See you next year!

Well, this will be the last post of the year since we are headed to Palm Springs tomorrow (Rancho Mirage -- Mission Hills to be exact). I will only have limited computer access there so this will be, most likely, the last post until we return on New Year's Day. We are renting a condo with my mom (Grandma) and little brother and his girlfriend (Uncle Joey and future Aunt Hillary). My older brother and his wife (Uncle Steven & Aunt Elizabeth) will be staying at Elizabeth's parents' house which is just 2 mintutes away. It will be our first "real" family vacation since my dad passed away in October 2006. Our last family vacation was, ironically enough, in Palm Desert in February 2006. It was when my dad was first put on oxygen full-time and it was obvious how sick he was then. So I'm feeling a little bittersweet about the vacation. I'm sure we'll have a great time... I'm still so sad about losing my dad. That sadness is always there... buried... but there. Anyway... I'm sure I'll be too busy chasing Little Love to think too many thoughts at all!

Speaking of which... I'm kinda dreading the plane ride tomorrow. This will be LL's 3rd trip (2 trips to Alabama and 1 to Chicago) and all the plane rides were fairly decent, except for one. They were also SHORT. This plane ride is 6-7 hours. I bought a portable DVD player and lots of Barney and Sesame Street DVDs from Craigs List & Amazon. I also have a new IPOD Nano (my Hanukkah present to myself!) and will download lots of LL's favorite songs (more Barney!) on them. I also bought new toys & books. Can you tell I'm a little concerned about the plane ride?!? I'm also worried about LL sleeping there.... he does not sleep well in new places... well, one thing at a time, right?!? I am SO EXCITED about Adam having lots of time with my brothers... they are so great with him. SO... hopefully it will be a very fun week! My antibiotics have also kicked in (thankfully!) so I'm beginning to feel a little better.... thanks, once again, for all the caring phone calls & e-mails!

Meanwhile, Adam has been loving Hanukkah over here as evidenced in the photos below. He loves watching us light the candles and says Hanukkah over & over. He also was excited to get a new baby doggy (a beige one!) as a present. I think his favorite part, however, has been eating Grandma's chicken soup! The kid has good taste!

Lighting the Menorah at Grandma's House

Loving Grandma's Chicken Soup (who doesn't?!?)

Hmm... a new present

A New Doggy!!! Yay!!!

We hope that everyone is enjoying the holiday season. We are wishing all our blog readers a Happy Hanukkah &/or a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Look for a new post then! XOXO

Oh, Hanukkah...

Tonight was the first night of Hanukkah. We had a low key celebration since Steven and I are recovering from the flu. We were supposed to go to a Hanukkah Party but had to miss out due to my cough and Steven's headache. Fortunately, we were both feeling a little better tonight (thanks to Mucinex!). We lit the candles with Adam which he loved. He also was very excited to receive "Elmo LIVE!" as his Hanukkah present. He shouted "Elmo!" when he saw him in the box. When Elmo said "Elmo loves you" and blew kisses, Adam hugged and kissed Elmo back. Too cute!!! Adam has also loved his "Where's Baby's Dreidel?" book and giggles hysterically right before the dreidel is found. He also likes the "I have a little dreidel" song. Holidays are so fun with a little one! :o)

Elmo LIVE! and Adam's beloved "Baby Doggy"

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We are hoping for a *healthy* week as we are leaving for California on Thursday!

P.S. I finally posted a few pics from Thanksgiving on the Thanksgiving post... http://adventuresinadamland.blogspot.com/2008/11/so-very-very-thankful.html
There's the link if you're interested (copy & paste link). Unfortunately, even though Adam and Claire looked adorable, the pictures I took weren't! :o( Oh well.... it was a really fun T'giving!

99% Better... yahoo!!! :o)

I am so happy (and relieved!) to report that Adam was back to his happy little self today! Finally! It's been one long week and we're just sooo thankful that Little Love is feeling better!

After LL's nap, he was beginning to go a little stir crazy so we headed to the At Play Cafe -- one of our favorite places. Here are some pics from our afternoon:





Tomorrow's the last day of work for 2 weeks! Yay! Oh, I was also happy to find out that I received an A+ in my graduate class. All that (last minute) work paid off! I'm just glad the class is OVER... I enjoyed it but it will be nice to have my Wed. afternoons/evenings with LL again!

After a rough morning, doing better

After Adam promptly threw up his entire breakfast & bottle and fell back asleep on the couch, he had a relatively decent day. I kept him at home (for the above reasons) and my mom (beloved GRANDMA!!!) came over to be with LL. She said he was affectionate and sweet for most of the day but a little bit more aggressive than usual. I'm hoping it's b/c he's still not feeling 100% and not for any other reason! Oh, his rash is almost all gone, too. Yay! I'm really hoping to get back into a more normal routine tomorrow. It's been exactly 1 week (well, at 1 AM) since I discovered that he was sick. I think 1 week of illness is enough, don't you?!?

Oh, many thanks to all of you who have left comments, wrote e-mails, made calls, asked me how Adam was doing, etc. I am very appreciative!!!

the saga continues...

Adam was okay today. Still irritable and sleepier than usual. And he threw up -- twice -- after dinner (in his words "I throw up"). And then, he was starving ("EAT mac and cheese. EAT chicken. BABA"). Of course, the lovely rash is still there, too. We're REALLY hoping for a better day tomorrow. It's been almost a week since he's first gotten sick... I'm SO ready for him to be 100% well!!!

Guess what happened this morning?

Steven & I were thrilled to wake up this morning with the realization that Adam slept the whole night through -- in his crib! It was the first time since he got sick at 1AM on Thursday morning. Yay! We packed his lunch, got his clothes out, etc. I felt his head... nice & cool. He was still asleep when I left for work and I was looking forward to getting back into our regular routine.

All was going well until 8:15 am when I get a call from... Steven. Telling me that Adam woke up with POKS ALL OVER!!! AAGH!!! I impulsively grabbed my stuff and headed to the school's office to tell them that Adam is sick... once again. At that exact moment, my mom called... Steven had filled her in and she googled the symptoms on the Mayo Clinic web site (go mom!) and decided that he has roseola. Now my mom is an extremely intelligent woman but I thought it would be best to get a diagnosis from the doctor. So off we went, back to the doctor, for the 3rd time in 5 days!!! Fortunately, there's an elevator in the building... Adam's absolute favorite. He was yelling "Bye Bye, Elevator" all down the hall!

Anyway, she was right... Dr. K diagnosed Adam with roseola... a virus that starts with a high fever and ends with a nasty rash. His face, chest, stomach, neck and back are covered. Lovely. We were told to stop the antibiotics (yay) and take it easy... Adam should be fine in a day or two. Of course, it could also be a reaction to the arithomycin but the Doctor doubts it. Besides Adam being a little sleepier and more irritable than usual, he was in a relatively good mood today. And no fever, Thank G-d!!!

Hopefully by Wednesday this saga will be over and we'll all be happy (& HEALTHY) again! Have a great week everyone!
As you can see, nothing slows Little Love down. Here he is, standing on his bus... his new favorite thing to do.

Finally... a little better

So I'm sure I just jinxed myself with that title!

However, I am soooo relieved and thankful to report that Adam has not had a fever since 3 am of Sunday morning - it's been almost 24 hours! He was himself today, for the most part. He is still coughing and not eating much (but at least he's eating a little -- he LOVED Grandma's chicken soup) but besides that, he's 90% better -- Thank You, G-d!!! We were even able to put him back on his regular routine today. Shockingly, he went down for a nap and bed without any fight at all. This was quite a (delightful) surprise since we held him -- literally held him -- all night long for the last 3 nights.

Thanks so much for the e-mails, calls, comments, etc. Your reassuring words helped more than I can express.

Back to work tomorrow -- last week until a 2 week holiday break! Yahoo!

still very sick... :(

My poor little love... he's still fighting a bad fever. It's been a really tough day... I probably wouldn't have gotten through it if my mom hadn't been with me... I've been in tears 3 times today. Let's see... (WARNING: this will probably be a very looong post filled with very minute details which is probably very boring... just a head's up...)...

LL woke up with a temp around the 102 range, if I can remember correctly. He took motrin with juice but absolutely refused to take the antibiotic. We tried EVERYTHING. Called the nurse... she told me to take him in. By the time we got to the Dr's his temp was up to 103.9 -- I about passed out when they told me that number. We gave him another dose of motrin right away and it went back down to 102.7 within 30 minutes and down to 101.5 within 3 hours. When it went down to 101.5, he was his happy little self again -- playing, talking, running, etc. It was wonderful.

Unfortunately, six hours later (when the motrin should begin to wear off -- it's SUPPOSED to last 6-8 hours, it's only lasting for about four it seems) his temp went WAY BACK UP (to about 103??). We gave him Motrin again around 6 and by 8 his temp was still 102.8. I was not happy. He was also very lethargic... just kept saying "see mama, see mama" as he was lying on me. He finally fell asleep and slept in his crib for an hour. About 9 he woke up and the fever was almost gone!!! It was only 99! He also was hungry and ate a little chicken, stuffing and his favorite, peas. All was good in the world again. He was still a little tired, of course, and fell back asleep. He woke up at 10 with a temp around 101.5. Fell back asleep. I woke him up at midnight to check his temp... 104.3!!! OMG!!! I about passed out. Called the nurse... she said the ear temps are notorious for being "too high", especially when the temperature is higher and it's probably more like a 103 temp. Fortunately, it's come down, too... it's probably around 101.5 now... don't want to wake him to find out. Will wake him up at 3 to give him tylenol and again at 6 for more Motrin.

Steven is sleeping downstairs since he was up with him for most of the night, last night. Having all this "downtime" to myself is NOT a good thing. Of course, I start thinking the worst case scenario. Like what if he has meningitis, G-d forbid??? I made the mistake of looking it up online. BIG MISTAKE since he has a high temp and a rash -- two symptoms. However, the Dr. did notice the rash -- seemed concerned for a second -- and then decided it was probably from the fever. Adam also has such sensitive skin and eczema. Other symptoms are persistent vomiting (he did throw up one time this AM but the nurse said one time doesn't count) and sensitivity to light. I called my mom a few minutes ago, panicked, and she said that if the Dr. was even remotely concerned that it was meningitis, he would have ordered tests. She also mentioned that his throat looks awful, he has a cough/sneeze, etc. So most likely it is sinusitis & a possible ear infection (Dr. W said he has the start of one, Dr. K today didn't see it... who knows???) that's causing the fever. He should be better by Sunday... oh, I'm so hoping he is (what an understatement that is).

So that's what's going on over here. If you read through this entire entry, I'm quite impressed. Steven is going to take over at 3 so hopefully I can get a little sleep then (he went to bed at 9... we'll trade off again mid-morning). Here's hoping the next entry is filled with much better news...

Really Sick :(

Little Love woke up at 1 am, calling for me. I went in to pick him up and he was HOT. Woke Steven up and we took his temperature... 102.3! Took him to the Dr... he has sinusitis (which I guess is a sinus infection?), the beginning of a right ear infection and his throat is red with green pus. Nice. His fever spiked up to 103.3 around 4, when the tylenol wore off. We started him on Children's Motrin which, Thank G-d, has lowered his temperature to about 101.5. When his temperature is above that, he is miserable -- sleepy, clingy, etc. The crazy thing is when his temp. was at 101.2 (the lowest it's been), he was in a great mood... smiling and even playing... he even ate 1/2 of Grandma's meatballs and a graham cracker. It is very hard for LL not to be happy and playful. Now of course when his temp is 102 or higher... not so happy.

Main problem is Adam REFUSES to take any medication. We have been able to put the tylenol or motrin in his cup with juice and he drinks that. We're really struggling with the antibiotic, though. It is a tutti-frutti flavor but that doesn't seem to help. We mixed it in with his milk... and he only drank about 2/3 of it. Steven squirted it into his mouth... let's just say, it all came back up. The nurse said to wait until morning to give the antibiotic so hopefully it will go smoother then. We have a loooong night ahead as Adam will only sleep, when he's sick, if he's being held.

We're just hoping that his fever breaks soon and he's back to his happy little self. This really IS his first "real illness" besides cold/cough since he never did have a staph infection. He only had one other temperature and that only lasted four hours. I'm pretty sure it was due to his one-year molars coming in, too. Let's just hope this is short-lived... my poor little love. :(

Adam-isms & some updates :o)

Here are some of the amusing phrases that have been coming out of Adam's mouth these days before I completely forget about them... and they're too funny to forget about :o):

* Tonight, Adam was "vacuuming" (with his toy vacuum cleaner) and ran into a pile of toys and said "Oops. Sorry". He was completely serious.

* Every night he asks to watch "Wheel. Of. FORTUNE!!!!". He says it exactly like the announcer does. Seriously. Probably since he's been watching it with me since in utero.

* Adam loves "calling" people on the phone, especially Bobbe. He always goes "Hi Bobbe"!
Talking on the phone with Great Aunt Linda on Thanksgiving

* LL knows exactly what he wants and isn't shy in telling you. For example, he'll say, "See Grandma". I hear this A LOT! Yesterday, on the way to Grandma's house, he even cheered: "Grandma. Grandma. Grandma" and said "Grandma's House"! Adam LOVES his Grandma -- she really is the best, I have to say. She sees him at least 2-3x a week... they are SO CLOSE. Personally, I think it's crutial that kids have that all-important bond with their grandparents and that grandparents should see their grandkids as much as possible. I always felt so loved by my Grandma (Omi) and I still miss her terribly. I just thought of her today when I saw a crocheted (spelling?) baby blanket at Brandy's baby shower. Oh, would she have loved Adam. She would probably have thought he's a little wild, too! She always thought Joey was wild (he was)! :o)

* When we pulled in the garage tonight, Adam said "HOME" without me saying anything.

* Yesterday, Steven asked him what picture Adam liked in the living room. He pointed to a picture and said "That one". Then he pointed to ANOTHER picture and said "AND that one".

* He still is VERY PICKY about his music choices in the car. He'll usually tell me what he wants to listen to which is usually Barney, Elmo or a specific song. His current favorites are "Muffin Man" and "Have you seen my Doggy"? Yesterday, he hugged and swung his Doggy around with a big grin during the Doggy song. I almost got into an accident b/c I positioned the rearview mirror to look at HIM b/c he was so unbelievably adorable during that song!!! He'll also say "Another song" or "Again" during/after each/every song. His song choices change daily.

* If he falls, he'll say "I fall down" and/or "What Happened?" (or he... um... cries in pain -- fortunately this doesn't happen often -- knock on wood!!!).

And last, but certainly not least, Adam's new favorite word is... NO!!!
As in - Mama: "Adam, let's change your diaper". Adam: "NO diaper! NO diaper! NO!"
Fun times. No, seriously, I love my little chatterbox SO MUCH!!! :o)

In other news...
-- The MNO and Baby Shower for Brandy went very well... except for the Party City trip with Adam last night. He was SPRINTING through the store, pulling everything out. He even managed to lose a shoe (fortunately, it was found -- after we got home, of course). I do NOT recommend taking a toddler to Party City!!!

-- I've made some headway (is that the right word?!?) on my research project due Wed. Still have A LOT of work to do this weekend, though.

-- Adam is continuing to LOVE school (Thank G-d)! Miss Annie and Miss Nas are AMAZING teachers and seem to truly adore Adam. Adam also loves his little friends there and recites their names every night: Jack(ie), Olivia, Connor, and Nila.

-- My mom (aka the infamous Grandma) thinks that Adam is ready to potty train since he promptly tells us when he has poo-ed ("Poo"). He always LOVES to pee on the floor whenever he can... and he knows it's "Pee". But, to be honest, I really have NO DESIRE to potty train him yet. It's just so... messy. Plus, with him at Montessori 3X a week, his schedule is inconsistent. I think we might officially begin the process when he turns 2... in less than 4 months... OMG!!! My heart!!!

Think that's all I have for you. Happy Weekend!

Busy Mama!

After a slew of posts, my blog writing has slowed down. Mainly due to exhaustion. These are some of the events that have interfered with blog writing:

1. HUGE research project due in my graduate class next Wednesday which is 70% of our grade. Ask how much I have done so far (actually, don't ask...).

2. I'm planning a baby shower for a co-worker, Brandy, on Friday. Fortunately, I ordered the "specialty Pooh cake" this evening and finished buying baby shower gitts (of course I *love* baby showers) tonight. Only problem is that it's a surprise shower and I, um, accidentally said -- "I bought the cutest outfit for your shower" -- to Brandy yesteday. Oops!!! We both pretended like I didn't say anything. Let's hope she still acts surprised on Friday!!!

3. I'm also planning a Mom's Night Out for some neighborhood friends from our Shabbat Club for Thursday night. All I need to do is make the reservation now... looks like we'll have a good turn-out. :)

4. Trying to function on 3-5 hours of sleep each night. This is tough. Adam is usually a great sleeper but he he has a bad cold & cough right now so he woke up constantly last night and was only comforted when he was being held. So I slept 3 hours last night. Fortunately, he took a 3 hour nap today so I caught up on my zzz(s) a bit this afternoon. Here's a photo of Adam (and Dada) sleeping at 3:12 A.M.:

5. Abby is coming this weekend!!! Yay!!! Abby is a very dear friend and I'm so excited she'll be in town. Only issue is... hmm... I have to actually prepare the house for the visit (aka -- "clean up!" as our friend Barney would say).

Think that's about it. Thanks for letting me vent!!! At least these are all really happy things to keep me busy... I'm so very thankful for that. Speaking of happy things, Adam had a great time at Parker's 2nd birthday party at the House of Bounce on Saturday. Here are some pics:

The adorable blond tot is the birthday girl, Parker






Not the greatest quality of photos but Adam was a moving target so I'm lucky I even got one shot (no pun intended!). Oh, look for more Thanksgiving pics later this week... I was able to retrieve the T'giving photos (yay)!

Adam is out of his teenage months!

That's right... Little Love turned 20 months today. Wow. I'm in a bit of denial so I think I'll wait until tomorrow to write more. However, I will say that Adam's favorite word at the moment is "NO" (As in -- Mama: "Adam, would you like to have a cracker? Adam -- NO!!!). Yep, he's definitely 20 months old now!!!

One more thing... You know all the wonderful Thanksgiving pics I was going to post today?!? Not going to happen since I accidentally deleted them all from my camera after I transferred them to my Shutterfly account! Grr! Those of you who would like to see the pictures, e-mail or leave a comment, and I'll send you a link to the Shutterfly account. I have the cutest pics of Adam & Cousin Claire together!

So very, very thankful...

We had such a lovely Thanksgiving at Cousin Paul, Jenn & Claire's house (wonderful company, delicious food, Adam had a blast -- we all did!) this year! I'm too exhausted to post photos now... I will tomorrow, though.

Just wanted to write a quick post on gratitude. I am so very thankful for being blessed with such incredible family & friends (you know who you are)! I'm also sending a special shout-out to Steven, my Mom (aka Grandma) and...

ADAM (big surprise, right?) -- my little love continues to bless us with so much love, smiles and laughter each & every day. How we got blessed with such an amazing & wonderful little boy, I'll never know (even though I secretly think my dad "up above" had something to do with that!). I thank G-d every day for our little miracle.

He also is, kana hura (as my mom would say), unbelievably adorable. He is the cutest thing I've ever seen... see picture below in his little Thanksgiving outfit. Is it too shallow to be thankful that your child is so doggone cute... look at those cheeks?!? :o)



Cousin Claire, looking adorable, as always

Adam LOVED playing in Claire's kitchen

We forgot Adam's PJs so he wore Claire's PINK ones!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

"Thanks"

Since Thanksgiving is upon us (is it just me, or did November FLY by?!?), I think that it is appropriate that Adam has learned to "give thanks". Sometimes he'll say "Thank You, Mama" or "Thank You, Dada" but usually he'll just say "Thanks". And he says it in a completely serious, grown-up voice, right on cue. It is hysterical. I'll hand him something and he'll go "Thanks" very casually, like he's 25 y.o. You have to actually hear him to understand how truly funny he sounds/is.

Adam wasn't saying "Thanks", however, at the grocery store this morning. When the cashier took away the electronic pen he was playing with, he stuck out his lip in the biggest (and cutest) pout you've ever seen. Of course, if *I* had taken the pen away, he would've started yelling and screaming. But since it was a stranger that took it away, he kept his cool... well, except for the poutm if course. This one random lady wanted to take a picture of him... he was *that* cute (unintentionally, of course)!

Grandma left for Florida this morning. Adam was so excited to play with her before she left on her trip. Here they are playing "See Saw" before we took her to the airport:


Adam absolutely adores Grandma. He always asks to "See Grandma" when we are at the computer (he loves looking at her pictures on the screen). We will definitely miss spending Thanksgiving with Grandma (and Bubbe & Zayde and all our Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins this year)! However, Adam is very excited (we all are!) about spending the day with Cousin Claire and other members of the R'sky clan!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

False Alarm

So, as you loyal readers know, I've been on pins & needles since Thursday night, thinking that my little love has MRSA -- the very serious form of staph. I made the mistake of reading an article on Parents.com that was labeled "When a pimple turns out to be deadly"... referring to MRSA, of course. Yeah, that didn't send me into a little panic attack or anything. So, anyway, I call the pediatritions's office this morning to get the culture results and had to leave a message. I go to a 4th grade class to teach a lesson and come back to find a voicemail from the lab technician telling me that "the results are fine". Fine, as in my child isn't going to die of MRSA?!? So, I call right back just to get the message... again. Fortunately, the lab technician called back soon after to tell me, once again, that the results are fine... meaning everything came back NEGATIVE!!! No staph, no strep, no infection. YAHOO!!! What a nice surprise that was. Of course, not too happy that Adam's been on a super strong antibiotic since Thursday night, but what can you do? Also, if he didn't have a bacterial infection... what is it, then, that he has???

So, we went back to the Doctor to find out... our 3rd visit in 5 days! Yikes! The Dr. we saw (a new Dr.) said that he has a combination of mild exzema and dry skin. Fortunately, the whitehead/pimple things are clearing up so he said to stop the antibiotics. However, his foot is still a mystery... nobody seems to know what's on his foot. This Doctor, after exclaiming "How Mysterious... How Mysterious, Indeed" (helpful, Doc!) thinks that it's an irritation from something and should clear up in a week or two. We have to go back to the Dr. in a couple of weeks for Adam's 2nd flu shot so if it's still there then, we're going to get a referral to a dermatologist. In the meantime, he told us to put hydorcortisone 1% on his foot. However, after Steven talked to his Dad (a Dr.) I'm not sure I want to do that since it's a steroid. So we might just leave the foot alone until the next Dr.'s appt. and hope it clears on it's own.

Thanks again for everyone's supportive comments, emails, and calls!

Happy moment last night: the Redskins winning against the Seahawks! Go Skins! Adam can now sing "Hail to the Redskins"... that's my boy!!! Here he is, all happy after the victory:

Have a great week everyone!!! I'm off from work until next Monday!!! Yahoo!!! :o)

Midnight Adventure

Thank you so much for all of your kind comments and e-mails during Adam's (probable) staph infection. The craziest thing is that he's 100% "healthy looking and acting", besides the 4 little pimple-staph things, of course. Just to play it safe, though, we've kept him home for the past 2 days. Yesterday, I swear, we both went stir-crazy. Steven couldn't even walk in the living room when he got home. Every single toy was played with, every single book read (well, not really, but the favorites were) and every Barney On-Demand episode had been watched. This was the first time I think that Adam hadn't left the house in a year! Fortunately, Grandma came over in the AM which made Adam (and me!) so happy. I was a little nervous about him taking his antibiotic as he had screamed/spit it out when we tried to give it to him. We had to mix it in with cake frosting (the nurse's suggestion) in the AM which worked but was a huge mess. Fortunately, by dose 2, he took it mixed in with his formula in a bottle. I *knew* there was a reason he was still on bottles (Yes, we plan for him to be OFF the bottle and "Next Step" formula by age 2. Really). Anyway, we made it through the day and it was really nice to have such quality time with my Little Love.

We noticed on Thursday night that LL had some type of raised skin/bumps on the bottom of his feet. It was (is) really strange looking and my mom kinda freaked out when she saw it. So I took him back to the doctor (well, it was the nurse practitioner) this morning to see what it was. She thinks it is part of the staph infection and just looks different since he's walking on it. She also thinks that the pimples/staph infection is clearing up -- YAY!!! -- which means it's probably not MRSA since it seems to be responding to the antibiotic. Of course that made me feel much better but I won't be able to completely relax until the culture results come back okay on Monday.

The rest of the day was fine... just took it easy and relaxed which is what we wanted after the week we had! Adam went to bed at 8 am and slept peacefully until midnight when I heard him coughing. He was coughing for about 10 minutes so I went in to check on him. He immediately sat up, coughed, and looked for his Doggies. WHO WERE IN THE DRYER!!! AAGH!!! We took them to wash after he fell asleep. Needless to say, he NOTICED and was HYSTERICAL yelling for "Doggy". I gave him Big Doggy (see photo below) but he wanted "The Other Doggy" (see singular Doggy in pic below, the original and his favorite one). He was so upset that I took him downstairs and held him while the Doggy finished drying. He fell back asleep almost immediately on me.

Mama's Little Love. Oh, just in case you noticed, I do NOT have a mustache -- it's some weird shadow thing on the side of my lip and under my chin. Also, if you look closely, you can see one of the staph pimples on Adam's wrist. This is the one the Dr. cultured. As you can see, it's almost gone. Thank G-d!

Of course, when the doggies had finished drying, we brought him back upstairs. He fell right back asleep in his crib without even mentioning Doggy. After all that! Well, it was nice cuddle time with him. Can you believe he'll be 20 months next week! OMG! He looks like a little infant sleeping on me, doesn't he? Oh, how I adore my little love!!!

#1 Doggy

All the doggies. We need to invest in some Gund stock!

LL's first infection :o(

Little Love has two little "pocks" (they look like whiteheads) -- one on his wrist and one on his thigh. Long story short... took him to the Dr. and he has strep or, more likely, staph. Just that word freaks me out. Adam has never had more than a runny nose in over 19 months and now he probably has a f'ing staph infection. I'm so upset. He's on antibiotics -- which he hates -- and the Dr. said we should see improvement in a day or two. If not, he needs to go back in. Of course, there is always the fear that it's MRSA -- the type of staph that is very difficult to treat. The Dr. took a culture and we'll find out on Monday what it is. We have no idea how he got this... maybe school? Or he was scratchng his exzema patch on his leg? Who knows. At least he's very happy... it doesn't seem to be bothering him in the least. I'm just hoping it clears up asap so we can put this behind us. Poor Litte Love.

In other upsetting news... I hit a deer the other night. So traumatizing. The deer didn't go through the windshield, at least. Over $3 grand in damages -- good thing we have great car insurance so we only have to pay a $250 deductible. And, thank G-d, neither Adam or I were hurt in the collision.

I try not to post about upsetting things but I'm really feeling the stress. I'm glad the weekend is almost upon us so we can all -- hopefully -- rest and relax.

Fun at the At Play Cafe

A new "play cafe" opened up (relatively) near us about six months ago. It is wonderful! They have two play areas for the kids and a cute little cafe with very kid-friendly food and prices. Yesterday I met up with some wonderful friends there and we all had such a nice time. Here are some pics of Adam & his pals playing:

Popping out of the firehouse... about to go down the big slide (LL's favorite)!

Adam playing with his favorite, blocks

Adam loved this baseball hoop -- mainly playing in it, though!

Adam and Nathan playing with the dinosaurs

Kid line-up! Tomas, Addie, and Adam eating chicken quesadillas & applesauce. Yum!

Addie & Adam after they "high 5ed". I think Adam has a litle crush on Addie since he blushed, giggled, and turned away every time their hands touched. Awww.

We also had a delightful surprise visit from Liz and her one-week-old newborn, Andrew. I have never seen a woman look so good 7 days after giving birth!
Introducing Adorable Andrew!

Andrew's big sis, Amazing Asha!

A boy & his dogs (in doggy PJs, of course)

a rare quiet moment

Things have been crazy busy around here again. The good news is that Adam is very happy at school again. Yay! We were really getting concerned there but for the past 2 weeks he's been "himself" again... happy and talkative. It must have been the fluid in his ears/allergies that were bothering him. The Dr. said they would clear up during the first freeze. Looks like he was right.

Too tired to write any more tonight... will post an entry on Adam's new favorites soon. One of his new phrases, which he says perfectly in context, is "OH, SHOOT"! Yeah, at least it's shoot and not another word. Guess we really DO need to watch what we say around here. More tomorrow...

Happy Boy

Had an impromptu photo session with Adam today. Here are some of the winners:





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This little boy rocks our world. He is the cutest, sweetest, smartest, & funniest little person we've ever met. Of course, you know, parents are the most unbiased sources, too. We just adore our Little Love more & more each day! :o)

Dr. visit, Aunt Christioli, School & other LL updates...

It has been quite busy over here with Little Love! Here's what's been going on...

Doctor Visit:
Adam finally had his 18 month check-up (5 weeks late!!!). The Doctor was very pleased with his "overall growth & development". He weighs about 23.5 lbs (around the 15th%ile -- the Dr. was thrilled -- seriously!), is about 33 inches long (50th %ile) and his head is also in the 50th%ile. The Dr. says he speaks like a 2.5 year old since he knows over 150 words and is saying 2-3 word phrases now. Motor skills are right on target, too. Needless to say, I was very relieved with this report since I get (unnecessarily) anxious before his check-ups. He still has a little fluid in his ears but it's clearing up. Just to be on the safe side (since he stills pulls on his ear a bit and is still shaking his head sometimes -- for no apparent reason), we are going to put him back on Allegra until "the first freeze" since he may have some allergies. All in all, a good visit, Thank G-d!!! :-)

School Talk:
We *think* Adam has gotten over his rough patch at school. For the past few weeks, LL has been unhappy at "work", as he calls it. Miss Annie reports that he had been up & down all day, quite clingy, teary and much quieter than usual. Also, when I would pick him up he kinda seemed out of it (probably tired since he doesn't nap much there). Steven and I were getting *very* concerned especially since he's 100% himself when he's not at school. Fortunately, he finally had a good week at school last week. Never had I felt so joyful to see the words "happy" and "chatty" circled on his daily report (instead of "tired" and "teary". Ugh). We are keeping our fingers crossed that LL will continue to have good days at school.

Visit with Aunt Christioli:
Aunt Christy came for a visit this weekend! We were all so happy to see her, especially Adam. Of course, it did't hurt that she arrived with gifts (an awesome car race track & crayons -- Adam loved both!). Aunt Christy and I have been the best of friends since our college days. As a mother of 3 adorable children (including 3 yr. old twin boys!!!) she is amazing with Adam. Boy, does he listen to her! She is truly a SuperMama!!! We're so glad that we were able to spend 4 days with her. Come back soon, Aunt Christiolialaschmala!!!

Adam, about to fall asleep, on Aunt Christioli... he really loved her.

We also attended family brunch with some friends from my Mom's group on Saturday, which was delightful.
Reading with Tomas and Tomas' Dad, Paul

Adam surveying the scene at the family brunch.

Adam with his new vaccum... thanks to Tomas' Uncle for the great hand-me-down! :)

Grandma bought Adam these adorable pajamas since they have "doggy" on them:
LL actually posed for this picture! Look at that laugh!

Reading with Doggy in Doggy Pajamas... what could be better?!? :-)

Have a great week, everyone!