All Growned Up

Well, I used to think that Gabby was the one to watch as far as smart-assedness, but Gavin is a contender, no question.

He is now the ripe old age of 21 months and while we still have some trouble understanding about 25% of what he says, what we do understand can often be hilarious. His favorite word is "more" and he is able to sign this and say it. Those of you who know him well understand how appropriate this is, considering how fond he is of keeping his stomach filled. At daycare, when he was in the infant class still, they had to introduce a SECOND afternoon snack to the room because Gavin was always so ready to eat - and so very vocal about being hungry.

Last weekend though, smart-ass and belly collided with funny results. We keep the juice boxes in a fridge that they can access, but they typically don't do so without asking first. He got one out and asked me to open it for him - and to be clear, by "ask" I mean he thrust it at me and said "pweass?" After shotgunning that one, he went and got a second. I said, "No you cannot have this." Usually at this point, he will throw quite the tantrum. Imagine my surprise when he ran off with said juice box to Daddy...

Daddy: Oh you want a juice box?
Me: No, Gavin! I just said you cannot have it.
Daddy: You heard Mommy. No juice box.

Again, I brace for the tantrum. Instead, he ran through the kitchen, and paused for a second to shake his finger at me: Not nice Mommy!

And was on his way.

Between that and the terrible temper he inherited from the paternal side, I think we're in for a ride...

So As It Happens...

Remember last week's urgent care visit? Well...

We have pieced together the story. But bear with me. Wouldn't be fun without some lead-up, would it?

The day after, I mentioned it to one of her teachers. Miss Annie looked horrified and clapped her hands over her mouth and asked about the mandatory Incident Report. Um, no, this was pure melodrama and theatrics for Daddy's attention. She didn't actually damage anything Miss Annie... just keep an eye on her please?

Two days later, Thursday, Spaz comes home and said that the daycare center director had tried calling me. Sure enough, there was a missed call and voice mail on my cell phone. I wasn't terribly concerned since, had it been an emergency, she would have called all five available numbers to reach me or Spaz. It was just an FYI: Gabby was running a low-grade fever, not enough for her to be picked up. Of course, said fever spiked and wasn't responding to treatment. 102 the next morning after a dose of Advil. She's still herself though, but fevers that don't go away with her mean only one thing: ear infection. Sure enough, we hit up the pediatricians' sick hours on Saturday and the tonsils are inflamed, throat is red, and there's pus in the ear.

Now, I had been given a prescription at the urgent care visit. I did not fill it, although they said there was slight redness in her ear. Why? They had diagnosed her with Acute Media Otitis - a middle ear infection - but there was only a little redness and no fluid? And a ridiculously aggressive dose of antibiotics: one teaspoon, four times a day, when she had had no recent history of ear infections and it has been probably 18 months since we last had to get a dose of antibiotics for her. I liken that to using a baseball bat to swat a mosquito. The pediatrician agreed and we were given a more appropriate antibiotic dose.

She is almost back to herself now, although she took two lengthy naps this weekend. Unheard of. Also, we are putting together a story: she had very early onset of the ear infection and her ear would have been tickling. She's also had a lingering cold, and a cough made worse by the horrible pollen, so the ear infection is not unexpected. She probably stuck a pencil in there to try to itch but didn't actually damage anything. But she won't be doing that again anytime soon.

I hope.

Good news is we've probably hit our deductible for the year with the Urgent Care visit. Yay us!

In Other News...

Wow, you're probably thinking. Twice in 24 hours?

I've been remiss in updating this little blog, so here goes!

The New One (aka Gavin), the Short One (aka Gabby), the Spaz and I traveled down to Trinidad for our almost-annual jaunt for Carnival. It also happened to be around the time of both kids' birthdays. Isn't it awesome that they both have birthdays in the same month?

This was Gavin's first trip(s) on a plane ever. He did beautifully. He slept on cue, ate on cue, behaved like an angel and flirted with all women in sight. Gabby was her usual self -- did all of those things if and when she felt like it, but she was also quite well-behaved. Gavin was also about to meet the majority of his facebook fan club, complete with aunties who would feed him at his slightest sigh, and slather him with all of the affection he could want. He stayed naked save a diaper for most of his trip, no shoes on his feet: heaven.


Gabby disappeared the moment the car pulled up to Pamela's house, to take up residence at Heather's. She appeared at mealtimes, occasional bedtimes, and those times when she had fallings-out with her Beloved Auntie Heather. She also, the little stinker!, sat still for TWO HOURS for Symone to do this to her hair.

Now, this was quite an elaborate hairstyle, done on the child who screams bloody murder when I approach with comb. But whatever -- this is the prerogative of the pre-schooler, I imagine.

Gavin spent his time on an eating tour of Fifth Street. He ate all the fresh fruit and vegetables he could get his hands on, gained a couple of pounds, and generally had a blast. We started him on table food instead of bothering with the purees for very long, and in general did not cut his food up into those tiny "bite-sized" pieces that can be choking hazards. Instead, loosely following the Baby Led Weaning method, we gave him his food and he would gnaw or suck on it and eventually learned to chew and bite off only what he could handle. He has never choked. I explained this to Auntie Pam one day and she looked at me weirdly until the time that Mr. Man was eating some chicken (yes, with his two teeth) and he got something he couldn't chew. He reached into his mouth, pulled out that piece and set it on his plate, and got on with the business of eating. She was amazed. The boy likes his food, what can I say?

Meanwhile, Spanky and the Spaz feted, played mas, feted, and enjoyed the pleasures of unlimited babysitters. It was awesome.


 Auntie Judy and I enjoyed a somewhat ill-fated night out on the town...

Judy and Rae Ann at Panorama Finals 

I played with Bliss, crown supplied by the awesome Natalie Wittle and Lilly Lane Couture.

All prettied up for Carnival Tuesday

 Of course there was some J'Ouvert action!

J'Ouvert Morning

Girl Power was good... mostly. Free drinks helped.

We also had the children's birthday party. There was no shortage of other children and a good time was had by all. I question the wisdom of doing this on Ash Wednesday, but... we survived!

 Gabby chose this image herself. Many thanks again to Auntie Nicole.

 The Princess prepares to blow out her cake. This child is a natural born leader. Assertive to a fault!

All in all, a fun visit to Trini! Can't wait till the next one. 

Adventures of a (Mini) Drama Queen

At 5:45 I see a missed call from the Spaz. Instead of listening to the voice mail, I just call him...

WHAAAA!!! AAAAHHHH!!! I  CAN'T HEAR!!!! IT HURTS!!!! WHAAAA!!!

This background noise has all the makings of a minor-league injury blown up to major-league proportions. I ask the hubs, "What's going on?" with that totally resigned note in my voice that says I will be knocking off an hour earlier than planned.

"Gabby says that she stuck a pencil in her ear."

"Really? Why don't you just take her home and I'll meet you there in an hour." My Mommy-senses are tingling and it's not with that, "Oh, my poor baby!" sense so much as, "I smell something and it's not a perforated eardrum."

"No, I'll take her to urgent care."

"Is she bleeding? No? Really, take her home. You already have Gavin, it will be a struggle to deal with both of them at the ER..."

"I'm taking her. It's on our way, etc. etc."

"Okay, I'll see you there in an hour."

I roll up and see the tear-stained cheeks and start to think, "Wow, maybe she is actually hurt..." Hubs rolls on home with Gavin and I take over. I whisper something in her ear... "Why are you saying Gavin?"

Uh huh. Suspicions confirmed. But just in case... The nurse calls us back for the first assessment and shows Gabby the pain chart and asks her to point to the one that describes her pain level. She chooses the smiley face. Mentally, I have an "Oh fuck" moment, but still...

We are waiting still. This place moves things along fairly quickly for an ER, but she goes, "Mommy, why is this taking so long? And I'm hungry. What's for dinner?" Yes, for certain, we have been suckered. Eventually we are led back to a room and the LPN takes a look and sees some redness in there but nothing else that would indicate presence of a pencil. Le sigh. The Drama Queen has conquered.

"Mommy, when we go home, can I have some beef and green beans?"

"Does your ear hurt?"

"Uh huh. And how about a banana?"