So a few weeks ago, I wrote a post about emergency preparedness for the “How Do You Do It?” blog. And let me just say, from a personal experience, it was well-timed.
On Thursday evening, we evacuated to San Antonio, where my family resides. No sense in staying in Houston through a storm and no power with almost five-month-olds. We’re safe, thanks for asking.
Starting at 8:00 this morning, I picked up my dad, we gassed up the truck, bought ice, drove to Houston, got to my house, took a deep breath, walked in to assess the situation, found a ceiling leak, put a bucket underneath it, video’d some water damage on the south wall of the house, saw that it was 85 degrees in the house (thermostat is battery-operated), cleaned out freezers, cleaned out refrigerators, cleared debris from yard, patted myself on the back for having had a sixty foot dying oak tree cut down last week, cleaned up, took diapers outside, gathered up some baby clothes, packed up some clothes (we had only brought enough for 2 days), took fuel and water and blowers to neighbors, drove back at 2:30 in the afternoon, and arrived home for the RJBs bath time at 6p. So yeah, it’s a run-on sentence for a run-on kinda day.
The more important job was the one done by my Mom and Matou - which was taking care of the RJBs.
My mother and I were talking the other day and, maybe because she lives 180 miles away, she couldn’t imagine how I “manage” to get the kids into daycare without leaving one in the car. And I told her we DO leave them in the car, but only when we go to Wal-Mart.
As for all the other times, it looks a little something like this:
Seemingly all of a sudden, the RJBs are doing new things. Carpet found her feet a couple weeks ago, but now Tato has found his and apparently his toes are very flavorful. I nibble on them myself, but he likes them more than me. Two weeks ago, I started showing Carpet how to ‘blow bubbles’ (that sound you make with your lips together like a motor boat). She would just stare at me doing it. And when I picked her up from school last Thursday, her teacher said “she’s been spitting all day.” That’s my girl!
Neither of them are rolling over yet, but Tato does lots of rocking bath and forth. We’re not in any rush, just like we’re not in any rush to feed them solids. They’ll be 5 months in a week (FIVE!), and we’re just now to a place where they aren’t throwing up from acid reflux. They are off the reflux medicine. We’ve got two more days of antibiotics from the ear infections.
They babble a ton. Tato likes to squeal. He’s also in a convertible car seat, his “big boy chair”. But to be honest, while the newborniest stage was difficult, they are growing up too quickly. Each time I upload pictures, I glance through their earlier pictures and get all teary-eyed.
We’re having a jack-and-the-beanstalk-sized tree removed from our back yard and they brought down our cable line on Saturday. So we watched Sign With Your Baby. And although it’s a little early, we’re starting to work on sign language with them.
Beginning late last week, the RJBs have started to spend some time sitting up with support. Carpet still hates tummy time, but more than anything, she’d rather try and sit up. She’s just like me - trying to do things she’s just not prepared to do but keeps trying anyway. I pulled the FlipVideo camera out this weekend and took a couple shots of her. I think I’ve watched these a few hundred times. Since I got to work. And I laugh out loud every time.
Each evening, we have a bedtime routine that includes a bath, getting swaddled, a bottle, some snuggle time and then going down in a crib. And we can tell that those memory neurons are starting to fire because once we start swaddling Carpet, she starts sucking on her pretend bottle. Of AIR. She’ll do this until you put a burp cloth under her chin, at which time the sucking pace escalates. We think this is so cute, that we decided to film her doing this.
Except that once I turned on the camera, she just stared at the little red light that indicates the camera is on. So instead, this has become unpaid advertising for How To Wrap Your Baby In A SwaddleMe Blanket. If you’re wondering what Tato’s swaddling experience is like, we’ll be hard-pressed to ever get that on film because it takes all of my body weight to get his arms to his side and wrapping him is akin to trying to give a cat a bath.
We’re still not sleeping much and trying to get the RJBs on the mend. Which, by the way, if you thought - like I had - that trying to get a cat to take a pill was a challenge, TRY PUTTING EAR DROPS INTO A BABY! Plus with the passing of Hurricane Gustav, I’m needing to spend time assessing damages with work (oil & gas company) since I do risk management. Oh, and I volunteered to be on the Mom’s Of Multiples garage sale committee and volunteered to create a volunteer sign-up tool for sale shifts. Anyway, I’ve posted a little something on emergency preparedness over at “How Do You Do It?”
I had all these plans to dress the kids up this weekend in something cute (which is like ANYTHING because HELLO? they are friggin’ adorable!) and take a little family picture in a patch of grass with all of us smiling and eyes looking into the camera.
But that thought was cut short when they called me from the daycare on Friday afternoon that Carpet had a fever of 101.3. And how she seemed fine, but that she had a fever. A fever. And I’m all “ok, but I’m not sure what that means. Are you saying I need to come get her?” And they’re all “oh, yes, that is definitely a FEVER.” OHHHHKAAAAAY.
And so we went home early and I’d tell you how Friday went, but I have no recollection. All I remember is by Saturday, Tato started to fuss and so out of curiosity, I took his temperature and he’s got 101. Carpet’s hasn’t gone down, but you wouldn’t know it because she’s eating and playing just fine.
And the rest of the weekend went something like this. 99.9. Crying. 101.1. Tylenol. 100.0. Crying. Whining. 101.5. Tylenol. Sleeping for 30 minutes. 100.1. Tylenol. 102.3. Tylenol. 99.9, 103.3 Tylenol. That was Tato. And because I am someone who at 12 years old got a scratch from a nail on a picnic table and it got infected and abscessed and I didn’t think it warranted telling my parents about it until I had a high fever and it almost turned to a bone infection. And then only because I was at the dinner table and wouldn’t eat and I looked ill. And after a trip to the ER, I was dangerously close to a bone infection and ended up with a hole an inch wide and an inch deep in my calf. So I kinda don’t trust myself on when to take action because my tolerance is a little high.
That afternoon, I consulted my local Mother’s Of Multiple group to see if I should call the doctor and the general concensus was HELLO, ARE YOU A MOTHER? BECAUSE A MOTHER WOULD HAVE CALLED ALREADY AND IT’S PROBABLY AN EAR INFECTION.
I called our pediatrician’s on-call number and he called back within 15 minutes. With the doctor’s consultation over two days, Tato crying unconsolably, lots of lukewarm baths, two babies with fevers that would drop and peak, and VERY. LITTLE. SLEEP. we finally got found out the reason this morning:
Tato has DOUBLE ear infections, and one perforated, probably sometime last night. Carpet has one ear infection. And they BOTH have blisters on their throat, a virus, according to the doctor. That part was a surprise to all of us. Hopefully, we’re on the mend of this twINFECTa. Our doctor thinks we’re through the worst of this round. That would be nice. So now it’s on to a round of oral antibiotics for both kids. And ear drop antibiotics for Tato’s busted eardrum. I miss my smiling, happy kiddos as evidenced by this video of Tato in their new jumparoo.
As a side note, we got their new weights today (19w6d) and Tato is weighing in at 16lb14oz and Carpet is at 15lb1oz. At their 4 month appointment (17w6d) on Aug 19 - did I communicate these stats already? - Tato was 26 1/4 inches (90th%ile) and 16lb3oz (75th%ile) and Carpet was 24 1/2 inches (55th%ile) and 14lb11oz (75th%ile).
Despite the fact that my posts have been sparse this week, there are always millions of things swirling around in my head. And my brain usually has Baby Einstein music playing in the background. Even if I’m listening to Nelly. Which is a very weird combination, I tell you.
Things on my burner: diaper rash, hurricane preparedness, teething, diaper rash, laundry, laundry, laundry, diaper rash, poop, making sure all our company’s (work) assets are covered before the storm enters the Gulf, diaper rash, buying a bra that fits, downloading new music, taking pictures, losing weight, making the capital expenditures tie to the financial statements, diaper rash, laundry, halloween costumes, and laundry.
Until such other post gets written, I leave you with a photo of Carpet and Tato, taken after we got home from school on Tuesday. Which, according to my mom, is all she really wants anyway. At least she’s honest.
Last weekend, we went to the Beloved’s dad’s house in the burbs. So happens that her mom, younger brother & his wife and kid had driven in from Louisiana. So here it was the very first time that ALL the grandkids on her side were at one place. Spending the afternoon with her family was a wonderful way to celebrate the Beloved’s 33rd birthday. Especially when it included Popeye’s Fried Chicken and this group of cuties.
