A few pictures

Andrea and I are both falling behind on taking pictures. Looking at our collection, it appears that the last pictures we took were when he was about 10 months old. I exaggerate, but it seems this way as Emmett has grown so much in the last months. He is getting taller and taller (don't know where he stands against national averages---we will learn this at his next appointment in a few weeks), and he hasn't quite outgrown his belly. This belly seems extra large after he eats and he is still at the stage of life where he loves to show it off to any interested party.

Anyway, I thought I would add a couple of pictures that I took in the last week or so. They are not very good as they are from my phone, but they are better than the grand sum of pictures we have taken recently with the real camera which is zero. I will give a little explanation with each.

This first one is from our exploratorium trip last week. Emmett got in this smoke room and was spinning around to make a tornado. There were a lot of teenage girls around who were egging him on, which he loved, so it was very difficult to get him out of the smoke room.

Emmett recently figured out the pockets in his jacket. A month or so ago Emmett learned about his pockets in his pants and was very excited about it. The other day we were walking to the park and I heard him behind me saying something and doing something I couldn't figure out. I turned and realized that he saw that I was walking with my hands in my pockets and was trying to copy me. However, his jacket was long and covering his pants pockets so he was trying to figure out how to work his jacket pockets. The noise I heard was a combination of him saying "pocket" and the shuffle of his feet while he turned circles trying to get his hand into his pocket. For some reason rather than twisting his arm at an angle to get into the pocket he was turning circles with his whole body trying to make it in. It was pretty funny to watch, and the picture shows the final result (achieved on his own).

The last picture is from today. For the last few weeks, Malcolm has taken to sleeping on Emmett's changing table. At first we would move Malcolm to lay Emmett down, but started laying Emmett with his head resting on Malcolm. Malcolm doesn't really care (he actually purrs the whole time) and it actually keeps Emmett from rolling around.

OK with day care

I just finished my second week of school and what was about the third week of full days for Emmett at day care. It was a week of huge break-throughs, though. On Tuesday we went out by bike again, and as before the trip was great. When we got to the day care building Emmett got a little whiny and started saying "daddy, daddy", which is what he has been doing recently when I am around and he is upset. I reminded him that we had gotten a balloon out of the lobby on the previous day we were there, which started him on the road to recovery, and then reminded him that we would get to play with trains inside his room which cured things. He stopped whining, we went inside, and everything seemed OK...our first arrival since the first day without him in tears. I stayed for a bit, started talking about leaving, explained that I would be back after a while like always, and then he walked me to the door---my first exit without tears since the first day. Everything went well and he talked excitedly about the day on the bike ride home. On Thursday (yesterday) we took the bus because of rain and when we got off of the bus he started talking about the trains and other kids in the class, and when the building was within sight he actually ran to the door and ran into his room. There were no tears upon leaving and everything went pretty darn well. It is good to feel that we may be over a hump with the day care. He still doesn't nap very long there (about an hour vs. 2-3 hours at home), but his naps there are longer than many other kids'.

It feels like both Andrea and I are communicating with Emmett in a much different way recently. His language is improving, but it is not that as much as we are getting the sense that he is actually trying to convey concepts rather than just pointing at something and identifying it. I can't remember if I mentioned this, but a few weeks ago he banged his head in the kitchen which brought tears, and after recovering he kept re-enacting it and explaining that it hurt his head.

Emmett and I rode to the Exploratorium on Wednesday. It was the free day and there were a lot of kids, so it was a little crazy. It was fun, but there wasn't a lot that he could really do too much with.

Andrea downloaded a few apps for the iPhone for Emmett during times where he is trapped and a little occupying of the time is in order. The apps are actually pretty neat: there is one that shows a few shapes and names one which he is to pick and a similar one that has various household objects that he is to pick by name. These actually have taught him quite a lot and he often surprises me with the things he knows (pointing out the O's on the the word "stop" on the road when we are riding the bike, macaws, and lemurs---the latter two which I wouldn't have known by name when seeing one before this). However, what is surprising is how well he can operate the iPhone and has been able to operate it for some time. The following is a video from a month-or-so ago where my phone was sitting around and he picks it up, unlocks it, and searches for the game to play. I know many adults that would have trouble with this task.

Sleep is getting better and better. On Wednesday he slept in nearly to seven, and most days we are able to get him to stay in the bed until 6. He is still on our floor in a travel crib, so we are thinking about doing some rearranging so that we sleep in the same room and he is in his real crib. We have taken to laying in the room with him as he goes down for his nap and goes to bed. Andrea is a little concerned that we could pay for this later (and I see her point), but I have to say it has been nice to have him lay down for every nap and bedtime without a single complaint and be asleep in minutes. Today was actually the first time in a long time that I had trouble with him with sleep. He fell asleep in the stroller on the way back from the academy of science (which can cause trouble) and was in bed tossing, turning, and fiddling with stuff like crazy for almost an hour. I finally put my hand on him and sang him to sleep. It was dark in his room and I was on the floor, but looking up I could see his eyelashes, and while I was singing I could see his eyes getting heavy and he was asleep within minutes. There is something kind of comforting to know that even a bad singing voice can soothe one's child.

Please

Alright, I will try to get this going again.

We may have had a break-through in what has been two weeks of Emmett waking between 4-5 each day (mostly near 4). This morning he slept in until 6:30, where slept in meant that he woke up a number of times and put himself back to sleep without our assistance. We were much happier this morning.

Emmett has started day care on Tuesdays and Thursdays while I teach. He doesn't love it yet, but he is definitely doing much better. He napped two hours on Tuesday and 1.25 on Thursday, which is a huge step forward. He is really upset when we arrive, although that is improving, but when I pick him up it is hard to get him to go...so there is hope.

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the day care. They had balloons and cake, and Emmett brought a balloon home on the bike (yesterday was our first ride to school as we finally had a day without rain). Now, recently we have really been working on getting Emmett to use the word please when asking us for things and he is getting better. Well, this morning he was playing with his balloon in his room while Andrea and I were in other rooms doing things, and when I walked by his room I heard him saying "please, please, please?" and sounding kind of upset while he was saying it. I looked in and saw Emmett holding his balloon while Malcolm was clawing at and playing with the attached string, and Emmett was asking Malcolm to "please, please" stop playing with the string. Unfortunately, Malcolm doesn't understand being asked nicely.

Run run run

This is the never-ending illness. The whole thing is strange as the three boys and all of the parents but me went to this joint together on Sunday, the boys and Andrea got sick on Monday night, none of the other parents got sick, I got just part of the sick (haven't been nauseous) yesterday, and our sitter who watched Emmett yesterday since he seemed better (except the runs..more on that later), just wrote and said she started a process eerily similar to Andrea and Emmett's. I feel horrible now that she has it too. We thought he was better as the nausea had passed and his bowel movements, while still soft, were not the watery explosions that haunted us earlier in the week. This is all no fun.

The upshot of all of this is that Emmett has been sleeping later into the morning. Today he woke at just after 11. Yesterday he woke earlier and then came to bed with us and slept until 7. It was pretty cute as Andrea had snuck out of bed and was getting ready in the bathroom already and Emmett woke, got out of bed, stood at the edge and kept repeating "Dad" until I woke up. It was a good way to wake up (much better than the screaming we had a few weeks ago).

It has been rain, rain, rain here in the city for some time. It is much harder with the rain when he is sick as some of the usual escapes (the Academy of Science, etc.) are no longer options. We have taken to going for walks, but with his iffy condition some of them haven't been so distant. Yesterday we went for a walk that took about 30 minutes and we almost made it to the house two doors away from ours. Part of the reason for the slow travels was the fact there were puddles on the ground to play in, but most of it just seemed like he didn't feel like going far.

I don't think I mentioned this already, but we intentionally sat Emmett in front of the T.V. for the first time during this illness. The Muppet Show. He now knows Gonzo's name and thinks that Animal is funny.

House of ill

I was up working last night around 11:00 when I heard a lot of coughing from our room. I guess this brings up the fact that I haven't mentioned what we have been doing sleep-wise with Emmett these days. We had been having trouble with Emmett waking up at 5 every morning, so our defense had been for Andrea to go to bed early and get up with him giving me the chance to stay up late and get work done. This was working pretty well, although a little rough on Andrea, until this last week. Andrea decided to embrace getting up in the morning somewhat by planning to go running with Emmett in the jogging stroller, and actually succeeded in doing so a few days. Well, I am not sure if the turn in weather toward the bottom of the thermometer was the reason, but suddenly Emmett decided to start sleeping in until after 6 every day. Big success.

Anyway, last night I heard coughing from our room---toddler coughing. Emmett has been sleeping in the portable crib in our room as during the last couple of weeks he has woken during the night and when he is in his room we can easily soothe him (if he needs it) back to sleep with words. We tried to transition him back to his own room a few nights back, but he woke screaming and wouldn't stop. The week after we return from holiday travel the downstairs neighbor will be gone, so the transition back can complete without fear of bothering neighbors all night long.

So, as I was saying, last night I heard Emmett coughing in our room. It ends up that Emmett had thrown up all over the place (vegetarian pot pie---a new recipe from which I had made a huge casserole dish...and which no longer has the same appeal). We get him all cleaned up, change sheets, etc., and he throws up again all over the place. The clean up repeats and I decide that I will sleep with him on the couch until he stops throwing up. I set up tupperware and rags all around to aid the clean-up with each bout, but some invariably gets on me so throughout the night I continue to lose layers and get colder through the night. At some point in the night, Emmett's vomiting switches to dry heaves and we are able to get some rest together on the couch as the recovery from dry heaves is much simpler for me and I can easily settle him again. I remember, some time late in the night, hearing Malcolm regurgitate and also Andrea shuffling around the house. When Emmett and I get up from the couch around six, we find that not only had Malcolm been throwing up, so had Andrea, and therefore I am the only one that was able to keep the pot pie (or cat food, as the case may be) down.

The day was rough with Andrea truly feeling horrible and Emmett feeling pretty bad as well. The hardest part about Emmett was that he was begging and crying for water and didn't understand why we wouldn't give him the one thing he wanted when most of the time we are begging him to drink more. We worked up to sips through the morning, but at some point gave him too much, he threw it all up and we had to start again. At some point we made headway with Emmett and he was keeping water down and saltine crackers, however Andrea has not been as lucky. She too was eating crackers and drinking water, but regurgitated her water late in the afternoon. Now Andrea gets to spend another day at home (which makes Emmett happy---unfortunately she might not be her normal sunny self). It was cute this evening, though, that Andrea was really feeling poor and lying in bed when Emmett went to her and kept laying his head on her chest. I have never seen him be so loving or concerned. Perhaps the fact that Emmett even knew to respond this way gives clues as to how poor Andrea is feeling.

So, it appears that Emmett must have gotten this from his visit to a place in the city called Recess, which is some entertainment building for kids. Emmett, Augie, and Ethan went with the moms and one dad, and all three were vomiting today. Fun times for the 21 month-olds.

This is the third vomiting episode that Emmett has had since birth. The first was my re-giving him breast milk that had been thawed and he turned down. The second was when he was sick later in the day that he fell from the play structure (Andrea was convinced it was concussion, me overeating). Just as with the first, I am now at a loss as to when I should go back to feeding him a normal diet. He has kept down about 10 crackers today but didn't ask for more food. I am always so fearful, even with myself, that food will be eaten too soon in the recovery process and vomiting will begin again. It is the guessing game part of this that makes parenting no fun. Oh, that and the sleepless nights.

Poor Malcolm

Quick post before I go off to tutor. Today Emmett and I took Malcolm to the vet because he has been vomiting a number of times a day. Malcolm was a good sport while we waited for the doctor, popping his head in and out of his carrier on command in order to entertain Emmett. The doctor checked him out and decided he needed x-rays and further tests meaning we had to leave him for a few hours at the doctor. As they loaded him in his carrier and took him away, Emmett started to cry. I had no idea he loved Malcolm so much.

Score so far in the what's-wrong-with-Malcolm game: Team Vet has a commanding 600 dollar lead and we still have 0 idea why Malcolm is vomiting.

No nap, no good

Today was the first day in forever, it seems, that Emmett missed his nap. I don't think there has been a time that he has missed since we arrived in New York for the July and his schedule was off because of travel. Well, today Emmett pulled a fast one and fell asleep in the stroller for 15 minutes or so, and just like the days of his infant-hood, thought that that counted for a nap. Well, he stayed up the rest of the day after we gave two attempts at putting him down, and by the end of the day he was a zombie. He was cranky like I have never seen where he was crying and throwing things. Not our child at all. It was hard to get anything done around him without going crazy. Luckily we were able to get him into bed at a decent hour and we are not hopeful he makes it through the night.

Actually, these last few days have all felt like a sickness blur. I have some cold starting up, Emmett is on day two or so of a crazy runny nose coupled with runs at the other end, and Andrea was ill yesterday. Last night Emmett was fevery and tired, and Andrea was out getting a haircut. Emmett didn't want to eat (again...he has eaten very little in the last few days), so we went to the front room around 6:00 pm and watched for jets in the sky. I sang a song or two to him and as we were talking about the jets he fell asleep in on my chest facing out toward the window. I have said this before, but it is so nice sometimes when he is feeling sick as the moments when he slows down and actually lets us hold him are coming less and less frequently. I sat there with him for about 30 minutes before taking him to bed. It was kind of funny that the first thing he said as soon as I stirred from the chair, waking him, was "jet" as if we were still in the middle of our conversation about the jets.