When will it end?

So, here we are again, on the verge of another illness. The strep came on the heels of the evil, long-lasting fever, not to mention Jacob's surgery, and now on the heels of the strep comes another one. I think this is just some sort of cold virus, but it's got the potential to be pretty nasty. A couple days ago I noticed that Jacob was coughing. I'm sort of used to it, because he's had so much trouble with coughs in the past (like nine months of the first year of his life), but he hasn't battled it as much this winter as in the past so it surprised me a bit when I noticed it the other night. I was really hoping it was just a fluke--one bad night of congestion, one tickle in his throat--but then it continued. He coughed in bunches, and then it started being more spread out over the course of the day. Then this morning the cough was joined by a runny nose. So far it's been clear, but I'm guessing that won't last. When we went into daycare this morning, I mentioned the symptoms, and they said to watch him closely, as other kids with coughs ended up with 103-105 degree temperatures. Lovely.

This afternoon when I picked Jacob up, they said that they checked his temperature at 5pm, and it came back at 100. He didn't seem too phased by it, though. But as we were leaving he started to get a little whiny. I suggested pancakes for dinner, which seemed to perk him up, and we headed out. He ate great, though...good enough to get himself a treat, which he ended up eating very little of. We had a decent evening (Craig's got a game), and I got him down a few minutes early. When I checked his temperature, I couldn't get it up to even 99, so I'm not sure if their check was a fluke or if his body was fighting it off. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Every now and then I hear a cough coming over the monitor, and it makes me sad. I've listened to coughs like that so many times before, and it's so helpless. No amount of water helps, and toddlers can't take cough medicine. I gave him some Motrin to help him through the night--he was complaining of a sore throat, and I can imagine he's just generally uncomfortable, regardless of any specific symptoms--and that's about all I can do. We all need a good night of sleep, for so many reasons. Not the least of which is my ability to deal with a whiny child, which is inevitably Jacob's most obvious symptom when he's sick.

Every time Jacob gets sick, I'm full of mixed emotions. I mean, I hate to see him sick. It's so hard to watch your child go through illness after illness, and you worry about how it will impact them--both in the long run and short run. You don't want it to hold them back or ruin fun opportunities. I often feel like Jacob hasn't gained weight like some kids just because every illness interrupts any appetite growth. For a kid that hasn't fully figured out how much he likes food yet, I guess there isn't much reason to eat if you're not hungry. On the other hand, I often find myself amazed by how well Jacob usually does when he's sick. He keeps his energy up, and other than general whinyness, he doesn't seem to have many symptom-specific complaints. At first glance, I'm happy because I'm hoping it just isn't bothering him as much as we'd expect. But then I think about it and worry that it doesn't bother him because he's so used to it. After being sick for so long, maybe he just thinks this is how it goes...and that's such a sad thought. He's too young to have to think that way. He's a trooper, but he shouldn't have to be. There's all this talk about how kids in daycare build up all these immunities, but despite having what seems like every illness under the sun, I'm still not seeing it. Maybe we will be the time he's in school. But right now it's hard to deal with the constant onslaught.

I know it could be so much worse. I'm well aware, probably even moreso after the whole mole removal issue. It could have been cancer. Next time it might not end so simply. God forbid, but it's possible. So in comparison, a nasty cold is nothing. But it's not nothing to Jacob. He's the one constantly having to go through all of this, and it's sad. I pray the onslaught stops and spring gets here quickly. It's not a cure-all, but it helps. In the meantime, we're heading into a weekend of unknowns. Let's hope we come out unscathed.

Photo Friday

I had a couple photos and a funny video get lost in the shuffle, so I figured I'd post them today. Here's the best of a series of pictures I tried to take of Jacob sitting with Craig in the broadcast booth at a recent Knighthawks game. Jacob was doing a really bad, squinty cheese face for the rest, so looking at his daddy with joy seemed to be the better option.


The next day, we went out to lunch at the new Zebb's down the road from us. We somehow kept Jacob entertained using primarily the ketchup and mustard. Craig had created "Ketchup Man" a while back (can't remember if it was at home or another restaurant), a walking, talking ketchup bottle that Jacob found very funny. We added mustard into the mix this time, and Jacob was enjoying having them play soccer with a balled-up straw paper.
And here's a little of the action, in action :)

Welcome to our world.

Not much else to report this week. Craig's got a busy weekend of work, so Jacob and I are mostly on our own. Maybe a game, another visit to BJ's to renew my office's account, and hopefully some sort of interesting other activity that I can think up. I really want to do something "fun" instead of just sitting around the house or running decidedly un-fun errands. Jacob deserves better than that, even if it only lasts for a little while. As much as the zoo trip screwed up our schedule a couple weeks ago, it wasn't really that hard to do and I think Jacob really enjoyed himself. He should have the opportunity to do more of that. After all, it's not his fault that it's snowy and freezing out and playing outside isn't exactly at the top of my list. But maybe we should do just that. We have a sled, and even though I still don't have boots or snow pants, I can certainly rig something up for as long as it takes to tire him out or get too cold. Hmmm...perhaps I'll have to psyche myself up for that. Anyway, have a nice weekend and stay warm!

What Could Have Been

Recently I was wandering around Facebook and happened upon some pictures of the daughter of an old friend of mine. We were friends in grade school and drifted apart in high school, as she took one route and I took another. This is actually also the friend initially responsible for my obsession with hockey, which, of course, eventually changed the entire trajectory of my life. We were very good friends for a very long time, and then things changed somewhere in 9th grade. She started hanging out with one group, and I veered toward another. My group was decidedly more academic, whereas her group...well...suffice it to say that she was voted "Most Likely to be Found in the Parking Lot" in our senior superlatives (and yes, that was really a category). As I recall she actually ended up graduating early, and I do remember seeing her at our graduation in June...completely unaware that she was already pregnant.

Back in the day I never would have pegged her for the teenage pregnancy/unwed mom type. We both had had great upbringings with Christian parents, attending a Christian school and going to church, doing well in school, and generally staying out of trouble. We both shared the awkward position of having family heavily involved at our school. Ultimately it was a good thing because it provided motivation to keep us in line, but for years people accused us of receiving special treatment. Not true, but whatever! But more than anything, I figured she'd be fine because she was a hardcore tomboy for years. I got into hockey because of her, and looking back she seemed to be one of those girls who was too busy with sports to get into trouble. She rode horses and played hockey, among other things. But at some point those activities must have trailed off in favor of something else. Maybe she just felt the need to branch out. I was saddened by how we grew apart, and by the time we graduated I didn't even know her.

Five or so months later, I heard she had a baby. She had a little girl, gave her an unconventional name, and beyond that I only heard snippets. I saw pictures from time to time, and I was constantly amazed at how much her daughter looked like her when she was that age. At some point she and her parents moved elsewhere in the state. My parents actually visited her parents not that long ago, and spent the day with them and my friend's daughter. To this day, I have no idea what my friend does for a living, what her relationship is with her daughter's father, or how her life has been in the past 14+ years. And I suppose it's none of my business. All I know is that she has a 14 year old daughter that looks amazingly like her.


So why I am I posting all of this? Well, I guess it just blows my mind, in more ways than one. For one, I can't believe how time flies. I remember when she'd just had the baby, and now her baby is 14. Where did that time go? Secondly, I can't even imagine what it would be like to have a teenager right now, nor to have gone through the most of my adult life with a child.

Believe it or not, this isn't the first time I've had to come to terms with a situation like this. Another one of my good friends from grade school had a baby during our junior year of high school. We had lost touch long before as she went to public school prior to 8th grade, but the news shocked me. I still vividly remember standing in the narthex at church watching her baby's private baptism from afar, completely blown away that someone my age who I had once known had actually had a baby. A year or so ago she friended me on Facebook, a pleasant surprise. I was shocked to see pictures of her two daughters, the oldest of whom is now 15 and quite beautiful. My friend looks similar to how I remember her, but I feel like she now looks a lot older than me. Maybe it's just because I remember her at age 12, or maybe it's just the photos, but maybe it's just been a hard life raising two girls alone. Not for me to say.

But long story short, it is immensely hard for me to process what it would be like to have a child in high school right now. I can barely handle the terrible twos, let alone the prospect of sex, drugs, and schoolwork. They were handling the terrible twos before they were even in their 20s, when I was just tackling college and trying to get my life up and running. Now all these years have passed, and I'm finally the one in baby mode, while they're sending kids off to high school. Their kids are now as old or older than the age at which I was last friends with them. And that's just odd. I can't even begin to imagine what they've been through. I know that it's hard enough doing the parenthood thing with a husband, two incomes, and in our own house, so I can't even fathom what it was like to do it as a teenager, with no college degree (and presumably a corresponding job), and no officially committed partner. I'm sure their parents were a huge help during those years, though I wonder how their parents felt watching their kids go through something like that at such a young age. Did they have the same excitement as your average grandparents, or was it ever so slightly tinged with sorrow or regret?

Please understand that I'm not trying to judge them or belittle their situation in life. Granted, that isn't the way most people want to structure their lives, but maybe it worked for them and they wouldn't change a thing. I know there are things in my past that I'd probably like to have done differently, but I know that each of those steps (no matter how regrettable) got me to where I am today. And with a wonderful husband, amazing little boy, and a great job, I can't say I'd really want to change much for fear it would change my current circumstances beyond recognition.

And I would have to think they are much the same. While they might regret the situations they put themselves in--the stress it caused, the opportunities it might have blocked--I can't imagine that they would trade their kids for anything...and if they didn't do things in the way they did, they probably wouldn't have the kids they have now. Even if they do regret the decisions they made, there's no sense looking backward. This is their reality, and I'm sure there is plenty of good to be found. And if not, then the focus should be on making better decisions moving forward. But I have a feeling they're long past any regrets and are at peace with their lives. And just think, they'll have an empty nest while in their 40s, when the rest of us are just getting to the stage they're at now. They'll reclaim the freedom they lost long before those of us who did things a bit more traditionally. It'll be a different sort of freedom, but I imagine it'll have its own perks as well.

Still, in looking at that picture on Facebook, it boggled my mind a bit to contrast my baby with that grown up girl. It's easy to forget that Jacob will someday be that age, and it will happen quicker than we realize. Some of us go about things vastly different than others, and there are pros and cons to each side. But as parents, we all have one thing in common: We all do our best to do what's best for our children. Regardless of when those decisions are made, or how we make them, it's a common goal. So, while looking at that picture is a startling reminder of how different our paths have been, deep down, we're not that different after all.

The Leg

We're now over two weeks past Jacob's mole removal surgery, and here's a couple views of the scar. It's probably close to 3/4 of an inch long. It's hard to see in these pictures, but the ends currently stick up and the center dips down. Apparently this is normal. It's a pretty significant scar, but the surgeon says that it could take a year to fully heal. Regardless, it's much less scary to see a scar than a menacing looking mole...The healing process has been going fine. The bandages fell off like they said they would, and we've been treating it with polysporin. Moving forward we just have to keep it moist with lotion and massage it. Supposedly the scar is going to look worse before it looks better, and we will be going back to the surgeon one more time in a couple months to double check it.

As far as the pathology goes...Jacob is fine. They definitely got all of the offending tissue, and it wasn't cancerous. However, the makeup of it was slightly irregular so we definitely need to keep a close eye on Jacob's body as time goes on. We need to go for a follow-up visit with the dermatologist we originally saw. I imagine we'll be going there for a baseline exam, and if we start noticing additional changes to his skin, we'd have to go back. I'm hoping it's not going to be too frequent, as I'm not too excited about the prospect of more $40 co-pays. We'll do it, obviously, but between this and his twice-per-year visits to the pediatric pulmonary doctor, it gets to be pricey. I really should go to a dermatologist myself, just because of a family history of skin cancer and plenty of moles to get double checked, but I've been holding off myself. If only they could combine our visits! I've only noticed one other blemish on Jacob's body--a small, light colored mole on his scalp--so I feel like this is an easy enough thing to keep an eye on long-term.

It's scary that he has to deal with stuff like this already, but hopefully this was just an isolated thing and he'll never have to worry about it again. We're pretty diligent with the sunscreen, so I'm hoping that we'll be doing all we can to avoid more problems. However, for now, I'm just glad it's over.

Parent-Teacher Conference

So Friday was my first parent-teacher conference. I wasn't sure what to expect, and I guess I'm glad I didn't have any expectations, because it wasn't too interesting. I basically looked over a checklist, had the opportunity to ask questions, and we chatted a bit about our difficulties with Jacob. The biggest issue they have with him is that he doesn't play with toys appropriately. Everything somehow turns into sports. I guess he's finally starting to get a little better with that, playing with the kitchen stuff a little more appropriately. But I know that most of what he talks about at home is sports-related, and I'm sure it's much the same there, even when they do other activities that have absolutely nothing to do with sports. They want us to encourage him to play with toys appropriately, but unfortunately most of what he's got at home is, indeed, sports-related. We don't have a lot of non-sports toys because he doesn't want to play with them. So...now what?

But the more I think about it, what's so wrong with making toys work for his interests? It displays creativity, right? At least he's imaginative. Yeah, I get that he needs to be able to play nice with his friends and follow rules. He can't be trying to shoot Legos when everyone else is building towers, but I have this feeling that eventually he'd get that others wouldn't want to play with him and he'd conform a bit more. This can't last forever, right? There always has to be one oddball, and I guess he's ours.

They don't seem to have any other issues with him that we should be concerned with. I think anything he's going through is age-appropriate. They'd like him to be more verbal when he's upset, and I couldn't agree more. Nothing bugs me more than when he's upset and instead of talking about it, he just whines or screams. He needs to learn how to talk about it and express his feelings. I encourage him to do that but it doesn't seem to work. He does lose it a bit when he's upset, hence my tendency to try to pull him aside and try some form of timeout, because that's the only way to get him calm enough to start using his words again.

But as a whole it was pretty low key. He was happy to see me there to pick him up early if nothing else. We were planning on having a nice dinner with Craig, but it turned out that Craig had to work for a good chunk of the evening, so we could only meet him for a quick dinner at Moe's in Henrietta before heading back home for the night. Saturday was a doubleheader for Craig. I hated to miss a Knighthawks game, but since that was the afternoon game and the evening Amerks game featured one of my favorite acts ever, the Zooperstars, we were going to skip the matinee. I needed to run a couple errands in the morning and of course Jacob fell asleep in the middle of them, which threw off the rest of the day. I did manage to get a pair of wellies (rubber rain boots) for just $7--cute black and gray plaid--which will be outstanding in the spring mud and on our visits to the pumpkin patch or any other messy outing. I'm planning on getting a pair for Jacob this spring because I have a feeling the playground might get messy. We'll see if I can find them cheap. Anyway, we came home and had some lunch. I knew he wouldn't nap right away, so I tried to get him down later when I could no longer keep my eyes open. Did I mention that despite late nights all weekend, Jacob didn't sleep in at all? Ugh. After trying to get him to nap with me, I relegated him to his crib. He only cried a few minutes and went down for over an hour. He probably would have slept longer, but it was getting late and we needed to eat dinner before heading out to the hockey game. Lori came over to go to the game with us, and we reluctantly headed out into the snow. It ended up being worth it, as the Zooperstars were funny and we had a good time. And in case you're not familiar with the Zooperstars, here are a few pictures. They're basically giant inflatable mascots. They're all animals based on a professional athlete. That night we saw Mario LeMule, Whale Gretzky, Bobby Orrangutan, Alex Frogriguez, Mackerel Jordan, and Peyton Manatee (no, not sure why they sent those last three, especially because I know there are more hockey guys out there). But anyway, the costumes are somehow rigged up to do funny things--wiggle ears, shoot silly string, gyrate bizarrely--and they generally dance to music, slam themselves against the glass, and do random skits. Every time I've seen them, one character literally eats a human--enveloping him into the inflatable costume. It's funny. Here they were dancing to the Tootsie Roll, if you remember that song.


Later they ventured out into the stands. Here's Mario LeMule...

And here is Peyton Mantee invading someone's personal space...crazy!

At first Jacob was afraid of them (maybe their heads banging off the glass wildly had something to do with it), but by the end he started to see the humor. He's been pretending to walk around like one ever since. Kid doesn't miss a thing.

Sunday we slept in and went to church late. It was a bit of a trying experience, but we got through it without any major scenes. Of course, Jacob fell asleep on the way home and slept right through lunch. After Jacob's late lunch and an afternoon of playing and hanging out, we headed off to our friends' Superbowl party. We're always the youngest couple there, and only one other couple brings a kid (he's older, maybe 10, but he does play with Jacob a bit, which is nice), but we still have a good time every year. Oh, and we eat ridiculously well because they cater it. And this year they sent a bunch home with us...dinner for two nights! We ended up taking Jacob's hockey rink just because it's the one thing that will hold his attention for long spans, and it did keep him occupied for quite a while. It fit perfectly in my reusable IKEA bag so it was an easy thing to bring. He got a little loopy near the end when he was getting tired, but other than that, he was pretty good. He searched for their cat, played with his game, snuck treats, and devoured a cupcake. It was really a fun evening.

So now we're back to the grind for another week. Check in tomorrow for the update on Jacob's mole removal...

Big Boy

I've been feeling a bit conflicted these days about Jacob's "big boy" status. I mean, he's really getting to be a big boy, at least compared to the little baby that we had for so long. He's a bona fide kid these days if you look at him, but then he has one of those moments when he doesn't act like a big boy and he might as well be the screaming six-month-old all over again. Some days he eats like when he was a baby (read: not well), sleeps like he's a baby (not "like a baby", unfortunately), and just generally acts like less than the big boy he could be. He's impatient about everything, afraid of this or cranky about that, and I feel like things haven't progressed at all. He's two going on three, so I know that moments like that are par for the course. He's not going to be logical or mostly cooperative for a while, and most likely by then we'll have another baby to challenge us at every turn.

This is sort of an odd age we're at (I'm sure I'll say that a lot for years to come), because everyone is on the cusp of major growing up milestones. Big boy underwear and big boy beds, among other things, really seem to separate the big boys from the babies. Every time I come into daycare and hear another parent talking about their kid's big milestones, I start panicking a bit. I know no normal child will go to kindergarten in diapers, and I'm sure we'll get through the big boy bed situation at some point, but I'm having trouble finding a happy medium where we're challenging him but also not putting him in a position to fail...or to make our lives miserable.

There are times it's easier to keep him a baby, and other times when I long for big boy behavior. For example, I try to encourage him to walk next me a lot of the time, though admittedly it is easier some days (particularly when it's cold, wet, and snowy) to just pick him up and go. I almost always carry him back to the car from daycare because I don't want slushy boots on my seats, and I carry him for the cold walk from the car to the arena (and back) when we go to Amerks or Knighthawks games, just because it's too darn cold to walk slow. But I encourage him to walk a lot of the rest of the time. Of course, lately he's been pulling a "Carry Me!" at the most inopportune time, and won't budge unless I do. Ugh. Are the mixed messages a problem? Maybe. I also encourage him to get himself in and out of his car seat, but in the midst of the ice and snow, I'd like to prevent wet, dirty shoes from destroying my car seats. It's also a big drop to get out. Some days he'd sit there forever without getting his arms out out of straps, so I end up doing it for him again, knowing that I'm not forcing him to be independent. When we're in a hurry, I only have so much patience.

Now let's take the big boy bed as another example. So many people tell you, "Keep your kid in the crib as long as you can." If they're not climbing out, keep them there. They'll sleep better and they're contained. It's safer and gives us a lot more peace of mind, if nothing else. Jacob is still happy there, but sometimes I ponder the idea, just because he is becoming a big boy and so many other kids his age have moved on. It would be nice for him to have free access to his bed--to take random naps (which might never ever happen--he's never randomly fallen asleep while playing (at least not for me) and weekend naptimes are always a tad challenging), to grab his stuffed animals, or curl up to read. I'd love to read bedtime stories in bed with him, though I'm not sure his converted crib is built to handle my weight, so that might have to wait for the real big boy bed. But I'm dreading giving him access to the world outside his crib, because I have a feeling he will never stay there no matter how we explain that he needs to. We may need to gate his doorway or put a child-safety device on his doorknob to prevent unwanted escapes, and we'll have to prepare ourselves for at least a couple incidents of a destroyed bedroom if he's locked in there and being forced to sleep when he doesn't want to. I'm not sure I'm ready for that, or for random wakeups or middle-of-the-night escapes. Do we gate the stairs just in case? Revamp his room so he's got no reason to bother getting out of bed? I'm just not sure. I know we'll have to get there, and I do want to encourage him to be a big boy with a big boy bed, but I'm not sure if any of us are ready for it yet. I do like the thought of not having to get up with him on weekends. If he's up early we do tend to let him play downstairs while we stay in bed, keeping an ear open but generally able to trust he's playing nicely.

And oh, potty training. I have no idea what to do about this issue. Jacob was doing really good at one point about using the potty, and I thought we might have a good head start. But then he regressed a bit. He was still fine with sitting on the potty, and even going, but it was harder to get him there. After a month or so of real regression, I worked up the potty chart. He's more or less back to even--being fine with sitting on the potty and even being a little more proactive about it. But despite a few bright spots, he's still not telling us when he has to poop, and really won't tell us when he has to pee. If we happen to catch him, great...but he's not offering up too frequently. This weekend I tried a little experiment. He was begging to wear his big boy underwear, but obviously he's not ready. Even still, I told him that he could wear them with a pull-up over them. I figured I'd give him a shot, and if he wet himself, maybe he'd get that wet sensation and decide he wants to stay dry. I know that the pull-up still gives him that diaper feeling, though, but it was an easy way to test things without doing major cleanup. Both days he did wet himself despite me repeatedly asking if he had to go. They weren't soaked--just spotty--but wet nonetheless. However, one other thing happened--twice--that is starting to make me wonder. Twice this weekend while we were picking out post-potty stickers, he had some significant dribbles right on the floor. More than just drips, but not a full-out pee. But considering it was right after a solid potty-going, I'm not sure what's going on. I'm starting to wonder if we might be dealing with an immature bladder that's just not capable yet. It would explain the dribbling as well as the slightly wet--but not soaked--underwear. Sometimes it seems like he can hold enough in to do a big pee, but other times he struggles to get a decent amount out. Sometimes I think he just asks to pee so he can get a sticker, even if he just did a big one in his diaper. And then, of course, he gets frustrated when he can't go and can't get a sticker. Sometimes I think we should jump headfirst into potty training--naked time (but with carpet? Ugh...maybe we'll just wait for summer), every-15-minute sessions, etc., but I'm not sure any of us are ready to commit to that either. His third birthday is still my target, but now that some of his friends are into it, it's hard to ignore. We've got 11 pairs of big boy underwear ready to go at any moment (I bought more this weekend...five isn't enough once the accidents start), so it would be nice to get them some use. But if he's not ready, we'll just have to deal with that.

Thinking about all of this, sometimes I'm not sure who needs to grow up more--me or him. A lot of these steps are big, and not without pitfalls and difficulties. It's easy to get comfortable and give yourself what appears to be a well-deserved (and much needed) break from toddler dramas. It's nice getting sleep most of the time and not having to learn so much so quickly just to keep your child alive and well. When you can catch a break from that stuff, it seems crazy to willingly plunge yourself back into it. But I suppose sometimes that's exactly what needs to happen. It's not really any fun watching your child fall behind their peers, no matter what the activity may be or what your child's actual ability level is. So even if Jacob really isn't physically ready to potty train, it's hard to know his friends are. It's hard to be patient and lay off the pressure, yet continue to realistically support and encourage his efforts. And it's extra hard to eventually explain to your child why they can't do the things their friends do just yet. I didn't think I'd have to have the "Life's not fair" conversation (not the "Life isn't fair!" argument, which is something totally different!) this early on, but it may happen. In the meantime I'm not sure whether to continue the underwear tests when we have the time, or hold off for a while so as not to dull the excitement or potentially bum him out each time he's wet while wearing them. I'll have to work on hiding my disappointment when it happens, if nothing else. Now that I have a couple pieces of evidence that it's not just a mental thing, I think that will start to get easier.

Still, I'm constantly amazed by my big boy and so proud of what he has become. We have a long road ahead of us, and with him around, it'll definitely be an interesting ride!

Strep & Stuff

As I mentioned the other day, Jacob has finally come down with strep throat. Craig and I estimated that he'd had four strep tests this winter, thanks to many ill-timed colds that appeared at the same time as a strep outbreak at daycare. Poor kid. Even though he seems to be feeling fine for the most part, he had to stay home yesterday to give the antibiotics time to work. (Un)Fortunately, Craig wasn't feeling too hot himself, so he stayed home, too. He had a sore throat on Sunday night and by yesterday he was feeling pretty crappy. He got an early appointment at the doctor and called me around 11am yesterday to say that he, too, had strep. The boys spent their day waiting for Craig's prescription at Wegmans, watching movies, and eating cheesy popcorn, which was something Craig had been promising to Jacob for a while (yeah, I don't know...must be a guy thing). Meanwhile, I've been wondering when my turn is coming, as I think of every time I kissed either of them, ate something Jacob left on his plate, or shared a bathroom hand towel in the past week. So far so good, though I've been battling headaches here and there. I'm also really tired today (what else is new?), but I'm thinking that probably has more to do with this morning's early wake-up and subsequent shoveling workout than anything else. I'd really like to make it through Sunday healthy, if possible, or if I have to get sick, start feeling it ASAP and get meds now, so I can still go to our friends' annual Superbowl party. We missed it a couple years ago because I was sick, and I'd hate to miss it again. It's a lot of fun and we don't get to go out and do those sorts of things (i.e., hanging out with other adults) often, even if it is with Jacob in tow.


Thinking back to that missed Superbowl party made me look back in the blog a bit, and I smiled when I read the first sentence of my post from three (!) years ago today..."Today I made it my mission to find some maternity pants." I'm not sure what exactly about that statement made me smile...whether it was the image of a simpler time or just remembering all too well the drama that maternity shopping entailed for me. I remember that trip well, standing in the fitting room at Old Navy trying to figure out what pair of pants would work with a belly I didn't have yet. Turns out that the jeans I got I loved, and even more amazing, I still dream of the pair of khakis I got. At the time I wasn't sure about them, but they were cheap and looked ok. Turns out that they fit pregnant me so perfectly that they became my favorite pants and I still wish I could find pants that made me feel that good. After all the effort I put into that wardrobe, I really do look forward to pulling that bin out someday for round two.


It was a little disappointing today that we didn't get a snow day. They had predicted over a foot of snow, but we only ended up getting a few inches. Those inches made for plenty of shoveling this morning thanks to freezing rain, a huge plow pile at the end of the driveway, and densely blown drifts. We were up and shoveled out, and I was dressed before Jacob even woke up. He did pretty well on his first day back to school, though I did get the warning from his teachers to take him back to the doctor after he's done with the antibiotics, just because many of the strep cases haven't been responding. Awesome.

This Friday is my first parent-teacher conference. I didn't do one last year because Jacob was too new and I didn't think any appraisal would be fair--particularly since he was having a few bad weeks this time last year. New daycare, teething, one illness after another...and with bad sleeping along with it, I just didn't think there could be anything good to discuss after a month with new caregivers. This year, however, I'm interested to hear what they have to say. I have a little apprehension that I still won't like it, but at least this time there's been enough time for them to make a fair statement. I'm figuring it won't be anything I don't know--he's smart, he doesn't listen--but maybe it'll just be a nice open forum for anything random that comes up...brainstorming for potty training, thoughts on what we could help him with at home, stuff he loves, etc. Unlike his old daycare, we don't get a lot of chatty time. They had a book I could leave notes in every day, and I just clicked with them a lot better and wanted to stay and chat. This daycare is just different and you're lucky to catch a spare moment to chat. It's not that they're not willing, it's just that there's a lot of kids and a lot going on. Interestingly, even though I don't have any specific beefs with the current one, I think I have a good knowledge base from this experience to ask the right questions if we ever switch again. So anyway, it should be interesting to hear their thoughts.

Jacob's bandage on his leg has been trimmed down quite a bit as the edges peel off, but there's still a patch covering all of the core of the wound. I'm very curious to see what's under there. I assume that if it doesn't fall off, they'll take the rest off when we go to his follow-up next Tuesday. I also assume that will be when we'll get confirmation about the lab results of the tissue. I'm guessing that if we haven't heard anything it's probably fine, but maybe it takes longer than we think to sort through it all.

Not much else to report. The potty chart has been only modestly successful. He likes the stickers but it still hasn't convinced him to pee in it regularly or to learn how to know the difference between having to pee and not having to pee. He's been testing us all around lately, ignoring us or giving smart responses, and making meals and potty time generally difficult. It hasn't been horrible (though I do feel like I spend a lot of time yelling at him), but it's made things difficult. Almost like a passive agressive thing or something. Someday he'll understand that listening to us makes things easier. Someday. Maybe.

We hope the snow hasn't overtaken your world...stay warm and drive safely!