Roses and Thorns . . . It's been a while

Thorns:

- There is water leaking from the bathroom into the dining room. We think it's the toilet so we are going to the basement to relieve ourselves. This is the second time since we moved in here that going to the bathroom in the middle of the night has required shoes. This time it also requires disabling the burglar alarm.

- We continue to catch mice in the trap in the living room - I think we're up to 5. Plus 2 or 3 in the kitchen and 2 in the laundry room. All this after the wildlife expert/exterminator assured me, in a friendly but vaguely patronizing way that mice don't hang out in houses during the summer. They like it better outside. I guess we are breeding domesticated mice.

-The driver's side window on my car is stuck open again - 4th time since I got the car, 2nd time in 6 months. I don't think I make extraordinary demands of the window - just that it roll up and down roughly twice a day.

- This is week two after the Great Dishwasher Explosion of 2009 and we are still without a dishwasher. Why are white kitchen appliances special order??????

- Due to the day care plague that nearly killed Dave and I, we missed floppy hat night at PNC Park - a game the Pirates actually won, and a mighty cool hat.

Roses:

- We are contributing to the education of American youth by putting our plumber's son through college.

- We are no longer finding mouse poop on the kitchen counters in the morning.

- My car's mutinous actions have not resulted in any more near death experiences, just inconvenience

- I have managed to hand wash our newly sharpened knives without slicing off any appendages.

- We have recovered from the day care plague and I finally have my voice back (after a week of squeaking and being referred to as Dr. Froggy by the hospital page operators).

- Nathan is 6 months old and per his pediatrician doing all the growing and learning he is supposed to for his age. We think he is doing a teensy bit more - learning, that is, not growing.

Guess What?!?!?!?!

I'm only doing a rose this week.

5 months 1 week

Roses & Thorns

Too busy creating memories to do this last week, so here's a sampling from the last few weeks:

Roses:
1. Nathan successfully cured of sinus infection
2. Nathan put himself on an every 4 hour eating schedule (HUGE improvement from every 2-3 over night)
3. Fellowship, and the time of finally doing what I want to do, is drawing nearer. Only 4 shifts left at my current job.
4. Work going pretty well for Dave.
5. My car has a pretty new paint job.
6. Survived an epic thunderstorm/tornado warning with no damage save a little water in the basement
7. Good friend Chuck came to visit and proved to be endlessly entertaining to our boy.
8. Replaced old & busted rusted grill with new hotness grill
9. Our wonderful boy wakes up with a smile on his face and hoots softly until someone comes to play with him
10. First baby cereal experience went VERY well - and we had TWO photographers covering the event

Thorns:
1. Two days after antibiotic completion, Nathan developed new day care cold
2. Daddy and Mommy seem to be fighting this one off as well.
3. I'm having quite a few sleepless nights at work leaving me sleep deprived even though Nate's schedule is getting friendlier.
4. Fellowship, and the time of the 80 hour work week, is drawing nearer
5. Nathan is spending more time at daycare

As usual, our blessings outweigh the difficulties. We have jobs, a home, enough to eat, a healthy baby, and wonderful family and friends. Our thorns are small.

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

It comes as a set this week. A rose that may draw blood if you're not careful.

I just put away the co-sleeper. This feels monumental to me, as it means our little boy will now have no choice to sleep in his "big boy" crib. It's actually a little ridiculous, because it should have been done weeks ago. He is so big now, that the newborn sized co-sleeper runs a serious risk if turning him into a cube shape, like those funky watermelons grown in boxes. (Hey, he'd stack and store easily!) We had every intention of doing this last week, and he actually spent one night in his crib, but then the day care bug struck and he had a fever and was fussy and restless and it was jsut easier to have him in our room, so back he went.

This is even more bittersweet for me because the co-sleeper was his one true hand-me-down. It traveled across the US from California, on loan from Elizabeth, a good friend who had outgrown it, to be his bed and now needs to travel back to them to provide sweet repose for little Apple.

Dave pointed out that when he came home from the hospital he looked so tiny in the co-sleeper, and now he looks so tiny in the crib. It's true. He's outgrown the co-sleeper (If the manufacturers instructions don't include a warning about not letting your baby sleep in it when he can dangle his legs over the edge while laying on his back, they should.) but he's still dwarfed by the crib. Nonetheless, this step means our boy is growing up. And that's one thorny rose.

Postscript: I am embarrassed to point out this week's thorniest feature - I took only two pictures of Nate this week. (Did I mention the fever and the screaming? The lack of smiles, absence of playfulness, and generalized desire to lay limp and sleepy in my arms?) Anyway, here it is. I promise to make up for it next week and in South Carolina!

Roses and Thorns

This week has just flown by in a haze of mostly thorny times but surely I can pick a rose or two.

The Thorns continue to be illness(es). Dave (just on the mend from his own sinus infection) was back with Nate at the emergency room last night after five straight hours of screaming (Nathan's, though I think Dave joined in at the end). I was trapped at work, doing nothing except being available for the problems of other people's children, hating with every part of my soul listening to the screaming over the phone, feeling powerless, and feeling like the world's worst mother. Of course he was magically cured for the three hours they spent in the ER and then picked up where he left off when they got home. I have always joked with parents that coming to the ER/ doctor's office makes children feel better, but it is less amusing when it is your own child. We saw our doctor this morning when he developed a fever and refused to eat or smile and he was diagnosed with a "viral syndrome". A fairly irritated throat is presumed to be the source of the screaming. Tylenol and naps seem to be the words for the day.

Roses: 1) Ear infection is gone, per the lovely doctor, so no more twice daily struggles to get amoxicillin into him.

2) My first Mother's Day was absolutely charming. Nathan managed to communicate to his father a desire to send me flowers, and even chose my favorite - colorful, fragrant lilies and daisies. I had a delicious Mother's Day brunch where Nathan was pronounced the best behaved child in the restaurant.

3) Nathan has rolled over again and again, proving it was not a fluke.

4) Spent a lovely afternoon in the park with friends, feeling, for all the world like a mother of leisure.

Friend Cecilia looking Oh, so cute in the park

Nathan blows a razzberry!

Roses and Thorns

I "borrowed" the title from the Obama family. I heard that every night at dinner, everyone tells one "rose" and one "thorn" from their day. One of his daughters was quoted as saying that President Obama had a very thorny job.

I thought that once a week I would share a small cutting from my life.

First, the Thorn: Nathan has a cold. Stuffy nose, yellow boogers, powerful need to be held, and a low-grade fever confirmed with the aid of a small tub of Vaseline I was hoping to never use. Not sure if we should be blaming his few days in day care or someone who touched him without washing their hands, but he stayed home with Mommy today to avoid making anyone else sick. He's such a good natured little guy that he smiles even as he is fussing and rubbing his nose, but he's still an obligate nose breather when he eats, so it's no fun for anyone. Daddy was up with him the first night since I had to be at work. He took incredibly good care of him and looked pleased with himself, if a little tired, in the morning.

And the Rose? Drumroll please . . . Or should I say Nathanroll? That's right. Our little wonder rolled over, snot and all today. He was laying on his tummy and he pushed himself up on his arms (usually I have to put his arms out in front for him- ie. in all previous pictures) and then leaned to his right and over he went. He looked momentarily confused, and that could have been because he was suddenly seeing the world from a different angle, but it could also have been because I was hollering and clapping.

Pushing chest off the floor!

Immediately after rolling over!