August in a Nutshell

A summary of August in the Villines house...mostly for scrapbooking purposes, if I ever get caught up to this point!

August 3-8: Rudy had Fayetteville High School band camp. Caleb went to daycare. I wrapped up some final things for back-to-school and got in my last days of resting, napping and not living on someone else's schedule.

August 6: We went to the NWA Naturals game with some of my co-workers. One of my fellow SLPs was singing the National Anthem, so we went to support her. Kat did a fantastic job! Caleb, as usual, loved the baseball game and wore Rudy completely out wanting to play at the kids' size baseball diamond. The funniest part was when Rudy took him down into the seats on the 3rd base line, by the visitors' dugout. The outfielder from the visiting team was running in with the baseball that had been the last out of the inning. A whole bunch of kids (and some adults) were standing there, clamoring for the ball. Rudy had Caleb on his shoulders and the player tossed the ball right over all of the other kids and straight to Rudy. Caleb was excited that Daddy had caught the ball and Rudy handed it up to him. A few seconds later, he saw that everyone in front of him was starting to duck. Sure enough, Caleb tossed that ball right back out. He almost made it onto the field. Everyone around us was laughing and pointing. Rudy turned beet red and Caleb couldn't figure out why the ball didn't come back. After all, it always comes back when he's playing catch with his Daddy.

August 8th - We went to the Tontitown Grape Festival. We started off with a fabulous spaghetti and chicken supper and then enjoyed the evening people-watching and letting Caleb ride the kiddie rides. He loved it and even ate some grapes until he realized they had seeds in them:

August 10th - Stacy and I hit the outlet malls in Branson for some back-to-school shopping. We got lots of great deals and despite a nasty day of thunderstorms, had a great time! The drive home was nerve-wracking, but Stacy kept me company and we made it just fine.

August 12th - The day I dreaded all summer! Back-to-work!!! We made it fine with the alarm clocks going off and getting to work on time. We've fallen back into our morning routines pretty well. The best part of the day was getting home and finding our Razorback season tickets in the mailbox.

August 15th - Dinner with Jan, Kathy and G'ma Voise at G'ma Voise's house.

August 18th - Mom and Mr. L. came to get Caleb. They were at our house when we got home from school and took Caleb to their house for the rest of the week. It was such a blessing for Rudy and I to be able to work a little late and not have to worry about coming home and entertaining Caleb at night. We missed him tremendously...but knew that he was well cared for and it worked out great. He spent his days fishing, swimming, playing, visiting family, following Pops every step of the way and even did a little shopping with LaLa. He got to go to Anna Joyce's birthday party on Saturday night and loved getting to help blow out the candles!

August 19th - First day of school. Whew!

August 23rd - Rudy and I met Caleb, Mom and Mr. L. for lunch in Ft. Smith and brought Caleb home with us. It was so good to have our CalebBug back!!! We expected a major grandparent detox, but that wasn't the case at all. Things were pretty smooth.

August 24th - After a full day at school, Caleb and I went to his Sports Skill Development class at Gymboree and then met Stacy and her kids at Mad Pizza for supper. I had had one of the worst days at work that I can remember in a long time. It seemed like if something could go wrong, it did. I needed the downtime after work to chill out and shake off the events of the day. When we got home from supper, I was hoping to put Caleb to bed and head that way myself. No such luck. I put him to bed, only to see him standing in my bedroom doorway a few minutes later sobbing. He wanted nothing to do with going to bed and just wanted to see his daddy. Fortunately, Rudy came home from band practice shortly after that and Caleb calmed down. He did end up sleeping in the bed with me and Rudy slept on the couch. That's not unusual on band practice nights. He needs to lay on the couch and watch TV until he falls asleep.

August 25th - Caleb learned a new word: armpit. I was washing him off before putting him into bed, since he only gets a tub bath every other night. I told him to raise his arm so I could wash his armpit. He said, "I not have armpits." I said, "Yep, they are right there." He then thought that was really funny and I think he might have said the word "armpit" about 100 times. Another day this week, he learned the word "eyeball." That one struck him as humorous too. Now, we're all about armpits and eyeballs.

August 27th - I had my monthly OB appointment with Dr. Ford. After that, we went out to dinner at On the Border. Caleb acted like he had never been in a restaurant before. He wallered around on the booth, wouldn't eat worth a flip and was a royal pain in the rear. (At least he wasn't bothering anyone else, but ugh!) When we got home, I put Caleb in the bathtub and he continued to act like he had lost his mind. He splashed water all over the bathroom and I asked him why he was making bad choices. He said, "Because I not like you." I said, "Oh, really? That's fine, but you need to start making better choices." He replied, "You not my best friend in the world anymore." I tried not to laugh at him as I scrubbed him with soap and then washed his hair. Bedtime came quickly for the little one with attitude.

August 28th - Rudy, Caleb and I picked up Kathy and G'ma Voise and went downtown to Rogers Frisco Festival. We enjoyed a wonderful fried catfish dinner and then milled around among lots of people. Caleb rode a carousel and a train. He and Rudy rode the SuperSlide after waiting in line for what seemed like forever! After a snowcone for me and ice cream for everyone else, we made it home by 9:30.

August 29-30th - Caleb woke up at 4:30 and climbed in bed with us. Rudy took him to the bathroom, brought him back to sleep with me and went to the couch. (Our next bed will be king-sized!) I noticed that Caleb felt really warm, but he was sleeping (and so was I) so I didn't bother taking his temperature. When I woke up, they boys were gone to eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel (one of their favorite Saturday morning activities). Shortly after they got back, Caleb said he needed to go potty and had diarrhea. We took his temperature and he had a fever of 101.1! We decided it was going to be a movie day and made him a spot on the couch to watch Bolt. He didn't have anymore diarrhea until much later in the day, but wasn't in the mood to eat or do anything. He and I took a nap at 2:00 and we finally woke him up at 5:30. By that time, I was feeling awful too and took my temperature. It waivered between 99.0 and 99.5 all evening. (Not high enough to worry about, but enough to make me achy.) I didn't have the D that Caleb had, but had a sore throat and pressure in my ears. Caleb and Rudy slept in the guest bed last night with full intentions of letting me sleep in this morning. Everything was fine during the night. Caleb woke up feeling great and wanting to play football, then he looked at Rudy, said he didn't feel good and threw up in the living room floor. Rudy came to get me to clean up Caleb while he cleaned up the floor. I was still feeling horrible, but mustered the strength to do what needed to be done. Once everything and everyone was cleaned up, I went back to bed and stayed there all day. No fever, but feeling achy and miserable was enough to keep me in bed. Caleb felt great the rest of the day, but his appetite still isn't back to normal. Rudy put us both on a strict BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) and that's all we've eaten today. Rudy and Caleb spent the day playing and watching golf and even went to the batting cages so Rudy could get in a few hits before his first softball practice tomorrow night. They went to the park too, but Caleb didn't have much stamina and they came home pretty quickly. Now, it's bedtime and Caleb is asleep. I'm feeling a little better, but still achy. Rudy seems to be coming down with whatever this is. He says he feels nauseous and just "not right." Let's hope he gets over it as quickly as Caleb and I have. It's miserable and it's way too early in the school year for this mess!