Mmm. Pass the Baby Food!

Spices, herbs, and seasonings are my friends. I hate bland foods and love to try exotic new flavors. Knowing that babies supposedly like bland foods I used to make David special baby food sans seasoning, but he turned his nose up at all of it. Then I discovered he actually likes his food to taste good (amazing, huh). Strained carrots or peas? No way! But panang curry, black bean enchiladas, or chicken tikka masala and he's begging for more. A pretty good rule of thumb is that if it sounds like something I would like then David probably will too.

Yeah, I know that soon his tastebuds will probably change and he'll start demanding the disgusting foods that all kids seem to love so much like fish sticks and fries. For now though he's loving the pitas slathered with forty spice humus and olive tapenade or some lemon pesto ravioli and so am I!

The Strategy of Indoor Play

Whew! I'm glad to report that we're all once again healthy and resuming normal life. Since it's the first weekend in awhile that we've all felt well we decided to get out and have some fun together. With the weather cooling off I've been trying to think of activities where David can get out of the house and explore but are still indoors. Our community center has a nice indoor pool he loves to go to, but it can be a hassle when you factor in getting everything packed, inflating his pool float, bathing and showering afterward, plus washing and drying all the suits and towels. It's very fun, but not the kind of thing we have time for every day.

On Saturday we decided to check out Ogden's Treehouse Children's Museum and were not disappointed. David thought he was in Heaven! Of course he was too young to appreciate many of the exhibits, but there was still plenty to hold his attention. He got to spin colorful gears, ride a giant stuffed pony, play all kinds of musical instruments, crawl around tee-pees, and much more. We had so much fun that we decided to get him a very reasonably priced membership. I plan on taking him a lot in the upcoming weeks so hopefully I will get some better pictures, but for now enjoy the one of him playing on the giant chess board (that's a sign of future genius right?).

Sick of Being Sick

Some of you may have noticed my absence from the blogging community and wondered where I have been. I would now love to inform you all that we have been taking a thoroughly enjoyable exotic vacation and that I will soon have some lovely pictures to post. Unfortunately that is not the case.

The truth is that we have all been sick and there will be no pictures coming because 1) I have been too ill to take any and 2) It hasn't been pretty. David was the first one to get sick a couple weeks back. A few days later Derek came down with it and then finally I did. I was definitely the most severe case, but after a few days it seemed like we were all on the mend although I still felt fairly weak and shakey and Derek and David still have a lingering cough.

Then on Thursday I felt a bit worse. An hour later I felt a lot worse. By the time afternoon rolled around I had a fever of 104, was hallucinating, had chest pains, and was gasping for air. Somehow I managed to get David into his crib so I could crawl into bed and call Derek. I hated hearing David scream (it wasn't naptime) to be let out, but I could hardly move. Derek came home and took me to the Dr where in addition to collapsing in the middle of the hallway (not embarrassing) I had labs, chest x-rays, and a couple liters of IV fluids pumped into me. The diagnosis was H1N1 plus a nasty case of pneumonia. I got to go home on the condition that if I got any worse I would go right to the hospital and they recommended that David be sent to my mom's until my fevers started to come down to prevent him from getting pneumonia too.

The last few days aren't something I particularly want to remember much. David was a pirate for halloween and I'm sure he was incredibly cute. I wouldn't know though because at the time my fevers were still around 102 and I was mostly confined to bed. Yesterday was the first day I was able to spend a significant portion of the day out of bed (and also get David back!) and today I was even well enough to care for David for several hours while Derek worked. So I am getting better. Thanks to everyone who has been concerned and sent their thoughts and prayers. Hopefully this will all be over soon.

Allergic to Idiocy

People's allergies say a lot more about themselves than you might think. If a patient hands me a typed list of about 100 or so drug allergies I know right off the bat that he has a complicated medical history. For one thing I know the patient has tried hundreds of different medications for actual or perceived illnesses and symptoms and for another thing I know that the patient is likely a very anxious type of person. It would be really rare to actually be allergic to that many medications and generally it only takes a little probing to determine that most or all of the allergies listed are not allergies at all. Sometimes the things people list are downright comical and I thought I'd share some of the more bizarre "allergies" I've come across in my career.

1. Water- causes patient's skin to dry out
2. Certain personalities- cause patient to break out in hives
3. Plastic- causes patient to become anxious
4. Tape- rips off body hairs when removed
5. Reglan- causes patient to FOAM AT THE MOUTH
6. Salt- causes thirst and dry mouth
7. Sleeping pills- cause drowsiness
8. Caffeine- causes insomnia
9. Carbohydrates- make patient get fat
10. Certain fragrances- cause male erection

And yes, I have had patients look me straight in the eye and in all seriousness tell me about these "allergies" they suffer from. Sometimes it's really tough to keep a straight face.

Falling into Fall

I admit to being a major blog slacker lately. Here's a rundown of how things have gone since my last post. I found an awesome babysitter for David, but then after a couple weeks her husband's hours got cut and she couldn't afford to stay home and watch him anymore. So I had the wonderful task of finding a new sitter. Monday was supposed to be David's first day with her but he was sick so if all goes well she will be watching David tomorrow for half a day while Derek studies for the CPA exam. Keep your fingers crossed. I really, really hate trying to find childcare.

We planned a really fun family weekend a couple weeks ago but wound up canceling when David came down with a cold. We postponed it for the next weekend but then he got sick again. He's starting to feel better although he still has a cough and some sniffles. He also has cut his first teeth (the front bottom 2) so the past few weeks haven't exactly been the most pleasant for any of us. None of that has slowed David down any however. He's now a master crawler and has learned to open drawers and cabinets, empty bookcases, turn on the hot water in the bathtub, and poke his finger into an electrical socket. He also has made calls and sent texts using my phone despite the fact that I always lock the display.

Some of you may have noticed that I never posted David's 9 month updated bear picture. Even with Derek standing to the side we couldn't prevent him from trying to dive headfirst off the chair. Sitting him on the floor wasn't much easier as he seemed to feel bears are for tackling and eating. Finally I managed to get this photo but I think it will be the last attempt. Here's the first one I took to compare. He definitely has grown.

Pacific Northwest Adventures

For Labor Day weekend David and I joined my parents in heading northwest to visit my sister Michelle and her family. In Seattle we took the kids to the Children's Museum which was enjoyed by all. They even had plenty of exhibits geared toward David's age. Unfortunately the lighting inside was really bad and I wasn't able to get as good of shots as I would have liked, but David was a lot of fun to watch.
Later my mom babysat (thanks mom!) while the rest of us enjoyed an evening on the town to see Wicked. It was a lot of fun, especially since it was my first time seeing it although I did miss Derek and David a bit. We even got to meet up with my Dad's sister Janice and her family before the show which was an added bonus.The next day we headed up to Bellingham and spent some time at Michelle's house. The highlight for me was our trip to Larrabee State Park. The scenery was gorgeous and I got to see jellyfish and starfish along the shoreline which was a first for me. David's favorite was the hotel pool. He was a great little traveler (It helps a lot that neither he or I got sick this time) and gets to be more fun all the time. I really wish Derek could have come along as well, but at least he was able to get a fair amount of work and studying accomplished in our absence.

Protecting Our Youth

Today is one of those days I'm so proud to be a Utahn who may one day be sending my child in Utah schools. An elementary school in Davis County (the school district in which we currently reside) has recently issued letters of apology for inappropriately exposing innocent children to this "radical, leftist propaganda video." Or at least it has been so dubbed by the Utah Eagles Forum, an upstanding conservative group who apparantly have a lot of clout locally. In a quick perusal of their website I learned that this fine group boasts many admirable feats such as thwarting hate crime legislation and exposing feminists for who and what they really are (yes, these really were listed as accomplishments on their site). I sure am glad that someone is willing to protect our youth from such radical extremism. Maybe I should start investigating private school.