Monday, April 23, 2007

Pox

We flouted convention and yesterday attended an antiquated sort of social gathering: a chicken pox party.

When I called the doctor's office last week to ask about the safety of exposing my not-yet-seven-month-old baby, I requested a callback from a RN or MD, rather than the doctor's "nurse", who is a medical assistant with no formal training. I got a call from the medical assistant, who knowledgeably informed me that I should not expose either of my children to chicken pox as they had not had the vaccination, and were therefore likely to contract chicken pox. Yeah. Thanks for the info. Can I talk to a doctor, please?

She was rather confused, I wanted to expose my children to chicken pox? She'd have to talk to a doctor and get back to me. Yeah, you do that.

She called back sometime later to tell me that the doctor really recommends we get the vaccine, as chicken pox can lead to life-threatening complications. I asked if it is any more dangerous for an infant than for a preschooler. She said the doctor said it was not, but still advised against any exposure without the vaccine. I thanked her and hung up.

So we went to the pox party on Sunday. K rather thoughtfully brought margarita mix for the grown-ups and lollipops for the kiddos. To swap. The healthy children were encouraged to share their suckers with the vector children. Yuck. Lots of snotty kisses and hugs, exchanged foods, etc.

We had a good time, enjoyed hanging out with all the families (five families came, not including the host family), then went home and had meat and potatoes with K and family.

Hopefully, a successful day. We'll find out in 10 to 21 days.

Does anybody think it's odd to recommend a vaccine for a disease that is rarely serious in young children, but these same doctors will perform circumcisions on healthy newborns for no other reason than cosmetic preference? They expose children to serious complications from the procedure, and a 100% chance of reduced sexual sensitivity as adults, but then they turn right around and say that it's too dangerous for a child to be exposed to chicken pox.

If we're really trying to minimize all risk to children....STOP PERFORMING NEONATAL CIRCUMCISION.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Kitchen

We are building a play kitchen for Leo. We were inspired by another post on the web about using an old entertainment center.

To see the progress so far, visit our Picasa web album.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Link

I just added my first link to the blogroll. I found One Tenacious Baby Mama through Navelgazing Midwife. Coming from a science background with very little education in social thinking, and having grown up in a very homogeneous community, I really don't understand a lot of what OTBM is talking about, but she has me intrigued and I'll keep reading and visiting her references. She's getting me to think outside my experience, which feels very good to a slightly bored at-home mama. :)

I guess I'll add a few more links to the blogroll while I'm at it.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Sleep III

I guess my expectations have changed. Her current pattern is to go down at 8:45, up at maybe 11 (last night I woke her to nurse at 11 when I went to bed), then up at 1am, then at 3am, then at 5 or 6am, then at 7 or 8am. I feel pretty foggy.

My goal would be for her to sleep from 8:45 to a nursing at 10:30 or 11, sleep until 4 or 5am, then nurse again and sleep until up at 7 or 8am. She did this pattern for almost a week back in mid-March. Now we're back to getting 1.5 to 2.5 hours of sleep at a time. It's crazy-making. I acknowledge it's a lot better than every 45 minutes, but it's still not restful.

Supervillains

Leo is Yuckyman. Bad Yuckyman. Power to make things gooey. Or yucky.
Mama is Dr. Shrinky. Power to make things small. Or tiny. Together, it is our goal to steal the key to the world. We are super-villains.

Papa is Captain Hammer, power to build anything.
Isa is WeatherWoman, power to change the weather. Together, it is their duty to keep the super villains from the key to the world. They are super-heroes.

Now I will admit that Leo did not invent all of this himself. It is from Backyardigans. But the imagination he uses because of this inspiration is quite commendable. He is always making things 'gooey', then getting a towel to clean up his invisible messes. He's always asking me to shrink things for him (never Yuckyman, he gets pretty upset if I shrink him), and loves when Captain Hammer 'builds' something to thwart him.

It's a lot of fun. Yesterday we spent half an hour running in circles searching for 'the Forest of Darkness, bwahhahahahaha').

He also 'surfs' on the couch, or when he goes outside he'll find a likely-looking scrap of wood to use as a 'snowboard'. He rides on the wooden horse and pretends he's a cowboy. He and Papa play polka together, Papa with his real tuba, Leo with his invisible accordion.

He found a magnifying glass in a store and became "the world's greatest detective", searching for footprints. He found a large hook in a hardware store and became a pirate with a hook for a hand. He found a pair of binoculars I bought him last year and became a lifeguard, searching for Tiki Beach. He found a piece of wide elastic and uses it as his super-villain mask. All of these treasures go into a box in the living room at the end of the day, and he delights in rediscovering them the next day, assuming one fantasy after another throughout the day.

Most often, he calls out for "Dr. Shrinky" to come make him a sandwich, or "Dr. Shrinky, I'm thirsty please!". Only sometimes am I 'mama' anymore. :)

Backyardigans is not educational in the strictest sense of the concept, but it is doing wonders for Leo's power of imagination, his curiosity in the world, and his joy of play.

Cold

It's cold again. We had some time of warm weather, in early and mid March. Now it's cold again. Snow yesterday, snow today, snow tomorrow. I have a lot of the cool-season seeds in the ground, the peas are even sprouted and were doing well (not quite to cotyledons) before the cold snap.

I hope they're okay.

It's good to remember that Easter is a cold time of year, even when preceded by warmth.