Best gift ever

I felt really rotten on Sunday. I basically just laid around being pathetic while Sam and Jed enjoyed a gorgeous fall afternoon. They went grocery shopping late in the afternoon and Sam did the sweetest thing EVER! I was laying on the couch in the den when they got home. As the front door was opening, I heard Jed say "Gentle, Sam. Gentle." I couldn't figure out what on earth he'd given Sam to carry that he'd have to be gentle with. And the way the door swings open, I couldn't see anything. Then Sam ducks around the door into the den holding a bunch of tulips ... coral/orange with yellow tips (my favorites!). Jed swears it was Sam's idea, that Sam picked the color and okay'ed the bunch that Jed pulled out of the rack, then insisted on carrying them out of the store, all the way home and into the house to me. I almost cried!

Bck to the future

Sometimes I feel like I live in another century. For the past few days, I've been baking furiously to use up the last of this season's zucchinis ... there are already half a dozen loaves of zucchini bread in the freezer, and I'm thinking of trying to freeze the grated zucchini so I can stop baking. Then, today, I picked 25 pounds (!!!) of tomatoes at Coonamessett Farm. I've spent a good part of the afternoon and evening parboiling and skinning them for freezing and canning ... all so we can have tomatoes in the dead of winter without resorting to plastic-lined cans. Meanwhile, we had two cords of wood delivered to fuel the high-efficiency wood-burning fireplace we're installing. Are we taking self-sufficiency and eco-mindedness too far?

How far we have fallen

I knew parenting would change my life, but I surprised even myself with my pathetic-ness on Monday when I realized there were five loads of laundry in the basement waiting to be folded ... and got excited! FIVE loads of laundry!?! That will take me at least an hour! I'll be able to drink a glass of wine, watch an entire CSI, and not feel guilty about sitting still for an hour!

My first wedding cake!

I've been baking cakes for years, and have occasionally thought of starting my own cake-baking business. This past weekend, I finally tackled the Mount Everest of cakes ... a three-tier wedding cake ... six layers of chocolate zucchini cake filled and frosted with whipped chocolate ganache and decorated with gerbera daisies. Okay, so it wasn't exactly Ace of Cakes material. But I was pretty proud of it. More importantly, the bride and groom (Danielle Fino and Charro Zuck) loved it and there were no leftovers!

WALL-E here we come!

We have a babysitter and we're going to the movies!!! Okay, so it's a matinee ... but still! I haven't seen a movie in the theatres in something like two years. Our neighbor's daughter, Gypsy, has been doing the mother's helper thing ... coming over once a week and watching Sam while I get things done around the house. They love eath other. So this Sunday, they get their first shot at going solo (well, Gypsy's mom is an ex-nanny and right across the street, so not totally solo). And we get to see WALL-E! I'll let you know how it is :)

I was wrong

I owe Jed a big "I was wrong, you were right." And that doesn't happen very often ;) He's been warning me for months not to let Sam play with the phone because he might dial 911. I kept saying that he usually dials 66666 or other gibberish and the chances of him getting 911 by chance were so small it wasn't worth worrying about. I was wrong. Yesterday morning I was sitting on the deck, Sam was going back and forth between the kitchen and the deck, and Jed was showering. Jed called down to say someone was at the front door. It was a (rather large) policeman wondering if everything was alright here because apparently someone had called 911 and the phone had been off the hook since then. YIKES! Sure enough, the kitchen phone was laying next to its cradle showing the last number dialed was 911. I assured the nice officer that we were all fine, that my phone-happy toddler was to blame, and that it wouldn't happen again. We've since moved the phone to higher ground and I'll be much more watchful in the future.

Ahh, Friday night

It's Friday night. I'm wearing my pajamas, drinking milk and eating cookies. And I was just thinking maybe I'd treat myself to some brainless TV. And I'm really happy about all this. Now, if it were 1am and I were just coming home from some bar, that would be one thing. But it's 8:30pm! What's wrong with me?!?! Oh, yeah, that's right. I'm a parent.
Oh yeah, and did I mention that Sam shoved a washcloth so far down the bathtub drain that I can't get it back? I've tried a coat hanger and the vacuum ... the most creative suggestions I've gotten from two sources who shall remain anonymous. I refuse to call a plumber on the weekend (especially during summer season on the Cape) to have a washcloth removed from a drain pipe. So I guess we're without a bathtub for a couple of days!

What a scorcher!

Ever been tempted to sleep in your basement? No? Me neither. At least not until last night. We are in the midst of a serious heat wave. It was 80 degrees in the shade by 8am yesterday and today. Those vaunted Cape Cod sea breezes have helped us avoid the 100+ temps hitting some parts of New England. Still, it's REALLY hot. For reasons of personal preference (mostly his), Sam's been sleeping with me while Jed is away. Last night that became utterly necessary since I can only find one fan in our whole house! But when I went down to the basement to retrieve some laundry, it was blessedly cool. For a few seconds, I actually contemplated grabbing Sam and maybe even a light quilt from upstairs, pumping up the air mattress, and sleeping in the basement!

Small miracles

A brief disclaimer ... parents of children who sleep may find this pathetic.
Sam gave me the most wonderful gift last night. He's teething insanely (molars!) and woke up almost every two hours. But at 2am, when waking up was really painful for me, he did something we've quite frankly been hoping for ... he got out of his bed, came into our room, asked to be lifted into bed, gave me a big hug, then rolled over and went to sleep. I never even had to sit up! He woke up again at 4am to nurse (the usual) and was up for the day at 6am, but again, he softened the blow. I woke up to the sound of demonic giggles followed by a full body hug that would have been a tackle if I weren't already laying down. Really, what mother could resist that?

Let the games begin

I'm supposed to be telling you how cute it is that Sam has not only learned to toast, but thinks it's so much fun that he'll double-fist milk and juice in order to have more cups to go chink-chink with (it really is adorable). Instead, I feel compelled to share the poop story of the day. After dinner and before bath each night comes a time that Sam cherishes - naked time! Only sometimes, I don't do totally naked time ... I take off the pants, socks, and diaper but leave the onesie. That way, his bum gets some air time but he stays warmer. That was the plan tonight, and I'm still not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. It kept the mess off the floor, but probably made clean-up much more complicated than it would have been otherwise. Yep, that's right. He pooped in the onesie. And it was a total stealth poop ... no pause in play, no grunting to alert me to what was going on. He just wandered over to give me a hug smelling rather rank and wearing a VERY droopy onesie. This is Day 1 (of 9) of my first solo parenting adventure (Jed's in France). I have to wonder what else is in store!?!

Bounce house

Sam passed an important milestone yesterday. He experienced a moon walk (bounce house, whatever you want to call it) for the first time ... and he LOVED it! He went in three different times. I was really impressed at his ability to walk and even run around in it. Running and then flinging himself down (or into the mesh walls) was a favorite activity, but by the end he was starting to do some real jumping. And, of course, there was a lot of demonic laughter and squealing. I wish we had photos or video to share, but no such luck. This event was part of an otherwise low-key backyard party at a neighbor's house and we didn't think to take a camera of any sort.

Falmingos and escalators

Thank goodness the only thing linking these two items is Sam's newfound love of them. Flamingos on escalators could be quite a mess.
Anyway, we spent a wonderful long weekend in Washington, D.C. We celebrated Papa G's birthday and Mother's Day. We visited the Building Museum and the zoo (twice). On our first trip to the zoo, we focused on gorillas and elephants, as those are two of Sam's favorite animals from his book of animal sounds "Gobble Growl Grunt." Our second visit was fish (really big ones in the Amazonia exhibit) and birds. They have a flock of flamingos that Sam could have watched all day (except that he was falling apart he was so tired) ... bright pink-orange and very noisy.
Sam rode the subway for the first time ever. The most exciting part of that adventure (and the airports) was the escalators. He's totally fascinated by them. We had some spare time in BWI yesterday, so we rode up and down the escalators a few extra times :)
Sam is getting to be a seasoned traveller. This was his fourth round-trip by air, and he's a real champ at it.

He slept!!!

Last night was the best we've had in 11 months, no exaggeration. Sam went to bed at 7:30pm, woke up briefly at 9pm, nursed at 11pm, then SLEPT UNTIL 5AM!!! He was restless after nursing, so he slept in our bed until we got up at 7am. I don't expect this to happen again any time soon as Sam has a minor cold and sometimes sleeps better when slightly sick (not sick enough to keep him awake, just sick enough to be really tired) ... but one can always hope, right?

OOPS! I missed a post

I thought I'd already posted this, but apparently not. Saturday night was the beginning of Passover and Papa G (Donald) and Uncle Ben were here to help us celebrate. As you'll notice from the photos, we didn't wait for sun down to begin, as I was afraid of a melt-down on Sam's part. As it was, he was a champ ... made it almost 45 minutes before requesting to get down from his chair and run around the kitchen. And he LOVED the singing (surprise, surprise). Here are a couple cute photos.

My little athlete

Sam got his first real sneakers today, and they are TOO cute! He happened to be wearing a tee shirt and sweat pants today, so he looked quite the little athlete.

A good doctor's appointment

Sam, Donald (Papa G), and I drove up to Waltham for a follow-up appointment with Terri, the nurse practitioner in the Pedriatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition unit at MGH West. I'm really starting to like Terri. Both times that we've seen her (this time, and part of our visit ~5 weeks ago) she's struck me as competent and really down-to-earth. She questions the milk allergy hypothesis and has come up with a plan for us to systematically test IF Sam is milk-sensitive, and if so, HOW sensitive (i.e. Can I drink milk while nursing him and just avoid giving him dairy directly? Or do we really have to be on the complete elimination diet we've been doing recently?). Basically, we're reintroducing dairy gradually to me, then Sam, while testing Sam's poop for traces of blood (a sign of colon inflammation due to allergy) using dip-sticks she sent home with me. She also has a theory to explain a recent flare-up in Sam's reflux that has had Jed and myself banging our heads against the wall ... he's teething (no #%^& Sherlocke) and the drool he's swallowing exacerbates the reflux. So she's up'd his Prilosec dose slightly. Finally, Terri thinks that if we can survive Sam's molars coming in that then we'll be ready to deal with the behavioral aspects of Sam's nightly wake-up routine. She clearly weighed in with her opinion on how much of the problem is behavioral, as opposed to physiological, and how we might consider dealing with it while being very supportive of my feelings about letting Sam cry and respectful of our right to decide how to be parents. It was a really refreshing conversation with a medical professional. Overall, a really worthwhile trip to Waltham.
Then, to top it off, we arrived home with three hours to enjoy the ~70F sunshine before dinner time. We played in the back yard and went for a nice long walk on the cranberry bogs. There are new photos on Picasa of Sam helping his grandfather water some very thirsty plants and seeds in our back yard ... very cute :)

A departure and a haircut

There is now a lock of hair in Sam's baby book. I FINALLY trimmed the back of his hair. I didn't get to do the complete haircut because, pathetically, it appears that we don't own a comb. How can two grown adults not own a single comb? Anyway, the real deal will happen tomorrow or this weekend (once I've bought a comb). But the worst is taken care of. My son no longer has a mullet or a rat-tail.
This mini-event marks a major transition in our household. Grandma and granddad (a.k.a. Heather's parents Judy and Mark) left today to visit other family members before heading back to Australia to continue their world cruising adventures :( We drove up to Boston today to see them off at the airport (and help them with their 200 lbs of luggage). Grandma couldn't stand to see Sam's beautiful strawberry blond curls clipped, even a tiny bit, so we waited until she was gone to start the cutting :) Jokes aside, though, grandma and granddad will be sorely missed by all in our little household. It's back to the realities of cooking and cleaning, and life without babysitters who are also two of Sam's favorite playmates. The past four and a half months have been truly amazing. Bon voyage, Grandma and Grandad!

Nature child

I really wish I had photos to back me up on this, but you're just going to have to take my word for it. Sam is a total nature child ... a flower-picking, dirt-eating, tree-hugging nature child. And I mean all of those things quite literally. In the past two weeks, Sam has decided that being inside is the worst kind of torture. He would prefer to be outside, even when it's 40F and raining. Luckily (for me, mostly), the weather has been getting nicer recently. A few days ago, the temperature approached 70F ... Sam and I spent two full hours (maybe more) exploring our yard. While I dead-headed as-yet unidentified bushes, he picked and systematically destroyed a good number of daffodils and grape hyacinths (really loved those). While I planted bulbs, he gloried in using a big kitchen spoon to dig in pots of dirt ... and then eat spoons full of the stuff. When I took away the spoon, he simply grabbed fists full of dirt and ate that! So I called a quit to gardening and we went for a walk. Sam got distracted by a pine tree. After fingering the bark and pulling on some branches, he laid his cheek against the trunk and gave the tree one of his nicest hugs, back patting included. He then noticed we had a yard full of these wonderful creatures and proceeded to hug two more pine trees. My son, the tree hugger!

Another ear infection

Only this time, it's not Sam ... it's me! Since three colds turned into three ear infections for Sam this past fall, we've gotten very vigilant about that possibility. So I was very happy when Sam's doctor pronounced his ears totally clear on Wednesday. Imagine my surprise when I woke up with my left ear throbbing yesterday morning! I called my doctor, who was hopeful it was not yet infected, and he suggested Mucinex to help the congestion clear and Motrin to handle the pain. That did well enough for most of the day, but by 10:30pm last night, it just wasn't cutting it. A midnight trip to the ER confirmed that it is indeed infected and they sent me home with prescriptions for anaesthetic ear drops and an antibiotic. Things are better today, so fingers crossed that this, too, shall soon pass and we'll see the end of this flu yet.

What a weekend!

We have had quite an exciting Easter weekend. Jed's parents, Donald and Marti, arrived on Wednesday so we've had both sets of grandparents here. And we've tested the limits of what six adults can accomplish in a short period of time. We had been planning to focus our attention on getting our (new) garden laid out and tilled. But when Marti and Donald looked at our deck, they decided it absolutely had to be replaced before they could think of letting Sam play on it. And so the real fun began.
While Jed and I were at work on Thursday (and unbeknownst to us), they ripped up the old decking. After inspecting the whole frame, Donald and my dad decided it was sound and didn't need replacing. So they went and got new decking and called it a day. Jed and I were both very (and mostly pleasantly) surprised when we came home to find our deck gone!
On Friday morning, Donald and Marti started working on the new deck but didn't get far before they had to head off for a lunch date in Harwich. Meanwhile, the delivery of six cubic yards (!!) of loam and compost for our garden turned into a bit of a fiasco. The truck backed across our side yard to our selected garden site and dumped the dirt. But the back got stuck in the up position because the truck was on a slight incline. That put all the weight on the back tires, which caused the truck to get stuck in our soft, wet soil. We spent about 45 minutes getting the back down and the truck out of the yard ... and were left with a nasty set of ruts (some knee deep or better) to repair ... on top of finishing the deck and laying out the garden.
So by Saturday morning, we really had our work cut out for us. I'm not at all sure how, but it all got done! By 6pm Saturday, we were all worn pretty ragged, but we had a new deck (we still have to finish the railing), and we had spread six cubic yards of damp, heavy soil and tilled an herb garden and a vegetable garden. Oh yeah, and we finished raking and mulching the leaves we missed last fall and still found time for a little fun (Sam LOVES riding in the wheelbarrow). I don't remember the last time I worked that hard, and I KNOW I've never shoveled so much in one day. Our back yard looks like a new place and I'm SO excited for spring!





So today's Easter dinner really felt like a deserved celebration, despite some lingering soreness and the fact that Jed, Sam, and I all have a cold. Jed's Aunt Sue and Uncle John, and his brother Ben joined us, so we had nine people. It was the first time we've had so many for a sit down meal in this house, and we all fit quite nicely into our kitchen/dining area.



HAPPY EASTER!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Great start

I'm so excited! For about three years now, I've been thinking about doing the Breast Cancer 3-Day ... a 3-day (as the name suggests), 60-mile walk to support breast cancer research and education. On Sunday night, I finally took the plunge and registered for this year's event in Boston (Aug 15-17). Several women close to me, most of them family members, have battled breast cancer. Happily for me, they are (or were until their deaths from other causes) all survivors. The point is, breast cancer is a cause I can get passionate about and Susan G. Komen for the Cure is a charity I am very happy to stand behind. And I relish the physical challenge. But I've always been daunted by the fundraising challenge ... $2200 minimum per person. Well, tonight I'm feeling very supported, empowered, and optimistic. I'm already more than 10% of the way there!
Recently, I've been feeling a strong need to be part of something bigger than my everyday life. Keeping Sam amused, well-rested and fed, and in clean diapers while working half-time, juggling household chores, and getting dinner on the table always seems like challenge enough (even with my mom around to do half or more of the work). And then that very statement completely deflates me ... when there are people facing truly enormous challenges, how can I feel so exhausted by my humdrum, comfortable life? You might think that adding more to my plate would push me over the edge, but both the challenge and the goal of The 3-Day have me totally energized. Cool, heh?
Just as a last plug, if you're at all interested you can learn more about the Breast Cancer 3-Day at www.the3day.org or about Komen for the Cure at www.komen.org.

I thought today would be boring ...

Boy, was I wrong! I was not looking forward to work this morning. I had 44 tissue samples to grind up for future RNA extraction. It was going to be a very tedious morning. Long story short, I only made it through one sample before I managed to spill the bottle of homogenization buffer - which is 50% phenol - into my lap. I got my pants off ASAP and called Jed (the only other person in the lab this morning) for help. I was under the emergency shower within less than a minute of the spill. Then, since I was wearing a lab coat but no pants and the emergency shower is in the hall, we moved to the shower in the men's room (there isn't one in the women's room on our floor). Sitting in the shower in only my shirt and underwear, I held court as WHOI safety officers, concerned colleagues, and finally the paramedics came to check on me and offer bits of spare clothing. I spent about half an hour in the shower, then got an ambulance ride (sirens and all) to Falmouth Hospital ER, where I spent about two more hours. All they could do was continue to flush the burn site (which is about 6in x 2.5in on my right inner thigh) and make sure I didn't have any inhalation symptoms (I didn't), but that seems to have been enough. I was having visions of large pieces of skin blistering and peeling off, but the redness has already faded a great deal and it's just a bit sensitive when something rubs against it. I feel VERY lucky. But I'm really not looking forward to processing those other 43 samples! I think I'll wait until Monday :}

A sad statement

For one reason or another, Sam has been on at least one medication most of his life. We started him on Zantac (to control painful acid reflux) at the ripe old age of five weeks ... two doses per day by syringe. At six months, we added vitamin drops once a day (not that it actually happens every day, but you get the idea) and the occasional dose of Tylenol to help with teething pain. At eight months, the Zantac was replaced by Prilosec ... still two doses per day. About that time, Sam started the fall/winter of parents' nightmares. He's had croup, roseola, bronchiolitis, a stomach bug, three ear infections, and probably half a dozen run of the mill colds. He's also cut six teeth and is always working on more. So Tylenol and Motrin have made regular appearances for fever and/or pain control.
When all this started back around a year ago, medicine time was dreaded by all in the household. There was a lot of screaming involved (usually only on Sam's part) and medicine was as likely to end up splattered on a wall as in Sam's stomach. By six months ago, we usually had to insist firmly that he open his mouth and he would make his "yucky" face afterward, but screaming and spitting were rare. At this point, he opens wide for caramel (Prilosec) and berry goo (Tylenol). He's actually helped me with the syringe once or twice. And while I always congratulate him on being such a good boy for taking his medicine without a fuss, I don't actually like the fact that he's so happy to take medicine.
Today, though, he really made me laugh. In the battle against baby/toddler colds, the only weapons more important than Tylenol are saline spray and a nasal aspirator bulb. "Hosing the nose" (as we affectionately call it in our household) consists of squirting saline spray up each nostril, then using the aspirator bulb to suck out the saline and all the other fun gunk that was already up there. It would seem like a really good incentive for kids to learn to blow their own noses as soon as possible. And indeed, Sam used to fight this like death itself. Recently, though, he's been much more quiescent. He's even been sticking his little nose out for me to hose this past week. But I was completely unprepared for today's display of helpfulness. He actually took the saline spray out of my hand, stuck it up his own nose, and proceeded to give the bottle a good firm squeeze! I was literally rolling on the floor laughing and Sam looked quite proud of himself. I guess toddlers really will do just about anything for a laugh and some approval.

Lazy weekend

I haven't had a weekend like this in ages ... sleeping 'til 9:30am, mid-day naps, movies in the afternoon, comfort food three meals a day. Unfortunately, the primary reason for all this laziness is that we're a household of pathetically sick individuals. Sam came down with a really nasty cold on Tuesday and is still fighting it, although he seems to be on the mend. Dad started feeling it on Wednesday, me on Thursday, and mom on Saturday. We've all been sniffling, coughing, and moaning our way around the house in slow motion. Jed is the only one that still seems healthy (fingers crossed he stays that way).

Sleep ... or not

As the parents among you probably know, chronic sleep deprivation is a really ugly thing. Sam hasn't slept longer than 3.5 consecutive hours since July and has gone through extended periods of waking up every 1-2 hours all night. Consequently, I've gotten very little sleep. And it has taken quite a toll ... patience and sympathy are distant memories (and my memory is not so good these days), crying jags have become common occurrences. In December, I tried seeing a therapist but even she agreed what I really needed was just plain old sleep. The problem is how to get it. In the past two months we've managed to wean Sam from nursing all night to nursing just twice. But he continues to wake up at least four times a night and he often shrieks if anyone other than me tries to take him.
So last Friday we got serious about teaching Sam he can't have mommy all night every night. Grandma and Granddad are even in on this. I put Sam to bed, I nurse him at ~11pm and again around 4:30 or 5am. Any other wake-ups are handled by Jed or my parents. I'm sleeping on the futon in the den downstairs so that the screaming is somewhat dampened (for my benefit) and so that I'm further out of Sam's nose-shot (you know, like ear-shot, only different). Actually, there's been a lot less screaming than I expected and I've been feeling a lot less guilty than I expected. And I've gotten five straight hours of sleep a few times now. So that's the good news.
But I'm feeling very ambivalent about the whole plan this morning. Sam is still waking up just as frequently, twice he's spent at least an hour in the middle of the night refusing to be put down, and every morning after he nurses he's incredibly restless. So are we making any progress? Or is this just one more unsustainable night-time routine to be discarded in a few weeks? Maybe it's too soon to tell. Then there are the bigger questions ... Is Sam waking up just to snuggle? He's certainly a very lovey kid. Or is it teething pain? He's always got at least one tooth on the way. Or is it his d$%@&* persistent reflux? Yes, he's still spitting up and he's still on Prilosec. And I'm back to a dairy-free existence (man, do I miss ice cream and milk in my tea!) just in case that's a factor. Obviously, I'm not expecting answers to these questions anytime soon.

Taking the plunge

Okay, we're finally doing it. We're starting a family blog. Sam is over a year old. Our friends and families (i.e. Sam's admirers) are scattered around the globe. And I am not a very good correspondent under the best of circumstances ... let alone when I've been chasing Sam all day and nursing/bouncing him all night. So I hope that this will help keep everybody up to date on the latest goings on here in the Goldstone household. Yes, I know that will require actually POSTING. I'm aiming for weekly, but we'll see how it goes. And, yes, we will post more photos on the Picasa sight soon. Our camera died a couple of weeks ago, so we currently have no way to get the photos that were on the memory card uploaded to our computer. We're working on a replacement, though. So stay tuned ...