Your Head is a Rock

        I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving Day dinner! We had fun at all three of ours. However I did what I always pick on my bestie for. I left something behind. In this instance Ducky's nice warm winter coat. It was cold when we left at 7am but by the time we got off the mountain and down to my Grandma's it was warmer, and when we left at noonish she would have roasted if we had her wear the coat. I thought we had grabbed it but it some how got put in the spare room and of course I didn't realize this until we were walking through our front door (45 minutes later). We have her backup coat but it isn't as warm as the one we forgot. Now I feel guilty because it is freezing cold and snowing all of a sudden. We're getting the coat back at some point this week through a convoluted method so I'll just have to make sure she doesn't spend too much time outside until we do.

        While I feel horrible about it that's not the terrifying topic this week. Hard heads are. I know everyone jokes about people having hard heads, myself included. This may be in reference to being stubborn or willful. It can also literally mean you have a hard head. In Ducky's case it is both. In terms of stubbornness our little girl is getting very very willful and determined. Yesterday she demanded my husband stay sitting where she put him or she lectured him, little finger waving and all. This was of course hilarious to me and we laughed about it and gave in. We will on little matters to make it clear we will listen to her sometimes but when it comes to her safety (like stealing mommy's scissors) there is no discussion. If we're at home and she decides she wants to wear her pajamas instead of real clothes, I don't see a problem with it. I like seeing her coming into her own personality and making small decisions that show it.

        Now on the literal front, my daughter has a hard head. I've already talked about her falling on the sidewalk, her ninja rolls through the neighbors yard that she just laughed off. This week we have added to the accidents that should have caused injuries list. We have a set bed time routine, part of which is letting her run down the hallway to bed. Well on Wednesday night she added to the routine by running headfirst into the molding around the one door. She then stands up grabs her forehead, glares at the door jam like it's the doors fault before taking off again. No tears, no marks, no damage what so ever. Again tonight she accidentally ran into the door, I'm guessing she thought it wasn't latched as it normally isn't. Just bonk right into the door, glared at the door, then turned around and glared at me. No crying, no red mark, nothing. I'm not complaining it just scares me! She's eventually going to run into something that is harder than her head and then we're going to be in trouble.

     For now I'm off to watch Christmas movies, work on my crocheting and research helmets!

Oh My Aching Back

        I know a lot of mothers over come physical disabilities to be awesome mothers, so I always feel guilty when I think mine are causing me to be less of a mother than I normally am. I have no large intestine from a surgery I had due to ulcerative colitis, the surgery also resulted in me having a massive hernia in a round about way. I also had an abscess following the surgery around the base of my spine  so I have had problems with my lower back since then. On top of that I also have scoliosis in my mid to upper back right below my shoulder blades. In a nut shell my back is a big mess, and my body randomly decides to revolt.

      Normally I only have 1 thing act up at once. So my lower back will hurt but I can compensate with how I pick Ducky up and how I move. Right now my lower back feels like I got hit with a baseball bat, I managed to pull the muscles on both sides of my back right when the scoliosis is, and my belly is in full flip out mode.  In short if I were not a mother I would be hiding in bed with crackers, gatorade and a heating pad!

       But I am a mother. There's no sick day when you're a mommy. Toddler's don't understand that you're in pain but will be ok. As I've previously stated Ducky is very very empathetic. If I move to fast or wrong and grunt/hiss/moan or show pain in any way she is upset and thinks something is wrong. She then wants me to pick her up and hold her to comfort her/she can comfort me. Which makes it hurt more.

       There's also little things that you use your back for that you take for granted. Bending over to change her diaper is a lesson in agony. Trying to play blocks is a fun adventure because she hides them behind me knowing it takes me a while to get to them. The baby gate is more of a nuisance than ever because I have to lift her over it. Trying to get squirmy worm into her clothes in a challenge on the best days but says like today make me wish it were warm enough to let her run around in a diaper.

     So while I want to lay down and rest and not move for say the next week I know that is not an option especially with an active toddler who expects and deserves my attention and affection. So I will continue to do what parents everywhere do which is grin and bear it and learn to adapt. Which is really what life is all about. I hope as she gets older she will learn this lesson and take it to heart and be a stronger person who works to overcome anything life throws in her way. I know some very strong women in my life I am thankful for that instilled this mindset in me.

Mommy Hold Me!

            This week we have been plagued with what I have named the dreaded Mommy hold me disease. It started with a low grade fever and being super fussy. The fever has since broken but the fussyness has remained. As I type this one handed as she sleeps on my lap I wonder when it will abate. Ducky is for the most part a very happy baby other than the hour before bathtime/bedtime when she is an absolute demon. She will of course throw a fit every once in while when I take something off of her or yell at her but she normally forgets and moves on shortly. This week I realized exactly how lucky I have been.

              Perfect example of how she is acting differently was lunch the other day, I took the food out of the oven and off the cookie sheet, put it on a plate. Now normally when I tell her something is too hot she will look at me seriously and say hot while fanning her mouth then wander off to play until I tell her its ok to eat. That day she screamed, not cried, screamed for 7 minutes straight, and yes I timed it. It wasn't like she was hungry either she had just eaten her lunch, this was my lunch. I tried everything to get her to calm down but nothing worked until I decided it was cool enough and she had a minuscule bite then wandered off. That's the most extreme she's been with me for the most part its just whiny and wanting mommy to hold her. 

              I don't mean just snuggle on the couch and read a book/watch a movie hold me. She wants me to hold her while we build with blocks, while we color, pretty much if she can find a way for me to hold her she wants it. I really wish I had a photo of me trying to crochet while she was sitting on my lap. I'm hoping this is just a growth spurt but it's been so long since she had one I kinda forget what they're like! She does want to eat nonstop which I remember from before but she's not tired all the time like she was in previous growth spurts.

            People always say about not coddling your child and fostering dependence. I don't want a child that is permanently attached to me and can't function on her own. At the same time I can't stand the thought that she is in pain and I'm telling her "no I won't comfort you, sorry go play". I figure she can have a couple more days of being spoiled and if she is still acting fussy we might go to the doctors to make sure nothings wrong then move on from there. I'm still just praying I don't mess her up too bad!

Good Fan Bad Mom?

            Yay we came through the storm safely. Had a bit of leakage I think just from the wind and rain combined but other than that no damage. I wish the same could be said of everyone in the country. Hopefully everything gets back to normal for everyone affected by the storm as soon as possible. One of the signs of how resilient Americans  are is the NY Giants vs Pittsburgh Steelers game currently taking place. No power, no gas, no water but the fans still made it to the game!

            Now this game brings up one of my fears, I am a rabid fan. I will yell at the tv and tell the players what they did. I will tell the refs they are blind and need to study up on whatever sport they are judging. As we speak I am yelling that a penalty wasn't challenged and the coach is moron for not challenging it because it just enabled the other team to score. I am a very loyal and dedicated fan but am I teaching my daughter intolerance or to be judgmental? On the flip side I am teaching her that the rules should apply to everyone equally and you should stand up for what you believe in even if it's something as trivial as a sports game.

           Also everyone brings up how violent video games and television is but nobody says much about sports. Football has people running and tackling each other which is fine until its little kids and someone gets "tackled" too close to a coffee table or something. We were at a hockey game earlier and they're shoving each other into the glass and getting into fist fights. Baseball is less violent but you can still have moments where they slide violently into base or run each other over in order to get a run.

          There's so many things you have to worry about as a parent to try to make sure you end up with a happy well adjusted child. You just sometimes worry about random things that you didn't have to before kids. I'm probably going to handle this like I do with everything else which is keep doing what I'm doing and address the issues as they arise. I'll make sure she has all the information available and we talk everything through and then if she wants to she can join me in saying that these refs need to get to an eye doctors because they clearly can't see.

Frankenstorm?

        No matter where you live you always have some form of natural disaster to worry about. Here in the US depending on where you live you can have tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, mud slides, floods, wildfires, tsunami's and volcanoes. We live in the Appalachian Mountains in western Pennsylvania, so we are used to snow, ice, and flooding. It is a running joke that you go from winter to construction and back (they just re-opened one of the major roads by my house Friday night in time for winter). We often get the misnamed "wintery mix" through out the fall and spring (I say it is misnamed because it sounds cute and fun like some sort of festive chex mix, in  reality it is a disgusting mess of rain/ice/snow that no one can drive in). We have had a rare handful of tornadoes or micro-bursts, we have also had a couple of hurricane's come in land enough to dump rain on us.

         For those hiding under a rock that haven't seen the news, they are calling for Hurricane Sandy to make landfall tomorrow, then to have a head on collision with a storm that is already dropping temperatures and rain on us. At this point no one really knows what is going to go on but there's a good chance we will either get a lot of rain or snow and dangerous winds. The governor has already declared a state of disaster so that he can start mobilizing in case there is as much damage as being forecast.  The electric companies are calling in technicians as we speak to deal with expected outages. Maybe this time if we do lose power it won't take as long to restore.

         Everyone is encouraged to get a storm kit ready for worst case circumstances. Basics of a storm kit include bottled water, matches, flashlights, battery operated radio, first aid kit, nonperishable food, back up batteries and a cell phone. Even if this storm is over hyped and we just get a normal storm this is always good to have around in case your power randomly goes out (say for 12 hours because a drunk idiot hits a telephone pole). We decided to update our kit because Ducky is scared of the dark. The last time we lost power we had to keep the flashlight pointed on her toys to keep her from flipping out. I wanted to get a spiffy lantern I had found that lasts up to 500 hours on 3 D batteries (Energizer FL452WRBP Weather Ready LED Folding Lantern (Google Affiliate Ad)), but when I got to Walmart they were completely sold out. In fact they were sold out of almost all but the propane lanterns, after my sister and I grabbed the last 2 mini lanterns and ran they were completely out. I thought a fight was going to break out between people pushing and shoving to flashlights after we left. We also found a cool night light that remains on even if the power goes out (GE 11281 2-LED POWER FAILURE EMERGENCY LIGHT (Google Affiliate Ad).

         Other than getting the new lanterns and a battery operated radio (we don't own well any type of radio) we didn't need to add anything to our storm kit. I do need to take care of running around and gathering up toys in case we have to hide from the winds. In the past if the tornado siren went off I grabbed a drink, my cell phone and a book and set off to whatever room had no windows. In our current house this is a lovely cell in our basement that is dark and cold and no amount of sprucing up can keep it from being gloomy. I need to have enough easily carried toys and books to convince a very hyper toddler that this is a fun room to play in until its safe to come out.

         I went from getting everything ready for trick or treating to getting everything ready for Frankenstorm. I'm really hoping we still get to go trick or treating as this is our family's favorite holiday, but we already missed out on it at my mom's place because we didn't want to risk coming back up the mountain after dark today. Are you ready for the storm? Are you ready for the storm with tiny demanding people aka kids? For all of those who are hiding under a rock here is the expected path  for "Sandy" aka "Frankenstorm".

A Rash is a Rash?

          This weekend we have encountered a foe we continue to battle....diaper rash! Diaper rash is a common enough ailment in babies but until having Ducky I didn't know there were different types of diaper rashes. Most diaper rashes are just contact diaper rash from little sensitive bottoms rubbing on diapers or their bottoms being irritated from changes in food or having a wet diaper. Even if you change their diapers with ninja quickness they can still get diaper rash. These are easy to treat with over the counter creams and loose diapers.

          My child has the joy of fungal/yeast diaper rashes. When she got her first one we were at our wits ends because nothing we did helped. We tried every diaper rash cream on the market, even bought the super expensive supposedly better pastes to no avail. Our poor little princess was still sore and cranky. She wouldn't take a bath because the water on her bottom hurt. We finally broke down and went to the doctors office who told us we hadn't done anything wrong just didn't know that the rash was fungal.

         She gets them every time she is sick or teething. Something about the excess saliva in her stool throws off her system enough to immediately make her break out. There's a simple enough solution, antifungal cream! Our pediatrician had written us a prescription but when we went to the pharmacy they didn't have it in the back. The nice lady showed me that the athlete's foot cream had the same exact ingredients with no added scents or irritants so we decided to try it until they got the prescribed medicine in. It cleared it up within a day! We eventually did pick up the prescription stuff just for the next time but since it was 2x the cost we'll just stick with the over the counter.

Here's some info about regular diaper rashes:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_diaper-rash_81.bc

Here's some info about yeast diaper rashes:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_yeast-diaper-rash_10913.bc

And here's a nifty evaluation guide:
http://www.desitin.com/pictures-of-diaper-rash

          I just hope my daughter stops getting them soon. Almost all of her teeth are in but since we're not fully potty trained yet any time she gets sick I immediately start trying to find where I put the ointment (so I wouldn't lose it of course!). Until then changing her diaper is a 2 man job unless I get that spare set of arms I keep asking for.

         

Dupa Over Tea Kettle

     Today's terrifying moment in parenting has to do with a simple fact of toddlerdom/childhood, kid's will fall down. When they are first learning to stand they fall on their little diaper padded butts, a lot! Then comes the learning to walk stage when they just randomly topple over like your drunk relative at family get togethers. Next is the running stage where they don't care if there is a person/chair/shelf/animal in the way they are running full out and will deal with the consequences if the object doesn't get out of their way. We have now reached the stage where we "run away". Any time Ducky's feet can hit the ground she is off in the opposite
direction or after the big kids.

       It was gorgeous out today so we (us and the neighbors) were all out enjoying a last bit of warmth before the inevitable snow. Now I first need to point out that Ducky can reach the speed of a cheetah when she wants to. And she always wants to be doing whatever the big kids are doing. She took off and I had thought she had been blocked from escaping but was not (it was a big confusing mess). In any case I realize she has managed an escape and take off after her. I catch up just in time to watch her do a diving roll through the neighbors back yard.

         At this point I realize A. my daughters a ninja, B. SHE'S NOT CRYING! I know she feels pain because she will cry over shots or pinching her fingers, but she can fall and skin her knees, hit her head, in general bash herself up and not make a noise! She currently is sporting a scratch under her eye, a black eye, and random other bumps and bruises from her tumble and couldn't care less! A few weeks ago she had a little black eye and no one could figure out from what because she NEVER cried or indicated she hit it and none of us witnessed her getting hurt.

         This not being upset over bumps and bruises scares me just as much as the injuries themselves, because it's not teaching her fear. No matter how many times I tell her no, stop, don't touch etc it will be fear that teaches her to listen to mommy. Right now she doesn't fear pain so I guess I will need to brush up on my own ninja skills to make sure she doesn't get seriously injured.