Ear Infections and Temper Tantrums

We went to the doctor for our first ear infection since Collin was born . . . but it was me with the infection, not my baby! My ear must not be too bad, because my biggest symptom is that it feels like my right ear is under water, not that I'm feeling intense pain. I'm looking forward to the z-pack kicking in though so I don't have to keep asking people to repeat themselves. I went out to lunch with co-workers yesterday and caught every other word. Between that and sneezing and coughing all over everyone, I'm sure they were thrilled they invited me.

Collin is almost recovered from this cold that gave me the ear infection. But on the days he was experiencing the worst of the cold symptoms, the one-year-old temper tantrums were more frequent. These happen when we tell him no. Such as no, don't put the dirty, dog-slobber tennis ball in your mouth. Here he is pouting at the end of our driveway over that injustice:
Now that he's getting his strength back, he is seeming more interested in walking rather than crawling for short distances. If he's holding on to my finger, he'll walk all over the place - and sometimes he is going so fast he's almost running. My finger is giving little to no physical support, but must give him the mental confidence he needs. Just when I was beginning to think I might be walking him to kindergarten by the finger, he has started to show more bravery in the walking department. Maybe in March he'll decide crawling is for babies . . .

One week a month & the benefits of doing laundry

I've decided a new goal for our family should be that at least one week of the month, everyone is home. Even though this week, Cas was only gone one night, we haven't had a week in Feb where no one is traveling, and I'm craving a "normal" week.

Another unusual aspect of the start of this week was the loss of my cell phone. The Apple iPhone and I have had a rocky start. Within a week of receiving my first one, I smashed it under the trunk door of my car. Number two has served me pretty well, being particularly valued in line at the DMV with access to games and the internet. Recently I've become a twitter follower of Matt Chandler and John Piper and am spiritually encouraged throughout the day. Before I choose my clothes, I check my weather app, and while I'm waiting at long stoplights, I may on occasion hit up Facebook. All that to say my phone has become an integral part of my day.

On Sunday morning my iPhone alarm went off. I was already up with Collin and Cas turned it off. After deciding our box-of-Kleenex-a-day cold from Collin made us unattractive as a pew neighbor, we decided to keep our germs at home and skip church. My parents and GGB came over to play with Collin. I didn't leave the house the entire day.

Sunday night I realized I couldn't find my cell phone. After finding a home phone inside one of Collin's walkers, I feared it was unintentionally hidden by a 13-month-old. Collin goes to bed and Cas joins me in the house search. I finally call my parents in hopes that they saw Collin playing with it somewhere odd. Nope, but my mom recommends calling it. As if that wouldn't have been the first thing we tried. After another hour of searching, I surrender, going to bed still mentally searching the house.

Monday my hopes were dashed when Salvadora, who cleans our home, didn't see it. She did helpfully suggest that we call the phone and even further explained to Cas that we'd be able to locate it when we heard the ring! Now our whole house is clean and the cell phone is still missing. We resume our search, with Cas asking every 5 minutes, "Have you called the phone?"

Getting more desperate, I strap on the headlamp and search the front and backyard, even though I don't remember going outside with my phone on Sunday. And then the dreaded task on my search list - going through the trash. It was the instance where I was most thankful for my cold which prevented me from smelling anything. All fruitless efforts.

Tuesday I go to work feeling as though we will never find my phone. My glimmer of hope is that the battery will last until Sunday and the weekly alarm will sound, but that's asking a lot of an iPhone battery. I intended to send an email out to friends and family with my work cell number, but the day got away from me.

Tuesday night Cas is out of town. When I took Collin to his room to strip him down for his bath, I realize there's a week's worth of laundry on his bed. I am the worst about putting away his laundry because I normally do chores like that when he's asleep, and that timing obviously conflicts with providing a quiet and dark sleep environment. So I let Collin destroy his room, pulling every book off his shelves, while I put away his clothes.
And what was hidden amongst his clothes but my iPhone - with about 35 missed calls from our home phone! Hallelujah! I am feeling whole again and hopefully will stay inspired to keep up with laundry!

Valentine's weekend

Cas bought us tickets to see Amos Lee in concert as our Valentine's gift to one another. On Friday we called to make reservations for dinner and the only opening was 5:30pm! Neither of us had the foresight to call in advance for Valentine's Saturday night. But as uncool as it was to be at a restaurant that early, the timing couldn't have been better. We made it near the front of the line and were able to snag a coveted table at House of Blues, which we couldn't have done if we had eaten at a more respectable 7pm.

While we were out for a night on the town, Grammy came to stay with Collin. She didn't know what she was in for - and neither did we. Amos Lee didn't come on until 10pm and so we got home at 12:30 and convinced Grammy to stay the night. Everyone except for Collin was yawning quite a bit as we got ready for church on Sunday morning!

Not only did Collin get to hang out with Grammy and show off his developing pointing skills (like where is the light, where are your dogs pointing), but he was joined by cousin Jasper and Great Aunt Cheryl. We were gone but they took a few pictures on our camera -

Checking out Jasper - he was highly entertained by all of her noises she'd make to get a smile.
Comfortable with Grammy -

He has yet to outgrow his Playschool house -

Walking to Grammy -

It was a great thing that we celebrated on Saturday. Monday Cas and I were both slammed at work. I got home, hung out with Collin, threw some fish in the oven, put Collin down, and was back on my laptop when Cas got home at 8pm. He packed up and left for the gym, getting back after I was asleep. It was about as unromantic a day as they get!

Texas Snow Day means never getting out of Pajamas

On Friday the city shut down for a snow day that wasn't. Collin peered out the window upon waking for the promised snow, but the weather forecasters were wrong and we had only ice. Since the winter photo opportunity did not materialize, we decided there was no reason to get out of our pajamas for the course of the weekend.
Poor Fergie was the only one who wanted to be outside in the freezing weather, but she couldn't find anyone interested in joining her in the backyard for a game of fetch.

He looks deceptively comfortable here laid back on the couch. I was actually trying to remove a splinter from his foot and gave him the phone as a distraction. Can you see his little tear? He was not a fan of the splinter removal process.

Saturday morning involved rummaging through every toy in the basket.

Finally the weather turned on Sunday. And it was BEAUTIFUL - 72 degrees and sunny. Collin paraded up and down our driveway.

He waved as cars would pass by -

And explored some dirt - When we headed back inside, I gave him a homemade morning glory muffin with carrots, apples, walnuts, etc for an afternoon snack. Delicious, healthy, and this was the look I got for my efforts -

This morning we're eating breakfast and I ask him, "Where is Collin's hair?" He touches his hand to the top of his head. Cheering, then ask, "Where is Mommy's hair?" I bend my head down and he grabs my hair. Cheering and reveling that my child is a genius. Next, "Collin, where is your nose?" And he puts his hands on top of his head. Okay, maybe we're not quite there yet!

Splish Splash Collin's Taking a Bath

Bath time has evolved from a check-the-box task to a 30+ minute ordeal. It comes complete with tons of smiles, giggles, squeals, verbalizing, kicking, splashing, and sometimes tears from bubbles gone bad (when he tries to blow bubbles but instead inhales the bath water). It is one of Collin's most expressive times of the day and I always wish I had my camera once Collin is already in the bath and I'm stuck. Tonight I finally had the foresight to grab it before I put Collin in the tub.

Waiting for the tub to fill up . . . and reading a book to pass the time.

Very serious even with bubbles on his head -

Playing with Noah's ark -

Happy in the tub, cape (i.e. warm, wet washcloth) on his back

Talking, singing, and squealing away -

After bubble blowing success, a proud grin -

Playing with toys -

Checking out his surroundings -

Posing modestly. And the final part of our nighttime routine - books, prayers and bed. Tonight, Collin wanted Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See read on repeat.

Thankful on Friday

I was struck last night that it is only by God's grace we have not ended up in the ER yet with Collin. We try to be vigilant parents and have appropriate baby-proofing measures in place, but he is just drawn to danger. For example, last night I was holding him as I grabbed some milk from the refrigerator. (As an aside, today's his last day of breast milk. Our freezer stash has been depleted, so he's a cow's milk man from now on!)

As I'm pouring myself a glass, I offer him some and realized he couldn't take a sip because something was in his mouth. Oh, just a round magnet the perfect size for choking. Thank you, Lord, for keeping him from swallowing it!

Last weekend we're in his room, and he's playing while I'm putting away his clothes. I check on him and he reaches under the bed and hands me a pointed screw. No idea how that ended up on the ground under his bed, but so thankful that he passed it off to me rather than trying to ingest it.

And because I'm not always overflowing with thankfulness as should be the case, my unthankful moment of the week was when the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles worker asked for my weight at my license renewal. I guess I looked like I had gained a few pounds since my weight was last included in the database - probably when I was sixteen. Of course I have added a few pounds since high school - and maybe it's a standard question if it has been 10+ years since renewals - but I still took it personally!

Texas-style Winter Fest

After Collin's nap on Saturday, we took him to Winter Fest, a free celebration at a local high school. The big attraction was "snow," but when we arrived, the five-and-under area was pretty icy. Collin was not impressed.
While we waited for a fresh layer of "snow" to be added, we visited the attractions. My sweet tentative boy was very unsure in the petting zoo, holding onto me with a death grip as very tame chickens, goats and pigs ran around.

Right before we left for Winter Fest - which was 5 minutes away - we changed Collin's diaper. And since we expected to be there no longer than an hour, I failed to bring any spares. What a mistake. Of course in the car ride over, Collin had a dirty diaper. But we weren't going to let that stop his first snow experience.

Unfortunately it was the WORST dirty diaper of Collin's existence. And so in the petting zoo, the pigs wouldn't leave him alone, sniffing at his rear and the smelly load he was carrying. We quickly made our escape, and the snow was ready for us to partake.

Even with slightly improved snow, Collin was not pleased. Not pleased at all that his mom would make him sit in the cold, wet stuff in a DIRTY diaper for a picture. Not pleased when we threw small pieces in the air. Not pleased as we helped him try to walk in it. Not pleased until he was home, post-bathtub, warm and clean.

Notice the ReddyIce truck in the background - the source of the Texas snow? Last week I was in Columbus, OH and was giddy about all the snow - and so thankful that my Canadian boss was traveling with us to drive in it. But as I was snapping pictures with my iPhone, my boss scornfully regarded me as "such a southerner."