Weird.

I had a dream last night that I met Stephen King and his wife, and Stephen King's number one fan told me he loved me...?

Maybe because I want to read Pet Sematary because Natalie said it's awesome? Or maybe not.

Clint's first week at home has been pretty good. He sanded a bunch of window sills to get ready to repaint. Unfortunately, I had 3 meetings for work this week and spent a bunch of time away from the house. I also had a very, very important date with Mrs. Laura Jackson Roberts. There were crab legs. And stellar conversation. And Riesling. Only for me, she's got a baby cooking.

This week has been improved by good friends, good mix CDs, losing 2.5lbs and my little monkey.

His new favorite "playtime" activity is chasing me around the house. If you have been to our apartment, you know there is a mile-long hallway. I will get his attention, run up the hallway and hide in one of the rooms. He literally cackles. He laughs so hard. When he finds me, I say "boo!" and run to another room. He will laugh about this for 20+ minutes. He laughed even harder when I hid behind the arm of the couch and he snuck up on me.

Owen has started repeating things I say to him. All done, good job, thank you... It's hardly recognizable as real words, but I know what he's saying :)

Good stuff.

All in a day's work.

So I'm worried about sleep. I guess it started last night, when Owen woke up around midnight, before I had gone to bed, but after I had taken two Tylenol PMs (they are necessary when switching a sleep schedule every week and weekend). Fortunately, this time wasn't as bad as the last time, and the Darling Downstairs Neighbors did not call.

I don't know how I retained my sanity with a newborn. Lack of sleep really does something to your noggin. He woke up earlier than he had been the past few days, so I felt sluggish all morning. Still, I did two loads of laundry, changed two diapers, made four kinds of muffins and prepared two meals before 1pm. After that, my motivation died down.

Owen was really funny today. It's amazing how fast he picks up on things. I was just saying how he learned to say, "all done!" when he is done getting changed. Well, I noticed that he has started saying "all done!" when he WANTS to be done with something. Getting changed, eating, sitting in the tub... The other day, I was in the kitchen making dinner, and Clint walks out and says, "Our kid is so smart." I had to agree. We are your typical proud parents.

He's also a creature of habit. He will inevitably go for the ONE THING in the room that I don't want him to mess with. Today, it was the lamp on the end table. I have removed basically everything from the living room except for furniture and toys. But the lamps have to stay, and they were the object of his interest today. He kept wedging himself between the table and the wall and trying to pull the lamp off. It was frustrating. I had to push the table against the wall so he couldn't get behind it and put the lamp at the far corner. Having a small child does not jive with my organizational anal retentiveness. The lamps are staying though. I will NOT resort to using overhead light, lol. I despise overhead light!!

Since we stopped giving him a bottle, our new bedtime routine consists of tickle-time, bath time, lotion and pajamas, a kiss from Daddy, and then reading and snuggle time with Mama. We have a little stack of books on a stool next to the rocking chair, including "Goodnight Moon," (Goodnight Stars, Goodnight Air, Goodnight Noises everywhere), "Guess How Much I Love You," (I love you as I high as I can reach), and a couple of other various bedtime books. Recently, I added this Baby Einstein's "Windows to Color" book into the mix. That was a mistake. We have had the book for a while, and he's always liked it, but now... geez... Ever since I gave him that option, he pushes all the other books away. He will only relax and let me read this color book. It's really neat though. It has a classic painting, with a little window looking through to the next page, displaying objects in the most dominant color for the painting. For example, on one page, there is a Georgia O'Keefe flower that is mostly red. On the opposite page, there is a heart cut-out and the words, "hot, rich, exciting." Then you turn the page, and it says, "RED!" and has a rose, a fire truck and some other red things. He adores this book. I always point out all the pictures and tell him what they are, and tell him the name of the painter and picture. I am pretty sure he understands "blueberries, Owey loves blueberries" better than "Edgar Degas, 'Dancers Coming Upstairs'." But tonight, when we were on the yellow page, I pointed out the ducklings, and said, "Owey look at the duckies! Do you see the duckies?" and he actually said, "Duckies!"

I think one of these nights I'm going to experiment and just show him a collection of Georgia O'Keefe paintings that I have.

While I was making muffins today, I wanted to keep Owen busy in the dining room, so I opened the lid of the piano and showed him that when you press the keys, a noise comes out. So I got to listen to music while making muffins. I'm going to try to get this on video.

I love being a mom.

AND. The Wellness Bridge is having a contest of sorts (I think to get everyone out of their winter weight loss funk). We renewed our gym memberships, and I paid for two months of the Wellness Bridge. I have to keep a record of what I eat, get my exercise in, and set a goal for the next eight weeks. I set a goal of 8lbs. I think I can lose 8lbs in 8 weeks. Good luck to me.

An apple a day DOES NOT keep the doctor away, apparently.

So things are pretty crappy around here. And I mean that literally.

It all started last weekend, when Clint took Owen to MedExpress because he had a high fever. 102.5 to be exact. That's not SO high, but too high for us to be comfortable. They said he had an ear infection in his left ear. They gave him a three-day antibiotic. On the third day of the antibiotic he started developing cold symptoms, coughing, sneezing and some congestion. We thought, well, the antibiotic is still in his system, let's give it a couple of days to work it's way out.

Stop reading here if you don't want to hear about poop.

Come Friday, most of his cold symptoms are gone, but now we have new awesome symptoms. Poop. Poop.... all day. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind changing a poopy diaper once or twice a day. It reminds me that everything is working right. But the little one started going six and seven times a day, which is SO unlike him it's not funny. And you mothers know, when a baby is pooping that much, that little caboose gets IRRITATED. His little butt got so red that we were scared to clean him up. Also, every time he goes, he strains so hard that his little face gets red, and he grunts, and then he cries. Something was not right.

So, we took him to the emergency room Sunday morning. They did a chest and abdominal X-ray to make sure he didn't have pneumonia or any obstruction in his bowels. They said his intestines were full of stool. They prescribed a cream for his irritated bum and said to push fluids.

FYI, this kid HATES all medical personnel. The whole day kind of took it out of him. He fell asleep Sunday night in his high chair halfway through his sweet potato.

Owen and Daddy in the emergency room.

So, today, Monday, he's still pooping nonstop. I call his regular pediatrician, and she says to give him a laxative and check back with her NEXT WEDNESDAY. I might be getting a new pediatrician soon... All day long he wanted to be held. He didn't play. He didn't walk around and break stuff. He pooped, cried and wanted held.

So, keep my little monkey in your prayers. His little red bum needs to feel better.


AND! On top of all of this, I am probably sicker than I have been in years. I started feeling sick on Wednesday. I figured I picked up whatever bug my little bug had. I still went to my wellness meeting (and for the record, I have lost 25lbs... thank you very much) and then the gym, which I regretted. My lungs were burning. Thursday I felt a little worse. Friday, I felt like I was going to die. My chest was congested, and I was blowing my nose every 10 minutes. I said, I can't stay up all night and work while feeling this way. I called off of work and went to MedExpress the minute Clint got home from work that afternoon. They said it's probably the beginning of bronchitis. They gave me an antibiotic, these little pearl things to swallow that are supposed to relieve coughing, and an inhaler!!! I have never used an inhaler in my life. Saturday, I went to the grocery store even though I was still feeling crappy. After the grocery store, I felt like I was going to die again. I can hear the congestion in my chest when I breath. So, I didn't go to work again. (I'm pretty sure this is the first time in my life that I have called off two days in a row.) By Sunday, I'm thinking, why am I not feeling better? Is the antibiotic not working? And then we spent a big chunk of time in the emergency room for Owen. So I called off AGAIN. Fortunately, I work with very understanding people, so I appreciate all of your help. So today, the day of poop and crying, I'm still sick as a dog, having trouble breathing, and through an entire box of tissues. I called the doctors back and they have given me a stronger antibiotic. Pray that this one works. I NEED to feel better soon. This has been the most miserable weekend of my life.

When Owen fell and busted his lip this morning, I looked towards the heavens and said, "You're joking, right?"

The ONLY good side of all of this was that I got to spend a little extra time with the husband, and we got through the previous season of Lost. So excited for the premiere TOMORROW!!

H20 troubles

So, the water is out again. There is a massive waterline break in downtown Wheeling, AGAIN, that happened around noon yesterday. So, we haven't had water for almost 30 hours. This wouldn't be that big a deal, except it is a big deal. We have a baby here, who needs water in order to EAT. We have dishes in the kitchen that need washed. I can't cook. I can't wash vegetables. We have been giving Owen baths with jugs of water that we bought at the grocery store. And... we have one bathroom... and THIS SUCKS.

Erin was kind enough to host a play date today, where I washed baby bottles and filled up extra gallons of water. It was fun hanging out Laura and Erin, Andy and Alexander!

Then I took Owen shopping with me so I could buy new shoes for Iowa. He did not nap. He hadn't slept at all since he woke up from his mid-morning nap at 11am.

The good news is - I have been back on the Wellness Bridge for one week, and I have lost three pounds and 3.75 total inches. YES. Great success.

We had to get out for dinner, where Owen was awesome. He sat at the high chair and ate puffs and flirted with the waitresses, wearing his chick magnet bib. He was super pleasant all through dinner.

Driving home, we hear a loud pop and then I'm swerving in my little red bug. Tire blowout. We had to call Clint's brother to come and get me and Owen so I could get home and put him to bed, then Clint had to call a tow truck to come and take the car to the only tire place open in the Ohio Valley after 6pm. So, $140 and 30 minutes of screaming baby later, we are all home, wanting a shower, washing our hands with jugs of water, in a kitchen full of dirty dishes. I just pray that it's fixed by Friday, because if I have to go without water most of the week at home, I think I might gouge my eyes out if I have to go all weekend without water and air at work. FML.

I literally almost cried when Clint just told me he couldn't find my corkscrew.

But hey, 3lbs. Well-behaved baby in the restaurant. Found the corkscrew. Little things to celebrate...