You say it’s fine, but really its snot February 22, 2008

A friend and neighbor was checking in with me on how we were all recovering from the icky sickie week we’ve had, and she asked the following question “How’s the mucus factor going at casa de Bailey Eubanks?”

Herewith, my reply:

The mucous around here is THREAT LEVEL SNOTTY. Not as high as it was last weekend (THREAT LEVEL OHMYGOD), nor as much as earlier this week (THREAT LEVEL GEEZEELPETE) but still significant. When you can blow bubbles with your snot, that’s an issue. I’m counting the days until the little guy can blow his nose!

Also, rectal thermometers? Not as scary as you might think. He barely notices. But [I initially wrote “butt” – hee!] the story of our inability to find a single functioning thermometer is epic as well as pricey. The winner was a $5 piece of digital crap that we picked up at the Grocery Store/Co-op. Of course.

Sickie February 18, 2008

Poor little critter. We’ve both been sick for more than a week now, but he’s had a rougher time of it recently. On Saturday, he got his first fever, and while Dave was on the phone with the doctor, the Critter coughed. The doctor said it sounded pretty bad, and advised us to go to the ER to get tested for RSV. The test came back negative, but they did give him an albuterol inhaler and a nebulizer breathing treatment while we were there. He was so unhappy all day on Saturday, but was a bit more cheerful after a long nap.

To make matters worse, before he got feverish, on Friday night, I followed the advice of his GI specialist and “challenged” his dairy sensitivity. I had cheese! And I was surprised to discover that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. What I did enjoy was the chocolate chip cookie I had on Saturday (after I waited for a messy diaper to see if there was any blood). The ER docs said that dairy didn’t have anything to do with his symptoms. However, later in the day, we discovered a big bad rash on the Critter’s back. So, no more dairy after that.

On Sunday, he vomited a lot several times, which worried me. We called the doctor again, and she advised us that babies can vomit if they cough really hard and gag themselves. She also said to bring him in today. I had the day off, but Dave didn’t, so I took him in. He had a fever of 99 (and that’s after Tylenol), and the big news is that he has ear infections in both ears. Both! Poor baby. The doctor said that normal eardrums are smooth and grey, like wax paper. His eardrums reportedly looked “like raw chicken.” Poor little guy! To make matters worse, the doctor tested his messy diaper and it tested positive for blood. So no more dairy for me for a while.

So he’s now on the following medications: amoxicillin twice a day, albuterol inhaler every 4-6 hours and tylenol every 4-6 hours. He’s had some happy moments today, but has also had some really fussy, upset moments. Dave’s staying home tomorrow, and I’ll stay home Wednesday. If need be, Dave will stay home on Thursday and we’ll take it as it comes after that.

The little guy’s going to be fine, but it’s kind of rough for him right now. We’ll keep you posted on developments. To end on a happy note, here’s the little one enjoying his feet.

Acutal knitting content!!! February 15, 2008

It’s been a really hectic week, and finally today is a bit calmer than it has been recently. The critter and I are both sick, coughing and sniffing. Well, he doesn’t sniff – he blows snot bubbles. MMMMMM! I took a bad tumble on the ice on Tuesday and scraped the heck out of my right knee. Again. Yesterday was non-stop, with three back-to-back-to-back meetings.

I’ve missed updating on new critter developments, like the fact that I finished his baby blanket. Woot! It’s the Mason Dixon Moderne Baby Blanket (Ravelry link). I used Debby Bliss Pure Cotton and size 8 needles. It’s a bigger gauge than what the pattern calls for, but I used my mad math skillz and rejiggered the pattern a bit. I ended up knitting about 3/4 of the rows called for in the pattern, and I think 4/5 of the stitches. I’ll have to recheck my notes to confirm that. Regardless, it’s a big rectangle, so as long as the colors look good, the size doesn’t matter as much!

Here’s the Critter enjoying his new blankie…

It started out like this…

And it just grew and grew! Because I started it only a few weeks before the critter was born (and actually, this was my second attempt, after I discovered that I wanted more color cohesion than my first attempt), it was slow going for a long while. I did take it into the delivery room with me, but don’t recall doing much of anything on it while I was in labor. Well, maybe in the early hours… Can’t really remember!

After the critter was born, there was just no time to work on it. If he wasn’t eating or screaming, we were both sleeping. And since he so often slept on me, I wasn’t about to disturb what precious sleep we could get with knitting motions. But since he started sleeping a bit better, I’ve been able to pick it up and finish it after he’s gone to bed. It’s so soft and squishy and I love it. Yay blankie!

wonk wonk wonk wonk wonk February 5, 2008

First of all: Laissez les bon temps roulez!

Second: Happy Super Tuesday! How in the world we get both Mardi Gras and Super Tuesday on the same day is beyond me!

Third: All of my closest blood relatives of voting age get to vote today except me. Georgia, Illinois and even Alaska have their primaries today, and I have to wait until next week’s “Potomac Primary” in which Maryland, DC and Virginia all vote.

Fourth: Don’t you think there’s a strong resemblance between my

Daddy and the former Governor of Arkansas?

We’re going to a Super Tuesday party tonight! Wonks of DC unite!