Release me

Johnny, Hank and I spent nine whole days in the house being too sick to associate with others. We went outside to paint and get the mail and I made a solo trip to the grocery store. That was it. For nine whole days. Now, that may not sound so awful, but we don't have a backyard the boys can play in much, therefore we normally go to parks/other houses/anywhere other than our house nearly every day. Which means that being home bound for over a week was excruciating for all three of us. So by day nine we were feeling like this:

RELEASE ME!!!!! Independence Day anyone?

On day 10, I thought the boys were well enough to go to a park and run around there. Yes, they still had runny noses and some yucky green boogies, but my patience was worn thin and the boys were incredibly bored with our home. So, we left the house.

Once we got to the park (a cool new one we found in North Park), Johnny and Hank were beside themselves with excitement. I let them out of the car and then it was climbing ALL THE THINGS and sliding down ALL THE SLIDES and jumping off ALL THE SURFACES.

FREEDOM! Now where do I go? (this is Hank, BTW)

Johnny climbing the curvy yellow ladder...

Hank climbing the curvy yellow ladder.

Johnny at Hilltop in the afternoon

Hank chasing after Johnny

This is what happens when you are sick and do serious playing outside all day.

 I got a few side-eyes from some of the other moms there because it's obvious Johnny and Hank were still a little sick, but oh well. I tried to keep them away from the smaller children and mostly succeeded in keeping them from wiping snot on other kids. I call that a win.

Hello 2013!

Why hello. We're alive. Promise.

This is not going to be a real post because... well, it's just not.

You know that feeling you get when you realize you forgot a friend's birthday and never sent her a birthday card or called her? But you can't do it right this second because you're in the bathroom/you can't find a pen/your phone is dead, so you resolve to do it later.

And then four days later you're like, "Oh crap! I forgot her birthday. If my hands weren't covered in salmonella from dealing with raw chicken, I'd totally call her. I'm going to do it tonight." But your children decide that bed time is optional and you don't end up doing anything but tending to them and finally collapsing into bed at 11pm covered in your children's snot and smelling like you haven't showered in days. Probably because you haven't.

Then before you know it, after a series of unfortunate events involving crazy holidays, 4am wake ups, and toddler shenanigans, it's been two months and you STILL haven't gotten around to sending that note/making that call. So you think to yourself, What do I do now? You want to call her, but doing that would bring attention to the fact that you not only forgot her birthday, but you took two frigging months to make the effort to recognize it. Plus you haven't talked in forever and there's just so much catching up to do on top of groveling at her feet for being a terrible friend. And it just seems like too much to handle at the moment, so you put it off for tomorrow, when surely you'll have more energy to deal with it than you do right now.

That's kind of where I'm at with this blog. I have so many things to write about and catch up on, namely Johnny's letter from me for his 3rd birthday, but I haven't written in so long that the activation energy to get from not writing all to carefully cataloging everything we've been up to since the end of October just seems like a lot. Hence, the non-real post that is this post.

So, I figured I'd merely ramble to get back into the swing of writing. And also typing since it's been so long that my fingers are having issues with hitting the correct letters to form correctly spelled words. Hapoy Neq Uear! (<--- that was a joke... just so you know.)

This is what desperation looks like.

Life has been a little... crazy lately. I got the stomach flu a few weeks back and John had to stay home from work for two and a half days to take care of me and the boys. I've been playing catch up since then and am FINALLY getting to the point where the laundry is getting done in a timely fashion and I'm making dinner almost every night again.

While I've been playing catch up, the boys have started trying to kill each other. Well, not so much Hank trying to kill Johnny. It's Johnny trying to injure Hank. It starts out with Johnny giving Hank a hug and ends with Hank prostrate on the floor and Johnny lying on Hank's head. Sometimes it's obvious that there isn't any malice intended, it's just that Johnny doesn't know how strong he is and how Hank gets hurt. Other times it seems that Johnny's intent is to bash Hank's head into the wall. Or wrought-iron fence. Or tile floor. Or toilet.

So, whenever I can find a way that the boys can do their own thing and ignore each other, I pounce on it. And it usually ends up looking like this:

Yes, that's Johnny taking his fourth bath of the day at 1pm. And yes, that's Hank playing in the toilet. I'm desperate to find these 10-minute oases where I can have a glass of water and a granola bar and stop trying to keep the boys away from each other. Even if that means one or both of the boys may end up with hepatitis. Like I said, desperation.

One hell of a week.

Last week was a doozy here in the Durso household.

First, I came down with pink eye. And then Johnny did, too. And apparently my father in law did as well, or at least something similar.

Second, Johnny came down with a fever of 103 on Tuesday, which ended in me taking him to Urgent Care. But not before I dealt with a rather uninformed nurse on the nurse referral line for Children's Primary Care (our group of doctors). The woman told me to take Johnny's temperature in his armpit HIS ARMPIT because the ear temperature tends to be "off". Great idea. You obviously don't have children, or if you do, they were never sick because jamming a cold piece of metal in your sick toddler's armpit and requiring he stay still for three minutes TOTALLY doesn't happen. She also argued with me about how many wet diapers he had had in one day. Ugh. Long story short = I'm never calling them again. I obviously know more than they do. The positive of going to Urgent Care was the doctor telling me that I don't have pink eye and neither did Johnny. Whoo-hoo!

Third, getting Hank to take naps this week has been AWFUL. He's been running on two 30 minute naps a day, which isn't nearly enough for him. My usual "bucket of smiles" baby has been taken over by a meltdown-prone diva who can't handle being put down for more than three nanoseconds. Exhausting.

Fourth, cabin fever isn't a strong enough word for how chained to the house I felt this week.

Good things did happen this week though. John's uncles came to visit and they are always a lot of fun to be around. We made it to the Safari Park with Aunt Lisa, Jack, Aunt Leslie and Grandma. Granted, it ended in a car trip home with two overtired, screaming children, but the time we spent there was fun. Just getting out and about was worth it! Also, Hank has slept through the night nearly every single night this week! Except for Friday, but that was probably because he managed about 50 minutes of nap time during the day which makes it hard for him to settle at night. I know, I know, we've talked about how little sense this sleep begets sleep thing makes, but it does work. At least with my kids.

Anyway. Here are some pictures I took this week:

Fleeing the scene of his toilet paper mess.

What? There are numbers in here to play with.

Next he'll be walking. No, really. He will be.

One of the reasons Johnny loves Pa: His crazy facial expressions.

Pepe. My other nephew.

Blog Hop: A Typical Day

I did one of these "day in the life" posts a few months ago when I was pregnant with Hank and, obviously, our routine has changed quite a bit since Hank was born. I tried to take a few pictures here and there to illustrate and then got sick of it... therefore there are only pictures of the first half of our day. Oh well.

6:30am: Hank wakes up, so I get up and we play for a few minutes before I hit the shower. Hank chills out on the floor of the bathroom while I get clean.

7:00am: Hank and I go downstairs to get some coffee and breakfast. I usually listen to my morning show (DSC, if you don't listen, you should) while eating and playing with Hank in his infant seat.

My favorite coffee cup. I used to feel guilty about drinking caffeine and breastfeeding, but this cup made a convincing argument for coffee. I now have a caffeinated drink almost every day.

 7:15am: Unload the dishwasher. I swear, with only three people eating real food around here, we go through a ridiculous amount of dishes. There are dishes to put away nearly every. single. day. But at least I can put them away while Johnny is still in bed, otherwise it'd be putting away dishes while trying to keep Johnny from smashing said dishes on the floor.

7:30am(ish): Johnny is ready to get up and makes it known by yelling as loud as possible.

7:35am: Johnny picks out his shirt for the day... this is a trial because he always wants his "Mater" shirt, which is usually dirty because he has worn it to bed a few times and also during the day a few times. There just comes a point where a T-shirt has to be washed. So he usually goes a little crazy when I tell him his Mater shirt is dirty and then finally picks a different shirt. Then I'm allowed to pick out his shorts. He couldn't care less about the bottom half of his wardrobe.

7:45am: Hank is ready for a nap, so he gets swaddled and stuffed in the ring sling.

7:47am: Johnny pulls me by the hand into the play room, where he drinks some milk and plays with trucks.

9am: This is when we usually do our leave-the-house activities like running errands, going to playdates, going for a walk, etc. This day, however, was a cleaning day. So I dusted and vacuumed the upstairs rooms while Johnny chased me around asking if I was "done" and Hank slept in the ring sling.

10:30am: Hank is awake, so I feed him, change his diaper, and put him down for some naked tummy time to give his little bottom a chance to air out.

11am: I finally get Johnny to eat something. He's never been one to sit down after waking up and have breakfast. Some days it happens, but this day it did not. So, Johnny sits down to eat an egg and blueberries while I sit down and eat some lunch.

11:20am: Brush those teeth! The brushing of the teeth is a variable in our day. It does happen every morning, but the when changes. Sometimes Johnny eats a real breakfast when he wakes up, so we brush teeth after that; other times he won't eat until some time closer to lunch, so we brush teeth then. I'm just proud that I'm able to brush AND floss his teeth every day. I'm an oral surgeon's daughter. Dental hygiene is important.

Normally I brush and floss Johnny's teeth while he's lying down on the changing table. That way I can hold his head with one hand and brush with the other... but it's hard to get a picture like that. So we posed in the bathroom.

 11:30am: We have some more play time. Usually involving the car, like this day. Sometime while we're playing, Hank is ready to sleep again, so I stuff him back in the ring sling.

12:30pm: This is about when Johnny takes his nap and our routine varies a little bit here. If Hank is really passed out, then I leave him in the ring sling while I get Johnny down for his nap. If he's kind of wakeful, then I take him out and put him in his crib where he usually cries for the duration of Johnny's nap time routine. Oh well, it sucks being the second child.

12:45pm: While Johnny naps, I usually do a combination of things. Play with Hank when he's awake, leave him in the ring sling when he's sleeping, blog, upload pictures/videos, clean up after our morning, make phone calls, or just lounge and read my book. However, I hardly ever sit down. Sitting down means Hank will most likely wake up... so I all of the above things while standing or walking around for two hours.

2:30pm: Johnny wakes up, usually crabby.

2:35pm: More playing in the play room, while I chase him around with a banana or some other form of food. Hank generally hangs out and watches Johnny and I play.

3:15pm: This is when I start to just kill time until John comes home. Johnny is usually tired of being inside, so we'll go out and run more errands or play out in the front yard. On this particular day we took a walk to the grocery store because Johnny kept saying "shop" and then led me to Vons. I thought we were headed to the local park, but Johnny knew where he wanted to go. Weird.

4pm: I start making dinner while Johnny plays by himself or tries vainly to get my attention by pulling out cooking utensils and pans and opening the refrigerator. Hank sleeps in the ring sling.

5:15pm: John comes home and I get dinner on the table... kind of. This is always a production because I'm trying to finish cooking, John is trying to get the table set and Johnny is trying to bodily and verbally force John outside so they can play in John's car. The five o' clock hour is a noisy and busy one in the Durso household.

5:30pm: Dinner is served! Hank watches us eat from his infant seat or is nursing. Johnny is trying to grab at our eating utensils and demanding more of this or that. John is trying to keep Johnny happy while attempted to eat himself and I am either nursing Hank, fetching different food for Johnny to eat, or eating myself. After dinner, I clean up while Hank chills and John and Johnny go play by the pool; Johnny is usually naked by this point.

6:15pm: I start getting Hank ready for bed by bathing him, giving him some time to air out, swaddling and then nursing him. John is attempting to get Johnny inside in an non-violent fashion with a few tears as possible.

7pm: Hank is down. John is reading stories to Johnny while Johnny runs around his room, pulls shirts of hangers, opens drawers and plays with the fan.

7:30pm: John exits Johnny's room whether he's asleep or not. If Johnny isn't asleep, he cries for a little and then settles down to play with Scout or to go to sleep. John and I then get to relax, which consists of cleaning up the kitchen, picking up Johnny's toys, then maybe watching a movie or surfing the Internet.

9:30pm: I dreamfeed Hank and then go to bed. Of course, my night consists of getting up to feed Hank every now and then, but for the most part, my day is done.

Obviously, there are an awful lot of breastfeeding sessions and diaper changes that go on during the day, but I felt it was overkill to include all of those. Not to mention even more boring than the things I chose to include.

Quarantine

The movie "Outbreak" could be taking place at our house. Well, cut out the monkey, Patrick Dempsey and the blood exiting from all possible orifices and then it's a little closer to our lives. Johnny and I have been sick all week long and wow, is that a misery! Being sick really does suck, especially when your little one is dealing with it, too. But being sick and pregnant and cut off from all of those awesome drugs that make life with a cold liveable? Hell. Especially whenever I open the medicine cabinet to get a new box of Kleenex and those boxes of cold & flu medicine are just laughing at me. Bitches.

Anyway! Back to our regular programming: Johnny and I have been sick and thus, cut off from the rest of the world. No playdates, no Gymboree, no walks since Mommy can't breathe, no visiting Grandma Durso since she'll be seeing newborn cousin Jack next week, no visiting anyone we like due to possible contagion... so we've been spending a lot of time at the park in the open air. Where Johnny's sneezes and coughs merely transmit viruses into the air and human-less space around him.

I was going to post a few of the pictures I've taken this week... but I don't think I will. I took lots of pictures of him this week with massive amounts of snot running down face and I decided not to publish them because they're disgusting. Yes, his mother, queen of pee, poop and puke would rather not introduce you all to Johnny's Niagara Falls of a nose. You're welcome.

In the meantime, here are some pictures I took awhile back of Johnny after he consumed massive amounts of Eggplant Parmigiana. Way cuter than snot, promise.

Apologies

I feel like I need to apologize for the sporadic nature of the blog these days. I'd like to say that it's going to change... but I think everyone who has more than one child knows better. :) Having an active one-year-old and feeling the fatigue of pregnancy has really made updating with regularity difficult. I've got a goal of one post a week though, and so far I'm doing that... maybe February will bring two posts a week! Anyway, I just wanted to say sorry for the lack of fun things going on here. Maybe a cute picture of John and Johnny will make up for that.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

 Weather in San Diego lately has been dismal. Sunny San Diego. What a complete misnomer. Our summer was about four days long at the end of September and now our fall has been taken over completely by rainstorms. And the worst part? No El Nino or La Nina to blame.... oh, scratch that. Apparently El Nino occurred in January and now we're in the midst of La Nina. Seems I need to watch the Weather Channel more like my Uncle Charlie. He would be so ashamed of me.

Anyway, I digress. Back on topic: Our weather has sucked majorly. So, Johnny and I have been stuck inside. No morning walks, no afternoon park trips, no being outside in the swing. Needless to say, Johnny and I have a little touch of cabin fever. It's a glorious day when I have to go to the grocery store... that's how bad things are. I can only hope the sun shines again sometime soon. *sigh*

Watching the rain

Johnny's little residual hand print.