Back again

Back again after a long hiatus.

What an event past few months. We went to Tucson for Christmas and spent some wonderful time with Mom, Dad, Matt, Maggie and the kids. Then we came home. On the return flight, Jason was nearly inconsolable during the descent. When, several days later, he was still tearful and having a hard time sleeping, we took him into the doctor. Sure enough, the poor baby had a double ear infection going. His brother, though suffering from a nasty upper respiratory bug, did not have ear infections, thank heavens.

On the other hand, Jason, dosed with antibiotics, recovered fairly rapidly. Xander went the other way. He developed a cough that got so bad that it was, quite literally, keeping everyone awake. So in to the doctor with him -- he is now back on Axid as treatment for reflux and it seems to be working. Though he still has an occasional cough, he is not coughing all the night through and is sleeping somewhat better.

Then there is me: Several days ago, I got a splinter under the nail of my left thumb. Tried to remove it using nail clippers (DUMB!) and ended up clipping it off instead. Tried soaking it out but after two days it became pretty clear that there was an infection going. Urged on by my husband and mother, I made an appointment to get it removed. Yuck. It was worse than I thought. First, I had to have a tetanus shot since I couldn't remember when my last one had been. Then it took four shots of Lidocaine around the base of my thumb to numb it sufficiently for the doc to remove the splinter. Now I am on Vicodin and Augmentin for the next ten days. Joy. Actually, the current worst of it is that the bandage I have on the thumb is bulky and awkward. And the pain, such as it is, seems to be a result of the injections near the base of the thumb -- unless I bang the thumb itself, it doesn't hurt. What a fuss over a silly little splinter!

But there is good news in the world. Tom got a patent award for some very clever thinking. I told him that he should use the money to buy himself that camera he has been wanting. He is quite pleased with himself, as you might imagine!

And it is snowing -- again. Despite the weather mens' predictions that the next few days would be 'clear, cold, with no precipitation' it is snowing. Rather satisfying in some ways as Jason was worrying that the snow would go away. We pointed out that is was below freezing, and likely to remain so but the new falling snow seems to be a better way of reassuring him -- a clear, visible indication of the state of the world. It is not a heavy snow, mind you, just gentle dusting but it has been going on for about 1/2 an hour and shows no sign of stopping...

As to our life time learning: Jason's gingerbread pirate, Bare Belly the Belly Button, and his first mate, Bare Bottom, ran off on an adventure. We received several postcards from him while he was in Arizona then, surprise, surprise! He was shang-hied. His ship was taken and he was stranded on a grey foggy dock somewhere unknown! All we know is that it was a blond woman who commandeered his ship. Meanwhile Jason is learning all about pirates: he has been practicing his pirate vocabulary both by writing the words (and learning their meanings) and by doing word searches to find them. He does love word puzzles and I found a website that allows me to generate said puzzles using the words I designate! He has been using his math skills in treasure hunts, in counting the coins from his piggy bank, and in tallying the points on his behavior chart. We have been reading pirate books, listening to pirate songs and stories, and playing pirate games. Jason also read his first 'by himself' book the other day, not a surprise, given his large number of sight words. The pirate theme is fun, I admit. I am planning to borrow the video 'Pirates of Penzance' for him to watch as we have the music from it and I suspect that he will enjoy that as well. Meanwhile, I get a chance to do some learning of my own.

Xander, of course, is absorbing all of this as well. I am constantly amazed at what he knows/has learned. He has potty trained himself, having had only one accident (during a nap) while we were in Arizona. The only down side is that he has wakened several times at night because he needs to go potty -- and once he is awake, he is generally disinclined to return to sleep, preferring instead to talk... He adores his older brother and wants to do, quite literally, whatever it is his older brother is doing -- right then and there. He is always delighted when Jaosn invites him to play or to go potty and trots off after his brother, singing delightedly 'I'm going with my bahbah!' Indeed, while we were in Arizona, Xander's one struggle was accepting that his brother might want to play with his cousin Zach. 'THATS MY BAHBAH!' He would yell. He has since decided that, while Zach is his cousin, Hope is his sister... and he adores 'Baby Judah.'

All for now. My shoulders are hurting. Will add more later.