Stormy weather

We've hunkered down in the basement twice this weekend. James is learning that the Emergency Broadcast System interruptions on TV are not a good thing. Last night we went down, just the two of us, because Jim was out for the night at a poker party. Today James and I were both napping when Jim woke us up, saying we needed to go to the basement. It was definitely not a good way to wake up! I was groggy but hustled.

James told me that Blankie would protect us. Jim snapped this picture of both of us, making the most of the situation. We both were holding on to Blankie. Blankie also gave me a Kiki kiss for protection. Sweet boy :)

Got the worm!

My early bird definitely got his worm this morning. (I don't even know what I mean by that, so oh well.)

I went to wake James this morning and get him dressed. I had a TERRIFYING three seconds when I saw that he was missing!!!!!! The door was closed, I hadn't heard him get up and go downstairs, so I frantically tore at the blankets and rushed to the closet door. I open the door and there is James.

James was sitting on his monkey chair, in his cute pajamas, reading books. He had turned on the closet light and made himself comfortable.

"I read books! I not sleep."

Thank Baby Jesus!

Tornado warnings

The silly thing was that I didn't know there were warnings until I saw someone on Facebook post about the tornado sightings and whatnot. So I switched to live TV and yup, headed right for us. The storm system was creeping closer and closer so at 9pm Jim went to get James and we headed down to the basement. I had gone downstairs to set up pillows and blankets in a little dark corner and James half-slept though the storm. He babbled a bit, tossed around in the pillows, and then finally I saw a foot disappear around the corner. James started to climb up the basement stairs. The worst was over and done, so Jim took him back up to bed.

We're still watching the news. This makes me so anxious.

Sick again!

I had messages from Sandra yesterday at noon that James had a temperature of 102, though he was acting normally. She gave him Tylenol and put him down for his nap. Unfortunately I didn't get the messages until later in the afternoon, though he was still fine. I took his temperature at home and it was 101. We still made a doctor's appointment, thinking it could be related to his spots. His spots have miraculously disappeared but we were still worried.

Our appointment at Urgent Care was for 7:15. By that time he was visibly sick and miserable. His cheeks got redder and redder, his face was extremely hot, and he seemed out of it. When they took his temp at the clinic it was 104.1!!! They wanted to get more Tylenol in him immediately to bring down the temperature but they wanted to wait for the doctor to give him a strep test swab first, and they didn't want him upset by the medicine (he always needs to be restrained, forcing the medicine down, ugh). So we waited and waited for the doctor. We took turns holding and hugging James on our laps, worried about his temperature and how he seemed to be getting worse. Finally the doctor came in and asked about his symptoms and the spots. (It was a different doctor than our normal one.)

Finally we needed to restrain James to get the medicine down. He was beyond frantic. The first syringe of medicine was wasted when he spit it out, and it ended up all over me and Jim. His dry lips ended up cracking and bleeding in all that chaos. Awful. The doctor helped with the second try. It was just awful. I was worried that James was getting over-excited but he got over it.

Then the doctor took the throat swab and ordered some bloodwork to determine whether his white cell count was off. That was just as terrible-watching two nurses take his blood out of a tiny little vein, restrained again.

Back to waiting. We waited until 9pm for the test results. Glad they came back normal. So it was determined that James is just fighting off a normal virus and we should expect a temperature for 2-3 days, and maybe some crabbiness.

Well, throughout all this James has been fine. We put him to bed finally at 9:30, he kissed his stuffed animals normally, and was out for the night. I checked on him when I woke up at 3:30am and his forehead felt slightly warm but nothing to be alarmed about. He woke up at 7:15am and has been happy, normal ever since! He has a slight temperature but is otherwise okay. Relief!

We cancelled our zoo plans for today but hope for a good day just hanging out at home. Maybe James will feel well enough for a short walk through the neighborhood later.

Safe!

We had a scary afternoon. Jim was making dinner upstairs while James and I were playing downstairs in the basement. I wasn't watching TV or looking at the sky to know that it had suddenly become very black and windy. Jim came downstairs to tell me that there was a tornado in Coon Rapids and it was headed our way! Scary! It was just about dinner time so I knew James would be fussing for food. Jim stopped cooking dinner, turning off the burners/oven, and I scrambled to get some food together for James, while we waited it out in the basement. I grabbed some strawberries (messy), James' new veggie crackers, and some french fries that Jim had pulled out of the oven.

Jim also secured the deck furniture and the glass table. During the last storm we had the furniture blew away and it broke our table umbrella. Jim very smartly took the glass out of the table, turned the table upside down, and scooted the chairs against the house. (We later found the chairs had still blown up against the other side of the deck- strong wind!)

James was content to sit in the basement hallway (near the stairs, away from the windows), and eat his chips. We anxiously watched the news, hearing that the tornado touched down right by my school in Coon Rapids, and the storm was headed towards 242/Johnsville- which is on the other side of 65 from us! It was very scary hearing the wind but luckily it passed by us pretty quickly and we haven't seen any damage to our own house or others by us.

The storm went on to other areas, hitting Hugo. Those poor people there! Houses were destroyed, and a 2 year old was killed. I just can't imagine.

So James was a trooper. He was pretty good as long as he had food :) A little while later we did go upstairs and eat the dinner Jim had prepared (chicken parmesan sandwiches, with sauteed spinach, marinara, and mozzarella cheese, mmmm). It was a beautiful night afterwards. The sky was blue and bright, no sign of any storm just an hour earlier. James was a great baby, happily playing and was not crabby.

His Mama on the other hand... I'm still coughing and feeling somewhat miserable. I am just so tired of being sick! James will go to daycare like normal, I will go to work but if I don't have significant improvement I'm going to the doctor. A week of this hacking cough (worst in the middle of the night and morning) and grogginess is enough.

So we haven't done too much during this long holiday weekend. We didn't go anywhere fun (zoo), but James and Jim did get out every day for a long walk around the lake. I would stay home and enjoy the quiet.

17 months old today!

We had a pretty quiet day at home today. Our new deck furniture was to be delivered this morning so we couldn't go too far. Jim started to assemble the furniture but then the rain started. It ended up being a wet, dreary day. BUT James was happy and very very active. He crawled, ran, climbed, and played hard.

James' vocab:

No

Dada

Ball (pronounced baaaaawl)

Baba (bottle)

Uh oh (anytime he drops something)

Book (prounced boww boww)

Elmo ('Mo!)

Bye Bye

Banana (pronounced Nana)

Good (mostly "Good to go!")

Mama (BUT by accident I've taught him to say it as he pounds his own chest, because as I tried to teach him, I'd point to myself. I think he thinks it means himself and doesn't associate it with ME.)

Now that I've put together that list, I'm realizing he talks more than I think!

I've been buying summer shorts and tshirts for James as I see them on sale. I think I'm just getting excited to be done with school and home with James. :) Also this summer there are two trips planned- one to California in June and Dada Jim will be headed to Vegas in August with his buddies. Lots to look forward to!

Scary moment today: I freaked because I thought James was choking. I cut up a nectarine for part of his dinner, cutting away most of the skin. James was very enthusiastic about eating it and Jim thinks he was stuffing his mouth and not chewing, and it wasn't because of the skin. James got a little red in the face, made a gagging noise, and I yelled for Jim (just one step away, washing dishes). I hurried and removed the highchair tray and waited to see if he took a breath or made any kind of reassuring noise. He cleared his own throat, spit up a little, and then looked for more food. All was well. This just reminded me that I need to review our choking and CPR instructions. Better safe...

James got his haircut on Saturday. We are in disbelief that he all of a sudden looks like a little boy! His eyes look so huge! He's just so cute :) Lately we've been seeing little bits of our family members in James- sometimes we see Uncle Joe (combo of Jim and the brown eyes), we see Grandma Rosie, and sometimes an expression will remind me of Tia Kristina.

Mama moments

So my first moment to write about is my panic attack yesterday. I had an "off" day because I was feeling shaky, weak- probably low blood sugar. Well, I had finished eating and James finished too. I looked away and then looked at James and I swear he was purple! and shaking! His finger was in his mouth. I screamed and screamed for Jim but he didn't hear because he was in the garage. I couldn't get James out of the highchair fast enough. I pulled his finger out of this mouth and ran with him to the garage. James was perfectly fine and normal looking when we got to Jim. I think Jim thought I was crazy.

I laid down on the floor, my heart beating too fast, and I just cried. James was fine.

My nice Mommy moment today is just the pride I feel looking at James, not just today in particular. I am especially proud of him now that he is standing on his own and scooting around with his walker. He is a little man!

Please see our new pictures. The pictures of James trying on his snowpants and his new coat make me laugh! I thought of the movie "The Christmas Story" because of the little boy who was bundled up so much that he couldn't put his arms down or move! James reminded me of that little boy. He couldn't do much besides roll over. I don't know how he is supposed to PLAY in that gear! Oh, and please see the video below :) James is standing on his own!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com