to the Vet

Off to the vet again today, for a follow-up appointment to another bite wound from another cat fight.  Since it's finally cold out, I think the cat may actually stay inside now and hopefully encounter less injuries.
This time Chris helped me load her into the carrier before he went off to work.  Sam packed a backpack full of toys, even though I explained we would only be there for a short time, and after a scramble to get dressed (how are we doing this with two again in a few months?), we were out the door.  The cat of course was going nuts, meowing nonstop, so "to make her feel better," Sam belted out, "Itsy-Bitsy Spider," and "Baa-Baa Black Sheep," for the drive.  When I finally got him to sing at a normal volume, the cat strangely enough did quiet down.  The bite was all healed, some vaccines administered, and she is of course on quarintene again, inside for 6 months.  When we got home, she immediately got out when Chris got home, but came back shortly after as it is snowing and cold.
Sam's been checking on her constantly, giving her no peace at all, but she seems content.

Christmas Cookies

Sam thought that making sugar cookies was a great project.  He did really well with it, considering it's not instantly gratifying.  After making the dough there is an hour in which the dough has to chill.  Even without that hour of chilling dough, the project took over two hours, in which he was fully immersed (though about 15 minutes of it was racing matchbox cars through flour and handing them to me to "take to the car wash").

"Hello in there!"

Sammy and his cousin, Oden, looking in the window of Saint Anthony's church.

Fifi

Just before Thanksgiving we lost our grandmother, Sam's great-grandmother.  It was a relatively quick time, in which it was unclear as to whether she would bounce back, as she had in recent years.  Now, it seems surreal, since events and time moved so quickly, and trying to keep up with work, and then Thanksgiving being on top of us.
There are many things to say about her, and to miss.  For now, a few of my favorite photos of her in recent years.  One is of her at our wedding reception, taking a bow, as we were married on her wedding anniversary.  Fifi loved being the center of attention, so the picture is somewhat fitting, and she looks young and vibrant in it, which is how she lived her life.  The other is of her with Sam the day after he was born.  She seemed to find joy in him and I'm glad that he was able to visit her during her last days with us.  It's amazing that she lived to know some of her great-grandchildren.  I wish she had been around for a few more years so I know that Sam would remember her.

Election

Yesterday we were trying to juggle voting, long poll lines, work, and other obligations.  I thought it would be a good idea to vote before work (like many, many other people).  I actually left the house at quarter to 7 and instead of going to the polling center and waiting outside, I went to get a coffee.  So that when I arrived at just before 7, there was a long, long line.  I went to work instead, which meant I had to return to vote later with Sam, and hope that there was no line. 

En route to picking Sam up after work, I talked to Chris.  He had also been planning on voting before he dropped Sam at school, but also found a long line.

"Sorry Sam, no voting now.  We'll go to school, Daddy will vote later."

After Sam burst into tears and wouldn't stop wailing, Chris finally got to the bottom of it.  Sam had heard "voting" as "boating" and was VERY upset that he was no longer going on a boat.  It took about a half an hour of explanation to communicate that there was never a boat or water involved.

Still, when I got to the polls later that afternoon, Sam kept asking when they were, "going to move?"  I think he still thought there was some sort of adventure to be had (and not a grown up adventure in politics).  We made do with feeding the ballot into the electronic machine, which was pretty cool.
(I had a ten minute wait, unlike some voters who waited hours to cast their ballots.)

Sam also seems to have gotten in his head that politicians will help snow go away.  We're not clear on this one, but I guess indirectly they do.  I think it has more to do with him not liking the change in temperature, since up until about an hour ago, it hadn't snowed this year.

Now the voting/boating is over and everyone is a little tired from the late night results, except for of course those who were fast asleep in their cribs while their parents agonized over the results coming in and debated moving overseas.  We'll stay put for another four years at least.

Halloween 2012

Taking in the neighborhood sights from the porch and trying to figure out what was going on.  He was pretty excited to get his candy though and thoroughly enjoyed his lollipop afterward.

Hurricanes and Pumpkins

Hurricane Sandy hit this past week and more or less kept us inside for about 48 hours.  We fared really well, all things considering.  The only damage we really had was a few downed limbs and lots of leaves to clean up.  Our power flickered once and never went off.  Compared to the news of New York and New Jersey, which are still turning power back on, without gas, and essentials, we were really lucky.  Even parts of surrounding towns got their power back on mid week.

We also had a house guest during the storm, Chris's sister Katie, who was visiting from Florida for a few days.  She flew up Sunday as the storm was beginning, on one of the last incoming flights to Logan.  

My school was canceled Monday and Tuesday and Sam had no school Monday and a delay on Tuesday.  Some of the teachers at school were relieved to come to work and have electricity and charge their electronics.

All the inside time was a little tricky with Sam and Katie, while Chris was answering flooded basements, leaking roof, and downed tree calls late into the nights.  He also got to shut of alarms from power going out and being restored, among other things.

Here are a few photos of the pumpkin carving we undertook while we were waiting out the storm.

 Scooping out the seeds.  He actually sustained attention to this task for a good amount of time.

 Here he's telling me, "Ok.  Now I figure out how to draw a face on my pumpkin."

 Here's the face he drew in marker.  I carved the face that I thought I saw in the design and left it at that.

Bad Moods and Cinnamon Fires

Sam had the beginnings of a cold this past week and this seems to be the cyclical time of year that we all come down with something.  Last year it was walking pneumonia, so I'm on high alert.  It was  the day after Halloween last year, after stuffing a screaming Sam into his lion costume, that he was sick for about 2 months on and off.  Looking back I feel a little guilty.  His screams may have been about feeling crappy, not about his dislike of his costume.    So this year I've been plying him with home remedies to ward off any impending germs.  He takes a couple of probiotics a day, has been having "tea" with honey and ginger, and any form of antioxidants I can think of (bring on the blueberries!).  

Since his naps at school are considerably shorter than those he takes at home, and he's in a whole new germ pool, I figured it was only a matter of time before he was sick.  It was no surprise when at 2:30 am the other night, I heard a scuffle from the nursery.  Since he had a bloody nose recently, I went to investigate.  Sam was standing in his crib yelling, "no boogies!  Go away!  All finished boogies!"  He was pretty congested.

He ended up in our bed, and he ended up being the only one who slept for the rest of the night.

That next night we decided to break out the humidifier, easier said than done.  It was no where to be found, though I had distinct memories of cleaning it and packing it away in the spring.

Chris checked closets, the attic (no easy feat), and eventually we decided it was in the cellar.  This would be my job to fetch, as I knew exactly where it would be.  Accessing it would be the issue.  Our cellar has become a chaotic storage facility with more items littering the ground than anything else.  I've tripped twice lately trying to get winter clothes and wrapping paper and I'm convinced it's hazardous to my mental health to be down there.  It's becoming a bone of contention.

"If I go down there, I'm going to end up in a bad mood," I told Chris.

"I know!  We don't want that, trust me." Chris told me.

"Bad mood?" Sam asked.  He was already wary of the mysterious humidifier.

"Mummy doesn't like the cellar, it puts her in a bad mood."

"No bad mood!  I don't want bad mood!"  Sam yelled.

"Me neither!" Chris said.

Sam started to cry.  "I no want to see bad mood.  Mummy no see bad mood.  Bad mood go away!"

"No, it's okay, we're teasing.  Mummy won't be in a bad mood."

"Bad mood no get mummy!  Make it go away!"

We realized this was now the bad mood had become a tangible basement monster that was clearly going to get me if I went down there.  So we set about trying to explain what a bad mood is, and then naturally, directly related it to the humidifier in his mind.

"No, a bad mood is when someone is grumpy or sad.  Mummy is just looking for the humidifier for your room."

"No cinnamon fires in Sammy's room!  No the cinnamon fires and bad mood!"

"Humidifier Sam."

"NO Cinnamon FIRE!  No BAD MOOD!"

We finally calmed him down.

"What bad mood look like?  I see it?"

"No sweetie, you can't see it, it's when someone is unhappy.  Look Elmo is in a bad mood!"  We got stuffed Elmo to show Sam what Elmo would look like if he was grumpy.

"NOOO!!!! No Elmo bad mood!"

This conversation continued to deteriorate until the humidifier was retrieved, and plugged in, but then was not allowed in Sam's room.

"Cinnamon fire make me cry.  Cinnamon fire and bad mood not in Sammy's room!  You take it out now pwease!"

So the cinnamon fire/humidifier resides in the hallway.  With an irrational fear of it (think side stepping the monstrous machine to get around it) and a fear of the bad mood which might not be far behind.

Armed with my 20% off Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupon, Sam and I went on a shopping trip a few days later, and found a friendly monkey "cinnamon fire" that is allowed to be in Sam's room.  Of course he is still sniffling, but the cold doesn't seem to have taken over.

 

And Annie, the cat, demonstrated a bad mood for us today as we wait out Tropical Storm/Hurricane Sandy.  She was royally pissed off when she finally came in soaking wet and meowing her head off.

"Oh, Annie mad!" Sam told me helpfully.

"Yes, she is mad."  I agreed, then jumping on my opportunity, "she's in a bad mood!"

"Oh!" Sam nodded knowingly.  "Yes, Annie in bad mood.  Annie wet, Annie no like wet.  Annie bad mood!"  Thank you Annie.  Think we might be good now.