Poor kids

Deaglan
A double ear infection, tonsilitus, a terrible cough and cold, four molars sprouting and now this! Last night Deaglan took a face-first dive into the bottom edge of our side table. He's just learning to run. The swelling has gone down this morning as you can see. I guess I could have taken a picture of it last night but that could be considered some sort of abuse couldn't it? My child has nearly broken his face and I'm trying to get a good shot of it for my blog...

Shaune
Shaune usually has Fridays and Sundays off. This week he had to not only put his usual 45 plus hours in, but also had to go in on Friday for several hours and Saturday night after working his regular shift. Then this morning he had to go in two hours early to help out. To top it off when he asked Deaglan if he could have a kiss, Deaglan just shook his head.

Something worth seeing

Sick and tired

Deaglan is sick again/still. We made it through two full weeks of work for me and daycare for him. Then on Thursday his daycare teachers told me that he just hadn't been himself all day. I admit I dropped him off that morning knowing full-well that he was probably sick.

Experience has taught me to change tactics. When I first went back to work I would drop everything if he sniffled or had a questionable poop. But now I find myself talking him out of possible ailments. Shaune's pretty good at this too. "He didn't technically throw-up" one of us will confirm. Or "He's teething and that would explain the loose stool" we will say, convincing each other.
Then all day long a feeling of dread every time my work phone rings.

Having a sick kid all the time is hard. Neither one of us is particularly pleasant without any sleep (one of us less pleasant than the other but I won't point any fingers). The lack of sleep also leads to a lack of quality in everything else. For instance yesterday was a beautiful day. I just had no energy to do anything. I vaguely entertained the idea of taking the baby to the park to get fresh air but the prospect of changing out of my pyjamas and bundling him up somewhat quickly banished the thought. Even the thought of posting on my blog tired me out.

Last night was another long and sleepless night. It reminds me of the first several weeks after Deaglan was born. Shaune and I were nervous wrecks not knowing what we were supposed to be doing. A few times in the last couple of weeks Shaune has said without the least bit of humour - "I don't want to have another one". I meant to argue with him but I was just sooooo tired!

Hello?

Deaglan's increasing reach has forced us to rearrange our home. Nothing escapes his curiosity.

Trucks, dolls and kitchen sets

This was the first toy he picked up this morning. I had these two dolls (a male and a female) from before he was born. They were meant as a gift for either a niece or one of my friends' daughters. I decided to let Deaglan play with them instead. He loves them.
A few weeks ago, Kim the mom who was looking after the kids in the playroom at church noticed that Deaglan just loved the kitchen set. It's all he played with. We thought that this was pretty neat. After all he watches his Dad cook all the time. I suggested that we keep our eye out for one this summer when we're garage sale-ing.

He also loves anything with wheels, anything that is packaging for something else, blocks, vaseline, anything paper and just about anything we don't want him to have.

I figure it's better to let him play the way he wants. Imagination is a good thing.

Book worm

Deaglan loves his books. I hope it means he will love to read. I do. And I try to read to him a few times a day. Lately I've noticed him imitating me. He opens a book and then points to the words with his finger. That's how I read to him. He has a pretty good attention span when I'm reading to him. Reading has always been a great love of mine. Now that I'm back to work it's been harder to do. That was one of the many best parts of mat leave. I read all the time.

Inter-racial

Deaglan has a diverse ethnicity. I am a first generation Bangladeshi. Actually, Bangladesh became a country the year I was born. It used to be East Pakistan. Shaune was born in Sarnia, Ontario. His parents were also born here but a couple of generations back there is Irish and English heritage.

I wonder what his experience will be as a mixed race person. I hope that the world will be kind to him. I hope he never experiences any limitations based on what he looks like. I hope he never puts limitations on others based on what they look like.

Spring!

After church we went to the park for some fun. Every family within a 10km radius must have had the same idea. It was crowded but we still managed to get a couple of runs on the slide. After this long and dreary winter the sun sparked light-heartedness in all of us. We're planning on continuing to bask in the rays with a bbq for dinner.

Christian the lion

Fever

Since Deaglan started daycare, he has been sick almost everyday. I'm not exaggerting. And I know that it is actually very good for him - I've heard a thousand testimonials from other parents swearing that once they pass this "immunity building" stage, kids rarely get sick ever again. My back-to-work schedule has come in handy since I work from Tuesdays to Fridays. Today Deaglan was really sick with very high temperatures. I called telehealth and they told me that what I was doing was right (giving him lots of fluids and tylenol and motrin to bring down the fever) but there were times when I contemplated taking him into emergency. His fever came down and I was able to bathe him and put him to bed. But there was something that I noticed about him that had me again realizing just how much we can learn from babies. There was no drama to his illness. As soon as he felt even a tiny bit better, he was up and playing, laughing and chasing the cat. So in the moment. So all about joy.

Indulgent

Lots of pictures of him I know but every new thing he does is so amazing to me. He's always LOVED the cat but these days he's taking this to new levels. Although we keep a close eye - the poor cat can only take so much, we also don't want to discourage these very large shows of affection.

Dinner impossible

Mealtimes have become a dreaded event for me. This is a common look that is usually accompanied by vehement shaking of the head. Today I started with a vegetable medley sauteed in butter and then introduced meatballs in a tomatoe sauce. When these were both rejected (I'm talking thrown on the floor past the point of saving), I brought out apple sauce, and then half of an english muffin.
This type of scenario is not saved just for dinner time. We go through this at breakfast and lunch also. He did end up eating some of the english muffin and the applesauce. Surprising since this morning the english muffin was brushed off of the tray even before the butter had a chance to fully melt. Fun!

Look who's NOT talking

I apologize for the bad movie title reference. But in true first-time mom fashion I have been staying up some nights wondering (worrying) why my now 14-month old hasn't said a word yet. I mean he does speak all the time - just not English. I've turned to other mothers, ones with a bit more experience and they all say the same thing - nothing to worry about, he'll talk when he's ready.
During these times of self-torture, I argue that he does know what I'm saying. I can ask him to get his milk or water and he knows the difference. He knows what his choo-choo (soother) is, will grab snoopy if asked, has his own special sound for Crash (our cat) and waves bye-bye.
It's when I see other kids his age saying things. Like the little genius Olivia in his daycare room who points at my son and says "baby". Yes, I say to this little know-it-all, it looks like he still is a baby since he can't talk yet and you can and you're one week younger than he is.

Why do we do it? Why do we attach any meaning to how fast or slow our kids develop? Why do we take some sort of credit when they do something faster than other kids (Deaglan walked at 9 months!!) and take it personally when they aren't as far along (Deaglan still doesn't sleep through the night)??