Down & Out

Lennox has pneumonia. It all started last Sunday with fever and a cough. The doctor thought it was just a virus on Monday but it turned into pneumonia by Friday. Lennox was pretty pitiful and we all had several sleepless nights. The scariest part was Thursday night when he woke up panting... he couldn't get any air. Plus he had 103.6 fever that wouldn't break! I gave him an extra breathing treatment and an extra dose of motrin before we made the call about the ER. If he hadn't started breathing normally, we definitely would have taken him in. He hasn't eaten much of anything for a week. That's the most frustrating part. He is still drinking so that's a good thing but I am worried. Anyway, after the xray and some antibiotics, my child has turned into a real maniac. I hate to say it but I was actually looking forward to coming to work today after 5 days in the house!! Here is an example of one hour in Lennox's world this weekend:

• 9 am - get into cabinet and dump out 2 boxes of Capri Suns. Spend about 5 mins trying to poke straws in as many of them as possible. Squirt them across kitchen like rockets... hear mom coming and jump up and run to living room
• 9:05 - rake all of books off of book shelf. Sit in middle of books and look at pages them spit on a few of them.
• 9:08 - run full speed to mom's bathroom (while she's still cleaning capri sun mess). Dig in drawers and dump out q-tip box.
• 9:12 - Run full speed into living room with 2 handfuls of q-tips. Lick a few of them then throw them in the air like rain.
• 9:15 - Run into kitchen and pull out spice rack. Quickly grab some jars of spices and try really hard to get tops off. Mom comes and shooshes me away. Turn around to lazy susan cabinet and grab bag of sugar. Dump it on the floor. All of it!!
• 9:20 - While mom cleans up sugar dumped on floor, run to kitchen table and climb on top. Grab butter knife laying beside birthday cake and hack away til mom sees me and screams.
• 9:25 - 9;27 - Sit in time out for stabbing cake & dumping out sugar all the while yelling "WEEEEEE!" like you would when swinging.
• 9:27 - Copy mom saying "UGHHHHHHHHH" very loudly as I watch her clean up cake.
• 9:29 - Run into living room with stray capri sun, squirt it all over books.
• 9:32 - Run away from mom as she comes toward me with yogurt and spoon. Take a bite of yogurt after much begging then promptly spit it all over self.
• 9:34 - Slap spoon of yogurt all over mom as she tries to put it in my mouth. Laugh and run away saying "NO!!"
• 9:36 - Run to couch and lay all over it making sure to wipe yogurt onto upholstery.
• 9:40 - Find myself in bed for an early nap b/c mom can't take it anymore!!!

YOu see why I was looking forward to work?! ha. I am worn out!

How do you explain to an 18 month old...

• That Sesame Street and Dora do not run 24 hours a day for your viewing pleasure. Regardless or how many times you point the remote at the tv and say "STRREEEET" or "DORDA" they won't magically appear. Even if you throw yourself down on the ground and kick and scream yelling "MELMO!!!", they still won't appear. I guess you can keep trying that tactic though.
• That potatoes, oranges, apples, limes, lemons, avocadoes, and onions are not balls. I know they are round like balls but when you throw them, they will not bounce like balls... sometimes they even explode.
• That pretend food is only meant for pretend eating. I know the cookie looks like a real cookie but not matter how hard to bite it or how many times you throw it against the wall, it still won't be a real cookie! (he's actually almost figured this one out)
• That telling mommy you pooped after the fact doesn't help that much! (I know he's young so it's good that he even recognizes that he pooped and he tells me... this one was just good for my list)
• That if I tell you not to go into the spice cabinet and you do it anyway, you will have to sit in time out. AGAIN. Time out is a punishment not a right of passage... you do not get to play in the spice cabinet after you get out of time out either.
• That if I take your shirt off, I have a reason. You don't have to freak out. You might be cold for a minute but I will either put you in the bath or I will put another shirt on you... it is cute when you scream "It's TOLD" & shiver though.
• That regardless of how much I love you, I cannot spend my whole day holding you up to the top hinge on the china cabinet so you can touch it and make the lights go on and off. Screaming and hitting the air will not give me more time or more strength to hold you up there!
• That each and every time you fill up the pitcher in the tub with water and pour it out on the floor, bath time will officially be over. Also, when you stand up and jump in the tub you will most likely fall down...

If any of you can shed a little light on explanations for these issues, please advise. :)

Melt my heart

What a great guy. What a Champion! Who Dat!!

Someone very special to me is currently undergoing breast cancer surgery. The two things that I have always admired about her are her strength and her faith in God. I know those two things are going to carry her through the surgery and the recovery. I am asking for some of you out there to say a prayer on her behalf. I am praying for the surgeon's wisdom to remove all of the cancer. I am praying for her body to regain it's strength quickly. I am praying for special comfort for her soul that only the Holy Spirit can deliver.

Doppelganger

So I heard people on the radio talking about everyone posting their celebrity look-a-likes on FB. Well, since FB is blocked by NASA I decided to post it on the blog. I also saw this on a blog I like to read so I'm totally copying!

So, here we go... I have been accused of looking like several celebrities in my day. When I was alot younger, and Look Who's Talking was playing on the big screen, I was often told I looked like this person (only younger right?)...

So, maybe that won't be so bad to look like her in a few years. I just hope I can fight the poundage better than she did.

After that, I was told that I looked like none other than Clarissa (who explained it all). You may know her as Sabrina, The Teenage Witch.

I felt that I could move up in the world of celebrity look-a-likes since those 2 instances. So, when I was late teens/early 20's, people told me that I looked like this person and I am totally flattered...

I have to say that I probably look more like her Dawson Creek days when she was less glam and more frump...

This one I've heard a couple of times. When I was in LA on a business trip a very excited Asian lady asked me to take a photo with her... she thought I was the real thing! ha.

So, as far as look-a-likes go, I think most of mine have been somewhat complimentary. My look-a-like ego was getting too big I guess so I have been taken down a notch by the most recent celebrity comparison. Here it is...

Yes people, the other day I was told that I look like none other than the next Super Bowl winning team coach... da da da... Sean Payton!

So there it is... my Doppelganger history. Please feel free to share yours...

1.5

Yep, Lennox is finally 1.5 years old. Weird how 1.5 years can sound like such a short time but seem like such a long time.
So, this is going to be an obnoxious post so please spare yourself and skip past it if you don't care what my child has learned to do at 1.5 years old!

• Animal sounds he knows: cow, horse, goose, duck, cat, dog, skunk, owl, rooster (so cute), chicken, rhinocerus, elephant, crab, squirrel, alligator, shark, dolphin, spider, fox, fish, bird, bee, lion, bear, kangaroo, sheep, goat
• 
  Words he can say: mama, dada, meme, pop, papa, outside, yogi (sometimes yoyo), breakfast, eat, snack (nak), ci-fier (pacifier), no, yes, bath, bed, nap, rock-rock, pat-pat, nose, eye, hot, feet, shoes, pig, cow, cat, dog, spider, dinosaur, mule, duck, bird, elmo (melmo), ball, ball-ball (football), basketball (baket), Dora, cup, up, down, book, socks, dizzy, telephone, hey, bye, shoot (the ball), off, on, go, shirt, jenson, baby, brown, blue, white, green, slide, swing, sky, star, poo poo, peepee, stink, milk, juice, MINE (his favorite word), two, four, five, six. He can repeat so many words but these are words he uses often.


• What he can do: put on his socks, put on his shoes (boots, velcro shoes, not tied shoes), stand on one foot, hop (he's getting some air these days), gallop (sort of), play ring around the rosey, run-run-run, make a basket (he shoots but only makes it as a dunk!), draw & write very intently, reads alot... he loves to make the noises in Mr Brown Can Moo, he loves his shape sorter and says "nope" when he tries to put it in the wrong spot, he can do his wooden peg puzzles if I sit with him but he doesn't get them quite right on his own, we are working on colors but most of the time he says stuff is blue.


• We bought a potty seat and he sat on it but nothing happened. I just want him to get used to sitting on it. He tells me when he has poo-poo pretty consistently... not that I don't know from the stinkiness! I left the bathroom the day I got the potty seat and returned to see him soaked in toilet water and the potty seat in the toilet... awesome.


• He can count to six! ha. Ok, well, he can sort of help me count to six. He had qtips the other day and I said "one" and he said "two" then I said "three" and he said "pour, pive." Well, it was "pour" then "pive" then he did it again and said something that sounds like six. Apparently he's paying attention to Chloe's flashcards!! I have never heard him say one or three


• He is singing alot lately. I hear him humming and babbling to songs. I hope he has more rhythm than I do.


• Still his favorite toys are books and balls. He's loving that basketball goal.


• He still stops and listens to the theme of Golden Girls when it comes on. He loves Sesame Street and points the remote at the tv and says "STrreeeet" or "Melmo."


• He still has 8 teeth and those gums look like they are going to explode. I really hope the back teeth come in soon.


• Not much else has changed... he still sleeps by himself, naps 1 or 2 times a day, eats ok... still chewing up meat and spitting it out, drinks his milk pretty well... not crazy about it, loves baths, loves outside, loves dogs and cats, runs with his elbows up to his armpits... so cute,

where do you draw the line?

So disciplining and 18 month old is quite the challenge... where do you draw the line between laughing and punishing? Here are some examples for you:

• You're pushing your cart through WalMart (pre-nap time) and your 18 month old starts screaming for what is in your purse. You pull out a pacifier which he throws to the ground and yells "NO! Dat." Then you pull out a packet of snazzy "L" monogrammed kleenex... thanks Mel. He throws that across the isle, throws his head back, screaming like you punched him in the face. Then... he reaches for your hand and claws it.
• You give your child a bowl of "nak" and he sits nicely on his stool and eats it. From the other room, you hear him saying "uh oh." As you peek around the corner he is stomping his "nak" into the newly swept floor. I have tried to explain that "uh oh" is for accidents, not messes made on purpose.
• You tell him not to stand on the couch (5 times) and show him how to sit down. Then you say, "don't stand on the couch or you are going to get in trouble. Do you understand?" and he says "yes." YOu leave the room and hear a happy squeal and then an "uh oh." You peek around the corner just as he's standing up and squealing again... then he looks the other direction to make sure you aren't peeking around the wall in the direction you left from... AHHHH... what a stinker. I did have to pop his butt for that one. We have concrete floors. I don't need a broken head on my 18 month old.

Let me know what you would do... or what you have to deal with! it's amusing to me.