Hair up his wazzoo

I have just thrown a sock and a dishcloth in the general direction of the kitchen. This is not an angry gesture, they were left over from the laundry. Its just that I am so tired I can't be bothered to move my body from this propped up position on my stool.

Wren has no fever today! That is the fabulous news. However, something is still bugging him. As I have learned to say in the US of A "he has a hair up his arse". Being age appropriate I could update the saying to "he has a bug in his diaper" or "a blockage in his bottle" or "he's trying to shove the cube in the round hole." You get the idea. He uses his shrill shout often

He also seems to have some pain or discomfit when nursing. He is usually very happy to nurse and wants to nurse much more often since he became sick. However, after a few sucks he often starts screaming and arching his back. I have considered these option but none makes sense all the time:

1) Not enough milk (but at times there is a ton and he does it)
2) Sore throat (but I have offered water and he doesn't scream)
3) Sore sucking (mouth?)
4) Sore tummy? (seems too soon after trying to nurse)

Perhaps it is a few of these factors at different times and he can't tell me any other way.

Anyway, thanks for your concern. He is doing better. Last night was better and I hope tomorrow will be too. Still, I am very tired from carrying him around and catering to his every whim under threat of screeching. This afternoon Frost came home from school with a bleeding graze which needed tending. As soon as I paid attention to Frost Wren started whimpering and then yelling. I put him in the crib and shut the door.

There was a tangible sense of relief (outside the door) while I bathed, treated and bandaged Frost's hand. Then it was back to the monkey who was yelling. Thing was, he was exhausted but resisted all attempts to get a second nap in. He will have been up for 7 hours straight by bedtime.

I guess it was another one of those days.

Fever day 3

Today was the third day of Wren's fever. It was a negligible fever and I did not give him Tylenol until bedtime but he still had long periods of being cranky and dissatisfied with life. He let me know about it.

The day began at 6am when he woke, obviously exhausted (less than 9 hours sleep since he and I were up for 90 minutes around 3-4.30am). Josh and I couldn't get him back to sleep and Josh later suggested he had a sore throat.

We had some fun times - stopping in the park in the sun for a while on the way home from buying milk at PCC, picking those tiny white daisies that are springing up from nowhere in the lawns, chasing the cats, poking the butter with our fingers (well, that was Wren) and ending with a long bath of chasing the dodecahedron dice underwater.

Still, I am hoping for a normal day and - more importantly - a restful night to restore my equanimity and youthful (sic) enthusiasm.

Today's Frostism

As Frost was getting changed for bed I noticed he was wearing more than one pair of underpants. I asked him about it. He said:

"Yesterday I put on two pairs of underpants by mistake so that gave me the idea and so today I wore three pairs of underpants."

Its true. He was wearing three pairs of underpants.

Joshua nodded. He get that Frost thought it was fun. Frost was coy and pleased.

I don't get it. Underwear did not become fun for me until my late twenties.

The minivan debate

Joshua and I are in the semi-final stages of changing our car lineup. To recap, we are now the happy drivers of a 2002 Subaru Outback wagon. It has leather seats that can be heated and makes happy little vrooming sounds when you shift the seats. It has space for 5 people and a lot of room in back to store and carry your mess.

Shawn and Sarah Break Rank
A while back, a couple whom we thought were the right sort of people [yes, Shawn and Sarah] bought a Eurovan. We rationalized it at the time as being ok because it was a EUROVAN and they are not minivans, not really.

But the seed was sown. The wedge was driven into our social circle. We now knew a few people mover drivers personally.

We could just ride the bus
Fast forward to the past few months of knuckle breaking buckling and toys lost in the tight crack between the carseat and the seatbelt clasps, of playdates forgone and carpools that are full before we even take a breath, of school trip driving miscalculations in which kids are shuffled at the last minute.

"You can only take one extra kid? Not two?"
I confess, to my shame.

The Decision
So, after some stewing, much denial and futile analysis of miles per gallon we are planning to trade the wagon in for a minivan. Yes, you heard right, a m-i-n-i-van. The models we are looking at are a Honda Odyssey, Kia Sedona and a (Toyota) Sienna. Today, I have a Subaru loan car while the outback is in service. We considered the crossover SUVs but neither of us loves SUVs to begin with and if you are going to move kids you have to love the sliding door.

So, here are the issues:

1) We have been a one car family till now. We would like to continue this way but if I start work we will probably need access to a second car. We don't want to commit all our driving to a vehicle that is not a hybrid and has a high gas consumption. Unfortunately, none of the minivans is a hybrid. All have lousy fuel consumption. Our idea is to buy or lease a second car which is a hybrid or otherwise very fuel efficient vehicle. That way we can do our one-child or child-free driving in the small car and the mass transport driving in the bus.

2) We don't want to be minivan drivers. Well, we could stick with a wagon (friends have the volvo with the 7 seat factor package) and its nice. But Frost gets carsick and is not so good going backwards. If we were going on vacation with another person we couldn't really put them in the trunk with the luggage and it doesn't solve the problem of not really being able to get three carseats across a bucket seat without lots of misery. What is wrong with minivans? They are just uncool.

The Coollessness of minivans
What is it about minivans that make them seems so blah? That makes me want to get a tattoo and drink gin and tonics at noon?

I guess at this point in my life I don't spend a lot of energy on coolness but minivans speak to me about more than struggling to be special. They smack of conformity and are designed giving low priority to style and high priority to groceries and kids backpacks. On the upside they are as practical as fat pants and cotton undies.
This blogger with the same idea showed me that being dragged into mini-vanning, seduced by its amenity, is not uncommon:

And so it goes, on this continuing journey with another "I never thought I'd own a minivan" purchase, that I come to you today with yet another tale of woe as the sad owner (once again...) of a minivan.

You know, people judge you. They look at you differently when you drive a minivan. Owners of SUV's have that - -I don't know - - false sense of bravado. Many of you reading this may, and probably do, own an SUV, and I don't fault you for that. I really don't.

Initially, we too, thought we might purchase one of those fancy new-fangled crossovers OR perhaps, a mid-sized SUV. Then again, upon closer evaluation, we determined that they really weren't for us. They just didn't make economical or environmental sense for our family. We couldn't bring ourselves to buy one. Big gas guzzlers, far more expensive pricetag, and frankly, not as comfortable of a ride, with less legroom in the front and back (we're tall...). Plus, they don't hold as much luggage. We just couldn't justify either one for our family. So, what were left with?

The dreaded - - minivan.

We are going to test drive an Odyssey and Sedona this weekend.

Wren Update
Wren is still feverish. Better this afternoon but then back up to 103 this evening. He is asleep with Tylenol. If he is still feverish tomorrow afternoon I will take him to the ped on Thursday morning - all that stuff about myocarditis and 3 days of fever...


Here he is at Izzy's birthday party. Thanks for the picture Wyndi.

Wren is sick

Wren woke slept lightly for a lot of the night and when I went in at 4am I found he had a fairly noticeable fever. I gave him Tylenol and he slept until 7.40am! This was fairly late even for our daylight savings morning and I think it was because he slept so badly and felt sick.

When he got up this morning he had a bad head cold and sneezing. His fever had gone in the early morning but came back before lunch and has remained at around 101-102 (I guess) until now, despite Tylenol.

He is not acting very ill - still running around and playing for short periods - but has a short attention span and likes to nurse a lot and be carried.

He has not lost his appetite and guzzled a tub of yoghurt at snacktime and chewed satsumas, goldfish and pears for lunch.

I hope he recovers soon and this doesn't become a family thing.

Toddler Property Laws (from infant preschool)

1. If I like it, its mine.
2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
5. If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks just like mine, it is mine.

Wren slept in

This is big news. Wren slept from 7pm-4.30am and then nursed. He woke again just before 7am.

"What, seven am?" I hear you say.

I nod.

"Blessed 7am."

It was so much later than usual that I managed to have a dream in that early restlessness. I dreamt that I got a Brazilian bikini wax by mistake when I went to the hairdresser. Don't analyze that. However, I have made an appointment with Laurie's hair-guy to have all my long hair cut off on April 4th.

The Finger Drama

Yesterday I called the police because I thought I had found a severed human finger in the garden. I found it among the dirt and sawdust while cleaning up the back yard. At the time the kids were making leprechaun traps and fairy houses and I was looking for the source of a rotten smell. I expected to find a bird caught by the kitties but instead I turned the earth and a rotten finger appeared on the surface.

Here is a picture of it in the bucket.



I asked my neighbors for their opinion and short of prodding and picking it up they felt it was real. We were all particularly impressed by the bit of gristle and bone protruding from the bottom. I also called the tree service which cut down our tree to ask whether they had had an accident while doing the job. My thought was that one of them had cut off their finger and lost it in the yard!

Of course, now I am out of the twilight zone such a quiet accident sounds improbable but at the time it seemed more likely than a raccoon stealing the finger from a neighborhood serial killer.

We emailed the picture to Joshua who commented that it looked rather like a rubber finger he had bought for Frost at Champion Party Supplies last Halloween. He said I should poke the nail with a stick and if it was rubbery then it was the fake finger. I kept thinking, but if its not?

Still, I managed to poke it and the texture was slightly rubbery if I tried very hard to believe so I canceled the police call (that was embarrassing) and promised to call them back if it turned out to be real when my husband had investigated it further.

When Josh came home he said it was definitely the fake finger. He remembered the shape.

Even then, I couldn't touch it.

The conversation with the tree service was very amusing. They assured me that they could not cut off a finger without the home owner noticing. And thus everyday reality was restored.

This morning I showed it to Frost and laughingly told him I had thought it was real. He said "Shannon that is very creepy" and when I offered him to take it to school [what was I thinking?] he wisely added "Shannon, that is very creepy. Its like a horror film. You wouldn't go and tell school about a new M-rated movie would you!"

I was chastised and put the finger in my pocket. All day I have imagined leaving the finger in different places (under the desk in the bank, on the seat of my car, in my pocket where I would appear to accidentally show it to someone) and fantasized about what people would do when they found it.

What would you do if you found what looked like a finger buried in your yard? How much investigation is warranted before you cry wolf?

A Domestic Accident

Yesterday evening Wren was playing in the garden and started crying suddenly. When I ran over to him I saw that his eyebrow had a small but deep cut bisecting it. It was bleeding a lot.

I called the doctor to see whether they might stitch it and they suggested I bring him in. I am glad they did. She said it was gaping and would need a stitch or two or a Dermabond seal to avoid a more noticeable scar. He will probably have a scar regardless although most of it will be in his eyebrows. I now have a reason to hope they are bushy.

He cried a lot when they squirted syringes of water to clean it and did not like being held down for the gluing. It worked well and was quick and he looks wounded but does nto seem to be in pain from it.

I am still unsure how he became injured and despite some sleuthing in the yard none of us has come up with a clear culprit.

We are going to try and babyproof the yard a bit more this weekend because he loves being out there and is very bold.

Hospital records and ponderings

Yesterday the mailbox contained a large cardboard envelope. It was copies of Wren's hospital and clinic records which I had requested from Children's. Apparently, it is a good idea to keep copies of these records.

This got me thinking, and thus googling Shone's syndrome/complex and anomaly. These terms are used interchangeably for Wren's condition. I found a new blog about a boy wo is ten with Shone's. He has had 2 OHS. I also found a record of a survey of the medical literature:

"Louis, J. D., et al. - Conclusions: Long-term survival of patients diagnosed with Shone complex is excellent. Operative strategies for this complex group should be individualized. Mitral interventions may generally be deferred."

This sounded very encouraging. I stopped googling before I found something ominous. It made me realize that I am still very anxious about Wren's survival. I just wish our cardiologist would say something like that all the time. Long term outcome is EXCELLENT. EXCELLENT!!!!!!

I feel better already.