and Alex said "No seek-you" ("no thank you")! He said that a few times, which was super funny. (We finally got him to take it when we bribed him with cookies.)
So everything is fine now, it's pretty amusing looking back at it but sure hasn't been a fun day for him. He talked about it for a while before bed--"No choo choo hat, choo choo hurts my head" and "No touching, no toot darpur" ("toot" is his word for peeing and pooping, anything elimination-related). He doesn't seem to have any ill effects, has been his normal cheerful self and so far has slept well through the first half of the night. But his poor head! Here are two pictures I got of the bald spot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18127374@N00/sets/72157603861376361/
I still feel so bad about that, I feel like I should have prevented it. I'm definitely getting him in for a haircut next week. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick this infection and we'll have an uneventful next few days.
http://www.flickr.com/photos
Last Friday was her first class, and she LOVED it. I almost passed out from the incredible cuteness of it. The teachers were wonderful, very interactive with the girls and understanding of the occasional antsy-ness. Amanda followed most of the instructions, but a few times she got distracted and did her own thing. For the most part though she watched what the teachers and other kids were doing and followed along, turning to wave to me through the glass a few times. The ballet class was in a mirrored room separated from the waiting area by observation windows, so some of the pictures have reflections. Also when the girls sat in a circle for the first part of the class, Amanda ended up in a place where she was pretty much directly facing the opposite wall, so I could only get pictures of her back. You can see she was having fun though.
The teachers went through introductions and talked for a good ten minutes, then got into stretching and some ballet positions. The girls lined up against the wall and practiced moving across the room in different ways, and then everyone gathered in the middle to hear a short story (Rapunzel). After the story, the teachers brought out costumes and made up a simple routine for the little ballerinas to act out the story. Since it was the first day, the parents got to sit in for the last ten minutes of the class and the ballerinas did a short recital. When all the parents and siblings came into the room, Amanda called out "Hi, Mommy and Daddy! I'm a beautiful princess! I'm doing ballet class!" Then while we (parents and siblings) were sitting against the wall on the other side of the room, Amanda kept calling out to Alex, "Come here, buddy! Come do ballet class with me!" Which was especially funny because Jim and I were trying to keep Alex with us instead of joining (disrupting) the class.
I uploaded a few video clips on youtube, here are my favorites:
Amanda walking on tiptoe across the room:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
and Amanda acting out Rapunzel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
She just loved the class, and I'm looking forward to going again on Friday. This week the story is "Mary Poppins", which should be fun as she really likes that movie. This class runs weekly until May or June, so I'm glad she'll still have something fun to do after the baby is born.
Now on a less cheerful note...poor Alex had a rough day. He's fine, and sleeping now, but I just feel bad for everything he went through today. He was crabby when I was changing his diaper this morning, but I chalked it up to waking up too early and the morning moodiness he usually goes through. On the drive home from Amanda's gymnastics class, he started kicking the back of my seat and crying, saying "Ow diaper! No diaper!" so I thought he might have diaper rash or maybe constipation. I changed him as soon as we got home but couldn't see anything wrong, and he didn't seem to have a problem getting a new diaper on.
Then I was getting ready for lunch and he was playing with a battery-powered toy train, when all of a sudden he started screaming. I ran to him and saw he had the train caught in his hair--the train wheels are really strong and his hair is in desperate need of a cut, and when he put the train up to his head (because the wheels tickle), his hair got tangled so tightly that the wheels stopped moving. I grabbed the train and turned it off, and tried to get him to stay still while I reached for scissors. But he pulled away really fast, so fast that the train ripped out a clump of hair about the size of my thumb. I can't imagine how much that hurt, I almost started crying (and feel like crying now). He cried of course, and I held him and rocked him and told him to let it out, that that must have hurt and said a lot of "my poor baby" and "I'm so sorry, little guy".
Two minutes later he had calmed down and was fine, five minutes later he was running across the couch and laughing--I'm amazed at how quickly he recovered. I rocked him for a while and put him down for a nap. He slept about ten minutes then woke up crying, saying "hurts" and "ouch". I went to him and he touched his head and said "choo choo hat, no choo choo, hurts" and then pulled at his diaper and said "no darpur, hurts". So I held him for a while, and changed his diaper. He didn't have diaper rash and his urine wasn't any different, but when I touched his penis he pushed me away and said, "No touch, no darpur Mommy. Hurts. No touching." He was fine in a clean diaper for a while--totally normal for a good half hour, running around and laughing and playing--then he came to me and told me he wanted his diaper off and it hurt again. So I called the doctor and took him in, thinking it might be a UTI.
At the doctor he was extremely well-behaved, cheerful and cooperative, except for when she examined his penis. She was super gentle and he was fine when it was over, but I was so sad that he was in any pain at all. Turns out he doesn't have a UTI but has an infection in his penis, like a yeast infection or something, so he's on antibiotics for the next 10 days. The doctor said she was surprised he was being so well-behaved because an infection like that is extremely painful. So we started the medicine tonight, and I gave him some Tylenol also and he's been sleeping well since.
Funny story: Jim was trying to get Alex to open his mouth so Jim could squirt in the medicine, but Alex scrunched up his face and turned away. Jim told him he had to take the medicine to feel all better, and Alex said "No seek-you" ("no thank you")! He said that a few times, which was super funny. (We finally got him to take it when we bribed him with cookies.)
So everything is fine now, it's pretty amusing looking back at it but sure hasn't been a fun day for him. He talked about it for a while before bed--"No choo choo hat, choo choo hurts my head" and "No touching, no toot darpur" ("toot" is his word for peeing and pooping, anything elimination-related). He doesn't seem to have any ill effects, has been his normal cheerful self and so far has slept well through the first half of the night. But his poor head! Here are two pictures I got of the bald spot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos
I still feel so bad about that, I feel like I should have prevented it. I'm definitely getting him in for a haircut next week. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick this infection and we'll have an uneventful next few days.
Sorry this was so long, I just wanted to share with you. Now I'm off to bed myself.
'Night,First, Amanda's ballet class:
http://www.flickr.com/photos
Last Friday was her first class, and she LOVED it. I almost passed out from the incredible cuteness of it. The teachers were wonderful, very interactive with the girls and understanding of the occasional antsy-ness. Amanda followed most of the instructions, but a few times she got distracted and did her own thing. For the most part though she watched what the teachers and other kids were doing and followed along, turning to wave to me through the glass a few times. The ballet class was in a mirrored room separated from the waiting area by observation windows, so some of the pictures have reflections. Also when the girls sat in a circle for the first part of the class, Amanda ended up in a place where she was pretty much directly facing the opposite wall, so I could only get pictures of her back. You can see she was having fun though.
The teachers went through introductions and talked for a good ten minutes, then got into stretching and some ballet positions. The girls lined up against the wall and practiced moving across the room in different ways, and then everyone gathered in the middle to hear a short story (Rapunzel). After the story, the teachers brought out costumes and made up a simple routine for the little ballerinas to act out the story. Since it was the first day, the parents got to sit in for the last ten minutes of the class and the ballerinas did a short recital. When all the parents and siblings came into the room, Amanda called out "Hi, Mommy and Daddy! I'm a beautiful princess! I'm doing ballet class!" Then while we (parents and siblings) were sitting against the wall on the other side of the room, Amanda kept calling out to Alex, "Come here, buddy! Come do ballet class with me!" Which was especially funny because Jim and I were trying to keep Alex with us instead of joining (disrupting) the class.
I uploaded a few video clips on youtube, here are my favorites:
Amanda walking on tiptoe across the room:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
and Amanda acting out Rapunzel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
She just loved the class, and I'm looking forward to going again on Friday. This week the story is "Mary Poppins", which should be fun as she really likes that movie. This class runs weekly until May or June, so I'm glad she'll still have something fun to do after the baby is born.
Now on a less cheerful note...poor Alex had a rough day. He's fine, and sleeping now, but I just feel bad for everything he went through today. He was crabby when I was changing his diaper this morning, but I chalked it up to waking up too early and the morning moodiness he usually goes through. On the drive home from Amanda's gymnastics class, he started kicking the back of my seat and crying, saying "Ow diaper! No diaper!" so I thought he might have diaper rash or maybe constipation. I changed him as soon as we got home but couldn't see anything wrong, and he didn't seem to have a problem getting a new diaper on.
Then I was getting ready for lunch and he was playing with a battery-powered toy train, when all of a sudden he started screaming. I ran to him and saw he had the train caught in his hair--the train wheels are really strong and his hair is in desperate need of a cut, and when he put the train up to his head (because the wheels tickle), his hair got tangled so tightly that the wheels stopped moving. I grabbed the train and turned it off, and tried to get him to stay still while I reached for scissors. But he pulled away really fast, so fast that the train ripped out a clump of hair about the size of my thumb. I can't imagine how much that hurt, I almost started crying (and feel like crying now). He cried of course, and I held him and rocked him and told him to let it out, that that must have hurt and said a lot of "my poor baby" and "I'm so sorry, little guy".
Two minutes later he had calmed down and was fine, five minutes later he was running across the couch and laughing--I'm amazed at how quickly he recovered. I rocked him for a while and put him down for a nap. He slept about ten minutes then woke up crying, saying "hurts" and "ouch". I went to him and he touched his head and said "choo choo hat, no choo choo, hurts" and then pulled at his diaper and said "no darpur, hurts". So I held him for a while, and changed his diaper. He didn't have diaper rash and his urine wasn't any different, but when I touched his penis he pushed me away and said, "No touch, no darpur Mommy. Hurts. No touching." He was fine in a clean diaper for a while--totally normal for a good half hour, running around and laughing and playing--then he came to me and told me he wanted his diaper off and it hurt again. So I called the doctor and took him in, thinking it might be a UTI.
At the doctor he was extremely well-behaved, cheerful and cooperative, except for when she examined his penis. She was super gentle and he was fine when it was over, but I was so sad that he was in any pain at all. Turns out he doesn't have a UTI but has an infection in his penis, like a yeast infection or something, so he's on antibiotics for the next 10 days. The doctor said she was surprised he was being so well-behaved because an infection like that is extremely painful. So we started the medicine tonight, and I gave him some Tylenol also and he's been sleeping well since.
Funny story: Jim was trying to get Alex to open his mouth so Jim could squirt in the medicine, but Alex scrunched up his face and turned away. Jim told him he had to take the medicine to feel all better, and Alex said "No seek-you" ("no thank you")! He said that a few times, which was super funny. (We finally got him to take it when we bribed him with cookies.)
So everything is fine now, it's pretty amusing looking back at it but sure hasn't been a fun day for him. He talked about it for a while before bed--"No choo choo hat, choo choo hurts my head" and "No touching, no toot darpur" ("toot" is his word for peeing and pooping, anything elimination-related). He doesn't seem to have any ill effects, has been his normal cheerful self and so far has slept well through the first half of the night. But his poor head! Here are two pictures I got of the bald spot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos
I still feel so bad about that, I feel like I should have prevented it. I'm definitely getting him in for a haircut next week. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick this infection and we'll have an uneventful next few days.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Huh?
What clown signed me up to receive Frederick's of Hollywood
catalogs? I wouldn't look like that even if I wasn't 7 months pregnant. Alex enjoys the catalogs though. Jim says to take a pictures so we have proof that (contrary to Jim's opinion) Alex isn't into dudes.
catalogs? I wouldn't look like that even if I wasn't 7 months pregnant. Alex enjoys the catalogs though. Jim says to take a pictures so we have proof that (contrary to Jim's opinion) Alex isn't into dudes.
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