Daycare

I love where Hayden and Tommy go for daycare. Danielle is her name and she has the patience of a saint. She has two daughters, Morgan (5), and Ava (1). She also takes care of Gage (4), Ellie (5), Isaac (3), and Quinn (1). Ellie and Isaac are the kiddos of my longtime pal, Rachel, who I roomed with in college. I love that our kiddos get to play together every day. Hayden and Isaac are only 5 months apart in age and they fight like brother and sister. Hayden tells Isaac, "I'm not going to be your best friend anymore," when she's mad. I secretly think it's a hilarious thing to say, but tell her it's not very nice. Hayden prays for Isaac, her best friend, every night. How sweet.

Being a teacher, one starts to hate certain things. One thing I hate is when parents send their sick child to school. I also am very leary of anyone named Dawson, but that's another story. One, they get all the other kids sick in the classroom, and two, I get sick or pass the germs onto my own kids. Ick! Now that Hayden and Tommy have come along, I finally get it. I get why parents send their sick child to school. It's actually the kid's fault. Ha.

Example:
Tuesday night, 12:30am, Tommy has been sleeping since 8:30---yipppeeee! We hear a noise coming from Hayden's room. Both Jason and I rush in and she has puked ALL over her bed and herself. She has the flu, I say to Jason, and that means he has to clean it up. After all, I am nursing and we can't risk Tommy getting the flu. Hayden says she doesn't feel bad and we take her temperature. No fever. We ponder for a moment and then consider that, well, she has had this cough for a couple of weeks and has the WORST gag reflex on the planet, and there was a ton of phlegm (ewwww) in the puke, so maybe she just gagged on her phlegm and that is why she puked. Jason cleans up the mess and sleeps in her room next to her in case she pukes again. All the while I am sitting in the bedroom contemplating sub plans, how many sick days I still have (0), and how I can get Jason to stay home.

Hayden never pukes again and so we chalk it up to her gag reflex. However, I am afraid that I am going to be "that parent" and send their sick child to daycare. I call Danielle. I tell her Hayden threw up at 12:30, and what she thinks about her coming today. Danielle figures it's the gag reflex too. After all, she tried to get her to eat peas once and Hayden threw up. Hayden didn't eat much for breakfast, but she's a 2-year old, she never eats consistently. She says she feels fine and acts like herself. (the good Hayden) So I send her to daycare.

Friday Morning:
I get a text from Danielle that Ellie and Isaac are staying home because they woke up in the middle of the night with the flu. I was that parent. I sent my sick child to daycare and infected them all. If Hayden had been able to tell me she had a slight tummy ache, I would have kept her home. That is why, in this case, it's not my fault.

Ugggggggg....and not the boots.

I am trying to be patient with this only eat 11 things diet, but it is really pissing me off. Tommy is still fussy. I should have waited a week to make that last post because the minute I pushed "publish post" everything changed. And I really wouldn't get all worked up about it except for the fact that, and how can I put this so no one will get grossed out or think that I am giving too much information, he still has slimy green poo. And the doctor said this is not okay. If he was just fussy without the green and slimy poo, I would say the heck with it and eat my Swedish Fish. I can handle a periodically fussy baby. I can't handle the poo. That kind of poo means that there is still bleeding in my little man's gut. The question now....Where is it coming from?? Time to obsess. Internet, here I come.

WooooooHoooooooooo

Can you hear me saying the wooooooooohoooooooo? The oooo is kind of high pitched and an exclamation of excitement. Things have been good around the Rathe household the last few days. I think we are adjusting to the new schedule. Hayden is loving having her little brother (or bother as Olivia would say) at Danielle's with her. Every time Tommy hears her voice, he gets a ginormous grin on his face. You know how little ones smile? Their whole head moves to the right and then the left and their arms fly up and hit them in the face too. So cute!

My Obsession...
I got a little nervous on Friday when Danielle said that Tommy was REALLY fussy. ALL DAY. I knew he would be after he awoke Friday morning with a gut ache. I just knew the day would be bad at Danielle's. Soooooo, of course I started obsessing. What did I eat last night that was something I hadn't been eating. Guess what it was? Popcorn! Yes, popcorn. Then I remembered what the doctor had said about the "Top 8 Allergens." Corn is one of them. Oh No!! What if he is allergic to corn too? Milk, soy, eggs, nuts, and CORN. Corn is in everything. Of course I got online to look up all the corn derivatives and the list is endless. The top one though......high fructose corn syrup. Sugar. I love sugar. My favorite food group is Swedish Fish. Those flavorful, red, gummy, chewy candies that I eat bags of in one sitting. Can I really eliminate sugar from my diet? Well, people, I have. I now have a diet that consists of 11 items. I know you're wondering...I will enlighten you because if I don't tell you, you will obsess about it. (at least my followers (4) will!!) I can eat carrots, rice, rice milk, Rice Chex, lettuce, celery, chicken, turkey, pears, turkey, and chicken broth. Tommy has no gut aches when I stick to these items. Since this "diet" started on Sunday, we have been relatively fussy free. The best part about it...I have nothing to obsess about.

Mornings.

I don't know about anyone else, but mornings frighten me. Especially mornings with a new baby. And a terrible two and a half year old. I was so extremely nervous about getting two kids ready and out the door in the mornings that I did a "trial run" to see how much time I needed. Three times. I have it down to a science now....all because of my obsessive behavior. I sat around during my maternity leave and thought about all the things I needed to have ready in the morning. This is how I had it all planned out:

5:45 Shower (make sure to put towel and robe on toilet seat)
6:00 Feed Tommy, change diaper, change clothes (Look at clock to make sure I'm on time)
6:30 Blow dry hair while Tommy calmly sits in his bouncy seat and watches, put on make-up
6:45 Put on clothes (which I laid out the night before after I put Hayden to bed.)
7:00 Wake Hayden and dress her (in the clothes we laid out the night before)
7:10 Eat breakfast and give Tommy his medicine. Hayden is watching Olivia at this time.
7:15 Pump
7:30 Pack the pump, get the lunch out of the fridge (that I packed the night before), grab my purse and bag, and head out the door.

This is how it went:

4:45 Feed Tommy and put him back to bed. Jason is still in bed.
5:20 Go back to bed. I need all the sleep I can get even if it is for only a half an hour. Jason is still in bed.
6:00 Tommy wakes. I get him up and put him in his bouncy while he looks at the lights. (what is it with babies and lights? Do all babies do this? I'd better check it on the internet?) I shower, get dressed, do makeup, etc. Jason is still in bed.
6:37 Jason gets up.
6:45 Hayden wakes and I have her watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I finish getting ready and prep her by saying, "When this is over, we are getting dressed."
7:00 Get Hayden dressed. After the first morning I told Hayden whatever was on her bed was what she was wearing. We even have to pick the bow the night before. Disaster if we don't.
7:10 Tommy is cranky by this time. He's been awake for an hour and fifteen minutes so I have to give him his medicine while he is crying and try to get him calmed down so I can pump. I have to pump.
7:17 I pump.
7:25 Jason walks down the stairs.
7:39 I grab my stuff and head out the door.

At least I know if Jason goes on a trip, I can get the kids ready by myself.

Terrible Two and Halfs

I've spent a lot of time talking about Tommy lately so I want to focus a little bit on Hayden. Poor girl is feeling left out. Not really. She can't read, people. But this is how our evening went.

7:00pm
Mommy, I want another Swedish Fish.

No Hayden, you can only have two Swedish Fish.

Mommy, NOW, I want a Swedish Fish.

Hayden, You do NOT talk to your mommy that way. Time Out.

Mommy, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I do not want to go to time out.

I proceed to walk her over to the steps for time out and go back to the microwave and start the timer. Hayden, in the meantime, is screaming in time out. Then she decides to hurl herself on the floor and scream.

Mommy, NOoooooooooooooooooooooooo time out!

I walk over to her and tell her that time out is on the steps and that until she moves to the steps time out will not start. I put her back on the steps, she stops crying, looks at me, and then throws herself back on the floor. Time out does not start.

She then rips her hair bow out of her head and yells, Mommy, my hair bow, put it back in. Time out does not start and the hair bow does not go back in. All the while this is happening she is gagging on her own snot to try to get me to give in. Time out does not start.

This goes on for 30, yes 30 minutes. Hayden wants her hair bow in. Then she pulls the other one out and wants it in too. Then she wants a drink of water.

Hayden...time out does not start until you are on the steps.

Then she tries to hug me. I almost give in. I was this -- close to giving her a cuddle because it was making me so sad to see her screaming and crying and unable to calm herself down.

Time out does not start.

7:30
Hayden goes to the steps and sits down.

Time out starts.

The Common Cold

Tonight I was out with a few friends for some girl time and I mentioned that, along with this soy poisoning, that Tommy also has a cold. Seriously. I know it could be worse, but when you're trying to figure out a baby the more things going on makes for many more mommy obsessions. He only has a runny nose and this mucousy cough. No fever. But they gave me a few tips that I thought I'd pass on to my many followers. Ha.

1. When using the bulb suction, make sure you squirt the saline solution when the child is lying flat, and then flip them upside down once. This allows the saline to travel all the way through their nasal passages. I'm not going to share this tip with Jason because we have contests to see who can suck the most snot out of Tommy's nose and I want to win.

2. When your child has a cough, put Vick's Vapo rub on their feet and then put socks on them. Both of my friends swear by it. I'm not convinced, but I will try anything to make my poor baby feel better.

Becoming Crazy...

After reading my blog, a high school friend of mine asked when I became crazy. Something happened today that is the perfect example. I am fuming right now. As a parent of a child with milk/soy protein intolerance, I must read labels. Shopping for anything new takes an extra five (5) minutes for each item because I have to read the label. At least three (3) times. And then probably six (yes 6) more times at home before I eat it. And then a few times after I eat it. All of this occurs because if I do eat anything with milk, soy, tree nuts, or eggs in it my baby Thomas will cry out in pain for hours and any consoling I do will not help. Some might roll their eyes at my description, but if you've had an MSPI baby, you know what I mean. Each time I eat something that is "tainted" it takes Tommy's belly TWO WEEKS!!!! Yes, TWO WEEKS to heal again. Back to why I am fuming right now. I went to this health food store yesterday and spent an hour perusing the aisles, reading the labels (yes, I only bought 12 items) and I purchased a Mushroom Soup that DID NOT have any naughty ingredients in it. I know this because I read the label a total of 12 times. Well, Tommy is in pain today and I knew it was from something new I had eaten yesterday. I have been eating chicken, rice, carrots, celery, water, graham crackers (with frosting), and Pringles for 4 days and he had no symptoms. All of a sudden he has a flare up. Tight tummy, can't poop, little dots on his face. I know it's my fault so I go to the website for this mushroom soup and THERE IT IS!! On the website under ingredients for the soup is SOY. Yes, SOY. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. They left off the soymilk on the back of the soup container. Still fuming.

Sick Baby or Not

So, today was the third day that I've taken Tommy to Danielle's for a daycare trial run. It gets easier every time, and today it only took me 1 hour and 42 minutes to text her and ask how his day was going. Of course, when I went to pick him up he had slept the majority of the time and taken the longest nap of his 67 day life. So, to get to my obsession. He only ate one (1) time from 8:00-11:30. And it was only two (2) ounces. This is what I'm thinking in my head when Danielle tells me this even though I say to her, "Oh, that's fine, he'll eat what he needs." 2 ounces, well, 2 times 8 feedings is 16 ounces. He's only eating 16 ounces in a day. How is he going to keep gaining weight? Maybe he's sick. Maybe those eighteen (18), really only 3, shots he got on Tuesday are just now staring to kick in and he's sick. When I get home I feed him the bottle Danielle had made right before I got there...again only two (2) ounces. And then he has a giant burp and spits up at least half (1/2) of it. Really it was just a normal spit, but this contributed to my "there must be something wrong with Tommy" voice in my head. I head upstairs to change his diaper and take his temperature. Good thing I have Complete Children's Health on speeddial. I know I'm going to have to call. Again. WAIT!!!!! His temperature (rectal of course) is 98.8---completely normal. Maybe I should have just evaluated Tommy's behavior the entire time this has been going on (45 minutes since I left Danielle's.) Smiles and coos usually mean happy baby, right? Try telling an obsessive mom that one.

A Few Things You Must Know

There are a few things you must know about me (and my family) before we go any further:

1. Jason is my husband
2. Hayden is my 2 and a half year old daughter--former MSPI sufferer and mommy and daddy sleep stealer
3. Thomas/Tommy is my 2 month old son--current MSPI/Egg/Tree Intolerance sufferer and mommy and daddy sleep stealer
4. I obsess...no really, is there a word that more specifically means obsess? You know how you're always taught in school to use tiny or miniscule instead of small. Is there a word like that for obsess?
5. I like to fix things.