Bittersweet

I found this hat at the Goodwill Outlet.  Bug liked it, but not to keep her head warm.  She was being so silly with it.  She was even trying to get Littlest to wear it. 

No, Littlest isn’t drunk or stoned, just an unfortunate shutter release.

We always hit the toy section in stores for some cheap fun.   At Fred Meyers, we tried out hats on Littlest, but she was a little unsure about it.

I’m done now.

This hat is bigger than me!

Daddy…I’m a good guy, not a bad guy!

Also at Fred Meyers, Daddy tried to show Bug how to ride a tricycle.


But Daddy, my legs aren’t long enough!  I can’t reach the pedals.

But I can push with my feet.   (This was a cool fold up tricycle - she didn’t want to get off) 

(Of note, the shirt, shoes, and socks she has on are from Goodwill Outlet thank you very much)

Bug found the screwdriver and went to work on her (unbroken) toy.  She knew where to put the screwdriver and what to do.  

Friday was the day we went up to Casey Eye Institute for Littlest’s first birthday eye evaluation.  We decide to make it a family affair and see some of the sights at the OHSU campus.    Since both girls fell asleep on the way over, our first sight was inside the parking garage.   We sat there for about 20 minutes until they woke up. Luckily I had brought some magazines I had been wanting to read.  Neither girl had a good nap in, so this was a bonus.  Then we found our way up to the tram.  First we took an unexpected visit to the dental school.  It was the deep, dark, old part, kinda creepy.  On display were some dental anomalies….Daddy wanted to take pictures.   Why?   It was just creepy!  Finally we made it to the tram area after a series of twists, turns,  elevators, and catwalks!  Bug was excited.  She was liking this added extra attention (well deserved I might add) and adventure. 


A view of the other tram.

Waiting for the tram

Two little ragamuffins on a tram ride

Checking to see how Littlest is doing.

Ten wheels trying to make it out without mishap.

I think both girls enjoyed the ride.  Bug wanted up and then down and then added a few “whoa’s” when we hit the bump.  At the bottom we had to go in and get a patient family pass before we could ride back up.   While standing in line to go back up.  Bug was going between Littlest, Daddy and I chatting up a storm.  All of a sudden, she went past me and threw her arms around the legs of the young (about 25ish) lady behind us and gave her a huge hug, gave her a big old binkie smile and then went back to Littlest.   We all were kinda stunned.  She had never done that before.  The young lady was grinning from ear to ear.  It was the sweetest thing.  She said to her friend that Bug must have known that she was pregnant.   They kept talking about it all the way up to the top.   I guess sometimes (when you are little) it is good to hug a random stranger.  I don’t recommend it for adults though.

Since we where there forever, we hit rush hour traffic.  Thank God for the carpool lane.  We managed to get home in good time.   Then as a treat for our wonderful news, we went here….

Okay, so it was only a treat for Mommy and Daddy, but the girls had all kind of yummy goodies while we were gone,  so it was our turn. 

Once dinner was over, we all laid on the bed, had a giggle-fest, read a book, and finally went to bed.  It had been a long, but good,  day! 

It’s true I got my cast off yesterday.   It was the best feeling (at the time).  There was no traumatic removal of the cast this time, the tech was very gentle.   Dr. C put me in a boot, but I’m not supposed to walk for another two weeks.  He asked me if I was diabetic though.  That’s kinda worrisome.  He said that I’m healing, but I think not quite as fast as he thought I would.   My dad was diabetic and I’ve always worried that would be a problem.  Of course do I do anything to prevent it like lose weight….nope.   Anyhow, two weeks of non-weight bearing, then I’m supposed to my foot on a scale and first put 25 pounds of weight with my foot to see what it feels like and then for three days I put only that amount of weight on my foot.  So 25 pound increments every three days until I’m full weight bearing.   I don’t have to wear the boot at night and I can shower and actually scrub that foot and leg - Yipee!  I was so happy about that. 

Today I’m having second thoughts.   My foot hurts.   No boot at night isn’t very comfortable and I was sore.   My foot hasn’t felt that kinda of freedom in ages.   The shower was nice, but I have so much dead skin that it will take a few showers and scrubbing to get my leg and foot back to normal.  And as a TMI, the hair on the front part of my leg, the shin area, grew like crazy.   It was like it had Miracle Grow regularly.   Yes, I took a picture of it, but figured maybe I was the only one interested in that kinda of silliness.   So instead I took a picture of my C-3PO foot.   I have to admit that I kinda wish I had my cast back on, it felt better than with the boot does.   Hopefully that will get better. 

Attractive footwear. 

I actually had part of the day off from work and Daddy and I just vegged until my doctor’s appointment.   Nana came over later so that Daddy and I could have a dinner date.  We started talking about Bug and the fact that daycare has mentioned twice this week how Bug has been more aggressive and won’t let anybody near her.  She has been kinda the same way at home and very emotional.   We decided that combined with the fact that her teacher Miss H left and we’ve been so focused on Littlest and her medical problems,  that Bug was probably feeling unloved and left out.   So after dinner, we stopped by and picked up Bug and took her with us to Barnes and Noble.  She was dressed in her pink monkey jammies, but that didn’t stop her.  She loved it.   We looked at all kinds of books, talked, played and tried to find a “cats” book.   Unfortunately, the Aristocats is so old and not one of the new popular ones, there aren’t any in print anymore.   I think Bug’s date with Mommy and Daddy did a lot to boost her mood.   We have made more of an effort to pay more attention to her even though Littlest still needs a lot of  extra attention and it has made a huge difference.   

Everybody crashed after our date….

Surprisingly, Big Yellow Dog allowed Bug to snuggle with him. 

Sorry to leave you hanging, but it’s been busy and scary.  

We went to our normal pediatrician and she thought that Littlest had almost a bronchiolitis, but it was still developnig or it might possibly be an asthmatic component to a viral illness.  So she put Littlest on Albuterol nebulizer treatments and gave us another prescription for a steroid if things got worse.   We gave Littlest a breathing treatment at home about 4 and then during dinner the poor little gipper fell asleep in her high chair.  Rather than disturb her, I just reclined the high chair and left Daddy to watch over her while I gave Bug a much needed bath.   Littlest woke up coughing so bad she was choking and having a hard time.  Daddy brought her in to be in the steam in the bathroom (our bathroom is so cold, sometimes I run the shower on hot to warm it up at night) and to hop in the bath with Bug.  Daddy mentioned how Littlest’s fingers and mouth were stained with blueberries.  I told him she didn’t have blueberries only Bug did.  She wasn’t getting enough oxygen and she was shaking horribly.  Her shaking was bad enough that she couldn’t stand very well (even worse than her current learning to stand phase).  So we plunked her in the tub and while Daddy was pouring warm water on her to get her warmed up, I rubbed her little fingers until the color returned.  Then after getting her dressed again, I gave her another nebulizer treatment.   Her wheezing didn’t stop, it didn’t even get better!   We called the on-call doctor who said to go to the ER.   So off for another late night ER visit.   Luckily I had Bug in bed asleep and Nana came to watch her.  

In the ER, they gave her another breathing treatment and Prelone, a steroid.   After the Prelone, the nurse said, oh she might throw up and walked out the door.  I moved Littlest next to me so I wouldn’t get puked on and as soon as I did that, she threw up.   That stuff stinks - the combination of formula which already stinks and the Prelone which has a sickening sweet smell….yuck!   Then they came in for a chest x-ray.  I don’t know if you’ve had the distinct pleasure of having your baby get a chest x-ray or not, but it is the most heartbreaking thing in the world to witness.   It’s awful.  They put the child in an immobilizer called a Pigg-O-Stat. 

This picture is deceptive, that child must have been drugged to be that calm.

Littlest was so squirmy they had to put tape around the top part several times to keep her hands in.   She cried so hard and there was no way I could console her.  They did two views of the chest and then released my little one.   The chest x-ray showed some inflammation, but no pneumonia.  So back to the room where we found out that because the Prelone was thrown up, she had to have another dose.  So I gave it too her slowly and it stayed down.   Also, her ears were were red and they thought she was getting an ear infection and started her on antibiotics.  Her ears were clear 8 hours earlier.   So we were sent home about 12:30 a.m. with the medicines and our still wheezy, gurgly, drowning sounding little girl.   It was not a fun night.   I’ve been sleeping with her to keep an ear on her breathing. 

The ER doctor was absolutely amazed at how healthy looking and big Littlest is considering all she has been through and her early start on life.  

Our sick little girl and the viral exanthem on her face.

Not so sick she can’t laugh!

Hanging out on the gurney in the ER waiting to go home.

So yesterday we took her in for her follow up visit.  Her one ear is still red, she is still wheezing, but no fever and seems a bit better.   We had the new doctor in the clinic and he was wonderful!  Dr. V looked like he was about 17, but he had good rapport with Littlest and didn’t make her cry.   He suggested an RSV swab because her lungs sounded as if she had RSV.   He called later with the results and she was RSV positive.   So we still keep an eye on her and she should get better.  If not, back to the doctor.  Dr. V said that RSV has a peak when it gets worse and then after that the patient gets steadily better, no ups and downs.  Unless of course something else is going on. 

So why have we been getting the $3500 a month Synagis shots?   Because without it, she would have been hospitalized.  Synagis isn’t a RSV vaccine, it has antibodies to help prevent RSV from infecting a baby’s lungs or reduce the severity if a child does get it.  Preemies are especially susceptible. 

From the Synagis website:   Each Synagis shot provides a dose of virus-fighting substances called antibodies that help prevent RSV or at least from developing a severe case of RSV.  

Apparently RSV presents like a cold so older children and adults can get it, but you would never know it without a nasal swab.  

Poor Bug has been a bit neglected the last several days, but hey, she got to watch the AristoCATS a bunch of times and I reminded her of how much she liked Tinkerbell so she got to watch it with first Daddy and then I last night for some snuggle time. (To let you in on a secret - I love watching Tinkerbell.)  Bug doesn’t feel good either and has a nasty cough.  Now she has a skinned nose from falling down at daycare.  She has been kinda grumpy and crabby for the most part, but still has a playful spirit.  I love those girls to bits. 

So there you are, another delightful part of our life.    So when does 2009 become a better year than 2008?   I really want to know!

Littlest is very sick.  She has a cough that sounds like she is drowning.   None of my usual remedies have worked and she doesn’t look like she feels well at all.   So off to the doctor we go.  Prayers would be gratefully accepted if you think about it.   We have been so lucky she hasn’t had any hospitalizations or major illness for the past 7 months!

Update to come later. 

This post could be subtitled a couple ways:

How I watched the Aristocats 50 billion times over the weekend.

or

The Terrible Twos Have Arrived!

Ugh. 

Bug is the most lovable, delightful creature….most of the time.   There are moments that make you want to leave her at daycare until she is our sweet girl again.  We have found lately that any time we go to the store or pretty much anywhere public, she has a meltdown…complete and utter meltdown.   Yesterday it was a half hour cry and tantrum fest at Wal*Mart.  Whenever people would stare, I would just say, “It’s awfully hard being two” and move on - we had to get food.   Crap, don’t tell me your child was perfect his/her whole life.   I know you would be lying if you said that out loud. Okay, there may be one or two good kids out there, but I’m sure you had trying times.  

Anyhow, let me recount the weekend for you.  

Thursday I was able to leave work three hours early, partly because I didn’t have any work to do and partly because Bug was sick and I needed to pick her up from daycare.  Littlest was over at Nana’s and she was sick too.  I got Bug to take a nap and I went to town cleaning.  Who knew that 988 sq feet of house could be such a pit if neglected for a day or two.   The rest of the day was pretty calm and we managed to get to bed fairly on time without trouble.  

Friday, since I got paid, Daddy and I decided to treat ourselves and go out to breakfast.  It was touch and go with Bug because she still didn’t feel good and had a hair trigger tantrum-wise.   We sat down at the table and Littlest was overjoyed at the fact she got to sit at a high chair and had a grand time with the washable crayons I brought.  Bug was restless and wanted to look at everything.  Once we got our food and figured out the right combination of discipline, food, and seating arrangemet, we had a very successful meal out!   We then decided to try Costco for diapers and other provisions.   That was not successful.   We ended up throwing a few things in the basket and leaving.  It was past naptime and both girls were not happy.  A word to the wise, don’t just throw things in your basket at Costco - it’s kinda expensive.   Both girls went to sleep in the car they were so tired.   We got Nana to come over and watch them so we could run some more errands.   Remember both girls have had pink eye and some cough/cold thing, so nobody was feeling good. 

Of course we went to the Goodwill Outlet.  I took my camera and was taking pictures when another customer started staring at me and finally asked if I was taking pictures.  Duh!  I told her it was to show my friends what it was like.   I was more discrete in my picture taking after that.   So what if I’m suited up with purple gloves, a camera and zipping around on a knee scooter - you think I’m some sort of weirdo?  Oh get over it.   We found a few good things - more Little People stuff.   (I have my Goodwill blog up now - it’s still kinda rough though.)  We were going to rent movies and go home, but ended up having a “date” with each other.   We stopped at this place off of Padden Parkay called Talay Thai.  It was good - excellent salad rolls and peanut sauce..  Our favorite thai place had closed, so this is our new favorite. The restaurant is fresh and clean and the food was excellent.  Okay price, but worth it.    We finally got home late and relieved Nana.  She had gotten the girls fed and ready for bed, so we just had to snuggle, read a book, and send them to bed!

Saturday Daddy went to the dog park with a friend and the girls and I watched….you guessed it…the Aristocats.   I gave both of them a bath and got both of them to sleep.   I had a few minutes to myself before I needed to hold Littlest.  She has the most horrible cough, so I held her so she could sleep upright.  Her poor little body.   She coughed all night long.   I kept putting saline drops in her nose to break up the snot, but it didn’t always help.   Then we have to put two drops in both eyes of both girls four times a day - not fun…NOT FUN!  

Once Daddy got home, we went to the nice Wal*Mart across town and it wasn’t pretty.   We decided to try Sonic Burger and when we tried to leave, our battery was dead.   Daddy pushed the order button again and told them what happened and no sooner he finished talking and the guy came out (on skates) with one of those battery charger jumper things (sorry for the technical terminology there) and got us started no problem!

Then we finally went to Wal*Mart.  I forgot my knee scooter, so had to use one crutch…why one crutch you ask, because Daddy put my other one in the garage!   I got one of their little motorized carts that went negative 2 mph.  About 10 minutes into the shopping trip, it died.  I just abandoned it in the baby section and hopped my way through the rest of the store.  Then Bug had her meltdown.   Picture this….hop, hop, hop….wahhhhhhh!  No, NO, owwwwwwie!  hop, hop, hop.   Stares abound!   Since we were at the good Wal*Mart we rushed through the store to get our groceries and left asap.   I hate the other Wal*Mart by us so I was going to shop at the good one tantrum or not!

It was like that all weekend, tantrums, crying, eye drops, runny noses, more crying, “cats….cats…cats!”  Naps, new teeth, and more crying.  Amazingly, I kept my cool and didn’t cry.  It was frustrating, but thankfully Nana watched the girls so that Daddy and I could get some time together and get a few things done.  Daddy and I actually sat down and watched Tropic Thunder together last night, all alone without interruption (except that I had to play Pathwords on Facebook for the first 15 minutes - I’m addicted okay).

Anyhow this was the first weekend in ages and for some time to come that didn’t have or won’t have appointments -  it was very nice to have a date with Daddy - we really needed that.  He picked up his new glasses finally and had a haircut, so he was looking pretty darn good.   Pretty good catch for a knee scooter ridin’, purple gloved, junk picture takin’, Goodwill shopper.  I will post a picture of Daddy with his new glasses later. 

A while back I shared with you my observations on seeing shoes alongside the road/freeway.  Usually it is a left man’s shoe.   I’ve always wondered why and how this always happens.  Well, today the mystery was finally solved.   Apparently Stitch steals them.   We were watching Lilo and Stitch and apparently when Stitch’s destructive programming takes effect, “He will be irresistibly drawn to large cities, where he will back up sewers, reverse street signs, and steal everyone’s left shoe.”  Mystery solved!

Well, today we saw the dog catcher staking out the neighborhood.   Finally he/she parked in the neighbor’s driveway.   Since we put the fence up, we can’t see in their driveway, so I’m not sure what happened.  I’m glad to know that they at least went to their house.   Hopefully psycho dog will be taken care of and they won’t retaliate.  Fat chance.   We are keeping our dogs on tight leash so to speak.  We don’t want to give them any reason to do anything against us.  

I’m working on a blog about my Goodwill Outlet addiction.   It’s still a work in progress, but hopefully soon it will but up and going.   I’m calling it Goodwill Hunting - clever title huh?  Right now I just have the background and such up, but after today’s excursion, hopefully I can add some pictures of our treasures.  

Okay, they have nothing to do with each other, but I wanted to remember to talk about both. 

First the pitbull.  As some of you know, we’ve had longstanding issues with our neighbors, one of which is their pitbull mix.   She has jumped the fence and attacked Big Yellow Dog before, she has bit Daddy, and spent countless HOURS and HOURS barking and pacing incessantly at the back fence of our house before we put up the 6 foot solid fence.  All of which was unprovoked. 

Anyhow, yesterday as I was coming home from work, I saw the neighbor’s nephew with the pitbull walking back from the park, unleashed.  Something in my head told me it was bad news.  Sure enough, it was.   Usually when I get home, Daddy comes out to help me and our dogs come out to greet me.  I tried to get to Daddy before he came out and tell him not to let the dogs out, but  I was too late.  The dogs were out and Daddy was bringing Littlest with him.  I watched psycho dog round the corner,  see our dogs, and take off to attack.   She aimed straight for Big Yellow Dog, who didn’t have a clue what was happening.  Luckily the yard is pretty much mud, so she slid and almost hit my parked 4Runner.  That gave BYD a chance to figure out what was happening.   Daddy raced back into the house to get Littlest back to safety and then he headed for the nephew - he was livid.  I think he was ready to punch the guy who kept saying it was his fault and he was sorry.    Poor BYD, he’s a lover, not a fighter.  Hhe kept trying to get away from pyscho dog and her vicious teeth.   Sturdy Gurdy was just running around trying to find safety.   Me….well, I had a rush of fight or flight and I was swinging my knee scooter around in the air trying to aim for the pitbull.   I accidentally hit BYD in the hip, not hard, but still it distracted him.   Finally psycho pitbull ran back into the street, Daddy backed off of the nephew and I set the scooter down.  I must have been pretty funny looking swinging a knee scooter about chest level, hopping and walking, forgetting and remembering about walking on my foot.   I think the only injury during the whole ordeal was my foot hurting from walking on it.   Everybody was pretty shaken up after it happened though.  The scariest part was that Littlest was out in the yard for part of it.   I immediately went in the house and called animal control.  Enough is enough - my baby was in the yard and that pitbull was completely unprovoked and it happened on our property, again.   The thing is, the neighbors will now turn us in for something because we turned their dog in.  Happens every time.   They were the ones who turned us in for our failed septic tank stinking,  AFTER we already contacted the county and was having them help us get it fixed.    We have always been worried that they would poison our dogs or hurt them somehow.  It’s a nasty affair.  

This dog is a known problem, yet they don’t take measures to harness her.   In one sense, I feel bad for them if they need to have their dog put down because that is a member of their family.  I would hate to do that with one of our dogs.  BUT, if my dog was vicious and unstable, it would have been out of the house and put down a long time ago.   It’s called being a responsible pet owner!  Personally, I think pitbulls should be outlawed - period.  At the very least, the pitbull’s owner needs to go to jail every time something like this happens - a stiff sentence for biting.  It makes me so angry.  Usually Daddy is the one who turns them in, but I was on the phone before he could even calm down.

Grrrr!!!!
Deep breath………whooosh. 

Okay, now onto the teapot.   I drink a lot of tea, so my mom gave us an electric teapot one year for Christmas.   We wore it out.  So, she bought us another one.   When we had the mini fire in the outlet, we had thought it was the teapot, so out went the teapot.  Come to find out, it was probably fine.  Oh how I miss the teapot.   It was so easy to keep water in it, flip the little switch, run do something else and then come back to hot water.  No worrying that I forgot to turn the stove off or on for that matter.   As soon as I get paid again, I’m going to buy me another one, a  good one like our first one. 

On a final note, I finished our taxes yesterday!  Woohoo!

I know you have a lot on your mind, but I just wanted to say a few things.  

First, so many people have put their hopes and lives in your hands by electing you.  Whether we agree or not on your being elected, you are now our president and we will support you.  I hope that some people can put aside their prejudices and give you a chance.  I don’t care what color your skin is or who your friends or acquaintences were when you were a child.  I care about who you are now.  I care about your morals, principles, and ability to make the “right” decision. 

We have put a lot on your shoulders and try as you might, you will fail in some areas.  We, the working class poor and  those of us who are losing our homes, desperately hope you won’t fail us.  We need your help, or somebody’s help.   I know you can’t fix everything in a day…or a week…or even a year, that would be asking the impossible.   But Sir, please fix what you can as soon as you can, some of us are losing hope fast and the ship is sinking incredibly fast (and I can’t swim!).   

Sincerely,
Someone who voted for the first time in 20 years

P.S.  I’m sorry your hair is going to turn gray fast.  I wouldn’t want your job!

But even if you don’t, it’s still worth watching.

For those who can’t see it go to here.

I’m not sure why this tickled me so, but it did.   One of the blogs I read regularly shared videos and pictures from Back in the Pack.  They are a doggy daycare in Canada.   I love some of the pictures.