High Fever

On Monday, I was wrapping things up at work when my assistant principal came to my room to tell me that Caleb's daycare was on the phone. I ran to the office to get the call. Mrs. Natalie told me that Caleb had woken up from his nap saying that he was "not feeling so good." She didn't think much of it, but when he just nibbled at his snack and then his face got red, she took his temperature. He had a fever of 102.8 under his arm. Usually, you add a degree to whatever reading you get under the arm, so he was very definitely sick. I went to pick him up from school immediately and we went straight to the convenient care clinic. We waited for 2 hours to see a doctor. With the outbreak of swine flu this week, the clinic looked like more like a triage unit. There were tons of people there and most of them were wearing masks. The check-in desk was giving masks to anyone who was coughing. Fortunately, Caleb wasn't coughing. I can't imagine trying to get him to wear a mask for 2 hours. Rudy joined us in the waiting room after a while and we took turns holding a very lethargic Caleb. Rudy brought dinner and Caleb's blanket. He wouldn't eat his dinner, but definitely wanted that blanket. When we finally got back to see the doctor, his temp measured 101.8 temporally. They gave him some Motrin and the doctor ordered a strep test and looked him over. The strep test came back negative and there were no other symptoms of flu or anything else, so Caleb got a prescription for amoxicillin and we were told to keep him home for 24 hours. Rudy took the day off on Tuesday because I'm out of sick days. Since he was staying home with Caleb, he also took the night shift with Caleb. We knew he would wake up during the night with fever and he did - at 10:30. Rudy said that he was absolutely burning up and shivering and aching. He gave him tylenol then and again when he woke up at 4:00. After that, the fever broke and he was back to his old self again. They spent the day Tuesday playing and taking it easy. Caleb hasn't had anymore symptoms at all, but he sure did give us a scare on Monday.

Sunday Afternoon in April

Shutterbug

I love to take pictures. Of course, I love taking pictures of Caleb and the rest of my family, but I also enjoy taking pictures of places and things. I like to look at them up close and from interesting angles. I've always loved to take pictures.

This is a doorway in New Orleans:

This is the fence in Jackson Square in New Orleans:

This is the fence around my grandfather's garden:

This is a dogwood in my grandparents' backyard:

I don't claim to be a photographer, but I sure do like these images and I enjoy going out with a camera to look for interesting photos. As long as I can remember, I've wanted a really good camera, but I've been afraid of them on two levels. First, I was afraid to drop that much money on something that I didn't really need. Second, I've never had a photography class. I don't know what all of the terminology means and I never thought I'd be able to really use a good quality camera. I've always had a point & shoot and have always been able to get pictures from them that I liked. Rudy knows how much I love to take pictures and this year, for Mother's Day, he suggested that I bite the bullet and get "my camera." Fortunately, the local photography store was having a Canon sale this weekend. I did it. Yesterday, we went to Bedford and bought a Canon EOS T1i. It takes 15.1 megapixel shots and can snap 3.4 shots per second. It came with an 18-55 mm lens, but we got an extra 55-250 mm lens to go with it so I'll be prepared for our trip to the beach this summer and for Caleb to begin playing sports next summer. I am just beside myself with excitement over this purchase and can't wait to really get a chance to try it out. I'm going to take a training session at the camera store to learn the bells and whistles. For now, though - I'm just loving the crisp, clear amazing shots that I'm getting as I snap away at everything that catches my eye!

Caleb's Birthday Wish List

I know it seems tacky to post this, but lots of people have asked what Caleb wants for his upcoming birthday. I'm really not begging for gifts, just trying to make it easier for those who are already planning to get a gift but don't know what he wants/has/needs/likes. Honestly, it seems like we have approximately 500 toy vehicles, 25 puzzles, 100 stuffed animals, every kind of mini-sized sports ball, every Little People toy known to man, enough play food to feed a play army and a library of books that's bigger than those in some small towns. And - he's getting a bike with training wheels. We'll be doing some cleaning out after this birthday passes - that's for sure. But, knowing that it IS his birthday and so many people want to celebrate by giving him a gift, I took him to WalMart yesterday and (for the first time) let him out of the buggy in the toy section. Everything he "oohed" and "Look, Mama'd" - I took a picture. Here's the wish list, with my comments thrown in for good measure...and because I could see the top shelves AND the price tags. Just in case you can't tell from the list, he loves sports, loves to be outside, is interested in the computer and his favorite shows/characters right now are Cars (Lightning McQueen), The Wonder Pets, Little Einsteins (It's the birthday party theme), Backyardigans, Handy Manny and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

• Fisher Price Kid Tough Walkie Talkies
• Little Einsteins Pat Pat Rocket (toy)
• Little Einsteins Rocket's Tub Adventure (toy)
• Let's Get to Work Manny (toy)
• Swimming pool toys (kickboard, splash balls, etc)
• T-Ball set (suitable for 3 years)
• Toy bugs (ewwww....)
• Games (Elefun, Gator Golf, Whac-A-Mole, etc)
• Outside toys (playground ball, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, etc)
• Madagascar 2: Return to Africa (DVD)
• Little Einsteins DVD - any one would be fine, we don't have any of them
• Mickey Mouse Clubhhouse DVD - we don't have any of these either
• A kid-friendly computer mouse
• LeapFrog Fix the Mix

Now, can I make a list for myself? Just kidding...unless someone really wants to buy me an iPhone, a new couch or that amazing camera I have my eye on. :)

Update 4/26: I've taken some things off the list that I know have been purchased. Oh...and you don't have to get me that camera after all. :)

• Summer pajamas (short sleeves with shorts or pants) - he wears a size 3T
• The Bee Movie (DVD)
• Memory game
• A bicycle with training wheels
• V.Smile V-Motion Active Learning System
• V-Motion Games for 3-5 year olds (Little Einsteins, Wonder Pets, Mickey Mouse)

3 Years of Portraits

I took Caleb for his 3 year portraits today at Picture People. It's amazing how much he changes every year...

May 2006 ~ 5 hours old

May 2007 ~ 1 year

May 2008 ~ 2 years

(Almost) May 2009 ~ 3 years

Oh, how you've grown...

May 2007 ~ 1 year

May 2008 ~ 2 years

(Almost) May 2009 ~ 3 years

Easter 2009

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow!

We celebrated Easter this morning with a beautiful service at Central United Methodist. I thought we'd give Caleb a shot at staying in the sanctuary so that we could be together for Easter. Well, we made it to the sermon before Rudy had to take him out. He wasn't noisy or fussy, he was just busy. We certainly didn't want to distract anyone, so Rudy thought he'd take Caleb to the nursery and come back. Caleb had other ideas. He cried when Rudy tried to leave him and then said he had to go to the bathroom. Rudy decided to just stay with him because the service was almost over. As soon as the final amen was said, I went in search of them. Rudy went to get the car and Caleb and I (and about 50 other people!) waited in the covered entryway because it was 42 degrees and pouring down rain! We were weary of going out to lunch and fighting the Easter crowds, but were pleasantly surprised to walk in and sit right down. Caleb wasn't on his best behavior and we were glad to get through the meal without a major attitude adjustment. We came home and gave Caleb his Easter basket, which he loved! Afterwards, I tried to put him down for a nap, but he fought it for over an hour. Eventually, I gave in and put him in bed with me and we took a 2 hour nap. Rudy took advantage of the quiet by cleaning out the garage and smoking a chicken. We had the chicken for dinner and then "chilled out" (as Caleb says) before putting him to bed. Rudy and I have both talked to our families tonight and wished everyone a HAPPY EASTER. Now, we're getting ready for a big week of testing at school and looking forward to slightly warmer temperatures as the week goes on. I hope you've all had a great weekend and a very happy Easter. He is risen indeed!

The Great Easter Bunny Debate of 2009

Several years ago, I was at the intersection of Brentwood and Hwy 40 in St. Louis when I saw a bumper sticker that said, "Don't Lie To Your Kids." I'm not sure why I remember that so clearly. I didn't even have a child at that time, but it really stuck with me. It has been on my mind this a lot this week as I have struggled with something I never expected to second guess.

On Wednesday, I went shopping and picked up a few things for Caleb's Easter basket. Rudy didn't know what was in the bags and, in trying to help me unload the car, accidentally let Caleb see some of the surprises I had gotten for him. Curious as always, Caleb wanted to know what that stuff was. I told him it was a surprise and he couldn't see it yet. That minor incident got me thinking about the Easter Bunny and why we have the traditions that we have for Easter, Christmas and other holidays.

Last night while scrapbooking with Stacy and some people I've never met before, I brought up this topic. Two of the women at the table said that they have chosen not to follow the traditions of Santa or the Easter Bunny. The more we talked about it, the more I agreed with them. After all, why do we lie to our children about fictional characters that have absolutely nothing to do with the holidays that we are celebrating?

After lots of internal debate and some interesting discussion on Facebook, I brought it up to Rudy today. We quickly came to an agreement that we don't want to lie to Caleb unnecessarily and that we are ready to make the change from what's expected to what we choose to do as a family. So, from this point forward, we aren't celebrating Christmas with Santa or Easter with the Easter Bunny. Don't get me wrong - we're not completely shunning tradition, we're just tweaking it to meet our needs. We will teach Caleb that Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and all other fictional characters are just that - fictional. Pretend. Make-believe. They are characters, just like Mickey Mouse and Lightning McQueen. They are things that are for entertainment, but they simply are not real.

Our reasoning for this decision is twofold. First, our family's major holidays are centered around our Christian faith. The secular celebrations of Christmas and Easter have become overwhelming in our society. We have lost sight of the true meanings of these two holiest of holidays. The birth and resurrection of Christ are too often overshadowed by "What is Santa bringing you?" and "What's the Easter Bunny going to bring?" We want to bring our celebrations back to where they should be. This doesn't mean that we won't exchange gifts as we've always done and it doesn't mean that we won't allow Caleb to glue cotton balls on a paper Santa's beard or have his picture taken with an Easter Bunny (like we did today at the church egg hunt). We aren't taking this to an extreme level - just making some changes internally as a family. Second...as I said before, we don't agree with lying to our child unnecessarily. I heard about a child who, when he found out that Santa wasn't real, asked his mother if she was lying about Jesus too. I can't even imagine being in that predicament. How do you justify telling a child not to ever lie, but then lie to them about something so insignificant?

Tomorrow morning, we'll be celebrating Easter. We'll be giving Caleb an Easter basket with some candy and a few small gifts that we know he'll enjoy. These gifts are our way of showing him that the holiday is a celebration, even though he's not old enough to understand the true meaning of Easter. We are giving him gifts as a symbol of the gift that Jesus gave to us - the gift of forgiven life. And at Christmas, we will give him gifts to celebrate the birth of Christ - the gift of God's Son.

We'll continue to celebrate Easter by dying and hunting for Easter eggs, as eggs are a traditional symbol of renewal and, for some, symbolize the tomb that Jesus emerged from on the 3rd day after His death. Next year, I plan to introduce the Resurrection Eggs that several friends have suggested, as Caleb will be old enough to understand the basic principles that they teach.

Unfortunately, my main concern and my hesitation in this decision hasn't been about us. It's been about other people. How will we keep Caleb from being that kid who tells all the others that Santa isn't real? I guess we'll cross that road when we get to it.

For now, Happy Easter! May you be blessed beyond your expectations. It's amazing how God does that sometimes, isn't it?

Cough, Cough, COUGH

Caleb had a runny nose last weekend. I immediately started giving him Claritin. By Sunday, he was starting to cough. By Monday, he was waking up at night coughing. We still use the baby monitor because Caleb's room is on the opposite end of the house from ours, so when he coughs, I wake up...even if he doesn't. Rudy and I have taken turns getting up with him at night when the coughing gets bad enough that he comes toddling into our room for comfort. Thursday night was the final straw. Up at 4:00 AM and unable to get back to sleep due to Caleb's coughing, I decided to take a sick day so I could take him to the clinic. I managed to get a 10:30 appointment. The doctor said his tubes are looking good (yeah!) and he wasn't wheezing (yeah!), but that his chest sounded "crackly" and he had nasal congestion. With the official diagnoses of "early bronchitis" and "rhinitis," we were sent on our way with a prescription for amoxicillin and a suggestion to give him Robitussin CF. Almost 2 days later, he's still coughing and his nose is running like a faucet. When he's feeling good, the world is fine, but when he's not - Heaven help us. He's wavering between those two states quicker than a preteen girl right now. It doesn't help that we're all tired. It's amazing what a little cold can turn into.

LaLa, Meltdown, Easter Eggs & Bunny Cake

Rudy went to deer camp this weekend with Mr. L to gather firewood and do some other work stuff around the camp. Since we were both deer camp widows for the weekend, Mom came up to see Caleb and me. She got here Friday afternoon and left this morning. We went to dinner on Friday night and then came home to put on our PJ's. She and Caleb went to bed pretty early. I watched a movie and finished the invitations for Caleb's b'day party. (I'm so proud of the invitations. I designed and made them myself and I just love them!) Mom let me sleep in on Saturday by taking care of and playing with Caleb. When I got up, we had a little breakfast and played some more. We tried to get Caleb to take a nap, but he never went to sleep. We finally gave up and went to Target. After meandering through Target for a while and getting everything on our list, we went over the mall to get Caleb some jeans at Children's Place. We left the mall and headed across the street for Jackson's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. Before we went in, Caleb and I had a talk about being a good listener and not crying when it was time to go. Mom dropped us off and went to do a little kid-free shopping. We went in and said hi to the Lyonses and wished Jackson a happy birthday. Then we played a few games until they called for Jackson's party to start. We went over to the table and I was calculating times in my head. I decided that Caleb had time to have one piece of pizza before we were supposed to meet Mom outside. I didn't take into account that the pizza would be too hot for him to eat and we wouldn't have time for it to cool and for him to eat it. The whole situation blew up on me: no nap + excited about being there + having to leave early = one angry almost-3-year-old. Whew! I haven't seen Caleb throw a fit like that in a very long time and I've never had him throw one of those in public. I was so embarrassed. He screamed and kicked and even hit me in the face a couple of times before I managed to get him out the door. I know that's an everyday occurrence at Chuck's - but it's just not a common thing for us and it's certainly not acceptable. He was still screaming when we got to the car and screamed all the way home. Mom offered to take him outside when we got home, but he wouldn't leave my side. We talked about what he did wrong and he apologized. I also apologized for asking him to leave early, but explained that it was what we had to do that day. We decided that taking some time to chill out and watch a movie would be the best thing for him to do. He agreed and watched part of Cars before dinner. After dinner, Mom and I took him outside to play in the backyard for a little while. I came in while they were playing and got things ready to dye Easter eggs. When they came in, we dyed our eggs. We've never done that before and he thought it was pretty cool. Once we got the eggs in the dye, we started working on our real family tradition: the bunny cake! Mom and I have been making the bunny cake at Easter for as long as I can remember. We've missed a few years along the way, but I have a picture of the cake that we had on my first Easter...32 years ago! Caleb loved helping with the mixer and (of course) licking the beaters. We let the cakes cool overnight and decorated them this morning.

Thursday Night

8:00 - Haley gets home from museum meeting. Greeted with a warm welcome from both of my boys!
8:15 - Rudy puts Caleb to bed.
8:50 - Haley goes to bed to read. Rudy is working on the computer. Caleb is still talking in his bed.
9:50 - Rudy is getting ready for bed. Haley is laying in bed reading. Footsteps in the hallway. Caleb shows up in the doorway and says, "Mama, my Crocs are on the wrong feet." Really? He got out of his bed, opened his closet, put his shoes on and then decided to come tell me they were on the wrong feet?
9:52 - Rudy puts Caleb to bed.
10:00 - Rudy comes back to our room with a victorious grin. Caleb is asleep in his own bed...without shoes.