Carns in my pockick.

I think we're finally coming to the end of illness round 187.3 for the '09-10 winter season. Jackson has major green nose and Jameson has had a few croupy sounding coughs, but it hasn't become full blown. *fiercely knocking wood*

We tried Jameson out of the crib for a week. After a week of him running around the room, emptying drawers and jumping on J's bed in the middle of the night, he's now back in the crib. He climbs out of the crib, but at least I can catch him before he's totally out. We'll try again when he's say, 16 or so.

So, with both boys sick, the freezing cold weather and daddy gone for week, I've had to get creative to keep the boys occupied. J2 and spent a good hour coloring with half of that spent on him putting, "Carns in my pockick." I have a pocket on the front of my shirt that I now know can hold a lot of carns.

I've also made a boatload of iPods out of scrapbooking paper. I even got fancy and made green ones (just like mommy's) with pictures the the boys in the center. J is thrilled with these. He took his to school and I had to explain to his teacher what it was.

C'mon spring! Seriously, that groundhog better not see his shadow or we're going to have a problem.

Object du Jour: The pink suitcase. But apparently, I didn't find the right pink suitcase. I had no clue we had more than one. This is going to be a long week.

The Cough - yet again

J woke me up at 5 am saying his mouth hurt. He's got "The Cough", but no strider or neck retraction. I'm keeping him home from school and I'll call the ped and see what she wants us to do. I really don't feel like a night at the Chateau. He seemed a bit better after sitting in a bath for a bit.

I really want to get whatever this is resolved ASAP, because Randy is gone all next week and naturally that would be the time for something to happen.

ETA: Appt with the ped at 1:00.
ETA2: The ped didn't hear anything concerning in J's lungs, but she did hear the cough. We have a prescription for orapred and J will get that for 3 days. The cough is still pretty icky, but he's acting fine. Keep your fingers crossed that we won't have to venture out this evening!


Object du Jour: Mommy's green iPod.

One of my most favorite pics!

Coconut Sit

Random pics. The top one is J and the little pink camera that appeared out of nowhere. The middle one is J figuring out how to shine the flashlight through the most awesome Pinpression. And the last pic is the blue-tongued birthday boy.

J has been wandering around saying, "Coconut Sit" all day. Yes, I'm sure it's "sit." I have no clue where that came from or why it's so funny. Lots of coconut talk lately.

I went to a new support group today. I was invited by a mom of a kiddo in J's class. Great group of ladies with kids with varying disabilities. Everyone was so friendly and supportive!

Tomorrow I think we'll head to the train show with the boys. J2 has been obsessed with trains lately and wants to know why the train isn't waiting on the tracks by J's school every day when we drop him off. Should be a good time!

Object du Jour: Still the JCPenney book.

ETA: Yes, I realize the boys are wearing the same shirt in the last two pics. Grandma got them matching outfits! :)

The Itchy Rock Star

J informed me this morning that he's an "Itchy Rock Star." Alrighty.

Not too much going on around here. I've been joining some local autism groups looking for some parents to chat with. I doubt I'll find too many parents with kids with dual diagnoses, but maybe I'll get lucky. I'm looking for some ideas of ways to handle J's whining and quick escalation of upset. For example, if I don't hop to and fill his cup before the first request is out of his mouth, he's in tears. He often tantrums if I have the nerve to say, "Wait a second and I'll get it." Doesn't matter if I'm up to my elbows in dishwater or changing J2's diaper, he wants it yesterday.

J2 had his two year check up yesterday and his first dentist appointment today. Both went great! I'm so pround of how well he handles himself (when he's not coloring his shoes or the wall with a Sharpie!)

Object du Jour: The JCPenney catalog from Grandma. It has a full page of "Mommy's green iPods." (Randy got me a cool green iPod Nano for Christmas and the boys are obsessed with it!) That page looks like it's been through the washer.

We are puke free!

J made it through the whole night without getting sick AND he was hooked to the pump! Yay! I ran it at 60 instead of the usual 75 and I'll work on getting it back up to 75. I know he's lost weight, which for him is never a good thing.

He seems finally back to his old self this morning!

The boys have been fighting quite a bit over toys. Jameson seems to want whatever Jackson is playing with. Jackson finally had enough this morning and asked me to fire Jameson. I got a big laugh out of that!

Object du Jour: The JC Penney Christmas catalogs from Grandma. I think we've finally found a replacement for the beat up Target flyer.

And neither were the sweet potatoes and pump...

Last night, J seemed to be feeling much better! In fact, he ate three jars of sweet potatoes at dinner. He ate several crackers during the day, but I had to really push him to drink.

We put him to bed and hook him up to the pump to try to make up for the refused liquids. About 2 hours after we put him down, I hear the lovely sound of throwing up through the baby monitor. I go flying up the stairs to find J laying in bed absolutely covered from head to toe in formula and sweet potatoes. We stripped the bed, got him bathed and put back in bed.

This morning, he's taking small sips of liquid, but preferring crackers and Gerber stars. He is back to his playful, chatty self though. I'm going to try the pump again tonight, but at a much slower rate than usual. I think I'm going to check-in with GI Clinic just to see what they think.

We got the written report from J's WEAP eval in the mail yesterday. Nothing in it was inaccurate or shocking, but it's still hard to see all your kid's quirkiest behaviors all listed in one spot. The report is Jackson and not Jackson all at the same time.

Object du Jour: The Leap Frog letter toy. He doesn't want to talk about the letters; he keeps making me draw a duck on the tablet.

The Green Beans weren't such a good idea...

J woke up this morning covered in green beans (that was fun to clean up.) He seemed a bit better this morning after a bath. Less whining and he's actually playing a bit. I hope he's turned the corner and we're on the downside of this.

Jameson is totally back to his old self. Let's pray for no more illnesses this winter!

Object du Jour: The kitchen timer. Maybe he's timing how long it will take to feel better?

The Plague Part II

Well, I can't say I managed to stay illness-free, but it seems that Jameson and I didn't have it as bad as Daddy and Jackson. Jackson is still sick, telling me that his head and his eyes hurt. He's gotten sick twice this morning and has been whining since he woke up. Thankfully, both boys are down for a nap now and will hopefully feel better when they wake up. If it continues much longer for J, we'll talk to the ped and see what she wants us to do.

ETA: After his nap, J just laid on the floor and cried. His cheeks were flushed and he kept falling asleep. Still no fever. He kept saying, "It hurts, it hurts." I ended up taking him in to the doctor. It was killing me to see him so miserable.

His regular ped was off, so they got us in with another one. Poor J kept falling asleep on my lap while we were waiting. The receptionist said she thought J looked miserable and went to see what the wait was. When we finally got back to the room, J wanted to leave. He kept saying, "Wanna sticker." I think he realizes that getting a sticker is the last step before going home.

The doctor looked him over and said that J has what a lot of kids are coming in with and some kids are having a harder time shaking it than others. No ear infection or anything else noticeable. She told me to give him Tylenol for the body aches and either Pepto or something minty for the stomach upset. If he starts throwing up or having diarrhea again, we should go back in. She was very happy that I've been bolusing small amounts of water/Pedialyte through his tube to stave off dehydration. She felt that that was of the biggest concern for J at this point.

J got his sticker (Puss In Boots from Shrek, in case you were wondering) and he was a little more chipper by the time we got home. He wouldn't drink his cup, but did eat some green beans. Then he crawled up the stairs and snuggled up in a pile of clean blankets in the upstairs hallway with his water bottle. We'll make the decision about going to school in the morning.

Oh, and the really sucky part of all of this: according to the ped's scale, he's lost over half a pound. Ugh. Poor fella.

Object du Jour: The Thomas blankey and water bottle.

The Plague

Daddy spent the last two nights throwing up and all the lovely things that go along with the flu. Now today both boys have it. Poor Jackson keeps telling me he needs medicine. I can't believe that J got both the seasonal and H1N1 shots and he has the flu.

I've been trying to keep J on the couch bundled up, but he wants to lay at my feet. He fell asleep for about 20 minutes and woke up vomiting. Daddy's got him in the tub and J2 is sleeping. The big issue is to keep J hydrated. I really, really don't want to have to stay at the Chateau tonight with my guy on an IV.

I hope I can stay illness free, someone has to clean up all the mess. Yuck!

Object du Jour: The Thomas blankey and the water bottle.

The Hopstible

Jackson got socks with grippers on the bottom from Santa. Well, they don't work. He came running into the kitchen, slipped on the floor on bonked his head. The poor kid has been getting PT since he was 6 months old and still doesn't get his arms out to catch himself when he falls. J ended up with a nice little goose egg. I asked him if he was OK and he told me he needed to go to the "Hopstible." I told him he was alright and we could stay home. And then he said, "Go to the Hopstible in dark." Which I think he means that we only seem to go to the hospital in the middle of the night when he's having a breathing thing. Clever little monkey! Today he has a nice little bruise on his noggin, but he's just fine.

He also tells me his belly is itchy and he needs to go to the hopstible. Either we spend too much time there or I'm raising a hypochondriac! :)

J has been fascinated with letters lately, especially S and Q. He got a LeapFrog Learning Letters toy for Christmas and is doing a great job with telling me what sounds the letters make. I'm so proud of him!

Object du Jour: The Bristle blocks.

Fresh outta cleesus and pickynuts!

Cleesus, cleesus, cleesus. I have absolutely no clue what a cleesus is. J uses this word all the time. Often where we're upstairs, he seems to be referring to the birth announcement hanging on his bedroom wall with his teeny, tiny newborn footprints on it. When we're downstairs, I have no clue. He was making me batty a few days ago with the cleesus talk. I finally told him, "I'm sorry, we're fresh outta cleesus." Now our new favorite phrase is, "Fresh outta cleesus!" That was the first thing he said to me this morning when I walked into his room to unhook him from the pump. Maybe someday I'll solve the mystery of the cleesus.

When I dropped him off at school yesterday, I told him that Jameson and I were going to the store to buy milk. I asked him what else I should buy. J said, "Coconuts!" I said, "You want coconuts from the Picky?" (Picky is what J2 calls Pick 'n Save, the grocery store) And J said, "Pickynuts!!" He giggled his fool head off. The stuff that this kid comes up with! So, Pickynuts is another hysterical word around here!

J's been super whiny and tantrumming quite a bit. He also tells me he doesn't want to got to school, but when he gets there, he's fine. I think he needs to get back into the swing of the routine after a long break. I guess he growled at the sub because he didn't want to sit on the carpet in JK. Hopefully, this is a short term thing!

Still working on potty training. He asks to go, sits there and does nothing. Jameson has got it down pat, he asks to go and does. We'll keep at it.

Object du Jour: Handy Manny's tools. Turner and Felipe help us "fix" a lot of things around the house!

Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy

Today is J2's second birthday! We had a little cake for him yesterday and the title of this post is how he sings the Happy Birthday song to himself. I can't believe he's two already! His face was totally blue from the frosting and he kept looking at the pics of himself on the camera and saying, "Mess!" He got a Sit and Spin, some play dishes and a Playdoh kit. Tonight he'll get his very own fringy blankey or "kiki" with Handy Manny on it. J sang his own version of Happy Birthday to Jameson in the tub this morning! Very cute!

We had our final Christmas Party this weekend. The boys tried opening everyone else's presents! I'm glad to be back to our regular routine. J is at school and did well in feeding therapy this morning.

Changed J's Mic-key button this morning. Hadn't changed it in awhile. I'm getting to be pretty good at this, although it is pretty weird to see a gaping hole in my kiddo's belly!

Object du Jour: A dominoes set from Aunt Donna and Uncle Dave. J has been carrying them around all weekend!