I've Said It Before...

And I'll say it again. It NEVER fails. Every time Isaac brings home cooties from school he kicks it in a day or two. Then Mike gets it and carries on like he's dying for a day or two and then Riley gets it. I am somehow, maybe just through sheer determination, always the last standing. After the entire family is better it hits me like a ton of bricks. Every single time.

The problem being Isaac and Mike return to work and school and I am left to tend to the completely recovered ball of energy that is a 20mon old who got extra sleep the day before. For extra fun she's teething. I felt at least 3 razor sharp teeth coming through. Now Riley can explicitly tell me this is the case, she points to her check and says "sharp".

On top my illness and her teeth Mike needed to be on an all day conference call with work. His "office" is still full of boxes of his stuff and not a suitable workspace yet. He's been working in the family room or the back patio. Today it was raining so he had no escape from the wailing toddler. He simply muted the phone long enough to deposit her in bed with her sick mother and shut the bedroom door.

Ugh, where do I start? I needed me to come take of me like everyone else got. I needed the sleep everyone else got. I felt I had at least earned the right to watch what I wanted while I was sick. Luckily for me Miss Roo was pretty interested in Quantum Leap. Mostly though she fussed like she's rarely fussed before and tore up my bedroom. She pulled clean laundry out of baskets, "unpacked" boxes that were stacked against the wall and pushed whatever she found around my room in her doll stroller. I wish I was still breastfeeding because I wouldn't have had to get up to get Riley drinks and snacks, I could have passed her the immunities to whatever I had and it would have calmed down the teething fussiness.

No rest for the mommies. Calming teething babies, barking orders for homework completion or teeth brushing and praying this strengths their immune system from their sick bed.

Feverish Fussy Foolishness

All day she screamed and fussed off and on. It was Tylenol, bath, nap, repeat. If she's like this tomorrow we're going to the doctor. She had a runny nose last week and then it cleared up on it's own and now fever and runny nose. My mom keeps telling me to watch out for the symptoms of ear infections, but I'm hoping this all has to do with teething. She's chewing her fingers a lot.

She was perkier in the afternoon so we headed to my cousin's son's (my 2nd cousin?)twelfth birthday party. It made me feel old to nap during the party yesterday, but it REALLY made me feel old that this child I've know since he was born is now turning 12!! It was quite an affair complete with a bounce house with a slide inside it. My other cousin who lives an hour away was there with her kids and Isaac was thrilled since he doesn't see them alot.

They had the bouncy in the front yard and the garage open with the food in there and then canopies to sit under in the back. They even had fans out back, but it was really hot. You never know in September in Florida, but it was a hot one. Of course Riley enjoyed the fan more than the boucy. After an hour or two Riley had had enough and even Isaac seemed to be coming unglued. I think the heat+2parties in 2 days was too much.

We were relieved to be home in the nice cool quiet after all the running around this weekend. I find it particularly challenging to balance the kids activities and sleep time on weekends so both kids seem to wind up over or underwhelmed pretty consistantly. At least Sept has afforded tons of opportunities for practicing I think we attended about 100 birthday parties this month ok maybe 6, but still.

By bedtime I was pretty confident this was a teeth issue, but nothing derails transitioning back to the crib like a sick baby. She spent the night with me.

PS: The teeth came through on the top on either side of her front teeth on 9/21

Adapting to Adaptation

Riley turned 11mo yesterday. I can't believe it. She has 4 teeth (two on top two on the bottom). She took her first independent step today towards her brother, of course. We are still battling the rash from hell, she's on antibiotics now. She's very, very busy. I got a bow to stay in her hair yesterday, hurray! I'm pretty sure breastfeeding is winding down and I'm ok with that. Riley even fits into her 12month clothes. SOOO BIG.

As Riley grows and my recovery drags on a whole new phase of logistical problems arise. I no longer have the ability to bend my spine or have my hands free when walking (walker, crutches, etc)and she's heavier and quicker than she used to be. I've dealt with disability stuff vs baby care issues before, but I feel really stressed doing it now. I have a wonderful Egro baby carrier which is great when sitting in the wheelchair, but as of yet my back isn't ready to wear her standing. I can lift her in and out of the high chair now that we lowered it or from the rocker to the changing table, but not for any distance.

I can't push the stroller without discomfort at this point. I'm not sure what's temporary and what's permanent at this point. I know that one of the physical therapists estimated at least a year with an assistive device. Whether or not that's realistic it's pretty certain that for the foreseeable future I'll be dealing with some limitations beyond what I had going into surgery and a walking/running toddler.

Riley comes when I call her most of the time, crawls after me in the house, and comes to me and stands up when she needs me. She's "such a trooper" just like mama, but how to keep up with her is a challenge. I worry about pulling her by the arms because I can't reach any lower on her body without bending. I also worry about the day to day once she's walking. I've gotta be able to keep ahold of her when I'm by myself. For her safety as well as mine.

So, just like sucking it up and FINALLY using the scooter at the grocery store. I find myself considering something else I thought I'd never do. A harness. They're cute now at least, shaped like happy animals and functional as backpacks. Not like either the Velcro wrist tethers that I remember from childhood or the blue harnesses that they made special ed kids wear on the school bus. Still I feel judged (mostly by myself) for even thinking about it. It doesn't help that Mike refuses to have anything to do with getting or using one, but if I didn't need it to keep her safe I wouldn't either.

So, onward we go and as ever it is overwhelming but never boring.

Toddler, Already???

The cleaning lady comes every Monday. Floors are a big deal because of the baby so we always have her clean all the floors. Last week she had done all of them except the kitchen so Riley crawled in there and when she came out she was chewing something. It's always a trouble when you suddenly notice chewing. You say a silent prayer that it's a Cheerio, but you know it won't be. What could she possibly have you think to yourself all the floors are clean...a small white rock. That's right, a rock. I pulled 2 of them out of her mouth that day.

Later her first tooth appeared and I couldn't help laughing remembering the African baby from Babies teething on a rock. Her front bottom tooth showed up after a particularly bad reoccurring rash and some intermittent crankiness. It was very exciting. She had the tooth 48hrs before she tried to put a toy in her mouth while crawling and bit her lip! Poor pumpkin, bit her lip on her only tooth. She looked so shocked with her bloody lip.

So, other than the rocks Riley lusts after the cat's food. We had to put up a baby gate to deter her. Now she sits on the outside of the gate and watches the kitty eat. Riley loves the kitty. Everything the kitty does is fascinating. The other day the cat was chasing a little beetle and Riley crawled right over for a front row seat to the event. I look into the hallway from the bathroom to see Riley pick something up from the floor and put it in her mouth. I'm yelling at her to spit it out, but I can't get to her. Mike picked her up and ran over to me so I could fish it out. "Oh, a dead bug. Nice Ri...Live bug! live bug. As the beetle goes flying into the bath tub.

Along with teeth comes the disappearing reappearing diaper rash. It's really frustrating and painful. The best thing for it is air so the other day Mike let her play in her super yard diaperless. She was having a great time in there and then all the sudden she stood up yelled to get my attention and pooped right on the carpet.

She also wants to do everything herself and help you with whatever you're doing. She'll reach over and put her little hands on my back to "help" me get into bed and clap for me when I stand up from the couch. It has it's advantages, but the other day she wanted to help carry my phone. The keypad was locked when I handed it to her. She started dancing when it started ringing and I was laughing too hard to be in a hurry to answer it. It was 911 calling me back because Riley had called them and locked my phone in emergency mode. Sigh. Yeah, I think toodlerhood is here.

The Teethe Goes On

Poor little pumpkin. Drooling, chewing, fussing, pooping like crazy and aweful diaper rash. All because of a silly tooth. It's heartbreaking because she wants to deal with it and play but it overwhelms her sometimes, reminds me of me.