I’m Still Here

The past three weeks have been absolutely insane!!!  With Jim being on the road the majority of the last two weeks and this week being meeting hell for me… time is just getting away from me.  I keep thinking I need to update my blog but we’re so busy I haven’t had a chance.  We did have a great weekend last weekend and did some really good stuff but I am tired!!!  I put in 13 hours today, had a late meeting last night and have another late meeting tomorrow night so I’m going to bed.  I will post a current favorite picture of Mr. Robert… who surprised me tonight by signing please (I’m so proud!).  Here he is playing in the vacuum cleaner box.  I’m not sure why we buy him toys!

Wrapped In Love

A couple of months ago I told my Mom that I had been looking for a quilt for Robert.  Something that would grow with him but something that was his.  I’ve been surfing Etsy but thus far hadn’t found just the right quilt (that I could afford).  Today at lunch Mom surprised Robert with this.

Mom found the pattern in a catalog and enlisted the help of her uber-talented friend Linda Cohron to make it.  Linda chose all the fabrics and they couldn’t be more perfect.  Even the back fabric is perfect.  I’m sure he’s going to love it for years to come.  I know I love that he has it and it was made with so much love.  Linda had a daughter who was in my class. We went all through grade school and high school together.  Her freshman year of college she got sick over Christmas break.  It turned out to be leukemia and she passed away before the end of freshman year.

Of course, Cosmo had to test drive it… but eventually he let Robert sit on it too.

And Robert took my first nap with it. 

16 Months

16 Things at 16 Months

1.  Robert is 33″ tall and weighs 30 pounds
2.  His favorite foods right now are cheese, nurtigrain bars, bananas and anything his parents are eating.
3.  He loves to snuggle and hates to sleep alone.
4. Mommy is still his favorite person on earth, daddy is a close second.
5.  He loves to swing at the park.
6.  Miss Angela is still his favorite teacher, and probably always will be.
7.  He loves playing with his dog and cat and is starting to say “KaKa” for Cosmo.
8.  Bath time is awesome!
9.  His favorite book is “The Moo Cow Book” and Mommy & Daddy both have it memorized!
10.  His laugh is the greatest sound on earth.
11.  He is a very happy little boy… even when he doesn’t feel good.
12.  He is cautious in new surroundings but warms up quickly.
13.  He has a cheesy grin he slaps on when he first sees the camera.
14.  He’s FAST!
15.  He understands every word you say!
16.  He has been such a wonderful blessing for our family and we are incredibly lucky he is ours!

We’re STILL Sick!!!

Turns out Robert has a nice little case of rotavirus and a double ear infection.  Ugh!  The good thing is he’s on the upswing.  His mood has been great the whole time.  The doctor actually asked me Monday, “Is he always this happy?”… um, yeah pretty much… unless I’ve just told him no, then he’ll be pissy for a few minutes.  Jim left town Sunday leaving me alone with the sicko.  Monday I stayed home from work and took him to the doctor.  Tuesday my Mom and Uncle came and watched him for a few hours while I ran to the office to do some work and attend a super successful meeting.  Today my sick child care fell through so I was home again but needing to do some work so I broke out the laptop in the dining room.  It’s been an interesting four days and I’m really glad Jim is home now!  We’re keeping Robert out of school the rest of the week (he’d probably be ok to go Friday but why push it).  Robert and Jim will have some nice time to reconnect while I GO TO WORK!!!

I did get some cute pictures the past few days.

Monday Robert was so tired when he got up that he drank his pedialyte in the kitchen and then fell back to sleep on the kitchen floor.

Tuesday when I got home he was asleep on the living room floor.

He and Harley posed for several pictures.

Today he helped me answer e-mails…

… and invented the cordless mouse phone.

It’s Official… I’ve Lost My Mind

These two girls’ owners are moving and cannot take the dogs with them.  I don’t know all the details I just got forwarded an email from a friend that they are looking for a home and they need to stay together.  They are both around three years old (same age as our Harley).  I got to thinking… that would be fun, a black lab, a chocolate lab and a yellow lab… we’d be a very diverse doggie family.  What the hell am I thinking????  There is no way.  We don’t have the room, we’d never be able to leave home (the kennel fees would be astronomical!), Harley would probably be very upset losing her princess status, Cosmo would probably pack his litter box and leave!  So, we’re not taking them in… but if you know anyone near Kansas City who would like two loving dogs… they really need to stay together because they are so attached to each other… let me know and I’ll hook you up with their owners.  I’d even be willing to foster the girls for a few weeks if needed (no charge).

I hope somehow they find a home together before I do the unthinkable!  But wouldn’t it be cute… three labs… all from different litters.. all within 6 months of each other in age???

So Now He’s Sick…

Monday the preschool director asked me if Robert ever gets spots on his tummy.  I told her he did from time to time and it’s generally nothing.  The next day his teacher called to say he had spots all over his trunk and back (there were like 10 altogether and three of those were bug bites).  They were going to have the nurse look at him.  She said it was a judgment call but a child did have impetigo the week before (not in his room).  So… do you take him to the doctor and have him look at you like “why are you here” or do you do nothing and have it wind up being a serious virus with deadly potential.  Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.  So I took him to the doctor… and got the “why are you here” look… and got a note and headed back to preschool/work. 

This morning when I dropped him off I should have known something was wrong.  He did NOT want me to leave and wasn’t interested in his breakfast bar.  Generally I sit him at the table, unwrap the breakfast bar and he could care less if aliens came and snatched me in front of his eyes… he’s got a breakfast bar!  At 9:30 they called me… Robert has diarrhea and has thrown up… he has to go home.  So I fetched him.  He didn’t have fever but he was a bit lethargic.  Got him home, started him on pedialyte… draped the couch with a blanket and called Jim… got voice mail.  Changed his diapers three times in a thirty minute period and settled in on the couch with him.  He threw up… all over me.  Changed him, changed me, changed the blanket on the couch.  Settled in again.  Thirty minutes later… changed him, changed me, changed the blanket on the couch (he never threw up if he wasn’t sitting on me).  The third time this happened I texted Jim… since he still hadn’t returned my call… “Running out of blankets for the couch, diapers for the boys and clothes for me… morale is low… call home”.  He finally touched base about 11:30 and said he’d be home as soon as he could.

Robert took a nice nap…. a break we both needed.  Jim got home about 3:30 and I started doing laundry.  Then the fever started.  It was running about 101.8 but of course didn’t start until after 5.  Debated going to Children’s urgent care because of the diarrhea and the vomiting but decided to wait and see.  I’m crossing my fingers that this is the 12 hour flu that’s been going around and tomorrow I have my happy, healthy little guy back… if not, we’ll go to the doctor.  I’m also hoping that neither Jim nor I get this since he’s leaving town Sunday to teach a class.

The weather was gorgeous here today… albeit a bit windy and is supposed to be really nice tomorrow before it gets crummy again.  I was hoping we could go out and enjoy it.  Maybe we still can.  Robert and I were also going to take Aunt Barb to Wonderscope on Sunday.  We’ll probably just go visit her at her house now as to not pick up any more germs while we’re recovering (or leave any lingering ones there for another kid to pick up)