Thursday, November 28, 2013
Vivian's New Skill
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Trying to do Work
And so of course I'm checking Facebook and writing a post, but it reminded me of a day earlier this week. I just finished teaching a course to teachers in Boston and with Vivian not sleeping because of her congestion this week, she'd wake up every night at around 9:00, just as I finished doing things around the house and sat down to prepare or grade.
The other night I got her to back to sleep on our bed and opened the computer to get back to work. She really was sound asleep, when all of a sudden, behind the open laptop a head appeared and then two little hands.
So much for Mama working.
The other night I got her to back to sleep on our bed and opened the computer to get back to work. She really was sound asleep, when all of a sudden, behind the open laptop a head appeared and then two little hands.
So much for Mama working.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Vivian Cooks
Vivian has a unique way of "cooking" at the little kitchen set. Either standing on the oven door or in the basket of food.
Chris's Phone
I was at work the other day when I missed a call from Sam's school. The kids have both had horrible colds for the past few weeks, so I figured he'd developed a fever. I called back and got the school secretary on the phone.
"Good morning," she said, "we wanted to let you know that we have Christopher's phone."
"Excuse me?" I said.
"We have Christopher's phone." I figured Chris had left it when he dropped Sam off that morning. She continued, "Samuel had his father's phone."
Oh.
"Oh. Really? He did?"
"Yes, we have it here now in case your husband is looking for it." Which of course he was. I called Chris's office and got his office manager. When I asked for him, she said he wasn't in the office because he was busy looking for his phone. She said he was in a horrible mood and retracing his travels that day to find it.
"Well," I interrupted, "I happen to know where it is. Sam has it."
She didn't stop laughing for about a minute.
When I hung up I noticed that I had a missed FaceTime call from Chris's iPhone from a couple of hours earlier. So Sam not only had the phone, but had tried to FaceTime me.
Chris and I met at the school, as we weren't able to communicate about who was doing pick up. I made him retrieve the phone from Sam's teacher, who didn't seem thrilled as she apparently had heard it vibrating multiple times, but couldn't locate it. They had found it in Sam's nap bag at nap time. It's still not clear how it got in there. I did clarify with Sam that the FaceTime call had been from Sam and his Spanish teacher, who seemed amused that the phone was there.
A few years ago, I had to stop several of my fifth grade students from texting and Facebooking in the bathroom during math class. I had to call their parents and explain what was going on and that I was going to have to confiscate their phones if it happened again. Now I was getting calls from my three year old's school. Karma?
"Good morning," she said, "we wanted to let you know that we have Christopher's phone."
"Excuse me?" I said.
"We have Christopher's phone." I figured Chris had left it when he dropped Sam off that morning. She continued, "Samuel had his father's phone."
Oh.
"Oh. Really? He did?"
"Yes, we have it here now in case your husband is looking for it." Which of course he was. I called Chris's office and got his office manager. When I asked for him, she said he wasn't in the office because he was busy looking for his phone. She said he was in a horrible mood and retracing his travels that day to find it.
"Well," I interrupted, "I happen to know where it is. Sam has it."
She didn't stop laughing for about a minute.
When I hung up I noticed that I had a missed FaceTime call from Chris's iPhone from a couple of hours earlier. So Sam not only had the phone, but had tried to FaceTime me.
Chris and I met at the school, as we weren't able to communicate about who was doing pick up. I made him retrieve the phone from Sam's teacher, who didn't seem thrilled as she apparently had heard it vibrating multiple times, but couldn't locate it. They had found it in Sam's nap bag at nap time. It's still not clear how it got in there. I did clarify with Sam that the FaceTime call had been from Sam and his Spanish teacher, who seemed amused that the phone was there.
A few years ago, I had to stop several of my fifth grade students from texting and Facebooking in the bathroom during math class. I had to call their parents and explain what was going on and that I was going to have to confiscate their phones if it happened again. Now I was getting calls from my three year old's school. Karma?
Friday, November 1, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
The Parrot
A well-meaning and generous family acquaintance heard that Sam was going to be a pirate for Halloween, so she bought him a talking toy parrot.
The day it was given to him, I picked Sam up at Chris's work one afternoon after a meeting, and got both kids home. It was already late, the kids were hungry, I was hungry, I was tired and the parrot needed batteries. The parrot required a very, very small tipped screwdriver. Fifteen minutes later I had only unscrewed one screw and was in the process of stripping the other screw, with Sam, "helping." I finally found my eyeglass repair kit and got the battery pack opened and the batteries in.
Relieved, I handed Sam the parrot and got Vivian settled with some toys so I could make dinner. The parrot was repeating everything Sam was saying, in the same tone of voice. Sam was so excited, that he would repeat what they parrot had repeated, so that I was now hearing everything three times (or four if the toy picked it up again). Meanwhile Vivi was happy screeching, so the parrot was intermittently happy screeching. Images of disassembling the parrot began to pass through my mind. After about a half hour, I convinced Sam that parrots slept a lot and threw a blanket over it, like a "real" parrot.
The day it was given to him, I picked Sam up at Chris's work one afternoon after a meeting, and got both kids home. It was already late, the kids were hungry, I was hungry, I was tired and the parrot needed batteries. The parrot required a very, very small tipped screwdriver. Fifteen minutes later I had only unscrewed one screw and was in the process of stripping the other screw, with Sam, "helping." I finally found my eyeglass repair kit and got the battery pack opened and the batteries in.
Relieved, I handed Sam the parrot and got Vivian settled with some toys so I could make dinner. The parrot was repeating everything Sam was saying, in the same tone of voice. Sam was so excited, that he would repeat what they parrot had repeated, so that I was now hearing everything three times (or four if the toy picked it up again). Meanwhile Vivi was happy screeching, so the parrot was intermittently happy screeching. Images of disassembling the parrot began to pass through my mind. After about a half hour, I convinced Sam that parrots slept a lot and threw a blanket over it, like a "real" parrot.
Sam and the parrot bonding. It was cute for about five minutes.
However, later that night, the parrot came in handy when Sam threw a fit getting out of the bath. He was starting in on a great temper tantrum and screaming, so loudly that his aunt left. I turned on the parrot. The parrot screamed when Sam screamed. After two screams Sam froze, "what was that?"
"The parrot repeating you."
Eyes wide, he stared at it, "oh." The tantrum was over.
The parrot made appearances on and off for days, until I relocated it to a high shelf to watch over everything and rest up for Halloween.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Dairy Free
I've started a couple of posts about Vivian being intolerant to dairy, but never finished or posted any of them. Today it's on my mind though. Her intolerance was something we figured out when she was about a month old and would sometimes projectile vomit when I breastfed her, or be generally uncomfortable and cry for up to five hours a day. It kind of came to a head and at her one month appointment, after she had been crying multiple hours a day and I just thought she was colicky. However her pediatrician suggested that I cut dairy out of my diet.
I kind of did, stopped eating cheese and having yogurt, etc and it reduced the crying, but her stool tested positive for blood, so I had to completely cut it out. No baked goods with butter or milk, including many breads, no cheese, butter, milk, ice-cream, etc. The harder ones were the ones you don't think about, deli meat, hot dogs, veggie burgers... I could go on and on. It made me rethink my diet and many things that we take for granted (pizza nights!), but all in all it hasn't been too bad. Eating out has been tricky or going to people's houses for dinner or parties, but for me, there's an end in sight, when I finish breastfeeding. It also made me eat more fresh and less processed food, which is a good habit.
I was hopeful Vivian would outgrow this stage. Sam had a similar intolerance though not as severe. He never drank cow's milk, he would get ill if he did (and still doesn't drink it). When he turned three he could tolerate yogurt and ice-cream. I thought Vivian would be the same.
Today though, at pick-up at Sam's school, we were sitting on the playground and she was crawling around on a beach towel when she picked up a bag of open Goldfish snacks and was mouthing them. I took them away within seconds, but she immediately turned bright red and started gagging. She threw up and kind of whimpered, but her face returned to it's normal color and she seemed okay. She had a couple of small bumps around her mouth, but was breathing well and was kind of cuddly, but was back to herself within minutes.
I guess this was the first time she had ingested a product with milk or cheese directly. After a call to the pediatrician they told us to take her to an allergist before introducing her to any other new foods, since it would be considered a trace amount, just the crumbs or residue as she hadn't actually ingested a cracker. I'm still hoping it was a chance encounter, that there was something else that made her cough (she was trying to eat leaves a few minutes before). Hoping for the best and thankful that it was a quick incident and I was there. No more cheesy snacks around here for a while!
I kind of did, stopped eating cheese and having yogurt, etc and it reduced the crying, but her stool tested positive for blood, so I had to completely cut it out. No baked goods with butter or milk, including many breads, no cheese, butter, milk, ice-cream, etc. The harder ones were the ones you don't think about, deli meat, hot dogs, veggie burgers... I could go on and on. It made me rethink my diet and many things that we take for granted (pizza nights!), but all in all it hasn't been too bad. Eating out has been tricky or going to people's houses for dinner or parties, but for me, there's an end in sight, when I finish breastfeeding. It also made me eat more fresh and less processed food, which is a good habit.
I was hopeful Vivian would outgrow this stage. Sam had a similar intolerance though not as severe. He never drank cow's milk, he would get ill if he did (and still doesn't drink it). When he turned three he could tolerate yogurt and ice-cream. I thought Vivian would be the same.
Today though, at pick-up at Sam's school, we were sitting on the playground and she was crawling around on a beach towel when she picked up a bag of open Goldfish snacks and was mouthing them. I took them away within seconds, but she immediately turned bright red and started gagging. She threw up and kind of whimpered, but her face returned to it's normal color and she seemed okay. She had a couple of small bumps around her mouth, but was breathing well and was kind of cuddly, but was back to herself within minutes.
I guess this was the first time she had ingested a product with milk or cheese directly. After a call to the pediatrician they told us to take her to an allergist before introducing her to any other new foods, since it would be considered a trace amount, just the crumbs or residue as she hadn't actually ingested a cracker. I'm still hoping it was a chance encounter, that there was something else that made her cough (she was trying to eat leaves a few minutes before). Hoping for the best and thankful that it was a quick incident and I was there. No more cheesy snacks around here for a while!
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