Benjamin loves to play his guitar. And he's clearly quite good. Those lessons with daddy are really paying off.
I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life...to put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. ~Henry David Thoreau
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Hometown Tourists: Irvine Regional Park
To be fair, we went to the park in December, before my Hometown Tourist resolution. But I've decided it counts.
This was our second time at Irvine Park, and this time we went for the works. We started off our tour with the Orange County Zoo. $2, not many animals, but a rockin' petting zoo in which Ben can pet, brush, and apparently snuggle with a dozen goats.
I've decided that this is one of my favorite parks (top favs are Central Park in New York and Golden Gate Park in San Francisco). While I love the fact that it has great kiddie perks like the zoo, train, and pony rides, I LOVE the fact that it's beautiful. So after our zoo tour we had a picnic by the lake.
Then we took a walk. We walked slowly, played with leaves, meandered off the path when we felt like it, and took our time soaking everything in.
At the end of our walking tour we hit the pony ride. Ben's pony, Freddie, was an adventure. The woman told me to just hold onto the rope and Freddie would pretty much do his thing on his own. Half way around the first lap Freddie got an itch. He tried to walk in circles and scratch himself against the fence. While he seemed a little puzzled, Ben didn't flinch.
After our pony ride we took the train around the park. At that point Ben was pooped, so he wasn't as into it as I anticipated. But we enjoyed the views.
Costs: $3 for parking, $2 for the zoo, $4 for the pony ride, and $4 for the train. Total cost for three hours of outdoor fun-ing: $13.
Two thumbs up!
This was our second time at Irvine Park, and this time we went for the works. We started off our tour with the Orange County Zoo. $2, not many animals, but a rockin' petting zoo in which Ben can pet, brush, and apparently snuggle with a dozen goats.
I've decided that this is one of my favorite parks (top favs are Central Park in New York and Golden Gate Park in San Francisco). While I love the fact that it has great kiddie perks like the zoo, train, and pony rides, I LOVE the fact that it's beautiful. So after our zoo tour we had a picnic by the lake.
Then we took a walk. We walked slowly, played with leaves, meandered off the path when we felt like it, and took our time soaking everything in.
At the end of our walking tour we hit the pony ride. Ben's pony, Freddie, was an adventure. The woman told me to just hold onto the rope and Freddie would pretty much do his thing on his own. Half way around the first lap Freddie got an itch. He tried to walk in circles and scratch himself against the fence. While he seemed a little puzzled, Ben didn't flinch.
After our pony ride we took the train around the park. At that point Ben was pooped, so he wasn't as into it as I anticipated. But we enjoyed the views.
Costs: $3 for parking, $2 for the zoo, $4 for the pony ride, and $4 for the train. Total cost for three hours of outdoor fun-ing: $13.Two thumbs up!
Hometown Tourists: Disneyland
Okay, I know this is a stretch for our tourist thing, but since we've been laid up sick for the last month, a couple of Disneyland trips constitute the only touring we've been able to do. So here are a few snapshots of our last couple of visits.
Hospital Adventures, Part 2
Monday night we continued our tour of Kaiser hospitals with a stop at Irvine. Here's how it went down:
For the last several nights Ben has woken up screaming, oh...every 30 minutes or so. Then around his 3:30/4:30 wake-up he wouldn't go back to sleep. No apparent signs of illness, no fever...just no sleeping, constant crying. Bad napping during the day, crabby in the evening...loads of fun. On Sunday he developed a runny nose. Not surprising considering I've had a heinous cold that has been pummeling me for the last week. But he still didn't have a fever, and he was (besides the lack of sleep) still acting completely himself, so I wasn't too worried. Yesterday (Monday) when I left for work he still had that runny nose, and he hadn't slept much at all. I was a little nervous about going to work, but he was with my mom, so since I only have a couple of sick days left I figured it was best to save the sick days and let my perfectly capable mom take care of him.
As of 9:00ish he had a temperature of 100.3.
About an hour later it was 102.7. After Tylenol.
So I spent half of third period on the phone with Kaiser getting transferred from one employee to another just to find out if I should take him in or just wait it out. Person #5 told me to take him in, and transferred me to appointment services. The second appointment services person I talked to told me the only available appointment was in after-hours care at 6:00, so I made it and turned back to my neglected pre-teens.
As I talked to my mom throughout the day he was clearly getting worse. Not eating, not drinking, fever not abating, even with Tylenol. Not sleeping, lethargic...the works. When I got home at 3:30 his temp was 105.6 and he was panting. Since the nurse on the phone told me to call back if his symptoms worsened and/or his fever spiked, I did what I was told. Four people later, I was told to not wait for my 6:00 appointment and go to the ER. I hung up the phone, cried for 30 seconds, called Matt, and headed out the door. That was around 4:00.
We were in the waiting room until 6:00.
The doctor came in at 6:45.
Before that, though, we spent some quality time in the waiting room. Thankfully we only had to wait in the main waiting room for maybe 10 minutes. We were triaged pretty quickly, at which point his fever had gone down to 102.8 (thanks AC in the car). She gave him some Tylenol and sent us into a small waiting room behind triage where we were alone for a while. After a bit a sweet woman in her nineties and her daughters came in. They sang to Ben and tried (to no avail, sadly) to make Ben smile. Eventually we were taken to a small, private room in the ER. Where we waited some more.
For the last several nights Ben has woken up screaming, oh...every 30 minutes or so. Then around his 3:30/4:30 wake-up he wouldn't go back to sleep. No apparent signs of illness, no fever...just no sleeping, constant crying. Bad napping during the day, crabby in the evening...loads of fun. On Sunday he developed a runny nose. Not surprising considering I've had a heinous cold that has been pummeling me for the last week. But he still didn't have a fever, and he was (besides the lack of sleep) still acting completely himself, so I wasn't too worried. Yesterday (Monday) when I left for work he still had that runny nose, and he hadn't slept much at all. I was a little nervous about going to work, but he was with my mom, so since I only have a couple of sick days left I figured it was best to save the sick days and let my perfectly capable mom take care of him.
As of 9:00ish he had a temperature of 100.3.
About an hour later it was 102.7. After Tylenol.
So I spent half of third period on the phone with Kaiser getting transferred from one employee to another just to find out if I should take him in or just wait it out. Person #5 told me to take him in, and transferred me to appointment services. The second appointment services person I talked to told me the only available appointment was in after-hours care at 6:00, so I made it and turned back to my neglected pre-teens.
As I talked to my mom throughout the day he was clearly getting worse. Not eating, not drinking, fever not abating, even with Tylenol. Not sleeping, lethargic...the works. When I got home at 3:30 his temp was 105.6 and he was panting. Since the nurse on the phone told me to call back if his symptoms worsened and/or his fever spiked, I did what I was told. Four people later, I was told to not wait for my 6:00 appointment and go to the ER. I hung up the phone, cried for 30 seconds, called Matt, and headed out the door. That was around 4:00.
We were in the waiting room until 6:00.
The doctor came in at 6:45.
Before that, though, we spent some quality time in the waiting room. Thankfully we only had to wait in the main waiting room for maybe 10 minutes. We were triaged pretty quickly, at which point his fever had gone down to 102.8 (thanks AC in the car). She gave him some Tylenol and sent us into a small waiting room behind triage where we were alone for a while. After a bit a sweet woman in her nineties and her daughters came in. They sang to Ben and tried (to no avail, sadly) to make Ben smile. Eventually we were taken to a small, private room in the ER. Where we waited some more.
We were there until about 11:30.
It was a long, long night. Poor Ben got a thermometer up his butt at least a half a dozen times. He was given a couple of doses of Tylenol and a dose of Ibuprofen, and we had to strip him down and put ice packs on him to get the fever down. We occupied our time by reading, feeding Elmo applesauce, playing peek-a-boo behind the curtain, taking walks, and decorating my shirt and Ben's leg with the stickers he got from having a catheter. The highlight, though, was some guy down the hall who, for at least an hour, was screaming "F*&^ NO!!!" over and over again while Ben laughed hysterically.
Although the doctor's early assessment was that it was just a particularly vicious flu virus, he wouldn't let us go until Ben's fever had broken and he was sure there were no hidden infections. So poor Ben got a chest x-ray and a urine catheter. At 11:00 his temp was 99.5, and all his tests had come back clear. So we were sent home.
Basically that 6:00 appointment would most likely have been much cheaper, shorter, and less invasive. Oh well. Kaiser.
Ben got to bed around 11:45pm. He woke up around 12:45, but went back to sleep fairly easily. He's been sleeping soundly ever since. I suppose that's the upside to this adventure. Of course, that means I got about four hours of sleep. Oh well. Still beats every other night this week.
In just a few weeks I've held my little boy while he got blood work, three sets of chest x-rays, an IV, and a foot-long tube up his wee. Lucky us.
Sigh. At least it's nothing serious. We're thankful we have health insurance and a home to return to. Matt is staying home with Ben today, and we're praying for a swift recovery (and, if I can be so bold, perhaps more than a week of health before the next round?).
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Big, Giant, 18-month-old
It has occurred to me that most of my posts in the last month or two have been personal soapboxes and melodramatic, self-indulgent, emotional rants. Since some (okay, most) of you read this little blog out of a insatiable desire to see my son's face, I will take some time to correct my inexcusable sin of omission.
Benjamin is a whopping 18 months old! I can't believe it. At his 18 month check-up last week he was 32" (50th percentile) and 25 1/2 lbs (40th percentile). 18 month clothes go up to about 27 lbs and 31 inches, so...pretty much his shirts are crop-tops and his pants are capris, but they're still kind of baggy. 24 month clothes are big on him, but he's too tall for the smaller ones. So....he'll be kicking it gangsta style in his droopy 24 month clothes for a bit. Sexy.
Benjamin's favorite activities include reading, climbing onto the couch and running laps, playing with his cars, building with his blocks, and (un)organizing everything. He LOVES to dance. He still likes the salad spinner, although he has new favorite toys. He also loves to play pretend, particularly with kitchen-y things. I gave him some of his Ikea bowls, plates, and cups to play with, and he loves it. He feeds Elmo and Cookie Monster, and he stirs, pours, and drinks all kinds of things. We're saving up to get him a little play kitchen and table, which he will love. He's very rowdy and energetic. It's funny how you can actively work against gender stereotyping, but the boy just naturally gravitates towards dirt and messes, and he is a non-stop ball of energy. His most favorite games are playing on the couch and tackling mommy and daddy.
His language seems to be slowly developing. He can still only say a handful of words, but he's using them more regularly and seems to be adding. Yesterday he said "outside." I think that puts us at six words. He also signs a bit, though. He can say please, milk, and all done. He's very good at climbing up and down the stairs holding someone's hand. He loves to tickle, and he even says "tickle" while he does it. He can also "count". He will "count" all the animals in a book, or blocks on a table. Every number is two. He can take off his clothes, most without help, and he often does (including his diaper). He also knows what all of his clothing items are called, and he can identify most of his body parts. While he can only say a half dozen words, his receptive vocabulary is incredible.
Two weeks ago he made the switch from two naps to one. The first week was a breeze. This week not so much. He's only slept a couple of hours each day, and completely loses his mind around 5:00 and basically cries and throws things until we put him to bed. It doesn't help that he hasn't been sleeping well at night, either. These last few nights have been challenging. We had Adalee with us for a few days while Brandi was in the hospital, and I think that may have thrown him off. One night he was up half the night puking, the next night he woke up screaming a few times, and never really went back to sleep after 4:30am. Last night went much the same, except he added a new bonus: he somehow managed to climb/fall out of his crib. So at 1:30 in the morning Matt was putting the crib at its lowest setting while I tried to calm the boy with his goose-egged forehead and a renewed energy and desire to play. Suffice it to say, we are all very tired, as no one has slept much for a solid week.
But other than sleep deprivation and a seemingly endless string of illnesses, Benjamin is doing fantastic. This is a really fun age, and we are having such a good time with him.
Benjamin is a whopping 18 months old! I can't believe it. At his 18 month check-up last week he was 32" (50th percentile) and 25 1/2 lbs (40th percentile). 18 month clothes go up to about 27 lbs and 31 inches, so...pretty much his shirts are crop-tops and his pants are capris, but they're still kind of baggy. 24 month clothes are big on him, but he's too tall for the smaller ones. So....he'll be kicking it gangsta style in his droopy 24 month clothes for a bit. Sexy.
Benjamin's favorite activities include reading, climbing onto the couch and running laps, playing with his cars, building with his blocks, and (un)organizing everything. He LOVES to dance. He still likes the salad spinner, although he has new favorite toys. He also loves to play pretend, particularly with kitchen-y things. I gave him some of his Ikea bowls, plates, and cups to play with, and he loves it. He feeds Elmo and Cookie Monster, and he stirs, pours, and drinks all kinds of things. We're saving up to get him a little play kitchen and table, which he will love. He's very rowdy and energetic. It's funny how you can actively work against gender stereotyping, but the boy just naturally gravitates towards dirt and messes, and he is a non-stop ball of energy. His most favorite games are playing on the couch and tackling mommy and daddy.
His language seems to be slowly developing. He can still only say a handful of words, but he's using them more regularly and seems to be adding. Yesterday he said "outside." I think that puts us at six words. He also signs a bit, though. He can say please, milk, and all done. He's very good at climbing up and down the stairs holding someone's hand. He loves to tickle, and he even says "tickle" while he does it. He can also "count". He will "count" all the animals in a book, or blocks on a table. Every number is two. He can take off his clothes, most without help, and he often does (including his diaper). He also knows what all of his clothing items are called, and he can identify most of his body parts. While he can only say a half dozen words, his receptive vocabulary is incredible.
Two weeks ago he made the switch from two naps to one. The first week was a breeze. This week not so much. He's only slept a couple of hours each day, and completely loses his mind around 5:00 and basically cries and throws things until we put him to bed. It doesn't help that he hasn't been sleeping well at night, either. These last few nights have been challenging. We had Adalee with us for a few days while Brandi was in the hospital, and I think that may have thrown him off. One night he was up half the night puking, the next night he woke up screaming a few times, and never really went back to sleep after 4:30am. Last night went much the same, except he added a new bonus: he somehow managed to climb/fall out of his crib. So at 1:30 in the morning Matt was putting the crib at its lowest setting while I tried to calm the boy with his goose-egged forehead and a renewed energy and desire to play. Suffice it to say, we are all very tired, as no one has slept much for a solid week.
But other than sleep deprivation and a seemingly endless string of illnesses, Benjamin is doing fantastic. This is a really fun age, and we are having such a good time with him.