Best laid plans...

This weekend was going to be a whirlwind of fun! Or, a whirlwind, anyway. We had plans to go out to a friend's housewarming party Saturday night and I was having a handful of girlfriends over Sunday afternoon for crafting. However, at dinner Friday night, Rosie was having trouble swallowing her food — her throat was hurting badly, and she's not much of a complainer so I told her we'd see a doctor in the morning if it still hurt.

The next day, Monkeyrotica went to visit Grandma I. with Dash, and I got ready for my aerobics class at 8:15 a.m. I had my gear on, Rosie dressed and in the car at 8 on the dot when the phones open at the pediatrician. The receptionist had put me on hold by the time I got to the parking lot outside the Jazzercise studio. At 8:18, the nurse picked up and gave us an appointment of 11:45. I was late for the warm-up, but got my workout in (while Rosie sat alone in a corner with my phone — must sanitize phone...)  and was home and did several chores before the appointment. Just in case the diagnosis was negative, I cleaned up the house as if guests were coming and set up a playdate for Rosie that afternoon. But, nope, she was positive for strep throat. Bummer.

I cancelled the babysitter (turns out the hostess for the housewarming party was sick, too, and cancelled as well) for Saturday, cancelled the playdate, picked up antibiotics at the pharmacy, and then let all the crafting party friends know that Rosie was sick but will have been on antibiotics for 24 hours by the time the crafting would begin. All but one friend backed out. It's the week before Thanksgiving! Nobody was taking chances.

Joan Arkham, a pal I met through DCist.com came with a gift for Dash! She bought herself this Uglydoll hat, not realizing that "one size fits all" meant "all children under 6 years." Check it out, it's barely fitting Dash (who is holding a Willy Wonka's Everlasting Gobstopper in his mouth, therefore the funny expression). We had a lovely time chatting over wine while I knitted another hat for Rosie (the last one was cute but much too large) and she organized negatives from recent vacations, which she is planning to scan over the next week.

I'm still planning to reschedule the larger crafting party, but it won't be this month! Perhaps the first week of December?

On the down-low with H1N1

Unless you all want to hear about how I didn't get the H1N1 vaccine at the MRC volunteer clinic because of pre-existing asthma (and no shots were available, only flumist), and how our family aged out of the clinic that was offered (only ages 18 months to 3 years were eligible), and then how Dash came down with strep and H1N1 last Tuesday, and then passed it on to me, I don't have much to say.

I haven't been in the office since last Wednesday, because first I was caring for Dash, then I became contagious. I'm still not out of the woods, with a dramatic relapse today, most likely due to me getting cocky with how much better I was feeling this morning. I started off with my teleworking routine of getting a coffee and a bagel, which was delightful. Bagels usually fill me up, so I wasn't hungry for an especially long time. During that time, I got a bunch of work done, saw a doctor for the first time, who prescribed me an expectorant/cough suppressant with codeine. The bottle didn't say "don't take on an empty stomach" or any such thing, so I just dosed up and continued working. It did warn that it could make me dizzy and to not drive while on the meds.

So, around 2:30 p.m., I felt a bit light headed, and thought, gee, I ought to eat some lunch or drink something. I got up, walked a few feet, said "oh boy," to myself and then passed out on the couch. My improved health was wrecked with a relapse. But, I'm probably oversharing. I'll be teleworking and taking better care of myself for the rest of the week, I think. Missing meals when sick = bad.

This is what sunscreen does to Dash.

I'm not sure how well you all can see this, but Dash's face is all red and swollen around his poor nose & cheeks. It's hot to touch, has hives and is itchy (per the rubbing of eyes and scraping "with my claws" of the neck).

Despite not filling out a sunscreen authorization form, one of his teachers applied an unknown block to his sensitive little face. I haven't found much luck with a sunscreen yet that doesn't make his skin react. His doctor (that we saw today, because he also has a fever & threw up at school—allergy symptoms?) only suggested I go to "food allergy network" online and check around in the forums.

Anyone have some suggestions of mildest blocks to try? We had some luck with Neutrogena last year.

I hate feeling sick. Sick-leave rant warning...

It's been a while since a bug has gotten me, but I'm feeling it today. Last night was the sore throat, compounded with some congestion this morning, and now I'm at work, with watery eyes, chills and fatigue. I should probably go home, but thanks to daycare sick policies and limited leave on my company's part, I have pretty much remained 20 hours in the hole for leave. Today I'm at exactly -18.42.

Do many companies do this? Allow you to go into the negative on your leave? They let you take a maximum of -40 hours here. Lately, every time I record leave on my timecard, I get a very official-looking pop-up that informs me that should I leave the company, I must commit to pay them back this borrowed time. It's still not a bad policy.

How did this happen to me? Well, mostly it's the kids. When they are sick or display a fever over 100 degrees at school, the policy is to keep them out until they are fever-free for 24 hours. That means, if AJS picks them up and stays out with them on say, a Tuesday, I must stay out with them through Wednesday. If they still have a fever on Wednesday, that's another day when AJS and I take 1/2-days each on Thursday. And, they also have periodic well-visits at the doctor's or the dentist's (so do AJS and I for that matter). On top of that, the daycare is closed on EVERY Federal Holiday PLUS five additional training days per year. My company only pays for 9 holidays per year, and up until a couple of days ago I was only accruing 17 days of leave per year (that's sick and vacation combined). In 2007, the kids and I only took one 4-day vacation.

I probably shouldn't be complaining, since I know there are many, many workers out there who don't get any sick or vacation leave. But, I just don't like feeling that I can't take a sick day or a vacation or go to a doctor's appointment because I'm too far in the hole. I think AJS has so many vacation days somehow that he's looking for ways to take them off. The joys of being a Federal employee.

Tell me which employers out there do it better, please? I need to circulate my resume more widely.

No Tricky-treets for you.

Yesterday, AJS got a call early on from daycare that Rosie had a fever and when he arrived to pick her up, she had just puked on the lunch table. Ewww. OUR theory is that this fever and nausea are related to the flu shots that we all got on Tuesday.

My Tuesday was all messed up by the flu shots; I decided to ditch my dance class :-( because we were going to the flu shot clinic and I hadn't finished the final details on the kids' mostly-home-made costumes. If I went to the class, the costumes would be moot. So, we were at the very-overcrowded clinic for over an hour waiting and finally getting the shots. AJS and I got them too, and set very fine examples for the kids.

Nurse: Who's getting their shot first?

AJS: (jumping up with arm in the air) ME!! ME!! I'm first!

I followed suit. Rosie was slightly upset, trying to watch the shot go in (kind of like at the Rock N Romp Halloween Party last year when she couldn't keep her eyes off the Taco costume), so I reached over and covered her face with my hand.

Dash was not a trooper. As soon as that shot went in his thigh, he screamed bloody murder! We were calling the shot a "pinch", so the whole way to the car we kept hearing "No like pinch. Pinch hurt. Don wan ennymore pinch." I did finish their costumes, yay me.

Back to yesterday. Daycare had a costume parade, so the kids were very excited to get all dressed up in them before leaving the house. I think they both participated in the parade, but by the end of it, Rosie was falling asleep and the teacher took her temp to discover a fever. AJS brought Rosie home and she slept for about 5 hours straight. She was a little out of it and weepy when they picked me up at the train station, so really, there was no trick-or-treating in store for her, poor thing.

Dash, however, had removed his costume during the day, so somebody wrote ELMO in marker on his forehead, WHY? I really don't know. So teachers would stop asking what his costume was? I dunno. It's actually quite brilliant. Why make or even buy a costume when you can just write what you are on your forehead in marker?

We still stayed in. Everyone was just not up for braving the streets. That's about it for me. Hail NaBloPoMO!

Sunday Cookie Baking

While Dash was feverish all weekend (high of 105.5 degrees Saturday afternoon) we had to cancel all of our plans for our jam-packed weekend. I was really hoping that his fever (which started on Friday) would be over by at least Noon on Saturday so we could make it to Emma's birthday party, but nothing doing. Rosie was so disappointed. [Todd gets points for offering to pick her up and take her to the party; 2.75hr round-trip total. XOX, BFF!]

I made it up to her with cookies. And a visit from Auntie M. and Grandma including a walk to the playground. Dash came along, but was asleep as soon as we turned the corner at the end of the block & slept till we got back to the house. I'm sure he felt sort of robbed.

In this photo, she is saying, "Can we eat them now?"

A couple of movie reviews

This weekend, (TMI) we were all sick with various odd symptoms. Rosie had pinkeye, fluid in her ears and wheezing; AJS had nasty coughs that make him gag; Dash had a cough and sore throat; and I lost my voice with deep chest coughs and nasal congestion [update: I have a sinus infection]. SO, all that said, we stayed in a lot and watched movies.

AJS bought the winner of the weekend, Mulan. Rosie loved that it was about CHINA!, the father-daughter connection, all the action sequences, and that Mulan was probably going to marry Chang at the end. She said that she especially liked the "fat soldier" because he could lift a horse with people on it! Tien-Po was a mountain of a man, full of sweetness and strength. AJS thought it was hilarious that the voice of Yao, the fiercest, manliest warrior was performed by Harvey Fierstein (hee, hee). Dash would rather watch Thomas the Tank Engine, but not this one...

The bust of the weekend was my purchase (c'mon, how can you resist $8 at CVS?) of Thomas and the Magic Railroad. It had a cast of interesting characters, most notably Peter Fonda and Alec Baldwin and I recall it getting some press, I just couldn't remember whether it was good or bad. My rationalization was that Dash liked Thomas' TV shows, he was only two, so how could they screw it up? Here's how: it just dragged on and on with a pointless story that had no end in sight. I couldn't bear to sit through the whole 84 minutes. There were subtexts about lost childhood and magic draining away, and Peter Fonda just sulked through his part with no expression. Alec Baldwin was not loveable and why everyone was so excited to see him whenever he arrived on the scene was beyond me. Sigh. Dash wandered off after the first fifteen minutes. I'm surprised he lasted that long.

For a sickie, he's got energy.

Last Friday, I stayed home with Dash because he had a fever recorded on Thursday and daycare won't let kids back in till they're fever-free for 24 hours. Despite the fever, he was otherwise symptom-free, which lasted through the weekend and ended early Wednesday morning, when he hurled Tuesday night's dinner all over his sheets. Bleagh. A quick cleanup, two more rounds of hurling, fresh sheets, new pajamas, and a trip to the laundry room later, I was back in bed by 4 a.m. We dressed both kids for daycare at 6:30 and headed in, hoping that it was an isolated incident, but more hurling happened on the car ride. So, AJS stayed home with Dash yesterday.

According to AJS, Dash was cranky, didn't eat all day, but was otherwise symptom-free. Again. He even became cheerful when AJS took him down to the creek across the street to toss rocks in the water. (Who doesn't love a satisfying ker-sploosh!?) After I came home, Dash and Rosie started the silliest antics, prompting AJS to record some video of them singing at the top of their lungs and dancing/spinning in the kitchen. I'm sure there's some great footage of my butt, because they were right behind me while I was doing dishes.

Dash is back at school today, despite grand protests this morning. He's really figured out the power of "NO!" Here's a transcript from this morning:

ME: morning, Dash! let's get you a fresh diaper.
DASH: no! no! no! no! (swatting at me with his closest hand)
ME: all right, now let's get your pajamas off.
DASH: no! no! no! no! (trying to pull pajamas back on)
ME: okay, now it's time to get your morning clothes on!
DASH: no! no! no! no! NO!!! (pulling new clothes off as soon as I get them on)
ME: all dressed! let's go see Daddee now, okay?
DASH: da. (think of the Russian da, here, like "yes", sweetly, with a smile.)

Xmas Joi de Vivre!

Despite having an ear infection, throat infection and possible RSV, Dash was awfully perky over our holiday weekend. Before bedtime on Friday, his temp was 103.5, so I got him in to see his doctor first thing on Saturday. We met one of his classmates, Lizzy (see the cutie in #11), in the waiting room with _*surprise*_ RSV symptoms, too! We visited Lisa, my sis-in-law, that morning, but cancelled our plans with friends that afternoon, to keep from infecting their kids with the dreaded RSV. Auntie M.came over that evening to bake gingerbread cookies with Rosie while Dash napped (after throwing blocks across the house and climbing on the furniture) and gave me a chance to do dishes, sweep, and pick up our crazy house. Whew! I also baked oatmeal craisin cookies that turned out darned well, I must say!

Christmas was at my parents' house, as usual. I think the day went perfectly! We left for "gromma's" after Dash's nap, opened gifts (woo!) and had some lovely roast! The standout Xmas gift was from my mom--she bought Rosie another American Girl doll; this time it was "Jess", a doll with a Japanese-American heritage. She even has a Japanese middle name, just like Rosie! My mom bought the doll's "hair care kit" so we could curl Jess' hair so we could make her look more like Rosie. Auntie M. painstakingly did just that! Bless her heart. She loves her niece. Dash was just happy to run around, throw balls and terrorize Groucho, my parents' cockatiel.

After wine and pie, AJS had a long nap. And I let him sleep. Merry Christmas, baby!