Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Some Words on Puke

Ever since the 2016-17 school year started, Tyler has had some puking issues. Yes, he has always been an easy puker, but it has become quite frequent in the past year. Poor guy. 

We had decided to move him to a different school this year. Thurgood Marshall is one of the school district's HCC schools. HCC stands for Highly Capable Cohort...basically, gifted. I'm not bragging here. I truly feel that being gifted comes from more than academics. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the way the district sees it. But, I'm not going to go into my issues with this program. 

The school itself has been lovely. We like the campus, the teachers, the administrators, etc. It's a much bigger school than Montlake, but the community building is still pretty strong. Unfortunately, the whole package has not been a good fit for our boy. The school start time is almost 2 hours after Montlake. Ty still goes to bed and wakes up at the about the same time as Vincent. We have encouraged an earlier bedtime, or for him to sleep in, but let's face it, it's hard to when your brothers aren't in bed, too. The later start means a later dismissal. By the time our guy gets home from school, he's pretty tired. 

The first few weeks of the year, he was throwing up 1-2 times a week. It was miserable for all of us. We thought he was overwhelmed by the new, tougher karate class, because it seemed like those were the days he suffered from most. But, looking back, he was just so tired that the extra energy needed for this advanced karate class was already spent. He stopped karate, and it did seem to help a little, but would still have puke spells about once a month.

This is Tyler's typical "puke day" routine: 1) Ty complains that he doesn't feel well, usually in the afternoon; 2) we check his temperature. Usually he has no fever or ever so slightly warmer than usual, but not a true 100.4 fever temperature; 3) we ask him to take it easy, maybe he'll lay down, check in on him from time to time; 4) he pukes; 5) he skips dinner (maybe pukes, again), and takes a nap; 6) he wakes a couple of hours later, is hungry, and feeling better, but we are still very cautious and only let him eat plain food, like crackers; 7) goes to bed for the night; 8) wakes up next morning feeling "Great!" or "Awesome!" Sometimes this varies a little, but it's still pretty close.

All this is to say that yesterday was another puke day. Difference was it involved me taking a Lyft from work to grab the car from home to drive to his school to pick him up. 

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

T-Minus 1 Week

My littlest dumpling is turning 4 years old in one week. Wow. Time truly feels like it zoomed by at light speed. It's an especially significant year because as he turns 4, I will not be pregnant, unlike when dumpling #2 turned this age. I am done making babies (*sigh*).

I've been thinking a lot about this upcoming birthday. Age 4 isn't a really a milestone year. Like, 5 is halfway to a decade old, 10 is two-digits, 18 is voting age, 21 is drinking age, and so on. But, in our family, turning 4 means you get a "big" birthday party. This is the age I set as when I should be able to throw my kid a birthday party that doesn't only involve family members and maybe one set of neighbors if they happen to be home when I call them that very day to come over for cake. This is the birthday party that he gets to pick his guests, I make a big stink about decorations, and party favors, and cake, and food, and, and, and...

Unfortunately, being the youngest of 3, his Mama has grown tired. I decided that he can have a big party, but it will have to be on his actual birthday, which is a TUESDAY during spring break, and not on a weekend day some time before or after the actual day. If you are a parent, you know that throwing a party on a different day means you end up having 2 birthday celebrations. I did that for big bros in December and February. Along with Christmas, Daddy's birthday, Valentine's Day, etc. Tired. So, my sweet, sweet baby dumpling will get a special celebration, but only once. Let's be sure, though, it's most definitely not for lack of love, but for lack of energy.
 

Friday, March 10, 2017

Is It Spring Yet?

Oh, it's been a little while since I've last posted. No reason in particular for it. Mostly because nobody really reads this so-called blog, but also because I haven't been up to it.

Moving on...

I'm pretty done with winter. Everyday I look at my weather app on my phone, and it's the same as the day before; 40s, cloudy, some rain. Today, though, it's 50 degrees, cloudy, and some rain. It's an improvement.

At Crosby's dance class this morning, one of the other moms hot-tipped us on chicks being at the hardware store! You bet I took my little man straight there after class. This, and the ever so slightly warmer weather, are positive signs that spring is around the corner...right?

Where do you find these chicks? 

Greenwood Hardware (True Value) 
7201 Greenwood Ave N
Seattle WA 98103