Flashback

It all began nearly three weeks ago. After the Saturday afternoon merriment of a giant inflatable water slide birthday party while on the drive home the cough that I dread...the croupy bark that I've come to despise reared its ugly head. It's the only thing that remains after five years of fighting like hell every time WC gets a cold to keep him out of the hospital. It's the cough that cannot be stopped. It means his asthma is acting up. The cough is his only symptom and over the years the episodes have gotten fewer and farther between and lack the urgency of those he had at aged two.

The thing I dreaded about kindergarten was having to get a whole new group of adults used to his symptoms-just because he coughs out phlegm doesn't mean he's contagious. The daycare/preschool people had become used to him over the past three years. I knew the school people would probably overreact. On Monday I give him his nebulizer treatment before he leaves for school and I was aware of his cough. I get a call from the school nurse at 8:20- he'd been in the clinic coughing uncontrollably for about ten minutes, his "oxygen saturation was low" and he couldn't return to class she needed someone to come pick him up. I call Cat to run over to the school & get him. I knew they'd overreact but this did seem a little much for me to send him home just for coughing. But then the oxygen saturation comment set in my mind for a few minutes. I flashed back to (after a long illness that kept getting worse) carrying my unconscious two year old through a parking garage towards the ER then the barrage of nurses, doctors, techs, tubes, IV, xrays. Being alone watching these strangers poke needles into my baby because Jay worked for a satellite office two hours away. Then sitting up all night next to the crib in CCU staring at the oxygen monitor praying, begging God to let that number rise. Sleep only happened when I dropped off with my head leaning on the crib rail. Xrays revealed he had pneumonia so bad they couldn't tell if it was viral or bacterial. They usually can tell by the way it looks in the xray. But his was so solid that they couldn't determine or see the area where his heart should have been. Over the next three days they ran an hour worth of antibiotics through his IV twice a day- two different antibiotics for 30 min each. Over the next three days I witnessed him come back to his old self. The day we were going to be discharged we were sitting in a chair in the room, he was watching cartoons on the tv and I could see down the hallway of the CCU. I noticed that one room down the hall had medical personnel rush into the room three times during the course of the morning and the last time the occupant of the room rushed out in a fury. When reality slammed me like a lead weight- We would be taking our baby home that day and not everyone around me would be afforded the luxury of taking their child home. The kid in the room next to us had a bandage wrapped around his head- brain surgery. I cried, ashamed that I had felt sorry for myself and complained. We were the luckiest people on the floor.

This was wandering around in my head all morning when I called WC's doctor and made an appointment that afternoon. His pediatrician made me feel better when she told me to take the results of the oxygen saturation with a grain of salt. The school would have used a portable oxygen monitor and those results aren't accurate. They wont even have one in their office because the sticker they place on the finger has to be the appropriate size and has to be fit on the finger perfectly- otherwise the results are skewed. WC was far too perky and alert to have low oxygen saturation- case in point his condition the day I took him to the hospital. It made sense. Now he was definitely having issues with his asthma and she prescribed him a new preventative medication. An inhaled steroid. He hasn't been on a preventative med in over a year because it didn't make any difference in the number or severity of episodes and at $1 a pill it has to make a marked difference before I will keep buying it. I'm happy with the inhaled steroid because unlike the liquid (which can't be used long term due to side effects) or another pill this is put directly where needed (lungs) and doesn't travel throughout the body and helps cut back on any possibility of side effects. She is well aware that I'm not into medication for a long term basis- if he only reacts four months out of twelve why stay on medication for the whole 12? She asked me to leave him on it up through spring and then decide because if he's fine why risk it by taking him off. My though though is that if he never reacts May-July then why? He's been on it now for two weeks and it takes a full two-four weeks to build up and get maximum benefits- so we shall see how this years cold season goes. And with the added threat of swine flu (they say attaches itself deeper in the lungs than traditional flu)- which has already entered our home- more an that later- we shall see. Fingers crossed and prayers said.

 

***Congratulations to Michele and Peter on the birth of beautiful twins, Bobby & Maya. You're in my thoughts & prayers. I love you guys!

It Has to Stop

I have officially had it with my cat (the feline, not my sister referred to as Cat). Now keep in mind as I begin this post that I do not in any way condone or approve of animal abuse. Please do not comment back to me about how horrible I am. I will not actually harm the cat. Months ago at the ripe old age of 13 she began to "go" outside of her litter box. I've had this animal since she was a mere couple weeks old and never once had she given me one iota of problem. Then one evening she waltzes into the middle of the living room and squats right in front of us. Naturally, we were very alarmed and I made an appointment with the vet because from that moment on she went anywhere and everywhere other than the box. One pissed off cat (pun intended) and three hundred dollars later she was diagnosed with feline diabetes and possible urinary tract infection. I have done everything the vet told me, I changed her to canned cat food. I ended up switching to Iams canned because the prescription canned food costs way too much- we simply can't afford it. And I crammed the pill down her throat everyday for two weeks for the infection. I exercised patience and understanding of her in her old age. But she still wouldnt return to the box. I ended up taking the lid off the box because I thought perhaps she was having difficultly making it into the hole or she was uncomfortable being closed in now (even though it was fine before). And after a thorough cleaning I introduced her back to her box. She seemed to go in there now except if there was something fabric left on a hard surfaced floor. She began to urinate all over bath mats and any towels or clothing left on a bathroom/kitchen floor. Or if there is a rag from the boys tub that falls into the tub she will jump into the tub specifically to urinate on it. It became necessary to remove all of this after each and every bath/shower- one slip up even for an hour would result in a urine soaked item. It was like she was waiting, saving it all up just to pee the second we left something available. I still scooped whatever was left in the box on a daily basis- hoping an ultra clean box would result in usage. And she seemed to begin to use the box exclusively once any other temptation was removed. Then the office, the room where the box has been housed, began to smell. And initially I thought it was simply the result of no lid which allowed more of the odor to escape. But I was still scooping every day and after a week, I just thought something wasnt right about how badly the room was smelling. It was permeating the house. I would sit on the couch and be able to detect cat urine odor. I had enough. I decided to completely wash out the box, again. This time, when I moved the box, I discovered the source of said horrendous odor. The cat was going in the box but then also going in the carpet next to the box. I had a fit. I could not believe it. I would see this cat go into her litter box while I was home, I'd hear her scratching around but it seems while we were out or our backs were turned she'd go in there & go next to the box. And her climbing tree had also been urinated all over the base. It had to be hauled out and dismantled. It was then we decided the box had to be removed from the room, she couldnt be allowed back in there. At this point I suggested that she become an outdoor cat but Jay didnt agree. But he wasnt the one steam cleaning the carpet either. I began to have fantasies about picking her up over my head and hurling her out the back door into the grass as hard as I could. We have no room for the box in our master bathroom, but it had to go in there. We began to close her up in the bathroom w/ the box when we were gone. So far I have cleaned the carpet in the office 4 times w/ a steam cleaning machine and it is better but still there. But the office door remains closed. It's ruined and will have to be replaced. Then she began going in the box again. And we began to give her freedom during the day. Occasionally I'd find a puddle in the kitchen floor- but on linoleum. While gross, still easier to clean than carpet. We still pick up all bath mats, etc. because she'd still urinate on them the first opportunity.

Then yesterday happened. I arrived home last night- she had been alone all day, My sister had gone out doing job hunting things and visiting friends. The bathroom floor around the box was soaked and pooled up under the box. I get everything cleaned up. The cat is nowhere to be found- which is standard after we discover her little "gifts."

And this morning we are getting ready to go. Need to be out the door. I was worried that WC is getting sick- he didnt eat dinner last night and didnt seem to feel well this morning and didnt eat breakfast. I took his temp and he was fine. He was complaining about his chest and I gave him a nebulizer treatment in the middle of everything else I am about to recount.

Jay is taking CJ to the daycare this morning (only his 2nd time at daycare- will blog about later) and I tell him that daddy is taking him & I will put him in the car. CJ collects his blanket, his treasured stuffed cookie monster and a little cookie monster figure (yes- two different cookie monster toys for the trip). I pick him up and out the door we go. By the time we get to the car my boob is wet. Now why is my...? Holy crap. Cookie Monster had been peed on! I have to rip the beloved toy from my crying sons hands. He doesnt understand why mommy is taking away cookie monster. Jay drives away. I can't figure out when the cat had access to urinate on this toy- it usually goes to bed w/ CJ. So I'm standing there holding a stinking soaking wet stuffed animal and my boob smells like pee.My only thought is that I have to save Cookie Monster (and change shirts & bra). Immediately Cookie, my shirt and bra get tossed into the washer & gentle cycle started. I dont know if I can machine wash that monster or not but it seems to my only hope. Luckily the cat wasnt in my line of sight when I entered the house or the kids would have orange and white furry mittens this winter.  I start WC on his nebulizer & Aunt Cat stays with him. I locate new work clothes and quickly gather my lunch and everything that I need to leave with. I leave Cat with instructions to get that Cookie Monster as dry as she can. On the drive in I get an idea, I call and tell her to put him inside a pillow case then into the dryer (one to cushion the hard eyes from slamming around as he gets tumbled). She tells me that she discovered one of their art tablets has also been victimized by the cat. I ask her to go around and pick up all the toys and make sure everything else is okay.

About 10:15 I received a text letting me know that Cookie Monster had been saved. I reply back: Thank God. The cat on the other hand...

The Visitor

Last night I'm closing up the house for the night. Like countless nights prior I open the door, reach out to hit the button to bring the door slowly down. The door jumps to start the decent when I heard a swoosh and out of the corner of my eye I get a glimpse of a brown outstretched wing- a large wing. In a split second my mind computes: large wing= large bird in my garage. In one fluid motion I jump back and slam the door closed yelling "Holy crap". For several beats I'm stunned and stand there motionless. I realize that both Jay & Cat are staring at me. "There's a giant bird in our garage."

They both stare at me. I can tell neither of them believe me.

"Now there's a giant bird trapped in our garage," Jay asks sceptically.

"Yes."

We need to open the garage door back but I'm not about to open the door to our house and risk whatever it is getting inside. I remember we have an extra door opener- a keychain version that we keep inside. I retrieve it and we all go out the front door & stand in the driveway. I hit the button.

The door opens- revealing our cars & other crap. No bird. Now I know what I saw. But I really started to doubt my sanity for a second.

Jay walks into the garage in between our automobiles. And we hear flapping- from the other side of his car up jumps something with wings. Jay high-tails it out of the garage.

"I told you there was a giant bird in there."

The creature lands on our lawn mower handle.

"OMG- It's a freakin' hawk," Jay declares.

Now we're all standing there staring at the hawk and it's staring right back at us.

"Now what?"

The next logical step when you have a large bird of prey in your garage is get the camera. Using my digital zoom to get in closer than I cared to I took several pictures. It sat there motionless watching me. The photo uploaded along w/ this blog was taken with my cell phone of a photo on the preview screen of my camera. My cell phone didnt zoom & the low light of the situation I knew it wouldnt take properly and I also knew I wouldnt uploaded the photos off my camera last night. I just had to share this. I put my camera away and we begin to discuss how to get him to leave. We decide to leave the door open and hope it would fly out on its own accord. An hour later I found it in the exact spot we left it in.

I went in and pulled up google- there's surprisingly little on hawk removal on the Internet.

Jay decides to get his car out of the garage- mumbling something about hawk poop and talon scratches in his paint (but my car's in there too). He slowly stepped into the garage and inched up the side of his car. When he was at the drivers side door and hawk lifted up its leg displaying it's talons at him. Jay quickly gets in and shuts the door. He starts the car and the hawk remains steadfast in his spot on the lawnmower handle. Once the car is out in the driveway we see blood and feathers that obviously dont belong to Mr. Hawk on the hood. I go in to try more Internet searches and Cat stays outside, cell phone in hand- just in case she needs to call emergency services for Jay. Again, I find nada. I decide to try to set off my car alarm to see if it would scare it out. Nope. Jay goes around to the side door of the garage to see if he can encourage the bird to fly out. Using a variety of tactics- one which involved a yard rake the only the we managed to do was to get the bird to fly to the top of the garage door and back to the mower and then eventually retreat to under our water heater. At this point we just resign ourselves- we'll have to leave it open all night. And joked about a would-be thief being attacked by the hawk in the middle of the night.

This morning I need to move CJ's car seat over to Cat's car. Confident the bird left in the middle of night but also cautious I decide to go back out the front. And there I find all of our things where we left them and Mr. Hawk sitting quietly on the lawn mower handle. He turns his head to look at me. "Why are you still here?" I say aloud.

The bird gave me the finger and turned his head away.

I go back in and announce that we have a problem.

Jay goes out to pull my car out of the garage- so I can move the car seat & so I can get WC in the car & off to school. But when he entered the garage he watched the hawk closely and he inched to the car. The hawk appeared nervous & glanced at the open side door. So he took a step closer to the hawk. The hawk looked back at the door. He stepped one closer and it flew out the side door. Jay ran over and hit the button to bring the door closed- scared the hawk wouild circle & fly back inside. Our visitor is gone. And I can say that I will not be leaving that garage door open again- anytime soon. I wonder if there's any "meaning" to this incident? Are hawks good luck or bad luck? I guess it depends if you're on their menu.

 

It All Started With the Frog

Friday afternoon- it was one of those afternoons. It started innocently enough with nothing out of the ordinary. CJ was fastened into his car seat carrying about 5 toys and his blanket. As usual he wants it all directly in his lap covering everything I need to see in order to get him buckled in properly. His favorite items in the whole world consist of rubber ducks, toy frogs, a stuffed Cookie Monster (gift from Aunt Michele & Uncle Peter) and the blue fluffy blanket- disgustingly dirty most of the time. Juggling all this I manage to get him securely strapped in and off we go. About three seconds after merging onto the interstate he drops a frog in between his seat & the door. His seat is located on the passengers side of the backseat- I can barely reach him, let alone that door. He screams for his frog and I have to tell him there is no way for me to get it right then. Well, you know what hit the fan. He proceeded to kick and scream the entire twenty mile journey in rush hour traffic to WC's school. I arrive at the school and retrieve the frog and give it to him. But no dice, he is so pissed off from frog deprivation that he continues his fit as I carry him into the gym. The fit continues as I write the check for next weeks after care. An employee attempts to console the raging toddler to no avail. While writing the check I explain the issue and offer to give him to the woman. She politely declines stating she has two grandchildren at home. WC sees us comes in and finally makes his way across the gym after retrieving his back pack. I carry CJ- who has begun to cough uncontrollably and I'm convinced he's about to vomit on himself. Back into the car we go w/ WC now in tow. Luckily, we're just a couple min from home at this point. At home I take CJ directly to their room and deposit him on WC's bed and close the door. I can't be around him at that moment. I go lay down on the couch. WC wanders in the house and asks what I did with CJ. I explain that CJ is in alone time in their room & I'm having alone time on the couch. CJ finagles the door knob until he is free and I can hear him sniffling and snotting all the way down the hall coming towards me. He climbs up on the couch and onto me. We just sit there.

WC enters the room with a jack in the box that came home from a weekend at my mom's with. He proceeded to get CJ interested in that. Then took CJ back to my room and put an Elmo video on for him and left me alone on the couch. I guess Toddler crack is good for something.

I had two thoughts that ran through my head at that moment. One was to start on the four beers in the fridge and the other was to try out one of the new work out dvd's that I'd recently purchased. Surprisingly enough the workout dvd won. It shocked me too. It was broken into "circuits" and you and choose to play the entire workout or pick & choose which "circuits" you do. I decided to choose a few of the 6 min circuits just to get my feet wet. I'm out of shape- seriously.

Later that night after CJ was tucked in bed I decided to go out for margarita supplies. I have to go to the next town over for a liquor store- about 7 miles. I believe I've blogged before on how driving at night relaxes me- so really it was more of an excuse to get to go out on a back two lane road with the windows down. The temp was in the 60's- no humidity. Beyond awesome for August in the south. I took a little detour and drove further out- to the battlefield. No one around. Quiet. Tranquil. I was decompressed enough that I really didnt feel the need for a margarita but since I was out and told Jay I was getting it. I went back to the liquor store- picked up a bottle of wine while too I was there. I think it was December the last time I've been  to a liquor store.

The next afternoon- I felt that ab workout from the video on Friday night. OMG.

And we're off and running

Here we go. Today is the first full day of Kindergarten plus after care. We arrive at the school this morning at 6:44 (doors open at 6:45) and were the seventh car in line. My goal was to drop WC at the door and have him walk in by himself. Next week the parents aren't allowed to escort the kids in per school policy. And besides the gym, where the kids go when they're dropped off this early, is right inside the doors. I'm not concerned he cant find his way. However, while waiting in line he begins to whine & moan that he doesn't want to walk in by himself. When the people in front of me unload their children and leave, I pull forward and put the car in park and get out with him. I've taken him by the hand and we're walking to the building and I'm in the process of telling him that he's going to the gym when he lets go of my hand and says, "I know where the gym is." In a snotty tone. And then proceeds to power walk away from me. It seems he noticed the other kids going in- all of them sans parent. So I just yell after him. "Okay, have a good day. See you this afternoon- Love you." (little twerp) Through the window I see his skinny legs shuffling quickly in the direction of the gym. Oddly enough I'm not offended by this move. In away I would worry more if he had clung to me. I understand the power of perception of your peers. He doesn't want to stand out as "a new kid" Or have the others think him a "baby" He wants to blend & fit in. Sadly to say if your kid is confident enough to leave you behind then you're doing your job right.

I'm happy to report that I made it to work on time- before 7:30. I dint think there was any way traffic would be that thin- it was rush hour. But maybe I hit it at an in between time. I'm not counting every morning to be that easy. We'll see how next week goes.

Cat was to drop CJ off at my moms on the way to work. She works part time on the weekends at a new age bookstore. Said she'd be back Sunday night to help out next week. I'm not sure I'll need it. 90-95% of the time she's either injured, ill or going through personal relationship drama. So I don't know. She arrived last Sunday & by Tues she had a sore throat and last night her shoulder hurt so bad she walked around looking like Quasimodo. For the most part she just lay on the couch. She kept wincing and whining and bouncing her leg until I told her if she hurt that bad then she needed to see a doctor. She claims she took 8 ibuprofen and they did nothing. I worked on massaging the shoulder for 20 minutes and she said it "dulled the stabbing pain enough to be tolerable." What a drama queen. She isn't suited for being a care giver- it takes too much of the focus off of her. I'm not really sure if the arrangement will work out or not. Maybe we'll try it another week and see what other incurable, horrible condition she comes down with

Mom did call me a little after nine and CJ was safely at her house. Cat's car wouldn't start and she said it stalled backing out of my driveway- but they made it. I shudder. It wasn't easy for me to let her drive my baby...

 

First Day-The Verdict

After my blog post yesterday, Cat & I took CJ over to the daycare to get him setup to start next week. Unfortunately he came down with cold or allergies over the weekend. I spent Sunday giving him the nebulizer and by Monday the chest congestion was gone but his nose is still a fountain. He seems to respond well to Dimetapp and doesnt appear to feel badly. I introduced Cat to the daycare Director- since she may have to pick him up I wanted them to meet. After the paperwork was squared away then we took his things to his classroom. I placed his clothes, etc in the cubby and he clung to my leg. An Elmo doll was spotted across the room. He grabbed my led me over there so he could claim it. The teacher, Ms. Jen came over to talk to him. I've known her for years and she was WC's first daycare teacher. He sat at my feet w/ his blanket and newly claimed Elmo and stared at her like she was out of her mind. Until she announced it was time to color. She asked CJ if he would like to come over to table and color. Now that perked up his interest and he, blanket and Elmo high-tailed it over to the table to get in on the action. It was markers- glorious markers. He never gets markers at home. He colored his neck, the back of his hair, his blanket, Ms. Jen's leg and his paper. Every now and then he'd peek back & make sure I didnt pull a fast one on him and leave. After coloring, we thanked Ms. Jen for letting us come in and visit. I'm so glad Jay's the one tasked with CJ's drop off when the day arrives on Monday.

Yesterday I arrived fifteen minutes before Kindergarten was to let out. Initially worried that we'd be there way too early- then I rounded the corner and became about the thirtieth car in line. Seriously people? As previously instructed I placed the tag w/ my child's name emblazoned in giant bold marker on my dashboard. Luckily- my sister Cat had decided to tag along and CJ sat quietly in his seat, mentally off in another world somewhere. She & I chatted idly with the car windows down with  a lovely uncharacteristically cool breeze for August. Then out came a woman walking down the center between the two rows of cars and she was reading names from the dashboards into a walkie talkie. Once the line got moving it didnt take five minutes to get my kid. He threw his bag into the car and climbed in. "How'd it go?" I asked. "Great," he replied in all smiles. I asked how he liked his teacher. "She was nice to me, so I like her." Then he talked about 900 mph for the next hour and a half. From what I could gather the new playground was "awesome" (he pretended to be Spiderman) and they had a scavenger type hunt for a gingerbread man reading clues that he left on post-it notes. I was able to discern it was one of those get to know your surroundings type exercises. I have to hand it to her in the creativity department. Better than a finger pointing tour- "bathroom over there" with a hand motion. They never could catch that darn gingerbread man but he did leave them cookies. WC is convinced the gingerbread man was, in fact, real.

First Day

I just dropped WC off for his first day of Kindergarten. I'm officially the mom of a school kid. Not sure how I feel about it, honestly. A mix of emotions from excited for him and this new stage to terrified for him to disbelief that I'm old enough to have kid in school.
We didnt even find out until Friday night that his first day would be today. Our school system does a "phase-in" week for Kindergarten. They have one half of the class on Monday & the second half on Tuesday for a half a day. I pick him up at eleven. Then he wont go back until Wed. On Wed is one half class for a full day- ending at 2:30. Then Thurs the other half of class for the day. Then Friday is full steam ahead for the rest of the year. When I left work on Friday I told my boss that I'd either be there Monday or I'd call. I called in this morning.
Last night I packed his book bag with the supplies from the list given me at registration and the other forms that she gave us Friday to fill out.
His teacher seems nice enough. I just wish she didnt speak to me the same way she talks to the kids. As long as WC likes her, that's what matters. Jay decided to go to work late today in order to take WC to school. So we both went with him. We left him sitting at the table coloring. He told me that he missed his friends. I assured him that everyone in the room was in the same situation he is in. Every one is new. None of his friends are at the preschool today. They're all in their new schools too. He told Jay that, "this is cool, man." It seems he has mixed feelings about the kindergarten adventure too.
Now I'm off to register CJ for daycare/preschool.