Up, Up, and Away

This morning I took my Parents to the airport. My wonderful, Jenerous sister and her husband gave our Folks a trip of a lifetime for their birthdays this year.

You see, my parents are small time farmers. This has meant that they have had to be quite frugal. And tied to the business. Family vacations were short and infrequent as Dad had to get home to tend to the pigs. We would do day or weekend outings, and I remember one road trip to Blind River, Ontario. Dad runs his farm with a tight hand - he keeps close tabs on his budget and finds incredible ways to do things himself or save money some other way.

A couple of years ago my Mum saved some of the money she makes with Homecare and flew out to see my Sister in England. She enjoyed herself immensely. Dad couldn't go because he had the farm to take care of.

This year the farm has been struggling. There is no money in pigs anymore, and Dad made the decision to empty his barns. Suddenly he has a new found freedom.

So this year, for their birthdays, Jen and Paul sent them 2 all expense paid trips to see them in Berlin, Germany for two weeks.

I think Dad was flying before he ever stepped foot on the plane!

I am going to miss them. I call my Mum multiple times a day to tell her stuff about Isaiah, hear an adult voice, or grasp to keep my sanity when I'm frustrated. I threatened that Isaiah won't remember her in two weeks, but that wouldn't keep her home. I'm going to keep extra busy the next few weeks though. Tomorrow I'll head out to Mom's Morning out in the community that we'll be moving to. I'm a bit nervous as that's where I grew up, and well, you know how labels, stigmas, etc stick in your home community. Still, I want to meet people and build relationships in our neighborhood. And so, even though I'm irrationally anxious about it, I'll go. I'll probably really like it!

Also, I'll be blogging a lot more. I have a feeling people in Berlin will be checking in on my blog.

Mine

Fevers, Dentists, and Favors

My baby spiked a fever yesterday for the second time in his short life. He felt warm during the day. Temperature was 38.3 Celsius. The latest recommendations for Tylenol use are for fevers 38.5 and higher. His nose was snuffly and he seemed a bit congested. I was pretty sure it was just a common cold, but I called his doctor's office. It was near the end of the day and I was told the doctor was off for the day but would call back this morning. I decided to try and cool him off by minimizing his clothing.

As the evening wore on, my baby got warmer and warmer. At 10 pm his temperature read 40.3 Celsius. A rash broke out on his tummy. We stopped at the drug store for infant Motrin. Just over an hour later his temperature was 38.5. He settled in for bed in his diaper and a thin blanket. He woke a few times during the night, hungry and restless. The skies lit up and thunder shook the house while I lay in bed, tired but unable to sleep. At 530AM his temperature was still 38.5, and so we gave him Tylenol.

This morning he woke without a fever. The doctor's office called with an appointment for him. Naturally it was at the same time as my dentist appointment. His Daddy is working evenings though and was able to take him in.

I had my first dentist appointment without sedation for the first time in years. It was just a standard cleaning, but I get nervous. It's kind of a long story. It went well. I think partly because my mind was on my baby and not myself. I can do it again. I don't want my fears to rub off on my kids, so I need to set a good example.

The Husband returned with a little baggie to stick around Isaiah's naughty bits. We walked around the house, plastic bag between his legs. Shortly after, a golden stream. I sealed the sample in a sterile container and the Husband whisked it away to the lab. If it's another bladder infection he'll have to be admitted to Children's for further testing. Please God, let this be a simple cold.

Days like this leave no time to walk the Dog. We cheat by throwing the ball down the street. We weren't out for more than five minutes when my neighbor, Linda, joined us with her Basset Hound. The dogs played and Linda held my son, who again had a fever of 38.2. Isaiah got fussy and we decided to head in. Motrin and a quick feed lulled him into sleep. How he needs this nap! I laid down too, my head swimming. I fell asleep quickly and awoke half an hour later. I was still in bed when I heard the doorbell.

Ding Dong - Graham, Linda's husband, delivering Pedialyte in case Isaiah's feeds continue to be poor and he continues to spit out more than he takes in.

Half an hour later:

Ding Dong - Jon, Linda's son. "Hi. My mom made you supper"

I devoured the plate of steak, sweet potatoes, carrots, and salad uninterrupted by my snoozing infant.

Half an hour later:

Ding Dong - Jon again. "Forgot to bring you dessert. And would you like us to walk Bentley for you?"

I inhaled the warm carrot cake with cream cheese icing, feeling fully satisfied.

I denied the dog walk. We'll play outside later.

My neighbor, who is in the middle of a 60 hour work week (5 12hr shifts) just made my day. And I ask myself again - Why, Why are we moving away?!

The Rescue

Last night Isaiah and I were looking for distractions. He is teething like mad but copes quite well if we can keep that little brain of his busy. One of his favorite things is watching the fish swim in the tank. I took a handful of food and splashed it into the water. The fish went nuts, jumping and flipping about. Water oozed down the side of the tank, leaving a salty white residue. Isaiah talked and smiled at his friends, recognizing the fact that fish have feelings too.

Suddenly I thought I saw movement underneath a rock. I took a closer look. Sure enough, there was a baby! (FYI - baby fish are called "fry") My fish are bright and colorful. They enjoy procreation. They are also mean and cannibalistic. I often see a female holding eggs in her mouth. I realize that the day they are mature enough to swim out of her mouth is the day that I don't need to feed my fish. And I'm okay with that. I don't go to great effort to remove the female to save the babies. I don't know what I would do with that many fish anyway.

BUT if I see a baby hiding in the rocks, I have to save it's life. And so I laid Isaiah on the floor, much to his chagrin. I pulled out the water vacuum and the fish net and started moving rocks. The baby zigged and zagged, not realizing that I was trying to save his life and by fleeing was putting his little puny self in danger of being gobbled up. Isaiah, understanding babyness, cried and complained as well in support of his little friends plight, I imagine. I finally scooped Fry to safety and ran to the garage to get my small tank.

I plugged it in, happy to see that the motor still worked. I put a shell in the bottom of the tank to provide a bit of security and I fed the little guy baby bits of fish food. Isaiah and I sat and admired our work. And then he zonked out in my arms for the night.

Doggie Drama

Animal Services has been prowling the neighborhood. Why, you ask? It would seem that a woman was walking her dog off leash at the park down the road. A grumbly old man took issue with the fact that it is not an off leash park and decided that the best way to deal with it was to approach the dog. And kick it.

The owner took issue with the abuse of her animal and kicked the old man in return. He then called the police. And now Animal Services loves our neighborhood.

Four Months Old

Just Writing

I've had my Husband at home for the last two work days. His back has been giving him a lot of grief this summer, triggered by something as simple as sleeping the wrong way (specifically on his stomach). On Monday I insisted he go to a walk-in clinic as I watched him hobble around the house. He came home with a prescription for muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatories. For the last two days he has been flat on his back, becoming intimately acquainted with Thermophore, the heating pad from heaven. He called in sick to work and rested. Today is his first day back at work, wearing an elastic back brace. It's mine actually.

Work on our new house started today. The Parents called to give us a progress report. Now that the work has started it's starting to feel kind of exciting. They should have it ready for us to move in to by December 1/08. Fast! It's a pretty extravagant Christmas present.

The Cuz, who has lived with us for a year, is moving out. As of Oct 1, she'll have her own bachelor pad. Sharing our house has been a pretty good experience that has taught me a lot. Mostly about myself. It will be good for her to have her own place. And good for us to have our own. But I will miss her.

I'm frustrated today that I'm not getting to the gym more often. Babysitting is provided for a small fee, but that hardly helps when I don't have a car. I'd like to be in there more regularly, putting on muscle mass. I suppose putting on any kind of mass would be positive, but if I could pick I would like it to be muscle. Also, it's great selfish time where I can forget about my Baby and direct my thoughts and energy into myself. I always feel better after. I wish I was the kind of person who could feel motivated to work out at home, but I'm just not. I do the occasional abdominal workout or free weight exercises at home and I get out for a walk with the dog most days. But it's the break and the getting away from home that I really like.

Speaking of focusing on myself, I'm dying to get a new hair color and cut. I'll get it cut next week and dye it myself at home. Also, I'm going to take advantage of the pedicure gift certificate the Oncology doctors gave me at Christmas last year. I can't wait!

I'm a champion procrastinator. Things I need to get done include cleaning the fish tanks and the bathrooms in the house, completing my Continuing Education stuff for my nursing career, and printing and organizing baby pictures. Things I accomplished this week that I had been procrastinating about: Making appointments with the dentist and the head doctor.

Now that Isaiah is sleeping, perhaps I should tackle an item on my procrastination list. Fish tanks, here I come!

Wednesday Wanderings

My mind feels lazy today. Bits of information float in and out of my brain. After a good sleep in (my boy slept a 10 hour night) and a strong cup of java, we went outside and enjoyed some sunlight. It's supposed to be grey and/or rainy for days to come and Isaiah just loves to sit outside.

I've been frustrated with my dog recently. He seems to think that since Isaiah has been born I'm no longer the boss. I wonder if he's holding a grudge? Seems like it to me.

This week our land should have a hole in it. A Hole that will become a House. Yes, we are moving to the country. We'll have a beautiful home on 1.5 acres just 15 minutes south of the city. And as much as I'll miss things about the city, this country girl can't wait to get out of here. My boys will have a yard big enough to throw a ball in.

Every once in a while the differences in the way we were raised come up between the Husband and I. Last night we discussed faith issues. I was raised as a pacifist Mennonite. The Husband was raised as a fighting baptist. We discuss pacifism every single year when he is asked by the church he used to attend to wear his uniform at a Rememberance Day service. It's always interesting and we always decide we want to learn more about the other's point of view. I think that's healthy. Our newest challenge is appearing to be on the same page about things even when we aren't, for the sake of our little one. We want to appear unified. Although we also believe our differences should be honored and cultivated and we want to teach Isaiah this as well. How to do this may be difficult.

This afternoon Isaiah and I went to a breastfeeding clinic. He is just shy of 4 months old and weighs 13 pounds 5 ounces. He's incredibly strong and incredibly noisy. He talks a monologue all day. His latest discovery - the shriek.

I'm becoming more efficient with my time as my son becomes less reliant on me. I'm doing most of the housekeeping, meals, walking the dog, and caring for my baby. Once in a while I even get the Husband's lunch packed. I think I'm going to take a library trip soon and give reading a go. Does anyone have any good fiction to recommend?

Isaiah and his best bud

Kisses