Frost's Passport has ARRIVED

Leading up to our departure next week we are still waiting on two passports - Josh's from the US Passport Agency and Frost's from the Australian one. Although Frost has a US passport, the Australian government requires him to enter Australia on his national one (which had expired). Josh had lost his US one after our last trip 4 years ago so both had to be replaced.

Josh submitted his on February 24th and his passport is still not listed as being in the US Passport Agency System. I waited on hold for 20 minutes yesterday and was finally told that his passport had been entered on March 3rd but was "backlogged" and so no updates were posted. It has not been completed yet but should be made by late next week. SHOULD. Thankfully, Josh is leaving 10 days after us so there is still time for it to arrive. However, if we had believed the 3 week processing time he was told on receipt, we would be very anxious right now.

Meanwhile, Frost's was submitted on March 8th in San Francisco (via Fedex) and has just been delivered to us on the 16th. That took them 8 days to create and deliver a passport from interstate. I consider that pretty impressive.

I suppose to give the US Passport Agency their due, they are trying to equip a nation of non-passport holders who are only now requiring what they call "passport BOOKS" How big are these things? Almost all Australians get a passport when they become adults. There is nowhere else to go without a passport unlike US Americans who, until recently, could roam Canada and Mexico on their drivers' license. Actually, this is only what I have been told... I still cannot believe it.

Huge Snow

Wren went to bed early this evening after missing most of his midday nap. He has not had a fever today but remains very up and down emotionally. I think he is still feeling unwell but on the mend. Here he is yesterday while he had a high fever and was watching Wiggles.


This morning we had a brief but heavy snowfall of the largest snowflakes I have ever seen. Even though it was fairly warm (by winter standards) the snow stuck for a while until it turned to rain. I don't think these pictures do it justice but the snowflakes were around an inch in diameter and I think they must have been aggregates of many crystals. It was beautiful to look up int the sky because you could follow a single flake as it fell from far away. While the sky usually looks 'flat' the huge grey flakes made the sky remarkably three dimensional. It was very unusual.




Here is Wren at Breafast (before the emotional meltdowns). He has just figured out how to fake smile.

Feeling hopeful

Wren is still not feverish and I am hopeful that he will be OK tonight too. He is still acting a bit peculiar - he woke in the middle of nap for the second day in a row - but is cheerful and energetic otherwise. Now if I can get him to eat something more substantial than the frosting from Cupcake Royale. Joshua is attempting to lure him with instant mac and cheese.

No fever but catalog crazy

Frost and Wren are reading the 2009 Playmobil catalogs. The free catalogs are a great source of joy to both of them. Frost reads each page in detail while Wren calls his "my Indian book" and says "how read it?" Because it is floppy he has difficulty turning pages.

"I need go pee!" he shouts. I say "RUN!" "No no. I like read Indian book. I goan pee on couch." I disagree swiftly and scoop him up to the potty a long corridor away. "Nooooo," complains Wren "I don't like jump!"

However, we have success.

This morning Wren had no fever but I think it is likely that it returns at some point. Still, it is encouraging to have this respite.

"Wren have this one!" he calls out on seeing the playmobil buffalo in the catalog.

"I will tell you THREE things I like" adds Frost "maybe four". "I really like the Egyptian Playmobil because they are the newest kind and they are coming out in August. They have a tomb treasure, a sphynx and mummy, a pharoah with horse, a ship and THE PYRAMID!"

I explain to Frost that he better be saving money because we can't spend too much on toys. In fact, I suggest we go to the library today to get him something new to read. Frost suggests we add a trip to Top Pot Donuts on the library visit. I explaint that we spent [aka I and kids spent] about $200 last month on eating out and coffee shops on our trips and we have to put a stop to it.

Frost suggests we "get rich so we don't have to pay so many taxes". Honestly, the things he comes up with sometimes. I asked him where he go this bit of theory from and he explained "Obama said it on TV". I hadn't had any coffee yet so I couldn't figure out how to tell him that by many standards we middle classers are rich but still things don't work out to provide unlimited donut and Playmobil shopping.

Why you DO that?

When I touch his forehead to check for fever Wren asks "why you DO that?" I explain that I am checking if he is sick. "Wren not sick. Not go doctor?" I reassure him that we don't have to go to the doctor, yet, but he is sick because he still has a fever.

This evening he said "Wren a bit hot". I checked and he was a bit hot. The first reading was 103 but the other ear was 102.4 so I am not sure how hot he was really. It had been 7 hours since he received Tylenol so I gave him a dose and his fever was down to near normal at bedtime.

We still have no symptoms to blame and hope it goes away tomorrow or we will be doing the blood draw on Monday (3 days of unexplained fever) for endocarditis. If he needs one, I think I may take him to Children's clinic for it rather than doing it at the doctors. She had an awful time doing the draw last time.

Still Feverish but Active

Wren slept well last night but when he woke (like clockwork) he had a fever of 102.5. I gave him Tylenol and his fever went away. He has been active and engaged and playing as usual but has less humor and is not as energetic. I expect the fever to return when this dose wears off.

As always with the endocarditis risk I would prefer another symptom like a cold. However, many kids at Frost's school and in our community of friends have had fever diseases recently, some of which have persisted for a few days. I shall not panic yet. As always, Wren is sick on a weekend.

He is now running around with a minuscule lego cannon from which he is shooting tiny pellets. He has an ongoing narrative to his game. Here it is verbatim: "Shoot" he says "I doan see it!!!" then "SHOOT, whoa... see that? Its shoot out!!! So FAR AWAY Shannon. Super big!!! I cahn see that its SO FAR AWAY. Woah. Actually. I see that. Ring ring. I dumped it. Now superMAAAN! Super BIG! Here you come. Dump-di-dum! BLONK. Out you come."

Its like a 7 year old talking through him. Wonder how that happened?

Fever

Wren has a fever. He started to breath faster and groan a bit around lunch. I was worried and took his temperature and he has a fever of 101.7 or 102.2 depending on which ear you prefer. He is acting sick but eating mango and naked spiral pasta. I have put him to bed with snuggle bunny, Tylenol drops and a blanket.

I was relieved he was feverish because he sounded a bit scary with his groaning/grunting breathing. I can't help but think "HIS HEART!!!!"

I shall post later. Before his fever rose, we had a fun morning at the playground at Greenlake and visiting the Greenlake Library to ensure we infected as many as families as possible.

I am a bad parent

I am standing at the computer with a vague smell of cat piss in the air. I think a cat peed on my clothes last night and I just put them on again this morning because it was the path of least resistance. Yesterday, someone said my hair looked "really lovely, more feminine". While I deeply appreciate the attempt to compliment me, I think it is looking like it is due to neglect and from wearing a hat all day to cover it.

Frost is off school today and went to the doctor where I allowed him to eat not one, not two but THREE lollipops while having his plantar's wart frozen with liquid nitrogen and pared down with a scalpel (in reverse order). I let Wren have 2 (although he threw both away unfinished) but refused to enable Wren to:
1) Have a cookie for breakfast
2) Have a candy for lunch
3) Eat dispenser candy at Gorditos
4) Run around without a diaper change

I also refused to distract him from his anger/rage tantrum so he had a longer one than was necessary and was carried under the arm screaming.

He liked the lemonade he had at Gorditos.

I let Wren watch Wiggles although nap-time should have begun half an hour ago so I could do some phone-calls for the school enrollment process.

I lost Wren in Top Ten Toys (that place is a total maze) and when I found him silently testing products I did not pick up the cars he had strewn on the floor (but I spent $100 on gifts and airplane distractions. Did I mention I am having 22 hours + on planes /airports en route Australia?)

I am now going to drink tea and read my book while I let Frost play Heros of Might & Magic on the 'family' computer.

Synagis rescheduled today

Nurse Penny was held up yesterday and rescheduled until today after nap. I hope that things go well today. I have bought Wren a baby Snuggle-bunny to comfort when he realises the poke is coming. We will be in Australia for the next scheduled shot so this will be the last of the year.

Wren woke at 5.10am this morning. I know I shouldn't do it but after daylight saving starts I always spend a week or so converting back to the pre-daylight saving time and saying things like "really he woke up at 4.10am" and "really he went to bed at 7.15pm". It sure felt like it was very early. The ground was hard with frost and the outside thermometer read 20.8 degrees F. Can that be right? Are we in a frost hollow? I had my licorice syrup which I tell Wren is "Mummy's medicine when Wren wakes up too early" and I feel OK now.

When Wren sees me taking it he says "Wren have medicine?"

I tell him he isn't sick so he does fake coughs to qualify for the syrups or potions he desires (but does not get).

This morning he was particularly nutty (from having only 9 hours sleep) running around and throwing heavy objects to 'play' with poor Frost who was thumped and bumped and generally interfered with. Wren is jealous of Frost's books and steals them and runs away with them. When Frost is reading Wren gets his own book (one of mine) from the bookshelf in the living room and sits and reads as quietly as Frost (for a few moments at a time).

I hope that Wren does well with the jet lag and we don't end up awake at 1am in Australia. I am not feeling my most resilient in terms of sleep after this daylight saving ordeal.

Synagis today

I forgot but its shot day. The nurse Penny called when Wren was already napping so he won't have the topical anaesthetic Emla. Its ok because he becomes frantic when I put on a big bandaid because he associates it with her last visit.

I shall post how it goes later.

Meanwhile, I am wondering where my mother is. I don't know what kind of relationship you have with your mother but my mother and I speak every few days unless something is UP. She has not replied to emails for 5 days! A mystery.

I submitted the passport application on the weekend and it should be at the consulate in San Francisco by now (courtesy of Fedex and Courtney my friend with Lawyer in her job description). Getting a passport is increasingly difficult these days what with biometric scans and chips implanted in the document. I hope it arrives in time.