Mother guilt

I ended up taking Wednesday off work because the little guy's condition took a turn for the worse. By this time the croup cough was gone, but in its place emerged a fever and dreadful chest cold. Frankly, I should have kept him home yesterday and today as well. His fever keeps coming and going, his appetite is off, and he's not quite himself.

I have a number of reasons why I didn't stay home yesterday or today, including:
1. I had a very important job interview yesterday that had already been postponed once.
2. It is so bloody busy at work I can barely keep up with the volume.
3. Taking three days off in a row would have almost depleted my family-related sick leave for the entire year (and the fiscal year only started on April 1!)
4. In the mornings, he's shown signs of improvement (i.e. actively playing) so I underestimated how bad his illness really was.
5. My caregiver never called, so I figured he was fine.

So why do I feel so crumby? These are all good reasons, aren't they? I'll tell you why I feel crumby: I put work before family and family should have come first. Had hubby been in town this week, we probably would have worked out some sort of schedule where we rotated being home with him. But unfortunately that just wasn't possible.

Anyways, all I really meant to say was that I'm sorry babe! You have my promise that it won't happen again.

Do you see the steam?

One of the ways we've taught baby boy to detect if his food is hot is to watch for steam drifting up from his plate. If he sees steam, he automatically says, "Blow on it, Mom."

Lately he's been very proactive in reporting steam sightings. "Look! There's steam!" he says.

Today when I was changing a very rank diaper, he said "Do you see the steam?" I can only guess he must have been referring to the diaper....

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While visiting my parents home last week, baby boy said "I want a tour." So I guided him around from room to room to give him the lay of the land. After he'd seen it all, he went up to his Grandma and asked "Where's the tour, Grandma?"

The aftermath

I have never crammed so much activity into four days in my life! It seems like every time we visit our hometown, there are just too many things to do and people to see. People kept asking me today how my "holiday" was. Holiday? You've got to be kidding! We were constantly flitting from one grandparents to the next while also trying to squeeze in time for other friends and family. I'm feeling more exhausted than before we left.

It would be nice if just once (that's all I ask!) we could come to town and just chill out and do things on our own schedule. I guess I can always dream....

The little guy had a blast, but I think the visit took a rounds out of him. In fact, not two hours after we got home, at around 3:30 a.m., he started coughing on and off. He didn't have a fever or anything. Just a horrible, barking cough. And all day today his voice was hoarse even though his throat wasn't sore. But besides that, he was acting perfectly normal and carrying on with his regular shinanigans.

So after some discussion, we sent him to daycare as usual. All day I was expecting our caregiver to call and tell me come pick him, but the phone never rang. When I picked him up my she told me that she was fairly certain he had the croup and gave me some words of advice on how to treat it if the cough worsened. And then the weirdest thing happened -- we went outside and his cough just disappeared. Poof! Gone! I guess it was the humid air. I'm just crossing my fingers that the cough doesn't come back. I did a ton of research on the croup and it scared the heck out of me. Some kids end of going to the emergency centre because they turn blue and can't breath. More often than not, however, no medical intervention is needed. A little cool, moist air often does the trick.

Little Mr. Bossy

Two year olds can be so bossy sometimes.

The other day, hubby was cooking bacon. When he momentarily turned his attention, the little guy pushed on his leg and yelled, "You! Cook the bacon!"

And, when hubby tried to rustle him out of bed the other morning, he rolled over grouchily and said, "Go on your own bed!"

Little masterpieces

Today, I opened up baby boy's knapsack and found a cut out of a fireman's hat that he had glued stuff onto, and a picture of a person with glued on hair and hands and feet. Although he obviously has some help (i.e. the cutting part), you can tell he's definitely put some time and effort into these creations.

Hubby and I both love it when he brings home artwork. We fight over who gets to take the latest masterpiece to the office (we've run out of display surfaces at home). Friends and colleagues tell me that eventually you have to throw some of the artwork out -- there simply isn't room to keep it all as they get older and more productive. The thought of chucking any of his artwork out makes me sad! Maybe I'll have to start a memory box to store some of my favourites.

I'm real!

"I'm real! I'm little! I have blond hair! I'm big!" That's how baby boy described himself to me today.

A few chuckles

At 2:15 am baby boy started calling to me.

"Mom? Mom?"

"What is it baby?"

"I want sunglasses, Mom."

"It's sleeping time right now. We can get the sunglasses in the morning."

Silence. Right as I start drifting back to sleep.

"Mom?"

"Mom's sleeping sweetheart. What is it?"

"I need sunglasses."

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I must use my index finger a lot when I'm talking to the little guy because any time he wants to make a point, he points that finger right near my face.

One morning he held up his index finger and said to me very seriously, "Monday morning." I asked him what was happening on Monday morning. With his finger in the air he repeated, "Monday morning." Where the heck did that come from?

Another time, he waved his index finger at me and told me very matter of factly, "The horses are in the barn."

"Oh, okay" I replied.

Not knowing if I truly understood the importance of his words, he pointed his finger very closely to my eye and said, "Two horses."

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When not in use, we have to keep the toaster oven unplugged. Baby boy's latest obsession is to shove crackers inside of it in a pretend game of making toast. Last night I was cooking some vegetables in the toaster oven. Knowing his magnetic attraction to the appliance, I warned him not to go near it because it was hot. As soon our backs were turned for two seconds, he quietly climbed up the kitchen stool and opened the toaster oven's door. My mommy alarm immediately went off. I ran over and discovered something new cooking. Two tea lights!

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He had a sit down bath for the first time in over a year! Even though he's been keen on baths lately, he'll only take them standing up or, if he's really brave, sitting on his knees. Tonight he bravely sat down on his tush. And boy was he ever delighted with himself! "Mom, look! I'm sitting!" he cried. Of course I carried on and made a really big deal about it.

Next step: getting him to sit down on a potty.

Spring has sprung

Or almost, anyway. There is still a lot of snow, but it's melting rapidly. When we got home today, baby boy and I spent a long time outside throwing snowballs into puddles, and just splashing around. These are activities that I still have an appreciation for, even as an adult. But I have to say that my favourite thing to do at this time of year is to break the thin crusts of ice that form over the puddles at night. Every morning I delight in plunging my boots through the ice to expose the puddly goodness below.

I can't wait for the snow to melt at the park. The snow is still a couple of feet or more deep. Heck, if the weather is warm enough, I say we go anyways and throw some snow around. It beat being cooped up inside.