Newness

Ahh, the newness of fresh snow (and a SNOW DAY!)

And, somehow I'm reminded of that old Girl Scout song that I think that I've quoted on here before about how you

Get new cars

But keep the old

The new one is silver

and the trade-in's blue

Or something like that...Anyway, Jimmy is gone. We'd had it for 5 years...not long enough, if you ask us. But, it's time had come. It was falling apart. Ask anyone who'd ridden in it lately--it was really one hell of a car. The best thing about Jimmy, if you ask me, was that the little pin that released the key in the ignition after you put it in park had broken. So, you needed either a pen or a screwdriver to get the key out. It was finally getting some character. Although, that character was costing us quite a bit since each character flaw would be at least $350 to repair. We've been scrimping and have managed to find enough in our monthly budget to cover the VUE. It's a 2005 front-wheel-drive 4-cylinder with about 40K miles on it: nothing fancy. But, it's super cute, and I think that I might love it. Although nothing can really compare to my affection for our old standard: my Grand Am (from college!) is almost 11 years old and has 175K miles on it and is running wonderfully (knock on wood), which is why Jimmy got to go to the big car lot in the sky. You're going to have to peel me off of the hood of the Grand Am when it has to go live on a farm...

And, speaking of other new things: Joseph cut his 5th tooth today. It's up on the top, and its partner will be making its appearance soon enough. He's also figured out that he LOVES hot dogs. You know what those things are made of, don't you? It doesn't matter...it's 200 calories of protein and fat and he eats it. He had some meatballs last night and is currently eating a bowl of mac and cheese (one or two noodles at a time). So, I'm figuring that he's growing...a mom can hope, right?

Pictures

I've got an assortment of pictures from the recent weeks. Generally, Joseph is a pretty serious little kid, but he has figured out that when the little light shines on the camera, that a picture is being taken. So, he periodically responds appropriately. Also, he and the cat have found a common interest: they LOVE watching the plow guy clean up the snow piles with his little Bobcat thingy. They could both watch him for hours. That being said, Joseph has developed quite the attraction to trucks, tractors, and general construction equipment. We stopped by Tractor Supply last week and practically had to pull him out of there. It was so cute! When he figured out that Papa had a tractor, he was pretty impressed (although his face would never indicate that). He's gotten to watch Daddy and Papa play on the big truck and finally got a ride today. He took his experience very seriously, but I think that he enjoyed it.

Mr. Ham

Can you believe this face?

Daddy's boy: that is coffee dripping down his face and all over his collar. I couldn't stand the stuff until I was in college, but Joseph seems to have more mature tastes...or something.

We took his new tricycle out for a spin the other day. It was chilly, but I think he had fun.

So serious.

Stuck. Again.

Definitely Daddy's boy.

Ridin' with Papa.

Warning: Nerdy Content!

Being a self-proclaimed Nerdzilla (for, oh, so many reasons), I'm going to give you as much nerd-a-rific information about Allergy Boy as I can. And then I'm going to post some pictures.


Nerd stuff:

Since he's an excema baby (broke out at about 3 months, cleared up around 8), he apparently has elevated levels of Immunoglobulin E (IgE) in his system. IgE is (please, fellow nerds, correct me if I am wrong, here) one of the factors in our blood that reacts to clear irritants out of our systems. So, the doctors use the response of the IgE in his blood to see how he could/should/will react to various allergens. Since he's already got a whole lot of that (from the excema) in his system, it is quite easy and possible that the readings that they got for the various tests were misleadingly high...more IgE in his blood, more IgE to react more enthusiastically to more stuff. Regadless, the doctor says that his levels for pick-a-nut are high and that he should avoid them. Really? I was going to give him more. And, she said that the egg (white and yolk) values are high, but that he'll most likely grow out of that. And, she thinks that the elevated IgE levels were what gave us what we're hoping is a false positive on the dairy test. He's still doing okay with dairy (yogurt, cheese, butter, etc) and didn't barf from the Goldfish that he ate the other day. So, that's good. We learned how to use his Epipen and when we should administer that. I'm praying that we never need to use it. They'll retest him next year and see where we are at that point.

In the meantime, I'm still trying to stuff as much food into him as possible since it would be nice if he came back on the growth charts for his weight. He gives me The Chin (where he spins his head away from me so that all I can see is his chin) when I approach him with food that he's not interested in. He's figured out how to spit food out. And, he will take the food on his high chair tray, look at me and shake his head "no," throw it on the floor (to the all-too-willing dog), say "uh oh," and laugh. It's a good thing that he's cute...

And, speaking of the cute factor, I'll share it with you when I find the cord for my camera...

Today?

Did something happen today? I don't mean to sound like a snot, but it just seems that every moment of every media venue has been denoted to the inauguration--it's a good thing that nothing else was happening in the world! I'm all for the man, I'm hopeful for the future, I'm proud to be a part of this, but, I'm concerned that the freakin' media will hinder his visions. Best intentions and all that...

Since I'm talking about the freakin' media: what's with the new chick on American Idol? She's obnoxious! And, when will my Tuesday (or was it Wednesday) night be complete with Chef Ramsay? I'm unabashedly addicted to Hell's Kitchen...

I took some cutie pics of Allergy Boy today, I'll post them (and ramblings from our meeting with the allergist today) sometime soon.

Lessons Learned

Well, it's been an interesting week.

Monday: Joseph had another reaction to who-knows-what at day care.
Tuesday: We had an introductory meeting with the allergist at Joseph's doctor's. It was less than enlightening since the results from the blood test (that we'd had done on Saturday) weren't back yet.
Wednesday: I got a haircut. Woo hoo. When I was putting Joseph to bed that night he threw up all over me...yum.
Thursday: uneventful (I think)...it's hard for me to even distinguish the days...I'm at the end of my rope.
Friday: I get a call from the allergist that Joseph's test results are back. He's tested positive for: all nuts (tree nuts and peanuts), eggs, and milk. Then, he threw up again after dinner.

So, while I know that this is not the end of the world and that lots of kids with all of the allergie grow up to live wonderfully fulfilling lives and all that stuff, I've pretty much been crying since Friday afternoon. This has just been the icing on my cake. I just want my sweet little boy to be safe and able to do sweet little boy things. And, since I've been little, crying has just been my way of letting out all of my stresses...and I've just been chock full of stresses. Get a helmet, right?

In other news, it's a long weekend, which is nice. I'm headed out shortly for an evening of female adult interactions. Matt is taking Joseph out for male adult interactions. Matt and I have a date to do nothing tomorrow afternoon. And, hopefully we'll be able to test out the webcams on new laptops and do the webcam thing with his family in Chicago--it'll hopefully be better than the phone.

Wise-guy?

I feel like there’s so much to tell (and yet, it all seems so insignificant) and I’m not sure where to begin.

Knit-wise: I finished the Cutest Hat Ever (and gave it away before I took a picture of it). Since there was a pic of the hat as a wip, I don’t feel too bad about that. It turned into a 3-pointed hat with little tassels on each of the points. I started and finished some little kiddo thumb-less mittens with a string for Joseph. He hates them. And, I started and finished (and gave away before I photographed) a little pouchy bag thing. The little bag was approximately 4 x 7 in a 2-stitch seed stitch with rev st st side panels and a zipper across the top in a dark purple satin wool blend. Way cute. I may actually make one for myself. I was thinking of felting it a bit, though…we’ll see. No progress on socks at all.

Vacation-wise: After the fluid-filled day of fun, I got antibiotics for my sinus infection (which took like 3 days to make me feel better) and we watched Iron Man. Wow. Good movie. We also went to the Museum of Science and Industry on free day…along with what felt like 1/3 of the other 6 million people in Chicago. We were downstairs looking at the giant farm equipment (which Joseph loved—huge wheels!) when Matt decided that he’d gotten food poisoning from our dinner the previous night. So, we left and he was sick for the day. I decided that was probably for the best anyway since keeping track of 6 adults and a baby in that chaos was going to put me on a very short fuse. We braved Museum Campus on Friday and headed to the Shedd Aquarium. I really love the Shedd. The Oceanarium is closed for renovations, which was kind of a bummer. I wanted Joseph to see the dolphin show, but we’ll take him back. He loved the fish—I knew that he would--he watches our fish at home a lot, and seemed to enjoy all of the other fish. We headed home on Saturday so that Matt could go have a blast pheasant hunting on Sunday with my dad and Max.

Joseph-wise: He's still not walking yet, but I think that he's getting closer. Each at their own pace, or something, I guess. It took a FULL WEEK to de-Chicagoize him and re-NewHampshirize him, which kind of means that the demons that took hold of his body while we were gone were finally exorcised. I gained a whole new appreciation of the phrase "spoiled rotten." My sweet little boy had gotten so accustomed to people jumping to his every whim and desire that his return to reality (where the parents run the show, and not the 13 month old person) was a bit harsh. There was a lot of screaming and (the low point) a full 20 minute screaming/shrieking tantrum. I'm glad to report, though, that we all survived and Joseph is back to normal. He's got the next 2 teeth on the top coming in, and he's reasonably certain that he can survive on yogurt and cheese alone.

Other-wise: We're pretty much dull and boring. Max and Jackie leave to go back to school this coming weekend. It's always so nice to see them, and we always miss them when they're gone. I don't feel like we've gotten to see them that much at all this break since we were gone for a good chunk of it, and they're only going to be around for short shots from now on. Perhaps we'll work out something for the summer or something. I know that I don't say it (to them, anyway), but I'm really glad that Max is my brother and I'm glad that he and Jackie chose each other. They're awfully cool people and Matt, Joseph, and I are really glad that they're our family.

Pic-wise: Now for what you really want. An assortment from Christmas and Chicago.

Joseph and Charley lookin' out the back door.

Shiny red tricycle! It's still a little big for him, but it's got streamers and a bell!

Such a ham--he's totally figured out the camera.

Check out the cowboy pj's. He got that tunnel thing for Christmas...too bad it doesn't fit in our house.

Watching the cars outside Matt's Grandpa's retirement place.

The biggest wheels EVER, at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Waiting in line to get into The Shedd--it was soooo cold (welcome to Chicago...).

He loved the fish.

And this turtle. He screamed his silly head off when it was another kid's turn.

Reading books with Mommy.