well the kids are doing great. the weekend was especially rowdy. r and k have seemed to recover from the various viruses though both are sporting runny noses. k had a persistent cough yesterday but did not cough at all today.
it is mom and dad who are trying to cover as much ground as possible before the holidays start. ruskin is mostly done. the final has been given; grades need to be calculated and lives hang in the balance. but decisions will be made. he is already trying to take advantage of the end of class by returning to writing and thinking. i, on the other hand, have a gazillion deadlines that remain hanging over me. whether they are classroom obligations (grading of hundreds of pages of student writing), department meetings, student meetings, administrative work, professional obligations, or future teaching obligations, it hardly matters as the list is long. but i am chipping away at it slowly. i hope by early january to have all this done to return to my research and writing. pretty ambitious, huh?
r enjoyed ice skating, a birthday party, and running around the house doing a loud punk rock version of the song supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from mary poppins this weekend. there were other art projects and games as well. k was quite cute and friendly, especially on her own. she still wants to do everything her brother does which causes conflict. but they are working on some pleasant and cooperative play as well.
r has added a new food to his repertoire -- tofu pot pie. we were supposed to go to auntie hot hot's to bake cookies today but the weather turned nasty, so we stayed home and made cookies here. ruskin did a huge shop and we are now loaded for the week in anticipation of guests and NO SCHOOL. it sure is exciting. of course, ruskin and i will work through our break. the kids will be home and we will have a house full of guests which will make it more festive and celebratory. i am looking forward to it!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
times are tough and so are we
this blog focuses on two small children and their daily ups and downs. this is by no means the scope of all of our worlds.
things are hard. sometimes for us as two children are a challenge or get ill. but more importantly, for the world around us. homes are being foreclosed.[ i listened to a piece on mn public radio about the sheer number of homes foreclosed in las vegas which has been hit hardest by the real estate bubble. it was heartbreaking.] the tragedy in mumbai has created another excuse for people to work against peace. and among other things, recently, a good friend has discovered she has advanced breast cancer.
this does not mean we throw up our hands and cower. those who have lost their life savings in las vegas or are fighting for their lives elsewhere remind us how valuable and precious life is. and to value and truly appreciate it means to tuck in our chins, bend our heads a little, strengthen our backs, and keep plowing through. i salute all who struggle and persevere, thank those who provide support and sustenance, and try to cherish the joys big and small as we continue to trudge and dance onward.
things are hard. sometimes for us as two children are a challenge or get ill. but more importantly, for the world around us. homes are being foreclosed.[ i listened to a piece on mn public radio about the sheer number of homes foreclosed in las vegas which has been hit hardest by the real estate bubble. it was heartbreaking.] the tragedy in mumbai has created another excuse for people to work against peace. and among other things, recently, a good friend has discovered she has advanced breast cancer.
this does not mean we throw up our hands and cower. those who have lost their life savings in las vegas or are fighting for their lives elsewhere remind us how valuable and precious life is. and to value and truly appreciate it means to tuck in our chins, bend our heads a little, strengthen our backs, and keep plowing through. i salute all who struggle and persevere, thank those who provide support and sustenance, and try to cherish the joys big and small as we continue to trudge and dance onward.
Monday, December 8, 2008
viruses everywhere -- holy cow!
we got through last week, mostly due to help from a generous aunt and uncle, and not mention a heap of luck. r had a fever for three days and was clearly "off" (mostly weak and achey) for another 4 days. sunday was the first day he seemed to be close to normal energy and spirits. k's illness was quick and dirty (literally -- it led probably to 4 loads of laundry) and had her back on her feet in no time. i think poor r had it 100 times worse. the mornings in particular were awful. he could not get up and could not move. we had 3 of the roughest mornings ever. friday night, he and k had their appetites back and both ate almost a Punch pizza each. that was a relaxing evening. by the way, when we were at the doctor's, we discovered that r is 43 inches tall and weighs 41 lbs. so he has grown about 2-3 inches in the last several months. this explains his constant leg aches. his height-weight ratio is now below 50% in comparison to others so we would like to continue to put a little weight on him. but it is hard to do when he shoots up in height so quickly. at least we know that the food we are feeding him is going in and helping him grow! no stunted height here (he is still in the 90% for height).
on saturday r was motivated to go to his first ice skating class with his friend mira. but he could barely muster the energy to go or to move once he got there. he was just too weak and tired. we tried to do some fun winter stuff in st. paul with auntie hot hot after that, but there was too much fatigue. r had 5 hour nap that day and still woke up out of sorts. k and i ran around the midtown market with some other center friends (aunt tracey, nat, and gabe) which was fun. we then had another event -- a fundraiser for the anti-war committee sponsored by r's classmate. he brought change for the kids' penny donation jar and enjoyed his two classmates.
on sunday, it all caught up with me. and when mom gets sick, everybody has to slow down. luckily we had no events at all for sunday (despite one invitation). so we built a fire and mom lay on the sofa achey and cold, sometimes with stomach cramps. i could barely move. but everyone did great! it was a pretty relaxing and smooth day. we just tried to recover.
i felt better by monday morning which is good because i had meetings, an exam, and class. r had a rough time getting out of bed. he was very tired.
ruskin and i think that a school that starts at 7:15 is not going to work for us. there is no way we can get him out of bed, dressed, and fed by 7 am. so we will have to think about a limited number of schools. [in minneapolis, you have some choice about your public school which is terrific and overwhelming. i am sure that you will be hearing more about that. tomorrow ruskin goes to visit my favorite school -- barton -- which is terrific but starts at 7:15!!]
but back to the day. he was fatigued but not weak. getting out of bed was rough but he enjoyed his breakfast and almost made it to the car without falling apart again. he was sleepy in the car while k was quite perky.
she had a great dropoff and is very excited about going to see her classmates and teachers. yesterday she taught us a game (that they must play at school) in which she pretended we were all sitting on a bus. she sang wheels of the bus to us and told us to do the hand motions. she also made us raise our hands and said something about marching bands. she directed us deftly and we complied. she is a fun monkey. today when i peeked in on her, she and her friends were sitting in a row on the windowsill pretending to be on a bus. she told me later that she was the driver and they were going to the zoo. she waved happily from her perch but did not seem at all tempted to leave.
r seemed to have a good day. he played pretend by putting out food for a feast. he also worked on some interlocking parts toy and said he built a computer. he told us that he likes this time of year because there are holidays which are special. at pick-up, he did well until he put his structure away back in the bin and the kids started taking it apart for the components. though it was fair and he would have done the same thing, this greatly and understandably upset him. it was clear that he was on the edge after that. he has taken to yelling at us which is not pleasant. k was all right except that r would not let her participate in his train building in the toddler foyer. she recovered but he remained sullen. both were not at their best and it took me 40 minutes to do the pickup from start to finish. ruskin was teaching until 6 so we did not get home until almost 6:45. the snow was pretty and the kids had fun stomping in it. we drove home and managed not to have many more struggles. i did not feel well in the evening and dinner was both late and spirited. we had some boisterous and sometimes antagonistic family puzzle time. at one point, r popped in piece and yelled "holy cow!" this addition to his vocabulary (along with razamatazz surprised us).
story time went smoothly and everyone is asleep except for me. things are hectic in the next few weeks and i lost a week of work to the illnesses and such last week, so blogging might be light for the next week. don't panic. it is the end of the semester and we are all busy.
holy cow!
on saturday r was motivated to go to his first ice skating class with his friend mira. but he could barely muster the energy to go or to move once he got there. he was just too weak and tired. we tried to do some fun winter stuff in st. paul with auntie hot hot after that, but there was too much fatigue. r had 5 hour nap that day and still woke up out of sorts. k and i ran around the midtown market with some other center friends (aunt tracey, nat, and gabe) which was fun. we then had another event -- a fundraiser for the anti-war committee sponsored by r's classmate. he brought change for the kids' penny donation jar and enjoyed his two classmates.
on sunday, it all caught up with me. and when mom gets sick, everybody has to slow down. luckily we had no events at all for sunday (despite one invitation). so we built a fire and mom lay on the sofa achey and cold, sometimes with stomach cramps. i could barely move. but everyone did great! it was a pretty relaxing and smooth day. we just tried to recover.
i felt better by monday morning which is good because i had meetings, an exam, and class. r had a rough time getting out of bed. he was very tired.
ruskin and i think that a school that starts at 7:15 is not going to work for us. there is no way we can get him out of bed, dressed, and fed by 7 am. so we will have to think about a limited number of schools. [in minneapolis, you have some choice about your public school which is terrific and overwhelming. i am sure that you will be hearing more about that. tomorrow ruskin goes to visit my favorite school -- barton -- which is terrific but starts at 7:15!!]
but back to the day. he was fatigued but not weak. getting out of bed was rough but he enjoyed his breakfast and almost made it to the car without falling apart again. he was sleepy in the car while k was quite perky.
she had a great dropoff and is very excited about going to see her classmates and teachers. yesterday she taught us a game (that they must play at school) in which she pretended we were all sitting on a bus. she sang wheels of the bus to us and told us to do the hand motions. she also made us raise our hands and said something about marching bands. she directed us deftly and we complied. she is a fun monkey. today when i peeked in on her, she and her friends were sitting in a row on the windowsill pretending to be on a bus. she told me later that she was the driver and they were going to the zoo. she waved happily from her perch but did not seem at all tempted to leave.
r seemed to have a good day. he played pretend by putting out food for a feast. he also worked on some interlocking parts toy and said he built a computer. he told us that he likes this time of year because there are holidays which are special. at pick-up, he did well until he put his structure away back in the bin and the kids started taking it apart for the components. though it was fair and he would have done the same thing, this greatly and understandably upset him. it was clear that he was on the edge after that. he has taken to yelling at us which is not pleasant. k was all right except that r would not let her participate in his train building in the toddler foyer. she recovered but he remained sullen. both were not at their best and it took me 40 minutes to do the pickup from start to finish. ruskin was teaching until 6 so we did not get home until almost 6:45. the snow was pretty and the kids had fun stomping in it. we drove home and managed not to have many more struggles. i did not feel well in the evening and dinner was both late and spirited. we had some boisterous and sometimes antagonistic family puzzle time. at one point, r popped in piece and yelled "holy cow!" this addition to his vocabulary (along with razamatazz surprised us).
story time went smoothly and everyone is asleep except for me. things are hectic in the next few weeks and i lost a week of work to the illnesses and such last week, so blogging might be light for the next week. don't panic. it is the end of the semester and we are all busy.
holy cow!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
santa claus
i was telling r about santa claus today as we were listening to the radio. he listened and asked questions about the idea of being naught and nice. he seemed to think that receiving coal for being naughty was not utterly disappointing. we went through the details -- flying reindeer, chimneys, presents, the north pole, etc. i asked if he thought that santa was real or pretend. he answered quite definitively -- "pretend." however, he added quite emphatically, "it is an excellent idea."
deceptive day
well the blog is a good thing. no sooner had i posted last night, when i received several calls from masee who generously volunteered herself and tom. they did come to our rescue. last night was rough as it was. r woke frequently for small details -- blankets, water, tissues. and k woke right as ruskin was practicing his job talk. at some point, i just told her to get in our bed and she did and went quickly to asleep herself. who knew it was so easy? but she was a mess most of the night for some reason and kicked and fussed a lot.
morning came and ruskin got up, dressed, read through his talk and left. i prepped breakfast for the kiddos and got ready to go to work. rescue member tom arrived at 8:30! he hung out and r was awake when i left and ready for time with his uncle.
i dropped k off. she seemed content and happy. as i stopped in bungalow e to let them know about r being ill, they told me that there has been a stomach virus going around. i said that was not what we had as far as i could tell.
i was a few minutes late to teach but my students seemed fairly forgiving. we had a good discussion on the film fire. i grabbed some lunch and brought it to the rescue team. they were obliging and hung out and ate. r during this whole time was active and hardly feverish. but he had also had ibuprofen with breakfast.
when masee-tom left at 3, i suggested a nap to kiddo who balked. we did manage to snuggle about 20 minutes but he would not go to sleep. at 4, he decided he was hungry and sleepy. but it was too late for a nap and so he got to eat and then we left to pick up his sister. he was a good sport though he tried to whine. i found that when he was ill, he actually listened to me more...
we picked up k who seemed to be in a happy mood. she was wearing her hat indoors. and so were a few of her friends. apparently miss monkey is a leader. we all came home. r was tired but compliant. i made them both dinner, though k ate well in the car. r ate and watched magic school bus while k enthusiastically bounced around. ruskin came home fairly early from his dinner. his day had been ok, he seemed tired, drained, and a little disappointed.
we managed to feed the kids, eat some, and get a bath in. r was exhausted and his fever was back. he had used up all of his energy on his masee-tom. he got to read with his dad. meanwhile, k was complaining her back hurt. we got her dressed for bed and she was kind of silly but snuggly. she whimpered a bit in her bed and said that her back hurt again. she fell asleep and a few minutes later i heard lots of liquid. she was projectile vomiting while asleep. this of course startled her awake so then she was vomiting and crying. ruskin cleaned her while i cleaned the vomit. she chose to sleep in our bed and settled in. she was quite silly all over again. slowly she climbed down and more vomiting. so ruskin cleaned her and i cleaned the bed.
now ruskin is doing 3-4 loads of laundry and i am waiting for her to go to sleep and be done with the vomiting. i think she is for now, but it does not bode well for tomorrow. several of the teachers mentioned a stomach virus going around. hmmm. r has a doctor's appt on friday. but i am hoping he will be better tomorrow. i am not sure about miss monkey however.
could be another rough night.
morning came and ruskin got up, dressed, read through his talk and left. i prepped breakfast for the kiddos and got ready to go to work. rescue member tom arrived at 8:30! he hung out and r was awake when i left and ready for time with his uncle.
i dropped k off. she seemed content and happy. as i stopped in bungalow e to let them know about r being ill, they told me that there has been a stomach virus going around. i said that was not what we had as far as i could tell.
i was a few minutes late to teach but my students seemed fairly forgiving. we had a good discussion on the film fire. i grabbed some lunch and brought it to the rescue team. they were obliging and hung out and ate. r during this whole time was active and hardly feverish. but he had also had ibuprofen with breakfast.
when masee-tom left at 3, i suggested a nap to kiddo who balked. we did manage to snuggle about 20 minutes but he would not go to sleep. at 4, he decided he was hungry and sleepy. but it was too late for a nap and so he got to eat and then we left to pick up his sister. he was a good sport though he tried to whine. i found that when he was ill, he actually listened to me more...
we picked up k who seemed to be in a happy mood. she was wearing her hat indoors. and so were a few of her friends. apparently miss monkey is a leader. we all came home. r was tired but compliant. i made them both dinner, though k ate well in the car. r ate and watched magic school bus while k enthusiastically bounced around. ruskin came home fairly early from his dinner. his day had been ok, he seemed tired, drained, and a little disappointed.
we managed to feed the kids, eat some, and get a bath in. r was exhausted and his fever was back. he had used up all of his energy on his masee-tom. he got to read with his dad. meanwhile, k was complaining her back hurt. we got her dressed for bed and she was kind of silly but snuggly. she whimpered a bit in her bed and said that her back hurt again. she fell asleep and a few minutes later i heard lots of liquid. she was projectile vomiting while asleep. this of course startled her awake so then she was vomiting and crying. ruskin cleaned her while i cleaned the vomit. she chose to sleep in our bed and settled in. she was quite silly all over again. slowly she climbed down and more vomiting. so ruskin cleaned her and i cleaned the bed.
now ruskin is doing 3-4 loads of laundry and i am waiting for her to go to sleep and be done with the vomiting. i think she is for now, but it does not bode well for tomorrow. several of the teachers mentioned a stomach virus going around. hmmm. r has a doctor's appt on friday. but i am hoping he will be better tomorrow. i am not sure about miss monkey however.
could be another rough night.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
still ill
well last night was fairly rough. i worked until about 2 am. then went upstairs and could not fall asleep for the first 30 minutes. at 2:40, r woke up vomiting. his vomiting lasted 15 minutes and then i got him snuggled into bed; i crawled into bed and fell asleep 20 minutes later. about 10 minutes after this, more vomiting. this went on until about 5:30. at 4:45, k woke up and climbed into our bed. but she would not go to sleep without mom. so i finally got r down for the last time, and got in bed. she crawled on top of me and lay down while saying "i snuggle mommy." ruskin slept through most of this. he has a busy two days so i wanted him at least partially rested. the rest of us managed to sleep from 5:30-8:30 without interruption. r stayed home again. he did not vomit during the day time as i fed him bread and sausage. he did discover an ibuprofen that he likes so he will take 50% of his meds willingly. he was mostly compliant today. i relied on the television quite a bit. his fever fluctuates between 99-101.
ruskin had a work dinner and so i had them both for the evening. the first half hour was rough as r is convinced he is going to vomit when he is hungry. he can't always tell the difference between hunger pangs and pain. which explains why he does not remember or understand when to eat as well as he could. once he calmed down, we all played together, more or less smoothly. the kids did not eat enough but it will suffice. we read stories, cleaned up, and ran roomba. upstairs, i got them pajama-ed and ready for bed more or less
i have been home from work for two days. i am not sure r's fever will be gone tomorrow. i also do not know what to do if it is still there. i am supposed to teach tomorrow. i can cancel my meetings. the teaching is a little tougher. even getting k to school is looking complicated as ruskin can't do it. wish us luck! ruskin and i will figure it out when he comes downstairs. r is still awake.
ruskin had a work dinner and so i had them both for the evening. the first half hour was rough as r is convinced he is going to vomit when he is hungry. he can't always tell the difference between hunger pangs and pain. which explains why he does not remember or understand when to eat as well as he could. once he calmed down, we all played together, more or less smoothly. the kids did not eat enough but it will suffice. we read stories, cleaned up, and ran roomba. upstairs, i got them pajama-ed and ready for bed more or less
i have been home from work for two days. i am not sure r's fever will be gone tomorrow. i also do not know what to do if it is still there. i am supposed to teach tomorrow. i can cancel my meetings. the teaching is a little tougher. even getting k to school is looking complicated as ruskin can't do it. wish us luck! ruskin and i will figure it out when he comes downstairs. r is still awake.
Monday, December 1, 2008
tgiving
did i mention what a lovely thanksgiving we had? i am feeling grateful for our family and health like many people. it was wonderful to have all three siblings together this year. it was a nice moment to share with people that mean so much to me. the kids had a wonderful time. and r has now eaten lots of turkey and gravy. uncle tom has a client.
love to all our family and friends
love to all our family and friends
bye rocky mama
well the kids said good bye to rocky mama today. r had a good time playing in the basement and outside with him on sunday. k had less time but talks about him. this morning she asked "where is rocky mama when she came down to breakfast."
r and i are at home today as he has a fever and vomiting and i have a sore throat that is almost gone (thanks masee -- just kidding!). ruskin and k headed out a few minutes ago. so i am trying to keep things quiet and let r sleep. i hope he gets better soon.
thank you rocky mama for such a great visit. he was wonderful with the kids. and to his amazing credit, he did not smoke once while he was there. it was a terrific act of self sacrifice that was not easy. thank you. they really enjoyed their time with him. next time you visit rocky mama, r can watch some star wars with you.
r and i are at home today as he has a fever and vomiting and i have a sore throat that is almost gone (thanks masee -- just kidding!). ruskin and k headed out a few minutes ago. so i am trying to keep things quiet and let r sleep. i hope he gets better soon.
thank you rocky mama for such a great visit. he was wonderful with the kids. and to his amazing credit, he did not smoke once while he was there. it was a terrific act of self sacrifice that was not easy. thank you. they really enjoyed their time with him. next time you visit rocky mama, r can watch some star wars with you.
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