July 22, 2006

This weekend have been terrible in Boston. Rainy, drizzly, humid, yuck. Laura and her buddy "Omi" were planning to go to a small zoo called Buttonwood Park today but due to the weather, we changed plans and went to the Boston Aquarium. Apparently everybody and their mother had the same idea. It was MOBBED!

All in all the outing was ok. Laura wasn't really interested in the fish. She would probably have had a better time just hanging out with Thomas in a playroom. The large tank scared her b/c the fish are magnifide and in reality, pretty scary looking. She was pretty cranky most of the day.
We went to Legals Seafood for lunch and went back to the aquarium for another hour afterwards but it was completely packed by then and not worth the effort.

July 17th, 2006

After work, I went home and got everything ready to go to the gym to workout for half and hour and then swimming with Laura since the weather was hot and muggy.
I got to daycare and the staff told me that she felt hot after she woke up from her nap. I felt her and compared her to another kid and she did feel warm. The activity plans were ditched and I brought her home.
Temp was 102.5. I gave her some motrin and a tepid bath. She perked up pretty quickly and we stayed home doing various stuff. I ended up taking her to the park and putting her on the swing for a while. Sooo humid.
At about 8pm I gave her another bath since she was doused with bugspray. She was playing in the tub for a while and then all of a sudden she started getting distressed. I took her out and she started shivering. I could see the goosebumps on her skin. Poor girl. I bundled her up. Her forehead was hot but her hands, feet and nose were cold. I gave her some more motrin. Put her in the bed and bundled her up. Temp: 102.8
At 11pm, I checked on her and she was HOT! Ear temp: 106!
Hubby got a large bowl with ice water and we dipped towels and layed them on her back and her head. I got her a couple of pedialyte ice pops and she chomped them down. We got her temp down and gave her some tylenol. She was up again at 1am and 4am. I gave her some more Motrin at 4am.

It's amazing how quickly this all happened. I'm just grateful that I had those freezer pops that I tucked away in the freezer months ago.
She went to the pediatrician the next day and he found nothing. "It's a virus going around."

21 months

Nothing very exciting this month.
When Laura started off her 21st month, she was sick with repeated bouts of "asthma" and we were giving her neb treatments pretty regularly. All the change in weather and rain did not help the situation. At this time, she proved to be pretty needy. It was exhausting b/c she would constantly want to be held. She's also getting so heavy now that it's not that easy. The tried and true Elmo videos are no longer the hypnotizing tool so after coming home from work, after picking her up from daycare and then having her say "up n down" which means "pick me up", was becoming incredibly tedious because, you know, you have to make dinner. That's what the videos are for! They are the tools to give you a solid 30 minutes to make something and then feed the child, wash her up, change her clothes, put her to bed and then go to bed exhausted and start all over again. But this time, the videos only gave me 5 minutes at a time b/c she wants you to WATCH the videos WITH her or you have to hold her while you are making dinner. This lasted for a few weeks and hubby was not a big help since he was working and in the middle of 2 intense classes which met 4 times a week! I don't know how single parents do it.
"Mommy, up n down" typical Laura wanting mommy to hold her.


A recent BBQ at a friend's home(a black/asian couple). This is Noah who is maybe 6 months older and they could pass as siblings.

By the end of the month, Laura was better and a sweetheart (not sooo needy). We would go to the playground much more often and meet up with her buddy, Thomas. She's becoming much more social and interactive.


Laura is also becoming more proficient with the potty training and has much more control of her bladder. Mind you, she is still peeing in her diaper but I think if I take her to the bathroom every time I had to go, she would get it. It's hard when it's not reinforced at daycare.
I took Laura to the family pool at our gym. The first time was months ago (in the winter)and Laura did not have a good time. She just clung to me the entire time. We only stayed in it for maybe 15 minutes and the whole drying, changing, etc was such a pain that I felt it wasn't worth it. We did go to a friend's pool last month but she pretty much stayed in her float the entire time.
Since the weather has been so hot and humid, I decided that it would be refreshing. She loved it. I don't have any photos b/c I can't take any when I am actually in the pool with her.
We first went into the pool and I just held her for a while. Then I let her hold on the side and she actually took instruction from me like blowing bubbles in the water and tilting her head back all the way to wet her hair. Then she played on the stairs for the next 30 minutes. I think she found it fascinating that as she would get deeper, she was getting lighter. She hasn't mastered the effects of buoyancy and would forget to hold the side and partially go under! I took her again the following week and I tried to teach her how to jump into the pool from the side so that I would catch her but she is still very cautious and would only 'jump' while she was in the seated position.

Laura being silly with a piece of paper in her mouth

If looks could kill (after taking away the little piece of paper!)


So at the end of the month, when hubby was almost nearing the end of his classes, we took a much needed outing to JP Licks which is a local ice cream eatery. We left the house close to 9pm b/c it was a spur of the moment thing. It's funny b/c when I was single and care free, I remember going to late movies and coming out of the theatre at midnight and seeing these little kids coming out of the theatre as well. I would think, 'how could these parents be so irresponsible to allow their children to stay up so late and watch a movie?! How DARE they?!' By the time we got our ice cream and sat down to enjoy the sweet delicious treats it was close to 10pm and I was feeling those eyes of disapproval from strangers but NOW I understand why parents take kids out so late. It's a special treat AND keeping them up so late ensures some sleeping in the next morning. A true luxury.

Pouty after just waking up from a nap. Still dazed.

20 Months

Since Laura was about 13 months, I have been trying to potty train her. At the time, she was always very constipated so when she was about to have a bowel movement, she would hunch over, give a gutteral moan and I would whisk her up and plop her on her potty. I would make it maybe 30% of the time. Most of the time, I would be too late. Then she went through a phase where she was pretty regular and I wouldn't know that she had a poo until the smell wafted through to my nostrils.
So I nixed the idea for a while but now decided that I would try to start this month since she seemed to have more understanding.

I was chatting with different people about how to approach this. One woman told me that in the morning, I should put Laura on the potty and pour lukewarm water slowly down her pubic area so that it "simulates peeing". I did that a few times and Laura would just look at me and giggle. Then, during the course of some day, she would pick up the plastic cup and pretend to pour it down her crotch. I thought maybe child services would start ringing my doorbell, plus it wasn't working so I abandoned this method.
A nurse friend of mine told me to try putting Laura on the potty right after she woke up and put her hand in a bowl of lukewarm water. WOW! Did this work marvelously. I did this about 2 to 3 times and Laura "got it". During the course of the month, she even surprised me and would say "Mommy, doo doo". I would just peel all the clothes off her, let her run around naked and she would sit herself on her potty and take a nice big dump as well.

Mind you, if she was distracted by a tv show or activity, she would go and THEN let me know she went "doo doo". She still has not caught on that she needs to tell me when she pees. At this point, she'll say "mommy, pee pee" but it's AFTER she has taken a pee. Whenever I remember, I just take off her pants and she voids whatever she has left in her bladder.

June has not been so great. Still lots of rain with only a week or so of respite where it has been hot. We are still going through more rain. Because of this, Laura's "reactive airway disease" (I don't want to call it asthma b/c that sounds so permanent) has been acting up. We were giving her round the clock albuterol neb treatments as well as pulmicort. I pray that this is temporary.

On one of the nicer days, I took Laura for a walk around the block. I had her bring a small pail and while we were walking, I had her pick up little rocks, twigs, pick flowers, etc. On our walk, we found a caterpiller and she was thrilled. She kept poking it lightly and squealing b/c it would move. I freed it on some bushes while she wasn't looking and came home. That night, we were reading one of her books and we came upon a caterpiller picture and all of a sudden, I saw the lightbulb go off. It was pretty amazing. She would keep coming back to that page. Then she made it known that she wanted to go downstairs. We got to the hall and she went to the pale full or rocks and stuff and pointed to it "tabilla". I said, "oh, caterpillar went bye bye".

Sometimes, I look at Laura and I think that she is all her father. Other times, she will turn a certain way and I can see myself in her. When she eats, however, I know she has definitely acquired some of my genes. She loves seaweed with rice. I can hide things in it and she'll eat it. The true test was when I gave her a bowl of rice with water, seaweed and pan fried spam. She was in heaven. The only thing I forgot was the kimchi!

Look at this girl with her chopsticks!

June 17th
Pool party at my friends. It was a gorgeous day. The water was freezing cold but once you got in, it was very refreshing. I brought Laura's float and she loved it. It was getting late and colder but she still wanted to stay in and at one point, did not want to put her clothes back on when I tried to change her out of her bathing suit.Her little friend, Jack, showed up and she was happy about that. The only problem is that she is beginning to become much more possessive. Jack's father put him in the pool and at this point it was freezing outside as well. I gave them Laura's float and she had a total meltdown!



Laura is starting to form many more words and phrases. When I run the garbage disposal, she says "stop it". If she drops something on the floor she says "i drop it" or "i got it". Her new favorite word is "mine". I am trying to teach her to share and to not grab things. It is proving to be a challenge.
The other day, we went to the park and met up with her buddy, Thomas. Thomas' father had to leave and his mother was on her way so I babysat at the park. It started getting cloudy so I took them into the car where I fed them some snacks. I gave Thomas a small bag of Life cereal. When his mother came to pick him up, he proceeded to spill the whole bag all over the seat and the floor. Now, every time Laura gets into the car and sees all the crumbs on the floor she says "Ahmi, mess".

Memorial Day weekend 2006

Laura and I were fortunate enough to be invited to New Hampshire to spend the weekend with Thomas' family. They have a townhouse/condo next to Loon mountain in Lincoln, NH.
We left about 7:30pm on Friday night so that the kids could sleep on the ride up. Laura slept but woke up once we got there (2 1/2 hours later) and stayed up for another couple of hours since she was not familiar with her surroundings.
The next morning, after breakfast, we went to Storyland which is a small amusement park geared toward kids. A kid's paradise, a parent's torture chamber. Anyway, we were standing in line for the first ride, which was a SLOW car buggy. Laura followed Thomas underneath the banister separating the lines. Thomas came back but Laura started booking. I had to crawl underneath and run after her. She, of course, took a spill and landed right on her face. Her upper lip was bleeding and puffed up. Poor kid. I held her for a while, put ice on her lip and then took her on a SLOW train ride around the park. She seemed to like that. We ended up going on the car ride afterall but it was not very exciting.

The best part of the park was a small section designated for smaller kids. It had the story lines like Peter Rabbit, Mother goose, 3 pigs, etc. The kids loved it.

Thomas especially loved the balls. Laura enjoyed herself as well but proceeded to take a big dump here.

By the time we finished with the park, it was around 4 or 5pm. The kids did not nap and it was really evident.

We drove back and Laura did not sleep. I now realize that when Laura is overly fatigued, she becomes a bully. She was hitting and pulling Thomas' hair all night. We gave them dinner, got a bath and put them to bed.

The next day, after breakfast, we went to the bear show. I can't remember what this place was called but it was close by. There was a SLOW train ride that goes to a dead end and then comes back to the station. The "theme" is that the train gets attacked by the "Wolfman" who is an overweight white guy in the "Mad Max" or the others from 'Lost' type of theme and shoots a fake shotgun in the air. Laura was clutching me the whole time more b/c she was afraid of the loud train. It was funny though b/c there were older kids, maybe 4 to 5 who were crying their eyes out from fear.

We then watched the bear show. It's apparently a tradition for like 50 years where this family trains black bears to do tricks. It was cute but nothing exciting.

We had lunch and then went outlet mall shopping. Both kids, again, did not nap until the ride back. We let them sleep in the car for about an hour.
We had dinner and then I drove back to Boston with Laura at around 7:30pm.
Overall a great trip.

19 months

While I was away for the 24 hr period, Laura was very sick and having a lot of difficulty breathing. Hubby took her to her doctor on Monday and he thinks that she has asthma. Very disconcerting. She improves during the course of the week. Hubby stays home with her for most of the week.

1st week of May: Rain, rain, rain and then on Thursday: Gorgeous 74 degrees. We go to the playground after work. Hubby makes pizza for dinner.

May 7th: Sunday
Picnic at Arnold Aboretum. The day is sunny and gorgeous. A bunch of us bring food and have a great time. In the shade is cold but in the sun, it's warm and pleasant. The lilacs are in bloom and glorious. Laura doesn't nap at her usual time so she is a bit cranky then slept in her stroller for about an hour. We spend most of the day from 1pm to 5pm. By 5pm, it abruptly becomes chilly and we all sped home.


May 12th: Friday evening. I take Laura to the Atrium mall (against my hubby's request) b/c I am burned out from the week and need her to just run around so she will tire. It has rained nonstop for the whole week so she has not had a place to play except her home. Of course she gets sick!

May 14th: Mother's day.
Happy 2nd Mother's day. Laura is sick, her breathing worsening during the course of the day. The rain is just nonstop. Hubby is working all day. Laura begins to cough nonstop and appears short of breath even though she does not appear distressed. I start to freak out. At about 2pm, I call hubby to try to get home early. He says he'll try but is busy. By 3:30pm, Laura is getting worse so I pack her stuff and put her in the car. Drive to Boston Children's hospital and call hubby from the car.
What a fantastic ER. Triage is efficient and we're whisked to a room right away. The ER doctor sees her in a timely fashion. She gets some oral prednisone then 4 nebulizer treatments. She improves dramatically. Diagnosis: Reactive Airway Disease (aka Asthma). Hubby gets there about the same time. What a miserable day.
Here is a picture of Laura after I brought her home. She was so tired, she just wanted to sleep on the floor in the foyer.

Rain, rain, rain. Record rainfall and massive flooding in northern part of Mass,NH and Maine.

May 17th: I take Laura to her pediatrician. Dx: Asthma. He gives us a nebulizer machine and then wants to give a steroid every day for a YEAR. Preventative measure. Ugh. Hubby makes and appointment with a pediatric allergist for the end of the month for any alternatives.

Here's a picture of Laura coloring a card for her grandmother.


Tidbit stories:
It's amazing how fast she is growing and how quickly she is learning. Every night while I am putting her down, she points to all the various parts of my face and names everything. Nose, hair ('air'), eye, ear are easy for her. She has to think and be reminded about new words like eyebrow, chin, cheek.
She loves Ernie and Elmo. I bought her a sippy cup with Elmo, cookie monster and Big Bird on it. She says "Elmo!", "Cookie!" and "Chicken". She now calls Big Bird by the correct name. However, when she is outside and she sees all the birds chirping, she points to them and says "chicken". This is so cute that I don't even correct her.
I bought her a pair of sunglasses. She loves it b/c she thinks they are like the glasses I wear. I put them over the stereo and forgot about them until later on that day, I was standing over them. She was reaching up to the sky and kept saying "I, I, I" and crying. Huh? There was paper and junk on the counter and I kept picking up stuff, "Is this what you want?" but she was getting frustrated and said "I, I" until I looked on the stereo and saw her sunglasses. She was saying "eye, eye, eye".

16 to 18 months

It was around this time when Laura was becoming more cognizant that this event occurred. I was trying to potty train her and at this stage, she was going through a long stretch of constipation so it was always readily apparent that she had to go number 2. She would hunch over and start straining and make a gutteral noise at which point I would pick her up and sprint to her potty. I would make it to her potty maybe 30% of the time. She would then get up and point to her masterpiece and say "doo doo". I'd put it in the toilet and flush and she would say "bye bye".
Anyway, on one of these nights, her belly is distended after eating dinner and I assume she will have a poo. She only has a small one. Alas, not wasting any time, I threw her in the tub. After scrubbing her down, I let her play in her little tub while I went to her room to get her towel. I came back and she was holding something in her hand. She said "Mama, doo doo." AAUUUGGGHHHH! She was holding a large turd in her hand and the entire tub was filled with poo. Hard, soft, floaters, sinkers, CORN! Horrible. I took her out and had to scrub down the tub then rebathe her. Hubby was working that night and I told him the whole horrid story in which he asked, "did you get a photo?" Huh?! Okay, let me just run down and get the camera while she's holding a big turd in her hand. Uh, NO! (did you notice the appropriate picture of her eating corn above the bath picture?)

Feb 18th. My sister comes to visit with her boyfriend and she brought back my cat, Kato. She kept her for about a year and a half b/c I just couldn't deal. Kato was always a skittish and high strung cat. Hates men and has a pissing problem (when she gets pissed, she pisses). My sis couldn't take her anymore so she brought her back to me. Laura just became entralled. She was very hesitant at first but after a while, she became much more comfortable with Kato. She would wake up in the morning and look for her. "Dado?" she'd call. So, moving into our new home, Kato adjusted very well and seemed very happy, actually hanging out in the open instead of hiding out in the closet. Kato and I had a serious talk and I said, buddy, you get 1 chance. You can live here and be happy but one false piss and you are going bye bye.

I'm not much of a green thumb but I transplanted my old Christmas cactus with one that a friend gave me (both of which has not bloomed in years) and voila, this year, they bloomed. Gorgeous.

Laura continues the sickness trail of 2 wks sick, 2 wks healthy and we both follow. It's a miserable winter. Overall, mild with only a few not very hearty snow storms but still cold (to me).
Hubby goes through some dental work this month (February) and it's not pretty.

Most of Laura's activity revolve around going to the "Treehouse" at our gym so she can run around or to the Atrium mall where there is an indoor playroom which is infested with germs (every time she goes, she ends up with a new cold)

A rare nice day (Sunday) after a daytrip visiting hubby at work for lunch.


April 2, 2006. We are invited to go to the Big Apple Circus with Laura's little buddy, Thomas. (Or as Laura calls him, "AhMi")
I didn't know why she was so scared. First I thought it must be the loud music. She was clutching onto me for dear life. She was a little better in the middle of it and then when there was another clown act, she turned around and clutched me again. Hmmm. Weird.

April 5th. Typical snow in April.
Laura is sick AGAIN with fevers. Call in sick.

A new toy from Uncle Wonton. She loves Sesame street. The MP123 player with the likes of Elmo rapping to the Bingo song. Laura loves it.

April 13th. My mother has a green thumb.
Took a couple of days off and visited my folks in Philly. When I picked up Laura from daycare on Wednesday, I took her to the playground b/c it was a bit chilly but sunny out. Her eyes were swollen. They were swollen for most of the weekend. Hmmm.

Philly is warm: mid 70's. Trees are blooming, grass is green. It's gorgeous. I don't even need a jacket. Laura takes a while to warm up to my parents. She's having separation anxiety. (She hasn't seen them since Thanksgiving). Whenever my mother tries to pick her up, she has a fit. Plus the whole puffy eye thing (allergic rx to something?) doesn't help. My sister arrives on Friday and Laura warms up to her pretty readily.
We go to Minhado restaurant and then Assi grocery. Laura sees a mixed asian boy and calls him "Ahmi". By the end of the weekend, Laura is clutching onto my sister as if she was her MOMMY!
April 17th: Patriot's day.
I work for the federal government so they don't recognize this holiday since it is only a New England thing. Last year, I forgot and showed up to daycare and found that it was closed. I had no choice but to bring the child to work since hubby was already working. I distinctly remember driving to daycare thinking, WOW, the traffic is sooo light today. I wonder what THAT's about.
This year, a patient of mine REMINDED me that there was no daycare so that I would not make the same mistake again. Luckily, my hubby was not working.
April 22nd. I take my first trip away from Laura to NYC to visit my sister. She needs help purging all of her goods for spring cleaning. This is an EVENT that is so fantastic that I must take the voyage. I get first dibs on all her stuff and boy did I score. I only leave Laura for about a 24 hr period. I call regularly and find that she is AGAIN, very sick but hubby is taking good care of her.
I feel free. It is good and bad. Guilty but delicious. It's a crappy weekend, cold and rainy but I don't care. We go to 'Iron Chef' for sushi then walk around and get drenched to get baklava and then to an local Indian restaurant for dinner. The freedom is remarkable. I mean, I love my child but it was the first time in 18 months that I felt free. It was a good weekend. I leave 7am Sunday morning.