Last Friday night I let the boys stay up late watching a movie. Saturday morning, Declan woke up with red, puffy eyes. I assumed it was because he didn't get enough sleep. However, over the next few days the puffiness/redness never went away so we thought maybe it's a random allergy that's showed up all of a sudden and with a vengeance. We've attempted to treat him with Benadryl, but it never really seemed to help more than puffy reduction for a few hours. Last night, he woke up around midnight looking like this, coughing and wheezing. His cheeks and lips had swelled up with his eyes. After wringing my hands about it for about an hour, Chris and I finally decided to take him to the ER for a visit to see what could be done. Once there, he got some chest x-rays, a breathing treatment, some steroids, and we were sent home with a diagnosis of bronchitis and maybe allergies/maybe bacterial infection of the eyes. We've got some meds for him to treat the whole mess and we'll see how it goes. Today he's breathing much better, but still sporting the red, puffy eyes and face. So, not as much improvement as I was hoping, but at least he's not wheezing like ... a ...... wheezy person?
Apparently Declan's not out much late at night because the whole ride there and back was filled with awed comments about how dark it was and how pretty the night was and how much he loved the moon and tomorrow night can we please get on a rocket and go to the moon? Also, the woman who gave Dex the breathing treatment, after attempting to get him to breathe slowly and follow directions and stop giggling through it all, told me I had my hands full. And I was all, "Uh, doy." And then I thought maybe I'd heard that somewhere before.
School will be out officially for Logan on Friday (and not a moment too soon...Declan's ghost friend Gon has been hanging around a lot lately). He had his Kindergarten graduation last week, in which the class performed "Click Clack Moo" and Logan was a narrator and a dog. He did a fabulous job, thankyouverymuch. We got a really sweet photo of Declan giving Logan and Logan's best friend Caleah the double thumbs up for graduating from Kindergarten. (Incidentally, I've been given the "double thumbs up badge" from Declan several times recently for being so nice to him. I asked him once if I was ever not nice to him, and he informed me that in fact, it happens, when I do things like make him go to bed.) I think the picture is awesome for a lot of reasons, but mostly because Logan has his best brother and his best girl right there together.
On a totally random note, I found a picture in an unrelated folder on my computer and sighed with that motherly nostalgia that makes us feel like time is moving too fast. Logan in binky heaven. Stars blanket. Little hands, little legs, little feet.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Gross
We recently purchased this book for Logan since he pretty much finds gross things funny at any time of day. This morning at the breakfast table, he graced us with this joke:
Why did the kid bring a toilet to the party?
Because he was a party pooper.
Cue delighted, uproarious laughter from both boys.
The other side to the book is things that gross Logan out enough to cause him deep concern for his life. For example, he was reading it last night in bed and after a short while he came to find me, with a terrified look on his face. He asked me to tell him this wasn't true and pointed to a little info box on one of the pages that talked about how mosquitos suck your blood when they bite. I told him it was true and the terror deepened as he discovered that mosquitos do, in fact, reside in this area of the country. I asked him what about it specifically was so scary for him - was he afraid it would hurt, or did he think they'd drink too much blood, or was it just the blood itself that was bothering him? He looked at the floor and said he was scared that they'd bite him and eat so much blood from him that he'd become a vampire. We talked about how 1) vampires don't exist, 2) a mosquito can't possibly drink that much of a person's blood, and 3) vampires really don't exist ("You already said that!" "I know! It's that important!") and a few minutes later he went back to bed feeling better.
So, to sum up: Cheers to gross jokes that make little boys laugh. Jeers to little boys worrying their very lives will be sucked from them until they become unholy minions of the night. [Does anyone read TV Guide anymore?]
Why did the kid bring a toilet to the party?
Because he was a party pooper.
Cue delighted, uproarious laughter from both boys.
The other side to the book is things that gross Logan out enough to cause him deep concern for his life. For example, he was reading it last night in bed and after a short while he came to find me, with a terrified look on his face. He asked me to tell him this wasn't true and pointed to a little info box on one of the pages that talked about how mosquitos suck your blood when they bite. I told him it was true and the terror deepened as he discovered that mosquitos do, in fact, reside in this area of the country. I asked him what about it specifically was so scary for him - was he afraid it would hurt, or did he think they'd drink too much blood, or was it just the blood itself that was bothering him? He looked at the floor and said he was scared that they'd bite him and eat so much blood from him that he'd become a vampire. We talked about how 1) vampires don't exist, 2) a mosquito can't possibly drink that much of a person's blood, and 3) vampires really don't exist ("You already said that!" "I know! It's that important!") and a few minutes later he went back to bed feeling better.
So, to sum up: Cheers to gross jokes that make little boys laugh. Jeers to little boys worrying their very lives will be sucked from them until they become unholy minions of the night. [Does anyone read TV Guide anymore?]
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Five!
Go from this:
to this:
in just 5 short years! (He didn't want to do any "smiley" pictures until dinnertime. Incidentally, I feel like this gives me a pretty good glimpse at what the teen Dex will look like.)
About Declan:
He is my mini-me, for better or worse. I love this kid more than I could possibly put into words. There are so many things that make him him, and all of them work together to build this fabulously fabulous boy that I'm usually thrilled to be mother to.
Declan is rarely found without a song. He makes music all.day.long. We were out in the yard a few days ago on a gorgeous spring day, enjoying the sunshine and freshly-mowed-by-Grandpa-Tiny grass and Declan goes, "Did you know it's such a beautiful day I feel a song coming on?" And then he ran and sang a song about beautiful days. Rides in the car and sitting at the dinner table are two of our guaranteed spots to get a performance from Declan. Even if he's not vocalizing, he's bopping his head along to whatever music his mind is creating. When he was a baby, I loved standing outside his door after he was put to bed to listen to him humming himself to sleep.
Dex is still our little lightswitch - ready to flip between his two moods, happy and angry, at any instant. Lucky for us, he's usually in the happy position. He's a snuggler and freely gives hugs all day long. Often he'll walk up to me for no other reason than to tell me he loves me and give me a hug. He'll give you anything he has if you ask nicely for it, or if he thinks you might benefit from it more than he would. Many times he's offered his precious teddy bear pillow, stuffed animals, and blue blanket to the rest of the family at night for various reasons. He'll share the last bites of his treats with Logan just because he's his brother and he loves him.
The other side of the switch is as far in the other extreme as his happy is. That boy can scowl like nobody's business. While he may be willing to give you anything if you ask nicely, if you try and take something from him before he's ready, he will fight to the death for it. He's still under the impression that whining will get him what he wants sometimes, and he will let you have it full force if he thinks there's any chance of you giving in. He's got the emotional blackmail thing down pat and will threaten to never love you or hug you or kiss you again if you make him angry and try to punish him.
When Dex grows up, he's going to be a strong beast of a man. The days of physical matches between the boys haven't really started, but Declan's demonstrated here and there that he can stand his ground against his older brother. When he was about 2 and Logan was 3 1/2 or 4, the boys were wrestling on the living room floor. They got tired and fell into a heap of giggles, Logan settling on Declan's back. After a moment, Declan decided he was ready to stand up...so he did, showing no sign of effort and toppling Logan onto the floor in the process.
As is the case with most mothers I know, I worry that I'll be able to be the mom he needs as he grows up. I hope I can help him learn to temper his temper and get control over the cutting words he uses when he's angry. I hope I can teach him to enjoy his life and be proud and confident in who he is. I hope some day I'll be able to help him understand how lucky I feel to be the one he calls Mom.
Declan's my baby. My fierce, strong, loving, passionate, stubborn baby. He's the fire to Logan's ice - there's a reason he's been symbolized as a dragon in my world.
Happy birthday, buddy. =)
to this:
in just 5 short years! (He didn't want to do any "smiley" pictures until dinnertime. Incidentally, I feel like this gives me a pretty good glimpse at what the teen Dex will look like.)
About Declan:
He is my mini-me, for better or worse. I love this kid more than I could possibly put into words. There are so many things that make him him, and all of them work together to build this fabulously fabulous boy that I'm usually thrilled to be mother to.
Declan is rarely found without a song. He makes music all.day.long. We were out in the yard a few days ago on a gorgeous spring day, enjoying the sunshine and freshly-mowed-by-Grandpa-Tiny grass and Declan goes, "Did you know it's such a beautiful day I feel a song coming on?" And then he ran and sang a song about beautiful days. Rides in the car and sitting at the dinner table are two of our guaranteed spots to get a performance from Declan. Even if he's not vocalizing, he's bopping his head along to whatever music his mind is creating. When he was a baby, I loved standing outside his door after he was put to bed to listen to him humming himself to sleep.
Dex is still our little lightswitch - ready to flip between his two moods, happy and angry, at any instant. Lucky for us, he's usually in the happy position. He's a snuggler and freely gives hugs all day long. Often he'll walk up to me for no other reason than to tell me he loves me and give me a hug. He'll give you anything he has if you ask nicely for it, or if he thinks you might benefit from it more than he would. Many times he's offered his precious teddy bear pillow, stuffed animals, and blue blanket to the rest of the family at night for various reasons. He'll share the last bites of his treats with Logan just because he's his brother and he loves him.
The other side of the switch is as far in the other extreme as his happy is. That boy can scowl like nobody's business. While he may be willing to give you anything if you ask nicely, if you try and take something from him before he's ready, he will fight to the death for it. He's still under the impression that whining will get him what he wants sometimes, and he will let you have it full force if he thinks there's any chance of you giving in. He's got the emotional blackmail thing down pat and will threaten to never love you or hug you or kiss you again if you make him angry and try to punish him.
When Dex grows up, he's going to be a strong beast of a man. The days of physical matches between the boys haven't really started, but Declan's demonstrated here and there that he can stand his ground against his older brother. When he was about 2 and Logan was 3 1/2 or 4, the boys were wrestling on the living room floor. They got tired and fell into a heap of giggles, Logan settling on Declan's back. After a moment, Declan decided he was ready to stand up...so he did, showing no sign of effort and toppling Logan onto the floor in the process.
As is the case with most mothers I know, I worry that I'll be able to be the mom he needs as he grows up. I hope I can help him learn to temper his temper and get control over the cutting words he uses when he's angry. I hope I can teach him to enjoy his life and be proud and confident in who he is. I hope some day I'll be able to help him understand how lucky I feel to be the one he calls Mom.
Declan's my baby. My fierce, strong, loving, passionate, stubborn baby. He's the fire to Logan's ice - there's a reason he's been symbolized as a dragon in my world.
Happy birthday, buddy. =)
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