Thoughts on My Family

There are times when I worry about my son's future as an only child. He'll be alone. He won't have a sibling. Even though I planned to just have ONE child, these thoughts go through my mind. But then I think of my own poor relationship with my sibling. And while my husband loves and gets along with his brother, they certainly aren't close. So a sibling doesn't necessarily guarantee a good relationship and friendship into adulthood. But I guess I also worry about the fact that I had Little Man when I was 39... he's going to have elderly parents earlier in life. And no matter how well my husband and I may plan, when we are ill, everything will fall on him. That's assuming Little Man grows up to want us in his life as an adult. But I'll just go on that assumption based upon our relationships with our parents.

Families are complex. While I am pretty close with my aunts and uncles, I don't have much of a relationship with any of my cousins. Only two of the five are actually in touch with me (via Facebook, but they're in touch). And they both live far away so we couldn't actually get together anyway. Two are pleasant to me, but it's obvious we'll never reconnect. One considers me to dead to him for nothing I actually did. C'est la vie. I know I have done nothing wrong and my circumstances are what they are. But that has affected things and it's too bad. I am almost like an orphan, because nobody in my family has me over for holidays because of past actions made by someone else--but I get blamed, I guess.  My husband's family embraced me, but for some reason we just don't manage to connect any longer. A lot of it has to do with geography. It is what it is. But at least I know they have my back. At least I hope they do.

There are days when I feel lost. With my parents' health issues, they really aren't any support to me emotionally. My one aunt tries, but her life is so busy that she barely has time for herself and her two children. So I have nobody from "my side." And while I know my husband's family is there for me, it isn't quite the same.

Catching Up

Where to begin? It's been a good two months since I've actually posted something of interest. I guess I'll break the months down in sections and go from there, because a lot has happened.

MARCH

In our case it came in like a lamb and went out like a lion. Yikes. We finally made it to the dentist for Little Man's first check-up and it wasn't that great. He wasn't a fan of the chair and sat ON me the entire time. The x-rays weren't easy to get. Then I find out that Little Man has four cavities. FOUR! So I make appointments for him to get fillings. Fun times.

The first issue was my dog Casey and the chicken bones. He got into the garbage and the rotisserie chicken carcass. He ate the entire thing. After diarrhea and vomiting, I took him to the vet. He had gastritis and got meds (and lots of blood work, as he also has canine kidney disease). A quick $300 later and he recovered. But honestly I was worried. He was a very sick dog for a few days.

Then the week before Passover/Easter we had the "mystery illness."  He had a fever ranging from 100.7 to 102 for a full week. I ended up using 3 out of my 5 annual sick days (that I only got in March, after 3 months of employment) and my husband was off on Good Friday, when he finally felt better BUT came down with an ear infection.

Since Little Man has tubes, we did antibiotic ear drops (Ciprodex) but they did nothing. Took him back to the pediatrician and he got a prescription for a Z-pack. That finally did the trick and I made an appointment with his ENT for mid-April to follow up.  More on that later.

APRIL

That first Monday, after Little Man was finally better, I felt awful. I went to work with a fever. Bad call, but I only had 2 sick days left and felt like I could handle it. That evening I even went to my allergist for a check-up. But by dinnertime I felt AWFUL and my throat was on FIRE.  I had a 103 fever and felt like death. Of course sick day #4 was taken on Tuesday and I wen to my primary care doctor.

Strept Throat. That sucked. And led to sick day #5 (of 5) being taken on Wednesday. Plus a bad reaction the the generic Biaxin I was taking for the antibiotic. A switch to a sulfa drug did the trick, but I was on antibiotics for 12 days and that wasn't fun. Thank goodness my boss is a nice guy and gets that life happens. I am so grateful for being hired there.

Then Little Man's appointment with his ENT came on April 24th.  Apparently the one tube in his left ear (the one that got infected) partially came out and wasn't functioning. Plus I found out that his adenoids and tonsils are so large that he is unable to breathe through his nose. And he had another hearing test and he has loss in that one ear of >25 decibels. So the recommendation was another Myringotomy (tubes) and surgery to remove his Tonsils and Adenoids.

I have to admit that I'm freaking out a bit. I've read that the recovery from a tonsillectomy is NOT easy. And I'm expecting the worst. I'll post more about that later and probably will keep a record of his recovery. Surgery is set for June 10th.

We ended the month a bit better, with a trip to the Bronx Zoo. We're members and we go as often as we can. Little Man loves animals.

MAY

So far so good.

It was my husband's birthday. We saw Iron Man 3. We're planning our Fall vacation to Walt Disney World. I'm hoping this month is a good one.

I guess tha't all for now.  Sorry for hiatus again. I always start out with good intentions of blogging but then never follow through.

Wordless Wednesay

Explore! Rescue! Protect!

OCTONAUTS!!!!

Who or what is/are the Octonauts, you may ask? It's a cartoon on Disney Junior that my 3.5 year old son absolutely adores. Actually *I* absolutely adore it. Per Wikipedia, the show is:

The Octonauts is a British children's television series, produced by Silvergate Media for Cbeebies and animated by Brown Bag Films. The TV series is based on American children's books written by Vicki Wong and Michael C. Murphy of Meomi Design Inc. 

The Octonauts follows an underwater exploring crew made up of stylized anthropomorphic animals, a team of eight adventurers who live in an undersea base, the Octopod, from where they go on undersea adventures with the help of a fleet of aquatic vehicles. 

The subject matter is reminiscent of Star Trek and Thunderbirds^[1] blended with Jacques Cousteau. Although it is science fiction as regards its technology, the exotic creatures and locations that the crew encounter are real marine animals in their natural habitats.

Well, the show has been on Disney Junior for a while now, but there were no toys available in the United States. On Amazon you could find them, from Great Britain, at jacked up prices. So when Fisher-Price announced they'd be selling the toys at Toys R Us, I was very excited.

Then I went to their website and the toys were SOLD OUT online. The Octopod playset wasn't even shown on their site anymore--after being on there for a week or so. And the toys were back on Amazon, selling for at least 25% more--sometimes even twice their original retail price.

So I called my local store and, thankfully, they had all the toys. I stocked up.  Why?  Because I've instituted a sticker reward chart for Little Man for trying/eating new foods. He has been eating terribly. The same few meals. Lots of junk. And I need to change that.  Sadly, he needs incentive. The chart has 25 stars. If he fills in 10, he gets a small toy from a dollar store (or maybe a small Octonaut toy... we shall see). And when he hits 25, he gets a big one (he is unaware that it will be the Octopod playset).

These are all the toys I have waiting for Little Man. And I have a few pics of the other toys that I didn't get--and probably never will, if they are no longer available. I sure as hell am not paying twice the MSRP.

Octopod Playset

I am pretty sure this comes with Captain Barnacles (Polar Bear) and Kwazii (the Pirate Cat), but wasn't 100% sure, so I got backup figures that I probably will return. Little Man doesn't need two of those figurines. I also bought him the rest of the crew (along with creature) because he'll look at the box and say he "needs" them.

Peso (the Penguin) and the Comb Jelly -- Shellington (the Sea Otter) and the Sea Urchin

Tweak (the Rabbit) and the Squid -- Dashi (the Dog) and the Electric Torpedo Ray

Professor Inkling (the Octopus) and the Sea Horse-- Turnip (the Vegimal) and the Cuttlefish

I don't know how to explain about Turnip and the Vegimals (there are more). They are part vegetable, part animal. They seem to cook and clean the Octopod. It's somewhat disturbing.

Lastly, I did get ONE Gup vehicle (they have the Gup A, Gup B, Gup C and Gup D). This is a pic of all 4 that are sold. I purchased Kwazii's favorite Gup--the Gup B, which is designed to look like a shark.

I know I am completely overindulging my only child. It's terrible. But I am. And he has more toys than he knows to do with! So perhaps I've made the wrong choice to do so. But at least he plays well, and imaginatively with them. Little Man is very creative (see my Wordless Wednesday post where he put Rex in his Frog Wellies). I often hear him make his cars talk to each other (in Mater and Lightning McQueen type voices). So if I am going to overindulge him, at least he isn't spoiled by the toys. He PLAYS with them all.

Wordless Wednesday

Farewell February

The shortest month was a busy one, overall. Snowstorms. Potty training. Ice Cream Parties. It went so fast, yet it seems like it was forever. Last month at this time, we were preparing to pack away the pull-ups and now I have a fully potty-trained (and night trained!) little boy.  Farewell to my toddler, he is fully a PRESCHOOLER now. Little Man is three and a HALF now.

Though as much as he's a big boy, I am grateful that he still wants to snuggle with Mommy and sit on my lap. He is going through so many changes that I think he's occasionally struggling to adjust. He still needs work with sharing and taking turns. He has been more independent and will goof off at daycare (ie. make noise during nap/quiet time). He also has taken to hitting and shoving, which I'm not too pleased with. Thankfully his daycare teachers seem to understand that it's partially the age. And I feel better knowing that other children in his Chipmunk Class are doing this too.

Here is my silly boy waving around a slide whistle the other day.

Our other news is that we're planning a Fall vacation to Disney World! I won't say what dates exactly, but we're very excited for our first true family vacation and Little Man's first plane ride. I hope it goes well and I have many months to prepare for this. My son absolutely adores everything Disney. From Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to Little Einsteins to Jake and the Neverland Pirates to Doc McStuffins and the new show, Sofia the First. He loves Winnie the Pooh and, of course, TOY STORY. I think his head will explode when he sees Cinderella's Castle for the first time.

Over the coming months, I'm sure I'll be sharing plans on my blog. If anyone has advice or tips about traveling with a preschooler, please share. We know it's a big trip and that there is a lot involved. We're thrilled that we will be staying at a Disney resort (Port Orleans Riverside) and hope the trip will be as magical as we think. 

Next week, we go for follow-ups at the pediatric ENT and for our (his) first dental visit. The first was postponed due to the blizzard. I'm actually quite concerned that Little Man has a cavity. I'll find out for sure next week and will update with a post first dentist visit blog post--assuming it doesn't snow next week, which is a possibility.

Wordless Wednesday