Wren has a Sore Throat

We've been around the house for the past day since Wren has a fever and sore throat. He'd been ill only 24 hours when I took him to the pediatrician this afternoon because he was acting really ill for a fever. She looked in his throat and showed me the very red and raw area covered with pustules. It looked awful and explained why he would scream when I gave him orange juice. She tested him for strep throat but it was negative so it is a viral sore-throat, possibly (but not likely) coxsackie virus. We are giving him Benadryl and Mylanta to help coat his throat a bit.

He is feeling very down. From time to time he says sad things like "I will never get better", "I am not alright," "when will it go away?" and "is there that medicine that will make it go away?" He is not able to eat much (except ice-cream) and has little energy. He has rested a lot on the couch and had a couple of short naps, still, he is miserable. Mum has helped keep his mind from his sore throat by playing many games.

Sick Wren reading with Granny

Mum eating chanterelles

Comforting Wren on the couch

Walking at Greenlake

A few days ago we enjoyed a walk around Greenlake with Mum, Tara and the boys. The weather report has predicted rain daily but we have been lucky with bright periods of cold sun while the clouds pile purple on the horizon. Recent winds have blown down many of the lovely colored leaves but on this walk they were still pretty splendid.

Halfway around the lake we came across a huge pile of mulch. Steam was rising from the top leading Wren to fear it was HOT! I showed him how to climb up the pile and the boys enjoyed climbing up and jumping down.

The only way to get around Greenlake in less than a day is to have Frost on a bike and Wren in a stroller. Wren felt that it was necessary to get down often and if I had let him he would have added "putting my feet in the water" to the list of activities. "It's too cold" I told him but he showed his complaint. Here are Wren and granny on the dock with his shoes on.

Finally, some pictures of Wren and the fall leaves.

Wren's First Visit to the Dentist

This morning Wren took his strawberry flavored amoxicillan and we headed off to the dentist with both boys. Frost assumed the role of Big Brother who would guide Wren through the perils of the dentist and allay his fears. To narrated as much of his appointment and exam as he could, giving the thumbs up and other encouraging gestures when the actual work of cleaning prevented him from talking.

Wren wasn't very concerned once he was there although he was worried as we drove there. He was worried that he might be going to the orthodontist AKA "the awful dentist". There was a slight mixup in the instructions for Wren's antibiotic so we had to wait a bit for the appointment as it had not been a full hour since he had taken them. We enjoyed a coffee during the intermission. When it was Wren's turn for the chair he was very brave and kept asking the dental assistant if he was "all done now?"

Eventually he was.

The verdict was that both kids have good teeth, they look clean but they should floss diligently and clean their teeth twice a day instead of one and an optional.

Frost has a chip on his front lower incisor but since it is minor the dentist is going to wait to repair it until Frost is done with braces. Neither he nor I could recall an accident when it occurred.

Wren at the dentist

Can I take the glasses off now?

Wren and Granny

Frost waiting for his cleaning to begin

Ongoing narrative

Mum is visiting and as always, any change in the routine leads to a big fat silence on our blog. Its been dark and cool but there have been moments of sunshine when we have taken a walk. We have visited a few coffee shops, had sushi at Blue-C and had a lovely brunch with Fred and Tara this morning. Wren has taken to having Granny here and is asking for many more tea-parties. I hope we have time to bake cookies this afternoon so our tea-party is complete.

Mum is very impressed by Wren's talking. He collects phrases from everyone. Here are a collection from today:

Wren is playing with playmobil - setting up an army, copying one that Alex and Frost have created:
"No Frost and you must not knock all my ninja men down. Are you going to knock it down any more?"

Mum is hungry and trying to lure Wren away from the Playmobil to join us at breakfast. "Come on Wren, I am hungry" she says. "No you are not," says Wren "your tummy is not grumbling!"

The boys are in the office at Fred and Tara's and Wren needs some paper to give to Granny. "Boys, Boys, " he says at the door. "Can you spare a piece of paper for Granny so she can make a paper airplane?"

At bedtime, Wren likes Josh and I to sing bedtime songs. I have to say goodnight to each bunny and all the menagerie in the crib (Big One, Little One, soft shirt, big panda, seal and blanket). Sometimes Wren decides to move from the crib to "the nest" or visa versa. My bedtime son is usually "My bonnie lies over the ocean" but Wren wants me to sing this as "Bunny" and asks me many questions about "WHY is Bunny over the ocean?" and "How will bunny come back?" Its hard to differentiate Bunny from Bonnie so he checks constantly "you say BUNNY?"

I am a US Citizen (rather suddenly)

On Tuesday I had my US naturalization interview. After almost missing the author of the Declaration of Independence and being floored by a mis-read question "What is the current office of the president?" I PASSED. Since it was the eve of Veterans Day they were having a naturalization ceremony that afternoon so, after fetching Mum from the airport (Adelaide, Melbourne, LAX, Seattle!) I dragged her to Homeland Security for the two hour wait and ceremony.



I am now an American and an Australian (I had to renounce my South African citizenship when I moved to Australia).

Preschool today

Wren went to preschool this morning. He loves preschool. He even loves his teacher and he definitely loves his songs. He often asks if it is preschool today.

Here you see Wren on the climbing wall in the large motor area of preschool. I should get Josh to take him some morning because it is lovely to see how happy and attentive he is there. During the two hour session he played climbing (a lot), splashing fish in the sensory table, pounding huge chunks of playdough into a volcano, swinging in a hammock swing and eating snack.

It was fun for both of us.

Mum called from the airport in Adelaide offering to buy me some Uggs. I was afraid they would be the wrong size but now I covet them. She should be on the plane now and will arrive tomorrow after my US Citizenship test and interview. Did I tell you I was freaking out? I had a nightmare last night that driving to the Interview the I90 Floating Bridge became FLOATING at waterlevel and I couldn't see the road so I nearly drove off it during a flurry of leaves. I reached Homeland Security and became lost in a maze of corridors staffed by military personnel. Argh.

Wish me luck. I am going with my study guide, my confidence in spoken english and documents regarding my arrest history and previous marriage.

The Laundromat

This week we visited the laundromat for the first time. Wren loved the laundromat. Not only did it have fabulous big front loader washers which could do all the laundry in one load, but you could watch it go around AND EAT FREE COOKIES. I tried to interview Wren about the laundromat but he was evasive and did not pick up on my prompting. I give you my unedited interview below. Please note that I do not always talk in incomplete sentences. What can I say, lately I am too scattered to use verb forms.

The sad news is that the washer valve has arrived so we shall not visit the laundromat again soon except for its entertainment value (admittedly great).

Extreme Reading

Q: What is Frost doing before breakfast?

A: Reading.

Q: What is Frost doing at breakfast?
A: Reading.

Q: What is Frost doing at the bus-stop?
A: Reading.

One thing about Frost that gives me real pleasure is his love of reading. I grew up 'in a family of booksellers' where reading was highly valued. The bookstore my Dad worked in (and my Grandfather before him) is a large store in my hometown named after our family and everyone who knows that town knows the bookstore (and my Dad). The bookstore was founded a few generations back and my Dad still manages the company which now owns a number of branches so it was and is more than a job. In the old store downtown it felt like a community in which everyone was important.

Growing up around a bookstore means you can read a lot (on 'apro' or loan from the store) but only if you look after the books carefully. That means never folding the corner of a page to mark your place, never opening the book wide enough to mark the spine and certainly having clean hands. I still try and keep to these 'book use' principles, at least enough to feel the guilt when I break them. However Frost is a hard book user and ploughs through them with all the physicality his 8 year old body can muster. Here are some pictures of Frost reading his current obsession: Harry Potter. I bought him the box set of Volumes 1-6, and he is almost finished book 4 and means to read nothing else but Foxtrot until he finishes all 7.

You must do nothing!

When Wren woke up this morning he had a stuffy nose and, despite his best efforts at excavation, he could not fix it. This made him sad&mad, a common state when you are almost 3.

I suggested we play but he lay, defeated, and said "no, you must DO NOTHING."

I lay down next to him and he was more sad&mad about that and said "do not do that you must do nothing."

I told him I thought that lying next to him was doing nothing.

"You are lying down" he observed.

I sat up, producing another paroxysm of complaint.

"You are sitting up. DO NOTHING," he insisted.

I was becoming exasperated. "Ok, I will go away for a bit."

"DO NOT GO AWAY." [head into pillow with some kicking] "Do nothing........ " [wailing]

At this point I decide He Is Sick Again and get the thermometer. Ok, I know this is not doing nothing as instructed but I had to check. He hates the ear probe thermometer so of course he screams and yells and says "My BRAIN IS SORE."

He has no temperature but now I fear meningitis, sinusitis or something else vile and 'itissy which I shall be forced to google and find only a Wikipedia stub and sad blogs about dead children.

I ask him to point where his brain hurts. He touches..... his chest - left side first and then right.

Huh - his heart? His lungs?

"When does it hurt?" (I'm thinking respiratory distress, pneumonia)

"It hurts HERE" (touching the middle and then rubbing around and around all over).

This is weird because he has not been coughing much and his chest was clear yesterday. At least we are getting somewhere [or doing SOMEthing].

I ask him to drink water. He refuses. I tell him that the water will make the stuff in his nose slide away (there is no visible snot but yesterday the doctor confirmed my suspicion that Wren is dehydrated. He is eating up a storm but not drinking.) He drinks a bit. He sniffs suspiciously and Hallelujah, his nose is improved.

He sniffs. His nose snorts a bit. He says "A water did go deep inside and it is not in my nose now!" He needs some more. Apparently he has figured that once the water goes deep inside its healing properties are reduced. He drinks A LOT.

I tell him it is Halloween Today and he suggests we read a Halloween book. After various colossal failures on my part (stupid stupid stupid to think that a book about bones is a Halloween Book, or a book about a 'gyptian mummy is a Halloween Book or a book about fuzzy bats is a Halloween Book) we look at I Spy Spooky Night.

Something is done. The day starts, anew.

Wren needs to pee.

Hallelujah. Halloween.

Healed but grumpy

Wren is better. I took him to the doctor to keep the CDC flu-related doctor visit stats rising and 'just in case' his cough was hiding out in his chest. It wasn't. It isn't. He still coughs but its just the lingering part.

Yesterday, I went crazy cooking. I started and it just went on and on with the kids helping. We baked bread then Frost had the idea of pumpkin bread so we baked that too and then I saw the sugar pumpkins from South 47th and decided to prepare my own cooked pumpkin for pie today. Oh, then I realized it was better to bake my own pie shells than buying them and the only reason I didn't finish that project was running out of butter.

Here are Frost and Wren waiting in the rain for the schoolbus yesterday morning.