Magical Mommy

This last week both the boys got sick, Benjamin just in time for his 2nd birthday on Valentine's Day, and Peter immediately after I arrived in Fort Worth, TX to visit my family. We are used to Benjamin having lots of wheezing and coughing when he gets a respiratory bug- he's had the problem since he was 6 months old and we suspect asthma. We have the tools to help him (folks with this issue will recognize the word nebulizer). I was surprised, however, to hear Peter wheezing. And concerned. I was advised not to give him a breathing treatment and didn't. We took him to the doctor the day after I drove  home by myself with two babies on a 9 hour trip. We made one long stop. That's right. My kids are rock stars, and I am the lead singer. We are road warriors of a variety never before seen in Americana. I waddled my happy ass into that McDonald's bathroom with Peter strapped to my front and Benjamin trailing by my hand. I can pee with a baby strapped to me while preventing a toddler from touching all the disgusto things. (Benjamin, don't touch that! Benjamin, wanna sing Itsy Bitsy Spider? Benjamin DO YOU WANT MOMMY TO SPANK YOU DON'T TOUCH THAT). The trick is actually a skirt and no underwear. In case you're ever in that situation and you need to know.

I had no way of knowing during this trip that Peter was actually suffering from RSV. The test came back from the doctor yesterday. The dreaded, the mythic, the very serious respiratory illness that actually causes the death of 1 to 2% of children hospitalized, around 125,000 a year. To keep this post from getting too heavy, Petey is fine and has actually handled the illness pretty well. He's still coughing a bit, and clearly doesn't feel well, but he slept a lot better last night, so that's something. Benjamin is completely recovered. Do you know who else has handled it well? Me! That's right, I've had two kids with RSV over the last 10 days, and not only did I not lose my shit completely and join the circus or loony bin or circus, I went on a road trip without my husband and only had one meltdown, and not until I got home. I powered through. I haven't slept for two weeks, I am facing weeks more of the flu/RSV/cold season, and not only did I get through it and the boys are still in one piece, I am still in one piece. And I lost three more pounds despite 10pm brownie batter goodness with my sister and good friend AM. That's the magic of Weight Watchers, and that's the magic of me. BAM. I am awesome.
And if Benjamin is going to have waffles again for dinner tonight? At least he gets dinner. We'll try for veggies again tomorrow.

Riding his new Thomas from his Aunty and Uncle- it was so awesome on my parents' hard wood floors. Our carpet? Not so much. 

Sweet sleepy face. 

BABY STRIKES BACK

I actually find it really hard to concentrate and write well when Thomas the Train is screamingly loud on the TV. But I learned this morning that if I don't have it on, and my two year old is feeling better after a week of wheezing and fevers and an ear infection, then he will get into all sorts of mischief. Mischief at our house is exploration and learning. Mischief at my parents house in Texas is expensive. Whether the cost is monetary or in my time and attention, its a pain in the A. So please excuse me if there are typos, grammatical errors, bad syntax, because in my head is an earnest little blue engine wishing he'd listened so he could be a 'really useful engine.'

Before we left for Texas, which was an adventure I'd rather not relive as it was exhausting and stressful, but worth it, Peter started crawling. A lot. Everywhere. Fast. And I started to notice some things about my sweet little Peter I had never known before. First of all, he's super curious. He is more interested in the world around him than he was before. He loves doors. He loves opening and shutting opening and shutting them. Right now, at this very moment, he has discovered my parent's tv console cabinet door...unforutnately its glass...be right back...

OKay, two hours later...Peter's new hobby, besides slamming doors open and shut, is following Benjamin around stealing his toys or knocking them down. He also likes to kick Benjamin in the head at every opportunity. The last opportunity was when they were riding in a shopping cart, Peter in an infant seat and Benjamin in the regular seat. I had to hold his foot to keep him from doing it and push the cart with my free hand alone. So every time I left the cart to get something, there his leg would swing and kick kick kick to B's head. B tolerated it admirably. Minimal yelling and screaming.

The upshot being, I am no longer worried about Peter, or his likelihood of survival in my house with all the big kids. That boy is going to be just fine.

The other thing I wanted to say was this, and I didn't say it, Glennon Melton of Momastery said it, and since she's amazing and brilliant I am not going to paraphrase. Just directly quote:

Listen to me: God said the most important thing to do down here is to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Implied in this commandment is that if you don’t love yourself, you’re useless. You cannot save anyone else. All you can do is save yourself so that those you love can see how it’s done.

Glennon Melton, Momastery

To that end, there are  some new developments in my life that include weekly yoga classes, regular afternoon breaks provided by my husband, and possibly anti-depressants. I am really stoked about all of those things. Keep you posted. 

Zoo Trip Story. Sort of.

Two nights ago, when my husband was on another surprise OT (its always a surprise to me when he goes, even though he signs up for them and tells me ahead of time) I stood at the computer trying to organize my thoughts for this blog and instead started reading blogs while I munched a dark chocolate bar. I was congratulating myself on my healthy desserty snack choice when I idly glanced at the nutritional information....WTF. I had just consumed about 600 calories of chocolate. ack.
 I need to hire someone to be my chocolate holder. If someone is not holding the rest of the chocolate bar away from me, I will eat it until its gone. Strangely, this only happens with dark chocolate. Milk chocolate, meh. I can take it or leave it. I guess I need to switch to milk chocolate...

I take a break from this blog to report that my 8 month old just STOOD UP. HE IS PULLING HIMSELF UP ON THE LEGO BAG. AAAAARRRRRRGGGGH. When he was born I was determined to tie his ankles together, but I got distracted by how cute his legs were when they waved around free from restraints. I was going to tie his ankles together because his brother took his first steps at 9 months. By 10 months he was walking across rooms and by 11 months he was RUNNING INTO TRAFFIC. Not really. But that's how it felt.

Anyway, we went to the zoo a couple of days ago and I decided to just let Benjamin walk while I pushed Peter around in the stroller. I really really want to tell you this story- I have been trying to write this blog for three days but Ben gave up naps so its been difficult finding the time and now Peter just woke up as I put down one of our little friends for a nap (Ben is out with dad and grandpa)
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..fast track zoo story is Ben loved the gorillas and the chimps, and the SEALS made him start yelling something that sounded like 'let's go! let's go! let's go!' at the seals, so maybe he wanted to help them escape? Or jump in with them? I am not sure. After that I tried to get him to leave, so he immediately tried to jump into the waterfall outside the seal tank, then he tried to jump into the duck pond, then he tried to run away to the elephants (does it count as running away when he tells me where he's going?) so I switched him into the stroller with Peter sitting on the cement and carried Peter out held high against my shoulder so my back wouldn't twinge.



Coming soon...WWAMD???  AM is a very good friend of my family's...she's this huge fan of the McKenzie sisters, which is hilarious to us, because we are huge fans of hers. She recently taught me about pumping breastmilk while driving. She is hilarious, kind, hard working, and a wonderful mother. My new mantra in dealing with my daily frustrations is WWAMD? What would AM do? Because it usually involves laughing.


Question: do I negate this poopless blog entry by pointing out that its the 2nd blog entry in a row without poop featuring? Its my blog, I decide nay, and celebrate!

Pictures next time! maybe! baby calling! muah! (that's kissing off instead signing off in case you were wondering)